Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Chinese Documents Show Early Mishandling of COVID-19; CDC Committee to Decide Who Gets Vaccine First; European Countries to Ease Lockdown Measures for Holidays; Women Take Key Roles on Biden's Communication Team; Yellen Appeals to Both Dems and Republicans; Experts Question Claims Iran Scientist Killed Remotely; Kaavan the Elephant Arrives at New Home in Cambodia; NYT: Justice Department Examined Sen. Perdue's Stock Trades; Senate Candidate Jon Ossoff (D) is Interviewed about Perdue Stock Allegations; Trump COVID Advisor Who Pushed Herd Immunity Theory Resigns. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired December 01, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello to everyone around the world. I'm Paula Newton. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, leaked documents from inside China reveal what officials knew about the deadly coronavirus pandemic. It's an exclusive report you'll only see here on CNN.
The first vaccines for COVID-19 could be just weeks away. In the United States, a panel of experts is set to decide who will be the first to get one.
And Iran claims a remote-controlled machine gun assassinated its top nuclear scientist.
Is that really what happened?
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NEWTON: We begin this hour with a CNN exclusive. CNN has obtained leaked documents from inside China that revealed missteps and chaos of its early response to the coronavirus pandemic.
The documents are from Hubei province, home to the city of Wuhan, where the pandemic is thought to have started. They show authorities released misleading public data on the number of deaths and cases, took on average three weeks to diagnose a new case and so much more. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has our inside look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: It is a rare window into what China knew, when it knew it, at the start of this but at times, it seemed, chose not to share with the outside world. This remarkable 23-day average delay, between when patients got the
disease and when they seemed to be unofficially diagnosed in the system and a startling spike in influenza in early December in Hubei, just when the coronavirus outbreak seems to have started, according to some studies, things that other countries, frankly, could have done with knowing as they first tackled the disease.
China knew them first but seems to have put its pride before sharing them with the rest of the world. Here is what the documents show to us.
WALSH (voice-over): An unprecedented leak of internal Chinese documents to CNN reveals for the first time what China knew in the opening weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic but did not tell the world.
A whistleblower, who said they worked inside the Chinese health care system, shared the documents with CNN online, which show a chaotic local response from the start.
YANZHONG HUANG, SR. FELLOW FOR GLOBAL HEALTH, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: This lack of transparency sort of also contributed to the crisis.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Seeing information in black and white was very revealing and instructive.
WALSH (voice-over): CNN has verified them with a half a dozen experts, a European security official and, using complex digital forensic analysis, looking at their source code.
WALSH: The documents provide a number of key revelations about the province of Hubei, home to the epicenter city of Wuhan.
Firstly, some of the death tolls were off. The worst day in these reports is February the 17th, where these say 196 people, who were confirmed cases, died; but that day they only announced 93.
WALSH (voice-over): China was also circulating internally bigger, more detailed totals for new cases in Hubei, for one day in February, recording internally nearly 6,000 new cases, some diagnosed by tests, others clinically by doctors and some suspected because of symptoms and contacts. But all pretty serious.
Yet publicly that day, China reported nationwide about 2,500 new confirmed cases. The rest were downplayed in an ongoing tally of suspected cases. That meant patients that doctors had diagnosed as being seriously ill sounded like they were in doubt. But it later improved the criteria.
DALI YANG, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: If China had been more transparent and also more aggressive in responding, clearly that would have had an impact on how much the virus spread in Wuhan, in Hubei, in China and perhaps to the rest of the world as well.
WALSH (voice-over): Strikingly, the documents reveal one possible reason behind the discrepancy in the numbers.
A report from early March says it took a staggering 23 days on average from when someone showed COVID-19 symptoms to when they got a confirmed diagnosis. That's three weeks to officially catch each case.
HUANG: This information seems to be very surprising to me because, normally, it would take just a couple of days.
SCHAFFNER: You're making policy today based on information that already is three weeks old.
WALSH (voice-over): Perhaps the most remarkable revelation concerns early December, the moment when COVID-19 first emerged in China.
WALSH: Startlingly, these documents reveal there was an enormous spike in influenza cases in Hubei right when studies have shown the very first known patients were infected with COVID-19. Twenty times the number of flu cases compared to the same week the year before.
WALSH (voice-over): Experts said it could have flooded the hospital system with patients sick from flulike symptoms, making it harder to spot the first cases of COVID-19.
[00:05:00]
WALSH (voice-over): The documents don't link the outbreak to coronavirus' origins directly but they show flu patients were regularly screened and many did not have a known flu virus strain, leaving open the possibility they were sick with COVID-19.
HUANG: The spike in Wuhan was very unusual compared to previous years, so that would raise a red flag.
SCHAFFNER: It was very, very sizeable. It's clear that the Chinese virologists can make precise diagnoses of influenza.
But in retrospect, you have to wonder, was there some COVID in there, masquerading as influenza?
WALSH (voice-over): The documents also show the flu outbreak was biggest that first week in December, not in Wuhan but in two other cities nearby in Hubei, all valuable information in the hunt for where the disease came from.
Chinese officials have said the outbreak began here, the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan in mid-December. And despite Western accusations that it has limited its cooperation with the WHO investigation into the virus' origins, China has insisted it has been as transparent as possible over the coronavirus.
HUA CHUNYING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN: (Speaking foreign language).
WALSH: "For some time now, in order to shift the blame," she said, "some U.S. politicians have constantly used the pandemic and other issues as a pretext to smear and demonize China and sow lies and misinformation about China.
"This will, of course, seriously mislead citizens of the United States and some other Western countries' understanding of the truth of China's fight against the epidemic."
WALSH: China's foreign ministry and health officials in Beijing and Wuhan have not responded to our request for comment.
This disease has killed nearly 1.5 million people, about a fifth of known deaths in America.
These documents, a rare, clear and open window into what China knew all along, trying to appear in control, while a local outbreak turned into a global pandemic.
WALSH: Of course, the WHO, whatever people think of them, is spearheading the fight into the origins of the virus, the investigations where this came from, to find out how it happened so a pandemic like this does not occur again, maybe worse in our lifetime, as the planet continues to change all around us.
So it is vital for so much more that information China might have to be at their fingertips so other scientists could see what it was that they've known all along.
More importantly for China's image, there's an issue in terms of how they tried to sell their system, authoritarian, as it is, they say, well, we were able to response swiftly on a mass scale, shut the country down, shut the disease down.
And now they say their current success is down to that system. So much of these documents, though, show a different picture of miscounting, misinformation and misdiagnosis at the start, problems other countries faced, too, but not really one that shows a startlingly successful initial grip with the disease and, sadly, one, too, that portrays an instinct, perhaps, to hide some of the worst news.
A fascinating insight, frankly, too, and some scientific treasure in there for those, frankly, who wish to work out more about how this virus started -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Meantime, we are, of course, closer than ever to getting a COVID vaccine approved. A second drugmaker, Moderna, has now asked U.S. regulators to greenlight its candidate for emergency use. They are submitting a new bigger set of data for review, showing the vaccine is now more than 94 percent effective.
And this is very interesting. They say it is actually 100 percent effective at preventing severe cases of COVID-19. Moderna and Pfizer are both on track to roll out vaccines later this month. That would make tens of millions of doses available and start the next phase; that is, distribution.
Moderna's chairman and cofounder told CNN about the work that went into this vaccine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOUBAR AFEYAN, CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, MODERNA: Our goal all along was to demonstrate the most effective, the safest and the most thoroughly vetted vaccine we could possibly produce.
And then we put a lot of effort into it, together with lots of collaborators. And to be able to get the results that we have seen today certainly is a feeling of both relief and excitement.
Messenger RNA is a technology that Moderna pioneered from 10 years ago. And 10 years of work, several billion dollars of investment have gone into putting us in a position to be relevant in this important time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Moderna started the rolling review process with the European Medicines Agency earlier in November. This comes as the number of global cases exceeds 63 million and, tragically, close to 1.5 million deaths.
[00:10:00]
NEWTON: In the worst hit country, the United States, right here, a record high 96,000-plus COVID patients are hospitalized at this very moment. More than 30 percent of all cases ever reported in the U.S. happened in the month of November alone.
In the coming hours, a committee that advises the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will make recommendations on who should get that first access to the vaccine.
Dr. Ravina Kullar is an infectious disease expert and epidemiologist. She joins us now from Los Angeles.
Good to speak with you. You know, that meeting at the CDC, many countries will be looking to the U.S. to see who is prioritized. But more importantly, perhaps how quickly and efficiently it could be distributed.
What do you believe will be the toughest part in making sure all of this goes smoothly?
DR. RAVINA KULLAR, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: I want to thank you for having me on.
I think the toughest and the most important aspect is that the CDC has to have really strict guidelines and strict recommendations, which are actually fair for every state. And it has to be employed by every state as put forth by the CDC.
So I want to commend the scientists and the pharmaceutical industries for really -- it's been less than a year and we already have not one but two vaccines that will be available by the end of this year. So I think that alone is a success.
But what is going to take it to another level is for the CDC really devising recommendations that are fair for providing the vaccine for those that need it. And those that need it most are those health care workers, which are caring for those patients which are sick; those which are support personnel in the health care setting as well.
As long as there's high risk individuals and those elderly patients, which make there for having a worse outcome with COVID-19.
NEWTON: That is also significant. Especially when you see so many hospitalizations, not just in the U.S. but around the globe. As we've been talking, those vaccines are a game changer. They will be all over the globe.
In terms of what could be done now, it's a tough thing to think about, that in places like the United States, is it too late to even bend this curve, Doctor?
What can be done?
We've been through the masks.
Should there be more mass testing?
Or really are we looking at lockdowns as the only solution here?
KULLAR: Yes, I think this needs to be a wake up call. We are in the midst of a surge of a surge, where we are already at the highest peak that we have been. Now with the holidays, which have come about with November, we are -- already public health experts have advised everybody to stay at home, to not travel.
People did not adhere to these guidelines. So now is the time that everyone needs to listen. Vaccines are here. They are coming. They will likely be available to the public we think sometime the summer of next year.
But everyone has got to really take these numbers, 14 million cases, 275,000 deaths, about 1,000 deaths happening per day here in the U.S. over the past 9 days, take that to heart and wear those masks. Don't have those mass gatherings. Don't travel and really take that to heart.
NEWTON: Doctor, it just seems there is quite a fatigue setting in because people have been told that for months and months and yet here we are.
And Dr. Anthony Fauci today said that if you want to be part of the solution, get vaccinated. I'm interested to hear from you, because there is a problem. Some people don't have confidence that the vaccine will work.
How quickly do you think the vaccine will start to have a pronounced difference, a pronounced effect on the number of people who get severely ill, if we are able to, very soon, inoculate those people that are most vulnerable?
KULLAR: I think a certain percentage of the population has to be vaccinated. This whole concept of herd immunity that is there for vaccines has been there for years. So there has to be at least 70 percent of a population that gets vaccinated for us to really see any benefit there, for there to see whether it has impacted there being a decrease in transmission and prevention of the virus.
So until we see that number, until we see there being enough distribution, enough of a vaccine that is available from both Moderna and Pfizer, I think it's going to take time to really see an effect.
So until we see that effect, everyone has to take those infection prevention measures into play as well as waiting for a vaccine. And when a vaccine is available to the public, those infection prevention measures still have to be followed.
[00:15:00]
KULLAR: Because distribution and then having enough availability of the vaccine is going to take some time.
NEWTON: Yes, that's another thing to keep in mind. Also, the Trump administration today saying, look, everyone wants a vaccine will get one by June. It'll be interesting to compare that to other countries and how quickly they can get those vaccines up and running as well. Dr. Ravina Kullar, thank you so much.
KULLAR: Thank you, Paula.
NEWTON: Meantime, England's second national lockdown ends on Wednesday. This week, Parliament is expected to vote on a set of controversial tiered restrictions for after the lockdown.
Right now, we know masks will be required in most indoor settings at all levels of England's three-tiered system. But if infections rise again, some areas may have to limit outdoor gatherings as well.
At the most restrictive level, many nonessential businesses will be forced to close again. There is evidence, though, that England's lockdown has been quite effective. Researchers say cases dropped about 30 percent across most of the country. On Monday the U.K.'s health secretary praised the public for curbing the spread.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT HANCOCK, BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY: What this means in practice is that through everyone's actions and respecting the national lockdown and through everything that people have sacrificed, we have reduced pressures on the NHS. We brought down the number of coronavirus cases.
We've got this virus back under control.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NEWTON: To Spain, where rates of coronavirus infection have been slowing but there is concern the Christmas season, of course, could cause cases to spike again. Spain was one of the hardest hit European nations at the start of the pandemic, as you remember.
Over the weekend, thousands of people crowded the streets of Madrid, lured by those beautiful Christmas lights and, yes, Black Friday sales. As the country plans to begin vaccinations in January, world health officials are pleading with the public to please abide by the rules.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: This is no time for complacency, especially with holiday season approaching in many cultures and countries.
We all want to be together with the people we love during festive periods. But being with family and friends is not worth putting them or yourself at risk. We all need to consider whose life we might be gambling with in the decisions we make.
The COVID-19 pandemic will change the way we celebrate. But it does not mean we cannot celebrate. We still can celebrate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: In fact, many of us will be celebrating the fact that there is a vaccine. Important words you just heard there, as parts of Europe emerge from those all-important lockdowns for the holiday season.
CNN's Melissa Bell has more on how Christmas traditions are being adapted so people can celebrate safely during the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is what Christmas normally looks like. But this year, something is missing. London's dazzling Christmas lights have been switched on but the coronavirus has prevented the usual fanfare and the shoppers are not out in force.
Although nonessential stores are set to reopen on Wednesday, when the U.K. exits a second national lockdown.
BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: 'Tis the season to be jolly. But there is also the season to be jolly careful.
BELL (voice-over): Across Europe, gatherings for traditional church services will be smaller due to the pandemic.
PAULA GOODER, CHANCELLOR, ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL: Here at St. Paul's, it's going to feel very different this year. Normally we can get 2,000 people into this great space but this year we can only get 250 people at a time. So it's going to feel much smaller. But what we can do is livestream. BELL (voice-over): In Germany, most of the traditional Christmas
markets where tourists flock to glug gluhwein and eat bratwurst will be closed. But for those who can't do without some festive cheer, there is an innovation forced by the pandemic, the drive-through.
In Italy, the former European epicenter of the virus, the prime minister is urging people to avoid another tradition, holidays on the slopes. Meanwhile, Switzerland is allowing skiing with precautions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There is no big difference. I think we are very lucky that we can go skiing. Once you are used to the mask, it's OK.
BELL: Here in France, Emmanuel Macron has said people will be allowed to travel across the country to be with their families for Christmas from December 15th if the daily number of cases reaches a level of about 5,000.
European leaders are urging caution when it comes to travel. The World Health Organization said last week that Europe still accounted for half of all new COVID-19 cases and new deaths globally.
URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: We must learn from the summer and not repeat the same mistakes.
[00:20:00]
VON DER LEYEN: Relaxing too fast and too much is a risk for a third wave after Christmas.
BELL (voice-over): Either way, this will be a Christmas like no other. With hundreds of thousands of lives lost across Europe, celebrations will be scarred by the loss of life and the reality that the COVID pandemic remains far from over -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: It's will be 50 days until Joe Biden's Inauguration Day. Coming up, the focus turns to who will tap to leave the Pentagon after he nominated a woman to be his Treasury Secretary.
Plus it's been a November to remember on Wall Street. The market's record gains in the middle of a pandemic. More on that when we come back.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NEWTON: The steady stream of COVID vaccine breakthroughs has pushed financial markets to new heights. All three U.S. indices hitting double-digit gains in November. The Dow had its best month since 1987, passing 30,000 for the first time last week.
And it is time now to take a quick look at futures. Modestly up after taking a bit of a pullback on Monday.
U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden is moving quickly to build a very diverse administration. He's entering December weighing several barrier-breaking candidates to be his Defense Secretary. His list includes women and African American nominees.
And on Monday he did nominate Janet Yellen for Treasury Secretary as expected. If confirmed, she will be the first woman in that role. CNN's MJ Lee has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I hope these outstanding nominees received a prompt hearing.
MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Joe Biden administration is starting to take shape with some history making appointments. The president-elect nominating Janet Yellin for Treasury Secretary. If confirmed, the former Federal Reserve chairwoman would be the first woman to serve in that role.
Biden also naming other women to top economic posts, including Cecilia Rouse, a Princeton University economist to serve as chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers and Neera Tanden, the head of The Center for American Progress, to lead the Office of Management and Budget.
That name already drawing fierce opposition from the progressive left and Republicans.
MICK MULVANEY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Very interesting to me that they put in somebody who is fairly hardcore Left in that powerful position. It could be very, very difficult.
LEE (voice-over): Both positions also require congressional confirmation.
BIDEN: Thanksgiving has always been a special time for the Biden family.
LEE (voice-over): Biden also making headlines over Thanksgiving weekend by naming an all-female communications team at the White House, appointing key campaign and transition aides to senior most roles. Kate Bedingfield, his deputy campaign manager named White House communications director.
KATE BEDINGFIELD, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR: Every day is critical in transition planning which is why for months the Biden-Harris transition team has been preparing for all scenarios.
[00:25:00]
LEE (voice-over): Jen Psaki, a veteran Obama administration aide and transmission official chosen to be White House press secretary.
Biden also elevating several women of color. Symone Sanders, a spokesperson for Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris -- SYMONE SANDERS, SPOKESPERSON, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT KAMALA HARRIS: Joe Biden's message was a message that resonated with folks across the spectrum.
LEE (voice-over): -- and Karine Jean-Pierre as principal deputy press secretary. The Biden transition team yet to announce several key national security appointments, including for Defense Secretary and CIA director.
QUESTION: Why didn't you announce Defense Secretary?
BIDEN: We're going to do that. We're just doing a piece at a time here.
LEE (voice-over): Two women among the leading contenders for each role: Veteran Pentagon official Michelle Flournoy and Sue Gordon, former principal deputy Director of National Intelligence.
And for the first time since becoming president-elect, Biden receiving the presidential daily briefing on Monday, classified information that he was denied access to for weeks as President Trump declined to concede the race.
The former vice president also paying a visit to the doctor's office over the weekend after Biden's office says he slipped while playing with his dog, Major.
The diagnosis?
Hairline fractures in his right foot, likely requiring a walking boot for several weeks.
LEE: President-Elect Joe Biden will kick off Tuesday by receiving another presidential daily briefing. And then later in the day here in Wilmington, Delaware, both he and the vice president-elect, Senator Kamala Harris, will hold an event introducing some of these key members of their new economic team.
This is where we are likely to get a first glimpse of Biden in that walking boot -- MJ Lee, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: CNN's global economic analyst Rana Foroohar joins me now.
A lot to get through here. Janet Yellin, really a safe pair of hands.
And yet what do you think her main challenges will be coming in?
This is even more complicated than what happened after the financial crisis.
RANA FOROOHAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is. It's hard to know where to start with the challenges. One challenge is going to be leadership, because one of the great things that Joe Biden is doing is picking a very heterodox economic team. But that means folks are coming from a lot of different places, people
from the Clintonian wing of the party; there are labor types, folks that have been advocates of Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
So she's going to have a really diverse team to bring together. But she's also going to have a total juggling act in terms of policy itself. On the one hand, the Treasury Secretary has a lot of power, a lot of levers she can pull.
But you're going to have to go through Congress to get that stimulus.
So to what extent are her hands going to be tied?
To what extent can she reach across the aisle and make some compromises?
One thing she's got going for her is that she is someone, even though she is concerned about labor, concerned about putting people back to work, she's also concerned about debt. And I think that is something that Republicans and fiscal conservative Democrats are going to be happy about.
NEWTON: Straddling that bipartisan line is going to be so important. You have your ear to the ground when it comes to what businesses need and what corporate America needs.
In terms of stimulus, what do you think she is going to ultimately be able to do?
And do you think she is seized (ph) to the fact that there absolutely has to be another stimulus package?
FOROOHAR: One of the things about Janet Yellin that I have noticed, others have told me, when she speaks, a lot of people consider it factual. People in the markets appreciate her. People that are labor advocates appreciate her.
So I think that she is going to be very data driven. She will look at the situation and just going to make a recommendation and hopefully, at that point, the adults in the room will listen to her.
Is Mitch McConnell going to poison the waters on the Republican side?
Is he going to make it difficult for conservatives to compromise on stimulus?
I hope not. You do have a number of conservatives that are economic nationalists, that would like to see some of the stimulus plans of the sort that Biden has proposed get through.
And I think that some of those people are going to be reassured that, again, it's a safe pair of hands, a moderate like Yellin that would be handling that rather than, say, someone that was more to the Left.
Given that, though, it's going to be difficult to appease Democrats on this. Some people have said that, look, she does have an eye out for income inequality in the United States. Feature (sic) it, Rana. If Bernie Sanders becomes Labor Secretary and Janet Yellen has to face up against him, it's going to be tough.
FOROOHAR: It's going to be tough but I spent a lot of time with her and she is like a really great mom. She can corral the kids. I cannot -- honestly, I can't think of anybody better to get everybody around the table, which is exactly what she did when she was head of the Fed.
You know, I mean, she literally sat at this long table with dozens of seats around it and held court and got a bunch of very opinionated people to get on the same page. So fingers crossed. She's going to be able to do that again.
[00:30:18]
But no question, it's going to be a challenge.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It will be a challenge. At least, though, they are saying that she should -- she's probably assured of getting confirmed, from that Senate. Of course, we don't know the make-up of the Senate yet, but when it happens.
Rana Foroohar, really appreciate your insights on this.
FOROOHAR: Thanks.
NEWTON: Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, reports out of Iran claim the assassination of their top nuclear scientist was a high-tech operation. Just ahead, why some experts are skeptical.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: State TV says Iran's top nuclear scientist was buried Monday at a mosque in Tehran. Now, it followed a military funeral for Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in the capital. Now, he was considered the mastermind of the country's nuclear program.
Fakhrizadeh was killed Friday in a hail of gunfire and, of course, a car explosion. You'll remember the pictures. But as Nic Robertson explains, experts are skeptical of claims the assassins used a remote- controlled machine gun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): The aftermath of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's assassination indicates a carefully- planned attack, but was it a high-tech killing, as Iranian officials claim, or sloppy Iranian security?
As Hollywood graphically depict, the technology exists. In "Breaking Bad," the key fob is the trigger, just meters from the gun. In the real world, in Iran, hypothetically possible.
JACK WATLING, RUSI RESEARCH FELLOW, MILITARY SCIENCES: The challenge is in target acquisition. How does the autonomous device actually work out what it's supposed to be shooting? ROBERTSON: Typically, automated machine guns are used as sentries,
like the DMZ between North and South Korea. In an assassination, more technology is needed to confirm the target, creating multiple risks.
WATLING: You're putting lots of very expensive communication relays, or satellite uplinks and this kind of thing like a device like that. Then you are handing that technology to your enemy.
And you're also creating a signature that could be detected by the security services, if it needs to be in place and left there for a long period of time. So you're more likely that is being controlled from a fairly close proximity, but that could still be a few kilometers.
ROBERTSON: The majority of nuclear scientists assassinated in Iran -- and there have been several over the past decade -- have generally been low-tech. Gunmen or bombers on motorbikes.
Fakhrizadeh's assassination appears to be an embarrassment for Iran's security services. He was a protected and prized scientist. However, blaming Israel, as Iran has, claiming sophisticated technology was used in the killing, may mollify angry Iranians, but it won't gain international credibility without evidence.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office will not comment, but at least two Israeli ministers saying they had no idea who killed Fakhrizadeh.
WATLING: We have to be very careful, because witnesses are not always reliable in high-stress situations. I think we would want the Iranians to present some more evidence before we made any assumptions.
ROBERTSON: No one is saying it didn't happen as Iran claims, simply Tehran has yet to prove its case.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now meantime, Iran's foreign minister took to social media Monday night to claim that supporters of President Trump are creating tension in the president's final days in office. He implied the U.S. and Israel were part of a plot to assassinate Fakhrizadeh.
Earlier, I spoke with William Cohen, former U.S. defense secretary, about Israel's involvement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: If Israel has done this -- we don't know that for sure -- but we have to look at, OK, who has motive, who has opportunity, and who has capability? That narrows it down to a pretty select group of countries.
But assuming if Israel did it, it has demonstrated that it has acted to take out leaders in other countries in the past. Certainly, they have been attacking the Iranian proxies in Syria. They have attacked. They tried assassination attempts in Dubai a few years ago. So this is not beyond the scope of what they normally would do, and they would not necessarily check with us.
But in this particular case, given the tensions that exist in the region; given the fact that we are in a now in a transition process, then we're more vulnerable at this point in terms of what will this president do that might have a carryover, long-time implications for Joe Biden when he takes office. So you have to put that into the mix, to see whether or not the Israelis or whomever else was involved in this would have gotten at least tacit approval from the United States.
Because the complication -- or the consequence, I should say, would not only affect Israel. It would affect the UAE. It would affect Syria and -- sorry, Saudi Arabia; Bahrain and those who have identified with the United States in terms of recognizing, urging them to recognize the state of Israel.
So it has has implications for the entire region, and I'm confident that some sort of acknowledgment or consent must have been given to whomever to carry this out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: And we will have the full interview with William Cohen in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
Now, it's a new beginning in Cambodia. The world's loneliest elephant leaves Pakistan for a better life with companions. The latest on the journey, that's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:40:35]
NEWTON: The world's loneliest elephant, I'm glad to report, is lonely no more. Kaavan arrived in Cambodia Monday to begin a new life in a sanctuary with 600 friends.
He was greeted at the airport by his celebrity supporter, of course, Cher. Kim Brunhuber has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHER, SINGER: I do my best.
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): It's a very happy day for an elephant named Kaavan, thanks in part to the American pop star Cher.
Dubbed the world's loneliest elephant, Kaavan is getting a new lease on life. Overweight and neglected, the 36-year-old elephant spent the majority of his life at the controversial Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad, Pakistan. Pakistan's only Asian Elephant, he survived a dismal existence at the zoo, living mostly in chains. After his female companion died in 2012, he became lonely and behind having behavior and psychological problems. Elephants are social creatures and need interaction with other elephants.
Now Kaavan's days of loneliness are over. Singer and actress Cher has been lobbying for five years to relocate Kaavan. She even co-founded a charity called Free the Wild.
Earlier this year, Islamabad's high court closed the zoo due to poor conditions. This gave Cher, along with the animal welfare group Four Paws, the green light to transfer Kaavan to a sanctuary in Cambodia.
AMIR KHALIL, FOUR PAWS VETERINARIAN: People have understood that this elephant needs changes, and due to this effort by the Pakistani people, we are here to help and to support. So we are really very glad today that we are able to move Kaavan to Cambodia.
BRUNHUBER: It took an experienced team to prepare him for the journey.
After a few snacks, Kaavan was loaded into a small enclosure and onto the plane. The veterinarian who was monitoring him on board reported that the ride went smoothly, and Kaavan even took a little nap.
He arrived safely in Cambodia to a big welcoming committee, even a blessing from a few local monks.
His new home, a sanctuary with a huge jungle enclosure.
MALIK AMIN ASLAM, CLIMATE CHANGE ADVISER TO PAKISTANI PRIME MINISTER: In his future house or his future home in Cambodia, he will be very happy, because he's got a 10-acre area in which he will be relocated immediately, which has been fenced at the moment. But across the fence, he can see other animals, other elephants.
BRUNHUBER: Cher thanks Pakistan's prime minister, Imran Khan, for allowing Kaavan to be released.
CHER (singing): Our wishes do come true.
BRUNHUBER: It was Cher's first big rescue and a happy ending for an elephant. She serenaded him with a song, "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes."
A dream did come true for a lonely elephant named Kaavan.
CHER (singing): -- the dream that you wish --
BRUNHUBER: Kim Brunhuber, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: He looked so happy there, being serenaded by Cher. Hope for good updates from Kaavan again.
Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. WORLD SPORT is up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:45:00]
