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In Germany, 2.3 Million Cases, over 65,000 Deaths; Defiant Coup Protesters Return to Myanmar Streets; Trump Faces Legal Challenges after Senate Acquittal; Researchers Identify Seven COVID-19 Variants Circulating in U.S.; New Zealand Reports No New Cases for Two Days; Guinea Reports at least Three Ebola Deaths and Seven Cases; Deep Freeze Leaves Millions of Americans in the Dark. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired February 16, 2021 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Cautious optimism from Boris Johnson, as the U.K. hopes to make the current COVID lockdown its last.
No new cases in Auckland, New Zealand, after emergency lockdown was put in place there.
Also the military steps up its crackdown on protests in Myanmar, we will have a live report.
Hi, welcome to CNN, I'm Robyn Curnow.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.
CURNOW: We begin with a sign of optimism and a dose of reality from the U.K. where in just the past month, COVID has been cut in half. Infections are down 80 percent. The average drops from nearly 60,000 new cases per day, to 13,000. That's the lowest since early October.
The new border policy is in effect for travelers to the U.K. as well. Residents who visited hot spot countries with COVID variants in circulation must now quarantine in a government managed hotel.
Meanwhile, the U.K. has met its target for vaccinating 15 million people by mid February. But prime minister Boris Johnson says the threat from the virus is still very real. Scott McLean reports from London.
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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, after taking plenty of criticism over its handling of the pandemic, the British government has plenty to celebrate now. Having now given at least 16 million doses of the vaccine.
British prime minister Boris Johnson says now is not the time to relax. The vaccine has now been offered to everyone over age 70 but the vaccination program will have to accelerate in order for the government to reach its next goal, which is offering the shot to everyone over age 50 by the end of April, along with giving a second dose to that older first group.
The prime minister is promising to give a road map for how his country can exit the lockdown next week. He's not making any firm promises, because he's stressed that while cases, deaths, hospitalizations, they are all falling, the raw numbers are still too high.
The government also can't be too sure just yet, as to what impact the vaccination campaign thus far is having on infection rates and on mortality. The prime minister says that he wants to be cautious with his next move about easing restrictions, so that any progress that is made is irreversible.
In other words, this lockdown ought to be the last one -- Scott McLean, CNN, London.
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CURNOW: New infections are falling in Germany as well, the chancellor, Angela Merkel, extending the country's lockdown through at least the first week of March. New cases were averaging well over 30,000 per day back in December and they were well below 5,000 on Monday, as you can see here.
Joining me from Berlin, Anna Sauerbrey is a journalist, an editorial board member and a contributing opinion writer for "The New York Times."
Anna, hi, you wrote a pretty scathing piece in "The New York Times" in the last the days. Even though new infections are falling in Germany, it's a pretty damning assessment of how Germany has managed the second wave.
Why has it been so bad?
ANNA SAUERBREY, JOURNALIST: The cases are going down right now and I don't want to belittle the success we have had in Germany since December. But it really wasn't necessary because there were many political mistakes that have led us to this catastrophic situation mid December, when policymakers in Germany hit the emergency brake and brought cases down.
I think it was that in the first lockdown, in March of 2020, Germany was able to act quite swiftly and they did not repeat that trend in October or November of 2020. It wouldn't have been necessary.
CURNOW: This new lockdown, the extension of the lockdown, is until March. That, certainly, seems far away for many Germans. One friend of mine there said that the population is "going nuts," to quote her.
How frustrated are Germans generally about this lockdown?
And the way the government is handling it?
SAUERBREY: Generally, Germans are very accepting of the policies, but we see that acceptance is going down here a little. In the past four weeks we've seen that the approval of government handling of the situation has gone down.
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SAUERBREY: In some surveys, it's down by about 10 percentage points. That is a lot and I think people really do grow tired.
CURNOW: I'm sure.
What is the feeling?
I don't know about the political implications of it, not just the general malaise, and exhaustion, with being trapped at home but when Germans look across the channel to England, they report 15 million vaccinations given to the Brits and AstraZeneca vaccine as well.
How is the reaction to that, that Germany was way behind the U.K.?
SAUERBREY: There has been a major debate about that. In my article I put it's like a political war. And think that is true because there's a lot of frustration with the decision that the German government and Angela Merkel took to go with the European Union to buy vaccines, also, to have it approved by the European administration, which took a few weeks longer than Britons, which took the national track.
We are, in Germany and other E.U. countries, weeks behind Great Britain but also other Western countries, like the U.S. and Israel, who are way ahead, with immunizing their populations. There is a lot of political frustration. And I think not going public right now, because the government took the decision together. But of course, the opposition is pushing that issue.
CURNOW: Have different parts of Germany despite the political system done things differently?
Has one area, perhaps, succeeded where others haven't?
And is that a lesson for the future if there is a third wave?
SAUERBREY: When it comes to vaccines, no --
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CURNOW: No, in terms of reaction to the COVID, to the actual infections.
SAUERBREY: No, there were differences at a regional level in the Eastern German federal states. But they, are rather, part of the problem now. They had very low case loads in the later summer and fall. They were the latest to understand that they still have to lock down because the curve will go up in the fall.
It now hit the hardest. Generally, Germany has been trying to show find a way that works for everybody, with small, regional differences.
But really, no.
CURNOW: Anna Sauerbrey, thank you very much. Germany, certainly turning the curve after a rough winter. Let's hope it stays that way. Thank you so much for your expertise. Thanks for joining us.
In spite of ominous warnings from Myanmar's military, protesters refused to back down. They are back out on the streets, protesting the coup for an 11th straight day. Several groups are targeting government offices, urging civil servants to join the disobedience campaign.
Then, over the weekend, the military deployed armored vehicles and soldiers to major cities. The military also amended prison time up to 20 years for anyone who incites hatred of the government or military.
This amended jail time appears to target protesters, coup critics and journalists. Joining us now is a journalist in Myanmar, where, for their safety, we're not giving their name or location.
Thank you for joining us, we're hoping you can hear me. We know that there were plans for an army press conference to go on but journalists are boycotting, it.
Why is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is for information for press conference at 2 pm, which is only a few minutes away. But most of the journalists are saying that they're going not to cover the press conference.
They are covering this civil disobedience movement, some journalists are already joining, against the military coup. Most of the services are crippled so the journalists are not really going to cover at this point most of the press conference. They're going to cover the civil disobedience movement.
CURNOW: That's certainly been expanded, we've seen many protesters carry banners that speak of civil disobedience. Many ordinary people are joining it.
So what is the situation right now in the streets?
Obviously, there was a crackdown over the weekend. We saw armored vehicles, more soldiers.
What has it been like at the moment?
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think most of the young people out there mainly around central Yangon, we've seen amnesty around Yangon. I saw a lot of army in the early morning but I don't see much of an army presence today. Yesterday, there was a big army tent and military traffic around central Yangon. I think the army is very worried because of the (INAUDIBLE) already free and it's not working since Friday. So they don't want to stop all the (INAUDIBLE) the transition.
But it seems like the protesters they are targeting are (INAUDIBLE). Yesterday, there was (INAUDIBLE) in Mandalay but also in central Yangon as well. And also, and ever since this morning, I saw it was around 300 monks came out (INAUDIBLE) marching to U.N.
Usually, monks don't strike. They only join a small group but now this morning, I noticed, there is a large group of men (INAUDIBLE) in the protest.
CURNOW: That is significant, as you say, for the monks to be joining the protests. Thank you very much for being with us. We cannot give you your name or your location for your safety but thank you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're very welcome.
CURNOW: -- for giving us the latest on what is happening there on the ground in Myanmar. Stay safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
CURNOW: Now this military coup is an internal foreign policy challenge for President Joe Biden. Certainly, it comes with the added factor of China's complicated relationship with Myanmar. Here is Nic Robertson.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Outside China's embassy in Myanmar, formally Burma, protesters vent fears, China supports Myanmar's military coup.
ENZE HAN, UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: This thing get out of control and I think the China government or Chinese interest in the country can become targets.
N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): 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 (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The military must relinquish power it seized.
N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): 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, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: What they really want is the access to the warm port, the Indian Ocean. N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): 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.
P. ROBERTSON: China has worked with both sides. They will not be forced to make a choice. For China, it's too important. Myanmar is all about what it gives to China.
N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): 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 have all parties in Myanmar can properly manage their differences under the constitution and the legal framework.
N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): This, despite Aung San Suu Kyi being an easier trade partner than Myanmar's military.
HAN: What we hear from the military in past case, also has been that military was unpredictable.
N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): 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 Muslims 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 Rohingyas.
P. 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.
N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): 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.
N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): The question is, can Biden out-leverage China in their back yard?
The stake in the anti-China protests, tipping China toward the military.
HAN: It is being perceived that this is a plot to tarnish the Chinese government's image, (INAUDIBLE) different way.
N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): So far, frustrations and fears are finally balanced, Biden and China, in a cautious first test.
[02:15:00] N. ROBERTSON (voice-over): Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
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CURNOW: We are tracking developments in Iraq as well, where a deadly rocket attack has hit near an airport used by coalition forces.
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CURNOW (voice-over): This was the scene in Irbil on Monday, as a blast ripped through a busy city street. Officials in Iraqi Kurdistan say several rockets were launched. A civilian contractor was killed near the airport and at least one U.S. service member was among the wounded. A Shia militant group has claimed responsibility but has not provided evidence.
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CURNOW: We'll continue to give you more information and new developments.
Just ahead, the U.K. target hits its target for COVID vaccines. But in the U.S., new variants of the virus could bring complications.
Then, after avoiding another impeachment conviction, Donald Trump prepares for several more legal challenges in the coming weeks.
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CURNOW: Great to have you along, I'm Robyn Curnow, at 17 minutes past the hour.
The top Democrat in the U.S. House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, is again calling for an independent commission to investigate the U.S. deadly Capitol riot. She says a 9/11 style 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 and the 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 security.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump, may have avoided a second impeachment conviction but he could still face charges related to the U.S. Capitol riot. We are learning that the Washington, D.C., attorney general's office is investigating whether Trump's actions violated district law. Jessica Schneider reported one of several legal challenges the former president is facing. Jessica?
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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The former president Trump is facing legal threats from around the country. Now that he is out of office and without the protections of the presidency, even his former ally, Mitch McConnell, seems to be sending signals to prosecutors that they should proceed.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), MINORITY LEADER: President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office. Didn't get away with anything, yet.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The vote to acquit Trump now shifts the spotlight to ongoing probes in Georgia, New York and Washington, D.C.
In Georgia, investigators launched two separate inquiries. The Fulton County district attorney opening a criminal investigation into Trump's attempts to influence the 2020 election in Georgia.
FANI WILLIS, FULTON COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: It's a very simple equation. We will look at the law and we will look at the facts. Should we find that anyone violated the law, then we will make a charging decision.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): And a source tells CNN, Georgia's secretary of state is investigating two of Trump's call state election officials, where the then president tried to pressure them to overturn the election results.
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SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The first call was from Trump to Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger.
TRUMP: 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 (voice-over): Trump's senior adviser Jason Miller tells CNN there was nothing was improper about the call, continuing, "If Mr. Raffensperger didn't want to receive calls about the 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 a subpoena to get Trump's tax returns.
It's even possible that Trump could face criminal charges for inciting the violence that erupted in the Capitol, January 6th. Federal prosecutors have indicated that no one is being overlooked in their probes.
And lawyers inside D.C.'s attorney general's office are investigating whether Trump's words and actions, violated a little used local law, making inciting violence illegal, punishable by up to six months in jail. STEPHEN SPAULDING, SENIOR COUNSEL, COMMON CAUSE: There is a -- it is
a crime to incite rebellion. That is a statute that, I hope, investigators, federal investigators, the District of Columbia and others, will investigate to see whether, in fact, he meets that standard.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): But the president still has a hold over the Republican Party, even with legal viability looming. The senators who have stuck with him are speaking out against any repercussions.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Does Donald Trump bear any responsibility for the attack on the Capitol on January 6th?
SEN. 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: Trump is also facing two defamation lawsuits, largely delayed while he was in office. One is form a former contestant on "The Apprentice," accusing him of sexual assault, another, from a former magazine columnist, accusing Trump of rape. Both women allege that Trump defamed them by saying their claims were lies -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
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CURNOW: U.S. President Joe Biden is moving on from the impeachment drama, focusing on another pressing issue this week, not only is he expecting to address further legal the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., he is also taking part in a virtual G7 meeting about the pandemic.
The U.S. President is also joining CNN for a town hall, moderated by our very own Anderson Cooper, Tuesday night, 9 am eastern time, Wednesday morning, in Europe and Asia. Be sure to miss that and don't miss that. If you do, you can catch a replay on Wednesday at 7 am in London. That is 11 am in Abu Dhabi.
Researchers have identified seven COVID variants circulating here in the U.S. They are keeping a pretty close watch on how effective vaccines are in fighting them. The surge in cases, in hospital admissions, has eased considerably this month, as you can see from this graph. A dramatic fall from the peak 2 months ago.
On Monday, Johns Hopkins University reported around 63,000 new cases. Infections are rising only in 3 states, Alaska, Nebraska and South Dakota. They are steady or falling, everywhere else. More now from Elizabeth Cohen.
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ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Researchers in the United States are spotting so-called homegrown variants of the coronavirus. Now we've heard a lot about variants coming from the United Kingdom or from South Africa.
And people have wondered, why aren't there variants coming out of the U.S.?
The reason has been the surveillance in the U.S. is not that great but as it gets better, as people predicted, we are finding those variants. Let's take a look at the variants found by the team of U.S. researchers.
When you look at this list, you will notice that the variants are named after birds. And I will explain that in a minute. You will see that Robin 1, that is the name of one of the variants, has now been found in 30 states, Robin 2, found in 20 states and so on down to Mockingbird, found in just nine states.
The reason the researchers called the variants after birds is that people have been saying that the U.K. variant or the South African variant and there are concerns that that could stigmatize those areas. So instead of naming these variants after the places they were found in the U.S., they decided to name them after birds so they are stigmatizing birds and, hopefully, the birds will not mind.
Now serious questions about these variants -- do they matter?
Will these variants spread more quickly?
They don't know. They're still researching.
Will these variants make you more sick or more likely to die?
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COHEN: Again, they don't know. They are researching it.
Another important question, will these variants outwit the vaccines?
Will it make vaccines less effective?
They don't know for sure but they think the vaccines will be just as effective against these variants as other strains of the coronavirus. That is certainly good news. And so the most important message of all, if you can get a vaccine, you should get one. Back to you.
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CURNOW: Thanks, Elizabeth, for that.
Several pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a mass protest in 2019. Media mogul Jimmy Lai and 8 other defendants have been accused of organizing and taking part in the unauthorized assembly.
In court on Monday, all but 2 pleaded not guilty to the charges. Lai is also facing a separate case under Hong Kong's national security law. This trial, about the protest, is expected to last around 10 days.
New Zealand continues to show the world how to manage a pandemic. Ahead, the results of the latest COVID testing campaign after a local family contracted the virus.
And Africa isn't just battling COVID, parts of the continent are now facing a new Ebola outbreak as well. We have a live report and the details ahead, on CNN.
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CURNOW: To New Zealand, where a strict new lockdown seems to be working. Auckland has more than 24 hours to go before it ends. The prime minister immediately shut down everything after a family of 3 in South Auckland contracted the variant first found in the U.K. Now the country's reporting no new cases for the second straight day.
Let's go straight to Will Ripley, who has been following this from Hong Kong.
Again, New Zealand testing and so far nothing coming up.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robyn, yes, it's the good news, isn't it?
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RIPLEY: -- tests conducted on Monday, 6,000 results processed so far. Zero new positive cases but that does not answer the key question.
How did this family of 3 with no recent travel history contract the more contagious U.K. variant of COVID-19 when that variant had never been detected in New Zealand?
This is actually the first report of local transmission of New Zealand in weeks. Before that, it had been months. Because of the strict lockdown measures they have pretty much eradicated the virus.
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RIPLEY: But then you have these little flare-ups and they showed the world every single time it does not take very many cases to go back into lockdown.
It is encouraging for small businesses that had to close, hoping they can reopen now after this 72-hour period. That decision we were expecting possibly in the coming hours as health officials continue to look at all these results.
They even tested the wastewater. They did not find the virus in the community. So this is one of the scenarios they're looking at, this mother may have contracted the virus. She works for an airline catering and hospitality company in the laundry department. So she did not have face to face contact with passengers but she may have had contact with linens and whatnot. She was wearing all the PPE, gloves, sleep protectors, face visor,
mask. So it just goes to show how tricky it is to pinpoint this virus. But the contact tracing so far, good news, no new cases in New Zealand.
CURNOW: Indeed, thank you so much, Will Ripley for that update.
So 50,000 vaccine doses have arrived in Colombia. Its COVID outbreak is the second worst in Latin America after Brazil and compared to other parts of the region, Colombia is far behind with its vaccination rollout. Stefano Pozzebon has more from Bogota.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Colombia crossed a landmark on Monday when it received, finally received the first doses of the vaccine, 50,000 doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine landed in Bogota earlier on Monday.
And the president announced late on Monday night that the vaccination plan would commence in Colombia on Wednesday. Take a listen to what he said about that vaccination plan.
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IVAN DUQUE MARQUEZ, PRESIDENT OF COLOMBIA (through translator): Let this be the beginning of an exponential campaign that grows week after week until we get to vaccinating 35 million Colombians.
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POZZEBON: Those 35 million Colombian citizens to be vaccinated by the end of year is indeed an ambitious target for the president and his government. This because Colombia is commencing its vaccination slightly late. Other countries such as Chile, Argentina and Brazil all commenced vaccinations weeks ago ahead of the schedule compared to Colombia.
Now the Colombian government is adamant that they work towards a coherent and efficient plan. They wanted to have the capacity to administer the vaccines before rushing to bring in the first available doses. This is why it took so long for the first vaccine to arrive in this country.
But with the global supply chain of the vaccine and so much demand for COVID vaccines right now, all around the world, it is indeed a tough challenge ahead for the Colombian administrators to respect those commitments that they are making in terms of vaccination for 2021 -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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CURNOW: It's about with the president has extended a national lockdown by another 2 weeks. The country ended the strict lockdown just last month and the president admits the extension will be painful. Zimbabwe received 200,000 doses of COVID vaccines on Monday and plans to start vaccinations this week.
The country has reported more than 35,000 cases and 1,400 deaths since the pandemic started.
Meanwhile South Africa has just reopened 20 land border crossings. They had been closed more than one month to control rising infections there. The country's reported nearly 1.5 million COVID infections, the highest on the African continent, including a second wave of infections linked to a new variant identified late last year.
With the world focused on COVID, health workers are scrambling to contain a new Ebola outbreak in Guinea. The West African nation has confirmed at least 7 cases of the virus and 3 deaths. Guinea was hard hit by the world's largest Ebola outbreak ever, which ended almost 5 years ago.
I want to go to David McKenzie. David is live in Johannesburg and he also covered that last epidemic.
I want you to tell me what we know about this latest one.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's very worrying, Robyn, partly because of the location of this outbreak in Southern Guinea in Goueke, right on the borders of Liberia and Ivory Coast.
It's a similar scenario to what led to this massive outbreak in 2014 to 2016 in West Africa, where more than 11,000 people died from this deadly virus. And now it seems like a nurse contracted Ebola and, at her funeral, several people contracted the disease and have been put in isolation.
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MCKENZIE: It is unlikely that that nurse is the index or initial case. Probably she was tending to someone at a clinic there in Goueke but that is not confirmed. So there will be a great deal of worry and they are scrambling with sources and volunteers to contact trace and to place people in isolation before this gets any bigger, because everyone remembers those very dark days in West Africa, when Ebola ran rampant for many months in that region.
CURNOW: Certainly, it was massive. It was awful. So many lives were lost.
Have any lessons been learned at all?
Do they have more tools to fight Ebola?
MCKENZIE: There are definitely more tools and that is the good news here. They've have improved therapeutics for people who got it early on in their infection. There is a better result for many people, because Ebola is a deadly hemorrhagic fever, that up to 60 percent or 70 percent who get it will die.
But those therapeutics have improved the prognosis of patients. The really good news over the last few years has been an experimental vaccine that has been effectively rolled out to use ring vaccination in these outbreaks.
So contacts of a known patient, of those contacts, are rapidly vaccinated. The WHO says those vaccines are going to be heading to that part of Guinea very soon.
Just in the last few days, in a separate outbreak, some 5,000-6,000 kilometers away in the northern Kivu part of Eastern Congo, they had rolled out that vaccine for a flare-up in Butembo in North Kivu.
I think the bigger issue here is, with climate change and deforestation, humans are getting more in contact with these zoonotic diseases like Ebola and these flare-ups, say scientists, could only increase.
That's why it's really important to have this monitoring and this quick action to stop Ebola in its tracks and future diseases like we have seen with COVID-19 that also resulted from a zoonotic disease.
CURNOW: Always good to speak to you. Thanks for that. David McKenzie, live in Johannesburg.
Coming up here at CNN, millions of Americans are literally in the dark and some are without water. The latest on a deadly winter storm that is gripping much of the U.S.
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CURNOW: Now for a CNN alert. A devastating storm has left millions of Americans without electricity and some places without water as well. At this very hour, more than 5 million customers are in the dark. Most of them are in the U.S. state of Texas.
We know at least 13 people have died in weather related road accidents since these temperatures really plummeted, as you can see here. It really has been difficult. One father in Texas tweeted about his family, saying, "Handling the chilly power outages this morning, making it an adventure for these guys."
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CURNOW: His wife is pregnant and they have two little boys.
A power outage at a Houston area public health building has forced officials to quickly distribute COVID vaccines. There's a lot going on.
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CURNOW: OK, good news. For the first time the World Trade Organization will be led by a woman and for the first time, an African. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was confirmed Monday as the next director general. The former Nigerian finance minister received broad support from the organization.
She says she looks forward to the exciting and daunting challenge ahead, saying deep reforms are needed at the WTO amid ramping up global efforts to fight the pandemic, making it a priority. Her term begins March the 1st and runs until 2025. Congratulations, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
Thanks for watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow, "WORLD SPORT" starts after the break. You can find me on Twitter and Instagram @RobynCurnowCNN. Good to see you. Have a lovely day.
