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As The World Emerges From Global Hibernation, Flare Ups From California To England To Mexico Threaten The Great Reopening; In The Middle Of The Pandemic, China Passes A Controversial Hong Kong Security Law; The E.U. Confirms A List Of Countries Allowed For Nonessential Travel And The U.S. Has Not Made That List. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired June 30, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:27]
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD, I am Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta.
As the world emerges from global hibernation, flare ups from California to England to Mexico threaten the great reopening.
In the middle of the pandemic, China passes a controversial Hong Kong security law. CNN is live in Beijing this hour.
Plus the E.U. confirms a list of countries allowed for nonessential travel and the U.S. has not made that list.
Coronavirus in the U.S. is spreading so quickly, one top C.D.C. official warns it may be very difficult to slow it down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, PRINCIPAL DEPUTY DIRECTOR, C.D.C.: I think there was a lot of wishful thinking around the country that hey, summer, everything is
going to be fine, we're over this -- and we are not even beginning to be over this. We have way too much virus across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: At least 16 states are pausing or changing their reopening plans, this, as more than 41,000 new cases were reported Monday in the U.S.
Our correspondents bring us the latest from across the country.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam in Arizona. Governor Doug Ducey says that we are not going back to normal anytime soon here in
the state, pointing to the record number of hospitalizations and also the fact that ICU beds are filled to almost nearly 90 percent of that capacity.
With that in mind, he is putting a pause in place for some businesses and shutting them back down for at least a month. He said they will reevaluate
how the numbers look of coronavirus cases before deciding to reopen those businesses.
He also said that the first day of school will now be pushed back to August 17th, and it's another date that they continue to reevaluate.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I am Brian Todd in Washington. There appears to be a crisis within a crisis with the coronavirus pandemic.
A research group called Nephron Research now says that there is a woefully short supply of contact tracers in the United States. Those are the disease
detectives that contact an infected person and find out everyone they have been in contact with over the past several days. That's a way they can
contain the pandemic.
Experts say that each community of about 100,000 should have about 30 contact tracers. But states like Texas, Florida, and Arizona are far short
of that mark. Texas only has 11. Florida and Arizona have fewer than that.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: I am Jacqueline Howard in Atlanta. Pediatricians are pushing for kids to be physically present in school this
fall, but with precautions.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recently updated it's back to school guidance. It says attending class in person would be best for children's
learning and reduce the risk of any abuse or isolation at home, and schools should consider ways to minimize spread of the coronavirus.
The guidance mentioned social distancing, disinfecting surfaces, wearing masks, temperature checks.
Now, the Academy says these difficult discussions should start early and they may vary depending on the local dynamics of the pandemic.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I am Pete Muntean in Washington and air travel has reached a new high point in the pandemic. More than two
million people passed through security at America's airports between Thursday and Sunday, the busiest day, on Sunday.
Traffic is still a fraction of what it once was, a long slog to levels from a year ago. The most interesting thing though is that you now have a higher
chance of being on a completely full flight.
American Airlines has now joined United Airlines in saying that it will sell every seat on board its aircraft.
BRUNHUBER: China, Europe, and the United States have all been coronavirus outbreak epicenters, and now cases are now exploding in Latin America.
Mexico recorded more than 220,000 cases and Colombia is reporting its highest number of infections since the beginning of June.
CNN's Matt Rivers has more on the new epicenter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When it comes to COVID-19 in Latin America, there is a lot of bad news out there, with
many countries continuing to report significant increases in new cases and deaths, many centered on outbreaks in the regions numerous mega cities.
For example, 97 percent or so of Argentina's new cases were found in the capital, Buenos Aires as President Alberto Fernandez has reimposed a
lockdown in the region's metropolitan area. The President himself has been in isolation since June 17th due to the dangers of that increasing case
total.
Colombia has now surpassed China in its number of confirmed cases, over 3,000 more positive cases reported Sunday has the country nearing 100,000
overall. Some are calling for the reinstatement of a total lockdown as a result, after the government allowed the economy to partially reopen
earlier this month.
[11:05:15]
RIVERS (voice over): Meanwhile, Chile registered more than 4,000 new cases for the second day in a row. The country has the third most cases in Latin
America and a death toll of more than 5,500. But its Health Minister did say deaths slowed a bit Monday declaring the country is quote, "maintaining
a trend of emerging improvement."
And while COVID-19 keeps throwing punches across the continent, some smaller countries have managed to dodge the worst of it. In Uruguay, not
even a thousand cases have been registered, and schools in the capital of Montevideo welcomed students back to class on Monday.
And in what seems like the first time in a while, there's news not entirely related to coronavirus, as Mexico's President told reporters, he will go to
Washington to meet with President Trump.
There's no confirmed date yet, but President Lopez Obrador says he wants to go to mark the imminent implementation of the USMCA free trade deal, the
new agreement that's replacing NAFTA.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Matt Rivers joins us now from Mexico City. So that visit that you just mentioned, any concerns over the fact that the Mexican Finance
Minister found out that he was COVID positive, surely alarm bells must be ringing in the White House.
RIVERS: Yes, Kim, I think when you are asking if this is a good idea to have this visit or not, set aside for a moment the fact that cases are
skyrocketing in the United States, they have steadily increased here in Mexico with no real signs of things slowing down.
Put all of that aside and talk about the Mexican Finance Minister. The Mexican President has spent a lot of time recently with the Mexican Finance
Minister. The President tweeted a video of himself standing right next to the Finance Minister, not wearing a mask, not socially distanced, and it
was the Finance Minister who tested positively recently for COVID-19.
Now, the Mexican President says he has no symptoms. He says that he hasn't even taken a test at this point, but he said, Kim, that he would be willing
to consider doing so if that's what it would take to get a meeting at the White House, but you know what? These are the kinds of questions that you
have to be asking.
You have to wonder, is going all the way to Washington, meeting with another head of state during this outbreak really the best idea? I think a
lot of public health experts would tell you no.
BRUNHUBER: I think that question answers itself. All right, thanks so much, Matt Rivers from Mexico City.
Activists are vowing to fight China's new National Security Law for Hong Kong which is now in effect. China's top law making body, the National
People's Congress, passed the new law unanimously a few hours ago, but no one else is really sure what's in the legislation.
According to Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, it contains six articles and 66 clauses. It reportedly criminalizes offenses like secession and
subversion against the central Chinese government, terrorism and colluding with foreign forces.
Let's get the view from Beijing. Our David Culver joins me now. So, in the last hour, we examined this groundbreaking move from the Hong Kong
perspective, so now from Beijing's point of view, we know China has sweeping powers.
How likely is Beijing actually to use them or do you see the threat as being enough to quell the dissent?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It seems very likely, Him. They may have moved forward quite rapidly with putting this into effect. We've actually
just heard in the past few minutes from state media, Xinhua, in fact my team here in Beijing is going through what's believed to be the formal
language of this document.
So it is the first time that we're seeing this. We're combing through it right now. You mentioned four themes that they go into detail in this
document on, and that is secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces.
The last one, Kim, clearly, they're looking directly at the U.S. with that, and it is all rooted in what we saw in the past year take place in Hong
Kong. We saw many protests play out, of course, labeled as pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong and in many other parts of the world, however here in
Beijing, the perspective has been that those were riots, that they turned extremely violent, that they even incorporated in some cases, terrorist
acts.
So that language was very specific by state media here over the past year in how they were characterizing that, and it seemed to have impact
certainly with many of the folks that you see commenting, Chinese netizens online and people that you just talk to in the streets.
I mean, they seem to have very little sympathy for what's going on across the border in the territory and with those who are trying to push for more
democracy in Hong Kong. In fact, they believe Hong Kong could be fully part of China and that this will quell the chaos and the destruction that played
out there over the past 12 months or so.
As far as how exactly this will be put into action -- that remains to be seen. Because we are seeing the language and we are combing through that
right now, so we'll get a little more detail in the hours to come.
However, one of the biggest concerns and this is likely to come to fruition, is that there will be a physical presence for state security and
ministry officials within Hong Kong and they will be quickly and quite heavily monitoring the actions of those in the territory.
So, what comes of that going forward? How will they take action against the individuals who violate this new National Security Law? That is what
remains to be seen and that's something that we will be following closely.
[11:10:27]
CULVER: I should mention, in just a few hours from now, early morning Beijing time, there is going to be a news conference in which we'll get the
opportunity to ask a few more questions about this, get clarification and I'll be there, and hopefully be able to bring you some more information as
to how this will all play out -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Excellent. All right, so we'll await those details from you, David. In the meantime, you mentioned the U.S. a couple of hours ago, we
heard condemnation from the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, the U.K. also expressed its concerns about this. Does China care at all about
international opinion on this issue?
CULVER: Well, think about the timing of all this. The big distraction is the novel coronavirus outbreak. They know that other countries are dealing
with it and they know the U.S. is dealing with that on top of many other issues.
So, it seems that the timing from an international perspective, if you're worried about public relations, and China does not seem to be worried about
that, then this was playing out at the right moment.
And they also know domestically, this plays very well. They know that here, if they are continuing to exert more pressure over Hong Kong for the most
part, many of the folks will agree with that and they will see it as something that contributes to nationalism which has been growing here
recently -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, David Culver in Beijing. Thank you very much.
Just ahead on CONNECT THE WORLD, the E.U. is about to reopen to travelers, but just a handful of nationalities that will be accepted. What passports
will get you in and which won't? Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: The European Union will open back up for tourists and business travelers beginning Wednesday, but only for visitors from a handful of
country, to start though missing from that list, the United States, at least for now.
Our very well-travelled Business editor-at-large, Richard Quest joins me now from New York. So, Richard, the list pretty much what we expected in
terms of who is, who is out. We have talked at length in the past couple of days about the U.S. not making the list.
Some of the other countries, though were interesting countries, not necessarily the richest, like Algeria, and then there's China. So take us
through the list.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Right. So you've got those countries that obviously are going to get in just simply by dint of their
numbers. Australia, New Zealand, Canada, for example.
Then you've got those countries where there may be former colonial ties and different European nations, definitely wanted them in. Morocco, Tunisia,
and the like -- Rwanda.
And then you've got those that were never going to make it, but some for example, like China have been given the promise of getting in if they get
themselves together and they offer reciprocity. That's key. We give you this, we expect the same in return.
[11:15:16]
QUEST: As for the United States, there was never a racing chance that they were going to get in. The infection rate, the R rate as it is known, the
number of cases, if you look at the graph, there is no way that the U.S. was going to be allowed access this first time around. The list will be
reviewed, I'm guessing it will be several weeks, if not months, before the U.S. is allowed in.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right, well, any danger that the E.U. is breaking some diplomatic dishes here or are diplomats pretty sanguine about
all of this?
QUEST: No, of you look at what Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State said. He basically says, we don't want to do any harm in any other part of the
world. That's diplo speak for saying, all right, we recognize that you've a good cause case here. We're not going to push it. We are not going to argue
it.
And I think we need to put to bed this idea that the E.U. did this out of spite because of the U.S. unilaterally imposing its travel ban back in
march. There is solid epidemiological reasons for them to have done this, and everybody knows it.
BRUNHUBER: All right, swell. Thank you so much for that, Richard Quest in New York.
Remember, early in the pandemic when the U.S. was still relatively unscathed and no one wanted to wind up like Italy where things were out of
control and life was shut down, well, now it seems, the roles have reversed. Ben Wedeman reports on two countries going in opposite
directions.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Italy was the canary in the coronavirus coal mine. Proof that the virus would not
stay in China, I saw it firsthand.
WEDEMAN (on camera): You just need to look at the death notices here. This woman died on the 7th of March. This man died on the 8th of March. This
woman died on the 7th of March.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Americans looked on in horror. The U.S. Surgeon General warned them to take heed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: We have the same number of cases now that Italy had two weeks ago, and we have a choice to make. Do we want
to really lean into social distancing and mitigation strategies and flatten the curve or do we just want to keep going on with business as usual and
end up being Italy?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN (voice over): Comparing the two countries from the start of their respective outbreaks, it's clear American cases spread much faster.
Today Italy has flattened its curve, the United States has not, and while the death rate in Italy was slightly higher, American health experts say
it's just a lagging indicator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ASHISH JHA DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: It has turned out that America took it even less seriously than Italy. And while we did
lock down maybe a little earlier, we just -- we didn't sustain the lockdown. We didn't really ramp up our testing as much as we needed and
then we opened up way too early and way too aggressively.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN (voice over): Just like Italy before them, some American hospitals are now running out of beds reliving Italy's mistakes. But the government
in Rome took on a centralized response.
"We managed," the Prime Minister says, "To get through the lockdown because we developed a national plan."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JHA: What we have right now in the United States is a President and a Federal government that has decided to throw in the towel and let ever
state figure this out on their own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN (voice over): Life in Rome is slowly returning to normal. The cafe is crowded with patrons sipping aperitif.
WEDEMAN (on camera): Why didn't the United States see what was happening here and learn those lessons?
DR. WALTER RICCIARDI, ITALIAN REPRESENTATIVE TO W.H.O. EXECUTIVE BOARD: Very difficult to understand.
WEDEMAN (voice over): Dr. Walter Ricciardi advised the Italian government throughout the crisis. He has confidence in American scientists, America's
leaders maybe not so much.
RICCIARDI: Some of the best researchers and professionals in the United States. I think some decision makers underestimating the severity of this
disease.
WEDEMAN (voice over): Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: In the U.K., officials imposed lockdown on the City of Leicester as it grapples with a spike in coronavirus cases. The numbers are
especially high among children and the city has an overall infection rate three times higher than nearby areas.
CNN's Phil Black tells us about the nation's first local lockdown which starts today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is not good news for people of Leicester. The city must roll back deeper into lockdown just as
the rest of the U.K. is emerging from COVID-19 restrictions. What it means is that nonessential shops, really much of the retail sector which was only
allowed to reopen a couple of weeks ago has had to shut again.
And the bars, pubs, restaurants, and hair salons which had been preparing for their big return this weekend had been told, sorry, you'll have to
wait.
Life is on Leicester is on hold again for at least two weeks. The advice to people here is eerily familiar, stay home wherever possible.
[11:20:22]
BLACK: The reason for all of this is a spike in transmission. The government has been quoting figures which it says indicates that the virus
spread has been bucking the national trend here. It is still growing. It says 10 percent of recent positive test results in England were recorded
here in Leicester.
We have been speaking to shop owners, some of whom are angry and frustrated, who believe this new lockdown is an unnecessary overreaction;
others although frustrated believe that it is the right move to ensure public safety.
All share a powerful hope that it won't be necessary for longer than the next two weeks.
This city is now a case study, an experiment to help Britain understand how these local outbreaks happen and how they can be fixed. It is the U.K.'s
first local lockdown, but unlikely to be the last as the British economy reopens while virus is still in circulation.
Phil Black, CNN, in Leicester, Central England.
BRUNHUBER: Build, build, build. That's the theme in Boris Johnson's plan to help Britain's economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic. It
involves spending more than $6 billion in part to fund infrastructure projects like hospitals, parks, and schools.
In a speech earlier, the British Prime Minister likened his plan to the New Deal launched by the 32nd U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt in the wake
of the Great Depression.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I am conscious as I say all of this that it sounds like a prodigious amount of government intervention. It
sounds like a new deal. And all I can say is, if that is so, then that is how it is meant to sound and how it is meant to be because that is what the
times demand.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All right, now, our Nic Robertson joins us live from London with more on the government's new measure. So, a new measure as skeptics
wonder how much of this grand plan is actually new money.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the Prime Minister said it is part of existing money. $1.8 billion on hospitals, $1.2
billion on schools, more than $100 billion on road infrastructure, more than $12 million in rail infrastructure as well.
I think people in this country will recognize that this is a theme that the Prime Minister talked about before, if we go back pre-pandemic to the
elections, the Prime Minister then was talking about investing in the health service, investing in the schools, investing in social care,
investing in the transport infrastructure in the country to level the country up, to help make the north and other parts of the country as
prosperous as the south.
And really, he is returning to that message, but it is with an urgency and with another message on top of it, and that is that coming out of the
pandemic, it is clear that jobs are going to be lost in the country. This is the time with low interest rates he said to borrow money, to spend that
money now in these areas to provide jobs for people to turn to if they've lost their original employment.
So this is something that's being done with urgency and that was something that the Prime Minister spoke about as well, and he gave the impression
when he talked about doing this with speed, building better, building greener, building faster, he gave the impression that he wants to cut down
bureaucracy, cut down red tape. He said that specifically.
And there, I think we understand that he means looking at how government works, looking at the civil service infrastructure here. That bureaucracy
and how he can move faster that again, one of the Prime Minister's themes.
So, he is trying to get beyond COVID-19, look beyond that, as he said, a short, middle, and long term strategy here.
BRUNHUBER: I mean, the U.K. economy obviously harder hit than many, but hearing that speech there evoking FDR's new deal for conservative, evoking
a socialist like FDR, is that surprising?
ROBERTSON: Well, the Prime Minister realized that it would be surprising. I mean, I think, obviously, he likes that comparison with the new deal,
that he'd draw attention to that.
But in relative terms, in terms size of the -- the economic size, it doesn't compare. The intent compares precisely, but I think what the Prime
Minister wanted to make sure was that the audience wasn't left thinking that he had sort of returned -- that he would turn to sort of some hidden
socialist roots, because he said, I'm not a communist.
So, I think the Prime Minister there is trying to sort of put in people's minds what has been done before through history, if we go back, FDR in the
30s, but also looking to what the Labour government did in 2008 during the economic crisis then, it helped stimulate jobs, new jobs, 100,000 new jobs.
The scale of what this government has to do is much bigger.
[11:25:25]
ROBERTSON: So this is the path the Prime Minister is going down, one of great intervention that you might have expected from conservatives, but he
believes that this is the way to rebuild the economy.
BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks for that analysis. Nic Robertson in London.
Still ahead, the U.S. President is under fire over hundreds of phone calls with foreign leaders. Why some senior officials say these conversations
make Donald Trump a national security risk. That's next.
And Israeli plans to plow ahead with its expansion plans with the blessing of the U.S. President, but will those plans slam the doors on the peace
process? We'll take a look.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: In Washington, shocking new developments over the U.S. President's potential threat to the safety of his own country. Both White
House and Intelligence officials tell CNN that Donald Trump was so unprepared for highly classified phone calls with world leaders that
several senior members of his administration considered him a danger to national security.
Sources say he fawned over foreign adversaries like the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, bullying
some American allies, particularly female leaders. Mr. Trump reportedly told British Prime Minister, Theresa May she was weak and called German
Chancellor, Angela Merkel stupid.
American journalist, Carl Bernstein says the President continually pushed his own personal interests in these phone calls and not those of the United
States.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: His calls with Putin, he was almost slavishly seeking Putin's approval, trying to prop himself up.
Trump is a great businessman, demeaning his predecessors -- George Bush and Barack Obama -- in foul terms, vulgar language, calling them incompetent.
But now that he, Trump, was there, that they could deal directly.
But the overall tenor of the calls as well as the specifics of them show the President of the United States in terms of allies, bullying them,
almost sadistically dealing with women on the call, mainly Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and Theresa May, the Prime Minister of Great
Britain, those calls with those women are described in almost sadistic terms by the sources.
A spokesman for the German Embassy here in the United States confirmed that those calls are very aggressive and problematic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:30:15]
BRUNHUBER: And these latest revelations come as a source says Mr. Trump was indeed briefed on Intel involving Russia offering bounties for killing
U.S. troops. The White House still denies it knew about the Intel.
Israelis Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to press forward with plans to annex parts of the West Bank as early as Wednesday. Mr.
Netanyahu campaigned on a promise to extend the reach of Israeli sovereignty into parts of the West Bank.
The pledge given full backing from U.S. President Trump, but the U.N., E.U., Russia, China, and Arab leaders all oppose unilateral annexation.
CNN's Oren Lieberman has details from Jerusalem.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): What began as a campaign promise has turned into a political mission. Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is poised to press forward with Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: Applying Israeli law to areas of Judea and Samaria that will remain part of Israel in any future peace
deal will not set back the cause of peace. It will advance peace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): In September, Netanyahu vowed to annex the Jordan Valley. More recently, he has talked about annexing Jewish settlements,
something he hadn't seriously pursued in his previous 12 years in office.
At the time, he was looking to win over rightwing votes, but he won over the White House, too. The Trump administration's plan for Middle East
peace, a departure from decades of U.S. policy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NETANYAHU: Israel will not miss this opportunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): But few if any conditions on unilateral Israeli annexation. Palestinians remain defiant, refusing to even consider the
White House's plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAEB ERAKAT, SECRETARY GENERAL, PLO: President Trump, doctrine is that nations are born to be strong or to find strong nations to protect them.
The jungle has laws, chaos has order, but this doctrine is the mother of all chaos and lawlessness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): In the midst of a global pandemic and an economic meltdown, Israel is plowing ahead.
Meanwhile, the international consensus has crystallized. The European Union is weighing measures against Israel with more countries considering
recognizing the State of Palestine. Arab states have warned of protests and a freeze to thawing relations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKOLAI MLADENOV, U.N. SPECIAL COORDINATOR, MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS: All the progress that you've seen, and exchanges and openings could be
undermined by one simple step.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): And the U.N. has reiterated that applying sovereignty over occupied territory is a violation of international law
capable of triggering another wave of violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MLADENOV: Another explosion, another wall that would happen here would be a terrible, terrible tragedy. Not just a human tragedy but a failure of
leadership on all sides.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): Israeli protests against annexation have grown, backed by the peace camp and by many of Israel's vaunted military
commanders. The risk is too great, they warn. The reward, too small.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMOS GILEAD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR POLICY AND STRATEGY, IPS: History will not forgive us if we are going to endanger our national security by opening
so many fronts, political, strategic, international law. The United States maybe in a few months, the E.U. -- the whole world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN (voice over): Arab anger over the Trump administration recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or moving the embassy was
somewhat muted. Proponents of annexation say it will be again.
But those were only changes of U.S. foreign policy. Annexation is an unprecedented Israeli move, a game changer in a situation that doesn't
respond well to major changes.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Brazil has been the worst hit country in Latin America by coronavirus. Officials are still reporting tens of thousands of new cases
each day. More than 1.3 million people have been infected across the country. The death toll there stands at 58,000.
Even so, some areas are trying to restart the economy as Shasta Darlington reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN REPORTER: Brazil reported just over 24,000 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday as the total number of infections edged toward
1.5 million. It also reported 692 additional deaths.
Despite warnings from international organizations that the pandemic has yet to peek in Brazil and throughout Latin America, several Brazilian cities
continue to relax restrictions, egged on by President Jair Bolsonaro.
The President has clashed with governors and even his own health ministers, who have supported quarantine measures.
Now, Rio de Janeiro is preparing to reopen bars, restaurants and gyms this week and private schools next week, even though the number of new
infections has not slowed and the rate of contagion has gone up since the state allowed stores and offices to reopen.
Experts warn a second wave could force Rio to close down again.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paolo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: South Africa, by far the hardest his country on the African continent has converted a huge recreational center in Capetown into a
COVID-19 field hospital. Our David McKenzie spoke to a coordinator with Doctors Without Borders about the situation there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: People were predicting a catastrophe in places like the Cape Flats and Khayelitsha. Has it happened
and, at this stage, will it happen?
DR. CLAIRE KEENE, MEDICAL COORDINATOR, MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES: Even our best models weren't able to predict what we're seeing now, and we
definitely have a lower peak than what we'd expected, but it looks like it will go on for longer.
MCKENZIE: So this is a marathon?
KEENE: This is a marathon. And I think people need to get a reality check and accept that this is here and that it's not going to go away anytime
soon.
We've used the time well, and we -- but we were always going to question ourselves, did we use it enough? Did we do enough with the time that we
were given during lockdown, during when the epidemic slowed? Every death is heavy on the healthcare workers that worked to save that person's life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: South Africa has recorded more than 144,000 cases of coronavirus and 2,500 deaths.
The King of Belgium acknowledges a difficult period in history, but will it satisfy activists? We have the story and the reaction.
And later, companies continue pulling ads from Facebook, but can they really force the social media giant to change its policies?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: The King of Belgium hopes a letter to the Democratic Republic of Congo can heal very old wounds. King Philippe expressed deepest regret
to the President of Congo for the suffering inflicted on the country when it was under Belgium's control.
From 1885 until 1908, Belgian King, Leopold II exploited and treated the Congolese people brutally. They then became a colony, and eventually got
independence in 1960.
Scott McLean has just returned from Belgium where he met a young activist there demanding change. You did a great story, Scott about him and his
quest to get those statues of Leopold taken down. You've heard from him since the King sent that letter. What did he have to say?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim, so first, just a little bit of context on this letter which was sent to the Congolese President from the
Belgian King who acknowledged the acts of violence and cruelty and the suffering and humiliation of colonial rule.
[11:40:06]
MCLEAN: He did stop short of an apology, but it is really hard to understate the importance of this letter. Really, it is the closest thing
that Congo has gotten to an apology from the Royal family in 60 years. The worst atrocities were committed under King Leopold II who sent private
troops to enslave the local population, amputations of hands and feet were not uncommon, and historians think that at least a half million people
died, though the true number is probably much, much higher.
Yet today, there are statues of Leopold II dotted all over Belgium. The effort to take them down is being led by that 14-year-old boy that you
mentioned who now has more than 82,000 signatures on a petition. I spoke with him earlier today to get his reaction to the King's comments. LISten.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOAH, CAMPAIGNER TO REMOVE LEOPOLD II STATUES (through translator): We are happy it is the first step. We are happy that he recognizes what he did and
the King and his family recognize all of the things that happened in Congo.
During this time, 1808 to 1908, it was a private property of their family, of Leopold II, and not Belgians. So, I don't think all the blame can be put
on Belgium.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLEAN: So, after King Leopold II's rule, Belgium obviously took control of the colony, ruled it for more than 50 years, and in recent decades,
Belgium has been quick to emphasize brighter spots of its time in Congo, but really have done a pretty good job of burying the darker chapters until
now.
Just two weeks ago, the Belgian Parliament approved the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or a national inquiry into the colonial sins
that Belgium committed in the Congo. The exact scope of that commission though is still yet to be determined, should be shortly.
The bottom line for activists, though, is that this commission, an apology, taking down statues, all of those are really just first steps in what will
surely be a long road to reconciliation -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: And along that road, part of the problem is the evils of colonial history aren't being taught right now, so is there any concrete
move to sort of reimagine the curricula in Belgian schools?
MCLEAN: That's likely one of the things that will be examined by this commission, which is quite stunning that in the year 2020, there is no
national mandate for students to be taught about this chapter in their history.
It may be taught in some schools by some teachers, but there is no across the board standards as to what students learn and how much of it they
actually go through with.
And so many politicians and many activists, they want to change that, and think that, you know, increasing the levels of education about this time
would go a long way towards making amends.
Part of the problem, I spoke with one MP who told me that, look, Belgium has sort of swept this under the rug for the last few decades, part of it
is they haven't really had a lot of recent migration from Africa. It has only showed up in about the last 30 years or so.
And the other part is that a lot of Belgians, their parents, grandparents, maybe they have fond memories of going to Congo and doing humanitarian
work, building schools, working in hospitals, things like that.
And so, the concern this MP told me is that perhaps some of that good work might be lost if we focused so much on the bad. But her point was look, we
can talk about good things, we can talk about the bad things, but all of it needs to be out there on the table for examination so that Belgium can
learn from it. It is a lesson that's long overdue.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. All right. Thanks so much. Scott McLean in London.
Starbucks, Adidas, Microsoft, Unilever, Coca-Cola, Levi-Strauss, pharmacy giant - Pfizer -- the list of companies boycotting Facebook keeps getting
longer. The #StopHateForProfit campaign call on companies to pull advertising for the month of July, hoping to pressure Facebook into
managing hateful content posted on the platform.
But some companies like Starbucks and Diageo have pulled advertising from social media indefinitely. So joining us now is Mike Ananny in Healdsburg,
California. He is an Associate Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California.
So, in the last couple of days, we've focused on the financial aspects of the story. So, let's turn to a less discussed angle of the story. Common
Sense Media, one of the organizations behind the boycott campaign, they're also asking the E.U. for Facebook to be regulated, presumably like
traditional media. Is that possible, much less advisable?
I think we lost Mike. We'll try to get him back later. He is back now. Mike.
MIKE ANANNY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AND JOURNALISM-UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Yes. I can hear you again.
[11:45:10]
BRUNHUBER: Okay, good. Did you happen to hear my question?
ANANNY: I did, yes. I think we have got this situation. We've got a small handful of companies that are controlling the vast majority of the
advertising market, how businesses are run, how social life works, how elections work.
So, I think regulation is exactly the right moment here and I think that there's a lot that could be done. We're at the really baby and early stages
of what public oversight could look like, beyond what these sort of boycotts and market solutions are having.
BRUNHUBER: But then more specifically, what would that look like? How would a public oversight actually work?
ANANNY: Right. There's a few things that researchers and journalists suggested that really haven't been tried yet. I mean, the first and most
obvious is to provide far greater access and transparency to how platforms work.
These are companies that have massive data infrastructures, algorithms that often they don't even understand how exactly that they work. We don't
actually know much about how those systems work, so we could have a lot more oversight, insight, access into how the systems work for journalists,
for regulators, for academics. That's sort of an easy step one to do.
Another one though is that a lot of platforms rely on massive algorithmic personalization of content. The kind of content that prevents you seeing
one thing in your feed that your friend might see in their feed.
We know that that kind of personalization and that kind of automatic tailoring of content can often make your worlds smaller. It can make you
not be able to see things that maybe you need to see. So, we could revisit and really look at what personalization means and actually potentially put
bans on particular kinds of personalization.
We have not tried very strong taxes on platforms with the understanding that these are almost public utilities these days. These are not behaving
like newspapers and television stations. These are more behaving like public utilities where we don't have the option to opt out.
And finally, one of the last things that really has been talked about but hasn't been tried is about the question of scale. So, how might antitrust
and anti-monopoly sort of regulations be applied to companies when you look at Facebook and Google for instance with close to 90 percent of advertising
market share.
It's really impossible for a newcomer, for a new company to come into the space and compete. So these languages of competition and sort of a market
solution kind of aren't working, and we're realizing every day that they are not working, so we need to think about solutions that would provide
that.
BRUNHUBER: But scale is part of the problem here. We look and see that a third of the world is on Facebook. Facebook said that they see some three
million postings a day that are classified as hate speech, so trying to eliminate all of that is surely impossible. How could you regulate that?
ANANNY: Well, I think one of the things that could happen is to provide better incentives to companies to build better content moderation systems,
to be hiring more people, to be paying those people well, to be compensating them and providing good mental health and PTSD protection for
those people. Companies could be doing a lot more in that realm.
The other is that a lot of this is sort of invisible. I mean, it sounds silly to say, but a lot of people don't know that Facebook owns Instagram
or that Google owns YouTube. So there's actually sort of a very -- a hidden or not so hidden, but sort of invisible relationship among companies.
So the scale problem is even worse in a way than it seems like. We actually have far fewer actors and fewer companies than we think we might.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Well, certainly a huge problem with no easy solution, but interesting to contemplate some of the things that you
posited there. Thanks so much, Mike Ananny live in Califorina.
ANANNY: Thanks, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Major sports leagues around the U.S. are set to return after a long layoff due to coronavirus. So just exactly what are their plans to
keep players safe? We'll discuss that just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:53]
BRUNHUBER: How can sports be played in the era of coronavirus? American leagues are trying to figure that out right now. Don Riddell has more on
that -- Don.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi, Kim. Thanks very much. This summer, obviously should have been fantastic for sports fans with the European
football championships and the Olympics keeping us all of entertained, of course, they were both were postponed because of coronavirus.
Many of Europe's domestic football leagues returned, but will soon be over. Meaning all eyes therefore will focus on the major leagues in the United
States. Here is what is supposed to happen.
Major League Soccer, Major League Baseball and the NBA all have dates penciled for a July return. The NHL is also expected to come back sometime
next month, and the NFL has a start date for September 10th in Kansas City, where the Chiefs are the reigning Super Bowl champions.
But with new and worrying spikes of COVID-19 cases in various parts of the country and athletes also now testing positive, can and will those plans
remain in place? CNN correspondent Carolyn Manno joins us live from Orlando, actually where both the MLS and NBA seasons are set to be played
out. Carolyn, what do you think, how is this all going to work?
CAROLYN MANNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Leave it to you, Don, to ask the million dollar question. I think that's what everybody is wondering.
As far as the MLS is concerned, that tournament style return that you just highlighted on July 8th is very significant because along with the NWSL
those are rally the first full contact leagues to return to full play here on domestic soil.
As far as the NBA is concerned, that is a much a larger undertaking. You're talking about a bubble down at Walt Disney World here in Orlando with well
over a thousand people in it.
And despite that that the NBA has sent a very detailed memo, over a hundred pages of safety protocol, you would have to think that with numbers that
size, it's almost inevitable that somebody, a player, a player's family member is going to contract this virus, particularly because there will be
employees coming in and out, as much as the league is going to try to keep them away from players.
So, long story short, the stakes here are very high for all of the leagues, top to bottom, making decisions to come back to play in the middle of a
crisis.
When you think about what the NBA is doing, Adam Silver has a reputation for being progressive. He has made a lot of decisions that you could think
about as controversial, but this is certainly going to be one of the most important of his career. How do you weigh safety of thousands of people
versus quite frankly, the monetary issue here, which is that these leagues need to make money?
So, it is a lot to think about and process for these league, not to mention the fact that racism, police brutality, social injustice, those issues are
at the forefront of all the players and have been for weeks now, and the NBA wants to make that a priority as well.
They're working with the players association to paint Black Lives Matter on all of the courts that are going to be played on once the season does
resume down here in Orlando.
There's talk of player's jerseys being able to have different messages of social justice on the back as well if players choose to do that. So the NBA
walking a very fine line here between trying to satiate the player's desire to use this platform to continue the discussion of social change, to also
bring everything back in a safe way, and to make a little bit of money here so that the league doesn't really suffer years down the line.
RIDDELL: Not everybody feels comfortable returning though, or wants to return. Baseball is coming back soon, some players reporting to camp after
what for them has been a long, drawn out battle over their finances.
But some have much more important things on their minds, several players taking their families as a priority now, not their profession, not their
sport.
And the Rockies, Ian Desmond put something on Instagram that was incredibly powerful and poignant. What did he say?
MANNO: Yes, he wrote a very sincere message essentially describing all of the things that are weighing on him right now, which is what you're seeing
with athletes in every league across the world.
He essentially wrote a nine-page letter explaining how both coronavirus and the Black Lives Matter movement have weighed into this decision to opt out
of the season, to step away, which is certainly not a small decision to make.
He said his priority really needs to be with his family right now. Part of what he said was essentially that he has questions to answer. He has to be
a dad. He said, "Home is where I need to be right now. Home for my wife, Chelsea. Home to help. Home to guide. Home to answer my older three boys'
questions about coronavirus and civil rights and life. Home to be their dad."
[11:55:24]
MANNO: He also highlighted a multitude of issues that he thinks Major League Baseball needs to deal with, Don. At the top of the list was that he
feels that there is not enough racial diversity as well.
So, I think it really showed you is that these athletes are very much human and they are processing the things that are plaguing us as a country just
like everybody else is, and it is not just about money for them. There are a lot of health and safety concerns and social concerns as well.
RIDDELL: It is an incredible time, isn't it? Carolyn Manno, thanks very much.
Meanwhile, if you're looking for a European football fix today, then there are some really big teams and games happening. We have got a huge clash in
Spain. Second place Barcelona at home to third place, Atletico in Madrid. Barcelona cannot afford to slip up because they are two points behind Royal
Madrid and only six games left to play.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi, their megastar is on the verge of 700 career goals. That could happen today.
As the Real league leaders, Juventus are away at Genoa and could extend their league at the top of the table to seven points for the win. And
Manchester United have looked pretty good since before and returning from lockdown, a win against Brighton today would take them closer to a
champions league spot as they hope to extend their unbeaten run to 15 games. I suspect we'll talk about some of that at the same time tomorrow.
Kim, for now though, back to you.
BRUNHUBER: That's right, and still an open question as to how many of those Champions League spots will be available depending on results of that
Manchester City ban.
And finally, another blow for the box office, hoping to lure audiences back to the big screen, Disney's live action film "Mulan" has been pushed back
from its July debut to August 21st. There are about 780 theaters open across the U.S., but attendance is down with many people still choosing to
watch movies from home.
Big box office markets like New York and California haven't yet set dates to reopen their theaters.
Well, that's CONNECT THE WORLD for this hour. I am Kim Brunhuber. Thanks for watching. Please stay with CNN.
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