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DHS Advisory: Domestic Terrorist Attacks A Real Possibility; Supply and Inequitable Vaccine Distribution Slows World's Recovery; U.S. makes sweeping changes to climate change response; January deadliest month since start of pandemic; WHO Team Begins Investigating Virus Origin in Wuhan; Boris Johnson's History of Pandemic U-Turns; White House Monitoring GameStop Trading; Wild Salmon Fight the Current; National Debate Over Safety of Schools Reopening. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 28, 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]
JOHN VAUSE, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, everyone. Wherever you are around the world, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
And in the hour to come.
Storming the U.S. Capitol may have just been the beginning. Security officials warning homegrown extremists are likely plotting more deadly attacks.
What was seen as the silver bullet in the pandemic, a COVID vaccine, is being stymied worldwide by distribution problems.
Low supply, or in many cases, no supply.
Climate crisis catch-up, U.S. president Joe Biden announces sweeping new measures making up for lost time and damage done by the one-term climate denier-in-chief.
For the first time, security officials in the U.S. have used a federal alert system normally reserved for international terror threats. Warning of a growing risk from homegrown extremists who are described as angry about the presidential election and fueled by conspiracy theories.
And they could be planning more violent attacks.
CNN's Brian Todd reports now from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: (Noise)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An ominous warning from the department of homeland security, in the wake of the assault on the Capitol.
A threat bulletin saying anti-government violent extremist groups opposed to the transition of power -- "could continue to mobilize to incite or commit violence in the coming weeks."
CHARLES MARINO, FORMER U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ADVISER: What soft locations across the country may be targeted by these folks? Does it include critical infrastructure, does it include houses of worship?
We need to be prepared for all threats against -- across a multitude of venues in this country.
TODD: Another distressing line in the homeland security bulletin. A concern that domestic violent extremists --
-- "may be emboldened by the January 6th breach of the Capitol to target elected officials."
Multiple sources also telling CNN there's growing concern about the safety of some lawmakers when they travel outside of Washington D.C.
REP. ROSA DELAURO, (D-CONN.): I think there is truth to that and they feel emboldened. You will continue to see National Guard in Washington D.C. because there is the continued view that the threat lingers.
TODD: Democratic Rosa DeLauro was among lawmakers briefed behind closed doors by the acting Capitol Hill police chief, Yogananda Pittman, who told them her department knew beforehand that there was a strong chance of violence targeting congress but did not take appropriate action to stop it.
DELAURO: I shook my head in disbelief. The question is why wasn't it and acted on, who made the decisions about not moving forward with a greater sense of preparation for what turned out to be thousands of people at the Capitol, breaching the Capitol?
CROWD: (Noise)
TODD: Questions that DeLauro told us were answered at that briefing.
We also spoke with Democratic congressman Matt Cartwright, who was in the same briefing.
REP. MATT CARTWRIGHT, (D-PA.): If not for pure dumb luck, there's no doubt that members of congress and staffers and more Capitol police probably would have been killed.
And there's new information on the toll on police officers from the attack.
Acting D.C. police chief, Robert Contee, told congress two officers, one from his department, one from the Capitol Hill police took their own lives in the aftermath of the riots.
CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Everyone who played a part in trying to put down the insurrection certainly paid a price for that. Whether being physically harmed, the psychological damage that's caused by something like that. The more you think about it, the more it starts to really kind of weigh on you
TODD: New information on charges. Including a father and son from San Antonio who were in Washington for a birthday celebration charged with entering a restricted building and disorderly conduct.
And the FBI says Trump supporter, Ian Rogers, from California was charged after investigators discovered five pipe at his home and dozens of weapons and texts indicating he wanted to attack places associated with Democrats.
He's not believed to be connected to the pipe bombs left near the Capitol on January 6th. His lawyer denies the accusations.
Meanwhile, the federal government has just indicted three members of the far-right militia group, the Oathkeepers, on multiple charges including conspiracy in connection with the January 6th riot of the Capitol. The first significant conspiracy indictments in the investigation.
[01:05:00]
The prosecutors say the three defendants planned and coordinated the attack in advance. The defendants have not yet responded to those charges formally.
TODD (On Camera): Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Joining us now, Elizabeth Neumann, assistant secretary of homeland security during the Trump Administration and now the co- director of the Republican Accountability Project. And boy, that sounds like a big project.
Good to see you, Elizabeth. Thanks for being with us.
ELIZABETH NEUMANN, CO-DIRECTOR, THE REPUBLICAN ACCOUNTABILITY PROJECT: Thanks for having me, John.
BIDEN: OK. It's important to note this is an advisory from homeland security, it's not an alert. But that in itself is remarkable but not entirely surprising given that national security officials have been warning for years that there is a growing domestic terror threat within the U.S., right?
NEUMANN: That's correct. We have seen this problem on the rise for many years. And when you take a step back and look at the data, it's been on the rise for 10 years, it wasn't maybe as apparent to us until about two or three years ago.
But this is an excellent overdue step that DHS took today.
VAUSE: So with that in mind, listen to FBI director, Christopher Wray, at a senate hearing back in 2019. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRISTOPHER WRAY, FBI DIRECTOR: A majority of the domestic terrorism cases that we have investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call white supremacist violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And from your time serving in the Trump Administration, did Donald Trump ever show sort of any concern over this domestic terrorism threat? Was there any indication that he thought it was a national priority or a risk to national security?
NEUMANN: No. In fact, there were several attempts by Secretary Kelly, by Secretary Nielsen, by myself to my colleagues at the White House and while you -- there were some empathy or understanding by certain White House staff that this was important, they seemed to understand that the president was never -- sorry, let me clarify, President Trump was never going to go after this.
So they would talk about things about preventing violence but never domestic terrorism. And they certainly wouldn't call out white supremacy directly.
VAUSE: Did they ever explain why it was something that the president -- or then president, Donald Trump, would never go after it?
NEUMANN: Not directly. Reading between the lines it seemed to be a combination of factors.
One, I think he appreciated that they were somewhat loyal to him, that they liked him, and he has a tendency to not criticize people that support him. So I think that was one aspect to it.
He also has a tendency any time he gets criticized -- which you might remember with the Charlottesville episode, he got criticized for saying there were good people on both sides. And he has this tendency when he gets confronted with hey, you shouldn't have said that to double down as opposed to say yes, that's not what I meant to say.
VAUSE: Right.
NEUMANN: So there was a variety of factors at play. Bottom line, he should have done something, he should have said something, he refused to do it.
VAUSE: And with that in mind, here's a little more from that DHS bulletin about the domestic terrorists motivated according to this FBI advisory by a number of factors --
"including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, police use of force, long-standing racial and ethnic tension including opposition to immigration."
So, in other words, it's your garden variety Donald Trump Make America Great again rally. It seems just catered to his supporters.
NEUMANN: Yes. And sadly, that's true. That all this document or this bulletin was doing was documenting the threat that been assessed for quite some time.
If you go back to an October 2019 -- or sorry, 2020 assessment, the homeland threat assessment, it also noted that domestic violence extremists might be motivated to carry out attacks based on all of the factors you just listed.
So this isn't new. It's just the previous administration didn't seem to think it important to warn the public about this threat environment we're operating in.
VAUSE: Just quickly. "USA Today" published an op-ed you wrote with a colleague on why Republicans should now be held accountable. And this is part of your argument.
"Republican leaders are suddenly preaching the importance of unity and healing. The first step toward recovery is repentance and accepting responsibility for their role. There can be no unity without truth and accountability."
The problem, it seems right now, for the Republican Party, is that the domestic terrorists, the QAnon nut jobs, the conspiracy theories, they're the base. The Republican Party made the deal with the devil and now they've got to pay the price.
NEUMANN: Yes. It's really -- it's frustrating from a security perspective, it's also frustrating from a political perspective.
Look, not everybody that voted for Donald Trump, 74 million Americans, the preponderance of them are good people, they voted for him because of policy beliefs that he was the best candidate based on their policy positions.
[01:10:00]
But there is a sizable portion that have gotten stuck or trapped in QAnon or have started to get entangled with white supremacist ideology -- maybe not in the movement itself but starting to head in that direction.
And it's a dangerous place for these people to be. They're very vulnerable right now, now that their president -- the president that they thought was going to take office on January 20th didn't.
They feel hurt, they feel deceived and they could be recruited by some of these darker forces like neo-Nazis and anti-government extremists. So it's a very particularly dangerous moment.
And we really need Republicans, elected Republicans, to come out and tell the truth. The election was not stolen, apologize if they were part of the big lie and vote to convict Trump. Convict the person that was the big leader behind these movements that led to the violence on January 6th.
That would go a long way to reducing some of the vulnerable individuals that might be toying with darker extremist elements.
VAUSE: It would go a long way. But there have not been too much profiles in courage on the Republican side of late. We can hope.
Elizabeth, thank you for being with us. We really appreciate it.
NEUMANN: Thanks so much for having me, John.
VAUSE: Well, the European Union and AstraZeneca are locked in a public disagreement over vaccine supplies.
The pharmaceutical company told the E.U. that production problems could see a significant fall in vaccine deliveries in the coming weeks.
The European Commission had ordered 400 million doses to roll out as soon as the vaccine was approved by regulators, possibly this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STELLA KYRIAKIDES, E.U. HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Not being able to ensure manufacturing capacity is against the letter and the spirit of our agreement. We reject the logic of first come, first served.
That may work at the neighborhood butchers but not in contracts and not in our advance purchase agreements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: First come, first served refers to the U.K. getting more of the AstraZeneca vaccine because it was quicker to approve it and finalize orders.
AstraZeneca's CEO told an Italian newspaper it's deal with the E.U. was not a contractual commitment but a -- we'll do our best.
The scale of the shortfall at this stage is unclear.
The U.S. says it will be months before every American who wants a vaccine can easily get one.
Still, the Biden Administration says it's taking action to increase the supply and pledged to ship out vaccine doses as states order them.
CNN's Erica Hill has details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Push for more clarity on vaccines, this dose of reality.
ANDY SLAVITT, SR. ADVISER TO WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: Any stockpile that may have existed previously no longer exists.
HILL: Bottom line, shots for most Americans still months away.
JEFF ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Anything we can do to increase the vaccine supply and the timing of the delivery is on the table. HILL: Even with a small bump in distribution to states --
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: I think that the Biden team actually needs to be setting their goals to be even more ambitious.
HILL: -- it's not just supply issues.
DR. CHARLES DEL RIO, EMORY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE & GRADY HEALTH SYSTEM: We need to make sure that we get vaccines to the right people. We're vaccinating more white, wealthy individuals and, in fact, the disease is more in poor African American and Hispanic individuals.
Whites getting vaccinated at nearly twice the rate of Blacks and Latinos, according to a new CNN analysis.
Fast spreading, potentially more deadly variants also top of mind.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, U.S. CDC DIRECTOR: They're more transmissible which can lead to an increased number of cases and increased stress on our already taxed health care system.
HILL: The U.S. is still lagging when it comes to identifying new mutations.
ZIENTS: Forty-third in the world in genomic sequencing, totally unacceptable.
HILL: Nationwide, new cases in 17 states and D.C. down 20 percent or more in the last week. In California, they've dropped 37 percent.
And yet, the U.S. is still posting huge numbers overall. More than 166,000 new cases a day.
WILLIAM HASELTINE, FORMER PROFESSOR, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: Mitigation is absolutely essential while we wait for the majority of the population to be vaccinated.
HILL: While hospitalizations are moving in the right direction, deaths are not. The nation reporting an average of more than 3,300 a day. January now the deadliest month since the pandemic began.
WALENSKY: If we continue on the current trajectory, the CDC most recent national ensemble forecast predicts that 479,000 to 514,000, COVID-19 deaths will be reported by February 20th, 2021.
HILL: In terms of this bump in vaccine supplies, state and local officials are starting to tell us what that could mean for them.
Here in New York City, Mayor Bill De Blasio is now expecting an additional 17,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine next week. He says that's about 30 percent increase for that particular vaccine. He says he still more but he's quote, really happy about it.
Fact is they're going to need a lot more than 17,000 additional doses if they want to open the planned mass vaccination site behind me. HILL (On Camera): In New York, Erica Hill, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Anne Rimoin is a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA school of public health. And she is with us from Los Angeles.
Professor, good to have you with us. Thank you for being --
DR. ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY: Thank you.
VAUSE: -- taking the time.
Now apparently vaccinating everyone on the planet is not easy. Along with the problems in the U.S. with the distribution, "The New York Times" is now reporting --
"The European Union, stung by slow progress of vaccinations, threatened this week to tighten rules on the shipment of Belgian made shots to Britain.
British lawmakers, in turn, have accused their European counterparts of a blackmail campaign that could embitter relations for a generation."
And all this, really, it's First World problems -- and I mean that literally because there's also the issue of poorer nations and vaccines.
Here's an official from the World Health Organization.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Even as the first vaccines begin to be deployed, the problem of equitable access is at serious risk.
We now face the real danger that even as vaccines bring hope to those in wealthy countries, much of the world could be left behind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: I was just trying to think of the best way to put this. Is it essentially a case that no country is 100 percent immune from the coronavirus until every country is immune?
RIMOIN: John, we've talked about this before when we were thinking about the early stages of this pandemic. And I think if anything we can say here is that an infection anywhere is an infection everywhere today.
So we know we're all concerned in our own countries about doing the right thing for our own populations but we are in an interconnected world. And if we don't solve the problem of vaccination and controlling this virus globally, we are destined to continue to see waves of infection. And so I think it's very important we think about vaccine equity not only locally but thinking about it globally. It's a critical issue.
VAUSE: It just seems that for the wealthy countries, for the Europeans, the British, the Americans, there's so much focus now on just getting it right domestically, no one's thinking big picture.
RIMOIN: You're absolutely right. And when you think about what's been happening -- and we're watching this pandemic continue and these waves with new variants where we're seeing, in particular, the South African variant that is also starting to spread throughout Africa, we're starting to see rates, mortality rates increase, in Africa and they're starting to be similar to other countries.
I just think that we have to remember too that these countries are Western countries that are starting to buy up all of the vaccine.
I think I read a statistic that something like 16 -- that a few small countries are taking up the vast 60 percent of all of the vaccine available. We have to be thinking globally, we are an interconnected world.
VAUSE: Yes. I think it said like 16 percent of the countries have 60 percent of vaccines or something like that.
RIMOIN: That's what I saw.
VAUSE: Yes. But I want you to listen to the governor of Colorado on the pace of vaccinations in his state even with the increased doses which were announced by the Biden Administration. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JARED POLIS (D-COLO.): We'll have to run the exact math but we'll be talking about approximately 100,000 doses for the following weeks.
Still, just a small step in the ramp up and we certainly hope that there's several times that level of doses the beginning of March.
It's going to take an awfully long time, at these levels, to end the pandemic.
VAUSE: And that's the point. This is a painfully slow timeline and the longer it takes to vaccinate, the more time the virus has to mutate.
And doesn't that give more time for a new variant which could possibly be -- the vaccines could be ineffective against?
RIMOIN: Well, absolutely. We're going to see -- we're literally in a race against the variants here. So we need to be ramping up vaccinations any way that we can, we need to be throwing the kitchen sink at it.
It's really great we're going to start seeing these new syringes which are going to pull doses, pull additional doses out of every vial, fantastic. We need to start getting more vaccinators out there.
We need to be finding every solution we can to get more vaccines in arms, as quickly as we can. I would love to see 24-hour a day vaccination sites.
I would like to see vaccination made easy and not hard for people to access throughout the states, throughout the world -- globally, of course. But if we're talking about the U.S. right now, we really need to be ramping this up.
And I think that we cannot be waiting to be chasing behind these -- we're constantly behind these viruses, we need to be getting in front of it.
BIDEN: Just very quickly. When it comes to supply, it seems there's a lot of focus on the Moderna Pfizer one with its 95 percent efficacy. But the Trump Administration bought 300 million doses of AstraZeneca.
[01:20:00]
Why isn't that being rolled out and being targeted for maybe younger, healthier people who don't need quite the 90 percent efficacy? Because AstraZeneca's about 70 percent effective.
RIMOIN: Well, that's a really good question. There's still some research to be done on the AstraZeneca vaccine that's being -- I think we're finishing up our research here in the United States.
But I think it's going to be really important to be expediting this, to be -- as soon as we really understand this vaccine is to be starting to get it out.
The other thing is that we should be having data on the Janssen vaccine, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, very soon. And that's going to be a game-changer.
That's a single dose vaccine, it doesn't require a significant cold chain like the other vaccines do, the Moderna and the Pfizer do. And so I think that we're going to be -- if we can get that vaccine out and into arms, that is going to make a big difference.
VAUSE: Yes. Anne, thank you so much. Professor Anne Rimoin in Los Angeles. Always good to have you with us. Thank you.
RIMOIN: My pleasure.
VAUSE: Take care. Well, it's raining executive orders at the White House on climate change. Coming up. President Biden -- sorry about that -- catching up to the rest of world in the battle against climate change.
And later this hour. Wall Street investors who bet on GameStop stock falling -- well, they had a nasty surprise and it came from amateur traders.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) VAUSE: Well, the U.S. President, Joe Biden, is making good on another campaign pledge. Reprioritizing the fight against climate change.
He signed a sweeping series of executive actions on Wednesday including a pause on new oil and gas leases on federal lands and water, an effort to double production from offshore winds by 2030 and calls for federal agencies to consider climate change when making national security and foreign policy decisions. Actions President Biden says are long overdue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've already waited too long to deal with this climate crisis. We can't wait any longer. We see it with their own eyes, we feel it, we know it in our bones. And it's time to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Laura Helmuth is editor-in-chief of "Scientific American," and she is with us this hour from Washington.
Laura, it's been a while. Welcome back to the show.
LAURA HELMUTH, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, "SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN": Oh, thank you so much. It's great to be here.
VAUSE: OK. What's been noticeable in the White House over the past week, and it was again the case on Wednesday, is this president's emphasis on following science, trusting experts.
Here he is, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Finally, as with our fight against COVID-19, we will listen to the science and protect the integrity of our federal response to the climate crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: This is what editors, your co-editors at "Scientific American" have been calling for. And in many ways I'm wondering if the part of Trump's legacy, the reality denial part, could that be the most damaging in the long term? Because restoring trust is never easy.
HELMUTH: Yes. Oh, that's absolutely right. Today was a huge day for climate and science.
[01:25:00]
Biden established a bunch of new task forces, new counsels. There was a flurry of activity that might sound a little bureaucratic but it really made a lot of progress towards giving a voice to experts, hiring new people -- personnel is policy in some ways -- so we made a lot of progress. And the memorandum on the issue was called "A Memorandum On Restoring
Trust In Government Through Scientific Integrity And Evidence-Based Policymaking."
So he's making a big commitment at the very beginning to saying that trust is important and the way to establish trust is basically through the principles of science which is transparency, showing your work, showing where you got the evidence that you're using to making policies.
So it's a big step. And we hope this will undo some of the damage of the misinformation that we've seen in the past.
VAUSE: Biden has also appointed the former secretary of state, John Kerry, as climate czar. And Kerry's now dealing with the impact of the Trump Administration's non-existent climate policy.
Here's John Kerry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, SPECIAL PRESIDENTIAL ENVOY ON CLIMATE CHANGE: There are a lot of challenges right now where, sadly, all of them were exacerbated by the last four years. Now we have to try to make up for that.
And that is a hard pull but this president is capable of doing it and he's putting together a great team that I think can help him do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Here's the thing. If the Trump Administration had done nothing to address the climate crisis over four years, that would be bad enough. It seems that they've enacted policies and rolled back Obama era programs and regulations which were, in many cases, very effective.
So how can the U.S. make up for lost time? How much damage has been done?
HELMUTH: Yes, that's right. The Biden Administration has to undo Trump's damage, make up for lost time and then do even more than they would've had to because the climate crisis just keeps getting worse. And the longer you wait, the slower you are, the more extreme actions you have to take.
But one of the points Kerry made today is that it's a lot more expensive to not act on climate than it is to do everything we can right now to slow down climate change. So yes, there's a lot of damage to undo.
VAUSE: We've constantly heard over the last four years from many conservatives, many Republicans from the White House, is that this climate action is going to cost trillions of dollars and it's just not worth it, it's going to kill the economy, it's going to kill jobs.
Biden actually went out of his way to make the point that's not the case, in fact, it's quite the opposite.
Here he is again. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: When I think of climate change, I think of -- and the answers to it -- I think of jobs.
A key plank of our Build Back Better recovery plan is building a modern, resilient climate infrastructure and clean energy future that will create millions of good-paying union jobs. Not 7, 8, 10, $12 an hour but prevailing wage and benefits.
We can put millions of Americans to work modernizing our water systems, transportation, our energy infrastructure to withstand the impacts of extreme climate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: What's really noticeable is that they're taking every crisis, it seems, because they're all interconnected and dealing with them all almost as one, all at the same time. And that seems to be this whole government, this holistic approach.
But that, getting that word out that climate action does not cost people jobs, it's going to create jobs. Is that going to be one of the hardest sells of all --
HELMUTH: Yes --
VAUSE: -- to convince people that's true? Yes.
HELMUTH: Yes, it's a really interesting approach and it's a smart approach. And I don't think he's just trying to sugarcoat what's going to be a difficult climate effort.
The data are there. There are many more jobs in renewable energy than in fossil fuel extraction or fossil fuel processing now. It's a much bigger industry, there's much more growth potential.
And also when you're working on a solar farm, you don't get black lung disease. It's a better lifestyle, it's better for people to have these jobs versus the old fashioned ones that were going away anyhow because of economic reasons that are independent of environmental concerns.
VAUSE: Laura, we're out of time, we'll leave it there. But good to see you and thank you for being with us. We appreciate your insights.
HELMUTH: Thank you so much. Thanks for covering all this.
VAUSE: Oh, it's our pleasure. Take care.
Washington has put on hold a pending sale of military weapons to both Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The move is not unexpected; the incoming Biden Administration wants to review both deals.
The Trump White House pushed through a number of armed sales to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi including 50 Stealth F-35 jets.
Well, still to come. Amateur traders say they're turning the screws on the Wolves of Wall Street. But how long can they bolster of a struggling video game stop actually last? What happens when the GameStop bubble bursts?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:32:18]
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm John Vause.
A group of international health experts are now in Wuhan, China. That's the original epicenter of the COVID outbreak. They've just finished their time in quarantine and they will soon start an investigation into the origins of the coronavirus.
CNN's Steven Jiang following all of this from Beijing.
You know, it's been what -- over a year since this first came on the scene, and only now this international team is actually getting a look at Wuhan. And I guess it raises the question of how much help or how much cooperation will there be from the officials in Wuhan.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, that is a big question. Now, we haven't seen these experts emerge from their quarantine hotel to start field study just yet. But that is our understanding and expectation.
Now, during their quarantine, some members have been telling CNN that they have been communicating between themselves via video links, but also with their Chinese counterparts. And they're also keenly aware this whole mission long delayed is now under a global spotlight for all the reasons you just laid out, but they say they are scientists, not politicians. So they're trying to focus purely on science.
And they're also, of course, trying to manage expectations, really pointing out that some studies into origins of other outbreaks may have taken years to complete, so they may not have answers or conclusions anytime soon.
And indeed, many outside experts have been very skeptical in terms of what they can find actually because as you mentioned, it's been a year since Wuhan was placed under that strict lockdown. And the city has been repeatedly deep cleaned and disinfected, really stripped clean of any traces of this virus.
So, it's very doubtful they will be able to collect any firsthand or first live evidence. But still even before this mission began, the U.S. delegation to the WHO has demanded China to give them access to caregivers, former patients, and lab workers as well as to share all scientific studies into animal human and environmental samples collected from that now closed seafood market which was suspected to be the origin of this outbreak in Beijing.
But of course, China has pushed back such claims (INAUDIBLE) and actually Beijing, as you know, has been pushing on their own multiple origin theory that they claim this virus may have emerged from multiple locations around the world even before the outbreak happened in Wuhan in late 2019.
And some senior officials have even been pushing this really unfounded claim that this virus may have emerged from a U.S. military run lab in Maryland.
So all of this is really making this a highly political charged issue, and we may not have an answer anytime soon, John.
[01:34:59]
VAUSE: Well, there we go. Yes, I guess this is how things work. Steven, thank you. Steven Jiang there in Beijing.
Well, with the United Kingdom's pandemic death toll north of 100,000 some critics say the prime minister's habit of making last-minute decisions and suddenly reversing them is a big part of the problem.
CNN's Nic Robertson reports now from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I am deeply sorry for every life that has been lost, and of course, as prime minister I take full responsibility for everything that the government has done.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): More than 100,000 dead. U.K. PM Boris Johnson's credibility under fire. Questions piling up.
KEIR STARMER, BRITISH OPPOSITION LEADER: The question on everyone's lips this morning is why? So, could he tell us why he thinks that the United Kingdom has ended up with a death toll of 100,000 the highest number in Europe?
Mr. Speaker --
ROBERTSON: Wednesday, Johnson dodging that question, but bending to weeks of pressure to quarantine Brits arriving from 30 different nations -- a U-turn.
JOHNSON: We will require all such arrivals who cannot be refused entry to isolate in government provided accommodation.
ROBERTSON: A year into the pandemic, Johnson's COVID-19 track record is littered with reversals. The oppositions say it cost lives.
STARMER: It's a damning indictment of how the government has handled this pandemic. Repeating the mistakes over and over again.
ROBERTSON: Johnson's first U-turn, at the beginning of the pandemic. JOHNSON: We can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks --
ROBERTSON: Four days later forced to declare a national lockdown.
JOHNSON: You must stay at home.
ROBERTSON: Johnson's optimism often preceding climb-downs.
JOHNSON: We will have a test track and trace operation that will be world beating, and yes it will be in place -- it will be in place by June the 1st.
ROBERTSON: For months, and much criticism later, finally admitting shortcomings.
JOHNSON: I share people's frustrations, and I understand totally why we do need to see faster turnaround times, and we do need to improve it.
ROBERTSON: Johnson's defense? He follows government scientists advice.
JOHNSON: When the data changes, of course, we must change course, too.
ROBERTSON: Some reversals, more humiliating than others.
U.K. soccer star Marcus Rashford helping humble the PM into a hasty U- turn on free school meals.
Johnson's Christmas U-turn came next.
JOHNSON: We don't want to, as I say, to ban Christmas, to cancel it.
ROBERTSON: Days later, a new variant and runaway infections, Johnson effectively spiking Christmas plans for millions.
JOHNSON: And as prime minister, it's my duty to take difficult decisions. I must tell you, we cannot continue with Christmas as planned.
ROBERTSON: In 2021, critics say some lessons still not learned. The U- turns continue.
January 3rd, telling parents to send their children to school.
JOHNSON: Schools are safe -- very, very important to stress that. The threats to, the risk to kids, to young people, is really very, very, very small.
ROBERTSON: Next day, shuttering schools in another national lockdown. Something he'd previously called a last resort, nuclear option.
JOHNSON: Primary schools, secondary schools, and colleges across England must move to remote permit provision from tomorrow.
ROBERTSON: Where Johnson is building back some credibility is the U.K.'s vaccination program. More than seven million people have received first doses so far. Better than any other European nation.
But with a death toll still peaking, it's buying him no respite from his critics, even as he announces schools could reopen March 8th.
Nic Robertson, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Wall Street finished in the red Wednesday. The Dow was down more than 2 percent, the biggest fall since October, that's after the U.S. Federal reserve offered a cautious and uncertain economic outlook because of COVID.
Weak earnings to report from Boeing and Tesla -- were also a factor. Even to take (INAUDIBLE) and Facebook and Apple to be hit.
One stock in particular has been on a real tear at the same time, it's causing some real economic pain for those professional traders.
GameStop is a holdover from the 1990s. these days are mostly chopping mall, the company had been struggling during the pandemic, It's stock prices falling, and hedge funds and short sellers moving in to the kill, ready for further declines.
[01:39:58]
VAUSE: But the best laid plans and all of that -- well amateur investors on the online platform Reddit, came together to essentially save the company. They've been driving up GameStop share price more than 400 percent since Friday. Let's go to John Defterios live in Abu Dhabi, I think, For more on this. So John -- Abu Dhabi there you are.
You know, this has been going on for about a month or so. But it's certainly causing a lot of pain and rattled Wall Street to a very big degree. I guess, the question, is this the new -- is this the new reality? Have day traders and short sellers -- have they met their match with this group of kids on the Internet? Assuming their kids.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKET EDITOR: Well, it has in 2021, I think, John. It's almost populist fervor here with the day traders against Wall Street. It's almost movie-like material, if you think about it.
You talked about this 400 percent gain in a span of just a couple of trading days, when the market was down, by the way, yesterday.
But we have seen it up 1,700 percent since the start of 2021. So in less than a month. And as you suggested, GameStop is kind of old school because it's bricks and mortar, right? They sell gaming consoles and software within malls primarily and everything is moved online.
Well, the day traders are using this Wall Street Bets page on Reddit, have two million's followers and they're just going against the hedge funds which are short sellers, they're actually taking positions, betting that the stock is going to fall and that has been reversed.
And it's not just limited, by the way, to this one company. This is starting to spread to other companies that have suffered during the pandemic. AMC Entertainment which is a cinema chain, of course, not getting people attending. Blackberry which is out of favor in Silicon Valley kind of have run away from the herd there past, and nobody wants us to support it. That's not the case now.
Macy's, the retailer, which has suffered, not made the transition, can't compete against Amazon. But John, I've seen these things in kind of the last 30 years, the merry-go-round kind of spins around, everyone is on to the party.
At some point it will stop. It will be quite nasty but right now it's two million day traders against the Wall Street titans, and the day traders are winning.
VAUSE: You've got to feel good for them, actually. I guess the question though is, you know, is there a need for regulation here? If this goes clearly if this sort of goes beyond where it's at right now, then someone's going to get hurt, I guess. Someone's going to pay a price.
DEFTERIOS: Well, there's nothing illegal about it, so how do you regulate something that people are just participating in online, and saying that we are doing what those short sellers were doing?
So it's kind of a clash against the titans, and those on Main Street, if you will. But it's such a big story in the United States that reached into the White House yesterday, a question raised. And here's the answer from the White House press secretary Jen Psaki, who made reference to the treasury secretary Janet Yellen, perhaps monitoring this and may have to respond. Let's take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Our team is, of course -- our economic team including secretary Yong and others who are monitoring the situation. It's a good reminder, though, that the stock market isn't the only measure of the health of our economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS: And we even have those on Capitol Hill, We have Senator Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez who represents the Bronx as a congresswoman. They're all saying this was a casino on Wall Street, and I have no sympathy for those who are suffering right now in having to borrow to stay alive, John.
VAUSE: Yes. We used to talk about China's stock market being a casino but Wall Street is looking like a casino these days as well.
DEFTERIOS: I remember. I remember. Yes --
VAUSE: Good times.
John, thank you. John Defterios in Abu Dhabi. Appreciate it.
Next up on CNN NEWSROOM answering the call to earth. How a hatchery in North America is trying to stop wild Atlantic salmon numbers from shrinking. And why it matters.
[01:43:35]
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VAUSE: Well "Call to Earth" is a call to action for the environment, we share solutions to critical issues like global warming, deforestation and plastic waste.
It's a long term priority for CNN and we want to work with you our audience to drive awareness and inspire change so we can have a sustainable future.
Well, today we look at a hatchery in Maine hoping to recover populations of an essential species, wild Atlantic salmon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Atlantic salmon. Over the course of its lifetime it will travel from its birthplace in the rivers flowing into the North Atlantic. Up north as far as Greenland and back again to lay their eggs.
It's an epic journey, but the majestic salmon run may become a thing of the past. In the U.S., the Atlantic salmon is federally endangered. Pollution and pesticides has severely affected the river habitat.
But there's one thing more than any other, that has devastated their numbers.
DWAYNE SHAW, DOWNEAST SALMON FEDERATION: Dams were the primary and remain the primary issue. And those dams could be as small as a culvert at a road crossing that the salmon just can't get up and over.
10 to 15 years, we could see these fish gone from the planet forever, if we don't move to action.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dwayne Shaw (ph) manages the Downeast Salmon Federation Hatcheries in Maine.
SHAW: Over 200 years in the United States there have been attempts made to maintain, restore and perpetuate the Atlantic salmon. There has been many, many failures. We've adopted the technique developed by Peter Gray. And as it turns out it's working quite well for us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Peter Gray ran hatchery on the Tine River in North Umberland, U.K. when he started, the river was heavily polluted and dammed, the salmon population was almost nonexistent.
Peter's unique methodology alongside habitat restoration and pollution reduction contributed to one of the biggest salmon recovery success stories in Europe. SHAW: Peter developed a technique overtime, that naturalized the
hatchery methods, such that the fish were treated more like a wild fish and less like a farmed creature.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Based on peter's methodology, the Downeast Hatcheries try and rear their salmon eggs in conditions that match their natural environment, including using river water, dark bottom tanks and positioning the hatchery on the river of origin.
But there is a strong debate around hatcheries, which many facilities thought to do more harm than good to salmon populations.
PAUL KNIGHT, THE SALMON AND TROUT ASSOCIATION: The science says that hatchery reared fish are not as strong as wild fish. Like for instance in U.S.A. where wild stocks of salmon are so low, really the only way to be (INAUDIBLE) to get those stocks back is to have salmon hatcheries.
So it is a balance, stocking to restore your stocks then stop at the time when you can let nature take its course and you don't damage those stocks is the message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're keeping the hatchery manager out of the picture as much as possible. With the intent of actually closing the hatchery as soon as possible. If we were we're to do nothing this fish would quickly move towards extinction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Success is measured by finding the eggs of adult salmon returning to the river and linking their genetics to those of the hatchery fish.
SHAW: We're seeing as much as 20 times the return rate. That gives us hope that in fact we can turn things around much more quickly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Conserving salmon does so much more than save the species, it's an umbrella species. Protecting salmon helps all life in its habitat.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Salmon is the ultimate natural indicator of health in the water environment, both in freshwater and the sea. If salmon are running in abundance, then things are okay.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And we'll continue to report stories like that, as part of our initiative and let us know what you're doing to answer the call with the hashtag "call to earth".
You're watching CNN. We'll be back in a moment.
[01:49:51]
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VAUSE: Well less than six months now until the start of the Tokyo Olympics and the IOC president says he's fully committed to staging a safe and successful summer games.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BACH? We are not speculating of whether the games are taking place. We are working on how, the games will take place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So if the IOC is working with Japan's gov't and the World Health organization: to try to keep thousands of athletes, Officials and visitors SAFE FROM COVID 19.
Teams arrive 5 days before the first competition and once they get there they can expect strict contact tracing and testing every 4 days.
The fifth largest school district in the United States is bringing students back to the classrooms after an alarming rise in student suicides.
Nevada's Clark County School system which includes Las Vegas has been fully remote learning since March last year. In the nine month since 19 students have taken their own lives.
The year before there were nine suicides. There's no evidence of a direct link between the death and remote learning, school officials are worried.
Clark County school superintendent spoke with CNN's Chris Cuomo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESUS F. JARA, CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA: When you see that everything has gone to the isolation, the self isolation at home. Not saying I was a former high school. Everything has closed down, you know, the athletics, the sports and that's keeps the kids engaged in our school and you see them in virtual classroom, you know, I substituted a class myself to see and when you are looking into the screen, all you're seeing are numbers because they're not turning on their cameras. It's like you're talking to the black hole.
And your missing that social interaction with students. Our teachers are struggling, we all are. And you know as adults, when you're coming in here and trying to figure things out about how to get our kids safe and our campuses -- it's hard on me.
So then I think about a 15 year old, I think about a 14 year old going through to the computer all day long and the without a break with the lunchroom, the getting on the bus, the normal things in life for them, that's why we are doing everything we can to help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It's a very different debate though raging in Chicago were teachers unions has told its members to strike if they choose to continue teaching online and the school system retaliate against them.
Omar Jimenez reports it's an issue being argued up and down the country.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are you as a teacher prepared to strike if necessary.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am.
JIMENEZ: Laurie Torres is a Spanish teacher and the Chicago elementary destructive? And in the middle of a battle between what she sees as her livelihood and her life.
A Chicago school the nation's third largest school district is pushing to have kindergarten through eight great student return in person to the classroom.
But as it stand right now, you don't feel the school district is doing enough.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't, I need to worry about not just what my students are facing, but also what my family that I take a step back and consider me.
JIMENEZ: But Chicago school district says it has put in place safety strategies like masking smaller class sizes, hand sanitizing stations, air purifiers and daily screening for the thousands of pre-k and special education students, who were able to return weeks ago.
[01:54:56]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To date we have not had to close a single due to outbreaks of COVID-19.
JIMENEZ: That's not enough for Torres and the Chicago Teachers' Union, which this week voted to stay in remote learning just as the district was getting ready to reopen.
The union demanding vaccinations and mass testing for students and staff among other things before teachers set foot back in the classroom, a goal President Biden laid out in his first few days in office.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need testing for teachers as well as students. We need the capacity -- the capacity to know that in fact the circumstance in the school is safe and secure for everyone.
JIMENEZ: But the president and his team are walking a political tightrope. On one hand claiming to support the science of COVID-19 which as chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci has said for months --
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER: Close the bars and keep the schools open.
JIMENEZ: -- shows very little risk of transition and brick and mortar schools. While on the other hand wanting to support teachers unions.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you think that the unions in many cases are overruling what's the studies show?
RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I don't think unions are overruling studies. I think what you're seeing is the schools that haven't made the investments to keep the students safe.
And most of teachers I talk to, they want to be back in the classroom. They just want to know that it's safe --
JIMENEZ: And it's not just Chicago dealing with this issue.
This week in Montclare (ph), New Jersey, just outside New York City, a similar fight plans to reopen schools scrapped when teachers refused to return.
In West Virginia, one of the state's largest teachers unions is suing the board of education which voted unanimously to resume in-person learning by the end of the month.
In Los Angeles, the superintendent says all of its teachers should be vaccinated before returning to in person instruction.
AUSTIN BEUTNER, LAUSD SUPERINTENDENT: Once that's done, we'll be at the school front door with big smiles under our masks to welcome students and their teachers back to classrooms where they belong.
JIMENEZ: But as both sides of the debate await a solution, parents and students await answers with the experiences of virtual school top of mind. Given the educational, emotional and even psychological trauma it's caused.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They just walk away from the screens so you hear the teacher like ok we don't see people, people disappearing.
LORI TORRES, SPANISH LANGUAGE TEACHER: The way in which they are learning right now, is not the norm. But returning to school right now will not be school as they have known it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Our thanks to Omar Jimenez for that report.
And thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. The news continues with my colleague and friend Rosemary Church after a short break.
[01:57:31]
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