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Biden Touts COVID Relief as U.S. Surpasses 500,000 Deaths; Canada Struggles with Vaccine Supply Issues; Biden, Trudeau to Hold Virtual Bilateral Meeting; Sister of Slain Myanmar Protester Speaks Out; Remembering the 500,000+ Victims of COVID-19. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired February 23, 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]
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The GOP concerns has left the onus entirely on Congressional Democrats to pass the plan with zero margin for error in the 50-50 Senate where a fight over the $15 minimum wage is looming with two moderate Democrats opposed and progressive Democrats ready to fight.
REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): I know there are questions about whether or not the Senate can get it through, but I can tell you, Dana, this $15 minimum wage increase would mean 30 million Americans would get a raise.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): White House officials tell CNN they believe the provision will run afoul of Senate rules and be stripped. But the high wire act Biden and his team face on full display on another front.
NEERA TANDEN, NOMINEE FOR DIRECTOR, OFFICE AND MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: I deeply regret and apologize for my language and some of my past language.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): The nomination of Neera Tanden to lead Biden's Office and Management and Budget, officially on the ropes. With Democratic Senator Joe Manchin opposed in part due to, quote, overtly partisan statements made on Twitter.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president nominated her because he believes she'd be a stellar OMB director. She has two committee votes this week and we're working toward that. And we'll continue to work in supporting her nomination.
MATTINGLY (voice-over): The White House sticking with Tanden for now. But two key Republican moderates, Senator Susan Collins and Mitt Romney are also no votes and the pathways to confirmation are quickly disappearing. For one Biden nominee though, what appears to be a clear road to the cabinet.
MERRICK GARLAND, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: I am honored to appear before you today --
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Merrick garland, Biden's pick for attorney general, doing well enough in the first day of his confirmation hearing to have one Democrat willing to say this.
SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D-VT): You're going to be confirmed, I'll bet my farm in Vermont on that.
MATTINGLY: And then a sharp contrast to his predecessor, President Biden making clear that he they just want to acknowledge the death toll, he wants to pause, take it in and ensure that everybody remembers the 500,000 lives that have been lost due to COVID over the course of less than a year.
And keep in mind, it was just a little bit more than a month ago that Joe Biden standing at the Lincoln Memorial held a memorial remembrance for the 400,000 lives lost at that point. It has been a little more than a month and 100,000 more have died. But President Biden has made very clear throughout his time in office that while they were focused on vaccinations, on putting an end to the pandemic, on doing whatever they need today do on the public health and economic side to turn the corner, he also wants to pause and remember 500,000 lives lost. And as he said on January 19th and likely to reiterate many times over, in order to heal, you must remember.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: And leaders around the world know that the best way to help in end this pandemic is to get people vaccinated. But as Dr. Anthony Fauci says doing that fairly is a huge task.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We need to get vaccines produced and distributed in an equitable way, not only in the United States, because it is clear that each country must take care of their own, but also the equitable distribution as mentioned by Dr. Tedros, a vaccine so that we realize that this is a global pandemic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And while some countries like the United States are moving ahead with vaccinations, others like Canada, they're really struggling with supply cut off from American manufactured vaccines right next door. Many Canadians just have to wait. Our Paula Newton takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Back in December it all looked so promising. Canada's first vaccine shots plunged into arms raising spirits and expectations. But two months later supplies are down to a trickle. David and Carol Green are like so many house bound seniors now waiting and worrying.
CAROL GREEN, RETIREE: On one hand you try to be reasonable and then on the other hand you're screaming your head off and saying, you know, what's wrong here? You know, why are we not doing something else, you know?
DAVID GREEN, RETIREE: We are frustrated. I'm frustrated by the fact I don't see any news here, other than what's happening with the shots.
NEWTON (voice-over): Both in their 70s, the Greens have no idea when they'll be vaccinated and with new variants stalking the globe, they're terrified the vaccines won't come soon enough. All of this in a country that says it has purchased more doses than anyone per capita than anyone. The problem, the timeline. Both Pfizer, BioNtech and Moderna the only vaccine so far approved in Canada, have had manufacturing delays. And then there's the so-called vaccine nationalism. Europe and the U.S. are prioritizing doses for themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: In the U.S., the CDC says more than 44 million people have received at least one dose.
[04:35:00]
That's about 13.3 percent of the population. Health Canada says just over 972,000 Canadians have received at least one dose. That is about 2.5 percent of the population.
So vaccines are just one of the key issues likely to come up when President Joe Biden meets with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau later today. For more let's bring in Andrew McDougall. He is a London based opinion columnist, and former director of communications for former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Thank you so much for joining us.
ANDREW MCDOUGALL, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR FORMER CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER STEPHEN HARPER: My pleasure, thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So with Canada facing a vaccine dilemma, Prime Minister Trudeau will likely ask for help from President Biden. But the U.S. president is focused on vaccinating his own citizens first, particularly with a death toll surpassing half a million. So how delicate will this meeting be and what impact could the vaccine issue have ultimately on the U.S.-Canadian relationship?
MCDOUGALL: Well I think it's going to be, Rosemary, overall a very friendly meeting between two people that see the world much the same way. But to your point, yes, vaccines are something that Justin Trudeau would love to have more of and something President Biden is producing more of in the United States. And I think the best Canada can expect out of this meeting, quite frankly, is to not have the scab picked at -- the vaccine scab picked at by the U.S. president.
And expect Biden to say some warm words about working with its ally in Canada down the road, potentially when other vaccines get approved and production revs up even more. But I don't expect we'll see a resolution or an agreement today on that. I think this will be about, you know, for Biden, the States once again treating its allies in a friendly manner, if not doing what they want. And for Canada to joy having a rational actor inside the White House.
CHURCH: Right, and of course, China will be the other big issue the two leaders will inevitably tackle. They both want good relations with Beijing, but also need to show a united front on issues like human rights abuses, retaliatory abductions, currency manipulation and more. How do they achieve that?
MCDOUGALL: Well, I think that's the question of the age for the world is, how do you take on China. And, you know, the Biden administration has come in with strong words about human rights issues. Yesterday Justin Trudeau abstained on a vote in Canada's parliament on declaring what's happening in western China a genocide. So the two allies there are on the wrong front.
And of course as you note, Canada's had two citizens abducted by Chinese officials for over 800 days now because of an ongoing extradition case involving the former Huawei CFO, which is a U.S. court action. So I'm sure Trudeau will want Biden to give him an update on how that process is coming. Because as long as the two Michaels are abducted in China, bilateral relations between China and Canada can't really progress. So hopefully Justin Trudeau can get President Biden to come on board in a way that President Trump never was with trying to resolve this issue so that it frees up diplomatic action elsewhere.
CHURCH: Yes, we'll watch to see what happens there. And of course, what do both leaders need to get out of this meeting? And what do they need to do to restart their economies and work together on that?
MCDOUGALL: Well I think, Rosemary, the number one thing is getting the border open. You know, it's the longest under defended border in the world. The second largest goods trade for the United States after Mexico. And there really is no full steam economic recovery in the United States without the Canadian border operating friction free and getting people across.
And that's why I think Prime Minister Trudeau would have a compelling case to the president to say, look, vaccinating only the United States only gets you so far. If Canada is vaccinated as well, our economies can get back on track. You know, our auto manufactures can start passing parts and people across the border with complete freedom, as opposed to the reduced flow that we've seen over these past five, six, seven months. So, again, that's where vaccination ties into the economy. And hopefully Justin Trudeau can get the president to move a bit.
CHURCH: We'll see what comes out of that meeting. Andrew McDougall, many thanks for talking to us, appreciate it.
MCDOUGALL: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well Myanmar's military is threatening deadly violence if protester confront security forces. But huge crowds like this one are still demonstrating against the coup. Coming up, an exclusive interview with the family of a woman who died during the protest.
[04:40:00]
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CHURCH: Well people in Myanmar are remembering loved ones who died during protests against the military coup. One family held a funeral earlier in Mandalay for a man in his 30s. He's one of two people who died when police opened fire. Authorities say the officers were attacked with sticks and knives.
CNN's Paula Hancocks joins me now live from Seoul. And Paula, despite deadly threats from Myanmar's military, protestors have defied getting out on the streets in a massive show of force. What is the latest on this?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well that's right, Rosemary. And the numbers that we saw on Monday looking at those live streams of different protests across the country, were quite remarkable. There were, as you say, massive numbers of people that came out onto the street despite the military saying they could, quote, suffer loss of life if they confronted the police. But of course, it was too late for a number of protestors who have already lost their life. We spoke to the family of the first casualty who died on Friday. This is what her sister had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (voice-over): This is the moment Mya Thwe Thwe Khine is shot dead in the head, taking cover from the water cannon at a February protest in the capital of Naypyidaw. She can be seen here wearing a helmet. A gunshot is heard, and she drops to the ground. Her sister was by her side and thought she had fainted.
MYA THATOE NWE, SISTER OF SLAIN PROTESTOR (through translator): I shouted, help! Help me move her to the side. Someone said that we should take her helmet off. Only then did we realize she'd been shot. I was praying to Buddha for her to recover, for nothing to have happened. How do I explain this feeling? If I describe it, I keep seeing it.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Mya Thwe Thwe Khine leaves behind a 4-year-old daughter. Her sister says the whole family is devastated, but proud.
MYA (through translator): For us, she is still a kid, even though she was 20 years old. She was carefree, loved to go out, to eat, and to read horror stories.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): She turned 20 while in critical condition. Her family marked her birthday at the hospital. The military tried to transfer her to the military hospital while she was still being treated, according to one of the doctors, but he says they refused.
That doctor is now in hiding, fearing arrest. He would only speak to us if we concealed his identity.
[04:45:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE, DOCTOR NOW IN HIDING, FEARING ARREST: I believe that they want to make -- they wanted to take off the media attention and also, they would try to conceal the evidence of this incident.
HANCOCKS: Do you think there was ever a chance to be able to save her?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With this type of injury, it is already -- we have to say it has already been too late once she arrived at the hospital, because she's already -- she's already in a state like coma.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): X-rays show the bullet lodged in the patient's brain, and the doctor says the autopsy confirms it was a live bullet that killed her. The family had asked her doctors to share the medical report and autopsy with CNN. Her sister says her only crime is that she threw a water bottle at police.
The military issued a statement in the military-controlled newspaper, saying Mya Thwe Thwe Khine was throwing stones at the riot police. The military also says the bullet that killed her is not the same ammunition used by police, claiming only anti-riot weapons were used. Amnesty International accuses the police of firing live ammunition into the crowd of protestors.
Amnesty says it investigated this photo from AFP news agency and says it was taken across the road from the protesters. According to Amnesty's investigation, a police officer is holding a locally-made variant of an Uzi sub-machine gun, but it is not claiming that this person fired the shot that killed Mya Thwe Thwe Khine.
CNN cannot independently verify the image, and it is unclear who fired the shot that killed Mya Thwe Thwe Khine. The military says the police will handle the investigation.
Supporters lined the streets of her funeral procession Sunday. She has become a symbol of the pro-democracy movement. Her sister says she will be back out on the streets after the mourning period and has a message for the military.
MYA (through translator): We do not hate the individual soldier or the policeman. We're all from the same country. But we don't want to dictatorship, so please, don't side with the thieves, but with the civilians. And don't bully us, even if you can't join us.
HANCOCKS (voice-over): Mya Thwe Thwe Khine is the first casualty in Myanmar's fight for democracy. Two more deaths over the weekend have already shown she is not the last.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANCOCKS (on camera): The state media has reported on this case as well, saying that there was a state administration council this Tuesday, a meeting also attended by the military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, and they discussed this particular protest. They're pointing out that she was rioting Now this is something denied by the sister saying that she threw a water bottle. But the military saying that she was in a crowd that was throwing stones. Also claiming the military that they only used rubber bullets and not live rounds -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: It is a tragic situation. Paula Hancocks bringing us up to date on what is happening in Myanmar. Many thanks.
Well Iran ups the ante in the standoff over its nuclear program. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei says his country could enrich uranium up to 60 percent if they needed to, in order to develop new technologies. Sixty percent would put Iran well on its way to weapons grade enrichment, which is 90 percent. The Ayatollah tweeted that Iran is not after nuclear weapons but won't limit its enrichment to 20 percent either. He says Iran will enrich uranium to any extent necessary for the country, even if that means going up to 60 percent.
Well as Americans mourn their loved ones, we will take a look at a few of the 500,000 lives lost in the U.S. and the shattered families they have left behind.
[04:50:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: As the U.S. marks the devastating milestone of 500,000 COVID- 19 deaths, we want to remember just a few of those who have lost their battle with the virus. Here's CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To heal, we must remember.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): No one is immune from COVID-19. Not the young and healthy, not the elderly, and not health care workers who risked their own lives to save others.
Samantha Diaz dreamed of becoming a nurse so she could help others. She was working toward that dream in her job as a medical assistant. Although worried about being in the office during the pandemic, she also needed the money to care for her children.
Then Samantha died, just nine days before her 30th birthday. The single mother leaves behind a one-year-old, a two-year-old, and a 15- year-old. Diaz's mother has quit her job to raise her three grandchildren but worries she won't live long enough to seen them all reach adulthood.
Dr. Susan Moore was a mother, physician and advocate. When Dr. Moore was diagnosed with COVID-19, she documented her battle on her Facebook page.
DR. SUSAN MOORE, COVID-19 VICTIM: I was hurting.
GUPTA (voice-over): And she detailed her fight to receive equitable health care as a black woman, according to "The New York Times". The Indiana doctor loved practicing medicine, helping others, and was a member of the Delta Sigma Beta Sorority according to a GoFundMe created in her honor. BIDEN: Going to shine the lights in the darkness along the sacred pool of reflection, remember all who was lost.
GUPTA: When racial tensions in the 1970s erupted on to New York streets, Corky Lee captured it all. A crusader of photographic justice his work, memorialized the contributions of Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders -- a legacy, he thought was often ignored in American history.
He began his career photographing protests that followed the beating of a Chinese American man by New York City officers. Over the next five decades, Lee's lens exposed the hard truth of racism, labor, and housing, while capturing the beauty of the Asian-American community.
His latest work documented racially motivated attacks toward Asians during this pandemic. At the time of his death, Lee was producing a film about his life's work.
[04:55:00]
Award winning NBA reporter and analyst Sekou Smith had a career spanning more than two decades. He reported four NBATV and NBA.com and spent 11 years reporting for Turner Sports. Public tributes honoring Smith's life came from NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, and retired NBA great, Dwyane Wade. He leaves behind his wife Heather, and their three children.
Marshall McKay was one of the most prominent Native American leaders in the country. "The L.A. Times" reports that McKay pushed for economic independence for his people and help set up a successful tribal casino and resort near Sacramento.
McKay sat on the boards with the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington and the Autry Museum in Los Angeles, where he became the first indigenous person to chair the museum's board of trustees.
In December, McKay and his wife both tested positive for the coronavirus. She recovered, he did not. Marshall MacKay was 68 years old.
Jonathan Coelho was just 32 when he contracted the coronavirus. He spent 28 days in the hospital, 20 of them on a ventilator. But he seemed to improve. Then his wife Katie got a call from a hospital nurse telling her to come quickly. By the time she arrived, he was gone.
When she got home, she turned on his phone and found he had left his life insurance information on it along with a heartbreaking final love letter. It read in part --
You are truly one-of-a-kind. Make sure you live your life with happiness and that same passion that made me fall in love with you. Seeing you be the best mom to the kids is the greatest thing I've ever experienced.
KATIE COELHO, JONATHAN COELHO'S WIFE: Tell me you love so I have it on video.
JONATHAN COELHO, VICTIM OF COVID-19: I love you.
K. COELHO: OK.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Thank you always. Thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is next. You're watching CNN.
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