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SpaceX Astronauts Return; India's COVID-19 Crisis; Shooting at Wisconsin Casino; Biden Selling $4 Trillion Economic Agenda; China's Vaccine Rollout Facing Challenges; Airlines Adjust as Travel Increases; Medina Spirit Wins Kentucky Derby. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired May 02, 2021 - 03:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta welcome to all you watching here in the United States, Canada and around the world. We're following breaking news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

BRUNHUBER: SpaceX Crew One has just splashed down off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. Returning astronauts spent five months in the orbiting laboratory. That's the longest time spent in space by a crew launched aboard an American built spacecraft.

The crew consists of three Americans and one Japanese astronaut. A flotilla of ships is positioned in the Gulf of Mexico and once the crew is safely aboard, they'll be headed back to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

For more on all this let's bring in a man with more than a little experience. Leroy Chiao is a retired NASA astronaut. He joins us from Houston, Texas.

You've been through reentry. I imagine that's the scariest part, falling at speeds 25 times the speed of sound, braving temperatures. One of the astronauts on the Endeavor said it felt like they were inside an animal. Describe what it was like for you.

LEROY CHIAO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Sure. Coming down in a spacecraft like the Resilience is a different experience than coming back down on a space shuttle. So before I flew on a Soyuz capsule and came back on one, I flew on three space shuttles.

So very different experiences. The SpaceX capsule probably flies a lot like the Russian Soyuz so it's actually very smooth coming through the atmosphere, as is the space shuttle.

But when you get close to landing, the space shuttle, you get a lot of rumbling as the speed decreases from supersonic down to subsonic. In the case of the capsule, it's all pretty benign until the parachute deploys. You'll be jostled a bit but that's a good feeling because then you

know the parachutes have come out and you're starting to come down and you're going to be down on the ground in just a few minutes after that.

BRUNHUBER: We're seeing, I believe, live pictures of boats speeding toward the capsule right now, which is floating in the ocean there.

Tell us how long did it take them to get you when you landed?

CHIAO: It's actually very quick. The rescue forces followed us in their helicopters and, of course, we landed down on land. There was so much snow melt in Kazakhstan at the time when I came down that we almost made a water landing within about 50 yards or so.

But this is significant because SpaceX nominally lands in the water after a mission like this. And this is significant because it's the first time they've done it at night. So exercising not only the crew but also the rescue forces to go ahead and do these operations at night.

BRUNHUBER: You know, the fact the previous SpaceX flight, they found the heat shield had worn away more than expected. They reinforced it and so on.

But would that have been weighing on their minds, the question of, would it hold as they went through?

CHIAO: You're very well aware of the risks; the heat shield as you point out is one of those things you think about. Parachute deploy is another. But the wear they saw on the previous flight was a little more than expected but within the limits.

And so just to -- just to increase the margin, they did beef up those areas. And so really it probably wasn't really on the crew's mind. You know what things can go wrong until you think about them. But they probably weren't fixated on them too much.

BRUNHUBER: Describe the feeling they're going through right now, knowing you splashed down, the sense of being back on Earth after, in their cases, five months in space.

What's that like?

CHIAO: Sure, they're very excited, of course. They're very happy to be home, waiting for the rescue forces to get them out of the vehicle and get them onto the boat. So there's a lot of anticipation.

They might be feeling a little bit dizzy, of course, after being back in the gravity field after having been away for so long. But they're definitely keyed up and excited and happy to be home.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

So what happens next?

I mean, the capsule, they'll take that aboard the boat and so on.

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BRUNHUBER: Go through the steps they'll be going through and then they'll be taken for testing and so on.

CHIAO: Right. So after you get out of the vehicle, of course, they'll take you over to the area where they're going to get your suit off. And in the case of the SpaceX suit, it's relatively easy to get on and off, compared to the suits we wore on the Soyuz spacecraft and aboard the space shuttle.

You'll do the medical checks. They'll take your vitals and see how you're doing. They'll take some measurements and then get you in a relaxed position, get you some water to drink. You're going to be a little dehydrated from this experience.

And then, of course, bring you back to shore and get you cleaned up and reunited with your loved ones.

BRUNHUBER: They spent five months in space. You know what it's like to spend a long time in space. Describe what it's like physically to be back on Earth, all the physical changes that happen when you've been in space for a long time.

CHIAO: Yes, even after a short space shuttle mission of one or two weeks, you come back very dizzy. You feel kind of weak and uncoordinated. In the case of a long duration mission like this, six or so months, you come back with the same symptoms but they're exaggerated. They feel a little more intense and last longer.

In the case of a space shuttle mission after a couple days, you feel back to normal. With a long flight, it might take several weeks before you feel like you're back to normal. So similar symptoms; might make you feel a little nauseated but takes a little while for you to get your Earth legs back, so to speak.

BRUNHUBER: I want to look at the larger significance of this, successfully reusing hardware. Many experts say this couldn't be done, certainly not this cheaply.

What does this portend for future spaceflight?

And does this get us any closer to that long-distance goal of that journey to Mars?

CHIAO: Absolutely. I mean, this is great demonstration of reusability. Not only has this spacecraft flown before, it'll be reused again. The first stage booster, the rocket that brought the last mission up, you saw that was successfully reused -- a reused vehicle.

So this is a huge deal. And, again, SpaceX showing their maturity of their operations, being able to do the recovery at night. And so this takes us a step further toward more inexpensive access to space and, of course, that's the goal. And that does get us closer to Mars and, hopefully, SpaceX, of course,

is working on the vehicle they say will be their Mars vehicle. So exciting times ahead for sure.

BRUNHUBER: Exciting times right now, as we see these live pictures. Thank you so much for joining us and taking us through what they're going through. Leroy Chiao, really appreciate you joining us.

CHIAO: My pleasure. Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: India is again reporting more COVID-19 cases and deaths than anywhere else in the world. Odisha Just announced a two-week lockdown beginning May 5th. The latest government figures reveal almost 3,700 additional deaths, a one-day record.

More than 390,000 new cases were reported in the past 24 hours. It's the 11th straight day of infections soaring past 300,000. Hospitals are overflowing with patients and have run out of just about everything they need to keep people alive, especially oxygen.

So it was a welcome sight as about 100 tons of liquid oxygen rolled into a city south of the capital. It'll provide some short-term relief but, of course, far more is needed. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout joins us from Hong Kong.

The crisis deepens daily.

What's the latest?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Kim, the world's worst COVID-19 outbreak continues to ravage India with India today on Sunday reporting 3,689 coronavirus deaths. That is the highest daily rise so far.

It also marked its 11th consecutive day of over 300,000 cases of COVID-19. And experts continue to point out that those numbers are likely to be underreported, given the nonstop mass cremations taking place across the country, as well as India's lack of the extremely valuable rapid testing COVID-19 tests.

And these grim numbers translate into countless miserable stories of heartbreak and tragedy inside India, stories of families going from clinic to clinic, hospital to hospital, trying to seek out any available intensive care beds for sick loved ones; accounts of medical workers, literally pleading for supplies like oxygen, like medicine.

Experts continue to point out that the best hope for India is the COVID-19 vaccine. Now the vaccine drive in India may have started in January but progress has been very slow. Only 2.1 percent of the total population of 1.3 billion have been inoculated so far.

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STOUT: This weekend they widened the inoculation drive, allowing all adults over the age of 18 to get vaccinated. But states and territories across India say they don't have enough supplies. And we learned, on Saturday, just under 85,000 people received their first dose.

So we have India, which is the world's largest manufacturer of COVID- 19 vaccines, desperately needing more COVID-19 vaccines.

A shipment of 150,000 Sputnik vaccines from Russia touched down over the weekend. Of course, the United States continues to send over supplies, including the materials needed to manufacture AstraZeneca vaccines in India. Some 20 million doses will be coming on hand soon.

BRUNHUBER: And as more countries send help, they also are drawing a tighter cordon around the country with travel restrictions.

What's the latest there?

STOUT: Absolutely. India is becoming increasingly isolated, as more countries announce travel restrictions and temporary travel bans. We know that the Biden administration has announced that the United States will restrict travel from India starting from Tuesday.

We also learned the government in Australia has said that anyone traveling from India to Australia could face jail time, even Australian citizens. Travel restrictions have been announced by a variety of governments, including Germany, the U.K., Italy.

And travel bans or suspensions have been announced by a growing list of governments, including Singapore, Hong Kong as well as Canada and New Zealand.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much, Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong.

Here in the U.S., fresh signs of the pandemic getting under control. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the seven-day moving average of daily cases just dipped below 50,000 for the first time since early October. And more than 243 million COVID vaccines have been given. Natasha Chen has more on the progress made and what still needs to be done.

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NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even as global daily coronavirus cases reached a new peak pushed by the crisis in India and South America, the United States curve is flattening.

The improvement in numbers is helped in part by the more than 100 million people in the U.S., close to one-third of the population who are now fully vaccinated.

TIM SMITH, FEMA VACCINATION CENTER LEADER: I'm seeing a shift I think, towards that underserved population, so the ones that are maybe on the fence and are thinking about it, we have to do a little bit more effort to get the knowledge to them and to help them make the correct decision to get vaccinated.

JIM REDICK, NORFOLK, Virginia, EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE DIRECTOR: By the time they leave, they have smiles on their faces and then they share with us the reasons why they are getting vaccinated and they share them, they post them on the wall.

And it's all about doing it for not only themselves but most of the time for their family, friends and other loved ones.

CHEN (voice-over): Now the focus turns to vaccinating younger teens once they're eligible, many of whom have also missed routine vaccinations for things like the flu this past year because of the pandemic.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: It's going to take a truly coordinated effort to achieve both the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine in adolescents and a rapid catch up of routine vaccinations.

CHEN (voice-over): Pfizer has applied for an emergency use authorization to allow 12 to 15-year-olds to receive its COVID-19 vaccine. President Biden says school should probably all be open in the fall.

This vision of almost normal is tantalizing. New York City will allow 75 percent capacity for indoor dining starting Friday.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NY), NEW YORK CITY: I think "The Daily News" has it right. Here. This is going to be the summer of New York City.

CHEN (voice-over): The restaurant reservation website Open Table shows the number of customers dining out is around 20 percent below pre- pandemic levels.

Disneyland Resort in California, the only one of the global Disney parks left closed since last March reopened with restrictions to California residents on Friday.

CDC director Rochelle Walensky says falling case rates and rising vaccination rates mean a full reopening of businesses by July 1st is a reasonable target, though she also warns the virus has tricked us before and the U.S. has not reached herd immunity.

Oregon governor Kate Brown on Friday designated 15 counties entering extreme risk level with harsher restrictions as the state recorded five straight weeks of at least 20 percent increases in new cases and a near doubling of hospitalizations in the past week, particularly among younger people.

GOV. KATE BROWN (D-OR): Economic relief is something I can do as your governor to help Oregonians impacted by this fourth surge. What I can't do is bring back someone's life lost to this virus.

CHEN (voice-over): With similar caution in mind, the Biden administration will restrict travel from India for non-U.S. citizens starting Tuesday with some exceptions. So with much to celebrate on the cusp of normalcy, there's also the reminder of what can happen with too much too soon -- Natasha Chen, CNN, Norfolk, Virginia.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Thousands of Brazilians rally to show their support for president Jair Bolsonaro. He's expected to face a challenge next year at the polls from former president Luis Ignacio Lula da Silva over his handling of the pandemic.

Brazil has the second highest official death toll in the world. Bolsonaro opposed strict lockdown measures, failed to strongly endorse masks and only recently embraced vaccines.

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BRUNHUBER: In Colombia, it isn't just the coronavirus driving protests. Demonstrators are also demanding the government scrap planned reforms they say will only add to their misery. Stefano Pozzebon has the latest from Bogota.

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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thousands of protesters took on to the streets of Bogota yet again this Saturday to protest against the government's handling of the pandemic and to protest in particular against the fiscal reform that critics argue is going to make the situation worse for the middle class.

It's the fourth consecutive day of protests in Colombia against these reforms. And while the situation remains calm here in Bogota right now, at least three people died in the southern city of Cali since the beginning of this wave of protests.

And this is happening while Colombia is going through the apex of a dramatic wave of COVID-19 that is wreaking havoc in the country and filling up intensive care units. Bogota right now is under strict lockdown orders.

But as you can see, from behind my back, people came out in numbers to protest what is essentially the economic cost of the pandemic. According to recent government figures from Colombia alone, more than 3 million people fell back into poverty since the beginning of the lockdowns last year.

And this is a situation not particular to Colombia only. Many countries in South America are receiving the catastrophic damage from COVID-19 that it has inflicted against informal workers and the unemployed.

And while countries from Argentina to Brazil, from Colombia to Uruguay are this week reporting record increases in numbers and deaths due to the virus, the economic cost of the pandemic keeps going up -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.

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BRUNHUBER: Israel is marking a day of national mourning for those killed when a religious festival turned into a deadly stampede on Friday. We'll have a live report from Jerusalem next.

Also ahead, angry fellow Republicans give senator Mitt Romney a piece of their mind with a convention in his own state. We'll have what he said and what this means for some upcoming special elections. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: In Wisconsin, two people were killed and another wounded in a shooting in a casino near Green Bay. Officials say the gunman was then killed by law enforcement.

Investigators believe the shooter had a personal relationship with an employee inside the Radisson hotel attached to the casino. That employee wasn't present during the shooting. Officials say the scene is contained and there's no longer a threat to the community.

Israel is observing a national day of mourning for the dozens of people killed in a stampede on Friday at a religious festival. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is asking people to pray for the wounded at Mt. Meron. Netanyahu says a thorough investigation will be conducted to ensure a disaster like this doesn't happen again.

Let's bring in journalist Elliott Gotkine.

Obviously a very somber day there.

What can you tell us?

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, flags flying at half-mast here at Israel's parliament, or Knesset, as they are at official buildings across the country as Israel observes a day of mourning in the wake of the stampede that cost the lives of 45 people in the early hours of Friday morning.

Now all of the bodies have been identified. Now some have been buried already. There will be more funerals taking place today in accordance with Jewish tradition, which requires burial as quickly as possible.

In addition to that, there's still a dozen people ill in hospital, two of them seriously. I can also tell you CNN understands at least five of the dead are U.S. citizens as well. And, of course, amid the mourning and the sadness, there's also anger and recriminations as to how such a tragedy could have been allowed to happen.

The police is already conducting -- has already launched an internal inquiry and the attorney general has launched an inquiry, looking into possible criminal negligence on the part of police.

But many people are now calling for a full statement inquiry into the events up to and including this event. And there have been a number of interesting comments that have emerged over the last 48 hours, which, no doubt, will be looked at very closely by these investigations.

One, for example, by the former head of the regional council that administers the area that includes where the stampede took place, he says this was a ticking time bomb and, on one occasion, he even issued a warrant to have it shut down.

But because of political pressure, that warrant was unenforceable. The security minister, an ally of prime minister Netanyahu, he says he takes responsibility but that doesn't mean he takes the blame.

And in an apparent echo of those ticking time bomb events, he said, look, this could have happened on any year and it just happened to happen this year. And on previous occasions, there have been as many as 400,000 people attending this event. It does seem perhaps like it was an accident waiting to happen. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, tragic. Thank you so much.

Joe Biden is officially past his symbolically important first 100 days as U.S. President. And now he has big proposals to sell worth about $4 trillion. He's pitching a huge legislative agenda this week. As Arlette Saenz reports, he'll need the support of voters to make it a reality.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Biden is revving up Air Force One again next week as he is taking his sales pitch for his sweeping economic proposals out directly into the country.

The president is hoping he can earn support for his measures from voters across the United States, who he hopes will then, in turn, urge their lawmakers up on Capitol Hill to get on board with these plans. On Monday, the president will travel to Virginia, along with the first lady.

The two of them will be visiting schools as they are looking to promote that American Families Plan that focuses on child care, education and paid family leave.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, the vice president heads to Wisconsin and Rhode Island. And then President Biden will travel down south to Louisiana on Thursday, with stops in New Orleans and Lake Charles, a community that was devastated by Hurricane Laura back last summer.

The president, these trips are following on his visits this past week to Georgia and also Pennsylvania, where he made a direct pitch for his infrastructure proposal at an Amtrak station and argued that these investments will help keep America competitive with the rest of the world. Take a listen.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have a huge opportunity here to provide fast, safe, reliable, clean transportation in this country. And transit is part of the infrastructure. And like the rest of our infrastructure, we're way behind the rest of the world right now. We need to remember, we're in competition with the rest of the world. People come here and set up businesses. People stay here. People grow because of the ability to access; access transportation, access all the infrastructure. It's what allows us to compete.

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SAENZ: Now as he makes this pitch out on the road, the president must also court lawmakers back in Washington. But Republicans and some moderate Democrats have expressed some hesitancy with the price tag and pay-fors in this plan.

The president has said he is willing to sit down with Republicans to hear their ideas. And one of those senators that he has already had a direct conversation with is senator Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican of West Virginia.

The president has invited her and other Republicans to meet with him at the White House to hammer out some of the details of these proposals. And the president must also keep his Democratic coalition together, as he is hoping to get these measures passed -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, traveling with the president in Wilmington, Delaware.

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BRUNHUBER: A Republican Party divided over Trump's legacy looks a little like this. Senator Mitt Romney booed by fellow Republicans at a convention in Utah. Listen to this.

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SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I don't hide the fact that I wasn't a fan of our last president's character issues and I'm also no fan --

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): The catcalls came just as Romney mentioned Trump. Of course, Romney has long had a strained relationship with hardcore Republican activists in his state and there's obvious anger over the former president's impeachment.

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BRUNHUBER: Even though a resolution to censure Romney for his votes in the Senate to convict Trump on the impeachment trial failed, here's how a Democratic lawmaker sees all this.

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REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA), OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: He was the nominee of the Republican Party eight years ago.

Could you imagine president Barack Obama going before a Democratic audience and getting booed?

It's as analogous that Romney ran against Obama be booed and it just shows the Republican Party right now has an identity crisis. And anyone who departs from the party line, who even dares to criticize president Trump, is going to be ostracized by a large part of that party.

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BRUNHUBER: As you remember, Romney often criticized Trump throughout his presidency.

All right, we'll have the latest on our top story, the COVID crisis in India, when we return and we'll tell you about the international effort to get desperately needed help to people on the ground.

Plus China's success at keeping COVID-19 cases at a minimum for months is coming at a cost. Vaccines are now a tough sell. That's not the only challenge Beijing has to deal with. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

For an 11th straight day India has reported more than 3,000 new COVID infections in a single day. On Sunday, officials reported more than 392,000 daily cases and nearly 3,700 deaths were posted, the highest increase in daily deaths so far.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Now aid is rolling in from around the world. You're looking right there at pictures of a shipment from France that arrived just a few hours ago. India has received supplies and equipment from the U.S., Russia and several European nations, just to name a few.

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BRUNHUBER: Let's bring in our Isa Soares to break it down for us.

Like I said, many countries coming to India's aid.

Will this make a dent in the problem or is it too little too late?

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think as you set out, there's a record number of cases and deaths. You're seeing 11 days straight. Every bit of help is needed and every bit of help counts at this stage.

And what we're seeing, Kim, is the world really coming together in a show of solidarity and cooperation to try and relieve some of the really critical shortages that we've seen in India for several days now and the shortage when it comes to oxygen.

We've seen people queuing up for days on end, trying to get oxygen tanks, oxygen supplies to their loved ones, many of them unable to get their hands on oxygen. So as India tries to ramp up its health infrastructure, countries, companies are stepping up and stepping in.

We have seen a lot of countries already, U.K., the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, many of them sending in shipments to India. And that's in a variety of forms. We've seen oxygen generators, we've seen ventilators, liquid oxygen, PPE medicine.

We've seen Russia sending in 150,000 doses of Sputnik vaccine and, importantly, Sputnik vaccine has been approved in India.

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SOARES: So that's arriving as well as raw materials that will help facilitate and speed up the production of vaccines. Let me talk you through the video we've been receiving.

This morning we've seen arrivals and shipments today from Uzbekistan, from Germany as well as from France. The footage we have from France, the numbers are quite staggering in terms of what they're sending, really crucial aid, high capacity generators. That basically provides year-long oxygen for 250 beds.

Importantly allows hospitals to create their own oxygen. So not just short-term but long-term help for hospitals. They'll also send liquid oxygen for 2,000 patients for five days as well as 28 ventilators.

We've seen Germany arriving as well, everything from respirators and helping as well a production facility in India in terms of getting India back creating and providing for their own oxygen.

Now that is at the side of Europe. In the United States, arrivals of shipments have begun. President Biden telling president (sic) Narendra Modi he stands shoulder to shoulder with India and he'll do everything within his power to try and help the crisis India is facing at the moment, helping to provide something of $100 million worth of supplies being sent.

They're being sent oxygen and related equipment, PPE as well as test kits. Now critically, the United States has basically partially lifted a ban on the export of raw materials.

Why was there a ban of those raw materials?

Well, for some time, the United States wanted to boost its own production of vaccines right at home, the domestic consumption. That has now been lifted because there was some criticism around the world of what they were calling resource hoarding.

So now that's been lifted, the exports of those raw materials will arrive in India. And, hopefully, meaning the vaccine production speeds up, because, of course, just over 2 percent of India's 1.3 billion people have been inoculated.

So it's really important to get shots into arms as soon as possible. The question is now those AstraZeneca doses; the millions the United States has, it's not using, it has stockpiled.

When will those be arriving in the United States?

Because every bit of help really makes a difference right now. And that means vaccines critically, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: So vital. Thank you so much, Isa Soares in London.

And as the crisis continues, you can go to cnn.com/impact to find out how to help.

Well, Chinese leaders are offering India a helping hand, all the while struggling to vaccinate their own population. CNN's David Culver shows us what they're up against.

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DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the streets of Beijing, China's effort to vaccinate its residents is on full display. Shops in the capital city, using precious windows space to advertize something other than sales and business hours.

CULVER: This is what they're posting outside some of these places. You can see here, this is one sign and it says, 100 percent of the people who work inside the shop have been vaccinated.

CULVER (voice-over): Another sign, saying that 93 percent of those working in this Beijing bank have gotten one of China's COVID-19 vaccines as have 90 percent of this restaurant employees.

"Well, it's for my personal safety," this woman tells us, "as well as for everyone's safety, for the safety of people's lives," she says.

CULVER: There's another side of this. That is to encourage others, perhaps, consider it peer pressure a bit.

CULVER (voice-over): After the initial outbreak in Wuhan, China's centralized government mobilized into wartime mode, combating the virus. From lockdowns, mass testing, the strict measures, seemingly, are effective and still very much part of the daily lives here, especially contact tracing.

CULVER: This one, for example, will let me register. And it comes up, saying I have no abnormal conditions. I show that to the folks who work inside, they then let me in.

CULVER (voice-over): The same measures, in place for some ride shares. Before your car shows up the app tells you the driver's recent nucleic acid test results and shows you if they have been vaccinated, not to mention, the vehicle disinfected.

CULVER: As soon as you get into a rideshare, you need to scan the QR they post, right on the back of the chair here. The driver here, showing me his, his is good.

[03:40:00]

CULVER: All right. And that means we are good to go.

CULVER (voice-over): But while China was ahead in stopping further spread of the virus, it's struggled to vaccinate its massive population of 1.4 billion people; whereas by April 25th, the U.S. gave out nearly 230 million doses, vaccinating nearly 30 percent of its population.

China had only administered about 225 million doses, far below the vaccination rate in the U.S. It has led to a propaganda push.

CULVER: Across Beijing, we see posters like this one put, up two in fact right next to each other, this one saying, people should get the vaccine, so it's to create the great wall of immunity, as they put it.

Then, to make it easy, they provide on this poster, the QR code that people can use their smartphones to scan, set up an appointment time and to get to that appointment, some communities are even offering a free shuttle.

CULVER (voice-over): The effort to vaccinate now spreading to expats and foreign media, living here in China, including us.

This Beijing museum, turned into a vaccination center, private rooms setup for each injection. Covering the original outbreak in Wuhan to now, all a bit surreal.

CULVER (from captions): Feeling a bit nervous, uneasy...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?

CULVER (voice-over): Yes, I think it kind of hits you after covering this for more than a year.

CULVER (voice-over): We received China's Sinopharm vaccine, though the company claims it's 79 percent effective, it has yet to publish detailed clinical trial data.

CULVER: So that's it, that's the COVID-19 vaccine?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

CULVER: We're done.

And after receiving our second dose of the vaccine, our health kit was updated. I will show you what it looks like. In our smartphone app, you can see, it shows that we completed our immunization series, as they put it.

It allows us to show a certificate to officials, should we be questioned about our vaccination status.

Meanwhile, the question is raised, why is it that the vaccine rollout is struggling here in China?

There are a lot of factors playing into that. For one, China has been dealing with some of the concerns over transparency and a lot of skepticism with vaccine makers are not disclosing a lot of the clinical trial data. Another factor is that, for some of the folks here, they feel like, why get vaccinated when it is almost near normal?

It feels like life pre-COVID. In fact they, in many cases, live in this bubble that feels quite safe. And then, the third factor, playing into all of this, is vaccine diplomacy. That is, China prioritizing, early on, to export a lot of its vaccines and not keep them for its domestic population.

All of that, combined with trying to vaccinate 1.4 billion people is posing a challenge -- David Culver, CNN, Shanghai.

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BRUNHUBER: If you're looking forward to post-pandemic travel in the U.S. this summer, don't ditch the mask just yet. We'll share the updated guidance from officials -- straight ahead.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- splashdown. Everything nominal aboard --

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): And SpaceX Crew One is safely back on Earth. In the last hour they splashed down just off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. Now the capsule has been hoisted aboard a recovery ship. The hatch is open there and the crew is exiting the capsule.

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BRUNHUBER: The astronauts spent 168 days in space aboard the International Space Station and that's the longest time spent in space by a crew launched aboard an American built spacecraft.

The Crew One consists of three Americans and one Japanese astronaut. Once the crew is safely recovered, they'll be headed back to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Closer to Earth, plan on masking up if you're flying in the U.S. this summer. The Transportation Security Administration, the TSA, is extending its mask mandate through mid-September. It was initially set to end on May 11th.

The mandate requires masks in airports, on commercial airplanes, buses, trains and boats. President Biden put it into place shortly after he took office.

Now you know you'll have to wear a mask on a plane; social distancing may be difficult. Delta is now selling its middle seats again, despite the CDC's recommendations. CNN's Pete Muntean has more on that and how the airline industry is trying to get back to normal.

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PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: The era of social distancing on flights is over. Delta was the last major airline to cap capacity on board and now every seat on every major airline can be filled.

(voice-over): The newest changes to pandemic-era air travel will make it look more like before the pandemic. Delta Air Lines just resumed selling middle seats starting Saturday, something all other major carriers did months ago.

RANJAN GOSWAMI, VICE PRESIDENT, DELTA AIR LINES: It is safe to get back out there, to go out into the world and see folks in your life.

MUNTEAN: Ranjan Goswami heads Delta's in-flight operations. Its latest

estimate that almost 75 percent of Delta passengers have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Airlines say they could not continue capping capacity without a serious increase in fares.

GOSWAMI: The vaccination rate is really helping. We know our customers are feeling confident about it or they wouldn't be booking in such large numbers.

MUNTEAN: The latest modeling from the CDC says leaving middle seats empty reduces the risk of coronavirus exposure by as much as 57 percent. But the airline industry slammed the report for not considering the impact of masks now mandated on planes by the Biden administration.

Harvard University found masks and heavily filtered air on board makes transmission coronavirus transmission rates very low, regardless of where you sit.

DR. LEONARD MARCUS, HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: It's the many things together at the same time do greatly reduce the risk of air travel and in particular provides a safe opportunity for people given the ventilation, given the wearing of masks, given the disinfection the planes, given the individual and personal hygiene attention that does allow for that middle seat to be occupied.

MUNTEAN: Industry groups think flying will look more like normal as more people get vaccinated. Some airlines are now bringing back in- flight food and drink service, something flied attendants fear can blur the message.

SARA NELSON, ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: As these policy U.S. are going away and we are seeing fuller aircraft, it's more important than ever we're vigilant about the mask policies.

MUNTEAN: New ideas to bring passengers back are coming to all corners of the aviation industry. Plane maker Airbus envisions a future of seats arranged in pandemic-friendly pods.

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MUNTEAN (voice-over): This design from the University of Cincinnati imagined a productivity class, part plane, part coffee house.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm excited to see a future and some of these ideas may take us and where the industry may go in the future. So every crisis turns out to be an opportunity.

MUNTEAN: Delta says capping capacity on board cost $100 million in March. That's when the pandemic air travel started to surge and numbers remained high. The TSA has screened more than a million people each day at America's airports for seven weeks straight -- Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

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BRUNHUBER: Moviegoers are mourning the loss of an actress.

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OLYMPIA DUKAKIS, ACTOR, "CLAIREE BELCHER": Here, hit this. Go ahead, M'Lynn, slap her.

SHIRLEY MACLAINE, ACTOR, "OUISER BOUDREAUX": Are you crazy?

"BELCHER": Hit her.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Olympia Dukakis sure could steal a scene here, ordering costar Shirley MacLaine to slap Sally Field in "Steel Magnolias."

But it was her role as Cher's mother in the 1987 film "Moonstruck" that won her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She's appeared in dozens of films and on Broadway and TV.

She was a cousin of former Massachusetts governor Michael Dukakis, who unsuccessfully ran for president in 1988. Her family said Olympia Dukakis died at 89 after many months of failing health.

We'll be right back.

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[03:55:00]

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BRUNHUBER: There's maybe no better sign to show things are getting back to at least semi-normal in the U.S. than the Kentucky Derby. And Saturday's run for the roses didn't disappoint. CNN's Andy Scholes was there.

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BRUNHUBER: I'll be back in just a moment with more CNN NEWSROOM. Please do stay with us.