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Re-Floating Massive Ship Could Take Up to a Week; E.U. and U.K. Working on 'Specific Solutions' for Vaccine Supply; E.U. Proposes Tighter COVID Vaccine Export Controls; Brazil's Health Ministry Changes COVID-19 Reporting Criteria; Poverty Grows as Political Stalemate Drags On in Lebanon; Senate Dem and GOP Leaders Trade Blows Over Ballots; CDC Director 'Worried' About Latest COVID-19 Data; Uyghur Families Desperate to Reunite; North Korea Fires Two Ballistic Missiles; U.S. Threatens Sanctions over Nord Stream 2 Pipeline. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired March 25, 2021 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, a CNN exclusive. Forced apart by oppression, Uighur parents desperate to reunite with their families. David Culver looks for lost children left behind.
Another weapons test by North Korea, firing 2 short range ballistic missiles, sending a clear message to the new Biden administration.
Still stuck and going nowhere fast, a cargo ship blocks the Suez Canal, we look at the impact, on the local economy.
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VAUSE: We begin this hour with a CNN exclusive, children taken from their families prevented from leaving the Xinjiang region. Parents looking for answers, asked CNN for help. A report by Amnesty International says thousands of families have been split up as a result of Chinese government policies toward ethnic Uighur Muslims.
The U.S. and other countries have labeled Chinese treatment of them as genocide. China denies the human rights abuse allegations, claiming their actions are justified to combat religious extremism and prevent terrorism.
But in an exclusive report David Culver and senior producer Steven Jiang and photojournalist Justin Robertson traveled to the heavy surveiled region. With their parents' permission, searching for the lost children of Xinjiang.
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DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Followed by a convoy of suspected undercover Chinese police vehicles --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Detail is still on us.
CULVER (voice-over): mimicking our every turn through China's far Western Xinjiang region.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they (INAUDIBLE).
CULVER (voice-over): -- blocking roads that lead to possible internment camps and keeping us from getting too close to so-called sensitive sites.
How we ended up on this journey had less to do about us and more about who we were looking for. CNN searching for the lost Uyghur children of Xinjiang, a region in which several countries, including the U.S., alleged China is committing genocide against the ethnic Uyghur Muslim minority.
Thousands of families have been ripped apart through China's actions. We tracked down two of them.
Now in Adelaide, Australia, Mamutjan Abdurehim constantly replays the only recent videos he has of his daughter and son.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daddy.
CULVER (voice-over): He has not held his wife or their children in more than 5 years. He is among thousands of families from Xinjiang who have been torn apart, according to a Amnesty International report.
MAMUTJAN ABDUREHIM, FATHER OF CHILDREN IN XINJIANG: April on 17th, the mass internment started then. And I was one of the first people detained. My wife was detained, too.
CULVER (voice-over): Before they were separated Mamutjan was studying in Kuala Lumpur. His wife studying English. There
ABDUREHIM: We were happy as a family, it was a good old days
CULVER (voice-over): But his wife lost her passport while in Malaysia. Chinese officials told her that she had to go back to Xinjiang to renew. She brought the couple's 2 young children with her, thinking they would soon be able to travel back.
But that was late 2015. Amnesty says the forced separation of families allows China to control the narrative, keeping something precious to dissuade their loved ones outside the country from bad-mouthing China.
Chinese officials have repeatedly pushed back against claims of genocide in Xinjiang. the foreign minister recently calling it preposterous.
WANG YI, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): We welcome more people from around the world to visit Xinjiang. Seeing is believing. It is the best way to debunk rumors. CULVER (voice-over): So we decided to try to find the missing children ourselves. With permission from their parents, the 5 plus hour flight from Beijing ended with a strange requests from the cabin crew. As we approached Kashkar's airport to land, all window shades had to be shut, no explanation why.
We went through a standard COVID test for all arriving passengers, loaded up a rental car and roamed without anyone stopping us. Though, like much of China, you're always watched. You immediately encounter the vibrant, richly diverse culture of this region but faces also different.
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CULVER (voice-over): Perhaps not what you'd expect in China. From the grand bazaar to the central mosque, we stroll through the reconstructed old town. It's here we began to notice, people trailing us.
CULVER: There are usually individual men on phones, keeping a social distance, shall we say.
CULVER (voice-over): But it seemed they wanted to know who we were searching for. This video of Mamutjan's little girl was a critical clue for us. We matched the alleyways of old Kashkar with a backdrop in the video, the first day, no luck.
CULVER: Another dead end, this might be it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's try this.
CULVER (voice-over): Twenty-four hours and 20,000 steps later, we weaved our way through one last corridor and suddenly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's her.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know this man, is he your father?
CULVER (voice-over): The daughter and her grandparents, Mamutjan's mom and dad, were not expecting us but they let us into their home.
Lisa told me she is going to turn 11 in May but amidst her innocence an awareness not to say too much. She told us she had not spoken to her father since 2017.
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Their passports were confiscated.
When we asked her...
CULVER: What would you want to say to him if you could talk to him?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
CULVER (voice-over): "I miss him," she later told me.
CULVER: Can you tell me some of what you're feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Speaking foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Speaking foreign language).
CULVER (voice-over): "I don't have my mom with me right now, I don't have my dad, either. I just want to be reunited with them," she told me.
Off camera, her grandmother, overcome by grief.
As I asked about her mother and if she had been sent to a camp?
CULVER: How long was she away for?
CULVER (voice-over): She quickly bolted to her grandfather, translating our question from Chinese to Uighur for them. Camps are too sensitive a topic to discuss. As they talked, notice the sudden murmurs in the background. It seemed word of our visit had gotten to officials and back to the family, bringing an abrupt end to our visit.
CULVER: She wants the family together. She didn't want to say they want to go abroad.
CULVER (voice-over): But we still wanted to know where Mamutjan's wife and son were. The family said they've been living with her family nearby.
CULVER: It's locked from the outside, so unless they're gone for the day or gone permanently.
CULVER (voice-over): We asked the Chinese government if the wife is currently in a camp. They have not gotten back to us.
While on the ground in Xinjiang, there was a second set of children we wanted to track down. Their parents are in Italy.
MAMTININ ABLIKIM, FATHER OF TRAPPED CHILDREN (through translator): My children thought that we abandoned them, that we don't care about them.
CULVER (voice-over): After having five children and getting pregnant with a sixth, they say authorities wanted to force their mother to have an abortion and throw the father in jail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The policies were too strict, it was impossible to take on all of our children together with us. So we left our homeland and our children in desperation.
CULVER (voice-over): The older children, now aged between 12 and 16, were left behind with their grandparents. They hoped the separation would be temporary until they could secure more visas.
But they went nearly 4 years unable to contract their children. They got word that family members were being rounded up and being sent to camps.
Determined to reunite the family, their cousin in Canada choreographed their escape attempt from half a world away. Their parents had finally secured visa approvals from Italy for their children. In June 2020, Arafat managed to communicate to the kids.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is your only shot. If you just stay, your life is going to be staying there, nothing we can do.
CULVER (voice-over): On their, own they traveled more than 3,000 miles, father than from L.A. to New York, recovering hidden passports, eventually flying into Shanghai.
CULVER: When the children arrived here in Shanghai, they were excited and happy. They never thought they would make it this far.
CULVER (voice-over): But their repeated attempts to obtain their visas failed. Arafat also says multiple hotels turned the kids away because they are Uyghur. They finally found a place willing to take them in. All the while they dropped geolocation pins for Arafat to know that they were OK.
The last pin dropped on June 24th, a few blocks from the hotel.
CULVER: Do you know who these children are ?
Have you seen before?
CULVER (voice-over): Arafat in Canada watched. Then silence, minutes to hours, to days, to weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then I tell my aunt, they might have been detained. In Italy, they started crying, like they cannot believe. It
CULVER (voice-over): After several phone -- calls he learned that police had tracked them down. China's giant surveillance network zeroing in on the 4 children.
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CULVER (voice-over): Arafat later found out they've been sent back to Xinjiang and thrown into an orphanage.
In Rome, the parents heard the devastating news of their children's detention, as they begged for help outside of Italy's ministry of foreign affairs office. The Italian government refused to comment to CNN on what happened. China has also not responded to requests for comment on the two families' cases.
Having found Lisa for her father, we hoped to find the other children to bring their parents some comfort. We headed out before sunrise, leaving Kashkar for the hour or so drive to get to the orphanage where they were sent.
That's the eldest boy, standing in front of the building a month ago. As we drove, we watched as one car after another trailed us. After making a pass by the orphanage, we headed to one of the kids' schools where we asked to see the kids. Eventually, local officials showed up and asked for about 30 minutes to get back to us.
CULVER: That was more than 2 hours ago but they've yet to let us talk to the children.
CULVER (voice-over): We later made contact through video chat.
CULVER: Do you want to be with them?
Do you miss them?
CULVER (voice-over): "I do," he says. He answered quickly and kept looking off camera. Someone was directing him to answer.
"Tell them that you see your sister every day," the voice said.
CULVER: He's been coached.
Can you tell us about your journey, trying to reunite with your parents last year?
CULVER (voice-over): When we asked about the Shanghai escape attempt, he deflected. Much like Lisa, here was another child, clearly aware that the way they speak and what they say could impact those they love. After about eight minutes we ended the call.
CULVER: They are literally right over there and we can't see them.
CULVER (voice-over): We later learned that three children were interrogated about our conversation, despite the pressure that the children face every day, late last month they even risked sending out a photo message to their parents.
The 4 of them, lined up holding a sign in Chinese, saying, Dad, Mom, we miss you. A rare glimpse of an uncensored truth.
With each passing hour of our being on the ground in Xinjiang, it's seen the number of likely security agents trailing us increased, adding pressure to our search. Before leaving, we reconnected with Mamutjan, who was hungry for any information on his wife and kids and desperate to see his little girl.
We watched him as he watched her.
ABDUREHIM: That's my mother.
CULVER: Do you know this man?
Is he your father?
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ABDUREHIM: That's my daughter. I haven't seen them in 4 years.
CULVER (voice-over): It's part relief seeing that she's OK, even proud that she still wants to be a doctor.
CULVER: What would you want to say to him if you could talk to him?
CULVER (voice-over): But to see her break down, sending her love to her father, no dad, no matter how strong, can hide that agony for long.
ABDUREHIM: Poor thing.
What kind of country does this to people?
To innocent people?
She must definitely miss me, too.
CULVER: She clearly, your little girl, is hurting but she loves your lot. And that came across right away.
ABDUREHIM: It is terrible. It's a terrible situation, I cannot even describe my feelings right now. I will try to bring them here in Australia, I will try my best, I will do everything I can.
CULVER (voice-over): Beneath that relentless determination, an inconsolable grief for years lost and a hope for families to be whole once more.
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VAUSE: David is live now from Beijing
David, very detailed, very tragic report in so many ways. But do you know what happened to the children once you left?
CULVER: Yes, heartbreaking, John. With regards to the children, part of the struggle is obviously connecting with them. The family for example, we learned that the 4 children that made that attempt to escape the Shanghai region, went through interrogation after we put out our cnn.com article. Hours of interrogation.
They were asked about why did you send that sign that said, Dad, Mom, we miss you. They were quite resilient; one in particular who stressed to us that he wants to be reunited with his mom and dad. You can't blame him, he's a child.
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CULVER: With regard to the young girl that you saw that piece, we did catch up with her. She is now part of a government propaganda story that has been put out this week. And it shows her with a happy life. She makes a plea not to leave Xinjiang but rather for her dad to come from Australia to reunite with the family.
What's interesting about that piece, John, is they've given us a little bit more insight about what happened to her mother. You saw that piece, we tried to track down her mom and little brother. It seemed in the state media story, we did see her little brother. We did not see the mom. The mom was charged, according to that piece, as a criminal, inciting ethnic hatred. So we do not know her location as of today.
VAUSE: What we're seeing in the new Biden administration, his movement on sanctions directed at Chinese officials because of human rights abuses in places like Xinjiang. There are also other countries following suit, there's been a four year rest period, if you like, when it comes to action towards China.
Is this likely to change China's behavior?
Because in the past it has not.
CULVER: It will be interesting to see where China goes with this diplomatically. One thing we can say is that they are trying to deflect a great deal and they're pointing to flaws in other countries, including the U.S., with regards to human rights.
You have all these Western countries that are coming against China with the sanctions, as you mentioned. China pushing back saying, wait a minute, look at what's happening within your own borders. That is a human rights issue.
Now it was interesting to see Secretary Blinken's interactions with Chinese officials in Alaska last week, because it was a very different approach from what we saw from Pompeo in a previous administration.
That was one of acknowledging what the U.S., issues of human rights, for example, but saying, look, we're transparent about, it we're not trying to push it aside. We want to confront it and create a more perfect union.
Trying to contrast to how the Chinese officials are dealing with it. One thing that could be really a game-changer in all of this, is how businesses are going to react to this. We know for example, H&M is getting a lot of backlash for decisions they made quite a long time ago to remove Xinjiang created cotton and forced labor in particular that had links to that cotton from their shelves.
Now we are even seeing, as we are speaking, a big boycott in China against H&M. Nike posting on their website that they are likewise looking to create that same separation between any sort of forced labor in Xinjiang, with regard to ethnic minorities in particularly, the Uyghurs, from their products.
But that can create more of a clash with Chinese consumers, in China, internally. It could be that the business world is what really can bring some change to some of. This
VAUSE: Yes, sourcing exactly what is come from where I guess this is the tricky part in all of that. It is an effective route. David, thank you, David Culver.
Up next on CNN NEWSROOM, two missile launches in less than a week in North Korea, a measured provocation analysts say could be just the start of a return to habits of old. Plus Brazil reaches another devastating COVID milestone, why some are questioning the official numbers.
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VAUSE: Pyongyang has launched a second missile test in less than a week. Just after 7 am local time Thursday, two short range ballistic missiles were launched from North Korea's east coast, traveled 450 kilometers before landing in the sea. CNN's Paula Hancocks, live from Seoul this hour.
Start with what was fired, these new and improved missiles, how does this tie in with the weapons test over the weekend?
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, experts are looking at that right now, obviously waiting for any images that we have from state run media. They are trying to figure out if this was a new kind of short range missile that had been tested. One went about 420 kilometers, the other 430 kilometers. They are within the short range missile sphere.
But they are ballistic missiles which means they're against U.N. Security Council resolutions, they do violate the rules against North Korea. So certainly this is a step up from what we saw last weekend, when that was a weapons test.
It wasn't a banned weapons test. At that point, the Biden administration really downplayed it, saying that they didn't see it as changing the dynamics too much and it was really at the low end of the spectrum of what North Korea could do.
So really, what we are seeing here is a step up from North Korea, they are now going to the short range ballistic missiles, which they know that the U.S. will have to react to in some way before any reaction from the region.
Japan's prime minister says that this is the threat for the peace and security of Japan. Here in South Korea, they've had a emergency National Security Council meeting, they called this of deep concern. Both of these countries have increased their surveillance on the area as well.
Also, what it has done is that it has ensured that it's front and center, once again, just ahead of the U.S. President Biden's press conference on Thursday, John.
VAUSE: OK, so if we're back to business as usual, as it appears to be, it looks like North Korea has plenty of room to escalate these weapons tests, that I guess is the big fear that, if the Biden administration doesn't respond in a way that Pyongyang is happy with, then we will see more weapons tests escalating up to some kind of nuclear test as the ultimate act of defiance by the north.
Is that sort of the trajectory that we're on right now?
HANCOCKS: It's certainly something we have seen so many times in the past, this is often cyclical. We know the U.S. has reached out to North Korea. We know the Biden administration, Secretary Blinken just last week in the region, admitted that they have been reaching out since mid February but heard nothing back.
We know that through state run media North Korea says there's no point talking until the U.S. changes its hostile policy. We even had Kim Jong-un's sister, who is often brought out for the more stern words against South Korea and the U.S., saying that the U.S. should effectively tread very carefully.
So at this, point it does appear as we are on one of these cycles, where we could see increasing severity of these launches and these missile tests. It's not clear at this point what's North Korea's intentions are, though; it's slightly different in the fact that, this time around, the U.S. does appear to be willing to talk.
We are still waiting for that North Korea policy review from the new Biden administration. It's what every incoming U.S. administration does. It reviews what the previous administration did. But at this point most people were waiting for that but North Korea clearly couldn't wait.
VAUSE: You know, the White House says it is imminent. Paula thank, you Paula Hancocks live in Seoul, appreciated.
The U.S. secretary of state will meet with his Belgian counterparts in the coming, hours Antony Blinken is visiting NATO leaders to reaffirm the Biden administration's commitments to allies.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I'm Nic Robertson in London. Secretary of state Antony Blinken wrapping up his trip to NATO headquarters. He said it had a warm reception, listening to the members thinking on Afghanistan and troop deployment, said he fed that back to President Biden, who is now fully informed. That would help him make his decision on when U.S. troops could pull out of Afghanistan.
On the issue of Russia that country he said would be a challenge going forward, the NATO members agreeing to work toward a longer term stable relationship with Russia. Nord Stream 2 pipeline discussed with the German foreign minister.
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ROBERTSON: He said there were differences there, made sure there was no ambiguity in Russia's understanding of the U.S. position.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Blinken also called for unity in the face of an increasingly set of China. His Beijing's coercive behavior threatens security and prosperity of the alliance. He said the U.S. will not force an us or them choice in China, forcing countries to work in Beijing on issues including climate change.
The torch relay for the Olympics is running in Japan, more than 7 months after the games were supposed to close. The lighting ceremony begins a 4 month countdown until the Summer Games in Fukushima, site of a massive earthquake and tsunami 10 years ago; 10,000 torchbearers will travel through Japan with the flame before it reaches its destination at the Olympic opening ceremony July 23rd.
Just ahead, stuck in the Suez Canal, we will see how long it will take for a massive container ship, blocking traffic in one of the world's busiest waterways.
Also the E.U., tightening control of its COVID vaccine exports and Britain could be one of the country's most affected.
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VAUSE: Right now maritime traffic is going nowhere in the Suez Canal. It could take up to a week to refloat the massive ship which is blocking the canal. CNN's John Defterios has the details.
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JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: A traffic jam in one of the most important waterways in the, world the Suez Canal was blocked on Tuesday when a very large container carrier got stuck Preventing other vessels moving in either direction along the crucial east-west trading route that weighs about 12 percent of world trade.
Sailing under the flag of Panama, the Ever Given ran around 6 nautical miles from the southern end of the estuary; 400 meters long and 59 meters wide, the giant vessel got caught navigating through a sandstorm. The crew reported no injuries and no damage to cargo.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sheer size of the vessel, being very tall and wide, it seems like it became a sail. This is a very freak event, I would say this is the first time that I'm actually spectating (sic) anything like this where a narrow body of water is just entirely closed off by directional traffic.
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DEFTERIOS (voice-over): Eight tugboats are trying to refloat the ship according to the Suez Canal Authority. A senior canal pilot tells CNN, that the process could take 2 days to a week. He doubts the ship can sail and will need to be dragged. Nevertheless,
the senior pilot believes, once floated, there will be 2 to 3 days of ship congestion before things are flowing normally.
Analytics report Texas said that 10 oil tankers carrying 13 million barrels of crude, about 14 percent of daily demand, could be affected by the delay.
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Nearly 19,000 ships, on average more than 50 ships for day, pass through the canal last year. A man-made engineering marvel, the busy Egyptian shipping lane is the quickest maritime lane between Asia and Europe, at least when unobstructed.
John Defterios, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The E.U. has tightened export controls over COVID vaccines. Under new regulations, the vaccination rate in the destination country, how many doses it already has available will be a factor that could allow the E.U. to say, Sorry, we need this more than you. So we're keeping them.
Exports to poor countries in the COVAX program would not be affected. Europe is trying to fend off a third wave of infections, while struggling with a sluggish vaccine roll-out. These major European powers you see here, all are in worse shape, COVID-wise, than the U.K., which is the blue line, which could soon be forced to respond to Europe's rising number of cases.
Scott McLean reports from London.
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SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The E.U. and the U.K. say they are working together on specific solutions to expand vaccine supply, despite a European Commission proposal that could result in vaccine exports being blocked to countries that have fewer new cases and a bigger supply of vaccines.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the U.K. would not retaliate with trade blockades of its own if the E.U. makes good on the proposed policy but told the parliamentary committee that a trade blockade could have other consequences.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER; I would just generally point out to anybody considering a blockade or interruption of supply chains that companies may look at such actions and -- and draw conclusions about -- about whether or not it is sensible to make -- to make future investments in countries where, you know, arbitrary blockades are imposed.
MCLEAN: Now, it's pretty easy for the prime minister to make the case against export restrictions, because the U.K. at the moment isn't exporting any finished vaccines itself.
Its deal with vaccine maker AstraZeneca requires the company to fulfill domestic orders before sending any doses abroad. The U.K. is light years ahead of mainland Europe in its vaccine rollout, having given at least one dose to 54 percent of its idle population.
Meanwhile, Europe is dealing with the onset of a third wave of infection without enough vaccines to stop it. Things have gotten so serious in France that the prime minister says he is prepared to impose restrictions even on truck drivers hauling goods across the English Channel, if it's needed to protect public health and stop new variants from getting in, warning his government may have to do that very soon.
Scott McLean, CNN, London.
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VAUSE: Earlier, I spoke with Professor Arthur Kaplan about the ethics of vaccine distribution. I asked if this first-world schoolyard fight between the E.U. and the U.K. is predictable, given there is no international agreement for the equitable distribution of vaccines.
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ARTHUR KAPLAN, DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF MEDICAL ETHICS, NYU LANGONE MEDICAL CENTER: I think a lot of people thought that the biggest battle might turn out to be the developed world against lower- and middle-income countries. And here we have this spat breaking out between Britain and the E.U. I think, probably, a direct descendant of Brexit, where people are sort of angry about that and now pointing figures back and forth about production.
But it's obvious that they have to come up with a reasonable sharing plan. The U.K. has been rolling out AstraZeneca vaccine for a while. The E.U. is so far behind it is facing outbreaks and lockdowns.
VAUSE: Yes, and one of the things that the E.U. is trying to point out here is that this is not targeting Britain specifically. The E.U. Commission's Valdis Dombrovskis has made the argument that since the export authorization system was put in place, 10 million doses of vaccine have been exported to the U.K. and nothing has come back to the E.U. Here's the rest of his argument.
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VALDIS DOMBROVSKIS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ECONOMY, E.U. COMMISSION: If we discuss reciprocity, solidarity and global responsibility, so it's clear that we also need to look at all aspects of reciprocity and proportionality.
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VAUSE: What is this system of reciprocity, like he said? How does this actually work? KAPLAN: It isn't a system. It's a set of moral, dare I say,
presumptions that we bought and contracted to get vaccine. You're hoarding it. We want some of it to come back to us and more of it to come back to it. And we expect you, Britain, to honor what was promised to us.
Weirdly, some of the vaccines made in E.U. countries, so there's saber-rattling going on that we're not going to send it to you, if you don't share it back to us.
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VAUSE: Well, more of that interview in the next hour, right here on CNN.
Well, the coronavirus pandemic has now claimed more than 300,000 lives in Brazil. That's according to official data. But in just the past few hours, the health ministry has changed the guidelines for reporting cases and deaths.
CNN's Matt Rivers is in Sao Paulo with this report.
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MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, on a day where Brazil's death toll surpassed 300,000 coronavirus deaths for the first time, it was the way that new deaths were reported on Wednesday that really got people talking.
On Wednesday, the health ministry announced that it would be requiring more personal information about COVID-19 victims from the officials that were reporting those deaths. That immediately sparked concern that the number of COVID-19 deaths being reported would be lower.
Those concerns apparently justified. On Tuesday, there was a record- setting day for coronavirus deaths, more than 3,200 deaths recorded in a single day on Tuesday. That number on Wednesday plummeted to just over 2,000 deaths.
That immediately made people here in Brazil suspicious, one day you have a record-setting amounts in deaths in a single day. The next day, reporting requirements changed. The timing certainly made people suspicious.
By the end of the day, the health ministry announced that it was basically backtracking. It wouldn't require more information moving forward. We'll have to see what happens when the numbers come out on Thursday.
But this whole incident certainly didn't give a lot of people here in Brazil more confidence, more trust in the way the federal government is handling this pandemic.
Matt Rivers, CNN, Sao Paulo, Brazil. (END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: An update now on AstraZeneca's woes. The drug company has released new data for its COVID vaccine efficacy. That's after a review board in the U.S. suggested the drug giant was using information that was not up to date in its news release earlier this week.
The new figures show the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine 76 percent effective in preventing COVID symptoms. On Monday, in a press release the company claimed 79 percent. So in all, not a huge difference but still says the vaccine is one hundred percent effective at stopping severe disease.
Here's the rub. None of that data has been peer reviewed. AstraZeneca says that will happen in the coming weeks.
A World Health Organization expert says the vaccine's reputation has taken a hit in recent weeks due to news coverage of blood clot concerns. But it's already been deployed to tens of millions of people around the world, and we keep hearing its benefits outweigh the risks.
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DR. SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN, CHIEF SCIENTIST, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Nothing is a hundred percent safe, so there may be something rare that are causing one in a million, or two in a million. We need to watch and we've asked all countries to step up their safety surveillance. We, of course, if there is a relationship, we need to understand what it is. Can it be prevented? Can it be treated? All of that needs to be done.
But right now, the benefit risk profile is clearly in favor of the vaccine. We need to save lives.
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VAUSE: In the coming weeks, AstraZeneca is expected to seek authorization for emergency use in the U.S.
A short break. When we come back, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) currency, a political stalemate in Lebanon. The impact on people struggling to pay for necessities like groceries as this pandemic crisis deepens.
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[00:40:23]
VAUSE: Well, Lebanon continues to spiral downward amid an economic and political crisis. Throw in the pandemic for good measure.
A currency collapse two years ago led to skyrocketing prices and widespread unemployment. Talks between the prime minister designate and the president on forming a new cabinet broke down on Monday. As CNN's Ben Wedeman reports, the result of Lebanon's political paralysis is clear in Tripoli. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The faded pictures of politicians, from Lebanon's last election three years ago, grace the walls of Kavani (ph), one of the poorest neighborhoods of Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city and its poorest. Business below in the market for secondhand goods is slow, poverty here a constant.
"The richest people in Lebanon are here in Tripoli," says 62-year-old Ahmed Mousawal (ph). "The leaders, the dogs, don't care about anyone."
Ahmed (ph) lives with 11 members of his extended family in two cramped rooms. Years of winter rains have left stains where the water drips into the sitting room, which doubles as a bedroom at night. A picture on the wall speaks of better days, now long gone.
Ahmed (ph) has been ill for years. He can't afford basic medicines or much else.
"I don't eat meat," he says. "I just smell it from the market. It's two, three years we don't know what meat is in my house."
Activist Lynda Bohol (ph) brought leftover food from restaurants to Ahmed's (ph) house to share with the poor in Tripoli. She, too, has lost faith in Lebanon's politicians. "Must we cry and bleed and all of you remain leaders," she asks? "It's not logical. We're done. We're fed up!"
Tripoli has been the scene of violent protests against the political elite. In the last two years, the local currency has lost more than 80 percent of its value against the dollar. Annual inflation last year was more than 80 percent. Unemployment is rising. Lebanon teeters on the brink of collapse.
And all the while, the politicians squabble over the shrinking spoils, unable to form a government since the last one resigned nearly eight months ago after the Beirut port blast.
"They're running away from the disaster," says Nidal (ph), a shopkeeper. "They're running away from the collapse. They're running away from their theft! There's no government, and we're heading toward the abyss."
Old bullet holes on the walls of this city, a reminder of what that abyss could bring.
Ben Wedeman, CNN, Tripoli, northern Lebanon.
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VAUSE: Well, thank you for being with us. WORLD SPORT is next after a short break. I'm John Vause. Hope to see you back here at the top of the hour here, watching CNN live around the world.
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