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Trump To Start Rallies Again; FBI Thwarts Plan To Kidnap Governor; When Was Trump's Last Negative COVID Test? U.S. COVID Infection Rates Trend Up Again; Medical Journal Breaks Tradition, Backs Presidential Candidate; U.S. Imposes Sweeping New Sanctions on Iran's Banks; Hurricane Delta Strengthens to Category 3; Interview with Prince William. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 09, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Ahead this hour. Donald Trump, COVID-19 patient and spreader of coronavirus looking to restart his campaign rallies.
His doctor says it's probably OK. The same doctor who won't say when Trump last tested negative.
The plot to start a civil war in the U.S. The FBI alleges anti- government militia was planning to kidnap the governor of Michigan and overthrow a number of state governments.
And the politics of science. Why the editorial boards from three prestigious medical and scientific journals are doing what they have never done before.
Well, with his election campaign apparently in a death spiral, it seems the U.S. president is eager to hit the road again.
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 the weekend.
The same doctor who is refusing to give a straight 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, his last known test was in May. The results have not been made public.
Here's more on what the president is planning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (VOICE OVER BY PHONE): I think I'm going to try doing a rally on Saturday night, if we can -- if we have enough time to put it together. But we want to do a rally probably in Florida on Saturday night.
Might come back and do one in Pennsylvania the following night. And it's incredible what's going on, I feel so good.
SEAN HANNITY, ANCHOR, "FOX NEWS": Have you had a test since your diagnosis a week ago?
TRUMP: Well, what we're doing is -- probably the test will be tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Democrats are raising concerns about Trump's physical and mental health. House speaker Nancy Pelosi says he appears to be in an altered state.
On Friday, they will discuss the 25th Amendment of the Constitution which lays out the role congress will play when a president is incapacitated.
We have more details now on the president's recovery and all the other politics from CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, the president has now been back at the White House since Monday.
And in a letter released on Thursday, the president's doctor said he believes he is going to be clear to be back in public at events starting this Saturday. Though before he said he wouldn't breathe a deep sigh of relief until the following Monday.
It's not clear why that's changed because we haven't heard from the president's doctor since the day that he returned to the White House. And we also haven't independently seen the president.
Instead, we've only seen him in these videos published by the White House that have been edited at times. And we haven't seen him on our own.
But the president continues to put his own spin on his health while we're not hearing from the medical experts on it.
Saying he no longer believes he's contagious implying that he may never have been infected with coronavirus at all and saying that he is ready to get back on the road and might start holding a campaign rally this Saturday in Florida or potentially Pennsylvania.
That's what he told Sean Hannity in a phone interview on Thursday night where at times he seemed to be a little bit hoarse and had to clear his throat on a few occasions though he spoke clearly for the other 20 or so minutes that he was on air with Sean Hannity.
But one thing he did not say was whether or not he's gotten a negative test result for coronavirus since he first tested positive on Thursday of last week.
Sean Hannity asked the president that three times and the president did not answer that question and said he would be tested on Friday.
He said he didn't see the reason for testing a lot. Though of course that seems to go against what the White House told us for so many months. Which is that the president was being tested on a daily basis.
Kaitlan Collins. CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And joining me now is Kim Schrier, she's a pediatrician and Democrat congresswoman from the State of Washington.
And it's good to see you again.
DR. KIM SCHRIER, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: 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)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Sir, I'm asking you, do you know the answer to when the president's last negotiate test was. Do you actually know that information, Ryan?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I personally do not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Do you remember when he had his last negative test.
DR. SEAN CONLEY, WHITE HOUSE PHYSICIAN: I don't want to go backwards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We don't normally get into the testing protocol for the president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Was he tested on Tuesday before he went to the debate and then was he tested on Thursday morning before he went to the New Jersey (inaudible)?
KAYLEIGH MCENANEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yes. I'm not going to give you a detailed read out with timestamps of every time the president's 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.
[01:05:00]
SCHRIER: Well, the last negative test would at least tell you when he may not have been shedding virus, right?
Like it would have been 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 mind, but I think it would be helpful.
I think that this White House has really just lost credibility on everything.
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 some people piece together the fact that he was on three different drugs and say 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.
I mean, we just -- we have no idea --
VAUSE: Yes.
SCHRIER: -- what his health status right now is. And even if he is afebrile, if that's just because of the medications he's on.
VAUSE: This is the problem. We just don't know. And now, the president's planning to hold more super spreader events. There's still a reluctance to being transparent about those test 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: What we're doing is probably the test will be tomorrow, the actual test, because there's no reason to test all the time. But they found very little infection or virus, if any. I don't (inaudible) if 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 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 just an abdication of his responsibility.
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: They're in the State Department but Mike Pompeo has been unable to get them out which is very sad. Actually, I'm not happy about him for that reason. He was unable to get them out, I don't know why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Unless Bill Barr indicts these people for crimes -- 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 got plenty.
KAT TIMPF, HOST, "FOX BUSINESS NEWS": Address Christopher Wray. Will you replace him in a second term?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say that yet. He's been disappointing. He talks about even the voting thing, like he doesn't see the voting ballots as a problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: I should mention that first soundbite was about Hilary 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.
This is not usual Trump, this is Trump on steroids. Literally.
SCHRIER: Literally.
VAUSE: And 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 his physical and mental health?
SCHRIER: I'm very concerned. This does seem like it's just an enhanced version of what we've seen all along; outrage, rage, and trying to get people to look the other way.
I'm very concerned about what is to come in the upcoming days and months.
And I guess my one plea would be 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, thank you so much for being with us. Good to see you.
SCHRIER: Thank you. Great to see you.
VAUSE: The FBI says it has thwarted a plan by an anti-government militia to start a civil war.
Thirteen people have been charged for allegedly plotting to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan, who may have been targeted because of her tough response to the pandemic including harsh lockdown measures.
The plan allegedly involves storming the state capital and overthrowing a number of state governments and to recruit new members.
FBI officials say the became aware of the plans earlier this year through social media.
[01:10:00]
More details now from CNN's Shimon Prokupecz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MICH): I never could've imagined anything like this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A plot to kidnap the governor of Michigan foiled by the FBI.
Today, the FBI charging six men in the conspiracy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW BIRGE, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN: The FBI began an investigation earlier this year after becoming aware through social media that a group of individuals was discussing the violent overthrow of certain government and law enforcement components.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: A months' long investigation alleges the men met on June 6th with several others and discussed taking a sitting governor before one of the men, Adam Fox, reached out to a Michigan based anti- government group.
The complaint say on June 14 a confidential informant recorded a conversation between Fox and the group saying he needed 200 men to storm the capital building before the November 2020 presidential election.
Officials say Fox and others met again on June 20th to discuss plans for assaulting the state capital planning for firearms and tactical training in July.
In August, a group allegedly shifted their plan to kidnap Whitmer at her vacation home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIRGE: Members of this conspiracy on two occasions conducted coordinated surveillance on the governor's vacation home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: The group allegedly used code language and encrypted messages to communicate and according to the complaint successfully detonated an improvised explosive device in October, while Fox confirmed he purchased a taser to use in the kidnapping.
Officials say the group planned to meet again on October 7th.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIRGE: The FBI and State Police executed arrests of several of the conspirators when they were meeting on the east side of the state to pool funds for explosives and exchange tactical gear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: Several others linked to an extremist group were also charged separately in state court for planning to storm the state capitol building, taking hostages including Whitmer and planning to instigate civil war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PROKUPECZ: And the FBI director recently warned members of congress that one of the biggest threats this country faces are from domestic extremist groups saying that this is something that they are very concerned about.
Shimon Prokupecz. CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And a source tells CNN the FBI did not coordinate with the White House before arresting the thirteen accused.
Governor Whitmer says she's long been asking the Trump administration to take a stronger stand against violence and do more to counter domestic terrorism.
(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 this state, let's bring the heat down.
I was aware of a lot of the threats that were being made against me in 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITMER: I do have kids and a husband who have seen people with automatic rifles on our front lawn more weekends 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 VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: For two years, Elizabeth Newman was the assistant secretary of homeland security with the Trump administration until she resigned in April of this year.
And she joins me now from Washington, D.C., Elizabeth Newman, it is good to have you with us. Thank you.
ELIZABETH NEWMAN, FMR. U.S. ASSISTANT HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: OK. So specifically, when it comes to Governor Gretchen Whitmer and President Trump, he's made a lot of inflammatory comments on Twitter and at campaign rallies like one you're about to see.
I want to play just part of what Trump has said about the governor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: You'd be doing even better if you had a governor that knew what the hell she was doing. Open up your state, Madam Governor, open up your state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Just like Crazy Nancy Pelosi, your governor is a liberal hypocrite who lives by a different set of rules.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Just specifically, in terms a politically motivated but yet very personal attack, can you draw a straight line from what the president says to this plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer?
[01:15:00]
NEWMAN: I don't know that we have direct evidence yet, we'll see what the prosecution lays out -- that his words are directly connected to their plans for a plot.
But I think that it's certainly fair to say there's a lot of circumstantial evidence both in what we see in the indictment, as well as the timing of their activities.
VAUSE: We have this sort of dance now with President Trump. He'll say something outrageous -- fair people on both sides or good people on both sides. He'll refuse to condemn white nationalism or these right-wing extremists, as he did during the first presidential debate. There's outrage which follows.
Then comes what -- sort of the half-hearted presidential walk back like this one after the debate.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (VOICE OVER): I have to say, I've said it many times, and let me be clear again, I condemn the KKK.
I condemn all white supremacists, I condemn the Proud Boys. I don't know much about the Proud Boys, almost nothing. But I condemn that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Is there an understanding among these groups that when they are condemned by the president in that way, it's done sort of with a wink and nod?
NEWMAN: Absolutely. And the timing between his first statements and then his kind of second attempt at condemning that wasn't actually a condemnation, it's not until the third attempt that he actually says the words.
They view that -- whether the president intends it or not, the message received by domestic terrorist groups is that he is on their side. That this is a tacit approval of what their means or their goals are.
And that he just can't come right out and say that. Because, of course, he has to pretend to get along with the elites in the government. This plays into their conspiracy theory.
So one of my pleas for people in positions of leadership is to understand that the president is making this about politics.
Some of his supporters are making criticism of his lack of condemnation. They make it sound like this is a political game of gotcha, and that's not it at all.
What you hear the counter-terrorism community saying is it doesn't matter about politics, what matters is that his words, his lack of clearly, consistently and repeatedly coming out and condemning white supremacy, condemning anti-government violent extremism, it implies to these groups, the threat actors here, he's on our side. He told us to stand by, to get ready for the election.
And they're exercising that now. You can see in their chat rooms and their telegram channels that they have mobilized because of what he said last week. VAUSE: You were reluctant to work at the Trump White House initially.
Nonetheless, you joined three years ago, 2017.
So in all that time that you were there, you say the president seemed to not understand or was unaware the impact his words were having.
But did you see his views, one way or the another, become more clear, louder? Did he speak out in a more emphatic way supporting these groups are against these groups? What did you sort of notice?
NEWMAN: I noticed an inability to confront this issue head on. When we were briefing White House senior staff after the attacks in El Paso last August, we were directly told that they were supportive of our prevention programming, they were supportive of what we were trying to do to go after domestic terrorism but they could not use the term domestic terrorism, they couldn't talk about white supremacy, they needed to put things in terms of violence prevention.
It was a clear signal to me that somewhere along the way the president has just shut down.
And he does this on various topics, Russia is another good example. Where his senior advisers have just learned you can't bring the issue up, you can't have a rational conversation.
Now the reasoning behind that, I don't fully know. And I also can't read his heart. But I think circumstantially what seems to be the case is that he tends to be very loyal to those that are loyal to him.
So he may see these groups as being his supporters and therefore, he doesn't want to denigrate them.
I think he's also very much about his own power and what's best for him, and these people give him a vote. And they stroke his ego. So there's a bit of kind of I'll take care of you, you take care of me going on.
The problem with this is that they are an enemy of the United States. They are committing acts of treason in their plans to overthrow whether it's a state government or the U.S. government or kidnap a governor.
That is illegal activity and very, very dangerous.
VAUSE: That is a good point to finish on, Elizabeth. Thank you so much. Elizabeth Newman there.
Appreciate you being with us. Thank you.
NEWMAN: Thank you.
VAUSE: And still to come. The ebb and the flow of the pandemic in the U.S. With cases rising in parts, a falling death rate which is once again expected to rise.
And round two of the pandemic. Many countries now in the grip of a second wave, how they're dealing with the outbreak this time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:00]
VAUSE: In the U.S., the recent decline in the number of COVID-19 deaths may soon come to an end.
The infection rate is trending upwards again and more cases will most likely lead to more deaths at some point.
A new forecast from the CDC says in just a few weeks, the death toll could rise to just over 230,000.
Right now, Johns Hopkins University reporting more than 210,000 deaths in the U.S., the highest count anywhere in the world.
Health & Human Services secretary, Alex Azar, though, is talking up his own vaccine timeline which is even shorter than the one President Trump has continually sproot (ph) and has been debunked by almost every health authority in the world.
CNN's Nick Watt reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Protests in New York City's COVID 19 hotspots. Some schools, stores, indoor dining were closed again today. Religious services limited.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, N.Y.: We can stop this challenge from turning into a full-blown second wave. And we must.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: A field hospital is about to open in Wisconsin. The Tennessee Titans now under NFL investigation after 23 positive tests and an unsanctioned practice.
Kentucky's mask mandate just extended another 30 days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): We're on pace, unfortunately, to have another record week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: In fact, these 11 states setting records right now, highest average daily case counts ever.
In just two states, home to less than two percent of Americans, average new case counts are actually falling, Alabama and Hawaii.
Latest national numbers, more than 50,000 new cases Wednesday, and more than 900 dead.
Meanwhile, on the much hoped for vaccine --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEX AZAR, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: Pending FDA authorizations, we believe we may have up to 100 million doses by the end of the year. Enough for every American who wants a vaccine by March to April 2021.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: The morning after the vice president said this to Kamala Harris --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE USA: Stop playing politics with people's lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: -- his boss, the president, is doing exactly that. Claims there's now a COVID cure. There is not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The Regeron was -- I view it as a cure not just a therapeutic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: He took an experimental antibody therapy made by Regeneron. Eli Lilly is developing something similar.
Both just applied to the FDA for emergency use authorization.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Are they going to get it?
TRUMP: Are they going to get it? Yes, they're going to get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT: That decision must be apolitical. The president still playing politics with people's lives. Again and again.
Now down in Miami-Dade, Florida, they opened schools in person earlier this week. Just had their first confirmed case, an elementary school kid.
They have apparently traced all the contacts, everyone is quarantining for 14 days who's been in contact with this infected child. They apparently sanitized the school overnight.
[01:25:00] There will be cases as schools reopen. The question is can authorities keep a lid on those cases?
Nick Watt. CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The rate of infection varies a lot country by country.
This graph shows the trend lines for new cases per day. Europe is yellow showing a sharp rise in recent weeks. Asia in blue beginning to see a fall. The others are all relatively flat.
On a per capita basis, the United States in red clearly out in front followed by Latin America and Europe, regularly even on a per capita basis. Africa and Asia are both much lower.
And looking across the globe at week-to-week trends, the countries highlighted in red and orange have seen the highest rise in cases compared to a week ago.
Those in light yellow are holding steady. Those in light and dark green are seeing cases decline.
And a closer look at Europe. Several countries are reporting over 50 percent increases in the number of coronavirus cases this week compared to the previous week. That includes Italy, U.K., Finland and Switzerland.
China has signed on to the COVAX vaccine agreement, that's an initiative led by the World Health Organization.
More than 75 countries have now committed to give funding to make a vaccine available to poorer countries though the U.S. and Russia have not joined. That is notable.
Meantime, Golden Week, one of China's busiest travel seasons, is over now.
Despite the current (inaudible) pandemic, the country's tourism ministry says around 637 million people travel over the holidays. There you go.
Now it's a product so lucrative that it's known as black gold but it's China's supply of human hair.
And is it coming from forced labor?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Ivan Watson investigates the supply chain of human hair products. The full exclusive report airs about two hours from now. You'll see it only on CNN.
In the meantime, we'll take a short break.
And when we come back. Breaking tradition for the first time in 175 years of history, a respected scientific journal endorsing a presidential candidate and calling out Number 45.
Plus the U.S. is rolling out new sanctions on Iranian banks. Critics say this could have disastrous consequences that are not part of the plan. We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:29:52]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause.
Well, Donald Trump is planning a campaign rally in Florida on Saturday after the White House doctor said it was probably ok. Important questions about the U.S. president's coronavirus infection remain unanswered. But Trump's personal doctor says the president is stable and has completed his therapy.
Meanwhile, Trump says he will not take part in a virtual debate with Democrat Joe Biden which is scheduled for next week. The third debate still planned for October 2second.
A former senior health official with the Trump administration, who was charged with developing coronavirus, says Trump's COVID response has been reckless, and deadly. Rick Bright says he was raising the alarm early, but those warnings were ignored. And he spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK BRIGHT, FORMER U.S. PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS CHIEF: 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 is getting so we can learn from that so others 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 is doing this soon after knowing they are infected. We wouldn't want someone out of the hospital bed with these types of experimental therapies right now. So he is leading with a very bad example for the entire world actually.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And how dangerous could that be, theoretically?
I mean he is surrounded by, frankly, not a lot of guardrails. The people like General Kelly and General Mattis, and others have long gone. And I don't know that he has anyone in his orbit who can tell him no, frankly. What does it mean if he is not thinking rationally, because of the medication he's on?
BRIGHT: It's very dangerous. He's in charge of a lot of things and makes a lot of important decisions for our countries and for the world actually. Now, if he's not in the right sound mind to make those decisions rationally, then he could be very reckless for our country and for the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well Bright was demoted earlier this year to a position within the National Institutes of Health, and this week, he quit.
Some of the world's most prestigious medical journals have never endorsed -- or condemned a political candidate, until now. Back in May, the British "Lancet Medical Journal", slammed President Trump's response to the pandemic. The editorial went as far as urging Americans to vote Trump out, saying, quote, "Americans must put a president in the White House come January 2021 who will understand that public health should not be guided by partisan politics."
And just this week, The Scientific American's" board backed Joe Biden. The medical journal has never endorsed a candidate before. The editors wrote, "When it comes to the response to the largest public health crisis of our time our current political leaders have demonstrated that they are dangerously incompetent. We should not abet them and enable the deaths of thousands of more Americans by allowing them to keep their jobs.
Joining me now, is Laura Helmuth, editor-in-chief of "Scientific American", She's with us from Washington D.C. Laura Helmuth, thanks so much. Good to see you.
LAURA HELMUTH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN: Thank you for having me.
VAUSE: Ok. So "The New England Journal of Medicine" in over 200 years of publication has been nonpartisan. It was the same for your publication "Scientific American" in its 175-year history. Back in May, the British medical journal, very prestigious, "The Lancet", also wrote an editorial, this one calling for Trump to be replaced.
You know, these things don't happen by accident. So what's the sort of the common fear or feeling out there amongst the scientific and medical world when it comes to the people who work there? Is there a feeling of it under siege in a way when it comes to the Trump administration?
HELMUTH: Absolutely. And it's been that way throughout the administration. It started early on that there was a rejection of science, rejection of experts, dismissal, you know, sharing of conspiracy theories.
This has been happening throughout the Trump administration. But since the coronavirus pandemic started, it's just gotten so much worse and the consequences have just been catastrophic.
So, you know, all these journals and magazines and individual scientists who really haven't participated much in politics before, are saying this is terrible. It's terrible for the future of the world. It's terrible for the research enterprise. It is terrible for health. And we all felt, I think, like we just couldn't not speak out this time.
VAUSE: I want you to listen, and I'm sure you've heard it before, but here is a recent example of Donald Trump, talking about the coronavirus, and his sort of assessment of medical treatment and cures. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think this was a blessing from God that I caught it. This was a blessing in disguise. I caught it, I heard about this drug. I said, let me take it. It was my suggestion. I said let me take it and it was incredible the way it worked, incredible. And I think, if I didn't catch it, we'd be looking at that like a number of other drugs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, there is a lot there which is just kind of, you know, off the wall. But just in general, when a president talks this way, you'd think it would be an easy decision for, you know, a journal like yours to come out and publish an editorial like this, you know.
[01:34:54]
VAUSE: But, you are the longest continually published monthly magazine in the United States. You count Albert Einstein among those who contributed articles there. So, you know, what were the difficulties here? What were your fears about the consequences?
HELMUTH: Yes. I think the biggest fear was science has become so politicized, particularly in the United States, but in a lot of countries around the world. We did not want to contribute to that. We didn't want to make people who consider themselves conservative, who maybe are Trump supporters. We don't want them to feel excluded from the scientific enterprise.
And also, you know, we have 175 year legacy that -- you know, you don't break that kind of tradition lightly. But when our editorial board met, you know, we took the decision very seriously but we immediately and unanimously decided that we really have to explain to the world that, you know, exactly how bad the Trump administration has been for science. You know, we could've gone for pages and pages, we just had a short editorial to do this in.
And, to say, that Joe Biden promises a return and an improvement we hope, to support for science, support for scientists, respect of expertise. You know, use of evidence to make smart policies that make the world a better place. So it was -- it was a serious decision but in a way, it was an easy decision. It was an obvious decision.
VAUSE: Of the three editorials, you know, if you look at "The Lancet", they focus on problems at the CDC during this pandemic, and Donald Trump's interference there. "The New England Journal of Medicine, it was all about failings and dealing with the coronavirus.
Your editorial though goes a lot further. Here's part of it.
"Trump also keeps pushing to eliminate health rules from the Environmental Protection Agency, putting people at more risk for heart and lung disease caused by pollution. He has replaced scientists on agency advisory boards with industry representatives. In his ongoing denial of reality, Trump has hobbled U.S. preparations for climate change, falsely claiming that it does not exist.
So we touched on this a little earlier, but if Donald Trump wins a second term, continues on that path, what does our future look like?
HELMUTH: Oh, it's grim. I mean you know, first things first, this pandemic, the only way we're going to get any control over it is if we have reliable, honest, open information. And we can't trust anything that comes out of the White House.
And increasingly, we cannot trust the CDC or the FDA or NIH to be able to share their science freely and openly -- instead, you know, without White House interference. So they are really muddling, you know, the first rule of public health is be honest, be open, tell people what they need to know.
And instead of doing that, they're sharing misinformation. They are stoking xenophobia, spreading conspiracy theories. So, you know, pandemic will get worse if this continues. You know, there is no chance of beating it if we have this kind of lack leadership or misleadership at the top.
But climate change I mean we're seeing this year, there are wildfires all over the world. Hurricanes -- we're about to hit a record-breaking hurricane year and, you know, there's variability and there are a lot of factors for any natural disaster.
But climate change is exacerbating things in exactly the way scientists have been predicting for decades. So we're already seeing it now and we need to take it seriously. We need to, you know, act urgently to change our energy infrastructures just so that we have a chance of making this catastrophe less catastrophic.
VAUSE: Laura Helmuth, thank you and the board for speaking with that editorial. And thank you for being with us.
HELMUTH: Thank you so much.
VAUSE: The U.S. is targeting Iran with new sanctions focusing on the financial sector. Critics say this could have unintended consequences though, in particular restricting access to medical supplies, much needed to try and slow the spread of the coronavirus in Iran which is seeing an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients.
Live, now CNN business emerging markets editor, John Defterios, has that handled today. John, a bit late in the game isn't it? I mean what, a couple of weeks out from the election? What impact will this have?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes. John, you know the football term "piling on" in U.S. football where the whistles blows and players could come in and do a kind of a late hit or pile into the big scrim there.
That's kind of what we're seeing here because this is less than a month until the election and the implementation of these sanctions would take up to 45 days.
So what we are looking at here is sanctions against 18 Iranian banks to limit their ability to trade in U.S. dollars, so it is serious.
Let's look at the two camps. Mike Pompeo, the Secretary of State for the United States wants to apply maximum pressure, this has been his narrative for a long time, calling the regime corrupt, and not unwilling to help the people.
And his counter part, the foreign minister Mohamed Javid Zarif saying this is a crime against humanity. And those who are pushing it too will be punished.
Some are suggesting it's making the region here, then I'm in still in the middle east, much more tense. And there's reasons because of the economic pressure. We've seen the GDP drop by a quarter, John, since the U.S. sanctions have been into place. So there unilateral sanctions, by the way. Their oil revenues are just a third of what they were since 2018.
And you have this really dangerous scenario where inflation is spiking up because the currency is falling. And it puts that pressure on the Iranian people, not the regime. No body really sees in this region the regime getting toppled, but the Iranian people are suffering. I've even heard in the last 24 hours, that the street crime has gotten much worse in the country at the same time.
And what the Trump administration is trying to do is limit the influence on Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, by the Iranians.
But many are really concerned that it will have the opposite impact, as they put the screws on the Iranian economy by the Trump administration.
VAUSE: John (INAUDIBLE) here is what -- and it's all about the stimulus talks which seems to be going nowhere still, maybe not, we don't really know.
The stock market seems pretty good about everything but where are we right now in this whole process?
DEFTERIOS: Well, I think investors believe that we'll get a deal eventually, right. But it is, as we were describing on CNN's digital overnight. Head spinning, 48 hours because at one side of the debate, we hear the president is open to a piecemeal approach, and then he says I want the entire deal.
But this is almost like, if you take a look at, Trump- Nancy Pelosi, as the head of house of representatives as speaker, drama playing out every single day. But we have to get down to the numbers here, John and boil it down.
$2.2 trillion is the package that has been passed through the House. We have the White House now kind of coming closer to that at $1.6 trillion according to our sources in Washington. And the Senate Republicans were never serious because they have about a half a trillion dollars on the table, and they don't even like the package that the White House has put forward. They're very worried about the deaths being piled on.
We will also have to worry about the 26 million American -- 1 in 6 in the United States in terms of working households -- that don't have the money to survive. We're looking at mass bankruptcies here on a personal level. And they're trying to inject capital into the small business as priority, increase the unemployment benefits back up because they phased out after the deadline on September 30th.
And we also have to think about what happens in terms of implementation. Even if it's passed John, does this get in right away to provide the relief that they are talking about?
It didn't have to look like this, John. And I'm still not certain what it looks like right now, because the White House has not made it clear.
VAUSE: Listen, a whole lot of other stuff, John. Thank you John Defterios for us there in Abu Dhabi.
Hundreds of protesters in Indonesia's capital of Jakarta have been arrested after clashes with police. at least 60 demonstrators and six police officers were injured on Thursday, during a third day of nationwide strikes over a new employment law which actually passed on Monday.
Critics say, the law scraps labor rights and environmental protections, but the government says it will creates jobs, as well as attracting foreign investment.
Mandatory evacuations are underway as Hurricane Delta approaches the U.S. Gulf Coast. A report on when Delta could landfall, and how strong it will be. That is next.
Also, Prince William is launching a multimillion dollar award for those trying to help the environment. We'll hear directly from the Duke of Cambridge when we come back.
[01:43:14]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: Storm preparations are underway as the U.S. Gulf Coast readies for Hurricane Delta, now a powerful Category 3 with wind speeds over 190 kilometers per hour. Evacuations are underway in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Delta is expected to make landfall late Friday, just six weeks after Hurricane Laura hit the same area.
Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is keeping track of Delta. He joins us now. You know, it got up to a category 4. It's back to Category 3 but it's still a pretty strong hurricane no matter which way you look at it.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is. You know, John. It's so important to note that the ocean has a long memory and what I mean by that, the water that in motion in an advanced of it regardless of those fluctuations in category or still in motion and are still rather high as far as the storm surge is concerned.
And of course, the storm itself has broadened out quite a bit to have made initial landfall across Mexico and the Yucatan peninsula. Still a category 3 -- a healthy category 3. But some signs that maybe weakening is on the horizon here and you'll notice the water temperatures in advance of that along the shelf region, which has cooler water, will kind of inhibit further growth as it nears land in the next 12 or so hours. So that is what we are hoping for. That's what we are looking at very carefully.
And you will notice six weeks ago to the day was when Hurricane Laura made landfall across this region. Estimations put about 12 billion dollars in losses across this area. In fact, some 100,000 homes are either severely damaged or destroyed. 8 million cubic yards of debris on the ground, of which about 6 and a half million are still scattered about this region.
Officials have kind of piled it up into corners of each neighborhood, but we are hearing from officials in the state of Louisiana that what's happening here is people are taking this more seriously, now. They're actually evacuating in higher numbers out of this region than they did with Hurricane Laura, which is great to hear.
And of course, all of that debris on the ground, in a track that is eerily similar here, is going to be projectiles and going to cause additional damage here if you are anywhere near this particular storm.
Here we go with the model comparison, side by side America on the left side of your screen, European on the right side. The European does want to weaken it a little further on approach but the American, the same general timeframe, here between the models again and we think at least a Category 2, potentially still a category 3. That landfall there Friday evening into southwestern Louisiana, near Cameron Parish.
And another interesting tidbit, across this region, over a million people lost power of which still several hundred people on the immediate coast are without power from six weeks ago from that last Hurricane Laura across this area.
Three storms have made landfall in the state of Louisiana. Delta would be the fourth. And of course, Storm surge with a storm that is about twice the size as far as the wind field (ph) is concerned, John, as it was across the Yucatan region of Mexico.
So the damage impacts are also going to be twice the size. So I believe we had Matt Rivers down there in Mexico, and he was in Playa del Carmen the coverage of this storm was really localized to that area but this particularly one not coming ashore, John. It will essentially be twice as wide so it will have far more area of impact along the coast of the state of Louisiana.
VAUSE: Pedram, we appreciate the update. Thank you.
With Hurricane Delta approaching the Gulf Coast, wildfires are burning out of control in the western U.S. The Glass fire in California's wine country has scorched more than 27,000 hectares according to officials there. Still spreading as firefighters battle multiple blazes across the state.
Intense fires and more frequent hurricanes helped inspire Britain's Prince William to create a reward for solutions to environmental challenges. It's called the Earth Shot Prize, one million pounds for five different people working to fix the climate crisis.
CNN's Max Foster sat down for this interview with the Prince.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PRINCE WILLIAM, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE: We've got this sort of prize. It's really at the most prestigious environmental global prize that's ever been on the environment.
And it's about turning the debate from all the challenge, from being pessimistic and negative into optimistic and hopeful. We very much feel that there is a lot of weight on this. And people feel, "How can I help? It's very difficult. What can I do?.
Well, we want to change the conversation and show that we can provide solutions, we can't (INAUDIBLE) and in 10 years time we can make our planet more sustainable and more prosperous and better for everyone.
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When people say this is just another campaign, what are you saying back? What's different about it?
PRINCE WILLIAM: So I think obviously we've learned a lot from other campaigns. We've talked to them, we discussed and discussed and used what they've done. But I think what's different about the prize is like I say it's this optimism. It's about the idea that we can find solutions and we can drive change.
I think rather than saying it's all doom and gloom and really there's nothing more we can do about it and end these headlines of sadly extinctions and problems in the environments around the world.
[01:49:57]
PRINCE WILLIAM: We want to say to people, listen, you know, over the next 10 years, if we can set these ambitious targets and these goals and inspire people to rise to the challenge, there are wonderful people doing incredible things around the world, all in small communities everywhere.
If one of them would have an amazing idea, we just scale that up and we can use that to really tackle some issues.
FOSTER: I remember your team was talking about a tipping point. I mean how do you describe that? I mean how bad is it?
PRINCE WILLIAM. I think according to the experts and what they're saying it really is the point of no return. We have 10 years to fundamentally fix our planet so that we can live in a better -- naturally we can live in a better and more prosperous World, and it's sustainable.
FOSTER: That debate which inevitably comes out at, you know, whether the science is there on climate change. What's your response to that at this time.?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Very much so. I mean the science is definitely there. It's irrefutable. And, you know, we need to make these changes. We have to make these changes. We want to live our lives like we do. Without having sacrificed the only thing is that we really, really enjoy.
We can change, we can develop, we can use the best of human ingenuity to tackle these challenges and fix them.
FOSTER: You've talked about how you were inspired in this work initially by the work of your father and your grandfather, undoubted pioneers in this area. How are you going to measure your success? And how would you sort of allow Prince George, for example, to inherit this?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Like you said, my grandfather started doing (INAUDIBLE) conservation a long time ago, WWF particularly. My father was ahead of his time talking about climate change. I don't want to be ahead of my time because we are already too late.
Now is the time to act. And my children looked to me and ask me lots of questions. They love the natural world and they want to know answers. They want to know why there is so much negativity and why everyone is so worried, and how bad can it get.
And I want to turn around to them and say we have solutions. We can fight our way through this, you know. Human ingenuity and human spirits of innovation is huge. We put a man on the moon. We can do this.
FOSTER: The genesis of this was before the pandemic -- the pandemic hit. How is the pandemic, from what you've seen, affecting the wider cause, and can you learn something from this process we've been through?
PRINCE WILLIAM: Obviously, going through COVID has been pretty horrendous for everybody. We've lost a lot of people, very sadly. I think what COVID has taught us is it's the first kind difficult time in my generation and younger generations have faced.
Obviously our generations have been through the war and there's nothing like that. it was truly horrendous. But this has been a tricky time for everyone, a very difficult time. I think if there is any kind of tiny ray of light that can come out of this, it's that people have been outside more. They've experienced nature. They've seen it. They've heard the birds because the airplanes have been less, the roads have been calmer.
And I hope people have that moment to connect and realize how special the green and natural world around them is. And so I think, if we can find the money and the collaboration, the willpower to tackle COVID, as we have done, we can do this for the environment as well.
FOSTER: Ok. Your Royal Highness, thank you very much indeed.
PRINCE WILLIAM: Thanks, Max.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, after the chaos and carnage of the first U.S. presidential debate, the VP debate seemed almost quaint and charming. Here is one of the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It got the remixed treatment.
SENATOR KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I'm speaking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The fly, the Vice President and how Democrats are cashing in.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:54:48]
VAUSE: Welcome back.
If the clamoring voices on the Internet speak the truth as to who's (INAUDIBLE), they wouldn't, the star on Wednesday night's vice presidential debate was not either of candidate. It was the fly in the room.
CNN's Jeanne Moos has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOOS: Whatever you say about the VP debate, you can't say what fly? The fly that landed is a great insult on Mike Pence's head was on everybody's lips.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My God, look at his hair. OPRAH WINFREY, TV HOST: The real winner from last night is the fly.
JIMMY KIMMEL, TV HOST: Mike Pence's fly just became the most popular Halloween costume of 2020.
MOOS: There were jokes about how fly has been diagnosed with COVID. And it embodied Ruth Bader Ginsburg, "Tell Pence I want him to know the fly, "it was me. The campaign sold 35,000 fly swatters with the words, "Truth over flies" winner a riff on their slogan, "Truth over Lies" -- that fly --
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Stand with me.
MOOS: -- RAISED $350,000 before the Swatters sold out
Mr. Fly, you get two minutes, uninterrupted. And that's almost exactly how long it stayed.
PENCE: Record investments in education and despite --
MOOS: And even with Stewart's repeated nodding --
PENCE: Not true.
MOOS: All that nodding is create fort the Pence's fly bubbly head now being rushed into production. There's plenty of stuff on (INAUDIBLE), for instance say, "pretty fly for a white guy" shirt, even Republican Rand Paul Coke the deep state planted a bug on it FEP. It was the depicted as fly dancer.
It got the remix treatment -- and of course, it created its own parody Twitter account, "If you could land on one person's head for five minus, who would it be?"
This cat --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, there's a fly on his head.
MOOS: Seemed just as captivated as the rest of us.
The fly finally departed, joining the ranks of other hero flies that landed on Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the owner of the Bates Motel --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not even going to swat that fly.
MOOS: -- was echoed in what "The Daily Show" called, "The Debates Motel" --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not even going to swat that fly. She wouldn't even harm a fly.
MOOS: The 2020 race sure has been kind of psycho.
Jeanne Mos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
A lot more CNN NEWSROOM after a quick break with my colleague, Robyn Curnow. Thanks for watching.
[01:57:25]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
