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Trump and Biden on the Campaign Trail with Less Than Three Weeks to Go Before Election; Biden Still Leading in the Polls; Second Wave of the Pandemic in Europe; Israel Eases Some Restriction As Cases Fall; Senior PLO Officials Erekat In Israel Hospital With COVID; Russian Opposition Activist Alexey Navalny Speaks Put About Recent Poisoning Attack. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 19, 2020 - 02:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: Key states and COVID hotspots, Donald Trump and Joe Biden on the campaign trail with very different messages about the pandemic.

European countries cobble together a patchwork of measures to fight COVID as a second wave sweeps the continent. And then Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, describes how it felt to be poisoned with a nerve agent, Novichok.

Hi and welcome to "CNN Newsroom" wherever you are in the world. I'm Robyn Curnow.

There is just over two weeks to go until Election Day here in the U.S. and President Donald Trump is on a campaign blitz. He spent the weekend crisscrossing the country and will begin - and he'll begin this week with two rallies and Arizona.

Now, the president was in Nevada on Sunday evening, and yet again, despite COVID cases surging throughout the country, there was no social distancing, and very few masks as you can see here.

The president seems to be going back to his playbook from 2016, holding several rallies a day and making baseless accusations against his Democratic rival.

But unlike four years ago, President Trump is also dealing with this pandemic. And right now, the U.S. is averaging more than 55,000 new cases a day. That's up more than 6 percent since mid-September.

Now, experts say the country is already in the midst of the autumn surge they have long predicted. And Nevada reported the biggest one day jump in in coronavirus cases on Saturday since mid-August, but President Trump didn't mention that in the rally. Ryan Nobles is on the campaign trail and he has all the details on that. Ryan?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump is in the middle of a very busy campaign schedule. A campaign schedule that's actually picked up since he was diagnosed with the coronavirus pandemic.

The president, just in the past few days, traveling to key states including Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin, and he ended the weekend with a trip here to Carson City, Nevada.

And it was at that event in Nevada that he talked about its response to the coronavirus pandemic, and actually ridiculed some of the scientists who have been giving him advice when it relates to the virus. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I listen totally to the scientists, we would right now have a country that would be in a massive depression instead of - we're like a rocket ship. Take a look at the numbers.

And that's despite the fact that we have like five or six of these Democrats keeping their states closed because they are trying to hurt us, on November 3rd. But the numbers are so good anyways, they'd be even better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: And this torrid campaign pace is expected to continue, the president expected to make stops next week in Pennsylvania and in North Carolina, and of course, he'll travel to Nashville on Thursday for the final debate of the 2020 campaign. Ryan Nobles, CNN, Carson City, Nevada.

CURNOW: Thanks Ryan for that. So, Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, is running a very, very different style of campaign from President Trump. Arlette Saenz tells us what Biden has been saying and where he is going next. Arlette?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Joe Biden travel here to Durham, North Carolina as in-person early voting is underway in the state. The former vice president, holding a socially distanced drive-in style rally, as he encouraged his voters to make a plan to vote in the final weeks of this election.

Now, Joe Biden once again, hammered away at the president for his response to the coronavirus pandemic, as he believes this is a central issue in these final weeks before the election.

And Joe Biden also talked about how the country needs to overcome division and how he, as a president, he will look out for all Americans. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Folks, as my coach used to say in college, its go time. I am running as a proud Democrat, but I will govern as an American president. No red states, no blue states, just the United States. I promise you. I will work is hard for those who don't support, me as those who did. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, North Carolina is one of those states that President Trump won back in 2016 that Joe Biden is trying to flip in these final two weeks before the election. And on Monday, his running mate, Kamala Harris, is returning to the campaign trail. She will campaign in the state of Florida.

This comes after the campaign has suspended her travel for a few days after two members of her traveling team tested positive for coronavirus. Kamala Harris tested negative for coronavirus on Sunday, and will resume campaigning on Monday.

[02:05:02]

And later in the week, on Wednesday, perhaps the biggest Democratic political surrogate out there is hitting the campaign trail for Joe Biden. President Obama will campaign in Philadelphia. His first in- person campaign appearance as he is making that pitch for his former VP. Arlette Saenz, CNN, Durham, North Carolina.

CURNOW: Tara Setmayer is the former Republican congressional communications director. She's also the host of "Honestly Speaking with Tara." Great to have you on the show. Lovely to see you. So, it's two --

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thank you.

CURNOW: -- it's two weeks to go, these candidates are crisscrossing the country as presidential candidates do, but what about itineraries (ph) tell you?

SETMAYER: Well, it's clear that the president of the United States is worried about several states that he shouldn't be campaigning in at this point. Ruby red areas that were Republican strongholds at one point like Georgia and Texas, the president is -- and Republicans, are paying attention to that.

The president was in Georgia recently, which has been ruby red for a very long time, but Democratic shifts have turned Georgia potentially purple. The fact that he actually was sending surrogates into places like Nebraska or, you know, Arizona and Nevada, Wisconsin. These are places that the president won last time that he is in trouble losing this time.

And the margin was razor thin in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. And he is focusing on Pennsylvania, but he is, you know, in areas like Wisconsin and Michigan, that lead is pretty significant for Joe Biden, where the Trump campaign has pulled their ads on television, to repurpose that money elsewhere because they also are running low on cash at this point in the election, which is never a good sign.

CURNOW: Yes, I want to talk about that in a moment, but I do want to talk about the issue, the crisis of COVID. And it seems to be a question of what color is the sky in your world because one candidate is ignoring the pandemic, in the other is focusing on it.

I mean, it's just like pink or blue or green. I mean, what are the voters and where are voters on the issue of corona? Is it going to change their minds?

SETMAYER: I think we've already seen that. Prior to the COVID crisis, the president was in a very good position to win re-election. The economy was doing well and people often vote with their pocketbooks. But once coronavirus, hit that was a real true test of leadership.

And the American people have seen the abject failure of Donald Trump's governing and of his administration. We have 220,000 dead Americans. We have over 1 million infections. We lead the world in these areas, and we shouldn't. And it is directly related to the presidents refusal to face the facts that coronavirus was, in fact, deadly and do what he needed to do to protect the American people.

He weaponized mask-wearing. He has turned it into an us versus them and blue states versus red states. We have seen his rhetoric create, and embolden some of these domestic terrorist right-wing groups who were recently arrested, threatening a governor in Michigan because of her stance to protect to the people of Michigan by locking down during coronavirus.

I mean, all of these things are having a direct impact on the American electorate, and I believe the coronavirus failure by Donald Trump and his cavalier attitude towards it, will be the ultimate demise of his candidacy.

CURNOW: That's interesting. But let's also remember, it is still two weeks to go, and at this, time four years ago, many people still just assumed Hillary Clinton had it in the bag.

The Trump administration - the Trump then campaign was criticized for going and campaigning in certain areas. Afterwards, it looked like they had very good data, and we're targeting the right areas.

So, how much faith do you put in the polls? How much of a path to victory do you think he still has? And do you think fund-raising, not polls, is perhaps the key to identifying where we are going?

SETMAYER: So, I will start with the fund-raising first. Joe Biden, 3 months in a row, has raised money in record amounts. Over $360 million in August and September. And then $382 million most recently. Those are incredible numbers.

Donald Trump is not raising money anywhere near at that rate. They had a billion dollars and squandered most of it. So, they have about $200 million they are working with, which is not a lot in the last final weeks. So, the fund-raising issue is definitely advantage Biden.

As far as the polling, 2016 is very different than 2020 because Joe Biden is not Hillary Clinton. They are completely different candidates. And where Hillary Clinton had a real difficult time connecting with voters, even their own Democrat coalition, Joe Biden does not have that problem. [02:09:59]

His life, his legacy, is one of compassion and empathy. And the ability to connect with people through loss. What a perfect time for someone like Joe Biden to be in the forefront and to become the leader of the country, and possibly heal this nation.

So, the contrast couldn't be any more stark. And as far as polling is concerned, even if the pollsters were wrong on state levels in 2016, but not nationally. They were pretty close. But we all know the national polls don't matter because we don't have a national vote.

But the pollsters changed a lot of the mistakes that they made in 2016. And even if all of the fundamentals were the same and they didn't change anything, Biden is leading significantly enough in some of these areas, and is above the margin of error in places like Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Both states that Donald Trump won with razor thin margins, and where he is losing considerably now. So, Biden is in a much better position, but his campaign will never admit that and they will continue to tell people it's closer than it appears, so that there's -- complacency doesn't set in because a landslide victory is really what they need.

Because if it is close, no one quite knows how Donald Trump will handle that, and possibly throw everything into chaos moving forward, even if he loses.

CURNOW: How jumpy is the Republican Party particularly because this party and that its members have supported him or stayed silent. How much of a cohesion is there two weeks before this election?

SETMAYER: Well, I spent over 20 years in Republican politics, and I can tell you, the Republicans are in full on five alarm fire. It is a 9-1-1er (ph). They see the writing on the wall. They see the suburban areas in this country were Donald Trump is hemorrhaging voters, particularly with women.

Joe Biden is beating Donald Trump by 23 points with women. He is tied 48 48 with men. And the trend lines in 2018, where Republicans lost control of the House, those trend lines are continuing in suburban areas.

When Donald Trump is losing by 7 points to Joe Biden in an area like Nebraska 2nd district, which is the Omaha suburb, that is indicative with how poorly Trump is doing in other places like Dallas in Texas, Charlotte in North Carolina.

And Republican senators who are running for re-election, like John Cornyn in Texas and in North Carolina, Ben Sasse in Nebraska, they see what that Donald Trump is an albatross and they have already begun to start to warn about a bloodbath electorally. And, you know, people seem to find religion when their electoral fortunes are on the line, and that is what you will probably going to see more of as Donald Trump loses. CURNOW: Tara Setmayer there. Thank you so much for joining us. So, as

we have seen at the presidents rallies and elsewhere, Donald Trump is still isn't wearing masks despite having just recovered from the virus himself. Well, America's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, believes it is because the president doesn't want to appear weak. And Fauci says, he also wasn't surprised when the president actually got coronavirus. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN LAPOOK, CBS CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Were you surprised that President Trump was sick?

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Absolutely not. I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded, no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask.

When I saw that on TV, I said, oh my goodness. Nothing good can come out of that. That's got to be a problem. And then, sure enough it turned out to be a superspreader event.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So, ahead on CNN, the British government is working to control new spikes of coronavirus, but it may not be enough. We'll speak with the doctor working on the front lines of the pandemic in the U.K.

Plus, the Palestinian's chief negotiator was rushed to an Israeli hospital with severe COVID symptoms. We'll go live to Jerusalem, that as well.

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[02:15:00]

CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow. A second wave of the coronavirus is now surging across Europe, the U.K., Germany, Italy, Poland, and the Czech Republic are among some of the European countries that just this month, have recorded their highest ever cases.

Now, tighter restrictions are coming that has some European leaders at odds with the public or each other about how to manage the crisis. We know that leaders in Manchester, England are refusing to raise their coronavirus alert level to very high, which is the top tier of the British alert system because the mayor argues the system is flawed and the government aid is nowhere near sufficient. Salma Abdelaziz has more from Manchester.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, took to the Sunday talk shows to explain why he has refused to raise the COVID alert level of their city to very high, the top tier. That would come with tougher new restrictions that would shut down pubs, bars, potentially gyms, and ban any households from mixing together.

The mayor's argument is essentially one of risk versus reward. He said that under these tier 3 restrictions, the risks of affected businesses is too high in exchange for too little reward in terms of actually bringing the infection rate down.

That is why the mayor has argued for a nationwide lockdown instead. That would be more effective, he says, bringing down infection rates and it would come with a larger financial package to help support businesses survive this second hit.

Now, we did see Prime Minister Boris Johnson's cabinet minister, Michael Gove, on the Sunday talk shows as well. He gave a resounding no to any calls for a nationwide lockdown. Mayor Andy Burnham has said short of a U.K. wide shut down, he wants to negotiate a better deal for the city.

He has called for 80 percent of wages for anyone affected, to be paid by the government under these tier 3 restrictions. Now, both sides, the leadership of Greater Manchester and Downing Street say they want to negotiate, say they want to reach a deal.

So far though, no talks are scheduled. They have been stalled since Thursday. I did speak to a local politician who told me he expects the talks could resume on Monday. He told me, in the past, they've only got a 20-minute heads up before talks with Downing Street. Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Manchester.

[02:20:06]

CURNOW: Even though Britain's the cabinet minister insists a national lockdown is not on the table, one of the government's own scientific advisers believes now is certainly the time for the so-called circuit breaker lockdown before things get even worse.

For more on how the U.K. is fairing, I am joined now by Dr. Bhasha Mukherjee, a physician, model, and actually also, the reigning Miss England. She is live in Derby, England. Good to see you, doctor. Thanks for joining us.

So, I do want to know what it's like in the hospitals right now. Clearly, a lot of concerns about these rising infections. Do you feel like hospitals are coping?

BHASHA MUKHERJEE, PHYSICIAN AND MODEL: It's been a difficult journey for most of us, not just doctors and nurses, but everybody. We have only just recovered from the first wave, and in hospitals, we are now playing catch-up in terms of catching up on some of the treatments that we held up during the first wave like important surgeries, elective surgeries, and we are catching up on that.

And that is why it has been quite busy with winter coming as well, it's been busy for that. There's lots of people having asthma, COPD, it's really a busy time at the hospitals, and now with COVID cases rising, I think that's definitely going to be something that we have to, you know, face a challenge. But we're all just keeping our wits about ourselves at the moment. It's too early to say anything just yet.

CURNOW: And the last time you were in a hospital, I mean, what are your colleagues and you talking about? Are you nervous? Do you feel like you've got enough PPE? Do you feel like patients are well looked after, and that there is the ability to deal with the surge that is coming?

MUKHERJEE: From the hospital point of view, I think we are more prepared than we ever were. I mean, over summer, we had, you know, dexamethasone be declared as an official, you know, management medication, and now we have a protocol in place at the hospitals.

You know, even as juniors, we get, you know, shown and taught on our own call shifts, by the way, if you are dealing with a COVID patient, this is what we need to do, et cetera, et cetera. So I think on that point of view, we are given as much training as we can be.

The responsibility also lies with the public in how they conduct themselves. As you know, at the moment, there isn't a lockdown in place and that's why we are allowing visitors -- we are allowing the responsibility in the hands of the public as opposed to what we did in the first wave where we didn't allow people to come in and we did not allow a certain number, more than a certain number in the hospitals. \

So the responsibility is really high off the general public, to act responsibly, to be aware of their own, like, medical condition to declare it if they are vulnerable. And to be extra precautionary when they are in public places like the hospital and elsewhere.

CURNOW: And I just also want to know about the doctors and how you all are holding up? I mean, the mental toll, no doubt, with the fact that you've gone through a long hard summer and this is about to get harder. How is the mental toll playing out on doctors like you?

MUKHERJEE: It's difficult especially because it does often feel like we don't have control over something like this virus. But in these situations, I personally have been really focusing on the aspects of my life that I do have control over.

But at the same time I like to say that for me and for a lot of my colleagues, we do feel, you know, on edge. And it's very normal to feel that way. I think there are support -- there is support out there if you want to seek that in terms of off-loading your mental strain and stuff.

For me personally, I always worry, not I'm moved back with my mom, you know, in Derby now. And my mom is vulnerable. She has got high blood pressure. So, whenever I need to see a COVID patient, I always think, oh, I don't want to bring it back to my mom, you know.

So, you have to be extra vigilant and make sure you wash your hands carefully. I sanitize everything after I leave a COVID patient's room. So, that is where we are at.

CURNOW: Yes. Well, thank you for that perspective. And how concerned are you that this has been this tug, this push and pull politically between Westminster and places like Manchester, but elsewhere as well. And how does that impact the work that you are trying to do?

MUKHERJEE: You know, I think I know very little about politics and honestly I don't have the time to keep up with the politics. I think, we as a public, need to take matters in our own hands when it comes to our own safety.

[02:25:00]

So, there isn't a lockdown in place, but that's not stopping, we as a public, acting responsibly. If you feel that it's not safe out there, you know what the numbers are. Look at the news. Don't go to the pub. Don't go out to public places. Limit yourself, you know, you're external interactions with people.

As individuals, we have a responsibility as well and we cannot just blame the politicians for not putting a lockdown in place. The choice is ours where we decide to go, and what we decide to do, how we wear our masks.

I see so many people even at the hospitals not wearing their masks properly. Their mask is around here, not even covering their nose. You're not just protect yourself, you're protecting others as well. And I think it's an individual duty as well.

CURNOW: Doctor, thanks so much. Thanks for all the work that you are doing and send our best to all of your colleagues. I know it might be a tough winter but, thank you.

MUKHERJEE: Thank you so much.

CURNOW: All the best.

So, the Czech Republic has the worst infection rate in all of Europe right now. So, part of an expo center in Prague will be turned into a field hospital for coronavirus patients. Officials will decide, in a couple of weeks if lockdown is needed.

Meanwhile in Belgium, officials are shutting restaurants down on Monday for about a month because of the spike in virus cases there. And after five straight days of record high infections, Italy's prime, minister is banning local festivals, restaurants can only serve 6 people at a time out of the table. And city mayors are now allowed to impose curfews there as well.

And then Ireland is also seeing a drastic, drastic spike in new cases since July. The government says it will take decisive action to curve the spread there. Those plans will be announced in the coming hours.

And it's the same picture in Switzerland where the country sees a spike in infections over the past few days, 14,000 cases in just the past week alone.

And masks will now be mandated, indoors, like places like shops, restaurants, post offices, and banks. They will also be required in schools and childcare facilities in Switzerland.

So coming up on CNN, Israel is easing COVID restrictions there as cases fall. We go to Jerusalem after the break for that.

Plus, we also hear from a Kremlin critic who says the Russia's president had him poisoned, and why he thinks Donald Trump should get involved. You're watching CNN. Stay with us.

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[02:30:00]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN HOST: Welcome back. It's 30 minutes past the hour. I'm coming to you live from CNN's World news headquarters in Atlanta. I'm Robyn Curnow. So I want to take you live to Israel which is easing some of its coronavirus restrictions with cases continuing to fall.

Businesses that don't require close contact with customers are being allowed to open along with national parks, beaches and schools for younger children. Meanwhile the Palestinian's chief negotiator Saeb Erekat was rushed to a Jerusalem hospital on Sunday with a worsening case of COVID-19.

Oren Liebermann joins us now live from Jerusalem and I want to start with Saeb Erekat, I mean I know he had a lung transplant in the last few years. Have you had any update on how he's doing?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Correct. He had that lung transplant in the U.S. in 2017 and that's what made him a high risk case when it comes to coronavirus. His office confirming that about a week and a half ago he had tested positive for coronavirus.

The latest update we have is from Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center from this morning where they say his condition has deteriorated. He was in serious but stable condition overnight. They said the night passed fairly well but now with his deterioration this morning, they say he has been ventilated and is at this point under general anesthesia in critical condition.

This is a situation we'll watch very closely with Saeb Erekat being taken from his home in Jericho to a hospital here in Jerusalem Hadassah Ein Kerem, the Hadassah Medical Center where the hospital says they're doing everything they can at this point to make sure that he remain stable and then we'll see how this goes but improves here as he is under treatment.

We'll keep you posted on the latest on his condition here Robyn.

CURNOW: Yes, please do and of course that news coming even though we're seeing a lessening of infections in Israel which is seen as pretty good news.

LIEBERMANN: It is and this is part of Israel's second general lockdown. The numbers are dramatically improved from where they were just a few weeks ago. According to ministry of health data released this morning, there were about 880 new cases yesterday. Anything under 1000 is a good number especially compared to the record of just a few weeks ago which was more than 9000 cases in one day. Crucially the positivity rate is also significantly down. It was well

over 10 percent at the record of the height of the second wave but now at least according to Ministry of Health data, it is right around 3 or 4 percent so again dramatic improvements in the numbers and it's because of those numbers that Israel feels they can begin moving forward with easing of the general restrictions.

You mentioned some of those just a moment ago. National parks will reopen, beaches will reopen, some businesses will reopen and citizens will no longer be required to stay within a kilometer of their home. That doesn't mean it's all good news here. The numbers at this point at least are still significantly higher than where they were when Israel came out of its first general lockdown and there are still red cities here as they're called.

Those are cities with high infection rates. According to the ministry of health those are ultra-orthodox cities where the tight restrictions will remain in place until the numbers come down there too, Robyn.

CURNOW: OK, thanks so much for all those updates. Oren Liebermann there in Jerusalem. Good to see you there Oren. Thank you. So the Russian opposition activist at the center of the poisoning scandal is speaking out to U.S. media. Alexey Navalny became gravely ill during a flight to Moscow back in August, much of the horrifying experience was recorded on camera by other passengers.

As his condition got worse, he was transferred to a hospital in Berlin. It was later determined that Navalny had come in contact with the toxic nerve agent Novichok, which he blames on Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin critic discussed his brush with death on the U.S. news show, 60 minutes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXEY NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I said to the flight attendant and I kind of shocked him with my statement while I was poisoned and I'm going to die and I immediately laid down under his feet. And every cell of your body just telling that buddy, we're done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So the European Union and U.K. impose sanctions on top Russian officials after the incident this past Thursday. Navalny is hoping the U.S. president will also add his voice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAVALNY: I think it's extremely important that everyone of course including and maybe in the first row, President of United States to be very against using chemical weapons in the 21 century.

CURNOW: Well, despite his ordeal Navalny says he's determined to return to Moscow within months. And then in France, an outpouring of grief and outrage. How a teacher brutally murdered for what he taught is being remembered.

[02:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Welcome back. So in France, thousands of people have been rallying in support of free speech and educators after a beheading of a teacher. Here's Jim Bittermann with that story. Jim.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In a country that puts a high value on education, Friday's attack and beheading of a middle school teacher has provoked a huge outpouring of grief.

In Paris and dozens of other cities, thousands gathered in tribute to Samuel Paty, the 47-year old teacher who had conducted the class discussion on freedom of expression centered around caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed from the controversial satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

A discussion that became the focus of social media anger from Islamic fundamentalists. France takes pride in laicite, the secular nature of its institutions. The brutal killing of Paty's stirred memories of the other acts of Islamic terrorism that have occurred here.

But it raised questions too about whether Paty should have been better protected, especially given the internet threats teachers face.

ALBERTINE, SPECIAL NEEDS EDUCATOR: It's a reality and nobody seems to take it seriously and our bosses do not protect us.

BITTERMANN: Still police were not faltered in their response after the attack as seen in this video, within minutes they had chased down the 18-year old perpetrator and officers can clearly be heard in French ordering him to lay down his arms and when he didn't police brought him down with a volley of bullets.

More tributes including a national one on Wednesday are scheduled later this week with thousands of teachers expected to take part as they did Sunday. More than a million French are involved in the national education system here. It's viewed as a cornerstone to the country's principles of liberty, equality and fraternity. Perhaps the reason the Minister of Education and others here have said that Friday's brutal murder was not just an attack on a single teacher but on the French Republic itself. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:40:00]

CURNOW: And a convicted murderer who helped stop a terror attack on London Bridge last year will likely have his sentence reduced thanks to a pardon of sorts from the queen. Steven Gallant famously used a Narwhal tusk as you can see here to confront this Islamic attacker who fatally stabbed two people.

Viral video of the incident shows Gallant jabbing him with the tusk before police shot him dead. Gallant was on leave from prison to attend an event on prisoner's education when the attack took place. Queen Elizabeth granted him a rarely use prerogative of mercy to get him considered for early parole.

So World Sports is up next for all of our international viewers but for our viewers here in the United States, there is new evidence in alleged plot to kidnap the Michigan governor. We'll have those startling details plus U.S. photos are energized this year, waiting in long lines to cast their ballots early.

We'll talk about some of the records that have been broken so far.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi there. Welcome to CNN World Sports today. Major League Baseball's coveted World Series is now set. These were the scenes on Saturday as the Tampa Bay Ray celebrated their spot in their full classic after finally seeing off the Houston Astros in game 7 of the American League Championship Series of this COVID-19 impacted campaign. Gargantual

But who I wonder would be joining them on Sunday. The Atlanta Braves and the LA Dodgers going head to head in their own game 7. Around 11000 fans were braced with two upper one point on this night then 3-1 up.

But at three a piece, what a moment here for Cody Ballenger, the 25- year old with mammoth, gargantuan 7th inning home run proving absolutely pivotal here. Dodgers win 4-3 on the night. Unbridled joy for Bellinger and his teammates who at one point also trailing 3-1 in this series.

They were also down for the first five innings of this game 7. Heart break for the Braves. LA hitting some 16 home runs in the series tying NLCS record as well. The Dodgers nothing but resilient. You know they simply refused to accept the meaning of the word defeat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CODY BELLINGER, LA DODGERS CENTER FIELDER: When you see every day, you see the line up that we have and we are docking the A and city. We can do this. Why not? Why can't we do this you know? We are only down two games. We won three games before all the time. So we've been in this situation before and it was, we were grinding, it was a team win.

The Braves are an amazing team. It was not an easy series and that was fun right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: What a series it was? Well, the World series starting with game one on Tuesday in Texas. This is the 20th world series appearance in the storied history of the Dodgers franchise. The Dodgers have won the world series six times while the Rays are seeking their first ever fall classic tramp. Much to look forward to.

All right, well, I want to tell you that the talk about the (inaudible) club as we go to Europe now. Schalke has apologized for abuse. This aimed at the Borussia Dortmund prodigy, Youssoufa Moukoko. This during an under-19 fixture on Sunday.

Really concerning scenes here. The Cameroon born teen who's wildly regarded as one of German football's brightest young talents. He scored a hattrick in his team's 3-2 victory. Schalke later tweeting we can only apologize for the behavior of some of our fans towards Youssoufa Moukoko.

Derby emotions aside, we completely condemn and oppose such insults. We will take such all necessary measures. No to racism.

English Premier League champs Liverpool saying Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk, is to have knee surgery. The 29-year old who could be out of action for a number of months suffering the anterior cruciate ligament injury following a collision with the Everson keeper Jurgen. This was during Saturday's 2-2 Merseyside derby draw. Van Dijk saying he's ready for the challenge, though, later tweeting "Despite the obvious disappointment, I'm a firm believer that within difficulty lies opportunity, and with God's help I'm going to make sure I return better, fitter and stronger than ever before."

And we certainly wish Vigil all the very best in his recovery. Meantime, the week (inaudible) is England's top flight, seeing a whole gluss of goals, with Tottenham and West Ham sharing six of them in a match that was absolutely thrilling to watch.

It also featured a Welsh superstar Gareth Bale's second debut for the club to North London where Spurs were one up inside the very first minute through South Korean star Son Heung Min with a wonderful goal.

Before two quick strikes from Harry Kane ensuring Jose Mourinho's men had a 3-0 lead after 16 minutes. Now just past the 70 minute mark, Bale in his first match since returning to Spurs is part of that lone deal from Real Madrid but the Hammers, they hadn't read the script.

Had the first Fabien (inaudible) had giving them hope, eight minutes from time. Then with a score at 3-2, Spurs look at this, Bale on amazing run but inexplicably pulls it wide with a goal gaping. That was on 92 minutes. Then in the 4th minute of stoppage time, what a strike from the Argentine Manuel Lanzini.

Did the game even restart after that? Look at these celebrations. The West Hams players there, incredible to see, scenes in north London. We stay in England where history has been made. This in the women's super league. This match on Sunday won short to live in the memory of the Dutch star Vivienne Miedema. The 24-year old with a hat trick as Arsenal hit Tottenham's women's team for six in the North London Derby.

Vivienne becoming the league's all leading scorer, she's now up to 52 goals in just 50 matches. Congrats to her. She surpasses Nikita Parris' previous mark of 49 goals in 110 games. What an achievement. Ahead, we're going to be taking you down under in this era of Covid- 19. Why now more than ever the eyes of the world are on the famed Eden Park in New Zealand, this weekend.

[02:50:00]

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SNELL: Welcome back to CNN World Sport. Now here in the U.S. star quarterbacks Tom Brady now with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers' legendary Aaron Rodgers coming face to face Sunday in the National Football League. Only one win here and it would not be Rodgers who would throw two for two including have to say, very rare pick six as the Packers who at 10-0 ahead at one point.

All of a sudden found themselves trailing 14 points to 10. Frustration for Rodgers. Brady, a six time Super Bowl champ though taking center stage as he so often does. First up Tyler Johnson. What a great moment for the rookie. His first NFL touchdown then old pals reunited, Brady getting into his former Patriot teammate Rob Gronkowski, his first touchdown since December 2018 since coming out of retirement. In fact two legends of the game right there.

That's a powerful images in it. A first loss for Green Bay this season. Meantime food for thought for Brady's old team, the New England Patriots who lose to the Denver Broncos on Sunday 18 points to 12. Sunday seeing a return to action for the Pat star quarterback Cam Newton who hadn't played since week 3 after he tested positive for coronavirus.

Not the best day either for Newton who three for two interceptions and zero touchdowns. The Pats who hardly practiced over the last couple of weeks due to their training facility having to shut down a number of times due to COVID-19 now tune free on the current season and this time the first time by the way, they've actually had a losing record after five games since 2002.

Now in recent weeks, we have seen limited crowd in attendance across various sports such as being the ongoing impact of the global pandemic but nothing quite like what we would witness over the weekend in New Zealand where the All Blacks rugby team hosted Australia. Near capacity crowd of just over 46000. Look at this. At the famed

Eden Park.

The context, COVID-19 restrictions in Auckland which re-entered lockdown in August following a small outbreak of coronavirus cases were lifted at the start of the month to allow crowds to return to stadium.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it's fantastic and it's - to our government and the work that was done by our country as a whole to be able to get back to live and enjoy this safely. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels good to be at a game with no COVID restrictions. It's nice to be at a ground with 50,000 other individuals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no concerns being in the crowd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got no concerns about being next to 50,000 people. The only concerns I've got are the Wallabies fans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: Well, the fans having their say there. The All Blacks seeking a win for the record. 27 points to 7. This is the second of the Bledisloe cup games thanks to really strong second half from the host.

The outstanding winger, the 21- year old Aucklander Caleb Clarke, a star is born, I tell you on his debut too. Teeing up first up (inaudible). What a story Clarke is, all power and pace and no one is going to stop that. And bear in mind he only became an All Black this year after the poll taken on his Sevens career due to COVID-19 and then minutes later instrumental in setting up Ardie Savea. New Zealand haven't lost in Eden park since 1994. The wallabies winless at this venue since 1986.

Wow OK, now the global pandemic in fact impacting so many athletes right now right across the world.

[02:55:00]

Take the case of Andrew Amonde, the captain of Kenya's sevens team. Through adversity though, a genuine spirit of resilience breaking through as CNN's David McKenzie now reports.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Andrew Amonde likes to lead by example. After months of lockdown, the 14-year veteran and captain of Kenya's Seventh rugby team is back training for his Olympic dream.

ANDREW AMONDE, CAPTAIN, KENYA SEVENS TEAM: To ensure that sport still goes on in spite of having the pandemic around.

MCKENZIE: Training without his teammates or even a contract.

AMONDE: All of the contracts are (inaudible). I'm doing this for free because I love this game. You know, when I started playing rugby, I came and developed a love for it and I just found myself into it and it's something that I do with a passion.

MCKENZIE: A love of the game tested by COVID-19. Organizers scrap the popular global Sevens tournament when the pandemic struck. Suddenly out of cash, the Kenyan rugby union said it was left with little choice but to stop paying its players. Amonde says the youngest team players were hardest-hit.

AMONDE: There's nowhere they can go now because there are no jobs for them now because they are full-time rugby players and the only thing they can wait for is for rugby to resume and for them to get back to their contracts.

MCKENZIE: When CNN visited the Sevens team in 2018, they were on a high. Their success growing the fast pace Sevens game in Kenya. Even competing for attention with the countries fabled runners. But the national team has struggled to win games since then. Amonde says it's time to rebuild.

AMONDE: It's been tough. Getting to - get to expectation level of fitness.

MCKENZIE: His goal is to meddle in Tokyo, that's a challenge. Under Kenya's strict lockdown rules, Amonde still can't compete or even practice with his teammates. Hard work and sacrifice is something Amonde and the Kenyan Sevens team know all about.

Their fans don't call them 'shuja' or heroes for nothing. David McKenzie, CNN.

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SNELL: And thank you so much for watching us. Do join us for later Monday edition of World Sport for our teams right here in Atlanta and of course our colleagues in London. We'll see you again next time. Do stay with CNN. Thanks for watching.

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