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Latin America Emerges As Latest COVID-19 Epicenter; George Floyd's Brother: People Are Tired Of Seeing Black Men Die; Report: United Kingdom Has Highest Suspected Death Toll Per Capita; Cyprus Will Pay For Your Holiday If You Get COVID-19; Troy Deeney Shares Concerns Over Premier League Restart. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 28, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome I'm Hala Gorani this hour on CNN. Fury in United States and around the world over the killing of George
Floyd, an unarmed black man by white police officers we have that story coming up. And the crisis in Hong Kong I'll ask the U.S. State Department
Spokesperson what his boss means when he says Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China.
But we begin with a staggering and sad milestone in this pandemic. And we start in the United States. It is a number that shows the impact that the
Coronavirus pandemic in the country with the most cases and the most deaths. More than 100,000 people in the U.S have now died of COVID-19. That
toll reached just four months after the first cases were reported on the country's West Coast.
President Donald Trump did not comment on the 100,000 dead when the number was reached yesterday. But a short time ago, he did tweet on it, calling it
a very sad milestone. Brynn Gingras has more on this toll and how reopening plans could quickly add to that number.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A heartbreaking milestone in the United States, marking over 100,000 lives reported lost to the Coronavirus,
according to Johns Hopkins University.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): We can never let it become abstract. We have got to remember that these are precious human lives. We've got to remember that
they lived, that they had extraordinary lives. That they leave behind family and friends who will never forget the impact that they've had.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: Former Vice President Joe Biden sending a message to people grieving loved ones.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To all of you who are hurting so badly, I'm so sorry for your loss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: It's been over three months since the disease began gripping this nursing home in Washington State and overwhelming hospitals in cities
across the nation. Now all 50 states are undergoing rollbacks of social distancing restrictions while 16 of them are still seeing increases in new
confirmed cases. And with summer weather bringing more people outside, Dr. Anthony Fauci warning a second wave could happen if people do not change
their behavior.
(BEGINVIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: When you have situations in which you see that type of crowding,
with no masks and people interacting, that's not prudent. And that's inviting a situation that could get out of control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: In California, retail stores are now reopened for in-store shopping the stay-at-home order in Washington, D.C. will be lifted
tomorrow, but the Mayor warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D-WA), DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: We can't go crazy, or we know that this virus can get out of hand in our city and in our region and
we could be back to square one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: The Las Vegas strip will soon welcome back guests, with some MGM reports and Cesar's Entertainment properties set to open June 4th with
enhanced safety procedures. In Orlando, SeaWorld announcing its plan to reopen on June 11th and Walt Disney World proposing to begin a phased
reopening of its theme parks July 11th at reduced capacity.
But there will be no fireworks, parades, or character greetings for now, and guests will be required to get temperature checks, practice social
distancing, and wear facial coverings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB CHAPEK, CEO, THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY: I think that's really going to be part of the contract of coming to Walt Disney World in any capacity. We're
going to enforce that rule. It's for everybody's safety.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRAS: The nation's top infectious disease doctor endorsing wearing masks says more and more Americans reenter society.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. FAUCI: The sort of respect for another person and have that other person respects you. You wear a mask, they wear a mask, you protect each
other. I want it to be a symbol for people so see, that's the kind of thing that you should be doing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, Brynn Gingras joins me now from New York. I wonder, all of these places that are loosening restrictions, do they indicate that they
are ready to lock things back down if they start seeing spikes in cases? Do they have that system in place in case the numbers climb again?
GINGRAS: Yes, listen, Hala, there are different procedures for different states, because each state is sort of handling this differently. If you
look in the southeastern part of the country, the cases are really going up in numbers.
And it's significantly, you know, points to the data that the CDC laid out for this country to open up in a slow fashion. And certainly, the CDC has
said, sure, bring some of those restrictions back if needed, but since they opened up earlier if they'll listen to those guidelines, it's really
unclear at this point.
But if you again look at the data, it shows the states that are actually doing well, where the cases are going down, like here in New York where we
are, they really follow those guidelines, taking their time, easing off those restrictions and then giving time in between each of those faces
where they're reopening to kind of see what happens once they ease some of those restrictions back?
So certainly, it's not just one size fits all, as we have been saying in the United States, but different states are definitely handling these cases
in different ways.
[11:05:00]
GORANI: And where you are, it looks a lot less busy than usual. Is that still the case in a city like New York?
GINGRAS: Yes. In New York City is the only area in the State of New York that hasn't entered any phase yet. Phase 1, which is the most minimal phase
you could be in the State of New York is just construction manufacturing, retail, but you can't even go inside the store, it's just curbside pickup,
and we haven't even gotten there in New York City.
So we're hearing from the Mayor that it could be very soon. We were hearing the beginning of June, maybe the middle of June. But hopefully it's even
sooner within the next, you know, week or so. But, yes, there is a lot of poise to get started, get this city going again, at least for that first
phase?
And then like the guidelines have laid out for us in this state, we're going to have to wait at least another two weeks to make sure the numbers
do continue to go in the right direction before we can go to that next phase, which is actually restaurants reopening here in New York City, Hala?
GORANI: All right, Brynn Gingras thanks very much here in London, too. In Paris, other cities, people are just eager to get back into restaurants and
cafes, but everyone very mindful, very mindful of the risks involved.
And Latin America now, Coronavirus infections are rising. The region is now being called the epicenter of the pandemic. You can see here hundreds of
people lining up to go shopping as malls in Brazil reopens despite the rise in COVID-19 cases. Matt Rivers reports.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the Coronavirus sweeps around the world, the eye of this storm has landed on Latin America. Describe the pandemic in
Latin America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The epicenter of the pandemic now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: Death rates in many Latin America countries are already on the rise, while the average seven-day death toll for the U.S., the U.K., and
Italy are all headed down, in Brazil, Mexico, and Peru, the death tolls are spiking so why Latin America and why now?
Start in Brazil, with about 410,000 confirmed cases, the second highest in the world behind the U.S. President Jair Bolsonaro has all but ignored the
virus threat and still attends large rallies, saying the true concern is quarantine measures hurting the economy many disagree.
The virus is everywhere, says this woman in Rio de Janeiro, I only go out when it's absolute necessary. State Governors have tried to make up for a
lack of action at the federal level, but it's been at best a patchwork response nationwide, as massive COVID-19 cemeteries now dot the tropical
landscape.
In Mexico, President Lopez Obrador also downplayed the threat early on. He urged people to stay home, but since resisted strict quarantine measures.
Just two days ago Mexico reported its largest single day increase in deaths. But even swift shutdowns haven't helped everywhere.
Cases have skyrocketed in Peru, even though it enacted a strict quarantine on March 16th. Streets there and across Latin America have remained full,
because simply put, people can't afford not to work.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUIS GUILLERMO SOLIS, FORMER COSTA RICAN PRESIDENT: It's a daily challenge. They don't have savings. They live in very inadequate quarters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: Poverty is rampant in many of the region's massive cities. Not only do people have to go out and earn a living, but at home, densely packed
neighborhoods make social distancing all but impossible. It all adds up to a region starting to buckle under the weight of a global pandemic it is not
equipped to fight. Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
GORANI: All right. We're going to talk after the break about what's going on in Hong Kong and the U.S.'s reaction to that. And also, fed up and
seeking justice. Rioter's loot and set buildings on fire in Minneapolis to vent their frustration over the police killing of George Floyd. We'll be
right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:10:00]
GORANI: Well, there is outrage in Hong Kong and in other parts of the world over Beijing's new national security law. The U.S., U.K., Canada and
Australia are warning Beijing that the new law will undermine the one- country, two-system framework.
The joint statement also warns that the move could undermine trust and international cooperation at a time when the world is fighting a pandemic.
Hong Kong's leader says the law will not affect rights and freedoms, but protest leaders disagree.
They are worried that as a result of this law, China's secret police will now be able to come into Hong Kong to arrest them and maybe even extradite
them to Mainland China. Critics say the new law violates the 1997 Handover Agreement that promises no Chinese interference with Hong Kong's autonomy
for 50 years.
Joining me now is Morgan Ortagus she is a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department and she is live in Washington. So Morgan Ortagus, let me ask you
first, your boss, the Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that Hong Kong is officially no longer autonomous from China. What exactly did he mean by
that?
MORGAN ORTAGUS, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Well, thanks for having me, Hala, on this important day. So we are required by U.S. law, the
Secretary of State has to certify to the Congress if Hong Kong remains autonomous. The last time we did that was March 2019.
We have delayed that report. We've noted that publicly that we've delayed several times. We were obviously hoping not to have to make the decision
that we did. We were hoping that the Chinese Communist Party would not take the actions that they have taken.
But unfortunately, Hala, there was no way for Secretary Pompeo to truthfully submit to the Congress to certify that Hong Kong is still
autonomous from China. So we did submit that report yesterday. We saw overnight of course of the National People's Congress did move forward and
pass the legislation, what they call a national security legislation.
This basically calls the peaceful, freedom-loving protesters in Hong Kong call them terrorists, essentially. They're using this as a way to crack
down under the guise of national security in Hong Kong. And we are thankful, of course, to our British, Canadian and Australian allies that
are joining us in condemning that action.
GORANI: And what are the practical implications of this?
ORTAGUS: So the first step in this process is the Secretary of State, as I mentioned, has to submit to the Congress whether Hong Kong is still
autonomous or not. Now the President has several options at his disposal. There are many options on the table.
We also know that the Congress has a voice in this, as well. And many Senators, and I should say, it's interesting, we really have seen a lot of
bipartisan consensus on this issue from both sides of the aisle.
People are very outraged by the broken promise that the Chinese Communist Party has made, of course, to the people of Hong Kong. This is 27 years
early. So this is a sad day for the people of Hong Kong and I think we're grateful that we have what seems to be a bipartisan consensus in Washington
around this issue.
GORANI: Yes, I mean, that is the - that is certainly true. We even heard from Elizabeth Warren on the opposite end of the political spectrum,
expressing dismay at China and Beijing's move in Hong Kong.
I guess my question is, is does the Secretary of State believe that this is the end of Hong Kong as we know it, or does - or does he believe that it's
still - that Hong Kong can still return to its former independent status?
ORTAGUS: Well, I think we're always hopeful and I think that the Chinese Communist Party is going to hopefully see democracies around the world,
freedom-loving people around the world stand up to condemn this action.
Hala, this is the third administration that I've worked in, so I've worked for Republicans and Democrats. And we know that we have tried many
different options to bring China into the new world, including bringing them into the WTO.
[11:15:00]
ORTAGUS: Lots of American businesses do - of course; we have billions of dollars of investments in Hong Kong and with Mainland China. And we have
been - we have been distraught at really seeing the actions that General Secretary Xi has taken, starting with the extradition law, starting with
over the past year, as you know, as you've covered thousands of protesters that are arbitrarily detained violent crackdowns on these protests and then
of course culminating with the legislation that's been passed last night.
And Hala, I think that this is a pivotal moment for the world. I think this moment will go down in history. People will have to say whether they stand
with the rule of law or whether they stand with the Chinese Communist Party that are flagrantly, flagrantly breaking their promises to the people of
Hong Kong.
GORANI: But what are the leverage option here because though Europe is issuing statements and will probably, European countries, and you mentioned
others, certainly condemning publicly in their rhetoric what Beijing is doing? Is there - I mean, what needs to be the strategy in order to
pressure Beijing to back down on this law because this law is passed now?
ORTAGUS: So, I'm always careful at the State Department to speculate on the range of options. We know I was just looking right before I went on view
that the U.K. has talked about what they may do potentially with Hong Kong visas?
And then, of course, there are a number of people that have talked about sanctions and various actions that the United States could take. Again, I
don't want to be too speculative, because I think that the White House and the President will be able to make that determination in the coming days,
and so I'll leave it up to them.
GORANI: All right. Morgan Ortagus thanks very much, spokesperson at the State Department. Thanks for joining us.
ORTAGUS: Thank you.
GORANI: Now, outrage is spilling out into the streets of a major U.S. City over the killing of an unarmed black man. Stunning scenes in Minneapolis
overnight shows several buildings on fire, as police clashed with rioters. We're about to show you the disturbing video that sparked all of this
anger.
It shows the moment a white police officer pinned 46-year-old George Floyd to the ground with a knee on his neck. Three other police officers stood
by. Calls are mounting for the officers involved to be charged with murder.
George Floyd in the video, heard, several times saying, "I can't breathe, I'm about to die." the city is trying to return to normal after last
night's chaos. Let's go straight to Omar Jimenez, who is live in Minneapolis. And talk to us about where you are and the destruction
overnight that just left that particular strip of road looking like a war zone.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Hala. These were protests that started largely peacefully, but then over the course of a matter of
hours devolved into rioting and looting. Looting that we are now seeing the manifestation of this morning, or at least what is left.
And this is - there is maybe no clearer picture than what used to be this auto parts store here, left smoldering in the morning sun here, as it
burned overnight, as many buildings burned in this particular part of the city here in Minneapolis.
Now, in regards to what this is all centered on, it comes down to, you showed part of that video, of George Floyd, how he died and then how his
death is now being handled. We saw the knee of one of the police officers on the neck of Floyd.
Well, those four police officers involved were almost immediately fired within 24 hours, but the family says that's not enough. The Mayor says
that's not enough and these protesters say that's not enough. They want criminal charges to be filed.
And we are learning a lot about how this unfolded, for example, we learned from newly released records from the Fire Department here that when they
got here to transport Floyd to the hospital, at that point already, they say they were dealing with a pulse-less subject.
This man did not have a pulse and if you listen to that cell phone video, the one that is so harrowing, that has spread throughout this world,
bystanders were all saying, check his pulse, as his voice begins to trail off.
Some of his last words, "I can't breathe" now, we are waiting to see the results of the investigations playing out, multiple levels here within the
United States, at the federal and down to the state, as well, to see if criminal charges will be filed. But every moment, we don't have an
announcement in that area. We see tension continuing to bubble in this community.
GORANI: And is the expectation that there will be more protests?
JIMENEZ: At this point, I think it's fair to say, yes, because the main crux of what they are demanding is that more is done with these officers,
aside from being a firing.
[11:20:00]
JIMENEZ: So until we get an announcement over charges being filed and in some cases, specifically murder charges being filed, my sense being here
over the past few days is that the people here won't be satisfied.
And I know from hearing from the family, the family won't be satisfied. And that goes to the whole point of this and the pain that people are feeling.
It is maybe felt nowhere more significantly than the family itself and from there, it spreads out into the community and that is what we are seeing and
dealing with here.
GORANI: All right, Omar thanks very much, and earlier, George Floyd's brother told CNN's Alisyn Camerota that he wants peace, but that he also
understands why violent protests are taking place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILONISE FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD'S BROTHER: I want, you know, everybody to be peaceful right now, but people are hurting because they're tired of seeing
black men die, constantly, over and over again.
You know, I spoke to Eric Garner's mom and Reverend Al-Sharpton and, you know, her son couldn't breathe. He kept saying he couldn't breathe. And my
brother said the same thing that he couldn't breathe. And nobody cared. And these officers, they need to be arrested. Right now they need to be
arrested and held accountable about everything, because these people want justice right now.
ALYSIN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And what is justice? For your family, what does that look like?
FLOYD: Justice is these guys need to be arrested, convicted of murder and given the death penalty. They need to because they took my brother's life.
He will never get that back. I will never see him again. My family will never see him again. His kids will never see him again.
CAMEROTA: Have you watched that video of your brother's arrest?
FLOYD: I watched the video. It was hard, but I had to watch the video. And as I watched the video, those four officers, they executed my brother. The
paramedics, they drug him across the ground without administering CPR. They showed no empathy, no compassion. Nobody out there showed it nobody,
nobody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: John Berman spoke with Bakari Sellars the CNN Political Commentator and Dante Stallworth a former NFL player and journalist about being black
in America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAKARI SELLARS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's hard being black in this country when your life is not valued. And people are worried about the
protesters and the looters. And it's just people who are frustrated, who for far too long have not had their voices heard.
So you put me on after his brother and I feel like I lost my brother. And nobody cares about the video. They had a video of Aubrey and two different
solicitors looked at that video and declined to press charges. So for those of us who have a mistrust of the system, it's very hard for any of us to do
anything but cry and hope and pray we're not sitting next to Ben Krupp one day.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Bakari, your father was shot more than 50 years ago. 50 years ago, and we're sitting here this morning and watching it
happen again. So where do you find the hope? How do you tell your son and daughter that it's going to get better?
SELLARS: I don't - I don't know. I mean, maybe Dante has the answer. I don't know. I try to keep hope. I try to keep faith. I keep telling my
children they can be free. You know, I want my kids to one day be able to grow up and be the host of "New Day."
I want them to be able to be a United States Senator or President, but, you know, what happens if they get pulled over and they comply? What happens if
they get judged by a father and a son who just are on a good old-fashioned South Georgia lynching?
What happens if they get served a no-knock warrant like Brianna Taylor? What happens if that - how do you - how do you raise your children in this
America to understand free, when we see these images of being gunned down in the street and a knee in the back of the neck for eight minutes like a
dog?
[11:25:00]
SELLARS: So I don't have that answer, other than every day, I just tell them I love them. That's all I can do.
BERMAN: Dante, I'm not sure there is an answer, necessarily. Although you point to Angela Davis, who says, it's not enough to be non-racist. You have
to be anti-racist.
DANTE STALLWORTH, FORMER NFL PLAYER AND JOURNALIST: Yes, I think that's one of the things that are the hardest to learn for people who are not in the
space of learning about racism in this country. There are a lot of people who believe that racism ended after the civil war.
They say that we fought a whole war over racism, yet they don't acknowledge the fact that the confederacy was there to remain, to keep the institution
of slavery alive. After that, we have reconstruction. And then you have Jim Crow. You have the civil rights era.
And it seems that things that people have been talking about back in those times, and especially during the civil rights era, are still happening
today. When Martin Luther King was forced to discuss the riots that were happening, they blamed him for the riots.
And Martin Luther King said that the language of the unheard is why these riots are happening. And that America has failed to listen to the cries and
to the promises of freedom and justice that they have promised since the founding of this country.
And yet, as we still see today, we still see African Americans are not being treated as human.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Fascinating discussion there. And just before I leave this story, I want to show you a tweet that has gone viral. It's from Bernice King, the
daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. She references the killing of George Floyd and the protest by an NFL star that drew a lot of anger.
She says and writes, if you're unbothered or mildly bothered by the first knee, but outraged by the second, then in my father's words, you're more
devoted to order than to justice and more passionate about anthem that supposedly symbolizes freedom than you are about a black man's freedom to
live.
Still ahead, more on the Coronavirus pandemic nobody likes getting sick on holiday, but the island of Cyprus wants to put your mind at ease if you
vacation there. We'll explain, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
GORANI: Here in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will soon lay out his government's plan for easing lockdown restrictions. It comes as
England launches a test and trace system to track the spread of COVID-19.
Meanwhile, a new report is suggesting that the U.K. likely has the highest suspected Corona death toll per capita anywhere in the world. Let's bring
in CNN's Clarissa Ward with more on that. How did the U.K. get to such a high number, Clarissa?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it really depends on who you ask, Hala, and first of all, we should say that
"The Financial Times" in their modeling, they're looking at excess deaths.
So they're only able to compare the United Kingdom to other countries that also monitor and maintain data on excess deaths. That's why Downing Street
is saying that's not really a fair metric to judge this by that.
But I think no matter what way you slice the numbers here, most people would be in agreement that the U.K. certainly has an egregiously high death
toll. And there are a number of different reasons for that.
Number one, of course, the U.K. really was slow to instate their lock down. This came sometime after other European countries already started their
lockdown and it came in the wake of the outbreaks that we had seen in China, then in Italy.
And so some say that, you know, the U.K. should have had the hindsight, really, or the foresight, even to instate that lockdown earlier. Then you
had problems with testing. It took months, really, before testing got to the level that it is at now, currently more than 100,000 tests being
carried out her day.
And then the other component that some countries that have been successful in fighting Coronavirus have utilized is this tracking, which the U.K. is
now rolling out today, several months into this crisis, but still, nonetheless, as of today, if you test positive for Coronavirus, someone
will give you a call.
They will ask you to list everyone who you have had a sustained contact with. And then they will call all of those individually and ask them to
self-isolate at home for 14 days. That at-home self-isolation won't be mandated and it won't be monitored, so they're really relying on people's
sense of sort of civic duty, if you will, to carry it out.
But the hope is that it will allow them to sort of trace and follow clusters of COVID as they move around the country and prevent a second
wave, Hala.
GORANI: And what about the easing of lockdown restrictions? How that expected to play out?
WARD: It will be interesting to hearing what the Prime Minister has to say today, whether he'll move the kind of threat level that the U.K. has set up
to show where on the spectrum they are in dealing with this threat from the virus.
Most of the changes and lifting measurements that we already know about, June 1st, some classes and primary school will return, June 15th, retail
will really get back in action, but of course, with strict social distancing measures, there's even talk now about opening some pubs and
restaurants and cafes earlier than the original date that was given of no earlier than July 4th.
And that's still speculative at this stage and really depends on whether or not the Prime Minister or what decision he makes about what the appropriate
distance is? The social distancing distance if you will is it two meters as the government here currently says it is two yards, or could it be one
meter as some other scientists are saying.
If they decide it's just one meter, obviously, that will have implications for the speed of the lifting of the lockdown. But certainly, as of right
now, this is still a very measured lifting of the lockdown and does not yet look like what we're seeing across the continent in Europe, where things
are slowly but surely, seemingly returning to normal or as close to normal as we can be in these times, Hala.
GORANI: Okay, Clarissa Ward, thank you very much. Well, Cyprus is a beautiful Island, it relies a lot of tourism for revenue and it has a new
way to lure tourists back. If you test positive for COVID-19 while on holiday will, Cyprus will cover the cost of your accommodation, food,
drink, and medication.
It won't cover your airfare and there are some requirements. Let's get all the details on Cyprus' holiday promise from the Island's Deputy Minister of
Tourism. Savvas Perdios joins me via Skype. How does this work?
[11:35:00]
SAVVAS PERDIOS, CYPRUS DEPUTY MINISTER OF TOURISM: Hi, Ms. Gorani. Thanks for the opportunity nice to be with you. Yes, well, you pretty much said it
very well. Assuming somebody is already on the Island, enjoying their holiday, if they do test positive, that person will be hospitalized.
We will take care of them for as long as it takes for them to feel better and remove the symptoms. And at the same time, we will also take care of
their close contacts, most likely, their family, people who have been staying with them in the room.
And those people will be moved to a dedicated quarantine hotel. Again, accommodation, the food, the drink will be covered by us. And I think it's
one of the most important things that we can do for our customers and travelers who can come to our country this summer.
GORANI: Are you testing - I mean, are you requiring testing of tourists before they're able to fly to Cyprus? What are the rules there?
PERDIOS: Yes, well, based on data points, epidemiological data. At the moment, we've divided countries into categories. Category "A" is a category
where countries have done very, very well in dealing with the virus and at the moment show very good epidemiological results. Those countries will not
require any prior testing to get to the Island.
GORANI: Okay.
PERDIOS: Category "B" is the next level, where by those countries will be required to be tested before coming but if, for whatever reason, testing is
not widely available in the country of origin, we will be testing at the destination when they arrive. And obviously, we will be doing random
testing at several points out of this nation.
GORANI: Because, obviously, you have, for instance, a lot of Russian tourists and in Russia, the numbers aren't very encouraging yet. Would you
require a Russian tourist to get tested before flying to Cyprus? How many days before their trip do they need to get the test? And do they then
present the results at the airport? How will it work in practice?
PERDIOS: Yes, in practice, people need to be tested 72 hours. So three days before flying. And then this is presented upon check-in and boarding on the
flight and then again, when they land here. And at the moment, countries like Russia or the U.K., they're not classified, but as the days go by and
their situation improves, they will certainly be classified and allowed to travel, as well.
But we consider many, many days of points. We have a dedicated team of epidemiologists and scientists working on these statistics. They include
the reproduction number of the virus, daily cases per 100,000 population how many people have been tested as a percentage of the population, weekly
deaths per 100,000 of population.
So it's a variety of statistics that give us a good idea of where each country stands at the moment.
GORANI: And how can - I guess the obvious question is how can Cyprus afford this? This is very expensive, to promise accommodation, food, medicine,
hospitalization to tourists if they develop the illness. Is there not a concern here that this could actually end up cost more than you would
actually make in tourism revenue?
Also, once a person tests positive, they're on vacation. They've probably interacted with dozens if not hundreds of other people and it might lead to
another spike. Does that concern you at all?
PERDIOS: There's a lot to that question. It's a fair question, an interesting one. I'll start from the second part. At the end of the day, we
are taking a lot of measures. We have a very strong destination protocol based on physical distancing hotels, restaurants, bars, at the beach. Many
tourism establishments, theme parks, et cetera.
So the basic principle of dealing with this is actually physical distancing. Where this is not possible, obviously, masks are required for
example in kitchens or by service staff at restaurants. So I do feel that our health and safety protocols will help people not getting in close
contact with each other.
[11:40:00]
PERDIOS: That's the first principle. As for the cost issue, bearing in mind that people are going to be tested prior arrival and the fact that at the
destination we're taking a lot of measures to reduce physical contact with people.
I think actually that the cost is going to be manageable. And at the end of the day, this is not just a cost issue. We did this for a few reasons and
if we have the time, I would like to explain.
GORANI: If it's brief, if it's brief, if I'm honest.
PERDIOS: Yes, it's a couple of minutes only. We wanted people to feel comfortable to book a holiday to Cyprus, so that they don't wonder, okay,
what's going to happen if I don't - if something goes wrong.
So that's one side of the story. The second side is, you know, for the staff, working in hotels, it's important to know that when somebody does
fall ill and does test positive that we can move that person somewhere else where they can get professional care.
And the third thing is other guests staying within an establishment I think it's going to be important for them as well to know that should somebody
fall ill, that is not going to jeopardize their holiday, forcing us to quarantine a whole hotel. So those are--
GORANI: Well, that makes - that makes sense. Thanks for explaining it. And really, I wish you the best of luck. Because you have so many holiday
destinations that are suffering and that these sectors employ so many people who desperately need to work. So really hope that this works out for
Cyprus this summer. Thanks again.
PERDIOS: Thanks Ms. Hala.
GORANI: The Deputy Tourism Minister, Savvas Perdios. Well, the U.S. is facing a pandemic and Alps unprecedented unemployment, but the President is
taking his love/hate relationship with twitter offline. Up ahead, we'll tell you what he plans to do. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: The weekly U.S. jobless claims numbers are out and again they paint a very grim picture. Another 2.1 million workers filed initial unemployment
claims last week, according to government figures.
And that means that since the Coronavirus pandemic began, about 40 million people have lost their jobs and just to give you an idea, this is one in
four working Americans, one in four. Another sobering fact, for ten weeks straight, we've seen weekly jobless claims in the millions. That has never
happened before.
And while much of the world went into hibernation, Sweden broke the status quo with its response to the Coronavirus and kept the country open for
business as usual.
[11:45:00]
GORANI: The nation's strategy centered on herd immunity but has pit been effective? Well, the numbers don't necessarily back the strategy up. Phil
Black has the story.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Sweden in the time of COVID-19 has two very different faces. One is normal, fun, almost carefree, as happy groups enjoy
the sunshine. It's easy to meet people who have embraced the official message of staying safe through personal responsibility.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's about finding ways to enjoy the Swedish summer, but still remain respectful of other people while doing so.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Or people joking around while lining up for restaurants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We drank some hand sanitizer before we came. So we think we're good.
(END VIDOE CLIP)
BLACK: But there's another face to this country. And it's twisted in grief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LELI SEDGHI, FATHER DIED IN SWEDISH CARE HOME: It's horrible. He didn't deserve to die this way. I never - I couldn't know - I couldn't hold his
hand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Leli Sedghi's father, Reza, was 92. He lived in a care home. She says he fell ill with COVID-19 and died seven days later without ever
seeing a doctor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEDGHI: She gave him a shot of morphine and she just left him there. I couldn't be with him. He died alone and it's just haunting me. It's
haunting me so hard.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Sweden's most disturbing trend has been the vast numbers of people dying in care homes. It's been around half the country's total death toll.
And there's now a growing scandal. Many grieving families are telling similar stories of loved ones in these homes never receiving any medical
treatment. These protesters accuse Sweden's authorities of culling the elderly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People seem to think that it's okay to sacrifice people. As if they were worthless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Andres Tegnell, Sweden's State Epidemiologist is leading the country's COVID-19 response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: You must be aware of these stories. Do you think this is happening?
ANDRES TEGNELL, SWEDISH STATE EDPIDEMIOLOGIST: I think that's a very difficult question to ask. You have to remember that these people are very
old and extremely ill. And normally you don't move these kinds of people from their homes to hospital care.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Tegnell drives Sweden's self-touch approach, no lockdown to crash the virus, mostly voluntarily distancing, allowing it to spread steadily
through the population, in theory, building immunity to help slow it even further.
But now, with months in, there's little evidence it's working. Tegnell rejects a recent survey by his own department that found antibodies with
only around 7 percent of people in Stockholm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEGNELL: The amount of people in Stockholm that have been infected so far should be over 20 percent by now, but it's a bit difficult to know. We
believe that the downward trend we see at least partly depends that we have a lot more immune people in the country right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Even if true, there's a terrible cost. Sweden's death toll now exceeds 4,000 shockingly high in a country of around 10 million. The
numbers of seriously ill and dying are dropping but it is much slower than in other places now emerging from lockdowns. While most Swedes still
support the country's distinctive approach, it's clear they'll be living with its consequences, good and bad, for the foreseeable future. Phil
black, CNN, London.
GORANI: Well, as the U.S. jobless numbers continue to grow, the American President's focus is on his own social media accounts. In the coming hours,
the President plans to sign an Executive Order against social media companies, after twitter called a pair of his tweets potentially
misleading.
Mr. Trump writes this will be a big day for social media and fairness. Joe Johns joins us now from Washington with more. What is this captured going
to - what will be the wording of it and what is the President trying to achieve?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Hala, it sounds like this is a work in progress, still, we're not expecting that to come out for
another few hours, at the very least, but essentially, what we understand the administration is trying to do is to make it easier for people to sue
social media companies, based on third-party posts or third-party content.
Now, that essentially sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not so much. The fact of the matter is, Twitter, Facebook, the other social media accounts
are private. Companies in the United States, for one thing, and they also have protections of the constitution and they have protections in law.
What the President would like to do is essentially get the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission to look into the possibility of changing the law
to increase the possibility of liability for those companies.
[11:50:00]
JOHNS: But it's got a big downside. Even potentially for the President. He complains in general that social media isn't fair to him, isn't fair to
conservatives in the United States. But when they started going down that road, it causes a potential problem for Trump, because he posts a lot of
stuff that is questionable and that could very well make it harder for the President to run the traps and get stuff like that posted online.
What I'm talking about is over the past few weeks, the President has posted raising spurious allegations of murder involving a public figure here in
the United States, a TV news anchor on another network.
He's also talked about Hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug and how he says that he believes it could be a possible treatment for Coronavirus. None of
which has been confirmed by any tests. That is questionable information.
And that's the kind of questionable information that social media groups would be much more loathe to let get on the internet if they were subject
to liability for such posts, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Joe Johns thanks very much. Coming up on CNN, an English Football Star says when he voiced his concerns about getting back on the
field. He was pelted with verbal abuse. Also, when will the Premiere League start again? It looks like it might happen pretty soon. We'll be right
back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Are you football starved because I have some good news for you if you are. We are getting reports that the English Premier League plans to
resume this season next month. "The Telegraph" and Sky Sports say matches will restart June 17th without fans in the stands, though.
Some star players have raised concerns, though. One team captain says he and his family are experiencing abuse over his reluctance to return. He
spoke exclusively to CNN's Darren Lewis.
DARREN LEWIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: England's Premier League is set to return amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Several high-profile players have questioned
its decision to return on the grounds of health and safety. One of them is the Watford Captain Troy Deeney. The forward has voiced concerns of his
son's health and that of black and minority ethnic players. But after multiple discussions with the league, the 31-year-old is now more at ease
with the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROY DEENEY, CAPTAIN, WATFORD, FC: Over the weeks, I've been fortunate enough to speak to Professor Jonathan Ran who worked with the government.
He's been very, very good research. And I think everyone can appreciate everything that the Premier League is trying to do, as well.
I don't think it's a pure neglect of we're going back to work and get onboard or it's nothing like that. They have a very good line of
communication. There are some frustrating conversations, but there's also been some really good ones, as well, similar to yesterday.
[11:55:00]
LEWIS: What did you say? Were you able to tell us here on CNN? What did you --?
DEENEY: No, no. I just basically said, when it's - I'm the same risk of getting Corona by playing football or going to the supermarket, and I said,
I've never had to jumped for a header while picking up a cucumber.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEWIS: Although risks will still exist, Deeney believes only a very small proportion of players will decide not to return when the season does
resume.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEENEY: Quite a lot of players will. I would be very surprised if there are ten that don't. I would be very surprised. I see ultimately what will
happen is the competitive nature of what will come back.
LEWIS: You said that players are concerned about coming out and speaking at the time obviously now I think things have changed quite considerably. But
what were they afraid about at the time? Why were they concerned?
DEENEY: It's just the way - so in a time where it's all able mental health than it was to speak up, speak out, free speech, for example, Danny Rose
spoke out and, you know, I know Danny started using swear words, which wasn't ideal.
And then I spoke out, and we got absolutely hammered and battered for it. It's not just us that get it, it's, my missus gets direct messages and I'll
be walking down the street and people will be like, I'm at work, you go back to work and I'm like, I didn't make you go back to work and comments
with regards to my son.
People say, like, I hope your son gets Corona and stuff like that. And I'm like - that's the hard part for me. While I'm trying to be a better human
being, anyone knows that it's very hard for me to ignore things like that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Well, thanks for watching this hour. I'm Hala Gorani. Stay with CNN a lot more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back the New York Governor Cuomo is holding his daily Coronavirus briefing. He's joined my Rosie Perez and the comedian Chris
Rock, talking about the impact of - the disproportionate impact of COVID on minorities.
END
