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New COVID-19 Pill Cuts Risk Of Hospitalization, Death By Half; Clock Ticking To Pass Two Massive Spending Bills; Activists Rally Across The U.S. For Reproductive Justice; Brazilian Protesters Demand Impeachment Of President Bolsonaro; High Vaccination Rates Take Portugal From Worst To First; Thousands Of Climate Protesters March Through Milan; Taiwan Reports Second Day Of Chinese Air Incursion; Facebook Under Pressure Over Instagram's Impact On Teens. Aired 3- 3:30a ET
Aired October 03, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Live from CNN headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, signs that COVID cases and deaths in the U.S. could start dropping.
President Biden vowing to get it done but divided Democrats move the goalposts again, with his agenda in limbo.
And hundreds of rallies across the country as protesters make a stand for reproductive rights.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.
BRUNHUBER: The global coronavirus death toll could soon reach a new milestone. Around the world, nearly 5 million people have now lost their lives to this virus, driven recently by the Delta variant. And the U.S. is leading in the number of COVID deaths, crossing the 700,000 mark late Friday.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Each of the flags you see in these pictures taken on the National Mall in Washington represents an American who died from COVID. But new cases and hospitalizations are now finally dropping.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The number of new deaths is also beginning to decline. And even more encouraging, drugmakers Merck and Ridgeback say their new anti-viral pill cuts the risk of hospitalization and death by 50 percent for COVID patients.
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BRUNHUBER: So let's go now to Honolulu, Hawaii, where I'm joined by emergency physician Dr. Darragh O'Carroll.
Thank you so much for joining us here. So the world is still digesting the news about the COVID treatment pill. I recognize, though, it's still early days. But from a doctor's perspective, walk us through this.
How would it be administered if I were to walk into your hospital with a positive COVID test and complaining of shortness of breath?
DR. DARRAGH O'CARROLL, EMERGENCY MEDICINE SPECIALIST: Sure, Kim, thanks so much for having me.
It's welcome news. It's something akin to Tamiflu that we've used and had for quite a while in our armamentarium for the flu.
So it's a five-day course, allegedly, according to -- again like you said, it's early days. It's a press release. We do need to see the concrete data. More data needs to be revealed before we can throw our confidence into it.
But it would be a five-day course and it wouldn't really be for people who are so sick they need to be admitted to the hospital. It would be for those who are testing positive and hit them early and prevent them from getting sick enough to be in the hospital and then mortality and death.
It's really kind of hitting them in that anti-viral phase, similar to remdesivir, although that's an intravenous drug, very expensive. We're hoping this is going to be cheap and effective. And it's very welcome news and we're hoping to have hopefully more than one of these types of medications in the future.
BRUNHUBER: So it would rely then on early detection and testing, because, if you were, as you said, to present to hospital and it was fairly severe, it would be too late to use this.
O'CARROLL: Absolutely correct. Yes. So you'd want to have robust testing system. I know that's part of the plan. And it really needs to be ramped up as much as possible.
You know, if you look in the European Union -- and many member states there are giving many of their citizens rapid tests, two to three to even five rapid tests per week so they can really keep an eye on what their infection levels are doing.
So it's really important, yes, to get notified early in the disease. And also that prevents you from spreading it either to your family, your friends, co-workers. And rapid testing really needs to be a part of our national strategy.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. This is happening in the context of a new milestone in COVID deaths we just passed here in the U.S., 700,000.
Big picture, what's the latest on what areas and populations are still being hit the most right now?
O'CARROLL: Yes. Absolutely. It continues to be our unvaccinated population. You know, in Hawaii, we still have roughly 250,000 persons, who have not yet become vaccinated out of a total population of 1.4 million. Half of those are eligible over the age of 12.
We're waiting for hopefully some really good news for those under 12, who could be vaccinated and become less at risk and also less carriers to the community as a whole. And so I think you could just really kind of pick and look toward the vaccination rates of what states have -- and areas of each state have low vaccination rates.
We've definitely seen that here in Hawaii and we've seen that nationally and internationally. And so it's really an inverse correlation; the more vaccinations you have, the less infections you have.
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O'CARROLL: If you look at Portugal, they have the highest -- they're the highest country with the highest vaccination rate. They have one of the lowest, lowest per deaths and per capita infections in the world.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. You mentioned Hawaii where you are. I'm just curious, in many states, including where I am, Georgia, you wouldn't really know there's an ongoing pandemic.
But where you are, the governor just extended the COVID restrictions. I imagine people are starting to make their holiday plans. Obviously Hawaii is a popular destination.
What's the latest there?
O'CARROLL: Yes, we are fortunately past peak of our large Delta surge. The unfortunate thing about the last month is we had almost 200 deaths, which is way more than any month that we've ever had since this pandemic started.
So the Delta variant really, really hit Hawaii very, very hard. But again, fortunately we're past peak. But our ICUs are still very full. And our hospitals are still jammed up; less so than before and we're heading in the right direction. But this isn't really a time to take your foot off the pedal.
And so definitely it commends having more of a cautious approach. This virus can really throw a lot of curve balls.
And then also what's to say that there might be another new variant, which the WHO continues to warn us about?
This virus and other coronaviruses do share genetic information. There is precedent for that. We haven't seen that yet. But is that something that's going to happen this winter?
We all hope not, absolutely, absolutely hope not. But it's something we need to prepare for. And I would argue we're not testing vaccinated people here that arrive here in Hawaii. But the federal guidelines for international travel say that we should.
The U.S. is on every other country's really high list of being dangerous for travel so -- for travelers to come to their country. So I would argue that we need to be testing all vaccinated travelers and have a post-arrival test here in Hawaii because we do depend quite a lot on travel, as you mentioned. And we're a small state with a small hospital capacity. And the more that we test, the less infections will arrive on our shores.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. Absolutely. We'll have to leave it there. Dr. Darragh O'Carroll in Hawaii. Thank you so much. Really appreciate you joining us.
O'CARROLL: Thanks, Kim.
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BRUNHUBER: When U.S. President Joe Biden signed a 30-day extension of federal highway funds on Saturday, he set the clock ticking for another epic showdown in Congress.
Here's the state of play: a popular bipartisan bill to fix America's infrastructure is suddenly in limbo. The $1.2 trillion package needs to pass the House by the end of this month or those emergency highway funds will dry up.
But as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi learned this week, a crucial bloc of Democrats say they won't vote for the infrastructure bill until they're satisfied they have a much bigger and pricier piece of social legislation in place. And that's nowhere near agreement.
Now not to be overlooked, the government's borrowing limit must be increased sometime in the next two weeks in order to keep paying its bills. Republicans have already said they won't touch it.
But is the president worried?
Apparently not. Here's CNN's Arlette Saenz.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden expressed optimism that his economic agenda and infrastructure proposal will make its way through Congress.
But he also acknowledged the frustration within the Democratic Party, as moderates and progressives have remained at a standoff over these two measures. The president would not set a timeframe for when he wants to see these passed. But he did say he believes it will get done, saying that he thinks there is support for both of those bills. Take a listen to the president's assessment of the state of play for Democrats at this moment.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everybody's frustrated. It's part of being in government. Hey, look, one of the things I love about you guys, I watched today, Biden vowed he's going to do this, Biden commits. Biden's going to work like hell to make sure we get both these passed.
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SAENZ: Now the president is spending the weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, where he is making calls to lawmakers. He's also expected to host Democrats back in the White House later in the week as well as travel the country to try to sell his proposal to the American people.
And I also asked the president whether he's found it to be surprising, how difficult it's been, to bring moderates and progressives together.
The president said it would be a lot easier if they had two more votes, that being a reference to senator Joe Manchin and senator Kyrsten Sinema, two moderate Democrats, that the White House has really been trying to negotiate on that larger spending package, that currently totals $3.5 trillion.
Both of those senators said that that is far too high. And the president has been urging both sides to compromise and remember that they share these democratic priorities that they are trying to accomplish for the American people.
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SAENZ: But right now it's really a heavy lift as the president is hoping to get both that bipartisan infrastructure proposal as well as his larger sweeping economic agenda passed up on Capitol Hill -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: Abortion rights activists hit the streets across the U.S. Saturday with a simple message.
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PROTESTERS: My body, my choice. My body, my choice.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Hundreds of U.S. cities saw rallies for abortion justice. They come after the state of Texas passed the nation's most restrictive abortion law and amid fears that more states could follow suit.
March organizers say the laws represent the biggest threat to abortion access in their lifetime.
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BRUNHUBER: The state of Mississippi has passed its own restrictive abortion law. That legislation will go before the U.S. Supreme Court in December. But abortion rights activists have already taken a position outside the building. Suzanne Malveaux reports from Washington.
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SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: We're at ground zero of the abortion debate here in front of the Supreme Court. You can see the officers, who are protecting the building.
There are counterprotesters outside, offering prayers as well as song for some of those justices. And, of course, you see the police that are lined up, to keep these two groups separate from each other.
If you swing around here to East Capitol Street, this is where the women's march is wrapping up, concluding. There were thousands strong. The main focus around reproductive rights, abortion rights and a sense of urgency, particularly around the Texas banning abortion, the Texas law banning abortion after six weeks.
The Supreme Court refused to weigh in on that. And many people in this women's march today making this front and central, this issue.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dressed up as the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
And I'm here today for everything that women have fought for since 1973, when this law was first passed, given us the right to choose and I'm just curious what has changed in that timeframe that makes our Supreme Court justices think that we have changed our minds about that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm dressed up as Lady Justice. And I believe that it stands for the fact that justice should be blind, it should be without bias. And there's religious bias in the Supreme Court. Extreme religious bias.
And so -- and why I'm here today, the things that are going on in Texas really drove me here today.
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MALVEAUX: The Supreme Court will be back in session on Monday. They are not taking up this Texas law but they are taking up a Mississippi law, banning abortion after 15 weeks.
And so this is an issue that voters say will be front and center; particularly they believe a ruling could come down regarding that particular case mid next year, right around the time of the midterm elections. So full focus on this issue -- Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, in Washington.
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BRUNHUBER: Jessica Levinson is a professor of law at Loyola Law School and joins me now from Los Angeles. She's also the host of the podcast "Passing Judgment."
Thanks so much for being with us. Hundreds of marches around the country, support coming in from around the world.
What message do you think yesterday's event sent?
JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: Well, I think they sent a message that there are a lot of people who care deeply about this issue, more so than just posting on Facebook or Twitter about how much they care but actually leaving their homes and literally taking it to the streets.
I think the real question there will be, can people channel this energy that they put into a communal event, which, frankly, I think in a lot of ways, is a kind of cathartic and bonding event?
Can they channel that into pushing for changes in legislation, changes in the legal system?
That's always the question when you see these big marches.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. So when it comes to the changes, I mean, the law, the Texas law's facing a few legal challenges on different fronts. It's the vigilante justice element of this law that made it all the more horrific and dangerous for many opponents. And it's that aspect that may actually be part of its undoing. So bring us up to speed.
LEVINSON: So there was just a hearing late last week in a Texas district court. And the Department of Justice has actually sued Texas. And they're trying to say to a court, stop this law, do not let it continue to go into effect.
And the arguments were really interesting because you have the Department of Justice saying, we have case law in this country; we have Roe versus Wade, we have Planned Parenthood versus Casey. They both say women have a constitutionally protected right to have an abortion in this country.
And we have this Texas law that bans abortions after six weeks. You can't say these two things are consistent. And then we have Texas arguing really something completely different, which -- you mentioned this vigilante justice aspect of the law. You have Texas saying, Department of Justice, you don't even belong here and you shouldn't be suing us.
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LEVINSON: Because this law allows any private individual to sue another private individual who helps or tries to help a woman obtaining an abortion.
So we have these two completely different tracks of arguments. We don't know what the judge is going to say in that case. As you said, we know there are other cases pending, where there is a doctor who published an op-ed.
And he said I violated that law, basically, come and get me. And that case is also working its way up now the system. It will be interesting to see which one, if either, reaches the Supreme Court.
BRUNHUBER: And, of course, for supporters, it's being hailed by conservatives as a wildly successful template for other states.
So could we see this cropping up across the country?
LEVINSON: Yes. We've already seen essentially copycat laws, laws that are almost mirror images of Texas, being proposed. I think Florida is seriously considering one of those laws.
And frankly, how could you have a judge stop it -- or at least a federal judge, when the Supreme Court has allowed Texas' law to go forward?
Now there still will be legal challenges. But Roe versus Wade is essentially overturned in Texas and potentially in other states if they decide to follow suit.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, Mississippi one of the key ones, right?
So the Supreme Court in December will be hearing a case on that law that could basically overturn Roe v. Wade?
LEVINSON: We thought that was going to be the big abortion case this term. So Mississippi passed a law that essentially bans all abortions after 15 weeks. And the Supreme Court agreed to take up that case.
And this is a full frontal assault on Roe versus Wade. It is a completely separate law than the one in Texas. And that's a law where the justices, I suspect, either will explicitly overturn Roe versus Wade or they will kind of implicitly hobble it and hollow it out and say, well, this is consistent with Roe versus Wade.
And they will so narrow the holding of Roe v. Wade, that, basically, any state in the country can ban abortions after a comparatively early period in a pregnancy.
BRUNHUBER: So widening this out, the Supreme Court's approval is at an all-time low, according to one recent poll. And we've seen several of the justices going around doing speeches, making comments, trying to restore faith in the court.
Justice Alito the other day saying the court wasn't a dangerous cabal, for instance.
Do you get the sense that they feel that they're getting further out of sync with the public sentiment, on an issue like abortion and that may lead to moderation in the future?
Or is that just wishful thinking on the part of liberals?
LEVINSON: I think no moderation in the future. I think this is preparing us for what's about to happen. This is a huge term that's going to start on Monday, October 4th. It's not just the abortion case. It's gun control. It's religious rights. It's freedom of speech. It's potentially freedom of speech, affirmative action, it's money in politics.
And I think they're defending themselves from what we know will very likely happen. I don't see moderation. I that think there are conservative justices who have been picked for the express purpose of making these decisions and they will make them. And the country will look very different in 10 months than it does now.
BRUNHUBER: Well, we'll be following all of those cases, of course. Jessica Levinson, always great to get your perspectives on this. Thank you so much for joining us. Really appreciate it.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
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BRUNHUBER: Brazil's president is facing new calls for his impeachment and it's not just his handling of the pandemic driving protests. We'll explain why Jair Bolsonaro is facing his lowest approval numbers yet.
And in Portugal, there's almost no one left to vaccinate. How the nation became the world leader in vaccination rates. Coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Scenes like this played out across Brazil on Saturday, as protesters demanded the impeachment of president Jair Bolsonaro.
He's under fire for his handling of the pandemic, with data showing nearly 600,000 Brazilians have died from the virus so far. But these protests are about more than just COVID.
Left-wing parties and labor unions are among those rallying against the president. He's being blamed for a poor economy, surging inflation and high unemployment. Stefano Pozzebon is tracking protesters and he filed this report from neighboring Colombia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Demonstrators took to the streets, again. This Saturday, across Brazil, to protest the president, Jair Bolsonaro's handling of the pandemic, and his economic management.
Major marches were reported in Brazil's major cities, including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and the capital, Brasilia.
According to local pollsters, Bolsonaro is facing his worst time as president, with 53 percent of Brazilians opposed to his government as well as a worrisome economic outlook.
Basic food items and gasoline prices are on the rise. Million Brazilians are unemployed. At the same time, COVID-19 is giving no respite. Brazil, edging closer to the threshold of 600,000 deaths, due to the pandemic -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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BRUNHUBER: New Zealand's prime minister widens COVID-19 restrictions after new cases spread beyond Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. But some say restrictions have gone too far.
About 1,000 people gathered in Auckland Saturday at an anti-lockdown protest. A nationwide lockdown imposed in August was supposed to be short and sharp. While parts of New Zealand have largely returned to normal, an outbreak driven by the Delta variant has kept Auckland's restrictions in place for seven weeks now.
Portugal is a country that understands the critical importance of vaccinations. The nation was hit hard by COVID-19 at the beginning of the year, reporting one of the world's worst surges.
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BRUNHUBER: But Portugal has gone from worst to first, thanks to the highest vaccination rate on the planet. CNN's Vasco Cotovio reports.
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VASCO COTOVIO, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Meet Vice Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo. He led Portugal's vaccination campaign and has become somewhat of a hero for the Portuguese. The country now has the highest vaccination rate of any nation.
But despite the credit he is getting, the admiral tells me "hero" is a title he feels uncomfortable with.
VICE ADM. HENRIQUE GOUVEIA E MELO, PORTUGAL VACCINATION TASK FORCE (through translator): I think that's an overstatement. Luckily, I was able to help my people, to help my country. And that fills my heart and it's good enough.
COTOVIO (voice-over): The admiral and his military unit ran the campaign from what they called their war room, facing the virus like the enemy they believe it is. GOUVEIA (through translator): I've worn combat fatigues from day one
to show people this was no joke. In less than 1.5 years we lost 18,000 people to this virus.
If this isn't a battle, what is?
COTOVIO (voice-over): The worst of that battle happened earlier in the year; when CNN visited in January, ICUs had no beds to spare. Health authorities had to move patients around to free up much-needed space and doctors told us they were forced to decide which cases to prioritize.
The German military flew in to help out. And strict restrictions to curb the spread of the disease emptied the capital Lisbon. But fast forward eight months and the situation's now completely different. Businesses are open and tourists are back.
The turnaround started in centers like this; 20-year-old Alana Silva (ph) knows all too well what it's like to get COVID-19. She recovered a few months ago and now she says it is a great comfort to get the vaccine.
ALANA SILVA (PH), COVID-19 PATIENT (through translator): Even though you can still get COVID-19, despite having had the vaccine, the symptoms will be milder. So I'm quite relieved.
COTOVIO (voice-over): She's one of only a dozen people at this vaccination center. They're mostly empty these days, because there are simply very few left to vaccinate. But for the admiral, the war's not over until the enemy is defeated on a global scale.
GOUVEIA (through translator): We need to protect mankind. Rich countries have a moral obligation to do it. Every delay, every action we don't take, will have a boomerang effect and we will regret it in the future. It's a strategy that is both wrong and stupid.
COTOVIO (voice-over): Gouveia e Melo sees COVID as an opportunistic enemy. And until the world is vaccinated, no country, not even Portugal, can afford to fully let its guard down -- Vasco Cotovio, CNN, Lisbon.
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BRUNHUBER: Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, plenty of fuel with nowhere to go. The U.K. is calling in the military to help deliver gas, as labor shortages from Brexit take their toll.
Plus the U.S. suffered a brutal summer of natural disasters, made even worse by climate change. Our meteorologist analyzes what we can learn from these heartbreaking events next.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Climate activists marched through the streets of Milan, Italy, on Saturday. They're calling on wealthy nations to live up to a long-standing promise to spend $100 billion a year to help developing countries transition to clean energy. Activists say they need to do that and much more.
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LAURA VALLARO, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: I'm here because, in these days in Milan, there is the pre-cop and the world leaders have met to discuss the policies on the -- to face the climate crisis. But are not listening to us young people and to us people in general. And we want them to listen.
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BRUNHUBER: Queen Elizabeth is echoing the activists' message to listen to the concerns of young people. The queen will attend the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow. She spoke about it as she opened the new session of Scotland's Parliament.
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ELIZABETH II, QUEEN OF ENGLAND: The eyes of the world will be on the United Kingdom and Scotland in particular, as leaders come together to address the challenges of climate change.
There is a key role for the Scottish Parliament, as with all parliaments, to help create a better, healthier future for us all and to engage with the people they represent, especially our young people.
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BRUNHUBER: Environmental disasters ravaged the U.S. this summer and experts say climate change is fueling the extreme events. The Western states struggled with unrelenting drought, dozens of wildfires and a deadly heat wave. Then back-to-back hurricanes slammed the East, breaking an all-time rainfall records.
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BRUNHUBER: The British prime minister says he could relax visa restrictions for truck drivers even further to help ease the country's fuel crisis but one retailers group says supplies are still coming far too slowly. Now the government is sending out the military to help. CNN's Anna Stewart has that. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fuel crisis, is now, in its second week. The situation, appears to be easing. That is what we are hearing, from the U.K. government. And, also industry leaders. But this recovery appears to be patchy.
GORDON BALMER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PETROL RETAILERS ASSOCIATION: We've spoken to sites in Wales, for example, in Scotland, in Northern Ireland. They say, it's a very much improved situation. Fuel is readily available. But London and the southeast have been impacted, I'm afraid, especially, at some of the BP sites and the Shell sites, around London.
However, both companies are actively working the situation and we hope that we can get some fuel back into the system, in the coming days.
STEWART: In London, we are still seeing long queues outside of fuel stations and those are the ones that, still, have fuel. Many are actually empty.
The problem here is not a fuel shortage in the U.K., as there's plenty of it, it's just not where it needs to be. That is due to a lack of truck drivers. This is the result of the pandemic but also very much exacerbated by Brexit, which saw a mass exodus of European workers.
On Monday, the U.K. government is activating the military; 200 personnel will be taking to the roads, getting fuel from refineries and platforms to where it needs to be. The U.K. government is also issuing 5,000 temporary work visas, for foreign truck drivers.
This may help their short or medium term problem here but the worry is it doesn't address the longer term issue. It's not just a shortage of truck drivers. There are lots of labor shortages in the U.K. It is impacting other sectors, like food and drink.
So as hopefully, this fuel crisis does come to an end, in the coming days, the worry, is that there could be another crisis around the corner -- Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
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BRUNHUBER: It's not just the fuel industry, struggling with shortages. Global supply chain issues are leading to prices soaring across the board. In the U.S., everything from bacon, to jewelry, televisions and dresses have seen double digit percentage price jumps, over the past 13 months.
Eggs, furniture and bedding have climbed nearly 10 percent. And going for a leisurely ride costs you more, as prices for bikes and other sports vehicles have jumped by nearly 8 percent.
Still ahead, a showdown in the skies as tensions soar between China and Taiwan. We'll go live to Taipei for details on the largest Chinese incursion so far.
Plus, president Duterte of the Philippines says he's retiring from politics.
Or is he?
In Philippine politics, just about anything is possible. We'll have a live report just ahead. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: China is keeping quiet after Taiwan reported the largest incursion by the Chinese air force for the second day in a row. The self-governing island says more than 3 dozen military aircraft entered its Air Defense Identification Zone on both Friday and Saturday. Let's bring in CNN's Will Ripley, who's live in Taipei.
Will, how worried should we be about the escalation in this aerial saber-rattling?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, on one hand, we know this is happening and has been happening for quite some time. I think the concern is that, as you have more and more military assets in the skies, in the seas, that there's an increased chance for some kind of miscalculation, that could lead to an escalation or even, worst case scenario, some sort of military conflict.
So when you have now the highest number of Chinese warplanes in Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone, breaking the record after setting just a record yesterday, then breaking a record today, this has obviously people concerned, Kim, because you have 39 warplanes on Saturday after 39 on Friday, shattering the record of 28.
That was set back in June. And you look at the list of these 77 warplanes in total over the last 48 or so hours, 68 fighters, four nuclear capable bombers, three anti-sub aircraft, two early warning aircraft.
And every time this happens -- these came in four different waves over the past couple of days -- there were daytime flights and nighttime flights. And every time it happens, Taiwan scrambles their own military aircraft.
They deploy their air defense missile systems and they issue these radio warnings.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
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RIPLEY: Beijing is not saying anything officially about why they're doing this, why they've had these two large incursions over the last couple of days. Some Chinese state media is assessing that perhaps it's because of U.S. aircraft carrier activity in the area around the South China Sea.
If you look at the map of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone, as we pointed out yesterday, these incursions are not actually violating international law.
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RIPLEY: They're not actually flying over Taiwan or Taiwanese airspace, which extends 12 nautical miles off its coast. They're flying in this buffer zone area, where, when planes enter, Taiwanese air traffic control will ask the pilots to identify themselves and alert the military of a potential incoming threat.
But this flight path on Saturday in particular was the extreme southwest of Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone, very close to a very important island, a small island strategically, called Pratas Island. It's an atoll on the South China Sea.
It has a small Taiwanese military outpost, a small airstrip but it's kind of a gateway to the Taiwan Strait. And by Beijing putting assets nearby, they're sending a clear message that, at any point whatsoever, they could take over that island.
BRUNHUBER: We'll keep an eye on that. Will Ripley in Taipei. Thanks so much.
The announcement that Philippines' president Rodrigo Duterte will retire from politics has fueled intense speculation about who might take his place. Media reports focusing on his daughter, Sara Duterte- Carpio, the popular mayor of Davao City.
Duterte was expected to register as a candidate in the vice presidential election but instead it was his long-time aide, senator Christopher Go, who filed those papers. CNN's Selina Wang following those developments from Tokyo.
Many were surprised when the news came out.
What do you think is driving his decision?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kim, exactly. This was a big decision and Duterte is barred by the constitution from seeking a second presidential term after his six years in office.
But just last month he said he was going to run for vice president. And, Kim, that was a plan that was widely criticized by Filipinos as an attempt for Duterte to maintain his political power and circumvent any legal action against him.
But then, in a reversal of plans over the weekend, Duterte accompanied his long-time aide, who submitted papers saying that he was going to run for vice president, not Duterte. Take a listen to what Duterte said. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RODRIGO DUTERTE, PRESIDENT, THE PHILIPPINES (voice-over): So in obedience to the will of the people, who, after all placed me in the presidency many years ago, I now say to my country men that I will follow your wishes and today I announce my retirement from politics.
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WANG: Experts say that Duterte is realizing that the tide is turning against him. He's this controversial strongman figure that has been hugely popular in the Philippines, although that support has been waning because of the pandemic and the ensuing economic fallout.
And Duterte's announcement of his retirement appears to leave the race for the presidency wide open, with speculation focusing on his daughter, who's the mayor of one of Philippines' largest cities.
In addition to that, boxing star Manny Pacquiao has also said he's going to run for president. He had been a close ally of it Duterte but has recently been critical of him.
Analysts say it is critical for Duterte to have a loyal successor in order to insulate himself from possible legal action at home or by the International Criminal Court. Since Duterte took office, he has presided over this brutal crackdown, this brutal war on drugs, that has left thousands dead.
Last month the International Criminal Court called it a, quote, "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population" -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Selina Wang in Tokyo.
Facebook is under fire over reports that its subsidiary, Instagram, can hurt teens' mental health. Next CNN talks to teenagers who know about that risk. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: This coming week, a Facebook whistleblower will testify before U.S. senators about Instagram's negative impact on teens. That follows a report that Facebook, which owns Instagram, knew it can damage a person's mental health and body image, especially among teenage girls. Clare Sebastian reports.
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HANNAH KURDZIEL, SENIOR, TOWNSEND HARRIS HIGH SCHOOL: I do think there is, like, a certain dependency. I've noticed this has behavior in myself doing home schooling.
NOAH ROBERTS, SENIOR, TOWNSEND HARRIS HIGH SCHOOL: Yes. Just going forever and not doing anything. Not in school like you need to do, yes.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): High school seniors Hannah and Noah have no time to waste. They're just weeks into their final year of high school, juggling school work, clubs and college applications. And, social media.
KURDZIEL: I think a lot of it is just a fear of missing out or not being as involved as your friends
SEBASTIAN: Hannah is student union president, a job she says she couldn't do without Instagram. She runs the union account. And yet, last winter, she did delete TikTok.
KURDZIEL: I would just constantly be sucked into these videos that were really appealing but didn't particularly help make me happier as a person. I think overall it has been a net positive. I've stopped worrying about the way my body looks a lot.
SEBASTIAN: These teenagers are aware of the mental health risks of social media. And as "The Wall Street Journal" recently reported, so is Facebook.
The paper said Facebook's own research in 2019 showed one in three teenage girls with body image issues felt Instagram made those issues worse. News that didn't come as a shock to teachers here.
IAN MORZAN, DEAN, TOWNSEND HARRIS HIGH SCHOOL: So we were noticing the ill effects of oversaturation, with regards to social media, students reporting sleeplessness, all sorts of other kind of social, emotional learning challenges.
SEBASTIAN: School dean Ian Morzan says that the pandemic brought things to a head. Last year, he began running regular classes teaching students to take charge of their online presence.
MORZAN: They can really have an open discourse about what's good, what's bad and then how do they protect themselves.
SEBASTIAN: For Hannah and Noah, 18 months of virtual school did prompt a reckoning.
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ROBERTS: It made you more in control of yourself, because you had to be or else you'd get completely lost in it. I think I limit my social media to a lot of healthy stuff, actually. I follow people that inspire you, your friends.
SEBASTIAN (on camera): You guys were born in the same year as Facebook was. Do you ever worry about the long-time implications of never having known a world without social media? Or how it might have shaped you? ROBERTS: No, I don't. Because the way you guys describe before social media doesn't sound like a fun place at all. You'd get to see more people and learn more cultures much quicker than you would.
KURDZIEL: I do worry sometimes about what it means for not only things like my attentions span or something that I think we're facing generationally. But on a more personal level, I do worry that I've become preoccupied with maybe the way I'm being perceived by other people online. And I know that's not a healthy thing to worry about a lot.
SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Clare Sebastian, CNN, in Queens, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: A Georgia student presented one of the most amazing absence notes ever for missing school. Just have a look at this.
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LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, ACTOR AND PRODUCER: Ms. Rosner, this is Lin-Manuel Miranda. I am sorry he can't be in U.S. history class right now. But he is with me. We're going to go over the Bill of Rights and anything you may be covering right now, we cover.
We cover a lot in about 2.5 hours of "Hamilton," but we're going to go over it in specifics now. So this is not lost time. Thank you.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The "Hamilton" creator was the guest of honor at a fundraiser organized by the mother of 16-year-old Luke Stevens. Luke's history teacher said she was thrilled to learn he really did skip her class to spend time with the Broadway star and perhaps learn something.
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BRUNHUBER: I'm Kim Brunhuber. I'll be back in a moment as CNN NEWSROOM continues. Please do stay with us.
