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Brutal Weather Freezes Basic Necessities in Texas; Vaccinations Affected by Bad Weather; Families Bracing Crisis Together; Iran Want U.S. Sanctions to be Lifted; Another Storm on the Way to U.S.; Joe Biden Attending His First G7 as President; Protesters Fighting Until The End; Coronavirus Cases in the United States Drop; China Accused of Spreading Disinformation About Virus; The Vatican Saying Employees Refusing Vaccine May Lose Their Job; Germany Likely to Extend Border Checks; Pfizer-BioNTech Begins Vaccine Trial for Pregnant Women; Brazil Tops 10 Million COVID-19 Cases; WHO Africa, 11,000 Ebola Vaccines Going to Guinea; U.S. House Committee Seeks Answers on Trading Debacle; Mission and Historic Landing Of Perseverance Rover On Mars. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired February 19, 2021 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. I appreciate your company. Coming up here on CNN Newsroom.
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UNKNOWN: So far, this week, there hasn't been a single vaccine that we are aware of that has spoiled.
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HOLMES (on camera): Deadly winter weather is crippling America and the already fragile distribution of coronavirus vaccines. But can the U.S. make up lost ground?
And COVID vaccines will be one of the many topics discussed at the virtual G7 summit. President Joe Biden is attending later today.
Plus, David Bowie once asked, is there life on mars? Well, the earthlings may soon find out, next.
Deadly winter storms wreaking havoc across the U.S., and on top of bringing life-threatening conditions the weather is crippling the nation's already fragile COVID response. At least 38 people have died nationwide because of the storms which are pushing east, bringing ice and heavy snow. From coast to coast desperately needed COVID vaccine appointments have been canceled, and shipments of doses have been delayed.
Top health officials say the nation will have to work double time to catch up. Now much of the severe impact of course is being felt in Texas where freezing temperatures have nearly paralyzed the state, hundreds of thousands of people there without electricity for a fourth and freezing night.
And another crisis unfolding, too. Thirteen million Texans are facing disruptions in their water supply. Millions are under boiled water notices and some have no water at all. Many people have been lining up at public pumps, while others have turned to melting snow.
And as the state was battling this weather crisis, Texas Senator Ted Cruz was spotted flying from Houston to warm Cancun in Mexico with his family. He returned to Houston on Thursday night apologizing for the trip and calling it an obvious mistake.
Now these dangerous weather conditions are far from over. And while they are hammering the nation's vaccination rollout, a White House senior adviser on the COVID response says, so far, no doses have gone to waste.
CNN's Nick Watt with more.
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JOSEPH DIVINCENZO, JR., EXECUTIVE, ESSEX COUNTY, NEW JERSEY: We have five sites in Essex county. Today they were all closed down.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): That's Newark, New Jersey. Similar scene down in Houston, Texas. Every county run vaccination site is closed.
UNKNOWN: Vaccine shots will probably start again on Friday.
WATT: More than 2,000 vaccine sites are in areas with power outages says FEMA. Vaccine delivery delays from North Carolina to California.
NATHAN FLETCHER, SUPERVISOR, SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: And while there might not snow in San Diego, the snow is directly impacting San Diego.
WATT: Because snow has fallen on delivery hubs in Memphis and Louisville, Kentucky.
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R-MA): We're currently talking to the National Guard about -- and they will do this -- about going down to Kentucky and Tennessee which is where the stuff is currently located and bringing it back.
WATT: The pace of vaccination was picking up before the cold took hold, but average shots in arms every day just took a little dip.
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're just going to have to make up for it as soon as the weather, you know, lifts a bit, the ice melts so we can get the trucks out and the people out.
WATT: Meantime, average daily COVID-19 case counts down 26 percent in just a week, still high but going down for now. The broader impact of all we've been through still going through, drug overdose rates rose sharply when the pandemic hit according to early CDC data, which also reports that U.S. life expectancy fell a full year, first half of 2020, falling even further for Latinx and Black Americans.
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WATT (on camera): The sun is shining here in southern California but still, the massive vaccination site at Disneyland has closed down.
[03:05:03]
Lack of supply, the shipment just didn't arrive because of bad weather elsewhere in the U.S.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
HOLMES: Now, as we've mentioned, Texas bearing the brunt of this dangerous deep freeze. The federal government declaring a public health emergency in the state because of the storms.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has a look at what has been a dire situation.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Texas is bracing for another dangerously frigid night.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): We are not yet out of this, and we will not stop until normalcy is restored to your lives.
LAVANDERA: As another winter storm barrels in, the governor is requesting a major emergency declaration.
UNKNOWN: What a nightmare. My God.
LAVANDERA: Local officials are fed up and fearing the worst.
MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D) AUSTIN, TEXAS: The truth is, is that right now we're just trying to keep people alive and safe for the next two days.
LINA HIDALGO, JUDGE, HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS: We expect to see that death count rise.
UNKNOWN: It is a mess. It is a mess.
LAVANDERA: While power is being restored through much of the state, some 13.5 million Texans are now facing water disruptions.
GAIL BRUCE, TEXAS RESIDENT: I'm out of candles, you know, for a little bit of light. I can't charge batteries.
LAVANDERA: At grocery stores there are long lines and empty shelves as food supply chains buckle.
UNKNOWN: You can't find food, and when you do, you have to stand in a line for five hours. This is ridiculous. Whoever is in charge of this, they need to run them off because that's not right.
ABBOTT: I'm taking responsibility for the current status at ERCOT.
LAVANDERA: But Governor Greg Abbott is also re-upping his attacks on ERCOT, the organization hired to manage more than 90 percent of the state's power grid. He says it had assured him they were prepared.
ABBOTT: ERCOT failed on each of these measures that they said they had undertaken. Texans deserve answers about why these shortfalls occurred and how they are going to be corrected and Texans will get those answers.
LAVANDERA: ERCOT CEO says it prevented a catastrophic power grid failure with no time to spare.
BILL MAGNESS, CEO, ERCOT: It was seconds and minutes given the amount of generation that was coming off the system.
LAVANDERA: Others are blaming Abbott and his state's focus on a low- cost deregulated power supply, largely independent of the national grid.
CLAY JENKINS, JUDGE, DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS: The choice is not a federal takeover or people freezing in their homes. The choice is to require winterization of equipment like all 49 other states did.
LAVANDERA: One official who left the crisis entirely was Senator Ted Cruz. Exclusive video shows the Texas Republican quickly returning tonight from a family trip to Cancun. He was photographed departing Houston yesterday Cruz says his daughters wanted to take a trip so, quote, "wanting to be a good dad, I flew down with them." And he added, "my team and I will continue using all our resources to keep Texans informed and safe."
After a week of facing the political heat in the wake of this winter disaster in Texas, Governor Greg Abbott says he accepts responsibility for the situation at ERCOT, the state power grip agency.
But he also says that the executives at the agency assured him that the state would have enough power to get everyone through this winter storm. Clearly, that didn't happen.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas.
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HOLMES: Eder and Claudia Lemus join me now from San Antonio, Texas. Thanks for doing so, you guys, and I appreciate you taking the time in what has been a difficult time. What were the last few days been like for you and your family?
CLAUDIA LEMUS, RESIDENT, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: It's been a rollercoaster really. It started out with a snow day and the kids being happy that they were given a synchronous day from school, were playing in the snow. And then it quickly escalated into these rolling outages that then turned into just power outages. No heat. After the first day we had no water. And then it just became really brutal.
HOLMES: Were you at any -- were you at any point sort of sitting around looking at each other and thinking, you know, how bad could this get? Are we in serious trouble here?
EDER LEMUS, RESIDENT, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS: Yes. I mean, I think to be honest with you, since Monday we have been feeling that way. And even now that, you know, we did get electricity last night, you know, we are still wondering how long this is going to last or are we going to lose electricity again. And so, there is a lot of uncertainty for sure.
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C. LEMUS. Right.
E. LEMUS: You know, we are definitely looking after our kids and taking care of them as best as we can but there's a lot of uncertainties about food, water. And so, you know, I think that's a concern for us right now, and even weather, I mean, the snow.
HOLMES: Well, yes, exactly. I mean, and you mentioned, you know, food and water. I mean, what did you think when you saw, you know, people in lines to get water from a public spigot overrunning video on that right now. You know, one family that was burning baby gates for warm sleeping in cars. I mean, stunning scenes really. Did you ever think anything like this would happen in a place like Texas?
C. LEMUS: We didn't, but you know, we found ourselves in a very similar situation. Our water ran out, and we had to resort to getting water from the outdoor spigots of one of our neighbors just to have enough to flush toilets and do our basic necessities. I stood in line many days for many minutes only to go into a store and find out that there was no water. It's been horrible, yes.
HOLMES: Obviously, extreme weather can bring, you know, unforeseen issues. But you know, and I know as a military family you have lived in other places. But in the U.S., in Texas, do you, you know, feel this just should not have been this bad? That, you know, those running the system failed you and other Texans?
C. LEMUS: Definitely. I think that, I mean, somebody dropped the ball maybe more than one person but this was a huge oversight on the leadership part of the state. And not have any contingency plans, to not be prepared knowing that this storm was going to hit us and the shortcomings of the infrastructure of the city to not have a plan in place. It's just -- I don't have words for it.
HOLMES: Eder, what are you going to do in the next few days, especially, I think there's more weather coming in?
E. LEMUS: Well, you know, so we are just going to brace ourselves. You know, we've stock up on some food and we do have a little bit of water left. Luckily, our gas tanks are somewhat full, and so we're just going to hunker down and wait to see what the days bring. And we are hoping to continue to have energy and electricity and water. But you know, again, that uncertainty is there for sure. And so we are just kind of bracing ourselves and praying that nothing gets worse here.
C. LEMUS: We are taking one hour at a time.
HOLMES: What did you think when you saw your state Senator, Ted Cruz, hop on a plane and go to Cancun?
C. LEMUS: Unconscionable. How can someone that calls himself a leader, a public servant, he is serving the public, his public right now is suffering. People are freezing. People are starving. They don't have enough food, water, the basic necessities. And he turns around and goes to Cancun? I can't even know.
HOLMES: You are shaking your head and I think a lot of people are. Yes. Eder and Claudia Lemus from San Antonio, Texas. We wish you well, and thanks so much for taking the time.
C. LEMUS: Thank you.
E. LEMUS: You bet. Thank you. Thank you for having us.
HOLMES: And as we said there is more severe winter weather on the way. Let's bring in meteorologist Derek Van Dam. When will Texas not drop below freezing for a change?
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Michael, temperatures are moving in the right direction but we need to get to the brass tacks here. It's going to be cold for the next couple of mornings. Temperatures will still be below freezing this morning, Friday morning, and Saturday morning, for much of Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The area is desperate to see the temperature modification from this drastic bitterly cold arctic air that has moved in.
We have a hard freeze warning in place for about 25 million Americans. There's a large population density here that has the potential to shatter still more records for the next two days. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel because temperatures are going to modify and hopefully will start to warm up the roadways. And we'll get these trucks, aka, the supplies needed to bring in the food, bring in the water, bring in the COVID vaccinations to the general Gulf Coast region moving again. That's what we all want.
But we got to talk about the facts here because temperatures are still going to be below freezing this morning and Saturday morning, Dallas, Austin, Houston, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, and Lubbock, Texas. These areas will see those temperatures drop below freezing but by the afternoon hours when we get that daytime heat in, the temperatures start to warm.
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But that freeze thaw cycle brings the potential for more burst pipes, that's what's disrupting in part the water supply across the lone star state. Look at the temperatures though, starting to moderate nicely into the lower 20s in Dallas by early next week. That's what we want to see.
Now we focus our attention on the East Coast because this is part of the major winter storm that has been bombarding the U.S. for the past several days.
Now we see our last remnants of moisture. We have over 60 million Americans impacted by this latest round of snow, ice, and mixture of rain and snow. And that will depart the region by Saturday but not before leaving several inches of snow for the major East Coast cities, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York and the potential for a quarter inch of ice still exists from the nation's capital through Virginia. So, what a week it's been. Michael?
HOLMES: Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. Derek, good to see you though. Derek Van Dam, I appreciate it.
VAN DAM: Same to you.
HOLMES: And anyone who is still inclined, for more information on how you can help Texas winter storm victims, go to cnn.com/impact.
An important day lies ahead for Joe Biden's foreign policy agenda. In a few hours, the U.S. president will address his first G7 summit and the Munich Security Conference. We'll have a live report with Nic Robertson in London just ahead.
Also, Myanmar's anti-coup movement is now marking two weeks of street demonstrations and warning the tragic death of a young protester shot by police. We'll have those details when we come back.
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HOLMES (on camera): Iran has responded to a U.S. overture about possibly restarting group nuclear talks. The tweet from the foreign minister Javad Zarif reads, Iran will, quote, "reverse all remedial measures if the United States lifts all the sanctions the Trump administration imposed."
Now this came after the U.S. State Department said the U.S. would sit down for talks with Tehran and the other signatories to the Iran nuclear deal before either side takes any tangible action towards compliance. Donald Trump, of course, pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018 despite Iran having been in full compliance with it.
The U.S. also has informed the United Nations it is reversing Trump's plan to reinstate sanctions on Iran and lifting travel restrictions on Iranian diplomats.
Now, Joe Biden has two major foreign policy events coming up in the next several hours. The first will be the annual G7 summit. It will be virtual this year of course because of the pandemic. President Biden is expected to announce $2 billion in initial aid to COVAX, the World Health Organization's international COVID vaccination effort.
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Afterwards, he will lay out U.S. foreign policy goals in a virtual address to the Munich Security Conference.
Now the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, who presides over this year's G7 is expected to focus his message on faster development of vaccines. According to Downing Street, he will challenge the G7 members to create new vaccines in just 100 days. The first COVID vaccine took about 300 days.
Nic Robertson is covering all of this for us from London. Good to see you, Nic.
Joe Biden, he said that the U.S. is back. Diplomacy is back. This is going to be his first chance to really prove it on a global stage. What does he need to do to begin the U.S. returned to the fold in a position of leadership?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, I think one of the things -- is clearly re-enter some of the global bodies and alliances that the United States was part of before. What is he going to do at the G7 is, announced $2 billion for the WHO's COVAX program to get vaccines to the poorer nations around the world, that they aim to get 20 percent of 92 poorer nations COVID -- excuse me -- COVID vaccine needs out by the end of this year.
Now the United States was absent on the WHO scene because Donald Trump was pulling out and refused to fund it. So, this is a reversal of that. That will send a clear message. There will be another $2 billion as well on top of that first two if other countries meet similar types of pledges as well, and of course vaccine doses get produced as it's hope that they are produced. Because everyone knows there's problems in supply lines and predictabilities in that.
So that's a very clear message there. I think on the international front in the Munich Security Conference later today, you know, if he is able to talk more about Iran, but certainly working with allies and democracy that's been a central theme of his foreign policy so far. So, I think we are going to hear more details on that. Michael?
HOLMES: Yes. We touched on this just before we came to you. You know, the U.S. saying it would accept an E.U. invitation to group talks between the P5, plus one and Iran over the nuclear deal. What does that signal to you? And where does momentum lie right now?
ROBERTSON: Well, what we heard from the State Department last night was -- excuse me -- this morning, that what they are doing is the United States is doing here is not making concessions to Iran but making concessions to common sense.
Let me try to break that down a little bit. The United States and Iran have been in this sort of standoff over Biden saying, you know, if Iran gets back into compliance with the international nuclear deal, the JCPOA, then the United States would as well. And it was going to be who moves first.
Well, yesterday a U.S. State Department -- the U.S. head of the State Department, Antony Blinken met virtually with the E3 foreign ministers, Germany, France and the U.K., they actually meant together in Paris. Pretty significant they did that. Right out of that meeting the head of the European Council, the president of the European Council contacted the Iranian president.
And this is where this idea of the United States and Iran, along with the other members of the P5, plus one, the permanent Security Council all those who originally signed up to the JCPOA, would get around the table together to talk about Iran coming into compliance rather than standing on these positions where the demand was that Iran came into compliance.
But there is a lot of pressure building on this because Iran had said, if by this weekend the United States didn't drop all its sanctions and it come into compliance with the deal, then Iran was going to block short notice atomic energy agency inspectors coming. And that was going to be a position of extreme contention and difficulty.
So, I think, you know, what Biden has done and is doing on Iran is showing that he is willing to compromise to get to that bigger goal of leading by democracy as he has said, leading by diplomacy. And by that virtue, the State Department last night pointing out that Trump's maximum pressure on Iran had only led Iran to increase its enrichment of uranium and therefore get closer to making a nuclear weapon.
Biden is showing that he is willing to make those compromises and the things that you have mentioned about the Iranian diplomats, their mission in New York having those restrictions lifted on them. And Biden sending a letter to the U.N. saying that we are not going to continue to push for what Trump had called for, for a snap back U.N. sanctions on Iran.
[03:24:58]
Iran's position still is, and this was the interesting thing about what the Foreign Minister, Javad Zarif had to say was, you still need to lift all the sanctions that you've got on the rename sanctions, the relabel sanctions, the reintroduce sanctions, the U.S. sanctions, those need to go to. But what he didn't do what they've done until now was put that deadline for this weekend on it. So, Biden's diplomacy seems to be edging everyone to the table here.
HOLMES: Yes, interesting stuff. Always great to get your analysis, my friend. Nic Robertson in London. Thanks.
Now a young protester in Myanmar who was shot in a demonstration last week has died. Her family told CNN. So far, she is the only protester known to have been killed in the demonstrations. Her death could become a rallying cry as the anti-coup demonstrations enter their third week.
Police have arrested more than 500 people since the protests began, and the military is publicly going after at least six national celebrities accusing them of supporting and encouraging the civil disobedience.
CNN's Paula Hancocks has one couple's terrifying ordeal.
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Paing Phyo Thu she says she has been protesting on the streets of Yangon since day one of the military coup. One of the country's best-known actresses, Thu, and her film director husband, Na Gyi have been vocally and financially supporting the civil disobedience movement.
On Wednesday, the military put Na Gyi on a list of celebrities to be arrested for encouraging opposition of the coup.
PAING PHYO THU, BURMESE ACTRESS: He disgraced the military, that's what he has been charged for.
HANCOCKS: So how did that feel when you realize that your husband's name was on the arrest list?
THU: Sorry.
HANCOCKS: Not at all, take your time.
THU: I'm just so angry and just so emotional because it's all out there, you know? People who were doing the good things they keep -- they keep being arrested. They just keep arresting the people who are doing good.
HANCOCKS: The couple had fled their home and are in hiding. Pots and pans, they once used to join in the daily evening protest, now have a different purpose.
THU: We still have to make sure that we have pots and pans on our night stance. So that if somebody come and do something wrong to us, we ask the help from the neighbors just from banging the pots and pans, because obviously that's the only weapons that our civilians have.
HANCOCKS: They don't feel safe on the streets anymore but are adamant that this is not the end of their fight for democracy.
THU: This is our last battle. We have to win this. So, we have to do everything we can to reach out to the world and to everyone. And we must win this time.
HANCOCKS: The arrests come at night when the internet are shut down, and soldiers knock on the door. The military came for Mya Aye, a dawn on February 1st according to his daughter. The family have heard nothing since. A student leader in the failed 1988 uprising, he's spent a total of 13 years behind bars.
WAI HNIN PWINT THON, DAUGHTER OF DETAINED ACTIVIST: We don't want to live in another dictatorship again. And you know, seeing another generation of children having to meet their parents in jail is not something that we want to -- we want people to go through.
HANCOCKS: Wai Hnin was just five months old when her father was first arrested. She says her mother taught her to say daddy from a photograph. Her father told her he had a backpack by the door with clothes, a toothbrush, and medication. He had a quadruple bypass two years ago and needs daily medicine. Still critical of the military, he knew he might need this bag in a hurry.
As Myanmar's military leadership continues the systematic silencing of voices of dissent, it strikes fear into those on the streets, wondering if they are next.
Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul.
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HOLMES (on camera): And still to come here on the program, coronavirus conspiracies.
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UNKNOWN: Do you know about the U.S. army's Fort Detrick's labs? Do you know they research on dangerous viruses for decades?
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HOLMES (on camera): All eyes have been on China, and now, the country is firing back.
Also, Pfizer says it has given its first doses in a COVID-19 vaccine trial specifically for pregnant women. We'll explain what it could mean for expectant mothers and their babies. We'll be right back.
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[03:30:00]
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HOLMES (on camera): And welcome back to CNN Newsroom everyone, I am Michael Holmes, I appreciate your company. Now there is cautious optimism as the virus that changed the world forever seems to be infecting fewer people.
The World Health Organization says the number of global COVID cases fell 16 percent last week, that, as cases drop, new conspiracy theories are growing about the origin of the virus and some of the most potent are coming from China, which may have taken a page out of the American playbook. David Culver, with the story.
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UNKNOWN: Do you know about the U.S. Army Fort Detrick Lab? Did you know, they research on dangerous viruses for decades?
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Chinese officials, carrying out a propaganda fueled war of words and tweets. The apparent intentions? To muddy the waters in the search for the origin of COVID- 19. And, potentially deflect responsibility for the viruses global spread. CNN, combing through months of digital data analysis that shows a
combined pushed of conspiracy theories, carried out by official Chinese government accounts, state media and a broader group of Chinese online influencers. The propaganda push, coinciding with the highly politicized World Health Organization source tracing mission.
UNKNOWN: Did you find anything inside?
CULVER: Last month, the WHO's international team of experts travel to Wuhan. CNN found that China sophisticated propaganda machine flooded both social, and state media with several origin theories, including one to counter the Trump administration's own, unsupported allegation, that the virus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology Lab. A theory the visiting WHO scientists, essentially ruled out before leaving China last week.
PETER BEN EMBAREK, HEAD OF WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION MISSION TO CHINA: The laboratory incidents hypothesis is extremely unlikely.
CULVER: But in recent weeks, Chinese officials have doubled down on their own labs origin theory, renewing a conspiracy that the virus began in the U.S. specifically here at the U.S. Army's Fort Detrick medical research lab in Maryland. Inspectors for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention briefly halted work here in 2019 to investigate safety concerns. There is no evidence the virus originated in the U.S., but China's state media saw an opportunity.
Beginning in March of last year, as the virus started sweeping across the world, they publish stories surrounding the Fort Detrick lab and a possible leak. A foreign ministry spokesperson went a step further, tweeting last March, that it might be the U.S. Army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan.
Soon after, China's government controlled broadcaster began airing mini documentaries on the Forth Detrick's conspiracy theory. For 10 months, China's Foreign Ministry has relentlessly pushed the conspiracy. Just as the WHO field team arrived in Wuhan in January to investigate the origins, Chinese officials, once again, voice their version of a possible lab leak.
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I'd like to stress that if the United States truly respects facts it should open the biological lab at Fort Detrick, give more transparency to issues like it's 200 plus overseas bio labs and invite WHO experts to conduct origin tracings in the United States, the spokesperson said.
That clip of the foreign ministry spokesperson went viral online, circulating on both Western and Chinese social media. CNN review data analysis of internet searches in China. It shows that after the initial push of the conspiracy theory in March 2020, search interest in Fort Detrick remained relatively flat for nearly a year, only to surge once again in January. Just as the WHO source tracing field mission got underway in Wuhan. During that time, more than 230,000 post using the Fort Detrick
hashtag were viewed more than 1.48 billion times on social media platform Weibo. And the foreign ministry hashtags attracted more than 210,000 post, with 790 million views. China has also floated the theory that the virus originally got into Wuhan through important frozen foods.
CNN uncovered late last year that theory has led to hazmat like handling of international cargo and it has encouraged Chinese state media to label the virus as an imported threat, suggesting that it even started that way. The range of origin theories, and attempt to seemingly to deflect blame and sow doubt in ever uncovering this devastating and deadly pandemic though source. David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (on camera): Well, on Thursday, a reporter from the Associated Press asked the Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman if China spread misinformation and this was her response. I will read it for you. Quote, since the pandemic began, there have been lots of conspiracy theories on social media in the West. Some U.S. officials, legislators, media and institutions have concocted and spread a lot of disinformation against China without any evidence.
In regard of disinformation she went on, I believe many people in the U.S. are victims too. Disinformation ignores basic facts and smears and attacks China based on presumption of guilt.
Well, the Vatican is putting its foot down on vaccines, employees who refused to be vaccinated against COVID-19, might risk losing their jobs according to a decree written by the city's State Governor. The Vatican is now saying that they will try to find quote, alternative solutions, and the law is not meant to be punitive.
And Germany says that it is likely to extend border checks with Austria and Czech Republic beyond March 3rd if outbreaks containing the new variants of the virus are not contained. Meanwhile Pfizer/BioNTech says the first participant of its global vaccine trial for pregnant women have now received doses. They were given two participants in the United States. Nine countries around the world also taking part in that trial.
Let's go to Paris now, and that's where we find our Melissa Bell. Important obviously, what are of the questions that they're looking to answer with this?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, two things essentially Michael. First of all, the potential effects and risks that may be associated with the vaccine for pregnant women and of course it's efficacy in this important sub population. Second, whether an immunity is handed on to the infant that is borne as with for instance the flu vaccine, which means -- which sees that antibodies are passed on to the child which then last for six months providing it with important immunity for those six months. Is that the case also for the COVID-19 vaccines? And on that question of the health of the future mother, it is of an
important question because we know Michael, that this is a sub population that tends to contract the more serious variation of the COVID-19. They tend to get more sick, the more serious forms of the illness, but also we are hearing from one study that was just published in Washington state which suggests that pregnant women may be more at risk of getting infected to begin with.
So, crucial information will emerge from this study that comes just in time. Since what we're looking at is countries beginning with their older population and then will soon be moving down to younger populations including of course, pregnant women, many of whom will be wondering whether or not they can go and get themselves vaccinated, given how little information there has been on this so far. Michael?
HOLMES (on camera): Yes, exactly. Melissa, thanks. Melissa Bell there in Paris for us.
Now, Brazil has surpassed 10 million cases of COVID-19. It is the third country to cross that number, and it comes as Brazil prepares to vaccinate an entire city's population to test the efficacy of mass vaccination in one area. Our Matt Rivers explains.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Researchers in Brazil have kicked off what they are calling an unprecedented experiment, where they're going to try and vaccinate the entire adult population of one single city. The city is called Serrana. It is in this state of Sau Paulo and officials say that over the next two months or so they hope to vaccinate roughly 30,000 people ages 18 and older.
Now, beyond the obvious benefits of hopefully preventing serious illness in a lot of different people, they also wanting to see what happens when you vaccinate this level of people in one place. Does it actually reduce the transmission of the coronavirus in this area?
They're going to use the Chinese developed CoronaVac vaccine in this experiment, were expecting to get the results of what happens in the next several months. And this comes, you know at a time when Brazil overall has a shortage of vaccines. We were reporting there just a few weeks ago about that very fact. There is not going to be a shortage in this particular community around 60,000 doses have been set aside specifically for this experiment.
Brazil's pandemic of course has been one of the worst in the world, the death toll is second highest behind only the United States. And it was just on Thursday that health officials announced that Brazil had officially surpassed 10 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus. It is going to be fascinating to see what comes out of this study. In this one singular Brazilian city. Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES (on camera): Meanwhile, Zimbabwe's beginning its COVID
vaccination campaign. So far, it is using China's Sinopharm vaccine, the first of the 200,000 doses are going to frontline health care workers as well as the country's vice president and health minister. The Zimbabwean president calling it an historical moment in our fight against this virus.
Another shipment of vaccines heading to Africa, but these are for the fight against Ebola and they are going to the West African nation of Guinea. Joining me now from Johannesburg is CNN's David McKenzie, to tell us all about it. How is this going to work David?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Michael, what is really important here as you would expect is speed. I mean, while Ebola is extremely deadly virus and unfortunately kills most people who contracted even with improved therapeutics. There is actually relatively difficult tp catch, not especially contagious, you have to have direct contact.
So, because of the mechanism of that virus, they have to get people on the ground and they are doing it some hundred officials from the WHO on their way there to do the very basic epidemiological stuff. Contact tracing, surveillance, figuring out the index case, and then trying to protect everyone from those people to stop this from spreading out of control.
You remember 2014 to 2016, that extremely large Ebola outbreak in West Africa, killing more than 11,000 people, we were on the ground then, and you could see the impact of not doing those basic public health operations early on in the outbreak. So, it is really important, that this is figured out quickly. Because this was in the southeastern part of Guinea right on the borders of Liberia and Ivory Coast. So, there will be very worried to avoid a repeat situation. Michael?
HOLMES: I can't imagine. When it comes to the numbers, it is not a big number is it going to be enough?
MCKENZIE: The vaccines no. It is not a big number 11,000 initially coming in, and then 20,000 more vaccines from the U.S. in the coming days. But that could be sufficient if they are quick, because they use a different kind of vaccine strategy for Ebola. You know, with COVID we are talking about millions of doses, blanketing the entire adult population to try and get some kind of herd immunity.
Ebola is different, because of the different nature of the disease they have to vaccinate those in contact with the cases, and the contacts of those contacts, it is called ring vaccination. Now if they can block that transmission, and monitor those people extremely carefully taking their temperatures, and making sure they don't show hemorrhagic fever symptoms, then there is some success.
And we have seen in recent years as this experimental vaccine has been deployed, it has helped stamped out Ebola outbreak, both or mainly in the DRC and in central Africa, the problem is you have upticks and resurgences in just in this week. They've also announce a resurgence of the second worst Ebola outbreak in the (inaudible) in the Western Congo. So, it's going to take a lot of effort, and a lot of willpower but there are more confident, then they were back in 2014
[23:15:00]
HOLMES (on camera): Well, that's some good news, David McKenzie in Johannesburg, we appreciated it. Thanks, David.
You are watching CNN Newsroom, still to come, the GameStop craze that put Wall Street in a spin has now reach the halls of Congress. And lawmakers want answers. The details of what was said at yesterday's hearing, still to come.
And, also, massive sophisticated new rovers made a dramatic landing on Mars. We'll show you the first images sent from the red planet.
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KEITH GILL, REDDIT USER AND GAMESTOP INVESTOR: The idea that I use social media to promote GameStop stock to unwitting investors, and influence the market, is preposterous. My post did not cause the movement of billions of dollars into GameStop shares. It is tragic that some people lost money, and my heart goes out to them. But what happened in January just demonstrates again, that investing in public securities is extremely risky.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (on camera): Now that was one of the key players in the retail trading frenzy that shook Wall Street late last month. Testifying Thursday to a House committee. Stocks such as GameStop, you may remember, soared to staggering highs, thanks in part to the free trading platform, such as Robinhood, and word of mouth sites, like Reddit.
Some investors made fortunes, almost overnight. Others took huge losses. Each side has its own take on what happened and what new restrictions should be put in place. Robinhood CEO was asked why his platform, suddenly, restricted buying stocks like GameStop, but not selling them. He says, heavy trading volume forced his hand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VLAD TENEV, CEO ROBINHOOD: The decision to restrict GameStop, and other securities, was driven, purely by depositing collateral requirements imposed by or clearinghouses. So, buying securities --
UNKNOWN: Why it's --
TENEV: -- buying securities (inaudible) are requirements, selling does not. Even though I recognize customers were very upset and disappointed that we had to do this, I imagine it would've been significantly worse if we prevented customers from selling.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES (on camera): Now, John Defterios has the latest on all of this
for us. You know, there's a great deal of drama at that hearing. Online trading, and YouTube stars going mainstream, if you like. But what else did we learn about Robinhood, and its biggest customers? Those hedge funds? The powers on Wall Street?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (on camera): Yes, it's pretty complex, Michael. But what a cast to start off with Robinhood, and roaring kitty, the YouTuber, of course, sitting side by side with the Wall Street hedge funds that you are talking about here. Fundamentally, they were suggesting this was great, because we are now on the world map, and I think it's going to garner a lot more security going forward and scrutiny at the same time.
[03:50:00]
Fundamentally, the real question mark here is whether you can take a bulletin board and that social media information, form together a mob, and then, buy a stock. Is that going to be defined as manipulation? And the other key question you race here, Robinhood doesn't charge, or does very low fees to those trading on the platform.
But is legal for them to take that data and sell it to the hedge funds. That is their number one revenue gain or, but it allows the hedge funds a bet over the other traders that are out there right now, because they have that information. Whether to short, or to buy. Here is the CEO of Citadel Capital, worth a cool $21 billion, here is his position.
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KEN GRIFFIN, CEO, CITADEL SECURITIES: We simply play by the rules of the road. (Inaudible) flows has been expressly approved by the FCC, it is a customary practice within the industry. If they choose to change the rules of the road, we need to drive on the left side versus the right side? That is fine with us. I do believe that payment for order flow has been an important source of innovation in the industry. As the CEO of Robinhood testified, they drove the industry towards zero dollar commissions. This has been a big win for American investors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEFTERIOS (on camera): It is also a big win for everybody to understand what's taking place, and why the hearings are useful. The chair of that committees, Maxine Waters was suggesting and AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, were saying at the end of the day, the Wall Street guys always win, because hoping there's a deal behind the deal, and nobody ever talked about it before this all blew up in the start of 2021.
HOLMES: Yes. Well, the hedge funds rarely lose, and they did on this occasion. So, yes, I bite my tongue on that one. Will it lead though to new legislation into, you know, sort of group trading by the day traders, the Redditors and all of that and those who support it?
DEFTERIOS: In fact, Representative Waters was suggesting, this is going to be a long process, because it is much more complex. And it takes us into a whole new territory, which raises the question here, the regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission, is it not fit in the 21st century to manage social media, and the day trading.
Also, a very similar to, if you will Michael, to the video posts and managing that for the likes of Facebook or Google, right? Because it's global and the volumes are substantial. But this is not stopping the U.S. Justice Department from starting its own investigation. I talked about the scrutiny before, and this is having an influence on the stocks.
So, just one of them, GameStop, of course, was up 1700 percent in January. It's come back down to earth at 100 percent return so far in 2021. We would be happy with that in a three-year period, but it is not 1700 percent. So, this is regulating the industry from scratch, if you will.
HOLMES: Yes. Shorting is, you and I will have a conversation about shorting one day, because we don't have time right now. John Defterios, in Abu Dhabi, always good to see you mate, thank you.
DEFTERIOS: Good, thank you.
HOLMES: Coming up, a historic day after NASA successfully landed a rover on our closest planetary neighbor.
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UNKNOWN: Touchdown confirmed, perseverance landing safely on the surface of Mars. Beginning the process of investigating for past life.
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[03:55:00]
HOLMES (on camera): Well the U.S. Space agency, NASA, safely landed it Perseverance rover on Mars on Thursday. There are no signs so far of Marvin the Martian, but earthlings are eagerly waiting to see if the mission can tell us whether the red planet once harbored life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Touchdown confirmed, Perseverance, landing safely on the surface of Mars.
HOLMES (voice over): Cheers from NASA's control room, as the U.S. Space agency landed its most daring mission yet on the red planet.
STEVE JURCZYK, ACTING NASA ADMINISTRATOR: What an amazing day. What an amazing team. To work through all of the adversity that goes -- and all the challenges that go at landing a rover on Mars, plus, the challenges of COVID, and it's just an amazing accomplishment.
HOLMES: Moments after touchdowns, the Perseverance rover transmits its first images from the landing site, Jezero crater. Once a Martian lake, nearly four billion years ago. Perseverance now embarks on a mission with a packed agenda for the next few years. The rover will be searching for signs of ancient life on Mars, while also preparing for human life to one day arrive.
It will also collect rock samples that hopefully return to earth for the very first time. This two year mission, unlike any other, made possible by discoveries from NASA's four other rovers on Mars.
THOMAS ZURBUCHEN, NASA ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR FOR SCIENCE: Our journey has been from following the water, to seeing whether this planet was habitable, to finding complex chemicals, and now we are at the advent of an entirely new face. Returning samples. An aspirational goals that has been with the science community for decades.
HOLMES: Perseverance, also promises new perspectives on the red planet. The Rovers microphones can share the first recordings of sound on Mars. And, it's 23 cameras, offer better views of the surface than ever seen before.
Also, along for the ride, a drones sized helicopter named Ingenuity, will be the first to attempt flight on another planet. The new technology may help direct the Perseverance rover, or even be a scout for future probes. As NASA's latest mission explores new frontiers on Mars an unprecedented quest begins.
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HOLMES (on camera): I think it's very cool, don't you? Thanks for watching CNN Newsroom everyone, spending part of your day with me. I am Michael Holmes, follow me on Twitter, at home, CNN. The news continues with the very down to earth, Kim Brunhuber after a short break.
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