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Diplomat Found Dead Believed To Be Russian Secret Agent; U.S. House Approves $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill; E.U. Migrant Crisis; Young Activists Demand More Action On Climate Crisis; Europe COVID-19 Cases And Hospitalizations Rise; Republicans Push Back Against Biden Vaccine Mandate; Yorkshire FC Racism Saga. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired November 06, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

Setbacks and delays but the U.S. President finally gets his $1 trillion bill on infrastructure.

Europe's migrant crisis, refugees forced to take a deadly journey at sea in hopes of finding a better life.

A call for an immediate cease-fire, the U.N. and others raise concerns about the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Ethiopia.

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

BRUNHUBER: We're following breaking news out of Houston, Texas. At least eight people have died at the Astroworld music festival. At this hour we don't know what caused the deaths. Scores of others were injured.

More than 300 people were treated at a field hospital near the festival. At least 23 people were transported to hospitals, one of them 10 years old. At least 11 of those taken to hospitals were in cardiac arrest.

Authorities say about 50,000 people attended and the crowd surged toward the stage shortly after 9:00 pm local time. The fire chief described what unfolded as a mass casualty incident.

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CHIEF SAM PENA, HOUSTON FIRE DEPARTMENT: The crowd began to compress toward the front of the stage, OK. And that caused some panic and it started causing some injuries. People began to fall out, become unconscious. And it created additional panic. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Organizers say the second night of the festival has been cancelled. Do stay with CNN as we follow this breaking story and we'll have much more at the top of the hour on "NEW DAY."

U.S. President Joe Biden finally has one pillar of his sweeping domestic agenda in place. He scored a major win in Congress with final passage of his $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this vote, the yeas are 228 and the nays are 206. The motion is adopted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Getting the bill through the House was an uphill struggle and passage was uncertain shortly before the vote was held. But late- night arm-twisting by the president got enough Democrats on board to make it happen.

After the vote the president released this statement, touting the achievement. It reads in part the bill, "will create millions of jobs, turn the climate crisis into an opportunity and put us on a path to win the economic competition for the 21st century."

CNN's Jessica Dean has the details on how the infrastructure vote finally came together.

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JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Big news out of the U.S. House of Representatives tonight, as the bipartisan infrastructure bill makes it out of the House and is now heading to President Biden's desk for his signature.

So a major part of his legislative agenda getting done. House Democrats getting it done with 13 House Republicans joining them in that vote. You did see six progressives who voted against this. But the bottom line is the bipartisan infrastructure bill will, now, become law.

It is a big victory for President Biden, who was really hoping and had to end up calling and trying to push this over the finish line multiple times. But really, today, when it really came down to it, we started the day with expected morning votes and something that would be rather quick.

And it did not turn out that way, just hours and hours on negotiations dragged on, as various factions of the party wanted different things. A handful of House moderates, holding out for a CBO score on the Build Back Better Act.

And then the Congressional Black Caucus, offering a compromise idea, to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a procedural vote on the Build Back Better Act.

While progressives balked at that at the beginning but, in the end, everyone came around, with moderates offering up a statement, committing to voting for the Build Back Better Act by November 15th.

And then progressives, the chairwoman of the progressives saying, the bulk of them would vote for this, which is what ended up happening and that is how they were able to get to those magic numbers and get this bill to President Biden.

That heads to his desk to become law. And as for the Build Back Better Act, it now has to pass the House. It will then go to the Senate, where expected a ton of changes will be made.

We know a number of senators, including Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema and also senator Bernie Sanders and others want changes made to this.

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DEAN: So expect that also to be a long, drawn-out process, before it makes its way back to the House side -- Jessica Dean, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And the chairwoman of the Democratic progressive caucus is defending the strategy of linking the infrastructure bill with the social spending plan. Listen to this.

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REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): We made the determination that getting a commitment to this larger package, frankly, was absolutely important, that we wanted to make sure we had the votes for immigration, for pharmaceutical drug pricing, for paid leave, all the things that are in this package.

We also made the determination that the country needs to continue to move forward. So we feel like we got the best of all worlds. We got a commitment on this vote, which -- and every single one of those individuals looked us in the eyes and said they are voting for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Only 13 House Republicans broke ranks to vote for the infrastructure plan. Don Bacon explains why he was one of them.

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REP. DON BACON (R-NE): That conflated with the other bill. And both sides, the progressives said they're linked together and our side. And it was wrong in my view. I think the hard infrastructure bill, I thought it was good for our district, for our country.

I don't think it was perfect dottery to be (ph). I was frightened (ph) and I think I would have made it a little better, myself. But I think in the end it was good for the country and I just got to follow my conscience. And I committed to do it back in March and April.

And I thought it was an easy bill when it passed in August. For some reason we wanted to make it harder than it shouldn't have been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Let's take a closer look at what is in the bipartisan infrastructure package. It comes with a $1.2 trillion price tag and $110 billion of that is earmarked for fixing up roads and bridges. It also includes $66 billion to overhaul passenger and freight rail; $55 billion will go toward upgrading water infrastructure and $65 billion will be spent on improving broadband internet access.

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BRUNHUBER: Natasha Lindstaedt teaches government at the University of Essex in England and joins us live.

Thanks so much for being here. We will get to the politics of this in a moment. Let's start first with the substance.

How important is this bill to the country?

How will Americans benefit and when are they likely to see a payoff?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, it's incredibly important just because there's decaying infrastructure. There is all kind of problems with our bridges, which is dangerous. Our ports are unsafe.

And we need to invest in our public transit system. We need to invest in our water pipes, broadband and so forth.

But originally this bill was called the American Jobs Plan. I think that would be another added benefit of it. I think that's another reason why it can be so popular, it will be so popular, because it will create a lot of jobs.

And it's about tackling things that are long overdue. So no wonder it was already very popular in Congress, it just got delayed because of the combining of this bill with a social safety net bill.

BRUNHUBER: We'll get to some of that sausage-making later. But just how big of a win is this for a president who's trying to grapple with the pandemic, inflation, the economy, not to mention those declining approval ratings?

LINDSTAEDT: Well, this is incredibly important because he ran on this platform, that he was going to get things done and that government can work for the American people. Even though he had some big wins with the initial American Rescue Plan Act, where poverty rates were halved; 4.1 million jobs were created and growth rates in the second quarter were 6.5 percent and over 200 million vaccines distributed, he was just getting hit absolutely hit hard in the ratings.

He had an approval rating of about 43 percent. It had nearly plummeted from around 60 percent when he first took office. So all the things he was doing well were not getting noticed.

Instead, he was getting hit hard by the fact that he had no control over his own party. There was so much internal wrangling, that it appeared the Democrats were incompetent. They were hit by the Virginia governor election, where a Republican won, in a state where a governor had been Democratic in the past.

So it was clear that all of this wasn't playing out well for the Democrats but particularly for Joe Biden.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. So, as we mentioned, they punted on that massive almost $2 trillion social spending plan. Its fate is up in the air.

Will it get passed as well?

BRUNHUBER: I think it will eventually get passed in the House. Some of the moderate Democrats agreed they were willing to do it as long as it went through the Congressional Budget Office with a clear estimate about what the economic impact would be, the impact on taxes, the impact on individuals.

And with was a little bit more transparency. I think they were willing to support it. But what will eventually happen when it gets to the Senate, that's where there will be real problems of getting this bill to look like anything of which Joe Biden and the more progressive Democrats had envisioned.

It will get watered down considerably.

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LINDSTAEDT: There are all kind of things people are unhappy with at the moment. So I do think it's going to go through. But it's not going to take the original form that I think people had intended.

BRUNHUBER: So we could see some more chaos ahead. So you know, press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted of, delivering this infrastructure bill, proof that delivering for the American people was worth all this painful sausage-making, as she went on to tout the benefits of the bill.

But what costs will this fighting have, the wrangling, the criticism of various parts of these bills from within the party?

Have Democrats basically succeeded only in making that sausage seem unpalatable to many Americans?

LINDSTAEDT: Well, the thing is, they have to remind Americans that democracy is messy. It's not like a dictatorship, where everything happens very easily and quickly. There will be a messy part of it.

But I think the bigger problem with the Democrats is they're not controlling the narrative better. They are letting the Republicans take control of it, who say the Democrats are incompetent, complete disarray, complete chaos.

Do you really want them running your country?

They need to emphasize it just takes time to get things done and they also need to have a clear message of what they are providing. What they are providing are things that are popular with the American people. It just takes time negotiating matters.

I think this is something that the Democrats have to get much better at if they're going to do well in the 2022 midterms.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Exactly. Well said. We will have to leave it there. Thank you so much, we really appreciate it.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

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BRUNHUBER: A witness Friday testified that the man Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed in protests in Wisconsin was asking to be shot. A former Marine described the man as acting, quote, "very belligerently" but he didn't think he was a threat.

The man's fiancee also testified Friday. She described visiting the scene after her boyfriend had been shot and collapsing, when she saw his blood on the ground. The prosecution could rest its case as early as next week. It's still unclear if Rittenhouse will take the stand.

In Georgia, it was an emotional day in court as the murder trial of three white men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, a Black jogger, got underway. Jurors were shown body camera footage of Arbery's final moments. Prosecutors say he was tracked down by the men, cornered and fatally shot, based on assumptions.

Arbery's mother broke down in tears, watching the scene unfold. She says it was the first time she saw the video. A defense attorney for Gregory and Travis McMichael say they were trying to conduct a citizen's arrest, saying Travis shot Arbery in self-defense. The trial will resume Monday morning.

Now to Ethiopia, where the military is calling on veterans to rejoin the army and defend against advancing rebel forces after nine opposition groups formed an alliance aimed at removing the prime minister from power. David McKenzie is following the story.

The fact the Ethiopian defense forces are calling on veterans to rejoin the army, it seems like a desperate move.

What's the latest?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't know if I can call it desperate yet but it certainly shows how seriously the government is taking this. And there is a disconnect now between the words and the actions of the Ethiopian government.

They're saying there shouldn't be alarmism about the deepening crisis in Ethiopia. Yet they've done this, calling on anyone under 55 to voluntarily, if they are veterans, join the military. And they're putting in emergency measures that can create conscription.

The question was put to the attorney general, if it isn't a serious situation, as they say, then why are they doing it?

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GEDION TIMOTHEWOS, ETHIOPIAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: The government is still taking some precautionary measures. We have credible intelligence indicating that the TPLF might try to orchestrate some sort of (INAUDIBLE), not only in Addis but other parts of the country as well. So taking into account this kind of reformation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: The TPLF is the political group based in Tigray, the region that's seen conflict for more than a year now, Kim. But they have moved substantially out of the normal area of operations and, at least symbolically, are threatening Ethiopia's capital -- Kim?

BRUNHUBER: So David, the situation is fluid; obviously, so many unknowables.

But what's your sense of what might happen next?

MCKENZIE: It's very hard to tell. A lot about this conflict has surprised people. When prime minister Abiy said it would be a swift military campaign in the north, many people were skeptical of that.

But then the Ethiopian military did, in fact, push out the Tigrayan military and militia forces after a relatively short time. They then came back and retook the capital mid this year. So it's anyone's guess.

Also, there is a difficulty to get concrete information on where the front lines are. The government is saying they are engaging the TPLF some several hundred kilometers away from the capital.

But the fact that they have managed to break away from the area of operations -- and you do have this political formation that was announced in Washington, D.C., if not militarily, certainly politically, the prime minister is under a huge amount of pressure. And some analysts believe his room for maneuver is diminishing.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll keep following this story. David McKenzie, thank you so much.

German authorities, reportedly, believe that a diplomat found dead outside Moscow's embassy in Berlin was a secret agent for Russia's FSB intelligence service. According to "Der Spiegel" magazine, the 35-year old fell from an upper floor of the Russian embassy building. But it is still not clear how he fell.

The Russian embassy didn't agree to an autopsy and the man's diplomatic immunity meant that Germany could not carry out an investigation.

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CHRISTOFER BURGER, SPOKESPERSON, GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): I can say that the German foreign ministry is aware of the incident.

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BURGER (through translator): However, for privacy reasons, I can't give any further details about the case.

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BRUNHUBER: The Russian embassy released a statement on Friday, saying the diplomat's death was a tragic accident and speculation by Western media about the incident is, quote, "absolutely incorrect."

Still ahead, we take a closer look at Europe's migrant crisis as asylum seekers are reportedly pushed back to sea once they reach the Greek border.

Plus, no signs of subsiding as some European countries see record numbers of new COVID cases. We're going live to London to see what's being done to stop that, coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, has released a recent report on the migrant crisis in Europe. Although the overall number of refugees arriving to Greece has declined from last year, third quarter numbers were 60 percent higher than the same period in 2020.

Greece is home to nearly 120,000 migrants and refugees. Most are from Afghanistan, Syria and Pakistan. Europe's broken asylum system has forced many desperate refugees to make a dangerous, sometimes deadly journey at sea.

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BRUNHUBER: And now some are at the center of tensions between Turkey and Greece. The Greek foreign minister promises to investigate allegations that its coast guard is illegally pushing back migrants at the border. CNN's Arwa Damon reports.

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dinghy is floating helplessly in the distant darkness.

(INAUDIBLE) It's right there. It looks like it's getting completely hammered by the waves. DAMON (voice-over): The Turkish Coast Guard speeds out. This is

nothing new for the Turks, more like a routine whose intensity has varied over the years, with the various waves of refugees and migrants trying to reach European soil.

DAMON: It looks like there are children on board.

DAMON (voice-over): As we approach we can see the waves battering and rolling over the sides of the flimsy boat.

DAMON: Can you see that?

They're bailing water out of the back.

DAMON (voice-over): The Turks were notified by the Greeks by a fax of the dinghy's location. This is what happens on a regulate basis. For more than a year now, the Greek Coast Guard has been pushing back that try to reach its shores.

Greece continues to vehemently deny this, blaming criminal gangs and human traffickers for trying to enter Europe. But the practice has been extensively reported on by media and rights groups and recently led to a call for an investigation by a senior E.U. official.

DAMON: There are about 12 people who are just smushed into that dinghy, including that small child. I mean, how terrifying (INAUDIBLE) for them.

DAMON (voice-over): And how desperate they must have been to even try this, especially now, when the chances of success are so much less than they were before.

Much of it is spurred by a rise in anti-refugee sentiment. Greece doesn't want them and, ultimately, neither does the rest of Europe.

Pushing people back out to sea would be a violation of international law. Even if these people had a legitimate case for asylum, it most likely will not be heard.

The family with the baby who is just five months old is Somali. Mohammed (ph) says the Greeks beat them and knocked him into the water. We requested a response from Greece on this specific incident, provided the coordinates from the fax they had sent to the Turks but received no reply.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): Its take over the boat. In the sea.

DAMON (voice-over): He worked construction in Somalia, was a football player and district team manager. He says the terror group Al-Shabaab accused him of working with the government.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): OK, I kill you. I had to leave Somali.

DAMON (voice-over): Turkey is rescuing them out of the water but President Erdogan says Turkey will no longer be the dumping ground for migrants and refugees.

Come legally, the West says. But the system is slow, broken.

And how are you to apply from a country where death threats are at your door?

Nawid Habibi (ph) was a military pilot in Afghanistan. The sea route was too expensive, too risky for his small children. And he was lucky, perhaps, in that he had evidence to prove his legal case. Around a year ago, his friend, also a helicopter pilot, was shot by the Taliban in a targeted assassination.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did not survive.

DAMON (voice-over): Nawid was also getting direct threats, which just became a lot more terrifying. The family fled. He has all his documents, evidence of his work with coalition forces. He also has a note, stamped by the Taliban.

DAMON: What does this say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says that Afghanistan, Islamic Republic of Emirate and Balkh, Balkh was in Mazar-i-Sharif, the judgment commission, he was judged but killed him (ph).

So when we get you, we will definitely kill you. You or a member of your family.

DAMON (voice-over): It is only now, now that the Taliban controls his entire country, that he has hope for asylum in the U.S. America broadened its eligibility requirements after Afghanistan was catapulted into the global spotlight.

It should not be this way. Whether it's America or Europe, the Western world is failing those in need. Forgotten conflicts, neglected populations from Somalia, to Yemen to Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, people will continue to be driven by the sliver of hope for something better. And they deserve better than this -- Arwa Damon, CNN, Turkey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Coming up, a dire warning about the massive COVID outbreak in Europe. A top health agency says some countries could see even more cases and hospitalizations down the line.

Plus, climate activists flood the streets of Glasgow with a message for world leaders.

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BRUNHUBER: Why they say the pledges they made at COP26 ring hollow and aren't enough to save the planet. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Thank you for watching us here in the United States. Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

A major piece of U.S. President Joe Biden's agenda has finally passed. We're going to show you here some live pictures, I believe, of Capitol Hill.

There it is, where, just a few hours ago, the House approved a $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, giving Biden a major and much needed win. CNN's Jessica Dean spoke to our Phil Mattingly right after the legislation passed.

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DEAN: These various sides were really at odds with each other and that trust issue has been something that we have come back to again and again as this has moved through both the Senate and also the House and all of the various machinations.

You have to think that with them moving forward and progressives buying in, moderates giving them what most of them found acceptable. We did see, as I mentioned, some progressive Democrats voting against this, a handful of them. But you have to think that this is a way forward.

Now, they have turned their eyes, of course, to the Build Back Better Act, which those moderates have committed to voting on by November 15th. And they are waiting on that CBO score. That is going to take some time to get back.

But that is certainly what progressives want to see. And you can bet that is what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House leadership wants to see.

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DEAN: I mean, Phil, they were in and out all day. People in and out of their office. We waited outside her office for hours today and saw various members, various caucus is going in to really plead their case and really trying to thread the needle from all of these various pieces of the Democratic Caucus.

So, of course, they're hoping that they can now move forward and get the second part of President Biden's agenda passed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Early in the day, President Biden got some welcome news in the latest U.S. jobs report. More than half a million jobs were added in October. And the unemployment rate fell to levels not seen in 1.5 years.

CNN's chief White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins filed this report before the House passed the infrastructure bill. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Amid all the Democratic infighting on the Hill, President Biden did get some good news on Friday, when the Labor Department released its October jobs report, revealing, the U.S. economy had added 531,000 jobs that month and of course, the highest number the economy has seen in several months.

This also came with revisions for the jobs report in September and October, of course, those months had been especially low, due to the coronavirus pandemic but have been revised upward by about 200,000, bringing that average up and delivering more good news for this White House, that is trying to dig its way out of this post pandemic economy.

Something that President Biden made clear, in his remarks on the jobs report, not only tying it to the economic agenda he is trying to get passed through Capitol Hill but also, the American Rescue Plan that he passed earlier this year, saying, it is proof that it is working and proof that the U.S. is picking its way out of the latest coronavirus surge, of course, the Delta variant, which was hitting incredibly hard in September.

As White House officials say, they were confident it would bounce back and they are not overfocusing on any one month, looking at the broader picture. This report also showed the unemployment rate, dropped to 4.6 percent. Of course, from 4.8 percent but much further from that 4.6 level that we have seen, previously. Though, it did show the labor participation rate did not change much.

Essentially, it was flat from September to October. That is a number, of course, employers are watching closely, hoping that is a number that picks up -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: On the pandemic front, there's been some encouraging news about an anti-COVID pill developed by Pfizer. The company says interim results of a trial showed that the drug was 89 percent effective in preventing in hospitalizations and deaths.

Unlike the vaccine, the Paxlovid pill would be given to people who are already infected and they would take it at home. It would be taken in combination with another antiviral.

Now Pfizer says, it will apply for emergency use authorization in the U.S., possibly as early as this month.

A massive COVID surge in Europe isn't expected to get better anytime soon. The region's CDC says infections, hospitalizations and deaths will rise for at least two more weeks. The newest hot spot, Hungary, reported more than 6,800 new cases Friday. That is more than double the number from the middle of last week.

Five other countries have reported record numbers of new cases this week. So for more on that, let's bring in Nada Bashir, who joins us from London.

Urgent warnings coming from Europe.

What are leaders proposing to get a handle on this?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Kim, the alarm bells are really being sounded by the World Health Organization, warning that Europe is now once again at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with projections of both cases and deaths expected to rise over the next few weeks.

And a stark warning from the WHO, that we could see something like half a million deaths between now and the beginning of February in Europe and Central Asia. So some stark warnings there from the health authorities.

And leaders are under pressure now to really tackle and stem the spread of this virus as we head into the winter months. Some health experts have warned about what's being described as a twindemic, governments having to deal with the spreading virus and the seasonal flu, which has long put strain on health care centers across the continent, including here in the U.K.

So there's a real sense of urgency now to get this under control and the World Health Organization has highlighted two key areas of concern, the first being an uneven uptake of the coronavirus vaccines. Some parts of the continent have had relative success getting people to go out and get the jab.

But other parts of the continent, including Eastern Europe and the Balkans are really struggling still against vaccine hesitancy. So there's a sense of concern that if people aren't getting the jab, they could see a major surge over the winter months, as we are seeing now in large swaths across Europe.

But the second area of concern that the World Health Organization has highlighted are the national policies. They are calling on world leaders and European leaders to take a look at their own legislation and consider whether or not they ought to be bringing back into place these restrictive measures we've seen in the past during the pandemic.

[05:35:00]

BASHIR: Including mandatory mask wearing, social distancing; we've even seen some countries including Russia bring into force another lockdown. So there are measures there that leaders are considering to tackle the spread.

We know in the U.K., for example, there's a plan B that the government has touted, bringing back into force those stricter measures to stem the spread of the virus, although they've resisted from doing that so far.

But there is some real sense of concern now that we've seen rising cases. And this could spiral out of control. We've seen record numbers in countries, including Germany, Greece and Slovakia. And we've seen the health care sectors across Europe fall under the pressure before.

And there's a real worry now we might not be able to deal with this level of pressure, considering that we've got the new Delta variant on our hands. So there is a real sense of concern, real sense of pressure but not a lot of time, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely, and more pressure to get more people vaccinated. Nada Bashir, thank you so much.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider is an internal medicine physician and the founder of the End Well Project. She joins me from San Francisco.

Thanks for being here with us.

So just from what we just saw there in Europe, which is now being described as the epicenter of the epidemic, we're seeing cases rising quickly, even in countries like Germany, that have, broadly speaking, handled the pandemic relatively well.

So what does that tell you and what kind of warning is that for those of us here in the U.S.?

DR. SHOSHANA UNGERLEIDER, CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER: Well, Kim, what we're seeing in Europe is really concerning. Eastern Europe is an epicenter. You mentioned death rates from COVID-19 in Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia. Russia and Ukraine are really at an all-time high for the pandemic.

And that's due to low vaccination rates in these countries. And many parts of Western Europe are also surging with new cases. In Germany, as you mentioned, over the last two weeks, the average number of daily cases in the country has more than doubled, with some ICUs in the country reporting they're at full capacity.

And Germany's fully vaccinated 67 percent of its population. Many other countries in Western Europe, with relatively high vaccination rates, are seeing new COVID cases surging.

Vaccination is certainly limiting severe illness and death, thankfully, in those countries. But I really think this should serve as a warning to the rest of the world, that if countries with 70 percent to 80 percent vaccination uptake are having these kinds of surges, it can really happen anywhere.

BRUNHUBER: Thankfully here in the U.S. more and more people will be able to get vaccinated with the COVID vaccine available for younger kids now.

There still seems to be, though, some reticence for many parents to get their kids vaccinated. A lot of that has to do with misinformation. We're seeing all sorts of myths out there, how it might affect fertility, all sorts of things, especially on social media. So now as they're trying to get that push to get young kids vaccinated, how do you counter that misinformation from well-meaning parents, who want to protect their kids?

UNGERLEIDER: Well, Kim, it was a really big week in the U.S. The CDC expanded vaccination recommendations to 28 million children here in the U.S., ages 5 to 11, which allows providers to start vaccinating them as soon as possible.

Getting this age group vaccinated against COVID is essential. In the clinical trial, the Pfizer vaccine showed 90.7 percent efficacy at preventing symptomatic cases of COVID. Kim, 6 million kids in the U.S. have been infected with this virus; 1.1 million have been in the last seven weeks.

And the Delta variant sent nearly 30,000 children to the hospital in August. There is a very dangerous misconception and certainly misinformation circulating that children are not affected by COVID.

They certainly are. Their mental health has suffered, not being able to socialize with family and friends. For many kids, having school closures due to outbreaks has been extremely difficult and not to mention the risk of long COVID-19, with debilitating long-term symptoms for some children who are infected with the virus.

So for any parents who are on the fence, please know that the benefits of this vaccine far outweigh the risks. And certainly if you have questions, go directly to your doctor. Don't read about it on social media, come to us. We really want to answer your questions and have a conversation about it.

BRUNHUBER: And we've got to get more of their parents vaccinated as well, maybe by forcing them, right, the federal vaccine mandate would affect maybe some 100 million workers or so. There's been huge pushback against this, as you would expect. Dozens of states are taking the government to court to stop this.

You've been very vocal in support of vaccine mandates, why is that?

UNGERLEIDER: Well, at this point, you know, whatever people are waiting for, to convince them to take this vaccine, you know, that time has really passed. We have now vaccinated half of all humanity.

[05:40:00]

UNGERLEIDER: Billions and billions of doses of this vaccine have gone out around the world. It is certainly extremely effective at preventing severe illness and death with very few potential downsides.

So if we have to mandate these vaccines to take place, I mean, that's where we're at right now. What we know is that, if you are unvaccinated in this country, COVID-19 is coming for you. There really isn't anywhere to hide. So we're at a point, really, the way forward in this pandemic is vaccination.

BRUNHUBER: Let's end on a positive note. The developments in the anti- viral pills for COVID, one was approved in the U.K.; Pfizer announced one could be approved here in the U.S. by the end of the year.

How big of a deal is that?

UNGERLEIDER: It's a really big deal. You know, on Friday, as you mentioned, Pfizer did release preliminary results of its study of 775 unvaccinated adults. And these were patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 and were considered high risk for hospitalization due to underlying health problems.

They received an anti-viral pill that showed an 89 percent reduction in their combined rate of hospitalization or death after a month compared to placebo. So the data haven't yet been published.

But this is quite promising and I expect that we'll hear more soon on this. I think that the -- certainly the future is being able to go to the pharmacy and take a medication if you do, in fact, become infected. This is a great step forward, in addition, of course, to getting vaccinated and other mitigation measures in order to keep more people safe.

BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. That's all the time we have, Doctor, thank you so much for joining us, I really appreciate it.

UNGERLEIDER: Thank you for having me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Chart-topping Brazilian singer Marilia Mendonca has died in a plane crash. Officials say the Latin Grammy winner was on the way to a concert at the time. Four other people also died in the crash.

The state's police chief says it's too early to determine a cause of the accident. A Brazilian electric company says the plane hit one of its power cables before the crash.

Mendonca was only 26 years old. She's survived by her 1-year-old son.

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BRUNHUBER: Harrowing scenes near Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown. Authorities say at least 91 people died Friday after a fuel tanker exploded. The mayor said, in a statement on Facebook, a truck carrying fuel collided with another truck.

In Glasgow, Scotland, many climate activists are saying the pledges made so far are too little, too late. They marched through the streets Friday. Among them Greta Thunberg, who calls the summit a failure. Phil Black joins me now live from Glasgow.

Those young activists weren't mincing words in their criticisms here. Take us through what led to this disconnect. PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, there's been a lot of talk about progress at this conference and there has been, to some degree, but it's really limited. And in the bigger scheme of things, based upon what we know is necessary, it falls desperately short.

So there have been some big international agreements announced this week to target specific problems like deforestation and methane emissions and others. And some countries have signed onto all this. So it could impact the mood of this event and create a positive feeling to some degree.

But it doesn't impact the specific issues that will ultimately determine if this conference is a success or a failure. We're still talking about that headline issue of whether or not countries are committing individually to do enough to cut emissions and ensure that global average temperature increase does not go beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

At the moment, put simply, they are not. Crucially, big polluters, which have committed to hitting net zero carbon by the middle of the century, are not backing that up with credible detailed plans that show a clear achievable path to get to that point.

And so what that means, the scientists tell us, that high ambition countries here tell us, if we don't make real changes this decade to cut emissions by around half, then that goal of hitting net zero carbon by the middle of the century, it slips away, simply becomes unachievable.

Closing the gap there, building up ambition remains one of the core goals in this final week of the conference. The other issue is still money. Rich countries still have to come up with how to find $100 billion a year to help poor countries adapt to and live with the consequences of climate change.

We also now have some of the more vulnerable countries asking for loss and damage payments on top of that, essentially reparations for what they are already suffering because of climate change.

Fixing this issue is emotive but it is crucial because it is only through all parties coming to an agreed outcome here that you will have what will be considered a just settlement. Poor countries have done the least to cause the problem. They often have the most to lose as a result of climate change.

So if you take all of that into account at this halfway point, there is still a great deal that needs to be done. And at the moment, you would have to say the likely outcome is not going to live up to what the scientists say is necessary.

And this is why there are protesters on the streets in their biggest number yet. Tens of thousands of people in Glasgow today, calling for radical change, not incremental change, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll keep on that story throughout the day. Phil Black, thank you so much. Turning to breaking news out of Houston, Texas, that we're following,

at least eight people have died at the Astroworld music festival. We're joined on the line by St. John Barned-Smith. He covers public safety at the "Houston Chronicle."

Thanks so much for being with us on the phone. So take us through what you know about what happened here.

All right, I think we may have lost our guest. We might try and get him back.

Are you there?

No, I think we've lost him. We'll try and rejoin with him a little bit later. We'll be right back after this.

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BRUNHUBER: In England, Yorkshire County Cricket Club being rocked by controversy that has already cost three team officials their jobs. The club, facing a backlash over their handling of allegations of racism and bullying toward a former player. CNN's Don Riddell, with the details.

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DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the top county cricket teams, in England, reeling from the backlash of a racism scandal. The fallout is quite significant. Yorkshire's chairman Roger Hutton has resigned and two board members of the club followed suit, after an emergency board meeting, on Friday.

Another board member set to resign in the near future. This follows a tumultuous week in which many of Yorkshire's top sponsors have abandoned the club, which was also banned from hosting international test matches. Here is the backstory.

The 30-year-old, former cricket player, Azeem Rafiq, playing the majority of his career at Yorkshire, between 2008 and 2018. Last September, he detailed what he described as institutional racism that he experienced, while at the club, during every second of his career, with a teammate using a racially offensive term linked to his Pakistani heritage.

At one point he says, he was even close to suicide. Yorkshire launched a formal investigation, carried out by a law firm.

[05:55:00]

RIDDELL: And they received the findings in August this year. After a long delay, they were ordered to release the findings, which concluded, Rafiq had been the victim of racial harassment and bullying, with seven of the 43 allegations upheld.

But they, said there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the club was institutionally racist and that no one would face disciplinary action.

They said, quote, "There is no conduct or action, taken by any of its employees, players or executives, that warrants disciplinary action."

However, in the last few days, it has emerged that a former England international and teammate of Rafiq, Gary Ballance, regularly, used a racist term about Rafiq's Pakistani heritage toward him. That was dismissed by the investigation as, quote, "friendly and good-natured banter."

The England and Wales cricket board have suspended Yorkshire from hosting international matches at its Headingley ground. And as he stepped down on Friday, Yorkshire's chairman, Roger Hutton, apologized, unreservedly, to Rafiq.

The scandal is far from over, though. Rafiq is set to give evidence to a parliamentary select committee later this month, more sordid details likely to emerge -- back to you.

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BRUNHUBER: A former Barcelona legend is returning to the club, this time as the head coach. Xavi Hernandez will now lead the club he made more than 700 appearances for. He's widely regarded as one of the greatest players in his generation. He led the club to eight La Liga titles as a player and he hopes to regain that success as their new manager.

I'm Kim Brunhuber at CNN Center in Atlanta. Thank you for watching. "NEW DAY" is next. For the rest of the world, stay tuned for "Call to Earth."