Bolsonaro Tests For Covid-19 Again After Downplaying Virus.
ROMANS: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro telling supporters he has taken a fourth coronavirus test and undergone a lung screening after showing some symptoms of the virus. His results are expected today. The populist president sometimes known as "Tropical Trump" has dismissed Covid-19 since the beginning of the outbreak, calling it just a little flu. Meanwhile, cases in his country are soaring. Our Bill Weir has more.</s>BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the age of Covid-19, Presidents Trump and Bolsonaro are two of a kind. Both love Twitter and by all appearances, hate wearing masks. Both are openly at odds with their nation's top doctors --</s>MARIO SCHWARTZMANN, PRO-BOLSONARO ACTIVIST AND YOUTUBER: Yes, he's good. Bolsonaro, he's good.</s>WEIR (voice-over): -- and rely, instead, on the support of fans as they dismiss the pandemic as a little flu and a lot of hype.</s>WEIR (on camera): So you don't believe Covid-19 exists at all? It's an -- it's a hoax?</s>SCHWARTZMANN: Yes, it's just a problem (ph).</s>WEIR (voice-over): It could exist, this pro-Bolsonaro YouTuber tells me. But if it exists, it is weak.</s>WEIR (on camera): It's not that deadly?</s>SCHWARTZMANN: No.</s>WEIR (voice-over): He sounds just like his president, who when asked about his nation passing China in fatalities said, "So what? I mourn, but what do you want me to do? I can't work miracles." But the pot and pan protests that now ring out every time he goes on T.V. are just one side of a nation at odds with itself. Testing is still hard to come by. And as they dig mass graves from Amazonia to Rio, some experts believe the official 1.6 million infections reported could be 12 to 16 times higher. And yet, the big cities are opening up just as Bolsonaro uses his veto power to water down new laws to protect the public -- ones that would make mask-wearing mandatory in churches, schools, shops, and prisons.</s>NATALIA PASTERNAK, MICROBIOLOGIST AND PRESIDENT, QUESTION OF SCIENCE INSTITUTE: It's crazy, it's crazy. Science is being ignored in this government as it has never been before.</s>WEIR (voice-over): Natalia Pasternak is a microbiologist who lobbies for more science in government policy and is among the many who were horrified when Bolsonaro fired his respected health minister for advancing quarantines. A loyal general with no health care experience is now running the nation's pandemic response.</s>PASTERNAK: Are we going to be able to care for these people? I mean, will there be hospitals for everyone? Will there be ventilators for everyone? We never reached the situation that they reached in Italy where the doctor is forced to choose the person that gets the ventilator. I hope we never come to that but I'm afraid we might.</s>WEIR (voice-over): Bill Weir, CNN, Sao Paulo, Brazil.</s>JARRETT: All right. Thank you, Bill. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says she has tested positive for coronavirus. Bottoms is considered one of the front-runners to be Joe Biden's running mate. Last night she told CNN's Chris Cuomo her husband has also tested positive and they have no idea how they got it.</s>MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), ATLANTA: 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.</s>JARRETT: One of the mayor's four children has also tested positive. All four of her children have asthma, an underlying condition the CDC says may worsen Covid-19 symptoms.</s>ROMANS: Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says he will skip the Republican National Convention. At 86, Grassley is the oldest member of the Senate. He says coronavirus concerns will keep him home. Grassley is the Senate's longest-serving Republican and is president pro-tem, which makes him third in line for the presidency after the vice president and the House speaker.</s>JARRETT: Biotech company Regeneron entering phase-three clinical trials for a drug that could potentially treat and prevent Covid-19. CNN's Elizabeth Cohen has more now.</s>ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Laura, Christine, the pharmaceutical company Regeneron announcing phase three trials for its antibody cocktail. The antibody cocktail takes antibodies -- that's what we produce after we've been infected -- and culls out the most powerful ones and turns it into a drug. Now, these phase-three trials -- those are the large-scale clinical trials that happen right before drug approval -- they're going to be done on three different groups. The first group will be hospitalized patients -- those patients who are pretty sick. Also, patients with Covid who have not been hospitalized, so they're not as sick. Now, the third group isn't treatment, it's prevention. They're going to be giving the drug to people who live with Covid patients to see if the drug can prevent infection. All told, they'll be testing on 4,900 study subjects by the time these trials are done. Also, news that more than 200 scientists have written a letter to the World Health Organization about airborne transmission of Covid-19. They note that studies have shown that small particles of Covid-19 can float in the air and that's a way that it can spread. Now, this has been known for some time but these scientists want the WHO to talk about it. On their Web site, they talk about slightly different ways that people can get Covid. They don't really emphasize this airborne transmission. In the U.S., one of the hardest-hit states is Florida. The Florida Department of Health says that they do contact tracing on every single case. That means calling the case -- calling the person, asking who they've been in contact with over a certain period of time, and then calling those contacts to make sure they stay quarantined. But a CNN investigation calls that into question. We asked 27 Floridians who'd been diagnosed with Covid, did you get a contact tracing call from a local health authority? Only five of them had. Experts say this is a problem. Contact tracing is a pillar of how to contain an outbreak, but it's becoming more and more difficult in cases like Florida that have such high case numbers -- Laura, Christine.</s>ROMANS: All right, Elizabeth Cohen. Thank you, Elizabeth. Let's get a check now on CNN Business this Tuesday morning. Taking a look at markets around the world, you can see a mixed close for Asian shares, and Europe has opened down. On Wall Street, futures, at the moment, are also pointing down -- a retreat after what has been a very strong run for the stock market. Stocks rallied to start the week. The Dow closed 460 points higher. The Nasdaq hit a record high, boosted by tech stocks like Amazon, which also hit a record high, above $3,000 a share -- wow. Monday's rally showed, once again, that disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street. Investors focusing on record fiscal stimulus and record support from the Fed, not on the rising number of coronavirus cases. Target has pulled merchandise for the Washington football team from its online stores as the NFL faces renewed pressure over the team's name. Last week, the team said it will review the name after 100 investment groups wrote letters to Nike, Pepsi, and FedEx asking them to end their relationship with the team if won't change its name. Walmart and Nike have also pulled the team's merchandise from their online stores. Many black Americans are planning to show their economic strength by not spending any money today in the Blackout Day 2020 campaign. Instead, people are encouraged to spend their money on black-owned businesses if they need to shop. The campaign's objective is to force the business world and politicians to end institutionally-racist policies and practices. Data shows black Americans spent more than a trillion on consumer goods in 2018, showing the power of the purse, Laura.</s>JARRETT: Yes, all about trying to get companies to take this seriously and show that --</s>ROMANS: yes.</s>JARRETT: -- it's more than just a statement. All right, thanks for joining us today. I'm Laura Jarrett.</s>ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" is next.