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House To Vote On Revised COVID Bill Tuesday; Pope Meets Top Shiite Muslim Cleric, Visits Christian Town Devastated By ISIS; Texas Lifting Mask Mandate And Other Restrictions; California Amusement Parks Reopen April 1; Prince Philip Recovers In Hospital; Monarchy Braces For Interview With Harry And Meghan; Some Mexican Towns Refusing Vaccines; Migrant Facilities Should Plan For COVID-19 Cases; Benjamin Netanyahu Battles To Keep His Job. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired March 07, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The Senate has passed the COVID relief bill, bringing Americans one step closer to another round of stimulus checks but businesses need the economy back to normal as safely as possible. I will speak to one California restaurateur, who says it's time his state reopened in a real way.
And later, dueling royal events: what Queen Elizabeth has on her schedule the same day as Oprah airs her hotly anticipated interview with Prince Harry and Meghan.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta welcome to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber, this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: For millions of American families, it may no longer be if but when they will receive their next pandemic stimulus checks. On Saturday, the U.S. Senate narrowly passed President Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The yeas are 50, the nays are 49, the bill as amended is passed.
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BRUNHUBER: This is Biden's first major legislative win since his election, even though he failed to get support from Republican senators. Some of the money from his stimulus package could start appearing in bank accounts before the end of the month.
It includes $1,400 per person to those who qualify. And unemployed Americans could get a $300 increase to their jobless benefits through September 6th. CNN's Jessica Dean has more on what's included in the stimulus bill and the next steps to getting it passed in the House. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Senate passing this massive COVID-19 relief bill right along party lines 50 to 49. But it passes a major hurdle, goes over to the House, where they plan to vote on the changes and then it goes to President Biden's desk, pledging that families will begin to relieve those stimulus payments as soon as this month.
And this is a massive bill. In addition to those $1,400 payments it also has money in it for reopening schools, unemployment benefits, for state and local governments as well as vaccines and vaccine distribution, child tax credits.
It is a big bill that touches so many pieces of the American economy.
Here's majority leader Chuck Schumer on that partisan vote.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: Now that we're in the majority, they don't seem to want to work with us. But we will get it done. Anyway we prefer them to work with us, we want them to work with us. Maybe they'll change their minds after this.
But we're going to get it done regardless because America needs it and that's what we did. So we didn't stop, we didn't let anything get in our way.
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DEAN: And again, Democrats staying unified to get this bill passed. At one point, the Democratic senator from West Virginia, senator Joe Manchin, looked like they might lose him to a Republican amendment on unemployment benefits. It stalled out on the floor for nearly 12 hours as they worked that out.
Then senators were here overnight into Saturday morning before they ultimately passed this bill. Now it's back to the House on Tuesday then over to President Biden -- Jessica Dean, CNN, Capitol Hill.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Arlette Saenz has more on President Biden's win in the Senate and how he hopes he will eventually gain Republican support during his presidency.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden assured Americans that help is on the way after the Senate passed that $1.9 trillion COVID relief. Package. The president speaking at the White House detailed exactly what is in that measure, everything from the $1,400 stimulus check to enhanced unemployment benefits.
White House officials have said the president and vice president plan on spending some time selling this package to the American people so they know exactly what they will be receiving.
During the campaign and leading into the White House, President Biden insisted that he would try to get bipartisan support for this measure. But not one Republican decided to vote for it on Saturday. Our colleague, Joe Johns, asked the president about that at the White House. Take a listen.
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JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Why don't you think you could get a single Republican vote?
And what does the drama of the last 24, including with Senator Manchin, tell you about the next four years?
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be good. I'm going to succeed. We are going to succeed moving forward. Look, the American people strongly support what we're doing here. That's the key.
And it that's going to continue, deep down, into the public, including from our Republican friends. There was a lot of Republicans that came very close and there were lot of freshmen on it (ph). I still haven't given up on getting their support.
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SAENZ: Since there were-changes to the bill in the Senate, it now moves back to the House and the White House is hoping the president will be able to sign the bill before unemployment benefits run out on March 14th.
But bottom line here, President Biden is now one step closer to providing that direct relief he promised to Americans and netting his first major legislative accomplishment as president-- Arlette Saenz, CNN, the White House.
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BRUNHUBER: Shortly after the Senate passed the bill, President Biden received congratulations from his former boss.
Former President Barack Obama tweeted, "Elections matter -- and we're seeing why. Congratulations to the Biden administration and to the American people on a COVID relief bill that will improve the lives of families across the country."
The power of faith against unimaginable odds; that's the message Pope Francis is championing this hour as he visits a church ISIS had tried to destroy in the Iraqi Christian town of Qaraqosh.
The pope has spent the day witnessing the brutal legacy of the terrorist group first-hand, visiting Mosul earlier. Tonight, he will conduct a holy mass at an Irbil stadium before returning home tomorrow. We have Ben Wedeman, joining us live from Irbil.
Ben, tell us about why the pope is in Qaraqosh. We're seeing live pictures right now, by the way of him addressing the congregation there. Tell us the meaning of that church in which he's speaking.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that was a church that is the main church, the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh, that -- actually I attended the first mass there in the spring of 2017, after the town was liberated by ISIS.
At the time, the entire ceiling was black from the fires that had been set inside the church. Every symbol -- every single symbol of Christianity, whether it was a cross on the wall or a crucifix or a picture of Jesus or the Virgin Mary, had been defaced or vandalized.
There was a pile of ashes in the main courtyard next to that church, where the pope is now speaking. That pile of ashes was what was left over from Bibles and prayer books that had been set alight. The same courtyard had been used as a firing range by ISIS.
Throughout the town, every single house had been looted of all its possessions. Many of them had been burnt as well. Other churches, one church had its steeple dynamited.
The town, of course, was completely deserted before ISIS even showed up, because the residents knew when ISIS started to bombard the town in June 2014 that there would be no prisoners taken. There would be no mercy.
ISIS gave the Christians, Yazidis, even the Shia the -- basically you either flee, you convert to Islam, you pay a tax on non-Muslims, which wouldn't have applied to the Shia, or you die.
To see Pope Francis there in the church speaking today is just an incredible sight for any Iraqi Christian or Muslim. Of course, I was reading the text of his speech.
And he did say, our gathering here today shows that terrorism death never has the last word. So he's having, in a sense, the last word, able to speak in a church that's been cleaned up. They have left part of the courtyard, that was being used as that firing range, as it was when they found it in the end of 2016, to commemorate the torment that town went through.
Earlier he was in Mosul, where we saw another jarring scene, which was the pope driving, in an open golf cart, through the town without a flak jacket or a helmet, something that any, for instance, American president would never have done or been able to do.
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WEDEMAN: And at the same time we saw him driving by the ruins of Mosul, which also reminded Iraqis that, here we are, what, four years after the liberation of that city. And large parts of it are still completely demolished. So on the one hand, for Iraqis, it's an incredibly joyful scene to see
the pope going around Iraq, whether in the north, the south or Baghdad. But at the same time, there are vivid reminders of what needs to be done, what needs to change here in Iraq -- Kim.
BRUNHUBER: What you say there really highlights the extraordinary power his visit has there. So next he will go to where you are at Irbil. Tell us a bit more about that final part of the trip.
WEDEMAN: Yes, that final trip is going to be his sort of biggest mass gathering. He will be holding a mass at a stadium, the big sports stadium here in Irbil. And according to the authorities, there will be up to 10,000 people, which is probably the biggest gathering here in quite some time, certainly since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The authorities have assured those who will be there that there will be social distancing. But I think, as you may have seen from some of the images coming out of here, social distancing and, indeed, masks haven't really caught on yet.
BRUNHUBER: That's right. I was seeing that in the pictures, as the camera was panning through the crowd there. Listen, thank you so much for your reporting from there, Ben Wedeman in Irbil. Really appreciate it.
Well, as U.S. COVID numbers come down, some states want to open up. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, we will find out why health experts are worried about the rush to reopen.
Plus, California clears the way for some sports and entertainment venues to reopen in April but only if the case numbers are right. We will explain when we come back. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: As COVID case numbers continue to fall in the U.S. many states are loosening their restrictions. But health officials are worried, if too much is lifted too soon, it could cost the country's ground that's been gained through vaccinations and mitigation efforts. CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro has more.
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EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The COVID-19 pandemic is still all around us and still deadly.
But this weekend, the question someone Americans may be asking is, is the danger gone?
In Texas, businesses are reopening at full capacity, no more state mandate.
GOV. GREG ABBOTT (R-TX): Just like you can set the standard for anybody coming into your home. A business owner can set the standard for anybody coming into their business. It's just like no shoes, no shirt, no service and they can set whatever standard they want to set for anybody who comes in into the business. And that is their right.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): Some business owners are nervous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he's telling us is he has put the burden on the business now.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): Governor Tate Reeves also lifting mask mandates in Mississippi, citing improved numbers while blasting continued government overreach. But Governor Jim Justice reiterates his current mask mandate in West Virginia, even as businesses return to 100 percent capacity today.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we continue to vaccinate more and more and more, we'll get rid of the mask. But I don't know really what the big rush and if we don't watch out, we can make some mistakes.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): Arizona, a COVID-19 hotspot last summer, has experienced success with mitigation efforts. On Friday, Governor Doug Ducey issued an executive order reopening all businesses at full capacity but keeping mask rules in place. Other states are also loosening restrictions.
On Friday, Michigan increased indoor dining capacity, while Connecticut began rolling back apps on retail and restaurant numbers. And while nationwide numbers of new cases are down public health officials warning that moving too fast to reopen could be dangerous.
A new CDC study shows mask mandates and restricting indoor dining could reduce COVID-19 cases and deaths.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: I would advocate for policies certainly while we're at the spot to have a high number of cases that would listen to that public health science.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): And Dr. Anthony Fauci telling CNN, the daily new case number still regularly over 60,000 needs to come down a lot more before states move to fully reopen.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: I would say less than 10,000 and maybe even considerably less than that. We're now up to about 2 million of vaccinations per day. That means every day that goes by every week that goes by you have more and more people protected.
MCMORRIS-SANTORO (voice-over): Evan McMorris-Santoro, CNN, New York.
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BRUNHUBER: As you heard in Evan's piece, the governor of Texas has removed the statewide mask mandate, giving businesses control over mask wearing. Last hour, I spoke with a small business owner in Fort Worth about how the governor's mask rollback would affect her.
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DANETTE WICKER, SPA AND BOUTIQUE OWNER, FT. WORTH, TEXAS: I am the arbiter and the gatekeeper of you coming in and out of my business. So I have not wavered and I have not changed. You wear a face mask to come in. That's sort of an oasis. If you don't want to wear a face mask, then simply don't come to my business.
But the problem is that you have people that are coming directly to confront business owners that have a mask mandate. And that is not what the governor's rule was. He left it up to small businesses and big businesses also to have their own policies in place. But if you are not going to respect that, that means you are just challenging me.
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BRUNHUBER: It's a very different scenario for businesses in California. State officials there announced Friday that theme parks and sports stadiums can reopen next month with heavy limitations. CNN's Paul Vercammen has the details.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at Six Flags Magic Mountain, shots going into arms, COVID-19 shots. And at this windy park, we may soon see seats going back into the rise here because California has cleared the way for theme parks to open up on April 1st, as well as sports stadiums and outdoor concert venues if the county is in the second most strict tier, the red tier, and all odds are these counties will be out of that tier or into that red tier, because the numbers have been plummeting in California.
If you look from above, can a theme park coexist with a vaccination site?
Officials seem to think they can work together after all. If they open up in the red tier, the theme parks can only have 15 percent capacity. Here, at Magic Mountain, we saw a lot of teachers give themselves a vaccine shot today and they were, understandably, optimistic.
VERCAMMEN: It feels like there is a bit of optimism here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I would say so. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still think people need to be really safe and I think it's a little bit soon, I am worried about that. But I don't know, if it's OK with the CDC, I am all right with it.
VERCAMMEN: As for professional sports, the stadiums could open at a 20 percent capacity of attendance if they are in the red tier. Then, those tiers would loosen up over time as the COVID-19 infections go down. As for the massive outdoor concert business in California, Hollywood Bowl, among others, celebrating these moves. They are waiting to see if they can, indeed, open. So the outdoor concerts open but indoors, no -- reporting from Valencia, California, Paul Vercammen, back to you.
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BRUNHUBER: As Paul just reported, theme parks and stadiums in California are set to reopen in April at significantly reduced capacity. But that's not nearly enough for some businesses in the state struggling under COVID restrictions. Some say the reopening process is far too slow, compared to states like Texas.
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BRUNHUBER: Andrew Gruel is the founder of Slapfish restaurants. He joins me from Huntington Beach, California.
Thanks for being here. There's been a paradox in California. It's had the strictest restrictions but also the most cases. Now those restrictions, as we heard, are slowly being lifted.
But in most counties they have the bans on indoor dining.
Do you look at what other states are doing, dropping all the COVID restrictions, and wish California were a little more like Texas, say?
ANDREW GRUEL, FOUNDER, SLAPFISH RESTAURANTS: Of course, you know, I would say that we always yearn for the ability to reopen and have diners indoors. It doesn't necessarily have to be at 100 percent capacity.
We are blessed in California, especially Southern California, with the beauty of 75 degrees and sunny every day. We have great outdoor patios as well. That's one benefit that we do have.
BRUNHUBER: Is some of the problem here is that there's been, you know, mixed messaging?
I'm thinking of, you were just talking about outdoor dining, some of the officials there were saying, oh, we have to do this to stop the transmission of COVID. Other ones admitted that, you know, it's not really because of that; it's just that we don't want people going out of their homes.
GRUEL: Yes and that was the issue, I think, when it came to the second shutdown, was what we saw here in California was the shutdown of outdoor dining and it really crushed the industry and it was counterpoint to Walmart, Costco, all these big retailers being jammed, going into the holidays.
And they also had food stalls within those operations, where people could take their masks off and eat and walk around and shop and then pile on top of one another, you know, going into the checkout lines.
And yet we weren't even allowed to have people dine outdoors with tables spaced 10, 15 feet apart. So it's been really difficult for the restaurant industry to watch the ways in which certain businesses are given preference, or at least seem to be given preference, while we are totally gutted.
BRUNHUBER: The good news is a bunch of California counties will be allowing indoor dining again as soon as next week. I guess you think that should have been done probably a long time ago.
But what do you say to the top experts, who have been looking at the cascade of falling restrictions and saying, you know, now is not the time to do this?
It's like pouring gas on a fire.
GRUEL: I look at the numbers in California, when they shut down outdoor and indoor dining, which effectively killed the restaurant industry. Cases doubled, tripled, they skyrocketed. So obviously, we're not the ones that are causing these spreading events.
Restaurants are trained to be incredibly safe and sanitary. And we, actually, I think, have the opportunity to be at the forefront of fighting this and doing things the right way. But somehow we've become vilified.
So I think that we need to begin working with local agencies and local government groups, as opposed to having them work against us so that we can all kind of put our best foot forward.
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GRUEL: And operate in a real safe manner and use the restaurants as a vehicle through which we can model really good behavior.
BRUNHUBER: You mentioned the crushing economic blow. I was looking at some numbers, according to the California Restaurant Association, up to 1 million Californian restaurant workers have been out of work since the pandemic began.
And a third of the restaurants they surveyed were at risk of downsizing or closing. You're trying to raise money for some of those restaurant workers.
Do you think Biden's COVID relief plan will help?
I mean, there's billions of dollars in there for businesses and restaurants specifically.
GRUEL: I mean, I hope so, right?
Every dollar certainly helps. But I think the most important thing to mention is that, you know, the restaurant workers, they've been left out in all of this. As the shutdowns took place here in California, because of the fact that the unemployment system was on really gridlock due to the misappropriation of funds from the first round of shutdowns, nobody could get any help.
That's why we started this fund. We raised almost $400,000 and have been distributing it to restaurant workers to give them that bridge, that leg up. I do hope that, as we distill all of the information through this relief plan, that we see that go towards the restaurant industry, small businesses.
But we really need to try to think about retroactively fixing as well a year's worth of shutdowns. $1,400 isn't going to save everybody who has lost their businesses.
BRUNHUBER: There's still a long, long way to go. We certainly wish you and the rest of the business people the best of luck. Andrew Gruel, founder of Slapfish Restaurants, he joined me from Huntington Beach, California. Thank you for being here.
GRUEL: Thank you so much.
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BRUNHUBER: The rift in the British royal family may be deepening. Ahead of Harry and Meghan Markle's interview airing today, why the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are speaking out now after leaving the royal life in the rearview mirror.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world.
Eyes are on the British monarchy today. Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will celebrate Commonwealth Day in a special broadcast but Prince Harry and Meghan Markle won't be there.
Instead the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are set to appear in a hotly anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey. The talk show host teased that no topics were off the table, including the couple's contentious relationship with the media and their decision to break from palace control. CNN's Anna Stewart joins me from London.
So much anticipation for tonight's interview.
So what's the mood and the reaction so far there in the U.K.?
And explain what's at stake here.
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, for days now, the British press has been looking at every clip that has come out. We have had plenty of teaser clips ahead of the interview with Oprah Winfrey. They've been analyzing it all. This has played out hotly on social media, people taking sides whether you are Team Sussex or Team Royals. It used to be that the Duke and Duchess were pitting themselves
against the British media, increasingly the royal family seems to be playing a role as well. We know from one of the teaser clips that Meghan has said that the firm, which is a term referring to the royal family, have played an active role in perpetuating falsehoods.
This is the explosive stuff we are looking for in tonight's interview. It is two hours long. It will have a lot to cover, a lot of ground. Other topics we expect will include the relationship between the Sussexes and the British media, issues around racism and Prince Harry's -- the parallels that he's drawn between how his wife has been treated and how his mother was treated, Princess Diana.
So plenty to talk about. But really this means that the other royal news -- and there's plenty of it -- is being eclipsed. Prince Philip is still in the hospital behind me, having had a procedure for a heart condition, the royal family marking the Commonwealth celebrations today.
A lot going on but everyone waiting to see what happens in that Oprah Winfrey interview.
BRUNHUBER: As you said, Prince Philip being in the hospital behind you there, I'm curious if there's blowback surrounding the fact that, while he is in hospital, you know, Harry and Meghan are making all these media appearances.
Is there a feeling that this interview should have been postponed?
STEWART: There is certainly that perspective, that it's the wrong time, given that Prince Philip is in hospital. Some people point to the fact that the U.K. is still in a lockdown, gripped by the pandemic, that the royal family has a role, particularly today, because they are celebrating the Commonwealth.
But I think from the Sussex perspective it's about time they got to tell their side of the story. In some of the teaser clips, we have seen Meghan talk about the fact that the royal family can't expect them to be silent, particularly given that they have given up their role as working members of the royal family.
They can give interviews to whomever they like and whenever they like and they have chosen to give an interview to James Corden last week, we saw that with Prince Harry and, this week, Oprah Winfrey.
BRUNHUBER: Can you give us an update on the prince's condition?
STEWART: Yes, Prince Philip, he is still in hospital. It's nearly been three weeks for him in hospital, the longest stint he has ever had. We had some good news this week. He underwent a procedure for his preexisting heart condition. That happened on Wednesday.
Two days later he was transported from that hospital where he had that procedure back here to King Edward VII hospital. He is expected to remain here for a number of days. He was also being treated for an infection but also recuperation. As I said to you the last hour, we are hoping that Prince Philip isn't
watching the news closely, because it has been quite a week of royal news and not much has been positive.
BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. Thank you so much, Anna Stewart in London.
CBS is reportedly paying at least $7 million for the interview. That's according to "The Wall Street Journal," which also reports that the Duke and Duchess aren't being paid to talk to Oprah Winfrey. The TV network is said to be asking $325,000 for 30 seconds of commercial time. That's twice the normal rate.
The fact that Harry and Meghan are giving such an in-depth interview is unusual. It's part of the couple's effort to redefine themselves after walking away from royal life. CNN's Paula Newton reports.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Fairy tales are not supposed to go this way, with a prince and his bride quitting the palace and moving to California. But Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess are writing their own story, one that's shocked some and inspired others.
MICHELLE TAUBER, SENIOR ROYALS EDITOR, "PEOPLE": The monarchy failed in terms of there was a golden opportunity to modernize with this couple. And it didn't happen.
NEWTON (voice-over): No longer full-time working members of the British royal family. The couple has been working hard since leaving the U.K. on building their own brand. First called Sussex Royal, it was later changed to Archewell, named for their first child. It includes their charity work and media productions.
Those ventures have, reportedly been very lucrative with multiyear deals to create content for Netflix and a series of podcasts for Spotify.
MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX (voice-over): These elephants are setting out on 1,000-mile round trip.
NEWTON (voice-over): Meghan also narrating a nature documentary for Disney called "Elephant," and invested in and oat milk latte company while Harry is collaborating with Oprah Winfrey on an upcoming TV series on mental health.
The couple even paid back the $3 million of public money they used to renovate the home they lived in, in the U.K.
In an interview with James Corden, Harry explained that, even though the past year has brought many changes, their goals are still the same.
HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES: My life will always be about public service and Meghan has signed up to that and the two of us enjoy doing that. NEWTON (voice-over): Both continue to champion causes they are
passionate about, speaking out on mental health, race and voting, as they did in this ABC broadcast special.
MARKLE: When we vote, our values are put into action and our voices are heard.
NEWTON (voice-over): But that has always cut both ways. Photos of them laying a wreath on Remembrance Day were seen as a publicity stunt by some. Meghan received high praise for writing an intimate article about the grief she experienced after suffering a miscarriage.
But the announcement that she and Harry were expecting another baby left some critics asking, why the couple who complained about the press was also engaging with them.
PENNY JUNIOR, ROYAL BIOGRAPHER: They said they were leaving because they wanted privacy. And, it seems, in the last year, that they have done very little other than seek publicity.
NEWTON (voice-over): The upcoming high-profile interview with Oprah is sure to capture the world's attention. Whether or not it outshadows the causes and projects that the Sussexes have, so far, carefully cultivated is a chapter yet to be written -- Paula Newton, CNN.
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BRUNHUBER: CNN spoke about the royal rift with the former private secretary and chief of staff for the late Diana, Princess of Wales. He said the situation is reminiscent of Diana's separation from the palace.
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PATRICK JEPHSON, PRINCESS DIANA'S PRIVATE SECRETARY AND CHIEF OF STAFF: Thirty years ago we were at a comparable situation where rifts were opening up within the Royal family and it was starting to escalate and there were a lot of unhappy people involved then. I'm quite sure there are a lot of unhappy people involved now.
And first and foremost, we should remember this is a family rift. It has taken on a lot of the trappings of a big media PR story, but at the heart of this are real people really hurting and I hope that somewhere in the midst of the current back and forth, somebody is putting down the seeds for eventual reconciliation which has to come.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST: Patrick, does the Palace play political hardball?
The timing of that "Times" story, investigation pertaining to the allegation of bullying hardly seems coincidental.
JEPHSON: Well, I suppose if you start to employ PR experts, they will do what their job is and this is the way in which, combined with social media, what is essentially a family squabble turns into something potentially much more damaging and it is a matter of judgment how both sides use the media.
It is also, I think, important to consider that, again, in the long term, this is a monarchy we're talking about and there will need to be lessons learned, I hope some sort of investigation, to establish how many factors went into creating this problem in the first place so that it can be avoided in future.
SMERCONISH: Do you think that the perception of this story, as it plays itself out, is different on opposite sides of the pond?
JEPHSON: Yes. There is a different perspective, I think, from the U.K. I mean, I'm an American now speaking from Washington, but it is notable, I think, that, you know, the attitude here is that Harry and Meghan have made a bid for freedom.
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JEPHSON: They are settling into a new life in California with their growing family and good luck to them.
Interestingly, in the U.K., yes, there is a traditional conservative element who I think particularly regret the way in which Harry and Meghan have handled their communications with the Queen.
But there is growing support for them, perhaps more among the young. A recent YouGov poll showed that 50 percent of those surveyed thought that Harry and Meghan had been unfairly treated by the British media. So, it's by no means clear-cut. There is sympathy on both sides, and I think there is a recognition that there is a lot of blame to go around.
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BRUNHUBER: Still to come on CNN, why dozens of Mexican towns won't allow their residents to receive COVID-19 vaccines. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Two high profile leaders are among the latest to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. The Dalai Lama was given the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine in the northern Indian town where he lives in exile. The Tibetan spiritual leader is urging everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated.
And embattled Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro received his dose of Sputnik V vaccine on Saturday. He blames international restrictions to interview with his country's ability to buy COVID-19 vaccines but he, quote, "guarantees" every Venezuelan will get vaccinated.
In Mexico, the government is trying to speed up COVID-19 vaccination efforts and acquire more doses from pharmaceutical companies. But apparently not everyone in Mexico is on board with this plan. As CNN's Rafael Romo reports, there are dozens of towns that won't allow their residents to get a vaccine.
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RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SR. LATIN AFFAIRS EDITOR (voice-over): In this town located in southern Mexico's highlands, life goes on as it always has. Young people mingle downtown, the men shake hands and talk business around the main square and women gather to weave traditional rugs.
There may be a global pandemic going on but in Aldama, population 7,000, seemingly no one wears a mask. The town's mayor is one of several local officials who proudly claim that no one has been infected by the coronavirus.
Health officials are unable to confirm the claim. He credits traditional medicine for the low impact of COVID-19 on the town.
"We asked our grandparents and great grandparents for guidance and that helped us a lot," he says.
But there may be other powerful reasons. It's a small rural and isolated community located in the impoverished state of Chiapas. The fact that very few outsiders ever visit and its residents rarely travel to the big cities may better explain why the town seems to have been spared by the pandemic.
Along with several other indigenous towns in Chiapas' central highlands have recently made headlines in Mexico, because most residents, like this woman, say they will refuse any COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of its origin. The town's secretary told CNN that people here, including himself, strongly believe vaccines can do more harm than good.
"Since we don't really know what vaccines are made of, we believe they contain the COVID-19 virus. That's the main reason why people don't want to get vaccinated," he said.
There are 421 municipalities in Mexico, 17 percent of the total, which because of their indigenous origin, rule themselves much like Native American reservations do in the United States.
And there seems to be a growing movement in these communities to reject COVID-19 vaccines, just when the country has launched its massive vaccination plan.
There's a lot of misinformation and rumors, Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said in mid-February, asking people not to pay attention to what he called "distortions" and trust the vaccines.
ROMO: But the president also made it clear that nobody will be vaccinated against their will. If Aldama reflects the way the people in similar communities feel, this could pose a similar challenge for Mexico's effort inoculating its people -- Rafael Romo, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: The Biden administration has told facilities that care for migrant children they can now reopen at pre-pandemic levels. The move in response to the rising number of unaccompanied children crossing the border between U.S. and Mexico. CNN's Polo Sandoval is reporting from Brownsville, Texas.
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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The issue of immigration quickly becoming one of the big challenges for the Biden administration, with a growing number of unaccompanied migrant children that are showing up at the nation's doorstep, including here in Brownsville, Texas, along the U.S.-Mexico border.
The Department of Health and Human Services caring for at least 7,700 unaccompanied children. That department responsible for caring for these kids before their sponsors or relatives are located in the United States.
Just to put things into perspective here, the Biden administration preparing for an increase in these numbers, now telling these facilities that are responsible for caring for these kids that they can now operate at pre-pandemic levels.
To add some perspective here, they have roughly over 13,000 beds that would be dedicated to caring for these kids during the pandemic. They had only been able to operate at about half the capacity.
But White House spokesperson Jen Psaki saying last week that they are preparing for an influx; as a result, they need the space to actually care for these children.
The other concern along the U.S.-Mexico border is making sure that these -- the rest of the migrant families that are apprehended at the border are potentially COVID-free. I can tell you, for the last several days, those migrants that had been basically waiting just to cross the border from where we are in migrant camps, after the Joe Biden administration then began to process them, began to actually enter the United States, they have to test negative to cross the border before they make it here.
However, it's the so-called interior releases, these families that find other means of making it into the United States, it's not through these ports of entry, that are apprehended at the border, they're processed.
And as we've seen in previous administrations, are then later released. I can tell you here, the city of Brownsville is making an effort to actually test all of these migrants before they are able to continue with their journey.
But at this point, the mayor of Brownsville saying a little over 100 migrants out of about 1,700 of them have tested positive for the virus -- Polo Sandoval, CNN, Brownsville, Texas.
[05:50:00] BRUNHUBER: The Biden administration is putting together a task force to address cyber threats from China. It comes after Microsoft announced this week that it found suspected Chinese hackers exploiting vulnerabilities in its server software.
A source tells us that the attack has the potential to affect organizations that are critical to daily life in the U.S. The White House is urging everyone running the servers, whether government or private sector groups, to update their software now.
Israel has a much heralded COVID vaccination rollout but that's not enough to ensure prime minister Netanyahu will keep his job. The calculated risk he is now taking and the controversy it's stirring. We will bring you that coming up. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is clamoring for votes just weeks ahead of the country's fourth election in two years. It's an effort complicated by his ongoing corruption trial. CNN's Sam Kiley reports on how Netanyahu has been changing his tactics.
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SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His government has run a world-beating COVID vaccination program, heralding a vigorous return to near normality.
[05:55:00]
KILEY (voice-over): But it's done little to guarantee electoral success for Benjamin Netanyahu. So he's scraping for ballots from voters he's shunned in the past, Israeli Arabs --
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): It is a chance to start a new era in the relations between Jews and Arabs.
KILEY (voice-over): -- and extremist parties, peddling racism and homophobia, some using fake messages, including a Holocaust joke and admiration for Hitler.
For Netanyahu's Likud Party, courting the far right has become a political necessity.
ELI HAZAN, LIKUD PARTY SPOKESPERSON: It looks like the election is going to be very tight. And we need to maximize the potential to win the election.
KILEY (voice-over): The arithmetic of opinion polls is dangerous to Israel's longest serving prime minister. KILEY: There's very unlikely to be a decisive result in the March
elections, which means there will be coalition horse trading just as Benjamin Netanyahu heads back into court on corruption charges.
KILEY (voice-over): If convicted, he could face several years in jail. Even in such jeopardy, he still dominates Israel's political landscape.
EYAL ARAD, POLITICAL ANALYST: I think that what would eventually happen is that the criminal process would decide the fate of the political process.
KILEY (voice-over): In the meantime, he's determined to win and everything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
NETANYAHU: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
NETANYAHU: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ah.
(LAUGHTER)
NETANYAHU: (Speaking foreign language).
KILEY (voice-over): Sam Kiley, CNN, Jerusalem.
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BRUNHUBER: Well, that wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For international viewers, "BUSINESS TRAVELLER" is next. For viewers here in the U.S. and Canada "NEW DAY" is just ahead.
