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Battle Looms as President Trump Announcement Could Be Near; Coronavirus Pandemic: Spike in Europe COVID Cases; Iran Responds to U.S. Sanctions Threats; The Primetime 2020 Emmy Awards Were Presented; Nation Mourns for Justice Ginsburg; President Trump Rush to Replace Ginsburg; Bill Clinton Called out Trump and the GOP; Virus is Now Airborne; U.K. Impose New Rules. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 21, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead. Unity, love, justice, hope, and peace if only art imitated life as tributes pour in for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

And a message outside the White House that's hard to ignore as the U.S. inches closer to a horrifying number. But halfway around the world, in Australia, some good news for that country's coronavirus hotspot. We'll take a look.

Thanks for being with us.

The U.S. is still mourning the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, an icon of the U.S. Supreme Court. And we begin with a somber sight. A black cape on the seat Ginsburg occupied for nearly three decades. But U.S. President Donald Trump is already scrambling to fill that seat with less than two months to go until the presidential election.

His campaign is even selling t-shirts calling for just that. Mr. Trump says he plans to pick a woman for the job, possibly this week. If he is able to push through another lifetime appointee, it would cement a six to three conservative majority on the Supreme Court, and that will affect millions of lives for decades to come.

U.S. Democratic presidential nominee, Joe Biden, is asking Republicans to think before they vote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Don't vote to confirm anyone nominated under the circumstances of President Trump and Senator McConnell have created. Don't go there. Uphold your constitutional duty, your conscience. Let the people speak. Cool the flames that has been engulfing our country. We can't keep rewriting history. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, Senate Democrats are gearing up for the fight signaling they are willing to consider all options should Republicans begin the process of filling Ginsburg's seat this week. Here's what Senator Chuck Schumer had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the president's pick is approved, and Biden wins the election, should he have more Supreme Court justices.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Well, it will be a decision that comes to the Senate. We first have to win the majority before that can happen. But once we win the majority, God willing, everything is on the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And a new poll from Reuters/Ipsos finds 62 percent of Americans think the winner of November's presidential election should appoint Ginsburg's replacement.

CNN's Manu Raju has now more on the looming fight.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump is moving quickly to name his Supreme Court nominee to fill the seat of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Raise your right hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: According to sources familiar with the process, three female appeals court judges appear to be among the front runners, Amy Coney Barrett, Barbara Lagoa, and Allison Jones Rushing. But he has little margin for error to get his nomination confirmed to the bench before the November election.

Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell can only afford to lose the support of three Republican senators in order to get 51 road votes to get a nominee confirmed. But already, two Republicans have said the nomination should wait until after the elections. The latest, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, the lone Republican to vote against Brett Kavanaugh's nomination to the court in 2018.

On Sunday, Murkowski said, I did not support taking up a nomination eight months before the 2016 election to fill the vacancy created by the passing of Justice Scalia. We are now even closer to the 2020 election, less than two months out and I believe the same standard must apply. But Murkowski would not comment on Sunday about whether she would oppose Trump's nominee in a lame duck session of Congress, which will occur after the November elections and conclude in January. Similarly, Senator Susan Collins of Maine fighting to keep her seat

has said the vote should wait until after the election. But her office has not responded to CNN's questions about whether she would vote against the Trump nominee in a lame duck session if former Vice President Joe Biden wins in November.

[03:04:54]

The battle over the nomination comes amid a furious fight for control of the Senate in November. And it has put some Republicans like Cory Gardner of Colorado in a difficult spot as he campaigns to keep his seat.

In 2016 when Republicans refuse to move on Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland to the court, they argued it was too close to the election. Gardner said at the time the American people deserve a role in this process.

But on Saturday, Gardner refused to say if he would stick to that same position now that there is a Republican president and just 44 days before the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY GARDNER (R-CO): There is time for debate, there is time for politics, but the time for now is to pray for the family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Several Republican senators, including Chuck Grassley of Iowa have also declined to say if they think the nomination should wait. And the party's 2012 nominee Senator Mitt Romney has so far declined to comment. Several Republicans in difficult races are aligning with Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I'll vote for several hundred conservative judges including two on the Supreme Court and another one on the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Tillis sung a different tune four years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TILLIS: We're going to let the American people speak.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Republican say times have changed because they now control both the White House and the Senate unlike 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): It's a question of checks and balances. (END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But four years ago, Cruz said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: This is for the people to decide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have spoken multiple times through the course of the weekend, and I am told -- one person has come up in those conversations. That's appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett. She is someone the Democrats strenuously opposed conservatives have been trying to get her on the high court for years.

She is the one that Mitch McConnell said Republicans know well, they would be comfortable with her nomination, and Donald Trump is seriously considering her putting her forward.

Also, we expect this to move pretty quickly once the nomination comes as early as this week. Republicans will try to see whether or not they have the votes to move ahead. If they don't, they're going to punt it later but expect this fight to just intensify on Monday when senators get back into town and start to process the monumental developments.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

CHURCH: And CNN legal analyst Areva Martin is in Los Angeles. She joins me now. Good to see you. Thanks for talking with us.

AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, as the country mourns the loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, politics is driving the scramble to replace her, ignoring and disrespecting RBG's dying wish to have the next president of this country decide who replaces her.

So instead, we see President Trump forging ahead, but there is resistance coming from Senators Collins and Murkowski. How likely is it that two other Republican senators will stand with them and stop this vote until after the election?

MARTIN: Well, you're right, Rosemary. The country is mourning the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and me too as any lawyer would be because she paved the way for all of us to be in the legal profession today. Unfortunately, the Republicans are not honoring her legacy or her dying wish, which was to have her replacement appointed by the next president of the United States.

I have absolutely no faith that the two Republicans that have come forward or that they would be two others that would come forward. We've seen this play out before. We saw it with Brett Kavanaugh several senators then signaled that they would be voting against Brett Kavanaugh for the Supreme Court but yet they changed their votes when the time actually came. So, I don't think the Democrats can depend upon the Republicans doing

the right thing. It's very clear that they are not going to put the people over their own political agenda, and they've pretty much made that very clear given the statements that have been issued to date.

CHURCH: So, if they can't rely on the Republicans, what are the options available to Democrats going forward?

MARTIN: Well, I think Chuck Schumer put it best when he said all options are on the table. If the Democrats are successful in winning back the Senate come this November, I think you will see them considering packing the court which is the equivalent of extending the number of justices on the court. There's no constitutional mandate that the Supreme Court only have nine justices.

And we've started to hear many senators and many others in the Democratic Party talk about expanding the court, not only to perhaps 11, but maybe even as many as 15 jurors. We've also hear -- heard talk about eliminating the filibuster and even giving statehood to Washington, D.C., and particularly to Puerto Rico, which would give Democrats an opportunity to pick up some additional Democratic senators.

So, I don't think anything is off the table as the Republicans have made it clear that they are going to move forward despite how they prevented President Obama from even having a hearing on Merrick Garland back in 2016 when we were some 237 days away from the election. And now we're like 44 days away, and we see the Republicans plowing full speed ahead.

[03:10:01]

CHURCH: Yes. It's interesting that the different rules there, right? So, what would be the consequences of President Trump stacking the Supreme Court with conservative justices when it comes to healthcare issues and women's rights?

MARTIN: Yes. Rosemary, all of those issues are on the table. Women's rights, abortion, voting rights, civil rights, equal pay, immigration rights, so many of the issues that impact all Americans are on the table. We know the three women that are under consideration, or at least have been reported being under consideration are very conservative. And we would likely see an overturning of key court decisions like Roe versus Wade.

Amy Barrett, one of the women who are on top of Trump's list was actually vetted during the Kavanaugh hearings. We know her position. We know that she is firmly against the Roe v. Wade decision and has even said that her commitment would necessarily be to precedent, it would be to what she would consider aligning herself with the Constitution.

So, jurors, or potential jurors like Amy Barrett would be devastating to individuals who believe in choice and others who believe in the rule of law. CHURCH: And just very quickly, Republican Senator Ted Cruz argues

there may be a contested election and so he says that is why they need to move rapidly to fill Ginsburg's seat. How does that argument hold, considering that is the opposite of what Republicans said back in 2016?

MARTIN: That is a completely bogus argument, Rosemary. The court often makes decisions with just a jurist deciding if a judge has to recuse themselves, or if someone is out sick or some is otherwise unavailable. What happens in our judicial system is that the lower court's decision is the prevailing decision. And that happens in many instances.

So, the argument that there has to be nine jurors seated on the court in case of a contested election is a completely false narrative that's being put forth by Ted Cruz and it's completely opposite to what he said, and his fellow Republican said back in 2016.

CHURCH: Yes. And what we saw on 2016 play out, of course. Areva Martin, thank you so much. We always appreciate your legal analysis.

MARTIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well, former President Bill Clinton is calling out President Trump and Senate Republicans for pushing to fill the Supreme Court vacancy right before presidential elections. Just take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Of course, it's superficially hypocritical, isn't it? I mean, Mitch McConnell wouldn't give President Obama's nominee, Merrick Garland, a hearing 10 months before the presidential election. That meant that we went a long time with eight judges on the court.

This is what they do and I think that, you know, both for the Senator McConnell and President Trump, their first value is power and they're trying that's on the court with as many ideological judges as they can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And Clinton nominated Justice Ginsburg to the court back in 1993. He says 40 candidates were considered, then narrowed down to 5, but says a 10-minute conversation with Ginsburg convinced him that she was the one he should appoint.

Well, meantime, Ginsburg is being honored all around the country, including in Washington where two artists have painted this mural in her honor. It took them just 24 hours to get this up, and it is one of several murals they have around the city. One of the artists told CNN, the purpose of it was to uplift our community during these unpredictable times.

Well the U.S. is fast approaching a somber new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. Nearly 200,000 lives lost to COVID-19. And the CDC is updating its guidelines. We will have those details for you on the other side of the break. Do stay with us.

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Democrats protested outside the White House Sunday as the U.S. approached 200,000 deaths from the coronavirus. They lit up a display that says quote, "Trump lied, 200,000 died."

Earlier in the day, the bells of the National Cathedral rang out for those killed by the virus. Two hundred chimes for the nearly 200,000 people in the U.S. lost to COVID-19.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is updating its web site, acknowledging COVID-19 can commonly spread through particles in the air. The agency's new online guidance says that those aerosols are produced what a person talks, sings, coughs, sneezes, or even just breathes. And it's believed that the particles can hang in the air and we breathe in by others.

Now this new update reinforces why masks are so crucial. U.S. health official is standing by his prediction that a vaccine probably won't be widely available until 2021. But he is also defending President Trump's assertion that some doses could be ready by the end of this year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: From my perspective, even a few million doses early in November or December, if we have 5 or 10 percent of the population that we can vaccinate, we can get 80 or 90 percent of the benefit.

For example, if we could vaccinate workers in nursing homes, we could protect the elderly and the vulnerable from disease that would make an enormous impact on mortality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:20:03]

CHURCH: Meanwhile, in the U.K., officials say that they will impose fines starting at $1,300 U.S. dollars on anyone who does not self- isolate after testing positive or being in close contact with someone who has.

CNN's Scott McLean is in London for us, he joins us now. So, Scott, talk to us about this, and we also learned that Britain is at a COVID tipping point now considering another national lockdown? What's the latest on that?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Rosemary. So, over the weekend, the U.K. had its highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases since May. And the health secretary says the country is at a tipping point. Essentially, things can get better as they have in Belgium where new rules have helped stem the tide of the coronavirus or things can get worse, as they have in France and Spain where a massive number of daily cases are starting to also translate into rising deaths and hospitalizations.

So, the U.K. last week, a week ago today, actually, instituted new rules on social gatherings, the so-called rule of six. And in some parts of the country it also effectively banned almost all in-person socializing with people outside of your own household. And the health secretary now says, look, the public needs to follow the rules or else. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT HANCOCK, BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY: If everybody follows the rules, everybody follows the rules, and we'll be increasingly stringent on the people who are not following the rules. If everyone follows the rules then we can avoid further national lockdowns. But we of course have to be prepared to take action if that's what's necessary.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: So, the health secretary there not ruling out the possibility of a second national lockdown, though that's obviously not his preference. He is also promising to get tougher on enforcement of the rules, particularly quarantine. So, quarantining will no longer be a suggestion but a legal requirement for some people.

Right now, enforcement is pretty lax, if there is enforcement at all for many people. In fact, one study from the summer showed that only 20 percent of the people who were legally required to quarantine were actually doing so. And perhaps not surprisingly, poor people were quarantining at even lower rates.

So, the government is offering cash incentives for people to be able to quarantine financially, and it's also imposing fines on people who can't. And those fines could also extend to people like employers who maybe are threatening to fire someone who won't come into work because they have to quarantine.

If there is good news here, though, Rosemary, it's that things are still a far cry from where they were at the worst of the first wave. For instance, hospitalizations have gone up 50 percent since their low point about 10 days ago, but they 18 times lower than they were at the peak back in April.

CHURCH: We'll took -- take any good news there, right? Scott McLean, many, thanks. I appreciate it.

All right. So, let's bring in Keith Neal. He is professor emeritus of epidemiology of infectious diseases at the University of Nottingham. Good to have you with us.

KEITH NEAL, PROFESSOR EMERITUS, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM: Good morning. CHURCH: So, what is going on in Britain when fines need to be imposed

on people who test, they got to the trouble of testing positive for COVID-19, but failed to self-isolate? And does this make a second look down more likely and more necessary?

NEAL: I think if people don't -- people who are known to be infectious don't isolate appropriately then we are really in a serious difficulty. The contacts of those people who have been named as contact, is a little bit easier to explain on a certain point why they don't actually safe-isolate because they probably don't think it's necessary.

But certainly, one of these spikes in the northwest, according to the mayor, was due to someone who was meant to be isolating having returned from a foreign holiday and went on a pub crawl.

CHURCH: That is very unfortunate. So, talk to us about why parts of Northeastern England are being hit so hard with the second wave of cases? And how likely is it that this will spread beyond that area?

NEAL: This would -- the northeast had sort of gone into localized restrictions slightly after the northwest. And there are probably different reasons in different parts of the country. And it's not really one big outbreak but the series of locks and little ones.

We are beginning to see that in some places. It's families meeting up inside, which is probably driving large numbers of cases where it's impossible to socially distance within a household. Unless your house is incredibly large, and there's very few people.

So, if one household meets up with other households, then they go back to spread it. And if you got two or three households, that just makes it far worse. Others have been related to people going out, and socializing, inappropriately. Particularly those who may be incubating the disease or known to have the disease and going on what we call pub course (Ph) where you go to visit lots of places.

[03:25:02]

One thing I would do, though I'm not in charge, would be to restrict people to go to only one pub or restaurant today, rather than four, five or six because if you go to five, five, then you are five times more likely to catch it or spread it.

CHURCH: Yes. It's just not a good idea at all, is it, though? So how much are extensive does COVID testing and self-isolating need to be in U.K. And are there sufficient numbers of people wearing masks. Which of course appears, that action appears to be the only significant weapon we all have until a vaccine is approved.

NEAL: I think we have another weapon, and that's stay away from people and space, and staying away from so many. So, when I walk out into my village, I don't need to wear a mask outside because I just walked the paper shop before coming appearing on your program, and I passed only one person very fleetingly. That's very different from a crowded pavement in a city if there are such things still. I think mask wearing is beginning to show that it probably protects

the user as well, possibly by reducing your risk of getting infected. Some people have suggested that it will actually -- actually cause a very milder, result in a milder infection, which is in fact good news because then you're like getting immunized.

CHURCH: So, yes, it is like getting immunized, isn't it? Because it actually gives your body that exposure to it but not at the level that could otherwise actually put you in your bed.

So, we have seen considerable push back here in the United States, but you're also seeing anger about that in Britain. What is the main beef with masks in the U.K.?

NEAL: I really don't understand it. Because it's not a difficult thing to do particularly for inside shops to actually simply wear a mask for the time that you are in there. I mean, people seem to sometimes adopt mask as a social exercise, rather than just particularly for food shopping in and out as quickly as possible.

I really don't understand why given the mask of the problems and the other control measures we may have to put in place. Simply wearing a mask shouldn't interfere with your life that much.

CHURCH: Yes, you and me both agree on that point. We can't figure it out.

Keith Neal, thank you so much for joining us. I do appreciate it.

NEAL: Thank you.

CHURCH: And coming up, many in Madrid furious over new virus restrictions. Why protesters say the measures discriminate against the poor. We'll take a look at that. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Bringing you up-to-date now on our top story. The battle over replacing the late U.S. Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, will get underway in the coming hours when senators return to Capitol Hill.

President Trump has said he will name his nominee this week. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is calling for Republicans to hold off on considering a replacement until after the election.

Meanwhile, there is much speculation over who the U.S. president might nominate as he said it will be a woman.

CNN White House correspondent John Harwood tells us about the possible picks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Some conservative advisers thought it would be to President Trump's political advantage to delay a Supreme Court nomination to keep conservative voters hungry for the fall election, to dampen enthusiasm among Democrats by not having a specific name out there.

But that kind of restraint is not in President Trump's repertoire. So he has indicated over the weekend he is going to provide the nominee very rapidly, as soon as this week, and that it will be a woman.

Some of the leading possibilities include appeals court Judge Amy Coney Barrett. She was a runner-up to Brett Kavanaugh for the last Supreme Court choice. She is a conservative Catholic. That is an important constituency for Republicans. Longtime professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Also Barbara Lagoa. She is an appeals court judge from Florida, Cuban- American. Cuban-Americans are a very important constituency for President Trump, specifically in the state of Florida.

Joan Larsen of Michigan. She is also an appeals court judge. Michigan, of course, is one of the battleground states in the election.

And finally, Allison Jones Rushing. She is from North Carolina. She is a district court judge operating out of Richmond. She is somebody who is a member of the federalist society with a stamp of approval from conservative jurists in the country. Also, very young, under 40 years old, she can serve for decades on the court.

The question, of course, is going to be who can Mitch McConnell get through the Republican Senate and when. That is not something the president controls directly. He does control the timing of the nomination. We expect to get that very soon.

John Harwood, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: President Trump repeatedly boasted to journalist Bob Woodward about the number of judges he has appointed. The interviews for the book "Rage" provides insight into Mr. Trump's thinking as he prepares to push through a potential third Supreme Court nominee.

CNN has obtained new audio from these interviews.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): I just signed my 187th federal judge. It's a record, 187 judges in less than three years, Bob, and two Supreme Court judges. Never been done before. The only one that has a better percentage is George Washington, because he appointed 100 percent. But my percentage is, you know, like, ridiculous. And 187 --

BOB WOODWARD, JOURNALIST (voice-over): And there were a couple of those judges. TRUMP (voice-over): I'll end up with -- when I get out, I'll probably have more than 50 percent of the federal judges in the country appointed under Trump.

WOODWARD (voice-over): And Lindsey Graham has said that there were a couple of those judges that he himself didn't care for and rejected them. Are you aware of that?

TRUMP (voice-over): Yeah. And other senators too, yeah. And when they don't like them, I don't put them in. You know, I don't want that --

WOODWARD (voice-over): Does he have kind of -- because, you know, that's his committee and they --

TRUMP (voice-over): Yeah, no, if Lindsey and other people don't like them, I don't put them in. You know why? Why do we want a broken system, you know? They don't like them because they may be, in some cases they're not conservative or they don't believe of they came out with a couple of bad decisions on something. So --

WOODWARD (voice-over): And it's interesting. Lindsey Graham is worried that the judiciary is going to become too partisan. Do you agree with that? Do you worry about that?

TRUMP (voice-over): Well, it depends. Yeah, it's very partisan right now, basically. It's always a party vote, you know. I mean, look, the whole country right now is a partisan vote.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Woodward told CNN's Anderson Cooper that President Trump's main objective is winning and the battle over the Supreme Court seat helps his chances come November.

[03:35:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOODWARD: What is interesting in these conversations with him about judges in the Supreme Court, he clearly is engaged, he realizes or believes it may be a winning issue for him. And instead of talking about the virus, now we are talking about the Supreme Court nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And tributes keep pouring in for Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose life clearly had a profound impact on so many. Journalist Dan Rather says he first met her back in the 90s and says she will be remembered as a legal legend that has become much, much more than that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RATHER, JOURNALIST: This petite powerhouse was a fast fighter, a pioneer. Although she was small in physical stature, she was an absolute giant not only in her profession but in citizenship in general. And she was a hero (INAUDIBLE) in this case. And she is a hero in our history and in our hearts because she earned it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And we are seeing touching scenes at the makeshift memorial outside the Supreme Court, including this couple who left a photograph of Justice Ginsburg officiating their wedding in 2013, two years before the Supreme Court cleared the way for gay marriages across the U.S. And her legacy has had an impact on people of every age. These young girls were captured writing messages of gratitude in chalk.

Well, protesters in masks face off against police in masks. This was the scene Sunday ahead of a new partial lockdown in some of the poorest neighborhoods in Madrid, Spain. Some 850,000 people are under new quarantine restrictions. No one is allowed in or out of parts of the city unless it's for work, school or a doctor's visit. Residents say the restrictions unfairly target them instead of wealthy areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEGONA RAMOS (through translator): The measures taken by Madrid's regional leader are unfair. It doesn't make sense that you could go to work in a rich neighborhood, but you can't go shopping. If you are infected, you can infect at work or get infected at work. This is utterly unfair and discriminatory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: The government says it had to take action because infection rates there are around five times the national average. So let's talk more about Spain and the rest of Europe's COVID spike.

Joining me now from Paris is CNN's Melissa Bell. Good to see you, Melissa. So talk to us about this very troubling situation in Spain. What is driving the spike in cases across France and other parts of Europe?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Back in August and early September, clearly, the rises in the number of new cases in countries like France, Spain, Italy, but also countries like Greece were simply haven't been touched very much by the first wave, were clearly the result of people heading off on holiday enjoying their new freedoms as these countries emerged from lockdown and heading across what were by then open European borders.

Now, what we are seeing as people get back to work and back to school are the big urban cities across Europe being affected in countries like Austria, Vienna being infected, here in France, as well, the greater Paris region over the course of the last three weeks, Rosemary, we have seen an 89 percent rise in the number of admissions to ICUs.

It is that combined effect of concentration of cases in a big urban center as people get back to work and to school where there is a great deal of affluence (ph) in these cities combined with the strain on these localized health services that is leading to countries like Spain announcing these sorts of lockdown. Now, what is new here is that it is a partial lockdown announced per city rather than for an entire country. You've seen Israel over the course of the last couple of weeks announced a second general lockdown. The United Kingdom has refused to rule one out.

But by and large, a lot of European countries are looking at an alternative for that simply because the weight on the economies of those full lockdowns as general nationwide lockdowns was too great.

Certainly in France, powers have been handed down to local authorities. And in Madrid, the six southern districts of the Spanish city are now being locked down because of those localized rises in cases. But that leads to a whole set of fresh problems about getting from one part of the city as you just heard in that clip to another.

So, governments are really trying to do all they can to avoid second general lockdowns, but with a whole host of fresh problems presenting themselves, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Of course, everyone is trying to figure out how to deal with this. Melissa Bell, joining us live from Paris, many thanks.

[03:39:58]

CHURCH: Some good news for Australia in the fight against the coronavirus. The state of Victoria is reporting its lowest number of new infections in over three months. On Sunday, the region only recorded 11 new cases. That is the lowest daily increase in Victoria since June 14th.

In the coming days, Victoria's largest city, Melbourne, will begin easing restrictions by dropping the nighttime curfew if cases remain below a two-week average of 50 per day.

For more on these latest developments, let us bring in Angus Watson, joining us live from Sydney, Australia. It is good to see you, Angus. Very good news for Australia and it was done with a lot of hard work. What is the key to their success in fighting this virus?

ANGUS WATSON, JOURNALIST: Rosemary, it's about willingness to go into lockdown and then willingness to abide by the lockdown restrictions once people are in them. Daniel Andrews's government was very quick to go ahead and place Melbourne, metro Melbourne in particular, on this very strict lockdown measures to get ahead of the virus before it really ballooned and got worse and worse.

So it was just a month ago when Victoria had a day with over 700 cases. Now, just 11 today, as you mentioned. So, it is good to be here giving some good news about Victoria. But that certainly done a tough -- it has been tough for the people of Victoria and it has been tough for the government.

This has cost billions to the economy. As we know, Australia's GDP will dip -- has dipped seven percent in Q2, forcing the country into recession for the first time in 29 years, Rosemary. So it is not without its cost but it has worked. The tough border restrictions between Victoria and the rest of Australia have really kept the virus locked in Victoria State, not allowing it into the rest of the country, Rosemary.

So, where I am in Sydney, we had just four new cases today. Some states like the northern territory and South Australia, for example, have zero active cases at the moment, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah, a lot of that, of course, the isolation of the northern territories. But it has been the wise approach in Australia, hasn't it? And what about the fact that Australia and so many other countries have learned? You can't let your guard down. So, have people been told, wear your masks when you go out in public to make sure they can sort of keep a handle on this?

WATSON: Absolutely. So, it is not compulsory to wear masks where I am here in Sydney, Rosemary, but it is compulsory to wear them when people are allowed to go out of their houses for some very few reasons in Victoria.

So people have been very good about that. On the streets of Melbourne, you see people wearing their masks very diligently, so people have been willing to stick by it, Rosemary. I think that is really what it comes down to. So, other countries in the world, you have this virus spiralling out of control, we have seen Victoria that their lockdown has worked, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Absolutely. Lockdown works. Mask wearing works. Hopefully, everyone will learn from Australia and New Zealands lead because both countries have done an incredible job with this.

Angus Watson, thank you so much for joining us live from Sydney, Australia. Appreciate it.

Well, the U.S. says it is re-imposing sanctions on Iran. Coming up on "CNN Newsroom," we will find out how Iran is responding to those threats in a live report just ahead.

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CHURCH: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says his country won't be bullied by U.S. efforts to reimposes U.N. sanctions. He made those remarks on Sunday during a cabinet meeting.

They come after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday the U.S. would restore all sanctions against Iran under the snapback provision in the international nuclear deal. As a result, Iran's currency hit a record low against the U.S. dollar on Sunday.

For more on this, let's turn now to CNN emerging markets editor John Defterios. He joins us live from Abu Dhabi. It is good to see you, John. So, most of the Security Council members opposed the U.S.'s push for wider U.S. sanctions. So, where does the U.S. go from here? JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN ANCHOR AND EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I'll tell you, the language is getting bellicose by the day with all the responses we've seen. These are called the snapback provisions here. But the reply from many in the Security Council had been swift and even more strict when it comes to the signatories of the deal.

Let us start there with Britain, France, and Germany, part of the P5+1 agreement, saying that this is legally void on the part of the United States. Thirteen of 15 U.N. Security Council members have gone against the motions here by the U.S. secretary of state.

This gave confidence to the president, Hassan Rouhani of Iran, to say that the U.S. is isolated and even saying that this perhaps is politically motivated just 40 days before the U.S. election.

The U.S. position is, because Iran is enriching uranium after the IAEA inspections at a higher level, they can, as an original signatory to the deal, call for these sanctions to go back in place.

I think it is also worth noting that Joe Biden has said he would re- join that agreement of 2015 but with much stricter compliance by Iran. He does not want to be seen as weak. But you can see the narrative here and the tensions because of the election cycle that we are in right now, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah, absolutely. So, John, in essence then, is this a hollow threat by the U.S. or does it have the means to punish U.N. members?

DEFTERIOS: Well, Iran is saying it's a hollowed threat. I'm glad you flagged that. But the U.S. is not shy in using unilateral sanctions. That is Huawei and other Chinese companies like WeChat, for example. They did so in Russia with the Nord Stream 2 pipeline going into Germany, hitting third parties.

So Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is asking the Europeans to toe the line while his counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was saying he hasn't read the agreement. If he decided to pull out in 2018, you are not allowed to make third parties comply it.

But again on Sunday, the U.S. has put out a statement saying that it will use U.S. domestic authorities. That is a tilt towards U.S. Treasury Department, U.S. Commerce Department to hit perhaps European companies that have been supporting Iran with the sanctions relief, these U.S. sanctions that have been in place for the last three years, Rosemary.

Sixteen percent unemployment, GDP dropping nearly 20 percent, you talked about (INAUDIBLE), oil output is down nearly half, extremely painful on the Iranian people. And now, the U.S. is making an effort to widen it.

CHURCH: All right. We will keep an eye on this. CNN emerging markets editor John Defterios, always, many thanks.

Former Trump administration official says the White House is making a mistake in withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan. [03:50:02]

CHURCH: Mr. Trump's former national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, appeared on "60 Minutes" criticizing recent peace talks on Afghanistan. The retired three-star general, who served several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the president made too many concessions to the Taliban.

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H.R. MCMASTER, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: I think what he did with this new policy is in effect is partnering with the Taliban against in many ways the Afghan government. And so I think that it is unwise policy. And I think what we require in Afghanistan is a sustained commitment to help the Afghan government and help the Afghan security forces continue to bear the brunt of this fight.

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CHURCH: McMaster also called for reinforcement in the partnership between the U.S. Military and its allies around the world.

Well, a woman suspected of mailing a letter containing the poison ricin to U.S. President Donald Trump has been arrested. That is according to a U.S. law enforcement official who says she was detained while trying to enter the U.S. from Canada at a New York border crossing.

The official also says that the suspect was carrying a gun. The letter was intercepted last week and investigators have been looking at the possibility it was sent from Canada. Authorities are also investigating similar packages mailed to addresses in Texas that may be connected to the same sender.

Sunday's Emmy Award celebrated the biggest names in television from hazmat suits to virtual acceptance speeches. This show was one to remember. We will take a look.

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CHURCH: India's famed monument to love won't be so lonely anymore. The Taj Mahal has reopened after being closed for six months because of the pandemic. It will now welcome a maximum of 5,000 visitors a day, down from its usual count of 20,000. All social distancing measures must be followed. India has the second highest number of coronavirus infections in the world.

The 72nd Emmy Awards on Sunday was the first major Hollywood award show since the coronavirus pandemic began. Host Jimmy Kimmel was joined by presenters in an empty auditorium while representatives in hazmat tuxedos were sent to the winners homes to hand out their rewards. Big winners of the night were the cast of "Schitt's Creek," who swept all four comedic-acting categories, HBO's "Succession," which won outstanding drama series, and 24-year-old Zendaya, who took home the award for outstanding leading actress in a drama.

Winners and presenters like actress Regina King wore outfits with the names of Breonna Taylor and the Black Lives Matter movement, along with remembering Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Winners urged the public to register to vote in November's election.

And thank you so much for joining us. I am Rosemary Church. I will be back with more news in just a moment. Stay with us.

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