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Trump Campaign Flip-Flops on Second Debate; 13 Charged in Alleged Plot to Kidnap Michigan Governor; COVID-19 and the Impact on Mental Health; Investigation Reveals Forced Labor in the Production of Hair Products; Hurricane Delta Heads for Shore; Bill Gates Speaks out on the State of the Pandemic. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired October 09, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm John Vause.
[00:00:30]
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, one simple question, no direct answers. When was the last time the U.S. president had a negative test result for COVID-19? Trump, his aides, and doctors all refuse to say.
The FBI thwarts an alleged plan to start a civil war and kidnap a state governor, possibly targeted by an anti-government group for her tough measures to control the pandemic.
Also, an exclusive CNN investigation. What's a connection between forced labor in China and a multibillion-dollar beauty industry in the United States?
With his reelection campaign in a death spiral, it seems the U.S. president is eager to hit the road. Despite testing positive for the coronavirus and still possibly contagious, Trump wants to hold a campaign rally in Florida this Saturday.
White House physician Sean Conley says Trump can probably safely return to public engagements on Saturday, but the good doctor is still refusing to give a direct answer to one very simple but crucial question. When was the last time the president tested negative for the virus?
Before Trump was diagnosed with COVID-19, the last known test was in May, and the results have not been made public.
Democrats are now raising concerns about Trump's physical and mental health. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the president appears to be in an altered state. On Friday, Democrats will discuss the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, which lays out the role Congress will play when a president is incapacitated.
And now there is doubt if a second presidential debate, scheduled for next week in Miami, will actually go ahead. Mr. Trump says he will not take part in a virtual debate, as recommended by the debate commission, and agreed to by Joe Biden. CNN's Jim Acosta begins our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Still dodging the White House press corps, and opting for his own West Wing video crews to send out proof-of-life messages to the world, President Trump is backing out of his next debate with Democrat Joe Biden, refusing to agree to a virtual, virus-free format.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via phone): I heard that the commission a little while ago changed the debate style. And that's not acceptable to us. I'm not going to do a virtual debate.
ACOSTA: Claiming the president won't be contagious in a matter of days, the Trump campaign proposed postponing the debate for a week, drawing a tart response from one top Biden official, who said, quote, "Trump's erratic behavior does not allow him to rewrite the calendar and pick new dates of his choosing."
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We don't know what the president's going to do. He changes his mind every second.
ACOSTA: It was just one week ago when Mr. Trump accused Biden of wanting to skip the remaining debates.
TRUMP: Now I understand he's canceling the debates. Let's see what happens. I think that's not going to be a good move for him.
ACOSTA: Candidates have debated remotely before, as John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon did from two different studios in 1960.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Mr. Vice President, I'm speaking.
ACOSTA: Democrats are accusing Mr. Trump of sexism after he called Kamala Harris a monster and a communist in response to her performance at the vice-presidential debate.
TRUMP (via phone): And this monster that was on stage with Mike Pence, who destroyed her last night, by the way. But this monster --
ACOSTA: In a White House video, the president, who's been administered a combination of experimental medicines, is claiming he's been cured of the coronavirus. But that's not true, as there is no cure for COVID-19.
TRUMP (on camera): But we have medicines right now -- and I call them a cure. I went into the hospital a week ago. I was very sick. And I took this medicine, and it was incredible. It was incredible. I could have walked out the following day.
ACOSTA: Mr. Trump is boasting his natural attributes are an asset, too.
TRUMP (via phone): I'm back because I'm a perfect physical specimen, and I'm extremely young.
ACOSTA: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi isn't buying that one.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Specimen? Did he say specimen? Maybe I could agree with that. His disassociation from reality would be funny if it weren't so deadly.
ACOSTA: Dr. Anthony Fauci cautioned the president could still suffer a setback.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: One of the issues that we all have to be aware, and his positions are aware of this, that the history of COVID-19 is that you could look and feel like you're doing reasonably well, and after a couple of days, you could have a downturn.
ACOSTA: Aspects of the president's health remain a mystery. CNN has confirmed some medical professionals at Walter Reed Medical Center were asked to sign nondisclosure agreements when the president made a last-minute visit there almost one year ago. Mr. Trump is speculating that he caught the virus at an event for Gold Star families, but one Gold Star group says the families tested negative beforehand.
TRUMP (via phone): I'm not going to be in a basement saying, Hey, I can't see you as you traveled in from California and all the different places. It's OK.
[00:05:04]
ACOSTA: The White House is trying to clean up that one, too.
ALYSSA FARAH, WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: And I appreciate you asking that so we can clarify. His point was merely that, in the timeframe that he was potentially exposed, there were a number of different venues that he'd been at and individuals he interacted with.
ACOSTA (on camera): And White House officials say they won't be specifying exactly when the president had his last negative test for COVID-19, insisting that's Mr. Trump's private medical information, adding that the doctors would like to keep that information for now private. Of course, Mr. Trump could make all of that information public, and as we've reported here at CNN, the president was not being tested daily prior to his positive results for COVID-19.
Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And a former senior health official within the Trump administration -- he was charged with developing a vaccine for the coronavirus -- says the president's COVID response is reckless and deadly.
Rick Bright blew the whistle. He was raising the alarm very early. He says those early warnings, though, were ignored. Here he is speaking with Jake Tapper. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK BRIGHT, FORMER U.S. PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS CHIEF: You know what we're missing in this whole situation is transparency about, really, how sick the president is. We don't really have the truth about when he was infected, what stage of infection he's in, I don't think we know all of the various treatments he was given and in what combination and what dosage.
We need to know what is wrong with our president. We need to know how sick he is. And we need to know what type of treatments he's getting so we can learn from that so other people will be able to follow the right example.
The president is giving a very mixed message right now. He is not well. We would not want any other person on the planet to do the things he's doing this soon after knowing they're infected. We wouldn't want someone up out of the hospital bed with these types of experimental therapies right now. So he's leading with a very bad example for the entire world, actually.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And joining me now is Kim Schrier. She's a pediatrician and Democratic congressman from the state of Washington. And it's good to see you again.
REP. KIM SCHRIER (D-WA): Great to see you.
VAUSE: OK. Right now, no question is shrouded in more mystery than this one. Here we are. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm asking, do you know the answer to when the president's last negative test was? Do you actually know that information, Brian?
BRIAN MORGENSTERN, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: I personally do not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you remember when he had his last negative test?
DR. SEAN CONLEY, WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: I don't want to go backwards.
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We don't normally get into the testing protocol for the president.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Was he tested on Tuesday before the debate? And then, was he tested on Thursday morning before he went to the New Jersey fundraiser?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes, I'm not going to give you a detailed read-out with time stamps of every time that the president is tested. He's tested regularly. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just purely from a medical point of view, why is this timing so important? We know when the positive test came back, but not the last negative.
SCHRIER: Well, the last negative test would at least tell you when he may not have been shedding virus. Right? Like, it would be very useful for the Bidens to know if he had tested negative just before that debate. I think that could offer a good degree of peace of mind, not total peace of mind, but I think it would be helpful.
I think that this White House has really just lost credibility on everything. I mean, they won't answer questions, and so we're left to try to piece little bits of evidence together.
And I have to tell you, you know, some people pieced together the fact that he was on three different drugs and say, Oh, it must have been a very serious case. But you could just as easily put those three pieces together and say, Oh, those are the three drugs our president has heard of, and he asked for all three.
We just -- we have no idea what his health status right now is and even if he is (UNINTELLIGIBLE), if that's just because of the medications he's on.
VAUSE: That's -- this is the problem. We just don't know. And now the president is planning to hold more super-spreader events. You know, there's still a reluctance to be transparent about those results. I mean, this is moving forward. Here's the president on FOX News speaking with the White House chief of staff, Sean Hannity, a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (via phone): What we're doing is probably the test will be tomorrow, the actual test, because there's no reason to test all the time. They found very little infection or virus, if any. I don't know that they found any. I didn't go into it greatly with the doctors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: What we're seeing here is a pattern from Donald Trump and the administration, deliberately withholding information which people need, in this case, information which will allow his supporters to make an informed decision about safely attending a campaign rally or not. And he's not telling anybody.
SCHRIER: Well, let's be clear. Attending a campaign rally is not safe, whether the president has COVID or not. Because you're not supposed to gather in large groups, particularly indoors.
And so even regardless of what the president's state of health is right now, these gatherings are ill-advised. They are more super- spreader events. You'd think that he would learn from this experience. But instead, he's doubling down on playing down this virus and continuing to behave in a reckless manner that will ultimately probably result in another 200,000 deaths in this country. And I think it's just -- it's a terrible example to set and, really, it's an abdication of his responsibility.
[00:10:04]
VAUSE: So in the midst of a pandemic which could see, what, 400,000 Americans dead by Christmas, an economic crisis not seen since the Great Depression, dozens of his closest aides testing positive, Trump managed to find an hour to rant on FOX Business News. Here's part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (via phone): They're in the State Department, but Mike Pompeo has been unable to get them out, which is a very sad. Actually, I'm not happy about him for that, that reason. He was unable to get them out. I don't know why.
Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes, that this was the greatest political crime in the history of our country, and that includes Obama, and it includes Biden. These are people that spied on my campaign, and we have everything. Now they say they have much more. OK? And I say, Bill, we have plenty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Address Christopher Wray. Will you replace him in a 2nd term?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say that yet. He's been disappointing. He talks about, you know, even the voting thing. He doesn't see -- the voting ballots as a -- as a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I should mention, that first soundbite was about Hillary Clinton's 33,000 emails, which Pompeo apparently can't find, and that's why he's in the bad books. He's also in hospital.
You know, this is not just usual Trump. This is Trump on steroids, literally.
SCHRIER: Literally.
VAUSE: Even if Biden wins in November, there's still three months left of Trump as president. How concerned are you, just from what you can see and hear, about you know, his physical and mental health?
SCHRIER: I'm very concerned. This does seem like just an enhanced version of what we've been seeing all along. You know, outrage, rage, and trying to get people to just look the other way.
I'm very concerned about what is to come in the upcoming days and months. And -- and I guess my one plea would be, you know, responsible people who are near the president, please try to keep us all safe. Keep him contained, not with other people, so he doesn't spread this illness. Try not to have these super-spreader events. And, if he is not of right mind right now, please keep him from doing anything devastating in the national security arena.
VAUSE: Three months, even if he loses. So that's something to think about.
Kim Schrier, thanks for being with us. It's good to see you.
SCHRIER: Thank you. Great to see you.
VAUSE: Well, 13 people are facing charges for allegedly plotting to kidnap and kill Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan. A federal criminal complaint says the larger plan was to overthrow several state governments, starting with an attack on Michigan's state capital.
It sounds like the plot of a very bad movie, but federal and state officials say it was a violent, dangerous plan to commit domestic terrorism. Jessica Schneider has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): I knew this job would be hard. But I'll be honest, I never could have imagined anything like this.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer speaking out against the alleged plot to kidnap her.
WHITMER: You don't have to agree with me, but I do ask one thing. Never forget that we are all in this together.
J. SCHNEIDER: Today, the FBI charging six men in the conspiracy, saying the group plotted to kidnap the governor from her vacation home before the election. Authorities became aware of the scheme as they monitored social media and discovered a group of men based in Michigan mapping out how to violently overthrow government officials and target law enforcement.
ANDREW BIRGE, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN: The alleged conspirators used operational security measures, including communicating by encrypted messaging platforms; and used code words and phrases in an attempt to avoid detection by law enforcement.
J. SCHNEIDER: Law enforcement was able to track the group by using informants and undercover agents who recorded the men when they visited the governor's vacation home two times.
BIRGE: Fox and Croft in particular, according to the complaint, discussed detonating explosive devices to divert police from the area of the home, and Fox even inspected the underside of a Michigan highway bridge for places to seat an explosive.
The complaint further alleges that Fox purchased a Taser for use in the kidnapping and that the group successfully detonated an improvised explosive device wrapped with shrapnel to test its anti-personnel capabilities.
J. SCHNEIDER: State officials announcing separate terrorism charges against seven other men, saying they planned to instigate civil war, target police officers, and storm the capital building in Lansing, taking hostages, including Governor Whitmer.
MATTHEW SCHNEIDER, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN: All of us in Michigan can disagree about politics, but those disagreements should never, ever amount to violence.
J. SCHNEIDER: Whitmer has been a frequent target of President Trump over her coronavirus response. Trump saying this at a rally in her state last month.
TRUMP: You'd be doing even better if you had a governor that knew what the hell she was doing. You've got to open up the state.
J. SCHNEIDER: And tweeting, "Liberate Michigan" in April.
Protesters, some armed, have even gathered at the state capital, calling for an end to Whitmer's stay-at-home order. The governor today blaming Trump for escalating the rhetoric.
[00:15:03]
WHITMER: "Stand back and stand by." Hate groups heard the president's words not as a rebuke but as a rallying cry, as a call to action. When our leaders speak, their words matter.
J. SCHNEIDER (on camera): Republicans around Michigan have rallied in support of Governor Whitmer, a Democrat.
But White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany is calling Whitmer's comments divisive and outlandish, saying this. Quote, "President Trump has continually condemned white supremacists and all forms of hate," but leaving out the fact that it did take President Trump two days after that last debate to actually condemn white supremacists.
Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And Governor Whitmer wants the White House to take a stronger stand against domestic terrorism and violence. She says the administration has clearly failed to end hate and division.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITMER: I have raised this very issue with this White House and asked them to bring the heat down. I have asked leaders, Republican leaders in the state, let's bring the heat down.
I was aware of a lot of the threats that were being made against me and my family, and I asked for their help. And they didn't do a darn thing about it and then denied even knowing that it was a problem.
And here we are. We came very close to a plot that was to kidnap me and to murder. That was what the affidavits say. Also, to hurt law enforcement, to bomb our capital, meaning all the press and the Democrats and Republicans in our capital. This cannot stand. And we have to call it out for what it is. It is domestic terrorism. And I quoted Ronald Reagan in my comments earlier today, because there are good Republicans who stand up and take this on.
I do have kids and a husband, who have seen people with automatic rifles on our front lawn more weekends than I -- than I care to name how many.
But this is a moment where, as Americans, we need leaders who can bring us together. We need leaders who recognize the enemy is the virus, not our fellow Americans. And these are hard times, but we're going to get through them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, the pandemic and mental health. A desperate situation for some, which could be made even worse with more lockdowns on the horizon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back. In the United States, a recent decline in the number of COVID-19 deaths may soon come to an end. The infection rate, trending upwards again, and more cases will most likely, at some point lead, to more deaths.
A new forecast from the CDC says the total death toll could rise to 233,000 in just weeks, by the end of the month. Right now, Johns Hopkins University reports more than 212,000 deaths across the United States. That's the highest in the world, by far.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, though, he's focusing on more optimistic news, giving a shorter time frame than the one President Trump has shared, when it comes to a vaccine and its distribution. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: The good news is that we're doing everything we can to ensure that we have supplies manufactured. Pending FDA authorizations, we believe we may have up to 100 million doses by the end of the year, enough to cover especially vulnerable populations.
And, we project having enough for every American who wants a vaccine by March to April of 2021.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, COVID-19 cases are also rising in France. Parts of the country have been placed on maximum alert. The health ministry on Thursday reported more than 18,000 new cases for the second day in a row, more than twice what it was during the country's lockdown earlier this year. More cities are joining Paris and Marseille and closing their bars.
Restaurants will have to apply for -- have to apply, rather, stricter health protocols.
Officials say it's because hospital emergency beds are filling up quickly with COVID-19 patients.
And Madrid in Spain now in a standoff with the national government over coronavirus restrictions. A court overturned a government order on Thursday that would have put the region under a partial lockdown. Still, regional leaders are urging people to stay at home.
Spain is reporting the most COVID-19 cases in western Europe. National officials are blaming Madrid for a recent spike.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FERNANDO SIMON, SPANISH HEALTH EMERGENCY CHIEF (through translator): There is an autonomous region that represents 31 percent of the total number of cases in the last 14 days. It's region of Madrid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, the Czech Republic is tightening its coronavirus restrictions as it becomes the hardest hit country in the E.U. on a per capita basis.
Pools, gyms, fitness centers will shut down, while all restaurants and bars will closed at 8 p.m. for the next two weeks. Weddings limited to 30 people, and all nonessential hospital visits will be banned.
The country reported more than 5,300 new infections. That was on Wednesday alone, highest daily count since the pandemic began.
A new study suggests the silent transmission of coronavirus may be far greater than transmission from symptomatic people. Researchers at the University College London looked to date on 36,000 tests for those who actually were positive.
Eighty-six percent showing no COVID-19-specific symptoms. Just over 76 percent showing no symptoms of any sickness whatsoever.
The study offers conclude that COVID-19 symptoms are poor markers of infection and that more widespread testing is required to prevent silent transmission and to prevent future outbreaks.
While lockdowns and social isolation have been safeguards against the coronavirus, they can also have a severe impact on mental health.
CNN's Isa Soares, has the story of Pip, a young woman whose struggle was much more difficult and dangerous when the U.K. locked down.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sun may be shining on Pip Rudge, but this 23-year-old knows that a dark cloud could come at any moment.
PIP RUDGE, ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION PATIENT: Having an ice cream since I was, like, 8.
SOARES: For months now, she's been seeking treatment for anxiety, and depression exacerbated by COVID-19.
RUDGE: I just felt, like, hopeless. I felt like there was nothing in the future that I was going to be able to accomplish. And I just felt completely lost and alone. So it was really hard, and I was struggling with self-harm at the time, as well. And -- and it was just one of those really, really dark places that I just hope that I never get back to.
SOARES: Like so many others, lockdown and isolation pushed her mental health to the brink. As her support network crumbled, and she was unable to seek the help of mental health professionals.
She says a suicide attempt forced her to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital for three weeks. These images show her inside the ward.
According to a June report from mental health charity Mind, the devastating loss of life, the impact of lockdown, and the inevitable recession has made life bleaker for those with mental health problems, with 65 percent of adults and 75 percent of young people reporting their mental health got worse during lockdown.
STEPHEN BUCKLEY, HEAD OF INFORMATION, MIND MENTAL HEALTH CHARITY: What we've seen during lockdown, and immediately after, is people contacting us because they're having difficulty accessing their formal support services. Unfortunately, there seem to be more young people self-harming as a coping strategy.
SOARES: With the number of COVID-19 infections on the rise in the U.K., and in Europe, and more restrictions being put in place, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control is warning about the impact of new lockdowns on people's mental health.
(on camera): When you hear the prime minister talk about further restrictions, do you worry about that? How about lockdown? How does that -- What kind of anxiety does that create in you?
RUDGE: It does make me anxious that, ultimately, I would end up back in hospital or I would be really, really, really struggling with my mental health. What I can do is, look after myself, take it day by day.
[06:25:03]
SOARES: For now, Rudge maintains her support network and says she's focusing on the positives. Her small victories.
RUDGE: So like, I have an app on my phone, and I'm, like, 133 days self-harm free. And I'm really proud of that.
SOARES: Small steps that will give her a better chance to overcome her darkest demons, should lockdown come knocking again.
Isa Soares, CNN, Stratford Upon Avon, in England's West Midlands.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And if you or someone you know is experiencing mental health difficulties, there is a worldwide directory of resources, and international hotlines provided by the International Association for Suicide Prevention.
You can also turn to Befrienders worldwide. Go to the website, IASP.info/resources,
A lot more information there.
A French aid worker who spent nearly four years in captivity in Mali is now back with her family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Mama! Mama!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's the moment 75-year-old Sophie Petronin was reunited with her son.
In 2016, she was running a children's charity when she was kidnapped by Islamist extremists. Other hostages were released, including two Italians, and a politician who'd been held for nearly seven months.
Hundreds of protesters in Indonesia's capital have been arrested after clashing with police over a contentious new job creation law. At least 60 demonstrators and six police officers were injured Thursday during the third day of a nationwide strike.
Critics say the law, which passed on Monday, scraps labor rights and environmental protections. The government, though, says it will create new jobs and attract foreign investment.
Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, hair is a multi-billion-dollar business in the U.S., but where are some of the products being made? What an exclusive CNN investigation reveals, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The business of hair is booming, especially in the United States. Hair braids and extensions are in high demand, especially by African-American women who say the enhancements make them feel beautiful and empowered.
But most are unaware where the hair, both synthetic and human, is actually coming from. Following an exclusive months-long investigation, CNN's Ivan Watson is live for us in Hong Kong.
So Ivan, that did you find out? IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Many of our viewers may
not know that hair is this valuable, internationally-traded commodity. It's all about trying to make people look and feel good about themselves. But its manufacturing supply chain is very murky.
And that was highlighted over the summer when U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced the seizure of some 13 tons of human hair products that had been exported from China's Xinjiang region to the U.S. port of Newark. And Customs and Border Protection accused the manufacturers of using forced labor to produce this. This has been, many industry insiders say, a wake-up call for their business.
[00:30:17]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This entire wall is our collection of braid hair and crochet hair.
WATSON (voice-over): The neighborhood beauty supply store, a fixture of nearly every African-American community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one? OK.
WATSON: Part of an industry that revolves around the business of hair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first thing people see, a lot of times is our hair.
WATSON: It's a business worth billions, selling largely to African- American consumers.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The business of hair extensions is booming.
WATSON: For Keisha Watkins, owner of Be Polished Beauty Supply in Arlington, Texas, says her average customer spends more than $100 a month on hair care.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Growing up as an African mayor woman, we're told our hair is our glory.
WATSON: But even professionals say they know very little when it comes to the origin of all this hair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one actually does not list where exactly it's from.
WATSON: In fact, the majority of it comes from China. Last year, China sold around a billion dollars' worth of real and synthetic hair to the U.S.
(on camera): This, one of the most intimate parts of a person's body, is also a valuable international commodity that industry insiders refer to as black gold.
And this is a sample that I ordered online. It was advertised as untreated Xinjiang human hair, sourced from a part of China that is steeped in allegations of human rights abuses.
(voice-over): In July, U.S. Customs and Border Protection delivered a shock to the industry. The seizure of a shipment of around 13 tons of human hair, worth more than $800,000.
BRENDA SMITH, U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: We had a reasonable suspicion that the goods made in the shipment were produced using forced labor in China.
WATSON: The hair comes from this industrial park in China's northwest Xinjiang region. A Chinese state TV report identifies these factories as part of a government-backed poverty alleviation program.
The government has offered tax incentives and cheap labor to investors in the hair factories, in what it says is an effort to employ thousands of people like this man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My goal is to make one more wig every day.
WATSON: Similar government videos have been made about other factories in Xinjiang, like this apparel factory. But CNN spoke with a woman who worked at the apparel factory, who says the reality was very different from images shown on Chinese state TV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): None of us worked there of our own free will.
WATSON: Gulzira Auelkhan is an ethnic Kazakh, originally from Xinjiang who emigrated to neighboring Kazakhstan. On a return trip to Xinjiang to visit her father in 2017, she says Chinese authorities detained her at the border.
AUELKHAN: They told me I came from a terrorist country. They cut my hair, took my blood samples.
WATSON: Auelkhan says she was kept in an internment camp, in a cell with 20 to 30 people, sharing a bucket for a toilet.
Human rights groups and the U.S. government accuse China of a massive detention campaign, rounding up more than 1 million ethnic Uyghur Muslims, and members of other ethnic minorities, into internment camps.
Beijing calls the camps vocational training centers, aimed at eradicating violent extremism.
But CNN has heard firsthand testimony from survivors of these internment camps, who say they were arbitrarily detained in horrific conditions for months, enduring torture and other indignities, like having their hair chopped off.
CNN's investigation has not been able to confirm what happens to this shorn hair. But Auelkhan's firsthand account supports the U.S. government accusation some Chinese exports from Xinjiang are being made with forced labor. After surviving 15 months in the camps, unable to return to her
husband and child and Kazakhstan, she was ordered to work at a factory, sewing gloves that were exported to the U.S. and Europe.
AUELKHAN: They told me if I refused, I would be sent back to the camp.
WATSON: Auelkhan says this image from another Chinese state media report shows her at a sewing machine while a VIP delegation toured the factory.
Her description matches that of this man, Yerzhan Kurman, another ethnic Kazakh who says he spent nine months in internment camps before being forced to work in the same factory alongside the Auelkhan for two months.
YERZHAN KURMAN, FORMER XINJIANG DETAINEE (through translator): We couldn't do anything without permission.
WATSON: Speaking from safety in Kazakhstan after their release, the two former detainees have a warning for western consumers.
[00:35:05]
AUELKHAN: I am against these Chinese products. They are made through slavery. So many people were crying while making these products.
WATSON: To try to end this alleged modern-day slavery, the U.S. government is now banning imports of some products made with suspected forced labor in Xinjiang, though U.S. officials have not provided evidence, citing an ongoing criminal investigation.
(on camera): U.S. officials did, however, highlight this industrial park, which made the 13 tons of hair products that U.S. Customs seized over the summer, alleging the park uses workers from nearby internment camps.
CNN has determined there are at least four suspected camps, all walking distance from the factories. The hair companies didn't respond to CNN's request for comments.
These Chinese government photos show detainees in one of the camps in 2017.
Over the last three years, the camps and the industrial park grew rapidly. During that same period, hair exports also surged from the companies in the industrial park to the U.S.
(voice-over): One of the biggest buyers of synthetic hair was I & I Hair, headquartered in Dallas. I & I Hair says it cut off ties with suppliers in Xinjiang in January.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think a lot of us even spent time looking into these issues of internment camps and, you know, these other things. And so we were completely oblivious to it. And so I believe that a lot of other people in the industry are, as well.
WATSON: That's something the U.S. government wants to change.
SMITH: Our strong message is to those U.S. importers. They need to know their supply chain and stop producing goods made with forced labor.
WATSON: The Chinese government announces what it calls U.S. bullying.
WANG WENBIN, CHINA FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN (through translator): Under the pretext of the so-called forced labor, the U.S. Has taken restrictive measure against relevant Chinese companies, which violates international trade rules.
WATSON: Those denials haven't convinced Tiffany Gill, author of the book "Beauty Shop Politics."
I find it's sad that a product that is assumed in such large quantities by African American women is produced under exploitative forced-labor conditions, particularly when we think about the history of African-Americans.
WATSON: Stylist Makayla Lode-Davis, who crafts what she calls women's crowns, says it's time her industry wakes up to what's going on half a world away.
MAKAYLA LODE-DAVIS (PH), STYLIST: There should be a wake-up call and more education, as well, as far as where the hair comes from. Because they definitely, you know, don't want it to come from slave labor or anything like that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Now if consumers, if importers, want to make sure that possibilities of forced labor polluting their supply chain are not mixed in, it's far more complicated than just stopping imports from factories in Xinjiang, because goods can be shipped to other parts of China and then re-packaged, and that kind of removes the Xinjiang name from those goods.
Another concern, which was highlighted by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, is that they have come to the conclusion that tens of thousands, in fact, they estimate some 80,000 Uyghurs, have been transferred to other parts of China, where they have then had to work in questionable conditions.
So that could be another potential problem for polluting the supply chain, again, with allegations of forced labor.
And it's not just the hair industry. The U.S. government has highlighted other companies working in Xinjiang in other fields, such as manufacturing apparel, cotton, computer, and of course, hair. All real concerns, especially when you consider that China has often been described as a factory for the world -- John.
VAUSE: Yes. Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson there with that very long investigation into what's happening in Xinjiang. Thank you. Well, Hurricane Delta is once again gaining strength in the Gulf of Mexico. Evacuations are underway into Lake Charles, Louisiana, ahead of Delta making landfall Friday.
Just six weeks ago, the same area was hit by Hurricane Laura.
Pedram Javaheri has the latest from the CNN Weather Center. And Pedram, Delta right now, it's a Category 3. Is the biggest concern the wind gusts, or is it the rain, or a combination of both?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, to be honest with you, John, looking at what's on the ground here in Louisiana, that's the biggest concern.
Almost 7 million metric tons there of debris on the ground across this region. That all, of course, from what happened six weeks ago today, which is when Hurricane Laura made landfall along the same exact coastline.
So with a storm of this magnitude, the answer to your question, those winds definitely going to be an issue when it comes to making landfall and moving a lot of that debris that is essentially just piled up in neighborhoods across this region, all of that. And of course, making the projectiles, making it that much more dangerous to be around the storm system at landfall.
But water temperatures in advance of it will become cooler as it approaches land. In the immediate forecast, I wouldn't be surprised if it strengthens back up to a Category 4 within the next few hours, and then again weakens on approach.
But you look at what happened six weeks ago, the damage left behind, upwards of $12 billion in losses is what officials are estimating here. But of course, some 100,000 homes either destroyed or severely damaged. And even one million customers without power at the height of the storm, some of whom are still without power right on the coast near Cameron Parish.
Look at Laura's track, where its forecast -- where it made landfall and where Delta is forecast to make landfall, within just a few kilometers of where this previous storm made landfall as a Category 4. Model kind of discrepancies here. You see the American model has a stronger system, but generally, right around 6 p.m. local time is when we expect landfall, potentially still as a major hurricane, Category 3, in almost an identical spot to where Laura made landfall -- John.
VAUSE: Just one after the other, after the other, after the other. Pedram, thank you.
JAVAHERI: Thank you.
VAUSE: Nice to see you.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. Please stay with us. I'm John Vause. Fifteen minutes of WORLD SPORT is up next.
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