Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Alexei Navalny Taken to Germany for Treatment; CDC Chief: Expect U.S. Death Rate to Start Dropping; Beijing Removes Mask Mandate for Outdoors; Family Loses Daughter and Faith in Beirut Blast; Fighting Disinformation Surrounding U.S. Election. Aired 3-3:30a ET
Aired August 22, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Live pictures there of the Berlin hospital waiting for the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, amid claims he has been poisoned.
Pandemic fears and new projection about how quickly it could go from bad to worse in the U.S.
And also:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The rate we have today is exponentially growing.
HOLMES (voice-over): One family's misery in Lebanon. From losing their only child to losing their faith in government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: Welcome, everyone.
Breaking news: one of the Kremlin's most prominent critics has just landed in Berlin to receive medical care. Alexei Navalny became ill on a flight to Moscow a few days ago and his wife has been fighting with Russian doctors to get him out of the country.
His spokeswoman calls this a suspected poisoning and says he is in a coma. There is now a long list of questions about Navalny's condition and the way Russian doctors and police have handled the case is leading to even more concern. The European Union, demanding answers. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NABILA MASSRALI, EUROPEAN COMMISSION SPOKESPERSON: We wish him a swift and full recovery. We expect a swift and independent, transparent investigation. And if confirmed, those responsible must be held to account.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Phil Black is standing by for us in London.
A lot of concerns and a lot of suspicion about all of this, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Indeed. That's right Michael. So he certainly will be relieved that he has now arrived in Germany and has access to medical care that they trust.
Trust is crucial here. They will be hoping to save his life, to save the quality of his life and also to try and get some sense, perhaps identify some evidence that could determine precisely what it was that struck Navalny down on that aircraft.
We heard the video recorded by another passenger, recorded the screams of a man who sounded very much like he was in incredible pain, death screams, really. We saw him being wheeled onto an ambulance on the tarmac in Omsk as he was transported off that aircraft where he felt ill.
Now we will be looking perhaps to see him again the, first time since publicly perhaps seeing him transported to the hospital in Germany. That family's hopes really rest on this move because they had so little faith, so little trust of the treatment that he was receiving in Russia.
Their belief, very clearly, is that he was poisoned. More than that they think that the doctors' claim that he was not fit to fly was an effort by Russian officials to essentially cover his tracks to allow the poison in his system to demote diminish to a level he could no longer be detected.
But now they simply they hope you would have the opportunity to recover within a medical system that they have complete faith and trust in.
And it is not an overstatement to say that it is not just Alexei Navalny's life at stake now but very much the future of the Russian opposition movement as well. The movement backed by all those who support political change in Russia because the uncomfortable reality of his brush with death is that, without Navalny. there is no central leadership figure to take that movement forward, Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, and of course, he's the latest in a long list of people who have had suspicious fates with the Russian government. Speak a little bit more, if you will, Phil, about his importance to the opposition movement.
BLACK: Yes, it is essential, Michael. There is no doubt about that. For some 10 years now, he has been the most prominent, the most credible, without a doubt the most charismatic leader of a nonofficial movement that challenges or seeks to achieve some sort of political change in Russia. Navalny developed credibility with his following through anti-
corruption investigations that he simply conducted at home, online, poring through spreadsheets, identifying examples of graft, of misappropriation of funds, of skimming of state projects and that sort of thing. From there his profile grew.
[03:05:00]
BLACK: And he led rallies and protests and became a central charismatic figure in what was a street movement, really.
But as those large-scale protests were crushed, he has then shifted toward a more organized political movement, where he has tried to influence the democratic process such as it is in Russia.
He has been excluded from running for office himself. He has faced continuous legal pressure. He has been, for example, charged with and convicted with embezzlement. He has regularly served stints in prison for what officials there determine to be illegal protests and so forth.
But he has continued through all of this, even as you say, colleagues, other activists around him, have fallen ill in various suspicious circumstances. Colleagues who believe they themselves were poisoned.
So Alexei Navalny has persisted some 10 years now, growing in stature and credibility and support, not just in Moscow but nationally, to some degree as well, in other major towns and cities to become the only real figure that has any sort of voice in challenging Vladimir Putin and his government on a regular, sustained, credible way.
And so if he were to pass or if he were to suffer some sort of injury that removes him from that position, as I say, it casts the entire future of Russia's opposition movement in considerable doubt, Michael.
HOLMES: Phil Black in London, keep an eye on developments for you for us and we will check back in with you, thank you, Phil.
Turning our attention now to the coronavirus pandemic, the death toll in the United States now surpassing 175,000. More than 5.6 million cases and nearly half of the 50 states seeing a spike in new deaths.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts around 20,000 more deaths in the next three weeks. And looking further ahead, one forecasting model predicting 310,000 deaths by December. Researchers warn it could be much higher if restrictions like mask mandates are relaxed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. CHRISTOPHER MURRAY, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION: We have a worse scenario in what we release and that's many, many more deaths.
And in fact, by the time December rolls around, if we don't do anything at all, the daily death toll in the U.S. would be much higher than the sort of 2,000 deaths a day we would expect by December. It could be as high as 6,000 deaths a day. So it really depends on what we do, both as individuals and what governments do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Joining me now, Dr. Carlos del Rio, executive associate dean of Emory University School of Medicine.
Good to see you, Doctor. The numbers are depressingly high in the U.S. The overall case counts are dropping in many areas, hopefully, declining deaths to follow.
I wonder, do you fear a risk of complacency leading to more spikes down the road?
These are still high numbers.
DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EMORY UNIVERSITY: They are still very high numbers, Michael. We have come down from around 100,000 cases a day to about 50,000 cases a day. That is still very high.
We want to be below the 20,000 cases a day area. I worry about complacency as you say. I also worry about the opening of schools and colleges. Young people getting infected.
And again, going back to where we were at 100,000 cases a day. So we have to not drop our guard. We have to continue to remind people to wear masks, to social distance, to wash your hands. If we do not do that, we will again have a spike in cases.
We are pleased to, also, see a drop in hospitalizations, to tell you the truth. We were getting overwhelmed in hospitals, so it is nice to see hospitalizations also coming down.
HOLMES: I wanted to see your take on the vaccine landscape. Johnson & Johnson entering phase 3 trials, the Russian vaccine, a lot of experts worried about that in terms of safety protocols. The vice president in the meantime, advertising a miracle literally.
What are your thoughts when you look at what's coming down the pike?
DEL RIO: Michael, there are no miracles here. We have, as scientists, to work very hard to find a cure and to find a vaccine. The research is happening. And I told lot of people, a lot of things have not worked well in this country.
But the research, infrastructure and research environment has worked extremely well. I think that we found a new virus, it was sequenced and within 65 days of finding a new virus, you had a vaccine administered to humans and within 6 months, less than 6 months, we are in phase 3 trials.
There are eight vaccines in phase 3 trials. I'm convinced that by the beginning of next year we will have one vaccine that will have shown efficacy. So research is the way out. It's not called a miracle, it's called research.
HOLMES: We heard the CDC's Dr. Redfield talking about T cell immunity and survivors, also talking about the potential of partial herd community, keeping COVID under control in places, like New York, New Jersey.
Is that heartening or given what we don't know about immunity in the recovered, is it risky to take hope in such talk?
DEL RIO: We know a couple of things about immunity. It seems clear that if you've had this infection, you are protected from getting it afterwards, from subsequent infections, at least for some period of time, we don't know how long.
We also know of a certain degree of T cell immunity. So in fact, yes, we are seeing some immunity in the population but to get to herd immunity, we would need to have 4-5 times the number of people we have infected.
With the number we do have infected in the U.S., which is roughly around 10 percent of the population, we already have close to 200,000 people who are dead. So with 60 percent of the population, multiply 10 percent, by six, you would need over 1 million people dead. That to me is a disaster. We cannot get there.
HOLMES: Goodness me, that is a long way to herd immunity, a long and costly way.
Finally, what do you make of the flu vaccine news?
Will it be a stronger shot for 65 and older?
How does seasonal flu how complicate the fight against COVID?
DEL RIO: The flu always comes in the winter in the Northern Hemisphere and we always have to take action, like always recommend to people to get a flu shot. And people over 65, we now have an enhanced flu shot, a stronger flu shot because people over 65 don't respond as well. They respond better to this enhanced flu shot.
[03:10:00]
DEL RIO: But I am pretty confident that we -- if we give the flu shot to people and then continue wearing masks and socially distancing and washing our hands, we will not see much of a flu season.
In the Southern Hemisphere, that just ended their winter, there was almost no flu as people were trying to protect themselves from COVID. COVID is a lot more infectious than the flu. So the things we are doing to protect us from COVID, actually protect us from the flu.
HOLMES: Good way of putting it. Dr. Carlos Del Rio, always a pleasure thanks for joining us.
DEL RIO: Delighted to be with you, Michael.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We will take a break quick break here on the program. When we come back, Beijing letting its guard down, telling people they can drop the masks outside. We'll explain why.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: More now on the coronavirus pandemic, which is not letting go of Brazil.
[03:15:00]
HOLMES: On Friday, officials there reported more than 30,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 1,000 deaths in just 24 hours. More than 3.5 million people in Brazil have been infected with the virus.
And it's getting pretty bad in parts of Europe again. France reporting more than 4,000 new cases for the second day in a row. Germany has just reported its highest number of single day cases since April.
And Spain's director of health emergencies says, in parts of the country, the epidemic is out of control.
Now the number of coronavirus infections recorded in Beijing, however, is dropping. As a matter of fact, no new cases for 13 consecutive days. And so health officials in the city are starting to relax some mask rules.
People in Beijing are now free to remove their masks outdoors, although not everyone is doing so. The number of new cases across the rest of the country going down, too. Selena Wang joins me now from Hong Kong to talk more about this.
We just gave a list of countries where things are not going well. China, it seems to be the opposite.
SELENA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good news indeed, Michael. It is a strong signal that Beijing thinks it can continue to report zero new cases. People in Beijing no longer have to wear masks outdoors, as long as they are not coming into close contact with others. That is according to new government regulations.
Michael, remember, months ago, back in June, the capital was struggle to deal with the outbreak linked to a wholesale market. The city immediately went into partial lockdown and began testing millions of people in just a matter of days.
But now life has virtually returned to normal. Despite the relaxing of these restrictions, many people do continue to wear those masks. Some say it makes them feel safe; others say it is because they are not sure if it's socially acceptable yet to go mask free.
Take a listen to what this 24-year-old Beijing resident had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I think I can take off my mask anytime. But I will need to see if others accept it because I am afraid that people will be scared if they see me not wearing a mask.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WANG: It can take a while for people to adjust to this new change, especially after months of enforcement. And even in pre-COVID times, a mask was a common sight in Beijing, especially on those heavily polluted days.
At the same time, you are seeing this return to normalcy across China; in stark contrast, other parts of Asia are dealing with new surges in COVID-19 infections. Japan is continuing to report more than 1,000 new cases a day.
In South Korea, they struggle to deal with a new outbreak linked to a large church. Hundreds of its members have tested positive.
HOLMES: Selena, thank you, Selena Wang in Hong Kong.
Lebanon, also reeling from the coronavirus crisis. A national lockdown and overnight curfew, now in effect as the nation reported more than 620 new cases on Friday. That is Lebanon's highest daily increase yet.
What's worse, COVID cases have doubled since that horrible explosion in Beirut killed 180 people. Ben Wedeman introduces us to a couple who lost their daughter in the blast and also their faith in their government.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She was their world. Alexandra was born in Beirut, Tracy and Paul Naggear's only child. And at the age of 3, she died in Beirut, her life cut short in a blast that tore away and tore apart so many lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRACY NAGGEAR, BEIRUT BLAST VICTIM: Alexandra hit her head with something, I don't know what and then I hit my head as well and then I covered her.
And I had two doors and ceiling, and this is on my back --
PAUL NAGGEAR, BEIRUT BLAST VICTIM: The shock on her head was too big that it caused an edema that damaged her brain too much, so this is what caused her passing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: These young couple entrepreneurs who took Alexandra to last year's demonstrations demanding a better Lebanon is still in shock and despair.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAGGEAR: We were aggressed and killed in our houses. The only shelter or the place of safety that you thought was still there, you don't have anymore. It's just too much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: Repairs are underway in their neighborhood next to the port. Beyond repair, perhaps, is faith in a country falling apart in so many ways.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
P. NAGGEAR: People can't keep living in a criminal state.
[03:20:00]
P. NAGGEAR: You can't live in a country anymore where the government and the parliament are against you.
T. NAGGEAR: Hope and I still have hope. The only difference, I guess, is that the bridge we have today is exponentially growing and reality is hitting us. It is the last chance we have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: Paul and Tracy, like so many others, are contemplating giving up and moving abroad. Reality in Lebanon has hit them too hard -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Tragic story.
In the United States, the debate over mail-in voting is heating up as lawmakers grilled the postmaster general on Capitol Hill. Why he says the Postal Service should be trusted in this next election. That is coming up.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
HOLMES: Once again, president Donald Trump is attacking mail-in voting; this time, promoting a baseless claim that, if it is used widespread during the presidential election, it could mean never knowing who the winner is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We are not prepared for 51 million ballots. It will be a tremendous embarrassment to our country. It will go on forever. You will never know who won.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: In sharp contrast, the U.S. postmaster general, who President Trump appointed, says that he fully supports mail-in voting, adding that he votes by mail as well. Louis DeJoy testifying before a Senate committee on Friday to ensure lawmakers -- assure lawmakers, the Postal Service could handle the expected influx of mail ahead of the election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LOUIS DEJOY, U.S. POSTMASTER GENERAL: There has been no changes in any policies with regard to election mail for the (INAUDIBLE) 2020 election. I want to assure this committee and the American public that the Postal Service is fully capable and committed to delivering the nation's election mail securely and on time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: With two vastly different stories surrounding mail-in voting, in one of the most contested elections, it raises a question, what is the U.S. intelligence community doing to ensure this information doesn't spread and the election is protected?
What if that disinformation is coming from the White House?
CNN's Alex Marquardt has more on the struggles they are facing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It is fair to say this is an unprecedented situation, that we have never seen anything like this when it comes to keeping the elections safe.
The FBI, the intelligence community, the Department of Homeland Security, the Pentagon and others, all actively working to fight foreign disinformation when it is coming from overseas.
But there is no mechanism in place, no plan to combat it when it is coming from the government; namely, from the president himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Here is the best example. On August 7th, the U.S. intelligence community warned that Russia was working against Joe Biden's campaign.
The one example they cited, a Russian tactic, was something that, just nine days later, the president himself posted on Twitter, to a widely discredited leaked phone recording of Joe Biden from a pro-Russian parliamentarian from Ukraine.
[03:25:00]
MARQUARDT (voice-over): The intelligence community said that was part of Russia's campaign and the president was then spreading it.
But the agencies and departments that would combat that comes from overseas will not do the same when it comes to the president.
So in this case, it fell to Twitter to handle and they took down that account that the president had retweeted.
The president says the only way he will lose the election if it is rigged or that mail-in votes will be forged and lead to the most rigged election in history. Election officials could speak out but they would also risk getting fired.
So what they try to do is set the record straight. For example, the Department of Homeland Security put out an advisory, warning, that, quote, "Threat actors may mislead and confuse the public about the mechanics of mail-in voting in order to cause chaos and promote distrust."
The head of election security for DHS, also regularly tells voters to be patient and to get the most up-to-date, reliable election information from their local election officials.
MARQUARDT: National security and election officials say it is unlikely we will know the winner on Election Night. They are afraid that, in the days that follow, malicious actors could use the uncertainty to sow chaos and confusion.
Some, including the California secretary of state who we spoke with, fear that the president may be among them. But when it comes to keeping him in check, the hands of national security officials are tied -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: The actress Lori Loughlin is headed for prison on Friday. A districts judge in Massachusetts sentencing her to two months in federal prison for her role in a college admissions scandal. Her husband will be doing time as well. Loughlin must pay a fine of $150,000 as well and perform 100 hours of community service.
She admitted to participating in the scheme, paying $500,000 to get her daughters into the University of Southern California.
More than 50 people were charged in a long running conspiracy for high school students to gain admission to top American universities. Parents, allegedly, paying a total of $25 million to help their children get admitted either through cheating on standardized tests or by bribing school officials.
The investigation found that the scandal dated back to 2011 and impacted nine colleges and universities.
A thrilling Europa League victory for Sevilla on Friday. The Spanish side beating Inter Milan, 3-2, clinching a record sixth title. It is the most successful club in the competition's history. Inter were the favorites coming in and they did leave early, so they
had to fight tooth and nail with some (INAUDIBLE) football and some heroic defending in order to clinch the win. The final was played behind closed doors in Germany because of the coronavirus. They seem pretty happy anyway.
Thank you for spending part of your day with me and watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Michael Holmes. "INSIDE AFRICA" is coming up next, I will see you tomorrow.
