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World Leaders Gather At Rome's Trevi Fountain; G20 Shows Unanimous Support For 15 Percent Global Tax; Leaders' Goal Is 70 Percent Of World Vaccinated By 2022; Baldwin Calls Fatal Incident "One In A Trillion" Event; Biden Faces Big Test On World Stage; U.K. Prime Minister Says Success Of COP26 Is "Touch And Go"; Sustainable Aviation Fuel Can Protect Environment; U.S. Agencies Evaluate COVID-19 Vaccine In Young Children; Virginia Governor's Race; Trump Attends World Series. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired October 31, 2021 - 04:00   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 World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

The G20 begins with a win for Joe Biden on global tax rates.

So what will happen on day two?

Also, vaccine haves and have-nots: a new call to vaccinate the world against COVID-19. Plus this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEC BALDWIN, ACTOR: She was my friend. She was my friend. The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting, I took her to dinner, with Joel, the director.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Alec Baldwin speaks for the first time about the movie set shooting that killed the film's director of photography.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: The second and final day of the G20 summit in Rome begins in just a few hours. When it ends later today, the leader of the world's wealthiest nations hope to present their consensus on addressing climate change, vaccine inequality and much more.

With shipping ports everywhere experiencing serious logjams, U.S. President Joe Biden will lead today's session on how to free up those vital supply lines. CNN's Ben Wedeman and Kevin Liptak are live for us this hour in Rome.

So Ben, let's start with you.

What have been the highlights for you in terms of what's been accomplished so far?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the most significant thing was the announcement that the leaders of the G20 had agreed to this corporate income tax, a global tax. That is something that certainly symbolically signals a desire to bring these corporations under some sort of control.

Now how it is going to be implemented, however, is another question altogether. There need to be technical discussions among the various countries to figure out how it is going to be done. So we shall see how that works out.

Today, obviously, the focus is going to be on climate change and the environment. That is what the entire day is essentially dedicated to, sustainable development as well. But what we have seen so far is that, even though they may have agreed on this corporate tax, they are far from reaching a consensus on bringing greenhouse gas emissions down to a standard level.

You have countries like China and India, who are arguing that, because they depend heavily on coal, they will not be able to bring those emissions down as quickly as, for instance, the United States and the European countries say they would like to see done. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: And then you spent time among the protesters who took to the streets in Rome. What were they saying?

WEDEMAN: They were very skeptical about the ability of the leaders of the G20 and politicians in general to actually translate words into action. The feeling is that these politicians are very much more responsive to the rich and the powerful than the people in general.

So even though yesterday's protest here in Rome, which included thousands of people, was relatively peaceful, there was this undercurrent of frustration that there is a lot of talk and not much action -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Thanks so much, Ben Wedeman. Really appreciate it.

I want to bring in CNN White House reporter Kevin Liptak, who is covering this from Rome.

Kevin, that global minimum tax Ben was talking about there, one of President Biden's top priorities going into this G20, how important is this for his domestic agenda?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is very important and particularly because the president hasn't been able to secure other tax increases in that sweeping social spending bill. Things like raising the corporate tax rate, even some Democrats balked at that. So the idea of minimum taxes is really where a lot of the revenue for

that social spending plan comes from. Now this was one of the president's top agenda items coming into the G20 this week. It has been something that he has been working on for months.

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LIPTAK: But it has been led by his Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and it really sort of is the most concrete win that he is going to have here at the G20 summit.

Now that social spending plan, Democrats are still working to secure final agreement on that. It could be revised, potentially even reintroduced today, text of that legislation. Democrats are saying they might want to vote on that as early as Tuesday, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right.

And then looking ahead for the president, what will Biden be focused on today?

What are you going to be watching for?

LIPTAK: Well, first up is a meeting with the Turkish President Erdogan; of course, tensions between the U.S. and Turkey have been rising. The U.S. says Biden wants to warn Erdogan not to take any precipitous actions.

The tensions have included this Turkish purchase of a Russian air defense system, other human rights questions. So that's first up for the president today.

Later he convenes the special session on supply chain blockages. The president wants to get sort of all things -- all these countries in line, identify specific things that they can do to unclog the system.

He'll also be making a few announcements on what the United States is doing. And then last up for the president here in Rome is a press conference tonight. All of these issues expected to come up, including the question of his domestic agenda back home. He hasn't addressed that since he arrived here in Europe last week.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll be following this throughout the day. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much, appreciate it.

We heard that one of the G20's goals is getting more vaccines to the developing world. It is there the vaccination rates are just a fraction of other countries.

The summit host, Italian prime minister Mario Draghi, being rather blunt in his message to other wealthy nations. Listen to how he characterized the differences between the haves and have notes when it comes to vaccines. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARIO DRAGHI, ITALIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The pandemic is not over. And there are startling disparities in the global distribution of vaccines. In high income countries, more than 70 percent of the population has received at least one dose.

In the poorest ones, this percentage drops to roughly 3 percent. These differences are morally unacceptable and undermine the global recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: This is what the Italian prime minister was referring to. So the lighter green colors on the map present a smaller percentage of the country's population being fully vaccinated.

And as you can see, the majority of undervaccinated countries are in Africa. That impact on the global recovery is being echoed by the president of the World Bank, David Malpass.

He says the scarcity of the COVID-19 vaccine, along with inflation and supply chain disruption are undercutting the economic recovery of the world.

Joining me to talk about this from Ethiopia is Dr. John Nkengasong. He's the director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Doctor, thank you so much for joining us.

DR. JOHN NKENGASONG, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CDC: You're welcome.

BRUNHUBER: Hearing these world leaders, including the pope as well, calling for more to be done on this huge stage here, what impact is that likely to have, given they have already pledged over 1.2 billion doses to COVAX, the international vaccine sharing initiative, but only delivered some 150 million?

NKENGASONG: Absolutely. I think the world, through the World Health Organization, has established a target of immunizing the entire population, of up to 70 percent, by the end of next year.

During the summit at the White House, hosted by President Biden, he also reiterated that target of 70 percent. So we know exactly what to do. But where we find ourselves as a continent is in a very delicate situation.

Only about 5 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated. So now it becomes very clear what we need to do to get from 5 percent to 70 percent.

The key question is how do we commit or convert these pledges into action?

The United States already donated about 63 million doses to the continent. They have just set a range for the African Union nations to acquire more vaccines, that's all very good initiatives, which is not necessary donation but allowing African Union members to acquire those doses.

Those are exactly the kind of efforts we should be aiming at, about partnerships, cooperation and solidarity.

BRUNHUBER: OK. So you outlined some of the concrete measures that you need to get to that 70 percent. I just want to get some more of those because the G20 announced it would create that task force to fight future pandemics.

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BRUNHUBER: So from your perspective, what is the priority there?

What needs to change the most, the quickest, to prevent the, you know, next inevitable pandemic from getting as bad as COVID has been -- or worse?

NKENGASONG: I think it is the -- creating a task force to avoid the next pandemic is absolutely important. We fully support that as Africa CDC.

But what we are seeing is that a house is still on fire. A continent of 1.2 billion people only has 5 percent of its population immunized. So I think the immediate, urgent issue is to address the access to vaccines so that we can immunize people very quickly, get this pandemic over and then discuss how to tackle the next pandemic.

I think my message to the G20 is, let's commit ourselves to the pledges, let's make the pledges translate to vaccines into people's arms so that we can get to the target that we all agreed on. The next pandemic clearly will be there. I hope not. But how we address this pandemic will guide us on the way we address the subsequent pandemics.

BRUNHUBER: So as you say, access to vaccines is key there. Has been some recent good news; BioNTech just announced it will build a vaccine facility in Africa next year.

So would that be a game changer for the continent?

NKENGASONG: That would be a game changer. I think we are very excited for the news coming out last week, especially with that BioNTech will be producing vaccines next year in Rwanda, in Senegal and other places. That is much welcome.

The African Union, through the Africa CDC, has been very clear on this. We said that from now to the year 2040, we should be able to reverse the situation and be able to manufacture up to 60 percent of vaccines on that continent.

So that is truly great to be a game changer. In the way that we should factor this into the -- as instruments for fighting the next pandemic, if we set up this manufacturing, not only are we protecting the continent of Africa but we are contributing to the global security agenda. So we welcome this initiative.

BRUNHUBER: All right. So trying to convince those in wealthy countries, you can rely on their sense of altruism or maybe it is more realistic, you can appeal to their sense of self preservation.

I'm thinking recently a WHO adviser warned that, if the vaccine disparity continues, the pandemic could go on for a year longer than it needs to.

If you're making a case to Americans to say, helping the rest of the world is in your best interest as Americans, what do you say?

NKENGASONG: Absolutely. I think we know that we are dealing with a virus that transmits very quickly, dealing with a virus that mutates very quickly. And we now have seen how even in countries that are vaccinated at scale, like Israel, were challenged with the emergence of the Delta variant.

And we don't want that to happen. We want to be sure that we vaccinate at scale and at speed so we have the appropriate coverage and avoid that new variants will emerge that will challenge even the current vaccination efforts.

So I think it is very clear. We have to be humble enough to know, to say that we know a lot about this virus but we still don't know much about it in terms of what -- how you mutate and how it will impact the current vaccines.

So it is in the collective interest that we vaccinate everybody across the world, reach that 70 percent target and blunt the spread of this virus.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, collective interest is exactly right. Dr. John Nkengasong, thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate your time.

NKENGASONG: Thank you for having me on your program.

BRUNHUBER: Still to come on CNN, Alec Baldwin speaks on camera since the fatal shooting on the set of his latest film.

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BALDWIN: There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time. But nothing like this. This is a one in a trillion tragedy. It's a one in a trillion death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Straight ahead, his emotional message and the change he wants to see in the wake of the tragedy.

Plus, as world leaders prepare for climate talks in Scotland, new numbers underscore just how urgently action is needed. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: We want to take you back to Rome. G20 leaders are taking in one of the eternal city's most famous sites, the famed Trevi fountains. U.S. President Joe Biden isn't with them, by the look of it there. This is the second and last day of the gathering.

When it ends, the leaders hope to present their consensus on addressing climate change, vaccine inequity and much more.

A one in a trillion event. That's what Alec Baldwin calls the fatal shooting incident on the set of his latest film. The actor made his first on-camera comments since the prop gun he discharged killed the movie's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.

Baldwin remembered her as his friend on a tight-knit crew. He and his family were in Vermont when the paparazzi tracked them down. Baldwin took their questions and called for new safety measures on film sets.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you ever work on another film set that involves firearms of that nature?

BALDWIN: I couldn't answer that question. I really have no sense of it at all. I do know that an ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets is something I'm extremely interested in -- but remember something I think is important. That is how many bullets have been fired in films and TV shows in the last 75 years?

This is America. How many bullets have gone off in movies and on TV sets?

Nearly -- what has to happen now is we have to realize that when it does go off and it is this horrible catastrophic thing, some new measures have to take place. No live -- no real -- on set.

[04:20:00]

BALDWIN: That's not for me to decide.

It is urgent. It is urgent you understand. I'm not an expert in this field. Whatever other people decide is the best way to go in terms of protecting people's safety on film sets, I'm all in favor with and I'll cooperate with that in any way I can.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Natasha Chen has more on what Baldwin had to say.

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NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On Saturday, in Vermont, Alec Baldwin and his family were apparently being followed by cameras. Baldwin got out of his car to talk to paparazzi, answering their questions; being careful though, not to answer anything about the ongoing investigation.

He did say, however, that he was friends with Halyna Hopkins, the director of photography, who was killed by the shot he fired. He also said he has been in touch with her husband, who is in overwhelming grief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: She was my friend. The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting, I took her to dinner, with Joel, the director. There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time. But nothing like this. This is a one in a trillion tragedy.

It's a one in a trillion death and so he is in shock. He has a 9-year- old son. And we are in constant contact with him because we are very worried about his family and his kid.

We are, you know, in constant contact with him because we're very worried about his family and his kid. And as I said, we're eagerly awaiting for the sheriff's department to tell us what their investigation has yielded.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: Baldwin said it's unlikely that filming would continue for the movie "Rust," in which he is not only an actor but also a producer. He said he would be supportive in the future of new measures to make film sets safer, for example, using plastic guns or prohibiting live ammunition altogether.

In the meantime, the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, released a statement on Friday through her attorneys, saying she has no idea how a live round got onto the set and that safety is her top priority.

The sheriff here in Santa Fe, New Mexico, said he would like to do follow-up interviews with both her and the assistant director to clarify some issues -- back to you.

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BRUNHUBER: And as Natasha mentioned, we're hearing more from the gun supervisor on the film.

Attorneys for Hannah Gutierrez Reed released this statement, "Safety is Hannah's number one priority on set. Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from.

"Hannah was hired on two positions on this film, which made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as an armorer. She fought for training days to maintain weapons and proper time to prepare for gunfire but ultimately was overruled by production and her department."

CNN's Pamela Brown spoke with our senior legal analyst, Elie Honig, and Patrick Gomez, the executive editor for "Entertainment Weekly" about the case. Here is part of their conversation.

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ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: First of all, it's important that he is talking to the police. That he is cooperation with investigators. That's consistent with what we've heard from the sheriff and the D.A.

Look, he has important information. And it's probably for the best for everybody involved that he come forward with it.

It's not exactly technically correct that he's not allowed to comment on this substance of the investigations unless the prosecutors and the cops have an order from a judge, which it does not appear in this case, they can't stop him.

Now typically as a prosecutor or a cop, you would tell an important witness like Alec Baldwin, we really would like you not to address this. It's not a good idea to address this.

Alec Baldwin's lawyer, if he's any good and I'm sure he is, has told Baldwin you should not say anything at all and, if you have to say something, don't say anything about the substance of this case.

So you could see Alec Baldwin there sort of struggling to find the right balance between wanting to address the situation but not wanting to say anything of substance.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: He also said, though, he did say it was a freak occurrence, quote, "one in a trillion."

Patrick, there were safety concerns on this set and previous safety complaints against the film's assistant director David Halls who handed the gun to Baldwin.

Do you think that this tragedy will lead to reforms on movie sets?

PATRICK GOMEZ, "ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY": I think there's two really important factors here. One, as you mentioned, the assistant director actually had been pulled off of a set in 2019 for an eerily similar situation. So clearly there is an investigation here in this particular instance.

But, yes, I do think that this is already leading to reforms. In so many different areas, we've seen multiple shows now state that they are no longer going to have live ammunition or actual real guns. They're going to do everything in posts. So we're seeing the industry already respond to this.

BROWN: And we heard Baldwin today talk about this. He said he would be interested in limiting the use of firearms on sets.

So I want to ask you, Elie, you know, there is the assistant director. There's the armorer. We heard Natasha Chen said the armorer released a statement saying -- through her attorney saying that she has no idea how the live rounds got there.

What do you make of that legally for her and for the assistant director?

HONIG: So that is a really important statement by the armorer through her attorneys. I'm not sure it actually helps the armorer, Ms. Gutierrez.

[04:25:00]

HONIG: Because it leads to the next question.

OK, if you have no idea how a live round got into that gun, did you or did you not inspect that gun before it made its way on to set?

If she did not inspect that gun, I think there's an argument right there you have negligence, maybe criminal negligence.

You're an armorer.

What's your number one job?

Inspect the guns. If she did inspect the gun then she must have missed that live round, which again could lead to negligence either in the civil sense if she gets sued or potentially at the higher level of the criminal negligence standard.

BROWN: And you have said, Elie, that you don't foresee Baldwin facing charges.

Have you seen anything to change that?

HONIG: No, I haven't. I think as an actor, if an AD, an assistant director, hands you a gun and said it's a cold gun, everything that I've gathered from researching this and seeing our coverage is that the actor doesn't have any obligation to then inspect the gun for himself.

In fact, it would probably be dangerous to do that. So I don't think Alec Baldwin has potential criminal liability here. I do think he, the production company, many others will quite likely be sued civilly for money damages, however.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Thanks to Elie Honig and Patrick Gomez there.

Coming up, after the break, we take stock of President Biden's second trip to Europe since taking office. Why the challenges are daunting and the stakes are sky high.

Plus, an urgent call for action as world leaders prepare for COP26 climate talks in Glasgow. We're live from Scotland after the break. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: And welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

[04:30:00]

BRUNHUBER: President Biden had hoped to arrive in Europe with a solid legislative achievement at home to boost his credentials among allies. That didn't happen. And Biden arrived at the G20 empty handed. Still, the president carried on with his priorities at the summit, trying to smooth over the diplomatic rift with France over a canceled submarine contract, reassuring nervous allies after the chaotic fall of Afghanistan and discussing the future of the Iran nuclear deal with Britain, Germany and France.

So last hour I asked CNN European affairs commentator Dominic Thomas to weigh in on President Biden's big test on the world stage. Here's part of our conversation.

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DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: I think we've moved way beyond the sort of, America is back, can America be trusted?

I think Biden is a well-known entity on the international stage.

And I think the attention has moved now toward the question of reliability and toward the question of whether or not President Biden can actually deliver on these commitments.

I think to that extent, sort of the travel abroad is not separated from the domestic agenda. You can clearly see it playing out here, sort of the legacy of the Trump era, in which the uncertainty and the unpredictability, especially around the commitment of the multilateral relationship, to NATO, to the E.U., with Brexit not helping in that equation, is on the agenda here.

I think there was one very telling sort of moment at the events yesterday, which is that Chancellor Merkel, who, after 16 years at the helm in Germany, traveled to the G20 with her minister of finance, Olaf Scholz, who, of course, is from another political party, who's been in coalition with her and is the most likely candidate to take over.

Whereas, across the Atlantic, in the United States, former president Trump did not invite President Biden to the White House when he was elected and has basically not acknowledged the legitimacy of his election.

And I think what's interesting here, it's a sort of study in contrasts, is that Chancellor Merkel is underscoring, with the presence of Scholz, the sort of the continuity that can be expected from such a valuable partner as Germany.

And to that extent, President Biden's trip to the G20 is kind of an uphill struggle to sort of prove that continuity and that reliability of the United States at this important juncture.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, let's spell it out, then, in terms of that reliability.

Is that the sense, the ticking clock here for European leaders in terms of getting something done with this Biden administration?

They must be aware of the president's falling poll numbers, the midterms coming up, the possibility of Democrats losing control of Congress; maybe in a few years, a Republican administration.

THOMAS: That is what is, I think, rattling some of these relationships and so on. So we see Biden on the one hand on a sort of diplomatic offensive, restoring that relationship with France; talking about sort of the clumsiness of the ways in which this defense deal, submarine deal with Australia, and so on, ended up putting the French on the outside.

Announcing this relationship with the European Union and the reduction of tariffs on steel and aluminum and so on. So that's sort of the personal aspect of that diplomacy.

But I think that the sort of commitment to resuscitating the Iran deal, to having discussions about global issues, like vaccination campaigns and so on, show the Americans front and center and eager to underscore the crucial importance of multilateralism and how an entity like the G20 can address those particular issues.

So I see that diplomatic offensive working out well. Whether or not it can actually translate into concrete measures are the big question of the day, as you underscore, because of the problems that President Biden is facing essentially at home by disruptive opposition; in many ways, a kind of lack of cohesion, even within the Democratic Party.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Our thanks to CNN European affairs commentator, Dominic Thomas, there.

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BRUNHUBER: So as things begin wrapping up in Rome, all eyes are turning to Scotland and the COP26 climate conference. This year's talks come at a critical moment. Climate disasters like July's flooding in Germany and China have killed hundreds.

And the U.N. is reporting that Asia had its warmest year on record in 2020, with average temperatures soaring to the highest levels in more than 100 years. Yet some world leaders are casting doubt on how much these talks can really accomplish. For more, let's bring in Phil Black in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Boris Johnson is warning about the cost of failure in Glasgow. It would be huge, he's saying. But he doesn't sound optimistic that anything big will get done.

[04:35:00]

BRUNHUBER: Is it just a case of managing expectations here?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, both managing expectations and at the same time reminding everybody what is at stake. He's being dramatic in a historical flourish, warning that failure to address climate change could result in civilization as we know it going backwards.

But at the same time, talking about what can realistically be achieved over the next two weeks in Glasgow. And he says, as is pretty well known, I think, by this point, that solving the problem fundamentally, that's just not going to happen.

So the best case scenario is some sort of progress that keeps the dream alive, that still means it is possible to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris agreement, where countries committed to doing what is necessary to avert the worst consequences of climate change.

And that is limit global average temperature increase to between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius, preferably closer to 1.5. We go into the talks with all the countries having presented, most of the countries having presented their individual plans of how they hope to achieve this.

The idea is to try and get a breakthrough of some kind, to try and build momentum, to try a path that means work can be achieved within the available timeframe, not just in the long term.

Crucially to these talks, Boris Johnson and others will be pushing countries to lay out detailed plans for cutting emissions deeply this decade because the science says, if you don't move quickly in the coming years, there is no chance of achieving the necessary carbon neutrality by the middle of the century.

So that's why there is such heightened language being used, why some do consider this a make or break moment for addressing the climate crisis.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, but then, you know, adding to the challenges, I guess, here, the immediate context for this climate gathering, it couldn't really be worse in a sense, with countries around the world facing an energy crunch, fuel shortages, price hikes.

How might that sort of factor into things?

BLACK: It depends on how you look at it. On one hand, it is a powerful reminder of the role that fossil fuels play in our societies and keeping them moving and functioning and growing.

But it could also be used, perhaps as a pretty strong argument for giving up that dependency on fossil fuels, for moving beyond relying so heavily on them.

Fundamentally the tension in all climate talks, it always comes back to this idea of doing the right thing by the planet versus looking after the economic prosperity of countries and entire populations, at least in the short term.

And there is no doubt that that fundamental tension will be at play in all the conversations that take place over the coming weeks.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, long-term thinking versus short-term, as you say. Phil Black in Edinburgh, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

So in the coming hours, Britain's Prince Charles will urge G20 leaders to turn words into action when it comes to the climate crisis. The Prince of Wales will speak during an event focused on the role of the private sector in fighting climate change.

He launched the sustainable markets initiative focused on encouraging businesses to take steps toward addressing the climate crisis.

Meanwhile, as COP26 is set to begin, our attention is also focused on the airline industry's role in reducing emissions. CNN's Anna Stewart shows why a special type of fuel is much safer for the environment than traditional jet fuel.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cooking oil, food waste, even your old clothing, it could all be used to fly a plane and combat climate change.

Sustainable aviation fuels or SAFs are fuels made from renewable energy sources and could potentially cut carbon emissions from aviation by up to 80 percent.

STEWART: The E.U. has made some ambitious proposals for aviation, as part of its green deal. From 2025, planes taking off from E.U. airports would have to use a blend of at least 2 percent sustainable aviation fuel, rising to 5 percent in 2030 and 63 percent by 2050. The problem is, right now, SAF only accounts for 0.1 percent of the aviation fuel market.

STEWART (voice-over): Energy giant Shell is hoping to change that. It plans to start producing around 2 million tons of SAF per year, by 2025. It is collaborating with British plane engine maker, Rolls- Royce. They're pushing for jets to fill up on 100 percent SAF. For now, regulators limit planes to a 50 percent blend, with conventional jet fuel.

[04:40:00]

ANNA MASCOLO, SHELL GLOBAL AVIATION PRESIDENT: At least 10 percent of our sales, by 2030, will be SAF. Now that is a scale-up from the current production. So by 2025, Shell, alone, will produce 10 times more than what all the different producers are producing today.

Will it be enough?

No, it won't be. STEWART: So is it policy makers?

Is it regulators?

What needs to happen to get more SAF being made and more airlines using it?

STEIN: Mostly, it is about market conditions. So right now, fossil fuel is pretty cheap. Without any intervention by government, airlines, quite rightly, will carry on using the cheapest source of fuel, which is fossil based fuel.

SAFs right now are not as cheap as fossil fuels. In fact, right now, they're quite expensive. And so we have to have some regulation intervention in order to encourage the ramp-up of SAFs.

STEWART: Market forces won't be enough?

STEIN: Market forces won't be enough.

STEWART (voice-over): In Belgium, ArcelorMittal is teaming up with LanzaTech to convert waste from its steel mills into ethanol. It is building a high tech plant, using a different technology, that has potential to increase SAF production.

BJORN HEIJSTRA, TECHNICAL DIRECTOR EUROPE, LANZATECH: What we are doing here, at this plant, is carbon cycling. The carbon has had a primary use in the steel mill and, with this facility, here, we can ferment the carbon into a secondary use.

This process is unique. We use gases into alcohol but still a fermentation but it is a biocatalyst that does this. It's not a yeast, it's a bacteria and the bacteria can consume carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen gases and convert these into ethanol.

STEWART (voice-over): Three years, in the making the plant is financially backed by European and state authorities. It is due to be operational from 2022 and, promises to deliver 64,000 tons of ethanol, per year. That could be used for many sectors, from fragrances and detergents to sustainable aviation fuels.

WIM VAN DER STRICHT, CTO TECHNOLOGY STRATEGY, ARCELORMITTAL: We used to be steel makers. We make steel and now we're producing ethanol using the technology of LanzaTech. And there, we confront a lot of synergies. So the waste of one industry, is the fistek (ph) of the other. All sectors have to look into this and they have to collaborate to say one and one is three and not one and one is two in that case. They can gain a lot by working together.

STEWART (voice-over): Powering up the green energy transitions and tackling aviation pollution, it's a team effort for European business leaders.

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BRUNHUBER: And CNN will have extensive coverage of the COP26 conference in Glasgow on air and online. For the latest climate news and COP26 developments, head to cnn.com/climate.

So polls are open for a couple more hours in Japan's first national election in two years. The ruling coalition led by the prime minister's Liberal Democratic Party is widely expected to keep its majority.

Japanese celebrities are throwing their star power behind the call to vote in a viral YouTube video, released earlier this month. Titled "The Voice Project," the video is a rare chance to see celebrities speaking out about politics. The video has more than 600,000 views so far.

Ahead on CNN, some firefighters in New York are resisting the city's mandate to get a COVID-19 vaccine. We'll hear what the fire commissioner has to say next. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: In just a couple of days, young children in the U.S. could be getting a COVID shot. A CDC panel meets Tuesday to decide whether to recommend Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use in children between the ages of 5 and 11.

The FDA gave its authorization on Friday. The CDC director still has to sign off on it. But even after rigorous testing, some parents say they're concerned about the vaccine: 76 percent think not enough is known about the long-term effects; 71 percent are worried about side effects and 66 percent are worried about future fertility problems.

To be clear, fertility concerns have been repeatedly debunked.

An excessive number of employees at New York City's Fire Department are calling in sick. This comes after Friday's deadline, mandating that most city workers provide proof they received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine or be placed on unpaid leave. CNN's Polo Sandoval reports.

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: New York City's Fire Department said it was prepared to overcome any potential staffing issues that they may experience after that vaccine mandate took effect on Friday evening.

And authorities saying that they are now implementing some of those protocols to make sure that no calls go unanswered.

It was on Saturday that the head of the New York Fire Department actually released a statement, reporting what was described as excessive sick leave that's being taken by multiple firefighters. Commissioner Daniel Nigro writing, "The excessive sick leave by a

group of our firefighters, because of their anger at a vaccine mandate for all city employees, is unacceptable, contrary to their oaths to serve and may endanger the lives of New Yorkers."

The commissioner went on to write, "Despite these actions by some, the department will continue to respond to all calls for help that come our way."

The commissioner saying those calls do continue to go answered; however, they have had to take some of their fire companies out of service. Those are not to be confused with entire firehouses around the city, which we are told have not been shut down. Those fire operations there have not been affected.

But they're certainly having to reshuffle some of their resources to make sure that New Yorkers do have the help that they need.

In terms of some of the latest numbers, vaccination numbers for some of New York City's first responders, you can see them for yourself. There is a slight increase that authorities have reported since that mandate took effect on Friday.

Authorities certainly hopeful that those numbers will continue to rise, since some of those employees who show up to work on Monday without proof of at least one shot face possibly being sent home on unpaid leave -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

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BRUNHUBER: Former U.S. President Donald Trump was at a World Series baseball game last night. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, fans react to his visit after Trump earlier had called this year for a boycott of America's pastime. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The leading candidates to be Virginia's next governor are going back and forth over Donald Trump. Democrat Terry McAuliffe said, on Saturday, the upcoming election is not about Trump, even though he has repeatedly tried to link the Republican candidate to the former president.

Meanwhile, Republican Glenn Youngkin tried to have it both ways with Trump and his supporters. The business man turned politician has worked to keep Trump at arm's length but says Trump represents much of why he's running.

Youngkin told CNN's Dana Bash on Saturday he isn't planning to participate in a telerally with Trump on Monday, the eve of the election.

But while Donald Trump isn't actually on the ballot, in Virginia, he seemed to be currying the fans' favor while at the World Series game here in Atlanta last night, even joined in when the crowd did the home team's controversial tomahawk chop.

Trump has been smarting about losing the presidential vote in Georgia in the last election. Months ago, he called for a baseball boycott after the league moved the All-Star game out of Atlanta over Georgia's restrictive voting laws. CNN's Donie O'Sullivan asked fans about his presence at the game.

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DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Baseball fans showing up here at the World Series in Atlanta tonight having mixed feelings about the former president showing up to the game. Have a listen.

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O'SULLIVAN: How do you think Trump will be seen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I hate to say it. We are fans.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we like his policies. We don't like his attitude sometimes but we like his policies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's OK.

O'SULLIVAN: You think he'll get more cheers than boos tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More cheers than boos.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His personality is a little bit over the top.

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O'SULLIVAN: There's a special guest coming tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh yes, we've heard. The one that doesn't like baseball.

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O'SULLIVAN: What do you think about that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here to see the baseball game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: Do you think -- do you think he'll get a warm welcome or booed or what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mixed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably mixed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

O'SULLIVAN: Because up until a few months ago, he wanted people to boycott, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I couldn't figure that out. You'll never see baseball boycotters here.

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O'SULLIVAN: A special guest coming in tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's it?

Oh, Trump?

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love it.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's my man.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.

O'SULLIVAN: You think -- you think he's going to get a warm reception here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Atlanta fans love him. He should have won the election.

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O'SULLIVAN: So there you have, Trump back here tonight in a state that he falsely, of course, believes that he didn't lose 12 months ago. And now we're 12 months out from the midterms -- at the World Series, it is Donie O'Sullivan, in Atlanta.

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BRUNHUBER: A dazzling light show this weekend in parts of the world. And all people have to do is look up. The Northern Lights are on display across parts of Europe and North America, including U.S. states as far south as Illinois and Oregon.

One viewer tweeted, "You won't believe the scene here, unreal."

Keep an eye out for that.

I'm Kim Brunhuber. Thank you for watching. Stay with CNN, our special coverage continues with "NEW DAY" next.