Tower of London Beefeaters Face Layoffs for the First Time; Hottest Temperatures of Year Expected in Western Europe
HOLMES: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. The headlines for you now. U.S. President Donald Trump drawing rebukes from both parties after he suggested the November election might need to be delayed, repainting a baseless claim that mail-in ballots would mean inaccurate or fraudulent results. This is not true. The American president has no authority either to delay an election. The pandemic has triggered America's deepest economic contraction on record. The U.S. economy shrinking at an annualized rate of nearly 33 percent between April and June. It comes as first time unemployment claims went up for the second week in a row. CNN's Eleni Giokos joins me now from Johannesburg to talk about all of this. I mean when you listen to the President today, last week, whenever -- he talks up the economy. He says the third quarter is going to be great, fourth even better, next year boom. And then look at this. What do you make of it?</s>ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean exactly. And it's been sustained. We had Larry Kudlow also saying that he's expecting second half GDP growth to spike to 20 percent. I mean look we are hopeful that we'll see a really good economic recovery in the next few months. And you also got to remember that the economic data that is playing out on a weekly basis is going to be really important. It is a barometer of what's to come. So yes, second quarter GDP numbers really disappointed in the sense that it's the worst number that we've ever seen historically. It is not comparable to anything we've seen before in previous crises. And this is what makes it really scary. That it was anticipated because it was the depth of the pandemic, the depth of the lockdown. It really shows the catastrophe that we saw in terms of consumer demand destruction. And remember, when you are asking the lifeblood of your economy to stay home and not spend, 70 percent of what accounts for U.S. GDP is the consumer. This is the result.</s>GIOKOS: Now, you mentioned unemployment insurance claims that are coming through and those initial claims numbers are really important. They spiked up for two weeks in a row. Now, we see an incremental increase there but we had a really good steady decline for on 15 weeks. And that created hope. Now that hope seems to have dissipated and now the question is what is to come. It is also directly correlated, Michael, to the fact that we've seen coronavirus cases increasing across the United States. That is a concern and that, of course, could threaten the state of the U.S. economy.</s>HOLMES: It's been interesting having a look at the markets. I mean, Japan gets an increase in coronavirus cases and markets go down.</s>GIOKOS: Yes.</s>HOLMES: The Dow in the U.S. seems to be doing its own thing. I mean, the Dow can be boosted by just a few stocks doing well. Tech stocks have done doing well. What are you seeing in terms of earnings because to the average, you know, onlooker, it is a parallel universe?</s>GIOKOS: It absolutely is. And I just want to remind you of the global financial crisis of 2008. We saw huge stimulus and all the money basically flowed through financial markets. And that is why we saw a big boost in equity prices. Right now, we're seeing money flowing to the consumer. But any kind of stimulus really is good news for markets. They always look forward and price in future earnings and future recovery,. And basically what the market is telling us is that they are hopeful of a really strong economic recovery. You mentioned Japan. Any country where you're starting to see an increase in coronavirus cases is directly correlated to the fact that whether they can reopen and start getting back to economic activity. But tech stocks we know have been the favorites. And earnings always bring everyone back down to earth because it's a really good barometer of what the real numbers are. Its valuations are really just too high. Facebook, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple -- all beating expectations. Apple</s>HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. Eleni Giokos, thanks you so much. Good to see you there in Joburg for us. Beefeaters or yeoman warders are ceremonial guards at the Tower of London. Perhaps you've seen them on a visit there. And for the first time in their more than 500-year history, they're facing layoffs, thanks to the coronavirus. Visitors, of course, are staying away from the tower, which is one of Britain's biggest tourist destinations. CNN's Scott McLean tells us what is on the line.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Standing tall for almost a thousand years, the Tower of London is one of the most secure places in Britain. It houses the crown jewels and the Yeoman Warders who guard them, one of the country's more secure jobs, until now. This time, last summer, how many people would be here?</s>ANDREW JACKSON, GOVERNOR, TOWER OF LONDON: So on a busy summer's day, we would have upwards of 10,000 people here. And it is not unusual to see 13,000 -- 14,000 and on Sundays 15,000 people.</s>MCLEAN: While the legend has it that the British crown and kingdom depends on six ravens remaining inside the Tower grounds, the Tower's finances rely almost entirely on donations and ticket sales. A steep, sudden drop-off in tourists have left a COVID-sized 98- million-pound hole in the budget. Staff, including the ceremonial Beefeaters, have been asked to take voluntary severance package. Hours have already been cut 20 percent. And this fall, the axe will come down on more than one-third of the payroll.</s>JACKSON: It's really bad news. But we've got no other thing that we can do.</s>MCLEAN: The plight of the Beefeaters and their civilian colleagues is the latest and most British example of just how far-reaching the damage of COVID-19 has been to the economy. Almost 10 million people have been furloughed. Many others are simply out of work. Not a single Beefeater has been laid off in 500 years. If their jobs aren't safe, it seems no one's is. You saved for a rainy day. This is a lot more than that.</s>JACKSON: Nobody anticipated the scale of the crisis. Either in our industry or anywhere else.</s>MCLEAN: The Tower of London brings in more than 100 million pounds each year. This year, it expects only 12. The British government has guaranteed a 26-million-pound bank loan, but the Tower may not make enough money to repay it in the two years when it is due. One Tower employee told CNN, there is a feeling of fear amongst the staff that hasn't been felt before. That is understandable, considering that behind each of these doors is a family home. All of the Beefeaters live here on site, and for them losing their job would also mean losing their house. The government says it is already subsidizing wages for furloughed employees but that money dries up this fall. With global tourism not expected to fully recover until 2024, the only thing that might save jobs at the most fortified building on the Thames is a sudden invasion of tourists. Scott McLean, CNN -- London.</s>HOLMES: Parts of western Europe are looking at the hottest temperatures of the year so far -- mostly Spain, France and southern regions of the U.K. The highs will be anywhere from 10 to 15 degrees above normal. The region has endured longer than usual heat waves in recent years. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now with more on this. Good to see you, my friend.</s>DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, Michael, good to see you as well. This is what happens when you combine extremely high temperatures for several weeks on end and then the extremely dry conditions. You get forest fires and wildfires and that's what they are battling here across northwestern sections of Spain. Look at this dramatic photo of that firefighter just trying to contain some of the blazes there. This is on the stretch of some of the hottest weather of the year, so far. For Madrid, you can see temperatures there in the upper 30s to near 40 degrees for the afternoon. This is temperatures yesterday. We're talking about Thursday and there's the 10 to 15 degrees Celsius above average. It's not just Madrid or the Iberian Peninsula but it stretches into Belgium, as well as parts of the Netherlands, into France and even portions of the U.K. This is going to continue at least for the next 36 to 48 hours, depending on where you are located. But there is some relief in sight. I'll show you that in just one second. Here's the forecast daytime highs. The highest ones we could see today, at least. Paris, France 39 degrees. Your average temperature for this time of year, 24. That is incredible amounts of heat. So lots of red on this map. But as I mentioned, it is going to cool down. And we want to see those reds replaced with the greens and the yellows because that indicates the milder temperatures. It will be slightly cooler weather. And that is what we get to enjoy, as we head into the end of the weekend and the early parts of next week. So just be patient, one more day of extreme heat for Paris. But you can see how the seven-day forecast dramatically cools things off. We see the mercury in the thermometer start to go downhill, right where we need it because it has just been oppressive for the fast few days. And London is more of the same as well. You can see a dramatic cooldown from Friday, Saturday, into Sunday. And of course, when you get these warm temperatures, it doesn't take much to spark off a few stronger thunderstorms. Heads' up across the Ukraine and into a western Russia, chance of isolated, large hail and damaging winds tonight. Michael, back to you.</s>HOLMES: All right. Good to see you, Derek. Appreciate that. Derek Van Dam there.</s>VAN DAM: Thank you.</s>HOLMES: And we shall take a short break here on the program. When we come back, Thailand claims it's virtually kicked out the coronavirus. But some experts say, they are not so sure. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.