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At Least 38 Protesters Killed In Crackdowns Sunday; Military Declares Martial Law In Parts Of Yangon; Everard Murder Sparks Debate About Violence Against Women; Outrage In London Over Police Response To Everard Vigil; Hong Kong Locks Down More Residents Amid Fear Of Fifth Wave; Conflict Has Taken Traumatic Toll On Syria's Children; Brazil Averaging More than 66,000 New Cases a Day; Border Patrol Has 4,000+ Migrant Children in Custody; New Job Requirement: A COVID Vaccination; Beyonce Makes Grammy History; British Airways CEO Wants No-Restrictions Travel. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired March 15, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:00]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Dozens more protesters are dead in Myanmar. Tough talk but no action from the international community. Well now the military is declaring martial law in parts of Yangon. And in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of a young London woman, a special crime task force set up to meet in the U.K. at urgent issue protecting women from harassment and violence. Plus, what happens if a government does next to nothing to fight the pandemic?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are bracing ourselves for, you know, the record after record of deaths per day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: A doctor's terrifying assessment of the coronavirus in Brazil.

Hello, I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks for joining me. This is CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: The international outrage over Myanmar's military crackdown is growing as pro-democracy protesters are facing more danger and more violence. A human rights group says at least 38 demonstrators were killed on Sunday. It is the deadliest day so far since last month's coup, and there could be more deaths we just don't know about.

We're also seeing more and more chaotic scenes like this. Protesters running from tear gas and gunfire, some carrying injured people to safety. The military junta has now declared martial law in six districts of Yangon, Myanmar's biggest city.

Our Paula Hancocks is in Seoul, and has been monitoring all of these latest developments and certainly really concerning developments about the level of violence there.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Robyn. I mean, there is no doubt that the level of force that the security forces are using now against the unarmed protesters is significantly higher. We heard from that one human rights group saying that they believe at least 126 people have been killed so far. But as you say that the actual death toll could be a lot higher. This is what we're hearing from activists on the ground as well. They fear that it is much higher than the official tally, very difficult to be able to keep that tally of those who have been killed.

They also say the AAPP that well over 2,100 people have been arrested, charged all sentence over the past month or so. And we're hearing increased international condemnation. But of course it is just words at this point. Hearing from Tom Andrews, he's the U.N. Special Rapporteur for human rights on Myanmar. He tweeted shortly, just recently, quote, hunter leaders don't belong in power, they belong behind bars. The U.N. Special Envoy from Myanmar also saying that she was hearing about the continuing bloodshed and, quote, heartbreaking accounts of killings, mistreatment of demonstrators and torture of prisoners over the weekend. So there is no doubt that the level of force being used is increasing as we go further into these events.

Now, as you said, there have been some areas of Yangon that have had martial law declared. We're up to six at this point where the military will effectively be able to do what they want. Now, these are largely industrial areas we're hearing at this point, and that's where there were attacks on Chinese-funded factories and citizens over the weekend. China had called on Myanmar to cut back on that.

So, the other thing that we will be looking at today is Aung San Suu Kyi, the ousted leader. She is expected to have another court date, but it's very unlikely that we will actually see her.

CURNOW: OK, so we'll continue to monitor that. So what are the options that we've had this outrage from the international community calls for something to be done, but nothing has been done so far? How does China play into all of this?

HANCOCKS: Well, recently, there was a U.N. statement, a stronger worded U.N. statement which China did back. They had been holding back on condemning the military leadership saying that it was an internal matter, but they did back a statement condemning what was happening so that was a small step forward when it comes to diplomacy. But China has incredible interests in Myanmar. It has invested billions of dollars into the country. So certainly a word from China could potentially make a difference and other Security Council member states are calling on China to do more.

In fact, the protesters believe that China is partly to blame for what is happening for not condemning this. There are, as I said, certain factories that were burnt over the weekend, and those are the places where martial law has now been declared those industrial zones. We also saw reports of citizens, Chinese citizens being injured as well. So clearly the protesters on the ground feel very angry about China, Robyn? [01:05:01]

CURNOW: OK, Paula Hancocks there in Seoul, thanks so much. We'll continue to, of course, monitor the situation in Myanmar throughout the day.

So outrage is growing in the U.K. at the heavy-handed police response to Saturday's vigil for murder victim Sarah Everard. Hundreds of protesters -- hundreds protested on Sunday in London. They chanted shame on you and how many more to call attention to the misogyny and violence they say they face every day. Police broke up Saturday's vigil on the grounds of post-coronavirus dangers. Well now the Prime Minister plans to chair a special task force discussion on today on violence against women.

Nina dos Santos has more from London. Nina?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They gathered illegally outside the headquarters of the very organization which had stopped them from holding a vigil to express their anger a day earlier. From there, they moved on to Parliament. Taking a message that they had tried to express peacefully in a South London suburb all the way to the makers and enforcers of the country's laws.

The upswell of indignation started less than two weeks ago, after a young woman Sarah Everard, was allegedly kidnapped while walking home in the dark and later found dead. The vigil for her highlighting many women's fears for their safety was aggressively dispersed by officers from the very force that the man charged with her murder served on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame on you! Shame on you!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on you! Shame on you!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on you! Shame on you!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think so many people have been told to keep up appearances and to shut their voices off so that they don't anger people but without the anger and without talking about it, nothing can change.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): The Metropolitan Police said that they hadn't wanted to break up the demonstrations but felt the need to protect people from the pandemic, which has left large gatherings banned for much of the past year.

The women who had originally planned Saturday's event said that things could have been different, had the police allowed a safe moment of silence to take place.

LUDOVICA ORLANDO, ORGANIZER, "RECLAIM THESE STREETS": We were going to have COVID marshals. We were going to keep distancing. And we offered the police quite a few alternatives, including staggered times so there wouldn't be a congregation at the same time altogether. But we clearly were forced to cancel, and we saw what happened. And, you know, this week of all weeks, they should have understood that women needed a safe place to mourn and show solidarity.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): London's mayor called the Met's handling of the vigil completely unacceptable. The home secretary ordered a review. But Scotland Yard's first ever female commissioner says she's not stepping down.

CRESSIDA DICK, METROPOLITAN POLICE COMMISSIONER: I fully understand the strength of feeling. I think, as a woman, and hearing from people about their experiences in the past. Indeed, if it had been lawful, I'd have been there.

DOS SANTOS (on camera): The police is heavy-handed attempt to try and disperse crowds seems only to have prompted more people to come and lay floral tributes and to stand up for women's safety. Peaceful mourning continues, despite COVID regulations. Yet on Saturday night, this local landmark was the scene of ugly clashes, as officers handcuffed women and pinned them down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I really think that they should have been here in a much more supportive role.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appreciate so many people coming to pay their respect, and everything. Yet, on the other hand, it's not so good so many gathering during the epidemic and everything.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): To the many paying their respects, emotions were no less raw as the weekend drew to a close.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're all the same age as Sarah. She worked in my company. We live two minutes from here, so I think we're all --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're all feeling very unsafe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And it gets brought -- brought to the surface a lot of issues we may have buried before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Buried, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we've all been exposed to, and it's just -- I think we've said we've let a lot of things slip ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... for too long, and suddenly, yes, we're feeling less safe than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think everyone's angry. There's a lot of feeling that coming to the forefront. But we also need to remember there's a victim in the family at the heart of it.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): The U.K. Parliament will this week debate new policing and crime legislation further extending powers over protests. Without profound amendments to better protect women, a growing number of parliamentarians have made it clear that the bill is unlikely to pass. Nina dos Santos, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So joining me now from London is author, playwright and columnist for The New European Bonnie Greer. Bonnie, it's wonderful to see you. Thanks so much for joining us on the show this early (ph).

BONNIE GREER, PLAYWRIGHT, AUTHOR, COLUMNIST FOR "THE NEW EUROPEAN": I (INAUDIBLE) to see you again.

CURNOW: Yes, you too. I do want to know why this one case has touched so many people in the U.K. where you are now. Why has it inflamed and infuriated so many Britons.

GREER: We've been in lockdown off and on for years, it's been pretty rough. And it's been pretty strict lockdown.

[01:10:04]

People have been very good for the most part, but I think this murder, which was horrific, a young woman abducted and murdered, I think it's been a trigger point for people. Of course, there's a public order restriction, so you can't go out and do any kind of protests and people needed to say something they needed to come out. And so it's just really just turned the country upside down.

The head of the police here in London, her -- there been demands for her to resign as first woman head of the Metropolitan Police, which we used to call the bobbies. So she's the first woman, and we have a woman home secretary. So there is a lot of pressure right now from women and others to do something about this and to respond.

And also the police made a mess of the vigil the other night, which was a -- it was probably going to break a public order up defense. They have the business, their businesses to go, and police, but they -- it was just completely heavy-handed. And you would think that someone and I think at the top, this has to be someone would have said to them, look, we have to be very careful. Now people are very fragile. That didn't happen. It was just horrible.

CURNOW: A lot of this reaction to the death of Sarah has been an outcry over women's safety and the role of men in making them feel less safe ...

GREER: I'm glad that you said that. I'm glad you brought that up. I'm sorry to interrupt, but this is a deeply masculine society. I think people are starting to really realize how masculine it is. I live near a couple of very prestigious, private clubs in this country that don't even allow women to join. And I think women and men who are sympathetic are starting to look around and think, you know, this isn't acceptable.

And what we need here, and I said this on TV on BBC the other night that we need us all (ph), we need a woman in charge of taking care of making sure that women are in positions of power. Now we have a woman, Home Secretary, their third highest position in the land, the queen, of course, and all that. But there's something deeper that has to happen. And that has to be a really deep look at the way the society is structured. The way language is used, the way a whole cultural atmosphere.

CURNOW: So we have had this quite passionate discussion about women's rights in Britain, and as you say that the role of men. There's also this conversation that many people have said, well, not agreeing that misogyny is acceptable that this protest movement has morphed just into another example of identity politics of trying to cancel all men. how can this one murder bring about a more positive conversation about bringing change in society without perhaps turning it into a trigger point of identity politics again.

GREER: I think it has to be dialogue. The men in my life are talkers, and they talk and they listen. And if there is a forum, and forum should be set up in the society where men and women can actually have conversations up. And they -- it's interesting because they aren't really there as a culture. I mean, because this is such a blokey culture, there's a feeling that oh, you know, that's not acceptable and it's unconscious, it's a deep thing, Robyn, it's not on the surface. It's very deep, it has to do with restraint, it has to do with stiff upper lip, it has to do with a stance that everybody here is expected to have.

So if you express emotion, or if you express anything that comes with the motion, is considered emoting is considered wobbly is considered over the top. Now with our present government, which is a conservative government and very much male centered, this is now I think gotten on peoples nerves, and it's going to be interesting to see how they tackle it within this culture.

CURNOW: Bonnie Greer, as always, thank you very much for talking to us.

GREER: Thank you.

CURNOW: The Netherlands and Ireland joined a growing list of countries pausing the use of AstraZeneca's COVID vaccine, so after reports of blood clots and other possible side effects. But AstraZeneca says its analysis shows no evidence of increased risk in vaccine recipients. Questions about AstraZeneca's vaccine are expected at a meeting of the European Parliament Committee with medical experts in the coming hours.

[01:15:06]

And Italy is imposing new restrictions starting Monday as COVID cases continue to rise there. The entire country will be considered a red zone and will be under lockdown during the upcoming Easter weekend.

And Prime Minister Mario Draghi says the restrictions are necessary because of a new wave of infections. The past week saw more than 150,000 new coronavirus infections, up nearly 15 percent from the week before. We'll take you to Hong Kong now, on fears that a fifth wave of the pandemic could be descending on the city. The government is locking down 11 residential buildings as new cases emerge. Residents will not be allowed to leave and must undergo mandatory COVID testing.

Well, let's go straight to Hong Kong. Will Ripley joins me now. On this process of just locking down these buildings, what does it mean for the people inside?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What it means, Robyn, is that essentially with no notice, hundreds of health care workers and police will come to your neighborhood, to your apartment building, seal off the area, tell everybody inside they need to line up for testing and then stay in their homes until the results come back usually in the next morning. So we've seen this happen several times over the weekend. And this is the first time that these ambush style lock downs have hit really the heart of Hong Kong Island where I'm standing right now. This is one of the neighborhoods that was impacted.

This is a neighborhood full of foreigners, expats, people who largely have been insulated from the front lines of this pandemic with these lockdowns happening in some of the other neighborhoods in Hong Kong. But after a new outbreak was tied to a fitness center very close to where I am now frequented by a lot of foreigners, more than 100 cases tied to this fitness center, you now have hundreds of people who have to go into either mandatory government quarantine centers, some of them very young children, or more than 100 cases so far, who actually have had to go to hospital because they were confirmed positive with COVID-19.

CURNOW: Let's talk about these children, Will. How they're look at after, how they're cared for, what is the environment that they're kept in? Lots of questions. Sorry.

RIPLEY: Well there's been a lot of concern, Robyn, about the fact that some of these young children who don't actually have COVID have to go to these quarantine facilities. And not even perhaps with both of their parents, maybe with just one caregiver, the concern is that it could be a very traumatic experience for a young person to disrupt their routine, and send them to a facility where they're essentially locked in a room without much to do. We've been speaking with school officials who say they're now in class, teaching children as young as eight, how to prepare for the possibility of quarantine.

And I was just speaking with a child psychologist here in Hong Kong, who says the most important thing is for parents, just like if you're on a plane and you put your own oxygen mask first and then for your child. Parents themselves going through this process need to keep their own stress levels in check, and then try to project that calmness onto their children because the kids really will feed off if the parents are feeling quite stressed. And also probably try to stay off social media because some of the posts that have been going around have gotten people a bit hysterical. But the Hong Kong government is acknowledging that their quarantine requirements may not be ideal, but they feel it's necessary to try to stave off a fifth wave of COVID-19 here in this city. CURNOW: Goodness, that necessary will impact a lot of parents and children. Thanks so much, Will. Keep us posted on that as well, live in Hong Kong.

So still ahead on CNN, the devastating toll of 10 years of war in Syria, both for those who fled and for those who stayed behind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:22:34]

CURNOW: Ten years ago, series of peaceful pro-democracy protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned into a civil war that continues today. Pope Francis called it one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time and appeal for a sliver of hope for the devastated country. Now the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates around 600,000 people have been killed in the war. The U.N. says more than 5.5 million have fled, more than 6 million are internally displaced.

The U.N. Secretary General says Syria may not be capturing as much of the world's attention right now, but that doesn't mean the suffering has ended. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTONIO GUTERRES, U.N. SECRETARY GENERAL: After a decade of conflict in the middle of a global pandemic and face with a steady stream of new crisis, Syria has fallen off the front page. And yet, the situation remains a living nightmare.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: Nowhere is the crushing toll of the war more heartbreaking than unserious children. Many have no nothing but walk for their entire lives, their childhood defined by fear, by loss and by trauma. Here's Arwa Damon with that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What do I do? Use a bucket of water, a blanket. I tried using my hands like this to put out the flames. I couldn't. Amar son's body was a ball of fire.

Sultan was playing on his bike when a rocket blew up fuel cannisters nearby.

SULTAN, VICTIM OF ROCKET EXPLOSION: (through translation): My belly was on fire. My belly looked like all the flesh came out of it. My belly and my back.

DAMON (voice-over): An ambulance brought Sultan to Turkey. He and his mother have been there ever since. This is the last photo of Sultan before the airstrike. No you are not ugly. You are beautiful, Amar constantly tells him. Sultan has an utterly disarming smile with eyes that fluctuate between sparkling like a 10-year-old's should but at times darkened as his past sets in.

(on-camera): Nod (ph)?

SULTAN: (Speaking Foreign Language)

DAMON (on-camera): He has these nightmares where he's on fire. His whole body's on fire. Even his eyes are on fire. And he wakes up screaming, screaming for his mother to put out the flames.

(voice-over): Sultan is as old as Syria's war itself, a life that carries the emotional and physical scars of a nation.

[01:25:03]

When he was five, his baby brother was killed in a bombing.

AMAR, MOTHER OF WOUNDED CHILD: (through translation): The neighbors removed the glass. They pulled him out. His neck was slit.

DAMON (voice-over): When Sultan was six, his father died in a strike on the market.

AMAR (through translation): I saw so many children die in front of me. I couldn't save even one.

DAMON (voice-over): This is where Sultan was born into unimaginable violence, where he lost so much. A gray, dusty town of smothered childhood laughter stolen by war.

Renad's family did not know that mines were daisy-chained along the wall of their home. Her grandfather shows us where the first one went off.

DAMON (on-camera): She was standing of the door with her siblings and then, all of a sudden, there was an explosion from a mine right there.

(voice-over): She lost her left leg under the knee.

(on-camera): She has a prosthetic now.

(voice-over): She says her father disappeared a decade ago at the start of Syria's war. She tells us he was blindfolded, and she was thrown to the ground in a forest.

RENAD, SURVIVED MINE EXPLOSION (through translation): There were people passing by who heard me crying.

DAMON (voice-over): It's the longest sentence she speaks. Mostly, she gives one word answers or falls silent. Her grandfather says he feels like she's just gone blank. She doesn't dream of a life without war because she can't even imagine it.

It's been over a year since we were last here, covering Russia and the Syrian regimes most intense assault on what remained of rebel-held territory. There's been a ceasefire in place since then that has been, relatively speaking, holding.

COVID-19 peaked here late last year. Now ICU beds are mostly empty.

(on-camera): It's all sandbagged underneath here just in case there's more bombing that resumes.

(voice-over): This is a pediatric hospital, one of the few that remains intact. Ziyad (ph) is two and a half months old and severely underweight.

(on-camera): They've seen a three-fold increase in malnutrition cases in this clinic alone, for a number of reasons.

DAMON (voice-over): Years of bombings and displacement leading to greater poverty and then further fueled by COVID-19 border closures and humanitarian aid slowing down.

We pass ramshackle camps. With each bombardment, more of them blotted the countryside. A decade, for so many, a lifetime of compounded trauma. The past permeates everything. For most, there's not a month, a week that goes by that isn't the anniversary of the death of someone they loved.

Perhaps all that is left to save are the shreds of innocence of a scarred generation.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Idlib, Syria.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks to all for that piece.

So, coming up on CNN, a new COVID wave is overwhelming hospitals in Brazil. So what's behind the surge? And how can the country hope to contain it? We speak with an expert in Sao Paulo, that is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:50]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to all of OUR viewers around the world. Thanks for joining me.

I'm Robyn Curnow. You are watching CNN.

So Brazil's coronavirus outbreak is surging to new and really, frankly, terrifying heights this past week. The country average, more than 66,000 new cases a day. It passed India for the second highest total in the world with almost 11.5 million infections overall. And now, as these cases keep on rising, more ICUs are approaching capacity.

Matt Rivers has more, Matt.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've been reporting here on the ground here in Sao Paulo, Brazil for the last few days. And we've really gotten a firsthand look at how brutal this ongoing COVID crisis has been here for so many in the city.

We spoke to one woman, a 30-year-old named Pamela. Her grandmother died of COVID-19 after Pamela had gotten her admitted to a small local hospital in their neighborhood. Unfortunately, that hospital didn't have an ICU.

Doctors said her grandmother needed an ICU, but she couldn't get a transfer because at that time, there simply weren't beds available.

Her grandmother was one of 12 patients at that hospital, in a five-day stretch earlier this month that died, waiting for a transfer to an ICU. That transfer just didn't happen.

The reason that happened is because the health care system in the city is so overwhelmed at this point and that's something that we're seeing play out, really, across this country.

The latest data that we have from Saturday evening shows that 22 of 26 Brazilian states have an ICU occupancy rate of, at least, 80 percent or higher. It is a staggering number when you think about it. It shows the scope of this ongoing crisis here in Brazil.

And when you see numbers like that at hospitals, it leads to more deaths, unfortunately. That is something that we saw firsthand earlier when we went to the Sao Paulo City public cemetery, the amount of burials there recently have just been staggering. We saw a number of new graves being dug, and with the expectation that they will eventually be filled potentially with COVID victims.

The three single highest days for Sao Paulo in terms of recorded coronavirus deaths have come in just the last week.

Matt Rivers, CNN -- in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Joining me now from Sao Paulo, Brazil is Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, professor of neurobiology at Duke University. Doctor, thank you very much for joining us.

It really does seem like Brazil is in the midst of this devastating crisis where we see cemeteries and ICUs filling up, overflowing day by day.

DR. MIGUEL NICOLELIS, PROFESSOR OF NEUROBIOLOGY, DUKE UNIVERSITY: Absolutely. Tomorrow, we will have the beginning of the worst week for sure in the pandemic during this year of the pandemic in Brazil.

We are bracing ourselves for, you know, the record after record of deaths per day. And we are really not sure when to expect any change in this horrible scenario right now. CURNOW: Why is it so bad right now?

[01:34:56]

DR. NICOLELIS: Well, basically because the federal government since the beginning didn't do anything that was supposed to be done, you know, to fight a pandemic of this severity and gravity.

The president of Brazil never taking responsibility. And in Brazil we have a national health system, that is, you know, one of the best in the world, but it never got the guidance, and the funds, and the strategic planning that the country needed to fight such a horrible pandemic.

CURNOW: I know you were deeply involved in running a task force for a big proportion of the country. How overwhelming has it been particularly when you're trying to scenario-plan?

DR. NICOLELIS: Well, it was the most challenging scientific task I ever had in my 40-year career. I never imagined to be, you know, part of a war zone. That's how I can describe it to you. We had to make assessments, and come up with recommendations, day-by-day. In a matter of hours we had to deliver recommendations to nine governors, they couldn't count on any help from the federal government.

And yet, I'm very proud to say that, because of this effort, I think the northeast region of Brazil had some of the best epidemiological results in the five regions of the country because the governors believed in science, and helped us to build a very significant scientific task force.

CURNOW: You talk about failures of the federal government, you also talk about, clearly, people struggling day-by-day with this disease. But how much is also this new variant -- P-1 (ph) as it is called or the Brazilian variant -- playing into this?

Particularly because it just seems so aggressive, and so many young people are turning up breathless, and very, very ill.

DR. NICOLELIS: Well, this is the latest component of the Brazilian tragedy. Something that we had seen just materializing right now with, you know, the new cases they're reaching the ICU beds.

We are seeing a dramatic shift in the age group that is taking the ICU beds right now. From, you know, above 60, 65, down to 30 to 45. This is a more recent trend.

We have another variant that has just identified in the last two days down here in Brazil. This is news that came up early today, showing that, as I mentioned last week, Brazil is, probably, right now, the largest open sky laboratory for the coronavirus to mutate and for a new variance to emerge. And this trend is going to continue.

So, we had problems before the variant and in fact, as we speak, the whole health system, the whole hospital system in Brazil, may be collapsing in a matter of hours. CURNOW: You're painting a devastating, hellish picture here. What can

be done? What do you need?

DR. NICOLELIS: Well, first of all --

(CROSSTALK)

DR. NICOLELIS: -- well, first of all, we need in Brazil a central command. We need a national task force headed by the congress, the governors, the supreme court, together with the scientific community to take over in managing the crisis. That for me is paramount.

Second, we need to upgrade the number of people vaccinated per day tenfold. We need to go from 200,000 -- 300,000 a day to 2 million -- 3 million a day like what is happening in the U.S. right now.

And of course, we need a national lockdown. I cannot see us breaking down the transmission rates that we have skyrocketing right now without a national lockdown. Because, as I said, as we speak, all five regions of the country are crossing the threshold of ICU collapse. We don't have ICU beds left.

And you know, this is a country that has more hospitals than the United States. Yet, we are reaching a point in which people are going to die on the emergency rooms or on the streets. So, we need a national lockdown, we need it.

CURNOW: Sending thoughts and prayers to you all there in Brazil. Doctor, thank you for all the work also that you have been doing. Thank you very much also for joining us. I know that you're very busy. Thank you.

DR. NICOLELIS: I appreciate it. Thank you.

CURNOW: Bolivia's former interim president, made a virtual court appearance on Sunday while supporters demanded her release. Jeanine Anez appeared before a judge on video link in a tweet. Anez says she had been sentenced to four months of pre-trial detention and that the charges against her link to the ousting of her predecessor, Evo Morales.

More than 4,000 unaccompanied migrant children are now in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol. Now that is higher than last week's record, and it certainly comes as a growing number of migrants are arriving at the border each day.

[01:39:59]

CURNOW: Authorities so far, struggle to keep up with the influx. Often they've been forced to leave the kids inside border facilities, instead of moving them to safer shelters as required.

The Secretary of Homeland Security says he's sending federal teams to help with the process.

Coming up on CNN, some employers say you have to get vaccinated if you want a job. So, is it legal? We'll take a look at that.

Also, the British Airways CEO says if you're vaccinated against COVID, you should be able to fly with no restrictions. That also just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Despite millions of people being vaccinated against the coronavirus, some are still reluctant to get it. So should companies make it mandatory for employment and is it legal for them to do so?

Anna Stewart takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For the founder of Pimlico Plumbers it's a no-brainer.

CHARLIE MULLINS, CEO, PIMLICO PLUMBERS: I believe that's the way that the future is going. No jab, no job. No jab, no travel. No jab, no fun.

STEWART: He wants all current and future employees to have the vaccine, and he will add it as a clause into their job contract.

MULLINS: Going by the response to that from staff, 99.9 percent of them are up for it. And you know, at the moment, they are all across the (INAUDIBLE) to get their vaccine.

STEWART (on camera): I guess the big question is though, are you prepared to go to court if it comes to it?

MULLINS: According to their lawyers, we are doing nothing wrong. We are actually safeguarding people.

STEWART: Adding a "no jab, no job" clause into a contract isn't illegal in the U.K. But if an employee refuses to accept it they could take legal action.

DAVID SAMUELS, EMPLOYMENT LAWYER, LEWIS SILKIN: If someone doesn't want to get a vaccination and their employer insists that they do in order to undertake their role, then the basis on which they would challenge it is because perhaps they have medical reasons for not having the vaccination or they have ideological or religious reasons for not having a vaccination.

[01:45:06]

SAMUELS: They would then argue that by putting in place a requirement that they be vaccinated and other employees vaccinated, the employer's policy is disproportionately affecting people like them who share that characteristic or the medical condition and that that is therefore a form of indirect discrimination.

STEWART: The arguments may be strong where lives are at stake. Care homes were some of the hardest hit by COVID. One of the U.K.'s leading chains, Barchester Health care have set April 23rd as the deadline for staff to be vaccinated, allowing for some exemptions, including pregnancy.

They say they are aware of discrimination concerns but they say they're doing everything possible to ensure fairness while also delivering on their duty to protect residents, patients, and staff.

(on camera): Vaccine passports could be rolled out for more widely in the workplace in the future. You could need proof of a vaccine to go abroad, to the cinema, or even to the pub. It's something the U.K. government is actively considering.

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There are clearly some quite complex issues, some issues, Some ethical issues, issues about discrimination and so on to what extent can government either compel or indeed forbid such certification. I think all that needs to be gone into.

STEWART (voice over): While the government considers its position, some British businesses are forming their own. No jabs, no jobs.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

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CURNOW: And it was a big night for Beyonce. She broke a major record at the Grammy Awards, more on that. and other big winners from music's biggest night.

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CURNOW: It was a star studded night at this year's Grammy awards, a bit different of course due to the pandemic but still featuring a few live performances, acceptance speeches and some history being made.

Beyonce broke the record for all-time wins by a woman and any singer, male or female with 28 Grammys. Wow.

Dua Lipa took the award for best pop vocal album for "Future Nostalgia". She also performed on the show, singing her hit "Levitating".

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CURNOW: "The Daily Show's" Trevor Noah hosted the event, and there was a big emphasis on diversity and race with her winning song of the year for "I Can't Breathe".

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TREVOR NOAH, TV HOST: And the Grammy goes to "I Can't Breathe" -- her.

BEYONCE, PERFORMER: We are the change that we wish to see. And you know, that fight that we had in us in the summer of 2020, keep that same energy. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: More now on the Grammy's from CNN's Chloe Melas.

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CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The Grammy awards were all about Beyonce Sunday night. The singer broke the record for the most Grammy wins by a female artist. She's now the recipient of 28 Grammy awards.

Earlier in the evening Beyonce and Rapper Megan the Stallion also made history as the first pair of women to ever win Best Rap Performance for Stallion's "Savage" re-mix. And Beyonce's nine-year-old daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, well, she won her first Grammy award earlier in the night, making her the second youngest to ever take home an award.

Taylor Swift also won the coveted Album of the Year award and Record of the Year went to singer Billie Eilish. The show was hosted by Trevor Noah and did not disappoint with performances from some of music's biggest stars from Harry Styles, Dua Lipa to BTS. --

Chloe Melas, CNN -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So Before we go let's talk about going. With more COVID vaccines come more of a return to normalcy in many parts of the world and that includes air travel. And even though the virus is spiking again in parts of Europe, the head of British Airways says people who are vaccinated should be allowed to travel with no restrictions.

Well, John Defterios joins me now from Abu Dhabi with the latest on this. Hi John, lovely to see you. So what does this mean? BA saying hey, if you've got the jab, jump on board?

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, they are trying to set up a new framework, if you will Robyn as one of the largest airports for international arrivals here. What do we do going forward? The U.K. government is not going to make a decision until April 12th what travel's going to look like with hopefully opening up summer travel on May 17th.

Sean Doyle, who was appointed as the chief executive officer of British Airways back in October saying let's try to take the lead on this. so this is a very sensitive issue because you obviously don't want to unduly disadvantage those who have not had a vaccine.

So we're saying those that are vaccinated should be able to move forward with their travel plans. And those who even test negative on a PCR should be able to do the same.

He is also calling at the same time here to normalize the platform and have health apps introduced into the marketplace so people can load up the PCR exams and get the negative test out there and also to have that stamp of approval, if you will, with the vaccination saying that this person has been vaccinated once or twice. And they are cleared to travel.

We're not there yet as a industry. But it's interesting that a new CEO in an industry that has been under strain obviously in 2019 and 2020 is asking for us to move forward with a framework for everyone that could work internationally.

CURNOW: And no doubt Americans also clamoring for that as well particularly because of the high rates of vaccinations here and of course, there in the U.K.

John Defterios in Abu Dhabi, thanks very much.

DEFTERIOS: Thanks.

CURNOW: So a rare setting of an endangered species in China, a Chinese white dolphin was spotted swimming in a river. Experts are trying to find out why it had wandered so far from the ocean.

[01:54:55]

CURNOW: They say it may have been attracted to the area because of an abundance of fish. Scientists will continue to monitor the dolphin and set up a rescue plan if necessary.

And SpaceX has made history with its latest rocket launch.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one, zero. Ignition -- and lift off.

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CURNOW: The Falcon 9 rocket made a successful launch in landing for a record ninth time on Sunday. It carried another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit, part of a growing constellation that could one day bring high-tech Internet to the whole planet.

Sunday's launch could be seen up and down the U.S. East Coast. The man who shot this video in Maryland, 1,400 kilometers from the launch site in Florida said he was surprised at just how bright and vibrant the rockets trail was.

Well, I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks so much for joining me.

I will be back with another hour of news in just a moment. So stick around for that.

You're watching CNN, of course.

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