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U.S. Tightness Restrictions as Infections Soar; France Surpasses 2 Million Coronavirus Cases; Iota Weakens, Batters Central America; Chef Jose Andres Helping Iota Survivors; Thai Protestors Vow More Demonstrations in Bangkok; Three Former Pro-Democracy Lawmakers Arrested; Logistical Challenges of Transporting Vaccine; GOP Senator Lindsey Graham Questioned State Officials in GA, AZ, and NV Where Trump Lost; 87-Year-Old Sen. Chuck Grassley Tests Positive for COVID- 19; Biden Team Blasts Trump on Transition, Gets Own National Security Briefing from Experts. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired November 18, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, personal freedom and liberties now taking a backseat in many conservative states across the U.S., as COVID-19 spreads faster than ever before.
But there seems to be a barn door closing and a horse bolting right now.
Iota has weakened but the devastation continues, homes destroyed others, left flooded and tens of thousands without electricity. A desperate situation, likely to last for weeks, maybe months.
And he lost his job for nothing more than telling the truth, the Homeland Security official who declared the 2020 vote was without fraud, fired by the loser of that election.
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VAUSE: From New York to California, tougher pandemic restrictions are being ramped up across the U.S. in a desperate attempt to contain the runaway surge of infections. Over the past, week the U.S. has averaged more than 155,000 new cases, per day. By far the worst stretch since the pandemic began.
The crisis has been particularly severe in places which initially resisted containment measures, that includes, Iowa and North Dakota. But with those states now facing exponential spread of COVID-19, there have brought many measures which were once believed unnecessary, once infringed on personal freedoms.
And all across the country, governors are urging those to follow the rules, no matter how tough they may seem.
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GOV. KIM REYNOLDS (R-IA): No one wants to do this, I don't want to do this. If Iowans don't buy into this, we lose. Businesses will close once again. More schools will be forced to go online and our health care system will fail.
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GOV. JIM JUSTICE (R-WV): I need you to quit believing in any way that somebody is going to come and take your guns or it's unconstitutional or whatever it may be. Who cares about all that, right at this moment. Right at this moment, all we need to do is try to, some way, break the chain of this killer that's eating us alive.
We need to stop listening to this noise that is out of people that just want to take your money, to buy their campaign rhetoric or want to absolutely just be relevant. Silly.
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VAUSE: Notably, South Dakota is refusing to impose stricter measures, even though it has the highest positivity rate in the country. At least 62,000 people have been infected, so far. More than 600 have died, in the state.
With cases expected to soar, families of those who have lost their lives to COVID are urging the public to take this crisis more seriously. CNN's Lucy Kafanov has the story.
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CHRIS BJORKMAN, COVID-19 WIDOW: I wanted him to come home. I always thought he would come home.
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris Bjorkman of De Smet, South Dakota, is missing her husband. She and John Bjorkman tested positive for coronavirus three months after their 39th wedding anniversary. She got better but John's health took a turn for the worse.
JOHN BJORKMAN, COVID-19 VICTIM: No energy, no drive, no nothing.
KAFANOV (voice-over): He was struggling to breathe and was put on a ventilator, the Sioux Falls hospitals so overwhelmed he had to be airlifted to Minnesota, sharing his struggle with CNN affiliate KSFY.
J. BJORKMAN: When they flew me over here, I literally didn't know if I would see the next day. Makes me more nervous, that's about it.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Chris describes visiting him in the ICU.
C. BJORKMAN: It's awful to see someone on a ventilator. And there, all the other rooms, people were on ventilators, too, but they were all by themselves.
KAFANOV (voice-over): John died after spending 30 days in the hospital, one of nearly 250,000 American lives claimed by COVID-19.
The pandemic is ravaging the Dakotas. At the Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls, Dr. Austin Simonson says the medicine is the easy part.
DR. AUSTIN SIMONSON, SANFORD MEDICAL CENTER, SIOUX FALLS: I get asked over and over again by people who are trapped in a room by themselves, when do I get to go home?
You know, will I get better?
And I don't know.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Health experts say months of lax regulations have contributed to South Dakota's public health crisis. Republican governor Kristi Noem ignoring safety measures that curbed the spread of COVID-19 elsewhere in the world.
GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): My people are happy. They're happy because they're free.
KAFANOV (voice-over): The governor welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Sturgis motorcycle rally this summer, didn't cancel the state fair and has resisted issuing stay-at-home orders or a mask mandate, saying she would leave it up to the people to decide.
AMY BILLOWS, SIOUX FALLS RESIDENT: Viruses are so small that expecting a mask to block them is like expecting a chain link fence to keep out mosquitoes.
KAFANOV (voice-over): In Sioux Falls, a proposed mask mandate divided the city council. The mayor, who has previously urged residents to mask up --
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MAYOR PAUL TENHAKEN (R-SD), SIOUX FALLS: I obviously believe in masks. The importance they play in slowing the spread of COVID-19.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Voting against the mandate after the city council ended up deadlocked.
TENHAKEN: My official vote on this is a no. And that item fails 5-4.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Dr. Shannon Emry is a local pediatrician, who spent 14 years in the Air Force and blames politicians for not doing enough.
DR. SHANNON EMRY, PEDIATRICIAN: Our governor has been misleading her constituents. From the start, she has downplayed the dangers of the virus, downplayed the importance of wearing a mask.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Governor Noem's office did not respond to CNN. But with elected leaders reluctant to intervene and COVID policy turning political, the burden of pushing people to take the virus seriously has now fallen on the families of those who have died.
KAFANOV: Why did you feel like you had to speak out?
C. BJORKMAN: Because I want people to not go through this, what I did. I want people to care enough about their neighbors, their family, that they wear a mask and that something gets done, that maybe we have some leadership and guidance to help with that.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Lucy Kafanov, CNN, De Smet, South Dakota.
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VAUSE: With me now from Denver in Colorado, Dr. Art Reingold, he's professor and the division head of epidemiology at the University In California, Berkeley, School of Public Health.
Dr. Reingold, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
DR. ART REINGOLD, UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Nice to be with you.
VAUSE: The White House task force weekly report is pretty blunt. It reports this, there is now aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country. Reaching most counties without evidence of improvement but rather, further deterioration.
Current mitigation efforts are inadequate and must be increased to flatten the curve, to sustain the health system for both COVID and non-COVID emergencies.
Is it fair to say at this point, that relying on individual or personal responsibility and good will towards others, (INAUDIBLE) social distancing and wearing face masks and all the rest, is an outright loser?
Because without government mandates, this crisis will only get worse.
REINGOLD: Well, here in the United States, I'm sorry to say, the evidence is that relying on people to do the things we want them to do, without any kind of mandate or requirement, doesn't seem to work.
Where I, live there certainly is a mandate for people to wear masks, when they are in public, at the grocery store and shopping, I have to wear a mask. Frankly, wearing a mask is not a big deal, so I'm not quite sure why people make such a fuss about it. But it doesn't seem that simply telling people we need you to do this, is motivating behavior we need.
VAUSE: All the recommendations that are out there, for the coming weeks, it seems to be avoiding large indoor gatherings, might just be the most important of all.
"The Atlantic" quotes a recent study which found a sick person was 18.7 times more likely to spread the coronavirus in a close environment, such as a gym or restaurant (INAUDIBLE) tent.
How important will it be not to go home for the holidays?
With the Thanksgiving in the United States or Christmas or whatever in Europe and other places.
And can you say that with these vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, if they're approved, will that mean that next year life will be back to normal?
REINGOLD: So to answer your second question,. First I'm optimistic that we're going to see multiple vaccines approved that are safe and effective and over the next 4 to 6 months. We will demonstration quantity that we can vaccinate a large number of people, assuming they're willing to accept the vaccine. So I'm optimistic things will be better by next summer and fall.
But that's a long way away and people have lives to live in the meantime. So the problem is that many things are conspiring to make the next few months even worse, in what we are seeing so far. Travel is one of them of course. But in addition, we have the fact that there will be colder weather; people can spend less time out of doors and be forced to spend more time indoors.
And of course, people are pretty tired of all these restrictions. So it's fairly difficult to get people to keep doing the things that we know work. And, so, the virus is readily spread indoors when a lot of people are (INAUDIBLE) and the ventilation is poor. And so avoiding a crowded indoor settings is certainly part of the equation in addition to wearing a mask when you're in public.
VAUSE: So (INAUDIBLE) the advice there and all the word here is, sacrifice this year, for the good of the years to come?
REINGOLD: Well, to a certain extent, yes. But you know, I have to say that wearing a mask, I don't consider it to be a particularly big sacrifice. Now certainly foregoing for Thanksgiving with your family.
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REINGOLD: We're not traveling home for Christmas. Those are obviously much bigger sacrifices. I would say that, frankly, travel on airplanes is, I think, safer than many people realize. The air in the airplane is very well filtered and a lot of outdoor air is brought in, masks are required.
So, you know, there are issues getting to and from the airport, there are issues of being in waiting rooms in the airport. But I actually think it's possible to travel with relative safety. But clearly, if you want to minimize your risk of getting infected or infecting others, then traveling home for the holidays is not on the list.
VAUSE: Sadly, it seems like that's the best advice, at the moment. Dr. Art Reingold, thanks so much for being with us.
REINGOLD: Happy to help.
VAUSE: Across the world, communities that thought they had the virus under control are now struggling with flare-ups. South Australia is the latest to announce it's shutting out starting at midnight Thursday, local. Time
The lockdown will last 6 days and follows and outbreak in the capital of Adelaide. Only essential buildings like supermarkets and medical facilities will remain open. South Australians are not allowed to leave their homes, even for outdoor exercise.
Live now to Angus Watson, who is in Sydney.
Angus, this is a pretty tough lockdown by all measures but a brief one by the sound of it.
ANGUS WATSON, CNN PRODUCER: It is. Yes, the government there in South Australia is referring to this as a circuit breaker lockdown. It wants to give its medical teams the space to get on top of a cluster which has emerged in the capital city, Adelaide.
It's only 22 cases, now, but they are not convinced that they've got a handle on how far this virus has spread through the community. So the restrictions they are putting today are tough. All weddings and funerals have to be canceled for 6 days.
You can't leave the House for any reason, other than to shop once a day. And all nonessential businesses are closed. The premier of South Australia, Steven Marshall, has asked his state to band together, to get on top of this quickly. Here's what he had to say, today.
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STEVEN MARSHALL, SOUTH AUSTRALIAN PREMIER: This is about South Australia pausing, so that we stay ahead of the virus. Our concern is that if we don't have this circuit breaker, that we will not stay ahead of this. There is no second chance to stop a second wave. We are at a critical point but we will get through this.
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WATSON: So this is very interesting, John, because as we can see, this is just a handful of cases. This is just 22 people in South Australia, who are known to have the coronavirus.
And yet, some of the strictest lockdowns imaginable now are coming up on them. But the South Australian government is looking to its neighbor, Victoria, where a brutal second wave caught on earlier this year. And that came from a breach from the hotel quarantine system.
Where travelers into Australia were required to isolate for 14 days, in state sponsored quarantine. That is exactly how this virus got out, again, in Adelaide, John. So very wary from the government, here. And very strict restrictions coming up for the people of Adelaide, just for the next 6 days.
VAUSE: Yes, so they had 3 straight months, with no new cases of COVID-19. And suddenly this small outbreak of 22. Now that you have a 6-day period of lockdown, what else happens after that? Is it just six days and done or are they looking at maybe just easing up on these restrictions slowly, to get back to where they were?
WATSON: At this stage, we are hoping that it's going to be six days and done. They are hoping that those six days are going to give the contact tracers time to see how far this has gotten into the community and give time to people to get out and be tested.
The medical system has to be ramped up in that sense. People have had to wait over the last couple of days in, lines to get tested for coronavirus, for many hours. So there is some infrastructure that needs to be built up. And this is how the government wants to do that, by putting in this circuit breaker lockdown -- John.
VAUSE: Well, that's how you do, if you jump quickly and you hit it, fast and quick and hope that takes it out. Angus, thank you, Angus Watson, appreciate it.
Well France is now the first European country to surpass 2 million confirmed coronavirus infections. The nation's health agency called the second wave of the virus, massive and deadly. Adding the country's health care system is under pressure. While France is in the midst of a 4-week lockdown, there are signs the rate of infection is slowing.
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JEROME SALOMON, FRENCH DIRECTOR GENERAL OF HEALTH (through translator): Our collective efforts are beginning to bear fruit, in recent days, the number of new cases has been dropping. Let's redouble our efforts to regain control of the epidemic.
All collective efforts, the respect of curfews and national containment explain this positive trend.
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SALOMON (through translator): It is by maintaining a very high level of vigilance and mobilization that we will be able to spend the end of the year festivities and the winter months in the best possible safety conditions.
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VAUSE: Donald Trump, the loser of the 2020 election in the U.S., has fired the senior official with the Department of Homeland Security, in charge of securing the presidential election because he rejected Trump's baseless claims of voter fraud.
The announce came in a tweet. Chris Krebs, head of the Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency, which last week issued a statement which called the 2020 vote, quote, "the most secure in American history."
He said there is no evidence that any voting system lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised. Krebs again refuted Trump's claims of election fraud on Tuesday. Trump says that's why he fired Krebs.
The U.S. will withdraw thousands more troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by January just days before President-Elect Biden is sworn into office. After the withdrawal, about 25,000 troops remain in each country. President Trump fired the Defense Secretary Mark Esper last week after Esper and his team pushed back on the withdrawal from Afghanistan, where militant violence continues.
Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller announced the drawdown on Tuesday.
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CHRISTOPHER MILLER, ACTING U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: This is consistent with our established plans and strategic objectives, supported by the American people and does not equate to a change in U.S. policy or objectives.
Moreover, this decision by the president is based on continuous engagement with his national security cabinet over the past several months.
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VAUSE: But the former head of the NATO mission in Afghanistan told CNN's Jake Tapper in very emphatic terms the troop drawdown is a serious mistake.
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ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: It's astoundingly foolish, from a military, strategic, diplomatic and political perspective.
And, by the way, Jake, let's keep it in perspective. You know these numbers. But when I commanded that mission, it was 150,000 troops. It's now down to 5,000 U.S. troops and 5,000 allied troops. It's a tiny amount but it creates leverage and it allows the Afghan security forces to put pressure on the Taliban militarily.
That's what's brought them to the bargaining table. We have got a terrific ambassador, Zal Khalilzad -- you know him well -- who is capable, I think, of landing this deal.
But if we put precipitously pull our troops out, with the theory that, hey, let's bring them home by Christmas or, at least at this point, cut them by 50 percent, you crater those negotiations. So it's a military mistake and a diplomatic mistake.
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VAUSE: Destruction and desperation after two hurricanes slammed Central America. When we come back, we'll talk to an award-winning chef about relief efforts where he is right now on the ground, helping those in need.
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VAUSE: Hurricane Iota has killed at least six people in Nicaragua and caused extension of devastation in its path. The storm has now been downgraded but is still causing catastrophic flash floods as it moves through Honduras. Forecasters expect it to weaken and dissipate near El Salvador on Wednesday.
CNN's Patrick Oppmann has more on the storm and its potential impact on Central America.
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PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The most powerful storm in the Atlantic in 2020, Iota made landfall in Nicaragua as a devastating category 4 hurricane. Iota came ashore just south of where Hurricane Eta hit earlier this month.
With the ground already soaked, emergency officials warned that Hurricane Iota could cause dangerous mudslides and flash flooding. Colombia's president sent a navy ship with 15 tons of emergency supplies to Providencia, Colombian territory off the coast of Nicaragua, where one storm survivor said Iota had devastated the island.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Providencia is destroyed. There is not a single home left in good condition. All the homes are destroyed. All the vegetation is destroyed.
OPPMANN (voice-over): Tens of thousands of people have had to evacuate their homes in Nicaragua and Honduras because of the two unusually powerful late season hurricanes. The president of Honduras says, climate change is wreaking havoc on Central America.
JUAN ORLANDO HERNANDEZ, HONDURAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It has been scientifically verified and seeing it in practice that Central America and Honduras are among the regions in the world most affected by climate change. We've had a problem.
OPPMANN (voice-over): A problem that could have far-reaching impacts. Hurricane Mitch in 1998 leveled whole areas of Honduras and Nicaragua, killing thousands of people and leaving millions more homeless. Tens of thousands migrated to the United States.
Failing crops blamed on the effects of climate change have already caused thousands to leave Central America and head north. The damage caused by Hurricane Eta and now Iota will likely add to the desperation and fuel migration. But it could take days or weeks to fully assess the. Destruction
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is one of the most poorest and vulnerable areas in the country. To have an idea, to get to Bilawi (ph), it will take you more than 13 hours by car. Or to take a flight, which right now is not possible.
OPPMANN (voice-over): There is less than 2 weeks until the end of hurricane season but the hurt inflicted by first Hurricane Eta and now Hurricane Iota, will likely endure for years to come -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN.
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VAUSE: Award-winning chef Jose Andres joins me now from San Pedro, Salura (ph), Honduras. He's with World Central Kitchen. He's working on relief efforts after both hurricanes.
Chef Jose, thank you for being with us. You arrived in Honduras just ahead of the storm. We have some images of you unloading some supplies on Monday.
How bad is the damage you're seeing there?
And from what you've manage to assess so far, where is the most needed right now?
Or what is the most needed right now?
JOSE ANDRES, WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN: Actually, we need things very much everywhere. We need to understand (ph) back-to-back hurricanes can create a lot of damage and is not so much anymore only the winds but understanding the amount of water that keep (ph) falling down and they are creating even more havoc than the winds.
And so World Central Kitchen is in Guatemala, World Central Kitchen is in Honduras and one of the main reasons is because people are losing their homes because the flooding, because the, water and this creating a lot of damage in many of communities in many (INAUDIBLE).
VAUSE: With so many people having their homes either badly damaged or outright destroyed, a lot of people will be taking shelter in I guess public buildings. You are at a school which is being used as a shelter. You posted a video on Twitter of that, let's have a look.
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ANDRES: Many of the classrooms are kind of a (INAUDIBLE) for the community (ph). This is the part of a community (INAUDIBLE) which had (INAUDIBLE).
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VAUSE: Getting people enough to eat in the coming days is difficult enough but doable. But getting them shelter for the long term is another issue altogether. That seems to be a major problem moving forward.
ANDRES: Yes, obviously World Central Kitchen -- actually we specialize, unfortunately, in this type of early (ph) emergencies. [00:25:00]
ANDRES: where we are able to put a restaurant industry, hotels and service and bring relief to people. That's why right now we are probably serving close to 50 different shelters, communities, rice, beans and risula (ph) on top of another maybe 40 in Guatemala City.
Every day we're bringing lunch. Every day we're bringing dinner, not only food and water but sometimes the shelters need other things, baby formula, baby bottles, baby medicines.
When sometimes other, bigger NGOs, because sometimes they move us lower (ph), are not there, we are trying to arrange the private sector (ph) people to not only bring food and water but also trying to predict early needs after (INAUDIBLE) pretty much everything.
VAUSE: You have been -- you guys have been doing this since the earthquake in Haiti back in 2010. Over all those years, have you noticed that demand for what you do is growing because governments are unable to cope with the number of natural disasters we're seeing in recent years?
And also a pandemic and economic crisis.
ANDRES: Listen, for you to understand, in this year alone, in the last seven months, World Central Kitchen alone, we've done close to already over 40 million meals. From explosions in Beirut, many hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and different areas in the United States (ph) in Mexico itself, you can (INAUDIBLE).
We see that this is happening. There is a need for an organization like ours to show up before these hurricanes hit. And we are ready to provide something like we should be able to provide, which is food and water.
So at least this is one of the problems that people don't have. But thinking about, yes, the need keeps increasing. We are not expected to be called. What we do is, we show up. Already, the (INAUDIBLE) we bring volunteers. We're trying to make sure that the problems become actually solutions by bringing a plate of food at a time. Sometimes it's the beginning of hope of a better tomorrow.
VAUSE: Chef Jose, we wish you the best of luck. And thank you for what you do.
ANDRES: Thank you.
VAUSE: Take care.
This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come, rising anger in Thailand. Pro- democracy protesters remain defiant. The very latest from Bangkok, in just a moment.
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VAUSE: In Thailand, pro-democracy protesters say they will take to the streets in Bangkok, again, after the violent clashes since the youth-led demonstrations began in July. were hurt, including one police officer. Demonstrators converged on Parliament to pressure lawmakers as they consider changes to the constitution.
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Channel 4's Jonathan Miller is in the Thai capital.
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JONATHAN MILLER, CHANNEL 4 CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tear gas hung heavy in the sultry tropical night. Jets, a water cannon, laced with stinging chemicals, slicing through the choking plumes, driving protesters back before they'd advance again.
Taunting riot police behind the razor-wire and broken barricades, with chants of "Slaves. You slaves of the dictatorship."
Wave after wave of demonstrators, most without gas masks to protect them. Surging up, washed back again, an angry human tide.
(on camera): Well, if the government thought they can just test this out and wait for it to go away, they're going to have to think again. They're running out of options here. But there is no hint or sign at all of a compromise, which the king hinted at just two weeks ago.
(voice-over): This, the most violent night in five long months of protests. A pitched street battle outside Thailand's Parliament, the home of what was once a messy but functioning democracy.
As the foot soldiers rinsed off the stinging irritants, Parliament was debating proposed amendments to a constitution written by the military, which, at its heart, preserves the sanctity of Thailand's monarchy.
Revisions that the upper house of senators handpicked by the army, are unlikely to permit to see the light of day. But, without reform, these protests will not stop. And when the king told us two weeks ago that Thailand is the land of compromise, those ranged against him scoffed.
DIAMOND, PRO-DEMOCRACY DEMONSTRATOR: Thailand is not land of compromise. This is not land for compromise. This is not. Look at my mouth, this is not compromise. Look at that. Look at that. Look at this. What they're doing to us. This is not compromise. This is no mercy. This is no mercy for us. There's no mercy for the Thai people.
MILLER: Earlier, pro-democracy protesters breached barricades near Parliament. Policed vanished, allowing direct confrontation with the king's ultra-royalist yellow shirt supporters, who'd come to demand the former junta's constitution remains untouched. King Maha Vajiralongkorn is exalted in this constitution, as enthroned
in a position of revered worship. But those clambering for reform believe he's all too human, and tails of regal profligacy have embittered many Thais left destitute by this pandemic. Fertile ground for heresy, rebellion. The "Hunger Games" salute remains the symbol of defiance here in this increasingly dystopian kingdom.
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VAUSE: Another blow from Beijing to the beleaguered political opposition in Hong Kong. Three former pro-democracy lawmakers have been arrested for their role in protests over the proposed Chinese national anthem bill earlier this year. This comes after opposition lawmakers resigned en masse last week over the dismissal of four other colleagues.
Kristie Lu Stout is live in Hong Kong with details. So it really does seem like Beijing is -- you know, is tightening its grip yet again.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a new era of Chinese control here in the territory. As you just reported, three former opposition lawmakers here in Hong Kong have been arrested for their protest that took place earlier this this year in the legislature. The three are Ted Hui, Ray Chan and Eddie Chu.
Now, they were not arrested under the new national security law. They were arrested for contempt and for potentially causing harm to others, for their attempt to -- to get in the way of the passage of that controversial national anthem bill. That eventually passed.
They had thrown some foul-smelling fertilizer into the chamber of the legislative council, but the bill passed anyway, making it a crime here in Hong Kong to mock or make fun of China's national anthem.
Now, news of the arrest of these three former opposition lawmakers came through in their official Facebook pages. Earlier this morning, an assistant to Ted Hui posted video of the police arriving at Ted Hui's home in the early hours before 7 a.m., and reading out the reasons for his arrest.
Now, Ted Hui was one of the last remaining opposition lawmakers in the legislative council, who last week resigned en masse in protest of the immediate disqualification of those four opposition lawmakers who were disqualified as a result of that resolution handed down from Beijing.
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Now this is a critical moment here in Hong Kong. Opposition voices are increasingly being silenced. The economy is under severe stress, under recession, and we have this tightening control that we're seeing from Beijing. On Tuesday, very interesting remarks that we heard on the 30th anniversary of the basic law, the mini-constitution here in Hong Kong from a senior Chinese official, Zhang Xiaoming. And I want to read what he said, and we'll bring it up for you. Zhang Xiaoming is the deputy director of the state council in the Hong Kong-Macao Affairs Office. He said, "Those who love the country and Hong Kong govern Hong Kong,
and those who oppose China and disrupt Hong Konq are out. This is a political rule under 'One Country, Two Systems.' It has now become a legal requirement."
So John, this is a top-down declaration from China to Hong Kong of patriotism first. Patriotism over democracy. This represents the new political reality here in the territory.
Back to you.
VAUSE: I'm just curious about the actual politics of all of this, because the pro-democracy camp was hoping that, in those local elections, which were to be held in September, that they could win some kind of majority there to control the local legislature. That's been postponed because of the pandemic and other -- and other issues, I guess.
STOUT: Yes.
VAUSE: But the end result of that is that those voices will not be heard. So this is yet again, it seems to be, you know, Beijing, basically controlling, you know, the will of the people, in many ways. This is not the government or the legislative body which the people want.
STOUT: Yes, it is really hard to see what the opposition can do next. You know, after the events of last week the entire opposition resigning in response to that declaration, that decree handed down by Beijing.
You're right. The legislative council elections, they were postponed due to COVID. There's no guarantee that they would even take place next year. And it's very difficult to see any of these oppositional lawmakers who resigned would be allowed to run again, if the elections are due to take place.
This is a difficult moment for Hong Kong and that dream of democracy that we saw play out on the streets of Hong Kong over the years during the Umbrella Movement protests and during the 2019 protests. It's -- it's difficult not to see anything but a tightening grip of Beijing's control over the territory.
Back to you.
VAUSE: Yes. Kristie, thank you. Kristie Lu Stout for us, live in Hong Kong.
Well there are promising signs coronavirus vaccines could be ready, for some, in just a few weeks. But transportation and distribution are major hurdles and could be a logistical nightmare. Details when we come back.
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VAUSE: Lawmakers in Germany have delayed new lockdown measures until next week, leading to Chancellor Angela Merkle to urge the country to work together to get the virus under control.
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ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): Infection numbers aren't growing exponentially anymore but are still far too high. So we have to reduce contacts, reduce contacts, reduce contacts. I am fully aware that the measures to restrict all contacts are and remain a burden, a democratic burden. And they are among the toughest decisions I have made in office.
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VAUSE: Well, several vaccine candidates show promise. They do come with some transportation hurdles. CNN's Fred Pleitgen takes a look at how the German airline Lufthansa is preparing to ship this precious cargo, safely and quickly.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): While the world's passenger airlines face an uncertain future because of COVID-19, freight airlines like Lufthansa Cargo are veering up for a huge operation to try to help end the pandemic.
(on camera): In the coming months and years, airlines like Lufthansa Cargo face the daunting challenge of having the transferred billions of doses of vaccine around the world. As a rule of thumb, they say, the colder a vaccine needs to be stored, the more difficult it is to ship it.
(voice-over): Several vaccine makers believe they'll be able to apply for an emergency-use authorization for their candidates soon. But Pfizer's vaccine, for instance, needs to be stored at around minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 70 degrees Celsius, requiring complicated cooling.
Lufthansa says its pharma logistics hubs are equipped to handle ultra- cold medical cargo, using special containers like these, packed with dry ice. Still, keeping them cold enough isn't easy, the head of the pharma hub says.
KARIN KRESTAN, HEAD OF LH-CARGO HUB: The temperature, minus 70 degrees, is really a challenge, because we have to use dry ice in the bunker. We for sure need dry ice within the compartment. So we need more dry ice. We need to have another dry ice concentration aboard the aircraft. So these are all the things that we have to consider.
PLEITGEN: Another issue: the dry ice emits a lot of CO2 gas. That can be dangerous for flight crews inside the plane, so each cargo flight can only carry a limited amount of containers holding dry ice.
The challenges are immense, but the airline says it's been building capacities and consulting with vaccine makers and thinks it's ready to start delivering vials, as soon as a candidate gets regulatory approval.
PETER GERBER, CEO, LUFTHANSA CARGO: Of course, this is a special situation, but given the -- what we have done during the last month, with all these masks, with all the flexibility, with all the things, we had to produce and to perform on very, very short notice. Our team, I believe, is ready for this challenge.
PLEITGEN: A massive logistical challenge, as the world not only waits for a vaccine to be certified but also to be delivered, fast and in large amounts.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Frankfort, Germany.
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VAUSE: A sports store in Osaka, Japan, has a new high-tech helper to enforce social distancing. It's called Robovie, developed by Kyoto's Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute.
Robovie approaches customers who aren't wearing masks and asks them to put one on. Robovie can also measure the distance between shoppers and ask them to maintain a safe distance.
Its developers say it's a step towards making a society where people and robots coexist.
Take a top (ph), and see how it goes.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Stay with us, WORLD SPORT is up next. And then I'll be back at the top of the hour. Stay with us.
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