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U.S. Surpasses Quarter of a Million COVID-19 Deaths; Pfizer Submits COVID-19 Vaccine for FDA Approval; Trump Bunkered in White House, Attacking the Election and Democracy with False Claims and Firings; Australia Apologizes to Afghanistan for Unlawful Killings; Emirates Weigh Options for Vaccine Distribution. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 19, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: 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, the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. has now killed more than a quarter of a million people. And health officials say things are going to get worse.
Meanwhile, the White House refuses to give President-Elect Joe Biden briefings on the pandemic. It's a decision that could cost even more lives.
And a deeply disturbing report from Australia, defense officials say special forces allegedly committed war crimes, murdering civilians in Afghanistan.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
In less than 10 months, COVID-19 has claimed more than a quarter of a million lives across the United States, far more than any other country in the world and even greater than the death toll officials initially predicted.
In the early stages of the pandemic, the White House thought we would see 240,000 dead at the most. Not only has the U.S. eclipsed that number, it's also expected to see even higher infection rates, hospitalizations and deaths.
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ADMIRAL BRETT GIROIR, M.D., ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH: This will get worse. We have had 1 million cases documented over the past week. Our rate of rise is higher than it even was during the summer.
There are so many more cases that we have that deaths are going up. And unfortunately, we do anticipate this to continue, at least for the next couple of weeks.
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CHURCH: With the virus spreading uncontrollably, states are once again ramping up containment measures, imposing curfews, mandating masks and, in New York City, closing down schools. Nick Watt has the details.
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NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): New York City is the biggest school district in the nation, so many parents right now scrambling to balance work with childcare for the morning.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): That's the law in orange and the red zone. Follow the facts.
QUESTION: I'm confused --
CUOMO: And I'll tell you what need.
QUESTION: Parents are still confused as well. The schools are going to close tomorrow.
CUOMO: No. They're not confused. You're confused.
WATT (voice-over): Meanwhile, in Iowa --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to make sure you don't have a blood clot in your lung.
WATT (voice-over): More than 76,000 Americans now hospitalized with COVID-19. That's an all-time high.
GOV. STEVE BULLOCK (D-MT): In some places we're already out of beds and room to put even new beds.
WATT (voice-over): So, Montana's mask mandate goes statewide Friday.
In Michigan, a three-week pause kicks in today. No more indoor dining, bars, movie theaters.
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): The inherently dangerous situations are when you are inside with people from a different household or many different households for a prolonged period of time with masks off.
WATT (voice-over): In South Dakota, the governor still won't mandate masks.
GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): People that want to wear masks should wear masks and people who don't shouldn't be shamed because they choose not to.
WATT (voice-over): In Oregon, there can be no more than six at a Thanksgiving table this year. KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's Orwellian in a place like Oregon to say if you gather in numbers more than six, we might come to your house and arrest you and you get 30 days of jail time.
WATT (voice-over): Orwellian or just life-saving?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're all in this together as a nation. If one element of the country or multiple elements of the country don't cooperate with an infectious disease, we are going to continue to be in trouble.
WATT (voice-over): There were 1,707 lives reported lost Tuesday, COVID's deadliest day in America for six months. The average daily death toll is now rising in 33 states.
DR. TOM INGLESBY, DIRECTOR, JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: I'm the most concerned I've been since this pandemic started. States across the country are having the most rapid rise they've seen since the start of this.
WATT (voice-over): Good news, the FDA just authorized the first fast at-home self- test and Pfizer now says its vaccine is 95 percent effective. And they'll file for FDA authorization within days. Moderna won't be far behind.
ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: By the end of December, we expect to have about 40 million doses of these two vaccines available for distribution, pending FDA authorization.
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AZAR: Enough to vaccinate about 20 million of our most vulnerable Americans.
WATT (voice-over): But likely early summer before it's widespread.
BULLOCK: There is light at the end of the tunnel. However, that tunnel is long.
WATT (voice-over): And in some places, panic buying is now back; also, long lines at food banks and COVID-19 testing sites. The pain of this fall now resembles now the spring and it's getting worse.
The situation in New York City is very interesting. So they reach 3 percent positivity which triggers the closure of all schools. So now in New York, kids can't go to a classroom but an adult can still go to a bar to get a beer. It's complicated -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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CHURCH: Dr. Raj Kalsi joins me now from Naperville, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. Thank you, Doctor, for being with us and for all that you do.
DR. RAJ KALSI, BOARD CERTIFIED EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN: Thank you, Rosemary. Thanks for having me back on.
CHURCH: So unfortunately more than 250,000 Americans have now died from COVID-19. Cases and hospitalizations are surging. New York schools are closing indefinitely.
New restrictions are being applied and while President-Elect Joe Biden met with health care workers Wednesday, the current President is absent, but blocking Biden's transition.
As a doctor, what is your reaction to where things stand right now in this country?
KALSI: So Rosemary, I can only speak to what I'm dealing with, boots on the ground and our hospitals are full. And as you know, mid-tier and high-tier institutions and also rural hospitals, we are full with COVID.
In addition to all of the other emergencies that people come into the hospital with and elective surgeries that people have and then they get admitted to the hospital.
We are full to the brim and now seeking strategies to try to increase our ability to house these patients, decrease elective surgeries which decreases funding to nurses and doctors and staff, which is critical.
And we're at a tipping point in Illinois in particular in the suburbs of Chicago.
CHURCH: So when the governors of Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, Kentucky and Wisconsin had a virtual meeting, they revealed the Midwest is the epicenter of biggest COVID-19 surge to date with long lines of people getting tested, new restrictions put in place.
You're a doctor in the Midwest.
What are you seeing at your hospital just outside of Chicago?
You mentioned the fact that you've got people coming in. It's all full up.
But what are you doing in terms of different treatments, different approaches to the people coming in?
KALSI: It's a great question, Rosemary. The last time you and I met we were just at the beginning of this illness. We had no idea how to really treat it.
We thought we were going to do traditional clinical measures, traditional critical care measures to treat these patients when they came in with low oxygen levels and they were coming in with low blood pressures. Now we know better. We're not intubating or ventilating people right away, we're putting them on high flow oxygen, humidified oxygen. We are giving them steroids when their oxygen levels are low.
We have adequate access to remdesivir, tocilizumab and plasma and in some cases antibodies. And big institutions have that and small institutions we are able to transfer them to other big institutions to get those patients those measures.
So we are much better at keeping these people alive, unless people, Rosemary, are dying from this. That being said, we're still getting inundated with patients in the ER.
We are at an all-time high in terms of volumes and we have 10 to 25 percent of staff out with COVID and they are suffering without pay at some point and they can't support their families because they have COVID. So, this is a big problem and we need them back because we need the help.
CHURCH: What are you experimenting with that might help people fight this virus?
KALSI: So, I don't mean to speak to patients as their doctor. As you know, Rosemary, I come on here just to give you a boots on the ground experience of what's going on.
But for my patients in a discussion with them and their doctors, vitamin D is a huge supplement for prophylaxis and to treat COVID-19. Zinc supplements in certain doses is also a big thing.
And also, melatonin sometimes and there's adequate data out there right now that suggests that there is some antiviral components to all three of these. Now again, anything I recommend has to be discussed with your personal doctor or your emergency doctor. These are things that are safe and low risk helping my patients and also steroids.
CHURCH: So you are also seeing COVID fatigue. I mean, it's right across the United States and across Europe. We're seeing it right across the world in fact.
How frustrating is that as a doctor?
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CHURCH: And why do you think some Americans can't seem to comprehend the dangers posed by this virus, refusing to wear masks and follow other health guidelines in the middle of a pandemic?
KALSI: Because this is new and novel and we're Americans and this is a country where we propagate free speech and freedom opine about anything that you want and that is the luxury of America.
Part of the curse of America is that in times like this, Rosemary, I'm finding that it's challenging to convince people that we need to come together as a community to do the right thing. That being said, I have to respect Americans for doing what they think
is right and everybody has to take on that risk and take on that burden when they are part of the problem.
CHURCH: That is a great answer. Dr. Raj Kalsi, you and all the other doctors and nurses are our front line heroes, thank you so much for your service.
KALSI: Thank you so much, Rosemary. Thanks for having me on.
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CHURCH: Final trial results show the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, is more effective than previously thought. Now the companies are ready to apply for emergency use authorization in the U.S. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen has the details.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Some potentially really good news coming from German vaccine maker BioNTech and from Pfizer, the companies announcing some really good data in their phase 3 trials: 95 percent efficacy and also over 94 percent efficacy in older age groups of people above the age of 65.
Now in our exclusive interview, the CEO of BioNTech told me that they are going to apply for emergency use authorization with the FDA this Friday. Let's listen in.
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UGUR SAHIN, CEO, BIONTECH: We might get authorization or conditional approval already in 2020 which might help us to start distribution of the first vaccine batches already in 2020.
Our goal is to supply several 100 million of doses in the first 4-5 months of 2021. It's already having an impact, beginning impact on the control of COVID-19.
PLEITGEN: Are you confident that these vaccines are now or the existence of these vaccines signal the beginning of the end of the pandemic?
SAHIN: I'm confident that if everything goes well and if we have a very organized vaccine supply that we could have a normal winter 2021, normal summer and winter 2021.
PLEITGEN: I want to go to the logistics a little, bit because there were some questions. Obviously your vaccine needs to be stored at minus 70 to minus 75 degrees and some say that makes the shipping of it quite difficult.
How do you feel about that?
SAHIN: Since the development was so fast, we weren't able to work out better conditions. So better conditions or more stable conditions and the variation (ph) and we are working on a formulation, which could allow us to ship the vaccine, even maybe at warm temperature.
PLEITGEN: The data that you released today showed very good efficacy in older people. They are obviously some of the most vulnerable.
Can you just walk us through how important that is?
SAHIN: Now we see that we have an overall efficacy of 95 percent. And in elderly people we have more than 94 percent. So that means there's no difference between the age, different ages and there's no difference between the ethnicities, which makes, of course, the pandemic supply and control very efficient.
PLEITGEN: I know you said at the very beginning you believe making this vaccine is a duty.
How do you feel about that now?
SAHIN: Now, with our first product, most likely being approved in the next few months, we accomplished one of our dreams, to enable with something that we develop could be used by people worldwide and could be hard for (ph) to control a disease.
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PLEITGEN: So If everything works out for BioNTech and Pfizer, they could be putting a lot of vaccine on the market in the not too distant future. The two companies are saying if they could supply up to 50 million doses of their vaccine this year and up to 1.3 billion next year.
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CHURCH: Frederik Pleitgen in Berlin, many thanks for that.
Tokyo is raising its coronavirus alert to the highest level. The city's governor says new infections are increasing rapidly. Wednesday's count went up by nearly 500, the biggest jump since the start of the pandemic. Health officials are sending a familiar message.
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CHURCH: Wear masks, socially distance and keep dining in groups to a minimum.
Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, the Trump campaign is asking for yet another recount in a key state that Joe Biden won. We will get the latest from the White House.
Plus, Australia is apologizing to Afghanistan for suspected war crimes, the disturbing details later this hour.
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CHURCH: Donald Trump is not giving up, though his legal options for challenging the U.S. presidential election are dwindling. His campaign filed for a recount in two counties in Wisconsin Wednesday and tried to reintroduce claims into a Pennsylvania lawsuit.
Meantime, the president remains largely unseen but frequently heard on Twitter. Jeremy Diamond has our report.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As he wages a brazen campaign to subvert the 2020 election, President Trump is also avoiding public scrutiny, hunkering down in the White House and dodging questions.
It's been more than two weeks since Trump took reporters' questions, a dry spell believed to be the longest of his presidency. And his top officials are also evading accountability.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell us why you're not going to take any questions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Secretary --
MCENANY: I'm sorry I have a meeting to run to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can you not take questions?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why won't anyone in this administration take questions?
DIAMOND (voice-over): As Trump stays out of sight, he's still using his social media megaphone to spread lies about the 2020 election and to silence those telling the truth; the latest firing by tweet, Chris Krebs...
CHRISTOPHER KREBS, FORMER CISA DIRECTOR: I'm here today to tell you that my confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher.
DIAMOND (voice-over): -- a top cyber security official at the Department of Homeland Security, who joined state and local election officials in calling the 2020 election "the most secure in American history."
Trump calling that statement "highly inaccurate," before repeating many of the same claims Krebs has been debunking. Several Republican lawmakers pan the firing.
SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): I was very disappointed when I found out that he had been terminated.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Trump is dealing with his own disappointment. Courts in key battleground states have handed him a string of losses. And most states are inching closer to certifying the election results.
Powerless to stop Georgia from completing its audit today and certifying a Biden win this week, Trump blasting the process as "a joke" and calling for the state's Republican governor to intervene.
In Michigan, where Republicans backtracked on a partisan attempt to stop votes from being certified in a key Democratic county, Trump launched a futile protest, arguing the state cannot certify the election.
Biden's margin of victory in Michigan, nearly 15 times greater than Trump's in 2016. And in Wisconsin, where Joe Biden leads by 20,000 votes, Trump's campaign requesting recounts in two Democratic strongholds backing off plans for a pricey statewide recount.
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DIAMOND (voice-over): Meanwhile, his top attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is making dubious arguments in a federal court in Pennsylvania, drawing concerns from Trump allies.
MICK MULVANEY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I still am a little concerned about the use of Rudy Giuliani. It strikes me that this is the most important lawsuit in the history of the country. And they don't -- they're not using the most well noted election lawyers.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Even as Trump's legal options fizzle, he's still refusing to concede, leaving the head of the General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, to decide whether the transition can begin.
So far, Murphy won't sign off and two people who've spoken to her say she feels she's in a no-win situation and struggling with the weight of the decision.
Pressure is still building on Trump to grant Biden intelligence briefings, including from Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been working to contest Biden's win.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The president is contesting the election. And I would urge him to give intel briefings to Joe Biden.
How much further to go?
I don't know.
DIAMOND: And as the president's refusal to concede drags on, we are starting to see some splintering among Republican lawmakers. Senators Pat Toomey and Kevin Cramer, both Republicans, saying on Wednesday that they believe that a Biden transition should begin, even as the Trump campaign continues to make its legal challenges in court.
That's not the mainstream Republican position, though. That position was articulated by senator Ted Cruz, who, on Wednesday, said he believes that those legal challenges need to be exhausted first before the transition process should begin. But one thing is clear is that, as the United States hits this quarter
of a million deaths, a really devastating mile marker, health experts are unanimous in believing that, the longer that transition process is delayed, the more it will hurt the Biden administration's ability to tackle this coronavirus pandemic on day one -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
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CHURCH: Larry Sabato, director of University of Virginia Center for Politics, joins me now.
Great to have you with us as always, Larry.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: So here's what we have, a president missing in action, stewing over an election loss, using Twitter to fire officials, falsely claiming voter fraud and most Republicans complicit standing silently by as Joe Biden tries to prepare to take over despite being blocked by Donald Trump.
What is going on here and why is there not more outrage?
SABATO: Well, first of all, as you suggested, the president is simply a sore loser and he's throwing a temper tantrum which he has done on many occasions since he became president.
Second, he's trying to keep his base stirred up. He wants them to think that they were deprived of the victory that they so richly deserved and that he deserved, even though it's absolutely ridiculous, everyone knows Joe Biden won. Everyone but people who are willfully blind.
And I think to some degree, Trump is sticking it to Joe Biden, hoping that the fact that he can't get security briefings, the fact that he isn't getting that transition money, that he can't talk to the COVID specialists who are working with the Trump administration, all of these things will make his opponent who defeated him less successful as president.
And that's disgraceful. There ought to be universal outrage about this. There's no excuse for not being outraged because it hurts the country.
And I wonder frequently, what is wrong with people, really?
Have our standards fallen this far?
CHURCH: Apparently so. And, of course, despite Donald Trump delaying his transition, President-Elect Biden has hit the ground running, meeting with health experts Wednesday and governors on Thursday. But his team needs those briefings you talk about on the pandemic for
vaccine distribution plans and national security briefings to properly prepare for office on January 20th and going forward. So otherwise, we're talking about the possibility of many lives being lost.
What needs to happen next to move things along and how should Republicans be viewed if they don't make sure that happens?
SABATO: The head of the GSA, General Services Administration, needs to turn over the paperwork immediately. She should have done it right after Biden was declared president-elect by all of the networks, including the conservative networks.
She should have done it immediately. She hasn't done it. She claims to be on the horns of a dilemma. It's in her imagination. It is very clear that Biden qualifies under the wording of the law. It should be done immediately.
And every Republican senator, congressman and governor should be demanding that it be done because all of them are being hurt and should be hurt by this.
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CHURCH: And with the Trump campaign feverishly trying to rework the outcome of this election, what is the latest on the partial recount of votes in Wisconsin and the Georgia vote certification and how long can the Trump administration keep these delay tactics going with no indication the outcome will change in any meaningful way?
SABATO: I suppose it's possible for them to keep this flat ball rolling for a while but it's not going to last very long because, for one thing, judges aren't going to stand for it. There's nothing behind their appeals. There's nothing behind their claims.
And judges of various stripes, partisan and ideological, have said as much in court. That ought to be embarrassing for the Trump team. But as we learned over the past four years, nothing embarrasses them.
So it's a matter of Trump continuing this tantrum, depriving his elected successor of the opportunity to succeed not for himself but on behalf of Americans, who may, as you said, otherwise die from COVID or a national security crisis that may arise with the Biden team unaware of facts they should know before Inauguration Day.
CHURCH: Yes, American people are the losers right now, while this continues. Larry Sabato, always great to get your perspective. Appreciate it.
SABATO: Thank you so much, Rosie.
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CHURCH: U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo is in Jerusalem this hour, meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During his visit, Pompeo is expected to be the first top American diplomat to visit a Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Most of the international community consider those settlements illegal.
CNN's Oren Liebermann is covering the story for us; he joins us now from Jerusalem.
Good to see you, Oren.
What exactly is the purpose of this meeting between the outgoing secretary of state and Israel's prime minister?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Keep in mind, secretary of state Mike Pompeo has yet to publicly acknowledge, I believe, that president Donald Trump lost the election and that Joe Biden is president-elect.
In fact, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu only acknowledged it a couple days ago after struggling to acknowledge it over the past couple of weeks. The first reason for Pompeo being here for the trilateral meeting between Netanyahu and the Bahraini foreign minister, both meetings were held yesterday, there may be some more meetings today or this morning.
But the real reason for today is for Pompeo to visit Jewish settlements in the West Bank and then the Golan Heights. He's expected to visit the Psagot settlement and perhaps even the winery, which has a red wine named after Pompeo a little later today and then (INAUDIBLE) settlement in the Golan Heights, making him the first secretary of state in U.S. history to do so.
It would be unprecedented from nearly any other secretary of state but perhaps not from Pompeo. It was Pompeo and the Trump administration that overturned decades of U.S. foreign policy and ruled that settlements are not de facto illegal under international law.
So Pompeo's visits today will be first celebrated by settlers, both in the West Bank and the Golan Heights; second by Netanyahu and Israel's right-wing government and perhaps most importantly for Pompeo, especially if he is mounting a 2024 bid, he will be celebrated by evangelical Christians.
But Rosemary, it's not just about today. Keep in mind, where he heads after here; it'll be Qatar and Saudi Arabia, two countries the Trump administration has been pushing to normalize relations with Israel. It seems in the waning days of the administration, those efforts about ended.
CHURCH: All right, Oren Liebermann, joining us live from Jerusalem, many thanks.
Still to come, Australia is apologizing to Afghanistan after a report on alleged war crimes in their country. Details of that disturbing report next.
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CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers, joining us from all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church.
In Australia, an internal military investigation claims to have evidence of war crimes committed by Special Forces deployed to Afghanistan. The inspector general's report documents the alleged killing of 39 prisoners, farmers and civilians between 2009 and 2013. Some of the accused are still serving in the military.
Australia's most senior general has apologized to Afghanistan, the families of the victims and to the Australian people. CNN's Ivan Watson is tracking the developments; he joins us now from Hong Kong.
Ivan, the details are disturbing and very shocking.
What more are you learning about this?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, the chief of the Australian defense force has apologized to the people of Afghanistan and in person over the phone to his Afghan military chief counterpart.
The Australian prime minister, hours before this more than 400-page investigation and inquiry was released, he called and spoke with the Afghan president to express his, quote, "deepest sorrow" over these disturbing details.
According to this inquiry, they concluded that there is credible information to substantiate the alleged unlawful killings of 39 people, perpetrated by 25 Australian Special Forces soldiers, predominantly coming from Australia's elite Special Air Service regiment.
And the majority of these alleged killings took place in 2012 and 2013. Take a listen to what the Austrian defense chief General Campbell also had to say.
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GEN. ANGUS CAMPBELL, AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE FORCE CHIEF: Those alleged who had been unlawfully killed were all people under control -- in lay terms, prisoners, farmers, or other civilians.
This shameful record includes alleged instances, in which new patrol members were coerced to shoot a prisoner in order to achieve that soldier's first kill in an appalling practice known as blooding.
Further to this, throw down weapons and radios were also reportedly planted to support claims that people killed were enemy killed in action.
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WATSON: Now the Australian defense chief is -- has said that he's basically agreed to all 143 recommendations that came from the inspector, the military inspector general's inquiry and they will refer some of the accused and individuals to an office with a special investigator.
They are going to try to implement a system of reform through what they describe as a toxic culture that they say has permeated the elite SAS regiment of Australia. And they are ordering reviews of honors of awards that were given to officers and rank and file on their numerous tours of duty in Afghanistan.
Now it's worth noting this -- Afghanistan has been Australia's longest war. It has lost at least 41 service men and women on the ground there and has had some 25,000 troops, I believe, deployed throughout the years and years on the ground, more than 26,000 deployed throughout this time.
And this is just another awful chapter in Afghanistan's history, which continues to be bloody.
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WATSON: With the United Nations mission there saying that thousands of civilians have been killed in the first nine months of this year alone as part of the ongoing conflict there -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: It is a shocking development, Ivan Watson bringing us up to date on that story from Hong Kong, many thanks.
We have new details on the alleged shooting of peaceful protesters last month in Nigeria. Demonstrators tell CNN multiple people were killed and wounded when the army fired on their protest against police brutality in Lagos. Here is part of one woman's account.
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DJ SWITCH, NIGERIAN PROTESTER: Everybody look at this. These are the (INAUDIBLE) that had fallen. They were fallen by our side, by the way, who are dodging bullets.
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CHURCH: Local authorities have downplayed witness accounts and the army denies any involvement. But CNN spoke to that protester again, who is now in hiding. She says the Nigerian government still has not addressed the incident.
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SWITCH: The Nigerian army that is supposed to protect us came with no warning, none. Nobody, no representative to come to speak to us first at least. They just came in guns blazing. We heard gunshots from behind the toll gate, because we were on one side of the toll gate. And we heard gunshots from behind us and people running.
So what we did was just to go down and sit down and just stay still, wave our flags. So because we believe that, if we waved our flags, they would see that we are not here to cause any harm. We are not here to cause any trouble. So we are just here protesting as is our right to do so.
So there was no warning, nothing. They came shooting. People were just dropping. I cannot even explain that to you. It was such a chaotic scene that, most times, I find it difficult to close my eyes without seeing those things. It is our right to protest anything that we see and change that we demand.
The Nigerian government has used force from the beginning, starting with trying to infiltrate a peaceful protest with thugs. That did not work out. And then they moved to bring in the military in.
So the same government that says that they had banned SARS (ph) and this is going for four to five years now, they keep banning the same SARS, it seems that he wants to have a dialogue. The president hasn't even called once to address the shooting at the toll gate.
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CHURCH: The Nigerian army has not responded to CNN's request for comment.
Time for a short break. When we come back, one of the world's leading airlines is making plans to distribute COVID vaccines. We are live in Abu Dhabi for the details.
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CHURCH: Certain parts of the world could face extreme challenges when it comes to access to a coronavirus vaccine. The Middle East, Africa and South America were high up on that list. Emirates president Tim Clark says his airline is ready to jump in. And CNN's John Defterios spoke with him and is standing by live in Abu Dhabi.
Good to see you, John.
What all did Tim Clark say about how the airline plans to help distribute future COVID-19 vaccines?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, his mood has certainly changed because of the vaccine progress that we are starting to see today. This boils down to the infrastructure and the route network and Dubai's strong in the infrastructure.
And Emirates has a route now with some 157 destinations that they want to utilize. They serve a market of 2.5 billion people within a 3.5 hour range. So it's perfectly placed with cold storage at Dubai World Central to do this. Here's Sir Tim at Dubai National.
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TIM CLARK, PRESIDENT, EMIRATES AIRLINES: We saw an opportunity to create a hub, both in this airport and the Dubai World Central. And that's what we did.
So fortunately, we are now in a position that, with our fleet of aircraft, including all the freighters, that we can now create a hub for all these vaccines and then distribute them to Africa, South America, West Asia, India, Pakistan and further east.
DEFTERIOS: So this is global logistics on a scale you probably have never seen before.
Are you well positioned as a carrier and as a hub in Dubai to deliver on that?
CLARK: I think we are better positioned as a carrier. I think we are better positioned as a hub to deal with the scale of things. A lot of other airports and countries and airlines can deal with much smaller scale and no doubt they will.
But in terms of a logistical center of distribution, under the conditions that these vaccines have to be stored and, of course, distributed, I am not sure there are many that really equal us in this part of the world, certainly sitting, as you rightly say, between the east and the west major population centers.
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DEFTERIOS: If you think of the last six months, they were the first to reopen as a global carrier back in May. They said it was a security risk to proceed but a calculated one. And it did work.
They have now an air corridor to establish protocols with Heathrow. They said they would have more those corridors set up and now moving into the vaccine space. They were tested with the Ebola back in 2014 to '16, so they had a test run to try this out. And this is a much bigger global scale as you know.
CHURCH: So important to see these airlines starting to prepare. John Defterios, many thanks, joining us live from Abu Dhabi.
Police in New Zealand have unveiled a new feature on their uniforms, designed specifically for Muslim women. It is a specially made hijab designed in part by one of their constables, Zena Ali (ph). She was also the first member of the department to wear the new garment, as you can see here.
And she says having the police-branded hijab means Muslim women, who may not have considered policing in the past, can do so now.
Thank you so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. "WORLD SPORT" is up next.
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