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Boeing Grounds All Triple 7 Aircraft; WHO To Publish Recommendation About Wuhan Visit; U.S. Reaches 500,000 COVID Deaths; U.K. Expected To Ease Restrictions; Myanmar Military Threatens Protestors Saying They Will "Suffer The Loss Of Life"; Biden Faces Complex Road Ahead with China; Italy Marks One-Year Since First COVID Lockdown; Texas Storm Impact Sparks Debate on U.S. Infrastructure. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 22, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Boeing is calling for the grounding of all Triple 7 planes with a specific engine, like this one which left a large debris field near Denver but, amazingly, no injuries.

Resilience in the face of danger. Protesters in Myanmar taking to the streets as the military threatens their lives. We're live in the region for you.

And the report on what caused coronavirus isn't out till next week but we've got some exclusive details about what it says. Hear everything we know about Patient Zero.

Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. Appreciate your company. I'm Michael Holmes. And this is CNN

NEWSROOM.

The engine failure of the United Airlines flight from Denver is having some very serious consequences. Boeing wants all Triple 7s that use that engine to be grounded.

United Airlines has already done that, temporarily taking 2 dozen of their Boeing Triple 7s out of service.

And now a team from the company that makes the engine will be working with investigators to look into the flight engine's failures.

Now take a look at this terrifying video of the engine on fire. U.S. regulators ramping up inspections of that Pratt & Whitney engine.

Officials say the early examination shows two fan blades were fractured and the remaining blades show some damage. The flight landed in Denver, all 241 people on board were safe. That's good news.

But have a look at what happened to the debris.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(Noise)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Just amazing to watch. Parts of the plane falling outside a home in Colorado. Incredibly perhaps, and fortunately, no one was hurt.

Meanwhile, the repercussions of the incident being felt on the other side of the globe. Japan ordering all of its domestic airlines to temporarily stop operating Boeing Triple 7s equipped with the same type of engine.

CNN's Pete Munteanu following the story of the United Airlines incident and has details of the investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're getting our first window into what may have played a major role in that dramatic in-flight failure of United Airlines flight 328.

The National Transportation Safety Board now says one of the fan blades of the right-hand engine of that Boeing Triple 7 broke off, damaged another one and other fan blades -- in fact, investigators were able to find parts inside the inner containment ring of the jet engine -- now begins the process of piecing this altogether.

And the focal point of the investigation will really be Pratt & Whitney PW4000 engine, the one specific to the Boeing Triple 7 200 in this incident.

In fact, the FAA has ordered emergency inspections of the fan blades on the Pratt & Whitney PW4000 and United Airlines says it's removing all of its Boeing Triple 7 200s with the Pratt & Whitney engine from service.

That includes 24 airplanes, United Airlines the only operator of that airplane with that specific engine in the United States. Even though the Pratt & Whitney a workhorse in civilian and commercial aviation, more than 2,500 of them in service.

MUNTEAN (On Camera): Pete Munteanu, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Let's go now to Japan where the government there, the transportation ministry, has taken action.

CNN's Blake Essig is live from Tokyo.

Quick to move there. What have officials done?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael. Japan is the first to act, it'll be interesting to see if other countries soon follow suit. Japan's transport ministry earlier today ordered the suspension of all

domestic air carriers operating the Boeing Triple 7 aircraft with that Pratt and Whitney PW4000 series engine. And at this point, there's no timeline as to when those planes will no longer be grounded.

And that includes two air carries here in Japan. There's Japan Airlines and Nippon Airways who operate roughly 19 and 13 of that specific aircraft here in the country, Michael.

HOLMES: And, as I understand it, Japan had problems with this particular plane and engine in the past. Which was that about?

[01:05:00]

ESSIG: Yes, Michael. Actually, just late last year, in December, a serious incident involving the Boeing Triple 7 with that same engine.

There was a flight from Okinawa to Tokyo that had to make an emergency landing back in Okinawa when the Japan Airlines flight reported that the engine covering on the left side of the plane this time had fallen off during the flight. No injuries were reported.

Now CNN has reached out to Boeing regarding that incident and they had no comment.

At this point, again, no timeline as to when that Boeing Triple 7 with this specific engine will no longer be suspended. Again, the biggest question is will other countries follow Japan's lead? Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, indeed. Blake, good to see you. Blake Essig in Tokyo there for us.

HOLMES: Now officials in the Netherlands are investigating an incident eerily similar to what happened in Colorado.

Several cars and houses damaged when pieces of metal fell from the engine of a Boeing 747 cargo plane shortly after takeoff on Saturday -- 747, not a Triple 7. Two people on the ground were slightly injured by the falling debris. The plane was diverted to Belgium and landed safely.

Worth noting that while both Boeing planes had Pratt & Whitney engines, the issue with the fan blades that is thought to be behind the problem in Colorado was specific to the Pratt & Whitney engines on the Triple 7.

All right. We're going to take a quick break.

England could soon start to ease its coronavirus lockdown. The prime minister says he has a plan but it will depend on a number of factors. We'll have the details for you.

Also, the U.S. on the verge of another COVID milestone. A heartbreaking one.

Experts say there is hope, though, as long as people follow the guidelines. Details on what they're recommending after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(CNN HIGHLIGHT)

PHILIP HYLDGAARD, COO, A21: What we're seeing with the statistics is that is majority young people, children, who are actually being trafficked.

And I think this cause speaks to young people in a special way.

My name is Philip Hyldgaard and I'm based here in Copenhagen. I'm the COO of A21. A21 is an anti-human trafficking organization and we have a mission to abolish slavery everywhere forever.

In 2019, we had a Walk for Freedom happening in 500 cities in 51 countries around the world on the same day, all marching in a single line through their major city to raise awareness about human trafficking.

Of course, with COVID and government restrictions we were not able to -- we didn't find it was responsible to host Walk for Freedom in 2020 and we had to pivot and find something else that we could do to continue to be a voice to this.

[01:10:00]

And we came up with an event called the Global Freedom Summit. We had over 2,100 events happening in October on the same day organized in 71 countries around the world.

I think everyone has a passion for their lives to count for something more. And what greater cause than to ensure that we all have this freedom of life?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Myanmar's military leaders are warning protesters that they will quote, "suffer the loss of life" if they keep up their civil disobedience campaign.

The country's leading pro-democracy group, though, is calling for historic demonstrations today, as they put it. Tens of thousands of people have been marching every day for more than two weeks now.

And they have already suffered the loss of life. Three people killed by police gunfire. Hundreds of mourners turning out for the funeral of the first woman killed.

Activists say despite the military threats they're not backing down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAUNG SWE, NATIONAL LEAGUE FOR DEMOCRACY PARLIAMENT MEMBER (Through Translator): We pay our respect to all the heroes who died for protesting against military dictatorship. We swear that we will continue the civil disobedience movement until we succeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Paula Hancocks covering this for us from Seoul in South Korea.

It seems like a very -- you look at the demonstrations, you look at the funeral, an emotional time for protesters. And at the same time, facing a pretty severe warning from the military.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michael.

We're seeing significant numbers of people out on the streets of Myanmar in a number of different cities, seeing live streams from different areas and people appear to have heeded the call to come out onto the streets.

As you say, the movement is looking for this to be a historic day. And for people to close shops, close businesses and come out to call for democracy and call for the reinstating of their democratically elected government.

Now there is also a rallying call, as you say, just one day after the funeral of Mya Thwet Thwet Khine, a 20-year-old woman who was the first casualty on the protestors' side since that February first coup.

Now a little earlier today, I spoke to her sister who was with her at the February 9th protest when she was shot in Naypyidaw, in the capital. And she said that she was there because she was determined that she wanted to fight for democracy.

She also said that no one knew what had happened to her at the time, they thought that she had just fainted as we see video of her falling to the ground. And the doctors that I spoke to say that she never regained consciousness and then she died on Friday.

On also on Saturday, two more people according to emergency services, lost their lives in Mandalay, in another city.

So this is certainly a concern, the fact that the military has made this fairly stark warning saying that they would suffer the loss of life. Also saying that protesters are inciting violence, that they have been using what they called, quote "prescribed crowd dispersal methods."

But when the crowds turn to riots and anarchy, in their words, they say that they had no choice but to fire back.

Now what we heard from the U.N. special rapporteur, Tom Andrews, he's tweeted about this saying, quote, he is --

"Deeply concerned with an ominous public warning [from] the junta that protesters are inciting the people."

A little later on in the tweet, saying -- "Unlike [the] 1988" -- which of course was the bloody crackdown of the previous uprising -- "actions [...] are being recorded and you will be held accountable."

Now this is really a key line we're hearing from the U.N., the U.S., a number of world leaders, that the world is watching. And that those who do use force against protesters will be held accountable.

Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, OK. Paula, we'll have to leave it there. Paula Hancocks in Seoul, keeping an eye on that. Thanks.

Now the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 far and away, of course, the worst in the world is steadily approaching half a million. The country expected to reach that terrible number in the next few days after over a year -- just after a year after reporting its first death from the virus.

[01:15:00]

Now on Sunday, the front page of "The New York Times" revealed the scale of the tragedy. It showed a gray wall made up of 500,000 individual dots, each one representing a loss -- a life lost to COVID.

Health experts still predict thousands more deaths and they're urging people to double down on safety measures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: It's really horrible. It's something that is historic, it's nothing like we've ever been through in the last 102 years since the 1918 influenza pandemic.

People decades from now, Dana, are going to be talking about this as a terribly historic milestone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, at this point, more Americans have died from COVID than from battle during World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined.

Now, despite the heartbreaking numbers, health experts do see light at the end of the tunnel.

CNN's Polo Sandoval reports on how the U.S. is trying to bring its crisis under control.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Some hope from the nation's top infectious disease expert. Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" it's possible the country may start returning to normal by the end of this year. But until then, he says, mask wearing and social distancing measures

are critical.

DANA BASH, CNN STATE OF THE UNION: You're fully vaccinated; are you seeing your family?

FAUCI: Right now, not yet. Not yet. I would look forward to it within a reasonable period of time as the rest of my family gets vaccinated.

SANDOVAL: Fauci also insists that, for now, the U.S. is sticking with a two-dose schedule, backed up by data and clinical trials. This comes amid debate about delaying second doses to make more first doses available to the public.

The White House promises to make up for lost ground after winter weather delayed the delivery of about six million doses last week.

New York's vaccine counter showing fewer than a 1,000 first doses remaining in the city.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: So we've been able to get about 2 million of those 6 million doses out. We expect to rapidly catch up this week, fill that backlog, make sure they're out to communities and also meet our deadlines and our timelines of the doses that are due to go out this upcoming week.

SANDOVAL: Despite delays, vaccines still making it into arms at a rate of around 1.5 million a day nationally even in parts of the country difficult to access by land.

This V.A. clinic in rural central Oregon became the first to fly in their vaccine doses, making them available to older veterans.

And described as a massive Vax-A-Thon, this Philadelphia 24-hour vaccination clinic got more than 4,000 people their first shot this weekend.

UNKNOWN: They see this as potentially saving their lives but also giving them their livelihood back.

UNKNOWN: I have a husband, I have children and grandchildren and I want to be around to be with them.

SANDOVAL: Expect global attention to once again focus on the origins of the virus.

JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We do not believe that China has made available sufficient original data into how this pandemic began to spread both in China and then eventually around the world.

And we believe that both the WHO and China should step up on this matter.

SANDOVAL: Investigators tell CNN a preliminary report from the World Health Organization will soon be released.

It's expected to call for extensive contact tracing of the first known COVID-19 patient back in late 2019. Investigators believe the patient was an office worker in his forties from Wuhan, China.

Also key to the investigation, a closer look at supply chains in the Huanan seafood market that's thought to have played a role in the early stages of the pandemic before the virus started spreading in the United States.

Well, New York City reported that there was less than 1,000 COVID-19 available vaccines just yesterday meaning that this next allotment cannot come soon enough. The City describing those doses on hand as the total number available for providers in New York City to administer.

A spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio's office said over the weekend that weather-delayed shipments actually, but the city's entire vaccine effort at a standstill last week. City health officials said the deliveries are expected by today.

This means more sought after appointments for first doses will likely opening up here very soon. As of yesterday, New York City has administered about 1.5 million vaccines.

Also, quick update on New York state's single day positivity rate. That dropped to just about three percent for the first time since Thanksgiving.

SANDOVAL (On Camera): Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, will soon announce his plan to slowly lift England's coronavirus lockdown. This could begin March 8. And it would depend on several factors

including whether the ongoing vaccine program continues successfully.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more on the rollout, and other headlines from the U.K.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: The British government is making a big pledge.

All adults should get their vaccination by the end of July. Also, all the over 50s, that deadline is moving up. They should all be getting their vaccination by mid-April.

[01:20:00]

This country's vaccination program, one of the fastest in the world, it's highly praised. But the prime minister says we can go even faster and further with the vaccination program. The health secretary reassuring the public that there are enough supplies to pull off these very ambitious plans.

Now, of course, this has increased the hope, the expectation of return to some form of normal life. But that won't happen overnight.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to lay out a road map out of lockdown on Monday. And there will be a few key indicators there that will help make these decisions.

Hospitalization rates, infection rates, key data on whether or not people who are vaccinated can transmit the virus although they might be protected from the virus themselves.

The prime minister warning that these rules must be easily and cautiously slowed starting first of all with the key priority, which is schools. Those could be open as early as March 8th. There might be a staggered reopening, we'll find out more on Monday.

The second priority is, of course, the economy; non-essential shops, reopening those. And finally, the road map should also give deadlines for the hospitality industry. So pubs, bars, hotels, when those will reopen as well.

Now this decision, the government says, must be driven by the science. That's why we'll see a slow, gradual but irreversible reopening and loosening of rules.

ABDELAZIZ (On Camera): Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Mexico's deputy health minister says his country is expecting its first shipment of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine to arrive on Monday night, as Matt Rivers reports for us.

It comes amid anger, and frustration, over the pace of Mexico's vaccination efforts so far.

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Juan Manuel Diaz Senhor Dominguez (ph) has been waiting a long time to stand in this line, the 65-year old about to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

He says, honestly, there's been some flaws but at least they've gotten started. The process is slow, but it's moving.

And the vaccine rollout here is picking up speed. More people have been vaccinated in just the past week than in the previous two months. The government says all health care workers will be fully vaccinated by this week. All people aged 60 and older are now eligible.

And Mexico also has agreements in place to secure up to about 232 million doses of different vaccines. The Mexican president says we're doing well getting vaccines despite the fact that there is such high demand for them worldwide and little production.

And yet, despite all that, Mexico is woefully short of actually vaccinating its people. As of Saturday, just 1.65 million vaccine doses had been administered,

0.3 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated -- the U.S. has done about 50 times that number.

And though it has agreements to eventually receive more than 230 million doses, it's unclear when they'll actually get here.

DR. XAVIER TELLO, HEALTHY POLICY EXPERT: We have this uncertainty on how many doses will arrive into Mexico, and when. We really don't know, we are just guessing.

SANDOVAL: The government has said 900,000 doses will get here by next week and hopes to get millions more in March. But the vast majority of expected doses have no set in stone delivery schedule.

CNN repeatedly asked the health ministry for more specific timelines but officials declined to answer.

There's also criticism that the government's rollout has not only been slow, but confusing.

Alejandra Lopez De Frao's (ph) mom couldn't get a vaccine this day. Her mom lives with her in the neighborhood that the clinic services but her mom's official I.D. says she lives somewhere else. So vaccine denied.

She says I'm very, very angry because I've taken someone out who hasn't even walked to the corner in months to get a vaccine and they won't give her one.

Luceta Rodriguez's (ph) dad is the same way. The 87-year-old cooped up inside for months. He was denied a vaccine for the same problem with his I.D.

She says I'm super frustrated because everything is badly organized. They don't give you any clarity.

Examples like that make Juan Manuel feel lucky. He says I'm really happy to be one of the few that gets one because so many can't get vaccinated and so many have died.

So in he went to get his first dose. In Mexico, how many can follow him, and how quickly, is an open question.

RIVERS (Voice Over): Matt Rivers, CNN, in the Cuajimalpa borough of Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: We're getting an early look at the World Health Organization's findings on the origins of COVID-19.

In an exclusive report, Nick Paton Walsh looks at what the WHO will recommend and why it's likely to raise more questions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATION SECURITY EDITOR: While this WHO investigation into the origins of the coronavirus is drafting a preliminary report after its month-long mission awaited for a whole year into China to look at some of the early signs --

[01:25:00]

-- we've been told by some of the investigators -- remember here looking into something so vital as to where coronavirus came from, so we can stop it happening again -- that, in this preliminary report, there will be two key initial recommendations, among others as well.

The first relates to a man considered to be the first patient that China has accepted was infected with the disease.

This is a man in his forties, an office worker from Wuhan, lives with his wife and child. Not thought to have an exotic travel history or lifestyle but was infected on December the 8th.

Now in an interview with the WHO team this man said that his parents had visited a local wet market. Now wet markets are places often where wildlife are sold which are a key part in looking into how the coronavirus may have spread to humans because people get into contact with all sorts of exotic animals, particularly in Chinese wet markets.

It's thought that the parents, in fact, had tested negative at a later stage. But still, scientists in the WHO team want to see a deeper contact tracing of that one man, where his parents went. And also want to know the name of the wet market they're thought to have attended.

That's one recommendation. Deeper contact tracing of the first known patient.

The second one relates to the Huanan wet market. That's the seafood market you may have heard of before that many consider to be integral to the beginnings of the outbreak.

In fact, two-thirds of some of the early patients studied in one study by The Lancet had links to that particular market.

Now, the WHO panel, they want to look into the supply chain of the Huanan seafood market, the farms in the southern provinces of China which supply produce to that particular wet market; live animals, possibly, or frozen animals as well.

Key, of course, because in the south of China there are known to be many species that could harbor the novel coronavirus or possibly get into contact with maybe bats or other animals that could possibly have led to it being spread between species and species and eventually getting to humans.

Two key recommendations there. Contact tracing early patients and looking into the supply chain of one of the major outbreak areas in December 2019. But I have to tell you, when I put these two recommendations to some

independent scientists, they said -- well, one of them, it was frankly implausible that China hadn't already done these studies.

China's so advanced, so hungry for knowledge in science, surely so keen and curious to find out how this virus got into its own population. They thought it was highly unlikely China hadn't already looked at this but may not be making those findings public to the WHO.

Another independent scientist said, look, it's surprising to him that China, given they were recently able to mobilize most of Beijing to hunt down the source of a recent COVID-19 outbreak there in recent months, didn't think about investing in these two parts of the investigation already.

So, much surprise, frankly, that the two key things the WHO panel want to see done now aren't things that China, already did, months and, months ago.

There'll be many who say that leans towards a bit of revealing as to how transparent China's being, but China has said it has always been transparent with the WHO panel and said recently -- this foreign ministry spokesperson -- that an independent investigation isn't the same as one that, necessarily, corroborates Western prejudices that China is to blame.

But these two key findings of the WHO panel currently being put into a preliminary report, we understand, from talking to those familiar with its drafting will recommend a deeper contact tracing of the first known patient, December 8th infected, and also investigating the supply chain of the Huanan seafood market.

Two things, frankly, you would have thought that already would have already been done but possibly things China may allow to have happen next.

It really depends if that WHO team is let back into China to continue its investigation.

PATON WALSH (On Camera): Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: We're going to take a quick break on the program.

Still to come, though. Nobody said repairing the relationship between the U.S. and China would be easy. We'll talk about the challenges facing President Biden when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:32:48]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to our viewers all around the world.

I'm Michael Holmes.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Appreciate your company.

Well, China thinks its relationship with the U.S. has been damaged immeasurably by the Trump administration. That was the message delivered by the Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a major speech just a few hours ago.

He says "Relations were the worst they have been since the two countries established diplomatic ties." And he says President Trump essentially took an axe to the dialogue process.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): In the past few years, the U.S. Had cut off bilateral ties at almost all levels. That became one of the main reasons of the deteriorating relationship.

We are always prepared to start an open public dialog with the U.S. that is aimed at solving problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now President Joe Biden of course, a very different kind of leader to his predecessor. But the disagreements between the U.S. and China are historic and complex. So Mr. Biden is not facing a clear nor easy road ahead.

Kristie Lu Stout is in Hong Kong for us to discuss all of this.

So you've got this call from China to work with Beijing, restore the bilateral relationship damaged under Donald Trump. You're a China watcher. What signals did you take from what you heard? A lot of it is nuanced.

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of it is nuanced. It was an interesting opening keynote address at the luncheon forum delivered by the Chinese state counselor and foreign minister Wang Yi earlier today in Beijing. Messaging that we frankly have heard before but also some revelatory moments.

Now, in this address, Wang Yi, he basically asked for a reset in U.S.- China relations, as well as respect for China's core values. As you just mentioned, Michael, we heard from Wang Yi slamming the previous administration, blaming the Trump administration for current difficulties between the U.S. and China.

Wang Yi also urging U.S. lawmakers to stop smearing China's ruling communist party and to stop supporting separatist forces. He also underscored the need for these two major world powers to get back on the right track. And again, asserting that need to respect China's core interests, all the (INAUDIBLE) before.

[01:05:02]

But what was interesting was what Wang Yi said about Xinjiang especially given these rising calls from the west for greater access to investigate human rights abuses in Xinjiang. I want you to listen to what Wang Yi said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YI: Xinjiang, Tibet and other areas where ethnic minorities live are even more important examples of human rights progress in China. Over the past 60 years, Xinjiang's economic aggregate has increased by more than 200 times.

The per capita GDP has increased by nearly 40 times and the average life expectancy has increased from 30 to 72 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now China has been widely condemned for setting up and operating these vast complexes in Xinjiang. China calls them vocational training centers designed to stamp out extremism, provide job training. Critics call them concentration camps.

But as you heard just then from China's foreign ministry on Xinjiang, he hails the economic development achieved in Xinjiang as evidence of human rights progress in China, Michael.

HOLMES: I wanted to quickly ask you, you know, what other issues you see going forward? I mean as you said, Mr. Wong specifically mentioned -- I mean he talked about conniving with separatists forces in Taiwan. He said the usual, don't interfere in China's internal affairs.

What other roadblocks can you see -- or road bumps can you see in this relationship?

STOUT: You know, there are a host of roadblocks ahead, as we have been discussing for months now. A number of friction points. Points of contention between the U.S. and China. Whether it's trade or technology or Taiwan or human rights abuses in Xinjiang, or Hong Kong, or assertions of sovereignty in the South China Sea.

But it's interesting to note that the U.S. right now during this critical moment of bilateral relations is distracted. You know the United States -- and China is aware of this -- is distracted by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which is reaching that grim new milestone of half a million deaths in the United States as well as its economy being very weak.

China meanwhile, has largely contained the pandemic. Its economy is strong. It's investing in the future. This is going to be a key challenge ahead for the new U.S. president. Back to you.

HOLMES: That's a great point. A distracted by the pandemic.

Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, always a pleasure. Good to get your analysis there.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, it was one year ago today that Europe saw its first glimpse of what life under COVID lockdown would look like. We're going to take you to Italy where it started -- next.

[01:37:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Monday marks one year since Italy's first coronavirus lockdown and the first lockdown in Europe. The images of silent streets and exhausted medics spooked the continent and pointed to a sign of things to come.

CNN's Delia Gallagher revisits the town that had Italy's first recorded COVID-19 case to see how they're doing now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): February 21st, 2020 is a date the people of Codogno, Italy will never forget. It was here in this tiny town that Italy's first case of COVID-19 was reported resulting in a complete lockdown of their town and the beginning of what would become a national and international pandemic.

President Pietro Cervi says "It was the mother of all tests. We live differently now."

The mayor of Codogno Francesco Passerini says he still gets goose bumps when he remembers that day which took them all by surprise.

"It seemed (ph) the risk in Europe," he says, "was practically zero. Nothing. Instead it was among us and had already stricken."

From that first patient, Italy has seen the disease spread to more than 2.7 million citizens and close to 100,000 have died. 324 people died in Codogno from COVID in the first three months alone. In a town of only 16,000 residents, this past year has taken its toll.

"We lost so many friends", says resident Dario Cuarti (ph), so many relatives, and they are never coming back.

Codogno was the first town to go into strict lockdown. The Codogno model was followed soon after by other towns and eventually the entire country. One year on, Codogno residents echo sentiments felt by many across Italy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's crazy. I don't want to live like this anymore. No. No. No.

GALLAGHER: Mayor Passerini is optimistic that things have improved.

"Last year we were really fighting bare handed," he says, "an enemy that we couldn't see and didn't know. This year we make giant steps both in prevention and in diagnosis."

The mayor says he's proud of his town, a front line he says where the battle was fought and where resistance, and resilience continue.

Delia Gallagher, CNN -- Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And when we come back here on CNN NEWSROOM, strangers helping strangers after a hellish week of unprecedented winter weather. We'll show you how people in Texas have managed to pull through together.

[01:43:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Officials in Israel are anticipating months, maybe years of costly cleanup after a ship spilled oil along much of its Mediterranean shoreline. An investigation underway to locate that ship thousands of volunteers helping to pick up some of the sticky black debris on Sunday.

A winter storm last week made it hard to see the tower approaching. Environmental groups are calling it a disaster.

It has been a deadly week since -- a week since that deadly arctic storm hit much of the U.S. crippling Texas and power outages. There were water problems and more.

At this hour nearly a third of Texas still don't have clean water and thousands are still without electricity. In Houston and many other cities, many have been waiting in long lines for bottled water. Houston's mayor says the crisis could have been averted.

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MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER, HOUSTON, TEXAS: All of what happened this past week was foreseeable and preventable. Our system in Texas is designed primarily for the summer heat, and not necessarily for a winter event.

The reality is that climate change is real. It's real. And these major storms could happen at any time. The system needs to be weatherized. We need to maintain adequate reserve.

We need to open up our Texas grid. Because right now we have a closed grid. We can't get generation from outside of the state because of our system.

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HOLMES: And joining me now is Shalini Vajjhala (ph). She is the founder of Refocus Partners and advises cities on how best to meet climate threats. Good to have you with us. This is such an important topic.

We saw -- all of us saw what happened in Texas where infrastructure failed. But you know, it's not just this winter blast in Texas. There's fires and landslides in California, a sewage back flow that happened in D.C., coastal roads collapsing. I know that you argue that much of American infrastructure across the board is fundamentally unprepared for climate shocks. What does and what will that result in?

SHALINI VAJJHALA, FOUNDER, REFOCUS PARTNERS: Hi, Michael, thanks for having me. I think that will result in is a very fragile and brittle system where we see increasingly sever failures and more cascading failures across sectors where a power disruption leads to water disruptions for example.

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HOLMES: You tweeted on Sunday, and I just want to quote part of it for people here. Quote, "When I say we are spending poorly, I mean we are hemorrhaging money today not in some distant future."

Such an important point. Speak then to the false economy theories when it comes to the cost of prevention, fixing vulnerabilities. Because the cost of repair is actually far greater than the cost of mitigation and prevention, isn't it?

VAJJHALA: In many cases, yes. And I think we have enormous challenges when it comes to thinking about costs because we tend to think of climate change as a future problem rather than a present one. And investing in resilience, the things that keep you up and running or help you bounce back quickly are often perceived as successes when something doesn't happen. So, it's very, very politically difficult to justify the cost.

But my team and I, we work with governments at all levels and we try to flip that question around on its head. And so, if you think about something like a transit system in high heat, yes, you have future costs when the heat increases or becomes more extreme, but you also have costs today if you run fewer trains and run them more slowly in high heat, or face greater liability costs from derailment.

And so bringing that investment question and the cost question back today is incredibly important to being able to fix the kinds of problems we're seeing in Texas.

HOLMES: Yes. that's so well put. I mean is it fair to say that the U.S., and not just the U.S., other places as well -- but the U.S. in this discussion, seemed to forever be treating symptoms and not causes?

And the list of potential issues, as we said, covers so much. Power grid, yes -- but roads, bridges, dams, sewers, water supply -- it's hard to get your head around what seems to be a monumental threat. But what's the risk of head in sand?

VAJJHALA: I think the risk of head in sand is potentially greater than over investing. And one of the reasons that we tend to take this short termist (ph) approach is because many of our government systems for purchasing things drive us towards the solutions that are the least cost up front. So if you are looking for the investment that's the lowest cost and that is your definition of the best value, you'll miss all these opportunities to do things across sectors, or for the long term, that save money down the road and actually help communities be better off.

And so I think we have many structural problems that drive this.

HOLMES: That is such an important point. I mean you were quoted in an excellent "New York Times" article on this issue but another person in that piece was Professor Jennifer Jacobs and she said this quote. She said, "A lot of our infrastructure systems have a tipping point and that tipping point could be an inch."

In that context, she was talking about water, I think and bridges and dams. Are things that precarious as climate changes?

VAJJHALA: I don't think everything is that precarious as climate changes, but some things are. And some big things are and we are learning as we go as the events -- as the events hit us. Which is an unfortunately reactive position to be in because many of these systems take years to design and design well.

And that is if you already know what you are building. And so, we are starting on the back foot with a lot of these investments. And one of the big things that we need to do to flip that around is, really think hard about what are the replacements that we would look for if we don't want to just build back what we have, but rather build what we need next?

HOLMES: As we said at the outset, you advise cities on meeting climate threats. What is your most important piece of advice as things stand right now, when it comes to infrastructure, climate change, the threats ahead and, you know, return on investment?

VAJJHALA: I think my most important piece of advice is not to get paralyzed by how awful the situation seems. Almost everything in that "New York Times" article is something that could be a cause for depression. But I think we can really solve this.

If we look at who loses money today, where you are likely to lose more in the future that can help us find different approaches. For example, looking at heat and transit systems, these are things that we can --

HOLMES: Shalini Vajjhala, thank you so much. It's a fascinating and important discussion. And I'm really glad we were able to get you on. Thank you.

VAJJHALA: Thank you.

HOLMES: Now the winter storm has truly showcased the maverick spirit of those in Texas, a state where they take pride in their self- reliance. And we have seen countless stories of strangers helping strangers in this time of need.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Whatever affects Texas affects us.

[01:54:53]

HOLMES (voice over): A commitment to the community that's no sales gimmick. During the recent winter storm, a Houston furniture store owner known and Mattress Mack turned his show room into a shelter for residents needing a place to warm up and have a hot meal.

It is an act of kindness that some will never forget.

BRYAN QUINTANA, IMPACTED BY TEXAS STORM: The coronavirus, I lost my job, you know, my mortgage, and then those pictures looking at my house, it was terrible. And I have to clean it up.

HOLMES: Stories like this of goodness and hospitality have helped melt the ice by brightening the days of Texans enduring hardships caused by the cold temperatures.

Like when delivery driver Chelsea Timmons slid down the icy driveway of the people she was delivering to and couldn't get back out. The home owners got their groceries, and invited Chelsea to wait inside which turned into a five-day stay until the weather cleared and a new friendship.

Then there's the local distillery that decided to open its taps of water and give away free filtered water to anyone with a jug until boil orders are lifted.

Or the grocery store that lost power and with no way of checking people out, let them leave with their supplies without paying.

TIM HENNESSY, RECEIVED FREE GROCERIES DURING STORM: They'll put our groceries on these belts and when we went to check it out said no, don't bother we won't have time to bag anything. I was kind of how are you going to ring it up. She kind of said with her arms --go ahead and you can proceed out the store.

HOLMES: These feel-good moments stretch beyond humankind. Volunteers rescued thousands of sea turtles off San Padre Island who were stunned by the cold and keeping them in warm pools until they can released. A shelter that may not be as cozy as Mattress Mack's showroom but another example of Texas strong.

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HOLMES: Thanks for watching, spending part of your day with me.

I'm Michael Holmes. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @HolmesCNN.

Don't go anywhere though. More CNN NEWSROOM with my colleague, Robyn Curnow in just a moment. Don't miss that.

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