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U.S. Nears 200,000 COVID-19 Deaths; CDC Abruptly Removes Guidance on Airborne Transmission; New Forecast Sees Fewer Virus Deaths Than Before; Investors Fear Second Wave, New Restrictions, No Stimulus; Canadian Public Health Officials Warn of Second Wave; Biden Makes Pitch to Working-Class Voters in Wisconsin; New Zealand Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Face Off in Debate. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired September 22, 2020 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And now for a recap of one of our top stories. The U.S. is set to surpass 200,000 coronavirus deaths at any moment. Deaths and new infections have been rising consistently since March. Johns Hopkins University tallies more than 6.8 million cases in the U.S. alone. On average, the U.S. has recorded more than 40,000 new cases each day over the last week. But President Donald Trump keeps praising his handling of the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're rounding the corner. With or without a vaccine. They hate it when I say that, but that's the way it is. We're rounding the corner on the pandemic and we've done a phenomenal job. Not just a good job, a phenomenal job. On the job itself, we take an A-plus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, on top of that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is facing questions over mixed messaging and potential political pressure. Its website noted that virus particles could remain suspended in the air and infect people further than six feet away, but that language has since been removed. The World Health Organization says its position remains the same on the spread of COVID-19.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, W.H.O. HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAM: We still based on the evidence believe that there is a wide range of transmission modes. We believe the disease is predominantly or primarily spread through droplet spread and through larger droplet. But we have always said the smaller droplet can spreads this disease and that is very context driven. People crowded into small space without adequate ventilation when they're there for a long duration of time, in that situation aerosol based transmission can occur. And it has been demonstrated to occur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, new projections from the University of Washington say about 180,000 more people in the U.S. could die from the coronavirus by January. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta says even though that number has dropped from original projections, the U.S. is nowhere close to containing the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's now projections that another roughly 200,000 people could die within the next 3 1/2 months. I mean, there's -- you know, we talked about this in the past tense. It's not in the past tense. We're still very much in the middle of it. I think there's no question we're seeing an uptick overall in the number of people who are becoming infected.
You know, we never brought this overall pandemic trajectory in the United States down to a contained level. Contained would be roughly one in a million or one in 100,000 new infections per day. That would be 3,500 people roughly in this country per day. We're way over that, right, 35,000 instead.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Dr. Anthony Fauci says politics is getting in the way of consistent information about the coronavirus. The virus expert appeared on "The Daily Show" with Trevor Noah to discuss how information is shared in the U.S. and reiterated a message that public health should not be a political matter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: One of the things that I think gets in a way is that we are in such a divisive state in society that it tends to get politicized. It's almost one side or the other. Wearing a mask or not is a political statement and that's really very unfortunate. Totally unfortunate because this is purely a public health issue. It should not be one against the other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And fears of a second wave of the coronavirus and diminishing hopes for another U.S. stimulus bill are weighing on stocks. The Dow closed nearly 2 percent lower on Monday. Its worst day in about two weeks. Both the Dow and the S&P 500 are close to falling into a correction which is a 10 percent drop from their peaks. And the Dow futures are pointing to a lower open in the hours ahead as well.
John Defterios is in Abu Dhabi. He joins us now live. Good to see you, John. But not great news here. Talk to us about what's spooking investors and what could calm their nerves, somewhat.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: It's hard to find some calm in this market because it is so unpredictable right now, Rosemary. And the trigger point really is the United States for that uncertainty that we're seeing. Even the words of Dr. Fauci saying it's far too political when it comes to COVID-19 and the response.
[04:35:00]
In fact, we have gridlock when it comes to the next stimulus package. The deadline September 30th and the wide gap between the White House, House Democrats and Senate Republicans still. The Supreme Court power play by Donald Trump, does it create more gridlock going forward for other legislation and a showdown around the election. Again, that's a crowd of uncertainty that kind of hovers over the market.
And disinfected if you will, Asian markets. And if you take a look with Hong Kong and Shanghai down about 1 to 1.3 percent. Seoul, we see the cases rising, but in the range of 60 to 70 a day. But the government is taking a precautionary measure and the market down 2.3 percent.
But we have some relief and this will impact Dow and S&P futures on Wall Street as well with Europe. Mostly green arrows, the green particularly for the German market. The Dax index up about .8 of 1 percent. And after the caseload spike that we've seen in the U.K. and Spain, those markets are not rallying but clearly much better than we were 24 hours ago.
There's even a healthy debate right now at the top of the U.S. Federal Reserve, the central bank, with Jerome Powell, the chairman, suggesting we need more stimulus and it's going to be a rough 2021. And the regional bank President of St. Louis saying we've done enough. It's a V-shaped recovery. It's the same narrative coming out of the White House. Rosemary, it does not feel like a V-shaped recovery.
CHURCH: Yes, very sobering analysis there. Jon Defterios, many thanks.
Well, public health officials in Canada say parts of the country are facing a second wave of COVID-19 and they are urging people to stay home as much as possible. They say there are too many large gatherings and too many close social contacts to contain the spread. CNN's Paula Newton reports now from Ottawa.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For so many months here in Canada, the talk was that the country had crushed the curve. And indeed, for several months everyone had. Cases were very low. Really a little bit more than 300 cases for a certain amount of weeks throughout the entire country. Not anymore. We are now getting here in Canada to an average daily caseload of about 1,000 new cases per day.
Doesn't sound like a lot but it's the trend line is really bothering authorities in the sense that it is going straight up. The province of Quebec, the capitol Ottawa, where I am, already declaring the second wave has started.
Now look, a lot of these cases are in young people under the age of 40. And for that reason hospitalizations remain quite low. Still authorities are saying, look, keep to your bubble, stay home, mask up. And the reason is that trend line again. When you think about the fact that this has been a doubling of cases in really little more than a month, that is what is so troubling to public health officials. And here in Canada the death rate early on in the pandemic was actually quite high. No one wants to go back to that scenario especially as winter is approaching.
Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And still ahead, sounding a warning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About places like Nevada. Nevada is a swing state. Nevada is a purple state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: We will take you to a key state in November's election and tell you why Democrats there worry they can't compete in the ground game. Back in a moment with that.
[04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden was out on the campaign trail Monday. He visited Wisconsin. A state Democrats lost during the 2016 presidential race. He met with supporters at an aluminum foundry hoping to win back white working class voters in the Midwest contrasting his family's working class roots to President Donald Trump's affluent New York background. He told supporters, if elected he would fight for all-Americans. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't see the presidency that way. I don't pledge allegiance to red states of America or blue states of America, I pledge allegiance to the United States of America. One nation, indivisible under God. For real. I'm running as a proud Democrat, but I'm not going to govern as a Democratic President, I'm going to govern as President.
I get criticized for saying that sometimes with some in my party, but that's not what I'm going to do. I'm going to fight as hard for those who supported me as those who did not support me. This is not a partisan moment for God's sake. This has to be an American moment.
In the next few weeks, we have a chance to put anger and division and the darkness that overtaken this country behind us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, it's good old-fashioned politics at its best. You knock on someone's door and try to persuade them of your cause. Given the pandemic, Democrats in places like Nevada say they are short of volunteers and funding for canvassing. But as CNN's Kyung Lah reports, coronavirus isn't slowing down the Trump campaign's ground game.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a bustling Trump campaign field office in Las Vegas, where phone banking is in full effect ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Vote in-person or by mail.
LAH: ... to the door-to-door campaigning in the suburbs.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How you doing? My name is Candy. I'm a volunteer with the Republican Party.
LAH: For team Trump in Nevada, it's the in-person race to Election Day.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who would you likely support for the president?
SCOTT SCHEID, SENIOR ADVISOR, STATE OF NEVADA, TRUMP CAMPAIGN: E-mail is OK to persuade voters, phone calls a little better, but nothing beats face to face.
LAH: That's political reality, says the Trump campaign in Nevada, even with the pandemic. With masks and social distancing at the door, Trump campaign volunteers have been doing this since June.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton will carry the state of Nevada.
LAH: The president lost Nevada in 2016 by about 2.5 points. In 2020, he's campaigned here in-person, holding a large indoor rally, a violation of the state's coronavirus guidelines. The state party says it has more staffers in state now than 2016.
SCHEID: When you're out there knocking, you don't see the other side like you would in years past. You couldn't get away from them back then.
LAH: That's true, says Democratic activist Annette Magnus with Battle Born Progress.
ANNETTE MAGNUS, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BATTLE BORN PROGRESS: We are not playing by the same rules. The Republicans don't have rules. I think that's the biggest thing.
This general election ...
LAH: Magnus has moved her campaigning for Democrats completely online because of COVID. The Biden campaign remains almost completely virtual in Nevada, with the exception of an in-person visit by running mate Kamala Harris.
Magnus says what's alarming for her, national funding, grassroots groups in Nevada has slowed during the pandemic.
MAGNUS: Do not forget about places like Nevada. Nevada is a swing state. Nevada is a purple state.
LAH: A few outside groups are just now starting to move in person.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I get you registered to vote?
LAH: Among them, Faith Organizing Alliance, which targets voter registration among people of color.
(on camera): As far as the in-person stuff, though, you guys didn't operate for a good portion of the year.
[04:45:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For a good, what, six months...
LAH: Nothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No paper registration.
LAH (voice-over): But the only Democratic group canvassing in-person this year is the Culinary Union, Nevada's largest Democratic get-out- the-vote machine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here's a flyer with more information.
LAH: Two hundred members have been knocking on doors since August. They do so cautiously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We carry masks with us. We have these little tongs to hand them, so we're not handling them directly with our hands.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Before we start speaking, would you mind putting a mask on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I step back several feet to get myself distance from them.
LAH: The Union says more than 400 union workers and family have been hospitalize with COVID, 49 have died.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a little more scary this year.
LAH: Magnus warns, given COVID's impact on ground game and funding, she worries about Nevada in November.
MAGNUS: I fear, if we are not careful and we don't do everything we can, 2016 could happen here like it did in Wisconsin and Michigan. And that's why I have been sounding the alarm.
LAH (on camera): So how close is the race here in Nevada? The latest New York Times/Siena College poll shows Joe Biden at 46 percent, Donald Trump 42 percent. Given the margin of error, there is no clear leader in Nevada.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Las Vegas. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: New Zealand's Prime Minister has been facing tough questions in the country's first major date of the 2020 general election. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern faced off with opposition leader Judith Collins. Ardern has gained phase for her handling of the coronavirus. But she's recently given her critics something to focus on in the form of a selfie. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: We went hard and early to fight COVID.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister hailed worldwide for her tough handling of the coronavirus, is under fire for selfies. In New Zealand, her pictures with supporters without social distancing has become a political talking point as she faces a general election on October the 17th.
LISA OWEN, JOURNALIST, RADIO NEW ZEALAND: She's front and center and all around here, a photo that shows perhaps her popularity and her ability to mix and mingle with the crowd is now being used against her. So, being a popular on the campaign trail doesn't always work in your favor.
STOUT: Rival politicians have criticized Ardern's lack of social distancing on the campaign trail with Act-Party leader David Seymour tweeting, hospitality businesses can't make money at level two because of single server and social distancing rules. Meanwhile, the person responsible for the rules is self-serving and not social distancing. The Prime Minister admits she made a mistake.
ARDERN: That particular photo, I did make a mistake.
STOUT: Back in March, when the virus started to burn through Europe and the U.S., the Prime Minister presented her country with a choice.
ARDERN: I hope that you are all with me on that decision.
STOUT: Let the virus in or lock it out. New Zealand sealed its borders with only 28 reported cases and waited until lockdown days later. Tough measures by the nation of 5 million down to zero active cases. And by June, the virus was declared eliminated. But after more than 100 days of zero local cases, the virus returned in August and it spread.
Auckland, its largest city, was put under lockdown again. The national elections set for September was postponed, and there was outrage. The lockdowns have hammered the nation's economy. Tours independent New Zealand has fallen into its deepest economic slump on record, posting a 12.2 percent drop in second quarter economic growth.
ARDERN: My question would be what is your measure of success. In a global pandemic, what do you measure success on? A success for me is saving people's lives, supporting and saving peoples businesses and coming out the other side faster and quicker and with more activity out on the other side, and that is what we're seeing in New Zealand.
STOUT: With the latest outbreak declared under control, New Zealand is slowly lifting restrictions again.
(on camera): At what point, New Zealand's Prime Minister enjoyed a high 65 percent approval rating, especially for her handling of the pandemic. Where does that approval rating stand now, especially as she faces a general election?
OWEN: In terms of how Jacinda are doing compared with the preferred Prime Minister stakes with Judith Collins, the leader of National, so Jacinda Ardern is still leaps and bounds ahead in those preferred Prime Minister stakes.
STOUT (voice-over): New Zealand's 40-year-old Prime Minister has led her country through three once in a generation crises. Her personable style may have attracted some criticism, but her leadership has made her the favorite as the nation goes to the polls and to the pandemic.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And CNN's Christi Lu Stout joins us now live from Hong Kong. Good to see you, Kristie. So, the election set for September 17th. And despite the drama surrounding that selfie, how is it looking for Prime Minister Ardern?
[04:50:00]
STOUT: Well, she is in full position. There is overwhelming support for her, especially for her pandemic response. And also in the last hour or so, we've been monitoring the first live primetime TV debate between Prime Minister Jacinda Arden and the opposition leader Judith Collins of the National Party. And the debate, it was largely for a domestic audience because it focused mainly on domestic issues -- like infrastructure, healthcare, tax cuts and education.
Jacinda Arden has been hailed worldwide for her pandemic response. She's also been hailed inside New Zealand. The country right now is lifting COVID-19 restrictions. Most of the nation is now back down to a level 1 alert as of midnight last night. Now Auckland, that's the largest city in New Zealand, is the epicenter of a second wave of infection and a fresh outbreak. That city is going to move down to a level two alert. That due to take place Wednesday at midnight.
The nation, it reported zero cases of the coronavirus on Monday and that prompted Prime Minister Ardern to say at a press conference on Monday, that the virus is indeed, quote, under control -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes, New Zealand has certainly been an example to the rest of the world. Kristie Lu Stout, many thanks. Joining us live from Hong Kong.
And still to come, from the basketball court to the racetrack. We will tell you about Michael Jordan's latest business venture and why he says he hopes to drive social change. Back with that in a moment.
[04:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Quite the performance at Spain's main opera house Sunday. But in the audience, not on stage. Spectators in the upper rows otherwise known as the cheap seats clapped and jeered and to protest how close together were seated. The crowd shouted, suspension. They also took videos of the floor section where many seats were empty. The opera was forced to cancel. It offered to relocate the unhappy people or give them a refund.
Well, NBA legend Michael Jordan is said to become a NASCAR team owner with driver Bubba Wallace signing a multi-year contract. The move makes Jordan the second only second ever black majority owner of a full-time racing team. And Wallace is the only black driver in the sport's top circuit. Jordan says he hopes the move can bring a more diverse audience to the sport. Jordan released a statement saying this.
Historically NASCAR has struggled with diversity and there have been few black owners. The timing seemed perfect as NASCAR is evolving and embracing social change more and more. In addition to the recent commitments and the donations I have made to combat systemic racism, I see this as a chance to educate a new audience and open more opportunities for black people in racing.
And thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is up next. You're watching CNN. Have yourselves a great day.
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