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Trump Acquitted But His Legal Issues Far From Over; Auckland, NZ Locks Down After 300 Days Of Normalcy; Military Crackdown May Be Imminent In Myanmar, Internet Goes Dark; How Britain Is Winning The Vaccination Battle; Opposition Changes its Approach to Demonstrations; W.H.O. Finds Signs of Wider Original COVID Outbreak in 2019; U.S. and Asian Stock Markets Continue Posting Records; Brazil's Carnival Canceled. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 15, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Mounting legal issues. While former U.S. president Donald Trump is acquitted, his troubles and the future of the Republican Party are in limbo.

Armored vehicles patrolling the streets, communications cut off and hundreds of people detained. Still, protesters bravely take to the streets in Myanmar.

And Auckland lockdown after three local coronavirus cases are detected. I speak with the city's mayor.

Hello, and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes.

Welcome, everyone.

After acquitting Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial this weekend, Republicans are starting a new week with a critical debate about their future.

Some say that, from now on, their party must proceed without the former president while others want him to play a key role in upcoming elections.

For his part, Donald Trump spent Sunday golfing in Florida, relieved probably that his trial is now over.

And, as CNN's Boris Sanchez reports, he's also contemplating his own future within the Republican party.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump and his legal team expressing relief over the weekend after his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial.

The former president putting out a statement making clear that he is not done with politics, specifically citing the 74 million-plus voters who cast ballots for him in the 2020 election and promising he has more to share with his supporters.

Allies of the former president believe he is going to go after Republicans who he feels betrayed him. Those who voted for impeachment, those who voted to convict him or simply, those who did not defend him strongly enough.

One Republican senator remains on Trump's side is South Carolina senator, Lindsey Graham. He says he spoke with Trump after his acquittal and wants to stick with the former president because he believes it is a formula for winning for the Republican party.

Listen to more now from Lindsey Graham.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.): Yes, I spoke to him last night. He was grateful to his lawyers, he appreciated the help that all of us provided. He's ready to move on and rebuild the Republican party, he's excited about 2022.

And so, to the Republican party, if you want to win and stop the socialist agenda, we need to work with President Trump. We can't do it without him. And to you, President Trump, you need to build the Republican party stronger.

I'm into winning. And if you want to get something off your chest, fine, but I'm into winning.

SANCHEZ: Graham also making clear that Trump is still openly mad at several lawmakers. But, on that point about winning, there are a lot of prominent Republicans that would disagree with Graham and want to move the party away from Trump.

People like Senator Ben Sasse and congresspeople Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger would be quick to point out that by following Trump's lead in the 2020 election, Republicans lost the White House, the Senate and could not win a majority in the House of Representatives.

Before any talk of 2022 or 2024 gets serious though, Trump has a number of legal hurdles that he would have to potentially overcome.

Keep in mind, sources close to Trump reveal that he is concerned about potentially facing charges not only for his role and inciting the violence we saw on Capitol Hill on January 6th but on a litany of other issues.

SANCHEZ (On Camera): Boris Sanchez, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Let's take a closer look now at some of Trump's looming legal battles.

In Washington, D.C., the city's attorney general is investigating whether the former president violated district law by inciting the insurrection at the Capitol.

In the state of Georgia, the secretary of state is looking into Trump's efforts to overturn election results there during two phone calls with state officials.

And in New York, the Manhattan district attorney's office is investigating whether the Trump Organization has violated state laws, including insurance and tax fraud.

John Harwood is the CNN White House correspondent, he joins me now from Washington.

I wanted to get your thoughts on a few things, John. A lot of Republicans clearly cast their impeachment votes for political survival rather than, let's say, honor. But could they face electoral consequences in the mid-terms?

[01:05:00]

Moderate Republicans, some of them are turning away from the party of Trump, the Trump brand is more and more sullied. Could they pay a price in 2022?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They could. They're looking mostly at their potential primary elections rather than the general elections, but you're making a good point.

Republicans have been bleeding better educated, higher income, white suburban voters. The closer they attach themselves to the Trump base, that white working class base, lesser educated base, which favors a more truculent style of politics, the more difficult it is for them to hold those suburbanites who used to be reliable Republicans.

So you can protect yourself in the primary election but make yourself a problem in the general election.

And one of the challenges, the imponderables here, is exactly how diminished and weakened is Trump going to be moving forward? He's clearly diminished from what he was but we don't know what he's going to do between now and the 2022 elections.

He's not on social media. Is he going to travel, is he going to make speeches? Is he going to give a lot of interviews and make more problems for Republicans? Or is he going to find himself fully occupied with his financial problems, his legal problems?

Now that we're past the impeachment trial, he's got several open, potential criminal investigations, also civil cases against him. So he may have his hands full; we don't know exactly how he's going to play it.

HOLMES: Yes. I'm wondering -- do you think what's happened overall has put a spotlight on the broader political process?

You've got Republicans already making moves on state levels, on many state levels, to make it harder for people to vote, there's already, of course, jerrymandering and so on. And that's on top of trying to stop the certification of votes post election.

Is this party worried that it doesn't win without creating a less than democratic edge for itself?

HARWOOD: Absolutely. That's one of the most conspicuous developments in our political system -- has been, as Republicans, relying on a shrinking base of white voters as the country becomes more diverse, they have committed themselves to trying to make it more difficult to vote, pushing back against democracy, really.

One of the questions for Democrats now that they have the majority in both the House and Senate is how far do they push to try to safeguard voting rights which they could do at the federal level. They may have to end the filibuster to do it because Republicans under filibuster rules can block that kind of step.

But a lot of Democrats are urging their leaders in Congress to go ahead and push those through over Republican opposition. That could be a counterweight to the Republican's effort to narrow the franchise.

HOLMES: Yes. And to speak to that sort of more broadly, can you see Democrats in general going on offense legislatively, taking on the filibuster so a simple majority gets things done?

Effectively not allowing Mitch McConnell to do what he did with Barack Obama, which was pretty much obstruct everything. Do you think they could play harder ball than even Joe Biden would like?

HARWOOD: Yes. And there's some early signs that they intend to do that. First of all, they're moving this COVID relief bill under special budget rules that let them bypass a filibuster. That's something that both parties have done in the past, Democrats are doing it.

They may do it again right after the COVID bill passes with a big infrastructure bill that's larger, going to be much larger in terms of spending and priorities, climate change, that sort of thing that Republicans like. They can jam that through with these special budget rules again.

But there's some things you can't do that way unless you challenge the filibuster itself. There are some traditional senators, some conservative Democratic or moderate Democratic senators, who aren't willing to take that step, they think that would have political repercussions for them.

But the party itself, especially as they've seen the Republicans get radicalized -- 43 out of 50 Republican senators voting to acquit President Trump despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt in inciting that insurrection -- that is going to be a further spur on Democrats to put pressure on every Democratic member of the senate to try to change those rules.

So they can get things like voting rights through. So they can get things like immigration reform, maybe even gun control as well. An increasingly unified and aggressive Democratic Party.

Don't know how far they're going to go down that road but there's certainly a lot we want to push. HOLMES: Yes. And health care. John Harwood, really appreciate it, as always. Thanks so much. And you've got a piece on that very issue on CNN.com. Thanks, John.

HARWOOD: You bet.

[01:10:00]

HOLMES: Now Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, will remain in detention until a court hearing on Wednesday, that word coming from her lawyer.

She's been jailed since a military coup two weeks ago. Right now, thousands of protesters are marching for her release and the military junta to give power back to civilian leaders.

Military leaders are losing patience meanwhile. Security forces are being deployed in armored vehicles in major cities and they have been shutting down Internet access.

A monitoring group says that service is just now being restored after an eight-hour near total Internet blackout.

The U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar is promising that the military will be held accountable. He says the arrests and internet shutdowns are a quote, "sign of desperation."

Paula Hancocks following the protest for us from Seoul. What are we to make of these military movements, the Internet shut down? Does it seem like a crackdown could be imminent?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, that's definitely the concern.

And what we're seeing is more videos that are being filmed, in many cases by protesters themselves and uploaded, of that crackdown by the military.

There's one in particular that we have received where -- this was in a Kachin state on Sunday night. A number of protesters on the streets when it was dark. And it then appears that the security forces fire a number of runs to try to disperse the protesters.

Now in this video you can see the protesters panicking and running away from the sound and you can hear the -- several rounds of fire in the background.

Now it's not clear and it's very difficult for us to ascertain whether or not they were rubber bullets that were being used or whether that was live fire. Now we also saw water cannons being used at this particular demonstration.

But it's still not stopping many people coming out onto the streets, thousands in different cities across the country insisting that they will continue to come out onto the streets to protest against the coup. Michael. HOLMES: Yes. And meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi, tell us more about the plans for her and just how she is regarded among the people? She had some trouble with the international community over the Rohingya but on the streets she is still revered, right?

HOLMES: Absolutely. Inside Myanmar, she is just as popular as she has ever been. Now certainly, her reputation is tarnished internationally but that has not affected her reputation internally, certainly in some of the big cities.

Now what we are hearing from her lawyer is that she will be remanded in custody until Wednesday. There should be a court appearance on Wednesday but that will be via videoconference as opposed to in person.

But what we're hearing as well from her lawyer is that he hasn't been able to go and see her yet. And he is applying to the judge to be able to defend her.

So it's unclear whether we will even see any of that court case. It's quite frankly unlikely, given the military at this point is even trying to shut down the Internet and has done for eight hours overnight, Sunday into Monday, to try and stop information from getting out of the country into the world.

So we will just have to see what comes on Wednesday. But clearly, there are many that are concerned that Aung San Suu Kyi could be spending some time in detention.

HOLMES: Yes. Good to have you there, Paula. Thanks. Paula Hancocks for you there.

Now the United Kingdom has just hit a major target with its vaccine rollout.

How a government accused of bungling every other stage in the pandemic managed to pull off a success here.

Also, New Zealand's largest city goes back into lockdown after new cases are detected. How the restrictions will work and how long they could last.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:15:00]

HOLMES: Now the United Kingdom has administered 15 million first doses of coronavirus vaccines, the government touting it as a success amid sharp criticism it mismanaged the pandemic early on.

Care home residents and staff, frontline health workers and people over the age of 70 were among the first to be vaccinated.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling the roll out an extraordinary feat of collaboration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: They've been delivered by the most extraordinary army of vaccinators who have jabbed like there's no tomorrow.

Doctors and nurses, retired health care workers who've returned to the fray and supported by organizers and volunteers, marshals guided by the leadership of the NHS and supported by the great strategic, logistical nous of the British Army.

It has been a truly, national U.K-wide effort. We've done it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: The U.K. was the first in the world to approve a vaccine.

CNN's Scott Mclean looks at how the British Government managed to pull off a vaccination success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNKNOWN: In our line of work, you're not normally squeamish.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One by one, the needles are uncapped, vials drawn and shots go into arms. While the work here is routine, the setting is anything but.

STEVE APTER, DEPUTY CHIEF FIRE OFFICER, HAMPSHIRE FIRE & RESCUE SERVICE: I've been in the fire and rescue for 31 years and I seen some things. But I never thought I'd see this.

MCCLEAN: This fire station in Southern England has turned into a COVID vaccination center with firefighters, soldiers and volunteers giving the shots.

Elsewhere, stadiums, racetracks, mosques and cathedrals are being used as vaccination sites all coordinated through a nationalized government run health system that looks remarkably efficient.

Does it feel like a wartime effort?

UNKNOWN: Absolutely it feels like a wartime effort.

[01:20:00]

MCCLEAN: Into its third national lockdown with one of the highest COVID death rates on earth, not much about Britain's battle against the coronavirus can be called a success.

Yet the U.K. has now injected more vaccine doses than Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Belgium combined.

How is it that the U.K. got so far ahead in the vaccine race? STEVE BATES, FMR. MEMBER OF U.K. VACCINE TASK FORCE: What we've

managed to put together here was the speed of that discovery with the capacity to scale up and the ability to deploy at speed.

MCCLEAN: At the forefront of that achievement, the vaccine task force, the bio-industry lobbyist Steve Bates was a part of.

BATES: I think having a small group making decisions easier and faster.

MCLEAN: An unusual mix of public servants and current and former industry executives led by a pharmaceutical investor named Kate Bingham.

KATE BINGHAM, FORMER CHAIR OF U.K. VACCINE TASK FORCE: The venture capital skill set and the biotech mindset is exactly what was needed.

BATES: Her having the hotline to the prime minister also made sure that the lines, chains of command, were very short at key moments when decisions were made.

MCCLEAN: The task force was put to work as deaths soared from the first wave of the virus. Vaccines seemed a long way off and success was no guarantee.

BATES: In some respects, I expected to be here justifying why we'd spent so much money on something that hadn't worked. We were taking a risk on making doses before those results came out. We might have had to put it all in the bin.

MCCLEAN: The U.K. bet big on the Oxford vaccine, agreeing to front most of AstraZeneca's manufacturing cost to make it in exchange for a place at the front of the line.

BATES: I think it would be hard to justify to the U.K. public an Oxford vaccine manufactured and trialed here that wasn't then deployed here very rapidly.

MCCLEAN: The British strategy involved a lot of risk, like ditching Europe to go it alone.

BATES: I think that probably gave us at least three months advance work which is proving invaluable.

MCCLEAN: Seven vaccines were chosen out of more than 100 in development, none of which were yet proven effective. The U.K. was even the first country to sign a contract for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

BINGHAM: We did that because we were quick and we were nimble. And we're clearly not the largest buyer.

MCCLEAN: Back at the fire hall, they say they're injecting 1,000 doses per day, around half a million across the country.

APTER: We've had some really dark, difficult days. And there's a sense that there's a light at the end of the tunnel now.

MCCLEAN (Voice Over): Scott Mclean, CNN, Basingstoke, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now two of three new COVID-19 cases putting New Zealand's largest city on lockdown are confirmed to be that highly transmissible COVID variant first found in the U.K. Around one-and-a-half million people live in Auckland and all being asked to stay home until the end of Wednesday.

Now this is after a mother, father and daughter all were diagnosed with coronavirus. New Zealand's prime minister says moving quickly to lockdown is necessary to stop any more spread.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACINDA ARDEN, PRIME MINISTER, NEW ZEALAND: Now, just keep in mind, we don't necessarily have to get to the bottom of that precise issue in order for us to lift restrictions.

What we'd like to do, though, is really put a ring around things, make sure we're testing all of those places of interest, getting those results of close contacts back. To give us a level of confidence that whatever has happened, we feel confident that we've got a bit of a ring around it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Those three people diagnosed have been moved to a quarantine facility in Auckland.

Let's talk more about all of this with Auckland mayor, Phil Goff. Mr. Mayor, thank you so much for making the time.

Let me start with this. New Zealand has been an object lesson in how to clamp down on virus spread. It's just been three cases, I think, in this latest cluster and now the city's on lockdown.

It's impossible to imagine that in a U.S. city. But is that what is needed to prevent spread?

PHIL GOFF, MAYOR OF AUCKLAND: Yes. We have been really successful in dealing with containing COVID after the initial outbreak and we were on a learning curve than.

What we discovered was that the best way to contain the virus is to go strongly and go early.

So for much of the period of the last two or three hundred days, we've been able to live our practically normally, going about life without the need for face masks, without the need for social distancing.

But in a world where COVID is so rampant, there are going to be incursions into our country just as we've seen across the Tasman and recently in Perth and in Melbourne. Today, we'll be testing maybe six or 7,000 people. And should those

tests come back including a school that the young woman was going to, the daughter of the original person who contracted the virus, if those tests come back good in the next 24, 48 hours then we may be able to limit the period of what we call level-three restrictions to the 72- hour period.

The proof of the pudding is how you guys -- is the result of what's happened in New Zealand, which is good news.

[01:25:00]

Just quickly, what does a level three lockdown entail, how is it enforced? How do you control people entering and leaving Auckland? I've been there, it's a good size city.

GOFF: Yes. We're are at different level of control from the rest of the country which is at level two. Level three means that we do have, effectively, border controls within the country.

Where you can go -- if you're a truck driver and you're delivering freight or you're a tradesmen and you're working across the boundaries or you have to go for work or other purposes, you can. But if you just are taking a trip down, for example, to go to a holiday resort and one of the beaches across the southern boundary of the city then the answer is no.

So we have police manning the checkpoints, they are turning people back if they don't have a good reason to travel.

But by and large -- there's a bit of congestion at the checkpoint control -- but by and large, people have been responding well and the police are dealing with it well and people are responding reasonably well. Even those that are turned back.

HOLMES: And the country's borders have been closed for foreigners, I think, since March. What impact has that been economically and otherwise on New Zealand's economy and citizens?

GOFF: Well, tourism was our biggest industry and our biggest earner of foreign exchange. And alongside tourism we have a big industry with international students so it has had a big economic impact.

But the truth is because we have contained the spread of the virus and because the rest of the economy is operating pretty normally, and because New Zealanders that would normally -- we're huge travelers, because we're not traveling, we're spending the money at home, our unemployment actually last month dropped to 4.9 percent.

And the economy, generally, has been doing much better than expected to the point that, with the very low interest rates that we've got -- we're suffering from house price inflation which is one of our more significant economic problems.

But we found that it was better not only for people's well-being and our health system -- our health system hasn't been overwhelmed, there's nobody in hospital at the moment -- that the economy actually recovered more quickly because we could go about our day-to-day lives with the only major restriction being border control internationally.

HOLMES: Well, yes. Well, congratulations on what you've done and hopefully this is a short-lived lockdown. But New Zealand and Australia have been lessons to the world, along with other countries like Vietnam in how to manage this.

Mayor Phil Goff, really appreciate you joining me there from Auckland.

GOFF: Thank you.

HOLMES: Now the United States is seeing a welcome trend in COVID-19 case numbers.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the country is averaging fewer than 100,000 new cases a day. New cases peaked in January at an average of about 250,000 cases.

Now while new cases are falling, vaccinations, of course, are on the rise -- nearly 53 million have now been given the U.S. That's more than 70 percent of the doses that have been distributed so far.

Doctor Anthony Fauci says a rise in vaccinations could even help in the fight against COVID variants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: In South Africa, there were people who got infected with the original virus, recovered and then got re-infected with this new variant, the South African variant. Which tells us that prior infection does not protect you against reinfection, at least with this particular variant.

Somewhat good news is it looks like the vaccine is better than natural infection in preventing you from getting reinfected with the South African isolate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We're going to take break here on the program.

When we come back on CNN NEWSROOM. Faced with police crackdown, sordid jail conditions and an inflexible Kremlin, Russian protestors are finding new ways to get their message out. We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:32:52]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Now, supporters of the jailed Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, are finding new ways to protest, getting their message across while staying out of the hands of police.

Matthew Chance shows us how.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For a moment, Russia seemed on the brink. Mass protests across the country, angry demands for Alexei Navalny, Russia's jailed opposition leader, to be released.

These are the very different scenes now sweeping Russia. Cellphones, briefly held up in solidarity with the opposition cause. One protesting couple, even posting a Valentine's marriage proposal.

Public anger, a close Navalny ally told me, has been intentionally dialed down.

LEONID VOLKOV, CHIEF OF STAFF FOR ALEXEI NAVALNY: So we definitely need to regroup, and alter our strategy in terms to get those people involved who are not ready yet like to withstand the police brutality, but still want to express their solidarity and love.

CHANCE: It's certainly not love the riot police have been expressing, cracking down hard on unsanctioned demonstrations, detaining thousands of people nationwide, in multiple protests.

Amid international condemnation there've little sign that the Kremlin is backing down.

But President Putin has made a rare mention of the unrest, although he still didn't utter Alexei Navalny's name, referring to him this time only as that figure.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: You know what, that figure is being used right now. At the moment, when people in countries all over the world, including Russia, are getting tired, and frustration is showing itself. Dissatisfaction, among other things with the living conditions, and income level.

[01:34:48]

CHANCE: And while that figure continues to languish behind bars, now appearing in court on libel charges which he denies, analysts suggest the Russian government may unveil a new economic package to ease discontent ahead of key parliamentary elections later this year.

(on camera): How shaken, how concerned, do you think Vladimir Putin is? Seeing the extent of those nationwide protests with people coming out onto the street. How threatened do you think he is by this?

VOLKOV: I want to believe he is very much threatened. I want to believe he fears very much, because for the first time, this we've seen something that looks like really a popular, nationwide, protest.

And this is something Putin never faced before. And so, I hope he really feels threatened by it. CHANCE (voice over): He may also feel the strategy of confronting

protesters has paid off. And while the opposition says it is planning more mass protests in the spring, for the moment at least, Putin's grip on Russia seems to be holding.

Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Haiti's president Jovenel Moise kicked off the start of carnival on Sunday but thousands of protesters were not celebrating, instead demanding the president step down.

Opposition leaders, and civic groups, say his term expired last week. that he insists he has another year in office. He has the backing of the Organization of American States and the Biden administration.

The former president of Argentina, Carlos Menem has died. According to his daughter, he passed away on Sunday at the age of 90.

In Buenos Aires, officials held a wake at the Capitol Building where he will lie in state until his burial. Menem led the country from 1989 to 1999 and promoted laws that reform the economy at a perilous economic time.

He privatized companies, and was able to get hyper inflation under control. After leaving office, he tried to run for a third term but was later elected to the Senate for more than 10 years. The current president has expressed his condolences, and declared three days of mourning.

Important new information is emerging on the origins of COVID-19 in China. When we come back, an exclusive report on the World Health Organization's findings in Wuhan.

And bitcoin's stunning rise. We'll take a closer look at what is making the cryptocurrency so attractive to investors.

[01:37:35]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: South Africa reopening 20 land border crossings after shutting them down a little over a month ago to curb the spread of coronavirus. The nation has the highest number of cases and deaths on the continent and, it has been hit hard by the second wave of cases linked to that new variant that was identified there. More than 47,000 people in South Africa have died of the virus.

Meanwhile, Iraq clamping down to contain the spread. The country is imposing curfews starting this week and lasting through March the 8th.

The World Health Organization team that was finally allowed to study the origins of COVID-19 in China has made some startling discoveries.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh spoke exclusively with the head of the W.H.O. mission.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The leader of the W.H.O. Mission to China investigating the origins of the coronavirus has told CNN the virus was likely much wider spread in China in December 2019 than was thought.

Peter Ben Embarek revealed the 174 positive cases found that first December likely severe cases meant there could actually have been an estimated thousand plus total cases in and around the city of Wuhan that month.

PETER BEN EMBAREK, WHO MISSION TO WUHAN: The virus was circulating widely in Wuhan in December which I think is a new finding. And the hundred (INAUDIBLE) of concern and 74 clinically --

WALSH (on camera): Diagnosed.

(CROSSTALK)

WALSH: About 174 would suggest a thousand or so plus even?

EMBAREK: Yes. Probably. Largely here because that would fit with all of the other (INAUDIBLE) data that we have looked at.

WALSH: The team also established that in that first December there were as many as 13 slight variations of the virus from samples of all or bits of its genetic code circulating in and around Wuhan where this seafood market is thought to have played a role.

EMBAREK: We have seen (ph) 13 strains covering individuals in December. Some of them are from the markets or into the markets, some of them are not into the markets.

So this is something we found as part of our mission.

WALSH: That many variations so early on could suggest the virus had been circulating for sometime some analysts talk to CNN although precise timing is still unclear. Their work, heavily scrutinized, tense, and frustrating conditions.

EMBAREK: Here, remember, we have the entire planet on our shoulders, 24 hours a day, for a month which doesn't make the work among scientists easier.

Once in a while you, as always with between passionate scientists, you get heated discussion and argumentation about this and that.

WALSH: They hope to return to access biological samples they say China has yet to share, especially hundreds of thousands of blood bank examples from Wuhan dating back two years. China's pledged transparency with the investigation.

EMBAREK: There is about 200,000 samples available there that are now secured and will be used for further studies. WALSH (on camera): And you want to look at that urgently?

EMBAREK: Yes, that would be -- that would be fantastic if we could move with that.

WALSH: Is not amazing that they haven't already looked through those samples?

EMBAREK: You could say that but we understand that these samples are extremely small samples, and only used for education (ph) purposes.

WALSH (voice over): So many questions still to answer first, if China will let them back in.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:44:45]

HOLMES: A look now at the markets in Asia this hour. The Nikkei surpassing 30000 for the first time since 1990. Data showed Japan's economy contracted less than was feared last year. Hong Kong and Shanghai closed for the lunar new year.

For more on the records being set in the U.S. and Asia, let's turn our attention to John Defterios in Abu Dhabi.

Big gains over the last year but stock market investors are picking up where they left off last week. What is driving all of this?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, you know, investors look for signals Michael. And right now they're kind of all flashing green if you will. And we have valuations that we haven't seen for example on Wall Street since the 2000 tech bubble so they're very, very high. But there is a lot of liquidity out there, and interest rates remain low, and the signals from government says we're going to provide even more cash to support the recovery on vaccines.

Let's bring up Nikkei. Again, as you suggested, we have to go back to 1990 to see a level of this. And it continued on the Monday with a gain of nearly 1.9 percent.

We had a fourth quarter growth of 12.7 percent. That is a nice recovery, but even higher than anticipated right now. and the exporters are starting to pick up steam, as the vaccinations start to get distributed this week in Japan.

So we wanted to put this in context, Michael. What have we seen over the last year? Even though we had a very sharp correction in March of 2020 because of the pandemic, look at the gains that we have seen for the Nasdaq composite, up 46 percent. You see the S&P 500 with a gain of about 16 or 17 percent.

And then markets in London, the AIM index which are smaller companies. We have Tokyo that we talked about with a gain of 27 percent. And a similar rally for Shanghai at 27 percent. You put others (ph) like South Korea and Taiwan but very, very strong gains.

And we've seen record liquidity come into the market as well over the last week, Michael. $58 billion of money, in cash, moving to equities. Half of that going on Wall Street.

So we had JPMorgan Chase put out a reminder here, that investors note over the weekend saying we do have to be mindful of corrections because of the lofty valuations. And even though the money is coming in, it's not a one-way bet all the time, let's put it that way.

HOLMES: All right. I admit it was my cash.

John, I wanted to -- speaking of things in value, the bit coin -- $50,000 over the weekend but, you know, are the cryptocurrency investors going along for the ride? Any second thoughts?

DEFTERIOS: Yes, it's amazing how this has become part of the common vernacular, by the way, Michael. We almost got to 50,000; it was 49,700. So once it got to that peak of nearly 50,000 we have seen a correction in the Asian trade now. We are down about 4 percent, trading at 47,100 and change here.

You know, what is interesting, and what has happened over the last week when we talked about it a couple of times in that period, Tesla came in with Elon Musk, setting aside one point $1.5 billion. Mastercard United States saying they're going to be able use this this for transactions in the future.

And one of the oldest banks on Wall Street, Bank of New York Mellon was saying it's going to start offering it as an option in terms of products to institutional investors and some of its private clients as well.

So this is a convergence, Michael, between Wall Street and Main Street. This is kind of a retail trade before. It's becoming kind of common throughout the world. And again over the weekend, the U.S. regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission was suggesting, and she's a supporter of the crypto currency Republican commissioner. She was saying we do need a regulatory framework before all of this goes, not only to Main Street but to Wall Street and worldwide as we see it today.

We don't know what that's going to look like though but that's not deterring investors even though there is not regulatory framework as we speak, Michael.

HOLMES: I'll admit I don't understand it. We'll have to have another conversation about that, John. I appreciate it. John Defterios there.

All right. Now the world's largest ebola outbreak started in Guinea seven years ago and now that country has declared a new outbreak in one of its southeastern districts. The World Health Organization is working with authorities in Liberia and Sierra Leone to boost tracing and testing.

At least seven people who attended a funeral two weeks ago tested positive for the disease. Three of them have died since then. The Democratic Republic of Congo has also reported four new cases in the past week.

Well, if there is one place that knows how to throw a party it is Brazil during Carnival. But this year, the month-long celebration, unrecognizable. We will have a look at the somber scene when we come back.

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HOLMES: Now this time of year, there are usually famous festivals and parties all around the world, one of the best known, of course, Carnival in Brazil. But this year, things are looking a little different.

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HOLMES: A silent venue, no big crowds, no parades. The lights, to honor the victims of the coronavirus. That is the only show this year in Brazil's famous Sambadrome.

In 2020, the party was still on, even though the virus was spreading throughout the world. Scientists say it was most likely already here circulating in the crowd, as the dancers shimmied and the floats glided through a packed stadium.

A year later, Brazil has the second highest number of death from the virus in the world. Nearly 240,000 lives lost. And for the first time in over 100 years, Rio's Carnival was canceled.

EDUARDO PAES, MAYOR OF RIO DE JANEIRO (through translator): My promise is that in 2022, we will have the greatest carnival in the history of the world. We'll have an unforgettable celebration to make up for this year.

HOLMES: Carnival is usually a time to eat, drink, and be merry before a period of austerity in the Christian faith. But many places have changed their plans for the festivities over fears the coronavirus will crash the party.

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HOLMES: Venice's narrow alleyways are usually jammed with thousands of revelers in elaborate costumes. But, now the city is much quieter with many events being held virtually because of COVID-19 restrictions.

CHIARA RAGAZZON, VENICE RESIDENT (through translator): Most striking is the silence of Venice these days. We are used to the continued shouting, the voices of children, the music.

HOLMES: Fat Tuesday is going to look a lot leaner in New Orleans. Bourbon Street will be completely closed for Mardi Gras and all bars closed until Wednesday to discourage people from gathering in large groups. With no parades allowed, people are decorating their houses to look like floats. A thrill this year is a simple walk through a neighborhood, instead of bar hopping and throwing beads.

JOCELYN MOLINA, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: We are here because Mardi Gras has basically been canceled because of COVID. But, even though we're not able to experience Mardi Gras, we still have the Mardi Gras spirit.

HOLMES: An attempt to keep the good times rolling, even if the coronavirus is slowing them down.

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HOLMES: And finally, I want to leave you with this incredible image of Mars. Have a look at this. This was taken by the United Arab Emirates' first Mars mission, known as the hope probe.

It arrived on the Red Planet on Tuesday, and successfully entered orbit on its first attempt. The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi tweeting the picture on Sunday, along with the caption that said, in part, quote, "We hope this mission will lead to new discoveries about Mars which will benefit humanity."

Thanks for watching everyone, spending part of your day with me.

I'm Michael Holmes. Follow me on Twitter @HolmesCNN.

Robyn Curnow is very excited to be along next with more CNN NEWSROOM. Do join us (ph).

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