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China Passes National Security Law For Hong Kong; Russians Hit The Reset Button For Putin; Fauci: U.S. Could See 100,000 Cases Per Day If Surge Continues; Central Leicester Locked Down; Pfizer BioNTech Vaccine "Promising"; Seattle Police Disperse Protesters In Occupied CHOP Area; Messi Reaches Another Major Career Milestone. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 01, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST (voice-over): Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. Coming up ahead on CNN this hour, Hong Kong's new reality: China's
central government imposed a sweeping national security law, leaving a city on edge.
Also right now, Russians are voting in a referendum that could keep Vladimir Putin in power until 2036.
And coronavirus infections just keep rising in much of the United States, as Dr. Anthony Fauci warns of 100,000 potential cases a day.
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GORANI: Well, it is already being felt. Hong Kong's new security law is in full force with arrests and a very heavy police presence on the ground.
Police in fact have already detained at least 300 people since the law took effect 24 hours ago. Nine were arrested for violating the law itself.
These pictures were shot by our CNN crew in Hong Kong just within the past hour. You see people loaded on to buses. Ivan Watson has details of the new
reality facing Hong Kong and the stark penalties facing those prosecuted for dissent.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: July 1st, 2020, may be the day Hong Kong's autonomous bubble finally burst. A controversial new
law dramatically expanding the Chinese central government's powers in Hong Kong was imposed under cover of darkness.
As riot police began fanning out across the city center, a national security law written behind closed doors in Beijing was only made public at
11:00 pm Tuesday, the moment that the law went into force. The timing hardly a coincidence. Because hours later, officials began celebrating the
23rd anniversary of the handover from British to Chinese rule.
According to international treaties, Hong Kong was supposed to enjoy relative autonomy from Communist-ruled China until the year 2047. But the
new law threatens critics of the Chinese government with possible life imprisonment.
At a press conference Wednesday, Hong Kong's top officials argued that the law would be good for the city's long-term stability.
WATSON: You have repeatedly said that it will be a tiny minority of people who could be prosecuted and targeted by this law.
Are you anticipating dozens of people being prosecuted?
Hundreds, thousands?
CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG CHIEF EXECUTIVE: I would rather not to be able -- not to arrest or prosecute anybody if everybody abides by the law. The purpose
of this piece of legislation is not just to punish but also to deter, to deter people from committing such serious offenses as cessation (sic),
subverting the state power, terrorist activities.
For years, Hong Kong offered a split screen commemoration of the July 1st handover anniversary. Government displays of patriotism, while not far away
of a pro democracy March often critical of Beijing.
But after a million man march last year, some protesters broke into the city's Legislative Council building, trashing it. The city then descended
into months of increasingly violent confrontations. This year, police banned the annual protest march before it even began and immediately
started arresting demonstrators for violating the national security law.
This new national security law arguably formalizes changes that have already been taking place in Hong Kong over the last year. I mean, look at
the fortifications around the government's headquarters, the riot police presence, the wire mesh defending the pedestrian overpasses.
All of these are new measures responding to a portion of the population that's deeply unhappy with its own government.
The Chinese government power play has had an immediate chilling effect, with some opposition activists disbanding their political party offices
this week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably in the future we may never see a million people on the street again. Not because we satisfied the government. But just
because we are now living in fear.
WATSON: Beijing's message is unmistakable. Hong Kong's cultural protests will no longer be tolerated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, Ivan Watson joins me live from Hong Kong.
[10:05:00]
GORANI: We are hearing that activists are just frantically deleting social media posts, that some of them are even deleting entire WhatsApp message
threads. There's really a sense of anxiety there, overtaking some of these activists that have been so vocal and that have -- over the last year have
taken part in these demonstrations.
WATSON: It is very dramatic. And all the more dramatic because, again, the law -- the contents of the law were published just before midnight. But
hours later, police were already arresting people for violating the law.
And the police had already printed up flags with almost a ridiculous amount of information on them, warning people that you are potentially in
violation of this law. So there was clearly some preparation on the part of law enforcement for moving forward.
And I do have to point out that, under this new law, the Chinese government will establish its own national security office under its direct control
here in Hong Kong; that's a big change that this city hasn't seen before. There are pretty dramatic international implications for this as well.
Because Hong Kong's autonomy was supposed to be protected under international treaties, signed between Britain and China back in 1984.
Britain's foreign secretary has now come out, saying that China -- he's alleging that China is in violation of these treaties.
And Britain has announced that it is going to provide a path to citizenship for some 350,000 Hong Kongers, who hold British national overseas
passports, which China does not like.
China has been slamming any criticism of the new law, which has come from Japan, the European Union, the Group of Seven, the U.S., as intervention in
its own internal affairs.
But clearly the Chinese leadership has made a calculation that whatever blowback it may receive internationally for taking this dramatic step into
Hong Kong's autonomy, it's worth whatever international criticism it may get.
Clearly the Chinese government could not tolerate the scenes of protests last year and it really didn't like the fledgling separatist movement that
was growing here in Hong Kong. It was a fringe movement.
But that has particularly been targeted; any sign of a Hong Kong independence flag or separatist flag, the police swoop right in and grab
whoever is carrying it. Hala?
GORANI: All right. Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong with our report.
Ivan mentioned that some Hong Kong residents could be eligible to a fast- tracked citizenship in the U.K. Well, the British foreign secretary is calling the new law a, quote, "grave and deeply disturbing step" and
Britain is making good on the promise to extend visa rights for British nationals overseas.
Dominic Raab spoke before the House of Commons a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOMINIC RAAB, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: I can now confirm we'll proceed to honor our commitment to change the arrangements for those holding the
status. I can update the members that we have worked with the ministers right across Whitehall and we have the immigration route for them and their
dependents.
We'll grant them five years with the right to work or to study. After these five years, they'll be able to apply for settled status. And after a
further 12 months with settled status, they will be able to apply for citizenship.
This is a special bespoke set of arrangements developed for the unique circumstances we face and in light of our historic commitment to the people
of Hong Kong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: And that is the British foreign secretary, reacting to the new law.
Now as far as Beijing is concerned, it insists this law is not meant to target the pro-democracy camp. There was a news conference given earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Enacting the national security protection law for Hong Kong does not set Hong Kong's opposition camp our
pan democracy camp as an imaginary enemy.
The law is to target the small number of people who commit serious crimes, endangering national security, instead of the whole opposition camp. Hong
Kong is a pluralistic society with political pluralism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, joining me now is the former chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong. Joining me now, Emily Lau.
Thank you very much for being with us. I guess the question.
[10:10:00]
GORANI: Is this the end of Hong Kong as we once is this the end of Hong Kong as we once knew it, do you think?
EMILY LAU, FORMER HONG KONG DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIR: Possibly, because the old Hong Kong -- I don't know whether you can hear, Hala -- it's a very
vibrant and free and safe city. but with the passage -- and my professor at the London School of Economics said we shouldn't call it a law because it's
a disgrace.
So with the passage of this thing, I think many people are going to be frightened and that's why they welcomed the U.K. government's announcement
or they may find their way to North America or to Australia or to New Zealand.
And those who stay, of course, as you saw them on the streets of Hong Kong today, some, many, will fight. And others will conduct self-censorship. So
it is a very, very sorry saga. Terrible. I just hate to see this.
GORANI: Is this -- yes. I mean, we were discussing with our reporter, Ivan Watson, that some activists are so already worried that they'll be arrested
under this new law that they've been deleting the social media posts, that they're even worried that their encrypted communications on WhatsApp will
be monitored and they're deleting those as well.
How are you reacting to this all of this?
Are you concerned for yourself as well?
And what's it like in the -- in those communities that oppose Beijing's move?
LAU: Well, I know of people who are very alarmed and very concerned and I - - I'm not that nervous. But of course, we have lived under Communist rule for over two decades. I wasn't born yesterday. So I expected, you know,
this sort of treatment.
And now it has come and so -- so I guess we have to be careful. But if you live in the police state, (INAUDIBLE), I'm talking to you. Maybe there's
someone at the door, monitoring us or maybe there's a machine.
So I mean, how can you get away?
And, OK, they may want to arrest me.
I mean, what crime have I committed?
It is terrible. I mean, I have not lived in a police state before and I don't want to. But now it seems the situation is just deteriorating. And
that's why I hope the international community will continue to call on the Communist Party of China, not to crack down on our rights.
There may be some but only a small number who are asking for independence. But most of us say one country, two systems is OK, just leave us alone
until 2047. That's the agreement. But now they're reneging on their agreement and that's why people are so angry and so terrified.
GORANI: What should the international community do?
Because we're hearing condemnation from the E.U., the U.K., the U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo is expressing concern.
Do you think that the international community has the power to put enough pressure on China to back down at this stage?
LAU: Well, I think -- I think it's important that they continue to express their displeasure. And of course, China has to deal with them.
You know, talk about Japan. Japan in the last few days has expressed concern and also regret and President Xi Jinping is supposed to be visiting
Japan this year. And now it seems that the Japanese government is saying, hey, wait a minute, we're not going to try to organize that yet.
So if other countries all say the same, the Chinese government, like other governments, they like -- they want face. So I think it is important to
keep reminding them that certain things that they are doing to Hong Kong is unacceptable and they hope that the Chinese will change.
The last thing we want to see is for the international community to say, oh, yes, we have said enough. It seems it's not going to work so we'll move
on to something else.
We hope they won't. We hope they will continue to raise the Hong Kong issue in all of the international forums.
GORANI: Yes. Well, we'll keep our eyes certainly on this and we want to thank you, Emily Lau, the former chairwoman of the Democratic Party in Hong
Kong, for joining us from Hong Kong on this important and significant day.
The polls are open in Russia, where voters will decide whether to let Vladimir Putin try to extend his control of the country well into the next
decade.
[10:15:00]
GORANI: They're voting on constitutional referendum that would allow the president to run for not one but two more terms. For Mr. Putin, that means
potentially extending his time in power to 2036.
The government says early returns are showing overwhelming support for allowing this to happen. The Kremlin has been making a strong push to get
people out to vote. Critics are calling it a constitutional coup. Matthew Chance is following the story from London and joins us now live.
If there is overwhelming popular support to extend Vladimir Putin's ability to rule over this country for two more terms, the obvious question is why?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, look, the first answer to that is that Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin have made
it very clear and have tried as hard as they can to make this constitutional vote not to be just about him.
They have barely mentioned if at all, that clause that would allow Putin to qualify for two more terms that could extend his period of power for 16
years until he's 83 years old. They have a whole raft of other things as well, like workers' rights, greater help for families, a very controversial
one as well, that would enshrine the idea that wedlock would be between a man and a woman.
It has been slammed as homophobic but it would appeal to the very conservative, some might say prejudiced electorate when it comes to that
issue inside Russia. So there's every chance that Russians will be voting for one of those issues when they vote in favor of the constitutional
amendments.
Despite the fact that Vladimir Putin's popularity ratings are at all-time lows, they're still at 59 percent, which is high, and he's still the most
popular political figure essentially in the country.
So I think it's true that, you know, because of the effects of state media and people getting their news from those channels exclusively, for many
parts, many examples, he's still the person they want to see lead the country into the future.
GORANI: Thank you very much, Matthew Chance.
Coming up, a top U.S. health official gives a dire warning to lawmakers on Capitol Hill as coronavirus numbers explode across most of the United
States.
And in one of the worst hot spots, Florida, the governor says he will not roll back the state's reopening, despite some dismal infection rate
numbers. We'll take you there live, next.
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GORANI: In the United States, the level of new coronavirus infections has returned to peak numbers; 37 states are experiencing a significant jump in
cases.
[10:20:00]
GORANI: And the nation's top infection disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the U.S. could see 100,000 new cases a day if nothing changes.
CNN's Randi Kaye has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Capitol Hill, the nation's top infectious disease expert giving this disturbing prediction.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We are now having 40 plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be
surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around so I'm very concerned.
KAYE (voice-over): Dr. Fauci telling a Senate health committee that no section of the country is safe from the coronavirus.
FAUCI: We are going in the wrong direction. If you look at the curves of the new cases, clearly, we are not in total control right now.
KAYE (voice-over): With new weekly confirmed cases increasing in at least 37 states this morning, Fauci says.
FAUCI: I'm very concerned about what's going on right now, particularly in the four states that are accounting for about 50 percent of the new
infections.
KAYE (voice-over): Two of them are Florida and California, where the governors are taking different approaches on handling the drastic rise in
cases within their borders.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis is still resisting taking more aggressive measures statewide to help slow the spread, as the Sunshine State added
nearly 6,100 new reported cases to its tally on Tuesday.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We're not going back closing things. I don't think that that really is what's driving it. We're open. We know who we
need to protect.
KAYE (voice-over): Meantime, in California, nearly 6,400 new cases. Governor Gavin Newsom said more tighter restrictions.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): If you're not going to stay home and wear masks in public, we have to enforce and we will.
KAYE (voice-over): Masks are mandatory in all of California. And Newsom says it's up to local leaders to make sure residents are wearing them.
NEWSOM: We'll be doing more to focus on enforcement in this state, primarily local enforcement.
KAYE (voice-over): But in Florida, facial covering rules are up to cities and counties.
DESANTIS: All leaders should set the example. I wear the mask because I want to protect you.
KAYE (voice-over): The CDC director telling lawmakers this very same message, asking young people to take the lead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is critical that we all take the personal responsibility to slow the transmission of COVID-19 and embrace the
universal use of face coverings.
KAYE (voice-over): Despite repeated warnings against large gatherings, President Trump will attend an early Independence Day event in South Dakota
Friday. Masks will not be required.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Those who want to come and join us will be giving out free face masks if they choose to wear one but we won't be social
distancing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Randi Kaye is now joining us.
Governor DeSantis was essentially blaming the media, blaming journalists, for stoking fears that the numbers hadn't risen in Florida. And now here we
are with bad numbers for that state and others.
I wonder how are ordinary Floridians reacting to these very worrying trends?
KAYE: Yes. He was pushing that partisan narrative, he said, that the media and he asked for an apology from the media. People here are very, very
concerned about this spike in numbers. They certainly don't like what they're seeing.
There's no mask mandate here statewide. There's no statewide beach closure coming up for the July 4th holiday weekend. And the governor says there's
no way he's going to shut this state down.
So Floridians today, we have seen them flocking to the beach. They want to enjoy the sunshine, they want to enjoy the beach here. But they also know
the reality is that we're seeing a lot of positivity here in Miami-Dade, one of the hardest hit counties. They saw a positivity rate yesterday of
more than 22 percent.
So the governor says that the state has a 10 percent to 15 percent positivity rate. That's just not true. And the mayor of Miami is saying
that hospitals are running out of capacity there. So it's a pretty dire picture. So he can say all he wants that it's not -- doesn't resemble New
York. But we're certainly getting there.
GORANI: But when you mentioned hospitals, that some of them are reaching capacity, what is that -- tangibly what does that mean for people who
contract this virus?
KAYE: Well, first of all, I think a lot of people who -- they're just afraid to go to the hospital right now, in general, just because it's a
scary place with all of the COVID out there, all the coronavirus.
So right now, we understand the governor says that the hospitals have capacity but the mayor of Miami told CNN that some of his hospitals there
are either at or close to capacity. So they could shift resources.
We saw that in other states. They could shift ventilators, they could shift ICU beds. They still have separate COVID wings. But they might have to get
creative.
[10:25:00]
KAYE: I mean, this is definitely spreading. Even in Miami-Dade they're now closing down the restaurants at midnight, because they turn into nightclubs
and are breeding areas for the virus. They don't want to overwhelm the hospitals so they're doing that. Closing down the restaurants from 12:00 am
to 6:00 am to make sure that we can try and keep this virus at bay. But we haven't had much luck with it here in the state.
GORANI: All right. Randi Kaye, thanks so much for that report.
In the south central United States, Texas is also showing an alarming rate of new COVID-19 infections. The state reported nearly 7,000 cases on
Tuesday alone. That is shattering its own daily record for new cases. There are now nearly 160,000 people infected with the disease there.
And as case numbers surge, hospitals are running out of space for coronavirus patients. The Texas governor, Greg Abbott, has expanded an
order suspending elective surgeries to help free up the number of hospital beds. Those surgeries are now on hold at hospitals in eight Texas counties.
That gives you an idea of the situation.
The state has also shut down bars yet again and ordered restaurants to limit indoor dining.
I mean, elective surgeries, we're talking about people waiting for knee replacements, hip replacements, even screenings are being delayed.
The Trump administration has announced a deal to acquire nearly the entire world supply of remdesivir, the only known treatment to speed the recovery
of some COVID-19 patients.
Now the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said that the president has secured all of the drugmaker Gilead's July production, the
entirety of it. And 90 percent of both the August and September production also secured by the United States alone.
Earlier this week, Gilead shipped the last portion of its remdesivir donation to the U.S. government.
What does that mean?
Well, that means only the U.S. has this potentially life-saving drug and none of the other countries in the world will have access to it and
remdesivir, you'll remember we covered this drug. It is administered to people who are in dire shape in the ICU, on ventilators. And it has been
shown in some cases to shorten the amount of time some people -- some patients spend in the intensive care unit.
But if you're in Europe, it's going to be virtually impossible to get your hands on it.
Ahead on this show, more on the fallout over China's new national security law for Hong Kong. Many foreign businesses are deciding whether they should
stay in Hong Kong at all.
Plus, COVID-19 forces one English city to shut back down as the rest of the country reopens. A look at what went wrong and what authorities are trying
to do in Leicester coming up.
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[10:30:00]
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GORANI: It is July 1st today, so that means the European Union is now officially reopen to a limited amount of travelers from countries outside
the E.U. But it excludes people who live in the United States. Only places that have been determined to pose low risk from the pandemic will be
allowed in.
For now, the U.S. is seen as too risky, as we have covered extensively, because of a continued spike in cases. Our Fred Pleitgen has been following
the reopening from Brussels, Belgium. He joins us now with the latest.
I wonder what are the expectations for numbers at this stage because you have a list of 15 countries that are allowed in now.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that the expectations for numbers aren't very high, at least in the medium and short
term future. One of the things to keep in mind, a lot of the tourism that happens in Europe are actually people that come from Europe.
We know the -- in the inner European borders, the Schengen borders, have been opened for a limited amount of time. So I don't think they're
expecting a lot travelers to come back here and maybe some people from China.
Certainly if you look at the other countries on the list of 15 countries, not too many of them are holiday makers who come to Europe. Some of them
maybe are. Then, of course, you come to the United States. And not having the United States on that list is something that does hurt the European
Union.
I was doing some of the math yesterday and just for France alone in 2018, American travelers spent $4 billion there. That is a lot of money and
that's something that obviously the European Union is now saying, look, that would have been great.
But they believe that the public health risk, as you said, of letting Americans in at this point in time with the pandemic the way it is in the
United States is simply too big and that obviously wouldn't be worth having them come in right now.
So certainly it's a difficult situation still for the European Union. I think they believe that travel is going to pick up very, very slowly
because, of course, a lot of people who may have gone on holidays in the past still wary of doing so at this point in time.
But they believe the United States has not done enough to ensure the European continent it has the pandemic under control, for the E.U. to allow
Americans to come back in here.
If you look at the trajectory of the coronavirus cases in the United States and in the European Union, you can see that they are going in very, very
different directions. The U.S. obviously skyrocketing up, while the E.U. is going down to the great extent -- Hala.
GORANI: Right. Right. So the U.S. excluded Russia. A lot of the Russian holiday makers in coastal Mediterranean towns won't be traveling. Thanks
very much, Fred Pleitgen.
The authorities will be reviewing this list every two weeks, so based on the numbers in these third countries, that list could change.
In the next hour, my colleague, Kim Brunhuber, will talk to the European Union commissioner for home affairs, Ylva Johansson. So join us for that.
She'll be giving us more details on the E.U.'s strategy when it comes to who they allow in and who they do not allow into the Schengen zone.
In the U.K., the city of Leicester is shut down again, just as the rest of England is opening back up; 10 percent of the country's positive
coronavirus cases stem from Leicester alone. And the infection rate is three times higher than the next highest city. CNN's Phil Black has our
report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Only a few days ago, central Leicester was buzzing. People lined up patiently to get inside the shops they desperately
missed through lockdown. Now suddenly, they're locked out again. Once more, the mood here can be eerie, quiet and, yet, so familiar.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel sad. I think the people are a bit confused.
BLACK: The lockdown fatigue?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Most definitely.
BLACK (voice-over): The government says it didn't want to carve Leicester out from the U.K.'s steadily opening economy but it had no choice. It's now
Britain's first individually locked down city because COVID-19 is still advancing through the population.
The government says 10 percent of all England's recent positive test results were recorded in Leicester. On the city's Golden Mile, we meet this
Pishor Johan (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not surprised that it's come back to this.
BLACK: He's been running a general store in the heart of Leicester's South Asian community for 50 years. Just weeks ago, he and many other shop owners
on the normally vibrant strip reopened, determined to recover.
[10:35:00]
BLACK: Now we only find locked doors, closed shutters and delayed hopes.
How long do you think you can hold out, now that you have been told to close your doors again?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as it takes. I think safety and the measures that the government have put in are more important.
BLACK: Down the road in Bobby's Restaurant, Darnesh Lakani (ph) is angry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel this is definitely an overreaction.
BLACK: Like restaurant owners across the U.K.,, he was planning on a big return this weekend after shutting down more than three months ago.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is devastating for us, devastating for our colleagues and really a sad day and the way it's happened is very sad.
BLACK: Leicester is famously diverse and many are worried about rising infections here because of COVID-19's devastating impacts on ethnic
minorities. There's evidence everywhere people are taking the threat seriously in everything they do, even as they grieve.
The virus didn't kill this person but it's restricting those left to mourn. Masks hide their emotions. They can only stand on a street safely apart and
watch as the person they love is driven away.
We meet few people in the city who question the need for rolling back deep into lockdown. But many have theories on what went wrong, how this could
have been avoided.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The lack of testing equipment, the lack of support, the mixed messaging, all provided to conditions that creates the virus to
continue in Leicester.
BLACK: A whole city and the surrounding area, more than 350,000 people, are now isolated from their own country. Part of a giant involuntarily
experiment that will hopefully increase the understanding of local outbreaks and how to fight them -- Phil Black, CNN, Leicester, Central
England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: Well, let's get more on the lockdown. I'm joined by the leader of Leicestershire County Council, Nick Rushton. Thanks for being with us.
Why Leicester?
What -- is there anything specific to Leicester that would explain the surging numbers in that one city?
NICK RUSHTON, LEICESTERSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL: Well, it's a heavily built-up area and as you say in your report, a very diverse, ethnic population. It's
also the home to a lot of small manufacturing businesses, small food processing businesses.
And maybe the messaging to start with wasn't that good because I think a lot of the messaging we put out was in English and, of course, a lot of the
older people in there don't speak English and some the ones that do speak English don't read English.
But we are where we are with it. And under the new government's whack-a- mole strategy, we think it's better to lock down specific areas rather than revert back to a countrywide lockdown.
GORANI: How do you enforce this?
And I mean, there's a perimeter around the area. People are encouraged not to travel in and out?
Or are they compelled to stay put?
How does it work?
RUSHTON: Well, as you say, Hala, it's not just Leicester city. We had to include some of the suburbs, some of the big areas outside the definitive
city boundary. The city boundary was drawn in 1920 so there's been substantial growth in the city and most of it is spread out into the
county.
So we have had to include a lot of areas outside of the city boundary. Now to stop people going out, obviously the police will have ultimate powers to
stop people going out.
But this is England and we rely on people's goodwill to observe the rules because the rules are there for their benefit. If we can deal with this
quickly and expeditiously we'll be able to release the lockdown a lot quicker.
GORANI: But if there was a spike -- because maybe, as you mentioned, some people -- English isn't the first language for some people and they may
speak it but not read it, et cetera.
Have you corrected all of these issues that potentially led to this first spike, that will allow people to understand what is going on, that this
kind of lockdown is for everyone's benefit?
Do you feel like you have communicated that this time?
RUSHTON: I think in the city, it's accepted that we have to have the lockdown. In some of the suburbs, which are around Leicester, the numbers
weren't high. In fact, they were below the national average.
So some people are having to make the ultimate sacrifice of going down into lockdown when their infection numbers aren't high. With regard to the
messaging we try hard with the language in diverse populations but we're going to redouble our efforts this time.
[10:40:00]
RUSHTON: One of the other problems in the city, South Asian families live differently to other people. They live in large, extended families. So
often children live with their parents and their grandparents and that's their tradition.
So that doesn't help with the virus. If the young people go out and go to work and get ill, they bring it home. So we have to test a lot more people
and if one of the young ones who live with mom and dad or even grandma or granddad are ill, we have to put them in separate accommodation.
GORANI: That's going to add to the complexity of the situation. Having several generations together is good but in the case of COVID it's the last
thing you want to do. Young people coming back home after a day's work, where older people are also residing. That leads to higher infection rates
as you mentioned.
But I guess the other question is, with this spike, how are hospitals doing in your area?
Are they -- are they starting to report that they're nearing capacity or are they managing the influx well?
RUSHTON: Yes, we're actually nowhere near capacity. The hospitals, they're reacting well. People in this country really appreciate what our National
Health Service has done. So the hospitals aren't under threat.
One other thing, Hala. The young people that bring it back maybe to the family dwelling, are particularly unaffected by COVID. Young ones haven't
been affected the same as the old have.
So a young person can catch it, he doesn't even know he's got it. And then they take it home. Of course it takes the elderly and people with
underlying problems. So a lot of the deaths aren't strictly from COVID, although they're brought on by COVID. It's because they have underlying
problems as well and therefore, less resilient.
But hopefully the people of Leicester and the suburbs of Leicester will all work together to defeat this virus because it's not going away, Hala.
GORANI: Yes, absolutely. Best of luck to you.
Nick Rushton is the Leicester County Council leader.
Thank you so much for joining us on CNN.
Now to promising new reporting of a COVID-19 vaccine currently in development. U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is working with German
company, BioNtech, on this. They say their vaccine is showing, quote, "encouraging data." Elizabeth Cohen has more on this.
Talk to us about this new, encouraging initiative.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hala, I want to be very clear here that there are several caveats.
First of all, they have vaccinated only about 36 people, which is what you'd expect at this stage. But that obviously is a small group.
Secondly, they didn't try to see if they would get infected. They just looked in their blood for certain immunological markers, which is important
but it doesn't tell you, hey, will they get infected or not?
Third of all, this was not published. This was not published in a medical journal, peers have not reviewed it. They just sort of put it online. So
those are some important things to remember.
But to say they did get an immune response with one dose of the vaccine and got a better immune response with two doses. That certainly is encouraging
enough that the experts I have talked to have said, we ought to be doing a phase three.
In other words, a large-scale trial of let's say 30,000 people and then you will know, hey, when we put the people out there in the community, will
they get COVID or not?
There is one note that I want to make, which is that a fair number of people got fevers and chills and muscle aches, those kinds of symptoms with
this vaccine at a lower or a medium dose after just one dose. They got -- one out of 12 people got fevers. At a high dose, half of the people got
fevers after just one dose.
And those numbers they then revaccinated, they gave another shot to some of the people and the fever numbers got worse.
Now these fevers are transient, they go away, generally speaking, according to the study, in one day and you can be easily making the argument, you
know what, some people getting a day of fever and muscle aches is a small price to pay for hopefully controlling this virus.
But it is an issue that people got fever because some people might not be so crazy about taking a vaccination that might give them a fever. And the
acceptance rate of this vaccination among the public is an important issue for us to pay attention to -- Hala.
GORANI: And once a vaccine is developed, would you take it once and for all or would you just -- just like the flu vaccine, you have to take it every
year?
How would it work?
COHEN: You know what, Hala, that is a great question and no one has an answer to that. There's several ways this could work. You could get one
dose and it's good for life. People are skeptical they don't think that's the situation -- the experts don't think that's going to happen.
[10:45:00]
COHEN: They think it could take a booster dose. It also could take doses every year or maybe even more often than every year. This is -- you know,
with the measles vaccine, for example, you get two doses and you're done for life.
What I'm hearing is that that may not be the case with this. You may need to get it repeatedly and maybe more than once a year. This is a coronavirus
and coronaviruses can be pretty tricky.
So the short answer to your question -- that was a long answer -- the short answer to your question is we don't know but it is looking somewhat likely
that you'll have to get this shot more than once.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Elizabeth Cohen.
Coming up, a U.S. man says he was just protecting his home. But protesters say he was threatening them with an assault rifle. Details on the video
that went viral -- you have seen this video. But our Chris Cuomo spoke to the man wielding this assault rifle and we'll bring you that a little bit
later.
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GORANI: Well, at this hour police in Seattle are clearing out an area that was once run by the protesters. You're looking at the CHOP or Capitol Hill
Occupied Protest zone. The city's mayor tolerated the area for weeks but has now signed an executive order to disperse the protesters.
This was after four shootings and the deaths of two teenagers. Thousands occupied the four to six block area in early June to demand police reform
after the death of George Floyd.
A man in St. Louis says his life has been ruined since a video went viral showing him pointing a gun at protesters and with his wife as well holding
a handgun. It captured the moment Mark McCloskey and his wife brandished weapons and yelled at protesters marching outside their home.
The protesters were on a private street and were allegedly heading to demonstrate outside the mayor's house. So this video just went all over the
place. You probably have seen it online.
The wife there, Ms. McCloskey, is kind of waving the pistol at protesters. The husband, though, was holding it sideways; in some instances, actually
pointing it at his wife. My colleague, Chris Cuomo, spoke to the husband and the attorney.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: They did not go up your steps, they didn't go to your house, they didn't touch you or try to enter your home. They didn't
try to do anything to your kids.
But you say you were assaulted. You're using this civil definition of that, which is that you had the apprehension that something bad was going to
happen to you. But nothing did. But the call of terrorism, when people are there to protest how the community is treated by the police, is a bit of a
reverse psychology at a minimum, is it not?
[10:50:00]
MARK MCCLOSKEY, GUN OWNER: No, you're absolutely wrong. The reason why they did not get up the steps was my wife and I were there with the weapons to
keep them off our steps when --
CUOMO: How do you know?
MCCLOSKEY: -- confront -- because they were coming at us until I displayed the weapon and that stopped them. I came out --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: So do you -- I'm sure a house like that -- I'm sure a house like that has cameras.
Do you have video of them coming up the steps and being in your house?
MCCLOSKEY: I'm not going to discuss the level of my private security on national television. That's not a topic --
CUOMO: But do you have proof of them actually approaching your house?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, Chris, this is not a Black Lives Matters -- Matter movement issue. This is a matter of -- not just one discussion that
we have to have. You said we have to have a discussion, we do. And every melanin challenged old white man like me needs to listen and hear the
message, the message of Black Lives Matter.
What the second part of this discussion is, and it's not mutually exclusive, is the rights -- constitutional rights of each and every citizen
in this land that can't be compromised with -- without recognizing that the message of Black Lives Matter will cease to have any meaning at all.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right. That's the point of view of the man who was one half of that couple brandishing the weapons as the protesters walked past their
palatial home in St. Louis and the police in St. Louis are telling CNN they are investigating this matter.
Lionel Messi reaches another major career milestone. We'll tell you which elite group the football superstar entered Tuesday.
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GORANI: Well, it's hard to talk football without mentioning Lionel Messi and why he's considered one of the all-time greats. Don Riddell can tell us
more -- Don.
DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, thanks very much.
Mixed emotions for Messi on Tuesday, one of the greatest players of all time, reached a milestone in a game that was disappointing for both him and
his Barcelona team. This was the moment that he scored his 700th career goal. A cheeky penalty known as a Panenka and that gave Barca the lead in
the game but they ended up drawing the match and likely losing ground in the title race. Nonetheless, Messi's coach was thrilled for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I don't know if he'll score another 700 but I'm sure he'll score many more goals. But there's no limit to
football players like this. He never ceases to amaze us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Lionel Messi becomes only the seventh player to score 700 career goals. And his rival, Cristiano Ronaldo is still playing. Juventus are
looking for a ninth consecutive title. And it was a decent finish but the next two goals will take your breath away, look at this.
In the 56th minute, Ronaldo made the most of the goal, smashing the ball into the far corner. It was quite a brilliant strike from 25 yards out for
the 24th goal for him in the season.
[10:55:00]
RIDDELL: But it wasn't the only great strike of the game Douglas Costa sensed an opportunity and it was superb. Juve won 3-1. They're four points
clear at the top.
In the English Premier League it's turning into a very good year for Manchester United. A 3-0 win against Brighton means they have gone 15 games
unbeaten and are closing in on a top four finish, which means Champions League football next season.
United got in front thanks to a 13th strike of the season from their teenager, Mason Greenwood. And they never looked back from there. Their
form is much improved and Bruno Fernandes is a big part of that. He's helped to transform the confidence of this team.
It was Fernandes who made sure of the points with a goal in each half. Leading United to a comfortable win. Since his arrival, by the way, United
have won eight games and drawn the other four.
The table now looks like this. United just two points behind fourth place Chelsea. Although Chelsea have a game in hand. United's remaining fixtures
are straightforward though. Their fans are starting to imagine a top four finish.
That said, United are in fifth and that would be good enough for Champions League football next season unless Manchester City's ban from UEFA is
overturned.
We cannot escape the reality of the era. These games are all being played in echoey, empty stadiums because of the coronavirus. Just seven years ago,
Wiggan Athletic were playing in the Premier League and they were the FA Cup winners that year.
But now the lattix (ph) have slipped into administration and they say coronavirus has had an impact on their fortunes. According to their most
recent accounts, Wiggan lost more than $11 million and a spokesman for the government's digital culture media and sport committee says between 10 and
15 clubs could find themselves now in a similar position.
That is really worrying, Hala, but I guess sport, like everything else, is a business and it's all impacted by coronavirus.
GORANI: All right. It seems every business has been. Thank you very much, Don.
That's going to do it for me this hour. I'm Hala Gorani. Kim Brunhuber is back with more after the break.
END
