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Outrage over Flight Diversion, Arrest in Belarus; Malian Interim President and Prime Minister Arrested; U.S. Citizens Warned to Avoid Olympics; Myanmar Detains U.S. Journalist; Aung San Suu Kyi Makes First In-Person Court Appearance; South Africa Vaccine Rollout Called 'Dismal Failure'; Severe Cyclonic Storm to Hit India; Dogs Might Be Able to Sniff Out COVID-19 Infections. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired May 25, 2021 - 00:00   ET

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

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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, E.U. warns sanctions are coming after Belarus forces a Ryanair flight to divert, land and then arrest two passengers on board. One, an outspoken critic of the Belarusian president.

Doctors want them canceled, most Japanese don't support them, now another blow for the Tokyo Olympics, a U.S. advisory to avoid all travel to Japan, over fears of the coronavirus.

It may be too late to save the Olympics but scientists believe dogs might be able to sniff out COVID infections.

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VAUSE: E.U. officials are moving quickly to isolate Belarus, cutting off air links by banning Belarusian airlines from the countries and urging European carriers to avoid airspace over Belarus.

Officials in Belarus, who are part of a plan to first divert and then force the landing of a Ryanair flight, under the pretext of a bomb scare, they are also facing economic sanctions.

Many have described it as an unprecedented violation of international diplomacy and agreements. It was engineered to arrest one Ryanair passenger, a dissident journalist and critic of the Belarusian president.

On Monday, Roman Protasevich appeared on a pro government social media channel, admitting he was responsible for organizing mass protests in opposition to last year's presidential election. His supporters say he looks to be under duress. His father tells CNN's Matthew Chance, he worries what could come next.

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DMITRY PROTASEVICH, ROMAN PROTASEVICH'S FATHER (through translator): We are very worried, as we expect torture and physical abuse. Although we hope that won't happen. But knowing the KGB methods, we hope he will be strong enough and have enough willpower to endure all that awaits him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: He was arrested Sunday after his Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania, was diverted to Minsk by Belarusian air traffic control. He's among dozens of Belarusian journalists and activists, who've been campaigning in exile against president Alexander Lukashenko. Leaders from the U.S. to Europe are condemning this latest incident.

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URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: Belarus used its control of its airspace in order to perpetrate a state hijacking. Therefore, the safety and security of flights through Belarus airspace can no longer be trusted and the council will adopt measures to ban overflies of the E.U. airspace and deny access to airports, to E.U. airports, to Belarus airplanes.

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VAUSE: She isn't stopping there. The European Commission president warning, even more sanctions are on their way. CNN's Fred Pleitgen, beginning our coverage.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Scenes from Minsk airport, after the Ryanair plane was forced to make an emergency landing in the Belarusian capital.

The airline, now saying, a bomb threat, called in by Belarusian authorities, appears to have been a ploy in order to arrest journalist and activist, Roman Protasevich, who was on the flight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He said nothing, he just turned to people and said he was facing the death penalty.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Tonight, a Belarusian pro-government social media, airing the first video of Roman in detention. While he says, on tape, that he is allegedly doing fine and confessing to organizing riots, it's quite possible he was forced to go on camera, under duress, members of the opposition say.

An adviser, telling CNN earlier, he fears that the journalist will be tortured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's probably in KGB, right now, in interrogation and it usually takes several days. You know, in Belarus, when they interrogate, they might use torture and other means. PLEITGEN (voice-over): The social media platform which Protasevich

cofounded, uncovered widespread brutality on the part of the Belarusian police and help sparked the massive anti-government protests in the summers of last year, threatening to unseat longtime dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, after the opposition and many countries around the world accused him of rigging the presidential election.

European leaders saying they aren't buying Minsk explanation for making the jet land. the Ryanair flight originating in the Greek capital, Athens, supposed to fly straight to Vilnius in Lithuania. But it changed course shortly before it would've left Belarusian airspace, making a sharp turn towards the Belarusian capital.

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PLEITGEN (voice-over): Ryanair CEO, Michael O'Leary, was blunt.

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MICHAEL O'LEARY, RYANAIR CEO: This was a state hijacking or state sponsored piracy.

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PLEITGEN (voice-over): The Biden administration condemning the incident.

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JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are outraged, as the international community has expressed and we have expressed as well. We think that this was a brazen affront to international peace and security by the regime.

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PLEITGEN (voice-over): Lithuania's president, meanwhile, is calling for tough action by the E.U., against the Lukashenko regime.

GITANAS NAUSEDA, LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We demand the release of Roman Protasevich. If that is not done, we shall talk about the very serious sanctions that the E.U. has its disposal.

PLEITGEN (voice-over): After several hours in Minsk, the plane, finally continuing its journey to Lithuania. Without Roman Protasevich and his girlfriend, who was also taken into custody, leaving European leaders fuming and vowing to take action -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.

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VAUSE: We are joined now by Bob Baer, CNN intelligence and analyst and former CIA operative.

Bob, thank you for being with us. I want to start with the view from Brussels on just how serious this is being viewed by the E.U. Listen to this.

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CHARLES MICHEL, EUROPEAN COUNCIL PRESIDENT: What happened, yesterday, is an international scandal. The life of European civilian were at risk yesterday. This is not acceptable and it is why we put the debate of sanctions on the table, of the European continent.

We are preparing different options, different possible measures and I hope, tonight, we can take decisions on that.

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VAUSE: Already, there is a situation where Belarusian airlines are being banned from traveling from the E.U. and E.U. carriers are encouraged to avoid Belarus airspace.

Is that severe enough of a deterrent, which will mean that this is a one-off?

Or does it simply mean game on?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: It's game on, John. This is a terrorist act of hijacking an airplane. States don't do this ever. Iran did in the '80s, using proxies but to actually send up jets, hijacking an airplane, this is crossing a red line, which the Europeans and the United States can't put up with.

You can get into sanctions, you can stop planes flying in and the rest of it. But it will probably go on from this because this is just an illegal act, that, like I said, it is the act of a terrorist state.

VAUSE: Authorities in Belarus came up with the cover story, blaming Hamas, claiming that the terrorist group planted a bomb on the plane.

On one side, Lukashenko, going ahead with this plan, without a nod and a wink from the Kremlin, without some kind of commitment for ongoing economic and political support.

BAER: That's the key question.

Would he have done this without a green light from Putin?

I, frankly, don't think so because Belarus is a state that depends on Russia economically and for security, there's a large Russian presence in Minsk.

And, would they have gone ahead and done this without consulting the Kremlin?

It would surprise me. And if they did do it on their own, Lukashenko has probably lost his mind.

VAUSE: He does have a history of making erratic decisions. But when an aircraft is wheels up, regardless of which country it may be flying over, that aircraft is the nationality of its place of register; this case, Poland.

This incident is one of more than 600 cases of what, freedom house calls, transnational repression, defined as governments reaching across borders to silence dissent among diaspora and exiles, including assassinations, illegal deportations, abductions, digital threats and family intimidation.

Putin is a global leader in this kind of stuff.

How much is he influencing, not just Lukashenko but the other autocrats around the world?

BAER: You hit the nail on the head. Putin has been assassinating people in Europe for a 1.5 decades. There is a group, in Russia, that hacked the Colonial Pipeline and a bunch of other hacks. The Russians aren't coming down on them and Russia is looking, very much, like a rogue state.

So far, they haven't been punished. It's not just in interfering in American elections, it's interfering in a lot of places around the world. And, frankly, sanctions haven't worked so far.

VAUSE: We heard from the leader of the opposition in Belarus via tweet, saying, the regime's propaganda channels posted a video of arrested Roman Protasevich, saying he is being treated lawfully in the men's detention center number one.

This is how Roman looks under physical and moral pressure. It said "I demand the immediate release of Roman and all political prisoners."

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VAUSE: That's not going to happen.

What is his state right now?

Where does he end up?

Why does it mean for Lukashenko to go to these lengths?

BAER: Exactly, he went after a blogger. He must be completely insecure. He's worried about keeping the throne at this point.

Frankly, this guy, very honest and brave, he's not an internal threat. He's not a head of an organized resistance, in any matter. For Lukashenko to take this risk, I worry about his reasoning. It's a state, like this, right on Europe's border and Russia's. This is a real problem.

VAUSE: Quickly, about his fate, what happens to him now?

Bob, are you there?

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VAUSE: What happens to the young dissident journalist? BAER: Oh, he will be under a hostile interrogation, possibly torture. The KGB and Belarus, known for torturing, especially dissidents. I worry about his fate.

VAUSE: Bob, thank you, appreciate you being with us, some good insight, I appreciate it, thank you, Bob.

Mali's interim president and prime minister are in military custody. Several international groups and a committee monitoring Mali's return to civilian oversight after a military coup last year reported the arrest.

The two leaders, sworn in last September, after the military agreed to hand over power to a civilian transitional government. A number of countries, including the U.S., the United Kingdom and European Union, calling the arrests a power grab and demand they be released immediately.

The U.S. secretary of state arriving in Tel Aviv in the next hour, trying to shore up the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. Antony Blinken, meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, throughout the day in Jerusalem, as well as the West Bank.

He will also try to secure assistance for rebuilding Gaza but as CNN's Nic Robertson reports, Blinken thinks it's premature to reset long term peace talks, at least now.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The real headline message from the U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken, when he arrives here Tuesday morning, is to keep the cease-fire on track.

He will have meetings here in Jerusalem with prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, foreign minister Gabi Ashkenazi. He will go to meet with the Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, and these meetings are important but is not, of course, meeting with one of the parties for the conflict, Hamas, which to the United States is a tourist organization.

But the key thing for the secretary of state is to make sure that the cease-fire holds and he says rebuilding in Gaza and the rebuilding that is required in Israel as well. He wants to make sure, however, that any money that goes to Gaza for rebuilding goes through the U.N., Palestinian Authority, and not going into Hamas to buy weapons.

That is easier said than done so the conversations he will have here will no doubt have elements of that because that would be very important to the government here in Israel.

But I think the broader picture at the moment has to be that the United States really is just trying to keep peace on track here. The secretary of state is not coming to restart detailed negotiations to try to get to the United States' vision of a 2 state solution. He's making that clear. This is to keep the momentum of the cease-fire

and to keep hopes and the possibility of life potentially further down the right, where there is a better political climate for it, for that two-state solution -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Jerusalem.

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VAUSE: The U.S. State Department has advised American travelers to avoid traveling to Japan because of growing COVID infections. This is the latest setback for Tokyo, which is already under intense pressure to cancel or postpone again the games, just 2 months away.

CNN Selina Wang is live for us in Tokyo.

Selina, just confirmed this for us. There are no international spectators who are going to be allowed to attend the Summer Olympics anyway. This is a general travel advisory, right?

It just comes at a bad time.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, that is correct. Ever since the pandemic since near the beginning of the pandemic Japan has not allowed foreign tourists into this country but the optics and the timing of this travel advisory casts yet another major shadow over the Olympic Games and the travel advisory that was issued was level 4.

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WANG: This is the highest cautionary level urging Americans not to travel to Japan. The CDC saying that even fully vaccinated travelers should avoid this country because of the surge in COVID-19 cases and the risk that they could contract new variants and spread it further across the country.

U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, however, have played down these concerns saying they are confident that U.S. athletes can participate in these games safely. Meanwhile, you have Japanese officials saying this travel advisory is not related to the Olympics and that U.S. support for these games has not changed.

But John, every single day, the contrast between what Olympic officials are saying and the reality on the ground is only becoming greater. The juxtaposition is stark.

In Japan, you've got COVID-19 cases continuing to surge driven by these new, more contagious variants. You also have the medical system under strain. In places like Osaka, hospital beds, ventilators are running out, with doctors warning of a system collapse.

Less than 2 percent of the Japanese population has been fully vaccinated. On the other hand, the IOC, Thomas Bach and the Olympic officials continue to insist that these gains can be held safely and that they have taken enough steps to mitigate the risks. In fact, I just spoke to Dick Pound, the longest service member of the

IOC, and he tells me he already has his tickets booked to Japan. He says the cancellation is off the table.

This is despite the growing public opposition we've been talking about. Local polls show that more than 80 percent of the people here do not think the games should be held this year.

When I'm speaking to people on the ground there is certainly this growing sentiment that money and politics and sport is being put ahead of people's lives.

Now during these IOC Olympic pressers, the officials say their COVID- 19 counter measures are enough. They include social distancing, contact tracing and regular testing but the medical community in Japan, a group of more than 6,000 doctors has urged these games to be canceled.

The medical community argues that it is impossible to hold these games safely in a safe bubble when you have more than 11,000 athletes from more than 200 countries, not to mention the tens of thousands of officials and unvaccinated volunteers. That is the juxtaposition right now -- John.

VAUSE: Selina, thank you. Selina Wang there live in Tokyo with the very latest.

Spain is welcoming travelers from 10 countries considered low risk for COVID. All outside the E.U. Once the world's second most visited country, Spain is now hoping to revitalize the tourism industry badly battered by the pandemic. CNN's Atika Shubert has more now reporting in from Spain.

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ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As of Monday's Spain is allowing visitors from a select list of countries to travel here, visit the fabulous beaches without any travel restrictions. And that means no negative PCR tests for those visitors traveling to countries like the U.K., Israel, New Zealand.

These are countries at very high vaccination rates or very low incidences of COVID and this is all part of Spain's attempt to reopen its tourist economy. Tourism is hugely important to the economy here and at least 12 percent of the GDP relies on tourism and more than 3 million jobs.

British tourists in particular are really one of the big drivers of tourism economy here. For tourists from other countries, the hope is that Spain is going to get its vaccination rate up in time so that, by June 7th, they will be able to expand that list and allow visitors from the U.S. and China to come to Spain if they are vaccinated, if they have a PCR test.

And again this is all an attempt to open up the economy but to do it safely. Now for those visitors who do want to visit, COVID regulations are still in effect. Even though you don't need a mask and you are lounging at the beach, taking a walk up and down the sands, you will need it in most places outside. It is still mandatory.

If you're going out for an ice cream on the boardwalk -- and there is still some of the regulations, for example here in Valencia, there is a curfew from 1-6 am. There is no dancing until the early hours of the morning or at least not yet -- Atika Shubert, CNN, Valencia, Spain.

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VAUSE: A member of the British Black Lives Matter movements was shot over the weekend. It was motivated by their activism. When we come back, we'll hear from another member, who says she as well is getting death threats.

Also Myanmar has detained an American journalist as he was trying to leave the country. Now he has been moved to a notorious political prison. Our live report and the very latest when we come back.

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VAUSE: The family of an American journalist detained in Myanmar say it's a nightmare. Danny Fenster was planning to fly home and surprise his parents. He had been away for two years. Now he's being held at one of Myanmar's notorious political prisons and they do not know why. CNN's Anna Coren following the story from Hong Kong.

Being a journalist is enough to get you arrested in Myanmar these days.

ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Danny Fenster was on his way to Kuala Lumpur, trying to board the plane when he was arrested by authorities, trying to get to the United States to see his family.

We understand that he has been held in the Insein prison, one of the largest notorious prisons in Myanmar. More than 10,000 prisoners, hundreds of them are political prisoners. Among them, another U.S. national journalist, Nathan Maung, who was arrested back in March.

Danny Fenster is the fourth foreign journalist to have been detained and to date more than 80 journalists have been arrested. Let's take a look at a statement by "Frontier Myanmar." This is the online news outlet that Danny worked for.

They said -- and if we could bring up the graphic now -- "We do not know why Danny Fenster was detained and have not been able to contact him since this morning. We are concerned for his well-being and call for his immediate release.

"Our priorities right now are to make sure he is safe and to provide him with whatever assistance he needs."

Now the U.S. State Department say they are aware of Danny's arrest and they have not made any comment obviously due to the sensitive nature of this case. But it certainly is extremely alarming.

It comes on the same day that the ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in court for the first time in person. Prior to that, she had appeared by video link. This is all unfolded since the military coup staged on the 1st of February.

She is facing a range of charges, up to 6 charges. They range from flouting COVID restrictions during the election, possessing unlicensed walkie talkies but the most serious charges, breaching the official secrets act, which in itself could be a 14-year prison sentence.

She certainly appeared in good condition and struck a very defiant tone when she spoke to her lawyers. She had an opportunity to speak to them for about half an hour in private before she had to make that court appearance. Let's have a listen to what her lawyers had to say after her appearance.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): She wishes her people to stay healthy and affirmed that the NLD will exist as long as people exist, because it was founded for people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Aung San Suu Kyi is always confident in herself.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): And she is confident in our cause and confident in the people.

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COREN: You hear Aung San Suu Kyi talk about her party will still exist, the National League for Democracy. The military junta proposed that the party would be dissolved and that everybody who is a member would be deemed a traitor.

The general, the military general who is in charge and behind use coup, he has justified the crew by saying that voter fraud was committed during the November 2020 election, which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won in a landslide.

I should note, John, that obviously the protests that have unfolded since that coup and the bloodshed that we have seen, numbers came out yesterday from the humans rights group, Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 818 people have been killed in the past 4 months; more than 4,200 detained. And a final number, John, more than 1,800 arrest warrants are out there for Myanmar civilians -- John.

VAUSE: Wow.

Anna Coren live for us there in Hong Kong. Thank you.

British Black Lives Matter activist Sasha Johnson is in critical condition after being shot in the head in London. That is from a statement from her political party, saying the attack happened following numerous death threats as a result of her activism.

The London Metropolitan Police earlier said that at this early stage there is no evidence to suggest a targeted attack, or she had not received any credible threats prior to this incident.

Earlier, Salma Abdelaziz spent time with another Black Lives Matter activist, who also says she is facing death threats on social media and feels targeted by the police. This report was filmed weeks before Johnson was shot.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is what democracy looks like.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Aima is one of Britain's most prominent anti-racism activists. But this is the only way she feels safe to demonstrate. With two white allies by her side that she says deflect attention from the authorities plus minders to watch her back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are absolutely in safe hands. All of us are going to be following you behind, right.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): We followed the 19-year-old student during a protest in London. She said she has never felt more afraid as a Black woman in Britain.

AIMA, BLM ACTIVIST: I'm getting quite a lot of threats, other Black activists and it is quite terrifying. I don't feel safe anymore.

ABDELAZIZ: Why don't you feel safe anymore?

AIMA: If you're constantly getting people telling you that they want to kill you and they want you dead, you don't feel safe at all.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): After George Floyd's murder, Aima co organized protests in the U.K. Campaigners were first met with curiosity and sympathy but that quickly turned into resistance and outright denial from Britain's ruling class.

ABDELAZIZ: Activists here tell us there is a backlash, a defensiveness against BLM in the U.K. and it starts at the top. Everything in our report found no evidence of institutional racism in the U.K., the United Nations condemned the report and says it rationalizes white supremacist thought.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The prime minister's office rejected the U.N.'s criticism and said the commission's findings were misrepresented. But MP David Lammy from the opposition Labour Party told us there are widespread attempts to silence the cries for racial equality. DAVID LAMMY, BRITISH LABOUR MP: If you want to understand what is

happening in the U.K. then simply dial back a year or so to the United States under Donald Trump.

ABDELAZIZ: Is Britain taking steps backwards?

LAMMY: I'm afraid Britain is taking massive steps backwards, because it is dialing up the populist rhetoric. It is dialing down the progressive need for change.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Aima has words for what is happening: gaslighting.

ABDELAZIZ: What happens next?

AIMA: I think right now just keep coming on the streets. Keep speaking for us. Keep fighting actively against the government. The government refuses to listen to us so we will make them listen to us.

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): For those seeking institutional change, it starts with acknowledging Britain has a problem -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.

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VAUSE: A tale of two worlds right now. The United States and parts of Europe pandemic restrictions have been eased. But not so in many parts around the world. Why the vaccine cannot come fast enough. More of that in a moment.

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VAUSE: The head of the World Health Organization, warning that the global pandemic will not be under control until wealthy nations are willing to distribute more of their supply of COVID vaccines. He says no country should assume it's out of the woods as long as variants of the virus continue to spread.

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TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: The ongoing vaccine crisis is a scandalous inequity that's perpetuating the pandemic. More than 75 percent of all vaccines have been administered in just 10 countries. There is no diplomatic way to say it. A small group of countries that make and buy the majority of the world's vaccines control the fate of the rest of the world.

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VAUSE: And, according to the WHO, more cases of COVID-19 have been reported so far this year than all of last year. Now, if current trends continue, this year's death toll will surpass last year's in the next 3 weeks. South Africa is a perfect example of vaccine inequity. Many there are

just now getting their first shot at what one health expert calls a dismal failure. More now from CNN's David McKenzie.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's been a year since Peggy Kgogong started to dread her phone ringing, afraid the calls would bring terrible news again.

PEGGY KGOGONG, RECEIVING COVID-19 VACCINE: We are already afraid that they're going to tell you that, her and her (ph) is no longer there (ph). And it's so painful, because we know each other.

MCKENZIE: Painful, because many of her friends and neighbors didn't make it to this lifesaving moment. She's one of the very first South Africans, in line for a COVID-19 shot, in a much-delayed vaccine rollout.

(on camera): Are you worried about a third wave in South Africa?

KGOGONG: Yes. I'm really worried. That's why I came. I'm really worried.

SHABIR MADHI, DEAN, FACULTY OF HEALTH SCIENCES, WITS UNIVERSITY: If you were to provide some sort of scoring as to how well South Africa performed when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines, you probably would be looking at down about 2 out of 10. So it's been a dismal failure.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): The country once praised for its initial COVID- 19 response. Its swift lockdowns and innovative treatment techniques, that's a bitter pill. Many scientists believe that it's too late for vaccines to lessen a third wave.

MADHI: It causes people to die. And that is the reality.

BARRY SCHOUB, CHAIRMAN, VACCINE MINISTERIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE: We are left behind by the vaccine rush of the 2020s, when the high-income countries rushed to kind of get a supply of vaccine.

MCKENZIE: The South African president blames what he calls a vaccine apartheid for the shortfall, where rich countries hoarded vaccines and undercut the global vaccine alliance, COVAX. As a result, many low- and middle-income countries started direct early negotiations with vaccine manufacturers. But not South Africa.

(on camera): So why the many months' delay in this?

SCHOUB: I think if you look at many of those, if not most of those middle-income countries, they did settle for vaccines which don't have international approval.

MCKENZIE (voice-over): But a CNN review of vaccine tracking data, compiled by Duke University, shows that more than 20 low- and middle- income countries placed orders for vaccines, now WHO-approved, before South Africa. [00:35:13]

When South Africa's first batch of AstraZeneca finally arrived in February, scientists discovered it wasn't effective against a COVID-19 strain dominating here.

So authorities quickly switched to Johnson & Johnson, vaccinating health workers first as part of a large-scale trial. And ordering Pfizer vaccines, now arriving in the hundreds of thousands of doses each week.

(on camera): Millions of people have to be vaccinated. Is it a daunting prospect, logistically?

ANTHONY DIACK, MANAGING DIRECTOR, DSV HEALTHCARE: It is a daunting prospect. And at last we get the capabilities, we have the infrastructures. It's just the nature of what we try to do here for South Africa. It does make it daunting.

MCKENZIE: So 30 seconds is all they have. They use a kitchen timer, because the fridge will drop in temperature, and that minus 70 is critical.

(voice-over): The vaccines so precious each member of the team is vetted by the police. The temperature, constantly checked. More than 500 vaccine vials in this shipment given an armed escort, with South Africa's best chance of ending its COVID-19 crisis.

(on camera): It looks like they got dressed up today.

KGOGONG: Yes. I'm excited. I want this pandemic, really, to be under control. You don't know whether to go on planning, but as long as it can be under control, I'll get finished. Because you're already tired (ph).

MCKENZIE (voice-over): Tired, like all of us, waiting for the nightmare to end, waiting for the past failures to turn into hope.

David McKenzie, CNN, outside Johannesburg, South Africa.

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VAUSE: Just ten days after a deadly monster storm made landfall on India's west coast, they're now on alert for another cyclone. Disaster response teams are bracing for the storm, this time off the east coast. Expected to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with us, more on that.

So when we're talking about a very severe cyclonic storm, what does that actually mean?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it means it's going to potentially going to get up to a Category 2 equivalent strength here, once it makes landfall, within about 24 hours from right now.

And John, really, the only piece of good news with this storm is that it is going to run out of time. If it had any more than 24 hours, this could get up to Category 3, Category 4, the equivalent, very quickly.

The main reason for that is if you look at the Bay of Bengal, the northern tier of this body of water here, 34-degree temperatures. That is 93 degrees Fahrenheit, for you that are in tune with that scale.

It speaks to the incredible warmth in the water here. It only takes about 28 degrees Celsius to allow a tropical system to form. So well above that threshold. In fact, you notice this strength, right now, just shy of a Category 1 hurricane?

But very quickly, eye will form within 24 hours. It makes landfall around lunchtime on Wednesday there across portions of eastern Asia (ph), western West Bengal there.

That is the concern, of course, densely-populated region. The storm comes in somewhere around 150, maybe 160 kilometers per hour.

And important to note, not far away there in West Bengal, the third highest positivity rates, for COVID rates, and that's about 34 percent right now. We know the numbers have been gradually dropping across much of the country, but of course, this region is still a hotbed of disaster response. Certainly, could be a challenge across this area.

You'll notice, here comes the storm system, the landfall, somewhere around Paladiktu (ph), Balasore, the population there, about a quarter million people.

And important to note a tropical cyclone made landfall here almost exactly a year ago. We covered it here on CNN. It was on time, that storm, with similar wind speeds, left behind $13 billion in losses, took with it over 100 lives. And this storm comes onshore again. Of course, a lot of people on alert, a lot of evacuations in place, another storm, as you noted, within 10 days on the shore here.

VAUSE: Pedram, thank you. Appreciate the update. Pedram Javaheri there. Thanks, Pedram.

Well, still to come, how man's best friend now lending a paw possibly, in the fight against the deadly coronavirus.

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VAUSE: Well, dogs have already been shown that they can sniff out the early signs of cancer in some patients, and now a new study in the U.K. says maybe they can sniff out COVID infections, as well.

So far, the work has not been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal, but as CNN's Max Foster reports, researchers hope this could help in the fight on the pandemic.

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MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Man's best friend could be a new ally in the fight to contain coronavirus. A new U.K. study says highly-trained dogs, in controlled conditions, may be able to sniff out, and identify, COVID-19 infections in humans. STEVE LINDSAY, DURHAM UNIVERSITY: Our previous work with using dogs

shows that we were able to detect people with malaria by their scent. So we thought, well, in the middle of a pandemic, let's see whether our dogs could detect people with COVID.

FOSTER: The results of an early-stage study, which hasn't yet been peer-reviewed, say dogs picked up the scent of COVID-19 on the clothing of infected people, up to 94 percent of the time. And they were even able to detect asymptomatic cases.

Standard PCR tests, the best test for COVID-19, but they can't beat the dogs for the speed of the results. The pops are winning that by a nose.

LINDSAY: That's really a quite -- very high level of precision. They can detect people with low viral loads just as readily as they could those people with high viral loads.

FOSTER: Six dogs participated in the study: a group of Labradors, Golden Retrievers, and Cocker Spaniels, trained for six to eight weeks to recognize the scent of the virus.

Researchers say dogs could one day be used in high-volume areas, like airports and concert arenas, to screen for infections.

CLAIRE GUEST, FOUNDER, MEDICAL DETECTION DOGS: This can make a huge difference as we start to come out of lockdown and people start to travel. And we'll hopefully assist in getting us all back to a more normal life.

FOSTER: But critics say it could be hard for the dogs to match their success in the lab in the real world, since some scents, in crowded areas, quickly disperse.

There are pilot projects using COVID-19 sniffer dogs in airports, underway in Finland, Germany, and Chile. A whiff of hope from our four-legged friends in snuffing out this virus.

Max Foster, CNN.

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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. WORLD SPORT starts after the break. We'll see you at the top of the hour. Don't go away, just getting started.

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