Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Chinese Documents Show Early Mishandling of COVID-19; Turkey Reports Eighth Straight Day of Record Deaths; European Countries to Ease Lockdown Measures for Holidays; Biden Receives First Intelligence Briefing; Cuba Wants Biden's Help Combating Drug Trafficking; CDC Committee to Decide Who Gets Vaccine First; One Family's Diary of Ireland's Lockdown. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 01, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): President-elect Biden's administration is starting to take shape with history-making appointments. The latest on his all-female communications team, the start of his presidential briefings and, yes, his injury.

Plus, vaccines are coming but cases are surging. Experts warn, a horrible winter is still ahead. We will have the latest.

Then hear from one family about life in Ireland as it begins to reopen following its second national lockdown.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON: Hello, everyone, I'm Paula Newton and this is CNN NEWSROOM.

We start the hour with a CNN exclusive report. CNN has obtained leaked documents from inside China that reveal the missteps and chaos of its early response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The documents are from Hubei province, a 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 an average of three weeks to diagnose a new case and so much more. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (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: 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

[02:05:00]

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: 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."

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 -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: For more on this exclusive report, head over to cnn.com right now. "The Wuhan Files" is one of our top stories, of course. You don't want to miss it. The full story there on cnn.com. Thanks to Nick Paton Walsh and his team for that indepth report. The World Health Organization says it has experts right around the

world looking into the origin of the virus. But its director general is urging countries not to politicize the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: We need to know the origin of this virus, because it can help us to prevent future outbreaks. And we are doing everything to make sure that we know the origin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: The director general also says the WHO investigation is starting in Wuhan, China, and, based on its findings, will explore other avenues.

We want to get some of the latest details on the pandemic. The number of global cases has surpassed 63 million with close to tragically 1.5 million fatalities. In the worst hit country, the United States, hopes for a vaccine this month are now looking more and more likely.

A second drugmaker, Moderna, has asked U.S. regulators to greenlight its candidate for emergency use. 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, which, of course, is distribution.

To prepare for that, Pfizer is actually sending empty vaccine transport boxes to states so that their health care workers can get accustomed to using them. Doctors and public health experts in the United States are starting to be more specific with the public about what that vaccine rollout will actually look like.

One operation works few (ph) official says 100 percent of Americans, anyone who wants one, can get one by summer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONCEF SLAOUI, CORONAVIRUS VACCINE CZAR: What's important to note is the number of doses, the amount of vaccine that we have, is still limited in comparison to the needs. We need -- there is about 120 million at risk in the U.S.

We will have, by the end of the month of December, about 40 million doses of vaccine. So it's going to take a while for all Americans who need it, on a priority level, to get it but it -- you know, over -- probably two or 2.5 months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: A word of warning from Dr. Anthony Fauci. He says people who receive the vaccine should expect low-grade side effects that would go away within a day or two.

Turkey is also breaking records when it comes to the coronavirus. The country now includes asymptomatic people in its data. That's different. It's driving daily cases into the 30,000 range and beyond now. Turkey's health ministry reports eight straight days of record fatalities as well. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is live for us this hour in Istanbul.

Turkey's strategy has notably changed in the last few hours. The restrictions seem quite severe.

Is the fear here that they really don't want the health care system to buckle?

[02:10:00]

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, there is no doubt that this is putting a lot of pressure on Turkey's health care services, even in a country that has a solid health care infrastructure like Turkey.

It has its limits; ICU occupancy at this point is at the highest since the start of the pandemic, at more than 71 percent. And while officials here are saying that hospital occupancy and rates right now are fine, health care workers are not.

They are saying that health care workers are exhausted. There is a lot of pressure on them right now, coupled with this upward trend that we are continuing to see, really dangerous, especially as we are entering the winter months.

They are concerned about other illnesses, including the flu. Also adding onto the pressure on health care workers, they have to intervene with restrictions, especially after those summer months, where you didn't really have many restrictions in the country.

So last week, the government did introduce some new measures. They were criticized by some medical authorities and some within the opposition, saying that was a Band-aid solution to deal with such a dangerous situation.

So yesterday the government had to announce new measures; as you mentioned, these are some of the strictest we have seen since the start of the pandemic, including a nightly curfew from 9 pm until 5 am the next day.

You've got an entire weekend lockdown starting from Friday night until Monday morning. The existing age-based lockdown for people over the age of 65 and under, under the age of 20 has been tightened, even during the hours they are allowed out. They are not allowed on public transport.

What is really interesting, Paula, is that they have continued to try and avoid any sort of a full shutdown lockdown that some have been calling for -- a 2- to 3-week lockdown to try and bring down those unprecedented numbers.

But the government has a fragile economy to think about. You can see that they have avoided shutting down nonessential shops, including shopping malls. They've added more restrictions about people not being allowed in without checking their contact tracing app, by producing your QR code; restrictions on crowd size numbers; admissions into areas like that.

But at the same time they are really trying their best to keep the economy going while putting these measures in place to try and bring down the surge that is caused by a vicious new wave of the virus. Paula?

NEWTON: I know you will continue to stay on top of this, given what will happen with the upcoming restrictions. Appreciate it.

In Spain, rates of coronavirus have been slowing but there's concern that the Christmas season could cause cases to spike again. Spain was one of the hardest-hit European nations at the start of the pandemic. Over the weekend, thousands of people crowded the streets of Madrid lured by, of course, those beautiful Christmas lights and also those Black Friday sales.

This as the nation plans to begin vaccinations as early as January. With parts of Europe emerging from lockdowns for the holiday season, CNN's Melissa Bell looks at 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: 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: 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.

[02:15:00]

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, relaxing too fast and too much is a risk for a third wave after Christmas.

BELL: 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: You just heard European officials talk about possibly a third wave after Christmas. We are all waiting for that vaccine. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta says we still, of course, need to practice safety measures, like wearing masks and social distancing, to try to prevent that third wave. He says now is the time not to let your guard down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: My concern is that it will get a lot worse before it ultimately gets better. With this hope of the vaccine on the horizon, you are finding it -- and I am seeing this among my own friends and colleagues as well -- sort of one of two camps.

People are either saying the light is at the end of the tunnel; we can sort of let our guard down and another group saying, it is just not that much longer. Let's redouble our efforts and try to save as many as people as we can before the vaccine gets here.

It is coming but it will still take several months for the majority of people to get access to this vaccine. So the message is the same. The idea that, still, in the United States, the best we could do is be the worst in the world, is not something anybody predicted or aspired to.

We can still do things to save lives over the next several months and anybody, anybody can be part of that movement to save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: We will have more on how countries are handling the pandemic. Stick around with us for that.

And still to come, as the Trump era rapidly winds down, President- Elect Joe Biden is keeping his promise to voters to pick a diverse administration that he says will look like America.

Meanwhile, Cuba is looking to President-Elect Biden to help stop a booming drug trafficking business. Just ahead, another CNN exclusive report as Cuba tries to combat drug smuggling at sea.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON: It's just 50 days until Joe Biden's Inauguration Day. Two more states, meantime, Arizona and Wisconsin, have declared a Biden victory. Yet president Donald Trump and many Republicans are still refusing to acknowledge the outcome of the election. That's not stopping the president-elect from moving forward with the transition.

[02:20:00]

NEWTON: On Monday, he received his first presidential daily intelligence briefing. He nominated Janet Yellen for Treasury Secretary as expected. If confirmed, she will be the first woman in that role. CNN's MJ Lee has more.

(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: Both positions also require congressional confirmation.

BIDEN: Thanksgiving has always been a special time for the Biden family.

LEE: 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.

LEE: 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: -- 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: 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.

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 the new economic team.

This is where we are likely to get a first glance of Biden and that walking boot -- MJ Lee, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: For another CNN exclusive: despite the raging pandemic, Cuba is seeing a surge in drug smugglers piloting boats through Cuban waters to the United States. The spikes come after the Trump administration ended an Obama-era deal that increased cooperation on combating drug running. Now Cuba hopes the incoming Biden administration will resume that

joint effort. CNN's Patrick Oppmann gained exclusive access to a team of Cuban forces and a haul of what they say are captured illegal drugs.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trespassing into Cuban waters, these drug smugglers attempt to outrun a Cuban government patrol boat. After the Cuban crew threatens to open fire, the smugglers throw their contraband into the ocean.

Just in October, Cuban border guard officials say they confiscated enough drugs to fill two whole trucks. Smugglers, trying to sneak boatloads of marijuana and cocaine passed Cuban patrols and into the United States have become an increasingly common occurrence over the past year.

Cuban border guard also tells us. "In this last period, there has been an increase," he tells me. "We've detected 40 vessels that were suspicious or smuggling drugs. As well as the drugs that have been recovered."

Under close guard by Special Forces troops, Cuban officials unseal the secure facility, where they have stored the seized drugs. Nearly 3 tons worth, they tell us.

[02:25:00]

We're going to walk in right now and you see, from floor to ceiling bags and bags of marijuana that has been captured, either taken off boats that were coming through Cuban waters, drug smuggling runs or found. Smugglers would ditch the drugs in the ocean or found later and then turned in.

And what I can tell you is that the smell of the drugs in this room is completely overwhelming. It's just over powering.

Much, if not all of the drugs, Cuban officials say they recovered were headed to the United States. 90 miles off Cuban shores.

YURI GALA LOPEZ, CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: The capable forces that we have in the law enforcement community is not only a guarantee for the national security of Cuba but is also beneficial for the national security of the United States.

OPPMANN: While the U.S. criticizes Cuba on human rights and lack of multi-party elections, the State Department acknowledged in their 2020 report, narcotics that Cuba is not a major consumer-producer or transit point of illicit drugs.

This Cuban government video obtained by CNN shows U.S. Coast Guard officials turning over drugs to the Cuban border patrol that they recovered at sea to help with the pro section of the smuggles who were arrested by the Cubans. But after the Trump administration rolls back improve relations with Havana, Cuban officials say, regular meetings with U.S. law enforcement agency or cancel.

The Trump administration did not respond to our request for comment.

"Despite this policy," she tells me. "Cuba is willing to combat international drug trafficking. We have stopped tons of drugs from reaching the U.S."

To make their point, Cuban officials give us rare access to film and stayed low with the drugs, then transport them under heavy guard, to hold them by crate to this industrial furnace where, packet by packet, they are incinerated; smoke signals the Cuban government is sending to the Biden administration that they are they are seeking a new U.S.- Cuba relationship -- Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Santiago de Cuba.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come, the coronavirus continues to take a toll in the United States. Now one expert says the country could see 200,000 cases per day.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Paula Newton live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

[02:30:00]

The U.S. reported more than 157,000 new coronavirus infections Monday, adding to the more than 13.5 million cases already in United States. Now this is key. More than 96,000 COVID patients are hospitalized at this very moment and that's more than ever.

These alarming figures have many anxiously awaiting the approval of vaccines to try and help the fight against the virus. CNN's Nick Watt has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Moderna's potential vaccine is, they say, 100 percent effective at preventing severe cases of COVID-19.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It will allow us to go back to basically a normal life. And that is really what we want this vaccine to do. We want it to prevent people from dying.

WATT: Today, that vaccine became the second submitted for FDA authorization. Next week, an FDA committee meets to assess Pfizer's offering. Does it work?

Is it safe?

ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We could be looking at approval within days after that. Moderna is basically one week behind that. We could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people's arms before Christmas.

WATT: But a sign of our still very strange times, the Denver Broncos just played a wide receiver at quarterback. One regular QB has COVID, three more in quarantine, all NFL practice suspended today and tomorrow.

DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: We are nearing almost 200,000 infections a day. I expect we're going to cross that at some point soon.

WATT: Soon, maybe fueled by Thanksgiving, Sunday was the busiest air travel day since the pandemic began.

JHA: We won't really know the impact of that for at least another five to seven days, because that is just the dynamics of this virus.

WATT: So many people now tired, bored, sick of this.

MELISSA CHEN, STUDENT: Expecting people to stay at home for 14 days is quite excessive. I mean, understand the logic behind it.

WATT: Here is the logic, 15 members of this one Texan family all sick after one birthday party.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now, I'm in the hospital. I can't see my family.

WATT: More than 93,000 Americans in that same boat in the hospital, the highest that number has ever been. In November, alone, 4.25 million Americans were infected. That's equivalent to the entire populations of Montana, Vermont, Wyoming and New Mexico put together.

Forty-two states are now above a key threshold. More than 5 percent of tests are coming back positive. This is what exponential spread of an uncontrolled virus looks like, the U.S. average daily death toll now approaching 1,500.

DR. WILLIAM HASELTINE, INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: We are in it and we're not at the end of it. I think by the end of this wave, we'll have many more Americans die than died in World War II.

WATT: Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Earlier, I asked an infectious disease expert and epidemiologist what can be done and if we're looking at further lockdowns. Dr. Ravina Kullar said the U.S. needs a wakeup call. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. RAVINA KULLAR, EPIDEMIOLOGIST AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: 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.

[02:35:00]

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 because distribution and then having enough availability of the vaccine is going to take some time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: That also means there will continue to be an economic impact. The pandemic has devastated the oil industry as fewer people are driving and flying. But OPEC could take action to protect its members. CNN's John Defterios joins us from Abu Dhabi.

John, this OPEC members-plus meeting, they've been able to keep production cuts through all of 2020 really. And yet now things could get more difficult.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, because we are in that space in between because we are not into a full recovery and the real economy. But the vaccines are starting to roll out. So some of the members are saying we want to produce more oil and make more money again.

Let's just recap where we are. They took off nearly 10 million barrels last spring, which was a record amount, because that is how much demand had dropped because of COVID. The cars were not moving. Planes were not moving. Trucks were not moving. Literally, what a 2020. So they took off nearly 10. They've added back two and that is where we are right now. The idea was in January. Put another 2 million barrels a day back onto the market as we restore confidence.

But the prevailing view is not that, Paula. If you look at the chart here after that collapse in prices in April, we went below $10 a barrel for North Sea Brent, the international benchmark.

But below zero for the U.S. benchmark. The prevailing view is that we restored confidence. We took oil off the market. We saw the price bounce back 25 percent in the month of November.

Why would we put that at risk?

But it's very sensitive. For example, the Nigerian president, Mr. Buhari, just last week was saying this lack of production is hurting our development in Africa. We need to restore it for Nigeria.

At the same time, the spokesman for the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov, said 24 hours ago, we don't have major differences, like the price we had in March with Saudi Arabia. We want to find a middle ground to move forward. We just don't know with that middle ground is.

The safe bet is, just leave it the way it is. Keep the oil off the market. And in April, come back and put more on if you have the vaccines starting to get distributed. But we are not there yet.

NEWTON: John, 30 seconds I have left. We have to return to what has been happening. This whole dichotomy between Main Street and Wall Street.

DEFTERIOS: Yes. It's interesting. The real economy is not strong. We have 13 million Americans still looking for jobless benefits. But at the same time, the Dow had one of the best months of November ever. You have to go back to the 1940s to see it.

There's also been another factor at play. That is Team Biden with Janet Yellin as Treasury Secretary. That has been like a warm blanket for the markets after the shock of Donald Trump sanctions and the rest.

She put out a tweet yesterday which I thought was really interesting.

She said, "We must restore the American dream and as Treasury Secretary," she went on to say, "I will work to restore that dream." Basically, the theme is opportunity and equality for all. That is not

the narrative we saw from Donald Trump or Steve Mnuchin, which was really homed in only on stock market returns and tax cuts for corporations.

NEWTON: Definitely. Income inequality a huge issue there. John Defterios for us in Abu Dhabi, thank you.

COVID restrictions are being lifted in Ireland. One Dublin family talks about how they lived through the second round.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:40:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

NEWTON: Ireland is allowing shops, restaurants, gyms and pubs that serve food to reopen on Tuesday. As you could see on today's "The Irish Times," the country is emerging from a second round of tough restrictions. Health experts are still urging caution.

For the Martin family in Dublin, life under lockdown has been challenging but also fun. Here is a look at how they got through it together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning, gentlemen. Day one of our new lockdown, huh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) have kids to distract us (INAUDIBLE). And they do a good job at that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A typical Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) lockdown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) that's the fire chief.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would like a little normality as quick as possible. Please.

This is how we're working and we're playing during lockdown.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is lockdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is how we're working and we're playing during lockdown (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) pumpkin on your head.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pumpkin on my head?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy birthday to you...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was James' (ph) birthday and we had (INAUDIBLE) their cousin's birthday and then we had both my parents' birthday so we've had lots of Zoom blowing out candles and afternoon teas and stuff that's just nice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I watch (INAUDIBLE).

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, Daddy is on the hill (ph) and watching it really --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- most of the time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't mind this but they're coming for Ireland's (INAUDIBLE).

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could give me a rendition if you'd like.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this where we're all working away?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lockdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lockdown (INAUDIBLE) --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)?

Happy?

Huh?

You happy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They look lovely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who's happy?

Are you happy?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry; Mommy and Daddy are on a date night.

What are you doing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to say there is one thing that I do best is (INAUDIBLE) for me and (INAUDIBLE) for a pint, you know. I can't do that so that's -- you know, I miss doing that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Happy lockdown.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want everyone to know we can't wait to welcome all of our visitors back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: So sweet. The truth is, so many of us recognize ourselves in the family, the fun and the frustrations. Thanks for that look inside your home. From the Martins in Dublin.

And I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. "WORLD SPORT" is next.

(WORLD SPORT)

[03:00:00]