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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict; U.S. Faces Patchwork of Mask Rules; U.S. Republicans Replace Trump Critic and House Representative Liz Cheney; U.K. to Flex Vaccination Drive against Variants; Kenya Suspends Vaccinations Due to Shortage; Japanese CEO Urges Government to Cancel Games. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired May 15, 2021 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Violent confrontations spread to the West Bank and lead to its deadliest day in years.
Also, mask on or mask off?
Americans try to make sense of the guidelines as businesses and local authorities clarify where they stand.
The U.K. tries to speed up vaccinations after seeing a surge of COVID cases linked to a fast-spreading variant. We will tell you what you need to know.
Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to all of you watching in the United States and Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
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BRUNHUBER: As the death toll climbs in Gaza from Israeli airstrikes and artillery, deadly violence is now spreading to the West Bank.
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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): At least 10 Palestinians were killed Friday. We will have more on that in a moment.
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The Israeli military bombardment of Gaza has gone on around the clock. Thousands have been left homeless by the destruction. Palestinian health ministry say 126 Palestinians have been killed, including dozens of children since the conflict began.
Israel says eight people have killed as rockets rained down from Gaza. Some have slipped through the Iron Dome with deadly effect. Nic Robertson is live near the Gaza border.
More threats and it seems clear things are heading in the wrong direction.
Where are things where you are and are they expecting things to escalate even further today?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think it's hard to judge an environment like this at a moment like this, where it feels calm, where these mobile artillery pieces behind me have not fired overnight, whereas, the previous night, they had been much more active.
Israeli Defense Forces saying artillery had laid down more than several hundred shells in northern Gaza. You could say the tempo at this particular location is down.
Is that indicative of what is coming in the coming hours?
We don't know. Certainly, there were a lot of rockets fired out of Gaza last night. We could hear the Iron Dome long into the night, taking those down and military sites like this were part of those targets, as well as civilian neighborhoods in Ashdod. And an apartment building where we were was hit.
In Gaza, a family house, a three-story family house was collapsed during an Israeli Defense Force raid, an airstrike on Gaza. One tiny child was rescued from the rubble.
How does this tell us what is going to happen in the coming days?
I think you just have to say, look, right now, it feels a little slower. Yesterday, the number of rockets that were fired had slowed down on the previous day. Israeli Defense Forces say 2,000 rockets have been fired. Their attack locations last night, for the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza, were Hamas tunnels, the entrances to tunnels. They were also targeting the rocket firing teams.
So there are still targets of opportunity, if you will, for the Israeli Defense Forces in Gaza. Military targets are out there, still trying to fire rockets into Israel. So this part of the tensions of the conflict, it's not gone. I think you just look at it and say, for now, it's calmer than it was, 24, definitely calmer than it was 48 hours ago.
BRUNHUBER: In terms of the efforts to find solutions, there have been efforts to defuse the tensions by regional players internationally, by countries like the U.S. It may not look like it from the scenes we have been seeing earlier.
But is there any sense that there is any headway being made behind the scenes?
ROBERTSON: I think, listening to the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaking last night.
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ROBERTSON: He has talked about the support he has had from Britain, from all over saying Israel has the right to defend itself if it's attacked by Hamas and other groups inside Gaza with rocket fire coming into Israel.
He has that sort of political and diplomatic space, he feels, to continue the situation but, at the same time, he didn't appear to be, when he talked last night, talking about the escalation increasing. He said it would hit Hamas hard, that he had said that Hamas would be hit hard.
That has been done. The Israeli Defense Forces continue to do that. Diplomatically, the deputy assistant secretary of state for Palestinian-Israeli affairs has arrived now in Israel.
But I think perhaps look to someday, where a U.N. gathering of representatives at the U.N. can perhaps create more diplomatic space for the diplomacy to pick up. If it is happening, it is with the understanding there are still military elements of this yet to play out. The other side of this weekend may look quite different.
BRUNHUBER: Let's hope so. Nic Robertson, thank you so much for that.
The Israeli military offensive in Gaza is causing repercussions across the region. CNN's Ben Wedeman was in Bethlehem when clashes there exploded.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And now the West Bank, where, in Bethlehem, a new generation of Palestinians has taken to the barricades, facing a new generation of Israeli soldiers.
Friday saw the most intense confrontations in years between Palestinian youth and Israeli security forces throughout the West Bank. Palestinian officials reported the highly daily death toll here and years with hundreds injured.
WEDEMAN: Somebody has just been wounded here. They are coming our way. Let's step aside. It is a woman who has been hit.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Countless are the stones thrown here over the years, beyond calculation the number of tires burned. Countless the tear gas canisters that have rained down on this street.
WEDEMAN: The Israelis tear gas shooting volley after volley of tear gas, trying to break up this protest. It's just one of the protests going on across the West Bank.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The message on this day, one of solidarity with their fellow Palestinians in Jerusalem, Gaza and inside Israel.
"If one of us is wounded, we are with them," says this young man, who declined to give his name. "We support them as if the entire Palestinian people were wounded."
Bethlehem resident Shoki Aisa (ph) took part in protests in his youth and shares that message. SHOKI AISA (PH), BETHLEHEM RESIDENT: It is a unity of Palestinians
with the cry that we have rights. We are not going anywhere, and we will continue until we get rid of that (INAUDIBLE) and have our individual states.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): The woes of this troubled land passed from father to son -- Ben Wedeman, CNN, Bethlehem, on the West Bank.
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BRUNHUBER: Fully vaccinated Americans are getting a glimpse of a post pandemic life. The CDC says fully vaccinated Americans don't need to wear masks in most settings. But mask mandates still vary from state- to-state and business-to-business.
And if a maskless person hasn't been vaccinated, well, how would anyone know?
Amid the mixed messaging, a White House COVID advisor insists the government is following the science.
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ANDY SLAVITT, SENIOR ADVISER, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE TEAM: The CDC always going to be criticized assessed as being too fast or too slow. They try to follow the science. Our job at the White House is let them follow the science and take what comes and try to explain it as best we can to the American public.
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BRUNHUBER: One study the CDC used to make this decision found Pfizer and Moderna provided 94 percent protection for front line workers inoculated at the start of the vaccine rollout and 82 percent after a single dose.
While that is promising news for the fully vaccinated, Dr. Anthony Fauci says unvaccinated students will have to wait to change their routine. Listen to this.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF COVID-19 MEDICAL ADVISER: People feel that, which they should now, based on the data, that it is safe for them not only outdoors but indoors.
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FAUCI: They should feel comfortable in not wearing a mask.
The schools should be open, face to face, in-person classes, in the fall. We, absolutely, have to do that. And in those situations, if the child, which, obviously, elementary school kids are not vaccinated, they should wear a mask.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRUNHUBER: CNN's Nick Watt has more on how Americans are sorting through the patchwork of rules.
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NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive has never been lower than it has been these past few days, ever. That's big. So is this.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you're fully vaccinated you no locker need to wear a mask?
WATT: Too soon?
DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: This change was really abrupt. The CDC went from zero to 100 overnight.
WATT: Let's break it down. Just the fully vaccinated, so just over one-third of the population and its guidance, actual laws and mandates --
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: These decisions are going to have to be made at the local level.
WATT: Take Hawaii, for now --
GOV. DAVID IGE (D-HI): My mask mandate continues to be enforced. Everyone must wear their masks indoors.
WATT: Minnesota's mask mandate already no more.
GOV. TIM WALZ (D-MN): If you're going into a business where folks are unmasked, you know that they're vaccinated, it's a safe thing to do.
WATT: But how do you know they are vaccinated?
DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: This really is the honor system so I'm going to wear a mask if I'm in an indoor public place.
WATT: Kroger, Home Depot, Starbucks all still insisting staff and customers continue to mask up. Some school districts already dropped mandates.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Zero, no one wears mask, (INAUDIBLE) unmask (ph). It's pretty sweet, pretty dope that we got rid of it.
WATT: Chad is now eligible for a vaccine but remember, younger kids still are not.
FAUCI: High school kids, adolescents certainly will be able to be vaccinated by the time we get to the fall year but I think it's going to take until the end of the calendar year to get elementary school kids vaccinated.
WATT: The CDC, we're told, struggling to convince vaccine hesitant Republicans. It's kind of a mess to figure out with this particular audience who resonates with them, said one source, because they see vaccines as taking away their freedom.
Does stuff like this actually help?
BRIAN CRICHTON, PRESIDENT, TALLADEGA SUPER SPEEDWAY: Fans that come out tomorrow and if they are either tested or get the vaccination, they will be able to take two laps around the Talladega Super Speedway, the world's biggest and baddest and fastest track.
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BRUNHUBER: Earlier I spoke with medical analyst Dr. Jorge Rodriguez about the mask announcement and I asked him to explain why this decision opened a can of worms for businesses.
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DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think the CDC's science is absolutely correct. That, being vaccinated not only keeps you from getting seriously ill, it also keeps you from spreading the disease.
But I think the announcement that everybody -- or people that are vaccinated -- see, even I made the mistake -- that people that are vaccinated can take off their mask was, A, too abrupt. And, B, a little bit premature.
So a lot of people took this to mean that it's now OK to take your masks, you know, anybody can take their mask off. I know a lot of people said that. Now remember, the CDC gives guidelines. They don't create laws. They don't create policy. That's made by states and, you know, in local jurisdictions.
So I think, the fact that it was just thrown out there is what's causing this chaos because people that don't want to wear a mask, man, that's what they are going to hang their hat on, now.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. I mean, the CDC was saying, you know, they were trying to stop the confusion because the studies were showing the vaccine is effective.
And so, therefore, the question is, if the vaccines are effective, then why should you have to wear a mask?
But doesn't common sense, sort of, suggest, as you were saying, that people who haven't made vaccine -- getting a vaccine a priority -- those types of people, I guess, will be the same people who -- who will now, gladly, you know, sort of throw their mask away and spurn social distancing?
RODRIGUEZ: Right, which is ironic, because, listen, it's simple. It isn't rocket science. It may be science but it isn't rocket science. The virus has somewhere to go and someone to infect. The people that are vaccinated are not the ones that are going to get sick and get infected. It's the people that are not vaccinated. So if someone, for some political reason, that is not vaccinated does
not want to wear a mask, they are getting themselves into even greater jeopardy. So we need to be clear. People that are vaccinated are safe -- rare -- I mean, basically, safe to go without masks.
I, personally, I'm going to go without masks around my friends that I know are vaccinated. Call me what you want. Maybe, I still have what's called cave syndrome. But in large groups, I don't know who's not vaccinated. I'm probably, still, going to wear a mask.
BRUNHUBER: Exactly. But then -- then, are we expecting to see, maybe, a spike in cases that's -- that's linked to this?
RODRIGUEZ: That is very possible. That is -- that is very possible. So again, we, Americans, are so great. But sometimes, we think we are the only country in the world and we are not.
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RODRIGUEZ: So you have to realize this is not just an infection of the United States. And as soon as we start traveling to other countries -- and other countries want us because they need our business and -- and we want to go there -- we are going to be exposed to many variants and many, different possible viruses that we're going to bring back home.
So people have to realize that, today, the CDC may say, hey, it is safe, if you are vaccinated, to stop wearing a mask.
But tomorrow, their recommendation may be, you know what?
Things are too hot now. Everybody has to put their masks back on.
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BRUNHUBER: Our thanks to Dr. Jorge Rodriguez for his analysis there.
Republicans have officially ousted congresswoman Liz Cheney from House leadership, cementing the party's loyalty to Donald Trump. We will take a closer look.
And gas begins to trickle back in, after a ransomware attack that affected a major U.S. pipeline. We will show you why the long fuel lines may linger a few more days. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: On Capitol Hill, a Trump loyalist is holding a key position in the party's House leadership.
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BRUNHUBER: And some lawmakers are trying to rewrite history about January's Capitol insurrection. CNN congressional correspondent Ryan Nobles reports from Washington.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, the House Republican Conference overwhelmingly picking New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as their new conference chair and presenting a united front.
REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): Listen, the Republican Party is a big tent party. And my district is the story of the growth of the Republican Party.
NOBLES: But it may not be that easy.
REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): There have been things worse than people without any firearms coming into a building.
NOBLES: Rank-and-file hard right members are now attempting to rewrite the history of what happened during the January 6 insurrection.
Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert did so Friday from the House floor.
GOHMERT: There's no doubt people came here on January 6 to cause trouble. Most did not come here to cause trouble. Most came here to protest.
NOBLES: This despite harrowing stories of violence and chaos from that day that continue to emerge from police officers, some of whom were beaten and had their own weapons turned on them.
MICHAEL FANONE, D.C., METROPOLITAN POLICE DEPARTMENT: I believe that violent group would have killed individuals inside of the Capitol complex.
HARRY DUNN, U.S. CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER: For people to contradict that, it's insulting. It's a slap in the face.
NOBLES: This growing move to rewrite history comes on the same day a bipartisan deal was hatched to form an independent commission to look into what went wrong on that day.
The commission will be evenly split between Republicans and Democrats. They will have equal subpoena power and the scope will be limited to January 6 and the events that led to the attack.
While the negotiations were bipartisan, the top House Republican, Kevin McCarthy, has yet to sign off. But Democrats say that won't be a problem.
REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D-MS): So we tried to take the politics out of it, because the public deserves nothing less.
NOBLES: With a handful of far right Republicans painting a different picture of what happened that day, drawing a clear conclusion as to what went wrong is now imperative.
Liz Cheney, who lost her leadership post for telling the truth about the election, said GOP leaders cannot ignore this trend.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): It's very important for people to understand that -- the ongoing danger of a former president attempting to undermine the system in the way he is. And, as Republicans, we have a particular responsibility to stand up against that.
NOBLES: But the conservative provocateurs are only getting louder.
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): We're going to visit Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, crazy eyes, crazy eyes.
NOBLES: New video uncovered by the CNN KFILE team shows Marjorie Taylor Greene before she was elected to Congress taunting Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outside her office door, this after Greene confronted Ocasio-Cortez outside the House chamber.
AOC saying that MTG needs professional help.
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I'm concerned about her perceptions of reality.
NOBLES: Despite all this ongoing tension between Republican and Democrats, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is prepared to move forward with plans to form this bipartisan commission to look into the events of January 6th.
She says she will bring a bill to the House floor as soon as next week. That's despite the fact that the House minority leader Kevin McCarthy has yet to endorse the proposal -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, on Capitol Hill.
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HOLMES: And we just saw there a little bit of Jake Tapper's interview with U.S. House Republican Liz Cheney here on CNN after she was ousted from her leadership role. She's been highly critical of former president Trump and rejected his false insistence that the 2020 election was stolen. Here's a little more of that interview.
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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: What is it like standing up for what seems, from my perspective, to be just kind of basic decency, law and order, constitutionality and be shunned by House Republicans?
It looks weird from where I sit.
REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Well, you're not a House Republican.
TAPPER: Right. True.
CHENEY: Listen, I think that to me, it's very clear what is required here.
And it's not, you know, some people say, well, it's courageous. I don't think of it that way. I think, you know, you've written about men in particular there who have real courage. That's -- this is not landing on Omaha Beach or being at a forward operating base in Afghanistan. This is duty and it's about truth.
And we've had a collapse of truth in this country. We've, you know, seen an evolution of, you know, general situation where conspiracy theories are rampant, where people, good people and a lot of instances, you know, have been misled and believe things that are not true.
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CHENEY: And so, I think that we all have an obligation to make sure we're doing everything we can to convey the truth, to stand for the truth and to stand for the Constitution and our obligations.
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BRUNHUBER: Liz Cheney also told ABC News that she regrets voting for Donald Trump in 2020.
Fuel shortages are starting to ease up a bit following that ransomware attack on a major pipeline in the southeastern U.S. But gas is hard to come by in five states and more than 80 percent of pumps are still dry in Washington, D.C.
Colonial Pipeline was shut down for six days after the attack blamed on the group DarkSide. That led to panic buying and long lines for fuel. Two sources tell CNN the company later paid ransom to the group. The pipeline is back online but it will take a few days before the supply is back to normal.
Crowds of people are taking to the streets as the violence flares up in Israel and Gaza. We will have details on the pro-Palestinian protests erupting across the region coming up.
Later, how a COVID surge in northern England could affect the country's road map out of lockdown. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back to all of you watching in the United States and Canada and around the world.
World leaders and officials are speaking out on the Israel-Palestinian unrest.
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BRUNHUBER: Here is what the White House said Friday.
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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president believes that Israel has a right to self-defense.
Obviously, just if we take a step back and remove ourselves for a moment, which I know is hard to do, from the politics, clearly what's happening on the ground, the loss of life, the loss of children's lives, the loss of families, family members' lives, whether it's Palestinian lives or Israeli lives, is incredibly tragic.
It's horrific to watch. That is certainly why our focus is on de- escalating what is happening on the ground.
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BRUNHUBER: The U.N. secretary-general said both sides should stop fighting immediately and allow for mediation. The UAE is calling for restraint from all parties and a cease-fire.
Many Arabs across the region are showing their unwavering support for Palestinians from Istanbul to Jordan. Protesters have taken to the streets to march in solidarity with those in Gaza. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has the latest from Beirut.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: More protesters and demonstrations are planned across the Middle East today in solidarity with Palestinians and families in Gaza. But this is also the day people commemorate the hundreds of thousands that were displaced in 1948 in the conflicts surrounding the founding of the state of Israel.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, their descendants number in the millions and they're spread out in the area in Syria, Jordan and in Lebanon, where a protest will be held. There are multiple political factions calling for everyone to rally today.
There is concern this could turn violent because, on Friday, a 21- year-old Lebanese man was killed when the Israeli military fired a rocket as this man was trying to storm that fence between Lebanon and Israel.
And every drop of blood lost could increase concern of more violence. Alongside these traditional demonstrations, the rhetoric that we have heard for decades from this region, there is also a very real shift and that is some countries are normalizing relationships with Israel.
Take the United Arab Emirates, signing an accord a year ago to normalize relationships with Israel and not just them but other countries. So you're hearing a much more muted criticism from some of the Gulf states. And now comes the test of those agreements.
The argument, of course, from the United Arab Emirates is they allow for more influence at the negotiating table when something happens. As mediations to calm tensions, the question is, will this influence indeed play out or were these just empty words? -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: Earlier, I spoke to Julie Norman from University College London and I asked her to put this most recent surge of Israeli and Palestinian violence into historical context. Listen to this.
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JULIE NORMAN, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: What we are seeing this week is very reminiscent of the so-called Gaza Wars that we saw in 2008, in 2012 and in 2014, where we, again, saw Israeli airstrikes and Hamas rockets going back and forth and, quite tragically, resulting in thousands of civilian casualties.
What is different, this time, is, as you noted, it is extending just beyond the Gaza and Israel border in the sense that we've seen violence erupt, also, in many Israeli cities. Many of these cities are cities that have been relatively peaceful, have sometimes tensions but, overall, pretty peaceful coexistence between Arab and Jewish residents.
Instead, we have seen much violence in these cities as well. About 800 arrests over the last week with Jewish and Arab citizens essentially attacking each other, obviously, a very small minority but a very sizeable impact.
The other thing that's different, that we are seeing, is the scale and scope of the Hamas rockets. So in the past, in 2014, for example, Hamas launched about 4,000 rockets over a 50-day period. They have already launched about 2,000 rockets this time over a five-day period.
And they have also demonstrated that the rockets can reach further into Israel than in the past. So this has really caused concern for Israeli officials, and from their perspective, has rationalized some of the response into Gaza, with trying to disrupt the infrastructure behind the rockets.
BRUNHUBER: Now a cynic or maybe a political realist might say that, as horrific as this is for the victims, this has been beneficial for politicians; specifically, prime minister Netanyahu, who might be getting a political lifeline here.
And Hamas, which -- which had lost popularity and now, has a very visible way to show its relevance.
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BRUNHUBER: I know, this is something you have written about extensively, how -- how political expediency on both sides is feeding into the conflict.
NORMAN: Well, that's exactly right, Kim. This conflict and crisis right now has emerged, at a time of leadership crises in both communities. In Israel, Netanyahu has been unable to form a government. This is after four rounds of elections in Israel in two years.
And at the same time, in Palestine, elections that were supposed to be held this summer have been indefinitely postponed. And what we see is both Netanyahu and then Hamas and the Palestinian side really taking advantage of this moment.
For Netanyahu, trying to show Israelis that this is not the time to change course, showing that he's strong on security and defense.
On the Palestinian side, it's really Hamas trying to project their image as the voice of resistance for the Palestinian people, especially, in contrast to the Palestinian Authority, which many Palestinians see as very weak, as obsolete.
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BRUNHUBER: Our thanks to Julie Norman for her analysis there.
We are now learning that virtually an entire family of Palestinians has just been killed in an Israeli airstrike but the lone survivor was an infant. The Palestinian news agency say 10 people in the home were killed, including eight children. The family was reportedly living in a refugee camp in Northern Gaza an when a airstrike demolished their three-story home.
Parts of England are seeing an alarming surge in the COVID variant, that first emerged in India. Ahead, we will find out how it might impact the country's plans to ease the restrictions on Monday.
Plus.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: None of us are safe.
BRUNHUBER (voice-over): A dire warning from a top scientist in Kenya as the nation suspends its vaccine campaign. We will get the details live from Nairobi after the break. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: India reported more than 326,000 new COVID infections on Saturday, bringing its pandemic total to 24.3 million. Officials in Delhi are providing home delivery of oxygen concentrators within two hours.
On Friday, India's prime minister addressed the crisis publicly for the first time in weeks. He said India was on war footing against an invisible enemy.
And cases are still rising in neighboring Nepal. On Friday, it reported more than 8,000 new infections for the 10th day in a row.
The town of Bolton in northwest England is taking no chances after a surge in the Indian COVID variant there. They are starting door-to- door testing and sending out mobile testing vehicles. England are to enter the next phase of reopening on Monday. The prime minister said, despite the outbreak, it will go ahead as planned.
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: I do not believe that we need on the present evidence to delay our road map and we will proceed with our plan to move to step 3 in England for Monday.
But I have to level with you that this new variant could pose a serious disruption to our progress and could make it more difficult to move, to step four in June. And I must stress that we will do whatever it takes to keep the public safe.
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BRUNHUBER: For more on this, let's bring in CNN's Phil Black in London.
Didn't it seem the mood was celebratory with lockdowns being eased?
It sounds like the variant has the potential to reverse all of those hard-won gains.
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is sobering. The truth is we still can't be sure so there is anxiety but we don't know how worried we should be. Although the government's scientific advisers have said, this is more transmissible, they don't know how much more transmissible or whether this variant will result in more serious disease.
And they don't know it means for the effectiveness of vaccines. But assuming the vaccines hold their effectiveness, as they have for other variants so far, there is reason to believe the U.K. is on a balance, in a positive position, because its vaccine program is so advanced. There is so much immunity out in the community.
Now that it should hopefully slow the advance or slow a significant advance of this new variant, that's one potential scenario, especially if it is only slightly more transmissible.
But if it is significantly more transmissible, it could still cause problems. You could still see another surge because not everyone is protected by the vaccine yet, particularly young people, and some of the more vulnerable people, too, for various reasons, who haven't taken up the vaccine could be at risk.
And, indeed, vaccines are not perfect. They don't provide absolute coverage. So the potential for a surge, if it is significantly more transmissible and in the event that is what happens, then the key indicator will be what is happening in hospitals. If you get lots of confirmed cases, will you then see potentially a
spike in hospital admissions, people suffering a serious version of COVID-19?
If that doesn't happen, then that means the vaccines are continuing to do their job, breaking that link between infections and serious disease. That is essentially the scenario that prime minister Boris Johnson is, at the moment, betting on in saying that England should take its next step, its next risky step in lifting restrictions.
That is a return to indoor mixing and socializing in homes, bars and restaurants from Monday with some limitations. There is risk associated with that. But he is warning that the next step of lifting all pandemic restrictions may have to be slowed or delayed if, in the coming weeks, we see that this new variant has the potential to undo a lot of the gains that have been made.
BRUNHUBER: Many countries will be watching to see what happens there. Phil Black in London, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
India's suspension of vaccine exports is hitting many developing nations. Kenya is one of them, where vaccine doses are now running out. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is in Nairobi for us.
I spoke with a doctor in Nairobi a week or two ago and she was worried about the knock-on effect from the situation in India.
[05:45:00]
BRUNHUBER: I guess now we are getting a much clearer picture of exactly what that is.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, Kim, a couple of weeks ago, the World Health Organization was saying that about 2 percent of all vaccines administered worldwide were administered in African countries.
And that has gone down to about 1 percent now, 1 percent. You know, while you're got countries like the United Kingdom, the U.S. where you are, where people are starting to go back to normal life, talking about dropping mask mandates and hugs and vaccinating all age groups, it is a very different reality in Kenya and in other African countries.
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KARADSHEH (voice-over): This was the scene at Nairobi's Kenya International Hospital just a few days ago, a constant stream of people eager to get their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
They were the lucky ones, receiving some of the country's precious last shots.
KARADSHEH: This is what it looks like right now. This hospital was administering the highest number of COVID-19 vaccines in the country on a daily basis and they had to suspend the campaign and don't know when they're going to be able to resume again.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Kenya has relied solely on the global vaccine alliance COVAX, that has provided the African country with just over 1 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in India.
But with India facing its own COVID catastrophe, it has halted all vaccine exports. The painful impact already being felt across COVAX dependent nations like Kenya. This country is going to run out of vaccines in a matter of days.
Busy vaccination centers across its capital city now deserted.
KARADSHEH: We have been to several health care facilities and hospitals here in Nairobi. We just cannot seem to find one still offering COVID-19 vaccines.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Those desperately searching for a first dose are being turned away. This mother of 2 does not want her to show her face. She's been to every major hospital in the city. She is now trying smaller clinics.
She says losing a close friend to COVID-19 was a terrifying experience.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Having lost someone who is younger than me. It is very serious. It is important to be immunized. I'm supposed to put food on the table. I cannot stay at home.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): This 57-year-old person was supposed to get his second shot next week but the government has pushed back all second doses by at least 4 more weeks. The government's promised those who had their first shot, there will be a second one but with a June delivery now in doubt no one really knows when the next consignment will arrive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are told to get the vaccine, because if you get corona it will not be severe. What I hear is that corona keeps increasing. That is why we are eager to get a second dose.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): The World Health Organization has warned vaccine delays risk opening the door to a new wave of infections on the continent and the emergence of new COVID-19 variants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we are seeing in India, like the pyres and the fires, bodies being burned, either packing (ph) we might actually see a mass graves.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Dr. Ahmed Kalebi, one of Kenya's top scientists, has been warning that African countries could be the next India. He says no health care system in Africa can deal with a surge like the one that is devastating India.
DR. AHMED KALEBI, TOP KENYAN SCIENTIST: What is happening in India is I think a red flag for the whole world that for the 3rd world countries, the poorer countries, when they are spared the first wave, and the second wave in terms of the mortality, we might actually see something worse if something is not done.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): He says it is time for wealthier nations to rethink their vaccination strategies.
KALEBI: It makes no sense to give teenagers in schools vaccines in richer countries when we know there are people who are superspreaders, of likely superspreaders across the world, who have not been vaccinated. This are the likely breeding grounds for new super variants. This is a global village. And none of us are safe until all of us are safe.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): It seems once again Africa is being left behind. But with this persistent virus, what happens in Africa likely won't stay in Africa.
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KARADSHEH: Kim, the Kenyan government says that it is working to secure 13 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine that it expects to get by August. It's talking to other manufacturers too. You know?
This current crisis, the shortage, it's not just being caused by India's ban on exports but what critics say is the wealthier countries hoarding vaccines. And this is why we are hearing a rising call for COVID-19 vaccines to ramp up production.
[05:50:00]
KARADSHEH: And the South African president joining those calls a few days ago, saying wealthier nations safely inoculating their populations while millions die in the poorer countries, that amounts to vaccine apartheid.
BRUNHUBER: What a contrast, as you point out here we have enough to vaccine teens here and there, they can't vaccinate anyone. Jomana Karadsheh, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it.
Coming up next in Japan, there is lots of pushback against hosting the games this year, including from a top CEO, who isn't mincing words. Stay with us.
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BRUNHUBER: The Tokyo Olympic Games are scheduled to start in just a couple of months. With the coronavirus still spreading rapidly in Japan, an increasing number of people say holding the games this year is flat-out dangerous. Let's bring in Selina Wang from Tokyo.
What can you tell us?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, the mood here on the ground is changing. It seems like we are at a point where a growing chorus of forces are not just from the public at large.
[05:55:00]
WANG: But also high profile voices are now raising the alarm. I sat down with the CEO of Rakuten, a tech giant in Japan, the leading e commerce player. He tells me he has been urging the Japanese government to cancel the games and calling it a suicide mission for Japan to host the Olympics this summer.
When I asked him what rating he would give Japan's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said a 2 out of 10. Japan has only fully vaccinated about 1 percent of its population.
And it's not only his company. Other corporate leaders are sounding the alarm as well, including Toyota, which is a top Olympic sponsor. That company is concerned about growing frustration against the games.
An online petition asking for the games to be cancelled received more than 350,000 signatures in just nine days. Even a doctors' union in Japan urged the government to cancel the games, saying that it could be a superspreader event, even without any spectators, using strong language, saying it would be impossible to hold safe and secure games.
Ultimately, the decision here comes down to the IOC and they have been insistent that these games will go ahead as planned, as has the Japanese government. Now we are just 10 weeks away and it is notable to see, with each growing day, the number of voices calling for the games to be reconsidered is only growing.
BRUNHUBER: The clock is ticking. Thank you, Selina Wang for that in Tokyo.
That wraps this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. For our viewers, in the U.S. and Canada, "NEW DAY" is ahead. For everyone else, it's "CONNECTING AFRICA."
