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Democrats Wrap Case, Trump Lawyers to Begin Defense; Protests Continue for 7th Day in Myanmar; A Closer Look at Denmark's Future 'Coronavirus Passports'; U.S. Vaccinations Ramping Up After Slow Rollout; Hong Kong Celebrates Scaled-Down Lunar New Year; GOP Senators to Face Reckoning Over Impeachment; CDC Issues New Guidance on Face Masks. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired February 12, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. I'm John Vause. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
[00:00:20]
Ahead this hour, a clear and present danger to American democracy. The scathing indictment of Donald Trump by House impeachment managers as they rest their case before the U.S. Senate.
Myanmar's crackdown moves to the Internet with a tough new cyber law, forcing service providers to hand over all user data to the military.
Let the vaccinations begin in earnest, and in April. The ambitious timeline in the U.S. to get hundreds of millions of people vaccinated for COVID-19.
House managers have rested their impeachment case against Donald Trump. For 16 hours, over two days, they presented a meticulous, often jarring account of how the words of the former president, both on the day, and the weeks, and months before, incited a mob which ultimately attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Trump's lawyers will have equal time for their defense, expected to include a widely-debunked argument that the entire process is in violation of the Constitution. And a version of the old schoolyard taunt, I know I am, but what are you [SIC]?
CNN's Ryan Nobles begins our coverage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Democratic House impeachment managers have rested their case against former President Donald Trump.
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): He attacked the First Amendment, he attacked the Constitution. He betrayed his oath of office. Presidents don't have any right to do that. It's forbidden.
NOBLES: The prosecutors wrapped their case with hours of time available, hoping a shorter presentation will have a greater impact.
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of my wonderful supporters.
NOBLES: On day three, they tied Trump to the mob by showing that those who stormed the Capitol, did so, because they believed the president had sent them there.
REP. DIANA DEGETTE (D-CO): You don't need to take my word for it that the insurrectionists acted at Donald Trump's direction. They said so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were invited here! We were invited! Hey, we were invited here! We were invited by the president of the United States!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's call Trump! Yes!
NOBLES: The manager showed several examples of rioters shouting Trump's name and proclaiming they were doing his bidding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he not realize President Trump called us to siege the place?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was following my president. I thought I was following what we were called to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're fighting for Trump.
NOBLES: They then showed how Trump offered his support for the mob and demonstrated no remorse for the role he played in inciting their anger.
TRUMP: My speech, and my words, and my final paragraph, my final sentence, and everybody at the team saying it was totally appropriate.
REP. TED LIEU (D-CA): We know President Trump didn't make a mistake. Because you see, when you or I make a mistake, and something very bad happens, we would show remorse. We would accept responsibility.
President Trump didn't do any of that. Why not? Because he intended what happened on January 6. And how do we know that? He told us.
NOBLES: Trump's legal team will get their opportunity to rebut the Democratic arguments tomorrow, but they attempted to get a head start today. Their lead lawyer, David Schoen, left the chamber while the trial is underway to go on FOX News. He promised their presentation will show no link between Trump and the actions of January 6.
DAVID SCHOEN, TRUMP DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think he'll, at least, be moved by what you see and get a much better picture of exactly what's going on here, and the hypocrisy in some of the decisions taken by the House managers in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring out Pence!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring out Pence!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring out Pence!
NOBLES: But Democrats believe they've provided overwhelming evidence of Trump's connection to the crime and warned that it was incumbent upon these jurors to hold him accountable because of what might happen in the future.
LIEU: I'm not afraid of Donald Trump running again in four years. I'm afraid he's going to run again and lose, because he can do this again.
NOBLES (on camera): And it's starting to look like this impeachment trial may actually wrap much earlier than expected. The Trump legal team will take the case on Friday, and they've indicated that they're only going to use about three to four hours of the 16 hours they have allotted to them.
After that could begin the question and answer period. There's still the possibility that witnesses could be called, although both sides say that is unlikely. If everything moves ahead as planned, it's possible that we could learn the former president's fait by Saturday night.
Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[00:05:04]
VAUSE: Joining me now from Los Angeles, Loyola Law School professor and host of the "Passing Judgment" podcast, Jessica Levinson. And from La Jolla, California, former U.S. attorney and host of the "Talking Feds" podcast, Harry Litman.
I've got to get me a podcast. Good to see you both. Thank you for being with us. OK. In about 17 seconds, maybe a little less, Democrat Jamie Raskin, one of the impeachment managers, explained not just the significance and the importance of the trial, but why it was important to have, you know, a guilty verdict at the end. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RASKIN: President Trump declared his conduct totally appropriate. So he gets back into office, and it happens again, we'll have no one to blame but ourselves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So Harry, first to you for the legal insight here. The trial, they say, was not about punishment but prevention: preventing Trump from running again. So how did they do in your assessment?
HARRY LITMAN, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: You know, they were splendid. They -- they were succinct, as you say, 17 seconds. They were comprehensive. They were methodical.
And it was even better than it looked, in a way. The sort of dynamics, the way they divided things between Raskin and the other managers; the way they, you know, went analytical for a while, and then sort of lifted to emotional high notes for a time.
It was really -- and all -- all the mistakes that a prosecution team make, they made none of them. They were, you know, completely both methodical but also appropriately emotional at certain points, like the one that you just played.
VAUSE: And Jessica, when you look at both of Trump's impeachment trials and everything behind them, they are strikingly similar. The first one had Trump threatening the president of the Ukraine, demanding help to beat Joe Biden. This one, two, had a wild mob, directed by Trump, threatening lawmakers and others, to overturn the election result.
You know, he got off once. Chances are, he'll get off twice. And that means?
JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY: Exactly. You know, but I would -- I would quibble a little bit -- and we can talk about this on your new podcast, John -- but I quibble a little bit with the idea that that the two impeachments are similar.
Now, it's similarly President Trump engaging in what I believe are impeachable offenses, but it's so different because of what we just talked about.
The first impeachment trial, which you and I also were able to discuss, it was kind of hard to describe exactly what happened and why it was a problem. This is so straightforward. And I think this is part of what the magic of what the House managers did.
They said, here's what happened. There was a speech, and the speech was not just a one-off. People were told, time and time again, the election will be stolen, and then after the elections, the election was stolen. And then they were did exactly what they were told to do, which is don't let this happen, stop the steal, go fight.
And, they told the senators, the jurors, you are in danger here. This was not a rally gone awry. You faced real, imminent harm.
So for that reason, I think, actually, it is different. The senators, the jurors, are part of the story. And it's a very easy story to understand.
Well, to get back to your point, similarities: President Trump behaving badly, President Trump being acquitted.
VAUSE: That's what I was getting to. Thank you.
And with all the praise the Democrats have received for this legal presentation, in some ways, it was pearls before swine. CNN's Manu Raju counted at least 15 empty desks on the Republican side at one point.
Those who were there, like Josh Hawley, sat with his feet on a chair in front of him. Others looked disinterested, or were, in fact, asleep.
After that, the Republican senators Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, Mike Lee meeting privately with Trump's defense team on Thursday. So Harry, what happened to that oath that all senators made -- senators made about being impartial jurors?
LITMAN: They broke it. And they're going to break it again on Saturday. And they -- nobody can stop them, but that doesn't mean they haven't broken it.
In the same way, Senators Brown (ph) says this evening, I don't have to listen to 56 senators tell me whether there's jurisdiction. Oh yes, but yes, you do. That's what the oath means.
And certainly, the oath to be -- and we saw this in the first impeachment trial -- to be open-minded.
And not only were they not, but they were, in no small measure, contemptuous of the proceedings. I mean, at a minimum, if you're not from Mars, this was an extraordinarily grave event, presented with great earnestness and clarity. And for people like Lindsey Graham to dismiss it as absurd and offensive, and for, you know, the kind of -- for them not be in the room, I just can't understand it, even from their own political self-interest, it seems so contemptuous and crass. And it's right. Pearls before swine is accurate.
[00:10:00]
VAUSE: Well, Jessica, on the political side of things here, if -- the Republicans, as expected, are likely to defend Trump yet again and make sure that he survives to live another day. Should the Republican Party just simply now admit what they have become, which is a party of old, white people, mostly racists and bigots, a lot more like George Wallace than like George Washington?
LEVINSON: Well, I mean, I don't know. I guess I would say I don't know if you have to admit it, because actions speak louder than words. And I -- this is going to sound so naive and so overly optimistic, and therefore so not like me. But somewhere, I think that a lot of Republican voters actually are not like this. That this is not what the entire Republican Party has become, that this is what many Republican senators have become.
And what I fail to understand, still -- and I know it sounds so naive -- is what on earth your view of the Constitution when it comes to western impeachable offenses. What on earth your view of whether or not this was incitement or an insurrect has to do with your partisan political views on things like tax policy, environmental policy, criminal justice. There's no overlay here except, We support President Trump. And that's -- that's a beginning, middle and end of the story.
The really interesting thing, of course, will be will the Republican Party break apart, which short-term, will be a huge win for the Democrats.
VAUSE: Well, the Trump legal team, they have 16 hours, equal time. They're unlikely to use it. It starts Friday, to mount a defense for the former president.
Attorney David Schoen on FOX News lashing out at the Democrats' case. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOEN: This is what you get when you have -- when you bring in a movie company and hire a large law firm to make a professional product that takes things out of context and presents it as an entertainment package. And what I said from the start is this isn't a blood sport. It's not about entertainment. It's about reporting the facts of the American people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Harry, you know, if anything, the -- the Democrats have been first down the line. It was the Republicans who have been out of contest and using dramatic effects for video, right?
LITMAN: Completely. And of course, we're going to see now some irrelevant video tomorrow, where Democrats say somewhat passionate words, but of course, not with a mob ready to storm.
You know, the -- he is shown as a solo practitioner defense attorney, and I think, for those folks, when there's no real facts or law, you just try to put the government on trial.
I think it's actually a mistake in tone, you know, again, that kind of vitriol. But that's what you can see, what will be happening.
But you know, I think any fair-minded person, even Trump advocate, who saw the last two days understands it was a compelling case. And for him to get up and try to be sort of contemptuous and dismissive, I think, will be a mistake.
But of course, they don't have much to play. They don't have much of a hand, and probably, the less said, the better.
What will be really, really interesting is whether the Raskin gamut of saying the jurisdictional issue is decided, whether he'll try to fly, you know, into the teeth of that by saying, You can ignore anything that's come before. Ignore your oath and decide whatever you want.
That would be cheeky, but there's -- you know, we're in the law of the jungle.
VAUSE: And Jessica, it seems like there's also a standard for negligence cases here. You know, the but for standard here. But for the words of Donald Trump, would the Capitol Hill police officer still be alive?
And the answer, after listening to everything that we've heard in the last few days, is yes. And which is a very simple, basic legal test. And lot of these senators would be aware of that. They're lawyers. And yet they -- they are still determined to push on with this acquittal of Donald Trump. It flies in the face of any kind of legal logic, even political logic, as well.
LEVINSON: Well, this isn't, of course, about the law. I mean, we've had a discussion about whether or not, for instance, the House managers have shown that the president did, in fact, incite violence. Even though we know in an impeachment trial, you don't have to prove a crime. You don't have to prove that you satisfy a federal statute.
You know, we've talked about the fact that there's a First Amendment defense here, which I think completely falls flat. But in the end, you know -- John, you know this better than I do, it's not a courtroom. And it doesn't matter how good the lawyers are on either side. And it doesn't matter how good the legal arguments are on either side. Because these are political actors making this determination. These are not real jurors in any conventional sense. These -- these are not judges.
And this is why this looks so much different from the postelection litigation, where basically, every Trump lawsuit was tossed out, because this isn't a court of law. And it is so distressing to talk about in these terms. But I think that's why we will see a favorable outcome for the president.
VAUSE: And just very quickly, hanging on a legal point here, if as expected, you know, Trump is acquitted here, what are the options left for Democrats in trying to prevent him from running for office again?
[00:15:07]
LITMAN: They're pretty remote. Now, if he's convicted of certain felonies, either in Georgia or New York, or federal government, they often will include some kind of disability of that sort.
There's talk about a very unusual effort to harness the 14th Amendment, third section. I don't think it could work. I think that would actually be -- get ready for a legal term here -- bill of attainder.
I think the short answer is nothing short of a criminal conviction for, which, of course, disables them and also, you know, it forces -- forces them, potentially, to give up future office. That would be a valid condition of a plea bargain.
VAUSE: Well, there are likely to be a lot of cases, you know, in the weeks and months ahead against the president and his family. We'll see what happens. Jessica Levinson and Harry Litman, great to have you both with us. Thank you.
LITMAN: Thanks.
Thanks, Jessica.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, thousands are turning out in defiance of Myanmar's military ruler. And they're now asking for international help. Details on that in a moment. Plus, a more contagious variant of the coronavirus has now been
detected in almost 20 European countries. The vaccines they have may be ineffective.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Protests continue in Myanmar now into the seventh day. Tens of thousands of demonstrators are demanding the military return power to the civilian government which it overthrew less than two weeks ago.
Large gatherings are expected at the U.S., Chinese, and U.K. embassies in Yangon.
CNN's Paula Hancocks following developments on all of this from Seoul. And this seems like the protesters are digging in. And they're coming from a real wide variety of society.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John, yes. And today is a national holiday, as well, in Myanmar in Friday. So we could well see some significant numbers coming out onto the streets.
But we have, for the last week, been seeing thousands of people, despite the fact that there have been some serious injuries from police retaliation still coming out onto the streets and making their voices heard.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Thousands of protesters are on the streets of Myanmar during the day. During the night, the military is still detaining members of the National League for Democracy, raiding the offices of what was, until the February 1 coup, the ruling party in a democratically-elected government.
SITHU MAUNG, NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY PARTY: The NLD won 82 percent of the vote in the 2020 election. The problem is not between the military and the politicians. It's between the military leaders and every single civilian.
HANCOCKS: The military leadership is proposing a new cybersecurity bill, more than 150 civil groups Thursday strongly rejected it. Images circulating online purporting to be the bill say the military could block or remove text and media that it felt disrupted stability.
[00:20:05]
THINZAR SHUNLEI YI, ACTIVIST: Many of them are especially to limit our freedom, to shut down (UNINTELLIGIBLE), to shut off the Internet. So they are basically trying to legitimize what they are doing.
HANCOCKS: Do you have concerns that the military could shut down the communication completely with the outside world?
YI: I'm deeply concerned about it, because this is the only (UNINTELLIGIBLE) right now, and that we could -- we couldn't travel, and there are the COVID restrictions that they are not available for us to fly out of the country, you know, in fear of violence or arrest. We are completely locked down.
HANCOCKS: The United States is imposing new sanctions for those behind the coup, including keeping some one billion dollars if Burmese government funds held in the U.S. out of the general's hands.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're freezing U.S. assets that benefit the Burmese government, while maintaining our support for healthcare, civil society groups, and other areas that benefit the people of Burma directly.
HANCOCKS: Myanmar was heavily sanctioned for much of its almost 50- year military rule and survived. The question is, will the reintroduction of sanctions now have much impact?
MONTSE FERRER, AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL: International investment, we believe to be quite important for the military regime. It is a way for them to enrich themselves, but also to allow to diversify its reliance historically on China, for example.
HANCOCKS: The 2019 United Nations report found military leaders, including Min Aung Hlaing, control many businesses within the country.
Japan's Kirin Holdings pulled out of an alliance with a military- controlled company last week. Activists are calling for all foreign companies to do the same: to cut ties and to stop the funds that help the military junta stay in power.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS: Now, Min Aung Hlaing, the leader, is also making some statements, calling on people to go back to work, saying that civil servants simply aren't turning up to work because of harassment, he says, by unscrupulous persons.
But clearly, many of those civil servants are not out on the streets protesting the very man himself.
And he also announced a prisoner amnesty, saying that more than 20,000 prisoners will be released to say that it's important for the efforts to try and build a modern democratic country with disciplines.
Now, clearly, activists are concerned at this point that they may just be trying to make room in those prisons for the political prisoners, as there have been many of those -- John.
VAUSE: Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks, live there in Seoul.
Much of Europe is seeing a decline in new infections of COVID-19, but there are concerns the more contagious variants of the virus could quickly see numbers surging once again. The WHO says the new variant first identified in South Africa has now been detected in at least 19 European countries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. HANS KLUGE, REGIONAL DIRECTOR, WHO EUROPE: At this point, the overwhelming majority of European countries remain vulnerable. Right now, it's a thin line between the hope of a vaccine and a false sense of security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is extending the country's lockdown until at least March 7 because of those new variants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLOR (through translator): We have a situation where the vaccination campaign is gaining speed, but in the forthcoming months, this is not going to give us the sort of collective protection but individual protection. Many people expect that the time has come to show very clear openings, and we know that the danger of the mutations may well destroy any success.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ireland's prime minister says the more contagious and possibly deadlier variant first found in the U.K. now responsible for 70 percent of all cases in Ireland. He also admitted in an interview with CNN that easing restrictions around Christmas last year was not the right thing to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL MARTIN, IRISH PRIME MINISTER: If we knew then what we knew now, we certainly wouldn't have made that decision. Certainly, the socialization in advance of Christmas was a problem. The seasonality was a problem. And also, clearly, the variant, the U.K. variant was a factor, not the only factor, of course, but that combined with socialization and seasonality, led to a perfect storm.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Well, Denmark could be the first country to roll out a coronavirus passport in the coming weeks. But as CNN's Nina dos Santos explains, this project already coming under fire.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Denmark, it's been a long winter. Many are feeling it's high time life got back to normal. So could this be the answer? An electronic COVID-19 passport easing restrictions for those who've had their inoculations.
The kingdom plans to have offered all of its 5.8 million citizens a jab by June. Before that, it could be one of the first places in the world to unveil a scheme for its vaccinated, perhaps as early as the end of this month. It's all part of a plan to open up business travel first, with a push from hospitality and entertainment to be part of the solution after that.
[00:25:19]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we do not start now, then when COVID-19 has left society, then it will be too late. So with this project, this close cooperation between government and business organizations in Denmark, we're very positive that we will have a settlement (ph), a settlement (ph) of joy, of football, of music.
DOS SANTOS: COVID passports are not new. The idea has been around since the start of the pandemic, but finding a way to access data easily, while storing it securely, will be key to their take up.
MARTIN LENNARDS, DANISH PUBLIC SECTOR INDUSTRY LEAD, IBM: So I want to board my plane. I'm going to trigger my corona pass.
DOS SANTOS: Two strategies are in the running, one that uses the cloud, and the other based on block chain, like IBM's Digital Health Pass, which its developers in Copenhagen have already created and adapted to store information on new variants.
LENNARDS: It's proven that I am vaccinated and tested negative, so no corona. I'm good to go.
CARSTEN STORNER, ACCOUNT PARTNER, IBM: We've opened up the corona passport to store all relevant data to -- with COVID-19, so it's the testing results. It can be the antigen results. It could be vaccines, and it can be any kind of vaccine related to the mutations that we've seen from the virus.
DOS SANTOS: That may sound simple enough, but some restauranteurs have reservations.
PHILIP HELGSTRAND, OWNER, STRANDCHOTELLET RESTAURANT: I don't know how it would work, because you'd have to see the passport all the time. It should not be the restaurant's job to check if they have the corona passport. I don't think that all the shops and restaurants should -- can handle to check the coronavirus passport.
DOS SANTOS: And what about health discrimination? Chelina Hansen has launched a petition with Parliament to block the passport's roll-out. Here's why.
CHELINA HANSEN, AUTHOR, CITIZEN PROPOSAL AGAINST COVID-19 PASSPORT: I think it will split the population in sort of a "A" and "B" class. It will make it hard for people who don't want the vaccine to navigate in the society.
JEPPE KOFOD, DANISH FOREIGN MINISTER: It has to be done in a way that respects privacy and also the safety and security of data. We have a very digitalized society. The public sector is the most digitalized in the world. So therefore, we can do that. We have the systems to safeguard, also, the security of -- of the individuals' information.
DOS SANTOS: Denmark isn't the first country to consider this type of technology, especially in the E.U., where freedom of movement is critical to the block's ethos. Back in September, before vaccines were available, Hungary introduced
what was dubbed an immunity passport. Now, Greece, Sweden, and Poland are reportedly planning their own digital COVID documents.
Whoever rolls theirs out first may give cover for others to soon follow suit.
Nina dos Santos, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, it could be a vaccine free- for-all in the U.S. as soon as April. No more restrictions, no more waiting. Details on that when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:30:35]
VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Well, after a slow start, the vaccine rollout in the U.S. is now picking up speed. The White House medical adviser says vaccinations could be available without restrictions in the U.S. by April. And that should see most Americans vaccinated by mid-September.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We have those priority -- 1A, 1B, 1C. If you look at the projection, I would imagine by the time we get to April, that will be, what I would call, for you know, for better wording, open season. Namely, virtually everybody and anybody in any category could start to get vaccinated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The U.S. president says by the end of July the country will have enough vaccines for 300 million Americans. Joe Biden says that is a big achievement, given there was no rollout plan under the previous administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Now, scientists did their job, and discovered vaccines in record time. My predecessor, to be very blunt about it, did not do his job in getting ready for the massive challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions of Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So far, more than 46 million vaccine doses have been injected and many more distributed, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine at George Washington
University, Dr. Jonathan Reiner is with us this hour from Washington D.C.
Dr. Reiner, it's good to see you. Thanks for being here.
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good to see you, John.
VAUSE: OK. So in the medium term, less than four months away, it looks like it could be game on for vaccinations. That's according to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
But right now, though, at this present point in time, there are still headlines like this one. "Los Angeles Closes 5 Vaccine Sites Amid Shortage."
And according to this report, L.A. received just 16,000 doses of the vaccine. That's about a day's supply. But it was meant to last the entire week.
Now, there's no real shortage nationwide, we're told. This was a distribution screw-up. So how much work is still needed to fix that part of the equation? And can it be done within a certain timeframe that Fauci is talking about?
REINER: There's a lot of work to be done. You know, we think we need to vaccinate, for herd immunity, probably 250 million people. And we have delivered about 46 million doses to date.
So there's a lot of work to do. And we're going to have to get much bigger. You know, really have to get much more into mass vaccinations.
Right now, the last week has been pretty good. We vaccinated about a million and a half people per day. But we're using two-dose vaccine strategy. So at some point, we're going to be vaccinating, every day about, you know, half the number of patients. Half the people will be new vaccines. Half will be second doses.
Eventually, we'll have the one-dose vaccine available, but we're going to probably have to do twice what we're doing, currently, to vaccinate the population by the end of the summer, which is the goal of the Biden administration. We have a lot of work to do.
VAUSE: It was hoped that by shipping the vaccine to pharmacies and grocery stores nationwide, it would speed this process up. But so far, still early days, to be fair, but it's sort of been chaos and confusion, caused by a lack of coordination, overwhelming demand.
Well, we're seeing in places like Britain, with the National Health Service, and Israel which has had a national immunization program for years, their rollout has been successful, relatively speaking. Does it say that eventually, or ultimately, if this is going to happen, if it's going to happen correctly and properly, the government just has to get involved, really hands on, and make it work?
REINER: Right. And I think the Biden administration understands that, which is why they're getting the military involved. They're getting FEMA involved.
Britain and Israel different in really a big way from the United States in that they have, essentially, national health services. And the U.S. has these silos of healthcare throughout the country. So it's easier for countries like the U.K. and Israel to organize these massive events. They have just a handful of information systems. They know where people are.
The United States is much different, and we're learning on the fly. But we're getting better. The number of shots we're giving every day is increasing, almost by the day. So I'm very encouraged by the trend.
VAUSE: Yes. Actually, as you say, the trend is looking in the right direction, which is good. But until those vaccines become vaccinations, and there's these new, more contagious variants spreading, the health experts, government officials are all saying it's crucial to maintain social distancing, wash hands, wear a face mask.
And it seems, the only thing better than wearing a mask is wearing two masks. Here's Doctor Fauci.
[00:35:20]
FAUCI: What the CDC is saying, at minimum, wear a mask. OK, is what they're saying. Make sure you wear a mask. So you wear a mask. Then, you want it to fit better. So one of the ways you could do it, if you would like to, is put a cloth mask over, which, actually, here and here, and here, where you can get leakage in, is much better contained.
{END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Which, you know, just a month ago, there was reporting like this from Health.com: "Very little scientific data points to any benefits or drawback to wearing more than one face mask."
You know, I know things change, but you know, it's been hard enough getting people to wear a face mask in the first place. So what's your advice here?
REINER: I think Dr. Fauci's advice is -- is good. My advice to people is to try and acquire either a KN95, or an N95 mask. Those masks, which fit pretty tightly around the face, are very effective at preventing transmission, or acquisition, of the virus.
What this sort of double mask strategy does is to take a mask that doesn't fit quite so well and make it fit better. So I think if you can't get a KN95, then do exactly what Dr. Fauci has suggested.
But it's really been a lost opportunity over the last several months. You would think that, now a year into the pandemic, the public would have had much easier access to more effective masks. When the history of this is written, this is going to be one of the most important failures in this country. Not getting very effective masks out to the population early.
VAUSE: Yes. One of the many failures. That will be, certainly, out there.
Professor Reiner, good to see you. Thank you.
REINER: Thanks for having me, John.
VAUSE: Well, it's a very pandemic lunar new year, which means no celebrations, no fun. That means no business and hard times for many. More on that when we come back.
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VAUSE: A win for Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, in her legal battle against a British tabloid and its publisher. She sued Associated Newspapers Limited after "The Mail," on Sunday, printed portions of a handwritten letter she sent to her father in 2018.
The judge issued a summary judgment on her privacy claim, calling the disclosures "manifestly excessive" and "awful."
He also wrote that Meghan Markle had a reasonable expectation that the letter's content would remain private.
She welcomed the ruling, saying the damage that tabloids do, and have done, runs deep.
China has banned the airing of BBC News just one week after the U.K. withdrew a license to broadcast China's global television network. China claims that BBC World News, quote, "infringed on the principles of truthfulness and impartiality in journalism."
[00:40:12]
China's been upset with BBC reporting on the pandemic response and its treatment of Uyghurs, which the BBC has defended as accurate and fair.
Well, Friday marks the start of the lunar new year, but the pandemic has drastically scaled down celebrations all across Asia and certainly those businesses that rely on income from the celebrations.
Now, Kristie Lu Stout looks at how those businesses are ringing in the year of the ox.
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's usually a time of raucous joy in Hong Kong.
(on camera): This is the first night of the lunar new year here in Hong Kong. And huge crowds are lining the streets.
(voice-over): There's an annual night parade with dragon dancers and costumed performers, fireworks over Victoria Harbour, and huge social gatherings.
All these traditions are on hold, as Hong Kong continues to battle a fourth wave of infection, which has brought parts of the city under lockdown for the first time in the pandemic.
And, orchids, a popular tradition for lunar new year decorating and gifting, have become harder to sell amid the pandemic.
YEUNG SIU-LUNG, ORCHID FARMER: There was no business at the florists, meaning distributors, like us, won't have business, as well. Sixty percent of our business has been impacted before the lunar new year.
STOUT: In his trade, Yeung is known as the Orchid King. He says lunar new year fairs are usually the biggest source of income for flower farmers. But not this year.
(on camera): To minimize infection, the Hong Kong government canceled the fairs, and then allowed them to run at a reduced scale. The U-turn caused confusion for flower vendors in Hong Kong, including Yeung, who expects to lose some 300,000 U.S. dollars.
(voice-over): The virus has also dimmed the spark here, but a few rituals do goon. The burning of incense, and the shaking of fortune sticks at Wong Tai Sin Temple, ahead of the lunar new year.
This lunar new year, the temple won't be hosting the annual first incense offering for throngs of worshippers. Instead, it plans to live livestream a ceremony for the public to pray at home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We came here last New Year's Eve, as well, so that's why today we're here to show thanks for the blessings. If it's going to be livestreamed --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We will pray at home, then.
STOUT: Today at the temple, Jennifer and Sean offer incense for good health and pray for the pandemic to end soon.
Back in the north of Hong Kong, the Orchid King surveys a strip of his 7,000-square-foot farm and considers the future.
YEUNG (through translator): The longer the pandemic is, the more miserable we are. If we cannot do business at the markets, we will be really miserable.
STOUT: He hopes more people will go to him directly to buy his flowers. Otherwise, the symbol of abundance will be left unsold. Hardly an auspicious start to a new year.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thank you for watching, everybody. I'm John Vause. Stay with us. I'll be back at the top of the hour with more CNN NEWSROOM. In the meantime, WORLD SPORT is up next. Thanks for watching.
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