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The Trump Attorney That Never Was; Outlook For Global Improvement In 2021 Brightens; Biden's Potential Picks For Team Emphasize Stability; Biden's Secretary Of State Pick Polar Opposite Of Pompeo; Massive Testing Roll Out In U.K. May Allow Some Lifting Of Restrictions; Hong Kong Activist Wong To Be Sentenced; Virtual G-20; Israel PM: Should Be No Return to Iran Nuclear Deal; Tracking Ocean Predators; Germany's Intensive Care United Filling with COVID Patients. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired November 23, 2020 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to all of our viewers around the world. I'm Robyn Curnow, you're watching CNN.

So coming up on the show. Cases of the coronavirus are rising around the world but relief could be on the horizon with one expert saying the first shot in the arm could come in just a few weeks' time.

Plus, U.S. president elect Joe Biden is pleased to nominate longtime adviser to become America's top diplomat.

And a rift in President Trump's legal team could make his election challenge all the more unwinnable.

CNN ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: Good to have you along this hour. So the top vaccine adviser in the Trump Administration is striking an optimistic note when the life in the country could return to normal.

He says if enough people are vaccinated in the coming months, things could start to pick up again as early as May. And he said that process could begin in the next few weeks if the FDA approves emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Our plan is to be able to ship vaccines to the immunization sites within 24 hours from the approval.

So I would expect maybe on day two after approval, on the 11th or 12th of December, hopefully the first people will be immunized across the United States, across all states.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CURNOW: So the urgent need for that vaccine is highlighted by the fact that nearly a quarter of all cases reported in the U.S. happened just in the last month.

Experts are warning that new infections will continue to get worse as families gather this week for Thanksgiving.

So Dr. Anthony Fauci says people who are planning to celebrate the holiday together should think about the potential consequences.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: One of the spots if you want to call them, where you really have a risk is seemingly innocent family friends get together indoors. Seems like the most natural thing.

So that's the reason why we're going to tell people consider the people that you want to get into your own family unit.

Do you want to bring a large number of people with a big dinner party or a social event?

MARGARET BRENNAN, HOST, CBS "FACE THE NATION": Right.

FAUCI: And when you're eating and drinking, obviously you have to take your mask off.

We know now that those are the kinds of situations that are leading to outbreaks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Well, New York's governor is urging people to continue following safety guidelines as the holiday season approaches.

He says the state confirmed more than 5,000 new cases on Sunday. And warns the numbers will continue to rise if New Yorkers let their guard down.

Well, Evan McMorris-Santoro has more from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO (On Camera): I'm outside an urgent care facility in Lower Manhattan standing in front of a five-and-a-half line for a COVID test.

It's not a rare line in New York, there are lines like this all over the city as New Yorkers scramble to get tested ahead of the holiday season.

America is dealing with an unprecedented surge in coronavirus cases. 83,000 Americans are currently in the hospital with complications from COVID. That's a record number. It's the twentieth straight day of more than 100,000 new cases.

And as holiday travel season comes, people like the ones here in line are hoping that a test will make it safe to visit family.

But medical experts say that's just not the case. There is no safe gathering size and there's no safe way to travel for these holidays.

They're begging Americans to make the hard choice to stay home this time around.

Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So I want to take you to Europe now where there are signs of progress in some of the countries that have been locked down.

Jim Bitterman is in France with the details on that. Jim.

[01:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Here in France and several other European countries where lockdowns have in place, the efforts are beginning to bear fruit.

BITTERMAN (Voice Over): The COVID numbers, the rate of increase in hospitalizations, the number of ICU beds needed for COVID patients are beginning to go down.

The French prime minister said Friday, we're on a good path. And sent a further signal by saying that President Macros will address the nation on Tuesday.

Speculation is already running high that at least some of the country's tough restrictions such as the closure of all non-essential shops will be eased, at least somewhat.

But the government spokesman was also quick to point out that any relaxing of restraints will come only gradually.

In Germany, a spokesman for the chancellor said the situation is stabilizing although health authorities there are still worried that medical systems, especially ICU beds, remain stretched.

Nonetheless, across Europe authorities are starting to look more hopefully at the coming of vaccines and figuring out ways to distribute them.

BITTERMAN (On Camera): Jim Bitterman, CNN. Joelle (ph), France.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks, Jim. And British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce a new

testing program to help end the national lockdown in England. Welcome news, of course, as the holiday season approaches there.

But even without that program and promising vaccine results, some strict measures may still remain as Anna Stewart now reports. Anna.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: The U.K. Government will present their winter plan to parliament.

It includes an end to England's national lockdown on December 2nd as planned although it certainly won't be a return to normal.

The country will re-enter the regional three-tier system and actually some of those measures within those tiers are expected to be strengthened and more regions are likely to enter the strictest of the tiers.

Discussions are also underway at Number 10 Downing Street regarding Christmas. Whether there's a way that they can allow families to see each other over the festive period, perhaps there'll be a temporary easing of restrictions.

There is better news for 2021. The government says it's confident that it will be able to ease restrictions across the nation as it looks forward to having some sort of vaccine rollout program in place as well as mass testing.

STEWART (On Camera): Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So Clare Wenham is the Assistant Professor of Global Health Policy at the London School of Economics and she joins me via Skype from London.

Hi, lovely to see you.

So you just heard Anna there reporting on this possible plan from the government. Are you supportive of this massive testing roll out that's expected, will it help?

CLARE WENHAM, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, GLOBAL HEALTH POLICY, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Well, I think the question has to be what's it there for? If it's to try to identify all the cases in the community, that's great.

But I think it has to come alongside support for those who are then asked to isolate; both emotional support, mental health support and also, importantly, financial support for those who aren't able to earn a living.

But it also needs to come with clear (inaudible) with communication guidelines. People need to und why they're doing this and why we're still in there.

One of the problems we've had so far in the U.K. has been a sense that these restrictions are just punitive and people haven't necessarily got behind, "This is the way we're going to get out of this." And they've been look for ways to get around it.

So I think it has to come with clear guidance and clear conversations between the government and the people.

CURNOW: So if that happens, do you think there should be lockdowns beyond December the 2nd in the U.K.? Is there a risk that Christmas celebrations cancel any gains made in the past few weeks?

WENHAM: Yes, I think there's a real risk at Christmas. I think if you look at the modeling that we've seen coming out, we're always looking at going into these waves and the risk is if restrictions ease too much too quickly that we'll just see those numbers increasing again.

Which is why we really need to make sure we get that balance very, very perfect around trying to keep a lid on this but allow people as much freedom as possible while doing that.

CURNOW: But do you think there could be buy in from the British public for some sort of very muted Christmas? For there to be the extension of a lockdown or at least localized, tough restrictions?

WENHAM: Well, so I think polls are showing over the weekend that people would favor a more muted Christmas in order to not have to go back into lockdown again in January.

I think the other question you have to ask is the government might be looking at this on a population level but we have to look at this in terms of our friends and families. Do we really want to potentially expose our friends and families over Christmas? That for me -- no one wants their friends and family to get hurt.

So you have to think about it at that level as well as thinking about national changes to the population level dynamics.

CURNOW: And what do you make -- as you look at the way this is played out in the U.K. particularly the location of the way this has been managed -- do you agree with Scotland's right to close borders with the rest of the U.K. and do you think that is something that should be sustained indefinitely?

[01:10:00]

WENHAM: So I'm not sure if Scotland has closed borders, I don't think they have the ability to make that unilateral decision that affects other parts of the U.K. without the U.K. government.

What they've said is that no one's allowed to leave their local boroughs, for example, unless it's for work for education and so -- and holidays don't count with that. So crossing the border to go into England or Ireland would be a holiday. That is a difficult position to be in. They want to try and minimize

all the potential increase in cases and they know that people relaxing and going to holiday's a key way that might happen.

But I think also it's quite dangerous step politically particularly at a time when there are fractured relations between Scotland and the U.K., and the U.K. government. It's quite an antagonistic move.

Although, again, I think if it's done in the right way where it's (inaudible) communication why it's happening, that it's not just the border, it's any movement across different boroughs -- so the same rules that apply to going to different parts of Scotland and within Scotland.

But I think that's a very different question and I think that's about disease control only.

CURNOW: OK. And are you hopeful that this vaccine rollout will be efficient? I know we've heard from the health minister, there is a premise that it could happen pretty quickly and it's free.

And that the NHS will do what the NHS is good at which will access all parts of England and the rest of the U.K. Are you hopeful that people will also take it there?

WENHAM: I'm very hopeful, I think it's really good news. We've now got potentially three candidates which are looking very helpful -- and we haven't got the full data yet so we are cautiously optimistic.

And I think it's a major undertaking and it'll be the biggest undertaking I think any country's done to try and massively roll out a vaccination campaign across a whole nation as soon as possible.

I think what has to come alongside that though is the recognition that this isn't going to change overnight, it's going to take some months.

Now the government think it can happen by April. I think that's quite optimistic, to think everyone's going to be vaccinated by April. But hopefully within 2021, everyone who wants to get vaccinated will get vaccinated.

I think that's the other concern, though, which is how do we make sure that people do get vaccinated? I think there's a lot of fear about it and misinformation about it.

And so I think this has to, again, come alongside some good -- some serious thinking with social scientists and experts in why people might not want to get vaccinated to try and understand that and work with those who are hesitant to proceed.

CURNOW: Wonderful to talk to you, to get your expertise. Thanks so much for sharing it with us. Clare Wenham there in London. Have a lovely day.

So Hong Kong democracy activist, Joshua Wong, has been remanded into custody after pleading guilty to charges connected to last year's anti-government protests.

Wong, if you remember, was charged with two other activists, Agnes Chow and Ivan Lam, for allegedly inciting and organizing an unauthorized assembly.

Sentencing is set for December 2nd. He faces a maximum of a five-year jail term but he remains defiant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSHUA WONG, PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST: Whatever happens today, I thank my family and colleague for their unwavering support for the safety and health of the (inaudible) activists (inaudible) in China.

They are in my daily prayers. I also pray for Agnes and Ivan for peace and wisdom.

May God bless Hong Kong. And we will continue to fight for freedom. And now is not the time for us to kowtow to Beijing and to surrender.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: So still to come. President Trump's legal team is disavowing one of its own. Why Attorney Sidney Powell is now on the Trump Team's naughty list.

Plus Joe Biden is getting ready to announce some of his cabinet picks.

And one familiar face from the Obama Administration expects to be named secretary of state. We'll tell you who it is. Next.

[01:15:00]

CURNOW: It has been more than two weeks since Joe Biden won the U.S. presidential election and the Biden Trump transition, even without White House cooperation, is happening. But slower than most would like.

President Trump is still refusing to accept the loss and there are no signs of him conceding anytime soon.

However, new cracks are appearing in the Republican wall of denial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: What's happened here is, quite frankly, the conduct of the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment.

I've been a supporter of the president, I voted for him twice. But elections have consequences and we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that didn't happen.

The country is what has to matter the most. As much as I'm a strong Republican and I love my party, it's the country that has to come first. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Meantime, a Michigan board is set to meet in the coming day to certify the state's election results which show Mr. Biden won. But we are hearing one Republican member will try to keep that from happening.

And then in another contentious state President Trump lost, Pennsylvania, most counties are expected to certify election results on Monday.

But the Trump camp is finding an appeal after a judge shot down their latest attempt to disenfranchise millions of voters there. Legal experts say there is no chance an appeal will succeed.

Meanwhile, Trump's legal team is trying to cut ties with Sidney Powell after she started spreading wild conspiracy theories about the election results. Here's Jeremy Diamond with all the details on that. Jeremy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just over a week after President Trump named Attorney Sidney Powell to his legal team in his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, the president's legal team now says that Sidney Powell is not a member of his legal team.

Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, two of the attorneys for the president's effort saying in a statement, quote --

"Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump legal team. She is also not a lawyer for the president in his personal capacity."

[01:20:00]

Now this notion that Sidney Powell never was a member of the legal team is absurd. Not only did the president name Sidney Powell in a tweet as he was announcing the members of his legal team but just a few days ago Sidney Powell appeared right alongside Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis at Republican National Committee headquarters to talk about their legal effort.

Giuliani, in fact, saying that he was in charge of the investigation alongside Sidney, referring to the attorney, Sidney Powell.

Now Sidney Powell has been trafficking in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election over the last week during which she's been a member of that legal team. She has alleged that the CIA was somehow involved in rigging the election, she alleged that the late leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, was also involved.

And she's even accused Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp, of also rigging the election in that state favor of Joe Biden. None of these claim, of course, have any basis in fact or reality but

nonetheless she's been trafficking these claims as a member of the legal team and they're not all that far from what the president and his lawyers have also been saying.

The president has alleged this conspiracy theory about the Dominion voting software saying that it somehow deleted votes in his favor. No basis in reality, it's something that's been repeatedly debunked by state and federal officials across the country over these last several days.

Now as this is happening, though, the president is losing in the courts. One case after the next, more than two dozen cases have been either dismissed or withdrawn by the Trump legal team.

And Republicans are beginning to increase the pressure on the president saying that it is time for him to either show the evidence that he has in court or to move on and allow the transition process to happen.

Pressure coming in on Sunday from Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that the transition needs to happen right now.

Others beginning to raise the alarm as well saying that the delay in the transition could cost American lives amid this pandemic.

DIAMOND (On Camera): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Joe Biden, meanwhile, is moving forward with his cabinet selections with several names set to be announced on Tuesday.

We're told one of them will be Tony Blinken, a long foreign policy adviser in the Trump Administration who'll be nominated to serve a secretary of state.

Details now from Arlette Saenz.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: President elect Joe Biden is set to roll out his first cabinet picks on Tuesday, the announcements are shaking out to be foreign policy focused.

CNN has learned that secretary of state is expected to be among the first jobs that Biden announces for his cabinet.

And the leading contender for that position is Tony Blinken, someone who served as deputy secretary of state and has long-time ties to Joe Biden, having served as his security advisor while he was vice president.

Now Biden also is expected to announce his picks for national security advisor and ambassador to the U.N. The top contender for the national security advisor role is Jake Sullivan, someone who served as a national security adviser for Biden when he was vice president.

And the top contender, the leading contender, for ambassador to the U.N. is Linda Thomas-Greenfield. She is a longtime diplomat who worked in the state department and she is also a woman of color which would fulfill part of Biden's promise to have a diverse cabinet.

Listen to what one of Biden's senior advisers had to say about how Biden's cabinet will be diverse.

JEN PSAKI, SENIOR ADVISER, BIDEN-HARRIS TRANSITION TEAM: The cabinet and the team will look like America. So that means diversity of ideology, diversity of backgrounds and he wants to have a range of views of people at the table.

SAENZ: Now all of those leading contenders for those foreign policy and national security positions all have decades of experience in the sector.

Biden, throughout his campaign, has said part of his goal would be restoring America's standing in the world and repairing relationships with allies.

So in the coming days as he is rolling out these foreign policy focused cabinet positions, Biden is trying to make it clear how his administration would look and operate in the early days of the White House.

SAENZ (On Camera): Arlette Saenz, CNN. Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well, CNN's national security analyst, Samantha Vinograd, weighs in on now on what Tony Blinken would bring to the table in terms of foreign policy knowhow.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Tony Blinken, unlike mike Pompeo, has never polluted a policy position with politics. I think that would be the key differentiator between Tony Blinken and Secretary of State Pompeo.

Tony Blinken also has a deep regard and deep experience working through multilateral institutions and working to strengthen alliances rather than degrade them as Secretary of State Pompeo has done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Joining me now is Julian Zelizer from New York via Skype. He's a CNN political analyst and professor at Princeton University. Julian, hi. Good to see you.

[01:25:00]

So looking ahead to the week, we're going to see some announcements of appointments on the Biden team? What do you make of some of the names that are being put on the table?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think President Elect Biden is going to try to draw on some of the experts who he's worked with during the Obama years and during his senate career.

One of the names that has now emerged for secretary of state is Tony Blinken, who was one of his most trusted advisers.

And I think mission one for Biden would be to create a team that looks like it has gravitas and which will be committed to rebuilding alliances overseas and institutions here at home.

CURNOW: Also looking ahead at the week, how concerned are you about any developments particularly when it comes to, say, machinations in Michigan, for example, votes that might not be certified in some states?

Do you think that this could delay the transition in any way?

ZELIZER: Well, so far all the efforts have not worked. The courts have rebuffed the efforts of the administration to challenge the election results and state-level Republicans, so far, have not been willing to go along with this. But until this is done, until this is certified, it's a possibility.

And we're hearing from a few figures in states like Wisconsin and Michigan about possibly delaying this.

Thus far, though, the institutions have been pushing back against the president who's really trying to disrupt the election results.

CURNOW: And that, just in itself, just what you're saying, is extraordinary.

ZELIZER: Extraordinary. There are certain things we say are unprecedented and they're not in this administration but this is one of them.

To have a sitting president go after the legitimate results of an election without evidence of voter fraud with courts saying there's nothing there is rather remarkable.

And he is seriously trying to do this, this isn't simply Twitter rhetoric. And I think we're going to remember this period, not only when the president did this but when many people in his party stood behind him.

CURNOW: There is some chatter that some Republicans are urging the president to perhaps be a better loser, not such a sore loser, not a lot. Do you see that wall of support crumbling at any point?

ZELIZER: Maybe. According to the history that we know in the last few years, it won't crumble. The Republicans, certainly elected officials, tend to stand by the president, they still fear the number of supporters who he has drawn including in this election.

And we've heard a few Republican start to say things but it's certainly not a tidal wave.

CURNOW: Thank you very much. Julian Zelizer there from New York.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

CURNOW: President Trump is stepping off the world stage the same way he stepped onto it, railing against global efforts like the Paris Climate Accord. That and other highlights from the G-20 Summit.

Plus the Israeli prime minister sends out a wish list and a warning to the next U.S. president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:41]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of our viewers around the world.

I'm Robyn Curnow here in Atlanta. You are watching CNN.

Now, the virtual G-20 summit wrapped up on Sunday with leaders of the world's largest economies promising to ensure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines. They say they committed to easing the global impacts of the pandemic. They also reaffirmed a commitment to tackling climate change.

Meanwhile, President Trump used his G-20 address to, once again, slam the Paris Climate Accords, saying it is designed to kill the U.S. economy.

Well, joining me now, CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson in Saudi Arabia and emerging markets editor John Defterios is in Abu Dhabi with reaction to President Trump's touting of American oil and natural gas production.

Nic, I want to start with you. Certainly some interesting comments coming from the president about climate change amidst a group of world leaders who are certainly at odds with this message.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Absolutely. I mean the president's message, the climate change agreement in Paris in 2015 was really started to kill the U.S. economy. Every leader that spoke ahead of him from the Saudi king, frankly a Trump ally in Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison there. We heard from Xi Jinping as well, from Modi the leader in India, from the prime minister of Italy and the president of France.

All talking about how fighting global climate change is an important issue, an existential issue, important subject for the G-20 to tackle.

You know, one Saudi official told me that if the world had paid attention back in the 1960s, perhaps, on this issue, the globe would not be struggling with what it faces today in terms of climate change.

So a big central issue for the G-20. And President Trump at a complete variance with it. Watching this play out in Riyadh on a big screen where in a room that was full of a smattering of international journalists, and a lot of Saudi officials.

A lot of attention was being paid to what these leaders would say and this is a signature event for Saudi Arabia a big deal that they managed to organize this virtual summit. Something they're really proud of.

There is a round of applause when the king finished speaking about climate change. There was attention paid to what the other leaders like Scott Morrison, Narendra all these leaders were saying. When President Trump spoke, his tone and his (INAUDIBLE), people just, I have to say, weren't watching the monitor they turned away. It was, you know, what they've come to expect from President Trump. And I think that really sort of signaled that the G-20 is moving on.

CURNOW: And certainly, the U.S. President is moving on. Mr. Biden has won the election, this is his swansong, his goodbye to all of these world leaders on the international stage.

You write on CNN.com that it sort of ended with a whimper.

ROBERTSON: If you look at what President Trump did this weekend, the virtual summit is different. Obviously, if you are here you are normally having -- normal summit you're having bilaterals. You have little pull asides. These were important face to face meetings between individual nations, not just everyone together.

[01:34:56]

ROBERTSON: This weekend, of course was different. President Trump, right after the opening session when other leaders were talking about how to help poorer nations with debt relief from such like over the COVID-19 pandemic, he went off to play golf.

When we got to the final communique where the king of Saudi Arabia is delivering this communique, and it's a sort of a grand scale zoom call for want of a better sort of framing of it. And you have the leaders in their box, sort of on the big screen around the king with their national flags behind them.

There were a couple of leaders who weren't there but what was really noticeable, the most powerful leader in the world, the president of the United States, was not sitting in his chair, was not listening to the king speaking. It was an economic adviser, senior economic adviser Larry Kudlow, sitting in the president's chair.

If you want a signal that President Trump is leaving the global stage, and leaving behind the influence, and the position of leader of the United States might have carried with it, that was the signal right there.

He is done, gone, and I have to say, talking to officials here that the difficulties that he's made on many of the issues that they try to tackle, they'll be happy to be working with something else.

CURNOW: Ok. Thanks for that update there, live in Saudi Arabia. Nic Robertson, good to speak with you.

Well, I want to head over now to John Defterios in Abu Dhabi. John, hi. You heard Nic there explain what the president has been saying about climate change. But he also did not let the opportunity pass to tout Americas oil and gas rise under his administration. Was this an odd venue in which to do that?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Robin, it almost seemed like he popped into the wrong virtual session, to be candid because it was a session about --

CURNOW: Wrong Zoom --

(CROSSTALK)

DEFTERIOS: -- safeguarding the environment.

Yes. It's incredible because it was all about, basically highlighting the unity within the G-20 for a climate change policies right now.

So the president has been touting this because of his base and then the oil and gas states stretching from West Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, even New Mexico that the U.S. is the number one combined oil and gas producer, but another twist to the story, is because Saudi Arabia and Russia for the last three years have been cutting their out put to stabilize prices. We've had three downturns in the last five years, and the U.S. has expanded its production, expanded its debt, expanded the bankruptcies as a result.

And in doing so, it was still the number one producer until COVID-19 hit. And that's changed quite radically. The U.S. production has dropped three million barrels a day still above Saudi Arabia and Russia only because they removed that oil that I was talking about.

And also, a little bit odd here because Saudi Arabia, which hosted the G-20, has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It is the number one player. And they were touting King Salman and his team, including his son who's the minister of energy Abdulaziz bin Salman.

The carbon circular economy. And this is to capture as much carbon as possible, put it back into the ground, put it back into oil production, but try not to influence climate change as a result, Robyn.

So really an unusual position for the president to be in to say, we are still number one in oil and gas.

CURNOW: And while many countries have outlined their plans to cut back oil output. The U.A.E, where you are, came out with a pretty bold statement about upping its production. I mean what is behind this?

DEFTERIOS: Yes, I also think it was unusual because it was while the G-20 was taking place. I call it the last player standing strategy though. So we have about demanded roughly below than 100 million barrels a day. It was lower because of COVID 19. But even if you make a transition to renewable energy like solar and wind, there will still be a demand for oil. And it is the lowest cost producers in the world that sit here in the gulf states of the Arab world, that will prevail. And that is the strategy here.

Let's take a look at what the U.A.E., particularly in Abu Dhabi and the state oil company ADNOC have planned. It's $122 billion dollars of investment over five years. It's to take the capacity, not the production, but the ability to produce from four million, to five million barrels per day.

And Robyn, they found up to more than 20 billion barrels of reserve. So it's going to become an even more major player.

So the strategy, to sum it up, is produce while you can, make as much money by putting it into the downstream operations like petrochemicals and at the same time, diversify your energy supplies. It has the first nuclear plant in the Arab gulf region itself, so that is a Barakah plant at the south of this country.

They are moving heavily into solar, and other renewable energy, also, hydrogen. But at the same time, they realize there are oil and gas giant, and they're going to do it while they can and speed it up as we go through this energy transition away from fossil fuels. Robyn?

CURNOW: Thank you for the update there. John Defterios in Abu Dhabi. Have a lovely day.

[01:39:50]

CURNOW: So I want to take you now to Israel and a new message from its prime minister to the incoming U.S. President. Benjamin Netanyahu says there can be no return to the Iran nuclear deal.

Oren Liebermann now has all of those details from Jerusalem, Oren.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So often when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was speaking about Iran, he was speaking to an audience of one, to President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu was perhaps the most vocal critic of the Iran nuclear deal and very much supported and pushed for Trump's maximum pressure campaigning in Tehran with sanctions against many, many top, top Iranian officials.

Netanyahu very much would have liked to have seen that continue. But now that Netanyahu has finally acknowledged that Joe Biden is president-elect, it's seems he is speaking to a different audience of one, directly and apparently here to president-elect John Biden in putting out what is essentially Netanyahu's priority list or perhaps, his wish list, for future U.S. foreign policy.

Netanyahu remains against the Iran nuclear deal unless it has significant changes, significant upgrades from Netanyahu's perspective and as directly the message here, he's putting out to president-elect Joe Biden even before the Biden administration is in place in mid to late January.

What's interesting here is that there is still an ongoing debate within Israel's intelligence community about whether the maximum pressure campaign, and whether leaving the Iran nuclear deal, was the right decision.

And that is because, despite the sanctions, despite the gulf states essentially building pressure on Iran and moving towards Israel, Iran is moving out of the JCPOA and the limitations put within the JCPOA.

According to her report last week from the IAEA, Iran has moved the (INAUDIBLE) centrifuges to the facility at Natanz and has began enriching Uranium there in in excess of the limits within the previous nuclear agreement.

However, that's not going to change the policy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his position; which is that the Iranian nuclear deal was from the beginning, a bad deal. And he will continue lobbying against it.

Oren Liebermann, CNN -- Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Next up on CNN, up close and personal. How technology is helping scientists to study some of the world's most elusive marine predators.

And then, a stellar health system strained to the limit. Germany's intensive care units are filling up with coronavirus patients. We have that story as well.

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CURNOW: Call to earth is a call to action for the environment to share solutions to critical issues like global warming, deforestation and plastic waste. It is a long term priority for all of us at CNN to work with you, our audience, to drive awareness and inspire change so we can engineer a sustainable future.

So in this week's report, how Rolex Award Laureate Barbara Block is using technology to study some of our ocean's largest predators. Enjoy.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The workday starts early for marine scientist Barbara Block.

BARBARA BLOCK, CONSERVATIONIST: One of the great aspects of working in Monterey Bay is we can wake up in our house, get on a boat, that's an hour away, go out to Ano Nuevo (ph), one of the most beautiful reserves we have here, and we can actually work on white sharks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the past 40 years, Block has studied the world's top marine predators in the Monterrey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. One of 4 federally-protected areas off the coast of California preserving a vast array of marine biodiversity.

Block studies apex ocean predators like bluefin tuna and of course, the mighty white shark.

BLOCK: Here in Monterey Bay, we are lucky in that part of the year, for a short period of time, white sharks approach the shores close enough that we can actually interact with them on a daily basis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every year in the late summer or early autumn, hundreds of white sharks arrive in the sanctuaries to feed on the area's bountiful supply of elephant seals and sea lions. That is when Block and her team head out luring the animals to their boat with a seal-shaped decoy then take photos record the shark's sex and place an electronic tag on its dorsal fin.

BLOCK: This is a camera tag. And it's got a magnetometer, a gyroscope, an accelerometer and a camera. Our lab has been at the forefront of new tagging technology for over 20 years. They ride on the animal every second they take data on temperature, pressure, light and time. And what will happen is that these tags will have a pin that releases through electrolysis, it will come to the surface all the way up and then send its data to the satellite.

It is a lot of fun to work on white sharks, they come up to our decoys, or near the boat with a lot of curiosity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Found in cool coastal waters around the world, white sharks are the largest predatory fish on earth. Their torpedo like shape allows them to glide through the water at top speeds of up to 50 kilometers per hour.

The scientific research on these elusive predators increases our understanding of the role they play in the ocean is beginning to evolve as well.

BLOCK: One of the keys of our discoveries is to learn that while we thought originally white tracks were moving north and south along the California current, they are actually moving way offshore, over a thousand nautical miles to a place that from space, looking down on the sea we would have no idea it was a white shark gathering place.

These animals almost have no boundaries. They go from the surface to 2,000 meters in the flick of their tail. It is amazing how much of the ecosystem they're using, how little we understand how they do it.

And I think the next generation will take us into those deeper waters, the waters without light and allow us to actually see what is happening when the animals are down in the depths.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CURNOW: Fascinating, and of course, we will continue showcasing inspirational stories like this as part of the initiative here at CNN. And let us know what you are doing to answer the call with the hashtag #CallToEarth.

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CURNOW: Germany has one of the world's best health care systems but the country's leaders warn the system could collapse in weeks if the number of coronavirus infections continues to soar. Infections actually hit an all-time high on Friday.

Well, Fred Pleitgen reports on the strain on ICUs and that is becoming al too clear that it's a troubled time.

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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Working round the clock to save lives, this doctor is performing a tracheostomy, making a surgical airway on a patient with severe COVID- 19. We are in the COVID ICU of the Ernst Von Bergmann Hospital (ph) in Potsdam just outside Berlin, where the number of coronavirus patients requiring intensive care has dramatically risen in recent weeks. And they expect things to get worse.

MICHAEL OPPERT, HEAD OF INTENSIVE CARE, ERNST VON BERGMANN HOSPITAL: If that carries on with that speeds that we are experiencing right now, I would imagine that even our hospital with the thousand beds is at a point -- will come to a point where can't -- where we have to send patients home or not home but to other hospitals to get them treated.

PLEITGEN: When we visited only two of the 16 ICU beds were vacant, the staff was already canceling other non urgent operations to free up capacity and making plans to convert more of its general intensive care facility into COVID ICUs.

(on camera): Germany has is one of the best health care systems in the world, but it is continuing to see high numbers of new coronavirus infections and more and more people requiring treatment in ICUs.

[01:54:58]

PLEITGEN: One of the things that the government has said if the current trajectory continues the way it is right now, even Germany's health care system could be overwhelmed in a matter of weeks.

(voice over): And that could be bad news for all of Europe. Germany has been taking in COVID patients from neighboring countries whose health care systems are overwhelmed. For now they can continue to do that but it is not clear for how much longer.

Official data shows the amount of COVID 19 patients in German ICUs jumped from about 260 to almost 3,600 in just two months. Even many younger patients with severe symptoms a senior physician says.

TILLMAN SCHUMACHER, ERNST VON BERGMANN HOSPITAL: We have the patients of thirty -- forty years here who are on the ventilator and I'm not sure if they survive.

PLEITGEN: Germany has recently seen a string of demonstrations against the country's anti-pandemic measures, many protesters denying the severity of the virus considered a slap in the face by frontline medical workers working hard keep people alive.

"I also sometimes hear people say things like, it's almost like a regular flu," the chief nurse says, we just cannot understand people who talk that way."

Germany is still far away from such scenarios, there are thousands of ICU beds available in the country. But the head of Potsdam's intensive care division says beware of the outbreak's dynamic.

OPPERT: Nationwide, the numbers are climbing, and they're still climbing. They're not coming down at the moment.

PLEITGEN: And while the staff here can provide topnotch care, they urge people to protect themselves from the virus and to minimize the risk of ever winding up in the COVID ICU ward.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Potsdam, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: I'm Robin Curnow. Thanks so much for joining me. CNN continues after this short break.

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