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Power Getting Restored in Texas, Water Crisis Worsens; Winter Storms Delaying COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout; First Minister: Evident Vaccines Reducing Deaths in Scotland; Pfizer-BioNTech Begins Vaccine Trial for Pregnant Women; U.S. House Committee Seeks Answers on Trading Debacle; COVID, Poor Economy Force Millions of Women from Their Jobs; NASA's Perseverance Rover Achieves Daring Landing on Mars. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired February 19, 2021 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to all of you watching in the United States, Canada, and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Slowly but surely power is being restored to millions of Americans in the state of Texas. Just over 200,000 homes and businesses are still in the dark after harsh winter storms swept through the region. But now one crisis is leading to another. Freezing temperatures have knocked out water systems across the state leaving some 13 million Texans under boil water notices or with no water at all.

The capital city of Austin has lost 325 million gallons of water after pipes burst flooding homes and businesses. And firefighters in San Antonio say the water supply is a major concern as they battle a large fire. They say the water pressure is low and the hydrants are frozen.

And these harsh weather conditions, well they're not over yet. More than 60 million Americans are still under winter weather alerts. CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking the latest conditions. Let's get right to it. When's it going to end?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, Kim. You know, here is a look at the 60 million Americans that have the winter weather alerts in place today. You can see why such a large percentage of our population in the United States is covered by these alerts, because look at that, D.C., Philly, New York to Boston you're included within this latest round of wintry weather. Believe it or not, this is all part of the same storm that brought the cold air and winter misery to the deep South.

And you ask when will it end? Well, we have to be honest. We have to be frank here, right. We have two more mornings of temperatures below freezing for places like Houston, Shreveport, Dallas, San Antonio even further south towards Corpus Christi region.

We have hard freeze warnings in place for those locations. Over the next two days we have the potential to shatter several dozen record temperatures in terms of the cold records. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel. Temperatures are moving in the right direction.

First, we have to get over these morning lows. That will be below freezing for Dallas and Little Rock and Austin, again, right through Saturday morning. But Sunday into Monday and Tuesday, that's a whole other story. We're going to start moderating those temperatures and things are going to feel a little bit more normal.

Look at the comparison from yesterday's daytime high to today's. Yesterday it was below freezing all day in Dallas. Today it will remain at about 37. So we're seeing that temperature go up. But that also means we're going through that freeze/thaw process that of course can damage and burst water pipes leaving the boil advisories in place and some of the disruptions in the water delivery.

But this is what we like to see in our maps, reds being replaced, or blues being replaced by the reds and the yellows. Because that means milder or even warmer air is settling in. So things are going to get better from here. Dallas will stay well above freezing by the end of the weekend and into early next week. And even temperatures nearing the 70 degree mark.

Check this out. Here's the ongoing winter storm across the Northeast. Boston to New York, you've another 2 to 4 maybe locally higher snowfall totals with this system. And a potential for ice just south of D.C. all the way to Richmond as the storm exits by Saturday afternoon. Lots going on, Kim. It has been a busy week keeping us on our toes.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely, a statement of the obvious, let's hope that red comes as soon as possible. Thanks so much.

VAN DAM: Yes, agree.

BRUNHUBER: Well, as we mentioned, the winter storm is wreaking havoc on the coronavirus vaccine rollout. Many Americans can't even travel to get their vaccine and shipping delays are adding to the anxiety. A senior White House advisor on COVID response says everyone is going to have to work harder to get the vaccines out once the weather warms up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:35:00]

ANDY SLAVITT, WHITE HOUSE SR. ADVISOR ON COVID RESPONSE: The best thing to do here, respect the weather, understand it, not put people in harm's way. Keep the vaccine safe and sound. And remind people that if they have a second appointment and it's delayed by say a week or so, it's no problem. They will get their vaccine. And that we're just going to have to ask everybody in the country to work double time next week assuming the weather improves. That's going to mean longer appointment hours. It's going to mean more shipping hours. And we're going to ask everybody to do their part and pull together.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Joe Biden will visit pharmaceutical company Pfizer later today. Now it was initially scheduled for Thursday but postponed because of a snowstorm in Michigan.

Meanwhile in Europe, we're hearing some good news about vaccines. Scotland's first minister says there is, quote, strong and compelling evidence that its vaccination program is reducing the number of deaths.

Meanwhile, Pfizer-BioNTech says the first participants of its global vaccine trial for pregnant women have received doses. They were given to participants in the United States.

Let's get more on these stories. Salma Abdelaziz joins me from London, and Melissa Bell is in Paris, Salma, let's start with you for us if we could. So maybe not an unexpected result but certainly welcome confirmation of what we hope to hear.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Kim. The First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon saying in a press conference yesterday that there has been strong and compelling evidence that this vaccine is indeed working. She said in this press conference that the latest data, the latest figures show there's been a 60 percent decrease in the number of COVID-related deaths inside care homes over the last three weeks.

So that's giving authorities really the confidence to know that this vaccine is working, that the strategy of targeting care homes and the elderly residents there was the right strategy. And that they finally have that bit of protection from the virus that's needed.

More positive news, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, of course, speaking at the G-7, will be sharing the U.K.'s successes and gains in the vaccination program. Millions of people already vaccinated. Among this country's most vulnerable people already having their shot. The Prime Minister will lay out in the speech that the authorities want to give away any surplus vaccines to developing nations.

Now U.K. has ordered 400 million doses. There's only a population of just over 65 million in the U.K. So there should be a great deal of surplus there to give to developing countries. The Prime Minister will also try to get a pledge from the other G-7 nations of a 100 days, a 100 day program if a new vaccine is needed. Then they'll be able to develop that vaccine in a 100 day period. Of course concern here, Kim, is about variants and having a sort of international plan around tackling those variants if they become a larger issue when it comes to the vaccination program -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. All right, to you, Melissa. So pregnant women weren't included in previous trials. Just like, you know, really young children weren't either previously, but finally we will get some data on that demographic. Pregnant women who might be at higher risk.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. (INAUDIBLE) since those vaccine rollout programs that we've been talking about in so many of the countries where they've begun, will be moving on from older people to Princeton's women of childbearing age.

What are the risks associated with the vaccine for women who are pregnant? That is the important question and they'll be looking answer. So 4,000 women who are between 24 and 34 weeks pregnant will be used in this survey. They will be testing this vaccine to see what those risks are.

And this is important also, Kim, because we know that what we've seen so far is that pregnant women have been found to get the most serious versions of COVID-19 if they get infected. And one study in Washington state suggesting that pregnant women may be more at risk of getting infected to begin with. So of course, these will be important findings for Pfizer to share with the world as pregnant women begin to consider whether or not to take up the offer of vaccines.

Another important part of the study, Kim, will be the effects and the risks of those vaccines for the unborn. So what level of immunization will the children of pregnant women who've been vaccinated then carry with them. When you look at the flu vaccine, for instance we know that there is some immunity that is handed down to the child for the first six months of its life. Will that be the case as well for COVID-19?

That is another important part of this study and what it will be looking at over the course of the coming weeks. It's taking place in a number of different countries, not only in the U.S. but in the United Kingdom, in South Africa, to look at whether pregnant women can go ahead and get themselves vaccinated.

For the time being, the truth is, that the evidence and of course the studies so far, haven't really given any true indication of whether or not they can go ahead with it safely. And of course, it's essentially being left up to them for the time being whether or not they believe they should. So important findings that will become all the more important over the coming months as these women of childbearing age consider whether or not to take all these vaccines.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, so much at stake there. Thanks so much for that. CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris.

Still to come, the craze that put Wall Street in a spin has now reached the halls of Congress and lawmakers want the answers.

[04:40:00]

The details of what was said at yesterday's GameStop hearing.

Plus, the U.S. unemployment rates are still very high, and many mothers are bearing the burden. We'll explain why President Biden is calling it a crisis. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: U.S. lawmakers are looking for answers in the stock trading debacle centered around GameStop and the online trading app Robinhood. You heard from CEOs, hedge fund managers, and even a Reddit user named Roaring Kitty. So what did they find out?

CNN's emerging markets editor John Defterios is live this hour in Abu Dhabi with some answers. John, it's a fascinating story with some interesting characters. So with so much else going on right now, people might have missed some of the developments. I'm glad you're here to bring us up to speed.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: I like the way you put that, Kim. There's a lot of moving parts. And as you suggested, what a cast of characters here. Robinhood, Reddit, the Roaring Kitty. The three Rs basically. It could be a screenplay, if you will, but at the crux of it all these characters were not known until the early part of 2021 after these phenomenal gains.

Is having a mob picking a stock using social media postings and then running that stock up, considered all square or is it manipulation? Right. And then at the hearing a lot of the focus was on the trading platform Robinhood itself. Because they didn't halt trading for just a matter of hours, but it carried on for days limiting that trade. They did so because they had to raise funds for the reserve requirements, right. Bu now with mea culpa, the CEO is suggesting we could have done a lot better. He just kind of basically tried to wipe the slate clean. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[04:45:00]

VLAD TENEV, CEO, ROBINHOOD: I'm sorry for what happened. I apologize and I'm not going to say that Robinhood did everything perfect and that we haven't made mistakes in the past. But what I commit to is making sure that we improve from this, we learn from it and we don't make the same mistakes in the future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS: Vlad Tenev, once again, the CEO of Robinhood, has had a lot of public attention and also the scrutiny. While I thought it was interesting that there was a post while the hearing was taking place by one of the day traders saying, we've now come to the mainstream, Kim, and we're on the world map. But that's going to also invite a lot more scrutiny as well.

The U.S. Justice Department has an investigation underway. But we also learned during the hearing that Robinhood legally can sell its data to the hedge funds, right. So they could take those day trades, feed them to the hedge funds. They then decide if their going to short a stock or purchase it up. The CEO of Citadel Capital told the hearing, yes, it is legal to tell us if we drive on the right side of the road or the left or if you're going to change the rules going forward.

As Maxine Waters, the chair of the committee said, at the end of the day it always seems that Wall Street wins. We've seen that GameStop has gone from a gain of 1.700 percent, Kim, at the start of the year to a reasonable 100 percent. But a lot of day traders lost a lot of money along the way. BRUNHUBER: Yes, I'll see if anything concrete comes out of all this.

Thanks do much for that. Always appreciate John Defterios in Abu Dhabi.

Well of course, many Americans may not relate personally to Wall Street intrigues which involve millions of dollars. Mothers, for instance, may be among them. They're losing their jobs in droves due to the double whammy of COVID and the depressed economy. President Biden calls it an emergency and a crisis. Vanessa Yurkevich has their story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE GASAWAY, UNEMPLOYED MOTHER: Look. Whoo!

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was supposed to be one of the happiest times of her life.

GASAWAY: Want to play our favorite game?

YURKEVICH (voice-over): But when Brooke Gasaway was five months pregnant with her son, Luciano, she says she was laid off from her job.

GASAWAY: It was a lot of anxiety because I didn't know what was the best thing to do.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Now that her son is six months old, she's looking for work again, but the economy she's facing is still down nearly 10 million jobs since the pandemic began, 5.3 million held by women.

GASAWAY: At this moment, sometimes I am scared to say I'm a mom when I'm applying. There's something about telling an employer that I'm going to be one of those people that -- that's going to have to balance those two things.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): 2.5 million women have left the workforce altogether, many who are mothers.

ALLISON ROBINSON, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, THE MOM PROJECT: It has been, on so many fronts, such a challenging year for women. We've suffered more layoffs than men. And we've seen our already fragile childcare and education infrastructure unravel.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): That very issue may have cost single mother Nicole Conner her job. She says she was fired because she could only work virtually. Her seven-year-old son Atikis (ph) is at home remote learning. She says they're surviving off food stamps and her student loans.

NICOLE CONNER, UNEMPLOYED MOTHER: I mean I'm lucky that my bills are paid during this time. But it's a sad concept that I have to be -- consider myself lucky to be able to go into debt and make sure my bills are paid. YURKEVICH (voice-over): Mother of four Michelle Mitchom is also looking for new work after she says she was laid off in July from a career in sales. The search has led her to apply for jobs she never considered before.

MICHELLE MITCHOM, UNEMPLOYED MOTHER: I've been applying for, I mean, any type of jobs. It doesn't matter if it's entry level, or if it's, you know, internships, if it's janitorial, if it's anything, I've been applying.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): President Joe Biden is proposing giving $15 billion in grants to working families to pay for childcare as part of his stimulus plan.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Enable parents, particularly women, to get back to work.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): And some companies, like Spotify, Google and Facebook, are offering perks, like additional paid family leave or remote work from anywhere. Accenture is committing to hire 150 moms as a start.

GASAWAY: This is where I applied to jobs while my son takes naps.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The pandemic giving new meaning to work life balance for mothers.

YURKEVICH: How are you feeling about your future?

GASAWAY: I want to be something that makes my son proud and I think he would want me to continue pushing and, you know, continue trying to help other people and just be back in the workforce.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Vanessa Yurkevich, Brooklyn, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: NASA's sophisticated new rover has made a dramatic landing on Mars. We'll tell you about the historic moment. Stay with us.

[04:50:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Well you have to hand it to Percy. That's the nickname NASA scientists have given Perseverance. The rover that just wowed the world with its nail biting arrival on Mars. Percy is bristling with instruments other rovers never had as it tries to tell us whether life existed on our closest planetary neighbor. Our Michael Holmes has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NASA MISSION CONTROL: Touchdown confirmed, Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars. MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (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 (voice-over): 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.

[04:55:00]

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 goal that has been with the science community for decades.

HOLMES (voice-over): 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 drone 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.

Michael Holmes, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: I watched that live with my young son. And I think he was a little disappointed that nobody actually got out of that rover. But still, it was super cool.

That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. "EARLY START" is up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NASA MISSION CONTROL: Touchdown confirmed. Perseverance safely on the surface of Mars ready to begin seeking the strands of past life. At this time, the parachute has flown away a safe distance.

Perseverance is continuing to transmit direct through Mars orbiters to earth.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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