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Covid-19 Impacting Upcoming Elections Across the Globe; CDC Director: Follow Safety Protocols or Face Worst Fall Health Season in U.S. History; Lebanon's Parliament Approves State of Emergency; New Zealand Records New Infections One Month Before Election; Unrest in Bolivia After Elections Postponed Again; YouTuber Behind New Online Space for Young Activists. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired August 13, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESUMPTIVE VICE PRESIDENT NOMINEE: It's all on the line. America is crying out for leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HALA GORANI, CNN ANCHOR: America in tatters, Biden and Harris kickoff their campaign with pandemic politics, vowing to bring the country out of
this crisis. But are their big promises possible? CNN health brings you the science straight talk this hour.
Also coming up, the hottest decade on record. We dig into a catastrophic threat that will stay with us long after the coronavirus pandemic.
Plus, Lebanon's Parliament approved the state of emergency in Beirut. We are live, once again, on the ground.
Hello, everybody. This is Connect to The World and let us start with the very latest from the United States to Bolivia to New Zealand. This hour we
are going to give you a global roundup and a deep dive into how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting upcoming elections across the globe.
Bolivia has postponed its general election for a second time and the anger there is intense. We start in the United States which has just recorded its
highest daily COVID-19 death toll since May. Nearly 1,500 Americans died on Wednesday alone. These are truly jaw dropping figures.
The seven day daily average deaths has remained over a thousand a day for 17 straight days. The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention is warning Americans they must follow safety protocols or face the worst fall season in U.S. public health history. And the President of
the United States, Donald Trump, is again offering mixed signals, announcing vague guidelines on schools reopening that do not require masks.
But Washington's newest political power couple is calling out the President's handling of the pandemic and making it clear that the 2020
presidential election will be about, in large part, the coronavirus. In her first speech as Democrat, Joe Biden's running mate Wednesday, Kamala
Harris, summed up the current state of the country in just seven words. "It didn't have to be this way."
Biden and Harris made their debut as running mates in Biden's home state of Delaware. The duo vowed to lead the U.S. out of the pandemic. Something,
they say, Donald Trump has failed to do. With a look at the promises and the political landscape, here's Arlette Saenz.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER(voice over): Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, making their debut as running mates, immediately taking aim at
President Trump and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: But there's a reason it has hit America worse than any other advanced nation. It's because of Trump's failure to take it seriously from
the start. This is what happens when we elect a guy who just isn't up for the job. Our country ends up in tatters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ(voice over): Once fierce rivals on the debate stage, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Biden and Harris, are now working together
towards one common goal: defeating President Trump in November.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: America is crying out for leadership. Yet, we have a president who cares more about himself than the people who elected him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ(voice over): From the White House, the president wasting no time launching his own attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I watched her poll numbers go, boom, boom, boom, down to almost nothing. And she left angry; she left
mad. There was nobody more insulting to Biden than she was. She said horrible things about him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ(voice over): Earlier, Biden already defending his vice-presidential pick from Trump's insults.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump has already started his attacks, calling Kamala 'nasty'. Is anyone surprised Donald Trump has a
problem with a strong woman?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ(voice over): The duo giving voters their first glance of the newly- announced ticket.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Kamala, as you all know, is smart, she's tough, she's experienced. She's a proven fighter for the backbone of this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[10:05:03]
SAENZ(voice over): Biden also noting the importance of standing beside the first woman of color vice-presidential nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: All across the nation, little girls woke up, especially little black and brown girls, who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in
their communities. But today, today, just maybe, they're seeing themselves for the first time in a new way as the stuff of president and vice
presidents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAENZ(voice over): Before leaving the socially-distanced event, Harris sending this message to the young girls of color watching her make history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Believe in the future of our country and this next president of the United States. Anything is possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: All right. And Arlette Saenz joins me now from Wilmington, Delaware. And we're expecting to hear, once again, from Joe Biden and
Kamala Harris today, Arlette.
SAENZ: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will appear together again here in Wilmington, Delaware. This time they're receiving a briefing on COVID-19
from a team of public health experts. We don't know exactly who will be in that meeting.
But Biden had formed his own health advisory committee back in March as coronavirus started to take hold in this country. We're also expecting that
they deliver a few remarks there as well. And one thing that Biden and Harris have consistently talked about is the need to be guided by public
health experts and science in this whole process.
And yesterday, I actually asked Biden, whether we should anticipate seeing him and Harris out on the campaign trail, campaigning has completely
changed due to coronavirus. Most things are virtual now any in-person events are pretty small.
And Biden told me he hedged a little bit. He said, yes, if the science allows it. So he's making it clear that he's going to listen to those
public health experts in the science and what's happening on the ground before he campaigns in-person potentially this fall.
GORANI: All right. Arlette Saenz, thanks very much, joining us live from Wilmington, Delaware. And we'll be, of course, broadcasting the remarks by
the presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris.
Donald Trump predictably went into attack mode after Biden announced Harris as his VP pick, calling her nasty, a term he often uses to describe his
female political opponents, and indeed sometimes as male political opponents. And he's trying to brand her as part of the radical left. You
can see that in his tweet from a few hours ago.
He also says Harris was mean to Joe Biden and cites low poll numbers during the Democratic campaign. I want to talk more about the President's attacks
on Harris with CNN Political Commentator, Doug Heye. He's also Republican Strategist.
Do you think they're nervous in the White House? Do you think team Trump is now thinking, OK, we've got a real fight on our hands now. And if so, why?
DOUGH HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The reality is team Trump has realized they've got a real fight on their hands for at least four or five
months now. Ever since COVID has become a very real issue in the life of everyday Americans. This administration knows that they're in the fight for
their lives, politically, come November.
Joe Biden is overwhelmingly well-received by voters. They like him, they know him and that also makes it hard for Trump to claim that not only Biden
is an empty vessel, but that somehow he's going to be filled by the left.
GORANI: But Joe Biden has tried several times before to run for president. He didn't make it out of the primary. Kamala Harris' numbers weren't great
during the primary race. Why is this ticket a potential winning ticket against Donald Trump and Pence?
HEYE: Well, two reasons. One, Donald Trump is no longer a Trump in theory, he's trumping practice. And for a lot of voters if, again, if you look at
what's happened in the past months. If you go back to January, Democrats were very nervous.
The economy was in good place and though we might have covered every Donald Trump outreach (inaudible) and it seems like there was one every day, the
economy was in a good place. It's very tough to beat a president when there's a strong economy. Now we have 166,000 Americans who died and an
economy that's in tatters, so there's that record.
GORANI: Yes.
HEYE: The other thing that Joe Biden has going for him is he's not Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton was massively unpopular in the country, it's just
not true with Joe Biden.
GORANI: Yes. And one of the things that the candidates said, Biden and Harris, is that America is in tatters. Is that something that resonates or
is it dangerous to use that terminology with American voters who'd like to think of their country as the best country, the strongest country in the
world?
HEYE: Well, I think it's a reality that we've had several years now where a candidate and now President of the United States has been talking about
an American carnage, an American that's lost its place in the world.
[10:10:02]
And when you see the numbers coming out every day of the death toll and the economic impact that we're seeing in the country and that we are
unfortunately the world leader right now in COVID, they're allowed to send that message and it's one that's going to resonate as people were losing
their jobs, as people are getting jobs back to where they're not making what they were four or five months ago, there are a lot of questions about
what America's place in the world is and whether or not the American dream can really come true again.
GORANI: But, I mean, the economic meltdown is caused, is still being caused by the pandemic. Are Americans blaming Trump for that?
HEYE: Well, certainly what they're seeing is - and polling shows about 65 percent of Americans disapprove of the job that the administration has done
in handling the crisis. So they know that Donald Trump didn't create COVID, but they know that 166,000 Americans dead is a number that no one would
have believed. And part of this is because Donald Trump told us that there was only going to be one death, that this wasn't a really big problem.
Mike Pence said it would go away by Memorial Day. Trump said the warm weather will take care of it. None of that has been true and as they've
seen this president fight every day with his own medical experts who are telling people to wear masks and take other precautions to avoid COVID that
a lot of the responsibility for how high this number is lays at the feet of this administration for federal response.
GORANI: Now, when the announcement was made when Joe Biden took to the stage in that high school gymnasium, it was all really odd and unusual.
Normally, there are crowds, and balloons, and hugs, and handshakes and this was all oddly silent. Kind of almost like a sitcom without a laugh track or
I don't know if you watch European football or European football without the crowd ...
HEYE: That's true.
GORANI: ... is also a little strange. But, I mean, how is that going to play out? Because a big part of running for office is kissing babies and
shaking hands.
HEYE: Yes. Hala, I watch my Arsenal Gunners as often as I can. They won the FA Cup and it's weird watching that pipe and noise. And it was really
start to see the silence of the event yesterday and it's one of the reasons I thought Kamala Harris was so impressive. That's a very difficult thing to
do to give a rousing speech in essentially an empty room and she did that very well.
It also presages what will happen with the presidential debates. There won't be a crowd and so it will be mano a mano, for my Spanish friends, I
know that doesn't mean man to man, but hand to hand with Trump versus Joe Biden. There won't be an audience to react to anything. That's really been
a benefit for Trump in the past and that's just going to be absent this time, so these would be very new dynamics.
GORANI: I wonder if Harris and Biden should bubble together so they can at least touch each other. I mean, they couldn't even hug or shake hands. The
spouses of both candidates came out at first wearing masks, then they took them off and kind of join their respective spouses.
But it was interesting to see that that energy. It was very different. Thank you very much, Doug Heye, for joining us. As always, thanks for your
analysis.
HEYE: Thank you.
GORANI: And CNN will be covering every angle of the 2020 US presidential election. Make sure to tune in for our coverage of the party conventions,
which will also be very different, not in big arenas this time. That's on August 17th for the Democratic Convention and then the following meet week,
August 24th, for the Republican Convention. And of course, our daily coverage of the election at cnn.com.
There is no escaping it. The pandemic is going to be a central part of this election. But we urge you to cut through the politics and listen to the
science, so many of you do. What would it take from a scientific perspective for Democrats, Biden and Harris to leave the country out of the
crisis? Let's bring in CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
So they are vowing, team Biden-Harris, to help the country emerge from this pandemic nightmare. Scientifically, what needs to be done at this stage?
We're registering over 1,500 deaths Wednesday alone in the U.S.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, Hala. So let's talk about three of the basic things that team Biden and Harris would need
to do. First of all, they would need to come up with a national response. In the United States you have 50 states kind of each attacking this problem
in their own way. There are some pretty vast differences about how it's being approached. Viruses don't respect state borders, think about the best
way to do it and have a national response.
That would include instructions clearly about what to do with masks and social distancing. Very clear instructions. Also, there is a need for a
vaccine education program. We are spending billions of dollars to come up with a vaccine in the United States against COVID-19, but there is a huge
anti-vaccine and a huge vaccine hesitancy population in the U.S. as there are in many other countries.
[10:15:06]
And on social media, you see anti-vaxxers really going on with a very sophisticated campaign to convince people not to get this vaccine, the
government has not counteracted, we need that kind of a program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHELSEA CLINTON, VACCINE ADVOCATE WITH CLINTON FOUNDATION: That is really concerning to me, because if we have the vaccine and no one takes it or not
enough people take it, we won't going to have the protection for people or kind of at a population health level that we desperately need. So we do
need to be educating Americans now that vaccines are safe, kind of that it is in kind of their interest to vaccinate themselves and their kids.
So we need to be doing this work. I wish that it were worked being done out of the Centers for Disease Control, but it just isn't happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COHEN: Now, that was Chelsea Clinton who I spoke with about this issue. She is very concerned about the fact that the government has not
counteracted this anti-vaccine propaganda. You can see it, just go on Facebook and you'll see it. It's not hard to find. And she says we need to
do something about it.
She does vaccine advocacy work through her work with the Clinton Foundation. She has a public health background and she has also been
attacked by the anti-vaxxers, so she knows what she's talking about. Hala.
GORANI: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, our Senior Medical Correspondent, thanks very much.
Coming up, we'll have plenty more on pandemic politics from the U.S. to Bolivia and New Zealand where the first locally transmitted COVID-19 cases
in more than 100 days could affect a general election. And like most places in the world, Lebanon is still very much dealing with COVID-19. It is one
of two crises that parliament is facing as lawmakers return to work for the first time since last week's explosion.
Plus, thousands of arrests in Belarus as demonstrations against the hotly contested election continue. Now, there is talk of consequences for that
government crackdown. We are live in Minsk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:19:22]
GORANI: Welcome back. We are back. Lebanon's parliament has met for the first time since last week's explosion in Beirut and members approved a
state of emergency for the country. What does that mean? Well, essentially yielding sweeping powers to the military.
Roads to the UNESCO Palace where the meeting was held were blocked with metal gates to stop protesters from reaching the conference center. Let's
go to Ben Wedeman. He is live in Beirut with more on what's going on there.
So are people concerned about this state of emergency in Lebanon? What is the reaction?
[10:20:00]
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It really depends who you speak to, Hala. But, first of all, it's a state of emergency in Beirut
only, not in the rest of Lebanon. Political activists, journalists are very concerned because this state of emergency grants broad powers to the army
to break up, basically, to ban freedom of assembly, freedom of press. It allows the army to go anywhere without a warrant and for civilians to be
put before military courts.
We've seen the same sort of thing in Egypt and the results, unfortunately, are obvious. But for other people who are still in the process of cleaning
up after that massive blast on the evening of the 4th of August, the state of emergency really doesn't mean much to them.
We're in the Karantina district, which is next to the port. Unlike (inaudible) where a lot of the attention has been on, this is a much poorer
neighborhood. There are many migrants living here. For instance, this house was the home of an extended Syrian family that has been in this country
since 1995. Now, the house is uninhabitable. Structurally, it's very dangerous.
That's why this ribbon has been put in there to stop people from coming inside. But I mean, if you just look at the destruction around me, you get
just the idea. This is the sort of destruction that one would associate with a warzone. And in fact, the man who lives in this house and he's the
only one left because all the others have moved elsewhere. Fortunately, there are only slight injuries into the family.
He's from Hama in Syria. And he said he's been going back and forth since the war began there. But he has seen nothing like this in terms of the
destruction that has occurred. And because there's so many migrants living in this area, they have received money less attention from the government,
which hasn't really given much attention to those who have been affected by the blast anyway or relief agencies.
There are some in this area but certainly not as much as in those other wealthier areas that have been so severely affected, Hala.
GORANI: OK. Ben Wedeman live there in a destroyed part of Beirut. Thanks very much, Ben, for that report.
The head of the European Parliament says there should be consequences for the crackdown on opposition supporters in Belarus. Thousands of people have
been arrested during peaceful demonstrations this week. In fact, some people have been arrested they say they weren't even demonstrating. They
are contesting the results of a presidential election that many believe was rigged.
Lithuania, Poland and Latvia are offering to mediate between the two sides. Fred Pleitgen is live from the Belarusian capital, Minsk, with the very
latest. And Fred, I saw on your social media accounts that people are out on the streets. They are still protesting and I saw that there was a group
of women as well protesting the results of this election.
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. In fact, Hala, I would say women are at the forefront. What you see behind me is actually
one of these makeshift demonstrations that have been popping up. Essentially what the opposition is doing is they decentralized the protest
to a great extent. They had those big protests that happened right after the election. Here you have the security forces, as you mentioned,
crackdown on the protesters, beat a lot of people up, use tear gas and stun grenades.
So what the opposition is doing and what generally people here are doing is this right here. It's a line of people. As you can see, they're all holding
up flowers and the motorists are honking at them to show their support. And it really is a gigantic decentralized movement, Hala.
There's people like this on almost every street crossing that we're coming to in the suburbs of Minsk. They've essentially been expelled from the
Central Minsk, but I just want to pan around a little bit. You can see the folks who are lining in this entire street and if you look over there,
they're on the other side of the street as well. And the motorists here are all honking at them in support.
So what we've seen is that the opposition movement here, after this election took place is still very much alive. Now, as you know, the main
head of the opposition, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, she's essentially been forced to flee this country. But one of her mates, one of the folks who was
fighting with her and who's now essentially the head of the opposition here in Belarus, Maria Kolesnikova, I've managed to speak to her and she
believes that they are still going to prevail. He's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA KOLESNIKOVA, BELARUSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I think that Belarusian see now that they can do it and they assure us they will do it. And it's
not on me and it's not on me or not Svetlana or Veronika or somebody else. They change themselves. Belarusian change themselves and it cannot be as
the last 26 years.
[10:25:06]
We know that we are together and we know that together we are very strong and we're able to say stop it. Stop this violence. Stop this disrespect of
whole Belarusian nation. This resistance can be very long time and, of course, they already lose, government is already lose and now it's very
important time to say please understand and please hear the Belarusian people because only when we stop this violence we can get one dialogue to
each other. And together we can build or to start to build a new Belarus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: That's exactly what these folks that you see behind me, Hala, are demonstrating for as well, even several days after those elections
leading up to the crackdown. Of course, we do have to mentioned that Alexander Lukashenko contends and he did win that election, of course,
saying that he got about 80 percent or over 80 percent of the vote.
As you can see, folks still here coming out saying they believe that that is not true. They're demanding a new election, in fact, and from what the
opposition is saying they are saying this is going to continue. They are nowhere near backing down as they continue to come out in makeshift
protests like this one.
And essentially, what they try to do is they try to be here until the security forces show up and then go to someplace else, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Fred Pleitgen. Let me ask you a quick question though, because we've seen security forces crackdown on some of
these demonstrators and the opposition leader herself felt she needed to flee to Lithuania. Are any of the people you're speaking with concern for
their safety? And if they are, why do they still believe they need to be out on the streets?
PLEITGEN: You know what, I would say that everybody who's standing here is concerned for their safety. Every person that we've been speaking to say
they are concerned for their safety. However, a lot of them are saying that they simply believe that they need to come out at this point in time.
And if you look at the folks who are here, you'll see that the vast majority of them are women and part of the reason for that is because a lot
of the men who have been at the protest so far are already in jail, have already been put in jail. We've already mentioned that thousands of people
have already been put in jail and now it's essentially the women who are coming out and doing these peaceful protests holding up - simply holding up
flowers, just to show that they don't want to take it anymore.
But yes, a lot of people are very concerned for their safety. We've been out here in the evenings as well where there have been security forces out,
of course, people are extremely concerned about the state and about the repercussions those could have, but a lot of people still choosing to come
out and believing they have to do it now or maybe never, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Some courageous women out there in Minsk. Thanks very much, Fred Pleitgen.
Coming up next, pandemic politics, coronavirus elections. Politics have been touched by COVID-19 everywhere. We'll give you the details on how it's
playing out in the U.S., New Zealand and Bolivia as well next.
And a state in Brazil has agreed to produce and test the Sputnik vaccine, Russia's new coronavirus vaccine. We'll have updates on the dire COVID
situation in Brazil coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:30:43]
GORANI: Well, 2020 was already set to be a big year in politics, of course. But adding a pandemic to everything has only up the ante. Just 82
days out to 2020 U.S. presidential election is a coronavirus election, suffering from the world's worst outbreak.
The newly announced Democratic ticket focused on President Donald Trump's failures during their first appearance together. That was the messaging.
One of the primary messages they wanted to put out.
Vice presidential pick, Kamala Harris, boils it down to just seven words 'it didn't have to be this way'. Harris and Joe Biden promised to lead the
U.S. out of the pandemic and gave a stark contrast to Mr. Trump's recent statement on the pandemic 'it is what it is'.
And COVID is looming over upcoming elections in New Zealand, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has already dubbed it the coronavirus election. The country
has been heralded as a relative success story under her leadership. Although Auckland is now seeing a small cluster of COVID cases.
The country had just celebrated more than a hundred days with no locally transmitted cases. All of this is playing out just a month before voters
make their decision. CNN Will Ripley has more.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hala, New Zealand's Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has called this a coronavirus election. New
Zealand is holding national elections next month and her party is expected to do very well because it has been praised both at home and abroad for its
decisive and quick response to the coronavirus pandemic.
A lot of people thought New Zealand was a little bit out there when in the early days of the pandemic, when their numbers were still relatively low,
they shut the country down and they kept that lockdown in place until essentially they could declare that New Zealand was virus free.
And after that initial short term pain, people in New Zealand enjoyed 102 days with zero locally transmitted cases of the virus which is
extraordinary by any measure. Yes, New Zealand is an island nation that has fewer than 5 million people. It is not densely populated. So there are some
things that are going for them.
But if people didn't cooperate with the restrictions, if people weren't listening to the government, as sign of respect for the leadership, well,
then New Zealand will be in a very different situation right now. After that 100 plus day streak, they had a spike in cases tied to one household
at first with four members and then they've now announced more than a dozen people are now confirmed to be locally transmitted cases.
And these are people who are either tied to this particular household or in many cases to a warehouse. It's like an international temperature
controlled transportation and storage company that's called a Miracle. It's actually based in Atlanta, Georgia.
But what's interesting about this warehouse is that there have been studies in China that show that COVID-19 can actually live in refrigerated
containers on the surface of packages for quite some time, because the virus likes colder weather.
So could Arden's government be criticized for overlooking possibly cargo as a potential way for the virus to get back into the country which they
really thought was hermetically sealed? It is still early days and I think a lot analysts say will rest on whether the numbers can get back down to
that sweet spot the New Zealand enjoyed for so long, zero, Hala.
GORANI: All right. Thanks very much, Will.
One country has actually halted its election for a second time over corona concerns. In Bolivia people have been setting roadblocks and clashing with
police forces for more than two weeks now. They are demanding quick elections. Stefano Pozzebon has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST(voice over): A country facing two crisis, the coronavirus and politics. These demonstrators in Bolivia are angry that
the country's general election was postponed for a second time.
Supporters of former leftist leader Evo Morales say Interim President Jeanine Anez is using COVID-19 to continuously delay the vote, giving her
time to revive her political campaign, an accusation she refuses. "It's not the right time to go to the polls," the government says.
[10:35:03]
More than a dozen government officials including Anez herself contracted the virus. Tensions have been brewing since the presidential election was
moved from September 6th to October 18th. Protesters say they won the election move back to the September day where assurances that the elections
will not be postponed again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE(through interpreter): The government is using this as a pretext. Oxygen, drugs were already lacking a long time ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON(voice over): It's been nine months since then President Evo Morales resigned and the country amid allegations of electoral fraud which
he denies. He and his supporters say it was coop. Critics say democracy was restored.
In the tense days that follows, power fell to a senator, Jeanine Anez, who was sworn in with the mandate to call for a new election. The vote is yet
to take place.
To voice their protest, Anez's opponents resorted to set up roadblocks through the main intercity roads, a common practice in the deeply polarized
nation.
Bolivia's health minister says the blockades are preventing the transport of medical supplies and oxygen needed for patients. And babies in the
neonatal unit and led to more than 31 deaths. Protesters disagree.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE(through translator): We're letting in ambulances and oxygen, and we're not stoning them. They're passing through with full
confidence and we're opening the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON(voice over): The government tried to solve the stalemate by ordering armed forces to guard the transport of 66 tons of oxygen to three
cities. Arturo Murillo, the Interior Minister, with the task of restoring order in the country, told CNN he's trying to prevent a potential
catastrophe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARTHUR MURILLO, BOLIVIAN INTERIOR MINISTER(through translator): To go out and fire some lead would be the politically correct thing to do, but we are
not doing it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
POZZEBON(voice over): On top of medical supplies, the barricades are raising concerns of possible fuel and gasoline shortages in this fragile
nation.
Protesters are also furious over the government's poor response to the coronavirus pandemic. Bolivia has over 91,000 cases and nearly 4,000
deaths.
The virus has overwhelmed morgues and hospitals, and the spread is not slowing down.
Stefano Pozzebon, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: While pandemic politics are very much in play with Brazil's President, Jair Bolsonaro. The outbreak bear is still spreading rapidly
with more than 55,000 new cases in 24 hours. A number that includes the Governor of Sao Paolo, by the way. More than a thousand deaths as well.
Among those who died was the First Lady's grandmother. And one resilient state has signed an agreement with Russia to start producing and testing
that COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik.
Also six weeks after lifting a nationwide lockdown, Spain is now recording the highest number of new cases in Western Europe. The country has more
than 330,000 cases even more than Britain. About 600 outbreaks have been reported across Spain. But a top government health official says it is too
early to call this a second wave. I'll be speaking to the foreign minister next hour and I'll ask her why it's too early to call it that.
All of this has prompted Germany to expand its Spain travel warning to now include the Capital and the Basque region. Germany is dealing with its own
spike in cases more than 1,300 new cases were reported Wednesday.
And coming up next hour, as I mentioned, I'll be speaking to Spain's Foreign Minister about the crisis unfolding in her country and what the
government is planning to do about it. The question is, would you tell international travelers, Foreign Minister, to come into Spain, given the
numbers we have been reporting?
India has also seen a giant spike in coronavirus cases on Wednesday. The country reported nearly 67,000 new infections, a new high for a single day.
India has the third most cases in the world with more than 2 million infections. One of the hardest hit areas, the slums of Mumbai.
Researchers found more than half of the people living there tested positive for antibodies. This gives you a sense of the infection rate in these
densely populated poor areas. And the world is feeling more heat, we've just seen the hottest decade on record. So what are leaders going to do
about it?
Just ahead, I'll be talking to a very young activist on the front lines about this climate crisis and how it links up with pandemic politics.
Also, Australians are essentially trapped at home, unable to travel abroad for a change of scenery. Well, now Qantas airlines is offering a solution
of sorts.
How about a window seat high above the South Pole? Only problem is, your feet won't really touch the ground. We'll talk about that later. Stay with
us.
[10:39:52]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:42:01]
GORANI: Well, the Earth is now hotter than ever. U.S. government scientists have confirmed that and it's a key issue for voters in a world
desperate to find a vaccine for coronavirus. So now we're all facing the double whammy of the climate crisis on one end and pandemic politics and
the health crisis on the other.
You've seen the pictures, intense wildfires raging for longer than ever. Big parts of the Amazon, Australia and California in flames. And now a new
report from the American Meteorological Society telling us that the past decade has been the hottest ever, especially the years since 2015.
Climate researchers are not surprised. They say they've been speaking scientific truth to power for a while now and that not enough people have
been listening to them. And I've spoken to experts who tell me the system needs fixing in case you were in any doubt, an emergency room doctor
recently told the U.S. Congress at times climate-driven weather emergencies are so demanding they threaten the entire infrastructure of America's
Health Care.
Well, activist Jack Harries co-founded a new eco digital platform Earthrise Studio. During the coronavirus lockdown, you are looking at his team's
mission statement. It wants everyone to know Earthrise is inclusive and accessible. And Jack Harries joins me now live here in London.
So talk to me, because you're 25 years old, Jack, you have this huge following on YouTube. So you are able to reach out to younger social media
users on your platform. What are you hearing from them about their concerns, about how politicians are approaching this climate crisis?
JACK HARRIES, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: Sure. Thanks so much for having me. I'm 27. I wish I was still 25, but just two years up.
So Earthrise, we founded Earthrise because I think many young people feel really overwhelmed by the state of the climate crisis. I think they feel
confused. It's hard to access information on the topic and it's hard to know what you can do. And so our idea was to create a platform that was
accessible to anyone, whoever you are and wherever you are on your journey of understanding climate change.
I know personally, when I was learning about the issue, it's really intimidating. There's a lot of information. It's often in the form of
complicated graphs and numbers. And so what we're trying to do is simplify it down in the form of graphics and short form film.
GORANI: All right. And what are you hearing from users? I mean, you're 27, I mean, for me 27 is still extremely young for anybody, in fact. So what
are you hearing from people who are following you on these social media platforms about what they want to hear from their leaders?
HARRIES: I think for most young people today, climate change is a top priority when it comes to political issues. And I think many young people
feel overwhelmingly frustrated by the lack of political action on climate change. We're not seeing our world leaders take action. So young people are
having to fill that role.
[10:45:05]
We're seeing millions of young people striking from school out in the streets. I would argue that people like Greta Thunberg have become more of
a world leader than many of our politicians when it comes to climate change. So I think people feel frustrated. They feel terrified for the
state of the future. And frankly, they're taking matters into their own hands and that gives me a lot of hope.
GORANI: Yes. So the U.S. is the world's biggest polluter and under Donald Trump the U.S. has withdrawn from big climate agreements. We learned a few
days ago that Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee has chosen Kamala Harris as his running mate to give us some insight into what this
ticket, how they would approach climate change. I'm going to run this sound bite from Kamala Harris from a primary debate. This will give us a window
into their thinking. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: We have had supposed leaders who are buying science and pushing science fiction instead of science fact, and this is to our collective
peril if we don't take this matter seriously with a sense of urgency.
Why I support the Green New Deal is because it does that. It puts timelines in effect. It appreciates that we need to take this seriously and the clock
is ticking every day on this issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Now, do you believe it when (inaudible) because a promise is one thing, delivering on that promise is another?
HARRIES: I think we've seen a lot of rhetoric from politicians when it comes to climate change. And as I said earlier, I think most young people
have lost faith in our world leaders when it comes to tackling climate change. As you said, Trump famously withdrew from the 2015 Paris Climate
Agreement.
Having said that, I think Biden is exciting as a candidate. I think his $2 trillion Climate Action Plan is promising. And Kamala Harris also has a
decent track record for talking about climate change. So it's a step in the right direction, but let's wait to see whether actions follow their words.
GORANI: Yes. And I'm not sure if you saw that the Office of National Statistics also linked a higher death rate to pollution. So that in
polluted areas, especially city centers that are more densely populated, more people die of COVID than in less polluted areas. So as I was saying
before I got to you, Jack, these are two inter interconnected crises.
HARRIES: Yes, I think many people think of climate changes completely separate to the coronavirus pandemic but, of course, they're intrinsically
linked. We know that coronavirus came about because by intrusion upon nature, if we carry on in the way we are, we'll see many more health
pandemics as we are today.
So tackling, I mean, we could think of this as climate change. We could think of them as one in the same issues. Climate change is a public health
issue. It's as simple as that. I think one of the misconceptions as we think about climate change as an environmental issue, an issue that
threatens the planet, it isn't really an environmental issue, it's an issue that threatens humans and the survival of humanity as a whole.
GORANI: Jack Harries, thanks very much. Pleasure talking to you.
HARRIES: Thank you.
GORANI: Despite climate concerns and efforts to make flights more carbon neutral, Australia's Qantas airways is offering sightseeing flights to
Antarctica. It's a 12 hour flight. It includes a four hour flyover without ever landing before returning back home.
Ultimately, it's a flight to nowhere to help those who like flying but can during the pandemic. I'm pretty sure climate activists like Jack would say
it's not necessarily a good idea when it comes to the environment.
One of the most expensive football teams in history needed a great escape in the Champions League. We recap all of the drama from Wednesday just
ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:50:32]
GORANI: Well, it was built as must see TV for football fans, Don Riddell is here to tell us more about this story. Hello, Don.
(WORLD SPORT)
GORANI: All right. Don, thanks very much. Plenty more still to come on CNN. I'll be back after break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
