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Russia Accused of Cyber Attacks on Vaccine Developers; U.S. Nears Breaking Point as Cases Surge, Hospitals Fill; Health Experts Call for Governors Summit; U.S. Cities in Tug-of-War with States over Masks; Syria's Idlib Province Needs Aid as Infections Emerge; China Rebounds as Tensions Rise with U.S.; IMF Chief Predicts Possible COVID-19 Crisis Fallout; Tensions Flare over Africa's Largest Hydroelectric Dam; COVID-19 Remains the Focus as U.S. Sports Return. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired July 16, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:00:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi. We start with breaking news coming into CNN. The U.S., Canada and United Kingdom have
accused Russia of carrying out cyber attacks on several coronavirus research centers.
The three governments believe the aim was to steal information about vaccine development. Well now, the fallout begins. Matthew Chance is in
Moscow. First up though, Nic Robertson joins us from London with more, Nic, and what are the explosive accusations?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: And the accusations that come from Britain's National Cyber Security Centre, supported by
intelligence officials within the United States and Canada, they say very clearly that an organization, a group called APT 29, advanced persistent
threat 29, also known as Cozy Bear, have been trying through methods of spear fishing, through method of customized malware, things called well
mass and well mail to get into the research and development of coronavirus vaccines, both here in the U.K., in the United States and in Canada.
And remembering that these three nations are at the sharp end, at the most advanced end of gaining knowledge of how to tackle this global pandemic.
It creates the impression that Russia is perhaps coming up short on its own research and perhaps needs to steal or gain insight into what other nations
with more advanced in this process.
But this is something that the British government is calling on the Russians to desist and stop doing, that the attacks are ongoing and that
they target the government, diplomats, health care institutions, think tanks.
These have been the typical targets of this group and it's -- and the group as we know have been active for some time. The government very clear that
it is -- that it is not alone, the target here that is allies, the United States and Canada also suffering in the same way. Becky?
ANDERSON: So a response in Moscow, Matthew?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, there's been no response yet. But whenever the Kremlin or any other
organization in this country has been confronted with allegations like this, that it's basically backing a hacking collective to gather
information on behalf of the intelligence services in another country, it always meets with the same response, which is, you know, categorical
denial.
Once the Kremlin or the foreign ministry take the time to respond to these very serious allegations, I'm almost certain that will be the same kind of
thing that they will say, a denial. Very unlikely they're going to say yes, you know, this was us.
So you know, that said, you know, Cozy Bear, which is this organization which is being accused of conducting this malware campaign, you know,
infiltrating the systems in these coronavirus research labs is believed to be linked with the Russian intelligence service.
It's been in the headlines; you may remember during the hack of the Democratic National Committee in the United States during the presidential
elections there, Cozy Bear was one of the Russian hacker groups that was believed to have infiltrated the DNC server.
It's not the one that released the emails that was there was before and afterwards. It's quite a discrete organization and believed to be linked
with the Russian foreign intelligence service.
In terms of the most recent allegations the idea that it would have been targeting research labs looking for a vaccine for coronavirus, well, that
sort of adds up in the sense that Russia has a massive coronavirus problem, one of the most affected countries in the world.
And it's doing whatever it can to find the vaccine on its own merit. It has several labs that are making great progress in getting towards the vaccine.
But obviously the intelligence services may be well directed to getting as much outside help and information from other countries as they possibly
can. Becky?
ANDERSON: Matthew Chance is in Moscow. Nic Robertson is in London.
Well, let's turn our focus to America and America getting to a point at which we perhaps have seen it before, an America approaching breaking
point.
[10:05:00]
ANDERSON: President Donald Trump is ignoring the coronavirus crisis, almost declaring war on public health experts and facing crumbling poll
ratings. Let me take you through everything.
Right now, the number of people being infected with coronavirus is surging in more than three-quarters of the country, 39 out of 50 states, the U.S.
averaging more than 60,000 cases a day for a week straight now. That's more cases than any other country on Earth and it is not sustainable.
Hospitals in big cities and smaller ones, too, are filling up to capacity. They're getting completely swamped and deaths are rising. Naturally in a
time of crisis, most Americans are yearning for leadership and a strong national response. We have seen it in places like New Zealand, Germany and,
yes, the presumed origin of the outbreak in China.
In the United States, this is what they are getting. The president giving a thumbs up and a smile as he poses behind cans of beans, of wafers and other
products from Goya in the Oval Office in the White House.
Why did he do that?
After the Goya CEO praised the president during a White House visit, critics called for a boycott of Goya. So this was the president's response.
This week, a key member of his team really went after America's top infectious diseases expert in an op-ed. Peter Navarro accused Dr. Anthony
Fauci of being wrong on just about everything since the start of the pandemic. The White House said he acted on his own.
Not often though that one of Trump's inner circle would go it alone. And to that the, "Los Angeles Times" reports, President Trump gave the thumbs up,
if you will, for Navarro to write the opinion column. Well, Dr. Fauci calls it all bizarre.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think that if you talked to reasonable people in the White House, they
realize that was a major mistake on their part because it doesn't do anything but reflect poorly on them and I don't think that was their
intention.
I don't know. I can't figure out in my wildest dreams why they would want to do that. But I think they realize now that was not a prudent thing to
because it's only reflecting negatively on them.
I can't explain Peter Navarro. He's in a world by himself so I don't want to go there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, if the president did sign off on the Navarro op-ed, it may be because he knows the American public has more faith in Fauci than in
him. You see it here in this Quinnipiac poll. Nearly two-thirds of the public disapprove of President Trump's response to the pandemic.
Why don't they trust him?
Well, watch this and judge for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I alone can fix it.
I am the chosen one.
People are surprised that I understand it. Everyone one of the doctors said how do you know so much about this?
Maybe I have a natural ability.
When somebody's the president of the United States, the authority is total. And that's the way it's got to be.
QUESTION: Your authority is total?
TRUMP: It's total.
If I wasn't here to say no way, that's not going to happen, we'd be in some mess. We'd be in some mess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the approval ratings for his COVID response probably aren't the numbers that matter most to the American president.
And another Quinnipiac poll shows him trailing his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, by 15 points. If those numbers are accurate and don't change, it's a
near certainty Biden would win the presidential election now, less than four months out.
Well, the president is taking action to improve those numbers by demoting his campaign manager, Brad Parscale. Insiders tell CNN that the demotion
was inevitable after Parscale made a series of missteps, including the sparsely attended rally in Oklahoma.
One official said it's the president, not his former campaign manager, who all but abandoned the number one public issue right now, the pandemic, and
nothing has changed.
And with inaction and confusion at the top, in today's "New York Times," health experts warn the country can't wait any longer for a unified
leadership and they are proposing all 50 governors hold a summit to coordinate a unified response.
CNN medical analyst who served as a doctor in the George W. Bush administration says right now that appears to be the only solution to bring
America back from the brink.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The number one priority in the United States should be extinguishing this once in a century, maybe once in
a millennium pandemic.
[10:10:00]
REINER: But yet the number one priority in the White House is getting the president re-elected. It's an irresolvable conflict, which is why I
completely agree that we need the governors to come together and do this.
I think the governors should convene a shadow task force with national experts to move us forward. It's time to take this out of the federal hands
because the -- we're getting no leadership from the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So this is where we are. Four months after the U.S. started to lock down, a call today for governors to hold a shadow summit to circumvent
the White House. That is because, this hour, some states are struggling just to keep up with the body count.
Both Arizona and Texas are having to bring in refrigerated trucks, as morgues continue to fill up. But even with the sky rocketing
hospitalizations and record daily numbers of cases and fatalities, the governor of Texas insists there's no reason to shut down his state.
Well, CNN's Ed Lavandera joins us now from Dallas, Texas.
You are on the ground. What's the story there?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Becky. Well, here it is another record breaking row of days, dating back to last week. A record number of
cases reported yesterday, nearly 11,000, hospitalizations continue to rise.
Republican governor Greg Abbott said this week will be worse than last week. But despite all of that, he was asked by a television station in
Houston, Texas, last night if whether or not the numbers are convincing him of shutting down the Texas economy here once again.
And the governor emphatically said he does not think that's necessary, that will not happen. But he is leaving himself a little bit of wiggle room.
He's really pushing the idea of getting people here in this state to wear a mask.
He believes that that would be enough, if people were to comply with that strictly, that that would prevent the need for having to shut down the
economy here. But you know, not exactly entirely clear that that is being followed all across the state.
Of course, Texas is an incredibly large place, an incredibly diverse place. And so you're not necessarily seeing everyone comply with the mask orders
that existed across this state.
But that is where we find ourselves here right now in Texas, where the number of cases continues to grow. The positive infection rate is one of
the most stunning numbers we have seen here in Texas over the course of the last 1.5 months, as these cases have really gotten a lot worse.
At the end of May, 4.2 percent of all the new coronavirus cases being reported were positive. That number is now almost 17 percent, Becky. That's
almost quadrupled in the last 1.5 months alone.
ANDERSON: Ed is in Texas. There is, as you can see, a tug of war in some U.S. states between local governments and state governments over just how
strict public health measures should be.
The governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, has signed an executive order, which stops cities and counties from requiring masks in public places. Well, that
didn't sit well with the mayor of Savannah, Georgia, who already had a mandate in place.
He tweets, "It's officially official. Governor Kemp does not give a damn about us."
He adds, "In Savannah, we'll continue to keep the faith and follow the science. Masks will be available."
Dianne Gallagher, this tug of war between state and local authorities, what is this?
DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, Becky, so here's kind of what happened yesterday.
The -- the executive order from the governor of Georgia that kept this public health emergency in place for COVID-19, it was set to expire at
midnight. Now there was already language in the executive order that said that no locality could pass any sort of legislation that superseded what
was in the order.
But when he decided to extend it through the end of the month, the governor appeared to have just tucked in this little part that said that no local,
county, city government can pass any sort of mask requirement and face covering mandate at all.
Now this comes after the governor and the mayor of Atlanta have had a pretty public sparring over her implementation of a mask mandate over the
past couple of weeks in her attempt to push Atlanta back to the phase one of reopening.
Becky, all of this comes as we are seeing numbers skyrocket in the state of Georgia. Over the past week we have seen a record number of new infections.
[10:15:00]
GALLAGHER: We have seen hospitalizations on Wednesday doubled, new hospitalizations, what they were on Tuesday. There were nine more deaths on
Wednesday than there were on Tuesday. The numbers in Georgia are getting out of control.
And the thing is the governor has recognized that. He's talked about meeting a surge in hospitals due to the skyrocketing COVID-19 cases. And to
further make this perplexing, Governor Kemp is not anti-mask. There are a lot of anti-mask politicians across the United States, despite what science
says.
Governor Kemp isn't one of them. He wears a mask just about everywhere. He has flown around the state on a tour two weeks ago, six different cities,
encouraging people to quote, "mask up."
So it does lead one to believe that this is about the struggle between state politics and local politics. It appears that the governor, who has
said before, that he doesn't want to mandate masks because he believes that people will just do the right thing and he's not sure about the legalities
behind mandating masks.
But preventing these local governments from enacting things here, we're not really sure what's behind that.
ANDERSON: The story in Georgia, you heard, as well what is going on on the ground in Texas. And to repeat, 39 out of 50 states see the U.S. averaging
more than 60,000 cases for a day for a week straight now. That's more cases than any other country on Earth.
Well, now the pandemic is spreading in wartorn Syria and there's only one corridor left to get aid there. We'll speak to the head of the
International Rescue Committee, David Miliband, about the impact.
Plus, why China's latest growth story is being described as good news for the rest of the world but the U.S. may have something to say about that.
We'll head live to Beijing a little later.
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ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson. Welcome back.
I want to get to Syria or at least to discuss Syria, where the virus, the COVID-19 virus, and war are both major threats, combining into a potential
catastrophe.
Just this past weekend, the U.N. Security Council reauthorized humanitarian supply shipments from Turkey into Syria. But now there's only one corridor
left to get it there. More on that in a moment.
First though, getting aid into Syria is, of course, more important than ever with coronavirus spreading. Exactly one week ago, the first case was
confirmed in Syria's rebel-held Idlib province. Arwa Damon covered the story. Here is some of her reporting.
[10:20:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How do you explain to a population that has lived through bombs and airstrikes,
that has been forced to flee multiple times and seen children die of the cold, that now there is another potential killer, an invisible enemy and
that their best line of defense is self isolation or social distancing and handwashing.
Fatima doesn't even have running water when she has water at all.
"The tanker didn't arrive yesterday, so look, this, is all we have left, it is nearly empty," she says.
Soap is expensive. She washes the kids' hands as much as she can with the little they have. She can't go to the store and stock up. Like all other
displaced and living like this, she relies on food distribution. Fear has a different flavor in opposition held Syria than for most of the rest of the
world.
"We fled from the bombing and the shelling, everything, what now?"
"Are we going to be afraid of this?" Fatima asks.
And that is part of the problem. This is a population that is already resigned to death.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, my next guest has worked very hard to ensure that aid is able to get in to Syria. With COVID-19 cases now in Idlib, he says it only
makes the humanitarian aid imperative for more access, not less.
The president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, David Miliband, is coming us via Skype from the U.S.
What is your response to the limited -- the limited access that the U.N. Is now allowed for in aid from Turkey to Syria?
DAVID MILIBAND, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Thanks, Becky. And, of course, it's the 800 staff of the International Rescue Committee on the
front line working in Syria who have really got the hard jobs and are doing the extraordinary work that keeps lives together.
Look, I think it's important that all of your viewers understand that around 6 million Syrians out of a population of 16 million are living in
areas that are not controlled by the government. And the U.N. aid that goes to Damascus very little of it reaches those people -- those 6 million
people who are in rebel-held areas or in the northeast in a Kurdish area.
Now that makes cross border delivery of aid absolutely essential. And there were two cross border crossings in the northwest of the country. And there
was until six months ago crossing points in the northeast of the country from Iraq, Arabiya, was closed six weeks ago.
And that means there's no aid coming into the northeast of the country where the 3 million people or so live.
Where your brave correspondent was in Idlib, we are going from two down to just one. It's been reauthorized for 12 months and that's the limit of the
good news. We should say it's better than nothing but it's not as good as the minimum needed to keep body and soul together for 3. 5 million people.
Just a sense of the scale, 400 truck loads of U.N. supplies, 70 percent being food and medicine, went through the point being closed by the latest
U.N. resolutions. It allowed it to remain open but 400 trucks that went through in June aren't allowed through anymore. And you have 3.5 million
people dependent on it.
ANDERSON: I spoke to Ibrahim Kalin before this show started and I asked him about the U.N. Security Council's re-authorization of aid but with this
very reduced corridor. And it was opposition from Russia that forced that decision to reduce the corridor. Have a listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IBRAHIM KALIN, ERDOGAN'S SPOKESPERSON: We are disappointed by Russia's decision not to allow not just two or three border gates for humanitarian
aid to go in to Syria. We do not agree with their explanation or justification.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: What do you make of what he just said?
MILIBAND: Well, it's very important. Turkey is hosting 3.5 million Syrians and the largest host of the Syrian refugees by absolute number. The thing I
would add I'm afraid it wasn't just Russia that vetoed two resolutions last week to allow for the proper border crossings that have been shown to be
necessary but it was also China. China joined Russia in vetoing the cross border humanitarian aid.
Remember, it's only on the humanitarian aid that the U.N. Security Council has been able to agree on anything.
[10:25:00]
MILIBAND: So the fact we're arguing in the midst of a pandemic, you're right to highlight the additional element of COVID, now eight cases in the
northwest of the country, there's hardly any testing going on in the places that we talk about.
The U.N. says there should be at a minimum of 1,000 tests per million of population. In Syria, it's 133 tests so we have COVID on top of this. So
the Turkish plea -- in fact, the global plea, because the 10 elected members of the U.N. Security Council all unanimously voted for this
humanitarian aid to get through.
And the Russian and Chinese veto was absolute. So I think we have a real political crisis here. The worst has been averted so they didn't close down
everything, though at one point that looked like a real fear.
But we're in a situation that we're now squeezing two crossing points' worth of aid into one crossing point, which itself was being operated 24/7.
And the critical issue here is it's a test of whether the international community means anything about helping people in need.
ANDERSON: Just how concerned are you about the impact of the coronavirus going forward?
MILIBAND: Well, I have got to be very concerned because all of the circumstances for the spread of the disease exists. Densely populated --
population, populations with weak, underlying health conditions and very weak health infrastructure because 85 hospital facilities, health
facilities in the northwest of the country, have been bombed.
And remember, the bombings -- there's been a cease-fire since the 5th of March but the bombing started again last week. There are some things that
are in its favor but when you have displaced people, this is going to sound like a terrible thing to say, but when you have 1.5 million displaced
people added to a population in the northwest of Syria they're outside.
And actually we know that the disease spreads less fast outside. It's a younger population so that's some mitigation. But I'm very worried that in
the situation where we have a blindfold on, there's no proper testing, we don't know how fast the disease is going to spread.
We have limited time of the hand washing facilities or the lack of them showed. This is a global disease. We can't afford it to run rife in places
like Syria, Yemen, Somalia, northeast Nigeria, that are wartorn.
ANDERSON: What do you believe the impact of the Trump administration's decision to formally withdraw from the World Health Organization during
this deadliest pandemic will be?
MILIBAND: Well, two things. I mean, the first and most obvious is that America is withdrawing from the World Health Organization in protest of
Chinese influence.
But if America withdraws, then Chinese influence is going to grow. So the first thing is a perverse, political outcome.
Secondly, where does American aid to the World Health Organization go?
And America has been a significant -- the leading funder of the World Health Organization.
What does it go on?
It goes on tackling polio. It goes on vaccine development. It goes on tackling malnutrition. It's the most vulnerable people in the world who are
at the receiving end of the American decision or the consequences of the American decision because, of course, it doesn't come into effect until a
year's time.
It's a very significant signal of withdraw which the Council of Foreign Relations talk about the withdrawal doctrine that the Trump administration
is living by. It's a further reduction of the strength of the international commission. We need a stronger World Health Organization, not a weaker one.
We need a better funded WHO not a weaker one and we need a reformed WHO not a broken one.
I think there's really intense global interest in engaging with Congress and others to see if this decision and its ramifications can be properly
explained. I'm very fearful of it, both short-term health consequences but also the medium- to long-term political consequences.
ANDERSON: David Miliband with us today here on CONNECT THE WORLD. Thank you, sir.
We have been talking Syria; Syria's strife comes as president Bashar al Assad will mark 20 years into office. In 2000, he was sworn into office for
his first seven-year term and succeeded his father. Two decades on, al- Assad has seen civil war, hundreds of millions displaced and seeking refuge.
Well, just ahead on the show, two superpowers and one big problem -- Beijing and the U.S. give each other a hard time even as China's economy
pulls out of the pandemic.
[10:30:00]
ANDERSON: We have got live coverage from Beijing and beyond.
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ANDERSON: You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. It is half past 6:00 here in the UAE. We are broadcasting from the Middle East
hub here in Abu Dhabi.
The coronavirus situation in the United States is going from "it could be this bad" to "it is this bad." At least 12 states and Puerto Rico report
new highs in hospitalizations in Florida's Miami-Dade County, there were no ICU beds. So they are converting regular hospital beds.
At least three states, including Texas, recorded their highest single day death tolls. Morgues filling up forcing some states to turn to refrigerated
trucks; in 39 states, the number of cases are increasing.
And in the state of Georgia, the governor signed an order preventing cities from issuing their own mandatory mask orders. But neighboring Alabama joins
the dozens of states that now have a mask mandate.
Now we are seeing a significant milestone in the global struggle to recover from the pandemic. China's economy is rebounding after what has been a
steep slump. It grew 3.2 percent in the second quarter. That is compared to a year ago and is better than expected.
Now this comes as tensions between Beijing and Washington raise the specter of severe risks. President Trump and his Chinese counterpart once looked
like friends; now they're frenemies at best as the U.S. puts pressure on Chinese tech companies like Huawei.
We're live in Beijing and David Culver has the bigger picture on the numbers.
How is this playing out in China?
What's the mood, sir?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Positive out here, Becky. This is on state media they're broadcasting this as, look, the economy has recovered
from COVID-19. That's how they're portraying this. And it's something that they want the world to see, in part because of what you had just mentioned
the U.S.-China relations, the deteriorating relations.
If it worsens day by day, China wants to portray a different image. I can tell you having gone to Wuhan after that brutal 76-day lockdown, more than
half of the businesses were still shut down.
[10:35:00]
CULVER: Many of the small business owners, saying, we're not going to reopen. We can't reopen. So if you look at it from that microlevel, the
impact is severe.
And yet, they're starting to see things come back online slowly. Unemployment is going to be a big issue though going forward. And you
noticed that in talking to folks who in some cases have had two parents working in the household.
But because of schools being out, one parent had to give up their job altogether, if not lost the job. So that's a reality that you're seeing on
the ground here.
Nonetheless, back in Hubei, despite the heavy flooding they're dealing with right now, manufacturing is stepping back up and they're starting to push
that forward as even, domestically, people can't really go outside of the country and they're quite fearful to do so.
But the cases are under control and people feel comfortable going around and spending money, not as much this time last year but increasingly so.
It's the revenge spending that a lot of Chinese businesses are looking for coming from the domestic crowd more than anyone else. Becky?
ANDERSON: David Culver, thank you.
So the world's second biggest economy just managed to avert recession. That is a big deal. Keep in mind, China where the outbreak started, of course,
was the first major economy to reopen. Now it is the first one to emerge from the record downturn.
That may foreshadow good news for the rest of the world. CNN's John Defterios is joining me live from Abu Dhabi.
Almost a sense of relief that China beat expectations in the second quarter.
What do you believe the key takeaway from this number is?
And can we or should we expect more of the same in the second half from Beijing?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Becky, I think there's a Chinese lesson here and that is the speed at which you respond to the COVID
challenge -- with discipline, by the way -- the better chances are of you recovering.
So 3.2 percent as you suggested there in your lead-in with David is better than expected.
But we have to have some perspective here, right?
Q1 was the worst since Deng Xiaoping opened up China to the outside world in the 1970s. And China is exposed to some risk here. The number one
economic risk is that it's export dependent.
Very reliant on growth from the United States and that doesn't look likely. Let's look at the updated forecast. For China 1 percent, the IMF has a
tendency to downplay numbers here. I have seen as high as 3 percent, depending on how the second wave hits the global economy.
Negative 4.9 percent, that's basically where the United States and Europe will likely finish off the year in terms of their recession. And then we
have to think about the burden on China. You started to see people popping corks, wow, $14 trillion economy, they can drive the global recovery.
Not quite. China has had a phenomenal run over the last 40 years but they cannot be the engine for growth without the other major trading blocks
coming back to the party.
Something that you touched upon again but I think it's worth underscoring and that is the tensions between the U.S. and China. There is not a day
that does not go by that Washington's not chasing Beijing on one of four to five issues, whether it's technology or trade or how they reported their
data because of the coronavirus.
It's there and it's not going to be fostering growth in the second half of the year and spilling into 2021, depending on what happens in the U.S.
elections.
ANDERSON: Yes. Fascinating. I know that the head of the International Monetary Fund, or the IMF as it's known, has weighed in today with a blog
posting, saying this is not the time for complacency.
Is she pointing to further downside risks, do you think, from this pandemic?
DEFTERIOS: I think that was the clear message and it did come out on the eve of the G20 finance ministers and central bank meeting that will, of
course, take place virtually. Don't lower your guard. And here's another message against those who want to be protectionist, make sure you
collaborate.
She did commend the G20 pumping in -- and the number has gone up -- $11 trillion into the global economy. But she cited four downside risks:
that's the second wave and the disruptions it could cause; number two, dislocation of labor, double digit unemployment in the United States even
worse in some of the developing economies.
You have poverty and inequality, very important to the U.N. Development goals. The situation is going to get much worse because of the pandemic and
the lingering effects. Finally, I'm glad she underscored this one, Becky, small and medium sized enterprises. As you well know, they're job creators.
[10:40:00]
DEFTERIOS: And they pumped all this money into the economy but you have to take care of the small businesses for them to protect themselves from
bankruptcy. She suggests you can see the bankruptcy rates triple over the world.
And we have negative trade this year of 12 percent. When that happens, different governments have a tendency to cocoon, right?
She is worried about protectionism and it's a political risk with the clash with the United States.
ANDERSON: John Defterios in the house, fighting through -- fighting through -- breaking down the numbers for you. I said fighting through the
statistics but you did it with aplomb. Thank you. John Defterios on the economics.
Coming up on CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson, Africa's largest hydroelectric dam can bring electricity to millions of people living off
the grid.
Why is it so controversial?
A look at that is up next.
And dark, thick smoke billows into Iran's skies just 20 kilometers away from a nuclear plant. The source, a shipyard with seven vessels on fire.
The details are next.
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ANDERSON: We're watching more developments unfold in what is a full-on geopolitical crisis. As Ethiopia takes another step toward completing the
continent's largest hydroelectric dam, negotiations between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt fell through again after satellite images surfaced, showing
rising water levels at the dam.
You can see here the constructs what is the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, not really limiting the water flow to the other side. But here, this
image from Sunday, you can see just how much the water has risen and how it is pooling on the other side of the reservoir. Just look at the difference.
It's remarkable, isn't it?
Ethiopia said it's natural, rising from rain water. But Sudan says it's detected a drop in the Nile's water levels.
So why is this dam so controversial?
Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): The blue Nile has flowed down Ethiopia's highlands enriching countries along its banks for millennia. Now Ethiopians are
looking to reassert more control over the basin.
The $4 billion Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is a massive hydroelectric project, extending along the Nile River, set to generate enough electricity
to power the entire region, some 6,000 megawatts.
[10:45:00]
ANDERSON (voice-over): But the dam isn't sitting well with Ethiopia's downstream neighbors, Egypt and Sudan, who say the project could threaten
their greatest natural resource.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We want to ensure that Sudan and Egypt's portion of the Nile is 100 percent.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Ethiopia's prime minister had this to say.
ABIY AHMED, ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER: We agreed that we had a right to exploit all of the natural resources in a very responsible manner.
ANDERSON: Egypt is a ticking water time bomb. The country depends on the Nile for more than 90 percent of its freshwater needs and fears the dam
could restrict its already limited water supply.
Former Egyptian president Anwar Sadat once famously said the only matter that could take Egypt to war again is water.
However, all sides say they're committed to continuing to negotiate on the dam to prevent a water war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Ethiopia plans to finish the dam even without a deal with Sudan and Egypt. Let's bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman, was the bureau chief in Cairo
and Egypt for CNN for years.
Ben, are we really looking at the potential for a war over water here?
There are those in this region who say that is the next big conflict.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly if you listen to the pundits on Egyptian television, there are those who are
calling for some sort of military attack. We did hear the Egyptian foreign minister saying that this project is a threat of existential proportions.
Behind the rhetoric, however, is the reality that Egypt is already involved or possibly about to become involved militarily in Libya. Its troops are
bogged down in the Sinai Peninsula fighting ISIS. They can't really afford to get into some sort of shooting war with the country that's thousands of
kilometers upstream along the Nile.
And really, Egypt's main concern at this moment is how quickly or how slowly Ethiopia is going to fill this dam. Now this year, in terms of rains
in that part of Africa, in the Ethiopian highlands, the rains have been very good.
As a result, the dams in Sudan downstream from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, those dams are full of water. Lake Nasser in Egypt is also
full of water. So Egypt and Sudan, their real concern is, in the event there is a year where rainfall is very low, they want the Ethiopians to
commit to releasing as much water as possible to prevent a drought downstream. That really is the crux of the matter.
Now the African Union has held a variety of teleconferences, mediations with Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt, and is trying to at least nail down this
question of releasing water in the event of a drought year. They haven't gotten to that at this point.
But analysts, who are very familiar with how these negotiations are going, do believe that eventually there will be some sort of peaceful agreement on
the sharing of the water of the Nile.
Keeping in mind that Herodo0tus, the 5th century BC Greek writer, wrote that Egypt is the gift of the Nile and therefore, for Egypt, yes, the Nile
is absolutely critical and maintaining that flow is very important. But I don't think at this point there's the threat of war. Becky?
ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman, thank you.
While fans have remained at home for the majority of sports around the world during the worst of the pandemic, the scene very different in the
U.S. state of Tennessee on Wednesday, as there's thousands gathered to watch a race, despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Details just ahead
in your sports wrap.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:50:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANDERSON: As we move into the second half of July, there is once again an increased focus on the world of sport, particularly in the United States,
where Major League Soccer, golf and NASCAR are once again underway. While the NBA restart is fast approaching. CNN's Patrick Snell with us now.
With the coronavirus numbers as high as they are stateside, I understand that leagues have different safety measures in place.
Can you explain?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, that is spot on. Take for example the Major League Soccer and the NBA; they're both restarting inside what's
called the Orlando bubble. That's teams and players all based in a confined area. And even despite that we have seen it, it has to be said, Major
League Soccer excluding two teams, there are no fans in Orlando.
But the case is very different in the racing series, NASCAR, which saw thousands of supporters flocking to the all-star race on Wednesday. Now for
more on this, I do want to bring in "CNN SPORT'S" Coy Wire.
Tell us more.
COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Patrick, absolutely, we're starting to see these case studies, right, in a sense, for sports and really for other mass
gatherings, like concerts and parades in the United States.
Can we, should have we potentially tens of thousands of people watching an event in person?
There were no official numbers from NASCAR but up to 30,000 fans expected on Wednesday, all socially distanced. The track in Bristol, Tennessee, can
hold up to 160,000 speculators so that was only about 20 percent of capacity. Masks were only required for entry so fans could take them off
when they arrived at their seats.
In buying tickets, Patrick, fans assumed all risks of exposure. It was Chase Elliott who dominated on the night. He gave a shout-out to the fans
who were there, who were able to make it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHASE ELLIOTT, NASCAR DRIVER: What a better night to have a fans back than tonight. I mean, you're all awesome. All those number 9 hats and T-shirts
up in the stands, I love to see it. There's no feeling like it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WIRE: Now Patrick, fans are like the lifeblood of sports. They can give athletes a boost or pile on top when the going gets tough. But during this
pandemic, they can help gauge what may or may not be possible with competitions continuing.
Rapidly approaching, leagues and teams are being forced to make decisions, Patrick, and they're pushing the envelope, testing the waters of getting
back open, that their plans can work.
SNELL: We shall see. Coy, thanks for that. You're also keeping a close eye on some other key storylines out there right now and there are plenty of
them.
What else is getting your attention and tell us why?
WIRE: There is a major story developing in the WNBA. Reigning champion Mystics star and league MVP Elena Delle Donne tells CNN she's terrified of
what COVID-19 could do to her. An independent panel denied her request for a medical opt out for the season, even though she battles Lyme disease.
I spoke with her on Wednesday. She says her doctor who treated her for nearly a decade says she should be considered high risk. Delle Donne takes
64 pills every day to help with her compromised immune system. The season is set to start on the 25th in Florida, where COVID-19 cases are surging
and Elena has a very tough decision to make.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELENA DELLE DONNE, WASHINGTON MYSTICS FORWARD: I'm in a situation healthwise where I don't know how my body will handle COVID. I don't know
if I'll need to be hospitalized in the state of Florida.
I want to play basketball. I want to make a living. I have to take care of my family. So that's kind of what's going through my head at the moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:55:00]
WIRE: Now Elena said she missed out on salary and endorsements if she opts out. The team's GM said they have every intention of paying her whether she
plays not.
But she said this made her feel so much empathy for others out there, who don't have the resources that she has, those with compromised health, who
have to go back to work just to put food on the table.
SNELL: Yes. Coy Wire, thank you. It's a powerful story line. Thank you very much for joining us.
(WORLD SPORTS)
ANDERSON: All right. Up next, we could be looking at a major breakthrough in the search for a vaccine for COVID-19. We're outside the research center
up next.
[11:00:00]
END
