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Article for Trump's Second Impeachment To Be Delivered Today; Biden Makes Tackling COVID First Priority, Adds New Restrictions; Biden Seeks Approval For $2 Trillion Relief Package; COVID: One Year On, U.S. Records 25 Million Infections; One Year After Coronavirus Began, CNN Revisits Wuhan; Mexican President Tests Positive for COVID- 19; COVID Surge Straining Japan's Health Care System; Biden Signs Executive Order for Stronger Workplace Safety; COVID-19 Creates "New Poor" Throughout Italy; Wealth Inequality Expanding During Downturn. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 25, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
MICHAEL HOLMES, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM (Voice Over): We are just hours away from the article of impeachment being delivered to the senate putting the process of putting Donald Trump on trial for an historic second time.
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden tackling the coronavirus pandemic with even more restrictions in place.
Plus, much of the world's population has plunged deeper into poverty because of the pandemic but the rich are seemingly unaffected. We'll take a closer look at why that is.
HOLMES (On Camera): Hello, and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM everyone. Appreciate your company. I'm Michael Holmes.
Welcome, everyone.
Former president Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial in the U.S. senate will start next month but the first step in the process begins in the hours ahead when the house will deliver its article of impeachment to the senate in a ceremonious procession.
But U.S. President Joe Biden says he's not focused on the impeachment. Instead, he's about tackling the coronavirus pandemic head on.
He plans to reinstate international travel restrictions Trump had wanted to lift and get bipartisan support for a nearly $2 trillion COVID relief package.
Joe Biden's critics, though, have argued that he can't ignore the impeachment of his predecessor and that the president's calls for unity and bipartisanship will ring hollow when Trump is put on trial.
CNN's senior White House -- senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, is on Capitol Hill with more on how that might play out. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN SNR. WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: It's history in the making once again as Capitol Hill prepares for the second Donald Trump impeachment trial.
A bit different from the first, he is now out of office, he's out of town and he's off Twitter. Very different from last time.
Nonetheless, there are still some similarities. For example, the house impeachment articles will take the long walk across the United States Capitol to deliver the one article of impeachment to the United States senate and read the article before the United States senate.
Normally, after such things occur, the impeachment trial is supposed to start in earnest at one p.m. the next afternoon. But the United States senate has bought itself some time; in fact, they're going to stay out two weeks before they begin the trial in earnest, coming back on February 9th.
There has been a lot of suggestion that this trial will be quicker than the last one but that's not clear, simply because Republicans are all over the place on what to do.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R-FLA): I think the trial is stupid, I think it's counterproductive. We already have a flaming fire in this country and it's like taking a bunch of gasoline and pouring it on top of the fire.
SEN. MIKE ROUNDS, (R-S.D.): I think it's a moot point. Because I think, right now, Donald Trump is no longer the president, he is a former president.
The constitution and I think -- and I know that there are other people out there that may disagree with me but article one, sections -- I think it's three or six and seven specifically point out you can impeach the president and it does not indicate that you can impeach someone who is not in office.
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-CALIF.): The preponderance of the legal opinion is that an impeachment trial after someone has left office is constitutional. I believe that's the case. I'll, of course, hear what the lawyers have to say for each side but I think it's pretty clear that the effort is constitutional.
JOHNS: The United States senate is divided 50/50 between Democrats and Republicans. A two-thirds majority is required to convict. That means if all Democrats vote to convict the former president, 17 Republicans will also have to vote with them.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Joe Johns, our thanks to you. More now on Joe Biden's coronavirus agenda. And what he's planned for his first full week in office.
CNN's Arlette Saenz reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The White House is trying to drum up bipartisan support for President Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief package.
And over the weekend, the president dispatched his top economic advisor, Brian Deese, to speak with a group of 16 senators, eight Republicans and eight Democrats, as they're looking to get more bipartisan sign on onto this bill.
Now some Republicans have expressed unease about the size of this package. And Senator Susan Collins, a Republican of Maine, who was part of that call says that she thinks it's too premature to talk about a $2 trillion package, and that she believes that a bipartisan group of senators could find a more targeted approach.
[01:05:00]
Now one item that was deemed a priority on that call was money for COVID vaccinations. But many of these senators wanted to see more details and find ways to ensure that Americans who needed the money most would be the ones receiving it.
Now Biden has been clear. He wants this to be tackled in a bipartisan manner but some Democrats are pushing for him to pass the measure through reconciliation, which would only require a simple majority.
Now this was just one of many meetings the White House is having on this topic as they've made it clear this is a top-ticket item for them in the early days of the administration.
Now on Monday, President Biden will reinstate some COVID travel restrictions on non-U.S. citizens coming from Brazil, the U.K., Ireland and other European countries and he will also extend those restrictions to those who have recently traveled from South Africa.
This is just the latest attempt from the Biden Administration to try to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic which they have said is a top priority.
SAENZ (On Camera): Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, whatever the Republicans decide, some Democrats appear ready to use the power they now hold to push for even more.
CNN's Abby Philip, the new anchor of "Inside Politics "Sunday" spoke with senate Democrat, Elizabeth Warren, who supports a more progressive agenda.
Have a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D-MASS.): The point is that President Biden is doing exactly what he needs to do.
He is discussing the problem and he's laying out the solutions. We have a lot of tools for how to get those solutions done and it's our responsibility to meet them.
I will always be pushing for more. I want to see us as a nation make this economy work better for everyone. I think that's good for all of us.
It's not good when young people are crushed by student loan debt. It's not good when millions of Americans can't put a roof over their heads and food on the table with their social security checks.
It's not good for the economy, it's not good for who we are as a people. So I'm always going to keep pushing.
But I know right now that President Biden feels the urgency of this moment and he is determined to get through actions that need to be done; do them by executive order, do them through congress but get them done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now just barely a year after recording its first case of COVID-19, the U.S. has now surpassed 25 million infections.
It's by far, of course, the highest total in the world, and accounts for more than a quarter of all global cases.
And to further complicate the crisis, officials say that the country is still struggling with its vaccine rollout.
The head of the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says she doesn't know how many doses the U.S. has. Without that information, she says states can't adequately distribute vaccines. She adds that this problem is one of many challenges the current administration has inherited.
And it comes as a top health official is speaking out about the struggles he faced under the previous administration.
Dr. Anthony Fauci told "The New York Times" the former president often downplayed the crisis, and says what -- the White House officials sometimes tried to discredit his work.
On Sunday, Fauci also spoke about the ongoing spread of the virus and new data suggesting a new strain could be deadlier.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, the data that came out was after they had been saying all along that it did not appear to be more deadly. So that's where we got that information.
But when the British investigators looked more closely at the death rate of a certain age group, they found that it was one to -- per 1,000, we'll say, and then it went up to 1.3 per 1,000 in a certain group. So that's a significant increase.
So the most recent data is in accord, what the Brits are saying. We want to look at the data ourself (ph) but we have every reason to believe them, they're a very competent group.
So we need to assume now that what has been circulating dominantly in the U.K. does have a certain degree of increase in what we call virulence, namely, the power of the virus to cause more damage, including death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's Natasha Chen now with more on the outbreak in the U.S..
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. has now surpassed 25 million coronavirus cases and the death toll continues to climb.
[01:10:00]
And the Institute for Health Metrics & Evaluation projects a total of 569,000 Americans will have died from coronavirus by May 1st.
Xavier Becerra, President Biden's nominee to run Health & Human Services described it this way on Sunday.
XAVIER BECERRA, NOMINEE, U.S. HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: The plane is in a nosedive and we've got to pull it up. And you're not going to do that overnight but we're going to pull it up, we have to pull it up. Failure's not an option here.
CHEN: But there has been some good news. The same model that predicted 569,000 deaths, also shows nearly 43,000 people's lives may be saved in that same timeframe thanks to vaccination.
And the seven-day moving average of new cases in the U.S. is starting to drop after a aggressive post-holiday peak.
And the positivity rate stayed low enough in Chicago for restaurants and bars to restart limited indoor dining.
CASEY CORA, SPOKESPERSON, FRONTERA GRILL: When the rumors started swirling around our staff that it was going to be able to happen there was a spark in everybody's eyes just to be able to know that we're going to be able to do what we do best once again. And that's an exciting thing for us in the hospitality profession.
CHEN: That same look of excitement and gratitude --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Oh, they're for me. How sweet, that's so very kind. CHEN: -- is in the eyes of millions of people lining up to be vaccinated around the country. Including now mobile and pop-up vaccination sites run by companies like Amazon.
The challenge is getting more supply distributed to what's a patchwork of local health providers who are sometimes battling website crashes and scheduling mishaps.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: No one knew what the hell they were doing so they sent everybody home.
VELA MCCLAM MITCHEL THOMAS, STRUGGLED TO SCHEDULE VACCINE APPOINTMENT: If this is happening to me -- and I'm well educated, my husband's a state senator. If this is happening to me, what's happening to people who don't have what I have and don't have the access that I have?
CHEN: Meanwhile, officials have their eye on coronavirus variants and how well the vaccine may hold up as the virus changes.
DR. VIVEK MURTHY, FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: It means we've got to, number one, do much better genomic surveillance so we can identify variants when they arrive. It means we've got to double down on public health measures like masking and avoiding indoor gatherings.
The bottom line is that we are in a race against these variants; the virus is going to change and it's up to us to adapt and to make sure that we're staying ahead.
CHEN (Voice Over): Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Joining me now in Los Angeles is CNN medical analyst, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. Good to see you, Doctor.
We've seen some dipping of numbers around certainly the U.S. and parts of Europe which is good news, very encouraging. But the numbers themselves are still frighteningly high.
What is your read on where things stand as vaccines start to roll out?
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: Well, as vaccines start to roll out, I think people need to realize that vaccines are at the end all and be all.
They're definitely going to help us decrease transmission but we're not to see their full effect for two to three months.
And in the interim, we really still need to do what we've always done which is wear the mask, the social distancing -- that triumvirate will not change -- and washing our hands. So it's a great start. But boy, we have a long way to go.
HOLMES: Yes. I guess -- do you see the number drop? Do you think it's just the end of the holiday surge and we're going back to what has become quote unquote, normal numbers, which of course are still devastating. Or do you see this as, hopefully, a sustainable trend?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, I think it is a trend. I think it is the end of the holiday surge, that we're now seeing a dip. My concern is that we get too complacent with even a little bit of success.
We're also yearning to get out, right, into the fresh air or to visit folks that even a little bit of success should not be taken as an excuse.
I was reading something by Justin Trudeau right now that says stay home, don't make plans for spring break, cancel any vacations. Because we are still so high in the number of cases that we really need to see this out through April and May before we can start breathing comfortably.
HOLMES: And when we talk about variants too, which is a worry, more contagious which can mean more deaths in the long term, I guess one thing that's striking is the U.S. lags the world in genomics sequencing which shows showing the prevalence of variants in a community.
I think the U.S. is 33rd behind places like Senegal and Sierra Leone with far fewer resources.
So is it fair to say we don't know how widespread the variants are in the U.S.?
RODRIGUEZ: We don't know. And those statistics are actually embarrassing for my country -- and we tout ourselves as being the leader.
We really need to step this up. Because one of the ways of controlling the virus is knowing where it is going, knowing how it has changed and how it's going to affect it.
So they've stepped it up a little bit but we need to be leading the world along with other countries like the U.K. and Germany that are really on top of all of this.
[01:15:00]
HOLMES: Yes, yes. They are leading the sequencing world.
It was interesting listening to doctor Fauci and reading his comments also in "The New York Times" interview about the hurdles that he faced in the previous administration. It makes you wonder how different the U.S. death toll and infection rates might have been if things had been done differently. Did you look back at it that way?
RODRIGUEZ: I do look back at it that way. From the beginning I've been saying that the problem was leadership, the problem was obfuscation of real data. And, as much as I admire, right -- and I've been working in long distance with Dr. Fauci -- I think that there had been a time where I wished he had stepped up and said you know what, this is not true, this is not so.
But who knows? Because he could have been replaced with someone that was much of a Trump loyalist, and things could have been worse.
So these people are doing a great job and it just shows that from the top down is how this starts.
So just -- Biden came out, and right out of the gate he says we're going to beat this, we're going to speak honestly about it. We're going to do tough things in the next 100 years -- I mean, 100 days.
And that, in and of itself, was leagues ahead of what we had.
HOLMES: Yes. If there's one thing we learned, it's that politics plays -- has no business being in the realm of science.
Doctor Jorge Rodriguez, got to leave it there. Always good to see you. Thank you so much.
RODRIGUEZ: Likewise, Michael.
HOLMES: Going back to where the outbreak began. When we return, CNN revisits Wuhan, China, to see how the city has changed after a year of the pandemic.
Plus new protections coming for meatpackers and other factory workers as President Biden aims to help industries hit hard by the pandemic.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(CNN SOUNDBITE)
BILLIE JEAN KING, FORMER TENNIS CHAMPION: We didn't have technology like we do now. So that the players today, the athletes today, can communicate quickly and mobilize quickly. And that's what you see, it's daily.
And I think it's fantastic. Black lives do matter, they've always mattered, and finally people are listening. I just want the young people to be a part of it, I'm worried for them.
I think they have a very -- they're really inheriting a heavy burden from us. I think we need to worry about climate change. There's a lot going on.
[01:20:00]
But we still, as athletes, we need to use what we have available to us, our platform, to help us make this world a better place. But it's going to be difficult, there's no question.
But we've got to step up, champions adjust, and really step and lead. I want the Billie Jean King Cup to inspire the future generations.
(CNN LIVE)
HOLMES: Well, it's now been a year since Wuhan, China, so the first of many coronavirus lockdowns around the world.
Since then, nearly 100 million people have been infected with COVID- 19.
Our David Culver reports now from the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a city whose name evokes mystery, allegations of cover-up and agony. Wuhan, China.
CNN returning to this, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak.
On January 23rd, 2020, this metropolis of more than 11 million residents locked down. We left hours before beginning a two-week quarantine in Beijing.
For 76 days, Wuhan remained sealed off.
And here we are again, back one year later, the Huanan seafood market. This at one point was believed to have been -- by Chinese authorities -- the ground zero of this outbreak.
This time last year, security had ushered us away within minutes of reporting.
Now, January 2021, no security here, we've been walking around for several minutes. They don't seem to care.
That was until we started looking inside. We noticed some people working behind the gate.
Suddenly a seemingly random passer-by on a bike shouted at us saying don't be sneaky. He later identified himself vaguely as working for the government.
He told us to walk around and try the entrance.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Speaking in Foreign Language)
CULVER: Can we go in?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: We can go in? That way?
CULVER: He said apparently we can go in so we'll see if we can actually get inside the market.
I'm going to ask this guy -- can you go in?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Speaking in Foreign Language)
CULVER: You can't go inside? Tell him we have a COVID test, a negative COVID test.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Speaking in Foreign Language)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: You just can't go in.
CULVER: (Inaudible) can't go --
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Speaking in Foreign Language)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Don't take their pictures either.
CULVER: OK. No pictures.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes.
CULVER: So clearly, a bit sensitive. Perhaps it's because we're foreigners or because we're journalists.
The virus's origins has become highly politicized. U.S. officials accusing China of covering it up and allowing the virus to spread. China, defensive, saying the Trump Administration was deflecting blame for its own mishandling.
A team from the WHO is now in Wuhan tasked with trying to find out the truth.
And yet, geopolitics aside, the human suffering, it is universal.
Yan Meng (ph) spoke with us knowing she could face pressures from officials. But a mother who's lost her only daughter has no more to lose.
CULVER: When I sat down, you thanked me for getting the truth out. What is the truth, as you know it?
YAN MENG (PH): The local officials didn't tell us about the pandemic, she said. If measures were taken, I would not have sent my child to the hospital which was the source of the infection.
CULVER: Last January, Yong's 24-year-old daughter had been receiving treatment for cancer. She contracted COVID-19 and died in early February.
MENG: When I speak about this, some parts of my heart still ache, she said.
CULVER: Amidst the deep pain, we also encountered moments of hope in our return.
On the eve of the lockdown last year, we visited this fruit market. This woman selling sugar cane told me at the time that the she was terrified. She stayed, fearing the financial burden. Twelve months later, we met again.
"At that time I was crying all the time," she told me. "We were suffering and scared." Above her face mask, the pain still visible in her eyes. She says the people of Wuhan are resilient, likening them to heroes. I'm so glad to see you in person. And to know that you've made it
through the lockdown and you're healthy.
The market mood remarkably different from last year. Business bustling, people much more at ease.
Would you say Wuhan is back open and on the path to recovery?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER (Speaking in Foreign Language)
CULVER: "It's not just starting from now," he says. "It started very early, to be honest. In my opinion, Wuhan had already begun to recover since mid- to late March."
Delivery driver, Lao Ji, has become well-known on social media as he chronicled life during the lockdown.
The then and now are striking. A city desolate amidst the lockdown followed by a summer with packed pool party images that shocked a socially distanced world outside of China. And a New Year celebration that brought Wuhan residents shoulder to shoulder.
[01:25:00]
Though with new cluster outbreaks in the north of China many here in Wuhan once again wearing face masks. Cautious of the lingering unknowns and still surrounded by the haunting memories of a lockdown that kept millions of residents, along with their grief, sealed inside.
For some, only now, 12 months later, it is just begun to surface.
MENG: (Speaking in Foreign Language)
CULVER (Voice Over): David Culver, CNN, Wuhan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Still to come here on the program. So many new COVID cases and so few beds.
Hospitals in Japan now facing an overwhelming surge of new patients waiting to get in.
Also, after months of ignoring safety guidelines, Mexico's president has now tested positive for COVID-19. We'll have the latest on his condition and what he plans to do. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(CNN HIGHLIGHT)
JACK FORSTER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, HODINKEE: The Blancpain Fifty Fathoms really established the design vocabulary of modern dive watches.
It has a history and an authenticity that's very hard to match. ANDREW MCUTCHEN, FOUNDER, TIME & TIDE WATCHES: It dates back to the mid-1950s when French frogmen were dissatisfied with the options and they wanted something particular.
FORSTER: It was designed in collaboration with a guy named Captain Robert Maloubier who was a French combat diver.
MCUTCHEN: They briefed in this watch to have very specific attributes.
They wanted a black dial, they wanted oversized numerals and they wanted an external rotating vessel that could be lined up with a large minute hand to indicate to them exactly how many minutes of oxygen time they had left.
And they wanted this watch to do all of that while glowing underwater at 90 meters.
So it was a tough brief. Enter the Fifty Fathoms. It did the job for the frogmen and it does the job for the modern man.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:29:21]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone.
I'm Michael Holmes.
As coronavirus cases rise around the world, countries are ramping up measures to keep new mutations of the virus at bay.
Australia has given approval for its first COVID vaccine. It will begin vaccinations with the Pfizer vaccine late next month.
The U.K. health minister says that England's case rates are incredibly high, and the country a long way from easing restrictions. But yet, there is early evidence the lockdown is making a difference.
Over the weekend, the Netherlands imposed a new curfew, aimed at reducing social contact. The prime minister says even essential businesses like food markets are subject to the curfew.
And Israel temporarily banning flights from all non-Israeli Airlines into Ben Gurion Airport. That ban will last until the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Mexico's president has announced that he has tested positive for COVID-19 after months of pretty much ignoring safety guidelines. He said on Sunday his symptoms are mild, and he is receiving medical treatment.
CNN's Rafael Romo with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): President Andres Manuel Lopez-Obrador confirmed the news on his Twitter account. He posted a couple of messages. The first to confirm the diagnosis. And the second one to say that he will keep an eye on the government's affairs from the national palace, the presidential mansion in Mexico.
The president wrote the following. "I regret to inform you that I have contracted COVID-19. The symptoms are mild, but I'm already receiving medical treatment. As always, I'm optimistic."
The president has a daily morning news conference, that is broadcast live. He said that Interior Secretary Olga Sanchez Cordero will take over while he recoveries.
The president participated in a public even about government welfare programs Saturday in Nueva Leone state where he was seen without a mask.
Hew spoke on the phone with President Joe Biden Friday, surrounded by his foreign minister, a former business advisor, and the president's office translator. No one was wearing a mask.
President Lopez-Obrador has been dismissive of measures to prevent transmission of COVID-19 in the past saying last summer that it has not been scientifically proven that masks protect people against the coronavirus.
He has been seen in public many times without wearing a mask and he travels around the country meeting with officials and people not keeping physical distance.
He is one of several heads of state in the region who have contracted the virus including Jair Bolsonaro the president of Brazil and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez. And of course, former President Donald Trump also had COVID-19.
Rafael Romo, CNN -- Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A spike in COVID cases, putting a serious strain on Japan's health care system. A recent survey found at least 15,000 people are waiting to get treated for coronavirus in hospitals or isolation centers. But right now, there aren't enough beds to keep up with demand.
CNN's Selina Wang joining me now from Tokyo. These numbers are just stunning. Tell us about the survey, and the strain on the medical system.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Michael.
Well, it's clear from these numbers that the medical system is under strain and some health experts are saying it is already in a state of collapse. So this is according to a Kyoto News survey that found at least 15,000 people are now waiting for a hospital bed or waiting for space at an isolation center. And this is just for those 11 prefectures in Japan that are under a state of emergency.
And these numbers have soared in the past month. In Tokyo, the numbers of nearly quintupled to now more than 7,500 people on a waiting list. And Michael, this means that more and more people are now dying at home.
An infectious disease expert in Japan told me that high risk people, which would include the elderly, those with severe symptoms, are supposed to go to the hospital. While those with mild symptoms are supposed to go to an isolation center to avoid infecting others in the community and their family members.
But now, because of this massive strain we're seeing on the medical system, even those, a sizable number of those with severe cases are now on this waiting list.
And cases in Japan have skyrocketed just in recent months now to more than 360,000 cases. And here in Tokyo, the government is urging people to stay inside. Restaurants and bars to close by 8 p.m.
But experts I speak to say this is really too little, too late.
HOLMES: We have been talking over the last couple of days about the Olympics. I mean this would seem to further dampen plans for the Tokyo Olympics. What does this tough situation before the games, perhaps?
WANG: Michael, you would think so, but the International Olympic Committee, Japanese officials, are maintaining that the games will go on. They have strongly batted away any rumors that the games could be canceled or further postponed.
But of course, Michael, the situation on the ground does not bode well for the success of the Olympics. As I mentioned, the host city is in a state of emergency. It could be extended for even longer than a month, if the situation does not improve. Foreigners are currently banned from entering Japan.
And if you think vaccinations are going to be a magic bullet, it is not because Japan is currently behind when it comes to vaccinations. They are not set to start until late February, and that's just for medical workers.
They don't have a planned timeline they've announced for when they're going to vaccinate the rest of the population.
[08:34:59]
WANG: And of course, if you take a look at what happened at the Australian Open right now, the problems there are certainly a warning sign. You have 72 players in a 14-day quarantine because there were people who tested positive on their flights to the Australian Open.
Now, imagine the challenges that you would see for the Olympic Games which include multiples more of athletes, staff, and other people.
And of course, public opposition here is increasing. Recent polls from the NHK show that nearly 80 percent of the people think the games should not go on this year.
And I spoke to a member of an anti Olympics group who said that the idea of the government being so obsessed with holding this game shows that, quote, "The Olympic Games would be sacrificing people's lives", Michael.
HOLMES: That's a very good point about the complications that could happen. You get one infection in the village and off you go.
Selina Wang in Tokyo, great reporting, appreciate it. Thanks so much.
We will take a quick break. When we come back, there are growing concerns with coronavirus in meatpacking plants.
President Biden taking measures to protect workers. Will it be enough?
What happened over the last year? We'll have an advocate for workplace safety. We'll interview her next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back.
Among the many executive orders already signed by U.S. President Joe Biden, one of them calls for clearer guidance on COVID-19 safety measures for workers, including those in meatpacking and other processing plants. Now COVID devastated that industry forcing some plants to shut down when their workers got the virus.
Joining me now from Washington is Debbie Berkowitz. Debbie is the program director for the National Employment Law Project.
[01:39:57]
HOLMES: It's great to have you on. It's an important issue. Right from the beginning there were great concerns about the welfare of workers in places like meat packing plants, other industries too. What were the conditions like? How bad are they now in terms of protections and particles?
DEBBIE BERKOWITZ, PROGRAM DIRECTOR, NATIONAL EMPLOYMENT LAW PROJECT: Well, hi. Thank you so much for having me. That's a really important issue.
As we have seen in the past nine months, workplaces can be a significant source of spread of COVID-19. And the meatpacking which includes, you know, red meats and pork and poultry industry, saw a significant, you know, outbreaks in the facilities where in many of the facilities over a thousand workers got sick.
It was a recent study by the -- published by the National Academy of Sciences here in the U.S. that said just in the first four or five months of the pandemic, the meat and poultry plants because they did not mitigate the spread of COVID-19 were responsible for hundreds of thousands of illnesses in their plants, in their community, as well as so many deaths, thousands of deaths. HOLMES: Obviously things have changed. It's a new day in that way.
OSHA obviously has a crucial role in worker protections but how damaged was the organization and their ability to do their job over the last four years? How was it limited in its ability to fight for workers safety?
BERKOWITZ: Well, the Trump administration really tried to cripple the agency. We did a report in April that showed it had the least number of inspector sin the history of the agency. They've had the lowest total numbers of inspections of any four-year period in the last, I don't know, I would say almost 30 years.
And then with COVID, the administration here really try to completely sideline the agency so that it would have no roles. There were, for example, 13,000 complaints came into federal OSHA. And I think they responded to a little over 300 with inspections. The rest of them they put on ignore. They just ask to company, sent a letter and said please investigate yourself. And that was it. The workers were on their own.
HOLMES: That is just incredible. I mean the meatpacking industry in particular is one of those industries where practices, you know -- the production is particularly vulnerable to the spread of something like the coronavirus as you say.
What permanent work practice changes need to happen going forward?
BERKOWITZ: You know, since the big -- really since April, the Center for Disease Control here was telling the meat industry everybody in a mask and six feet apart, social distancing. But they're still working shoulder to shoulder and they're still crowded into break rooms and crowded into locker rooms.
And also you need to be able to quarantine when you are sick. And quarantine when you have been exposed. And it was the meat industry that actually asked the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence at the time, to have CDC relax its guidelines so that if you were an exposed worker, you've been exposed to COVID, you could come back to work. and I think that's what led to the enormous spread.
So I think masks, physical distancing, stepped-up sanitation, quarantining when sick and when exposed, and better ventilation I think will make a big difference.
HOLMES: Right. And just quickly and finally, I mean, as you point out, it shows how an agency, an important agency that's responsible for workers lives really, how it can be gutted by an administration.
Do you feel the agency will get its teeth back now?
BERKOWITZ: Oh yes. I think Joe Biden and Kamala Harris took office at 12:01 on Wednesday and on Thursday they issued executive order that essentially did a 180. Agency that had been asleep. The switch has been turned on.
They had been told to start enforcement. They had been told to write mandatory requirements for businesses. It's a new day and I think it will make a world of a difference.
HOLMES: That is great news. The bad news is that it happened in the first place. As you point out, lives were lost.
Debbie Berkowitz with the National Employment Law Project. Thank you so much.
BERKOWITZ: Thank you so much for having me.
HOLMES: We'll take another break. When we come back, the economic toll is growing. How COVID-19 is creating more poverty in Italy while the world's billionaires escape the pain?
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HOLMES: Welcome back.
The coronavirus is dealing a heavy blow to Italy's economy, both the financial cost and the human cost have been very high.
Melissa Bell reports on the new poverty the pandemic has created.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Almost a year since the first lockdown. Much of Italy is still in the grip of restrictive measures across the country as it desperately tries to contain the spread of a new wave of infections.
For the government it's been a challenging balancing act between protecting citizens health and reviving the country's economy.
The human cost of the pandemic in Italy has been very high with more than 80,000 dead. But the economic cost after months of lockdowns is also high.
According to the Bank of Italy, half the families surveyed in the country said their income went down in the spring during the first lockdowns, and in many places things only got worse from there.
TITO BOEN, ECONOMICS PROFESSOR, BOCCONI UNIVERSITY: There has been a change. The people who had been going to the Health Centers. There has been an increase and those will change.
So right now we have way more to Italians than before. Before we're world more -- more Migrants.
BELL: At this supermarket in Rome. Run by the Catholic Church, they held carries out, they help some of those hardest hit.
[01:25:01]
PAOLO CHICIATTI, AD WORKER, CARITAS: This specific period we have received so many calls from a huge variety of people of families. We can say that the specific situation of poverty is connected to the pandemic and impacted (INAUDIBLE) spreading situation of poverty that the spreading of the virus has made the situation even worse.
BELL: According to a report by Caritas, poverty rose during the first three months of the pandemic. The charity says it has seen an increase in the number of people asking for help for the first time.
These are the so-called "New Poor" -- 30 percent of those they helped.
ROBERTA, MOTHER OF FOUR (through translator): We went from a very normal situation like most people to finding ourselves suddenly without work. My husband is on furlough. But the money didn't arrive or it arrived after a very long wait.
And we found ourselves facing extreme difficulties. We have children and a family to take care of. We still have to pay bills and life goes on.
We couldn't manage financially anymore. So we went to the church and asked for help. And they said to come here to the Emporium Supermarket and they help us like this. And we try and go on.
MARIA MARSI, FAIRGROUND WORKER (through translator): Our sector was very hard hit. They shut down all fairs so we were completely out of work. And only have the welfare check to live off. This has been since the summer.
BELL: But there is some hope. Italy is set to get 208 billion euros in loans and grants from the E.U. as part of a recovery package.
BOEN: It's very difficult to see when this will be over because it depends really not from the speed of the vaccine campaign. The vaccine campaign will be extremely fast to be successful.
BELL: The government's first wave slogan promoting resilience have given way to a sense of fatigue with no clear end in sight especially for those struggling to make ends meet.
A return to normality feels a long way away.
Melissa Bell, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Italy is just one example of the wealth inequality that is expanding around the world.
For more on that let's go and have a conversation with John Defterios in Abu Dhabi. You know, I was reading this report. The top 10 wealthiest people could pay the cost of vaccinating everyone on earth.
This is a depressing report. And one to be angry about.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes. I think it's a fair comment, Michael because the disparity between the rich and poor has never been greater. And the number of things that stand out for me, at least in this report, for example, the 1000 billionaires of the world only took 9 months to regain the wealth they lost at the shock of the stock market at the start of a pandemic and that lockdown that we saw.
But it will take 10 years. A decade for those poorest in the world to recover their lost earnings and to stabilize their incomes.
In the United States for example, we see that blacks and Hispanics are suffering particularly more than everyone else because they cannot afford health care and the health care system in the public sector has been hit extremely hard. Just is not surviving the pandemic.
We had the global financial crisis a dozen years ago. This hit primarily the developed world. That's not the case here. Here, everywhere, every corner of the world is suffering equally at the same time.
So again, it's hitting the world's poor. Women unrepresented in the work force in many places around the world. According to OxFam (ph) 112 million are going to be suffering economic losses much more than their male counterparts.
And Michael, we have great progress when it comes to poverty reduction over the last 10 years in particular. We go in reverse.
Oxfam is quoting a report from the United Nations suggesting that a half billion people are going into poverty as a result of the pandemic worldwide.
HOLMES: It is. It is.
They talk about rig the economies funneling wealth to a rich elite who are in the riding out the pandemic in luxury.
Ok. So we are speaking of people who aren't doing well in this pandemic. The big pitch is in for the stimulus bill. That plays into what the report is highlighting, of course.
It does, Michael. This is a $1.9 trillion, it will test the collaboration and the new Biden administration with package. It will test the collaboration in the Biden administration with Congress of course.
We see here that you have the progressive senators. Bernie Sanders for example running the Budget Committee in the senate. We have Elizabeth Warren pushing very hard. Saying we have to focus on those who are the poorest.
The treasury secretary, the former fed chair, Janet Yellen, was suggesting in a hearing last week that we have the package this one to focus on those who are suffering the most. Like small business to regenerate jobs.
[01:54:52] DEFTERIOS: But it's a worrying sign, even the moderate Republicans here like Mitt Romney of Utah are suggesting that we put $3.2 trillion dollars over the last year, can we afford more? Let's take a listen.
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SENATOR MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I think people recognize it's important that we don't borrow hundreds of billions, actually trillions of dollars from the Chinese for things that may not be absolutely necessary. This is a time for us to act with prudence and care. That is why by the way we have two parties. Why we have people looking at one another and make sure there's not some kind of excess that would be not good long term for the American people.
DEFTERIOS: Mitt Romney is suggesting here that our death to DGP, is surging above 130 percent, something that's never happened before. The budget deficit last year, Michael, crossed three trillion dollars that will triple the year before and that was already a high number under Donald Trump.
HOLMES: Absolutely. Good to see you John.
John Defterios in Abu Dhabi, appreciate that.
DEFTERIOS: Thanks.
HOLMES: Now, the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, of course, became an online meme obsession last weekend. Now he is using the moment to, of course, do some good.
Sanders green jacket, mittens, and dure posture at president Joe Biden's inauguration took social media, and the Internet, by storm.
Let's show you a couple. Creatives inserted Sanders image into famous movies, and iconic pop culture scenes.
While Sanders team made sweatshirts with that photo, and they have already sold out. The proceeds, going to Vermont's meals on wheels food charity program.
They say they are blown away by the support they received from Sanders, and people around the country.
Bernie sanders sense of humor doing good.
Thanks for watching everyone. I'm Michael Holmes.
Appreciate you spending part of your day with me. I will have another hour, if you can stand it of CNN NEWSROOM, in just a moment.
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