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Trump Pushes Conspiracy Theories As House Rebukes His Handling Of The USPS; Trump To Hold News Conference On "Major Therapeutic Breakthrough"; Trump's Sister Bitterly Criticizes Him In Secretly Recorded Audio; No End In Sight For Deadly California Wildfires; France Sees Surge In COVID-19 Amid Struggle To Enforce Mask Laws; Russian Opposition Leader In Stable Condition In Berlin Hospital; Companies Worry Remote Working Burnout Could Hit Their Bottom Line. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired August 23, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Scathing words from President Trump's older sister: Donald is out for Donald, period. We'll have more of the newly released secret recordings of Maryanne Trump Barry.
Also President Trump goes on the offensive against the FDA, accusing the agency of playing politics with coronavirus vaccine trials.
And wild weather on two U.S. fronts: California battles some of its largest wildfires ever while Gulf Coast residents eye two tropical storms.
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 around his party's national convention. Those comments are normally preapproved and flattering.
But remarks by his older sister are anything but. Retired federal judge Maryanne Trump Barry is heard bitterly criticizing her brother in audio secretly recorded by their niece, Mary Trump, a vocal critic of the president. Listen to this.
(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 on CNN earlier to describe some of the exchanges.
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MICHAEL KRANISH, NATIONAL POLITICAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "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 also appears to be the source of the claim that the president had a friend take a standardized admissions test so he could get into a good college.
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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: Now the White House has called that allegation absurd. But Republican strategist and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro says the tapes are extremely significant.
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ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL 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.
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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: Well, 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."
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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.
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BRUNHUBER: We've 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, cares 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.
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BRUNHUBER: That was Leslie Vinjamuri of the international affairs think tank, Chatham House.
It is obviously a huge week ahead in U.S. politics. So of course, tune in to our coverage of the Republican National Convention, starting on Monday night. One huge issue, a $25 billion funding bill for the U.S. Postal Service
passed by the Democratic controlled House isn't expected to get any further. Democrats pressed ahead with the vote Saturday, despite a White House veto threat.
They argue the money is needed to reverse policies they say are intended to slow down mail-in voting. Suzanne Malveaux reports.
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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: It was a rare Saturday session when members of the House were brought back from their summer recess for this very important vote and it was an overwhelming victory for Democrats in support of the Postal Service. The final vote tally, 257 yeses, Democrats 231. But the big story
here, 26 Republicans joining those Democrats.
It was really an indictment of President Trump, a rejection of the GOP leadership's talking points of their position, that this was simply a scam, a sham, a hoax of some kind.
Republican as well as Democratic lawmakers hearing from voters and constituents that there were real problems that they were facing with the Postal Service and with those delays.
We actually have heard many anecdotal stories. But it really was evidence that was presented by the chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, Carolyn Maloney, who actually presented an internal document from the Postal Service, showing a 10 percent slowdown in the mail.
It really just wasn't getting to people in time. And there's a lot of concern about this and around this.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi describing this as an issue that touches on culture, that social justice, voting rights as well as health.
Using the example saying, look, this could be an issue, whether or not you get your packages from Santa Claus or letters from the Tooth Fairy or the 1.2 billion prescriptions that are delivered in the mail each year; 80 percent of the veterans' prescriptions going through the mail, that this is a serious issue.
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REP. KWEISI MFUME (D-MD): We are here because Americans who are Democrats and Republicans and independents are not getting their mail on time. We are here because there's been a 10 percent slowdown in the last 66 days.
We are here because sorting machines have been dismantled at an accelerating rate, not the normal rate, an accelerated rate all across America. We are here because mailboxes, without density studies, are being
snatched. If the first postmaster general looked back at this day, I'm sure Ben Franklin would be spinning in his grave.
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REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): This is all about politics. First, it was the Russian collusion, then it -- well, in this committee, it was the Michael Cohen hearing. I remember that. Then it was the Mueller report, then it was the Ukraine fake impeachment.
And now it's the White House is putting mailbox in cages and whatever you're -- whatever you're saying now.
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MALVEAUX: Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell immediately responding to the overwhelming support of this bill, the $25 billion slated for the Postal Service as well as a call for the halt of these operational changes that have actually caused these delays in the Postal Service.
He said that, no, the Senate will not be coming back early from their summer session. They will come back in September very likely. They will deal something which is a larger package of a coronavirus relief package. They will not be dealing with the Postal Service in a way that is piecemeal -- Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. has been fighting the coronavirus pandemic in earnest for about six months now. But the numbers show the battle is clearly far from over. More than 176,000 Americans have died since the outbreak began. And the U.S. has well over 5.6 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.
But on Saturday, the U.S. president took aim at his own Food and Drug Administration and the leader he appointed. Jeremy Diamond has more.
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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: And Mr. Trump will hold a news conference Sunday evening. According to the White House press secretary he'll be talking about a, quote, "major therapeutic breakthrough," unquote, for the coronavirus.
Coming up after the break, California is battling hundreds of wildfires as they scorch almost 1 million acres. We'll bring you the latest details.
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: Right now, the governor of California has 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 or 4,000 square kilometers in a month.
As CNN's Michael Holmes reports, thousands of firefighters are risking everything to save lives.
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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.
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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.
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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. We have over 200 chickens and we had 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: That was from my earlier conversation with Darcy Smith in Vacaville, California.
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BRUNHUBER: Ahead on CNN, India passes a coronavirus milestone and is now third in the world for total cases. We'll have that and much more on the virus' global impact. Plus cases are spiking in France as well nearly two months after
strict lockdown restrictions ended. So we'll see what French authorities are doing to make sure people are following those safety guidelines. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to you, our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world.
The number of lives lost to the coronavirus worldwide now stands at over 800,000; 23 million total infections. On Saturday, India crossed the 3 million case mark, it's now number three in the world in terms of confirmed cases. Here's a look at how the virus is impacting India and other countries around the globe.
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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."
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.
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BRUNHUBER: And France is seeing a surge in coronavirus cases. The National Health Agency says the number of new infections increased by 42 percent over the past seven days. The country's health minister says the virus is circulating four times more among people under the age of 40 than it is among people older than 65.
Officials are struggling to enforce mask regulations. Let's bring in CNN's Melissa Bell who joins us live in Paris.
Anytime we talk about strict coronavirus measures, obviously the missing piece is usually enforcement.
So how is France handling this?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, really what we have seen over the last couple of weeks, Kim, is a number of European countries see rises in the new numbers of coronavirus cases that they had, with authorities really scrambling to try and find legislation, new laws, that will help get those numbers back under control.
For instance, in France, masks have been mandatory inside shops; in a growing number of French cities they have become mandatory outdoors. This now becomes a question of law and order.
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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.
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BELL (voice-over): 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: The real fear is that this will continue to get worse. So what we're seeing is legislation now aimed at coming back to work, coming back to school, since after summer break that's what's going to happen. We're expecting to hear more on schools ahead of their reopening.
But already here in France, it has been announced, even if you're working in an open plan office space, masks are going to be mandatory there because they have seen a number of clusters associated with that kind of transmission.
BRUNHUBER: All right, excellent reporting there from you, Melissa Bell. Appreciate it.
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BRUNHUBER: 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.
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BRUNHUBER: Our thanks to virologist, Dr. Muhammad Munir.
An outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin mysteriously falling ill and being treated by German doctors. We'll have a live update on Alexei Navalny's condition ahead.
Plus two weeks of unrest in Belarus, a new round of protests against the president are expected to begin in just a few hours. We're live in Minsk straight ahead. Stay with us for that.
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BRUNHUBER: We have an update on gravely ill Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. His chief of staff says he's 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 the results won't likely be known for days.
Navalny suddenly became severely ill on 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.
Since you're in the U.K., let's start there, U.K. foreign secretary Dominic Raab has been fairly outspoken on this, calling for a full investigation.
What is the latest?
MILENA VESELINOVIC, CNN PRODUCER: Good morning, Kim. That's right. The focus right now is on Alexei Navalny's health. And the British foreign secretary tweeted he was relieved that he was in Germany, he was receiving medical care he needs.
He certainly shares that sense of relief with Alexei Navalny's wife, Yulia, who did not believe her husband was safe in Russia. His family did not trust the doctors in the city of Omsk, where he was initially treated. They said that there was no evidence that Navalny was poisoned.
But his team believed he was kept in Russia just long enough so that any poison that may have been administered to him would have had enough time to clear from his body. That is something that doctors in Omsk reject. But his family certainly feel now that he is in safe hands in Berlin.
BRUNHUBER: This case seems far from unique; he joins a growing list of Kremlin critics, who have either ended up dead or sick, including two cases where you are in the U.K.
VESELINOVIC: Yes, well, right here in England, in 2018, a military grade nerve agent was used to target former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia. They fell gravely ill but they survived.
Another Russian -- former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was not as lucky. He suffered a long and agonizing death after being poisoned with a radioactive substance right here in London.
Now the Kremlin has denied any involvement in those incidents and they have also rejected any connection to Navalny's sudden illness. But his family believe that someone has tried to kill him. And they hope that doctors in Germany will be able to shed some light on what actually happened to him.
BRUNHUBER: We're going to keep reporting on the story. Appreciate it.
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BRUNHUBER: In just a few hours more, mass protests are expected in Belarus. For two weeks now protesters have kept pressure on president Alexander Lukashenko. They want him to resign over a disputed election and the ensuing crackdown on protesters. Let's bring in CNN's Fred Pleitgen, who joins me from Minsk, Belarus.
On one hand, we have the protests ongoing there. On the other hand, the president stoking fears of a NATO invasion. Let's start with the protests.
Are they expected to be as large as before?
Are they sort of losing momentum?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's what the opposition is hoping, is that they can bring as many people to the street as they did last Sunday, when those people who -- we're talking about 100,000 people coming out here in the streets of Minsk and that was a massive number when you consider this whole country only has about 9 million people in it.
So it is not the opposition that has called for the protests today. A lot of workers also called for the protests, they're supposed to walk off. One thing going on now is we're in Independence Square where the protests are supposed to finish, where the big rally is supposed to be held.
One thing you might be able to see here there are a lot of security forces that are in place. We see more of them in the past couple of days, than in the days prior to that. It does seem as though Lukashenko regime does have a more outward posture, checking more people, arresting more people.
And you are seeing more of these security forces on the streets. So the opposition is trying to bring as many people as possible to the square today. They hope that's going to happen, despite the fact that there is some pretty bad weather, it's raining today.
But they do still believe that folks are going to come out. And at the same time we're watching very closely to see what these security forces are going to do, whether or not they're going to try to intervene or whether this is going to be another peaceful rally as it was last week, as it was pretty much every day last week.
There have been people gathering on the square by the thousands, pretty much every day. But today is really the day where the opposition wants to bring the masses out here, to send a very clear message to Alexander Lukashenko, that the opposition is still there and does still have momentum.
BRUNHUBER: And that opposition hoping and calling for a strong international response.
So far what have we been seeing?
PLEITGEN: Well, I think they know that the international community needs to be very careful in the way that it responds to this because one of the things that the opposition fears, many people on the ground here fear, is that Russia could make a move if they feel that the West is doing too much.
Vladimir Putin, a very important player here and it does seem increasingly to be the case that Vladimir Putin seems to be more strongly backing Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko had some big military drills that he went to yesterday, where he praised Russia here.
He said the Russian language would never go away here from this country. He's also doing a lot more to generally say that Belarus is very close to Russia. At the same time, of course, you have the European Union that is still saying there needs to be more transparency here and also saying there needs to be fair elections as well.
BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll keep following that story as the protests develop there in Minsk, Belarus, appreciate it, Fred Pleitgen. Still ahead, working from home, well, the new normal for many of us
amidst the pandemic.
But could there be hidden costs?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're in an environment where there is no physical proximity, everything just feels like there is no end to the day.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Why some companies worry remote working burnout could hit their bottom line. That's next.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, of course, the coronavirus pandemic has forced millions around the world to work from home. Now some love it, some hate it; for many, the novelty of those first few weeks has worn thin. Clare Sebastian looks at how employers are trying to keep their teams engaged from afar.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. Welcome to my bathroom.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back in the spring, we were still able to laugh about working from home and its potential pitfalls. Five months on, many no longer see the funny side.
STEVEN KHUONG, CURACUBBY: What started off as, like, a vacation from the office, I believe has turned into more of, like, gosh, I don't want to use the word imprisonment because it sounds so negative but it's starting to feel like that.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Steven Khuong runs Curacubby, a four-year-old startup that provides I.T. and payment solutions to preschools and day cares.
KHUONG: All of our employees are amazing and I know they're really resilient but when four out of six people come to us and they're, like, hey, there could be an emotional breakdown coming pretty soon. And when you're in an environment where there is no physical proximity, everything just feels like there is no end to the day.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): And that is showing up in statistics. The National Bureau of Economic Research estimated in July that working from home means the average person's workday is 48.5 minutes longer, based on their analysis of a sample of workers in North America, Europe and the Middle East.
That's partly due to sending emails after hours and, for many of us, it isn't a normal work from home situation.
PETER CAPPELLI, UNIVERSITY OF PENN WHARTON SCHOOL: If you have school aged kids at home and they're trying to do school work at the same time you're trying to do office work, then you're trying to do both jobs at the same time. And a lot of that is new. It is not a particularly balanced experiment.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Another challenge, convincing employees to take time off. New York venture capital firm Eniac Ventures is shutting down completely for two weeks this month to make sure employees rest.
And some are taking more drastic measures. Elephant Ventures, a software and data engineering company, is now testing a four-day workweek with 10-hour days.
ART SCHECTMAN, ELEPHANT VENTURES: A four-day week also helps you create a clear boundary between work and life. And it helps restore some of that balance for folks when they're working from home and then the added productivity benefits of having a much earlier start.
KHUONG: Curacubby team, welcome to another hour of 2000's trivia.
[05:55:00]
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Steven Kwang is planning more virtual events like this trivia night to help boost morale. He's even looking into partnering with a customer to provide employees with child care. He's worried for his company's future.
KHUONG: If we were to hire five people right now, how do you train them?
You can't get them all in one room. The sense of cohorts have kind of disappeared. I think that there could be a potential delay in our ability to meet certain goals for the company, based on the lack of efficiency in scaling.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, NASA is announcing an asteroid is heading towards Earth because, well, of course, it is 2020, right?
Well, the asteroid will make a close pass just one day before the November 3rd U.S. election. Thankfully, it is unlikely to hit us. the asteroid is named 2018 V.P. 1 and is about two meters or six feet wide, basically as wide as me.
Essentially you can see it here on the orbit as the white circle, while the Earth is the blue circle. Now let's isolate the orbit from today until November 2nd and you can see NASA says the chance of it actually hitting Earth is just 0.4 percent.
Supposed to be reassuring, right?
All right, well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in the U.S. and Canada, "NEW DAY" is just ahead. For everyone else, it is "Richard Quest's World of Wonder." Stay with us.
