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CNN NEWSROOM

Nine COVID-19 Cases at Georgia High School Days After Crowded Hallway Pic Goes Viral; Trump Willing to Talk with Democrats Again About Stimulus; Public Health Officials Fear Biker Rally a Nightmare in the Making; Arizona Couple Says They Paid the Price for Not Taking Coronavirus Seriously; Beirut Protests Continue for Second Day After Deadly Explosion. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired August 9, 2020 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He has not talked to Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer, hasn't talked to Pelosi since October -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Yes. That's right. The guy who wrote the "Art of the Deal" having other people broker his deals, having other people broker his deals.

Jeremy Diamond at the White House, thanks so much.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

SANCHEZ: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Boris Sanchez in Washington. Thank you so much for joining us.

We have breaking news tonight. A disturbing barrier into a shocking number of Americans either sick or recovering from coronavirus. Five million people in the United States now confirmed to have contracted the virus. The U.S. is far and away the country with the highest number of known cases in the world.

And also right now, CNN following breaking news out of Georgia. Remember this picture? A high school attracting national attention after this photo went viral. Students packing together not a mask in sight. The school now shutting its doors temporarily after a sudden number of COVID cases. Officials say they will now have to switch to virtual learning for at least two days to disinfect that school.

Last hour I spoke to the high school sophomore who took that photo of the packed hallway and put her school in the national spotlight. You'll hear what she has to say in just a moment. But first here's CNN's Natasha Chen in Atlanta, on how the school plans to handle the coming days.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We just got a copy of this letter from the superintendent of Paulding County Public Schools who says that they're going to have to have kids at home Monday and Tuesday doing virtual learning to disinfect the school, to give the district time to consult with the public health department on how they are going to proceed after this.

This letter comes one day after the principal told families of that high school that at least six students and three staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. And this letter tonight from the superintendent acknowledges that there could be more people who are still awaiting test results. And so when you think about at least nine people, knowing they are positive, with maybe more people waiting to see if they are, this was the move that they thought would be safest.

Now they are also saying that by Tuesday evening, they should be able to tell families how they are going to continue classes in the days after that. Whether the virtual learning continues or if they go back to the school building. Now keep in mind, the school district had already determined that for the first week of class they were going to have students in the building for three days and at home virtual learning for two days. Now that of course has been extended an additional two days into Monday and Tuesday.

SANCHEZ: Natasha Chen, from Atlanta, thank you for your reporting on that.

Just an hour ago I spoke with Hannah Watters, the 15-year-old student at North Paulding High School whose photo of her school's crowded hallway went viral. I asked Hannah what her message is to school officials now that nine people at her high school have tested positive for COVID. Listen to the conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNAH WATTERS, POSTED VIRAL PHOTO OF CROWDED SCHOOL HALLWAY: We could have just delayed opening, like many other schools in many other counties because most of them I have heard from friends that are opening on September 8th or around that time, so we could have delayed schools so that we could find more safety measures to follow in the school, and they could have found more plans for all the students and teachers and staff members. But they kind of just sent us into school and used us as guinea pigs to see what would happen later on.

SANCHEZ: Guinea pigs. I heard you mention that a lot of your friends and some teachers are getting tested for COVID-19. Have any of your friends expressed concerns or fears about going back to school right now?

WATTERS: We're all pretty concerned about going back and I know a lot of my teachers are too because we all want to go to in-person -- I have no intention of shutting the county down, the state down, because I know a lot of people don't learn well online, I don't learn well online. And I want to be able to go to in-person school, I want to be able to have some type of normality this year for my semester, but we can't if we're not safe.

SANCHEZ: Now the administrators have said that your picture is not fully in context. They're saying that students are actually transitioning classes, a process that takes five to 10 minutes. So the chances of exposure actually aren't that high. But do you buy that? WATTERS: Exposure is, like, very high in the hallways because we're

all smooshed together and yes, it's only five minutes to get to class. But there's barely any people wearing masks and we're all smooshed together. There's people trying to talk to their friends. And we're all coming from different classrooms. So it's -- the transmission rate is very high in that hallway.

SANCHEZ: Yes. What set this whole thing off is that you took this photo and posted it to social media. Pretty normal thing for a kid your age to do. You got suspended, the school lifting your suspension. Remind me, what reasons exactly did they give you?

[20:05:03]

WATTERS: They didn't give us any reason why they had lifted the suspension. They mostly just apologized and said that they did delete it, but they gave no reasoning behind why they lifted it.

SANCHEZ: Are you concerned at all that now that you've posted this, you're on national news, that maybe teachers and other students might look at you as a troublemaker, as somebody who is out to start a ruckus?

WATTERS: I feel like a lot of teachers have my back because they know how dangerous it is going to school. But I know that a lot of the kids I go to school with, I've already gotten backlash for it, I've gotten threats and things like that. But I know that I'm doing the right thing and it's not going to stop me from continuing doing it. But it is concerning, especially since it's a lot of the people I go to school with, people I've known for years now, that are threatening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And thank you so much to Hannah for that.

So let's discuss further. Dr. Peter Hotez is a professor and dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Dr. Ashish Jha is the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.

Dr. Jha, I want to start with you. What's your reaction to what we just heard from that Georgia student?

DR. ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: Yes, so, good evening, and thank you for having me on. First of all, it's concerning, really concerning that she and other people are getting threats. We obviously do not want to delve -- you know, devolve into a country where people are threatened for sharing information. And of course the fact that the school has mishandled this so badly is also concerning.

But the bigger picture point here is that when you're in Georgia with the level of outbreak that you have and the number of cases in the community, and kids not wearing masks in school, it is no surprise that you're going to start seeing lots of cases. And I think this is an important warning sign for other schools around the state. SANCHEZ: Dr. Hotez, I want to look at the case load that we have in

the United States. Specifically compared to the rest of the world. What does it say about America's leadership and our ability to contain this virus from a federal level?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, thanks, Boris. You know, for the last seven days and the seven days before that and the seven days before that, the U.S. has led the world in the number of new cases per day. And it's really tragic that we're in this situation. The United States is the epicenter, at least one of the epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic. And the epicenter of U.S. epidemic is in the southern United States.

Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Texas has the worst affected area in the United States in terms of new cases per hundred thousand residents. So of course there's going to be transmission in the Georgia schools. Just like there will be transmission in various places in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. All of this is predictable until we have some leadership in the White House that says we've had enough and we implement a plan, an effort to bring all of the states in the same low level of containment.

And then we can do that reset and then open up schools safely, colleges safely. Even do more than that. We get that leadership. It's just not going to happen. So the student was brilliant in what she said. I'd like to bring her into my lab -- our lab next to work on the virus vaccines as an intern.

SANCHEZ: Well, Dr. Jha, I want to look at this graphic, too. We've seen more than a thousand lives lost every day for the last five days. And going back to July 21st, there've only been four days since then when we haven't s a thousand deaths because of coronavirus in the United States. There are experts that are pushing for more severe restrictions. Is it time for perhaps another shutdown or restrictions that keep people away from each other?

JHA: Yes. First of all, I can't believe that we're become immune to a thousand Americans dying every day. That is an extraordinary, extraordinary fact. There is a lot we can do to bring those numbers down. And this is not rocket science. I do not believe we need a national shutdown. But we need targeted policies that are aggressive. In hotspots, you cannot have bars, indoor dining, gym. You can't open schools safely. Not in those hot zones.

So if we just refuse to put in the basic public health policies and act like the virus will magically go away, then yes, we will continue to suffer these deaths. But it's all completely unnecessary and all completely preventable.

SANCHEZ: And Dr. Hotez, I want to turn to what's going on in Sturgis, South Dakota, now. An estimated 100,000 bikers are currently there at the 88th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. 250,000 expected to attend over the 10 days of the event.

[20:10:05] People are coming in from all over the country. Our reporter on the ground there, Ryan Young, telling us that very few are wearing masks. Does this have the potential to become a super spreader event and when will we know if it was?

HOTEZ: Well, yes, I think it will be a super spreader event. I mean, it's just common sense. The United States is the epicenter of the global pandemic. You're bringing in people from all over the United States including the most severely affected areas in the southern U.S. During the day they're out in the rally outdoors, I'm a little less worried about that. But then at night what are they doing? They are going into bars and restaurants and everyone is getting infected. And so what will then happen is this will ignite a new area of infection in the Great Plains. So we should expect to see a big increase in cases not only in South Dakota but in the adjoining states. And then people will go back to their homes and continue to spread the virus.

And we will inexorably head towards 300,000 deaths by December 1 as the Institute for Health Metrics has been predicting. And I'm looking at 400,000 deaths by the time of the in inauguration in January 20th, 2021. It is one of the worst public health tragedies in the history of the United States. Certainly in the last 100 years since the 1918 flu pandemic all because of absence of leadership.

SANCHEZ: Very grim projections. Dr. Jha, I did want to sneak in a question about Alex Azar, the Health and Human Services secretary. He's in Taiwan on a visit that the Health Department is describing as a trip to underscore America's recognition of Taiwan's achievements in COVID-19 prevention.

Given the politics of this, Taiwan's attempts to be recognized as a sovereign state separate from China, what do you make of this?

JHA: Yes. So there's a whole geopolitical consideration that, you know, obviously I don't have any particular expertise about the Taiwan-China relationship but I will say this from a public health point of view. Taiwan has been extraordinary. Taiwan has done a great job. They took the virus seriously unlike our nation. And they're playing baseball and their lives are looking much more like the kind of lives we could have back.

So I hope that Secretary Azar in his trip picks up a few lessons and is able to bring them back and implement them in the United States. It would save a lot of American lives if he did.

SANCHEZ: All right, gentlemen. I'd love to keep the conversation going. Unfortunately, we have to leave it there.

Dr. Ashish Jha, Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you both so much, gentlemen.

HOTEZ: Many thanks.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

President Trump en route to Washington this hour. He just spoke before he left New Jersey. You're going to hear his defense of his executive actions, the same actions that multiple White House officials have struggled to explain the entire day.

Don't go anywhere. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:17:15]

SANCHEZ: President Trump speaking to reporters a short time ago on a runway in New Jersey has he prepared to return to the nation's capital. He defended a series of executive actions he signed this week saying they will help millions of Americans made jobless by the pandemic. He also said that if Democrats in Congress want to talk to revisit the stimulus conversation, then he would be willing.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House.

Jeremy, what else did the president say at this impromptu Q and A session?

DIAMOND: Well, Boris, amid criticism of his executive actions from yesterday including one Republican senator who called it unconstitutional slop, we are hearing from the president this evening as a victory lap. The president's arguing that he got everything he wanted by doing these executive actions and he didn't have to give an inch to Democrats with whom his White House chief of staff and his Treasury secretary have been negotiating.

The president arguing that this executive action takes care of everything that was being discussed. Of course we know that there were a series of issues that were left on the table as a result of the fact that Democrats and the White House were not able to get to a deal and the president instead resorted to executive action. That includes of course billions of dollars in funding for schools, billions of dollars in funding for testing. And of course that prickly issue that Democrats have wanted and the White House has refused, which is funding for state and local governments.

The president also made a little bit of news. We've been talking, Boris, about this issue of these enhanced unemployment benefits. The president said that he would extend $400 per week to unemployed Americans, $300 of which would come from the federal funding but that funding is contingent on states accepting that program, agreeing to administer it and also agreeing to put up $100 of their own to bring that figure to $400 per week.

But this evening the president is saying that there could be an application process by which some states could request and the president could accept to have this be a program that is paid for 100 percent by the federal government. Not clear on whether that would just be $300 per week or $400 per week. But obviously a ton of question marks because beyond the specifics, the details of how much money and whether these states would participate in this program, there's also the question of how long it would actually take to get this program that is not approved by Congress actually set up and to get that money into American hands. But as you mentioned, the president expressing a willingness to

continue negotiating with Democrats. He did say that Democrats have since called the White House to negotiate. We'll be checking on the veracity of that statement asking Democrats if indeed that is the case -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: There was quite a bit of spin on that runway. Thank you for checking in, Jeremy Diamond. Appreciate your reporting.

It's been said before that the use of executive action reveals a president incapable of getting things done, as someone who doesn't even try anymore. Who said that? Take a look.

[20:20:09]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, Obama goes on signing executive orders. He can't even get along with the Democrats. And he goes around signing all these executive orders. It's a basic disaster. You can't do it.

We have a president that can't get anything done so he just keeps signing executive orders all over the place. And I hate what Obama does with gun legislation where he doesn't talk to anybody. He just goes out and signs like last time executive orders. In theory, you're supposed to. You know, the old-fashioned way. Get everybody into a room and get something that people agree on.

I don't even think he tries anymore. I think he just signs executive actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: All right. Let's discuss. With us, former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings, and White House correspondent for American Urban Networks, April Ryan.

Scott, I want to start with you. You're someone who's very familiar with the thinking of Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. I'm curious back in 2013 when there was a government shutdown, if negotiation have fallen through between Democrats and Republicans and President Obama at the time had signed executive actions as far ranging as these, what do you think Mitch McConnell might have said?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, hard to say. I mean, every situation is different. Barack Obama of course did sign far-ranging executive actions a number of times during his presidency. So, look, I think every situation is different. And I think Democrats don't like it when Republicans do it. Republicans don't like it when Democrats do it. I think the real question here is, has the president called the bluff of the Democrats to try to bring them back to the table or are they hard set on their position?

Which appears to me, Boris, to be that it's better politically for them to do nothing because they're banking on, you know, people blaming Republicans for inaction and them being able to use that at the ballot box. The reason I believe this is because it's exactly what they did on police reform. You have hundreds of thousands of people marching in American cities asking for police reform and the Democrats in the Senate filibustered the process and killed it.

And they've decided that's better politically to do nothing than to do something. So I think right now what Mitch McConnell is worried about is that Democrats simply decided let's just roll the dice and do nothing, and see if we can win at the ballot box and then do even more of what we want to do come January.

SANCHEZ: We should note that he is largely left the negotiations to the White House and to House Democrats.

April, I'm curious to get your perspective on these executive actions and what you think about what Scott was just saying.

APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I am so excited about this new fairytale book that Scott has written. I can't wait to read it. But at the end of the day, let's go first to what he's talking about with the issue of policing. The Dems and Republicans can't get along on this issue. One, the major sticking point is chokeholds. Let's deal with that. The reason why people are marching is because of chokeholds and all of these issues where black people are being killed by police. These abusive, these fatal chokeholds, these fatal shootings.

So let's get the devil out of the details, Scott. And number two, it is sad that a president of the United States thinks this is a victory lap when he cannot come together with the speaker of the House for the American people. Power means service. Politics is not about party. It's about people. So this is not necessarily a win. And then when you dig in the details of this, the problem is, is that there's going to be more wrangling over how federal dollars will be dispersed or if it's going to be on the state, et cetera.

So this is not a win. The American people are hurting. People still need to pay their rents. People still are trying to prevent foreclosure. They are still trying to make ends meet when the bread is not meeting that. So it's about people. It's not about a victory lap. It's about people who are hurting.

SANCHEZ: Scott, I'm curious to get your thoughts on the flaws potentially within these executive actions. Ben Sasse calling them legislative slop. Ultimately, it's, forgive me, appalling to understand that the president is literally telling American voters that they will not be on the hook for these taxes, for their payroll taxes, if they vote for him.

JENNINGS: Yes, it's a little soupy. You know, I mean, this is sort of an unprecedented move. I think the president is trying to bring the Democrats back to the table, although the danger in this strategy is that he loses, the Republicans lose, the Democrats win the election, and they say well, Donald Trump, you know, governed essentially by sweeping executive actions so we're going to do the same thing. That's the precedent danger that I think Ben Sasse is warning about. I do agree that people are hurting and that something needs to happen.

And I hope cooler heads prevail in Washington this week because I think this is a big week for the American people. I think you're going to see a lot of decisions on schools, in places like where I live, in Kentucky, you know, we have school about to start and a lot of decisions have to be made. Colleges and college sports are having to make decisions.

[20:25:03]

People obviously are now having to make different personal financial decisions because of the unemployment situation. I think we're sort of, in the next 14 days, maybe the next seven days, really in the middle of a really consequential period where people are going to be deciding things about their own life and also things about which politicians are trying to help me.

So Trump doing executive actions, Boris, I think is him signaling I want to help you and I want to bring the Democrats to the table, and hopefully everybody comes together and passes a deal, although, you know, it's hard to be optimistic when you see the news out of Washington this week. But we've been to the brink before and we've seen deals come out of this kind of brinksmanship before. So let's hope cooler heads prevail and we do get something because I do fundamentally agree. People are hurting. This pandemic is raging. The economic devastation is real and folks do need help.

RYAN: But, Boris, the problem is we are not just in a recession. We're trying to stave off depression. And time is wasting. And if -- for this moment, if the president recognizes this historic moment of despair, let's not even look at science. Let's look at the economics of it all. He's got to reach across the aisle. He cannot worry about the fact that Nancy Pelosi may pop her collar and put on her glasses and claim a win. He's got to go in and help the American people at this moment particularly when he's running for office for reelection again.

SANCHEZ: I want to focus on some new reporting in "The New York Times." The paper says that South Dakota's Governor Kristi Noem greeted President Trump at his Fourth of July event in Mt. Rushmore earlier this year with a four-foot replica of the monument at Mt. Rushmore that included an additional carving of President Trump's likeness. The paper says that Governor Noem did this not only because the president had told her that he would like to be added to the monument, but because last year the White House actually called her office asking what the process to add additional presidents to Mt. Rushmore was like.

Scott, as we noted, you worked at the White House. Have you ever heard of an administration even having the time to make these kinds of requests?

JENNINGS: No, I mean, I'm going to call my agent, Boris, and see if I can get ahead in the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen for the rest of the season. I mean, I'm wearing my Cardinal mask and they're not playing right now and I hope they all get better but, you know, I think it's a little premature to start carving folks into the Mt. Rushmore. And by the way, I thought it was premature for Barack Obama to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

I think we honor presidents after they leave office.

RYAN: He didn't ask for it, Scott.

JENNINGS: And we let history --

RYAN: He didn't ask for it.

JENNINGS: And we let history decide whether they need to be honored in some way. So by the way, it's a federal monument. I don't think the governor of South Dakota can carve up Mt. Rushmore without talking to federal government anyway.

SANCHEZ: April, the "Times" is also reporting that Vice President Mike Pence met with Noem last month because he was concerned that she may be gunning for his job. I feel like we have had this conversation about who might replace Mike Pence as President Trump's running mate in 2020 over and over every few months. Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller tells CNN that Pence will absolutely be Trump's running mate.

Again, we've talked about these rumors over and over. Is this a case of where there's smoke there is some fire with the Trump campaign or Trump himself perhaps having some apprehension about Mike Pence?

RYAN: If the vice president, if the reports are true, Vice President Mike Pence has reached out to find out, you know, if she's gunning for the job, yes. There's some fire under that smoke. And the bottom line is we see almost, you know, at the beginning of the administration, almost every Friday, we called it Fiery Friday, no one is safe in this Trump administration. No job is safe.

Can you agree with that, Scott? Can you put that in that new fairytale book? No one is safe in this administration. Particularly when his poll numbers, those internal poll numbers are so bad. He's trying to make sure he's winning with voter suppression, this mail-in ballot issue, with the post office, and now Vice President Pence maybe pensive because he's in trouble possibly because the ticket may not look a lot.

SANCHEZ: Scott, really quick. One-word response.

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: Yes. Look. Yes, look, Pence is going to be the running mate. And frankly, it wouldn't make any sense to replace the vice president. Folks don't generally vote for the number two on the ticket. I think these decisions get vastly overblown in terms of their impact on presidential campaign. By the way, it would look pretty desperate to trade out your running mate, who by all accounts has been a pretty loyal guy for you in your White House. So I'm thinking it's Trump- Pence, and you know, we'll see who Joe Biden picks. He's taken a lot longer than people thought. It seems like a moment of indecision for the Democrat. RYAN: Wow.

SANCHEZ: We got to leave it there. We've got to leave it there. April Ryan, Scott Jennings, appreciate your time. Thanks for sharing some of your Sunday night with us. Take care.

RYAN: Thanks.

JENNINGS: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Doctors fear of a coronavirus super spreader. In Sturgis, South Dakota, where 250,000 people are gathering for an annual motorcycle rally. I'll speak to the city manager of Sturgis, next.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

[20:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: A quarter of a million motorcycle fans gathering in Sturgis, South Dakota, in the midst of a pandemic. For them it's an annual celebration. That means a lot of socializing but not much social distancing. And not a lot of masks either. For public health experts that we've spoken to, it is a nightmare unfolding in real time. Many have expressed fear that this biker bash qualifies as a super spreader event and that when the party is over and the bikers head home, a new wave of coronavirus could sweep pockets of the country starting in Sturgis itself.

Joining me now to discuss Sturgis city manager, Daniel Ainslie.

[20:35:02]

Daniel, we appreciate you taking the time and joining us tonight. According to recent polling, the majority of Sturgis residents, some 60 percent, didn't want the gathering to take place this year. So why exactly did the city council approve it?

DANIEL AINSLIE, STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA CITY MANAGER: Sure, the rally every year is a controversial topic in our community. There was a significant amount of discussion that the council had with residents, businesses, and state health officials as well as local health officials. In the end, what really became very apparent was no matter what the city did, there was going to be thousands of people that came to our community.

As you brought up, it's the 8th decade now that this has been happening and there are people throughout America who have been locked up for months and months, and so we kept hearing from people saying it doesn't matter. They're coming to Sturgis. So with that ultimately the council decided that it was really vital for the community to be prepared for the additional people that we're going to end up having. SANCHEZ: Now I've read in previous statements you've made that the

city of Sturgis net around $1 million to $1.5 million in tax revenue. Assuming that that is correct and that the economy played a big role in hosting these folks, do you think that's worth the possible health risk?

AINSLIE: Well, that really didn't play into the picture at all. When we look at it every year, just for transparency for our public, we do put together the profit and loss that we get from holding the event. But in the end, our council was more than willing to give up, you know, the revenue from that from this year if it was something that would be manageable. I think what's important for people to understand is in a very small community and rural western South Dakota, you cannot have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people come without preparations including garbage and sanitation, and additional law enforcement and emergency and medical personnel.

That was really the thing that drove the council to decide that we had to be prepared for the number of people that came.

SANCHEZ: And there was nothing in your mind that the council could do to essentially say to these folks, you're not welcome in Sturgis this year?

AINSLIE: You know, what we did end up doing is ensuring that any of our activities that we regularly do, we do not. And so this year we don't have any opening ceremonies, we don't have parades, we don't have additional rides, we don't have any of our military appreciation, anything that actually draws thousands of people into our streets at one time. Instead we're telling people when they come here, go on rides throughout the hills because when you're on your motorcycle driving through the hills, you're absolutely socially distant.

And so that's why we're encouraging people to do if they do come here. And again, we're telling people if, you know, you've been exposed to anything else, this isn't your year. And we're, you know, making sure that there's more and more that's available virtually so people can participate without actually being here. We cancelled all of our advertising. We've tried to downplay the rally as much as possible.

SANCHEZ: Still some 250,000 people expected over the next 10 days. And we unfortunately will not see the potential effect of this for at least 10 to 14 days from now. And perhaps in Sturgis, perhaps in other parts of the country.

Daniel Ainslie, again, thank you for sharing your perspective with us from Sturgis, South Dakota.

AINSLIE: Sure, thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

One Arizona couple continued life as normal, ignoring the warnings about the pandemic until they both got sick. And now they are warning others to take the virus seriously.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBI PATTERSON, WAS HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID-19: It's ridiculous not to take this seriously. I mean, I could have died just like the next person. I mean anybody can. It could have been either one of us or both of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Their story, when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:43:02]

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. Just last month Arizona was one of the hardest hit states during the summer surge of coronavirus. But now a decline in cases has sparked cautious optimism that the state is turning things around.

Miguel Marquez joins us now live from Phoenix.

Miguel, cases are dipping in Arizona but it still has one of the highest positivity rates in the country. So do officials think the state has turned the corner?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think turning the corner. All those trends are headed in the right direction but man, they've really had a massive spike when the state sort of aggressively reopened up sort of mid-May. We spoke to one couple in a small-town Arizona that gives you reason as to why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

D. PATTERSON: We were totally lackadaisy about it.

MICHAEL PATTERSON, WAS HOSPITALIZED WITH COVID-19: Yes.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Debi and Michael Patterson didn't think the coronavirus would ever affect them.

D. PATTERSON: It was sort of almost like a joke in our group of friends.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Did you wear masks?

D. PATTERSON: Nope.

MARQUEZ: Did you hang out with your friends as normal?

D. PATTERSON: Mm-hmm.

MARQUEZ: So all the things you're told you should back off of, you did.

D. PATTERSON: We did. We did.

M. PATTERSON: We did.

D. PATTERSON: And we still --

M. PATTERSON: And we paid the price for.

D. PATTERSON: Yes.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): From Lake Havasu City on Arizona's border with California, the Pattersons didn't give the virus much thought, even once developing symptoms in late June.

D. PATTERSON: We just kind of carried on, went to the pool, did stuff, you know, over the rest of the weekend. And then that Monday morning is when we both woke up and were just -- felt like a train had gone over both of us.

MARQUEZ: Michael got sick. Debi had to be hospitalized, put on oxygen, but did not need a ventilator.

(On camera): Over a month later, how are you now?

D. PATTERSON: Well, obviously still short of breath, coughing, just the fatigue and dizziness, headaches almost daily. It's almost like somebody hit you in the head.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): They once laughed about the virus. Now they say it's no joke.

[20:45:03]

(On camera): What is your message to people now?

D. PATTERSON: Be more careful.

M. PATTERSON: Keep your distance and wear a fricking mask.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): In this ultra-conservative corner of the state, masks still highly controversial.

PATRICK BAUGHMAN, ANTI-MASK: We make any member or any customer that's walking through our doors remove their face mask. Again, that's our pride. That's also the understanding that you're --

MARQUEZ (on camera): So you make people remove the mask when they come in?

BAUGHMAN: Absolutely. You do not shop my store without -- with a mask on, period.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): For gun shop owner Patrick Baughman, the coronavirus itself doesn't add up.

(On camera): But 150,000 people are dead, over 150,000 people.

BAUGHMAN: I definitely -- I definitely don't agree with that number that you just threw out there. I think that there's -- MARQUEZ: What do you not agree with?

BAUGHMAN: There's so many cases of fraudulent claims as far as how they're reporting numbers.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Public health officials believe the number of dead from COVID-19 is probably higher than the official account, not lower.

(On camera): When the president comes out and says, wear a mask, do you think he's just playing politics?

BAUGHMAN: Unfortunately I do, at that point, think that he's playing politics because originally he did come out calling this entire thing a hoax.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): For the Pattersons, the coronavirus is no hoax and speaking out not a political act. It's a friendly warning.

D. PATTERSON: It's ridiculous not to take this seriously. I mean, I could have died just like the next person. I mean, anybody can. It could have been either one of us or both of us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: So if you think you can't get it and get very sick in a small town, or some other place, listen to the Pattersons' story. And I have to say, I thank them for speaking out and it's not easy to do in this environment. She supported President Trump in 2016. She probably will in 2020. You know, their friends are conservative. Very tough for them to speak out, but they did because they get it and they are warning others, don't end up in their shoes -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: It is just staggering to think about general public health becoming a political issue this way. We appreciate Debi and her husband sharing their story.

Excellent story, Miguel Marquez. Thank you so much.

Outrage in the streets of Beirut. Protesters clashing with police for the second day after a deadly explosion killed more than 100 people. Our CNN team is on the ground. We'll take you there, live.

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[20:51:49]

SANCHEZ: You're looking at pictures of President Trump returning to Washington, D.C., to Joint Base Andrews. He spent the week at Bedminster, New Jersey, at his golf resort. The president making some confounding statements to reporters before he departed New Jersey. We're going to have an update for you on that in just a few minutes.

As far as we can tell from these pictures, the president is not wearing a mask. Several people around him not wearing a mask, despite having called it something patriotic just a few weeks ago. The president there returning to Washington, D.C. Stay tuned to CNN. At the top of the hour, we're going to break down his statements in just a few minutes.

We're also following some breaking news into CNN. Another setback for Major League Baseball. They've just announced that it is postponing the St. Louis Cardinals three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. This after eight Cardinals players and six staffers tested positive for coronavirus. The league has said it will conduct more testing while players and staff are quarantined ahead of any return to play. The league also announcing new restrictions repeatedly multiple times over the course of a short and abridged season. The Pittsburgh- St. Louis series was due to start on Monday.

Some news from the south. North Carolina was struck early today with the strongest earthquake the state has seen in nearly a century. The 5.1 magnitude quake hit about two miles from Sparta, North Carolina, in Allegheny County. The U.S. Geological Survey says it was felt as far away as Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. You see these images from security cameras falling down.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported, but many homes did suffer damage. The Allegheny County sheriff says some houses shifted two inches off their foundation. You see this grocery store shaken up. Damaged ceilings, items knocked off the shelves. Even Sparta's mayor was affected. The actual foundation to his home was cracked.

Meantime, protesters in Lebanon have taken to the streets for a second straight day in response to a massive explosion that left nearly 160 people dead and thousands injured.

CNN's Sam Kiley reports from Beirut.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: About 30 or 40 yards down the street they barricaded there. (INAUDIBLE) for the Lebanese parliament. The demonstrators are absolutely (INAUDIBLE) they've told me on getting in to more and more government buildings to try and demonstrate that the government itself is really (INAUDIBLE).

They're obviously bombarding the police. On the other side of this barrier, there's a whiff of tear gas in the air. The crowd is building more and more steadily. The (INAUDIBLE) -- there have been (INAUDIBLE) from some of the organizers that there have been less of a demonstration here now. But that clearly is no longer the case. Of course the large dose of tear gas fired by the police. They're trying to protect the government buildings. Yesterday a number of government buildings were temporarily invaded by the demonstrators., and they have sworn that that is going to be their new tactic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[20:55:11]

SANCHEZ: Sam Kiley, thank you for that reporting. Millions of Americans are now working several jobs in the new gig

economy. And in a new episode of "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA," W. Kamau Bell takes a look at how it works and how it doesn't. That's tonight at 10:00 p.m. on CNN.

We are following some breaking news tonight out of Georgia. The school where this viral photo was taken is now closing for a few days after several cases of coronavirus were reported. More on that, when we return.

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