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Germany: Navalny Was Poisoned; Biden To Meet Community Leaders In Kenosha; Europe's COVID Almost Back To March Levels; Labor Day: Please Observe Guidelines; Barr Claims China Greatest Threat To Elections; Storm Hits Korean Peninsula as Second Typhoon Nears; Seoul Police Raid Church Linked to Cluster of Cases; China Resumes Flights from Certain Nations; CDC Makes Extraordinary Move to Temporarily Halt Evictions; Are U.S. Schools Ready to Reopen Amid COVID-19 Risks? Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 03, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
Ahead this hour. Germany claims a Soviet-era toxin poisoned high- profile Putin critic, Alexei Navalny. The same lethal chemical which has become a calling card for Vladimir Putin.
The unconvention political conventions in the U.S. did not produce the conventional bounce in the polls for either candidate. Seriously bad news for an incumbent president struggling to make a case for a second term.
And just in time for back to school in Europe. Coronavirus infections back to levels not seen since the peak of the outbreak.
Toxicology tests from a military hospital in Germany claim to show unequivocal evidence that Alexei Navalny, a prominent critic of the Kremlin, was poisoned by a Soviet era nerve agent known as novichok.
Navalny's chief of staff says the decision to use novichok amounts to president Vladimir Putin's signature at the crime scene.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen reports now from Berlin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kremlin critic, Alexei Navalny, remains in serious condition laying inside the hospital that you see behind me, the Charite, here in Berlin, Germany.
The German government, meanwhile, says that it has now found out beyond any doubt that Navalny was poisoned by the chemical nerve agent, novichok.
Now Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, came out earlier on Wednesday and showed herself to be extremely angry. She said that it was specialists of the German military toxicology
department found out that Alexei Navalny had indeed been subjected to novichok.
Now Merkel says that right now the ball is in Russia's court. She says that there are questions that the Russians can only answer and that Russians must answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCELLOR ANGELA MERKEL, GERMANY (Through translator): There are very serious questions now, which only the Russian
government can and must answer.
The fate of Alexei Navalny has received a lot of attention worldwide. The world will wait for an answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: Meanwhile as far as Alexei Navalny is concerned, the hospital here give an update on Wednesday as well. They say that his condition has somewhat improved.
At the same time they also say that this will be what they call a prolonged illness. And it's not yet clear whether or not there are going to be long term effects for Alexei Navalny.
He is still, the hospital says, on a ventilator here in the hospital that you see behind me.
As far as Russia's concerned they for their part are saying that all of this is anti Russian propaganda, that's according to Russian foreign ministry.
And Russia continues to insist that when Alexei Navalny was in the hospital in Omsk in Russia that there were no traces of any chemical warfare agent there.
Fred Pleitgen, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: CNN's intelligence and security analyst and former CIA operative Bob Baer is with us now for more on this.
So Bob, we just heard from Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her words and actions are really in stark contrast with what's coming from President Donald Trump whose only comment came last week and it was a brief, we're looking into it.
The National Security Counsel tweeted on Wednesday, blah, blah, blah -- "deeply troubled" "reprehensible,." "work with allies."
This could've been written by an intern.
But what we're seeing from Donald Trump is a pattern, right. And we're now 60 days from an election that Trump is favored to lose. Would that explain to some degree the "why now" part?
Why Navalny was poisoned now even though he's been a critic of Putin's for years?
ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I think the Russians work on their schedule, assassinating people. They went Litvinenko in London, Skripal in Britain and this guy.
It's an internal motivation for killing people, and they don't really care about Trump because he's afraid to take Putin on. Whatever Putin has on Trump it's got to be something quite be remarkable.
Because, clearly, John, this was a Russian intelligence attempted hit. Novichok is a nerve agent, military grade, and the fact that the Russians did not look into this, investigate it. It's very clear what's happening here.
But I think Putin just -- he feels he can act with impunity when it comes to Washington and Trump. And he doesn't care what the national security council says or the state department.
VAUSE: I guess -- would this have happened if there was a Joe Biden president? He had been with the allies on previous issue when Putin had done this kind of stuff, and spoken out with others.
BAER: Oh, I think Putin would have been very reluctant. When they went after Skripal in Salisbury, there were some diplomats declared persona non grata. But for the Russians, they don't really care.
[01:05:00]
They've proved they can operate in Europe with weapons of mass destruction. And if you have an American president that lets them get away with this -- and it's really quite remarkable, I've never seen so much tolerance for state terrorism as this president is putting up with.
VAUSE: Well, you mentioned these sort of weapons of mass destruction. The chemical novichok was used here, according to the Germans.
There are myriad ways to kill someone but by using this Soviet era weapon of war is that like the Kremlin sort of renting a billboard in Times Square, it lights up and says Putin did it, we don't care?
BAER: Oh, absolutely. Because at any moment they could have killed Navalny. Made it look like a mob hit, they could have run him over. The Russians know how to do this.
But the fact is that Putin wanted his signature on this attempt. And it's just like in Salisbury, the same thing there. That they want to send the message to Russians, "Don't mess with me or I'll kill you."
VAUSE: But when it comes to Russia and this White House there's a lot behind the scenes, a lot more than just the president refusing to step up and condemn Vladimir Putin. The latest example of this comes from "ABC News" and a report that Homeland Security withheld a July intelligence bulletin about Russia's attacks on Joe Biden's mental health.
The bulletin went for review back on July 7th. It was meant to be distributed to federal, state and local law enforcement, it was not meant to be made public but it was going to be distributed to days after that.
But within an hour of reaching that review process, came this email.
"'Please hold on sending this one out until you have a chance to speak to acting secretary of homeland security. Chad Wolf' wrote DHS Chief of Staff John Gountanis."
This is according to an email obtained by "ABC News."
So the report has never been released, it's been two months now, right? So how many people within the Trump administration are working to protect Russia and Vladimir Putin?
BAER: Well, it's taken Trump three years but he's finally got control of the intelligence community and he's ordering this information, this intelligence, is suppressed.
The intelligence community last year predicted the Russians would be in our elections again in 2020. And they were right, and they are.
And there's multiple pieces of evidence they've already started. They want Trump reelected.
And this intelligence, from the CIA to DNI, they all -- basically have been told keep keep this stuff out of the press before the elections. We want this to go away.
VAUSE: When the Attorney General William Barr tells CNN's Wolf Blitzer that China is a bigger threat and a more aggressive actor when it comes to election meddling than Russia and he says that's the intelligence he's seen, what's the intelligence?
Because none of that's ever been released, right? Nothing close to that.
BAER: Oh, it's a lie, John. Seriously it's a lie. The Chinese are too smart to get in our elections.
And if there were any evidence of it, it would be leaked by now. That's the way the intelligence committee works. It would just come out.
And the administration, since they're so anti-Chinese at this point itself would leak it. But they haven't.
So there is no evidence. It's simply right now Russia getting in the middle of our elections, meddling like they did in 2016.
And the whole legitimacy of the American political system is in question now.
VAUSE: Yes. And what, there's 60 days to go until the election. No more briefings to Congress on election security, verbal briefings anyway. There's a lot happening.
Bob, thanks. Good to see you.
BAER: Thanks.
VAUSE: Well, it seems the presidential election campaign has started in earnest with both candidates pushing their own distinct message.
For Donald Trump, it's lock the doors, hide your family, the Democrats won't keep you safe while Joe Biden is hammering away at the president's failure to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
More now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Two months out from election day, President Trump is on the trail in the key battleground state of North Carolina, pivoting away from the pandemic and turning to the economy and law and order.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: American warriors did not defeat fascism and oppression overseas only to watch our freedoms be trampled by violent mobs here at home. We stopped those violent mobs very easily.
These people only know one thing, and that's strength.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: With U.S. coronavirus cases topping six million sources telling CNN that Trump and top White House officials have all but given up on suppressing the virus, focusing instead on doing just enough to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed while while waiting for a vaccine.
One senior administration official telling CNN, "You can't stop it."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: The idea that you're going to be able to get the economy back on track without getting COVID under control is completely counterintuitive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: Democratic challenger Joe Biden also preparing to counter Trump's visit yesterday to Kenosha, Wisconsin, announcing he will hold a committee meeting there tomorrow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: We've spoken to the all the leaders there and there's been overwhelming request that I do come.
[01:10:00]
Because what we want to do is we got to heal, we got to put things together. Bring people together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: Meanwhile, Trump is continuing to make baseless claims about Biden's health.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: He's on some kind of an enhancement, in my opinion. And I say we should both -- I should take a drug test, so should he.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: But these days, it's the president who is facing questions about his health.
Amid new reporting that Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby when Trump made an unscheduled trip to Walter Reed Medical Center last year.
Biden declining to weigh in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I'm not going to speculate, I'll let the experts do that.
The only time that I have been on notice is when the president's out of the country and I'm in the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: And during his trip to North Carolina on Wednesday, we saw President Trump do something that he's been doing a lot lately, which is trying to undermine confidence in the 2020 elections.
This time the president suggesting that voters who send their votes in by mail, at least in the state of North Carolina, should then go to the polls and try and vote again.
The president, of course, what he's doing there is encourage his voters to commit voter fraud because that is what it would be. If you send in your vote in already by mail and you go and try and vote again by person, that is either voter fraud, or voter fraud.
So not clear what the president is trying to get at there. But certainly it is his latest move to try to undermine public confidence in the elections.
Jeremy Diamond. CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A new CNN poll taken after the two major political conventions in the U.S. has Democrat Joe Biden with an eight point lead nationally over Donald Trump as preferred president.
Compared to a poll taken before the conventions, the numbers have moved within the margin of error.
In other words, no post-convention bounce for the president despite a prime-time week long infomercial all about Donald Trump which at times had all the subtlety of a North Korean propaganda film.
To Larry Sabato now, the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Larry, good to have you with us.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: Let's start with that poll, our CNN poll, which has Biden's lead nationally, we should say. It's a consistent lead for Biden but it's not overwhelming.
Is the race tight enough for Democrats to be worried while at the same time tight enough for Trump supporters to have some hope?
SABATO: Well, the Democrats never want to get overconfident again as they were in 2016. So if this lead makes them nervous, it's probably to Biden's advantage.
But look, that's a pretty healthy lead. You mentioned the lack of the convention bounce for Trump.
Normally, when you have these two conventions with the out party first and the in party second, the in party, that is President Trump's party, gets something of a bounce. You get three, four, five points.
There really is nothing here. And if you look at all the post convention polls together, on average it's exactly where the CNN poll is. It's seven and-a-half to eight points to Biden's advantage. So that's not a bad place to start.
You have to remember, it can end up someplace else and that's up to Biden to prevent.
VAUSE: Yes. And it really is important to look at how those swing states are polling.
And with regards to that, a "Fox News" poll has Biden leading in three battleground states where support for a second Trump term is below his 2016 levels.
Notably Arizona, Trump is trailing Biden again with this nine-point spread.
I know polls are reflective of a moment in time but Democrats haven't really seen a moment like this in Arizona before, have they?
SABATO: No. Hillary Clinton occasionally led by a few points in Arizona back in 2016. In fact, she was really fooled enough to spend some critical final hours in Arizona back in October, November of 2016.
But this is very strong poll for Biden. I think it's probably too generous.
If he wins, I would expect him to win in Arizona by three or four points at most. But I'm sure he'll take it.
Arizona he was leading in. He was leading in Wisconsin which is significant given what's happening in Kenosha -- and he's going there tomorrow. And then North Carolina. He had a narrow lead in North Carolina and it'll be a shock if Trump doesn't carry that in the end.
But if it's even really close in North Carolina, Biden is probably winning nationally.
VAUSE: These polls, I think from just casual observation, seem to suggest for now at least voters are buying the president's law and order push.
We see the pandemic is still the biggest concern. And that's a problem for Donald Trump because he wants to talks about anything except for the coronavirus. In fact, he'd rather talk about the dangers of weaponized soup.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And then they have cans of soup. Soup. And they throw the cans of soup. That's better than a brick because you can't throw a brick, it's too heavy.
[01:15:00]
But a can of soup, you can really put some power into that, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
TRUMP: And then when they get caught, they say, "No, this is soup for my family." They're so innocent. This is soup for my family. It's incredible.
And you have people coming over with bags of soup, big bags of soup. And they lay it on the ground and the anarchists take it and they start throwing it at our cops, at our police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That was back in July. The soup, the soup, the soup.
The last 60 days -- well, one of the biggest challenges for Biden and Harris is essentially tuning out that kind of stuff and the other stuff that's much worse.
Because with know the president will say anything, he'll lie about anything, there's no conspiracy theory he won't retweet, no comment which is too racially offensive, there's no line he won't cross.
And the Harris Biden team, Biden Harris team, have to stay focused and ignore that, in a way.
SABATO: They do. It's very important that they not be distracted. Because that's really the goal of Donald Trump in telling these wild stories or a plane full of thugs flying who knows where -- I guess it's antifa again.
But every story he tells that is wild is designed to take a day away from the Democrat's message which has to be about the pandemic more than anything else, certainly more than the racial problems. Which aren't helping Trump, at least to this point, as much at this point as he had hoped. But --
VAUSE: (Inaudible).
SABATO: Yes.
VAUSE: Sorry, I was just going to say. So very quickly. A day that Donald Trump is not talking about the pandemic as far as the White House and his campaign is concerned is a good day for Donald Trump. Right?
SABATO: Absolutely. It helps him, even with his base. A lot of his members of the base are also concerned about the pandemic. So he doesn't want to talk about that till he has a vaccine, supposedly.
By November 1st, isn't that amazing? Just two days ahead of the election.
It's just incredible how they produce this. I salute them.
VAUSE: Yes, we all do. We'll see what it is when it comes out. And I think there's a lot of experts out there who would disagree with that timeline.
But we'll find out soon enough.
Thanks, Larry. Good to see you.
SABATO: Thank you, John.
VAUSE: COVID cases in Europe have almost reached levels last seen in March when the outbreak was starting to peak.
The E.U. Public Health Agency says cases have been soaring for five weeks now with the older population hit especially hard. Meantime, with the U.S. Labor Day holiday coming this weekend, the
company's top infectious disease expert is imploring Americans to follow health guidelines to avoid another holiday surge like we saw on Memorial Day.
And the U.S. CDC says states should be prepared to distribute COVID-19 vaccines as soon as late October assuming one is ready at that time.
Despite that guidance, the head of the National Institutes of Health says it's unlikely a vaccine will actually be ready by October.
CNN's Dianne Gallagher has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANE GALLAGHER, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Start preparing to distribute a COVID vaccine as soon as late October.
That's what the CDC has told public health officials across the country, providing distribution scenarios for two different potential vaccines. Prioritizing certain groups for a vaccine, if approved, like health care workers.
But there's still no guarantee for a vaccine.
The U.S. jumped back to more than 1,000 new record deaths on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ride free, take risks. That's our motto, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: And now it appears we're learning just how deadly those risks were at last month's Sturgis South Dakota motorcycle rally.
Health officials confirming a 60-year Minnesota man is the first known coronavirus death traced back to the 10-day event attended by more than 400,000 people, where pandemic protocols were not enforced or embraced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: (Noise)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: "We're being human once again. F*$ that COVID sh*#."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: And with 17 states reporting an uptick in new cases the national surge has moved from the south to the Midwest as states in the America's middle like Iowa where masks are not mandated are seeing massive spikes in positivity rates.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR BRUCE TEAGUE, IOWA CITY, IOWA: We have a 30 percent positivity rate just within a 24-hour period. And so we have some major concerns that we must address.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Even as her state suffers through a surge Iowa Senator Joni Ernst is floated a debunked conspiracy theory that COVID death totals are inflated.
And she appeared to suggest, without proof, that doctors are falsifying death records for financial gain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IOWA) (Voice Over): "I have heard it from healthcare providers that they do get reimbursed higher amounts if it's a COVID-related illness or death."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Around 185,000 people have died in the U.S. from COVID-19. More than six million cases and millions more feeling the economic pain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CALIF): We're in the middle of a epidemic with homelessness.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: In an extraordinary move the Trump administration invoking the CDC's powers to temporarily halt most evictions for millions of Americans struggling to pay their rent due to hardship brought on by COVID.
Saying people evicted from their homes can spread the virus as they seek a new shelter or even become homeless.
[01:20:00]
The nation's top disease expert warning today the U.S. needs to act quickly before flu season begins to get the coronavirus pandemic under control. In order to avoid a double dose of trouble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: What I would really like to see is kind of a full-court press so that when you get these cases in the fall they won't surge up. They'll be controllable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Now experts in the United States are actually asking college students to stay at school. And if they have plans to go home, to quarantine 14 days before they go back to their home cities or see their family members.
And that's because of this exponential rise in cases among college students.
At this point more than 20,000 college students have tested positive for COVID-19 in 36 different states.
Diane Gallagher. CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Hollywood action hero Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and his family are among the millions of Americans recovering from the coronavirus.
Johnson says the entire family caught the virus from close friends. He found out he tested positive about two and-a-half weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWAYNE JOHNSON, ACTOR, FORMER PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER: And I could tell you that this has been one of the most challenging and difficult things we have ever had to ensure as a family. And for me personally too as well.
And I've gone through some doozies in the past, I've gotten knocked about and got my ass kicked a little bit in the past with some challenges.
But testing positive for COVID-19 is much different than overcoming nasty injuries or being evicted or even being broke. Which I have been more than a few times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Johnson says he is thankful the entire family has made a full recovery.
Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
Of all the countries accused of election meddling in the U.S., which one is the biggest threat?
If you said Russia then the U.S. attorney general say you're wrong. More on the mystery intelligence Barr claims to have seen.
Also, the search is on for a missing cargo ship near Japan after a major typhoon swept through the region.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The U.S. attorney general has echoed the false and misleading statements made by the president over mail-in ballots to play up an almost non-existent risk of voter fraud.
William Barr spoke exclusively with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
He said states which were looking -- were playing with fire, rather, when it came to the whole vote by mail thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is playing with fire, this is playing with fire. We're a very closely divided country here.
And if people have to have confidence in the results of the election and the legitimacy of the government and people trying to change the rules to this methodology -- which, as a matter of logic, is very open to fraud and coercion -- is reckless and dangerous.
[01:25:00]
And people are playing with fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Barr went on to say that absentee ballots were a good option for those concerned about COVID-19 and voting. But that's essentially the same thing as voting by mail.
And when it comes to foreign interference in the coming U.S. election, Barr downplayed the well-documented efforts by Russia.
Instead he pointed the finger to China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN NEWSROOM HOST: The intelligence community says Russia, China and Iran are seeking to interfere in the U.S. presidential election for various reasons. But mostly they want to sow dissent in our country, exacerbate racial tensions, et cetera [ph] like that.
Of those three countries that the intelligence community has pointed to, Russia, China and Iran, which is the most assertive, the most aggressive in this area?
BARR: I believe it's China.
BLITZER: It's what?
BARR: China.
BLITZER: China more than Russia right now?
BARR: Yes.
BLITZER: Why do you say that?
BARR: Because I've seen the intelligence. That's what I've concluded.
BLITZER: What are they trying to do?
BARR: Well, I'm not going to discuss that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's convenient. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout live this hour in Hong Kong. And it's being kind of snarky there but this is an administration which has a very big credibility problem.
If they're going to make accusations like that, surely there is sort of a responsibility to put the evidence up there. It's an easy one to knock down by Beijing if they don't.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. An administration also with a reputation of being tough on China. In fact it was just a few hours after William Barr made those comments we heard from Mike Pompeo who called China the single greatest threat to America.
Look, we are still waiting for reaction from China to those explosive comments that came from Attorney General Barr claiming that China is a bigger election threat than Russia.
And he said he had, quote "seen the evidence." He did not provide the evidence in that interview with Wolf Blitzer, nor did he do after the interview.
And if the evidence exists, the U.S. intelligence community has yet to share it.
Now according to a U.S. intelligence report on election security that was released early in August it says yes, China would prefer if U.S. President Donald Trump not win reelection, but the report did not mention any evidence that shows China is actively undermining or manipulating the election in order to weaken Donald Trump.
Whereas Russia, according to this report, is actively interfering to undermine the candidacy of Joe Biden through its use of state actors using social media, using Russian state TV to boost the standing of Donald Trump.
Now as we wait for reaction, official reaction from Beijing, to that claim by Attorney General Barr -- we know that China in the past has reacted to similar comments.
In fact, it was back in in April when the spokesperson of ministry of affairs said that China regards the U.S. election as an internal matter, it's not interested in interference.
And adding, quote: "We hope the people of the U.S. will not drag China into its election politics."
John.
VAUSE: Well, with that in mind -- we're hearing this increasing tough rhetoric from members within this administration. It's not usual for, on the eve of an election for Republicans in
particular, to make China the straw man, it's been happening for years.
This time though it seems I guess a lot -- at a much stronger level, a much higher level, if you like. The talk is a lot tougher than it has been in the past.
STOUT: Yes, it is a lot tougher. We are a moment of unprecedented friction between the U.S. and China, a moment not seen since diplomatic relations were established in the Nixon era.
And this is a cold war that's emerged on multiple fronts; geopolitical, economic, et cetera.
But China also knows that there is an election year. So there is the pressure inside China to react with forceful rhetoric and with action but also the calculation being made inside China not to play into the hands of Donald Trump's campaign for reelection.
John.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout there live in Hong Kong.
We'll take a short break.
When we come back on CNN NEWSROOM, the Korean Peninsula getting typhoon Maysak and other major storm is already on its way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:19]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.
Germany says Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny was poisoned with a chemical nerve agent Novichok. Navalny's chief of staff says the use of that agent is like President Vladimir Putin's autographing the crime scene.
Now international leaders are condemning the attack and demanding answers from Moscow. Some are talking sanctions.
The U.S. CDC says the states should refer to distribute COVID-19 vaccines as soon as late October, assuming there is one ready. The head of the U.S. National Institutes of Health says it's unlikely that a vaccine will actually be ready to go but defends the CDC efforts to get people prepared.
Only two months away from the U.S. presidential election, a new CNN poll shows Joe Biden maintaining his lead over Donald Trump 51 to 43 percent nationally. Analysis of 15 battleground states shows a closer race with Biden's lead within the margin of error. The Japanese Coast Guard is searching for a cargo ship and more than 40 members went missing during Typhoon Maysak. So far crews have rescued one man believed to be from the ship which is carrying thousands of livestock. The ship sent out a distress signal just on Wednesday as the storm was approaching.
Maysak has since made landfall on the Korean Peninsula with winds around 165 kilometers an hour. Another strong storm is expected to hit the same region this coming weekend.
Let's go to meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with more details on this. so I guess, you know, they're not great conditions for a search and rescue?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, with another storm system on approach, John, and I was just looking to some of the data. 10 to 15 meter-high wave, in the open ocean when this particular storm system approached. So it really speaks to the significance. Essentially putting 10 - 15 story building on top of a ship of that magnitude certainly could cause major problems as it has.
But you take a look, the rarity of getting a tropical system only six now, Maysak becomes the sixth typhoon ever to make landfall across the Korean Peninsula with winds exceeding 144 kph, which is Category 2 equivalent. And what is left of it quickly doing away across portions of Vladivostok, raining itself out essentially in this region.
And because of that rapid motion into this region rainfall amounts limited to about 250 millimeters which is pretty significant but forecasts had up to 250 maybe up to 350 millimeters in some of these spots. But certainly lesser amounts came down as a result.
But this is what John is alluding to when it comes to another system in this search and rescue operation being of concern because this particular typhoon has what it takes to even intensify beyond what the previous storm did. And the sea surface temperatures here absolutely conducive for rapid development.
Typically, you want to be around 28 degrees Celsius. Water temperatures here as warm as 32 degrees Celsius across this region. And in fact that is about 2 degrees Celsius above any record we've seen going back all the way since 1982.
You notice the blue contours there, kind of a cool pool air -- water as Maysak kind of up-welled ocean water as it moved over that region of the Korean Peninsula.
But this is the forecast we're concerned about come Friday into Saturday. A landfall possibly across the northern Ryukyu Islands. Could be a strong Category 3, maybe even a Category 4 equivalent once it makes that initial landfall and then beyond that, notice where it ends up at the 96th hour which what could be sometime Sunday into Monday of next week. And that would be possibly yet another Category 2, making it the seventh ever to make landfall across this region of the Korean Peninsula of that magnitude. And again, this is a very, very organized system as it approaches portions of South Korea so the concern is going to be significant given how much rain has already come down here, John.
[01:34:53]
JAVAHERI: Again, it's all about 250 millimeters. The next forecast also brings down an additional 250 millimeters and this is the wettest -- second wettest monsoon season, I should say, across the Korean Peninsula. So getting back to back typhoons that you typically don't see on top of an already wet season is going to be a big problem across this region.
VAUSE: That's not great news. Thanks, Pedram. Appreciate the update.
Well, the South Korean pastor whose church was raided by police over a coronavirus outbreak is demanding an apology from the South Korean president and if he doesn't get that within a month, the pastor warns he will harm himself. He's accused of hampering a gunman investigation into the outbreak linked to his church.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is live in Seoul with the very latest. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this pastor has some history when it comes to the South Korean president and has quite a colorful reputation.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. I mean politics very much plays into this issue. This particular reverend and his conservative church, Sarang Jeil church, has long been against the South Korean President Moon Jae-in.
They don't agree with what he's doing with North Korea and his outreach and engagement. They have called him a communist. They say he's handing over South Korea to North Korea. So there is certainly no love lost between the two sides.
But what the focus at the moment is on is when it comes to the coronavirus itself. Now, the reverend did test positive for coronavirus, as did more than 1,100 of his church or at least those linked to the church, some secondary and tertiary cases as well. Nine of them actually died from the virus.
So what police are investigating at this point is whether or not they hampered the investigation. Now, officials say that they did. Officials say the reverend was not helping. That some of the congregation were not giving exact details, proper phone numbers. They have to get police in to try and track people down so they could do contact tracing and try and contain the outbreak.
And on top of that, the reverend actually went to an anti-government protest rally one weekend in August, removed his mask to make a speech, then and tested positive a couple of days later.
So these are the issues that officials and police are looking into. But from his point of view the reverend is also threatening and carrying out legal action against the government, saying that there is a case to be made for defamation. He's blaming the South Korean president for blaming the church for this latest outbreak, saying that he has to have that apology within a month, or as he said, he will self harm, John.
VAUSE: And when it comes to, you know, these churches, evangelical churches, they are being sort of linked directly to what looks to be, you know, what could be a steep rise in the number of confirmed cases in South Korea, you know, a country which had been praised four months ago for having this almost under control.
HANCOCKS: There are an awful lot of similarities to where we were back in February and March with the religious groups Shinchonji. They too, were accused of hampering the investigation, of not coming forward, and allowing people to be tested. Some refused, some just simply weren't traceable.
And we are seeing a very similar situation here. Officials including the South Korean President Moon Jae-in blaming the church saying that this is why the situation is so severe.
You've got President Moon who said this situation now was more severe than it was back in the beginning of the epidemic. Now, we have started to see numbers stabilizing somewhat. They were 195 for yesterday. That's the first time it's been below 200 new cases since mid-August.
But officials say that there are still an awful lot of new cases coming forward that are untraceable. They don't know the tracing route. And they say that the fact that this church was secretive, the fact that they were not transparent has played a big role in that.
Now, there are legal battles, as I say, ongoing on both sides of it but from the police investigation point of view, they did raid the church, they did raid the home of this particular reverend, trying to find any evidence they could to suggest that they were less than transparent.
VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks live in Seoul.
Well, China taking a baby step towards a new post-pandemic normalcy. On Thursday, international commercial flights to and from Beijing will resume from a handful of countries the government has deemed as having the virus under control.
David Culver has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is a big step in getting back to where we were before the COVID-19 outbreak here in China. China has announced that international flights will resume from where we are, here in Beijing to other countries.
Specific countries have been listed. They're talking about Cambodia, Greece, Denmark, Thailand, Pakistan, Australia, Canada and Sweden. Those are countries that they have deemed to essentially have most of the virus under control, the up rates under control on those respective locations. And so they feel like eligible passengers from those countries with specific visas, we should stress, can enter Beijing.
[01:39:52]
CULVER: Also, Chinese nationals who are in those countries and elsewhere in the world can come back into the country via Beijing. You've got to remember, through much of this outbreak, this place, this city, the capital was a fortress. They were trying to protect it from any sort of permeation of the virus.
So now, a step towards getting things back to normal, as they resume these international flights. People who arrive here are going to go through quite a process. A nucleic acid test and two weeks of government quarantine in a facility right here.
David Culver, CNN -- Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Globally, the airline industry continues to struggle and the U.S. carrier, United Airlines is among the latest to warn that without additional federal assistance 16,000 employees will be furloughed in less than a month, about 20 percent of the workforce.
Auto industry is in a similar situation. Ford looking to cut 1,400 salary jobs. For now the company is offering early retirement.
CNN's John Defterios joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. You know, this is what is kind of crazy at the moment. When you look at these job layoffs, and then you look at the stock market. And there is this huge disconnect between what's happening on Wall Street and what's happening on Main Street.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: You know, John. I'm glad you started there because there are a number of cross currents in the market today. But one of the central themes is this disconnect that you are talking about because the Dow is above 29000, the first time since February. And the Nasdaq crossed 12000 as a benchmark for the first time ever.
Then you see major companies, backbone of the American industrial revolution and modern travel, of course, now suffering. You talked about Ford.
But let's start with United here. It's looking to furlough some workers, planning this for October 1st if there is not a new stimulus package. And this is a central theme across the board. You saw American Airlines do so, Delta -- you see the numbers there from United -- and then British Airways actually laying off people. It's not a furlough. They cut 12,000 workers.
The chairman of United, John, was saying that this is very important, that the industry needs to shrink down in half. So far we've seen cuts of about 25 or 30 percent which means it's not over.
The CEO of Kayak, which is the online travel site, said there's some other central issues going on right now. People are not using hotels. They're using Bread and Breakfasts. They're traveling by car, not using the airlines. It's all spur of a moment. So it's undermining the hospitality industry.
And then United said look, even if you did come out with another bailout package and the first one is about $32 billion in totality, it would only forestall the layoffs in the early part of 2021, that at some point, the industry needs to lay off people because they just don't see it snapping back to the levels they saw in 2019. Kayak saying we won't see a strong recovery until at least another two years.
VAUSE: Yes. I mean, we're looking at travel and tourism as being, you know, the ones who are suffering a lot because of the pandemic. There is nowhere to go, and there's no one really who wants to go anywhere either.
But, you know, Ford seems to be another story altogether because that's basically, you know, a manufacturing barometer. So should that be the more concerning out of, you know, these industries which are cutting back?
DEFTERIOS: Yes. In fact Ford's in the midst, John, of an $11 billion restructuring right now. So this is fairly tough times. And is also another underlying issue there for Ford that is trying to catch up with Tesla, kind of the newcomer to the market that has moved to electric vehicles.
So there's destruction in the auto industry at the same time there's a pandemic. So those 1,400 jobs coming from white collar management because they unions have protect as much as they can. But again Ford is shrinking down to size over the next two years. They have 190,000 employees worldwide.
Again, if you're looking for the broader issues that you are talking about you can look at the Beige Book from the Federal Reserve which came out. It's a survey that takes all of the central banks through the United States, the regional banks. And they are saying two underlying issues here that most consumers see slower growth ahead and that there is lingering anxiety about the jobs.
And that's why we saw consumer spending sharply drop from the levels that we saw in May and June, and we are expecting more of the same in August and September. That's why we're watching the jobs report very closely which comes out tomorrow.
VAUSE: There does seem to be a reckoning on its way and I think it's going to happen after November. John --
DEFTERIOS: Yes.
VAUSE: -- we will see what happens. Thank you. John Defterios there in Abu Dhabi. Short break. When we come back on CNN newsroom, the longer pandemic drags on, the tougher it is four millions struggling to pay the rent and in danger of being evicted.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our family -- I have a sister, I have, you know, my mom, and we never know. Maybe today is her, tomorrow's me, you know?
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[01:44:37]
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VAUSE: It was just a trip to the hairdresser for the U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but it has ended in controversy and what she described as a political setup. Pelosi had an appointment Monday at a salon in San Francisco. Fox News reported the salon owner was angry Pelosi broke rules requiring her treatment to be done outside because of the pandemic. Fox had played security video of Pelosi not wearing a mask as she walked from one room to another.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I take responsibility for trusting the word of the neighborhood salon that I've been to over the years many times. And that when they said we're able to accommodate people one person at a time, and that we can set up that time, I trusted that.
As it turns out, it was a set up, so I take responsibility for falling for a set up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Oh boy. Politico reports the independent stylist who did Pelosi's hair, said he called the owner, would not have taken the appointment without her approval.
The Trump administration is using the CDC authority to pause evictions for millions of Americans struggling to pay rent because of the pandemic. The extraordinary move is coming too late for many people.
CNN's Kyung Lah, reports from Texas, shows us the painful side effects of these economic crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEPUTY BENNIE GANT, HARRIS COUNTY CONSTABLE'S OFFICE: Hello? Constable, you need to come to the door.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From one Houston home to the next, Deputy Bennie Gant with the Harris County Constable's office executes judges' orders to evict.
ISRAEL RODRIGUEZ, EVICTED TENANT: We've got nowhere to go.
LAH: Israel Rodriguez is a tenant at this apartment, but he is not alone. 20-month-old Israel, his brother, four-year-old Fabian and their mother are some of the estimated 40 million Americans facing eviction in the downward spiral of the COVID economy.
RODRIGUEZ: They didn't rush us, but they're like, get everything you need.
LAH: Rodriguez admits he hasn't been paying rent -- behind thousands of dollars.
RODRIGUEZ: It's my fault, the eviction. There was a lot going on during the corona. And when it hit, I lost my job. So, it took me like a month to get at another job. This is my check, but I'm making it $300. It's literally $300.
LAH: Their stroller now carries their possessions.
RODRIGUEZ: It's mainly the kids' clothes because me and her just wear the same clothes almost every day, making sure we have toilet paper, a little bit of snacks for the kids.
LAH: What are you going to do with all of your stuff?
RODRIGUEZ: That's trash. They could throw away the trash because we don't have a car. We don't have help. We don't have nobody that can come, you know, help us out right now -- nobody. We've got ourselves, me and the kids and her -- that's it.
LAH: How does U.S. law enforcement feel about seeing that family have to go?
GANT: It's a tough situation. I've got six kids, six children. And, you know, when the kids see mom and dad in a desperate situation, it's tough.
LAH: Deputy Gant, an officer for 35 years, is just starting his day. Eight evictions are on his list.
GANT: A co-defendant is here, two of them.
LAH: At each stop, people behind on rent are ordered to leave. Possessions pulled out.
Where are you guys going to go now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to go to a hotel.
[01:49:55]
LAH: You can go to a hotel?
As Deputy Gant worked through his list, we get word that 200 eviction orders have come through the Harris County Courts for this week. That's double what they normally saw for an entire month before COVID. 200 on Monday. What does that --
GANT: Well, that's a lot. Yes.
LAH: What does that say to you?
GANT: What that means is that they are ready to start having people removed from properties.
LAH: It is a backlog, but it's also just one precinct in one of America's hardest hit cities in evictions. The job takes its toll.
GANT: I don't really want to put her out here, but I have to under this judge's order.
LAH: At this apartment, the tenant is an elderly woman who can no longer afford the rent. The landlord's mover, Francisco Munoz, works though he doesn't want to.
FRANCISCO MUNOZ, HELPING MOVE EVICTED TENANT: I have a family, I have a sister, you know, my mom. And we never know. Maybe today is her, tomorrow it's me, you know.
LAH: Midway through the eviction, Deputy Gant decides it's too dangerous to evict her in the Houston summer heat.
GANT: I'm not going to put her out here in this heat --
LAH: and will call social services instead.
GANT: Inside today but tomorrow you're leaving.
LAH: A one day reprieve with an uncertain tomorrow.
GANT: You have a situation where people aren't working. They don't have the money and invest with.
LAH: The Harris County Constable's Office has put a hold on all of evictions for now as they try to sort exactly what does the CDC nationwide eviction moratorium mean. Locally, there is quite a bit of confusion and questions about whether this will be effective at all.
Kyung Lah, CNN -- Houston, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come, as schools in the U.S. and around the world reopen amid the pandemic, we'll look at how they are trying to strike a balance between what is a normal routine and keeping kids safe.
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VAUSE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appear to be making that career change from royal couple to film producers. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a multi-year production deal with Netflix to produce documentaries, feature films, children's programing. They may appear in some projects as well but they want to focus on creating informative content that gives hope.
The Venice Film Festival opened on Wednesday without screaming fans crammed shoulder to shoulder on the red carpet. The glitz and glamour it seems has been replaced with temperature checks and empty seats for social distancing.
The film industry is now trying to find a way to coexist with ever- growing streaming services and keep festivals alive for international gatherings are encouraged. The world's oldest film festival is to continue until September 12.
Well, many students in Britain have returned to school with new measures in place to guard against the coronavirus including classroom bubbles to encourage social distancing and one-way systems in and out of buildings.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson had initially promised to reopen schools before the summer break, before having to push that date back.
Schools in New York, meantime, are set to reopen later this month. The city had to reach a deal with teachers to settle on that date, but it's not just the staff who are worried about the virus. Parents also had their concerns.
CNN's Bianna Golodryga has this report.
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ISABELLA ESPINAL, STUDENT: I feel so happy that I want to explode.
[01:54:51]
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For five-year-old Isabella and her 13-year-old brother, Kelvin, going back to school is a long- awaited return to some form of normalcy.
KELVIN ESPINAL, STUDENT: It's like the school hours from 8:00 to 2:20 -- we're going to learn more.
GOLODRYGA: Like millions of other students across the country, remote learning has been a struggle for the Brooklyn, New York siblings.
KARLA MONCADA, MOTHER: I had so much stress getting my daughter to learn and remote learning, and she cried most of the time. My son, he distracted himself by talking to his peers and playing on the computer.
GOLODRYGA: But returning to in-person instruction is not without risk. Their mother, Karla, suffered a probable case of COVID-19 in the spring when tests were scarce. She says her asthma made her recovery much more difficult.
MONCADA: It was very scary. I thought I was going to die, so I don't wish that to anybody.
GOLODRYGA: She worries about sending her children back to school, especially Isabella who also has asthma but says the alternative, another semester online, would be even worse.
MONCADA: I don't have a choice. But it's either, you know, try to get her into this education phase that she is going to that is so essential. Or, you know, just stay at home and do the same thing that we did last time.
GOLODRYGA: Two-thirds of the 100 largest school districts in the country are starting the school year entirely online.
EMILY OSTER, AUTHOR, "EXPECTING BETTER" School reopening is really important for our society. It's not that I think that we should reopen at all costs, but I think that trying to do this safely in places where we can do it safely seems just really important for kids, for getting people back to work, for the mental health of parents, for learning.
GOLODRYGA: As doctors continue to study how susceptible children are to the coronavirus and whether they transmit the disease as easily as adults, dozens of schools that have reopened have already experienced outbreaks. And thousands of students and teachers have been forced to quarantine just weeks into the school year.
Some teachers' unions have fought against returning to in-person learning, threatening not to return to the classroom unless additional safety measures are taken.
BECKY PRINGLE, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: We cannot open our school buildings unless it is safe.
GOLODRYGA: For parents like Karla, still haunted by scenes like this one in a Georgia high school were packed hallways full of maskless students ultimately led to positive cases and a school shut down, the decision to send her kids back to school was not an easy one. Proof that there are no easy choices in the pandemic.
MONCADA: I would try this. Let's see how this works.
GOLODRYGA: Bianna Golodryga, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
There will be more news after the break with Robyn Curnow.
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