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India Sets New Global Record for Most Cases in a Day; Brazil's Cases Appear to Be Easing after Passing 4 Million; Djokovic Disqualified from U.S. Open; New California State Record for Land Torched by Wildfires; Typhoon Haishen Lashes South Korea; China Imposes New Visa Restrictions Targeting U.S. Media; Trump Pushes Back on Disparaging 'Atlantic' Report; Protests Rock U.S. Cities on Holiday Weekend; North Carolina First State to Mail Out Absentee Ballots. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired September 07, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Coronavirus surge. Cases climbing throughout Europe as India may be just hours away from passing Brazil. We'll be live in New Delhi.

[00:00:26]

Desperate evacuations through the flames as historic fires rage through California. We'll have a report from our team on the ground.

And the biggest name in men's tennis defaulted from the U.S. Open. See the shocking move at the center of the story.

Welcome to NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. We do begin with the sobering fight -- news in the fight against COVID-19. Health officials around the world have now confirmed more than 27 million infections since the pandemic began.

In Europe, the virus has been resurging, with countries reporting some of their biggest infection numbers in months. The United Kingdom recording nearly 3,000 new cases within a 24-hour period, its highest one-day jump since back in May.

Over the past few weeks, European countries have been easing Coronavirus restrictions in an effort to boost their economies. But these loosened measures, coupled with an increase in testing, as well, have likely contributed to the surge we're seeing.

Still, the situation appears to be even worse in India. On Saturday, it once again, set a global record for most confirmed cases in a day. And soon, India may pass Brazil to become the country with the second highest number of infections in the world.

CNN's Vedika Sud is live for us from New Delhi. These case numbers going in the wrong direction.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN PRODUCER: Very grim situation, Michael. And it will continue to be so for a while. Because for the first time we've seen over 90,000 cases being reported on Saturday. We fear those will be the numbers that will carry on for Sunday, as well, which will be issued in about 20 minutes from now.

That's when we're going to get to know if India has surpassed Brazil's numbers, to be second only to the U.S. when it comes to the Coronavirus caseload.

We're also looking at the death numbers, because it's over 70,000 now for India. India remains the third highest country with the number of deaths confirmed.

So it remains a grim situation. The medical experts I've been speaking to have been saying this isn't going to really go anywhere anytime soon. It is here to stay for a while.

A lot of reasons for that, one of them being, according to some of the virologists that I've spoken to, is the mixed messaging emerging from the Indian government, as well. Because they keep harping on the fatality rate being less than two percent, and the active cases being less than the recovery rate.

But clearly, no one is taking the issue head on and saying, yes, we have huge numbers. And that the reason for this also being that a lot of people are still not wearing masks or keeping themselves six feet apart from each other. And this is leading to more cases.

But I think the biggest reason for these numbers going up, Michael, at this point in time, is the aggressive testing. India will soon surpass 15 million tests, which is huge. We've seen aggressive testing taking place in the last three weeks especially. And with those tests going up, the caseload is going up, as well, of course. And one of the reasons for this is that India's testing over a million samples a day, Michael.

HOLMES: All right. Vedika, thanks for that. Appreciate that, live for us in New Delhi.

Well, as we follow the situation in India, Brazil does continue to struggle when it comes to this pandemic. On Sunday alone, it reported more than 14,000 new cases, but there may be signs that Brazil is moving in the right direction.

CNN's Matt Rivers takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Brazil passes a troubling milestone in the Coronavirus pandemic, people in the capital city continue with daily life, with mixed emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I'm not calm. I'm very afraid, because people here don't give much importance to COVID-19.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Yes, we need to get back to work. Businesses have lost a lot.

RIVERS: After an outbreak that spread wide and fast, Brazil's Coronavirus cases have surpassed four million, killing more than 120,000 so far. But for the first time since May, there may now be some signs of reprieve in Latin America's worst-hit country.

Brazil's COVID-19 death rate appears to be easing, showing a slight average decline in the number dying each day. New daily infections may also be leveling off after peaking at the end of July.

But some experts warn that the downward trend is far from definite, and the worst may still be ahead. Others caution against relying too heavily on the data.

[00:05:12]

DR. ALEXANDRE NAIME BARBOSA, BRAZILIAN DOCTOR (through translator): The under reporting of cases is three to five times the number of official cases. Last week, the average number of deaths was less than 1,000 deaths per day, a statistic that was celebrated by some political figures whose strategy is to promote increasing flexibility in economic and social fields.

RIVERS: Across most of Brazil, Coronavirus restrictions have loosened, and businesses have reopened, as the country's president continues to downplay the outbreak. Jair Bolsonaro said any international vaccine would need further approval in Brazil and that it would be up to each citizen to decide if they wanted it.

JAIR BOLSONARO, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Many people want the vaccine to be applied in a coercive way, but there is no law that provides for that. The existing law says that such measures may be adopted; they may be taken.

RIVERS: Bolsonaro's attitude toward the pandemic, and a potential vaccine, has seen some resistance elsewhere in the government, including the leader of Brazil's biggest city.

JOAO DONA, SAO PAULO GOVERNOR (through translator): We have a leader who is a denialist, who continues to deny that the virus is serious. We will be prepared. There were some situations in which the federal government, for some reason, turns its back on Sao Paulo. Brazilians and Sao Paulo will have the vaccine.

RIVERS: Despite criticism, Bolsonaro's popularity continues to rise across Brazil, boosted by COVID-19 welfare payments, which he has extended through the end of the year. While an outbreak appears to plateau, his narrative may be winning.

Matt Rivers, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now, in the United States, the kind of social gatherings some health experts warned against over the big Labor Day holiday weekend, well, they actually happened.

A massive crowd of people showing up on Saturday night for an unofficial Burning Man Festival in San Francisco, California. Absolutely no social distancing, as you can see. CNN spoke with Craig Fowler, the man who took this video. Fowler said

that it was an amazing night but that he didn't realize it would be so crowded.

City officials moved quickly to shut the area down. Official Burning Man organizers say they were not involved in the gathering.

And crowds of people flocking to other California beaches over the weekend. Political science professor Gabriel Sanchez, who has studied Americans' behavior during the pandemic, says this is irresponsible.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GABRIEL SANCHEZ, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR: Fortunately, on some of the responses, you actually can make a difference. A sizeable segment, for example, indicated they don't have access to free masks. So public experts, states can address that.

But unfortunately, if it the end of the day, folks say either it's uncomfortable, or it's my right as an American, I don't think there's a public health intervention that's going to work to make this happen quickly.

And unfortunately, lives are at stake, and every day folks are not wearing a masks, it potentially infects a larger segment of the population. So that was unfortunately one of the conclusions that we've had. Because when you have a significant underlying ideology that's preventing a large segment of the population from doing a very simple task, put a mask over your face to reduce the spread of COVID- 19. That's a difficult challenge that I think speaks to the wider schism between Americans on their underlying ideology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And Professor Sanchez was involved in a detailed study on the politics and the social aspect of mask wearing. We'll bring you our full conversation with him in the next hour.

Well, one of the biggest names in men's tennis has been disqualified from the U.S. Open. Novak Djokovic was defaulted from the match after hitting a lineswoman with a ball. The world No. 1 officially defaulting, after a discussion with the referee and tournament officials.

CNN WORLD SPORT's Patrick Snell following the story. Yes, when you see it, I mean, he may not have meant it, but the rules are really firm on this. Right?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: They really are, Michael. Yes. It was accidental, no question about that, and he can't have this moment back, Novak Djokovic. It must be huge frustrations to him.

Of course, our thoughts and best wishes go to the female line judge in question, Michael.

You can see the incident there. He was playing the Spanish player Pablo Carrena Busta. He had just fallen behind in the first set, 6-5 down he was. He just had his serve broken.

You can see the instant remorse there on his face. You can see the anguish that the female line judge is in. Djokovic going over to, trying to console her. That is the incident there. The ball striking her, apparently, in the neck and throat area.

And you can see, after deliberations here with the officials, there is only one outcome. It's quite simple. The rules are rules. If you strike the ball, and it hits an official, then, that is it. It's like a red card in soccer or football, Michael. It's only one answer. Red card means you leave the game, and that's what's happened here.

[00:10:11]

Huge disappointment for Djokovic personally. He was hoping to go on and win an 18th Grand Slam title. He's the world's top-ranked player, Michael. He was the top seed. Nobody saw this coming.

HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. Now he left the stadium without a news conference. What has he said about this since?

SNELL: Yes. There were many felt he would stay and address this, but he didn't. He reportedly left.

But he did take to social media a little later on Sunday evening here in the United States. He took to his Instagram. "This whole situation has left me really sad and empty. I checked on the lines person, and the tournament told me that thank God, she is feeling OK. I'm extremely sorry to have caused her such stress. So unintended. So wrong. I'm not disclosing her name to respect her privacy. As for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointment and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being. I apologize to the U.S. Open tournament, everyone associated for my behavior. I'm very grateful to my team and family for being my rock support, and my fans for always being there with me. Thank you and I'm so sorry."

So a heartfelt apology there, Michael, from Novak Djokovic, but this is really not a moment that he'll reflect on with pride.

HOLMES: Yes. Absolutely. Do you think that he's got a bit of a bad boy reputation? He's had some negative headlines in the last few months. And he was taking a bit of a hiding on Twitter.

SNELL: Yes. This is definitely something that he will probably feel that he's not had the best 2020. I think that's fair to say. Of course, earlier in the year, there was the infamous, and the ill- judged Adria Tour in the Balkans that he was hosting at which a number of players tested positive for COVID-19, including himself.

But he made pains to point out at the time, you know, that tournament was coming from a good place. They were doing it to raise money for the region.

He'll reflect on this latest incident. He wanted to have a good showing. There's no question about that. But it's a situation that he's not covered himself in glory. No question about that. And he would likely admit that. You've seen the contrition there in his apology.

I do want to get to the fact that WORLD SPORT in just over half an hour from right now, Michael. We'll be reporting (ph) a whole lot more. An analysis to come on that huge talking point from over the weekend in New York City.

HOLMES: Yes. Absolutely. Well, I guess it's going to be a first-time Grand Slam winner now, isn't there?

SNELL: Yes. It's guaranteed.

HOLMES: Yes, guaranteed. All right, Pat. Good to see you. Patrick Snell there. In the studio, which is also good to see.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, Typhoon Haishen has been hammering Japan. And now it's packing a powerful punch in South Korea. Ahead, we'll have a report from the weather center.

And imagine being in this car with the flames burning all around you, trying to escape a wildfire in California, while crews are struggling to contain these blazes. That's when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:16]

HOLMES: Record heat and raging wildfires creating a dire situation in California. More than two million acres have burned this year, the most ever. That's bigger than 10 New York City's.

And we still haven't reached the critical months of October and November yet. We have some time lapse to show you here. This is satellite video from the National Weather Service.

Really gives you a sense of just how big the blaze is. It's called the Creek Fire. They give them names in California. It's burned more than 45,000 acres in central California since Friday.

And now, watch a group of backpackers narrowly escaped that fire in the Sierra National Forest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just keep going. Just keep going. Just keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (EXPLETIVE DELETED) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. We made it, we made it, we made it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, firefighters also battling severe heat this holiday weekend as they try to contain the blazes. CNN's Paul Vercammen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, a horrifying, brutal weekend and heat throughout California.

Let's begin northeast of Fresno, California. The mammoth reservoir was evacuated, because the Creek Fire encircled campers at this reservoir. Many of them were in fear for their lives. A lot of them were airlifted, more than 200 of them, to safety in nearby Fresno. And we know that at least 20 were treated for injuries, such as burns, as well as broken bones.

One woman recounting to us the moment where she was trying to drive away from walls of flame.

JULIANA PARK, FLED WILDFIRES IN SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST: At the time I was on a hike with just some hazy air that became, you know, soon ash rain. We were wearing masks, but it was getting, you know, harder to breathe, harder to see.

I would say between the time of 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m., we could see that, you know, we needed to leave immediately. I think if we had stayed just 10 minutes more, we might not have been so lucky.

VERCAMMEN: And these fires burning throughout Southern California, sending up huge pyro cumulus clouds that can have their own weather. In many instances, the clouds from, let's say, the Creek Fire, going way up, 8, 9, miles into the air.

And the heat just oppressive in Los Angeles county, Woodland Hills to be specific. We set an all-time record high for an official station, 121 degrees Fahrenheit.

And the concern among the firefighters, in their community is that there's just no rest for them. We already broke the record for most acres burned in California. And we have the hot months of October and November ahead, where the Santa Ana winds can come whipping through and cause a lot of fire danger.

They are looking for some way to get some sort of break and rest from all these flames.

Reporting from Venice, California, I'm Paul Vercammen. Back to you now, Michael.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Paul Vercammen, thank you. Now, typhoon hitting South Korea now, after battering Japan. It does remain a very powerful system. At one point, Haishen was as strong as a Category 3 hurricane.

Dozens of people injured in Japan. Four people are still missing after their homes were washed into a river.

Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri to discuss this further. Where is it headed? Is it still hurricane strength?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. It is a Category 1 equivalent. It's been ashore now for the past several hours, Michael, on the eastern coast of South Korea. Still impacting that region and going to finally weaken, we think, within the next 12 hours.

But landfall with winds of about 126 kilometers per hour, 9 a.m. local time just north of Busan near the town of Ulsan (ph). This was, of course, an area where we've had tremendous activity in previous weeks. In fact, the past four weeks, five tropical systems have made landfall across the Korean Peninsula. The seasonal average, one to two typhoons typically impact this region in any given Stevenson. Of course, we pick up five in a four-week span.

But here's what the storm is again. Currently, a Category 1 equivalent, weakening rather quickly. But it's the rainfall that's in store across this region that is really going to be problematic afterward.

It's been a persistent and historic wet weather season across this region. Vladivostok, you're going to get on the action, as well, over the next couple of days.

But a lot of those people often don't think about whether it's having kind of a butterfly effect, but essentially, what has happened here with the typhoon its placement in the western Pacific Ocean, displaced the jet stream. Or the steering environment in the atmosphere, the winds upstairs.

[00:20:09]

Well, far enough north and strengthen the jet stream far enough north where an historic pattern developed across portions of California. You noted there in the previous story, Michael, of the fire weather across parts of California. Well, yes the typhoon certainly played a role in this, in displacing that jet stream, strengthening the area of high pressure off the western United States.

And upwards of 80 plus million Americans underneath a red flag warnings, fire weather concerns, and heat warnings, as well, and advisories. But notice, some 80 large uncontained fires across the western United States.

And in fact, you look at the satellite imagery from the Creek Fire itself. An explosive 600 percent growth in a 24-hour span this past weekend across the state of California. So again, you put that weather pattern in place. The arid landscape

and temperatures that are climbing up to 50 plus degrees in some areas. That is exactly why containment on this, Michael, remains 0 percent of the Creek Fire. And of course, the weather not helping across the region, as well -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, I just saw somebody tweet at 9 p.m. in L.A., and it's 102 degrees Fahrenheit. That is crazy hot. Yes, exactly. Pedram, good to see you. Pedram Javaheri there.

Well, a scathing new tell-all book about the U.S. president, Donald Trump, is out this week. And that controversial article in "The Atlantic," well, that's not going away. How the president is playing defense, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: In Belarus, thousands of people flooding the streets through the fourth weekend in a row to protest the reelection of President Alexander Lukashenko.

A human rights group says more than 100 people were detained on Sunday, as police continued to crack down on demonstrators.

Now, this comes after a key opposition activist accused authorities of forcibly removing her from the country. Olga Kovalkova, a confidant of the main opposition candidate, says security forces threatened her with further arrests if she didn't agree to leave. She says she was put in a car and taken to the border with Poland.

In Hong Kong, police used pepper spray to disperse protesters and arrested nearly 300 of them. Some taken into custody for what authorities call unlawful assembly, misconduct in public places, and suspicion of attacking police officers.

Demonstrations were held after the government postponed local elections for at least a year due to the pandemic. The opposition says the vote was pushed back for fear of pro-government parties doing poorly.

China has imposed new visa restrictions on foreign journalists working for new U.S. outlets. Chinese officials tell CNN it's a reciprocal move for President Donald Trump's treatment of Chinese journalists working in the U.S.

Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong with more on this. What is China's reasoning? And what's going to be the effect, or possible effect of this?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a significant hurdle for U.S. media in China. It's also another sign of the downward spiral in relations between Washington and Beijing.

Now, a Chinese media credential is usually good for one year, but when journalists from a range of U.S. media companies, including CNN, "Wall Street Journal," and Getty Images, attempted to renew that credential last week on Friday, they were told that they were not able to renew it.

Instead, they were issued new visas, valid for about two months, lasting until around the time of the U.S. presidential election in November.

Now, among the journalists affected are non-U.S. citizens, as well as U.S. citizens, and our Beijing colleague, David Culver.

In response, CNN has issued a statement. We have the statement ready. We'll bring it up for you. In it, CNN says, "One of our Beijing-based journalists was recently issued a visa valid for two months, instead of the usual 12. However, our presence on the ground in China remains unchanged. We are continuing to work with local authorities to ensure that continues," unquote.

David Culver was told by Chinese officials that this decision was not in response to his reporting but was a, quote, "reciprocal measure" in response to the Trump administration's treatment of Chinese journalists in the United States.

In fact, it was earlier this year when the Trump administration decided to limit the stay of most Chinese journalists operating in the country, and if their visas are not extended, or approved, they could be forced to leave by November, again, the time of the U.S. presidential election.

On Thursday, we heard from the ministry of foreign affairs. Its spokesperson, Hua Chunying, addressed the issue of tit-for-tat journalist visas.

She said this, quote -- we bring up the statement for you -- "The essence of the media issue between China and the U.S., is the U.S. political persecution and suppression against the Chinese media out of the cold war mentality and ideological bias. If the U.S. keeps moving further down the wrong path, China has no choice but to make a justifiable necessary reaction to firmly uphold its legitimate rights," unquote. Hinting of more potential reaction to come in this ongoing tit-for-tat.

Back to you, Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. And how -- how could it sort of affect the media environment in China? I mean, coverage inside the PRC?

STOUT: It will definitely affect coverage inside the PRC. Now, again, the statement says CNN's presence on the ground in China remains unchanged for now.

But I also should add that we've learned that Chinese authorities have warned that temporary press credentials can be revoked at any time. All of this is dependent on what the United States, under President Donald Trump, chooses to do next.

Now, this uncertainty, the ongoing visa row on top of this creates a very uncertain reporting environment in China. This will affect not only our ability to report on this story, but our global audience, and the American audience, and their ability to have a broad and deep understanding of what's happening inside China.

The ongoing visa row has been so costly, according to David Stillwell of the U.S. State Department. He says, you know, look at the number of U.S. journalists left in China. Only a handful are left -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. Kristie Lu Stout, good to see you. Thanks for that, covering this from Hong Kong with us.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, a weekend of protests across the U.S. over racial injustice and police brutality. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:30:48]

HOLMES: Just 57 days until the U.S. presidential election, and the Trump administration in defense mode. The latest in a string of tell- all books disparaging the president is out this week. It is called "Disloyal: A Memoir." In it, the president's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, describes Mr. Trump as interested in using the presidency for personal financial gain.

And that bombshell article published in "The Atlantic" is not going away. CNN's Jeremy Diamond explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, with less than two months until election day, President Trump just can't seem to shake this "Atlantic" article that describes the president's disparaging fallen service members from World War I during a visit to France in 2018.

The president reportedly referring to those fallen service members as suckers and losers. And now multiple news outlets, including CNN, have confirmed different parts of that "Atlantic" story.

A former senior administration official telling CNN that the president did, indeed, refer to those fallen service members in crude and disparaging terms.

Now, the pushback from the White House has been tremendous, perhaps greater than we have seen for any other previous news story. And part of that, of course, is because veterans and the military are an important part of the president's voting bloc.

Here is the pushback that we were seeing on Sunday from two cabinet members.

DANA BASH, HOST, CNN'S "STATE OF THE UNION": Have you ever heard the president disparage U.S. service members or veterans?

ROBERT WILKIE, U.S. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: Well, absolutely not, and I would be offended, too, if I thought it was true. STEVE MNUCHIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF TREASURY: I think this president has

enormous respect for the military and for the generals. And I've been at the Tank at the Pentagon with him. I've been at 9/11 at the Pentagon with him. This president respects and supports the U.S. military.

DIAMOND: Now, the president has, of course, denied the story, vehemently, but his denials are complicated by some false statements that he has made as he has tried to make those denials.

One of them is that he talked to first lady Melania Trump, who he claimed was back in Washington D.C., when in fact, she was on that trip to France with him in 2018.

And then the second part of the president's denial was claiming that he had never referred to the late Senator John McCain as a loser. That claim is defied by the video evidence of the president referring to former Senator John McCain in exactly those terms.

And of course, more broadly, the president back in 2015 had referred to Senator John McCain as a loser, and then went on to say that he liked people who weren't captured, saying that John McCain was not a hero. But of course, that was also a broader denunciation, it seems, of prisoners of war. Not all too dissimilar from what what we're now hearing the president said during that trip to France.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Protests against racial injustice and police brutality have been taking place, of course, all across the U.S. for months now. Some of the biggest rallies took place in Rochester, New York; Louisville, Kentucky; and Portland, Oregon, in recent days.

Saturday, in fact, marking the 100th night of protests in Portland since the death of George Floyd.

Now, with the protests increasingly becoming an issue in the U.S. presidential race, a new CBS News/YouGov poll of registered voters finds that 49 percent think Democrat Joe Biden is trying to calm down the situation; 39 percent say the same thing about President Donald Trump.

Forty-seven percent believe Mr. Trump is encouraging the fighting, compared to 30 percent who say Biden is.

Erroll Southers joins us now from Los Angeles via Skype. He's a professor at the University of Southern California's Sol Price School of Public Policy.

Good to see you, Professor. I mean, one thing that you said, you said quote, "The combination of political speech and militias that encourage extremist views and fear of progressive change have all contributed to an 'us-versus-them' narrative" in the U.S. You know, we've seen Black Lives Matter protests turn violent, too. Of course, the appearance of these militias, do you fear the mixture could manifest in election-related violence or the potential for that?

[00:35:05]

ERROLL SOUTHERS, PROFESSOR, SOL PRICE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: I do think that the mixture is going to relate to more violence. We've seen that over the last several weeks, and as you've mentioned previously, militias and vigilantes coming out now to actually monitor these protests is actually an activity that is illegal in the United States.

Most people don't understand that they've conflated the Second Amendment to mean that you can go out and form a militia. But militias

only operate in the United States under the authority of the governor, or the president of the United States.

HOLMES: Hmm, yes. The Second Amendment was meant to be against the tyrannical government, not your own fellow citizens. That's a whole other argument. I mean, there's the very fact that violence has become such a big campaign issue, make the potential for violent protests on both sides even worse leading up to election day?

SOUTHERS: Well, yes, it has, and what's really unfortunate about this, is that we normalize violence in this country so much in the last three and a half years, that it's become almost commonplace, brought about and brought to light, if you will, by social justice protests and protests against police brutality. Unlike we've seen in a half a century.

As a result of this, there have been a number of incidents that have been happening since George Floyd was murdered that most people don't even know about. In fact, a center stood up a database two days after George Floyd was murdered, and that's the Center for the Analysis of the Radical Right. And there have been 500 times where white vigilantes and far-right extremists have shown up to oppose Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, often with tragic results.

HOLMES: Wow. That is a big number. I know you probably saw "The Washington Post" published an academic if you like gaming out of scenarios for the election. Based on a Biden win, a Trump win, a close call.

The results are frankly disturbing. I mean, they point to the potential for violence on the streets, and that comes back to the president sort of proactively casting doubt on the result of the early election. He said he can only lose if it's rigged. And what, you know, he might say to his supporters if he loses.

Is it alarmist to contemplate that scenario, sort of, you know, post- election day. You know, violence on the streets. What do you think? It is.

SOUTHERS: Michael, it's very alarmist to have that kind of outlook, if you will. What's happened, though, over the last three years, is almost a self-fulfilling prophesy of a second civil war.

And it comes about as a result of the demographics of the United States. We're going to be a minority majority by 2025. That's been interpreted by some segments of the society here in this country as white genocide is being -- is underway. And what they call the great replacement of white people in their home countries by foreign, non- white immigrants. And so that's where you saw when the president ran for office his No. 1 item was immigration.

And that resonated with a lot of people here who were concerned about this white genocide that they believe is taking place. So now, we come to an election where if, in fact, the president loses and it's rigged, you have people believing that the system and the government is rigged, and that's the reason for the loss in 2020.

HOLMES: Well, if he says it's rigged, not necessarily that it is rigged. I mean, as you pointed out, the use of sort of racially-coded language has long been a sort of go-to for Trump.

But then you've got this new CNN polling out: 58 percent of Americans say Trump's response to race protests has been more harmful. Only 33 percent said it's been more helpful.

How do you think the protest violence is playing in America in an electoral sense?

SOUTHERS: Well, the protest violence is -- is playing out in a way that the president is using this violence, an issue, if you watch the Republican and Democratic conventions -- I'm sorry, the Republican National Convention. This was front and center, you know, the law and order mantra of running for office here is nothing more than the southern strategy that George Wallace tried to run on decades ago and was unsuccessful.

He just brought it back to life, and it has a whole new meaning with social media, with the media coverage of the kinds of things that are happening. And using these protests when they've turned violent to demonstrate what America is going to look like if, in fact, he does not continue for another four years.

Of course, ignoring the fact that we are in this period of violence and chaos during his term as it exists presently.

HOLMES: Yes, exactly. Yes, some worrying trends. Professor Erroll Southers, got to leave it there. Thank you very much.

SOUTHERS: Thank you.

HOLMES: Yes, and over the weekend, the state of North Carolina began sending out ballots to voters. As CNN's Dianne Gallagher explains, officials and voters are preparing for an election unlike any other.

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DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Let the voting begin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the excitement for us, that we're going to give you that opportunity to vote sooner than anybody else.

GALLAGHER: But with that excitement comes a healthy dose of concern. With election day 60 days out, voters in North Carolina can start casting their ballots in an election like no other, including a massive change in the way people will vote.

KAREN BRINSON BELL, NORTH CAROLINA ELECTIONS BOARD DIRECTOR: This is unprecedented, the number of absentee mail requests that we have received.

GALLAGHER: More than 618,000 ballots already requested, over 16 times the number at this point in 2016. Due to the pandemic, many of them first-time absentee voters, like Joe and Anne Maher.

ANN MAHER, CHARLOTTE RESIDENT: I do like to do it in person, but I don't want to take a chance this year.

GALLAGHER: The spring and summer primary elections already gave us a glimpse of the potential problems. Long lines, a shortage of polled workers and the president of the United States making shocking suggestions.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, let them send it in, and let them go vote.

GALLAGHER: The president suggesting to intentionally vote twice, something election officials say is a felony. The White House says he was not encouraging people to commit crimes.

TRUMP: Thank you very much.

GALLAGHER: Another concern, when the election will end. The sheer volume of mail-in ballots is going to dwarf years past. By law, some states, like Michigan, can't even process mail-in votes until November 3, meaning election night 2020, could be election week.

MICHAEL BITZER, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, CATAWBA COLLEGE: The likelihood is, some candidates are going to declare when maybe they shouldn't. I think this year, the voters and the candidates need to realize this may be 24, 48, 72 hours in the making.

GALLAGHER: And there is a very real chance that the candidate in the lead on election night might not be the next president of the United States.

One possible scenario: Trump begins on top, but his lead slips as more mail-in votes come in, giving Trump time to question the results. He's already questioned whether the postal service can deliver.

TRUMP: Mail-in voting is going to be the greatest fraud in the history of elections.

GALLAGHER: The postal service says it can handle the volume, but here in controversial Postmaster General Louis DeJoy state, the concerns about delivering ballots in time are real.

MAHER: I want to make sure it doesn't get lost, I've had so much concern over the postage system and so forth. I don't want to take any chances. This election to me is very important. And it's essential. I may have one vote, but I want that vote to count.

JOE MAHER, CHARLOTTE RESIDENT: What she said.

GALLAGHER: The solution from election officials? Get your ballots in early.

MICHAEL DICKERSON, MECKLENBURG COUNTY ELECTIONS DIRECTOR: Do it early. Don't wait 'til the last weekend to mail it back.

GALLAGHER: With so many questions, worries of a return to the chaos of 20 years ago, when hanging chads led to a presidential election decided by the Supreme Court.

Diane Gallagher, CNN, Charlotte.

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HOLMES: Thanks for watching, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Do stay tuned for WORLD SPORT. I'll see you in about 20 minutes.

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