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Connect the World
Biden To Campaign Georgia, Then Head To Iowa; Cynthia Nixon On Amy Coney Barrett Confirmation; CNN Speaks To Dubai Airport Chief; America's Youth Mobilize For Crucial Election; Candidates On Trial Amid Legal Challenges Over Mail-In Votes; NASA Finds Water On Sunlit Side Of Moon. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired October 27, 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)
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: T-minus seven days and counting. Home stretch of the U.S. election is finally here. The big
question this hour will every vote cast count? The Supreme Court rejecting an attempt to extend the mail-in ballot voting deadline, for example, in
Wisconsin, ballots that arrive after Election Day there set to be cast aside.
That is the America that we are connecting you to this hour. So what is the state of play a week out from what could very well be the most
consequential election of our time? Well, both candidates focusing their campaigns on battleground states in America today, ones which will be
crucial in securing the 270 Electoral College votes that either candidate needs to win this election.
Joe Biden making a play for the State of Georgia which has been red or Republican for decades for which his team believes is now actually up for
grabs. Biden is said to be preparing a speech that will draw parallels between the great depression and the economic struggles of today.
Meanwhile, President Trump will narrow his focus to defend states that he won in 2016, Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska. Coronavirus, of course,
framing much of the conversation and the tone of each candidate could not be clearer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to be traveling, continue to travel, but the big difference between us and the reason why it looks
like we're not traveling; we're not putting on super spreaders. We are doing what we're doing here. Everybody is wearing a mask and trying as best
we can to be socially distant. It's important to be responsible.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, no. He has. He's waved a white flag on life. He doesn't leave his basement. This guy doesn't
leave his basement. He is - he's a pathetic candidate, I will tell you that.
No, no, not at all actually the opposite absolutely the opposite. We've done an incredible job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, for all the political point-scoring, do not forget that 41,000 Americans are in hospital right now because of the Coronavirus. 29
states have now reported record highs of single day COVID cases in October. This map also shows that the rate with which cases are being added on a
weekly basis is very worrying.
Well, folks our next guest is one of the 60 million Americans who have already cast their vote. You may recognize her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CYNTHIA NIXON, ACTOR & ACTIVIST: Hey, did you vote yet? I just did. It is raining in New York City right now, but it is sunshine in my heart because
I just voted to take Donald Trump out of office. Please vote. Vote early, if you can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that's actor and activist Cynthia Nixon encouraging voters to cast their ballots now as we enter what is the last leg of this race.
Cynthia joins us now and before we move on are you confident your vote will count, Cynthia?
NIXON: I am because I am - I am voting in New York, and I am very optimistic about results of this election next week, but I am not going to
really be able to fully exhale until Donald Trump is leaving the White House in a helicopter in January. I look forward to that day.
ANDERSON: Well, the reason I ask that question is that this, of course, is a critical issue a week out from Election Day, that of key voting rights
with states, Cynthia, like Pennsylvania, like North Carolina and Wisconsin putting forward mostly Democratic-led cases to ensure that ballots that
arrive after Election Day are counted.
[11:05:00]
ANDERSON: Now, Wisconsin has lost that case. Are you concerned that votes won't be counted in this election?
NIXON: I'm extremely concerned that votes will not be - will not be counted in this election either through confusion about the mail-in system. People
- we see that the Republicans and Donald Trump are looking for any excuse not to count votes because when they count the votes, they lose.
So in terms of - of voter suppression, in terms of throwing people of color off the rolls, in terms of trying to literally destroy the United States
post office as a way of ensuring that Americans do not get their - their votes counted, it's why I actually was sure to - to vote in person and to
vote early.
But I - I know that there are people across the country because of are their age or their pre-existing conditions or their experience so far with
the Coronavirus that are really opting for the mail-in ballots, and I would just say to those people, you know, if - if you are planning to mail it in
and that is really your own option, do so but do it now. Do not wait.
ANDERSON: It is not like that we didn't have an indication from the Republican Party or for the Trump Administration, they had and let me put
quotes around these issues with mail-in voting.
NIXON: Yes. I mean, I think that the Trump Administration has so little to recommend itself and so little to fall back on in terms of the job that
they have done that all they can do is perpetuate myths, create myths out of whole cloth.
And so, you know, a lot of Republicans don't believe in the mail-in system and so they are more likely to vote in person than Democrats. But, you
know, my hope is - I mean, when I voted, even though it was like in a really sleepy time of the day, it was very crowded.
I think the fact that 60 million Americans have voted already and we're a week out, it's really - I think people - we always say this is the most
important election of your lifetime, but this one actually truly is.
I think there's such a sense of a do or die that I'm going to cast my vote, whatever it takes, and I think there is such - I know for myself, I have
never felt such joy and exaltation of casting a vote in my life and we see, you know, not only in New York, in Philadelphia, all over the country, that
actually the people are making a celebration out of this.
And we have - we have marching bands and people with boom boxes and people who are literally dancing online because we have waited for this moment for
four years and we are - we are thrilled, and, of course, terrified, but we're thrilled that it's finally here.
ANDERSON: Cynthia, there are so many threads in play in what is this last full week before this election, not least Coronavirus which I want to talk
to you about in a moment. But firstly Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation, critics say that that was pushed ahead quickly to secure a majority over
voting and election disputes. I want our viewers to have a listen to what Mitch McConnell had to say. Stand by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): We had a Supreme Court fight a month before the election in 2018 and we actually gained seats. I think this - this
nominee will be a political asset for our candidates around the country, not a liability, but an asset.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, it is worth noting that Amy Coney Barrett didn't vote in the Wisconsin mail-in ballot case, but I wonder how you think her
appointment could affect what could and probably will be a very messy election aftermath.
NIXON: Yes. I think that the thing that we certainly don't want to happen is this - there to be any ambiguity and the election to be referred to the
- to the Supreme Court. What we're looking at right now is we have a president who was elected by a minority of the American people, a Senate
that confirmed three Supreme Court Justices that was also elected by a minority of the American people.
And they're cementing a permanent conservative majority on the court 6-3 and after what Mitch McConnell has done I don't think the Democrats have
any choice but to expand the court in order to have the voices of the American people represented.
[11:10:00]
ANDERSON: You've said that you are terrified about what this Supreme Court change could mean for marginalized groups in America, including that of the
LBGTQ Community. Why is that?
NIXON: You know, what we have basically is attempts by the right to vilify LBGT people and cast us as - as predators and worse has failed because now
so many people know that LBGT people, have them in their lives and know them from watching on television. It's not possible.
The only path that they have towards curbing our rights is to saying that the rights of straight people are being curtailed, and what - what they are
doing is pitting our actual civil rights with something that they are casting as religious freedom. I do not accept that it is religious freedom.
You know, your ability to take away my rights as a queer person, but I think with the - with Amy Barrett, all of a sudden really the religious
freedom rights are ascendant. And, yes, we're looking at everything that we have won in just the last few years as gay people being on the chopping
block.
And, of course, not only queer people but a woman's right to choose, abortion rights, voting rights, every - marginalized people of every
stripe. We are seeing an enormous step backwards that will be with us for sadly decades to come.
ANDERSON: That court, of course, and its profile, its makeup doesn't change November 4th should Joe Biden be elected. There are criticisms that people
- of him and people who believe the he may, "Pack the court" going forward. But this election now, speaking to what you've just described and your
concerns, this election won't actually change that situation will it, your concerns?
NIXON: No. It will not. I mean, this is one of the many tragedies of the Trump Administration that he was able to elect - that he was able to
appoint three court justices, but certainly going forward whether or not the - the Democrats are able to flip the Senate and win the Senate which I
hope that they will.
We have to have more equitable representation in our - particularly in our Senate which is so skewed because it is skewed to give an upper hand to
small while rural states, and that has to change.
ANDERSON: I just want to talk about the Coronavirus. During last week's debate Mr. Trump called New York, your home city a ghost town, slamming
Governor Cuomo for his tight restrictions. I just want our viewers to have a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you go and look at what's happened to New York, it's a ghost town. It's a ghost town. Take a look at New York and what's happened to my
wonderful city for so many years. I loved it. It was vibrant. It's dying. Everyone is leaving New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Now, let's be very clear. COVID cases in New York are ticking up again as they are across so many of these states in America. Many reopening
plans are being rolled back. I just wonder. You live in New York. What is it like? What's the reality on the ground at present?
NIXON: There's a lot of economic hardship here, but it is far from a ghost town. I don't know the last time Donald Trump was here because he really
can't set foot here without being terribly booed. But I have to say, you know, I have a lot of, you know, certainly Governor Cuomo and Mayor Bill de
Blasio have not been anything but perfect in the last few years.
But what New York has is we have two leaders who actually believe in science, and that is why from being the epicenter earlier this spring to
now being one of the - an ever dwindling number of states that are still on the non-quarantine list.
We see what happens when you have leaders who actually encourage people to wear masks and enforce it as a rule, and it is why we are so lucky to live
in New York. And it is why in such a crowded place with mass transportation and all of the things that would be working against us; we have been able
to keep the numbers down because of leadership from the top and because of the diligence of the people here.
[11:15:00]
NIXON: And I'm very - I'm always proud to be a New Yorker, but I am never prouder than right now to see how we have flattened the curve from an
almost impossible high, from the word's epicenter?
ANDERSON: The point of view of Cynthia Nixon. Regards from Abu Dhabi in the UAE, a place I know that you know. I'm sure the people of Abu Dhabi wish
you the very best. Let's catch up again after the election, thank you.
NIXON: Thank you.
ANDERSON: We've had President Trump in recent weeks continually blasting the media for too much COVID coverage instead of urging voters to focus on
what he says is a great economy. It will certainly play a big part in this election, but possibly not in the way that Mr. Trump wants.
Many Americans are now struggling to stay afloat financially. Ed Lavandera met a couple of the small business owners in Texas who have been quite
frankly crippled by this pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's Townes Van Zandt, Blaise Foley, Doug Tom and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Big names were born on this little stage.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much music here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Live music has rattled the walls of the hole in the war bar in Austin, Texas, since 1974, but in March the COVID pandemic forced owner
Will Tanner to unplug the music.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILL TANNER, OWNER, HOLE IN THE WALL: Oh, it's sad, man.
LAVANDERA: Do you find yourself getting down?
TANNER: Everybody is a little down. I don't think I've got it much worse than anybody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Just before the pandemic life was great. Jimmy Fallon featured the "Hole in the wall bar" on "The Tonight Show." But this year Tanner says
he laid off almost 20 employees and he is fighting to keeps the bar alive going into debt. He misses the magical nights, deeply woven into the city's
cultural sound track. The silence isn't right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TANNER: Everything is starting to frame. The cracks are starting to show, you know, so, yes.
LAVANDERA: Does the iconic kind of nature of this venue make you want to protect and fight for it? Is that one of the things that's driving you?
TANNER: Yes. I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure that this exists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what I'm saying is right there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, I was looking at the wrong thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Shonda Johnson symbolizes the daily struggles of millions of Americans. For her the pandemic is a test of emotional endurance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHONDA JOHNSON, OWNER, ANOINTED HANDS SALON: I don't know what God is doing, but I do trust him and I know that he has strengthened me to be able
to put all these different hats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Control, you don't have body control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Johnson is diabetic and the single mover of an eighth grade boy with asthma who is attending school virtually and misses his friends.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYLOR JOHNSON, SHONDA JOHNSON'S SON: I honestly don't even know what they look like anymore, like I've forgotten.
S. JOHNSON: Just hearing what he has to endure. As a mother you want to be a protector. I see the frustration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Johnson is a self-employed hairstylist. Her salon was shut down for two months, and she's still trying to recover financially only serving
about half the clients she used to, and Johnson is also caring for her elderly parents. Her mother is in a wheelchair and her father is stricken
with Alzheimer's. She's juggling it all by sheer force of will.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
S. JOHNSON: You just keep going. You just keep going and try to survive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: Perhaps many Americans find themselves thinking about the end of the COVID pandemic. Will tanner likes to think it will look and feel a lot
like the iconic images of Americans celebrating the end of World War II?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TANNER: It's going to be, you know, people in the streets and people making out and hugging their friends, you know. I think it's going to be awesome,
and that's what I'm hanging on to, you know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: It's those fleeting dreams that help us see the end of this dark tunnel. Ed Lavandera CNN, Austin, Texas.
ANDERSON: These emotional and financial hardships from COVID-19 extend to every corner of the globe. Of course, ahead on the show this was the scene
in Northern Italy on Monday. Why protesters are so fed up as the government tries to control surging infections there.
And we know what sort of impact this pandemic has had on the travel industry. What to do about that and the potential for a recovery with the
Head of Dubai Airports. What he says is the biggest obstacle for the industry. That is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
ANDERSON: Clashes between police and protesters later on Monday in Northern Italy. These protesters took to the streets in several cities, angry over
new restrictions to try to curb Coronavirus infections there. Bars and restaurants now have a 6:00 pm curfew.
Small businesses, well, they fear they may quite frankly be crushed. That's the situation in Italy. Elsewhere across the region you will be well aware
by of the surge in infections which is pushing the hospital system to the brink.
Belgium's government warns they may run out of critical care bed, they say very soon. Meanwhile, Russia has imposed a nationwide mask mandate, our
international reporters with the very latest for you.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Melissa Bell in Paris, here in Europe several countries still battling that second wave and their rising
Coronavirus figures. In Belgium health authorities are worrying that the country's ICU capacity could run out within the next 15 days, and it's said
that authorities are looking how close to a second lockdown the country now needs to get?
Here in France a similar debate. Crisis meetings today and tomorrow to look at what type of restrictions will be necessary to try and bring down
France's soaring numbers. Positivity rate now nationally 17.8 percent. In Germany, meanwhile, Angela Merkel will meet on Wednesday with federal and
state leaders to look at what fresh restrictions might be considered there as the dramatic increases have continued over the course of the last few
days.
And in Italy, meanwhile, scuffles broke out in several northern cities against the new restrictions that were brought in on Monday.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Fred Pleitgen in Moscow as Russia is introducing a new mask mandate. Starting tomorrow people in this country
are going to have to wear masks when they're in public spaces, on public transports, in parking lots and inside elevators.
Also bars and restaurants will have to remain closed from 11:00 pm until 6:00 am. All this comes as Russia continues to deal with very high new
daily infections and also has recorded the single highest death toll in a span of 24 hours.
ANDERSON: All right. Well, the increasing COVID-19 restrictions crippling the international travel industry. We know that there are no coordinated
policies on quarantine, on testing and tracing when we travel, and so many people are not doing exactly that, traveling.
Let's look at the numbers which are very bleak indeed. More than half of the 330 million jobs in the travel and tourism industry are forecast to be
lost by the end of the year, and we can expect a GDP loss of $5.5 trillion, yes, you heard me correctly there, $5.5 trillion.
[11:25:00]
ANDERSON: CNN's John Defterios has been speaking about that and joins us here in Abu Dhabi. What did Paul tell you John?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, EMERGIN MARKETS EDITOR: Well, certainly it is extraordinary Becky the narrative there $5.5 trillion right? Have you ever heard a number
like that in terms of a drop in GDP? And this is what Paul Griffiths of Dubai airport was saying we can't take this lightly.
He says all the disparate testing and isolating programs around the world are killing off any hope of economic recovery. And Becky we find out
tonight that nearly 200 of the 500 European airports could be insolvent between 2020 and 2021 as a result of this.
We're still looking at traffic Becky down by up to 80 percent. It's such a shock so Paul Griffiths is suggesting we need to move quickly, IE, by the
first quarter of 2021 to international protocols. Here's his analysis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL GRIFFITHS, CEO, DUBAI AIRPORT: Well, the first thing we need to do, John, is to make absolutely sure there's harmonization across the world in
the testing, tracing, quarantine and mitigating methods that are being used.
At the moment all those discreet components that are absolutely necessary to get the world back up on its feet are looked a differently across the
world and until that harmonization happens we're not going to make the progress we need to make to get the world moving again.
DEFTERIOS: Does that take four to six months, like early 2021 to get that in place?
GRIFFITHS: Not at all. I believe that we're actually in a position now where we could adopt some of these methods. There are various different
types of scalable, affordable quick and accurate methodologies for testing now that are in the final stages of developments, and I think a lot of
countries are trialing those now.
If we could adopt one which would give you a positive or a negative result to a COVID test in literally a few minutes, that would transform the whole
thing. But that's not just the entire picture because the other problem, of course, is the extended quarantine periods that are being applied at the
moment.
In my view they are doing a small damage than any of the other single measures because people don't have the time to be able to spend up to 14
days in quarantine on reaching their destination.
DEFTERIOS: I'm wondering if you can get an early win with an air quarter before Dubai and London for example. There's discussion of London to New
York and adding Beijing or Shanghai. When could we see an established air corridor to serve of as a case study?
GRIFFITHS: Well, we believe we have all the steps in place, both here and in London to make that happen. But the thing, is of course, before we can
get any agreements signed we have to get the governments on board.
If we could get a travel corridor established between here and London, then we could very, very quickly see a massive surge in travel and confidence
and the numbers starting to come back which would be good for the economy, would be good socially and would be a good message to other cities around
the world to follow suit. So we're really, really keen to being an early adopter of this.
DEFTERIOS: Everybody is focus domestically right now on domestic priorities and keeping their populations safe, and they are not thinking about the GDP
impact of the travel and tourism industry. One in ten jobs internationally. One in four new jobs created prior to the pandemic. Is that a mistake on
the part of governments?
GRIFFITHS: I think it is a mistake because effectively you're just putting another sticking class. You're not actually dealing with the problem. What
governments need to get their heads around is the fact that we're not just dealing with a medical emergency here. We're also dealing with an economic
and social imagine and travel and tourism is one of the keys of getting that back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Sage words and an increasingly important argument there from Paul Griffiths who heads up Dubai Airports. John, what effort if any as of yet
on a global initiative to get things moving at a faster pace?
DEFTERIOS: Yes, good point, Becky. The future hospitality summit I was chairing for the last two days in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia sits as you
know is the Chair of the G-20 in 2020. So their idea is 12 issues for the public sector, 12 for the private sector and let the G-20 take this and run
because they have been looking for the right platform in which to do so and giving the sense of urgency Becky.
You talk about in your lead in, 200 million jobs dislocated in one year or perhaps just a little bit more than that is a shock to the global economy,
something we've never seen before.
ANDERSON: Yes, John Defterios in the house. John always a pleasure, thank you sir. You're watching "Connect the World" from our Middle East
Programming Hub here in Abu Dhabi in UAE just down the road of course from Dubai. Still ahead, tonight--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are really starting to recognize just all of the different chaos within the political climate right now that the voting
is really the only real say that we can have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:30:00]
ANDERSON: America's youngsters voting in record numbers and pushing other youngsters to vote in this most crucial of U.S. elections.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, we're one week out from the U.S. election and more than 65 million people in America have already cast their ballots early and mail-in
voting happening in record numbers. President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger Joe Biden are crisscrossing the country hitting the
key battleground states that will decide this election.
One of the many unique aspects of this Presidential Election is the early turnout of young voters. We've been following these numbers for some time
now, and they are eye-popping. Texas seeing more than three-quarters of a million people aged between 18 and 29 early voting this year.
And the reason that's eye-popping is compared to this point in 2016 is the following number. Back then it was just 133,000, similar increases in
Minnesota, in Florida and in Georgia, and do remember these are all critical battleground states. CNN's Dana Bash talked to some of what appear
to be these highly motivated young folk.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: University of Virginia Sophomore Libby Klinger is up early on a Saturday ready to roll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIBBY KLINGER, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, UVA COLLEGE REPUBLICANS: These people are behind us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Joining fellow campus Republicans to get out the vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KLINGER: There is a lot of enthusiasm among young conservatives to vote, especially in this critical year with everything that's been going on with
the pandemic. We're out here canvassing today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: They are the diehards but still say everyone they know is voting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLEE CORVIN, OUTREACH COORDINATOR, UVA COLLEGE REPUBLICANS: People are really starting to recognize just all of the different chaos within the
political climate right now that voting is the only real say that we can have.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: UVA Democrats are driving people to the polls. Hunter Hess waited with Maeve Connick for over an hour to cast an early vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been doing that a lot especially with first-year students who don't know the voting process very well.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know if I know anyone like any of my personal friends who haven't voted already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: On the lawn these students say voting is trendy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People on social media, they will post pictures of them with their ballots and they say I voted sticker.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's almost you feel a little pressure to vote?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Young voters are a crucial part of the electorate and are already making up a large share of early voting across 14 key states compared to
2016.
[11:35:00]
BASH: In Wisconsin early voting among young people is up from where it was in 2016 and both parties are working it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen an increase in the number of people asking questions about how to get registered to vote and trying to get registered
to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: The share of the youth vote is almost double what it was this time four years ago in Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome to it the FSU and new college Democrats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: College students here and across the pandemic-stricken country largely organize virtually. Youth turnout broke records in 2018 and
researchers at TISH College's circle at Tufts University--
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Black lives matter!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: So protests across the country helped keep the surge going.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABBY KIESA, TUFTS UNIVERSITY: We found that young people who were marching and demonstrating were not only were more likely to be registering people
to vote but were much more likely to be talking to other young people about the election and issues they care about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Democrat say that's the climate crisis and racial justice, Republicans the economy and jobs. The Biden Campaign motto is to reach
young people where they are, launching Biden/Harris designs for players on the popular Nintendo game animal crossing. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gaming
on the social media platform twitch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, snap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Joe Biden talking to Cardi B and his granddaughters with young influencers Kia Gerber and Mattie Ziegler. The Trump Campaign says their
best influencers are regular young people reaching out to friends like in a March madness style competition called "Maga Madness".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHANDLER THORNTON, NATIONAL CHAIRMAN, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Particularly right now they are online especially in the
environment that we're in so leaning into digital platforms is the best way we can reach young voters.
COURTNEY BRITT, REGIONAL VICE CHAIR, COLLEGE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: I don't know if it's because the pandemic have reduced the number of
activities that we can do that everyone has turned their attention, like, there's fewer sports to follow so this is the thing everyone is focused on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Back on the lawn at UVA some students are more passionate for the active voting than the candidates. These three voted for Biden?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Are you excited?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not excited about him but I like that he at least focuses on climate policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Some Republicans students say the same.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had my concerns he wasn't too conservative however to be kind on the tax cuts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Kiera Goddu President of UVA College Democrats organizes phone banking to voters in Virginia and battleground states across the country.
She says young Democrats are motivated by Trump's 2016 win.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIERA GODDU, PRESIDENT, UVA UNIVERSITY DEMOCRATS: The evidence that he can win an election which wasn't - which we didn't have that last time.
BASH: It was a wake-up call for you?
GODDU: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Dana Bash reporting there with a week to go. The really big and quite frankly concerning question now is will every vote count in this
American election? What happens if mail-in ballots turn up late?
Well, in some states that is in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court this hour Wisconsin now coming to the reality that its mail-in ballots will not
be counted if they arrive after Election Day the Supreme Court rejecting the state Democrats' appeal to extend the deadline, and in similar cases
are also being pursued in Pennsylvania and in North Carolina.
This will be the second time the high court makes a decision about Pennsylvania's deadline. Newly confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett didn't
vote in the Wisconsin decision or last week's on Pennsylvania but her future votes are likely to impact the trajectory of voter rights in this
election with only a week to go.
Let's bring in CNN's Election Law Analyst Jonathan Diaz for the legal perspective here. And Jonathan, what does this mean pre-election? There
it's such a short time left before November the 3rd. Will voters in America need to change their voting plans at this point?
JONATHAN DIAZ, CNN ELECTION LAW ANALYST: You know, it is difficult to say given the compressed timeline and, you know, the Supreme Court really has a
lot of control over its own docket and when it issues decisions.
Federal courts throughout this entire election cycle following the Supreme Court's lead have really been hesitant to extend voting opportunities or
make any changes that aren't already made by state officials.
So, you know, it's difficult to say exactly how the high court will affect these elections, but what is, you know, going to mitigate that to some
degree is the report that we just heard about the record-breaking numbers of early voting.
You know, the 66 million early votes already cast are approaching nearly 49 percent of the total 2016 turnout, and so those votes have been received
and will be counted. What's going to make the difference in the next seven days is whether or not voters who have requested mail ballots and not yet
returned them are able to get them back to election officials in time.
[11:40:00]
ANDERSON: So - and that is the bottom line, right? What chance then that those who aren't included in that 65 million, and that's an extremely high
number a week out, but those who are not included, those who haven't yet voted, what chance that not every vote cast between now and election day
will count?
DIAZ: Well, you know, it's going to depend on the state that the voter is in. Certain states do still have deadlines after Election Day so long as
the ballot is postmarked by Election Day and returned within a certain amount of time, those will be counted.
In other states the ballot needs to be received by the time polls close on Election Day. Fortunately in most jurisdictions a voter who has received a
mail ballot doesn't need to send it back through the mail.
They can go and physically turn it in at an election office or at a drop box and given the sort of highly publicized issues with the U.S. Postal
Service and the delays caused by Coronavirus, that may be the safest method for voters to make sure that their ballots can be counted.
ANDERSON: So the final question here and perhaps, you know, the most important question is what are the legal ramifications of what we've just
been discussing? We know at least one of these candidates is hugely litigious. He has a reputation for being such.
How these candidates either of these candidates uses what could is going on at present as a way to contest the election result? How tight will this
race or this result need to be for a candidate to contest it?
DIAZ: It would have to be quite narrow. The final results would have to come down to one of these pivotal states where there is a contested
deadline about receipt versus postmarked. And the number of outstanding ballots that are under dispute about whether or not they will be counted
would have to be enough to swing the result one way or another.
I don't want to suggest that it's not possible because it certainly is, and campaigns are positioning themselves, you know, to be prepared to fight it
out in the courts if it comes to that. But it really would really would, for example, would have to come down to Pennsylvania or North Carolina
being the decisive state.
And a number of outstanding ballots still to be counted and that will affect the outcome in one way or the other. If Vice President Biden is
ahead by, you know a certain number of votes on November 3rd at midnight in Pennsylvania and there are still, you know more votes than that
outstanding.
You could see the two campaigns positioning themselves depending on who is ahead and how many votes are left differently in terms of whether or not
they fight to have those votes counted.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. We are a week and counting T-minus 7. Thank you, sir. Like youngsters in America trying to make their voices heard, so, too,
are young people in Thailand. They have been mobilized through protests against their king more on their bold demands.
Up next, Nigeria has formed a panel to investigate police brutality as the countries entire police force is deployed to control alleged looting and
destruction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
ANDERSON: You're watching "Connect the World" I'm Becky Anderson. I want to connect you now to a monarchy in crisis and in a nation where the
constitution says its Kings must be revered. For weeks youngsters in Thailand have been protesting against their Monarch demanding returns.
On Monday thousands marched to the German Embassy in Bangkok seeking help. Now they want Berlin to investigate the King over his use of power when he
spends long stretches of time in Germany. Jonathan Miller with this report.
JONATHAN MILLER, JOURNALIST: In a Capitol crippled by protests, young Thais clamoring for the form of the Monarchy mobbed rush hour commuter route at
5:00 pm sharp. Across town a parliamentary session called to debate the deepening crisis was failing to debate the heart of the matter in hand
namely Thailand's supposedly constitutional Monarch.
So once again Central Bangkok has been brought to a total stand still by protests. And these guys were marching down the road here towards a - up
ahead. Now they have their demands and reforms rebuffed. They have had the prime minister completely ignore their ultimatum that he resigns.
They are marching to the German Embassy because Germany is where King Maha Vajiralongkorn goes home. He changed the Thai Constitution to enable him to
rule from abroad. Berlin expressed its displeasure over his conducting Thai State Affairs from German soil and the German Foreign Ministers warned
immediate consequences of everything that he's done there is deemed illegal. It's like the protesters smell blood.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARAVAT POND CHANTARAKAJON, PROTESTER: Like any kind of system that you have to be afraid of, any kind of institution that you have to be afraid of
to uphold, that's not right. That's not going to last.
MILLER: So King Vajiralongkorn is not a semi-divine King to you?
CHANTARAKAJON: No. No, and he knows it. He knows it the best that he is only human.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MILLER: Thailand's would be some King did a walk-about among ultra loyalists outside the Grand Palace, it's like watching a video from ancient
Siam as this subject crying out crazes prostrating themselves and kissing his feet. The Queen Suthida spots a man in the crowd who she supposedly
recognizes Thitiwat Tanagaroon a man who held up a picture of a late King at a pro-reform protest.
The King tells how brave he is twice and thanks him profusely. Long live your majesty Thitiwat says. I love you so very much. The protesters
presented a letter to the German Embassy, the contents of it which are too controversial for the Thai media to even report on.
It asks Germany to investigate just what Thai State Affairs King Maha Vajiranlongkorn has been conducting there and makes very serious
allegations about his activities and lifestyle. We couldn't reach the Royal Palace for comment. The protesters say they want reform, not revolution,
but the #republic has been trending.
ANDERSON: Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories that are on our radar. Right now had Hong Kong police tells CNN, they have arrested
three activists who allegedly violated the national security law. Local media report that one of them was arrested here nearby the U.S. Consulate
where he was going to seek asylum. Both the Consulate and police have declined to comment on that.
Well, a blast at a religious school in Peshawar in Pakistan has killed at least seven people and wounded at least 123 others. A hospital spokesman
says children are among wounded. The prime minister is calling it a terror attack.
[11:50:00]
ANDERSON: Police told CNN a bag was loaded with explosives and left at the Madrasa.
A judicial panel in Nigeria is investigating claims that protesters were shot in Lagos last week eye witnesses say soldiers opened fire on
demonstrators killing several people but the military is denying troops were even there. The investigation comes as country's entire police force
has been deployed to stop looting.
And scuffles break out in Poland's parliament. Some female lawmakers are protesting last week's court ruling which says abortion due to fetal
defects is unconstitutional. Protests have been going on in the ground in the country for nearly a week.
Well, coming up, a surprise lunar discovery could change space exploration permanently. We're going to speak to an astronomer about the implications
of water on the moon. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, there's a lot of talk about the dark side of the moon, but NASA has just announced an amazing discovery on the sunlit side. Scientists
have found proof that water exists on that part of the moon, not just frozen in the satellite's poles. The discovery came as somewhat of a
surprise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL HERTZ, NASA DIRECTOR OF ASTROPHYSICS: We weren't expecting water. We weren't guessing that water could survive in the sunlit part of the moon,
and so thinking about how did it get there and how did it survive is an interesting scientific question that tells us something about the history
of the moon. It might tell us about processes that take place on other airless properties in our solar system.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Scientists don't know if this water can be used as a resource yet, but our next guest believes the discovery has implications for human
habitation on the moon. Joining us now is Astronomer and Author Tom Kerss great to have you. Tom, how surprising in this discovery, and what
implications as far as you are concerned do it have?
TOM KRESS, ASTRONOMER AND AUTHOR: Yes. This is a surprising discovery. As you heard from the team themselves, very few people would have suspected
water of any particular substance to be available on the sunlit side of the moon, and the reason for that is because the intense ultraviolet radiation
from the sun actually would break down that water.
Having any water present as a body like the lake on surface, that would just - into space there is no atmosphere on the moon to pressurize the
water as it happens here on earth. So it's very surprising, and actually to me it's quite surprising just how much water is present there, because if
you were to take a fairly large chunk of the lunar soil and process that to extract that water, you could actually have half a glass of water out of
that which is a surprising amount.
But it's nowhere near as substantial as the amount of water ice that has been discovered at very high latitudes at the lunar poles--
ANDERSON: Sure.
KRESS: --which would be a much better resource. But this is geologically very interesting for the moon, and as we heard in the clip there as well,
perhaps it has implications for other bodies in our solar systems may be things like asteroids and indeed other planets, the surfaces of planets and
moons in our solar system.
[11:55:00]
KRESS: But needless to say, this does have an impact on the future of exploration for the moon because by understanding the composition of the
moon going forward, landing sites that are selected are going to be, you know, much better informed.
And so in the long term understanding what is actually present in the lunar surface like this is extremely important.
ANDERSON: I was absolutely fascinated to discover how this discovery was found partly as I understand it due to an infrared telescope mounted inside
a 747 jet? Yes, there are still reasons for those jumbo jets to be around, it seems. How does that work, Tom?
KRESS: Yes, it's sad news in a way. My father was a pilot for British Airways, and they have actually just retired their last 747s out of their
fleet.
ANDERSON: Wow!
KRESS: But yes, one 747 continues to live on in the form of Sophia, the stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy. So this jet takes a very
large telescope with a 2.5-meter aperture. That's actually quite similar in size and width to the very famous Hubble Space Telescope.
And it carries it up to about 45,000 feet to where the atmosphere is considerably thinner. So this telescope is able to make very clear infrared
observations of the universe. And now normally Sophia is used for studying things which are very faint and very far away.
And if they are in our own solar system they are typically rather distant things like the dwarf planet Pluto. So it's quite unusual for it to be
pointed at something so nearby and so bright. But it is a fantastic resource for infrared astronomy right now as there are very few missions of
comparable power and precision that is enabling us to do those infrared observations at the present time.
ANDERSON: Finally, and very briefly, and I think you've partly answered this question, what does this all mean for us mere earthlings, sir?
KRESS: For us mere earthling's water is so important and that's why we're here on the earth where most of the liquid water on the surface of any
world in our solar system happens to be. So if we're going to make progress in the future of space exploration, understanding how to access and use
water will be very important indeed?
Water can be used for all the obvious things that we do with our day-to-day lives here on earth, but in the world of space it can also be turned into
oxygen which is great if you want to breathe which is quite important.
And oxygen and hydrogen, the two components of water, can be recombined to form liquid rocket fuel of the type that's used in many launch vehicles
that we see leaving the earth today.
ANDERSON: Sure.
KRESS: So understanding how to access that water will be extremely important for our long-term exploration in space?
ANDERSON: Mr. Kerss, you make everything sound so simple. Thank you. I love somebody who can just explain stuff like that so that I understand it. For
some the words fly me to the moon may hit the spot right now, earth seemingly just a little bit overwhelming at times this year - feel like
that. Folks never forgot we are all in this together, so stay safe. Stay well, very good evening.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
