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CNN NEWSROOM
U.S. Death Toll Surpasses 100,000; Trump Silent On U.S. Surpassing 100,000 COVID-19 Deaths; Trump To Announce Executive Order Against Social Media; Protests Intensifies In Minnesota Over George Floyd's Death; China Expected To Approve Security Law For Hong Kong; The Devastating Story Behind the U.S. COVID-19 Death Toll; Economic Fallout Hitting U.S. Small Business Owners; Ethics of Profiting from a Vaccine the World Needs; Latin America Now the Outbreak's Epicenter; SpaceX Postpones Historic Mission Due to Bad Weather; Troy Deeney Shares Concerns over Premier League Restart. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired May 28, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Studio 7 at CNN's World Headquarters in Atlanta. Ahead this hour from we've got this under control to 100,000 dead in just over 100 days. And from a grieving nation, it seems the incompetent in chief with a public fight with Twitter, rather than talking about these staggering death toll. Also, protest turning violent in the U.S. State of Minnesota with demand for justice for a black man who died in police custody. And as China prepares to tighten its grip on Hong Kong, U.S. makes a stunning announcement that could further destabilize this.
February 6th, the first death from the Coronavirus was recorded in the U.S. Later that same month, the President reassured the nation the virus would disappear by April. The outbreak was under control, he said. It did not disappear and it never was under control. In just over 100 days, more than 100,000 people in the U.S. have died. Significantly more than any other country and close to a third of the worldwide death toll. Those who died are someone's mother or father, their brother or sister, a friend, a work colleague, chances are they died alone. Notably, the President who often sees the world through numbers like profit margins and opinion polls, has been silent about this death toll on his watch.
New York Times has this context. The pandemic death toll of 100,000 is the equivalent of 22 Iraqi wars, 33 September 11 terror attacks, 41 wars in Afghanistan, 42 Pearl Harbors, 25,000 attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. Still, the entire country is now in the process of reopening. A collective roll of the dice that will be done right. Because if it's not, chances are it will cause another outbreak possibly many times worse. We get the very latest now from CNN's Nick Watt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In L.A. today, you can walk
into any store again after nearly 10 weeks, but now with a mask.
ERIC GARCETTI, MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: We're not moving beyond COVID-19. But we're learning to live with it.
WATT: Long Island also reopening today, just 74 deaths reported in New York State today, down from over 800 a day in early April.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): When you've gone through what we have gone through, it's a sign that we're headed in the right direction.
WATT: New York City still a few weeks away and expect more of this, sidewalk dining this summer.
BILL DE BLASIO, MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: But even with that, we got a lot to figure out in terms of social distancing, face coverings, protocols.
WATT: The projected U.S. death toll was just dropped about 11,000 by those well-known University of Washington modelers. They say because many of us are wearing masks, but not all.
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: That's not prudent and that's inviting a situation that could get out of control.
WATT: Caesars in Vegas will open next week. Visitors strongly encouraged to mask up. The Bellagio, New York New York and the MGM Grand will also open that same day. SeaWorld Orlando now hopes to open in two weeks, anyone over 2 must be masked. Disney World now planning to open about a month later, mid-July at reduced capacity, and none of those crowd magnet parades or fireworks.
FAUCI: The best news of public health is that we are seeing in certain areas, a significant plateauing and diminution. That's sort of sobered by the fact that another areas, unfortunately, we are seeing some uptick.
WATT: New case counts are now falling in the likes of Texas, Michigan and those hard-hit northeastern states, but steeply up in Alabama, Arkansas and West Virginia. Also still creeping up in California, which just joined New York, New Jersey, and Illinois, as the states with over 100,000 cases each. And where L.A. County just unveiled a possible plan for schools come to fall, staggered start times everyone masked and teachers, not students, moving between classrooms.
GARCETTI: Living in the in between is not where anybody wants to be. But it's better than living in the -- completely in the shadows or running too fast simply to the light.
WATT: Of course, we won't know the full impact of all this opening for quite some time. But here in L.A. County, they estimate that there are now an extra 2 million people moving around to the stores, houses of worship and offices that are now open. Let's say two percent of them are infected. That's another 40,000 people moving around Los Angeles, potentially spreading this virus, which is why masks and distancing continue to be key. Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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VAUSE: Joining us now from San Francisco is Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, an internal medicine specialist and founder of endwellproject.org. Thank you for being with us. The narrative that we're hearing from many experts seems to be shifting towards an untold cautious turn that even if there is a vaccine, whenever that is, it doesn't mean the virus will disappear. He's part of a report from the Washington Post. Experts call such diseases endemic, stubbornly resisting efforts to stamp them out. Think measles, HIV chickenpox. "It's a daunting proposition -- a Coronavirus-tinged world without a foreseeable end."
So, if we're going to live with the virus, we'll have to make some significant changes to the way we live and judging by what we've seen over the last couple of weeks, with people crowded on o beaches and water parks and bars, as well as clubs. Well, it seemed that most if not many people have not come to terms with this yet.
DR. SHOSHANA UNGERLEIDER, FOUNDER, ENDWELLPROJECT.ORG: Yes, you know, I think that's right. You know, I'm not sure that we're ever going to get back to what, you know, people are considering to be this pre- virus normalcy, where we can go out to bars, hang out at the beach without thinking about our actions. We didn't take aggressive measures early enough. So, in other countries, countries like New Zealand that started very early on with social distancing. And they'll hopefully be able to contain things like outbreaks which are essentially inevitable at this point, given that we've really reopened society without clear, straightforward guidelines on how to do that. So, I'm very concerned about the public health ramifications of the current situation.
VAUSE: I'm wondering if we should stop thinking about safety as a binary choice. Total isolation equals total safety, anything less equals not safe at all. Maybe thinking about a gradient or a spectrum of risk. You know, beach with people spaced out or proper distance is a whole lot safer than a crowded restaurant or a bar.
UNGERLEIDER: Yes, I think that's right, John. The virus is here. It's in every state, it will be for a long time. And I think part of the confusion that we've seen valuating personal risk is that -- is that states, of course, have reopened and haven't had clear guidelines from the federal government for citizens about how to evaluate their own personal risk. I think everybody needs to know that their -- that their personal risk depends on their age, their underlying health conditions, the age of the health of the people that live in their homes. And then, of course, the prevalence of the virus in their area. And then the precautions that you take when you -- when you leave your home.
I think there's no such thing as a zero-risk outing. However, we do need to take these personal sort of nuanced calculated risks as we venture out. We've seen that it takes just one infected person to launch a whole new outbreak. We saw this in one Washington State when the choir gathering came together, where only one infected person gave COVID to 90 percent of the group. So, I think it's very important to recognize that our actions really matter and that our behavior -- how we choose to behave really will have an impact for ourselves, for our -- for our families, for our neighbors and our communities.
VAUSE: And part of that is being obviously aware of where we are because places which have documented where the virus has spread includes your choir practice, exercise classes, religious services, birthday parties, funerals, nursing homes, conventions, nightclubs, meatpacking plants, prisons, of course, cruise ships, as well. You know, documented cases of outdoor transmission are almost nonexistent.
But we also have this new research now, which has found "increasing evidence suggests the six foot WHO recommendation is likely not enough under many indoor conditions, where aerosols can remain airborne for hours accumulate over time, and follow air flows over distances further than six feet." Which means if we're indoors in a poorly- ventilated room. And if no one's wearing a mask, that's a great idea if you want to get sick. And what this comes down to is just how important wearing a mask is.
UNGERLEIDER: That's right, John. We know close-quarters indoors are the highest risk places. My colleague Dr. Atul Gawande has talked about what we can actually learn from hospitals when we think about reopening schools, offices, places that are -- that tend to be densely populated indoors, of course. And it's a four-step approach. It starts with good hand hygiene. So washing and sanitizing the hands, wearing masks to reduce transmission, meaning I protect you, you protect me, distancing, using barriers, limiting the number of people who can sit in a classroom or a conference room.
And then, of course, it's also symptom screening. So, asking each person before they walk in the door if they have any worrisome symptoms. So, I think it's important to note that each one of these things on their own isn't enough that all four measures really need to be done together for us to be able to safely, you know, reopen places that are indoors. It's worked in hospitals to reduce transmissions and this four-phase approach really should be -- should be used going forward.
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VAUSE: I'd like you to listen to Dr. Fauci here on the second chances, or the inevitability, rather, of a second wave. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: It could happen. But it is not inevitable. If we do the kinds of things that we're putting in place now, to have the workforce, the system and the will to do the kinds of things that are the clear and effective identification, isolation and contact tracing, we can prevent this second wave that we're talking about if we do it correctly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Dr. Fauci is talking about all the preventative measures which are being put in place, but what about all these other things we're doing, like anti mask protests and reopening economies without adequate precautions, and so many people especially here in the south, following the President's example, not wearing a mask, that would seem to make a second wave almost a certain bed.
UNGERLEIDER: That's right, John. That, I agree. And if -- and if the last few weeks and months has shown us anything, a second round of COVID-19 cases is very likely in the coming months, unfortunately. We know this virus is so contagious; it spreads very quickly from person to person. It's all across the U.S. I'm concerned actually of the combination of a second wave of COVID coinciding with flu season, coming up, could make this much worse and potentially create a lot of confusion because of the overlap in symptoms, actually, between COVID and the flu. And this is going to put a heavy strain on the already taxed healthcare system.
So, we actually need to be preparing for this now. Healthcare facilities need to be stocking up on PPE and testing supplies, and our city and state officials as well as the public need to prepare and understand that we may quickly have to reissue stay-at-home orders when local outbreaks start occurring. So, I think it is true that our behavior matters. If and if right now we can encourage everyone we know to wear masks, to stay at home if you're able to. And if you need to venture out, really think hard about your own personal risk for infection.
VAUSE: Yes. Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider, thank you so much for being with us. I really appreciate your insights and your opinions. Thank you.
UNGERLEIDER: Thank you.
VAUSE: President Trump has made no mention, no comment, no tweet about the U.S. death toll from COVID-19. There has been no moment of silence, no lowering of flags on government buildings. Instead, Donald Trump flew to the Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday for another less controversial moment of history. CNN's Kaitlan Collins is traveling with the President and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump was on his way to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida today, when the first scheduled launch from American soil was abruptly scrapped. The SpaceX rocket was scheduled to take off at 4:33 p.m. Eastern, but the moment that hasn't happened in nearly a decade all came down to the weather. Vice President Mike Pence was also on hand, highlighting a Trump administration priority to revitalize the U.S. space program.
Before he left Washington, the President lashed out at Twitter after the social media company slapped fact checks on his tweets about mail- in voting. Twitter added a blue link to get the facts about mail-in ballots, after Trump claimed without evidence that they would cause substantial election fraud. In response, Trump threatened to strongly regulate or close down social media platforms that he claims are silencing conservatives. "We saw what they attempted to do and failed in 2016. We can't let a more sophisticated version of that happen again." For years, Twitter has been criticized for allowing some world leaders to spread misinformation unchecked, but Trump and his aides say he's being unfairly targeted.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: Relying upon the same people, attack them all day long to, quote, fact-check them.
COLLINS: The President responded by repeating his claims about mail-in voting and also continues To promote a baseless murder conspiracy about the anchor Joe Scarborough. Liz Cheney, one of the top House Republicans said the President needs to stop. "He's the commander in chief of this nation, and it's causing great pain to the family of the young woman who died. So, I would urge him to stop it."
The Wall Street Journal editorial board echoed that criticism and said Trump was smearing Scarborough and said he was debasing his office and hurting the country in doing so. Shortly after he left the Kennedy Space Center, the President did confirm that he will be coming back for that second launch, a second attempted launch we should say on Saturday here. That's going to be a little bit earlier than it was scheduled for on Thursday. The President says he will be attending and obviously the White House is hoping that one will be much more successful. Kaitlan Collins, CNN traveling with the President in Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And the U.S. President not backing away from his threat to shut down Twitter, which for the first time fact-checked his tweets on Tuesday. The White House says details of an executive order against social media companies will be announced in the coming hours. It's unclear if this move, whatever it is, is even legal.
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Twitter has now explained why it's flagging Trump's tweets about voting by mail, saying, it's part of efforts to enforce Twitter's civic integrity policy because it believes those tweets could confuse voters, but what they need to do to receive a ballot and participate in the election process. And the man who challenged Donald Trump for the presidency in November was talking about the U.S. death toll, this grim milestone. In a video message posted on Twitter, Vice President Joe Biden looked directly at the camera and addressed those who have lost relatives and friends.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To all of you who are hurting so badly, I'm so sorry for your loss. I know there's nothing I or anyone else can say or do to dull the sharpness of the pain you feel right now. But I can promise you from experience the day will come when the memory of your loved one will bring a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes. My prayer for all of you is that day will come sooner rather than later. But I promise you it will come, and when it does, and know you can make it. God bless each and every one of you. And the blessed memory of the one you lost. This nation grieves with you. Take some solace from the fact we all grieve with you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But in sympathetic tone was in stark contrast to the President. He spent Wednesday publicly feuding with Twitter. Well, protests in the U.S. State of Minnesota have continued well into the night. Hundreds demanding justice for George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody. Protesters have been seen throwing rocks, bottles, and Molotov cocktails. Officers responded with rubber bullets, flash bombs and tear gas. The governor is calling this situation extremely dangerous. CNN's Sara Sidner has been reporting from the midst of these protests.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the police department, the third precinct here in Minneapolis. They have created a barrier around the particular precinct that some of the windows have been smashed into. They've been battling back and forth with protesters, many of them throwing water bottles, and police responding with beanies and responding by shooting tear gas. But now you're seeing all those lights there, you're hearing people yelling at the police with their hands up. Those lights are actually the fire department because just across the street, the AutoZone is on fire.
So, you can really see it is starting to billow, and I'm going to have a slight push in. Now, those sounds that you're hearing are flashbangs and fireworks. So, sometimes you're hearing the flashbangs from police. And many times you're hearing fireworks that are from the protesters who are sometimes blowing those off near different parts. Now, we do not know how this fire started at AutoZone. But this whole area here, this whole city block here has been a hotspot all day. East Lake Street, Minnehaha. There, right there, they're starting to -- we're going to -- we're going to move back. They're starting to -- they're starting to throw Molotov cocktails. We're going.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Sara Sidner there with that report. And it seems the video of the police arrest of Floyd was the spark for the protests and the outrage. And a warning, it is disturbing to watch; you're about to see it. It shows the Minneapolis police officer pinning the 46-year-old to the ground, knee on his neck for several minutes. Despite Floyd repeatedly saying he could not breathe. Please say that Floyd was resisting arrest. New surveillance video from a nearby restaurant shows the initial encounter police have with Floyd seen being walked from a car to the sidewalk. No evidence at least on the video that Floyd was resisting in any way. The owner of the restaurant told CNN why he wanted to release the video in full.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RASHAD WEST, OWNER, DRAGON WOK: And you get footage that clearly shows that he wasn't struggling or altercating with the police. I think it was very important for me to show that part because if you always get the chopped-up videos that leave out things and have people wondering, what did he do beforehand. I'm disgusted and sick about hearing that. So, I figured, you know, let's tape this footage, make sure it does not cut and show the community that he was not struggling. So, we just knew right away it was -- it was extremely important to get this to the right people. So, it wouldn't be hidden and out of sight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The four arresting officers have been fired, but the mayor is now calling for criminal charges against the policemen who pinned Floyd to the ground. The family, though, wants all four officers charged with murder. A short break. When we come back, China moving to strip Hong Kong of its independence, and at the same time, U.S. upping the ante with a stunning announcement that could destabilize the city even further.
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VAUSE: Well, in the coming hour or so, China's national parliament is expected to rubber stamp a sweeping security law for Hong Kong, which criminalizes acts of sedition and terrorism. The U.S. Secretary state, though, has warned this new law would mean Hong Kong is no longer autonomous. And if that becomes official White House policy, it could mean an end to the city's special trading status with the U.S. Very latest now from CNN's Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong and CNN's Steven Jiang standing by in Beijing. And Steven, first to you, I guess, worried about the timing of this law being approved by the NPC. And also, has been any reaction there from that threat coming from the Secretary of State?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Well, John, in about two hours, these 3,000 or so National People's Congress delegates are going to vote on this decision to enact this law. The actual legislative process is going to take a bit longer with a smaller NPC Standing Committee. But the passage and the enactment of this law in Hong Kong is now not in doubt. The Chinese government has now responded specifically to Mr. Pompeo's assessment. But they, of course, officials have been saying for days of the urgency and the necessity to enact this law in Hong Kong, and that it is their internal affairs that the U.S. should stop interfering in and also asking Washington to abandon its double standard on national security.
Now, the leadership, the Beijing leadership's focus today, Thursday, is this closing ceremony of the NPC after which the country's number two leader premier, Li Keqiang, is going to hold his annual press conference. He is undoubtedly going to be asked about Hong Kong. While he is unlikely to reveal any specific Chinese countermeasures against the U.S. if the U.S. imposes sanctions on China over Hong Kong, he -- but, you know, this thing has been talked about by state media in terms of the Chinese government has factored in the U.S. potential sanctions into their calculation about a spill with state media -- with the state of media saying the Chinese government is willing and ready to accept and absorb these potential consequences, including the U.S. stripping Hong Kong of its special trading status. In the words of one nationalistic newspaper, The Global Times, the era of China being scared of the U.S. is now officially over. John?
VAUSE: Steven, thank you. Stay with us. Kristie, to you, this statement by Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State, I've seen this kind of a nuclear option for Donald Trump, the President, to revoke Hong Kong Special trade status. How is it seen by people there in Hong Kong and what does it actually mean, in a practical sense?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it has been widely welcomed by the protest movement and by high profile protests leaders here in Hong Kong, would see it as a message of solidarity with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying that Hong Kong is no longer autonomous from China. He's opening the door for a range of significant U.S. actions to take place, including a possible decision by the Trump administration to revoke Hong Kong Special trading status. Now, in practical terms, it means this means. It means the United States will treat Hong Kong the same as China in terms of trade and other areas, as well.
[01:25:02]
It also means that it jeopardizes billions of dollars' worth of trade between Hong Kong and the United States. It also dissuades companies, individuals from investing in Hong Kong and using Hong Kong as a home base or headquarters regionally, or internationally. This is also a move that could potentially hurt China because Hong Kong is valuable to China. It's a valuable East-West conduit for international finance and for international trade. A number of mainland Chinese companies as well as multinational companies use Hong Kong as an international base or regional base.
But just hours after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made that declaration, one high profile pro-democracy leader Joshua Wong took to Twitter to announce his support. He also called for other international leaders to follow suit. Let's bring up the tweet for you. He says this, "I also urge U.S., European, and Asia's leaders to reconsider whether Hong Kong special trade status can still be held since once the law is implemented, Hong Kong will be assimilated into China's authoritarian regime on both rule of law and human rights protections." Protest leaders like Joshua Wong may welcome the move. And people may interpret this as a -- as a symbol of solidarity from the United States for the protest movement in Hong Kong. But the question remains, will Beijing be swayed by this and could Hong Kong's economy businesses and people really suffer as a result? Back to you.
VAUSE: And very quickly, quickly, Kristie, a little bit of time. Clearly, the protest leaders and the protesters are very much in favor of this move, as you say, a sign of solidarity. What about the business leaders and the mums and dads who, you know, just want to get by and make a living?
STOUT: Yes, right now, we have been canvassing just reaction including from the American Chamber of Commerce, the business community about what it means. A lot of deep concerns about what's going to happen, you know, in practical terms to business as we know it in Hong Kong. This is a major international financial trade center, business hub, as well. It is already bore the brunt of the trade war, of the tech war, of the pandemic, and this, as well. One only wonders if it's going to lose its status to other regional rivals. Also, one wonders if it's going to turn into just another Chinese city, like Shanghai. Shanghai is doing well, commercially. But it's not the international finance hub that Hong Kong is because of the rights and freedoms that are available here. You know, a lot of open-ended questions. And this day, we're still waiting for comment from the American Chamber of Commerce on that. Back to you.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout for us in Hong Kong. We also have Steven Jiang, as always, live in Beijing. Appreciate you both being with us. Thank you. Well, one of those senior government officials in Hong Kong says the proposed new law will not threaten the city's freedoms. In an exclusive interview with CNN's Ivan Watson, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung, says, only a small number of people would actually be affected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHEUNG, CHIEF SECRETARY OF HONG KONG: 99.99 percent of the Hong Kong population will not be affected (INAUDIBLE) about the lifestyle of continued investment in Hong Kong coming in and out of Hong Kong. Free flow of capital information and so on. Foreign medium most welcome here in Hong Kong.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Could someone who was deemed or accused of being a terrorist or of committing subversion be taken to mainland China for prosecution under this new law?
CHEUNG: As I said, all these are details yet to be announced. We -- everybody's waiting for it. So, we are also following developments closely. We'll cooperate fully in the process and reflect the views, aspirations and concerns, of course, of the local and international community.
WATSON: There are these concerns and people raising these questions and you're saying trust us, people get figured out but you personally don't have a say in the drafting of this legislation.
CHEUNG: As I said, the answers will be in the public arena before long.
WATSON: OK.
CHEUNG: The drafting process takes a bit of time. But in the process, we take account of those aspirations and concerns.
WATSON: Let me ask another question. You know, there's very strict censorship in nearby Mainland China. Would that trickle into Hong Kong society, into social media sphere, into media?
CHEUNG: I doubt it. I doubt it. This is Hong Kong's essential --
WATSON: Can you guarantee that?
CHEUNG: Well, it's common sense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The Chief Secretary also warned the U.S. from leveling sanctions, saying that only hurt Hong Kong's economy and damage U.S. trade benefits with the city. Still to come here, the Coronavirus has exposed some of the much bigger problems within the U.S. society, especially when it comes to the most vulnerable. Take a closer look in a moment.
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[01:30:]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM with me, John Vause.
We have the very latest now on the coronavirus with the death toll in the U.S. passing more than 100,000, almost a third of the worldwide total of 335,000.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. has almost three times the number of dead compared to any other country. Followed by the U.K., Italy, France and Spain.
In terms of states New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts have the highest number of fatalities. California is now number four with more than 100,000 infections. In the past week the number of cases has continued to rise in 14 U.S. states, holding steady in 17 states, going down in 19.
So what's behind these numbers? We've heard the virus doesn't discriminate and yet certain age groups, communities, and states have been hit much harder than others.
CNN's Tom Foreman explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want --
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Beyond the protests, the pleas for masks and social distancing --
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE COORDINATOR: It's really critically important.
FOREMAN: -- and the general pandemonium of the pandemic the number of Americans lost has steadily climbed enough to fill a stadium. 80 percent of the deaths so far have involved people over the age of 65.
On the upper end of that age group, facilities for the elderly have valiantly tried to keep the virus out but when it gets in, the close quarters can allow wildfire spreading.
GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: Nursing homes are the prime breeding ground for this killer. FOREMAN: A study by Kaiser suggests more than a third of all COVID
deaths are tied to long-term care facilities. Yes, they cut off almost all visitors.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: But some thing that is much more aggressive than has been in the past I believe should be done.
FOREMAN: Younger people fare better. Those a decade or two under retirement account for about 18 percent of the deaths and people under the age of 45 make up only a tiny sliver of the fatalities.
In all age groups, people with other health issues such as chronic heart or lung conditions are also more likely to pass on. That may partially explain why African-Americans are apparently being struck harder than other ethnic groups since black communities tend to have more of those conditions.
And geographically the toll is uneven too. New York is by far the hardest hit state. Add New Jersey and you have 41 percent of all fatalities. But other states have been hammered too. Among them Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and Michigan.
But despite loud calls to simply throw open the shops, restaurants, gyms and more, the governor is moving cautiously.
GOVERNOR GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: We are going to stay tethered to the data. we are going to follow the science. And we have to get this right. And anything else is to put people in jeopardy and I'm not -- I'm not willing to do that.
[01:34:44]
FOREMAN: It's easy to get lost in all these numbers and statistics. But important to remember, each person that have been taken by this virus has mattered to someone. Each person has died their own personal death. And many more will likely join that deadly roster before it's all done.
Tom Foreman, CNN -- Bethesda, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The rising death toll is raising a lot of concern and uncertainty in Wisconsin, likely to be a crucial swing state in the coming presidential election in November. Wisconsin went for Trump back in 2016 but now small business owners seem divided of how the President has dealt with this crisis.
Details from CNN's Miguel Marquez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Forest County, Wisconsin where the pandemic has left nearly a third of the workforce unemployed, some here unsure how they'll make it through the summer. LORI LOCKRIDGE, STYLIST AND OWNER, LUSCIOUS LOCKS: I still owe for
rent here. I owe for rent at my home. I've fallen behind two months there. I'm behind two months here. I mean thank God that I have lovely people who I lease from here and lease from there.
MARQUEZ: Lori Lockridge, owner of Luscious Locks Salon says she still hasn't received her $1,200 stimulus check. And she's applied for a small business loan but still hasn't received an answer.
LOCKRIDGE: We depend on every bit of money that we get coming in. And when we were shut down we got nothing. And then we were promised things and never got it. So I would just like to see everything get back -- better and back to normal.
MARQUEZ: One small business owner feeling forgotten, the experience so frustrating she's upset at the handling of the crisis and not sure she'll vote for Donald Trump again.
SHAWN SCHMIDT, BUSINESS OWNER: When I do a car, I take it completely apart --
MARQUEZ: Shawn Schmidt restores muscle cars.
SCHMIDT: That will be going back up pretty soon.
MARQUEZ: He supports the President and thinks he's doing a fine job but is still concerned the states may be reopening too quickly.
SCHMIDT: In fact this past weekend, the town was just flooded with people that aren't from here. Southern Wisconsin, Illinois, Chicago -- you know.
MARQUEZ: You think they could bring it here?
SCHMIDT: Oh absolutely. Yes. And I think they probably will.
MARQUEZ: It was just about two weeks ago that Wisconsin's highest court invalidated the statewide stay-at-home order -- creating a rush to reopen for, hesitation for others.
Yvonne Domke was just about to open her second business when the pandemic struck.
YVONNE DOMKE, OWNER, YVONNE'S CLASSY CLOSET: One minute I was in business and the next day, I've had to shut my door.
MARQUEZ: She laid off two employees and has since hired them back. She hopes to hire a third soon but is concerned for their safety since everyone seems to be playing by different rules.
DOMKE: This past weekend I was a little concerned with Memorial weekend and more --
MARQUEZ: Why were you concerned?
DOMKE: Just people not being respectful of other people. Everybody has their -- it's going to the -- we are all on the same storm, different boats.
MARQUEZ: For businesses opening up here the biggest concern -- avoiding a second wave of infections that could shut them down again.
BRUCE WALENTOWSKI, FLOWERS FROM THE HEART: Some people are just ready to go gangbusters and a lot of them are taking it slow. But they're just very nervous of what the future's going to bring because they keep saying a second wave of all of this is going to come and say what's that going to do to us.
MARQUEZ: A couple of things to note as well is that the death here and the rate of overall cases -- positive cases is going up across the state. They're also testing a lot more so that may have something to do with that.
But as we travel across the state we see sort of a mishmash. Retail stores opening. Some of them requiring masks, some of them not. Restaurants -- some of them very busy, some of them aren't even open yet.
The only thing the state right now can do is urge people to keep up that social distancing, stay-at-home until they think they are clear of the worst of this virus. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Miguel -- thank you. Miguel Marquez there in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Now, whoever develops a COVID-19 vaccine will control the world. Ok. Maybe an exaggeration but it will certainly mean an enormous financial windfall for the company that succeeds.
Anna Stewart reports now on the ethics of profiting from a vaccine which is in need by the entire world.
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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The race is on for a vaccine that can stop the spread of the coronavirus. Human trials are underway and a number of companies are preparing to test their vaccines on a large scale. Success could lead to big profits.
ENRICO BONADIO, CITY UNIVERSITY LONDON: There is a huge demand, right? Where there demand there is potential profits -- huge, potential profits. With billions of people in need of this vaccine, can you imagine? I mean if just one (AUDIO GAP) covering the main vaccine for this it would be like more than winning the lottery for that --
STEWART: The world needs new medicines and vaccines, and pharmaceutical firms say development is an expensive process, one that requires intellectual property rights to offset the costs.
[01:39:52]
DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Companies are going to be spending billions of dollars to produce these vaccines and you can't expect that they should simply absorb that. So there has to be some reasonable compensation. But they should not be in a circumstance where this turns into a big boost to their bottom line.
STEWART: But how much of a boost is too big?
BONADIO: So I'm not talking about normal times. Normal times of course, pharmaceutical companies should be free to litigate, to extract royalties, of course. But this is an unprecedented situation.
STEWART: Governments around the world have already given billions of dollars to research bodies and companies working on vaccine development. It's another argument against individual companies claiming a large vaccine profit. And its dilemma the big pharma firms are well aware of.
PASCAL SORIOT, CEO ASTRA ZENECA: We're competing against the virus not against each other. And we at Astra Zeneca are doing this as a -- for no profit. And I'm sure all the manufacturers would do the same. And we need (INAUDIBLE) vaccines.
So we're not really competing against one another. We're really trying to bring several vaccine so we can vaccinate as many people around the world as possible. One vaccine will not be enough.
STEWART: And industry experts say that while vaccine developments maybe costly, prevention is almost always less expensive than a cure.
Anna Stewart, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: History on hold. NASA and SpaceX aborted their mission to the International Space Station because of bad weather. After the break we'll tell you when they plan to try again.
Also ahead, coronavirus infections in Latin America surging at an alarming rate. And with officials pushing for reopening the economies, this crisis could get a lot worse.
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VAUSE: Now, according to the Pan American Health Organization, Latin America has surpassed the U.S. and Europe in daily coronavirus infections, making it the new epicenter of the pandemic.
Mexico has been among the countries worst-hit. Officials confirm more than 3,400 new cases in the last day, the largest increase so far.
Chile's health ministry also reporting a large spike in infections. Nationwide, the virus has sickened more than 80,000 people, killed at least 840.
But Brazil is seeing the deadliest outbreak by far. In the past 24 hours alone recording more than a thousand new deaths and 20,000 cases.
CNN's Nic Paton Walsh reports now from Rio de Janeiro.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's startling to see Copacabana Beach deserted. That is what the rules say here in Rio de Janeiro and at times firefighters have been seen on the beach getting people off of it. But still the boardwalk here at times busy. Sometimes people seen, they're not wearing masks exercising. And Rio de Janeiro potentially like many other big cities in Rio -- about to see the worst of the peak in the week or so ahead.
[01:44:55]
WALSH: Face masks are mandatory here, many businesses closed. But the issue, of course, for Brazil is how the federal presidential level guidance has been significantly weaker. Jair Bolsonaro, the President, at times calling this a little flu, playing down its severity and even now focusing more on the damage to the economy the lockdown measures have been causing and in fact insulting the governors in cabinet meetings, a video of which was released by the Supreme Court as part of a separate investigation, insulting local officials who've implemented these lockdown measures.
So many Brazilians here frankly looking to him for what they should do in their daily life. You have to remember too, that the lockdown here has been in place for months. And so some polling, in fact, suggested a slight increase in the reticence of people to go along with the more severe measures.
But this is, of course, at the very worst of time. The numbers here in Brazil are increasingly bad. They're edging towards 400,000 cases confirmed. And those are just the people who've managed to get a test in a country where on many occasions you seem to need three coronavirus symptoms to qualify for one. So it's likely the full picture is in fact worse.
The death toll at about 24 000 or so is bad but modeling from the IHME in the United suggests it could get to 125,000 by early August. That would itself be utterly staggering. So Brazil here, while frankly its natural, iconic beauty not lost at all (INAUDIBLE) more deserted and deeply anxious as the weeks progress as to how hard it will be hit by the virus' peak.
Nic Paton Walsh, CNN -- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: SpaceX and NASA will have to wait a few more days to make history. Bad weather has meant their mission to send two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station has been postponed. It would've been the first manned space flight to take off from U.S. soil in nearly a decade.
CNN's Rachel Crane has more now, reporting in from the Kennedy Space Center.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RACHEL CRANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: NASA and SpaceX's historic launch of Crew Dragon was scrubbed just 16 minutes and 54 seconds before it's scheduled lift off of 4:33 local time. The President and the Vice President were here when that scrub occurred. They had traveled to Kennedy Space Center to witness what everybody hoped would be a historic launch.
Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley were already strapped into the capsule as a million pounds of propellant, of liquid oxygen and liquid kerosene were being pumped into the Falcon-9 rocket.
The launch window was instantaneous meaning that if it didn't take off at exactly the precise time to rendezvous with the International Space Station 250 miles above earth, the launch had to be canceled. And that's what occurred.
But all is not lost. The launch is rescheduled for this Saturday at 3:22 local time. Until then the astronauts will head back into quarantine. If successful, this will be the first time in nearly nine years that American astronauts are launching from American soil on American rockets. And it will put SpaceX in the domain of government. They will be the first private company that puts U.S. astronauts into orbit.
So fingers crossed, Mother Nature is on our side.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Rachel crane -- thank you.
Now, still to come here, some players with the English Premier League say they're concerned about attending training. Among them Troy Deeney. He says he's been abused both in public and online for sharing his concerns.
A CNN exclusive -- that's up next.
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[01:49:58]
VAUSE: The next jobless report in the U.S. is expected to be out in the next couple of hours with economists expecting more than two million people to file for jobless benefits. That's last week. That would mean about 41 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the 10-week period.
Live now to Abu Dhabi and John Defterios is standing by, as always. John -- the latest jobless claims in the U.S. are expected to be roughly the same I think about the week before. On the positive side, it's well down from that record in April, but with businesses and states now reopening, shouldn't these numbers be falling a lot faster than they are?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I don't think faster, John -- because that's not the reality of the rehiring pace that's underway right now. As you are suggesting, businesses are opening, but there's going to be a lag time here.
And like the coronavirus deaths crossing 100,000 -- I think crossing 40 million is going to be quite shocking for everybody. And by the end of the day, we could get to 50 million before the number starts going back up again. That's a report from the U.S. Federal Reserve about two months ago and it seems very accurate.
But everybody has been focusing, as you're suggesting here on the staircase lower (ph). We almost hit seven million at the end of March and it's a steady drop now. We could get to 2.1 million this week but for those who are unemployed and don't have prospects again in rehiring, it is a shock. That's the way it is.
But we have two tech parallel worlds that you and I have been talking about here, the Dow Industrials yesterday rose better than 2 percent. The broader S&P 500 1.5 percent and the Nasdaq index almost 1 percent.
And at the same time, we have the credit rating agency, S&P suggesting we've had 1,200 companies getting downgraded more than we saw during the global financial crisis. And two respected names -- the CEO of Deutsche Bank and the CEO of Blackrock both saying the stock markets are getting way ahead of reality right now.
They're looking to Q1, Q2 in 2021 and the valuations are very high, considering we are just starting to open up the economy -- John. And that's why we watch this weekly numbers so closely.
VAUSE: Let's go back to the Eurozone bailout for a moment. There's -- well, $850 billion package I think with grants and loans. If it is to pass, it has to be unanimous. Does that mean that by the time all the horse trading is over, this bailout package will look nothing like it does right now?
DEFTERIOS: I think the overall number won't change; it's going to be how they allocate it. And it's a great point you're making here.
Ursula von der Leyen is the president of the European Commission. She's the one shepherding this process in. AS you said, 750 billion euros -- it's over $820 billion.
Now, we've had independent throughout the world by the way -- independent stimulus plans on the domestic level. The point here that's a challenge, John -- is the wealth transfer from the north to the south, particularly for countries like Italy and Spain which have been hit very hard by the coronavirus.
There is a resistance towards this and the president of the European Commission. And listen to what the French and the Germans have to say. We saw Chancellor Merkel suggesting it's going to be a hard fight, but we can get it done.
This is a test for the European Union and the 27 countries being able to stick together because the recession this year is projected at better than 7.5 percent -- something we've never seen before. And we have one member, the United Kingdom, of course coming out.
So this is a test. They're going to try to push it through. It makes sense because these countries in the south do need that support -- John.
VAUSE: John -- thank you. John Defterios there in Abu Dhabi. Appreciate it.
Well, the English Premier League is moving closer to restarting professional matches but some star players have raised some concerns including Watford captain, Troy Deeney. He said he wouldn't initially participate in training to protect his young son who has some breathing difficulties.
He revealed to CNN Sports contributor Darren Lewis that both he and his family have now become targets of abuse.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARREN LEWIS, CNN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR: 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 those is the Watford captain, Troy Deeney.
The tireless (ph) manic forward has voiced concerns over 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.
TROY DEENEY, CAPTAIN, WATFORD FC: Over the weeks I've been fortunate to speak to Mr. Jonathan (INAUDIBLE), who works for the government. He's been -- did very, very good research.
I think everyone can appreciate everything what 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 on board -- it's nothing like that. They have a very good line of communication.
There's some frustrating conversation, but then there's also been some really good (INAUDIBLE) yesterday.
[01:54:56]
LEWIS: What did you say? Are you able to tell us here on CNN what was said?
DEENEY: No, no. I just -- yes -- I just said basically when somebody said it's the same -- I'm in the same risk of getting corona by playing football or going to the supermarket. And I said I've never had to go for a (INAUDIBLE) or picking up the cucumber. LEWIS: Well, those risks will still exist. Deeney believes only a very small proportion of players will decide not to return when the season does resume.
DEENEY: Quite a lot of players will. I'd be very surprised if there are ones that don't. I'd be very surprised. I think, ultimately, what will happen is the competitive nature of us will come back.
LEWIS: You think that players are concerned about coming out and speaking at the time, obviously now that things have changed quite considerably. But what were you afraid of at the time about saying -- why were they concerned?
DEENEY: It's just the way it is though, isn't it? In a time where it's all about mental health and wanting to speak out -- free speech (ph) just to speak, for example -- I mean (INAUDIBLE) spoke out. I know that he started using swear words, which wasn't ideal. And I spoke out. I mean, to get absolutely hammered and bashed (INAUDIBLE), it's not just those that get you. It's my misses gets dark messages, and you'll be walking down the street and people will be like, oh I'm at work, you go back to work. (INAUDIBLE)
So comments in regard to my son, people were saying like I hope your son gets corona and trip like that. And I'm like, that's the hard part for me because while I'm trying to be a better human being, anyone that knows (INAUDIBLE) it's very hard for me to ignore things like that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Charming. For the latest on this global pandemic, tune in to Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta at our "GLOBAL TOWN HALL, CORONAVIRUS FACTS AND FEARS" 8:00 p.m. Thursday in New York; 8:00 a.m. Friday in Hong Kong.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. Robyn Curnow takes over right after a short break.
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