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Miami-Dade County To Close Indoor Dining & Gyms; White House Considers Actively Encouraging Masks; Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro Tests Positive For COVID-19; International Students Must Leave United States If Switched To Online School; Sprinter Accuses London Police Of Racial Profiling. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 07, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta. Ahead this hour, coronavirus cases
continue to rise across the U.S. as many states were forced to roll back reopening plans.
Then outrage over a decision to withdraw U.S. visas from foreign students whose courses move fully online. We'll speak to a grand student who is
affected. And TikTok pulls out of Hong Kong after China imposed a sweeping and controversial new security law.
A dire warning from America's top infectious disease expert despite a recent surge in COVID-19 cases, the U.S. is still knee deep in the first
wave of this pandemic. At least 31 states are reporting higher rates of new infections this week compared to last week. Almost half of the country is
now pausing or rolling back reopenings.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, more than 65,000 people have now died from the coronavirus. It comes as President Jair Bolsonaro is awaiting results from
his own COVID-19 test. Greece has closed its border with Serbia due to a spike in cases there. That decision will be reassessed next week.
And Israel is renewing some of its strict new lockdown measures after the country saw its highest daily number of cases last week. Bars, clubs and
gyms will be closed, while restaurants and houses of worship will be allowed a limited number of people.
Hospitals across the U.S., south and southwest, are reporting ICUs at full capacity. Dozens of those are in Florida and experts are sounding the alarm
bells. Rosa Flores has the latest from Miami.
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A warning from the nation's top infectious disease expert reminding Americans this is still just the beginning of the
coronavirus pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITIUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We are still knee deep in the first wave of this. We went up,
never came down to baseline, and now we're surging back up. So it's a serious situation that we have to address immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: Dr. Anthony Fauci says the number of new daily infections nearly doubled over the past week and a half.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. FAUCI: Now a series of circumstances associated with various states and cities trying to open up in the sense of getting back to some form of
normality has led to a situation where we now have record-breaking cases.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: Some of Florida's reopening plan coming to a halt in Miami-Dade County. By Wednesday, businesses like gyms and dining restaurants will be
closed once again in an effort to slow the spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAN GELBER (D), MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA MAYOR: We're starting to roll the carpet back up. It's pretty clear we have this real problem. Two weeks ago
there were 60 COVID patients on ventilators. Today it's 160.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: Ventilator use is up 127 percent across Miami-Dade County, and hospitalizations are up 90 percent. 43 intensive care units are already at
capacity, and an additional 32 show a bed availability of 10 percent or less. Doctors reminding young people just how dangerous the coronavirus
could be, regardless of age.
[11:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. DAVID DE LA ZERDA, ICU MEDICAL DIRECTOR, JACKSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: We've seen everybody from 34 to 45 dying in the ICU, so the message to
young people is they can also get sick and they should also take care of themselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: In Miami-Dade, 26 percent of tests came back positive on Sunday with a spike in cases involving 18 to 34-year-olds.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARLOS GIMENEZ, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA MAYOR: We need to curtail the social activities of young people because that's where our problems
started. My concern is that we're going to reach the capacity, our medical capacity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: 31 states, including Florida, are experiencing a rise in new cases in the past week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: It's all over the country now. It's spreading widely. It now relies on us as
individuals if we don't have a national plan. We have to wear our masks, watch the social distancing, avoid large groups.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FLORES: In California, the state capital shutting down after five assembly members tested positive. Texas crossing 200,000 confirmed cases and Dallas
reporting another high in hospitalizations. The military announcing it is sending 50-some medical and support personnel to the San Antonio area to
help with the surge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: The cases are rising so rapidly that we cannot even do contact tracing anymore. I don't think
obviously how it's possible to even do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Thank you, Rosa Flores, for that report. And other states to see a spike in cases is Arizona, and it's now surpassed 100,000 infections, so
let's bring in CNN's Evan McMorris Santoro live in Phoenix climbing faster than any other state there. What's the latest?
EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kim. I mean, as you heard in Rosa's report, the United States is really going through a tough
time with the pandemic right now. And Arizona, where I'm right now, is a big part of that story. You hear about the fact that we crossed 100,000
cases in this state pandemic began for the first time this week. 3300 new cases reported yesterday.
But those numbers, they don't put it into perspective. The perspective is that, if you look at the averages, on the average over the last seven days,
Arizona added more new cases per day than any other state in the United States. It's very much an active problem here, and public health officials
are trying to get a handle on these rising cases.
Here in phoenix where I am, they've instituted a mask band - a mask requirement and they reclosed bars and gyms and things like that. But
there's still indoor dining allowed, and the Mayor of the city is hoping to see some changes to some of those rules that she thinks will help public
health officials to get a handle on this growing crisis out here, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Well, alright. Thank you so much, Evan McMorris-Santoro in Phoenix. The Mayor of one of America's largest cities has revealed she has
coronavirus. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms tells CNN she found out Monday that she and her husband have the virus.
They got tested when he began showing symptoms, but the Mayor says she doesn't have any. She says she's not sure how they got the virus, which
makes it much more frightening.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA MAYOR: This is scary. We've done all the things that we thought that we should do, and for us to still test
positive, I think, really speaks to how easily this virus is spread, and obviously, none of us are immune from it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Keisha Lance Bottoms has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden. In a stark contrast
to the U.S., Australia is imposing strict measures over a comparatively small outbreak.
At midnight Wednesday, Melbourne in the State of Victoria will go on lockdown. People in that city will have to stay in their homes except for
essential trips for things like work, food or medical appointments. The measure comes as the state sees a new daily record, 191 infections a day
after setting another record with 127 new cases.
Last hour the government closed roads and waterways between Victoria and New South Wales. Officials hope it will keep the virus from spreading. So,
let's go now to Angus Watson at the Victoria New South Wales border. Angus, we can see a police presence behind you. Tell us exactly where you are and
what's happening there.
ANGUS WATSON, JOURNALIST: Yes, Kim. As you say, I'm here on the border between New South Wales and Victoria, New South Wales on my left, Victoria
on my right. And what you can see behind me is the beginnings of a massive police operation to close down that border between Australia's two most
popular states.
Now the reason they're doing that is because COVID-19 is seeing a spike, we're seeing a spike in COVID-19 I should say in Victoria with 191 cases
detected yesterday. Comparatively over the border in New South Wales on my left, we just had seven.
[11:10:00]
WATSON: So the authorities both in Victoria and New South Wales and the federal authorities want this border closed to keep the pandemic inside
Victoria, and they're willing to go to great lengths to do that. Let's listen to Daniel Andrews here talking about just why that needs to happen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL ANDREWS, VICTORIA PREMIER: Let's not say this is simply an inconvenience. It's much more than that. It's a pandemic. And it will kill
thousands of people if it gets completely away from us. And that will be more than inconvenient, that will be tragic. We don't want that. We can
avoid that, but we all have a part to play in it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: So, as I said, Daniel Andrews there taking the extraordinary step of returning Melbourne to lockdown the city's 5 million or so people now
enable to leave the house but for a few small exceptions.
Now that's a massive economy that Australia is willing to just shut down to try to beat this virus. The Federal Treasurer today Josh Frydenberg said he
believes it will cost the Australian economy $1 billion a week, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you so much for that reporting, Angus Watson, on the Victoria-New South Wales border. For some experts watching the
recent uptick in cases in the United States, it's feeling very familiar, similar to when the outbreak was quickly taking hold back in March.
Bill Hanage is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health. Can you tell us, we're hearing some of those stories,
hospitals with no beds, the military having to be sent in to help? I mean, it sounds like we're back where we started. How did we get here?
BILL HANAGE, ASSOC. EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFESSOR, HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Well, Kim, I'm afraid we got here because of the fact that a lot of
people underestimated the virus. We've actually had fairly good evidence right from the start of what it can do.
Back in January it managed to shut down Wuhan and managed to cause massive destruction there, but that destruction was dwarfed by what it then went on
to do in and around Italy and Europe and the northeast.
So there's been a succession failure to learn from prior experience, and right now the south of the country is experiencing having failed to learn
from the northeast.
BRUNHUBER: Now, I spoke to one ER Physician who said the patients were coming in with worse symptoms. We saw another doctor earlier on CNN saying
the same. Are you seeing that? Do we know why?
HANAGE: Well, this is - I'm going to make it clear that this is speculation here. There is a difference between the waves that we're seeing now and
what happened in the sort of - back in the spring, which was back in the spring we were taken somewhat unawares because of the very poor testing we
had.
We now have better testing which means that the first groups that we're starting to see would probably people who were young and unlikely to get
very sick. But there's only so much infection you can have in that group without it leaking out from there into older, more risk groups.
And so, over time you'll start to see more and more sick people coming in, and it will be a greater proportion of the people you're treating.
BRUNHUBER: Now, another troubling trend that we're seeing, a doctor we spoke with earlier on CNN said that at his hospital about 10 percent of the
coronavirus patients actually had had it before, which suggests again that the antibodies don't seem to last very long.
Does that and the growing, you know, medical evidence, the studies that are being done, suggest that about the antibodies, that they may not give as
much protection as we might hope?
HANAGE: There's a little bit of evidence from some work that's being done in China, looking at the length of time that antibodies are found in the
blood of people who had it back in January to suggest that there is waning protection, but that's very unclear.
We're actually going to need exactly the kind of data you were talking about to actually put a pin and I could say exactly how great a risk that
is. Obviously it's something we're watching very, very closely, indeed.
BRUNHUBER: Alright. And on that note, the vaccine, top U.S. expert Dr. Fauci said that the vaccine might not last. I think many people have an
idea that, you know, we're in the pre-vaccine world, but the post-vaccine world will be a worry-free world. More and more evidence suggests that
won't be the case, right?
HANAGE: Yes, there's very good evidence to think that's not the case, and that's even before you start wondering how effective the vaccine is or how
long it's going to last because we're having a vaccine of one thing getting it to all the people who need to have it that's another thing there's just
practical logistical challenges there.
Now of course we may have problems in vaccine denialists, people who don't want to be taking it. And so, getting the vaccine is just the first step.
We have to recognize this is a long fight, we're going to be in it for a long time, and we're going to be prepared for what is going to be a very
difficult few months.
BRUNHUBER: People have been calling for more action nationally in terms of either, you know, mask wearing or other things like that. How much do you
think that would help at this point? Are we sort of passed that point?
[11:15:00]
HANAGE: That's an excellent question. I mean, it is undeniable that such action would have been much, much, much more effective if you intimated it
earlier. That's one of the things which are kind of obvious about a pandemic like this. Earlier action is better than late action.
However, late action is better than no action at all. So I think that taking a very coherent national attitude to this, a national response which
involves things like masks and, indeed, advice on social distancing, which is still flexible enough to be responsive to local issues, that's the kind
of thing that we need and that's the kind of thing we've not had.
BRUNHUBER: This is an international newscast, so I'm wondering from your point of view, you know, what we're seeing here in the U.S., we sort of had
flattened the curve in many places and then rushed to reopen.
Now we're seeing many other countries starting to reopen, the UK, for instance. Is there a cautionary tale in what you're seeing here in the U.S.
for other countries that are now reopening?
HANAGE: Absolutely. I think that the United States has been - has in some ways been an experience which the rest of the world should just learn from
because the virus does not go away. The suggestion - little bit will be less transmissible in the summer.
I never bought into that myself, but it's not pretty evident that's not the case. It's also very, very clear from what happened across the south, the
country? The proceeding was reopening without being prepared to scale it fact when you start to seeing cases rise is exactly what you do not want to
do.
So everywhere that's reopening right now around the world wants to be absolutely clear that there is very good surveillance in place. The
government is absolutely prepared to take the action it needs to do in order to slow the spread if necessary.
BRUNHUBER: Last question. If you had the President's ear and he was guaranteed to follow your recommendations, what would be the one piece of
advice you would give him?
HANAGE: I'd say please wear a mask. Get people to wear a mask. The people who listen to you will pay attention to you, and it will help save lives.
BRUNHUBER: Simple asks, all right. Thank you very much. Bill Hanage from the Harvard School of Public Health many thanks. Ahead on the show, TikTok
is leaving Hong Kong. Why the Beijing-based video sharing app has decided to pull operations from the city and the pressures it's facing from other
markets?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: There's more fallout over China's controversial National Security Law. TikTok, the social video sharing app, is pulling out of Hong
Kong. Under the new law police have the authority to demand tech platforms remove messages that endanger national security. TikTok is owned by Beijing
based company ByteDance. But it isn't actually available in Mainland, China.
[11:20:00]
BRUNHUBER: Hong Kong will be a relatively small market loss for TikTok, however. Last week India with hundreds of millions of TikTok users banned
the app along with dozens of other Chinese apps. And now the U.S. also says it's looking at banning Chinese apps, including TikTok. Here's what the
Secretary of State told Fox News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We're taking this very seriously. We're certainly looking at it. We've worked on this very issue for a long
time where there was the problem of having Huawei technology in your infrastructure. We've gotten all over the world and we're making real
progress getting that out.
We've declared ZTE a danger to American National Security. We've done all these things. With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can
assure the United States will get this one right, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: CNN Business Reporter, Hadas Gold is in London. So, TikTok leaving Hong Kong, but TikTok is a Chinese company, unpack that for us?
HADAS GOLD, REPORTER: Yes, it's a really interesting conundrum here. And I have to say that TikTok pulling out of Hong Kong strikes me as more of a
publicity stunt then really any sort of a huge blow to their business, because as you noted, and as TikTok has said Hong Kong is not a huge market
for them. It doesn't hurt them as much as India.
And it is really interesting this is coming right after those remarks from Pompeo as this National Security Law comes into place in Hong Kong. And
this I think, is all part of TikTok's strategy to try to show the world that it's distanced from China, that it's not in the Chinese government
pocket, because that is, of course, the allegation that we're hearing from a lot of politicians in the United States like Secretary of State Pompeo,
who is essentially saying by using TikTok, you are handing your private information over to China.
And that's all because in China there is a law that any Chinese company has to comply with the Chinese government if they ask them for anything. But
TikTok has always maintained that it will never comply with any sort of Chinese request or will not work with China.
It always points, for example, to its new American CEO who is actually a Former Disney Executive, trying to show how American --. So I think by
pulling out of Hong Kong, it's trying to signal this to the rest of the world.
And this, of course, is also coming while we're seeing a lot of other major internet and social media platforms say that they're going to stop
processing data users - any user on their data, when it comes at the request of Hong Kong authorities after this National Security Law.
This is some of the biggest internet and social media platforms we're talking about, Facebook, WhatsApp, Google, LinkedIn, even Zoom, have
they've all said, they're not going to processing any of these data request from Hong Kong authorities, while they investigate this new National
Security Law to see how it will effect what they stand for their values?
Facebook specifically said that they're going to actually be looking into speaking to human rights experts on how this new National Security Law
could affect human rights in Hong Kong. And of course this week, also as you noted, Hong Kong police now have expanded powers where it can actually
demand that these platforms remove any sort of content that they deem could be in violation of this National Security Law.
Which keep in mind, it's everything from terrorist content to cessation content, but also even just slow gains that for a lot of these companies
will not be against their rules normally. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Now this comes as there seems to be growing reluctance by some companies to adopt the technology by Chinese tech giant Huawei and its 5G
network, right?
GOLD: I mean, yes. There's been a lot of action around just any sort of company that is connected to China. And this does stem back to again that
law I told you about in China about Chinese companies.
And Huawei has been battling this for some time, including here in the United Kingdom where we're expecting very soon actually a new review by the
National Cyber Security Center where there have been some reports where they're saying that the UK government might actually flip.
Initially the UK government said that Huawei could have a part in building the 5G network here. Now it's possible that discussion could be changed
after this new review by the National Cyber security Center.
And it's also partly because of all of these U.S. actions against Huawei, and it might just make it way too difficult for these governments to try to
build out this 5G network using Huawei if that means that they're going to cross a line with the U.S. government.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you so much for that analysis, Hadas Gold in London. I appreciate it. Well, we have breaking news from Brazil. President
Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for COVID-19. Brazil has the second highest number of cases in the world. So, let's bring in our Matt Rivers on
this. Matt, the President dismissing this as a little flu. Now he has it.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kim, this has been something that has been talked about with Jair Bolsonaro in terms of his potential of test
positive going all the way back to March. That's why when he went to Mar-a- Lago, you'll remember, to visit with President Trump, and when he came back, his Press Secretary, among others, tested positive.
[11:25:00]
RIVERS: Bolsonaro took a test, said he came back negative, and he's been tested multiple times in the months since. But this time when he was
tested, he came back positive. He said he started feeling symptoms over the weekend. He said he started feeling muscle pain and eventually he got
tested, and now he has tested positive.
He said his doctors have prescribed him Hydroxychloroquine, which is that controversial drug that President Trump himself pushed for a long time
before the U.S. health agencies, like the FDA said that it would not be good, and they pulled its emergency use authorization in the United States.
Now, the President in Brazil is saying he feels fine. He announced his positive test to the Brazilian public on TV. He said he feels okay. He said
he has taken two doses so far of Hydroxychloroquine, and he said in part - I can read you part of what he said. He said, "Everyone knew that it would
reach a considerable part of the population sooner or later". It was positive for me.
But, Kim, we cannot talk about this situation without talking about Bolsonaro's approach to this entire crisis. He is a human being and
everyone wishes him well, everyone wishes that he gets better. But this is a President who has repeatedly downplayed this risk from the beginning.
His reality right now is now the reality that hundreds of thousands of Brazilian families, individuals, have had to go through because, frankly,
of a lack of action, a lack of coordinated action by government entities across brazil, both at the municipal, the state and the federal level,
there was no, and there really continues to be no coordinated federal response to respond to this crisis.
Brazil did not get the second most cases in the world by accident. This wasn't happenstance. This is the direct result of a number of different
factors, a big part of which is government inaction and a lack of coordinated response here, and a President who continually attended rallies
without a mask, continued to go out in public, continued to prioritize the economy over human health.
And this is where we are right now with a President facing a reality, like I said that so many other Brazilian families have already had to go
through.
BRUNHUBER: On the other side of the picture here, we're seeing live pictures of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro speaking to the media right
now. He does have a mask, right now I guess, it took getting sick to actually wear one as you point out, his long resistance to doing that. Do
you think that this finally will get him to shift his policy a little bit?
RIVERS: You know it's completely unclear. You would think yes, if you were just rationally thinking about this, you would say maybe it will shift his
mindset on this. I think obviously it's early in this, so we don't exactly know how he's going to change here, but it's not like he hasn't been
confronted with this from the very beginning.
He knows how many Brazilians have died? He knows how many Brazilians have got the virus? He knows that more than 40,000 newly confirmed cases each
day seems to be the new reality in Brazil. He knows that the curve of this epidemic in Brazil has not really shown substantive signs of slowing down.
He knows that the economy is reopening in some of Brazil's biggest cities like Rio de Janeiro, like Sao Paulo where people are back out in the
streets. And look at what happened in the United States. We know what happens when countries open up once again too soon.
This isn't a matter of politics it's just a matter of public health and science. If you reopen too soon, if people stop social distancing, the
number of cases goes up. So, he knows that this is happening. He knows that's a possibility. He hasn't changed it since.
Whether his own personal experience with this virus now changes his mind set on this, Kim, we're just going to have to wait and see. But for now,
Brazil's situation, you know, he has stuck to his guns from the very beginning, you know, throughout this crisis.
BRUNHUBER: You've noted the parallels between him and President Trump. There is another intersection here between him and the administration the
U.S. Ambassador to Brazil hosted Bolsonaro for a fourth of July party. Any concerns there now?
RIVERS: Yes, absolutely. The U.S. Ambassador to Brazil now has to get tested. He was seen with his arm around President Bolsonaro on July 4th.
Which is remarkable in and of itself, that no social distancing, no mask, you know, that is the example that is being set by these two leaders often.
They're in a country, in Brazil, which like you said, Kim, has one of the worst outbreaks in the world. And yet somehow these men thought it would be
a good idea to spend July 4th together with their arms around each other and just flying in the face of every single expert on this subject who
tells you that that is not a good idea.
You know, reopening the economy is one thing. People are going through extreme economic pain, especially in countries like Brazil where so many
people can't socially distance, they need to go out and work. But do you need to have a fourth of July party?
[11:30:00]
RIVERS: Do you need to put your arm around each other and take photos? I don't think so. And so, yes, there is grave concern now that the U.S.
Ambassador might have this virus. And if he does contract it, and if they do source it back to that party, it would have been entirely avoidable.
BRUNHUBER: All right. With this breaking news, thank you so much, Matt Rivers, in Mexico City. Coming up, nearly 1,000 cases in a day and almost
600 ICU beds full Houston is suffering a skyrocketing coronavirus outbreak. We'll take you there, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: All right, we want to get back to our breaking news from Brazil. You're seeing pictures that were of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro as
he was addressing media. He was announcing that he has tested positive for COVID-19.
I believe he's just taking his microphone off. We lost the feed there because he finished his press conference. Brazil has the second highest
number of cases in the world, and we saw the President made the announcement himself on Brazilian television. In the past few weeks, Mr.
Bolsonaro has called the global health crisis hyped and he called the coronavirus similar to "Little flu".
We're turning to our story at the beginning of this hour. The United States is facing an explosion of COVID-19 with almost 3 million infections and
more than 130,000 deaths. Officials in 24 states have even paused or started to roll back their reopening plans, and at least 35 states are
enforcing some level of mask wearing.
In Texas, the Governor has mandated mask wearing in public in counties with 20 or more cases, and there are plenty of them. coronavirus cases are
skyrocketing there. CNN's Ryan Young joins us now from Houston. Ryan, I mean, the thought of military being asked to help out there, the situation
is so bad. Tell us the latest?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. When you think about this, you have over 200,000 people in the state who have tested positive. 963 people
tested positive just in the Houston metro area alone. I just want to give you an idea of where we are right now?
Even for our international viewers, definitely those who watch the NFL, that's NRG Stadium over there. That's where the Houston Texans play
football on Sunday, and, of course, this is one of the large testing facilities that's actually been set up by a private company.
[11:35:00]
YOUNG: It's been somewhat of a success for one reason, because a lot of folks don't like to have those nasal swabs stuck up into the back of the
nose. I've had it; I didn't think it was that bad, but some people absolutely hate it.
Here they put saliva, you put it in here and they test it and you actually get the results back pretty quickly. There have been lines that have
stretched here, but we've been hearing about people in the Texas area waiting for almost eight hours in this hot sun to even figure out whether
or not they can get tested. Sometimes they run out of supplies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Abbas Khan, who set up this testing area, for our international viewers, one of the things we've been talking about especially here in
Texas is how hard it is to get tested? Explain it a little bit.
ABBAS KHAN, CO-FOUNDER, BLOOM LABS: Sure and we've heard it from folks in line. Many times they've been in line, from what they said, as much as four
or five hours. A lot of times they've actually gotten an appointment, and then waited, and told to go home after they've been waiting. We're
fortunate that they found us and were able to get tested and get on with their lives.
YOUNG: Whole families have shown up here, especially kids. You said you're a father as well but why is this easier on kids?
KHAN: Yes, absolutely. And I absolutely can empathize. I have a three and a half month old. If someone tests COVID positive or you feel someone might
be at risk of COVID in your house, everybody should get tested. It's difficult with the nasal test to test young children.
We've had many toddlers were able to get saliva, which is an easier solution. They can spit into a tube, so they found this a lot more
comfortable.
YOUNG: One last question, though. You said people have been getting emotional, because this is the vehicle for some people to get back to work.
KHAN: That's right, that's right. There is a lot of emotion. Everybody has different scenarios of trying to get back in their lives. What we've
provided is a quicker process for people. We're delivering results in a timely manner so they can, as you said, get back to their lives.
YOUNG: All right. I appreciate that. Thank you so much.
KHAN: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: So look, you heard this story over and over and every - across the world. People get a cough, they get scared. Some people can't go back to
work until they get these tests. The other thing that you talked about is the mandatory masks. Well, we see minimum wage workers who now having to
try to enforce these government rules as people walk in.
Not everybody wants to wear one of these. That's been a fight. Some people are wrapping t-shirts around their face. That's been one of the things
we've noticed. Especially when we went out yesterday, there were folks who just refused to wear a mask even though this thing is starting to spread.
One last thing to bring up, we've got 1,300 kids in the Texas area who are in daycares. That's one of the new spreading locations. They're trying to
figure this out before schools are to reopen. This is a difficult, difficult sort of puzzle to try to figure out at this point, especially
when people don't want to follow all the guidelines.
BRUNHUBER: Ryan Young, I appreciate that look at the situation in Texas. Thanks. The coronavirus pandemic may force international students to leave
the United States. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency says student visa holders will have to go home or face deportation if they are
switched to online studies.
Additionally new student visas won't be issued for online learning. A press release from the agency says the U.S. Department of State will not issue
visas to students enrolled in schools and/or programs that are fully online for the fall semesters nor will U.S. Customs and Border Protection Permit
these students to enter the United States.
Valeria Mendiola is a graduate student at Harvard University from Mexico, and she joins me now from Cambridge, Massachusetts. Valerie, I mean, when
you heard this news, you must have just hit the floor?
VALERIA MENDIOLA, STUDENT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Yes. To be honest, I was in shock. I couldn't believe it. There has been so much uncertainty in the
past months that this, like, another drop in the wake it was just shocking. It was very frustrating immediately. All my classmates started texting each
other to figure out like what are we going to do?
I am in this program at the Kennedy's School in which 85 percent of my class are international students. We were all working out - we were trying
to figure out what we're going to do afterwards. Many people have just nowhere to go with these policies because their countries have travel bans.
In theory, I can go back to Mexico, but then where should I go exactly, like to my parents' house? My parents are high risk population works -
supposed to go.
BRUNHUBER: I mean, what would this mean for your schooling to be just interrupted like this in the middle of it?
MENDIOLA: It's very frustrating. I think something that we have to consider and like the government - in theory should consider that many of us, we
planned all our lives to come to Harvard.
[11:40:00]
MENDIOLA: We worked super hard to get here, and then this happens in the middle of our whole experience? The reason why we have chosen to stay in
the U.S. was to sort of recreate a little bit of the in-person experience even though we weren't going to be able to have anymore in-person classes.
I was going to be able to probably chat with my roommate about the classes we just took online, like all of these sort of - which sort of compensates
the switching from the in-person experience to on-line experience this just disrupts everything.
And then you know if we have to go back to our home countries, what is going to happen for the people who live in Asia? How are they supposed to
take classes from, I don't know, from India or even from Australia with the normal E.T. schedule? It's insane even in terms of the quality of the
classes that we're going to take.
BRUNHUBER: And some of the infrastructures there as you're trying to study with - trying to get WIFI and simple things like that might not be the
best?
MENDIOLA: Well yes, for sure. We actually witnessed that during our final exams. We have been doing online classes since after spring break, so our
final exams were online, of course, and then many people who were in the Middle East, even people who were in Mexico, they were having trouble even
downloading the exams.
So it was very hard to even submit the exam sometimes just to pass our classes. We feel like we should concede there that many of these people
many of these international students come from developing countries.
There is a reason why we're staying here. There is a reason why we decided not to go back to our home countries. This is one of the reasons. But also,
you know like, the health reason of going back to our countries, it's humanely - it's very frustrating and humanely, like, hard to believe, I
guess.
BRUNHUBER: I have one practical question and then one sort of philosophical question. The practical question is having you paid already? Do you get a
refund? What happens to your money? Going to Harvard isn't cheap?
MENDIOLA: Okay, so we haven't paid for next year. We have been trying to negotiate for a reduction in tuition. Honestly, those negotiations have led
us nowhere. Harvard's argument is that they're very financially constrained themselves.
To be completely honest, I feel like there has been a lack of transparency between the Harvard Administration and the students, especially at the
Kennedy School. I know that different schools have been managing it differently, like the business school has been way more transparent and the
college as well.
They have been more transparent as to how they've been making their decisions. The Kennedy School in particular has been very opaque in how
they take decisions and the communication has been a failure, in my personal opinion.
So they just say they're not making any tuition reductions for next year. That's basically our situation right now, and, of course, it's very
expensive. Tuition is about $50,000 and then just being here as an international student, I have to prove that I have more than $80,000 per
year to be admitted.
BRUNHUBER: Well, listen, we wish you the best as you try and continue your schooling, and thank you very much for sharing with us. We appreciate it.
MENDIOLA: Thank you so much for the space.
BRUNHUBER: And Florida's public schools are being ordered to reopen in the fall. School Districts are required to submit a reopening plan under the
order, but questions remain over how children can re-enter classrooms safely with virus cases spiking across the state?
Florida's Education Commissioner issued the mandate, and on the same day re-tweeted a demand to the U.S. President for schools to reopen, sending a
message that the Republican-led state is following President Trump's guidance.
Now we want to get back to our breaking news from Brazil. President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for COVID-19. Of course, this comes after
weeks of wading into crowds without wearing a mask and calling the virus something like a little flu. Our Bill Weir is in Sao Paulo, he joins us now
with more on how the Brazilian President is reacting to the diagnosis. What can you tell us?
BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, we can tell you that he did say he's a front line worker, that he considers himself a man of the people and that
he wasn't going to stop doing what he was doing?
But as you mentioned, what he did was in direct contradiction to the recommendations of his Health Minister who he eventually fired and those
who followed. He really just made a point of going into these unmasked crowds, taking selfies, and his sort of tag line, fatalistic mantra was we
all have to die sometime.
Well, that takes on a completely different sensibility when you come here to Villa Samosa Cemetery, the biggest in Sao Paulo where a grave digger who
has worked here for 25 years says he's never seen nothing like it.
[11:45:00]
WEIR: They're digging graves as fast as they can to meet the demand and the government has mandated that memorial services for the families can last no
more than 10 minutes. So yes, we have to die sometimes these folks are dying much sudden in a much more sudden fashion than their families ever
imagined.
He said, if I hadn't been tested, I wouldn't have known I just turned positive. I actually thought I had gotten it earlier considering my very
dynamic activity in front of people. Given the symptoms this is interesting the medical team decided to apply Hydroxychloroquine.
This is the anti-malarial drug that President Trump famously said might be a miracle cure, floated that out really to the chagrin of many doctors who
said, we're not sure, there could be side effects to that. The World Health Organization has stopped trial of Hydroxychloroquine because it wasn't
showing improved mortality rates there.
But President Bolsonaro is huge believer in this stuff. He had his army stockpile millions of doses of it after Trump's comments there, and he's
even has it being dosed out at public health clinics across Brazil.
So if he doesn't improve, you can probably guess that he's going to give the credit to this controversial medicine. He is also recommended another
anti-worm medicine that that some doctors are having trouble with as sort of a pseudo science.
When - what the country really needs to flattened the curve is more quarantine, more social distancing, more mandatory masks but the President
just this week vetoed, proposed new laws that would have made masks wearing mandatory in churches, schools, prisons and shops as well as one that would
give out free masks to those in - who can't afford them.
So it will be interesting, Kim, to see how this bout with this little flu, as he called it, what it becomes and how it changes or doesn't change his
attitude towards trying to fight this pandemic here in Brazil?
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely, but this is all happening as the country in many parts is reopening. Is there any indication that this will put the brakes
on that?
WEIR: That's a good question. There are 27 states, I believe, in Brazil. 20 of them, the Governors are in opposition to President Bolsonaro's stance on
this whole thing. They would be more cautious in reopening, but the economic pressure is so great in a country that was struggling before the
pandemic hit.
In Sao Paulo yesterday, I saw they were rotating like six hours. A restaurant could have 40 percent capacity. Middle of the day, bars couldn't
be open at night. So it wasn't really hard to tell you know if it certainly was in a full, robust everybody back to normal sort of thing.
But there was plenty of room for concern when the downtown old town business district was packed with people elbow to elbow, and the attitude
again, from the top on down, has been this is not something to worry about.
So the people who, I guess, relative degrees of protection both here in the United States kind of depend on your politics and whether you believe the
scientists through the media or whether you believe leaders like Trump or Bolsonaro?
BRUNHUBNER: All right. Well, the impact of the location behind you there a very powerful indictment of the situation in that country. Thank you so
much for that report. Appreciate it.
WEIR: Thanks, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
BRUNHUBER: An Iraqi expert on ISIS and other extremist groups was shot dead in Baghdad on Monday. Hashem Al-Hashemi is being mourned by politicians and
diplomats across the region. This was a respected voice as a commentator and an adviser to previous Iraqi governments. The motives behind his
assassination are so far unclear. Jomana Karadsheh brings us the latest now from Istanbul, Jomana?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Kim, as you mentioned there, Hashem Al-Hashemi according to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, was gunned down
in cold blood by assassins who seem to be according to this CCTV footage that we're seeing.
They were seen to be waiting for him outside his Baghdad home on Monday evening. Now, no group has claimed responsibility for his killing. So far
the Iraqi government says it has launched an investigation.
You know, there are so many different extremist groups in Iraq that would have wanted Hashem Al-Hashemi silenced. He was an expert as you mentioned
on various extremist groups in the country, whether it was the Sunni Jihadist groups or the Shia groups.
In the recent weeks, recent months and recent days, he was really vocal on his criticism of Iranian backed Shia Militias in the country. He was really
concerned about the direction his country was taking but the impact these groups were having on his country.
So there's been a lot of speculation that it could possibly be some of these elements within the Iranian-backed groups that are responsible for
his killing. But also no one is ruling out ISIS at this point.
Just to give you a quick background, Kim, you know for those of us who have covered Iraq, Hashem Al-Hashemi for years has been was the person we would
turn to when you wanted to know more about the Sunni Jihadist groups.
He was the person who rose to prominence in 2013 and 2014 when ISIS emerged, when little was known about that group, he knew so much about its
inner workings, about its leadership, structure, about the group's strategy.
It wasn't just us, the journalists, who would turn to him, he also had the western diplomats in Iraq who would also try and tap into that wealth of
knowledge that he had and Iraqi officials. That is why we saw this serious shock yesterday? This outpouring of anger and grief that we have seen in
social media and it's not just over his killing.
They're calling for justice, and so many are worried that this could be a return to what they describe as the dark days in Iraq when these types of
targeted killings would take place. The Iraqi Prime Minister vowing to bring his killers to justice these are promises Iraqis have heard in the
past but they're hoping that this time it would be different with this new Prime Minister who has shown that he's willing to go after these out outlaw
groups, as he calls them, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: A big loss to the region. Jomana Karadsheh in Istanbul, thank you. And we'll be right back with "World Sport" after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:55:00]
BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to CONNECT THE WORLD. Let's get you caught up on the international sports scene and bring in CNN's Patrick Snell. Patrick
what have you got for us?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Hi Kim. Yes, thank you very much. We're actually going to get to a story, the very latest. It was when we
brought you at this time yesterday. The British Athlete Bianca Williams accusing London's Metropolitan Police of racial profiling after she and her
partner was stopped in search in the capital over the weekend.
Now just to reset for you the 26-year-old sprinter was with Portuguese 400 meter record holder Ricardo Dos Santos and their 3 month old son when they
were stopped. Footage of the incident was posted on social media by the pair's trainer an Olympic gold medalist Linford Christy. Williams and Dos
Santos have both been speaking about their audio to CNN's Sports Contributor Darren Lewis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARREN LEWIS, CNN WORLD SPORT CONTRIBUTOR: You never going to find yourself in a situation where you're handcuffed by police and you're in a situation
as dramatic as you were?
BIANCA WILLIAMS, TEAM GB SPRINTER: You don't ever think that. They were literally pulling me away from my son. He was three months old. They
already pulled Ricardo out of the car and I was trying to stop them from - they were arresting Ricardo.
I didn't understand why I had to be pulled out of the car and put in handcuffs? I didn't understand why I had to be taken away from my son? They
could have spoken to me nicely. They could have said, miss, calm down.
We're just going to explain what we're doing and what the situation is and then do that? But instead they just put me in handcuffs and then said we're
detaining you and started searching me for weapons and drugs.
LEWIS: Ricardo, where were you coming from when all those things unfolded?
RICARDO DOS SANTOS, PORTUGUESE 400M RECORD HOLDER: I was coming from training. I was on my way home from training probably about three, four
minutes away from home. I was shattered. I was so exhausted. The thing that gets to me is I know my area inside and out, and I know when there's going
to be traffic.
I know how to get around that traffic, but I'm getting penalized for being street smart per se. I've been here for over 20 years and in this area.
That being said, that is my only crime. My only crime was knowing how to get away from traffic?
It happens so often that I know, and that's the bad thing. It shouldn't be so normal, it shouldn't be so common that I can tell I can sense when
something is going to happen. It shouldn't be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: Since the interview with Williams and Dos Santos, Police Commander Helen Harper of MET Police issuing a statement saying she was really keen
to speak personally to the occupants of the vehicle to discuss what happened and the concerns they have?
Meantime, I can tell you that British athletics telling us they're aware of the "Hugely distressing footage" and that they're in touch with Williams to
offer any support required. All right, with that, it's back to you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much. And that does it for this hour of CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Kim Brunhuber in Atlanta. See you again tomorrow.
The news continues on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
