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Germany Starts To Reopen; Anti-Lockdown Protests In U.S.; Several European Countries Easing Restrictions. Aired 10:00-11a ET
Aired April 20, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:12]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome everybody. We continue our special coverage of the COVID pandemic. I'm Hala Gorani. And today Europe
is starting to reopen. We are live in Germany where the country is taking very small steps towards normalcy.
In the United States, protesters are calling for things to be reopen and they have a high-level supporter in the Oval Office. And anger is growing
in Britain over the government's handling of the COVID-19 crisis and the lack of protective equipment.
Well, we start with glimmers of hope here in Europe. Several countries are now beginning the long gradual and sometimes painful reopening of their
economies. You can see them on this map shaded in yellow. They include much of Central Europe and Scandinavia, Germany, Denmark and Norway are also on
the list, opening schools, smaller businesses, or both in some cases today.
But German Chancellor Angela Merkel is warning that her country must stay vigilant to avoid a surge in new cases. And that very fear is why New
Zealand's Prime Minister for instance, is extending strict lockdown measures and other weak. Here's Jacinda Adern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: You, all of you have stopped the uncontrolled explosion of COVID-19 and New Zealand and I couldn't feel
prouder of the start that we have made together. But I also feel a huge responsibility to ensure that we do not lose any of the gains that we have
made either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Here in the United Kingdom and you'll remember of course, the prime minister of the U.K. Boris Johnson was infected with COVID-19. There is
though simmering anger over his government's response to the pandemic. Hospitals are saying that they're not getting the protective equipment that
they were promised.
And in the United States, there is growing disagreement over how and when to open up individual states. There are some small bands of protesters and
you'll notice on the video, no protective equipment, in many cases, no masks, no gloves. And these small bands of protesters are saying this is
all a liberal hoax. They are urging lockdowns to be lifted and they are being cheered by President Trump.
I want to start this global tour of how the world is confronting this pandemic in Germany. Today is the day where Germany believes that the
pandemic is under enough control to be able to reopen some parts of the country's economy. Fred Pleitgen is in Rostock, Germany and he joins me now
live with how things are going there. Fred?
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Hala. And as you can maybe see behind me there are a lot of people who came out on the
streets here in Rostock today. A lot of people who are you can tell, and we've talked to them. And they've said that they're just really happy to be
able to go outside to have some of the shops be open, smaller shops up to about 800 square meters can open here.
And I can tell you from going around this streets and some of the other shopping streets here in this town, and hearing from other places in
Germany, that a lot of those shops have actually done that. We've spoken to some shop owners and they have said being closed was just an absolute
disaster for them. Many of them, of course, feared that they would go out of business altogether, even though they did get the government aid from
the German government.
They say that was paid out very quickly. So, you can tell the choppers are very happy, shop owners here are very happy. Angela Merkel, maybe not so
much. As you mentioned, she came out just a couple of minutes ago and she said, look, people really need to stay vigilant and all of this, you need
to understand that the gains have been made so far that have allowed this opening to take place.
Those gains are reversible if there is another spike in new corona cases. And I don't know how much you can see behind me. But maybe you do see that
there aren't really that many people here on the streets were wearing masks. That's not necessarily new in Germany. But there is the fear that
maybe now that things have been opened up a little bit there could be a new spikes of people don't take these social distancing, physical distancing
measures maybe as seriously as they should And especially with a protective mask as well.
And in that regard, one thing that the German government has done is they've told people that they highly recommend wearing protective masks.
They've not made it mandatory. They say that's because people so far up until now, I've been so disciplined that they didn't feel the need to do
that. There are some German states however, who have made it mandatory so you can definitely tell the German government, state government can be
looking at the situation very, very closely to see whether or not this opening up as you can see people are taking advantage of it is going to
lead to a new spike in coronavirus cases, Hala.
GORANI: Right. Well and also it looks like a nice day. The sun is out people have been cooped up for weeks, it's totally understandable they want
to take a stroll.
[10:05:01]
GORANI: You were -- I understand at a zoo earlier today. What did you see there and what were you reporting on there?
PLEITGEN: Yes. Yes. Well, yes, I was at the Rostock Zoo, which by the way is great. Their main attractions are the sea lions and the polar bears,
which are also amazing. But the zoo is obviously also very important that the zoo was able to open it for the first time today because of course,
parents have had their kids at home for such a very long time. And we talked there to a lot of parents who say this is the first time that we can
actually go to the zoo, spend some time here.
The area of the zoo is big enough to actually be able to walk around and keep your social -- or keep your physical distance from other people and
still have a very good time for a few hours and especially for parents that is exceptionally important. One last thing, Hala, that we did find out from
two zookeepers that we spoke to, they said that the animals in the zoo did find it strange that there were so many people watching them all of a
sudden again, Hala.
GORANI: All right. They can sense it. I'm sure they were enjoying their privacy for a few weeks as well. Fred Pleitgen, thanks very much reporting
live from Germany whereas we are reporting. The country is beginning very slowly to open up. The management of the COVID pandemic there in Germany
has been praised as having been pretty efficient, especially compared to other countries.
Now in the United States, there are small groups of protesters wearing no protective equipment whatsoever, who across the country have protested
against some lockdown measures in their respective states. Brynn Gingrass has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump eager for states to reopen, there's one major component needed to even move into the White
House's first phase, testing.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our testing is expanding very rapidly, by millions and millions of people.
GINGRAS: But in reality, only about 150,000 Americans are tested daily, according to Harvard researchers. And state leaders say they do not have
nearly enough resources as the president claims.
GOV. GINA RAIMONDO (D-RI): But the testing has to improve here and in every state.
GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): To try to push this off to say that the governors have plenty of testing and they should just get to work on testing, somehow
we aren't doing our job is just absolutely false.
GOV. RALPH NORTHAM (D-VA): We've been fighting for testing. But for the national level to say that we have what we need and really to have no
guidance to the state levels is just irresponsible.
GINGRAS: But Trump insists it's up to the states to figure out their own testing programs.
TRUMP: Testing is local. You can't have it both ways. Testing is a local thing and it's very important. It's great but it's a local thing.
GINGRAS: New York State appears to be past its coronavirus peak and Governor Andrew Cuomo warns residents now is not the time to relax.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): It's only halftime. We still have to make sure that we keep that beast under control, we keep that infection rate down, we
keep that hospitalization rate down.
GINGRAS: While some Florida beaches, like this packed one in Jacksonville begin to open up, leaders in hotspots, like Louisiana, highlighting how the
data shows measures like social distancing are working.
GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): We're in a much, much better place today than we thought we were going to be and it's because of the citizens of
Louisiana taking the stay-at-home orders seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want to work. Open our states.
GINGRAS: Meanwhile, in a handful of cities, from Austin to San Diego and Denver, people are protesting stay-at-home orders. And according to
President Trump --
TRUMP: These are great people. Look, they want to get -- they call it cabin fever. You've heard the term. They've got cabin fever. They want to get
back. They want their life back. Their life was taken away from them.
GINGRAS: In states like Michigan, which faces the third highest number of coronavirus deaths nationwide, Governor Gretchen Whitmer says that she can
withstand harsh criticism for keeping strong restrictions if it means saving lives.
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): We've got to be really smart about the actions we take now to protect life as well as the actions we take to
reengage.
Because as tough as this moment is, it would be devastating to have a second wave.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: That was Brynn Gingras reporting. Joe Johns joins me now from the White House. And the President has been praising these protesters who've
been going out all huddled together not wearing protective equipment. He's also been tweeting at some of the residents of various states whose
governors are Democrats to liberate those states as if it's some sort of call for -- some sort of organized action against the leadership of those
states. What -- how is that being received in the United States?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you read carefully, it sure looks like the President is encouraging civil
disobedience in Virginia, Minnesota, Michigan. These are states with Democratic governors. And we know a couple things, we know from the piece
we just saw the President sympathizes with those protesters.
[10:10:01]
JOHNS: We also know the President has repeatedly said he wants to get the United States back to business. He's eager to do that. But there's also a
political side to this quite obviously. This is a political year in the United States. And the President has not seen his polling doing very well,
quite frankly. There was one brief moment where his numbers ticked up, and then tick back down again.
Despite the fact that the President has every night here in the United States appeared on national T.V. doing those briefings. It doesn't appear
to have helped him much. So, we all know also that the President has been looking for scapegoats. He lashed out at the World Health Organization.
Also over the weekend, his advisors here at the White House, along with the President have lashed out at China and their role in the coronavirus
crisis.
And not to minimize those two players in all of this, the President also appears to be looking for people to lash out at -- in the United States,
including the governors of Democratic states and others who aren't taking their states in the direction he wants them to go. But the bottom line on
this really is the metrics are clear. The United States has the largest numbers of coronavirus cases in the world.
And it appears that the American public believes this administration got off to a late start in dealing with this problem, Hala.
GORANI: And I want to also mention the -- you mentioned these briefings, these daily briefings, they are becoming increasingly chaotic,
confrontational in ways that even a few weeks ago would have seemed virtually impossible for from a U.S. President. I just want to run an
exchange between the President of the United States and our reporter over the weekend. Jeremy Diamond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: -- that you played and what you read earlier was praising you and your administration.
TRUMP: All I played today was Governor Cuomo --
DIAMOND: -- to do that, sir.
TRUMP: -- saying very positive things about the job the Federal government has done and those people --
DIAMOND: -- have died.
TRUMP: Those people have been just absolutely excoriated by some of the fake news like you, your CNN, your fake news. And let me just tell you,
they were excoriated by people like you that don't know any better. Because you don't have the brains you were born with. You should be praising the
people that have done a good job, not doing what you do. Even that question, so just so you understand. If we didn't do a job --
DIAMOND: The question is why now. Not --
TRUMP: I'll tell you why now. Are you ready? Because these people are right now in hospitals. It's dangerous. It's going to a battlefield.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: If these briefings are hurting the President's popularity and clearly not addressing the crisis on any level, since all he's doing is
insulting reporters in the briefing room. Why does he keep doing -- why does he keep engaging in this way?
JOHNS: Well, as you know, Hala, media bashing by Donald Trump is one of the things that got him elected, it's the Trump show. It's theater. And the
fact of the matter is people are tuning in to these briefings to hear from the experts, they're scared, they're worried about what's going to happen
next in the United States. Nonetheless, the President continues to do it because he understands it plays well to his base.
But what is not clear is whether it is ever going to help him in the opinion polls.
GORANI: All right. Joe Johns, thanks very much reporting live from the White House. The British government now is facing a major backlash over its
handling of the pandemic. And it's a lack of preparedness according to some during a crucial time in the coronavirus outbreak. A bombshell report in
Britain Sunday Times claims that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson was and this was before he was diagnosed with COVID was essentially missing in
action in the early stages of the crisis.
And lawmakers are also being slammed in this country for the current shortage of crucial equipment for medical workers on the frontlines. U.K.
official had said that a large shipment from Turkey would be delivered on Sunday. Now he says not Sunday, that the package will arrive today. CNN's
Clarissa Ward, our Chief International Correspondent joins me now live from London.
Let's talk about this Boris Johnson report as he continues to convalesce that he was missing in action, didn't participate in high-level meetings,
was -- took a working vacation for 12 days, while the experts were warning of a pandemic coming the U.K.'s way. How has the government responded to
this?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're fighting back, Hala. I mean, make no mistake. The Sunday Times article was a
blistering critique of the Prime Minister's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Particularly sort of bad for the prime minister was this allegation
that he missed five Cobra emergency top-level meetings back in January and February.
[10:15:08]
WARD: 10 Downing Street is responding that -- to that by saying listen, there's nothing unusual about the Prime Minister not attending one of these
Cobra meetings that they are often chaired by the relevant department head. But that wasn't the only thing he's accused of in this article. He's
accused of being overly focused on Brexit of not taking the threat of the coronavirus seriously enough of -- as you mentioned, taking a very long
what the Brits call half-term vacation with his fiance of being focused on internal politics, the reshuffling of his cabinet of not sensing the
seriousness of the threat of the coronavirus.
All of these really damning allegations one has the sense that after the press kind of biting their tongues and supporting the Prime Minister while
his house was at such a critical stage suffering from the coronavirus. Now the gloves are off. And Downing Street as I said their punching bag just as hard saying that this is inaccurate in
parts, that it's sloppy reporting and they've essentially gone through and methodically rebutted each of the accusations that are laid out in this
long article which says that the Prime Minister basically slept walked this country into an absolute crisis, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Clarissa Ward live in London. Thanks very much. Wallstreet is opening the week lower as investors deal with yet another
financial headache, a huge collapse in U.S. oil prices. Here's a look at the first hour of trading on Wall Street. Let's take a look at the Dow
Industrials average. It's down 350 points, one in -- just about 1-1/2 percent lower for the Dow Jones. This all follows that drop in oil prices.
Look at these numbers for West Texas crude futures, the lowest in more than 20 years demand plummeting for oil as economies around the world screech to
a halt.
Still to come. CNN's team in Italy tries an antibody test. Their surprising results and how this test could help reopen the country. Coming up next.
Plus, Israel is reaping the benefits of early lockdown measures with a very low COVID-19 desperate. We'll take you inside an Israeli hospital that is
treating the most serious cases.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well one of the things that could be key to reopening the economies of countries around the world, our antibody tests. These tests are designed
to tell us if we've had the virus perhaps with little or no symptoms and are now potentially more immune to the disease. There are some questions
obviously about reliability in the early stages. But our Ben Wedeman and his team in Italy tried one of the tests under these considerations with
some interesting results. Take a look.
[10:20:11]
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Just three drops of blood are enough for a Chinese-made antibody test for the coronavirus, now
going through a trial run in Italy, just one of several tests being examined by the Italian government.
Other countries have had mixed success with such quickly designed tests, but we gave it a try.
We were up in the north of Italy, in the red zones, for 17 days. So, we are very anxious to see the results of this test.
Unlike swabs, this test gives results in just eight minutes.
WEDEMAN: The result, says Dr. John Dominic Bosone (ph) can tell us three things. Either you never had anything or that you are currently infected,
or that you had the infection but overcame it and have antibodies and are no longer contagious. I received a clean bill of health.
BOSONE: Nothing.
WEDEMAN: Negative?
BOSONE: Negative.
WEDEMAN: And never had it?
BOSONE: Never had it.
WEDEMAN: None of my -- never had it. Oh.
Alfredo who drove us all over Northern Italy for two weeks, also negative.
CNN Rome's veteran cameraman, Alessandro Gentile, however, had a different result.
Positive, says Dr. Bosone. He had the virus in the past, and has brilliantly overcome it.
Alessandro never had any symptoms.
But our bodies can take time to produce antibodies, so experts caution that these tests may miss some recent current infections, unlike the more common
swab tests, which should be able to detect whenever someone is shedding the virus.
Antibody tests like the one I got, quick, painless and inexpensive, just around $20.00 can show who's already been infected with COVID-19, and may
now be immune to the virus. A critical step as Italy shifts into phase two, the phase when the country reopens.
PIERPAOLO SILERI, ITALIAN DEPUTY HEALTH MINISTER: The minute the test will be done, eventually --
WEDEMAN: Deputy Health Minister Pierpaolo Sileri who caught the virus and has since recovered, says such tests will initially focus on critical
sectors before becoming widespread.
SILERI: -- sample, I mean, who is working in the health system should do the test, who is working for every public utilities should do it. Plus, I
would check the population especially in the north.
WEDEMAN: The number of new coronavirus cases in Italy is slowly declining, but the daily death toll remains high. While the International Monetary
Fund warns the country's gross domestic product could plummet by more than nine percent this year. Striking a balance between the economy and public
health will not be easy.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: So there are the antibody tests and obviously this race around the world for a vaccine, that will really be the next frontier. The critical
component that will allow us all to go back to living normal lives if we can get a vaccine to prevent us in the first place from being infected. My
next guest is Professor Klaus Cichutek. He's the president of the Paul- Ehrlich-Institut. That is Germany's Federal Institute of vaccines and biomedicine.
Thank you for professor for being with us. Well -- so, you -- normally, a vaccine takes 12 to 18 months, right? From everything I've read, could one
be developed sooner for COVID-19?
KLAUS CICHUTEK, PRESIDENT, PAUL-EHRLICH-INSTITUT: First of all, we're very happy that there are a number of academic and also industry -- institutions
that are trying to develop a vaccine. Number two, we have the experience with the Ebola vaccine in the face of the epidemic in West Africa and that
even took four or five years until it went to licensing. So, it takes a while. But we're happy. And I think something like 15 to 18 months to
vaccine could be a good vision of what we're doing.
[10:25:08]
CICHUTEK: Currently we have a number of phase one trials, I think we're coming to four or five in different areas and regions of the world. And
then we're going to continue with phase two, three trials. And hopefully after that, there will be some kind of licensing, depending on the results
that we're getting, of course they should be positive.
GORANI: So it doesn't sound like we'll all wake up to some piece of miracle news that in three weeks someone in a laboratory came up with a vaccine,
it's going to take longer than that. One of the things that we're hoping for before a vaccine
potentially and we saw it with our reporter our antibody tests. What about that? How quickly could we get our hands on mass scale antibody tests?
CICHUTEK: I think that will be much shorter because these antibodies have to be developed, the tests have to be very dated. But after that they can
be really marketed. And in Europe, for example, there is no licensing process, but rather than process through notified bodies and everything to
get them validated. So, that is going to be quicker than that. But can I get two vaccines again? I think we shouldn't be very happy that everybody
is trying hard.
And there's no race, but rather everybody is trying hard globally, to provide vaccines and it's going to have to be several vaccine products
(INAUDIBLE) one, that's going to have to be several manufacturers who want to satisfy the need. So, antibodies come first, but then (INAUDIBLE) how
many people got already infected with a vaccine, you could really have a game changer (INAUDIBLE)
GORANI: Could we go back to living a normal life before the vaccine is developed, before a vaccine is developed? And -- or will we have to live,
you know, in some form of social distance framework until we have a vaccine?
CICHUTEK: I think currently it looks as if exactly that has to happen. So maybe on a low level, we can open a little bit up. But in general, I think
the measures that are currently taking are very good and it prevents the population for being infected all in one scale. And I think we have to be
sure that there are enough ECMO and other ICU places for the patients that were getting the severe COVID courses.
And therefore, let's go slow for the time being that will take a long while, but I hope you're going to press forward with the vaccine and maybe
at the end of the year, we're going to start already loading phase two, three trials with maybe a couple of 10,000 of vaccines.
GORANI: Well, thank you very much, Professor Klaus Cichutek, the president of the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut for joining us. Thank you for your expertise
and telling us --
CICHUTEK: It's a pleasure.
GORANI: -- what we should expect over the next potentially year, year and a half. Thank you.
Up next. After reporting in war zones under rocket and sniper fire, a CNN reporter in the Middle East says he was more nervous to tour a hospital
treating COVID-19 patients. His eye-opening report.
And later Brazil has more coronavirus cases than anywhere else in Latin America. So, why was its president at a rally with hundreds of people not
wearing a mask? We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:31:01]
GORANI: Israel has one of the lowest mortality rates in the world because it has 13,000 plus cases, but 170 deaths according to the Israeli Ministry
of Health. So how is Israel managing this crisis? Our Oren Liebermann visited an intensive care unit in Tel Aviv for an inside look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Deep inside Tel Aviv's Swarovski Medical Center, even the simple answers are hard to find.
DR. ADI NIMROD, ICU DIRECTOR, TEL AVIV SOURASKY MEDICAL CENTER: It's something else, it's another disease that we are learning all the time more
and more about it.
LIEBERMANN: This is an intensive care unit for COVID-19. The toughest coronavirus cases come here.
Before we were allowed in, we had to dress like the medical staff for protection. My blood sugar monitor for type one diabetes required an extra
wrapping. I've stood under rockets from Gaza, near artillery and sniper fire and more.
And yet a part of me was more nervous here. As we step inside, I meet Dr. Adi Nimrod, who shows us around the 16-bed unit. Most of the patients here
are sedated, many on ventilators. Here patients get individualized attention around the clock. The risk of anything less is too great.
There is no set treatment for coronavirus.
NIMROD: You have to sense them and to see them every day to check them, to see their faces, to see all the parameters. No -- there is the atmosphere
around the patient.
LIEBERMANN: An external control room allows remote monitoring of every bed and the place to breathe. Part of head nurse Ceres Berman's (ph) job is to
keep everyone positive.
CERES BERMAN (PH), HEAD NURSE, TEL AVIV SOURASKY MEDICAL CENTER: It's very tough. Sometimes I'm not so positive. But I think if I want to be positive,
no one will be.
LIEBERMANN: One day at a time in there?
BERMAN: Yes, one hour at a time.
LIEBERMANN: Within a few minutes of putting on all this protective equipment and walking into the intensive care unit here, I started
sweating, my mask, as you can see I think, fogged over. But I have the luxury of taking this off in a few minutes when I step outside.
The doctors and nurses will wear this hour after hour, treating patients who need intensive care. They'll take a quick break, they'll step outside
and then they'll do it all over again.
Israel's mortality rate has hovered around one percent, among the lowest in the world. Israeli instituted restrictions on travel and public gatherings
very early and the country's health care system is among the most advanced, which has helped lower the mortality rate.
But that number soars for the critical care patients who need to be ventilated. Like many here, sometimes the outcome is measured very
differently.
NIMROD: You try, you do your best. You're just a doctor, just a human being, as they are. And if you cannot succeed, be compassionate.
LIEBERMANN: Dr. Nimrod's treatment is guided by the latest science and also his experience. He was in the army during the 2006 Lebanon war. That's him
treating the soldier on the stretcher. This, he says, is a different fight, one he calls much more complicated.
NIMROD: The virus taught us to be more modest, more humble. And a lot of compassion for legions of families. And it's just a virus. But not just a
virus. It's something much bigger.
LIEBERMANN: The doctors and nurses are tested every week for the coronavirus. The hospital says everyone has so far tested negative. In this
most sterile of environments, families are only allowed in if it's to say goodbye. Otherwise messages are recorded and sent through the nurses.
And prayers must penetrate the layers of protection around the ICU. The patients see only the unit's staff. There is solidarity here through a
common vulnerability.
The closer you get to the patient as a doctor, does that make it harder and more personal as a human?
NIMROD: It's all personal.
[10:30:01]
NIMROD: We are human. We are fragile just like they are. Now he is in this bed, tomorrow I might be here or my family. We are very fragile.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Oren Liebermann joins me now live. This protective equipment that you were wearing, is it still technically possible to contract the virus
despite all of those layers of protective equipment, the single use blouse that face mask and everything, or are you pretty sure that that's, you
know, all the protection that you need?
LIEBERMANN: I'll say this, and my cameraman and I, my wife and I and my family and I had long discussions about whether to go ahead with it. Had we
had any serious doubts? We wouldn't have gone in, but we trusted their equipment and we certainly trusted the staff. Not only to help us take on
the gear, but also critically to take it off, because that is when you can make a mistake and get contaminated.
But they kept this sort of in line and made sure we were following the rules the entire time. And one of the sort of surreal, perhaps even
disorienting parts about that shoot is when you realize you're probably safer in that ICU with people who have the proper equipment and know what
to do with it and how to use it, then you aren't going to a grocery store where people don't necessarily have the proper equipment and don't
necessarily follow the guidelines. It's kind of weird to think about it from that perspective.
GORANI: Yes. And how do you take -- you say critically to take it off, because I've heard lots of doctors say if you wear a mask, oftentimes
people make mistakes by touching the outside of the mask and then touching their faces. How did you have to take that equipment off?
LIEBERMANN: It's a process and it has to be done the same every time for maximum safety and minimum risk. So first, we took off still wearing
gloves, the plastic tops or covers for our feet. Those were the first to come off. Then gloves come off, but you can only touch the outside of the
glove, you can't touch the interior or that increases risk. You wash your hands multiple times with sort of medical grade soap.
You then take the gown off, wash your hands again, and then take the mask and everything on your face off again and you're washing your hands at
every stage here to make sure that you're not sort of ruining all the -- all the protection you've put around yourself. And they monitored us that
has been my cameraman through this entire process to make sure we removed it correctly.
I'm not going to say that it's the most comfortable experience but you trust what they're telling you to do 100 percent or you don't go in from
the beginning. We absolutely had faith in them to keep us safe.
GORANI: I would be following instructions to the letters well. There were protests and respecting social distancing as well that were anti-Benjamin
Netanyahu protests in Israel. What was that about?
LIEBERMANN: So this was last night, filling Rabin Square in Tel Aviv which is sort of the central square of Tel Aviv and if you're going to have big
protest in this country, that's probably the place to do it. Normally it takes something like 40,000 people to fill that square. But you can't do
that under social distancing guidelines, which require you to stay two meters away from somebody. And that's exactly what organizers did.
They measured out the square and put 2800 X's or marks where people were allowed to stand to make sure they maintain social distance and guidelines.
Organizers say they fill the square and then had twice that many on the streets outside. So they say nearly 6000 people protesting Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu, they see his corruption as worthy of protest. And they're protesting against what they see as his attack on Israel's
democracy and its Democratic institutions, including the justice system and the Supreme Court.
One of the speakers there, a member of the opposition member of Knesset, Yair Lapid saying, this is how democracy dies in the 21st century. It's not
with tanks and guns or with war. It's from the inside when good people don't do anything or don't speak out when they see the problems beginning
to take hold.
GORANI: Thank you, Oren Liebermann live in Jerusalem. So we went from our Ben Wedeman to our Oren Liebermann and now to our Arwa Damon. Reporters who
usually cover conflict and they are now covering a health emergency having not to wear flak jackets but to wear masks and to wear medical blouses.
Arwa is in Turkey and it is now reporting more than 86,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and that surpasses China in terms of the number of cases.
2000 people in Turkey have now died in this pandemic. And there are some efforts that are locked down but the curve is still not going in the right
direction for Turkey. Why not?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not yet, Hala. Look, the government despite these daily jumps of about 4000 confirmed cases
countrywide is still not implementing a full long lockdown or curfew. This is what they are doing. On weekends there now is a curfew. If you are under
20 or over 65 you're not allowed to leave your home. The age group in between they can in theory go out during the week.
Now, bars, restaurants, public places, parks, schools, universities, they're all shut down. A lot of small businesses are as well.
[10:40:05]
DAMON: But you have, you know, factories and construction sites and other businesses that have remained open. Some of this stems from the fact that
the Turkish economy is already in shambles and the government wants to try to salvage as much of it as it can. But experts who you talk to will say
that given the daily numbers that Turkey is registering at this point, this kind of a partial lockdown is not necessarily going to save the country
from something worse down the line.
At the moment, the country's capacity at hospitals is handling the crisis. There's plenty of room in the ICUs. There's plenty of spare beds in the
wards that have been converted into COVID wards, there is no shortage of PPE or life-saving medical equipment. But over the weekend, we were in an
ICU, Hala, in Istanbul and the doctors there were telling us that they have been telling the government from the get-go and they're still telling the
government this, they need to implement more severe measures otherwise the situation can just change so quickly.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Arwa Damon is in Istanbul. And in Brazil now as we continue our tour around the world of how each individual
country is responding to this pandemic. The Brazilian President Bolsonaro is not sheltering in place. He's not wearing face masks, quite the
opposite. He is coughing as he is addressing a crowd of supporters. Protesters we're calling for an end to quarantine rules put in place by the
local governments.
This is something Mr. Bolsonaro has been critical of. And Brazil, by the way has the most confirmed coronavirus cases in Latin America. Shasta
Darlington joins me now live from Sao Paolo with the very latest. So, given that the country has the most number of confirmed cases of COVID-19
and all of Latin America, why is the president of that country appearing at a rally and coughing his way through a speech where hundreds of supporters
are huddled together without protective equipment?
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, it's the sort of the same situation that we're seeing play out in a lot of different
countries where you have kind of central government figure. In this case, President Jair Bolsonaro clashing with the governors and what Bolsonaro did
on Sunday was join this rally, as you mentioned, he was -- wasn't wearing a mask, he was coughing.
And he keeps insisting that closing schools, that closing all but the most essential businesses it will have an economic fallout. That will be worse
than the virus itself. So he joined his supporters on Sunday to hammer that home and what made this particular rally even more interesting, if you
will, is that a lot of the protesters were also demanding military intervention to close Congress and the Supreme Court.
Why? Because Congress in the Supreme Court has backed the governors saying that these social isolation measures are needed. So, you had him there
calling these protesters patriots saying that their liberty, their freedom needs to be guaranteed. Now of course after that, and after his repeated
clashes with governors some 20 governors signed a letter today criticizing Bolsonaro's actions.
Bolsonaro came out to speak to journalists in front of the presidential residents and said well, he personally didn't say that Congress and the
Supreme Court needed to be shut down but he repeated yet again businesses have to reopen and that he hopes this is the last week of quarantine
measures which in a country, which is still not even come close to reaching a peak really rattles a lot of people.
And when you look at the polls, a majority of Brazilians actually support the social isolation measures. This is a country with a lot of economic
problems, with a lot of people working in the informal economy, who really do run out of money after a week or two weeks of sheltering at home. But
what we see are these leaders, whether it's the United States or Brazil or Turkey, really laying on the economic fears and pitting those against the
health fears, Hala.
GORANI: Uh-hmm. All right, thanks very much. Shasta Darlington is in Sao Paolo. Are we talking about Cuba now? Yes. We are. OK. I want to update you
on Cuba. Cuba has reached an unfortunate benchmark over the weekend reaching more than 1000 total confirmed cases across the country and 34
deaths. Cuba has enacted tougher self-isolation measures than most of its neighbors suspending all -- almost all international and domestic travel and requiring people returning from abroad to spend 14 days
in isolation at government facilities.
Now we're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Canada is facing a crisis on top of coronavirus. The country was hit with one of its worst
mass shootings over the weekend.
[10:45:04]
GORANI: We'll have the very latest on the investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: So, on top of all of this stress from the coronavirus, Canada is dealing with one of the worst mass shootings in its history. Authorities
are investigating after a gunman possibly disguised as a police officer, went on a 12-hour shooting rampage on Saturday leaving at least 16 people
dead in the province of Nova Scotia. The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTIN TRUDEAU, PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA: My hearts go out to everyone affected in what is a terrible situation. I want to thank the police for
their hard work and people for cooperating with authorities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: All right. Well, Paula Newton joins me now live from Ottawa with more. What do we know about the suspect who was killed eventually at the
end of this rampage?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, nothing that would put anyone at ease at this point in terms of there was any kind of
predictive behavior here. What is key is that some people have been reaching for a motive and police have been quite clear, look, there likely
isn't one and trying to find some meaning out of what happened will be next to impossible.
Police calling it incomprehensible. Hala, I have to warn you the death toll police warn us could yet climb today making it Canada's worst massacre in
modern history. You know, this started late Saturday night, Halal, 911, multiple 911 calls coming in to what is a very small-town rule environment,
right? The kind of place where people leave their doors open. Multiple calls went to one residence police say multiple dead both inside and
outside the property.
They then began to have a look around, there were fires already blazing on that property but at the same time, more 911 calls coming in from all
different parts of that community. Several miles apart, each one that has led to an incredibly dramatic and chaotic crime scene still there on the
ground. The suspected gunman, a businessman Gabriel Wortman was captured and killed near a gas station, about 50 kilometers from where the original
incident happened.
Still a lot of questions there. Police saying that he knew some of the victims didn't know others. One of the victims though police confirming one
of their own. RCMP constable Heidi Stephenson, a mother of two, highly decorated, more than a two-decade veteran and also an elementary school
teacher identified so far but so much heartbreak coming, Hala. And you can imagine even people that are in the middle of the night already in lockdown
for the coronavirus we're told not only stay on lockdown, get into a basement if you have it because you are in danger.
And in fact several people were in danger and ended up losing their lives well into the night. All of this such a national tragedy. We expect the
prime minister to speak in about a half an hour from now about this. But how do you even begin to mourn? I mean, this is a national tragedy, Hala.
[10:50:08]
NEWTON: And people are wondering, you know, how you have funerals, how you have any kind of national day of mourning, a lot to take in here, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Paulo Newton, thanks very much reporting live from Ottawa.
Now, as the world deals with this pandemic that is sweeping across the world, leaving so many dead in its wake and as we cover these tragedies in
Canada, Britain's Duke and Duchess of Sussex say they believe that now is the time to cut off all ties with the U.K. tabloids. Prince Harry and his
wife Meghan told the editors of four newspapers, they will have zero engagement with their outlets from now on.
The royal couple say they still plan to work with other media but refused to offer themselves as, "Currency for clickbait and distortion." Royal
correspondent Max Foster is following the story and he joins me now live from Windsor, England. So, what is motivating this latest move by the
couple?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's obviously a long history of tension between the couple and the media, but the tabloid media
specifically much of it emerging of course in Windsor, love those tensions really set in around the time of Archie's birth, and the way it was
announced here and the amount of money that was put into the cottage just down the road, which they still retain, but as you know, they're currently
living in California.
What their big issue with these specific titles and they've named them as the male and the sun and the mirror, and the Express and the Sunday titles
associated with them, is that they essentially write stories just to attract click. So clickbait, as you describe, a lot of these stories are
distorted, false, or invasive, and they've just simply had enough. They said they're not going to coordinate with them any longer.
Back at a time when they were part of the royal family, they're receiving public funds, then the papers felt that they had a right to publish these
stories. And actually, the couple felt they had a duty to provide information to those publications. Now they've left the royal family, they
don't feel they have that duty anymore. And actually, Hala, that was one of the reasons why they decided to leave their royal role so they could
protect their privacy, particularly the privacy of their son.
GORANI: But were they cooperating before? Is this some sort of big change for them?
FOSTER: Well, they were involved in something called the Royal Rota which is the main publications in the U.K. and the main broadcasters in the U.K.
And that sort of -- it was a system that goes back many decades. And effectively it means that all the information is shared between all the
publications in the U.K. They've -- they are no longer part of the railroad. So they refuse to have anything to do with it. And they set up
their own system effectively.
So, for example, I was receiving e-mails today, as were the British broadsheet newspapers and the British broadcaster. So they still have a
system that they're working with, but they just won't deal with these tabloids. One of the comments they -- the representative made in the letter
to editors, was the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have watched people they know as well as complete strangers have their lives completely pulled apart
for no reason other than the fact that the salacious gossip boosts advertising revenue.
So, this is part of their campaign on fairness, really, which they apply to everything. They feel that not only themselves, but a lot of other people
are treated unfairly by the British tabloid media and they want to really be the ones fighting this spear -- spearheading this campaign against the
British tabloid media. It's an issue in this country. I have to say many senior media represents this saying you can't cut off parts of the media.
You have a duty or those parts of the media have a duty as much as the entire media to question authority.
GORANI: All right. Max Foster, thanks very much. Ahead on the program, we get back to the COVID-19 pandemic killing so many people around the world.
And before there is even a vaccine, a usable vaccine. One tennis star is speaking out against the requirement of getting a vaccine before you can
play tennis. We'll be right back with that story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:55:59]
GORANI: The tennis star, Novak Djokovic says he would not want to be forced to get a COVID-19 vaccination in order to play tennis if they became
compulsory. Health experts say vaccine won't be ready until last -- until at least a year. But the Serbian player will face a dilemma if it is
required for players to start competing again. This year's Wimbledon was canceled for the first time since World War II. While the French Open has
been rescheduled for September.
Well, Djokovic is not playing tennis right now. There are some tennis stars in Italy that are in their stars of the internet. A couple of women have
taken to playing tennis at new heights. They're using their rooftops as a tennis court. Taking turns, lobbing shots over the guardrails and the
street below. If you can't top that maybe you can give Roger Federer's challenge to try. The tennis great posted video of this solo drill you can
do at home. Bounce it off the wall and don't let it fall.
You've seen how stay-at-home orders have improved our environment. In many places around the world people aren't there to basically dirty the planet
up. There's cleaner air, there's cleaner water. Now we want to show you one measurable effect that it is having on wildlife. Some beaches in Thailand
are seeing their biggest number of turtle nests in 20 years. One local conservationists, it tributes to change the lockdown orders that have been
put -- been in place since March.
It's not just sea turtles. There's an increase in the number of dolphins and animals known as sea cows that are related to the manatee. They are all
having a ball while we are stuck at home. We're not there to, you know, first of all crowd them out of their natural habitat and dirty the place
up. So, good for that. That's at least one silver lining of this whole thing. I'm Hala Gorani. We're going to take a quick break on CNN. We'll be
right back with more news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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