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Trump Pushes Conspiracy Theories As House Rebukes His Handling Of The USPS; Trump's Sister Bitterly Criticizes Him In Secretly Recorded Audio; Trump To Hold News Conference On "Major Therapeutic Breakthrough"; World Tops 23 Million COVID-19 Cases, U.S. Still Worst Affected With Cases Rising; France Sees Surge In COVID-19 Amid Struggle To Enforce Mask Laws; Universities In 15 U.S. States Report Coronavirus Outbreaks; No End In Sight For Deadly California Wildfires; Russian Opposition Leader In Stable Condition In Berlin Hospital. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired August 23, 2020 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[04:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): President Trump's sister unleashed in secret recordings, calling her brother "a liar" with no principles who can't be trusted. The U.S. president meantime lashing out at the FDA and blaming the "deep state" for a vaccine conspiracy.

Plus, wicked weather: a million acres on fire in California and the Gulf Coast preparing for not one but two potential hurricanes this week.

Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to you, our viewers, here in the United States and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

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BRUNHUBER: It is the eve of U.S. president Donald Trump's big week in the spotlight. Testimonials from those who know him best are expected to be around his party's national convention but those are normally preapproved and flattering.

And comments by his older sister, well, they're anything but. Retired federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry is heard bitterly criticizing her brother in audio secretly recorded by their niece, a vocal critic of the president.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MARYANNE TRUMP BARRY, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S SISTER: This goddamn tweet and the lying, oh, my God. I'm talking too freely but you know. The change of stories, the lack of preparation, the lying, the -- holy (INAUDIBLE).

(END AUDIO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Those recordings were first published by "The Washington

Post." And the reporter who broke the story appeared earlier on CNN to describe some of the exchanges. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL KRANISH, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Mary Trump heard that her brother, the president, had said on FOX News that "maybe I'll have to put her," meaning Judge Maryanne Trump Barry -- she was a federal judge at the time -- "to the border because there are a lot of refugees coming into United States."

And at the time, as you recall, children being separated from their parents and being put in these cramped quarters.

And Maryanne was talk -- gave a conversation with her niece, Mary, and she said, "It's all about the base. All he wants to do is appeal to the base. He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean, my God, if you're a religious person, you would want to help people, not do this."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Maryanne Trump Barry appears to be the source of the claim the president had a friend take a standardized admissions test to get into college.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BARRY: I mean, didn't get him in. But I know he didn't get into college. And he -- and he went to Fordham for one year and then he got into University of Pennsylvania because he had somebody take his -- take the exams.

MARY TRUMP, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S NIECE: No way!

BARRY: And he --

(CROSSTALK)

M. TRUMP: He had somebody take his entrance exams?

BARRY: SATs or whatever.

M. TRUMP: Yes. Oh, Jesus! You're kidding.

BARRY: That's what I do believe. I even remember the name.

M. TRUMP: Oh, man.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The White House has called that allegation absurd. Republican strategist and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro says the tapes are extremely significant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANA NAVARRO, CNN COMMENTATOR: I hope somebody takes these excerpts and turns them into a campaign ad because there is something incredibly powerful about her own voice describing her brother in those terms as "cruel" and "phony" and "a liar," things so many of us have thought.

But to hear his sister say it, his older sister say it, it's just jaw- dropping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And that's a sentiment echoed by our chief media correspondent Brian Stelter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: The quotes about how the president doesn't read stand out to me, because we've heard that from White House aides. But we have not heard it from his family members before.

And this is shocking material from the president's sister. It is also sad. It is sad to see a family torn apart like this. It is sad to see a family so, so broken.

And I know the Trump years have broken many families. There are many liberals and conservatives who don't talk to each other anymore. There are many Republicans and Democrats who don't want to see each other for family holidays.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: President Trump is trying to brush off the controversy, releasing a statement that reads, quote, "Every day, it's something else, who cares. I miss my brother and I will continue to work hard for the American people. Not everyone agrees but the results are obvious. Our country will soon be stronger than ever before."

[04:05:00]

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now to discuss all this is Leslie Vinjamuri, the head of the U.S. and the Americas Programme at Chatham House, an international affairs think tank.

Thank you so much for joining me. So you heard some of those takes there, we heard, you know, similar things from a plethora of former Trump associates and people close to the president.

Do these tapes tell us anything we haven't heard already?

LESLIE VINJAMURI, HEAD OF U.S. AND THE AMERICAS PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: I think they confirm what we have been hearing for several years coming out of this White House from people who have left the White House, who worked around closely with the president.

But I think they are tapping at some very fundamental issues. Remember that the election, the November election is really coming down to the number one issue being really how people feel about the character of the candidate that they're going to vote for.

And so this really strikes at, you know, this ongoing question of the integrity of the president, of his competence. And I think, very importantly, it comes from his sister, from a member of his family.

And this is a president who, like all presidents, quite a lot more, care so much about loyalty, care so much about loyalty, about appearances. And she also, of course, attacks his intelligence, by making the allegation that he cheated on the SAT, which is something that the president has taken very seriously. He's frequently talked about his IQ.

But I think, you know, if you go back to the Democratic National Convention, you look ahead to the Republican National Convention and you think about where the country is right now, the number one thing at stake right now is the public health crisis, the number of Americans dying and the economic crisis.

And this really I think raises yet another question about whether the sitting president has what it takes, is competent, has the integrity to really lead the country for another four years.

BRUNHUBER: Presumably no Trump supporter will be saying, well, this changes everything.

VINJAMURI: No, I think we have seen for a long time that there is a core of Donald Trump's base that stays with him. And, of course, there is a line that accompanies anything like this that's released, which is an attempt to smear his character.

But if you look at the numbers, this is a president that is very well aware, as we all are, that he is significantly down in national polling. But there is a lot at stake and there is still a lot to be played for I think in terms of swaying a number of voters, not only as to who they might vote for, there is a core of people who won't have decided but most importantly whether they'll turn up.

But I think the number one issue on the agenda is the competence of the president; 64 percent of Americans polled do not believe what the president says about the pandemic crisis. That's quite extraordinary.

But really the convention last week and the convention this week will be about motivating and energizing voters for Trump, his base. But the Democrats are a very broad unity coalition, to turn out in November and vote, in an election which is going to be fraught operationally, as we all know.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. Let's turn to the Republican convention next week. We know that they're planning more live events than the Democrats were in terms of speakers. We know that we're going to hear from a lot of Trumps and many people who have become viral stars in the conservative circles, like the couple who wielded guns at Black Lives Matter protesters.

Who do you think we're going to see and what kind of stories do you think they're hoping to tell?

VINJAMURI: Well, the first thing is, they have held this very closely, there hasn't been a lot of information released until very recently.

The second thing is Donald Trump has made a big play out of the Democrats recording speeches, of not being in person. And this really gets to the heart of the main division, which is that the vice president Biden, the Democrats and, frankly, experts and many of the American people are taking the gravity of the pandemic, the need for social distancing, for wearing masks incredibly seriously.

And by really pushing back and saying, we'll be in person, we will have people at the events, we'll wait to see whether President Trump wears a face mask -- of course, Kamala Harris and Vice President Biden certainly did. That's a very big signal to the American people.

So in part, what we're looking at in this convention is a -- is a story about what matters to America and the president is going to speak every night. President Trump, we're told, will appear every night.

I think we'll see a doubling down on the culture wars and a lot of attacks, of course, on Vice President Biden, Kamala Harris, attempting to portray the Democratic Party as being lefties, who will not be able to restore the economy.

[04:10:00]

VINJAMURI: And this is a very interesting point. It is because, of course, getting Americans back to work in a way that is safe, dealing with the pandemic is the number one issue on the Americans' agenda.

And Donald Trump wants to portray himself as the only person who can lead the country economically. It is a very difficult message to send at a point when he's directly culpable for the economic downturn that America is facing now. So that I think he's going to try to do. It will be interesting to see how successful he is.

BRUNHUBER: It is going to be fascinating to watch. Thank you so much, Leslie, for your analysis there. We appreciate it.

VINJAMURI: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. House of Representatives was back in a rare Saturday session, called back from August recess by Speaker Nancy Pelosi. It passed a $25 billion measure to provide funding desperately needed by the Postal Service ahead of this November's election, funding the president insists the post office doesn't need.

President Trump has threatened to veto the bill but it probably won't survive the Republican-led Senate.

And a programming note for you, tune in for our live coverage of the Republican National Convention, starting on Monday night at 7:00 Eastern time. We'll have full coverage and analysis on cnn.com. More than 5.6 million Americans have new been infected with the

coronavirus. The death toll is now more than 176,000. In the past 24 hours, Johns Hopkins University recorded more than 44,000 new cases and more than 900 new deaths from the virus.

With the nation in the grips of the pandemic, U.S. president Donald Trump went golfing at one of his properties on Saturday. Again. He also made a baseless accusation that the federal Food and Drug Administration is deliberately delaying vaccine trials until after the election in November. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This time the president is going at it with his own Food and Drug Administration and its commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn.

The president suggesting that the FDA is intentionally slow walking the development of therapeutics and vaccines so that they don't come out before the November 3rd election. Of course, there is no truth to that. Let me read you directly the president's statement.

He says, "The deep state or whoever over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics. Obviously they're hoping to delay the answer till after November 3rd. Must focus on speed and saving lives."

Now of course, there is no evidence to back up what the president is saying here. The White House nor the FDA have provided any comment or evidence to back up the president's claim here.

It is notable because the president has gone after so many of his public health experts previously; now he's going after Dr. Stephen Hahn and the FDA, who he has praised in the past for actually moving very quickly to develop some of these therapeutics and other medical interventions necessary to go after the coronavirus.

In fact, the president, he's the only one who has actually suggested in the past that there is some connection between November 3rd, Election Day, and the development of a coronavirus vaccine.

The president suggesting previously that a vaccine might be ready in time for Election Day. But, of course, every public health expert, including the president's own, has said it is much more likely that a vaccine will be ready by the end of the year or the beginning of next year -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Most European nations lifted strict lockdown restrictions weeks ago and now cases are surging again. The latest on that.

Plus, what the U.S. can learn from Europe's approach. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The number of lives lost to the coronavirus worldwide topped 800,000 on Saturday; 23 million people have been infected. In some parts of the world, cases are holding steady or even dropping but some countries are seeing surges.

Italy, for instance, topped 1,000 new cases on Saturday, for first time since May. More than 1,200 new cases were reported in the U.K. and a government adviser warns of possible draconian measures. Brazil, second only to the U.S., reported 50,000 new infections with nearly 900 deaths and as we can see the virus is impacting countries around the globe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A festival in India to honor a Hindu god but with about 3 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the country, it's a more somber occasion than usual.

"Today there is a special prayer in the temple," a priest says. "We are playing praying that everyone is cured and that the coronavirus will end."

Prayers also in Baghdad, where Shiite pilgrims are gathering for the beginning of a holy month, despite calls from clerics to stay at home as COVID-19 spreads across the country. The number of cases here rising above 200,000.

This virus has no regard for religion or the people who practice it. The global death toll now more than 800,000. Some experts say some very down to Earth measures are what's needed right now.

In Bolivia, where infections have topped over 100,000, health care workers go door to door in the poorer errors of La Paz to test residents and hand out medical kits.

"I have shortness of breath," one woman says. "I've seen the doctor and she has tested me. One more month and I think I will be OK but a lot of people have died in the neighborhood."

Peru will soon begin phase 3 clinical trials of a vaccine developed by a Chinese company and is in talks to buy millions of doses of a potential vaccine. Its case count is the sixth highest in the world.

Lebanon is under a partial lockdown for two weeks after its infections doubled since an explosion rocked the city more than two weeks ago.

"Everyone has been mixing," one man says. "Corona has certainly increased. We have to take care of ourselves and fix our homes."

[04:20:00] BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A curfew is in place with exceptions for making repairs, clearing rubble and giving out aid, a helping hand that much of the world affected by an unmerciful disease could use right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now a warning from the French health minister, coronavirus is spreading much more quickly in France among people under 40 than those over 65.

In an interview published Sunday, the official said COVID-19 is four times more active among the younger group than the older group. According to Johns Hopkins University, there are more than 275,000 cases in France.

So let's get more on the situation there and what French authorities are doing to protect the public health. For that, we're joined by Melissa Bell in Paris.

Melissa, French authorities, particularly in Marseille, seem to be taking this resurgence very seriously.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. What we have seen over the last couple of weeks really here is authorities trying to add extra restrictions all the time, to try to bring the rising coronavirus cases -- figures back under control.

So masks, for instance, were obligatory indoors in shops. Now on a growing number of French streets, they have to be worn in many neighborhoods. That means, Kim, that the focus of authorities shifts from hospitals and onto the streets, it becomes a matter of law and order.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (voice-over): The new frontline in Europe's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Its soldiers no longer health care workers in hospitals but policemen and women patrolling the streets to remind tourists and locals alike of the new rules.

Here in Marseille, national police units have been brought in to enforce the recent law that made masks mandatory in a growing number of French cities. The fine for not wearing one is nearly $160.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If there weren't police on the streets enforcing, people would wear it less. When they see us, it reminds them that it's mandatory and often that's enough.

BELL: Part of the problem is that the new regulations in France were brought in quickly, as coronavirus cases rose these last couple of weeks. As a result, they can be confusing and difficult to enforce. These police men and women behind me are checking people's masks on the streets.

They are also obligatory down there on the beach. But what they exclaimed is that the new rule will simply be too difficult to enforce in such a crowded space.

BELL (voice-over): Since the reopening of the E.U.'s internal borders in June, Europeans have been heading south for the summer. And from Greece to Croatia, from Spain to France, COVID-19 figures have been rising.

And it is to contain those rises that fresh regulations have been introduced. Before, in France, masks were mandatory and indoor spaces and enforced by shopkeepers or on public transport by the conductors themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were on the front line and, at first, it was hard to get people to comply. Sadly, people need to be scared. They need to be fined for them to understand that it's mandatory, especially in a city like Marseille. People won't listen much to a conductor but they will listen to the police.

BELL (voice-over): But police unions say their new responsibilities bring fresh problems for an already stretched police force.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We've had the Yellow Vests, now it's COVID. While we are busy with those missions, we cannot fight other crimes like delinquency and that's our primary job. That's what it should be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL: Now when you look at those COVID-19 figures in that wider region around Marseille, over the course of a month, the number of cases per 100,000 people grew tenfold.

What's happening now over the course of the next week is people will be heading back north, back to school, back to work and the government, the authorities are now looking at what measures they need to take in schools and in workplaces to try to keep people safe.

BRUNHUBER: Well, excellent reporting there, in your piece. And it raises one question I wanted to ask you about.

Earlier this summer, Amnesty International published a report that suggested there was plenty of evidence of racial bias in coronavirus related policing. The situation seemed particularly bad in France, with Black people being fined and arrested at rates several times higher than white people.

So was this an issue in the community and have they taken any steps to address this?

BELL: Kim, you're right, France is a really unusual country in many ways, insofar as normally data about ethnicity and so on can't be collated at all. It is a very difficult conversation for them to have.

The idea that all French people should be considered alike in front of the law. The result, of course, is it is very hard to measure any discriminations, hard to get a window into how bad things are and therefore to fix the situation. What the coronavirus crisis did was give us some figures.

[04:25:00]

BELL: And you're quite right, when you looked at neighborhoods outside of Paris, for instance, with much more ethnically diverse populations you saw the numbers of stop and searches were double what they were inside Paris.

And then, of course, you saw an equivalent rise in the number of deaths as a result of COVID-19, the figures in the area outside of Paris were much higher than the death rates inside Paris at the time at the very height of the outbreak here back in March and early April.

So it gave you an opportunity to see that not everyone was treated equally, either by authorities trying to bring the outbreak under control or in terms of outcomes once people found themselves threatened with catching the virus itself.

So it provided that interesting way of looking at what was happening in France. And it also gave some movement for a while to people who took to the streets to protest about it. So coronavirus did give us that insight into how French society works, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: We'll see if that continues. Thank you so much for your analysis. Appreciate it.

For more on all of this, let's turn to Dr. Muhammad Munir, a virologist at Lancaster University in Lancaster, England.

Thank you for joining us here. We seem to be trapped: cases drop, cases rise. That's what you're seeing right now in the U.K. and across Europe.

Is there any way to prevent this?

DR. MUHAMMAD MUNIR, , VIROLOGIST, LANCASTER UNIVERSITY: There are possibilities to prevent it. I think the major message I want to pass here is still 80 percent of people still are susceptible, they don't have immunity against the virus.

So when small clusters start to appear, if we don't control the small clusters, it is going to go into an outbreak which could be uncontrollable. And we're putting in the situation we have been same before in March, April, here in Europe.

Certainly there are possibilities to avoid that, mainly to follow the rules and what has been put in place to stick with those rules and regulations because, I mean, we all know that taking the car on the road is a risk. If we do not tailgate and we follow all the traffic lights, we can avoid accidents.

Similarly we can avoid catching coronavirus, because coronavirus doesn't come home and doesn't knock on your door. All it does is that, when you go out, you can bring the virus. So following rules and regulations are critical to avoid large clusters of the cases. BRUNHUBER: Critical as well as testing. I know you've been working on

a fast diagnostic test. These rapid tests tend to be less accurate, under circumstances. But there is a school of thought that suggests we shouldn't worry about the accuracy, that if we tested regularly and quickly, every two days at school or college campuses, we would get a much better handle on outbreaks.

Is that -- is that a good idea, is that feasible?

MUNIR: Well, yes, absolutely. That is the real test moving forward. What we have learned in last five, six months is really to be applied to a second wave or to have a lesser impact of a second wave.

Because earlier we can detect the smaller clusters before they morph into uncontrollable outbreaks. And in that whole scenario, testing, tracing and isolation is the most critical.

If we apply the tests for vulnerable communities, even if it is falling -- failed in the first instance, second instance it will pick it up. So a broad scale application of testing, especially in the vulnerable communities, as the communities where people are going back into the new normal, particularly indoors, the transmission is getting really much of concern. So that is the place where we can really pick these infections.

BRUNHUBER: Sounds like you're describing schools among others. We're hearing more about coronavirus and kids, just as many in Europe and the U.S. are heading back to school. We know that children don't get as sick but there is more and more evidence that they can transmit the virus very effectively.

Now the World Health Organization says children age 12 and over should wear masks. Kids 6 to 11 should wear masks on a risk-based approach. Children aged 5 years and under shouldn't be required to wear masks. But I want to ask you, in the U.K., the U.K. government says masks are not recommended for primary or secondary schoolchildren.

Who is right here?

MUNIR: Well, I think we have now strong evidence is that the face covering does protect the virus, not only to transmit other people but also catching the infection to some extent because the virus in the initial state does determine what is the fate of the disease later.

So I think face coverings, there is no doubt on that, having it on and protected. So now the question comes to the children, it is a little more complicated when it comes to the children wearing the face masks and the covering.

[04:30:00]

MUNIR: So I personally would recommend my children to go into school, having the face covering, because that is where we can have a little barrier for not only transmission but children might not be able to get infected as much as we adults or elder people will get. But the problem really lies when they come back to the family, to the

parents, they transmit back to the community. That's where I'm worrying that the community spread starts. And we will be having more cases. For example, in Germany, where majority of schools are open, they have increased numbers of cases.

BRUNHUBER: That's what we're seeing here in the U.S. as well. Listen, thank you so much for your expertise. Dr. Muhammad Munir in Lancaster, England, we appreciate it.

BRUNHUBER: All right, coming up after the break, the battle against hundreds of wildfires raging across California. Plus, two tropical storms are getting stronger and threatening the U.S. Gulf Coast. The warnings and the forecast coming up next.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to you, our viewers in the United States and Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Right now the governor of California declared a statewide emergency as wildfires rage across the state. The White House has approved a major disaster declaration after the fires tore through 1 million acres of land or more than 4,000 square kilometers in a month.

[04:35:00]

BRUNHUBER: The warm, dry weather and lightning strikes are contributing to the calamity. And as CNN's Michael Holmes reports, thousands of courageous firefighters are risking everything to save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, guys, we're going to get you out of there, OK?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Firefighters trapped on a ridge line in California, the only way out is up. A helicopter crew braves gusting winds to scoop them away to safety.

A close call here but it is a pitched battle across the state, to put out more than 500 fires, many caused by lightning strikes. Officials say two of the blazes are among the biggest they've had in almost 90 years.

More than 12,000 firefighters are battling the flames, many working 24-hour shifts. So far, it is not enough manpower to hold back the fires, which have burned an area bigger than the size of Rhode Island. Neighboring states are sending help but state officials say they need more. GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We've also reached out across the border

into Canada for resources and support. Many of you here recall it was 2017 some of the best wildfire firefighters in the world from Australia. We also have requests out for that talent as well.

HOLMES (voice-over): Officials say there are too many fires right now to save some homes and nearly 120,000 people have been evacuated though some people are taking it into their own hands to protect their property.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we got here flames were all out in front. And halfway down my driveway, my house is set way back. So we just started getting to work. And we put the fires out and so far we've saved it but you never know.

HOLMES (voice-over): In previous fire seasons, prisoner firefighters have been used to help contain the blazes. But authorities say there are fewer of those resources now because of early releases due to the coronavirus.

Forecasters say dry thunderstorms are in the forecast, which could bring more lightning and strong winds to the region, making the job of those trying to stop these ever-growing wildfires even more dangerous -- Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: One of those people who had to evacuate was Darcy Smith in Vacaville, California, the owner of Funky Chicken Rescue, which rescues and adopts unwanted animals.

Thank you so much for being here. I spent years in California covering the wildfires, I know how frightening they can be up close. Describe your experience with the fires.

What did you see, what did you hear?

DARCY SMITH, OWNER, FUNKY CHICKEN RESCUE: Thank you for having me. It was insane. The fire came extremely quickly. It was very, very hot. And it destroyed everything in its path. We had to evacuate without much notice. And we have over 200 animals at our animal facility. So we had to get everybody out. It was pretty crazy there for a while.

BRUNHUBER: We're seeing pictures of some of those animals that you had to take out of there.

How hard was it, with the fire coming?

You know, I heard you describe the propane tanks were exploding and so on.

How hard was it to get all the animals out under those conditions?

SMITH: Yes, it was extremely difficult. Thankfully, we had help. Everybody we had on our help list was also evacuating, because the fire was so large and the span was so big that everybody that normally helped us was also evacuating all of their animals. So --

(CROSSTALK)

BRUNHUBER: I was just going to ask that question, some of the animals have special needs.

So how hard was that?

SMITH: Extremely hard. So we have animals in wheelchairs, we have a lot of blind animals. And to evacuate them at 2:30 in the morning was very difficult.

BRUNHUBER: Did you manage to get them all out?

SMITH: We got all of them out except a pack of our alpacas. And it about killed me to leave them here. We put our animals in a safe spot and then we came back to try to get them. Unfortunately we never did get them out of the sanctuary. But they were on a dirt lot and we did have a fire break around them. So I was just praying.

BRUNHUBER: So hopefully they're still OK. You were forced to evacuate.

Where did you go?

SMITH: We had a friend who had a farm, who we took most of our chickens to.

[04:40:00]

SMITH: We have over 200 chickens and a lot of other farm animals there. And some had to go to the shelter and then the fairgrounds, where they keep a lot of the livestock. Our emus went to the fairgrounds.

BRUNHUBER: So I understand you've been cleared to go back.

Are you back home now?

SMITH: Yes, about 10 o'clock our time this evening we were able to get all the animals back. And so everybody is back and settled in. And now we're reaching out to other sanctuaries and animal control for anybody that needs us to take in their animals.

BRUNHUBER: What does the area look like now?

SMITH: Well, thank goodness, our area, our home and our sanctuary was untouched. But there is so much destruction. So many people lost their homes. I have never seen destruction this bad by a fire.

BRUNHUBER: Wow. And just tell me what happens next. I know the community is coming together to help people in need.

What is the process now of sort of, you know, starting people, getting people back together again?

SMITH: Yes, i think that's what really what it is. The community is coming together, providing donations to get people for the animals, get their animals taken care of and feed for the people, get clothing and get them fed and housing and temporary housing until they can go back. We have a large area that is still evacuated with wildfires, so...

BRUNHUBER: Well, listen, we wish you, your family and all of your animals, of course, all the best. We appreciate you joining us here today. Thank you so much.

SMITH: Thank you for having me.

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[04:45:00]

BRUNHUBER: A frequent foe of Vladimir Putin is being treated by German doctors after falling mysteriously ill. We'll have a live report on Alexei Navalny's condition coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: An update now on gravely ill Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. His chief of staff says Navalny is in stable condition after he was flown to Germany for medical treatment on Saturday.

Hospital officials say the Kremlin critic is undergoing extensive tests and results won't likely be known for days. Navalny suddenly became severely ill Thursday on a flight to Moscow and later fell into a coma.

Those closest to him believe he was poisoned. For more on this, let's bring in CNN producer Milena Veselinovic in London.

U.K. foreign secretary Dominic Raab has been outspoken, calling for a full investigation.

What is the latest there?

MILENA VESELINOVIC, CNN PRODUCER: Well, the foreign secretary has tweeted on Saturday he felt relieved that Navalny was in Berlin in Germany, receiving the medical care he needed.

[04:50:00]

VESELINOVIC: He certainly shares that sense of relief with Navalny's family and his wife, Yulia, who did not think he was safe as long as he was in Russia. His family did not trust the doctors that initially treated him in the Siberian city of Omsk. They wanted to move him to Germany.

That was initially blocked by the doctors in Omsk, who said he was not well enough to undergo that journey. At that point, his wife rejected that, she says and her team alleged that Navalny was kept in Russia for long enough for any potential poison that may have been administered to clear away from his body.

So certainly his family now feeling relief that, in their view, that now he's in safe hands, treated by doctors who they trust.

BRUNHUBER: So of course, he joins a growing list of Kremlin critics, who ended up either dead or very sick, including with cases which happened where you are in the U.K.

VESELINOVIC: That's right. Right here in England in 2018, a military grade nerve agent was used to target a former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia. They survived but were gravely ill.

There was another case about 10 years before of another former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, who suffered a very slow and very agonizing death after being poisoned by a radioactive substance here in London.

Unfortunately he died. Kremlin denies all involvement in those cases and rejects any involvement with the Navalny case, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Thank you very much for that. Appreciate it Milena Veselinovic in London.

Well, 2020 is about to throw us another curveball, this time from space, believe it or not. An asteroid that needs to learn the meaning of social distancing -- when we come back. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, as if political turmoil, unrest and hurricanes weren't enough, now NASA says an asteroid is heading our way. And you'd wonder if it has an agenda. It is expected to brush past the Earth one day before November 3rd, the U.S. election.

The asteroid is named 2018vp1 and is about two meters or about 6 feet wide. Basically my size. So here you can see its orbit as the white circle, while the Earth is the blue circle. So now let's project the orbit from today to November 2nd. But you can relax, the chance of it hitting Earth is estimated at 0.4 percent.

But that's not zero.

I'm Kim Brunhuber. For more on the scathing comments about President Trump from his own sister, CNN NEWSROOM continues in just a moment. Stay with us.