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North Korea Apologizes For Killing Defector From South Korea; Upcoming Election Amplifies Dark Side Of Social Media; Trump Campaign Runs Deceptively-Edited Ads About Biden; Relic Of Pope John Paul II Stolen From Italian Church; Egyptians Sharing Culinary Traditions With Travelers; Thousands Of Fans In Stadium For UEFA Super Cup; Emotional Suarez Bids Farewell To Barcelona; Charlo Twins To Contest World Title Bouts On Same Night; Trump Won't Commit to Peaceful Transfer of Power; President Trump Wants His Upcoming Supreme Court Nominee to be Confirmed Quickly; Protests Erupt for Second Night After Breonna Taylor Decision; Key Model Predicts U.S. Death Toll to Top 371,000 by January; EU Commissioner: Europe at Decisive Moment in Second Wave; U.K. Considers "Human Challenge" Trials for COVID-19 Vaccines; Africa is Reporting Fewer Cases Per Capita Than Other Regions. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired September 25, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No clarity from the White House on whether Donald Trump will accept the election results if he loses to Joe Biden. But Republicans in Congress are speaking out.
Also ahead, the regional impact of COVID in Europe. Health officials warn of a second wave. While in Africa, strict lockdown measures appear to be paying off.
From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Michael Holmes. "CNN Newsroom" starts right now.
With the U.S. presidential election just 39 days away, it is not the issues that are front and center. It is whether the sitting president will even accept the outcome. Donald Trump, insisting that mail-in ballots will lead to massive voter fraud, despite evidence to the contrary.
Jim Acosta with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In what may be a warning siren to the world that American democracy is in serious trouble, President Trump is standing by his comments that he may not accept the results of the November election.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't know that it can be with this whole situation, unsolicited ballots.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The White House is giving the president plenty of wiggle room to offer up his own definition of an honest election.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president will accept the results of a free and fair election.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Something Mr. Trump hinted at when he was asked whether he would commit to a peaceful transfer of power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transferral of power after the election?
TRUMP: We are going to have to see what happens. You know that I've been complaining very strongly about the ballots, and the ballots are a disaster.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The president continues to rail against the use of mail-in ballots to help shield voters from the coronavirus in the November election. But Mr. Trump's own FBI noted what experts have said for years, that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the U.S., including ballots sent through the mail.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, DIRECTOR OF FBI: We have not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated, national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it is by mail or otherwise.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Democrats are accusing the president of behaving like a dictator.
NANCY PELOSI, SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: You are not in Russia, Mr. President. And by the way, you are not in Saudi Arabia. You are in the United States of America. It is a democracy.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Republican leaders sound as though they believe the president is bluffing.
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): Let him speak for himself. But I can play a few clips (ph) that there will be a peaceful transition of power.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted, "The winner of the November 3rd election will be inaugurated on January 20th. There will be an orderly transition."
Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse said, "The president says crazy stuff," while South Dakota's John Thune insisted the GOP would push back if Mr. Trump refused to accept an election loss.
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD) (voice-over): Republicans believe in the rule of law. We believe in the Constitution, and that's what dictates what happens in our election process. So, yes --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): You would stand up to him if he tried to do something like that?
THUNE (voice-over): Yes.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Oddly enough, the president tweeted an endorsement for vote by mail ballots in Florida. But Mr. Trump states why he has confidence in Florida system in the past.
TRUMP: Florida has got a great Republican governor, and it had a great Republican governor.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The president caught a rare glimpse of Americans who want to vote him out as he paid his respects to the late Supreme Court justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but Mr. Trump later claimed he really couldn't hear the chorus of boos.
TRUMP: We heard a sound but it wasn't very strong.
ACOSTA (voice-over): On the pandemic, the administration is trying to reassure Americans that they will be able to trust a vaccine for COVID-19.
ALEX AZAR, U.S. 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.
ACOSTA (voice-over): That is after Mr. Trump insisted that the White House will have the final say on how the vaccine is approved.
TRUMP: We are looking at that. That has to be approved by the White House.
[02:05:00]
TRUMP: We may or may not approve it.
ACOSTA (on camera): The president is unveiling what the White House is calling a health care plan, something Mr. Trump has hinted at for months, but the president's plan appears to have some gaping holes in it.
While he claims he will protect people with pre-existing conditions, the president is not saying how that will be guaranteed if his administration is successful in its efforts to overturn Obamacare in a case that will be heard at the Supreme Court after the election.
Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: President Trump says he wants his upcoming Supreme Court nominee to be confirmed quickly because the high court could ultimately decide the elections outcome.
CNN chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin says there is a very real chance the court hears such a case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: There are now 200 lawsuits around the country aimed at trying to settle or change the rules for the election, any one of which could wind up in the Supreme Court either before or after the election. It is possible, as those who remember Bush v. Gore in 2000, that the losing candidate, when all the votes were all counted after November 3rd, could challenge how the votes were counted or if there was a recount.
But perhaps the most chilling possibility is that a state legislature, under the Constitution, could simply take a vote to award a state's electoral votes to one candidate.
This is something that Republican state legislators are actually considering. They have not committed to doing it. But in North Carolina, in Wisconsin, under the Constitution, the legislators could say, you know, this election was too corrupt, too unreliable, and we simply are going to award the electoral votes to the president of the United States, those Republican legislators.
It is possible, under the Constitution, and it is under consideration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin there.
Another night of protests in the United States after a Kentucky grand jury decided not to charge police officers with Breonna Taylor's death. Six months after the 26-year-old black woman was killed in a police raid, demonstrators are still demanding justice.
And scenes of confusion and chaos in Los Angeles. At least one protester hit by a vehicle and taken to hospital.
Our Stephanie Elam was there and tells us what she saw.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have been out here following this protest in Hollywood, California in the name of Breonna Taylor. It started over by a cemetery, where there were people speaking, and then they began to march.
As they were marching, they got to one intersection in Hollywood where a car either came into the crowd or proceeded to move through the crowd. It did sound like some of the protesters then started hitting the car, and then the car accelerated out of the crowd.
We saw that there was one person on the ground. They encircled this person. They were calling for help. They did allow a fire engine to come in and administer help, and then to transport that person to get further attention. We saw it all happen. It was very close to where we were at the time.
Those protesters then continued to march up. We saw a few other scuffles along the way. There was one point where the protesters were getting close to a police station. They met a line of police officers there and then turned their direction to go a different way. And now, the protesters are here. You can hear the helicopters above right now. That is probably what we are hearing right now, the police helicopter, listening and watching what this crowd is doing. They are blocking this intersection, which is a major artery here in Hollywood right now, as they are make their way down.
Another car came through the crowd just a few minutes ago. They were beating on that car. That car managed to get away. But just showing you how this one has changed a bit since we started off with those speakers in the park.
In Hollywood, California, Stephanie Elam, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Let's turn now to the coronavirus. A grim new outlook for the United States. An influential model now predicts up to 371,000 Americans could die from the virus by the end of this year. Now, that means 169,000 more people dead in little more than three months. However, it says if almost everyone wore a mask, nearly 100,000 of those lives could be saved.
Meanwhile, health officials are trying to convince the public that science should be trusted and politics will not play a role in a potential vaccine. This after President Trump said the White House could override stricter guidelines for a vaccine approval.
[02:10:04]
HOLMES: New York's governor is putting matters into the state's hands. He is creating a task force to review any vaccine authorized by the federal government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Frankly, I am not going to trust the federal government's opinion. And I wouldn't recommend to New Yorkers based on the federal government's opinion. We have the best hospitals and research facilities on the globe in the state. We are going to put together a group for them to review the vaccine, so I can look at the camera and can say to New Yorkers that it is safe to take.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, health officials in Europe are sounding the alarm, saying the region is at a decisive moment in dealing with a second wave. Multiple countries are seeing a surge in cases.
France is reporting its highest number of new infections since the pandemic began. Hospitalizations also are going up there. To make room for COVID patients, Paris hospitals will begin cancelling some non- elective procedures. And Spain has surpassed 704,000 infections, reporting some 11,000 new cases just on Thursday. One doctor there is voicing his concern for what is to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We don't have a strategy to say what we are going to do in the next month. We are going to try to make beds available at a faster rate than the number of critically ill patients demanding them, but when we reached the limit, we do not know what the plan will be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A new report in The Lancet medical journal says countries should make five prerequisites before easing COVID-19 lockdowns. Let's run through them for you. They are knowledge of infection status. That is countries should have high quality data that infections are being suppressed.
Community engagement is another one, meaning people following policies for social distancing and mask wearing. Adequate public health capacity for testing, tracing, and isolating. Adequate health system capacity. That is for treatment facilities, medical equipment, and health care workforce. Also, border controls for restricting inbound travel to reduce the risk of infection.
Coming up next, you will hear -- next hour, you'll hear from Martin McGee, the co-author of that Lancet study.
Now, tighter coronavirus restrictions in the U.K. are in effect in an attempt to curve its second wave as cases soar there. Pubs and restaurants in England will now close at 10 p.m. But after surviving a three-and-a-half-month closure at the peak of the pandemic, some business owners are unsure if they will be able to survive this time around.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOBIAS JACKSON, CO-FOUNDER OF THE ADVENTURE BAR GROUP: It is 137 hours of peak trade that are gone. It's about a third of our income. We think it is going to be gone. Possibly I can easily remain (ph) a third of the jobs. We can do everything we can to make ourselves busier at different times. Drinking habits again may change. But right now, the threat is back in the business and every job in the whole sector, not just in our business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Just how far would you go to help test a potential coronavirus vaccine? Some say they would volunteer to deliberately expose themselves to the virus. It is a controversial approach that the British government is now considering. CNN's Cyril Vanier explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in the U.K., 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 website 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 the vaccine candidates, then exposed to the virus and closely monitored. This could potentially save months compared to a normal phase three clinical trial.
Yet, the method is controversial, because in this case, it means exposing healthy individuals to a virus to 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, AztraZeneca, 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 in earlier furlough scheme from the government.
[02:15:00]
VANIER: This latest announcement is a stark reminder of the long lasting effects of the virus on the British economy.
Cyril Vanier, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Joining me now is Sian Griffiths, who is an Emeritus professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and shared the Hong Kong government's inquiry into SARS in 2003.
Professor, thank you so much for being with us. For those who want to cross it, what exactly is a human challenge trial? What would be the advantages of doing it?
SIAN GRIFFITHS, EMERITUS PROFESSOR, CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: As your reporter was saying, a human challenge trial is when you inoculate the volunteer because this is done with volunteers. You inoculate volunteer with the virus, you then -- with the vaccine. You then challenge them with the virus and you look at the response to see if the vaccine protects against infection.
Now, it is done and has been done throughout vaccine history. (INAUDIBLE) was an expert vaccinologist but people will tell you it started back with (INAUDIBLE). That is what he actually did when he used cowpox to look at the response to smallpox. That was the beginning of vaccinology.
So it is something that can be done. It is something that, as you heard, not everybody wants to do. There are ethics about it, particularly with a new disease and particularly since we know that in many people -- because there is no cure, that this can have both long- term sequelae but can also the fatal. So, it is not basically where we are, I think.
HOLMES: Dr. Fauci has spoken on this before. It was interesting. He said, in his mind, such a thing would be a plan C or D. I think he used the words, it's an absolutely far-out contingency, because it is risky, because other times this is being done, we've known more about the virus, and they are already indicators of long-term problems for some people. What would you say to that?
GRIFFITHS: I would agree with him. I think we need to stick with the trials we are doing at the moment. You know, obviously, people who know more about vaccinology than I do will be making these decisions. And volunteers who come forward will (INAUDIBLE) in the full knowledge of the risks they are taking.
But it is actually not the first line. First line must be to continue the phase three trials of the vaccines that have been going down (INAUDIBLE) vaccine development right (ph).
HOLMES: It is interesting. I think it is close -- it is 37 or 38,000 people who have signed up for this. Why would somebody volunteer to do something, be injected with live virus, which even if they're young and healthy, could kill them? I mean, it's an interesting thing to be volunteering for, especially when there is no sort of rescue therapy.
GRIFFITHS: You are asking an interesting question. You need to ask the young -- it would be somebody younger, definitely somebody younger than me, because we know the fact with this virus, the older you are, the greater the risks are.
That is what we are seeing as we've seen a lot of people in the U.K., basically, getting infections, but they tend to be younger people. You know, we need to stop the disease spreading into older people. So, I think -- I don't think I would focus on these challenge trials. I would focus on let us keep the public health message out there whilst we can and let us get on with creating an effective vaccine for the population, particularly for vulnerable groups.
HOLMES: Yeah, I suppose -- yeah, I would have to agree with that. The Lancet report, what did you make of the prerequisites that they put out? Aren't enough of those being followed, do you think?
GRIFFITHS: Well, that's -- I mean, I think it is evidently a sensible report. I have seen a shorted version of it. But I think the reliance on getting public engagement with behavior such mask wearing, hand washing, keeping social distance, absolutely essential, as is the need for good test and trace system. We need more capacity in the testing system. We have seen that in the U.K. recently where the system has just been unable to cover the number of people coming forward and were not prioritizing tests again, which we have hoped not to do.
But we need good testing regime. We need sustainable response so people can engage and understand and adapt new behaviors to try to decrease the risks of this vaccine. So, a good study, good messages, and hopefully they will be heard.
HOLMES: Excellent. Professor Sian Griffiths, thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on.
GRIFFITHS: Nice to talk to you this morning.
[02:19:59]
HOLMES: Africa has yet to see a widespread outbreak of coronavirus. What have nations on that continent done right? We will have a live report for you from Johannesburg, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back. As the United States struggles with the coronavirus pandemic, the continent of Africa is receiving praise. I am going to show you now the number of cases there based on population, a way to better compare large and small countries.
As you see, most of Africa has lower numbers than Europe and the America's. As for (INAUDIBLE) within Africa, you can see cases flat or declining across much of West Africa. In the south, it is not rising sharply in a few central African nations.
CNN's David McKenzie has been digging into the numbers. He joins us now from Johannesburg. Good to see you, David. What do you found?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Michael, you know, we have been covering this for months, across the African continent, and of course, it is very hard to generalize with such a diverse continent with many countries that have many types of health systems.
But there were predictions in the early days of COVID-19 that Africa would face a catastrophe. Many news articles, noted personalities saying to prepare for the worst. That hasn't happened. I put that question to the head of the Africa CDC. Why were those predictions wrong?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN NKENGASONG, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: I think it is a lesson to be learned from the continent, that those traditions were based on any solid assumption, they were based on historical (INAUDIBLE) of the continent, which is low (ph) as we are seeing in this current pandemic. We've seen (INAUDIBLE) indicator that by this time, about 40 million people will be infected in Africa, 200,000 deaths. We haven't seen that. But the reasons are just obvious. One was the (INAUDIBLE) that the continent took to coordinate the efforts and really at the level of each individual to take drastic measures.
If you recall, many countries in Africa are still in a lockdown. You begin to see that curves are bent in nicely. We have seen a sustained 10 to 12 percent decrease of our own, on the continent, over the last couple of weeks. I think that is good.
We are not yet at a time to celebrate. We are not complacent at all. But we need to acknowledge that progress, a remarkable progress that has been achieved.
MCKENZIE (on camera): There is still a lack of testing on the continent and the perception of a lack of data to really understand who this disease affecting various countries. Is that just a hidden pandemic that is not seen? Are there people that we don't know about across the African continent on a large scale?
[02:25:00]
NKENGASONG: Absolutely not. What is critical actually, David, is that the level of asymptomatic, there are proportion of individuals that have been infected and that what you see in the continent is above 80 percent. I think that is very, very important.
So that means that we are seeing people kind of in mask as it was predicted. I think that is very good news. This is based on data.
MCKENZIE (on camera): Why do you think some people find that hard to believe, even if the data backs it up?
NKENGASONG: I can understand that because of the massiveness of what we are seeing in the west, in Europe and United States. We should also remember that our populations (INAUDIBLE) from what we have seen in the U.S. and also Europe. More than 70 percent of our population is less than 30 years. Median age is actually around 17 to 18 years.
I think that is really an important factor to put into the equation on the standing of the levels of deaths in the United States or Europe versus Africa. I think that is -- my assumption is that many more people will be infected in Africa but the deaths will continue to be relatively low.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCKENZIE: I think it is important also to stress just how much the countries in Africa have improved in terms of their capacity to test and to deal with this disease.
When this pandemic struck the continent, Michael, there were just two countries -- South Africa and Senegal -- that could test for COVID-19. Now, pretty much all of them can, and those testing supplies have been coordinated pretty effectively. I just can't stress enough this issue of perception. Before COVID strike, the perception was the U.S. with its vaunted CDC had the tools to combat this disease, and the perception by many was that many countries in Africa did not have the tools. Well, in a way, the reverse has been true.
It's important to stress again what Dr. Nkengasong says, is that Africa's young population with the median age of under 19 years old, does have a significant impact on the virus that hits the elderly the worst. Michael?
HOLMES: Yeah, enlightening stuff, and as you say, perceptions. David McKenzie, thank you.
We are going to take a quick break here on the program. When we come back --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you guys seriously think that Joe Biden is a pedophile?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do, but that is my opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel he is. I feel he is part of the game of Donald.
HOLMES (voice-over): We will explain how social media is allowing the most absurd and slanderous gossip to be pedalled as truth in the run up to the U.S. election. We will be right back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:00]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: Welcome back.
South Korean officials say, Kim Jong-un has personally apologized for North Korea's shooting and killing of a South Korean citizen. The South Korean government worker was killed after he apparently crossed a maritime border with the north.
CNN'S Paula Hancocks is in Seoul to break it all down for us. Tell us what happened.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, first of all, this is highly unusual the fact that North Korea and Kim Jong-un have apologized. This does not happen very often. In fact, the last time from a similar happened back in 2008 when a North Korean soldier killed a South Korean tourist. North Korea just regretted the incident.
So for Kim Jong-un to actually say sorry is a significant thing. So what happened was earlier this week there was an official from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries who went missing in the waters of the west coast of South Korea. Now according to the military, he drifted after the Maritime border into North Korean waters and that is where he was shot by the North Korean navy.
They believed, at least up until today, that then his body was set on fire by the navy. But now a letter has come from North Korea to South Korea, explaining what they believe happened, saying that this individual was found in the waters of North Korea. He said he was from South Korea, but would not respond any further. Blank rounds were fired at him and then they say they fired 10 shots.
And at that point, they say the body slipped into the water. They believe, they say it wasn't on the floating object and they set that object on fire. So we do have slightly differing versions of exactly what happened, but the end result is that North Korea shot and killed a South Korean official, a significant matter in itself. But the fact that we are hearing this fairly swift apology from North Korea is something of note.
Now just yesterday on Thursday there was widespread condemnation throughout the South Korean government, the unification ministry calling this an unjustifiable inhumane act that we strongly condemn. So the fact that North Korea through the leader himself has reacted is certainly noteworthy.
And one other thing that they did point out, as the South Koreans were publicizing the fact this letter had come, was that Kim Jong-un and the South Korean President Moon Jae-In recently have also been exchanging letters, trying to decide on how they could get back on track with inter-Korean relations.
Michael?
HOLMES: Well, all right. Paula, thanks for breaking it down for us. Paula Hancocks there in Seoul.
The U.S. presidential election less than six weeks away. And the tense political environment amplifying a dark side of social media. Some popular platforms have become fertile ground of course for partisan conspiracy theories, propaganda and fake videos that refuse to die even when they are exposed as lies.
We will get more now from Donie O'Sullivan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: So we have come to a Trump rally in Bemidji, Minnesota today, to ask from supporters what they see when they open their Facebook feeds?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No one has been more wrong more often than Biden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: November 3 election result may never be accurately determined.
O'SULLIVAN: On that post is there any label or fact-check or anything? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, they have a little thing at the bottom that says voting by a male has a long history of trustworthiness in the U.S.
O'SULLIVAN: Are you a Facebook user?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I use Facebook, yes.
O'SULLIVAN: So what sort of pages do you follow on there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody that agrees with me.
O'SULLIVAN: Only people that agree with you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would be a Republican and anti-abortion guy and pro-gun and pro-beer.
O'SULLIVAN: but do you not think it would be good to follow some pages of people you disagree with, see their opinion?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, because they call me stupid. Why would I follow people that throw rocks at me constantly because they don't agree with me? I got tens of thousands of people that do.
O'SULLIVAN: So Trump, his campaign, a lot of senior Republicans over the past few weeks have been sharing doctored and manipulated videos on social media. Now the Trump campaign and Trump supporters will often say, these videos are clearly jokes, there are memes, people know they are memes, people know they are fake.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they say, well, this is fact-checked, it's wrong, because it's taken out of context. Like when Joe Biden fell asleep during a live interview on television.
[02:35:00]
O'SULLIVAN: He claimed that he fell asleep. I think that was an edited one, right? That was--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't think he was, it looked pretty alive to me with no cuts in it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joining us live this morning from New York. Hey, good morning. Wake up. Wake up, wake up. OK. This is your wake up call.
O'SULLIVAN: is this the video that you are talking about?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could be, yes.
O'SULLIVAN: Biden fallen--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. I watched, it's really great. It's Washington Post.
O'SULLIVAN: So an article there is saying that it was faked, but it looked real, right? I mean it looked real.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I definitely would not doubt that it would happen.
O'SULLIVAN: Even if it is fake, does it change your opinion of Biden?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God, no. You got to sift through it, I miss that one, but it was a good laugh. It was a really good laugh. And like I said, I wouldn't doubt it.
O'SULLIVAN: A lot of people we spoke to today are sharing posts on Facebook that later get fact-checked by Facebook's third-party fact checkers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anything I put on there about our president is generally only on for a few minutes, and then all of a sudden they are fact-checking me saying, this, that, the thing which I know is not true. The fact-checker is wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, right away, go to the conservative sites and say that is wrong, then they pull it. And they are not going to the liberal sites and them are the real lies. They are the real liars out there.
O'SULLIVAN: Also circulating online, more insidious forms of misinformation, including baseless claims about Vice President Joe Biden, being a pedophile.
Do you guys seriously think that Joe Biden is a pedophile?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do. But that's my opinion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel he is. I feel he is part of the game of the whole thing.
O'SULLIVAN: That baseless fabricated claim about Biden is circulating among supporters of QAnon. A conspiracy theory that the FBI says, it is a potential domestic terrorism threat. Some of these false claims have been amplified by the president himself.
The FBI is saying, QAnon is a dangerous conspiracy theory. Does that make you think for a second, hang on, should I be following this thing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, because QAnon is bringing up the bad things about the FBI. That is why they are saying it. that is why they are afraid of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Incredible. Some of those altered videos are actually being used by official Trump campaign account, by the way. It has repeatedly and deceptively edited, or used out of context clips, to portray Biden as mentally impaired. It has happened many times.
Well, right now, the campaign is running ads falsely claiming a teleprompter was used in an interview in April with Biden and TV host, James Corden. Biden did not use a teleprompter, according to both Corden and his executive producer. These Trump ads are appearing on Facebook, YouTube, and Google, which do not fact-check the ads on their platforms.
Just stunning. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We will be right back.
[02:40:00]
HOLMES: A church in central Italy says someone stole a relic of Pope John Paul II. The glass vial containing drops of the late Pope's blood had been kept inside a gold cross. The local archbishop called the theft a grave act, and hopes it wasn't stolen for money.
Police are now checking security footage, but there was no alarm system in the part of the church where the cross was kept. In Catholicism, relics are considered holy objects to honor saints like Pope John Paul II.
And now to our "Feast of Egypt" series. Several years ago, a Cairo- based entrepreneur had a chance meeting with a member of Upper Egypt's Nubian community. Now that lucky encounter along with unique Nubian cuisine helped ring an abandoned island back to life.
Have a look.
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AHMED YEHIA, FOUNDER, ECO NUBIA: In three months, we got so famous with the flavor of the food, people start saying in Aswan, if you want a real Nubian food, go to Solaih.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Solaih is a restaurant on Bigeh Island in Upper Egypt.
YEHIA: We are reviving old recipes that's kind of disappearing right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bigeh have been inhabited for thousands of years, but was abandoned in the 1960s because of construction on the Aswan High Dam. Back then, it was home to a Nubian community, descendants of one of Africa's oldest civilizations, now Ahmed Yehia is teaming up with those former residents to help them return.
YEHIA: Our mission is to bring the island back to life, reviving it by calling the ancient people's legacy and to put it in action.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two years ago, Ahmed opened Eco Nubia in environmentally-friendly hotel that is also home to solaih.
YEHIA: When we start doing the menu for the restaurant, I ask the chef, please remember what your grandmother used to cook for you and this is what we will serve. And he said, what, no way, people wouldn't appreciate this food. I said, "Let's try".
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The team started small with a handful of recipes, including the quintessential Nubian meal that the restaurant is named after. A solaih includes a hand-made clay pot filled with meat or vegetables sealed with bread and cooked over fire for several hours.
YEHIA: Their pottery is not glazed. They use the mud as is. But the problem is, if I'm cooking something in that pot, it will give the smell of the thing. That is why we have solaih, meat solaih, chicken solaih, fish solaih, vegetable solaih, but each solaih need to stay the same thing all its life.
HAFOUD AL ABBADY, HEAD CHEF, ECO NUBIA: Everything was cooked in solaihs in the past and food taste different in them. It is out of this world, not like food cooked in pots or pans.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hafoud is Eco Nubia's second chef and to him, the world is more than just a source of income.
ABBADY: I wanted a wide Nubian kitchen in our heritage. This makes me very proud. It's my ancestors' food.
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HOLMES: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM and spending part of your day with me.
I'm Michael Holmes. World Sport is next. Kim Brunhuber will be with you in about 20 minutes.
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[02:45:00]
PATRICK SNELL, CNN HOST: And I welcome to World Sport today.
Bunmunich adding yet more silverware to their bulging trophy cabinet yet again. We will get to that, but want to start with what really was a highly significant Thursday night in Budapest.
European football governing body UEFA defending its decision to allow more than 15,000 fans into the annual Super Cup showdown on this occasion between FC Bayern and Spain Sevilla.
UEFA using this game to try and prove football can indeed safely go ahead with a crowd despite the ongoing global pandemic. This was sight common a year ago but extremely rare now. Thousands of fans in a stadium watching a match the European governing body calling Thursday night Super Cup effectively a test pilot.
Champions League winners Bayern Munich and Europa League champs Sevilla going head to head, Sevilla actually ahead. Look and that is a no-look penalty expertly tucked away by the argentine Lucas Ocampos. But that really served a wound Bayern Leon Goretzka leveling there for the treble winners. Goretzka with that one just passed the half hour mark. It went to extra time where it was one by Javi Martinez' header in the 104th minute. (Inaudible) they have only been on the pitch for five minutes. All conquering Bayern now the first team from a top five league to win 23 straight matches across all comps. This team of (inaudible) I tell you, it is a winning machine.
So that was the story of the game itself, but so much scrutiny on fans in that stadium. And this in a country bear in mind, where coronavirus cases have trebled over the last month. Our criticism to be fair, by some, of putting profit before people's health, something being denied by UEFA's President.
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ALEKSANDER CEFERIN, PRESIDENT, UEFA: Don't think that we are doing this because of money, because we don't get any revenues, we get more costs with that. But fans and players are the essential part of football. We are just a company in persons. And we will take care of health, we are working day and night on it. But from today on, we will see what we decide. We haven't decided yet anything about spectators in the future at the European matches.
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SNELL: We shall see, while before the game Hungarian organizers claiming the stadium would be just about the safest place in Europe. Thanks to the strict protocols put in place. So how did that all play out? Well, fans having their body temperature checked on arrival. They were told to act responsibly, observed and marked queuing lines, stay at least 1.5 meters from one another, and wear a mask.
Though as it turned out, mask wearing, not always the case during this game. And part of the controversy here 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 UK, there will be around 1,000 spectators at Roland Garros when the delayed French Open tennis starts is coming Sunday was rearranged, remember, from May because of the pandemic.
On Thursday as well, we had IOC President Thomas Back, sounding almost bullish about the postponed Tokyo Olympics going ahead next year.
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THOMAS BACK, PRESIDENT, INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: we could and can see that sport is coming back slowly but surely, and that a number of big sport events have been successfully organized recently, including their matches in the different Japanese leagues over the weekend. And also very complex events like the Tour de France in Grand Tours, which show to us and show to the world that we can organize safe sport events even without a vaccine.
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SNELL: Many global sports shedding millions of dollars without fans. They need to bring crowds back it's clear, but there just doesn't seem to be consensus right now about how safe it is to do so. We are following all the key events for you. You can be sure of that. Right.
Luis Suarez wiping away the tears on Thursday. This was at his farewell press conference. The Uruguayan leaving Spanish football giants Barcelona for Atletico for a fee that could be around ?6 million mark. We will tell the South American netting just shy of 200 times for the Catalans and it's clear, leaving was proving really hard indeed for him.
[02:50:00]
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LUIS SUAREZ, URUGUAYAN PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER: (SPEAKING SPANISH)
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SNELL: Emotions very high, indeed. That with Suarez. All right.
Well, a boxing bout in the era of COVID-19 this weekend. Why these two American identical twins born barely a minute apart guaranteed to make this particular double hit anything but ordinary.
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SNELL: LeBron James in the Lakers with a commanding 3-1 Western Conference Finals lead in the NBA playoffs, though against these particular opponents, not necessarily a good thing. The Denver Nuggets recently becoming the first team in history to come back from 3-1 deficit and win a series, not once but twice in the same posses and Lakers winning this game for. And they are now just one victory away from reaching the finals for the first time in a decade.
Afterwards, LeBron taking another strong stance for social justice following this week's grand jury decision on Breonna Taylor, a 26- year-old African-American shot to death in her own home.
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LEBRON JAMES, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: We lost a beautiful woman in Breonna that has no say so in what's going on right now, and we want justice no matter how long it takes, even though it's been so many days, so many hours, so many minutes, for her family, for her community.
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SNELL: Powerful words indeed.
America's boxing twins of Charlo, they mean business. Jermell, who currently holds the WBC 154-pound-title; and Jermall, the WBC middleweight champ, taking center stage in separate fights this weekend in a pay-per-view doubleheader.
I've been catching up with the identical twins. They were born just a minute apart. Brothers who are also well aware of the platform they have as well, when it comes to societal issues in modern day America.
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JERMALL CHARLO, WBC MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION: Injustice is nothing that we can control, but we definitely can use our voice to say, give better training. Everyone get together and become stronger and we can fight this together.
[02:55:00]
SNELL: What is it like preparing for boxing in the year of COVID-19? What are the challenges there for you?
JERMELL CHARLO, WBC LIGHT MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION: Everybody around us has been negative. It has been a great experience, even trying to stay safe and making sure everyone stays safe. Just knowing that everyone around you is negative and you can actually breathe and feel free once again. It's been excited. We're excited to be able to fight September 26 on pay-per-view doubleheader.
And the Charlo twins are here to stay and that's we both will be testing and we will go through all of these protocols that it takes. But we want the rest of the world to do the same thing. Wear a mask, cover up, wash your hands 20 seconds. Just do what's right.
SNELL: Tell us about the sibling rivalry growing up, training, sparring. Do you fight against each other?
JERMALL CHARLO: Yes, we always have. When it comes with our ups and downs, we are always like dispute things, and he likes stuff one way, I like it another way. But of course, my way is always right.
JERMELL CHARLO: Sometimes I wish sometimes we could be on the same page.
JERMALL CHARLO: But we don't normally be on the same page. He like to talk when I'll talk, and then I like to talk when he talk. Wait.
JERMELL CHARLO: I'm just saying.
JERMELL CHARLO: We are seeing you right now. We don't want to start.
SNELL: Wait, so you said your way is always right.
JERMALL CHARLO: Yes, because I'm the big brother, I'm the big brother, he does as I go.
(CROSSTALK)
SNELL: Big brother by how long?
JERMELL CHARLO: He is a big brother for a minute. So I don't really know how much of a big brother he is.
SNELL: A lion's only mentality. I know that's your mantra. Spell it out for us. How significant is that for you both?
JERMELL CHARLO: I say keep going and that is our legacy. It's something that we want to look back on and say we both did a tremendous job bringing up this brand and bringing up this ordeal as the promoters and fighters, and now we are look back over (inaudible) I worked with the youth and people that's coming up underneath us. So it's major for us.
SNELL: Do you detect a certain self respect, a mutual bond there, a very close bond? Talk to us about that please.
JERMELL CHARLO: There is one thing that our parents always taught us was to have respect for one another, now we are grown men so, of course, we are going to have disagreements, of course we are going to have those things. But when it comes to boxing and we are in the ring, we fight together and that's the most important thing about our relationship, with our - what we do to provide for families, and I have high respect for how he lead here and he has high respect for how I lead mine.
Some of the best things that can have happened to us is we are in the same (inaudible).
JERMALL CHARLO: (inaudible) That's how it is. This is what got me and my brother to this point. And it's never going to change. We are the Charlo twins forever.
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SNELL: And our thanks to the twins.
Make sure you join us for later Friday editions of World Sport. Don't forget the French Open star Sunday with a whole new look to northern Paris is our latest Rolex minute for you.
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