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Thousands of U.S. Troops to Withdraw from Afghanistan, Iraq; Trump Fumes Over Election Loss and Refuses to Concede; Trump Fires Top DHS Election Security Official; Pfizer Completes Safety Review of COVID-19 Vaccine; Tips on How to Stay Safe During the Pandemic; Second Wave of COVID-19 Sweeping Parts of Europe as Logistical Challenge of Transporting the Vaccines; South Australia to Shut Down for Six Days After Outbreak; Three Former Pro-Democracy Lawmakers Arrested; Iota Weakens as it Batters Central America; President Trump Not Pleased with CISA Director's Statement; France Hit Two Million Coronavirus Cases; Nigerian Forces Killed Peaceful Protesters; COVID Vaccine Comes with Challenges; U.S. Troops Going Home. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired November 18, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, President Trump fires his top cybersecurity official for debunking his voter fraud claims.
This hour we will hear from the WHO's chief scientist, what she says about the promising COVID-19 vaccine trials.
And a CNN exclusive finds evidence that live rounds were used on peaceful protests in Nigeria, our CNN investigation.
Good to have you with us.
Well, as time runs out on his presidency, Donald Trump keeps lashing out with a late stage purge. Among his latest targets, Chris Krebs, the senior homeland security official has been fired after rejecting the president's claims of widespread voter fraud.
This as the president faces another loss in his quest to reverse the election. Officials in Wayne County, Michigan have voted to certify election results after Joe Biden's victory there. It's a shocking turn of events after Republicans earlier blocked the same move.
President Trump remains preoccupied with the election instead of COVID-19. But there are growing hopes over a potential vaccine. On Monday, vaccine maker Moderna said its vaccine maybe almost 90 percent effective. Now Pfizer says it has enough data and it's ready to apply for emergency use authorization from the U.S. FDA.
A week earlier, the company released data showing its vaccine may be more than 90 percent effective.
Well, as more and more drug makers put forward vaccines, top health officials have a message. The cavalry is coming and it can't come fast enough. The virus has killed more than 1.3 million people worldwide. And that's on top of more than 55 million infections.
Meantime, France has become the first country in Europe to top two million coronavirus cases.
For more, let's turn to CNN's Melissa Bell who's joining us live from Paris. Good to see you, Melissa. So, it is of course an unwanted milestone. What is the latest on cases and hospitalizations across France?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, even as the country passes that two million mark, and it really gives you a sense, Rosemary, of how bad the second wave has been for France. Remember that during the first wave, it was countries like Spain that were seeing larger case numbers than France.
So, France has been particularly hard-hit. But what's interesting is that it has reached this grim mine -- milestone, I'm sorry, to see what's happening to hospitalizations and ICU's specifically for the first time. Really these last few days we've begun to see those numbers drop.
Now we heard yesterday from the head of France's public health agency who said that this second wave that had been massive is now beginning to be brought under control. That those measures that are now in place, the partial lockdown, the curfews, are beginning to bear their fruit. And you can he it in those hospitalizations.
So, while Jerome Salomon said look, our caregivers, healthcare givers, our healthcare system remain under extreme strain and we need to maintain this vigilance and this discipline with regard to these measures. We are beginning to see that slight improvement.
So, the number of people in hospital now, just over 33,000, the number of people in ICU, just over 4,800. Both those figures yesterday fell. And of course, one of the other key things that we look at, Rosemary, is the number of new cases.
Yesterday for the first time in a long time, fewer than 10,000 new cases were detected in a single day. To put that into context, Rosemary, 10 days ago, that figure was 60 -- was more than 60,000. That's how sharply it's dropped because of these fairly tight measures that have now been brought in.
CHURCH: Melissa Bell joining us there live from Paris. Many thanks.
Well the U.S. has just issued an emergency use authorization for the first COVID-19 self-testing kit that can provide rapid results at home. The kit is produced by Lucira and requires a prescription. The tests allow users to swab themselves to collect a nasal sample. That sample is then place in a vial that plugs into a device that ultimately interprets the results. Quite some progress there. [03:04:58]
Well U.S. President Donald Trump is hunkered down in the White House. He's got no public events listed. And he's invited no cameras into the Oval Office as he stubbornly refuses to engage with President-elect Joe Biden's transition team.
But as CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports just because the president is laying low does not mean he's not acting out.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Bunker mentality is the way that one administration official is describing to us the state of affairs at the White House right now as the president has been spending the last two weeks, most of those days, with no public events on his schedule. Instead, hunker down at the White House, or on his golf course, tweeting these baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
And now we've also learned that the president has decided to cancel his Thanksgiving trip to Mar-a-Lago, marking the first time during his presidency that the president has not gone down there around the Thanksgiving holiday.
And clearly, bunker mentality is what it seems to be. The president is dealing with advisers who are feuding over the future of this legal fight that he's waging. And every single day he's getting one bad piece of bad news after the other as these lawsuits are being dismissed by federal courts or being handed losses as was the case yesterday in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
But the president, he's still acting, acting out certainly as one way to describe it. The president on Tuesday night firing Chris Krebs, the head of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. And the president making no secret that he is firing Krebs because of his statement about the 2020 election.
Krebs is a federal official who works at the Department of Homeland Security. And he put out a statement alongside other state and local election officials making very clear that the 2020 election was one of the most secure elections in American history.
And also dismissing a series of conspiracy theories and baseless allegations, many of which the president has been peddling himself. Making very clear, Krebs has, that there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election, also debunking this conspiracy theory about this dominion voting software.
The president has suggested that votes were deleted or place from Biden when there were votes for him. Krebs has made very clear that those conspiracy theories have absolutely no basis. And so, the president saying based on Krebs' statement, quote, "therefore effective immediately, Chris Krebs has been terminated as the Director of Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency."
Of course, this is just the latest purge that we have seen from the president as he has removed officials at the Department of Defense and other agencies in the week since his loss in the 2020 election.
CHURCH: Many thanks to our Jeremy Diamond for that report.
In Nigeria, thousands of young people have been protesting against police brutality as part of a largely peaceful movement called EndSARS. But on October 20th, these protests turned deadly as the army and police opened fire on unarmed civilians.
Nigerian authorities deny killing any protesters. But after examining hours of footage and video data and speaking to dozens of witnesses, CNN can reveal this is not true.
Nima Elbagir has this exclusive report, but we warn you viewers may find some of this content disturbing.
The Nigeria government denies this happened. A peaceful process turned deadly.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
UNKNOWN: They've killed him. They've killed him.
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Nigerian government denies this happened.
UNKNOWN: They've killed him. They've killed him.
ELBAGIR: A peaceful protest turned deadly.
UNKNOWN: The police came. We are peaceful. They came, and start shooting at us.
ELBAGIR: CNN investigated the events at Lekki Toll Gate the night of October 20th in Lagos, Nigeria. After analyzing hours of footage --
UNKNOWN: Why they are doing this to us?
ELBAGIR: -- we are going to tell a story that is radically different than the one the authorities are telling.
(SPOKEN IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNKNOWN: Now where's the flag?
(CROWD CHANTING)
ELBAGIR: This is Godson (Ph). He was one of the demonstrators having fun live streaming the event. He, like many others gathered in a peaceful demonstration of discontent after weeks of protests against what they called systemic police brutality and corruption.
What Godson (Ph) and the protesters did not know is that the army is already on its way.
This is Bonny Camp, a military garrison on the south side of Lagos. We know through analyzing footage they left at 6.29 p.m. heading towards Lekki Toll Gate. We can see here the Nigerian government forces approaching. The protesters are gathered on the other side of the gate.
As Nigerian forces get closer, you can see shots. At 6.43 p.m., we start hearing gunfire. We know this from the time stamp and data on this video. Here's another angle.
[03:10:00]
UNKNOWN: They are releasing fire.
UNKNOWN: They shoot. They shoot. They shoot.
UNKNOWN: They are releasing fire.
ELBAGIR: Nigerian authorities say they fired blanks into the air, and not at protesters. But CNN obtained video that appears to show the army shooting towards the crowd. Here, and at the top of your screen, here.
In the midst of the chaotic scenes is DJ Switch, a Nigerian celebrity and activist, she is broadcasting live on Instagram.
DJ SWITCH, NIGERIAN ACTIVIST: I wanted people to see what was happening. I didn't want anybody to come and twist the story.
ELBAGIR: Witnesses tell CNN ambulances were stopped from entering by Nigerian authorities. You can see here, people at the scene trying to conduct CPR.
SWITCH: Please explain to me how, in which part of the world do you go to a protest with live -- with live bullets?
UNKNOWN: Everybody look at this. These are bullets that were falling. That were falling by our side. We are dodging bullets.
ELBAGIR: CNN has verified that these bullet casings are from live ammunition, they are of mixed origin, some are Serbian. This one from 2005.
ELBAGIR (on camera): Nigerian military sources verified to us that these ammunitions that are currently in use by Nigeria's army. And in collaboration with the Balkan investigative reporting network, we were also able to procure Serbian export documents, proving that Nigeria purchased weaponry from Serbia for almost every year between 2005 and 2016.
ELBAGIR (voice over): The shooting continued past midnight. Eye witnesses tell us it wasn't just the army. At this point, they say police arrived and opened fire.
UNKNOWN: My hand is broken. My leg is broken. The police are still shooting at us. If I don't make it through the night, let it be known that I died fighting for our freedom.
ELBAGIR; So why were live rounds used at a peaceful protest? Many family members of those still missing are asking that question, as they hunt for answers on the bodies of their loved ones.
Elisha's brother Victor was at the protest that night.
ELISHA SUNDAY, VICTOR SUNDAY'S BROTHER: Someone picked up my brother's phone and called me and said that my brother Victor Sunday, is amongst those who died, who were shot at Lekki Toll gate. And I entered into the hospital and searched. I could not see him. We are trying, we are trying our best just to find him, but there is no way to find him.
ELBAGIR: What we are about to show you is incredibly graphic, but it's also incredibly important. This is Elisha's brother Victor, the data in this footage shows it was filmed at 1.04 a.m. at Lekki Toll Gate. Elisha said he received the call about his brother's death around this time.
This places Victor exactly at the location of the protest on the night witnesses say they were shot at. This is important because Nigerian authorities deny anyone was killed at the scene. Since this incident, CNN has contacted over 100 protesters and family members.
UNKNOWN: They pointed their guns at us and they started shooting.
ELBAGIR: We asked what they heard.
UNKNOWN: We heard gunshots from behind the toll --
ELBAGIR: And felt.
UNKNOWN: Yesterday, when I was shot, and the bullet it went through my back.
ELBAGIR: Many are in hiding. Some have fled the country. CNN try to share these findings with the Nigerian army but received no response. Lagos state authorities would not comment on our reporting until they said a judicial panel of inquiry presents its findings. The wait for answers here continues.
Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): The Nigerian army has called the allegations fake news on Twitter, CNN has repeatedly reached out to them for comment, but has not heard back. However, while before a judicial tribunal, a Nigerian army general testified saying this, there is no way officers and men would kill their brothers and sisters, I repeat, no way. We have those who constantly seek to drive a wedge between us and between the citizens and Nigeria.
And for more on this exclusive report, you can visit our web site at cnn.com.
The Trump administration has announced a drawdown of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. We will discuss why he is making these last-minute changes. That's next. Plus, the WHO has said countries not getting COVID-19 in check are,
quote, "playing with fire." We will talk with the WHO's chief scientist about this, and the promising COVID-19 vaccine trials.
[03:15:00]
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CHURCH (on camera): The head of the World Health Organization says the surge in COVID-19 cases across many parts of the globe is extremely worrying, and he warns it is imperative countries use the full range of tools available right now to fight the virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Right now, we are extremely concerned by the surge in cases we are seeing in some countries. Particularly in Europe and the Americas. Health workers and our health systems are being pushed to their breaking point.
This is a dangerous virus which can attack every system in the body. Those countries that are letting the virus run unchecked are playing with fire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): For more on the pandemic, let's bring in Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, she is chief scientist at the World Health Organization. Thank you so much for talking with us.
SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, WHO: Thank you.
CHURCH: So, we are seeing record COVID cases, hospitalizations and deaths across much of Europe and the Americas. How concerned are you about these surges, and why do you think so many people refuse to wear masks and social distance despite the shocking numbers?
SWAMINATHAN: Well, you know, we at the WHO are really concerned, as you've heard, we've had the D.G. and other senior officials repeatedly called for countries to take more action and for individuals as well to take the preventive measures that we all know work.
We know so much more about the virus now and how it spreads than we did when this pandemic began. So we actually have those tools in our hands, and it's a question of following through with those measures and having the discipline and the rigor to continue to do the things we know work.
I know we talk about pandemic fatigue, and you know, getting tired of these measures, but things can get really bad, and they are, the numbers are going up. And after many months of stable death rates, we're seeing a sharp increase in mortality as well.
So, it's not like, you know, that it's just the infection that's in the population and it's not taking a toll. People are dying. And we're also now learning that infections, even if they are mildly symptomatic and relatively young people can actually lead to organ damage, it can lead to a lot of long-term consequences on the liver, on the heart, on the brain, on the nervous system.
CHURCH: Right.
SWAMINATHAN: It's not an infection we should take lightly, and I think we need to keep reminding people why it's so important. We have to follow all the measures that we talk about. The physical distancing, the masking, avoiding the crowded indoor places, making sure that you stay home if you are sick, get tested, and stay within family pods as much as possible.
[03:20:07]
CHURCH: Right.
SWAMINATHAN: Avoid mixing in large groups.
CHURCH: And of course, there is some hope on the horizon. Drug maker Pfizer is about to file for FDA emergency use authorization for its vaccine candidate. That offers more than 90 percent efficacy. Moderna's vaccine nearly 95 percent effective. What's your response to this promising vaccine news?
SWAMINATHAN: Well, it's extremely exciting. And it speaks really to the power of, you know, the kind of unprecedented scientific and technological progress that we've made over the last year. I mean, it's absolutely unprecedented to have a vaccine from design to going into people within three months. And then actually having results and potentially being deployed within a year of a new virus being discovered.
So, this is a big achievement for science. And we can all be proud and happy about this. Now of course, we've only seen interim results from Pfizer and from Moderna. And while they're very encouraging, we hope that they will be held out when we actually get to see the final data set from these clinical trials, both on their efficacy as well as on the safety aspects.
We would also like to know how good these vaccines are at cutting transmission. Do they actually prevent people who've had the vaccine and who developed an infection? Not only do we want it to be mild and not progress to severe disease. Ideally, we'd like them not to develop the infection at all so they don't then transmit it to the other person.
So, at this point we still don't know if that's possible. We also don't know how long this protection is going to last. And we don't know how this vaccine is behaving in different age groups, for example, in other sub population.
So, there's still a lot that we need to learn from looking at the data. We also have a number of other vaccines in development. We know that we've got 10 vaccines in phase three clinical trials. Many of them will be reporting out in the next couple of months. So that's something to watch.
They're different vaccine platforms. So, each one may behave a little bit differently. We can't presume that every vaccine is going to have this high level of efficacy. And finally, there are deployment challenges. We know the Pfizer vaccine needs to be stored at ultra cold temperatures, which means that you need those special minus 70 freezers to keep that vaccine. And that's a big challenge. Even in the high-income countries let alone, you know, the complete absence of those kind of storage facilities in most low income and middle-income countries.
So that's going to be a logistical challenge. So, I think we need to look at a broader spectrum of vaccine candidates. Hopefully many more of them will be shown to be effective. But again, we have to remember that developing the vaccine and proving that it's safe and efficacious, while it's a huge step forward, it's still like getting to the base camp of Everest.
Now getting that vaccine deployed across the world to all the high- risk groups and the vulnerable groups that we want protected. At the same time so that we have an equitable distribution of vaccines around the world, that's like getting to the top of Mount Everest. So, we still have a lot of work to do ahead of us. But I think getting --
(CROSSTALK)
CHURCH: And how do you -- how do you make sure that happens? How do you make sure that the developing world gets access to the COVID-19 vaccine? As you say, there are those problems with storage, particularly with Pfizer's candidate. There are others of course, that will become available. But presumably, they will all have cold storage requirements.
SWAMINATHAN: Yes. So, some of the vaccines in development actually can be stored in normal refrigerators at two to eight degrees. So that's a huge plus point for a vaccine because that then makes it possible to deploy it even in remote, rural settings in most countries.
Well, some of the vaccines in development may only need one dose. That again would be a good advantage. Rather than having to follow everyone up and give them a second dose if you want to achieve the kind of efficacy that we've been hoping for.
There are other considerations as well as to how the side effect profile of some of these vaccines may have and how they will do if they need a booster dose after a year or two. So, what we've done is, at the WHO we've set up what we called the app accelerator. This is the access to COVID technologies accelerator, which was a coming together of many global institutions, as well as countries, to not only accelerate the development of vaccines and diagnostics and drugs but to ensure equitable access.
And that's really our goal. That in this pandemic, we cannot afford to have poor countries waiting in line while high income countries are vaccinating their entire populations. [03:25:03]
And we've said repeatedly that the global economy cannot recover unless all countries begin to have some amount of stability and are able to protect their most vulnerable.
So, through this pool procurement mechanism, the COVAX facility, we hope to be able to purchase large numbers of different varieties of vaccines and then send them out to countries. Hopefully around the same time, you know, in the first or early in the second quarter of next year. So, countries can begin their vaccination programs.
And we're also working with countries so that they can prepare internally, you know, for all the things that are needed, training their workforce, you know, making sure the supply chains are in order, ensuring that their populations are prepared that they're enumerated and so on.
CHURCH: Right.
SWAMINATHAN: So, there's a lot of background preparatory work, also including regulatory harmonization. You know, vaccines sometimes can take a long time to go through country by country licensure. All of that needs to be speeded up and harmonize as well.
So, there are a number of things that we are working on. And as I said, hopefully we'll have a bigger basket of vaccines that we can select from. So maybe the Pfizer candidate is suitable for some settings. They are also doing some innovations so that you can use dry ice instead of these minus 70 freezers.
CHURCH: Yes.
SWAMINATHAN: At least for a limited period of time. So that may work, you know, at least in cities and so on to help bring health workers there and vaccinate them. So, there are many options that can be used. But I think we all -- everyone, I think, was collectively heaved a sigh of relief when we heard the first results of these two vaccine candidates -- because it's proof of principle that vaccines against this virus of SARS COV2 can be made.
CHURCH: Right. Certainly, challenges ahead, but there is hope on the horizon there which we all needed. Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, thank you so much for talking with us. I appreciate it.
SWAMINATHAN: Thank you.
CHURCH (voice over): And still ahead, President Trump fired a top homeland security official who had rejected his election conspiracy theories.
CNN's Stephen Collinson joins us next with his take.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Well, several thousand U.S. troops will be withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan, a change that will take effect just days before Joe Biden is sworn in as president.
So, let's get more now from CNN senior international correspondent Sam Kiley. He joins us live from Dubai. Good to see you, Sam.
So, 24 hours ago, you and I talked about the possibility of this happening. Now the outgoing president has issued the order. What might the consequences of this be, particularly in Afghanistan?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Rosemary.
[03:30:00]
Well, Christopher Miller, the new acting secretary of defense, has clarified exactly what's going to happen. According to the Trump administration, by January 15th, the numbers of troops in Iraq will go down broadly from about 3,000 to about 2,500 and in Afghanistan from about 4,500 thousand also to about 2,500.
And it's that operational area where the issue is going to be most controversial. It's been interesting to see President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan's reactions not criticizing it outright, but saying that he looked forward to what he called meaning -- continued meaningful military cooperation.
Now, he's in the middle of talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan, talks aimed at ending America's longest war, the decade's long war since 2001, which is right across Afghanistan originally to rid the country of al-Qaeda and then very swiftly became a war against Taliban insurgency.
Now, the deal that they are trying to strike in Afghanistan had been predicated, among other things, on reducing foreign forces there, particularly American forces in return for the Taliban severing all ties with al-Qaeda.
Now, that seems to be happening prematurely as indeed has a commitment made by the Taliban to dial down the amount of violence. In fact, last month, we saw the most violent month in many, many months in Afghanistan. Most all of that violence blamed on the Taliban.
So, from the military's perspective, the advice going to Mr. Trump has been do not withdraw too soon, even though, of course, he made campaign commitments to bring the troops back by Christmas or near enough. And of course, this was a long term campaign pledge he made upon his reelection campaign in 2016.
And also equally, in Iraq, this is a very tender time for the central government in particular, which is relying heavily on U.S. Forces particularly for intelligence and aerial surveillance, aerial support, in its two fronted fight now, firstly, against the remains of the so- called Islamic state, and of course, against Shia Militias which are growing there in power and influenced and violence, thanks to backing from Iran. Indeed, they've been accused of many months of continuing to attack both government and U.S. forces. And in the background here, of course, this is something that NATO
allies are somewhat rattled by, as we heard yesterday from Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary general of NATO, saying that precipitous withdrawal could be -- have a very negative effect, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Sam Kiley, many thanks.
Joining us now is CNN politics White House reporter Stephen Collinson. Good to have you with us.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi.
CHURCH: So, Stephen, you wrote about what you called Trump's transition sabotage, threatening the vaccine rollout, and you talk about the likely fallout from Trump's order to drawdown U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and chatter about a possible strike on Iran. How much of this is proof Donald Trump is actively working to sabotage President-Elect Joe Biden?
COLLINSON: Well, Rosemary, I think that's become increasingly clear in the last couple of days. What we have is two separate strands here. You have a bunch of spurious and baseless court cases by the Trump campaign, alleging that there was massive fraud in this election.
So far, they have struck out almost every single one of those cases, and they aren't bringing forward conclusive evidence, or any evidence really of fraud, and that strategy is failing in the courts.
But it's having an effect on public opinion. It's convincing Trump voters the presidency of Joe Biden that will unfold from January 20th next year is illegitimate. Then you have the administration taking several steps, for example, the draw out of troops announced today from Afghanistan and Iraq, which will reshape the world that Biden will inherit as president.
Trump box him in on foreign policy. There are various steps the administration could take, for example, putting more tariffs on Chinese trade, more sanctions on Iran to make it more difficult for the Biden administration to renegotiate the nuclear accord that the Trump administration pulled out.
So, two separate tracks. The ultimate goal, I think, of all of them is, was a recognition that Trump probably can overturned the results of the election. He can make life much more difficult for President Joe Biden, when he takes office.
[03:35:08]
CHURCH: So, if Donald Trump is doing all this to sabotage his successor, could it backfire in the end? Do Joe Biden hitting the ground running despite his transition being blocked by Trump, meeting with relevant health experts, and now Pfizer poised to get emergency use authorization for its vaccine candidate that could see a distribution system already in place by the time Biden takes office in January 20th? COLLINSON: Well, certainly Biden is doing everything he Biden is
doing everything he can, short of having an official transition take place to prepare himself, to be president and to show the American people right now that there really is only one person who's actually doing the job of president. Donald Trump is basically effectively giving up trying to fight the pandemic even as it gets much, much worse.
What a transition is as millions of dollars of government money that a president elect can use. Its access to government departments to get information about what exactly is going on in the government, as you say to hit the ground running. The big concern though is that if the Biden team doesn't soon get access to the data and the officials who are handling the vaccine rollout.
Even these very encouraging news stories about how effective the vaccine will be, you know, it will take a little while for them to get up to speed, and that could delay the time it takes to roll out the vaccine in the first quarter of next year, and of course that could cost lives and you know, further damage the economy.
CHURCH: Right. That is a big concern. And what are the potential ramifications of the troop drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan that Trump ordered to take place just days before Biden's inaugurated? A move that even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not happy about.
COLLINSON: Yes. It was interesting to watch the reaction to that announcement, which basically goes some way to fulfilling President Trump's vowed to get all the troops home from Afghanistan and Iraq by the end of his presidency.
There are traditional Republican talks on Capitol Hill who are not happy about this. They worry that there was no consultation with U.S. allies who still have troops in both those areas. They also are concerned that this could lead in Afghanistan, for example, to resurgence of the Taliban that could threaten the U.S.-backed government in Kabul.
In Iraq, there are also worries on Capitol Hill that the drawdown will not just imperil the U.S. embassy in Iraq. One of the biggest U.S. embassies in the world. It could give a signal to Iran that the United States is handing over Iraq to Iranian influence.
So also some reasons why there are a lot of geopolitical concerns in Washington about this announcement. The troop withdrawals are supposed to be concluded by January the 15th.
Right now, it doesn't seem that it will be a very easy political maneuver, should Biden wish to reverse this -- to send troops back into the Middle East and South Asia. And so that's one of the ways in which the Trump administration, the outgoing team is trying to put Biden in a bit of a foreign policy box.
CHURCH: Right. And of course, Donald Trump still spewing furious about his election lost, firing top U.S. election security official, Chris Krebs in a tweet Tuesday evening, because Krebs called the November election the most secure in American history.
When you consider this, and of course, the recent firing of his own defense secretary, Mark Esper, do you wonder who might be next and question how much damage he could do between now and January 20th to the United States?
COLLINSON: Well, there have long been fears among the national security establishment in Washington, that the Director of the CIA, Gina Haspel, could be the next to be fired. The Krebs firing, the revenge firing has long been rumored to take place since that particular official contradicted the president's claims, baseless claims of massive election fraud.
The president sees Gina Haspel as having not done enough to declassify information that he believes will refute the idea that there was any contact between his campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. The president is still spewing about that issue clearly putting somebody, you know, what you might call a pro-Trump official in charge of the CIA for a couple of months, to do a lot of damage.
It could leave that person to declassify information that the president wants and possibly put U.S. sources and methods at risk. So there is a big concern about the politicization of the intelligence services, even more than what we've seen already.
[03:40:09]
CHURCH: Steven Collinson, great to talk with you. I appreciate it.
COLLINSON: Thanks.
CHURCH: Well, the American company Pfizer has just completed a safety review of its vaccine, and is now applying for emergency approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Last week, the company announced its vaccine is more than 90 percent effective based on clinical trial data.
And a Chinese vaccine appears to be safe in mid stage trials. That's according to a study published in the Lancet Medical Journal. SinoVac, the company making the vaccine candidate, plans to continue to test its effectiveness.
Well, earlier, I spoke with infectious disease expert William Haseltine, he is the author of the new autobiography, My lifelong fight against disease from polio and HIV/AIDS to COVID-19. And here are his tips to stay safe during the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM HASELTINE, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL: Well, there are some very simple things to do that everybody has been recommending for a long time. The most dangerous thing to do is be in a closed space with people you don't know, and the more people in the room, the longer you are in there, the smaller, the tighter the space, the worse it is. This virus hangs in the air, as an aerosol for four or five hours.
Your mask isn't going to protect you from breathing it in, it can get into your eyes. It gets through your mouth. You can touch something, and put it to your mouth. This virus will get you, if you are in a small space, with a lot of other people. Stay away from them.
And if you have to go on public transportation, wear a N95 mask, wear a face shield, wear gloves. And if you are going to be for any length of time, wear a plastic or a paper hazmat suit.
When you look at how people are flying around East Asia today, they have all of those protective gears. They are wearing hazmat outfits, they have face shields, they have N95 masks and they have a lot of different gloves that they change as often as they would wash their hands.
That's what you have to do, if you are forced to travel in public transportation, in these high incident areas. You know, I look at different colors. If it's red, like 20 people per hundred thousand infected, you've got to be really careful.
It's like going out in a cyclone. You don't want to do it unless you absolutely have to. Or if it's an orange, it's like going out in a thunderstorm. Yes, you will do it, but you better be pretty well dressed for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): And that was infectious diseases expert William Haseltine. We will have more of that interview next hour, including his thoughts on how long it might be until most people receive a COVID-19 vaccine.
Well, now, let's bring in CNN's Frederik Pleitgen, who joins us live from Berlin, as the world awaits a coronavirus vaccine. Major challenges are now being realized, and that includes some transportation hurdles. Fred, good to see you. You visited a Lufthansa shipping operation. What are they doing to prepare
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Rosemary. It's actually about the largest pharma hub, or logistics pharma hub in all of Europe. It's from Lufthansa cargo. And essentially what they say they've been doing, is they've been preparing for weeks and for months for when a vaccine is going to be approved, and they get the go ahead to start delivering it to where it needs to go.
Now, essentially what they are saying is that they believe that they are prepared. They believe that they can get vaccine out the door very quickly and get it around the globe. But they also say that there are some major logistical challenges, especially with vaccines that need to be stored in a very, very cold way. Here is what we saw.
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PLEITGEN (voice over): While the world's passenger airline stays in uncertain future because of COVID-19, freight airlines like Lufthansa Cargo are gearing up for a huge operation to try to help end the pandemic.
In the coming months and years, airlines like Lufthansa Cargo face the daunting challenge of having to transport 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. Several vaccine makers believe they will be able to apply for emergency use authorization for their candidate 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.
[03:45:00]
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 compartments. So, we need more dry ice, we have another dry ice concentration on board the aircraft. So, these are all things that we have to consider.
PLEITGEN: Another issue -- the dry ice emits a lot of co2 gas. That can be dangerous for a flight crew 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. They think 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 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 a very, very short notice, our team, I believe, is ready for this (inaudible).
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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PLEITGEN (on camera): So you can see, Rosemary, some pretty complicated logistics involved in getting those vaccines out there and I saw that great interview that you did earlier in the show with the chief scientist of the World Health Organization. And was so interesting to see that bodies like that are already thinking ahead to the next step. For when the vaccine is approved, how can those vaccines get to every corner of the world where they are needed, Rosemary? CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. So critical, and great to see that the
airlines are considering this as well. Many thanks to you, Fred Pleitgen, joining us there live. I appreciate it.
Well, South Australia says it is shutting down for six days, starting at midnight, Thursday, local time after an outbreak in a suburb of Adelaide, only essential buildings like supermarkets and medical facilities will remain open.
Angus Watson is tracking developments, he joins us now live from Sydney. Good to see you, Angus. It's worth pointing out, this will shut down the whole state of South Australia, which is, is very much an overarching in this situation, because there aren't a lot of cases.
ANGUS WATSON, JOURNALIST (on camera): Absolutely, Rosemary. It's a very interesting case, because you see that south Australian government coming down swiftly and coming down firmly on a relatively small cluster of coronavirus by global standards. But they are worried because they haven't had a case of coronavirus in South Australia for months.
So this cluster coming up in the city of Adelaide has them concerned, that not quite sure at this stage how large it could become. So, they are pushing testing and now they are putting in this circuit breaker lockdown, they are turning it. Six days in which their health workers might get a chance to get on top of the virus before it spins out of control. Here is what Steven Marshall had to say earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVEN MARSHALL, SOUTH AUSTRALIA PREMIERE: This is about South Australia pausing, so that we stay ahead of the virus. Our concern is that if we don't have the 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON (on camera): So, Premiere Steven Marshall there mentioned a second wave, and that's what happened in neighboring state Victoria. Victoria had coronavirus under control, and earlier this year a second wave kicked off 819 people passed away. And the way that coronavirus got back into that state was through the hotel quarantine system.
That's where Australians from overseas returning to the country must spend 14 days in state mandated quarantine. That's exactly what happened in Adelaide this time, Rosemary, which has made the government so worried there.
CHURCH: Yes, I mean, its taken action there in Australia that wouldn't be tolerated by so many people here in the United States. It is extraordinary to compare measures. Angus Watson, joining us live from Sydney, many thanks.
And coming up, another blow to Hong Kong's pro-democracy opposition. The arrest of several former lawmakers in connection with June's protest. We're back with that in just a moment.
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[03:50:00]
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CHURCH: The coronavirus pandemic is showing no sign of slowing down in Japan. Tokyo's government announced 493 new confirmed cases today. That is the highest one day case count for the Japanese capital since the pandemic began. And the national picture isn't much better. Japan reported nearly 1,700 new infections Tuesday. That is the third highest one day count of new cases nationwide.
Well now to Hong Kong, and that's where Kristie Lu Stout is standing by. Good to see you, Kristie. There was another blow from Beijing to the beleaguered political opposition, three former pro-democracy lawmakers have been arrested for protesting over the proposed Chinese national anthem bill earlier this year. So, what is the latest on this, Kristie?
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's another sign of the new political reality here in Hong Kong, with three former opposition lawmakers have been arrested earlier today because of their protest action that they took earlier this year in the legislator.
The three, Ted Hui, Raymond Chan and Eddie Chu, they were arrested not under the new national security law, but for contempt and potentially causing harm to others when they try to disrupt the passage of a controversial national anthem bill back in May and June. The (inaudible) this foul smelling bio fertilizer into the chamber of legislative council to try to disrupt proceedings, the bill passed anyway, became law and is now illegal to crime, in fact in Hong Kong to mock or disrespect China's national anthem.
Now, news of these arrests came through on Facebook, on the official pages of these three former lawmakers earlier today, the assistant Ted Hui posted video showing the police entering Ted Hui's home in the early hours of this morning before 7:00 a.m. and also reading up the reasons why Hui is being arrested.
I should also add that Ted Hui was one of the last remaining opposition lawmaker last week who resigned on masse in response to the immediate disqualification of four other opposition lawmakers earlier in the week due to that decree that was sent out from Beijing.
Now, look, this is a very critical moment for Hong Kong. Opposition voices have been silenced. The economy here, feeling the squeeze, and China's control here is becoming tighter and tighter. We heard some really interesting remarks on Tuesday, which was incidentally the 30th anniversary of the basic law in Hong Kong, as Hong Kong's mini constitution.
We heard from a top Chinese official who talked about patriotism, and how patriotism in Hong Kong is now, quote, a legal requirement. We have a transcript of those remarks, will bring it up for you. This is according to Zhang Xiaoming, who is deputy director of the Hong Kong in the Macau affairs office.
He writes, he said, this quote, those who love the country in Hong Kong, govern Hong Kong. Those who oppose China and disrupt Hong Kong are out. This is a political rule under one country two systems, it is now become a legal requirement, unquote.
So, Rosemary, this is a top down declaration from China to Hong Kong that now it's all about patriotism first. Back to you.
CHURCH: All right. Kristie Lu Stout, joining us live from Hong Kong, many thanks.
Iota is now weakening, but the former category four hurricane has left behind a trail of destruction. We will have a look at where the storm is headed right now.
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[03:55:00]
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CHURCH: Well, parts of Central America are still being pounded by Iota, the once powerful hurricane that's expected to weaken into a tropical depression in the coming hours. Iota has killed at least two people in Columbia and six others in Nicaragua. It was the second major hurricane to hit the area in as many weeks. Some places are completely without communications, and in Nicaragua, tens of thousands of homes are without power.
Now, there's a new area of concern in the Caribbean. And CNN's meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is keeping a very close eye on this. He joins us now live. So, what are you seeing? What is happening? What's next?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Rosemary, another storm system potentially in the works here over the next several days, but of course you see what has already happened there on the ground across Nicaragua. Officials taking the initial aerial surveys of what's happened, saying the infrastructure on some of these coastal communities, about 98 percent of what is left of the infrastructure there from the previous storm, almost entirely now decimated.
I mean you kind a see the scenes play out here with hurricane Iota, the extensive damage left on the coast, a really sobering images. A child walking through remnants of his former home, showing some of the damage again with a category four. Just a couple kilometers per hour shy of what would've been a category five at landfall, but still.
In the Nicaraguan government confirming now, this was the strongest storm on record to have ever struck the nation. So, again, an impressive run in the past 30 years or so hours since the storm made landfall. Initial estimates here for rainfall amounts across this region, generally 100 to 200 millimeters. The concern is that far greater amounts still possible here before the system is all said and done. You still see some symmetry. You still see some organizations, some
rotation with the storm as it tries to reemerge now back over the Pacific. But tremendous volumes of water already coming down across, especially the elevated terrain in this region.
Again, the system rains itself out over this region and works it throughout the way to the record books, but once you look at how much rain is in the forecast, and then you look at the elevated topography, especially indicated there in red, you notice this is a region very much prone to landslides, prone to mudslides.
So, sunshine could prevail here for a couple days once everything is out of here, but the amount of water that is soaked into the soil here, really going to be problematic in this particular region in Guatemala there with the white contours, that's the area of concern right now.
Of course, that is among the top exporters in the world for the coffee bean belt, and we know about 40 percent of the nation's agricultural export revenue comes from this particular region. So, it doesn't really spell well for them either with the tremendous amount of rainfall in their forecast, Rosemary in the coming days.
CHURCH: All right.
JAVAHERI: And of course, there's another system potentially in the works, 30 percent chance to form in the next few days.
CHURCH: Thanks for keeping an eye on all of that, as always. Pedram Javaheri, thank you. And thanks for joining us, I'm Rosemary Church, I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Do stay with us.
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