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Global Coronavirus Pandemic; Health Experts Warn against Herd Immunity Strategy; Early Voting Brings Long Lines, Record Turnout; COVID-19 Spike in U.K. Exposes Political Divisions; Thailand Bans Gatherings of More Than 5 to End Protests; U.S. Justice Department 'Unmasking' Probe Ends with No Charges; Music Label for K-Pop's BTS Makes Strong Market Debut; Long Lines, Early Voting Records with 20 Days Until Election Day; Obama on Trump's Call to Indict Him: 'The Allegations Are So Absurd'. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 15, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, tough pandemic restrictions are being reimposed across Europe, a resurgence of coronavirus is setting the daily number of infections to record highs and beyond.
And in the United States. Donald Trump, potential superspreader, tour rolls on as the record number of Americans goes on and some voters winning on and in lines and as the pandemic.
A second, wave more severe than the first sweeping across Europe and the Middle East. On Wednesday, Russia, Italy and Iran all recorded record spikes in new infections. With Iran seeing its highest death toll since the pandemic began.
Some of the worst affected regions of Germany are seeing a limit on social gatherings. Chancellor Angela Merkel is warning younger adults to follow the rules and of tougher measures if infection rates continue to rise.
Starting Saturday about a third of France's population is going to be on a 9 pm to 6 pm curfew, which will be in effect for at least 4 weeks.
And in the nation which leads the world in confirmed cases and deaths, President Trump continues to hold those big campaign rallies. Wednesday night he was in Iowa. Many supporters behind him are seen wearing masks.
But the Trump team has been placing those masked supporters near the president so they're seen on television, giving the impression that almost everyone there is wearing a mask. In reality that isn't true. Of course, the president himself has had the virus and we now know his
youngest son, Barron, tested positive at one point. The president referred to that during his rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Barron Trump, you know, he had -- he had the corona 19, the China virus. He had it for such a short period of time. I don't even think he knew he had it. Because they're young and their immune systems are strong and they fight it off 99.9 percent. And Barron is beautiful and he's free.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: All this comes as the U.S. steadily approaches 8 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. As Nick Watt reports, most of the country is once again trending in the wrong direction.
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NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A field hospital opened outside Milwaukee today.
Why?
GOV. TONY EVERS (D-WI): Over the last month or hospitalizations have nearly tripled. Now at an all-time high in Wisconsin, similar situation in these five states, record numbers in the hospital now.
DR. MARK MCCLELLAN, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: Maybe people are just getting a little bit tired of having to deal with a pandemic. The trends are very worrisome.
WATT: Average new COVID-19 case counts rising in a staggering 36 states, not a single state moving in the right direction.
Florida once more on the rise. Saturday, the Gators football coach was bullish.
DAN MULLEN, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA: Hopefully the university administration decides to let us pack the swamp for LSU next week.
WATT: That game now postpone their entire football program paused, 21 players have tested positive.
Across this country, we're averaging more than 50,000 new cases a day for the first time in two months.
DR. JONATHAN REINER, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: For the short term we have to hunker down.
WATT: There are masks, distancing, regulations in many public places. But we're spreading the virus at small family gatherings, says the CDC director. Got to be vigilant at Thanksgiving.
REINER: Frankly, I'd rather do it a Zoom Thanksgiving with people that I love than expose them to something that might kill them.
WATT: Some new info about this deadly virus, immunity after infection can last months according to three new reports. Good news for the vaccine hunt and good news if your blood type O, you might be at less risk of infection or severe illness, according to two new studies.
Meanwhile, some White House advisors reportedly pushing a herd immunity strategy, protect the elderly but let the virus spread amongst the young. The aim effectively immunize enough people to slow spread.
WILLIAM HASELTINE, FORMER PROFESSOR, HANARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: I'm extremely concerned that the President is being advised by people who speak of herd immunity. Herd immunity is another word for mass murder.
WATT: In New York, they're playing life or death whack a mole right now. A sweet 16 on Long Island just spawned nearly 40 cases. And in the city --
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: Were threatened with a full blown second wave in New York City.
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DE BLASIO: If that happens, the entire city would have to go back to the restrictions we knew in March and April.
WATT: And here's another harsh reality check.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): This is not going away anytime soon. I think best case scenario we're looking at another year by the time even if everything works out well.
WATT: Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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VAUSE: Joining us this hour is Dr. William Schaffner, a professor with the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt Medical University Center.
Doctor, it's good to have you.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT MEDICAL UNIVERSITY CENTER: Good to be with you. John
VAUSE: As we often do with experts like yourself we begin with correcting the U.S. president, who made this false claim at one of his superspreader events recently. Here he is.
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TRUMP: It gives you a good feeling when you can beat something and now they say you are. Mean I don't know for how long. Some people say for life. Some other people say for 4 months.
I mean for. Life I don't think anyone is saying that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In fact 3 recent studies found that natural immunity can last for a matter of months, maybe 7. Months recently there has been more of a focus on reinfection and what that means for a vaccine.
SCHAFFNER: Yes, John. That's something now on our. Plates we have had enough people infected, once and now the virus is still spreading widely. We are beginning to get reports, well-documented reports, scientifically, of clear second infections.
That's very bothersome. We don't know how common that is. We certainly don't want it to be common but we will be keeping an eye on that going forward.
VAUSE: And with that in mind, the White House seems to be embracing the concept of herd immunity, letting the virus run free almost unchecked, bury the dead later. There are reports administration officials met with representatives from The Great Barrington Declaration, which claims to be a group of scientists urging governments to support herd immunity.
When it comes to herd immunity, in the past it would refer to using vaccines to boost overall immunity levels within the population to a point where pathogen has no way to spread. That's what happened with measles 20 years ago.
But if there's no lifelong immunity and no vaccine, is herd immunity possible?
SCHAFFNER: It doesn't sound that way at all. This is really a Darwinian notion. We will just let the virus spread. Do as much damage as it possibly, can until there are no more people to infect. I mean, that's outrageous. We want to intervene to prevent as much illness as we can.
My goodness. If we just let this spread and do its work unimpeded, we will have literally millions of deaths. That's a number so large we can't get our brain around, it and talk about the economic implications that would have. If we had so many people dying. It would be awful. Beyond awful.
VAUSE: You talk about the number of. Dead it's a pretty simple calculation, because right now in the U.S., less than 3 percent of the population have been affected by the coronavirus. Herd immunity is looking at a level of 60. Percent.
So it's really quite simple math. It's 20 times 200,000. That gets up to the 4 million mark. And that's what we were talking about at the very beginning of this pandemic if we didn't do anything at all. And that terrified everybody at the time.
Why isn't it terrifying now for so many other people? SCHAFFNER: It certainly terrifies me. I can't believe that anyone would seriously propose something like this. They must be either misinformed or, as we used to say in the '60s, they're on something.
VAUSE: The open letter from The Great Barrington Declaration was reportedly signed by Dr. I.P. Freely, Dr. Person Fakename and Dr. Johnny Bananas. By contrast, I would like you to hear what the real experts are saying about what we can expect from the pandemic in the coming months.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're 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.
RICK BRIGHT, FORMER DIRECTOR HHS: This winter, we are going to have an explosion of cases of coronavirus. This winter we're going to have an explosion of influenza. It's going to overwhelm our health care system again.
DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: What we did in the spring is not going to work in the fall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And what is striking is how different that message is to what we are hearing from the U.S. president, who seems to prefer the advice from Dr. Johnny Bananas.
SCHAFFNER: Well, that is beyond my understanding but to talk about this seriously, we are really anticipating this fall and winter an further increase in coronavirus infections. Which is spreading now rather unimpeded in many states. And think of it.
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SCHAFFNER: As we all spend more time indoors, I'm protected, close to each other and then on top of that we anticipate the arrival of our old nemesis, our annual flu epidemic, which, in some years, all by itself, really strains the capacity of our health care system.
To have the 2 of them functioning simultaneously, a twindemic, it's been called, is a really frightening. I'll take the moment to encourage everyone to get their flu vaccine. That's something that we can do something about right now and now is the time to get vaccinated.
VAUSE: In many places across the States it's free of charge. That's a good idea. Doctor William Schaffner, thank you, appreciate it.
SCHAFFNER: My pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: In-person voting starts Thursday in the state of North Carolina, joining 20 other states where ballots are already being cast for president. But 2020 is seeing an early voter turnout like never before. More than 15 million Americans have already voted. Election Day is still 19 days away. CNN's Pamela Brown has the latest.
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PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More early voting marked by more long lines, glitches, a record turnout in many locations by determined voters.
TRACE JACKSON, TEXAS VOTER: It's my civic responsibility and I always vote.
BROWN (voice-over): Early voting is happening across the U.S., with more states joining by the day: a big, first day in Tennessee, hours- long lines and a fresh glitch in Georgia and Texas where day one shattered records. Harris County, Texas had the highest early voting turnout ever.
But officials in the neighboring county of Fort Bend are adding extra hours of voting after systems problems.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just want to let everyone know that we are aware of some glitches in our voting system.
BROWN (voice-over): The glitch? The wrong date was put into the voting system and lines didn't move.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was just disappointing to see some people left. I'm wondering, are those people going to make it back in to vote or are they just not going to vote this year?
BROWN (voice-over): Voter enthusiasm was high in Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is generational election. People have to get out and vote.
BROWN (voice-over): And the long lines did not deter voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the primary, we waited about four hours. But we're willing to do whatever it takes to get the vote in.
BROWN (voice-over): The process, in part, slowed due to the pandemic. Machines are wiped down between voters to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Another issue is not enough bandwidth to process all of the information going through the system, affecting some voting locations Wednesday.
Despite it all, Georgia's secretary of state announced 10 percent of Georgia's 7.6 million voters already cast their vote.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: To sum it up, Georgia voters are excited and setting records every hour.
BROWN (voice-over): And in battleground Ohio, early in-person voting tripled from 2016.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's rekindled like a spirit of democracy in a lot of people. It has in me because I've missed votes, you know. So -- but I'm not missing today.
BROWN (voice-over): That spirit of democracy felt nationwide.
BROWN: A new Pew Research survey found deep divisions in confidence with the election process between Trump and Biden voters.
Seventy-six percent of registered voters who support Biden are confident that the country will know the winner of the presidential election after all the votes are counted, while a much smaller majority of Trump supporters, 55 percent, are confident that they will have a clear sense of who won after all the votes are counted. And just 13 percent of those Trump supporters say they are very confident -- Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political. Analyst and is also the senior editor for "The Atlantic" and he's with us from Los Angeles.
Ron, good to see. You now according to the U.S. elections project, a record setting 15 million votes are already in. Either by in-person early voting or return mail.
As someone who's covered presidential elections since Reagan versus Mondale 1984, Mondale having just one state, what does that say to you about the mood of the electorate and Trump's chances for a second term?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: First of all by every measure we're seeing unprecedented engagement for the American election. You probably saw Joe Biden announce they've raised $383 million in the month of September after raising $362 million, each setting a record in August, from millions of grassroots donors is a reflection of how much intensity there is around this election.
It's entirely possible there will be north of 150 million people voting in November. It's possible that the turnout, as a share of eligible voters, will be the highest since before women had the right to vote.
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BROWNSTEIN: Now normally in the past, you would say it unequivocally benefits Democrats. But President Trump has shown a capacity to turn out his voters as well, especially the non college white voters.
On the other hand if you look at that 15 million, right now the turnout is through the roof in many of these urban counties that have become Democratic strongholds in Texas. A million people voted on the first day and the Texas Democratic Party models (ph) about 60 percent of them are Democrats.
We're up to 300,000 people in Harris County alone which is Houston has 1.3 million in 2016. How high could that go this time?
VAUSE: And this is a -- there is enthusiasm on both sides. And that's going to see an incredible turnout, a record like never before.
And some Trump voters are -- seem OK with dying to support the president. Listen to this
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. the COVID, it's kind of dangerous and it can be for some people, but for the most of us, we're going to go on with life, you know. If I'm going to get sick and die, I guess it's my turn. I trust God and I'm not scared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: You know, Team Trump seems all cult with campaign right now. But in areas that simply vote Democrat, what we're seeing is each incredibly long lines, you know, day long wait, drop boxes have been removed to the point where there is only in these huge counties.
Is this now bringing the Republican strategy into focus in man ways -- motivate Trump's base and if that motivates the Democrats, then make it harder for them vote.
BROWNSTEIN: Look, suppression has been a cornerstone of the Republican strategy really since 2010 with the way the voter ID laws that were passed. It's gotten more and more overt since the Supreme Court led by John Roberts in 2013 struck down a critical provision of our voting rights act in the Shelby County decision. And by and large, Republican =s have chosen a strategy, they're trying suppress the vote of diverse and metro America rather than trying to appeal to it.
But the story so far, John is not only suppression. It is intention. I mean if you're talking about 300,000 people already in one county in Texas voting. And a million on the first day. And what do we see in Georgia, 750,000 already? There are a lot of people who are making their way through these obstacles to vote. And you know, what you saw from those Trump supporters, does reflect about a third of the country. You know, that it's saying let's just move on and it is what it is, as the president says.
The problem is that it is a third of the country and each time, he does one of these rallies as he gets tonight in a state in Iowa where the caseload is rising precipitously and he held a rally without masks, without social distancing -- that is the message he sends to the state. More than anything he says on stage, the fact that that rally says to the voters there that no matter how long he is president, no matter how many people get sick, no matter how many people die, he is not going to take this seriously
And again, that leaves him on the short side of public opinion. VAUSE: And it was, you mentioned this, it is notable that as many of those supporters arrive for that rally in Des Moines, Iowa they were greeted and reminded by this anti-Trump billboard. It was flashing -- this is a super spreader event go this way.
Yet again, you know, some of the president's supporters, that just doesn't seem to mean a whole lot. Listen to this.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any health concerns with COVID going around? And being at a large event? What do you think about that, Sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, I care about people. I don't want to give it to him if there is a chance you might be carrying it around myself. I'm not worried. I figured the sooner we all get it, the sooner we'll be done with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Which unfortunately is not right, but you know, Trump carried Iowa by 10 points in 2016. This time it's a toss-up state. Notably though, down ticket Democrat Theresa Greenfield leading Republican senator Joni Ernst there. Is this a snapshot of the overall situation with the Trump campaign if you look at it nationwide?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. By and large. I mean if you look at the Rust Belt states, particularly the three that made him president -- Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania but also Iowa and Ohio, he is not performing nearly as well as he did in 2016 among white voters without a college degree.
And obviously he's continuing to erode among white voters with a college degree. The movement that we saw beginning in big numbers in 2018.
In the Sun Belt, he's holding those non-college whites a little better and there is challenges that the diversity of the electorate just grows every four years.
But right now, he is really looking uphill in those three critical states -- Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. That tipped him the election. If he's even in Iowa and he's even in Ohio which are more Republican than the other three, it kind of gives you an idea of where those battlegrounds are.
Whatever else you say about Joe Biden, he is laser-focused on those three states. I mean he is a 77 year old white guy. The job he was hired to do by the party was not so much to turn out younger, non- white voters in the Sun Belt but to win back some of those right of center, blue collar and even white collar voters in the Rust Belt.
And look at his travel, look at the money.
[00:20:00] BROWNSTEIN: He is, unlike Hillary Clinton, really intently focused on those three states -- Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin with Florida and Arizona kind of next in line.
VAUSE: But it also seems to be a master class here in that old saying, there's no need to murder your opponent when they're committing suicide.
Ron, it's good to see you. Thank you.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still ahead the nation divided, the U.K. prime minister. What he did and did not do in response to a second wave of the pandemic.
Also the race for the global vaccine, Russia says it's got another contender.
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VAUSE: Tough new pandemic restrictions will soon be in place in Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel appealed to younger adults to show some restraint. Party less today to make it safer tomorrow. CNN's Scott McLean reports.
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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, met with the premiers from this country's 16 federal states on Wednesday afternoon.
And several hours after she was expected to address the German press she finally held a late night press conference where she announced that new restrictions, the more uniform restrictions, that the group had agreed upon.
Right now coronavirus rules and restrictions across states are a real patchwork with not a whole lot of consistency and so primarily this group was trying to address that.
So what they agreed on is that any place that's deemed to be a virus hotspot, that reached the threshold that they've set out which includes most large cities in this country will have to close down bars and restaurants by 11:00 p.m. There will not be any alcohol sales allowed after that.
In these virus hotspots there will also be limits on social gatherings to just 10 people in public spaces, two households in private homes.
They're going to see how those measures work out over the next 10 days or so.
But if the numbers of new infections doesn't start to flatten, Merkel made quite clear that she is prepared to try to bring in even stricter measures to get a handle on this virus.
The chancellor called this fall a decisive, critical period and said that it is very, very important that everyone continues to contribute. Pointing out that Germany has been a lot more successful in tamping down the virus than many of its European neighbors.
But of course, they're just hoping that it stays that way -- Scott McLean. CNN, Berlin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: New restrictions are being brought out against France to control a surge of daily infections. The president Emmanuel Macron announced the Paris region and several major cities will have a nightly curfew from 9 pm to 6 am. That starts on Saturday.
Restaurants are not having more than 6 customers per table, many people were holding private gatherings, sometimes 50 or 60 people and that had to stop. For now the curfew's only set to last for 4 weeks. But Macron says the government will try to get an extension from Parliament until December 1st.
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VAUSE: The second wave of the coronavirus in the U.K. is getting even more pressure on Boris Johnson's leadership. Lawmakers are odds over the best way forward. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz reports.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: A spike in coronavirus cases across the U.K. has exposed political divisions and ignited a firestorm of criticism over Boris Johnson's strategy to stem the rising infection rates.
The prime minister faced off with the opposition Labour Party leader in Parliament. She called for a circuit breaker, a short, sharp but nationwide lockdown. This was the prime minister's response.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Let's try to avoid the misery of another national lockdown, which he would want to impose, as I say, in a headlong way.
Let's work together. Let's work together, as he was prepared to do, to keep kids in school, who he would now yank out, yank out of school in a preemptory way. Keep our economy going and keep jobs and livelihoods supported in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ABDELAZIZ: Each of the United Kingdom's four nations is taking a different strategy to stem the rise in coronavirus cases. Wales announced it will ban travelers from entering the region from coronavirus hotspots in England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The first minister of Scotland quickly voiced her support for the Welsh government's decision, saying this is a public health decision, not a political one.
Northern Ireland, on the other hand, will be closing schools from Monday and pubs and restaurants will have new restrictions starting Friday.
Here in Liverpool, the first city to fall under England's new COVID alert system, restrictions are in place that shut down pubs, bars, casinos, gyms and households are banned from mixing together indoors.
This was also met with resistance by Liverpool's local city council. Officials here are saying prime minister Boris Johnson's government has failed to communicate and coordinate their strategy. All of these debates taking place as the number of coronavirus infections continues to rise across the United Kingdom -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Liverpool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Now to the latest on a vaccine. Russia has a registered a second candidate called EpiVacCorona, produced in Siberia. The next phase of clinical trials will involve 40,000 volunteers.
Russia's first vaccine, Sputnik 5, is now in stage 3 trials.
Just ahead unprecedented protests against the monarchy and government in Thailand. Live from Bangkok when we come back.
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VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
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Thailand's government is banning governments of more than five in Bangkok, not because of the pandemic but to try and end months of pro- democracy protests.
The announcement brought thousands to the streets of the capital on Wednesday, an unprecedented show of defiance.
Jonathan Miller of the U.K.'s Channel 4 News is live this hour for us in Bangkok.
So Jonathan, if this was an attempt at ending those pro-democracy demonstrations, it failed spectacularly.
JONATHAN MILLER, CHANNEL 4 NEWS: Well, look John, it's quite strange what happened here overnight. I woke up, as did most of the Thai people, to news that at 4 a.m., the government had issued an emergency decree which was announced on state television, and it says, as it appears, that there are many groups of people who have been cited illegal public assemblies in Bangkok. It is extremely necessary to introduce an urgent measure to end the situation effectively, and to maintain peace and order.
Now, peace and order, of course, are the key words here. They're the watchwords of authoritarian regimes everywhere. But peace and order, ironically, were the very words that the junta which took control here in a coup six years ago said that they were coming in to restore then.
And so, yes, in that respect they failed spectacularly. In that respect, Bangkok is no better off than the chaos of 2014.
However, something is very different here now. That is that these protests are focused on the king. Or at least that's one of the focuses. Because the dictatorship, as the -- as the protesters call it, they want them out and a new constitution.
But there are key elements who want to see reform of the monarchy. And this decree is trying to close them down. It's basically saying that they're banned from any public assemblies of more than five people, and from publications of broadcasts putting out anything that would create fear or affect national security.
You've got to see this in the context of what has been happening here in the past few weeks. Yesterday I was out on the streets of Bangkok, and this will help you catch up fast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILLER (voice-over): In an ancient kingdom in the throes of authoritarian regression, they turned out in their thousands to march against dictatorship.
For decades, Taiwan's been locked in a cycle of coups and regular spasms of violence. Now, with the economy in trouble and millions out of work, it seemed like the perfect monsoon storm. Battle lines drawn. Thousands of yellow-shirted ultra-loyalists trucked in to defend their unpopular king and his unpopular military-backed regime.
The reformist protesters want the government out, a new constitution; and there are growing demands to reign in the power of the monarchy.
At times, it was volatile. The protesters breaking through police lines, as they marched on Government House.
(on camera): So the crowd has been surging forward here. We're now just about 100, 200 meters from Government House. This is very symbolic, because this is the seat of what these people regard as the dictatorship. But of course, it's not just a dictatorship we're talking about here.
This is a military monarchy complex, where these people arranged against exactly that. They want reform. They want democracy. And they want things to change in Thailand. So it's old Thailand against new Thailand. These people represent the new.
The plan tonight is to make their way into the Government House complex, and to camp out for the night. But what they've done today is absolutely remarkable and never before seen in Thailand.
I didn't see this with my own eyes, because we've been kettled (ph) in with the demonstrators but we know that the king's motorcade was blocked at one stage by demonstrators. We don't know if he was in it at the time, but he would have got the message that there are people in this country who desperately want change. And that change is something that he has the power to give them and hasn't yet.
(voice-over): Pictures of the royal convoy revealed a major security lapse, but it turned out the king wasn't in this car. It was the queen and the young prince. Protesters hurled abuse.
As we left the scene, hundreds of riot police were moving towards the protests. They haven't gone in, but for a royalist regime feeling increasingly under siege, the use of force remains an option.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MILLER: Now, John, I'm standing outside government headquarters here in Bangkok, and last night the scene behind me was awash with thousands of demonstrators. You wouldn't believe it now with the traffic flowing freely.
[00:35:11]
But for half an hour after the emergency decree was issued, the riot police moved in. There were arrests, including two key protest leaders; and another one, the one who'd led the calls for a monarchical reform, was picked up at 8:30 this morning.
The question is whether Thais have the stomach to keep on going at this, calling for reform. Whether there are cracks in the edifice, perhaps. Everything is on the table right now.
VAUSE: Jonathan, thank you. Jonathan Miller there for us in Bangkok. We appreciate it.
Well, now for months, President Trump and his allies have spoken in conspiratorial tones about the biggest political scandal ever in American history. It will blow your socks off.
Precisely what they've been referring to is unclear. Apparently, it involves the Obama administration, Donald Trump's campaign, a domestic spying operation. And so Donald Trump asked his personal lawyer, who happens to be the U.S. attorney general, to investigate.
But that investigation came up empty, and here's a shock. The Trump White House has not had a lot to say about it.
CNN's Alex Marquardt reports.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An investigation that an investigation that President Trump touted as a scandal has now quietly ended in a whimper. The months-long Justice Department investigation, which was ordered by Attorney General Bill Barr, into the unfounded allegations against the Obama administration in its final days has come up empty.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's a big thing going on right now, which is spying, and it's -- you can call it anything you want. The unmasking and the spying. And to me, that's the big story right now.
MARQUARDT: The president repeated accusations that his campaign was spied on by the Obama White House led to the investigation, which was launched this spring and led by a senior U.S. attorney.
The goal: to look into the Obama administration's request for the revealing of American names, or unmasking, in intelligence reports.
One name that was revealed was Trump adviser General Michael Flynn, who before the election had been speaking with the Russian ambassador, who was under surveillance.
Earlier this year, Republican senators released a long unclassified list of Obama officials, excluding former Vice President Joe Biden, who had requested the unmasking, alleging that it showed the Obama White House was spying on Trump.
SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): This is a scandal of, really, if we weren't involved in the COVID-19 crisis, this would be a scandal, the biggest thing since Watergate.
MARQUARDT: But the the DOJ investigation found, according to "The Washington Post," that everything had been done legally, and there was no wrongdoing, resulting in no criminal charges and no public reporting.
Unmasking is a standard part of intelligence gathering. If foreign intelligence reports contain the names of American citizens, those are always redacted. However, certain U.S. government officials have the ability to unredact, or unmask those names to better understand the report. And unmasking has actually gone up under Trump.
DONALD AYER, FORMER DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER GEORGE H.W. BUSH: People who understand unmasking and what it is understood from the start that this was a complete nothing burger. And so it was trotted out as something that sounded sinister or could be made to sound peculiar and strange.
MARQUARDT (on camera): President Trump now clearly not happy with the Department of Justice or his attorney general, Bill Barr. He was asked by the right-wing news outlet Newsmax whether Barr would have a role in a possible second term. President Trump said he had no comment. That it was too early.
He called the lack of indictments after this investigation a disgrace and ridiculous. Not the tone of someone who's going to let go of this idea that his campaign was illegally spied on.
Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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VAUSE: Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, the management company of K-pop sensation BTS is making its stock market debut. It did pretty well.
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VAUSE: Germany has a unique way of shaming those who may be inclined to not wear a face mask. Take a look.
That sweet old lady with her nice floral mask there giving everyone what's known as the bird. The ad was launched last month, has since gone viral. The text basically says, "The finger for everyone without a mask. We follow the corona rules." Hmm.
It seems the chart-topping K-pop sensation BTS is -- is just as big a hit in the financial world, as well. Big Hit Entertainment, the group's management company, raised nearly $840 million in its debut on the KOSPI, South Korea's largest IP) in three years, in the midst of a pandemic.
CNN's Paula Hancocks previewed the company's big move.
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Everything this band touches seems to turn to gold. BTS is South Korea's most well-known boy band, shooting to the top of the Billboard chart last month, a feat no other Korean artist has achieved.
JUNGKOOK, MEMBER OF BTS (through translator): It still doesn't feel A hundred percent real, more so because right now we can't perform in front of people, in front of our fans.
HANCOCKS: The next chapter, IPO. BTS's management, Big Hit Entertainment, is listing the company on South Korea's stock exchange, a move that values the company at more than $4 billion, more than the next three top K-pop agencies combined.
In today's strong market, some assume investors will flock to buy the shares, including the band's hard-core fan base.
KIM EUN-HEE, BTS FAN: I'm eager to pick up one or two shares, even if it's just one. So I pulled my money and plan to put in 150 million won. I want to get closes to BTS as one team and help them. HANCOCKS: Big deal for Big Hit, but some worry that they are too
reliant on just one act.
PARK JU-GUN, BUSINESS ANALYST (through translator): Ninety percent of Big Hit Entertainment's revenue is from BTS, so the risk is there. But it has started to shift its revenue structure to a multi-faceted portfolio.
HANCOCKS: Big Hit says it has created an ecosystem of artists, apps and content.
BANG SI-HYUK, CEO, BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT: We drove profit not only through the album and music but online concerts, official merchandise, multimedia content and more.
HANCOCKS: Military service looms for all seven members of the group, but they could use another international K-pop group, Big Bang, as a model. Solo careers.
Some also questioned the timing of the IPO, in the middle of a global pandemic. But the market sees it as a sign that the company can only go up as the world recovers.
PARK: If the company is highly valued now in the midst of a pandemic, it will be an opportunity to gain even more momentum next year, post pandemic.
HANCOCKS: In a rare move for the industry, Big Hit has given more than $7 million worth of shares to each member of the band. A share of the success, and perhaps a guarantee for the future.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after the break. Fifteen minutes after that, I'll be back.
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