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Top U.S. Diplomat In UAE Amid Questions Over Fighter Jets; Historic First As Riyadh Hosts Summit; Omar: Ending Ceasefire With Morocco Was Only Option; Peru Sees Through Presidents In Nine Days; Georgia Election Official On Biden Win: "Numbers Don't Lie"; Fighting To Keep Culture Alive During COVID-19. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired November 20, 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]
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ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: This hour it all starts here, and more so than ever before. We begin right here in Abu Dhabi, the capital of one of the
most powerful hubs in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates. America's top diplomat is here talking to the nation's key power brokers.
Mike Pompeo after what was central to the normalization of relations between the UAE and Israel. He's made a controversial visit to Israeli
settlements on the West Bank this week, the first by a U.S. Secretary of State. Much of the world says the settlements not legal because they are
built on confiscated Palestinian land but the visit was supported by evangelicals back home, and that could help Pompeo's political ambitions in
just a few years.
Why is that? Well, that's because many say he may make a run for U.S. President in 2024. Well, let's check the big picture here. This
controversial trip has upended decades of U.S. foreign policy in this region. It's also been a stage for an extraordinary week of political
theater.
Let's connect all of this for us from Washington. Currently President and CEO of the International Crisis Group and formerly advising the
Biden/Harris transition, Rob Malley joining us. Your role in the Obama Administration put you front and center on issues in the Middle East.
You've probably forgotten more about this region than many people will ever know. Mike Pompeo on a tour of this region and beyond, and while he's been
on the road doing something, Rob, no other senior U.S. official has done in visiting West Bank settlements, and this is after, of course, declaring
them no longer a violation of international law, what's the impact of his actions, do you think?
ROBERT MALLEY, PRESIDENT & CEO, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Well Becky, I think he has an eye on the past, an eye on the present and an eye on the
future. The eye on the past is just trying to solidify the legacy of the Trump Administration which has really been to dramatically shift the trauma
of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and basically as you just said say that the Israeli settlements the occupation of the Golan, that they are
established reality, we're not going to be revisiting them.
The eye on the present is to try to complicate President-Elect Biden's task by putting all these land mines, scorched earth policy which will leave the
president-elect and soon-to-be President Biden with a much more complicated regional landscape.
And on eye on the future - some people are saying that Mike Pompeo is thinking about a 2024 run and this is something that could help his resume,
at least amongst some constituencies.
ANDERSON: So while visiting the Golan Heights, have a listen to what Mike Pompeo said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: You can't stand here and stare out at what's across the border and deny the central thing that President Trump
recognized, the previous presidents had refused to do, that this is a part of Israel and a central part of Israel.
I remember, too, not long after I was a cadet, I was an officer in the United States Army, and I remember the international pressure to return
this very place to Syria. It was all the rage in the salons in Europe and in the elite institutions in America to say that this should be returned to
Syria.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, he's basically saying, Robert, it used to be fashionable to want to hand back that land to Syria now recognized as Israeli land. What
do you imagine Joe Biden's position will be on the Golan out of interest?
MALLEY: Well, just to clarify the record, it wasn't just fashionable in the salons in Europe, it was fashionable in Israel. Every Israeli Prime
Minister negotiated with Syria, including, by the way, Prime Minister Netanyahu was prepared to withdraw from the Golan, so I think that's a
little bit of revisionist history.
Listen, I think the day that Israel will sit down with Syria, and it won't be any time soon given what's happening in Syria, the return of the Golan
Heights will have to be on the table if Israel wants to normalize relations with its neighbor.
You might need a different government in Syria and at that time certainly the U.S. administration is not going to stick to its current position. What
Joe Biden will do when he's in the White House on this issue, I don't know. It wasn't a particularly hot topic.
It wasn't one that many people are talking about. Mike Pompeo has put it back on the agenda, the issue of the Golan Heights. I frankly don't know
what the president-elect will do.
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MALLEY: What I do know is that if there is ever to be peace between Israel and Syria, the Golan Heights will have to be on table and they are not
going to remain under Israeli sovereignty.
ANDERSON: That's fascinating, all right. Right now, Mike Pompeo is here while I am broadcasting from Abu Dhabi, a place that only three months ago,
of course, signed historic normalization agreements with Israel. These agreements, of course, Mike Pompeo certainly had a hand in orchestrating.
Wouldn't have been the architect of these but certainly, you know, was involved in the process. What has happened since then is what I want to
discuss? And how does Pompeo's tour, do you believe, over the past couple of days play into everything?
It has been a very busy last three months culminating in the last couple of days with visits of the Bahraini Foreign Minister to Israel, alongside
Pompeo and indeed we've seen the King of Bahrain alongside the King of Jordan here in Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi playing a key role in what feels like
the shifting of tectonic plates in this region?
MALLEY: Yes. I mean, in some sense, as you know from being there, that these tectonic pleats have been shifting for a long time. There's a greater
congruence of view between the UAE and Israel on issues like Iran, like the Muslim brotherhood and political Islam than there is sometimes between the
UAE and different U.S. administrations.
So this is something that's been developing for some time, and I think it's bringing it out into the open and as say we've seen now the UAE, Bahrain,
Sudan, that one seems to have been a little bit more force the course than anything voluntary. Whether we're going to see more of it, it's possible.
It's certainly a symbol, a symptom of a shifting landscape in the Middle East, and I think the party that has to think about this most deeply, try
to draw conclusions and try to reorient their strategy are the Palestinians because they have been basically left out of this whole equation, even
though presumably they are the main parties that should be concerned.
They have not been consulted. They are not part of this. They are going to have to think hard about what they do to - to get back into - into this
game.
ANDERSON: Joe Biden has applauded the normalization efforts, and he has said he'd like to see, you know, more to come. I wonder how you believe
this normalization in return for a suspension of annexation, of course, plays into any future Israeli/Palestinian negotiations.
Let's call it the Israeli Palestinian compromise, as it were. Does the normalization effectively and in some ways sort of ironically leave the
Israelis with less leverage going forward?
MALLEY: I don't think it leaves them with less leverage. I think what it - you know, again, what it does, it takes away one of the cards that the
Palestinians believe they had which is that they wanted to be able to tell the Israelis we are the ticket to your normalization with the rest of the
Arab World.
That no longer sounds particularly convincing, persuasive to - to Israelis. Now, it is true the Palestinians are still there and Israel could normalize
with as many countries in the Arab World as it wants. It still will have to deal with the Palestinians who live for their neighbors and with whom they
have a conflict.
They didn't have a conflict with the UAE. So, it does change to some extent as I said the equation for the Palestinians. It was largely an illusion
that the Palestinians were holding on to that they could really count on Arab support, Arab government support or that this was the card that they
could trade with the Israelis.
Again, as I said, this means that they are going to have to rethink their approach. It's no longer a game where they can say if you want to normalize
with the Arab World you have to make peace with us, so it does strengthen Israel's hand in that regard, but it doesn't change the fundamentals.
Israelis and Palestinians are going to have to reach their peace, and there's no other peace that can substitute for that.
ANDERSON: Rob, one of the big questions, of course, and you posed it, you know, who is next as far as normalization is concerned and the sort of the
elephant in the room, as it is where will the Saudis actually go ahead and normalize is?
My colleague Nic Robertson is in Riyadh at the moment he is attending the virtual G-20 Summit there, and he spoke to Saudi Arabia's Minister of State
for Foreign Affairs Adel Al Jubeir earlier about the Trump Administration and what may happen next with regards Saudi/U.S. relationship under a Biden
Administration. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ADEL AL JUBEIR, SAUDI MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: We deal with the President of the United States as a friend whether he's Republican or
Democrat. President-Elect Biden has been in the Senate for 35 years. He has tremendous experience. He was vice president for eight years. I don't
expect that there's going to be major change in terms of America's foreign policy. America is a global power with a global interest.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: But he says he's going to be tough on Saudi Arabia.
JUBEIR: I believe - I believe that what people say in a campaign often doesn't translate once they move into office. President Trump said things
about Saudi Arabia in the campaign and yet here he was, we were the first country that he visited when he took office so we deal with the presidents
once they are in office, and we have huge interests with the United States.
Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, Yemen, horn of Africa, Sudan, Libya, the G-5 countries of - and defeating - . We're
dealing together on global economic security, on energy security and on financial issue, and we are the key in terms of the Muslim world.
These interests are huge for us and for the United States, and these interests are permanent. They don't change, so you - you work together in
order to further your common interests. No two countries work closer in fight terrorism and extremism than the United States and Saudi Arabia and
we will continue to do this.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON: I'm being told that we've just lost our guest Rob Malley, but it was a good substantive discussion. There will be questions about how Joe
Biden of course deals with Riyadh? How much of the priority or not the Middle East is for Joe Biden Administration going forward? There will be
pressure from congress on Joe Biden, it seems, to change at least, pivot on his relationship, be that tone or substance with Riyadh.
Well, next on Mike Pompeo's agenda will be the UAE's neighbor Saudi Arabia where he will meet Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Saudi Arabia also
hosting that G-20 Summit as I suggested. For the first time this weekend it will be a virtual leader's event given the pandemic, well despite questions
over its human rights record.
Riyadh is very keen to tout its progress in what it calls its role and influence on the global stage. There is still a long way to go. While
connecting those details for us is our International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson on the ground in Riyadh this hour, and we just heard part of your
interview with the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs there in Saudi.
And I was talking to Rob Malley about this sort of shifting tectonic plates in the region and how Riyadh may be dealt with by a Joe Biden
Administration which, of course, is certainly part of what you discussed with Jubeir?
ROBERTSON: Yes, and I think when you look at it the from a Saudi perspective, and Jubeir made that point there in our conversation, that
they work in a bipartisan way with U.S. politicians, I can tell you right now from diplomatic sources they are working hard in congress.
They have got a lot of attention focused there, they're looking at the Senate as well but congress is where they really feel - really need to sort
of express and give an understanding to their position, their position on Iran that does need to be, and they would support more talks between the
United States and Iran on nuclear compliance if Iran comes into compliance.
But, you know, you can be pretty sure they want to have a voice engaged in that conversation and they don't want it just to be about nuclear ballistic
missiles and about Iran's backing of terrorism in the region as well.
That's something that the Biden Administration is fully aware of as well, so, yes, you know, the Saudis are very aware of what they are going to be
getting into with Joe Biden. They do want to limit the potential damage. You know, Joe Biden has said that he would limit potentially the weapons
sold to Saudi Arabia that he used in the war across the border in Yemen.
So, yes, Saudis really got to watch this carefully but the diplomats I am speaking to feel they have got a handle on it. How they're handling the G-
20 here, the fact that is an opportunity to showcase what they have got to the world and as well live up to this onerous task of bringing together 20
deeply disparate nations at times and getting them to coalesce around a central theme right now helping out poorer nations that are going to suffer
economically from the Coronavirus.
Riyadh's electronic build boards are lit up. Saudi Arabia hosting the G-20, the world's leading economic power summit, a much-anticipated big deal for
King Salman and his son Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, better known as MBS because of COVID-19 world leaders won't be coming.
This summit will be different. It will be virtual which means there will be no important - and pull-asides and for the Saudis it means they won't get
to showcase the reforms they have been making.
[11:15:00]
Since MBS got power, religious police got sidelined, music concerts became legal, women got more freedom, including the right to drive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had stage one, stage two and my favorite is Saudi beats.
ROBERTSON (voice over): For many women including this concert organizer Haya Shaath it's been liberating.
HAYA SHAATH, MDLBEAST: Unimaginable, but here we are.
ROBERTSON: And do you think that's here to stay.
SHAATH: Absolutely.
ROBERTSON: Can you put this kind of thing back in the box?
SHAATH: I don't think so. I don't think so. There is an energetic shift in people, in people's behavior.
ROBERTSON (voice over): But MBS could use the makeover. His plans to reform the country got tarnished by the killing of Saudi Journalist Jamal
Khashoggi two years ago. President Trump boasted he kept MBS out of trouble over Khashoggi. Today MBS' critics want the G-20 to hold Saudi to account
over other alleged human rights violations like the detention of female activists including.
Amnesty International saying G-20 leaders should use this summit as an opportunity to stand up for the brave activist whose genuine commitment to
women's empowerment has cost them their freedom.
JUBEIR: The idea that she was - she and her friends were detained because they advocated women driving. It's preposterous. The charges have to do
with receiving money from hostile governments in order to pass it on to decedents and hostile groups of Saudi Arabia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Saudi Arabia is also routing women's empowerment at the vision 2030.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who are managing director--
ROBERTSON (voice over): Even so the summit itself has women's issues a central theme, discussed, according to organizers, in dozens of sessions
involving tens of thousands of people in 109 countries. The headline issues though will be combating COVID-19, debt relief for poor nations to handle
its impact.
DR. TAWFIQ BIN FAWZAN AL RABIAH, SAUDI HEALTH MINISTER: --system is as strong as the weakest system so supporting the health systems in all
countries is very crucial.
ROBERTSON (voice over): On this the G-20 may find Trump tough to convince. It's his last scheduled major international event of his current presidency
and he has vetoed summit communiques in the past. His track record on COVID-19 at home is not good. Unclear if he'll play spoiler or showman for
his Saudi friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That is Nic Robertson reporting out of Riyadh. Nic, thank you. Well, still ahead, the long-simmering conflict in a remote African desert
area could explode into a wider regional mess. We'll speak to Morocco's U.N. Representative about what is a cease-fire collapse. That's next. And--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, we're front line here in the hospital but the real front line is on the streets, in the grocery stores. Wash your hands,
wear your mask and stay away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: U.S. hospital workers plead with the public to do everything they can to avoid being admitted with COVID-19. CNN speaks directly with doctors
and nurses on the front lines.
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ANDERSON: Well, this vastly populated, vast desert in Northern Africa sits at the center of a very long-simmering conflict and threatens to be the
latest flashpoint in a region prone to unrest. We've been covering this story all week for you on "Connect the World."
Earlier this week we spoke to the representative of the Polisario Front at the United Nations, one side of this conflict and today we bring you the
other side. My next guest is the Morocco's Ambassador to the U.N. who has said that the instrument of a referendum in the Western Sahara has been,
"Well dead and buried for more than two decades. There is no way you can raise the dead"
And Ambassador Omar Hilale joins me now from New York. No way you can raise the dead, sir, correct? You stand by that?
OMAR HILALE, MOROCCO'S PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE U.N.: Yes, I stand by that, and it's not me who is saying that. It's the secretary council
that is not mentioning any more the referendum in its 21 resolutions and says last 20 years.
ANDERSON: The Moroccan Army entered a buffer zone last week to open a road linking Western Sahara and Mauritania which had been blocked by the
Polisario Front. They now say by doing that the Morocco has fatally undermined the 1991 cease-fire accusing Morocco of being an occupying force
to which you say what, sir?
HILALE: First of all, we should know why this happened? On the 21st of October, Polisario brag women and children and blocked crossing points of.
Immediately the Secretary-General had been alerted by Morocco and we alerted also the Secretary Council.
And since 21st of July of October, the Secretary-General made two calls to the Polisario to withdraw from - not to block civil and commercial traffic
and also not to change the statutes of this area. We have been requested by the Secretary-General to abstain to do anything and we refrain from taking
any action during ten days.
But as you know there is time for diplomacy and time for action and for law - Polisario to comply with the two calls of the Secretary-General. Morocco
had no other choice than - and to take a civil and engineering operation. This operation was completely civil, and it was in daylight and with the
presence of the U.N. observers. No civilians have been hurt. No civilians have been touched. And immediately Polisario took the civilians and
children and just left the area. Now the--
ANDERSON: The Head of the U.N., Mr. Guterres let me just put this to you sir. The Head of the U.N. Mr. Guterres has warned that the clashes could
rupture this nearly 30-year cease-fire, and he says have grave consequences. I spoke to the Polisario's Representative at the U.N. Dr.
Sidi Omar. Have a listen to what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SIDI OMAR, POLISARIO FRONT REPRESENTATIVE TO THE U.N.: Indeed, we have declared that we have resumed our legitimate struggle for liberation, a war
that we fought against Morocco for 16 years and the end of which we forced Morocco to sit at the negotiating table and agree with us on the certain
plan that left to the cease-fire in the hope of our self-determination referendum.
31 years of waiting for the referendum to be held for us exercising maximum restraint and being extremely patient have just emboldened Morocco to go on
and continue occupation of our land so we have been left with no other option but to resume our armed struggle against Morocco and to end the
occupation of our land and bring freedom to our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:25:00]
ANDERSON: And he went on to say, sir, that Morocco insisting that it is committed to a cease-fire is a, "Bluff", your response?
HILALE: I will be very clear. You know, we are used to this propaganda of Polisario. Polisario is resorting to propaganda. Morocco is sticking to
facts, and as the second president of the United States John Adams says facts are stubborn things. Facts are its Polisario who came with civilians
and with armed elements to.
It's Polisario who declared officially that they are breaking the cease- fire. It's Polisario who is firing on the Moroccan Army. You will not find a single declaration by Morocco saying that we withdraw from the cease-fire
or the political process.
ANDERSON: Right.
HILALE: This message - the King spoke to the Secretary-General and he reaffirmed to him our commitment to the cease-fire, to the political
process and to the resuming of the political process.
ANDERSON: So let me ask you this. What is the political solution as far as you are concerned that Morocco is willing to offer to maintain peace and
avoid what no one wants which could be a full-blown war?
HILALE: There's only one political solution. Political solution is a large autonomy and that the sovereignty and integrity of Morocco. This political
solution has been considered since 2008 by the Secretary Council as credible and serious and this large autonomy have been even discussed
during the roundtables those two roundtables that we took and that the leadership of the former president had.
So within this large autonomy everything will be possible. Outside this large autonomy there is nothing other, and I just want to say that, you
know, when a party is declaring that war and also withdrawing from cease- fire, they have no place in the roundtable. They just disqualified themselves from any political solution.
ANDERSON: The King of Morocco has warned that his country would react to any more aggression in the Western Sahara with, "The greatest severity". Is
Morocco genuinely prepared to fight a war, and how damaging could that be for the wider region, sir?
HILALE: You know, in his letter to the Secretary-General and also the call that his majesty had with the Secretary-General, he was very clear by first
of all he was renewing our commitment to the cease-fire, supporting the efforts and good offices of the Secretary-General presenting.
And also committed to resuming political process, what more we'll do of his attacks, just as was just said, we will defend ourselves, and we will just
use our self-defense. That's what happened during the last days. We are not going to war, but we are ready to defend civilians, to defend our territory
and our territory integrity, and it's a choice that Polisario had and also their backups.
I also wanted to mention here, you know, a large number of the international community supported Morocco in its action to restore civilian
and commercial traffic in. Polisario have not been supported. Only one country, Namibia and second country demand backer, Algeria, no other
countries. The countries supported Morocco. The Gulf countries opposed Morocco many Africans around 20 African countries.
Look at the declaration made by the European Union and European countries, Latin America, Pacific, so Morocco didn't resort to war. Morocco wanted
just to restore traffic, trades, commercial and civilian traffic, and Morocco is committed with Secretary-General. We will never violate our
commitment with the Secretary-General.
One more word for commitment, Former U.N. Leader Kofi Annan said never trust one person's one-handed group because they have no international
obligations, and that's what has happened with the Polisario.
[11:30:00]
HILALE: Polisario is not respecting the cease-fire and not respecting this commitment with the U.N., and, you know, today we are celebrating the
international day of children, and you know what Polisario is doing it just mobilizing children. They sent children to - and now they are mobilizing
and arming children to war. They are just hijacking their life.
ANDERSON: We will leave it there, but we thank you very much indeed. That is the Moroccan perspective on what is an escalating situation that nobody
wants to see develop into a wider issue your perspective has been incredibly important. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
Well, America heading into the holiday season with the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations it's ever seen. Ahead on the show CNN's Omar
Jimenez goes inside one Texas Intensive Care Unit grappling with a capacity nightmare.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Welcome back. You're watching "Connect the World." Its 33 minutes past 8:00 in Abu Dhabi. This is the home of our Middle East Programming
Hub. Welcome back, the final step or a new beginning. That's the question that lingers in Peru, a nation that has seen a revolving door of presidents
in recent days.
Francisco Sagasti was sworn in on Tuesday becoming Peru's third president in nine days and this is a symptom of a power struggle among the nation's
bickering political class. This as massive street protests erupt filled with people who are just fed up with politician's period.
And the question now is will their push for change continue now that Sagasti is in charge? Rafael Romo is in Atlanta to connect these three
presidents to the political situation there. Just explain exactly what do you believe is going on and why it matters?
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Becky, just to put it in perspective, during the same time Donald Trump has been the President of the United
States, Peru has already had four presidents, three of those as you mentioned in a little over a week.
Peruvians are fed up with it and earlier this month they clashed with security forces demanding change. Let's take a look. A country in turmoil,
the violent clashes erupted last week in Peru after congress impeached the President Martin Vizcarra.
[11:35:00]
Clearing the way for this man, head of Congress Manuel Marino to replace him. Many Peruvians saw the impeachment vote as a power grab and showed
their anger by the thousands in the streets of Lima, the capital.
I felt indignant, ashamed and powerless. Members of congress are swearing by their families and swearing by God when in reality their motivation is
something else. It's their desire and ambition for power, this protester told CNN.
We want congress to know that the people do not support it. That is not only a few who are against it, this woman said. Pressure kept building with
more protests that turned increasingly violent. At least two people died and 94 were injured last weekend and then on Sunday only five days can
after being sworn in Marino resigned.
Protesters erupted in tears. Two days later a new President Francisco Sagasti, chosen again by Congress, was sworn in. Sagasti is a 76-year-old
Engineer and Former World Bank Official.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's not a radical.
MICHAEL SHIFTER, PRESIDENT, INTER-AMERICAN DIALOGUE: No, no, not by any means. He's not a radical. He's a centrist. He's committed to democracy.
He's with a party called the purple party in Peru. He was just elected a member of congress last March.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO (on camera): Sagasti was Peru's third president in a week and the country's fourth in as many years, facing likely impeachment - resigned in
March of 2018. His vice president and successor Martin Vizcarra was impeached last week. Many Peruvians feel congress has too much power and
are demanding a new constitution be written with more checks and balances.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO: What's the root cause of this? Why is this happening?
SHIFTER: This is a country with very weak political institutions, with extremely high levels of mistrust according to all the polls that we have,
much more so than in other countries. This is not obviously unique to Peru but its worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMO (on camera): Anger against the political class in Peru is still boiling hot. We want the whole congress gone because we truly don't believe
in any of them, this protester told CNN. Peruvians are scheduled to go to the polls next April to choose a new congress and president.
When the winner takes office in July, he or she will be the country's fifth president in as many years. And Becky, the President Sagasti in power since
Tuesday now has five months to bring some sort of stability to the country.
Peruvians are scheduled to choose a new president in April. They have also been one of the hardest hit countries by the COVID-19 pandemic in the
region so very, very difficult situation, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. Rafael, thank you very much indeed. As we reported for you yesterday and as Rafael pointed out, Peru dealing with a
massive Coronavirus outbreak, while dealing, of course with that massive political crisis.
America remains the hardest hit regions not the least of which the United States of America itself, there the State of Texas surpassed 1 million
total cases of COVID-19 last week and hospitals in the state are overflowing with patients needing ventilators. Omar Jimenez goes inside one
Texan hospital facing a waking nightmare.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a reality this part of Texas has only seen in its nightmares. The ICU at Odessa Regional Medical Center in
Odessa, Texas is at its capacity with COVID-19 patients. Even with this hospital at maximum capacity they are still trying to find places to put
COVID-19 patients.
All of the beds that you see in this section curtained off at the moment did not exist before the pandemic. Now it's filled to its absolute capacity
while patients here literally are fighting for their lives.
DR. ROHITH SARAVANAN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, ODESSA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: We lost about ten patients last week and one of them had been on a
ventilator for about a month. The ones that are here now on average they have been on a vent for about a week or so.
JIMENEZ (voice over): Denise Mourning is an acute care nurse practitioner.
DENISE MOURNING, ACUTE CARE NURSE PRACTITIONER, ODESSA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: There were only a few times in the summer where we were really
pushed to the extreme, but now for the last week we're busting of out of scenes.
JIMENEZ (voice over): But she and everyone else remain at war with the virus even as some patients begin to take a turn for the worse.
[11:40:00]
When you first have to make that declaration, what's the first thing that goes through your mind?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, not another one. It's a prayer. It's inevitable and we know that's going to happen but probability of it being a
good outcome is very, very low.
JIMENEZ (voice over): But most are able to fight it off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at you.
JIMENEZ (voice over): And turn the corner. Reuben Romero is feeling better after two weeks in the hospital and says this isn't a game. I asked why.
Because this is really serious, he says. This is virus is not for people to be playing with. It's very dangerous.
It attacks your entire body. I'm living it, he says, and it's become life for so many in this part of the state. The hospital officials in Odessa say
anywhere from 35 to 45 percent of the people getting tested are testing positive for COVID-19 they fear becoming what El Paso has become, mobile
morgues for the dead.
Hundreds in the ICU amid record hospitalizations and roughly 1 in every 24 people actively with COVID-19, it's required a regional coordination like
never before.
WANDA HELGESEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BORDERRAC: In a relatively short period of time our hospitals have added over 600 beds.
JIMENEZ (voice over): Wow!
HELGESEN: Even with that, we have flown out about 84 ICU patients to other communities in Texas.
JIMENEZ (voice over): And smaller towns once thought to have escaped the virus' grip find themselves right in the crosshairs. Towns like Lamesa,
Texas near Odessa. Shelly Barron was hospitalized twice with COVID-19, a diagnosis she's hearing more and more in her community.
SHELLY BARRON, LAMESA, TEXAS RESIDENT, 70 YEARS OLD: The scary word is positive. I'm positive, you know. I tested positive. We've got two more
right now. We experienced a death in our church yesterday. This stuff is real. It's scary.
JIMENEZ (voice over): Medical hearts hospital where she was mostly treated now has an entire wing dedicated to COVID-19 patients, transformations that
have become shared experiences.
DR. SARAVANAN: We're actually sending home patients on home oxygen to recover at home. That's not something we would normally do, but there is no
space.
JIMENEZ (voice over): All for a month's long fight with nobody clear signs of an end.
MOURNING: People aren't taking the precautions that they need. Yes, we're front line here in the hospital but the real front line is on the streets,
in the grocery stores. Wash your hands, wear your mask. Stay away. I promise that the little bit of time and little bit of effort it takes
outside of here is worth it because once you're here, wearing a mask is better than having a tube down your throat, I promise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Omar Jimenez reporting. Well, that's what's going on with America's COVID situation. Let's look at the other story dominating the
country because with each passing day since he lost the election Donald Trump digging deeper into conspiracy theories promoting flat-out lies about
voter fraud, literally breaking with reality to undermine centuries of Democratic norms, all in order to stay in power.
A lot of what have happens is noise, so we don't bring you every small detail, but it's actually gotten to the point where it's kind of
embarrassing. Let me take you through it. The president is not just contesting individual state tallies or filing frivolous lawsuits, he's now
calling the entire election a hoax.
His legal team pushed that falsehood in a bizarre ranting news conference that quite frankly went off the rails. Rudy Giuliani had somewhat of a
meltdown, sweating profusely as he accused Democrats of stealing the election with the help of communist money. This was about the extent of
evidence offered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: This is real. It is not made up. It is not - there's nobody here that engages in fantasies. I've tried 100
cases. I prosecuted some of the most dangerous criminals in the world. I know crimes. I can smell them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The old sniffer test in the courtroom bizarre. A top U.S. Election Security Official fired this week by Donald Trump minced no words
calling that press conference or news conference the most dangerous one- hour and 45 minutes of television in American history and possibly the craziest.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're lucky. Yet the silence is deafening for the majority of Republicans who are allowing these falsehoods
to circulate and some are actively promoting them.
This tweet is from the official Republican National Committee or the RNC quoting a Trump Attorney who says he won in a landslide and his supporters
will reclaim the United States of America. Meantime, proof that Joe Biden won just keeps on coming.
A Republican election official in Georgia just confirmed the results of a statewide audit calling himself a proud Trump supporter. He said Biden
narrowly won the state.
[11:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: I live by the motto that numbers don't lie. As Secretary of State I believe that the numbers that we
have presented today are correct. The numbers reflect the verdict of the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Sources tell us that Mr. Trump knows he's lost but is trying to exact revenge on Democrats who question the legitimacy of his own election
back in 2016. The problem is millions of his supporters believe the lies that he's peddling and the damage he's putting on U.S. democracy could take
a very, very long time to undue. Well, to let that settle in we're going to take a very short break back after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: For those of you who are unfamiliar with a call to earth, it is a call to action for the environment and share solutions to critical issues
like global warming and deforestation and plastic waste. This week it's all about the food that we eat, showcasing some of the remarkable people
working to protect our threatened fish stocks in rivers and oceans around the world.
Today an Irish seaweed farm is making pesto from kelp, a wonder crop that's fast growing, nutritious and great I am told, for the ocean.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Rathlin Island, it is the northern most point of Northern Ireland and has a population of around 150 people and is the
site of one of the UK's few kelp farms. This is Kate Burns who helped founded Islander Ragland Kelp after visiting kelp farms in the USA.
KATE BURNS, FOUNDER, ISLANDER RATHLIN KELP: I just wanted the scientists doing something in the lab with the seaweed and it wasn't until I think saw
it as a food product and then also working with fishermen. It's the working with fishermen that helped with me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kelp is something of a wonder crop. It absorbs large amount of co2.
BURNS: Actually good for the environment when you grow it. No fertilizers, no pesticides, no herbicides.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's nutritious. Kelp and other seaweed have as much protein gram by gram as beef and one of the few non-animal sources of
vitamin B-12. On top of all that growing it creates beneficial eco-systems for marine life.
BURNS: To produce a food with such food value it's surprising. - people talk about seaweeds and seaweed the new food but actually when you look for
it in menus and look for it in shops it's still not there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The United Nations stated that seaweeds like kelp have unmatched potential in tackling global issues such as food insecurity and
climate change, but growing them is not easy. Firstly, the conditions need to be right.
[11:50:00]
BURNS: Kelp likes to grow between 7 degrees and 12 degrees as ideal but because of the Gulf Stream we have sea temperatures here generally between
7 and 12, 12 months of the year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kelp is not actually a plant but an - so baby kelp or spores have to be collected and grown to seed the kelp lines.
BURNS: So this is the lab, the nursery and this is where we do the cultivation in here of the young kelp plants. They have been going for
about 35 days and the kelp plant is about two millimeters long. Millions of kelp plants and those are ready to go out to sea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Kelp is amongst the fastest growing organisms on earth. Some species can grow upwards of two feet per day.
BURNS: So we would grow our kelp lines about 100 matters so you're talking about a ton of kelp coming out of that and so we may be would have
somewhere between 15 and 20 rope sites.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Although seaweed has been growing throughout history this industry today is still fledgling but growing rapidly doubling in size
between 2005 and 2015 and currently produced over 30 million tons a year. There are thousands of potential farmers in struggling fishing villages who
could help expand the industry.
BURNS; What's really important is that we as a small community here have done something amazing and have proved it can work under the most
challenging circumstances and really with very little resources. We've created jobs and we've created an industry.
It needs to take off. It's such an important foodstuff and such a sustainable foodstuff and such a useful resource for coastal communities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And we will continue showing - showcasing inspirational stories like that as part of the initiative at CNN. Do let us know what you're
doing to answer the call with the #calltoearth. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Arts, design, media, pretty much every industry that involves creativity are among the hardest hit in this Coronavirus pandemic. The
damage could be felt for years to come. In the meantime, some are finding ways to keep culture alive as CNN's Anna Stewart reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Royal Ballet had a spring in their step. After months of preparation, they perform for their first live
audience in early November.
KEVIN O'HARE, DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL BALLET: It was amazing. It was amazing. It was such a feeling, you know, for everybody in the whole house.
Everybody had worked so hard to get us to this point and so it was very bittersweet that it was our opening night but also our closing night.
STEWART (voice over): The next day marked the start of England's second national lockdown. This time the show will still go on, at least online.
Tell me why you made this decision because surely you could have furloughed the company.
O'HARE: Yes. We could have, but, I mean, it's just so important for them to do what they are trained to do and to be in the studios and rehearsing
together and performing. It's a job. It's their life. They need to be here training, and we need to be performing for the public.
[11:55:00]
STEWART (voice over): We caught the dress rehearsal, the final stage of preparation before their live stream performance. Behind the scenes,
dancers have spent months training in bubbled pairs, classes have been socially distanced, and they are tested twice a week.
Outside London's west end is empty. Its gilded theaters boarded up. Most theaters never reopened between lockdowns.
FIONA ALLAN, PRESIDENT, UK THEATER: There's a huge appetite for just a cultural experience, but we have no time frame yet as to when we think we
might be able to return to being viable businesses, and by viable businesses I mean able to operate without social distancing.
STEWART (voice over): The UK government has a $2 billion arts recovery fund in place, a mix of loans and grants for struggling venues on top of the
renewed furlough scheme. It's propping up venues of all sizes across the UK, although not all have received money yet.
O'HARE: The thing that I'm really most concerned about is the freelance workers, you know, because we rely on those amazing artists that come in
and design ballets, lighting designers, you know, choreographers that is the real worry because they have slipped the net.
STEWART (voice over): More help may be needed for this sector. When the royal opera house can fling open its doors once again, less than half the
usual audience size will walk through them due to social distancing. It's financially unsustainable, a high price for keeping culture alive during
COVID. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And, of course, we must look to protect what we can, not just the arts but all things and not just for ourselves but for the future of the
future. That is the kids. It is today, after all, World Children's Day, the pandemic not to mention climate changes, wars, the list goes on of terrible
things that - that we affect, we, the adults of the world, actually take a far more acute toll on young people.
The U.N.'s charter of a child adopted on this day adopted in 1959 says that children, "By reason of physical and mental immaturity need special
safeguards and care", and, of course, they do. What we do here and now is not isolated.
It will echo on forever through the halls of time. Whether you want children or don't have them or not, all that we do here and now build a
legacy for all that is yet to come. Think of that on this World Children's Day. From us, it is a very good night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
