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President Joe Biden's First Hundred Days; World Health Organization Reveals New Findings to CNN; Australia Halts Quarantine- Free Travel from New Zealand; Bitcoin's Stunning Rise; Winter Storms Batter Much of the United States; Donald Trump Acquitted Twice; GOP Sticks with Trump; Journalists Not Exempted in Myanmar; Coronavirus is Far from Over; New COVID Mutations Found in the U.S.; U.K. Hit a New Success Against Coronavirus. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired February 15, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

Ahead here on CNN Newsroom, a growing divide in the Republican Party after former President Trump's acquittal with a gap now widening between his loyalists and those who want nothing to do with him.

Plus, CNN exclusively speaks with the lead investigator for the World Health Organization's Wuhan mission. We will tell you what they discovered about the pandemic's origin.

And half of all Americans under some sort of winter storm warning, as much of the U.S. braces for another round of brutal temperatures, snow and ice.

Good to have you with us.

The fallout from Donald Trump's second impeachment trial is only beginning. And its impact on U.S. politics will likely be felt for some time. Democrats control the presidency and Congress, but the acquittal, despite an abundance of video evidence shows the Republican Party remains largely the party of Trump. Still, for some there is bipartisan agreement, specifically on the need to know more about the deadly January 6th riot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): There's still more evidence that the American people need and deserve to hear, and a 9/11 commission as a way to make sure that we secure the capitol going forward, and that we lay bare the record of just how responsible and how abjectly violating of his constitutional oath, President Trump really was.

GOV. LARRY HOGAN (R-MD): I think, you know, there was yesterday's vote, but there is definitely a number of court, potential court cases, and I think he is still going to face, you know, criminal courts and the court of public opinion. And this is, you know, not over. We're going to decide where the next couple years what the fate of Donald Trump and the Republican Party is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Well no one seriously expected 17 Republican senators to side with Democrats, but seven did. No other impeachment in U.S. history had that kind of bipartisan support. But it's still short of the two-thirds majority needed for conviction. And one of the impeachment managers insist that calling witnesses wouldn't have made any difference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STACEY PLASKETT (D-, HOUSE IMPEACHMENT MANAGER: Just so the American public is aware, witnesses in a Senate hearing do not come and stand before the senators and make any statements. It's a deposition. It's a videotape. And that is brought before the Senate.

So, I know that people are feeling a lot of angst and believe that maybe if we had this, the senators would have done what we wanted, but listen, we didn't even need more witnesses, we needed more senators with spines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham remain firmly in Trump's corner.

Boris Sanchez has more on that and the former president's future in politics.

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 elections 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 those who did not defend him strongly enough.

One Republican senator who 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I spoke to him last night, he was grateful to his lawyers, he appreciated the help that all of us provided. You know, he is 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:04:56]

SANCHEZ (on camera): 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 who 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 the 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 revealed that he is concerned about potentially facing charges not only for his role in inciting the violence we saw on Capitol Hill on January 6th but on a litany of other issues.

Boris Sanchez, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

CHURCH: So, let's talk about this with CNN's senior political analyst, David Gergen. He is also a former presidential adviser to Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton. Always great to have you with us.

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Rosemary. Good to see you.

CHURCH: You too. So despite overwhelming evidence presented by House impeachment managers, 43 Republican senators still voted to acquit Donald Trump, including Senator Mitch McConnell who then went on to say that Trump's conduct was a disgraceful dereliction of duty and holding him practically and morally responsible for provoking the riot on January 6th, but he wasn't courageous enough to actually hold him responsible, was he? He is living it up to the judiciary. What is your reaction to all of this?

GERGEN: Well, he's been -- it's been a distasteful several weeks. I think the worst transition we've ever had in American history. One that we are glad is over and maybe we can start talking about the future instead of the past.

Look, nobody looks back with pride on this. I think what Senator McConnell who is very clever, as you will know. You know, first, he held up the paperwork so -- this trial could have started when Donald Trump was president, by holding things up Donald Trump -- you know, he left the presidency, he was replaced, and then Senator McConnell who had held things up says, well, we can no longer convict him because he is no longer president and that means it's unconstitutional -- it would be unconstitutional to do that.

And so, McConnell is trying to have it both ways. He is -- he got his conviction, he held his party together for the most part held his party together, but he also got in some very strong blows against Trump, saying, you know, I would've -- basically, his message was, I would've convicted him if it were constitutionally appropriate but it's not, and therefore even as -- even as he has been we're not going to hold him responsible.

CHURCH: Yes, it is extraordinary. Even when they voted to say it was constitutional to go forward with this. So, Senator Lindsey Graham and other Republicans who lined up behind Trump --

GERGEN: Yes.

CHURCH: -- think he is the man to lead them, and yet Trump lost his own election and was the reason why red states turned blue, and why tens of thousands of Republicans are leaving the party. So why do they still think Trump is the man to lead the Republican Party, because a lot of polls are indicating that's not the case?

GERGEN: They don't think he should be leading the party. They are just too darn afraid of him to say so. You know, cowardice is contagious. And they -- Trump is still the dominant player in the Republican Party. He has been battered by this. His reputation within the party, especially outside the party has hurt him badly.

But even so he remains the most powerful person and who can mobilize his base in the off-year elections in two years, and he can get involved in the election of 2024 if he is still around, if he's healthy he can run for president again.

But I think this episode has tarnished the Republican Party. We know now Donald Trump will go down in history as one of the worse, if not the worst American president we've ever had. The Republican Party will go down in history as the most radicalized party since the 19th century.

And all of that is going to mean that our politics no longer sets an example for the world and our democracy is under heavy, heavy pressure. We may suffer further blows to our democracy and come to regret this episode really badly.

CHURCH: And when those 43 Republican senators voted to acquit Donald Trump, did they at the same time signal the end of the Republican Party as we all know it?

GERGEN: No, I don't think they did that. I think there is going to be a fight in the Republican Party. My bet is that Trump and his followers will remain the dominant force for two or three years. They may fade. They are likely to fade. He is not likely to command the public bully pulpit the way he did as president, obviously. We're not going to be seeing him on television every night and so forth.

[03:10:07] But nonetheless, he is, I think he is going to exercise power within the party until somebody actually takes it away from him. And that can be -- we may have to wait till 2024, but it's going to happen.

The Republican Party, the best way to convince a party to come back more toward the center and be a governing party, whether you are coming from the right or the left is for your party to lose two or three elections in a row. As we know in British politics you lose two or three in a row and then everybody starts looking for the other party to lead people.

I think that's going to happen to the Republicans. It's going to take a while, but in the meantime, this period for the Republican Party is going to be seen as just one of the worst in American history. We are going -- we are seeing now an alliance with the far-right parties all across Europe with the American president, and I think there's going to be a lot of smart people who are going to say, the essential thing is going too far.

Conservative -- being conservative is one thing, but being a radical is quite different. And that's what's happening to the Republican Party. Now they have been radicalized and they need to get it out of their bloodstream.

CHURCH: Yes. We'll watch carefully to see all of this play out and where they end up. CNN senior political analyst, David Gergen, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.

GERGEN: Thank you, Rosemary. Good to see you.

CHURCH: You, too. As for the other legal hurdles Trump is facing, the list is growing. Federal prosecutors are conducting their inquiry into the January 6th riot signaling no one is above the law, including Trump.

Georgia officials have opened an investigation into the former president's efforts to overturn that state's election. And in New York, the Manhattan district attorney is looking into potential insurance fraud, tax fraud and other schemes.

Well now to an increasingly tense situation in Myanmar where the military chief has just amended the country's penal code appearing to target protesters, journalists and critics of the coup. The country is on edge since the military seized power two weeks ago. Protests continue for a 10th straight day, despite a heavy military presence. Internet services have now been restored after an eight-hour blackout. The tension was on full display Sunday night.

That video shared on social media purporting to show Myanmar's security forces firing several rounds to disperse protesters in Kachin state.

Paula Hancocks is following the protests. She joins us now from Seoul. So, Paula, what is the military's likely next move as the U.N. watches very closely and warns the generals they will be held accountable for their actions. PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, the greatest

concern now is that there could be more of a crackdown from the military and you showed that video where you see and can fear rounds of, we don't know whether it was live fire or rubber bullets but being used to disperse the crowds. You can see protesters fleeing the area. Water cannons also being used.

And we are starting to see an increase really in the amount of force that the military is willing to use to disperse protesters. So that's clearly the biggest concern at this point. And at the same time is that you are seeing the military shutting down the internet for eight hours overnight from Sunday into Monday. The internet was almost completely shut down.

Obviously, the concern is that people will not be able to communicate with each other. They won't be able to show the outside world what is happening. And then also, you have the government and General Min Aung Hlaing changing the penal code, which does appear to be targeting protesters and journalists, saying that you can get up to a 20-year prison term for inciting hatred against the government or the military.

So, effectively, anything the military doesn't like they could and prosecute for. So, there is definitely a concern that the crackdown is starting to be a lot more forceful than it had been. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Yes, that is a real concern, of course, and Aung San Suu Kyi, meanwhile is sustained in detention until Wednesday. What more are you hearing about her situation?

HANCOCKS: Well, we've heard from her lawyers who said that she will -- she is expected to have her first day in court on Wednesday. It will be through video conferencing. So, we are not expecting necessarily to see Aung San Suu Kyi, and it's not even clear with sort of access any journalist would have or what the military would even want to show people of this, this court case.

[03:15:04]

Now the lawyer has said that he has not been able to see Aung San Suu Kyi at this point, and that is against the law. He is pushing to be able to have access to her, and also calling on the judge to allow him to defend her. But within the country itself, Aung San Suu Kyi is still extremely popular, so really, to be seeing Aung San Suu Kyi in a court, although it will be video conferencing, could well spark some more protests on the streets as people see once again behind bars.

CHURCH: All right. Our Paula Hancocks keeping a very close eye on all of this from her vantage point there in Seoul. Many thanks.

And coming up here on CNN Newsroom, new mutations are discovered in the U.S., and scientists say, they are homegrown. We will explain when we return.

Plus, the U.K. reaches a significant milestone in its battle against COVID-19. What can the rest of the world learn from this? A live report from London. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

CHURCH (on camera): COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are steadily declining across the United States. But a new forecast now projects another 130,000 Americans could die from coronavirus over the next three and a half months. That's why health experts say that people shouldn't let their guard down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS FRIEDEN, FORMER DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Whether or not we have a fourth surge is up to us. And the stakes couldn't be higher. Not only in the number of people who could die in a fourth surge, but also in the risk that even more dangerous variants will emerge if there is more uncontrolled spread.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Despite that dire prediction, some states are seeing their COVID numbers head in the right direction. California is seeing its lowest numbers of confirmed and suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations since December 1st. And as numbers come down many parents are wondering when their kids can go back to school. The CDC director explained what mitigation efforts need to be in place to make that happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: We really needs to do the hard work to make sure that there is universal masking, there is strict six feet of distancing between, that there is cohorting or potting, so that there is a restriction of disease if it were to be transmitted, you know. And all of the contact tracing and what not that needs to be done. And all of that is really hard to put together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): And researchers say they have made a troubling discovery. They have identified a batch of similar COVID mutations circulating in the U.S and they appear to make the virus more transmissible.

Joining me now from Omaha, Nebraska is Dr. Ali Khan. He is the dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's College of Public Health. Good to have you with us, doctor.

ALI KHAN, DEAN, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER'S COLLEGE OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Always a pleasure, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, we have just learned that researchers have identified new U.S. COVID mutations that appear to make the coronavirus more transmissible which is what all the other variants appear to do as well.

So how concerned are you that as the cases, hospitalizations, and eventually deaths start to trend down, these various mutations will derail those positive trends if we can't speed up vaccinations?

KHAN: Absolutely. These variants really do risk our positive trends we've seen. For example, at 37 declining cases in the last two weeks in the United States. So, these viruses are very sloppy when they copy themselves, so there's thousands of variants.

However, and most of the variants usually are detrimental to the virus. A handful of these variants are detrimental to us as humans. This is completely expected in countries that fail to get their disease under control. The virus had lots of time to mutate and become these variants of concern.

CHURCH: Yes, that's the frustrating part of this, isn't it? Especially when we actually have the vaccine there? But Dr. Anthony Fauci says sobering data on the South Africa variant reveals that current vaccines are less effective against it than the U.K. variant, or the original virus. What will need to be done to ensure all the available vaccines are able to fight the South Africa variant, and any other stronger one that comes along?

KHAN: So, the first thing to remember is that these variants are still susceptible to good public health practices. Right? So, masking, handwashing, social distancing, contact tracing. Those measures still work, and then, yes, we do believe that currently getting vaccinated decreases disease in our community, decreases the chance of these variants spreading, but overtime, there is a likelihood that just like influenza, we may need a yearly vaccine booster with whatever new variant is out there in the community.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, the good news in the midst of all of this is word from the CDC. That 53 million COVID doses have been administered so far, two million in just one day. That is exactly the direction we need this to be going. How much faith does that give you? That all of those Americans who want a vaccine will get one in the next few months?

KHAN: So, the vaccination news is absolutely excellent. So, vaccinating over 1.65 million people a day, the goal was 1.5 currently, so we are beating that goal. States are vaccinating approximately 75 percent of the doses they have are being administered, so good efficiency going on at the local and state health department.

And it looks like come April there will be more than enough vaccine for everybody, even by the end of March. We expected to have about 200 million doses of vaccine available.

CHURCH: It is all great news. And the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, what's your feeling about that?

[03:25:03] KHAN: So, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is another piece of lovely news. So that's currently being reviewed by the FDA, it's approved by the FDA. There's, potentially several million to 12 million doses available by the end of February. And 10 to 20 million doses available at the end of March.

And to remind people this you only one dose of the J.J. vaccine as opposed to the two doses of the current mRNA vaccine. So that's another piece of good news for Americans. A good reminder, please, stay masked, social distance, health and hygiene, and we'll get this under control in the United States.

CHURCH: Right. We are going to end on a positive note. Dr. Ali Khan, thank you so much for joining us and for all that you do.

KHAN: You are welcome. Mask on, America.

CHURCH: Good message. Thank you.

KHAN: Thank you.

CHURCH: Well beginning today, travelers to the U.K. from a so-called red list of countries are now required to quarantine at a hotel for 10 days. It's part of an effort to stop new coronavirus variants entering the U.K. from 33 countries considered high-risk.

Meantime, Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. has reached a significant milestone in its battle against the coronavirus. The country has now administered 15 million first doses of COVID-19 vaccines.

And CNN's Scott McLean joins us now from London with more on this. Good to see you, Scott. So, what is the latest on these high-risk travelers, them being quarantined? And of course, on this significant milestone reach for administering vaccines?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Rosemary. So, yes, first on the hotels, that starts today. There are 33 countries on the so-called red list that will have to quarantine inside of a hotel for 10 days. It costs almost 2,000 pounds in order for people to do that. The other thing is what you mentioned, and that's this huge milestone, 15 million first doses of the vaccines which have been rolled out.

The government says that it has also reached its goal of offering the vaccine to everyone, staff, and residents of care homes, frontline health care workers, and everybody over the age of 70. And the health secretary says that the uptake, meaning the number of people actually agreeing to get vaccinated when they are offered, is more than 90 percent.

So how is it that the U.K. has been able to achieve this given all of the criticism that it's had over its early handling of the pandemic? This country was slow to close its border, slow to lock down, reluctant to enforce its rules, and not effective at actually tracking and tracing the virus. So, there are two parts to the success story here. First, it's

actually getting the vaccine supply. Last year the U.K. formed a vaccine task force, sort of an odd mixture of public and private sector people in order to secure vaccine doses. And this is the key part, securing them as quickly as possible.

So, the U.K. bet big on its own vaccine agreeing to front most AstraZeneca's manufacturing cost to actually make the Oxford vaccine here in the U.K. And it did that in exchange for a place at the front of the line. And remember, this was at a time when no one knew for sure whether or not this vaccine or any vaccines would actually be safe or effective.

That decision, along with the choice to go it a long -- go it alone rather than join Europe seems to have really been key. Case in point, the U.K. has now vaccinated more people, or given more doses of the vaccine than Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, and Belgium combined.

The second part has been the rollout of the vaccine. A centralized, nationalized, rollout of the vaccine done by the National Health Service, along with our army of volunteers, soldiers, and in some case, firefighters. And the prime minister says the government is not taking the foot off the gas yet. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: No one is resting on their laurels. In fact, the first million or so letters appoint -- offering appointments to the over 65's are already landing on doorsteps. We still got a long way to go, and there will undoubtedly be bumps in the road. But after all we have achieved, I know we can go forward with great confidence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN (on camera): Rosemary, given the success of this vaccination program, the health secretary said this morning that the government would be looking this week at how and when it can start to lift lockdown restrictions safely.

CHURCH: All right. Very promising news there. Scott McLean joining us live from London.

Well now that Donald Trump's impeachment trial is over, President Joe Biden's agenda once again takes center stage. Up first, his COVID relief package. The latest on his efforts, that's next.

And investigating the origins of the coronavirus. A team of scientists has returned from Wuhan, China, and they are revealing their findings in an exclusive interview with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH (on camera): Welcome back, everyone. There is a renewed push to pass U.S. President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. Mr. Biden is also focused on getting more cabinet nominees confirmed by the Senate, now that Donald Trump's impeachment trial is over.

CNN's Arlette Saenz has more from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: With the Senate impeachment trial in the rear view mirror, President Biden can now push agenda up on Capitol Hill with their full attention. That includes trying to get his nominees confirmed, as well as passing the $1.9 trillion COVID relief package.

The House is expected to continue its markup of that legislation later this week and the president will also be holding meetings here at the White House on that COVID relief package.

President Biden will also be taking his sales pitch on the road. He is participating in a CNN town hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Tuesday, and then on Thursday, traveling to a Pfizer facility in the State of Michigan.

All of this as the president is trying to promote that COVID relief package.

Now, there are still some details relating to that measure that need to be hammered out in the coming weeks. The president said that he is willing to negotiate on who would receive those $1,400 stimulus checks as Democrats and Republicans have talked about the need for them to be more targeted. But right now, that key priority is getting that $1.9 trillion package passed.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

[03:35:00]

CHURCH: And as Arlette mentioned, CNN is hosting a town hall with U.S. President Joe Biden. It will be moderated by our Anderson Cooper. You can join us Tuesday night at 8 p.m. Eastern time. That is Wednesday morning in Europe and Asia.

The U.K. is joining the Biden administration in calling on China to release more data on the origins of the coronavirus. The British prime minister says the world needs to see all of the data, all of the evidence to know how the pandemic happened.

That is where the team of investigators from the World Health Organization was seeking to find out in Wuhan, China. A spokesman for the group says their report will outline where further data should be shared and where additional studies are needed. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh joins me now from London. Good to see you, Nick. You spoke with the lead investigator for the research mission to Wuhan. What all did you learn?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (on camera): Well, it's important to point out that while that particular mission did after the press conference last week received some criticism for dragging the general narrative closer to the Chinese state media, it's clear from talking to the head of that mission, Peter Ben Embarek, that they also found out, quite a lot, that they had not known during that particular mission, key that during December of 2019 when the outbreak first blossomed or grew at a fast rate inside of China, it was widespread within Wuhan and Hubei than had previously been acknowledged.

It's important, obviously, to work out where the virus originated from so the world can stop this from happening again. Here are some of the details that Peter Ben Embarek shared with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

PATON WALSH: The leader of the WHO mission to China investigating the origin of the coronavirus has told CNN the virus was likely much widespread in China in December 2019 than was thought.

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

PETER BEN EMBAREK, HEAD OF WHO MISSION TO CHINA: The virus was circulating widely in Wuhan in December, which I think is a -- is a new -- is a new finding. And the hundred that was confirmed and the 74 are clinically --

PATON WALSH: Diagnosed. About 174 would suggest a thousand or so plus even.

EMBAREK: Yeah, probably. Largely, yeah, because that's -- again, that would fit with all of the parameters that we have looked at.

PATON 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 the seafood market is thought to have played a role.

EMBAREK: We have 13 strains recording, covering individuals in December. Some of them are from the market or internal markets. Some of them are not into the market. This is something that we found as part of our mission.

PATON WALSH: That many variations so early on could suggest the virus had been circulating for some time, some analysts told CNN, although precise timing is still unclear.

Their work heavily scrutinized, tensed and frustrating conditions. EMBAREK: Here, remember, we had the entire planet on our shoulders 24 hours a day for months which doesn't make the work among scientists easy. Once in a while, you -- as always with -- between passionate scientists, you get heated discussion and argumentation about this and that.

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

EMBAREK: There are about 200,000 samples in (INAUDIBLE) that are now secured and (INAUDIBLE).

PATON WALSH: And you want to look at that urgently?

EMBAREK: Yeah. That will be fantastic if we could move with that.

PATON WALSH: Is it 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 use for identification purpose.

PATON WALSH: So many more questions still to answer first if China would let them back in.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

PATON WALSH (on camera): Now, China's embassy in the United States has pointed the finger towards former Trump administration for undermining trust in the WHO. Remember, they pulled out of it and President Biden jumped back in.

[03:40:01]

PATON WALSH: But you have to ask yourself, China with its extraordinary hunger for knowledge, for power, its extraordinary disease surveillance system and medical expertise, how is it possible that for a year, they did not look at many of these biological samples, that they did not do some of the testing, that it seemed that WHO had to ask them to do.

These are fundamental questions about China's transparency that will, of course, impact whether or not the WHO get to go back in and continue their investigation.

But important to see here, despite all the talk about China covering up or WHO mission being too close to Chinese sentiments on this on the government level, they are still, you can hear there, finding out things they did not know before that may eventually lead to further elucidation of quite how this virus began. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Critical questions there. Nick Paton Walsh joining us live from London, many thanks. Australia is now making anyone traveling in from New Zealand quarantined in a hotel for 14 days. That is in response to New Zealand locking down its largest city, Auckland.

Three people there, a mother, father and daughter all contracted the coronavirus. Two of them have the COVID variant first found in the U.K. The lockdown order lasts until the end of Wednesday. New Zealand's prime minister acted immediately to stop the spread.

So let us turn to CNN correspondent Will Ripley. He joins me now from Hong Kong. This was what we have seen, Will, from the leader of New Zealand. She does move very swiftly. What more are you learning about the situation there?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Rosemary, she just confirmed, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, that in fact all three cases are that more contagious U.K. variant.

She told that to public broadcaster RNC, as proof that this strategy of even with just a handful of cases, disrupting a large number of people for hopefully a shorter period of time, in this case it's 72 hours while they conduct contact tracing to try to figure out how this mother, father and teenaged daughter contracted this U.K. variant given that none of them had any recent travel history.

They are looking at the mother's job for an airline catering a hospitality company as one possible source. But she is telling people, until they figured this out, the safest thing to do and the formula that has worked very well for New Zealand thus far is to honker down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACINDA ARDERN, PRIME MINISTER OF 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 would like to do though is really put a ring around things, make sure that we are testing all of those places of interest, getting those results to close contacts (INAUDIBLE) to give us a level of confidence (INAUDIBLE) has happened, we feel confident that we got a bit of a ring around it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY (on camera): New Zealand has had extraordinary success, just 25 deaths during this entire pandemic and just over 2,300 cases nationwide in the country of almost five million people.

So, Rosemary, this this strategy has worked so far and the prime minister says they are going to continue to do this. You mentioned that travel bubble with Australia suspended for 72 hours. Obviously, that is inconvenient, but keep in mind, most people around the world will not been able to fly into New Zealand perhaps for, you know, much of this year.

CHURCH: Yeah, it is. New Zealand has been a model for the rest of the world. Admittedly a small population but she has done an extraordinary job. Will Ripley, joining us live from Hong Kong, many thanks.

Investors are taking note the value of bitcoin has soared to nearly $50,000. How high can it go? Why is this digital currency so hot right now? We will have a live report next.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Here in the United States, stock markets are closed for the Presidents' Day holiday. All three major indices recorded all-time highs on Friday. You can see here, the futures are extending last week's optimism, all in positive territory there.

For more on this, CNN's John Defterios joins us from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, John. And despite big gains over the last year, stock market investors are picking up where they left off Friday. What are the key drivers at this rally?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN ANCHOR AND EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: You know, stock investors like lots of liquidity and low interest rates and both are in abundance right now. There is coming very likely from the United States. Joe Biden's administration is looking for another $1.9 trillion. This is feeling the rally on Wall Street, but is not limited to that market whatsoever.

Let us take a look at the Nikkei average today again hitting a threshold crossing 30,000, something we haven't seen since 1990. There are couple of key drivers here, with the growth in the fourth quarter, rebounding much stronger than expected, 12.7 percent.

We are going to start rolling out the vaccines in the country this week so this should boost growth and then also help the exporters move commerce forward at the same time.

We've had $58 billion. That is a record, Rosemary, in the last week move from cash into stock markets. It's almost worrying that people think this is a one-way bet. We wanted to take this benchmark right now and look back over the last year.

So despite the massive sell-off we saw on March and April of 2020, the height of the pandemic, look at the returns that we've been seeing. Tech driven pandemic rally at 46 percent for the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 well into the double digits, and then you look at the FTSE AIM index, the smaller companies, technology companies with a solid gain, Tokyo, we talk about, run 26, 27 percent, and the same for Shanghai.

I can pick even bigger ones like Taiwan and Seoul, which have enjoyed the recovery and the stability in Asia against the pandemic. But there are concerns. We haven't been at these valuations since the year 2000 and the tech bubble, and we know what happened then when the Nasdaq sold off by 80 percent. Even JP Morgan was saying, we can't discount the idea that corrections are on the way, didn't say a bear market of 20 percent. The correction represents 10 percent but the valuations are pretty lofty right now, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yeah, absolutely. And John, bitcoin nearly hit a new milestone over the weekend of $50,000. Are cryptocurrency investors showing some fear of heights?

DEFTERIOS: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

DEFTERIOS: Like the way you put that. Yes, we got to 49,714 in the Asian trade today. That is a new peak for bitcoin. It could not get to 50,000. As a result, we see some retrenchment or some people taking some profits, somewhere down four percent from that peak, around 47,000. I tell you, it has been a heck of a week for bitcoin because we had the move by Elon Musk and Tesla, buying $1.5 billion worth.

[03:49:57]

DEFTERIOS: One of the oldest banks on Wall Street, the Bank of New York Mellon, is going to start offering it to its clients here as a trade and an asset to hold. Mastercard, so they can bring it in to its global system for credit cards, as well. Now, the SCC (ph) is suggesting we need to regulate this quickly because it is becoming so pervasive. Rosemary?

CHURCH: John Defterios, joining us live from Abu Dhabi with all of that, many thanks.

And just ahead, we will have a live weather report on winter storms battling the U.S. and leaving hundreds of thousands without power. We will be back with that in just a moment.

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CHURCH: More than half a million customers across the U.S. are without power as brutal winter weather blasts the country from coast to coast. Nearly half of all Americans are under winter weather advisory and President Joe Biden has even declared a federal emergency in Texas.

For more on that, let us turn to meteorologist Tyler Mauldin. Good to see you, Tyler. So, tell us how bad this is looking and just how long everyone will be experiencing the impact of this.

TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So we're going to be experiencing impacts for at least the next three days, more than likely all the way until this upcoming weekend.

[03:55:01]

MAULDIN: We have wind chill warnings in effect from Canada all the way down to Mexico. The first time ever that Houston, Texas has ever been under a wind chill warning. You can see why. Temperatures are going to be nearly 50 degrees below normal across much of the plains, especially down in Texas where this cold is driving record electricity demand and the grid operator in the State of Texas is now issuing force rotating power outages to conserve energy because the demand is just that high.

And notice that temperatures are -- in Houston, Texas, temperatures are going to be well below average all the way until we get to this upcoming weekend. And that is the case for much of the plains.

Over the next two days, we could see more than 250 temperatures be broken, all right? But it is not all about the temperatures. It is also the precipitation that we are seeing come with this arctic air, too.

You are seeing snowfall across much of the country right now. Down here in Texas, heavy snow fall, some thunder snow, some thunder ice, too. And that ice is really going to build up.

Once we get into Mississippi, Alabama and portions of Tennessee, this is where we are going to have major to extreme impacts from this winter storm as it pushes to the northeast.

We have winter storm warnings up for everyone from Texas all the way to New England. More than half the country is under some sort of winter weather alert at this very second. We could see a swath of nearly a foot of snow across portions of Ohio River Valley, Rosemary, and then we could also see half an inch of ice in portions of the south, too.

CHURCH: Unbelievable, isn't it? Tyler Mouldin, thanks for bringing us up-to-date on all of that.

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

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