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Number of Cases of Coronavirus Deaths in the United States; Coronavirus Cases on the Rise in Parts of Europe; Latin America and Caribbean Top 10 Million Coronavirus Cases; Germany Sees Highest Infection Numbers Since April; Russia Sputnik Vaccine Undergoing Clinical Trials; President Trump Holds First Rally Since Diagnosis; Schools May Not Be Infection Hotbeds; Some Women in Pennsylvania Question Support for Trump; First Day of In-Person Voting In Georgia; California Orders Removal of Unofficial Ballot Boxes; Tropical Storm Nangka Shuts Down Hong Kong Markets; Tropical Storm Nangka Taking Aim at Vietnam and Southeast Asia; President Trump Back to Campaign Rallies; Supreme Court Nominee on Day One of Hearing; South Korea Take Masks Seriously; Tech Industry on High Demand; China Paranoid with the Virus; U.K. Failed to Follow Scientists' Advice. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 13, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. This is CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.
Just three weeks until the U.S. presidential election and the country's coronavirus pandemic is getting worse. The death toll has topped 215,000 people. And infection numbers are soaring in more than half the country. And with it, being October, the flu season is also heating up.
Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony fauci says the U.S. is in a bad place.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We are entering into the cool months of the fall, and ultimately the cold months of the winter. And that's just a recipe of a real problem if we don't get things under control before we get into that seasonal challenge.
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CHURCH: Dr. Fauci also warned against holding large public gatherings, especially political rallies. But that message was ignored by U.S. President Donald Trump who held his first campaign event since he was diagnosed with COVID-19. He told rally goers he feels fine, even joked about kissing the crowd.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I went through it. Now they say I'm immune. I can feel - - I feel so powerful. I'll walk into that audience.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The president's doctor insists Mr. Trump is not infectious and says he is tested negative over consecutive days. Many of his supporters are also dismissing concerns about the virus. One saying this at his rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe you won't get sick from it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't care if I do. Because I know I'm not going to die from it. That's been --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you know? How do you that with all due respect?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what, if I do, I do. I'm not afraid.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The president's political rival Joe Biden also held campaign stops, but unlike Mr. Trump, he wore a mask and practiced social distancing.
Meantime, Washington a Republican led Senate panel began hearings for the president's Supreme Court nominee. They defended their decision to move forward with the process despite strong opposition from Democrats. We'll have more on that in just a moment.
But first more details on President Trump's health as he returns to the campaign trail.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins has that from Washington.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was only hours before this rally that President Trump's doctor actually announced he had tested negative for the coronavirus, the first time we've been told that since of course the president's diagnosis.
And in this memo Dr. Sean Conley said the president had tested negative for consecutive days using a rapid test, though he didn't say which days it was that the president had actually tested negative.
And we know that the White House has declined to say when the president last tested in a detective for his diagnosis. Something that Conley made no mention of in his memo. But this memo came out just hours before the president took the stage in Florida. He was there and spoke for little over 65 minutes or so. And at times
he sounded hoarse. But at others he talked about his diagnosis with coronavirus and said that he felt powerful. And talked about what his recovery has been like. And of course, as he's been doing now, claimed that he is immune.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: One thing with me, the nice part, I went through it. Now they say I'm immune. I can fell -- I feel so powerful. I'll walk into that audience.
(CROWD CHEERING)
TRUMP: I'll walk in there I'll kiss everyone in that audience. I'll kiss the guys and the beautiful women and the -- everybody. I'll just give you a big, fat kiss.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Of course, we know science says that what the determination on immunity is and how long it lasts is still very much out despite the way the president is spinning his own health. And though he tried to talk about coronavirus as if it was in his past, we know it's at the top of mind for voters.
And it even appeared to be so for some of the president's own advisers, including his chief of staff who doesn't typically wear a mask but was seen wearing a mask on this trip yesterday. Only hours after he refused to take questions from reporters on Capitol Hill because they asked him to keep his mask on.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
CHURCH: Well day two of the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings is set to begin in the coming hours. And it could be a tough day for Amy Coney Barrett who will be questioned by senators for the first time. It comes after an already tense first day of hearings.
CNN's Jessica Schneider reports.
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SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The floor is yours judge.
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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Amy Coney Barrett starting out her confirmation hearing, spilling out her judicial philosophy.
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AMY CONEY BARRETT, U.S. SUPREME COURT NOMINEE: Courts are not designed to solve every problem or right every wrong in our public life. The public should not expect courts to do so. And courts should not try.
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SCHNEIDER: The 48-year-old was clerk for late conservative Justice Anthony Scalia. And while she would sit in the spot of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, it's Scalia's seat she'll really fill.
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BARRETT: It was the content of Justice Scalia's reasoning that shape me. His judicial philosophy was straightforward. A judge must apply the law as it is written, not as she wishes it were.
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SCHNEIDER: Democrats immediately aired their disdain that Republicans are racing to fill Justice Ginsburg seat before the election.
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SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senate Republicans have made it crystal clear that rushing a Supreme Court nomination is more important than helping and supporting the American people who are suffering from a deadly pandemic and a devastating economic crisis.
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SCHNEIDER: Vice-presidential candidate Kamala Harris skip the in- person hearing to go virtual and slammed the committee for moving forward without mandatory testing.
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HARRIS: This committee has ignored common sense requests to people's safe, including not requiring testing for all members despite a coronavirus outbreak among senators of this very committee.
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SCHNEIDER: While Harris stayed in her office, Republican Senator Mike Lee was there in person without a mask despite having tested positive shortly after the White House event announcing Barrett's nomination about two weeks ago. Lee release a letter from the Senate physician today clearing to attend in-person.
While six of Barrett's seven children sat behind her, the political posturing played out for hours in front of her. Democrats warned Americans that their access to healthcare is at stake when the Supreme Court hears arguments on the Affordable Care Act on November 10th.
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SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): The president has promised to appoint justices who will vote to dismantle that law.
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SCHNEIDER: Republicans preemptively made Barrett's Catholic religion the focus, calling out any Democrat who makes Barrett's fate an issue, though no Democrat did.
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SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): When you tell somebody that they're too Catholic to be on the bench, when you tell them they are going to be a Catholic judge, not an American judge, that's bigotry. The pattern and practice of bigotry from members of this committee must stop.
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SCHNEIDER: Barrett meanwhile kept the focus on her family and her resume. Noting how she would be the only justice without an Ivy League degree.
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BARRETT: I would be the first mother of school age children to serve on the court. I would be the only sitting justice who didn't attend school at Harvard or Yale.
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SCHNEIDER: Monday's format kept things relatively tamed but it could get a lot fiery on Tuesday and Wednesday when all members of the committee will ask their questions. Democrats will stay laser-focused on healthcare. And we also know it's on the president's mind on Monday. He tweeted twice before noon saying that Republicans have a better plan, at a lower cost but we have yet to see any concrete plans from the president.
Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
CHURCH: Joining me now is Reid Wilson, he is a national correspondent for The Hill. Thank you so much for being with us.
REID WILSON, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, THE HILL: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: So about three weeks away from the election and just about 10 days or so after testing positive for COVID-19, President Trump was out on the campaign trail holding a rally in Sanford, Florida with more rallies planned in three other states. It's a message of course of business as usual, trying to put this virus behind him. Is that going to work given 60 percent of voters disapproved of the way he's handling this pandemic?
WILSON: Well, I don't think that the virus is ever going to be out of voters' minds. It has been front and center in absolutely everything that we've done for the last nine months as a community, as a nation. And it's not simply going to go away because a president wants to will it away. As a matter of fact, infections are rising once again.
Hospitalizations are rising in many states around the country. And we are heading into a fall and winter that can be really abysmal. We're going to be stuck back inside again. And those are exactly the conditions under which this virus spreads.
So, it's going to be troubling. And President Trump is taking a clear risk every time he hosts one of these forums, one of these big rallies. That one of the rallies themselves might become a super spreader event which would be a disastrous outcome for his campaign just as it was when his introduction of a new Supreme Court nominee became a super spreader event a few weeks ago.
CHURCH: Right. And new polls on Monday from the New York Times and Sienna College for likely voters in Michigan show Biden support at 48 percent, Trump at 40 percent. And then in Wisconsin, Biden is at 51 percent to Trump's 41 percent. What are those numbers tell you?
WILSON: Well, there are two things that should be troubling for President Trump in those two numbers, and in a lot of the surveys that we've seen recently.
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First of all, he is trailing in some of those blue wall states that he won back in 2016. Michigan and Wisconsin were critical pillars to his taking the White House why it's such a large margin as he did.
The other thing that trouble -- that should be troubling to the president's campaign is that those numbers that you read off for him are so low. It's not as if he's neck and neck with Joe Biden in the high 40's. It's that only 40, or 41 percent of people in these critical swing states say they're going to back him.
We're only three weeks out from election day, voters have tuned in, millions of voters have already cast their ballots. You know, if those numbers, if his numbers aren't 45, 46, 47, he's got zero shot at winning these swing states. He needs to improve dramatically. And the clock is ticking and running out very fast.
CHURCH: So, as you point out, all reputable polls show the president trailing his Democratic rival Joe Biden nationally and in some battleground states. But Democrats still fear a repeat of 2016 because of course it's the Electoral College that decides the winner.
Do you see any path to victory for Donald Trump? Because he thinks the polls look very good for him.
WILSON: Yes, and it's funny that you mention the Democrats. They have this collective feeling of what Biden's own pollster called PTSD about the polls being so wrong from 2016. I'd argue that the polls weren't that far off.
The big difference here between 2016 and today is that Hillary Clinton was leading Donald Trump. But she was in the mid-40s and he was in the low 40s. Today, Joe Biden is at or above 50 percent in a lot of these key swing states.
Trump does have a path. There are millions, tens of millions of votes still to be counted. And there are a lot of people who support the president to the very end. There's nobody in America who doesn't need a wealth or hate Donald Trump. There's not a lot of people in the middle there.
But the fact is his coalition is shrinking by the day, it seems. And Joe Biden is doing substantially better than Hillary Clinton did among some key demographic groups, among women, among suburbanites, among moderates, especially among college educated white people that she struggled to win over. Joe Biden is winning.
So that tells me that President Trump's path is difficult geographically and it's difficult demographically too.
CHURCH: And so, overall, how big a role has President Trump's handling of the pandemic played into Biden's lead over him in the polls? Because of course he has been struggling to make law and order the big issue. But apparently, voters doesn't care about that as much.
WILSON: Well it's funny you mention that. As we look at the surveys, on questions of law and order, more Americans actually trust Joe Biden to handle law and order issues than they do President Trump. Now, Biden's advantage on law and order issues is narrower than his advantage on coronavirus handling which is substantially larger than President Trump's margins.
But the fact is, I mean, it's as if the president has picked two losing issues. Everybody is focusing everything through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic, whether it's the discussion of healthcare, discussion of the economy, even discussion of law and order.
You know, a lot of these protests that are happening, people are talking about it in the context of the potential to spread the virus. Fortunately, we haven't seen virus -- the virus spreading through a lot of these protests.
But the fact is, I mean, this election is going to be a referendum on President Trump's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Unless there's some miracle in the next three weeks which spoiler alert, there won't be, then his handling of it is going to determine the outcome of this election. And that clearly does not work in his favor.
CHURCH: Reid Wilson, great to talk with you. Thanks so much.
WILSON: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Now to China where nine million people are being tested for coronavirus after the country reported its first new outbreak in nearly two months. This as other parts of Asia are just adjusting to life having mostly contained the virus.
And we have reporters covering the pandemic from across the globe this hour. Let's start with our Kristie Lu Stout with more on the virus across Asia and the South Pacific. KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Test rugby is back in New Zealand, so
to the fans, some 30,000 of them are cheering, sitting shoulder to shoulder with no masks in sight unless you count the face paint. A COVID-19 restriction in Wellington where the match was lifted last month.
But with so many sports events around the world being played with fewer or no spectators some wonder if a large gathering like this could set the country back. After being a model for coronavirus containment, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern encouraged fans to be vigilant.
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JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND: We want people washing their hands. And we definitely do not want you to attend if you are unwell. These are your extra public service now.
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LU STOUT: The reality across Asia for countries that have successfully contain the virus in the past is that they will have to do it again. China which has been largely virus-free since mid-August is facing a new cluster and will test the entire population of the city of Qingdao some nine million residents over the next days.
It's a mass response that just worked before, and one that may need to be used again especially since the country just wrapped up golden week, a holiday where the government says 600 million people travel some crowding into tourist sites.
In densely populated parts of India, which now has more than seven million infections, officials worry about its upcoming festival season which begins in less than a week because they say many people are tired of social distancing.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): People have become very negligent. They are stepping outside in roads without wearing masks. They are crowding markets. I guess only 40 percent of the people are using masks.
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LU STOUT: Australia, which still one of its largest cities, Melbourne, under lockdown says it is in talks with nations like South Korea and Japan to reopen travel as infections in these places level off.
And while there are signs of progress around the region, confirmed cases in Myanmar have shot up in just a few hundred two months ago to nearly 30,000 today. An example of how fast things can change. The virus is still very active across Asia. And that is why China is
not letting its guard down. And the northeastern Chinese coastal city of Qingdao, a city of nine million people, the entire population is currently being tested for COVID-19 after only 12 people were detected with the virus at the weekend.
As of this morning three million people have tested negative for COVID-19 in that city. And just that follows other cities that have done similar mass rapid testing programs in China like Beijing, Xinjiang, Wuhan, and Dali.
This is part of China's pandemic containment success story. But there are concerns this time around China is just coming out of its golden week holiday season where over 600 million Chinese tourist traveled across the country, cramming into popular tourist sites like the Great Wall of China and all it takes is just one infection, one asymptomatic carrier to lead to exponentially more.
Back to you.
CHURCH: It is extraordinary response, though, isn't it? Kristie Lu Stout reporting there from Hong Kong. Many thanks.
And now we turn to South Korea. The country is mandating the wearing of face masks in crowded areas and public transport beginning next month. Health officials reported more than 100 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday.
Our Paula Hancocks reports from Seoul.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, South Korea from today this Tuesday is strengthening its face mask rules. Now, they're bringing in rules nationwide with travel already been here in Seoul in the capital and other cities that you have to wear a mask on all public transport, in places like cafes, restaurants if you are not eating and drinking. Things like wedding, parlors, rallies and medical facilities.
So, they are making sure that from today, everybody knows they have to wear a mask. There will be a 30-day grace period, we are being told, and then from November 13th, you can be fined for either not wearing a mask or even wearing it incorrectly.
The health officials give the example of wearing it just under the nose or even wearing it as a chin strap, which I'm sure we have all seen. Now this does come at the same time as social distancing rules are being relaxed as well.
They are now down to level one, which is the lowest level that they can be, which effectively means that all restrictions on the number of people who can gather indoors or outdoors has now been completely lifted. But they are bringing in the mandatory face mask wearing at the same time, to compliment it.
Now they also saying that things like churches can now have people coming to services just 30 percent capacity at this point. Sporting events, the same, 30 percent capacity, so really trying to have this jewel effort to make sure that the numbers do stay fairly low.
Now just today, we had numbers from yesterday for Monday, they were over 100 into triple digits for the first time in a number of days. But some of those were also imported as well. So, South Korea really trying to hammer down those numbers, and get them lower as we go into the winter. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Paula Hancocks, many thanks. Joining us live from Seoul.
Well, not every sector of the economy is suffering during this pandemic. Coming up, how big tech is winning while other businesses struggle to stay alive. Back with that in just one moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
Well, many businesses are now struggling to survive during this pandemic. But big tech is doing just fine as more people work from home and shop online. Amazon is getting a jump on the holiday shopping season with its prime day and there is a lot of anticipation for Apple's event in the coming hours where a new iPhone is expected to be announced.
Let's turn to our John Defterios. He has more on all of this joining us live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you again, John. So, what's expected to come out of big events for both Amazon and Apple today?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, I think the right context, Rosemary, there is bricks and mortar and then there are the tech giants, right? And I thin Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Tim Cook best reflect of Apple what has been transforming since COVID-19.
Just take a look at their stock prices with Amazon up 90 percent and Apple 68 percent year-to-date and even after that crash we saw in March. Why is it the case? Because they're efficient and there's big demand with this shift to work from home. That's the reality.
Prime day is Amazon day today. And they hope it puts them in a prime position for even the rest of the year going into the holiday season. Expectations are that the sales will go up for this prime day, 40 percent to $11 billion dollars.
It was delayed from July, but it may help them as we get into the second wave and people feel locked down and ready to spend at the same time. Also, in terms of the overall 4th quarter outlook for them, we are looking at a gain of 18 percent over the year. This is a stock that is already highly valued, but it seems to be knocking down barriers to new valuations as a result.
We have a case where Apple here is hoping for a major shift in the name of high-speed, Rosemary. It's coming out with the iPhone 12. So, for 5G technology, what I find fascinating here is that the United States and Canada are not quite ready for 5G, but the phones are coming out. And we have users that hold the handsets in North America, which is 1 percent access to 5G.
That is expected to surge to 74 percent by 2025, but Apple is not ahead of the game, it's behind players like Motorola, and Google, Huawei and Samsung as well. But it's not hurting them, because there is a loyalty to demand, and the final point really, I think is they see this as a super cycle. Up to 950 million handset holders of Apple are ready to change in and they have been waiting for the 5G experience even though the infrastructure is not there. That's what Apple is hoping for.
CHURCH: All right. John Defterios, bringing us up to date. Many thanks.
Well breaking news on the U.K.'s coronavirus fight now. It's been revealed that Boris Johnson's government ignored its own scientists. The information about a previous dial warning over increasing cases comes just hours after the prime minister announced a new three tier COVID alert system.
And our Nic Robertson is in London. He joins us now to bring us to date on what's been going on. So Nic, what was the warning from scientists exactly and when did they give it?
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, this is a group of scientists known here as SAGE. They collectively get together to give scientific advice to the government. The government says it's been following the scientific advice.
It's not always the same group of scientists, but it contains many of the -- many of the country's leading authorities on coronavirus.
On the 21st of September, the minutes of their meeting, they recommended that the government should institute a circuit breaker lockdown, a short lockdown of a number of weeks to bring down the infection rates. This was three weeks ago.
The government issued new guidelines following that, but it went for lesser and less stringent methods, not a full lockdown which the prime minister says he is opposed to. So after the prime minister's press conference last night, this group, SAGE, released the minutes of those meeting -- minutes of that meeting from three weeks ago.
Clearly, an indication that there is a sense of frustration among them or they are sort of wanting to defend their position against what may happen in the future. That they are uncomfortable that more, that tougher measures haven't been taken.
And I think we saw this during the press conference when a very senior member of SAGE, Chris Whitty, the England's chief medical officer, was asked a question, do the -- do these latest restrictions by the government -- are they enough? This was his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRIS WHITTY, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO THE U.K. GOVERNMENT: I am very confident that the measures that are currently in place are helping to slow the virus and these measures will help to slow it further. I am not confident and nor is anybody confident that the tier three proposals for the highest rates, if we did the absolute base case and nothing more, would be enough to get on top of this.
The base will not be sufficient. I think that's very clearly the professional view. But there are quite a lot more additional things that could be done within that, with local guidance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: So, this, the tier three, the very highest here, the highest rate of infection in the countries. One city Liverpool does fall into that category, that pubs casinos are closing down. Gyms are closing also.
But the prime minister the difficulty for him also is trying to bring along many of those, sort of local councils and authorities in the north of the country where infections are high, where he wants to work with them to bring down infections. And this is what Chris Whitty was talking about. Those bolt on additional measures need to be added on. Well the prime minister is trying to work with local authorities to do that.
But clearly, the country's scientists are not happy with what the government is doing so far. This is what appears to be the case. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Right. And of course, then the public aren't happy either if they go too far. It's a very difficult balancing act, isn't it?
Nic Robertson, many thanks, bringing us that live report from London. I appreciate it.
Well, the U.K. is not alone. We are also seeing a surge in cases in France, Russia, and Latin America. And we will have more on that when CNN Newsroom returns.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. has topped 215,000 coronavirus deaths. And it's closing in on 8 million cases. That's according to Johns Hopkins University. Still, the president is holding crowded rallies where he claims to have immunity.
Right now, more than 30 states are seeing a significant rise in cases. And several states are dealing with record high hospitalizations. But Europe is seeing a surge too. France and the Netherlands have recently broken case records. And Johns Hopkins records more than 1.3 million cases in Russia. Where officials claim to be vaccinating thousands already. Meanwhile, Latin America and the Caribbean have now topped 10 million
cases. CNN is reporting on this pandemic from around the world. Melissa Bell is in Paris, Scott McLean in Berlin and Fred Pleitgen in Moscow. We will speak to them in just a moment. But let's start with Matt Rivers in Mexico City.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Over the first signs since this pandemic began, the 33 countries that make up Latin America and the Caribbean are no combined, reporting more than 10 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Of all those countries, Brazil leads the way with more than 5 million confirmed cases and counting. Brazil is followed by Columbia, Argentina, Peru and then here in Mexico.
But when you look, you know, across the whole region, you look at this chart. It shows you the seven day moving average of newly confirmed cases. You could see that number is still extremely high.
It hasn't really gone down below 60,000 cases per day consistently for a while now, and that is why the Pan-American Health Organization says it is still very concerned, not only about the overall number of cases, but also spikes in cases, including in places that have effectively managed outbreaks, places like Cuba and Jamaica.
There is a little bit of good news, though. We had heard from the Pan- American Health Organization saying that in terms of the rates of severe COVID illness, they are seeing that begin to fall a little bit. That means fewer hospitalizations, it means less people requiring intensive care, but still obviously, the situation remains quite grim in this part of the world.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Thanks, Matt. And now let's turn to Melissa Bell. She joins us live from Paris. So, Melissa, what is driving these cases in France?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We need only look in places like greater Paris, one of the worst hit parts of France. The incidents rate for younger people, 20 to 29 year olds compared to the general population. It is doubled, Rosemary. And of course this is happening in other European countries. That is driving up sickness rates amongst older people, the younger infecting the older. And that has of course consequences for ICUs.
There are now nationally more than 1500 people in ICU. Just to give you an idea of how fast it has risen. On September 1st, Rosemary, that figure was 26. That is how quickly it has gone in the positivity rate. It's 11.8. And that is extremely worrying.
And again, it is that question of areas like the greater Paris region, how their ICUs are going to go with the figures on the rise. The ministers here in France are going to be meeting with health officials this morning for an emergency meeting to look at the very latest figures and what could be done to bring these figures back under control. We will hear from the French president on Wednesday.
Government sources have been consistent in this. The French want to avoid a second general lockdown at all costs. But there are other measures that could be announced by the French president on Wednesday. And we understand are under discussion. Things like a curfew being installed for instance. Anything at this stage, to try and bring those numbers down, especially in the hardest hit areas, while avoiding the economic difficulty over what a second lockdown would bring. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Thanks, Melissa. Now let's bring in Scott McLean, live from Berlin. Scott, what is the latest from there?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary. Se, we are actually at the site of the testing center here in Berlin where the lines are quite long. You can see they stretch all the way down this block and these are people who are coming to get a test, because the number of cases has really started explode here in Berlin. In fact the rate of infection that they are seeing here is the highest that they have seen since April.
So, not only does the line stretch down that block, well, it also stretches down this block. And some of the people that I have spoken to in the brief time that we have been here say that they have been here for several hours right now.
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And you can see, it goes all the way down that end as well. And they expect to be here for several hours yet to try to get a test. Obviously these sites are limited in the number of tests that they can do per day. This is also the holiday break. The fall holiday break in Germany.
A lot of Germans would normally go abroad on vacation with things looking a little bit dicey, many were hoping to stay within the country and go on vacation, but even that is difficult right now, because many different German states have different rules as to who can come in and actually check into a hotel room.
A lot of different German states require even domestic travelers from hotspots like Berlin to have a negative coronavirus test in the last 48 hours. Other places require not only that negative test, but also a quarantine period once they arrive. And so, that is also driving up the demand for these tests.
So, tomorrow, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is going to be meeting with the Premiers of the German states and then she is expected to announce a new coronavirus measures tomorrow to try to really start to turn things around in this country. Rosemary?
CHURCH: All right. Scott McLean, live from Berlin. Many thanks.
And now we want to bring in Frederik Pleitgen. He joins us from Moscow. Good to see you, Fred. So, cases very high in Russia too. What are authorities doing about it and what is the latest on their vaccine?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Rosemary. You are absolutely right. The cases certainly do remain very high in all of Russia, specifically quite frankly, right here in Moscow. We are actually waiting right now for the Russian authorities, they usually announce the cases for the past 24 hours around this time. So we are keeping an eye on that. We will update that once we get those numbers.
But Moscow really remains the epicenter here in Russia. Yesterday they had about 4,400 confirmed cases by the authorities. That is around 13,600 cases for the entire country.
As you can see, what a big proportion Moscow is of that. The authorities here yesterday came out, because they were getting questions about that. The spokesman for the Kremlin saying that right now, Russia will not have to go and Moscow probably will not have to go on a full lockdown.
The Russians are saying the reason for that is some of the measures that they have taken against the pandemic so far, they are obviously have the physical distancing measures, which they say people really need to adhere to, but the Russians are also saying that they do have an additional amount of hospital beds, ICU beds to make sure that their health care system can cope with an extra influx of patients if that is to be the case with these new numbers, of course getting higher and higher here in the Russian federation.
As part of the vaccine is concerned, the Russians obviously are moving forward with that. It's been certified without -- a while ago, without going through those critical phase three trials. The Russians yesterday announcing that they are in phase three trials. That they have given a vaccine to about 12,000 participants so far. Unclear whether it is just one dose or also the second dose that is required in the Russian vaccine.
So, that is moving along, but that vaccine is not widely available here in Russia yet. It won't be for a considerable period of time. It was interesting, because the mayor of Moscow said only two days ago that yes, there will be a vaccine he believes on an industrial scale in several months, but for now, the Russians really need to (inaudible) especially really need to adhere to these anti-pandemic measures to make sure that they get through this very difficult time without any losses. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. Absolutely. Frederik Pleitgen, live from Moscow. Many thanks to you.
Well, in the United States, President Trump is flouting the virus that has killed more than 215,000 of his fellow Americans. He is also contradicting his own Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by claiming immunity. Even though the science on that is very unclear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When you are the president you can't lock yourself in a basement and say I'm not going to bother with the world. You've got to get out. And it is risky. It is risky, but you've got to get out. But it does give you a good feeling when you can beat something and now they say you are immune. I don't know for how long. Some people say for life, some people say for four months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Joining me now is CNN medical analyst, Dr. Leana Wen. She is an emergency room physician at George Washington University. Thank you, doctor for all that you do and for talking with us.
LEANA WEN, FORMER HEALTH COMMISSIONER, BALTIMORE: Always glad to join you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So, President Trump's doctor said Monday evening that he has tested negative for COVID-19 on consecutive days using an antigen test. And yet, this is the first we are hearing about any negative tests since his infection. What do you make of this and why wouldn't he take a more reliable PCR test?
WEN: That's exactly the right question. It does not make any sense at all that we are relying on the antigen test when that is not with the antigen test is for. And when there is a much more accurate gold standard test, the PCR test.
[03:40:00]
So, it leads you to wonder, did they get a result that they did not like via this more accurate test and then took this other test in order to try to hoodwink the American people?
CHURCH: It is a concern, isn't it? And of course, doctor, we saw the president hold a rally in Stanford, Florida Monday night where the COVID infection rate is around 10 percent. And where few of his supporters wore masks or socially distanced. How do you think he looked and what is your medical response to the president holding a rally at this time with more planned this week in three other states?
WEN: Look, I am glad that the president feels well enough to be holding these rallies. He wasn't short of breath. He actually looks like he is recovering well, which I am glad about, but I am very worried about the people attending this rally, not because of the president. I don't think there is a high chance that he is going to be infecting them, even if he is infectious, but they're in chance -- their chance of infecting one another.
Because large rallies, these gatherings of many people in closed settings where there are in close contact with one another without wearing masks, that is really the last thing that should be happening in the middle of a pandemic. And I sincerely hope that all of these individuals will consider themselves as having gone to a high risk event and will choose to quarantine themselves and get tested after the event.
CHURCH: Right. We will see if that happens, of course. But preliminary data from Brown University seems to suggest that schools are not the super spreaders of COVID-19 that was previously thought. I'm interested to get your response to that data, particularly when we know of many schools dealing with infections, having to send students and teachers home. How do you reconcile those results up against the reality we are facing?
WEN: To my understanding from the study is that they only looked at these self-reported cases by schools for students and staff who were infected. Not the secondary infections that resulted. And the reason that this is important is, so many children are asymptomatic or have a typical symptoms.
For example they might have G.I. symptoms and not your traditional coughing, sneezing respiratory illness, and by the time that illness is detected, it often is not affecting children but in those that they are around. The family members, or even one or (inaudible) from that. And so I think there needs to be a lot more research done to look at correlating for example, community spread with what is happening in the schools.
And until then, I completely agree that we should prioritize schools for in-person learning and try to do everything we can to reduce community spread so that we allow schools to come back for in-person learning, but we really need to also safeguard the health of not only the students, but the faculty staff and their families too.
CHURCH: Right. Yes. All parents, we want our kids back in school, but it has to be done safely, right? And doctor, the U.S. is averaging about 50,000 new COVID cases a day. And all we really need to do is wear masks. But that message is failing to get through to the American public.
We see it at these rallies where the president, and it's failing to get through despite the fact that thousands of lives could be saved if everyone wore masks. How do you get that message across and why is it not being received loud and clear?
WEN: It does take a significant cultural change, but we can do this. And part of what has been hampering our response all along is this mixed message. Instead of standing behind our scientists, we had our political elected officials frankly push scientists and science under the bus. We need everybody to be on the same page with this message and I think for all of us as individuals, we can do our part.
We could wear masks ourselves and be a role model for those around us. Also in public health, we talk about the trusted messenger. Well, you are trusted messenger to someone. It could be somebody in your family, somebody in your social circles whom may not believe in masks, but you can help to convince them that this is the right thing to do for our country.
CHURCH: Yes. We certainly, all have to be role models, don't we? Dr. Leana Wen, you are our role model. Thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it.
WEN: Thank you very much. CHURCH: In 2016, 50 percent of white women in Pennsylvania voted for
Donald Trump according to exit polls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What drew you to Donald Trump? Why did you vote for Donald Trump then?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For his celebrity. 100 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was the brand?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The image?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. Successful. Funny. He was funny. Like, he was funny, I love his show, the celebrity apprentice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: So, who are Pennsylvania women voting for this time around? We will take a look. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to be out there and be able to share my voice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So many people had sacrifice before us. SO it is almost as spitting in their face if we don't take the time to show our kids that they have this right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: People are turning out in record breaking numbers for early voting here in the U.S. State of Georgia. It has set a new record during its first day of in-person voting on Monday with more than 126,000 people showing up. Add to that, several weeks of mail-in voting and Georgia has more than doubled the number of ballots cast so far this year compared to 2016.
And you could see it there. Long lines stretched on for hours in some locations. Recent polls show the reliably Republican state is a statistical toss-up between President Trump and Joe Biden. There are also not one, but two U.S. Senate races on the ballot here with two incumbent Republicans trying to fend off Democratic challenges.
Well, President Trump heads to Pennsylvania for a campaign event in the coming hours. (Inaudible) his victory there in 2016, white women voters. So, what do they think of him now? CNN's Kate Bolduan went there to find out.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, we know Pennsylvania is a battleground state. And Donald Trump is facing an uphill battle there right now. One reason? White women. Some of this key demographic that helped Trump win the state back in 2016 are now rejecting him. And the reasons why our fascinating.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLLIE GEITNER, FORMER TRUMP SUPPORTER: I'm probably a good example of someone who has gotten through a lot of change in four years.
BOLDUAN: Hollie Geitner, a registered Republican is a working parent of two kids living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She voted for Donald Trump in 2016. And she wasn't alone. 50 percent of white women in Pennsylvania did the same according to exit polls.
What do you feel today about your vote four years ago?
GEITNER: I can tell you how I felt four years ago. Shame.
BOLDUAN: Do you regret your vote?
GEITNER: Where we are today? Yes. I do. I don't think this is the great again that everybody thought it was going to be.
BOLDUAN: So, Hollie, is voting for Joe Biden. And so is Nin Bell. What drew you to Donald Trump? Why did you vote for Donald Trump, Nin?
NIN BELL, FORMER TRUMP SUPPORTER: For his celebrity. 100 percent.
BOLDUAN: It was the brand?
N. BELL: It was. Yes.
BOLDUAN: The image?
N. BELL: Absolutely? Successful. Funny. I love his show the Celebrity Apprentice. Never missed it
BOLDUAN: Was there a moment when you decided I cannot support him anymore?
N. BELL: It was almost instantly.
BOLDUAN: It's not just outside the cities where suburban women are questioning their support for Donald Trump in Pennsylvania. It's even out here in Westmoreland County, rural Pennsylvania, consider Trump country. We are about to meet two of them.
JOAN SMELTZER, FORMER TRUMP SUPPORTER: She is older.
JULIE BRADY, FORMER TRUMP SUPPORTER: I am older.
BOLDUAN: Oh you are definitely sisters. [03:50:00]
Joan Smeltzer, and Julie Brady are registered Democrats. And both voted for Trump in 2016.
SMELTZER: I feel like have been duped. I got it wrong. It hurts my heart. I mean, it truly hurts my heart, because the things that I saw I did not take seriously enough.
BOLDUAN: Throughout the campaign, he was making sexist, misogynistic remarks. And then there was the Access Hollywood tape. How did you guys process and digest that, being out there and voting for him?
SMELTZER: It was not easy. I looked at myself and I think how could I do that?
BRADY: I feel like I did a disservice to women by voting for this guy.
BOLDUAN: Was there a moment in the last four years when you said I cannot do this again?
BRADY: The COVID pandemic. The way he handled it. That was the absolute last straw for me. He did not create the virus, but he kind of left us all in the dark guessing what was going on. And that was not fair to us.
BOLDUAN: Among the women we spoke to, the coronavirus, the president's handling of the pandemic, and the racial unrest following the police killing of George Floyd were the overwhelming driving issues.
GEITNER: George Floyd's killing was a pivotal moment for me. And when I read that he was begging for his mom, as a mother myself, it just brought me to my knees. And to see what has happened since, I feel like he has added fuel to flames of hatred, and that really bothers me.
BOLDUAN: Nin Bell, who registered as a Republican in 2016 just to vote for Trump in the primaries. Now protests weekly in her town just outside Philadelphia. Also met by groups she used to consider herself a part of. Trump supporters, setting up counter demonstrations.
N. BELL: I think Trump kind of thrives on that division. I've seen it in my own town.
SMLETZER: Integrity. That is what we are lacking.
BRADY: And accountability. Being the mom of a nine year old, that is one thing that I push with my son all the time, is you know, you made a bad decision, it's your fault, you learn from it and you move on. We have a president who, nothing that happens is ever his fault. It's always somebody else's fault.
BOLDUAN: And there are consequences.
BRADY: There are consequences. He's about to find them out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: The women we talked to of course don't speak for all women voters in Pennsylvania, but what they have to say and why show the uphill battle that Donald Trump is facing in this battleground state. The latest polling shows Donald Trump is trailing Joe Biden by 23 points among women in Pennsylvania. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Thank you so much for that, Kate.
Well, in California, election officials have ordered Republicans to stop using unofficial drop boxes to collect voter ballots. Several unauthorized boxes were found in at least three counties including one at a church.
Republicans leader say they are not doing anything wrong and claim they are simply giving people a chance to drop off ballots with someone they know and trust. But California law does not allow unauthorized vote by mail drop boxes, and officials have warned of legal action if they are not removed.
Well, the tropical storm is nearing Hong Kong after shutting down the stock exchange. We will have a live report from the CNN Weather Center after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:55:00]
CHURCH: Stock market trading has been shut down in Hong Kong as the city faces a major tropical storm. Our meteorologist, Karen McGinnis is tracking it for us at the CNN Weather Center. She joins us now from that studio in Atlanta. Good to see you, Karen. So, what are you seeing with this? Where is it going and how bad is this going to be?
KAREN MCGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, its impact is going to be fairly broad. It's not a very well organized system, but it is tapping a lot of moisture from the Pacific. A lot of deep moisture. So, that is throwing itself all the way into Hong Kong and to Hainan Island. This is where we are expecting the potential for heavy rain falls and gusty winds. There is already a level -- a typhoon warning alert. That is third from the top.
Right now winds associated with this is 75 kilometers per hour. Landfall, most likely on Hainan Island will be within the next six to eight hours. And we are looking at a very heavy surf here, we could see mudslides and landslides. It will move over into the Gulf of Tonkin and then across of Vietnam. That's going to be another problem with the flooding that we have already seen there over the past seven to 10 days.
This is Hue and we are looking at the Citadel there, in this very historic city and you can see the floodwaters surrounded this very historic building. And people are have been displaced. About 45,000 people have been moved from their homes. About 100,000 homes have been under water due to days and days of flooding.
There you can see people trying to cross a swollen river with their humble belongings. It is very treacherous. Already, this has claimed about 20 lives, they are bearing estimates. It is expected that number could go up. Here you see kind of the broad view of this beautiful city with the rivers that are swollen there.
And it does not look like this is going to be helped by what happens with our latest tropical system as it pumps in additional moisture. We have already seen some reports of as much as a meter and a half of precipitation here. But not just across Vietnam, also in to Laos and Cambodia. They've been affected as well, Rosemary? Back to you.
CHURCH: All right. Karen McGinnis, many thanks for staying on top of that. And thank you for joining us this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back in just a moment with more news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
