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First Vaccines will Arrive in All 50 States Monday; Japan and South Korea Seeing Huge Infection Spikes; Electoral College Meets Monday to Confirm Biden's Victory; Ivory Coast President Defends Actions After Election Win; Mexico's Vaccine Rollout to Begin Slowly; South African Scientists Cleaning Up Plastic Waste; TikTok Users in Support of COVID Vaccines. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 14, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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

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

[00:00:32]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, welcome to all of our viewers around the world. Thanks so much for joining me this hour. I'm Robyn Curnow, and you are watching CNN.

So I want to take you right to our top story. After months of the coronavirus raging across the U.S., with nearly 300,000 Americans dead and more than 60 million cases nationwide, finally, there is hope.

The first shipments of Pfizer's COVID vaccines will begin to arrive in all 50 states on Monday, with the first deliveries expected about eight hours from now, and it's not a moment too soon.

On Sunday, the U.S. reported more than 109,000 patients in hospitals with COVID, another new record for the -- record high for the country. Well, the head of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is hoping the vaccines will start right away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. STEPHEN HAHN, COMMISSIONER, U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: We've seen the vaccines go out. We've seen the press reports of -- of hospitals waiting to vaccinate healthcare workers, and those most vulnerable, according to the recommendations of the ACIP and the CDC. So it would be my greatest hope, and desire, that that occurred tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: And of course, CNN, coming the story from all angles. Paul Vercammen is at an L.A. hospital that is getting ready to administer the vaccine.

But first, I want to take you to Pete Muntean. He's at a vaccine distribution center in Michigan -- Pete.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What a moment, especially considering the fact that we only first learned of this virus less than a year ago, and now the vaccine is leaving from here.

This spot is critical to the vaccine distribution network. This is Pfizer's largest facility just outside of Kalamazoo, Michigan. And what's so interesting is the trucks Carrying the vaccine, from UPS and FedEx, left here 8:30 Sunday morning. In those trucks, 189 boxes of the Pfizer vaccine; 975 miles to a box, 5 doses per vial. Now hundreds of thousands of doses are being delivered throughout the country.

The lion's share of the deliveries begin on Monday morning. The bulk of them, though, later on Tuesday. They're going to 600 individual locations, according to Operation Warp Speed. Those are places like hospitals and pharmacies, CVS and Walgreens. And Pfizer's head of global supply says this was months in the making.

MIKE MCDERMOTT, PRESIDENT, PFIZER GLOBAL SUPPLY: I couldn't be more confident in the distribution of the vaccine. We've worked incredibly hard over many months, doing test shipments, improving our shippers, making sure that they can maintain temperature during the entire journey, and we're very happy with the solution.

MUNTEAN: This is not just a ground game; also a major air operation. Trucks left here, bound for airports. Flights took the vaccine to larger hubs, where it could be distributed better throughout the country. And we saw some of those flights land today at UPS headquarters, Worldport, in Louisville, Kentucky. This is just the start of a massive movement. It all begins right here.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Portage, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest numbers out of Los Angeles County on the COVID-19 outbreak are ghastly. More than 13,000 cases, and more than 4,000 hospitalizations.

One hundred and one of those hospitalizations for COVID-19, right here at the UCLA Medical Center, where they are also bracing for the arrival, they say, in the next day or two, of the vaccine. They say shots will go into the arm of hospital workers. That is on Wednesday.

But how do you fight a pandemic, as well as get your workers vaccinated? We talked to the chief medical officer here at UCLA.

DR. ROBERT CHERRY, CHIEF MEDICAL AND QUALITY OFFICER, UCLA HEALTH: There's years of emergency preparedness behind a lot of these efforts. While we're taking care of our non-COVID-19 patients, as well as our patients that are -- that are COVID-19, as well, we're doing other things that we need to do to keep our healthcare workers safe, including standing up a vaccination program for them. We'll have the staffing to be able to do this, and people are pitching in to make sure it works well.

VERCAMMEN: Dr. Cherry says the priority here at UCLA will be to get vaccinations for those healthcare workers who are constantly around COVID-19 patients and close to those patients.

Now, he will not be one of those who gets the vaccine. That's because he's part of the AstraZeneca clinical trial.

Reporting from UCLA, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Joining me now, Dr. Jeffrey Smith, executive vice president of hospital operations and chief operating officer at Cedar Sinai Medical Center. His hospital will be among the first to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

[00:05:03]

Sir, great to have you on the show. Thanks so much for joining me this hour. So how has your hospital prepared for the arrival of this vaccine?

DR. JEFFREY SMITH, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, HOSPITAL OPERATIONS AND CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, CEDAR SINAI HOSPITAL CENTER: Thank you. Our teams have been working around the clock to be prepared to receive and administer the vaccine. That includes making sure that we can receive the vaccine and put it directly into our ultra-low-temperature freezers and make that they're kept at the proper temperature at all times.

We've built the information system so that we can schedule our healthcare workers and prioritize them appropriately to receive the vaccine. And we've scheduled vaccinators, nurses who can administer the vaccine. So lots of logistics involved, as we very excitedly prepare to receive and administer this vaccine.

CURNOW: And when are you expecting to receive it?

SMITH: We anticipate that it will be within the next two days.

CURNOW: And how much of this first consignment -- I know you mentioned your nurses -- how have you prioritized things? Who gets it first? Have you got enough for all your staff who needs it?

SMITH: We are prioritizing based on both personal risk, based on the age, and whether our healthcare workers have pre-existing medical conditions that put them at risk, along with the patients that they care for and the potential risk of them being exposed to COVID.

So both people who are caring for patients in the areas like emergency department and intensive care units, as well as people who are handling lab specimens and cleaning rooms. All the staff who could encounter the patients with the virus or materials that put them at risk. CURNOW: And what's the mood in the hospital? Obviously, it's been a

rough, exhausting, emotionally draining, to say the least, few months, few -- this year. How they're feeling with the thought this is going to be coming into the hospital in the next few days?

SMITH: Right. Those staff are -- really are truly the healthcare heroes caring for patients on those front lines. And they're tired, and it's been over 10 months now. And many of them are picking up extra shifts and -- and taking care of more patients than they typically would, in order to -- to provide care for our patients in our community.

But they're excited. They're excited that there's hope on the horizon to protect them, as well as, eventually to get this directly to patients and, hopefully, bring this pandemic to an end.

CURNOW: How huge is this, logistically? And will you be able to sort of upscale and increase your capacity in the weeks and months ahead? Is that going to be, also, part of the challenge?

SMITH: Yes, so we are preparing to -- to vaccinate our healthcare workers. At the same time, we and most of the people around -- in California and across the country are dealing with a growing surge of COVID patients.

So we are working very hard to do both of those things at the same time. So it is very logistically challenging, especially as we're all working hard to make sure that we have adequate people and adequate supplies to continue to provide great care for patients.

CURNOW: And the big question that, no doubt, folks in the area around you will want to ask, you know, when do you start giving out doses to the public?

SMITH: We don't yet know. We'll be working closely with the help department on that, and at the direction of both state and local health officials, as well as the CDC.

We anticipate that that will be sometime after the first of the year.

CURNOW: And that certainly plays into your planning. How concerned are you that there might be lockdowns or delays? Particularly when it comes to sort of the moving of the vaccine around the U.S. and to the states?

SMITH: Well, it certainly is a humongous nationwide effort, but we're very encouraged at the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. We're looking forward to receiving our first shipments and to help distribute those to other hospitals.

And then, soon, for those -- for additional shipments to be shipped directly to those hospitals. So big challenge, but I think that our country is up to it.

CURNOW: You know, we all want to take a deep breath and also thank, you know, the scientists who got this vaccine in record time. As -- as a doctor, as a person who works within the medical field, how

-- how astounded are you that we're seeing the delivery of Pfizer's vaccine within under year?

SMITH: It really is amazing. This is a new type of vaccine that we have used in only limited circumstances before. We know that we -- No steps have been skipped in development of this vaccine to ensure that its safety and effectiveness. But rather, those processes were really done in parallel.

And so it really is a remarkable scientific accomplishment to have a safe and effective vaccine, with more in the pipeline to come, in such a short period of time.

CURNOW: It certainly is an historic moment, even in the midst of all these rising infections. It's certainly something to pause and be grateful for.

Dr. Jeffrey Smith there in L.A., thank you very much. God bless you and all of your staff who have been working so hard this year.

Good luck.

SMITH: Thank you so much.

CURNOW: So I want to turn now to Asia where several countries are also seeing huge, huge spikes in COVID cases.

Over the weekend, both South Korea and Japan reported their highest daily number since the pandemic began. South Korea is now considering tougher measures, including limits on gatherings and closing down facilities to try and slow the spread there.

[00:10:09]

Well, Kristie Lu Stout joins me now from Hong Kong with more.

Hi, Kristie, what can you tell us?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robyn.

Well, you know, compared to the United States and Europe, much of East Asia has been able to keep a check on this virus. But as the region grapples with a new wave of infection, we've seen Japan and South Korea, over the weekend, posting new records in daily coronavirus cases.

Over the weekend, Japan surpassed 3,000 daily new cases of COVID-19, a new for the nation in this punishing pandemic. And the infection is worsening there as a cold and dry winter sets in, particularly hitting hard areas like Hokkaido.

Now, CNN has learned that the government in Japan will be holding a task force meeting today to discuss counter measures to control the outbreak, including the possible exclusion of Tokyo and Nagoya from a domestic travel incentive scheme. Now, meanwhile, over the weekend, South Korea reported its record high

in daily coronavirus cases, over the weekend posing 1,030 new cases of COVID-19. The vast majority of those cases in the Seoul metropolitan area.

On Saturday, the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, mobilized the nation's military, police, and medical workers, in order to get a lid on this outbreak.

We also heard from the South Korean president on Sunday. He described it as a, quote, "emergency situation." And also adding, if the situation doesn't get better there, South Korea will have to issue its first Level 3 alert. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOON JAE-IN, SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It is a very serious and emergency situation. There is nowhere to back down. It is a desperate time to devote all efforts to stopping the spread of corona by focusing on quarantine capabilities and administrative power. Unless the outbreak can be contained now, it has come to a critical point to consider escalating the social distancing measures to the third level.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now, if South Korea issues a Level 3 alert, again, that would be the first time in the history of this pandemic for the country. It would mean a ban on social gatherings of more than 10 people.

It would also mean work from home for everyone except essential workers.

Now, these struggles of what South Korea and Japan are going through right now underscores the challenge that the world is facing and will continue to face until there is a vaccine that is widely available. Until then, governments will have to do what Tokyo and Seoul are doing right now. Constantly recalibrating, readjusting policy, and finding ways to push back and to fight this virus, over and over and over again -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Yes, and just before you go, how did it get this bad in Japan, in particular?

STOUT: Well, in Japan, the infection there is widespread. It's not just in a cluster. It's not just in Tokyo. It's in all the major cities in Japan. In Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya; elsewhere in places like Hokkaido, as well.

And there is a lot of political pressure on Japan's new prime minister, Suga, right now. In fact, we've seen his approval ratings fall some 20 points. The pressure is on him and his government to see if they can continue to shore up the nation's economy while preventing more mass deaths from taking place in Japan.

Back to you, Robyn. CURNOW: Thank you so much, Kristie Lu Stout there, live in Hong Kong.

Thanks, Kristie.

So cities in Italy are coming back to life. After weeks of harsh COVID restrictions there, risk levels in five regions were downgraded over the weekend. That means most of the country woke up on Sunday in the yellow zone, which is the least restrictive.

Bars and restaurants in those areas can reopen, but they have to close by 6 p.m. A nightly curfew remains in place throughout the country, but none of Italy's regions are now under the red zone.

Meanwhile, U.S. electors will seal Joe Biden's presidential win in the coming hours. The current president, however, is still pushing back. Just ahead, the latest hurdle Republicans might try to put in Biden's way.

Plus, the president of the Ivory Coast is about to be sworn in for the third time. He speaks exclusively to CNN about his controversial election victory.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:16:15]

CURNOW: Monday is a big day for President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. U.S. electors will begin meeting just hours from now to officially confirm their victory.

Biden is expected to deliver remarks about it on Monday evening.

But as CNN's Boris Sanchez now explains, there's still time and opportunity for more political drama -- Boris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The electors of the Electoral College will gather in their respective states to cast their ballots and certify President-elect Joe Biden won the 2020 election.

Now, here's how it's going to work. This is going to be happening all throughout the day. These electors that have been selected since earlier in the summer and the spring, they're going to gather and record their votes in writing, on actual paper ballots, individually, for president and vice president.

Once they cast their ballots and count them, they're going to sign six copies of a certificate of the vote. Those copies are the actual official documents that certify their votes.

And they're going to wind up going to their respective secretaries of state, to the U.S. Senate, to the National Archives, etc.

But the most consequential certificates are going to be the ones that go to Capitol Hill, because that's where they will be counted on January 6. Notably, an event that Vice President Pence will be presiding over.

And there is a chance in that process for some drama, for Republican lawmakers who are supportive of the president, President Trump, to raise an objection. Ultimately, though, to sustain that objection, for it to be consequential, they would need both chambers of Congress to sustain that objection, to agree to it. And because Democrats control the House of Representatives, that appears extremely unlikely. But there still may be some moments rife with drama.

Ultimately, the big thing to watch for tomorrow as the Electoral College certifies the results of the election, certifies that Joe Biden won the election: how many Republican lawmakers, how many Republican senators will finally come out and acknowledge the reality that Joe Biden won the election, that there was no widespread electoral fraud. That, of course, is something President Trump is not ready to do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Well, he's certainly not. In fact, in modern American history, no other major party candidate has gone this long after an election day without conceding.

And as the Biden transition team looks ahead to inauguration day, President Trump says his fight to overturn the election isn't over. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, it's not over. We keep going, and we're going to continue to go forward. We have numerous local cases. We're, you know, in some of the states that got rigged and robbed from -- from us.

(END VIDE CLIP)

CURNOW: CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer is a historian and professor at Princeton University, and he joins me now from Sea Harbor in New York.

Julian, lovely to see you. So this week, we're going to see the end, the official end of the presidential race. Or are we?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, we are. And we've already seen the end. This is more official. The electors are going to cast their vote and formally, you know, confirm that the election has been a victory for President-elect Joe Biden.

And it won't end President Trump's campaign against the election. It won't end a lot of Republicans attacking the election. But there is a formality about the process, and this is almost over.

CURNOW: The president, as you -- as you say, still very much stuck in the notion that he won. He says the fight is not over. What do you think this means? ZELIZER: Well, it still has to go to Congress in January. And Congress

has to tally up the votes and -- and accept them. And obviously, he might be hoping that somehow, Republicans are going to break with -- with the official vote. But that's not going to happen, other than a couple of people who've said they're going to do this.

[00:20:10]

He's fighting for something beyond the election. I don't think he's even fighting to win anymore. He's fighting to delegitimize the election. And he's fighting to make himself a hero within the Republican Party in the next years to come.

CURNOW: Well, this is what's interesting, because in many ways, particularly the legal battle has seemed like a dead loss illegally for many experts, when they see as many of these legal challenges.

But in many ways, it's created a momentum, a message, and potentially even a movement for Mr. Trump in these days and weeks since he lost. And, of course, a sizeable war chest of donation and dollars. How do you see Mr. Trump -- President Trump channeling that?

ZELIZER: Well, one option is that he decides that he wants to run again in four years and try to return to the White House and use this controversy to argue he never lost, and to mobilize supporters that somehow they were robbed of -- of a fair result.

Another is he doesn't want to come back into politics or he doesn't. But he's using this to remain relevant within conservative circles, to remain relevant as a public figure. Someone who's going to be feared and listened to, even if he doesn't reenter the world of politics and goes into the media, or stays into business.

It's a dangerous way to do this. He's doing this by attacking the legitimacy of the election and attacking the legitimacy of the results. And that's the thing we can't forget. This isn't some kind of game. This is the president attacking our Democratic process.

CURNOW: And while all that has been happening, Mr. Biden, president- elect, has been systematically, quietly to some extent, working and pushing ahead. Do you think this is indicative of how his presidency is also going to be?

ZELIZER: I think so. I think it will be boring in many ways. And I think that's what he's looking for.

He just wants to focus on governing. He wants to convey the image of a president who is going to govern rather than create chaos. And I think this will be what you see. Much less of a Twitter feed and more of a policy agenda. More of a focus on making governing decisions, rather than campaign rallies.

So I think he's setting the tone, and it's probably smart. Because it's -- President Trump has tried to disrupt this. President-elect Biden has just moved ahead, set up his team, and started to lay out an agenda. CURNOW: Julian Zelizer, thank you very much for joining us. Historian

and professor there at Princeton University.

ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.

CURNOW: And don't miss our special coverage of the Electoral College vote, starting at 11 a.m. Monday in New York, 4 p.m. in London, right here on CNN.

So in the day ahead, the president of the Ivory Coast is expected to be sworn in for his third term in office after winning a highly- contested election marked by violence and political arrest. Scott McLean has our report.

A warning: It does contain graphic images.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This video shows people in Ivory Coast blocking a major highway last month to protest the reelection of the country's president.

And sometime after the video ends, shots are fired.

This was the aftermath of what was supposed to be a peaceful protest. Victims lying motionless on the pavement. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that there were three people killed after Ivorian security forces opened fire.

The government says investigations are underway, but President Alassane Ouattara, who spoke exclusively to CNN, has made up his mind.

ALASSANE OUATTARA, PRESIDENT OF THE IVORY COAST: No, this is a lie. I have given instruction to the defense forces not to use fire. Guns. And no one shot among the defense forces.

JIM WORMINGTON, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: It's clearly premature at this point to call that research a lie.

MCLEAN: The shooting capped off a string of pre- and post-election protests and violence. Eighty-five people have been killed on both sides, hundreds more injured.

And more than 15,000 fled the country, fearing a return to the civil war violence that brought President Ouattara to power almost a decade ago. Opposition supporters say he should not have been allowed to run for a third term, since the Constitution limits presidents to just two.

OUATTARA: It's a decision I'm glad I took today, because the country would have been in a mess if I had not been a candidate.

MCLEAN (on camera): Do you understand why some of your opponents and a lot of the people in your country were upset by your decision?

OUATTARA: No, I think they just knew they could not win. If they want to grab power without election, they're not democrats.

[00:25:02]

MCLEAN (voice-over): While the Ivorian supreme court allowed the president to run, the electoral commission barred 40 others from challenging him.

(on camera): Does that sound like democracy to you?

OUATTARA: Let me tell you. Democracy does not mean that anyone should come and run. We are this young country. Very fresh countries. Candidates should be able to say what they are going to do for the people and for the country.

MCLEAN (voice-over): Those candidates who were allowed to run boycotted the election before the vote, and afterwards set up a parallel government to organize a new poll. One exiled candidate went even further.

GUILLAUME SORO, OPPOSITION POLITICIAN: Mr. Ouattara is a con artist and a liar. And he's behaving like a culprit. And a culprit should be jailed.

MCLEAN: But it was one of Ouattara's main rivals who was jailed. Another was put under house arrest.

OUATTARA: So President Donald Trump decided to form a government, because Biden has -- has won the election. He would be sent to jail right away. And this is what we're doing in Cote D'Ivoire.

MCLEAN: Election observers from the American Carter Center found serious concerns about restrictions on civil liberties, freedom of expression, and the right to vote and be elected, which threaten to undo democratic process.

But it seems the rest of the world is unwilling to make a fuss. Not even France, which has strong ties to its former colony.

KOBI ANNAN, ANALYST, SONGHAI ADVISORY: With a relatively recent instance of civil war in 2010 and '11 in the country, and before the election there being a real possibility of returning to that, I think it was kind of seen as better to just accept what is and what people know.

MCLEAN (on camera): Democracy has been sacrificed in the name of stability?

ANNAN: I think it's fair to say that. Yes.

MCLEAN (voice-over): For now at least, there's peace in Ivory Coast. But the real war may be with democracy itself.

Scott McLean, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE) CURNOW: So coming up on CNN, students in Nigeria are feared still missing days after their school was raided by gunmen. We'll hear from one of the boys who managed to escape.

That story, plus one group of doctors decided to take their message to TikTok about coronavirus vaccines. We'll speak to them after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: So welcome back to all of our viewers around the world. Thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow here in Atlanta. You are watching CNN.

So the first coronavirus vaccines are being rolled out here in the United States, with plans to ship 40 million doses by the end of the year.

[00:30:08] U.S. officials hope to have 100 million people vaccinated by the end of March. It is an enormous undertaking, with a lot of logistical concerns as Dianne Gallagher now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a fight that so many had been waiting for. Vials of that Pfizer vaccine loaded up onto a cargo plane here in Grand Rapids, Michigan, set for Memphis, Tennessee, the headquarters of FedEx, where they're going to divvy up those vaccines, and then begin sending them up to the western half of the country.

Now UPS did the same thing, flying to its headquarters in Louisville. It will handle the eastern half of the country.

Now a lot is being discussed about the chain of control. Because these packages take a lot of effort. This is a complex, logistical operation.

Every couple minutes, we are going to know what's going on. FedEx says that it receives a transmission every two seconds on the location of these vaccine packages.

UPS says it's using Bluetooth technology, as well, to make sure that it has precise eyes in real time on where these packages are located. Both companies say that they are also able to monitor those extreme cold conditions. We're talking negative 100 degrees Fahrenheit that they have to stay in so they can make sure that there's no sort of change in that, in transit there.

Now at this time, all 50 states are going to receive some vaccines. What's going to happen from there will differ depending on the state. But Pfizer says that it plans to send out an even larger shipment on Monday from its facilities.

Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So now that vaccines have shipped in the U.S., what about developing countries who can't afford them?

Earlier in the pandemic, a solidarity pledge committed nations not to hoard vaccines when one was found. But that really seems to be nonexistent now.

According to Oxfam, nine out of 10 people in poor countries won't receive a COVID vaccine next year. And wealthy nations we know have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their population as much as three times over.

Mexico is among those countries where vaccines will be in short supply, or at least early on. It's expected to receive 250,000 doses by the end of the year, even though the pandemic is at its peak there.

Here's Matt Rivers -- Matt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matt Rivers in Tijuana, just across the U.S. border behind me, on the Mexico side. What we are all watching is the United States begins to roll out vaccines across the country.

And while we know that the U.S. won't have enough vaccines to vaccinate its entire population very quickly, we know that the U.S. is in a better position than we are here in Mexico.

Consider: Mexico's government says that this month, it will receive enough doses of the Pfizer vaccine to vaccinate just 125,000 people here out of an overall population of roughly 130 million.

This as we are arguably in the worst days of the pandemic here, with multiple recent record-setting days of newly-confirmed cases. This is a good reminder that, during the times of a pandemic, it is better to be a richer country than a poorer one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So days after gunmen stormed a school in Nigeria and abducted many of the students, officials say some are still feared missing.

Now, the attack happened on Friday. Police and witnesses say the gunmen opened fire and rounded up the kids in a suspected kidnap for ransom attempt.

A few students managed to escape, including this one, who described what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

USAMA AMINU, RESCUED STUDENT (through translator): When I decided to run, they brought a knife to slaughter me. But I ran away quickly. I ran into the crowd. They couldn't get me. Then I put my clothes upside-down so that they could not see me.

From there, they said they would kill whoever is trying to escape. Then I began to run, climbing one rock to another through a forest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Authorities say at least 200 students have been returned so far, but others could still be with the abductors.

And best-selling spy novelist John le Carre has died. In a career spanning six decades, he wrote 26 books published in over 50 countries and 40 languages. Some, like "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and "The Most Wanted man," were turned into blockbuster movies.

Le Carre also served in British intelligence during the Cold War, the inspiration for most of his spy stories.

His family said he died from pneumonia. His literary agent, Johnny Geller, describes him as the undisputed giant of English literature.

John le Carre was 89 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[00:36:58]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: South Africa has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, but it is also ranked as one of the planet's worst plastic marine polluters, creating an environmental crisis on its shorelines.

ANNIYAH OMARDIEN, FOUNDER, THE BEACH CO-OP: Our oceans are integral to our health. It's important that we care for it so that we can breathe oxygen, so that we can eat fish, so that we can have healthy water to feed our crops so that we can, in turn, eat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anniyah Omardien is a surfer and a conservationist in Cape Town. In 2015, she founded the volunteer-based beach co-op to clean popular beaches every new moon. But she wanted the beach co-op to have a long-term impact by identifying the types of rubbish and the way its massed, according to a method.

OMARDIEN: The dirty dozen methodology, which is a methodology we use on sandy beaches, and here at the rocky shore to document what we're finding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During 100 cleanups, the beach co-op has picked up over 35,000 sweet wrappers, nearly 33,000 cool drink lids, and over 25,000 straws.

The dirty dozen methodology was designed by Professor Peter Ryan, a Cape Town ornithologist and researcher on marine plastic waste.

PETER RYAN, DIRECTOR, THE FITZPATRICK INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN ORNITHOLOGY: We just did some really interesting work during the lockdown now, where we looked at litter coming out of the Urban River in Cape Town, and almost all of it washed up within 55,000 meters of the mouth of the river.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peter advises the beach co-op. Today he and Anniyah are confronted by spill of micro plastics, tiny plastic pellets called nurdles, which are the raw material used by industry to make larger items. Hundreds of thousands have washed up on cape beaches.

OMARDIEN: We're wanting to document where they have found the nurdles, and the date. And we're hoping to collect all of that, and weigh it, and take it to a plant to be used to make bricks with the plastic nurdles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mining plastic pollution for data, the surfers and the scientists in South Africa are fighting for more than a pristine coastline.

OMARDIEN: So it really gives the citizens an opportunity to engage with what they're finding, and to hopefully change their behavior, so that they bring less of that plastic into their own homes, and eventually place pressure on manufacturers of plastic to change how they produce the plastic we end up buying.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Great to see Cape Town. Great work also being done by all the folks down there. Thank you for that.

So coronavirus vaccines are now on the way. But there's hope, and there's also hesitancy. So how do you know what is fact? Well, TikTok is coming to the rescue in a way that only it can, as Anna Stewart now explains.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Explaining how a vaccine works isn't easy, so these TikTok-ing scientists have got creative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Oh my God, did you kill me, baby?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (singing): Maybe. Is that OK?

STEWART: Answering all sorts of questions to allay vaccine concerns and promote confidence. They're part of Team Halo, an international group of experts put together by the U.N. And they've generated more than 20 million views on TikTok.

PAUL MCKAY, VACCINE RESEARCH SCIENTIST, IMPERIAL COLLEGE, LONDON: Here we've been working almost exclusively on making a COVID-19 vaccine.

STEWART: A vaccine research scientist for 30 years, Paul McKay is working on a COVID-19 vaccine candidate being developed by Imperial College. And he's creating TikTok videos on the side. (on camera): You're not just tackling the anti-vaxxers or the anti-vax

sentiment. You're tackling people who just are unsure and have questions.

MCKAY: You have the right to ask questions. You have the right to know what goes into your body.

STEWART: You're now a bit of a TikTok star.

MCKAY: I wouldn't say "star."

We come out and we say vaccines have been, you know, the single greatest health benefit since clean water. It's saved more people's lives than any other medical intervention.

STEWART (voice-over): Team Halo is using social media to bolster vaccine confidence. Of course, that's also where rumor and misinformation spreads.

In the U.K., just 63.4 percent of people surveyed said they would definitely get a COVID-19 vaccine. After viewing misinformation online, that number dropped to just 54 percent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very cautious with anything I don't really know or understand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's been research and everything. They've gone through clinical trials. So why wouldn't we?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We trust the scientists, I guess.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to take a leap of faith for the greater good of society. You know? If you don't do that, nobody takes it, then it's not going to work.

CURNOW: Health experts warn that a vaccine will need to be accepted by at least 70 percent of the population to provide herd immunity and perhaps more.

MCKAY: I'm just giving people facts and information. I'm not trying to change their minds. I'm not trying to make them think differently or change their lifestyles. I'm just trying to give them the information that they don't have access to. So I'm not against them. I'm wanting to work with them.

STEWART: Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: A Chinese probe is one step closer to home after collecting rocks and soil samples from the home. The probe left the lunar orbit on Sunday and will make a final journey to Earth soon.

China will become the third country in the world to retrieve scientific samples from the moon if this mission is successful. And a special Hanukkah treat in Jerusalem is inspired by Israel's new

relations with the UAE. A bakery has created a deep-fried delicacy called the Abu Dhabi donut. It's made from dates, nougat, and topped off with an edible gold leaf. Customers have been lining up for a taste of it.

The two countries sized signed a U.S.-brokered deal to normalize relations three months ago.

So thanks for watching. I'm Robyn Curnow here at the CNN world news headquarters in Atlanta. I will be back in about 15 minutes time with more news. In the meantime, though, I'm going to hand you over to the team at WORLD SPORT.

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