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Europe & U.S.: No COVID Plateau In Sight; 500,000 U.S. Deaths Forecast By End Of February; Coney Barrett Confirmed And Sworn In; Continental Europe Reels Under COVID; Coronavirus Cases Up In 37 Of 50 U.S. States; Early Voting Records Smashed Coast To Coast; Armenia, Azerbaijan Accuse Each Other of Violations; Authorities Finishing Testing 4.7 Million in Xinjiang; Melbourne, Australia to Come Out of Lockdown Wednesday; Interview with Tim Murtaugh. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired October 27, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again. And welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM. No plateau in sight. Coronavirus infections surging to record levels in Europe and the U.S. Once again, health systems under strain amid a third and possibly highest peak so far of COVID-19.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, I mean, I got it and I'm here, right? I'm here.
CROWD: (Applause)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Trump boasts he beat the virus as a new forecast predicts the coronavirus death toll in the U.S. will top 500,000 by the end of next February.
And Republicans get their Supreme Court nominee confirmed drastically changing the court's ideological balance. But at what cost?
Almost every public health expert warned the coming northern winter would be bleak. And now those predictions are coming true with record breaking numbers of new coronavirus infections across Europe and the United States.
The U.S. has now recorded its highest seven-day average since the pandemic began. The death toll in Europe has passed 250,000, confirmed cases raising daily in almost every member state.
But there is a small window of opportunity, but the World Health Organization says nothing short of drastic action is needed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. MICHAEL RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY HEALTH PROGRAMS: There's no question that the European region is an epicenter for disease right now.
We're well behind this virus in Europe. So getting ahead of it is going to take some serious acceleration in what we do. And maybe a much more comprehensive nature of measures that are going to be needed to catch up with and get ahead of this virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: On Monday, global stock markets tumbled on the news. On Wall Street, the Dow dropped more than 650 points. While in Europe stocks fell on word that a number of countries were imposing new restricted to try and contain this latest outbreak.
France is reporting the highest number of new hospital admissions for COVID-19 since April. Later this week, senior government officials will meet to consider tougher restrictions.
Here's CNN's Melissa Bell reporting in from Europe's worst hotspot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Here in France after several days of record rises in terms of the number of new cases, there are fears that the situation could be far worse than the official figures suggest.
The head of France's scientific counsel saying that they could be double what the official figures are showing. This because some people are asymptomatic and others simply don't bother, he said, to get tested.
All eyes now very much on whether the curfews that are in place for some 46 million French people will have the desired effect, with places like here in Paris the ICUs coming under particular strain.
It's a similar story elsewhere as other European countries try and tackle this second wave.
Over in Italy, fresh restrictions from this Monday and the Italian prime minister warning that the country simply couldn't afford a second lockdown.
In Spain as well a state of emergency that will now last until May and that involves things like fresh curfews being brought in and restrictions on travel between Spanish regions.
Switzerland as well expected to bring in fresh restrictions this week.
As the Continent tries to bring its COVID-19 figures while avoiding the kind of second lockdown that would prove catastrophic economically.
Melissa Bell. CNN, Paris. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, it could be pandemic fatigue in Italy where protests broke out after new restrictions were announced.
In Milan and Turin demonstrators set off firecrackers and lit flares. Police responded with teargas.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned the nation will be facing some very difficult months as she reportedly plans to order bars and restaurants to close and cancel public events.
In Belgium, health officials say intensive care units could be at capacity in two weeks if admissions of COVID patients continues to rise. Belgium has Europe's second highest rate of infection per capita.
That's after the Czech Republic, which now has a 9:00 pm curfew and retailers there are also facing some new restrictions including an order to close their doors on Sundays.
The U.S. is now averaging more than 68,000 daily coronavirus infections, its highest rate since the pandemic began. Over the past week, at least 37 of the 50 states have seen a rise in new cases. Many have recorded their highest seven-day averages ever.
Among them South Dakota where 23 out of every 100 tests are showing positive.
We have more details now from CNN's Brian Todd.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's gotten to the point where even some of the most hardened public health officials can't take it anymore.
Like Illinois's top health officer when she gave an update on cases and deaths in her state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. NGOZI EZIKE, DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: For a total of 364,033 confirmed cases since the start of this pandemic.
Excuse me, please.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: All right. It's OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:05:00]
TODD: The coronavirus resurgence that top health officials warned about is here. The U.S. is now reporting its highest level of weekly new cases ever since the pandemic started. Now surpassing even the worst of the surge in July.
37 states are worsening from coast to coast, none are improving.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: We're at a dangerous tipping point now. We're entering what's going to be the steep slope of the curve, of the epidemic curve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb also says there's also, quote, "no backstop," meaning no barrier to a rise in cases. No forceful policy intervention from national, state and local officials to stop the rise.
Other top experts agree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. TOM INGLESBY, JOHNS HOPKINS BLOOMBERG SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: I'm very worried about what's coming in the weeks ahead, because I don't see a lot of changes in direction from state leaders or from what they're asking people to do differently.
If there aren't substantial changes in what individuals are doing or what state leaders are directing then these numbers are going to continue to go up. And hospitals are going to go into crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: That's already happening in Utah where a top hospital official says the state is very close to having to ration hospital care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREG BELL, PRESIDENT, UTAH HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION: At the end of the day, some senior person versus some very healthy young person probably would not get the nod.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: In Wisconsin, a state ravaged by the virus, a special field hospital has been taking in overflow patients for days.
Patients like 34-year-old Amanda Best (ph), a nurse who agreed to be transferred even though she wasn't stable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMANDA BEST: It was more we need room and are you willing to? Because you're the youngest one we have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: In El Paso, where local hospitals have experienced at least a 200 percent increase in patients, the convention center is being converted into a hospital. And an overnight curfew is in place to limit people's mobility.
In Arizona, an entire middle school, students, staff, teachers, everyone, forced to quarantine for least two weeks because of exposures to the virus.
America's top voice on the pandemic said on Monday this probably isn't another wave of the virus because the first wave likely never ended.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you want to call it the third wave or an extended first wave, no matter how you look at it, it's not good news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Dr. Anthony Fauci and other top health leaders in America say it's time to think about a national mandate for every American to wear a mask in public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: If everyone agrees that this is something that's important and they mandated it and everybody pulls together and say we're going to mandate it, but let's just do it.
I think that would be a great idea to have everybody do it uniformly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: Dr. Fauci and other top experts agree that there could be legal challenges to a national mandate to wear masks and that enforcing that rule could be difficult. But they say if there's any time to put that rule in place, it's now.
Because there are too many people across the country who either don't bother to wear masks or who are openly resisting it.
Just this past weekend in South Florida there was a protest against mask wearing where people actually burned masks.
Brian Todd. CNN Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: With us now from Seattle is Dr. Chris Murray who's chair of health metric sciences at the University of Washington. Dr. Murray, thank you for being with us.
DR. CHRIS MURRAY, CHAIR, HEALTH METRIC SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: Happy to be here.
VAUSE: We'll get to a study which you were part of that talks about masks and the number of lives that could be saved in a moment. But in very broad brush strokes, is there one or two common factors
driving this huge surge in the number of infections be it here in the U.S., all across Europe? And how do you see this playing out in terms of the impact on health care systems, human life and the economic cost?
MURRAY: Well, this surge, there's no surprise. We've been predicting it for three or four months. And the reason is that COVID-19 is seasonal. And so as we head into the winter in the northern hemisphere we have been expecting this big uptick in transmission.
It's happening exactly on cue. And the surprise is that anyone's surprised by this.
VAUSE: Right. (Inaudible).
MURRAY: And we also really have some pretty good ideas about what to do to try to put the brakes on.
MURRAY: With that in mind, you were among a number of experts who looked at this rate of infection as well as other factors and developed a model which predicts by the end of February the U.S. death toll would pass 500,000.
But if there was a national mask mandate and it was universally followed, 95 percent, that would save about 130,000 lives. Even if 85 percent of the population wore a mask it would mean almost 100,000 fewer deaths overall.
Regardless, though, of the outcome of next week's election, the current president who is a mask truther, Donald Trump, will still be there until January -- long after, I guess, this peak has happened.
Given that, are there any other factors out there which you could see that could actually up having masks being worn on a universal basis anytime soon?
MURRAY: Well, I think that the important thing for people to grasp is that wearing a mask is not only protecting yourself and your family but it's the best way to avoid people losing their job and losing income.
Because what's going to happen is when health systems get overwhelmed, governors in states in the United States, just as we're seeing in Europe, will have to put mandates back in place.
[01:10:00]
And that's really going to have pretty bad economic consequences. So wearing masks is about both your health but also your livelihood.
VAUSE: The White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, he seemed to sum up the administration's pandemic response during an interview with CNN on Sunday.
Here's part of it. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MEADOWS, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We're not going to control the pandemic, we are going to control the fact that we get vaccines, therapeutics and other mitigation.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Why aren't --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEADOWS: What we need to do is make sure that we have the proper mitigation factors whether it's therapies or vaccines or treatments to make sure that people don't die from this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That's astonishing to me. You can't control a pandemic; yes, you can. By wearing a mask. It would have been more accurate to say they just haven't really tried.
MURRAY: Well, I think the evidence is pretty clear about wearing a mask and there's also other things we can do. It's not just wearing a mask that's going to help.
Avoiding large gatherings, because we know the role of super spreaders. People who are at risk, comorbidities, over 65 should be really, really careful.
So all that together, we can do a lot to avoid the death toll that's ahead.
VAUSE: So there are a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions which can take place. It seems the Trump Administration wants to focus on the medication, the medical side of this, the vaccines and the therapeutic drugs. Which seems to be out of whack with what health experts have been saying all over the world.
MURRAY: Well, we're all hopeful about a vaccine. I think our modeling of that is that the impact -- even if we're lucky and get a vaccine by the end of December -- the scale up of the vaccine is not going to be fast enough to do much about this winter surge.
So we've really got to grab onto what we can do now and that's mask- wearing and these other non pharmaceutical interventions, as you mentioned that could really make a difference.
VAUSE: I want you to listen to President Trump talking about healthcare workers essentially faking the numbers of dead in the U.S. And sort of blaming them for this high death toll.
Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: Doctors get more money and hospitals get more money -- think of this incentive. So some countries do it differently. If somebody is very sick with a bad heart, they die of COVID, they don't get reported as COVID. So then you wonder gee, I wonder why their cases are so low.
This country and the reporting systems are really not doing it right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: That accusation about health care workers getting more money for increased funding for the higher number of deaths seems cretinous. But what about the differences in how each country determines the cause of death in cases of comorbidity. Can you clarify that for us?
MURRAY: Sure. Many countries, many countries in Europe, certainly the United States, a number of countries in Latin America also report total weekly deaths.
And so we're able to look at total weekly deaths compared to last year or the year before for that same week, and figure out how much has total deaths gone up. And that number is always larger than the official COVID statistics for sure.
But that increase which is about 50 percent higher in most countries is reasonably consistent across Europe and the United States. So there isn't really a lot of evidence -- at least comparing the U.S., Canada, Europe -- for a big difference in how COVID deaths are being reported.
VAUSE: So just to be clear, when we're looking at the number of dead in, say, the U.K. or Australia, or New Zealand or wherever, we are comparing apples to apples and oranges with oranges?
MURRAY: Pretty much. It's a pretty reasonable comparison. And the difference there that we see in these analyses of all the deaths that are out there don't change the story that we're seeing.
The U.S. has a huge epidemic, Belgium has a huge epidemic, a number of other countries in Europe as well.
And we're heading into the winter. It's only going to get worse.
VAUSE: A grim warning to finish on but probably a very pertinent one. Dr. Chris Murray, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.
MURRAY: Sure. My pleasure.
VAUSE: Well, with the U.S. election just one week away, the candidates focus on a key battleground state. The fight for Pennsylvania, when we come back.
Also, Republicans celebrating their latest conservative appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. An appointment which could have big unintended consequences.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:15:00]
VAUSE: The U.S. election now one week away. And early voting records are being smashed across the country leading to predictions of the highest voter turnout by percentage in more than a century.
Just on Monday a record 120,000 people voted in New York City.
More than 62 million Americans have already cast their ballots. About the same total that Donald Trump received in the popular vote four years ago.
Well, the focus of both presidential candidates Monday was Pennsylvania, a crucial battleground state.
Trump won the state in 2016 by a razor-thin margin. And a the Trump Campaign is playing defense, on Monday, the president held three potential super spreader events.
Again, he repeated his baseless claim that the only way he could lose next week's election is through voter fraud.
And even as the number of coronavirus cases soar in the U.S., Donald Trump praised his administration's response falsely claiming the country had turned a corner.
And then he lied about his opponent" Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Mr. President, Joe Biden says you've waved flag on fighting coronavirus, controlling the virus.
TRUMP: No, no. He has. He's waved a white flag on life, he doesn't leave his basement. This guy doesn't leave his basement. He's a pathetic candidate, I will tell you that.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Have you given up on controlling the virus?
TRUMP: No, not at all. In fact, the opposite, absolutely the opposite. We've done an incredible job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Joe Biden was not in his basement. He actually made a surprise appearance in Chester, Pennsylvania.
And there he fired back at Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, FMR. VICE PRESIDENT AND DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: 200,000 could die between now and the end of the year. And he said we're not going to control it. Not going to control it.
The bottom line is Donald Trump is the worst possible president, the worst possible person to try to lead us through this pandemic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: CNN's John King explains why the Trump campaign is spending so much time in Pennsylvania in these final days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Let's start with the 2016 map and the president's three stops today, three stops in one state. Pennsylvania.
Why is he doing that? Well, the state was critical to him four years ago and guess what, he's losing and losing big-time right now. How do we know that? Early voting results.
Look at this data. 70 percent of the ballots returned already in Pennsylvania were cast by Democrats. That doesn't mean they all voted for Biden but we know most of them did. 70 percent of those ballots returned by democrats, only 20 percent returned by Republicans.
The president is losing big-time in the early voting in a state with 20 electoral votes.
Here's another way to look at it.
New poll today, the election's research center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. It shows number one, Joe Biden winning Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan; all those blue wall states the president flipped four years ago.
But look at this. Among those who have already voted, Joe Biden's up 78 points in Pennsylvania. Donald Trump is ahead in the polls among those who have yet to vote but only by 21 points, Don (ph).
You can do that math. If Joe Biden is up by 78 points now, that's now enough. Donald Trump is in Pennsylvania looking to bring people out of the woodwork.
The Trump Campaign says it's registered new people. We'll see if that math works but it looks tough.
Let's come back to the national perspective now and quick, a little then and now.
National 2020 versus 2016, eight days out. Joe Biden has a 10-point lead now, Hillary Clinton had a five point lead then. Double the lead. More significantly, Joe Biden above 50.
[01:20:00]
Watch if the national polls shrink. If they get into single digits then we scrub the states but right now Biden looks comfortable.
One more. Let's just look at this real quick. Bring up the battleground state of play. 10 states on the board here, all carried by President Trump in 2016. Lot of blue, right?
Joe Biden leads in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, as I just said. Plus he has narrow leads in Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Iowa.
Now some Republicans say we can get these states. Maybe they can. Texas and Ohio, the president is leading by a little margin.
But what does this tell you? Joe Biden is competitive everywhere. It is a very different, very different 2020 map as opposed to 2016.
Which is why in the final days, Joe Biden has a lopsided lead. He's going to Texas, he's going to Iowa, he's going to Georgia, he thinks he can stretch this map. Democrats are confident.
The president at a minimum needs to do this. Win all the toss-ups on our board. Even if he did that, it wouldn't be enough. That would be 290 to 248, which brings you back to where I began.
It's 20 in Pennsylvania. The president needs those 20. Even if he got them under this scenario it wouldn't be enough, but it would be a giant start. The president needs these 20 very much.
We lean it blue right now, that's why the president was there today. And likely will be back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: It's been just a month since President Trump introduced Judge Amy Coney Barrett as his choice to fill a supreme court vacancy.
And now it's official she is Justice Barrett. Sworn in Monday night at the White House just hours after being confirmed by the Republican controlled senate. Every single Democrat voted no.
Republicans deny accusations of blatant hypocrisy by rushing to fill the supreme court vacancy before election day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: So all of these outlandish claims are utterly absurd. And the louder they screen, the more inaccurate they are.
You can always tell. Just check the decibel level on the other side. The higher it goes up, the less accurate they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Democrats say voters will ultimately decide who was right and who was wrong. Here's what Senator Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's running mate, said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"Senate Republicans have ignored the will of the people deciding instead to replace Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg who devoted her life to fighting for equal justice with someone who has [sic] selected to undo her legacy."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Jamie Crooks is a lawyer who also clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy. Along with a colleague, he wrote an op-ed for the "New York Times" during the confirmation process of Amy Coney Barrett.
And the politics driving it has now left the legitimacy of America's highest court in question.
Jamie, thank you for taking time to be with us. It's appreciated.
JAMIE CROOKS, FORMER U.S. SUPREME COURT CLERK: My pleasure.
VAUSE: OK. Let's get straight to that op-ed. Because you look at both Coney Barrett's appointment now a week away from an election and the situation four years ago which was sort of the polar opposite when Republicans and Mitch McConnell denied the Obama nominee Judge Merritt Garland a hearing confirmation because it was an election year.
And this you write could mean:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
"...the court's very composition will be seen as a product of the most brazen kind of politics. We fear its decisions will be seen that way too.
We worry that a large swath of the nation, told a Democrat can't fill a vacancy in an election year but a Republican can, will dismiss the court as yet another partisan body."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Just taking the counter-argument here. Isn't the make up of the court always the end result of politics? Democrat presidents nominate liberal judges, Republicans nominate conservative ones. Is it just the process here which has potentially tainted the court?
CROOKS: Yes. Well, you're certainly correct that the justices are always the result of a political process. I think what's unprecedented in this circumstance and to me troubling is the way politics has played its role in Judge now Justice Barrett's selection.
I think -- the longest serving justice on the court right now, Justice Clarence Thomas, has been serving around 27 years.
In that time, Democrats have won the popular vote in about -- I think in five of the six presidential elections yet they now have six out of nine of the current seats.
And so while the supreme court's always supposed to be a counter majoritarian body -- it's not supposed to be polling voters as to how to rule on judgments -- I think the level of politicization that this nomination brought with it is quite troubling.
VAUSE: And at the heart of your argument, correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought was this line here.
"If the court wants the people to obey its rulings, it must depend on 'neither force nor will, but merely judgment.'"
So continue that thought and run it out to what you believe could be the ultimate conclusion here. How does this end?
CROOKS: Yes. So I don't want to give the impression that with this confirmation, the first big conservative ruling that this court inevitably will render, that there will be lawlessness and everybody will defy its orders or at least blue states will. I don't think it's that at all.
[01:25:00]
But it's long been understood, it's always been the case, that the supreme court's judgments are only binding on the parties that are in the case before it.
And everybody before now has taken that as meaning, "Well, if they rule this way in a case that looks like X, if another case that looks like X comes along, they'll rule the same way so we have to behave that way."
But I think what we may start seeing is folks saying, "Well, that judgment's not binding on me and I'm going to wait until the supreme court tells me I can't do something."
VAUSE: What is obvious is that the republicans in the senate did not heed your counsel. Amy Coney Barrett is now Justice Barrett.
CROOKS: Right (ph).
VAUSE: I want you to listen to democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on what his options might be should he win next week's elections. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: It's a lifetime appointment. I'm not going to attempt to change that at all. There's some literature among constitutional scholars about the possibility of going from one court to another court, not just always staying the whole time on the supreme court.
But I have made no judgment. My word. My word's (inaudible), made no judgment. They're just a bunch of serious constitutional scholars, have a number of ideas how we should proceed from this point on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Because there are options here of what can be done for this next administration, assuming that Donald Trump loses and Joe Biden takes over. But what are your thoughts on the way forward to restore credibility to the supreme court?
CROOKS: Well, while I'm familiar with the theory he was talking about at the beginning there, I was much more fond of what he was talking about at the end which was his proposal to set up a commission to study the issue.
Look, there's a lot of things we know when it comes to changing the number of justices on a court. We know that it's constitutional and nothing in the constitution prohibits it. Doesn't say anything about the number nine.
We know that it's not unprecedented, it's been done many times before although not for a long time.
We know that there's current Republican senators who support changing the number of justices on the court. Ted Cruz four years ago today said that he would support keeping the court at eight justices if Hillary Clinton won the election.
What we don't know though is how the public would view any effort to make to change the court's current composition or the court's current size.
And I think in addition to the constitutional questions surrounding the kind of proposal that President Biden -- or sorry, that Joe Biden raised there, I think one of the important things I hope this commission looks at is how the public will view and whether the public will accept a court set up differently than the one it is today.
VAUSE: It's all about public support, I guess, at the end of the day. Jamie, thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.
CROOKS: My pleasure. It was fun.
VAUSE: Just one confirmed case of COVID-19 sparking the mass testing of nearly 5 million people. When we come back, the very latest on the ongoing coronavirus testing in China's rest of Xinjiang province.
And in just a few years from now, one of the world's longest coronavirus lockdowns will come to an end. But was it worth it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:34]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back everybody.
Hopes are fading for a U.S.-backed cease-fire between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Fighting has surged again in the disputed mountain region, each side accusing the other of violating a third attempt to stop the violence.
Nick Paton Walsh has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: It has to be said it does not look good. This, the third bid to get a cease fire to hold between Azerbaijan and Armenia and literally minutes after it was supposed to make the guns fall silent, we had counterclaim and claim.
Both sides accusing the other of atrocities or firing artillery in their general direction, denied by both sides too.
Importantly though Azerbaijan's president on Twitter in the hours after the cease-fire still coming out and saying the further parts of the territory, that was controlled by ethnic Armenians were now in Azerbaijani hands.
Hard to verify that but certainly the message he is sending, and it's unclear if that territory changed hands before or after the ceasefire, the message he is sending is one of a continued Azerbaijani strategy here.
Azerbaijan's messaging that they're taking back areas that they believe should be under their control. A reminder that this disputed area of Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but long controlled in the last decades by ethnic Armenians.
It appears Azerbaijan's military strategy involves them moving around to the south of this disputed territory perhaps to try and link up areas they control in the Azerbaijan mainland to a sort of satellite part of Azerbaijani territory in the far west of this disputed area. Or maybe try to move north, to try and cut Nagorno-Karabakh off from the main part of Armenia, they're linked currently by a main highway.
Unclear what their endgame is here but what is absolutely vitally important to remember is despite the fanfare from President Donald Trump who on Twitter praised the Security Council, his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for getting involved in this and making this deal come to fruition, in which guns were supposed to fall silent at 8:00 a.m. local time, that simply has not actually stopped the violence yet again.
And this is the third time in which diplomacy has, it seems, mostly failed. First tried by the Russians who dragged the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia to Moscow made them agree to a cease-fire. Then the French got involved. That also didn't work out. Now the Americans who used to have outside influence in this area but now clearly having as much luck as the French and the Russians at getting this to stop.
It's obvious it seems that a well-resourced Azerbaijan with the rhetorical backing of Turkey and possibly some say, although Turkey denies, Turkish military backing are moving forward to prosecute their end goals.
Armenia perhaps on the back foot here. Not losing territory as fast as it would necessarily have feared at one particular point but certainly looking towards Moscow for more than just diplomacy here. They are on a security pact with Russia. It doesn't involve Nagorno-Karabakh. But at this point, you might think Armenians would be hoping for some kind of Russian support here, but still they find themselves, it appears, losing territory.
The numbers of dead increasingly rising. Russian President Vladimir Putin saying it could have gotten as high as 5,000 in recent days. That must be deeply troubling, as of course should be to anyone looking at this volatile area of the Caucasus. This continued failure of diplomacy.
Unclear where this goes if the Azerbaijanis have a broader end game here of occupying all the territory they'd like back or just something more limited at this stage.
But the big answer in the last few days is, is diplomacy going to calm us down, imminently? Most likely not.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A judicial panel in Nigeria has convened for a second day amid tight security as it investigates police brutality in the alleged shooting of peaceful protesters last week.
Witnesses say soldiers opened fire and killed demonstrators in Lagos. The army at the time called it all fake news. The panel has promised a neutral and just investigation. But that has not eased fears many have of government retribution if they speak out.
Authorities in northwest China hope to finish testing more than four million people in the coming hours. The mass tests in Xinjiang province were ordered after a single asymptomatic case was diagnosed on Saturday. Since then 164 more asymptomatic cases have been reported.
[01:34:52]
CNN's Steven Jiang live for us this hour in Beijing. They were looking at wrapping up around this hour. What is it? Four million and some people being tested, a pretty big job but is it effective.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN PRODUCER: That's right. And you know, this kind of mass testing is not without controversy. Even some Chinese experts have started questioning its necessity and effectiveness.
But still from the perspective of Chinese authorities this is a tried and true method that you have seen them deploy across China in recent months to deal with localized outbreaks. And this is exactly what happened in Kashgar after they discovered that initial asymptomatic case on Saturday. They launched this swift but also drastic response conducting contact tracing, mass testing and then locking down four towns where they found additional asymptomatic cases.
They are also getting help from Beijing where the central government is sending a team of experts to help them conduct more epidemiological investigations because there are quite a few baffling aspects about this latest cluster of cases.
The initial case, a teenage village girl working at a local factory. She and her family have never traveled out of town. They also have no known contacts with previous cases. So it remains a mystery how they became infected.
And then this girl's family and federal workers, they all tested negative. The positive cases came from factory workers in her parents workplace where she visited. So there is still quite a few missing pieces they need to find and connect.
Then of course, there was the nature of these cases being asymptomatic, that obviously making it a lot more difficult for the authorities to detect them and isolate them, which has been a key to the government's success in containing this virus within its borders.
So that is why right now this latest batch of cases is raising a lot of alarm and worry as the authorities prepare to deal with potentially an increasing number of cluster of cases in the coming winter months.
As you know, John, experts have also always said this virus survives and thrives better in colder environments, John.
VAUSE: Yes. And it's coming to that northern winter for much of the world, a dangerous time I guess for many. Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang in Beijing.
Well, one of the world's longest ever coronavirus lockdowns is about to be lifted. For 112 days Australia's second biggest city Melbourne, almost five million people, had been under stay-home order. At the stroke of midnight less than nine hours from now all restrictions on movement will come to an end.
Melbourne has been at the epicenter of Australia's pandemic. The decision to end the lockdown came after state health officials recorded no new cases on Monday.
Ok. With that we'll take a short break.
You are watching CNN.
A lot more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back everybody.
We have more now on what is the end of the world's longest ever coronavirus lockdowns. It's in Melbourne, Australia in the state of Victoria.
Let's go live now to Sidney and we have Angus Watson there for us.
Angus, let's just talk about this lockdown because clearly a lot of people are relieved that after what, more than 100 days it's all over. But this does not mean that the pandemic itself is over. There's still a lot of concerns that these outbreaks could flare once again.
[01:40:00]
ANGUS WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's absolutely right, John. As we know, even if you might not find any cases of the coronavirus in the community, it still might be out there.
We had zero cases in Melbourne today, zero cases yesterday. But Premier Daniel Andrews today said that he believes that the virus is still in the community and that is because there were mystery cases among those detected in the last few weeks leading up to these -- really these great testing result days where we are getting no new tests -- no new tests come back positive.
So the people in Melbourne are elated that after one of the deepest and longest lockdowns in the world, as of midnight tonight, they'll will be free. They can go and book a restaurant for tomorrow night. They can go and visit friends if they're up very late tonight at midnight to do that.
But John, people there in Melbourne are just so excited. They are proud that they are able to do this. They're proud that they are able to go out to the world and say hey, look at us, we were able to get this virus under control by staying disciplined. By listening to the science and you can do it as well if you are willing to just tough it out, John.
VAUSE: And what is interesting though is that, you know, the restrictions are still out there. They can move around freely, but there is this mask mandate which is in place.
I think we've lost Angus again.
Never mind. Ok. So there is a mask mandate in place for many people across Melbourne and Victoria. Wherever they go they'll have to wear a mask and that is being adhered to. They're (INAUDIBLE) involved as well.
And again, when we come back, we will take a short break.
Perhaps no industry has been hit as hard during this pandemic as travel and tourism. We'll talk to an airport CEO about how they're trying to survive.
Also Mexico bracing for another hurricane. We'll take a look at conditions right now and where the storm is heading.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Well welcome back everybody.
Monday was the worst session in weeks on Wall Street amid fading hopes for an economic stimulus and soaring coronavirus cases and anxiety about the U.S. election. That all meant (ph) the Dow lost 650 points.
Let's take a look at the futures though, and it seems that futures, with the Dow, the Nasdaq, as well as the S&P 500 all there in the green, all gaining back some of that lost ground.
Well, among the hardest hit sectors in the market on Monday were travel related stocks like airlines and cruise companies. No surprise there.
John Defterios has been looking at all of this.
Just very quickly, if we look at the numbers on Wall Street and the Dow and everywhere else, has the biggest break (ph) been the coronavirus numbers? Because that seemed to be sort of baked in. There was always this expectation it would happen. Or is it more about the fading hopes for the stimulus because we know how much Wall Street loves all that free money?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes. John, I think it's a combination of the two because you see the spiking caseload here. And at the same time a logjam still when it comes to the stimulus package between Nancy Pelosi and the White House but most importantly the Senate Republicans right?
Because we're in the range of about $2 trillion with regards to the White House and the Capitol Hill on the House side, but the Senate Republicans are still sticking to this pledge of a half a trillion dollars.
[01:45:58]
DEFTERIOS: All of a sudden, you know, this is interesting in the equity markets. They don't price in political risks ahead of time, the usually react afterwards, but they're seeing the spiking caseload and the influence this could have on growth overall.
And one of the sectors in particular that's hit very hard, John, is travel and tourism because everyone's focused on the domestic challenge at home right now, and not thinking of a cohesive travel policy for the world.
So if you take a look at the numbers here, it's quite striking because this is an industry that represents 330 million jobs overall. The World Travel and Tourism Council suggests we could lose, John -- get this -- nearly 200 million by the end of this year, with a loss of $5.5 trillion.
So there is a meeting I participated in yesterday based in Saudi Arabia, the Future Hospitality Summit, and they're trying to rally around a G20 policy here with 24 points to get global governments to try to rally forward here and land on a single policy because it holds up about 10 percent of GDP.
I spoke to the CEO of Dubai Airport Paul Griffiths about trying to get a standard for quarantine and for testing at airports. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL GRIFFITHS, CEO, DUBAI AIRPORT: Well, the first thing we need to do, John, is to make absolutely sure there's harmonization across the world in the testing, tracing, quarantine and mitigation methods that are being used.
At the moment, all those discrete components that are absolutely necessary to get the world back up on its feet are looked at differently across the world. And until that harmonization happens, we're not going to make the progress we need to make to get the world moving again.
DEFTERIOS: Does that take four to six months? Like early 2021 to get that in place.
GRIFFITHS: Not at all. I believe that we're actually in the position now where we could adopt some of these methods. There are various different types of scalable, affordable, quick and accurate methodologies for testing now that are in the final stages of development. And I think a lot of countries are trying those now.
If we could adopt one which could give you a positive or negative result for COVID test in literally a few minutes, that would transform the whole thing.
But that's not just the entire picture because the other problem, of course, is the extended quarantine periods that are being applied (ph) at the moment.
In my view, they're actually doing us more damage than any of the other single measures because people don't have the time to be able to spend up to 14 days in quarantine on reaching their destination.
DEFTERIOS: I wonder if you can get an early win with an air corridor between Dubai and London for example. There's discussion of London to New York and adding Beijing or Shanghai. When could we see an established air corridor to serve as a case study?
GRIFFITHS: Well, we believe we have all the steps in place both here and in London to make that happen. But the thing is, of course, before we can get any agreements signed we have to get the governments on board.
If we could get a travel corridor established between here and London, then we could very, very quickly see a massive surge in travel confidence (ph) and the numbers starting to come back, which would be good for the economy. It would be good socially and would be a good message to other cities around the world to follow suit. So we're really, really keen to be an early adopter this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: Once again Paul Griffiths, John, of Dubai Airport. And that's an interesting concept isn't it? To take major hubs and set a standard with them for testing and quarantine. If it works there, then you can fan out to other like the hub-and-spoke system around the world.
VAUSE: Yes. They've been talking about this between Australia and New Zealand as well for a while. Getting interaction is one of the tricky things, but if they can, it will be a big move forward.
John Defterios in Abu Dhabi, thank you for being with us.
And thanks you for joining us.
We're going to head over to CNN U.S.A. right now for "CUOMO PRIME TIME" which is already in progress. Thanks for watching.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: I know, he did.
TIM MURTAUGH, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN: It means taking responsibility.
CUOMO: You should read it, brother and let me tell you why. You won't even talk about the president. You want to talk my brother because you are coming from a place of weakness. You are in the middle of a pandemic --
MURTAUGH: No. I want to talk about --
CUOMO: -- and your president --
MURTAUGH: I want to talk about people turning COVID and the coronavirus crisis into a political weapon which is what CNN does all day long.
CUOMO: Your president --
MURTAUGH: It's what Joe Biden and the Democrats do.
CUOMO: My president told people --
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: They have been absolutely --
CUOMO: -- for months. Tim, you'll never drown my own brother. It's my show and I'm loud as hell especially when I'm righteous. And I have every ability to be right now. You know why?
MURTAUGH: I can feel you're righteous.
CUOMO: Because here's why. Because spin doesn't cut it on this show pal. And here's why.
Look at the numbers. This president has said time and time again, masks don't matter. Time and time again, we're rounding the corner. It's going away. Any spike that happens -- we've never been in worse shape. He won't do the testing.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: He says go back to school, he won't help with schools.
MURTAUGH: You are advocating. What you are doing is advocating a complete and total shut down. The only actual way to prevent any spread of the coronavirus is to have no human interaction whatsoever.
[01:49:58]
CUOMO: Not true.
MURTAUGH: So are you seriously --
CUOMO: Not true.
MURTAUGH: -- are you seriously advocating --
CUOMO: Not true.
MURTAUGH: -- having people being locked in their homes for what -- six months --
CUOMO: Not true.
MURTAUGH: -- 12 months, 18 months?
CUOMO: Not true.
MURTAUGH: In China they welded people's doors shut.
CUOMO: Not us.
MURTAUGH: Is that what you're advocating?
CUOMO: Doesn't need to happen.
MURTAUGH: Listen, President Trump -- President Trump wants people to be safe. Take precautions, absolutely. But we cannot --
CUOMO: Please -- look at his rallies.
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: -- allow ourselves to be locked back --
CUOMO: As handsome as Tim is while he talks, run the video of the rally today.
MURTAUGH: The health problems -- every medical -- every health expert --
CUOMO: Do what I said. Run the video of the rallies today.
MURTAUGH: -- will tell you. A severe economic downturn would cause health problems on its own above and beyond unassociated with the coronavirus --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: That is nonsense. That is nonsense.
We'll call. Tim, listen. (CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: How many weak points do you want to make before I get in? Now in terms of anxiety and ancillary health effects that we're seeing from people --
MURTAUGH: You're not interested in having an actual a conversation. You're not.
CUOMO: Tim -- you're not letting me talk. I let you talk. You don't let me speak. Come on now. You can do better than this. I've seen you before.
MURTAUGH: Yes, I think it's about --
CUOMO: Listen --
MURTAUGH: This is not -- this is not -- this is not an interview, Chris.
CUOMO: I'll send you the word count. I'll send you the word count. I'll send you the word count.
I'm not trying to lecture. I'm trying to rebut what you put out there. You're the one who lectured me with the picture of my brother and I which was very funny. And at a time that the country was hurting.
MURTAUGH: I don't think it was that funny.
CUOMO: And the country needed comfort. Well I don't know that you're good judge of humor because you think what the president is saying at these rallies is funny. I've seen you laugh about it.
And he's telling people to mock the fact that they're putting their own health at risk time and again. This was today, brother. In the middle of a pandemic.
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: All right. Hold on a second, Chris.
CUOMO: In the middle of pandemic -- they have no masks on. He never said anything different. He's putting these people in these positions. And he has no plan to do anything better.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: No, I'm about a president sending the right message. I'm about a president sending the right message and giving the states what they need to fight a pandemic.
MURTAUGH: Why did you just --
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: -- my own apartment building. CUOMO: Because I did the wrong thing.
MURTAUGH: Why didn't you get reprimanded by your own apartment building --
CUOMO: Because I did the wrong thing
MURTAUGH: -- for failing to wear a mask after having been (INAUDIBLE)
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Because I did the wrong thing. We know the president adjusted messaging.
MURTAUGH: We know, you broke quarantine and went to --
CUOMO: I never broke quarantine.
MURTAUGH: Everyone knows you broke --
CUOMO: I never broke quarantine.
MURTAUGH: You deny? You deny that that happened.
CUOMO: Absolutely
MURTAUGH: You came home and you pretended to rise up from your basement like Lazarus even though you had already broken quarantine while you are COVID positive.
CUOMO: Listen you want to mock my getting sick -- you want to mock my getting sick, you can.
MURTAUGH: I'm not mocking you getting sick.
CUOMO: Of course you.
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: I'm pointing out that you broke quarantine.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: I never broke quarantine and you know it. I never did.
MURTAUGH: And now you're going to lecture me about (INAUDIBLE) what rules?
CUOMO: I'm not lecturing. You want me to be the story, you want my brother to be the story cause you can't handle Trump. You're -- the numbers were supposed to disappear.
MURTAUGH: I have just told you what the president's accomplishments on this are.
CUOMO: What -- the travel ban? MURTAUGH: The president has caught this from the very beginning -- all
of this. Remember, this is a novel virus, Chris.
CUOMO: Then why are we in such bad shape? Why are we in such bad shape?
MURTAUGH: This had never been seen. The testing regime had to be created from nothing and now we lead the world in testing.
CUOMO: You do not lead the world in testing.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: You do not lead the world in testing. and the president says testing is a problem.
MURTAUGH: The development of the therapeutics.
CUOMO: The president says testing is a problem.
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: And Joe Biden is trying to scare people away from taking the vaccine, Chris. That is politically --
CUOMO: No he isn't. He said I won't trust Trump.
MURTAUGH: He absolutely is. Every time he talks about the vaccine, he downplays it and discourages people from taking them.
CUOMO: Because the president is grossly exaggerating when it will be ready.
MURTAUGH: That is absolutely politicizing a vaccine that will save millions of lives --
CUOMO: The president says we are around the corner from a cure and that is a material deception.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: It's a material deception.
MURTAUGH: It absolutely is. You cannot defend that. Both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris --
CUOMO: I don't have to defend it. This is about your campaign and what the president has said to do.
MURTAUGH: Why don't you --
CUOMO: Go ahead
MURTAUGH: Well, I missed that last part because you were shouting.
CUOMO: This is about -- I'm shouting. MURTAUGH: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, every step of the way.
CUOMO: This is about the president's campaign.
MURTAUGH: Every step of the way, yes. And we reserve the right to talk about our opponent in this race from time to time.
CUOMO: You should. I'm letting you. Why do you think I had you on? Your good looks?
MURTAUGH: That's what I'm attempting to do.
Joe Biden, every step of this way, unburdened by the way -- unburdened by the responsibility of leadership, has done nothing from the very beginning except politicize this. He did it with the virus.
CUOMO: And what has the president done, Tim? What has the president done? He held a super --
MURTAUGH: You want to me to run down the list?
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: No because the list is --
MURTAUGH: -- banning of travel from China in January --
CUOMO: That was very months ago.
MURTAUGH: -- which Joe Biden would not have done.
CUOMO: The country is in a worst --
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: -- incredible, unprecedented ramping up of the private sector and the federal --
CUOMO: It is not unprecedented. He found one company in Maine to do PPE.
MURTAUGH: It absolutely is.
CUOMO: Tim, look I gave you chance to put your arguments out there and --
MURTAUGH: That is absolutely absurd.
CUOMO: We'll let the people do the fact checking.
MURTAUGH: The involvement of using the Defense Production Action to involve the private sector -- the --
CUOMO: What did he use that for --
MURTAUGH: -- miracles themselves -- CUOMO: Where did he -- how did he use that to scale up testing? How
did he use it to help all these states.
MURTAUGH: The shortage --
CUOMO: Tim, look I hear your arguments. Look, we're out of time.
(CROSSTALK)
MURTAUGH: If you want to be a Joe Biden surrogate -- I'm sure they're still hiring.
CUOMO: I don't want to be a surrogate. You guys can play that game. You can take a shot at my brother.
MURTAUGH: You missed your chance.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: You could take a shot at me.
MURTAUGH: You could have fit right at the debates -- you can have another podium on stage at the debate.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Listen, Tim -- listen. Listen. I respect your efforts because that's the game. You want to go with Andrew, his legacy will stand for itself, his action will be judged at the ballot box.
MURTAUGH: I suspect it will, yes.
[01:55:01]
CUOMO: You want to come at me. I will own any mistake I ever make because I'm not this president. And I'm not in power.
But I'll tell you what, brother. In seven days, we'll see whether people think he did the right job in this pandemic based what you name from many months ago. We'll see.
Tim Murtaugh, believe it or not, you'll be welcome back. You know why, because here --
MURTAUGH: That's good.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: -- we'll talk the talk. You'll be welcome, no matter how you play it.
Take care Tim Murtaugh.
MURTAUGH: Thanks, you too.
CUOMO: Why do I smile? Because I understand what's going on. This is an obvious game. You're a week out and this is a point of desperation. I'm not going to let people flood the zone on this show things.
I'll step right on them in the moment. Why because that's fairness. Fairness is you don't get the flood the zone with things that aren't true.
You want to make fun of my brother, go ahead. You want to make fun of me, go ahead. You want to ask me about what I did wrong and did right, I'll talk to you about it. Why? I have no interest in the dishonesty.
But this campaign does, because they have the worst numbers with this pandemic that we have seen. And their only choice of a plan, the only thing he prepared to tell you, was a picture of me and my brother.
And I don't care what anybody says, you know it. That Q-tip was funny. And funny at a time that we needed it.
But we'll right back, with more analysis on where this campaign is headed tonight.
[01:56:19]
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