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Iran Says, Top Nuclear Scientist Assassinated Outside Tehran; Florida Governor Bans Fines to Enforce COVID Mandates; Hundreds of Youth Soccer Teams in Arizona Despite Warnings. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired November 27, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNNN ANCHOR: We have some breaking news to share with you. A top Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated just outside the capitol of Tehran. This is according to the country's state media.

I want to get straight to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. Nick, any idea who would be behind this.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Immediately, where a prominent nuclear scientist like this, a man whose name you wouldn't have heard before, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, you would expect fingers to point towards Israel, potentially. They have a history of assassinations of high profile nuclear and other officials inside of Iran.

In fact, that also has been echoed by the country's foreign minister who not only confirmed, the language he chose is that, quote, terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. He says, this cowardice with serious indications of an Israeli role shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators.

Now, the images you're seeing suggests possibly an explosion that had hit in the area of this attack, and maybe possibly looking at the holes on the windshield, gunshots may have been involved too. And this, of course, is a secure area, obviously, where a man of this importance would have been traveling.

His name has been used in the past by Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a lengthy speech he gave, essentially making the case that Iran is still pursuing and retaining the knowledge for a nuclear weapon. Unclear really what Fakhrizadeh retained at this point. He was indicated in a U.S. State Department report late last year as having this reservoir of knowledge.

And the important point now, Boris, is that the Biden administration, the president-elect, is weighing up what it's going to do in January with the nuclear deal that Donald Trump so fervently pulled out of as one of his key foreign policy tenants. There is an avenue for diplomacy here but maybe not such a big one if Iran's hawks feel their backs are put out by key figures like this being assassinated potentially on broad daylight on the outskirts of Tehran, a very tense moment already in the Middle East.

[11:35:06]

And with this assassination today, regardless, frankly, of who ends up being behind it, it certainly makes the avenues for diplomacy in the weeks and months ahead a little tighter. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes. Details are obviously scarce but you can tell from the photos, as you correctly pointed out, Nick, that it appears to be a sophisticated and orchestrated attack. Nick Paton Walsh reporting from London, thanks so much.

Let's discuss it further with CNN Global Affairs Analyst Max Boot. He's a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Max, what are your immediate thoughts upon learning this news?

MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, as was suggested, obviously, Israel would be the obvious culprit behind this assassination. And it's a sign of the alarm that Israel and other countries, including the United States, have about the Iranian nuclear program.

And I think it's important to point out here that the Iranian nuclear program was under control thanks to the nuclear accord negotiated by the Obama administration, and then the Trump administration exited the Iranian nuclear accord in 2018. And since then the amount of enriched uranium that Iran possesses has increased eight fold, eight fold. They now have enough enriched uranium to make three nuclear weapons should they decide to weaponize it.

So, the Trump administration approach has been a complete failure, Iran is more dangerous than ever. Its nuclear program is more advanced than ever. And with attacks like this one or with cyber attacks, one would suspect that Israel and possibly if the United States involved as well is trying to limit the program, but it's not going to do the job. I mean, one nuclear scientist can always be replaced.

Iran has a very durable program and this is really just an attempt to mitigate this run away Iranian nuclear program that really requires, I think, a diplomatic solution, which is something that the Biden administration is going to be looking at very hard.

SANCHEZ: Just offer a different perspective, there were those that felt that the JCPOA wasn't strong enough and that Trump did the right thing. But rather than going in that direction, I want to make sure we have enough time to ask you about new reporting from Reuters that says that North Korean hackers launched cyber attacks on vaccine maker AstraZeneca.

They were apparently trying to gain access to computers belonging to AstraZeneca staffers. South Korean lawmakers have accused North Korea on carrying out a similar attack on their vaccine manufacturer. What do you think North Korea's angle is here?

BOOT: Well, North Korea has a very active cyber warfare program. I mean, you wouldn't expect it from a country that is so impoverished and technologically backward (ph). But their hacking capabilities are actually pretty sophisticated. They have carried out a lot of attacks in the west. And one may surmise that perhaps they are trying to gain the formula for the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine.

Now, it should be pointed out that 172 countries around the world have joined this international vaccine alliance organized by the World Health Organization, the World Bank and other organization. The United States has not, and North Korea has not.

Now, the U.S., of course, were able to develop our own vaccine. North Korea has not. And so you can imagine that they're probably desperate because they don't want to be part of this international organization. They just want to steal from it. This is another sign of how decrepit the North Korean dictatorship is and what a high price it pays for its isolation from the world.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it's really difficult to imagine what the circumstances must be like for the average North Korean having to deal with coronavirus on top of the nightmares of being stuck in that dictatorship.

Max Boot, thank you so much for the time, sir, we appreciate it.

BOOT: Thank you very much.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Mayors in Florida are begging the governor to make a change quickly on the pandemic. You'll hear from one of them.

Plus, hear what the U.S. military is doing to prepare for the likely coronavirus surge that is coming as hospitals are already running short on beds.

Plus, hundreds of youth soccer teams are heading to Arizona amid the pandemic, that is despite pleas from local officials. We'll take you there, next.

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[11:40:00]

SANCHEZ: I want to return our focus to Florida for a moment where local officials are accusing the governor of thwarting efforts to stop the spread of coronavirus. Florida has reported over 6,000 new cases every single day this week. And intensive care units are filling up with over 4,500 Floridians in ICUs right now, leaving only 25 percent of adult ICU beds available across the state.

So what is Governor Ron DeSantis doing? He's banning local officials from issuing fines when people violate mandates, like face mask requirements. Where does this leave the mayors trying to keep communities safe?

Joining me now to discuss is one of them, the mayor of St. Petersburg, Rick Kriseman. He's in the city's emergency operation center right now. Mayor Kriseman thanks so much for spending time with us.

You've joined five other Florida mayors, a bipartisan group, Democrats and Republicans, calling on the governor to give you more freedom to implement COVID restrictions. What's your reaction to this decision from DeSantis?

[11:45:01]

MAYOR RICK KRISEMAN (D-ST. PETERSBURG, FL): You know it just makes it that much more difficult for us to have an impact and really do what we can to lower these numbers in our communities. And, you know, the governor -- the most important job of an elected official, whether you're a president, you're a governor, or you're a mayor, is public safety and health, and it's about leadership. And, you know, if this governor is not up to it, then he really needs to step aside, because there are those of us trying to lead and he's getting in the way of us really making a difference.

SANCHEZ: You've had a mask mandate in St. Petersburg in place. Help us understand how enforcement has worked.

KRISEMAN: Yes, and we have. And I think as a result of us having it and creating that culture in Pinellas County, which is where St. Pete is located, we are more than a point below the rest of the state when it comes to a two-week rolling average percentage of positive testing. And I firmly believe it's because we have this mandate and because we had tried enforcing it.

And so what we've done is we've cited businesses if they aren't requiring their employees to wear masks, and the patrons that come into their businesses to wear masks and to socially distance. The governor is trying to take that ability of us to enforce away from us. And it's really been problematic.

SANCHEZ: So, the governor has said that local governments in hot spots can coordinate with his office to keep some of the mandates in place. Is that an option that you're pursuing?

KRISEMAN: Well, certainly, if we start looking at limiting occupancy in our restaurants and businesses, we definitely will pursue that. But, you know, it just -- for a governor who claims to be all about economic development and businesses and looking out for businesses, this is a very shortsighted policy that he's got in place.

It will be far worse for our business community and the people who work in those businesses if we have to do a complete shutdown because our numbers explode and our hospital -- and there's no beds in our hospitals. It makes so much more sense to allow us to have a mask mandate and to enforce social distancing.

SANCHEZ: Mayor Kriseman, we don't have much time left but I just wanted to give you ten seconds to send a message to the folks in St. Petersburg, in Florida and to the rest of the nation.

KRISEMAN: Yes. If you want to continue to be able to go shopping, to go eat dinner, wear your mask, socially distance. If we all do this -- they're very simple. If we all do these things, we will reduce our numbers, less people will get sick and less people will go to the hospital and unfortunately die. It's very simple.

SANCHEZ: All right. Mayor Rick Kriseman, thank you again for the time.

KRISEMAN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

So will President Trump attend Joe Biden's inauguration? Hear his answer ahead.

Plus, the pope takes a swipe at groups shunning COVID restrictions as the Supreme Court allows churches in New York to open fully.

And health experts fear what happens this weekend when millions of Americans travel home from the holidays.

We'll be back after a quick break.

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[11:50:00]

SANCHEZ: As coronavirus cases explode nationwide, hundreds of families are traveling to Phoenix this weekend for a youth soccer tournament featuring more than 400 out of state teams, that's despite COVID restrictions and the mayor's strongest disapproval.

CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro has more.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, public health officials from the CDC to the White House coronavirus task force, to our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta have been clear on one thing, traveling during the pandemic surge is a dangerous, bad idea.

But those warnings haven't stopped organizers of a massive youth soccer tournament this weekend in Phoenix, Arizona. They're going ahead with their plans. The Desert Super Cup features 500 teams, 460 of them from outside the state.

Technically, pandemic restrictions in Arizona forbid gatherings of this size. But the rules have enough wiggle room in them to allow the Phoenix City council to go ahead and sign off on something like this and allow it to happen. So, therefore, desert cup kicks off today for three days of youth soccer. Boris?

SANCHEZ: I wish all those folks good health. Evan McMorris-Santoro, thanks for that.

President-elect Joe Biden is facing a big week and a big test. We'll take you to Delaware.

Plus, the president, again, refusing to accept the lost -- the election he lost, I should say, but his dangerous rhetoric is now impacting the Senate runoffs in Georgia. A live report, next.

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[11:55:00]

SANCHEZ: This year's CNN heroes, an all-star tribute, will be a special celebration of the heroic efforts of the many men, women and children around the globe who faced two simultaneous crises, COVID-19 and racial injustice.

Here is one of the year's most inspiring moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Sometimes a photograph can capture the mood and attention of the world. In June, one image did just that.

During a protest in the streets of London, events turned violent. Black Lives Matter group was there to condemn statues of people with racist ties and many white protesters where there to protect the statues. Things got heated.

One man, Bryn Male, a white former police officer, wandered into the crowd, and he started to get beat up. One of the Black Lives Matter protesters, Patrick Hutchinson, saw that he was in peril. Patrick moved in, picked up the injured Bryn, carried him to through the crowd to safety.

[12:00:03]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest thing for me was making sure that no harm came to him.