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Biden Names John Kerry as Special Climate Envoy; Riyadh Denies Netanyahu Met with Saudi Crown Prince; Toronto Goes Back into Lockdown; At Least 45 Killed in Political Unrest; Seoul Begins Emergency Period with New Restrictions; China Launches Probe to Collect Samples from the Moon; Government Signs Off On Transition; Vaccines Show Promise But Thanksgiving Travelers Won't Wait; Biden Addresses Foreign Policy And National Security First With Cabinet Picks; 13 Straight Days Of Hospitalization Records In The U.S. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 24, 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]
PAULA NEWTON, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, everyone. I'm Paula Newton and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM leave from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
Ahead this hour. Let the formal transition for Joe Biden finally begin.
Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the election results are all but done, even though he is still not willing to fully admit it.
A third potential COVID-19 vaccine is showing promise but health experts have some questions about the results.
Plus China lifts off to the moon on a mission that hasn't been done in 40 years.
In the words of one source close to the White House, it's a blaring wake up call, it's over.
A key government agency has acknowledged Joe Biden as the winner of the U.S. presidential election, allowing the transition from Donald Trump to finally move forward.
Now the current president says he recommended the move but claims he still has a strong case and believes he will eventually prevail.
He later tweeted his legal challenges were in his words -- "moving full speed ahead" and he would never concede.
Now the ascertainment as it's called will allow the Trump Administration to cooperate with Biden's team on vital issues including national security and, of course, the response to the coronavirus.
It follows two huge legal losses for the president. Michigan voted Monday to certify its election results for Joe Biden and Pennsylvania's supreme court rejected the Trump Campaign's efforts to block 10,000 absentee ballots.
A growing number of Republican senators are for the first time now acknowledging Biden's victory. And two top Trump advisers admit the president's tweet is essentially a concession.
We have more from CNN's Jessica Dean.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The news the Biden transition team has been waiting for finally came late on Monday night.
They received word that the general services administrator was signing off on President Elect Biden as the official winner of the election triggering the formal transition process.
Of course, the Biden transition team has been asking for this for days now and it opens up their ability to talk to federal agencies, it also releases funds for them to use for the transition process.
This news also coming on the same day that Biden announced his first round of cabinet nominees and appointees.
President Elect Joe Biden today announcing his first cabinet nominees focusing on his foreign policy and national security teams.
The picks rolling out of Biden's virtual meeting with the U.S. conference of mayors.
Among Biden's choices, long-time advisor Tony Blinken to serve as secretary of state. Blinken served as deputy secretary of state during the Obama Administration and his national security adviser to Biden when he was vice president.
ANTHONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE ELECT: The greatest public servant I know, the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden.
That selection welcomed today by former president Barack Obama.
BARACK OBAMA, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He was part of our inner circle in all our key meetings throughout my presidency. He's outstanding. Smart, gracious, a skilled diplomat, well regarded around the world.
DEAN: Biden's other picks include Alejandro Mayorkas to serve as the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. Mayorkas, as a former deputy secretary of DHS, would be the first Latino and immigrant to serve in that position.
Avril Haines to be director of national intelligence. Haines, a former deputy director of the CIA and deputy national security advisor, would be the first woman to lead the U.S. intelligence community. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a career foreign official, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
And Jake Sullivan, a long time Biden adviser and former aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, to serve as national security advisor.
OBAMA: The reports are that Jake Sullivan will serve as national security advisor. Wicked smart, young, energetic and I think is going to be outstanding.
DEAN: Former secretary of state, John Kerry, will become the special presidential envoy for climate and will have a seat on the national security council.
[01:05:00]
This marks the first time someone dedicated to climate is a member of the NSC.
DEAN (On Camera): President Elect Biden and Vice President Elect Kamala Harris will formally introduce their cabinet nominees and appointees Tuesday afternoon.
Jessica Dean, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Caroline Heldman is a Democratic strategist and assistant professor of politics at Occidental College. She joins me now from Los Angeles. And thanks so much for being here.
We never think it's going to be a slow news days anymore because the news just trails on.
We certainly had a lot of it breaking today. And obviously having to do with the new administration coming on.
Look, we already had had the West Wing reunion, right, that happened on TV a few weeks ago.
This whole Biden team is really just looking like a lot of experienced, wiser, a little bit older, really old hands from the Obama Administration.
Do you think that this is the winning team or do you think some would have wished they'd have gone for a bolder approach?
CATHERINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I am sure that the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party would have wanted bolder choices.
But at the end of the day, Joe Biden doesn't know whether the Democrats or the Republicans are going to control the senate and so he is making some very centrist picks.
It's clear that he's choosing expertise over big names. It's clear that even though he hasn't really been allowed to transition formally for three weeks, that he's been working hard.
We normally don't see this many appointments this early on and I think it's crucial that we get folks in place because this transition has been ragged.
So I think Joe Biden is making some smart decisions here in terms of getting folks to the senate. They're relatively boring picks, if I can say that, they're not controversial.
And it's interesting to note after four years of the Trump Administration, no family members have been appointed to major positions.
NEWTON: You did get that in there. It is true. We will see, as well, in terms of how he can forge this new cabinet. Because, of course, as you just pointed out, there are many factions within the party that really are looking for a payback here in some way.
What struck me though is that so many of these people don't even need to be debriefed walking in these jobs. Do you think this is what America needs right now?
Because let's face it, a lot of these people have been living and breathing their new jobs for decades.
HELDMAN: I think it's good that we can hit the ground running. I think the last four years have taught us something very basic but profound about American politics, which is that expertise matters. And it matters a lot.
And so I am comforted, regardless of political party, I am comforted by the expertise of his team.
I think he's also making a really clear choice to have the most diverse cabinet in history in terms of race and gender and he's well on his way for doing that.
And I think, as you point out, Paula, that there will be some folks especially the more liberal wing of the Democratic Party who won't be happy about these picks.
But the fact that he's set up climate change tzar, John Kerry, who got us into the Paris Accord really signals to young people that he's taking that quite seriously.
And if you look at the election, historic turnout from young voters and that was their number one issue for voting, climate crisis.
NEWTON: Yes. And there's a good point. John Kerry now in that position. And, as you said, perhaps it might appease more of the progressive wing of the party, to use a term.
There is something else though. They could very well still end up with a senate that is run by the GOP, by the Republicans.
To that and, if you look at somebody like Janet Yellen or Alejandra Mayorkas who's going to be in homeland security, do you think this will help to get that bipartisan approach perhaps jump-started again in Washington? We haven't seen it in such a long time.
HELDMAN: Well, I would hope that that is the case. But I fear that if Mitch McConnell is at the helm, what we've seen that is that he profoundly changed the fabric of Washington, the way that the congress works.
He had a scorched earth approach to President Obama. And if you listen to his interview over the weekend, he actually spoke about this. That he would go to Republicans and say, OK, if you don't like my plan, what is your plan? If we can work here, we'll implement your plan, it doesn't really matter who comes up with it.
And the response he got, again and again, was that it was simply going to be oppositional.
And so even John McCain talked about this before he passed, about how the rules of Washington have shifted.
So I think that if Mitch McConnell is still in place and we have a super-majority in the supreme court, we're still going to see this entrenched partisanship in Washington D.C.
NEWTON: Yes. It's such a good point that you mentioned, that fact that there is still that super-majority now in the supreme court which will also, obviously, have a huge impact on politics over the next few years, perhaps decades.
Caroline Heldman in Los Angeles. Thanks so much for this. Really appreciate it.
HELDMAN: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now for the third time in recent weeks, a pharmaceutical giant has announced it has a highly viable coronavirus vaccine.
[01:10:00]
Now this time it's AstraZeneca which says its candidate is, on average, about 70 percent effective.
Now officials from the company talked about the results of the trials and how the vaccine could be distributed.
PASCAL SORIOT, CEO, ASTRAZENECA: (Inaudible) the appropriate dose regimen, people will a 90 percent protection.
Importantly, no severe cases were seen and no hospitalization so it's a very, very attractive vaccine.
The good news, by the way, about the regimen that works the best is that it only uses half, half the dose of vaccine for the first shot. So we can vaccinate more people faster.
PAMELA CHENG, VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS, ASTRAZENECA: We have a potential vaccine that can be easily distributed, stored and administered.
We expect the vaccine is stable at normal refrigerated conditions, at 2-2-8. Which will significantly make the supply chain logistics much simpler and easier.
NEWTON: Now there is caution, though. Experts point out that AstraZeneca has not yet released data from their trial so they have questions about the significance of the findings.
We'll have more of that to come.
Meanwhile, the airline Qantas says a vaccine is available -- when a vaccine is available, international travelers will have to prove that they've been vaccinated before they can fly.
The CEO of Australia's national carrier says he expects other airlines to follow suit.
ALAN JOYCE, CEO, QANTAS AIRLINES: We are looking at changing our terms and conditions to say that, for international travelers, that we will ask people to have a vaccination before they can get on the aircraft.
Whether you need that domestically, we'll have to see what happens with COVID-19 in the market. But certainly for international visitors coming out and people leaving the country, we think that's a necessity.
NEWTON: Australia currently requires travelers returning from abroad to spend two weeks in quarantine.
Now new coronavirus research now suggests the U.S. could reach 20 million cases of COVID-19 by late January.
So far the U.S. has reported just under twelve-and-a-half infections in total. That means the country could see another 7 million in less than two months.
Researchers say the numbers will likely skyrocket, thanks in part to a rise in holiday travel.
CNN's Nick Watt has more.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (Voice Over): That was the busiest weekend for air travel since the pandemic began. More than a million people passed through America's airports yesterday.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: The one thing that I can get out of this year that'll make my life a little better.
WATT: CDC guidance is clear; don't travel over Thanksgiving but it's just a recommendation, not a rule.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES:. You're not going to see an increase until weeks later. Things lag. And then you start dealing with the Christmas holiday. We can really be in a really difficult situation.
WATT: Still the First Lady will host an indoor holiday party at the White House next week, while the rest of us are told not to have Thanksgiving with grandma because --
JEROME ADAMS, SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: We are at a dire point in our fight with this virus.
WATT: This weekend was also the worst weekend for spread since the pandemic began. More than half a million new cases in just three days.
Thirteen days straight, this country has set successive records for numbers in the hospital.
Some parts of New York City, hospital capacity is an issue once again.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-N.Y.): The hospitals have contacted us and they say they need emergency beds on Staten Island.
WATT: Nationwide, on average, more than 1,500 people are now dying from COVID-19 every single day.
DR. ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: And over the next few weeks, three to four weeks, we're going to end up getting 2,500, maybe 3,000 deaths a day.
WATT: In California, Governor Gavin Newsom now in quarantine after his kids were potentially exposed.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: So no questions?
WATT: And from Wednesday, here in L.A., all restaurants must close, even outdoors. As cases soar, it's take out only again.
ADAMS: Cases, positivity, hospitalizations, deaths; we are seeing more Americans negatively impact than ever before.
But I also want Americans to understand that we've never had more reason for hope, thanks to the science.
WATT: AstraZeneca's potential vaccine is, according to new early data, about 70 percent effective. Pfizer and Moderna's are even higher, in the 90s.
DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: The FDA was looking for 60 percent efficacy, and now we're over 70, 80, 90 percent efficacy. So in fact, efficacy has pretty much blown it out of the park.
WATT: By May, 70 percent of the U.S. population could be vaccinated says the White House vaccine honcho, maybe enough for herd immunity. If enough people trust the vaccine. WATT (On Camera): Here in California, the majority of new cases are in the age group 18 through 49, which gives some indication of who is out there catching and spreading this virus.
Nick Watt. CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:15:00]
NEWTON: England's coronavirus lockdown is ending soon.
But the country will still face strict new restrictions in the weeks ahead. And one of those measures could impact international travel.
Plus Joe Biden will make history this week when he nominates the first woman as U.S. treasury secretary.
That's next. Right here on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: U.S. President Elect Joe Biden will make history when he nominates Janet Yellen as treasury secretary this week.
Yellen will be the first woman to hold that post as she was when she carried the federal reserve -- she chaired the federal reserve, pardon me, from 2014 through 2018.
Her selection should appeal to both progressives and business leaders but Yellen will face a herculean task leading the economic response to the coronavirus pandemic.
CNN's John Defterios is live for us now in Abu Dhabi. What's old is new again for you, John Defterios, who spent so many covering Janet Yellen. You'll be covering her once more, hanging on every word.
This really is a safe pair of hands in what could be the most challenging economic situation in decades.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR:. Yes, indeed. And she's used to that type of challenge, I would say, Paula.
She has a full metal jacket of credentials, you laid them out there, at the Federal Reserve both as vice chair and then chairwoman. And also now, being the first female to take up the post as the U.S. treasury secretary.
I think what Wall Street will really like about her she is sensitive to the financial markets but also accepted by Main Street and not seen as a progressive but one that is acceptable to the left wing of the Democratic Party.
Now you suggested this in your lead in, her first challenge will be avoiding a double dip recession. How does she do so? I would think her first order of business -- and she has the
relationships on Capitol Hill -- is to move to get a stimulus package done.
This was stuck for the last couple of months, kicked until after the election but I know the president elect wants to get something done before he is sworn into office on January 20t, to have it all lined up, if you will.
Now the same thing here. On Wall Street, in terms of her acceptance as being reflected in the U.S. futures market, you can look now, they're right across the board higher.
This also has a lot to do with the government services administration giving the green light here to start the briefings for the president elect and his team to come in.
And I think the other thing that she's going to have on her radar here is an infrastructure bill and building a consensus for it.
Donald Trump and Steve Mnuchin who was the treasury secretary before her championed it but it never went anywhere.
I imagine it's going to have some green credentials, meaning it's very favorable to the transition to renewable energy and a long term builder for jobs. Let's see if she can handle that.
But I am certain right now even the global community sees this in a very favorable light.
[01:20:00]
NEWTON: Yes. You laid out quite an ambitious schedule right there as it was. And we talked about that transition, right, we have moved forward now apparently with the transition.
And how important was it that the business community as well broke with Donald Trump after he challenged the results?
DEFTERIOS: I'm glad you flagged it because it's part of the process, Paula, if you will.
Because Donald Trump always said I'm the CEO in the White House that's respected by the U.S. business community. And we saw the dyke break on this big front that was being held up by Donald Trump.
Of course, it said a great deal -- two of the leading names here that broke are major names on Wall Street; Steve Schwarzman of Blackstone, the major investment bank who was a Trump supporter and also Jamie Diamond, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase. Both said we need to move, on we have to respect the process.
And again, right after that, we had a letter from 160 CEOs from the New York community saying we have to let this process get completed at this stage.
Here's the chairwoman of that effort.
KATHRYN WYLDE, CEO, PARTNERSHIP FOR NEW YORK CITY: This letter was turned around in 24 hours. The attorney general of our state called and said there's serious concern about the delays that are happening.
We've seen that the vetting of Biden's potential cabinet members has been slowed. It's time to move forward. And that's what the business community is saying.
DEFTERIOS: Doug McMillon is another one who stands out for me, Paula. He is the CEO of Walmart, the major retailer, but also the chairman of the Business Round Table.
He said this a week ago which seems almost like six months ago because of what's transpired in the last seven days.
NEWTON: Yes. And Stephen Schwarzman is significant in terms of how close he was with Donald Trump and his negotiations with China.
I asked him a couple of years ago how often he spoke to the present, he said pretty much every couple of days. So significant there.
John Defterios in Abu Dhabi, thanks so much for the update.
DEFTERIOS: Thank you.
NEWTON: In the day ahead, French President Emanuel Macron is expected to ease his nation's coronavirus restrictions as the infection rate there continues to fall.
Now it comes a day after the British prime minister announced he would lift England's nationwide lockdown next week as scheduled. The country is also expected to introduce a new testing strategy which could reduce the quarantine period for international travelers.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Prime Minister Boris Johnson addressed Parliament today to lay out a road map out of lockdown and through the holiday period.
We are in a one-month lockdown here in England. It's set to expire on December 2nd and that system will be replaced with a three-tier regional restriction system, similar to what we had before this lockdown, but this time the prime minister says those measures will be even tougher, even stricter localized rules.
And that's because the prime minister says it's necessary to maintain a grip on rising infection rates.
This is already caused controversy among members of parliament with dozens of them saying they want to see a cost-benefit analysis. Essentially, the concern is the economic consequences of these restrictions may be too high. But the prime minister justified it and said it is necessary if people can see some relaxation around Christmas to put these rules in place.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What we don't want is to throw caution to the wind and allow the virus to flare up again forcing us all back into lockdown in January.
So to allow families to come together while minimizing the risk, we're working with the (inaudible) administration on a special time-limited Christmas dispensation embracing the whole of the United Kingdom.
ABDELAZIZ: Now it's not official yet but according to local media reports, the prime minister wants to see an easing of social restrictions in a five-day or several day window at Christmastime where up to three households can meet to people can celebrate in a safe but limited way.
Scientists have raised the alarm about this saying that these might be too lax measures and could cause another spike in the virus. But some cautious optimism here that loved ones can get together, that there can be some celebrations after such a tough year.
ABDELAZIZ (On Camera): Salma Aabdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Doctor Murtaza Akhter is an emergency physician at Valley Wise Health Medical Center. He is with me now from Phoenix.
And good to see you again, Doctor. And before we get to the wider picture, there is a lot to discuss.
I was so struck, I was looking at your comments from July here on CNN -- that was five months ago, or nearly five months ago. You were concerned about the spike in cases at the time in Arizona.
And now in reviewing the numbers I see that likely you are concerned once again.
[01:25:00]
DR. MURTAZA AKHTER, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, VALLEYWISE HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER: Yes, that's exactly right. And now it's not just Arizona.
We used to be a hot spot, the word "hot spot" doesn't even mean anything anymore because basically the whole country is getting blasted with the exception of a couple of states with a lot -- a ton of COVID cases.
You've seen the hospitalizations, you've seen the cases, you've seen the deaths.
I've been working in Pennsylvania for the last couple of weeks and it's just as bad, if not worse here, than Arizona.
It's really amazing that even the places that had it somewhat controlled are just spiking.
Which goes to show the virus doesn't care where you live, what state you're in. If you don't have good policies and you don't distance and you don't wear masks, people are going to get infected, people are going to die.
NEWTON: Yes. And as we were saying earlier, Thanksgiving travel -- and even if the airports themselves and the planes are not much of a risk, these people are going home to their loved ones.
AKHTER: Yes, that's exactly right. I can understand people who haven't especially seen their loved ones, wanting to use this moment to see them. But it's one Thanksgiving out of hundreds of them. This is the one Thanksgiving to skip.
I know it's hard on people but to try to infect loved ones, especially the elderly, the immuno-compromised, is it worth the risk for one Thanksgiving?
Obviously, I'm biased but I would rather have people live to see multiple Thanksgivings instead of just having one and potentially not seeing another one again.
NEWTON: Now I will get on to the good news in a moment. But before I leave this topic -- again we haven't touched 200,000 cases a day in the United States, but likely this country is very close to there.
What's your worst fear at this point in time if you do have that spike that happened in Canada, for instance, after Thanksgiving and Halloween?
What happens after this Thanksgiving and this Passover and Christmas if you see a second -- now really a third wave in many areas of the country that's out of control?
AKHTER: Well, the simplest answer is dead people. The more cases there are and the colder the weather gets outside and the more people huddle indoors, the more cases there will be and the more people that will die. It's just math.
I know It seems brutal to make it just math and that's exactly what we're trying to prevent. But a bunch of people are going to die. That's the worst-case scenario for the patient perspective.
From the hospital perspective, we can be so backed up with ICUs that are filled, with ERs that are backing up -- because there are only so many places you can put COVID patients, that the care's going be diminished for everybody else.
We saw this happen when I was working this last summer where everybody got delayed -- and you know that leads to worse outcomes.
That means if you have a heart attack, you're in a car accident, you're shot by a bullet, you have a stroke, you have sepsis, you have sickle cell -- the list goes on, all these diseases still exist. Guess what? Your care's going to be that much poorer when the whole
hospital is backed up. And that in and of itself can cause more deaths as well. It's really unfortunate.
NEWTON: Yes. We all have to hang on tight for the next few weeks to see what happens in this country.
Before I let you go, though, I do want to talk about that vaccine, especially the AstraZeneca one.
Because it does seem that it perhaps -- not just that it can more easily be distributed and get people vaccinized -- vaccinated, pardon me -- but at the same time, a lot of doses, right, up to 3 billion?
AKHTER: Yes. That's the big perk of the AstraZeneca vaccine. I think people have gotten a high from the numbers that Pfizer came out with and Moderna -- which really is amazing, by the way, all of these numbers are amazing and kudos to science and the scientists who produced this.
But the advantage of the AstraZeneca vaccine, even if it's a lower efficacy, potentially, is that ultimately it may be more beneficial to more people because of how it's cheaper, how it's more easily distributed, how it can be refrigerated versus the other vaccines.
And remember, there weren't even any major hospitalizations even for the ones who got COVID. So even if the case rate wasn't as good as with the other vaccines, the true outcome of whether they were hospitalized or whether they got sick, may be pretty good.
So the advantage here is, for example, third world countries who may not have the refrigeration or who may not have the money, the AstraZeneca vaccine could be a game-changer for those countries in particular.
NEWTON: Yes, absolutely. And more reason why people should be more careful in the next few months because it's a small sacrifice, right, for what we can see in the future.
AKHTER: That's exactly right. I know we've been saying this for a while but this time it really should be hopefully a short while. By a short while, maybe in half a year but that really is short compared to a lifetime.
NEWTON: Yes, OK. Dr. Akhter, again, appreciate you sharing your time with us. Appreciate it.
AKHTER: Thanks for having me, Paula. Stay safe.
NEWTON: President Elect Joe Biden is moving to reverse the Trump Administration's environmental policies.
Details on the climate role he's creating for former secretary of state, John Kerry.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [01:32:03]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.
The headlines this hour.
More than two weeks after every major news organization in the United States projected Joe Biden is the winner of the presidential election, finally an acknowledgment from the White House. Donald Trump says he recommended that the General Services Administration begin the transition process. Yet despite more legal setbacks, the president still claims he will prevail and never concede.
Transition will allow the incoming Biden administration to access vital information on national security and the coronavirus pandemic.
Now, Biden is already moving quickly though to name his picks key cabinet roles. Among them John Kerry as his special envoy for climate. Now Kerry will also sit on the National Security Council. He was of course the secretary of state in the Obama administration playing the key role in negotiating the Paris Climate Agreement.
He's called climate change perhaps the world's most fearsome weapon of mass destruction. Kerry ran for president in 2005. He lost to George W. Bush. Kerry and Biden were also longtime colleagues in the senate.
For more on this, Jess Phoenix joins us from Los Angeles. She's a volcanologist and geologist, and the executive director and cofounder of Blueprint Earth.
And I was going to say that expectations for John Kerry were high already, expectations probably from people like you. You really want him to get busy fulfilling this after what I'm going to say is you feel four years of lost time at least.
JESS PHOENIX, BLUEPRINT EARTH: This has been an unmitigated disaster just tacked on top of the unfolding disaster that we already see all around us because of climate change.
So really, anything acknowledging the fact that we are in fact in a climate crisis is a huge improvement over where we have been.
NEWTON: It's interesting though because this will definitely go a step further. I mean we were just saying he was so involved in the Paris Climate Agreement. Apparently, Joe Biden will attempt to rejoin that agreement that the Trump administration, you know, parted ways with on his very first day.
What will that mean to the United States. And you know, we're used to the environment sometimes being platitudes and rhetoric. This needs to be real, right?
PHOENIX: Oh, yes. Most definitely, and it's really important to note that Kerry has been digging into the climate issue since back in the days when acid rain was a really big threat and was making the news in the 80s and 90s. So he has had his hands in this world for a long time, even prior to the Paris Accord.
However, he has really shown that he really wants to stick to a bipartisan approach to solving climate issues.
[01:34:51]
PHOENIX: And unfortunately the more conservative of an approach that you take right now, the more expensive the solutions will be in the long term. So it's best right now if John Kerry actually listens to progressives on the front line of combatting climate change and also environmental injustice while he is crafting policy and working on agreements that will hopefully lead to a better environment for everybody.
NEWTON: Yes. and to that point, in terms of trying to use, you know, the coronavirus pandemic in a more positive way, some people say that that -- this is a good inflection point to try and do something more aggressive let's say on the environment. And that comes as the World Meteorological Organization -- you know, we all thought that there would be this great environmental dividend from the pandemic and yet that report just released says that the effects will be essentially negligible.
Do you really think, though, that this administration with John Kerry at the helm of this portfolio will be ready? Especially given the fact that the GOP could still have control of the senate?
PHOENIX: Well, if we have seen nothing else over the last four years it's the power of executive orders. So I think with enough of us breathing down the necks of if Biden and Kerry, we should be able to move the needle toward real meaningful action that is supported with scientific evidence and data.
Because really at the end of the day, that is what we need and I do actually see signs for hope here. And that's because even though we have not seen, you know, massive environmental improvement due to the pandemic, what we have seen is the resiliency of industry to adapt to a new way of life, and honestly, this is where we need, technological innovation first and foremost. We need a green tech revolution.
If we want to meet these lofty climate goals, even just the bare minimums in the Paris Accord. And we need to do way more than that if we want to reach, basically to stop from going over the edge.
NEWTON: Yes. And it's going to be interesting because Joe Biden has said he wants a rebuilding of the economy to be green this time out of this crisis.
Jess Phoenix in Los Angeles. Thanks so much. Really appreciate it.
PHOENIX: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now, there aren't any pictures but there is growing evidence that Israel's prime minister met with the Saudi Crown Prince over the weekend. On the other hand, there is of course a strong denial from one side. CNN's Oren Liebermann sorts it all up for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew on Sunday directly from Israel to Saudi Arabia in a private business jet and met with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the first such meeting between the both leaders.
An Israeli minister confirmed after reports came out of the meeting. Speaking on Israel's army radio -- Israel education minister Yoav Galant said that it was an incredible achievement this meeting. And added, "Let us say that the very existence of the meeting, the fact that it was put out publicly, even if it's only half official at the moment is a matter of great importance from any aspect and matter.
Netanyahu speaking on Monday afternoon at a Likud Faction meeting, his party's meeting. Wouldn't relate to the report, meaning he would neither confirm nor deny that he had flown to Saudi Arabia to meet the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. but he did say he is always working to widen the circle of peace.
It is important to not that the Saudi foreign minister flatly denied that such a meeting took place. On Twitter he said the only meeting was between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
That is another important point at the time then this reported meeting took place, Pompeo was in that same Saudi city. It was an official meeting Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. a meeting that was closed to the press.
Pompeo on his 10-day trip through Europe and the Middle East did not take any questions from the traveling press pool that had accompanied him on the trip. The State Department wouldn't confirm the reports of this meeting.
Pompeo has for quite some time now been pushing for more states to normalize relations with Israel. The normalization agreements between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, were of course, major achievements, foreign policy accomplishments for the Trump administration.
But even in the waning days of the administration, Pompeo was still pushing. Tops on that list Qatar and Saudi Arabia, those were two countries that Pompeo visited on this swing through the Middle East. The last of those, the biggest prize of those in terms of normalization with Israel being Saudi Arabia.
As of right now, there are no official statement from the Saudis suggesting anything came from this meeting, especially because they deny it took place. the official Saudi line remains what it was, that the Saudis will stick to the 2002 Saudi-led Arab Peace Initiative in which normalization with Israel only comes after a resolution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict and only after recognition of a two-state solution.
Oren Liebermann, CNN -- Jerusalem.
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[01:39:47]
NEWTON: Next on CNN NEWSROOM, the latest on a political protests that took a deadly turn in Uganda. Witnesses describe the terrifying scene of tear gas and gunfire.
Plus, one of the largest cities in North America goes back into lockdown as COVID cases continue to rise.
I just returned from Toronto. And I will let you know about the latest restrictions there.
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NEWTON: Police in Uganda say a least 45 people were killed in protests last week over the arrest of presidential candidate Bobi Wine. Now Wine is challenging incumbent president Yoweri Museveni. He's been in power since 1986. Witnesses described a chaotic scene with police, the military and plainclothes gunmen firing rifles in heavily populated areas to try and disperse the protesters.
CNN's David McKenzie has more and we want to warn you there are graphic images in his report.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He secretly filmed as below him Kampala descended into days of chaos and death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They couldn't listen to anyone. The only thing was to beat, tear gas and bullets. Many were shot in the legs and their back or in the stomach and the heads.
MCKENZIE: He was afraid to move beyond the building stairwell, afraid if the soldiers spotted him, that they would kill him.
He's still afraid, only agreeing to speak to us if we concealed his identity.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These guys are shooting in front of the --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God.
MCKENZIE: Widely circulated videos show soldiers and plainclothes gunmen firing high caliber rifles into crowded urban slums.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mummy, I'm very scared.
MCKENZIE: At least 45 people were killed, hundreds more injured. Uganda's worst violence in years sparked by the arrest of Bobi Wine, a popstar turned presidential candidate in January's election.
FRED ENANGA, UGANDAN POLICE SPOKESMAN: These events were not just impromptu actions, but part of a loosely coordinated campaign --
MCKENZIE: A police spokesman told CNN that there were quite a lot of incidents were their officers quote, "allegedly conducted themselves unprofessionally and such cases are being investigated." But he claims some officers used bullets to disperse crowds in self defense. The Ugandan military did not respond to our repeated calls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) free and fair elections because they're being arrested, are being tortured and unarmed citizens are being killed.
MCKENZIE: Bobi Wine is charged with contravening strict COVID-19 rules. But he says his arrest is an attempt by authorities to stop his popular campaign against President Yoweri Museveni, who has held an iron grip on power for more than 30 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This election is very different because it is a generational fight. President Museveni who is approaching 80 years old is facing a young man who is half his age. It is a fight between the past and the future --
[01:44:54]
MCKENZIE: Yusuf's (ph) family says he wasn't political at all, he was just going out to buy milk.
(on camera): Where were his injuries? Where was he shot?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was shot from the back.
MCKENZIE: Shot in the back?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you couldn't be alive -- because no one was helping him -- the people were on the scene, they said he stayed there almost two and a half hours with he was losing blood until he died.
MCKENZIE (voice over): He was buried on Friday, just a few days before what would've been his 21st birthday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need peace in Uganda. We need democracy in Uganda.
MCKENZIE: Right now, Uganda has neither.
David McKenzie, CNN -- Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: For the second time since the pandemic began, Canada's largest city has gone into partial lockdown. Over the next four weeks, Toronto will limit indoor gatherings and enforce new rules for nonessential businesses. Think about this for a minute. A lot of the Christmas shopping won't be happening, any Black Friday sales. People are being told to just associate and see people within their own households.
Key here though, they are keeping schools open. At issue now is whether or not this will work. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON (voice over): Its nickname is Toronto the Good. Canada's largest city comes by it honestly. Toronto was so compliant nearly everyone wearing masks, following doctors orders, it crushed the COVID-19 curve in spring, a curve that public health officials is spiking out of control now.
Daily cases have nearly doubled in a matter of weeks, ICUs are near capacity, and with 1,500 coronavirus deaths and counting in this city, officials say a second lockdown as strict as the first, save for keeping schools open must be enforced to avoid a worst-case scenario.
DR. IRFAN DHALLA, UNITY HEALTH TORONTO: We are in a lot of trouble, and so our public health officials and our elected (INAUDIBLE) leaders decided there really was no other choice, but to take, you know, a big step back.
NEWTON: That step back means a return to lining up for groceries, shutting down all in-person dining even outdoors. All non essential indoor shopping, salons, gyms now shut down for at least four weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's challenging for all of us, but it's our, you know, societal obligation to do it.
NEWTON: That obligation extends to staying home and seeing no one other than those you live with.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope that by Christmas we maybe getting in a controlled -- in a controlled (INAUDIBLE) to get together for Christmas but, you know, it sucks for most of these people that are running the small businesses.
NEWTON: And it's not just business, the Raptors, Toronto's beloved NBA team had to find a temporary home in Tampa, Florida because of the health crisis.
It's a measure of how seriously the city is taking this. We caught up with Mayor John Tory, not at city hall, but at home, hunkering down for a second wave, he says many cities underestimated.
MAYOR JOHN TORY, TORONTO: I think we, you know, didn't focus entirely but we now are very focused on the marginalized neighborhoods where the virus spread and the positivity in the test rates have been, you know, much higher than in other parts of the population.
Now, we are really focused on all that now. The lockdown will help us to get a greater grip on all of this.
NEWTON: Protests against the lockdown and a masks have been small but persistent -- a reminder that the city's goodwill has its limits.
(on camera): There's no question a second lockdown will be tough here in Toronto. But what's been even tougher to think about are the consequences if it doesn't work.
(voice over): The worry fewer restrictions in other areas bordering the city in some cases just a few blocks away means people will move freely to shop, dine and get together, only Toronto and one of its sprawling suburbs Peel, is in lockdown.
Hothouse restaurant managers Adam Joe and Arif Ahmed Med (ph) used to employ 100 people. They were able to keep half on payroll thanks to their large patio.
Under lockdown, they'll have to scale back even further.
ADAM JOE, RESTAURANT MANAGER: I guess I would say, you know, a little crestfallen. You know, we have a lot of energy recently. I wouldn't say I was shocked.
NEWTON (on camera): Are you guys afraid of what will happen if it doesn't work?
ARIF AHMED, RESTAURANT MANAGER: Absolutely but you don't really know how it's going to pan out on the other end, so it is, you know, scary.
NEWTON: And so Toronto, one of the largest cities in North America, masks up, locks down and hopes this painful sacrifice will be enough to reopen in time for Christmas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And I want to point out that Canada had a little over 5,700 cases today. That's some of the highest numbers since the pandemic began.
[01:49:58]
NEWTON: Now, an outbreak of the virus in Seoul, South Korea has forced the city's acting mayor to declare an emergency period through the end of the year. The city will enforce new restrictions to try and prevent further infections, including the use of masks in all indoor facilities.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is live for us in Seoul. Paula, I want to ask you.
You know, South Korea has had some pretty good success when they have had clusters kind of flare up this way in trying to contain them. Are they more worried this time, or are they being extra cautious, just because it's going to be colder and it is winter.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Paula, they say they are more worried. They say that this is a risky situation. Now, we heard from health officials at the end of last week that they consider this to be the third wave. And they are concerned that this could be a greater mass infection they say than the previous two waves.
Of course, one was in March, April so coming into spring time when it's warmer. One was in August when it's extremely warm, but now we are in November, Korea gets extremely colder in the winter, so there will be a lot more indoor activities.
Now we know that we're at level two at this point which means that you have to wear a mask when you are indoors. It's mandatory and it's finable. If you are seen not to wear a mask about $85 U.S. you will be fined.
But to be honest, most people do wear masks here anyway. There's only very few exceptions. But what health officials have done by putting in place this emergency period until the end of the year is extra precautions like public transport will be down to a fifth after 10 p.m. Restaurants, for example, have to be delivery only or take out after 9:00 p.m.
And the one thing that the obviously some are concerned about because this is where clusters have originated in the past, is churches and religious groups.
Now they have been urged to have all their services online, but it's not mandated at this point. They were allowed up to 20 percent capacity.
But we have also heard from the Secretary of President Moon Jae-in urging everybody to do their bit and to club together, pointing out that it is a precarious and worrying situation.
But of course, Paula it is worth pointing out that the numbers are still a fraction of what we are seeing in other countries around the world. I mean and the numbers from yesterday and the last 24 hours, we are at 349. Yesterday's high for South Korea. But it's certainly not high when you compared to other countries
NEWTON: Oh, absolutely no. Here in the United States you get even perhaps a small city reporting that number in a day.
Paula Hancocks thanks so much for the update. Appreciate it.
China launches a probe to the moon. Why the country will join an exclusive club if this lunar mission is successful. That's ahead. You're on CNN NEWSROOM.
[01:52:39]
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NEWTON: A mission to the moon to collect samples of space rock is under way for the first time in 40 years. China has launched the Chang'e 5 lunar probe named after an ancient Chinese moon goddess. Its mission is to bring back rocks and soil to help scientists understand the moon's magnetic field and its volcanic past.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout is in Hong Kong. Kristie, I can't get over the fact that it's been 40 years they've been up to the moon. They must be quite excited about this mission. It has been a long time
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it has been a long time, 40 years. And the very first step to return to the lunar surface to retrieve these rocks took place earlier today. 4:30 a.m. in the morning. 4:30 a.m. in the morning. That was when China successfully launched the Chang'e 5 robotic spacecraft.
[01:55:02]
STOUT: Its mission, as you just mentioned Paula, is to retrieve and bring back these materials to earth, which is something that hasn't happened for decades. It was about 40 years ago when the Soviets and the Americans brought back rocks from the moon for analysis.
So if China succeeds it will only be the third nation to do so. Now, the Chang'e mission has about two objectives.
One is to gain scientific knowledge because through the collection, the analysis of those lunar rocks, they will be able to understand more about the history, the origins of the moon as well as its formation.
Now, its second goal though is to gain engineering know-how because through those activities of sampling, collecting and returning those lunar materials back to earth, China will be able to gain that technical and engineering expertise that they can apply for additional further space exploration.
Now, it's going to take about eight days for this unmanned spacecraft to reach the lunar surface. The probe itself will take two days. The entire mission 23 days, and it will return with all those materials in a lunar capsule -- that return capsule that will return to inner Mongolia about the middle of December.
Now before this mission took place, we heard from the Chang'e 5 spokesman who addressed reporters at the launch site. And he talked about the challenges ahead. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PEI ZHAOYU, CHANG'E 5 SPOKESMAN: Compared to lunar and moon landing explorations that we managed to implement, the biggest challenge of the sampling mission, I believe is the work of moonscape sampling, moonscape take off, rendezvous and docking into the lunar orbit. As well as the high speed reentry to earth.
These parts are the biggest challenges that we care about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: But Chang'e 5 again, is an unmanned robotics space probe. And when that spokesman was asked when China plans to put astronauts on the moon. He basically said that lunar exploration is something that will happen and will involve both men and machine.
Back to you, Paula. NEWTON: Yes, I can only imagine how that would inspire people right
now. You know, there's significant ambitions that China has in space. And I'm sure this will be a very large component of it.
Kristie Lu Stout. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
And I am Paula Newton. Another hour of CNN Newsroom with my colleague Robyn Curnow is straight ahead.
You are watching CNN.
[01:57:18]
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