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U.S. Tops 700,000 COVID-19 Deaths; Taiwan: Highest Ever Incursion by Chinese Air Force; Afghan Embassies in Diplomatic Limbo. Aired 12-12:15a ET
Aired October 02, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone, I am Michael Holmes, appreciate your company.
A sobering marker for the country, worst hit by the coronavirus. More than 700,000 Americans, now losing their lives to COVID. Far more, than any other nation. Coming just as the surge from the Delta variant, appearing, to be easing around the globe. But daily deaths remain high in the U.S., even as cases, steadily, fall.
Meanwhile, the world could soon have the first-ever pill to treat coronavirus. Merck says, data shows, its drug reduces the risk of hospitalization by death, by half. Now Dr. Anthony Fauci says, the development is significant.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: The news of the efficacy of this particular antiviral is obviously very good news.
The company, when they briefed us last night, had mentioned that they will be submitting their data to the FDA, imminently. And the data are impressive. There was a 50 percent diminution of importance, is that in the placebo group, there were eight deaths. In the treatment group, there were no deaths. That is, also, very important and very good news.
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HOLMES: But health experts stressed, the pill would not be a substitute for vaccines. And, that vaccinations remain the best tool, to combat COVID.
COVID optimism, seeming to be catching, the hope that we could, gradually, start, perhaps, to put the worst of it behind us is something else spreading around the globe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES (voice-over): Dinner and drinks, the return of one of the simple pleasures of life in Japan. It's just one of the signs of getting back to a sense of normal in some spots around the globe, where the number of new coronavirus cases has declined.
Japan lifted a state of emergency in, all regions of the country, for the first time in 6 months, allowing restaurants to increase their hours of operation and sell alcohol, once again.
New infections, in Japan, have dropped dramatically. From over 20,000 a day in August, to just under 2,000 now. Welcome progress for people who have been encouraged to skip nonessential gatherings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I was just commuting between my home and my company. Because of the lack of communication, I felt lonely.
HOLMES (voice-over): The WHO, saying, globally, the numbers of weekly new COVID-19 cases and deaths, are declining. Most recently, down 10 percent, from mid-September. Cautious optimism, though the virus is still circulating and killing.
Experts warn, it could quickly rebound. Vietnam, also, easing some coronavirus measures after a gradual decline in cases there. A stay- at-home order, lifted, in Ho Chi Minh city. People in the capital of Hanoi, now, exercising outside and small groups and malls and retail stores, have opened, something that, many, hope will revive the economy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): This year, the outbreak is more complicated than the last. There has been jobless now with no income. So, staying at home feels very suffocating.
HOLMES (voice-over): Masks are required on Havana's famous seaside promenade but the popular spot to fish or soak up the sun is also open again, after being off limits for nine months, because of Cuba's COVID-19 restrictions.
Even the traditional double kiss is Paris, is making a slow comeback after falling out a favor during the outbreaks in France.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I stopped kissing people on the cheek during COVID, due to social distancing. But now, I do kiss people I know but only to the loved ones, not people I don't know very well.
HOLMES (voice-over): The power of the human touch or a breath of fresh air, small reminders of life before the pandemic and what could one day bring us closer to normal.
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HOLMES: Taiwan's defense ministry repotting the largest ever single day incursion by China's air force. The self-governing island saying, 38 warplanes entered its air defense identification zone, on Friday. This comes, as Beijing celebrates the founding of the People's Republic of China. CNN's Will Ripley, who is live for, us in Taipei.
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HOLMES: I guess, these weren't incursions into sovereign airspace but there has been a lot of them.
What is the message?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And there's a difference between Taiwan's airspace, extending 12 nautical miles from the coast, and the self-declared defense identification zone, which is a larger area, a buffer zone, if you will.
So, if planes to enter a country's Air Defense Identification Zone, the air traffic control in that country, will ask them to identify themselves and potentially alert the military of an incoming threat.
So, on Friday we had two different incursions and a total, of as you, said 38 Chinese warplanes. More than 3 dozen, 22 fighters, four nuclear capable bombers, one anti-submarine warfare aircraft and one early warning aircraft, as well.
That is a lot of military hardware, too close for comfort from the perspective of the government, here, in Taipei. It put out a statement, blasting this latest act of what they consider military intimidation.
CNN spoke with an analyst, calling it political warfare, on the day that Beijing is celebrating 72 years, since the founding of the People's Republic of China, instead of just a fireworks show or a parade, flying these planes, close to an island that Beijing and the mainland claims as its own sovereign territory and it has claimed it for more than 70 years, even though this island of almost 24 million people has had its own government, democratically elected, for that entire time.
Nonetheless, there you go. It is a show of force, analysts say. It also provides valuable intelligence and training, in the event that there was a military escalation, over the island of Taiwan.
So, you just had another incursion, last week. Last week, 24 warplanes, entering the air defense identification zone of Taiwan. So certainly, this is a situation where you have the national day coming up here in Taipei on October 10th.
They are planning their own show of force. They will showcase new missiles, that they have produced here, as well as a new military aircraft as well. That combined with all of the other things, all of the other weaponry that is being showcased in this region, certainly does smell an awful lot like an arms race and escalating tensions. Michael?
HOLMES: Yes, one hopes no mistakes are made. Will Ripley, in Taipei, thank you.
The Taliban may now run Afghanistan but some of the country's own embassies refuse to recognize the new government. As CNN's Ben Wedeman reports, that has placed them in a sort of diplomatic limbo.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Taliban have seized control of Afghanistan but 5,000 kilometers away in Rome, the old Afghan flag flutters over the embassy.
KHALED AHMAD ZEKRIYA, AMBASSADOR, ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF AFGHANISTAN: So what we do is we issue visas and also we extend the duration of our -- the passports.
This is called the Golden Room.
WEDEMAN: Ambassador Khaled Ahmed Zekriya continues to work and live with this elegant villa that has housed his country's embassy for almost a century.
ZEKRIYA: We, from 1964.
WEDEMAN: Boasting relics from a different era.
ZEKRIYA: Two Electra 225 were bought by former Prime Minister Musa Shafiq. The king sent one to the embassy of Afghanistan to Italy. We have 11 local employees.
WEDEMAN: Since the Taliban takeover, Ambassador Zekriya says he's had to let some staff go. Others received their last paycheck in September.
The new boss in Kabul gets a cold shoulder here.
ZEKRIYA: They have contacted us twice, once via an official memo, we declined to response because we do not recognize the current caretaker regime of the Taliban.
This is called the Oriental Corner --
WEDEMAN: Many Afghan embassies are in a similar situation, getting by collecting consular fees, yet refusing to deal with the new regime.
ZEKRIYA: And then --
WEDEMAN: Italy and Afghanistan established ties in 1921. King Amanullah visited Rome seven years later. The last king of Afghanistan, Mohammed Zahir Shah, lived in Rome before returning home after the Taliban were ousted 20 years ago.
With the Taliban back in power, Ambassador Zekriya shrugs off the notion the group has changed, warning the world may have gone full circle back to 2001.
ZEKRIYA: Has the war ended in Afghanistan?
Against global terrorists, I don't think so. I think this is based on naivete and I think ill calculation. The Biden administration has indicated that the American war has ended. This is my message. [00:10:00]
ZEKRIYA: I think a world war with transnational terrorism has begun.
WEDEMAN: Or to put it diplomatically, the more things change, the more they stay the same -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, Rome.
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HOLMES: Venezuela's president, Nicolas Maduro, is urging businesses to not raise prices following the introduction of the nation's latest currency, the digital bolivar. It is the equivalent of 1 million of the older, sovereign bolivars but it is still worth just 20 cents, in U.S. currency.
The IMF, predicting that inflation in Venezuela will reach 5.5 thousand percent this year. This is the third time, since 2008, the country has launched a new currency.
Young climate activists are demanding that world leaders take their 2015 Paris climate pledges seriously. Thousands gathered at the Youth for Climate Conference in Milan, ahead of next month's COP26 summit.
They say, world leaders have not done nearly enough to protect the climate from rising temperatures. Swedish activist, Greta Thunberg, says that young people are sick of being lied to.
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GRETA THUNBERG, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: Right now, here in Milan, ministers from all over the world have gathered here to discuss the climate crisis and they are pretending that they have solutions to the climate crisis and that they are taking sufficient action. But we see through their lies and we see through their blah-blah-blah and we are tired of it.
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HOLMES: The head of the upcoming COP26 climate talks says perhaps it's time for world leaders to take a cue from the younger generation.
A code red aviation warning is in effect, on the big island of Hawaii, after the Kilauea volcano started erupting on Wednesday. This was the scene, from above, on Friday. High levels of volcanic gas are the primary hazard of concern. Officials say it can have far reaching effects downwind.
Nigeria's president is saying he is ready to lift his ban on Twitter but with some strings attached. In a speech marking the nation's Independence Day, the president said, the social media giant would need to agree to four sets of conditions. They include, opening a local office and, paying taxes in Nigeria.
Other officials said earlier, Twitter would also have to manage its engagement, together, with Nigeria's government. The Buhari administration, blocking access to Twitter in June, after the company deleted one of his tweets that, many, considered offensive.
Thank you for spending part of your day with me, I am Michael Holmes, do stay tuned, "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is up next. I will see you a little later.
