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In-Depth Investigation Uncovers How An Elite Russian Unit With Poisons Expertise Tracked Dissident Alexei Navalny; Elite FSB Unit Poisons Expertise Tracked Navalny; America Start To Receive Coronavirus Vaccines. Aired 10:00-11a ET
Aired December 14, 2020 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[10:00:17]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): First shipments of Pfizer's COVID vaccines will begin to arrive in all 50 states on Monday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): It is a triumph of science and I think we're going to look back on this moment as a major turning point in this
pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): It really is a remarkable scientific accomplishment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): With COVID-19 on a rapid tear in the United States, states and hospitals around the country are reporting record-high
numbers of cases.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): patients are coming out of the Woodworks and they are very, very sick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is CONNECT THE WORLD with Becky Anderson.
ANDERSON: Well, this hour you are looking at live scenes that will seal the American president's fate. Today, across America some 538 electors as they
are known from every state in the Union as well as Washington, D.C. will come together reaffirming the votes of more than 150 million Americans
confirming that Donald Trump lost the last election.
The Electoral College usually a quiet little notice constitutional ritual, becoming the main game in town today after the American president's all-out
assault on democracy following his unequivocal loss. Well, the president letting that loss consume his time and energy rather than fighting the
pandemic where today America expected to cross more than 300,000 deaths in the pandemic as thousands still die.
We are today watching vaccines being administered in the country as a mass rollout begins across America. Those stories are coming up this hour. We
begin though with an investigation by the independent investigative group Bellingcat, CNN and Der Spiegel Magazine. The probe has uncovered new
evidence linking Russian security services with the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny in August of this year.
CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward with an exclusive report now about the Russian state's apparent operation to eliminate a
leading opposition figure. Clarissa, spoke with Navalny himself as he continues his recovery in Germany. She joins me now live from Moscow.
Clarissa?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, that's right. We have spent weeks and weeks poring over an entire team going through
phone data, cell phone records, addresses. Any information we can get our hands on that tells us an incredible story, frankly, about this team of FSB
operatives who have been following Navalny's every move for years now.
And what's more, this is a team with access to poisons and the knowledge of how to use them. Take a look.
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WARD (voice-over): August 20th on a flight to Moscow, a passenger captures the awful wails of Alexei Navalny. The Russian opposition leader has
suddenly fallen ill and he knows exactly why.
ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I get out of this bathroom. Turn over to the flight attendant and said him I was poisoned. I'm going to die.
And then I lay down under his feet and to die.
WARD (on-camera): You knew in that moment that you've been poisoned.
NAVALNY: Yes.
WARD (voice-over): Quick thinking from the pilot saves his life. Instead of flying on to Moscow still three hours away, the plane diverts to Omsk. Two
days later, Navalny is flown to Berlin, where the German government announces he has been poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok. Now an
exclusive investigation can reveal a top secret mission tracking Navalny involving experts in chemical weapons who work for the FSB, the Russian
successor to the Soviet KGB.
This nondescript building on the outskirts of Moscow was the headquarters of the operation. We're staying in the car because we don't want to attract
any attention. But this compound is part of the Institute of criminalistics of the FSB, Russia's security service. And beyond that fence, and elite
team of operatives has been tracking Navalny's every move for more than three years. CNN has examined hundreds of pages of phone records and flight
manifests that reveal the backgrounds communications and travel of the group.
[10:05:05]
WARD (voice-over): The documents were obtained by online investigative outlet Bellingcat which two years ago identified the Russian military
intelligence agents allegedly sent to England to poison former Russian spy Sergei Skripal. The FSB toxins team was activated in 2017, just days after
Navalny announced he would run for president in the election the next year. The team's leader, Stanislav Menshikov, an expert in chemical weapons.
Several of the team are doctors but they weren't recruited to save lives.
WARD (on-camera): I just wanted to show you some photographs here and ask you if you -- if you recognize -- if you've ever seen any of the men in
those photographs?
NAVALNY: No.
WARD: You don't recognize them?
NAVALNY: I don't recognize any of them.
WARD: Would it surprise you to learn that some of these men went on more than 30 trips with you over the course of three years?
NAVALNY: This is absolutely terrifying. I don't know if terrifying is a good word.
WARD: I think it's a pretty good word.
NAVALNY: Yes. But the -- well, I understand how system work in Russia. I understand that Putin hates me. And I understand that these people who are
sitting in the Kremlin they are ready to kill.
WARD: Is it your contention that Vladimir Putin must have been aware of this?
NAVALNY: Of course. 100 percent. It could have not been happened without direct order of Putin because it's big scale.
WARD (voice-over): In the weeks before he was poisoned, Navalny and his wife Yulia took a short vacation to a resort in Kaliningrad. Our
investigation has uncovered that the FSB team followed. According to Bellingcat, the security cameras inside the hotel were mysteriously turned
off while they were there. Navalny says Yulia felt uncomfortable, she took videos and photos of men she believed were following them.
This man I also don't recognize she says. Hours after the FSB's toxins team left Kaliningrad, Yulia suddenly felt sick.
NAVALNY: She said well, and I feel really, really bad. Do you need ambulance? No. They have (INAUDIBLE) is it hard? No. Is it stomach? No. Is
it head? No. Could you describe it? No. And then we approach restaurant and she said well, I feel like worse in my life. I never felt it before. But unfortunately and of course I couldn't
connect these dots. Now I -- now I realized how bad she was.
WARD (voice-over): Yulia recovered, but the FSB unit was apparently not done with the Navalnys.
In the days after Kaliningrad cell phone data shows that several senior FSB officials were in regular contact with a lab in this compound. It's called
the signal Institute, and CNN and Bellingcat have established that it has been involved with researching and developing Novichik.
In mid-August, Navalny and his team traveled to Siberia. At least five members of the FSB unit make the same journey on different flights. In
Tomsk, Navalny and his colleague stay at the Xander Hotel. We traveled to the Siberian City to retrace his steps on the night he was poisoned.
So this is the room that Alexei Navalny was staying in and it looks like my room here is right next door.
According to Navalny he went to bed at around midnight after drinking a cocktail with his team. The FSB's toxins unit was not far away.
Using a ping from a cell phone we've been able to place one of the FSB operatives in this area just blocks from the Xander Hotel on the night of
August 19th. The night that the nerve agent Novichok made its way into room 239. Navalny left the hotel early the next morning, he boarded the Moscow
flight feeling fine. Three hours later, he was close to death.
Back in Tomsk, Navalny's team frantically collect any evidence they can from his hotel room, including water and shampoo bottles, a toothbrush and
a towel. As they did there was a surge in communications among the FSB unit and their bosses. If it was expected that Navalny would die on the flight
they were now scrambling to deal with a very different situation.
[10:10:00]
WARD (voice-over): After much back and forth Russian authorities allowing Navalny to be transported to Berlin. What they don't know is that the items
recovered from his Tomsk hotel room were also on board. Some later tested positive for Novichok.
Back in Moscow, we went in search of the FSB's toxins team.
WARD: So we're here now at the home of one of the FSB team and we're going to go see if he has anything to say to us.
WARD (voice-over): We enter a rundown apartment building on the outskirts of Moscow, where operative Oleg Tayakin lives. My name is Clarissa Ward, I
work for CNN. Can I ask you a couple of questions?
Was it your team that poisoned Navalny, please? Do you have any comment? He doesn't seem to want to talk to us.
WARD (voice-over): Toxicologists tell CNN that Navalny is incredibly lucky to be alive, and that the intention was undoubtedly to kill him.
WARD: So you've said that you want to go back to Russia?
NAVALNY: And I will do.
WARD: You're aware of the risks of going back?
NAVALNY: Yes, but I'm Russian politician. And even when I was not just in hospital, I was in intense therapy. And I said publicly, I will go back and
I will go back because I'm Russian politician, I belong to this country. And definitely, which I -- especially now, when this actually crime is
cracked open revealed. I understand the whole operation, I would never give Putin such a gift.
WARD: Now, Becky, to be clear, CNN has not established that the men who were part of this secret operative FSB toxins team are the same people who
actually poisoned Navalny. We have reached out to the Kremlin, to the FSB, to members of the toxins team, as you saw in our report. We haven't
received any comments so far, the FSB has told us we might have to wait as many as nine days before receiving any feedback from them.
And in the meantime, Russia has yet to even open a criminal investigation into the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. Becky?
ANDERSON: This Clarissa is a remarkable investigation. What would Navalny himself like to see as the outcome of this reporting?
WARD: Well, I mean, he's already said, we've seen the U.K. and the E.U. come out and say, listen, this was an assassination attempt. And we're
going to sanction senior leadership both in the Kremlin and in the FSB. What he says is lacking so far, is any kind of a robust response from the
U.S., from President Trump, he would like to see the U.S. come out on what he calls the right side of history to take a strong stance against chemical
weapons.
And he also wants to see more punitive sanctions, not just targeting the leadership, not just targeting the FSB, and not targeting ordinary
Russians. Rather, he would like to see wealthy elites around President Putin as being targeted by more sanctions from Europe, the U.K. and the
U.S., Becky.
ANDERSON: Clarissa, thank you and more of Clarissa's reporting alongside her team is at CNN.com. Do have a look at that. Clarissa. many thanks.
Well, the first batches of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine have arrived in American hospitals and one of the first people outside of
clinical trials has just been vaccinated. We'll have the latest on that coming up.
Plus, these are live pictures of America's real Election Day as the electoral college starts. The process of confirming Joe Biden as the
country's next president. The very latest on that is next.
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ANDERSON: Well, it's a landmark day in America's coronavirus battle. The first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine now going into the arms
of America's healthcare workers. Here's how it looked last hour when a critical care nurse in New York received her dose.
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ANDERSON: Well, shipments of the vaccine are arriving at hospitals across the country on the same day that the U.S. is set to pass yet another somber
milestone. I'm afraid more than 300,000 Americans will have died from COVID-19 by days' end. Contrast could not be more stark. Millions of doses
of this potentially life-saving vaccine heading to all 50 states while more than 109,000 Americans are in hospital, many of them struggling to breathe.
Well, the main task now getting as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. Today is just the start of course and in a relative sense, a
small start, the three million doses released just a drop in the bucket is it worth what's needed to beat this virus. It'll take months but the head
of the Trump administration's warp speed vaccination program says the importance of this day cannot be overstated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. GUSTAVE PERNA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, OPERATION WARD SPEED: D-day was a pivotal turning point in World War II. It was the beginning of the
end. D-day was the beginning of the end, and that's where we are today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, you probably thought America's Election Day was six weeks ago, well, it was, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump by almost 4-1/2 percentage
points and secured a record. 81.3 million votes. But that was the popular vote. Today as far as the constitution is concerned is real Election Day.
538 members of the Electoral College are meeting in their respective states to cast their ballots finalizing Joe Biden as the next U.S. president.
Let's just back up for a moment and recall what exactly the Electoral College is. CNN's Mary Moloney explains.
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MARY MOLONEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans do not vote directly for their president. I'm not talking about a government
conspiracy. I'm talking about the Electoral College, a system that has been around since the birth of our nation.
What is the electoral college? The electoral college is not a building or institution. It's just the name given to a designated group of people who
cast each state's official votes for president. This group is made up of 538 people. Each state has a different number of electors based on their
representatives in Congress.
So, states like California and Texas have more votes than states like North and South Dakota. The only exception, the District of Columbia, which has
three electors, despite having no voting members in Congress. How does it work? Each party selects their own group of electors. Each state that
empowers the electors who represent the candidate who won the most votes, except Nebraska and Maine, who award electors based on a combination of
statewide results and districts won.
The candidate that receives at least 270 Electoral College votes becomes the next president.
What if there's a tie? If there's a tie or if somebody doesn't get to 270, the House of Representatives appoints the president and the Senate chooses
the vice president.
[10:20:52]
MOLONEY: Why does this system exist? In short, the electoral college was created as a compromise of different several proposals by the nation's
founders. Critics say the system allows candidates to become president without necessarily securing a majority of voter support. Advocates argue
it ensures less populated states aren't completely ignored.
How are these people selected? The electors are chosen by their political parties in each state. The only rule is that they cannot currently hold
office. Can an elector ignore the popular vote? Yes. It's called a faithless elector. But it's rare and it has never affected the outcome of an election. Some states require formal pledges,
enforced by fines and possible jail time. But historically speaking, members rarely depart from the will of the people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, usually as we've said, this day is nothing too extraordinary but this year as we know Donald Trump isn't going quietly.
Joining me now, senior political analyst John Avlon in the house. John, good to have you. It wouldn't be a noteworthy day under normal
circumstances, all pretty procedural stuff, isn't it? Nothing's been normal about this president take a listen to Mr. Trump over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is it over?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, it's not over. We keep going and we're going to continue to go forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Quick reality check then, John. Can he keep fighting?
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: He can do whatever he wants, but it's not going to impact the ultimate outcome. I mean, the electoral
college meets today, the states have certified their votes. This would normally be definitive and done. He has lost two appeals to the Supreme
Court getting a pretty harsh Heisman unanimously rejected in both of them. He's lost his team, legal teams lost more than 50 cases.
Now, some holdout Republicans are going to try to cause some mischief when these electoral college votes are brought to Congress on January 6th. They
will not succeed in overturning the outcome but their desire as is Donald Trump's to some extent is simply to show more distrust in our democracy and
chaos. But this election, this vote today, as arcane and archaic as the Electoral College is, is definitive.
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KARL ROVE, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: I think in the long run, he's not helping himself or the country. If America likes comebacks,
but they don't like sore losers. And he is on the edge of looking like a sore loser and probably will look like it after January 6th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: And that was Karl Rove, George W. Bush's chief strategist affectionately nicknamed Turd Blossom by the president, acknowledging what
so many Republicans are beginning to say. This is over, concede. The Wall Street Journal even saying in its editorial pages today that it's time for
the President to concede. The Electoral College is normally that date. And what you've got with Karl Rove and others saying is look, Mr. President, if
you hope to have a prayer of running again in 2024, as he's threatening, then this is not a good look.,
Not only are you doing violence toward democracy, but you're starting to look like a sore loser. The American people love a comeback, as he said,
but not a sore loser.
ANDERSON: Should the Electoral College system still be around in 2024? Should Donald Trump
stand for or go for the presidency once again? I mean, is this a system that still works, John?
AVLON: No, not particularly. Let's go through why. So, the founding fathers created this, the Constitutional Convention as a last minute compromise,
and one of their purposes was to ensure that you'd have an independent group of electors who could be sort of a check and balance against a mob
rule, if you will. If an unqualified demagogue was about to become president, they were supposed to be a roadblock on that effort. It hasn't
worked out that way.
Because the political parties which didn't exist when the constitution were written, have basically created rubber stamps. The big problem and
controversy around the Electoral College is that in today's reality of America, it's created basically a dangerous wedge between the popular vote,
I.E., the will of the people and the Electoral College, which is determinative. Now in the -- in the 20th century, this wasn't a problem
once.
In the 21st century, of course, twice. You've had George W. Bush in 2000. And Donald Trump in 2016 win the presidency while losing the popular vote.
And that creates a real problem for democracy. And you see, in part of the efforts by Trump and his defenders in the Republican Party now, putting the
shameful 126 Republicans who signed on to that ludicrous, amicus brief to the Supreme Court that was smacked down.
A fundamental discomfort with majority rule, that is not sustainable with democracy. So, you've had a number of states pull forward 15 to date and
something called the national popular vote interstate compact.
[10:25:02]
AVLON: It's basically a long word for a simple concept. They've pledged to give their electoral votes to the winner of the popular vote, thus
bypassing the need for a constitutional amendment, which in today's hyper partisan polarized America is virtually impossible.
ANDERSON: Yes, fascinating. Meantime, interesting day it is since this is the Electoral College votes. It is the day that the U.S. administers its
first vaccine for coronavirus. So, clearly this pandemic has clouded everything in 2020. Trump himself is tweeted first vaccine administered
congratulations USA, congratulations world. A good day for America. And indeed it is. This is of course following the V-Day as it were in the U.K.
last week.
Look, would it be fair to say that Donald Trump deserves some applause today for Operation Warp Speed which is in the States at least accelerated
ensured that there is a vaccine being put into short into people's arms today.
AVLON: I thought Operation Warp Speed did apparently move forward. But the major benefit and the major credit deserves to go to the companies and it's
notable that Pfizer did not fully participate in Operation Warp Speed in their first out of the gate with Moderna coming up at what is expected to
be a week later. But look, this is a win for humanity. This is a win for everyone suffering from coronavirus.
The problem is, of course, that as this is being administered the first vaccines, the United States is expected to hit a grim milestone of almost
300,000 deaths. And that's about the Trump administration's mismanagement of the pandemic. So yes, they deserve credit for helping to marshal forces
to get this record breaking time of a vaccine with emergency authorization. But it's not all about a pat in the back for Donald Trump. It's not all
about him.
It's a good day for the country. It's a good day for governments and private companies working together to solve this global problem.
ANDERSON: John Avlon in the house. It is always a pleasure, sir. Thank you. Stay tuned for us. Thank you. Special coverage of the Electoral College
vote. Look, folks, it all starts at the top of the next hour that is 11:00 a.m. if you are on the U.S. East Coast. That's 8:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi.
That is next hour folks. It is an important day in America. Well, just ahead this hour when is the deadline not a deadline?
We'll just ask the U.K. and the European Union. They are trying to avoid a no deal Brexit. We've got a live update to see if -- well, the two
stakeholders in this can come up with a plan B. Plus.
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[10:30:18]
ANDERSON: Well, here we are again to paraphrase Virginia Woolf's Orlando. But like that time traveler, the U.K. and E.U. cannot count on magical
moves to get them out of their Brexit bind. Both sides are still talking, even though Sunday's self-imposed deadline came and went both sides still
wanting a no deal. That means no trade deal Brexit. May become a reality, but they haven't left the bargaining table after all, leaving without a
trade deal could hurt the British economy.
And the E.U. wouldn't be left unscathed, either. So where do we go from here? Where do they go from here? Or maybe extending talks into 2021 when
the Brexit transition is officially over? Let's connect to some answers. CNN's Nic Robertson is standing by for us in London, you are in Brussels,
of course last week where some of the action was, of course, it's been sort of shuttling back and forth, isn't it? This Brexit action.
How many times, Nic, can we actually say, another Brexit extension as the word extensional deadline? Lost its meaning in these talks. Do you believe?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think if we stand right where we are right now, we can say no, it hasn't. If we get to the
31st of December, and the talks pushed through into the first of January, which the British say categorically they will not do and both sides would
have had to agree last July that they were going to extend and that would have required legislation.
If it goes through, then we can say it's lost its meaning but at the moment, it still hasn't meaning because that's the deadline. You know,
Becky, you'll remember U.S. Senator George Mitchell, President Bill Clinton sent him over to Northern Ireland to help get that Good Friday peace
agreement. And I remember talking to him after that peace agreement, the deadline slipped by four hours, they've been negotiating for a couple of
years.
And he said, the key thing, when you've got people negotiating on both sides, is that they believe that a deal is in sight, and that they can do
it. And you give them a hard deadline. And my sense of where we're at the moment is because this weekend, it seemed very gloomy, there is a sense
that both sides know that there is a deal out there somewhere, there's a huge amount of pressure on them.
They want to get a deal. The cost of not having a deal for both sides would be painful. So it does, you know, in terms of what it takes to pull a
negotiation, a deal together, you could say that it's still a possibility. And that seems to be the belief. That seems to be why they're still
talking. And they're getting into some of the real hard, nitty gritty and nuances, not that we know very much about those details, Becky, I have to
say.
ANDERSON: We'll, look, if the two sides, as you rightly point out, are still prepared to talk, that surely suggests that they both believe there
is a point to this, many people will say look, this was a vote back in June of 2016. That's before the Trump administration at a point where nobody
believed Donald Trump could win the U.S. presidency. That's how far back in what we would call recent history. We have to go for this Brexit decision
by the U.K.'s population.
I guess the question at this point is what is the bottom line, Nic? I mean, you know, we know that the transition period is supposed to end on December
the 31st. What happens on January the 1st?
ROBERTSON: In an ideal scenario, on January the 1st, both sides will be able to turn to their respective populations and say, we pretty much got
what we said we were going to do, we might have had to compromise a little but that's in the greater good. Britain is very clear on two issues really,
the fisheries and we've talked about that in in detail. And of course, that they feel that the European Union is pulling them to keep Britain's
regulations too much in line, too immediately with the European Union.
So, elasticize too immediately and to close and you get space for conversation. The European Union wants to be able to say look, if over
time, the U.K. diminishes E.U.'s access to the U.K. fishing waters, then we want to be able to respond let's say to the automotive industry, we were
talking last week, you and I about cars made in Europe, cars made in -- cars made in the U.K., they would want to say for example, we're going to
put tariffs on your vehicle so you mess up on fish.
[10:35:00]
And we'll apply pressure on cars. This is the -- this is where we're at the moment. That's what it appears to be. So, you can see as detailed, but you
can see there's a possibility of elasticity there in this to find an agreement but whether they can or not, the outward position is bit still
big gaps, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nic Robertson is in London for you. Thank you, Nic. Let's get you up to speed focus on some of the other stories that are on our radar right
now and more than 300 school boys remain missing after gunmen attacked a school in Nigeria late on Friday. Witnesses described the attackers as
rounding up and loading the students into vehicles after shooting policemen. And official says the alleged kidnappers want the government to
stop helicopter surveillance of that group.
Well, an explosion and fire tore through an oil tanker in the Saudi port of Jeddah on Monday. The shipping company Hafnia said its festival was hit by
an identified external source. No one was hurt. The company says it does not appear as if any oil spills into the water either.
And we've just learned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will enter quarantine until Friday. That's after he came into contact with an
unknown coronavirus carrier. Mr. Netanyahu took two tests and they were both negativities the third time Mr. Netanyahu had to enter quarantine
because of coronavirus.
Well, this is CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. Coming up, photo finish moments to round off a Grand Prix season like few of his inside
track from right here in Abu Dhabi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANDERSON: Well, we saw some remarkable scenes the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix rounding off a season. That in itself was the underdog of the
year given of course the enormous challenges of COVID-19. Red Bull's Max Verstappen was the Grand Prix's big winner leading from start to finish
this year at the Yas Marina circuit.
So, how do you make sure that an event as huge and as logistically complex as a Grand Prix is COVID safe? While I was fortunate to get the inside
track. Have a little (INAUDIBLE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON (voice-over): The battle for the Formula One World Championship to place both on and off the track this year. The global pandemic almost
forced F1 to scrap the entire season. And champion Lewis Hamilton narrowly made it to Abu Dhabi season finale after contracting COVID-19.
ANDERSON (on-camera): But in order for the event to go ahead this year, officials have created a buyer's fear a secure bubble into which only those
who are critical to the event and that is about 3000 people are allowed in. We are on a boat in Yas Marina. You can see behind me the paddocks and
between here and the hotels for example, there is a secure route.
[10:40:10]
ANDERSON (voice-over): Simply getting the racing teams from the previous Grand Prix in Bahrain was a complex challenge. So, travel corridor was
created to move everyone in a bubble across the Gulf.
SAIF AL-NOAIMI, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ABU DHABI MOTORSPORT MANAGEMENT: We safeguarded the entire journey from the airport in Bahrain. The
personnel boarded on 10 to had airways charter flights. They arrived into a terminal three. We conducted another test upon arrival into the airports,
and then we transferred them safely into the Yas Island biosphere.
ANDERSON (voice-over): It was a massive operation alongside the private planes 600 trucks were needed to move the equipment to the circuit. And 400
people needed to unload them.
AL-NOAIMI: We conducted somewhere in the range of 12,000 COVID-19 tests. Within the biosphere we have 15 different stations within that -- within
the zone to conduct all of these tests. It includes 1100 hotel staff to cater to everybody staying over here.
ANDERSON (voice-over): The Grand Prix rounds off a series of sporting events hosted by Abu Dhabi this year. All made possible by the creation of
the secure bubbles. Between July and October, the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC also held tournament's on Yas Island inside a safe
zone. UFC President Dana White took to Instagram afterwards thanking officials here for literally moving mountains to make the event happen.
And in August, the Indian cricket board announced the Indian Premier League or IPL will be moved to the United Arab Emirates after beaming the risk
from COVID-19. Two grades for the tournament to be held on home turf. And for organizers. It was a race against time to shift the event.
MATT BOUCHER, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ABU DHABI CRICKET: Really seven to 10 working days to put everything in place we then opened an average which
was essentially an extension of quarantine from the host hotel to Abu Dhabi Cricket. And then that allowed the players under police escort and
surveillance to move between the hotel and the training, venue and practice.
ANDERSON (voice-over): These events have all taken place behind closed doors without paying spectators. And that's a blow to Abu Dhabi's economy.
But the UAE is looking at the long game.
BOUCHER: Having a lot of international interest from teams, we can keep their players safe and play cricket.
ANDERSON (voice-over): By getting these events over the finish line safely. The UAE is banking on these events being here in the future. And the fans,
they will bring back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, that of course, closes out with F1. And that closes out the season. You, Amanda were with me here in Abu Dhabi last year, quite a
different setup this year. And I know everybody involved in the race just cross our fingers that it will be a normal event once again next year. But
Abu Dhabi has done a tremendous job in getting these events in and sort of behind closed doors as it were still ensuring that these sporting events
can, you know, we consider at least on television, if not -- if not as paying spectators.
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, I mean, the numbers of people. And the logistics that we're talking about for a Formula One race weekend to
take place should not be underestimated. I don't think there's anybody that has been tested more than the Formula One community over the last few
months. It is such a feat and it's very interesting when you speak to people in the paddock.
They've been talking in recent months about how normally they are each other's biggest enemies, you know, competing against each other, but this
period has very much brought everybody together to keep the sports going.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. Look, you've got World Sport after this short break, we will be back at the back end of that. Stay with us, folks.
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