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Connect the World
Russia Plans To Approve A COVID-19 Vaccine Within Weeks; Lancet Editor: Most Of The West Failing In Policy, Not Just U.K.; U.S. Lawmakers To Question Tech Leaders On Competition; The COVID-19 Treatment Promoted By Brazil's Government; Turkey Passes Bill To Tighten Grip On Social Media; Wilfried Zaha: Black Players Scared To Look At Social Media. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired July 29, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Well, Russia says they got it. Germany says hold on until next year. And some experts have cautioned it
may never happen. So what is going on with the vaccine that we all want?
Let's connect you to some of the answers. Four months after the Coronavirus pandemic brought the world to a standstill, the race for a vaccine has
accelerated anyway never seen before. More than 100 vaccines are now under development around the world.
Only two dozen are in human trials, including one of the world's largest right here in the United Arab Emirates. On Monday, Moderna began phase 3 of
its testing on humans. The vaccine slowed the spread of the virus in monkeys, and that suggested high doses might prevent spreading even if
people do get infected.
Brazil's Health Ministry expects to begin distributing a vaccine by the end of the year. That vaccine made by Oxford University and AstraZeneca has
been undergoing phase 3 testing in Brazil. Pfizer and Biotech began a human trial of their vaccine in the U.S. on Monday but miles ahead of all of
those companies is Russia, or so they say.
Officials there announced that they could approve a Coronavirus vaccine by August the 10th. That is less than two weeks from now. The speed by which
the vaccine is being rushed has caught many by surprise and raised questions about its safety and effectiveness.
Russia says it's using a vaccine that was already in development, but Russia was recently accused of hacking into vaccine research facilities.
Well, now the race is taking on political dimensions. Matthew Chance joins us now from Moscow with the details, as you understand them. Matt?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky thanks so much. Well that's right. August the 10th is the date. As you mentioned, the
Russian officials are saying they're intending to have this Russian vaccine approved and being administered to the most vulnerable categories of
Russian society starting off with front line medical workers.
It's raised further doubts about how effective, how safe this Russian vaccine could be, because it is so far ahead of the competition, as it
were, as you just mentioned. What Russian officials say is, look, part of the answer to that is about the technology, that they're using technology
they used in the past to create other successful vaccines, notably an Ebola vaccine from several years ago.
They simply amended that vaccine to make it able to fight Coronavirus. So there is a sort of scientific, technological basis for that. They say there
are lots of clinical trials with that technology, and that's helped them speed things through.
But undoubtedly as well, it's the attitude or the ability of Russia, the willingness of Russia to ignore the conventions of human trials that has
allowed them to speed through this process where other countries that are doing this have been held back.
For instance, the scientists that were first developing the Russian vaccine, they injected themselves and their staff members inside the
laboratories before human trials had even formally begun. Then when they did begin, they used volunteers, we're told by the French Ministry, who
were soldiers, something that in the west that doesn't tend to happen.
And now in the third and very crucial human trial period, which is normally the phase that's gone through before the vaccine is released onto the open
market and is administered to the population at large, Russian officials are saying that those third phase of human trials will take place in
parallel to the drug being approved and given to front line medical workers.
[11:05:00]
CHANCE: And so it's the ability of Russia to be able to lower the sort of bar, as it were, and to cut through, as they would call it, the red tape
and to get this drug out there as soon as possible that has enabled them to do it so quickly. It's risky, of course, but because of the severity of the
Coronavirus outbreak in Russia, officials say it's a risk they're willing to take Becky.
ANDERSON: Matthew Chance is in Moscow for you. Thank you, Matt. Well, the British government also at the forefront of the race for a vaccine signing
a major supply deals with pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and Glaxo-Smith- Kline.
Now the deal would provide 60 million doses of the vaccine turn in development and is the fourth option secured by the UK. Well, there are
many people who are comparing this global vaccine race to the space race full of geopolitics. CNN's Melissa Bell has more.
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FABIEN PERUGI, HEAD OF PRE-CLINICAL RESEARCH, VALNEVA: We have taken virus from patients after we have to prove by the virus.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: The race for a vaccine has never been so fierce. Across the world, 166 potential COVID-19 vaccines are being
worked on. Like Valneva here in Western France, the European pharmaceutical company has just sold 16 million doses of its potential future vaccine to
the United Kingdom.
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PERUGI: The aim is to provide, at the end of 2021, 16 million doses and after to increase also the capacity.
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BELL: Valneva is hoping to be ready for clinical trials by the end of this year. 24 other companies developing vaccines are already in that phase and
for now many governments are hedging their bets.
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FRANCK GRIMAUD, PRESIDENT & CEO BUSINESS OFFICER, VALNEVA: All governments are absolutely aware that the public is fully at risk. They place
ultimately five to ten pay holders on different programs, and they know that at the end most likely only three would be successful.
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BELL: Which is why the British deal with Valneva comes as part of a broader deal with other companies? In July the United Kingdom opted out of an EU
vaccine alliance. It was created by four European countries to make up for the lack of coordination at EU level. European negotiations with Valneva
continue.
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GRIMAUD: I think it was - saying Europe watches the full number, and it's exactly a little bit the same here. In the U.S., there is one urgency - a
lesson to learn from this crisis is that if we could have one centralized EU border, let's say, would make it next time more efficient in terms of
dealing with this kind of disease.
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BELL: The four country strong European alliance has now reached one deal for 400,000 vaccines with AstraZeneca. But it has yet to build the sort of
portfolio announced by the United Kingdom on Monday. And Valneva's first vaccines will go not to European countries but to the UK, their former EU
partner. Melissa Bell, Paris.
ANDERSON: My next guest is Editor-in-Chief of "The Lancet," one of the world's oldest medical publications. He's been closely following the
pandemic, as you would expect him to have done, and just released the book entitled "The COVID-19 Catastrophe: What's gone wrong and how to stop it
happening again" Richard Horton joining me now from London.
I want to get your reaction firstly to this Russian vaccine announcement described by the Head of the Sovereign World Fund there who is funding this
as Russia's sputnik moment, your thoughts?
RICHARD HORTON, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, THE LANCET: Well, I welcome any vaccine candidate that can be put through careful, safety and efficacy, including
clinical trials. We really need to be very careful to manage expectations. We have a long way to go to make sure that we have a safe and effective
vaccine.
Corners cannot be cut. We have to make sure that we keep public confidence high in the possibility of a vaccine, and that means that we have to follow
the proper protocols. So I would take very good care about being too speculative.
ANDERSON: Are you suggesting that corners must have been cut given the reduced time span in which the Russians say that they can announce this
approved vaccine? They are talking about mid-August.
HORTON: From the science that I've seen, Becky, there is absolutely no way there is a safe and effective vaccine that can be ready for mid-August.
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HORTON: We're only seeing phase 1 and phase 2, in other words, early clinical trials, being published now. There is just no possibility of a
vaccine being widely available by mid-August with the assurance that it is safe.
ANDERSON: So where are we? Who are the frontrunners, and when do you think we will get a vaccine, sir?
HORTON: Well, we do have several hundred vaccines that are currently in development with about 15 to 20 in human clinical trials, as I think you've
already been discussing on your program. There are many different strategies that are being used for those vaccines, and that's good, because
some will be successful and some will fail, and we need to be able to see which of those will work.
So at the moment it's not entirely clear which are going to be the most effective. What I can tell you is that the early vaccines are delivering
strong immune responses. That's to say the body is reacting positively to the vaccines. It's producing a strong response in the way that we really
need to be sure that we're going to get an effective vaccine.
So I would say, Becky, we're at first base and we have every reason to be optimistic and encouraged by the results so far.
ANDERSON: And do you expect, when we do get a vaccine, that it will be a one for life vaccine, or that we will need this on an annual booster basis?
HORTON: It's very; very unlikely it's going to be a one off for life, Becky. There is a lot that we don't know at the moment. We still don't know
how long immunity lasts when you get the infection, and we certainly don't know how long immunity lasts if you have a vaccine?
But my estimate so far is that we will be needing to take a vaccine perhaps once every year to get a boost to our immune response, and that's going to
be especially important for those who are most at risk. That's older people in our communities, people who are living with chronic diseases, maybe
black and minority ethnic populations.
There are going to be particular groups in our society who need the vaccine first and may need a boost.
ANDERSON: I want to talk about the response to this pandemic. You have been extremely critical of the UK government's handling of Corona, at one point
calling it the greatest science policy failure for a generation. Why do you believe that the UK got it so wrong? Are they, to your mind now, doing
better? And what do you make of these reinstitution of these quarantine policies on countries, for example, like Spain?
HORTON: Well, first of all, it's not just the United Kingdom that's suffered the greatest science policy failures. It's pretty much all western
democracies. And the reason why I feel so exorcised about this is that we published five research papers in "The Lancet" at the end of January in the
very last week of January that described how severe this illness was in Wuhan?
Brand new viruses, no treatment, tipping people into intensive care with high mortality pass through person to person. The urgent need for personal
protective equipments, scaling up mass testing in communities and a risk of a global pandemic.
Becky we knew all this before the end of January, and then we didn't do anything. We didn't do enough. We didn't pick up the signal that was coming
from Chinese scientists. Now we're in a geopolitical situation where the west is blaming China, creating this cold war version 2 and actually what
we should be doing is thanking Chinese scientists for the warnings that they gave the world.
So, yes, I feel very aggrieved about the western response, because many tens of thousands of deaths were entirely avoidable. Now you ask about the
quarantine situation. This very blunt thought of blocking a whole country is not a sustainable solution, just as lockdowns for a whole country are
not sustainable solutions.
If we're going to live with this virus, and we are going to have to live with this virus, this virus isn't going away any time soon. We have to have
a much more subtle, a much more nuanced approach to the way our countries react to one another. That means mapping the virus in countries.
If there is a particular part of a country where transmission is high, that's the part of the country we need to be concerned about. So I'm afraid
I don't think that our approach to quarantining everybody coming from Spain is the right way forward. It's simply bad science and it's not sustainable.
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ANDERSON: How is it that a country likes the one that I'm in here, the UAE? This is our Middle East Broadcasting Hub, are able to conduct 5 million
tests in a population of 10 million? That's 50 percent.
And have a positivity rate of one percent or possibly less than that when other countries around the world - and by the way, the health system here
is extremely well organized and the leadership extremely well organized as well and clearly responded very quickly.
Why is it that a country like this can respond the way it did, compared to what you see, for example, in the United States? We've had a pop at the UK.
Let's talk about the U.S.
HORTON: Well, this comes down to a political leadership that is sensitive to the science and that is attuned to the risks. You're talking about the
country you're in where clearly the political leaders were listening to the scientists and were able to pivot very quickly to protect its citizens.
Very strangely - the United States of America is the science superpower of the world. It's got some of the greatest scientists in the world, but the
connection between science and government is almost nonexistent.
And with a President who shows nothing but disdain for science, there is a culture that it's impossible for the country to mount a response in the way
that one would have wished. So we have at the moment in the United States a genuine national crisis.
ANDERSON: Very briefly, and I'm just running out of time here. You talked earlier about not having listened to China when it was sharing information
at the outset of this pandemic. Did they share enough, sir?
HORTON: There is a period between December the 1st when - as far as we know the very first patients were being admitted to hospital in Wuhan and
December 31st when they made information about the outbreak known to the rest of the world, there is a period between - in December where we don't
know enough about what happened?
And we need to understand what took place in December? If we could have had a few extra weeks in December, maybe we could have moved faster. But
Chinese scientists themselves did an absolutely remarkable job to identify the virus, sequence sets and prepare the world for we are now living
through.
ANDERSON: With that we're going to leave it there, but we will absolutely have you back, sir. Thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.
HORTON: Thank you, Becky.
ANDERSON: The Editor of "The Lancet." Coming up, big tech CEOs, including two of the world's richest men, will soon face Congress in an historic
antitrust lawsuit, more on that after this.
And it was an event that caught the attention of millions of fans from all over the world. CNN Sport speaks to the Head of the UFC about hosting its
first series of fights since the COVID-19 pandemic right here at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
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DR. STELLA IMMANUEL, PHYSICIAN: It's what we call astral sex. That means this person is not really a demon or nephilim he is just a human being
that's a witch. And the astral project and sleep with people.
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ANDERSON: That's just one of many outlandish claims made by a doctor who Donald Trump is promoting. He retreated to his 84 million followers. The
doctor's incorrect claimed that the drug Hydroxychloroquine cures Coronavirus. Twitter has removed Mr. Trump's re-tweets, but Trump's sharing
shows how rampant misinformation is for us all and raises questions about what tech companies are doing about it.
Well, next hour, CEOs from four of the world's most powerful and influential companies will be the focus of an historic antitrust hearing.
Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook will face questions about whether they have too much control in the marketplace. Clare Sebastian has the details.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: When these four CEOs come before Congress will be at remotely, it will be hard to know who is the
most powerful in the room.
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DAVID CICILLINE, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: Google controls nearly all the search market in the United States, Amazon controls nearly half of all online
commerce in the United States. Facebook has approximately 2.7 billion monthly active users across platforms. And finally Apple is under
increasing scrutiny for abuse its role as both a player and a referee in the app stores.
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SEBASTIAN: A yearlong Congressional investigation is looking for ways to check that power, and what experts say it will require a new understanding
of U.S. competition law.
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WILLIAM KOVACIC, FORMER CHAIRMAN, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION: Major point of this hearings is to move away from a conception of competition law is
focusing on the well being of citizens as purchasers of goods and services, and to take adopt a broader conception, it looks at the citizen as an
employee, as a resident of a community, as a consumer of news.
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SEBASTIAN: The four companies have all denied anti-competitive behavior--
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NATHAN SUTTON, ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL, AMAZON: We do not use any cellular data to compete with them.
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SEBASTIAN: Apple even commissioning a study last week to find its app store commission rates was in line with others. Several have also voiced concerns
that regulation might make them less competitive globally.
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SUNDAR PICHAI, ALPHABET & GOOGLE CEO: I worry that if you regulate for the sake of regulating it. It has a lot of unintended consequences. You know if
you take a technology like artificial intelligence, it allows implications for our national security and how other important areas of society.
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SEBASTIAN: And yet even as the COVID-19 pandemic has made these companies ever more essential and more valuable, they have been facing growing
backlash, protests over safety at Amazon and an advertiser boycott of Facebook over hate speech.
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KOVACIC: I think they come into the hearing not with a halo but with great concerns about exactly whose side they're on, and that should be a matter
of concern. Again, you look at the mood the Congress; you look at how Republicans joined Democrats today in scolding these companies? That's a
combustible environment for the leading enterprises.
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SEBASTIAN: The House investigation is expected to lead to a recommendation for new legislation, perhaps bringing greatest scrutiny of tech
acquisition, deals like Facebook's purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram and Google buying YouTube and Fitbit. It could also ramp up the pressure on
other ongoing investigations, the delicate moment for these titans of tech. Clare Sebastian, CNN, New York.
ANDERSON: These companies shape our lives, and now more than ever, the world very lying on them to find a digital solution, for example, to the
COVID-19 crisis. My next guest is skeptical about that, and he says he is concerned by the, "Rising enthusiasm for automated technology as a
centerpiece of infection control".
Ashkan Soltani is a Former Senior Adviser in the Obama Administration and Former Chief Technology Officer for the Federal Trade Commission. He knows
what he is talking about? What is the point of this hearing? Just how important is it? And are those who are there in Congress, are they
qualified to cross-examine these tech titans?
[11:25:00]
ASHKAN SOLTANI, FORMER CHIEF TECH OFFICER, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION: Hi, good morning. Thanks for having me. So that's a wonderful question. Two
questions, really. One is I think the point of this hearing is generally to understand how these companies got to be the size they are and have the
influence they have over our lives, not just in the selling of goods and services, selling of books or social things?
But also they influence the shape our opinions our media and understanding, for example, in the COVID crisis, how they're providing these tools and
influencing what governments ultimately do, right? To your question of whether Congress is qualified, they made strides in the last; I want to
say, five years in hiring qualified, kind of technical folks.
There's a project called Tech Congress that has brought in folks like me to help advice. But not everyone in the Congress, particularly that falls on
political lines some folks don't actually rely on experts. And so we've seen that in past hearings. Hopefully this hearing will show us a little
bit more that they've done their homework.
ANDERSON: So if you were advising Congress on what to ask, what are the hot button issues, and what do we need to hear from these tech titans to ensure
that we feel comfortable about their size and ownership of this space that we all know - what would you be asking?
SOLTANI: Well, so in the U.S., it's not illegal to be large, even though there is a lot of concern about the size of these companies. The concern is
more about did they use anti-competitive behavior to get to where they are? So for each company, there are a different set of concerns.
For example, for Apple, the focus is primarily on the app stores and the fees they charge in terms of providing the apps or developers providing
apps to consumers. Apple is the gateway. Apple has also kind of been criticized for copying apps and features that others develop and assume in
their operating system.
Google is different; Google has three different kind of aspects. One is Google Search and more and more we've seen with a great markup story just
yesterday about how more and more of the content we see on Google Search is Google's own concept. They kind of promote their own sites and services
over others.
They, in fact, sometimes steal content or take content from other search engines, maps and show it on their own sites. The second is android and
more of a bundling issue. So this was quite similar to what happened with Microsoft in the 2000s where Europe actually fined Google for requiring
that number of apps and services with Google apps be bundling with android.
And then the last is the ads business, right? Google is - search engine but they also operate on ads, marketplace. What's really unique about Google is
they're both the marketplace, they're the broker/dealer in the stock world, but they're also a player. So similar to search they essentially provide
search but they also can benefit their own products and services.
In the ads world, they provide us an ad platform, but they can benefit their own kind of ads as well. And then Facebook, the focus on Facebook is
primarily on acquisitions of things like Instagram and WhatsApp and whether they use personal data or whether they use anti-competitive practices to
make those acquisitions?
Facebook was criticized a few years ago for using a VPN product that they marketed even to children and teens that would essentially monitor what
other apps and services were popular this is so novel and they used that to determine or that's believed to be what helped them determine whether to
acquire Instagram?
And then finally with Amazon, it's a combination--
ANDERSON: --yes, go on.
SOLTANI: Just with Amazon, it's just a combination of all those factors. So Amazon, there are concerns about acquisitions of whole foods, there is
concerns about anti-competitive behaviors and restrictions on sellers, and then there is this concern around the copyright kill strategy where Amazon
will identify what products or services are popular on their marketplace and then recreate them. Sorry I set you off, go ahead.
ANDERSON: Right. Yes, yes, no, no. Let me stop you there because - the good thing is I want to put up the graphic that I had up while you were talking,
which just shows the immense size of these companies. I know you said that size isn't illegal or isn't - shouldn't be the number one issue in the
states, but it is in other places.
You come to Europe and they're a lot more aggressive when it comes to sort of their anti-competitive behavior but in the U.S. perhaps less so. But
let's just have a look at this. Amazon accounts for 39 percent of U.S. online retail sales. Apple's stock market value is about $1.6 trillion.
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: Facebook, more than 3 billion people around the world use its platform. And Google, more than 92 percent of searches happen on there. I
just wonder how - when you said these Congressmen and women are in a better position these days, better qualified to go about, you know, cross-
examining these titans.
But I guess my question is simply this, and I asked at the beginning. What's the point at this stage? Is anything going to change about these
companies, or do you believe they'll fit in good for purpose?
SOLTANI: No absolutely, you know the thing that all of these companies have, which is different than, say, 10 or 20 years ago, is that they have
immense amounts of data they can use to make strategic decisions about products, purchases, acquisitions and competition, right?
And I think slowly - Europe has some privacy laws. Slowly I think Congress is understanding the importance of restricting not just the growth and
practice of these companies, but also the use of data and the ability to essentially use data to leverage and influence not just competitors, right?
We're looking at it from who might win the next selection or what candidates are shown? There is immense influence that the companies have
primarily on the use of data and how they collect and present information? I think Congress is slowly getting up to speed.
And I think it's important how you laid in and out your graphic important to recognize the size and inputs that the companies have, right? In the
current pandemic debate, the UK is actually currently in a battle with Google and Apple around what information they can collect for the purposes
of the pandemic providing this contact tracing?
That's an incredibly kind of unique position where tech platforms are actually dictating what the government can do in response to a pandemic?
That's kind of unprecedented.
ANDERSON: With that, I've got to pay for this show and get into a break. We thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.
SOLTANI: Thank you.
ANDERSON: Back after this.
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ANDERSON: Just at half past 7:00 in the UAE. Welcome back. This is CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East Broadcasting Hub here at CNN. Kremlin
observers have long said Russian President Vladimir Putin likes to be first.
[11:35:00]
Now CNN learns Russia says it intends to be first in the world to approve a Coronavirus vaccine. Moscow says it could come in less than two weeks. It
insists it's even got a plan to mass-produce it in September. Russia is calling this its sputnik moment, referring to the 1950 space race the
Soviet Union stolen march on the United States.
Of course, what people want to know now is will the vaccine be safe and effective? So far Russia hasn't released a syllable of scientific research.
Brazil's Health Ministry says a vaccine could be ready before the New Year. Officials expect the experimental Oxford's AstraZeneca vaccine to be
distributed by the end of December if it proves to be safe.
Meanwhile a new survey shows nearly half of Brazilian doctors have felt pressure to prescribe unproven medicine for COVID-19 treatment. These
health workers also say that misinformation over drugs like Hydroxychloroquine have interfered with fighting the virus.
Well, if you recall the Brazilian President himself has been promoting that drug from the beginning of the pandemic. Let's discuss all of this with
CNN's Nick Payton Walsh joining us live from the Brazilian Capital. You have been speaking to Brazilian doctors, what are they been telling you,
Nick?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Well that certainly you've heard too pretty much fits the picture of increasing concern here
about what the consistent promotion of Hydroxychloroquine. I should stress that study after study has shown pretty much any every stage in which has
delivered has no medical benefits, in fact, some studies suggest it may even be harmful.
The kind of myth around it here promoted by President Jair Bolsonaro who even held it in his hand when he declared to the world he just tested
negative for Coronavirus after two weeks infected with the disease.
The concern amongst some about 60 plus percent of the doctors surveyed in Sao Paulo, one of the megacity hot spots really of this disease, is that
it's distracting people from thinking about the severity of the disease here, the serious things they have to do to help themselves.
Former U.S. Surgeon General speaking to CNN yesterday it's a distraction. The survey also showed that about 50 percent of them felt pressure to give
Hydroxychloroquine or other drugs that are parts of the complex being offered here or recommended here by Brazilian health officials that don't
really have any proven medical effects.
Now of course, one thing to say to people will try this drug, it may possibly assist you down the line. It is not the one to do so when there is
no actual proof of any medical benefit; from that one is the further problem when in fact some of these drugs may possibly have links to side
effects that are harmful.
So concern certainly here in Brazil where cases are staggering tens of thousands a day, 40,000 in the last 24 hour count that we heard, at the end
of last week 50,000 cases reported pretty much every 24 hours for a three- day stretch.
The concern is that this promotion of a cure that isn't a cure that is frankly full - is stopping people from focusing on masks, keeping their
hands clean, social distancing, things that might actually help slow the spread, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nick is in Brazil for you. Thank you, Nick. We are talking Coronavirus here and what we can expect to hear and see next? The COVID
outbreak in Mexico is one of the worst in the world, with the country now claiming more than 400,000 infections.
The numbers aren't nearly as bad as the neighboring U.S., but more and more Mexicans crossing the border hoping for a healthcare system which is better
equipped to fight the pandemic. CNN's Matt Rivers with this report.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Among those waiting outside public hospitals in Tijuana, Mexico, death is a constant companion. Dianna Lopez
(ph) didn't get a chance to say goodbye to her father-in-law before the COVID-19 took him. She says imagine a family member suddenly gets
hospitalized and you just never seem them again.
Tijuana and its State of Baja, California are among Mexico's hardest hit regions. For months healthcare workers have told us about overwhelmed
hospitals plagued by lack of supplies. Roughly 20 percent of those diagnosed here with COVID have died. This nurse says, we were not prepared
for the magnitude of what was and is the pandemic.
Tijuana sits just across that border there from the U.S. State of California. Though it's closed to all non-essential travel, if you're
legally allowed to be in the U.S., be it as a citizen, permanent resident or otherwise, you can still cross, and if you want to, seek treatment at a
U.S. hospital.
Which is exactly what Patricia Gonzalez-Zuniga did when her husband got the virus, the couples are dual U.S. Mexico citizens but live in Tijuana where
doctor Gonzalez-Zuniga has worked for decades treating the city's poor.
[11:40:00]
RIVERS: She says the public health system is broken, so when her husband got really sick, going to the U.S. for care was an easy choice.
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DR. PRACTICIA GONZALEZ-ZUNIGA, HUSBAND WAS TREATED IN THE U.S.: It's like if we stay, and maybe 50 percent chance that you will die, or just go and
get services.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: At nearby Scripps Mercy Hospital in Chula Vista, California, we learn her story isn't unique. The hospital has been at or near capacity for
months, in part because of patients from across the border. In July alone, it admitted more than 50 COVID patients who recently came from Mexico. The
hospital says the vast majority of patients who travel from Mexico test positive.
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DR. JUAN MANUEL TOVAR, SCRIPPS MERCY HOSPITAL CHULA VISTA: It does create stress in the system and we have to deal with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: Dr. Juan Manuel Tovar said at its peak 50 percent of all COVID patients at the hospital have been from south of the border, though the
numbers have gone down as the new cases in Baja, California have slowed but cases in California have spiked recently. So his fear of the same happens
in Mexico, a tough situation could get even worse. He says this is the border. Everything is shared culture, commerce and COVID care.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOVAR: This is one region I have no problems about seeing patients from Mexico.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: Dr. Gonzalez-Zuniga for one is extremely grateful for that fact. Her husband spent 14 days in a California ICU nearly intubated several
times but he lived.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: What do you think would have happened if he had been in a public hospital in Mexico?
GONZALEZ-ZUNIGA: He would not be here. He would be dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERS: She calls herself lucky and compared to the Lopez's family she is. They couldn't get care in the U.S. Maybe we could have gotten better care
over there, more opportunity. But now after her father-in-law's death, that is nothing more than a hypothetical question. Matt Rivers, CNN, Tijuana,
Mexico.
ANDERSON: Well the tech titans will be taking the hot seat in U.S. Congress next hour. Meanwhile, Turkey climbing down on top social media players more
on it sweeping new set of regulations just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: We're less than half an hour away from an historic hearing in the U.S. Congress. Four of the world's most powerful CEOs are set to take the
hot seat, Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google facing questions about abuse of power and dominance.
Turkey tightening its grip on social media with a comprehensive and controversial social media regulation bill. New rules passed parliament
today will apply to platforms that have more than 1 million Turkish users with fines of up to $1.5 million for failure to comply.
CNN's Arwa Damon connecting us to the story in Istanbul, what do we know of the details on this?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, let's talk about those controversial details.
[11:45:00]
DAMON: First noting, though, that this still needs to be signed off by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, keeping in mind, though, that that is
pretty much a foregone conclusion given his position on social media in the past.
And companies have until October to comply with these new laws if they have over 1 million local users. They will have to appoint a local
representative, and they will also have to, within that vein, store the data, the local users' data locally.
Of course, that in and of itself does raise a certain number of concerns, but then they will also need to comply with the Turkish government when it
requests that certain content be removed. And critics are saying that this effectively allows these large social media companies, you know, Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook to become effective arms of the Turkish government, which as we well know, does not have exactly the best track record when it
comes to freedom of speech and expression.
Now, the Turkish government for its part is saying this is not aimed to actually curb freedom of expression but rather to protect users, something
that is, of course, being greatly disputed. Turkey is also saying they modeled this law on Germany's legislation that Germany was using to combat
anti-hate speech online.
But the German legislation was already being criticized for being fought, and many critics fear this is just the Turkish government's attempt to
exert even more control in a country that already is being greatly and grossly criticized for various different abuses when it comes to freedom of
the media and expression, Becky.
ANDERSON: Arwa Damon on the story for you. Arwa, thank you. A disturbing global extortion scam has Chinese students in Australia faking their own
kidnappings. It's all happening virtually. Anna Coren with the story.
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As scams - Chinese students in Australia is raising alarm. We've anonymous criminals leashing families
backing China of millions of dollars. New South Wales police say there has been a spate of virtual scams in recent months where criminals speaking in
mandarin are contacting students pretending to be official Chinese authorities.
They then tell the students they have been implicated in a crime, and the only way to get out of it is a stage of fake kidnapping, sending photos to
their families telling them they have to pay a ransom. In some cases they were threatened that their family would be hurt. The students are then told
to go to a hotel turn off their phone so they couldn't be contacted by family members.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARREN BENNETT, NEW SOUTH WALES POLICE: So the people in China have got a two prong threat. They've got this photo of their loved one and they can't
get in touch with their loved one. This might be tried on numerous occasions and not work frequently, but in one occasion they've actually
paid the sum of more than $2 million.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: There are approximately 165,000 Chinese students enrolled in Australian universities this year. That's down from usual 200,000-plus,
most likely due to Coronavirus and the ongoing tensions between the two countries.
Last month China warned its students against studying in Australia, citing racism, after Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison called for a global
inquiry into the origins of the pandemic. The police say the people behind these virtual kidnappings have yet to be identified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENNETT: It's very egregious crime type, it's very cruel, and as hard as it is to believe, with the number of calls going out, they're still finding
those odd people that fall for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Police have warned students who receive these calls to hang up and notify authorities immediately. Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
ANDERSON: Well you're watching "Connect the World" with me, Becky Anderson. Over the last few months we have talked about not one, but two, viruses
around the world, COVID-19 and racism. And we speak with a Premier League star next who opens up about the nonstop abuse that he receives on social
media. You must have a listen to what he has to say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
ANDERSON: The CEOs from the big four tech companies are testifying before Congress in the United States today. The focus is antitrust, but there is
also a lot of concern about the volume of toxic content and hate speech on the internet these days.
Don Riddell joins us now with a sobering tail of a Premier League football start and here is the experience of racist abuse on Instagram.
DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Becky thanks very much. The Crystal Palace forward Wilfried Zaha says that he's now scared to look at his
direct messages because of the awful racial abuse that he received. And he went public about one such message recently only to discover that the
message has been sent by a 12-year-old boy. In an emotional interview, he told our Contributor Darren Lewis about the first time he experienced such
abuse online.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILFRIED ZAHA, CRYSTAL PALACE FORWARD: Well, I started playing for Crystal Palace, I remember my first message. I remember it like it was yesterday.
It was when I went to play against Manchester United and someone spoke about - he said black this and I hope you break your legs and go back to
the slums and stuff like that. Because I felt like enough is enough, and I'm among a lot of people who have had racial abuse, and I've had racial
abuse all my life, but it's a thing where for right now I've got a platform where I feel like if I can make a change, I'll try.
DARREN LEWIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, WORLD SPORT: The most recent abuse was just two weeks ago from a 12-year-old boy banana emojis, black - images and Ku
Klux Klan imagery. What was your reaction when you saw that it was just a 12-year-old child?
ZAHA: It's sad really because it's like how is a 12-year-old even thinking like that? Where does this hate come from? I understand he's a 12-year-old.
It's sad that it's a 12-year-old, but you have to be held accountable for things you say. The stuff you said to me isn't just black this.
The Ku Klux Klan, I didn't even know about this when I was 12. So it was like before my game but it feared me so much because I found now that same
12-year-old boy contacted like three other players, racial abused three other players as well in my team as well. So it's not OK.
LEWIS: We've spoken to Instagram and they sent us a statement and said this. Racism is not tolerated on Facebook and Instagram. When we find
content that breaks our guidelines, we will remove it and we will ban those who repeatedly break the rules. We take this issue seriously and invest
billions of dollars in people and technology to help remove harmful contact at scale. What's your reaction to that?
ZAHA: Even after I reported the abuse from the 12-year-old, I got 50 - I think - I reported 50 accounts, and I got racially abused after the stuff
that I got before, and it's like, what happens after that account gets dropped, they just make a new account?
I've tried to block people so many times and I've looked on Instagram for the option to block them for racial abuse, but there isn't that option
there. That doesn't come up. There is harassment, there is different stuff, but there is no racial abuse option that comes up.
I feel like with everything that we do in life, with everything that we register to, we have to give some sort of I.D. So why is it not the same
with Instagram? Why is it not the same with Twitter? Being for black footballers for instance being on Instagram is not even fun for us anymore.
You're not enjoying your profile because every time - I'm scared to even look at my direct messages anymore because it could be filled with
anything.
[11:55:00]
ZAHA: I don't even have Twitter on my phone anymore because it's almost certain that you're going to get some sort of abuse, like especially after
games and stuff, because it happens so freely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: Well, like Instagram, Twitter released a statement to us at CNN condemning racist abuse on their platform. A spokesperson told us, "Racist
behavior has no place on Twitter and we strongly condemn it. Throughout this season we have proactively engaged and constantly collaborated with
our value partners in football to identify ways to tackle this issue collectively".
Let's bring in Darren Lewis for more on this. Darren, Zaha made it clear that on Instagram you cannot report someone for racial abuse. What has been
the reaction for this interview now having been seen?
LEWIS: There's huge reaction, Don, because so many sportsmen and ordinary people have the same experience. As for Wilfried Zaha, the social media
companies are very big on saying the right thing and sounding responsible, but in practice, so many people are left unprotected by the social media
policies.
There is so much hate speech that is allowed on social media to go unchecked. Footballers like Wilfried Zaha have had enough. This isn't just
a problem for sports and football this is a problem for life. We all need to do something about it, to use our platforms just like he is doing in
order to combat it.
RIDDELL: Darren, you know I was particularly moved by this interview, because recently we've seen a lot of black players in Europe finding their
voice, standing tall, defiantly calling out their abuses. He seemed really dejected. What kind of support is he getting from fellow players and
athletes?
LEWIS: Well, the support he is actually getting is from his family, but there have been other players. And we discussed it during the course of the
interview, who has been similarly motivated to use their platforms to speak.
We covered them here on CNN Jadon Sancho, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and a number of other players who have said, look, the generations before
have been prepared to accept this, but this generation is no longer to do that.
And while it was bananas on the field back then and monkey chanting now its banana emojis. And as he told us, Ku Klux Klan images from 12-year-olds. It
is remarkable stuff and yet unremarkable because to be honest with you in many cases it are the life of a black man, and the life of a black man,
Don, in football.
RIDDELL: It's just so sickening, isn't it? We must applaud Wilfried Zaha and other players now for coming forward speaking up, drawing attention to
it. He's right, I'd imagine going on that platform must be very, very difficult right now, but he is using his status to speak about it and
shedding some light on it. Darren Lewis thanks very much again great interview as always.
LEWIS: Thank you.
RIDDELL: Becky that's all we have got time for on the sport just now back to you.
ANDERSON: Thank you. There is no place for racism anywhere, ever, end of. If the coronavirus has taught us anything, it's that we are all in this
together. Let's be good to one another. Thank you for joining us. I'm Becky Anderson at CONNECT THE WORLD. Good night and stay well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
