Refuting Trump's Vaccine Timeline; Military Helicopter Trying to Rescue Dozens Trapped by Flames
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. From Big Pharma to the WHO, to his own health officials, all pushing back against the U.S. president and his promise to release a vaccine by Election Day. Fires are breaking uncontrollably across California, blaming the heat, bad weather and a horrendous lapse in judgment. Saudi Arabia hands-down punishment for the suspects in the brutal killing of Jamal Khashoggi, critics condemn it all as a sham.</s>VAUSE: Big Pharma is pushing back against the U.S. president in his promised vaccine for the coronavirus could be ready by next month. On Monday, President Trump tweeted the vaccines are coming and fast. There is progress on that front but "The Wall Street Journal" reports at least 3 vaccine makers will issue a promise not to seek government approval until that extensive data and safety and effectiveness, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. There are reports other big name pharmaceuticals could join those 3. Pfizer and BioNTech are cleared to start the next phase of their trial in Germany and it's the only vaccine maker that could have late stage results by October but that's not a given. The World Health Organization is also stressing the need for due diligence and says it will not endorse a vaccine before it is shown to be effective and safe. The former U.S. surgeon general says the Food and Drug Administration has no room for error and must learn from past mistakes.</s>DR. VIVEK MURTHY, FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: They've got to avoid making the same mistakes they made with convalescent plasma, hydroxychloroquine. They've got to let the science and scientists guide them in their decision-making here.</s>VAUSE: The White House on Monday President Trump falsely claimed that the U.S. was "an absolute leader in every way" when it comes to dealing with the pandemic. He's clearly trying to tie the vaccine to the U.S. election.</s>TRUMP: We're going to have it soon. So now, what they are saying is wow, this is bad news. President Trump is getting this vaccine in record time. By the way, if this were the Obama administration, you would not have that vaccine for 3 years. You probably wouldn't have it at all. We are going to have a vaccine very soon. Maybe even before a very special day. You know what talking about.</s>VAUSE: Let me guess: November 3rd, Election Day. Democratic rival Joe Biden was asked if he would take the vaccine if it was offered before than. He said he would listen to scientists. He also warned about a lack of trust.</s>JOE BIDEN (D-DE), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT AND PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the problems is when he's playing with policy, is he has said so many things that are not true. I'm worried if we do have a really good vaccine particularly before the election it's undermining public confidence. But pray God we have it. If I could get a vaccine tomorrow, I would do it.</s>VAUSE: And then there is another federal official who is familiar with the Trump administration's so-called Operation Warp Speed. He says despite what the president has promised, quote, "I don't know any scientist who thinks we will be getting shots into arms anytime before Election Day." In New York, France and the U.K., all reporting worrying increases in new COVID numbers. France has the 7th highest death toll in the world right now. There is a possible second wave in the coming months. Officials are looking at data to see what measures may be needed to help the country cope. CNN's Scott McLean has the latest from London.</s>SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: British schools are back in session. The government is urging businesses to send their employees back into the office. And now the government is also looking for ways to reduce the mandatory 14-day quarantine period for travelers entering the U.K. for most other countries. All of this, just as the U.K. records its highest single day of coronavirus case count since May. The British health secretary is blaming young people, particularly affluent young people for the sudden surge in infections. He is worried that if they don't follow the rules that they could pass on the virus to older, more vulnerable parts of the population. Now there's a similar trend across Europe, especially in Spain, which just became the first country in Europe to log half a million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. If there is any good news here is that European health care systems have not had the massive surge of patients that they saw at the height of the pandemic. For instance, in the U.K. today, there are 40 times fewer people on ventilators than there were at the height of the pandemic. In Spain, though, there is a worrying trend. Deaths there are on the rise. The country just reported its highest single day death toll since May -- Scott McLean, CNN, London.</s>VAUSE: Mexico has the world's fourth highest virus death toll, now reporting more than 35,000 new cases on Monday, bringing the total to more than 630,000. But the official numbers do not tell the true extent of the impact of the pandemic. CNN's Matt Rivers reports from Mexico City.</s>MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some startling new information from Mexico's government. Over the weekend, health officials reported that during the period of March 15th through August 1st, Mexico recorded more than 120,000 excess deaths as compared to the same time period from other years, more normal years, non pandemic years. We know that of those excess deaths, more than 47,000 have been officially attributed to the coronavirus. But what about the remaining 75,000 or so deaths? I spoke to the director of a COVID unit here in Mexico City and a prestigious local hospital. He believes that, of all those excess deaths, the vast majority of them, are directly related to the virus. We know that Mexico's government routinely says that the actual death toll in this country is higher than what is officially reported. And part of the reason for that is that because many people going to hospitals with COVID symptoms simply do not get a test before they end up losing their lives. Mexico is one of the lowest testing rates in a country with a large population around the world. And speaking of the death toll, it continues to just steadily march higher. The official death toll roughly 30 percent of the total amount of deaths reported here in Mexico have been reported since August 1st -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.</s>VAUSE: Wildfires are burning in California and are labeled an unprecedented disaster. The officials report the Creek fire in their words is 0 percent contained. A military helicopter tried to reach dozens of campers and hikers who were trapped by the flames. But heavy smoke prevented the pilot from a safe landing. A second rescue attempt is planned with night vision goggles. This is the state's worst wildfire season, scorching more than 2 million acres or more than 800,000 hectares so far. The Creek fire is burning across the state. CNN's Dan Simon was there reporting from the scene.</s>DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The fire is getting dangerously close to some of these mountain communities. The town of Auberry, which has about 2,500 people, had to evacuate as the flames basically took over. Hillside above that town, for the most part though, this fire is burning in the rugged here at national forest. But you do have of course a lot of campers who use this era for recreation. And that's' why you have all of those people who are at that boat launch, who had to be airlifted to safety, about 10 or so people suffered moderate injuries, but hopefully everyone will be OK. In the meantime, we are getting more information about that so-called gender reveal party in southern California, in San Bernardino County. You did have this couple that went to a nearby park to basically announce the gender of their baby. And they had a pyrotechnic device and you light it off, it goes pink or blue or any of that sent this wildfire emotion -- Dan Simon, CNN, Auberry, California.</s>VAUSE: Just last hour we spoke with an official about the conditions on the scene of the Creek fire and the damage so far. Here she is.</s>STACEY NOLAN, FRESNO COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT: We have 65 structures that are destroyed and this goes on 2 different counties. It's on the Fresno County side and the Madeira County side. And today, obviously we've had stronger winds and it is more with upper level winds from the northwest and variable lower level winds, which helps the fire increase and growth.</s>VAUSE: What do you know about that region where the campers are, Lake Edison-China Peak region. The problem seems to be that roads are closed because of the fires. People cannot get out. How common is that across the region right now?</s>NOLAN: Right now what we've asked people to do is to shelter in place in a couple of locations like China Peak. You're absolutely right, there are fires on both sides of the road. It's very dangerous for people to either come in and go. So obviously that's why roads were shut down. We would rather have people shelter in place and be in a safe area as opposed to trying to get them out with all the fire.</s>VAUSE: We are looking at the unprecedented disaster with the Creek fire. Clearly, the terrible heat wave which California is going through right now is not helping. It's making it worse. Are there any other factors in this particularly unprecedented fire season?</s>NOLAN: All the dry brush is playing a big factor in that area. It's known for bark beetle infestation so we have a lot of dead and dying trees in that area. That's like 80 percent of the trees that are affected in there helps with that heavy fuel load. That is what we are seeing right now.</s>VAUSE: To the White House now, where Donald Trump spent the Labor Day holiday launching an unprecedented attack on the military's leadership.</s>TRUMP: I'm not saying the military is in love with me. The soldiers are. The top people in the Pentagon probably aren't, because they want to do nothing but fight wars, so that all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy. But we're getting out of the endless wars.</s>VAUSE: This from a president who is also denying he made disparaging remarks about the fallen U.S. troops on a 2018 trip to France. Donald Trump is criticizing leaders he appointed. He continues to tout military spending as one of his biggest accomplishments. Ron Brownstein is a CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic" with us from Los Angeles, We begin with a colleague of yours, David Frum, who pointed out a critical factor in this latest Trump controversy. He writes, "Where are the senior officers of the United States armed forces, serving and retired, the men and women who worked most closely on military affairs with President Trump? "Has any one of them stepped forward to say that is not the man I know?" At least one administration official has denied the story; otherwise there's been a deafening silence, especially from people like John Kelly. What's going on here?</s>RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: John Kelly's silence is one of the most striking things in this whole episode. He obviously could deny the story. Jeffrey Goldberg's account of -- I think four different episodes of the president denigrating military veterans in astonishing language. John Kelly could deny that. He has chosen not to. I think that tells you an awful lot, both about the veracity of the story and what John Kelly thinks of Donald Trump.</s>VAUSE: The president denials are continuing.</s>TRUMP: Who would say a thing like that? Only an animal would say a thing like that. There is nobody that has more respect for not only our military but for people that gave their lives in the military.</s>VAUSE: Yes, who would say something like the military veterans are losers and suckers? Good question. Who would say that? Here we go. Listen to this.</s>TRUMP: I never liked him much after that. I don't like losers.</s>VAUSE: John McCain's a loser. The president has made no secret about his views of those who served in Vietnam.</s>TRUMP: Dating is like being in Vietnam. You're the equivalent of a soldier going over to Vietnam. If you have any guilt about not having gone to Vietnam, we have our own Vietnam. It's called the dating game.</s>VAUSE: So there's no one defending the president. They are his own words from the past. The president has lied 20,000 times since the inauguration saying trust me. Does any of this actually matter before November?</s>BROWNSTEIN: It's an interesting question. Obviously, for the vast majority of people who are still with Donald Trump, they know exactly what they are getting. It's hard to imagine what revelation about him could cause them to break away from someone who is presenting himself literally as the human wall between them, many of his voters, and all of the changes in American life, demographic cultural, that they don't like. But it's really not the right question. The people who are still with Donald Trump today are not enough for him to win. He has to add votes at this point. I think that these kinds of revelations and the fact that he continues to kind of stir this pot just makes it tougher for him to do that. Among other things, we talked about before, he is on track for the weakest showing of any Republican nominee ever among college educated white voters, including college educated white men, who are usually much more Republican than the women. Those men pollsters will tell you are the single biggest consumers of current events and news. I've got to think that this is just yet another headwind for him as he tries to reverse that historic deficit that he is facing, which is now too big for him to win.</s>VAUSE: As a side note, back in 2018, it seems the president had time to kill.</s>BROWNSTEIN: It could be trivial in itself. But it is actually revealing on a much larger, more ominous and more momentous kind of shift, which is, as I had written a few weeks ago, Donald Trump basically is weaponizing every aspect of the federal government into a tool of personal and partisan advantage. It's one thing to treat the knick-knacks of the embassy as his personal property. It's another thing to act the same way about the criminal prosecutors in the Justice Department, about the inspectors general, about the census bureau, which he is using to try to tilt the census to a Republican advantage or even the Postal Service, which he has sought to undermine as a way to improve Republican position in the election. I talked to a number of scholars in the federal administration who said we have never seen anything like this ever, to basically view the entire federal government as an extension of your personal will and priorities. What is perhaps most striking about this, is how little complaint or blowback or resistance any of this has faced from Republicans in Congress, watching these norms get shattered one by one.</s>VAUSE: Yes, and almost deafening silence from the Republicans on the military issue as well. Ron, good to see you. Thank you so much.</s>BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, John.</s>VAUSE: Still to come, justice Saudi style. Sentencing day for the suspects in the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, why some say it's just a mockery of justice.