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Connect the World
CNN Speaks To WHO As Deaths Surpass One Million; Among Debate Topics: COVID-19, Economy Election Security; Russia's "Propagandist-In- Chief" On Trump & U.S. Elections; CNN Speaks To U.N. Refugee Chief About COVID-19 Challenges; New Short Film Imagines 2020 As A Turning Point; Scientists Confirm Liquid Water Under Mars Southern Ice Cap. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 29, 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: The illness is believed to have originated in the city of Wuhan in Central China. Chinese health authorities suspect this wildlife
and seafood market is the source but the number of cases continues to rise both inside China and outside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a race to contain the outbreak in the Middle East so far the Coronavirus appears to be winning across Europe the Coronavirus
outbreak worsens authorities are imposing ever stricter measures.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Times Square nearly empty just one snapshot of the new normal as Americans adjusts to life during the Coronavirus pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi. This is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: I want to share this with you this is January a clean slates then slowly bit by bit the darkness of earth's
newest plague each dot representing a death to Coronavirus now a staggering 1 million people.
Here is but a glimpse a fraction of those people mothers, fathers, siblings children and friends over the past 10 months the virus has kills more
people than HIV, Malaria the flu and Cholera and is still spreading.
It began you all know in January when a 61 year-old man died in Wuhan by February 1st death outside China was recorded by June that had been 0.5
million deaths and now just 13 weeks later million have lost their lives. One in 5 of them all Americans, Brazil and India also massively hit as well
as Mexico and the U K and of course the list goes on.
W.H.O.'s Spokeswoman Margaret Harris says so many people who died, died alone. She joins us now from Geneva to speak further about this. And this
is an agonizing milestone 1 million people recorded deaths. What was the reaction from inside the W. H. O. when that news broke?
DR. MARGARET HARRIS, SPOKESWOMAN, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Good evening Becky. All of us really dust as you say I cannot with the enormity of the
suffering and the loss and for us it in many ways makes us redouble our efforts to really keep on at it.
My Director General wrote at an article saying it's not too late it's not too late to stop suppressing this virus fighting and for me personally it
makes me want to find even more. I don't want to see another person die a death like that. I don't want to see another family lose someone you say
goodbye to them at the hospital or not even say goodbye just see them go in the ambulance. We can stop it and we must stop it.
ANDERSON: We must and I want to talk about the fact that this is suppressible as far as you are concerned but before we discuss that how
much worse is this death toll going to hate or get from Margaret? And where in the world are you currently most concerned about?
DR. HARRIS: Well, as you know the very large outbreaks are still in the Americas where we are seeing continuing large outbreaks accounting for much
of the transmission. But we also have a huge outbreak in India where 4 out of 10 of the cases are being recorded.
Europe is now seeing a rise in cases in many countries and even more concerning a rising in very sick people filling the hospitals. And as you
know winter's coming winter is here many people are sitting in much colder homes right now other viruses are circulating and the normal illness is
that people have or do tend to get worse in winter.
So that will be that double effect if it's not Coronavirus it may be your lack of care for another thing that could lead to you becoming a lot more
ill or even dying if we don't stop this virus now.
ANDERSON: You have said that the one positive thing about this if there is anything positive to be had out of this is that it is suppressible that it
is not the flu. What do you mean by that because it certainly doesn't seem like we're getting any closer to suppressing it at this point.
[11:05:00]
DR. HARRIS: Well, I mean is if you really do track and trace isolate and care for those who become ill, so if you really do those things thoroughly,
properly and quickly, you can stop it. Now, countries, when they've seen the early rise in cases, have gone in there and really ensured that they
know where the virus is and have really ensured that people are truly self- isolating.
Not just told to self-isolate, but really doing it, they have broken those chains of transmission. But they've also always done this in partnership
with the communities and had the trust of their people who have continued to do the boring things I say to you every time, the washing the hands, the
distancing, being really serious about this.
ANDERSON: If you have fresh running water and you are able to socially distance, of course, and there are, sadly parts of the world where both of
those are extremely difficult to do. Dr. Anthony Fauci says he is concerned about misleading information given to the U.S. President with regard to
this pandemic. I want you just to have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I'm concerned that sometimes things are said that are really
taken either out of context or are actually incorrect.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These news stories about Atlas and Redfield, they get to the question of are the medical voices on the task force working together
or working against each other?
DR. FAUCI: Well, most are working together. You know what the outlier area is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: There is some what I think is some pretty disturbing stuff in that. What's your response?
DR. HARRIS: Goodness, I only really heard a part of the clip, but I think the message about having clear information and really following the
science, looking at what the science is telling us and really doing it and all working together in solidarity is critical. And that applies across the
world, every culture.
ANDERSON: So I want to get to the science again, because I've got another clip that I want our viewers to have a listen to. Vice President Mike
Pence's former top aide confirming to CNN that White House officials pressured the CDC in the U.S. to play down the risk of Coronavirus in order
to reopen schools. This is over the summer. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER ADVISER TO U.S. VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: This was an effort, at times where I would get blindsided where there would be junior
staffers being tasked to find different data for charts that would show that the virus wasn't as bad for certain populations, ages or demographics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: We're told to listen to the experts. You often say to me, let's listen to the science. Again, that's pretty disturbing to hear what was
just said. What does the science tell us about getting these kids back into school?
DR. HARRIS: So the science tells us to do it safely. So look at again whether there's transmission in the communities where the schools are, if
you've got intense transmission in the community where you've got schools cited, well, then you'd think about not opening school at that time.
So we certainly say we should try to open schools or try to ensure that every child gets an education, because that's an absolute must. And,
indeed, in a sort of face to face, you're giving them a chance to socialize. There the difficulty lies. Socializing safely, getting your
education safely.
So, yes, we do say open the schools, but we say look at what's going on with your transmission and ensure that you can genuinely distance, you can
genuinely keep on explaining to the kids what they must do and enforce it, enforce the hand washing, the mask wearing in closed areas. If they're in
closed areas, all the things you have to do to increase the safety.
ANDERSON: We've been charting the transmission of this virus, as you know. You've been a regular guest on this show now for nine months. And tonight,
in the beginning of this hour, we plotted the speed at which, sadly, we reached this awful milestone of a million deaths.
Should people not heed the science, not heed the advice for normalizations like yourselves where we continue to see the politicization of this
messaging, and let's be quite frank, there has been an awful lot of that. Is there a risk that we could, for example, reach 2 million deaths related
to coronavirus?
[11:10:00]
DR. HARRIS: There is indeed that risk. There is, indeed. In fact, we are sure there were more deaths than one million already, because there may
well have been many deaths that have not gone recorded as being caused by coronavirus.
Countries have been in quite chaotic circumstances, and you had many elderly people die in the community who may not have been recorded as
having died from coronavirus. So that's why we say been your own risk manager and does certain things.
Go to trusted sites, get your information and follow that information. Quarantine the politics. None of us, none of us can afford politics right
now. We have to look after each other and be together in solidarity. I say it over and over again, but it truly is humanity versus the virus. I also
truly believe in humanity and I truly believe we can do it.
ANDERSON: Finally the W.H.O. announcing an agreement to make rapid COVID-19 tests available to low and middle-income countries. I just want our viewers
to hear this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION DIRECTOR-GENERAL: I have good news. I'm pleased to announce that thanks to an agreement between
W.H.O. and partners here today and others, a substation proportion of these rapid tests, 120 million, will be made available to low and middle-income
countries. These tests provide lab results in approximately 15 to 17 minutes rather than hours or days at the lower price with less
sophisticated equipment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Margaret, how important was it that you were able to nail this, and just what sort of difference do you believe this will make?
DR. HARRIS: I'm so glad you played that clip, because this is exactly why I believe in humanity. In all the people who are doing all this work to stop
this and this is one of the things that will come into play as I said before, testing.
So this by providing more rapid testing in circumstances where you can't get the answers quickly but you need those answers to understand where
you've got transmission and what you're going to do about it will make a huge difference and it's got to happen everywhere in the world? It's not
just about whether you can afford it or not?
ANDERSON: With that we will leave there. We thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.
DR. HARRIS: Thank you, Becky.
ANDERSON: Well, against the backdrop of a million deaths with one in five of them in the U.S., Donald Trump and Joe Biden will finally face each
other in their first debate just hours from now. What should we expect from this matchup, if you will?
Plenty of talk about the Coronavirus that is for sure, but also questions about Donald Trump's taxes, about election security. Biden has been off the
campaign trail for days prepping for the event. Trump sees his news conferences where he regularly jousts with the media as being his best
preparation.
Aides tell CNN and in fact that he has spent less than two hours on actual debate practice. CNN's Jessica Dean is at the debate site in Cleveland,
Ohio. President Trump running behind the Former Vice President in most of the key swing states, polls looking pretty close, though everyone expecting
a sort of momentum-changing moment tonight from Donald Trump, and he will be looking to win better marks from voters. Is that likely to happen?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're going to find out, Becky. This has been the most highly anticipated moment, I think, of this General
Election Campaign, seeing Joe Biden and Donald Trump finally on the stage together debating.
There certainly is pressure on Donald Trump to perform well. As you mentioned, he is running behind in a lot of the key battleground states
right now. There is also pressure, of course, on Vice President Joe Biden to perform well as well.
The key thing being is how many undecided voters are still actually out there? I mean, remember, early voting has already started in some of the
states here in the United States, and there was a Monmouth Poll that came out recently that said of the 74 percent of people who were going to watch,
only 13 percent of them said that something could happen that might somewhat change their opinion and make them vote for one or the other
candidate.
So it will be interesting to see that. That being said, you mentioned how both of the men have been preparing for this night, and it is a study in
contrast. You have President Trump on one side that spent roughly two hours preparing for this, and he's talked with Rudy Giuliani and Chris Christie,
but really sees, as you mentioned, his press conferences as his preparation.
[11:15:00]
DEAN: He already feels like he knows what he wants to say and the message he wants to get across. He's been telegraphing that he'll make personal
attacks on the Former Vice President. On the other side, you have Former Vice President Joe Biden who, as is typical, has taken several days off the
campaign trail to prepare, Becky, and his team is preparing for these personal attacks.
What they want to do is to continue to bring the conversation back to the COVID response and the economic crisis here in the United States. They
believe that the more that Biden talks about that, the better it is for him. Becky?
ANDERSON: That's the story. Thank you for that. One topic not lined up for tonight's questions, "The New York Times" report about President Donald
Trump barely paying anything at all in federal income taxes for years.
But if you are in the Biden camp, you must want to be all over that, right? We know what the pundits and the politicians think about it, but the real
question is how are voters reacting to that reporting? Well, CNN's Martin Savidge takes us to a suburb in Georgia to find out more there.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At the Marriott, a diner in suburban Atlanta, the bombshell of Trump's tax returns is not on the menu, but it is
on the minds of voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IRA PENCE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: That's just a matter of how he runs his business?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: The latest polling in Georgia before the news broke showed the race between Trump and Joe Biden in a dead heat. Could the revelation Trump
only paid $750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and '17 tilt the balance in Biden's favor?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Would that make an impact, in your judgment, of the man?
PETER DUFRESNE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: The man is not perfect. I know that. I'm not perfect. But I think he's accomplished a whole lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: One look at IRA Pence tells you who he supports, and he thinks Trump's tax news are a good thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PENCE: I just think that's wonderful. I work very hard trying to pay as little taxes as are legal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: And waitress Linda Trapani doesn't believe the news at all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LINDA TRAPANI, TRUMP SUPPORTER: And here we go again, once again it's -- first of all, it's from "The New York Times."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: But at a nearby booth, Nancy Machuria is furious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY MACHARIA, BIDEN SUPPORTER: I was shocked.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Originally from Kenya, she's a software engineer who says she worked three jobs to get through college, and points out Trump often
depicts immigrants as the ones cheating the system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACHARIA: We have a lot of immigrants in this country that work very hard for such little money, for such long hours, and they pay their taxes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Trump's Campaign Communication Director calls "The New York Times" reporting on the president's tax returns completely inaccurate. Retired
business teacher Lamuriel Adams says Trump's tax returns prove he's no financial genius.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAMURIEL ADAMS, BIDEN SUPPORTER: I worry about that because we got our young people. I don't know what they think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Polls have shown Trump support from white suburban women in 2020 is not what it was four years ago, but Katherine Coffee is staying quarters
unfazed by reports Trump lost tens of billions of dollars in bad business deals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Doesn't this prove that he's not the businessman he is playing to be?
KATHERINE COFFEE, TRUMP SUPPORTER: You could look at it that way. I don't think that would measure that he's not a successful businessman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Diana Sloan (ph) knew something remarkably rare among Georgia voters undecided. Polling suggests that percentage of undecided voters in
the state to be in the single digits.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm struggling this year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: Sloan says Tuesday's presidential debate could be the deciding factor. As for Trump's taxes --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: It doesn't necessarily appear this is necessarily a deal breaker for you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I wish I could say that it was, but it's not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAVIDGE: It's worth pointing out that all the people that we talked to for this story almost no one was surprised by the information reported about
Trump's tax returns. Those who supported the president said they don't believe the news or they consider it insignificant.
While those who were opposed to the president say they suspect it all along that he had financial difficulties or even regularities in his reports
after all he's fought so hard to prevent them from going public Martin Savidge, CNN, Marietta, Georgia.
ANDERSON: No we are telling you about it a lot but it really is a big deal. CNN's special coverage of the first debate begins at these times that you
are seeing on your screens here. We will break it all down for you on this show tomorrow with our international teams.
More now on our breaking news this hour, the Emir of Kuwait has died. He was 91. The country's ruler hadn't been well for a while and then suddenly
fell ill in July a short time ago.
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: Kuwaiti State TV started broadcasting religious verses to signal the death of the country's leader. Let's get right to CNN's Ben Wedeman
reporting tonight out of Lebanon for you.
This is a man who was not just the leader of the country but had been a top diplomat on the international stage for Nyan for half a century, not the
least during Hussein's invasion of this country back of course in 1991 Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a leader who very much was from the old school of Arab leaders who despite tensions
in the region, usually tried to peacefully resolve differences between the squabbling Arab states.
And what we've seen as reaction has come very swiftly from the around the region of leaders speaking well of the Former Kuwaiti Emir. We heard for
instance the King of Jordan Abdullah II saying that he was a great brother who tried to unite Arab ranks.
The Crown Prince of the UAE saying that he epitomized wisdom, tolerance and peace, and Egypt President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi saying that he was a great
leader of a unique type here in Lebanon Hassan Diab the Caretaker Prime Minister has called for three days of mourning and the lowering of the
Lebanese flag to half mast.
This was an Arab leader who, for instance, he was opposed to the U.S. pulling out of the joint comprehensive plan of action, the Iran Nuclear
Deal. He was somebody who tried to bridge the gap between Qatar and the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council who broke out in 2017.
He was a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause. Kuwait boycotted that meeting in Bahrain last summer organized by Jared Kushner, and has
made it clear that Kuwait would not follow in the footsteps of Bahrain and the UAE in normalizing relations with Israel.
And he also was a long-time financial supporter for Syrian refugees. This is a man who tried to iron out many of the differences among Arab leaders.
He's succeeded by the Crown Prince Nayef, who is 83 years old, not far from the Former Emir who died at the age of 91.
So it will really -- we'll have to see who is appointed by Nayef and the Kuwaiti system which is the most democratic in the Gulf to serve as Crown
Prince to him, indicating whether Kuwait will also join the new generation of Gulf leaders who don't quite follow in the footsteps of their
forefathers. Becky?
ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman is in Beirut for you this evening. I appreciate it Ben, thank you. We're watching "Connect the World" I'm Becky Anderson. This
show is live from CNN's Middle East Programming Center here in Abu Dhabi, an important story from our region there.
Well, up next, why Russia's Propagandist in Chief says it doesn't matter who wins the U.S. election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DMITRY KISELYOV, RUSSIA 1 ANCHOR: Russia is the only country in the world with the capability to turn America into the radioactive ash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: We'll ask the Kremlin's -- and he is talking exclusively to CNN that is ahead. And from Greece to Syria and across the EU the Coronavirus
is complicating immigration issues. We can ask the UN's Refugee Chief how to confront some of what are these new challenges? Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:25:00]
ANDERSON: We've been talking a lot about politics and bottom pushing, especially with the U.S. Presidential Election exactly five weeks away. So
I want to ask you, any chance this looks familiar? A little more than a decade ago, the U.S. wanted to press the reset button quite literally on
its relationship with Russia.
Fast-forward to now, and it certainly seems like a very different story, doesn't it? This is the man called Russia's Propagandist in Chief. He is
giving CNN an exclusive insight into what the Kremlin may be thinking about the U.S. election, especially after accusations of Russian meddling? CNN's
Matthew Chance went to meet him and has this report from Moscow.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There's been a distinct change in tone on Russian television about President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think it was a very nice offer from the President Putin, and I could have said no, thank you or
I could have said thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: This spoof video on its English language channel promoting the U.S. election coverage shows Trump as a loser, taking up a job as a top Russian
News Anchor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: And I said I'll take it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: It's a humorous job with Trump's apparent affection for Russia. But the country's actual top state news anchor isn't laughing. His first ever
U.S. TV interview, the man dubbed the Kremlin's Chief Propagandist tells me how hoax of blossoming U.S./Russian relations and the President Trump has
vanished.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KISELYOV: Russia has never had as many sanctions as it has under Trump. Not a single state visit to Russia or to the United States.
CHANCE: Is it your hope that if President Trump wins a second term those things will change, that he might be able to have a more positive
relationship with Moscow?
KISELYOV: Nothing will change. That's America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: But actually, things might change.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There will be a price to pay. And Putin knows the reason he doesn't want me as president, he knows me and he
knows me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: And Kiselyov sanctioned by the EU for spreading Kremlin propaganda tells me a hard line Biden Presidency could plunge U.S./Russian relations
into a dangerous spiral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KISELYOV: What will he do, go to war against us? No way to win for him.
CHANCE: Well, he said he would win.
KISELYOV: Let me repeat. Russia is the only country in the world with the capability to turn America into radioactive ash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: With its vast nuclear arsenal, that may be terrifyingly true. But on Russia's flagship current affairs show it's how America is already
destroying itself that's dominating coverage. The chaos shows how the U.S. has lost its moral leadership Kiselyov says. For the Kremlin accused by
U.S. intelligence of sowing discord, that may be a victory of -- no matter who the next president may be.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: If you were forced to choose between a Trump Presidency or a Biden Presidency, which one would you go for? Talk in English; tell me which one
would you go for?
KISELYOV: I'd like to throw a coin so nothing changes. Nothing will change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHANCE: Matthew Chance, CNN Moscow.
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: Well, a lot more ahead on "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson. We'll speak with the High Commissioner on Refugees about how the
Coronavirus pandemic complicates what our already thorny issues of immigration, of asylum, and of human rights.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: In just nine months, the Coronavirus has gone from a medical curiosity in China to a pandemic that has now claimed more than one million
lives more than half of the deaths in four countries, the United States, Brazil, India and Mexico.
Public health officials have learned a lot about this novel virus, but they warn that the death toll could double before there is large-scale relief.
And beyond the devastation to populations and economies, the pandemic has laid there other issues long ignored from access to health care to
immigration and human rights.
The wealthiest countries in the world still grappling with slowing the spread of the virus and developing an effective vaccine against it how,
then, are the most vulnerable communities like refugee camps expected to cope?
Well, yesterday we showed you this camp in Northern Syria with tens of thousands of women and children in squalid conditions already facing
disease and malnutrition. My guest, Filippo Grandi, has been involved in humanitarian assistant for more than 30 years.
He is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and I'm very pleased to say that he is joining us from Geneva now. Sir, we know that
this virus doesn't discriminate, but the most vulnerable like refugees get the short end of the stick. And I want to say at times like this but this
is quite unprecedented isn't it? Have a listen to my colleagues reporting from, for example, inside Syria's Al-Hol Camp.
(BEGIN VIDO CLIP)
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Medical access in the camp has plummeted with COVID-19 restrictions and as more and more health care
workers tested positive, only five out of 24 clinics are still operational, nowhere near enough for the more than 65,000 residents, the vast majority
of them children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So how has your agency's work been impacted as you work to improve conditions like that of the Al-Hol Camp, and are y receiving
support?
FILIPPO GRANDI, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES: Al-Hol is a very difficult situation very complex. In the beginning of the pandemic, we were
worried about other situations.
[11:35:00]
GRANDI: Think of the huge Rohingya Camps in Bangladesh, camps in Africa. The reality is that the pandemic has struck even more in other communities.
There are many refugees in Latin America, refugees from Venezuela. This is where it has struck both refugees and local communities same in cities in
Africa that also host a lot of refugees.
The impacting immigrant refugee camps, where let's not forget in minority of refugees live globally in spite of perception, has been perhaps less
because not everywhere Al-Hol is difficult as I said. But in most places in those camps we have been able to take preventive measures, work with
governments on lockdown, and respond more effectively.
So the pandemic has been very varied, very diverse in its impact. Where we are very worried is, of course, the economic impact, the education impact,
all the social and economic aspects that are going to be the lasting legacy of this crisis.
ANDERSON: Well, let's talk about education, because I know that you were in Syria recently, appealing for more international assistance, especially
with regard to schools. I just want our viewers to have a listen to some of what you said when you were there, Filippo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRANDI: I also visited a school, a very crowded school. It's difficult to keep distances. It's difficult to wash hands.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Look, managing schools in the era of COVID-19 is difficult anywhere and we've been reporting on that now for weeks, let alone in a
war-ravaged place like Syria. How do you envision solving this issue, if it is, indeed, solvable, so that kids who already lost years of education can
finally get back to school in a safe environment?
GRANDI: Of course, the Coronavirus is a crisis on top of many other layers of crises in situations like Syria, Lebanon, many places in Africa, Asia
and Latin America. So I think that it is important to remember that that the underlying issues have to be solved.
In many places, in many countries you need more school capacity, more classrooms, more teachers and more resources. And this is particularly
important because otherwise, in addition to what we already saw as critical before the pandemic, will become very difficult to correct in the future.
And education for me is very key you know we calculate in secondary schools, for example, where refugees have been locked out, just like
everybody else. When schools will reopen, we estimate that because of the economics of this crisis, 50 percent of the refugee girls that used to go
to school will not be able to go back to school.
And, therefore, we'll be more exposed to early marriage, having children very early, not being able to work, and worse, exploitation and abuse. So
these problems have huge ramifications beyond public health and beyond education itself.
ANDERSON: If you had one message to our viewers tonight, what would it be? What does your agency need now, sir?
GRANDI: A very important message. In fact, in most countries with many refugees, refugees have been included in the health response, in the
national health responses. It needs to be the same when it will get more difficult, when the responses will be about national education system.
They need to be included. When the responses will be about social safety nets to rescue the most impacted economically by the pandemic, refugees,
displaced people, stateless people need to be included. Politically it will be more difficult, but it will be absolutely necessary if we want to avoid
another further down the line catastrophe for these groups of people.
ANDERSON: What an important message to get out now, as it were, ahead of the curve, if you want to call it that. Sir, you and I have talked about
the European migration crisis a lot in the past, and in a new effort to try to mitigate Europe's migration crisis, the European Commission has called
for a pact on migration and asylum.
We have been reporting on this now for some time. You have, indeed, expressed support for that pact. You've said in the past, quite frankly,
what the EU was up to was completely unworkable.
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: Elsewhere, though, this new pact has been met with criticism. I spoke with the VP of the EU Commission. Have a listen to what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARGARITIS SCHINAS, EU COMMISSION FOR PROMOTING OUR EUROPEAN WAY OF LIFE: Europe will continue to be an asylum destination for those fleeing war and
dictatorship. But those who have no reason to be in Europe under our asylum rules, they will have to be returned.
The majority of people arriving, I would say more than 60 percent, probably 70 percent, are not from countries with a high recognition rate for asylum,
so they are the ones that would constitute the pool of people to return. And under the new pact, we will have very clear procedures for solidarity
and for organizing these returns in an orderly and humane way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Sir, I have to say, my team and I were frankly shocked and disturbed by the figures that he used there. He also used the word
"Solidarity" but leaders such as those of, for example, Hungary and Austria already pushing back. Many say this pact is doomed to fail. Is it?
GRANDI: You're asking me a very complex question. I was in Brussels yesterday discussing with EU officials precisely these issues. You know,
the pact is a proposal that the European Commission has placed in front of the member states of the European Union.
So there is a lot of negotiation that needs now to happen before the pact becomes a reality, binding on its member states. Actually, I have to say, I
think the pact is a good instrument. For example, it recognizes that people must be rescued if they are lost at sea, and it's quite emphatic on that.
And also the pact, to go to your point, emphasizes that Europe has to adopt a solidarity approach, a shared approach. Let's remember, divisive,
manipulative politics in Europe and the other parts of the world have destroyed, have attempted to destroy solidarity.
This pact is an attempt to put it back as not only a value but an approach for Europeans. How this will be achieved, however, the pact proposes some
rather complex solution, we're still analyzing them. How it will be achieved, I think the devil will be in those details.
Now concerning what you quoted, the statement of the Vice President Schinas, he's referring to the people that go through a process of
determination whether they're refugees or not, and then those that are not refugees have to return to their countries.
The percentages have to be determined not arithmetically but through due process. Every person who claims asylum who claims that he wants or she
wants asylum needs to go through due process. The pact, as it is drafted now, recognizes that process, and we hope the integrity of that important
right of any asylum seeker will be respected in its final form.
ANDERSON: And let's be clear, whatever happens next has to be better than what you have described as the current approach in the EU which is
unworkable, untellable and often comes with devastating human consequences. Sir, we thank you for joining us.
GRANDI: Thank you Becky.
ANDERSON: With all the world problems from the pandemic to climate change for example to racial injustice. A new short film asked what if we took the
lessons of 2020 to heart. What do we mean by that? We will speak with Emma Thompson about that very subject, up next.
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[11:45:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Soon authoritarian rulers started to topple like statues, and new governments were suddenly never how about ignoring the
streets. We joined hands and pushed further, launching the years of repair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first step was rebuilding the economy around the core of essential work, food and farming, care for young and old, public
health.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, you heard it right. That was Actress Emma Thompson. She is one of the narrators on a new short film, "A message on the future to the
years of repair." It imagines the climate chaos, racial injustice uprisings in the Coronavirus pandemic of 2020 as a lesson, a turning point for
humanity.
Well, the film is coming out October 1st, and I'm absolutely delighted to say that Emma Thompson joins me now. We are all trying to figure out the
lessons of this year, feeling our way as we go, Emma. What's your sense of it all, and what's this film about?
EMMA THOMPSON, ACTOR AND ACTIVIST: It's about hope and the creation of hope. I love the title, the repair, because there is going to have to be so
much repair, but I also think it's incredibly important not to listen to people saying things like, it's time we all got back to normal, because the
normal that we've come from, that the pandemic has ripped us away from, wasn't very normal to begin with, I don't think.
I mean, we were all on a kind of terrible trajectory because of climate change, because of systemic racism, because of an enormous number of crises
in our lives. So the film is really about how do we sit in this sort of nexus of crisis and envisage a future that is not only possible, but
achievable, and then sustainable?
ANDERSON: All right. Well, I've got a big question for you. Naomi Klein is of course the Executive Producer of this film. I interviewed here last week
about the -- of her -- which I'm sure you've read it's great. Have a listen to what she told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAOMI KLEIN, ACTIVIST, JOURNALIST & AUTHOR: The Green New Deal is a framework to tackle the climate crisis, but also many of the other crises
we face. It's a recognition that we live in a time of overlapping and intersecting crises.
Economic inequality, racial exclusion, gender exclusion, and, of course, the climate crisis and these diseases so how does we multitasks? How do we
solve multiple problems at once and it isn't going to be one narrow policy, it's really going to be a framework for the next economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And Naomi wraps that framework up in what she describes as the Green New Deal. I would like to pose that question to you then, how do you
think we rebuild and revive? I know this is not exactly an easy one.
THOMPSON: No, it's not. But, I mean, it is exactly what the film is trying to describe. I mean, from all the years that I traveled around looking at
poverty, looking at the aids crisis, looking at climate change, what's come to me over the years over and over again, is all of this is connected.
It's vital now that we look at the connections the pandemic has allowed us to make. For instance, here in the UK, understanding how the virus has
affected the poor, the black people, Asian minority much, much more people in the north. The north/south divide is actually -- it's extraordinary how
the map of the world has been made so clear by the pandemic.
[11:50:00]
THOMPSON: We can't continue just to sit in our silos. As Naomi says, it can't be a one-issue argument that we have to pull it all to -- I mean,
hand forced to say only connect, only connect, because sustainable food it connects to stable health it connects to stable work.
Everything is connected. And I suppose that's why I love the film so much and agreed to be part of it in a very small way. After all, I am only
reading what Naomi and Avi have created in their minds, this wonderful vision of people coming together, of movements coming together.
It's not a false imaginary vision. I just watched the film about Greta Thunberg, and if you think about the Black Lives Matter movement recently,
there are so many movements on the go right now rising up.
And if they can connect with one another and so many partners behind this movie have connected. Even though they're not working hand in hand at the
moment, they recognize that this film means something very, very specific to every single one of them, from Green Peace to Black Lives Matter to the
Sunrise Movement to Global Nurses United.
All the movements recognize that within this film, there is a vision of something that they need and want to affect.
ANDERSON: With that I'm going to have to leave it there because we are bang up against the back of a break here. I know that you have been among 70
others -- let's call them stars, shall we, for want of a better word, that have signed a letter urging the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to reunited
refugee families.
I'm going to give our viewers just an opportunity to hear part of that as I thank you for this interview. That is something that is incredibly
important to this show as well on top of the other work you do.
I want to have you back, if we can, and see whether we can follow up on what is being done, because that story is important to us here at "Connect
the World." Emma, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.
Let me just put that full screen up for you. For some children in the UK, being kept apart from their parents they so desperately need is an everyday
reality. Pandemic or not, you have the power to change lives.
With just the stroke of a pen, you could fix the rules and help bring families back together. We will follow up and find out whether this letter
has elicited a response from Boris Johnson and the UK government.
New data from a European spacecraft reveals new secrets from Mars and finds more places to search for life on the red planet. That story is after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: New research has just raised the chances of finding life on Mars, using ground-penetrating radar from Europe's Mars-expressed spacecraft.
Italian scientists confirm that a sub-glacial lake discovered in 2018 contains liquid water. Now the salt needed to maintain the fluid state
means there could also be enough oxygen to support life. Yes, amazing stuff.
[11:55:00]
ANDERSON: Tom Kerss is an Astronomer and Author. He joins us now from London, England via Skype. Just how extraordinary is this finding, sir?
TOM KERSS, ASTRONOMER & AUTHOR: Well, it's a wonderful finding. I mean, to think about Mars is that if you write headlines with the word Mars and
water in it, everybody is going to get excited because we think of Mars as a very barren planet.
But this is exciting for numerous reasons. Firstly it shows the possibility of using sub-surface radar scanning to look beneath the surface in Mars.
And secondly, of course it shows that there is actually a more abundant water source under the -- than previously thought.
This connects to a general idea that perhaps there are many lakes of water, networks of lakes even under the surface of Mars which raises possibility
that this planet is or at least was once habitable.
ANDERSON: So how close are we to finding little green men?
KERSS: I wouldn't like to speculate on that, because I think I'd be putting my reputation on the line a little bit too much. What I can say is that
there is a tremendous effort to do so, at least to find some sort of life or perhaps confirm past habitability.
So there are several missions on that way to Mars right now which are going to be deploying landaus (ph) that is to say robots on the surface and
they're going to be going to more temper regions, not to the extremes of the poles but to places that are a little closer to the equator.
They will be able to explore what the surface of Mars is like today and like extension. What it may have been like in the past and then of course
we have orbiting space craft in multiple nations including quite recently the United Arab Emirates launched.
So there is a global effort certainly to probe Mars in more detail and figure out what it was like and what it is like today?
ANDERSON: With that, we are going to leave it there. We thank you very much, indeed, for joining us. Folks, we have had a wide and varied show
tonight. Is there intelligent life on Mars? Sometimes you might find yourself wondering the same thing about earth, right?
But earth is where we are, and who will lead the most powerful country on it? Donald Trump and Joe Biden both hope it is them. They will argue the
toss about why it should be them in just a few hours from now.
I'm going to zip off get some sleep before our coverage on CNN starts off what is the first of three debates. And that coverage starts at 3:00 in the
morning UAE time didn't you know that? So it is going to be an early night and an early morning for me.
For the time being it's good night from me and the team. Stay safe and stay well wherever you are watching.
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END
