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Tiger Woods Suffers Multiple Leg Injuries In Single-Car Accident; WHO: Sixth Consecutive Week of Declining Global COVID-19 Cases; Russia Trying to Overcome Vaccine Hesitancy; Vaccine Makers Working on Boosters for Variants; Senate Hearing on Capitol Attack; India Begins Shipping Vaccines across Africa; Abu Dhabi Reopens Schools with New COVID-19 Guidelines. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired February 24, 2021 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, you are watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, Tiger Woods awake and responsive after being hospitalized with serious injuries from a high speed car crash. We will have the latest.
Then, an exclusive look inside Russia's COVID-19 vaccine factory.
Plus strict new guidelines for returning to school in Abu Dhabi.
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CHURCH: And we start this hour with breaking news. Golfing legend Tiger Woods is awake and responsive recovering in a level one trauma center near Los Angeles after a single car accident on Tuesday.
A new post on his Twitter account details the hours of surgery he underwent on his right leg and ankle. His car ran off the road and rolled over several times. Paramedics say he was conscious when they arrived and they pulled him out of the wreckage through the windshield. We spoke last hour with an emergency room doctor about his injuries.
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DR. EMILY PORTER, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: It sounds like he got sliced basically from ankle to knee, with a big surgical incision. And then he has a rod in his major -- these two bones in your leg, his lower leg and the tibia is the bigger ones. So he has a big rod jammed in there. That's going to hurt. And then pins in his foot and his ankle, which will make it harder for him to walk. His balance will be off, because there will be a lot of stiffness and he will probably battle with arthritis in that foot, too. So he will be in for a couple of months just in a cast, properly, 6-8
weeks in a cast. Then that comes off. And as you know, when you're in a cast, your muscles get weaker they atrophy because you can't move in a cast. And then you have to go through all the rehab of building up the muscles.
So I would say that he is 3-6 months before he will be able to thinking about being competitive, just from my guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: We get more from CNN's Nick Watt, reporting from the scene of that crash.
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NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Early morning, a winding downhill stretch of road, Tiger Woods was alone in that SUV, trapped.
The first contact was with the center median and from there then crossed into the opposing lane of traffic, hit the curb, hit a tree and there were several rollovers during that process. He was alive and he was conscious.
WATT (voice-over): The first call came in just after 7:00 am Pacific time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (from captions): Traffic collision, ALS now, person is trapped.
WATT (voice-over): Emergency personnel on the scene within minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We also used an ax to pry him from the vehicle. He was taken from the vehicle with seat -- a collar and backboard for spinal precautions. He was transported in serious but stable condition.
WATT (voice-over): Less than 10 miles to UCLA Harbor hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All we know that a serious condition as a result of the accident and that is about all they want to. Say
WATT (voice-over): No sobriety test due to his injuries.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No evidence of impairment at this point in time.
WATT (voice-over): Woods lives in Florida.
So why was he on the West Coast?
Well, you can almost read the word Genesis Invitational on the door of that crumpled SUV. Woods was hosting that tournament, just a few miles off the coast. It ended Sunday. He wasn't playing but spoke about his chances of making it to the Masters in April, the scene of his most famous triumphs. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seven weeks from today, final round of the
Masters, you're going to be there?
TIGER WOODS, GOLFER: God, I hope so.
(LAUGHTER)
WOODS: I have to get there first.
(CROSSTALK)
WOODS: A lot of it -- a lot of it is based on my surgeon, my doctors and my therapist.
WATT (voice-over): Yesterday, Woods was back on the golf course. Former NBA star Dwyane Wade posted this video.
DWYANE WADE, FORMER NBA STAR: Tiger, thank you for teaching me something.
How good am I?
Or how bad am I?
WOODS: Good.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATT (voice-over): Tuesday morning this: not life-threatening we're told but a blow to all the world of sports.
Golf legend Jack Nicklaus tweeting, "Barbara and I just heard about Tiger's accident and, like everyone else, we are deeply concerned. We want to offer him our heartfelt support and prayers at this difficult time. Please join us in wishing Tiger a successful surgery and all the best for a full recovery."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And we are also getting a better sense of what it was like at the scene of that crash, here's more from Nick Watt.
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WATT (voice-over): Tiger Woods was driving down the hill on the other side of the road, somehow lost control, crossed the median, hit this curb and then flipped. The county sheriff said that he flipped multiple times in that SUV, through all of this undergrowth.
And look, look how far he traveled, all the way down here, rolling through, hit a tree and then his car landed way further down here. The first deputy on the scene, a young man called Carlos Gonzales
(ph), said that he thought that Tiger Woods was lucky to get out of this alive. And, frankly, I agree with him.
This is still -- I am still walking where his car was rolling. And this is where Tiger Woods' car ended up. Apparently, he was calm but Deputy Gonzales said that maybe that was shocked, compound fractures to his legs, conscious when the emergency services arrived.
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CHURCH: Nick Watt there. And for more on Tiger Woods' career and future, CNN "WORLD SPORT" anchor Patrick Snell joins me now live.
Patrick, Tiger Woods awake and responsive after his surgery.
What more are you learning about the crash and the consequences?
Because it is about his future now.
PATRICK SNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really is Rosemary, no question about that. Thankfully we have now learned that Tiger Woods is awake and responsive, as you have been detailing, recovering in hospital.
And we certainly wish him all the very best in that recovery. I will say, you never write off a man who has come back from such a pounding bleak circumstances in the past. Remember in 2017, at the time he had what was hailed as career-saving spinal fusion surgery back then.
What happened a year later in 2018?
He won the tour championship right here in Atlanta for his first victory in more than 5 years. And that was the springboard for what happened in 2019, when he won the Masters, the coveted green jacket, a special moment he was able to share with his children, his first major in 11 years.
But you reference that accident so I'm going to tap into that now and remind our viewers what happened on Tuesday out there in southern California. For perspective, Woods will turn 46 later this year. He is a 15 time major winner and trapped right inside after a single vehicle rollover crash just outside of L.A., where Woods had been hosting a PGA Tour event over the weekend.
That's why he was in California at the time. The vehicle going across 2 lanes of the road before hitting a curb, a tree and landing on its side off the roadway. Woods was conscious, taken by ambulance to hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries.
And firefighters, for more perspective on this, firefighters having to break the car's windscreen with an ax just to get the golfer out.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been doing this for a while and I have seen fatal traffic collisions so I will say that it was very fortunate Mr. Woods was able to come out of this alive.
When I arrived on the scene, Mr. Woods was seated in the driver's seat. I made contact with him and I ensured that he was able to speak to me. At that time, he seemed as though he was still calm and lucid. I made the determination it would be safer to wait L.A. County Fire to help remove him instead of trying to remove him myself.
I kept Mr. Woods calm until L.A. County Fire arrived on the scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: In terms of the weeks ahead, it is going to be a long haul for Tiger Woods. We have been learning more as you detailed, basically about that hours-long surgery. He had the pins involved, the rod involved in those surgical procedures on the right foot and ankle area.
The Masters is scheduled for April, a number of 6-7-8 weeks away. That is the tournament that I think privately Woods had been hoping to try and be fit for. Just for further context, he had had a fifth surgery on his back in late 2020. And he privately I'm sure had been hoping to be fit for that.
But of course, this changes absolutely everything. This past weekend in the U.S. he was sharing some thoughts with the CBS network about how he hoped to be fit for that tournament. Not giving too much away, I will say he did reference the fact that he has only got one back as well.
But as I say, what we witnessed on Tuesday, now we're into Wednesday and we're following it very carefully. That's going to change everything, Rosemary. Back to you.
CHURCH: Yes, he has months ahead of him of recovery and rehabilitation. We will continue to follow the story. Patrick Snell, many thanks to you.
And be sure to stay with CNN. "WORLD SPORT" will have more on this in 40 minutes from now.
The World Health Organization says COVID-19 cases have dropped around the globe for a sixth consecutive week.
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CHURCH: It says cases fell by 11 percent in the week leading up to February 21st. You can see the countries with falling rates on this map in green. If we can just bring that map up.
The WHO says reports of new variants are increasing and there is mixed news out of Europe. France is seeing more patients in intensive care units, while levels in Spain have dropped below extreme risk for the first time in two months. Melissa Bell joins us live from Paris with more on what is going on.
Good to see you, Melissa, we are seeing COVID cases decline around the world.
How is Europe responding to that in terms of restrictions?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is just as you said, from the WHO's latest statement, the problem of the spread of the variants in Europe. We have seen the restrictions generally begin to stabilize.
But because of pockets of the extremely fast spread of the more contagious variant, the one first identified in the U.K., we are seeing a more regional approach to restrictions and in some cases restrictions are being tightened. So going the other way specifically because of the spread of those new variants.
There is a case here in the French Riviera; the next two weekends there will be a partial local lockdown down there. The city of Dunkirk in the very north of France also seeing extremely high infection rates, much higher than the national average, again, because of the spread of that variant.
It is the case of other European countries as well, Italy has seen Lombardy increase their restrictions once again. You'll remember that was the heart of the first wave. It is now saying, local health officials facing their third wave. Again it is because of the problem of the spread of those variants.
What we've seen is that European countries are really trying first of all, to impose more regional tightened restrictions in order to bring them down under control, introducing also travel restrictions. In fact the European Union is asking several countries to justify their increased travel restrictions beyond what the E.U. had agreed back in December, because it says some of those restrictions are beginning to get in the way of the free flow of people.
But also more specifically of supply chains and that is worrying to them. We're hearing that Stockholm in Sweden, they are urging citizens there to avoid traveling and to be wearing masks on public transport, again because the capital has seen over the past week a 27 percent increase in the number of new COVID cases.
Pockets of increased worsened situations because of those variants, even as Europe looks to try to organize and better coordinate its internal market, even in the face of the difficulty of allowing people to travel, when we are seeing those extremely contagious strains taking over.
In Germany it is now every 5th case of COVID that is put down to that U.K. variant, so it is an extremely worrying situation in so many countries. Denmark one sliver of hope we are expecting to hear today some more about how the country plans to open up over the next weeks. But again it will be on a regional basis and authorities have been very clear that where the COVID figures remain bad, the restrictions will remain in place.
CHURCH: Melissa Bell, bringing us the latest from Paris. Many thanks.
Russia's Sputnik V vaccine appears to be a global success with pre- orders from dozens of countries but Russians themselves aren't nearly as enthusiastic. So health officials are trying to overcome their resistance as they ramp up production. CNN got exclusive access to the country's biggest vaccination production facility and our Matthew Chance got his first shot.
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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT v: The site was once a Cold War biological weapons center, secret, remote and closed. But CNN has gained exclusive access to the high-tech facility, where Russia now makes Sputnik V, its controversial but effective COVID-19 vaccine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most important part is to get the extra pure (ph) clean and trial (ph) water and this --
CHANCE (voice-over): Every step in the large-scale process had to be carefully calibrated, the key scientist tells me, delaying mass production Sputnik V vaccine approved in August last year until now.
CHANCE: Have you made that step, are you already producing millions of vaccines, millions of doses every month?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we are producing several millions of vaccine every single month and we are hoping soon to get even higher amount in maybe like 10-20 millions a month.
CHANCE (voice-over): With those numbers, Russian officials now say that any healthy adult here who want Sputnik V could have. It opening pop up clinics like this one at a Moscow mall, encouraging shoppers to get vaccinated.
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CHANCE (voice-over): Offering every a free ice cream with every jab to sweeten the deal.
Even the secretive Russian lab that pioneered Sputnik V has opened its doors. Offering the vaccine directly as it were from the source.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Roll up.
CHANCE: OK, I'm rolling up.
I'm not that nervous about having the Russian vaccine because --
(INAUDIBLE) --
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CHANCE: -- it's had large-scale clinical trials, it's been peer reviewed in a major journal and it's proven to be very. Safe 91.6 percent effective, which is very good. Anyway, it's too late now, because it's been done. The interesting thing though is that I can get a vaccine at all in Russia, given that I'm not in a vulnerable category. CHANCE (voice-over): The fact is a country with one of the world's
highest numbers of COVID-19 infections also has one of its highest vaccine hesitancy rates. Fewer than 40 percent willing to have the jab according to one recent opinion poll. You think that Vladimir Putin would step forward to allay public fears.
Unlike many other world leaders, the Russian president has yet to take the plunge. The Kremlin has said it will announce when a presidential vaccination takes place but in a country that looks to its strongman for the lead, his vaccine hesitancy is doing nothing to bolster confidence.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The vaccine and labeled vaccine is stored before being distributed to the patient.
CHANCE: This is how they're distributed.
How many doses in the box?
CHANCE (voice-over): Still more than 50 countries have ordered Sputnik V according to the RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund. Russians may still be shunning their vaccine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The same boxes are going to Argentina, Brazil and other countries.
CHANCE: Same size wherever it goes in the world.
CHANCE (voice-over): But global demand for Sputnik V continues to surge -- Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow.
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CHURCH: Dr. Jorge Rodriguez is a CNN medical analyst and an internal medicine and viral specialist. He joins us now from Los Angeles.
Thank you for talking to us and for all you do.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Thank you.
CHURCH: More than 44 million Americans have received at least one shot of the COVID-19 vaccine and top vaccine makers have confirmed to Congress they are on track to deliver hundreds of millions of promised doses by June and July, meaning supply will soon meet demand.
So the next problem is getting those shots in arms quickly and efficiently and that's not being done right now.
What are you seeing and how can the current system of appointments and vaccinations be improved?
RODRIGUEZ: What I am seeing are different cities, different states, stepping up to the challenge and creating sites that are going to be taking care of a lot of people. Also, I am seeing some mobile units being created, especially here in Los Angeles, that are going to underserved areas, to serve people that can't go to the places where the vaccines are being given.
Right now, the biggest problem we've had, at least in California and Los Angeles, is supplies. So I think people need to start lining up and going and the infrastructure, especially the communication of it, internet access of it, needs to be ramped up significantly.
CHURCH: Of course, the FDA is set to authorize the emergency use of the single dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine within days. That could be available by next week. AstraZeneca and Novavax are not yet approved.
What's holding up that process?
RODRIGUEZ: That's a good question. I really don't know the answer. I know AstraZeneca has been trying to reassess some of their data, especially since it was shown not to be so effective against the South African variant of this. I am not sure why that's being held up. I think they are having problems convincing people of their efficacy.
CHURCH: Absolutely. And vaccine makers also revealed to Congress that they don't yet know how long vaccine protection will last. And they say that's why they are looking at booster shots that may need to be used for years to come, to also cover the different variants, of course.
How concerned are you that some people may get the virus because the protection from the initial shots has diminished or worn off?
RODRIGUEZ: I am actually not too worried. If you remember, there are tens of thousands of people that receive these vaccines in studies back in October.
[02:20:00]
RODRIGUEZ: And they are being followed on a regular basis. I think we will have at least 2-3 months lead in. If they start seeing that people's antibodies are waning, that would be another call to arms that we do have to start giving boosters.
For all we know, these vaccines could last a year, two years. I have to remind people, there are plenty of volunteers that are in these studies that are ahead of everyone else who has gotten the vaccination and they are being studied very regularly.
CHURCH: We will need those supplies to keep coming as well. Thankfully, we are seeing a decline in deaths, hospitalizations and cases worldwide. But we are all being warned not to let our guard down just yet.
What's your best advice to people right now as they await their vaccine shots?
RODRIGUEZ: My advice is exactly that. This is not the time to become relaxed. For people who have gotten the vaccine, this is also the time to just be careful. The analogy that I give, the winds have stopped and if you want to look outside, do so carefully. You may just be in the eye of the storm. You cannot let your guard down now. We've come this far.
CHURCH: That's a good analogy. We need to keep our masks on, even double mask and just keep on marching on. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, thank you so much.
RODRIGUEZ: My pleasure as always.
CHURCH: Next on CNN NEWSROOM, a bombshell revelation at the Senate hearing on the U.S. Capitol insurrection. Top officials say they missed a very important FBI memo one day before the deadly assault.
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CHURCH: Welcome back.
We have new details of the security failures on the day rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol. At the first congressional hearing on the January 6th attack, 3 former officials responsible for security at the building did admit to failing on some fronts.
But there was a lot of finger pointing and arguments over who knew what and when. Ryan Nobles has more.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time, the key players in charge of protecting the Capitol faced a public grilling about what went wrong on January 6th. The questions revealed a number of breakdowns in communication and planning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of the intelligence we received predicted what actually occurred.
NOBLES (voice-over): Former Capitol police chief Steven Sund said his force did not anticipate the overwhelming crush of people on January 6th.
[02:25:00]
NOBLES (voice-over): That lack of preparation led to confusion as multiple law enforcement agencies and the National Guard were eventually scrambled to the Capitol. The delay as front line officers faced escalating danger.
CAPTAIN CAMEYSHA MENDOZA, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE: I received chemical burns to my face that still have not healed to this day. I witnessed officers being knocked to the ground and hit with various objects that were thrown by rioters.
NOBLES (voice-over): Several officials cited unclear lines of authority, confusion on how to respond, such as who could call in reinforcements.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was surprised at the reluctance to immediately send the National Guard to the Capitol grounds.
NOBLES (voice-over): Republican senators Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley were unironically (ph) participating in the hearing, despite their role in spreading the big lie that the election was stolen, which helped fuel the false narrative that January 6th was the last chance to overturn the election.
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): What can be done differently to ensure that an attack like that never again occurs?
NOBLES (voice-over): But the communication breakdown in leadership was just one issue. The panel was in wide agreement that the insurrection was more than just a spontaneous mob but instead a planned and coordinated attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These people came specifically with equipment. What, you bring climbing gear to a demonstration? You're bringing explosives, chemical spray like Captain Mendoza talked about. You are coming prepared.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we are learning that this was clearly a coordinated effort.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would degree. The evidence would indicate a coordinated attack.
NOBLES: This is just the beginning of what will be multiple examinations into what happened here on January 6th. The Senate Rules Committee chair, Amy Klobuchar, saying she plans to bring officials from both the FBI and Department of Homeland Security in front of her committee.
And then the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, is working on legislation right now that would form a 9/11 style commission that would be tasked at looking at everything that went wrong on January 6th and offering recommendations to make sure it never happens again -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Wealthy countries have been snapping up COVID-19 vaccines. But now shipments of the shots are making their way to poorer nations, including some in Africa, that story coming up next.
Plus, excitement in Abu Dhabi as students head back to school.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I definitely prefer in-person school as opposed to online school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel really fantastic finally being back in school. I have not been in school for almost a year. CHURCH (voice-over): The new COVID rules impacting Abu Dhabi schools
when we come back.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.
India has started shipping AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines to countries across Africa. They were processed at the Serum Institute of India. The vaccine shipment are part of COVAX, a global initiative backed by the World Health Organization, to ensure poor countries are receiving equitable access to the shots.
Ghana is said to be the first country to receive the vaccine through the COVAX program. CNN's David McKenzie joins us now from Johannesburg.
What's the latest on this?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly is a significant moment and at this hour, 600,000 vaccines from the Serum Institute should be arriving in Ghana in West Africa to go to front line health care workers.
This is part of the COVAX facility. This negotiated facility for funding was much touted months ago to show that there is a way to get vaccines to people on an equitable basis. Since then, you've seen rich countries buy more vaccines or preorder more vaccines than they need.
It is quite striking that three quarters of the vaccines that have already been administered to people are just from 10 countries, mostly rich countries.
But COVAX is a way that the WHO, UNICEF and others are working together to try and get poor and middle income countries these vaccines. The ones arriving in Ghana and through much of the continent will be the AstraZeneca vaccine. This is just the first country of many slated for arrival in the next few weeks.
There is a long way to go. You look at countries like the U.S., tens of millions of vaccine doses put out and very, very few in sub-Saharan Africa have been administered -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: David McKenzie, thank you for bringing us up to date.
Vaccines are only part of the plan as Abu Dhabi tries to get students back into class. Schools in the United Arab Emirates are beginning to reopen but they have to follow a strict set of rules. CNN's Becky Anderson has more.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: The American President Joe Biden talking about the importance of vaccinating teachers so that more kids can get back into class. And we are hearing that narrative in many parts of the world. The UAE, where I am, has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. Teachers are included in the program and that makes getting back to school easier.
Well, for the more than 200 schools here in Abu Dhabi, vaccines are only part of the plan for staying open though. The government's education regulator has laid out specific plans for when and how schools open. And we want to give you a sense of what is going on. Have a look at this.
ANDERSON (voice-over): It's an unusual first day back at school. Temperature checks, social distancing, mall squaring and sanitation and here in Abu Dhabi, this is how schools are opening their doors once again.
MONIQUE FLICKINGER, ACS SUPERINTENDENT: We were ecstatic when we found out that we would be able to bring students back on campus. But that brought with it a whole host of new rules and regulations and stipulations for our safety and for children's safety.
ANDERSON (voice-over): This is school, but not as we know it. Extracurricular activities shut down, common areas all closed off and even how and where you walk around the campus is being controlled.
FLICKINGER: One of the things that has really changed is that our hallways are one directional, so we've had to put stickers down, that first tell students how far apart they need to be, but also shows the direction in which they can travel.
So kids know which way they have to walk down hallways, which way they have to walk into their classrooms and which way they exit out of their classrooms.
ANDERSON (voice-over): And those stickers along with assigned seating have helped the school's faculty ensure rigorous contact tracing, when needed.
FLICKINGER: We have actually had some kids that have come down with COVID; we've had staff that has come down with COVID. Within a matter of minutes, we have the ability to trace every classroom that child has been in and any potential students they have been in contact with.
With contact tracing, we've actually had very few people that have had to be put into quarantine because of that.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Although kids have the option to study at home, the majority of them at this school, say they prefer to be in the classrooms.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels really good to be back at school because I think I really missed the human connection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I definitely prefer in person school, opposed to online school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel really fantastic finally, being back in school.
[02:35:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have not been in school for almost a year.
ANDERSON (voice-over): In addition to these safety protocols put in place Flickinger says over 80 percent of the school staff has already been vaccinated against COVID-19. And still teachers and faculty are required to get COVID tested every two weeks. And that has helped put some parents at ease.
VILLIERS TERBLANCHE, ACS PARENT: We're fortunate to be living in a country and in a city where the authorities have been ahead of the pandemic for the most part. And that as a package, I think is about as much comfort as a parent can get in the middle of a global pandemic.
ANDERSON (voice-over): But for other parents, they're still not satisfied.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: COVID for us has been a new revelation, the rational that we took as a family was from a security point of view; we thought that it would be better for -- to do home learning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Going back to school is something that's really amazing. However, just meeting my friends during breaks and lunch and talking to them was, I guess the best part of my day, it was where I could like de stress and not having that anymore is a little I guess sad.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Schools may never go back to the way they used to be. But at least here in Abu Dhabi, this school is confident they have what it takes to adapt to this new normal -- Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: U.S. experts warn the coronavirus variant first found in the U.K. could cause another infection surge in the coming months. They also believe more vaccinations can help get the outbreak under control.
So far the U.S. has distributed more than 82 million vaccine doses nationwide. Of those over 65 million has actually been administered but many more doses could soon become available. CNN's Jacqueline Howard explains.
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JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: The rollout of COVID-19 vaccines continues and drug companies now say that they will have 240 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine doses available by the end of March.
Here is what's vaccine makers told members of Congress during a House subcommittee hearing. Pfizer says it will have 120 million doses ready to ship. Moderna promises 100 million doses and Johnson & Johnson, whose vaccine has not yet been authorized for emergency use, says it will deliver 20 million doses; that is if it gets emergency use authorization -- back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Thank you for that.
Burn's Prince Philip has been in the hospital for more than a week. Coming up what we are learning about his condition.
Plus deadly violence at three prisons in Ecuador. What is behind the riots and what is being done about the problem.
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CHURCH: Military security operations are underway at two prisons in Ecuador after simultaneous riots at three different penal facilities. Dozens of people are dead. Journalist Stefano Pozzebon is tracking developments.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tragic news out of Ecuador, where prison riots left at least 67 inmates dead this Tuesday, according to the Ecuadorean prison service. The country's president informed the nation that the riots occurred in three different jails at the same time in three different provinces.
And according to local officials, what triggered the riots is a turf war between two different criminal syndicates that are struggling for control of the criminal underworld inside the Ecuadorean prison system.
This is not the first time the tragic events as these occurred in Latin America. Inmate massacre has been reported in recent years in Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela. This time it's Ecuador, with the tragic news of very high numbers, 67 inmates, at least, dead. And even the Ecuadorean military service has been deployed to the prisons -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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CHURCH: Britain's Prince Philip will spend several more days in a London hospital. Buckingham Palace says that he is being treated for an infection after he was admitted last week feeling unwell. Details now from CNN's Max Foster.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN LONDON CORRESPONDENT: We finally know what is wrong with Prince Philip. He has an infection. But Buckingham Palace says that he is responding well to treatment. That's positive news.
The palace added that he is not expected to leave hospital for several days, presumably because he is 99 years old and any treatment that he does receive has to be monitored for a period of days before he is allowed out.
His younger son, Prince Edward, was asked about the condition of his father during an interview with Sky News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE EDWARD, EARL OF WESSEX: I did speak to him the other day. He is a lot better, thank you very much indeed, and so -- and he is looking forward to getting out, which is most positive thing so we keep our fingers crossed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it's frustration of being in hospital?
(LAUGHTER)
EDWARD: Just a bit. I think that gets to all of us. So, yes, you can only watch the clock so many times and the walls are only so interesting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Prince Philip is known for not enjoying any fuss. I'm sure he wants to get out of hospital as soon as possible. But he can only move on the advice of doctors here but also the household staff as well.
So, for now, he's in hospital and the world media camped outside to capture the moment when he is released -- Max Foster, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And this update on our breaking news this hour, golfer Tiger Woods is awake and responsive in a Los Angeles hospital after Tuesday's car crash. A post on his Twitter account says that he suffered serious injuries to his right leg and ankle and underwent a lengthy surgery.
Stay tuned for more on Woods' prognosis and his legendary career just ahead on CNN with "WORLD SPORT."
Thanks for joining us. I am Rosemary Church and I will be back with more news at the top of the hour. Do stay with us.
