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Infection Numbers Trend Downwards, Variant Threat Remains; India Charges Activist After Social Media Post; Myanmar's Military Says Takeover Is Constitutional; Civil Action Groups Respond To Asian- American Hate Crimes; Biden Hits Road to Sell COVID Plan; Trump Still Faces Legal Challenges after Senate Acquittal; Deep Freeze Leaves Millions of Americans in the Dark; Saudi Government to Limit Contracts with Foreign Companies; Elon Musk Asks Putin to Talk on Clubhouse. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 16, 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]
JOHN VAUSE, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Wherever you might be around the world right now, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Hello, everyone. I'm John Vause.
And coming up this hour. As new infections and hospitalizations decline dramatically on both sides of the Atlantic, authorities are warning the worst of the pandemic might be yet to come.
Well, Donald Trump avoided a guilty verdict in his Senate impeachment trial. His Republican enablers will not be able to save him from a myriad of legal problems both criminal and civil.
And the winter storm bringing bone-chilling temperatures across the U.S., made worse for more than 5 million people now in the dark without electricity.
Well, since the very start of the pandemic, the U.K. response seems to have been one bungle after a screw up followed by a crisis. But not now.
Many have praised their vaccine roll out, it's been among the best in the world, they say. And compared to the previous month, the number of people dying from COVID-19 has halved. New infections dramatically down as well.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson continues to remind the country the threat is more real, more contagious and potentially more deadly than ever.
Here are the numbers. New cases; seven-day rolling average has fallen from nearly 60,000 new cases a day to about 13,000, the lowest number since early October. Average deaths are down from more than 1,200 a day to about 600.
Meanwhile, the U.K. has reached its target of vaccinating 15 million people by mid-February. And with that, many are now urging the government to ease up the lockdown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We must be both optimistic, but also patient. And next week, I'll be sitting out a roadmap saying as much as we possibly can about the route to normality and -- even though some things are very uncertain. Because we want this lockdown, to be the last.
And we want progress to be cautious, but also irreversible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: New travel restrictions are now in place which require travelers who visited so called red list countries to quarantine in one of 16 government-designated hotels.
Researchers have identified seven COVID-19 variants circulating in the United States. And they're keeping a close watch to ensure current vaccines remain effective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Viruses mutate; this virus has been mutating from the beginning. There are dozens of variants that have been identified, maybe more, over the last year.
But what this does show is that we really need to rebuild our genomic surveillance program and identify in real-time when these variants emerge. Because the implication is, eventually, there'll be a variant that will evade testing and will evade our current vaccines.
There's no evidence that these variants do that, but that's the concern going forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: The average number of new cases in the U.S. now at its lowest level since mid-November. Less than 300 infections per 1 million people. And with 70 million doses distributed vaccine in U.S., close to 53 million people have received it.
Celine Gounder and Anne Rimoin are back with us this hour. Dr. Gounder is a CNN medical analyst and former pandemic adviser to the Biden transition, Professor Rimoin is with the department of epidemiology at the University of California, L.A.
OK. Thank you for coming back. OK. So we have some questions out there which a lot of people have been asking. And now that the vaccine rollouts are underway across the U.S. and Europe, many parts of the world, I guess people want to know how soon will we get part of our normal lives back?
So the first question is this. When will be safe to visit older relatives, when will it be safe for grandkids to give their grandparents a hug? So Professor Rimoin, first dibs to you.
DR. ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR OF EPIDEMIOLOGY: OK. Well, I'll tackle the first part which is when people can start to visit their older relatives. And what I would say is if that relative is vaccinated and you are also vaccinated then you're in a much better position to be able to start seeing each other again.
People who are vaccinated have very low risk of being able to spread the virus to others who also are -- people who are already vaccinated are not going to likely get severe disease.
[01:05:00]
So while we still don't understand whether or not people can spread the virus if they are in contact with somebody who has COVID, the likelihood of being able to have a serious outcome is much lower.
And so if you are vaccinated and the person in -- and the older person is vaccinated, yes, you can see them. If you want --
VAUSE: OK.
RIMOIN: If you want -- OK, go ahead.
VAUSE: Dr. Gounder, what if the grandparent is vaccinated but the grandkid is not?
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes, I think the key here is to separate what is the vaccine doing in terms of preventing hospitalization and death.
The vaccines we know, all of them, in fact, are 100 percent effective in preventing severe disease from COVID, hospitalization and death.
And so, if we are concerned about is grandma, grandpa going to get sick from being around other people where they have underlying medical conditions and are perhaps more frail, just higher risk then it's key that they be vaccinated.
The second reason we vaccinate is to prevent transmission of the disease. And we simply don't know -- we think that the COVID vaccines will do that but we don't know for sure yet.
And so I think in this particular context both grandparents or (inaudible) the family, anybody older with underlying medical conditions, at the very least, those persons should be vaccinated before family getting together.
VAUSE: OK. So as we keep this rollout going with the vaccines at this current pace -- or maybe it speeds up a little bit -- when will it be safe to have home gatherings of eight or more people; when can you have, I guess, a dinner party? Professor Rimoin, to you.
RIMOIN: Well, again, this really comes down to the risk and who is vaccinated, who isn't and where you're going to have this event. So, again, this goes back to what Dr. Gounder was saying which is that we still don't have enough data to really know what happens once we're vaccinated, are we going to be able to spread virus to others.
So it's still important to be taking all the precautions that we already know to take and that is masks, social distancing, hand hygiene.
If you're going to get together with people still try and do it outside, limit the number of people to people that are either in your household or in close proximity to your household that you're podded with, that you're seeing regularly until really everybody is vaccinated.
VAUSE: So Dr. Gounder, if everyone was vaccinated, would you say obviously a dinner party is safe but until then it's not?
GOUNDER: Yes. I would say for a dinner party, a group of people you really want everyone to be vaccinated because that's a situation where you're really -- your risk of transmission is much higher than just a couple of grandkids and their grandparents. That's a much smaller group and the risk of transmission onward is much lower.
But when you're talking about a group -- and especially a group that includes young or middle-aged adults, your risk of transmission onward outside of that group is much higher. So really, everybody needs to be vaccinated.
VAUSE: And very quickly, Dr. Rimoin, would you head back to a gym anytime soon?
RIMOIN: I don't think it's time to go back to the gym yet. I think that there's too much community transmission still across the United States, even though we are coming down off of this surge. There's still very high rates of transmission, we're not out of the woods and I think that gyms are very complicated.
I still that people still need to wait a little while longer before going back to the gym.
VAUSE: OK. Finally, Dr. Fauci, he has told -- I think it was Axios, the news site, he never felt safe actually traveling and going to the Trump White House.
Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I didn't fixate on that, but it was in the back of my mind because I had to be out there. Particularly, when I was going to the White House every day when the White House was sort of a super spreader location. That made me a little bit nervous.
Chuck: Dr. Gounder, how did you feel like going to the White House and would you go back now? GOUNDER: I would go back now and that's == because most of the staff
is working virtually. The numbers of staff that are in the building are quite low and they really are doing all of the appropriate mitigation measures; the mask-wearing, the social distancing, the ventilation, the plexiglass shields and so on.
And so if I had to go, I would feel quite comfortable actually with the measures they have in place.
VAUSE: And, Professor Rimoin, do you think the White House is now no longer a super spreader of the virus?
RIMOIN: Well, I defer to Dr. Gounder on this one. She's actually been the one who's had contact with people in the White House but I agree with what she's saying, it makes sense to me.
And I would say that that's the same tactic that everybody has to think about when it comes to going to an office, right? You have to think about how many people are working remotely and really continue to reduce the number of contacts that we're having while we're still at a high rate of transmission.
VAUSE: Thank you, both. It was good to have your insights and your answers. And we really appreciate the advice. Thank you.
[01:10:00]
Myanmar's military has escalated a crackdown on dissent. But still demonstrators continue to take to the streets protesting the coup.
The U.S. special envoy is warning the army of severe consequences for a heavy-handed response to the protest. Just a short time ago, Myanmar's military leader insisted the takeover is allowed under the 2008 constitution.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is live in Seoul with the very latest.
The constitution gives a great deal of leeway and power to the military. I don't think it allows them the power to overthrow a civilian, democratically elected government?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's true, John. Effectively, what this constitution does is it guarantees 25 percent of the parliament has to be made up of the military. They keep hold of the three main ministries.
But yes, nowhere there does it say that a coup is legal in any shape or form. And that's borne home by the fact that most international leaders, most groups like the United Nations, are condemning what is happening.
So clearly, this is something that the military within Myanmar believes but no one else does.
Now what we are seeing which is worrying to many is that we're seeing force being used by the security forces on the ground against the protesters themselves.
We saw just in Mandalay, on Monday, we spoke to one of the protesters there who also showed us video of security forces firing into the crowd, believing to be using rubber bullets, but still a very panicked crowd trying to flee.
And interestingly, also, this one protester told CNN that many of those or some of those firing at least were not wearing uniform. So certainly there is a growing sense of fear on the ground in Myanmar.
We know that there have been nighttime arrests. We know that once again overnight, for the second night in a row, the Internet, there was a near total shutdown of the Internet. And people on the ground are now assuming that this is going to be a regular occurrence.
And also, we know that the U.S. embassy in Myanmar has authorized that all non-essential personnel and family members can now leave Myanmar.
So, certainly, it does show that the concerns are raising at the level of force that may be used. John.
VAUSE: We have a situation now, though, the military isn't just using, I guess, hard power, if you like, or hard force against these protesters, controlling the Internet and they're warning it's a very lengthy jail time for anyone who shows contempt or anger or hostility towards the leaders.
HANCOCKS: That's right, yes. They have amended some of the penal codes which effectively targets journalists and protesters and anybody who is going to be critical of the military. There are a number of these rules that they have been changing which effectively allows them -- according to one journalist that we are speaking to -- to arrest anybody they want at any time if they believe that they have been speaking badly of the military or trying to incite hatred against the military.
Some of these penal codes, they could face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty. So certainly there is a concern about that.
Now, interestingly, we will be hearing from the military today. This will be the -- it's being called a press conference, whether there's free press asking questions, we'll have to wait and see.
But certainly this briefing by the military is the first time that we have seen this kind of thing since the coup happened two weeks ago so it'll be very interesting to hear what they said.
Although judging from what the leader Min Aung Hlaing was saying, that this is fully within the 2000 constitution, I think we know the way that it is going to go. But certainly, it will be interesting to hear the rationale that the military has, at this point.
VAUSE: Yes. It'll give us a good indication where things where things are going to go from here, I guess.
Paula, thank you. Paula Hancocks in Seoul with the very latest. Thank you.
Well, the military coup is an early foreign policy challenge for U.S. President Joe Biden. It comes with the added factor of China's complicated relationship with Myanmar.
We have more now from CNN's Nic Robertson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: (Chanting and singing)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Outside China's embassy in Myanmar, formally Burma, protesters vent fears China supports Myanmar's military coup.
ENZE HAN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: If this thing get out of control then I think the Chinese government or Chinese interests in the country can become targets.
ROBERTSON: The coup is proving an early test of Joe Biden's presidency and his ability to influence his biggest foreign policy foe, China.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The military must relinquish power it seized.
ROBERTSON: Friendly nations supported Biden's call. But China and Russia blocked the U.N. move to condemn the military and so far don't back Biden's sanctions on the military either.
China has a huge geostrategic stake in Myanmar.
PHIL ROBERTSON, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, ASIA DIVISION, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: What they really want is they want the access to the warm port, the Indian Ocean.
[01:15:00]
NIC ROBERTSON: In recent years, China has cut development deals with both the military and ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi including plans to construct a train line linking China's landlocked west to the Indian Ocean. And an agreement to develop an Indian Ocean port into a busy cargo hub.
PHIL ROBERTSON: China has worked with both sides but they're not going to be forced to make a choice. For China, it's too important. Myanmar is all about what it gives to China.
ROBERTSON: It reinforces China's traditional diplomatic unwillingness to take sides.
WANG WENBIN, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON (Through Translator): China is Myanmar's friendly neighbor. We hope all parties in Myanmar can properly manage their differences under the constitution and the legal framework.
NIC ROBERTSON: This despite Aung San Suu Kyi being an easier trade partner than Myanmar's military.
HAN: The working experience with the military in past decades also has been that military was unpredictable.
ROBERTSON: But it's Myanmar's military who have the most to gain by keeping China happy.
A U.N. report alleged the military carried out atrocities in their campaign against Rohingya Muslim four years ago, calling on top generals to face genocide charges.
But the military, backed by Aung San Suu Kyi has repeatedly denied it deliberately attacked unarmed Rohingya.
PHIL ROBERTSON: They have been relying on China to prevent any sort of referral to the International Criminal Court of the allegations of crimes against humanity.
Biden's game plan to curb the coup --
BIDEN: We will work with our partners to support restoration of democracy and the rule of law and impose consequences on those responsible.
ROBERTSON: Question is, can Biden outleverage China in their backyard? At stake in the anti-China protest, tipping China toward the military.
HAN: If Beijing perceives this is a plot to tarnish the Chinese government's image then they might respond in a different way.
ROBERTSON: So far, frustrations and fears are finely balanced; Biden and China in a cautious first test.
ROBERTSON (Voice Over): Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: A U.S. led military base in Kurdish controlled northern Iraq has been the target of a deadly rocket attack. A Shia militant group is now claiming responsibility but without providing any evidence.
Iraqi security forces say they are investigating. A civilian contractor was killed in the attack, a U.S. service member was hurt, so too five other contractors.
The base is located in the international airport in Erbiel. Tensions have increased between U.S. forces, their Iraqi and Kurdish allies and Iranian-backed militias.
The last rocket attack on the U.S. troops in Erbiel was back in September. Iran-allied militias were the suspects at the time.
Still to come. A high-profile trial gets underway in Hong Kong. What pro-democracy advocates are accused of and how they're now responding to the charges. Also, calls for action as violence against Asian Americans continue to soar. We speak to some of the people victimized by these hate crimes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:00]
VAUSE: Well, for months now there's been a steady and troubling increase in the number of hate crimes against Asian Americans, reported in the U.S..
Rights groups have reported thousands of incidents from verbal attacks to physical assaults.
CNN's Kyung Lah has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MONTHANUS RATANAPAKDEE, VICTIM'S DAUGHTER: Happy birthday, dear grandpa.
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Turning 84 was a milestone for Vicha Ratanapakdee and his family.
RATANAPAKDEE: Oh. Happy birthday, grandpa.
LAH: The San Francisco grandfather had just received the vaccine and stayed healthy through the pandemic, walking for an hour in his neighborhood every morning.
It was on his walk when an unprovoked attacker ran across the street.
LAH: How did you find what happened to your father?
RATANAPAKDEE: The officer answer the phone and then they told us they found him, he got assaulted. He got an injury, very bad, about his brain, bleeding. And he never wake up again. I never see him again.
LAH: A 19-year-old suspect is charged with murder and elder abuse. But Ratanapakdee's family calls it something else.
ERIC LAWSON, VICTIM'S SON IN LAW: This wasn't driven by economics, this was driven by hate.
LAH: Ratanapakdee's death is part of a surge in reported attacks against Asian Americans during the pandemic.
In Oakland, a man walked up behind a 91-year-old man and threw him to the ground. One of more than 20 assaults and robberies like this one --
UNKNOWN: (Shouting)
LAH: -- in Oakland's Chinatown.
In Portland, more than a dozen Asian-owned businesses in recent weeks have been vandalized.
These incidents are not new.
UNKNOWN: Time to move.
LAH: In New York, the MTA re-tweeted this video of what they called racism.
This man sprayed Febreze at an Asian American on the subway at the start of the pandemic, prompting an NYPD hate crime investigation.
UNKNOWN: (bleep) Asian piece of (bleep).
UNKNOWN: Oh, my God.
UNKNOWN: You need to leave right now.
LAH: A coalition has tracked more than 2,800 anti-Asian hate incidents between March and December of last year.
Like this one at a California restaurant. Before the election, this man invoked President Trump.
UNKNOWN: Trump's going to [bleep] you [bleep]ers.
UNKNOWN: You need to leave now.
UNKNOWN: You need to leave.
LAH: The then president's words --
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The China virus -- Kung flu.
LAH: -- have lasting impacts, says Professor Russell Jeung who tracked those 2,800 hate incidents through stop AAPI Hate because no governmental agency would.
RUSSELL JEUNG, STOP AAPI HATE: Mainstream society doesn't believe that we face racism. And we needed to document what was happening.
UNKNOWN: So we're just offering like our support to the community.
LAH: Identify and change them, says this group of Bay Area volunteers offering escorts for the elderly.
And offering a bridge to those who may not even know how to talk to the police.
DEREK KO, VOLUNTEER, COMPASSION IN OAKLAND: We want to take that rage and it's like let's do something for it, what can I do? And this is what we're doing.
LAH: (Inaudible), Ratanapakdee's daughter, spent the last year ignoring when people said to her.
RATANAPAKDEE: "You bring the COVID." Screaming, spit on us but we just walk away.
LAH (Voice Over): She won't do that anymore.
RATANAPAKDEE: He's got to be proud about -- we protect a lot of other people in this city or the whole country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And thanks to CNN's Kyung Lah for that report.
VAUSE: A number of pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a mass protest in 2019.
Media mogul, Jimmy Lai, and eight other defendants have been accused of organizing and taking part in the unauthorized assembly. But at a trial on Monday, all but two pleaded not guilty to the charges.
CNN's Will Ripley live from Hong Kong.
It's significant they've all pleaded -- well, most have pleaded not guilty for what was a fairly big protest at the time.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was. It was one of the largest at the height of the pro-democracy demonstrations back in the summer of 2019, John.
It was August, it was hot, it was rainy. And yet organizers estimated there were 1.7 million people who defied a police order not to march through Hong Kong. They assembled legally in Victoria Park, police estimated around 128,000 there.
But then the march spilled out into the streets and Lai and the others are accused of being some of the organizers, holding up the banners, encouraging people to march.
The official charge is unauthorized assembly. Now a lot of people are looking at this in the context of the national security law that Beijing subsequently imposed on this city in large part because of this civil disobedience during the summer of 2019. But these particular charges are not NSL-related.
[01:25:00]
Now, Lai, he is remaining in custody because he is facing charges of colluding with foreign forces.
I interviewed him shortly after his arrest on those charges and he says a lot of the evidence investigators seem to be getting was based on interviews that he gave with international media.
So, if that is the case, could they actually be prosecuting these people for interviews that they gave on international media because this law, this national security law, is so vague and unclear,, we really don't know exactly how it's going to be enforced.
So a lot of people certainly watching this case very closely, John. These defendants, most of them pleading not guilty because they think
people in Hong Kong should have the right to assemble, should have the right to call for democracy.
Even though some of those actions could now face them many years in prison.
VAUSE: Beijing thought they should have that right when they agreed to the hand over with Britain back in the day. But I guess that things have changed.
RIPLEY: Yes.
VAUSE: Will, thank you. Will Ripley in Hong Kong.
Well, police in India have detained a 21-year-old climate activist, declared her a threat to the state. Arrest warrants have been issued for two others. All for their alleged role over an anonymous post on social media.
CNN's Ivan Watson has details.
IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A young activist, locked up in India, accused of criminal conspiracy, provoking a riot and sedition.
Her alleged crime contained in a tweet sent by another young woman on the other side of the world, Greta Thunberg.
Early in February, Thunberg shared a protest toolkit with her nearly 5 million followers, a guide to supporting striking farmers in India.
Police in India say the unsigned document was compiled by Disha Ravi and at least two others sought by police then sent on to Thunberg.
Police say the main aim of the tool kit was to create misinformation and disaffection against the lawfully elected government.
The document declares -- "the world needs to know that India is ignoring the voices of marginalized communities."
COLIN GONSALVES, HUMAN RIGHTS LAWYER: So it's totally legal, there's nothing wrong with the toolkit. It's, in fact, quite a wonderful instrument for coordinating demonstrations against a government which is a very good thing to do as long as it's peaceful and democratic.
WATSON: There's nothing in the short English language document that appears to support violence. Instead the document suggests that young people call their local government rep, sign petitions and share on social media.
Indian farmers have been gathering across India in the thousands since September to demand the repeal of new laws they say weaken their collective bargaining power.
ASHISH KOTHARI, ACTIVIST: I mean, obviously, the government wants this to have some sort of a chilling effect so that people don't speak up, they don't dissent. But I doubt that's going to happen.
WATSON: Her colleagues says Ravi is a member of Greta Thunberg's group, Fridays for Future, and has previously warned against climate campaigns that could be deemed unpatriotic.
DISHA RAVI, ACTIVIST: As climate activists, we have to refrain from doing anything that could be considered anti-national.
WATSON: Now that's exactly what police say she's guilty of. Quote -- "economic, social, cultural and regional war against India."
Ravi will remain in police custody for at least five days but it's not yet clear what the sentence could be for this young woman accused of sharing a document online.
WATSON (Voice Over): Ivan Watson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Thanks for watching, I'm John Vause. I'm going to say goodbye a little earlier than usual. My colleague Robyn Curnow will take over after the break. Thanks for watching.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:22]
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. I'm Robyn Curnow. Welcome back to CNN, live from CNN's World News Headquarters here in Atlanta.
So U.S. President Joe Biden heads back to the swing state of Wisconsin in the coming day. He'll take questions during our CNN Town Hall from voters, anxious about the pandemic, their jobs and the future of their divided country.
Well, Jeff Zeleny shows us what's weighing on their minds Jeff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROLINE QUINLAN, WISCONSIN VOTER: Yes I'm getting another shot
JEFF ZELENY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Caroline Quinlan didn't vote for Joe Biden, but she's pulling for his success.
QUINLAN: I think he's just a very nice man, I think he's very good. One of last politicians I think who can go across the aisle and meet with people. And I think that's something that's a big plus.
ZELENY: When we first met Quinlan in the heat of the campaign last fall, she was torn.
QUINLAN: I get it why people don't like Trump but in the same time he has done a few things that I thought were important.
ZELENY: But said she ultimately decided Trump would do a better job fixing the economy. QUINLAN: I voted for Trump.
ZELENY: In the end, Biden won Wisconsin by less than one point and the city of Cedarburg by only 19 votes. Turning the reliably Republican suburb of Milwaukee blue for the first time in a quarter century.
With most signs of the election long gone, it's a new season and many voters here say a fresh start from the acrimony of the Trump era.
NATASHA LOOS, OWNER, CEDARBURG TOY COMPANY: Just with the tone down of the rhetoric, not having to be glued to the TV or social media to find out what the latest is going on. It has been very refreshing.
You're welcome. Hon.
ZELENY: Natasha Loos is a small business owner who supported Biden but senses a new era of calm.
(on camera): So you can really tell that there is more civility now than there was last year.
LOOS: Yes. Without a doubt, Jeff. I feel like that has already started to come back it just even as it pertains to masks.
For the business owner, I come to work every day wanting to share joy happiness --
ZELENY: You sell toys. LOOS: -- I sell toys. And I was not interested in being part of any kind of political anything in my store. That's just one thing we don't try to do here.
ZELENY (voice over): The headwinds facing the administration on coronavirus come into sharper view at a nearby vaccination center.
PAUL FARROW, WAUKESHA COUNTY EXECUTIVE: Our goal is to provide a thousand vaccines a day, seven days a week. The only limitation we currently have is getting the vaccine.
ZELENY: Paul Farrow is the Waukesha County executive who said he received only 900 doses this week instead of 7,000. Farrow voted for Trump but praised Biden's pledge to restore unity.
FARROW: For me it's compromise. And by that I mean it's working together to come up with a solution.
ZELENY: Yet compromise also comes with complications for Biden.
Angela Lang and her group, Black Leaders Organizing for Communities helped push Biden over the finish line as black voters did across the country.
ANGELA LANG, BLACK LEADERS ORGANZING FOR COMMUNITIES: We elect people knowing that they're not going to be perfect. And that means that we have hold them accountable. ZELENY: She said she is patiently waiting for Biden to take steps to combat systemic racism, achieve criminal justice reform and broader equity.
LANG: I always get kind of skeptical and a little nervous when people say that want to unite everyone and bring everyone together. I think sometimes that means watering down progressive policies for the sake of unity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations Mr. President.
ZELENY: And for Biden that is the challenge. Trying to be a successful leader in the eyes of Wang, Quinlan and all others who hunger for change.
QUINLAN: He's the President so it's like let him do his job. And then we can decide in four years if you want him or somebody else.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
01:34:52]
CURNOW: Jeff Zeleny there reporting.
So join us for a CNN town hall with U.S. President Joe Biden moderated by our very own Anderson Cooper. That's Tuesday night, 9:00 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday morning in Europe and Asia.
We'd also replay that town hall at times that might be more convenient for you, so keep an eye out for that.
And Congressional Democrats are calling for an independent commission to investigate the deadly U.S. Capital riots. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says, the 9/11 Star Commission could examine the facts, causes and security related to last month's attack.
It's the latest effort to shed more light on how the events unfolded. Her push comes days after new details emerged during Donald Trump's impeachment trial and weeks after a retired Lieutenant-General was asked to review the capitol's security.
CURNOW: And even though Donald Trump was acquitted in the Senate, for inciting the Capitol riot, he could still face charges related to that attack.
The Washington D.C. Attorney's office is now investigating whether Trump's actions violated law.
Jessica Schneider reports, it's one f several legal challenges the former president Trump is.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Former president Trump is facing legal threats from around the country. and now that he's out of office and without the protections of the presidency even his former allies Mitch McConnell seems to be sending signals to prosecutors that they should proceed.
SENATOR MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office. He didn't get away with anything yet.
SCHNEIDER: The vote to acquit Trump now shifts the spotlight to ongoing probes in Georgia, New York and Washington D.C.
In Georgia, investigators have launched 2 separate inquiries. The Fulton County district attorney opened a criminal investigation into Trump's attempts to influence the 2020 election in Georgia.
FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ACTION: It's a very simple equation. We're going to look at the law and we're going to look at the facts. Should we find that anyone violated the law, then we're going to make a charging decision.
SCHNEIDER: And a source tells CNN, Georgia's secretary of state investigating two of Trump's calls to state election officials, where the then president try to pressure them to overturn the election results.
The first call was from Trump to Georgia secretary of state Brad Raffensperger.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes Which is one more than we have, because we won the state.
SCHNEIDER: Trump senior adviser Jason Miller tells CNN there was nothing improper about the call continuing, "If Mr. Raffensperger didn't want to receive calls about election, he shouldn't have run for secretary of state".
In New York the Trump family business is under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney's office. Prosecutors are scrutinizing the Trump Organization and whether its officials committed insurance or tax fraud.
Right now the DA's office is waiting for word from the Supreme Court about whether it can enforce the subpoena to get Trump's tax returns.
It's even possible that Trump could face criminal charges for inciting the violence that erupted at the Capitol January 6. Federal Prosecutors have indicated that no one is being overlooked in their, and lawyers inside D.C. attorney general's office are investigating whether Trump's words and actions violated a little used local law making inciting violence illegal, punish able by up to six months in jail.
STEPHEN SPAULDING, SENIOR COUNCIL, COMMON CAUSE: There is a -- it's a crime to incite rebellion. And that is a statute that I hope investigators, federal investigators, the district of Columbia, and others will investigate it, on school whether in fact he meets that standard.
SCHNEIDER: But the former president still has a hold over the Republican Party, even with legal liability looming.
And the Senators who have stuck with him are speaking out against any repercussions.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS HOST: Does Donald Trump bear any responsibility for the attack on the capital on January 6th?
SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM (R=SC): No, in terms of the law no, He bears responsibility of pushing narratives about the election that I think are not sound and not true. But this was politically protected speech.
SCHNEIDER (on camera): Trump is also facing two defamation lawsuits that were largely delayed while he was in office.
One is from a former contestant case on "The Apprentice" accusing him of sexual assault. Another from a former magazine columnist accusing Trump of rape. Both women alleged that Trump defamed them by saying their claims were lies.
Jessica Schneider, CNN -- Washington.
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CURNOW: So many Americans are accustomed to cold weather, but the storm hitting much of the U.S. right now, it is very, very different. Take a look.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's insane, like I've been here for about 30 years and I've never seen nothing like this.
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CURNOW: Just ahead the latest on storm system that's left millions and millions of people in the cold and the dark.
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CURNOW: The U.K. is moving at a speed to vaccinate its population against coronavirus, more than 15 million people there have now received their first shot and health officials panty ramp up the vaccination effort in the coming weeks. It's certainly a relief to many paramedics who have been absolutely exhausted by this pandemic.
Here's Nick Paton Walsh with some of their stories.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Endless bad news here, has traces of good and it now -- 999 rows (ph) activated.
Paramedic team Angie and Lynda over months of exhaustion and loss raced between back to back COVID callouts. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should be around the corner, chest pain.
WALSH: This is a normal busy morning for the ambulance crew, but with one key difference. They're finding that we're now in the middle of a two-day period where these COVID cases are dramatically dropping off.
One day, we spent here in this city of half million Cardiff -- there were only 4. Could it be just a glitch? Or a global first, vaccines sweeping in and easing pressure on the very front line.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello my sweetheart.
WALSH: This turning up to an elderly possible COVID patient and discovering how (INAUDIBLE) had THE vaccine two weeks ago will soon be the norm.
(INAUDIBLE) says a home test found COVID but only has a slight fever and is awaiting a proper test.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shivering. My mouth is getting, really dry.
WALSH: Kartun (ph) decides not to go to hospital as she is already alone enough. This house mired in a new solitude and grief.
Hasan Rahim died just days ago from a non-COVID heart attack. The U.K. has one of the worst death tolls but also the fastest vaccination rates.
In Wales where nearly a quarter of all the vulnerable have had their first dose by this day, they are even ahead of the U.K. schedule. They went in to lockdown a little faster than England too and now something could be changing as we only see one other COVID case in two days who isn't that sick.
Angie and Lynda have been a team for 12 years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We seem to show the same --
WALSH: But this year, her patience they'll never forget.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seated to my next door neighbors so I knew her. I'm meeting in (INAUDIBLE) most pronouncements myself for here.
WALSH (on camera): It must be harder to know the person?
ANGIE DYMOTT, PARAMEDIC: It was really, really hard. Really hard. She tell us that she's really, really, needed to go in. Which I felt that she expected to --
WALSH: She's ok or --
DYMOTT: No, she was. No. So that particular lady did pass away five day slater.
LYNDA STEPHENS, PARAMEDIC: and you know it might be the last time they say good to their family on the back of the ambulance. WALSH: Is there a patient that stays with you when you say? That.
STEPHENS: A woman.
WALSH: What were they saying to each other?
[01:34:54]
STEPHENS: Just mostly just goodbye, don't worry I love you -- that sort of thing. Whenever we do they're well aware of -- they're well me they're wild aware might not they might not see their family, that person again.
WALSH: And then there was April when Angie became a COVID patient herself raced by her own colleagues to. Hospital.
DYMOTT: I was really scared, I was scared. and although I kept on myself, you know, I'm healthy and I'm youngish. I still kept thinking, I could deteriorate at anytime. My oxygen levels weren't getting better.
WALSH: Was there a moment of panic at some point.
STEPHENS: Oh yes, definitely, yes.
WALSH: Would it have been possible to come back to work without Angie for you?
STEPHENS: Probably, not. No. I hope this vaccine is what we need to, you know, we really hope it's not (INAUDIBLE). I think we're all exhausted now.
WALSH: Wales' first minister Mark Drakeford (ph) thinks the lockdown is more behind the drop in cases, then the vaccine.
MARK DRAKEFORD, WALES FIRST MINISTER: Well, it will begin to make a difference. We know it's weeks before the vaccine begins to make a difference. And we are only 66 days into our program altogether today.
What has really made the difference was the decision, we made, the very difficult decision to go into a full lockdown before Christmas.
WALSH: Hope, good news, something so alien now to these streets it will take time to be sure of it. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN -- Cardiff, United Kingdom.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Millions of Americans around the country on the throes of an unusual and pretty deadly winter storm. At this very hour electric power is out for more than five million customers. More than four million of those actually live in Texas.
Now some families are trying to make the most of this horrible situation. A mother in Dallas in her five children spent more than 18 hours without power on Monday. So she and her kids have layered up with jackets, hats and socks and that's hopefully doing it.
Tyler Morgan joins us now with more on how Texas in particular has been hit by this. Not a state that's use to this kind of deluge of snow.
TYLER MORGAN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely not.
Dallas, Texas and Houston, Texas -- they could absolutely see that the record breaking temperatures by the time we get to about I would say 7:00 a.m. in the morning, local, in southeast Texas. Temperatures well below what they typically see this time of the year.
Because we have a dip in the jet stream bringing down some arctic air. But then you add in some little spokes of energy riding the base of that jet stream and we get the snow, which we had snow all the way down into Brownsville (ph), Texas.
And then we had thunder sleet in Late Charles, Louisiana. So you get snow and ice and then on the warmer side of the system, you also get some severe weather as well.
So let me work you through everything that we're dealing with, with this multi-faceted weather pattern that we have.
Across Rapid City, we are looking at a current temperature of minus 10 but you add in the wind, it makes it feel like it's minus 25 up there.
Pushing down to the south, it is feeling like minus 12. In Dallas, Texas feeling like 7 degrees right now. In Houston Texas, those temperatures are going to continue to plunge as we get to the next few hours.
We continue to have wind chill warnings and windchill advisories up from Canada all the way down to Mexico. We're beginning to add in the southeast as well.
In addition I mentioned the snow, you got a little moisture you add it in with that arctic air. You're going to see snow. And currently we have 70 percent of the U.S. covered in snow.
The one spoke of energy is up here across the northeast and it's producing heavy snow across the Midwest. Going on into the Great Lakes, and then some ice and rain fall across New England.
This is where we have winter weather alerts and will also see some ice warnings as well. You take the cold air and you take those wintry precipitation, the snow, the ice and all of that jazz.
And we do look at more than five million customers without power.
And then oh yes, the severe side, we have this long line of severe thunderstorms pushing across the East Coast. In fact there was a tornado watch in effect, right off the Carolinas. In total over the last 24 hours, we've had four tornado reports and unfortunately, Robyn, we're going to see another system come in on Tuesday and Wednesday, it's going to bring more snow and more ice to portions of the plains.
CURNOW: It just unrelenting. Thanks for that and hopefully folks really are rugging up with whatever they got. I like that mom and their kids.
Thanks so much. You'll keep us posted of course, over the next few hours and the next few days.
MORGAN: For sure.
CURNOW: Tyler Morgan there. Thank you.
So coming up, Saudi Arabia is changing up how it does business with foreign companies. There's some strong arming involved. A live report from the region, that's next.
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CURNOW: Welcome back.
And for the first time the World Trade Organization will be led by a woman and also for the first time an African. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala confirmed Monday, was confirmed Monday as the next director general.
The former Nigerian finance minister received broad support from the organization and she said she looks forward to the exciting and daunting challenge ahead.
And she told CNN, deep reforms are needed at the WTO amid ramping up global efforts to fight the pandemic as a priority. Now her turn begins March the 1st and runs until 2025. Congratulations there.
Saudi Arabia is looking to drum up business with a new policy in which companies receive government contracts.
CNN's emerging markets editor John Defterios joins me now from Abu Dhabi with more on this. Hi John, Saudi Arabia certainly going through a major buildup. What are they saying to you, as part of this action?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well, I tell, you this is a pretty audacious move, Robyn. What they're saying is if you want to take part in government contracts, billions of dollars of contracts then you must relocate your regional headquarters to Riyadh.
And this is certainly a direct challenge to Dubai, all those not declared to be as such. Ever since I've been coming to the region in 1990, Dubai has kind of led in the airline hub trade, financial services, tourism and having the very large events.
So Mohammed Bin Salman conference since 2017 empowered by his father King Salman took the diversify the economy. And it is the largest economy in the region, nearly $700 billion and the world's largest exporter.
And that's kind of the rub here. It has that power because of the oil wealth, nearly 270 billion barrels of proven reserves.
But it realizes it's in the midst of this energy transition and it wants to double the size of Riyadh. Putting billions of dollars, in the last year or so into transportation and a new financial center.
And it saying now to the companies, if you want to partake in this diversification the so-called vision 2030, you've got to be present in a very big way.
CURNOW: Why is thee such a sense of urgency to this push right now? And do you think companies will actually want to move to Riyadh?
DEFTERIOS: Well it's going to be difficult to define, if you have a regional headquarters or not, right. Because I can't imagine anybody cutting the routes with the U.A.E., typically with Abu Dhabi now doing the development as well.
And relocating everyone to Riyadh. So there's going to have to be this nuance here. And they did say the supplies the government companies and not publicly traded companies, even though they have government routes here.
So they're trying to walk a fine line in Saudi Arabia in which to do so. But because there is a transition underway worldwide, there is a sense of urgency to get the employment in to Saudi Arabia.
And the challenge for companies that decide to relocate there and it's being liberalized there's no doubt about it. But there's also a program called Saudiization which you have to have quotas if you're a company working in Saudi Arabia with a certain level of Saudi employment.
So that's certainly not going to be easy to say to companies move here, but these are the requirements to be here. They're dangling of course, this a big move in a big build out, they signed on over 100 licenses manufacturers at the start of the year.
And when they held the future investment initiative last month Robyn, the kind of Davos in the desert.
[01:54:51]
DEFTERIOS: They said they had 24 international companies all ready to go. Texaco, of course, Deloitte the accounting firm, Bechtel the engineering firm, Tim Hortons the coffee chain that comes from Canada.
It's a start. Will it work? I'm not convinced. But they are doing a little bit of a strong army in here to get the companies to do so.
CURNOW: Ok John Defterios there live in Abu Dhabi. Thank you.
So (INAUDIBLE) that Elon Musk wants to have a chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On Saturday, he tweeted at the official Kremlin account this.
"Would you like to join me for a conversation on clubhouse?" A second tweet in Russians said, "it would be a great honor to talk to you".
Now, Musk made his debut on Clubhouse and invitation only audio act last month. The Kremlin says the proposal was quote, interesting wants to hear more.
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DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKEPERSON (through translator): You know that President Putin personally does not use social media. He does not post anything there. So this is a very interesting proposal.
But we need to understand better what it means. What exactly is being proposed?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: CNN's business reporter Paul LaMonica (ph) says Musk's request to talk with Mr. Putin could be about any number of issues.
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PAUL LAMONICA, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: What exactly does Elon Musk want from a conversation with Vladimir Putin? Is it to discuss the thorny issue of a allegations that a Russian hackers was trying to infiltrate Tesla? That could be something that you can talk about with Putin, although that wouldn't be the most friendly of topics obviously.
They could talk about space exploration, there is concerns also that Russia doesn't want SpaceX to have its Internet satellite service given to -- you know, or provided to Russian consumers. So there is a lot of business type conversations, that have Putin and Musk have.
But who knows? I mean maybe they'll talk about rap music, they'll talk about cryptocurrencies. I don't think anything is beyond Elon Musk's grasp in interest right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Right-wing social media site Parler is back online, weeks after it was forced off the Internet for post that incited violence. Now a redesigned home page features a message to supporters, vowing to uphold free speech. It reads speak freely and express yourself openly without fear of being de-platformed for your views.
But it also includes new community guidelines. It's discouraging unlawful acts. The site was driven off line last month, after it was used by right wing extremists including some who took part in the U.S. Capital insurrection.
So I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much for watching. I will back in just a moment with more CNN.
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