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Japan Warns of Third Wave as COVID-19 Cases Spike; Texas is Reporting 10,000 Plus New Cases for Second Straight Day; Bolsonaro Takes Swipe at U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden; Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Lawmakers Resign in Protest; Storm Dumps Rain on Philippines, Heads for Vietnam; Tropical Storm Eta Nears Landfall in Florida; Italy Facing Another Lack Down; U.S. Local Officials Mandating Masks; President-elect Biden with Blueprint to Combat COVID-19; Pentagon Officials Replaced by Trump Loyalists; Trump Blocking Biden; Coronavirus Vaccine Storage at Sub-Zero Temperature. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired November 12, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. And welcome to you, our viewers joining us from and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber from CN world headquarters in Atlanta.
Ahead on CNN Newsroom.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Multiple emergency rooms. Those tents are not for camping. Those tents are for COVID patients.
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BRUNHUBER: We speak to a doctor in one of America's coronavirus hotspots. Echoing the message of global health experts, the pandemic is about to get a lot worse.
Plus, U.S. Republicans backed President Trump's post-election tactics even as he purges top military and intel officials prompting concerns ahead of Joe Biden's transition at the White House.
And later, all of Hong Kong's pro-democracy lawmakers resigned after four are stripped of their positions amid Beijing's toughening crackdown.
Fifty-two million people around the world have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began while over one million have died. And all indications are it's spiraling out of control even in countries that once thought they had the virus under control.
Japan is now warning of a third wave as new cases there were returned to levels not seen since early August. The Pan American Health Organization is even more blunt. On Wednesday, countries from Canada to Chile should get ready for much worse in the weeks ahead.
And Europe isn't faring any better at slowing the virus. France is two weeks into a national lockdown but is still seeing a sharp rise in new cases and hospitalizations. England is also in lockdown where COVID has been surging since mid-September.
The U.K. death toll now tops 50,000. And Italy, one of the hardest hit European nations earlier in the pandemic has now become the 10th country in the world to surpass one million infected people.
CNN correspondents spanned the globe to cover this historic health crisis from New York to Rome, London and Tokyo. And we'll speak to Selina Wang later this hour about Japan's fear of a third wave.
But we begin our coverage with Ben Wedeman in Rome and a Salma Abdelaziz in London. Ben, I saw the vice president of the federation of Italian doctors was calling for another national lockdown. Is that where the country is heading?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think the consensus, Kim, is that that is inevitable. That eventually and probably sooner rather than later, Italy will go under a total lock down. At the moment, there are five regions, most of them in northern Italy that are considered red zones, sort of the maximum lockdown measures that includes about a quarter of the population of Italy.
And what we're seeing is, on a daily basis, and alarming increase in the number of cases. Yesterday, it was reported that 623 people died. That's the worst from coronavirus -- that's the worst daily death toll in seven months. And what is clear is that we are well into the second wave of coronavirus in this country. And that it is going to be far worse this second wave than the first wave earlier this year.
In fact, we heard from one of Italy's leading epidemiologist that as far as he is concerned the pandemic in this country is, in his words, largely out of control. So, yes, a national lockdown seems almost inevitable. Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Even worse than before. Dismal news indeed. Salma, turning to you now. The U.K. becomes prat of the dismal five. The U.S., Brazil, India, Mexico all now with more than 50,000 COVID deaths.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: That's absolutely right, Kim. It is a very, very grim multiple from this country to reach. It is worse than the worst-case scenarios that the government had laid out at the beginning of this pandemic in the spring. It is something that of course the prime minister had to address yesterday when he was speaking to reporters.
And he said we need to remain vigilant. We can't let our guard down. But we're entering a new phase of dealing with this pandemic and I have a twofold strategy. And that strategy essentially is, to break it down for you. First, mass testing. That's something that just world out in the north of the country. Still early days on that but the turnout has been very low in the one city where they did try to roll this out. Liverpool. And the second part of the prime minister's strategy is the vaccine.
This very promising vaccine that we're all hoping, waiting and wishing for but ultimately is not going to be widely available until next year.
So, what we're looking at here is not just these very high death toll numbers. We're also looking at 20,000 new cases a day across the U.K. And there are very few tools left in the prime minister's tool box. We're already under a nationwide lockdown. We already have mandated masks.
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We already have these other restrictions in place. As we head into winter, and as we head towards the holidays, the question is, does the country have a grip on the virus?
There's two ways to see this. The optimistic scenario is that this death toll is the result of a two-week lag. And we will see the result of these restrictions later on. But the worst-case scenario, Kim, is they simply do not have control of the virus and we'll be looking at growing numbers.
BRUNHUBER: Well, all right. Thank you so much, Salma Abdelaziz in London. And Ben wireman in Rome.
The United States continues to lead the world in the number of COVID- 19 cases and deaths. And the situation across the country well, it's only getting worse. The U.S. just hit a new record for infections. More than 144,000 reported Wednesday. The White House task force warns of its accelerating communities spread.
And for a second straight day hospitalization hit a record high. More than 65,000 people across the U.S. are currently in the hospital with COVID-19. That's according to the COVID tracking project.
As Athena Jones reports there is growing concern about what the next few months will bring.
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CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: I'm just terrified we are entering a very dark phase in this pandemic.
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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: America setting records no country wants to set. Infections on the rise in 45 states. Up at least 50 percent in 15 states week over week. With more than 1,400 deaths reported Tuesday.
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SEEMA YASMIN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Fourteen hundred Americans dying of COVID a day is like three or four planeloads full of Americans crashing and dying. This is unsustainable.
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JONES: Oklahoma reporting only 6 percent capacity in its intensive care units. Just 9 percent of ICU beds are available in Tennessee. Massachusetts and Illinois governors also concerned.
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GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R-MA): Our biggest concern, of course, is the hospitals risk getting overwhelmed.
GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): Across the state the majority of our regions are seeing far higher rates of hospitalizations for COVID-19 than they ever did last spring.
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JONES: While every part of the country is seeing explosive growth in cases, the Midwest is outpacing the rest. In Illinois, one of five states that set a record for new cases Tuesday, lines were testing stretch for blocks. The governor announcing a travel advisory to try to slow the spread. This as new restrictions on social gatherings are set to take effect Friday in Minnesota. And Wisconsin's governor issues new stay-at-home rules.
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GOV. TONY EVERS (D-WI): It's not safe to go out. It's not safe to have others over. It's just not safe. And it might not be safe for a while yet. So, please, please cancel the happy hours. The dinner parties, the sleep overs, the play dates at your home.
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JONES: Nevada's governor is asking people to commit to staying home voluntarily for the next two weeks.
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GOV. STEVE SISOLAK (D), NEVADA: Do not have people outside of your household over for dinners, parties or other gatherings. If we don't come together at this moment, I will be forced to take stronger action in 14 days.
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JONES: The new restrictions coming as the CDC issues new guidance on masks. Saying they reduce the risk of transmitting or catching the virus by more than 70 percent. The agency saying a 15 percent increase in universal mask wearing could prevent the need for more lockdowns and save the economy up to a trillion dollars.
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YASMIN: Wearing the mask, if all of us do it, could save tens of thousands of lives in the U.S.
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JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
BRUNHUBER: A member of President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 advisory board spoke to CNN about the trouble rising in cases across the U.S. Here is Dr. Celine Gounder.
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CELINE GOUNDER, MEMBER, BIDEN COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD: We, as citizens can take this into our own hands and do what we know the sciences will work. And the sooner we take responsibility for our own actions, we mask up, we socially distance, we ventilate, we go in for testing, we cooperate with contact tracing. The sooner that we all do all of those things, the sooner we can curb the transmission. The sooner we can return to a semi more normal life.
The Biden team has been making plans for months. This is not something that they're jumping into just today, just this week with the appointment of the advisory board that I'm a member of. There is a very deep bench of experts, policy experts, scientists who are working on plans, developing a blueprint. And this has been an ongoing process.
So, it's -- the plan is to be ready on day one to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. And you know, unfortunately, we are not getting the cooperation we would like.
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BRUNHUBER: That was Dr. Celine Gounder. Biden's transition team also includes Rick Bright, a whistleblower from the Trump administration who allege that his early warnings about the pandemic were ignored and eventually led to his removal.
President-elect Joe Biden has made it clear the pandemic is a top priority for him as he presses ahead with his transition to the White House. He's also building his team and just named Ron Klain as his chief of staff.
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Klain is a political veteran who led the Obama administration's response to the Ebola crisis in 2014. And while Biden worked on other key moves President Trump still refuses to accept he lost the election. But the data overwhelmingly supports Biden. He locked up the Electoral College vote on Saturday when Pennsylvania put him over the top of 279.
Biden is also leading the popular vote nationwide by more than five million votes over President Trump. But Mr. Trump and his Republican allies aren't giving up. They continue to undermine the legitimacy of the election and delay the transition of power. But not every Republican is on the president's side. Arizona's
Republican attorney general dismisses ongoing claims of election fraud in his state. Arizona is one of the few states yet to call the presidential race.
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MARK BRNOVICH, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF ARIZONA: We need to deal in facts and evidence. I'm in this job to do right by the people of Arizona and to make sure the law is followed. There was a time not that long ago, we, as Republicans talked about, we need to make sure the rule of law means something. We don't want anarchy. We want the rule of law.
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BRUNHUBER: In Georgia, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday that there will be a full hand recount of the presidential race since Biden won by a very small margin. Raffensperger who is a Republican defends the integrity of Georgia's election even though Mr. Trump has claimed widespread fraud.
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BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: We believe that the ballots were counted accurately with the machine count. And there is (Inaudible). That with the hand counting of a statewide recount will confirm that.
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BRUNHUBER: Even Karl Rove who was George W. Bush is deputy chief of staff doubts Mr. Trump's chances. He says the president's efforts are unlikely to move a single state from Mr. Biden's column. And certainly, there not enough to change the final outcome.
While the election cards are stocking up against the president, Mr. Trump and his administration are carrying out sweeping changes at the Pentagon raising all kinds of alarms.
CNN's Barbara Starr reports.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: President Trump paid a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown soldier to mark Veterans Day as questions swirled about how his relationship with the Pentagon could change over the next 70 days.
Since Joe Biden was projected to win the presidency on Saturday, President Trump has installed his own loyalists at the top levels of the Defense Department. The move leading to rising anxiety at the Pentagon about what's still may come next after years of the military trying to stay out of Trump world.
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ERIC EDELMAN, FORMER U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY AIDE: The president, you know, has consistently referred to my generals and treated the military as if it was an institution that was personally loyal to him and his political needs as opposed to loyal to the Constitution.
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STARR: The former director of national intelligence says, it's all a security risk.
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JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: When you have the turnover and the purging, and then the installation of a network of essentially political commissars. This is a real distraction from what the nerve center of our national defense.
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STARR: Some Pentagon officials privately worry that Trump could even be thinking about replacing top military officers. General Mark Milley, chairman of the joint chiefs is confirmed by the Senate to a term that ends in 2023, which keeps him in office as President-elect Biden's military adviser. Even before the election, Milley was adamant that the military would continue to stay out of politics.
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MARK MILLEY, U.S. CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Thank you, Mr. President.
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STARR: As chairman, Milley serves at the pleasure of the president, but the two men have clashed.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm not saying the military is in love with me. The soldiers are. The top people in the Pentagon probably aren't because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and makes the planes and make everything else stay happy.
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STARR: Milley was furious even at the suggestion of warmongering and called Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. And when Trump had Milley joined the political theater of the June walk outside the White House during protests, the chairman publicly apologized.
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MILLEY: I should not have been there. My presence in that moment, and in that environment created a perception of the military involved into domestic politics.
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STARR: Clashes between the president and the Pentagon include opposing Trump's threat to put active duty forces on the streets against protesters last June. Trump forcing the retirement of Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman after he testified before Congress in Trump's impeachment inquiry.
Multiple sources telling the Atlantic magazine President Trump called the Americans who lost their lives in battle quote, "losers and suckers."
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And still unresolved, the Pentagon's determination to rename military bases now named after confederate commanders. And another Trump loyalist has been installed at the Pentagon retired Colonel Douglas MacGregor. He will work here as a senior adviser. He advocates rapidly pulling U.S. troops out of Afghanistan, something the president wants to do, something the president's military advisers say is a bad idea.
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
BRUNHUBER: Now to another obstacle facing President-elect Joe Biden, sources tell CNN the Trump administration is preventing Biden from accessing messages forms from world leaders contacting the U.S. State Department, but Biden seem is apparently working around this issue by contacting foreign governments on their own.
So far Biden has held numerous calls with world leaders, including the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in. The two reaffirm their commitment to a robust alliance, a peaceful and prosperous Korean peninsula.
So, let's discuss this with CNN global affairs analyst, Kim Dozier. She is also contributor for Time magazine. So, I want to start with the ridiculous. That stack of messages to Joe Biden from foreign leaders that are sitting at the State Department but the Trump administration isn't letting Biden get them.
Now obviously, you know, in and of itself that's not the most serious situation facing the Biden transition team, but it's a pretty apt symbol for the intransigence and lack of cooperation from the administration. So how does the Biden team work around those blockades and are areas in which those hacks won't work?
KIM DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, the thing is, Biden has been in this business for very long time. And he has a very experienced team around him. So, the diplomats in town, many of them, because by the time you get to Washington, D.C. you're at a very senior level.
So many of them and other iterations have already worked with Joe Biden. They know how to reach him. A lot of them were -- well, all of them had to hold back prior to him being named president-elect throughout the whole campaign for fear of violating the Hatch Act, for fear of violating U.S. law because there is always supposed to be as they always say, as Biden himself has been saying one president at a time. The team worked with him knows how to reach the right people and hit the ground running. The hard part are the things like the personnel issues. They are not getting to get inside the agencies to see OK, just how spare are they in terms of personnel? Who do I need to hire first? It's those kinds of practical considerations that are really going to be slowed down by this.
BRUNHUBER: So, now from the Trump administration the call at the Pentagon, the firing of Mark Esper. The fourth defense secretary President Trump has turf, the replacing of Defense Department leaders with Trump loyalists. How loudly should alarm bells be ringing? Not just that the act itself but also the silence from the Republicans?
DOZIER: Alarm bells are ringing because some of the people that they have brought in are those who have advocated a swift draw down to zero troops in Afghanistan, for instance, and that's a real risk.
President Trump did tweet before the election that he was going to bring all the troops home from Afghanistan before Christmas. The problem with that, as many officials tried to reach him and explained to him, is that you can't get all their equipment out that fast, and if you draw down that fast, it also means your intelligence footprint has to shrink.
That means organizations like ISIS can plot without the U.S. watching them. And also, the Afghan government is really reliant on U.S. air power, U.S. logistics to survive the ongoing Taliban onslaught. So, many officials that I have spoken to both in this administration and who may be in the next one are worried that if there is a precipitous pull out from Afghanistan or Iraq and Syria, that that could spell danger to U.S. citizens and U.S. personnel overseas down the line.
BRUNHUBER: Now, lastly, I want to ask you, the fact that the vote was closed, Republicans, you know, gained some House seats and may hold the Senate, many are saying that it shows that Trumpism isn't over. But how does that translate to foreign policy? Can we say that this is an endorsement of that, you know, America first isolationism or should we just read it as sort of a reflective of the entrenched partisan divide?
DOZIER: Well, what diplomats are thinking looking at that big is this country could very well flip-flop back to Republican, back to isolationist in four years.
[03:20:01]
So when a Biden/Harris administration asks them to make sacrifices in terms of deals or in terms of sending their personnel together with U.S. troops in harm's way, they are going to have some tough questions about, you know, why should we make that sort of bet big on this White House when we don't know if we are going to be here in a couple of years.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much, Kim Dozier. We appreciate you joining us.
DOZIER: Thank you.
BRUNHUBER: Pfizer's coronavirus could be a game-changer if it is approved, but keeping millions of doses at sub-zero temperatures while in transit, well, that's not easy. Now top experts say even a vaccine won't put a quick end to the pandemic.
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THOMAS FRIEDEN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: A vaccine is really important and the news is very encouraging. But vaccination is not going to be a fairytale ending to the pandemic. We are still going to be dealing with at least through most or all of 2021, and quite possibly beyond that.
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BRUNHUBER: A promising coronavirus vaccine from the drug makers Pfizer and BioNtech is in advanced trials and could be available to some in just a few weeks. The E.U. has just agreed to buy 300 million doses, but the vaccine is temperamental. It requires two doses and must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius to remain effective.
Now distributors have to figure out how to transport millions of shots around the world while keeping them viable.
CNN's Anna Stewart joins me now for more from London. Anna, a potentially complex process there. What more can you tell us?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Yes. This vaccine being developed by Pfizer and BioNTech is actually one of 10 that have reached the final phase of clinical trials. Phase three. This one could be of course the first out of the gate. It's funny enough, one of the easiest to actually manufacture, it is one of the hardest when it comes to distribution. Take a look.
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ALBERT BOURLA, CEO, PFIZER: We are in a very, very good situation. We have 1.3 billion doses globally, again, next year.
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STEWART: Millions of doses have already been made. Ready to go, should the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine candidate get regulatory approval. This one uses messenger RNA, a new technology which poses a major challenge. The storage and transportation of the vaccine.
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JOHN BURKHARDT. SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT. GLOBAL DRUG SAFETY R&D, PFIZER: We have to keep the product very cold and chipped and very much sub- zero freezing temperature. There will be a short term of stability perhaps if refrigerated temperatures, and that is going to be a logistical challenge.
(END VIDEO CLIP) STEWART: Logistics firms like UPS, FedEx, and Deutsche Post DHL started planning for this months ago.
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OSCAR DE BOK, CEO, DHL SUPPLY CHAIN: We've got about 9,000 healthcare specialists around the world. About 140 certified warehouses around the globe. About another hundred terminals that are certified for healthcare. We also had to make some specific investments in minus 80 degrees storage points and containers to be able to distribute. So those are all things that we had to do.
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STEWART: These firms are critical link between the pharmaceutical firms and governments.
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DE BOK: What we have to focus on is our interactions with our customers. When they say that we need to be ready, we are working and we are planning accordingly. So that, we will be ready.
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STEWART: Logistics firms may be ready to transport a COVID-19 vaccine. Some countries may not be ready to receive it.
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TOBY PETERS, PROFESSOR OF COLD ECONOMY, UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: This challenge is probably the biggest logistical challenge we have ever faced regardless of the temperature. Minus 80 adds another dynamic and another problem. You know, I'm being told that this vaccine isn't really designed and being expected to be used in the low and middle-income countries. That personally concerns me, because we should be making sure that we deliver vaccine equitably.
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STEWART: Other promising COVID-19 vaccine candidates are nearing the end of phase three trials. And they won't all need sub-zero storage. They will, however, all need huge logistical support to make it to all the corners of the world.
Vaccine makers, Kim, have been telling us right from the beginning that they are not competing with each other. They are competing as the virus. And not one pharmaceutical company can make enough vaccines to vaccinate the whole world.
Now different vaccines may work better in different markets, as you heard there, but of course as we start to get this result from phase three trials it will become clear that some are likely to be more effective than others. Kim? BRUNHUBER: Interesting stuff. Thanks for that. Anna Stewart in
London.
With all the hardship and heartbreak, the coronavirus has caused, one can't stand in the way of love especially for one man in northern Italy.
And the restrictions separate Stefano Bozzini from his wife of 47 years who is in the hospital. So, the 81-year-old serenaded her from the street with her favorite songs, including the ballad, "Spanish Eyes."
Now appropriately the lyrics promise 'soon I'll return, bringing you all the love your heart can hold.' His wife Carla watched from the hospital window and hoping the song comes true.
Now with COVID spreading unchecked around much of the world, Japan fears it's on the verge of a third wave of a new outbreak. So, we'll go live to Tokyo coming up ahead.
There is a growing concern as well in the U.S. over the surge in cases. I will speak with one doctor in El Paso about the grim reality Texas is facing.
Stay with us.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber and you're watching "CNN Newsroom."
The Japanese people have been fairly good about keeping the spread of coronavirus relatively low compared to much of the world, but doctors there now warn that new cases are again on the rise and could herald a third wave.
CNN's Selina Wang is in Tokyo for us. So, you know, here, North America, Europe were all embroiled in the second wave. Japan is now potentially seeing a third wave. How is the government responding?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, it's interesting. I've spoken to infectious disease experts here who have been very critical of what they see as the government's focus on boosting the economy, domestic tourism and the Olympics versus COVID-19 infections. So on Wednesday, the country reported 1,500 new cases. That reaches a three- month high. And in response, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga called for maximum vigilance and stepping up contact tracing and testing.
Now, Japan has never had a strict lockdown because the country's law does not allow the government to enforce one. But compared to other countries in East Asia, it's really taken this relaxed approach to COVID. For instance, I've gone through quarantines in Beijing, Hong Kong and Tokyo, and the quarantine I just wrapped up here in Tokyo was by far the most relaxed. In Beijing and Hong Kong, there was strict enforcement to make sure I stayed in my room all 14 days. In fact, in Hong Kong, I even had to wear a wristband tracker the entire time. And before I left quarantine, I had to get another COVID test to prove that I was COVID- free.
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, after landing in the airport and getting a negative test there, there has been virtually no enforcement to make sure that I stayed in my room.
But Kim, despite these relaxed rules or the lack of rules, Japan has avoided the skyrocketing cases we've seen in the U.S. and Europe, experts say, because of this culture of mask wearing and people generally abiding to the social distancing rules. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: So it shows clearly how important mask wearing is. Now, obviously, you know, sporting concerns are necessary, but some thoughts have turned to the Tokyo Olympics which obviously have been rescheduled. Is there more pessimism now with this third wave or optimism because of the recent good news around that Pfizer vaccine?
WANG: Well, Kim, even before the news of the Pfizer vaccine, Japanese authorities have said that they were going to hold the Olympics next year at any cost, vaccine or no vaccine.
But this Pfizer news has certainly brought a sense of relief to the organizers. In fact, just last weekend, Tokyo held a gymnastics event with athletes from the U.S., China, and Russia. This was the first international sporting event since the pandemic. It went well.
The athletes I spoke to said that they felt safe. They felt like they were in this bubble. They were being tested every day. There were a lot of restrictions.
But the question, Kim, is how the Olympic committee is going to be able to replicate that for thousands of athletes and millions of potential spectators versus that small scale tests event they held.
However, that being said, the president of the IOC is becoming more and more confident. So listen to what he said here about having fans at the event.
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THOMAS BACH, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: Having seen now the different tests in Japan, I think we can become more and more confident that we will have a reasonable number of spectators.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WANG: He didn't give any details on the exact number but when asks at the press conference whether there would be conversations in his upcoming trip to Tokyo and his meetings about a potential contingency plan of cancelling the Olympics next year, he gave an emphatic no as his answer. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much. Selina Wang in Tokyo.
The United States has just reported its highest ever daily coronavirus case count, more than 144,000. Forty-five states are now trending in the wrong direction.
[03:34:58]
BRUNHUBER: That record comes on the same day that hospitalization claims passed 65,000 and almost 1,900 Americans died of COVID-19. But despite the worsening situation in many states, new Gallup polling indicates fewer than half of Americans say they would be very likely to comply with another lockdown.
One state struggling with the latest COVID-19 surge is Texas, which now has become the first state to record more than one million cases. On Wednesday, it reported more than 10,000 new cases for a second straight day.
The governor is deploying more resources to cities including El Paso, where the county judge has extended a stay-at-home order until the end of the month. Cases there are on the rise and so are hospitalizations.
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NICK ROSE, REGISTERED NURSE: I feel very disappointed in the way we are trending because it's getting worse. I've done compressions on more people in the last three weeks than I have in the year. We're just exhausted, everyone. We've been working overtime. We've been working longer hours than we should.
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BRUNHUBER: Joining me now from El Paso, Texas is infectious disease specialist Dr. Ogechika Alozie. He is also on the Texas Medical Association COVID-19 Task Force. Thank you so much for taking the time to join us.
Texas, you know, is the first state to reach a million cases. El Paso, where you are, is one of the worst hotspots. More people are hospitalized with COVID-19 than most states. What does this surge look like on the ground there?
OGECHIKA ALOZIE, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: You know, first of all, thanks for having me. I think one thing people need to understand is that this is not the situation you want to be in. We've sort of gone through this journey that has been COVID. We never expected to be here.
We truly believe that as our community gets its hands around it, we mobilize local state and national resources. We really hope that by the end of this month or hopefully in December, we can start to see a levelling down of some of these numbers and hopefully going to 2021 with some hope looking at vaccines and some of the antibodies.
BRUNHUBER: In terms of beds and resources and, you know, just the staff having to deal with this influx of patients, what's it like for health care workers there? What are you seeing?
ALOZIE: Well, one of the things I tell friends that call me and ask the same thing is, we have a tent outside of our multiple emergency rooms. Those tents are not for camping. Those tents are for putting patients. And that's never the situation you want to be in. The physicians, the nurses, the health care community is tired and fatigued.
And this isn't like a shooting or a Katrina or a natural disaster that happens a few days or a week. This has been going on for weeks to months. So, people are tired.
I think what I'm excited about really going forward is the hope the community has, the focus that our political resources are really putting and trying to get a hold of this in going forward.
BRUNHUBER: Yeah, I want to ask you about that in a second, but, you know, you mentioned the tents. I mean, those are concrete images that people have when you hear about the city bringing in more mobile morgues. I mean, those are things that really resonate and hit home with people. You get a sense of dread that the numbers and the charts maybe don't convey. With these more hospitalizations, eventually we will see more deaths. How bad are you expecting this to get there?
ALOZIE: Make no mistake that this is not pleasant. These are darker days that we have ahead. The medical examiner is working through a backlog of unfortunate fatalities. So, again, for me, it is to sort of talk about that picture of hope for our community. We need to get through this.
The buildup that we've had in cases and hospitalizations and eventually unfortunate deaths isn't good. We can get through this if we focus on limiting mobility, physically distancing, and then really focusing on towards the end of this year and to next year. So, that's really what I'm trying to tell the community, that we need to fix this.
BRUNHUBER: What about, you know, lockdowns? I mean, when you look around the country, more and more cities look like El Paso. There was a local shutdown order there. Is that what it's going to take to get this under control there and perhaps in other cities, as well?
ALOZIE: Yeah, I think it's important for people to understand that the politics was never going to save us, only we as individuals and communities. Each community has to take this on their own, right?
And I think if there's no therapeutic backdrop, there is no backstop to this naturally, individuals in each community will slow down their behavior. They will stop interact. I think this is not the thanksgiving to have 10 people over, definitely not the Christmas to have a full family Christmas.
[03:39:58]
ALOZIE: And if people understand that, now that we have that hope at the end of that proverbial tunnel with the therapeutics and potential vaccine next year, they can understand that this is just a slice in time. Let's get into next year. A year from now, we can celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas, but critically important we focus on now.
BRUNHUBER: I want to ask you before we go, you know, president-elect Biden had already announced a coronavirus advisory board. So if you could address the board, what would you tell them?
ALOZIE: Well, I think, first of all, great group of scientists. One of my mentors, Dr. Michael Osterholm at the University of Minnesota, said wrap is on it. I know that they are going to do the right things. They are going to focus on the science, the data, and give recommendations to our political team of what needs to happen going forward.
And I'm hoping that we can get away from the politicization of COVID and the recommendations around it and do what we need to as a community and a country to move forward and go into the next year on a better footing.
BRUNHUBER: All right, that's all the time we have. We appreciate you coming on and best of luck over there in El Paso. Dr. Ogechika Alozie, appreciate you joining us.
ALOZIE: Appreciate it.
BRUNHUBER: Next, a dark day for democracy as Hong Kong's pro- democracy lawmakers resigned in protest. That means the official voice of opposition to China may be silenced. It has forced a dramatic move. We'll explain, coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Thousands of far-right protesters marched through Warsaw to mark Poland's Independence Day. They fired flare guns and police responded with pepper spray. They even defied Poland's coronavirus restrictions.
The country has had hard time stopping large gatherings after the constitutional courts near ban on abortion rights sparked massive protests.
These far-right demonstrators support the court's decision to implement ever tighter abortion restrictions, saying they support Poland's traditional Catholic values.
In Brazil, the president there has yet to congratulate Joe Biden on his win. Instead, Jair Bolsonaro unleashed a new round of aggressive and offensive remarks both about Biden and the COVID crisis. Shasta Darlington explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro took a swipe at president-elect Joe Biden during a nationally televised speech, where he joked about resorting to gunpowder if diplomacy with the U.S. isn't enough. Bolsonaro, an ally of Donald Trump and one of just a few global leaders who had been silent on Biden's win, spoke in a speech Tuesday night where he recalled that a certain presidential candidate had talked about economic consequences if the fires in the Brazilian Amazon weren't controlled.
Without mentioning Biden by name, he said diplomacy might not be enough to deal with the threat and joked that you have to have -- quote -- "gunpowder."
[03:45:03]
DARLINGTON: In the same speech, Bolsonaro also made controversial comments about the COVID-19 pandemic. He said when it comes to the coronavirus, Brazil needs to stop being a country of sissies, but he used a homophobic slur. He complained that everything now is about the pandemic. He said he was sorry for the victims who have died but added, we will all die one day.
Now, the number of daily cases in Brazil has declined in the last couple of months, but it still has the second highest number of deaths worldwide, more than 162,000, and it has the third highest number of cases, 5.7 million.
Shasta Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: We are in the middle of a dramatic day for Hong Kong's embattled democracy. One by one, all of Hong Kong's pro-democracy lawmakers are resigning, holding an umbrella as a symbol of resistance to China's rule.
They are quitting in solidarity with four other colleagues who have been sacked after a new decree from Beijing. The political drama started with a ruling that effectively disbars any council member deemed unpatriotic.
Western leaders aren't happy. The U.S. is accusing China of flagrantly violating its promises to Hong Kong and the world.
CNN's Kristie Lou Stout is live in Hong Kong. So all of this, does it signal the end of the pretense of democracy in Hong Kong? What has been the reaction?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, one pro-democracy legislator put it quite bluntly today, saying that today marks the end of one country two systems.
This afternoon, we have been watching, one by one, the last remaining opposition lawmakers enter the legislative council that is a parliament here in Hong Kong submitting their letters of resignation in protest to the immediate disqualification of four of their colleagues as a result of that resolution that was passed by Beijing.
Among the opposition lawmakers submitting their resignations is Claudia Mo, who you saw just a moment ago. We will bring her up again. She made quite a statement when she entered the chamber wearing all black, the color that was a symbol of the 2019 pro-democracy protest, as well as bearing that yellow umbrella, a symbol from the 2014 umbrella movement protest for universal suffrage, and also in her hand, holding that resignation letter.
She talked to the press, sharing her feelings, as well as her thoughts on the significance of this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLAUDIA MO, RESIGNING HONG KONG LEGISLATOR: Well, I feel sad, naturally, but also fairly relieved because this council is so full of fakeness, so full of false sincerity, fake sincerity. They just want to pass anything the authorities want to be passed. There's just no point.
You might ask what's the point of taking part in any more legislative council elections, right? We still have to fight hard. Let us see what happens next year and we will have our number, our majority number, to seriously work for Hong Kong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LU STOUT: There are 15 remaining opposition lawmakers in Hong Kong. So far, eight resignation letters have been submitted. When all the letters have been submitted and accepted, those voices of dissent will be silenced. That will be effectively the end of one of the last remaining forms of opposition here in Hong Kong.
Overnight, there has been criticism from western governments, including Australia, the U.K. We heard from the foreign secretary, who said that those dismissals as a result of the resolution passed by Beijing undermined Hong Kong's stability and tarnished China's international standard.
We also heard from the United States with the national security adviser there calling it a violation of international commitments and also threatening further sanctions.
Let's bring up a statement from Robert O'Brien, who said that the United States will continue to utilize all the powers granted under the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, going on to say that the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, and the executive order on Hong Kong normalization to identify and sanction those responsible for extinguishing Hong Kong's freedom.
So a threat there from the United States of further sanctions in the last remaining weeks of the Trump presidency. Back to you, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, I mean, obviously, Beijing has heard the condemnation, presumably it's not listening.
LU STOUT: It is unwavering. Let's put it that way. China is aware of the condemnation that has come in from the west, and they are not accepting it at all. They are saying what they have always said, that what is happening in Hong Kong is China's internal affairs.
In fact, we have this statement from the commission of China's ministry of foreign affairs saying this -- just what I just said -- "Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs."
[03:50:00]
LU STOUT: "Any interference in Hong Kong affairs will be firmly hit back by all Chinese people, including our Hong Kong compatriots, and any attempt of play Hong Kong as a card against China will reach a dead end."
This, Kim, is the new political reality in Hong Kong. Again, China is not budging. China is unwavering. Back to you.
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you so much, Kristie Lu Stout.
Typhoon Vamco, we will have more on that, coming up after the break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: Typhoon Vamco is on the move after dumping heavy rain on the Philippines. Conditions in the island nation will gradually improve over the next few hours as the storm moves offshore into the South China Sea towards Vietnam. The Philippines had been hit hard by Super Typhoon Goni just days ago.
The Red Cross is worried about tens of thousands of people who are already living in makeshift shelters. The organization just sent us these first images of the impact of the storm. You can see rescues are underway after some areas were flooded.
Let's bring in meteorologist Tyler Mauldin, who is joining us now. What can you tell us?
TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So, Kim, Vamco took a very similar track to Typhoon Goni. However, Vamco made landfall just to the north of where Goni made landfall. So that is good news. Those hard hit areas from Goni were spared the brunt of Vamco.
It made landfall late Wednesday night. It is now pushing off of the Philippines. The center there is now in the South China Sea. It weakened but now it is beginning to strengthen again. It's a 148 kilometers per hour system at the moment.
It is going to continue pushing to the west. It is going to continue strengthening for the next 24 hours. We are talking about 150 kilometer per hour system. Eventually, it is going to landfall and we expect it to make landfall in central to northern Vietnam in three days from now.
From there, it quickly weakens, but when it quickly weakens, it also drops a lot of rainfall in very short order. So we are looking at the possibility of seeing 150 to 200 millimeters of rainfall across portions of Vietnam. We could see some higher amounts than that. We are going to see some flooding and possibly some landslides with that, as well.
Now, shifting gears here, going to America, we've got Tropical Storm Eta, which is encroaching on the state of Florida. It's a 95 kilometer per hour system and it is going to be making landfall around sunrise Thursday local. You can see rainfall already pushing up the peninsula Florida, and Florida is already waterlogged because of the system.
We are going to continue to see moisture flow in from the south as moisture starts to head to the north with Eta, as it pushes to the north. We have flash flood watches and warnings up for portions of the state of Florida because we expect several more inches on top of what we have already picked up.
And down here across South Florida, we could see upwards of two feet of rainfall in total. Now, this is not the greatest of timing because we've had the tide cycle go in and out and with the motion going onshore, the fetch of winds going on shore, too, that is just exacerbating the situation and giving us the potential for some very damaging and life-threatening storm surge in this region, as well.
[03:54:56]
MAULDIN: So where is it going after this? It's going to make landfall around sunrise on Thursday. It then pushes across Northern Florida and it goes up the eastern seaboard of the U.S. where it is going to drop a lot of rainfall in short order, especially around the mid-Atlantic, Kim. This area, they could really see some flash flooding.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We will stay on top of that. Thank you so much, Tyler Mauldin.
Tropical Storm Eta slammed into Central America last week as a Category 4 hurricane. CNN's Matt Rivers has more on the devastation that it left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In San Cristobal, Guatemala, the mud is 50 feet deep in some places. A landslide buried the village and with it dozens of people are now missing. The relatives say they already know what happened.
There was a great tragedy here, this man says. I lost 23 members of my family -- my father, my mother, my wife, my three children, grandchildren, sisters, sisters-in-law.
And in Honduras, for every child airlifted to safety, so many other people remain trapped, penned in by floodwaters that seemingly do not want to leave.
This is just some of the destruction brought by Hurricane Eta, the worst hurricane to hit this part of Central America and 22 years. Millions are affected in Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras, the trio with the worst damage, where dozens are dead and the death toll is rising.
Tens of thousands have also now been forced into shelters which present what might be the biggest challenge of them all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We keep safe, you know, distance. We keep proper hygiene.
RIVERS (voice-over): Because hurricane or not, the pandemic rages on, and in places like this, social distancing is all but impossible. Health experts tell CNN a spike in COVID cases in the next few days will not be a surprise. And flood waters that won't recede also means a startlingly high risk of water-borne and other illnesses, everything from cholera to yellow fever.
MARK CONNOLLY, HONDURAS REPRESENTATIVE, UNICEF: So we are going to get like a perfect storm or a Pandora's box of infectious diseases.
RIVES (voice-over): All three countries are poorly equipped to deal with natural disasters. With the collapse of water and sanitation systems, school closures lightly extended, and jobs hard to come by, for many, there are limited options left.
CONNOLLY: Lots of families lost everything. And now, their only hope is to get a loan for a few thousand dollars and migrate north to Mexico and the United States.
RIVERS (voice-over): This one natural disaster coupled with the worst pandemic in 100 years might scar Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala for a generation (INAUDIBLE) later about the future. For now, there is little anyone here can do but wait for the floodwaters to recede, start to cleanup, and in some places, dig and hope.
Matt Rivers, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: We are going to end this hour returning to our lead story here in the U.S. We face a historic moment as the U.S. president refuses to step aside despite losing the election.
We want to leave you with something uplifting, something that shows how one losing American presidential hopeful after another moved on over the years with dignity, grace, and pride and wished the winner well even though that was clearly very hard to do. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have great faith that our people, Republicans and Democrats alike, will unite behind our next president.
HUBERT HUMPHREY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I shall continue my personal commitment to the cause of human rights, to peace and to the betterment of man.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a deep appreciation of the system, however, that lets people make a free choice about who will lead them for the next four years.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is important work to be done, and America must always come first, so we will get behind this new president and wish him -- wish him well.
(APPLAUSE)
AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is America, and we put country before party. We will stand together behind our new president.
JOHN KERRY, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: We are required now to work together for the good of our country.
JOHN MCCAIN, FORMER UNITED STATES SENATOR: And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): And I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE: Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power, and we don't just respect that, we cherish it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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