Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Canadian News Outlets Project Trudeau Will Remain PM; Bolsonaro To Defy COVID Vaccine Rule At Global Gathering; China's Evergrande Debt Crisis Sinks World Markets. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired September 21, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:12]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause. Ahead on CNN Newsroom, after calling a controversial early election, Canada's Justin Trudeau wins what appears to be the status quo are returned to power with another minority government.
Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro not vaccinated defying an honor system to attend the U.N. General Assembly. And it seems the U.N. is powerless to stop him. How one man symbolizes a failed global pandemic response?
And COVID vaccines and kids, Pfizer says this is safe and effective for ages five through 11 with hopes it could receive authorization in the U.S. within weeks.
At this hour, the votes are still being counted in Canada in a national election called two years ahead of schedule by a prime minister hoping to be rewarded politically for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. While Canadian news outlets are projecting Justin Trudeau and his Liberal Party will form the next government, he's falling short of his goal for calling an early election in the first place and outright parliamentary majority.
CNN's Paula Newton joins us out from Montreal with more. And Paula, Trudeau, basically, this is where he was five weeks ago, he went into this with 155 seats. That's what it looks like you'll end up with. So what does this mean for how he will govern in the next -- in the coming years?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, essentially to use the term, John, Canadians are sending them right back to work immediately and really no better or worse shape than when he started. And many Canadians were annoyed by the election for that reason thinking, why do we need it now, in terms of what happens next, remember, this is a minority parliament. So the danger that this government can fall is still there. And perhaps that risk is even heightened.
Now, you know, the tone and tenor of this campaign, John, changed everything. Canadians were mainly united and more happy to see their politicians united through the pandemic. All of that is out the window. This is that times an ugly campaign, the rhetoric was sharp. And for that reason, going forward, Justin Trudeau may find it a bit more difficult to govern.
You know, his main rival, conservative leader, Erin O'Toole, he just had his concession speech, if you will, but he acted more like it was the first day of the next campaign and saying that, look, Justin Trudeau still didn't need to be rewarded for basically calling an election during a pandemic.
I will say Justin Trudeau was about to take the stage behind me, he will certainly try and portray this as some kind of a victory. But as I said, many Canadians resented this campaign, especially as western provinces are battling really a punishing fourth wave with ICUs in many cases filled to capacity. John?
VAUSE: So clearly, this was a political maneuver, which backfired or went nowhere, if you like for Trudeau, but he does remain firmly in control as leader of the Liberal Party. There's no talk of replacing him at any point.
NEWTON: No, and that is a good point. Right now, the liberals will tell you, look, this is a man who has won three elections in a row. All true. At the same time, though, his opponents will say that it is very likely, John, that for the second time, he will lose the popular vote and still form government. I know we have those examples. Obviously, that has happened before in the other democracies. But it's still something to think about, you know, it will be interesting to see how he intends to govern in the months and perhaps maybe years to come and he will be pressed to compromise more.
Remember, he was only really not even a year -- half year into his mandate when the pandemic hit. And that certainly engendered a lot of goodwill. And I have to add, John, important for, you know, international relations here, when you look at governments starting with the Biden administration, and going on to the E.U. or NATO. This certainly does give Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government less bandwidth from which to deal with international developments.
And that will be interesting as well, not to mention the fact that there are a lot of decisions to be made on climate coming up. And those kinds of things might make the character of the way Justin Trudeau has to govern a much more difficult. But right now, I can tell you, John, many Canadians will be as annoyed at the end of this campaign as when it started, they would have preferred to enjoy those last five weeks of summer. And right now they are sending back very much the same government that they started with.
VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Newton live for us there with the very latest. We appreciate it. Well, the U.N. General Assembly begins in a few hours with world leaders once again gathering in person in New York to solve global problems with global cooperation. That's always the hope this year. This is aimed for the shortage of planet sized disasters on the agenda, but its corporation which is in short supply. As is tradition Brazil will address the assembly first followed by the United States. This will be Joe Biden's first appearance at the UNGA as President. His message will be America is back.
[01:05:13] Well, the chaotic U.S. exit from Afghanistan and may have left many questioning Biden's commitment to old European allies. The recent security deal the U.S. made with the U.K. and Australia seemed to remove all doubt. France continues to fume after Australia scrapped a multibillion dollar contract to buy diesel powered French subs, in favor of nuclear powered submarines made with U.S. and British technology, all part of that new defense deal known as orcas (ph). And it seems the E.U. is standing firmly with France demanding an explanation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, EUROPEAN COMMISSION PRESIDENT: Well, there are a lot of open questions that have to be answered. And therefore, I mean, one of our member states has been treated in a way that is not acceptable. So we want to know what happened and why, and therefore, you first of all, clarify that before you keep on going with business as usual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: President Biden is now talking about the importance of global relationships as he tries to restore American leadership.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Every U.N. member state likewise has an obligation to uphold those fundamental commitments and -- that we've all made. And normally the task is already ahead for each one of us and it's real. With the vision and guided nations has never been sure and ambitious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And then there is Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro, the anti- Moscow vaccine refusenik who was met by protesters as he arrived Monday night for a reception at the home of Brazil's ambassador to the U.N.
In the coming hours, Bolsonaro is set to require a U.N. requirement for all attendees to be vaccinated. The U.N. is relying on an honor system and has no real power to stop him from speaking, which in many ways seems symbolic of the global response to the coronavirus pandemic. CNN's Shasta Darlington has more now reporting in from Sao Paulo.
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An unvaccinated President Jair Bolsonaro arrived with his delegation in New York on Sunday. On Monday, he met with Boris Johnson to discuss bilateral trade, the environment, and travel restrictions that the U.K. is still imposing on Brazil. On Tuesday he'll deliver the opening speech at the United Nations, this despite rules requiring participants to be vaccinated in order to be in the assembly hall.
Now remember Bolsonaro came down with COVID-19 last year and he nonetheless has repeatedly criticized the use of masks and downplayed the need at least for himself to even get a vaccine. Last week he made it abundantly clear that he wouldn't be vaccinated before attending the assembly during a live broadcast on his social media. He said, quote, why do you take a vaccine to have antibodies, right? My antibodies rate is really high. I can show you the document.
The U.N. says it expects leaders to respect an honor system but won't bar anyone from entering the assembly hall. Bolsonaro told CNN affiliate CNN Brazil that his speech on Tuesday will last about 20 minutes and that he'll focus on the environment, tourism, agribusiness, and Brazil's handling of the pandemic, something that's already raising eyebrows considering his self-proclaimed unvaccinated status.
But in fact, after months of delaying the rollout of vaccines, with the death toll that already top 590,000, Brazil has now managed to get the virus relatively under control, lowering both the number of new cases and new deaths. At this point, 38 percent of the total population is vaccinated and more than 66 percent of the population has received at least one shot of vaccine. That's actually higher than many other countries. Shasta, Darlington, CNN, Sao Paulo.
VAUSE: Susan Glasser is a CNN global affairs analyst and staff writer for The New Yorker. Welcome back. Good to see you.
SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you so much.
VAUSE: OK, there seems to be an increasing number of major issues on a global scale of vaccine inequality, the pandemic, Iran's and North Korea's nuclear program cutting global ambitions. All of them can only really be dealt with through global cooperation. The biggest issue of all is the climate crisis, here's the U.N. Secretary General.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: We need this size eviction now to avert climate catastrophe. And for that we need solidarity. Saving these and future generations is a common responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Solidarity right now seems to be a very short supply. You know, there's the anger from Europe over the defense deal between the Australians, the Americans, and the British. But there are a lot of other unresolved issues on trade, climate change, and Beijing and Washington are staring each other down over almost everything. So having said that how do global issues get done effectively or dealt with effectively under these sort of circumstances?
[01:10:06]
GLASSER: Well, you know, it's the fraying of the commons, if you will. Every year in the fall, the U.N. General Assembly meets. And I think one of the things that we're discovering this year is even with President Trump gone, the world's problems haven't magically disappeared. President Biden will talk, I believe tomorrow, and his speech at the U.N. General Assembly about the idea of not only collective action on things like climate change, but the return on the USA cares about multilateralism.
But at the same time, he's also finding that relations with our closest allies, like France are afraid in some ways heading into this. And, you know, you don't always start the U.N. General Assembly with a finger wagging lecture from the U.N. Secretary General to both China and the United States about their inability to make deals that work for the rest of the world.
VAUSE: In the past, you have leaders at the UNGA, or senior officials from different governments meeting on the sidelines trying to resolve some of their differences. Is this defense back, this this anger from Paris, of being cut out of this defense deal has that gone too far for this kind of diplomacy? Or is it just too soon for that?
GLASSER: Well, there is a sort of dramatic aspect to it, you've got to wonder if there's a certain element of domestic politics for French President Emmanuel Macron, as well, in his outrage at the United States, he says going behind France's back to break up their deal with Australia for submarines in exchange for a more promising deal with the United States and the U.K. to create a nuclear powered submarine.
So, you know, it seems to me that some of it is politics, but some of it does reflect a genuine sense and concern, not just in France, but among a number of European allies that the United States in pivoting once again into Asia are seeking to do so essentially, has left Europe behind is not really the partner that your needs for its collective security.
VAUSE: We also had this warning from the mayor of New York City for Brazil's President, as well as others. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK MAYOR: We need to send a message to all the world leaders, including most notably Bolsonaro from Brazil, that if you intend to come here, you need to be vaccinated if you don't want to be vaccinated, don't bother coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, he is, Bolsonaro the anti-mask COVID truth, he is refusing to be vaccinated though, despite a U.N. requirement for everyone attending. The interesting thing here though that this requirement will only be enforced by an honor system, and Bolsonaro is ready to defy that, it does seem to be symbolic in many ways of what was a global failure to work together to try and contain the pandemic at the very beginning.
GLASSER: Well, that's right. And I keep thinking of Bolsonaro's role at the very beginning of the pandemic here in the United States. Remember, he was with Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago in sort of, you know what I think of a super spreader weekend, the very beginning, the first time it became clear back in March of 2020, what kind of a chaos and catastrophe we're waiting us with this global pandemic. So it seems kind of symbolic on a number of levels. VAUSE: Just very quickly, what is to be gained for Bolsonaro by turning up and being the first speaker of the UNGA and declaring himself not vaccinated?
GLASSER: Remember someone like Bolsonaro kind of like, you know, Donald Trump. He's not aiming necessarily to get a majority even in his own country. He's looking to create a very loyal minority of the country that will follow him wherever he wants to go even down the path of virus denialism.
VAUSE: Susan, thank you. It's good to see you.
GLASSER: Thank you so much.
VAUSE: When we come back, the Taliban engaging and a little P.R. We'll tell you how Afghans are responding under the militant's watchful eye. Also had the moral hazard of too big to fail arrives in China, real estate developer Evergrande hundreds of billions of dollars in debt facing default, causing shockwaves across global markets.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:16:20]
VAUSE: Well the debt crisis at Chinese real estate giant Evergrande is rattling financial markets worldwide. The company is facing default on $300 billion in debt. Beijing may have to step in. Markets in Shanghai, Seoul, and Taiwan are closed for a public holiday. But Tokyo and Hong Kong have been trading and if you look at these numbers here, Hong Kong was down by almost a percent at the start. So it's pulling some of that back now to be down by almost half of 1 percent. Nikkei down by almost 2 percent there.
Now Evergrande shares finished down more than 10 percent. On Monday down more than 80 percent for the entire year. In the U.S., the Dow closed 614 points lower than 1.8 percent for its worst day since July.
CNN's Kristie Lu Stout following developments live for us in Hong Kong. OK, there's a couple of key dates coming up. And one of them is Thursday to see whether or not this real estate company can actually make payments on this debt.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Thursday is a key deadline is right around the corner that is when an interest payment were some $120 billion is due. A lot of investors are waiting to see what is going to happen this day as concern is mounting for this heavily indebted Chinese property giant and the spillover risk it poses to the greater economy.
You know, on Monday, we saw global markets skid with the S&P and the NASDAQ posting their worst performances since May. The Dow notching its worst performance since July, it prompted the White House to issue a statement saying we are monitoring the markets but Evergrande's business, they insist, are centered overwhelmingly inside China.
On Monday we saw markets go into the red here across the Asia Pacific region with the shares of the Hong Kong listed Evergrande down 10 percent. The Hang Seng down from 3.3 percent. You just showed that structure. We'll bring it up one more time again, just to remind our viewers how they're performing right now. And we're seeing additional losses this day. Not as bad as yesterday, but here in Hong Kong down almost half a percent. China Evergrande Group shares continue to lose value down 3.51 percent. Japan's Nikkei down almost 2 percent.
I should note that the stock markets in South Korea and in Mainland China are closed due to a public holiday. Now, Evergrande is China's most heavily indebted property developer. It owes somewhat $300 billion worth of liabilities. It's been struggling to pay it back. And that is prompted dozens of disgruntled and desperate investors to protest at its offices and headquarters in Shenzhen. And as you've been monitoring on social media across many other cities where Evergrande has offices all across China, last week Evergrande warned that it may default and of course a default would just send shockwaves throughout the economy in China and elsewhere around the world.
But when we speak to analysts here in Hong Kong and across Greater China they insist that China, that Beijing will step in to intervene, it may not be a bailout, it does not look likely they say will be a bailout but some sort of a workout to soften the blow. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY WU, CHINA ECONOMIST, OXFORD ECONOMICS: I still anticipate Beijing to step in even though without a direct intervention or bailout, but at least they will engineer some sort of restructuring so that it will look like more like a soft landing for the Evergrande Saga.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STOUT: You know, there's just too much at stake here. The last thing China needs right now is a major default. But so far, Chinese authorities have yet to provide any public assurances that there is a sort of plan to resolve the Evergrande debt issue. So as a result that is spooked investors all around the world. Back to you John.
VAUSE: Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout there live in Hong Kong.
Rana Foroohar is CNN's global economic analyst as well as a global business columnist and associate editor for The Financial Times. Welcome back. Good to see you.
[01:20:04]
RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Good to see you.
VAUSE: OK, so the issue here isn't so much just focused on one company with a huge burden. It seems to be all the other Evergrande disasters, you know, potentially waiting to happen. A recent National Bureau of Economic Research working paper, estimated China's that real estate's contribution to the Chinese economy, China 30 percent, that's much higher than every other major economy, including the U.K., around 20 percent, the U.S. around 15 percent. This has been a problem for about 20 years in China. And it seems to suggest that, you know, Evergrande, if it doesn't collapse, well, if it doesn't, and it's not the big one, unless they remedy this, this over reliance on real estate investment, then the big one is a matter of time.
FOROOHAR: Well, for sure, John. And as you say, this is a bubble that's been brewing in China for decades. You know, I mean, we've all done these stories. We've seen it coming. We've known it was there. The Chinese authorities have a few times in the last five years or so made some tweaks tried to get things under control. But they haven't really tackled this problem head on. What I find interesting is that in some ways, this company is having problems now, because Beijing did decide to actually clamp down a little bit more strongly on the real estate market in recent months.
And so now you're seeing companies like this start to get into problems. And of course, the world is run wondering, well, where does this end? And it may end with more trouble, although I don't think it's going to be a sort of subprime crisis, like we saw in 2008. And that has to do with the nature of the Chinese economy, the Chinese government owns most of the banking sector, they own much of the property sector. So it's an entirely different kind of economy, and there are going to be different kinds of ramifications.
VAUSE: OK, so it's not a Lehman Brothers moment in other words. That was a company that you when it collapsed, triggered the financial crisis back in 2008. But the $300 billion question remains, you know, to bail out or not to bail, the chief market strategist for LPL Financial is typical utmost, he says this, we think the odds do favor the Chinese communist government will get involved should there be a default. They're holding out as of now, but the fallout could be too great for them to avoid intervening.
Here's the thing, almost everyone thought Lehman Brothers would be bailed out. But it wasn't, a nonproductive financial crisis, which followed. So as far as evergreen is concerned, are assumptions being made here in absence of fact in part because the government control banking system is so incredibly opaque?
FOROOHAR: Well, yes, for sure, the government control banking system is opaque. But one thing you can be sure of is when Beijing says jump, every banker in China is going to jump. So there's no doubt that the government has control of the situation in China in a way that's simply not true necessarily in the West. It has a lot more cash on hand to deal with these sorts of things, it still has tremendous amount of dollar reserves with the central bank.
Now, whether or not Beijing is going to force this company to take a little bit of pain to become a bit of a lesson for other highly indebted companies in the real estate sector and in other sectors in China, that remains to be seen. But you were definitely not going to see a Lehman Brothers style meltdown, in part because the Chinese economy is still relatively closed, you know, compared to Wall Street. But secondly, because Beijing will not allow there to be a complete domino collapse of the financial system in China that's simply not compatible with the state's number one goal, which is social stability.
VAUSE: And you touched on this just then, the sort of moral hazard, rewarding bad behavior, if Evergrande does get bailed out, does that encourage risky behavior among other companies within the economy? And this goes back to the government trying to, you know, rein in these exploding debt levels. So if they do take that pain from Evergrande and the fallout from Evergrande is that sort of looking towards the long term as opposed to obviously the short term of, you know, of what the benefit would have been of bailing Evergrande out.
FOROOHAR: For sure. And I have to say, there's a big question out there in the market right now as to whether Xi Jinping is China can be trusted to look for the long term. Most of the smart investors I talked to say, you know what, yes, China still has a set five year plan. It wants to move away from being a highly leveraged economy dependent on the real estate sector, dependent on state spending, infrastructure, it wants to move more into being a middle market country that's based on exports, consumer spending, and you know, it's trying to orchestrate that how quickly it can do it and how much pain is going to be taken on the road there. That's what you don't know.
Again, I don't think you're going to see a complete meltdown, you're certainly going to see a correction in nervous global stock markets, which frankly, we're already nervous because of Delta because of slowing jobs numbers in the U.S. There's a lot to be worried about. But I think what you'll more see from this meltdown is growth slowing a little bit in China. The authorities perhaps clamping down on risky behavior and other sectors and this kind of goes along with what China has already been trying to do under Xi Jinping, which is kind of curved the private sector. You can like it or not, but there's no doubt about who's in charge and it's the state and it's the party.
[01:25:24]
VAUSE: Yes, absolutely. Rana, thank you. Good to see you.
FOROOHAR: Good to see you.
VAUSE: This may come as a surprise to absolutely no one but the Taliban have admitted they don't know how to run the country. The blunt honest admission was apparently made to the U.N. humanitarian chief. Given the militant's brutal history, there is understandable fear and uncertainty about what happens next in the country, already facing a humanitarian crisis. CNN's Nic Robertson reports now from Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Taliban Commander Mansour Haqqani is on a public relations offensive. Winning he hopes hearts and minds in the Kabul police district he now runs. He doesn't carry a weapon. But his backup does. Taliban fighters fresh from the front lines toting American weapons, wearing us combat gear.
(on camera): This is one of the most important neighborhoods in the center of Kabul, the financial district. Its security is a priority for the Taliban.
(voice-over): With the Taliban's well justified reputation for brutality. It should be an easy job for the 17 year veteran Haqqani to get control. But it's not. How does it feel to be policing the streets rather than fighting to take control of the country?
He says he's happy to serve the nation just as before to bring Sharia religious law to the city. But there are lots of people, a lot of corruption, and a lot of thieving to get rid of, he says.
Haqqani is posting used to be the city's plum police job, lots of money, lots of shakedowns.
(on camera): You get the feeling walking along here that people are still being a little bit cautious about the Taliban. But at the same time, they're out on the streets, they're trading, they're doing business. So it feels like it's settling down but it's that kind of uneasy feeling which where's it going to go?
(voice-over): We are happy this gold trader tells me, no corruption so far. I can leave work after dark. It's safer.
(on camera): So how is the situation here now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The institution is very good. If you see, like, one year ago, two years ago, we see thieves and robbery here and no safety here. Now with Taliban, I hope, God willing, life is very good.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): With the Taliban within earshot, it's hard to know for sure how people really feel. But despite their presence, several brave women approach us.
This woman close to tears, tells me she is a widow with six children. The Taliban fired her from a government job, sent her home without pay. As we talk, another woman comes forward. Also out of work, she says, because the Taliban stopped girl she taught from going to school. She has been paid for next month, but has no idea what happens after that.
It's up to Haqqani to choose whether he'll be firm and respected or forceful and feared by the Taliban before. He says for now, no plans to cut thieves hands off like before, which way he'll tip, a bellwether for the country.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Kabul, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Let's bring in Anna Coren live in Hong Kong for more on what's happening inside Afghanistan. It appears now maybe about to hear from the Taliban when it comes to girls education and some reforms are coming from what the reports are out there. It seems the only question is how draconian these reforms might be?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, we have to remember that when the Taliban governed Afghanistan back in 1996 to 2001 girls, women were not allowed to go to school, were not allowed to be educated. So this time round, they're saying that girls would be allowed to go to school. We're not seeing any proof of that as yet. We know that boys began secondary school on Saturday. But girls not yet because the Taliban are trying to work out a secure transportation system for them to make sure that they are safe.
We know that girls will be segregated from boys. The Taliban have made that perfectly clear that they can only be taught by women teachers, from the teachers, John, that we are speaking to in Kabul. I mean they are very concerned. They are getting the classrooms ready but they are yet to interact with the Taliban to learn about this new curriculum that that will be enforced.
[01:30:07]
Some of the teachers say that they are going to wear the niqab which is the covering, dress covering that covers all of them except for their eyes. The Taliban has said that they have to wear the Islamic hijab, but that obviously is up to interpretation. So those teachers are saying we don't want to give them any excuse to close down our schools.
And, you know, the curriculum, that will change, no doubt, with an emphasis on Islamic subjects. You know, what's subjects will be removed that girls have been learning, you know, the last however many years.
We have to remember, John, that there is a generation that has been educated these last 20 years. And, you know, so many of these girls are in the secondary school. So many of these girls are in university. They want to continue their education. They do not want to become prisoners in their own homes.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Some miserable days ahead, it seems.
Anna, thank you. Anna Coren, live for us in Hong Kong.
Still ahead here on CNN, a step closer to normal with the U.S. about to ease pandemic restrictions on foreign travelers. It may be a step closer to easing tensions with Europe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone. I am John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
The U.S. is about to ease up on an 18-month long ban on visitors from 33 countries. From November fully vaccinated travelers will be allowed to board flights for the United States, but restrictions at land borders remain unchanged.
CNN's Richard Quest has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: When the travel ban was first introduced 20 months ago, no one expected it would last so long and be so difficult to remove. So this is the news that thousands of families, kept apart by pandemic, have been waiting for. 20 months, and now the Biden administration will ease restrictions but only for fully vaccinated foreigners who will be able to enter the U.S. from early November.
For the travel industry, this change goes a long way towards achieving some level of pre-pandemic normality. It restores Trans-Atlantic routes and will reopen some of the most valuable markets in the world. For the President Joe Biden, preparing to speak at the United Nations General Assembly, the move helps repair widening rifts with European leaders, who have been demanding that the U.S. opens its borders up. They publicly voiced their fury after they opened European borders and the U.S. failed to reciprocate.
[01:35:07]
The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates the U.S. economy is losing $200 million a day because of the restrictions. And the group's new CEO told me the changes from the White House are long overdue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIA SIMPSON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, WORLD TRAVEL AND TOURISM COUNCIL: I think today's announcement sees the beginning because two large global economies can start making sense of this, I think others will follow. And I think there's a massive, pent-up demand for travel, business travel, leisure travel, reuniting families. And I think we will see things eventuality return to normal. Yes, I do.
But you do need, you're absolutely right, Richard, we need global leadership on this. You know, countries have been very internally focused and they need to join up the (INAUDIBLE) now.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: It's been a down day for stocks around the globe. Travel shares rallied in Europe. IAG which owns British Airways, Aer Lingus and Iberia is up 10 percent. Lufthansa and Air France-KLM each up more than 5 percent. More muted for the big three U.S. carriers, although they did show gains because of their Trans-Atlantic operations and alliances.
Stocks don't really tell the full story here, though. The announcement is a real landmark in restoring business tourism and family ties that have been severed for so long.
Richard Quest, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Let's stay with the pandemic a little longer. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, an internal medicines specialist and viral researcher, joins us now from Los Angeles. Doctor Rodriguez, good to see you.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You too.
VAUSE: OK. Let's start with kids and COVID vaccines. There's all these test results from Pfizer showing the vaccine is safe for children aged 5 to 11. There more than 2,000 children who took part in the trials and not enough they say to detect extremely rare side effects, but enough to rule out significant risk overall.
In your opinion, is that level of testing, is that enough for Emergency Use Authorization, especially considering the record number of kids in hospitals right now?
RODRIGUEZ: I think it is because of that. The record number of children that are hospitalized, and the increase, the marked increase in children. I think it's increased -- they make up now 29 percent of all the people that have COVID in the United States. The data shows that of one-third the adult dose, the antibody production, the immune response is equal to that in adults.
And I am more concerned about the children. If it's been shown that it is safe, so I think that it is something the FDA should consider and eventually approve but as soon as possible.
VAUSE: And you mentioned the dosage here because that seems to be key because kids are not just little adults. And pediatric dosing can be quite complicated. Taking into account the child's weight in determining the correct amount. When it comes to this vaccine, will it be one-size-fits-all or will a pediatrician be involved here? How will it be administered?
RODRIGUEZ: I believe from what they said ages 5 to 11, it will be 10 milligrams. Listen, adults are not the same weight either. But in children, you're right, they are usually smaller people that have different metabolisms and it appears to be one-size-fits-all for that age group. Ten milligrams which is one-third the adult size.
VAUSE: OK. We're looking at that situation with the U.S. about to ease those travel restrictions for international visitors who are vaccinated. There's been at least one unvaccinated traveler has managed to arrive on a flight from Brazil, 66 years old, Jair Bolsonaro, he's a government worker, former military man. He's also the president of Brazil.
So how much harm, though, is being done here in terms of messaging and double standards by allowing him to attend the U.N. General Assembly, which is requiring vaccinations? And on top of that, there's now word that maybe someone from Brazil's delegation has tested positive for COVID.
RODRIGUEZ: Listen, the whole United Nations thing is a political hot potato. And it just shows the dysfunction that we have had globally in trying to unite people for this one cause. This really is a world war. And we need to have a moratorium on all these differences. It is a problem with messaging and I think that other countries should respect the host country, which is the United States, and what has been put forth which is usually a virtual meeting is what they want.
And everybody should at least show proof of vaccination. But, unfortunately, one little misstep can be turned into an international incident. So it's something that they really have to tread very carefully. But it's unfortunate.
VAUSE: Yes. Apparently someone thought gathering world leaders together in the same room, at the same time was a good idea in the middle of a pandemic. There is this honest system which requires, you know, declaration of vaccination for entry.
I want you listen to the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. who is among the vaccinated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: I don't see myself as an exception. I see myself as being part of what we are hoping that everyone takes the leadership to do, and that is to do everything possible to mitigate against getting COVID so that this event does not become a super spreader event.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
[01:40:18]
VAUSE: It doesn't matter if it's for the U.N. General Assembly or if it's the Olympics in Tokyo, wherever there is a gathering of people, there is always this risk of, you know, triggering a super spreader event. Is that -- again, is that we are looking at here?
RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely that's what we're looking at. And this is where there's such a big difference between now and 100 years ago. Things can spread so easily through all parts of the world that this could have some long lasting and deleterious ramifications. You know, people come to this one nexus in New York, spread it and then go out and spread it throughout the rest of the world. So it could definitely be a super spreader event. It's critical. Yes.
VAUSE: And it's one symbol of how we may have botched the response to the pandemic, and it seems -- UNGA.
RODRIGUEZ: No doubt.
VAUSE: Doctor Jorge Rodriguez, thank you. Appreciate it.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, sir.
VAUSE: Still to come, outrage over new video showing U.S. border agents on horseback, charging into crowds of Haitian refugees, what seems a brutal attempt to force them back across the border into Mexico.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: At least six people have been killed and 24 others wounded after a shooting at a university in Russia. It's believed a student opened fire at Perm State University about 1300 kilometers east of Moscow. Some jumped through classroom windows and ran to safety, others barricaded and locked themselves inside. The suspect was wounded and arrested. It's still unclear if that student was enrolled at that university. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has offered support to the victims' families.
U.S. Homeland Security Department is working to process migrants and speed up reparations after thousands arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, many from Haiti. Officials say around 3,000 migrants were removed from Del Rio, Texas, to other processing locations on Monday. Up to three reparation flights back to Haiti will be organized daily. But there are still more than 10,000 migrants under the Del Rio International Bridge.
Meantime, new video appears to show U.S. border agents on horseback aggressively confronting those migrants.
CNN's Rosa Flores has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Questions tonight about this video appearing to show Border Patrol agents confronting refugees aggressively on the Rio Grande.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I don't think anyone seeing that footage would think it was acceptable or appropriate.
FLORES: The conditions under the international bridge in Del Rio, Texas, a border town 150 miles west of San Antonio also raising eyebrows.
(On-camera): Have you seen anything like this before?
LT. CHRISTOPHER OLIVAREZ, TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: No. No, this is the first.
FLORES (voice-over): Thousands of migrants living in makeshift huts, sleeping in the dirt, waiting their turn to get processed by U.S. immigration authorities.
[01:45:05]
A sight DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas witnessed today.
ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: If you come to the United States illegally you will be returned. Your journey will not succeed and you will be endangering your life and your family's lives.
OLIVAREZ: So right now we're going down to the International Bridge here in Del Rio.
FLORES: CNN rode along with Lieutenant Christopher Olivarez with the Texas Department of Public Safety. OLIVAREZ: So right now we're here at one of the -- this is the area,
this is the main area that they were crossing.
FLORES: Our first stop, an area where from the air CNN cameras had captured migrants crossing freely just days earlier.
(On-camera): There were crossing to and from the U.S. via this dam. Just take a look, that's Mexico. You can see the flag flying.
(Voice-over): And now the flow has stopped. Olivarez says the sea of Texas state troopers helped secure the river.
OLIVAREZ: Just be careful.
FLORES: And moments later, we see the shocking scene under the Del Rio International Bridge. Thousands of migrants, mostly Haitians, say officials, living in squalor like Jameson Tilus who says he left his home country for Chile in 2015, with his wife and two children.
(On-camera): He says that someone assaulted him in Haiti and someone shot at his aunt?
(Voice-over): And two months ago, they started the trek to the United States.
(On-camera): You say that the route is open to enter in the United States. What does that mean? Family and friends, he says? (Speaking in foreign language). The border is open?
JAMESON TILUS, HAITIAN MIGRANT: Yes.
FLORES (voice-over): Tilus' voice breaks as he talks about his family.
(On-camera): Why is it so painful? Because you're suffering?
(Voice-over): He says food is hard to come by and the weather is tough to bear.
(On-camera): If you look closely, you'll see that these are men, women, children, I see pregnant women, infants.
(Voice-over): Border Patrol's top cop announcing this weekend a surge of 600 agents, officers, and other personnel.
(On-camera): Why Del Rio? Why now? What does your intelligence tell you?
RAUL ORTIZ, CHIEF, U.S. BORDER PATROL: Traditionally it's because of word of mouth. Certainly would happen this time is that number doubled and then tripled, relatively quickly.
FLORES (voice-over): And to expedite processing, removal flights to Haiti have increased says Border Patrol. And word about this is spreading quickly under the bridge.
(On-camera): You don't want to return to Haiti? It's too difficult, you say?
(Voice-over): Where the immigration waiting room into the U.S. is quickly turning into a gate back to Haiti.
(On-camera): I talked to the CEO of the local hospital who says that the hospital is at the brink of being overwhelmed. She says that the EMS calls coming from under the bridge are constant. I have seen the ambulances. We have video of them. According to the CEO, most of the patients are suffering from dehydration or are pregnant. And she says that since Thursday 10 babies have been delivered.
Rosa Flores, CNN, Del Rio, Texas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come, the U.N. General Assembly may have already hit its high mark. South Korean boy band sensation BTS making an appearance. Hear their message.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:50:18]
VAUSE: With a growing list of political crises on his plate and a falling approval rating, President Joe Biden faces a critical moment in the hours ahead when he presents his agenda at the United Nations. The speech comes as some of his biggest legislative priorities hang in the balance on Capitol Hill.
We get details now from CNN's Phil Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Facing Democratic opposition at home and blow back from allies abroad, President Biden, departing the White House today, as he grapples with one of the most consequential weeks of his first year in office.
PSAKI: I think the president's view, having been on the world scene for 50 years, is that you always have to work on your relationships.
MATTINGLY: Back in Washington, his legislative agenda hangs in the balance.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Right now, what we are doing is we are engaging with the House and the Senate. It is a complicated proposal.
MATTINGLY: With no agreement on a path forward between moderates and progressives, in peril, his $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and his $3.5 trillion expansion of the social safety net. Biden set to ramp up his push to bridge the gap with meetings and calls this week, officials say.
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): I think we'll get there. It's going to take some work, and we're all going to do the work. MATTINGLY: But the White House also grappling with a looming
government shutdown and the threat of a catastrophic U.S. default. All as Biden heads to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, going to make amends and set his diplomatic agenda.
PSAKI: The president is going to lay out the case for why the next decade will determine our future, not just for the United States but for the global community.
MATTINGLY: The president seeking to have a call with French President Emmanuel Macron amid fury over a U.S. deal with Australia, that short- circuited a French submarine deal worth billions.
PSAKI: What I expect the president will do on that call is reaffirm our commitment to working with one of our oldest and closest partners.
MATTINGLY: All as he plans to use his highly anticipated Tuesday remarks to defend his Afghanistan withdrawal and lay out the need for intensive diplomacy to address global challenges, from climate change and the pandemic to a rising in China, officials said.
PSAKI: We have an opportunity to work together on the global issues that the world is facing. And that's what he expects the focus of the next few days to be.
MATTINGLY (on-camera): And far from running from his decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Afghanistan even in the wake of that 17 days of chaos and bloodshed, the president is actually going to point to that moment as a key moment of transition. A transition, away from two decades of war, two decades of war footing to one of -- at least in the words of one senior ministration official -- intensive diplomacy.
Diplomacy that's going to be backed up by a myriad of bilateral meetings the president has with world leaders over the course of this week both in New York City and back here in Washington. There's a recognition inside the White House that this is a moment, a critical moment for the democracies of the world to unite, whether it's to tackle things like the coronavirus, climate change, and as the president has made very clear now for months, a rising China, the biggest at least competitive threat that he sees at this moment in time. His efforts will be really centered on the idea of rallying those around him with the U.N.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: The hugely popular South Korean boy band, BTS, appeared at the U.N. on Monday, so too, their fans. During a live stream on YouTube, millions watched as the band spoke about major global issues like climate change and the COVID pandemic. They then cut to a video they made on the grounds of the U.N. and performing "Permission to Dance."
(BTS PERFORMS "PERMISSION TO DANCE")
VAUSE: President Moon Jae-in invited the band to join him as a presidential special envoy from South Korea. And during their remarks to the fans on Monday, they admitted that talking about solutions for such big issues as climate change is not easy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM NAM-JOON, SOUTH KOREAN MUSICIAN, BTS GROUP LEADER (through translator): Yes, it is a tough discussion. But I learned while preparing for today that there are many young people who have an interest in environmental issues and choose it as their field of study.
The future is unexplored territory, and that's where we, more than anyone, will spend our time. For these young people who are searching for the answers to the question of how we must live that future.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, that future appears to be now. Take a look at the situation in the west of the United States. In northern California, the threat of strong wind gusts and low humidity, is driving conditions with the spread of wildfires. Right now crews struggling to contain at least 10 blazers burning statewide.
One of those fires is on the edge of the Sequioa National Park, threatening some of the world's largest trees.
[01:55:04]
CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more. Fire season just never ends, huh?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, we're getting into the peak of it. We've been talking about this for so many months, it seems. But September and October are typically, when you see fire activity really pick up, and of course you take a look across the western United States, and we're talking about at least parts of 12 states with some 71 large active fires at this hour as we get underway here for peak fire season.
There's a frontal boundary that's coming in. At its path brought in some rainfall to the northwest that has been beneficial. Unfortunately as this departs, high pressure builds, which we get this offshore component of winds that will kind of go and sink as it goes down to lower elevations of coastal California and into portions of these valleys. And that is where or fire whether picks up in intensity in the next couple of days.
And we know that's the last thing they need right now. Look at this, heat advisories, these are for Santa Ana winds that are forecast to pick up into Southern California, and then you take a look at the perspective across portions of the Sierra who are now experiencing -- the southern Sierra, Nevada, were experiencing the driest year on record across this region.
Since October 1st of last year, John, only 25 centimeters of rainfall has come down across portions of the Sierra. 75 centimeters is what is normal. The driest ever? 27 centimeters. So yes, this is going to be the driest year on record once the season ends in about a week's time here. But there is the Sequioa National Forest, there are multiple fires kind of on these northern and southern periphery. The western side of the forest, as well.
Only 4 percent containment on one of them and that is certainly concerning. Go up north, the Caldor Fire we've covered, the Dixie Fire, nearing full containment but you notice, nearly a million acres of land have been consumed. And how about this? Of the top 10 largest fires in state history, six of the top 10, John, and six of the top seven, I should say, have happened since July of last year.
You take a look at the numbers here, just about every single one of them, either last summer or this summer. And that is what's more concerning about what's happening across much of the world, and really the western U.S.
VAUSE: The trend is pretty obvious. Pedram, thank you.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. A lot more news continuing right here on CNN after a short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, welcome to CNN. Thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow live in Atlanta.
