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Key Model Predicts U.S. Death Toll to Top 371,000 by January 1; U.K. Considers "Human Challenge" Trials for COVID-19 Vaccines; Fact- Checking Misconceptions about COVID-19; Rush to Save Sacred Sites from Australia's Mining Industry; PAC-12 Changes Course, Will Play Fall Football; WH: Trump Will Accept Results Of Free And Fair Election; Trump Won't Commit To Peaceful Transfer Of Power; Protests Erupt For 2nd Night After Breonna Taylor Decision. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 25, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Are the results legitimate only if the president wins?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president will accept the results of a free and fair election. He will accept the will of the American people.
REPORTER: So for clarity, if he loses and it's free and fair, he will accept?
MCENANY: I've answered your question. He will accept the results of a free and fair election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: The U.S. president there refusing to say if he would accept the results of the November election if he loses Mr. Trump saying, he won't guarantee a peaceful transition of power.
With countries racing towards a vaccine, meanwhile, for the coronavirus, grim new projections forecast explosive growth in cases and deaths by the year's end. And also, we're going to bring you reports of a new coal miner's world.
What we want to get to is protest in the United States. There has been continuing protests going on in California. And we are - Where are we going to go? All right, there has - we have been getting - what's been happening is we've been getting reports of a protest being struck by a vehicle in California at protests that have been going on over there of course, that's in the wake of the Breonna Taylor case and police not being charged over there.
Protests have been continuing in Louisville in Kentucky. They've been peaceful. However, there has been an incident in California. We are trying to get you some information on that and take you to California. Stephanie Elam has been covering these protests for us. It's all very confusing at the moment, Stephanie. There is video out there. I know we are trying to get a hold of that. Tell us what you know about this incident?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I can tell you we were standing right there when it happened. It's all a lot still happening right now, Michael. What was happening was there was a protest that started in Hollywood by a cemetery. People speaking, very calm, sitting down on the AstroTurf right there, listening to it outside of this cemetery.
And then they began to marching downtown through some major arteries here in Hollywood. And then they got to a point where they encountered where there was a police station. And actually the police had formed a line to stop them from going up that way, so the crowd turned to the left.
They had some choice words for the police officers but they kept it moving. They did not engage other than that and kept moving and went around and then went back up to this major artery that most people would know, because it's Sunset Boulevard.
And they went up to Sunset Boulevard and were coming down Sunset Boulevard, chanting, holding up signs, all of this. At this point pretty peaceful. I did see some people who were using paint on the walls, writing words on buildings outside but for the most part it was calm.
And then there was a car, some sort of SUV. I'm not sure if it was already inside the perimeter of where these people were marching or if it was trying to go down the street, and counter the protesters, couldn't get through, and then the protesters were then, some of them were yelling at them, telling to stop.
Then we saw the car accelerate through the crowd. Just accelerate and go down the street and then after that, we saw that there was one person on the ground. They made a circle around this person to protect this person. They called for help. The Fire department did show up to transport this person and put them on to a gurney and get them out of that area.
It happened right by our team. We were split across the street from each other. So we were very close to it. There was broken glass there as well. It looks like some of the protesters may have hit this car as well. And then after this happened, the police came up and formed a line and they didn't go any further, it was also made very clear by the protesters that they didn't want the police to come any closer.
They let the fire department in but not the police department. And then they moved on along their way, came back down around, stopped at another intersection, and there was a white Prius again right in front of us that was trying to make its way down the street, didn't stop and the protesters started hitting on it.
[01:05:00] It made its way out but then we saw another car that looked like it was giving chase after this so we've heard different things. We've heard some people saying like Hey, this is wrong. You know don't engage, don't break windows and we've seen some people take people down to stop them from doing that but we've also seen some people saying that there's no wrong way to protest.
All of that playing out here. You can still hear the helicopters above me and you can see the protesters are still here, blocking this street here in Hollywood but just a lot of it changing very quickly on a dime for us and luckily, thankfully, it looked like that person was talking.
It looked like that person - they didn't use the boards to lift her up, they just picked her up and put her on the gurney. I think it was a woman so that's the good news. I think that person you know hopefully will be OK and luckily our team that was close by was not hit either. Michael.
HOLMES: Yes, it does appear to be a woman. I mean I've seen the video online. The confusion over different vehicles, the Prius, the vehicle that made contact with the protester, well, plowed into the protester by the look of the video by the look of the video, that was a truck of some sort, right? A pickup truck of some sort?
ELAM: Right, it was some sort of SUV or truck that bigger one, that first incident and then Prius was I think it was someone who was just trying to get their way through Sunset Boulevard and the protesters and I'd appreciate them breaking their line.
HOLMES: Right and then the Prius, I'm just trying to get a sort of sequence here, what was that one about?
ELAM: That's - OK, so the first one I think the truck was trying to make either was already inside the perimeter and trying to drive off down the street or came down Sunset Boulevard and then encountered the protesters who were like hey, you can't go this way and then it was stopped and I think what happened then is that the protesters may have started yelling at this driver and then the driver accelerated and then stopped and then accelerated again and then you heard everyone kind of scream in that general direction and then it took off.
And actually at one point it sounded like it was coming back because I was actually on my way into the middle of the street and it sounded like it was coming back to do like a U-turn, it was very loud. It was a bigger car.
That happened and that's where we saw the pause in the march, that's where we saw the fire truck show up. After that walk down about a block point and a half, they actually walked up and around and when they came back to that side, they were in the middle of the intersection for a fairly long time and that's when I believe the Prius was trying to make its way just saying like hey, look, I'm just trying to get through down the Sunset Boulevard.
These protesters didn't like that and so they just started banging on that vehicle but the vehicle got away. Still I do think somebody went after that one car. So those are the two separate incidents.
HOLMES: Yes, yes. I understood. I appreciate that clarity. We're still trying to get clear a video of the actual incident of the protester being hit. I - happen to vain, how had this protest been evolving?
ELAM: They've been evolving in a way that I will say that they're not as unified as we had seen over the summer. I feel like there is you know, you've got Black Lives Matter of Los Angeles, an organized group that is putting on their protests, ones that they've been having for years, right?
This is not new for them. They do this all the time and then you have these other groups that are upset, they're angry, their passion is raw and just as raw as the BLM people as well and but they come out often times later and often times, it's this energy of anger and passion that is not as controlled as you see with the BLM people that are doing their things earlier.
So it is a different energy and I definitely - definitely today feels different than yesterday. Also we are on really big arteries today too, which is part of it as well. I think that plays into it.
So you're seeing this change. I don't think anyone really expected this to be a big deal tonight because last night was so large and last - yesterday was the day that we found out that there would be no charges against those police officers in the incident that led to the death of Breonna Taylor but still there chatting about Breonna Taylor, they're holding up signs about Breonna Taylor.
They're still talking about George Floyd here. All of that still very much a part of this protest here. Just it does feel like these are younger people and they have that younger raw energy for the most part is what I felt like as maybe part of the difference out here tonight.
HOLMES: Yes, understood. I know exactly what you mean Stephanie, great to have you there. We'll check in with you as we get more information about it. We do want to roll that video that Stephanie sent to us. Let's - let's play that now.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
[01:10:00]
HOLMES: As the vehicle exited there, there is other video out there that shows the moment of impact, injured person there on the ground as you can see. The moment of impact, the woman is hit at reasonably high speed and thrown through the air on the ground and then what you saw there was sort of from a different angle and it - the vehicle taking off.
Obviously this only happened very recently. We're trying to get more information on it and when things become more clear, we'll bring you more. Meanwhile for the second day in a row, the U.S. president Donald Trump suggesting, he might not accept the results of November's election, citing massive election fraud that even his own FBI director says, there has been no evidence of. Here's how the White House Press Secretary tried to explain Mr.
Trump's position.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Are the result legitimate only if the president wins?
MCENANY: The president will accept the results of a free and fair election. He will accept the will of the American people.
REPORTER: So for clarity, if he loses and it's free and fair, he will accept?
MCENANY: I've answered your question. He will accept the results of a free and fair election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now that's a sentiment also being echoed by Vice President Mike Pence but it's not clear who would determine what is and what is not "free and fair." It could be a matter of interpretation, couldn't it?
And the president is already saying that if he loses the election, it'll be rigged. Kaitlan Collins with the latest on where things stand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump facing swift push back today after he refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses in November.
DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're going to have to see what happens, you know that. I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots.
COLLINS: Though the White House is trying to spin what Trump said on camera, even Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a tweet, saying there will be an orderly transition in January should Trump lose to Joe Biden.
But McConnell and other GOP lawmakers refused to call Trump out by name and some even deflected to Hillary Clinton.
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Hillary Clinton said Joe Biden should not accept the results of the election under any circumstances.
REPORTER: But she's not the candidate, the president's the candidate. He's not committing to accept--
TILLIS: How many people have you asked on the Democratic side whether or not they would support the outcome of the election?
COLLINS: Former Vice President Joe Biden quickly hit back at Trump.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What country are we in? Look, he says the most irrational things.
COLLINS: It was only weeks ago that Attorney General Bill Barr scoffed at the idea that Trump would not cede power telling the Chicago Tribune, "I've never heard any of that crap. I'm the Attorney General. I think I would have heard about it."
For months Trump is trying to cast doubt on the outcome of the election.
TRUMP: These ballots are a horror show.
Because the only way they're going to win is by a rigged election.
I have to see, look, I have to see. No, I'm not going to just say yes. I'm not going to say no and I didn't last time either.
COLLINS: Though he's claimed that mail-in voting would be rife with fraud, his FBI director testified today, there's no evidence of that.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: Now we have not seen historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise.
COLLINS: As President Trump faces blowback for his comments, he was loudly booed as he paid his respects to Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court today.
Trump will announce his nominee to replace Justice Ginsburg this Saturday and said he wants them confirm before the election in case there is a dispute over who won.
TRUMP: We need nine justices. We need that with the unsolicited millions of ballots that they're sending, it's a scam, it's a hoax.
COLLINS: And as the president was leaving the White House on Thursday to go to events in North Carolina and Florida, he once again cast doubt on whether or not he would accept the results of the election in November saying, even if they're legitimate, would you accept them, a reporter asked the president and he said, he doesn't know because he's not sure that the election can be honest. Caitlyn Collins, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Joining me now in South Bend Indiana Michael Coppedge. He's a political science professor at the University of Notre Dame. Thanks so much for being with us professor. I just want to preface the question. I mean we've heard the president say the only way he loses in November is a rigged election, he wouldn't guarantee a smooth transition of power after the election. He's praised attacks on journalists called for so-called elections squads of supporters. I mean no one wants to scare anyone but it's important to know the risks and your data shows a decline in liberal democracy under the Trump administration. What were the areas of concern - the most concerning to you?
[01:15:00] MICHAEL COPPEDGE, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME: Yes, so our data is the Varieties of Democracy Project. It's an international collaboration scholars. We base our ratings and our input from thousands of people around the world and specifically for the United States, the data suggests that there have been some significant declines in levels of liberal and electoral democracy.
Some going back some time and some happening mostly and during the Trump administration and specifically, the kinds of things that are of concern for liberal democracy are some weakening of the ability of Congress to exercise oversight and investigate the executive branch, especially the ability of the minority party, the Democrats to investigate over the heads of the Republicans.
There's also been a decline in some judicial accountability and there has been a weakening of the executives respect for the constitution according to our data.
HOLMES: And it is important, it's important for people to know that VDEM, it's one of the largest ever social science data collection efforts. I think the database 16 million data points. The data set covers nearly 200 countries. It's a very scientific approach that you take and I guess one of the most concerning things I read was that American democracy has eroded to the point that more often than not, leads to full blown autocracy.
I think I read any one in five democracies that start down this path are able to reverse the damage. Again, not being alarmist but does autocracy sneak up on people? What do people need to know?
COPPEDGE: Those figures come from a fairly simple analysis patterns in the past over the whole course of all of our data. I question whether they really apply to the United States because there has never been a case that was as democratic as United States is now and had such a long standing democracy, the closest case was Brazil in 2012.
That is declined but it was it was not as well established as a democracy so really that analysis, it would be a little inappropriate to apply that analysis to the United States.
HOLMES: I know that you - you take an optimistic view and that's a good thing but one of the other political scientist involved said - he said everything we see in terms of decline on these indicators is exactly the pattern of decline seen in other autocratic nations like Turkey and Hungary, both of which I think are classified as democracies in recent years.
And that's not to say that will happen in the U.S. of course but it's about trends, when does a country become autocratic and are you worried about those trends.
COPPEDGE: Well, the thing to look for is deterioration in the quality of elections. There are often some warning signs that happened before that and I think that's what my research collaborator was referring to that very often there are declines in the independence of the media, first and then some attacks on civil society and only after that has gone on for a few years do you start to see governments messing with the quality of elections.
We have seen some diminution of media freedom in some respects, some harassment of journalists, little bit of self-censorship, a few government attempts to censor media but I think if the United States had still in a very - on a small scale, it's significant but it's not a tremendous deterioration.
It's nothing on the order that we've seen in Poland or in Hungary or Turkey for example so where - I mean I think it's accurate to say that we're moving - we have moved in that direction but not as far as the cases that have really broken down and the past trends in our data don't predict what's going to happen next.
HOLMES: Quickly, what do ordinary people need to know to ensure that the norms of democracy are protected before, during and after this election?
COPPEDGE: Well, I think it's important to realize that things have changed. There are reasons to be concerned but not reasons to panic quite yet. There's still opportunities for people to get involved, to make a difference by voting and making sure the elections are clean.
[01:20:00]
But I also want to point out that there many, many aspects to democracy in our project and when we measure electoral and liberal democracy, we have 57 indicators to go into those measures, 15 of our indicators have declined to go in to those two kinds of democracy but 40 have not changed in a significant way and what that means to me is that there are still pockets in which people who are friends of democracy can exercise some leverage over what happens next.
That we still have two chambers of Congress. We still have some independence within both parties. We still have a separation of powers between the Congress and the president. We still have an independent Supreme Court. We still have a division of power between the federal government in many state and local governments.
We still have a very vibrant civil society that has not suffered any significant restriction on its freedom to organize at this point so - and we have a very independent and lively media so there are many ways in which this is still a very democratic country and there are good reasons to expect that this election will - may succeed.
HOLMES: As I say, have a democracy if you choose to keep it, as they say so it's worth keeping an eye on that. Professor Coppedge, thank you so much, appreciate it.
COPPEDGE: You're welcome.
HOLMES: We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, a Chinese vaccine developed there is apparently gaining ground on its rivals in the west in the fight against the coronavirus. We're going to take a closer look at the company's big announcement after the break.
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HOLMES: They are nearly 7 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States and yet the nation's top infectious disease expert is warning the U.S. is still in its first wave of the virus. As the race for a vaccine intensifies, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he would back the scientist at the Food and Drug Administration if they approved the vaccine.
Now in Europe, the EU's Health Commissioner warns that the region is that a decisive moment in dealing with the second wave saying current actions will determine the severity of future restrictions.
Now all of this as countries see a surge of cases around the world. On Thursday France reporting its highest number of new infections since the pandemic began and in the U. K., the biotech company Novavax announced it will begin Phase 3 clinical trials of its COVID vaccine enrolling 10,000 volunteers over the next six weeks.
[01:25:00]
And the Chinese bio pharmaceutical company Sinovac says it expects it to begin analyzing final stage data of its coronavirus vaccine as soon as this year.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong. Tell us about the timeline and the importance.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes it's really interesting. You know, it was on Thursday when Sinovac, this Chinese pharmaceutical company announced that its coronavirus vaccine will be ready for the world by early 2021.
Now its experimental vaccine has yet to pass Phase 3 clinical trials and yet it is already been injected into thousands of people in China under an emergency order provision in the country. It's also been injected into employees in Sinovac including its CEO. He addressed reporters on Thursday, listen to this clip and what he says about China's emergency use vaccines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YIN WEIDONG, CEO, SINOVAC BIOTECH (through translator): We say that the World Health Organization raised emergency use of vaccines but actually different countries have different attitudes towards emergency use so I don't know if other countries can follow China's emergencies experience.
If there are other countries doing emergency use of a vaccine then we are willing to work with them and share the data and emergencies plan that we have already completed in China and we invite them to study it.
So I think different countries have their own options for approval of emergency use of the vaccine.
(END VIDEO CLIP) STOUT: Now the CEO of Sinovac has pledged that he will approach the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration to seek approval for this coronavirus vaccine, if and when it passes human trials.
Now historically there are very strict rules in place, in places like the United States, EU, Japan, Australia and elsewhere that would block the sale or availability of Chinese made vaccines. The CEO of Sinovac said that could change.
Now as China pushes ahead with its vaccine development. It is also continuing to successfully clamp down on the coronavirus pandemic within its own borders. Today we heard from the Chinese government reported only eight new cases, all from overseas, zero local new cases making it the fortieth consecutive day of no new local cases across Mainland China. Michael.
HOLMES: Kristie Lu Stout there in Hong Kong. Appreciate it Kristie, thank you. Well meanwhile, a new medical report in the Lancet medical journal says countries should meet five prerequisites before easing COVID-19 lockdowns.
Let's run through them with you. These are knowledge of infection status, that is countries should have high quality data that infections are being suppressed and also community engagement of course, meaning people follow policies for social distancing and mask wearing; adequate public health capacity for testing, tracing and isolating; adequate health system capacity that is treatment facilities, medical equipment and health care work force.
Also border controls for restricting inbound travel to reduce the risk of infection. Indigenous Australians gearing up for a new fights after a 46000 year old sacred site was destroyed by a top mining company. They're now trying to save hundreds of other sites that could share the same fate. We'll take you there and discuss.
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[01:31:13]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes.
Now the U.S. facing a grim new outlook. an influential model, now predicting up to 371,000 Americans could die, from the virus, by the end of this year. That means 169,000 more dead people in a little more than three months.
CNN's Nick Watt with more of today's headlines.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: I want to reassure you and the American people, politics will play no role whatsoever in the approval of a vaccine.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Same interview, Secretary Azar falsely assuring us the president has always promoted masks.
AZAR: The president has been clear since his April guidance.
WATT: And offered unflinching praise for the president.
AZAR: Thanks to President Trump, we are in such a better place than we were five, six months ago.
WATT: Last night, President Trump said this about possible strengthening of FDA criteria for a vaccine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you ok with that?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'll tell you what. We are looking at that, and that has to be approved by the White House. We may or may not approve it.
WATT: Apparently, the FDA or HHS would normally sign off.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGIES AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Under normal circumstances, that decision is theirs. The Secretary approves it and that's it. Something that comes from without that is not a scientific consideration would be troublesome.
WATT: Meanwhile, in our actual life and death fight against this virus --
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: We squandered our summer. We went into the summer with 20,000 new cases a day, and we are now double that.
WATT: Yesterday, more than 1,000 lives lost to COVID, for the first time in over a week. And average new case counts are rising in 21 states. Look at that huge red chunk of the country.
DR. ALI KHAN, DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH: As you look at that map, what you are seeing is an inconvenient truth, which is that many states allowed schools and colleges to reopen when they had not gotten the disease under control.
WATT: CDC data shows this summer, people in their twenties accounted for more than 20 percent of infections.
DR. FAUCI: Right now, the infections in the country are driven more by young people, 19 through 25.
WATT: And the virus appears to be mutating to become more transmittable, but mercifully, not more deadly according to one new preprint (ph) study.
Now, as we get closer to a potential vaccine, the issues of truth and trust here in the U.S. just will not go away. In fact, the governor of New York state has created his own vaccine task force to review any possible vaccines because as he says, "Frankly, I'm not going to trust the federal government's opinion." Nick Watt, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, just how far would you go to help test the potential coronavirus vaccine? Some say, they would volunteer to deliberately expose themselves to the virus. It is a controversial approach the British government is now considering.
CNN's Cyril Vanier explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in the U.K., the government is considering whether to hold human challenge trials. Clinical studies where volunteers are deliberately exposed to COVID-19 in order to test the vaccines that are currently in development.
Thousands of volunteers around the world have signed up on the Web site of the non profit organization One Day Sooner, a leading advocate for these challenge trials. If the study goes ahead, volunteers would first be inoculated with a vaccine candidate, then exposed to the virus and closely monitored.
[01:34:46]
VANIER: This could potentially save months compared to a normal phase 3 clinical trial. Yet, the method is controversial, because in this case it means exposing healthy individuals to a virus for which there is no known cure, and whose long term effects are still unclear.
Some of the biggest pharmaceutical companies working on a vaccine -- Sanofi, AstraZeneca, German firm BioNTech -- say that they will not be involved.
As the race for a vaccine continues, the British government also faces a surge in new infections. And it is trying to contain the economic impact of the virus. The chancellor had no choice but to announce a new set of financial measures for what he called the difficult winter months, measures to limit the layoffs in small and medium sized businesses, employees whose hours are reduced will see their pay partly compensated for the next six months.
The aid effectively replaces an earlier furlough scheme from the government. This latest announcement a stark reminder of the long lasting effects of the virus on the British economy.
Cyril Vanier, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Cyril Vanier, reporting there.
Now, from trolls on the Internet to official statements from the White House. There is an awful lot of misinformation out there about the coronavirus pandemic, and of course, the search for a vaccine. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, separates fact from fiction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: For the last nine months, the world has slowly been learning about a disease that didn't even exist a year ago. But there are still a lot misconceptions about COVID-19.
TRUMP: Now, we know, it affects elderly people, elderly people with heart problems.
DR. GUPTA: Misconception number one: only older people are affected by this virus. The fact is, everyone has been impacted in some way by the virus. While older people are much more likely to die if they are infected, younger people are by no means immune.
There have been over 840 COVID-19 related deaths in young people under the age of 30. At least 850 children, 17 and younger have been hospitalized like 12-year-old Juliet Daly.
JULIET DALY, COVID SURVIVOR: It felt like my legs will (INAUDIBLE) -- they were weak and I was very tired.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She started having blue lips.
DR. GUPTA: With younger people like Juliet, it could mean that her immune system's reacted too strongly, creating this cascade of inflammation, a cytokine storm. In kids, this condition is known a multi system inflammatory syndrome in children or MISC.
In older people, it could be that their immune systems are too weak. Whether young or old, survivors also have something else to worry about. Their symptoms may linger and persist much longer than we first realized. In fact, those patients even have a name now. They are called the long haulers.
Misconception number two. Masks don't offer any protection against the coronavirus.
You may have seen an image like this in your social media feed. But the truth is, once we learned that people could spread the virus even if they had no symptoms, masks became a must.
Some studies have found that masks can reduce the amount of droplets that you breathe out by up to 90 percent.
Take a close look at this video. This is without a mask. Now, with a mask, you can see how many fewer droplets are being expelled. And a surgical mask has something else, electrostatically charged fibers that can grab viral particles, kind of like a blanket will grabs your socks in the dryer.
Misconception number three. You can only catch COVID-19 if you have been in close contact with someone who actually has symptoms. You remember that choir in Washington State? Out of 61 members, there was only one symptomatic person. After two and a half hours of singing, 87 percent of the participants became infected. It was early evidence that the virus could spread, not just through touch or through respiratory droplets, but through something known as aerosol.
Think of those as suspended viral particles, lingering in the air for a while and also traveling much farther than six feet.
Misconception number four. Everyone will be able to get a vaccine this winter.
MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF ADVISOR, OPERATION WARP SPEED: We have a few million in November and maybe 10 or 20 million of each in December. That will be enough to vaccinate certain populations.
DR. GUPTA: The truth is while everyone is hopeful, we are still not even sure if the vaccine is going to work. And no one has yet seen all of the data.
If a vaccine is authorized for emergency use, the first people to get it are likely going to be health care workers, and particularly, vulnerable individuals. But for the rest of the general public, it is looking more like the middle of 2021.
There is a lot we need to learn, but we need to stay focused on what science tells us can help us overcome this now. I'm as excited as anyone about the prospects of a vaccine. But in the meantime there are simple and very effective things we can do ourselves to change the trajectory of this pandemic. Wash our hands, avoid large gatherings, wear a mask.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:39:59]
HOLMES: Sanjay Gupta reporting there -- our chief medical correspondent.
Now, you may remember our reporting on Rio Tinto's CEO stepping down because his company destroyed an indigenous site in Australia that was 46,000 years old. Even though it caused a huge scandal, it looks as if it could happen again.
Hundreds of indigenous sacred sites risk being destroyed by mining companies as CNN's Angus Watson reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANGUS WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A spirit etched into stone, enduring here for thousands of years. Imprints of the world's oldest living culture, found near Sydney. But many indigenous Australians keep to a rule, never reveal the location of a sacred site. Share them and they could be destroyed.
MITCHUM NEAVE, GOMEROI ELDER: It's all right to say that mountain (INAUDIBLE) from the beginning of time (ph). Well, it's like a page of the book, if you rip that hill out, the other hills have lost part of the page. That's a loss of their culture.
WATSON: In May, mining giant Rio Tinto tore a page from a 46,000 year- old book, an internal study prove two rock shelters in western Australia could have been an enormous museum of information, but Rio Tinto had government position to blow them up in search for iron ore. So it did.
Heads rolled as a result. Rio Tinto's CEO Jean Sebastian Jacques and two deputies forced to resign after pressure from shareholders.
"The destruction of the rock shelter should not have happened," the company has admitted. But a parliamentary inquiry into the incident heard from an aboriginal group that says Rio Tinto may retain the legal right to destroy at least another 124 such places.
The caves that Rio Tinto they destroyed earlier this year were just one among countless indigenous sacred sites across Australia. Here in northern New South Wales, people from the Gomeroi Nation are fighting to save their heritage from a proposed coal mine to be operated by a Chinese company.
The Shenhua Company (ph) says its plan for an open cut coal mine here in the fertile Liverpool Plains would adding $900 million U.S. to the nation's economy each year. But on the proposed site are ancient burial grounds and ax grinding grooves that Gomeroi elder Mitchum Neave likens to a war memorial.
NEAVE: Their burial (INAUDIBLE) might not have headstones, but it means a lot to us. You just need to put the reverse on and say if that was a cemetery, if that was war memorial, as soon as you go to an indigenous site, it's not recognized.
WATSON: How does that make you feel about how aboriginal Australians are treated, more generally?
NEAVE: It may be our story, our history, but hey, it's part of yours as well. It is your history as well.
WATSON: The state government has granting conditional approval for the coal mine to go ahead. After Shenhua promised to do its best to protect the sacred sites. Shenhua has worked closely with relevant agencies and the community to develop a government approved plan that provides for the appreciation of heritage values within the project boundary. The company told CNN.
Federal Environment Minister, Susan Lee, reviewed the state decision last year and declined to intervene stating, "The expected social and economic benefits of the Shenhua Watermark coal mine to the local community, outweigh the impacts of the mine on the applicants, as a result of the likely destruction of parts of their indigenous cultural heritage."
Lee's office told CNN this week that the case was carefully considered, and the minister's decision was upheld in subsequent legal proceedings.
Profits once again prioritized. Another project, guaranteed to remove indigenous Australians from their heritage, should it go ahead.
Angus Watson, in northern New South Wales, Australia.
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HOLMES: And former Australian prime minister and president of the Asia Society Policy Institute, Kevin Rudd, joins me now.
You know, Prime Minister, I remember this well. You know, it was back in 2008 when you did something that was historic. You presented an apology to indigenous Australians for past wrong.
12 years later, this is happening. What has changed in Australia in relation to how aboriginals are treated?
KEVIN RUDD, FORMER AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Well, the apology in 2008 helped turn a page in the recognition by white Australia, about the level of mistreatment of black Australia, over the previous couple of hundred years. And some progress has been made in closing the gap in some areas of health and education to an indigenous and non- indigenous Australians.
[01:44:54]
RUDD: But When you see actions, like we just saw with Rio Tinto, in this willful destruction of a 46,000 year old archeological site, which even their own internal archeological advisors said was a major sight of archeological significance in Australia, you scratch your ahead, and can only conclude that Rio Tinto really do see themselves as above and beyond the government and above and beyond the public interests shared by all Australians.
HOLMES: And we heard in Angus' report, you know, that some of these sights the notion of destroying some of these sites for a coal mine or whatever, you know, it's like destroying a war cemetery to indigenous people. Why are indigenous voices not being heard the way they should be? And you know, let's be honest, coal won't -- that's not going to be a thing in 20-30 years. And meanwhile, you destroy something that has been there for, you know, 30,000 years. Why aren't they being heard?
RUDD: Well, you are right to pose the question because when I was prime minister, I began by acknowledging indigenous people of this country as the oldest continuing culture on earth. That is not a small statement. It's a very large statement. But it's also an historical and prehistorical fact. And therefore, when we look at the architectural and the archeological legacy of indigenous settlement in this country, we have a unique global responsibility to act responsibly.
I can only put down this buccaneer, cavalier attitude to the corporate arrogance of Rio Tinto and one or two of the other major mining companies and I have a very skeptical view of BHP Billiton and it's respect. And their attitude to indigenous Australians.
But also a very comfortable, far too comfortable relationship, with the conservative federal government of Australia, which replaced my government, which as you've just demonstrated through one of the decisions made by their environment minister are quite happy to allow indigenous interests and archeological significance to take a back place.
HOLMES: As I said, I remember 2008 well when that apology was made. It was such a significant moment for Australia and Australians. I mean I haven't lived in Australia for 25 years, but, you know, have attitudes changed in recent years in Australia? Or changed enough when it comes to these sorts of national treasures and appreciation of them? Has white Australia altered its view of aboriginals, aboriginal heritage, enough?
RUDD: I think the national apology and the broader process of reconciliation in this country, which my government took forward from 2008 onwards, have a continuing effect on the whole country, including white Australians.
And what is my evidence of that? Th evidence is that when Rio Tinto, in their monumental arrogance thought they could just slide through by blowing this 46,000 year old archeological, significant, ancient cave to bits, even -- let me call it -- white Australia turned around and said this is just a bridge too far, even conservative members of parliament, in a relevant parliamentary inquiry, scratch their head and said this is beyond the pale.
So if you want evidence of the fact that underlying community attitudes have changed and political attitudes have changed, that's it. But we still have a buccaneer approach on the part of Rio Tinto who I think, not just in Australia, but globally, have demonstrated a level of arrogance to elected democratic governments around the world, whereby Rio Tinto thinks it's up here and the elective government and the norms of the society in which they operate is down here.
Rio Tinto has a major challenge for itself. As do other big miners like BHP Billiton which has joined the stand that they are dealing with the people's resource and they're working within a framework of laws which places an absolutely priority on the centrality o the indigenous heritage of all these countries, including Australia.
HOLMES: As should be the case.
Good to get you on Kevin. Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd. Such an important issue. Shortsighted gains.
Appreciate it, Kevin. Thank you.
RUDD: Good to be with you.
HOLMES: Well, the UEFA's super cup match had something very few sporting events have had in 2020 -- fans, thousands of them in person. Could be the start of a trend?
We'll have the details when we come back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
As college sports in the U.S. tries to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the PAC 12 conference voted on Thursday to reverse its earlier decision, and will now play football this autumn.
The conference had announced the cancellation of football a few months ago. Well now, the season will begin on November 6th. And teams will only play seven games for the year and no fans will be allowed in the stadiums. The PAC-12 also announced the return of winter sports, including men's and women's basketball.
And thousands of fans attended the UEFA Supercop match between Bayern Munich and Sevilla on Thursday. The match was viewed as a test run for letting fans back inside the stadiums.
CNN Sports Patrick Snell with more.
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PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORT CORRESPONDENT: A sight common a year ago but extremely rare now, thousands of fans in the stadium watching a match. UEFA, the European governing body called Thursday's night's super cup a pilot to try to prove that spectators can safely return to the sport.
More than 15,000 were in Budapest to Puskas Arena to see champions league winners Bayern Munich from German, beat Europa's -- league winner Sevilla of Spain two one after extra time.
UEFA's decision to allow so many fans into the game in a country where coronavirus cases have traveled over the last month was criticized by some is putting profit before people's health, something UEFA's president denies.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't think that we are doing this because of money because we don't get any revenues. We get more cost with it.
ALEKSANDER CEFERIN, PRESIDENT, UEFA: But fans and end flares are the essential part of foot ball, we are just accompanying person.
And we will take care of health. We had a working day and night on it. But from today on, we will see what we decide if we haven't decided yet. Anything about spectators in the future add the European mess.
SNELL: Before the game Hungarian organizers claimed the stadium will be just about the safest place in Europe thanks to the strict protocols put in place. Though fans have their body temperatures checked on arrival and we're told to act responsibly, observe marked queuing lanes, stay at least 1.5 meters from one another and wear a mask that was, it turned out, and mask wearing. It turned out mask wearing is not always the case during this game.
Part of the controversy is down to the inconsistent approach between different sports and different countries. While the British government has postponed plans to allow fans back into sporting events in the U.K., possibly for as long as the next 6 months, there will be 1000 spectators at Roland Garros when the delayed French Open tennis champion the delayed French open tennis championship starts on Sunday.
It was rearranged from May because of the pandemic and COVID is the reason women's world number 1 and Ashleigh Barty and won't be is the reason women's world number Ashleigh Barty won't be competing in Paris.
On Thursday, IOC president Thomas Bath sounded almost bullish about the postponed Tokyo Olympics going ahead next year.
THOMAS BACH, PRESIDENT IOC: We could and can see that sport is coming back, slowly but surely. And that a number of big sports events have been successfully organized recently, including their matches in different Japanese leagues over the weekend.
And also very complex events like the Tour de France and others which showed to us and showed to the world that we can organize safe sport events even without a vaccine.
SNELL: With so many global sports shedding millions of dollars with out fans, the need to bring back crowds is very clear indeed. They just doesn't seem to be a consensus about how safe it is to do so. Back to you.
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HOLMES: Our thanks there to Patrick Snell. Appreciate it.
I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company and spending part of your day with me.
CNN NEWSROOM will continue after the break with Natalie Allen.
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