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Pfizer Says Its Vaccine May Be More Than 90 Percent Effective; Promising News About COVID-19 Vaccine Lifts Dow, S&P 500; New Restrictions in Effect as Cases Rise in Europe; Chief Palestinian Negotiator Dies After COVID-19 Infection. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired November 10, 2020 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Officials and health experts around the world are welcoming encouraging news about Pfizer's potential coronavirus vaccine. Early data from the drug maker showed the vaccine is more than 90 percent effective at preventing infection. The company says the results were much better than expected, and its CEO is calling the research a game changer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALBERT BOURLA, CEO, PFIZER: I think that likely based on impact that would be the greatest medical advance in the last hundred years, if you think about it, right? And it is extraordinary, but it is coming at a time that the world needs it the most. Right now, only the U.S. which have 100,000 victims of COVID every day. 1,000 deaths every day. I cannot count how many people are losing their jobs every day. So it's very important day for humanity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Despite the encouraging news, the company still hasn't determined how long the vaccine's protection will last or if the drug prevents severe infections. Even so, researchers plan to seek regulatory approval in the coming weeks and could have up to 50 million doses ready by year's end. Several countries have already placed orders including the U.K. and the U.S. Pfizer says U.S. citizens will receive the vaccine free of charge.
And that promising news about a COVID-19 vaccine helped U.S. stocks surge on Wall Street. The Dow closed nearly 3 percent higher on Monday. The S&P 500 was up 1.2 percent, just short of a new record high. But the tech heavy Nasdaq closed down 1 1/2 percent. And this is a look at how the U.S. futures are reacting right now. And you've got the Dow and S&P 500 in positive territory, 1/2 percent up there for the Dow.
So, let's go to John Defterios. He joins us live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, John. So, we now have a sense of how important a vaccine for an economic recovery in case we didn't realize. But is Wall Street a little out of step with the medical challenges of distribution in this instance, do you think? JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, I think
that's a good way to frame it, Rosemary. They're focused on the progress of the vaccine but not the hurdles in terms of distribution. Right? So, we had this huge surge at the start of the trading day, almost outlandishly high, and then we kind of came back to reality. But a 3 percent gain or near that for the Dow Industrial is significant and is kind of a shift to reengaging with companies that have been locked out because of the pandemic.
A more subdued response in Asia. The markets mostly higher but not by a whole lot here. Hong Kong up about 1 percent. Shanghai was below the line. And it's almost a split decision, if you will, Rosemary, what we're seeing in Europe with London and Paris with pretty sharp gains and then Germany and Zurich hovering either at the line or just below it at this stage. But we saw companies like the airlines and the cruise liners, a company like Disney, surging on Monday. What is that telling us about the next three to six months in terms of investor sentiment. Let's take a listen.
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QUINCY KROSBY, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, PRUDENTIAL: The market, as you then pointed out, looks ahead. Looks ahead three months, maybe even four months. And that's why today you see the normal stocks, the sectors, getting a major boost. You're seeing Disney, the consummate discretionary, consumer discretionary name getting the boost.
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DEFTERIOS: That was the boost on Monday, and oil prices surged about 10 percent because of trains and plains and automobiles are moving again. Oil will rise. We had a gain of, what, 10, 11 percent at one point, and they're holding on to those right now. Rosemary.
But there is the risk here, the political risk of Donald Trump trying to throw sand in the engine, if you will, and slow the process down. The big asset manager, BlackRock, which manages $7 trillion, it told its investors yesterday not to worry. It'll slow down the process. But it will not derail a Joe Biden presidency. Quite interesting think, Rosemary, that Donald Trump said he's the man of Wall Street. Now you see quite a shift the other way to a Democratic leader.
CHURCH: Yes, he didn't think it was going to react well, but it's looking good right now. John Defterios joining us live from Abu Dhabi. Many thanks, appreciate it.
Well, Pfizer's vaccine prospects came as welcome news to millions in Europe who were under strict new lock down measures to try and battle a surging second wave. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was cautious in his reaction warning the public not to become complacent.
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[04:35:00] BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Irrespective of whether there is a vaccine on the way or not, we must continue to do everything possible right now to bring the R down. And that's why we hope and believe that mass testing will help. Neither mass testing nor progress on vaccines, although they're both vital arrows in our epidemiological quiver. They're both key parts of our fight against COVID. At the present time, they are no substitute for the national restrictions, the social distancing, hand hygiene, and all the rest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And France is also dealing with a COVID-19 crisis, with more than 20,000 new cases reported on Monday alone. The country has the 4th highest case tally in the world, and its health chief is warning that this second wave has yet to peak.
And for more, let's turn to CNN's Melissa Bell who joins us live from Paris. Good to see you, Melissa. So, what is the latest on the situation across France and of course reaction to this vaccine news.
MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: What we've started to see in several countries and what Jerome Salomon, the head of France's public health agency spoke of yesterday. Yes, a second wave yet to peak in countries like France and yet the very beginning of some hope that the figures are just beginning to shift. And in particular, he said, Rosemary, those French cities that have been under the tightest restrictions for the longest.
So of course as you know, here as elsewhere, we have a second partial lock down on. But before that was put in place, curfews had been put in place in several French cities. It was there. Those worst hit metropolitan areas, he said, that are now beginning to see some hope in terms of the figures. And if you just take the positivity rate nationwide, 19.8, that sound like a lot, but it is the first time that it has come down since the month of August, coming from a high on Saturday of 20.6.
So the beginning of a turnaround, but of course a great deal of need to go on with these measures. And in a sense, you're right, Rosemary, to point that out. It is that sort of restrictive measures and trying to keep whatever needs to be kept in place in place in terms of restricting people's freedom of movement, until the figures show not at least some improvement but certainly some ability to allow the countries in question to weather the storm. Until that vaccine can be found, a sort of halfway house between open economies and restricted economies that will allow them to keep the ICUs functioning for as long as they need to, until the vaccine can finally bring some hope to countries like France. So hard hit, Rosemary, as they have been by the second wave.
CHURCH: Yes, of course. Melissa Bell, bringing us that update live from Paris, many thanks.
Well no concessions, allegations of voter fraud, and legal cases. Coming up we speak to our election law analyst about the next steps for President Trump and President-elect Biden. Back in a moment. [04:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHURCH: This breaking news coming this hour, the chief negotiator with the Palestinian Liberation Organization has reportedly died after being hospitalized with COVID-19 just last month. Saeb Erekat was in critical condition and had received general anesthesia as well as ventilation. He tested positive a month ago, and was considered at high risk because of a lung transplant he underwent back in 2017. CNN's Oren Liebermann looks back at the life and legacy of Saeb Erekat.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saeb Erekat was a man from an increasingly impossible mission, and one in which never shied away. He was head of the PLO's negotiations affairs department for decades, in charge of finding common ground with Israel that would lead to a peace agreement and to a two state solution.
SAEB EREKAT, HEAD OF PLO NEGOTIATIONS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT: This is the only way to save the lives of Israelis and Palestinians. Please let us stop scoring points. Let us stop finger pointing. Let's go to sanity, wisdom and courage and come back to the negotiating table immediately with no conditions whatsoever because at the end of the day, we have recognized the state of Israel's existence. It's up to you to take the high ground.
LIEBERMANN: Born in Jerusalem and educated in the U.S. and the U.K., Erekat joined the Fatah political party growing close to its charismatic founder and leader Yasser Arafat. Considered a hardliner at first, Erekat gained the respect of those who sat across from him.
ALON PINKAS, A FORMER ISRAELI DIPLOMAT: Saeb Erekat is a man of peace, always has been a man of peace, a man that I trust, a man that I respect. That's the good news. The bad news is that Saeb Erekat does not call the shots.
LIEBERMANN: Erekat was a critical part of the Oslo Accords, when ending Israeli/Palestinian conflict seemed an achievable yet eminent goal. But as the years passed and breakthroughs became sporadic, Erekat found himself with little common ground to stand on stand between Israelis and Palestinians and their leaders who deeply distrusted each other. Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas. But Erekat never moved from his goal, even as it grew more distant.
EREKAT: My option is two states. I may be in the minority. I'm being criticized heavily by sticking to the two state solution. But I know in history that I read, and teach and write and so on, that if we want to have a solution, we must have a negotiated solution between us and the Israelis. And if we don't feel ourselves as Israelis and Palestinians that means this will be translated in the blood of my children and their children and nobody else will do it for us. LIEBERMANN: When President Donald Trump unveiled the White House's
plan for Middle East peace it was soundly rejected by the Palestinians and the Arab world. Erekat and the Palestinian leadership wanted no part of Trump's vision.
EREKAT: President Trump is busy inviting Netanyahu, Gantz, some of the three of them can determine my future. They can decide what's best for me. And want to dictate on me. Actually what we hear about, Jerusalem being the Israel's capital, dropping the refugee issues, security, borders, it cannot even be called the deal of the century. It is the fraud in the hoax of the century.
LIEBERMANN: But within months, Erekat would find himself on the outside looking in as Israel normalized agreements with first the United Arab Emirates and weeks later with Bahrain. He kept arguing stridently for the importance and necessity of a two state solution. It was his most important mission, one that remained unfulfilled in his lifetime.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: So let's head straight to Jerusalem now. Where Elliot Gotkine is standing by.
[04:45:00]
Elliott, we all interviewed Saeb Erekat many times. In fact, on the issue of Middle East peace. His legacy certainly was immense on this. How will he be remembered?
ELLIOT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST, JERUSALEM (via phone): Well, Saeb Erekat will be remembered as a man that was in charge of Israel negotiations, which gave so much hope in the peaceful resolution with the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, could be reached. He was planning his report. He was close to Arafat, of course, chief negotiator for the joint negotiations with secretary general, close to the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas as well. And then on social media, (INAUDIBLE) Palestinians agreed to, which he was a part of, saying that the great national son, and also more than that, not just for the Palestinians who they of course in mourning after, you know, their happiness of the victory of the President-elect Joe Biden.
And he was also the face of the Palestinian people very much. Not just for the Palestinians but for the outside world. You know, we have interviewed him many times. He was always being interviewed by the international media. He spoke English, educated in the U.S. and the U.K. He's a man which, you know, other countries thought they could do business with, and you know, this moment he has been seriously ill for a few weeks now, obviously will still come as a bit of a shock, and a psychological blow to the Palestinians.
CHURCH: And, Elliot, as we mentioned Saeb Erekat was particularly vulnerable to this COVID-19 infection. Given he did receive the lung transplant back in 2017. We haven't seen him in recent times. What was his thinking during these last few years, and his expectations? GOTKINE: He was mean, in the beginning, he said, you know, was
suffering from difficult symptoms, but that things were under control. But as we have seen with similar cases with COVID-19, his situation deteriorated, his health deteriorated and he was moved to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, a hospital with a very great reputation, and obviously matched resource any of those that he has been able to have received in the Palestinian controlled area. So, this was something that I suppose won't be a shock in the sense that he was seriously ill, but it no doubt as to hope as to why he was receiving the best treatment possible in Jerusalem Hadassah Medical Center. But there was a chance that he would recover. But as we have seen, that wasn't the case.
CHURCH: We are talking to Elliot Gotkine on the line in Jerusalem covering in breaking news of the death of Saeb Erekat from COVID-19. We're going to continue this conversation but take a very short break. We'll be back in just a moment.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: And we have been covering this breaking news this hour. Chief negotiator of the Palestine Liberation Organization has reportedly died after being hospitalized with COVID-19 last month. Saeb Erekat was in critical condition and had received general anesthesia as well as ventilation. He tested positive for COVID-19 just a month ago and was considered at high risk because of a lung transplant he received back in 2017.
So let's go back to Jerusalem and on the line, we have Elliot Gotkine. Elliot, we were talking about the legacy of Saeb Erekat so many of us as journalists, of course, have spoken to him over the years as he has tried to forge peace in the Middle East. It unfortunately remained elusive for him. But talk about his legacy, what he achieved throughout his life, and his thoughts maybe toward the end if we're even aware of them.
GOTKINE: There was obviously during the course of his being, you know, the lead negotiator for the Palestinians, close to the founder PLO founder Yasser Arafat and then obviously Mahmoud Abbas, the current president of the Palestinian Authority.
You know there was obviously huge changes that took place, the most common one of course being the PLO recognition of the state of Israel and its right to exist. And his negotiations obviously gave a lot of hope which were ultimately left unfulfilled. Obviously, the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, that could change to those negotiations because they were soon after by the election of Benjamin Netanyahu, is Israel's Prime Minister today. And when you imagine that of course, you know, obviously he fought and negotiated all of those years and he made the position of being somewhat of a hard liner to someone that looked and tried to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
Ultimately, of course, he was unsuccessful. And I suppose the last few years would have been particularly frustrating of Erekat, of course, the Palestinians under President Donald Trump. Because during that time, the U.S. changing its position, its long standing position, and recognize Israel, recognize, excuse me, Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the Palestinians, of course, to the eastern part of that city as the capital of the future of the Palestinian state.
[04:55:00]
Donald Trump moves the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and then following that brokered those peace agreements with Arab nations, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and also, Sudan. Which effectively the Palestinians felt they had been thrown under a bus. And part of negotiation up until that point, there's been a case there was no -- the conventional wisdom what that Israel wouldn't be able to make peace with other countries in the region, with other Arab nations in the absence of progress with the Palestinians.
And so, those similar things happened in the last, you know, period of his life. It must have been incredibly frustrating. But as his daughter, Dala Iraqat, thought and saw his that keeping his strength and will over the battle against the coronavirus infection, COVID-19 infection he had, in the same way that he was kind of permitted to try to achieve an independent Palestinian state and justice for the Palestinian people.
CHURCH: All right. I would very much like to thank Elliot Gotkine joining us on the line there from Jerusalem.
And also, we have received a message from his daughter Dala Iraqat on Facebook, and it reads this way.
Our father moved in peace after he showed extraordinary strength and will. The same determination that characterized his career to achieve freedom for Palestinian and a just peace in our region and his commandment to us all is to adhere to the rights of the Palestinian people until they achieve freedom and independence.
A message there from Saeb Erekat's daughter as we report this breaking news. The passing of Saeb Erekat as a result of COVID-19.
Thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is up next. You're watching CNN.
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