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"New York Times:" Trump Taxes Show Massive Losses, Years Of Tax Avoidance; President Donald Trump Won't Commit To Peaceful Transition If He Loses; Lebanese Prime-Minister-Designate Steps Down; DP World Chairman: UAE-Israel Deal Will Drive Peace; Actor Sean Penn & Nonprofit "CORE" Fighting COVID-19; Many In Mexico Without Running Waters As Cases Rise. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 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]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Well, welcome to the Donald Trump era, a man we think we know, and still after all of this time, we ask who
is Donald Trump, a maverick billionaire or a serial tax avoider who seems to always fail up?
Make your mind up for yourself as we take a look into how he manages his money, something he has seemingly long sought to hide. Right now we are
just over a month out from America's election, but we begin with a story that has been years in the making.
In simple black and white being read worldwide, "The New York Times" reporting on what it calls Donald Trump's long-concealed chronic losses and
years of tax avoidance. This is the big number to focus on, even though, ironically, it is relatively tiny $750 that is the amount the U.S.
President paid in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, according to "The Times."
The average American tax bill is about $12,000, meaning what Mr. Trump reportedly paid was less than 16 times the American average. Mr. Trump's
bill was indeed far less than that of the country's nurses, drivers, teachers, firefighters, police officers and farmers, and just think of the
challenges they've had to face this year.
"The Times" has cited a plethora of remarkable expense claims. One example, the $70,000 claim for getting his hair styled. That's more than the typical
American family would make in a year. And here's another important number for you zero. The amount of federal income taxes Donald Trump paid in ten
out of the 15 years since the year 2000.
"The Times" says he did that by reporting losses that were far greater than his gains. Well, this was the president's response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES AMERICA: Basically - well, first of all, I paid a lot, and I paid a lot of state income taxes, too.
The New York state tax is a lot and I paid a lot of money to the state. It will all going to be revealed, it's going to come out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When?
TRUMP: After the auditors - they're doing their assessment. We've been negotiating for a long time. Things get settled, like in the IRS, but right
now when you're under audit, you don't do that. So we're under audit, but the story is a total fake, and all of this. We had the same exact questions
usually asked by the same people, and that took place four years ago, you remember.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, let's take a look back at exactly what Mr. Trump did say four years ago about his taxes. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The only years that anybody has ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them
over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. So--
TRUMP: That makes me smart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That makes me smart, he said. Well, it didn't take long for Joe Biden's camp to jump on this "New York Times" reporting. Watch his
campaign's latest advert on President Trump's taxes.
Joe Biden's campaign well, the U.S. President himself is calling "The New York Times" report fake news, and he undoubtedly have a lot to say at the
presidential debate which is against Joe Biden, of course, on Tuesday. More on he responds from that camp along with further details on "The Times" now
story from our Joe Johns.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just two days before the first presidential debate, a new report revealing some of the information President Trump has
worked hardest to hide, his tax returns. A "New York Times" investigation says Trump paid only $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017. Soon
after the report published, the president called it fake news, saying he's paid a lot of taxes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: First of all, I paid a lot, and I paid a lot of state income taxes, too. The New York State charge is a lot, and I paid a lot of money at
state.
[11:05:00]
TRUMP: It will all be revealed, it's going to come out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: But "The Times" reports that the president has been fighting with the IRS for years, over a $73 million tax refund, he claimed. If he loses
that battle it could cost him over $100 million.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They're doing their assessment. We've been negotiating for along. Things get settled like with the IRS, but when you're under audit, you
don't do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: Despite the president's claim, tax information can be made public even if he's under audit. "The Times" also says Trump paid no federal
income taxes in the 10 of the 15 years before he became president, because he reported losing much more money than he made.
This other detail in "The Times" investigation painting a damning portrait of President Trump's success as a businessman, at selling point he used to
rally supporters on the campaign trail. Adding to that "The Times" reported last year that based on tax forms from 1985 to 1994 he lost more money than
nearly any other individual American taxpayer.
The report also reveals the president has spent nearly all of the $427 million he made on the TV show "The Apprentice" to help fund his other
businesses and owes more than $300 million in loans that he's personally responsible for over the next four years.
According to "The Times," Trump used his status as president to attack businesses towards private properties like his hotels and golf courses to
help offset his financial problems, creating direct conflicts of interest.
Trump also writing off massive deductions, including more than $70,000 for hairstyling expenses and hundreds of thousands in consulting fees for the
Trump Organization that match payments his daughter Ivanka received from a consulting company that she co-owned.
Joe Biden's campaign says "The Times" report is another example of the big contrast between Trump and the Democratic Nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATE BEDINGFIELD, BIDEN DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It's the latest reminder how clear the choice is here in this race between Park Avenue and Scranton.
You have in Donald Trump a president who spends his time thinking about how he can work his way out of paying taxes? With Joe Biden you have somebody
who has a completely different perspective on what it means to be a working family in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, this story dominating headlines. Let's bring in Stephen Collinson live in Washington, a regular on this show, good friend of the
show Stephen good to have you. Trump and taxes become somewhat synonymous. For years we've been talking about Donald Trump and his taxes, and they've
certainly - this is a story that has dogged his presidency. What's new in this reporting, Stephen?
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: I think, Becky, actually seeing the numbers written down on a page is something that's new and is
potentially damaging to the president, the fact that the guy in his first year in the White House paid $750 in income tax while he is supposedly a
billionaire. That just seems fundamentally unfair.
But more broadly, I think what this does is it blows up this whole image that Donald Trump has spent decades creating, the idea, first of all, that
he's this master businessman, the art of the deal real estate shark in New York.
If anything, he seems to have a talent for losing and wasting hundreds of millions of dollars. And I think it also undermines the image that the
president ran for election on in 2016, that he is this voice of forgotten Americans who are left behind by an economic system that discriminates
against them by a rotten establishment.
It turns out that Trump, more than anyone, was using that system and gaming it for his own personal gain. So it really kind of puts a spoke in those
wheels two days before the first presidential debate.
ANDERSON: Yes, and we've just heard Joe Biden's Communications Director telling CNN the report clarified the contrast between the president and the
Democratic Nominee. I just want our viewers to have a listen to that once more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEDINGFIELD: I mean, look, it's the latest reminder how clear the choices here in this race between Park Avenue and Scranton. You have, in Donald
Trump, a president who spends his time thinking about how he can work his way out of paying taxes, of meeting the obligation that every other working
person in this country meets every year?
You know, with Joe Biden you have somebody who has a completely different perspective on what it means to be a working family in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:10:00]
ANDERSON: So the question is what we've learned from this "New York Times" reporting going to shift the dial, as it were, with blue collar workers? It
will be interesting to see whether there is any damage done?
For Donald Trump's base, Stephen, is this really likely to provide any ammunition for them to sort of move away from him? The president simply
thinks he's smart, right? He said that four years ago is this really going to make any impact, do you think, on his base at this point, any dent?
COLLINSON: I mean, I don't think so. The reason people are attracted to Trump is almost an emotional connection, a tribal, political connection,
the fact that he will say things which people think but don't dare to say in public.
And another fact about this, of course, is that in the conservative media, this is also already being attacked on Fox News' website for example this
morning. You had to dig pretty deep to see this blockbuster story.
Donald Trump has this propagandistic conservative media machine behind him, and people who believe in Trump don't watch CNN or "The New York Times" or
read "The New York Times". They're not going to believe this report.
I think you're right to point though to the potential impact among some blue collar workers in places like Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
These are swing states in the post-industrial region. Trump did very well that in 2016.
It wouldn't take too much of an erosion in states in some cases states he won by only a few thousand votes four years ago for him to be really
affected by the fallout of this expose.
ANDERSON: In a CNN op-ed, you wrote, and I quote you here, throughout a tumultuous political career, Trump has rarely paid a price for scandals,
outrages and insults, any one of them which would have doomed a normal politics but normal though in an inverted commons even though I don't think
you did in your op-ed.
His brand is well known, he is a rule breaker, is what you said. So are you saying he will literally get away with this because of his brand image?
COLLINSON: I don't know that he'll get away with it, but I think to some extent these revelations have been discounted politically. America is
deeply divided right down the middle. It would take an earthquake, which you could argue this is, to change that, but I don't really think, as I
said, it's going to loosen his control over his more loyal supporters.
What I think it does show is, for example, the fact that Donald Trump is liable for over $300 million of loans that would come up sometime during
his second term, is he may have problems that are bigger than political problems that there are already several investigations in New York into his
affairs.
If you look into this story, some of the tax breaks he's taken look exceedingly dubious and tells us one reason why the president is so
desperate to cling to power. He's monetized the president--
ANDERSON: Interesting stuff there. I think we were sort of moving on to get from Stephen there was his personal liability, as I understand it, of about
$300 million in loans that are coming due next year, so fascinating times for Donald Trump on a personal basis.
And you know, viewers, because we've been telling you now for some time that the first of three debates between Joe Biden and the U.S. President,
Donald Trump, will go out at 3:00 am in the morning UAE time Wednesday at the time shown locally there on your screen. That's midnight in London, for
example. You can do the math based on where you are elsewhere. Do set your alarms. This is set to be quite the match-up.
Well, you know they say that nothing is certain but death and taxes well, clearly for some taxes optional, so maybe death, at least political death,
at least. All this hoopla around the debates and the election and the hundreds of millions of dollars being spent more than a little relies on
the idea that there is actually a handover of power if the incumbent loses, of course, and that's more than a little in question this time around. Have
a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you commit to making sure that there is a peaceful transfer of power after the election?
TRUMP: We're going to have to see what happens?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you committed to making sure that there is a peaceful transfer of power?
TRUMP: We want to have - get rid of the ballots and you'll have very transfer - we will have a very peaceful, there won't be a transfer,
frankly, there will be a continuation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: That's not just bombastic bluster from Mr. Trump; he's actually laying the legal and political groundwork to challenge the fundamental
character of the U.S. election.
[11:15:00]
ANDERSON: Well, my next guest has been looking into that in great detail. The title of his new book speaks for itself, "Will he go: Trump and the
looming election meltdown in 2020." We are delighted to have Lawrence Douglas him join us now from Massachusetts. In your book you wrote, and I
quote our constitution does not secure the peaceful transition of power, but rather presupposes it, and that, sir, is problematic, correct? Explain.
LAWRENCE DOUGLAS, AUTHOR, "WILL HE GO: TRUMP AND THE LOOMING ELECTION MELTDOWN IN 2020": Yes, it is problematic. It's problematic in as much as
basically a system assumes that it the actors namely those seeking higher office, have bought into the rules of the game, have basically kind of
absorbed the norms of constitutional democracy.
That, again, is kind of what the system presupposes. It's almost any kind of game in order to work kind of has to assume that the people who are
playing it are playing it in good faith. What we've seen with this particular President of the United States is that he is a rule breaker, he
is a norm breaker, and that he basically has refused to acknowledge that he's going to be bound by the rules that basically every other president in
our history has expressed a willingness to abide by.
ANDERSON: A journalist for "The Atlantic" writes, and you all have seen this and I quote the 20th amendment is crystal clear that the president's
term in office shall end at noon and one January the 20th but two men could show up to be sworn in one of the them would arrive with all the tools and
power of the presidency already in hand if that is the case, who will stop Donald Trump?
DOUGLAS: Well, again, it depends a little bit about the outcome I think of the coming election. I think if Trump loses very decisively and of course
by decisively we're not simply talking about the popular vote, because in the United States that's not dispositive.
But let's say he loses decisively in the Electoral College. I imagine that Trump will not concede in those circumstances that are I can't imagine him
ever acknowledging the legitimacy of a defeat, but I think he will submit to defeat.
I think he will recognize that any kind of further struggle is futile. However, if the election turns on kind of muddled outcomes in a handful of
swing states on the late count of mail in ballots that Trump has already preemptively worked to discredit, then I could imagine that things could
get very, very complicated.
It is absolutely inconceivable that Trump, come January 20th, 2021, could insist that he in fact has been re-elected despite the fact that others say
that Biden is the duly elected president? It's not impossible to imagine if again the outcome turns on the very margins of late counted mail in
ballots.
ANDERSON: Briefly before I ask - before we move on, what does "Decisively" mean to you? When you say if Joe Biden, for example, weren't to win
decisively, by how much are you talking here?
DOUGLAS: Well, again I think by decisively so I mentioned the Electoral College, so he has to win with a decisive victory there. But again I would
probably go even further than that. I would say he needs to win decisively in the swing states, and that decisive victory needs to be known relatively
quickly.
That is, on November 3rd itself, we're likely not to know the outcome, and again, that is not an example of the system malfunctioning, that's a
necessary consequence of voting in a time of pandemic.
But I think it would be important for us to know relatively quickly that Biden has won the key swing states. And, again, that might be a 5 percent
victory, it might be a 7 percent victory, but I think it is important for it to beat decisive.
ANDERSON: And this is, of course, just about within the margin of error around some of the polling that we are seeing. You made a very good point.
The president has mounted a relentless attack on mail-in ballots at a time when the Coronavirus pandemic is pushing millions of voters to do exactly
that.
He points to a scenario of, quote, rigged elections with forgery from abroad. Do you believe that this year's election has the potential to be
infiltrated by foreign actors, for example, Russian trolls in favor of Donald Trump like the 2016 elections?
DOUGLAS: Well, I think the great danger is not that the mail-in ballots are going to be corrupted. I mean, in fact, Trump's claims are quite baseless
and have been contradicted by his own head of the FBI.
[11:20:00]
DOUGLAS: Christopher Wray testified that he sees no concerted effort to infect the mail-in ballots. But the one thing that mail-in ballots are
susceptible to the kind of fraud that they're susceptible to is disinformation.
And that certainly could come from foreign adversaries such as Russia that spread malicious rumors that the mail-in ballots have, in fact, been
infected by fraud. And that could be a very dangerous situation, particularly if Trump has a lead on November 3rd, which is not impossible
to imagine, given the fact that more of his voters and Biden's voters are going to be willing to vote in person.
And that Trump would then try to leverage whatever lead he enjoys on November 3rd into a claim that he's been re-elected. Then, of course,
discount the mail-in ballots once that lead begins to erode.
ANDERSON: Listen, the last time that any of us watching from the outside, and those of who are going through in the states, sort of election
meltdown, anything like this, was of course in 2000 when Al Gore conceded to George Bush on election night and withdrew for a recount battle in
Florida until the Supreme Court shut that down.
Do you think that if something similar happens this time around, things will be an awful lot worse?
DOUGLAS: Absolutely. I think a lot of Americans kind of mistakenly believe that the Supreme Court, for better or worse, brought closure to the
election dispute in the year 2000. But it really wasn't the Supreme Court that brought closure.
It was Al Gore who, on the day after the Supreme Court rendered what frankly was a quite partisan and badly reasoned decision, it was Al Gore
who very graciously conceded, and this is with - remember George W. Bush clinging to a 537-vote lead in Florida.
And I think it's impossible to imagine that Trump would act in a manner similar to Gore, who ultimately put the interests of the nation ahead of
his own political fortunes.
ANDERSON: I guess we should say who knows? I guess the answer to that is we all do. Sir, it's a pleasure having you on. A book well timed "Will he go:
Trump the looming election meltdown in 2020." It's a pleasure having you on.
Coming up the political chaos in Lebanon continues as the designated Prime Minister there steps down just a month after assuming the role. I'm going
to get you to Beirut after this short break. Do stay with us.
And a little later we are in Dubai where the Head of the Middle East's biggest port tells us why business deals could pave the way for peace deals
in the region. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUSTAPHA ADIB, FORMER LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER-DESIGNATED: As a government formation with the specifications I put was doomed to fail, and out of my
concern for national unity with its constitutionality and its credibility, I excuse myself from the task of forming the government, wishing the person
who will be selected to handle this daunting task after me and those who will select him, all the luck confronting the dangers facing our country,
people and economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that was Lebanon's Prime Minister-Designate stepping down this weekend after failing to form a new government. He is the third
Lebanese Prime Minister to resign in less than a year. Already suffering from the worst economic crisis in decades, the exposure in Beirut early
last month magnified Lebanon's worsening political situation.
Now French President Emmanuel Macron is criticizing Lebanon's leaders and giving them another four to six weeks to get their act together. I want to
bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman who has been covering this story for us from Beirut where he is based.
Ben, let's start with the political fallout from the prime minister's resignation. The French President declaring he was ashamed of the country's
leaders. What else did he say?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, basically President Macron is going through the very difficult education
that every well-meaning western leader who comes to Lebanon thinking that they can actually make a difference finds out that the political situation
here is so complex that oftentimes the best of intentioned run into a brick wall.
So in this speech, which came just a bit - basically a day after Mustapha Adib stepped down as Prime Minister-Designate, unable to bring the
squabbling politicians here together to form a government despite this country's massive economic problems, we heard the French President say very
explicitly, sort of pointing a finger of blame at Hezbollah, saying that Hezbollah cannot, at one and the same time, be fighting a war against
Israel involved in the Syrian Civil War and also acting as a full political party in Lebanese politics.
And as you said, he said, speaking in general, not just about Hezbollah, President Macron said he is ashamed of Lebanese politicians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT: I notice that the Lebanese political forces have made a choice to prioritize their partisan and individual
interests to the detriment of the country's interest.
I notice, too, that they have chosen to deliver Lebanon to the gain of foreign powers, to condemn it to chaos instead of allowing it to benefit
from international aid which the Lebanese people need. One month has been lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: Yes, one month has been lost, but really, if you go back to October of last year when massive street demonstrations happened, that was
really should have been a warning that the Lebanese political system the components of it, simply have to change their ways.
We've seen the Lira, the Lebanese currency lose 80 percent of its value price of basic commodities going through the roof. Now President Macron
said that by the end of October, he would be convening another aid conference.
He already had one in August, but no aid is going to go to the Lebanese government under its current political makeup. So, really, we're back to
square one here in Lebanon with no light at the end of the tunnel for this country. Becky?
ANDERSON: Yep, so it's future clearly uncertain and a country, of course, now coping with rising numbers of COVID-19. The country's Former Prime
Minister and president's son-in-law Gebran Bassil announcing just yesterday that he has tested positive.
WEDEMAN: Yes, we've seen the sort of daily numbers are one record after another being broken, and, yes, the country is grappling with the
Coronavirus pandemic.
[11:30:00]
WEDEMAN: But it doesn't seem to be able to bring it under control. Now, we understand that the Ministerial Committee that deals with Coronavirus has
come up with a new strategy, and that is to look at those areas where the outbreak is most intense, where there is a surge in numbers, and have local
lockdowns.
Because what we've seen in the last few months is as the numbers of new cases have increased, they've tried nationwide lockdowns. They haven't
really worked. The economy is collapsing, so the company can't afford it, so they're going to try a more pinpoint approach to bringing the pandemic
under control, but nobody is holding their breath that it's actually going to come under control under these circumstances. Becky?
ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman is in Beirut for you folks. Ben, thank you. Get the business right and the politics will follow. Maybe even a peace deal. That
is the view of the Chairman of the largest Port in the Middle East. More on what he has been saying to CNN is up next.
Plus, Academy Award Winning Actor Sean Penn using his nonprofit to provide Coronavirus testing for some of America's most vulnerable areas my
conversation with the Co-Founders of Core is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDULLAH BIN ZAYED AL NAHYAN, UAE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS: We are humbled to represent a nation which is only 48 years old. But full of hope
and wants to attract more hope in our region. Our region has suffered far too long, and we would like to show our people and our region and the world
that there is some good news from our part of the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs talking on the day the UAE signed its historic normalization deal with Israel, that of course was in
Washington and access to the Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, the largest Port in the Middle East played a starring role in this process.
The Accord means big money for shipping, for technology and for banking. But the Jebel Ali Chairman also sees bigger possibilities a real chance for
business to play a game-changing role in Middle East stability.
[11:35:00]
ANDERSON: My colleague John Defterios went to meet in to find out more about his view on making trade a toll of diplomacy.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Becky, the view from here is if they have a similar interest in business and politics and peace can fall
into place. We know they share a common DNA for commerce, and Israel wants to tap into a much larger market.
The UAE is only 10 million people, but this Port has access to a market of 2 billion people in the Asian Subcontinent and reaching down to Africa. But
it's a different approach using business to solve problems in the region, including for the Palestinians. Here's the Chairman of DP World.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SULTAN AHMED BIN SULAYEM, GROUP CHAIRMAN AND CEO, DP WORLD: We have been wasting our time in a confrontation in cold war, hot war; it didn't work
for us at least. We believe that this is going to strengthen the opposition in the resolving this issue. In the meantime, as UAE, we are looking at an
opportunity that can come out of this that helps both.
DEFTERIOS: Many believe that you signed a number of MOUs, as we say in English window dressing, a lot of show, nothing inside. What's the
counterargument to that? What's been signed so far?
SULAYEM: And as I told actually one thing you know in UAE, we don't waste our time on MOUs. MOUs are just kind of a document to set the pace of what
you're going to do. We know what we're going to do, we know the business, and we know how we can get the business?
It is about technology, adoption. It's about logistics, it's about connection, it's about ability of both to take and do business. We need
something from them in technology, they need something from us.
They need our market, they need our location. They need to learn how we do business in the UAE, because the way we do our business is totally
different. They've been in isolation for a long time.
DEFTERIOS: It's my understanding that Jebel Ali was so important that they didn't want to sign the agreement unless this was part of it. What's the
strategy behind it? Does it allow Israeli companies to come into the free zone, assemble parts, manufacture products in the future?
SULAYEM: Obviously all of the above. Jebel Ali is a very active business community with far-reaching markets. We look at India, Pakistan, Bangladesh
and Sri Lanka and the surrounding you get almost over 2 billion people. That is the market they like to reach and the beauty is reaching that
market is so easy.
DEFTERIOS: Will this new Accord with Israel, with the united front between the Gulf States that's developing in Israel actually lead to peace with
Iran? It was a big trading partner prior to sanctions for Dubai.
SULAYEM: I think any development in business with Israel is going to have a positive effect in the region. As people create more business, everybody
will benefit. Who knows, it could be a positive for them to maybe find a way to get out of this sanctions that they have.
DEFTERIOS: Does it make the region, because of the business ties that are being developed by the UAE in Israel, more secure or less secure?
SULAYEM: The region is going to be more secure. Instead of disagreeing with people, why don't we agree at least? Why don't we look at what we agree on?
Why don't we look at it differently? This will impact making people's lives better. Who can disagree with that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: Once again, Sultan bin Sulayem who has been at DP World for nearly four decades. They're already looking at new sectors to tackle.
Here's the work that's in the pipeline, if you will, in defense, especially electronics, energy, with Israel having access to big fields in the Eastern
Mediterranean, food security, a key priority for both parties, and even tourism and a strong signal, Emirates Airline is going to start offering
kosher meals in its services in the future serve the new traveling passengers from Israel. Becky?
ANDERSON: John Defterios in DP World. Well, the normalization was arguably a major win for the American president, a huge notch for his White House to
position him as a man of peace and a statesman among statesmen.
But nothing is ever quite so simple, right, as well as the tax issues that we've been covering these past couple hours, his refusal to agree to step
down if he loses, and it goes on, doesn't it? The Trump era colliding with the era of our pandemic there are now more than 7 million cases of COVID-19
in America.
All of the nation's top Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says the White House is pivoting away from the daily task force briefings to
focus on the economy instead. There's still a lot of runway for this thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SCOTT GOTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: About 10 percent of Americans have been exposed to this virus.
[11:40:00]
GOTLIEB: The best modeling that I've seen that suggest there could be a higher rate of exposure suggests that maybe it's as high as 15 percent, but
most models project around 10 percent. So it means a lot of the country is still susceptible to this virus. There is a lot of room for it to run.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, the governments' less than perfect response in the U.S. main towers have had to step in amongst them. The Academy Award winning
actor Sea Penn he Co-Founded the disaster response non-profit Core in 2010 a way back to help with earth quake relief and Haiti.
Well, now the group is responding to the COVID-19 emergency in the United States, bringing COVID-19 testing to places that are overwhelmed by demand.
I spoke with Sean Penn just before the week alongside the group's CEO, another Co-Founder Ann Lee. Have a watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I give us an "A" but the grade is incomplete and I'll tell you why. If we come up with the vaccines and therapeutics, then I give myself an A-
plus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Is that your experience? Has America had an A-plus response?
SEAN PENN, ACTOR & CO-FOUNDER CORE: He would be expelled from school. This president betrayed on his own behalf this country. This is something where
flamboyant terms are often used, and in fact, in this case, these unnecessary deaths, this unnecessary hardship on our economy is all in the
service of a smokescreen related to a president who believes the stock market is his Trojan horse to victory.
And instead it really is doing severe damage that we will be paying the price of for generations to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are times when a city shows its true face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANN LEE, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, CORE: We've been working in several different countries, in Haiti, for example, after the earthquake where the government
themselves were also impacted, and yet there was a willingness and sort of a ticking on of responsibility. We have not seen that here from the
government. They have absolutely failed in every single way.
PANN: Going back to your original question, the grade of this administration, of this presidency, is that they are killing people.
ANDERSON: You have, I know, administered more than 1.5 million tests, sir, from across some 37 sites. Just give us a sense of the scale of the
operation, if you will.
LEE: Essentially we've been working with actually non-skilled folk that we hired from neighborhoods that we're trying to support, and that's
underserved black and brown communities that often lack the ability to be able to get tested for free, with or without insurance.
So the scale of our operations has expanded across the U.S. so that we have about 1200 staff members.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: City of angels, they say.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You are in L.A., the entertainment capital of the world. You are offering to support film and TV productions with COVID testing they must
pay for. Is the industry able to get back on its feet?
PENN: From what I have seen so far, I've been on a couple of the sets that have started to come back up, and the protocols that are being implemented
on those sets are very responsible. There is enough information currently on how we can conduct business safely?
The problem, again, is the distraction that is coming from our national leadership. And as a result of that, we have this entire culture from the
anti-vaccers, those who just don't understand that the wearing of masks and distancing is not about themselves but are about others who have
politicized this whole adventure we're on.
ANDERSON: You're going to be charging for that service that we've just described for the industry. What's your plan for the money?
LEE: That's correct. We're using that money to subsidize all of our costs to provide free testing in underserved neighborhoods. Just to give you a
perspective, we have only received a tiny percentage of our funding from the government, most of it outside of California. This is our only way for
us to sustain our operations at the scale that it's at, at 10,000 to 15,000 people per day to get tested.
ANDERSON: Sean, I was sorry to hear that some of your friends have tested positive. Just how acute have those you know who have tested positive been,
and what's your experience at this point?
[11:45:00]
PENN: I have had a few friends that have gone through it, one who was intubated and was in a coma for two weeks. That was a very close call. I've
had several other friends who have had slight symptoms, but all of whom are experienced one or the other of these long haul effects with the kind of
brain fog.
This is one of the insidious parts of this virus is we're still at the very beginning of understanding what it does to our body in the long haul?
ANDERSON: Sean Penn and his Co-Founder of their nonprofit CORE Ann Lee. Later on the show a Coral Nursery in the Seychelles offers hope for the -
vanishing coral reeves. Do stay with us for that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, as part of our "Call to earth" commitment, sharing solutions to critical issues impacting our environment. Well, this week
we're highlighting biodiversity in the efforts of those working protect our ecosystems around the world.
Healthy ecosystems are essential for providing fresh water, food and protection from extreme weather events worldwide. We bring you the stories
of those doing extraordinary work on the front lines of conservation of protecting that biodiversity to create a better, more sustainable future
for all of us.
Well, today how a Coral Nursery in the Seychelles could help turn the tide on biodiversity loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On a stormy Tuesday in the tropics, Leo Barret and his team prepare for an afternoon dive. A thorough check of the gear, a walk
down to the docks and into the aquamarine waters, home to a project aiming to restore the coral population of the Seychelles.
LEO BARRET, PROJECT LEADER, MARINE CONVERSION SOCIETY SEYCHELLES: So in Seychelles we lost during in 2016 beaching events up to 90 percent of the
coral reef at certain site. Prosite (ph) means a loss of biodiversity, a loss of fish and a lot of complexities.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To help restore the ecosystem here, Barret and his team started under water coral nurseries.
BARRET: So the first thing is to research some coral fragment. So this coral fragment at the minimum size of 5 centimeters. It can be already
broken off corals or we can choose from specific coral project that we know that have survived the last beaching event or we know that have a bit more
resilience to climate change.
[11:50:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The coral are attached to rope and cleaned by hand until they have grown large enough to be transplanted back into the reef.
BARRET: We wait for a year, year and a half until it reaches good size, so it is between 15 to 20 centimeters of diameter and then trust on them on
the sea floors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barret hopes that surviving coral they selected as the foundation for the new growth could potentially weather future climate
events.
BARRET: Around 2100, there will be no more coral reefs on earth. So we're really in a critical moment. We've got to must extinction, and the idea is
really to help the natural coral reef by putting more volume of corals in the water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Barret's work is important, not just because of why it's happening, but where it's happening? The Seychelles itself is an - made up
of about 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. With tourism as the backbone of the economy and the natural landscape, the reason for that tourism, it's a
delicate balance between enjoying the beauty here and protecting it.
The team works mainly on Cerf Island, but the project has expanded into a partnership with local hotels and resorts.
BARRET: We start in 2015 to work with one of the hotels. This project works really efficiently, and in collaboration with the previous sector - works
really nice. We provide some guests enrichment activities. Really I think it's important to educate people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And we will continue showcasing inspirational stories like this as part of the initiative at CNN. Do let us know what you are doing to
answer the "Call to Earth" with the #calltoearth. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Mexico suffering one of the worst Coronavirus outbreaks with more than 700,000 infections so far, and the fourth highest number of deaths,
sadly, in the world, more than 76,000. But the Undersecretary of State there says Mexico's final death toll may not be known for years.
Let's bring in CNN's Matt Rivers reporting from Mexico City for you. Matt, one of the ways to fight the spread, of course, is by washing your hands.
As I understand it, in many areas in Mexico, that is not an option.
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky, this is the city really that is the haves and the have not's. I mean you have areas like this that I'm in
with big sky scrapers white collar workers, but just a couple miles away from here, you have an area that's much poorer, and as a result of that,
the lack of access to running water is having a severe impact on people's ability to fight this virus.
Mexico's Capital City teams with sky scrapers and wealthy neighborhoods. On a clear day you can see from the San Gregorio neighborhood just a few miles
away. But here there is no wealth. There is not even running water. That's why Victoria Ariaz Lopez (ph) has to come down to these barrels.
[11:55:00]
RIVERS: The government leaves four of them every 15 days, which isn't safe to drink. So what she's saying there is that of the buckets that she has,
the water basically runs out maximum in three days.
A big part of her tiny salary goes to buying bottled water to drink and as - the washing station is a 15 minute drive away where a government tap
helps. We don't have a lot of water, says Senora Lucero. Everyone around here suffer from the lack of water.
So many people in this area don't have running water, and yet you see government campaigns all over the place saying - wash your hands
constantly. That's good advice during a pandemic, but if you don't have running water, how exactly are you supposed to do that?
Government data shows nearly 20 percent of the city doesn't have access to water every day, predominantly in the poorest parts, and they are among the
area that have suffered the most cases as the virus continues to spread.
The government doesn't get it, says Victoria. There is water in the rich parts but not out here. She lives in this house with 12 other people. They
collect rainwater as it runs down from a dirty roof, settling in these buckets. It's too dirty to drink or wash with.
They say wash your hands often. Well, we don't have enough water to do that. It's impossible, she says. Or it was she won a contest and we visited
on the day when nonprofit Esa Urbana (ph) was installing a new filtration system that would make the water clean enough to wash with and with one
more filter safe enough to drink. That means - more hand washing and better protection from the virus. It might not look like it, but this is a luxury,
one most of her neighbors don't have.
And in lieu of running water, well you could probably just use hand sanitizer, right Becky? Well, that's not an option for these people either
because they don't make enough money to buy both drinking water and sanitizer.
ANDERSON: Thank you, Matt. Matt is in Mexico City and a good reminder that not everybody has what's needed at this point. Wherever you are, do please
stay safe, do stay well. We'll see you at the same time tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
