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Portland Police Declare Riot During 100th Night Of Protests; White House Reeling From "The Atlantic" Report; Activists March For Breonna Taylor Near Kentucky Derby; Trump Hired, Belittled Obama Impersonator For Video; Hawaii's Tourism-Based Economy Reels Amid Pandemic; Almost Two Dozen Wildfires Burning In California; Typhoon Haishen Batters Japan During Pandemic; Harris Won't Trust Trump's Word Alone On A Vaccine. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired September 06, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): The fallout over reports that President Trump made disparaging comments about fallen U.S. troops, now there are new allegations regarding more controversial remarks.
Also ahead:
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just keep going.
(INAUDIBLE).
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Fleeing for their lives, these are some of the people trapped by a fast-moving wildfire in California. We'll have more on the extreme weather in the state.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And, a powerful typhoon heads toward southern Japan as thousands are told to evacuate. We'll speak to a storm chaser who's there.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to you, our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Ken Brunhuber and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN and other news organizations have now confirmed some of the shocking allegations in "The Atlantic" magazine, that U.S. president Donald Trump privately denigrated American war dead during a trip to Paris in 2018. The president and his allies have insisted the allegations are false.
But a former senior Trump official confirms to CNN that the president spoke in crude and derogatory terms of U.S. Marines who had died in World War I and are buried near Paris. We get more from CNN's Jeremy Diamond at the White House.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: While the White House is still reeling from this report in "The Atlantic" magazine that President Trump referred to American soldiers who lost lives in a critical battle in World War I as losers and suckers as he was deciding not to attend a ceremony at a cemetery where some of those war dead were buried.
And now, a former senior administration official is confirming to my colleague, Jim Acosta, that the president did indeed refer those American war dead in crude and derogatory terms.
Now, of course, President Trump and the White House have vehemently denied the story insisting that the president has the utmost respect for veterans and service members. And the president even said what kind of animal would refer to a dead American service members in such a fashion?
But nonetheless, a former senior administration official confirms to CNN that the president did indeed make those comments. And another source familiar with his remarks has now told CNN that the president has also repeatedly questioned why Vietnam war veterans would've served in that war, suggesting that those service members did not know how to get out of the draft, how to work the system, much in the way that the president himself.
We know that president Trump received multiple educational deferments to avoid serving in the Vietnam War and he ultimately received a medical deferment after he got a doctor's note claiming that the president had bone spurs, making him ineligible for military service -- Jeremy Diamond CNN, the. White House
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BRUNHUBER: James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence under President Obama, has been a frequent and harsh critic of President Trump. He's also a retired three-star general in the U.S. Air Force, who served two tours of duty during the Vietnam War. Here's what Clapper had to say about those allegations.
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JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: It's insulting, it really is. It never occurred to me to try to avoid it and, in fact, I saw duty in Vietnam because I thought it was the right thing to do as a professional Air Force officer. So I went and served.
And I went back for another tour. I'm certainly no exception. I had the good fortune that I wasn't killed or wounded, unlike so many others.
And I just can't help but think of the families of those who lost their lives and paid the ultimate price for their service in Vietnam. And then to hear that from the commander in chief, it's very, very troubling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: There were more demonstrations in the U.S. on Saturday against the police killings of Black Americans. Police in Portland, Oregon, declared a riot during the 100th straight night of protests in the city.
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BRUNHUBER: Police accuse the protesters of throwing Molotov cocktails and engaging in violent conduct. Portland has become an epicenter of the movement against racial injustice and police brutality. CNN's Lucy Kafanov is there for us.
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LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's the 100th night of protests here in downtown Portland. We're near Ventura Park, where sort of the largest gathering took place in the evening. There were two, maybe 300 people, some demonstrators throwing Molotov cocktails.
That prompted the police to declare the gathering a riot. They came in with flashbangs and tear gas; the crowd dispersed. Now we're seeing a different group here, trying to march back down possibly towards the park, possibly towards the police precinct.
It's a repeat of what we've seen night after night, although with this being the 100th night, it's somewhat of a larger gathering than what we have seen in previous evenings. There have been smaller gatherings across the city. Those have been largely peaceful, including a car caravan of folks supporting Black Lives Matter that rolled through the streets.
The demands of the protesters fairly consistent. They want change to the policing system here. They want racial justice and racial equality. They also want things like $50 million to be diverted from the police budget and reinvested into community programs, housing, education, things of that sort.
We also saw on Saturday a rally in memorial of Aaron Jay Danielson, the far right supporter of President Trump, killed by an activist who supported anti-fascism. That activist, Michael Reinoehl, was killed in a confrontation with police on Thursday when authorities moved in to arrest him.
Again, the 100th night of protests here. The clashes, the gatherings still continuing -- Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Portland.
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BRUNHUBER: And another night of unrest has been gripping the city of Rochester, New York.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) You'll be placed under --
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Hours of peaceful protests, demonstrators and law enforcement clashed for a fourth straight night. Police deploying pepper balls and tear gas on the crowd. Thousands had flooded the streets, demanding accountability for Daniel Prude, a Black man who died in police custody in March.
Earlier on Saturday the New York attorney general announced her office will call a grand jury to investigate Prude's death.
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BRUNHUBER: The man who was the subject of massive racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has released a new video message to his supporters. Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back by police officers and is unable to walk. In the video he talks about the devastating effects of his injuries.
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JACOB BLAKE, POLICE SHOOTING VICTIM: I just want to say, man, to all the young cats out there and even the older ones older than me, there is a lot more life to live out here, man. Your life and not only just your life, your legs, something that you need to move around and move forward in life can be taken from you like this, man.
And I promise you, the type of shit that you will go through, staples, I got staples into my back, staples into my damn stomach, you do not want to have to deal with this shit, man.
Every 24 hours, it's pain. It's nothing but pain. It hurts to breathe. It hurts to sleep. It hurts to move from side to side. It hurts to eat. Please, I'm telling you, change your lives out there. We can stick together, make some money, make everything easier for our people out there, man, because there is so much time that has been wasted.
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BRUNHUBER: And in Louisville, Kentucky, activists marched outside Churchill Downs race track during Saturday's running of the Kentucky Derby. They were demanding justice for Breonna Taylor.
Police killed her in a raid on her home in Louisville in March. Protesters aimed to shift attention from America's most famous horse race to her case. CNN's Jason Carroll was there.
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JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the demonstration ended where it began, at a park had just about a mile away from Churchill Downs. At one point their numbers were in the thousands. As they got to Churchill Downs, marched around the perimeter. And then just as the race got underway, they stood and they shouted and they voiced all of their concerns. They voiced their message, which is trying to get justice for Breonna Taylor.
There were some concerns about whether or not this protest would be peaceful, whether or not it would be nonviolent. We spoke to one of the organizers, who said this was a protest that went off just the way it should have.
TIMOTHY FINDLEY JR., PROTEST ORGANIZER: Me talking to you right now was a part of our plan. We wanted the world to see, we wanted everyone to see and understand that we are not happy, we are not satisfied with what the attorney general is doing, what the mayor is doing.
We want justice for Breonna Taylor.
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FINDLEY: While that race was going on, people were forced to pay attention to what was going on outside of Churchill Downs. We did so nonviolently but we're going to continue to do. This
CARROLL: The Derby ran without fans so you didn't have the thousands upon thousands of fans who would normally be at the Derby as they were leaving. But no matter to the demonstrators who are out here today.
They feel as though their point still got across, which is to make sure that they are not going to let up on the demonstrations until they see justice for Breonna Taylor -- Jason Carroll, CNN, Louisville, Kentucky.
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BRUNHUBER: For more now on how this is playing into the race for the White House, let's bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University of Essex.
Thank you very much for coming on to speak with us about this.
The president's reelection campaign is relying in large part on creating anxiety about urban unrest.
Does the violence that we're seeing have the transitive properties he is hoping for?
That the blame for the violence in Democratic cities will fall sort of indirectly on Biden instead of himself as president in the here and now?
NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: I think there's an interesting thing going on here. When we look at some of the most recent polls on how well Trump is handling the protests, how he is handling race relations and whether or not racism is a problem, on one hand, he is actually not doing very well on these questions. There are more Americans that think he's not doing a good job, he's
not making the situation better. In fact, only 13 percent of Americans, according to a recent Ipsos poll, say that his rhetoric is actually helping matters.
And the poll asks a number of questions, whether or not he's able to make you feel safe, make the country feel safer.
And Biden scored better on every single question compared to Trump. But we're also seeing a recent CNN poll that indicated that more Republicans feel that racism is not as big of a problem as it was in June. And more Republicans approve of the way that Trump is handling the situation.
I think it's also important to note that, if Trump is able to make the election about protests, about violence, about unrest, about chaos in our cities, that's going to be a lot better for him in the 2020 election than if the focus is on COVID, on the economy, on this recent story about denigrating people who served in battle.
So he really wants the narrative of this election to be that the country is so unsafe right now, if Joe Biden takes over, it's going to make it worse and the Democratic leaders and governors are the problem and that he is the only one that can resolve it.
BRUNHUBER: And you know, Trump really seems to be moving the needle in terms of voters' concerns. Law and order seems to have risen quite dramatically in terms of the rankings of people's concerns compared to 2016 and people's favorable views of Black Lives Matter movement has dropped considerably since June.
So I'm wondering if painting Joe Biden as a captive to the violence loving Left -- you know, Joe Biden condemned the violence on both sides. I'm wondering, is it worth the capital for Biden to distance himself further from all of this violence?
Or is that just basically a waste of time?
LINDSTAEDT: Well, I think Biden does need to keep coming in and urging for unity and trying to project an image of strength, trying to appear to be presidential and trying to convey to the American public that he is the leader that can heal the nation.
And it's important for our morality that we have been lost under Trump. The country has become increasingly polarized and we need a leader to give us messages of unity rather than messages of division.
But he doesn't want to focus on this so much that it loses the attention on some of the other things that Democrats want to be emphasizing, which is the COVID-19 situation, of course, and the economy and how Democrats feel that they can get the country out of this mess rather than if Trump is leading.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks to Natasha Lindstaedt. It looks like the Trump tell-all section at the bookstore might need
another shelf. The president's former attorney, Michael Cohen's memoir, "Disloyal" is out Tuesday. In it Cohen goes into great detail about Trump's fixation on President Obama, writing Trump was so obsessed, he actually hired a fake Obama for a video, where Trump, quote, "ritualistically belittled the first Black president and then fired him."
CNN has reached out to the White House for comment.
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BRUNHUBER: Now Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018 to numerous federal crimes, including tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations. He's also sharing his concerns about the upcoming presidential election. Take a listen here.
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MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: So Donald Trump will do anything and everything within which to win. I believe that includes manipulating the ballots. I believe that he would even go far as to start a war in order to prevent himself from being removed from office.
My biggest fear is that there will not be a peaceful transition of power in 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And in the next hour, CNN's "NEW DAY" will have much more on Cohen's book for viewers in the U.S.
Police in Birmingham, England, have declared a major incident after reports of multiple stabbings in the city center. A witness tells the BBC Radio 5 that it appeared to begin as several people arguing outside a night club.
She says they were yelling racial slurs and then the situation escalated into an all-out brawl among a large group of people. At this point we don't know how many people have been injured or how serious those injuries are.
Holiday travel in the era of coronavirus. Just ahead we'll take a look at what kind of security changes Americans should expect over the Labor Day weekend.
Plus later in the show, California warns it may have to ration electricity as millions suffer through a dangerous heat wave in the middle of a pandemic. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Coronavirus deaths in the U.S. now top 188,000, with more than 6.2 million infections, according to Johns Hopkins. Cases are rising in 17 states. As you can see there from this map, they're only falling in 14.
This as the country heads into the Labor Day holiday Monday. Public health officials worry that cases will spike after this weekend, which is exactly what happened after Memorial Day and the 4th of July. They urge people to stay safe as they have fun by wearing masks and maintaining distance from others.
And the U.S. Transportation Security Administration says it's screened hundreds of thousands of travelers ahead of the holiday weekend. As CNN's Pete Muntean reports, travelers are facing some new procedures before boarding their planes.
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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lines here are pretty thin compared to a normal holiday weekend. Air travel still a fraction of what it was a year ago.
But the TSA thinks the number of people passing through security at America's airports will break a new record of the pandemic over the holiday weekend; the high point on Thursday was 10 times the low point seen back in April. The TSA thinks 900,000 people will have flown on Friday. But that official number will not be out until Tuesday.
Those who are flying are facing an entirely new experience here at security. You're being asked to empty your pockets and put everything into your bag, bypassing those typical trays, in order to reduce touchpoints.
TSA employees are blocked by acrylic screens. The goal there is to protect you but also workers. About 1,800 of them, have now tested positive for coronavirus since the pandemic began.
One other way of keeping up social distance is being tested here for the first time at Reagan National Airport, a new machine will scan your ID and also your face to prove that it's really you. You briefly have to drop your mask in order for that to happen.
Airlines are mandating masks starting at check-in all the way to your flight. Delta says it has banned about 270 passengers for refusing to wear one. That averages out to three a day since Delta's policy went into place -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.
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BRUNHUBER: Pandemic travel related restrictions and closures have had a massive impact on places like Hawaii. The state's economy depends on tourism. The University of Hawaii's Economic Research Organization has been tracking businesses across the islands. Recent research found that between 6 percent and 15 percent of local
businesses may have to close permanently. An earlier study determined the state's economy right not return to pre-COVID levels until 2029.
A separate Yelp study suggested nearly 900 businesses on the island of Oahu have closed either temporarily or permanently. Earlier, I spoke with Sherry Menor-McNamara, the president and CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii. We talked about the impact the pandemic is having on businesses across the state.
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SHERRY MENOR-MCNAMARA, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE HAWAII: Hawaii experienced one of the lowest unemployment rate in the nation pre-COVID-19. As soon as COVID hit our state, it went up to one of the highest in the nation, leaving more than 200,000 people unemployed almost overnight.
So as you can imagine, it's been having a devastating impact on our economy. We did partner with Hero (ph) on a couple of surveys and the most recent survives showed that 75 percent of businesses had to either cut positions or make other reductions. One in six businesses said that they cannot survive COVID. And about 40 percent said that they cannot reopen until tourism reopens in Hawaii.
BRUNHUBER: Wow. Now, so that was -- you know, there was a first shutdown. Now a second shutdown in Oahu. I imagine many business owners and the employees also, who depend on those paychecks, are scared that if the first shutdown didn't bankrupt them, then the second one will.
MENOR-MCNAMARA: Right. Unfortunately, we are forced to have a second shutdown due to our triple-digit cases. As you can imagine, many small businesses, local businesses, were on their last lifeline before the second shutdown. So they have already been in the dire situation. And when the second shutdown took place, with only two days' notice, you can imagine how they are going to get out of this.
That is what we are worried about, having our local businesses go away.
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MENOR-MCNAMARA: And essentially changing the fabric and livelihood of our communities.
BRUNHUBER: What about the federal programs that were supposed to help, like the Paycheck Protection Program, loans specifically meant to help small businesses?
Is any of that help getting to Hawaii?
MENOR-MCNAMARA: We received about $2 billion. So it did help many of our businesses in Hawaii. But many like businesses across the nation, they spent those PPP monies based on the original deadline.
So many have run out of money. And without additional federal support, as well as state support, unfortunately, I don't think many of these businesses will be able to survive.
Hawaii does rely on the tourism industry. It is our number one economic driver. And so if tourism doesn't reopen for us, then we will see a second wave of businesses shutting down, not only those directly impacted, such as accommodations, attractions, restaurants, retail; but a lot more that goes along the supply chain that support tourism already.
BRUNHUBER: You mentioned that you need more help from the state and federal government. We know the state is facing record shortfalls. They are asking for more money from the federal government. But all that is stuck in Congress.
It must be frustrating when you see, every day, businesses are wondering if they have enough money to last another day.
MENOR-MCNAMARA: Absolutely, Kim, and we have been hearing the stories every day. We get phone calls on a regular basis from small business owners, wondering what else they can do to keep their doors open.
So it definitely has had a devastating economic impact. They are in a dire situation. We need to do what we can to support our businesses, to sustain their operations during this most challenging time.
That is why it is so critical that we receive federal support, again, on a state level as well, providing financial relief temporarily so that they can continue to keep jobs in place, keep people employed during this time.
BRUNHUBER: All right, listen, we wish you the best of luck during this very difficult time.
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BRUNHUBER: Our thanks to Sherry Menor-McNamara for joining us there.
Coming up, dozens of people saved by an airlift in California. We'll have the latest on the state's devastating wildfires.
Plus major evacuations as a dangerous storm moves toward the Japanese mainland. We'll get an update on Typhoon Haishen ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to you our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world.
More than 12,000 firefighters are risking their lives in California, battling almost 2 dozen major wildfires. Lightning strikes and extreme heat have led to more than 1 million acres burning. Residents who can't be evacuated are being told to shelter in place.
But a group of at least 63 people in the Mammoth Pool Reservoir had to be airlifted from the area. Now this here is the view coming out from a Chinook helicopter entering the inferno to save lives. At least 12 of those rescued are hurt, some critically.
And one of the fires, the Creek fire, exploded in size so fast that the surrounding area was blocked and so fast, in fact, that a group of hikers barely made it out of the woods -- literally. Take a listen to their harrowing escape.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just keep going.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just keep going.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go, go, go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep going.
(INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. We made it, we made it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.
(INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: And to make matters worse, the already high heat is also expected to get worse. Temperatures in many spots will soar well past 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That's around 38 Celsius.
More than 50 million people are under excessive heat alerts and officials are warning they may have to ration electricity across the state as everyone tries to cool down. Paul Vercammen reports.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This wound up being a supreme test. People trying to beat the heat and also be socially distant and safe in the middle of a pandemic. If you look at the people that flock to Manhattan Beach, what were
they fleeing from?
Some record high temperatures throughout the area. We saw temperatures inland valleys up 114, 115, even more than that. The rule on Manhattan Beach was wear your mask unless you're playing a game or perhaps surfing. And we saw a lot of people on the pier, frankly, who were adhering to the mask-wearing rule.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I see a lot of people who are wearing their mask. So it's public shaming if you don't. You're out here wilding. But it's pretty easy. At least here in L.A. it is.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are just sort of doing whatever it is they have to do just to get by. I think that, you know, what's being asked of us isn't too extreme. And I think that if this is what we need to do to be able to come out and enjoy this, why not?
VERCAMMEN: And so the beach much cooler. But inland some interesting measures. The city of Burbank banning hiking on hiking trails after two rescues. And the National Weather Service saying this is a deadly, potentially deadly heat wave and warning people to get their pets out of cars, to get other humans out of cars, issuing other warnings, saying people need to hydrate.
That this is just a rare event that is whipping through Southern California and causing so much misery on so many different fronts -- reporting from Manhattan Beach, I'm Paul Vercammen, now back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. For more on Typhoon Haishen, let's go now to James Reynolds. He's a storm chaser who was following along and took some incredible videos that we're going to show.
So tell us about how bad it was out there.
JAMES REYNOLDS, STORM CHASER: Yes, it's been a really rough day on Amami Island. The sun came up at 1:00 in the afternoon. We had torrential rain and powerful winds ripping off the Pacific Ocean.
Thankfully, in the last four hours or so, conditions have really improved as the typhoon is accelerating away to the north. Unfortunately, that means the southern mainland of Japan and Korea are in the firing line.
BRUNHUBER: Some of the things they can expect, you know, people are saying strong winds, enough to topple homes. Rain so fierce it would be like pouring buckets of water on your head. People have been warned about this.
How are they reacting to those warnings and how is COVID complicating the evacuations? REYNOLDS: Yes, people are taking this storm really seriously. Some of the most, you know, complete preparations I've ever seen in a Japanese typhoon taking place on this island yesterday, buildings boarded up. People have been flooding to the hotels on the island, taking up all the rooms.
One reason for that might be because it's a more attractive option than a crowded evacuation center right now, given the problems with the coronavirus.
BRUNHUBER: And given how much rain is expected, what type of flooding problems are we likely to see?
REYNOLDS: Yes, this is my main worry for impact in Kyushu and southern mainland Japan. This area is incredibly flood prone. It's a mountainous area. They already saw a major flood disaster earlier in the summer so this just is a real big worry, just because of the history of destructive flooding in that area. This typhoon is going to bring a lot of rain.
BRUNHUBER: Listen, we'll be following this story throughout the next coming days. Thank you so much, James Reynolds. We appreciate it.
Well, a pro-Trump boat parade in Texas went awry when several boats sank. Officials say they responded to multiple calls involving boats in distress in Lake Travis, north of Austin. There are no reports so far of any injuries. According to a Facebook posting, more than 2,600 people had been scheduled to attend the parade.
Amid the race to find the coronavirus vaccine, an unusual promise from pharmaceutical companies. The goal is to calm fears about fast-track research and keep people safe. So we'll explain after the break.
And soaring coronavirus case numbers in India have health officials there worried. We'll have that and more straight ahead on CNN. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: While many hope for a vaccine that can end this pandemic, at least three pharmaceutical companies have made an unusual joint agreement. They won't seek approval for any treatment unless it has been proven to be safe and effective. According to "The Wall Street Journal," Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson signed the pledge.
U.S. president Donald Trump has claimed the vaccine could be approved before Election Day and his surgeon general has asked states to be ready for distribution on November 1st, quote, "just in case." But one health official tells CNN he worries the approval process could be politicized. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PAUL OFFIT, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: The problem is that the FDA is not an independent group. They are part of Health and Human Services, which is part of the executive branch.
Can they be politicized?
Yes. They've been politicized with the hydroxychloroquine decision, with the convalescent plasma decision. So that's what makes people worried. As long as we rely on the Data Safety Mining Board and the FDA's vaccine advisory to give good advice, I think we'll be OK.
But if the FDA again gets politicized, as it did in the other two instances, then I think it's a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: It's fair to wonder whether Americans will actually trust a vaccine that seems rushed to market. CNN's Dana Bash asked Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN SR. U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you trust that, in the situation we're in now, that the public health experts and the scientists will get the last word on the efficacy of a vaccine?
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If past is prologue that they will not, they will be muzzled. They'll be suppressed, they will be sidelined because he is looking at an election coming up in less than 60 days. And he's grasping for whatever he can get, to pretend that he has been a leader on this issue when he has not.
BASH: Let's just say there is a vaccine that is approved and even distributed before the election.
Would you get? It
HARRIS: Well, I think that's going to be an issue for all of us.
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HARRIS: I will say that I would not trust Donald Trump. And it would have to be a credible source of information that talks about the efficacy and the reliability of whatever he's talking about. I will not take his word for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: That entire interview with Democratic vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris is on "STATE OF THE UNION" right here on CNN at 9:00 am Eastern time. That's 2:00 pm In London and 9:00 Sunday evening in Hong Kong. Melbourne, Australia, saw anti-lockdown protests Saturday. Victoria
police said 15 people were arrested. Strict lockdowns have been in place in Melbourne since July. Tough restrictions set to expire in just over a week have been extended, even though case numbers are dropping. Officials say they made the decision because they want a Christmas that's close to normal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL ANDREWS, VICTORIA PREMIER: There is only one option and that is to do this in a series of steady and safe steps. You can't run out of lockdown because all you're doing is running into a third wave and we'll all be locked up again.
I want a Christmas that is as close to normal as possible and this is the only way. These steps are the only way that we will get to that point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, good weather and a holiday weekend saw Brazilians pack the nation's beaches this weekend. Now this despite the fact the country is number two in the world in total cases behind the United States.
And India has recorded its all-time highest single-day spike in coronavirus cases. The country's health ministry reported more than 90,000 new cases Sunday morning. Those numbers have alarmed Indian health officials. CNN's Vedika Sud is in New Delhi with more on this disturbing surge.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Congested streets, crowded markets. India's exponential increase in COVID-19 numbers has done little to deter people from venturing out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People thought that once the numbers started to go down, this was it. They had won the war and everybody was out. And everybody was out there without wearing a mask, without any social distancing, without any sanitizing, basically just game ended.
SUD (voice-over): While it took India 5 and a half months to surpass 1 million cases, it's taken the country just 50 days to add more than 3 million infections. Medical experts say one of the reasons for the big surge is aggressive testing. India would soon cross 50 million tests, reaching more than 1 million a day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) we achieved that target much more (INAUDIBLE).
SUD (voice-over): A significant increase in caseload has been reported from rural areas where the public health care system remains extremely poor and lean (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pandemic is spreading in the rural area. it is mainly affecting the 7 states of this country which are responsible for almost 75 percent of the. Cases
SUD (voice-over): India's health ministry has often courted low fatality and high recovery rates to explain these numbers. The medical experts say this has made people complacent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's because of the mixed messaging that we are putting out. we are not telling people exactly what is going on. We are giving them half of (INAUDIBLE) but not telling the exact gravity of the situation.
SUD (voice-over): Forced repeated lockdowns, economic compulsions (ph) have led the government to relax the restrictions with most restaurants and temples already reopened, subway trains will be back on track for Monday. Another possible hazard in the times of COVID.
With the fastest growing caseload in the world, India is on track to surpass Brazil's numbers and could soon be second only to U.S. in COVID cases -- Vedika Sud, CNN, New Delhi.
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BRUNHUBER: Police are cracking down on protests in Hong Kong.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): You're seeing live pictures right now of what's happening there, so we're going to take you to our reporter in that city and find out what demonstrators are defying orders to gather in the first place there. We'll take you there after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: All right. We want to take you now to Hong Kong where police are clashing with protesters. Our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is there with the latest.
Ivan, we are seeing this huge police presence behind you in the streets there. Take us through what led to this big response.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. When you do see the riot police presence here, it is substantial in this Hong Kong neighborhood.
Today was supposed to be local elections. But several weeks ago the government postponed them for at least a year on the grounds that they couldn't be properly conducted with the coronavirus pandemic, part of why we're all wearing masks. The opposition here argues that that is an excuse, that the pro-
government parties were likely going to get creamed at the polls and that would be embarrassing for the Hong Kong government and, by extension, the Communist Party ruling in Beijing.
Demonstrators had called for a protest. And we've seen signs of some people trying to come out, chanting things like, "Liberate Hong Kong," "Revolution in our times," which is an arrestable offense now in this city, and insulting the police.
The police have come out and they have been periodically arresting people on the streets, putting them behind these orange lines in what the police call containment operations, then searching pedestrians and taking down their ID cards. I have seen maybe two or three incidences of people throwing water bottles at the police.
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WATSON: But it has been a peaceful show of dissent. What we are clearly seeing here is that organized peaceful political protest is simply not tolerated by the authorities in Hong Kong. You will be arrested if these police officers see you chanting something against the government.
And it's part of a much broader crackdown, Kim, where we've seen members of the opposition, opposition leaders and activists, being arrested in recent months and rounded up and prosecuted with charges.
And, of course, there is what happened on July 1st, where Beijing imposed a national security law on this former British colony, which critics, including a number of governments, which have scrapped their extradition treaties with Hong Kong, they charge, is basically the ruling Communist Party ripping up the autonomy agreement that Hong Kong was supposed to enjoy until the year 2047.
The Hong Kong authorities, the Chinese government, they claim that this is intervention in Hong Kong and China's internal affairs.
But again, we haven't seen protests in the streets of Hong Kong in quite some time and this is what happens when people try to disagree, show that they disagree with the government. You're going to get very likely thrown in jail -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Very stark scenes there. Thank you so much, Ivan Watson. We'll keep on that story for the rest of the day.
With that, that wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For viewers in the U.S. and Canada, "NEW DAY" is just ahead. And for everyone else is "LIVING GOLF."
