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U.S. Gets Into Heated Exchanges with Russia and China; Putin Responds After Biden Agrees He's a "Killer"; German Health Minister: Not Enough COVID-19 Vaccine to Stop Third Europe Wave Alone. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired March 19, 2021 - 10:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[10:00:26]

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Atlanta, this is CONNECT THE WORLD.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, America taking on two adversaries at the same time.

Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD.

The Biden administration is setting new tone, seeing new tensions with its modern economic rival China and its old Cold War foe Russia.

Vladimir Putin is firing back after the U.S. President Joe Biden called his Russian counterpart a killer, said Russia would pay a price for interfering

in the 2020 election. Hear what Mr. Putin had to say about that in just a moment.

But, first, let's connect to China. U.S. and Chinese officials meeting for a second day after talks there got off to a rocky start. These are the

first face-to-face meetings between the country since Joe Biden became the U.S. president.

The U.S. secretary of state began by laying out a series of grievances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We'll also discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan,

cyber attacks on the United States, economic coercion toward our allies. Each of these actions threatened the order that maintains global stability.

That's why they're not merely internal matters, and why we feel an obligation to raise these issues here today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, things went downhill from there.

Let's see how China responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YANG JIECHI, CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY FOREIGN AFFAIR CHIEF (through translator): when I When I entered this room, I should have reminded the

U.S. side of paying attention to its tone in our respective opening remarks.

(SPEAKING CHINESE)

(through translator): The Chinese side felt compelled to make this speech because of the tone of the U.S. side.

(SPEAKING CHINESE)

(through translator): Isn't this the intention of the United States, judging for the way that you have made your opening remarks, that it wants

to speak to China in a condescending way from a position of strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, so it went.

CNN's Selina Wang is following this from Tokyo for us, and Kylie Atwood is at the State Department.

Good to have you with us.

I want to start with Kylie because these were extraordinary scenes playing out in Alaska. First face-to-face meeting between Chinese officials and the

new Biden administration. Of course, the meeting continues today, but what we have seen so far is a lot of insults back and forth.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Lynda. You used the word extraordinary. That's very appropriate for what we saw,

because traditionally these opening statements are pretty tame. It's kind of the most boring part of diplomacy when two countries sit down, they

prepare remarks and then they dig into more substance behind closed doors.

But this unfolded in front of cameras. As both sides traded insults back and forth, it was really interactive. The U.S. was putting forth concerns

that they were going to raise in meetings with regard to Chinese actions in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang.

And then the Chinese officials accused United States officials of being divisive. They pointed to Black Lives Matter protests and said the U.S. is

the forefront leader for cyber attacks.

So, this really devolved in kind of into a mess here. Now, we should note as you said, these conversations are ongoing. This was just the beginning.

They had two sessions yesterday. They have another session today in Alaska, and senior administration official from the Biden administration said that

after that unfolded in front of cameras, they turned to substantive and direct conversation.

Essentially, they got down to business when the cameras left. We can't ignore the fact this is how things got started, and it raises questions

about how the U.S./China relationship is going to unfold with leadership of the Biden administration.

KINKADE: Yeah, it certainly does.

I want to go to Selina for more on all of that because this meeting was set to be tense from the get go, but it certainly blew away any expectations.

China certainly went off script describing a strong smell of gun powder and drama from the beginning of opening remarks.

[10:05:12]

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, that's exactly right. We knew going into the talks it was going to be tense. Both sides had already downplayed

any expectations of real progress here. We were expecting both sides to essentially be doubling down on their existing positions but, of course,

this was far more than we expected in front of the cameras.

You had China's top diplomat responding to U.S. accusations that China is undermining global stability with what was a 15 minute speech, lashing out

at the U.S., as Kylie mentioned, briefing up racism in America at home, as well as accusing the U.S. to stop meddling in China's internal affairs.

You also had China bringing up many Americans have little confidence in the democracy of the United States, accusing U.S. officials of being

condescending, the U.S. fighting back saying China was, quote, grandstanding. But this acrimonious tone, Lynda, was also set far before

they walked into the room. You had Antony Blinken, U.S. top officials here in the Asia region meeting with top allies, delivering harsh words to

Beijing.

Here in Japan, Antony Blinken said the U.S. will stand up to China, they will push back when China uses coercion or aggression to get its own way.

And just a day before this meeting, Blinken announced new sanctions over Beijing's crackdown in Hong Kong. So, really, no surprise that these were

going to be bitter talks.

KINKADE: Yeah, no surprise at all. I just don't think we expected all of the fireworks. Selina Wang and Kylie Atwood, good to have you with us.

Thanks so much.

Well, I want to stay with China. A Chinese court issued no verdict after closely watched trial of a Canadian businessman. Now, it took only two

hours today to try Michael Spavor who has been held since he was arrested in 2018 accused of espionage.

Canada says Spavor is innocent, and accuses Beijing for retaliating for the arrest of a Huawei executive. China has said that the two cases are not

related, and the court says it will announce a verdict at a later date. An official in Beijing says he is disappointed with lack of transparency in

that trial.

Well, Amnesty International is slamming Beijing over a different mattering, saying there may be thousands of Uyghur families separated by China's

crackdown in Xingjian. The new report says some parents who fled the region years ago are unable to reunite with children and many live in fear of

returning. China denies accusations of human rights abuses.

Well, CNN tracked down some of the families. Find that report and more about Amnesty International's findings at CNN.com. We'll have more

exclusive reporting in the days ahead.

Well, let's get more on the heated rhetoric between the United States and Russia. Vladimir Putin is now challenging the U.S. president to join him

live online for talks. The offer comes after the Russian President slammed Joe Biden for calling him a killer. Mr. Putin, quote, says it takes one to

know one.

Well, that quip adding a kind of playground tone to the diplomat spat between the Kremlin and the White House. After insults flew, the Kremlin

spokesman added the Russian president, quote, clearly stated his desire to continue relations between the two countries no matter what because it is

in the interests of not only our two countries but in the interests of the rest of the world.

So, we've seen insults followed by a diplomatic statement, both sides engaging in some strategic calculus.

Connecting you now to Moscow where CNN's Matthew Chance.

Good to see you again. Matthew.

So, Matthew, President Putin of Russia wants to have the debate live on television online, challenging Biden. Is there any chance of that

happening?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, so far, we're see nothing but doubts about whether that's going to happen from

the State Department. But, obviously, it's something they're ultimately have to decide for themselves.

So far, they said it is not something they're particularly going to be looking at in the schedule of President Biden. But I can tell you that this

morning from the Kremlin's point of view, they doubled down on that request. This morning, the Kremlin's spokesman for Vladimir Putin saying

that we really do want this live online discussion and debate between President Putin and Biden to continue, you know, discussing the issues that

have been raised in the past couple of days.

This is a response by President Putin to the suggestion, comments by President Biden that he thought that President Putin is a killer.

[10:10:06]

There was an angry response to that by the Kremlin, including actions well taken by Russia to recall its ambassador to the United States. That's the

first time a diplomatic step like that has been taken for many decades. And so, that's a sign of how concerned the Russians are, how angry, that the

relationship is spiraling out of control. It's already fraught with a range of issues. But I think there's a growing sense in Russia that under the

Biden presidency, which is less than 100 days old, of course, at this point, it is going to be even more difficult and packed with even more

sanctions than the previous administration was and the administration before that.

And so, I think there's a sense that Russia is bracing itself for a difficult period of relations between Russia and the United States in years

ahead under Joe Biden.

KINKADE: All right. Matthew Chance, we will leave it there for now. We look forward to speaking with you again very soon. Thanks so much.

That's Matthew Chance for us in Moscow.

Well, next week, the U.S. secretary of state will take concerns about Russia and China before a new audience. He heads to Brussels for a NATO

meeting. Other pressing concerns like COVID and climate change are on the agenda as well, and he will meet with E.U. officials.

The State Department says the trip is meant as show of support for U.S. allies and European partners. Antony Blinken highlights the theme that

America is back on the world stage.

So, it's kind of keep your friends close, keep your enemies, well, pretty far away actually. I want to bring in someone that knows about this

delicate diplomacy. Nicholas Burns is a former ambassador to NATO, and was foreign policy adviser to Joe Biden's 2020 campaign.

Good to have you with us.

NICHOLAS BURNS, FOREIGN POLICY ADVISER, JOE BIDEN'S 2020 CAMPAIGN: Thank you so much.

KINKADE: So, we're starting to see how the Biden administration will deal with allies and adversaries. And I want to start with Russia because in the

last few days we heard U.S. President Biden call the president of Russia a killer. And I was waiting to see whether those comments would be walked

back at all but we heard from his press secretary who said the president was asked a direct question and gave a direct answer. What's your take?

BURNS: My take is that Joe Biden was right to say -- President Biden right to say what he said. He spoke the truth. The fact is that President Putin

is an autocrat, and Russia is now pretty much an authoritarian, dictatorial country. And the idea that the Russians believe that President Biden should

debate President Putin should is ludicrous. President Putin doesn't deserve to be on the same stage as Biden.

Here in the United States, you know, we don't profess to be perfect, but Joe Biden participated in well more than 20 debates with his Democratic

rivals in the primary and then with Donald Trump. When is the last time President Putin debated anybody honestly in Russia? Alexey Navalny

attempted to debate President Putin, they threw him in jail. There are tens of thousands in political prisoners in the jails in Russia.

So, the Russians are just being hypocritical, the Kremlin is, this morning, by asserting somehow there should be a debate between two equals. They're

not equals. One is a democratic leader, Joe Biden, and the other an autocrat.

And I think it does speak to this larger issue that'd be on showcase next week at the NATO meeting in Brussels that the United States believes under

Joe Biden's leadership that we've got to support democracies and we have to tell the truth about the threat from the authoritarian powers Russia and

China.

KINKADE: Just with regards to the debate the Russian president is proposing, is there any chance that will happen, and why would the Russian

president push for that?

BURNS: You know, I think the Russians, I don't think there's any chance it is going to happen. And I think the Russian government is trying to deflect

criticism from their own shortcomings, from the fact that they have imprisoned Navalny and they attempted to murder him. They used Novichok

against a father and daughter, Russian emigres in Salisbury, England, three years ago.

They've illegally annexed Crimea. They've illegally occupied the Donbass in Ukraine. They illegally are occupying Georgia.

There are a lot of things that Russia has done that are concerned the entire democratic community, especially the NATO allies, and I think

they're trying to deflect criticism from what they've done and they're trying to create a bit of theater as a grandstanding quality of this, but

no one should be taken in by Russian propaganda.

KINKADE: I want to speak briefly about China/U.S. relations. We talked about how that summit in Alaska is playing out now. A lot of heated insults

between officials from both countries. We heard from Mr. Blinken.

I just want to play what he said addressing China.

[10:15:01]

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLINKEN: We'll also discuss our deep concerns with actions by China, including in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Taiwan, cyberattacks on the United

States, economic coercion toward our allies. The alternative to a rules- based order is a world in which might make strike, and winner takes all. And that would be a far more violent and unstable world for all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: What's your response to how talks are playing out in Alaska between China and the U.S.?

BURNS: I think Secretary Blinken said what he had to, we're in a competitive relationship with China. We in the Democratic world, including

Japan, of course, and South Korea and Australia and India, we've got to align ourselves correctly, militarily, politically, economically so that we

can resist the threat that China poses. And Secretary Blinken enumerated a lot of the problems, the terrible atrocities that China committed against

the Uyghur people in Xinjiang province, the fact that Hong Kong's democracy has been literally smothered over the last 12 months.

The fact that Taiwan is under threat. These are concerns not just to the United States but to all Democratic countries.

So, in diplomacy, sometimes you have to stand up and you have to object when you see things that are inimical in the world to our interests and our

values and that's what Secretary Blinken did and I think he said the right thing in Anchorage, Alaska.

KINKADE: Ambassador, the NATO meeting is happening next week. How will we see the U.S. behave, given what we saw in the last administration, where

president Trump, former president Trump threatened to withdraw from the alliance? Will this be a reset?

BURNS: It is a reset and embrace of NATO. The United States, of course, values NATO. President Trump was the only American president for the last

70-odd years who didn't value the alliance as a force multiplier for us. These are all democratic countries. We stuck together since 1949.

NATO is really the power differential if you will between the United States and Europe and Russia. I was ambassador to NATO on 9/11 when the allies

came to our defense. They all went into Afghanistan with us.

And the great majority are there right now and troop contributions outnumber that of the United States. We deeply value NATO. President Biden

has been clear from January 20th on we're going to reengage with NATO and be part of the leadership again. I think you'll see a very successful

meeting next week.

They'll talk about the need to contain Russia, certainly the need to deal with the big problem of protecting our NATO allies from Russian

assertiveness, the need to redevelop military capacity to deal with 21st century threats, the need for us to make big decisions about Afghanistan.

So, NATO is vital as our East Asian allies are vital. That's another theme President Biden brought to office, the value of our alliances, and the

value of the United States being engaged with the world, not acting unilaterally as president Trump did.

KINKADE: And next week, what will be key to watch for? What will be the biggest theme we will see discussed?

BURNS: I think a united NATO saying we're going to stand up to Russia, continue to sanction Russia for what it has done to Alexey Navalny, what

it's done in Crimea and in the Donbas, and also to make some big decisions in Afghanistan. The NATO alliance has been there for decades. Obviously,

there are decisions whether to extend NATO and U.S. military presence there and how to protect the Afghan government from the Taliban.

KINKADE: All right. Former ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns. Great to get your perspective on all of that. Thanks so much.

BURNS: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, still ahead here on CONNECT THE WORLD.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENS SPAHN, GERMAN HEALTH MINISTER: The rising case numbers may mean we cannot take further opening steps in the weeks to come. On the contrary, we

may have to take steps backwards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Why the German health minister offering a grim COVID forecast, even as his nation resumes use of a key vaccine. We're going live to

Berlin, next.

And later, children of war will speak to young Iraqis who spent their entire lives in a land of conflict.

Stay with us. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:21:44]

KINKADE: Welcome back.

We don't have enough COVID-19 vaccine in Europe to stop a third wave alone, that grim new warning today from the German health minister coming on the

same day that Germany and several other European nations resume use of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. But the health minister says the new wave of

infections will likely delay reopening plans for the COVID weary continent.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPAHN: There's not enough to stop the third world wave alone. It will take several weeks before the risk groups are fully vaccinated. Only then can we

talk about wider openings in the society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well, lingering over the warning, the fallout from the AstraZeneca pause in most of western Europe over safety concerns. Thursday,

European drug regulators deemed the vaccine safe to use, but would not completely rule out connection between the vaccine and rare cases of blood

crosses.

Now, the announcement was enough for Spain, France, Italy, Cypress and the Netherlands to join Germany and resume the AstraZeneca vaccine. But Norway,

Denmark, Sweden all say their rollouts remain on hold. Health officials fear the pause cost crucial time in the race to vaccinate as coronavirus

variants spread.

Well, our Frederik Pleitgen is covering the story for us from Berlin and joins us now live.

I just want to start with the dire prediction, Fred, from the German health minister who said there's not enough vaccines to prevent Europe from

entering this third wave.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and that's even with the AstraZeneca vaccine. That was a dire projection by the

German health minister. And, of course, on top of that, you've had the Germans and several other countries as well, Lynda, now pause that

AstraZeneca vaccine for several days. So, they're really lagging pretty far behind.

One of the things we did earlier, we went to a vaccination center here in Berlin. Berlin is really one of the first places in Germany that

immediately started administering the AstraZeneca vaccine again. I have to say, when we were there, things were going fairly slowly. They aim to

vaccinate 500 people today. And it really seemed to us that places they were vaccinating, it wasn't as full as maybe it could be.

So, even now that the AstraZeneca vaccine is back on track, people are taking it, this vaccination campaign really is one that's going slowly and

therefore that's why the German health minister said maybe some new measures might be necessary. Now, one of the other things we managed to do,

we spoke to the chief medical officer of BioNTech and Pfizer, of BioNTech actually, who co-developed the vaccine against novel coronavirus together

with Pfizer. They're receiving an award in Germany today.

They say they believe their vaccine is going to be effective against a lot of the variants and they think that they're going to -- they say they're

going to continuously keep updating the vaccine to make sure they can take care of other variants as well. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OZLEM TURECI, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, BIONTECH: This merit is a great honor for us.

[10:25:01]

It also is a celebration of science as a problem solver for in this case global health crisis and it also honors the fact that when we work together

internationally in partnerships and across private, public borders that important differences can be made.

PLEITGEN: There's a lot of concern about variants of the novel coronavirus, mutations. How confident are you that your vaccine will

continue to be effective against the mutations?

TURECI: From what we know based on the scientific data, the current variants, for example, U.K. variant and South African variant, we are

protected against those with current version of our vaccine. However, what we also prepare is, and this is to be basically prepared for tomorrow in

case such variant of concern would occur, the process with which we can adapt to a new variant. The other is you have to pre-discuss with

regulators the process with which you do this, which basically means that we exchange the new sequence against the one we have now and use our mRNA

platform technology.

PLEITGEN: Of course, right now, there's a lot of demand for your vaccine, other vaccines as well. What are plans to try to further upscale production

to make sure you meet that global demand?

TURECI: This is new technology. You cannot just repurpose vaccine facilities which are there, and you can also not train people very fast.

So, we are working, turning every stone basically to upscale and roll out our capacities and continuously we evaluate the target. We have already

set, could be overperformed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: So, there you have Ozlem Tureci, the chief medical officer of BioNTech. Again, heads of BioNTech receiving the Cross of Merit in Germany

for developing the vaccine and saving a lot of lives not just in Germany but, of course, across the world.

One of the things I asked her as well that was very important, I asked about reports of blood clots coming in and some of the measures that

countries have taken. She said that it is something that is not necessarily unexpected. Some side effects that could occur with some vaccines, not just

the AstraZeneca vaccines, they're noticed later when they are in wide use. But she also said she believes regulators here in Europe and, of course,

elsewhere as well have taken competent measures, people can trust not just BioNTech vaccine, but other vaccines as well as this rollout is so

important to the continent and so important to the world -- Lynda.

KINKADE: Absolutely. Frederik Pleitgen for us in Berlin, thanks so much for that.

Well, just minutes ago, French Prime Minister Jean Castex got his first shot of the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine. Now, officials are trying to boost

confidence in the vaccine as France tries to fight off a third wave of surge in cases.

Well, President Emmanuel Macron has ordered new coronavirus restrictions for Paris region starting at midnight Friday. But he has resisted cause for

another national lockdown.

Still to come on CONNECT THE WORLD, desperation in Brazil. Hospitals running out of ICU beds and supplies. People are dying in record numbers.

But the president says he is the victim.

We're going to have a live report from Rio de Janeiro just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:31:21]

KINKADE: Welcome back. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Well, the sharp rise in coronavirus infections and deaths has plunged Brazil's health care system to the verge of collapse. The pandemic has

killed more than 45,000 people in the past month alone. Intensive care units are nearly full. Over 90 percent in several states.

In San Paolo, a man just 22 years old died waiting for an open ICU bed. Well, city leaders are begging for federal help. Mayors representing 61

percent of the country say they desperately need medical supplies.

But Brazil's president seems to be in denial, even as coronavirus deaths soar, the Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro says there's a war against him

personally.

Our Matt Rivers joins us live from Rio de Janeiro.

Good to see you, Matt.

Ever since the pandemic began, the president down playing how serious this all is. I've now heard he just named a fourth health minister since the

pandemic began and he is feeling the heat because of just how badly this has been handled.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, all you need to do, Lynda, is look at where we are in the pandemic. We are more than a year now after the

first death was recorded from the coronavirus here in Brazil and things are worse than they have ever been. It was just yesterday the second most

deaths in a single day were recorded from the coronavirus. It was two days ago on Tuesday that most deaths in a single day were recorded.

So, it's just a horrific situation right now and it doesn't look like it is getting better soon. You need to look at occupancy rates inside intensive

care units across this country. In previous waves, we saw different pockets of the country really being hit harder than others. It was just little

under two months ago, I was in the city of Manaus. That was up in northern part of Brazil, Amazon rainforest city, and that was undergoing a horrific

outbreak.

What happened there is basically in every single state across this country, all but one Brazilian state has ICU capacity at 80 percent or higher, 16 of

26 states are at 90 percent ICU capacity or higher. That means if they haven't collapsed already, Lynda, those health care systems are at imminent

risk of collapsing. And it's not just rural parts of Brazil. It's not just the parts with least equipped infrastructure, it is also the state of Sao

Paolo, for example, which is the richest, most populous in the country.

You said it in the intro, people are dying waiting for ICU beds. And unfortunately I do not think we are at the peak in terms of how bad this is

going to get.

KINKADE: Yeah, it is especially dire there. You speak about some of the numbers, that death toll continuing to rise. Daily death count breaking

record day after day.

Just talk to us a bit more about inequality, how that is affected there.

RIVERS: Well, I mean, there's no doubt this is effecting poorer communities more than richer communities but what's kinds of morbidly

fascinating at this point is that throughout this pandemic, you've generally seen a tale of two cities. You got the private health care system

used by the elite in this country, you've had the public health care system used by everybody else.

Right now, even the private hospitals, ones we have been inside are at capacity. They are out of ICU space. We are watching collapse not only of

the public health care system but the private health care system. It has gotten so bad there, no matter how much money you have, finding treatment

in Brazil right now is incredibly difficult.

And, you know, in the past, maybe they could pull resources from one part of the country, put it in another, that's not as badly hit. Right now,

there's no help from anywhere. Everywhere is being hit.

And we talked about governmental response earlier. You know, you had Jair Bolsonaro, the president of Brazil, yesterday saying it is a war against

the president, talking about himself in the third person, basically saying that he's questioning how many people are actually dying from COVID in the

ICUs versus other diseases.

Let us be the ones to tell viewers what is happening in the ICUs right now is not because of other diseases. State after state after state after state

is saying their ICUs are collapsing because of COVID-19.

The president doesn't want to admit that. He wants to talk about the economic threat posed by different lockdown in the country. He's planning

protests this weekend, even legal action against some governors that are trying to take restrictive measures to save lives. If you look at the

federal response or lack thereof, there's zero question that lack of coordinated federal response is leading to people losing their lives in

brazil. It is an ongoing tragedy, Lynda, one calling out for government leadership that right now isn't there.

KINKADE: And, Matt, obviously, the vaccination program has been subject to political disputes and delays. Where is that at now?

RIVERS: Well, you know, it's especially tragic when you consider Brazil's long, successful history of vaccinating people against myriad diseases, has

health care infrastructure to do so, has got a willing population that is used to taking vaccines, but what you've had is a federal government

vaccination rollout program that's been slow and that's probably being generous.

Going back to last year, they had a chance to procure 70 million doses of Pfizer vaccine. They chose not to take that opportunity, put all their eggs

in the AstraZeneca vaccine in Brazil. Delays in vaccine, even though doses were to be delivered in December, first 500,000 doses of AstraZeneca are

only being delivered this week.

Multiple epidemiologists say it is well into the second half of 2021 before there's substantial impact made from vaccines. I'll end by saying less than

2 percent, 1.6 percent roughly of the population, Lynda, has been fully vaccinated so far. Incredibly slow rollout program.

KINKADE: Incredibly slow and they desperately need to ramp it up. Matt Rivers for us, good to have you on the case. Thank you.

I want to check in with reporters around the globe for the latest on the fight against the coronavirus. We have reports from Italy and South Korea.

But we begin in France.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jim Bittermann in France.

New COVID restrictions go into effect tonight. The sluggish rollout of vaccines, infections and hospitalizations here have grown at an alarming

pace. Now from the Paris region up to the English Channel, around Nice, new rules going to effect that will require people to carry written

explanations why you're out and about, and close nonessential businesses. An estimated 110,000 businesses and 20 million people will be affected. But

critics say the measures don't go far enough.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Melissa Bell in Rome. The rollout of AstraZeneca vaccine resumes in Italy this morning as in other European

countries after several days of suspension, after European medicine agency verdict that it was safe to use and not linked to blood clots.

Here in Italy, it is day five in half the regions of the fairly strict lockdown that has yet to translate into improvement in those COVID-19 third

wave figures. Number of U.K. cases, over 20,000 still at the end of this week.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancock in Seoul.

Seoul City has backed down from the latest COVID-19 policy that said all foreign workers in the city had to be tested or fined $1,700. Now, they now

say that it is a recommendation for those that work in a high risk work force to be tested and foreigners and Koreans alike. This follows push back

from diplomats, from international businesses, even from the country's health ministry. The U.S. embassy here in Seoul said that they also voiced

their concerns.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, some European countries debate whether to move forward with AstraZeneca, the United States is about to reach a vaccine milestone way

ahead of schedule. Today, the country is expected to meet President Biden's goal of 100 million vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office. That's

100 million shots delivered in arms of Americans in just 58 days.

But Mr. Biden is urging caution, saying it is not time for relaxation. He's calling on Americans to continue to wear masks and social distance. Masks

were also the subject of a tense exchange between Republican Senator Rand Paul and Dr. Fauci during a Senate hearing on Thursday.

[10:40:09]

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): If we're not spreading the infection, isn't it just theater? You got the vaccine and you're wearing two masks. Isn't that

theater?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Here we go again with the theater. Let's get down to facts. When

you talk about reinfection and don't keep in the concept of variants that's an entirely different ball game, that's a good reason for a mask.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Fauci says he is worried elderly people could get false comment and believe they don't need to wear a mask.

We're going to back with news from the Champions League.

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KINKADE: Welcome back.

Well, it was the draw every football fan waited for. Europe's top teams found their opposition in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The

marquee matchup which is Bayern against PSG, which is a rematch of last year's final. But it is not the only big game in town.

Well, for more, we are joined by our Patrick Snell.

Pat, good to have you with us. What of the games caught your eye?

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Hi, Lynda, great to be on air with you. Fantastic.

Look, it's such an exciting draw, I don't know where to start. So, give me 20 seconds, I will do my best.

Look, we've got another rematch of another classic final involving Real Madrid and Liverpool. That's the 2018 final being reprised.

And in star studded draw, we've also got Manchester City who never ever won the prestigious tournament. It features the goal machine. The club for whom

his father used to play back in the day. It's intriguing. We'll break it down in "World Sport" coming up in a few moments from right now.

Back to you, Lynda.

KINKADE: It's great to see you, Patrick Snell. Looking forward to "World Sport" in just a moment. Thanks so much.

We're going to take a quick break.

(WORLD SPORT)

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