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Poll Shows High Rate of Burnout for Health Care Workers; Japan Struggles with Surge Three Months Ahead of Olympics; Virgin Hyperloop Reimagines High Speed Travel; Pandemic-Era Academy Awards Show Makes History; E.U. May Soon Welcome U.S. Tourists; COVID Aid for India; History at the Oscars; Russian State Media: Putin and Biden May Meet in June. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired April 26, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:23]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. Welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Robyn Curnow.

So, coming up on CNN:

Have passport? Will travel? Europe may throw its doors open to Americans eager for a summer getaway. But there's one catch: you must be vaccinated.

Long lines and low oxygen. As India's hospitals struggle to keep up with the dizzying pace of COVID infections, there are promises of aids from abroad.

And a history made in Hollywood. A big night for Asian women at the Oscars.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM WITH ROBYN CURNOW.

CURNOW: We begin with good news for Americans who've been dreaming of a European holiday after more than a year of COVID restrictions. The European Commission president tells "The New York Times" that fully vaccinated Americans will be able to visit E.U. countries. This was a good news for European economies that have felt the financial sting of travel bans.

Here's Richard Quest with more -- Richard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: The E.U. and the U.S. have been working on a deal for some time. Now the Europeans have accepted in principle that since Americans are being vaccinated with one of three vaccines, all of which are being approved by the European regulator. Then there's no reason why U.S. citizens shouldn't have unconditional access to the European Union. There are logistical problems. It involved recognizing the vaccination

certificates being issued in the United States. The E.U. is using or moving towards digital green pass, whereas Americans are being given little white cards.

So, how to ensure those cards are valid and not forgeries at the border? That will be a big question.

As in the United Kingdom, they won't be part of any deal with the E.U. because the U.K. is not a member of the European Union. However, it will be astonishing if the United Kingdom did not have its own deal in place before long.

Richard Quest, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: So, much of the E.U. decision is said to be based on the increasing number of American citizens getting vaccinated and most experts agree that vaccinations are one of the biggest factors in getting live back to normal.

White House advisor, senior advisor Andy Slavitt explained to CNN's Pam Brown how that would have been much faster for those who are fully vaccinated. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDY SLAVITT, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER FOR COVID-19 RESPONSE: The key to getting back to life that we used to know is vaccination. And so far, we have more than half adult Americans that have done their vaccine shots. That's great.

But that also means that we have near half Americans haven't done that yet. So, I think we're increasingly going to see a world where people who have been vaccinated re going to enjoy a lot of freedoms. They're going to feel like they can take on a lot of activities and little risk. They can reunite with families and cases are going to continue to be there for people have not been vaccinated yet.

So whether they're traveling to Europe or it's just seeing your family and friends without having to worry vaccination is key.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 95 million people in the U.S. are fully vaccinated. It's more than a quarter of the population and nearly 140 million people have had at least one dose.

But the story is very different in India which has just broken the global record for new daily cases for a 5th consecutive day. Health authorities reported nearly 353,000 new cases on Monday. Hospitals are overwhelmed, and the government is planning to set up more than 500 new oxygen generation plants just to meet on with a rising demand.

Anna Coren is tracking these developments. She joins us now from Hong Kong with this desperate situation that's playing out in India.

What can you tell us? Hi, Anna.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robyn.

As you say, another global record for a fifth consecutive day. And according to all the health experts, these official numbers are a massive undercount as to what the real toll actually is. The crematoriums are overflowing. The fires have been burning. The acute shortage of oxygen is being felt right around the country, particularly in Delhi, the capital, which is supposed to have the best health care system around the country.

We spoke to a doctor there who in his 50 years of practicing medicine has never seen anything quite like this. He said we've had patients die, yes, of disease, but not from a lack of oxygen.

As you mention, the Prime Minister Modi tweeted overnight saying that these oxygen plants, they will be set up around the country.

[01:05:06]

But people are saying how long will that take? And when will they be up and running? The people of India need help right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (voice-over): Volunteers rule out canisters of oxygen to victims of COVID desperate for air, but this is no hospital. This is a seed temple on the outskirts of New Delhi where aid workers are treating people in the back seat of cars since medical facilities in the capital are too overwhelmed to take in new patients.

JASPREET SINGH, SEEKING OXYGEN FOR FATHER: People who are not getting beds or oxygen and are dying in government hospitals, for them it's a great help. They're getting oxygen. It's a great time for the people struggling to breathe.

COREN: It's life and death for some. Conditions are not much better inside hospitals. In some places, with two or three patients to a bed, and little room for standing.

Outside another hospital, people are treated in cars and ambulances as they hope and wait to be admitted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi says the second wave of the virus has shaken the nation.

The government has deployed military planes and trains to bring in more oxygen, from around the country and overseas.

U.K. now promising to send ventilators and other medical equipment. The E.U. and the U.S. say they will help too. But that's little comfort to those infected right now.

For days, India has had the highest number of New Delhi cases in the world, causing critical shortages, and causing some people to turn more immediate means to help loved ones.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My father is 70 years old. Last night, I purchased an oxygen cylinder on the black market and it's already empty. Oxygen cylinders aren't even available on the black market now.

COREN: Dwindling resources and a scrambled to replenish them. Until then, the anguish of families trying to help the sick and dying is one thing in India there is too much of.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COREN (on camera): Now, Robyn, we know that individuals, private citizens, hospitals are taking to social media, pleading for help, pleading for oxygen supplies, medical supplies.

Interestingly, the government of Narendra Modi has contacted Twitter to censor some of the tweets that have gone out, tweets from lawmakers and journalist, filmmakers who have been highly critical of his government's mishandling of this second wave. The government used an emergency order and, interestingly, Twitter complied, removing some of these tweets.

I mean, you would have to think with a national emergency on an epic scale, the catastrophe that's unfolding in India, the fact that they are targeting Twitter, trying to censor people's criticism is just extraordinary.

CURNOW: As people continue to die.

Anna Coren, in Hong Kong, thank you.

So, kindergarten and primary schools in France are set to reopen in the coming hours, with officials saying the country's COVID situation is improving. But a nationwide overnight curfew will stay in place until at least mid May. Germany likely won't left coronavirus restrictions until the end of next month, since its day average of new cases continues to climb. Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a vaccine rollout meeting today.

And Italy is starting a gradual easing of restrictions as well in areas with low infection rates. Students can return to classes and outdoor activities will be allowed.

And an impromptu movement is rising in Uruguay to help with the food crisis made worse by the pandemic. More and more people are relying on a network of volunteer kitchens as Rafael Romo now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While one group cuts vegetables on one side, the other group gets the pork ready. It's mid- afternoon in Montevideo, Uruguay's capital, and there is no time to waste. At this soup kitchen, hundreds of meals must be ready by dinnertime.

They call it the people's pot. It's a group of volunteers with a noble mission -- feeding those who have fallen on hard times due to the COVID pandemic.

Andrea Dorta (ph) is one of the volunteers working to feed the hungry.

We're in a food crisis. One of the biggest ones we've had in the history of Uruguay, Dorta says.

She was recently in his shoes. The single mother of a 3-year-old girl says she lost her job shortly into the pandemic and was left with a little bit more than the equivalent of 20 U.S. dollars, when a bag of diapers and Uruguay cost $13.

It wasn't only diapers. I don't have to pay the bills and the other things, the first help I got came from a place like this she says.

This isn't the only people's pot in Montevideo.

[01:10:02]

According to a recent study, there are nearly 700 rather country, feeding at one point as many as 55,000 people. More than 60 percent of these soup kitchens didn't get any state funding and depend on donations and the work of volunteers.

At one point, Omero Mederos (ph) was one of those standing in line outside, waiting for a warm meal.

We're here because there aren't any jobs, he said. As dinnertime approaches the line outside gets longer. Every day, there's a peoples pot, hundreds of people show up rain or shine, we have to cook hundreds of meals. It's something that we didn't see before the pandemic, the soup kitchen coordinator says.

Uruguay is an unusual situation. The World Bank says it stands out in a line America for its high income per capita and low level of inequality and poverty. But the pandemic has pushed into poverty many who were previously in the lower middle class -- people who now depend on the goodwill of many groups of volunteers, who have made it their mission to see that in these hard times no one goes to bed on a empty stomach.

Rafael Romo, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: The film industry has been through a dramatic shift due to the pandemic, but as the saying goes, the show must go on and the producers of the Oscar's just proved they could pull off an awards show despite all the challenges in the pandemic era.

There were a lot of great moments and history was made at Sunday's big event. The biggest winner of the night was "Nomadland". And the film won several awards including best picture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHLOE ZHAO, FILM DIRECTOR: We thank the Academy. And we thank our brilliant fellow nominees. And we thank all --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: "Nomadland" tells the story of van-dwelling woman who roams the American West. It's the only the second film directed by a woman in Oscars history to win for best picture.

And the film's director, Chloe Zhao, also won for best director. She's the first Asian woman to win that category in Oscar's history.

The star of "Nomadland", Frances McDormand, also won for best actress for her celebrated performance.

And then in another historic win, Youn Yuh-Jung became the first Korean actress to win an Oscar for her supporting role in the film, "Minari".

And Anthony Hopkins won best actor for his rule in "The Father". At 83, he's now the oldest Oscar winner ever.

For more on the history-making evening at the Oscar's, we'll bring in Will Ripley in Hong Kong.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Robyn. This was --

CURNOW: Hi, Will. What can you tell us? It's really been a big night, hasn't it?

RIPLEY: It has, and especially Robyn, a big night for movies that premiered on streaming services.

To think about where we are today where most people used to go to the movie theaters are now watching movies first run at home in their pajamas, 15 of the 23 statuettes went to movies that were either exclusively on streaming services or simultaneously released.

You had "Nomadland" which was a Hulu project and then the director, Chloe Zhao. I mean, this is incredible content that was put out in a brand new way. And as you said, she's the first Asian woman, first woman from China, second woman ever to win for best director.

And yet, this film, not being talked about in Chinese state media. They're silent. The hashtag Oscar also censor because there's a controversy that Chloe Zhao, in one interview that she gave back in 2013, she was accused of insulting China when she spoke with "Filmmaker Magazine", and she called China a place where there are lies everywhere.

But in fact, her acceptance speech praised her upbringing in China. It would have been a very proud moment if people in the mainland were able to see it, but the Oscar's broadcast banned in mainland China and for the first time in more than half a century it did not air here in Hong Kong, an act of self censorship some say by this territories leading TV broadcaster.

Now, a big night also night for "Minari" costar, Youn Yuh-Jung, she's the first Korean actress ever to win a Oscar ever, she won for supporting actress. And it's a film that is obviously receiving a lot of praise for her home country, but it's also coming at a time that this issue of Asians in the United States is really at the forefront, that "Minari" film was about South Korean immigrants who are trying to make their way in the United States back in 1980.

But just last week, you had a hate crimes bill to try to fight crimes against Asian Americans, that passed almost unanimously in the United States Senate. So, this kind of representation for Asians at a time that there is violence happening against the because of what the world is suffering right now, Robyn, it really is a poignant moment and meaningful moment for so many people here in this part of the world.

CURNOW: Will Ripley, thanks so much live there in Hong Kong. Appreciate.

So, still to come, Russia is indicating that Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden may have a potential sit-down in June as tensions rise between the two countries.

[01:15:05]

Plus, more than 80 people are dead from a fire in a Baghdad hospital and Iraq's prime minister says that some government officials are under investigation over this tragedy. Paula Newton is next.

You are watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: Iraqis are searching for answers after more than 80 people died in a hospital fire in Baghdad. There's growing anger after footage from inside the hospital captured the chaos, revealing that the fire alarm wasn't working properly, and the emergency response was delayed.

Iraq's prime minister has suspended the country's health minister and the governor of Baghdad over this, and says, they will face questioning.

Officials believe that the fire started when oxygen tanks exploded. Hospital workers quickly began evacuating patients, many of whom were being treated for COVID.

Arwa Damon has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The person filming cries out in horror. There is the sound of another blast from within the inferno. A woman screams.

[01:20:02]

It's Baghdad's infectious diseases hospital, filled with COVID-19 patients, and their family members. Hussein Salem (ph) was inside caring for his mother. He was urging her

to try to eat something.

I couldn't save her, he says. We tried to evacuate my mom, but once we reach the door, we were blown away by one of the blasts, he remembers. The pain, still so raw, so incomprehensible.

He is at the Baghdad morgue, waiting for her charred remains, along with the others whose loved one either suffocated to death, or were burnt. Some, beyond recognition.

His father's anger seeps through his sorrow.

When tragedies happened, government officials always give bogus reasons. They always try to justify their devilish ways, he says.

As seen in this CCTV video of the explosion, believed to be an oxygen tank that exploded, coming from inside one of the rooms. People start to run. Someone, it looks like a patient, an elderly man, is pulled out. The flames appear to be getting larger. A man arrives with a handheld fire extinguisher, but with no fireproofing, it was not enough.

That blast led to a series of others. The fire alarm was faulty. It was half an hour before the civil defense says it got a call. By the time they responded, so many were dead. So many were wounded.

Residents in the area, take it upon themselves to help. Breaking through windows, to save those inside.

Back in February, we filmed at this hospital, in the intensive care unit. We spoke to doctors, and family members, about people's reluctance to come to hospitals, about the lack of faith in Iraq's health care systems, who have yet to recover from sanctions, dating back to the Saddam Hussein era, and then, nonstop war, and rampant corruption.

This, this is what all of that has led to. Murdat (ph) stares at his hands, cut from breaking glass to let in some air, his aunt, and grandmother perished inside. He could not save them.

No one could imagine that this could happen, he says. But, tragically, Iraq has a way of delivering the unimaginable. And, with, it unimaginable pain.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Indonesia is officially pronouncing to 53 crew members aboard a sunken submarine as dead. The missing vessel was found broken into several parts, about 2 miles from his last known location in the Bali Strait. Search teams, finding the sub wreckage on the sea floor, at a depth which the crew could not have survived.

A navy official, saying the crew is not to blame for the disasters. He blamed a natural, or environmental factor, but did not provide further details.

And Palestinians celebrated on Sunday night, after police barriers at the center of nightly clashes in Jerusalem came down. People filled the streets, waving flags, gathering in celebration outside the Damascus gate in Jerusalem. The area had been a scene of clashes those Palestinian said, police tried to prevent them from holding their usual Ramadan evening gatherings outside the gate.

At a time of heightened tensions between the U.S., and Russia, we are now hearing that the president, Joe Biden, and Vladimir Putin may sit down in a meeting, as soon as this summer, as Fred Pleitgen now has the details from Moscow -- Fred.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): A senior aide to the Kremlin, Yuri Ushakov, he went on Russian state TV, on Sunday, and there he said, June is a possible date for a summit between President Biden, and Russian president, Vladimir Putin. The way that Ushakov put it, he said that June is being talked about, and there is also, even, specific dates being talked about as well.

However, he does say, of course, there is still many things that need to be worked out. We did reach out to the Biden administration, and so, far they have not given any sort of update on the matter. The Russians, for their, part also say that so far, there are no meetings on a working level to try to hash out, what exactly, these leaders should be talking about, and also, what progress could possibly be made.

However, this all does sound plausible, as President Biden, will indeed, be in Europe. In June, he will first attend the G7 Summit in the United Kingdom, and is then set to go to the NATO summit in Brussels.

So, in and around that time, of course, somewhere in Europe, is where a meeting between President Biden, and Vladimir Putin, could then take place. Now, all of this, of course, during a period of heightened tensions between the U.S., and Russia. You had the Biden administration, hitting the Russians with some tough sanctions for the election meddling, in 2020. Also, of course, for the SolarWinds hack.

The Russians for their part retaliating and banning an array of top U.S. officials. Then you had the Russians, though, this week withdraw some of their forces from the border with Ukraine. That eased some tensions.

[01:25:00]

And also, Alexey Navalny, the opposition politician, he was able to be turned independent doctors as well.

Nevertheless, the tensions between the U.S. and Russia do remain high.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: The withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is underway. The commander of the U.S.-led missions says the official notification to withdraw will be this Saturday. But General Austin Scott Miller says, troop movements have already begun in local areas.

President Joe Biden has promised to get troops out of Afghanistan by September 11th, putting an end to America's longest war.

But many are warning the Taliban will seize on a U.S. exit, and could launch a bid to topple the central government. The 2020 Olympic Games are approaching fast, but not everyone thinks Japan -- in Japan, thinks it's a good idea. The country declares its third state of emergency due to a surge in cases. We have that story.

And also, what it means for health care workers to be called heroes during a pandemic. Why psychiatrist says, doctors need to also talk about being human, too.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:29:29]

CURNOW: Welcome back. It is 29 minutes past the hour. I am Robyn Curnow, live from CNN News World Headquarters here in Atlanta.

So after more than a year of the COVID pandemic, America's health care workers are running on empty, there's no other way to say it. A new poll from "The Washington Post" and the Kaiser Family Foundation lays out some troubling, troubling signs.

I want you to have a look at this. Roughly three in ten health care workers say they have weighted up leaving the profession, more than half are burned out and about six in ten say stress from the pandemic has harmed their mental health.

To talk about that, I want to bring in Dr. Mona Masood an outpatient psychiatrist and the founder of Physician Support Line.

Doctor, thank you very much for joining us. What kind of pressure are frontline health workers under at the moment?

DR. MONA MASOOD, FOUNDER, PHYSICIAN SUPPORT LINE: Frontline workers, physicians, nurses, everyone on the actual front lines of COVID, as well as kind of behind the scenes in our clinics and outpatient settings are all under a tremendous amount of pressure being called heroes and being expected to kind of fight a battle or a war that they felt like that they never were adequately prepared for. And even a year out from the start of this pandemic, it feels very much like a never-ending trauma.

CURNOW: And how is that being exhibited?

DR. MASOOD: So I mean as part of the Physician Support Line, we take a lot of calls from physicians who are experiencing whether we want to call it burnout or moral injury about the work that they're doing and the experience is very jarring.

We'll have calls. We had a call from an ICU physician -- intensive care physician who just got off of doing a back-to-back 24 to 48-hour shift. He had to cover for somebody that couldn't make it because they got sick. And he just got off of that shift and called us from the drive home from the hospital, still feeling kind of the effects of the mask that he was wearing throughout his very long shift.

And as he was talking to us about how he can't process all the trauma and death that he witnessed in his last shift, he pauses and there is a catch in his breath. And we asked him what are you seeing, and he's talking -- and he is talking about that he is seeing people not wearing masks. People who are hanging out, who are having -- you know, acting like everything is normal.

And it's very jarring and it's very disheartening. And it's hard for people to work like that to know that everything that they're giving is -- you know, it feels very isolating.

CURNOW: So how are they going to get through the next year of this? And do you think that there's a huge amount of people who are deciding that they don't want to be a doctor anymore? They don't want to be a nurse? That the personal, emotional and mental risk -- we're not talking here about even getting COVID -- is just too much for them.

DR. MASOOD: Yes. There's definitely what we call as a psychiatrist we call it an escape fantasy where it's just I can't do this anymore. I don't feel attached to what I'm doing anymore. I don't feel purpose in my work, which is very alarming for physicians and health care workers because it is not easy to become either of these things.

It requires a lot of training. And many years and a lot of dedication and experience to be able to do this work. And so having them leave like this or even think about leaving like that is something that our system cannot afford.

CURNOW: What is the overriding emotion, feeling that you are getting from these doctors and nurses who are calling into your help line and the ones that you cancel? Is it anger or is it sadness or is it just sort of a chronic burnout that you would perhaps see with soldiers coming back from war? Kind of a PTSD situation.

DR. MASOOD: Right. It's actually, you know, an interesting combination of all of those things, which actually manifests as betrayal. Something that we often hear from soldiers as well as health care workers from this past year is I did not sign up for this. This was not part of what I was hoping to do as being a public servant.

You know, with soldiers there is a very different kind of hope or purpose of why they are participating in a wartime effort. And for doctors and for people in health care it's the same thing. We know there's inherent risk in the work that we are doing but to go in inadequately prepared and feeling very much that we are left to do it on our own is incredibly betraying.

[01:34:58] CURNOW: Before we go, Doctor, is there one other story, one other patient that you want to tell us about? I know that there have been quite a number of suicides of doctors across the world -- excuse me -- who just could not do it anymore. Is there one story that still sits with you?

DR. MASOOD: There is. Yes, there have been a number of suicides, prior to COVID and enhanced by COVID. And I think of them often. But I also think about the ones who made it, who made it past that feeling of despair, that feeling of hopelessness and feeling no way out and feeling trapped.

And we've had calls like that too, on the support line where they'll be open that they're feeling at the very end of their rope with now exit signs that feel viable. And having someone to hear them and to give them permission to talk about feeling like humans and not heroes, it can definitely be a literal lifeline.

CURNOW: Dr. Mona Masood, thank you very much for all the work you are doing. And please pass our thanks on to all these human beings -- not heroes -- that are doing so much hard work there on the frontlines. Thank you.

DR. MASOOD: Thank you, Robyn.

CURNOW: And if you know a doctor or a medical student or a nurse in the U.S. who needs help please have them call the number you see here. Physician Support Line offers free and confidential support from volunteer psychiatrists. You can also find their Website at PhysicianSupportLine.com.

And the Tokyo 2020 Olympic torch relay is on its tour of the Miyazaki Prefecture. The route was lined with spectators on Sunday but organizers say parts of the relay will be taken off public roads next week due to COVID.

Japan has declared its third state of emergency in Tokyo and Osaka and is now planning to ramp up vaccinations as infections rise once more.

So joining me now from Tokyo is Selina Wang, Selina.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Robyn, it is hard to believe that even with the Tokyo Olympics looming less than 1 percent of Japan's population has been fully vaccinated.

With the state of emergency that has just gone into effect it is not a hard lockdown but it does ask large commercial facilities and places that serve alcohol to temporarily close down.

But Robyn, the big question is how effective is this going to be? You have COVID fatigue setting in. Walking around the streets of Tokyo, many areas still remain crowded. And the concern among experts now is that these Olympics could become a super spreader event that not only enables the spread of more contagious COVID variants throughout Japan but also around the world.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WANG (voice over): The Tokyo Olympics are just three months away, but Japan is far from ready. The country is struggling to contain a fourth wave of COVID-19 driven by more contagious variants. The prime minister has just declared another state of emergency in Tokyo, and other prefectures.

Japan may be one of the most technologically advanced countries on the planet but it has struggled to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine. Japan has fully vaccinated less than 1 percent of its 126 million people. The slowest of G7 countries. Only 17 percent of health care workers have received two shots. Just 0.1 percent of senior citizens have had a single dose.

(on camera): Do you think that the Olympics should be canceled?

KENJI SHIBUYA, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR POPULATION HEALTH, KINGS COLLEGE LONDON: I think it is time to consider it and eventually cancel it.

WANG: If you have to predict when Japan's population will be fully vaccinated, I mean how long is it going to be?

SHIBUYA: I guess it would take 10 years or something.

WANG (voice over): Officials have blamed European export curbs for the delay but red tape, poor planning and vaccine hesitancy has also held the country back. A key reason is Japan's slow approval process. The country requires additional domestic clinical trials of new vaccines, so far it has only approved Pfizer's.

Officials say the cautiousness is necessary. Japan has one of the lowest rates of vaccine confidence in the world, driven by a series of vaccine scandals over the past 50 years.

A key lawmaker said the vaccinations for people over 65 which only started this month may not be finished until end of this year or next.

For Japanese Olympic hopefuls the slow vaccine rollout is leading to mounting anxiety.

73-year-old Kimmie Bessho (ph) is vying to be in her Fifth Summer Paralympic Games, a competition she says she's risking her life for.

"I'm prepared to die under these circumstances," she tells me. "But I don't want to die of COVID."

[01:39:57]

WANG: The qualifiers for Paralympic table tennis are just weeks away in Slovenia. Bessho says she's called her local health center many times. They say they still have no plan to provide vaccines. Despite public opposition to the games in Japan officials have projected unwavering confidence.

"I expressed my determination to realize the Tokyo Olympics and the Paralympic Games as a symbol of global unity this summer. And President Biden once again expressed his support," he said.

The question is what kind of symbol the Olympics will be if Japan is unable to protect its citizens.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WANG: Now the Japanese government says it has plans to ramp up at the vaccination rollout with national broadcaster. NHK say that they are planning to open these venues that can vaccinate as many as 10,000 people a day. But this would only be Tokyo and Osaka. And it is unclear if it is even going to make a dent in this vaccination rate.

But at least it is a start in addressing the myriad of concerns, which include a shortage of venues and a shortage of staff to vaccinate these people, Robyn.

CURNOW: Just 1 percent of the population, it's amazing.

Selina Wang in Tokyo. Thank you for that.

So coming up, the Virgin Hyperloop aims to change the way we think of future travel as well as sustainability. We talk to one of the first people to take a test drive. That's next.

[01:41:21]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CURNOW: As the world paused for the pandemic, the transportation industry seized the opportunity to take stock and reimagine the ways in which we move.

Our Bianca Nobilo has been exploring how technology has been playing a pivotal role in that new future. For a special called "ROAD TO THE FUTURE" she starts by looking at the Virgin Hyperloop, how it's been using technology to make high-speed travel greener.

[01:44:55]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): November 8, 2020 just outside Las Vegas, Nevada Virgin Hyperloop passed another milestone in its ambitious journey to revolutionize the way we move. It carried out its first passenger ride.

Josh Giegel, CEO and cofounder of Virgin Hyperloop and Sara Luchian the director of passenger experience where the first to test it out.

(on camera): And what was that experience like for you?

JOSH GIEGEL, CEO, VIRGIN BYPERLOOP: It was absolutely incredible. It was phenomenal to be sitting in a vehicle that we designed, and built, we've made safe. And once we started going down the (INAUDIBLE) nice, gentle acceleration and then we got -- it was a pretty short test -- but we got to the end. And all we want to do is go back again. NOBILO (voice over): Virgin Hyperloop is harnessing magnetic

levitation technology and wants to take it to the next level.

GIEGEL: So what we want to do is be the first new mode of mass transportation in over 100 years. So we're not a plane, we're not a car, we're not a boat. What we are is a pod moving inside of a tube at the speed of an he aircraft for a fraction of the energy consumption, basically taking you directly from where you are to where you want to be without stopping at every place along the way -- smooth, electrically, sustainably, autonomously.

It's this idea that being able to move ten times faster than, you know, a car and doing that for a fraction of the emissions, being able to connect, being able to move so many people. Being able to save so many, I'll say tons of emissions, is that it's really going to open up a lot of opportunities.

NOBILO (on camera): Has the pandemic altered the course of your planning or the execution of your pilot projects? What impact has it had for you?

GIEGER: The thing that I think is maybe a little bit of a silver lining if we could say that about the pandemic is that it's really accelerated the talk about sustainability.

We've seen a world with less congestion. We've seen a world with less pollution. We've also felt this absolute human desire to be connected.

So we want to see each other. We want things faster. This is the opportunity for us to rethink what it is we are doing about the future and make some changes. Instead of building back the past, we can actually build back the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:47:14]

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CURNOW: "Nomadland" is the biggest winner at this year's Oscars. It won several Academy Awards including Best Picture. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHLOE ZHAO, DIRECTOR, "NOMADLAND": We thank the academy and we thank our brilliant fellow nominees. And we thank all the hearts and hands that's come together to make this movie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CURNOW: The film's director Chloe Zhao also won for Best Director. She is the first Asian woman to win that category in Oscars' history. And the star of "Nomadland", Frances McDormand, who won for Best Actress celebrated her performance as a van-dwelling woman who roams the American West. For more on all of this I want to bring in Michael Musto in New York. He's an American journalist. He's covered the entertainment industry for decades.

Michael, lovely to see you.

So before we go to the actual movies because it was historic on many levels in terms of the diversity of winners, I do want to talk about the awards show because you tweeted it was torture.

Many, many people on Twitter saying that it was boring, it was not funny, it wasn't fast enough. The ending was a bit of a damp (INAUDIBLE), does that matter?

MICHAEL MUSTO, JOURNALIST: Yes, it does because they were expecting low ratings. Anyway, it was a bad year for movies for obvious reasons.

And thing is they did try to sort of reinvent the show to reflect the serious times that we were living in but as a result the speeches were too long. Many of them were too earnest though there were some very powerful speeches.

The songs were all done in the pre-show. There were no entertainment segments. There was comedy towards the end but Glenn Close dancing Da'Butt, which actually was funny.

But for the most part, it was just like a liberal convention of the type that can you make you hate liberals. And I'm a liberal.

CURNOW: So let's talk about some of the themes. And as you say, a lot of social justice, a lot of diversity very much front and center with the movies, with the winners, with the themes. What was the headline for you?

MUSTO: Very dark films that reflect our times and very good films even though a lot of the big films from last year were pushed to this year.

"Nomadland", of course, is the big movie. Frances McDormand was brilliant. I was happy to see her win her third Oscar for Best Actress. And she plays a woman who loses everything, her husband and her job and she takes to her van and lives among the evanescent nomad community.

The supporting players were diverse. The winners for supporting actor were Daniel Kaluuya for "Judas and the Black Messiah". He plays Black Panther Fred Hampton and he's quite brilliant in his fiery speech scene.

And supporting actress Youn Yuh-jung for "Minari". She's wonderful as the offbeat grandmother with a Korean American family in Arkansas. And her speeches deserve awards in themselves. She is just charming and funny.

CURNOW: Well, she didn't take herself very seriously which I think this awards show did and that certainly stood out.

Let's talk though about Asian women in particular and women also very much front and center, which was great.

MUSTO: Absolutely. I mean Anti Asian hate has been in the news. And it's important to celebrate Asian culture. Chloe Zhao and Youn Yuh- jung are both brilliant women who are richly deserving of their awards.

And yes, there was a lot of diversity on parade. I was very happy for Tyler Perry's speech which was against hate. Though I was hoping he would say something about the voter suppression in Georgia where he is based though he has said it elsewhere.

And of course, foreign film, international film was now what they call foreign films -- sorry.

CURNOW: It's ok. We're -- you know, it is what it is and I do want to talk about it because it is about booze anyway, isn't it?

It's the Danish movie, "Another Round" which it's got Mads Mikkelsen and just fantastic, isn't it?

[01:54:56]

MUSTO: And I don't drink anymore so I have to rely on movies like this to show me people drinking. And it's not really a celebration of alcohol --

CURNOW: It's good.

(CROSSTALK)

MUSTO: But basically it's a movie about four high school teachers including Mads Mikkelsen's character who decides to keep the alcohol level in their blood very high to see how it affects their lives.

And I'm not saying it's a celebration of alcoholism. It's really a study of bonding and its very life-affirming.

And let me talk about that (INAUDIBLE) which is "My Octopus Teacher" which is also life affirming and it's a really offbeat nature film about a man having a midlife crisis who bonds with a female octopus. Octopuses weigh more than like calamari on your plate or something. They are actually very smart.

CURNOW: Yes. As the South African here interviewing you, this is a South African production so I mean there's been a great reaction to that as well. It's a great piece of work isn't it? Why do you think it is?

MUSTO: Because it's sort of an inter-species love story. It's an inter species buddy movie. And it's beautiful nature photography, another thing, really well done.

CURNOW: That was Michael speaking to me a little bit earlier.

So NASA's Ingenuity helicopter is setting records with its third flight on Mars in just a week going further and faster than ever before.

Ingenuity's navigation camera shot black and white images that could help with aerial scouting in future missions. The 80-second flight was also captured on camera on the Perseverance rover. NASA says Ingenuity will likely fly again in the next few days.

Thanks so much for watching CNN. Thanks for spending your time with me.

I'm Robyn Curnow. I will be back with more after the break.

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