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Biden Picks Senator Kamala Harris As Running Mate; New Zealand Reimposes Restrictions Due To New Cases; Florida Confirms Most Deaths In A Single Day; Protesters Demand More In Beirut; Putin: Russia Approves 'World First' COVID-19 Vaccine; Mexico Signs Vaccine Deals with U.S. & Chinese Companies; Food Bank Giveaways Underscore Economic Struggle; Security Questions Raised Surrounding TikTok and WeChat; Collin Morikawa Opens Up About PGA Championship Win. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired August 12, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm John Vause. Coming up this hour on "CNN Newsroom," an historic groundbreaking choice which was predictable and politically safe, Joe Biden chooses Kamala Harris to be his vice president.
Out of all the 100 coronavirus free days, New Zealand confirms four new cases, orders a lockdown of its biggest city.
And while the Kremlin claims the world first coronavirus vaccine, seems the approval from officials in Moscow is way less than Vladimir Putin would like the world to believe.
It's the biggest decision Joe Biden has faced so far in his bid for the White House, his choice for a vice president. He promised it would be a woman, many demanded a black woman, known to African American voters whose unflinching support save Biden's failing campaigns during the party primary. And in the end, he went with the woman many saw as the most likely choice.
The junior senator from California, Kamala Harris, making her the first black woman, the first candidate of Indian descent, the first Asian to be running for the White House. CNN's Jeff Zeleny leads our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden's decision to pick Kamala Harris as his running mate is history in the making. Senator Harris from California, only the third woman in US history to be on a major party's presidential ticket as a running mate, certainly other history making factors as well.
Her father was Jamaican, her mother was Indian. She's the unique American story. She grew up in California, a product of the civil rights movement as well. But more important to this search, the former vice president, I am told, had his eye on a variety of candidates. He vetted nearly a dozen specific candidates but it was Senator Harris in the end he kept coming back to.
I'm told by his advisors one of the central reasons why is she had been tested in a national campaign. Of course, she had run against him in the Democratic primary campaign, but knew the rigors of that campaign.
And Joe Biden, of course, knows how difficult it can be on the national stage running for president. Of course, this is his third time running for president. And he knew that, you know, the potential of throwing in someone who had never been on a national stage as they try and do something very difficult in US politics, that's defeating a sitting president.
He knew he wanted someone with campaign experience. But it's also this moment in time, this moment in the US history here, you know, with calls for racial justice, police reform, the coronavirus crisis. Certainly she fits the moment, at least in his view.
So this is something that is going to be a fascinating dynamic going forward here. President Trump already immediately went after Senator Harris called her nasty. He uses that word a lot to talk about women he doesn't like to disparage. So this certainly injects history and energy under the Democratic side of the ticket.
But it also is interesting on the Republican side of the ticket, really this is less than three months until the general election campaign here. The President has pledged to leave Mike Pence on the ticket as vice president, but that's certainly something that will be discussed going forward. But we do know that on Wednesday in Wilmington, Delaware, we will see Senator Harris for the first time next to Joe Biden. They'll have an event and then have a fundraiser in the evening.
So in this very unusual campaign, essentially a virtual campaign they will be coming together, face to face, one week before the Democratic Convention. And then voting begins, early voting at least, about one month from now. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Throughout the deep states process, former President Barack Obama was a sounding board for Joe Biden. And on Harris, the most popular Democrat in the country, says she is more than prepared for the job. Barack Obama wrote this, "Her own life story is one that I and so many others can see ourselves in. A story that says no matter where you come from, what you look like, how you worship or who you love, there's a place for you here."
2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton tweeted this, "I'm thrilled to welcome Kamala Harris to historic Democratic ticket. She's already proven herself to be an incredible public servant and leader. I know she'll be a strong partner to Joe Biden. Please join me in having her back and getting her elected."
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The Atlanta mayor, Keisha Lance Bottom, who was not only in the running but had been a loyal supporter of Biden, during some of his darkest days of the campaign, said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR KEISHA LANCE BOTTOM (D), ATLANTA immediately thought of my nine- year-old daughter, and what this will mean to her, to look at television and to see someone who reflects all that we encourage our girls to be and that someone who is courageous, as someone who works hard, someone who's obviously intelligent and well steady, and someone who cares and is willing to put themselves out to serve others.
And so it makes me proud, but I think more than that, it should make our country proud that there will be representation at the highest office that represents who we are as a diverse people and what we value as a country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Reaction from the White House and the President was nothing if not predictable. Here's CNN's Jeremy Diamond.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it took less than two minutes into President Trump's first comments on the historic pic of Kamala Harris as Vice President Joe Biden's running mate, the first black woman to be on a major party ticket for the presidents are referred to her as nasty and mean, and disrespectful. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: Plus, she was very, very nasty to -- one of the reasons that surprised me. She was very -- she was probably nastier than even Pocahontas to Joe Biden. She was very disrespectful to Joe Biden. And it's hard to pick somebody that's that disrespectful.
When she said things during the debates, during the Democratic primary debates that were horrible.
DIAMOND: Now, those attacks play directly into racist and sexist stereotypes about black women, but the President making clear that he is not going to shy away from his divisive political playbook, one that he used during the 2016 campaign when he referred to Hillary Clinton during a debate as a nasty woman and one, of course, that he has used since during his time as president.
Now, despite the fact that the President insisted that Senator Harris was his number one draft pick in terms of somebody who Vice President Biden would pick as his running mate, Trump campaign advisors making very clear to me that Kamala Harris was by no means their number one pick. They would have much rather seen somebody much more divisive, much more controversial, like the former National Security Adviser Susan Rice or California Congresswoman Karen Bass. Those people, who the Trump campaign advisors feel, they would have been able much more easily to brand them as part of this radical left. But nonetheless, the Trump campaign, making very clear in a statement on Tuesday that they will continue with that strategy to tie both Senator Harris and former Vice President Joe Biden as part this radical left, despite the fact that Senator Harris is viewed as much more of a moderate within the Democratic Party, so much so that she was even attacked by progressives as not progressive enough during the Democratic Primary in 2020.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And to Los Angeles, we have CNN Political Commentators, Angela Rye, and former executive -- she's the former Director of the Congressional Black Caucus, I should say, and Van Jones, a veteran of the Obama administration. It's great to have you both with us. It's rare and it's great. OK.
Angela, just quickly off the top, an historic choice but it seems at the same time a very predictable and safe choice which doesn't seem to rock the boat a whole lot.
ANGELA RYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't know what boat we're in but it's definitely is rocking the boat, it's definitely moving the ocean, it's definitely, definitely are feeling the waves of it. It is both controversial and historic at the same time.
Kamala Harris is not a safe choice. There was a lot of pushback about Kamala Harris up until this point. In fact, I think that had everything to do with how long it took Vice President Biden to decide if he would choose Kamala Harris. At the same time, it is exactly the type of momentum he needs around this historic election.
Joe Biden's candidacy, up until now, was hardly discussed. We've been, you know, inundated with racial injustice issues in this country and certainly with issues around coronavirus. And so, it is just time for something to happen to just ignite this ticket, and I think that's exactly what she does.
VAUSE: OK. Van, Angela mentioned the pushback and the blowback, and not totally safe. Well, here's some of the pushback if you like, it comes from Brianna Joy Gray, National Press Secretary for the Bernie Sanders campaign in 2020. She tweeted this.
"We are in the midst of the largest protest movement in American history, the subject of which is excessive policing and the Democratic Party chooses a top cop and the author of the Joe Biden Crime Bill to save us from Trump. The contempt for the base is, wow."
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VAUSE: OK. So, can Harris win over those Bernie supporter, is that a fair point? VAN JONES, FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: Look, I think what -- she missed the opportunity to point out is that, this is a historic moment, period. Shirley Chisholm is happy right now, looking down from heaven. Barbara Jordan is happy right now looking down from heaven, Ella Jo Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer.
Kamala Harris is like the kind of American who has been saving and rescuing American democracy for centuries, black women. She looks more like a champion of the people and a champion for democracy, and for justice than anybody who has ever sat in the vice president's chair, period. And so, before you rush to the partisan piece, the progressive piece or whatever, I would encourage her to just at least take a moment to acknowledge that this is a tremendous achievement and it was hard won.
It was not handed to Kamala Harris. To Angela's point, African American women had to stand up and fight for this. African American men came right behind to say, you are not going to pass over half a dozen qualified black women to pick whoever you want to. This is a party, the backbone of which is black women.
And by the way, the backbone of the Republican Party are white male evangelicals. Nobody was surprised when Pence was picked because that's done in the Republican Party. They honored their base. They recognize their base. This is the first time in the history of Democratic Party, the backbone and the base of this party has been recognized and acknowledged.
And I think that that on the strength of that alone, a lot of people who want to pick niche right now will be swept along by the tide of support that you're seeing for Kamala Harris.
VAUSE: OK. Well, the Trump campaign was ready for this and attack ad, ready to go. They released it just moments after the news broke. Here's a part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Voters rejected Harris, they smartly spotted a phony, but not Joe Biden. He's not that smart. Biden calls himself a transition candidate. He is handing over the reins to Kamala while they joyfully embrace the radical left. Slow Joe and phony Kamala, perfect together, wrong for America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Angela, the conventional wisdom is that vice presidents don't win an election but only can lose one. Is Harris the exception here? I mean, what does she actually bring specifically to this campaign that will get Biden over the line?
RYE: Well, let's just talk about her how her favorability numbers changed and shifted dramatically right after, you know, again, the racial tension in this country reached a fever pitch around George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Let's talk about how during the Democratic Primary season, at every debate she was armed and ready to serve not only as a debate opponent of the rest of the stage but of prosecutor of Donald Trump's record.
Let's talk about how she is the only candidate on this ticket, the only running mate, or the only person on this ticket, who has never lost an election and, in fact, has won twice statewide. So I think that she brings a lot to the ticket, including, you know, and I don't want to discriminate by age at all, but she is only 55.
So Kamala also brings a little bit of use, a little bit of an intergenerational component to this. And let's also not gloss over the fact that she is the first black person in history to serve in this role, and she would become the first black woman to ever be in the White House and above our VP level and above. I think that's a big deal.
And I'm not just resting on history, I also think that we can look at her senatorial record where she was a lead sponsor of the Justice and Policing Act, and has done so much more around criminal justice reform.
So Breonna's pushback and others, I'm sorry, Breonna's pushback and for others who are questioning her progressive record, I would actually challenge them to look at her record where she has one of the most progressive in the United States Senate.
VAUSE: I love it when you said 55 is young. I'd love to listen to --
RYE: It is for this ticker.
VAUSE: Absolutely. On Tuesday, Donald Trump was talking about Biden's announcement earlier in the campaign that he would choose a woman as his running mate. Listen to this, here's Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had to pick a woman.
TRUMP: He said that. And, you know, some people would say that men are insulted by that and some people would say it's fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Van, you know, I don't know many men who are insulted by it. But, you know, should Biden have said I will choose the best person for the job, not a woman, you know, necessarily remove any appearance of tokenism, remove any question about why Harris is on the ticket.
JONES: Look, no matter what he said, if he picked a woman, if he picked an African American, he picked anybody who wasn't a straight white male, someone was going to holler tokenism, et cetera. I think what was important was he recognized that this is a changing party.
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And for him to stay in there on the stage as he did that night, for CNN and say, I'm going to pick a woman, to me it signal that he understands that in the era Black Lives Matter, in the era of Me Too and Time's Up, where you have populist movements rising up, and the American people and around the world for change. That he doesn't represent that kind of change, he represents I returned to something important. But the future belongs to a different chorus of voices, and he honored those voices.
And then when the deal went down, he picked somebody who, as Angela just said, one at the local level and serve with honor. One at the state level, served with honor. One -- a seat in the Senate, served with honor, and competed for the presidency. What more do you have to do to not be a token when you have that kind of a record?
VAUSE: We're out of time, guys, but thank you so much for being with us. And hey, at least the VP debate should be interesting this time around.
RYE: Oh, yes. Thank you.
JONES: It'll be interesting.
VAUSE: New Zealand has reimposed coronavirus restrictions after reporting its first locally transmitted cases in more than 100 days. Auckland, where the infections were confirmed, is now under lockdown for at least three days, opening a (inaudible) for food and other supplies. Restaurants, bars, retailers, schools, all close, but the rest of the country is facing less severe travel restrictions.
Live now, CNN's Will Ripley for more on this. Will, if there was any doubt that how serious the government is about this lockdown police are now manning checkpoints in Auckland.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Nine different checkpoints, they say it's partially educational harshly to make sure that people are aware of the new restrictions that are going to be in place for at least the next three days. This means limits on the number of people who can gather out in public, down to eight people or 10, I believe. Also non- essential businesses which include restaurants, bars, shops that don't serve, you know, groceries and that sort of thing. Those are also going to have to be closed.
Now, we're talking about four confirmed cases. And just within the last few minutes, New Zealand health officials announced four probable cases that have yet to be confirmed. But all of those people are now in isolation, contact tracing is underway.
This is a very small number, but considering that New Zealand has had 102 days, the longest streak of having no locally transmitted COVID-19 cases, you know, out of the countries that have been affected, it certainly is something that the country is taking very seriously. But they also, John, say they have been preparing for this, and bolstering their testing capabilities and whatnot.
You know, fewer than 5 million people live in New Zealand, but they can test up to 12,000 people per day. And as they test more, there certainly is a chance the country acknowledges that they will detect more cases. VAUSE: Because the reality is, it maybe four, maybe eight confirmed cases right now, but there were other many more cases out there which are yet to be detected and confirmed. What is interesting, though, is that officials believe that the virus may have actually come into the country via freight. Is that right?
RIPLEY: Well, they're still looking into that possibility because you have to try -- you have to ask yourself a question. If you didn't have COVID-19 and then all of a sudden you did, obviously, what you thought was a hermetically-sealed system is not so hermetically sealed. And we've seen that time and time again.
The same thing was true here in Hong Kong, where there was no local transmission for weeks, then a third wave erupted in the cities now back to lockdown. And then, number of cases are going down as a result. If people do comply with these measures, the number of cases do go down. Science shows that.
So whether it came in from freight, they have to look at you know, potentially, you know, plugging any loopholes that may exist, but most important right now is to identify any cases that exist and get those people out of the general population as quickly as possible.
So you have level three out of four restrictions in Auckland. And then, you have level two restrictions throughout the rest of the country. So New Zealand, like all of us, you know, when the virus kind of goes away, you start to get relaxed, you go back about with your normal daily lives. And this is a message from the government saying that people need to be vigilant and careful once again.
VAUSE: Yes. Constant vigilance, Harry Potter. Will, thank you. Will Ripley for us there in Hong Kong.
New Zealand reimposed restrictions after just four new cases, but in the state of Florida, where the death toll continues to soar, officials are encouraging tourists to return.
Florida is saying one of the worst outbreaks in the US, more than half a million cases so far. Over the past week, it has reported fewer infections. But on Tuesday, we saw a record number of fatalities, as CNN's Randi Kaye now reports.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Florida, we set a new record four deaths in a single day, 276 more deaths to report, the previous high was 257 deaths back on July 31st, and also, another 5,800 new cases, more than 5800 new cases to report. The death toll now 8,553 for the state, and in all more than 542,000 cases of coronavirus here in the state of Florida.
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Children continue to be a real concern. The numbers are certainly alarming. The Florida Department of Health reports 137% increase in the number of positive cases among children 17 and under in just the last month. During that same time, hospitalizations jumped 213 to 436. That is a 105% increase, and seven children have died here in the state of Florida.
Meanwhile, at 12 counties here in the state of Florida, they have returned to schools. They've reopened those brick and mortar schools this week. The CDC has been recommending that you should not or should at least consider not opening those schools if the positivity rate is greater than 5%. But meanwhile, some of those counties, some of those districts, even though they are reporting a higher positivity rate, higher than 5%, they are still reopening. We know some of them have seen upwards of 30% and 40% positivity rate a couple of days, at least in the last week.
And also, finally here in Florida, Disney World changing its hours, apparently not getting the crowds that it was hoping to get. Several of its theme parks including the Magic Kingdom now closing a bit earlier, apparently not getting as many customers as they would like.
Randi Kaye, reporting in Riviera Beach, Florida, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, the UK says it could add more countries to its quarantine travel, as France and other European countries see a rise in cases. According to Johns Hopkins University, infections across the continent are nearing 20,000 a day. See France in bright blue at the bottom right, well, the country has far fewer cases than the US and Brazil. The French government is extending its ban on mass gatherings of 5,000 people or more through the end of October.
Well, Russia says it won the race for a COVID-19 vaccine, but really there are concerns about whether this vaccine is actually truly safe and effective vaccine at all. That's still to come.
Also, the Lebanese government resignation, not enough the protesters in Beirut, they want a lot more. And they are on the streets still demanding.
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VAUSE: Protesters in Beirut are back out on the streets for a fourth night, they're calling for Lebanon's entire ruling elite to go. On Monday, the prime minister and his cabinet resigned on mass over that devastating port explosion a week ago. CNN's Ben Wedeman has details.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are outside right behind me is the road leading to the Lebanese Parliament. The security forces are right up the street and they've started to fire tear gas in this direction.
What you see now is security forces, it's not clear who they are, are approaching. They're going to try to clear the street, which is now thick with tear gas.
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This is a clash that is taking place, just hours after thousands of people held a vigil for the more than 170 people killed, more than 6,000 wounded, and the 300,000 people who lost their homes as a result of the blast one week ago in the port of Beirut.
Now what we hear, see here, this is the Lebanese security forces are now approaching, what you're hearing over here. Somebody is coughing from the tear gas, are now approaching. And they're going to put out, try to put down this protest, these clashes, which are the fourth consecutive evening that we've seen these clashes between protesters angry over the blast in the port of Beirut, and the failure of the government to account for what actually happened there one week ago, and the incredible damage that happened to the city.
I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN's Sam Kiley is in Beirut with very latest on this. You know, Sam, while the protesters are out there demanding a revolution, it seems it's business as usual when it comes to choosing the next government. The political power brokers, are they back doing what they always do in Lebanon?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean the bottom line is that, you have, in this country, a generational divide, perhaps even a class divide, but you certainly got a divide between what one would pick up on the streets. And that's what Ben and I have been doing now for several days, talking to people.
There is a unanimity in a level of frustration over negligence, over corruption, that in the view of the Lebanese that we've spoken to, led to this gigantic explosion, and industrial accident that has been waiting to happen that numerous and successive port officials had raised as an issue. The storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, in a port that's effectively in the center or near the center of Beirut, over many years.
Much more deeply, though, is a problem, and this is something that extends right across the Middle East, but it's very particular in detail to the Lebanon. There is in this country, a constitutional setup that came out of the civil war that guarantees the different religious communities, different levels of power within any government.
What does that mean? Well, it means that one person one vote doesn't really work here, and it also means you get some very unlikely alliances. So the outgoing government was an alliance effectively of a large Christian party with Hezbollah, which is Iranian influence Shia party, very, very powerful in terms of its military capabilities with a very large militia, very threatening to Israel, very deeply involved with the Assad regime, and from the Assad regimes on their side. But nonetheless, part of the Lebanese State, very much part of the Lebanese Parliamentary structure too. So in those sorts of contexts, people are very frustrated when the economy goes into a nosedive, which he has done over the last couple of years with 80% of the local currency being lost against the dollar, for example. Banks have effectively frozen access to all international accounts. In that context, you have a disaster like this, people will really express their frustrations.
What they want to do is sweep away the old constitution and bring something else in the problem about that is, has Lebanon actually solved its sectarian problems or do they persist. And there is a deep concern certainly with the older generation that anything that undoes that very fragile tapestry could lead to even more conflict in this region.
VAUSE: Yes. Sam, thank you. Sam Kiley there in Beirut.
The opposition candidate in the Belarus presidential election has fled to Lithuania after claiming Sunday's vote was rigged. A video of her surfaced on Tuesday calling for an end to anti-government protests, and saying the nation has made its choice, has led to speculation she was threatened and forced to flee by longtime President Alexander Lushenko, and many call Europe's last dictator. Her husband is in jail. Several members of her campaign have also been detained.
In Hong Kong, a pro-democracy newspaper owner under arrest under the National Security Law has posted bail. Jimmy Lai was detained Monday on suspicion of colluding with foreign powers. Police raided the headquarters of his Apple Daily Newspaper. Critics called his detention an attack on press freedom. Authorities claim they are targeting individual offenders, not entire media organizations.
[00:30:09]
Crews off the coast of Mauritius are racing against time to pump the remaining oil out of a grounded Japanese cargo ship. Nearly 1,000 tons of oil have already leaked into a pristine Indian Ocean lagoon. The ship ran aground more than two weeks ago. Now there are growing fears the vessel could split in half and release thousands more tons of oil into the ocean and into that lagoon.
Next up, the holy grail of vaccines for COVID-19. Russia claims the grail is theirs. But the world greeted that with an eye roll and skepticism.
Also ahead, Mexico takes steps to ensure it gets a vaccine when there is one to get. Stay with CNN. More, with all of that, when we come back.
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VAUSE: President Vladimir Putin made the stunning announcement that Russian scientists had developed a vaccine for COVID-19 which offers stable immunity. Only a few small details, though, which seem to have been overlooked, like you know, was it proven effective in clinical trials?
And as CNN's Matthew Chance reports, there are increasing concerns about whether it's even safe.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Russia has now approved what it says is the world's first coronavirus vaccine, despite major concerns about its safety and effectiveness.
In a video conference with top officials, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, announced that the Russian-made vaccine, which has been named Sputnik V, has undergone what he called all necessary checks. It was now registered for use.
Putin also said one of his own daughters has already been vaccinated. An extraordinary statement, and a sign of just how much confidence Russia wants to show it has in what it is casting as a huge contribution to the victory against coronavirus.
Earlier, a prominent Russian pharmaceutical industry body called on Russian officials to postpone the vaccine, saying it could put people's lives at risk. In a letter to the Russian health ministry, it pointed out that crucial Phase III human trials had not yet been started.
Russia's health ministry says frontline health workers and teachers will be the first to be vaccinated. Critics say Russia's push for a vaccine comes amid intense political pressure from the Kremlin, key to tackle the raging coronavirus pandemic and to portray Russia as a global scientific force.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Michael Kinch is the director of the Center for Drug Development at Washington University in St. Louis, author of "Between Hope and Fear: A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity."
Michael, thank you for being with us.
MICHAEL KINCH, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DRUG DEVELOPMENT AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: Thank you for the opportunity.
VAUSE: OK. This vaccine has been approved by Moscow. It's received a certificate. And on that certificate, it says it could be given to a small number of people from vulnerable groups. Medical staff, that kind of thing.
But ScienceMag.org adds this reporting. "The certificate stipulates that the vaccine cannot be used widely until 1 January, 2021, presumably after larger clinical trials have been completed."
In reality, despite what the press release may say, what the president says, the Russians haven't approved a vaccine for widespread use. It's still four months away. This is more about propaganda and spin.
KINCH: It certainly seems like it. There's s similar situation, actually, that has occurred in China, where China, in June, approved a vaccine, but only for use in the army troops.
And so, it seems like, in the case of Russia, this is intended to be sort of a cold-war-like propaganda tool, to be able to say how -- how dominant their technology is.
And the reality is that this is a technology that probably doesn't have a very high likelihood of working. We've already got a preliminary look at the technology through a Chinese vaccine, and it looks like this adenovirus-based vaccine that the Russians are touting probably wouldn't work in somewhere between a third and two-thirds of the population.
VAUSE: So, if this is just a propaganda ploy, it doesn't come without harm. It doesn't happen in a vacuum.
KINCH: That's certainly the case. I mean, the whole world is watching. And we really have one chance to do this right. And the reason that I say that is because their -- the big health story at the beginning of 2020 was the projection of vaccines by a growing population, both in Europe and in the United States, in North America.
And if we approve a vaccine that is either less effective than it needs to be or, lord forbid, if that vaccine ends up causing toxicity, then those anti-vaccine movements might actually gain strength.
VAUSE: The overwhelming reaction from experts around the world, on the science of this has ranged from skepticism, like Dr. Anthony Fauci in the United States. Here's what he said to National Geographic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: Having a vaccine, Deborah, and proving that a vaccine is safe and effective are two different things. I hope that the Russians have actually definitively proven that the vaccine is safe and effective. I seriously doubt that they've done that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So from skepticism to angry with his tweet, "The Russian vaccine gamble is reckless and foolish, whether 'it works' or not. Actually, the worst long-term outcome may be for the gamble to pay off, at the cost of decades of health care ethics ruined."
And to that point, can you see the real long-term consequences here, beyond the coronavirus, if somehow, the Russians pull this off and they're successful, but in the process, they upend the protocols which have ensured safety vaccines for generations.
KINCH: Well, I mean, if you look at what has occurred, there are stories coming out of Russia that friends and relatives of high officials have been vaccinated. And, you know, this is all anecdotal, and from the scientific and the medical perspective, it's incredibly irresponsible.
We have faced effective vaccines for many different diseases, because they're undergone rigorous scrutiny to establish that they're both efficacious and that they're safe. We can't do this sort of shotgun science that runs the real risk of harming people, both because -- both to assure the public that past vaccines are safe. But also, moving forward, to make sure that we don't use this sort of shotgun approach for future vaccines.
VAUSE: Clearly, transparency is the big issue when it comes to vaccines and how they are developed. That's something we don't get out of China, something you don't get out of Russia. But are we getting it out of the United States, out of the U.K. with the Oxford trials, out of Australia, and all these other western nations which are developing a vaccine right now?
KINCH: We're absolutely demanding it. And so I think that there will be no way that a vaccine will be approved and used, without complete transparency as to both the efficacy and meaning does this vaccine work both in the short term and in the long term?
Because we have some evidence, some suggestions from coronavirus that perhaps the immunity might be short-lived in actual infections. We need to be sure that this is a long-lived situation.
But we also need that transparency for safety. We need to be able to assure the public that this is a safe vaccine to take.
VAUSE: Yes, we thought wearing masks was a problem, and anti-vaxxers, with this could even be much worse than we've ever seen before. But Michael, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
KINCH: Thank you.
VAUSE: Mexico is also pushing forward with vaccine trials, signing deals with companies from the United States and China to carry out clinical studies. The Mexican government says it wants to ensure the country has timely access to a vaccine once it's ready.
[00:40:04]
CNN's Matt Rivers has more now from Mexico City.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a lot of vaccine- related news coming out of Latin America right now. Let's start here in Mexico, where officials have announced that this country will be partaking in the Phase III trials of three different vaccines that are currently being developed by three different companies.
One of those companies is an American pharmaceutical firm that's owned by Johnson and Johnson. The other two companies involved are from China.
Those three trials will join another trial that has been previously announced by Mexico's foreign minister back in July. The company developing that vaccine is from France. Meanwhile, down in Brazil, we've got word that state officials in the
state of Parana are currently in negotiations to help with the development of a vaccine out of Russia.
And what we're hearing from World Health Organization officials is that it's obviously crucial to develop these vaccines to help defeat this pandemic. But it's also crucial so health officials can turn their attention to other -- to other issues.
So for example, in the first two months of 2020, as compared to the same time period in 2019, cases of Dengue Fever in this part of the world went up nearly 140 percent. The development of a vaccine, according to health officials, would allow them to get back to trying to solve a lot of the issues that have plagued this region for so long.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, still to come, with negotiations over a stimulus package at a stalemate in the U.S. Congress, there's now a growing need at food banks across the country. We'll have more on that in a moment.
Also, time is ticking for TikTok and WeChat to find a U.S. buyer after President Trump threatens to ban the social media apps. Coming up, take a look at whether they really are a security risk.
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VAUSE: Since the pandemic hit the U.S. economy, many who lost their jobs are receiving an extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits. That ended two weeks ago, because congressional leaders have been unable to agree on another coronavirus aid package.
Party politics, though, is now causing a real strain on American families. Ed Lavandera takes us to a food bank in Dallas, Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the middle of the night, a fleet of trucks carrying more than 10,000 boxes of food arrived in a desolate Dallas parking lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably, drop them here.
LAVANDERA: Valerie Hawthorne of the North Texas Food Bank is making sure all the crates are perfectly lined up. The last time the North Texas Food Bank sponsored a drive-through food giveaway was in May. And Hawthorne knows that life has only become more desperate for millions of people struggling through the pandemic.
VALERIE HAWTHORNE, NORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK: These distributions truly reveal what the need is, and how many of our community members are just one paycheck away from hunger. So we have to be out there to support them during this time. [00:45:08]
LAVANDERA: First people in line were Pauletta Johnson and Arthur Ferrazas. They arrived three hours before the food giveaway even started. Pauletta is on a fixed income and cares for her grandchildren. Arthur is a handyman and says work has dried up in recent months.
PAULETTE JOHNSON, DALLAS RESIDENT: We have to feed the grandkids when they're here, when they're over. And it just -- it just means a lot. I don't really have the money. I'm on a fixed income. And I don't have the money to buy some of the things that I need to get. So that's why I am here this morning.
ARTHUR FERRAZAS, DALLAS RESIDENT: It means a lot. You know, it is a little bit, you know, you know, it is going to help us a lot. I got two kids at the house. My wife is kind of sick right now, but not with the virus. So that's why I'm here.
LAVANDERA: At this food delivery event, about 100 volunteers will distribute more than 10,000 boxes of food for nearly 8,000 people.
The images of long lines seen at food bank distributions are a searing reminder of the economic toll inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. The images taken over recent months span the country.
HAWTHORNE: Our families tomorrow will be receiving a box that has noodles and rice, some fruit and nut mix, some cereal.
LAVANDERA: That's why it doesn't surprise Valerie Hawthorne to see thousands lineup before the sun comes up, just days after millions of people have lost their $600 a week unemployment benefits. Since March, about 3.1 million Texans have filed unemployment claims.
HAWTHORNE: We know that the need is out there. We know that it's great. And what this pandemic has done has just shined a light on poverty and hunger, and our communities that are in desperate need.
LAVANDERA: From this warehouse, the North Texas Food Bank is distributing more than a million pounds of food per week. Jesus Baca is a disabled former law enforcement officer and says these boxes can feed him for up to three weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How does that help you?
JESUS BACA, FORMER LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: I'm really financially strained. I've got house payments and doctor bills and so on that I've got to pay.
LAVANDERA (on camera): From our vantage point, the line of cars stretched at least a mile and a half. And organizers say it really is symbolic of the dire need that so many people are finding themselves in during this pandemic, that they waited in line this long for a box of food which really amounts to about $50 worth of food that can last a family of four about a week.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The clock is ticking down on social media apps TikTok and WeChat. They have until September 15 to find not just a buyer, but an American buyer. And if there are no takers, they could be banned in the United States.
President Trump is forcing the sale, because he believes these Chinese-owned apps are a security risk.
CNN's Selina Wang joins me now from Hong Kong. Selina, in reality, just how much of a security risk do these apps actually pose to the United States?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, at this moment the risks from these apps are largely theoretical. And the security experts I've spoken to say that these theoretical risks do not necessarily warrant an outright ban.
But what is clear is that the Trump administration, this is just part of its broader campaign to decouple U.S. technologies from China. And against that context, there is, then, very little that these companies can do to prove that they would never be beholden to the Chinese government.
But take a listen here, to hear more about what those hypothetical security risks may be.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WANG (voice-over): Dancing ferrets, lip-synching kids, teenagers playing pranks on each other. That's the stuff of TikTok. It's the first Chinese-owned app to become a global social media sensation.
Yet on Friday, President Trump issued executive orders that would ban TikTok and messaging apps WeChat from operating in the U.S. in 45 days.
TikTok said in a statement it was shocked and willing to sell its U.S. businesses to an American company. The Trump administration says the apps are a threat to national security and the personal data of American citizens and are also a tool for the Chinese Communist Party.
But do those claims stack up? The data TikTok collects is similar to what companies like Facebook and Google do. It knows your location, Internet address and browsing history. It tracks videos you like, share and watch. That all helps power the TikTok algorithm that makes the app so powerfully addictive.
(on camera): So James, I have TikTok pulled up on my phone. You can see lots of fun, dancing videos. How is any of the information captured in that app relevant to Chinese intelligence? What makes TikTok a national security threat?
JAMES LEWIS, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC & INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: Probably no information captured by TikTok is relevant to Chinese intelligence. The risk comes from ByteDance, TikTok'S Chinese owner and the fact that it is subject to the whims of the Chinese government. And so it's ByteDance that could use TikTok as a vehicle for espionage, if they chose to do for so.
WANG: Lewis said TikTok could theoretically be used as a vehicle to get access to people's other private information on their phones.
TikTok say it has never shared user data with the Chinese government, nor censored content at its request.
In the U.S., WeChat has not had nearly the same success that TikTok has had. But it's a key way for people abroad to connect with friends, family and business contacts in China, where it is indispensable for daily life. Imagine Facebook, LinkedIn, Uber, Instagram, PayPal and several more apps, all rolled into one.
Experts say that WeChat is surveilled and censored.
SAMM SACKS, CYBERSECURITY POLICY & CHINA DIGITAL ECONOMY FELLOW, NEW AMERICA: From a national security standpoint, does WeChat pose a threat? I would say yes. Now, does that mean that it should be banned on everyone's devices? That's a separate question.
Federal employees, people with security clearances, military personnel should not be downloading WeChat on their devices.
WANG: China's Ministry of Foreign affairs on Friday said it firmly opposes the executive orders targeting WeChat and TikTok. It claims the U.S. is using national security as an excuse to oppress non- American businesses.
But, as Chino-U.S. Relations spiral downwards, banning Chinese apps might just be the tip of the iceberg. The move indicates the Trump administration is broadening its attempt to restrict Chinese tech companies from operating in the U.S., even if it appears to be a little more than a platform to share viral dancing videos.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WANG: And John, the security experts I spoke to also said that banning these apps doesn't necessarily achieve the goal of protecting national security and the private data of American citizens.
They say that tougher standards and regulations need to be created for apps are across the board, regardless of what country they're from. That's because the Internet doesn't neatly map into geopolitical borders. So even if you were to completely purge Chinese tech from the United States, those security risks would exist.
So those experts say that there are other ways to mitigate those risks, without banning apps, which actually creates a dangerous precedent for other countries to undercut the free world of technology.
VAUSE: Selina, thank you. Selina Wang there in Hong Kong. We appreciate the report.
Well, still to come, he graduated college just last year, but already, this young golfer playing like a seasoned vet. When we come back, we'll hear from Collin Morikawa about his early success on the PGA Tour.
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VAUSE: For the uninitiated, there's nothing quite like college sport in the U.S., in particular, football, in terms of popularity and enthusiasm among fans. Which is why word that two of the biggest conferences or leagues have postponed their upcoming seasons because of the pandemic has landed with a thud.
The Big 10 and PAC-12 say they've pulled the plug on football and other sports to keep student athletes safe. They are hoping to resume competition early next year.
[00:55:04]
According to "Fortune" magazine, this competition generates more than $4 billion in revenue each year. In 2018, they made nearly $1.8 billion in total profits, more than $27 million per school.
It's only been 15 months since U.S. golfer Collin Morikawa graduated from college, and in that time, he's ranked up three victories in the PGA Tour, including his first major on Sunday.
CNN's Don Riddell caught up with this young, phenomenal player and asked him what the past few days have been like.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COLLIN MORIKAWA, PGA CHAMPIONSHIP WINNER: I haven't had much sleep. I've been eating a lot of food. We are just running on a lot of adrenaline right now.
I got a little taste of what it's like to win a major championship, to what you know, those other players have won before. And I definitely want it again.
It's crazy to think back a year ago that, you know, I was just some guy walking along the -- you know, the Berkeley College campus, just like any other student athlete out there. You know, there wasn't really much that separated me. I was just pretty good at golf.
I still hope to fly under the radar as Collin Morikawa, as much as I can. You know, I don't think I'm at that point yet, where people are just going to start recognizing me.
DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORT: How long would you have set yourself to get to this stage in your career, when you left college?
MORIKAWA: Whether it's been golf or life, whatever it is, I always try to take it as much and just try and learn. I don't think you can teach competitiveness. I love to compete at everything we do. You know, you and me, they have a coin flipping contest, and I'm going to try to beat you, no matter what, even though it's all luck.
RIDDELL: What did your mom and dad say to you, once you had sort of privacy, after the round was settled?
MORIKAWA: It is crazy. Because on Friday, my mom never told me this, but they had a balloon fly up from someone else's yard into their trees, in our house. And you know, it's just a No. 1. It was a one balloon, just floating in the trees, and it never popped. It stayed there. They left it there.
So yes, that's pretty special. And I think that balloon meant something, and they might have known that from the start of the week.
RIDDELL: What was going through your mind when you lifted the trophy, and the lid started slipping?
MORIKAWA: There's probably a lot of memes and a lot of jokes, and it will never get past me, that I dropped part of the trophy, for the lid, it least, in my first maiden championship. But it's going to be something that I remember forever. You know, it's just all added to just a little more laughs, a little more smiles for the week, for everyone to talk about.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Stay with us, I'll be back with another hour of CNN NEWSROOM, after a very short break.
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