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U.S. Reports One-Day High, over 83,000 COVID-19 Infections; Coronavirus Reaches New Peaks across Europe; 51+ Million Early Votes Cast in U.S. Election; Israel and Sudan Agree to Normalize Relations; Lizzo Campaigns for Biden in Detroit. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired October 24, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

For the first time since the pandemic began, more than 80,000 Americans were diagnosed with COVID-19 in a single day. Not only is that a record, it easily eclipses the worst days of July, when new cases topped 70,000 a day.

This upward trend has been building steadily since early September and the U.S. surgeon general warns that the country can expect new daily records in the coming days as the virus spreads unchecked from Maine to California.

Only 13 states, you can see them there on the map in yellow, are holding steady, compared to last week. And Nebraska, Arkansas and Mississippi are showing modest improvement.

Now this new surge is putting an enormous strain on America's health care system. At least eight states are reporting their highest hospitalizations to date. For the first time since mid-August, the number of people being treated for COVID has topped 40,000 nationwide.

Unless behavior changes quickly, forecasters say the U.S. death toll could reach 1 million by the end of February. And now the country's top infectious disease official says it may be time to make face masks mandatory.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If everyone agrees that this is something that is important and they mandate, it and everyone pulls together and say, we will mandate it but let's just do it, I think that would be a great idea, to have everyone do it uniformly.

One of the issues, though, I get the argument, saying, if you mandate a mask, then you will then have to enforce, it and that creates more of a problem. Well, if people are not wearing masks, then maybe we should be mandating it.

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BRUNHUBER: Two converging issues threaten to accelerate the spread the coronavirus. Indoor activities brought on by colder weather and the upcoming holidays, when friends and family traditionally get together. Dr. Fauci says people need to be more vigilant than ever.

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FAUCI: The reason I am particularly concerned, as we get deeper into the cooler months of the fall and the cold months of the winter, that activities, out of necessity, will have to be done indoors.

And that is going to be a problem. So that is the reason why, I say, we really need to double down on the kind of public health measures that we've been talking about so long.

Whenever I talk about amplify and just stressing the public health measures, people think that that means we're going to shut down. It doesn't mean that. It means there are some fundamental things you can do -- universal mask wearing, keeping a distance, avoiding congregate and crowded sessions -- sections, particularly indoors -- and wash your hands as often as you possibly can.

They sound very simple but we're not uniformly doing that. And so that is the reason why, as much as I can, essentially plead with the American public to please take these things seriously. We can turn it around.

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BRUNHUBER: During Thursday night's debate, American voters were able to see the stark differences Biden and Donald Trump toward the pandemic and those divergent views were on full display. Take a listen as they addressed the simple issue of face masks.

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TRUMP: You got to lead your life. And you know what? Some people want to stay in and that's good, do it, do it. You know, I'm sort of like, lead your life, right? And some people agree with me, some people.

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TRUMP: But if you want to stay in, if you want to do what you're doing, do it.

If you want to get out, you want to be careful, and socially distance and all of the things, you could wear a mask if you can't socially distance, there's a lot of things you can do. But some people want to stay in and that's OK.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I will go to every governor and mandate mask-wearing in their states. If they refuse, I will go to the mayors and county executives and get local masking requirements in place nationwide. As president, I will mandate mask-wearing in all federal buildings and all interstate transportation because masks save lives, period.

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BRUNHUBER: Positive developments for two COVID-19 trials in the U.S. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson paused their trials when there were illnesses. But the Food and Drug Administration greenlit AstraZeneca preparations to resume tests after determination its vaccine candidate was safe. Meanwhile, Johnson & Johnson said a study found no clear cause for its participant's illness. The company says preparations to restart are underway but couldn't say when the trial would resume.

To discuss the resurgence of coronavirus crisis we're seeing in the U.S. and Europe, let's talk to Dr. Clare Wenham, who teaches global health policy.

Thank you very much for being here with us. Here in the U.S., the number of people hospitalized with the coronavirus has risen by 40 percent. The president is trying to convince us that the country is rounding the corner, when that is clearly not the case.

From a public health perspective, how does that denial of reality have on a country and its residents to fight the virus?

DR. CLARE WENHAM, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE: I think it's concerning. If the president is putting out messages that people don't have to worry about it any more and that it's almost over, that's sending the wrong message.

In Europe, we're in a second peak. In the U.S., numbers are going up, as well, as you said, so we need people to take it seriously, wear your mask, socially distance, work at home where you can. All these things add up.

And the evidence around this is increasing every day. So to have a political leader saying you don't need to do these things, it's a dangerous precedent. The numbers will go up even further.

BRUNHUBER: We mentioned masks. Dr. Fauci says it may be time to call for a mask mandate.

Is there any evidence that mask mandates generally work?

WENHAM: So I think anything we can do to get people to wear more masks is a good thing. It hasn't been politicized as much in Europe as it has in the U.S.

Why not get people to listen and take this seriously?

We know wearing masks reduces the transmission.

Why wouldn't you do everything within your power to reduce transmission of this disease and stop people dying?

BRUNHUBER: Yes. As you said, much of this is political. The cases are rising here. And in the U.K. where you are. We're seeing field hospitals, national shutdowns, curfews, school closings.

How did we get here again?

WENHAM: That is a really good question. We always knew there were going to be second waves as we started to come out of lockdown. Lockdown isn't the silver bullet. Lockdown just places pauses on everybody. We knew we were going to see more.

But a lot of places didn't use that time, the last six months, to build up a trace and isolation system to allow us to go back to living normally.

In the ideal world, you're going to ask those people who have got the infection to stay at home and everyone else can go back to some semblance of normality. The problem is systems aren't in place, people are not listening and not following the guidance and not staying at home when they've been asked to.

So we're at a critical juncture to try and make sure we get the systems in place and make sure we get that risk communication right to people so they understand why they're staying at home and that they try to follow that guidance.

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BRUNHUBER: And that is what the WHO has said. We're seeing some countries go back into lockdown. Wales, for instance.

Are broader lockdowns inevitable?

WENHAM: I don't think anyone wants to get back into a lockdown. However, I don't see in the U.K., for example, how we're going to do it any other way. And effectively, we're in the tier system here in the U.K.

But those levels of restrictions keep increasing every day. So I think eventually we will end up here in a more broader lockdown and elsewhere in Europe as well.

And I think it's sort of inevitable because people haven't got the systems in place and people aren't being compliant with the guidance they're being given. So I don't really see another way out.

BRUNHUBER: I'm sure that's not what many of our viewers want to hear. But thank you very much. Dr. Clare Wenham, thank you.

As COVID-19 cases soar in the U.S., many schools are opting for virtual learning. It was announced on Friday, in Seattle, Washington, most students will continue classes at home for at least the next three months. And now the city of Boston is closing its public schools to in-person learning.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was at the opening day of school October 1st. It was the first time many of these young people were in school since back in March. And making that decision was probably one of the hardest decisions I've had to make since the coronavirus pandemic began here.

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BRUNHUBER: Boston will continue to give out thousands of meals a day to students who need them.

There's just over a week to go before the U.S. presidential election. Both candidates are burning up the campaign trail and both are talking about COVID-19 but obviously in very different ways.

Plus, we'll show you how governments in Europe are stepping up restrictions as coronavirus cases soar. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): More than 200,000 tiny white flag blankets in a field in Washington, D.C., They represent American lives lost to coronavirus. The project is the brainchild of artist Suzanne Firstenberg, who says she wanted to visualize the scale of U.S. lives lost. Flags will be added as the death toll rises.

The installation will stay up through November 6th, a stark reminder there.

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BRUNHUBER: with virus numbers surging and only 10 days until Election Day in the U.S., the pandemic is dominating talk on the campaign trail. But the candidates are painting very different pictures. In Delaware, Democratic nominee Joe Biden hit out against President Trump's handling of the coronavirus and warned difficult months are ahead.

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BIDEN: Tonight, we saw the president of the United States lie to the American people, repeatedly lie about the state of this pandemic.

We saw him refuse to take responsibility for the crisis that should have been met with real presidential leadership. Instead, it has cost hundreds of thousands of Americans' lives, pushed millions into poverty. We saw him diminish the pain felt by so many Americans. President Trump said we're rounding the corner. It's going away. We're learning to live with it. There are quotes.

But as I told him last night, we're not learning to live with it. We're learning to die with it. This is a dark winter ahead.

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BRUNHUBER: By contrast, Mr. Trump claimed the pandemic was receding.

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TRUMP: All he talks about is COVID, COVID, COVID, because they want to scare people. And we've done so well with it. Now it's 99.8 percent. I mean, you look at what's going on, and we're rounding the turn, we're rounding the corner, we're rounding the corner beautifully.

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BRUNHUBER: So to talk about all this, we're joined now by Leslie Vinjamuri in London. She's the director of the U.S. and the Americas Programme at Chatham House.

Thank you so much for coming on. Let's start with the two candidates and COVID. The president's confident sunny times are just around the corner, despite evidence to the contrary. And Joe Biden warning us of a dark winter.

We're sick of COVID-19. The last thing we want to hear is that things are going to get worse and we might have to go back into lockdown.

Will the president's message resonate in the election's waning days?

LESLIE VINJAMURI, CHATHAM HOUSE: I think for some voters it will. What we know is very few voters in the United States already know who they intend to vote for. Those people who are solidly in Trump's camp absolutely want to hear a good message.

But I think as you look at the numbers, as Americans have now been living with this for eight months, what they want to know is that things are going to get better because there's a plan for making them better: because there's a vaccine on the way, because social distancing is working, because they can see the numbers coming down.

And that's not what is happening right now. There's a surge in about 38 states. The numbers are devastatingly high, the death toil is extraordinary and tragic and people are very well aware of this.

So they want to see a plan, the majority of Americans. And hearing that things are good without that second message as to why they are going to be good and what we can expect and how we're going to get there, that's the message that we're seeing from Vice President Biden.

And if we believe the national polling, it's a message that's clearly working. He's many points ahead in the national polls. Of course, we know this election is going to be won in the

battleground states.

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VINJAMURI: And so that is a harder thing to call. But right now, it looks like the American people are much more inside the Biden message than they are in President Trump's message.

BRUNHUBER: You mentioned that most Americans know for whom they're going to vote. But maybe one of the last chances to change that was the debate, which at least matched the definition of the noun, unlike the first one.

What was your take away?

And will it make any difference, do you think, as we round the corner to the end of the campaign?

VINJAMURI: I don't think it will make a lot of difference. I found the debate somewhat disappointing. It was certainly better than the first debate, where President Trump spoke over the moderator, argued with the moderator, spoke over the vice president.

Really very little could be heard by the audience and it was, frankly, a national embarrassment and I think the vice president felt that way. So you could see that President Trump had been coached, that he was thinking much more clearly about when to intervene.

There were the new rules so it was marginally more civilized. But it started with the pandemic and it moved quickly on. There was so much light between the two and there is really very little to be won for the president.

The economic conversation was interesting. The president is saying the vice president is a socialist; going to bring the American economy down. And the vice president says I'm worried about Main Street, not Wall Street. We need that fiscal stimulus, that government support so that schools and small businesses can stay open but they can do so in a way that's safe.

So there were a number of very big divides. I think the question of those 500 -- more than 500 children hit the papers this week. The 500 children who we can't find their parents, it sort of brought back the question of immigration, which has to be tackled by the next administration.

So that was a very interesting, pointed debate and, of course, the conversation about climate, where we have --

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BRUNHUBER: Yes, let me ask you about that because that is one of the things that came out of the debate, Joe Biden now walking back comments he made at the end of the debate, in which he promised to "transition away from the oil industry," and, of course, the president was quick to jump on those comments at this rally. Listen to this.

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TRUMP: Did you see him this morning?

This morning -- I didn't really mean that. I didn't mean that. That was the last question that talked about that. I said, whoa, this is the big point of the evening, remember?

I said, well, you want to get rid of oil and, yes, is that -- yes, well, we want to phase it out. I said, thank you.

Texas, are you watching?

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BRUNHUBER: And then he went on to name a couple of other states there. So now Biden and his camp are trying to walk those comments back, emphasizing they don't want to eliminate fossil fuels.

But you heard Trump start to name check those states where fossil fuels are huge, including Pennsylvania.

Will this hurt him in those swing states?

VINJAMURI: Yes. That was clearly a difficult moment in the debate. The vice president has a very serious and extensive plan for climate and it absolutely involves an energy transition to renewables over a significant period of time.

It also involves 40 percent of a $2 trillion package being invested in disadvantaged communities and job creation. So it's a complex message to get across in a debate where there's a lot of intense politics and short moments.

Whether the extent of the message, how it will be played in Pennsylvania, obviously, President Trump is trying to manipulate that language. Vice President Biden is trying to counter it, to clarify it.

What we're seeing so far is it's not shifting votes on the ground in Pennsylvania. But we are 10 days away from the most important election of our lifetime. So there is a lot in play.

But so far on the ground, people in Pennsylvania are trying to determine how they're going to vote. They're struggling to vote. There is a lot of effort being invested in getting out the vote, there's a lot of litigation still going on around the counting of the votes and the rules for voting.

But again, I think there's a record turnout for voters. More than 50 million have voted. Young voters are turning out early like never before in the United States.

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VINJAMURI: So I suspect people know what they want. They're following the issues more carefully than they ever have before. But again, it's difficult to predict.

BRUNHUBER: Leslie Vinjamuri, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

VINJAMURI: Thank you so much.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Scuffles broke out in Naples, Italy, over new restrictions imposed to help stem the spread of coronavirus. Police used teargas after hundreds gathered to protest the curfew.

Cases across Italy have risen sevenfold since the beginning of October. They soared on Friday with the government reporting more than 19,000 new infections.

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BRUNHUBER: Tens of millions of Europeans are facing tougher coronavirus restrictions going into this weekend. They come as new cases soar across the country. For more, let's go to Scott McLean in Berlin.

Take us through the situation in Europe as the COVID situation becomes more and more dire there.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So despite new restrictions being brought in by German chancellor Angela Merkel last week, aimed at hot spots, today, this country just recorded a record high number of cases.

It is a similar picture in Italy which is seeing record high numbers. One regional governor there suggested the whole country ought to go into lockdown because the sort of partial measures in place right now simply are not working.

France, again, a similar story; more record case counts. The president there said he expects his country will be with the virus until at least next summer.

Until then, countries across this continent are bringing in restrictions, curfews and, in some cases, even lockdowns.

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MCLEAN (voice-over): A picturesque town with a special place on the map, Knighton straddles the border of England and Wales. As of Friday, parts of it are subject to a two-week lockdown imposed by Cardiff.

However, just around the corner, on the English side of town, people still have the ability to move around. The mayor says residents are complying but admits these are confusing times.

MAYOR NICK JOHNS, KNIGHTON, WALES: There are some question marks, especially in rural areas like this, where we have almost no COVID or coronavirus. Why we have to shut down again --

MCLEAN (voice-over): Ireland is just days into its six-week lockdown. The streets there deserted, its citizens under a stay-at-home order.

But exercise close to home is still allowed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've just been able to walk around the streets and it is kind of eerie and poignant and there's just a kind of cloud of sadness again, the city's abandoned.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Quiet streets, curfews, people wearing masks that are no longer just an option. These are the new norms for many cities across Europe. And for those who don't like them, there is a growing presence in some places, like this town in Bavaria, where police are on the streets with fines if necessary.

Portugal is one of the latest places to mandate face coverings in busy outdoor places, potentially unpopular move but a necessary one, officials say, as cases there reach record highs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I think it's good but many people won't agree with it. But it's good to follow in the footsteps of other countries to try to kill this bug.

MCLEAN (voice-over): And in Slovakia, a mass testing drive plans to do just that. It wants to test everyone over the age of 10, saying it may allow increased personal freedoms for those who test negative.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are all afraid. I'm worried because I see what's happening and it's terrifying. So I'm afraid. And that's why I'm here now.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Even Sweden, a country that rejects lockdown measures and has not mandated wearing face masks, has made some targeted adjustments this week. Nightclubs are limited to a capacity of 50 people. The prime minister saying it's time for the party to stop.

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MCLEAN: And the worst affected country not just in Europe but on Earth right now is the Czech Republic. It has an infection rate five times higher than the United States. While many countries saw high deaths in the first wave and not in the second wave, it's quite the opposite with the Czech Republic.

And on top of all that, the health minister has been accused of breaking his own rules, rejecting calls to resign. The prime minister is promising to replace him anyway.

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MCLEAN: If that happens, that would be the third health minister in the Czech Republic in the last six weeks.

BRUNHUBER: Now we just heard some news out of Poland.

What can you tell us from there? MCLEAN: Sure. So Reuters is now reporting the Polish president was tested for the virus yesterday. Today that test came back and it is positive. The president says he is feeling good at this point.

The Belgian deputy prime minister tested positive. She went into ICU and she does require constant monitoring at this stage. Also, the Czech Republic had its deputy prime minister test positive along with a cabinet member.

Here in Germany, the health minister also tested positive.

BRUNHUBER: Thank you for that update, Scott McLean, in Berlin.

Early voting is under away in the United States ahead of Election Day. We'll look at some possible pathways to victory for the candidates coming up after the break.

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BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to you, our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. There's just over a week to go for the election in the United States. What really counts, of course, are votes.

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BRUNHUBER: Specifically the 200 electoral college votes needed to secure the presidency. There are many possibilities but most of them look better for Biden than Trump. Phil Mattingly has more.

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The 2020 presidential debates are in the rear view, which means it's crunch time for both campaigns.

I think the big question now for both of those campaigns is, what is the strategy to close things out in these final days?

The campaigns themselves, you need to look at the signals, their money and their time. But first, let's take a look at where things stand at this moment.

You will see Joe Biden above the 270 electoral votes he would need to win the presidency. Lighter blue, those are leans. The leans don't necessarily mean they are going to go Biden's way on Election Day. But right now, that's where things stand.

So take a look. Where you see the gold, those are the tossups. And this time around, everything in gold was a state that president Donald Trump won back in 2016. So let's first pull up where the candidates and some of their top

surrogates are going over the course of this past week and this weekend. And you get a sense of what the campaigns are really focused on.

Joe Biden, obviously in Tennessee for the debate. Pennsylvania, keep Pennsylvania in mind. Bernie Sanders, now a top surrogate, once a competitor for Joe Biden, heading to Pennsylvania this weekend, as well. President Barack Obama heading to Pennsylvania earlier in the week and then Florida over the course of the weekend.

You get a sense from that, Pennsylvania and Florida. I'll come back to that. But first, take a look at the enormous travel schedule of the president and the vice president. Obviously very active. Taking a different method of campaigning than the Biden campaign in the middle of the pandemic.

They are going a lot of different places which underscores two things. One, they are defending the many states. Keep an eye on all of these states and focus on Pennsylvania, focus on Florida.

Where else do you want to look at here?

Look at what they're spending. Obviously, the spending matters a lot. And what comes up top here, first, Joe Biden with a significant advantage on the campaign level. Both campaigns spending big in the state of Florida. Both campaigns spending big in the state of North Dakota and North Carolina.

That should give you a sense of the three or four key states that you're looking at over the course of the next couple of days, really the next 10, 11, 9.

What does it all mean?

I talked about Florida and Pennsylvania. Say you give the Trump campaign every single gold tossup here, except for the state of Florida. Joe Biden is still over 270 electoral votes. President Trump still below.

What if you give Joe Biden the state of Florida?

Obviously, he goes even higher there but President Trump breaks the blue wall in the Midwest just like he did back in 2016.

Let's show how different things are for President Trump to win if Joe Biden wins Florida. It really underscores the point here. Say he takes Pennsylvania again. Joe Biden, still well over 270. Say he takes Michigan again, Joe Biden, still over 270.

The reality for the Trump campaign is, without Florida, President Trump is almost certain not to be re-elected.

And also, why do you go, if you're the Biden campaign, to Pennsylvania? We talked about how important the Midwest is, how important it was for Trump's re-election back in 2016. Let's say he wins all the tossup states, Joe Biden at 290. That creates significant problems for President Trump.

He would have to win Wisconsin, Minnesota, difficult, difficult problem sessions if you're not winning Pennsylvania where he ran stronger in 2016.

There are pathways for President Trump; there are probably more pathways for Joe Biden. But, again, look at where they're spending, look at where they're going. And as I noted earlier, keep an eye on North Carolina as well. A lot of things could happen. This is the map and it could change. Back to you.

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BRUNHUBER: One group of voters that shouldn't be overlooked are American expats living overseas.

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BRUNHUBER: For more on how they could affect the outcome, let's bring in Mark Kayser, a professor of politics in Berlin.

Thank you so much for joining me. I saw a headline somewhere saying, if the election is close, it could potentially hinge on the expat vote. So let's table the question right now of whether that is realistic. But make the case for why the expat vote could matter.

MARK KAYSER, PROFESSOR, HERTIE SCHOOL OF GOVERNANCE: Yes. So in general, the expat vote doesn't usually have a large effect simply because the numbers are so small. There's about 5.5 (sic) non-military dependent Americans living abroad. Their turnout rate historically has been abysmal.

In 2016, of the 3 million expats of voting age, only 208,000 cast a ballot; 6.9 percent, that's very low. So the numbers are usually too small to matter.

But in a circumstance where it's a very close election in a state that has a very razor thin race, it is possible that maybe a state, most likely Florida or North Carolina, probably Florida because it has more expats, then it could matter in a very close race.

BRUNHUBER: And, in fact, we have to go back to 2000 for Bush-Gore. We saw it hinge on so few votes in that circumstance. If something like that happened, it could be crucial.

And, you know, what role, if any, did the expat vote play there?

KAYSER: When a race is that close, basically anything can matter. Even things like ballot design. If Palm Beach County had not had a butterfly ballot that confused voters, that would have changed things.

So you know, not all requested ballots are sent back, not all of those are validated because of errors. It will be higher in a presidential election but, ballpark, how many are counted and sent back, maybe something like 30,000. That is not peanuts. In a close election, it could matter.

BRUNHUBER: Typically which party should be waiting for those ballots to come in and anticipating?

KAYSER: Of Americans abroad, there are two groups. One is military. One is expats. And the military trends historically Republican. But you know, arguably less so this year. And the expats actually are usually professionals working abroad or living abroad because of family members, family connections. And they tend to be more educated on average than most Americans and they tend to be professionals.

And these groups have been trending Democratic. So the two groups in a way historically canceled each other out. But this year the military is probably leaning less toward the Republicans than they have in the past. And the expat vote is probably leaning more Democratic than it has been in the past.

BRUNHUBER: Let me ask you one last question before we go, on that question. We are seeing record levels of early voting here. The enthusiasm seems through the roof.

Any sense of whether the expat vote, we'll see that, as well?

KAYSER: Yes. Turnout is expected to be higher than it was in 2016. And there is only room to improve for the expat vote. So it's very reasonable to think that would actually increase. But the numbers, again, are not huge. These are small numbers. But in a close state like Florida, there is a chance it could matter.

BRUNHUBER: We'll see whether that comes to take place. Thank you so much, Mark Kayser, for joining us from Berlin. I appreciate it.

KAYSER: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Israel and several of its Arab neighbors have moved towards reconciliation. Now Sudan and Israel have taken the first tentative steps to improve their relations. We'll explain what they're agreeing to.

[04:45:00]

BRUNHUBER: And what they're not. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Less than two weeks before the U.S. presidential election, President Trump is claiming a significant foreign policy victory. He announced on Friday, that thanks to a U.S. brokered deal, Sudan and Israel have agreed to start normalizing relations. The two countries have agreed to start an economic relationship for

the first time in decade webs but it's not clear if there will be full diplomatic ties. Mr. Trump signed an order removing Sudan from the state sponsor of terrorism list, one of Sudan's requirements. The country's acting foreign minister says the agreement is just the beginning of the process.

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OMAR GAMARELDIN, SUDANESE ACTING FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): This is an agreement to normalize. It's not yet normalization. We must wait for Sudan's democratic institutions to be functional, including in the legislative council, so we can complete the ratification of this step so it can become, in reality, normalization.

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BRUNHUBER: Let's go now to Oren Liebermann.

Potentially a big win for Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu.

But before we go to the political angle, if approved, what would this mean for the Sudanese?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The country is in dire financial straits with a fragile three-year government trying to create an important democratic institutions to make Sudan a stable country. Part of that was being removed from the U.S. state sponsor of terror list so they could get access to financial institutions and help to get the economy and the country on stable footing.

They needed the U.S. for that and it's because of that that the U.S. had the ability to say, if you want that, normalize relations with Israel. But Sudan made it clear -- and we heard it there from the acting foreign minister.

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LIEBERMANN: This isn't happening quickly and that is because the Palestinian cause is very popular on Sudanese street. They have to deal with very carefully. There are political parties in Sudan who don't look upon this agreement favorably.

As much as it helps Sudan economically and financially, it is still a destabilizing act that could put pressure on Sudan's very fragile government as it's trying to lead the country forward here.

BRUNHUBER: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

CNN NEWSROOM will be right back. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Music star Lizzo is back home in Detroit to make her political opinion heard. On Friday, the singer and songwriter campaigned for Joe Biden. She spoke to a big, mostly masked crowd about how important it is to vote in deciding who wins the White House.

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LIZZO, MUSIC STAR: I think all of this is kind of melding. Everything, every protest you went to, every march you participated in, every social media post that you've done, every failing you -- every tear you've cried for someone who's lost a life.

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LIZZO: Take that to the ballot box. This is our time to actually, when you're sitting at home and you're like, I wish they would hear me, I wish they knew what I thought, I wish they could hear my voice, this is the time to do that. Your vote is literally your political voice.

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BRUNHUBER: Many airlines have implemented COVID safety precautions since the pandemic started, including masks required. Now some are getting tougher, banning hundreds of passengers who refused to put one on. CNN's Pete Muntean has more.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Delta Airlines now says 460 people are now no longer welcome on its flights for refusing to wear a mask. That according to a new memo from Delta CEO to employees.

The last time we got an update on this was when Delta said it banned 270 people. This averages out to about two people per day being banned from Delta flights since May 4th. Other airlines have similar requirements.

But this is coming at a time when the CDC is saying masks must be worn by travelers on every part of the trip. New studies show the risk of contracting coronavirus on an airplane is actually pretty low.

But the CDC says the risk is higher in indoor places like terminals, where people can get bunched up. Airlines do not have any help from the federal government. The FAA and the Department of Transportation have instituted no new requirements for masks on board airplanes. Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Please stay with us.