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Myanmar Now Under Military Control; COVID Relief Bill Under Negotiation; Experts Warn of Darker Days to Come; Donald Trump's Team Prepares for His Impeachment Trial; WHO Scouring Evidence of Virus Source; Bereaved Families Express Their Outrage; Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Could be Third Cleared in U.S; Protests in European Capitals Over COVID Restrictions; Nearly Nine Million People Have Had Their First Vaccine Dose in United Kingdom; Russian Protesters Undeterred by Crackdown; Scottish Fishermen Say Red Tape Threatens to Kill Their Business; Millions of Americans Facing Powerful Winter Storm. Aired 3- 4a ET

Aired February 01, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Myanmar is now under military control after the army staged a coup and detained the country's top leaders. We are live in Hong Kong with the very latest.

U.S. president is said to meet with Republicans today, we will tell you how far apart they are on a COVID relief deal.

And a powerful storm is set to pass the eastern United States and snow and has already forced the closure of some schools and public transit.

Good to have you with us.

We are following breaking news out of Myanmar where the military has seized power in a coup. The army announced on military TV it had declared a state of emergency and had the power to a top general. And you can see these images the military is in the streets today blocking some roads. Troops detained several key political leaders earlier. And they include Aung San Suu Kyi who had been the country's de facto leader since 2015.

The U.K., Australia and other countries are calling for the military to release the leaders. The army claims last year's election was fraudulent. Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide. And Myanmar's election commission has rejected the army's claims of voter fraud.

Well CNN's Will Ripley is following the developments for us. He joins us now live from Hong Kong which. Good to see you, Will. So, what is the latest on this military coup in Myanmar, and how damaging could this prove to be for the nation's Democratic future?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Rosemary. Well, certainly there are a lot of questions now about whether this fragile democracy and a government that basically was, you know, just came into power five years ago with the assistance of the military, with the Constitution, that the military helped write. Now all of that is up in the air after the military has claimed, because they won so few seats in November's general election that there has been widespread voting fraud.

They've been throughout the number of the possibility of 10 and a half million fraudulent votes even though election officials inside Myanmar dispute that there is anything close to that, and certainly not the amount of fraud that could have tipped the results of the election.

But nonetheless, the military now under the Constitution has taken control, declaring a state of emergency for one year. They are saying, potentially, that they could hold a fresh election after that.

So, the will of the people in a country that was under a brutal military dictatorship, that elected this National League for Democracy Party led by Aung San Suu Kyi whose popularity has been growing domestically in recent years, although internationally she has been condemned for defending the military and their treatment of Rohingya Muslims against the genocide charges in the U.N.

Now all of a sudden Aung San Suu Kyi who was imprisoned under house arrest for the better part of 20 years by the military is now back detained. The military back in control, propaganda playing on the airways. Panic buying in the stores. Banks closed. Internet, telephone and most TV channels disrupted, and the generals sitting back where they have been arguably all along, calling the shots.

CHURCH (on camera): We will of course stay on top of this. Will Ripley bringing us up to date on the situation.

Well now to the fight against COVID-19 in the U.S. where hospitalizations are declining, even as deaths remain high, the number of Americans now in the hospital because of the coronavirus is just over 95,000. This weekend marked the first time in nearly two months the number has dipped below 100,000.

But the average number of daily deaths is more than doubled what it was at the beginning of December. And January marked the deadliest month yet for the pandemic.

Now there are growing concerns over COVID variants with one doctor urging vaccinations for those older than 65 ahead of a possible increase in cases.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICIES: The surge that is likely to occur with this new variant from England is going to happen in the next 6 to 14 weeks. And if we see that happen, which in my 45 years in the trenches tell us we will, we are going to see something like we have not seen yet in this country.

[03:04:59]

In England, for example, hospitalized twice as many people as we ever hospitalized that are highest number. That hurricane is coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): In an effort to slow the spread of COVID 19, a mask order from the CDC will take effect later today. All passengers using public transportation including buses, trains and planes will be required to wear a mask.

And while health officials work to tackle the virus, lawmakers are looking to address the pandemic's economic fallout. Ten U.S. Senate Republicans are meeting with President Biden later today to discuss the latest coronavirus relief package.

CNN's Arlette Saenz has more now from Washington.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: The White House is indicating they are open to negotiating with Senate Republicans on that $1.9 trillion-dollar COVID relief package. Republican senators over the weekend introduced their own proposal with which was much smaller in scale, about $600 billion in funding compared to that almost $2 trillion dollar bill from the president. One thing that they are pushing for is more targeted checks to go out to American families who need it most.

Now a senior administration official said that $600 million price tag is not going to scratch the itch of what they need to accomplish, but one area where they are willing to negotiate and have discussions about are those targeted checks to American families.

Right now, the White House is pushing for $1,400 checks to go out to American families, while one Republican senator suggested they could go down to 1,000. Now one question going forward is how long President Biden will give these Republicans to negotiate.

The president has also made his preference clear that he wants to pursue this in a bipartisan manner. But he has left open the possibility of moving this without Republican support. He is adamant that he wants action on this measure fast.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: With the week to go before Donald Trump's historic second impeachment trial, the former president says two new lawyers will head his legal team. CNN reported that five members of the impeachment defense team quit this weekend. Trump fell out with them over legal strategies. They wanted to focus on the constitutionality of convicting a former president, but he wants to use his disproven election fraud claims as a defense.

Joining me now from Los Angeles is CNN's senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, he is also a senior editor at the Atlantic. Always good to have you with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Ron, Donald Trump's entire team quit before his impeachment trial. Now he has assembled a new team. Sources revealed that Trump had wanted to argue that the election was stolen. Now we don't know if this means his new team is willing to run with that lie.

But where do you see all this going and will Trump get acquitted anyway, given most Senate Republicans still appear to stand behind him?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. You know, I think the legal team is running into the same problem with the Senate Republicans did, which is there are essentially no way to defend Trump's behavior on the merits. So, the Senate Republicans have kind of stepped into this very questionable legal dodge, arguing against actual precedent in the 19th century that you can't hold an impeachment trial for someone after they have left office.

And I think most of them will try to stick to that line through this. And as a result, he is highly unlikely to get convicted, but it is also as equally unlikely that you are going to see much substantive defense of his behavior, because that is much harder to defend.

CHURCH: Yes. Sort of the indefensible, isn't it?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

CHURCH: So, what is going on within the Republican Party right now? We are seeing the knives out for Liz Cheney who dared to vote to impeach Trump for his role in the capital riot. While the party seems happy to embrace whacky QAnon conspiracy theorist, Marjorie Taylor Greene, where could this take the party?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, it's interesting, it's a split level, I think (AUDIO GAP) dynamic underway now. There is a genuine division among Republican voters. I'll come back to that in a minute. But among Republican leaders and elected officials, I mean, it's the same pattern we have seen throughout the Trump presidency.

Essentially, a capitulation to the president. I mean, you know, in the immediate aftermath of the riot and the assault on the capital there were signs that there would be, you know, this some thought this was finally the moment when they would use the leverage they had to try to break out from being under his thumb.

And so, you saw a Liz Cheney came out with a very strong statement, Mitch McConnell kind of hinted that he was willing to convict the president. And then what happened? It all melted away as it did throughout his presidency.

[03:09:55]

And you see the overwhelming majority of Republican elected officials again are finding ways to avoid holding Trump accountable for his behavior and are also finding ways to kind of look the other way, and avoid drawing a bright line between the party and the kind of extremist, extremism that Marjorie Taylor Greene symbolizes that Trump has allowed into the party.

So, all of that at the elite level is pretty clear that they are sticking with this kind of behavior that we saw throughout his presidency. On the other hand, polls are now consistent there is somewhere between a fifth, a quarter or a third, depending on the question, of Republican voters are deeply uneasy with the way the party has been behaving since the November election.

So, this decision to kind of buying themselves, to lash themselves to Trump, it may not be without consequence in terms of reinforcing to move away from the GOP that we are already seeing in those white- collar suburbs.

CHURCH: Now we'll certainly watch to see where that all goes. Meantime, the Biden White House is open to the idea of scaling down stimulus checks to households making more than $150,000 a year. But they won't accept the Republican counterproposal for slim down COVID relief plan. How bad will the fallout be if President Biden goes it alone without bipartisan support for his stimulus package?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, there's a very relevant precedent that he was intimately involved. In 2009, Barack Obama significantly scaled back the size of his economic recovery package to win three Republican votes in the Senate. To, you know, avoid a Republican filibuster that would have killed the package.

He chose not to do it through the special reconciliation mechanism that allows you to pass thing with 51 votes. And to this day, Rosemary, there are significant number of Democrats who believe that that decision helped produce the Republican landslide in 2010, because it rolled back the package to the point where it was insufficient to turn around the economy fast enough that voters felt it.

By the time of the 2020 midterm, and I think that that precedent really rules over Biden, 10 years later the Republican Party is even more kind of, you know, moved, even further away from the center and I think there would be enormous resistance up and down the Democratic coalition for any kind of large scale concession to Republicans in the hope of getting 10 Republican votes.

So, I, myself, am skeptical that this is going to go very far because the Republican offer is so much below where Democrats envision as necessary and as many economists envisioned what is necessary to get this economy moving again amid the continuing struggles of the pandemic.

And again, with that 2009 precedent, I don't think there's a lot of stomach for Democrats for repeating that experience in 2022 to what happened to them in 2010.

CHURCH: We'll see what happens with that. Ron Brownstein, always a pleasure to have you with us.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

CHURCH: And still ahead, searching for clues where the pandemic began. A team led by the World Health Organization is on the ground in Wuhan, China, and they have been given access to some key new evidence.

Plus, this man is among the thousands who lost loved ones when the coronavirus first ravaged Wuhan. And we will tell you why he and others who are grieving losses have decided to speak out.

[03:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. The World Health organization investigators on the ground in Wuhan, China now have access to months of Chinese flu data. They are hoping this can help trace the origins of the coronavirus pandemic.

A WHO-led team visited a regional Centers for Disease Control today. On Sunday, they toured a now closed wet market in Wuhan. The location thought to be central to the diseases early spread.

And CNN's international security editor, Nick Paton Walsh has been tracking the story for months now. He joins us live from London. Good to see you, Nick. So, given a year has passed and full access and corporation may not be given to the WHO team, what all can we realistically expect to come out of this investigation?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: I do think it's fair to have modest expectations, but there are some signs on the conversations we had with three of the scientists on that panel yesterday that there may be getting some information, although of course the accuracy and quality of it is something that we'll have to determine in the future.

For example, the wet market kind of anecdotally ground zero, if you like, for coronavirus, the place where live animals were traded and it's thought and instant occurred that began the coronavirus outbreak. They visited that empty, long, empty disinfected shuttered wet market yesterday with Chinese officials in accompaniment.

They got to speak to people who had worked there. Locals as well. They actually said it was useful, surprisingly useful to see in 3D, as it were, this sort of place and assessed what kind of role it could have had in that initial small super spreader event. Of course, as you say though, so different from what they could possibly have seen a year ago when it was still possibly, actually a sense of exactly how this initially began.

Moving on as you say in the days ahead today and the next days, they will be going to the CDC's in Hubei and also the Wuhan Institute of Virology, a place which is getting notoriety, not just because of the researches that's done into coronavirus found in bats, but because of unsubstantiated evidence and pre-allegations made by the now former Trump administration that it was somehow an original source of the leak.

One important thing though, Rosemary, here is what I heard from one of the team members. That they've received a trove of data from Chinese officials about influenza in the months before December 2019 when the outbreak began and in the regions around the city of Wuhan in which it first emerged.

That's vitally important, because it can provide signals, perhaps as to whether there was other influenza like outbreaks that could've been at the beginnings of coronavirus that occurred elsewhere or earlier, and gives them the more clearer signs as to exactly when people first started experiencing symptoms on mass.

[03:20:00]

At the moment it's thought to be late December. But a CNN investigator put out in early December last year indicated that there was a large previously unreported spike in influenza in two cities near Wuhan that previously we hadn't known about. It was 20 side times the size of the prevalence of influence at that same point the year before.

So, lots of information clearly still coming through, as I say the caveat here is their very late on the ground. A year plus since this first happened and at the same time too that they are under strict Chinese guard.

I have to say though, one of the team members said that the Chinese are being very transparent so far. They get to see what they want to see, and they are finding that they are willing to bend the rules slightly, to quote one of their panel members as to what they had originally been laid out as being able to do by the Chinese. More information still to come, Rosemary.

CHURCH (on camera): That is good. The more we can learn, the more we can avoid this ever happening again. Nick Paton Walsh bringing us that report live from London. Many thanks.

Well, more than a year after the initial outbreak in Wuhan, many people there are still grieving the loss of loved ones. For some of that grief has turned to anger as they questioned why government officials didn't do more to address the situation from the very beginning.

CNN's David Culver reports now from Wuhan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): See this right here is the photo.

UNKNOWN: Yes.

CULVER: Matching the photo on his phone, with this Wuhan park where he last spent time with his father, John Hai (Ph) can barely keep it together. Just give him a second. John says his father served in China's

military, defending his country, but as COVID-19 spread in Wuhan, the epicenter center of the global outbreak early last year, weeks passed before health officials publicly acknowledged human to human transmission. When they finally did, it led to a city of 11 million residents locking down. But by then, John's 76-year-old father had contracted the virus, dying days later.

You had told me that when you're here, a few emotions come to mind. Obviously, sadness and sorrow missing your dad. But also, anger. With whom are you angry?

"When the virus appeared in Wuhan on in the early days, the local governments of Wuhan City and Hubei province could truly have flip people and life first. They could've taken measures to control the virus," he says, "but they didn't. Instead, they covered up and missed the precious opportunity."

Government figures state nearly 4,000 people in the city of Wuhan have died from COVID-19. John is now suing local officials and the hospital the treated his father. He is not the only one channeling his grief into action.

In the back room of a quiet Wuhan tea house, we met Wang Lu Shen (Ph). She packs envelopes addressed to China's high court. Her brother worked as a driver for a local market and was infected January of last year. She considers him a frontline worker, but she says the local government declined her family's claim for work injury compensation.

"He felt that he would leave financial burdens behind," Wang tells me. "And wants to negotiate for proper compensation in exchange for his death, so that I can take care of his child and family, pay the mortgage and shoulder other responsibilities he couldn't complete."

Wang's efforts to persuade China's high court to help, unlikely to change anything given the courts' declined to take up any COVID- related cases. For Yang Min (Ph), it's not even about the money, but what she calls spiritual justice for her daughter.

What is the truth as you know?

"The local officials did not tell us about the pandemic," she says. If measures weren't taken, I would not have sent my child to the hospital, which was the source of the infection."

Last January, yang's 24-year-old daughter had been receiving treatment for cancer. She contracted COVID-19. Yang said the hospital was so overcrowded that she snuck in to attend to her own daughter.

"I couldn't bear it anymore. So, I disguised myself in a set of blue surgery garbs that one of my doctor friends gave me. And I went into the hospital," she says. "I blended in to take care of my child."

Yang (Ph) says she also contracted the virus, and while she was recovering, her daughter passed away. Yang says her husband, whose brother also died from the virus, nearly drove off a bridge. He wanted to take his own life.

Following the outbreak in Wuhan, several local and provincial leaders were ousted from their jobs. But Yang wants to see more done.

"I think government officials who covered it up need to be punished, not just disciplined," she tells me. "My question is, why is it that those who have killed so many are not punished? If there is no explanation, there is no justice."

China's foreign ministry has said, as recently as last month, that accusations that the country covered up the outbreak are simply groundless.

[03:25:04]

CNN reached out to local and provincial court officials for comment. They have not yet responded.

These grieving family members believe that local officials should have done more, and they are now knowingly risking their own freedoms by sharing their pain publicly. John Hai (Ph) says given all of his father sacrificed for his country as an army veteran, he deserves better, even in death.

"My father was a patriot, and I am also one," he says. I've always believed it is a patriotic act to speak out.

David Culver, CNN, Wuhan, China.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Coming up here on CNN Newsroom, E.U. leaders say more vaccines are on the way. Just as protesters across Europe vent their frustrations over coronavirus restrictions. We will have a live report just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH (on camera): The United States has just marked its deadliest month yet in the coronavirus pandemic. In January, more than 95,000 people died from COVID-19. That's more than the previous record high in December. But there is an encouraging trend.

COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. dipped below 100,000 this weekend for the first time in nearly two months. So far, more than 31 million Moderna and Pfizer BioNTech doses have been administered nationwide. And this week, Johnson and Johnson is expected to file for emergency use authorization for its vaccine.

[03:30:00]

CHURCH: Joining me now is CNN medical analyst Dr. Esther Choo. She is a professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. Thank you, doctor, for being with us and for all that you do.

ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me on, Rosemary.

CHURCH: The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to get emergency use authorization in just a matter of days, in fact. It doesn't have as high an efficacy, right, as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but it's only a single shot, which, of course, is a real benefit here. So how big a difference could this vaccine option make once it is made available?

CHOO: Well, this is really a game-changer in many ways, and you're right the efficacy for severe disease doesn't match the extremely impressive numbers of the MRNA vaccines. But on the other hand, it seems to have 100 percent efficacy for hospital patients and deaths, and that is the number that we can all stand behind.

And then add on to that the fact that it's a single shot. It doesn't require those ultra-cold freezing temperatures. And so those things make it such a practically easy vaccine to disseminate.

So for those reasons, it will be so good for getting too hard to reach areas, to rural areas, places where there aren't a lot of clinics or pharmacies, and it will just be easier to use all of the vaccines because we don't have these really rigid storage requirements.

CHURCH: And doctor, U.S. COVID hospitalizations have fallen below 100,000 for the first time in nearly two months. And cases are down, which is all very good news. But the new variants pose a threat to that encouraging trend. How concerned are you about that and what should we all be doing about it?

CHOO: Yeah, I think we need a little more time to really see what the impacts of the variants are. They certainly have arrived on U.S. shores. But you're right, the second half of January, those were not record-breaking days, which is really encouraging. It looks like we are really cresting the hill for coming out of the holidays.

What we have in front of us is looking to see how much these variants that at least, you know, the U.K. variants seem to be spread much more easily, and then the other variants coming out, we will really look to see what the impact is in terms of not only how easily it is transmitted but also whether it changes severity of disease and whether it changes the efficacy of these vaccines.

But no matter what, the key thing about variants is they really thrive on the element of time. We give viruses more time to mutate and they will do that because they are survivors. So, the faster we move on vaccines, the better we are at interrupting the chain of viruses from person to person with really good mask wearing and social distancing.

Those are the things that still will win against this virus no matter which variant we are talking about.

CHURCH: Yeah, so true. And doctor, in just a matter of hours, masks will be required on all transport, including planes, trains and buses. How big a difference could that make, do you think?

CHOO: Well, this feels like something that is necessary and is long overdue, just trying to interrupt the virus in places where people congregate so that they can go about their daily business, which we are desperately trying to get back to.

But there is also a secondary impact of that, which is just having people out in public places, having to wear masks, that really starts us to get -- to get all of us on the same page nationally.

So this is really the beginning of national messaging, a kind of coordinated approach that affects pretty much everybody everywhere so that we can all start to get into this habit of mask wearing when we are around others.

CHURCH: Hopefully, everyone will follow that mask wearing guidance there. Dr. Esther Choo, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

CHOO: My pleasure.

CHURCH: Well, the European Commission president says AstraZeneca has agreed to deliver an additional nine million coronavirus vaccine doses. This follows a furious row between the E.U. and the drug maker over COVID vaccine supplies. Ursula von der Leyen calls the development a step forward.

But as this is happening all across Europe, frustration is growing over COVID restrictions. Capital cities, including Vienna, Budapest and Brussels also protest over lockdown measures on Sunday.

So for more on that, I want to bring in CNN's Melissa Bell. She joins us now live from Paris. Good to see you, Melissa. So, what are you learning about these protests across Europe over the COVID restrictions, particularly as they come, these hopes of the vaccine arriving?

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: Hope that the vaccines arriving for the time being in many parts of Europe, Rosemary, such a shortage that essentially the vaccination campaigns have had to grind to a halt.

[03:35:05]

BELL (on camera): That anger that you saw on the streets of so many European cities is really a reflection of the fact, Rosemary, that it's now been nearly a year that first European lockdown came at the very end of February a year ago in Italy. Who would imagine that a year on, the restrictions in place, the lockdowns in many parts would have taken such a toll on the livelihoods of so many across European Union?

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BELL (voice-over): Protesters versus police. Demonstrators filled the streets of some European cities on Sunday to vent their anger over coronavirus lockdowns that they say have gone on too long.

CROWD: (INAUDIBLE). BELL (voice-over): In Brussels, riot police carrying batons and shields detained at least 200 people for gathering at what officials deemed an unauthorized assembly. Protesters say restrictions like a nighttime curfew and a ban on nonessential travel in and out of the country are more destructive than the virus.

CONSTANCE, STUDENT (through translator): I am here because I think it is not right at all, what is going on, just because of a virus that doesn't kill that many people. Now, people are dying and starving. They can't work and earn money.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): (INAUDIBLE).

BELL (voice-over): Thousands of people marched in Vienna despite a ban on the rally. The crowds waved Austrian flags, some calling for the government to resign as the country endures its third lockdown.

GABRIELE WLADYKA, PENSIONER (through translator): We have to get rid of these nonsensical coronavirus measures which are just destroying our economy and everything and don't make any sense.

BELL (voice-over): Restaurant workers in Budapest packed a city square as their own businesses remain empty. They say their livelihoods have been ruined because they can only serve take out, which amounts to a fraction of what they need to survive.

So far, authorities have avoided the escalation of protests seen last week in the Netherlands, where police thrown water cannon and tear gas on rioters, who police say set a firework through stones and looted stores. Scene officials don't want repeated with police and many protest cities out in full force.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

BELL (on camera): Now, in so many European countries at the moment, Rosemary, authorities are saying that the restrictions are beginning to have an effect. It is the case here in France. Authorities say they are really hoping to avoid that third lockdown here.

But the point is that across European Union, as well, because they're having such trouble with their vaccination campaigns. Despite those extra doses that you mentioned a moment ago announced by AstraZeneca, extra doses also announced by BioNTech is going to take such a long time for that to take in effect.

And for now, really the EU's ambition of vaccinating 70 percent of its population by this summer looks pretty hopeful at best, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah, it is very frustrating timing. No question about it. Melissa Bell, joining us live from Paris, many thanks.

I want to go to the U.K. now where nearly nine million people have received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Nearly half a million people have had both doses. That is according to new government statistics released on Sunday. The country is currently giving vaccines to the elderly, those with serious underlying health conditions, and frontline health and social care workers.

So let's turn to CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. She is tracking the story for us live from London. She joins us now. Good to see you, Selma. Nearly nine million people across the U.K. already have received their first dose of the COVID vaccine. That is very encouraging news. What is the latest on that roll and, of course, the case numbers and hospitalizations there?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: I mean, Rosemary, I finally get to share a bit of good news with you today. We have reached a major milestone. Every single care home resident in England, every single one, has now either been offered the first dose of the vaccine or received it. That is 10,000 care homes across England.

Job done, tick the box, a major crucial milestone, as the prime minister has said. This was an area of concern, of course. Care home residents, residents of nursing homes where among those where there was an outbreak during the start of this pandemic. Care home residents account for about a third of the overall death toll.

So yes, this was an area that the government prioritized. They wanted to see all of these care home residents vaccinated by the end of January. That has happened on time. It means the program overall is on time.

And again, another major milestone over the weekend. On Saturday, 600,000 people vaccinated, getting their first dose in a single day. So this vaccination program is really moving at speed now. Breakneck speed to get as many people vaccinated as possible.

Again, the focus is on the key priority groups, four priority groups. Care home residents, it is done, extremely clinically-vulnerable, those over 70, and all frontline staff. The goal, of course, is to vaccinate all those people in time before this variant.

[03:40:00]

ABDELAZIZ: I know you had an expert on just a little bit ago. This variant takes many more lives here. That is the only way to really get a grip on this variant and to regain control of the country, to continue to vaccinate people at this very quick speed. Rosemary?

CHURCH: That is great news that you are bringing us. So, we look forward to any little gems that we can share with our viewers. Many thanks, Selma Abdelaziz.

Well, Russian authorities are desperate to crush demonstrations against the government. But protesters aren't letting a police crackdown stop them. What has got the Kremlin so concerned? We will take a look.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (voice-over): In Russia, police used harsh heavy-handed tactics to break up nationwide protests against President Vladimir Putin's government on Sunday.

One independent monitoring group says police arrested more than 5,000 people. Many protesters came out to demand the release of Mr. Putin's political rival, Alexei Navalny.

Our Fred Pleitgen reports. They also want more fundamental changes in Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Russian security forces showing no mercy, cracking down on protesters demanding the release of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. But some telling us they want more fundamental changes in Russia.

I came here today not only because of Navalny, this man says. I think it is more because of the lack of freedom and because of this demonstrate of lawlessness that is going on.

UNKNOWN: I want a free election. I want change in our government.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Independent monitoring group OVD-Info says thousands were detained across Russia, many protesters, but also some journalists, including briefly me.

[03:45:00]

PLEITGEN (on camera): Sorry, sir. All right. All right. It's OK. It's OK.

(Voice-over): Well, I was released after a few minutes. Many others were not so lucky. The U.S. secretary of state condemned what he called harsh tactics against protesters and journalists. Riot cops often wield in clubs --

UNKNOWN: Stop!

PLEITGEN (voice-over): -- and in some cases even tasers like in this troubling video from Moscow.

But as the protesters marched to the Russian capital, many motorists honked their horns, an apparent support as they drove passed.

Alexei Navalny, whose appeal for release from detention was denied this past week, called for the nationwide protest.

Vladimir Putin's government reacted swiftly in an unprecedented move, shutting down large parts of central Moscow, including 10 subway stops, in an effort to stop the protests, which authorities say are unsanctioned.

But people came out in masses across this vast country, often breathing freezing temperatures like in Yekaterinburg and often faced with a harsh police response like in St. Petersburg, where OVD-Info says hundreds were detained.

CROWD: (UNTRANSLATED).

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Release, release, they chanted, referring to Alexei Navalny. Navalny remains in detention and faces another court hearing this week. Locked away, but not silenced, as many of his supporters have vowed to continue their action.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CHURCH (on camera): Much of the U.S. population will soon feel the cold sting of a winter storm. When we come back, we will check in with our meteorologist and get the latest on the path for northeaster threatening parts of the country. We will be back with that story.

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[03:50:00]

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CHURCH (on camera): Wall Street enters a new trading week with U.S. Futures edging higher at the moment. You see there, U.S. markets are coming off their worst week since October. The volatility hinged on a handful of trends, including fears on whether the massive short squeeze in GameStop and other Reddit favorites are beginning to impact the overall health of the market.

Scottish fishermen say the Brexit deal has made it nearly impossible to sell their product in the European Union. One trade group estimates merchants are losing $1.4 million a day.

CNN's Anna Stewart reports. They say they are drowning in Brexit red tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER (voice-over): This is Bob Teviotdale's weekly haul.

UNKNOWN: This (INAUDIBLE) come from (INAUDIBLE) this morning.

STEWART (voice-over): A relief for the fourth-generation fisherman who last week had to stay at home. New export delays following Brexit are pushing off his European customers.

BOB TEVIOTDALE, FISHERMAN: Many percent of what we catch goes to these markets. So yes, it's essentially crippling. Any expense (INAUDIBLE) obviously with any link in the chain obviously comes back to us and visibly will stop (INAUDIBLE).

UNKNOWN: I live on (INAUDIBLE).

STEWART: These brown crabs, lively now, risk arriving in Europe dead, a problem for exporters like AM Shellfish.

ALLAN MILLER, OWNER, AM SHELLFISH LTD: We are losing 24 hours daily at a normal now just in order to take (INAUDIBLE) for a lot of even.

STEWART (on camera): A lot of fishermen voted for Brexit. Do you think they regret that now?

MILLER: I never voted for that, but at the moment, it doesn't matter who voted for what. We are here and we have to get solutions to go forward.

STEWART (voice-over): These fishermen won't benefit from (INAUDIBLE) in the post Brexit trade deal. (INAUDIBLE) don't apply to most shellfish.

(On camera): Well, this is the very last brown crab being laid up into this (INAUDIBLE), ready to go to Europe. It's been quick work. They have collected shellfish from individual fishermen and small businesses right across the area. But the next stop for these guys is going to take longer.

(Voice-over): The last jam starts here.

UNKNOWN: No, no. So then we've got to go to the catch certificate. So that's also another certificate.

STEWART (voice-over): OK, another certificate, the export certificate, the catch certificate.

UNKNOWN: Yes. Then you've got the health certificate. Then we've got our delivery note, then we've got commercial invoice, then we've also got security documents, and we've also got our import entries from the French side, as well.

STEWART (on camera): Before Brexit, what paperwork needed to be done? Just that?

UNKNOWN: Just our delivery note.

STEWART: Staying up all night to do paperwork is not the only problem. These documents cost nearly $5,000 a lori (ph).

UNKNOWN: We have issues, serious issues. If they're not solved going forward, business won't be here. Plus the fact, live shellfish? It doesn't wait. There is no sell by date on it. It's alive or dead.

STEWART: For the haulier, arriving at customs is daunting.

UNKNOWN: Lots of custom (INAUDIBLE) due to the paperwork. And it depends how long they will hold you.

STEWART (voice-over): Do you think it's going to get better or is it going to get worse?

UNKNOWN: Do you know there's going to be problems before you even get there?

STEWART (voice-over): The U.K. government has announced a $30 million compensation package for fishing businesses impacted by Brexit. Short term relief that Miller says is not enough to stem the carnage. The survival of shellfish hangs in the balance as does the future of fishing communities in the U.K.

Anna Stewart, CNN, Peterhead, Scotland.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

CHURCH (on camera): More than 100 million Americans are under some sort of winter weather advisory at this hour. A powerful nor-easter is bringing heavy snow and dangerous winds along the east coast. Many cities could be impacted in the coming days. New York City and the surrounding region could get well over a foot of snow.

So let's turn to our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. He joins us now live. Good to see you, Pedram. So, how bad is this looking?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good to see you, Rosemary. You know, even by the northeastern U.S. standards, this is an impressive snowstorm here that could bring potentially historic amounts across this region.

[03:55:00]

JAVAHERI: You watch the area of coverage here. We are talking about an area stretching over 1,000 miles here of land, where we have winter weather alerts in place, where in some areas, again, snowfall is going to be measured in several feet here.

You will notice the intensity, the impacts of this particular storm centered right over New York City. That is the purple contours here indicative of extreme impacts, which is a national weather dictating exactly where the areas that could be hardest hit are going to be.

You notice again New York City and Philadelphia in line here with the level four and level five concerns, which should put heavy snowfall, strong winds, power outages certainly and blizzard-like conditions in places around those cities into Monday morning and eventually Monday afternoon.

Notice pre-emptively, some 1,300 flights have already been cancelled across the northeastern U.S. You notice between La Guardia and New York and also JFK, 70 to 80 percent of the scheduled flights have already been cancelled in advance of the storm system.

Notice these wind speeds into the afternoon hours. In New York City, it's 47 to almost 50 miles per hour into the overnight hours. In Boston, it's 50 mile per hour winds. Of course, all of this on top of heavy, heavy snowfall that is expected around this region. It is really going to exacerbate the problem. You will notice the system itself moves right across portions of the Ohio Valley, parts (ph) offshore kind of merges with another storm that is already in place. And then we turn this into an entirely heavy snow event through all of Monday, potentially through parts of Tuesday before it's all said and done. We are as much as 20 inches that will be left on the ground around New York City, Rosemary, by the time we get to Tuesday night.

CHURCH: That's a lot of snow. Pedram Javaheri, many thanks for keeping us informed on what is going on there. I appreciate it.

Thank you for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I will be back with more news in just a moment.

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