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White House Takes Aim At Fauci; UAE Makes Final Preparations For Mission To Mars; Disney World Reopens Some Parks Despite Surge In Cases. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 13, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:00:16]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think we are in a good place.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR NATIONAL, INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGIES AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: We're facing a serious problem now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Who do you believe as the pandemic rages to new records in America? The U.S. president accuses his
own government of lying about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 450 engineers and technicians have been hard at work for six years building hope literally.
ANDERSON: Right now we are about T-minus 30 hours to the Arab world's first ever voyage into the far reaches of the cosmos with the UAE's mission to
Mars.
And talking about needing hope it's another great result for Man City as they are back In the Champions League. How that happens is right ahead.
A very warm welcome to the program. It is just past 6:00 o'clock here in our Middle East programming hub of Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson and we
have the most pressing stories in our hour this world. This, you know, world as our stories that affect your life no matter where you are. But as
we are back here in the region, we're going to spend some time shining a light on what is going on here.
There are some incredibly important stories as the pandemic exposes social, economic and political fractures in places as different as Yemen, Lebanon,
and Israel, but it's not all apocalyptic. The UAE's COVID testing is among the best in the world and it has by and large, get this outbreak under
control. You can see that here on this graph as it takes care of That here on Earth.
The UAE then preparing to launch a probe to Mars to survey the planets. It's a moment that symbolizes an awful lot for what is this very young
country. We'll have more on that over the next couple of hours and weeks. But I want to start with the facts on the ground today. The United States
has a population of 330 million people as of today. 3.3 million of them have tested positive for coronavirus.
That is one out of every 100 Americans. Just think about that for a moment. One out of every 100 people in the United States has been infected with
COVID-19. 135,000 Americans have died. Those numbers by far the most in the world. Well, cases are rising in almost two-thirds of U.S. states led by
Florida which just shattered a very unwelcome record over the weekend. The state reporting more than 15,000 new cases in a single day.
Look at these numbers from Johns Hopkins University of Florida. He confirmed cases in South Korea, the Czech Republic and Denmark during the
entire pandemic, all three countries less than what Florida reported in just one day. With these numbers in the White House trying to discredit Dr.
Anthony Fauci, who has been a leading voice on its coronavirus task force for giving the country increasingly dire predictions about the course of
the pandemic.
Put it another way for telling Americans the truth. Rosa Flores has more now on the rapidly deteriorating situation in Florida and our Federal state
and local officials are struggling over what to do next.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Florida coronavirus cases, surging more than 15,000 cases and now on Sunday alone, marking the highest daily number
of confirmed cases in the state ever. That test positivity rate in Florida has not dipped below 15 percent since June 25th. Governor Ron DeSantis
suggested over the weekend that Florida will not proceed to the next phase of reopening.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Right now we're not making any changes status quo. We want to get this positivity rate down. And as we get in a -- in a
more stable situation, you know, then then we'll take a look at it.
FLORES: FLORES: Hospitals in Miami Beach are nearing full capacity.
MAYOR DAN GELBER (D), MIAMI BEACH: We're going to have to start moving regular beds into ICU beds, so we're clearly being strained at this point.
And there's obviously an impact on non-COVID cases, which also need to be taken care of. So this is really straining our healthcare system
dramatically.
FLORES: Walt Disney World reopening some parks despite the surge, making masks mandatory and barring anyone displaying COVID symptoms.
Georgia seeing an increase in new cases over the past two weeks, after being one of the first states to start reopening. Atlanta Mayor Keisha
Lance Bottoms said she was moving the city's reopening back to phase one, telling residents to stay home, except for essential needs.
[10:05:08]
FLORES: Governor Brian Kemp calling this merely guidance and said the mayor could not issue her own restrictions.
And in northwest Michigan, this Fourth of July event with hundreds packing the beach causing the health department to issue a possible public exposure
advisory, after some partygoers tested positive.
And in Texas, many hospitals are nearing capacity, and Governor Greg Abbott warns that things will get worse in the coming week.
Thirty-five states across the country are experiencing an increase in weekly coronavirus cases, but administration officials continue to downplay
the surge.
GIROIR: We are all very concerned about the rise in cases. No doubt about that. And that's why we're meeting regularly. We're surging in assistance,
but we are in a much better place. This is not out of control.
FLORES: And despite warnings from health experts and school officials, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos brushing off the risks of reopening
schools.
BETSY DEVOS, U.S. EDUCATION SECRETARY: There is no -- nothing in the data that would suggest that kids being back in school is dangerous to them. And
in fact, it's more a matter of their health and well-being that they be back in school.
FLORES: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi firing back, saying DeVos is putting children and teachers at risk and ignoring the science.
NANCY PELOSI, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: I think what we heard from the secretary was malfeasance and dereliction of duty. We all want our children to go
back to school. Teachers do, parents do, and children do. But they must go back safely.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Rosa Flores joining me now from Miami. And Rosa, we are learning more about how the virus is spreading. Many Americans seeming to -- well,
ignore the rules it seems.
ANDERSON: You know, you're absolutely right. And this is one of the big issues that local leaders here in Miami Dade County had been pressing.
They're saying that because the United States does not have a unified message between local and state governments and even the Federal government
it creates this mixed messaging that makes it very difficult for local leaders to get the word out.
There is actually an analysis, a company that that analyzed cellphone data over the Fourth of July weekend, for example, and they identified about 10
hotspots and because they're able to track mobility people's movements, they were able to determine that people were still traveling over the
Fourth of July weekend and even though they were staying within their state. The mask rules for example. The mask mandate rule rules change from
city to city, county to county.
And they did identify two hotspots he said Orlando and Charleston, South Carolina were deemed hotspots. But Becky I think the main point from both
local experts and also local leaders here in Miami Dade County, where I am which is the epicenter of this crisis in the State of Florida, is that
there is no unified message and they would like to see the Federal government issue a mask mandate to make it easy for people to understand
that you have to wear a mask in order to stop this virus from spreading. Becky?
ANDERSON: Rosa Flores is in Florida for you. Rosa, thank you. Was coronavirus cases then surge in the United States, the White House taking
aim at the country's top infectious disease specialists. The Trump administration is trying to discredit Dr. Anthony Fauci. That was over the
weekend after he admitted in an interview that he had barely spoken to the President in months.
Now, according to a White House aid official sent a list to multiple media outlets pointing out mistakes made by Fauci early in the pandemic, although
nothing was mentioned of Donald Trump's own missteps concerning the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Well, I think we are in a good place.
FAUCI: We're facing serious problem now.
TRUMP: We're almost up to 40 million in testing and 40 million people, which is unheard of.
FAUCI: This is the thing that is a little bit concerning you say, well, we now have 37 million tests have been performed. The question is when you get
on the phone and talk to the people in the community, there are still lapses there, where the dots are not being connected.
TRUMP: If you look at the chart of deaths, deaths are way down.
FAUCI: It's a false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, this is a man who is in the crosshairs as it were of the White House President seem. CNN John Harwood from Washington for you now.
What exactly is the White House been saying, John?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT The White House has been saying as the facts on the ground of the resurgence of the coronavirus have gotten
worse. They're saying don't listen to the leading authorities we have who are conveying those facts. And it's not just Anthony Fauci, it's also the
Centers for Disease Control. The President Trump this morning retweeted a former game show host saying that the CDC has been lying.
[10:10:10]
HARWOOD: That's how the administration is reacting to the way it has bungled the response to the coronavirus. Americans are praying - paying the
price, they're trying to deflect blame poll show. It's not working though, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes. And these new polls on Americans' trust in Fauci versus Trump. I mean, what are those polls reveal, John?
HARWOOD: The New York Times/ Siena College poll had a poll the other day which showed that 67 percent of Americans say they trust Anthony Fauci on
the coronavirus, a higher proportion trust the CDC. President -- trust in President Trump is down around 29 percent. That actually shows the -- some
erosion in Fauci his credibility because as the President's been attacking him Republicans loyal to the President.
I have started to peel away a little bit. Anthony Fauci's trust ratings had been in the 80s before. But still, the vast majority of people recognize
his expertise, recognize his public spiritedness and the President is appealing to his base. And we know that his base is not large enough for
him to win the election. It's not a majority of Americans.
ANDERSON: It's been a remarkable, what, 72 hours for Donald Trump attacking Fauci and the CDC was same time by the way, donning a face mask, it seems
for nigh on the first time, something Fauci has been suggesting Americans should must do in order to contain this virus. Donald Trump also pardoning
Roger Stone, John.
HARWOOD: That's right. And it is remarkable that it took so long for the President to put on a mask when the answer evidence has been so clear for
so long. And after some initial hesitation and this is one of the things that early on Fauci was not promoting mask wearing, but since then he and
other public health authorities are unanimous that people should wear a mask. Donald Trump resisted that finally put one on this weekend still has
not given a full throated endorsement.
Meanwhile, he is acting to protect himself by computing the sentence of Roger Stone, who lied to federal investigators in order to protect
President Trump. Again, people see that the President is acting in his own self interest rather than in the national interest. And that's one of the
reasons why not just on trust on the coronavirus. But in a public approval, large majority of Americans have turned against the president in terms of
disapproving his job performance and Joe Biden has got a lead in the range of 10 percentage points in the polls.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. John, always a pleasure. Thank you. John Harwood is out of Washington for you today. Well, as we speak the coronavirus, still
rampaging through Latin America and the Caribbean three of the five highest death tolls in the world. Sadly coming out of the Americans as Mexico
overtakes Italy with more than 35,000 deaths and Brazil and the U.S. they continue to top the list as a region.
Latin America alone makes up nearly a quarter of all coronavirus cases and Brazil quickly nearing two million. It will be only the second country
behind the U.S. to reach what is that grim milestone. And Brazil Sao Paulo has more cases than most countries but President Jair Bolsonaro continues
to push to reopen saying the country is on the brink of recession. CNN's Bill Weir is there and has all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: A long lens found Brazil's most famous COVID-19 patient up and about this weekend and this Twitter selfie
was part of a post that inform the nation they are on the verge of recession, as he called for families to depoliticize the pandemic. After so
much "Misinformation was used as a weapon," to his critics, that is outrageous since President bolsonaro often defied a judge's order to wear a
mask in public.
And pushed out two health ministers who disagreed with them. While he now has a team of doctors and his own palace ICU at the ready. Hospitals across
his country are jammed.
Here in the geographic center of Brazil, a husband and wife suffer in adjoining beds. A son comforts his ailing father. And their doctor is still
regaining his strength after 10 days in intensive care.
DR. WILSON VILELA, DOCTOR: So today, my boss (INAUDIBLE) boss is inside with the ventilation, with tube.
WEIR: Really?
VILELA: Yes. Be better --
WEIR: Oh my gosh.
VILELA: And not respond to chloroquine.
[10:15:03]
WEIR: Chloroquine is among the cheap, abundant anti- malarial drugs pushed by Bolsonaro as a COVID cure, along with vitamins, steroids, and medication
for parasitic worms. Dr. Vilela says he's tried them all with wildly mixed results.
VILELA: I don't know what to do -- what I do.
WEIR: Right.
VILELA: Water.
WEIR: Yes, water.
VILELA: Yes, Yes.
WEIR: You have very little -- you're trying everything you can, right?
VILELA: Yes, yes.
WEIR: Yes.
VILELA: It's a -- it's a new disease.
WEIR: Yes.
VILELA: It's a new -- it's a new pandemic so we don't have things to do.
WEIR: Right.
He says it's even more challenging treating the indigenous Brazilians who once had this edge of the Amazon to themselves but are now surrounded by
farms and ranchers.
A soybean trucker first brought COVID-19 to this region and it is tearing through a community already struggling with vulnerable immune systems,
diabetes, and a deep mistrust of the outside world.
WEIR: I would like Jair Bolsonaro to stop talking stupid nonsense, Crisanto Ruczo tell me. The doctors have to prescribe, not the president. His
government did not take prevention seriously. It did not prepare.
The indigenous leader was on a ventilator when his mother died of COVID-19.
WEIR: We have a very strong spirituality, so she was there and took my hand and told me that I'll get out of this to take care of my people. Five days
later, my father died.
As the pandemic spread, Brazil's Congress passed a bill that would provide clean water, disinfectant, and hospital beds for this country's 850,000
indigenous natives. Last week, those efforts were vetoed by Jair Bolsonaro.
Bill Weir, CNN (INAUDIBLE) Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Bill Weir reporting for you in a region run by oil. A lockdown and pandemic could spell disaster. We'll take a look at the toll COVID is
taking on the Middle East and Central Asia and the upcoming challenges.
And almost 3000 murders, nearly 180,000 violent crimes against women will be in South Africa as it faces what some people are calling jewel
pandemics.
Plus, Manchester City will return to European football sooner than expected. That is a clear slam dunk. The club music to the ears of city's
fans and management. What it means for European football's governing body. Less clear. CNN's Patrick Snell is in the house. Patrick?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Becky. Yes, it is the news that city fans no question they wanted to hear. Let's just reset for our viewers
because the club was actually facing a two-year ban from the prestigious UEFA Champions League. Remember city were originally punished by EUFA
board. It called serious breaches of club licensing and financial fair play regulations.
The ban though on Monday overturned, so much was at stake here, Becky. A club that is absolutely desperate, you know this, they are desperate to win
this tournament. It's why their superstar manager Pep Guardiola was hired even in the first place. The Abu Dhabi back club and I will say very
lucratively, back club two, they've had success, we know they can win the Premier League.
They've done that in recent seasons, but never in their history have they won the European Cup and that hurts. Believe me, especially when they see
the success of their neighbors united across town or even Liverpool, some 35 miles down the road. We're going to be breaking it all down to you. The
developments what comes next, reaction from the club itself and you wait for what they have to say about it. Oh, Becky, back to you. That's all
ahead.
ANDERSON: Fantastic. That is in about a half hours' time. Patrick, appreciate it. We're taking a very short break. Back after this.
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ANDERSON: The International Monetary Fund has just described the economic outlook for the Middle East and Central Asia as bleak. And it is no
surprise the organization is blaming the global coronavirus pandemic with much of the world staying home. We are just not using as much oil for
example, the lifeblood of much of the region and that affects nearly every aspect of these economies from stimulus plans to fighting poverty and
inequality.
Well, John Defterios joins us here in Abu Dhabi with a closer look at what the IMF revealed. And this is pretty grim reading by all accounts, John.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: It certainly is, Becky. And this is a report that has a wide footprint, if you will, it goes all the
way to Morocco in the West and then to the heart of Central Asia. With Kazakhstan and all points in between, of course, and no matter where you
zoom in, right? There's trouble there. And particularly for the large, Middle East oil exporters that are highly dependent on oil revenues to
survive.
I would put Iraq at the top of the list. Of course, Saudi Arabia is kind of in the same position, even though they're pushing diversification. And one
thing we do know that when the pandemic hit back in April, we saw oil demand drop by nearly 30 percent. We've seen recovery to a drop of say nine
to 10 percent for all of 2020. That's the expectation but that is still extremely deep and the challenges we don't know when it's going to recover.
Let's listen to the Jihad Azour of the International Monetary Fund who chair the report.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIHAD AZOUR, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, IMF (through translator): The recovery of oil will be dependent on various factors. The first is demand. Demand has
been playing an important role and the uncertainty about the recovery globally is affecting the expectations about demand, especially since trade
is expected to drop by 12 percent globally.
DEFTERIOS: A 12 percent drop in trade is unheard of, Becky. As you know, you can't even go back to the global financial crisis and find that. The
one advantage for the Gulf states where we're based here is the amount of sovereign wealth, some $2 trillion. The IMF flagged it about six months ago
that that's depleting rapidly, but it came in handy right now because the budget deficits, again, no matter where you look, eight to 10 percent of
GDP, so it's trouble.
But for those who have that financial cushion, it makes a huge difference of course.
ANDERSON: Yes, players like the Gulf states, some players like the Gulf states, of course, have reserves as you suggest, but what are the risks for
those who don't and which countries are we looking at here?
DEFTERIOS: Yes, it let's call these the ones that don't have the rainy day funds, if you will, for acute ones, that the IMF. I know it's politically
sensitive, right? To talk about it, but they did flag it. I would put Iran on that list, of course, because it has a triple whammy, high COVID cases,
U.S. sanctions and the drop in oil prices. Lebanon because right in the midst of protests again and the financial crisis. So it's a political and
financial crisis.
And they did not advance the talks with the IMF as of last Friday. I would also single out here Iraq and Libya as failed states Becky, right? Because
they don't have the infrastructure within the government to deal with these sort of challenges right now. Oil prices are low and the medical systems
are strained. So let's bring up kind of the COVID-19 challenges. According to the International Monetary Fund.
They call it a double whammy because you have oil prices under pressure and you could be facing additional lockdowns in the second wave, which could
lead to protests. This is very acute and something that's alarming. Oil revenues down, Becky, this is an extraordinary number, $270 billion 2020
versus 2019. And OPEC may open up the spigots a little bit here and dial back in some of the cuts so we could see downward pressure here in the
fourth quarter. We're not clear yet.
[10:03]
DEFTERIOS: And finally, this is something I did not know until I looked at the report that the stimulus plans in this part of the world are the lowest
no matter where you look during the pandemic. So if we have a second wave, and you're not one of the Gulf states with sovereign wealth, you're going
to have trouble keeping things under control. And all of those countries I was talking about before, had protests before the pandemic, right?
And that's a risk that the International Monetary Fund singled out here today, as a real challenge going forward. If we have the second wave.
ANDERSON: It does seem remarkable. Back in the day, we'd say when we were reporting on these protests, I'm talking about four or five months ago. It
seems like another world away, doesn't it? But you're absolutely right to point that out. I mean, there are significant challenges to so many of
those countries around this region. Never mind the impact of COVID-19. John, was a pleasure. Thank you, sir. John Defterios in the house out of --
well, in his house in fact out of Abu Dhabi.
Thank you, John. Next hour we're going to take you to two countries that are feeling pain from the pandemic in a big way. Lebanon's economic crisis
deepens as John rightly pointed out, while higher unemployment is rocking Israel's economy, sparking protests over the government's response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some of the most important numbers are going in the wrong direction in Israel coronavirus, unemployment protests.
All of those are going up while one big number is going down especially for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. I'm Oren Lieberman in Jerusalem. Will
have that story coming up.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And Becky we'll be live in Beirut with a report on the collapsing Lebanese economy and what it
means to people struggling to get by as prices go through the roof. The power goes off and stays off and the local currency, the lira loses much of
its value.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Iran has seen as steep rise in COVID-19 cases in the country's Supreme Leader calling it "Truly sad." Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged
citizens on Sunday to do their part to help contain the outbreak. Now this comes as the country's total case count nears 260,000, 184 deaths were
reported on Sunday. Alone bring Iran's total death toll to nearly 13,000. Now official say more than 200,000 victims of COVID-19 have now recovered.
Meanwhile, aviation officials in Iran are offering a partial explanation for the downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane in January. They say it was
due to quote, "Human error." And the report from the country's Civil Aviation Organization was released on Saturday. It says a misalignment of
air defense equipment and poor communication caused the plane to crash. The organization cautions however that the investigation is still ongoing.
The crash back in early January killed all 176 people on board and it came amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S.
You are watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me Becky Anderson and you are more than welcome. Still to come, the conflict in Yemen, impacting the treatment
and support of those affected by COVID-19. In our next hour, we speak to the director of the International British Red Cross for more on what is
being done on the ground and what's needed.
And Pope Francis reacts to Turkey's decision to turn this iconic Byzantine era, Hagia Sophia back into a mosque. How the leader of the Catholic Church
is feeling about that change.
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ANDERSON: It is half hour 6:00 in the UAE. This is connected world from our Middle East broadcasting hub here in Abu Dhabi. One in every 100 Americans
has been infected with coronavirus. That's the statistic and President Trump has shared this message on Twitter with the baseless claim that the
country's Centers for Disease Control is lying about COVID-19 and that it's all about the election in November.
The President had retweeted the message from Chuck Woolery. He's a former game show host like Mr. Trump. White House is also trying to discredit one
of its own leading coronavirus task force members, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been giving ever more dire predictions. Roll over, America. Cities and
states it seems are scrambling to try to control the surging crisis. The mayor of Georgia's capital city is taking Atlanta back to square one or
phase one by urging people to stay at home.
Keisha Lance Bottoms condemns Georgia's reopening is, "reckless." And now, Louisiana taking action to get a grip on spiking cases among young people.
Our reporters checking in from across the United States for you.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've always said of all in New York, where health officials are closely, observing three people who recently
tested positive for the coronavirus. What's concerning is that these three individuals, according to authorities have traveled to board a Delta flight
from Atlanta to Albany back on July 6. And those passengers were not symptomatic at the time and health officials working with the airline right
now are trying to do that contact tracing to make sure that nobody was actually exposed.
Separately, Governor Cuomo over the weekend also saying that there's been a recent uptick in COVID cases in upstate New York. Though it's still unclear
whether or not that has been directly tied to that Delta flight, but we do know is this comes after health officials have expressed concern about
people leaving the New York State area that is really doing fairly well in terms of COVID numbers, getting sick and then returning back to the region.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paul Vercammen in Los Angeles where officials are reporting that the COVID-19 numbers are headed in the wrong
direction. In Los Angeles County, more than 3300 new cases and hospitalizations are way up. 2093 at last count and about 25 percent of
those people are in intensive care units. Throughout the state, similar numbers that are not encouraging.
We're seeing both a rise in hospitalizations and positivity. And now more than 7000 people have died in California since the outbreak of coronavirus.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Natasha Chen in Atlanta. Louisiana has become the latest state to limit business at bars. Governor John Bel
Edwards announced Saturday, bars would be closed for onsite consumption. And that goes into effect on Monday. In South Carolina, Governor Henry
McMaster has said that restaurants and bars would be banned from selling alcohol after 11:00 p.m. every night.
He said that is to stem the spread of the virus among young people. Florida had reopened its bars in early June, only to shut them down again a few
weeks later, after health officials traced a few clusters of cases of coronavirus to people visiting bars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, COVID-19 not only deadly, it can be treacherous to diagnose. CNN's Medical Analyst Celine Gounder says, "I have never seen an
infectious disease that can cause quite so many kinds of clinical presentations so many kinds of disease as coronavirus. Dr. Gounder is also
an infectious diseases specialists and epidemiologist and she joins me live. Explain what you meant by that.
[10:35:01]
CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, Becky, the way that corona virus causes disease is it actually -- a big part of it is immune system
dysfunction. So your immune system gets overly revved up and kind of like in the case of an autoimmune disease, it turns against the body itself. And
secondly, you're getting massive inflammation is part of that in blood vessels. So your immune system, your blood vessels go to every single organ
in the body, which means any organ can be affected.
ANDERSON: The numbers are unfortunately quite remarkable, not least in the U.S., where one in every 100 Americans has now been infected. What's the
long-term prognosis for those who have had the virus? Do we know at this point?
GOUNDER: Well, we don't because we really have only known about this virus since late December or so. We're still learning about how it behaves. We,
you know, we have only had a few months to really start study its effects. You know, as I was mentioning about the blood vessel inflammation, you
know, one of the things that we're seeing are little blood clots and vessels all over the body.
And what is that going to mean for people long term if your lungs are riddled with tiny blood clots if your kidneys are riddled with tiny blood
clots, we just don't know what the long-term impact might be.
ANDERSON: Well, do we know at this point?
GOUNDER: Well, we know that this is a highly infectious respiratory virus that is predominantly spread by droplets. But that also can be spread by
aerosols, which means that we have to be very aggressive about preventing respiratory transmission, wearing masks, addressing ventilation and also
looking at how can we beef up our infrastructure where we can in terms of things like filtration systems, you know, ultraviolet germicidal
irradiation in (INAUDIBLE) systems.
Those are the kinds of things that really could make a difference in the long run in terms of this disease.
ANDERSON: Donald Trump and the White House suggesting that Anthony Fauci made mistakes early in this pandemic. Let's point out that nothing was
mentioned of Donald Trump's own missteps concerning the virus. What do you make of this burgeoning spats between the U.S.'s leading coronavirus,
specialist as it were and the President and his White House?
GOUNDER: Well, Dr. Fauci is one of the top infectious disease specialists in the world. And I think part of this really what's at the root of this
argument is that scientists really have to live with uncertainty and then how do you communicate uncertainty? I think Donald Trump has a very
different approach to this, which is a political agenda, wanting certainty, demanding certainty and making claims with certainty that may not be true
all to advance his political agenda.
ANDERSON: With that, we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us. Let's get you up to speed on some of the other
stories on our radar right now.
And in Russia's far east, thousands of people protested the arrest of their governor. Sergey Furgal was dubbed the People's Government by local media
and has been portrayed as the -- as the soiled the Kremlin. He was arrested and flown to Moscow on Friday. This was the second high-profile arrest in
Russia last week.
While in Poland, the President's prison Duda is celebrating a narrow win over his liberal challenger. And Mr. Duda an ally of U.S. President Donald
Trump face scrutiny throughout his campaign for his divisive rhetoric. The election committee says he secured 51 percent of the vote while his
opponent brought in about 49 percent. CNN's Fred Pleitgen joining me now live from Poznan in Western Poland. And Fred, quite simply, why does this
matter?
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it matters a great deal obviously because Poland's becoming ever more important country within
Europe, within the European Union. And by now Becky is also one of America's most important allies here in Europe as well. As far as the
military is concerned the Poland's obviously have a lot of American troops, which are semi-permanently based in Poland, and they want to have more
troops as well.
And there is some talk that when President Trump pulled out of some of the U.S. troops out of Germany, which he plans to do, not really sure when but
in the not too distant future that some of them could leave permanently based in Poland. So certainly this election was really watched a great deal
from the outside as well. And it is really an election that showed just how divided a nation Poland is. You mentioned how close this vote was.
And one of the things that we also took a look at is who voted for which candidate? You could see that it was really mostly young people who voted
for the liberal, Rafal Trzaskowski who fell just a bit short in this election while older people voted for Mr. Duda. There's also a big divide
between the rural population and the population and cities and then also a geographic divide between people living in the east of Poland, which is
generally a bit more conservative, and those who live in the west of Poland.
[10:40:08]
PLEITGEN: And really, if you look at what Mr. Duda did in his election campaign, it was one that many people did believe was quite divisive. It
was basically Poland's version of America First. It was essentially Poland First. It was quite hostile towards the European Union, also a lot of anti-
LGBT rhetoric in there. And one of the things that his opponent, Rafal Trzaskowski says, look, he wants a more inclusive Poland, and he wants to
bring Poland closer back into the European Union.
While President Duda has said he wants to do exactly what he's been doing the past five years which certainly will make it very, very difficult for
Poland within the European Union and for the European Union when dealing with Poland, Becky.
ANDERSON: It's 4:40 in Poland, certainly where Fred is. It is 6:40 here in the UAE. Thank you, Fred. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD live from our
Middle East programming hub here in Abu Dhabi.
Coming up. The UAE's hope for Mars in just about T-minus 30 hours, one small Arab country will be making one giant leap for mankind.
Plus, a new ruling means. Manchester City will not be forced out of European football is first thought we've got a live report for you on that
coming up.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think science is just beginning now to take baby steps in the Middle East. So from that point of view, it is an exciting time in
theory. And that to me, I think is the spark that ignites emphasis on the youth because right now everybody in the world knows that UAE program of
America is done by a whole bunch of young kids, the men and women in their 20s and maximum 30s. So there are kids that very much like the way the
Apollo program was done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Those words (INAUDIBLE) couple of years ago there may soon be hope on Mars. United Arab Emirates now set to take a giant leap in space
exploration. The final countdown is onto the Arab world's first mission to Mars in just over 30 hours. The interplanetary probe named hope, will blast
off on a monumental mission for a small country that's just shy of 50 years old.
Some can only describe this as an epiphany moment, a catalyst of innovation for the region's future generations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 450 engineers and technicians have been hard at work for six years building hope. Literally, that's the name of the spacecraft,
the Hope Probe, which will launch towards Mars later this week. It will make history as the Arab world's first interplanetary mission. And while
this Dubai-based venture could radically improve the world's understanding of the red planet, the project manager has his sights set closer to home.
[10:45:05]
OMRAN SHARAF, PROJECT MANAGER, EMIRATES MARS MISSION: Reaching Mars is not the main goal here. It's a mean for a much bigger goal. It's about the
future of our economy, about creating the post oil economy, a creative, innovative and a competitive economy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oil is the bedrock of the UAE's economy accounting for 30 percent of the nation's GDP. But with demand expected to peak within
decades, leaders have made economic diversification a top priority. And they hope initiatives like this will help.
SHARAF: So when it of came to building the mission, the government was very clear with the team. They told us build it, don't buy it. You can work on a
knowledge transfer program. So we partnered up with University of Colorado Boulder.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifteen international partners contributed to the autonomous spacecraft which will try to capture the most comprehensive
picture of Mars's atmosphere ever. Three different instruments will analyze hydrogen and oxygen levels for an entire Martian year or 687 days. And this
data could help researchers and for why the Red Planet became uninhabitable.
SHARAF: Scientists believe that more than four billion years ago, Mars was the life planet, it had similar features and characteristics as Earth.
Something went wrong there and it turned into a dead planet. So better understanding what happened to Mars will help us better understand the
changes happening on Earth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If all goes according to plan, hope we'll reach Mars in 2021, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the country's founding,
it'd be an impressive feat for a space agency that's less than a decade old. And moreover, 90 percent of the mission's employees are under the age
of 35. But team members thing this is just the beginning.
FATMA HUSSAIN LOOTAH, MANAGER, INSTRUMEN SCIENCE SECTION: This is the golden age of space in UAE. And so this is what we're starting now. So we
haven't got astronauts, we're having our Mars mission. So this is going -- I think it's going to go down like this decade, it's going to go down in
our history books.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For that golden age to continue encouraging children to pursue scientific studies is key. And initiatives like this could help
them do just that.
LOOTAH: I feel in the beginning, just before the mission was announced, there was this kind of stigma if you go into science like where is your
career going to be at? But I think for our kids and the next generation, even my daughter myself, like she can grow up and say, you know, I want to
be an astronaut.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the Emirates Mars mission is an ambitious step in space discovery, the liftoff in a world first will be counted down in
Arabic. After leaving the Earth's atmosphere, the Hope Probe will begin its 200-day journey to the red planet, it will be a move through our solar
system at a speed of just a mere 121,000 kilometers an hour. The probe itself weighs 10350 K.G.s. That's around the same weight as a small
current.
To get an idea of just how out of this world this feat is, I spoke to Hazza Al Mansouri, the first Emirati and first Arab to step aboard the
International Space Station. He believes the Hope Probe is a turning point for the region and for the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAZZA AL MANSOURI, FIRST EMIRATI ASTRONAUT TO GO TO ISS: It's going to spark a new era here in country in the region -- in the Arab region. In
terms of igniting the youth and the next generation and telling them that nothing is impossible. The name of this probe is Hope. To spread the hope
and the region. By going to Mars and future will give us more understanding how to live a better life (INAUDIBLE)
When I was there on the -- on the station onboard the station, the International Space Station, I saw the earth from there, and it was really
beautiful. Lands, oceans, mountains, there's no borders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Amazing listening to Hazza, we'll be bringing you more of that interview tomorrow as we count down to the hours when Hope will lift off in
what will be a history making moment. Well, Man City will be in the UEFA Champions League after all next season. I'm going to tell you which high-
profile European football finger was none too pleased with the eagerly anticipated verdict that came down on Monday. The latest developments on
that just the head.
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[10:51:08]
ANDERSON: All right. Welcome back. Fans of English Premier League Giants Manchester City are breathing a major sigh of relief on Monday after
finding out that their club will in fact play in next season's Champions League. Well, for more we're joined by World Sports Patrick's Snell. I mean
they will be raising the rafters. What would -- It was going to say main row but at the Etihad Stadium when finally they get back of course as fans
to the stadium. Tell us what's going on.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, Becky. Yes, no question. This is the news that city supporters wanted to hear. Thank you very much. Great to be
back on with you, Becky. This is a club that was facing a two-year ban, remember? Let's just reset for our viewers worldwide from the prestigious
UEFA Champions League and unthinkable prospect to a club of their ambitions of their desires as well.
Remember city originally punished by European football's governing body, that's UEFA for what is caused serious breaches of club licensing and
financial fair play regulations. They appealed and the ban on Monday overturned. Let's send it over to Alex Thomas, who's been following this
with every step of the way. Alex, I want to join you now for some shrewd analysis. How expected was this decision do you feel?
ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It wasn't expensive, Patrick. It was really 50/50. And you could tell that from the vitriolic way Manchester City first
reacted to being banned for two years back on February the 14th earlier this year. Valentine's Day and certainly no love lost between the club and
European football's governing body UEFA. Initially the fine was 30 million euros or roughly $31 million, almost one for one with euro and dollars.
That fine now reduced, as you say, to $10 million and crucially no banned from European football at all. And after those vitriolic comments from city
back in -- accusing -- conspiracy, new earlier on Monday was far more pleasant. They welcome that decision from the patient for sports in
Lausanne which essentially founds -- most of the allegations in UEFA either couldn't be proven or didn't fall within UEFA's own five-year time limit.
Although they did admit that Manchester City didn't cooperate with the investigation. City of course, say they stopped doing that after they felt
UEFA weren't listening to them. So the fine is for the failure to cooperate, and the other allegations weren't proven. Although Manchester
City welcome the decision, UEFA themselves released a very short and curt statements saying they note what the cast has ruled on and they won't be
making any further comment.
It was left to the president of Spain's La Liga Javier Tebas to say more and what he said fingering European football was interesting. We have to
reassess whether the cast is the appropriate body to which to appeal institutional decisions in football -- country with a great history of
arbitration, the CAS is not up to standard. This is of course not the first time UEFA has been defeated in the courts, Patrick.
SNELL: Yes, Alex. I got a few more seconds up my sleeve. I do want to ask you then now what's the fallout? What can we expect moving forward? What
might come next now?
THOMAS: Well, they'll certainly be question marks over UEFA's financial fair play strategy. It was a breach of FFP that was alleged in the first
place. It's been in place for around a decade, and UEFA would say they have achieved their primary objective, which was to reduce debt over the whole
of European football. Individual clubs are still in debt. But over all European football is in profit now where it wasn't when FFP was first
introduced.
You have to worry whether clubs will continue to follow it, if it shows that you can breach it, and succeed in the courts. Although of course on
this occasion, the court said Manchester City did not breach the regulations at all, far more significantly on the pitch. This is huge to
Manchester City. It now means they can still play Champions League football next season. Pep Guardiola has another year of his contract as coach and
possibly will be more likely to resign if they're still in Europe.
[10:55:05]
THOMAS: And star players like Kevin De Bruyne, Raheem Sterling and others will certainly see city in their future if they're playing at the highest
level, Patrick.
SNELL: All right, Alex, thank you very much for joining us there. We'll stay across all the developments in that one.
All right, well, now once again, we have to get to the ugly stain of racism in football, this after the merger to Premier League players Sheffield
United David McGoldrick and Crystal Palace's Wilfried Zaha have suffered racist abuse online. And now one Premier League stars telling us he finds
online racism worse than racist incidents actually, inside stadium. Watford defender Christian Kabasele saying that while all forms are reprehensible,
sending monkey and banana emojis to plays on social media means that somebody has taken the time to think about their message before sending it.
Kabasele speaking to world sport contributor Darren Lewis back in March about the races of he's experience and why he says social media platforms
have failed to deal with incidents. He's reported in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIAN KABASELE, WATFORD DEFENDER: When you are in stadiums, sometimes you the fact that you are surrounded by other person, you just disconnect
your brain and you do something stupid. But when you -- when you write -- when you write something on Instagram on Twitter, you have time to think
about what you are -- what you are doing. And it's worse than something happen in a stadium.
DARREN LEWIS, CNN WORLD SPORT CONTRIBUTOR: No, I know that you reported when you received the abuse. And you were quite shocked by the response.
Just talk us through that.
KABASELE: Yes. So I was abused in Belgium during a game and after I went to my Instagram, and I took a monkey picture and I put next to -- next to that
picture in -- a picture of myself and I was asking, am I looking as the same as the -- as the monkey? And I think the day after Instagram deleted my post and just said that I break the
rules of Instagram, that I was violent and I was spreading (INAUDIBLE) spreading violence and the bad -- the bad message on my Instagram.
So I should stop it and it's quite unbelievable because when I was abused again on Instagram I will put the messages that I receive and after the
investigation they find out that there were no violence message towards me. The accounts didn't break the rules. So it's quite -- it's quite amazing
how you can have two kinds of reaction about this. It's unbelievable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: Thanks to you, Christian. And thanks to Darren Lewis as well. We'll be hearing about plenty more on that interview next hour. We'll be joined
by Darren live as well at -- in the next hour just to confirm for you. Becky, it's back to you in Abu Dhabi.
ANDERSON: Yes, thank you very much. Indeed. That is important stuff. Thank you. Right. America heading in the wrong direction. We've taken you to
Florida this hour. Up next we get you into Arizona but almost wherever you look across the United States, it's bad news.
Plus, we look at the situation in Yemen, in Lebanon, and in Israel for a Middle East wrap on COVID. That is after this very quick break. See you on
the other side.
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END
