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How Supreme Court Could Decide 2020 Election; World Health Organization: Europe is Epicenter of Disease; Authorities Finish Testing 4.7 Million in Xinxiang Province; Wall Street Sees Worst Session in Weeks; Scientists and Politicians Clash over COVID-19 Policies; Judicial Panel on Police Brutality Begins Probe in Nigeria; Turkey-France Tensions; Hurricane Zeta Makes Landfall on Yucatan Peninsula. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 27, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

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because

AMY CONEY BARRETT, U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: It's a privilege to be asked to serve my country in this office.

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The U.S. has a new Supreme Court justice. A political Victory for President Trump the week before Election Day.

COVID infections are spiking to record levels in the U.S. and Europe. Health systems strained yet again as countries adopt new measures to try and stop the spread.

Hurricanes are hammering the Yucatan Peninsula right now with the potential for life-threatening storm surges and a dangerous flash flood warning.

Hi, there, welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Robyn Curnow.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: The U.S. president election is exactly one week away and president Donald Trump who is swearing in, has sworn in his Supreme Court justice, has been handed major political victory. This is after a week before the election. We know that Senate Republicans have sent his Supreme Court nominee to the bench.

This comes as the country is now seeing its highest COVID infection rate since the pandemic began. Over the past week, we know at least 37 cases (sic) have seen a rise in cases and many have recorded their highest 7-day averages ever. The nation's top expert disease expert says this.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: 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.

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CURNOW: In the middle of the crisis, President Trump and his political rival Joe Biden are battling for votes in the crucial state of Pennsylvania.

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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The White House is right coming out now and admitting what I said months ago was absolutely true. Look how many people are dead. They said we are not going to control it. Not going to control it.

The bottom line is Donald Trump is the worst possible president, worst possible person to try to lead us through this pandemic.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He has. He is waving the white flag on life. He does not leave his basement. This guy does not leave his basement. He is a pathetic candidate. I will tell you that. Not at all. Absolutely the opposite. We've done an incredible job.

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CURNOW: More than 60 million Americans already have cast their early ballots surpassing the total number of preelection votes in 2016.

Jessica Levinson is a professor of law at Loyola Law School and joins me now from Los Angeles.

Good to see you. President Trump has appointed a third of the bench.

What are your thoughts right now on the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett?

JESSICA LEVINSON, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: It's hard to overstate how important this appointment is. When Justice Ginsburg passed away, she was probably the most liberal justice on the court.

Justice Barrett could turn out to be one of the most conservative on this and in future courts. The shift and balance of power is just huge. It is a really big case coming up. Just next month. In front of the Supreme Court, a case dealing with health care and another case dealing with this battle between religious freedom and freedom from discrimination for the LGBTQ community.

Another census case and then, of course, looming election law cases. I think everybody on both sides understands it is really impactful that Justice Barrett is on the court.

CURNOW: It could be impactful for decades. The court also just ruled on postal ballots in Wisconsin.

How likely do you think it is that this court will also adjudicate this election?

LEVINSON: I am increasingly thinking that it is more likely than not that a case could reach the Supreme Court.

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LEVINSON: A big postelection case. Of course these preelection matters have all reached the Supreme Court. One has to imagine that at least one Supreme Court justice, chief justice John Roberts, really hope that that is not the case, because he likes staying out of the political thicket.

I have to say I don't think justice Barrett wants an election either because it's really going to immediately test her. It will immediately be a question mark as to her independence. I think she will be in a really difficult position because she does not want to make it look like a quid pro quo, like President Trump said, here, do your job. She said, thank you. Here is your job.

She wants to, I think, make sure that she is viewed independently, because as you said, she could be on the court for decades and decades to come.

CURNOW: With that in mind, how much does this late Supreme Court appointment, just a fact that it's there a few days before the election, impact voters' minds right now?

LEVINSON: I think that it has really energized voters. Both Democrats and Republicans. I think Democrats are now realizing and maybe we are slow to realize the importance of the president's role in appointing judges.

I think Republicans have done a better job at selling the importance of nominating federal judges. Democrats are looking at this and saying, how is it possible that we filled the seat in 5 weeks, when justice Scalia passed away and President Obama nominated Merrick Garland, there was no hearing for 9 months.

The Republicans are saying we might not love president Trump, but wow, is he delivering on the federal judiciary, a third of the Supreme Court. So I think it's really energizing both sides.

CURNOW: It is just one week to go until the election. It's going to be a long one for most Americans. We are seeing these record voter turnouts, have seen massive fund-raising, particularly for the Democrats.

What do you think these numbers suggest right now if you look at them?

LEVINSON: I think these numbers suggest a couple things. We are in the election. Election Day now is just the end of the election.

What did the numbers suggest?

First, there is a lot of enthusiasm. I think almost 60 million people have already voted early. Voted by mail. But it also shows we are voting in a pandemic. So there would be fewer people showing up on Election Day.

The early numbers indicate that the early voters tend to skew as Democrats. But I think we have all kind of expected all along that the in-person voters will likely be disproportionately Republicans, in part, because President Trump has said there is something about the vote by mail system. There is something about absentee balloting that you cannot trust.

Right now, what we have just seen is probably a result of increased excitement on both sides and the fact that we are voting in a pandemic, where fewer people will be in person.

CURNOW: Jessica Levinson, always good to speak to you and get your fascinating perspective. Thank you.

LEVINSON: Thank you.

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CURNOW: The coronavirus is sweeping through Europe and hitting France especially hard. Leading scientists say the official numbers could be just the tip of the iceberg. The country could be seeing as many as 100,000 new cases a day.

Also, several European countries are setting their own records for new cases. Germany has seen a dramatic increase. Chancellor Angela Merkel is warning of a difficult few months ahead.

Spain, Italy, Norway, Switzerland and the Czech Republic are choosing new restrictions. Global health officials are worried it may not be enough.

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DR. MICHAEL RYAN, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: 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 of what we do, maybe a much more comprehensive nature of measures that are going to be needed to catch up with and get ahead of this virus.

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CURNOW: Let's go straight to Melissa Bell who is standing by.

I wanted to start, Melissa, with the French numbers. What startling figures on what the real infection rate could be. MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. What we see are

several days of very high rises but apparently those figures are not even. Right. Yesterday the head scientific council said that they could be double of what we are actually seeing in the official report.

He explained that they have been really surprised by the scientific council that advises on policies to try and curb and how fast it has spread over the course of the last 10 days. The brutality of the second wave. That's what he talked about.

With the understand, what they think is it may have something to do with the dropping of temperatures. This time around with the second way with temperatures dropping, it could be spreading faster. Positivity rate of 17.8 percent.

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BELL: There will be an emergency crisis meeting this morning and another one tomorrow. We expect that would lead to a further timing of restrictions. It isn't so much whether restrictions will be tightened, it will be more a question of how close to a second lockdown we come.

CURNOW: We are seeing all of these rising daily records for new cases across the continent.

BELL: That's right. We expect further restrictions to be announced in other countries. We see fresh restrictions in Norway, curfews put in the Czech Republic. We expect Belgium will have to tighten its restrictions because it's facing a particularly bad second weight as well.

In Germany, Angela Merkel was supposed to meet with the heads of 16 federal states on Friday. That has been put forward till tomorrow. We expect a further tightening there.

It is a story of countries for the time being. Grappling with this very sharp rise in the number of new cases and the infection rates. For now, not having found that balance between tight restrictions that could bring the figures down, all of them trying to avoid what would be a terrible catastrophic second lockdown. All of them inching towards exactly that. Robyn.

CURNOW: Thanks for that update. Live in Paris, Melissa Bell. Thanks.

One of the world's longest ever coronavirus lockdown is about to be lifted. People and businesses are getting ready for the restrictions to be relaxed for more than 100 days. Australia's second biggest city, Melbourne, has been under a stay-at-home order. At the stroke of midnight in just a few hours' time, all restrictions on movement will end.

The city of 5 million is the epicenter of the Australian pandemic and the decision to end the lockdown came after state officials recorded no new cases on Monday. Angus Watson is in Sydney for us.

I know you are in New South Wales but give us some sense of how relieved the folks in Melbourne must be after 100 days.

ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: It is palpable, Robyn. I have spoken to my friends that are down in Melbourne and they are so relieved. They are so proud that, as a community, they stuck to the rules. They were disciplined. They followed the signs and now they are being rewarded.

Tonight, one of the longest lockdowns, as you said, one of the deepest lockdowns ends. People are allowed to go out for any reason. People are allowed to book a restaurant again. They can see family that they haven't seen since almost the beginning of the year when the first wave hit Melbourne.

Robyn, zero cases in Victoria today. Zero cases yesterday as well, giving premier Daniel Andrews the confidence to say, OK, let's do it. Let's begin to open the state back up after such a long lockdown, Robyn.

CURNOW: What happens next?

Is Melbourne just going to go back to normal in its own little bubble?

Are there any corridors planned?

How about the isolation?

How will they be compared to the rest of Australia, never mind the rest of the world. We know it's a little bit further down the line.

WATSON: Robyn, the federal government wants all borders within Australia opened. But people here in Australia know that it has been those closures which has kept the virus in certain areas isolated and not spread across the country as a whole.

Victoria has had much stricter lockdown measures than anywhere else in the country. People are relieved in a way, outside of Melbourne, that they have not had to go through that and that has been because of the lockdown in Melbourne. It has been so rigorous.

People like me up in Sydney, very relieved and grateful for the way that people in Melbourne have approached this.

CURNOW: Thanks so much for that update. Live in Sydney, Angus, I appreciate it.

Authorities in northwestern China hope to finish testing more than 1 million people in the coming hours. The mass tests in Xinjiang province were ordered after one single asymptomatic case was diagnosed on Saturday. Since then, 160 more asymptomatic cases have been reported. Let's go to Beijing with Steven Jiang. He is standing by with more on that.

What can you tell us?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Robyn, their priority right now is to wrap up this testing, mass testing by the end of Tuesday. This kind of method is not without controversy. Some Chinese experts have questioned its necessity and effectiveness.

But from the perspective of the authorities, this is a tried and true method. They have used across China in recent months to deal with this kind of localized outbreak and that is what happened in Kashgar after they discovered that one initial asymptomatic case.

It launched very extensive contact tracing and mass testing and eventually locking down four towns where additional asymptomatic cases were found. They are also getting help from Beijing, where the government is sending a team of experts to help them conduct even more epidemiological investigations because there were some baffling aspects about the latest cluster of cases.

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JIANG: This initial case, a teenage village girl working at a local factory. She and her family had never left town and they had no known contact with any cases. It's a mystery how they got infected in the first place.

Now then, of course, there is the nature of these latest cases. They are all asymptomatic, meaning the authorities are going to be very -- it will be difficult for authorities to detect and isolate them, which has been a key to the success of the government here to really contain this virus within its borders.

So this is something that is raising a lot of alarm and worry as the authorities get prepared to deal potentially with an increasing number of clusters of cases in the coming winter months. As you know, Robyn, experts have always said this virus survives and thrives better in colder environments. Robyn?

CURNOW: It's just the sheer number of people who are going to be tested and are being tested, 4 million people in the coming hours. In many ways, that points to how China has also tried and somehow in many areas got on top of this.

JIANG: That's right. They have done this in several instances where they have these isolated cases popping up in several cities across China. In this case, they were testing nearly 5 million residents in about 3 days. So they have got practice and they have a game plan. That is what have they been deploying. They say it's working.

But of course, it is not always easily replicated in the rest of the world. But at least for China they say this is exactly a kind of a swift but drastic response. It's exactly why they have been able to bring these localized outbreaks in their control.

CURNOW: Steven Jiang. Thanks so much for that update live in Beijing.

You are watching CNN. Coming up, the stock market has been healthy but as the pandemic drags on, it could be taking a toll on Wall Street. We have that as well as politicians and scientists coming together in the time of COVID. Now both sides are trying to put their differences aside to contain the pandemic.

All of that next. You are watching CNN.

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CURNOW: Welcome back. You're watching CNN.

And take a look at these numbers. Fading hopes for an economic stimulus, soaring coronavirus cases and anxiety about the election are all adding up to this, Wall Street's worst session in weeks. The Dow closing there down 650 points. The pessimism also extended to Asian markets, as you can see from your screen there.

I want to take you straight to Abu Dhabi with John Defterios. He standing by with more on all of this.

Is political risk hitting Wall Street eventually?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes. It looks like that, Robyn. They usually doesn't factor it in very well ahead of the event. Usually after an election like this, but there are starting to be some jitters as you can see here.

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DEFTERIOS: And it's a combination of factors. This is a market that has been almost priced to perfection, if you will, thinking we could grow clearly and rebound in 2021. But there's a couple of hurdles in the way.

I think earnings week is going to show that the technology companies are doing well. Perhaps some consumer goods are doing well but the rest of the economy is not. The markets indicate 9 to 12 months down the road, hence the selloff. Still we have the stimulus package parked in Washington with the struggle between House Democrats, the White House and, of course, the Senate Republicans.

The chief economic adviser to the president, Larry Kudlow, was saying they are proud of what they did initially and they're happy they kept the economy going and it's not over yet. Let's take a listen.

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LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We have come a long way just in 5 months, 11 and a half million jobs have gone back to work. That's about half. Much more needs to be done. There's still too much hardship. But we are proud of that. We are not going to shut down the economy. We are going to work towards mitigation.

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DEFTERIOS: Working towards mitigation. Solving a problem with the Senate Republicans. They say the deal should only be a $0.5 trillion , not $2 trillion to $2.2 trillion that the White House and House Democrats are talking about. Incredible that we have this roadblock in the way right ahead of an election.

CURNOW: It certainly is. Also, people are realizing that perhaps Christmas is canceled or at least the Christmas holidays or vacations are canceled. Thanksgiving as well, so no doubt travel stocks we could see being hard hit by this.

What are the plans and the possibilities of restarting this industry?

DEFTERIOS: I think this is the challenge, Robyn, that domestically, governments do not have a plan for international travel and, even intercountry travel or interregional travel like for example in the European Union.

The travel and tourism industry represents a 10th of the GDP. Look at the numbers here. It employs over all throughout the industry and the ecosystem of it, 330 million people normally. They are saying that, the World Travel and Tourism Council, we could lose nearly 200 million jobs in total by the end of this year and lost GDP of $5.5 trillion .

I spoke to the CEO of Dubai airports. He for one is suggesting we should have a common policy on quarantine and also testing.

Why don't we have a global standard?

They want to get it done in the early part of 2021. Here is his comments.

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PAUL GRIFFITHS, DUBAI AIRPORTS: If we could adopt one, which could give you a positive or negative result with COVID tests in literally in a few minutes. That would transform the whole thing. That is not just the entire picture, because there are other problems. of course, the extended quarantine periods that are being done at the moment.

They are doing a small damage than any of the other single measures, because people don't have the time to be able to stand up to 14 days in quarantine while reaching their destination.

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DEFTERIOS: It is a huge problem, Robyn, to say someone, a business traveler, that you have to quarantine yourself for 14 days. Even if you test negative, so Griffiths is suggesting quarantining for those who test positive. Everybody else should be allowed to travel.

There is a G20 initiative, by the way, to try to give this as a common policy. It is slow to start but they want to build momentum in the early part of next year.

CURNOW: Good to see you, John Defterios in Abu Dhabi.

This global pandemic has been notable, what seems to be a big backlash at the highest level of leadership against science and fact. So much so the WHO is calling for an end to politicizing the pandemic and to follow the science. Isa Soares is reporting. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Scientists and a politician walk into a room, said no one ever. Until now, that is. Around the world, both are being forced to work closely together, often clashing in their advice on how to handle COVID-19.

From the U.S. --

TRUMP: The disinfectant, is there a way we can do something like that by injection?

SOARES (voice-over): -- to Brazil, where president Jair Bolsonaro fired his first health minister for advocating social distancing measures.

To India, where prime minister Narendra Modi hijacked the media to promote the science best suited his message.

So you know this tension between scientists and politician better than Sir David King, chief scientific adviser to 2 U.K. prime ministers and the man called on to tackle the U.K.'s foot-and-mouth epidemic of 2001.

Now a professor at Cambridge University.

SIR DAVID KING, CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY: I was warned by the head of the civil service that the prime minister was sending the white coat out into the television, because he was not sure if it would work.

[02:25:00]

KING: He could then blame me and he said your job is at stake.

SOARES (voice-over): This time around, chief medical officer Chris Whitty stands alongside Boris Johnson. The prime minister perhaps looking to Whitty for what some have called nerd immunity.

DR. CHRISTOPHER WHITTY, BRITISH CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: I'm not confident nor is anybody confident that the tier 3 proposals for the highest rates, if we did the absolute base case and nothing more, would be enough to get on top of. It

SOARES (voice-over): Mr. Johnson, who has maintained repeatedly that he is following scientific advice --

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Would it be driven by the science?

By the science.

The science.

Entirely governed by the science.

SOARES (voice-over): -- is now choosing to ignore it. According to minutes from SAGE, the government's elite team of advisers, a national circuit breaker, a short lockdown was recommended back in September.

KING: If you are in a crisis situation, you need to make daily decisions. It is critically important. You cannot just sit back and treat this as a scientific exercise.

SOARES: Prime minister Boris Johnson is an intelligent man. He understands what has been said.

Do you also understand the pressures he faces from an economic perspective, from other parts of the country, who believe that their liberties are being taken from them?

KING: I think I understand the tensions but they are completely misapprehending the whole situation. It is a false dichotomy to say that there is a challenge between managing the epidemic and managing the economy.

But one thing you cannot do is run an economy if you have not got an epidemic under control. That is the false dichotomy about the whole thing.

SOARES (voice-over): With an economy already on its knees and people fatigued by the pandemic, politicians have no choice but to move more broadly and be on the science.

STEPHEN MEEK, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM: As a result, the scientists being on pedestals, they're not being on pedestals, there is a danger there that the public, the politicians, the people that they are trying to keep on board, start to question who is trustworthy and what is driving the government?

SOARES (voice-over): According to the latest polls in the U.S., Germany and U.K., trust in scientists has remained strong or even increased during the pandemic. The same cannot be said for many politicians, for whom the tide of public opinion is moving against -- Isa Soares, CNN, Cambridge, England.

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CURNOW: Smoldering rage among the youth in Nigeria. Now a judicial panel is promising justice. We will look at which triggered the anger and whether they can succeed.

Plus protests and a boycott of French goods after what Muslims see as the rise of Islamophobia in France and elsewhere in Europe. We look at the ideological divide there. That is also just ahead.

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CURNOW: Welcome back to NEWSROOM. I'm Robyn Curnow. Security is tight in Nigeria as a judicial panel investigating police

brutality in the alleged shooting of protesters convened for a second day. The incident in Lagos last week trigger 2 days of violent unrest. Witnesses say soldiers opened fire during a peaceful demonstration. The army called it "fake news."

Eleni Giokos is following the story and joins us live.

Eleni, what can you tell us?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: Look, it was a big turning point as you say on Tuesday, when we heard that the army opened fire on peaceful protesters. What we have seen transpire since then is chaos in various parts of the country.

We have seen the burning of critical government infrastructure. Private property has also been a huge target. A big one here is the looting of warehouses. A lot of these warehouses contain pandemic relief food and various other medical supplies.

We saw major looting occurring and in fact some of the voices that I heard this morning on local media say that they are hungry. They are dying. They don't understand why these warehouses are filled with food.

The big question has been, since we saw the looting of these types of warehouses, why did government hoard this food?

When was it going to be distributed?

So you are starting to see all these concerns and mistrust starting to emerge on the ground. There has got to be an important distinction here, that the EndSARS campaign protests that started around a few weeks ago, specifically had said that they have been distancing themselves from the violence and looting that they saw emerging around the country over the past week or so.

It is really important to note that it started with a call to end police brutality and now it has widened further to talk about governance issues, corruption. The big issue that has been bubbling under the surface for very long time in Nigeria is that of inequality, 70 percent of the population live on or below the poverty line.

It is starting to emerge in terms of what we are seeing right now. Malls are being looted as well. The police force in the entire country has been deployed and the army is saying that 10 AK-47s have been lost or stolen.

We are seeing the death toll rising, not only from security personnel but also people on the ground. A lot of voices are trying to de- escalate the situation, not only religious leaders are saying that Nigeria needs to unify. We are seeing it from top businesspeople as well.

And, of course, government officials are trying to drive that message home. An inquiry into the investigation that has been occurring over the last 7 days is going to really be significant. Many Nigerians have a lot of questions. It all relates to why the army did or did not get involved in the Lekki toll gate peaceful protest around 7 days ago.

CURNOW: Thank you for that. Eleni Giokos there.

The growing boycott of French goods in the Middle East are unjustified. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has voiced his support for the boycott because of what he calls the rise of Islamophobia in Europe. Here is Arwa Damon with that report.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a divide generation (INAUDIBLE), one that is easily ignited, manipulated and dangerous. An Arab and Muslim country. Small protests erupted against France. Against a French president who was previously called Islam, a religion in crisis all over the world. It is putting forth legislation to combat Islamist separatism.

Islamophobia is a disease, this banner in southern Turkey reads. Calls for a boycott of French products spread. In some countries store shelves were cleared of yeast, jam and teas imported from France.

French president Emmanuel Macron's perceived stance against Muslims has long been the source of tension, as has that of the West with the latest incarnation inflamed by a tragedy.

The horrific beheading of the teacher Samuel Paty, after showing the controversial caricatures of Prophet Muhammad from the satirical newspaper "Charlie Hebdo" during a class on freedom of expression.

[02:35:00]

EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): Samuel Paty on Friday became the face of the republic, of our desire to break terrorism, to diminish Islamist, to live as a community of free citizens in our country.

DAMON (voice-over): Many Muslims living in France feel like that so- called campaign to break terrorism is being exploited beyond the parameters of Paty's murder. Macron tweeted that France respects all differences but would not accept hate speech.

For many Muslims worldwide, the anger towards France is entrenched and what they feel is the country's hypocritical position towards its Muslim community and historic refusal to condemn blasphemy when it comes to Islam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We ask for the sons of (INAUDIBLE) for the free people of the world and humanity to express their rejection of this insult to the prophet of humanity, Muhammad.

DAMON (voice-over): And then there is the geopolitics of it all. There is no love lost between Macron and Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, already at odds over Libya and Turkey's oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean. Over the weekend, Erdogan said Macron needed to have his mental health

checked and only upped his rhetoric after France withdrew its ambassador to Ankara.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, PRESIDENT OF TURKEY (through translator): In reality, Europe is no stranger to ghettoization, inquisitions and genocide. They are used to it. They have done it before. We remember the crimes against humanity committed against Jews 80 years ago and in Srebrenica 25 years ago.

DAMON (voice-over): Fuel is being poured on multiple fires, with risks burning us all -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.

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CURNOW: Protesters in Poland blocked roads on Monday. The latest demonstration against a court ruling that almost completely outlaws abortion. Protests have disrupted church services on Sunday, organizers calling for nationwide strikes on Wednesday.

People taking to the streets last week after the nation's top court ruled that abortion is not constitutional when it is due to a fetal defect, removing one of the very last cases in which it is legal.

It has certainly been unusually busy in the hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. We are tracking the latest storm as is hits Mexico. We will take a look at the forecast next.

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CURNOW: Multiple wildfires are forcing people from their homes in southern California, as you can see from this. In all 900,000 people have been told to evacuate. One of the blazes nearly quadrupled in size on Monday.

An electrical company says one of its power lines may have played a role in starting this fire. That is according to papers filed with California's public utilities commission.

Two firefighters are hospitalized with third degree burns. Hurricane Zeta made landfall in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula just a short time ago.

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CURNOW: Authorities are warning for people to take shelters indoor immediately as it's the storm will battered the area in what has become an unusually busy hurricane season in the Atlantic and Caribbean.

The other side of the world, a stronger storm is prompting the Vietnamese government to evacuate more than 1 million people. The typhoon is expected to hit areas that have really suffered from deadly floods this year and heavy rain is one of the last things they need right now.

CURNOW: Thank you for watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. Stay tuned for "WORLD SPORT." It starts right after the break. I will be back with more in 15 minutes' time. See you then.

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