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Japan Begins Vaccinating Health Care Workers; Asian-American Discrimination; Millions without Power as Winter Storms Sweep U.S.; Chilean Health Ministry Reports Successful Vaccine Rollout; Digital Currency Tops $50,000 for First Time; Winter Storm Hobbles Texas Oil and Gas Industry; Biden Promises Vaccines For All Americans By End Of July; Concerns For Showdown In Myanmar; Mexican President Takes Vaccine Inequity To The U.N.; U.K. Calls For Plans To Vaccinate In Conflict Zones; Head Of CDC Africa On The Reality Of The African Pandemic; What Has Slowed Japan's Vaccine Roll Out? Aired 1-2a ET
Aired February 17, 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]
ROBYN CURNOW, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hi. Welcome to all of our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Robyn Curnow.
So coming up on here at CNN NEWSROOM. The U.S. president's pandemic promise. During a CNN Town Hall, Joe Biden pledges vaccines for all Americans by the end of July. And predicts a return to normal by Christmas.
In Myanmar, we are watching calls for a massive march to face down the military. It brings worries over a brutal crackdown.
And then a bitcoin bonanza. The cryptocurrency soars past $50,000 for the first time.
Great to have you along this hour.
So Joe Biden has wrapped up his first presidential town hall on CNN with some optimistic new predictions about the coronavirus.
Mr. Biden says it's impossible to be sure, but he hopes things will be close to normal by Christmas.
He predicts every American who wants the vaccine should be able to get one by the end of July, and younger children will likely get back to in-person learning by the end of his first hundred days in office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So it's about needing to be able to socially distance, smaller classes, more protection.
And I think the teachers and the folks who work in the schools, the cafeteria workers and others, should be on the list of preferred to get a vaccination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: And as you can see from this graph, the number of COVID infections in the U.S. has dramatically fallen since January.
We have more on the president's town hall now from Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: This is President Biden's first time interacting directly with voters since taking office. He was here in Milwaukee for that first Town Hall with CNN.
And, of course, the number one topic was the COVID pandemic raging still throughout the country.
And President Biden said he believes that that deadline for when every American who wants to get a vaccine will be able to get one is the end of July.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By the end of July, we'll have over 600 million doses, enough to vaccinate every single American.
COLLINS: Now he had this really important caveat. That that does not mean every American will have had one by then but he said by the end of July they will have those 600 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine.
And, of course, the next challenge for that is going to be actually getting those administered into the arms of Americans, dealing with the challenge of vaccinators and also vaccine hesitancy.
And so, you heard him here tonight. He was talking about his COVID-19 relief plan, it's making its way through the halls of congress.
But also the other major topic in the country right now, which is the reopening of schools. And President Biden said it was a miscommunication when you heard an official from his White House recently say that their goal of having a majority of schools opened by the end of his first 100 days in office meant kids being in school one day a week at a minimum.
He said that is not his goal. He wants it to be K through eight, a majority of those schools open five days a week by the end of his first 100 days in office.
He said that he believes that is something he can achieve but he said high school is a different story.
And he also said while he was talking about this, that there's a chance summer school could be an option.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN TOWN HALL ANCHOR: Your administration had set a goal to open the majority of schools in your first 100 days. You're now saying that means those schools may only be open for at least one day a week --
BIDEN: No, that's not true. That's what was reported.
COOPER: Oh.
BIDEN: That's not true. That was a mistake in the communication. But what I'm talking about is I said opening the majority of schools in K through eighth grade because they're the easiest to open, the most needed to be open in terms of the impact on children and families having to stay home.
COLLINS: So not a ton of clarity there. There are still going to be questions for the health officials in his administration about what exactly that's going to look like and whether or not schools should be open right now.
But there was President Biden clarifying that timeline there tonight.
And so those are the big questions, those are the big headlines coming out of this when it comes to the pandemic.
Of course, he was asked about several other topics; foreign policy, China, domestic terrorism here at home -- something that's also been a major conversation in recent days, ever since the January 6th riot.
And so this was his first time taking questions from voters. But we should know he is going to be hitting the road again this week when he goes to Michigan on Thursday, as he continues to try to sell this big $1.9 trillion plan directly to voters instead of just to lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
COLLINS (Voice Over): Kaitlan Collins, CNN. Travelling with the president in Milwaukee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:00]
CURNOW: David Gergen is a CNN senior political analyst and was a presidential adviser during the Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton administrations.
He joins me now from Cambridge, Massachusetts with much more on Mr. Biden -- on President Biden's Town Hall. Lovely to see you, David.
Essentially, though, this was a sales pitch for the President's COVID plan. How do you think it went?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think overnight (inaudible) very good (inaudible) for the country with President Biden.
In effect, he was closing the chapter on the past, on the Donald Trump Administration and on the trial we just saw this weekend. And opening a new era where people can focus on the future here in America, especially. It was a very domestically oriented conversation. But there's something about the man that's in such stark contrast to
Trump. That Biden comes across as much more decent, as empathetic (ph), as caring. He talks to people in the audience and he's got a good smile.
He stumbled some, he was a little uncertain sometimes with his wording about -- he was looking (inaudible) for an idea or a number or something like that. But overall, I think he -- I'm sure his staff went home very, very happy tonight.
CURNOW: There was very little mention of Donald Trump. That might be a relief for many Americans, it might not be for others.
President Biden also just referred to him as the other guy, I think, the former guy. He didn't want to talk about Donald Trump.
GERGEN: Right.
CURNOW: Did you think this was also about really introducing this new president? The way he talks, the way he was riffing on things, the kind of guy he is, to America? This is the introduction.
GINGER: Yes, I think so. I think it's like a fresh introduction. He's part way into his term as president but I think a lot of people (inaudible) turn out tonight and ask who is this guy really and what's he really trying to do?
And you know, there's that old saying about leadership, that a leader is a teacher. That a leader has to help other people understand reality. And I thought Biden did a lot of that tonight.
He wasn't making news, he wasn't making announcements. He was trying to help people understand how his response to the COVID crisis is going, why these vaccinations are so slow, why he hopes to speed them up, what Pfizer's doing, what Moderna's doing.
He sort of walked us through this in a way that I think everybody walked away saying well, at least I understand the issue -- I might not agree with him.
There were Trump people in the audience, which I also thought was smart because he needs to bring them over, he needs to make them part of his coalition.
One of the numbers he did use tonight was how much support he has from the American people overall on his great big $1.9 trillion relief package. It's around 65, 66 percent.
And you think about Donald Trump right now and his favorability ratings. He's down in the low 40's, high 30's.
So Joe Biden's making a lot of progress, he's now going to have to produce results. But I think the tone he is setting for the country; the decency and the caring, the empathy, the honor, the sense of integrity -- I'm not going to lie to you. All of that is so welcome in today's environment. CURNOW: This is his first trip out of D.C. since he moved into the
White House. You talk about him introducing himself, coming across as a decent guy, the tone.
But in many ways, Americans are desperate to be listened to at the moment. Do you think this is also very much a part of that? And how much more does he need to do, listening?
GINGER: I think that he has to be very, very consistent. If people believe that the Joe Biden they listen to next week is going to say exactly the same thing as the Joe Biden this week, that builds trust.
There is so much distrust in government and institutions in this country and across much of Europe right now and a lot of democracies are suffering from this. People just don't trust these institutions anymore.
And I think Biden's making an attempt to say I don't pretend to be something else, I am who I am. I have a wonderful family, I lived a normal life, I'm a regular Joe, I come from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
And if we had a different president, say a Ronald Reagan had been a president just before Biden, there would be nowhere there the sort of stark differences we're seeing. Reagan was a good guy too. That would have been -- and wouldn't have had a big (inaudible).
I think the fact is (inaudible) such stark contrast to Trump really works in his favor, at least for now. If they start bungling things, they don't get results, there are a lot of other things at the end of 100 days if he hasn't produced (inaudible), he's going to come under a wave of criticism.
[01:10:00]
But right now, I think he's setting a tone for a very -- potentially a very successful president.
CURNOW: David Gergen, always good to speak to you. Thank you, sir.
GERGEN: Thank you, Robyn.
CURNOW: CNN political adviser. You were also a presidential adviser during the Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton administrations so it's always great to get your take. Thank you, sir.
GERGEN: Thank you.
CURNOW: Protesters rallying against the military coup in Myanmar are gathered in Yangon for what organizers hope will be a massive show of opposition.
But there are growing fears of a violent military crackdown in response.
Well, I want to go straight to Paula Hancocks, Paul's in Seoul. She's been watching all of these events unfold in Myanmar over the past two weeks.
What's happening right now? Hi, Paula.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robyn. Well, we are seeing on a number of different live streams from within Yangon that these crowds appear to be growing.
There has, as you said, been this call for people to come out onto the streets by activists. And really, what seems to be galvanizing people in particular this Wednesday is the fact that there was that secretive court case for Aung San Suu Kyi and for the president on Tuesday -- or at least, for Aung San Suu Kyi.
And they actually added another charge for her. So now two charges against her and she's detained until March 1st when the case continues.
So this is really why we are expecting so many people on the streets today. It is peaceful, that we are seeing. It is festive. We're seeing doctors coming out of hospitals and banging pots and pans to voice their calls for Aung San Suu Kyi and the others to be released.
But, of course, there are many concerns as well. We have seen an increased presence of military forces and military armored vehicles on the streets of Yangon.
We've also heard the U.S. special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews. And he has said that he is very concerned that there could be a potential for violence on a greater scale, saying that he's heard reports that there have been more troops moved into Yangon from the outlying regions. And when that has happened in the past then there has been violence that has ensued.
So, inevitably, everyone is watching very closely hoping that that isn't the case this time.
But we did speak to one protester, a 26-year-old male who didn't want to be identified for obvious reasons, worries of repercussions. And he said that he is very angry, that he and other youth feel that they have no future. This is why they feel they have to come out onto the streets.
Also saying he doesn't -- he's not afraid of being shot, but he is afraid of being arrested. These middle of the night arrests that we have been hearing about and seeing some video of from the military when the Internet is cut, are certainly starting to scare people.
He himself has said that every single night he sleeps in a different house, just to make sure that he is not taken. And also the way that he is protecting himself, he says he says has a helmet in case they are shooting at the crowds and he has wet tissues for tear gas. And that's it.
Robyn.
CURNOW: So with all of this playing out, how much leverage does the international community have here and also what kind of role is China playing behind the scenes in terms of conversations with the military?
And China and the military, I understand, are not necessarily best of friends here.
HANCOCKS: Well, that's right. China has worked with the military, they certainly have a huge amount of business interests and Myanmar. But they've also worked with the civilian government.
CURNOW: Yes.
HANCOCKS: China not willing to condemn just as much as the rest of the international community. The same with Russia, to be fair.
But what we are hearing from the international community, the U.N., the U.S., other world leaders are saying the world is watching. They are saying there will be grave consequences for what the military does.
And they are calling for no force to be used against protesters on the street.
It is very difficult to imagine how much impact this would have on the military, though, because they are continuing to have security forces trying to disperse crowds.
They are continuing to say -- we heard from the military just Tuesday in their first press conference since the coup two weeks ago -- that it wasn't a coup, that it is constitutional what they have done. And they are blaming the protesters for injuring the police, calling the protesters terrorists.
So you can have as much international condemnation as you want. As of this moment, it is falling on deaf ears when it comes to the military. Of course, sanctions and actual financial implications for the military may have more success.
Robyn.
CURNOW: OK. Thanks so much for that update there. Paula Hancocks, appreciate it.
So New Zealand has announced that it will soon end its long military presence in Afghanistan.
The foreign ministry says the country will keep supporting the Afghan government as it works through its internal peace process. Over the past two decades, New Zealand has sent more than 3,000 troops and personnel to the troubled country. Only six of them remain and they're expected to return home by May.
And people in conflict zones face many threats and hazards and coronavirus is making things worse. Well, now, the U.K. wants to take action to get them vaccinated.
[01:15:00]
We have that story plus many health care workers in Japan are getting their first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.
Coming up, we're live in Tokyo with a look at the nation's vaccine rollout. That's next too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
U.S. President Joe Biden says roughly 600 million COVID vaccine doses could be available to the country by the end of July.
At CNN's Town Hall on Tuesday, he said that could be enough to vaccinate every single person in the country.
But the nation's top infectious disease expert says it may take longer than expected for the shot to actually reach the general public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you start talking about when vaccine would be more widely available to the general population, I was hoping that that would be by the end of April.
Namely (ph), have gone through all of the parties and say OK, anyone can get it. That was predicated on J&J, the Johnson product, having considerably more doses than now we know they're going to have.
So that timeline will probably be prolonged maybe into mid- to late May and early June.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: So far, more than 70 million vaccine doses have been shipped nationwide; of those, about 55 million have actually been administered.
Now there are growing accusations that the global coronavirus vaccine rollout favors rich nations.
Mexico is set to file a complaint at the U.N. security council, alleging unequal access to the shots. It currently sits on the council.
Poor countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have been hit hard by the virus.
While Mexico signed agreements with international drug firms for millions of doses, there have been global delays and shortages.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDRES MANUEL LOPEZ OBRADOR, PRESIDENT OF MEXICO (Through Translator): These issues are things that we want to see in the United Nations. That there be equity, so that there's no hoarding of vaccines.
That there is a principle of equality, so that all countries have the possibility of vaccinating their people. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: The U.K. is bringing another vaccine issue to the security council on Wednesday; getting doses to people in conflict zones such as Yemen.
Britain will call for a resolution to help negotiate vaccine cease- fires. The British foreign office said 160 million people around the world are at risk of being excluded because of instability and conflict.
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab says, quote, "Global vaccination coverage is essential to beating coronavirus... we have a moral duty to act and a strategic necessity to come together to defeat the virus."
For more now let's go down to CNN's senior United Nations correspondent, Richard Roth. Richard joins me now from New York. Hi Richard, it's lovely to see you.
What exactly is the U.K. proposing here?
[01:20:00]
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SNR. UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: The U.K. is going strong, trying to get the security council to at least start the momentum to getting vaccines to people living especially in conflict zones and less developed countries.
And it's going to be a tall order. But sometimes security council meetings provide some momentum.
The United Kingdom's foreign secretary has already stated that they want to come up with a firm plan that will allow for global vaccination of as many people as possible.
The U.N. says 10 countries have administered 75 percent of the vaccines available and more than 134 countries have not even had anybody receiving a single dose of vaccination.
A spokesman for the U.N. secretary general on Tuesday put it plainly as to what the U.N. diplomatic leader would like from the security council.
STEPHANE DUJARRIC, SPOKESMAN FOR U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: The one big ask, I would say, is to truly operationalize vaccine solidarity, to really do away with vaccine nationalism.
It is clear that in the path that we're following now, we will not be able to vaccinate everyone at a speed that needs to be done.
It is fully understandable that each government looks out for its own people, that is their primary responsibility. But we do believe that through enhanced international cooperation backed by financing, the needs of the wealthiest nations can be met at -- the governments can meet the needs of their own people, at the same time show real solidarity through financing to the developing world.
ROTH: Now the United Kingdom wants access by U.N. and other international humanitarian workers, Robyn, to the people who will need these vaccinations and they also, as usual, need a lot of funding.
Robyn.
CURNOW: Has this ever been done before, some sort of cease-fire for public health? And with that in mind, is there really any hope of this kind of action actually working?
ROTH: There was a two-day pause in Afghanistan around 2001 to let 35,000 workers get in to help the people there with either polio or malaria, maybe a few months later. That's a much smaller issue than we're dealing with now around the world.
Look the security council took six, seven months to even agree on a statement last year acknowledging a global pandemic. That was when China and the U.S. were bogged down in differences over how much responsibility the WHO had.
We have a new president, a democratic presidency, and maybe the U.K. feels it's got a little better chance. It's too early to know how China, Russia and the countries that usually are divided with the U.K., how they feel about all this going forward. Despite the humanitarian urgency.
CURNOW: OK. Richard Roth there in New York. Always good to see you, sir. Thanks so much.
So South Africa could soon be the first country in the world to use the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. It received its first shipment on Tuesday and is expected to administer shots to health workers as soon as this week.
The government turned to Johnson & Johnson last week after pausing its rollout of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. According to trial data, that shot offers little protection against milder infections from the variant dominant in South Africa.
So now with little need for that vaccine, the government is now offering 1 million doses to other nations in the African Union. The head of Africa's CDC says they could be useful in the fight against COVID still.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN NKENGASONG, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CDC: Our target is to get to 60 percent in two years but we've also set a sub-target that requires that we immunize about to about 35 to 40 percent of our population in 2021 if we have a chance to be ahead of the pandemic.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN EDITOR AT LARGE: So what do you need? COVAX is obviously the principle vehicle through which South Africa is getting their vaccines, what more do you need?
NKENGASONG: Remember that COVAX is going to supply us with at least 25 percent of the vaccines that we need.
We have also, as a continent, established what we call the African vaccine acquisition task team which -- we are striving to get supplementary doses of vaccines.
And we've secured close to about 500 million doses of vaccines. As I indicated, in the next week or so we will start the distribution.
So if we add the efforts from COVAX and those from the AFRU (ph), the African Union initiative, I think that will make us begin to make some very good progress.
QUEST: And we talk about the South African variant which is worrying because it seems to be -- the vaccines seem to be less effective. Is the South African variant, the one that you are expecting to be the predominant variant, in Africa?
[01:25:00]
NKENGASONG: The simple answer is we don't know. What we know is what we have documented, which is that the variant that was initially described in South Africa.
We also now know that the variants from -- the so-called U.K. variant has also been identified in some parts of Africa.
Now we really don't know the dynamics of how these variants will evolve over time in terms of will there be new variants, we just don't know. In terms of would these variants overtake the pandemic in other African countries, we just don't know.
But what we've done in the spirit of providing guidance to the countries is to say that if the variant in South Africa is predominant then the AstraZeneca vaccine should not be applied. It should be used elsewhere on the continent.
But we remain confident that the AstraZeneca vaccine will play a major role in a vaccination program across the continent.
QUEST: The number one problem here seems to be that a worsening bipolar world, the haves and the have nots, is going to get worse. As Europe and the developed world and the U.S. all reach some form of immunity and life gets something back to normal, Africa, through no fault of its own, is going to be hamstrung for some years.
NKENGASONG: That is absolutely one of our greatest concern. That the vaccine situation will continue to exacerbate the gap, the inequality gap, that exists in the world, especially the north-south divide.
My greatest fear also is that once the U.S. and North America and Europe gets the vaccine, they begin to impose the need to have a vaccine certificate to travel. And that will become extremely complicated for Africans to travel across the world.
And I think that is why we should ask a collective of the continent -- and, of course, in partnership with the developed world -- make sure that Africa has timely access to vaccines to meet its vaccination targets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: So Japan is launching its vaccination roll out as the country faces its third wave of the coronavirus.
Health officials there say the Pfizer vaccine will first be given to thousands of health care workers from hospitals nationwide.
I want to go straight to Blake Essig. He joins me now from outside a hospital in Tokyo. Blake, hi.
Tell us more about this rollout.
BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Robyn. With the upcoming Olympic Games this summer, Japan had every reason to move quickly with the approval process of the vaccine and start getting shots into arms.
But vaccination minister, Taro Kono said that the Olympics and Paralympic Games were never a consideration when it comes to the roll out.
Now, as a result, Japan now becomes the 90th -- or roughly, the 90th country to start its vaccination program. They're starting with about 40,000 doctors and nurses at 100 hospitals, including the one behind me, Tokyo medical center, here in Tokyo.
Now the Japanese government is asking 20,000 of those doctors and nurses to keep tabs on their health by keeping a diary, checking for headaches, fevers, any other potential side effects as a result of those vaccines for about seven weeks.
Once that's complete, they're going to move towards 3.7 -- vaccinating 3.7 million frontline health care workers and then seniors will start getting their vaccinations sometime in April.
Now part of the reason for that slow roll out was that Japan wanted OK do an in-country clinical trial of their own. They tested about 160 people over two months.
And I talked to several medical experts who do not understand the rationale behind doing such a small clinical trial saying that doing such a small clinical trial, you're not going to be able to get any scientific evidence of vaccine safety or efficacy.
I had the chance to talk to the vaccination minister last night and asked him about that. Here's what he said.
TARO KONO, JAPAN'S VACCINATION PROGRAM CHIEF: I think it is more important for the Japanese government to show the Japanese people that we have done everything possible to prove the efficacy and the safety of the vaccine. To encourage the Japanese people to take the vaccine.
ESSIG: Well, with vaccinations underway, the challenge now for the Japanese government is to convince a skeptical public here that the vaccine is safe and that they should go out and get the vaccine when their time comes.
A Lancet study recently reported that Japan has one of the lowest vaccine confidence rates in the world, with about 30 percent of people thinking that vaccines are safe, important and effective.
Robyn.
[01:30:00]
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Blake Essig there. Thanks so much for that update there, live in Tokyo. Thank you.
So there's growing concern about the other possible side effects of the pandemic. Coming up a closer look at a disturbing rise in attacks against Asian-Americans.
Plus record shattering deep freezes sweeping through the U.S., why some say the worst is still yet to come. A check on the forecast when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CURNOW: Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow, live from CNN's World News Headquarters here in Atlanta.
So San Francisco police have arrested a man for pushing down an elderly Asian man seriously harming him. Among the assault charges is quote, "injuring a person due to perceived race".
It's the latest in a disturbing string of attacks that have targeted elderly Asians or Asian-Americans in California and New York since the pandemic began.
A recent study by Pew Research found 31 percent of Asian-Americans had been targets of racial slurs or jokes; 26 percent feared physical violence.
Joining me now to talk about this is actor and producer Daniel Dae Kim. Great to have you on the show. Thanks so much for joining me.
You're raising the alarm about these attacks. Has there been enough condemnation?
DANIEL DAE KIM, ACTOR: I'm not sure what enough would be but I'm glad that we're raising the issue now. And it's finally gotten to a place in the international and national scope where people like you are talking about it. So I'm very grateful.
CURNOW: How bad is it on a personal level? People that you spent time with, I mean I think at least a third, I understand, of Asian- Americans say that they have been threatened and a little less say they feel unsafe on the streets at the moment.
KIM: I know plenty of Asian-Americans who feel very unsafe today including my parents who live in California and they have been in their homes for a year because of fear of getting COVID. And now there's hope for a vaccine and they're afraid of going outside because of the huge number of attacks on Asian-American and specifically the elderly.
CURNOW: -- elderly people, it is. It's horrifying, the number of videos that you just see very frail people, walking along the street and attack sort of randomly. Why elderly people?
[01:34:50]
KIM: You know it's hard to say but, you know, there's something in the psyche of people that somehow thinks it's ok to attack Asian people. And the most vulnerable of our population is the one that's most often attacked, the elderly.
But it's -- you know, if you look at the other instances of verbal abuse, extreme verbal abuse, they are targeting women and also our children in school. Asian-American children are often the targets of bullies especially during this virus and there are numerous reports of bullying getting so out of hand that it gets physically violent. So it's not just elderly but it is whoever is most vulnerable.
CURNOW: Do you blame the former President Donald Trump? He of course, used a number of slurs to reference the pandemic calling it the China virus or kung flu. Do you find that this behavior is a direct reaction to that kind of language?
And now that he is no longer in office would you expect it to be perhaps not as bad?
KIM: It's a difficult question to answer. I think it was a confluence of events that led to this phenomenon in the country but I don't think it's a coincidence that immediately after he started calling this kung flu and the China virus we saw a 1,900 percent increase in hate crimes and abuse in New York alone.
So you know, those are just facts. You can draw a direct line from that kind of language to these kinds of incidents. As far as the future and where we are now, I think it's a big step that President Biden use an executive order to denounce this kind of crime and this kind of hate toward Asian-Americans. It's an important first step.
It's certainly a long way from the other rhetoric that we were hearing. There is clearly a lot more that needs to be done though.
CURNOW: You've actively offered money for a reward so that one person can be brought to justice for one particular incident. How is that played out? And how much more needs to be done in terms of trying to pressure communities to stop doing this.
Well, you know, my friend Daniel Wu and I offered this reward for two reasons. One to bring the perpetrator to justice and, two, to raise awareness for this issue because those of us who have been following news of the Asian-American community, have known that this has been going on for a year.
And it's been almost daily in our news feeds where we see a story about someone being set on fire. Or -- there was a jazz pianist in New York City who was attacked so severely that he can no longer play the piano. There are numerous stories about verbal abuse that we see every day.
And so we were -- we felt so exasperated and frustrated that somehow this wasn't escaping the echo chamber of the Asian-American community and so we wanted to raise the stakes.
This is why Daniel and I offered this $25,000 reward and in so doing got the issue more visibility. And now it's becoming something where the national media and international media is starting to take notice. And so we achieved that goal.
But we now know that there are things we need to do beyond just awareness. We need to do something more to stem the tide.
CURNOW: Yes, still a lot of hard work to be done. Meanwhile as you say, your parents are scared to go out on the streets of America. That in itself is telling.
Thank you very much for all of the work and the conversations -- the hard conversations you are already having. Daniel Dae Kim, really appreciate you joining us here at CNN.
KIM: Thank you for amplifying this issue.
CURNOW: Now another story we're following.
A deadly winter storm is pushing through the U.S. leaving millions of Americans shivering in sub-zero temperatures.
Nearly three-quarters of the country is covered in snow. At least 26 people have died in weather-related incidents. More than three million households we know are still without electricity. Most of them are in Texas. And people there are struggling to stay warm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a walk in freezer. It's like 34 to 36 degrees I would say. You know, me and my family, we've been getting inside our cars trying to warm up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Local officials are warning these conditions can get even worse.
Ed Lavandera has more from Dallas, Ed?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Millions of Texans are once again spending a brutal and dangerously cold night in their homes. This is because there still are millions of people without electrical power in their homes. This is the third night in a row that power is still out to millions of homes across the state because of this winter storm that blew in Sunday night into the state.
[01:39:53]
LAVANDERA: There is another storm expected to come through on Wednesday as well. But the question remains when will the electrical system be back up to full strength to get people the ability to warm up their homes.
And as hard as it may seem to believe, we just don't have a clear answer at this point. We spoke with the chief executive of the Texas power grid on Tuesday, who said that they had hoped to restore power on Tuesday and Wednesday. But that is not yet clear -- it's not clear that that is going to happen.
We've heard from local and state officials who seem to suggest that there are other issues at play here. The governor saying that natural gas pipelines are frozen. So it could take longer to restore that power and get that power into the system so that people can warm up their homes.
The bottom line is here we just don't have any answers as to when the full strength of the Texas electrical system will be back up and running so that millions of people don't have to spend another night in the dangerous cold once again.
Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Dallas, Texas.
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CURNOW: Thanks for that.
So for a closer look at this record breaking freeze, I want to go straight to Pedram Javaheri. Pedram, hi.
You're tracking these latest conditions, it's absolutely devastating particular for people who don't have any electricity.
I'm just seeing also now a new wire coming across my computer here at CNN saying that Houston water pressure is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain. That's coming from the mayor. So not just concerns about power but water as well?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's been a perfect storm of all the elements that can make life that much more challenging amid a pandemic, of course.
And that is what's happening here across portions of the U.S. and across really a densely populated of the state of Texas where temperatures are running 15 to as much as 40 degrees what is below what is normal in what is climatologically the coldest time of the year which is the middle portion of February.
So you kind of look at how things have played out here with these extreme cold temperatures and the record temps that have been set where upwards of 500 plus record overnight temperatures for cold readings have been set. We're even into the afternoon about 1,400 record cold afternoon temperatures have been set.
Some of these observations are among the coldest we've ever seen on record. Parts of Nebraska, parts of Arkansas, 30 - 20 below. These are the coldest ever observed where you work your way into Oklahoma City, coldest temperatures since the U.S. president was President William McKinley back in 1899. So it speaks to the rarity and the significance of what is happening across this region.
But you look at the U.S. as a whole and the coverage of the state that have snow on the ground at this hour, 73 percent of the U.S. -- the continental U.S. Has snow on the ground at this hour. 45 of the 48 lower U.S. states; the only states that don't have any snow on the ground are the states of Florida, South Carolina and Georgia at this hour.
So again, incredible wide-reaching event and the longevity of it is what has been very impressive. And Robyn, you noted the power outages, parts of eights states dealing with power outages where in total, almost four million customers are without power and the vast majority of them right there in the state of Texas where we have yet another storm system moving directly across this region.
So if you look at this particular region, we do have ice right now accumulating across these areas. Freezing rain coming down and another round of snow showers. And that is the concern.
Power outages already in place. Temperatures extremely cold, you know that the water pressure also an issue. Not going to help to get additional ice accumulating on top of the power lines. And of course, the concerns here infrastructurally really going to be major for a lot of Texans for the next two (ph) days at least, Robyn?
CURNOW: Indeed, thanks so much for that update there, Pedram Javaheri. Thanks, Pedram.
So you're watching CNN.
Coming up allegations North Korea tried to hack a coronavirus vaccine maker and steal secrets. We have that story.
Plus, why Chile is reporting a successful vaccine rollout while other countries flounder.
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CURNOW: Serious allegations against North Korea coming from a South Korean lawmaker. He says Pyongyang successfully hacked drug maker Pfizer to try to steal coronavirus vaccine technology.
I want to go straight to our Will Ripley. Will is standing by in Hong Kong. But of course, Will, and you've traveled many, many times to North Korea.
So I just want you to give us a sense of what you know about this accusation?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've had some new developments in the last hour, Robyn.
South Korea's spy agency held this classified briefing for lawmakers. And it was one of those lawmakers who says that he was told Pfizer was hacked by North Korea and technology related to COVID-19 vaccine was stolen.
Now, NIS, the spy agency has come out denying this. But the lawmaker then responded posting a memo with notes that he took from that meeting, mentioning Pfizer and hacking attempts towards pharmaceutical companies increasing some 32 percent during this pandemic.
One thing is clear, Robyn, as I have been talking to experts is that While North Korea's cyber army has been known to steal hundreds of millions of dollars to fund their nuclear program, it seems as if they have shifted focus and now they're trying to get any and all information they can about COVID-19.
Whether it's because they want to try to produce their own vaccine, which would be expensive and difficult in a country like North Korea with has very limited resources and sanctions, or even perhaps wanting to get this information so they can sell it to another country.
These are the unanswered questions because we know, Robyn, North Korea is perhaps more isolated today than it has been in decades with most foreign diplomats having evacuated from the country.
CURNOW: Yes. And while I've got you, I do want to ask about you also about this bit of information coming out that Kim Jong-un's wife has been spotted in public for the first time in a year. Tell us about that?
RIPLEY: Yes, these images are really striking. We see Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju in a packed auditorium watching an art performance. And you will see that everybody who is in the crowd is not wearing a mask. This kind of -- it's probably an attempt to backup Kim's claim that his country is virus free. They haven't confirmed a single case of COVID-19. These are not the new images that were released by KCNA, but the images that were released just within a matter of hours ago show Kim and his wife sitting in this auditorium surrounded by top officials and other people in Pyongyang, nobody wearing a mask.
Now, that picture is very different from accounts that I'm hearing from sources on the ground who've have been talking to diplomats on the ground inside the country where there are COVID-19 checkpoints.
There are people in masks everywhere when the cameras are turned off certainly not the behavior of a country that is particularly confident about its COVID-19 situation, these sources say, Robyn.
But at least officially, North Korea is saying that they have successfully kept the pandemic out by sealing of their borders for more than a year. But if indeed there is a scramble behind the scenes, to try to get as much information about COVID as they can, it paints a different picture of what may be happening in the minds of the top party leadership.
CURNOW: Thanks for that. Will Ripley there, live in Hong Kong. Thanks, Will.
So while many countries are struggling with their vaccine rollout, Chile is reporting some impressive numbers.
Rafael Romo tells us how the South American country is managing its vaccination program.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A courtyard where you would normally see college students mingling is now a highly-organized and efficient clinic.
This is the campus of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, the capital, -- one of the many COVID-19 vaccination centers around the country.
Just after getting her first shot, this woman described the process as fantastic and very well organized. While some Latin American countries like Nicaragua have yet to receive any vaccine, Chile has become the leader in the region.
The country of nearly 19 million had already given more than 1 million vaccines by February 9th and hit 2 million by Monday.
This 71-year-old man who just got his first shot proudly describes Chile as an international role model.
[01:50:00]
ROMO: Key decisions like an early start in acquiring vaccines have made the difference. In addition to schools and government buildings, health authorities have opened up vaccination center around the country in places like shopping malls and football stadiums. A unified message about social distancing and mask use has not hurt either.
President Sebastian Pinera himself, who's 71 years old then was therefore eligible to get the shot last week, took advantage of the opportunity to make a point.
"This vaccine is safe and effective," the president said. Hoping to convince any doubters that it's in their best interest to get the shot.
While other countries struggle to decide who should get the vaccine after frontline workers, Chilean authorities came up with a vaccination schedule that's being followed to the letter.
After health care workers, the focus was the elderly. Teachers, pharmacists, and police officers became eligible Monday.
"Chile has the 5th highest vaccination rate per capita in the world. And it's doing better than the European Union, according to data from Oxford University.
(on camera): The goal is vaccinating five million people by the end of March and four out of five Chileans before the first half of 2021 is over.
Rafael Romo, CNN -- Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: So just ahead here at CNN, it is a bitcoin bonanza. The digital currency breaks another record. We'll see what's driving this surge. That's next.
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CURNOW: Joe Biden says bigger is better when it comes to helping the economy recover from the coronavirus pandemic and the U.S. President is sticking by his $1.9 trillion dollar rescue plan.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the first time in my career -- and as you can tell, I'm the first time in my career that there is a consensus among economists left, right, and center, that is over -- and including the IMF in Europe, that the overwhelming consensus is in order to grow the economy a year, 2, 3, 4 down the line, we cannot spend too much. Now is the time we should be spending. Now is the time to go big.
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CURNOW: Traders on Wall Street seem encouraged by the plan and the push to vaccinate more Americans as well. The Dow finished the day at a new record high, as you can see here. But the Nasdaq and the S&P were down slightly.
And the bitcoin bonanza is showing no sign of letting up. The digital currency topped the $50,000 mark for the first time on Tuesday, before pulling back a bit.
So I want to go straight to John Defterios. John joins us this hour live from Abu Dhabi. Hi John, lovely to see you. Every stock market really seems to be rallying here.
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Thank you.
CURNOW: Even Bit coin as it passed this milestone. What is the view today after all these substantial gains?
DEFTERIOS: Yes I think it's a good way to put it, Robyn. Because Monday and Tuesday was the everything rally where everything was going up. I would say Wednesday is the big pause with one caveat, and I'll explain why.
[01:54:55]
DEFTERIOS: We had bitcoin surged to a new record high of $50,600 and change and then sell off towards the end of the day in New York.
But if you take a look at the quote now, we're bumping right against those numbers, up nearly 3 percent at $50,005.79 which is a pretty good recovery considering the sell-off that we saw yesterday.
So high volatility, but you have to remember that we were at $5,000 about this time last year at the start of the pandemic. So what a rally indeed.
What you talked about with Joe Biden here about the time to go big, that is also sparking some concerns about inflation. And as a result, we see long-term interest rates, government interest rates edging to the highest level that we saw since January 2020.
And that's why if you take a look at U.S. futures, I'd say it is a big pause for Wednesday at least for right now. And three of the four major Asian markets are trading lower as well.
So some caution coming into the market, I think rightfully so, because if you spend that much money, Robyn, it's going to have a lot of demand on everything across the board, including stocks and that's what we've seen so far in 2021.
CURNOW: So (INAUDIBLE) -- get your take on this. What's the impact of these record cold temperatures here in the U.S.? I mean it's more than just freezing. It's going to have -- it's having an impact on oil prices certainly, as people lose power in Texas altogether and the fact that a lot of this is focused on Texas.
DEFTERIOS: Yes, indeed. Texas is the biggest producer in the United States now because of the shale boom that we have seen. They're putting out about four million barrels a day.
The U.S. us losing about two million barrels a day of production and I call it this fourth wave of the oil rally, if you take a look at prices here.
These are the highest prices we've seen January 2020 before the pandemic set in. And that's because we've had big demand from the investment funds coming into the commodities overall.
And Robyn there is quite a healthy debate taking place because it's not just the oil and then you have the storm that's knocking things out.
precious metals like copper, for example, and big demand. And the debate is all about are we entering a super cycle again like we saw 20 years ago when the developing world needed all these precious materials, particularly in China to grow again?
Many think that's premature. But we have seen not only oil go up 40 or 50 percent, but precious commodities like copper and also the soft commodities like the grains again because growth is starting to be restored as we see the sixth week of declines for cases in the United States.
We've had more optimism, that's for sure.
CURNOW: John Defterios it was good to speak to you. Thanks so much, live there in Abu Dhabi.
DEFTERIOS: Thanks.
CURNOW: And thank you all for watching CNN.
I'm Robyn Curnow.
CNN'S TOWN HALL with U.S. President Joe Biden is next.
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