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Rioter Charged With Threatening To Assassinate Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY); Remembering Larry King; U.S. CDC Reviewing Data Suggesting U.K. COVID-19 Variant Is Deadlier; Experts Support U.K. Decision To Delay Second Dose; Chinese Foreign Ministry: Trump Officials Were "Anti-China"; Privacy Concerns Over Contact Tracing In Singapore. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired January 24, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow.
Just ahead on CNN, new information on how former U.S. president Donald Trump tried to use the Department of Justice to overturn his election loss.
Also, more risks linked to the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. And the latest, a man charged with threatening to kill congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Also, the loss of a broadcasting legend, CNN's own Larry King. A look back at some of his most memorable moments.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.
CURNOW: Great to have you along.
We begin this hour focused on new bombshell reporting that details attempts by former president Donald Trump to overturn his election loss.
According to "The Wall Street Journal," Trump wanted the Justice Department to push the Supreme Court to invalidate election results. Sources tell CNN Trump nearly replaced the acting attorney general with a relative unknown, who supported those false claims and was willing to use them to undo Georgia's vote.
Mr. Trump's refusal to accept his loss helped provoke the riot at the U.S. Capitol and led to his second impeachment. We're also getting new information about an alleged participant.
Authorities say this Texas man, Garrett Miller, made death threats against a Capitol police officer and Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
It's important to remember these emerging stories about Trump's alleged post-election efforts could impact his looming Senate impeachment trial. Senate Democrats have already asked the Department of Justice to preserve materials and an open investigation. Ryan Nobles has more on what to expect.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump is now beginning to take shape here on Capitol Hill. On Monday, the House will send over the articles of impeachment, starting the clock on the trial itself. On Monday the senators will be sworn in. On Tuesday they'll pick a presiding judge.
But the trial itself won't begin until February 8th. That gives the former president roughly two weeks to get his legal house in order in time for the trial to begin.
Now Republicans pushed for that. They believe that that was part of the due process that the former president should be afforded. But it also comes with an issue for president Trump because, in that time frame, more information could come out that could be damaging to his legal case.
Like for instance, this "New York Times" bombshell that came out over the weekend, that suggests the president was putting pressure on members of the Justice Department to look for examples of voter fraud that would help him overturn the election.
Now that's not directly connected to the Capitol insurrection but, remember, impeachment is not a legal argument. It is a political argument. And if there are more examples of issues that Republicans could potentially find with president Trump, that could mean that Democrats could convince the 17 necessary to cross party lines and vote to convict president Trump.
At this point it doesn't appear that there are enough of them to make that happen but we're still waiting to see how the Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell will rule on this case.
He said he wants to hear all of the arguments before making a decision. If McConnell were to break from former president Trump, there are a number of other Republicans that could follow suit -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
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CURNOW: Arrests are piling up as authorities investigate this insurrection. We've learned about how one man now faces federal charges for allegedly threatening to kill a Capitol officer and a popular House Democrat. Here's Jessica Schneider with more on that.
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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Another major arrest connected to that January 6th Capitol attack, this time against a Texas man, accused of posting online death threats not only against Democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but also against a Capitol Police officer.
Now prosecutors say Garrett Miller of Texas tweeted, quote, "Assassinate AOC" and also said the police officer who fatally shot a female Trump supporter inside the Capito, quote, "deserves to die" and also said, won't survive long because, quote, "it's hunting season."
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SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Now officials say Miller participated in the Capitol attack and then posted extensively on social media before and after the attack, saying a civil war could start and that also, "next time we bring guns."
Now congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez has been very vocal in the days after the attack. She's talked about how she and other members weren't sure they'd make it out alive.
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REP. ALEXANDRA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I had a very close encounter where I thought I was going to die. It is not an exaggeration to say that many, many members of the House were nearly assassinated.
It's just not an exaggeration to say that at all. We were very lucky that things happened within certain minutes that allowed members to escape the House floor unharmed. But many of us nearly and narrowly escaped death.
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SCHNEIDER: This man who posted those threats against AOC is facing five federal criminal charges, including for his participation in the attack as well as the death threats.
Garrett Miller's attorney is telling CNN, his client regrets the threats and also says this, quote, "He did it in support of former president Donald Trump but he regrets his actions. He has the support of his family and a lot of the comments are viewed in context as really sort of misguided political hyperbole."
Given the political divide these days, there is a lot of hyperbole. And, of course, this is yet another suspect who said they were inspired by the president to attack the Capitol. At this point more than 120 people have been charged. Hundreds more could still be charged, as prosecutors now zero in on that next round of charges, that will likely be even more serious against those people who evaded law enforcement so far.
And the charges could even include sedition and conspiracy. Those include hefty sentences of up to 20 years in prison -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CURNOW: The U.S. is only a few days into the new Biden presidency but the impact of that insurrection on Capitol Hill certainly isn't going away. Earlier, I spoke with Tara Setmayer, a former Republican congressional communications director, who's an outspoken critic of Donald Trump.
I asked how much changed that day and how deep is the trauma for America?
This is what she told me.
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TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, that day will be another day that lives in infamy in American history, similar to Pearl Harbor and 9/11.
January 6th will be known as an Insurrection Day, which is just a sad bookend to Donald Trump's presidency.
He started -- you know, a lot of us who were Never Trumpers in the beginning warned that the Trump presidency would be disastrous, not only for the Republican Party but for the country.
But never could we have expected it to end in violence and with bloodshed. The Republicans in Congress, who still, even after, that day decided to vote against certifying Joe Biden's free and fair election, should be ashamed of themselves.
And it is an indication of how strong Donald Trump's hold is on the Republican Party moving forward, even out of power. Now there are others who are looking at the situation, like Mitch McConnell, and are -- you know, they want to exorcise the Republican Party of Donald Trump and his ilk.
But it is very difficult. As we saw, he has tens of millions of supporters, who are, in a cult-like fashion, willing to follow him into whatever endeavors he chooses. So the politics of this are extremely complicated.
But with the impeachment trial coming up in the Senate, Republicans have an opportunity to stop Donald Trump from ever running for office again.
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CURNOW: Thanks there to Tara Setmayer for joining me earlier.
Everyone here at CNN and people around the world are remembering broadcasting legend Larry King. He has passed away at the age of 87. He was CNN's biggest star, hosting his popular interview show, "LARRY KING LIVE" for more than 25 years.
King left CNN in 2010 after more than 6,000 episodes with major newsmakers, celebrities and more. Here's a look back at his interview with former U.S. president Ronald Reagan, recalling the assassination attempt he survived in 1981.
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KING: What is it like to be shot?
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I didn't know I was shot. I heard a noise and we came out of the hotel and headed for the limousine.
I heard a noise and we'd came out of the hotel and headed for the limousine. And I heard some noise and I thought it was firecrackers.
And the next thing I knew, one of the Secret Service agents behind me just seized me here by the waist and plunged me head-first into the limo.
Well, as it turned out later, the shot that got me caromed off the side of the limousine and hit me while I was diving into the car. And it hit back here, into the arm, and then hit a rib.
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And that's what caused an extreme pain. And then it tumbled, it turned, instead of edgewise, and went tumbling down to within an inch of my heart.
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CURNOW: King's family has not revealed the cause of death but we do know he was hospitalized with COVID in late December. As we head to break, take a look at King signing off from his CNN show for a final time.
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KING: It's not very often in my life I've been without words, but I want to thank everybody associated with this program. All the people behind the scenes, as I mentioned, Wendy and the staff. The floor people, everybody who makes it possible, even the suits at the top. I love them, too.
When I started 25 years ago at a little studio in Washington, D.C., I never thought it would ever last this long or come to this.
So I'm going to go on and do a lot of other things, we're going to do specials here on CNN and I'm going to be seen in other places and do some radio work, be around baseball.
So you're not going to see me go away, but you're not going to see me here on this set anymore. For two weeks they're going to be playing highlight shows.
I don't know what to say, except to you, my audience, thank you. And instead of goodbye, how about so long?
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CURNOW: Welcome back. It's 14 minutes past the hour. I'm Robyn Curnow.
The U.S. is moving closer to 25 million known cases of coronavirus. This comes just over one year since that first infection was reported.
On Saturday, California recorded nearly 23,000 new cases. The number of people in the hospital is falling a bit but that's not taking the pressure off overwhelmed health care workers.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says more than 20 million vaccinations have been administered in the U.S. But many states are struggling to get the doses they need.
President Joe Biden is pushing his goal to get 100 million shots into the arms of people in his first 100 days in office. But for many state governments, vaccine supply is rapidly becoming a pressing concern, as demand for injections continues to grow. Here's Natasha Chen with more from Atlanta.
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NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the Biden administration went into its first weekend promising to remain laser focused on the pandemic, the virus continued its lethal now year-long rampage; 764 deaths on Friday alone in California, an all-time single day record for the state.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Saturday, more than 1.4 million vaccine doses were administered. So far, the Biden administration has been meeting its goal of one million shots per day about double what the U.S. was averaging in the month before the President took office.
But local health providers are hitting roadblocks in ramping up. CHEN (on camera): What resources would you need to be able to double what you're doing every day?
ERIC NICKENS JR., SPOKESPERSON, DEKALB COUNTY HEALTH: A dependable vaccine supply. Right now, we're having to kind of dance a delicate dance between opening up additional appointments and the amount of vaccine that we have on hand.
CHEN (voice-over): Friday night, the Board of Health and DeKalb County, Georgia offered new appointments for the first time in nearly two weeks because they had been uncertain of how many new doses they get.
Publix grocery stores, which are offering the vaccine in three states told CNN they're also only releasing new appointments when they've confirmed and verified shipments of vaccine.
GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): I'm less worried unless new news pops up about running out, as I am. This is going to take at the moment a lot longer than we had expected in early December. I think the Biden team has found that the cupboard is a lot barer than anyone thought.
CHEN (voice-over): The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health says they've only received enough vaccine to inoculate one in every four people who are currently eligible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All the work of getting here was worth it.
CHEN (voice-over): About five percent of the U.S. population has gotten at least one dose, around half of the doses distributed to states still haven't been administered according to data from the C.D.C.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Feds need to, you know, take control so that they can help the states. The line was long. And I waited an hour and a half. But you know, that's okay. If you really want to get this, you'll wait.
CHEN (voice-over): And there's hope for improvement because Dr. Anthony Fauci says, now science is guiding the way.
FAUCI: That's a different tone, actually, that's strikingly different. And that's the reason why even though there's still going to be a lot of challenges ahead, if you stick with the scientific data and are transparent, open and honest with the American public, I think you're going to see things that are going to be different as we move forward.
CHEN (voice-over): Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.
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CURNOW: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it is in touch with British health officials to review how deadly the U.K. coronavirus variant is. British doctors suggest it could have a higher death rate. CDC modeling shows the more contagious variant could become the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.
For more on all of this, Scott McLean in London.
Hi.
What can you tell us?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There's still a lot of confusion about this question in the U.K. right now, largely because the government says it's not even certain as to whether or not this new U.K. variant of the virus is more deadly than the original. It says the data isn't quite clear just yet.
On Friday, British prime minister Boris Johnson came out and said, when you look at hospital data alone, you are no more likely to die from this new U.K. variant of the virus than you are if you're infected with the original virus.
But then he also said something that seems contradictory on the surface. And that's that, if you look at the overall data, the new variant actually does seem noticeably more deadly than the original. Yesterday, the director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health weighed in on this as well.
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MCLEAN: And he responded specifically to the numbers that were quoted by the U.K. health officials on Friday, that if you took 1,000 infected 60-year olds, you'd expect about 10 of them to die from the original virus. With the new variant, the data shows that perhaps 13 or 14 may die. Here's what he said.
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DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NIH: That's a small difference and you can't be sure, when they're quoting those numbers, that this might not also be a consequence of the fact that the U.K. health system is really overwhelmed. And that has an effect also on mortality.
So let's take this as something to watch closely. I would not say this is proven yet to be the case.
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MCLEAN: It's important to keep in mind, when we're talking about going from 10 people to 13 people, that is a small number. But if you extrapolate that out to the massive number of deaths that the U.K. is reporting, it's a big number.
Right now the U.K. is seeing consistently more than 1,000 deaths per day. If you took those numbers, we'd be talking about hundreds more deaths if the data is correct.
Dr. Collins, who you saw there, went on to say he's much more concerned about the South African variant, which, early lab research, not on people but in a lab, suggests that that variant may not be neutralized quite as easily as the other variants -- or at least the original coronavirus.
The U.K. health secretary, he's going to be making the rounds on television this morning to respond to both of these concerns.
CURNOW: OK, thanks for that update, Scott McLean live in London.
So I want to bring in Dr. Julia Grace Patterson. She's the founder and chief executive at Every Doctor. The organization campaigns and advocates for both health professionals and NHS patients.
Julia, hi, hoping you can see me. Thanks so much for joining us.
How are doctors holding up right now in the U.K.?
Oh, dear, we seem to have lost the doctor. We will try and get her back.
In the meantime, China's relationship with the U.S. hit some major lows during the Trump presidency.
How will both countries manage things, now that Joe Biden is in the White House?
We'll explore that question just ahead.
And we'll have much more on Larry King.
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CURNOW: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Robyn Curnow, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I want to go back to Dr. Julia Grace Patterson. She is the founder and chief executive at Every Doctor. The organization campaigns and advocates for both health professionals and NHS patients.
Doctor, great to see we've reconnected with you.
DR. JULIA GRACE PATTERSON, FOUNDER, EVERY DOCTOR: Hi.
CURNOW: Thanks for joining us. We really get a sense that the National Health Service in the U.K. is under huge stress at the moment.
How are doctors holding up?
PATTERSON: Doctors are having a very difficult time. To be honest, they've had a very difficult time now for 10 months. At the moment, things are becoming very exhausting.
There's no end to this. It feels like things are getting harder and harder in terms of people's resilience; people are being expected to take on an awful lot of pressure and it's difficult.
CURNOW: You've fought for doctors' rights in the NHS before COVID with your Every Doctor program.
How much of a strain is the pandemic putting on the health service as a whole?
We heard someone from the CDC from the U.S., talking about the British health system being overwhelmed.
How bad is it?
(CROSSTALK) PATTERSON: Sure. The reality is NHS has been underfunded the last 10 years, even before the pandemic happened. People were being underpaid; there weren't enough staff.
There were always pressure points in the system during the winter, when things started to feel unsafe for patients because the government haven't invested adequately over the last 10 years.
Now people in the U.K. are extremely supportive of the NHS. It routinely is seen as the most important thing in terms of what you might vote for when general elections come around. As a doctor explained to me in the U.K., myself, myself and my colleagues are supportive of the NHS. We think it's an incredibly valuable system.
But it's a system that's under a huge amount of pressure. Unless the government start behaving differently and funding things properly, then things aren't going to improve. Obviously during the pandemic, all of this has been highlighted. But there were problems before.
CURNOW: When it comes to the vaccine rollout, how optimistic are you that the U.K. is getting on top of the logistics?
In many ways at least it's centralized; there is an organizational sort of supply chain situation, which the U.S., for example, doesn't have.
PATTERSON: Yes. I mean, the reality is that, back in December when GPs were incredibly busy with other things, they were asked to set a lot of these programs up locally, these vaccine hubs. And it put an awful lot of pressure on GPs.
They stepped up and it's been run incredibly well. And obviously now we have hospital hubs and bigger centers open as well.
But I don't think we can ignore the fact that that's happened because a lot of individuals went above and beyond their normal work within the NHS to make that happen.
The amount of first dose vaccinations being delivered has been fantastic. We've got huge concerns about the government's rejection of the science and increasing of the dosing schedule to 12 weeks instead of three weeks between the two doses.
There's a lot of messaging coming from the government which is very positive about this and certainly it's fantastic that huge numbers of the population have received a first dose.
But a first dose of the COVID vaccine is not a full vaccine course; it's a half course. We get very worried that people might relax their social distancing or think they're more protected than they are with one dose of vaccine. We need to get the second doses as soon as possible.
CURNOW: Doctor, I know that you also run an online forum that is visited by thousands of doctors a day. We also know that the NHS is considered an icon, much loved, you've been clapped and supported by local people across the U.K.
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CURNOW: How does it make you feel when people don't social distance or don't wear masks?
There's been some suggestion those folks have blood on their hands.
PATTERSON: I think most of the doctors I speak to have the feeling the decisions that have gone wrong have come from the government. They haven't protected the public from this pandemic.
At the moment, things aren't locked down sufficiently. It's very frustrating, hearing discussion going on about how deadly or not deadly this new variant of the virus may be while we still have nurseries open, garden centers open.
If there are genuine concerns that this variant is more deadly, as is being -- the term is being used, we need to be locking things down sufficiently and supporting the population so they can stay at home.
I would never say a member of the public had blood on their hands because of a failure to stay at home. The responsibility rests with the government. And at the moment, the most important thing the government should be doing is giving second dose vaccines to every single front line health care worker, which they're failing to do.
These are people who are very vulnerable; they're on the front line. They're continually exposed to COVID-19. We've already lost over 640 health care workers to COVID-19, many of whom had no PPE during the first wave of the pandemic. Those again are failings from the government. Nobody else can be blamed for that.
CURNOW: OK. Dr. Julia Grace Patterson, really appreciate you joining us and giving us the perspective from doctors there in the U.K., thank you.
PATTERSON: Thank you, 'bye.
CURNOW: So there's no honeymoon period for U.S. President Joe Biden as he hits the ground running amid a global pandemic. John Harwood now looks at how the president is prioritizing his agenda during his first week in office -- John.
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JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden is spending his first weekend in the White House doing some of the typical things that new presidents do, reaching out to key allies. In this case, it's all the more important, given that some of those alliances were strained under the Trump administration.
He spoke by phone with British prime minister Boris Johnson. They talked about the importance of NATO as well as climate change. Johnson has cheered the president's return to the Paris climate agreement. He talked to the president of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador,
about immigration policy. That had been a source of friction with the Trump administration as well.
Talked to Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau about the Keystone XL pipeline. That is a point of contention with Joe Biden because Biden has revoked the permit for that pipeline. Canada favors it.
And with all three leaders, they talked about the importance of the COVID-19 pandemic.
And the broader agenda for Joe Biden, which he's trying to get early momentum, is that COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic recovery. He met with advisers at the White House today. Vice President Kamala Harris was there.
They're trying to gear up momentum for that COVID relief package, $1.9 trillion, to try to get through Congress. His economic adviser, Brian Deese, is going to be talking over the weekend with 16 senators of both parties, see if they can get a bipartisan package.
If not, Democrats will try to do it through a special budget procedure with Democratic votes only. But critically important for Joe Biden to get action quickly on COVID-19 and the economic recovery -- John Harwood, CNN, the White House.
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CURNOW: China is denying a "Wall Street Journal" report that it said it was pushing for high-level meetings to ease tensions with the U.S. The report says Beijing raised the idea back in December after Joe Biden was elected president.
The Chinese embassy in the U.S. says that's simply not true but it hopes the Biden administration will meet it, quote, "halfway" to achieve a sound and stable relationship.
I want to go now to David Rennie for his perspective, the Beijing bureau chief for "The Economist."
David, hi; lovely to see you again.
If the Biden administration plans to do things differently from the Trump administration, what do you think is going to be a priority?
DAVID RENNIE, BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF, "THE ECONOMIST": There are some problems that President Biden is much more focused on -- climate change, cooperation on things like rolling out a global vaccine -- and the traditional American view, which Joe Biden is going to represent, is that those very largest global problems, you can't fix them without China.
So we'll see a big change in his willingness to sit down and talk on those global issues that really didn't interest president Trump so much. But there will clearly also be actually more continuity than you might think in terms of a real wariness and suspicion when it comes to how America views China and the challenge that China represents.
CURNOW: How much of a flashpoint will Taiwan be?
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RENNIE: Taiwan is clearly an absolute red line for the Chinese government. They have made clear, if Taiwan ever declared formal independence, they would take any means necessary, including war.
Only a few hours ago, we saw a fairly large Chinese air force incursion into not Taiwanese airspace but airspace that Taiwan regards as kind of under its aerial control.
We saw a pretty tough statement that could have come out of the Trump administration from the U.S. State Department, saying that Beijing is urged to stop intimidating Taiwan with military means and to work with the democratically elected government in Taiwan, reminding China that America's alliance with Taiwan is rock solid.
So a really pretty strong statement of support -- because if you had to pick one of two places where you could actually see tensions between America and China drifting into something really dangerous, Taiwan is very clearly on that list.
CURNOW: It certainly is.
How also has the outgoing Trump administration's declaration about the Uyghurs cornered or boxed in the Biden administration -- or perhaps not?
RENNIE: This is really interesting; that although president Trump, as an individual, couldn't care less about the Uyghurs, we know from his own former national security adviser that he told Xi Jinping that locking up members of the Uyghur minority in re-education camps is the right thing to do. His administration has been very tough.
As they were out of the door, the former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, defined what was happening in Xinjiang as genocide, a crime against humanity. That is a very serious kind of legal finding by the American government.
And with so many of these sort of foreign policy announcements, about Cuba being a state sponsor of being terrorism, Xinjiang being a genocide, if he decides to try and burn some bridges and to box the Biden administration in.
However, although China is denying it reached to look for a meeting, clearly here in Beijing there is a hope for at least a truce with America, seeing if there are areas where they can get back to smoother chains, supply chains, of high-tech supplies from America to China.
China is interested in trying to reduce some of those really high tensions that you saw under the Trump administration. But there's also real cynicism and suspicion here in China, that there will not be a return to kind of the good old days of full-on engagement.
But these two countries don't trust each other and they are competitors and rivals as well as trade partners.
CURNOW: They are.
But what about the interpersonal relationship between Mr. Xi and Mr. Biden?
They know each other well, they spent hours and hours together. I think they've taken a lot of meals together, traveled together. There's no need to have bonding over great big beautiful chocolate cakes. They know each other.
How much will that personal rapport and personal history perhaps matter?
RENNIE: So China is a very unsentimental country. The fact that you are absolutely right, when Xi Jinping, the current Chinese leader, was vice president, his opposite number in America was Joe Biden.
And Barack Obama basically sent Joe Biden to use that kind of protocol, the fact that they were at the same level, to get to know the man who was clearly going to be the next Chinese paramount leader.
Very unusually, the new president of America is absolutely a known quantity here. China is not a sentimental country; they're not going to think of him as a friend to do special favors to.
If you're really bleak about the sheer level of distrust in this relationship, perhaps the biggest impact is that plenty of American presidents have come into office somewhat dazzled by China, somewhat wondering if they can use their own personal charm to soften up the Chinese and get extra concessions.
The Biden administration is full of people running China policy, who have just come on board, who ran China policy, worked on China policy, under Barack Obama. And many of them had pretty tough experiences and big disappointments with the Chinese.
So I think this is a zero illusion, very low-trust but high familiarity relationship from the first moment.
CURNOW: But perhaps coming with a pretty low base. So perhaps some space to move. David Rennie, always good to see you. Live from Beijing, great to have your perspective and analysis as always, thank you.
RENNIE: Thank you.
CURNOW: So we're getting reports that at least 11 miners have been rescued after an incredibly long ordeal. They've been trapped in a gold mine in China for two weeks now. State media says the man in the video you see here is the first to be rescued since the mine blast on January 10th.
The man was extremely weak and was taken to hospital. State media earlier reported that 22 miners were trapped underground. Coming up on CNN, Singapore has been a model on how to keep COVID
numbers in check. But now lawmakers there are raising privacy concerns over how the COVID tracking data gets used.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Good evening. My name is Larry King and this is the premiere edition of "LARRY KING LIVE." Every night at this time we'll be here for one hour. We're going to meet fascinating people from all walks of life. I'll ask them questions, we'll take some calls. I hope you enjoy this alternative to prime time programming rather
than murder, mayhem, sex, violence. We'll bring you all of those -- but disguised.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: That was the one and only Larry King there on the first episode of his hit CNN show, "LARRY KING LIVE." We found out in the past day that Larry King has died. His show was a must-see on CNN for more than 25 years.
King rose to fame by interviewing presidential candidates, celebrities, athletes, movie stars and everyday people. He retired back in 2010 after more than 6,000 episodes.
King's family has not released a cause of death, although he had battled a number of health problems over the years and was hospitalized back in December with COVID. Larry King was 87. And Sunlen Serfaty has a look back at the life of this radio and television icon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Larry King spent more than a half a century as a broadcaster.
LARRY KING, FORMER CNN HOST: It's been a hell of a 50 years. I don't know how much longer I can go. But as long as I feel it, I'm going to keep going.
SERFATY (voice-over): King was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933 as Larry Zeigler (sic). He moved to Miami in his 20s to pursue a job in radio. He also wrote a column for a local newspaper. In 1978 he started "The Larry King Show," a late-night radio program that was eventually syndicated in hundreds of cities.
KING: Good evening. My name is Larry King and this is the premiere edition of "LARRY KING LIVE." SERFATY (voice-over): King joined a still young all-news cable channel
called CNN in 1985 and soon became the face of the struggling network.
[03:45:00]
SERFATY (voice-over): Over more than 25 years, he interviewed celebrities, politicians and newsmakers. He was known for his conversational style and for rarely becoming confrontational with guests.
He was able to book the biggest names in Hollywood, from Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra to Al Pacino and Brad Pitt. He famously kissed Marlon Brando.
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MARLON BRANDO, ACTOR: Goodbye.
KING: Goodbye.
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KING: I kiss my brother on the cheek and I've had friends hug me. But he's the only man ever to kiss me on the lips and I can't stop thinking about him.
SERFATY (voice-over): The NAFTA debate he moderated between Ross Perot and Al Gore was one of the highest-rated cable shows ever.
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AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How do you stop that without NAFTA?
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SERFATY (voice-over): King brought together Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO chairman Yasser Arafat.
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YASSER ARAFAT, FORMER PALESTINE LIBERATION ORGANIZATION CHAIRMAN: We don't want to divide the city.
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SERFATY (voice-over): And he sat down with past and present American presidents, from Richard Nixon --
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KING: Let's set this straight.
Did you hate the people who criticized you?
(END VIDEO CLIP) SERFATY (voice-over): -- to Barack Obama.
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KING: Do you still like this job?
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, this is the best on Earth.
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SERFATY (voice-over): He covered live news events, from wars to elections.
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KING: Do you think you're going to cost Al Gore the election tonight, honestly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
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SERFATY (voice-over): Then shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, he brought his show to New York.
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KING: When it comes to describing what I saw earlier this week at ground zero, I really cannot find the right words.
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SERFATY (voice-over): King was married eight times, the last to Shawn Southwick. After more than 25 years at CNN, he decided to end his nightly show and only appear in specials for the network. He signed off his final regular broadcast on December 16th, 2010.
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KING: I don't know what to say except to you, my audience, thank you. And instead of goodbye, how about so long?
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CURNOW: Some of Larry King's friends and those who knew him well remember him as one of the all-time greats.
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BOB COSTAS, NBC CORRESPONDENT: He absolutely was iconic. His role at CNN, especially at the outset, giving it credibility, his global reach because it was seen around the world, his ability to bring not just U.S. political figures but world leaders onto his program. DICK CAVETT, FORMER ABC TV HOST: He was so happy to do what he did, he
couldn't live without it. I almost have the feeling, if a ghostly figure said, we are taking away everything in your life except your show or we'll take your show and you can have the rest of your life, he would have -- it would have been an easy choice for Larry.
WENDY WALKER, FORMER CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: The one thing he loved was being in front of that camera. I mean, he was a very interesting man. But that one hour a day, when those lights came on, he was just perfect. And he treated every guest the same.
It didn't matter if it was a president or somebody just off the street. He never had an agenda. So he really treated them all separately -- I mean, the same. That's why -- that's why he was as good as he was.
BILLY CRYSTAL, COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: I think of Larry as really sort of like a relative. He sounded like a relative. He was funny. He was charming. He was very smart. And he was a regular guy. We could talk about politics; we could talk about comedy; we could talk about bagels. We could talk about anything.
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CURNOW: Larry King was a titan of broadcasting, an everyman's interviewer and truly the King of talk. Our hearts go out to his loved ones. He will be deeply missed by the family here at CNN.
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[03:50:00]
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CURNOW: Welcome back.
So global coronavirus cases are approaching 100 million as nations grapple with the pandemic. New Zealand hadn't reported a single community transmitted case of COVID in the past two months. But that might change. The ministry of health there says it's now investigating a probable case, a 56-year-old woman who's now in isolation after coming back from Europe.
Meanwhile, Japan is reporting its COVID death toll now exceeds 5,000 people. That's counting 84 people who lost their lives to the virus on Saturday.
One country that has managed COVID well is Singapore. A large part of that success is due to mobile contact tracing. But privacy concerns are now being raised after Singapore's government admitted that data collection can be used by police for criminal investigations. Here's Kristie Lu Stout.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): No lockdown in the Lion City. In Singapore, local infection rates have been close to zero for months, a factor behind its success.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Trace Together. Savor together.
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STOUT (voice-over): Contact tracing technology, the government's Trace Together program includes a smartphone app and a token that uses Bluetooth to gauge proximity between users, to alert them if they've been in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
More than 4.2 million people or 78 percent of Singapore's population voluntarily use the technology. In June, authorities insisted it is not a tracking device and the data is encrypted and would not be used for other purposes.
VIVIAN BALAKRISHNAN, SMART NATION MINISTER-IN-CHARGE: The only time the data leaves the phone or the device is in the unlikely event that you're diagnosed with COVID-19.
STOUT (voice-over): But that may not necessarily be the case. This month in parliament, a government minister said police can obtain Trace Together data for criminal investigations.
DESMOND TAN, SINGAPORE MINISTER OF STATE FOR HOME AFFAIRS: Singapore police force is empowered under the criminal procedure court to obtain any data and that includes the Trace Together data for criminal investigations.
STOUT (voice-over): Analysts say the backtracking on privacy undermines citizens' trust.
[03:55:00]
EUGENE TAN, SINGAPORE MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY: I think you know that has a perhaps left an unpleasant taste in the mouths of Singaporeans. And it raises questions about whether future assurances, given by the government with regard to data collection, data use, you know, whether people will have the high level of trust and confidence.
STOUT (voice-over): Privacy concerns about the technology have been raised around the world; in South Korea, where health authorities and sometimes businesses share the whereabouts of coronavirus patients ...
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know the exact locations this individual went to. I know the door that they used in order to get inside my local supermarket.
STOUT (voice-over): -- and in China, where photos and personal information from a Beijing COVID-19 health app were reportedly leaked and sold online.
STOUT: When the technology required to control the virus ends up undermining privacy, what should governments do?
JASON LAU, CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER: You need to follow the six data privacy principles. It's a collection of purpose means to make sure the information is accurate, make sure we don't retain it for a longer period of time than we need to, make sure that we use it for the purpose we're actually collecting it for, make sure we have the right type of security safeguards, the openness to make sure we share what we're actually doing with the actual data and also allow the people to correct the data if the data is actually not accurate.
STOUT (voice-over): Singapore has acknowledged its error in not stating that data from Trace Together is not exempt from the Criminal Procedure Code and will introduce new legislation to limit police use of such data.
It remains to be seen whether that will placate any concerns or whether, in certain countries, privacy is considered a price of tackling the pandemic -- Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
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CURNOW: That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Robyn Curnow here in Atlanta. Thanks for joining me. I'm going to hand you over to my colleague, Kim Brunhuber.
