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Inferno in California 2020; South Korea Bracing for a Typhoon; Coronavirus Spikes in India; Left and Right Attacks on Trump; Wearing a Mask a Sacrifice; India Passes Brazil for Second-Highest Case Total; European Countries See Spike in COVID-19 Cases; Calm in Rochester After Tense Protests; Novak Djokovic Disqualified from Tournament. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 07, 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)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: California firefighters face record- setting temperatures as they battle fast-moving wildfires. We'll get the latest from a fire official.

India captures a dubious distinction when it comes to COVID-19 cases. We're live in New Delhi with the details.

Novak Djokovic is apologizing after an incident that automatically knocked him out of the U.S. Open.

Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to you, our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and this is CNN Newsroom.

Parts of California are dealing with their hottest weekend on record, intensifying, devastating wildfires raging across the state. And the governor has now declared a state of emergency in five counties.

Los Angeles County just west of where the El Dorado fire is burning recorded its highest ever temperature on Sunday, 121 degrees Fahrenheit. That's close to 50 degrees Celsius. San Bernardino's Cal Fire unit says law enforcement has determined this fire was caused by smoke generating pyrotechnic device used during a gender reveal party.

Wildfires have burned more than two million acres this year. That's a state record and we're only in September. Now, this video here is from a lake in Central California as authorities there warned people on boats about the dangerous smoke and ash.

And here this satellite imagery shows the smoke emergency facing much of the American west with several major fires still burning on Sunday. Now, the triple threat of heat, smoke and flames is a major challenge for firefighters.

CNN's Paul Vercammen reports from Venice, California. PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Horrifying, brutal weekend of fire

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 air lifted, 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My god.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (muted).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My god.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just keep going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go, go, go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just keep going.

JULIANA PARK, HIKER WHO ESCAPED A WILDFIRE: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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 in 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 is 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. BRUNHUBER: Well, joining me now over the phone from Fresno,

California is Stacey Nolan. She's a public information officer with the Fresno County Fire Protection District. Thanks so much for speaking with us on the phone.

The scenes we're seeing people trapped, daring escapes through flames, the largest wildfire-related air evacuation in recent memory. Tell us what it's like on the ground there for those trying to fight the fires and save lives.

[03:05:00]

STACEY NOLAN, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, FRESNO COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: Sure. Kim, thank you very much for having me this evening. Yes, we have very, very steep terrains, you know, we have a lot of heavy -- heavy, heavy timber. A lot of, you know, bark beetle area is what's been affected. You know, we've had not a lot of rains, you know, over the past, you know, year and there's a lot of brush and trees that are down. So that adds to, you know, the fuel. And that's why we're getting the increased, you know, fire activity that we do have.

BRUNHUBER: We heard from the report just -- just minutes ago about the heat. How is that making things worse, both from a fire propagation perspective, but also for the firefighters who are trying to combat this?

NOLAN: Yes, the area that the fire is in, you know, it's a little higher elevation, so the heat is, you know, is a factor because, you know, it is hotter and dryer, you know, and this weekend we've had the higher, you know, temperatures, you know, it's been throughout all of, you know, California. And so, it does help when we do have those lower -- lower temperatures.

BRUNHUBER: A climate researcher at UCLA said the state may set a record for the most acres burned in the modern era, maybe by today, in fact. So from your perspective, how bad has this year been and how hard is it to cope with this when it seems like, I mean, every year it seems like we're setting new records.

NOLAN: Yes, well, actually, that's absolutely true. So, this year Cal Fire and federal land combined, we've already, you know, done 7,514 fires with a total of, you know, a lot more acres than last year. Last year we only had 4,569 fires. So, yes, it's more land, you know, obviously when you do a comparison to the two years.

BRUNHUBER: So just where you are, you know, we've seen evacuations. What do you think will come next? Will there be more evacuations? How bad is the situation now, in terms of containment and where you go from here?

NOLAN: Absolutely. And I can actually give you a new update. We have this update about an hour and a half ago. We updated it to 73,278 acres with zero percent containment.

BRUNHUBER: Wow. NOLAN: And as far as evacuations, we have evacuation orders and

warnings in place right now. So, we have two different sides of the fire that we are, you know, in charge of. We have what we call the Fresno County fire side and we also have the Madera County fire side. So, there are two different sides because the fire did jump the Santa -- I mean, the San Joaquin river.

So, right now, as of right now, the community of central camp which is on the Madera side, they're in an evacuation order and then we also have evacuation warnings. So, like again, I said we have Fresno County evacuation warning in effect on a couple of our roads. I can give those to you in case anyone would like those. We have toll house road from state route 161.

BRUNHUBER: Maybe I'll -- sorry, maybe I'll interrupt you there because we're on a national broadcast.

NOLAN: OK.

BRUNHUBER: But just looking at the big picture, zero percent containment. We're seeing the heat is so extreme, we saw some pictures of people trying to escape and some people had to, in fact, we're told they might have to hide in the water basically. How dangerous is it for the folks out there right now?

NOLAN: Actually, we had our army National Guard with one of their Chinooks do 207 civilian rescues with two injuries. And they were, you know, all taken out, you know, of an area which is on the Madera side. And it's called Mammoth pools. That's an area, like I said, on the other side of the river that this has affected as well.

So, yes, there is very steep terrain for everyone. That's why we asked the public, you know, we ask them to leave. You know, don't, you know, don't hang out. You know, if we give a warning or an evacuation please, you know, listen to that and follow the orders that are given.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, with so many people on the long weekend hoping for fun, certainly this isn't what they wanted to see. But hopefully people will listen to those instructions. Best of luck to you and the firefighters who are trying to contain this. Thank you very much, Stacey Nolan. I appreciate it.

We're going to bring in CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri to discuss this further. You know, California burning up in more ways than one, dealing with both the fires and kiln-like heat. Take us through this.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. You know, it's incredible. I've never seen a heatwave quite like this into the month of September. We're talking about potential all-time records now being set. In San Luis Obispo just six miles from the Pacific Ocean, highs of 120 degrees on Sunday afternoon.

So, really, an incredible setup here, considering even that when you get close to the waters, say, even into one of the islands Santa Cruz Island, which is about 20 miles off the coast of Southern California, sitting at about 119 degrees for an afternoon high. [03:10:08]

And you'll notice parts of 13 states with not only red flag warnings, which are for the fire weather conditions that are in place, but also excessive heat advisories and watches. And of course, all of this when you put this together, we're talking about 80 large uncontained fires across the Western United States. And of course, the creek fire one of the most explosive growths we've seen in fire weather history as well, climbing up to 600 percent growth in a 24-hour span.

Now, look at these forecasts. If I showed you this in the middle of July, which is climatologically the hottest time of year, you would think it was impressive, 120 degrees in Palm Springs, even for their standards, that's impressive or 122 in Death Valley, 109 in Bakersfield. These are some 15 to 20 degrees displays from where it should be for this time of year, and then notice the disparity, extreme heat across portions of the western U.S.

The jet stream buckling here and a massive change in the forecast with winter weather advisories across portions of the higher elevations into the intermountain west. As much as six inches of snow forecast into Denver, Colorado.

And I want to show you one of the more remarkable seven-day forecasts you will ever see. Denver going from a forecast high on Labor Day of 94 degrees down to six inches of snow on Tuesday and 38 for a high, that would be about a 60-degree drop in temperatures which also would be among the highest displacement within the 24-hour period of temperatures.

Now quickly, for our international audience, I want to show you what's happening across portions of the Korean Peninsula, we've had the category one equivalent system make landfall across the Korean Peninsula. Which by the way, it only happens about once or twice per year, but we've had five in the last 30 days across this region.

Really an incredible pattern here taking shape and, again, you'll notice winds at one point within the last 24 hours were the equivalent of what would be a category 3 hurricane, about 500,000 customers without power across the Ryukyu Islands and also portions of southern Japan, Kim. So, a lot going on in world weather at this hour.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, in fact, we're going to get more on that just now. Pedram Javaheri, I appreciate that.

More on South Korea, blackouts reported as the storm approaches. So, let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks who is live in Seoul for us. Paula, the last I saw, the storm was headed towards Busan, the second largest city on the other side of the country from where you are. What's the latest?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, it was actually landfall made about 9 o'clock this morning, and it was just north of Busan on the southeastern part of South Korea, a place called Ulsan. Now they have seen significant rainfall. They have seen very strong winds as well. And at this point, the storm is really skirting the east coast of South Korea.

Now, it is weakening at this point, but it is still bringing a significant amount of rain. Now we're in the capital, Seoul, on the west coast of South Korea, so certainly conditions on the east coast are far worse than they are here.

But it's rainfall that is very unwelcome on the Korean Peninsula at the moment. We have just seen another typhoon, a matter of days ago, which brought significant flooding to both North and South Korea, and now we have this particular typhoon as well.

And it also follows an historic summer, a monsoon season which was far wetter than we are used to seeing here in South Korea. So certainly, the sheer volume of water that's coming on to the Korean Peninsula is not going to be, in particular in North Korea.

I mean, South Korea clearly is better set up for trying to withstand this kind of severe weather, but North Korea would find it more difficult. Now, we did see from state-run media there that the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had been touring the areas that had been damaged by typhoon Maysak just a matter of days ago and warning of typhoon that is now on the East Coast of the Korean Peninsula.

So North Korea, of course, their concern is agriculture. We're close to the harvest season and they certainly don't want to lose crops in a country where food insecurity is already significant. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll keep following that story. Thank you so much, Paula Hancocks in Seoul.

The United States and Canada celebrate Labor Day Monday and American health experts fear it will bring a spike in cases just as we've seen after other holiday weekends. New Jersey hit hard early on, but numbers have fallen in recent months. And state officials want to keep it that way.

Here is Evan McMorris-Santoro.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Friday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy noted that this state had had six months since its first coronavirus case. Six months where this state went from one of the worst stories of the pandemic to one of the best stories of the pandemic.

Then came this weekend, the big test of all the gains New Jersey has made. Murphy loosened rules on restaurants and movie theaters, allowing 25 percent capacity inside those places for the first time since the shutdowns back in March.

[03:15:01]

I traveled across the state to see how things were going. At the movie theater, I met people who talked about sitting far apart from each other wearing a mask while watching a movie. They felt safe, but they wondered if it was going to continue. And here now at Asbury Park, the beach had a strict limit on how many

people could be on the beach and how long they could be on the beach. And here on the boardwalk we saw a lot of people not wearing masks. Restaurants like the one next to me here in Asbury Park, allowed 25 percent capacity of indoor dining.

I spoke to a manager who said he hopes this works so he can add more and more people and get his business going back again, but Murphy says if these experiments fail, if he sees the numbers go back up, New Jersey will shut down once again.

Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, Asbury Park, New Jersey.

BRUNHUBER: A sobering number for India. The country registered a record spike in coronavirus infections on Sunday, and now has the second highest number of cases worldwide. Details ahead.

Plus, a new book and new polling are both putting U.S. President Donald Trump on the defensive. The tell-all details from Michael Cohen next. Stay with us.

[03:20:00]

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BRUNHUBER: The U.S. presidential election is fast approaching. Less than two months away. And right now, President Trump is playing defense against an onslaught of new tell-all books.

CNN has obtained a copy of the latest one, Michael Cohen's "Disloyal: A Memoir," and the allegations from the former personal attorney of Mr. Trump are damning, making the president out to be a blatant racist. Just one example, after then private citizen Trump's presidential kickoff announcement in 2015, Cohen says Trump told him, quote, "I will never get the Hispanic vote. Like the blacks, they are too stupid to vote for Trump. They are not my people."

Cohen also says after Barack Obama's historic presidential victory in 2008, Trump ranted, quote, "tell me one country run by a black person that isn't an s-hole. They are all complete f-ing toilets."

Adding to Mr. Trump's political headaches a bombshell article published in the Atlantic. Well, it's not going away.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond explains.

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 disparaging fallen service members from World War I during a visit to France in 2018.

The president reportedly apparently 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Have you ever heard the president disparage U.S. service members or veterans?

ROBERT WILKIE, U.S. SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS: Well, absolutely not. I would be offended, too, if I thought it was true.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. SECRETARY OF THE 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now, the president has, of course, for his part, already denied this 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 what we're now hearing the president said during that trip to France.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

BRUNHUBER: A new poll shows former Vice President Joe Biden is holding on to a consistent lead in the race for president. Polling from CBS News and YouGov reveals the Democratic nominee is up 10 points. Nationwide, 52 percent of likely voters say they support Biden, 42 percent said they support President Trump.

And when it comes to who voters believe can better handle the economy, Biden and Mr. Trump are neck and neck, 44 to 45 percent respectively. About half of all likely voters say they believe Joe Biden would do a better job handling the coronavirus pandemic. Only about 38 percent say the president would do a better job handling the outbreak.

Well, CNN's Dana Bash sat down with Biden's running mate, vice presidential nominee, Senator Kamala Harris, for an exclusive interview. And among the topics they discussed, the use of face masks and whether a Biden administration would make them mandatory. Here is part of their conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Early on the former vice president, Joe Biden, appeared to support a federal mask mandate. And now he says he would a lot of pressure on governors, on mayors, on local officials for them to issue the mandate. So, can you clear this up what exactly is the Biden- Harris stands on this. Would a Biden/Harris administration support a federal mask mandate?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, the Biden/Harris position on this is that leaders must lead. And one of the ways leaders lead is they set standards. And so, Joe has been very clear about in his personal behavior much less in what he is admonishing and requesting of the American people, is that we all make the sacrifice to wear a mask in the interest of love of our neighbor, in the interest of defeating or at least reducing the health risks and the number of deaths in America.

[03:25:08]

So it's about a national standard. Everyone should wear a mask. And here's the thing about this. None of us likes wearing a mask. Nobody likes to wear a mask.

BASH: Right. But there's a difference between a standard --

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: But it's about sacrifice.

BASH: Right. There's a difference between a standard and a mandate. Would it be a federal mandate under the Biden/Harris administration?

HARRIS: It would be a standard. Listen, this is not about -- in terms about the priorities of Joe Biden and myself, this is not about punishment, it's not about big brother, it is simply about saying what a leader -- what a leader says in times of crisis. And this is -- you look at World War II. You look at the Great Depression. Where leaders said we each have to sacrifice for the sake of the nation and the collective. And that's what this is about.

BASH: Right, and I get that, but how do you enforce a standard, especially when as you know, there are governors who are in, you know, who just don't agree with that and they're not mandating it on the more local level. How do you enforce that?

HARRIS: But I think that part of the issue here is that we have a president of the United States who made this a partisan issue and made it a political issue, and he had governors who fell in line with him on his politics.

BASH: And you don't think it will still be a partisan issue if you win?

HARRIS: I hope not. I pray not because this -- the COVID -- the virus could care less who you voted for in the last election or who you plan to vote for in the next election, and we need leadership that appreciates that on certain issues they should not be partisan, and wearing a mask certainly shouldn't be one of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Coming up, the pandemic is trending the wrong way in India. Coronavirus cases there have surged past every country in the world except the U.S. We'll go live to New Delhi just ahead. Please stay with us.

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[03:30:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to you, our viewers in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

When it comes to confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, India is now number two. They've reported a staggering number, more than 90,000 in the last 24 hours. This brings its total case count to more than 4.2 million, surpassing Brazil and behind only the U.S.

Meanwhile, the U.K. reported nearly 3,000 new COVID-19 cases in a 24- hour period. According to official government figures, it's their highest daily number since May.

France now has seven more COVID red zones, bringing the total to 28. These are areas where authorities have the power to apply specific restrictions like making masks compulsory outdoors and closing bars and restaurants. This comes after coronavirus cases spiked over the weekend.

We are covering the story from all the angles. We have CNN's Scott McLean in London and Vedika Sud in New Delhi.

Let's start with you, Scott. In the U.K. where you are, just as people are turning to work and school, cases are shooting up and the government is being accused of having lost control of the virus. What is behind this?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kim. Perhaps they should not be surprising because in many ways in many places across England, life has gone back to usual.

Restaurants are opened, pubs are opened, the schools are back opened, and the government is trying to encourage businesses to send their employees who have been working from home back to the office to stimulate the economy and to really help out those town centers which have really bore the brunt of this coronavirus lockdown. They've seen very little foot traffic over the last several months. Yesterday, the U.K. recorded its highest single-day case count since May. The health secretary in this country says he is concerned. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT HANCOCK, BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY: It's predominantly amongst younger people. But, of course, younger people can pass on the disease to their grandparents, and we do not want to see that.

We've seen rise in cases in other countries, around the world, across Europe, often first amongst younger people and then passing it on to others. So it is so important that everybody follows the social distancing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So, a few other things to keep in mind from what the health secretary said there. More testing, obviously, means they will find more cases. To put this into context, the U.K. is doing more than twice as many tests every single day than it was at the first peak of this epidemic.

And perhaps because the number of cases or the people infected are skewing much younger, U.K. has not seen its health care system overwhelmed in the same week. For instance, right now, at last count, there were 69 people across the U.K. hooked up to ventilators because of the coronavirus. It was 40 times, 40 times higher at the peak of the epidemic.

The U.K. has only had two deaths at last count on Sunday. But the concern is that that will rise. The health secretary said as some of these younger people perhaps start to visit their parents or their grandparents. In Spain, they are starting to see that trend already. They saw their highest number of deaths, almost 200 since May. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: Scott, I mentioned France. What other European countries other than Spain, which you mentioned, are of greatest concern here?

MCLEAN: Yes, really across Europe. The second spike in coronavirus infection is likely to easily eclipse the first one, Kim. On Friday, Spain reported its highest case count since May. Almost a third of those cases were in Madrid, the original epicenter.

Remember, Spain had one of the strictest coronavirus lockdowns in all of Europe. At times, you could not leave your house without attracting the attention of police unless you are on a direct line between your workplace or between the grocery store.

One epidemiologist said that, look, lockdowns were effective, but they have essentially just pushed this problem down the road. In France, on Friday, they saw their highest single-day coronavirus case count ever. Not since May, not since April, ever, period. So France has now put 28 of its districts or classified them as red zones, 28 of 101 districts, so more than a quarter of them. It means the local authorities have the power to create special rules, meaning they could close pubs, they could close restaurants, they could even require masks to be worn in any public spaces, even outdoors. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you very much, Scott. We are going to turn now to Vedika Sud in New Delhi.

[03:35:00]

BRUNHUBER: So as mentioned earlier, India has the second highest case count and the fastest-growing infectious rate in the world. What's behind them?

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: A lot of reasons, Kim. We have surpassed those numbers. As you mentioned, we are second to the U.S. when it comes to COVID-19 cases. I spoke to a lot of medical experts. Let me just quickly let you know the reasons.

Firstly, there are a lot of people who have been complacent at this point in time, not wearing masks, not maintaining social distancing despite the guidelines issued over and over again by the Indian government.

The other reason is rural areas have been infected. Remember, 70 percent of India's population lives in rural areas. We have seen a surge in cases of COVID-19 infections in those areas, as well.

Now, India being such a vast country with a population of 1.36 billion people, different states are seeing surge at different points in time. Right now, it is still the western state of Maharashtra and a lot of southern states, as well.

Also, one of the virologists I spoke to says there's mixed messaging going on by the Indian government to the people. While the cases are going up because there is a lot of testing happening, India is about to also record 50 million samples being tested. So we are close to that number.

At the same time, the Indian government comes out talking about how the fatality rate is still one of the lowest across the world. It is currently less than two percent. Along with that, they also talk about the recovery rate.

So, the mixed messaging going out to the people, according to the virologists I spoke to is, all is still well. So the complacency is setting in to people because the (INAUDIBLE) is stepping up more than before and that is the huge worry.

Another development that is taking place is the metro services are being (INAUDIBLE) graded manner. So Delhi itself (INAUDIBLE) sees about 1.5 million passengers boarding those trains, but strict guidelines have been put in place. It is going to be in a graded manner. Some metro stations remain closed where the cases are high. That is the latest we have from India for you. Kim? BRUNHUBER: All right. Thank you so much, Vedika Sud, in New Delhi.

We would like to explore this a little bit more. We are joined now by Ramanan Laxminarayan, the director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy. He also joins us from New Delhi. Thank you so much for being with us.

You wrote back in March that essentially, India could only delay the virus. You likened it to a train that could only be slowed but not stopped. Did you expect the country to be where it is now, the fastest growing infection rate in the world?

RAMANAN LAXMINARAYAN, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR DISEASE DYNAMICS, ECONOMICS & POLICY: Kim, India is a large country, as Vedika just explained. To some extent, you know, it's inevitable that there would be a lot of infections here. We are paying attention to formally reported infections. But you have to remember that even with the expansion in testing, India has one of the lowest rates of testing in the world.

The true numbers of infections that have been detected through the serological surveys indicate that we undercount by anywhere between 50 and 100, a factor of 50 to 100. So India is already above 100 millionth true infections, which is with the serology surveys are pointing out. These surveys point out that probably 20 percent of Indians are infected anywhere between 10 and 40, depending on where the survey has been held.

So, to some extent, inevitable, but at the same time, you know, India did try to do its best through lockdowns to delay the epidemic. It can only delay, I suppose. It can't really stop the epidemic at this point in time.

BRUNHUBER: The lockdown did work, but as you said, I mean, it could not be stopped. Some critics say that, you know, early on, the government focused too much on health care infrastructure, things like building ventilators and intensive care units, rather than public health capacity like surveillance, contact tracing, masks, social distancing, things like that. Is that fair?

LAXMINARAYAN: Well, to some extent, that sort of public health infrastructure is hard to put in place in a two-month period. You either did that years ago or you can't. Things like buying ventilators or oxygen flow cylinders, these are things that can be done in a short term.

So the government did whatever possible to purchase. You cannot buy a critical care doctor in two months. You either trained that person 30 years ago. You don't have them today.

So I think as much as could be done was done under the circumstances. But what India is really paying the price for is decades of neglect of the public health infrastructure. That is what the problem is right now.

BRUNHUBER: Mm-hmm. Well, India and the U.S. seem to share at least one trait in common. That is, you know, mixed messaging from the government, with many authorities seemingly downplaying the severity of the virus.

We heard from Vedika there, certainly increased testing has played a huge part in the rise in case count, but they always point to the relatively low death rates. I am wondering if that may be, you know, heavily undercounting the deaths. I know there have been many discrepancies reported there.

LAXMINARAYAN: So deaths are certainly being undercounted because a lot of people who died without getting a COVID tests are not counted as COVID deaths.

[03:40:02]

LAXMINARAYAN: So, it is unclear India has a lower mortality rate than other countries in the region. It is certainly lower than in Western Europe and the United States. But India's death rate as far as the world is concerned is sort of right up there in terms of an average.

And you are right, emphasizing the message that over that COVID is not fatal, perhaps discourages people from going to get tested because it is a stigma associated with getting COVID, as well. It could mean that your (INAUDIBLE) can't see you or, you know, your neighbors start avoiding you and all of that.

So, it is the same set of issues for people all around the world. Governments want to provide a positive message and a positive spin on what is going on. The reality is that we've got to get people concerned enough to take precautions, but not so concerned that they go into a panic, which is unproductive.

BRUNHUBER: Mm-hmm. Well, despite all of this increase that we are talking about, the government continues to take steps to return to normal. Is it just that the economic considerations simply outweigh the health outcomes here?

LAXMINARAYAN: Well, economic considerations are important because they also reflect on the ability of the government to spend on health. India could not afford any more of the big lockdowns that happened in March and June. It posed a huge cost to the economy. The last quarter GDP went down by 24 percent on an annual basis. A lot of small and medium enterprises in India are just bankrupt at this point in time.

Another lockdown, which essentially is a law and order kind of response to the epidemic, is unaffordable. Going forward, it will have to be a situation where people understand that they need to wear masks, they need to socially distance when appropriate and possible, and, you know, essentially, watch out for each other is really the only lockdown solution. You can't have a cop out there with a stick enforcing social distancing.

BRUNHUBER: Mm-hmm. Some of the problems we have here. Listen, thank you so much, Ramanan Laxminarayan. We appreciate you coming on the program to talk to us.

LAXMINARAYAN: Thanks for having me.

BRUNHUBER: Well, calm returns to the streets of Rochester after clashes between police and protesters. Just ahead, we will find out how city officials and civic leaders are responding to demands for change.

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[03:45:00]

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CROWD: Daniel Prude! Daniel Prude!

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): You heard there protesters chanting the name Daniel Prude, a black man killed in police custody and marching peacefully in Rochester, New York.

The demonstrations were a dramatic change from the tensions gripping the city over the last few nights.

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BRUNHUBER: They've been demanding reforms to policing in their city. CNN's Polo Sandoval reports, changes could be coming soon.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Five nights in a row, those demonstrations are staying relatively peaceful, this until the very end that things do take a bit of a tense and violent turn with some protesters clashing with police.

We do know that yesterday, the mayor of the city as well as the police chief are hoping to address some of those concerns, specifically those that have to do with the issue of mental health. As you recall, Daniel Prude's family initially called authorities after he was experiencing a mental health episode, for help to try to track him down.

Yesterday, authorities here announced initiatives to address mental health issues and police reform, initiatives including doubling the availability of mental health professionals and moving the family crisis intervention team from the police department to a separate city department.

I can tell you, over the weekend, the New York State Attorney General's Office announced that she plans to panel a grand jury to take a closer look at this case. So, authorities here are recommending that many people allow the investigation to run its course. Here is what Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren had to say over the weekend.

MAYOR LOVELY WARREN, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK: What truly matters is making a city that is dedicated to serving, protecting, and lifting up the least among us. What will always pain me about the death of Mr. Daniel Prude is our failure to do that. SANDOVAL: The demonstrations are likely to continue into the week. One of the many reasons why local faith leaders could be working with city officials to have church members, essentially, serve as a peaceful buffer between protesters and police, hoping that the remainder of these demonstrations through the week remain peaceful.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, Rochester, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: It was a weekend of protest and crackdown in Belarus. Human rights group says more than 135 demonstrators were arrested across the country. In Minsk, there were scenes of violence like this one, people in plain clothes or camouflage beating and detaining demonstrators. Belarus had seen weeks of protests after the disputed reelection of longtime president, Alexander Lukashenko.

There were also protests in Hong Kong, where police arrested nearly 300 demonstrators on Sunday. In this video here, you can see police advancing on protesters. Most were arrested for allegedly violating a ban on unlawful assembly. Local elections were supposed to be held Sunday, but the vote was postponed because of the pandemic. Demonstrators say the real reason was concern that pro-Beijing parties wouldn't do well.

The world's top ranked tennis player is out of the US Open. Coming up, we will show you how a moment of frustration caught Novak Djokovic a chance at his 18th major title. Stay with us.

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[03:50:00]

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BRUNHUBER: A shocker at the US Open. Now, it wasn't an upset, per se, but Novak Djokovic is out. The world number one was defaulted after he accidentally hit a line judge with a tennis ball on Sunday. Djokovic had been heavily favored to win the tournament and his 18th major title.

So for more on what happened at Arthur Ashe Stadium, let's turn to CNN World Sport's Alex Thomas joining us from London. Alex, I happened to be watching that live and couldn't believe what I was seeing there, that long discussion, should he be kicked out, shouldn't be he kicked out, and then he walked. I mean, that was just a shock.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I mean, shocking is the word, isn't it, Kim? There's no doubt about it. This is the world number one who came to the US Open knowing Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, his great rivals, had chosen not to come to New York and risk coronavirus, decided not to play.

So Red Hawk (ph) favored to what had been his 18th grand slam singles title which would have had him just one behind Nadal in the all-time list and two behind Federer who is on 20. Playing Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, who is never lost to, played three times before and is always beaten, but he had had his serve broken, 6-5 down in the opening set when he just knocked a ball away in frustration towards the back of the court, but it struck a line judge in the throat.

She gave an awful strangle cry, which we could hear much more clearly than normal because there's no fans in the stands, and she collapsed in a heap on the floor. You could see the shock on Djokovic's face. He clearly didn't mean to do it, but this is what happens when you hit a ball away in anger.

It wasn't a full-throated smash of the ball, that's for sure. He immediately rushed over to the line judge to check she was OK. She is OK, but Djokovic was defaulted. It's a rule that no matter what the intention, you do get defaulted for that. He was out of the tournament and left flushing meadows pretty quickly without speaking to the media.

He later released a statement on Instagram. We can show it to you. I won't read it all out, but pick out the significant points. He starts -- this whole situation has left me really sad and empty. I checked on the lines person and the tournament told me thank god she is feeling okay.

Later in the statement, he says, as for the disqualification, I need to go back within and work on my disappointments and turn this all into a lesson for my growth and evolution as a player and human being.

[03:55:07]

THOMAS: He realized there was no point trying to excuse this behavior. It might not have looked a lot. Certainly seen bigger tantrums on the court, but he was in the wrong, and he knows it. Interestingly, he's someone who knows that better than anybody.

It would have been his next opponent, Canada's Denis Shapovalov, who in 2017, as a teenager, was defaulted from a Davis Cup match for hitting a ball that accidentally struck an umpire in the eye.

Shapovalov after reaching the quarter finals where he would have faced Djokovic possibly said afterwards his match, I've been in that situation so I know exactly how Novak is feeling. Of course, he had no intentions to go after the lines woman. Thankfully she's okay. It could have ended up very, very bad. The ball could have gone anywhere. It's just super unfortunate.

And that's the point, isn't it? It may not look much, but it really could have injured someone badly, and the line judge did not look comfortable when it struck her in the throat.

BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. I happened to be watching with my son. That was a good lesson on good sportsmanship there. Certainly, thank you so much, Alex Thomas. We appreciate it.

And we have some sad news from the world of baseball. Hall of Fame player Lou Brock has died. He played 19 seasons and spent 16 of those with the St. Louis Cardinals. Brock is one of 32 players with 3,000 or more hits and has the second highest number of stolen bases.

The Cardinals paid tribute to Brock on Twitter saying our hearts are broken. Lou Brock was an amazing player and outstanding player. He loved the game and all of Cardinal Nation. Rest in peace, Lou. Lou Brock was 81 years old.

Well, with that, that wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom." I'm Kim Brunhuber. I will be back in just a moment with more news. You're watching CNN. Stay with us.

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