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California Ramps Up Vaccinations In Underserved Areas; Midair Engine Failure On Boeing Jet; Millions Of Texans Without Safe Water; Harsh Weather Causes Backlog In Inoculations; Gaza To Start COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout On Monday; Pro-Democracy Protests Continue After Myanmar Coup; Biden Visits Bob Dole After Cancer Diagnosis; Naomi Osaka Wins 2021 Australian Open. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired February 21, 2021 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM:
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And joining me now is Angelica Salas. She's the executive director for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A fiery engine failure on a Boeing 777 with more than 200 people on board, the plane dropping debris for a mile before somehow landing safely.
The bitter cold temperatures over Texas but the water problems remain, with more than half the state having no access to clean water.
And the winter weather delayed vaccinations and caused transportation delays, forcing some distribution sites to close up shop. (MUSIC PLAYING)
BRUNHUBER: Passengers and onlookers are counting their blessings after a midair emergency risked becoming a deadly disaster. Parts of a passenger plane plunged from the sky above Colorado after a Boeing 777 blew an engine. It eventually landed safely. Fascination quickly turned to concern for those watching from the ground.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, can you grab Josie, so that she doesn't get hit by something?
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: Pieces of the jet rained down on suburban Broomfield near Denver, ending up in front yards and soccer fields. A witness described the moment it happened to CNN earlier.
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KIERAN CAIN, WITNESS: I was playing with our two kids at the local elementary school on the basketball court, just having fun. An airplane was flying really high overhead. And basically what a sounded like a sonic boom made everybody look up.
As we did, we could see there was a giant black cloud of smoke high up in the sky immediately followed by, you know, what looked like pieces of the aircraft really just coming off. And basically a shower of things that were falling out of the sky.
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BRUNHUBER: The engine failure happened shortly after takeoff. It forced the Hawaii-bound flight to return to Denver International Airport. Here is audio of the moment the mayday call went out.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday, United 328 -- United 328, heavy mayday, mayday, aircraft --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 320, again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Denver departure United 328, heavy mayday, aircraft just experienced an engine failure. Need return immediately.
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BRUNHUBER: All 241 passengers and crew on the United Airlines flight made it off safely. The airline says most have since boarded a new flight to Hawaii. Incredibly, there have been no reports of injuries. CNN's Lucy Kafanov is onsite, covering this story and filed this update a short time ago.
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LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we are in Broomfield, Colorado. This was the area most impacted by the debris raining down from United Flight 328, the Boeing 777 that took off from Denver's International Airport. It was bound for Honolulu but minutes after takeoff, the pilots reported a problem with the right engine.
They then turned around and, as they were doing that flying over this area, residents, eyewitnesses on the ground reported hearing the sound of an explosion. One eyewitness described it as a sonic boom and that's when they saw black smoke coming from the plane and pieces of metal raining down.
Just to give you a sense of the scope of the debris field, I mean, down the block behind this cop car is a massive soccer field. There's a dog park, a lot of folks out and about earlier in the day, playing soccer, walking their dogs, enjoying the nicer weather that Denver had earlier in the afternoon.
All of that disrupted by this incredible event. The Broomfield police said they used a massive amount of police tape to section off these areas because, anywhere you go here, you can find pieces of debris. They're still urging residents to report those pieces. They're saying you shouldn't touch that, get the authorities involved.
And a miracle that no one was hurt, not any of the 241 people on board that craft nor any of the residents here on the streets of Colorado -- Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Broomfield, Colorado.
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BRUNHUBER: We have more now from those watching on the ground. This video comes to us from Tyler Thal, he spoke to CNN about why he decided to take out his phone and start recording.
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TYLER THAL, EYEWITNESS: I just couldn't believe it. We were on a walk with our family, just like any other Saturday and there's a low flying airplane. I looked up.
And as I'm looking at it, I actually see, you know, fire burst out of the plane, an explosion.
So you know, I was kind of in shock at first and then you start thinking, oh my gosh, is this plane going to go down?
So I mentioned it to my family. I didn't know what else to do. I pulled out my camera. I grabbed my phone. I didn't know if I was going to call someone or not or who I'd call, but I took the video.
Once the sound from the explosion hit, it was very frightening for my daughter. You could hear her on the video. I just didn't know what to do.
We're far enough away. I wasn't concerned for our safety necessarily, but knowing the area, I knew that was over Broomfield and that is just a populated area, you know, the debris I saw on that soccer field, I'd been there with my family.
So you know, I was absolutely concerned for the people on the ground and the people on that plane. And I'm just thankful they all -- they were all OK.
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BRUNHUBER: As you can imagine, things were even more worrisome for those actually on the plane. Several passengers later described the tense situation.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden there was a loud sound and then it got really, really bad. I thought lightning struck the plane at first.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Initially I think it was certainly panic but I think people did a good job of calming down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of a sudden there's a big explosion out my window. We looked at each other, my wife and I, and held hands and just wished our kids, that we would see them again.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the pilots, they really had a huge hand in making sure everybody felt safe and comfortable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER: All right. Joining me now is Geoffrey Thomas, the editor- in-chief of airlineratings.com.
Thanks so much for joining us. I want to go straight to the dramatic pictures of the engine in flight that we were seeing there.
What can you tell from watching it, as it is sort of wobbling around there in tatters?
GEOFFREY THOMAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AIRLINERATINGS.COM: Yes, Kim. What appears to have happened is a catastrophic fan blade failure in the front fan of the engine, the front section of the engine.
And that's been ingested back into the core of the engine, it's caused the massive explosion and has been very severe, severe enough to cause the cowling -- or the covers that go around the engine -- to rip away from the -- rip away from the engine, exposing it to the passengers.
And, of course, I could also see the fire inside as well. Now this event, this sort of event of this magnitude, is very rare. But having said that, we had a Boeing 777 of Japan Airlines, flying between Okinawa and Tokyo in December, which suffered an almost identical event, with a Pratt & Whitney engine.
And also United Airlines itself suffered a 777 Pratt & Whitney engine, exactly the same event occurred between San Francisco and Honolulu in February 2018.
So while it's a very rare occurrence, we have had three involving a 777 and a Pratt & Whitney engine in the last three years.
BRUNHUBER: We should emphasize we don't know for sure what happened.
But what does suggest to you that it was that fan blade failure?
THOMAS: Well, to do that much damage to the engine, it would need to be a major failure of a component or a massive ingestion of something. But typically it's a -- typically it's a fan blade.
It could also have been the, where the intake is for the engine, part of the paneling there could have come away and been ingested into the engine.
So at this stage it is, as you suggest, speculation. We're going on what's previously happened in two previous events as a likely scenario. But it will be quite some time before the crash investigators, the NTSB, are able to give us more detail of exactly what happened.
BRUNHUBER: I mean, something like that, it must affect the controllability of the aircraft.
What's the challenge for the pilot, trying to fly and to land a plane in that condition?
THOMAS: Well, you've got, first of all, a twin engine airplane like a 777, 787, A330, A350, they are all designed to fly on one engine.
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THOMAS: That part is not an issue. Where the problem comes is where you have the vibration of that engine causing controllability issues.
If the engine -- if the damage to the engine moves away from there and, for instance, we get puncher marks -- punchers of the wing, we get control -- hydraulic lines damaged, electrical wires damaged, that could introduce further problems for the pilot in the controlling of the aircraft when you get additional subsequent damage to the airframe.
We don't appear to have had any of that in this particular case. The big issue was the vibration and, also, of course, to get the airplane on the ground as quickly as possible.
BRUNHUBER: And then, as much as there was danger in the sky, there was danger on the ground, too, with all of that debris flying through the air. It seems like a miracle that no one was hurt.
THOMAS: Indeed, Kim, you have hit the nail right on the head. It is a miracle. There was a lot of debris showering down from that aircraft. Some of that debris or a lot of that debris is heavy.
There were certainly some minor parts that were floating down because they are a composite structure, very light. But there were some very big pieces that, if they hit anybody, they probably would have killed them. So it certainly was a miracle.
BRUNHUBER: So then, you know, with that debris field, all of that stuff will be very key to sort of piecing together literally what happened.
How do they go about doing this?
THOMAS: Yes, well, the FAA quickly put out a tweet, a statement on social media streams as well, asking residents of Broomfield and surrounding areas not to touch the debris. Leave it exactly where it was. Just advise the FAA, the NTSB, that there is a piece of debris in
their front or back yard so they can examine it because we certainly don't want residents picking it up and souveniring it because they may be souveniring a very, very important part in the investigation.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Well, listen, thank you so much for your analysis on this story. We really appreciate it. Geoffrey Thomas.
THOMPSON: Pleasure, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the deepening crisis of broken water lines in Texas, 14 million people across the state have no ready access to fresh water. We will have that story just ahead.
And amid all the problems in Texas, we're also learning about heroes. Ahead, how the drivers of these jeeps there are helping front-line workers and the elderly. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: A major water crisis has developed in Texas, leading to long lines for bottled water. The deadly winter storm that hit much of the U.S. disrupted hundreds of public water systems.
On Saturday, more than 14 million Texans were without water and still more than 200,000 customers are without power across several states. Community organizations and National Guard troops are helping to get food and water to those in need. CNN's Omar Jimenez has more from Austin.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The water's not even bubbling.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The lights may be on but across parts of Texas the water isn't. Drinking water still needed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a panic mode that we didn't have enough drinking water. We would love showers but we'll get that when we get our water turned back on.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): Texans waiting in long lines just to pick up cases of water, with nearly half the state under boil water advisories.
MAYOR STEVE ADLER (D), AUSTIN, TX: This is a community of people that are scared and upset and angry. We're eventually going to need some better answers. But right now we're just trying to get water to our neighbors.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): But it's not just drinking water. Some residents can't even flush the toilet without melting snow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We relocated back to our house, five adults and two dogs, and we started harvesting snow because we also lost water at that point. Harvesting snow for toilet water.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): That lack of water making it difficult for those suffering from kidney failure. Some dialysis clinics have been forced to temporarily close, meaning patients have to go to the hospital to keep their kidneys from shutting down.
DR. PAUL NADER, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS DELL MEDICAL SCHOOL: So we've had double, sometimes triple coverages of physicians at all the hospitals. We cover many hospitals in Austin.
Ordinarily we finish most of our dialysis between about 8:00 and 5:00 or 6:00 at night for a regular day. We were working 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, dialyzing patients in the hospital.
JIANG (voice-over): President Joe Biden approving a major disaster declaration for Texas, freeing up more help from FEMA.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): You know, when disaster strikes, this is not just an issue for Texans. This is an issue for our entire country. Disasters don't strike everyone equally.
When you already have so many families in the state and across the country that are on the brink, that can't even afford an emergency to begin with, when you have a disaster like this, it can just set people back for years.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): As residents wait for the water and power to come back, some still forced to use their cars for warmth. Others, if they're lucky, find shelter in a hotel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guests, frankly, it's been the equivalent of camping indoors.
JIMENEZ: And moving forward, officials here are going to start looking at what exactly went wrong over this past week. Among what they're investigating is that many customers here in Texas reported getting extremely high power bills, even amid this catastrophe.
So Texas officials are investigating that.
On the water front, when could we see the water come back to Texas?
Well, in some places, we're well on our way. In Houston, for example, they've reached that minimum threshold for water pressure. Here in Austin, officials are optimistic they can get water citywide by the end of the weekend -- Omar Jimenez, CNN, Austin, Texas.
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BRUNHUBER: And joining me now are James Bartlett and Jarrod Casler, members of the San Angelo, Texas, Jeep Club. Many members have been helping out during the crisis by giving rides on the icy roads to first responders as well as delivering food to the elderly.
Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us here. Just so people understand a bit about the jeep club, you are both veterans. And the club itself no stranger to doing good things, things like organizing cleanups and so on. But this is really going above and beyond.
James, how did this particular idea come about?
JAMES BARTLETT, MEMBER, SAN ANGELO JEEP CLUB: Well, as everybody knows the snowstorm here started pretty early -- or late last week, I apologize. And we are sitting around and discussing just something we could do to help the community.
And the idea came in to kind of get together and get as many folks in the jeep club as we could to just give rides to our local hospital staff. And Jarrod and I talk about it and just put a post up on my personal Facebook. And it just took off and blew up from there really.
BRUNHUBER: And, Jarrod, I mean, tell me, we're seeing some of the pictures that you guys took and sent to us. Tell us what it's been like out there, what kinds of things you've been asked to do and some of the challenges you've run into.
JARROD CASLER, MEMBER, SAN ANGELO JEEP CLUB: One of the -- I would say one of our biggest things is there has been -- Texans are not very used to this amount of snow this fast.
And so when it all came in like this, people were having trouble getting to work. A lot of the people's cars couldn't get out of their driveways. Nobody had snow shovels. People just were not prepared.
So we had a lot of people asking us to pull their cars out of ditches. I know I personally had to pull a bunch of cars out of parking spots because they couldn't even leave the store.
Then we came together and we started giving ride after ride after ride to all the nurses, different first responders. And then the city asked us to help them because they had to shut down their transportation.
They asked us to help transport people from their houses to the warming shelters when all of that -- when everyone's power went out. So we ended up doing a lot of that type of stuff.
And then meals for the elderly, all of their volunteers could also not make it because their vehicles couldn't travel in this. So they reached out to us. So we also did that for them.
BRUNHUBER: It's pretty amazing that the city would reach out to you guys as civilians.
How did people react when you guys show up?
I mean, you are not first responders, you are not even the AAA.
How do people react?
CASLER: It seems like people wanted -- it seems like people -- you know, of course, they were upset that the city wasn't doing it and transporting people all night long. But when they saw us they were all happy again and all the worry went out of their eyes. And they were just happy they could get somewhere warm.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, you can imagine.
James, now that the crisis has expanded from, you know, being just about icy roads and facing the cold to access to food and especially water, how has that changed your mission?
BARTLETT: Well, I mean, for the most part, our roads down here are clear. So it kind of has changed it to where we are not going to be that primary means of transportation for folks. We are still able to offer, you know, ability to get out to get water or to deliver those things if needs be.
We haven't had anybody personally reach out that I know of contact the club. A handful of our members have had people still reach out, some elderly folks who can't get out, people that are further out of town.
And so a lot of our members have stepped up and continued that mission basically on their own, really, just helping take things to people that needed them and just giving them that assistance that, right now, they really desperately need.
BRUNHUBER: I mean, how about yourselves and your families?
I know the city is under a boil water advisory and some folks don't have any water.
How are you and your members doing?
Jarrod, I will start with you.
CASLER: Well, I'm currently sitting at work at the fire station and we've had bottles of water -- we have an amazing community. So people from all over the community have brought cases of water to us so that we have water, so that we can cook for ourselves at night.
The city has -- they're doing all the water testing and, of course, they did the boil water notice. And now they're starting to deliver -- you're allowed to bring a container if you don't -- because a lot of people still don't have water. You are allowed to bring a container and they're filling up containers for people, so that you can just flush a toilet at this point.
BRUNHUBER: And what about you?
BARTLETT: Well, right now -- for right now our neighborhood, I know -- because we are on a different part of the water system, so we do have some water. Now not real good water pressure. But again, the water issue is something we had been dealing with the entire week leading up to the snowstorm. So that's nothing new right now for us. But I know at least in my neighborhood, it's been great.
[04:25:00]
BARTLETT: I mean, everybody has reached out, everybody is trying to help everyone else. My wife, when I was out running folks the other day, was actually telling me that neighbors were going up to other people's houses, making sure they had water, making sure they had everything that they needed and just sharing whatever they could, basically with their fellow neighbors and just trying to help everyone out as best they can.
BRUNHUBER: That's where I want to leave it. It's such a great spirit we're seeing in the community, as horrible as this crisis has been. It's just amazing to -- how many people like yourselves are stepping up and really helping out in their community. And it's really a heartwarming story.
Thank you so much for talking to us and thank you so much for everything you're doing out there. We really appreciate it.
BARTLETT: Thank you.
CASLER: Thank you for having us, sir.
BRUNHUBER: The deep freeze in Texas is beginning to thaw but the crisis isn't over yet.
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BRUNHUBER: Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, brutal winter weather over much of the U.S. has delayed vaccine shipments and getting doses into arms. We will show you how it's also creating uneven vaccine distribution, even in the same city.
Plus the U.K. has been in national lockdown since early January. Why those restrictions are set to ease. We will have a live report from London next. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. Thank you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Severe winter storms have hampered efforts to get more Americans vaccinated against COVID-19. There is now a backlog of vaccine doses waiting to be shipped. And many states are postponing vaccine appointments. White House officials say vaccine deliveries will be ramped up to compensate. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 are dropping in the U.S. New data shows
they are now at the lowest level since early November. That's when cases and deaths were picking up right before the holidays.
And that's not the only bit of good news out of the U.S. A new study from the Mayo Clinic shows coronavirus vaccines may actually prevent infection, not just symptoms. But on the ground some places are running out of doses and turning people away. Paul Vercammen is in Los Angeles for us.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When it comes to the vaccines in Los Angeles, it's the story of the agony and the ecstasy. We'll start with the ecstasy. They've been moving through about 5,000 people a day at this newly opened site at Cal State Los Angeles.
This is the FEMA site, along with California emergency services and the U.S. Army, 220 soldiers. We've thrown in the California National Guard as well. They're putting shots into arms at a rapid clip.
This is designed to serve an underserved community, primarily Latino in this part of Los Angeles. They've had no issues with vaccine supply here. In fact, it's moving smoothly.
But at Dodger Stadium, they had to shut down the site. They just couldn't get shipments from Kentucky and Tennessee. They don't know when they'll reopen at Dodger Stadium. But frustration as, lo, tens of thousands of people had to be turned away.
Now back here to Cal State Los Angeles. We spoke with a soldier, an Army medic. He had tours of duty in Mosul among other places, two tours in Iraq. He saw mass casualties, gunshot victims, people who had stepped on IEDs. And now he's fighting a virus on American soil.
SGT. GERRARDO GUZMAN, U.S. ARMY: I was trained to be a life saver. So that's my primary job. But this is also what I joined the army to do, not only just to help people overseas but also to help people at home.
That's one thing I'm extremely proud to be doing at this time. The fight against COVID has been a fight that we've been fighting for the past year. And it's been -- I'm glad to be fighting against it.
VERCAMMEN: Now also here in Los Angeles County, which is a patchwork of vaccine sites, the L.A. County sites have been up and running, different from the L.A. City sites and as you can see behind me this new pilot program site, one of the 100 proposed by the Biden-Harris administration.
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VERCAMMEN: It is moving people through at a fairly fast pace.
Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: The road map to easing coronavirus measures in the United Kingdom is set to be unveiled on Monday. Prime minister Boris Johnson is spending the weekend finalizing details. The country entered its third national lockdown back in early January. Mr. Johnson had said that reopening schools is the priority.
This is all thanks to the success of the U.K.'s vaccine rollout. It's hoped every adult in the country can get a first dose of the vaccine by the end of July. Here to discuss further is CNN's Salma Abdelaziz in London.
It sounds as though there's welcome news for many in the U.K.
What are we expect to go hear on Monday?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: Kim, as it usually goes here, there's good news and then there's usually some tough news to follow.
So the good news today, the government making a pledge that everyone, every adult in this country, should be able to get their vaccine by July 31st. That is a month ahead of schedule. They're also now promising that all of those over 50 should be able to get their vaccine by mid-April. That's a couple of weeks ahead of schedule.
The prime minister saying that he wants to see the country's vaccination program move faster and further, although it's already the third highest in the world. He wants it to move even faster, vaccinate people even quicker.
But vaccinations do not necessarily mean that restrictions and rules can be lifted. The health secretary, Matt Hancock, was on air just about an hour ago. He said that the prime minister is still determining what he will announce tomorrow in terms of a road map to ease lockdown restrictions.
The health secretary also said there will be enough supplies to vaccinate people, to vaccinate all the adults by the end of July but that that does not mean that restrictions can be loosened anytime soon.
Yes, although you can be vaccinated, we're still learning more about whether or not that means you can still pass on the virus, Kim. So a lot of data, a lot of numbers will be revealed tomorrow, I think, that indicate what are the hospitalization rates currently, what are the infection rates currently, what is the latest science on transmission for those who are vaccinated.
The order of things should be that schools are the priority, March 8th, that's the plan, that's the earliest that they could reopen. That might be a staggered reopening to allow for students and teachers to be tested.
Second in line, nonessential shops, essentially reopening the economy once that's safe and finally the prime minister should give us a timeline for when the hospitality industry, hotels, bars and restaurants will open as well. It will be a gradual and steady and irreversible reopening.
But all of these steps have to be taken carefully. We do know one of the restrictions that will be eased is on care home residents. Starting March 8th, they can have one regular visitor and now they can hold hands with that regular visitor, a little bit relief for people who have lived under really tough rules.
BRUNHUBER: Great news there. Thank you so much, Salma Abdelaziz in London.
Australia's prime minister is now among the first in his country to get a coronavirus vaccination.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Here this was the scene as Scott Morrison got a dose of the Pfizer BioNTech shot. He says he wants to prove the vaccine is safe and get it to the most vulnerable. The mass vaccination program is scheduled to start on Monday. Some 60,000 doses are expected to be administered by the end of the month.
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BRUNHUBER: Palestinian health officials say the first vaccinations in Gaza will also start on Monday. Health officials say 2,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine arrived from Ramallah in recent days. CNN's Sam Kiley is standing by in Jerusalem.
Sam, it will be a welcome moment for those in Gaza; though, I imagine, with that relief, is the frustration that it's taking so long.
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, the Palestinian Authority -- and this is where it gets complicated, Kim -- is in charge of vaccinations in areas under their control. That's most of the West Bank but also in Gaza, where they are not in political control. Gaza is dominated by the Hamas group, which is designated a terrorist organization in the U.S.
Nonetheless there are just 2,000 vaccinations due to arrive from the Palestinian Authority there on Monday, alongside another 20,000, hope to come in, from the United Arab Emirates, a donation there from a Gulf nation.
Bitterly criticized by the Palestinian leadership for its normalization policies with Israel, which has resulted now in the swearing-in recently of the Emirati ambassador to what used to be called, in that part of the world, the Zionist entity, now very much Israel.
So good news a little bit for the Palestinians, although they are a fair way off from mass vaccination campaigns.
Here in Israel, the mass vaccinating campaign, which has been leading the world, has resulted in a reduction in the level of restrictions on the country today.
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KILEY: Although the airspace remains closed until March the 6th. And under discussion and indeed it's going to be interesting to see how they apply it, the Israeli authorities will be bringing in what they call a green passport, a vaccination certificate, that would allow people to enter certain areas, where people, confined together, are likely to transmit the disease, such as gyms and elsewhere.
That is being challenged on human rights and freedom grounds by its critics. But really the Israelis are concerned that the vaccination campaign is plateauing and they need to get over the line to their target, vaccinating everybody by the end of March or anybody who needs to be vaccinated by the end of March.
They are concerned that they might need to use a bit of the old stick as well as the carrot to get the vaccination campaign to that level, Kim.
BRUNHUBER: Interesting. Thanks for walking us through all of that. Sam Kiley in Jerusalem.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, Myanmar protesters refusing to cave to political violence. The latest on their fight to end a military coup just ahead.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): There were more pro-democracy protests in Myanmar today and they followed the deadliest day of demonstrations so far. A volunteer emergency worker tells Reuters two people were killed and 23 were wounded Saturday, when police opened fire on protesters in Mandalay.
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BRUNHUBER: World leaders are watching all of this with alarm. They're warning military leaders against a continued crackdown on demonstrations. For more on this, Selina Wang joins us from Tokyo.
The escalation and use of violence by the military, is that a sign that the protests and especially the campaign of civil disobedience are having an effect?
Or is it just pushing the military into a corner here?
[04:45:00]
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kim, in reaction to these protests that have continued for 16 consecutive days, we are seeing more violence coming from the police. But despite that, we are not seeing these protesters back down. We've
spoken to many, who say they are fearful of the arrests. They are fearful of more of these early morning raids that have been happening. But they say they are fighting for their future.
Many of these protesters have also lived through the brutal military rule. They've tasted democracy. They are not ready to give it up.
You had mentioned the violence that happened on Saturday, when police in Mandalay opened fire, killing at least two and injuring at least 20. This is according to Reuters and AFP, who had cited emergency workers on the ground.
CNN has confirmed that live rounds as well as tear gas was used to disperse the protesters. In one video CNN had, you can see people fleeing from the police, taking shelter and hiding wherever they can.
In another video, you can see a person being taken away by medics. And this follows the death of a young woman on Friday, who had a shot to her head. This young woman has now become a symbol for the movement, galvanizing the protesters who, Kim, every day, are risking arrest.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. I mentioned earlier the growing global backlash among the latest that we saw in terms of international condemnation, the British foreign secretary and the Singaporean foreign ministry.
What challenges do countries face in their response to this takeover having an impact while not harming civilians?
WANG: Kim, that's exactly right. This is an extremely challenging balancing act for countries around the world.
For instance, you take a look at the reaction from the U.S., U.S. President Joe Biden said that U.S. will be sanctioning Myanmar's military leaders as well as imposing strong export controls. Biden has stressed that these sanctions will only target Myanmar's military.
But there still are concerns that the measures will impact the lives of ordinary innocent people. In fact, the U.S. had imposed those wide- reaching sanctions on the military in the 1990s and the 2000s, which led to a devastating impact on Myanmar's economy.
In fact, some analysts say that those measures had an even greater impact on Myanmar's ordinary citizens than the military rule did.
Here in Japan, they are also in a predicament. The country has condemned the military coup but they've also taken a more cautious stance. The concern here is that efforts to isolate Myanmar will push it further away from democratic countries while pushing it closer into China's hands.
Japan is also very concerned about the business ramifications. Japanese companies have invested massively into Myanmar in recent years. Its carmakers were among the first to enter the market. And the strategic importance of Myanmar is really showing that, for these Asian countries, like Japan, cutting off ties is very difficult. Kim. BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. All right. Thank you so much, CNN's Selina Wang in Tokyo.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency is now in Tehran to discuss Iran's nuclear program. The trip comes after Iran suggested it would reduce cooperation with the organization.
Just days ago, the Biden administration announced it's willing to talk with Iran about the way forward. The nations have been at a stalemate since the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Iran wants the U.S. to lift all sanctions imposed by the Trump administration.
Donald Trump's absence from the public spotlight will end next Saturday, just five weeks after leaving the White House. A source tells CNN he will be speaking at CPAC, the upcoming Conservative Political Action Conference.
Sources say Trump's vice president, Mike Pence, won't be there. CNN has also earned that one of Trump's former campaign managers met with him at Mar-a-lago this week.
U.S. President Joe Biden took some time this week to visit a former colleague and represent that bipartisan friendships do exist. Arlette Saenz explains.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden made a surprise stop on Saturday to visit a longtime friend, former senator Bob Dole. He had announced earlier that he was recently diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. He'll begin treatment for that on Monday.
The president spent a little over an hour visiting With dole at the Watergate. The two men have a longtime relationship after serving decades together on Capitol Hill. Bob Dole is a Republican and Joe Biden a Democrat.
So the two forged this bipartisan relationship, sometimes being at odds with one another, but still forging that friendship during their time in the Senate.
[04:50:00]
The president was asked how Bob Dole was doing. The president says he's doing well -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER: Britain's hospitalized Prince Philip got a visit on Saturday from his son, Prince Charles. The 99-year-old Duke of Edinburg is expected to stay in the hospital in London through the weekend for observation and rest.
Prince Philip was admitted on Tuesday after feeling unwell, according to a royal source. This wasn't an emergency or related to the coronavirus. A source says his wife, Queen Elizabeth, remains at Windsor Castle near London.
We'll be right back.
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BRUNHUBER: The men's singles final at the Australian Open tennis tournament is happening right now and we're keeping a close eye, as number one rated Novak Djokovic of Serbia, the defending champ, faces Russian Daniil Medvedev for the title.
Djokovic just took the first set 7-5.
On the women's side Japan's Naomi Osaka showed once again why she is the one to beat. The 23-year-old won the title in until just under 1.5 hours. After the match she talked about not only her 21-match win streak but about becoming more consistent. But it's her long-term goal that might be even more impressive.
[04:55:00]
BRUNHUBER: Listen to this.
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NAOMI OSAKA, AUSTRALIAN OPEN CHAMPION: Hopefully, I play long enough to play a girl that said that I was once her favorite player or something. For me I think that's the coolest thing that could ever happen to me. I think I have those feelings of, you know, watching my favorite players.
Unfortunately, I didn't get to play Li Na. But, yes, I just think that that's how the sport moves forward.
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BRUNHUBER: And this win is Osaka's fourth grand slam title and second Australian Open win.
A 21-year-old British woman has become the youngest female to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean. Jasmine Harrison completed the 3,000 mile or 4,800-kilometer journey from Spain to Antigua on Saturday.
It took her just over 70 days to complete the challenge, according to organizer Atlantic Campaigns. Harrison said she had a near collision with a drilling ship and two capsizes and she ate lots of peanut butter and Nutella along the way. She hopes her journey brings, quote, "inspiration to young people that it is OK to go at things alone."
An Ohio bomb squad made a surprise discovery, responding to a call about a suspicious bag found outside a church. Well, they weren't met with ticking but purring coming from the bag. Six newborn kittens and their mother were discovered with a note saying the mother went into labor the day before. The cats are now safely in a foster home.
Much better story there. That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. I will be back in just a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.
