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7.0 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Aegean Sea Near Turkey; U.S. Smashes Record with Nearly 90,000 New COVID-19 Cases; Trump & Biden Fan Across Crucial Swing States in Final Sprint; WHO: Europe Again at Epicenter of Crisis. Aired 10-10:45a ET
Aired October 30, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four of the highest number of cases we have ever seen, virus is raging.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The U.S. will probably climb past 100,000 infections per day within the next couple of weeks.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If they continue on the course we're on, there's going to be a
whole lot of pain in this country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a direct result to horribly failed errors. Our failure to mask up and to get enough testing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen voters moving from Trump citing concerns about the pandemic.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We know the disease. We social distance, we do all of the things that you have to do.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Donald Trump just had a super spreader event here again. They're spreading more than just coronavirus.
He's spreading division and discord.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Well, tonight, divide and conquer, this is how you get to run America. Red, blue, light blue and kind of pinkish there as
well, also some yellow. This is how you get to the White House.
This is the road to the White House. You need to get all of those numbers to add up to more -- 270 or more.
We will explain all of that through this hour. First up, though, we have some breaking news for you out of Turkey. A magnitude 7.0 earthquake has
struck in the Aegean Sea. We are learning that several people have been killed in Turkey. Have a look at the moment that it struck.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
ANDERSON: Now, we're hearing about extensive damage.
Arwa Damon is in Istanbul for us.
And we're looking at these images out of Izmir in Turkey.
What's the impact, Arwa, and where at this point?
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, a lot of the destruction that we're seeing is really centered in two districts in
the city of Izmir itself, which is about a 40-minute or so drive from the coastal town that is closest to where this quake struck, the epicenter of
this earthquake in the Aegean Sea.
And you could just hear the fear in people's voices in that clip you just showed with, you know, the shouts of run, get out, and that is exactly what
it was. Complete and total paralyzing fear for so many in that area.
There are a number of buildings, mostly, again, in these two districts in Izmir City itself, images that are being shown on Turkish television
channels show some buildings that were completely flattened that collapsed upon themselves. Rescue teams were dispatched to the sites very, very
quickly.
But what we do know right now is that at least 120 people were wounded and four people were killed and that includes one person who drowned. We've
seen some images as well of flooding, what could have been a small tsunami that was generated in a small town that is closest to the epicenter of this
earthquake.
And, you know, rescue teams were dispatched, Becky, very quickly to the affected areas. Turkish search and rescue teams are quite adept at
responding to these types of natural disasters. Turkey, of course, being no stranger to earthquakes.
And in this particular instance there were at least 33 after shocks that were registered, people are being told to stay away from the areas that
were impacted so as not to impede the efforts of the search and rescue teams, but also to take certain precautions like turn off their natural
gas, electricity, water and also to not make phone calls so that they can keep those lines clear, but rather try to communicate with each other using
text messaging or the Internet.
ANDERSON: And, Arwa, Greece and Turkey both situated, of course, in one of the world's most active earthquake zones. Our viewers may remember back in
1999, a 7.4 magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey's northwest, killing at that stage more than 17,000 people, including 1,000 in Istanbul.
So, as you say, people not unfamiliar with seismic activity and clearly rescue services in this occasion or on this occasion, quick to respond.
[10:05:06]
DAMON: That's right. That was the earthquake that happened in Izmir, extraordinarily powerful.
But also, you know, even though people in turkey are in a sense, you know, bracing themselves, anyone who lives here is in theory ready for an
earthquake, you're still never ready for something like that when it actually hits you. You're not ready for the fear, the best you can do, as
anyone who lives in an earthquake-prone zone would know has tried to be as ready as possible, tried to remember those bits of information that you
have about, you know, where you should go, how you should react to when it happens.
What we saw in Izmir City itself was people flooding out of buildings, out into the streets, trying to get out of danger as quickly as possible, but
obviously, you know, there are still grave concerns that people may still be trapped underneath the rubble, you know, these things happen
extraordinarily quickly. You know, a number of the newer buildings in Turkey are up to a certain code, you know, buildings in Turkey because this
country is prone to earthquakes and it is on a number of significant fault lines they do have pretty strict codes in place.
But, of course, there are a number of buildings that aren't necessarily up to code and when these earthquakes strike, those are, generally speaking,
the buildings that do tend to collapse. But again, that search and rescue effort still very much ongoing.
ANDERSON: Thirty-eight ambulances, 35 rescue teams and two ambulance helicopters we are just learning from the Turkish health minister as you
and I have been speaking.
The operation is, as Arwa says, ongoing. Thank you.
Well, to America now, which is, of course, just four days away from its presidential election. The zero hour is here for the coronavirus -- in
fact, you could call it the zero second. Every single second in the United States, someone gets infected with the disease. The country smashing its
new daily high in cases Thursday, nearly 90,000.
And it's not just new cases on the rise, nearly 1,000 people died of COVID- 19 again on Thursday, three states reporting record deaths and a good indicator of how bad things are, 17 states are reporting record
hospitalizations. I've been showing you this map all week and with each passing day there is more orange and red on it, 43 states now trending the
wrong direction, including all 13 campaign battleground states.
Well, on the campaign trail the difference in how the candidates are approaching the pandemic could not be more stark.
Here is Democratic challenger Joe Biden and President Donald Trump in dueling rallies in Florida on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We locked down, we understood the disease, and now we're open for business.
BIDEN: We're expected to lose another 200,000 people between now and the end of this year if we do nothing. This is not a political statement. It's
a patriotic duty, for God's sake. But still Trump refuses to listen to the science.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Those appearances in Florida.
Part of the final week campaign blitz for both candidates. And Florida is essential in Donald Trump's equation to reelection. We've seen the polls,
they show Joe Biden heavily favored, but polls can be wrong, just as we saw in 2016.
The president does have a path to win if everything goes just right for him, including a win in Florida.
A Biden win in Florida, though, would make that almost impossible and Joe Biden knows it. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Right here in Florida it's up to you. You hold the key. If Florida goes blue, it's over. It's over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, if the president wins Florida, the rest of his path to victory runs through Pennsylvania and those key Midwestern battleground
states.
That's where both candidates are headed today, perhaps unsurprisingly. They will be in Minnesota and Wisconsin where coronavirus spikes have been
awful, quite frankly.
Minnesota restricting the crowd size at Mr. Trump's appearance to 250 people after the Health Department there linked dozens of COVID cases to
previous Trump rallies.
Well, the Trump campaign calls it stifling free speech, but even the president himself is starting to acknowledge that some precautions are
necessary.
[10:10:03]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We know the disease, we social distance, we do all of the things that you have to do. If you get close, wear a mask.
Always controversial, it's not controversial to me. If you get close, wear a mask. Social distance. Social distance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: But his messaging is mixed. He's repeated familiar talking points to that crowd that things are getting better and contracting the
disease is not that big a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's rounding the turn, it's rounding the turn.
Hey, excuse me, I'm sure you didn't hear, nobody heard this, right, I had it. Did you know that?
You know the bottom line, though, you're going to get better. You're going to get better. If I can get better, anybody can get better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, he did recover. He also got treatment almost nobody else can get right now.
And the truth is the U.S. is not rounding the turn. The numbers don't lie. The pandemic is as bad as it's ever been. Will it be the tipping point on
Election Day? We will find out soon enough.
Well, CNN's reporters found out across key states as the early voting and campaigning enters its final days. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Nick Valencia in Atlanta, Georgia, where after three weeks early voting will officially come to an end tonight
when polls close at 7:00 p.m. The storm that passed through the state left up to a million people at one point without power and caused delays to
polling sites in 15 counties.
The secretary of state says any county that wants to file an extension will have to petition the court. Already, 3.6 million people have cast their
early votes, roughly 86 percent of the entire totals for 2016.
JASON CARROLL, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jason Carroll in Tarrant County, Texas, just outside of Fort Worth. We are here in the state because
Democrats say they're seeing a shift. This is a state that's been reliably red for decades, but there's been a change in demographics here in the
state of Texas, huge voter turnout and Democrats say that means that Joe Biden might actually have a chance in the state of Texas.
Hard to believe we're even saying it, but this is what Democrats are saying here in the state and they're putting time and money into the state, $5.6
million in ad spending in the state. Senator Kamala Harris, vice presidential candidate, is doing not one, not two, but three stops in the
state of Texas here today.
Republicans say that's all wishful thinking about the state turning blue, but Democrats are spending the time and the money here and they say they're
betting that Joe Biden has a shot.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN U.S. CORRESPONDENT: I'm Miguel Marquez in Oakland County, a place where President Trump is coming today.
I want to show you what the crowd looks like, hundreds and hundreds of people lined up already. A very cold and early morning, he is not due here
for several more hours. This is the county that he lost in 2016 by about eight points to Hillary Clinton, but he won the state by 10,704 votes. The
president hopes to repeat that, if not better it.
Both campaigns working the state very hard. The president has been here twice this week, Joe Biden will appear with Barack Obama on Saturday,
tomorrow, in the state. That's the first time they will appear together.
Some 5 million Michiganders are expected to vote in this election, about two thirds of those ballots should be in by Election Day with people voting
early.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Gary Tuchman in Cleveland, Ohio, on a cold windy day, hundreds of people are waiting this line to vote at the
county election office. For people who don't want to wait outside they can drop off their ballots to these election workers.
Ohio is a very important state. It's a battleground state, too close to call in the presidential rate. It's also a bellwether state. No state has
been more accurate an Ohio over the years in picking the presidential winner. The last time Ohio missed was 1960, 60 years ago when Ohioans
picked Richard Nixon over John F. Kennedy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Hmm, we heard there.
Voters are turning out in droves across the country, more than 83 million people in the states have already voted, nearly 60 percent of all the
ballots cast back in 2016.
Let's do the math, then, folks. CNN's man of the moment, the poll master himself, Harry Enten, beams to us in every way possible, live from New York
for you this hour.
So, Mr. Enten, where does the race for the keys to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue stand in the six closest states that Trump won back in 2016?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER: Yeah. I mean, if you look at them, what you see is that President Trump is trailing in all of them. He's
also trailing in Nebraska's second congressional district.
The races are close in Florida, North Carolina, but as long as Biden wins Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania where he leads by 6 or at least 6, he
gets to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. He also wins the Clinton states. So he looks pretty good at this point.
ANDERSON: I know a lot of folks remember the state polls missed in 2016, not least in Wisconsin, it has to be said -- sorry, in Michigan.
What happens if we have a similar error this year?
ENTEN: Yeah, if you have a similar error this year, Joe Biden is still favored to be the next president, even if the polls are as wrong as they
were in 2016.
If there is one thing I will say over and over again, look, Trump can win, but he needs a bigger polling miss than he got in 2016 in order to get
reelected.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating. Obviously, coronavirus cases rising nationwide. Is that the case in all the important swing states?
ENTEN: It absolutely is. If you look at the ten closest states that Donald Trump won in 2016, look at this, coronavirus cases are climbing in all of
them. Really in Wisconsin, there's no way to avoid on the campaign trail coronavirus is a very key issue.
ANDERSON: It should be a key issue. Question is, is it? How would you expect rising cases at this point to affect the presidential race given
that we are four days out?
ENTEN: Yeah, I mean, look, if it does, which I do think it will because it is listed as the most important problem by voters, it will benefit former
Vice President Joe Biden. You can see it there on your screen. Who is best to handle the coronavirus response? Biden ahead of Trump, and we've seen
this over and over and over again. More voters trust Biden than Trump to handle the coronavirus response.
ANDERSON: So there any precedent for a candidate winning when they are down so much on the most important problem facing the country?
ENTEN: I mean, look, if you look back over time, Gallup has been asking the most important problem, which party do you handle -- trust to handle
that most important problem, only once has the party that was not trusted actually won the presidency, that was back in '48, the polls were pretty
poor there.
But you see that won the presidency pretty much every single time you trust the party to handle the most important problem, that party wins the White
House.
ANDERSON: It's fascinating. Mr. Enten it's been an absolute pleasure. This is our last show before we hand over to our colleagues in the states to
pick up the coverage Monday, of course, a massive day Tuesday.
So we will see you on the other side of this. Good luck with everything.
ENTEN: Bye.
ANDERSON: You've just seen the poll numbers are extremely tight in several crucial states across the country. The winner is absolutely up in the air.
It ain't over until it's over, folks.
Let's zoom in on the battleground state of Wisconsin where both Joe Biden and President Trump will be crossing paths in these final days.
CNN's Bill Weir is on the ground there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL WEIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The future of Wisconsin is being written in long lines, lines to vote and lines to test as the virus spreads at
nightmare rates.
So what are you worried about more these days, COVID-19 or the election?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be a toss-up.
WEIR: She is among the thousands pouring through this center in Madison each day where they knock out one free test every nine seconds. At current
rates the state's intensive care units will overflow within weeks, an outrageous preventable final straw for Bden voters who see Trump's mostly
maskless Wisconsin rallies a super spreader events.
TRUMP: We're rounding the curve. We're rounding the corner.
JOHN BORGWARDT, WISCONSIN VOTER: I don't understand how he can downplay the seriousness of this. It just totally escapes me.
WEIR: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's wrong.
ANN HEASLETT, WISCONSIN VOTER: I think Biden is going to win this state. I think that it has strongly affected the way that I would vote. I think
Trump has handled this abysmally.
WEIR: But in Trump's Wisconsin, from farm country up north to the suburbs of Milwaukee, there is a very different level of COVID concern.
Did it affect the way you think about this election?
MICHELLE ANDERSON, WISCONSIN VOTER: No, not at all. Just stay safe, they have lots of hand sanitizer and they have alcohol wipes, they have glass
protection, it's very safe.
My biggest reason for voting for Trump is Biden, I don't believe he's going to live that long and I am a female, but I just -- I'm not comfortable with
two females in office and I don't care for Nancy. So --
WEIR: Her fear of Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris makes her the exception as polls show Joe Biden holding a wide lead among women. Early turnout
among younger voters is also off the charts, but Milwaukee's black voters have yet to show up in the numbers that helped Barack Obama's first win.
Do you see that yourself, like there is a different interest now than there was in '16?
JUSTIN HAMPTON, WISCONSIN VOTER: For sure because of a lot of things that occurred in the United States, you know, with police brutality, you know,
and equality, you know, with African-Americans and other brown races.
WEIR: You worry that what happened in Kenosha might inspire the other side to come out?
HAMPTON: I mean, yeah. I mean, it is what it is. You know? Most definitely.
BEN WIKLER, CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF WISCONSIN: Feels like bungee jumping during a hurricane.
[10:20:01]
WEIR: Meanwhile, Wisconsin's Democrats lost a Supreme Court plea for more time to gather pandemic mail-in ballots, but they are winning every recent
pre-election poll.
WIKLER: It's pretty clear when we look at the numbers that there are a lot more Democrats voting early in absentee than Republicans and more new
voters who are likely voting for Biden and Harris than new voters voting Republican.
A single voter in Wisconsin has a bigger say about the future of humanity than almost anyone who has ever lived.
WEIR: Have you considered combining the two biggest stories of the day and have ballot drop-offs while you're getting your COVID test?
KEN VAN HORN, MADISON DANE COUNTY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS COORDINATOR: I think that we want to -- we want to concentrate on just testing here and
health is health, and I -- I wish it weren't political.
WEIR: After testing a quarter million people, so far, not a single worker here caught the virus. Just more proof that prevention is the best
medicine.
VAN HORN: On any given day one of our testers is probably exposed to about 80 positive cases and they are wearing a mask and face shield and that's
keeping them safe. I worry whenever I see a large gather without masks because I know the virus is going to spread in that community and I worry
for them. I wish that people would just wear masks.
WEIR: Bill Weir, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Get this, early voting in the state of Texas has surpassed the total of 2016. So what does that mean for the Biden campaign, for example?
(BEGIN VIDDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He has a chance in Maine, but for Texans, no. Unlikely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard to say because Texas has always been a red state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Despite that, the Democrats do hope to turn that red state blue. We will look at their chances a little bit later.
And some Americans are just fed up with it all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We started the process before coronavirus, but the political situation has been less than ideal for a number of years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: For generations, Italians thought the grass was greener in America. Well now the tables have turned. The booming demand for Italian
citizenship is just ahead.
Plus, the latest on the investigation into the attack of a French church -- on a French church that left three people dead. The debate the tragedy has
reignited across France.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: At least four people have been killed following a 7.0 earthquake off the coast of Turkey. These pictures of rescue operations coming to us
just moments ago from our Turkish affiliate DHA. We continue to monitor exactly what is going on there.
Arwa Damon in Istanbul is working her sources a little bit more on that, we will bring it to you.
[10:25:06]
All right. We've been talking about the COVID cloud shrouding the U.S. presidential election. We have already connected you to the Midwest, to
Atlanta and Texas.
Well, out west Arizona getting a load of attention, both because of its uptick in the coronavirus cases and its coveted 11 Electoral College votes.
So each campaign held very different-looking rallies there this week. President Donald Trump holding a largely maskless shoulder to shoulder one
in Goodyear and Joe Biden's vice presidential pick cha holding drive-in and smaller events all over the state.
Arizona is one of CNN's most competitively ranked states and early voting there has already surpassed the halfway mark compared to the total number
of ballots cast last time back in 2016. Well, the state has already seen a quarter of a million COVID cases and the numbers still headed in the wrong
direction. The governor says he expects a spike in cases as the year ends.
Well, joining us now is Representative Ruben Gallego who is Arizona's Democratic congressman from Phoenix, who tweeted in response to the
governor's press conference that words are not enough to fight the spread of this disease.
What's the atmosphere like in Phoenix and around the state of Arizona at the moment, sir, between COVID and indeed this very hotly contested
election?
REP. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): Well, there certainly is a lot of activity and a lot of excitement both obviously for the election but also because people
are starting to get scared, trying to prepare for what we believe will be another surge in coronavirus and, you know, really looking for some
guidance and leadership from the White House or governor and at this point, we're not getting either.
ANDERSON: Have a listen to the former FDA commissioner, sir.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: This is really sort of last stage of the acute phase of this, 2021 is going to start to look a lot
better. I think we will be celebrating together in 2021, Thanksgiving of 2021. We need to get through the next couple of months.
This is the hardest point in this pandemic right now, the next two months. We've done a very good job sheltering a lot of people and keeping people
safe. We can't give up our guard right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Are you prepared, sir?
GALLEGO: I certainly am prepared, but I'm prepared because my job is -- doesn't necessarily require for me to actually go to work, I can do almost
everything remotely.
But the problem is that we have a lot of people that cannot do that. We have a lot of people that are essential workers, a lot of them that don't
have access to health care. I have access to health care. I have a lot of, you know -- I live in a home with my fiancee and my son. There's a lot of
people that live in multi-generational homes that if one people get sick, you take out as many as ten people this that household.
So, no, the state is not ready, and certainly at this point, the country I don't think is ready. We have a lack of leadership that's been coming from
the White House and it's trickled down to this governor who hasn't done anything except host a press conference yesterday.
ANDERSON: I lived in the Grand Canyon State, the Great Grand Canyon State back in the early '90s. I lived through the 1992 election there. I know --
you know, just how well people get involved, how mindful are -- people are of their responsibility.
And Arizona has only voted for a Democratic presidential candidate once since 1952, but CNN's poll of polls puts Biden ahead at 49 versus Trump on
45 percent.
Do you genuinely believe that things could be different this year? And is that why things are so crucial at this stage?
GALLEGO: Yes, I do think things can be different. We've been trending more and more Democratic since 2010. We've seen a huge increase in Latino voting
over the last ten years.
Right now, we are estimating close to -- of the 3 million voters that are going to vote this year, we think 700,000 of them will be Latino. Plus, we
have a lot of young families that are now moving here which are now voting more and more Democratic. And all that being said, you know, it all comes
down to the last couple days.
You know, we still have about 900,000 more voters that should be coming out to vote and that's why you're seeing all the candidates roll through and
all of us doing everything we can to get out that last vote.
ANDERSON: Have a listen to this, sir.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Biden's agenda will devastate the Hispanic-American community. He betrayed Hispanic-Americans for 47 years. He's been very bad for the
Hispanic-Americans.
BIDEN: It's unconscionable that the Trump administration says they care so much, are deporting hundreds of Cubans and Venezuelans back to their
dictatorships.
[10:30:05]
Trump loves to talk but he doesn't care about Cuban and Venezuelan people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You've remarked and rightly so that there is an increasing Latino population in Arizona.
Are you worried that these candidates, these campaigns, are mistaking Latino voters for a monolith as it were? You know, an expectation that, you
know, an increasing Latino vote means, you know, an increasing likelihood that you could flip this state this time?
GALLEGO: Well, I'm not worried about it, but you have to make that calculation. I mean, we all make calculations who to support and who to is
not. Now, it doesn't mean you don't make the investment, that's the danger that has occurred in the past.
What we have seen so far is that Vice President Biden has made millions and millions of dollars of investment in the Latino vote, not just expecting
our vote. And also, you know, President Trump has no choice but to try to scrap whatever Latino votes he can. He is in a very dire situation when it
comes to trying to find votes, and it's not going to be easy. His record with Latinos is nothing to talk about at all.
We just discovered there's 540 new orphans because of this administration and that is not going to go away in the minds of Latinos anytime soon.
ANDERSON: I guess the question is, is Joe Biden, the man for Latinos? Certainly, Bernie Sanders was a more popular candidate amongst Latinos in
many parts of the country.
But -- we will see, and we're nearly there. The road is shortened. We are only three days and counting out.
Thank you, sir, and the best of luck.
CNN's special coverage of this election, an election like no other starts Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. London time, bang on midnight here in Abu Dhabi.
And while you consider where you will be watching and with whom, I'm going to take a quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MILAN KUBEK, CZECH MEDICAL CHAMBER PRESIDENT (through translator): The health system has never faced such a health challenge before. Every day
there is an increase of 1,000 sick health care workers with 10 million people in the Czech Republic, this is a serious number.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, a snapshot of the terrifying situation in the Czech Republic which this week reported the highest rate of new coronavirus
infections and deaths per capita in the European Union. We've been taking you to the front lines of Europe's crisis all week, what the WHO calls the
global epicenter at present.
And with 1.5 million cases reported last week, it means the continent has now passed the 10 million cases mark.
[10:35:01]
The E.U. says it will spend more than $250 million to fund patient transfers across borders after fears some hospitals could be overwhelmed in
some countries.
Well, CNN has been crossing borders for you, too.
Melissa Bell joining us live from Paris. Back home after a trip to Belgium, see the situation there firsthand.
Melissa, what did you find?
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, it is the country that is one of the hardest hit in Europe right now, there is a positivity rate
nationwide of 25 percent and in this last week the number of hospitalizations has risen by 77 percent, Becky, on just a week ago. That's
how bad the situation is, even worse around the province of Liege, we visited a hospital that has already run out of space.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BELL (voice-over): It's the sound of the ICU that many of its nurses can hear even at night. All is calm until one of their COVID patients has
trouble breathing.
So, they get kitted up and head in. Part of a workload that is 200 percent heavier than with the non-COVID patient, according to the ward's head
nurse.
PASCAL ENNAFIA, HEAD NURSE ICU UNIT, LIEGE CITADELLE HOSPITAL (through translator): They have to be really fast to get there to protect
themselves, to avoid taking risks, even as they revive patients. But will all those extra layers on, when they come out, they'll be sweating.
BELL: These ICU nurses have already been through the first wave. Some, haven't had a break since. Now, they're on the front line of one of the
fastest spreading COVID outbreaks in the world.
The graph says it all. The positivity rate recorded daily in the hospital lab shows a vertical climb from early October. Tuesday, 2,000 people were
tested by this lab, more than half were COVID-19 positive.
HENRY PARIDAENS, BIOLOGIST, LIEGE CITADELLE HOSPITAL: We have a very alarming positivity rate of 60 percent.
BELL: Which means, say the doctors here that an exponential rise in patients needing hospitalization will follow within the next few days.
Today, this ICU has just one spare bed. All too soon, doctors are going to start having to make impossible decisions about who gets a bed and who does
not, about who is most likely to survive.
STEPHANE DEGESVES, HEAD OF EMERGENCIES, LIEGE CITADELLE HOSPITAL (through translator): It's the sort of decision that just can't treat (ph)
everything we do. The dream of a doctor is to save lives. It's certainly not to say, okay, I will not save this person and I know it. So, it's not
the type of decision that we take alone.
BELL: Already the medical staff at this hospital get psychological help, techniques borrowed from the Israeli Army that allow them to identify those
struggling with being on the front line of a ward that no one is winning and that few outside the hospital really understand.
DR. MARTIAL MOONEN, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, LIEGE CITADELL HOSPITAL (through translation): The message is very clear, that all those people who don't
respect the rules, who make anti-mask propaganda should come and spend a day with me at the hospital to see the patients who can't breathe and for
whom we can't do very much. To see them isolated from their families because no one can visit. To see them die alone, which is psychologically
very, very difficult.
BELL: These children have come to say happy birthday, from a distance. Their only consolation, that their loved one was one of those who got a bed
when he needed it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL: Becky, we asked the doctors in that hospital about the news of the E.U. funding transfers to neighboring states should hospitals get
overburden. And they said, look, first of all, these kind transfers are dangerous, expensive, take a lot of time and said our neighbors are not in
terribly much better situation than we are.
Later today, we're expecting Belgium to announce fresh restrictions, Becky, a possible full second lockdown. But what the medical staff in that
hospital told us is it is already too little, too late.
ANDERSON: That's fascinating. Thank you, Melissa.
The E.U. is saying that it is vital that countries share information with each other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION: The commission announced tonight that we are making 220 million euros available to finance
a safe cross-border transfer of patients where it is needed. And for that, the good use of the money requires good information in exchange.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: But, of course, measures like this will have a significant financial impact on the E.U., especially after the ECB said the euro area
economic rebound is losing momentum more rapidly than expected. It has been a difficult start leading the European Central Bank for Christine Lagarde.
To the ultimate solution, the race to find a COVID-19 vaccine literally a matter of life or death.
[10:40:05]
Right here, the UAE has been on the front line of positioning itself to be one of the first countries in the world to get that vaccine. It's put
itself amid two vaccine trials to lead the way on research, manufacturing and distribution.
I spoke to Dr. Jamal al Kaabi who is the undersecretary at the Department of Health here in Abu Dhabi and I asked him about how the unique makeup of
the UAE is an important asset.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JAMAL AL KAABI, UAE HEALTH OFFICE: From medical perspective having such great mix of population and demographics is really a critical
requirement to warrant the robustness of the research and result itself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: He explains this is a double-blinded study, testing two vaccine veins and strains and placebo. Volunteers received two jabs three weeks
apart. And what will success look like?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AL KAABI: If we develop the immunity for those who are in the trials and we are talking about four fold increase in their immunity and then at the
same time if they are exposed to the virus, will this vaccine protect them or not? This is the $1 million question.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: You can see my full report next hour. It's fascinating what's being done here.
While a vaccine is the best way forward some are stomping out the disease without one. There is proof that this virus can and will be beaten. There
is a better way.
Several places in the world are being held as success stories, not least Taiwan which has gone 200 days without reporting a new locally transmitted
COVID case.
Other places that have essentially beaten the virus include Singapore, South Korea, China and Thailand. Another key country in the Asia Pacific
Region, New Zealand.
Kristie Ku Stout shows us a slice of normal life, listening to music.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With the virus virtually gone, very few restrictions remain in New Zealand and the gigs are back on.
MERMAIDENS, NEW ZEALAND MUSICAL ACT: It's overwhelming. I just feel so grateful for our amazing government and our amazing people who have kept us
safe.
STOUT: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is a keen supporter of the music industry and earlier this month, younger voters helped to propel
her to a landslide reelection win.
It's safe to say she has the full backing of the Mermaidens and with a ban on international arrivals one of the few COVID-19 restrictions left, local
bands have an opportunity to grow their fan base.
MERMAIDENS: It is so much amazing music in New Zealand and so much talent but a lot of the bands that are so incredible are quite small.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: The story of New Zealand.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[10:45:03]
ANDERSON: Wow. Look at these massive waves in Nazare, Portugal. They are truly breathtaking. This is a popular surfing destination anyway, but the
remnants of Hurricane Epsilon created record waves there.
Well, take a look at this. Outrageous.
What a goal from 50 meters. Are you seeing this?
That's Jordi Gomez whacking it in the back of the net.
Alex Thomas joining us now.
Wow. Wow to both of those stories.
ALEX THOMAS, WORLD SPORT: That's the longest shot we've ever seen go in in Europa League history breaking the record, Becky. That's only seven days
old after a similar goal by Rangers the previous week.
We got more Europa League action including a games that left Jose Mourinho miserable on a bus.
ANDERSON: Yeah, I'm going to peek on what's on your show, I can't wait to see all of that on the tele.
Thank you.
"WORLD SPORT" is up next.
END
