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Connect the World
2.000 People Packed Into White House Lawn Despite Pandemic; President Donald Trump Pushed Fear Of Crime In 2016 RNC Speech; Alexey Navalny's Chief Aide Points Finger Of Blame At Putin; New Rise In Cases Exposes Flaws In Europe's COVID Response; Laura Knocks Out Power For Over 700,000 Customers; Veteran Golfer Finds Career Renaissance. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired August 28, 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]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this hour we are tracking multiple crises afflicting America. And America's President seems all too happy to pretend
it doesn't exist. We're 66 days and counting from America's Presidential Election and Donald Trump is laying back exactly where he stands in
language that is often wrong consistently designed to frighten people towards him.
In a divisive convention speech he deemed himself savior and protector from many of the crises that have either come about or gotten lot worse under
his watch. How do you figure that one out? Spending time detached from political reality, he then paints his Democratic challenger Joe Biden as a
radical who would threaten safety of Americans and destroy the fabric of American society.
The U.S. President accepted the nomination for a second term in a visually spectacular speech unlike almost any other in American political history.
He wheeled off a series of claims to promote his inflated sense of accomplishment and frame the election as and us versus them choice so stark
that it is unprecedented in the country's history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the most important election in the history of our country. There has never been such a
difference between two parties or two individuals in ideology philosophy or vision than there is right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And even more remarkable was the way it was shown. All of this was carefully produced to take place on the South Lawn of the White House.
Just look, campaign banners, fireworks, even an opera singer. It is a political rally happening on public property, the White House, known as the
people's house.
But here more like Trump's castle. President Trump - a familiar theme mentioned throughout the convention that he alone is the president who can
admit and will make a fortress America saving the country from chaos and violence, all the while glossing over the shootings and deaths of black
people by police that have pushed racial injustice to the fore front of American life.
And he did not mention Jacob Blake who this hour is lying partially paralyzed in a hospital in Wisconsin after he was shot in the back seven
times by a police officer all the two people killed in a protest that followed that shooter allegedly by a teenage Trump supporter posing as a
vigilante instead just a gushing political hyperbole on his fantastical ideas of Joe Biden as a threat.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Whether we protect law-abiding Americans or whether we give free rein to violence anarchists and agitators and criminals who threaten our
citizens, and this election will decide whether we will defend the American way of life or whether we will allow a radical movement to completely
dismantle and destroy it. That won't happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the president also seemed to try his best to put the Coronavirus pandemic in the past with a large mostly mask less crowd to
watch the speech.
[11:05:00]
ANDERSON: Jeff Zeleny has more.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump formally accepted his party's re-nomination, turning the White House South Lawn into
a full-blown Trump rally.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I profoundly accept this nomination for President of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: On the final night of the Republican Convention, the president spoke before more than 1500 supporters with few masks and no social
distancing. This after months of the Trump Administration's own health experts urging people to avoid large gatherings to slow the spread of the
Coronavirus. Trump praised and misrepresented his handling of the crisis while the U.S. continues to face a high humid cost from the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We are meeting this challenge. We are delivering life-saving therapies, and we'll produce a vaccine before the end of the year or maybe
even sooner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: He also warned a Joe Biden-led response would cripple the economy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Instead of following the science Joe Biden wants to inflict a painful shutdown on the entire country. Joe Biden's plan is not a solution
to the virus, but rather it's a surrender to the virus. My administration has a very different approach. To save as many lives as possible, we are
focusing on the science, the facts and the data.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Yet Biden has only said he would shut down the country if scientists recommend it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would prepare to do it every takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving unless we stop the
virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: As the president's daughter Ivanka Trump tried to soften his image.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IVANKA TRUMP, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: I recognize that my dad's communication style is not to everyone's taste.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: People gathered outside the White House to protest racial injustice. Trump did not mention Jacob Blake, who was shot by police in
Kenosha, Wisconsin earlier this week, or two of the people allegedly killed by a 17-year-old during protests. But he did warn a Biden Presidency would
lead to an attack to public safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We must never allow mob rule. We can never allow mob rule. In the strongest possible terms, the Republican Party condemns the rioting,
looting, arson and violence we have seen in Democrat-run cities like Kenosha, Minneapolis, Portland, Chicago and many others, Democrat run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: It was one of many blistering attacks on Biden a moderate Democrat whose record Trump repeatedly mischaracterized as radical.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: Ahead of fire work celebration Trump told voters November's election could have historic consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: At no time before have voters faced a clearer choice between two parties, two visions, two philosophies or to agendas. This election will
decide whether we save the American dream or whether we allow a socialistic agenda to demolish our cherished destiny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Let's dig a little deeper into what was the final night of the convention and reflect on what we've heard during the week. We're joined by
White House Correspondent John Harwood. It's good to have you with us, John.
Our colleague Steven Collinson and his meanwhile in America call him rights; I just want to quote him here. After four nights of ego-boosting
warm up acts, the great showman's big speech was a little boring, agree? Your thoughts?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think it was characterized that way by many of my colleagues, and I understand why,
because he tried to be very measured in his tone. I don't think that that was a negative for him.
I think one of the objectives of the campaign, of the convention, was to try to portray him not as the wild-eyed racist that many people had
condemned him as, he was trying to look more reasonable, and I thought he did so. It wasn't as animated as he is in his rallies, but, of course, it
wasn't a rally.
It was a convention speech on the White House Lawn. The audience was a little higher tone than the audience he's usually engaged with in Trump
rallies, so I thought it was understandable.
ANDERSON: It was some pretty extreme language. Let's just have a listen to this part.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Biden is a Trojan horse for socialism. If Joe Biden doesn't have the strength to stand up to wild-eyed Marxists like Bernie Sanders and his
fellow radicals, and there are many, many, we see them all the time.
[11:10:00]
TRUMP: It's incredible, actually. Then how is he ever going to stand up for you?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And he ad-libbed just a little bit there as he is wont to do. Does that sort of the language go down well not with his base, but those
that he needs, these swing voters? Does that sort of narrative work going forward?
HARWOOD: Well, we'll find out over the next couple of weeks and see what the polls show? But there is no evidence that it worked so far. Donald
Trump - remember, Becky, Donald Trump was behind by a significant margin to Joe Biden before the pandemic hit earlier this year.
He went into this year trailing for re-election. His party was hammered in the 2018 midterm elections, even when the economy was good. Now we have a
pandemic, 180,000 people are dead, 10 percent unemployment. The economy is disrupted. Daily life is disrupted in various ways.
That makes it all the harder for the president to dig out of this political hole. Perceptions of him are quite fixed most Americans throughout his term
have said that they consider Donald Trump dishonest, they don't like his style.
And so the ability of eight hours of television on four nights of one week in August to change perceptions built up and hardened over four years is
doubtful, but we'll just have to see what the campaign brings.
ANDERSON: Nancy Pelosi has advised, reportedly, Joe Biden that he shouldn't debate Donald Trump. Is that likely, should we expect to see the debates
between these two presidents or two presidential contenders, sorry, if I can get my teeth in?
HARWOOD: We will see debates. Joe Biden rejected that advice from Nancy Pelosi yesterday, and I think Joe Biden sees this perhaps in similar ways
to the way Ronald Reagan looked at it in 1980. He was running against a very unpopular incumbent, Jimmy Carter.
But there were questions about whether Ronald Reagan, who was an older candidate at the time, not as old as Joe Biden but old at the time he was
running, whether he was up to the job and when he debated Jimmy Carter and was seen by Americans it came across as reasonable, that was a breakthrough
for him that cemented his advantage going to Election Day. Joe Biden is going to look on debates the same way.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. John, always a pleasure thank you, sir. The Republican National Convention worked hard to try to reframe the COVID-19
crisis in America. That is certainly the view of my next guest, Julian Zelizer, who is a CNN Political Analyst and a Princeton Professor. He joins
me in a moment.
We all know that trying to reshape the narrative, especially in an election year, is nothing new in politics. But Julian says President Trump and his
convention speakers were actually painting a rosy picture of the pandemic which has taken the lives of 180,000 Americans. Let's go to Julian. Julian,
your argument at this point is ultimately this message could work, explain?
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely. Here you have an incumbent with a major pandemic, so what does he do? He spends a lot of the
convention, as the party does, just saying the war is over, that basically progress is being made.
President Trump is effective and there are brighter days ahead. That's really the only way out of this dilemma. And then secondly he focuses on
his opponent. Rather than trying to build how people think of him, he starts to talk about this danger of law and order that lurks if a Democrat
is elected. So that was the double punch that Republicans just delivered during this convention.
ANDERSON: All of this, of course, all of what is going on in the states - present is happening on his watch. Let's just have a list to the words of
Donald Trump back in 2017.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The crime and violence that today afflicts our nation will soon, and I mean very soon, come to an end. Beginning on January 20th of 2017, safety
will be restored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And that, of course, I'll correct myself, this time four years ago in 2016. How can Donald Trump blame the Democrats for something
happening on his watch?
[11:15:00]
ZELIZER: By going on television and doing it. Meaning, there is a difference between facts and politics. You're exactly right. The
Republicans just spent four nights talking about all the problems that have developed in President Trump's America. At the same time the president says
it's other people's fault.
And this is the way he tries to spin many of his failures in his life. So the real question is can Democrats avoid that framing? Can they bring the
conversation back to the fact that all of these problems have unfolded under his leadership? That's really their central mission, I think, in the
next few months.
ANDERSON: In 1968 Richard Nixon made political hay out of civil unrest by running as the man to restore law and order. He won in the Electoral
College he just picked his opponent with the popular vote. Could this current civil unrest that America is currently witnessing work in Donald
Trump's favor at this point? And what do the Democrats do to stop him using that to turn the dial?
ZELIZER: It could work in his favor. I think this could be an effective argument in many swing states where the polls are actually not as favorable
as the national polls are. And of course some of this unrest is taking place in Wisconsin, which is going to be a key state.
And I think the Republicans are betting law and order might allow either more people to come out for President Trump or fewer people coming out for
Joe Biden. Democrats have to make a stronger case about what they're about, why they are a party of law and order?
And ultimately why there is no disconnect between demanding civil rights justice and promising to maintain peace throughout the country? But they
have to make that argument. They can't assume that voters are just going to be on their side.
ANDERSON: 66 days to go. It's not over till it's over. Thank you. The convention, of course, happens alongside protests, as we've just been
discussing against racial injustice in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The attorney for the suspect involved in Tuesday's fatal shooting says his client acted in
self-defense.
17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse is charged with killing two people and wounding another during protests. He faces multiple felony charges.
Meanwhile, the black man who sparked the demonstrations or the shooting of the black man which started these demonstrations leaves a man paralyzed in
the hospital.
Jacob Blake was shot in the back seven times by a white police officer. I want to bring in our Crime and Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz. He
joins us now live from Kenosha, Wisconsin. What's the atmosphere there, sir?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so the last several nights certainly in Kenosha there's been peaceful, the last two
nights, since the night of the shooting, really, where Kyle Rittenhouse has been charged with these murders and the shootings.
It's been relatively calm, there's been a lot more law enforcement in town, the presence has been much bigger, there's a larger National Guard
presence. And it seems for now that things have calmed down. And we're still really waiting on answers from investigators on why police fired the
shots that ultimately wound up seriously injuring Mr. Blake.
We don't have the answers as to what led up to those moments in those moments were police decided that they were going to use their gun and shoot
him seven times as he was going into his car. We know that a knife was found in the car. Police investigators have said that.
But we don't know exactly how that knife - was it in any way threatening? Did officers perceive a threat which would allow them to use such force? We
don't have a lot of those answers yet. Police also today released some new information on the investigators I should say that actually two officers
tried to use their tasers to try and subdue Mr. Blake.
They say that didn't work and then obviously we've all seen the video and the moments after about what happened? But there are still a lot of
questions that certainly we have and still looking for those answers and we're waiting.
ANDERSON: I know we've got some sound from Jacob Blake's father. Let's just run that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACOB BLAKE SR., JACOB BLAKE'S FATHER: He's a person. He's a human being. He's not an animal, he's a human. But my son has not been afforded the
rights of a human. He's not been treated like a human. He's a father. He's not a deadbeat dad, he's a father. That's what his children every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: Jacob Blake's father Shimon, thank you. We are sitting in the intersection of three historical moments of race relations right now,
because as we speak, thousands of Americans are gathering in D.C., there in large part to protest the kind of police violence that we see against black
men and women in the U.S. every day, men like Jacob Blake, like George Floyd, and women like Breonna Taylor. The list goes on.
It shouldn't go on, but it does. No one did more to see it end than the person who looms larger in America's racial history than any other, Martin
Luther King Jr. Exactly 57 years ago today, August 28, 1963, he spoke his poetic words to a gathered crowd, "I have a dream."
This is not what he foresaw, and again exactly today 65 years ago, this young boy, Emmett Till, was kidnapped and brutally murdered by racists
after being falsely accused of flirting with a white woman. It was a disgusting and unspeakable act of brutality against a child. Look at
Emmett; see Jacob Blake and Martin Luther King Jr., too. We must choose our future by looking to our past. Let's take a break for a moment of
reflection.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Alexey Navalny's Chief Aide has a message for the Kremlin. Leonid Volkov speaking to CNN says he believes the Russian President is
responsible for the suspected poisoning of one of the world's most famous Kremlin critics.
Navalny remains in a coma in a Berlin hospital. The Russian government is refusing to launch an investigation to find out exactly what happened to
him? CNN's Phil Black is in Berlin where he caught up with Alexey Navalny's right-hand man. What specifically did he tell you, Phil?
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, this was the first time we heard from someone within Navalny's inner circle since he was brought here to Berlin's
hospital, and doctors pretty quickly determined that he had been poisoned.
They determined the group of chemicals they believe that poison comes from but not the specific substance. And that is the fact the Kremlin and it's
spokesperson Dimitri Peskov have latched onto in justifying why Russian authorities hasn't launched an investigation into what happened to Navalny?
BLACK: Now when we spoke to Leonid Volkov Navalny's long standing friend, a colleague, a trusted adviser he said that response from the Kremlin is just
one factor that shows the Russian state was in some way involved in the attempted assassination of Alexey Navalny. Take a listen.
[11:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEONID VOLKOV, CHIEF OF STAFF TO ALEXEY NAVALNY: I strongly believe it is the Russian state or some part of the state. So as of now, we don't have
proof that Putin ordered it, so it might be some government agents. But the level of organization, the poisons that they used, it's not something you
can buy in a pharmacy, in a drugstore at the next corner, right?
And the level of the whole cover-up operation, how doctors reacted, how the Kremlin propaganda built up? That was the official reaction by Putin
himself when talking to international leaders, duration of the Putin's spokesperson Peskov, their refusal even to open up a criminal investigation
proves that Mr. Putin is responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLACK: Now, Russia denies trying to harm Navalny in any way. But if Navalny's supporters are right, the key question is why now? After ten
years of effective determined activism against Vladimir Putin and the Russian political system, why would people within the Russian state now
risk doing him harm, perhaps trying to kill him, and perhaps creating a political matter in the process?
Well, Navalny supporters, including Volkov, believe there are two factors based up on the timing. One is Belarus, the recent large scale protests
there against those disputed Presidential Elections.
Those protests were supported by Alexey Navalny more than that he called for Russians to do the same in Russia, to show the same determination and
passion in trying to overcome and throw down their leadership as well.
And we know that Vladimir Putin loathes the ideas of those sorts of street- based revolutions. It's something that he's talked about at length over the years. The other possible factor based upon timing, the coming municipal
elections across Russia where Navalny's political organization has been preparing with a campaign encouraging tactical voting.
It was a method that they used to some success in Moscow's assembly elections last year where they were able to deprive pro-Putin candidates of
victory, and there is the theory that maybe that was looking to be successful again and proving to be yet another irritation to the ruling
party and the political system there.
But ultimately, it's believed that someone made a decision that removing Alexey Navalny from the political life in Russia permanently, well, the
benefits of that would outweigh any possible problems or irritations that could come from the outrage it would cause his many supporters, Becky.
ANDERSON: And what's his condition at present?
BLACK: So another update from the hospital here behind me just today. Serious but stable. He is still in intensive care. He is still in a
medically induced coma. He still breathes through a ventilator.
So serious but they believe that there is no imminent acute threat to his life. So he is now looking at that very long slow recovery and they made
the point yet again today that they do not know what the long term consequences to his health or his quality of life as a result of his
experiences will be.
ANDERSON: Phil Black is in Berlin for you, thank you Phil. Well, cracks do seem to be appearing in the European pandemic response. Why Coronavirus
cases there are on the rise again a live update in just a moment?
The U.S. is working on getting 150 million COVID-19 test kits that will give users results in 15 minutes. More on the new rapid antigen test after
this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: One of the global fights against the Coronavirus pandemic, Europe seemed to have things under control. But a new spike in infection as
European leaders are back on the defensive, some are even saying the highest daily number of COVID-19 cases since their peak earlier this year.
In Spain, new infections reached nearly 10,000 in just 24 hours. Dozens of areas of France have been designated red zones, and the German Chancellor
warns the pandemic will get more difficult in the coming months.
Let's get more from our Scott McLean who is reporting out of London today. And Scott, it does seem as though things are unraveling in Europe, that as
we see the resignation of the EU Trade Commissioner for breaching Coronavirus rules. What's going on?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Becky, yes, you just have to look at the data here to see that a second spike we are very much in the midst of.
The graphics, we can show you them now of cases, the rolling average of cases over the last seven days shows that their cases spiked back in April.
They came down after lockdowns were put in place. They reached lows in early July.
And since then, they've slowly started to trickle upwards and started to pick up speed since then. In Spain, the spike is most acute. As you
mentioned, they are seeing numbers there that they have not seen since the peak of their lockdown.
They are approaching where they were at the peak of their lockdown. It's a similar case in France. They haven't seen cases like that since March. And
Italy, they haven't seen them like that since May, and in the UK, it's been since June.
The difference between the last spikes though in Spain, for instance, and this one, could not be starker. In the first spike, more than half of
people who were confirmed to have the virus were hospitalized. This time around it's only about 5 percent.
And here's the other good news, is that when we look at deaths, and we have a graphic we can show you as well, it's been seven weeks since the low
point of Coronavirus cases since cases started to tick upwards again.
And we have not seen deaths follow, and obviously we're hoping that it stays that way. One possible explanation for that is what officials in
France are saying, and that's that the virus is affecting a lot more young people now 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds which are passing it amongst
themselves, but perhaps not to older, more vulnerable parts of the population.
No one seems to be suggesting in Europe that we go back to the sort of draconian lockdown measures that we had before, but they're definitely
starting to put in place stricter conditions for people to go about their daily lives.
For instance, in older kids in school and France and Spain, will have to wear masks, in Paris masks are mandatory in the city and then the
surrounding suburbs as well, virtually anywhere in a public space talking, walking on a side walk. Even riding a bicycle on the street, you'll have to
wear a mask or risk facing a fine.
In Germany they even tried to stop or to ban a protest against the restrictions that they've been putting in place in that country before a
court ruled today that they couldn't do that. And so, that protest is set to go ahead tomorrow as long as the people who are protesting the
conditions actually decide to follow them.
And here in the UK, they are also seeing cases starting to go up, but the Transport Secretary today, Becky, is actually urging employers to have
employees go back to the office, saying, look, employers by this time should have put in place measures to make their offices COVID secure.
[11:35:00]
ANDERSON: You're talking about the UK, it was interesting to see the results from a new 14 country poll carried out over the summer, which shows
the U.S. and the United Kingdom ranked joint last for public satisfaction with government responses to the Coronavirus pandemic. You are there in the
UK. What is the perception of the way the government there has handled things?
MCLEAN: Here's what's really interesting about that poll, Becky, is that less than half of respondents in the U.S. and the UK said that their
government was doing a good job in handling the pandemic. Those numbers are strikingly close to the popular vote totals to the ruling parties in those
two respective countries, Republicans in the U.S. and conservatives here in the UK.
And that poll actually found that there is definitely some politics involved here. The U.S. and the UK, you are much more likely to see the
government's response in a favorable light if you lean to the right, whereas in Spain where they have a left wing government, you're much more
likely to see things in a favorable light if you tend to vote that way.
ANDERSON: Yes. I guess to stay with us, Scott, thank you. This is just in, four people have tested positive for COVID-19 at the U.S. Republican
National Convention. Officials say the cases involved two convention attendees and two support staff.
Now President Trump appeared in person at that event in Charlotte, in North Carolina on Monday. That is when party delegates conducted a roll call to
formally nominate him for another term.
Well, to a possible game changer now in testing in the U.S., the White House says the federal government will purchase 150 million rapid antigen
tests called BinaxNow from Abbott Laboratories. Now the COVID-19 test will cost $5 and give results within 15 minutes.
But the White House did not mention where, how or how soon this will be rolled out? Dr. Sanjay Gupta shows us just how this new rapid antigen test
works and points out some of the concerns about its accuracy.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is what most people immediately think of when they hear of COVID testing. Besides the nasal or
oral swab, the sample can also be saliva. The goal is to get a respiratory secretion.
That sample is then typically sent to a lab and undergoes PCR or Polymerase Chain Reaction testing. Considered to be the gold standard of diagnostics,
it's an extremely accurate technique because PCR amplifies the amount of genetic material in the sample, making it much easier for scientists to
spot the genetic material of something like the novel Coronavirus. Think of it like this. Instead of looking for a needle in a haystack, amplification
makes a haystack full of needles.
But in order for that process I just described to happen, it can take hours. And to get the results back can sometimes take days. And if you're
in the middle of a pandemic, speed is of the essence. Which is why the test I'm about to describe maybe a game changer. It's called a rapid antigen
test. And here's how it works.
Instead of amplifying the genetic material of the virus, this test just has to spot proteins on the virus. The sample doesn't have to go to a lab,
doesn't have to be amplified. It's a lot less complicated, and as a result, a lot faster. This new test, known as the Binax, just requires a swab.
That sample is then applied to a strip of nitro cellulose paper that already has the virus' antibodies embedded on it. A solution is then
applied, and then you can't see this happening, but the sample starts to make its way across the paper. If your sample has the virus in it, it will
react to the antibody on the strip and light up.
Think of it like a pregnancy test. In this case two lines are positive, one line negative. There is no additional machinery needed. Now, experts will
say the challenge of creating a test like this, you want antibodies that are sensitive enough to actually find the virus as it's coming across the
paper.
You don't want to miss it, otherwise that would be a false negative. On the other hand, you also have to have antibodies that are highly specific to
this particular virus. You don't want it showing up as positive for another Coronavirus, for example. That would be a false positive. When we talk to
the folks at Abbott, they say this test is 97 percent accurate for people who have symptoms within the last seven days.
[11:40:00]
DR. GUPTA: Another key ingredient for Abbott is the ability to scale. They say they'll be able to create 50 million of these tests every month
starting in October.
ANDERSON: And that was Sanjay Gupta reporting for you. As much as so many Americans' political leadership would like to ignore COVID completely, it
can't.
Just since the Republican Convention began on Monday where Donald Trump actually failed to mention the U.S. death toll to COVID more than 3,500
Americans have died from it. That's more than the number of Americans who died on September 11th in just a handful of days. Proof thought, ahead on
the show.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm happy. It's just how much do I have to go through.
(END VIDDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Hurricane Laura rips through homes and lives in the southern United States. The long way to recovery for people there and what they
might face.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, one of the strongest storms to ever hit the United States, a storm known as Laura, has now been downgraded to a tropical depression as
it scrapes across Arkansas. The storm blamed for at least six deaths and its flattened homes in Southern Louisiana and Eastern Texas. People across
the region were ordered to get out well ahead of the storm, but not everybody listened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAD LEJEUNE, EVACUATED FAMILY BUT STAYED BEHIND: It wasn't a howling, it was more like a screaming. You could hear the shingles being ripped off the
house, so yes, it was very crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Martin Savidge is in Lake Charles, Louisiana where, Martin, the eye of the storm passed directly over. And we can just see the sort of
damage that it's wreaked behind you.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, the damage is very severe and its extensive, it's over a very large area. It looks very much like you would
see in a tornado, which is a very powerful storm, but usually very focused geographically. This is over a huge, huge area.
Behind me - well, the restaurant is what that building was. You can see that it was absolutely crushed. And then if you look to the left of it, you
might be able to make up, that is a mobile phone tower. So it shows you how communications have been impacted as well, and then if we continue, here's
the neighboring business.
This is in a commercial district here, an insurance company, ironically. It, too, has been devastated. And you can see the reason why for that,
right behind me there is what a broadcast tower that has come toppling down is. These are usually very tall structures, and it, too, was just thrown
down as a result of the force of the winds.
[11:45:00]
SAVIDGE: I want to show you some drone footage that we have. Again, more stunning sort of indications of the damage this is a high-rise building
located in downtown St. Charles. Almost every other window was punched out by that storm. This is a good reason why you should not do what they call
vertical evacuation, in other words, people want to get up in tall buildings.
They are not safer and they are exposed very much to the wind force up there at that level. The electricity is up throughout the entire city, the
city of about 78,000 people. So no electricity and it is going to be weeks per house before that's returned, because it doesn't just a simple matter
of power lines down.
Power poles are stopped, they're down on the ground, the transformers are all ruined. And so, the basic infrastructure of the grid has been destroyed
and has to be rebuilt. And then water, there is no running water in this town. That's a result of the fact that the pumping stations have been
heavily damaged.
So the Mayor is not clear on an ETA for either the electricity or for the water to be resumed. That's why they are not encouraging people to come
back to live. They can come back to look, the Mayor says, but don't plan on staying. The city just is not condition to support them.
There is some news, storm surge was not as bad, here as they feared it was going to be that's probably because the storm moves faster than many
thought it might. So it didn't push that big wall of water extensively.
And then on top of that, there is a death toll. We know of at least six. It could go up higher. It's not expected to significantly increase, and as
tragic as those deaths are, when you look at the damage, it's quite remarkable the death toll is not even higher, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. And we're so happy to report that but clearly, an awful lot of damage, an awful lot of devastation for so many in so many
people's lives. Martin, thank you.
The climate crisis is arguably the single greatest threat facing all of this right now. The rapid onset of changes to the global climate will cost
us trillions of dollars, and fundamentally alter our ability to live on earth. We've been seeing the first spasms of our mistreatment of the planet
for decades.
And we are seeing them evermore with the increasing number and intensity of vast hurricanes like Laura, an empire of wind and rain that kills people
and rips apart homes and businesses in the blink of an eye.
Or in these spearing series of hundreds of fires scorching much of California, and both of those spectacular manifestations have been
unfolding, while the Republicans were getting together to lay out their platform for the next four years.
So I call my team to comb through the key speeches of the people leading that party, you can see them here to see just how many times and for how
long they've talked about climate change as a serious issue that needs fixing. So, I'm going to get my control room to roll that tape.
Well, we don't actually have that tape because, well, it didn't happen. The speakers didn't mention climate change as a threatening issue, not once. In
fairness, Mike Pence did use the words "climate change" but not in terms of fixing it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Where this President achieved energy independence for the United States, Joe Biden would abolish fossil fuels
and fracking and impose a regime of climate change regulations that would drastically increase the cost of living for working families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The American President stuck to a similar theme in his speech last night, referencing Joe Biden is using the issue to kill jobs. But that
is actually a step up in Mr. Trump's thinking on the issue. It wasn't so long ago, you'll remember, that equal climate change a hoax invented by
china all that wind turbines, a source of clean power. Well, take a listen to this old chestnut.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you have windmills anywhere near your house, congratulations, your house just went down 75 percent in value, and they say the noise
causes cancer. You tell me that one, okay?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: No matter how many times you hear that, the mind boggles, doesn't it? I had my team do the same thing for the Democratic Party, combing
through their speeches, and it was a different situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, 42ND U.S. PRESIDENT: Good jobs and green energy and conservation to combat climate change.
MICHELLE OBAMA, FORMER FIRST LADY: When my husband left office with Joe Biden at his side, we were respected around the world rallying our allies
to confront climate change.
[11:50:00]
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: A nation that can inspire and mobilize others to overcome threats like climate change.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT): We are confronting systemic racism and the enormous threat to our planet of climate change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take strong decisive action to combat climate change and save the planet.
BIDEN: We can and we will do a climate change.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe's economic plan will create clean energy jobs that help fight another crisis that Trump is ignoring, climate change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Speeches though one thing action another and everyone both sides of the aisle, each and every one of us must do more to act. And regardless
of our political believes, look at the facts of climate change and tell your politicians to do more.
Golf can be a frustrating sport for both us amateurs and professionals. One player who was considered quitting the game has had a late career
renaissance, that story up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Tiger Woods, another big name see an action, the moment you see FedEx Cup playoffs and the race fall Atlanta heats up. CNN's Patrick Snell
joins us. And never mind, Tiger and - how is your golf game coming on, by the way?
PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Becky, how could you ask? I'd rather not say truth be told but it can't be very frustrating to say the least. I do
know this much, though, Becky, persistence really does pay off, especially for one of golf's great comeback stories.
The American player Brendan Todd was once close to quitting the sport, wait for it. Quitting the sport he loves to open up a pizzeria. He didn't,
though, and he's probably thinking he made a rather wise move after finishing ninth in the recent Wyndham reward standing. Start booking his
spot in the PGA tools FedEx Cup playoffs, which continue this week near Chicago.
Every week on the PGA tour, a victory can truly be life changing. Brendan talk's life changed after back-to-back wins in Bermuda and Mexico in
November of last year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDON TODD, 3-TIME WINNER ON PGA TOUR: When I'm playing my best off, I'm playing as well as anybody in the world and I have chances to veteran golf
tournaments on all types of forces. Definitely the best season of my career so far, and it just happens to come off a couple years where I wasn't
playing well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: At one point, the American temporarily lost his playing status on the PGA Tour while missing the cut 34 times in 36 events. Todd even dropped
outside the top 2,000 in the world rankings.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: 2016, '17 and '18 playing as poorly as I did, it was depressing. There's no doubt about it. It was difficult to deal with the emotions that
Tom was practicing so much in between - going to every tournament and failing.
SNELL: You use the word depressing there. Is depression something that affected you at that time?
TODD: Yes, no doubt. It was something I was going through I think as a result of my play. Golf kind of beats you up and planned, lets your mind
turn on you a little bit, so that was something I had to battle a little bit. I'm fortunately married to a wonderful woman Rachel who was always
very supportive of my golf career and who really never let me quit, which was amazing.
[11:55:00]
TODD: My whole family was very important throughout all that, and where they stuck by me. They don't love me for my golf. They love me for me,
which is really important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: At his lowest point though, Todd admits he did come close to quitting the sport. The frustrations, the struggles, even the isolation he
felt at times through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: I did sit down with my financial manager and so, what can I do besides golf to earn a living and support my family? You're kind of the
first thing that I came up was maybe like a fast food franchise or pizza franchise. I love pizza.
But at the end of the day, I still have a lot of belief in my ability and had the right people around me to put in the work, I work more out of the
struggle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: The 35-year-old is in a very different place though now, heading into the PGA Tour's postseason and the race for the coveted FedEx Cup
title. Just rewards for a golfer who has learned to battle through all kinds of adversity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: I am just - took hold of the ability to play on the PGA Tour and exceed my passion, for me to achieve the top ten in the regular season this
year is huge accomplishment in my career and something I'm very proud of especially as close to much --- as it has been to come back and have a year
like this.
I almost feel fortunate to have gone through some of the struggles that I have, because I think it's made me a better person, it's made me a better
golfer and it gives me more confidence going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: All right, terrific to see really, really great comeback story. Right, well, here in the United States, NBA players have reportedly decided
to resume the playoffs, and while there has been no official announcements of when they will return? We do know that a basketball legend has been a
big part of the equation to try and make it all happen.
Michael Jordan has been involved in the talks between player's league officials. Jordan was on a conference call on Thursday between players and
owners and is helping them formulate a plan to further address racial injustice issues. Now he is the league's only black owner, Jordan is also
serving as the NBA's Labor Relations Committee Chairman.
Commissioner Adam Silver has said that Jordan brings a unique credibility and the league is having discussions with the players, the league hoping to
return in the later Friday or Saturday. We'll keep it across the story following all the key developments, Becky, every step of the way you can
make sure. Have a great weekend over there back to you in Abu Dhabi.
ANDERSON: Thank you very much, indeed that we can be started here of course in the UAE. We're working Friday which is normally a day off for people,
but I'll enjoy my Saturday. Thank you sir.
Before we go, renowned street artist Banksy is using proceeds from his outwork to rescue refugees. Stranded at CNN tweeted the unveil Viz Michel
claimed to have brought 89 refugees at the Mediterranean to safety on Thursday.
The Former French Navy Vessel was purchased with funds from the Sail of - work. It crewed or it is crewed by a team of rescue professionals from
across Europe. This is a moment for my exuberance yet for long. Good bye, everybody. It's been quite the week, so I'll keep it simple. Good night.
Stay safe. Look after yourself. And as you love, say you tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK
END
