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Bolsonaro Homicide Allegations; India Flooding; TikTok and Tics In Teens. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired October 20, 2021 - 02:00:00   ET

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

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[02:00:36]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. And I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead. Calls for Brazil's President to be charged with homicide after a damning Senate report on his handling of the coronavirus pandemic leaks.

At least 34 people are dead after days of heavy rain and flooding in southern India. We will bring you a live weather report on that.

And TikTok may be to blame for causing ticks in teams. I speak with an expert on how the app could be causing such a reaction.

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, there's a growing push to charge Brazil's President with mass homicide for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Leaked excerpts from a senate panel investigation accused President Jair Bolsonaro and other officials of intentionally letting COVID spread like wildfire, killing hundreds of thousands of people in a botched effort to achieve herd immunity and revive the economy.

Brazil has the world's second highest COVID death toll after the U.S. with more than 600,000 dead. CNNs Rafael Romo picks up the story.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Jair Bolsonaro is the president who last year called COVID-19 (INAUDIBLE) a little flu. Last December, he joked about possible side effects of the vaccine saying a lady could get a beard or a person could turn into an alligator. And more recently, he boasted in interviews that he doesn't get a coronavirus shot because his immunity levels are through the roof.

Brazil is one of the hardest hit countries in the world. And these statements have made many people very angry, including congressional leaders in his country. CNN Brazil received leak excerpts of a congressional investigation from a representative of the Brazilian senate pandemic parliamentary inquiry which claims Bolsonaro and officials in his government intentionally led COVID-19 search through the country which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths.

One of the points of the draft report is that the President and his allies didn't promote sanitary measures because they wanted Brazil to reach herd immunity so that the economy would go back to normal faster. The 1200-page report claims Bolsonaro's policies cause more than 300,000 people to die roughly half of Brazil's death toll. And it goes further. It recommends the President be charged with several crimes including murder.

The report is expected to be discussed in the Brazilian senate Wednesday and voted on next week. If approved by the Senate commission it would then be up to the Attorney General Augusto Aras to decide within 30 days if any charges are made, although he's not expected to since he's an ally of the precedents. CNN has asked President Bolsonaro's office for comment but we did not receive an immediate response.

However, both the president and his supporters have previously criticized the Senate's investigation as politically motivated. Rafael Romo CNN, Mexico City.

CHURCH: The Indian government is planning to pay about $670 in compensation to the closest relative of every coronavirus victim. That's a total of more than $600 million based on the country's current death toll. But the paperwork required to get the compensation could result in many families losing out on the money. CNN's Vedika Sud joins me live from New Delhi. So, Vedika, it seems a very small amount of money for family members and yet an enormous bureaucratic task. How is this going to work exactly.

VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Good to be with you, Rosemary. Well, it is definitely a welcome move first and foremost for those families who've lost the sole breadwinners. For them it's still a certain amount because they've lost people who possibly as much in two to three months. At least that was the case with the person we spoke to who lost her husband in April. Her name is Pooja Sharma (ph).

She has two children and she doesn't earn any money as of now she's depending on an NGO that helps her get some income in every month. We spoke to Pooja and she said that for her this money will be a huge amount given that she's earning very little to sustain the family.

[02:05:10]

SUD: But we also spoke to another family member who lost three of his relatives to COVID-19 in the month of April, believe it or not within a span of just four days. He's angry with the system. Now there are certain documents that you need to prove to be eligible for this scheme. The second person we spoke to has those documents, but he's refusing to apply for the compensation because he says the wound -- the memories are too raw for him and he doesn't need the money.

But yes, like I said, this is a work move, but it comes with its challenges. Firstly, we're talking about over 452,000 people who've officially been part of the records have died of COVID-19. That's where the death toll stands here in India. But according to U.S.-based Center for Global Studies report that was published in July this year, the death toll in India could be as high as 10 times the official numbers.

Therein lies the problem, Rosemary. How are those families who don't have those certificates required the death certificate or even the COVID-19 certificates to apply for this compensation, really get that money? There is a redressal system that the states are putting in place but as of now, it's going at a slow pace. The guidelines aren't too -- aren't too clear when it comes to the States. And clearly experts say that the system has to be less complicated as far as the application process is concerned and more empathetic, Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. So just repeating there, $670 to the closest family member and that would be a total of $300 million for India. Vedika Sud joining us from New Delhi. Many thanks. Appreciate it.

Well, tennis great Novak Djokovic short will have to be fully vaccinated if he wants to compete in the next Australian Open and have a shot at breaking the record for Grand Slam titles. The world number one has not revealed whether he's been vaccinated but Australian authorities don't seem to care about making the defending champ sit this one out and delaying his shot at making history. They say all travelers to Australia must be fully vaccinated even athletes, no exceptions.

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ALEX HAWKE, AUSTRALIAN MINISTER FOR IMMIGRATION: The government is establishing its borders, has said that you'll need to be double vaccinated to visit Australia. That's a universal application not just a tennis players. Every visitor to Australia will need to be double vaccinated.

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CHURCH: Djokovic recently told Serbian media he doesn't know if he'll go to Melbourne and that his vaccination status is a private matter and it's inappropriate he says to ask. Last year he said during a Facebook chat he is personally opposed to vaccination.

Well, Russia is mandating new restrictions after the National COVID death toll hit another daily high. Moscow's mayor says seniors are especially vulnerable, with people over 60 accounting for 86 percent of COVID deaths in the city. Officials announced a four-month stay at home order for all unvaccinated seniors in the Capitol. And they're also proposing a week long workplace shutdown. The move comes amid a spike in cases and a slow vaccination campaign.

Well, the U.N. Security Council will meet in the day ahead to discuss North Korea's latest ballistic missile test. Pyongyang says the submarine launched missile is a new design with advanced guidance technologies. Pictures from state media show a thinner, smaller missile than previous designs. The White House is urging North Korea to refrain from further provocations but says the U.S. is open to diplomacy with Pyongyang. And CNN's Paul Hancocks joins us now live from Seoul to talk more about this. Good to see you, Paula. So, what more are you learning about North Korea's new submarine launched missile ahead of the U.N. Security Council meeting on it today?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, from what we've heard from North Korea, they're saying that it was fired from a submarine itself, which would be significant. Now they also claimed that about five years ago saying that a previous launch was launched from a submarine as opposed to like an underwater platform or a barge, which is what many experts believe has been happening in the past.

But of course, this is just what we're hearing from North Korea at this point. Very difficult for experts and for intelligence agencies around the world to confirm whether or not this is the case. But what is the case is that North Korea says it was a new missile and that they are pushing forward in their weapons capabilities. And it's really what we've been seeing over the past couple of months that North Korea is testing new missiles.

Is testing new weapon systems as it said that it would do. We know that what they have said is they've tested a hypersonic missile. Some long-range cruise missiles, anti-aircraft weapons.

[02:10:04]

HANCOCKS: So they're not just continuing the launches that we've seen in the past but pushing their program forward as Kim Jong-un himself has said that they will do as a sovereign state. Now at the same time, they are also saying that they are willing to talk to South Korea so at the same time as carrying out all these new weapons tests. They are looking to diplomacy as well, but they say only if South Korea stops criticizing North Korea for these tests.

Calling South Korea hypocritical pointing out that South Korea itself has carried out a submarine launched ballistic missile just last month. But of course, South Korea is not under any United Nations Security Council resolutions. And when North Korea uses this technique -- technology, it does violate those resolutions. And as you say later this Wednesday, the Security Council will be meeting to discuss North Korea. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul. Many thanks. Well, America's top diplomat says the Biden administration is "Relentlessly focused on the kidnapping of 17 missionaries in Haiti," most of whom are Americans. That message from Secretary of State Antony Blinken comes as the FBI is helping advise on negotiations after the gang holding the group. Demanded a $17 million ransom.

CNN's Joe Jones has more now from Port au Prince.

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JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the State Department and the FBI work behind the scenes to free the American missionaries and five children who were snatched in Haiti, a new warning about paying the $17 million ransom the gang behind the kidnapping is demanding,

LAURENT LAMOTHE, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF HAITI: It would be very unfortunate for the $70 million to be paid because that would only reinforce the gang and that would only finance further kidnappings. And so the solution is to short term send, you know, experts -- security experts to help the police in this particular situation.

JOHNS: The missionaries were believed to be staying at a compound in the village of Titanyen outside Port-au-Prince. On Saturday, they were kidnapped by a group of armed men while driving back from visiting a nearby orphanage in Croix-des-Bouquets. Haitian officials say the gang 400 Mawozo is responsible. We took a ride in a helicopter today to get a better view of the area.

I've been on many of these roads outside of Port-au-Prince 10 years ago, but it's very different now, simply because of the kidnappings. It's not safe for a foreigner to drive on the roads. That's why we're in the helicopter. 400 Mawozo is creole four out in the country outside the city. And that's where this group comes from. An armed gang that has grown larger and larger and more powerful, particularly over the last several months since the assassination of the president of Haiti. They control the roads in many ways. The police need help.

Kidnapping and robbery has become a part of life on the roads outside Port-au-Prince. But what's different this time is the massive amount of money being demanded in ransom. $1 million per victim. 400 Mawozo started small for stealing livestock, then cars and eventually becoming bold enough to carry out individual kidnappings. Now groups of people or collective kidnapping. Authorities blamed the lack of law enforcement response for the group's sudden growth.

There's a real reluctance from government authorities as well as many people who are part of the electorate to have another peacekeeping force on the ground to restore order. But if they don't want that to happen, the question is, how can Haiti succeed without getting control of the situation on the ground?

Joe Johns, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

CHURCH: Police are looking for a missing four-year-old girl who disappeared from a campsite in Western Australia on Saturday. Cleo Smith was last seen around 1:30 in the morning by her parents who woke up hours later and noticed she had vanished along with a sleeping bag. The family had been camping in Mcleod about 48 kilometers from their hometown. Cleo's parents say any small detail may help bring their daughter home.

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ELLIE SMITH, CLEO SMITH'S MOTEHR: Everyone asks us what we need and really what we need is our little go home. Please say something reported, it doesn't matter if it's small or big or if you -- you're sure or not like we want our little girl home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Police have so shacks along the coastline of the area as well as nearby bodies of water but have not turned up any signs of her so far.

[02:15:09]

CHURCH: Well, still to come. New details on a deadly airstrike in Ethiopia's Tigray region which is raising fears of a worsening conflict. And mobilizing the military. We will have the latest on the rescue operations as India battles intense and deadly flooding.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, the U.N. says Ethiopia's airstrikes in the Tigray regions capital on Monday killed three children and wounded 10 other people. One official calls it an alarming escalation of the conflict there. CNN's Lary Madowo has details.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The European governments initially denying having carried out airstrikes and Mekelle. The north of the country is not surprising. This follows a similar cycle we have seen throughout this conflict. Eyewitnesses told CNN that they had seen civilian casualties and now the United Nations is confirming what a lot of evidence was already pointing to on Monday after this reports first came out.

JENS LAERKE, SPOKESMAN, U.N. OCHA: Health Workers, local health workers in the hospital in Mekelle on the ground confirmed to us that three children were killed, and one person injured in the airstrike on the outskirts of Mekelle yesterday morning, local time. A second airstrike in Mekelle town reportedly injured nine people and caused damage to houses and a nearby hotel. So that was later in the day.

MADOWO: The last time Mekelle was hit by an airstrike like this was back in November 2020 at the beginning of this conflict. Now, as we come up with the first anniversary of this operation in Tigray, it has spilled over into neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, other international partners have all been calling for the same thing, as cessation of hostilities, investigation of any atrocities that have been carried out since November.

And access for humanitarian workers that badly need to get to people who need aid. In some cases, we're hearing that at least one of the 1000 people are in famine like conditions. This situation instead of getting better appears to be getting worse. Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

CHURCH: Just into CNN, an update on our lead story. We learned minutes ago that Brazilian senators are now dropping their push to charge President Jair Bolsonaro with mass homicide over his handling of the COVID pandemic. Leaked parts of their draft report blame his policies for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people. The panel is still recommending he faced charges of crimes against humanity incitement and charlatanism.

Well, army helicopters are helping with rescues and evacuations in northern India after days of heavy rain and flooding. At least 34 people have been killed.

[02:20:09]

CHURCH: This comes as many Indians visiting the region for a Hindu pilgrimage. Dramatic images show military personnel forming a human chain to help people through the raging floodwaters. And our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has been watching this all very closely. He joins us now live. So Pedram, what is the latest on this flooding and of course the rescue effort there?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: My goodness, you know, Rosemary, this has been an event that of course is culminated the last couple of days. First, we saw the heavy rainfall across the state of Kerala in the south. And now we see this play out across the north. And unfortunately, this is a widespread area of coverage that we've seen an incredible amount of rainfall play out just in the past 24 hours.

We know this region has been very wet it is the tail end of the monsoon season. But as that front begins to kind of retreat across this region, we've seen so many months of heavy rainfall. The soil certainly cannot take these significant bouts of rain that we've seen play out in recent days. So notice these numbers. Three, four, even 500-plus millimeters of rainfall coming down. And that's just in a 24- hour span.

And I always use the analogy of taking one of the popular cities across Western Europe take London, for example, about 660 millimeters fall in an entire year. That's an average year for London. Look at this. In Baheri, across northern portions of India, 540 millimeters, nearly a year's worth of London rainfall happening in just one day which is why you're seeing some of these teams play out across India.

But look at the water vapor satellite imagery here. This shows you the moisture content in the middle and upper levels of the atmosphere. And a very significant divide between the dry air that's locked in across the north and west of India. And the monsoonal moisture that's locked in across the south and east. All of this wants to gradually pull away as we work our way through the month of October into the month of November.

That's where the withdrawal of the monsoons is typically observed. And notice this hash line? That is where the moisture is in place and kind of follow where it ends up. It's just north of Kerala and also across portions of northern and eastern India. And that's where the heaviest rains have been placed. Now there's some good news. The forecast in that region of northern area, Rosemary and northern India does improve notice.

We kind of take you out of the alert levels and bring you back down into the green coverage which is going to be lesser level alerts but then farther toward the south. That's where we expect the rainfall to pick up in intensity over the next several days. So, parts of the South want to see the heavy rains return going into this weekend. Rosemary?

RIPLEY: All right. Thank you so much for keeping a close eye on that. Appreciate it. Pedram Javaheri. Well, Japan is raising the alert level on the main southern island of Kyushu after a volcanic eruption from Mount Aso. The blast spewed volcanic ash 3500 meters into the sky, but there are no immediate reports of casualties or major damage. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is asking people to take precautions and follow the latest guidance from the government.

And geologists say there's no way to predict how much longer the volcano on La Palma in the Canary Islands will keep erupting. It's been spewing molten lava for over a month now, covering nearly 800 hectares and destroying about 2000 buildings. No one has been killed by the volcano but thousands of people have been forced from their homes. Well, the fallout from global warming in Africa will be catastrophic according to a new U.N. report.

The continent generates less than five percent of the world's greenhouse emissions. Yet its people and economies will suffer greatly if climate change gets worse. CNN Eleni Giokos has more.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Elephants roam the African plane against the backdrop of Mount Kilimanjaro. Breathtaking images that are disappearing before our eyes. The mountains few glasses are melting at a rate higher than the global average. And scientists say they could be gone within two decades.

PETTERI TAALAS WMO SECRETARY GENERAL: You can see that there's been a major loss of the sea ice area and also sea ice mess and if the current trends continue, we won't see any glaciers in Africa in (INAUDIBLE)

GIOKOS: A new report from the U.N.'s World Meteorological Organization points to Africa's disproportionate vulnerability when it comes to climate change, finding that 180 million extremely poor people on the continent are threatened by intensifying effects of the warming planets. The U.N. Climate agency warns that if measures are put in place now, many Africans will be exposed to further severe droughts, floods and extreme heat by 2030.

The study draws attention Africa's increased food and security, poverty and displacement last year.

[02:25:05]

GIOKOS: Brought on by the climate crisis and impacts of the COVID pandemic. And even though the continent accounts for just four percent of global emissions, climate change could have dire consequences for Africa's economy.

JEAN-PAUL ADAM, U.N. ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA: Adapting to the impacts of climate change is costing African economies an average of five percent of their GDP. And if warming continues at the rates projected in this report, these costs will increase exponentially within the next decade. GIOKOS: The WMO partnered with other agencies to publish the report, which comes ahead of the cup 26 climate summits in Glasgow, Scotland next weekend. The authors of the report found that investing in climate adaptation to mitigate the crisis will cost 30 to $50 billion dollars each year over the next decade, but says it's a small price to pay compared to the even higher costs of the disaster relief.

Not to mention the irreversible damage. The climate crisis will likely cause if nothing is done. Eleni Giokos, CNN.

CHURCH: In Italy, a revived debate over fascism. Coming up. The violent protests that has Parliament taking a closer look at the far right.

Plus, there could be less (INAUDIBLE) Christmas in the U.K. this year. The shortages leaving British farmers in a foul mood when we return.

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CHURCH: In just a few hours, Italy's Parliament will consider dismantling the extreme right-wing Forza Nuova Party. Neo fascist and neo-Nazi groups were involved in violent protests against the country's COVID-19 health pass earlier this month. Some push through police lines and others broke into the headquarters of Italy's largest trade union. The unions called on the government to dissolve the groups.

Barbie Nadeau is in Rome and she joins us now live. Good to see you, Barbie. So in response to this, thousands are demonstrating against fascism and Italian M.P.s will debate this. What will be the likely outcome?

BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, you know, this is a debate to ask Prime Minister Mario Draghi to resolve the Forza Nuova Party. This is the party that was very much involved in the attacks against the labor union a couple of weeks ago here in Rome. But we went around Rome and we found that this party isn't the only history -- historical -- has historical remnants of fascism in this country. Rosemary?

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tens of thousands of Italians gathered In this square in central Rome to demonstrate against fascism. Leona Rivera (ph) tells us that that Italy of today is anti-fascist. He says fascism can't go forward. Recent attacks blamed on the neofascists in Rome have sparked a debate on a topic many Italians would rather not discuss.

Here, in Rome's Jewish ghetto, more than 1,000 Italians were rounded up by the Nazis and taken to concentration camps during II.

SIMON MARTIN, HISTORY PROFESSOR: Because fascism never really went away in this country. Despite the constitution banning the reformation of the fascist party attack in the --

NADEAU (voiceover): Simon Martin is a history professor who has written books on Italian fascism.

MARTIN: Italy has not confronted its past. It hasn't confronted its Italian fascist past.

NADEAU (voiceover): Italy's right-wing alliance is anchored by the most popular party, the Brothers of Italy, currently lead by Giorgia Meloni. Fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini's granddaughter, Rachele, is one of the party's members winning the highest number of votes in Rome's recent city council election.

Meloni's party is often tied to fascism and CNN asked her why that is. She tells us her party is not a breeding ground for such a regime.

Here in Rome, there are remnants of Italy's fascist past everywhere. This floor mosaic is at the entrance of the train station that Mussolini built would welcome Adolf Hitler to Rome. An almost 60-foot obelisk with Mussolini's name still stands in front of Rome's main soccer stadium. Italians spent two decades under Mussolini's iron fist. But almost 80 years later, the debate over his fascist legacy rages on.

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NADEAU: And, Rosemary, you know, as we see -- if the parliament does decide to ask the prime minister to dissolve this party, that doesn't necessarily guarantee that it will change the ideology in the minds of a lot of people. That will take education. And that's something the Italian government is working on. Rosemary.

CHURCH: All right. Thank you, Barbie Nadeau, for following up on a story. Appreciate it.

Well, the trial of a 96-year-old former Nazi concentration camp secretary is finally underway in Germany. Proceedings were delayed for weeks after Irmgard Furchner went on the run for several hours, just before she was due in court last month. She worked at the Stutthof Camp in Nazi occupied Poland as a teenager. She is accused of aiding her superiors and the killing of more than 11,000 prisoners from 1943 to 1945. About 65,000 people died at the camp between 1939 and 1945.

Well, just in time for the holidays, Brexit and the coronavirus have created a labor shortage across the U.K. A lot of the focus has been on gas but some major food items could be missing around the Christmas table. CNN's Anna Stewart visited a farm Essex to talk turkey.

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PAUL KELLY, KELLYBRONZE TURKEY FARMER: Our orders now are, you know, where we would be on December the 8th just because people making sure they've got their Turkey order. It's not going to be -- you know, I mean, they'll be a shortage of British turkeys, but there's not going to be -- you know, you don't have to go into town, the supermarkets and stuff fighting for your turkey or anything like that.

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): The British Poultry Association estimates there will be 20 percent fewer British turkeys on shelves this Christmas due to 15 percent shortage in the poultry workforce.

STEWART: How much of the labor shortage in the U.K. is to do with Brexit? How much is it to do with the pandemic?

KELLY: There's no doubt that a lot of the European workers went home during the pandemic and a lot of them haven't come back whereas they normally would have come back. I think certainly, in my instance, talking to the guys that came to work for us, they don't see a future here anymore. So, they've got to fill -- you know, they got to find work in Europe. And they will, there's a lot of work out there. It's a -- they just don't see a future here. So, they're not coming back.

STEWART: And what about the government's response that we just need to pay this labor force more? We need British people to pluck turkeys and we have to pay them more.

KELLY: Around here, there's no unemployment. How can I honestly expect someone to give up their full-time job to come and help us for five weeks? That's totally (INAUDIBLE) unrealistic. And there is no unemployment around here. We've tried. And like I say, I would dearly love to employ local people. It would be cheaper for us to employ local people. We wouldn't have the transport or the accommodation to put up and with all the hassle and everything that goes with the five weeks production. It would be -- so, that's just a crazy thing to say.

STEWART (voiceover): KellyBronze says they are managing to match last year's turkey production, but the for the first year in 20 they haven't increased it.

STEWART (on camera): Does this mean that problems we're seeing this Christmas, we're going to see them again next Christmas and Christmas after?

KELLY: If we do not get a seasonal workers gain, the turkey production, you will see the U.K. turkey business just shrink and shrink and shrink.

STEWART (voiceover): Anna Stewart, CNN, Danbury, Essex.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:35:00]

CHURCH: Well, still come, doctors are trying to get to the bottom of a strange phenomenon, where it appears more teenage girls are showing up with tics. Why some doctors say there could be a link to TikTok.

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CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well, doctors around the world are trying to figure out why they are seeing an apparent rise in tics among teenage girls. According to the "Wall Street Journal," doctors say, in addition to anxiety and depression, there could be a link to the video sharing app TikTok. Several medical journals have found a majority of the girls who reported issues had been watching videos of people who said they had to Tourette syndrome, a disorder that causes involuntary movements or sounds.

The Johns Hopkins Tourette's Center says that the number of pediatric patients with tic-like behaviors increased as much as 10 times since the pandemic began. And the demand for videos showing tic behavior has sharply increased. In January, videos with the #tourettes had more than 1 billion views, and that number has since grown to nearly 5 billion.

So, for more on this, we are joined by a Dr. Tamara Pringsheim. She is neurologist with the University of Calgary and is program lead for the Tourette Syndrome and Pediatric Movement Disorders Clinic at Alberta Children's Hospital.

Thank you so much, doctor, for talking with us.

DR. TAMARA PRINGSHEIM, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NEUROLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY: Thank you for inviting me.

CHURCH: So, this is -- it's a very troubling trend. Teen girls across the globe apparently developing severe physical tics and verbal outbursts after watching Tourette syndrome TikTok videos. What is going on here and how can watching these videos create a tic in another person who didn't originally have that disorder?

DR. PRINGSHEIM: Well, it is a complicated problem. And, you know, the explanation is complex as well. But we know that over the course of the pandemic there has been an increase in social media use among young people. In parallel to that, there has been an increase in young people posting videos under hashtags related to Tourette or tics, both on TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms.

We know that the pandemic resulted in a great deal of psychological stress for young people and social isolation. And we believe that there is a relationship between psychological distress and the development of these tic-like behaviors after witnessing others having tics on social media channels.

[02:40:00]

CHURCH: How big a problem could this prove to be for these young girls now and, of course, in the future and how prevalent is this?

DR. PRINGSHEIM: Well, we have seen a big -- there has been a big change over the course of the past year and a half. So, it was in the fall of 2020 that we started experiencing the increase in referrals. Prior to the fall of 2020, I would say that we may be saw one to two young people per year who developed these functional tic-like behaviors. Starting in the fall, we started receiving up to six referrals per week. The volume of our referrals increased from 200 per year to 300 per year over the course of 2020 to 2021.

So, out of the last 300 people that I have seen, 100 of them have had these rapid onset functional tic-like behaviors. And the experienced that my and my colleague, Dr. Martino, have had at our Tourette clinic is very similar to what is happening at Tourette syndrome clinics in other countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Germany. So, in terms of --

CHURCH: So, Doctor, if I could just ask you, what the solution is here? Because other than telling these teens to lay off TikTok, which of course, any of us who are parents, know that that is probably not going to happen, what do you do?

DR. PRINGSHEIM: Yes.

CHURCH: What do you do with these young more vulnerable teens who seem to be more open to picking up these tics?

DR. PRINGSHEIM: Yes. I think the important message is that there is help for this problem. I have seen so many young people whose lives have been derailed by these functional tic-like behaviors. Young people who are no longer attending school, who are unable to work because of the severity of their symptoms. We have taken the approach of providing psychological support and education about the functional tic-like behaviors by making appropriate diagnoses of anxiety and depression where these coexist and arranging for appropriate treatment and providing behavioral therapy.

CHURCH: That is good news indeed. Dr. Tamara Pringsheim, thank you so much for talking with us, we appreciate it.

DR. PRINGSHEIM: My pleasure.

H CHURCH: So, apparently, making it to age 95, isn't that impressive. An aide to Queen Elizabeth says the British monarch politely but firmly declined being named Oldie of the Year by a British magazine. The aide says that the queen doesn't meet the relevant criteria because "her majesty believes you are as only as old as you feel." Despite the rejection, the magazine, "The Oldie," is keeping the queen as its cover girl. There you go.

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back at the top of the hour. World Sport is up next.

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