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CDC Prep for Vaccine Distribution by Late October; Senator Suggests Doctors Falsifying COVID-19 Cases; Dwayne Johnson and Family Recovering Form COVID-19; Police in Seoul Raid Church Linked to New Outbreak; China Resumes Flights Form Certain Nations; Coronavirus Economic Fall Out, United Airlines, Ford, to Face Layoffs; Evicted During the Coronavirus Pandemic; Korean Peninsula Preps for Another Typhoon; Salon Owner Pushes Back on Pelosi's Claim She Was Setup; Ice Bucket Challenge Helps Fund Drug That Slows ALS; Novichok Found on Navalny's System; Group Gatherings Not Advisable; Not Much Change in Voter's Opinion; A.G. Barr Don't Believe in Racism. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired September 03, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, European leaders are demanding Russia explain the poisoning of a Putin critic with a nerve agent, the same one used against the former KGB spy and his daughter.
With coronavirus putting the U.S. in a precarious position, the country's top infectious disease expert is pleading with Americans to keep their distance over the holiday weekend. And new opinion polls are giving a glimpse into the minds of U.S. voters with two months to go until the presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, German CHANCELLOR (through translator): Alexei Navalny was the victim of an attack with the chemical nerve agent of the Novichok. This is disturbing information about the attempted murder, through poisoning against a leading Russian opposition figure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: German Chancellor Angela Merkel making it clear that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was poisoned as he boarded a flight last month. Mrs. Merkel is demanding answers that she says only the Russian government can provide.
The German government says toxicology tests show Novichok was in Navalny's system. It's a known chemical weapon developed in the Soviet Union. Navalny remains in intensive care in a German hospital. CNN's Matthew Chance is following the story from Moscow. He joins us
now live. So, Matthew, the German chancellor demanding answers from Russia on the poisoning of Navalny. What's the Kremlin saying about this?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are not giving those answers that the Germans are demanding at this point, at least, and nor they likely too in the future if past experiences ending to go. What the Kremlin is saying is that as far as their concern when Alexei Navalny flew from Russia last month to that clinic in Germany, he had no toxic substances in him, the Kremlin statements says before he went to Germany.
The Russian foreign ministry has expressed some, I think some anger and frustration at the fact that the Germans have made the statement in this way saying that Alexei -- he had unequivocal proof that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with that chemical nerve agent Novichok.
They've accused Germany of megaphone diplomacy and essentially saying that this idea that he was infect or poisoned with Novichok is a lie, is not correct, and it's an attempt to discredit Russia.
And so, you know, look, in the past, Russia has a history of denying any allegations of misdeeds. We saw it the last time they use Novichok or suspected of using Novichok in 2018 in the British city of Salisbury when Sergei Skripal, a Russian spy who defected to Britain was poisoned along with his daughter, causing sort of widespread contamination and widespread international outbreak.
He denied any connection with that, even though the British authorities pointed the finger of blame squarely at the Kremlin, and even identified, they said, the two individuals they believed who carried out the actual or the actual poisoning, and they said from the GRU, Russian military intelligence.
What we're seeing in this case is the Russians followed the same kind of playbook, categorical denial. But an associate of Alexei Navalny say the fact that Novichok, which is a sort of inherently, you know, sort of Russian nerve agent has been connected with the poisoning is tantamount to, and this is the words of one of Alexei Navalny's associates, tantamount to Vladimir Putin to autographing the scene of the crime.
And so, there is very little doubt among critics of Russia and allies of Alexei Navalny that the Kremlin is responsible for this.
CHURCH: All right. Our Matthew Chance bringing us that live report from Moscow. Many thanks.
And for more on this I'm joined by Joshua Yaffa in Moscow, correspondent for the New Yorker. Thank you so much for being with us.
JOSHUA YAFFA, MOSCOW CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORKER: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: So, Germany says Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, the same nerve agent that nearly killed former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter two years ago in the U.K.
[03:05:02]
But Moscow denies poisoning Navalny. What do you make of all of this?
YAFFA: I think the identification of Novichok or a substance from the Novichok family does give us a fair deal of insight into what might have happened here. This is a substance that can't be produced or acquired readily, even criminal groups are unlikely to have access to the substance from what we understand from the Skripal case and the history of Novichok.
But before that, this is a highly specific and highly controlled substance that can only be obtained by some links to government security services and to government labs. So, if indeed Novichok was the substance used, that suggest that structures were very close or even from within the Russian state war at play here.
The big question that many are asking in Russia, and of course, internationally, is what Putin's own involvement might have been. Of course, the use of a substance, again, that has such clear state links would suggest perhaps Putin himself was aware or involved in the poisoning, this is all just speculation.
But if it is Novichok, we can say one of two things. It either means Putin himself was indeed aware of or involved in this operation to poison Navalny, or that highly toxic, highly deadly substances that were once exclusive providence of state run and state controlled laboratories have now leaked out and are available for other individuals who might use them at their own will without actually Putin even being aware -- being aware of it. And I think both scenarios are pretty scary.
So, in other words, once we've learned that it's Novichok, really that only leaves pretty dark and scary scenarios for what might have happened to Navalny here.
CHURCH: Right. And of course, Germany has confirmed it is Novichok. So, from that, you have to wonder, because Russia then is publicly denying this, but then using a nerve agent that is so obviously linked to Russia, what is the message here? It is the calling card, isn't it, of Russian link?
YAFFA: It would seem to be a substance that leaves little ambiguity and perhaps, and here we can only guess, at the attentions of those who carried out this poisoning and we are unlikely to have perhaps ever know exactly who carried out this crime and why, and what their motive was.
But it certainly would seem to suggest or rather send a message to all of those in Russia's opposition, to all of those perhaps with opposition sympathies who are thinking about joining or participating, or supporting the opposition in some way, that it suggests that such individuals are gettable anywhere, whether they're in Siberia, whether they're in a plane, and that attack and poisoning in this way against Navalny is meant to send a rather unambiguous signal while of course still leaving the Kremlin room for plausible deniability as it will always take and has used in the Skripal case MH-17 Crimea.
It's a pretty now standard formula from other years to do some, to commit an act that is brazen and obvious, yet still allows this wiggle room for official denial.
Of course there is another possibility here, that isn't necessarily mutually exclusive or doesn't contradict what I just said, which is that those who poison Navalny with Novichok assumed that the poison would act quickly or more strongly than it did and he would die, essentially, on the plane flying from Siberia to Moscow and he would land already having died on board.
And all of this we have remained much more of a closed, unsolved mystery that it has been, simply because Navalny survived and was evacuated to Berlin where doctors were able to carry out this test. If Navalny had died aboard the plane, I don't think any doctors in Russia would have identified Novichok as the toxin.
CHURCH: And we'll watch to see how the international community response to this. Germany waiting for answers but it doesn't look like they'll get many from Russia right now.
Joshua Jaffa (Ph), Yaffa, rather, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.
YAFFA: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well, the E.U.'s public health agency says coronavirus cases are almost back to level scene in March. That's when the outbreak was starting to peek in Europe. Spain currently has the highest infection rate on the continent. The increase in cases is due in part to more testing that's provided more results. Hospitalizations are also on the rise.
On the other side of the Atlantic, a top health organization says almost 570,000 healthcare workers in the Americas have contracted the coronavirus since the pandemic began.
[03:10:03]
Health workers in the U.S. and Mexico account for about 14 percent of all cases there. And with the Labor Day holiday fast approaching in the U.S., the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases is pleading with Americans to follow health guidelines.
Surges in COVID-19 cases were recorded after Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. And Dr. Anthony Fauci wants to avoid another holiday spike. We're also following new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding vaccines.
CNN's Dianne Gallagher has that part of the story.
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN 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 a proof like healthcare workers. But there is still no guarantee for a vaccine. The U.S. jumped back to more than 1,000 new recorded deaths on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ride free, take risks. That's our motto. Right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: And now what 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-old Minnesota man is the first known COVID-19 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)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're being human once again. (Muted) that COVID (Muted).
(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, a state that America's middle like Iowa where masks are not mandated are seeing massive spikes and positivity rates.
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MAYOR BRUCE TEAGUE, IOWA CITY: We have a 30 percent positivity rate just within a 24-hour period. And so, we have some major concern that we must address then.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Even as states suffers through a surge Iowa Senator Joni Ernst just floating a debunked conspiracy theory that COVID death totals are inflated. And she appears to suggest, without proof, that doctors are falsifying death records for financial gain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): 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-CA): We're in a middle of 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 evicted from their homes can spread the virus as they seek new shelter or even become homeless.
The nation's top diseases 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)
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: What I would really like to see is kind of a food 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.
Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Atlanta.
CHURCH: And later this hour, I'll ask an emergency physician to react to those claims that fewer people have died from COVID-19 than official health report suggests.
Well, both major political parties have now had their conventions and made their cases. We will explain what the polls are now saying about voter attitudes toward Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
Plus, America's top law enforcement official denies racism was a factor in recent police shootings of blacks. We will tell you what else the U.S. attorney general had to say.
[03:15:00]
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CHURCH: U.S. law forbids a person from voting more than once in the same election, but with the presidential votes just two months away, U.S. President Donald Trump now seems to suggest it would be OK if voters tried to vote twice.
He made the remarks on Wednesday in North Carolina as he explained it, a voter could submit a ballot by mail and then try to vote again in person in case their mail-in ballots had not yet been counted. A north -- in North Carolina, that actually might be a felony. Here's how he framed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Whether it's solicited or unsolicited, the absentees are fine. We have to work to get them. You know, it means something. And you send them in, but you go to vote, and if they haven't counted it, you can vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, recent polls show the president continues to trail his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Those numbers did not change significantly following the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
A nationwide poll of registered voters shows Biden is favored over Trump 51 percent to 43 percent. Eighty-five percent of those polls said they had made up their minds.
It's a bit tighter in the battleground states. Half of those polled prefer Biden compared to 45 percent for Trump.
Biden travels to Kenosha, Wisconsin on Thursday to hold a community meeting to address racial injustice after the controversial police shooting of a black man, and the protest it ignited there. Biden explained what he would do differently if he were president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'd be bringing people together in the White House right now. I'd be having that police commission set up. I'd have law enforcement at the table. I'd have the community at the table. I'd have people and say how are we getting through this?
What do we do to deal with this? Because I believe the vast majority of the community at large, writ large, as well as law enforcement want to straighten things out, not inflame things. But this president keeps throwing gasoline on the fire every place he goes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Joining me now is Harry Enten, a senior political writer and analyst for CNN politics and an expert on poll numbers and electoral trends. Good to have you with us.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: My pleasure.
CHURCH: So new CNN polling done right after the DNC and RNC came out Wednesday afternoon, showing nationally, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden still ahead by 8 points, 51 to 43, but of course it's the electoral college that determines the winner. So how do you interpret these numbers and the state breakdowns? ENTEN: Yes. Sure. So, you know, look, this is essentially where we
were right before the conventions, so the idea that the conventions would be a game-changer is not actually true. We see that in a CNN poll, we see that across the polling.
But of course, as you point out, it's the electoral college that ultimately determines who becomes president. We learned that last time of course in 2016 when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but it was in fact Donald Trump who won the presidency.
In our own CNN poll, we did break it down to 15 closest states back from 2016. And what we do see is that Biden's lead is a little bit slimmer there, but he is still up by 5 points, and more than that, though, there was a bunch of swing states polling that came out on Wednesday, which showed that Joe Biden had a lead in the swing state than he need to be ahead in.
[03:19:59]
So, at this point I would say, look, the race is probably a little bit closer in the swing states than it is nationally, but Joe Biden is still clearly ahead.
CHURCH: Interesting. And the latest CNN poll also asks what issues worry Americans most and found this, coronavirus 60 percent, the economy 58 percent, racism 52 percent, and crime 37 percent. An interesting number, given President Trump has desperately tried to make law and order the main election issue, when in fact it's the coronavirus, surprise, surprise.
He's trying to divert attention away from the pandemic, which clearly concerns Americans more than anything else. How could the president make such a miscalculation? I mean, presumably he has his own numbers on these issues, and why doesn't he just tried to fix the pandemic like other world leaders have done?
ENTEN: Well, you know, the fact that I'm doing this on Cisco perhaps tells you all you need to know about what is most important at this particular point. The fact that we all have to go out wearing masks or should be going out wearing masks tells you everything that you need to know.
But look, this is what the president does, right? He tries to distract. We've seen this consistently, whether it be through Twitter or his own statements. He sees an issue in which the American public is viewing him as failing and then tries to change it.
But here's the whole problem with that. Just because you say something, doesn't make it true. And I think this poll number, along with a slew of poll numbers that I've seen consistently through the last few months indicates that the coronavirus and who is best to handle that, the pandemic, it's probably going to win the election.
And our own poll does show that Joe Biden leads on the coronavirus, so it is not really necessarily surprising to me at this point that Donald Trump is still behind in this race. CHURCH: And Harry, on the question of which candidate will best keep
Americans safe from harm among all adults and registered voters, it's Biden ahead by 6 points, 51 to 45. How surprised are you by that given the effort President Trump has put into scaring Americans, we saw that on full display throughout the RNC?
ENTEN: Yes. I mean, look, it's an effort. He is trying, but just because you tried doesn't make you necessarily succeed. I mean, look, that number for him is a little bit better than say the overall horse race down by 8, he only trails by 6 on this one, but this is something that we've seen throughout the polling that has taken place since the killing of George Floyd. That is on crime, on criminal justice.
Donald Trump does not have the lead that you might think he has given his actions that has taken place. Now obviously he has tried to made it his pet issue, but what this poll shows, and what the average poll shows, it's simply put not working, and again, this is why he is in the bad shape that he is in. This is why is trailing, because even on the issues on which he does best, he is still either best tied or even trailing former Vice President Joe Biden.
CHURCH: And Harry, Axios did a piece on the red mirage scenario, essentially showing that on election night it will look like Trump has won, but as mail-in votes come in and get counted, it will start looking more like a Biden win, because of course as these numbers show, more Democrats choose mail-in voting than in-person voting. What's your response to that? Do you buy into that theory?
ENTEN: Well, I mean, first off, it's not necessarily a surprise that more Democrats say they are going to vote by mail than Republicans given all the statements that President Trump has made about mail-in voting. Right? Even though the fact is he votes by mail.
I buy it to some degree, but not necessarily to the degree that perhaps Axios tries to sell it. Look, it is true that in some states the mail-in votes will be counted later, so, you know, I would expect that Biden lead if he does have won, after election day, grows.
But the fact is that I'm not necessarily convinced that it will be the type of situation where we go to bed on election night thinking one candidate has won, and then another candidate ends up winning.
What I would suggest to the audience, if you're going to keep your eye on one state to get an understanding of how this election may turn out, it might be the state of Florida where the absentee ballots or mail ballots have to be in with a few exceptions by election day, and they know how to count those ballots fast.
If Joe Biden wins in the state of Florida, he is almost certainly going to win this election. If he loses, Trump may have a step up, though it's not necessarily as clear that he would necessarily come out on top.
CHURCH: Great to chat with you. Harry Enten, thanks as always.
ENTEN: My pleasure. CHURCH: Well, America's top law enforcement official is railing
against mail-in voting even though it's been widely used across the U.S. for many years. U.S. Attorney General William Barr calls it reckless and dangerous.
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Barr also denied that recent police shootings of black Americans were due to systemic racism. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: You think black people are treated differently by law enforcement than white people?
WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: I think there are some situations where the statistics would suggest that they are treated differently, but I don't think that that's necessarily racism. To me, the word systemic means that it's built into the institution. And I don't think that is true.
[03:25:05]
I think our institutions have been reformed in the past 60 years. And if anything has been built in, it's bias and non-discrimination.
I do think that there appears to be a phenomenon in the country where African-Americans feel that they are treated when they are stopped by police frequently as suspects before they are treated as citizens. I don't think that that necessarily reflects some deep-seated racism in police departments or in most police officers.
I'm not going to talk about Blake, the Blake case.
BLITZER: Why not?
BARR: Because I think it's different than the Floyd case.
BLITZER: What's different?
BARR: Well, Floyd was already subdued, incapacitated, in handcuffs and was not armed. In the Jacob case, he was in the midst of committing a felony and he was armed.
BLITZER: So far, we haven't seen widespread fraud but --
(CROSSTALK)
BARR: So far, we haven't tried it.
BLITZER: Well --
BARR: The point is --
BLITZER: -- there's been a lot of us -- there are several states that only have mail-in voting, including a Republic --
(CROSSTALK)
BARR: Wolf, this is playing with fire. This is playing with fire. We are 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 -- to this methodology, which as a matter of logic, is very open to fraud and coercion, is reckless and dangerous, and if people are paying with fire --
BLITZER: I will point out that there are five states that only have mail-in voting including Utah and Colorado, Washington State, Oregon, Hawaii, and they've reported over the years they've had virtually no problems, but who's trying to change the rules right now?
BARR: I would tell you the people who want to go to mass mail-in ballots.
BLITZER: During your 10 years attorney general of the United States, how many indictments have you brought against people committing voter fraud?
BARR: I could not tell you off the top of my head. But several I know of.
BLITZER: Like a handful?
BARR: I can't -- I don't know.
BLITZER: But several doesn't sound like too many.
BARR: I don't know. I don't know how many we have.
BLITZER: Do you accept that Russia is once again interfering in the U.S. presidential election?
BARR: I accept that there are some preliminary activity that suggests that they might try again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: U.S. Attorney General William Barr speaking earlier to CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
A controversial clergyman leads a church that has been linked to more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases. Now police are raiding his home. We'll be live in Seoul, next.
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[03:29:55]
CHURCH: Here in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says states should prepare to distribute COVID-19 vaccines as soon as late October. But the director of the National Institutes for Health warns -
[03:30:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: -- states should prepare to distribute COVID-19 vaccines as soon as late October. But the director of the National Institutes for Health warns it's unlikely a vaccine will be ready by then. He spoke to CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: This is like the boy scouts model. Be prepared, even if it's very low likelihood. If everything happened to come together really beautifully and we had an answer by then and we knew we had a vaccine that was safe and effective, would you not want people to be ready to figure out how to do the distribution? That is all that CDC was saying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Meantime, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading expert on infectious diseases has his own prediction on when a vaccine will be ready.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALERGY AND INFECTOUS DISEASE: I believe that by the time we get to the end of this calendar year, that we will feel comfortable that we do have a safe and effective vaccine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: 18 U.S. States are reporting an uptick in new COVID cases. And it appears the national surge has moved from the south to the Midwest, including state such as Iowa and South Dakota.
Joining me now is Dr. Murtaza Akhter, an emergency physician at Valley Wise Health Medical Center. Thank you so much, doctor, for being with us and for everything you do.
DR. MURTAZA AKHTER, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, VALLEY WISE MEDICAL CENTER, PHOENIX: Thank you for having me, Rosemary. Thank you for what you do. CHURCH: Thank you. We learned Wednesday that the CDC is now telling
public health officials in states to prepare to distribute potential COVID vaccines as soon as late October just before the November 3rd election. Now this doesn't mean there will definitely be a vaccine, but clearly something is going on. What do you make of this?
AKHTER: Yes. This vaccine progress is already at a lightning speed, warp speed if you will. It usually takes many years to get a drug developed and approved, and I guess for legitimate reasons, they are trying to move faster on this vaccine, but we don't want to move so fast that is potentially dangerous.
And so, I don't know if that data, they just haven't told everybody else about, but I do know that the president, just a week or so ago was saying that I think the people are delaying it because of the election, which is a ridiculous statement. It's very dangerous.
And if they are mentioning that you should be prepping October for November 1st for political reasons, I would be very concerned. Again, there is already at groundbreaking speed. And one of the things we need to be careful about is that we roll it out the right way. Remember, if we roll it out the wrong way, a lot of anti-vacs are going to (inaudible) their heads. And that would be very dangerous.
So, it needs to be rolled out the right way. I get, preparation is good if they want people to prepare. That's excellent, but if they are just doing it just for election purposes and making it political, I would be very, very concerned.
CHURCH: Would you advise people to take a vaccine if it were made available just before the election?
AKHTER: Hey, listen, I am a pro-vaccer. I am shocked that I have to say that. That anybody is an anti-vaccer in this day in age. But the reason I am a provaccer is because so many vaccines had been proven to be so effective.
If the vaccine is proven to be effective, yes, I would recommend it. If it is just somebody puts the word vaccine on a script, on a piece of medication, that's not good enough. You need evidence to show that the benefits outweigh the harms. And it takes a long time to show that. And if they are able to show that, then great, but as far as I know they haven't shown that yet.
CHURCH: And Doctor, I want to ask you this, because Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst is accusing doctors in her state of falsifying COVID cases and deaths for their own financial benefit. That is how she is explaining her state surge in cases. She does not provide any evidence and says this is just what she is hearing.
And this of course adds to the conspiracy theories about COVID death tolls not being reliable, but there are ways to determine this, aren't they? Comparing total deaths now to the historical baseline. And I think we find an additional 200,000 deaths once you do that math, and that means we are probably underestimating the death toll, right? AKHTER: You nailed it. And I'm sure Joni Ernst would be upset that
you are using data. Because COVID, she doesn't care about data. For one, doctors are not falsifying records. There is no evidence to suggest that. The OIG monitors this very carefully and very closely. In fact, they are so on top of it they even have a Whistleblower Claus where people can get compensated for whistle-blowing.
So, this is no joking matter. If a doctor falsifies records it's not just a civil issue but a criminal issue. I don't think any doctor would falsify records. Anybody who is making money off of it. In fact, a lot of people are losing money because of COVID. For her to say that is extremely reckless, especially without evidence.
And you are totally right, all the evidence suggest were (inaudible). You know, because if you look deaths this year versus last year, there are far, far more deaths this year compared to last year than even the coronavirus deaths can account for. Which means we are actually missing deaths. Every way you look at it, COVID is causing deaths and for people to say it's fake, it's just so utterly ridiculous that I don't even know what to say.
[03:35:07]
CHURCH: Yes. And Doctor, as we reported yesterday, the National Institutes of Health says convalescent plasma should not be considered standard of care, because there is no evidence yet to support use of the plasma to treat COVID patients, but do you think if there is enough time given that it's possible that more research could make this a viable use or a viable therapy?
AKHTER: Yes, you know, research can go any direction. And remember, viable therapy is very different from standard of care. Standard of care is a very strict term. We use it for medical legal purposes. You have to have overwhelming evidence and the vast majority of physicians using convalescent plasma to consider standard of care. The evidence that we have right now shows that it may help, in some people it gave early enough.
Those are a lot of requirements and that's only with preliminary data, to send us data, everybody should be using it. It's actually potentially dangerous. Remember, plasma doesn't come out of nowhere. It's not magic. It has potential side effects and so you really have to make sure that it has benefited. And it potentially does. I think it's very important to study it. But we are very, very far from calling it standard of care.
CHURCH: Dr. Murtaza Akhter, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.
AKHTER: Thanks for having me, Rosemary. Stay safe.
CHURCH: Well, actor and former wrestler Dwyane Johnson, also known as The Rock, has announced he and his family are recovering from the coronavirus. Johnson said he, along with his wife and young children got the virus from close family friends. He says they learned of their diagnosis about two and a half weeks ago. And he described their experience in a social media post.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DWANE JOHNSON, ACTOR AND WRESTLER, THE ROCK: I could tell you that this has been one of the most challenging and difficult things we've ever had to endure as a family. And for me personally too as well. I'm going through some (inaudible) in the past.
I've got knocked about and I got my ass kick a little bit in the past with some challenges, but testing positive for COVID-19 is much a different than overcoming nasty injuries or being evicted or even being broke, which I have been more than a few times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Such a great guy. And Johnson says he is thankful his entire family is now fully in recovery. Good news there.
Well, police in South Korea say they have raided the church and home of a controversial reverend linked to a new coronavirus outbreak. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has linked the church to more than 1,000 cases nationwide.
And our Paula Hancocks is in Seoul, she joins us now live with more on this. Good to see you, Paula. So, what is the latest?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, at this point we do know that that investigation is ongoing. And the police said it was necessary to have the raid on the church building and also on the home of the reverend, because they wanted to obtain more evidence, they say, in their investigation as to whether or not this church and the congregation actually hand put the effort to curtail and contain the outbreak of coronavirus.
Now, up until this point, the case CDC says more than 1,100 people have now confirmed positive. And they have been linked to this one particular church. Nine people have died because of this (inaudible) cluster. And officials say that it is because the church was not transparent enough. That this cluster was able to be so large. And they had difficulty contact tracing and trying to contain it.
Now, the reverend himself, he tested positive as well for coronavirus. He was released from hospital on Wednesday after recovering from the virus. He had a press conference and he called on the South Korean President Moon Jae-in to apologize. Saying that his church has been defamed. And also he said that if that apology did not come within a month, then he would self-harm.
From the Blue House's point of view, the presidential office, they have said that the impact of this one particular cluster has been huge, particularly looking at some small businesses, which have been forced to close according to this spokesperson, because of the Blue House, because the social distancing measures have been strengthen.
So, at this point there are legal battles ongoing between the two officials complaining about the reverend. The reverend also taking legal action against officials, but the police investigation goes on.
CHURCH: So, Paula, what is expected to happen to this clergyman and his church? And of course, he has threatened to harm himself?
HANCOCKS: Well, for the latter, we simply don't know. We will have to wait and see. But certainly, the police investigation is appearing to be fairly thorough. The fact that they are having a raid on a church building and on the home of the reverend himself. Now officials claim was that when this cluster -- an outbreak became apparent, they did try to contact everybody.
[03:40:03]
He had been at a certain number of services over a two week period. And they were unable to contact hundreds of the congregation members. They had to enlist police help, they said to try and trace everybody. They said they were given some incorrect information. Some people simply did not answer the phone. And they believed that that slowed down the process to be able to contact trace and to contain the outbreak as they have been able to in other clusters.
So, this is really the crux of the argument. And this is what police investigation is trying to find out now, whether there is a case and whether there is sufficient evidence that there was hampering. And then, of course, officials say that they will take legal action if that is the case. Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks, joining us live from Seoul. Many thanks.
Well, China is resuming some international commercial flights to and from Beijing today, but only eight destinations have been allowed so far.
David Culver has the details now from Beijing.
(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 outbreak is under controlled on those respective locations. And so they feel like eligible passengers from those countries with specific visas, we should stress, can enter Beijing.
Also, Chinese nationals who are in those countries and elsewhere in the world can come back into the country via Beijing. You 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 permission 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)
CHURCH: Well, from the auto industry to the airline industry, companies hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic announce furloughs and layoffs of their employees. We will have the details next.
And how times in Texas as a sheriff goes door to door enforcing eviction orders against residents unable to pay their rents during this pandemic.
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CHURCH: Another strong day for U.S. stocks as the NASDAQ and S&P 500 closed an all-time highs on Wednesday. The NASDAQ climb nearly 1 percent and closed about 12,000 points for the first time ever. The DOW also ended the day up more than 1.5 percent.
[03:45:00]
And while the stock market soars, many businesses and companies are still struggling with the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, among them, United Airlines.
In a memo, United says more than 16,000 employees will be furloughed after October 1st when restrictions attached to a federal bailout expire, and Ford is also looking at cost saving measures. The U.S. automaker says early retirement offers will be going out to eligible employees in its bid to cut 1,400 jobs.
And joining me now to discuss all of this, CNN's John Defterios who is live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, John. And it has to be said, I mean, this looks like a very bad sign for future economic malaise. Deep cuts by major names. But the stock market seems to be ignoring that reality. What is happening here?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, you know, Wall Street is basically banking on the fact that there's going to be more stimulus coming. It has not been defined by the government yet and they are wrangling between Republicans and at the White House and also on the other side with the Congress. And interest rates remaining lower for longer, but it does make up for that malaise that you are talking about there in your question.
Main streets planning for a shrinking down of industry right now because of lower demand. And you talked about it there in your lead in. Two prime examples -- let's start with the airline sector. United, the latest, if you look at the graphic here, American airlines, Delta, V.A. not doing furloughs but laying off 12,000 workers. And I thought the most fascinating bid of this information coming from United is that the chairman said they have to shrink down the industry by 50 percent, Rosemary.
That's the first time I've heard it. The CEO of Kayak, which is the online travel site as you know is suggesting, we won't get back to normal, even if that by 2023, and United States at least, the trend is use your car, don't stay at hotels. Go to Airbnb's or bread and breakfasts. Don't spend a lot of time away, because you don't know what the future is going to offer.
And in that theme, Ford Motor Company is also seeing that the big ticket purchases are not taking place and they are cutting back as part of an $11 billion restructuring that is already underway and will carry on, by the way, 1,400 white collar jobs here. But at the same time, Rosemary something interesting for Ford and the other major automakers, they are facing disruption from Tesla and electric vehicle markets which is coming on gradually, but forcing them to plan for the future.
So, they will not going to need that existing workforce. The combustion engine is going to shrink overtime in terms of this place in the market. And overall, speaking of the general themes in America, the Federal Reserve board put out its beige book which is a very important survey taking the tally of the regional banks of the United States, and the common theme through all the banks there in the United States is lingering anxiety, Rosemary, and that is why we are seeing major global CEOs and U.S. CEO starting to cutback.
CHURCH: Yes. I mean, it's just dreadful for those people losing their jobs right in the middle of this pandemic. John Defterios, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.
Well, the Trump administration is using the CDC's powers to pause evictions for millions of Americans struggling to pay rent because of the pandemic. But the action is coming too late for many other people. CNN's Kyung Lah -- reports from Texas and shows us this painful side effect of the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. Constable. You need to come to the door.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: From one Houston home to the next.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, constable.
LAH: Deputy Benny Gant with the Harris County Constables Office executes judge's orders to evict.
BENNY GANT, HARRIS COUNTY CONSTABLES OFFICE: Hello, the constable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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, 4-year-old Fabian and their mother are some of the estimated 40 million Americans facing eviction in a downward spiral of the COVID economy. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get everything you need.
LAH: Rodriguez admits he hasn't been paying rent behind thousands of dollars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's my fault in the eviction. It was like I'm going out there in the corner, when it hit, I lost my job. So it took me like a month to get another job.
This my check, but I am not making it with $300. It's literally $300.
LAH: Their stroller now carries their possessions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is mainly the kid's clothes, because we wear the same clothes almost every day. We have to make sure we got, you know, toilet paper. A little bit of snacks for the kids.
LAH: What are you going to do with all of your stuff?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's trash. They could throw it in the trash. Because we don't have a car. We don't have health. We don't have nobody that could come, you know, and help us out right now. Nobody. We got ourselves, me and the kids and her. That's it.
LAH: How does you as law enforcement feel about seeing a family have to go?
GANT: That's a tough situation. I have six kids. Six children. And you know, when the kids see them, the mom and dad, it's tough.
[03:50:05]
LAH: Deputy Gant, an officer for 35 years is just starting his day. Eight evictions are on his list. At each stop, people behind on rent are ordered to leave. Possessions pulled out.
Where you guys going to go now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going to a hotel.
LAH: You can go to a hotel?
As Deputy Gant works through his list, we get word that 200 eviction orders have come through the Harris County courts for this week. That is double what they normally sought for an entire month before COVID. 200 on Monday. What does that say to you?
GANT: Well, that's a lot. Well, 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 move her, Francisco Nunez works, though he does not want to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have a sister, I have you know, my mom. We never know. Maybe today it's her, tomorrow it's me, you know. --
LAH: Midway through the eviction, Deputy Gant decides it's too dangerous to be evict her in the Houston summer heat. I'm not going to put her out here in this heat. And will call social services instead.
GANT: You're safe today, but tomorrow, you are leaving.
LAH: A one day reprieve with an uncertain tomorrow.
GANT: We have a situation where people aren't working. They don't have money and investment.
LAH: The Harris County Constable's office has put a hold on all evictions for now as they try to sort exactly what does the CDC nationwide eviction moratorium mean? Locally, there is quite a bit of a confusion and questions about whether this will be affected at all. Kyung Lah, CNN, Houston, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: The Korean peninsula is preparing for a second typhoon after the first one swept through leaving to a dramatic rescue at sea. Details on their latest positions and what to expect after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Japan's coast guard has rescued one sailor from a cargo ship that disappeared as typhoon Maysak hit the region. The Gulf Livestock was sailing near southern Japan when it sent out a distress signal. The sailor was found Wednesday night in the water, wearing a lifejacket. There are still 42 crewmembers and almost 6,000 cattle on accounted for.
Well, after making landfall on Wednesday typhoon Maysak swept through the Korean peninsula with rain and strong winds equal to a category two hurricane. It is expected to move into northeastern China soon in addition, typhoon Heishen most likely will follow in the path of Maysak and could possibly reach super typhoon intensity during the weekend. So we will keep a close eye on that.
[03:55:02]
Well, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing a backlash for getting her hair done inside a San Francisco salon. That is against the city's COVID-19 safety regulations, which requires such visits to take place outside. Now this is security video from inside the salon on Monday.
The speaker's Deputy Chief of Staff says Pelosi and her team relied on the interpretation of someone at the salon about what was allowed under new city regulations and that information was incorrect. Pelosi calls the situation a set up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: I take responsibility for trusting the word of a neighborhood salon that I have been to over the years many times. And that when they said, we were able to accommodate people, one person at a time, and that we could 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)
CHURCH: The owner of the salon is pushing back. She told Fox News that Pelosi was not set up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had called the stylist and her assistant that had made the appointment.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX HOST: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, the appointment was already booked. So, there is no way I could have set that up. It's the fact that she actually came in, and did not have a mask on. And I just thought about my staff and people not being able to work and make money and provide for their families. And if she is in there comfortably without a mask and feeling safe, then why are we shut down?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Pelosi's staff says she wore a mask during her visit, except for a brief period while she was getting her hair washed.
Well, remember a few years ago when ice bucket challenges were flooding social media feeds? Well, the money raised from people pouring icy water over their heads has helped fund the development of an experimental drug that slows the symptoms of ALS, also called Lou Gehrig's disease.
The man behind that challenge, Pete Frates, succumbed last December to the neurological disease which inhibits the ability to move and speak. And often leads to respiratory failure and death. Frates dedicated his life to raising awareness of ALS. His bucket challenge raised more than $100 million for research. That is incredible.
And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back in just a moment with more world news. Stay with us.
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