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U.S. Presidential Candidates Campaign amid Legal Challenges over Mail-In Votes; Young People Turn Out for Early Voting in Key States; Pro- Democracy Protesters Fill Streets in Thailand; Anger and Fear Grow in Italy over New Restrictions. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired October 27, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ALISYN CAMEROTA(?), CNN ANCHOR: Election Day is one week away.
JOHN BERMAN(?), CNN ANCHOR: One week left to vote.
ERICA HILL(?), CNN ANCHOR AND U.S. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The average number of new cases in the U.S., they're nearly 69,000 a day.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're at the highest baseline we've ever been. It's not good news.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I mean, I got it and I'm here, right?
JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Trump said that we're learning to live with this COVID. No, he's asking us
to learn to die with it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amy Coney Barrett is now the ninth Supreme Court justice.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House held an event celebrating that confirmation. You did see people wearing masks.
DR. JONATHAN REINER(?), CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I thought it was insane that they didn't learn their lesson from the first superspreader event.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight, the two men vying to run America are going coast to coast, ratcheting up their campaigns to win the
most powerful office on Earth while a ferocious virus bulldozes across the country.
OK, deep breaths now. There's a lot to get through here. We are one week out until America elects its next president. That as multiple states across
the nation setting new unwanted record rates of COVID infections with each passing day.
And as you can see here, more than three-quarters of the states trending in the wrong direction, the orange and red on this map; only one state heading
lower. Even though we are just a week out. That's one big chunk. The pandemic.
Meanwhile, more than 60 million Americans already voting. That's about 1 out of 4 who can vote already doing so. And many experts on this show have
told me it will go higher.
That leads me to this. Those who haven't picked and who want to mail in their ballots ahead of Election Day, well, they need to get a move on. Take
the super important battleground state of Wisconsin as an example.
The U.S. Supreme Court just hours ago ruling that Wisconsin's mail-in vote must be received by Election Day to count. Democrats had been pushing for a
six-day extension, for any ballots postmarked by next Tuesday. The reason, more Democrats vote by mail than Republicans.
And there's a really good reason for it this time, the unprecedented, once in a generation health crisis.
It's a big win for Republicans in a state Donald Trump desperately needs to win to get another four years. And similar battles are going on left, right
and center. And they really affect which way this thing might go.
Up next, that Supreme Court decision happening without the president's new conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett, who was sworn in after the Senate
approved her nomination last night.
Now the Republicans hope having her will swing things in their favor even more going forward. Remember, Supreme Court justices are appointed for
life. And Amy is just 48. Do the math.
We should note that masks were required for guests and social distancing was in place at last night's ceremony for her. But at the same time, we
have to also point out and it's my final point, social distancing not happening at the president's multiple campaign rallies.
He visited three states yesterday and heads to three more today, Wisconsin, Michigan and Nebraska.
Joe Biden on the road today and where he is going is also very telling. He will be in Georgia, a state that last voted for a Democratic president in
1992. Nearly 30 years later, Democrats seem to think they have got a shot at turning that swing state blue.
I did say deep breath. That's a truckload of developments. But it's all important stuff, really important stuff for all of us, wherever we live in
the world. What goes on in America doesn't stay in America.
Let's bring in the team and friend of the show, Stephen Collinson, teaming up with CNN's legal mind, Elie Honig.
Stephen, let me start with you. There's an awful lot for our viewers to digest there but it is important stuff. And people watching this program
from Johannesburg to Shanghai, reminded us why these developments matter, sir.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's certainly plate spinning in the week ahead of the election, which possibly could affect the
way it goes. The pandemic is the big issue.
[10:05:00]
COLLINSON: It keeps on getting worse. That's trampling all over Donald Trump's message, that this thing is going away. And don't forget, a
majority of Americans believe that he's handled the pandemic, in which 225,000 of their fellow citizens have died, appallingly.
The Supreme Court issue in Wisconsin clearly, that's important because it's a foreshadowing of the legal maneuvering we could see if the election ends
up being disputed.
Donald Trump has already said it's not fair. It's a sign of how Republicans are bringing cases to try and erode that Democratic advantage in some of
the swing states.
Look where Joe Biden is traveling. You said Georgia; that's a sign he's confident he's got a path to 270 electoral votes already. He's trying to
expand the map and run up a bigger victory.
Donald Trump today is in Michigan, Wisconsin, two states that he won, shockingly, in 2016. It helped him to win against Hillary Clinton. He's way
behind in those states now. If he loses them next week, this thing is over.
ANDERSON: Elie, have a listen to the attorney general of Pennsylvania, one of those swing states, all important swing states, speaking to Wolf Blitzer
about the Democrats pushing to allow an extension to remain in place to let voters have their votes counted as long as they are postmarked by Election
Day. I want viewers to have a listen to this.
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JOSH SHAPIRO, PENNSYLVANIA AG: That was the ruling from our state Supreme Court that if your ballots are postmarked by Election Day and received by
Friday at 5:00 pm, the Friday after the election, then your ballot is going to count. And that's the law here in Pennsylvania as interpreted by our
state supreme court.
Now the U.S. Supreme Court was asked to step in last week and stay that, reverse that. They failed to muster the necessary votes to roll that back.
Now the Republicans here in Pennsylvania are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in again.
Wolf, you're asking if I can guarantee something. Certainly, I can't guarantee it but the law is pretty is pretty settled in this area.
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ANDERSON: But it's not the law across all states. Give us a sense of just how many battles there are and why this specific issue matters so much.
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The stakes here are so high because we're talking about key battles over whether tens of thousands of ballots will be
counted in key swing states -- Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, there's another brewing in North Carolina.
In key swing states decided by razor-thin margins in 2016 and the key thing for people to understand here is we do not have one unified national
election system in the United States. We have 51 different election systems. Each state and Washington, D.C., essentially runs its own system.
Here's where the Supreme Court is really tripping all over itself. They need to decide, the Supreme Court, are we going to allow the states to
decide how they are going to run their elections?
Or are we going to sort of intervene and override them?
We're seeing the Supreme Court conflicted on that issue. Just last week, as we just heard the attorney general of Pennsylvania say, the Supreme Court
ruled, no, that's not for us. That's up to Pennsylvania to decide how to run their elections. But last night the Supreme Court really said the
opposite on Wisconsin. They said, no, it's not up to Wisconsin. We're going to come in.
What we're really seeing is a politicization of the court. They are not deciding based on consistent legal principles. They are deciding basically
on, if more votes will be counted, that's good for Democrats. The liberal justices are for it. If less votes are counted, that's good for Republicans
and the conservatives are for it. And it's a really dangerous trend.
ANDERSON: And just remind our viewers, how much precedent is there for what is going on at present?
Is this highly unusual in an election a week out, that this is so undecided as it were at this point?
HONIG: There's very little precedent. This is highly unusual. I shudder to say it but the only real precedent is Bush versus Gore, which settled the
2000 election. The question was there fundamentally the same one we're seeing now in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and potentially other states, which
is, whose job is it?
Who gets to decide who runs the elections?
Is it up to the states or can the Supreme Court come in and impose its will?
We're really in sort of untrod (ph) territory here. These additions will have a tangible effect on the outcome of this election. We need to watch
everything the Supreme Court does this week very carefully.
ANDERSON: That is what is going on as far as the legalities are concerned.
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ANDERSON: And you could argue that would be enough for voters to get their heads around.
But there's an awful lot of other stuff out there, Stephen, not least Trump saying he's done more for Black Americans than anyone with the possible
exception, he sometimes humbly concedes, of Abraham Lincoln. But have a listen to this.
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JARED KUSHNER, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: One thing we have seen in a lot of the Black community, which is mostly Democrat, is that President Trump's
policies are the policies that can help people break out of the problems that they are complaining about. But he can't want them to be more
successful more than they want to be successful.
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ANDERSON: How is that likely to go over?
COLLINSON: I don't think it's likely to go over very well, not least because Jared Kushner is the president's son-in-law. He himself comes from
inherited wealth, as does his father-in-law, the president. It's not as though they have faced the same challenges institutionally that African
Americans face in the United States, worse education, worse health care, everything else.
The Trump campaign has tried to peel off especially some African American men from a crucial Democratic voting bloc. There's some evidence they have
been successful partially in that. But at the end of the day, it looks very likely that African American voters, as always, will go overwhelmingly for
the Democrats.
The key question is what kind of turnout do they get in the big cities and the swing states from African American voters because that's going to be
helpful in getting Joe Biden over the line if he's going to win this election.
ANDERSON: These swing states are all crucial. We cannot understate how important they are.
You can find so much information on cnn.com about how this whole system works and why these swing states are as important as they are.
For the time being, gentlemen, thank you for that.
You can tell that this is a blitz week for the candidates. They are moving across America at lightning speed, trying to squeeze out every last vote
they can. We have mapped it out for you.
Donald Trump tearing through states where he won last time around to shore up support and is taking aim at some states that have in the past been
solidly Republican, states that just a few months ago he likely would not have even bothered with. Now apparently they are in play.
So what's the strategy here?
It all comes down to two words: the electoral college. Actually, that's three words. But that's my point. Things don't always add up the way you're
told they might. And America votes in some states actually count more than others. Here's Mary Moloney with a reminder of that crucial election math
before we move on. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARY MOLONEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans do not vote directly for their president. I'm not talking about a government
conspiracy. I'm talking about the electoral college, a system that has been around since the birth of our nation.
What is the electoral college?
The electoral college is not a building or institution. It's just the name given to a designated group of people who cast each state's official votes
for president. This group is made up of 538 people. Each state has a different number of electors based on their representatives in Congress.
So states like California and Texas have more votes than states like North and South Dakota. The only exception, the District of Columbia, which has
three electors, despite having no voting members in Congress.
How does it work?
Each party selects their own group of electors. Each state that empowers the electors who represent the candidate who won the most votes, except
Nebraska and Maine, who award electors based on a combination of statewide results and districts won.
The candidate that receives at least 270 Electoral College votes becomes the next president.
What if there's a tie?
If there's a tie or if somebody doesn't get to 270, the House of Representatives appoints the president and the Senate chooses the vice
president.
Why does this system exist?
In short, the electoral college was created as a compromise of different several proposals by the nation's founders. Critics say the system allows
candidates to become president without necessarily securing a majority of voter support. Advocates argue it ensures less populated states aren't
completely ignored.
How are these people selected?
They are chosen by their political parties in each state. The only rule is that they cannot currently hold office.
Can an elector ignore the popular vote?
It's called a faithless elector. But it's rare and it has never affected the outcome of an election. Some states require formal pledges, enforced by
fines and possible jail time. But historically speaking, members rarely depart from the will of the people.
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ANDERSON: That's Mary Moloney for you. Let's look at that road to 270 electoral votes.
Who will it be a road to nowhere for?
And for whom will it be the yellow brick road to glory?
Who better to ask, the Maestro of Polls, the Wizard of Odds, the very dashing Mr. Harry Enten himself.
Harry, we are a few days after the final debate.
Firstly, are we seeing any movement in the polls?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: No, that's the simple answer to that. Joe Biden was up by 9 points heading into the final debate. He's up 9
points now and above 50 percent now versus then.
It's the exact same thing, which means the final week, what Trump needs to do is not just win those undecided voters, he needs to pull voters away
from Biden. So far, he hasn't been able to do it.
ANDERSON: OK, let's drill down. Joe Biden is visiting Georgia. No Democratic presidential candidate has won there since 1992.
What's going on?
ENTEN: There's a reason he's visiting Georgia. He's actually slightly ahead in the state of Georgia, 48-47 percent. But that's within the margin
of error obviously.
But the polls have been consistent there and they show a very, very tight race with Biden a real shot of winning it. It has about 15 or 16 electoral
votes. It's a quite nice little prize if Biden is able to pull it off.
ANDERSON: If it flips this year, why would that be?
ENTEN: It comes down to demographics. Demographics really drive politics in America. And what's so important to recognize about the state of Georgia
is, if you look at the seven closest states that Trump won in 2016, you'll see that the non-college white share electorate is the lowest in Georgia.
That's the group that really swung towards Trump in 2016. So essentially Georgia lacks the types of voters that all these other swing states have.
The real question is whether or not Trump is able to hold on to enough of these non college white voters in Georgia in order to hold on, even if they
are a small percentage.
If he isn't, Biden may win the state and be the first since 1992 for a Democrat to do so.
ANDERSON: Iowa, Biden is visiting Iowa, which Donald Trump won four years ago by I think 9 points.
What's he doing there?
ENTEN: Look, another key swing state where Trump won easily, that Biden is actually ahead in. But the other thing I will point out about both Iowa and
Georgia, key Senate races there. That's another reason why Biden wants a Democratic Senate for his Democratic presidency.
ANDERSON: And this is not just a presidential election. Good reminder for us. Harry, just take a look at this. Some poll dancing action. Not a bad
way to spend your time.
ENTEN: I can get into some dancing. Come on. When the social distancing ends and we're able to be together as a company, we can all do some of this
dancing together.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: How important is the fact that we are seeing these huge long lines?
What does the early vote tell us, if anything, sir?
ENTEN: I would say that we're heading towards record turnout. Last time it was a little less than 140 million people voted. This time we're looking at
155 million. It will be the highest percentage as voting eligible population since 18-year olds got the vote in 1971.
ANDERSON: That is absolutely remarkable. This election couldn't be more important and, indeed, in many ways, more interesting. One of the many,
many -- thank you, sir -- unique aspects of this presidential election is the early turnout of young voters.
Take a look at these numbers. Texas seeing more than three-quarters of a million people between 18 and 29 early voting this year. That's compared to
less than 140,000 in 2016.
Minnesota, Florida, Georgia, all critical battleground states, all seeing young people showing up in droves compared to 2016. CNN's Dana Bash went to
kick around with the young folk.
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DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): University of Virginia sophomore Libby Klinger is up early on a Saturday, ready to roll.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These people are probably behind us (ph).
BASH (voice-over): Joining fellow campus Republicans to get out the vote.
LIBBY KLINGER, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STUDENT: There's a lot of enthusiasm among young conservatives to vote, especially in this critical year with
everything that's been going on with the pandemic.
[10:20:00]
KLINGER: We're out here canvassing today.
BASH (voice-over): They are the diehards but still say everyone they know is voting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are really starting to recognize just all of the different chaos within the political climate right now, that voting is
only the real say that we can have.
BASH (voice-over): UVA Democrats are driving people to the polls. Hunter Hesse (ph) waited with Maeve Connick (ph) for over an hour to cast an early
vote.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have been doing it a lot especially with first year students who don't know the voting process very well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if anyone I know, like any of my personal friends who haven't voted already.
BASH (voice-over): On the lawn, these students say voting is trendy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Like people on social media, they'll like Post-its (ph) of them and their ballot and their I voted sticker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it's (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel a little pressure to vote?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, that's Dana Bash with some of the youngsters there.
As you saw, with those young voters, it does really come down to each candidate's ground game. You've got to get out there and put in the work.
Now Donald Trump's campaign manager says they have a superior field operation that will defeat Joe Biden. Here is how he put it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL STEPIEN, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: A ground game matters, in state after state, we continue to see the result of President Trump's grassroots
operation, which is simply the best that's ever been built. They don't have a ground game to draw those votes and turn those ballots into actual votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: This ground game could make or break both campaigns. It's playing out in the battleground state of North Carolina. There's a theme
here. But we're connecting you to where it matters. Jeff Zeleny went along to see all the action there firsthand.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Crowds thunder for President Trump.
TRUMP: Thank you, North Carolina.
ZELENY (voice-over): And horns honk for Joe Biden.
BIDEN: Hello, North Carolina.
ZELENY (voice-over): But the real work is also happening here, in the neighborhoods of Trump and Biden supporters. In the closing days of the
race, volunteers for the Biden campaign are hitting the streets for the first time in eight months after being grounded by the pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So go Biden. Let's do this.
ZELENY (voice-over): They have gloves, masks and an urgent task, finding voters who still haven't been reached.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People have been calling and texting and writing and everything they can do and have not heard from these voters. So this
conversation or this context is really important.
ZELENY (voice-over): Caroline Everly (ph) and Scarlett Hollingsworth (ph) have been itching to knock on doors and look those voters in the eye.
SCARLETT HOLLINGSWORTH, BIDEN CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: We say in North Carolina, we don't do landslides. We do squeakers. So we have to really get
those votes out.
ZELENY: You wonder what the other side has been doing and if they have been doing this all along.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have heard that and seen that, that the Trump campaign has been out canvassing throughout all of this. The people that we
want to elect care about people's lives. And so that's why this decision was made to not do it.
ZELENY (voice-over): Until now, Team Biden has done most of its work virtually while Trump has gone full speed ahead with his rallies at the
center of it all. Four years ago, Trump won Gaston County by more than 30 percentage points. To win North Carolina again, he's trying to increase
those margins.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's really one of the reasons why he wanted to come here, was to energize the base.
ZELENY (voice-over): So the rally is part of the GOTB effort here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Here and everywhere else he goes. That's the point of him going places, is to get people out to vote.
ZELENY (voice-over): Yet it's not just big rallies. Republicans have been going door to door for months.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's better to come to their houses and to come to people where they are.
ZELENY (voice-over): Here in a growing Charlotte suburbs, Amy Bynum (ph) is running for state house. She's also secretary of the county GOP.
AMY BYNUM, STATE HOUSE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE: It's our job to reach the new folks and get our Republicans out to vote.
ZELENY (voice-over): North Carolina has more than 1.3 million new registered voters since 2016. As cases of coronavirus soar, turning out
voters is a challenge facing both sides but, particularly, Democrats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go to the polls.
ZELENY (voice-over): For Biden to win here, high enthusiasm among Black voters is key.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With a leader like Joe Biden.
ZELENY (voice-over): Charlotte mayor Vi Lyles (ph) says she thinks about this every day but believes Democrats have an even bigger motivating force.
MAYOR VI LYLES, CHARLOTTE: And this time has been framed by COVID and the president's lack of response for it. And that's why I think people are
going to come out to vote.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: It's all going to be a race like no other. And you have a front row seat. We will bring you special live coverage, the way only CNN can do
it. Our complete 360 look at Election Night in America moves into life here next Tuesday at 4:00 pm New York time.
[10:25:00]
ANDERSON: And according to my calculations, that's 8:00 in London and midnight between Tuesday and Wednesday here in Abu Dhabi.
The real reality on the ground isn't political. It is about what it happening to real people. Countless business owners hanging on by a thread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to be awesome. That's what I'm hanging onto.
ANDERSON (voice-over): We will speak to the owner of a famous bar in Texas trying to keep -- best to keep his head up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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JONATHAN MILLER, JOURNALIST: So Vajiralongkorn is not a semidivine king to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Hell, no. No. And he knows it. He knows that he's only human.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Very bold words about the Thai king, which often carry strict penalties. Why youngsters are taking the risk and taking their
demand for change from the streets of Bangkok to Germany.
And protests consume parts of Italy. Why people there are so fed up with the government's new measures to curb coronavirus infections. That all
coming up after this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prime Minister, you're the major obstacle and burden to the country. Please resign and everything will end well.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Calls for the Thai prime minister to resign are growing in Bangkok. Angry pro democracy protesters are rallying in the
,streets accusing the Thai monarchy of allowing military control of the country for decades.
They are now demanding change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Thousands of demonstrators marching to the German embassy, calling for an investigation into the king. Bold moves, you'll notice. It
is a crime in Thailand to even speak critically of him. Jonathan Miller is there and has more on the crisis that's been growing in Thailand for weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILLER (voice-over): In the capital crippled by protests, young Thais clambering for reform of the monarchy mobbed a rush hour commuter route at
5 pm sharp.
Across town, a parliamentary session called to debate the deepening crisis, was failing to debate the heart of the matter in hand; namely, Thailand's
supposedly constitutional monarch.
MILLER: So once again, central Bangkok has been brought to a total standstill by protests. The guys now marching down the road here toward a
phalanx of riot police up ahead. They have had their demands for reform rebuffed.
[10:30:00]
MILLER: They have had the prime minister completely ignore their ultimatum that he resign.
MILLER (voice-over): They are marching to the German embassy because Germany is where King Maha Vajiralongkorn call home. He even changed the
Thai constitution to enable him to rule from abroad.
Berlin has expressed its displeasure over his conducting Thai state affairs from German soil and the German foreign minister's warned of immediate
consequences that anything he's done there is deemed illegal. It's like the protesters smell blood.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any kind of system that you have to be afraid of, any kind of instrument that you have to be afraid of to uphold, that's not
right. That's not going to last.
MILLER: So king Maha Vajiralongkorn is not a semidivine king to you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Hell, no. No. And he knows it. He knows that he's only human.
MILLER (voice-over): Thailand's would-be Sun King (ph) did a walkabout among ultra royalists outside the grand palace. It's like watching a video
from ancient Siam. His subjects crying out praises, prostrating themselves and kissing his feet.
Queen Suthida spots a man in the crowd which she supposedly recognizes as Titiwam Agarum (ph), a man who held up a picture of the late king at a pro
reform protest.
The king tells him how brave he is -- twice -- and thanks him profusely.
"Long live your majesty," Mr. Gujuwat (ph) says. "I love you so very much."
The protesters presented a letter to the German embassy, the contents of which are too controversial for the Thai media to even report on. It asks
Germany to investigate just what Thai state affairs the king has been conducting there and makes very serious allegations about his activities
and lifestyle.
We couldn't reach the royal palace for comment. The protesters say they want reform, not revolution. But the #republic has been trending.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: That's Jonathan reporting there in Thailand.
Hospitals in Belgium on the brink of disaster. Officials there warn they could run out of intensive care beds very soon. We'll tell you how they are
tackling one of the world's worst COVID-19 surges.
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[10:35:00]
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ANDERSON: You are looking at the aftermath of clashes in northern Italy. Late Monday, protests over a new round of coronavirus restrictions turned
violent in Turin. Police say dozens of people were injured, protesters looted luxury stores and set fires to garbage bins in Milan. Police tried
to restore order with tear gas and took dozens in for questioning.
Italy was among the first countries in Europe to be hit by COVID-19 outbreaks, you will remember, back in April. Many people peacefully
complied with lockdown orders. But with infections climbing rapidly, now this month, officials see these measures as the only way to stopping a
second wave.
Connecting this together for us, CNN's Ben Wedeman, who is out of Rome for you today.
I know you just got back from Milan.
What was the situation there?
And just describe this sort of growing, what, fear and anger?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's really fear more than anger. In fact, the interior minister called what happened last night
in particularly in Turin and Milan as urban warfare.
People are angry that they are looking down the barrel at yet another lockdown perhaps. The government has been doing sort of a salami tactic, of
rather than giving you the whole piece, in little slices. Every Sunday we have been hearing the Italian prime minister introducing a new set of
measures.
And therefore, it's not surprising that, in areas of the country that have been hardest hit by the pandemic like Milan and Turin, that people are sort
of getting fed up. But of course, sometimes we focus on the more violent manifestations of unhappiness.
But one Italian television station put out an opinion poll -- or results of one -- saying that 28 percent of the respondents say that the latest
measures by the prime minister were adequate and that 36 percent said they were insufficient.
So a majority of people are in favor of the current measures or perhaps something even stronger. Now one of the reasons, I think, why we're seeing
this level of anger we didn't see in the first lockdown, which was much harsher, is that if you just look at the numbers, the current number of
positive cases is 236,000. That's double what we saw at the worst stage of the pandemic earlier this year.
However, the death toll is a seventh of what it was back then; 141 people passed away from COVID-19 yesterday. So in terms of the death toll, it
isn't having quite that effect on the minds of people as it did earlier this year. Certainly, the economic situation is looking grave.
The worst case scenario -- or rather estimates for the economy is the GDP will fall by about 10 percent this year. However, some economists are
saying that if there's another lockdown along the lines of what we saw earlier this year, the GDP could fall by as much as 15 percent.
So the government really is walking a very narrow tightrope with sort of anger on the one hand and the desire -- anger over the economic situation
and the desire of clearly a majority of Italians to avoid a repeat of the horrendous death toll we saw earlier this year, keeping in mind more than
37,000 people have died from coronavirus this year.
ANDERSON: That ceiling, one assumes, reflected on the front pages of Italy's newspapers.
WEDEMAN: Yes, I have one here. It says, "Revolt in Turin as attack on stores."
So really there's a lot of focus on what is clearly a segment of the population that is simply fed up. Fed up with the fact that, yes, they did
the old stiff upper lip; made it through the first lockdown. People relaxed during the summer and now we're starting the whole process all over again.
And I understand that the council of ministers is meeting this afternoon to discuss perhaps compensation for business owners and others to try to
lessen the blow of this round of lockdowns.
[10:40:00]
WEDEMAN: If you own a restaurant or a bar, there's a bar right behind me, they have to close at 6:00. And it's unlikely that they are going to make
even a fraction of what they did last year.
So there's a very difficult situation and this government really hasn't come out with a clear solution. I don't think any government on Earth has,
except perhaps New Zealand, in dealing with the pandemic.
ANDERSON: You're right. This is a dilemma faced by not just the Italian government but governments across Europe and around the world.
What is the cost of locking down?
Can these governments afford the impact on the economy?
Can their citizens deal with their personal impact and cost to their lives and indeed their livelihoods?
Ben Wedeman, always a pleasure. Thank you very much indeed.
Belgium also trying to avoid a second nationwide lockdown. The country's top health official warns that hospitals there may run out of intensive
care beds in two weeks. The country of just 11.5 million people has been reporting an average of 12,000 cases per day.
A decision on a new lockdown is expected by the end of the week there. And in so many places around the world, countries trying to balance saving
lives and protecting their economies.
Not all is grim in the world.
What's that, you say?
What's nice?
Well, try this. Thousands of teddy bears cheering on the Netherlands' top football club. We will explain what is going on here, up next.
(WORLD SPORT)
[11:00:00]
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