cnn's david culver reports. >> reporter: the closure of a u.s. consulate in chengdu has become a tourist attraction. this street, quite quiet. you can see now a crowd, a lot of people with their cell phones out, just wanting to pass by to see what exactly is going on. and really not much. a lot of security, a lot of police have cordoned off the area. they're making sure they keep people moving along. but they're stopping, taking pictures. this gentleman here, one of many, trying to snap a photo. >> showed us a highly unusual scene there with so many lookie-loos. this is much more than a spectacle. let's turn to the serious political issues at hand and the first question has to be will u.s. officials actually be out by the deadline? >> reporter: kim, if what we saw play out here over the past 48 hours is any indication and that was a lot of activity, a lot of trucks going in and out, buses leaving, and what i have been told by one source is that diplomatic personnel from around china, u.s. diplomats at other consulates flown here to chengdu, to as

let's bring in cnn's david culver live for us in chengdu.hat a symbolic moment. >> reporter: no question. it's historic. for that reason there are crowds gathering here in front of the former u.s. consulate here in chengdu. all weekend since the announcement that this location would be china's reciprocal response. retailliation to the closure of the chinese consulate in the u.s. you can see all the signage has now been covered up. all of this as the tensions between these two countries continue to rise. after some 35 years, the u.s. flag lowered for the last time monday at the now shuttered u.s. consulate in chengdu, china. the u.s. mission in china tweeting this farewell video adding, we will miss you forever. over the weekend the u.s. insignia taken down. moving trucks seen entering the consulate compound. a bus pulling out. on board, u.s. diplomatic staff. u.s. foreign service officers were flown in from other consulates to help with the rush to move out. they are headed to beijing, to the u.s. embassy. fire crackers erupted on friday, a

our international correspondents help us out beginning with david culver in beijing. >> reporter: herea, most students are on summer break coming after what was a tumultuous semester, starting with them in their own homes doing classes and then finally towards the end of the semester they were able to return going back into the classroom for learning. however, a cluster outbreak here in beijing shut all of that down, sent them back into the homes. now the focus is looking ahead to september when the new semester is expected to begin and back into their classrooms not only here in beijing but across most of china. the effort there is health monitoring and doing so with strict measures in place. and doing so with preparation that any future cluster outbreak requires a backup, students back into the homes and classes resuming but digitally. david culver, cnn, beijing. >>> here in asia we get a lesson in just how difficult it is to keep schools open in the age of covid-19. in south korea, hundreds of schools that were open are now closed and students are learning online. the reason? an upt

cnn's david culver shows us what it's like in beijing. >> reporter: a weekday morning rush hour. walk with us through the streets of beijing. look to my right, my left, behind me, even headed right towards me. you notice just about every commuter wearing a facemask. >> reporter: to see a smile around here these days, it's a bit rare. it's a little bit unnerving because it obviously reveals somebody is not covering up their face. in china with passengers riding trains and planes or riding scooters, hopping on the metro rail, masks are on. concerns of the virus still very tresh in china's capital. unlike in parts of the u.s., it is not political here. >> i think people really take it as a social responsibility to wear a mask. >> reporter: does it seem like a controversial issue when you think about putting your mask on every day? >> for me it's just really common sense. we want to protect each other so everyone is wearing a mask. >> reporter: lily has a stash of masks at home. >> i grab one and put it on. >> just in case i forgot to wear a mask before i leave. >> reporter: some fol

i'm david culver, cnn, chengdu. >>> back now to texas. facing more than the coronavirus pandemic, hurricane hanna is slamming into the state right now. it is the first hurricane of the season in the atlantic. the governor has issued a disaster declaration for dozens of counties. officials say the response to the storm has beenical complica as you might imagine, by the pandemic. derek van dam joins me live. how bad is it, derek? >> you've got a threat multiplier, you've got not only the pandemic and southern texas in particular has some of the highest hospitalization rates for coronavirus, but on top of that, you've got a category one, a strong category one, making landfall in the state as well. so simultaneous threats taking place. there was some damage, and what we are seeing behind me is what we would expect, consistent with a category one landfalling hurricane. so we have had floods, trees, about 200,000 people without power. one would imagine that type of situation playing out with a storm of this magnitude coming on shore. 5:00 p.m.

david culver is in beijing, and david, tell me more. >> brooke, as you know, this was sparked by conversationyou and i had. i was surprised to see back home in the u.s., mask wearing has become increasingly controversial and when i started wearing a mask daily back in january, it was an adjustment for me. but what you see since is this social acceptance and it is not just in authoritarian china to cross asia. to compare that with the resistance and defiance to wear a mask, i thought i would show you around to see the striking difference in attitudes. >> reporter: a week day morning rush hour. walk through beijing and look to my right, left and behind me and headed toward me. you notice just about every commuter wearing a face mask. >> to see a smile around here these days, it is a bit rare and it is even a little unnerving because it reveals that somebody is not covering up their face. >> reporter: in china from passengers boarding trains and planes, to those with shorter commutes. riding scooters or hopping on the metro rail, masks are on. and concerns of the virus still very fresh here in c

david culver is joining us live.ckdowns there, particularly in wuhan. what's happening now and in response to these new outbreaks, how far is china going with renewed shutdowns? >> well, when you hear the number, jim and poppy, 68 new reported cases as of monday, it's laughable to some folks who are dealing with hundreds if not thousands of new cases. even in the u.s. but what you see here is a very quick and fearful response in some places and a return to those wuhan-style lockdowns. here in chengdu, for example, it's pretty normal and people have stopped wearing masks and getting more and more at ease, but however, in the far parts of china they have a cluster of outbreaks. they have now community sealed off people are inside their homes like we saw in wuhan going back to february and march. and they cannot leave. basic necessities come to them. so this is the pattern that we're seeing here. this is the new reality many this pandemic world that we're living in. in china that touts success has to react now and in th

david culver, cnn, beijing. >>> here in hong kong the city has reported 48 new covid-19 cases of whichare locally transmitted cases. last night hong kong's top leader carrie lam ordered vehicle control saying people must provide a negative test before boarding. zapsing and no dining-in services at restaurants between 6:00 p.m. at night and 5:00 a.m. the next morning. it will be xultsry to wear masks on public transport and starting tomorrow, wednesday, hong kong disneyland will be closed for a week. hong kong has been a pandemic success story, but despite near universal use of masks the virus has resurfaced here in a serious way, and the city is yet again forced to take, a. kristie lu stout, cnn, hong kong. >> reporter: here in hock congress i'm watching how the u.s. military in asia is dealing with the threat of coronavirus. all masks all the time. those are the rules for more than 35,000 u.s. marines an their family members on a network of bases on the japanese island of okinawa. they are under virtual lockdown there after an outbreak within their ranks of dozens of new cases of coro

cnn's david culver. good to see you there, david. what have you been able to see? because you told me it's been tough to see anything. >> reporter: it's been incredibly difficult, michael, and it's not normal that we're doing a live cross-talk with you here from a vehicle, but this is the only way that we are able to broadcast. every time we try to step out. we can show you some video from earlier. to go through the police barrier, because there is a significant police presence here, quite harsh, they wouldn't let us in. they were only letting certain residents to go in and select media. for sure they allowed the state media to go through, but we, however, we're kept outside. we've been making around outside the perimeter. behind me here if you keep going further back, you hit where the u.s. consulate was. where it was. it no longer is here as of 10:00 this morning. the ministry of foreign affairs saying it has officially closed. as you mentioned, this was their reciprocal retaliation for what the u.s. officials did in houston. everything from the timing that they

let's go to cnn's david culver who is in beijing. what's the latest there? >> reporter: wolf, china in many ways feeling domestic pressure to retaliate against the u.s. they chose to shut down the u.s. consulate in chengdu in central china near tibet. their reason they claim u.s. personnel there engaged in activities that harm china's national security interests. not surprisingly, it is similar to the claim the u.s. made about the chinese houston consulate serving as a friend of illegal spying. state media suggested the american diplomats have until monday morning local time to move out. the announcement from the foreign ministry came just hours after secretary of state mike pompeo delivered a speech essentially themed "the china threat." saying that the chinese communist party threatens global freedom. china responded and said pompeo ignores facts. chinese officials have said china is prepared to retaliate until the end. wolf? >> david culver in beijing, thank you. >>> in brazil, meanwhile, they just recorded its highest -- second highest total of new coron

cnn's david culver is live in beijing with this breaking news. what have you learned, david?er: alisyn, we know tensions between the u.s. and china have been rising over the past month. i can tell you this is now putting it a whole new level. this escalates things rapidly. chinese foreign ministry says this will sabotage u.s./china relations. let me show you some of these images of houston. this is the chinese caonsulate and it's scheduled to be closed by orders of the united states state department. the chinese are not happy with this, but the u.s. state department is releasing a statement explaining why they're going about this. i'm going to read you that statement here or at least part of it. they say the people's republic of china has engaged for years in massive illegal spying and influence operations throughout the united states against u.s. government officials and american citizens. these activities have increased markedly in scale and scope over the past few years. they go on to accuse china of interfering in domestic u.s. politics, as well. a significant accusation

a cnn crew led by david culver is there on the ground filming the scene. he wasn't able to get too close. reported seeing a very heavy security presence around the compound. in the hours leading up to the closure, staff are seen leaving the building with plastic bags, files, boxes. also, local residents were seen outside the consulate in chengdu waving chinese flags and taking selfies. china's minister of foreign affairs confirmed the closure of the diplomatic mission. let's bring up the statement for you. this is what chinese ministry of foreign affairs said. at 10:00 a.m. on monday, as required by china, the u.s. consulate general in chengdu is closed. chinese authorities entered the through the front entrance and took over the premises. on twitter, the u.s. mission in china posted a 39-second rather emotional video, accompanied with a tweet that was written in chinese, translated to english. the message was this, today we bid farewell to the u.s. consulate in chengdu. we will miss you forever. if you watch this 39-second video, it features a photograph

thank you so much, cnn's david culver in chengdu, china.ate it. >>> well, nobody and i mean nobody had the gift of the gab quite like regis philbin. popular american tv host has died, so ahead we remember a master of the art of amusing conversation. it's totally normal to have constipation with belly pain, straining, and bloating, again and again. no way. more exercise. more water. and more fiber is the only way to manage it. is it? maybe you think... it's occasional constipation. maybe it's not. it could be a chronic medical condition called ibs-c, and time to say yesss! to linzess. linzess works differently than laxatives. it helps relieve belly pain and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. do not give linzess to children less than six and it should not be given to children six to less than 18, it may harm them. do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes se

. >> reporter: i'm david culver in beijing where chinese officials have confirmed that two members from world health organization have arrived here in china capital to take part in a source tracing mission for the coronavirus outbreak. and ultimately we do anticipate them to bring more members from the w.h.o. here but this is an advanced team and so the scope hasn't been fully explained. in fact, we put questions to the w.h.o., to chinese officials to understand the itinerary, and where will they go and who will they speak with and what are they looking to uncover. the questions have yet to be answered. >> reporter: i'm kristie lu stout in hong kong. on monday the city reported 52 new cases of covid-19. this is the highest daily number of new cases so far during the city's so-called third wave of infections. and today new strict measures have been announced including border control, all travelers coming into hong kong from high risk areas must present proof of a negative test. no public gatherings -- >> and the biggest testing program anywhere in the world, if you tested china or russia

cnn's david culver is live in beijing with the update. what did he say, david?alisyn, he addressed what is now a significant story here in china and that is the closure of the consulate in houston. we have known about the intellectual property theft with regard to the chinese party and the issues of interfering was domestic politics. so why now? why is it that they acted with the closure of this consulate? here is what he said just a few minutes ago while in denmark. >> the report this has been going on for a long time makes our point. president trump has said enough. we're not going to allow this to continue to happen where -- you have seen the remarks that national security council adviser has given, we are setting out clear expectations for how the chinese communist party is going to behave and when we don't, we'll take actions to protect the american people and protect our economy and our jobs that's the action you will are seeing taken by president trump and we'll continue to engage in this. >> now, we have to put this in context with the multifacetted risi

. >> to analyze all of this, let's bring in david culver of beijing. strong words from the secretary of state there now attacking china as an oft used tactic in an election season. some experts have claimed this is the lowest u.s./china relations have been in decades. what's your assessment? >> quite bluntly, it's bad and it's getting worse. you heard pompeo there. the secretary went on for an hour as he was speaking. i was listening to the entirety and it was the china threat. he says china is a threat to global freedom. china's fighting back. they think this is all slander and they go on to say they will continue to meet the u.s. with reciprocal actions as they feel needed. case in point is what we saw just play out today here. did i plo the closing of the u.s. consulate. this is known for spicy food and pandas. you say pandas and it's something that folks in the u.s. relate to. panda diplomacy was a thing that played out and continues to break down. why that conflict? i want you to listen to a little bit of what the foreign ministry had to say. i'll

cnn's david culver and his team were on the ground. they weren't able to get up close because of the heavy security that was surrounding it. in the hours leading up to the closure staff were seen leaving the building with boxes, with files, with garbage bags and local residents had been seen surrounding the diplomatic compound waiving flags and taking selfies. it was the u.s. ministry of affairs that confirmed it. let's bring up the statement four. in the statement at 10 a.m. on monday as required by china, the u.s. consulate general in chengdu is closed. they entered and took over the premises. on twitter the u.s. mission in china sent out a farewell tweet accompanied by a 39 second emotional video. the tweet was written in chinese, translated into english it simply said one sentence, today we bid farewell to the u.s. consulate of chengdu. we will mission you forever. there is a photograph of then u.s. vice president george h.w. bush in chengdu at the u.s. consulate opening the u.s. consulate back in 1985. the video underscores and em

cnn's david culver takes a look at the stark culture gap between many people in asia and some americanwho resist wearing them. >> reporter: a weekday morning rush hour. walk with us through the streets of beijing. look to my right, my left, behind be me, and even headed right towards me. you notice just about every commuter wearing a facemask. to see a smile around here these days, it's a bit rare. it's even a little unnerving it because it obviously reveals somebody is not covering up their face. in china to those boarding planes or trains or riding scooters or the metro rail, masks are on. concerns about the virus still very fresh. folks of all ages are wearing them. unlike in parts of the u.s., it is not political here. >> i think people really take it as a social responsibility to wear a mask. >> reporter: does it seem like a controversial issue when you think about putting your mask on every day? >> for me really it's just common sense. we want to protect each other so everyone is wearing a mask. >> reporter: she has a go-to stash of surgical facemasks at home. >> you can see we d

david culver is outside the u.s. consulate in chengdu. david, what are you seeing?john, this is just the latest in the back and forth between the u.s. and china, as tensions are continuing to rise. behind me, this is now a former u.s. consulate here in chengdu, china. it opened in 1985. 35 years later, i want to show you what happened here just a few hours ago. the flag being lowered for the last time. the american flag coming down inside the consulate complex. and shortly thereafter, we have video of this, too, you can see chinese officials going inside. this happened after 10:00 local time. they essentially gave the diplomats 72 hours to get out, since they announced it on friday, and then that happened on monday. the reason they gave that timeline, it was the same amount of time that u.s. officials gave chinese diplomats in houston to get out of that consulate. so it's trying to equate the two. and of course, they're saying that the reason they're kicking the u.s. out of this is because they say u.s. personnel, john, were inside engaging in activities that were h

. >> i'm david culver in china where the world health organization has two experts that have just arrivedll be taking part in a source tracing study. essentially they're considering this a listening and learning tour, however, they might not be doing much touring around china. in fact, they're currently in quarantine according to the w.h.o. and likely to be meeting with several different agencies to better understand the origins of the virus which as we know has become increasingly politicized. >>> i'm anna steward in england and in ten days time it will be mandatory to wear a face covering this shops as well as on public transport. england is following in the footsteps of many other countries. early on in the crisis in march one of the chief medical advisers had said that actually wearing face coverings could help spread the virus by encouraging people to touch their face. it has been low here, but a fine here may encourage more to wear them at least in shops. >>> i'm here in paris, and that is the highlight of the bastille day military ceremony. this flyover is dedicated to health care

cnn's david culver is in beijing. he joins us live to talk about this. what is the latest on this widespread flooding? >> devastating and deadly, rosemary. this is happening in central china for the most part. you mentioned the yangtze. this flows from the western portions of china east out to the sea. along that stretch, which includes hubei province and its province, wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, all impacted here. we're told roughly 27 provinces, cities, regions are feeling the effects of this deadly flooding. as you mentioned, 141 people is the total listed right now as missing or presumed dead, but the number impacted far more than that. some 37 million people are affected here, and we've been told roughly 2 million people have been evacuated from their homes. so you've got to put this in the context of battling two things in particular. one being the rising flood waters, the other the novel coronavirus. the outbreak is under control according to government officials. if you look at the images, one thing that has stood o

. >> cnn's david culver joins us now from beijing.ally these diplomatic spats, they are reciprocal, right? you close one and someone else will close the other but the concern really is that this is going much more broadly between the u.s. and china, on trade, diplomatic issues, military. well, what's the level of concern in china right now? >> and, jim, the question is where does it stop, too, and there's no seemingly exit ramp here. there is a lot of concern here because it's obvious from a state media perspective that china has had to respond to this most recent act. when you see it's reciprocal, but what we've seen in recent weeks and months as the u.s. has done things that has anchored china. for the most part the chinese foreign ministry has responded with tough rhetoric and harsh words and very little action with the exception of sanctioning a few u.s. officials. the rising nationalism and the pressure certainly the state media was putting out there to say, hey, pick the consulate you want to have closed essentially in this open

cnn's david culver is live in beijing with the breaking news. hearing on that end, david? >> alisyn, if any indication from state media is how the chinese government will follow through with action, then there will be retaliation here. this is significant. the closure of the chinese consulate in houston is something that's provoking outrage on state media, on chinese social media and amongst the chinese officials. foreign ministry in particular. they spoke a few hours ago, addressing this, they say this could sabotage china/u.s. relations and it's arbitrary and it's something they plan to take action against. what you have to put in context here is that they have been saying this with regards to several recent actions. when the u.s. has put sanctions on chinese officials with the alleged human rights abuses and the u.s. stripping hong kong of the special trade status because of china imposing the national security law there, with rising tensions on the south china sea and of course the pandemic and china's early mishandling and allegations of co

. >> as cnn international correspondent david culver found out. >> it was back in late december when warned friends about a sars like virus going around. he sent a email from a hospital quarantined where we worked showed a patient had coronavirus. but hours after hitting send, wuhan city health officials tracked him down. >> days later dr. li was summoned to a police station and reprimanded for circulating rumors. >> early in january, the deputy national security adviser matthew pottinger has a call with a doctor in hong kong who really delivers for the u.s. government one of the earliest warnings about what is to come. pottinger, who had been a "wall street journal" reporter in china in the early part of the century had known this doctor and become a friend. and what this doctor tells him was chilling. he says that the chinese are not revealing the extent of the problem. they are really covering up what is happening inside the country, and perhaps most importantly for mr. pottinger, this problem is coming to you. >> on january 6th, robert redfield offers to send help, including cdc

cnn's david culver and his team were there and they encountered and filmed the heavy security presence around the diplomatic compound. in the hours leading up to the closure, staff were seen leaving with boxes, plastic bags, files. local residents were also seen around the diplomatic compound waving chinese flags and taking selfies. china's ministry of foreign affairs that confirmed the coalesceure. we' closure. quote, 10:00 a.m. monday, as required by china, the u.s. consulate general in chengdu is closed. relevant chinese authorities then entered through the front entrance and took over the premises. on twitter, the u.s. mission in china released a 39-second rather emotional video about the closure of the consulate there. along with a statement in chinese that translated into english said, today we bid farewell to the u.s. consulate in chengdu. we will miss you forever. in this 39-second video you see a photograph of then u.s. vice president george h.w. bush in chengdu opening up the u.s. consulate back in 1985. the video also goes through a long list of the areas that the consulate

david culver is in new york with more. the central question is why? rubio of senate intel said spying. do we know why and what the repercussions can be from china? >> poppy and jim, that's the question that they're asking here. why now in particular? why focus houston? senator rubio who, by the way, is one of the few officials sanctioned by the chinese government is suggesting that that is the center of espionage on behalf of the chinese government within the united states. that question was also put to secretary of state mike pompeo who, by the way, is traveling to the uk in denmark, and top of that agenda was targeting the threats made by china and the chinese communist party in particular towards the freedom-loving nations as he put it, but he was asked why now. here's what he said. >> president trump has said enough. we're not going to allow this to continue to happen where you've seen the remarks that national security adviser gave and attorney general barr has given. we are sending out clear expectations for how the chinese communist party is go

david culver joining us now live from beijing.e latest in a number of tense little standoffs between the two governments. >> reporter: getting increasingly tense, too, john. this is suggested according to "the new york times" that some 92 million members of the party and the family members cannot travel into the u.s. and right now what we are seeing is that this is as of now just being put on to sources really. looking at the white house, homeland security, looking at the department of state in particular. but what china is saying is that this is something this is not surprising to them in that they feel that the trump administration is going to continue to ratchet up the attacks on members of not only the party but also really china in general. anybody who's connected to china and the chinese government and state entities, too. what we do anticipate though is that china would respond perhaps more with rhetoric than anything else because that's what we have seen when the u.s. put sanctions for example on chinese officials involved

cnn's david culver live in beijing with the very latest on a relationship that seems to be heading steeplyid. >> reporter: there's no question, john. a short time ago, china's foreign spokesperson delivering more harsh words, says this action by the u.s. demolishes the bridge of friendship between chinese and americans. china now vowing to retaliate, but there's no details as to what china might do in response to the u.s. shutting down the chinese consulate in houston. let me show you what's at stake for the u.s. we can show you a map of china here and the u.s. consulates and embassy. the u.s. scaled back its diplomatic staffing since the pandemic, but it has six consulates in china. while reuters is reporting that the chinese might go after the u.s. consulate in wuhan, state media is out with an editorial essentially suggesting that china should shut down the u.s. consulate in hong kong, claiming it's been used as an intelligence center. that's echoi ining what u.s. officials have said, saying it's a front for spying. but there's now focus, as we show you a map here of the u.s. and the ch

. >> reporter: as cnn international correspondent david culver found out. >> reporter: it was late in december when there was a group message saying a test result of a partial quarantined showed a patient had a coronavirus. but hours after hitting send, wuhan city health officials tracked lee down. >> reporter: days later dr. lee was summoned to a police station and reprimanded for circulating rumors. >> early in january the deputy national security adviser has a call with a doctor in hong kong who really delivers for the u.s. government one of the earliest warnings of what was to come. pottinger had known this doctor and become a friend and what this doctor tells him was chilling. he says that the chinese are not revealing the extent of the problem, they are really covering up what is happening inside the country and perhaps most importantly for mr mr. pottinger, this problem is coming to you. >> on january 6th redfeld offers to send help to work with the world health organization china does not want cdc scientists to come in the country at that point. >> but the chinese government's

and we saw in 1980 david mentioned 1980, 12 senate seats which in 1980, giants of the senate, george mcgovern, john culvertrdown that y. and republicans won the senate for the firstype in 26 years. why, because the president the top of the ticket was just incredibly weak, jimmy carter was at 31% job approval in 1980. george w. bush was at 0% job approval in 2008 even though wasn't on the ballot. he had the financial collapse, iraq going absolutely south on him. this is what republicans face ri t now is thatme kind of climate and that's why they are worried. >> woodruff: and david, it's interestin because as we just heard in lisa's conversation that thesera democc candidates candidates, they turn out to be candidates who ar talented in an election year when people are payingattention to the challenger. so often it's the in couple want who is favored. >> so off incumbe has the money advantage that is not the case right now. marklely in arizona has twice as much money as the incumbent. big fundraisers, lindsey graham is raising huy amounts of mon money. they're getting the money. but i think it's not ev e ca