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Trump to Nominate Amy Coney Barrett to Supreme Court; Trump Won't Commit to Peaceful Transfer, Ramps Up Baseless Claims of Widespread Voter Fraud; U.S. Passes 7 Million COVID-19 Cases; U.K. Records Highest-Ever Number of New COVID-19 Cases; Terror Attack in Paris; Single-Shot Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Showing Strong Immune Response; Protests over Breonna Taylor Shooting Death; Tokyo Plans Slimmed-Down Olympic Games. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired September 26, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): One week after the death of Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, President Trump is poised to announce his pick to replace her.
Also, this hour, the World Health Organization says lockdowns should be a last resort. I'll talk with a COVID-19 special envoy for the World Health Organization to find out why.
Also, Japan's prime minister says the Olympic Games will happen next summer. But they may not look like they have in the past. We'll have a report.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: Thank you so much for joining us.
U.S. president Donald Trump is expected to nominate federal appeals court judge Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the Supreme Court. That's according to multiple sources. The president said he will make a formal announcement of his choice on Saturday. For more on Barrett, here's CNN's Pamela Brown.
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PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): CNN has learned, President Trump intends to pick Amy Coney Barrett, as his nominee for the Supreme Court.
Republican allies have been told by the White House, this is who the president wants and that announcement expected to be made later this evening, around 5:00 pm Eastern. Amy Coney Barrett, seen as a front-runner from the get-go. She was
interviewed by the president for the last Supreme Court vacancy; that, ultimately, went to justice Kavanaugh.
She is someone who has conservative credentials and a compelling personal story. She has 7 children, including one child with Down syndrome, and two adopted children from Haiti. She was a former professor at Notre Dame, she clerked for Justice Scalia and Trump wants to put people in the high court who were modeled after justice Scalia.
She certainly fits the bill in that part. This essentially has been the plan all along. Sources say Mitch McConnell had been in touch with the White House and Amy Coney Barrett was someone he had been pushing for because he thought he would have the votes for her.
Of course, with the election around the corner, the White House did not want to take chances. In a sense, Barrett is seen as the safe pick. Machinery is already in motion for her, said one source, to be announced as the nominee.
Of course, the confirmation hearing ahead. So we are now just waiting for the announcement from the president. But there is always the caveat that the president could change his mind. It is unlikely at this point.
But with a president with an unpredictable nature, sources always caveat that until he makes the announcement, nothing is final -- Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.
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ALLEN: As Pamela mentioned, Senate Republicans are gearing up for a speedy confirmation of President Trump's nominee, possibly before the November 3rd election. That's because the president may turn to the high court if he loses. Here's what he told supporters in Virginia on Friday.
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TRUMP: We're not going to lose this unless if we cheat. The only way we will lose is if there's mischief. It will have to be on a big scale. We want a very friendly transition. We don't want to be cheated and be stupid and say, oh, let's -- we'll go and we'll do a transition.
And we know that there were thousands and thousands of ballots that made the difference through cheating. We're not going to stand for it.
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ALLEN: President Trump spoke Friday in Atlanta about his refusal to commit to a peaceful transition if Joe Biden wins, this time, treating the controversy as a joke. Here's CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As supporters chanted "12 more years" at a campaign event in Atlanta, president mocked the firestorm he created this week over his refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's a dictator. We've been -- he will not give up power.
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TRUMP: Under no circumstances will he give up power.
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TRUMP: He intends to serve at least two more terms.
ACOSTA: Earlier in the day, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows amped up the campaign season uncertainty, blasting FBI Director Christopher Wray for simply stating the facts, that there is no widespread evidence of voter fraud.
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: With all due respect to Director Wray, he has a hard time finding e-mails in his own FBI, let alone of figuring out whether there's any kind of voter fraud.
ACOSTA: That was in response to Wray, who pushed back on the president's false conspiracy theory that mail-in ballots will lead to a rigged election.
CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: We have not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it's by mail or otherwise.
TRUMP: Get rid of the ballots and you will have a very -- we'll have a very peaceful -- there won't be a transfer, frankly. There'll be a continuation.
ACOSTA: The president's threats don't seem to worry Democrat Joe Biden, who is laughing off the controversy.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Every vote in this country is going to be heard and will not be stopped. And I'm confident. All the irresponsible, outrageous attacks on voting, we will have an election in this country, as we always have had. And he will leave.
ACOSTA: CNN has confirmed Attorney General William Barr briefed the president on an investigation into a handful of discarded mail-in ballots for Mr. Trump in Pennsylvania.
The president then referenced the situation on FOX Radio.
TRUMP: They had Trump written on it and they were thrown running in a garbage can. And this is what's going to happen.
ACOSTA: Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany also pointed to the discarded ballots even before the U.S. attorney handling the matter issued a press release on the case.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can confirm for you that Trump ballots, ballots for the president were found in Pennsylvania.
ACOSTA: The controversy over the president's transfer of power remarks have raised alarm bells at the Pentagon, where officials are worried Mr. Trump will try to use the military to quell any unrest over the election results.
The use of federal forces during protests in June led the defense secretary to warn he won't be cowed into deploying U.S. service members onto American streets.
MARK ESPER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The option to use active-duty forces in a law enforcement role should only be used as a matter of last resort and only in the most urgent and dire of situations.
ACOSTA: On the coronavirus, CNN has learned there are growing concerns inside the Centers for Disease Control over the president's handling of the pandemic, with one official saying: "The morale is as low as I have ever seen it and we have no confidence in our leadership."
The president continues to claim that government scientists are delaying the approval of a vaccine to damage Mr. Trump's election chances.
TRUMP: They're trying to do a little bit of a political hit. Let's delay it just a little bit. You notice that? Let's delay the vaccine just a little bit.
ACOSTA: The president is losing patience with CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield, who has slammed the notion of some deep state conspiracy.
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: I want to add how disappointed I have been personally when people at HHS made comments that they felt that there was a deep state down at CDC.
ACOSTA: The president is unveiling what the White House calls a health care plan, something 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 to be heard at the Supreme Court, after the election -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
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ALLEN: Florida is considered a must-win state for President Trump, if he is to be re-elected. And in a bid to deny him that state, there's an initiative to add thousands of voters to the Democratic side. Those people, ex-felons who had been barred from voting. Here's Randi Kaye in Miami.
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a state where razor- thin election margins are a regular occurrence, every vote counts. Enter billionaire Michael Bloomberg, now pouring big money into the Sunshine State to help former vice president Joe Biden win.
His latest move, $16 million raised to pay off debts owed by ex- felons. In 2018, Florida voters approved an amendment restoring voting rights to more than 1 million people with felony convictions.
Republicans in the state then passed legislation blocking felons from voting, unless they paid all fines and court fees. A few years ago, Rosemary McCoy was convicted of illegally occupying a property. She hopes Bloomberg can help.
ROSEMARY MCCOY, CONVICTED FELON: I applaud him. I thank him. And I think if other people showing it (ph).
KAYE (voice-over): The money Bloomberg raised will go toward helping more than 30,000 Black and Latino former felons in Florida cast their ballot. Florida political expert Susan MacManus.
SUSAN MACMANUS, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA: Florida is the perennial purple state with a huge 29 Electoral College votes.
KAYE (voice-over): And winning here is expensive. Bloomberg is funneling $100 million of his own money into the state. And in addition to the $16 million to pay off the debts of felons, his money is also backing a TV ad blitz, targeting, among other things, President Trump's response to the pandemic.
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KAYE (voice-over): Bloomberg's cash will also infuse the ground game and get-out-the-vote efforts by Black and Latino groups.
MACMANUS: It's like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with all different shapes of pieces and you have a limited amount of time to do it to win.
KAYE (voice-over): No Republican has won the White House without carrying Florida since Calvin Coolidge in 1924. So Florida is crucial for Trump. He is now claiming residency in Palm Beach.
During a recent visit to the state, the president announced a 10-year extension to the ban on oil drilling off Florida's coast, after officials voiced concern about how drilling might affect tourism here, all in effort, it seems, to shore up votes.
TRUMP: This protects your beautiful gulf and your beautiful ocean.
KAYE (voice-over): Both campaigns are making a play for Puerto Rican voters. Tens of thousands of people fled Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017 and resettled in Florida.
Mario Rosa relocated and will soon vote in his first presidential election.
KAYE: What did you make of President Trump's response to the hurricane hitting Puerto Rico?
MARIO ROSA, PUERTO RICAN VOTER: Well, not sufficient, putting it lightly; inadequate.
KAYE (voice-over): Perhaps attitudes like that inspire the Trump administration to suddenly announce $13 billion in aid to help rebuild Puerto Rico three years after the storm.
For his part, Biden is also promising to rebuild the island's infrastructure. He recently visited Florida as well to mark Hispanic Heritage Month.
BIDEN: It's great to be back in Florida.
KAYE (voice-over): The campaigns are also flooding the airwaves, committed to spending upwards of $70 million each in TV ads. With outside groups like super PACs throwing another $50 million or so into the mix, according to data from Cantor (ph) Media.
The Lincoln Project released this ad against Trump about the coronavirus pandemic.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): More than 175,000 Americans have died from a deadly virus Donald Trump ignored.
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KAYE (voice-over): And America First Policies, a pro-Trump group, is airing this one, warning voters that Biden wants to raise taxes.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Joe Biden will raise taxes on --
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MACMANUS: It is the most challenging state to figure out how to win, of all 50 states, by far.
KAYE: In response to Michael Bloomberg look to help pay the fines and fees for tens of thousands of former felons here in Florida, the attorney general has asked the FBI and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate, citing potential violations of election law -- Randi Kaye, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE) ALLEN: The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States has crossed a staggering threshold, more than 7 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The nation reached that troubling milestone on Friday. And it comes only days after the death toll passed 200,000. But the top U.S. infectious disease expert says we will soon know more about how well some vaccine candidates work. And some vaccinations could start as early as November.
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FAUCI: So you put the timing of the trials, the number of infections that we've seen now, 30,000-40,000 infections a day, I believe we'll have an answer by November or December and possibly even earlier.
If you happen to have a bunch of infections that occur within the sites that are enrolling patients, then you might get an answer earlier.
My prediction would be, safely speaking, November or December but I wouldn't be overly surprised if you had an answer a little bit before then.
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ALLEN: Dr. Fauci adds that we won't see any impact, though, from a vaccine until enough people take it and that would be likely well into 2021.
Meantime, a key coronavirus model warns that cold weather could bring a case surge as activities move indoors. The model predicts up to 3,000 deaths a day in the United States by the end of this year.
Experts say the U.S. could dramatically cut the number of new infections and deaths if everyone followed a few simple rules. We think you know them by now. As Erica Hill reports from New York, that doesn't seem to be the way this country is going.
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ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eight months in, the numbers keep climbing. More than 44,000 new cases, reported on Thursday; 914 additional deaths and the virus, that just won't quit.
FAUCI: Given the fact we have never gotten down to a good baseline, we are still in the first wave. Rather than say a second wave, why don't we say, oh, we prepared for the challenge of the fall and the winter?
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HILL (voice-over): That challenge?
More time indoors, and the flu.
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We have to keep on wearing masks and keep on physical distancing and avoid indoor gatherings as much as we can. Also, get a flu shot now.
FAUCI: We have ordered 200 million doses this year. It is the highest amount we have ever tried to vaccinate.
HILL (voice-over): An influential model, now predicts COVID-19 related deaths could top 371,000 by January 1st.
DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EMORY UNIVERSITY: It's up to us to change this and as the model from IHME says, if we wear a mask, if we all wear masks, we can actually bring the number of new infection and the number of transmissions down significantly.
HILL (voice-over): Right now, only a dozen states show mask usage above 50 percent. If it was 95 percent, nationwide, the same researchers say that we could save nearly 100,000 lives between now and December.
DR. AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We are moving in the wrong direction and in a very critical moment.
HILL (voice-over): Twenty-three states, much of the West and the middle of the country, seeing an increase in new cases over the last week. They are down in Pennsylvania but an outbreak at this nursing home prompted officials to call in the National Guard for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will take as much assistance from the state and federal government as we can.
HILL (voice-over): At least 47 residents and a dozen staff have tested positive.
UNC Chapel Hill, now eyeing January for a return to the classroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our hopes is that we will bring students back to live and learn on campus this spring semester.
HILL (voice-over): It is one of at least 27 schools that have shifted classes online, because of the virus. SEC Football returns tomorrow.
Though the stands won't look like this. The back 12 will now take the field in November, after initially postponing all sports until 2021.
In Florida, the governor is also talking football.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We expect to do a full Super Bowl. and we're going to show that we're going to be able to do that.
HILL (voice-over): First step, giving bars and restaurants the green light to operate at full capacity, overriding some local restrictions. Mask fines, also gone.
MAYOR DAN GELBER (D-FL), MIAMI BEACH: This is really just not the way to handle either health care or an economic crisis.
HILL: As Governor DeSantis declares Florida is open for business, just across the river behind me in New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy has actually extended his state's public health emergency, noting that even with a positivity rate of 2.2 percent, there is clear evidence they are not out of the woods yet -- in New York, I'm Erica Hill, CNN.
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ALLEN: Next, we have the latest on the coronavirus from the U.K., which is seeing record-setting daily case numbers. We'll go live to London for that.
Also ahead here, a terror attack near a familiar location in Paris. We'll go live there to tell you about it. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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ALLEN: British prime minister Boris Johnson is set to deliver a call of unity to the U.N. General Assembly. In an address to be aired in the coming hours, Mr. Johnson will urge the world to unite against coronavirus, which he calls a common foe.
He will also lay out a five-point plan to prevent future pandemics. Johnson, however, has his work cut out at home. The U.K. has reported its highest daily increase in cases since the pandemic began for the second day in a row. And it has health officials worried and restrictions have been tightened in some areas.
For more, let's go to Scott McLean. He joins us live from London.
Anyway you look at it, Scott, these aren't good days for people in this pandemic there.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're absolutely right, Natalie. The U.K. Is reporting 6,000 new cases of the coronavirus every single day. That's more than this country has ever recorded since the beginning of the pandemic.
The health secretary, though, estimates this second wave is not nearly as bad as the first one. That's because, he says, the most cases, the first time around, they weren't being picked up. He thinks there were more than 100,000 cases but only a small fraction were being caught by the limited testing they were doing.
Another piece of evidence of that was the hospitalizations. Right now there's 12 times fewer people in the hospital than there were at the peak of the first wave. Perhaps, again, owing to that testing.
But the overall trend here is not good. The U.K. government is trying to do what it can to tamp down the second wave of the virus, without resorting to a second national lockdown. In the past week, the government has announced new rules that has
strengthened existing ones and promised that police would do a better job in enforcing them, even offering police forces and the opportunity and the option to call in the military to help them clamp down.
It has been, though, almost two weeks, though, since the prime minister announced the so-called rule of six, limiting the number of people allowed at a social gathering to just six people. And so far, that's not proven to be a silver bullet. The R rate is now 1.2-1.5, that means that every person with the virus pass it on to 12 or 15 others. Not good.
ALLEN: Not good at all. Thank you so much, Scott McLean in London.
Now we turn to France, where prosecutors say they have opened a terror investigation into a knife attack that wounded two people. It happened on Friday, near the former offices of "Charlie Hebdo," the satirical magazine that was the site of a deadly attack in 2015.
Police have arrested the main suspect and six other people linked to the attack. Let's turn to Melissa Bell in Paris.
Highly disturbing, again, for the people that work for this magazine, Melissa.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Natalie. There were fears where that trial is underway in Paris; 14 people alleged of involvement, logistical support they might have provided to the people who carried out the January 2015 "Charlie Hebdo" terror attacks.
As the trial opened here in Paris, there were fears because "Charlie Hebdo," on the day it opened, chose to republish the controversial cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, that had made the satirical publication a target.
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BELL: And there might be more trouble to come. We had seen threats by one publication, linked to Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or -- in the Arabian Peninsula, I'm sorry -- against the satirical magazine. But we're waiting to find out more exactly about who, how the main perpetrator and who he might have been supported by and who he was involved with.
We know he was an 18-year-old man of Pakistani origin. He's been taken into custody. Another man was arrested shortly after as well. The links he had to the young man are not entirely clear.
The other five people were arrested in the home of one of those two men. Seven arrests for seven people in police custody. We wait to find out more about what the links were and what the support might have been.
As for the motivations, quickly, authorities linked this to what had happened, opening the investigation on the grounds of the location of yesterday's attack, right outside the offices of "Charlie Hebdo," the former offices of "Charlie Hebdo," since they have moved since. And also the timing comes as it does during that trial.
ALLEN: Melissa Bell for us in Paris. Thanks.
Coronavirus lockdowns should be a last resort, according to an official with the World Health Organization. Next, I talk with a special WHO envoy about what the world is doing right and what it's not getting right, with this pandemic.
Also, we take a look at Argentina, where the virus has only worsened a health and economic crisis.
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ALLEN: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Months into the coronavirus pandemic, death numbers continue to rise, so much so that a World Health Organization official says the idea of 2 million global deaths is certainly unimaginable but not impossible.
Johns Hopkins University now reports 987,000 deaths worldwide. The World Health Organization official went on to say that countries should be doing more than just waiting for a vaccine and they should use lockdowns as a last resort.
Joining me now from Geneva, Switzerland, to talk about these developments, Dr. David Nabarro. He's a COVID-19 special envoy for the World Health Organization.
Good morning. Thank you very much to you. There's not much encouraging news in the world right now.
We'll try to find some, OK?
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ALLEN: First of all, the WHO has written recently that lockdowns, as I mentioned, should be a last resort, in the event of surges. Talk about that.
Why is that?
DR. DAVID NABARRO, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION SPECIAL ENVOY FOR COVID- 19: We said right from the beginning that we have to learn to hold this virus at bay while getting on with our lives as normal. And I know that sounds quite crazy because it's not fitting in with what we're hearing most of the time. But it's what we're asking everybody to do.
And getting on with our lives as normal does mean some changes to how we behave. We have to keep distance from each other. We have to wear masks. We have to pay attention to hygiene and we must get out of the way, if we're feeling sick, protecting those at risk.
Five things, it's what the World Health Organization calls doing it all.
The second thing is, we ask that every country makes certain they're ready to squash the spikes of disease when they crop up and to suppress the surges. And that means being able to test for those who have the virus and being able to contact those who they have been close to in the recent past.
It sounds like a lot when I say it. But we're seeing, in many parts of the world, it's becoming the normal practice, learning to live with the virus but keeping it away from us as much as possible.
ALLEN: Right. You reference countries.
Should it be countries in charge of this?
Or should it be more local, a local response?
For example, Florida, which has had some terrible numbers, of course, is reopening all restaurants and bars. And the state government is leaving it up to local entities, local governments, to decide on openings and closures.
Is that a workable approach?
NABARRO: I think if everybody is comfortable with the basic strategy of trying to make it hard for this virus to move from person to person, then it's absolutely right that the decisions about how you do it should be at the local level.
Local groups do need to know where the virus is. So the testing has to be available locally, results coming through quickly and then, all of the different groups at local level businesses, religious groups, local community organizations and, of course, all those who are running the high-risk places, like residential homes for old people, they need to be working together.
I totally agree with moving it to the local level, provided that the overarching principles are agreed and followed, not just in countries but across the world.
ALLEN: So there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution here?
NABARRO: Not really. The one-size-fits-all part is knowing the basics of the virus. We have to remember this virus is single-minded. It wants to do one thing, which is to hop from person to person to person. It's not trying to kill us. It's just trying to survive.
So making it difficult for the virus to spread is task number one. Number two task, is when a virus is building up in the place, suppressing the spike and controlling the outbreak is key. Then when it comes to how you're doing it, we're seeing if local
actors come together and work together. The only thing we want to encourage people to do is don't do anything that makes it easy for the virus to spread. Then you get terrible problems with hospitals eventually getting overloaded. So do everything possible to respect it and hold it at bay.
ALLEN: Right. We know only a dozen states in the United States have mask usage above 50 percent.
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ALLEN: So it's also up to individuals to do their part. Dr. David Nabarro, thanks for your expertise.
NABARRO: Thanks to everybody who's trying hard getting on top of this virus.
ALLEN: Latin America is among the regions where COVID-19 infections keep escalating. In Mexico, for example, the death toll has surpassed 75,000. That's the second highest in Latin America.
The country's health ministry on Thursday night also reported more than 715,000 cases. And as Brazil surpasses 140,000 COVID deaths, Rio de Janeiro's famous Carnival parade has been postponed.
The officials say Carnival will come back October 2021. Brazil has the world's third worst coronavirus outbreak, after the United States and India, with almost 4.7 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The last thing Argentina needed was this pandemic. The nation has been struggling with a crumbling health system and a faltering economy. This hour Matt Rivers reports, for many families, it is all hitting home.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fernanda Mariotti's mom, Marta (ph), got the coronavirus back in July. As any daughter would want, she tried to see her mom at the hospital but she was not allowed in.
FERNANDA MARIOTTI, MARTA'S (PH) DAUGHTER: They wouldn't let me come in.
RIVERS (voice-over): "Let me in. She could die," she says she told the doctors.
"You will not let me in?
Around the world, restrictions on hospital access have made a brutal sickness, that much harder for families, after 14 days in the ICU, Marta (ph) passed away.
Her daughter says, "I tried to keep going, to know that, in her heart, she knew that we loved her, that we didn't want to abandon her. This has been very hard."
Fernanda's story is increasingly common in Argentina, where the COVID crisis is now, arguably, the worst of any country in Latin America.
Among the region's largest countries, its seven-day average of new cases is growing, trailing only Brazil, a country with a population 4.5 times greater. Its average daily deaths, higher than they've ever been.
It was in March that Argentina's president announced a national quarantine and, for a while, the country was a coronavirus success story. But infections kept creeping up, first in the Buenos Aires region, now, exploding in other parts of the country.
Medical workers, taking to the streets this weekend in Buenos Aires, demanding more support from the government.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking Spanish).
RIVERS (voice-over): This worker says, "We are protesting because the health system is on the brink of collapse."
There is also an economic collapse, already underway; an economy that was sputtering before the pandemic might contract 10 percent this year, says the IMF. Inflation is rampant and exchanging pesos for dollars on the black market costs about 75 percent more than before the pandemic.
It has led to people protesting in the streets, even as viral threats and quarantine rules remain.
This protester says, "I'm sick of my children and their friends saying the only solution is to leave the country."
For now, though, leaving the country is not all that easy. Nearly all international travel, to and from Argentina, will be suspended, through at least October 11th -- Matt Rivers, CNN.
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ALLEN: Back in the United States, months of unrest in Portland, Oregon, and counting. CNN takes you onto the volatile streets and why protesters say they're willing to risk life and limb to be heard. That's next.
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ALLEN: We turn, now, to the civil unrest in the United States. Racial justice protests turned violent in Oakland, California. Authorities say protesters marching against the shooting death by police of Breonna Taylor threw bottles, cans and other objects at Oakland officers on Friday.
More than 250 people took part. Police made multiple arrests there in Oakland.
In Louisville, Kentucky, police say they arrested 23 people during protests. Friday marked the third straight day of marches there after a grand jury did not directly charge any officers for Breonna Taylor's death.
During Friday's protests, police shot flashbangs in the air over the crowd. A march organizer said that was unnecessary, stressing the marchers were peacefully exercising their constitutional rights.
Black Lives Matter protesters have filled American streets now, off and on for months. But in Portland, Oregon, those protests have been going on longer than most. Tensions are especially high this weekend, with several far right groups planning counter rallies in the city.
The governor has asked the Oregon state police and the county sheriff's office to take over the city's security. Right now, we're going to show you what it's like to be on Portland streets, as protesters face off against police night after night.
And you'll hear from some on the Right that say they're fed up with unrest. Here's Elle Reeve with a report you'll see only on CNN.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do not enter this area.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When they start moving, we're going to start moving as well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a problem in our police department that is systemic.
ELLE REEVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one week in Portland, Oregon, where anti-police protests have been going on for more than 100 days. And tensions between protesters and police have only escalated.
As we got there, a member of the right wing group, Patriot Prayer, named Aaron Jay Danielson, was killed by an anti-fascist protester.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jay loved this country.
REEVE (voice-over): Everyone we spoke to said they feared violence would escalate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reason we're out here is because this (INAUDIBLE). Voting for the lesser of two evils just leaves us worse off every time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We come out, we fight. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not doing this because we hate America. We
all have one goal in mind and that is to end police brutality.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Black Lives matter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People are dying. And if water bottles being thrown at the police stops that, I'll do it every day.
REEVE: How long have you been coming to the protests?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole time. Since May 29th for me.
Our role is basically front line medic support.
[04:45:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): No matter where it comes from, tripping from the street, getting pushed into buildings, it could be gunshots. We cover it all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've had to deescalate about three outside agitators who have come in with guns. They were always far and few between. It was like some guy who was, like Antifa's terrorists.
I was like, they're not terrorists, man. They're just protests.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does a lot of people have weapons?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have weapons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't have weapons.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most weaponized we get is like videos.
REEVE: What do you say to the people who are like, well, I like the peaceful protests but when they burn stuff or break windows, that's different from BLM?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I say, property doesn't bleed. But I do. If ending systematic oppression means a store gets burnt or looted and nobody's hurt, how is that any worse than living in a situation where I have to fear for my life every day?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're on top of the doughnut shop, that is ironically located across from the Portland police union. Often, the protests will continue for a couple hours. Then, all of a sudden, there will be a huge rush of riot cops.
REEVE: Back in May, when the protests started, did you have a gas mask or any of that gear?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. Of course, I didn't have a gas mask. I had face masks for COVID. But none of us had gas masks. I think we've raised about $30,000 this week to buy bulletproof vests because it turns out that we might need them. And that's really terrifying. CHRIS WISE, PROTEST MEDIC: So I've got a body cam to record things
that need evidence in court. I currently have a head injury. I'm still recovering from a TBI. It was back when we were still under the federal occupation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was July, right?
WISE: Yes. No, they shot me directly in the head with a teargas canister. And then I got postconcussion syndrome like 24 hours later. So.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we've kind of noticed just a few protests that we've attended is that there's a moment of kind of like party feeling. You stand in front of the police. And then there's some where it gets quiet and there's a tension. It seems to almost be inviting the confrontation, like the protest can't end without that clash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. A big part of what's happening here is it has to be uncomfortable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, before we came out of our -- the (INAUDIBLE) over there, (INAUDIBLE) was an unpermitted march. People were not happy so people started marching. Someone threw some incendiary devices and all hell broke loose. There was teargas flying in and fireworks. It was really rough. And (INAUDIBLE).
REEVE: How do you see it ending?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sure. We haven't seen much of any change. But the people out here are activists and maybe they didn't start as activists. And that carries on for the rest of your life.
REEVE (voice-over): President Trump has warned Antifa will ruin the suburbs.
TRUMP: Does anybody want to have somebody from Antifa as a resident of your suburb? I don't think so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Antifa. We don't want your (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a hike.
REEVE (voice-over): Both sides say they act only in self-defense. But, in person, things get out of hand quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as Patriot Prayer, we do not condone violence. That's not what we're about. I cannot speak for some of these other guys. But in the end, we love our country and support our president.
REEVE: Do you think this is some kind of weird civil war?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't see it as that yet. But eventually, it could lead to that because the whole BLM-Antifa movement has just gotten more and more and more violent as time progresses.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Enough. Enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And it's literally across the nation. And we're tired of it. It's time for us, as patriotic citizens, to take back our cities. And if it means by violent means, we'll have to do it.
REEVE (voice-over): Elle Reeve, CNN, Portland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: We'll continue to watch developments there in Portland this weekend for you.
[04:50:00]
ALLEN: Well, Japan is determined to hold a COVID-delayed Olympics next summer. Ahead here, how the quest for gold will be different for athletes and spectators. We'll have a report.
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ALLEN: Japan's prime minister has told the U.N. General Assembly his country will spare no effort to hold a safe and secure Olympic Games next summer. The COVID-delayed spectacle is set to take place from July 23rd to August 8th. CNN's Will Ripley has more on what they're planning to do. He's in Hong Kong.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For months, Japan's Olympic stadium has been sitting empty. Some people wondering if it'll ever see the opening and closing ceremonies, if it will be safe to bring in athletes and speculators from all over the world.
If there's not a vaccine for COVID-19. Now Japanese officials are saying with or without a vaccine, they will hold the games next summer. They're releasing more information about their plans to do so safely.
Part of that involves fewer people. That means cutting the size of the delegations from each country by 10-15 percent and canceling some events that are traditional but not necessary.
[04:55:00]
RIPLEY: Like the opening ceremony for the International Olympic Committee, which is now no longer taking place.
In terms of the big opening and closing ceremonies, some of the special effects might be dialed back to save on expenses. Also, they will reduce the number of speculator seats by 30 percent.
You won't necessarily see an empty stadium but you won't see as many people in the crowds as there has been in previous years, which raises the question, what happens to all the people who bought a ticket?
As for the athletes coming in to Japan, how do they stay safe?
Well, it is not really practical to expect the athletes to go through a mandatory 2 week quarantine. Their schedule does not allow that. So instead of quarantine, the condition for the athletes coming in is they have to take a coronavirus test at least 5 times, within 72 hours.
That means they're tested before departure, upon arrival at the airport, when arriving at the camp and Olympic Village and during the duration of their stay at the training camp and the Olympic Village before and during the games.
Athletes' movements, they could be monitored by their governing organizations and even through the use of a mobile app. Athletes may be required to submit and abide by a schedule and a plan of action upon arrival.
The Olympics will go, on the Japanese say and they'll try to make them look like normal but of course, this is a new reality and a new, day and they're trying to do everything they can to keep people safe -- Will Ripley, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ALLEN: Well, here's hoping they can pull it off safely.
We do have some gold medal news for you. One has already been awarded to an athlete about that big. And it's this athlete right here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN (voice-over): This African giant pouched rat named Magawa received an award from a British veterinary charity. This little rodent can sniff out explosives, discovering more than 60 land mines and other weapons in Cambodia over seven years.
Millions of the bombs, of course, from past conflicts litter this country, often killing or maiming dozens of people every year. Our athlete hero, there he goes, in his work, is a rat, doing an excellent job to help save lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ALLEN: We'll end this hour on that one. Thanks for watching. I'm Natalie Allen. Kim Brunhuber will be here in just a moment.
