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Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Could Be Third Cleared in U.S.; CDC Extends No Eviction Order to End of March; Biden Still Wants Bipartisan Relief Bill Despite GOP Pushback; FBI: Suspect Planted Pipe Bombs the Night Before Capitol Riot; U.S. Military Veterans Were Capitol Rioters; E.U. Withdraws Threats to Trigger Brexit Clause on Vaccines; Democratic Lawmaker Moves Office after Harassment by Colleague; Small Town Mayor Embraces QAnon; GameStop Rally Reignites After Stock Apps Lifts Restrictions. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired January 30, 2021 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Robyn Curnow.
Coming up on the show, a promising COVID vaccine tempered by concerns over a highly contagious variant of the virus that Dr. Anthony Fauci says is a, quote, "wake-up call."
Also, a new violent video from inside the Capitol riots. A trouble pattern emerges about some of the rioters.
Also, the worst week on Wall Street in months and months with one GameStopper exception.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.
CURNOW: Great to have you along this hour. Thanks for joining me.
So, if you want to use any form of public transportation in the U.S. starting late Monday, you must wear a mask. That's according to an order from the CDC. It was issued just a few hours ago. Masks must be made of at least two layers of fabric and cover both the nose and the mouth. Until further notice, they'll be required on every form of transit.
This comes as a potential new vaccine appears on the horizon. Johnson & Johnson released data about its candidate on Friday. The company says it is 85 percent effective against severe disease and at least 66 percent effective against moderate to severe illness. That is less than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Unlike those two, Johnson & Johnson is a single shot dose that does not require expensive equipment for storage. So, Johnson & Johnson will apply for an emergency use authorization next week to start getting the shot into people's arms. So, Nick Watt has more on that and the fight against the virus -- Nick.
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NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Global trial data is in. Johnson & Johnson says its vaccine is safe and 66 percent effective at preventing moderate and severe illness, 85 percent effective against severe disease.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There were essentially no hospitalizations or deaths in the vaccine group.
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WATT (voice-over): Some context: the flu vaccine reduces the risk of illness by between 40 percent and 60 percent.
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DR. MATHIA MAMMEN, GLOBAL HEAD OF RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, JANSSEN DIVISION OF JOHNSON & JOHNSON: Our topline result is that we have 85 percent protection against disease that matters --
WATT (voice-over): Johnson & Johnson will apply for FDA emergency use authorization mid- to late next week. Their commitment is 100 million doses for Americans by June.
MAMMEN: -- which we're very much on track to deliver. Our plan is to have supplies immediately upon launch.
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WATT (voice-over): Yes, this vaccine was less effective than Pfizer and Moderna in trials but...
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DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH & POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: For many clinics out there, this is going to be the ideal vaccine to have. One dose, stable vaccine; use it.
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WATT (voice-over): Meanwhile Dr. Fauci says those more contagious coronavirus variants might be dominant in the U.S. by late March.
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FAUCI: This is a wake-up call to all of us. We will continue to see the evolution of mutants.
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WATT (voice-over): The strain first found in South Africa now found in South Carolina, assumed to be spreading in the country.
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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: By the time someone has symptoms, gets a test, has a positive result and we get the sequence, our opportunity for doing real case control and contact tracing is largely gone.
And so, I think -- I believe that we should be treating every case as if it's a variant during this pandemic right now.
WATT (voice-over): They're working on getting that data in real time.
Meanwhile, those University of Washington modelers project, these variants might add up to an additional 85,000 deaths in America by May.
WATT: And, of course, something else on many people's minds, when can more kids get back into school safely?
This was interesting from Dr. Fauci today: he said that tests are underway on the safety and efficacy of these vaccines for younger people.
And he said, hopefully, late spring or early summer, some children will at least be authorized to get a vaccine. Of course, whether there's enough supply is a whole different story -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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CURNOW: Thanks, Nick, for that.
I want to delve deeper into all of these developments with Dr. John Nicholls. He's a clinical professor in pathology at the University of Hong Kong and he joins us now live.
Doctor, lovely to see you. Thanks for joining us.
So, this Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
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CURNOW: How much of a game changer is it?
DR. JOHN NICHOLLS, HONG KONG UNIVERSITY: Very much of a game changer as mentioned in that previous hit. It basically is one shot rather than two and also that it only needs not ultra-cold temperature. I think there have been reports in the past few days, there's been spoiled vaccines in Wisconsin, Michigan and the Boston area.
So, this means that it is easier to transport and one shot rather than two. So, I think this is a very important thing. By the as you pointed out, it's maybe not as effective against this South African strain. But it does reduce the sever disease in a large proportion of people. From that point of view, I think it's a really good vaccine.
CURNOW: I want to talk about the South African strain and some of the others as well. These variants creating extra deaths, faster infection rates.
How concerned are you by these mutations that it is driving the virus to new levels?
NICHOLLS: I think as has been pointed out, if we can vaccinate as many people as possible while that South African strain is not in the majority, then I think we have a better chance of actually getting down the replication rate.
With these RNA viruses, the more we replicate, the more chances for a mutation. If you can immunize as many people as possible, it will lower the frequency of mutation. Even though it may not be as great as the other two vaccines, the more people we can do as soon as possible, then we can decrease the possible more mutations which may work on end.
CURNOW: And as you can hear from my accent, I'm South African and real concerns back home about how the variant is playing out, also hitting younger people but we're also seeing that some scientists in South Africa are saying patients are being reinfected.
What do you make of that?
NICHOLLS: What this means is that they've had the virus before and now it's not sufficient immunity to prevent this African strain. Probably, like we said with influenza, a little bit down the track, is we may need a vaccine that covers a number of these strains.
So, like we see with influenza, we don't have a vaccine that has only one strain. We have polyvalent. So, I think probably in the future, we will be having annual vaccinations which cover multiple strains.
CURNOW: Which is, as you suggest, the way viruses work. It's just we're in the middle of this terrible pandemic.
And what else can we do to protect ourselves while we wait for these vaccinations to come online?
Of course, many places are still nowhere near getting jabs in people's arms. The one suggestion is that not only should you wear a mask but that you wear two masks.
What do you make of that, that these masks need to be bigger, thicker than what people have now and does that help?
NICHOLLS: Fauci has been saying one layer good, two layers better. I don't see many published studies on this. But some people have talked about doing a match test to see, can they blow out a match through the mask, if they can't, the mask is OK. CDC says choose masks in which there are two or more layers. However,
from a public point of view, my view, any mask is better than no mask at all. So, if they can't get the double layered mask, then I think the single layer is better than nothing.
Labs are actually looking at how long the coronaviruses live on these masks. And it's about 24 hours. So, the masks can actually keep the virus intact for a while. So, we're working with some commercial companies to coat these masks with compounds to decrease the virus survival.
But this is ongoing work. So, I think the mask is a very important way. And in Hong Kong, we've been wearing masks the past year. We have a big mass transit railway system. People are very crowded, and we've been able to keep the infections down quite a bit. So, masks do work.
CURNOW: Always good to speak to you, Dr. John Nicholls, appreciate all your expertise and the great work that you're doing. Thank you.
NICHOLLS: Thank you. Have a good day.
CURNOW: You, too.
So, the economic impact of the pandemic cannot be overstated. You know that, I know that. And the last thing health experts want to see is families evicted from their homes and forced into crowded shelters, where the virus can spread easily. So, the CDC is extending a temporary no eviction order that was set to expire Sunday in the United States.
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CURNOW: The Biden administration hopes that by that time, it gives them time to get this massive COVID relief legislation through Congress with or without Republican support, as Phil Mattingly now explains. Phil.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The risk is not doing too much; the risk is not doing enough.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Joe Biden ramping up the push for his cornerstone legislative priorities.
BIDEN: People will be badly, badly hurt if we don't pass this package.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): A sweeping $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, one Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, amid a week of poor economic data, says is urgently needed.
JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We need to act now and the benefits of acting now and acting big will far outweigh the cost.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): That decision to act big has created unified resistance from the congressional GOP. Biden himself has been on the phone with Senate Republicans, calling Republican senators Ron Portman and Susan Collins to pitch his plans, sources tell CNN.
All this as his team continues its own Capitol Hill lobbying blitz on the package.
BIDEN: I support passing COVID relief with support from Republicans if we can get it. But the COVID relief has to pass.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): And the White House, making clear, they will take their case outside of Washington as well in a COVID-19-safe manner.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are having to take a number of creative steps to do that, whether that is direct television or local media or from the president and the vice president and others.
We're doing that, whether it's engaging with governors and local elected officials, to ensure that we are answering all the questions they have.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): All as to this point Biden's primary action has been solely executive, 42 actions in his first nine days, a reflection of his push to undo much of his predecessor's work, even as he presses Congress to do their own.
PSAKI: He's the first to tell you as he has said many times publicly, he will not take executive action alone. That is why he put forward a number of packages that he is actively working with members of both parties to move forward on.
MATTINGLY: White House officials made clear, if they are giving up and trying to get bipartisan support for the COVID relief package. But again, they focus on two primary things, speed and size. Both of those issues have been severe problems for Republicans on Capitol Hill.
However, the outreach will continue. White House officials say they will continue to reach out over the course of the weekend, over the course of next week and, again, they want to move quickly. They want something done by mid-March.
But based on how things are going on Capitol Hill, particularly with congressional Democrats, that movement could start as soon as the end of next week -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
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CURNOW: OK, Phil, thanks for that.
Let's go to Inderjeet Parmar, who teaches international politics at City University in London. He's also a visiting professor at the London School of Economics.
Sir, good to see you, thanks for joining us.
INDERJEET PARMAR, CITY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Thank you. CURNOW: You heard Phil talk about President Biden trying to push through this COVID relief package.
How critical is it that this is such a critical step for this new president?
He's essentially drawing a line in the sand.
Why is that important?
PARMAR: The important thing is I think we have to understand perhaps part of the mentality of Joseph Biden as president, he's coming in as one of the oldest presidents ever in the United States. And he's probably going to do one term of office.
And then he's got only two years before the midterms come. And we've got a very deep and wide crisis, which everybody recognizes.
So, it's a moment of choice for President Biden, as to s he going for unity or is he going for radical change?
And this is the first step, if you like, in a kind of relief phase of dealing with this pandemic and the economic aftereffects and the health effects, effects on scores of workers and then move on to recovery and reform.
Or is he going to play the micropolitics of the GOP and try to work around and tiptoe around the rules without recognizing perhaps that the nature of the GOP now is radically different compared to what it was in 2016 and that the Trump faction is going to block pretty much any radical change and that the Trump bloc is still in charge of the Republican Party at the level of the states, at the level of the House and at the level of the Senate.
So, it's a very, very big, almost immovable object he's having to face and he's going to have to really push very hard and that's his big choice, which way to --
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CURNOW: So, do you feel like this is binary choice between unity or change?
And how does the impeachment play into this, does that impact the urgency, the timing he feels he needs to get things done on a COVID-19 level?
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CURNOW: But at the same time there needs to be a line drawn in the sand politically over the impeachment and the events that took place on January 6th?
PARMAR: Absolutely. I think he has two massive problems, not either/or actually, because the ideal solution is dealing with the Republican Party and what it has become, particularly since the election of Barack Obama, the Tea Party movement, the birther movement, the Trump election.
The party now has a white supremacist faction within it, which is in the Congress itself, which Pelosi has called the enemy within. And that right-wing faction and the allies that Trump has retained are going to block pretty much any attempt at radical change of any kind.
So, the issue is, now do you deal with the Republican Party and its ability to block progressive legislation at a time of deep crisis for the whole country and move forward with that?
Or do you try and tiptoe around them and forget about the impeachment, the Capitol riots on the 6th of January and the very large network which made those riots happen and which law enforcement and intelligence and others have traced close to the White House itself, the Trump White House?
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CURNOW: So, with all of this playing out, then, how do allies globally see this early stonewalling and this disunity in D.C.?
How can trust be rebuilt, particularly for those countries who look to the U.S. for solid, stable, consistent partnership, not just leadership here?
PARMAR: Well, I think stable, solid, consistent leadership from the United States has been undermined for many years now. I think you can go back to the Iraq War at the very least.
And what we've seen in the Trump period is that there is no reliability for most European, Japanese, South Korean and other allies, that what they are having to do is hedge against the United States.
And I think President Biden has inherited that hospital wall. But in a way, that reflects the fact that the U.S. is less and less willing, less and less able and has less and less credibility in world affairs. Because the world has moved on since the Iraq War. There's far more greater powers, a wider distribution of power. There's less legitimacy for American unilateral action.
So in order to build trust and leadership and so on now is to, for the United States under Biden to see that they are going to be one major power among many and they're going to have to build a new grand bargain in the globe in order to be able to have that kind of credibility, that if you're going to solve global problems, you're going to have to collaborate and cooperate with other power blocks and you can't go it alone.
And I'm not sure whether the U.S. foreign policy establishment and the Biden administration is fully cognizant of that barrier to the United States as a global leader going forward.
CURNOW: Fascinating stuff. Inderjeet Parmar, thanks so much for joining us, giving your expertise and analysis at this hour.
PARMAR: Thank you very much.
CURNOW: So, weeks after that siege on Capitol Hill, new incriminating video is emerging and disturbing links between some of those charged and the U.S. military, that and more is next. You're watching CNN.
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CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow.
So, the FBI has upped the reward to $100,000 for information on the person who left two pipe bombs near the U.S. Capitol on January 5th. "The Washington Post" has revealed surveillance video that appears to show the would-be bomber in a nearby neighborhood that night before the insurrection at the Capitol.
The devices at both the Republican and Democratic Party headquarters never exploded. Authorities say they believe they were intended to divert law enforcement as the riot unfolded.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the Capitol attack has led to conspiracy charges against at least two members of the far-right group, the Proud Boys. Authorities allege they helped coordinate the assault that eventually breached the Capitol.
And federal prosecutors have also charged a woman who went into the Capitol and allegedly wanted to kill House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. For the first time, we're seeing the terrifying view of the siege from a police officer's body cam. I want to warn you, though, this is difficult to watch.
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CURNOW (voice-over): Amid the chaos is a man now identified as a U.S. former Marine, who attacked a officer with a hockey stick. The officer was then dragged down the steps and beaten by the mob. Prosecutors presented this video as evidence in federal court on Friday.
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CURNOW: Sara Sidner attempted to speak to nine of the almost 2 dozen military members charged with that Capitol siege. Here is what she learned -- Sara.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They had the tactical training, gear and guns to bring the war home.
CNN tracked down nine of the military veterans, who are charged in the Capitol siege. JOSEPH RANDALL BIGGS, PROUD BOYS LEADER AND U.S. ARMY VETERAN: Oh, it's right there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SIDNER (voice-over): This guy is one of the most well-known, a far- right personality, known for, spouting extremist views, long before January 6th.
BIGGS: Hey, what's going on, everybody? This is Joe Biggs.
SIDNER (voice-over): 37-year-old Joseph Biggs is an Army veteran. He is also a leader in the far-right violence-prone Proud Boys. His violent rhetoric got him banned on social media sites.
On January 6th, in Washington, D.C., it wasn't just rhetoric. Prosecutors say he did aid, abet, counsel, command, induce or procure others to unlawfully enter the U.S. Capitol by means of destruction of federal property.
This is Biggs as he helps lead the Proud Boys to the Capitol steps.
Once there, one of his Proud Boys, this guy, broke into the Capitol. According to court documents, 20 seconds later, Biggs is seen inside the building.
Biggs is charged for an alleged commanding role in the insurrection.
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SIDNER (voice-over): A judge ordered he could go home on house arrest. We visited him there.
SIDNER: Mr. Biggs?
I'm Sara with CNN.
Look, all we want to ask you is whether or not you were in the Capitol, on January 6th and what you were doing there.
BIGGS: (INAUDIBLE).
SIDNER: I'm sorry?
BIGGS: I'm calling the police.
SIDNER: You're calling the police, you said?
Are you an insurrectionist?
BIGGS: Oh, God, no.
SIDNER: You're not an insurrectionist?
Well, come talk to me.
What -- what are you?
I've seen some of the things that you've said over time. They've been pretty violent, like give us an answer.
What are -- what were you doing in the Capitol on January 6th?
BIGGS: If you don't get the (INAUDIBLE) out of here, I'm calling the police right now.
SIDNER: If we don't get the eff out of here, you're calling the police?
SIDNER (voice-over): Former Army Captain Gabriel Garcia of Miami, Florida, is also a Proud Boy. He ran as a Republican for state office and lost the vote in 2020.
GABRIEL GARCIA, FORMER U.S. ARMY CAPTAIN AND PROUD BOY MEMBER: There's people starting to adopt this process.
SIDNER (voice-over): Here he is, inside the Capitol and now accused of violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds, among other charges.
According to the federal complaint, Garcia posted video of himself inside the Capitol, saying, "We just went ahead and stormed the Capitol. It's about to get ugly," and that he also called police "F- ing traitors!" for trying to stop the siege.
Time after time, our efforts to get comment were met with calls to police.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No comment, leave. Leave now.
SIDNER (voice-over): This man was outside the business of insurrectionist suspect Ryan Nichols in Longview, Texas. Nichols was not there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm calling 9-1-1 right now.
SIDNER (voice-over): On the street, outside his house, his neighbor confronted us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do it. I'm going to call the police right now.
SIDNER: All right.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have an issue with that.
SIDNER (voice-over): Nichols is a former Marine, who ended up on "Ellen" for his work rescuing dogs in hurricanes. He also runs a wholesale business, he says, has made him a fortune.
RYAN NICHOLS, U.S. MILITARY VETERAN: Hey, Ryan here. I'm the owner and president with Wholesale Universe. I've made millions of dollars on the ecommerce platforms. SIDNER (voice-over): This is also him, in a camo hat at the Capitol. On the right side, his Texas buddy, Alex Harkrider. Both are military veterans, who also ran a non-profit.
ALEX HARKRIDER, U.S. MILITARY VETERAN: Alex and Ryan here.
SIDNER (voice-over): In D.C., the FBI says Nichols sprayed what is believed to be pepper spray in the direction of federal officers trying to restrain the mob.
Court documents show Harkrider posted this on Snapchat, "We're in. Two people killed already. We need all patriots of this country to rally the F up and fight for our freedom or it's gone forever."
They are both charged with conspiracy and assault with a deadly weapon on a federal officer.
Former FBI agent Michael German, who spent years undercover in domestic extremist groups, says he's not surprised so many of the rioters are former military. There are many possible reasons for their actions but one stands out.
MICHAEL GERMAN, FORMER FBI AGENT: What we've seen too often is that this kind of ideological militancy is allowed to exist in the military. And there isn't enough effort to root it out and to actually paint it as a -- what it is, an anti-democratic movement and -- that's a threat to our security within our security forces.
SIDNER (voice-over): That includes an Army veteran who was awarded a Purple Heart.
According to court documents, Joshua Lollar is caught on police body camera video wearing a gas mask at the Capitol, saying, "Yes, I'm good. Just got gassed and fought with cops that I never thought would happen."
Lollar was released on bond to his home. His father briefly talked to us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't tell you anything.
SIDNER: Do you know him?
Are you his dad or...?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SIDNER: You are.
Is there anything you want to say, just on his behalf?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
SIDNER (voice-over): We also went to this accused Texas veteran's home. He is out on bond, too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please leave your message for...
LARRY RENDALL BROCK, U.S. AIR FORCE VETERAN: Larry Brock.
SIDNER (voice-over): Air Force veteran Larry Brock is seen dressed for combat, inside the Senate chamber, holding zip ties. Brock is the guy in the green helmet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I agree with you, brother, but it's not ours. It belongs to the Vice President of the United States.
SIDNER (voice-over): Authorities say he may have intended to use those to restrain individuals who he saw as enemies, presumably lawmakers, something Brock denied to "The New Yorker."
And 1,000 miles away in Woodstock, Ohio, two more military veterans face some of the most serious charges yet in the insurrection, including conspiracy.
DONOVAN CROWL, FORMER U.S. MARINE: Overran the Capitol.
JESSICA WATKINS, U.S. ARMY VETERAN: We're in the (INAUDIBLE) Capitol, bro.
SIDNER (voice-over): That's Army veteran Jessica Watkins in the background and former Marine, Donovan Crowl, in front, both dressed for battle, inside the Capitol.
Watkins' boyfriend knows them both.
SIDNER: What's he like?
MONTANA SINIFF, WATKINS' PARTNER: When drunk, the guy you want to shut up; when sober, the best man you could have.
SIDNER: What was she doing?
SINIFF: She was supposed to help protect some VIP members within the Trump rally. And then, of course the -- Trump said that they'll protest and some people took that to mean more than they should have probably.
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SIDNER (voice-over): Crowl was right there with her. So was Thomas Caldwell of Clarke County, Virginia. The three are the first to be indicted on federal charges of conspiracy, obstruction and destruction of government property. Caldwell's disdain for Congress made clear before they stormed the Capitol.
THOMAS CALDWELL, CAPITOL RIOTER: Every single (INAUDIBLE) in there is a traitor.
SIDNER: And that guy you saw there, Thomas Caldwell, who called lawmakers "traitors," he actually dabbled a bit in politics himself. He was a delegate to the Clark County Republican convention. And we reached out to all of the attorneys for all nine of the people
who we tried to speak with. None of the attorneys had comment -- Sara Sidner, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thanks to Sara for that. As always, amazing reporting there.
Coming up, another tool for Europe in the fight against the coronavirus. After the break, we are going to talk about criticizing drugmaker AstraZeneca for a supply shortage the E.U. authorized its COVID vaccine for use in adults. A live report, just ahead.
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CURNOW: Great to have you along this hour. Welcome back to all of our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Robyn Curnow.
So the E.U. medicines' regulator is recommending the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for the bloc's 27 member states. This comes after the E.U. attacked AstraZeneca last week over delays in delivering its vaccine. The E.U. also backed off its threat to potentially block vaccine exports.
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CURNOW: The clause would have restricted any effort to use Northern Ireland as a gateway to the rest of the U.K., to circumvent export controls.
Italy's health ministry says it'll be easing coronavirus restrictions in some areas of the country beginning on Sunday. All but five of Italy's regions will be put in the lowest risk category after a recent drop in infections.
Only Puglia, Sardinia, Sicily, Umbria and the autonomous province of Bolzano will remain in the higher risk category.
Just as Italy eases some restrictions, France is enforcing new ones. France's prime minister says new travel, retail and curfew measures will go into effect beginning on Sunday. He's hoping those steps help the country avoid another lockdown. I want to go more on all of this from Melissa Bell.
What more can you tell us?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robyn, it is the last-ditch attempts says the French government before a third partial lockdown. There's been so much speculation over these past few weeks as the French figures continue to worsen. We're essentially at about 20,000 new cases a day. That's pretty high. Rising hospitalizations, rising entries into ICUs and, once again, the
French government confronted, as so many other European countries, with the spread of the more contagious new variants that have been identified and been shown to be spreading fast in countries like France.
So these extra measures will come into effect on Sunday night and then, of course, we'll have to look over the next few days. This is what the French prime minister explained yesterday to make sure they're having the desired effect.
If not, France will almost certainly have to announce that third partial lockdown it has fought so hard to avoid these past few weeks.
CURNOW: And Mr. Macron has been raising a few eyebrows by criticizing, I suppose that's one way to describe it, one of the vaccines, the AstraZeneca vaccine, say it's causing the effect for people over the age of 65.
Where is he getting his information and why is he saying this?
BELL: He made these comments to a group of foreign journalists on the very day that we were expecting the announcement from the European Medicines Agency about whether or not it would be improved.
Those comments about the fact that there wasn't enough data to show it was effective in over 65s is reflective of what happened the day before when the German vaccine commission announced that it did not believe there was sufficient evidence, either.
So, what happens with the European system now, that has to go to the national vaccine agencies for them to work out whether they approve it as well. That process should happen in France for Monday. Emmanuel Macron said we'd have to wait and see since the vaccines agency are the ones he said have the actual figures.
Similarly, in Germany, that announcement will be taken into account by German authorities when they decide how they want to market the vaccines within German borders after that EMA announcement.
Remember the real problem is actually about vaccine supplies. That row that has grown more bitter every day, culminating with the announcement of those export restrictions going so far, the E.U. is to reimpose that hard border between the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom at the Northern Irish border and rowing back under pressure, both from London and from Belfast.
That is an indication about how serious Europe is in making sure it gets the vaccines that it believes it's been promised as part of the contracts that were announced a few months ago.
So too few AstraZeneca vaccines will be coming to Europe. Already there are such shortages of even the Pfizer and Moderna here on the European continent that countries are announcing they're having to suspend in part their vaccinations programs because they simply don't have the doses they want. In fact, their efforts to get 27 nations on board to agree on this
vaccine procurement system has proven much less efficient than the ones we've seen from other nations. And it is now that Europe is paying that price.
CURNOW: Yes, it is not a pleasant cocktail of vaccine nationalism, Brexit and all sorts of other nasty politics thrown in as well. Good to see you there reporting live from Paris, thank you.
So, the hospital in Wuhan, China, that treated the first severe COVID patients has received a visit from WHO team. The group of international scientists is trying to understand the origins of this disease. The team had to quarantine for two weeks after arrival. They used video meetings to get the work started with Chinese scientists.
[04:40:00]
CURNOW: Coming up, though, a small town's mayor is embracing the QAnon conspiracy theories and it's causing a divide with residents. Coming up, we'll hear from the mayor and his worried constituents.
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CURNOW: At least one Democratic lawmaker is moving her congressional office because she doesn't feel safe around Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. She has a history of violent rhetoric against Democrats and has also harassed victims of mass shootings.
Numerous Democrats have called for her to be expelled from Congress. Congresswoman Cori Bush said she recently got into a heated argument with Greene when she confronted Greene for not wearing a mask. They had offices on the same floor of a congressional building.
And in a town in Seattle, Washington, a conspiracy movement called QAnon is causing a rift. Kyung Lah spoke to residents as well as the mayor who's publicly supported baseless fringe ideas associated with it. Take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to welcome Mayor Armacost to the program.
MAYOR WILLIAM ARMACOST (R-WA) SEQUIM: Thank you. Good morning.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The small community of Sequim, Washington --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the next question is, for the mayor --
LAH (voice-over): -- has a big question for the mayor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you publicly support QAnon? LAH (voice-over): Question after question, QAnon and the mayor are the talk of the town.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Mayor, excuse me, we -- you owe it to the citizens of Sequim.
LAH (voice-over): Residents fear that Sequim, population 7,000, may be the first to have a QAnon conspiracy theorist in power. William Armacost is the mayor.
ARMACOST: It does not influence me at the role of a city council mayor in here.
LAH: But you still believe it?
ARMACOST: I am not saying that I believe that.
LAH (voice-over): "That" is QAnon, the ludicrous conspiracy that a cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles are part of a deep state plotting against Donald Trump.
[04:45:00]
LAH (voice-over): And operating a global child sex trafficking ring. QAnon burst into the mainstream during the U.S. Capitol attack. Insurrectionists were seen wearing Q symbols inside the Capitol and in the crowd outside.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Most people think of QAnon as something that is so far off the spectrum it will never come to their town.
LAH: Do they?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's what we thought.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I mean, this has -- this has been shocking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
LAH (voice-over): It began last August. Few in this quiet community, two hours from Seattle, expected the mayor's monthly radio broadcast to include a message like this:
ARMACOST: QAnon is a truth movement that encourages you to think for yourself. I want to encourage you to search for Joe M on YouTube and watch his videos, starting with "Q: The Plan to Save the World."
LAH (voice-over): That ominous video --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every president after Reagan was one of these deep state criminals --
LAH (voice-over): -- full of absurd lies, ends by promoting Trump as the savior. Mayor Armacost has also spread disinformation online. He shared this QAnon rallying cry on his personal Facebook page, short for, "Where we go one, we go all," posting that nearly 20 times in one month.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go ahead and have those theories. It doesn't matter. But don't let somebody who has those theories get put in a position of power.
ARMACOST: I never said I believe that. I believe there are, unfortunately --
LAH: You called it a truth movement.
ARMACOST: What I call is the opportunity as a patriot and as an American citizen to seek truth.
LAH (voice-over): As far as that video he encouraged residents to watch --
LAH: Do you believe what the video suggests?
ARMACOST: I'm not committing to that. I think, again, there are many different resources that can influence our thought pattern. Again, I encourage people to seek truth.
LAH (voice-over): For 15 minutes, Armacost returned again and again to his idea of truth.
LAH: So, you're not going to categorize what QAnon is?
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ARMACOST: I'm not in a position to do that.
LAH: Despite what we saw at the U.S. Capitol, despite ...
ARMACOST: You know, I've watched a lot of different videos that showed many different -- what appeared to be scenarios versus what has continued to run. I have no way of confirming that that was one group versus another.
LAH: But there is a difference between fact and fiction.
ARMACOST: Again, back to the authenticity of the information that we are seeing. Just because one angle of the camera showed this view, they may not have seen the other angle that shows a totally different scenario.
LAH: What I'm confused about is you don't think Q was involved in what happened.
ARMACOST: You know, I have no way of validating that.
LAH (voice-over): But some say his words aren't enough. They're petitioning to replace him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This isn't just a conspiracy theory. This is serious.
LAH: As far as whether it's having any direct impact on this town, there have been some sudden vacancies in city leadership. The city manager suddenly left; there have been some vacancies on the city council for a variety of different reasons that they've publicly stated, those city council members have stepped away from the job. Critics of the mayor fear though that this is somehow all connected to the mayor and QAnon -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Sequim, Washington.
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CURNOW: Coming up, you're watching CNN. GameStop shares are spiking again, and amateur investors are getting rich for now. But many who are buying the stock are also hoping to change things on Wall Street. We'll hear from one of them -- next.
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CURNOW: It has been a crazy, crazy week on Wall Street, to say the least. The Dow was down 2 percent on Friday as was the SNP. Both logging their first monthly losses since October but one stock that is not listed on these indices is certainly seeing a windfall.
GameStop closed almost 70 percent higher on Friday. Its value is soaring, thanks to amateur investors who are putting the squeeze on hedge funds and short sellers.
The amateur investors who are buying stock in companies such as GameStop are hoping for more than just profit. They're actually hoping to try and take on Wall Street. Jon Sarlin speaks to one of them about his ambitions.
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AJ VANOVER, GAMESTOP INVESTOR: This is my account total, at the moment, on RobinHood.
JON SARLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right now, there is more than $1 million sitting in AJ Vanover's RobinHood trading account, all thanks to a hugely risky bet on GameStop.
VANOVER: And I knew I was going to make money, but I got lucky with how it actually unfolded.
SARLIN (voice-over): AJ is 31 years old, living in Missouri with his family. In 2019, he started following WallStreetBets, a chaotic and gleefully profane stock trading Subreddit.
VANOVER: People aren't really going to step in and help you if you didn't know how options function. SARLIN (voice-over): Soon he was trading, and he had a hunch about the
video game retailer, GameStop. AJ says he bought 100 shares and then some options, investing around $4,500 total. And then, this happened.
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BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: A new twist in the Reddit fueled stock roller coaster, taking the world by storm.
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SARLIN (voice-over): Now this battery store worker, making $35,000 a year, is a millionaire, at least, on paper -- for now.
SARLIN: You haven't sold your stocks yet.
VANOVER: I want to make more money. And I have confidence that it is going up. If it starts to run, I might see how far it goes now.
SARLIN (voice-over): AJ and the online army of amateur investors he is a part of have rocked Wall Street by buying up GameStop and other shares. The big hedge funds, who were betting against those stocks, lost billions, just icing on the cake for AJ.
VANOVER: I wasn't happy about the 2008 crisis. It was kind of upsetting to see everybody get bailed out that really caused it and nothing really happened. It is interesting this time to see them on the other end.
SARLIN (voice-over): But AJ is playing a risky game.
[04:55:00]
SARLIN (voice-over): Plenty of folks in the Reddit community have racked up huge losses.
In a 2020 farewell post, one member described losing years of savings, writing, "I went from a rational investor to some sick, irrational, desperate gambler."
But no matter how these ends, the Reddit army has rattled Wall Street to its core.
SARLIN: How much of this do you think is a paradigm shift?
VANOVER: This is the first time I have ever seen the masses be able to win this big. And I think it will get a lot more people interested in actually getting into the markets.
SARLIN (voice-over): Jon Sarlin, CNN, New York.
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CURNOW: Thanks, Jon, for that.
Parts of California are now under a state of emergency following several powerful winter storms. Monterey and San Luis counties along the central coast have been particularly hard-hit. As you can see here, heavy rain triggered a massive mudslide along the state's famous Highway 1 in Big Sur, sending a huge chunk of the road plummeting into the ocean below.
Almost 8,000 people ordered to evacuate in Monterey County, where mudslides have wrecked several homes there.
And take a look at this winter storm in Hawaii. Images earlier this week showed a blanket of snow atop several of the big island peaks. This impressive sight is not unusual; the summit is above 4,000 meters but still it's beautiful and awe inspiring, as well.
So that wraps up this hour of CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much for joining us. Stay with us. The news continues with my colleague, Kim.
