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Germany and France Locking Down; Two Opposing Objectives Between Trump and Biden; Voters Show More Enthusiasm in 2020; Hurricane Zeta Pummeled U.S. Gulf Coast; Stock Markets Rattled by Uncertainties; India Surpasses 8 Million COVID-19 Cases; Czech Healthcare System Struggles as Cases Surge; Ex-Trump Official Reveals He is Anonymous; At least 53 Buried and Feared Dead in Vietnam Landslides; Turkey Opens Legal Investigation into French Magazine; Trump Versus Biden, Two Different Approaches to Virus Policy; CDC Study, Nurses Represent Largest Proportion of Healthcare Workers Hospitalized with COVID-19; Protective Supplies More Strained As Cases Climb In The U.S. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 29, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Kim Brunhuber, live from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta. This is CNN Newsroom.
Ahead this hour. Heading back to lockdown, two of Europe's largest economies announced new restrictions to try to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Joe Biden and Donald Trump make their closing pitches to voters with the U.S. election now just five days away.
And the city of New Orleans is struck by another hurricane as the now Tropical Storm Zeta roars across the U.S. Gulf Coast.
A southern surge in coronavirus case count across Europe has now forced two of the continent's biggest economies back into lockdown. The leaders of Germany and France made that announcement just hours apart and they admit the existing restrictions are not enough anymore.
The first lockdown will begin Friday in France where President Emmanuel Macron says nonessential businesses, restaurants and bars will close for four weeks in an effort to stop the virus' spread. But he says this won't be a severe as the last lockdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): Wherever possible working from home should again be the norm. But and this is a second difference in the spring, economic activity will continue with more intensity. This means that public services will stay open, factories, agricultural operations, buildings, and public construction work will continue to function. The economy should not stop nor crash. (END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And in Germany, restaurants, bars, and clubs will close in a partial lockdown there beginning Monday. It set to last four weeks, the German chancellor says this action, must be taken to avoid a national health emergency.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): The experts have told us that we must reduce around 75 percent of contacts, that is a lot. If you want to get close to that goal, we have to start somewhere, so we reduced contacts and private surroundings and here especially, we depend on people's cooperation. And then we asked ourselves, where else can we reduce contacts? And that's when we really targeted leisure activities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: We have CNN correspondents tracking developments all across Europe. Cyril Vanier is standing by in Paris, and Scott McLean is live for us in Bruno in the Czech Republic.
Let's begin with you, Cyril. French President Emmanuel Macron wasn't mincing words talking but how dire the situation is, and how dire could it become if these measures aren't taken.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely. This is exactly what the president and the French government as a whole have been wanting to avoid for the last few months, saying they do not want to issue a national stay-at-home order. And yet yesterday, that is exactly what they did. Issuing the strictest set of measures, we have seen in this country since the height of the pandemic in March and April.
So, you heard the president earlier, Kim, people are going to now to once again require an authorization to leave their homes. It is not going to be as strict as it was earlier in the year, because schools remain open, and some types, some parts of the economic activity of the country will also remain open.
The government is trying to tow this line between protect the health of the people, stop -- slow the spread of the virus and also protect the economy which is going to be hard to achieve. But as a result, factories and agriculture are going to remain open, but all nonessential businesses are going to be close.
So, Paris, starting this evening, is once again going to look like a ghost town, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, now to Scott. German Chancellor Angela Merkel saying they no longer have control of the spread of the virus. So, tell us more about what Germans are facing?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kim. So, we've certainly seen these kinds of tactics before, European countries throwing different restrictions, different measures against the wall and seeing what sticks what actually works.
Two weeks ago, Angela Merkel announced restrictions that were aimed specifically at virus hotspots, including restaurant curfews and limitations on social gatherings. But two weeks later it is abundantly clear that those measures have not worked.
Germany just reported another record high, case count smashing the record that was said just yesterday. And what's really concerning is the rise in hospitalizations and deaths. Eighty-nine reported in the past 24 hours. The chancellor says that the German health system is equipped to handle the influx of patients for the foreseeable future, but if this trend continues, well, hospitals could be overwhelmed in a matter of weeks.
[03:04:55]
And so, this is a big change in messaging from a country that was taking in sick coronavirus patients from other countries during the height of the pandemic in the spring. It was also sending ventilators abroad.
So, yesterday, Merkel announced that action had to be taken right away. So, starting on Monday, bars restaurants, theaters, and gyms, as you mentioned, will have to close. People are being told to stay home, avoid travel, in fact you won't even be able to book a hotel if you're planning to go for tourism. A maximum of two households can actually get together. Schools can stay open but they'll have to take certain hygiene measures.
The chancellor as you heard there in that clip, says that the goal here is to reduce contacts by 75 percent, hence the need for these drastic measures. She says that they'll stay in place for the next four weeks. But she's promising to reassess them after two. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much, Scott McLean and Cyril Vanier. I appreciate you joining us.
All right let's bring in now from Derby, England is Keith Neal, professor emeritus at the University of Nottingham. He has several decades of experience in research and in controlling infectious diseases in the U.K.
Thanks so much for being with us.
The situation in many European countries seem so grim, it's so widespread, it seems hard to pinpoint, you know, one country that made any specific egregious error. You know, some countries unlike here in the U.S. when cases went up they did institute national mask mandate -- mandates even fine people. So, what went wrong?
KEITH NEAL, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM: I think we're just basically just mixing with too many other people. It is basically spread by mixing people with coming into contact with an infectious person. All the control measures are aimed at reducing that, in your previous clip they want to reduce mixings by 75 percent. If that's actually achieved, then the virus will begin to go down again.
BRUNHUBER: So, I'm wondering in the U.K., you know, where you are Boris Johnson has resisted countrywide lockdown. Is that a mistake, is the government delaying the inevitable?
NEAL: I think you need to look at Scotland as almost a unique case. Because most of the population in Scotland lives across the M8 belt between Glasgow and Edinburgh as some other cities dotted around. And there's a huge expense called the Highlands and Islands which are having very little few cases. And if contact tracing was aggressively applied in these areas, you could virtually be living normally.
BRUNHUBER: Well, so, when you look at, you know, in contrast what's happening here in the U.S., the president still maintaining the fiction that we're rounding the corner, saying that a vaccine is here soon, and will make everything go away. You know, are we here, do you think at the point where if we delay taking stronger measures, as many European countries have done, you know, the consequences could be potentially catastrophic.
NEAL: The long you wait -- the longer we wait, so before any effective measures are put in place, the more cases you will see. I think we're actually might be closer to a vaccine, and I believe one of the companies is likely to release its phase three results in the next two or three weeks.
And if they are very good, then the production can be ramped up, and we just need to follow on few restrictions possibly for the next two to three (AUDIO GAP) at this level, and then a couple of months later as in fact been introduced. And then we can think about getting back to normal.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, so that sounds a bit more optimistic than some of the projections when they're saying, you know, doctor -- Dr. Fauci was saying we're not going to get back to normal until, you know, 2022. Are you more optimistic then?
NEAL: I think it really depends exactly how quickly a vaccine can be manufactured. And I understand that a couple of companies are already taking a chance in manufacturing the vaccine and how effective it is. I think delivering a vaccine on masks in the western countries is relatively easy.
In Britain, we're vaccinating everybody over 50 for flu. We're at older children up to the age 11 and anybody between 11 and 50 with the risk factor for flu. That's probably something like two-thirds of the population and we'll be doing that in three or four months. All we need to do, for example, is pulling large numbers of doctors and nurses out of retirement, and we can do it much quicker. The big problem could well be the logistics of supplying the vaccine.
BRUNHUBER: So, until then, if we're looking at the public and respond -- public response in Europe, you know, in the spring compared to now the mood seems darker there's more discontent, more anger. We're seeing more widespread resistance to COVID measures which is sometimes even been violent. You've said that isolation is taking its toll and that it makes, sort
of, further measures more difficult than they might have been in the spring. How important is the psychological element and you know, how do you -- how do you treat that?
[03:09:57]
NEAL: I think is this psychology with the pandemic is actually very wide ranging thing, I think. I've had a couple of friends told me about people they've met or who've said I had five doctors who told me that COVID isn't a problem and I'm not worried, or people not taking any notice of restrictions.
So, there's quite clearly large number of families are still meeting with other large number of families all in the same household. And that's just simply fueling transmission. I think we need to be thinking about what, how we can change what we do at least until this is sorted. Simple things like wearing a face mask in a shop or in a crowded area really is not a problem. It shouldn't be a problem to anybody. It's not -- I have -- people say I should have rights not to wear a mask. But I think I will claim a right not to be infected.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Well said. Thank you so much, Professor Keith Neal. We appreciate it.
U.S. election is just a few short days away from now. And the electoral math currently doesn't favor President Trump. So, he is campaigning hard in places he admits he wouldn't otherwise go.
CNN Jim Acosta has got the latest.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Down in the polls and fighting the hang to on Arizona a traditional GOP stronghold he won four years ago, President Trump is sounding more desperate, escalating his attacks on wearing masks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And in California you have a special mask. You cannot, under any circumstances, take them off. You have to eat through the mask. It's a -- right? Right, Charlie? It's a very complex mechanism. And they don't realize those germs they go through it like nothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: He has founded new conspiracy theory right to election day that the media are somehow going to stop covering the coronavirus after November 3rd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: On November 4th, you won't be hearing as much about this. It's going to be right now it's COVID, COVID, COVID.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ACOSTA: Part of an ugly closing message that Mr. Trump has adopted on
the trail, it includes raising doubts about the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I mean, we'll have to see if it's a problem, right? People are entitled to say maybe it was a problem, maybe it --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: But the distractions aren't working as there are daily reminders that the administration bungled response to the coronavirus, including this press release from the White House office of Science and Technology that cited ending the COVID-19 pandemic as one of Mr. Trump's achievements.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALYSSA FARAH, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: No, absolutely not. I think that was poorly worded. The intent was to say that it is our goal to end the virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: The administration's top health experts are contradicting the president like his false claim that new cases are soaring because of an increase in testing. Mr. trump's testing czar said that's not true.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We do believe and the data show that the cases are going up, it's not just a function of testing. Yes, we are getting more cases identified, but the cases are actually going up. And we know that too because hospitalizations are going up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And Dr. Anthony Fauci is knocking down the president's bogus claim that the U.S. is turning the corner in the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think it will be easily by the end of 2021 and perhaps even into the next year before we start having some semblances of normality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: The size of potential for a super spreader in his rallies, Mr. Trump had one other major health concern to deal when hundreds of his supporters were stranded in the cold after his rally in Nebraska with some needing medical attention. Democrat Joe Biden seized on that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hundreds of people including old Americans and children were stranded in sub-zero freezing temperatures for hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: Still, the president is complaining about being rained on at his rallies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I probably wouldn't be standing out here in the freezing rain with you. I'd be home in the White House doing whatever the hell I was doing. I wouldn't be out here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: There are still October surprise that are shaking up the race. The latest bombshell, Miles Taylor, an ex-top aide at the Department of Homeland Security has revealed himself as anonymous. The same former administration official who mysteriously penned an op-ed in the New York Times more than two years ago stating that he was among a group of aides attempting to act as a check on President Trump.
At the time he wrote, we believe our first duty is to this country. And the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic. Earlier this year the president claimed he already knew the identity of anonymous.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's not so much concern. I know who it is. I can't tell you that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And as this pandemic goes worse by the day, investors are getting nervous on Wall Street. The Down Jones drops some 943 points, part of what's driving those jitters on Wall Street, investors are fearful of more lockdowns across the country.
Jim Acosta, CNN, traveling with the president in Goodyear, Arizona.
BRUNHUBER: No such crowded rallies for Democratic challenger Joe Biden. He has been sticking close to his Delaware home and his scaled down campaign events have been models of mask wearing and social distancing. Biden says he'll bring that same discipline to the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:15:02] BIDEN: I will be a president who is not in it for himself but for others. The president who doesn't divide us but unites us. A president guided not by wishful thinking but by science, reason, and facts.
I'm not running a false promise of being able to end this pandemic by flipping a switch, but what I can promise you is this. We will start on day one doing the right things. We'll let science drive our decisions. We will deal honestly with the American people. And we'll never ever, ever quit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: For more on all this, let's bring in Julie Norman. She lectures on politics at University College London. Thank you so much for joining us.
I want to start with the early voting numbers. We have seen more than a third registered voters, more than 75 million Americans have already voted. And some in the most competitive states Florida, Texas, North Carolina. Here in Georgia about half of all registered voters have voted. So, what do you make of those numbers?
JULIE NORMAN, LECTURER IN POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, Kim, these are substantial numbers indeed. And as you noted, a big surge compared to 2016 especially already over half of the total numbers of the total votes cast in that election. And that really shows the momentum and the enthusiasm for voters to vote in this election.
I mean, we see voters coming out, really passionate about either voting for or against Trump, and also really mobilized by the pandemic itself. Again, partly in relation to how Trump has handled that but also just how much this pandemic has affected Americans.
So, we see people taking advantage of the opportunity to vote early, or to use mail-in ballots. Again, that's really been a huge up surge from the past. And it's allowed for voters who maybe would not have voted otherwise to take part in this election.
A Washington Post poll showed that about one in five of people who have already voted are people who did not vote in 2016. So, this new method, like mail-in voting that's more accessible to people is really getting out some of this low propensity voters who might not have voted otherwise.
BRUNHUBER: Lots of new voters and potentially lots of Democrats voting early. Polling shows that most Democrats planned to vote early while most Republicans plan to post on election day. So, if Trump supporters win election day by millions of votes on the day, how big a lead the Democrats have to run up in the early vote again and what states do you think?
NORMAN: Well, that is certainly the big question right now. We expect that about two-thirds of Democrats will vote early, and about two- thirds of Republicans will vote on election day. So, the election for Trump will really depend on turnout on the election day. And indeed, we expect for Trump supporters to be very enthusiastic
supporters. That's the one place where Trump has consistently led over Biden. On a poll that came out yesterday from the ABC and Post showed that about 70 to 75 percent of Trump supporters say they are very enthusiastic about voting. Again, probably on election day, compared to about 55 percent for Biden.
So, we do expect a big surge of Trump support on that day. So, it's very crucial for Democrats to get up the in these days leading up to the election, especially in states where ballots cannot be accepted after election day.
Of course, that's for numerous of the key -- the key election states that we'll be looking at. Several of those do have extensions, a lot of those have been caught up in court cases this week, including Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina. And so, it's important for voters, especially in states like Wisconsin where votes will not be accepted after election day to get those ballots turned in beforehand.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I wanted to explain a bit about that, because I think that's important, these mail-in votes. It's been a very, you know, confusing week, as you alluded to. Earlier this week the Supreme Court didn't allow an extension for mail-in ballots in Wisconsin, which a win for Republicans, but then issued separate decisions that allowed Pennsylvania and North Carolina to count mail-in ballots after election day, which is a win for democrats.
But there are two asterisks there, right? The Pennsylvania case left open the possibility of later action by the court. And then new Justice Amy Coney Barrett didn't participate in either case. She said she, you know, hadn't had time to review the arguments.
So, assuming she gets up to speed and Republicans want to challenge more pf these mail-in ballots, how much confidence do you have that most of these early mail-in votes will ultimately be counted?
NORMAN: Indeed. So, we've seen decisions that look rather different in terms of their outcome and their impact. So, again, the Wisconsin decision was one that said that votes could not be counted after election day. Upholding a different decision in North Carolina, saying that votes could be counted after election day.
[03:20:01]
And then just not, the Supreme Court not hearing a case coming out of Pennsylvania also allowing votes to be counted after election day.
From the court's perspective, this is consistent in terms of how they are ruling in terms of if the change was made by a federal judge as it was in Wisconsin, or if the initial change was put forward by say, election officials as it was in North Carolina. And the question mark one is when it was put forth by a state Supreme Court in Pennsylvania.
So, the Pennsylvania one is the one that is possible to come up again. It was indicated in the decision not to take up the case by the more conservative justices like Alito and Kavanaugh. It was mainly a question of timing rather than being a case that the court -- that the court would still be interested in.
As you noted, Amy Coney Barrett has recused herself from these cases so far. Just because she's only been sworn in this week. But if she is on these decisions going forward after the election, that could of course tip on these votes.
So, again, both sides are definitely going to be getting their lawyer teams together. They are already doing that.
BRUNHUBER: Yes.
NORMAN: Preparing for a potential legal battle afterwards.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. It's going to be just -- I'm sure it's going to extend far beyond election day.
We have to leave it there. Thank you so much, Julie Norman with University College London. We really appreciate you talking to us.
NORMAN: Thanks, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: And so, stay with CNN for special coverage of election night in America starting Tuesday at 9 p.m. in London, 1 a.m. Wednesday in Abu Dhabi.
After surging COVID cases made for a rough day on Wall Street, nervous investors look towards earning reports in U.S. unemployment numbers in the coming hours.
Plus, Hurricane Zeta has now been downgraded to a tropical storm but not before pummeling the U.S. Gulf Coast with heavy rain and damaging winds. We'll show you exactly how powerful it is right now and where it's going in a live forecast. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: On Wall Street, worries over raising COVID-19 infections, more restrictions and election uncertainty led to another sell off on Wednesday. By the time, it was all over, the Dow plunged 943 points. And the S&P 500 was down three and a half percent. The worst performance since June. U.S. futures are gaining some ground in overnight trading but major Asian markets are down right now in Thursday trading.
Let's bring in CNN's John Defterios to unpack it all from Abu Dhabi. It's a bit confusing because all of those factors I laid out there, you know, existed for a while. So, are investors waking up late to the fact that there is so much uncertainty?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I think it's because of the intensity of the uncertainty, Kim with these colliding forces that you're talking about here. COVID-19 and also, the political risk that we still have in the United States.
[03:25:05] You just had that long conversation about the mail-in ballots. That remains kind of a question mark over the markets. But let's go to the core of this. And that would be Europe because of the spike in cases. Germany, France and Italy. And it's spreading even wider than that. And ditto in the United States. The Midwest and the south, the bases for the Trump campaign are suffering as well.
But this is not a global sell-off. I think this is the key point today. If you look at the Asian markets again. We have three down and one up. But they'll all trading in a very tight range, because Asia's just kind of contented with COVID-19. They had different protocols and that is paying off.
Oil prices had a sharp sell-off yesterday, Kim, about 4 to 6 percent depending on the index there. But as you can see now, they are much more stable but at a lower price below $40 a barrel. We are watching oil because there's concerns about economic demand in this quarter and going into the first half of 2021.
And again, if I talk to anybody in the phone, every time talking to investors, they always say but what if something happens with the mail-in ballots and the election is contested? That's what brings in that political risk and the reaction would be much more violent than we saw in the last 24 hours, because the markets price in a very dear way that the evaluations are high.
BRUNHUBER: So many unknowables. You know, one piece of information we'll get I guess, a big day on the U.S. economic front, the last major numbers before the election. What are we expecting?
DEFTERIOS: Well I'm glad you flagged it because it is kind of an economic temperature check, right, for the U.S. economy. Investors and voters will have this in their minds. I don't think it's going to sway anybody because we shouldn't see any surprises.
The jobless claims remain historically high at over 700,000. We have 10 times that amount still asking for jobless benefits. That's really rough and historically high again. Not from the levels that we saw on April or May, but still if you track it over years, it is still very, very painful.
And that GDP number for the third quarter, 36 percent, again, you'll never see it again, Kim. But it is just making up for all the loss GDP, exactly 36 percent that have been lost in the first half of the year, that will not prevent Donald Trump from saying look, we are roaring back, but the reality is the fourth quarter is slowing down into 2021 because of the spike, the second round of COVID cases.
BRUNHUBER: That's right. All right. Well, thank you so much, John Defterios. We appreciate it.
What a short time ago was Hurricane Zeta has now weakened to a tropical storm but not before battering the U.S. Gulf Coast. Right now, Zeta is sweeping through the State of Alabama. The storm ripped through Louisiana and Mississippi, and is making its way into northern Georgia. Now these were the conditions earlier in Biloxi, Mississippi. You can
see the heavy winds are pushing floodwaters through the streets. Zeta is the sixth hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. this year.
And he's been tracking all six of them. Meteorologist Pedrad Javaheri joins us with the latest updates. Pedram, so, you know, this has been downgraded, so that's good news, but where is it headed and what could it do?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, it still has quite a bit of a power here. Just a few kilometers per hour shy of what would be hurricane. So the intensity has just weekend negligibly but the speed and forward progression of the storm is really what's most impressive, which is the reason why it has picked up and covering so much ground at this hour pushing right through the State of Alabama at this hour and essentially about to cross within the next hour in to the State of Georgia.
You'll notice oftentimes with land falling tropical systems you get these tornado watches that are prompted as the friction associated with a landfalling system with the landscape itself spins up small tornadoes.
But we've also had tropical storm warnings which is rather unusual for the metro Atlanta area. Only the second time I record -- on record that I could locate Atlanta being placed under a tropical storm warning, meaning those tropical storm force winds are expected into the early morning hours.
And then we think because of the rapid movement of the storm by this evening right around sunset, the system is almost back over the Atlantic Ocean again. So, really, an incredible pace that is moving at. But you'll notice with upwards of 800,000 customers without power. You see outages, you see wind speeds of this magnitude certainly can play a role and 180-kilometer per hour wind gust reported in portions of Louisiana, neither Mississippi seeing those strong wind gusts with the system as it came ashore.
Look at Atlanta. Look at that forecast. Up to 115-kilometer per hour gusts possible. Keep in mind 120 is what a category one hurricane is. And you bring that into a major metro area, power outages could be widespread. And again, very quickly pushes up through the northeast and then exits stage right. But I think the damage could be left in place here as wake, for potentially a couple of days there, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: That is not impressive. I don't like seeing that here in Atlanta. Thank you so much, meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. I appreciate it.
[03:29:58]
Still to come, cases are soaring and healthcare system is near the breaking point. We take you inside the ICU in the Czech Republic. Stay with us for that.
[03:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. The number of coronavirus cases in India has passed another milestone. More than 8 million people have now tested positive in the country. Nearly 50,000 of those have been recorded in the last 24 hours.
Let's take you to New Delhi, where Vedika Sud joins us live. Vedika, 8 million, it goes without saying, a massive number, but the highest at least, some welcome news, right?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER: You remember, India has the second highest confirmed COVID-19 cases after the U.S. and the COVID highest confirmed deaths after the U.S. and Brazil.
Now, we have surpassed 8 million. We stand at 8.4 million today, but it is worth noticing that there has been a significant decrease in the (inaudible) increase of COVID-19 cases.
Sample this, on Tuesday according to the ministry of health, India recorded the lowest single day increase in 24 hours. It stood at about just over 36,400. And in September, we had to reach a sort of peak, if I may call it on 17th of September when the cases were nearly 100,000.
So, as of this week, we are reporting at least half of what we were reporting in mid-September, and that is a huge relief. But with this relief comes the worry that India should be prepared now to be as vigilant as possible in the coming days, because we have seen second waves in different countries and as it appear here.
Medical experts say that this is the time to be extremely cautious. Something that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated to citizens through video conferences, through a lot of messages going out from the government of India. Now, also to let you know, India did reached from 6 to 7 million in about 11 days, but it did reach from 7 to 8 million in 18 days.
Therefore, there is a decrease in the number of cases, which is happening, but with festivals that are going on until the end of November here in India, India has to be extremely careful. There is no two ways about it. Also, with the onset of winter, that's another worry and concern where medical experts here in India claim.
BRUNHUBER: All right, thank you so much, Vedika Sud in New Delhi.
In England, researchers are finding a worrying development. A study from Imperial College London has found that a number of coronavirus cases has doubled in the past three weeks. They say the country is now at a critical stage of the second wave. The biggest increases is in people in the 55 to 64 age range, but infections were highest in the 18 to 24 age range.
[03:35:08]
So, as we mentioned, France and Germany announcing second lockdowns as they try to stem the rapidly rising number of cases, but in the Czech Republic, well, the situation is even more dire as the health care system there is heading toward a breaking point.
Our Scott McLean comes to us now from the Czech City of Bernal. And Scott, you actually went inside one of those hospitals?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right Kim. It is remarkable just how quickly the situation has changed here in the Czech Republic. In the spring this government was able to tamp down the first wave of the virus with relative ease. In fact (inaudible) a farewell to the pandemic party back in June.
Now though the Czech Republic has more new cases of the virus than almost any other major country on earth. Hospitals are packed. Doctors are exhausted. And many hospitals, especially here in eastern Czech Republic where I am, are desperately appealing to volunteers to fill the gaps.
Hospital administrators and doctors told us that they are headed toward the Italian scenario, meaning, completely overwhelmed. One hospital says it will have to start turning patients away by Monday or Tuesday. Both of the hospitals we visited say they've had to shut down several other departments in order to divert resources and doctors to deal with coronavirus patients exclusively.
Now, these hospitals have had months to stockpile protective equipment and to make more bed space, but the one thing that you cannot buy in bulk is doctors and nurses.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MCLEAN: At the main hospital in Zlin, Czech Republic, 21-year-old nursing student Marie Hanackova is getting a crash course in the fight against the coronavirus. Long days, not for school credits, but because hospitals are bursting at the scenes.
MARIE HANACKOVA, NURSING STUDENT(through translator): There is an insane panic here. People are simply afraid. My training here last year. They were calmer.
MCLEAN: The number of people in this region hospitalized with the coronavirus has doubled over the past two weeks, stretching ICUs to their limits. This used to be a storage room, now it's been used to house patients. But even more than space, hospitals here are desperately lacking in staff.
TOMAS GABRHELIK, HEAD DOCTOR ZLIN ICU: We don't have enough nurses, doctors and technicians as well.
MCLEAN: There is nothing the government can do for?
GABRHELIK: No, because every region has the same problem.
MILAN KUBEK, CZECH MEDICAL CHAMBER PRESIDENT (through translator): The situation is very serious. The Czech health system has never faced such a challenge before. Every day there is an increase for a thousand single health care workers with 10 million people in the Czech Republic. This is a serious number.
MCLEAN: Why are so many health workers getting sick?
KUBEK: Well, they are the same as the rest of the population.
MCLEAN: The Czech infection rate is six times higher than it is in the U.S. Officially, one in every 63 people are currently infected. Nearby hospital in a town of Kyjov, more than 10 percent of the staff is out sick. So high school students, some too young to vote or even drive are picking up the slack.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think it is our duty, because we are future health workers. I don't feel bad about it. I'm happy to do this.
JIRI VYHNAL, HEAD ER DOCTOR, KYJOV HOSPITAL: The health care system for Czech Republic has already collapsed because hospitals, but a few exceptions to are not able to provide long term care for non COVID patients.
MCLEAN: Your team must be exhausted.
VYHNAL: First doctors and Norah's are being stretched to their maximum. The reason why we do it is because we want to help and we know that it would be impossible without this.
MCLEAN: To stem the tide of infection, most stores are closed and movement is severely restricted. Military has set up a field hospital to house hundreds of extra patients, just one problem.
KUBEK: We don't have enough medical staff so we work on very much on the (inaudible).
MCLEAN: At the height of its outbreak in the spring with hospitals overwhelmed. Italy put out a desperate appeal for help from abroad. Military doctors and nurses from around the world answered the call. The Czech Republic, did not.
I wonder, looking back, was that still the right choice?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The military doctors were needed here as well.
MCLEAN: But the Czech Republic never sought the kind of massive death toll that Italy saw.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is true. That is true. I mean, the first wave of COVID was rather mild.
MCLEAN: But will the Czech Republic seek a little harder next time when on another European country is a need about sending your personnel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely we will. We've realized that it's a two way street. And we cannot just ask without giving back.
MCLEAN: Foreign help is on the way. Dozens of medics from the U.S. National Guard and hundreds from Europe. Nice gesture, but not nearly enough to fix the health care crisis. It's only getting worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[03:40:00]
MCLEAN: So, I'm told the Czech Republic is getting about 300 health care staff from its NATO and European allies, but that is really just a drop in the bucket. The one hospital that we visited in Zlin said that it would need 140 more staff to get back to full strength. That's just one hospital in one relatively small city in this country.
On top of all this, the Czech health minister agreed this week to step down after being accused of breaking his own coronavirus rules, his replacement has been chosen today. And is the third Czech health minister in just the last six weeks. All at the height of one of the worst outbreaks on earth. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right. Great reporting in the hospital. Thank you so much. CNN's Scott Mclean, in the Czech Republic for us.
Nameless no more. The former top aide in the Trump administration reveals that he is the author anonymous solving a two year old ministry. As Trump immediately branded him sleaze bag. We'll have that story just ahead. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: In Vietnam, a powerful typhoon has left at least 53 people buried and feared dead in two landslides. And dozens more are missing after heavy rain from typhoon Molave. The storm made landfall Wednesday with winds up to 165 kilometers an hour. The government says millions of people are without electricity, and some 89,000 homes have been damaged.
Turkey reportedly will take legal action against French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, after it published cartoons mocking the Turkish president, prosecutors say they've started a criminal investigation into the magazine, for insulting the president.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has slammed the caricatures, claiming that hatred against Muslims is spreading across Europe. It is the latest public dispute between Turkey and France, last week President Erdogan criticize the French president for vowing to crack down on radical Islamism after a French teacher was killed in a suspected terror attack.
The Trump administration insider who triggered controversy, fury and mystery back in 2018. Well, he's now revealed himself. Miles Taylor says he's the author anonymous, who penned New York Times op-ed and book of being part of a resistance working to soften the president's worst inclinations. At the time Taylor was chief of staff to the homeland security secretary. He's now a CNN contributor.
On Wednesday he wrote, I'm a Republican and I wanted this president to succeed, but too often times at crisis, Donald Trump has proven he is a man without character, his personal defects had resulted in leadership failure so significant that they can be measured in lost American lives.
Taylor denied being anonymous to CNN's Anderson Cooper just two months ago, CNN's Chris Cuomo, asked him why?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: You lied to us, Miles, you were asked in August, if you were anonymous here on CNN with Anderson Cooper and you said, no. Now why should CNN, keep you on the payroll, after lying like that.
[03:45:06]
MILES TAYLOR, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Chris it's a great question, and I'll just give you the blunt truth, when I published a warning, I said in the book that if asked, I would strenuously deny that I was the author and here's the reason, because the thing I said in that book were ideas that I wanted Donald Trump to challenge on their merits. We have seen over the course of four years that Donald Trump's preference is to find personal attacks and distractions to pull people away from criticisms of his record.
I wrote that work anonymously, to deprive him of that opportunity and to force him to answer the questions on their merits. And I'll tell you what happened, Chris, the end result is, the president couldn't. He failed to deny what was in that book, and in fact to this day the White House has failed to challenge the narratives that were in that book, where the narratives that I've explain in my own name over the past four months speaking out against the president.
CUOMO: The president says you should be prosecuted. Did you anticipate this? Are you concerned about this?
TAYLOR: Chris, I have no fear that, but what I'll say that's more alarming is this president has created a culture of intimidation, where people who speak out against them, he threatens to use the powers of his office to punish him when I put out my op-ed, do you know what is his first response was, he tweeted out treason.
To the president of the United States, criticism of him is treacherous and subversive. That's not what our founding fathers said about criticizing the president of the United States, but what's worse when people like the intelligence community whistleblower came out against him. The president made comments like, well you know back in the day, we used to hang people for things like this.
It is chilling to me, and that is one of the reasons that I'm speaking out, that we have a commander-in-chief who silences decent. Not just with bullying, but with physical threats, with legal threats to abuse his power. And we just saw it the other day in Michigan, with Governor Whitmer. The president downplaying the threats against your life and in some ways inciting violence against his political opponents.
CUOMO: He's still doing it.
TAYLOR: He is still doing it -- (CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: President Trump tweeted Wednesday, he never heard of Taylor, then brought him up at a campaign rally in Arizona, the White House called Taylor a disgruntled former staffer and a liar who was ineffective on the job.
Well, it's no mystery that U.S. President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden had different ideas on how the country should be handling the coronavirus pandemic, CNN's Elizabeth Cohen looks back at the two candidate's approaches.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Seven days from now we're going to win Nebraska.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: As President Trump --
JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 2020 U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Folks it's go time.
COHEN: And former Vice President Joe Biden make their closing argument in the final week of the 2020 election campaign, more than 227,000 people in the U.S. have died from coronavirus.
DENEEN BARR, DAUGHTER OF COVID-19 VICTIM: (Inaudible) -- it just hurts my heart.
COHEN: In more than 40 states, cases are on the rise. Despite this, Tuesday night, the White House listed ending the coronavirus pandemic on the list of the Trump administration's accomplishments. The campaign's press secretary Wednesday refusing to admit that this just isn't true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not going to quibble over semantics, the fact is that we're moving in the right directions.
COHEN: Biden Wednesday saying the White House announcement shock him.
BIDEN: We'll let science drive our decisions.
COHEN: The two candidates have two very different approaches for handling the pandemic.
TRUMP: I took rapid action to ban travel from China and from Europe.
COHEN: It wasn't a ban. But the president says aggressive actions early on save many lives, and he invoked the defense production act to produce more ventilators.
TRUMP: We're now making ventilators all over the world. COHEN: But he left states to fight each other for those lifesaving
machines. Trump didn't use the defense production act to produce more test for the virus. Nine months into the outbreak, testing across the United States varies in availability and turnaround time for results. Biden has focused on that.
BIDEN: Imagine, where it be, with a comprehensive system of testing and tracing.
COHEN: And says the U.S. should be spending billions of dollars to determine how to get more rapid testing. And on masks?
TRUMP: I think wearing a face mask, as a great presidents Prime Ministers, dictators, kings, queens, I don't know, somehow I don't see it from myself.
COHEN: For months, the president has downplayed them, but Biden said he'd ask local law makers to mandate mask.
BIDEN: We have to have this national mandate, we must do it.
COHEN: And on COVID-19 vaccines, President Trump has said a vaccine is going to be announced within weeks, but safety and efficacy testing hasn't been completed. And a positive outcome, is not guaranteed. Elizabeth Cohen, CNN reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[03:50:07]
BRUNHUBER: We're learning new disturbing details about how COVID-19, has affected frontline health care workers, especially nurses. We'll speak with the president of the New York Nurses Association, just ahead, stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: A new study is highlighting the risk health care workers face in this pandemic, specifically nurses and as new cases surge, some frontline medical personnel are seeing new shortages of personnel -- personal protective equipment.
Joining me now is Judy Sheridan-Gonzalez, she is the president of the New York State Nurses Association, and she's also an E.R. nurse in the Bronx. Thank you very much for joining us today. We've known for some time how dangerous it is to be a frontline worker and it is just been underscored by a new CDC report, which found 6 percent of all patients in the U.S. hospitalized with COVID-19 where health care workers.
And more than a third of those were nurses or nursing assistance. Now the study which we're seeing here on the screen appear through March through May. So, what can you tell us from your perspective there in New York with what's been happening since then, from the summer and now with this huge resurgence of cases in the fall?
JUDY SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ, PRESIDENT, NEW YORK STATE NURSES ASSOCIATION: Well we did have a bit of a law in New York, after the horrific situation that have occurred in the spring. And so we've been struggling since then to try to see if we can get superior PPE, have better training, better staffing, you know, some kind of contingency plan. Should we have a surge, we are very concerned about a resurgence of the pandemic. We predicted that the winter weather, or the late fall we would see this. As we usually see an increase in flu.
And unfortunately, we're not feeling very confident that our facilities are prepared in the way that they need to be prepared. There are kind of policy (inaudible) developing plans, but they are not really included in the frontline workers who suffer the most and certainly saw what it needed to be done. That is a chronic complaint throughout the state among caregivers, who are -- who will be again victimized by this crisis, yet again?
BRUNHUBER: What exactly, is the biggest problem? Is it the lack of PPE?
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: There are multiple problems, there is still ventilation problems. We don't have the (inaudible) filters that we need, to the extent that we need them, we don't have the negative pressure rooms. Because this is why people are safer outside, because of ventilation. We still are sure that it is carried through the airborne mechanism in which case you really need better ventilation.
There is PPP issue and I just want to illustrate it, the mess initially that we had were just surgical masks, then we had to fight to get these N-95 masks. Which as you can see, have a rope kind of attachment. But these are designed to be worn for one hour a day, not for 12 hour shifts, which is what we are doing.
We are again using these masks because we have a resurgence, and I'm sure you've seen these awful scars, that it causes on your face. These are some examples. And also they don't really protect you because you have to remove it, as you can also see there is a space in here where fluid can collect into it. Perfect place in which you get sick. Where virus can accumulate.
[03:55:07]
We prefer, and we have a movement now to get the elastomeric masks. It looks like this, kind a like a gas mask, it has some filters in it. It's re-usable, it's better for the environment and in the long run it's much cheaper. So that's something we're struggling to have and we are getting some cooperation.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, and it's worth pointing out, I mean, your far from alone here, the situation perhaps even worse internationally according to the international council of nurses. About 10 percent of cases are among healthcare workers in some countries and they've gone on strike over the handling of the pandemic, many complaining as you have about the lack of PPE. Now, you've been pushing for mandatory workplace safety standards for COVID-19, where are you with that and how necessary is that?
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: Well, we still don't have a national standard that would be an OSHA standard, we'd like the Department of Health in the states. The big problem is we don't have a national strategy. And when you leave it up to the states, there is a budgetary issues, there's a variety of ways in which people are going to handle it.
I think our state, certainly did better than other states. But it was kind of too little too late when the pandemic hit us, and even though they said they have stores of PPE, we're not convinced that it's going to be enough, and again it is -- this are inferior products that harm the environment. So, we're really, really dead set on having this procuring these elastomeric masks that are much better.
And again, they are cheaper in the long run. They're kinder to the environment and in addition the reusable gowns, things that we can count on when you have reusable equipment that we are responsible for, we would be cleaning our own mask for example with the right materials, we don't have shortages, and you don't have to worry about shortages.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Certainly there are so many problems and you're far from alone in facing them. But we wish you luck, all of you people doing amazing work out there on the front lines. We appreciate you coming in to talk to us today, thank you so much Judy Sheridan- Gonzales.
SHERIDAN-GONZALEZ: OK, thank you for having us on your program.
BRUNHUBER: And thank you for watching the program, this is CNN Newsroom, I'm Kim Brunhuber and the news continues right after this.
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