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U.S. to Ship Out Vaccines instead of Stockpiling; E.U. Upset with AstraZeneca's Slow Delivery; South Korea to Start COVID-19 Vaccinations in February; China Poses U.S.' Top Security Concern; U.S. Warns of Possible Violence by Domestic Extremists; Antony Blinken Takes Over as Top U.S. Diplomat; Wall Street Tumbles over Fed's Uncertain Outlook. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired January 28, 2021 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): As COVID cases rise, so does the frustration over access to much-needed vaccines.
A warning to the public, officials say the attack on the Capitol may embolden extremists to commit more violence.
Plus, a new generation of DIY day traders puts the squeeze on Wall Street.
Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, I'm Rosemary Church and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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CHURCH: Good to have you with us.
At the first coronavirus briefing under U.S. President Joe Biden, the White House delivered a stark assessment of America's response to the pandemic.
The Biden administration said it's still on track to administer 100 million vaccine doses in its first 100 days but acknowledged most Americans would have to wait months to get vaccinated.
Still, officials said they are taking action to increase the supply of vaccines and pledged to ship them out as soon as states order them.
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ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: It will be months before everyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one. Any stockpile that may have existed previously no longer exists.
Our practice is to maintain a rolling inventory, of 2-3 days of supply, that we can use to supplement any shortfalls in production and to ensure that we are making deliveries as committed.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: So far, more than 47 million doses have been distributed but only half of them have actually been administered. On Wednesday, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tried to explain what was happening.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: So there is some delay from the time that they are distributed into the time that they could possibly be administered.
On the administration side, there is some delay in reporting. We know that probably, a bit more than 23 million that have been reported have actually been administered.
And then there are some doses that we need to make sure, for the four or five-day window that we give people in order to get their second shot either a three weeks or four weeks, we need to make sure that that's available for them when they return for their second shot.
When you do all that math, you still end up with some millions of doses that are sitting on the shelves and have not yet been administered. And in fact, that's one of the bottlenecks, and one of the ways that we have to get resources to the states to make sure that they can quickly administer the vaccines that are on their shelves.
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CHURCH: Vaccine shortfalls and delays are infuriating officials in Europe. The E.U. health commissioner accusing AstraZeneca of backsliding after the vaccine maker warned it would provide considerably fewer doses in the coming weeks than agreed upon due to production problems.
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STELLA KYRIAKIDES, EUROPEAN COMMISSIONER FOR HEALTH AND FOOD SAFETY: 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 butcher but not in contracts and not in our advanced purchase agreements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: "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. But the vaccine battle goes beyond the war of words.
Madrid, Spain, has suspended its vaccination program for the next few weeks because it's running out of doses and doesn't know when more will arrive.
And neighboring Portugal has shattered yet another record for a daily COVID deaths. Nearly 300 were recorded on Wednesday. So Cyril Vanier is covering all of this for us, live from Paris.
Good to see you, Cyril.
What is the latest on this tension between the E.U. and AstraZeneca?
And what is the solution to their vaccine woes?
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rosemary. Round 3 of the row between E.U. and AstraZeneca wrapped up on Wednesday evening here in Europe. Frankly, there wasn't much difference between that and what we were seeing at the beginning of the week.
There still doesn't seem to be a way out of the impasse, even though there was a de-escalation in the words that were used on both sides, especially on the European side because they were very harsh on AstraZeneca since the beginning of this story.
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VANIER: As it stands, AstraZeneca hasn't found a way to suddenly manufacture more vaccine doses and the E.U. has not convinced AstraZeneca to reroute vaccination doses made in the U.K. for use to be injected in European arms, which is why I say we are at an impasse.
The E.U. still says it has a lack of clarity from AstraZeneca on how many doses it will get and when it will get them. As a result, the E.U. vaccination program is going to suffer from these delays.
CHURCH: That is such a problem and so frustrating for everyone there across Europe. Cyril Vanier, many thanks for bringing us up to date on the situation.
The northwestern part of Brazil is not only battling a massive coronavirus outbreak, it's also up against a new variant of the virus, one that appears more contagious. Matt Rivers is following this story for us -- and, please be aware, some viewers may find what we are going to show you disturbing.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The tense quiet outside the small hospital in Iranduba, Brazil, can change so fast. An ambulance suddenly pulls up in front of the hospital as a woman inside is given CPR, medics desperately trying to save her.
But a hospital source told us she died soon after this video was shot. The woman was the third COVID-19 patient to die here this morning alone.
The overwhelmed hospital is a small example of a massive outbreak here in Brazil's northwest. Its epicenter known as the gateway to the Amazon, the city of Manaus. The city of about 2 million is replete with scenes like this, patients packed into unsanitary hospitals with a startling lack of ventilators or even just oxygen.
Recovery is a mirage. In what's been the city's deadliest month in the pandemic by far, many here are simply waiting to die.
This doctor says, "We've got 15 patients and there's 2 beds. It's difficult to say that we choose who lives and dies but we do try and save the ones with the best chance to live."
Health officials at all levels have acknowledged shortcomings. And doctors and nurses are clearly doing their best with the little they have. But Manaus has been here before. In April and May last year the health care system collapsed for the first time during the first COVID-19 wave.
Some studies suggested up to 75 percent of Manaus got the virus. Thousands of newly dug graves pockmark the city cemetery but now even those are not enough.
RIVERS: So that's why the government is quickly building these, so- called vertical graves. They are basically coffin-sized sections that will stack on top of one another and they are doing it this way because they are running out of space.
By the time this project is ultimately done, the government says they will have built 22,000 vertical graves to meet the expected demand.
RIVERS (voice-over): So many people got sick the first time, many here simply believe that herd immunity would prevent another round, despite many warnings from experts that that might not be true. Brazil's COVID skeptic president, Jair Bolsonaro, said there wouldn't be a second wave.
Things opened up, life got back to normal and then came a new COVID variant, p1, originating right here in Brazil, a kind of a perfect storm.
SCOTT HENSLEY, VIRAL IMMUNOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA: I'm usually not alarmist about these kinds of things and I'm concerned about what we are seeing in Brazil right now.
RIVERS (voice-over): A recent study in Manaus found two-thirds of recent infections are caused by the variant, prompting fears that this variant spreads faster.
Back outside the small hospital in Iranduba, we meet Maxilila Silva da Silva. Her brother has been inside with COVID for weeks in desperate need of better care that just doesn't exist here right now.
Next to the hospital, a refrigerated container was brought in to store bodies.
"Take our cry for help to the world," she tells us.
"Tell them that this system is killing Brazilians. People who can't get into hospitals are dying."
Halfway through our interview, though, we had to pause. There was a new suspected COVID patient arriving, crying as he's admitted, because everybody here knows what can happen once you go inside -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Manaus, Brazil.
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CHURCH: Horrifying situation there.
And just a short time ago, South Korea made several big announcements on its coronavirus vaccine rollout. Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Seoul.
Good to see you, Paula.
What were the main headlines out of that news conference?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, this was really a way of giving the exact details of this vaccine rollout.
[02:10:00]
HANCOCKS: We've heard a little over the past week or so, President Moon Jae-in saying it would start in February, it will be free for all and they're hoping to have herd immunity in South Korea by November.
That was reiterated in the past hour by health officials. And they also pointed out that they are expecting some vaccines through the COVAX system shortly. They say that, in the first quarter, they'll be receiving vaccines from AstraZeneca; the second quarter, they have Johnson and Moderna and, in the third quarter, they have vaccines from Pfizer.
They have really spread themselves around a number of different companies to make sure that they are covered. And they also pointed out who would get the vaccine first. It's a similar situation to what we are seeing in other countries.
The priority would be those in nursing homes and also who are in the medical profession on the front line of trying to deal with this pandemic. After, that they say they will be looking at people over 65, old people's homes and, in the third quarter, they should get to the general public -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: All right, a glimmer of hope there, many thanks, Paula Hancocks, joining us live from Seoul.
U.S. President Joe Biden is making good on his campaign promise to re- prioritize the nation's fight against climate change. He signed a series of executive orders on Wednesday and they include a pause on new oil and gas leases on federal lands and waters and an effort to double production from offshore winds by 2030.
The president emphasized the importance of following the science and said the new policies will reach every level of the federal government.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's a whole government approach, with climate change at the center of our domestic national security and foreign policy. It's advancing conservation, revitalizing communities and cities and on the farmlands and securing environmental justice.
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CHURCH: Mr. Biden's new secretary of state says he hopes the U.S. and China can work together to combat climate change. But there are many other big challenges ahead for the new administration when it comes to Beijing. Ivan Watson joins us now live from Hong Kong with more on all of this.
Ivan, talk to us about the situation because it is very much a tense relationship, isn't it, between the United States and China.
What's the next step here?
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It sure is. When the new secretary of state Antony Blinken made comments on Wednesday, he described the U.S. relationship with China as Washington's most important international relationship.
He added it has competitive and cooperative aspects as well as adversarial aspects. That's really reflected by the posture of the U.S. military that's deployed around Asia.
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WATSON (voice-over): This is a sneak attack, a war game beneath the iconic heights of Japan's Mount Fuji, where the U.S. military practices landing small teams of marines deep behind enemy lines. The scenario imagines they're raiding an island in Asia and blowing up missile launchers that threaten U.S. warships.
INFANTRY OFFICER GENE HARB, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Well, we're training for specifically here as a peer or a near peer competitor who has advanced weapons systems, who has the ability to conduct orbiting via satellites.
WATSON: After nearly 20 years battling insurgents in Central Asia and the Middle East, the U.S. military is training to fight a much more sophisticated enemy in Asia.
Is Asia in the midst of a power struggle right now?
RORY MEDCALF, HEAD, NATIONAL SECURITY COLLEGE, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Yes, the short answer is yes. This is now the center of gravity for influence in global economics and politics. China is seeking to be a dominant power, or an imperial power and many countries in this region don't want to see this dominance happen.
WATSON: One of the biggest international challenges facing President Biden is a relationship with China that grew increasingly hostile under the Trump administration.
BLINKEN: President Trump was right in taking a tougher approach to China. I disagree very much with the way that he went about it in a number of areas, but the basic principle was the right one.
WATSON: In a speech to the World Economic Forum this week, China's leader called for more cooperation, not conflict.
XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): The misguided approach of antagonism and confrontation be it in the form of Cold war, hot war, trade war or tech war would eventually harm every nations' interest and sacrifice people's welfare.
WATSON: But China under Xi Jinping has been quick to flex its military and economic muscles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You surrender now. Surrender.
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WATSON (voice-over): Using its growing power to intimidate neighbors says Richard Heydarian, a political scientist and author from the Philippines.
RICHARD HEYDARIAN, POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES: I mean, China, a blogger has practically all major neighbors with the exception of Russia, right? I think that says a lot about how China is also mishandling its foreign policy and its relations with other countries.
WATSON: Look at these points of tension. Taiwan with the islands military had scrambled to meet increasingly frequent overflights from Chinese warplanes. The Himalayas, where Chinese and Indian troops have been fighting deadly border skirmishes. The South China Sea, where the U.S. and other navies have stepped up their own naval maneuvers around China's man-made islands, which are part of Beijing's strategy to claim virtually all of the sea for itself.
And the East China Sea, where war planes and warships jockey around islands claimed by both Japan and China. All potential flash points in this regional power struggle.
The competition in Asia also involves trade, technology and even public health. The world is watching to see how Biden confronts this complicated 21st century contest.
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WATSON: Rosemary, I mentioned those flashpoints. In the last week, we've had more reports of clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in the Himalayas and the border region.
We had the Taiwanese military announcing that there were about more than 2 dozen Chinese military flights into Taiwan's air defense identification zone.
And we have a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group going into the South China Sea, which China claims virtually all for itself and just doesn't really like when large forces from the U.S. Navy go into that body of water. So it gives you a sense of some of the movements that are taking place
throughout the region. Now the Biden administration has said that it wants to both cooperate with China and challenge China.
And it says where it will differ from the approach of the Trump administration is it will try to reinforce alliances with traditional allies in the region to build up more of a coalition, of a block, to counterbalance what it perceives as Chinese aggressive moves in the Indo-Pacific -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Many thanks to our Ivan Watson for being us up to date on that. Appreciate it.
Time for a short break. When we come back, an alarming warning about new violence from extremist groups in the U.S.
What is fueling their anger?
That's ahead.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
It's a warning usually reserved for foreign terrorists.
[02:20:00]
CHURCH: But right now the U.S. government says the threat is homegrown. Domestic extremists angry about the presidential election and fueled by conspiracy theories could be planning more violence. Brian Todd reports from Washington.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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, quote, "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 (voice-over): Another distressing line in the Homeland Security bulletin, a concern that domestic violent extremist, quote, "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-CT): 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 (voice-over): 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 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?
TODD (voice-over): 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.
TODD (voice-over): 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 (voice-over): 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 pipes 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.
TODD: Meanwhile, the federal government has just indicted three members of the far-right militia group, the Oath Keepers, on multiple charges, including conspiracy in connection with the January 6th riot of the Capitol, the first significant conspiracy indictments in the investigation.
The prosecutors say the three defendants planned and coordinated the attack in advance. The defendants have not yet responded to those charges formally -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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CHURCH: Glenn Schoen is a security management consultant and an expert in terrorism and security. He joins me now from the Hague in the Netherlands. Good to have you with us.
GLENN SCHOEN, SECURITY MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT: Thank you.
CHURCH: So the Department of Homeland Security warns a potential violence by these domestic extremists in the wake of the January 6th assault on the capital, which apparently emboldened these groups. How serious is this and how far might these extremists go, do you think?
SCHOEN: I think it's an extremely serious situation. If we think about the fact that within the United States, when we look at the actual incidents of right-wing violence, they have far outweighed in terms of proportion.
It's about 70-75 percent of all incidents in the terrorism and extremism field in the United States have been right wing-related over the past 25 years. So when we look at the volume alone, it's a concern and actually this is been a bigger threat than we've recognized and it's often because we've given it different labels.
[02:25:00]
SCHOEN: But as well what we know about right-wing extremism, when it comes to the really violent end of it, is that this has a capability behind it in terms of armament, in terms of the people who were involved with this movement who are trained, in terms of the lethality per incident.
So when we actually look at shooting such as we had in El Paso with the Walmart shooting, such at the synagogue in Pittsburgh, the historic Black churches in South Carolina.
Actually per incident, right-wing terrorism kills more people than other forms of terrorism, whether we're talking about Islamic extremism or we're talking about left-wing extremism. So I think for the future here the concern is quite serious. CHURCH: Yes. I think a lot of people will be surprised to hear that. And of course, we have seen a number of Republican lawmakers clearly intimidated by these domestic terrorists. Senators Graham and Rubio come to mind.
How did the U.S. get to this point where lawmakers are essentially doing the bidding of terrorists, because they fear for their lives or their livelihoods?
SCHOEN: Yes, of course, unfortunately, you know, right-wing extremism has been a factor, a limited factor in the U.S., U.S. politics for a long time. And I think what we've seen is the whole debate around the discussion of some of the core thoughts and thinking that right-wing terrorism wraps itself around.
When we think about small government, we think about ethnocentric racists, essentially white supremacy and the anti-immigration point, then we see these points come together on the right but as well also in the larger political realm over the past four years.
So I think a lot of right-wing extremists have seen the past four years as a chance basically to see their agenda come to the fourth, to see their agenda become more accepted, to become part of a larger movement, even if not all of the people around them are that extreme.
The extremists have basically piggybacked on a larger political movement here. And they feel emboldened. It's clear that we see the volume of concern going up with the U.S. law enforcement and U.S. intelligence officials, that this really is the bigger threat for the future and that 6th of January was the big galvanizing event for them.
CHURCH: So what needs to be done to turn this around?
How do you stop them from being emboldened?
Do you need a situation where you make an example of all those who went into the Capitol building?
SCHOEN: I think not necessarily a lot of scholars, a lot of academics, a lot of security professionals still have a discussion on the definition of terrorism when we look at something like 6th of January.
Was that terrorism in all instances?
Was it also other forms of transgression?
I think the bigger issue here now comes looking at the future. We're going to have to have a major refocus of our resources, our attention, our expertise, our intelligence apparatus away from the past 20 years, where it's been focused on Islamic extremism.
And we are going to have to be shifting a lot more of that towards right-wing extremism and right-wing terrorism.
Only about 20 percent of the U.S. law enforcement intelligence apparatus is focused on this domestic threat. Most of it is actually more pivoted towards looking outside the U.S. and that par within the U.S. Islamic extremism.
So it's going to be a major effort. And people I talk to in law enforcement, the feeling I get is this is going to be their biggest pivot literally in decades to deal with this new threat as an emerging terrorist threat within the U.S.
CHURCH: It is certainly extraordinary. Glenn Schoen, many thanks for your expertise on this matter. I appreciate it.
SCHOEN: Thank you.
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CHURCH: When we come back, the new U.S. secretary of state takes his oath and gets to work.
What changes can America's allies and adversaries expect?
We will discuss that in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
The new U.S. secretary of state says, now that the Trump administration is gone, it's a new day for America and for the world. Antony Blinken was sworn on Tuesday as the new top American diplomat and pledged to repair relations with the country's world partners after four years of the America first mantra.
He also talked about some of the biggest foreign policy challenges, like the relationship with China, arms sales to Saudi Arabia and a potential new agreement with Iran.
ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: If Iran comes back into full compliance with its obligations under the JCPOA, the United States would do the same thing.
And then we would use that as a platform to build with our allies and partners what we call the longer and stronger agreement and to deal with a number of other issues.
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CHURCH: Joining me is Bobby Ghosh, he is a columnist and editorial board member at Bloomberg.
Thank you so much for talking with us. BOBBY GHOSH, JOURNALIST AND BLOOMBERG EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER: Hi,
Rosemary.
CHURCH: Secretary Blinken says if Iran returns to full compliance with their obligations in the nuclear deal, the U.S. will do the same.
Where do you see all this going?
GHOSH: This is a slight and subtle change from what we had heard from the candidate Biden last year, before the election, where he suggested that there would be a like for like , reciprocal move back to the JCPOA, which led a lot of people, particularly Iranians, to believe that if they began to go back toward compliance, the U.S. would also follow alongside simultaneously.
Now Blinken says you get back into compliance, first then we are going to go back into compliance. That will not be a popular view in Iran but that will reassure Iran's neighbors who have been alarmed by the fact the U.S. was keen to go back.
It'll also reassure Republicans in the U.S. who were also alarmed that Biden would rush back into the JCPOA. Biden is making it clear, Blinken making it clear this will not happen in any kind of haste.
CHURCH: Secretary Blinken also talked about the U.S. relationship with China, calling it the most important, because it will shape the future. He has previously said Donald Trump's basic approach to China was right.
So will that mean the U.S. will stand up to Beijing?
GHOSH: That's what he's promising. For me, the interesting bit was not so much what he said at the press conference but he had a call with the foreign minister of the Philippines, which was very instructive.
The readout on the Philippine side was a reassurance the U.S. was going to resume its responsibilities as an ally to many East Asian countries, who feel threatened and intimidated by China.
He said that the U.S. would not tolerate China's claims to large parts of the South China Sea, that the mutual treaty agreement between the U.S. and its Asian allies, like the Philippines, would be -- the U.S. would meet its responsibilities.
Basically, what he is saying, two countries around China who feel the hot breath of the Chinese state on their back, that we are here for, you and we are not going to give the Chinese a get out of jail pass.
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CHURCH: And President Biden, of course, has already spoken with Russia's president Putin, making it very clear Russia won't be able to get away with the same nonsense it did when Trump was president. That doesn't mean Putin won't be testing Biden.
What is ahead for that relationship?
GHOSH: Again, from Blinken, we heard a reiteration of Biden's position, as we would expect from a secretary of state. He was very forthright in criticizing, condemning the arrest of Alexei Navalny, the crackdown on his supporters and the subjugation of free expression in Russia.
He also took a dig at Putin, basically saying, why are you so frightened of people protesting in the streets?
So we are going to see a much more adversarial sort of confrontation with Russia, at least rhetorically, with the Biden administration than we did. Again, with Trump, there was a tendency to look past all of these outrageous by the Russian side.
The Biden team is saying we are not going to just look the other way when you behave badly, whether within your own country or outside.
CHURCH: And we will watch to see with this new era holds. Bobby Ghosh, many thanks for your analysis, appreciate it.
GHOSH: Anytime.
CHURCH: Just moments ago, the World Health Organization's team of scientists left quarantine in Wuhan, China, to begin field work for their investigation into where the coronavirus originated.
It has been more than a year since the first case of the virus was detected in the city. The group of international health experts are expected to meet with Chinese health officials and scientists. But it's unclear how much Chinese authorities are willing to cooperate.
There's less than six months to go into the start of the Summer Games in Tokyo and the president of the International Olympic Committee says he is fully committed to a safe and successful event.
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THOMAS BACH, IOC PRESIDENT: We are not speculating of whether the games are taking place. We are working on how the games will take place.
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CHURCH: And Bach says he is working with the Japanese government and the World Health Organization to ensure competitors and visitors will be safe from COVID-19. More than 11,000 athletes will descend on Tokyo no sooner than five days before their first competition. They can also expect strict contact tracing and testing every four days.
A sharp decline on Wall Street and an epic showdown over a struggling chain of brick and mortar video game stores like GameStop is surging in popularity and short sellers are panicking. We will explain on the other side of the break.
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CHURCH: Looking at the numbers there, you can see the Dow Jones industrial futures, they're all down. Not looking good. A bruising session on Wall Street on Wednesday with the Dow sinking more than 2 percent, its steepest fall since October, after the U.S. Federal Reserve offered an uncertain economic outlook due to the pandemic.
One stock in particular, GameStop, is having its best month ever. Hedge funds and short sellers were betting on the video game retailer's decline but a group of amateur investors on the online platform Reddit decided to put the squeeze on Wall Street by driving up GameStop's shares.
John Defterios is following this for us live from Abu Dhabi.
Good to see you. This trading activity has caught fire since the start of the year.
Has Wall Street met its match in the form of a website of day traders?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: It looks that way, doesn't it?
It's coming out of nowhere in a sense. This is not a long year, it's the first months of 2021 and this is the phenomenon we're seeing. It's kind of new school versus old school, the day traders versus Wall Street right now. They're using a bulletin board on the website Reddit itself, called Wall Street Bets, known by its acronym, WSB, in the short period of time.
Let's take GameStop, for example, old school in the sense that it sells software and the consoles for gaming within malls primarily. It has moved online so we've had the hedge funds on Wall Street betting against a company like GameStop. The day traders that followed this page are suggesting 2 million, we're on Main Street, we will go against the hedge funds.
Now we are finding the hedge funds having to borrow from each other and borrow from banks to keep their doors open. That's not the only stock; it's the most pronounced one, of course, with its gain of 1700 percent since the start of the year. That's quite radical.
ANC Entertainment, which is a cinema chain, suffering during the pandemic; BlackBerry out of favor in Silicon Valley and the United States as a tech company as well; Macy's not able to keep pace with Amazon. So you can see the trend here
Remember the movie "Wolf of Wall Street?"
This is the wolves on Main Street going after Wall Street -- Rosemary. CHURCH: Yes, very interesting. You have to ask, has this gotten out
of hand, that Washington may need to get involved to regulate this type of activity?
DEFTERIOS: It's like musical chairs; the music will eventually stop and there is going to be many traders caught short on this one. Right now, it's such a fervor, it reached into the White House. Here's the press secretary, Jen Psaki, talking about the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen perhaps having to observe it and maybe even intervene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Our team is, of course, our economic team, including Secretary Yellen and others 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 now you have even senators like Elizabeth Warren or the congresswoman AOC weighing in, saying we have no sympathy for the hedge funds. It's
getting pretty nasty.
CHURCH: Indeed. I think a lot of people feel the same way.
(LAUGHTER)
CHURCH: John Defterios, many thanks, bringing us up to date.
And thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "WORLD SPORT" with Patrick Snell is next. I will be back at the top of the hour. Stay with us.
(WORLD SPORT)
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