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Joe Biden: Trump's Conduct Was "National Embarrassment"; President Donald Trump Refuses To Explicitly Condemn White Supremacists Even As He Attempts Damage Control After Disastrous Debate; President Donald Trump Repeats Baseless Claims About Election Fraud; UK Prime Minister Threatens Severe New Measures Amid Second Wave; U.S. Colleges Report Thousands Of New Cases; China's 'Golden Week' to Test Country's Tourism Industry; Hot, Dry Weather Fueling Fires in California; Inventor Develops Coffin for Biodegradable Burials. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 01, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, HOST, CNN NEWSROOM: In focus after the first presidential debate. No stimulus, no jobs thousands of airline workers in the U.S. fear will soon become reality as they count down to mass layoffs and hope phase that Congress could for once get something done. And a record breaking - he is at leading behind heart breaking devastation in California's wine country.
It seems that Donald Trump the first presidential debate was a total success. It's the viewing audience which was a total failure. With poll after poll showing they believe his rival Joe Biden had a winning night.
And that might clean up day on Wednesday at the White House mostly over Trump's refusal yet again to condemn white supremacists a moment which could potentially be so damaging even Republican lawmakers have distanced themselves from the president and his remarks.
Privately senior campaign aides are becoming increasingly worried about this coming election regardless it seems that Trump show must go on. And so it rolled on into Minnesota a few hours ago for another campaign rally endemic be damned. CNN's Jim Acosta was there.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: At a rally in Minnesota President Trump tried to declare victory at Tuesday night's presidential debate despite the fact that some advisers inside his campaign say that he lost that match up with Democrat Joe Biden for his failure to condemn white supremacy.
During one moment at this rally in Minnesota the president falsely said that Joe Biden is going to cancel on the next two presidential debates that are despite the fact that the Biden Campaign says the former vice president will be there. Here's more of what the president had to say. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You know Biden lost badly when his supporters are saying if you cancel the rest of the debate. Now I understand he's canceling the debates. Let's see what happens? I think that's not going to be a good move.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: At this rally in Minnesota the president falsely alleged that Joe Biden would flood the stage with refugees, that are one night after the president failed to condemn white supremacy at the presidential debate it's the different night for the president but the same playbook Jim Acosta, CNN, Duluth, Minnesota.
VAUSE: Democrat Joe Biden is hoping to take advantage of the president's debate performance which he labeled a national embarrassment. Biden spent Wednesday riding the rails with campaign stops in battleground states of Ohio and Pennsylvania which Donald Trump won four years ago.
The former vice president spoke about changes he wants to see so the next two debates will be less chaotic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I just hope there's a way in which the Debate Commission can control the ability of us to answer the question without interruptions. I'm not going to speculate on what happens in the second or third debate? My hope is that they're able to literally say the question gets asked if Trump here's a microphone he has 2 minutes to answer the question no one else has a microphone.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: What do you have to say to those undecided persuadable voters who were watching last night and we're just completely turned off by politics?
BIDEN: I can understand it was. It was - I kind of thought at 1 point maybe I shouldn't say this but the President United States conducted himself the way he did. I think it's just a national embarrassment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The presidential Debates Commission has responded to Joe Biden and says there will be format changes and structural changes to ensure more orally discussion and these changes the new rules will not be open for a debate among the two parties.
Ron Brownstein is CNN Senior Political Analyst he's also the Senior Editor for "The Atlantic" and he's with us from Los Angeles. Hello boy, it was quite a night. But at least now Ron, we know what it will take for Republican lawmakers to distance themselves in some significant way will even speak out against this president and it seems the real threat down ballot to their place and power they cease?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don't think they just - they distance themselves as much maybe as you do. I mean I think that what we've seen from Republican lawmakers is this pattern where they kind of object to a comment from the president but don't criticize him for doing it.
And you know in Susan Collins it was kind of the master you know when out and said today well there were excesses on both sides last night. I mean that's not what happened? Joe Biden didn't turn in a very good debate.
But President Trump was belligerent, erratic, volatile and frankly dangerous in not only his refusal to condemn white supremacists. But he's in effect giving them a mission in his final comments following on his voters to flood election stations on voting day basically to intimidate other voters.
You know we saw the Governor excuse me the Attorney General of Nevada come out and say that is against the law in Nevada and we will enforce the law. I haven't heard that today from Republican Attorneys General.
And I think it really is a critique - it points John to the critical issue of how horrible Republicans go down the line with him and allowing him to try to undermine this election both before and after the voting.
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VAUSE: OK. So I would like you to listen now to the spin coming from the Trump Team when it comes to the president's refusal to condemn white supremacy who they are? Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOGAN GIDLEY, TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: He wants them to get out of the way. He wants them to not do the things they say they want to do. This is a reprehensible group. The president in the clip you just play when asked by Chris Wallace if he would condemn these groups he said sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you heard at the beginning of that clip as Chris Wallace chimes in, he said sure.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He was in very good spirits. He brought the fight that I think the American people wanted to see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK. He said the word show twice. This is not the first time here this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: Are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups?
TRUMP: Sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It had all the enthusiasm of the dead fish and this is the second time he said the way shows let's just one more time show - should be done.
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WALLACE: And to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence and a number of these settings as we saw in Kenosha and as we've seen in Portland sure you. Are you prepared specifically?
TRUMP: But--
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Sure but with the qualification. You know Trump defenders are unashamedly lying here. What does it say when the only way to defend Trump is to lie for Trump?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know we've been through this stew step before. I mean really the first time was when Jake tapper interviewed him on CNN in March 2016 right before the Louisiana primary he would not condemn David Duke.
He sent the signal that he meant to send in the original comments and then inexorably given how aberrant those comments are? He is forced subsequently to walk back under duress which is kind of a modified version of what happened today although he walked back that far.
I don't think anybody who was the target of the original signal in these far right groups had any illusions about you know what he is trying to tell them or how hollow and empty are the modified limited hangout walk backs to both the Watergate era that they did today.
I mean, the fact that not only that he said at last night he went into Minnesota tonight and said that Joe Biden is going to turn your stay into a refugee camp. And then Ilhan Omar the elected Democratic Congresswoman from Minneapolis has no business telling us how to run our country right?
Our country, a country kind of white Christian non-urban voters who are the core of his base everyone who is still part of this coalition can have no illusions that they are signing on not only for this spectacular you know expression of racism that we saw last night but for the routine every day in betting of racism in the messaging from the highest office in the land.
And I think every voter who is part of the Trump coalition they - all the races but they're all saying that they are OK with an open racist as their president.
VAUSE: There was also that question that about Trump would he urged calm among his supporters? And I guess you know the white supremacists and the extremists while their results would have been certified or legal issues were being resolved. This is what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I'm reaching my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully because that's what has to happen? I am urging my people; I hope it's going to be a fair election. If it's a fair election--
WALLACE: Fair election means what?
TRUMP: I am 100 percent on board. But if I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated I can't go along with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Can't go along with it. You know - a lot of attention at the time but it seems kind of significant. Another example you know Trump taking an ice pick to you know what a Democratic norms and traditions in this country.
BROWNSTEIN: And really we've only gotten to this point because as I've said each time he breaks a window the Congressional Republicans immediately sweep up the glass. They have not sanctioned or straightening anyway as he openly extorted a foreign government to try to manufacturers and his opponents.
As he is trying to manipulate tenses for the first time in American history to a partisan advantage try to manipulate the postal service toward partisan advantage. And as I said what he is asking people to do is a crime to intimidate voters is a crime.
The Attorney General of Nevada, a Democrat came out last night and said if you do that here you will be arrested. I am waiting to hear the equivalent from the Republican Attorneys General in you know in states around the country.
Or for that matter any expression of alarm from Congressional Republicans about the idea that you know thousands - tens of thousands of people should be milling around outside places to "You know the poll watchers or supervise the process"
I mean this you don't - it's hard to overstate. The election is not close enough at the moment for all of Trump's antics probably to tip it. But it is hard to overstate how much of a threat he is posing to kind of the administration of an election is maybe the most fraught election that Americans have ever helped?
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VAUSE: You know we say that a lot but it is true. This time it does seem that is the case. Ron thank you as always good to see you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, reaction from world leaders has run the gamut. Some have been reacted with shock some with dismay someone out even questioning the state of American democracy after this first debate. CNN's Nic Robertson has that report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: The answer to that question is no.
TRUMP: You can bring with a $1 billion--
BIDEN: That is absolutely not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Europeans woke yesterday to what Americans already knew
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: It was the worst debate I have ever seen and in fact it wasn't even a debate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: This German official calling it bad entertainment with an eye to upcoming German elections declared we don't want this kind of bad term here. A leading member of Germany's parliament tweeted his concerns those vying for the U. S. presidency don't manage to discuss the country's problems in a factual way.
In France TV commentators described the exchanges as particularly violent when no one was the winner, ill mannered, bad tempered, a bull, a spectacle was how British journalists interpreted the 1.5 hour no break debate unlike the French they said Biden came out ahead.
No one have tool to here in the UK was particularly surprised at the tone of the debate. Most people say this is what they expected from President Trump and Biden while being a two term VP is still a relative unknown here.
People have given him some respect however for the fact he didn't rise to too much of Trump's bait.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The first thing I will do I will re-join the Paris Accord.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Where Biden suits international concerns Trump amplified fears appearing to print right wing thugs the "Proud Boys" for a confrontation.
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TRUMP: Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Even Putin spokesman feigned concern over a new trend in political culture in the U. S. but after this comment added to the Kremlin wouldn't be commenting on the elections.
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TRUMP: It's China's fault. It should have never happened. They stopped it from going in but it was China's fault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: China on the other hand did comment forcefully.
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WANG WEIBIN, CHINA'S FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: We resolutely oppose U. S. personnel dragging China into this election. Facts have proven that the U. S. accusations against China have no basis and are untenable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Iran's President also bashing Trump saying our enemies have been unsuccessful in the past three years. God willing they will be in these final months. But on the issue of greatest implore to America's allies upholding America as a beacon of democracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated. I can't go along with that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Trump signaled he'd douse the light in favor of darkness preferred by America's enemies. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
VAUSE: Well, for Europeans he thought the first round of COVID restrictions was onerous and overly harsh that might be seen as the good old days considering the new restrictions which could soon be announced as a second wave of virus starts picking up steam.
Also ahead the wildfires in Northern California have claimed another life. Thousands of firefighters are battling the flames, so is there any relief in sight a check on the forecast in this hour coming up.
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VAUSE: U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the American death toll from the Coronavirus could hit more than 230,000 by later this month. The mortality rate is rising in nearly 20 states holding steady in 10 others.
This is what President Trump says is a phenomenal job adding the country is coming back incredibly well except that it's not. CNN's Erica Hill has that report.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have got to put the brakes on this pandemic.
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ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wisconsin just reported its highest daily number of Coronavirus related hospitalizations.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brule County ward in deep trouble.
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HILL: The White House Task Force recommending the state increase social distancing to the maximal degree possible and boost testing at universities.
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DR. RYAN WESTERGAARD, WISCONSIN BUREAU OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES: It's safe to assume that the virus is everywhere. So everyone needs to change their behavior.
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HILL: It's one of 26 states reporting an increase in new cases over the past week nearly the entire northern half of the country.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: And those trends indicate increased activity, increased transmission of the disease and places where we really need to have test and trace and lockdown and make sure that we get in and check.
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HILL: New York City focusing on several neighborhoods were cases are surging.
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BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK MAYOR: The numbers can change rapidly in the right direction. So we're going to keep working daily hourly to make that change.
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HILL: Hundreds of police officers and city employees dispatched to those areas offering free masks and reminders about how to stop the spread? Meantime restaurants can now open for indoor dining at 25 percent.
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ANDREW SCHULMAN, CO-OWNER, TANNER SMITH'S: We need more to survive but this is a step in the right direction.
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HILL: New numbers from the CDC show infections in 18 to 22 year olds increased 55 percent in August and early September as many returned to campus.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Colleges have been frankly a real challenge point for transmission.
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HILL: Ohio's largest public school district plans to start in-person learning October 19th. Miami Dade staggered reentry begins October 5th.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You should always try to get the children back to school. The risk of going back is really dependent on where you are?
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HILL: Researchers say Phase I data for Moderna's vaccine trial shows an immune response in older adults. As 7 former FDA Commissioners warned the Trump Administration is undermining the agency's credibility and public confidence.
Political intrusion they write only prolongs the pandemic and erodes our public health institutions. The Head of Moderna Wednesday offering a new timeline for a vaccine telling a conference sponsored by "The Financial Times" that they won't have enough data to file for Emergency Use Authorization with the FDA before at least November 25th. In New York I'm Erica Hill, CNN.
VAUSE: Leaders are pleading for everyone to follow the guidelines and rules intended to slow the rate of COVID. The German Chancellor said life as we know will return but now we have to be reasonable. Angela Merkel is warning of drastic spiking cases this winter and she says on a personal note spontaneous encounters what she misses most during this pandemic.
Madrid where infections are soaring is heading for a new kind of lockdown. There people are asked to stay at home except to go to work or to school. Many businesses must now operate at half capacity. Gatherings are limited to 6 people and the Capital City borders are closed to non-essential visits.
In the U. K. a slew of new restriction isn't stopping a quickly spreading second wave. Now the prime minister is threatening to take much more severe action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We want to keep the economy moving. We want to keep young people in education but the only way we can do that is if we all follow the guidance and depress the virus.
Get the virus done by following that guidance and keep things moving as much as we possibly can. And I have to be clear that if the evidence requires it we will not hesitate to take further measures which would I'm afraid be more costly than the ones we put into effect now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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VAUSE: And from today South Africa is re-opening its borders to tourists from low risk countries. But travelers from COVID hot spots like the U. S. still not allowed. Only Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban are accepting international flights.
India is issuing new guidelines to ease restrictions on movie theaters and to allow the gradual reopening schools. But as a new study published in "The Journal Science" offers a more insight on the spread of COVID-19 in two states in India.
Researchers looked at 85,000 cases and nearly 600,000 of their contacts. Few studies have done contact tracing on that deal to scale and found children of all ages can contract the virus and spread it. And a small number of people are responsible for spreading a vast majority of new cases.
Dr. Jorge Rodriguez is an Internal Medicine and Viral Specialist and he's with us from Los Angeles. It is good to see you.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE & VIRAL SPECIALIST: Good to see John.
VAUSE: Well, Dr. Fauci, he appeared before a panel of commercial - caucus on Wednesday is notable because he talked about the impact this virus is having and will have on the Latino community. He pointed out that COVID-19 hospitalization rates among Hispanics as of September 19th 359 per 100,000 and when we compared that to the white population 78 per 100,000.
The death rate 61 per 100,000 among Hispanics compared to 40 per 100,000 in the white population. If this continues unchecked with entire generations dying what it would be like to Hispanic community in the US?
RODRIGUEZ: It's going to be devastating obviously and obviously with my last name of Rodriguez that is exactly you know the group that I belong to a Cuban American from South Florida. Hispanics and people of color in large whether it's social economic reasons whether it's inability to access health care suffer more than the white population with other diseases.
Diabetes high blood pressure heart disease all of those which contribute obviously to death when you get invaded by this virus that taxes you to the limit so unfortunately if we don't start paying attention now it could decimate as you said not only the Hispanic communities in the United States but probably the Hispanic communities throughout the world.
So this is a red flag. This is a warning that the time to heed all of these recommendations is now John it's very serious.
VAUSE: Yes, especially when you think about that study from India which says that a small number of people can spread this virus so quickly to a large number. We had another campaign rally by President Trump few hours ago and at that really he said a vaccine will be ready in just two or three weeks before the election maybe sooner. And then on Tuesday night he explained why during the debate. Let's hear to what he says.
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TRUMP: Well, I've spoken to the companies that we can have it a lot sooner. It's a very political thing because people like this would rather make it political than save lives. It is a very political thing. I've spoken to Pfizer; I've spoken to all of the people that you have to speak to. We have great - Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and others. They can go faster than that by a lot become very political because the left or I don't know if--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you're - ahead of your Operation Warp Speed Dr. Slaoui?
TRUMP: I disagree with him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: OK. So let's just get this straight. Donald Trump right on everything health experts and everybody else wrong.
RODRIGUEZ: And look where that has gotten us right to one of the highest death rates in the world. First of all some of the things that he says are really obscene to me and though what he portrays is also very troubling. He wasn't wearing a mask. His family wasn't wearing a mask.
To give people the false expectation and hope that this is going to be over in a couple of weeks before - because of the vaccine that may be available and it probably will not. It has to be tested and true is actually I think doing more danger.
People need to realize like Anthony Fauci said and like all other trusted and respected medical people are saying this is going to be around for the long haul maybe for a year maybe for two. And we need to realize that what's getting us into trouble is thinking that by locking down once that's over we can come out with life as normal.
We cannot, we are going to learn, we're going to have to learn to be moderate and to take precautions all the time until this virus is eliminated. And that could take years because it hides everywhere. VAUSE: And with that this new reporting about a COVID-19 death and yet it's one of those stories that would be a concern to a lot of parents with teenagers North Carolina college student seemingly otherwise healthy dies of COVID-19 complications.
You know this one - apparently he was died on September, he didn't really have any of the symptoms and then just simply died. I mean - sort of collapse very, very quickly into a spiral.
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VAUSE: But you know this goes to the problem not really knowing how this happened or why this happened? And we don't know what the sort of long term impact will be of this pandemic in terms of you know the prognosis for those who had it? I mean, what are your concerns here when you look to the future?
RODRIGUEZ: My concerns are first of all this young gentleman I think was just 19 years old and the picture of health college student. We don't know what some people have or lack that makes them more predisposed to having serious illnesses.
Therefore we need to be careful with everybody like the study in India showed 5 percent of the people caused 80 percent of the infection. And I want to call them mega spreaders and this could be someone in your family. So you can't leave your guard down.
What it's going to lead is obviously to more information. Unfortunately the public has now seen what science has seen. You're seeing how the science sausage is made? And we're getting information bit by bit.
So I don't know where it leads? But right now the big take home message is that we have to be careful with everybody including family members and that is where we're seeing a lot of the spread when people put their guard down because the person is young or they're by basis or they don't have any diseases. Anybody could spread it and anybody could get it.
VAUSE: Yes. When you don't know everything about something - that everything is incredibly --?
RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely.
VAUSE: Dr. Rodriguez as always good to see and thank you for your messages.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you John. Good night.
VAUSE: OK. Thank you. Well, now to Northern India where protests erupted after the body of alleged gang rape victim was cremated. The Chief of the Delhi Commission of Women claims local police did not get the family's permission.
Police say the family consented to the cremation. 19 year old woman was from the lower caste Dalit Community. Four upper caste men allegedly raped her earlier this month. She died from injuries she sustained during that attack. Local officials say they are investigating the allegations of rape.
Several rockets were fired into the semi autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq on Wednesday. U. S. officials say at least three hit an Iraqi base housing U. S. troops but no injuries were reported. Kurdish officials say the attack came from an area controlled by Shia Paramilitary Force.
This comes the same week as the Trump Administration threatened to close the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad of attacks by Iranian backed militias continued. Iraq's Foreign Minister says closing the Embassy would send the wrong message to ISIS and other extremist.
Time for a break when we come back, time has run out to tens of thousands of U. S. airline employees. Ahead why airline executives say they're being forced to furlough thousands of workers? And China's Tourism Industry getting a much needed boost thanks to the country's Golden Week holiday but could this jeopardize China's COVID recovery?
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VAUSE: Well, tens of thousands of airline employees of the U.S. will be furloughed in the coming hours. That's because the federal aid package that protected their paychecks expired just a few moments ago.
[00:30:42]
America Airlines says it will begin to furlough 19,000 workers. United Airlines will start to furlough more than 13,000. Thousands of layoffs are looming at other airlines, as well, and executives say they're prepared to recall workers if Congress approves an additional $25 billion in grants to the financially battered industry.
Demand for air travel has dropped significantly because of the pandemic, causing airlines to lose billions of dollars. Some are burning $20 million a day.
Another tough break for the cruise ship industry in the United States. It's already lost billions of dollars because of the pandemic, and now the CDC has extended a no-sail order for cruise ships through to the end of October. It impacts ships that carry at least 250 passengers into waters with U.S. jurisdiction.
The CDC says recent outbreaks outside the U.S. on these ships shows continued spread of the virus and a continued threat to the United States.
We're also learning the CDC director failed to convince the White House to extend the no-sail order into next year, a move that would have been devastating to the industry.
While the U.S. travel industry is suffering, domestic tourism in China is slowly picking up as the country's Golden Week holiday begins. But could trouble during the popular holiday for China -- risk China's COVID-19 recovery? Mr. COVID-19 himself, David Culver, the man who knows all of this, started out reporting a long time ago. David, good to see you. It's been a while.
You know, this is one of those things. Like everyone wants to take a break, but you know, how far do you go?
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John. I don't know if I love that title, but you're right. We've been covering this now for eight-plus months, and that's the reality of it. And yet, now we find ourselves here in mainland China, in this bubble of sorts. The official government numbers have been single to sometimes double-digit daily reported new cases.
And then can -- have said, you know, this is about mass testing. They've said this is about the contact tracing, tracking us on our smartphones. And they say this is about compartmentalized lockdowns.
But for the most part, you've got folks who are going from one place to another pretty freely, pretty comfortable, and yet, this travel holiday will be the first major one since going back to just before the Wuhan lockdown. So that will put containment here to the test.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RIPLEY (voice-over): The start of China's Golden Week holiday, celebrating the country's founding, leading to crowds like this, travelers wearing masks but standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the train station. This marks the first major travel holiday in China since the coronavirus outbreak began more than eight months ago, which makes this the first major test of COVID-19 containment here.
(on camera): Going back roughly to April, we've seen significant easing of restrictions across China. Sure, there have been cluster outbreaks, including one here in Beijing back in June, but many here are more worried about the spread in other parts of the world.
And so most mainland Chinese travelers are staying within China's borders for their holiday, feeling a bit more protective, perhaps, but it makes for a crowded bubble.
(voice-over): From October 1 through the 8th, China Tourism Academy estimates there will be some 550 million domestic trips taken. That is nearly 70 percent of the trips taken at the same time last year. Hotel bookings, however, are up 50 percent from 2019, and so, too, is same- city and short-distance travel. Think staycation.
Recent college graduate Stephy Lu normally prefers to go abroad, but this year, she's among the millions planning a trip to another part of China.
STEPHY LU, SHANGHAI RESIDENT (through translator): My main concern is the type of transportation. I want to make sure to stay in a familiar environment, which is safer, so as to make sure there's not too many unfamiliar people mixed together. CULVER: The last significant travel holiday here was the Chinese New Year. And while Beijing's tourism bureau canceled all large-scale celebrations for the holiday, we were at the Beijing train station as people crowded in to head to their hometowns, very few wearing masks. No immediate worries, so it seemed.
Three days later, Wuhan, the original epicenter of the pandemic, went on lockdown, and the streets of major cities like Shanghai went bare for weeks. This was the iconic Bund in February.
But gradually, social life resumed. In April, more people venturing out. And just last weekend, the nighttime crowd packed in, most ditching the face masks.
Major indoor events like this Beijing auto show also attracting crowds, a sign that many who, for weeks, were shuttered in their homes now feel increasingly comfortable that the virus will stay contained.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[00:35:00]
CULVER: And that guy there, looking comfortable in the back of that luxury vehicle. But the reality, John, is not everyone is breathing easy. Some are pretty cautious about a possible resurgence, and that's why we look closely, not necessarily at this coming week but the days and weeks that follow, to see if the numbers start to go back up and if we start to see some of these cluster outbreaks.
VAUSE: David, good to see you. Appreciate it. It was a title, man (ph). We appreciate it.
CULVER: Good to see you, John. Take care.
A technical glitch has forced Tokyo's stock exchange to halt trading. The problem was traced to what officials say is the distribution of market information. Smaller stock exchanges in the world's third largest economy have also been impacted. It's unclear when trading will resume.
In the western U.S., the record-breaking wildfire season could get worse because of unseasonal hot and dry weather. Thousands of firefighters are battling the Glass Fire in Northern California's wine country. The fire is only 2 percent contained, threatening to destroy more than 6,000 buildings. And a fourth person has died in the Zogg fire, which has already ripped through more than 21,000 hectares.
Earlier, I spoke with one vineyard owner whose property has been severely damaged.
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VINCENT TOFANELLI, OWNER, TOFANELLI VINEYARD, NAPA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA (via phone): It almost escapes me. You know, I grew up on the ranch. It's a third-generation vineyard operation. To see structures that my grandfather and grandmother, and mother and father, built go up in smoke, it's -- it's really hard to put that into words. It's -- it's devastating.
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VAUSE: And hear the full interview next hour, right here on CNN NEWSROOM.
In the meantime, CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has all the details.
So with the unusually hot, dry weather, which is just out of the ordinary, and what is ordinary, which is the Diablo winds, the really strong, gusty dry winds which come around this time each year.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This is the time of year, yes. This is exactly when we begin to see activity pick up, John. Of course, we're already seeing historic numbers as far as the number of fires, the large, active fires in place across California.
And 17,000 firefighters, John, that's how many people on the ground right now across the state of California. And frankly, a lot of these people have been on the ground since the middle of July, going from one fire to another. And of course, now we see widespread coverage.
But you know, there's heat advisories, which means temperatures and portions of California for upwards of 30 million Americans and 30 million people across California will be pushing up to about 40 to 43 degrees Celsius in the next 24 hours.
Really a remarkable setup once again as we kind of say good-bye to the month of September and usher in October with historic heat. But as you noted, zero percent containment near the fire, the Zogg Fire outside of Reading. And father towards the south, the extreme temperatures, of course, support everything that's happening across this region.
You'll notice low to mid 40s, well above average and in record territory in the past 24 hours. And the concern is the heat remains firmly in place as we usher in the month of October. Still about five to 10 degrees above average. But the gusty winds, they will continue into the afternoon hours of Thursday and Friday. And the humidity remains very, very low.
So when you're looking at winds of, say, 25 to 35 kilometers per hour, that is all it takes when you have a large, active fire on the ground, to cause additional spread. And that's the concern moving forward.
And I tried to find any chance of rainfall in the forecast, and it was nonexistent. And you kind of see how 2020 has played out. Five of the six largest fires in state history have all happened in the month of September. So in the next three or so hours, when they move out of September into October, certainly going to be, at least, a welcome sight in that sense, of we're moving out of an historic month that has been.
Some 44,000 active fires across the U.S. Fires across the U.S., I should say, in total in 2020. You'll notice the ten-year average, John, is around 47,000. But of course, the month of October, the month of November is typically when you see these things really explode across parts of the western U.S. And we are just getting started, and we've already reached our ten-year average across the United States -- John.
VAUSE: Wow. Pedram, thank you. We appreciate that.
When we come back, from death comes life. Turning a coffin into nutrients for plants.
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VAUSE: An inventor in the Netherlands is working to make funerals biodegradable by growing what he calls a living coffin which, once buried, can enrich the soil and not pollute.
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BOB HENDRIKX, INVENTOR OF THE LIVING COFFIN: It's made from mycelium, which is the root structure of mushrooms. So here you can see it really well. So this is mycelium. This is the mushroom, which is just the vegetative parts of, actually, the organism. And mycelium is nature's biggest recycler, so it's continuously looking for food and transforming it into new plants, nutritions.
On the inside, you see a bed of moss, which makes sure, like, a lot of microorganisms are in here and help with the decomposition process, together with mycelium.
Mycelium's natural function to transform/neutralize toxins in the body and in the soil into healthy -- healthy nutrients. For example, mycelium is used in Chernobyl to clean up the polluted soil there from the nuclear disaster. And the same thing happens in our burial places, because the soil is super-polluted there. And mycelium really likes metals, oils and microplastics.
Our coffins should be able to decompose a human body in two to three years, compared to normal materials, that could be up to ten or even longer periods.
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VAUSE: What a time to be alive, I guess.
I'm John Vause. I will be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in about 15 minutes. WORLD SPORT is next.
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(WORLD SPORT)
VAUSE: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Ahead this hour, 33 days before the election, and Donald Trump is once again under fire because he would not condemn white supremacists. But --
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