Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Midwest Reporting Surge in Coronavirus Cases; Denouncing Violence in Portland; Russia Reopens Schools; Brazil Enters Recession after Pandemic; Pope Holds Public Audience. Aired 9:30-10a

Aired September 02, 2020 - 09:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:30:41]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, coronavirus is spreading rapidly in pockets of the Midwest. So much so that the White House task force is now issuing a dire warning in particular for the state of Iowa. A task force report shows that Iowa has the largest case rate in the country, up 77 percent from last week.

With me now is the mayor of Iowa City, Bruce Teague. I'm also joined by Mayor Jennifer Ananda from Lawrence, Kansas.

Mayors, thanks to both of you.

Mayor Teague, if I could begin with you, tell us what you attribute this to in your city and in Iowa. You've seen particular gains among students returning to college and I wonder if that's what you blame this on.

MAYOR BRUCE TEAGUE (D), IOWA CITY, IOWA: Well, we just had a lot of students come back to town. So we had about 30,000 students within the last three -- three weeks I think, August 15th is when they first started to come back, moving into the dorms.

And so, yes, we have seen an increased number of cases over the -- we have a 30 percent positivity rate just within a 24 hour period. And so we have some major concerns that we must address. And we've got to get a little bit ahead of the game because we're definitely looking in the rearview mirror and trying to catch up. And our efforts are not totally there where they need to be.

SCIUTTO: Mayor Ananda, Lawrence schools, they're starting remotely for the first six weeks. Was that decision made with this danger in mind, right, to keep that influx from leading to an increase in cases?

MAYOR JENNIFER ANANDA, LAWRENCE, KANSAS: The public schools are beginning some of their -- some of them are hybrids, some of them are online and then the University of Kansas is also hybrid and in many ways they're online as well as in person courses.

And early on we pulled together key community leaders through our governments and institutions to make unified decisions. That included the city -- the county, our health department, our chamber and our universities and school districts. And we worked in this framework throughout the pandemic to make important decisions as a community because we are all interconnected and all of us are going to impact those other populations.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

ANANDA: They have focused on the education component of this for the last few weeks.

SCIUTTO: Mayor Teague, Senator Joni Ernst in Iowa, she is propagating something of a conspiracy theory, if you want to call it that, but the idea that health care providers are inflating the death toll because they get reimbursed at a higher rate if Covid is somehow tied to it. Of course the president has shared this. That contradicts what the CDC and the White House's own coronavirus task force says and what the data shows.

What's your reaction when you see that? Have you seen any evidence that deaths from Covid are faked or exaggerated in some way?

TEAGUE: Well, for one, our numbers are not being reported correctly. We have had evidence that has been proven in various ways where the -- the actual numbers of Covid are not correct and then I even heard earlier where the death toll -- if someone is -- what they actually died from may not be what's on their death certificate, and it may not be attributed to Covid even though there's other thing that may have been related to their death.

But, again, this is serious and we need to make sure that we're actually looking at the true numbers, reporting the true numbers, that hospitals, from my knowledge, at least here in Johnson County, have been very accurate. That -- we've been engaged with them from the beginning of this pandemic. And I have faith in our local hospitals here.

SCIUTTO: Mayor Ananda, what the senator appears to be referring to is the idea that death certificates will often list comorbidities, for instance, obesity being one, which makes you at higher risk of dying from Covid, but does not mean that you didn't die from Covid.

I wonder what you reaction is when you hear national Politian's question data that is accepted by the actual health care professionals and experts here. What's your reaction to that? And as a local leader, can you get a handle on this if medical data is called into question?

[09:35:05]

ANANDA: Well, I think that we have used science-based research driven responses and that has served us well through the last few months. We have kept our numbers incredibly low and I'm very proud of our community for that.

I think that we will continue to use this uniform community scorecard that we developed that will -- that has established triggers for restrictions or reopenings that are already in place within our community. And we're going to continue to use that established criteria to ensure that we effectively respond in a science-based research-driven way to Covid-19 in our community.

SCIUTTO: There are established criteria here, as you note, developed by the folks who know this stuff.

Mayors Ananda and Teague, thanks very much to both of you.

TEAGUE: Thank you.

ANANDA: Thank you for having us.

SCIUTTO: The mayor of Portland is now joining the chorus calling for an end to violent protests in that city. The head of the city's police union, he's going to join me shortly to discuss what that means and what comes next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:40:25]

SCIUTTO: Overnight, the mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, made a call for peace, urging residents to join him in denouncing violence of all kinds. His pleas come as protests, which often have turned violent there, have taken over the city's downtown for nearly 100 days. Oregon's governor and state police have already announced plans to make sure that people who commit violence will be prosecuted.

What does that look like? What are next steps?

Joining me now to discuss is the president of the Portland Police Association, Daryl Turner.

Mr. Turner, thanks for taking the time this morning.

DARYL TURNER, PRESIDENT, PORTLAND POLICE ASSOCIATION: Thank you. Good morning.

SCIUTTO: You have said that Portland was, quote, set up for tragedy because of failed policies and leadership.

Tell us what Portland police officers need right now to ensure that the streets there are safe again and free of this kind of violence.

TURNER: Well, first and foremost, we need the support of our elected officials, our city council and our mayor and not just to say stop the violence, but to condemn the violence. They have not unilaterally come together and condemned the violence. They need to support the police bureau. They need to support Chuck Lovell, the new police chief, who stepped into the job knowing what he was stepping into. However, the gravity of it probably is more than what he thought it was going to be.

As soon as he stepped into the job, the city council immediately defunded the police bureau $15 million, took 85 sworn police officer positions away, got rid of our gun violence reduction team, which was one of the most successful in the nation and a model for other police agencies in the nation when we -- when we -- when we -- when they disbanded them.

So we need the support of our elected officials. We need to have a zero tolerance stance on the violence, not only in the protests, but violence in the city.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

TURNER: In the month of July and August, we have had a record number of shootings and homicides connected to those shootings.

SCIUTTO: OK. And I've heard this. I was speaking to the commissioner of police in New York who made similar comments about budget cuts and the reduction of officers.

I do want to ask you though, what do you think, and does it help in any way, when you see outsiders come in, like these caravans of Trump supporters waving flags, spraying protestors, firing paint balls at them? What's your reaction when you see that injected into the situation? Helpful or hurtful?

TURNER: Well, of course it's hurtful and, of course, that's what I mean by zero tolerance. If we're proactive in -- in our policing and are able to be proactive and the city council and the police commissioner allow us to do our job, we can stop a lot of this violence before it starts.

But when we don't have the ability because of sanctions and because of the direction that our elected officials want us to go in, we don't have that ability, including our district attorney, who has already said -- who just came into office and already said there's certain violations and crimes that he will not prosecute, they will decline, directly related to the protests.

SCIUTTO: You've become communities like Portland, political footballs really in this election campaign. You know, the president there and elsewhere saying that this is the fault of the Democrats, this is Joe Biden's America, that kind of thing, you know, to -- praising a vigilante, for instance, that we saw in Kenosha.

What's your reaction to that? I mean I wonder what -- you're a police officer there, right? You want to keep your city safe for all people, right? What do you need to --

TURNER: For all people, yes.

SCIUTTO: What do you need to hear from national leaders, including the president, to help you get there?

TURNER: I think what we need is politics aside. Democrat, Republican, makes no difference. The violence that we've seen for almost 100 days straight, and I'm talking about the peaceful protesters. I'm talking about the violence that we've seen from rioters is unprecedented anywhere in the country. And I think what we need from our political leaders, especially from

the White House, is to come together, work together to stop the violence. But we need that support from our local elected, as well as our national elected, and find a way to stop the violence irrelevant of party lines.

SCIUTTO: Final question, sheriffs from several neighboring counties have refused to send in law enforcement to Portland to help, even though they were requested by the governor. Why is that?

[09:45:00]

TURNER: Because they see the political dynamics of the city of Portland. The elected official not supporting law enforcement.

We have great relationships with those adjoining law enforcement agencies. However, they are, just as we are, handcuffed and we are afraid with the political dynamics of our city and the lack of support from our political, elected leaders to be able to do or job and end this violence. It's come to a point where there's going to be a meeting of the minds, but it is -- we are already in what I call a sinkhole and we're getting deeper and deeper and deeper as we go.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

TURNER: And so we have to do something to end this violence and it needs to be a zero tolerance policy so we can end the violence. And the elected officials, the district attorney and our commissioners, need to all be on board.

SCIUTTO: OK. Daryl Turner, thanks very much for joining us this morning.

TURNER: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, schools in Russia have reopened for the first time in months. Teachers are supposed to be first in line to receive a new Russian approved vaccine, but many don't want it. Trust issues there. We're going to be live in Moscow, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:32]

SCIUTTO: In Russia, children were back in the classroom today for the first time in six months, returning to schools just as the nation surpasses 1 million coronavirus cases.

CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joins me now from Moscow.

And authorities have said teachers will be among the first to receive Russia's vaccine even before it completes phase three trials. That had some teachers on edge.

Matthew Chance, what's happening? Do they not have confidence in it? MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes,

that's right. I mean you can understand why they might be on edge, Jim, because this is a vaccine, remember, that has got approval from the Russian authorities for use for front line key workers, like teachers and doctors. But the phase three human trials, which are crucial to determine the overall effectiveness and safety of the vaccine, has not yet been completed.

They've barely started, in fact. And the clinical data that has been accrued so far has not been made public and so it's not been peer reviewed and so there's no -- you know, it's created this whole atmosphere of mistrust, even amongst the people who perhaps need it most desperately.

And I think it speaks to that idea, and as it's being debated in the U.S. as well, this idea of fast tracking of vaccine. It makes sense on paper, but if you cut short the human trials, if you don't do everything that is possible to reassure people that the vaccine they're expected to take is safe and effective, no matter how desperate the situation is, and the situation here in Russia is very desperate indeed.

It's just passed a million people confirmed as having the coronavirus in this -- in this country. It's still one of the worst affected countries in the world. No matter how desperate people are, they're still not going to trust the vaccine.

We went to one of the schools yesterday, spoke to a whole load of teachers. They've taken all sorts of measures, face masks, kids being put in year (ph) bubbles so they can't interact with each other very easily, but not one of the teachers we spoke to, Jim, had taken advantage of the Russian vaccine. And that's very telling.

SCIUTTO: I mean vaccines are built in part on confidence.

Matthew Chance, thanks very much.

Well, countries such as Brazil and Mexico revealed the economic impacts of the pandemic.

CNN's Matt Rivers is in Mexico City.

Matt, tell us what they're finding.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jim, I mean you have the public health impact of all of this in Latin America, but the economic impact across this region continues to be brutal. It was on Tuesday in Brazil that we found out that country has officially entered a recession.

Two straight quarters of negative, economic growth with the second quarter GDP contracting by more than 9 percent as compared to the first three months of the year, and that's because of the coronavirus outbreak there. It's the second worst in the world, both in cases and in deaths behind only the United States. And then also here in Mexico, you continue to have massive economic impact. It was on Tuesday we heard from Mexican President Lopez Obrador. He

gave a state of the union address. He said, in his opinion, the worst of the pandemic here is over. He said, we've added 93,000 jobs or so here in Mexico in August, but that doesn't change the fact that Mexico's economy has been the worst hit in all of Latin America, arguably and the second quarter of this year.

GDP here fell more than 17 percent as compared to the first three months of the year. The IMF is predicting that by the end of this year, Mexico's GDP will contract by 10.5 percent. This region, Jim, obviously brutally impacted as a result of this pandemic.

SCIUTTO: No question.

Matt Rivers, thank you.

Pope Francis has held his first public audience with March, but with some restrictions, understandably, because of the virus.

CNN's Delia Gallagher joins us now live from Rome.

I mean these are important events. They attract a lot of people. How are they trying to do it safely?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Jim, it was a big day here at the Vatican when the pope resumed his public audiences for the first time in nearly six months with people actually in attendance. He'd been doing this via video link since we went into lockdown in March.

But what's new is the Vatican has changed its venue. It's no longer in St. Peter's Square, where normally we'd have thousands of people flocking to see the pope on a Wednesday morning, but in a small courtyard behind the Vatican. Maximum capacity, 500 people. You can see them spaced out with their chairs, their masks on. And the Vatican says they're doing this for the safety of the people and to abide by Italy's new regulations.

Of course, it's also true, Jim, that there are just fewer tourists here right now. Italy still has strict travel regulations on coming into the country.

[09:55:02]

They say they'll continue to do this at least through the month of September.

I also want to mention, Jim, that the pope took the opportunity during the audience to pray for Lebanon. There was a priest who happened to be there with a flag of Lebanon. The pope saw him, asked him to come up and hold the flag while he was making his comments. Among other things, Jim, the pope called for a day of prayer and fasting for Lebanon on Friday, September 4th.

Jim.

SCIUTTO: Delia, thanks so much.

Back here at home, we are in the moment stretch of the 2020 race. President Trump using his law and order strategy to attack Joe Biden. We're going to discuss with the national press secretary for the Trump campaign. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Good morning. I'm Jim Sciutto.

You'll hear a lot of claims from politicians. Listen to what the doctors and the data say. That's what we're going to focus on.

[10:00:02]

This morning, a warning from Dr. Anthony Fauci as the nation again reports more than 1,000 deaths from coronavirus in a single day.