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Trump Trial to Begin with Debate on Constitutionality; Police Using Water Cannons, Curfew to Quell Protests in Myanmar; Concerns Variants Will Reverse Positive Trends in U.S.; WHO Team Wraps Up in Wuhan; North Korea Using Cybercrime to Fund Nuclear Program; U.N. Calls on Israel to Halt West Bank Demolitions; Oil Rises to Highest Levels in over a Year. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired February 09, 2021 - 02:00   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): Hello and thank you so much for joining us, wherever you are in the, world I'm Robyn Curnow. Here at the CNN Center in Atlanta.

Ahead, the stage is set in Washington. U.S. lawmakers kicking off a historic second impeachment trial for a man no longer in office, judging Donald Trump's hand in inciting insurrection on Capitol Hill.

Also, the WHO Team is in Wuhan and is close to finalizing their nearly month-long probe.

Could it give us some clues about the origins of COVID-19?

And then, later on, details on a confidential U.N. report. Despite sanctions, North Korea still managed to expand its nuclear and ballistic missile program.

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CURNOW: In just 11 hours, the U.S. Senate will begin its impeachment trial of Donald Trump. It's the second impeachment trial for him and the only one of its kind. Senate leaders laid out the ground rules. The first debate will be over the trial's constitutionality, which most Republicans reject.

Then, each side, getting 16 hours, over 2 days, to make its case. Trump's legal, team blasting the trial as political theater. They plan to argue his comments at that January 6th rally, before the attack on Capitol Hill, are free speech, protected by the First Amendment.

Mr. Trump also refused to testify. Aides saying he thinks he'll be acquitted and remains fixated on punishing House Republicans who voted to impeach him. Jim Acosta has more on all of that and what to expect. Jim?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a day away from the start of his second impeachment trial, former president Donald Trump is facing severe consequences if he's convicted, as he could be barred from ever again serving in the Oval Office.

Senate Democrats say they have a deal for what is shaping up to be a trial that could last more than one week, with days of arguments from both sides in the case.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: Only the fourth trial of a president or former president in American history and the first trial for any public official that has been impeached twice.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Trump's defense team is arguing the former president is totally blameless for the bloody siege of the Capitol.

In their latest filing before the impeachment trial begins Tuesday, his lawyers are blasting the proceeding as "a selfish attempt by Democratic leadership in the House to prey upon the feelings of horror and confusion that fell upon all Americans across the entire political spectrum upon seeing the destruction at the Capitol on January 6 by a few hundred people."

But former aides tell CNN a different story, that the then president was enjoying the spectacle, one ex-White House official saying Trump was "loving watching the Capitol mob."

Arguing the evidence of Trump's conduct is overwhelming, House Democrats will seize on the former president's own words to make their case.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore. We're going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country. So, let's walk down Pennsylvania Avenue.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Trump's defense team argues his statements cannot and could not reasonably be interpreted as a call to immediate violence or a call for a violent overthrow of the United States government.

But Democrats plan to point out Trump supporters appear to be following his commands as they unleash their assault.

TRUMP: Go home and go home in peace.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Noting how some of the mob seem to obey his call to go home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump asked everybody to go home. He won the (INAUDIBLE) day.

ACOSTA: Then there was the Trump tweet targeting Vice President Mike Pence just as he was in danger at the Capitol. RIOTERS: Hang Mike Pence! Hang Mike Pence!

ACOSTA: President Biden says Trump should speak up if he's innocent.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, he's got an offer to come and testify. He has decided not to. We will let the Senate work that out.

ACOSTA: Trump's lawyers insist it's unconstitutional to hold the trial after their client has left office.

But some Republicans aren't buying it, as lawyer Charles Cooper, who represented former national security adviser John Bolton, wrote in "The Wall Street Journal," "Article 1, Section 1 authorizes the Senate to impose an optional punishment on conviction, disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States. That punishment can be imposed only on former officers."

One of the GOP House members who voted to impeach Trump, Liz Cheney, said it's time for her party to face some hard truths.

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REP. LIZ CHENEY (D-WY): People have been lied to. The extent to which the president, President Trump, for months leading up to January 6 spread the notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged, was a lie. And people need to understand that.

ACOSTA: Sources tell us, Trump is fixated on punishing Republican lawmakers who voted to impeach him in the House, like congresswoman Liz Cheney. A former adviser says the former president sees his efforts as, quote, "seeking accountability" -- Jim Acosta, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

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CURNOW: Joining me from Los Angeles, vice dean at the University of Southern California Law School, Franita Tolson, and from the U.K., lecturer in politics at the University College London, Julie Norman.

Thanks to both of you ladies for joining me.

Franita, let's start with you this hour. The president is being charged, the former president, with insurrection, inciting a riot. To defend his action, Mr. Trump's attorneys are using the Constitution.

Why?

FRANITA TOLSON, CNN ELECTION LAW ANALYST: Former president Trump and his attorneys, seem to think they have a First Amendment defense. It's ill suited for these circumstances. Normally you see the First Amendment used by someone in a criminal proceeding that the government cannot prosecute them for conduct because it's protected by the First Amendment, either conduct or speech. Or in civil litigation, when someone claims that they should not have

to pay damages because their speech is protected by the First Amendment.

Impeachment is neither civil, nor criminal process so it really does not fit well to claim that there is a First Amendment defense in this context, particularly since the Senate can convict him for conduct that is neither criminal or conduct that neither triggers civil liability. So it's a very unique, constitutionally specified process where the First Amendment doesn't really fit well.

CURNOW: The real serious question being posed here is, can a president who loses the election get away with a violent insurrection to stay in power?

That is what Democrats are seeing this as. Yet, Republicans say it is political theater.

Who comes out of this week politically stronger?

Are there any winners?

JULIE NORMAN, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Robyn, I think it is important to note, the country is quite divided over the impeachment trial. Of course, around 90 percent of Democrats support conviction, over 80 percent of Republicans oppose that.

In terms of who comes out ahead, I think it is clear that the country, it's pretty split on that question, whether it should be going forward or not. As noted from the Democrat perspective, this trial does have to go forward, not only for accountability for Trump but to have a public account and public record of what happened on January 6th.

To also set a precedent for future office holders, including presidents, to not engage in this kind of behavior that, as Dr. Tolson said, is impeachable, even if not illegal under some of the First Amendment terms.

CURNOW: Franita, going back to you, Mr. Trump is also arguing that, because he is no longer president, the impeachment should not apply to him.

Does that hold water?

TOLSON: I don't think so. Of course, we are in uncharted territory. We have a former president who has been impeached twice and the second impeachment is occurring after he left office.

However, it seems inconsistent with our historical practice. There are instances in which officials have been impeached after leaving office but, even more importantly, if you look at the founding era, there are examples that suggest the founding generation anticipated one may be impeached after leaving office.

For example, the Virginia Constitution of 1776 specified that the governor would be impeached and convicted upon leaving office. In addition, there was an example where Parliament impeached someone two years after they left office. Reportedly, that particular instance happened during the time the Constitution was being debated.

So the founding generation was well aware of the prospect of impeachment of someone leaving office. Had they imagined a different circumstance, arguably, they would've provided for it.

CURNOW: Julie, we played these videos over and over again. It was played out live on national television. Look at this, it's still traumatic to look at these pictures no matter where you are, especially as an American.

How crucial are videos like this in the Democratic argument?

And then, also, politically, just a reminder to all Americans that January 6th was a historic and horrifying day.

NORMAN: Robyn, that is exactly right and that's what the Democrat House managers are counting, on and building their case around. They plan to use video packages from that day to show what was happening and of, course it is notable that the trial will be carried out in the chamber where these events took place.

That is not lost on those individuals and again, these are senators and lawmakers, who were present that day.

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NORMAN: It won't be the first time that the whole scope of what happened that day is put forward in the public record. And also that the American people see, fully, what happened. We do expect them to rely largely on the video evidence.

Still unclear if the House managers will try to call witnesses as well in the second week of the trial. Some want a speedy trial, others also think that will add to their case and especially to the emotions as well as the facts.

CURNOW: It will be emotional and as we've said, the trial is political and not legal.

Still, legally, how important are these videos to play out?

And the interviews we have seen, as well as the fact that there may be witnesses. Also a lot of senators were witnesses themselves, the people who will be sitting there listening to this.

Is there strength in this argument, this video?

TOLSON: Absolutely. I think that part of -- the importance of an impeachment trial, I would argue, is not necessarily to guarantee that the president will be convicted of anything. This is about accountability.

If this behavior is not sanctioned, if this behavior is not held to account, really, who are we as Americans? To some extent, the process is just as important as the potential for conviction. I think these videos strengthen the argument that there was some extreme wrongdoing, occurring on January 6th, to which people must be held accountable.

If the president is, ultimately, not convicted, that will be very unfortunate, given his level of involvement.

At the same time, the videos show, the proceeding itself and the evidence presented there and the potential for witnesses is a way for us to reckon with what's happened that day and say that it should never happen again. So the process itself is very important.

CURNOW: The process is so important, Julie. There's also inevitability on some level to the process, at least to the end game. Republicans have already said they won't acquit.

So does this, the process embolden or humiliate Donald Trump?

NORMAN: Robyn, I think that is yet to be seen. Again, one thing Democrats are hoping to do is put Republicans on record for supporting the former president or not. As we mentioned, many Republicans will vote along a more procedural argument, again, suggesting the trial is unconstitutional.

We saw an early vote from Rand Paul a few weeks ago, showing 45 Republicans would vote along those lines. I think many Republicans will vote against the conviction. But with that rationale and try and save face against voting against the president in that way.

Trump, of course, if acquitted, we'll see it as a victory and will try to rally his supporters around that fact; whereas for other Americans and Democrats in particular, it will just further impugn the president after seeing what we are expected to see over the course of the trial.

CURNOW: Either way, certainly, it's certainly another historic week in American politics. Franita Tolson, Julie Norman, ladies, thank you so much for your expertise. Have a good week.

TOLSON: You, too.

NORMAN: Thanks, Robyn.

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CURNOW: Right now, we see these large demonstrations, in more than a decade, in Myanmar. Let me show you these pictures.

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CURNOW (voice-over): These protests against last week's military coup, have grown across the country for the fourth straight day. Police, using water cannons to disperse the crowds in the capital. Take a look and listen.

Demonstrators there, marching through downtown Yangon chanting, holding up the anti government three finger salute, inspired by the "Hunger Games" movies and books. A curfew is now imposed in most major cities and towns, as well as restrictions on public gatherings. Paula Hancocks, reporting all of these developments.

Paula, hi. Again, these images of protest, coming out of Myanmar. It seems like the government is cracking down even harder, just by the latest information we know.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Robyn, we certainly have seen a step up in the reaction from the government, from the military and from the police. We understand from Reuters News Agency, in Mandalay, which is the second biggest city in Myanmar, that at least 27 people have been arrested.

Now according to that report, they also say that a journalist who'd been filming that particular protest was involved in one of those and had told Reuters that they had seen some people beaten as well. CNN can't independently verify that report.

But certainly, they are worrying accounts of what may be happening on the ground. Of course, monitoring the social media sites, in different livestreaming from many places in Myanmar.

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HANCOCKS: We are seeing thousands of people, still, on the streets. Water cannons have been used, that was used on Monday. And also, the military and the police, threatening to use force if the protesters do not disperse.

There is a curfew and there is a ban on gathering of more than five people brought in by the military government but it is not being listened to at this point by the people, Robyn.

CURNOW: That was a slip of tongue on my behalf. This is not the government, the elected government. I don't know.

What do we know about Myanmar's leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi?

We have not heard from them since the military took over last week.

What do we know about that?

HANCOCKS: Well, Aung San Suu Kyi is still being detained, we believe under house arrest. We have not heard directly from her since last Sunday, when she was detained by the military in that coup. We know the president as well has been detained. That's all we know at this point.

We know that police charges have been filed against them for export and import laws, relating to some walkie-talkies that Aung San Suu Kyi had but activists say they are trumped up charges just to get the government out of the way so the military can move in -- Robyn.

CURNOW: Thanks for keeping us updated. We will come back to you if there's any new development. Paula Hancocks there. Scientists say a landslide likely caused the glacier collapse in

India.

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CURNOW (voice-over): This is the aftermath of the disaster which sent an avalanche of water and rocks down a mountain gorge, destroying a dam and flooding the towns below. These satellite photos show the path of that deadly flooding, starting at the bottom of the screen and working its way across the mountain ridges.

We know that rescue crews are still searching for survivors. They only had moments to escape.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The difference between life and death was just 2 minutes. If we had not run and even delayed 2 minutes, we would have died. Around 25-30 of us survived.

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CURNOW: At least 26 people were killed in the collapse and flooding. We know that 200 people are still missing.

The U.S. gains a little ground in the battle against the coronavirus.

Could the fast spreading variants wash away that progress?

That story next.

A WHO team has wrapped up a probe into the origins of COVID-19. We'll have a live report in Beijing. You are watching CNN.

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CURNOW: The U.S. is seeing a sharp decline in coronavirus infections since early last month and hospital admissions are down as well. But American health authorities warn the rapid spread of virus variants could send those figures right back up, not just in the U.S. of course but also around the world.

Much more testing does need to be done to track any mutations. Here in the U.S., genome sequencing is up tenfold. That's good news.

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CURNOW: But experts say that is still just not enough.

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DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: We are continuing to watch these data closely. Although hospital admissions and cases consistently -- are consistently dropping, I'm asking everyone to please keep your guard up.

The continued proliferation of variants remains a great concern and is a threat that could reverse the recent positive trends we are seeing.

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CURNOW: Another big worry is when the vaccines will work against these variants but the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is certainly getting support from some health officials around the globe after a study showing it had limited effects on the variant spreading in South Africa.

And South Africa says it will modify its rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine after putting inoculations on hold. Officials now plan to vaccinate 100,000 people to determine if the shot is effective against severe illness and hospital admissions.

Earlier the head of the country's COVID advisory committee spoke with CNN about the plan.

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SALIM ABDOOL KARIM, SOUTH AFRICAN COVID-19 ADVISORY COMMITTEE: I think we have to accept that we are now in a world of COVID-19 that is creating new variants. And those variants will escape immunity and we are likely to see this continue in various ways.

What it means is that we have to now be smarter about the way we make our vaccines and how we can respond with the next generation of vaccines. So we need a wider array of vaccines. We need new generation vaccines that are much broader in their immunity, that are able to kill a wide range of variants.

And importantly, as new variants emerge, we've got to have the ability to rapidly produce a new booster shot that deals with new variants.

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CURNOW: South Africa is also planning to roll out the vaccine from Johnson & Johnson. A top official says the company has agreed to speed up deliver of the first doses expected by the end of the week.

Meanwhile in Europe, officials are still trying to build trust in COVID vaccines. New data from the U.K. shows the South African variant does not appear to be more transmissible than others. But health officials are urging people to get vaccinated sooner rather than later.

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JONATHAN VAN-TAM, ENGLAND'S DEPUTY CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: My advice to you is very simple: do not delay. Have the vaccine that will protect you against the current threat. And don't worry, you can be re-vaccinated.

For people who have had a full course of two vaccines, a re- vaccination is probably going to only require one dose. That requires some science work to confirm, it but that is my hunch.

And you can be re-vaccinated and we are taking a lot of steps behind the scenes to ensure that we can be in that position.

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CURNOW: In the U.K., which has prioritized vaccines for elderly residents and those in care homes, the health secretary says that over 90 percent have gotten their first dose, more than the government expected.

Also in Italy they began vaccinating people over 80 on Monday after facing delays due to reduced availability of vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.

The World Health Organization team in Wuhan, China, has wrapped up their investigations and plans to make an announcement in the next hour. They've been trying to trace the origin of the COVID virus.

To do that they visited hospitals, research facilities and the seafood market where the outbreak was first identified. The Trump administration had claimed the virus originated from a research lab, a report the Chinese government has fiercely denied. So far, key reports suggest it did originate in the market. Steven Jiang joins me now from Beijing.

Steven, good to see you.

We are all waiting for this report but do you think there's going to be any surprises?

How much information are we expecting?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: A lot of anticipation with that press conference, because at least one member of the WHO team has tweeted that they were releasing a summary report and also discussing evidence as well as results from their joint work with their Chinese counterparts.

But as you say, few people expect them to draw a definitive conclusion in terms of where this virus came from at the stage. They themselves have been saying sometimes it takes years for such origin tracing studies to complete.

And also, of course, they are keenly aware of all the political pressure from all sides. So they have always been emphasizing they are not going to let politics get ahead of science, which is their so focusing on in Wuhan.

But of course, in recent days they have said they have found important clues from their visits to several hotspots in the city, including the seafood market you mentioned, even though it has been closed for over a year and repeatedly disinfected. They said being there gave them a much better sense of the place in terms of its infrastructure, hygiene and flow of goods and people, because most shops and equipment remain intact. [02:25:00]

JIANG: They, of course, also went to the very controversial Wuhan Institute of Virology, that is the place where some senior Trump administration officials have alleged the virus was leaked from without much evidence.

So all these visits and conversations presumably have helped them form some sort of opinion to share with the world in the upcoming press conference.

CURNOW: OK, thanks so much. Report back to us with all of that. We'll monitor anything that comes out of that press conference, Steven Jiang, good to see you in Beijing.

Coming up on CNN, the new secretary of state speaks with CNN about U.S. foreign policy in a post America first world.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: One of the big problems we face -- and it will actually affect the lives of the American people every single day -- whether it's climate, whether it's the pandemic, whether it's the spread of bad weapons, not a single one can be addressed by any one country acting alone, even one as powerful as the United States. So there's a premium on cooperation and, so, a premium on policy.

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CURNOW: Welcome back to NEWSROOM, thank you for joining, me I am Robyn Curnow, 28 minutes past the hour.

North Korea is accused of using cyber crime to keep its nuclear weapons program going. CNN obtained details from a new U.N. report, showing Pyongyang's army of hackers stole hundreds of millions of dollars last year, defying international sanctions to find new missile testing and production. Will Ripley, following the story from Hong Kong.

Will, hi, what more can you tell us about this new information?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robyn. North Korea has been suspected for many years of using cyber crime, hacking financial institutions, stealing bitcoin, the kind of currency that is untraceable.

Once you snatch it online and then using that cyber army, if you will, to fund its nuclear program. This is a country that has been under strong U.N. sanctions since 2006, 15 years. So they have to find creative ways to work around it.

One of those, according to the U.N. report, is cyber crime. They say North Korea was able to hack more than $300 million last year, $316 million to be exact, at a time when their borders were shut down. So trade, virtually, ground to the halt. That made it one of their primary sources of income, perhaps, although, certainly off the books for the nuclear program.

CURNOW: It's all about the nuclear program.

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CURNOW: The big question will be how this new incoming Biden administration deals with North Korea.

Are we getting any sense of the diplomacy that they are going to roll out?

How they will do things differently from the Trump administration?

RIPLEY: Well, pretty much every previous U.S. administration did things differently than president Trump, who met 3 times with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, in 2018 and 2019. Lots of major TV moments, very little in terms of substance. And in North Korea, now, having a bigger arsenal and more sophisticated arsenal, than it did at the beginning of the Trump administration.

Much of that development, this U.N. report says, happened in 2020. President Biden, when he was the vice president under Obama, was part of the strategic patience, which was arguably an epic fail, because North Korea launched many missiles and tested a lot of nuclear devices during the eight years of the Obama administration.

Before then, President Bush didn't get anywhere with North Korea. President Clinton came a little bit closer, sending Madeleine Albright in the final months of his term. But now we know that he ended up back in a place with North Korea, it's far more dangerous in terms of strategic threat. Far more unlikely that many experts say, they will actually consider disarmament, considering that they look at these nuclear weapons as their only leverage, in a time when they look at other countries, including Iran, which this U.N. report says, North Korea is now cooperating with.

The U.S. signed an arms deal with Iran, pulled out of the deal under president Trump. The Biden administration will have a lot of work to do to rebuild trust slowly. That is what they are saying they will do. It is about trust building, it is about small diplomatic initiatives. Certainly, no high-level meetings anytime soon. Sanctions, although we've seen North Korea has ways of getting around it.

CURNOW: True. Will Ripley, in Hong Kong, you've been to North Korea multiple times, thank you so much for that update.

The U.S. will need cooperation from China as it confronts the security challenge posed by North Korea. America's new secretary of state speaking to CNN about how the Biden administration plans to reengage with Beijing. Take a listen.

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BLINKEN: When we pull back, China fills in. It means standing up for our values, not abdicating them when we see the abuse of the rights of the Uyghurs in Xinjiang or democracy in Hong Kong.

It means making sure we are postured militarily to deter aggression and it means investing in our own people so that they can compete effectively. If we do these things and all of these are within our control, we can engage China from a position of strength.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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CURNOW (voice-over): Antony Blinken, also speaking of relations with Russia, saying the U.S. is reviewing what happened with the poisoning of opposition leader, Alexei Navalny. He said protests like these show how deeply the Russian people want change.

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BLINKEN: I think it spells a deep dissatisfaction with, as I said, the corruption that is rampant, the kleptocracy that dominates the government. And it just speaks to the fact that Russians are looking for ways to make sure that their voices are heard.

And the system, as it is currently constituted, does not exactly favor that. So look, this is, fundamentally, about Russia, the Russian people, their future. It is not about us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: President Biden has, so far, been largely silent on Israeli- Palestinian relations. But the U.N. and the E.U. are pushing back now on Israel's recent rush to authorize thousands of new housing units in the West Bank. Senior international correspondent, Sam Kiley has more on that. Sam?

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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A convoy of European ambassadors, trooping out to the West Bank, to complain against Israel's forced removals of Arab farmers from this land. At the moment, grand gesture meets grim reality.

The day before, Israel had destroyed a Bedouin camp, declaring the farming area a closed military zone.

KILEY: How many times has your shelter been confiscated this month?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Three times. Every month, three times. KILEY: Do you have any hope that there is now a new president in

America, that he could maybe help with this sort of problem?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We say inshallah, the situation will get better with a new president, maybe, inshallah.

KILEY (voice-over): These Bedouin farmers show little enthusiasm for these fleeting visits, seeing them as empty gestures, while Israel continues to build on the West Bank.

This year, ahead of Joe Biden's presidential inauguration, Israel rushed to announce the construction of 3,352 new homes, effectively for Jews only on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. The Trump administration said that Jewish West Bank settlements were not inconsistent with international law.

[02:35:00]

KILEY (voice-over): Palestinians hope that Biden would reverse this, interline with Europe and the U.N. But he did not mention the Palestinians or Israel in his first foreign policy speech as president.

KILEY: Do you think you are a priority?

It doesn't look like it, to be honest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the moment, we are a priority. We know that Washington is occupied with so many problems, corona, the economy, all of these sorts of things, which we understand.

KILEY: It seems like for the agricultural communities of Bedouin are all too familiar on the West Bank. But there is growing anger among the Palestinians against the Israelis, against their own leadership and against the international community.

KILEY (voice-over): The Europeans spend around $780 million a year on the Palestinians. They are the biggest donors to the Palestinian Authority. It is almost entirely reliant on foreign donor money to run about 40 percent of the West Bank. But U.S.-led peace talks with Israel are in a deep coma.

KILEY: Some people would say, you are simply renting peace off the Palestinians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, how do you allow hope to continue to exist?

KILEY (voice-over): Meanwhile, a top Israeli official says that the Bedouin are pawns in a political stunt orchestrated by the Palestinian Authority.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Israeli government was willing to go an extra mile here. We offered them to be relocated, we offered to build housing in another area. I think for political reasons, the residents weren't allowed to accept those proposals. KILEY (voice-over): Trump's support for Israel was hot. Israel see a

little cooling from Biden but there is no change in the diplomatic weather for the Palestinians -- Sam Kiley, on the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Still ahead on CNN, after a year of low demand oil prices, they have soared back to their pre-pandemic highs.

What is behind the upswing?

We have a report from Abu Dhabi, after the break.

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CURNOW: Stocks in Asia and U.S. futures mixed right now after another record day on Wall Street. Oil prices also rising to their highest level since before the pandemic began with the global benchmark, topping $60 a barrel on Monday. Let's go straight to John Defterios, live in Abu Dhabi, with that.

Why is oil so closely watched?

Isn't it a good gauge of a post pandemic recovery?

Good to see you.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: In fact, oil demand, usually moves in lockstep when goods are, moving and people are moving at the same time. Commerce, overall. That's the indication.

Let's look at the latest price and there are many who believe that the investment funds and hedge funds have come into the market aggressively before demand. We were above $61 a barrel and if you go back over the last year, we started February of 2020 at around $54.

[02:40:00]

DEFTERIOS: We were higher than that in January. What a year. Ive covered oil for the better part of three decades and I've never seen anything like it. We have a price war in March between Saudi Arabia and Russia. Five weeks later, we went negative on U.S. prices, below zero for the first time ever, below $20 for the international benchmark.

Then it took a lot of work to get restored, $10 trillion of global stimulus in the first half of last year, in the heat of the pandemic. And then, the OPEC plus group of countries, Saudi Arabia, Russia, singing from the same hymn sheet, cutting nearly 10 million barrels per day. Again, another record.

Where is the demand come from? Seventy percent for road transport, around 8 percent due to airline transport and demand there but we are well below the hundred million barrels per day. Global demand, on a daily basis, we saw in 2019, it won't be restored this year -- Robyn.

CURNOW: No. I don't think so. You talk about an overall demand for jet fuel.

Is the Biden administration also potentially considering making PCR tests mandatory for U.S. domestic travel?

That will be a big decision if that's the case.

DEFTERIOS: A big decision for the United States. We know about mask wearing and the challenge there with testing. But it is pretty much the norm, Robyn in the air bridge between here, the Middle East, Europe and I've travel back and forth last year, when it is possible. PCR negative is mandatory. All across the board, if you want to go back into Europe.

The new transport secretary for the Biden administration is moving in that direction, despite the resistance from industry.

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PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: What I can tell you, is it will be guided by data, by science, by medicine, and the input of the people who are having to carry this out.

Here's the thing, the safer we can make air travel, in terms of perception and reality, the more people will be ready to go back into the air.

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DEFTERIOS: What we have learned here from the Middle East in particular, Emirates Airline was first open in July to international passengers. You need to have the testing infrastructure ready. You can't make a declaration like this and not have the tests able to be turned around and 24 hours.

That's working in the UAE and other parts of the Gulf. Emirates Airlines, now suggesting, the president, it could be back to normal by 2023, about a year before what he was suggesting 6 months ago. Back to you.

CURNOW: Goodness, OK. John Defterios, thank you for the update, good to see you.

I want to show you some pretty amazing video from the U.S. state of Utah.

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CURNOW (voice-over): Luckily, the people in the path of this avalanche escaped, alive. Goodness. Just devastating these images. However, we have heard of 14 people dying in avalanches across the U.S. since February 1st. That is the highest number ever reported in a 7-day stretch in the U.S. Certainly, some devastating weather there.

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CURNOW: Also, we have seen much of northern Europe is trying to dig out and stay warm after a storm dumped heavy snow in the Czech Republic, Germany, Belgium and the U.K. For the Netherlands, it's the first major snowstorm in a decade, closing its COVID test and vaccination sites. Many flights and train services will also be delayed and canceled.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, I am Robyn Curnow, be sure to find me on Instagram and Twitter @RobynCurnowCNN. Don't go yet, "WORLD SPORT" starts after the break.

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