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Upcoming Election Amplifies Dark Side of Social Media; North Korea Apologizes for Killing Official from South; Police Officer Fatally Shot By Detainee in London; Europe Seeing a Second Wave of COVID-19 Cases; Israel Tightens Restrictions as COVID-19 Cases Soar; United Airlines Will Offer COVID Tests to Some Passengers; Airline Industry Struggle to Survive in Europe. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 25, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... And 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.

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: Well I mean, I definitely wouldn't 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. Their fact-checker's wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go right away, go to the conservative sites say it's 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 (voice-over): Also circulating online, more insidious forms of misinformation, including baseless claims about Vice President Joe Biden, being a pedophile.

(on camera): Do you guys seriously think that Joe Biden is a pedophile?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do. But that's just my opinion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I feel he is. I feel he is part of the game of the whole thing.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): 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.

(on camera): 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's why they're saying it. That's why they are afraid of it.

O'SULLIVAN: And when we published this story on CNN.com earlier tonight, I saw some people online saying, oh, the Trump supporters in that report are dumb or are stupid. And that's not the case. Any of us, you, me, our moms, our dads can fall for online misinformation particularly fake or doctored videos that can look so realistic, and particularly when that misinformation confirms our biases.

And that's what platforms like Facebook do. They're designed to keep showing you posts, and videos, and memes that they think you will enjoy. So you spend longer on the platform. Because the longer you spend on Facebook, the more adds you watch, the more money they make. But that is pulling us all into these sort of online echo chambers which is undoubtedly all contributing to the polarization we see here in the United States today.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: That was CNN's Donie O'Sullivan.

Well, South Korean officials say Kim Jong-un has personally apologized for North Korea's shooting and killing of a South Korean citizen. It South Korean worker was killed after apparently crossing the Maritime border with the North. Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks who's live in Seoul. Paula, tell us more about this extraordinary apology.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kim, this is a rare apology from North Korea. Certainly doesn't happen very often. So what happened was, according to the South Korean side, they announced today, this Friday, that a letter had arrived from the North explaining what they believe happened with this incident.

It's worth pointing out that the narratives between the North and South do have some disparities.

So what happened earlier this week is the South Korean military saying one of their government officials, an official from the Minister Maritime Affairs and Fisheries went missing off a vessel, off the west coast of South Korea. They then say that they believe he was on a floating object which drifted across the Maritime border into North Korean waters.

Now the North Korean side in this letter say, that the Navy discovered him. That he gave a garbled response saying that he was from the South when questioned and then refused to answer any more questions, according to the north. They say they then fired ten rounds and when they went closer to the floating object the body was gone. They say there was just blood that was there. And they then burned the floating object they say because of coronavirus prevention measures.

Now the South just one day earlier had said they believed that the body had been set alight.

[04:35:00]

The significant part of this is the very fact that the North Koreans have apologized. It's simply something that doesn't happen very often. And the fact that it is Kim Jong-un's name that has been quoted as well at the end saying that he is sorry, that he was sorry to have disappointed.

And one extra element as well that's come out because of this. Is that the South Korean side has admitted that Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have exchanged letters this month, personal letters, suggesting that the inter-Korean relationship is better than previously thought -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right, thank you so much. CNN's Paula Hancocks in the South Korean capital. Appreciate it.

We go now to London for some breaking news. Metropolitan police say a police officer has been killed after being shot by a man being held at a south London police station. A 23-year-old man was detained at the scene and is in hospital in critical condition from a gunshot wound.

So for more now let's go to CNN's Cyril Vanier in London. What can you tell us?

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kim, good morning. Look, we're trying to get all of the information we can at this early stage. Most of what we have comes to us from the statement released by the Metropolitan Police Force just a short while ago. And they say a murder investigation has been opened after an officer was shot at the Croyden Custody Center. That, as you said, is in South London.

He was shot by a man who was being detained at the Croyden Custody Center. He immediately got treatment. He received treatment from the officers who were nearby and from paramedics who rushed to the scene. He had to be taken to hospital and sadly that is where he died of his wounds.

A 23-year-old man, as you said, was also detained. He had a gunshot wound. He, too, was taken to hospital and he is now in critical condition. Now the police officer's firearm was not discharged so this raises so many questions, Kim. How did a live firearm enter the custody center? Who discharged it? How did the incident start? Was it predetermined? We don't know but there is an open investigation for murder. And the police have also referred this independently to the independent office for police conduct which will lead an independent investigation into this as well -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: So many questions there and we'll stay on the story. Thank you so much, Cyril Vanier in London.

Well new cases of the coronavirus are surging around the world. So just ahead, how Israel is implementing even tougher restrictions after coronavirus cases soar despite a lockdown. So we'll go live to Jerusalem in just a moment. Stay with us.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: A second wave of coronavirus cases is sweeping across Europe. Now death rates aren't approaching those seen earlier this year. But several European countries are reporting record numbers of new cases.

The U.K. on Thursday reported its highest daily increase in cases since the pandemic began. More than 6,600 in 24 hours.

France reported more than 16,000 new cases. The highest number confirmed in a 24 hour period since it began keeping records in March.

And Austria's ski season will go forward but the pandemic means after parties have been banned. Masks and social distancing will be required. And ski schools will be limited to 10 students per group.

All new report in the "Lancet Medical Journal" says countries should meet five prerequisites before easing COVID-19 lockdowns. These are knowledge of infection status. So country should have high quality data that infections are being suppressed. Community engagement, meaning people follow policies for social distancing and mask wearing, adequate public health capacity for testing, tracing, and isolating. Adequate health system capacity, that means treatment facilities, medical equipment and healthcare workforce and border controls for restricting in bound travel.

Now in Europe many countries are seeing soaring infections, and health officials say that in some member states the situation is now even worse than during the peak in March. So let's get more details from Melissa Bell who is reporting in Paris for us. The situation there, of course, very dire. What can you tell us?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Kim, the situation here continues to deteriorate, not simply in terms of those record new number of cases you mentioned a moment ago that was announced yesterday, but also in terms of people entering ICU. We're also coming up to flu season. This is a concern for health professionals, and in particular in cities like Paris and Marseille that have been particularly hard hit.

Already the ICUs, the intensive care units, those parts of the hospital are beginning to feel the strain. Hence these new measures that are going to come into effect on Monday in Paris and Marseille. Not only will social gatherings be further limited but the bars and restaurants will close at 10 p.m. and there was of course, the expected push back.

Local mayors of those cities saying that they were against these measures because of the difficulty economically for these cities in facing up. And yet, here we are again with a situation much like we saw during the first wave. Where that fear for the breakdown of the health system is such that those measures have to be taken.

One other thing that I think is of interest right now in the way, Kim, that authorities here in France are handling the second wave that are slightly different. A new map has been set out for the country which lists the zones according to the severity, the infection rates, how badly the disease is progressing there. What we have is a new category for lockdowns. So, if things get bad enough essentially, what we understand is that rather like what we've seen in Spain, where Madrid had a city wide lockdown, you might if things continue to worsen see individual cities lockdown once again.

BRUNHUBER: All right. I appreciate the update. CNN's Melissa Bell for us in Paris. Thank you very much.

Well, new, tough restrictions are set to take effect in Israel just as the country reports a new daily case record from Thursday. Israel went into a second lockdown a week ago but new infections have continued to soar. CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem for us. Oren, Israel has one of the world's worth outbreaks. The Prime Minister almost using, you know, apocalyptic language to drive home the importance of these measures which I'm sure aren't popular at all.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're certainly not popular right now especially because of the frustration, the confusion and the anger about the way their introduced and changed at the last second. And simply the confusion about what exactly the regulations are and what the exceptions to those regulations are.

It is because of those exceptions and the loopholes that existed in the sort of first iteration of the second general lockdown that the government here decided it needed to tighten and make the rules stricter for this lockdown to try to get a handle on the coronavirus infection rate which remains incredibly high.

[04:45:00]

7,527 new cases yesterday, according to the ministry of health data. That is a new record. And it continues this pattern we've seen over the last few weeks. Every few days we've seen a new record as the number of new cases trends upward as does the number of serious cases and the number of patients on ventilators.

So in about two and one half hours or two hours and 15 minutes, the new tighter regulations will kick in. Which do more to restrict movement, restrict prayer gatherings, public protests, as well as closing down more sectors of the economy in order to try to get a hold on the rising coronavirus numbers here. They are set to last two weeks. Afterwards Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says there will be another two weeks of lockdown but if the numbers are better at that point, they'll be less strict than this form of lockdown. It all at this point depends on the numbers right now, Kim. And if we look at the numbers now, they are simply not good.

BRUNHUBER: What do you think the political consequences of going back into lockdown will be for the Prime Minister?

LIEBERMANN: Well, public trust in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is down and is down severely. According to survey from Israel Democracy Institute, it's at 27 percent and that's from a high of some 58 percent back in April. And we see it in the polls. It's Netanyahu is losing in the polls if a theoretical election were held today.

Meanwhile, one of his right-wing challengers is gaining in the polls, not because he's right wing, but because he's simply putting forward what appeared to be common steps and a plan to how to deal with this coronavirus infection. And he does it from the opposition. He gains, Netanyahu loses at this point. It's simply difficult to see a situation right now where the public will trust Netanyahu to lead the country out of the coronavirus crisis in big numbers.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thank you so much for that update. Correspondent Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem, appreciate it.

Well, one of London's busiest train stations has recruited robots to help fight the pandemic. At St. Pancras station the devices automatically map the area and calculate the quickest cleaning route. They use ultraviolet light to sterilize surfaces and the surrounding air. Now this type of light has been shown to rapidly inactivate the coronavirus even at low intensities. A railway official says the robots are meant to make passengers feel safe again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY NEWTON, HEAD OF STATIONS ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS: The main thing for us is to get the confidence of customers. We are the first train station to bring this type of technology in because we want to allow people to use our train station with confidence. Use our retail units with confidence and slowly get back to a normal way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right, coming up, the pandemic hurt the airline industry this year. But now United Airlines has a way to give nervous passengers some peace of mind. If you want to find out what that is, stay with us.

[04:50:00]

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BRUNHUBER: A religious relic has been stolen from a church in Italy. And authorities are trying to determine who took it and why. Let's get more details from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Delia Gallagher in Rome. A relic of Pope John Paul II has been stolen from a church Spoleto, Italy. Relics are considered sacred objects for Catholics and this one was a vile containing drops of blood from the late pope. It was placed inside a gold cross which was on an altar in a side chapel in the cathedral.

The archbishop of Spoleto called it a brave act and in a video message, appealed to whomever took it to return it. The theft was discovered on Wednesday night as they were closing the church, according to the archdiocese, Italian police are investigating including checking video footage from surveillance cameras inside the cathedral.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well if you're worrying about flying, United Airlines plans to offer coronavirus testing to some of its passengers. Now those tests will only be available to those flying from San Francisco to Hawaii beginning in mid-October. Now if, and if this works out, other destinations will be added. United says the 15-minute test will help passengers avoid a mandatory 14 day quarantine in Hawaii.

Now with the summer travel season over in Europe, many European airlines are having trouble staying aloft and things could get worse as Europe experiences a second spike in COVID infections. CNN's Anna Stewart has more.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Europe had a summer break from coronavirus. Beaches were busy in Spain's Canary Islands. The Seine was lined with sunbathers in Paris.

As cases of COVID-19 declined in June and July, tourism picked up, planes took off. Airlines, like EasyJet, increased their capacity, hopeful for a recovery. JOHAN LUNDGREN, CEO EASYJET: We set out earlier on that we thought it

was going to be about 30 percent. What was the original plans for the summer. And we got a good start on that and so in the beginning of August we actually upped that guidance and we said we believe we're going to be about 40 percent for the period of July, August, and September.

STEWART: Unfortunately, these expectations were soon dashed. Starting with Spain, a surge of COVID-19 cases led to a web of travel restrictions between different countries.

ADRIAN YANOSHIK, SENIOR ANALYST, BERENBERG: We started to see some of the customer confidence go away. It's the view that is not worth the trip and the anxiety and the worry about being able to come back and effectively be able to go to the job or to go to school and these sorts of things.

STEWART (voice-over): This is London's Heathrow airport Europe's busiest, although as you can hear, not many planes taking off or landing at the moment. Last month passenger numbers here were down over 80 percent. And it's only going to get worse as more airlines start to cut back capacity for the coming months. Many are calling on governments for more financial support and also an agreement on a coherent COVID-19 travel policy for the whole continent.

[04:55:00]

LUNDGREN: We also like to see that that the quarantine system that is in play, that that is redesigned so it takes into account much more a regionalized approach. So it doesn't just do a blank quarantine across all of the countries. Because the infection rates varies quite a lot in different areas. So we'd like to see it based risk. We'd like to see that it's also based on a regional approach. And then you have also them introduce testing so you can have testing in the cases that are higher risk.

STEWART: Even with these measures, air travel will take years to return to normal and Europe's smaller airlines may not survive.

YANOSHIK: My view is actually 2021, maybe late 2021 might be the time where you see some challenges in terms of you might see bankruptcies or, you know, really aggressive restructuring.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now there's some good news for sports fans. Some more college football is back in the U.S. Teams in the PAC-12 conference will each play a seven game season beginning November 6th. The regular season was postponed earlier until the New Year due to coronavirus. The conference also said men's and women's basketball will begin in late November and other winter storms can resume on a case-by-case basis. No fans though will be allowed to attend PAC-12 games on their campuses. Well, Britain's Royal family is about to increase in size. Princess

Eugenie, the younger daughter of Prince Andrew, and her husband Jack Brooksbank announced on Twitter they are expecting a baby. Now the couple was married in an elaborate Royal ceremony in 2018. According to their tweet, the new arrival is due early next year.

And that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Stay with us because "EARLY START" is up next.