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Putin Tries To Discredit Navalny; Republicans In Turmoil Over Controversial Georgia Representative; Biden Intensifies Lobbying For COVID-19 Relief Bill; Scientists Worry About Fast-Spreading COVID-19 Mutations; India Turns Vaccine Supply Into Diplomatic Goodwill; Biden Administration Inherits Numerous Middle East Crises. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired January 31, 2021 - 05:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Right now, Russian police are detaining protesters, who are holding unauthorized demonstrations, triggered by the jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. You're seeing live pictures from Moscow as people are trying to protest.

We've seen lots of people being detained so far. But the crowds are gathering there in Moscow. We are going to come back to that with a live report in just a moment.

With just over a week until Donald Trump's impeachment trial is set to begin, it's not clear who will represent the former president, as his defense team quits.

And nearly a third of Americans are under storm alerts, as a massive winter storm rolls in, bringing with it heavy snow and strong winds.

Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.

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BRUNHUBER: All right. We begin with breaking news from Moscow. You're seeing live pictures here. Police are out in force right now. They've shut down key metro stops near the Kremlin and have made numerous arrests.

It's an effort to prevent another large anti-government demonstration from taking place in the capital, as we saw last weekend. In cities across the country today, thousands of Russians have turned out in support of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has been in the thick of it for the past hour or so.

Fred, are you there?

Last time I spoke to you, police had been very actively clearing the square.

What's the latest there right now?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's still been going on, Kim. The police are still very much out in force. You can see here is one of those police detention vans.

Detentions that we've been seeing they are continuing and I was actually also briefly detained by the police for a couple of minutes. They then checked our credentials and let us go again.

That's something we've seen with other journalists, by the way, as well, journalists who while they were filing reports -- and we were actually filming at the time -- were being detained by police, some let go, some not let go. Many of the folks who came out here to protest being detained very quickly.

It seems as how what the police are trying to do is they have a zero tolerance policy, if you will, of sorts. They're coming out here on the square in force and detaining a lot of people.

And that's something that certainly hasn't been letting up over the past hour or so. It seems they are trying to stop these protests from even taking hold. These protests were supposed to happen at the headquarters of the Russian intelligence service, of the FSB.

That whole area and all of central Moscow has been completely shut down by the police, by the military police. Even civilians are not allowed on the streets there. The authorities here have closed at least seven metro stations and now also seem to have closed this metro station as well, as they're trying to prevent people from coming to these protests.

So you can see the authorities not trying to not let this take hold, as in the entire country in Russia there have been more protests taking place. Many people already detained in those other protests as well.

But certainly, we can see here in the Russian capital, the police, the military police, really doing their utmost to try to prevent the protests from getting underway, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Since I saw you last, as we look at some other live pictures there, we're seeing a lot more -- many more people there. So obviously police haven't been able to deter everybody from going.

Are you getting a sense that the momentum is building there?

PLEITGEN: They're trying to build the momentum but it is very difficult with this police presence. You can see how many of these giant vehicles are coming. Those are military police. They're bringing in more reinforcements here to then obviously do more of that crowd control, if you will.

So the folks around Alexei Navalny, originally, as I said, they wanted to go to the FSB headquarters. They then on short notice told people to meet here and at another location to try to get that momentum that you were talking about. You can see really the authorities trying to stifle that momentum in

any way that they possibly can, especially with those detentions. And a lot of people have already been detained. You can feel that the momentum, they're still trying to get it.

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PLEITGEN: But it will be difficult to even get the protests here underway with this massive security and police presence.

It certainly is -- it certainly is almost unlike anything I've seen here in the Russian capital, the amount of police officers out there, the amount of detentions that are made very early on, of people who are really just standing around, many of them, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Let's get at the wider issue, why people are coming here. Obviously Navalny is the catalyst.

But ultimately, is this more than just about just him or even about politics?

Is it about the frustration and anger over living conditions, even the pandemic?

PLEITGEN: You're absolutely right. I just spoke to a couple of folks, right before we went to air, and they told me, look, they really weren't people before who came out to protest. They said it's the first time they have ever come out.

But they also said that Alexei Navalny is one of the issues for them, it's something they don't agree with. The fact that he was poisoned by the chemical nerve agent Novichok but also the fact that he was put immediately in detention when he came back here.

But there are a flurry of other issues that people have at hand. And one of the main ones is what they call repression, political repression. They say free speech is something that is being curtailed here more and more, something that obviously a lot of people don't like.

A lot of people are saying, look, they believe that the elections here are not free and fair. They think that that's something that they don't want to continue in this country in the future.

So there's really -- there really is a flurry of issues that people have. And then, of course, also the economic situation in this country is also one where a lot of people are saying that they simply don't really hold up much hope that there could be big improvements in the next couple of years, either.

So there is sort of a groundswell of discontent for a lot of these folks. And quite frankly a lot of them say that they weren't necessarily big supporters of Alexei Navalny before he came back and before he got arrested or detained on arrival here in Moscow.

But they do say that now they are coming out, not just for his cause but for many other causes as well. And, you know, from what the Navalny supporters have been saying, they say that it's obviously not something that's necessarily going to stop very quickly. They want the momentum to carry over.

Right here you can see there's another person who is actually being detained right now. As I said, detentions are something that have been ongoing and they continue. And then the folks here, they get put in police vans like this one. You can see this gentleman now being searched by the police before he's going to be put in that van.

You can sort of see, if you look inside the van, that there is a cell area inside that van. That's where people get put into before they then get taken to police stations before it's then decided how many days they are going to have to remain in custody and what other things might await them after that.

So you can see, Kim, what we were looking at in the last hour that we were on, it's something that is still continuing here, as this protest tries to take hold.

BRUNHUBER: A lot of brave people over there and certainly yourself as well. Stay safe out there and we will come back to you later on in the program. Thanks so much.

With just more than a week before his second impeachment trial, Donald Trump is losing lawyers. Sources say five attorneys have cut ties with the former president over legal strategy.

We've learned Trump wanted them to argue that there was mass election fraud and that the election was stolen from him; this instead of arguing the legality of convicting a president after he has left office.

And Trump isn't the only headache congressional Republicans are dealing with. Another social media video has surfaced from controversial Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene.

In it, Greene suggested the Las Vegas shooting massacre was staged to discourage support for gun ownership. It's one of several inflammatory comments that have angered Democrats, many of whom are demanding her removal.

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REP. NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D-GA): When you hear the minority leader McCarthy saying that he's going to talk with her, you talk to children about cleaning up their toys.

This has led to violence in our country. We saw a direct attack on the United States Capitol because of the rhetoric and the incitement of violence that she continues to perpetuate. Just yesterday, she had an opportunity to apologize and she doubled down. This is who she is. And it is time for her to be removed from the United States Congress.

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BRUNHUBER: All eyes are sure to be on that meeting between Greene and House minority leader Kevin McCarthy. CNN's Joe Johns has a preview.

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JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to do her thing up here on Capitol Hill. She tweeted out on Saturday that she had a great conversation with former president Donald Trump, that she was grateful for what she referred to as his support and said Democrats are now coming after her the way they used to go after him.

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JOHNS: We have no confirmation of that telephone call but no reason to doubt it. If that call did occur, it tells a little bit about how the president is operating in the background, making telephone calls, even though he doesn't have the Twitter megaphone, while Republicans continue with their identity crisis.

There was a back and forth on Saturday on Twitter between Marjorie Taylor Greene and Republican Utah senator Mitt Romney. Romney tweeted about her lies; she tweeted back that he needed to "grow a pair" or get a spine.

Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to be unapologetic about everything that Democrats are coming after her for. Democrats have suggested she ought to be ousted from the United States Congress because she has supported the idea of assassinating Democrats, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi -- Joe Johns, CNN, the Capitol.

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BRUNHUBER: Just ahead, the tense situation that's been unfolding in Moscow over the past hour. Many people taken into custody as police try to prevent an opposition rally in the capital.

And later, authorities across the U.S. are making it a priority to get vaccine shots into arms. But more doses are desperately needed. That and more ahead on CNN. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Moscow police are out in force right now. You're seeing live pictures from Moscow. They have shut down key metro stops near the Kremlin and have made numerous arrests as an effort to keep another large anti-government demonstration from taking place in the capital like we saw last weekend.

In cities across the country, thousands of Russians have turned out in support of jailed opposition leader, Alexei Navalny.

Alexander Baunov is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Thank you so much for joining us. You wrote a piece about the people we're seeing here in the streets today, the new face of Russian protests. Tell us a bit more about who they are and why they're there.

ALEXANDER BAUNOV, SENIOR FELLOW, CARNEGIE MOSCOW CENTER: First, we have to say that those who took to the street (INAUDIBLE) that they are not going only to support Alexei Navalny -- for many of them he is not an ideal leader of the future Russia or of the protest.

But they are doing because of what the Russian state did to him, I mean, the poisoning by a nerve agent and promptly arresting him as soon as he came back from his treatment in Germany.

And that's why this protest is not for -- less for Navalny and more against lawlessness and -- well, against the regime.

BRUNHUBER: In terms of, you know, their demographic makeup, are they particularly young?

Are they affluent?

Who are these people in terms of that demographic slice?

BAUNOV: There are many predictions that the people who will go to the streets last weekend and this one will be very young, school boys and girls. They didn't came true (sic). There were many young people wrong them but not as many TikTokers as it was predicted.

I would describe them as people of young age but more between 25 and 30, 35. And I call them a kind of post-industrial (INAUDIBLE) proletarians, that they are not satisfied with their salaries, with their jobs, with their living conditions and with their prospects. And all this on the background of famous Russian corruption.

BRUNHUBER: So you wrote about these protests, that they were, quote, "undeniably anti-regime, anti-elite, anti-corruption but not necessarily liberal, pro-Western and pro-democracy."

Will that limit how much support Navalny and his movement get here in the U.S.?

BAUNOV: I would say that, inside Russia, this particular fact will broaden the Navalny support base because, besides the usual protesters, who are liberal -- a percentage of Moscow and big towns, liberal intellectuals, we see different people, simpler people and definitely broader based.

It can be described maybe as former Putin supporter, dissatisfied by the worsening economic conditions and by the very fact that, last year, we had this constitution amendment that allowed Putin eventually to stay in power for life. And it's not something with -- it's not something that Putin supporters agreed with.

BRUNHUBER: So where do we go from here?

I mean, how big of a threat is Navalny?

You know, Putin has been in power for some 20 years so he has seen demonstrations and protests like this.

So you know, you wrote, "For now time is on the side of the regime but not indefinitely."

So what did you mean by that?

BAUNOV: First of all, we cannot go into wishful thinking, to say, as many do in every occasion of Russian protest, that the regime is going (INAUDIBLE) is scrambling (ph) and so on. Putin decision (ph) still have many supporters, it's still stable but Putin is aging, he's losing the contact with newer generations.

The elite is not united behind Vladimir Putin as the main guarantor of their political and economic survival after him. So they are starting to look for somebody else to replace him.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Very interesting. Thank you so much for giving us some insight into what we're seeing now from Russia.

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BRUNHUBER: Alexander Baunov in Russia, thank you so much.

Well, the U.S. has now passed 26 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, more than any other country in the world. The situation makes the need for widespread vaccinations more critical.

Nearly 30 million have been administered out of nearly 50 million distributed. Huge venues like this one in Denver, Colorado, are now inoculation sites.

Here is some good news, we're going to put up a graphic here. Look at the dip at the end of that graphic. The number of people in the hospital has fallen below 100,000 in the U.S. for the first time in two months. This according to data from the COVID Tracking Project.

But January has been the deadliest month of the pandemic so far in the U.S. Health authorities are putting tougher restrictions in place to curb transmission of the virus. Natasha Chen has more on that and the toll COVID is taking on individual lives.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What actions we're taking --

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The CDC says starting Monday night, everyone over two years old using any form of public transit must wear a mask, even if one has already had the COVID vaccine.

It's a mandate that comes a year after the first reported U.S. case of COVID-19, a virus that has killed more than 437,000 people in the U.S.

ZORA BRENGETTSY, BEREAVED FAMILY MEMBER: We didn't expect to lose any of them. To be honest, we all thought they were going to bounce back.

CHEN (voice-over): This family lost three loved ones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To wake up and know that he's not there, I can't call him.

CHEN: January was the deadliest month of this year-long pandemic, more than 90,000 people in the U.S. have died this month alone and to give you some perspective, that's about 20,000 more people that could fit in this entire NFL stadium.

CHEN (voice-over): The Mercedes Benz Stadium that hosted the Super Bowl just two years ago is now a vaccination site.

DR. LYNN PAXTON, DIRECTOR, FULTON COUNTY BOARD OF HEALTH: We can actually get more vaccines out given the resources that we have or that are shortly coming to us. But if you don't have the vaccine, then we can't do it.

CHEN (voice-over): Johnson & Johnson is expected to apply for Emergency Use Authorization for its vaccine next week. Its global Phase III trial results showed the vaccine is 66 percent effective, but 85 percent effective specifically against severe disease.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: This is a single shot vaccine in which you start to see efficacy anywhere from seven to 10 days following the first and only shot. It is very, very good with regard to cold chain requirements, namely requiring only a refrigerator.

CHEN (voice-over): Meanwhile, a new study suggests children are safer from the virus in schools than out of them. The author of the first detailed study of two K-12 schools said in order to reopen schools safely, they need Federal centralized guidelines and better access to testing.

Health experts are also eyeing new variants of the virus including the first domestic cases of the variant first identified in South Africa and more than 400 cases of the variant first identified in the U.K. Experts believe these variants will be more dominant by the end of March.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: I believe that we should be treating every case as if it's a variant during this pandemic right now.

CHEN (voice-over): A pandemic that's far from over. The virus killed nine nuns in a retirement home in Michigan, all within a few weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is numbing. And we have -- I do -- a much deeper appreciation for all the other families who have gone through this, the hundreds of thousands of families and until it personally touches you, I don't care how much we can have a sympathetic heart, it is different when you've already been there.

CHEN (voice-over): Natasha Chen, CNN. Atlanta. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, California authorities have administered more than 3 million vaccine doses. Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles has been serving as a mass vaccination site.

But there was an interruption Saturday because of an anti-vaccine protest. Some operations were halted briefly when a few dozen protesters marched to the stadium and gathered outside.

Officials said they continued vaccinations inside as the demonstration went on outside. Everything went back to normal when the protesters went home.

All right. In U.S. politics, President Biden is stepping up his efforts to sell lawmakers on his nearly $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill. He's working over the weekend, continuing to try to rally bipartisan support for the legislation. CNN's Arlette Saenz reports.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden met here at the White House with his advisers on Saturday to talk about the next steps for how to get his COVID-19 package through Congress.

The president has made clear that he prefers for this measure to be passed in a bipartisan manner. But as some Republicans have put up resistance to his package, saying that there needs to be a more targeted approach.

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SAENZ: There are some Democrats that would like to see the president pursue reconciliation. This would require only a simple majority to get that measure across the finish line.

But if Biden decides to go down that path, it will also represent a test of party unity, as Senate Democrats would need to make sure that they had all 50 Democrats on board with this bill.

The president has made clear that he wants this package to be passed quickly, as it's really a top legislative priority for him in the opening days of his White House -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Much more to come here on CNN, including a look at the problems involved with getting vaccines to underserved communities. I will talk to a doctor with some advice on community outreach.

Plus, what British officials have to say about an E.U. reversal on a vaccine export plan that caused three governments to condemn it. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: We have some breaking news for you out of Russia. Moscow police are out in force right now -- these are live pictures. There's a huge police presence there; our reporter says more than he has ever seen in these types of protests.

Russian authorities have stopped people from being in the metro stops. They made many arrests, we've seen people -- you can see them there, being taken to those buses, where they're being frisked and taken away.

It's an effort to keep another large anti-government demonstration from taking place in the capital like we saw last weekend. In cities across the country today thousands of Russians have turned out in support of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. We will keep following this story throughout the broadcast.

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BRUNHUBER: And bring you more as developments warrant.

Here in the U.S., the U.S. has now confirmed more than 26 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, a quarter of all of the world's infections. Health experts are working to get vaccine doses into arms. Nearly 30 million have been administered. Huge venues like this one in Denver, Colorado, are now inoculation sites.

A variety of different vaccines are being used around the world. Two are cleared for use in the U.S. The maker of a third is applying for a emergency use authorization this week.

Joining me now is Dr. Sheila Young, director at the premedical academy of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles. She and her colleagues have been doing intensive outreach in the Watts and surrounding communities about COVID-19.

Thanks so much for joining us. You and I spoke in mid-December, I think it was, just basically days after the vaccine started rolling out. Back then, you were saying many people in your community there were nervous about getting the vaccine.

I know you've been doing a number of town halls, trying to dispel some of the misinformation and there's plenty of that going around.

What are the types of things people are scared of?

DR. SHEILA YOUNG, DIRECTOR AT THE PREMEDICAL ACADEMY OF CHARLES R. DREW UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE AND SCIENCE: One of the things that I want to say is that, as a physician who has worked extensively on the ground in underserved communities that have been seriously impacted by the pandemic, actually, I want to emphasize that historically Black and Latino individuals haven't been anti-vaxxers. And so this is something that, as far as vaccine hesitancy, was never

really an issue before. So I think that, again, there is a lot of misinformation that's happening right now in the community.

And, of course, social media can be one of the forms that people get information from.

One of the questions were, does this vaccine have a microchip in it?

Does this vaccine -- another question, does this vaccine affect my DNA?

Or will this vaccine actually give me the virus?

So these are -- these are very basic questions that we can answer. And the answer to those are no.

And then we go through actually videos of how the virus works and we provide individuals with information. I believe that knowledge is power. So the more that we're able to educate folks and let them know about what the vaccines are made of, then I think that we are actually able to move forward greatly.

And I will actually say that now more people want to get the vaccine; however, the issue now is access.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, and that's the question. There seems to be a big discrepancy here between the access to the vaccine. A CNN analysis of data from 14 states found vaccine coverage is twice as high among white people on average than it is among Black and Latino people.

We know from surveys that those groups are less likely to want to get the shot.

But is there that other issue that some people, you know, they do want to get them but they can't get them, that there is problems there with access?

YOUNG: Yes, you're absolutely right. There are people now who want to get the vaccine but they can't get them.

Of course, one of the things that we have to look at is, what are the priority groups for the country, for the state and for the county that people live in?

So that's one of the things that we have to consider. We're still in the phase, where we are ensuring that we have all health care workers, nursing home individuals who live in nursing homes and, now for Los Angeles County, those who are over 65. So this is primarily the main group that now we're facing more access issues with.

BRUNHUBER: But if you were advising the Biden administration on how you could go about getting more access, what are one or two things that might help address this problem specifically?

YOUNG: Well, I think that we've really got to be on the ground, target the areas that have high rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths. I think that we can set up at churches, local schools and we can also implement a program, where we go from house to house and offer vaccines.

Some folks will say that's not possible. But you know, I worked with the census in 2010 and I went to so many homes. We can set up a system so that we ensure that people are not left out.

A lot of folks don't have cars, a lot of folks don't know how to use the online registration system to register to get the vaccine. So if we go to their homes, then they will be very receptive.

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YOUNG: And that's what the community leaders have asked, the clergy have asked if we could actually come to their homes to provide vaccinations. We will need a large team of folks to carry that out. But I do believe that we can train individuals and implement the program where everyone will have access to the vaccine.

BRUNHUBER: Let's hope that can help. Thank you for everything you're doing out in the community and thank you for joining us, Dr. Sheila Young. Appreciate it.

YOUNG: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: British Conservative MP and cabinet member Michael Gove says he's confident coronavirus vaccines from AstraZeneca and Pfizer will be supplied to the U.K. as planned.

That statement follows a brief conflict between the United Kingdom and the E.U., which had planned to restrict exports of COVID vaccines from crossing the Irish border into Britain. The E.U. backed down after London, Belfast and Dublin criticized the move. On Saturday, Gove commented on how the governments have been blindsided by threat.

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MICHAEL GOVE, BRITISH MINISTER FOR THE CABINET OFFICE: I think the European Union recognize now that they made a mistake yesterday. The commission made a mistake.

They didn't consult us, they didn't consult our friends in Dublin and the united parties in Northern Ireland, from Sinn Fein on one side to the DUP on the other, in condemnation. And people in Northern Ireland were bewildered by this step.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: For more on this let's turn to CNN's Melissa Bell who is joining us from Paris.

An embarrassing climbdown there by the E.U. But there will be vaccine controls.

So what effect could that have? MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it could have a huge impact, essentially despite that climbdown which really suggests that even the E.U. recognized fairly quickly because the climbdown came pretty fast that introducing that hard border between the Irish Republic and United Kingdom was really a step too far.

But it really speaks to, Kim, about how high temperatures have risen in the E.U. We've been hearing this morning from the French Europe minister saying that the E.U. is determined to get to the bottom of why its supplies are going to be -- seem to be falling short, those from AstraZeneca.

What this new mechanism allows the Europeans to do is keep an eye on any exports of vaccines leaving the European Union and to block those exports if it feels that the companies involved have not been living up to their contractual obligations with Brussels.

So it really gives the E.U. the ability to watch and to stop vaccines leaving its own territories, its own countries. Now only yesterday the British foreign secretary said he had had assurances from the E.U. trade commissioner, that he had no desire to get in the way of vaccine deliveries to the United Kingdom.

But the fact is even now as a result of this, Kim, the E.U. has the ability to do this. So the French Europe minister speaking to that, saying they're determined to get to the bottom of why AstraZeneca would not be able to deliver as many vaccines as it promised to the E.U. But has seen no shortages in its deliveries to the U.K.

We expect the results of that inspection at one of the AstraZeneca sites in Belgium over the next few days and the European Union making it clear it's going to get every one of its vaccines from AstraZeneca if it can.

AstraZeneca vowing to look to find as much of that vaccine substance, as it's called, the stuff of the vaccine, if you like, as it could, in order to get as close as it can to its promises to the E.U., delivering over the course of the next few days to begin with 3 million doses.

BRUNHUBER: Thank you so much for untangling all of that for us, Melissa Bell in Paris.

Beginning tomorrow, India will ease some restrictions on public activities. Coronavirus cases are trending down, the country is in the middle of an enormous vaccine drive and, extending help throughout the region.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): As nations scramble to get their own citizens vaccinated, at least one country is stepping up to help some of its neighbors, India.

India is the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer. Now it's using that strength for something a little out of the ordinary, vaccine diplomacy.

It's been less than two weeks since India launched what it hopes will be the largest vaccination drive in the world as it goes about inoculating its own citizens. Now the country is pledging to donate millions of doses to at least nine nearby countries.

NARENDRA MODI, INDIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Today the country is prepared in such a way that vaccine doses are reaching every nook and corner of the country very rapidly. Today India is completely self-reliant in the matter of this biggest need of the world right now. Not just self-dependent, India is also helping other countries.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The country's Serum Institute is producing the vaccine developed in the U.K. by AstraZeneca for domestic use and export. India has also developed its own vaccine, which it eventually plans to export.

One by one, health care workers in Nepal began receiving their first doses as the country launched one of its largest immunization campaigns.

[05:40:00]

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Nepal's prime minister says he's grateful to India for donating 1 million doses.

K.P. SHARMA OLI, NEPALI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We got an early chance to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. So for this, I extend my thankful remarks and gratitude to our neighboring nation, India's government, the people of India and especially to the honorable prime minister, Narendra Modi. They sent the vaccine to us.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Prime minister Oli announced he is in talks with India to buy even more.

Myanmar also began its vaccination program Wednesday after receiving 1.5 million vaccine doses from India. Health care workers there showed off their bandages for a photo.

With a fragile health care system, Myanmar has relied on heavily medical volunteers to help in the pandemic.

And on Friday Sri Lanka began vaccinating front line health workers after India donated half a million doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.

And it's not just about diplomacy. India is expected to begin delivering vaccines commercially to Brazil and Bamako by the end of the week. One neighbor that won't be on the receiving end of the India's generosity is Pakistan. Officials there announced they will be getting 500,000 doses from China.

India's goodwill could see some pushback from the regional rival, China. China promised to help Nepal in the pandemic, a country where China has major investments. But it hasn't delivered; whereas India has.

As the two countries find themselves in competition for strategic influence in the region, it's India that's scoring some early wins this week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Of the many foreign policy challenges facing the Biden administration, perhaps none are as daunting as the Middle East. We will take you live to Beirut, Lebanon, for a closer look at what lies ahead for the new U.S. president. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: While U.S. President Joe Biden has made tackling the pandemic at home his top priority, many foreign policy crises also demand his attention. Just about every corner of the Middle East presents its own unique challenges for the new administration.

To help us get a sense of how daunting these challenges are, let's bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman in Beirut.

Ben, so many contentious issues in the region that are on Biden's plate. Take us through what he and his team are facing.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, basically they need to bring down the temperature here in the Middle East.

President Trump was very erratic when it came to Middle East policy. And some of his top officials, like Mike Pompeo, had a barely concealed fundamental religious program they were pursuing. So bringing down the temperature would be the first step in the right direction.

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CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Congratulations, Mr. President.

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WEDEMAN (voice-over): The new resident of the White House faces a Middle East deep in a confusion of crises.

Yemen remains the world's worst humanitarian emergency, followed closely by Syria, where millions are struggling through a brutal winter as their country's agony goes on.

Blood still flows in Iraq, even though the scourge of ISIS appears for now to have been diminished. Four chaotic years of Donald Trump saw the U.S. cozy up to the

region's autocrats, careening close to the brink of war with Iran. Already the new administration is showing it will do some things differently.

TONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We will end our support for the military campaign led by Saudi Arabia in Yemen.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Tensions could recede as the Biden administration tries to revive the Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA, says the Carnegie Institute's Mohanad Hage Ali in Beirut.

MOHANAD HAGE ALI, CARNEGIE MIDDLE EAST CENTER: Iranians can't continue to bomb and help their allies or support their allies, bomb the U.S. embassy in Iraq or the -- Riyadh's airport or any of these important facilities while they negotiate the JCPOA and as the JCPOA is (INAUDIBLE).

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Have knock-on effects in Syria, Yemen, Iraq and Lebanon, where Iran is a major player.

The Trump administration did manage to orchestrate the establishment of ties between Israel and several Arab states, a move praised by its successor.

Washington also recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital, opened an embassy there and generally sided with Israel as never before, all but killing the two-state solution, which means Washington now needs to come up with new ways to address the conflict, as do the Palestinians themselves.

ALI: Perhaps the one-state solution has a more viable option, calling, asking for their rights as full citizens in the state rather than calling for a second state, which has no now basis on the ground.

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WEDEMAN: So what we have is an administration that seems to have put aside things, like Trump's rather ambitious "deal of the century," which was designed to bring the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to an end.

Also, there does appear to be a willingness to put away the policy of maximum pressure on Iran that really wasn't designed to bring the Iranian economy to its knees.

The question is, are they going to actually break from a history of -- a long history of failed policies in the Middle East or just try to revive pre-Trumpian policies that weren't particularly successful, either?

BRUNHUBER: Ben Wedeman in Beirut, thank you very much.

A powerful winter storm is affecting millions of Americans. We will speak to our meteorologist for the latest developments after the break. Stay with us. (MUSIC PLAYING)

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BRUNHUBER: More than 110 million people are under some form of a winter weather alert in the U.S.

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[05:55:00]

BRUNHUBER: Grammy nominated artist and producer known simply as Sophie has died at the age of 34. Her family says she was killed in a terrible accident after she slipped and fell trying to watch the full moon. Her publicist says the accident happened in Athens, Greece.

The Scottish born pop artist and trans rights activist Sophie pushed musical boundaries and worked with artists like Madonna and Charlie XCX and released a debut album in 2018.

That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our viewers in the U.S. and Canada "NEW DAY" is just ahead, for everyone else it's "INSIDE AFRICA."