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Bannon Behind Shoddy Research about Coronavirus Origin; Army Kills Protestors in Nigeria; Pope Endorses Civil Union Laws for Same- Sex Couples; Obama Delivers Rebuke of Trump on Eve of Debate; Biden Has Cash Advantage Over Trump in Final Weeks. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 22, 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): Wherever you are around the world, thanks for joining us. I'm John Vause.
And coming up this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, could this be the October surprise?
U.S. security officials announced they have evidence Iran and Russia are attempting to influence the presidential election, now less than two weeks away.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The job doesn't work that way. Tweeting at the television doesn't fix things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE (voice-over): Barack Obama making the case why his former V.P. should be the next president, with a blistering takedown of Donald Trump on everything, from a failed pandemic response to his failure as a business man.
And later, a CNN investigation into a bizarre conspiracy theory about the origins of the coronavirus, embraced by supporters and allies of President Trump.
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VAUSE: In a sudden announcement Wednesday night in Washington, senior national security officials issued an urgent warning about foreign interference in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
The Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, appeared alongside FBI director Christopher Wray and said both Iran and Russia had obtained voter registration information, which was being used by Iran in particular to send fake and threatening emails to Democrats in four states. One mass email claims to be from the far-right pro-Trump group called
the Proud Boys and warned, "Vote for Trump or else." Ratcliffe says the emails were intended to damage Donald Trump, notably there were few with any details on Russian attempts to influence voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN RATCLIFFE, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: We are not going to tolerate foreign interference in our elections or any criminal activity that threatens the sanctity of your vote or undermines public confidence in the outcome of the election.
When we see indications of foreign interference or federal election crimes, we're going to aggressively investigate and work with our partners to quickly take appropriate action.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: But congressional Democrats and a number of former intelligence individuals are taking issue with reckless claims that Iran is trying to damage the president. The Homeland Security Committee tweeted, "Do not listen to Ratcliffe. Partisan hack."
And here is former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION: The intelligence community doesn't come out with an official analytical judgment along the lines of, "The Iranians were trying to hurt President Trump," without rock-solid evidence to prove that.
And we got none of that evidence tonight from DNI Ratcliffe, who has proven himself to be a overtly political influence on the intelligence process with the things that he's been involved in over the last couple of weeks, releasing intelligence for political purposes.
So it's hard to imagine how the two instances he cited in his comments actually hurt President Trump. Also he said that there was indications that Iran had a video, that implied that people could cast fraudulent ballots from overseas.
That also supports a main line of President Trump's argument, that the election could be replete with fraud. So I'm not buying it at this point. I think we should all kind of have a skeptical eye at that until we see some proof.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The final presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is just hours away. The Democrat, Joe Biden, has been off the campaign trail, preparing for that debate. But in his place, the Democrats have deployed one of the biggest hitters, former president Barack Obama.
He launched a blistering attack on Donald Trump on Wednesday in Pennsylvania.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Tweeting at the television doesn't fix things. Making stuff up doesn't make people's lives better.
You've got to have a plan. You've got to put in the work.
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OBAMA: And along with the experience to get things done, Joe Biden has concrete plans and policies.
We literally left this White House a pandemic playbook that would have shown them how to respond before the virus reached our shores. They probably used it to, I don't know, prop up a wobbly table somewhere. We don't know where that playbook went.
Donald Trump isn't suddenly going to protect all of us. He can't even take the basic steps to protect himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: A new CNN poll shows Biden leading Trump in Pennsylvania by 10 points. It's an important swing state that Trump carried four years ago. For more, here's CNN's Jeff Zeleny.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SNR. WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Former President Barack Obama delivering one of the most mocking and blistering assessments of his successor.
Coming out on the campaign trail for the first time this year, certainly touting Joe Biden but making more of an effort to say why Donald Trump does not deserve a second term in office.
Talking first and foremost about coronavirus and the Trump administration's handling of the virus, saying the president did not take it seriously, saying that the mask mandate is something that should have been done and also talking about how other countries around the world did, indeed, handle this better than the United States did.
Now from there, the former president went on to really deliver a broadside against President Trump, making fun of how he has conducted himself in office.
Also talking about the exhaustion factor, just the day in and day out -- a sense, the former president said, look, this is not a reality show; this is reality.
But at the end of the speech, some more than 30 minutes or so, delivered in Philadelphia, Mr. Obama also talked to Democrats directly, delivering some tough medicine to them, saying, four years ago, many Democrats thought Hillary Clinton would defeat Donald Trump. That didn't happen.
So he called on Democrats to not be lazy, to not be complacent and he urged them to come out and vote.
This is the first of many stops that former president Obama is going to be making in the next two weeks. Certainly making the case against Donald Trump and for Joe Biden.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Donald Trump tried to brush off Obama's attack. In North Carolina, he told supporters it's actually good for him that Obama is out campaigning for Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: President Obama is campaigning for Sleepy Joe Biden.
And I said, ha, that's good news or bad news?
Tell me, are you saying it's good or it's bad?
Well, I guess, it's good. No, it's good. There was nobody that campaigned harder for Crooked Hillary Clinton than Obama, right?
He was all over the place. The only one more unhappy than Crooked Hillary that night was Barack Hussein Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: New rules will be in place for the next presidential debate on Thursday. After the Dumpster fire of the first debate, when President Trump repeatedly interrupted, heckled and talked over Joe Biden, the presidential debate commission has decided each candidate's microphone will be muted for the two minutes allotted to their opponent to respond to a question from the moderator.
Last time, Trump came off as an abrasive bully. Campaign advisers are hoping he can lower the temperature and show a little restraint this time. Joe Biden has spent the last few days off the campaign trail and prepping.
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JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's a good idea. I think there should be more limitations on us not interrupting one another.
If you noticed last time, according to Chris Wallace, he interrupted the president and me 148 times, I think that's right. He interrupted -- Mike -- the president interrupted the Mike -- I mean, excuse me -- Chris Wallace and me 148 times. And so I hope he's going to come prepared to talk about what he's for. But my guess is he's kind of signaling it as, oh, it's going to be about personal attacks. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Former ABC News anchor Carole Simpson is the first woman and the first African American to moderate a presidential debate. She joins us now on the line from Washington.
Ms. Simpson, it is a real pleasure to speak with. You thanks for being with us.
CAROLE SIMPSON, FORMER ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be. Here
VAUSE: OK, it's notable that you were the first moderator of a new experimental town hall format and Thursday's debate will be a first as well. There's this new rule about muting microphones, at least for the first 2 minutes of a response to a question.
After that, Trump will be free to interrupt as much as he wants.
But what does it say to you that these -- this measure is needed right now?
What does it say to you about where this country is, not just politically but just in terms of the division and people willing to listen to those with opposing views?
SIMPSON: John, it says we are in a mess.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMPSON: The second debate, the town hall, was canceled. Trump did what Trump does and that is not follow rules and play things his own way. So they had to institute this turning off of the microphones for 2 minutes.
But realize each candidate will have 2 minutes so that's 4 minutes.
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SIMPSON: And then the question will continue with debate amongst themselves for another 11 minutes. So anything could happen in that 11 minutes. He's going to be interrupting.
(LAUGHTER)
SIMPSON: They will be yelling at each other again. I expect another rambunctious. Debate
VAUSE: Rambunctious is a good word.
SIMPSON: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: Donald Trump, as expected, is no fan of these changes. He made that known on Wednesday. Listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Oh, I think the mute is very unfair. And I think it's very bad that they're not talking about foreign affairs. And I think that the anchor is a very biased person. Her parents are very biased.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, the moderator is Kristen Welker of NBC News.
(CROSSTALK)
SIMPSON: -- it took 28 years but we have another one. And I'm really concerned about her because, as hard as she is on women in general, on Black women, he's twice as hard. And I'm concerned that he will get her rattled by saying something off-color, off-color.
And I wish for her to be able to handle this and not be upset by his rhetoric, because I think he's going to try to rattle her and make her look bad, as he will be trying to do to Joe Biden.
VAUSE: Back in 1992, during the town hall, which you moderated, the biggest gaffe was I think from president George H.W. Bush. He already seemed pretty bored by it all when he was shown on camera, checking his watch for the time. This was the town hall when the president admitted he did not know the price of a gallon of milk, added to this whole image of a man who is out of touch.
In terms of gaffes and controversy, that seems so tame compared to everything that we've seen in the Trump era.
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SIMPSON: Exactly, from "shut up" and "idiot" and "clown" and all the words that were used. You just can't -- it would look like a kindergarten brawl rather than two men who would lead the free world, nation. It's sad.
VAUSE: Here's how CBS News reported on your debate back in 1992.
The town hall star presidential debate began as a nerve-wracking experiment in live television. Moderator Carole Simpson was so nervous about turning over the microphone to regular folks, she spent days mapping out the presidential candidates and their issues on index cards, just in case."
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VAUSE: Now we know the town hall style is part of the tradition and, in some ways, it's preferable.
But what's your advice?
You said that Kristen Welker, you're worried about her.
What's the advice for her to keep this all under control? SIMPSON: She has got to maintain her cool. And sometimes that's very hard to do when someone attacks you personally. But that would be the advice that I would give her. Be stalwart, do her job. don't let him get to you and demonstrate that you are a good moderator and that you will work (INAUDIBLE) for this job.
VAUSE: It's simple, advice it's good advice but it's also a pretty high bar, to stay cool in the face of a Trump tirade.
SIMPSON: It sure is. It sure is. I don't know what I'd do.
(LAUGHTER)
VAUSE: Well, you have played your role already and it was. Great and thank so much for being with us. We appreciate it.
(CROSSTALK)
SIMPSON: Thank you. Bye-bye.
VAUSE: Cheers.
CNN's coverage of the presidential debate begins at 7 pm Eastern on Thursday, Friday morning in much of the world. It will replay at 8 am in London, 11 am in Abu Dhabi, 3 pm in Hong Kong. Set your DVRs and --
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VAUSE: Using data from Johns Hopkins University and the World Health Organization, a CNN analysis has identified both Belgium and the Czech Republic with the highest number of new cases worldwide for COVID-19 per capita.
With that comes new restrictions. Czechs will be forced to stay indoors, allowed to leave only when absolutely necessary. The government's ban on free movement begins in just a few hours from now and it will last to November 3rd.
Rome is joining the list of European capitals with nightly curfews, which will run from midnight to 5 am starting Saturday and for the next 30 days. That comes as Italy reports more than 100 coronavirus deaths in a single day for the first time since May.
Ireland now has the strictest lockdown in Europe. The country went into a level 5 just a few hours ago in what officials call a deteriorating situation with COVID-19. CNN's Nic Robertson explains what people in Ireland can expect for the next six weeks.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Ireland's new lockdown, stick and carrot.
MICHEAL MARTIN, IRISH TAOISEACH: If we pull together over the next 6 weeks, we will have the opportunity to celebrate Christmas in a meaningful way. [00:15:00]
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Infections spiking to levels not seen since the pandemic struck in March. Now tougher new measures, backed by new fines to beat back the virus.
MARTIN: There should be no social or family gatherings in homes or gardens. Only essential retail may remain open. Everyone in the country has been asked to stay home, with exercise permitted within a 5-kilometer radius of your home.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Restrictions also include working from home, for all but essential workers; bars and restaurants to open only for take away service. The list of what's off limits is long; exceptions for weddings and funerals, 25 people max, and for schools and child care.
MARTIN: This is necessary, because we cannot and will not allow our children and young people's futures to be another victim of this disease.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Martin's predecessor, now his governing coalition partner, Leo Varadkar, predicts as many as 150,000 jobs are at risk. Retail expecting some of the biggest hits.
JOHN FARRINGTON, ANTIQUE STORE OWNER: It's devastating to see us in lockdown again for another six weeks during our busiest lineup for the Christmas period.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Frustrations here, the government is mismanaging this COVID crisis.
SHAY HOWLIN, "FUN PLACE": I was hoping that, maybe, common sense would prevail, because, from our point of view, we feel retail is a very safe environment.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): And in Parliament, too, the PM taking heat from the opposition over recently discovered track and trace failures.
MARY LOU MCDONALD, SINN FEIN PRESIDENT: The system collapsed over the weekend. I think that is extremely alarming, happening as it does, on the eve of us moving into another lockdown. We need to come out of this six-week experience with a state-of-the-art, gold standard testing and tracing system.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): National infection rates are midrange for Europe but some areas, like Cavan, in the dark red, are on par with Europe's worst. If the lockdown stick fails, the PM's Christmas carrot will taste very bitter -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come, a volunteer in a human trial for a coronavirus vaccine has died. What we know, what we don't know and more on why total transparency from the drugmaker is absolutely crucial.
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VAUSE: As the coronavirus surges across the U.S., many states are facing the harsh reality of hospitals, filling to capacity. Not a single state has improved. They're either here in red, which is rising, or holding steady, as you can see.
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VAUSE: And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is now sharing a new guidance that makes face coverings even more crucial to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The agency has changed what it means to have close contact with someone with COVID-19, which was 15 minutes of continuous exposure. CDC director Robert Redfield explains why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: There is some recent data that has been determined, that an individual, who had a series of shorter contacts but over time added up to more than 15 minutes, became infected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And CNN's Martin Savidge reports from Utah, its COVID-19 spike is putting a dangerous strain on the health care system and threatening the lives of those who don't even have the virus.
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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Salt Lake City, coronavirus cases are surging and hospitals are in danger of running out of tentative care unit beds. It's so frustrating for Dr. Emily Spivak, she breaks down.
DR. EMILY SPIVAK, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: I was trying so hard not to.
SAVIDGE: She's upset because we know how to avoid coronavirus, wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, yet many people don't.
SPIVAK: There are front line providers in the emergency room, our nurses, our doctors, on all these COVID units in the ICU, working tirelessly. It's kind of like people just are going out and living their lives not realizing that they are exhausting our health care system.
There's so much that can be done by our leaders and they're just not doing it.
SAVIDGE: COVID-19 nearly killed Stephanie Deer's sister, even though her sister never had it.
STEPHANIE DEER, SISTER HAD HEART ATTACK DURING PANDEMIC: Honestly, if you would have seen the look on that doctor's face, he was incredulous.
SAVIDGE: What her sister, 47-year-old Lori Terry (ph), did have was a serious heart attack. At the local hospital, the family says the doctors said Terry needed to get to an intensive care unit to survive.
DEER: And he told us right away, we're doing everything we can to try and find a hospital that can take Lori and we can't find one.
SAVIDGE: For hours nurses called hospital after hospital.
DEER: They didn't have bed space in a critical care unit to treat my sister because of COVID. I believed we would lose her right there, right there, because she couldn't get medical care in the United States.
SAVIDGE: Even in a pandemic, medical experts say other life- threatening health disasters still strike without warning, like car accidents and heart attacks. But now those cases compete with COVID when it comes to care.
Eventually, Lori Terry was able to get the expert medical help she needed, but her sister can't forget how COVID-19 nearly killed her and she blames the carelessness of others.
DEER: And they need to wear a mask. They need to care about their neighbors, their family, their children and they need to do it right now. That's my message.
SAVIDGE (voice-over): Martin Savidge, CNN, Salt Lake City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
In Brazil, a volunteer in AstraZeneca's human trial vaccine has died. Officials, though, say the trial will continue. There's been little information about the volunteer and cause of death. Officially because of the privacy. So far, it's unclear if the volunteers received the actual trial vaccine or a placebo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Paul Duprex is the director of the Center for Vaccine Research at the University of Pittsburgh. He joins me now from Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania.
Paul, thanks for taking the time to be with us.
PAUL DUPREX, CENTER FOR VACCINE RESEARCH, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH: Nice to be here, John.
VAUSE: OK. Right now, we just don't know if the death of this volunteer was caused by this trial vaccine or whether it was some kind of pre-existing condition triggered by the vaccine or something totally unconnected.
But so far, AstraZeneca has seen two volunteers fall ill and one now died. And that's what we know of. When does this start to become a concern for you?
DUPREX: Well, I think we have to, first of all, realize that any death during the trial is a tragedy.
Secondly, I think what is important to realize is, during phase three trials, when we have lots of individuals who are vaccinated with the candidate vaccine and many others who are vaccinated with the placebo -- in this instance, it's a licensed vaccine for meningitis.
Given the fact that the individual died but the trial is continuing and there would have been an independent review, that tends to suggest -- although that's not been confirmed yet -- that the individual probably was vaccinated with the placebo.
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DUPREX: Because someone dying on a clinical trial, of course, is absolutely something that we don't want to happen, if it is linked to the vaccination.
VAUSE: Given all of that, how important, how crucial is it now that AstraZeneca come out and make a full disclosure, be totally transparent, be totally upfront about how this death occurred because maintaining confidence in the process is more crucial now than it ever has been?
DUPREX: Well, maintaining confidence in the process is absolutely vital, for sure. And I think you have to realize that these events will occur and do occur during clinical trials for both vaccines and other biopharmaceuticals.
So it's important to note that AstraZeneca are following due process. They have paused the trials and they're still paused in the United States. Trials have commenced again in the United Kingdom.
There will be a really full and independent investigation of that death in Brazil. And at present, AstraZeneca are doing what they are required to do.
VAUSE: It is important to note that this is happening under a microscope and it is happening at an incredible pace, the development of the vaccine.
And with that in mind, here's the director of the National Institutes of Health.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: We are compared to every previous effort that has ever been undertaken in human history to develop a vaccine against a scary disease, we are moving this forward at a pace that is truly breathtaking. Generally, this might have been a six- or eight- or 10-year effort when in fact, in this case, we'd be able to achieve it, if all goes well, in a little less than a year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So with that in mind, when we're looking at the pace of development here -- I mean, everything seems to be under this microscope and that means -- I take the point about confidentiality of the patient, but there's also this need for AstraZeneca to move just as quickly in reassuring the public about the safety of their trials, right?
DUPREX: Well, I think it's really important whenever we talk about speed and talk about developing vaccines fast, "fast" is fine. Sometimes people use the term "rushed" And absolutely impossible to rush because the connotations with "rush" is not doing correctly. Taking shortcuts, not investigating whether or not there are any adverse effects.
And I think the fact that you're seeing these pauses and these reports indicates that we're doing it fast but it's not being rushed. Because vaccines are way, way too important to rush their development.
(CROSSTALK)
DUPREX: So I also understand why it's important to talk about these adverse events.
VAUSE: And, as you say, the mere fact we are is a good sign that there is a good degree of transparency. Otherwise (ph) we didn't hear a lot about the Russian or the Chinese human trials and what happened over there.
But Paul, we're out of time. Hope you come back again because there's a lot to get to here with the vaccines and a lot to talk about. And maybe we could have you back on another night to keep going with this. We'd appreciate that. Thank you.
DUPREX: Absolutely, John. Nice to talk to you.
VAUSE: Likewise. Take care.
DUPREX: Cheers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still ahead, a wildly popular theory about the origins of the coronavirus, which has absolutely no proof, has received a lot of play on right-wing media. Scientists say there are a lot of red flags. CNN discovered links to one of Donald Trump's most ardent and influential supporters. Hmm. More on that in a moment.
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VAUSE: According to one very popular conspiracy theory, the carnivorous was created in a Chinese lab as a bioweapon. While there's no actual proof or evidence or even evidence of possible evidence, the theory has been embraced by many allies and supporters of the U.S. president.
[00:31:23]
Not only do experts say the science doesn't hold up, but the theory has a direct link to one of Trump's biggest backers.
Here's Drew Griffin with a CNN exclusive investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a right-wing-fueled conspiracy theories pushed to millions of Americans.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Li Meng Yan.
GRIFFIN: Dr. Li Meng Yan, a Chinese scientist in hiding but appearing everywhere on right-wing media, and claiming her two research papers prove the virus that causes COVID-19 was created in a Chinese lab and is a Chinese bioweapon.
DR. LI MENG YAN, VIROLOGIST: It is a modern bioweapon in an unrestricted way.
GRIFFIN: But a CNN investigation has found shoddy citations, questionable sourcing, and so many scientists who say it's bunk, Yan's paper is not a credible scientific work. But it is directly linked to one of Donald Trump's former top strategists: Steve Bannon.
STEVE BANNON, FORMER CHIEF STRATEGIST TO DONALD TRUMP: Do you believe that a super spreader or something was actually set and somehow has been focused on the White House or focused on President Trump?
MILES GUO, EXILED CHINESE BILLIONAIRE: One hundred percent!
GRIFFIN: That "100 percent" comes from Chinese billionaire in exile Miles Guo, who's using his money and Bannon's media expertise to try to discredit the Chinese government. Bannon and Guo appear together on Bannon's podcast, fill the pages of a website called G News, and began two non-profits together: the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation.
These are the groups who say they support Dr. Li Meng Yan and appear on the top of her research reports.
Columbia University virologist Angela Rasmussen says the papers are scientific junk.
ANGELA RASMUSSEN, VIROLOGIST, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Anybody with an actual background in virology or molecular biology who reads this paper will realize that much of it is actually nonsense.
GRIFFIN: CNN spoke to a half dozen scientists who say Yan's papers are filled with half-truths, not scientifically tenable. One who even met with Yan and said her first study wasn't plausible.
University of Michigan professor Anna Mapp says the paper lacked a basic obligation to scientific practices.
ANGELA MAPP, PROFESSOR OF CHEMICAL BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: I was also really disturbed to see such a shoddy piece of work.
GRIFFIN: And CNN could find no trace of Yan's three coauthors in the U.S. or China.
Yan didn't respond to tell us why, but a source tells us that those three co-authors are pseudonyms for U.S.-based Chinese scientists who fear using their own names. But the source offered no proof.
Miles Guo told us Yan's work is Yan's work, "independent of any editorial control by me." Steve Bannon offered no response.
Yet there is more about Yan's work. Some of the sources of her research appear not to be credible. Amanda Peiffer, who's getting a Ph.D. in chemical biology, first alerted CNN to issues with the citations at the very end of Yan's paper.
AMANDA PEIFFER, PH.D. CANDIDATE: People who aren't experts, people who aren't scientists, people who really haven't done anything. These are not coming from credible sources. I think that's really concerning.
GRIFFIN: A CNN analysis finds Yan's citations include a paper that appeared only as a post on a LinkedIn; a report written by a person that CNN cannot locate, running a company that does not seem to exist. Three of the citations that link to posts on a website opposed to genetically modified food. Then there is citation 23, which links to anonymous blog posts published back in March. Parts of Yan's papers appear to be pulled directly from these anonymous blogs.
(on camera): I don't want to copied and pasted, but it almost has that same effect.
[00:35:03]
PEIFFER: They took the exact same figures, the exact same phrasing and the exact same captions, and put those into the report that was Yan's paper. And that -- that does not happen in science.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): And guess where one of those blogs first appeared months before Yan's paper? G News, the disinformation news site linked to Steve Bannon and Miles Guo.
RASMUSSEN: And as much as I hate to think of the idea of competent scientists using their work for political propaganda, to me, that's what this seems to be.
GRIFFIN: Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The company that makes oxycontin has agreed to a guilty plea to criminal charges for its role in the U.S. opioid crisis. Purdue Pharma is unable to pay more than $8 billion in fines and penalties, which means the company will be shut down, its assets used to create a new company designed to benefit the American public.
Oxycontin is a powerful painkiller at the center of the opioid crisis. U.S. officials say 450,000 people died from opioid overdoses in 10 years between 1999 and 2009.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFFREY ROSEN, DEPUTY U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: So today's announcement involves one of the most important participants in the supply chain of prescription opioids at the manufacturer level. And a resolution which, if approved by the court, will redress past wrongs and will also provide extraordinary new resources for the treatment and care of those affected by opioids addiction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Some U.S. states, though, are objecting to the settlement, saying the U.S. government should not be in the business of selling oxycontin.
Nigeria's largest city and several states are under curfews after a night of violence. Witnesses say army soldiers shot and killed peaceful demonstrators on Tuesday. Their lifeless bodies were then dragged away.
CNN's Stephanie Busari reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE BUSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gunshots ring out in a wealthy suburb of Lagos, Africa's largest city.
The target? Young Nigerians who had been protesting peacefully against police brutality in the country for close to two weeks. Eyewitnesses tell CNN that military trucks barricaded them and started shooting from both sides, hitting multiple demonstrators.
The Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has appealed for peace and said only one person has been confirmed dead so far, contrary to what witnesses have told CNN.
BABAJIDE SANWO-OLU, LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT: I want to plea to the parents. I want to appeal to guardians. I want to appeal to our citizens, especially our youths, that I am for you. I am with you. I feel the pain, and I understand that, indeed, you are not happy with that what the turn of events happened last night.
BUSARI: The military has also taken to social media to cry fake news.
So far, 15 people have died since the protests started earlier this month, according to Amnesty International. Police turned water cannons, tear gas, and live ammunition on protesters earlier on in the marches in the capital city of Abuja. But in the streets of Lagos this morning, there was shock and anger as
the city comes to terms with a night of violence.
ANTHONY EHIS, LAGOS RESIDENT: We are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) our youths in this community to come out to resist the government. It was very bad, military men shooting all protestors. That was very, very bad.
ISAH ALIU, LAGOS RESIDENT: The youths are really, really angry. So I'm pleading to the federal government that they should try all their possible best. Let the president come and address the country.
BUSARI: Stephanie Busari, CNN.
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VAUSE: Just ahead, Pope Francis making history again, sending some chills through conservatives at the Vatican with comments about same- sex couples. Details when we come back.
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VAUSE: Pope Francis is the first pontiff to endorse civil union for same-sex couples. The Catholic News Agency reports his support came in a documentary called "Francisco." The film premiered in Rome on Wednesday.
Celia [SIC] -- CNN's Delia Gallagher has more.
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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pope Francis has declared support for same-sex civil unions in a new documentary released in Rome on Wednesday.
According to the Catholic News Agency, in that documentary, the pope said, "Homosexual people have a right to be in a family. They're children of God and have a right to a family. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered."
Now in past interviews, Francis has suggested that he is not necessarily against civil unions, but this is the first time as pope that he has come out directly in support of them.
Indeed, when he was archbishop in Buenos Aires, he advocated for civil unions over same-sex marriage at a time when Argentina was discussing the legalization of same-sex marriage.
And Francis's comments represent a departure from the position of his predecessors, John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, who were against the legalization of same-sex unions.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Many church conservatives are asking the pope to explain how his comments comply with Catholic doctrine, which opposes gay marriage.
Others, though, have welcomed the pope's stand. The Irish prime minister, Micheal Martin, says it's an example of "momentous leadership" that he hopes will lead to "change throughout the church."
Here's Father James Martin. He's a Jesuit priest, like Francis.
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FATHER JAMES MARTIN, JESUIT PRIEST: I think he's creating a new space for LGBT people. There is a 2003 document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith against same-sex unions, and the pope is obviously saying he sees things a little differently.
It is -- it's momentous, because he's saying it as pope. He said it before as archbishop of Buenos Aires. He's saying it on the record, and he's being very clear. It's not simply he's tolerating it. He's supporting it.
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VAUSE: More history from the pope. And we'll have more news for you in about 15 minutes. In the meantime, I'm John Vause. WORLD SPORT is up next.
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