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United Kingdom Observes 75th Anniversary With Scaled-Back Events; European Union Defends Letting China Censor Opinion Piece On COVID-19; Belgian Chefs' Jacket "Cemetery" Symbolizes Damaged Industry; Israeli Arab And Jewish Doctors Unite During Virus Battle; COVID-19 Misinformation Goes Viral Despite Efforts To Remove It. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired May 08, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
HALA GORANI, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Then the U.S. unemployment line is growing more than 20 million people lost their jobs in April. And is the
European Union caving to China? We'll tell you about a censorship controversy involving the EU's Ambassador to Beijing.
In normal circumstances, the 75th anniversary of the allies' World War II victory over Germany would be a day of celebration in Europe. But this year
with the continent left reeling by the Coronavirus pandemic it is a day of quiet observances.
These are images from here in the U.K. You see Prime Minister Boris Johnson at 10 Downing Street. He was among the many observing a moment of silence
led by Prince Charles at the Royal Family's state in Scotland. Charles and his wife Camilla paid their respects at a War Memorial.
Nick Paton Walsh is here in London with more. We saw on these images that people were observing the two meter social distancing rules that have been
in place for several weeks but we spoke last hour and today's a beautiful day, it is a holiday, and in Hyde Park it looks like people have decided to
take advantage of the nice weather in larger numbers.
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I have to tell you Hala, this is kind of like rewinding back a year ago a normal scene, frankly, for
this kind of bank holiday, Monday weekend that we're entering into now in the heart of London.
You head up to the streets here, Oxford Street. Busy frankly, the shops are closed but there are still people out here and particularly in Hyde Park
itself. All of this despite the fact that the government recommendations have been in place for seven weeks have not changed.
The U.K. media during this week somewhat optimistically perhaps quite inaccurately suggested a substantial lifting would happen when the Boris
Johnson addresses the country, the Prime Minister on Sunday.
He is due to give a speech at 7:00 in the evening outlining as far as we understand minor changes to the advice suggesting outdoor stores could open
saying people are allowed to exercise outside more than once a day and possibly I heard or possibly still in flux, expanding the social groups
people are allowed to be in any given time.
Wales has already put out its changed its advice which is significantly smaller changes than even that and so I think there is a feeling perhaps
here that the scenes around me are a sign that people think it's over but it isn't. And we may possibly hear some very disappointed Britain's when
Boris Johnson speaks on Sunday
GORANI: Yes. And so, if the lifting of the lockdown will be sort of a minor affair where people are basically allowed to go out and exercising just one
more time, et cetera, I mean, do you get the sense that people are sort of tiring of this and that this - are experts saying this could be risky in
terms of another wave of the virus in Britain's future?
WALSH: Yes. The problem really is the "R" number, right? We heard a couple of days ago from government experts that is between 0.5 and 0.9, possibly
the higher end of the scale in the care homes in hospitals where the spread continues but may be here in London lower, possibly 0.5 area because it's
so much more densely populated because possibly people have been in their homes and because possibly this part of the country experiences the first
wave of infection so much earlier.
The question on that side is balanced against the appalling economic predictions we are getting and the obvious sense you around is here that
people sort of feel that the moment of this disease is behind them.
Now, we have spoken to intensive care doctors in hospitals who are worried frankly about the possibility of another peak just a matter of weeks away.
Two weeks possibly from now to worry when people begin to mingle again and this is all part of the unknown mass of this particular issue.
We so much of the signs we don't know yet. Boris Johnson's predicament is of course he has to it seems to match the hope of so many Britain's that
things may get easier in the weeks ahead when he speaks on Sunday and also the reality that the disease is still very much in it.
We're told, too, that we're likely to see on Monday a road map coming out, which is possibly a more detailed document that may layout the precise
conditions that are have to be met if further restrictions ease.
But the pressure grows on the government from two fronts, frankly to be sure that there isn't a second peak, that's one of their key five tests
that they insist must be met for measures to be lifted.
[11:05:00]
WALSH: And also, too, that the economy is somehow learned - able to thrive again and people begin to get back to the summer they were thinking was
just around the corner. Around me here it's startling, like this different happen, Hala?
GORANI: All right. Nick, thank you very much. We'll have more on V.E. Day observances later this hour. Though as I mentioned and as you have seen we
are talking about really scaled back celebrations in France, they were led by the President Emmanuel Macron at the arc of triumph.
We'll go live to Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel observing V.E. Day, as well as Berlin alone among German cities declared today a holiday. We'll
have more on that with live reports later this hour.
Now lockdowns due to the pandemic are not only affecting those V.E. Day celebrations, but also, wrecking economic havoc globally. Jobless numbers
just released by the U.S. government are the worst ever basically the worst ever.
20.5 million people lost their loves in April. That means more than 20 million U.S. families at this moment are potentially without a breadwinner
if there was only one person earning a salary in the household. This as the unemployment rate has surged to 14.7 percent. The American President Donald
Trump promises that those jobs will be back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We had the strongest economy in the history of the world. The strongest economy we have ever had
and we had to close it which is artificial. We artificially closed it. Those jobs will be back and very soon and next year we will have a
phenomenal year. People are ready to go. We have to get it open safely. People are ready to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, they may be ready to go but can they go safely is the question? And the world's second largest economy China is feeling the heat,
as well. Government data shows that the March unemployment rate is 5.9 percent and that number has risen not above 4 percent in many years in
China.
The economists believe that's about 80 million people out of work, it is a much larger total population obviously. Richard Quest joins me now from New
York. Richard, the number is staggering but it's still we were discussing this lower than what some economists had forecast?
RICHARD QUEST, EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Yes, because the fear had been it would be up to 16 percent or it could have been, say, for example, 22 million. And
this is widely regarded to be the peak because May, of course, and June, you will start to see people re-employed as businesses continue to reopen.
What's worrying about these numbers is the composition. It is those African-Americans, it is younger, it is women, it is those with less skill
sets. They are the ones who have borne the brunt of this because in many cases they're the ones who are working in hospitality industries, they were
working in restaurants and bars and cafes and the like.
And those are the industries, 47 percent of the job losses come from those industries. And that is why they will be the first to go arguably the last
to be re-employed and many of the skills that they will have will not be transferable or sufficient for future employment.
So the - Hala, in a sentence, the majority of the people unemployed will go back to work but there will be a hard core rump for whom we now look at
long-term unemployment and that's in the millions.
GORANI: Right. On top of that, you have this - these rising tensions between the U.S. and China on top of the trade war. Now you have
accusations flying.
QUEST: Yep.
GORANI: --about who's responsible for covering up the pandemic and the origins of the virus. How is that going to impact the economies of the
world, not just the U.S. and China, but everyone in between who relays on global trade to keep growth at, you know, higher levels?
QUEST: Well, one of the most astonishing things about this whole pandemic has been that the U.S. did not remove the majority of the severity of the
tariffs that were in place against China. They are still there, excuse me, and the President is now threatening to use trade tariffs or sanctions
against China.
Which is what some people say largely just a political play bearing in mind, you know, I can understand Donald Trump's anguish from one level. He
goes in to January with the strongest economy, for decades, with no - no dark clouds on the economic horizon.
[11:10:00]
QUEST: And now he's going into an election with the accusation that he's brought about much of the misfortune on his own end for the way he's
handled it. And the U.S. economy will be going into the election with an unemployment rate north of 8 percent.
And that is - that is something that will be very difficult to stomach here in the United States. As for the market, well, it's a case of fear of
missing out. People believe the economy's getting started again. They believe that companies will be recovering. And I think there's a lot of
just goodwill and a wish that's in that sort of - those sorts of gains you are seeing today.
GORANI: All right. Thank you very much, Richard we'll see you later. Researchers across the globe are racing to find a vaccine to stop COVID-19.
The World Health Organization says more than 100 are currently under development. Robin Shattock is leading the Vaccine trial at Imperial
College London which has received millions of dollars of funding from the U.K. government. I spoke with him last hour about how it works?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN SHATTOCK, LEADS IMPERIAL COLLEGE LONDON TEAM: So in ways we are tricking the body to think that it's seen a virus but it's only seen part
of the virus. So that when you're exposed to it naturally out in the community you already have an immune response that can recognize the virus
and hopefully stop it ever infecting an individual in the first place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Well, in the U.S. new questions about the roll-out of Remdesivir, the only government-approved drug to treat COVID-19. This is not a vaccine
but this is to treat people who are infected already. Our senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is in Atlanta. What are those questions
Elizabeth?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hala, as you said, this is the only drug that's been shown to help against the Coronavirus but now
doctors are saying they're having a hard time getting it. It was announced last week with great fan fare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: An important treatment for hospitalized Coronavirus patients.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: It's Remdesivir, the first and only drug shown to work against COVID-19 in a rigorous clinical trial. Made by the company Gilead,
preliminary results shows it shortens the patient's hospital stay by about four days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The task force will be working very closely with Gilead to make sure that those medicines starting on Monday
are distributed hospitals where patients are struggling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: But there's a problem. Gilead says there's only enough Remdesivir for 200,000 patients at most worldwide, not nearly enough. Dr. Peter Chin
Hong an Infectious Disease Specialist at the University of California-San Francisco was happy last week when the U.S. Food & Drug Administration
authorized the use of Remdesivir for COVID-19.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PETER CHIN-HONG, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN FRANCISCO: I think there was that excitement and then there was sadness and disappointment.
COHEN: Why do you feel sad or disappointed?
DR. CHIN-HONG: Every day you don't get a drug it means that more patients are potentially going to do badly. Time is of essence when you are talking
about treating a virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Doctors have to choose which of their patients will get Remdesivir?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL: We're in a tough spot.
COHEN: They're kind of asking you to play God, who gets the medicine and who doesn't?
DR. WALENSKY: It's been challenging. I do believe that people who merit it are not going to get it because we simply don't have enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Doctors want to give it to the patients who could benefit most but they don't necessarily know who those patients are since the study on
Remdesivir still hasn't been published. The National Institutes of Health sponsored the study and told CNN in a statement that it plans to publish a
report in the next few weeks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Would it be helpful to you to be able to see the actual published results?
DR. CHIN-HONG: Oh yes, 1 million percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Another mystery, why some hospitals were sent Remdesivir and others were not and how those hospitals can get the drug? The Department of Health
and Human Services which is allocating Remdesivir did not respond to CNN's request for comments. The doctor Chin-Hong says he's asked and received no
answers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. CHIN-HONG: What was the process of applying? We were told that don't call us. We'll call you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Gilead says it's ramping up production hoping to help a million patients by December but until there's more doctors will continue to fight
for their patients. Now, to be clear, no one we have talked to described Remdesivir as a blockbuster drug, and has not been shown to save lives.
What it has been shown to do is just save about four days off a patient's hospital stay that is important. It is better to get out sooner rather than
later for all sorts of reasons but to be clear this is not the cure by any means to the novel Coronavirus, Hala?
GORANI: All right. We have been discussing all these initiatives and efforts to try to find a vaccine but we know a vaccine at the earliest will
be available, you know, on mass scale next year but what about possible treatments? You say beyond Remdesivir there is really nothing available
now?
[11:15:00]
GORANI: But are there studies, efforts, trials to try to find some sort of medication to treat people who are already infected?
COHEN: Oh, absolutely. There are various classes of drugs being investigated and when we asked the researchers when do you think you'll
know? It's months and months, I mean, it is well into next year.
One of the most promising ones is something called a monoclonal antibody which is why you're taking antibodies from people who survived COVID-19
pick out the very best ones and turn it into a drug but they haven't even gotten started in people yet for that. So certainly we shouldn't be
expecting anything soon.
I think one of the underlying things that I keep hearing is Hala, is that the more tailored it is to COVID-19 the better. Remdesivir is not tailored
to COVID-19. As a matter of fact, it was invented for Ebola and didn't work and it was kind of sitting on the shelves so they're trying it.
So they're really trying to get away from those kinds of drugs and more towards the ones that are tailored to this particular virus.
GORANI: All right. But, you know, there will be no miracle cure on Monday or in several weeks and probably not this year, unfortunately.
COHEN: That's right.
GORANI: And people are - yes getting impatient. Thank you very much for that, Elizabeth Cohen.
COHEN: Thanks.
GORANI: China is going toe to toe with anyone trying to blame it for the Coronavirus pandemic. Next on the program, how EU officials are getting
pushback for allowing a piece to be censored for mentioning just that? Also Brazil is experiencing a spike in Coronavirus cases. So why is the
President there trying to reopen the country?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back. The number of Coronavirus cases has spiked to more than 187,000 in Russia making it the fifth highest in the world. Moscow's
main COVID-19 hospital is being expanded to meet the rising demands, similar construction is happening at more than a dozen other hospitals in
the city and this is a dramatic turn of events. Russia had seemingly managed to contain the virus in March.
A dust-up is brewing in Europe; the EU Ambassador to China is being criticized for bowing to Chinese pressure after allowing a Chinese
newspaper to censor an opinion piece. The paper reportedly removed a reference to the Coronavirus originating in China and now some EU member
states are complaining that the change should never have been approved.
Let's bring in CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson. Talk to us about this opinion piece and how was this change, you know, approved on
the EU side with the paper requesting that that particular line stating that the virus pandemic had originated in China be removed?
[11:20:00]
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It is interesting because the EU also published on their own separate website the
unredacted, unchanged, uncensored version and you would think that the line that the Chinese have removed is reasonably innocuous it really does just
state that the pandemic began in China and then spread to the rest of the world.
It's not finger pointing at any one specifically so it's not clear at the moment if the decision to allow the Chinese authorities to censor the
article was made by EU officials in Beijing or was that decision passed up the chain of - well, authority, if you will, but back to Brussels.
In the EU Foreign Policy Chief - office that took this decision and the criticism coming in from some European nations is that, well, simply this
does not represent our position on China at the moment. We don't want to be seen as weak. We don't want to be seen as kowtowing to China this will
undermine our position in the future.
Of course, there are a lot of things in play here. Not least the world economy is in tatters. European nations, Germany being one of them in
particular, does a lot of business with China. Britain has aspirations to do more business with China and China may be part of the sort of economic
sort of salvation in part for some of these countries.
So is that the reason that these changes were made? It's not clear but it certainly highlighting differences between European Union nations and
particularly between those nations and the European Commission's Foreign Policy Department.
GORANI: Right. I spoke with the Former U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus about how he believes knowing China as he does western countries should
approach China in terms of not just the pandemic but just other topics, as well, whether it's trade or other things. This is what Max Baucus told me.
Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAX BAUCUS, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO CHINA: The approach that we should take, frankly, is difficult but I don't think it's any alternative. Number
one, we have to strengthen ourselves at home. Economic power is a best way to protect political power.
The more the United States builds its infrastructure, focuses on with technologies of the future, education and built ourselves to a very strong
country, that's going to be number one. Number two, we work with our allies. Don't push them away.
Work with our allies with respect to China and then when we have a plan that plan should be one it is very respectful saying to China - has to be
strategic long term. United States has been ad hoc reactive issues with China. When China does something and we react. We have to be very
strategic. They think long term.
We have to be strategic and think long term. Put a plan together and privately say, China, you can do this but you can't do that. If you do
that, there will be repercussions and they have to know we mean it when we say there will be repercussions.
It is basically dealing with kind of a bully mentality. China will just keep moving forward, forward, forward, forward until they're checked and we
have to check them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: How do you think the EU's strategy either matches that or is not aligned with what Max Baucus is saying with regards to China? Because
there's a lot of tension between these sorts of old western economic powers and China right now.
ROBERTSON: Well, also, concern in these old western economic powers in Europe about the future direction of the United States under President
Trump so I think there are dueling concerns and that's part of the puzzling picture if you're sitting in Europe at the moment.
What are you going to get in the United States? Are you going to continue to get President Trump for another four years who only this morning was
reminding the world that China gives only $38 million to the W.H.O., the World Health Organization, and the United States gives close to $500
million?
And therefore that, you know, that the United States should have the greater say over what the W.H.O. does and is therefore considering pulling
the plug and I think it gets to what the Ambassador you were speaking to says.
The United States is a strong economic power and one of the things about having the power of an economy that size is you can use it softly and a
soft use of that power is to encourage the World Health Organization to stand up and be tough with China which it has done in the past and it has
been successful as the Ambassador says.
That methodology is successful with China to stop its tactics. But when you look at the op-ed rather from the European Union one of the lines in that
perhaps gave again a sense of what the European Union was trying to say to China in this message?
[11:25:00]
ROBERTSON: It was reminding them of all the many billions of dollars recently committed to trying to find a vaccine across the globe and China
being one of the recipients of the countries getting that money from the European Union.
You know? The message between the lines there is, if you get the vaccine first, we want to be part of that. We want to benefit from that. And the
fear would be if you criticize China then they're going to slap that down and say no you're not going to get it.
So it does seem that the European Union on the one hand here their messaging is weaker than what the Ambassador would advocate and what he's
advocating has had success in the past with China. But not the way President Trump is going about it today.
GORANI: All right. Thank you, Nic. Brazil this week experienced its highest daily increase in confirmed Coronavirus cases now with more than 136,000
cases across the country and more than 9,000 deaths. Despite the surge, Brazilian President Bolsonaro is pushing to open the country up again
saying the focus should be on saving the economy because the economy is life, he says. Matt Rivers is joining us from Mexico City with more. Matt?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hala, yes, the situation in Brazil just continues to get worse in terms of the numbers and how it is affecting the
population there but what we have seen is a very consistent stance by the President of Brazil to focus with a laser-like focus on the economy.
He basically says - you know, in the face of numbers that are spiking he says that quarantine measures should be eased. This comes just a few days
after the official spokesperson for the Brazilian President tested positive for the Coronavirus.
People directly around in his inner circle in Bolsonaro's inner circle testing positive. The case totals are spiking. Death totals are spiking but
he says look we cannot let the cure to this virus be worse than the virus itself.
That is his message from the very beginning and backed that up Hala by scenes like going to political rallies, he is shown up at rallies with
thousands of people with no protection, you know, in terms of masks and whatnot.
Basically saying that quarantine measures enacted by other government officials around his country should be lifted and it was just yesterday
that he was at the Supreme Court giving a speech saying that he wants to see these quarantine measures lifted.
But I think, Hala, safe to say most if not all experts would tell you before you begin to think about easing social distancing guidelines the
curve should at least be plateauing or going down substantially. In Brazil, the exact opposite is happening. Deaths are spiking, cases are spiking and
the Brazilian President wants to open things back up.
GORANI: Thank you very much, Matt Rivers. Prior to the pandemic in South Africa, 9 million children were fed daily by their schools but 6 weeks into
South Africa's strict lockdown those children are in crisis. Schools are closed and many of these free meal programs are shut down and child rights
advocates are warning of a looming hunger crisis if the economic crisis there continues and schools remain shut.
Still ahead, more on Europe's very scaled down V.E. Day celebrations. We'll go live to Germany. Chancellor Angelo Merkel took part in an observance in
Berlin the city involved in a V.E. Day burst. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
GORANI: Welcome back, we've been looking at scaled back observances of V.E. Day victory day 8th of May 1945. Today is the 8th May of course and we have
some images coming to us from Washington. D.C. where the U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper there is observing this Anniversary at the World War
II Memorial in Washington. And there you can see a wreath being laid with some World War II veterans, as well, taking part in that event.
Now, we've been looking as well as what's going on in Europe in these scaled back observances. The Coronavirus pandemic has scuttled the planned
big celebrations. This flag is hanging from the Eiffel Tower over a near deserted Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron led the observance at the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with the Prime Minister nearby two of his predecessors - also look on.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel took part in a V.E. Day ceremony as the City of Berlin declared today a holiday, and this a first. Fred
Pleitgen joins me now live from Berlin with more on what we saw unfold today in Berlin which was a first, Fred.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Certainly is a first Hala for this to be a public holiday here in the Capital City,
the first time in 75 years and actually the only time. Next year that's not going to be the case and that of course is because it is now 75 years and
one of those round dates that is being marked here.
And of course where I'm standing right now was one of the final major battlegrounds of World War II, the area around the Reich Stag here in
Berlin where Soviet soldier's very iconic picture hoisted a flag on top of the building that you see behind me which is just a few days before the
final surrender of Nazi Germany.
You know, here in Germany there's never really any celebrations when it comes to the May 8th date. It is a very solemn event all the time and you
saw that today also in the ceremony that Angela Merkel took place in - which is sort of a memorial for generally the fallen soldiers of all wars.
She was there, also Germany's President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was there, also the Head of German Parliament as well, all of them very much social
distanced laying a wreath and what are always a very solemn ceremony.
The same time Angelo Merkel had a phone call with Vladimir Putin where both of them spoke about the importance of this date and the fact this date
shall never be forgotten and of course the message that it sends not just here in Europe but around the world that if nations band together they can
indeed overcome almost anything.
And that's also the message from Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German President sent out today, as well. He gave a speech where he said the
Germans have obviously accepted the fact of what happened on May 8th, 1945, was not a loss but was in fact liberation of fascism and Nazi rule.
Of course the rule of Adolph Hitler and that therefore they remember this date and normally they would want to obviously keep this date in memory
with all generations, especially those here in Germany that witnessed that day as it happened but right now because of the Coronavirus pandemic that
simply isn't possible.
However, he did say that at least in spirits everybody is together, everybody obviously marking this date that's so very important in German
history of course also in history of Europe and indeed the history of the world, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Thank you, Fred Pleitgen. More now on the Coronavirus pandemic Chefs in Belgium's Capital Brussels have created a "Cemetery of
their kitchen jackets". It is meant to symbolize the damage to and potential death of their industry.
Like many other countries, Belgian restaurants had to close their doors in mid-March switching to only takeaway and delivery. So they're, you know,
visually trying to show the impact this is having on their industry by doing this.
Developing countries face a particular challenge maintaining lockdowns and on top of a public health care crisis the economic impact can be
devastating.
[11:35:00]
GORANI: Joining me now is Baroness Patricia Scotland, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations and a Member of the British Labor Party.
Thank you very much for joining us. Could you tell us, among commonwealth countries, where - which ones are the worst affected? And what do you think
needs to be done to address the pandemic there?
BARONESS PATRICIA SCOTLAND, COMMONWEALTH SECRETARY-GENERAL: Well, the first thing to say is that the commonwealth is made up of 54 countries that are
2.4 billion people. 60 percent of them under the age of 30 and unfortunately there is virtually no part of our - who has been unaffected
by this really quite vicious and all-encompassing pandemic.
It was one country in the commonwealth who have not yet had any Coronavirus cases and this is something which is happening to absolutely all of us. And
as a result the commonwealth and the commonwealth leaders have really come together to look at a multilateral response.
What can we do? What works? What doesn't work? Because we are about one third of the world and we got small ones, large ones, rich ones, poor ones,
developing, developed, Island states and landlocked states we are a bit like a Petrie dish and because of that, the willingness to learn together
and share we are starting to come up with the answers.
But it's something that's absolutely affecting every single one of us knowing now that we are so interdependent.
GORANI: So you say you're starting to come up with the answers. What are those answers?
SCOTLAND: Well, the first thing that we have done is we have been looking at the reality that we're facing. This is a health pandemic but for the
commonwealth we have 32 small states and those 32 small states are also facing the climatic crises that are brought about by climate change and we
have seen the impact of the cyclone Harold in the Pacific.
And the next thing that we have to look at is that they're likely after to be facing a Tsunami when it comes to the economic fallout. And I know in
America you have been talking about the terrible impact they may have but we are now thinking that the world may lose about $2 trillion off the
economic position this year.
So we are coming together with some of the practical things that we can now do, commonwealth Secretariat she has created a Commonwealth Coronavirus
Center where we are pooling all the information from all 54 countries. We are analyzing how to fight it but we are also knowing that none of us has
seen this before?
This is new and none of us have made mistakes. We want to share those but we're also sharing the successes. The scientists are doing a brilliant
work. We have got commonwealth doctors, commonwealth nurses, commonwealth pharmacists and everybody is sharing what they know.
And those solutions are coming up, for instance, Ghana has identified the Coronavirus genome and in Nigeria they're coming up with some really great
ideas has to how to interdict this and all of us are sharing that information.
Trying to help each other, trying to support each other and what we need right now is collaborative, global leadership. And we need that leadership
just as this has been V.E. Day. How did we get through that war? We got through the war by sticking together, supporting each other, sharing.
Leadership was needed then and I think global leadership is--
GORANI: Baroness I just want to jump in because you talk about collaborative leadership and I think no one would disagree with you on
that. But there is some controversy surrounding your position that I have to bring up regarding what your critics accuse you of, awarding a contract
to a friend without circumventing the accountability rules without the Secretariat.
How do you respond to that because this has led to several countries including the U.K., Australia another one, to suspend their funding of the
commonwealth funding. This has got to hurt the functioning of your organization.
SCOTLAND: Firstly, it is very disappointing that this issue is being brought up again when we have had a total clean bill of health. And in
fact, the United Kingdom and Australia, they have continued their funding and I do think that this is something that was raised four years ago.
And it's so sad that this is happening again when all the facts are now known and it is clear that this is something which has been absolutely
answered honestly and fairly.
[11:40:00]
GORANI: And so, you're confident that you have the support of all the countries to remain in your position?
SCOTLAND: Well, you know, this is a matter that we are talking right at a time when Coronavirus and our global response is at the forefront and I've
been so proud so many of our member states have commended the leadership, the commitment and the drive that not only I as Secretary-General but the
whole Secretariat has put in to coming up with the solutions and the answers we're going to make things better for all our member states.
So for instance, we've got a climate change finance access hub. We have come up with areas of the connectivity agenda to make sure that
digitalization which is so needed right now is going to take place. We are also looking at how we can help with the issues of domestic violence
because we know that in this time of the Corona pandemic there's been an escalation and the dangers of women.
And we are looking also at Intra Commonwealth Trade. How do we get people back up? How do we get our young people back into jobs? How do we face this
economic tsunami? And what are we going to do about climate change? That is what the Secretariat has been concentrating on.
That's what I've been spending 20 hours out of every 24 working on and I'm so proud that so many of our members have been very appreciative of that
work and please go on to the commonwealth.org which is our website which sets out all the fantastic work that the 54 countries are coming together
and supporting.
So am I pleased that my leadership is commended? Of course I am. Am I prepared to go on serving the 54 countries? Absolutely, those choices have
to be made by our 54 leaders and I'm grateful that I'm able to serve the 2.4 billion people who are part of the commonwealth and are in so much need
of our solidarity right now. This is a moment where we should be coming together--
GORANI: All right.
SCOTLAND: --together in harmony.
GORANI: Thank you so much, Baroness Scotland, the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations for joining us on CNN. We appreciate it.
SCOTLAND: Thank you.
GORANI: Hong Kong is relaxing Coronavirus restrictions starting today. Gyms, beauty salons, cinemas can open up again after being closed for more
than a month but the city is still on guard for new infections and new protests. Kristie Lu Stout is in Hong Kong.
KRISTI LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are signs of almost normal life returning to Hong Kong after the city has reported more than two weeks of
zero local infection. Government employees have returned to work many private sector employees as well. Virtually everyone is wearing a mask.
Now Hong Kong was ever under a full lockdown. When the virus hit in January, people knew what to do because of the memory of SARS. People
stayed home. Schools were closed. People bought and demanded masks.
About four months on, strict social distancing guidelines are easing but Hong Kong's top leader Carrie Lam announcing this week that social
gatherings up to eight people are allowed, bars, cinemas and gyms are reopening. Schools will start to reopen at the end of month but tight
border restrictions will remain to isolate any imported cases.
But on the streets there is still a lot of anger directed at the Hong Kong government, especially after the recent wave of arrests of 15 high-profile
democracy activists in a single day and after the 2019 Hong Kong protests police here are not taking any chances.
On Labor Day, I saw geared up riot police patrolling a popular shopping district while masked up shoppers stroll by. It was a surreal scene. As
Hong Kong reopens, this is a new reality. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN.
GORANI: Certainly a new reality. Looks like a normal traffic, normal foot traffic in Hong Kong. All right, we are going to take a quick break. When
we come back, finding some common ground in trying times. Doctors in Israel put their differences aside to unite for the fight against the virus. We
will have that story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back. In Israel, differences seem to be melting away even if it's temporary. That's a positive thing as people unite to battle the
virus. Oren Liebermann has our story.
ORENLIEBERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In hospitals across Israel the Coronavirus has shown an indifference to race, religion or
belief. The doctors and nurses on the front line share the same impartiality. In the fight against COVID-19, Arab doctors and nurses stood
side by side with their Jewish colleagues. The virus doesn't care about who's who, why they ask? Should they?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JAMIL HASSAN, HILLEL YAFFE MEDICAL CENTER: I think that all of us, Jews and Muslims, give what is necessary for every patient regardless of the
race, religion and belief. And that's our duty. We have to do it properly without connection to anything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: Dr. Jamil Hassan is the Head of the Coronavirus Unit at Hillel Yaffe Medical Center in Hydera. One of many Arab medical professionals in
top positions in Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. HASSAN: We're dealing all the time with things we did not know and don't know. This virus in particular, we have never seen a virus that truly
spreads throughout the entire world and I think we prepared well in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: The medical unity has created some made for social media moments. Two paramedics one Jewish, one Muslim praying side by side during
a short break, an Arab doctor bringing a Jewish tourist scroll into the Coronavirus unit for the Jews to pray.
A new video shows medical staff in masks as heroes only to reveal that these doctors and nurses are Arabs calling them an inseparable part of the
State of Israel. Inherently, that message is political. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has frequently targeted Israel's Arab politicians
calling them supporters of terror.
His nation's state stripped Arabic of its status as an official language and enshrined into law that only Jews have the right to self determination
in Israel. Yet in early April when Netanyahu needed Arab politicians to pass a $25 billion Coronavirus aid package there was no show of gratitude
says the Arab lawmaker Ahmad Tibi himself a doctor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AHMAD TIBI, ISRAELI PARLIAMENT MEMBER: It's politics. It's racism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: Arabs make up about 20 percent of Israel's population they're 20 percent of the country's nurses and nearly half of Israel's pharmacists.
According to the Ministry of Health and researcher, in addition 17 percent of the country's doctors are Arab.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIBI: We have the best physicians in the Israeli hospitals working together by great staff; both Jews and Arab doctors and they are struggling in the
front line against the Coronavirus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: Many of those doctors come from here, sometimes called the village of doctors. Hassan Agbaria is the principal of the bilingual school
here. He says it's the only place in the world where Jewish students come to an Arab village to study.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN AGBARIA, PRINCIPAL, BRIDGE OVER THE WADI SCHOOL: The Corona, this crisis, what it did was took down the blockages of stereotyping that people
have look at someone and see him as if in a box. They would take him out of his box. Has is an Arab. Is he Muslim or a Christian? Is he like this or
like this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:50:00]
LIEBERMANN: Some of these former students have become doctors. It is a field where he says advancement is based on professionalism and little
else.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AGBARIA: This is obviously a welcomed change. This change did not just happen. It came from a change in understanding both from the Arabs and the
Jews. It is a change of both sides. You can't have a real change with only one side. It is a public discourse. It is a real discourse that says
everyone here should be equal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LIEBERMANN: The Coronavirus crisis has accelerated that discourse in a time of great medical need but is the appreciation across Israeli society merely
transitory or can it prove lasting? Oren Liebermann, CNN.
GORANI: Coming up, dangerous Coronavirus conspiracy theories keep gaining traction. We take a look at the trend and what is being done to stop it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Leaders of social media outlets have pledged to remove Coronavirus conspiracy theories and misinformation but between pledging to do something
and actually being able to do it there's sometimes really a vast space.
Now, some of these conspiracy theories, COVID-19 conspiracy theories include fake cures, resulting in dangerous and even deadly consequences.
Stopping the flow of all of this bad content is proving extremely difficult. Business reporter Donie O'Sullivan reports.
Hello, you are here. I thought I was going straight to your taped report. So Donie what did you find? What conspiracy theories and efforts to remove
them?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Hala. This conspiracy theory video, one in particular, has been circulating all week full of falsehoods.
We're living not only through a pandemic but also what experts call an - with false claims about COVID-19 going viral online. Here's our story.
Social media companies like Facebook and Youtube say they're fighting COVID-19 misinformation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK ZUCKERBERG, FACEBOOK, CEO: If someone's spreading something that puts people at imminent risk of physical harm, then we take that down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN: But the sites are struggling to keep up with a flood of conspiracy theories. This week you might have seen friends and family
sharing this slickly produced video called "Plandemic". But at a time Facebook and YouTube took it down it had millions of views.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN DUKE, EDITOR IN CHIEF, LEAD STORIES: I have not seen a video of this type gain this kind of viral traction so quickly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN: Facebook said it pulled the video because it claimed wearing masks could make people sick. YouTube said it removed the video because it
included medically unsubstantiated diagnostic advice for COVID-19 but even after the companies said - they would remove the video, copies of it still
circulated. Online fact checkers like Alan Duke whose company works with Facebook says COVID-19 misinformation is spreading almost as fast as the
virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVA: So the expression alike and travel halfway around the world before the truth get it is boots on really applies here. Is it impossible
for fact checkers to keep up with the level of COVID-19 misinformation?
DUKE: You're absolutely right about a lie traveling faster because people want to believe these things. And it fits their beliefs, the bubble that
they're in. And so then they want to share it with their friends like they have got some inside knowledge.
[11:55:00]
O'SULLIVAN: Why are people pushing misinformation like this? Why do people do this?
CLARIE WARDLE, DIRECTOR AND DISINFORMATION EXPERT, FIRST DRAFT: So, some people push misinformation to make money, to sell a health supplemental.
Some people do this to push a specific political agenda.
Some people do this because they just want to see to get away with it but a lot of misinformation around people's existing world views. So if you
already don't trust vaccines, you want other people to take on your beliefs because it makes you feel better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN: Online COVID-19 conspiracy theories have targeted not just Dr. Anthony Fauci, but philanthropist Bill Gates, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUKE: Just this whole idea that there's this deep state that brought this COVID-19 crisis to the world in order that they may promote their own
interests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN: And social media companies struggle to keep up with the misinformation, it's more important than ever to think before you share.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARDLE: If it makes you angry, if it makes you scared, if it makes you smug, if it makes you want to go out and buy something immediately, that
emotional impulse means there's probably something about the information to make it very difficult to be critical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN: Look, Hala. We are going to see you know more and more of this, even perhaps most concerningly is that before a Coronavirus vaccine has
even been developed there are people online trying to undermine it. The consequences of which could obviously be devastating so Hala this is really
misinformation that could cost lives.
GORANI: All right. Thank you very much, Donie O'Sullivan reporting live there on all these misinformation floating around on the internet. It is
very difficult to remove it all. Thank you so much. And thank you all for watching. I'm Hala Gorani. I hope wherever you are today you are healthy
and doing well. And I will see you next time on CNN. Stay with us a lot more ahead after a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
