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All Eyes on Tokyo 2020; Delta Variant Drives Global COVID Surge; YouTube Pulls Bolsonaro Videos for Spreading Misinformation; Japan Spent Billions on Games, Ended up Barring Spectators; U.N. Warns of Growing Jihadist Threats; Australia Pushes Back on Possible "In Danger" Rating; Uncertainty Grows for Chinese IPOs on U.S. Markets. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired July 23, 2021 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:36]

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello there. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, coming to you live from Hong Kong.

Ahead this hour, delayed by over a year. Tokyo is hours away from officially kicking off the Olympic Games. Unprecedented safety precautions are in place amid a pandemic that still raging.

This as the world grapples with the delta variant, from lockdowns in Asia to a dire shortage of vaccines in Africa.

And later, the battle to save Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Experts say the world must act now in the face off over whether to declare the natural wonder in danger.

(MUSIC)

STOUT: We are hours away from the official start of the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

Not long ago, it appeared the pandemic might foresee Olympics to be canceled. It's been delayed a year, and many people in Japan just don't want the games to go forward. But now the moment is almost here, there are plenty of people, apparently eager to take selfies even if most venues are off limits to spectators.

The emperor offered his thoughts as he prepares to officially open the games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMPEROR NARUHITO: It is my hope that through their performances, the games will be a beacon of hope for a new future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now, COVID has been and will be a constant threat throughout the 16 days of the Olympics. New cases in Japan are spiking to alarming levels. At least 110 cases have been linked to the games, and so far one dozen infections have been detected inside the Olympic Village.

As Olympians gear up to take center stage, so is Japan. The world is watching how the country will host the world's biggest sporting event amid a virus surge.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at the challenges it faces.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was never going to be easy. The Olympic Games in the middle of a pandemic, in a city now in a state of emergency. The usual fanfare, muted, making way for concerns over COVID-19.

While it's true that no country in the world was really prepared for this pandemic, Japan fared better than most. They're an island nation. It wasn't that hard to get people to isolate here. People wore masks without much difficulty.

And they also have hundreds of these, Hokinjos (ph). Think of them like hundreds of CDCs all over the country.

I spoke with the director of one of these Hokinjos, Dr. Itaru Nishizuka.

DR. ITARU NISHIZUKA, DIRECTOR, SUMIDA HEALTH CENTER (through translator): We have been preparing for seven years to prevent risks for the Tokyo Olympics.

GUPTA: According to a poll, about 80 percent of residents here in Japan did not want the Olympics to happen here at this time. What about you? What do you think?

NISHIZUKA: In 1964, the last Tokyo Olympics, because Japan lost the war, the games worked as an opportunity for us to come back. In this Olympics, we have Fukushima.

GUPTA: He's talking about the nuclear disaster triggered by a magnitude 9.1 earthquake that claimed nearly 20,000 lives.

But coronavirus has been a different type of disaster, putting constant pressure on Japan to battle rising infections, and to get vaccines into arms as fast as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The coronavirus cases may rise or fall. So we will think about what we should do when the situation arises.

GUPTA: Cancelling the Olympics at this point seems inconceivable. But there is one thing Dr. Nishizuka does worry about.

NISHIZUKA: I think Japan can be rated as "C" for its measure against COVID-19.

GUPTA: He says while there are 400 ICU beds in Tokyo, only half are available for COVID-19 patient. That, combined with the rising number of cases and hospitalizations, doesn't leave a lot of room for a surge in a city of 14 million.

Is there any criteria by which you would start to become concern?

DR. BRIAN MCCLOSKEY, COVID-19 ADVISER TO THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE: Sure. Mostly what we look at is changes in patterns. Say if we started to see infection in people who weren't part of a close contact group, if we started to see a rising number of cases, if we started to see the cases doubling more rapidly than we thought, and particularly if we started to see cases appearing in the local population that seemed to be linked back into the village or vice versa.

[01:05:13]

GUPTA: So far, that hasn't happened.

But for the head of the World Health Organization, the Olympics is a balance -- the physical health of a nation versus the mental health of the world.

TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: May the message of hope resound, resound from Tokyo, around the world, in every nation, every village, and every heart.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Blake Essig joins us now live from Tokyo.

And, Blake, the games finally kickoff today with the opening ceremony. There has been fear, there has been controversy. What does it feel like ahead of tonight?

BLAKE ESSIG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, honestly, it feels surreal.

Today is the day after a one-year delay. Months of uncertainty and a general population that doesn't want it to happen. The opening ceremony, an official start of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are just six hours away. We've been talking to people throughout the day to gauge their level of excitement, and generally speaking it's health, safety, and surge in cases and not the Olympics that dominates the conversation.

But some saying it's hard to get excited about these games.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YURIKO KAWASUMI (through translator): Given the marathon isn't Hokkaido and the events are being held without spectators, the Olympics feels a bit far away. So, that's a shame.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ESSIG: And still competition is already underway. The opening ceremony albeit a scaled back version set to take place later tonight. For athletes, typically, the opening ceremony is a huge deal, but this year, given the circumstances, only a fraction will be participating.

I recently spoke with Tony Azevedo a 5-time Olympian and silver medalist water polo player for Team USA. He says participating in the opening ceremony is the greatest feeling in the world if he were to compete this year, he would not be walking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY AZEVEDO, FIVE-TIME U.S. OLYMPIAN: It's very different. I mean, you can't -- you can't intermingle or meet other athletes. You are still going to be on your feet, walking. And there's not thousands of fans in the stands. Like I'm giving you my -- if it's me, there's no way I'm going, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ESSIG: The National Stadium where the opening ceremony is being held right behind me can seat 68,000 people. We now only know 950 VIPs will be there in-person to see it that includes Jill Biden one person who won't be there is former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe who played a key role in bringing these Olympic games to Tokyo.

All that being said despite the surge in cases in Tokyo, the pandemic raging in many parts of the world, the cauldron will be lit later tonight. While the head of the world health organization has backed these games, he also offered a little perspective, saying that the time the Olympic flame is extinguished, more than 100,000 people will perish from COVID-19 -- Kristie.

STOUT: This has become the pandemic Olympics. It's also been called the no fun Olympics.

Blake, do you think it's going to live up to that name? Or is it -- especially when the sport begins, and the focus is on the athletes. It's going to turn out to be something better than that.

ESSIG: Look, for months, Kristie, the bus and excitement that typically is associated with Olympic games really has not existed in Tokyo. I'll tell you, just the past 20 minutes being outside the stadium, you know, even looking around right now, there are more people lining the stadium and I have ever seen really built up in one place over the past 6 months, given the circumstances around stadium regency and the pandemic.

And I think that one of the things that IOC president Thomas Bach had mentioned was that he was hopeful while acknowledging there was skepticism surrounding the games, hoping once the games began, people would start to get excited. I think the jury is still out. Again, health and safety remains a huge concern of everybody with cases surging reaching nearly 2,000 yesterday. And continuing to increase day to day, I think the fear of what is happening here in Tokyo potentially could overshadow anything that happens at these Olympic Games.

STOUT: Yeah, its health and safety especially in Tokyo. Blake Essig reporting live for us, thank you so much. Some competitions are already underway in Tokyo 2020. But some

athletes are now facing the harsh reality of seeing their Olympic Dreams dashed because of COVID.

CNN World Sport's Don Riddell joins us now live.

Don, the moment is here. Athletes have been training for this for years. But some are sadly pulling out or testing positive.

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah, hey, Kristie, you're right and this is just so tragic.

[01:10:00]

Olympic athletes spend four years preparing for the games. Make that five years on this occasion.

They know they could get injured at the last-minute or beaten by a better opponent. But some of them have gone all the way, almost to the start line and their dreams have been crushed. We heard a moment ago that the number of games related COVID cases is now at 110. We know of 21 athletes, 11 of whom who have tested positive in Japan, 10 before they even got on the plane.

And the reality for them is that their games are over. The young American tennis star, Coco Gauff, is one of them. Those that made to Japan are having to endure even more cruelty, if you'd like, because they are going to have to isolate in a hotel room for 7 days before they head to the airport and leave the country. One can only imagine that number will increase. We don't know by how much.

Other athletes may be ruled out of competition because they will be contact traced and that will be an issue for them. It does seem especially cruel after all the buildup and all the effort and all the training, that this is how the Olympics will and for some of those athletes before the games even begin

STOUT: Absolutely, Don. The opening ceremony we know is tonight, but the competitions are already underway. What can you tell us?

RIDDELL: Yeah, we've seen a couple days of competition, and numerous events. We've had an Olympic record a couple hours ago in the archery. South Korea's An San shooting a record of 680 points in the individual ranking round, beating a record that stood since the Atlanta Games all the way back in 1996.

We've seen a lot of football action on Thursday. A heavyweight clash in the opening round between Brazil and Germany. Brazil winning that game by 4-2. That's actually a repeat of the Olympic final in Rio 5 years ago. I was at that game. It was an incredible occasion, Brazil beating Germany on penalties. Richarlison the evidence striker scoring a hat trick in this, in the first 30 minutes.

The women's football tournament begun the previous day, a bit of an upset there. The USA who really are the dominant force in women's football globally beaten by Sweden 3-0. Sweden are a bogey team for the Americans. (INAUDIBLE) the last Olympics five years ago.

STOUT: Well, we have to talk about the dominant force in gymnastics. Simone Biles, she is a legend on so many levels. Now she's got her own emoji. What's the deal here?

RIDDELL: This is so cool. We are expecting big things from her. She's looking fabulous and training already and Japan this week. Of course, she ran the show in Rio 5 years ago when she won four gold medals. She is the 5-time all around world champion.

And now, as you say, she's got her own emoji. Take a look at, if you type Simone or Simone Biles into Twitter, this is what is going to come up. That's a little GOAT. She's widely considered to be the greatest gymnast of all-time, GOAT, greatest of all time. And there is the little GOAT with its red leotard and gold medal. So, that's pretty cool.

STOUT: It's pretty clear. It's a clever design. Don Riddell, thank you so much and take care.

Now, as the Olympics play on, there are real concerns over COVID, the general COVID situation across Asia.

And up next, we are going to look at the latest numbers. Our nations are dealing with the recent surge of infections.

Also ahead, Brazil's president is not a stranger to critics, but now he is even under pressure from former supporters as well as political allies. We'll explain why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:15:43]

STOUT: With the Olympic Games, now just hours away, many fear that a massive coronavirus outbreak could, soon, follow cases are already on the rise, and much of Asia, fueled by the dangerous, and highly contagious delta variant.

South Korea has been battling a new wave of the pandemic, and just announced it will be extending its toughest social distancing measures in the greater Seoul area for another two weeks.

CNN's Cyril Vanier, has a look at how countries are coping with the surge in infections.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): Lockdown in Indonesia. Emergency restrictions in place until July 25th. More than 54,000 new cases were reported Wednesday.

The island nation now surpassing India with the most daily infections as the government struggles to vaccinate its population.

Not surprisingly, the Delta variant will be the dominant strain over the next few months, says the World Health Organization. The highly- contagious strain is already in 124 territories.

Like, in Bangkok. This was the scene there Tuesday. Hundreds of people lining up to get the vaccine at a bus station. No social distancing possible here. Thailand is facing its worst COVID outbreak so far.

BAE KYUNG-TAEK, KOREA DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION AGENCY (through translator): Currently, South Korea is in the middle of the fourth wave, and the outbreak of more than 1,000 patients a day continues for more than 15 days.

VANIER: This is what hospitals in South Korea have been dealing with. It's also their worst outbreak. The government says it may expand lockdown restrictions in Seoul.

More than 500 flights were canceled at a major airport in eastern China. Seventeen cleaning workers tested positive for the virus. The city says it's now on a soft lockdown as it tests all of its 9 million residents.

Oxygen cylinders are hard to come by in Myanmar. Patients are being turned away at hospitals due to a bed shortage. The ruling junta reporting a steep rise in cases.

This as the country remains in crisis after February's military coup.

Coronavirus misinformation now a big problem in India. One radio station uses the airwaves to raise awareness.

ARCHANA KAPOOR, FOUNDER, RADIO MEWAT: The radio really took it upon itself to communicate to the community that this is a problem. It's a global problem. There is a lot of fake news. Do not follow that.

VANIER: Getting ahead of the problem, convincing people to get the vaccine just as important as tackling the disease itself.

Cyril Vanier, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: New Zealand, putting a break on quarantine free travel from Australia, the so-called travel bubble in the countries, has been in effect since April. New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern blames the change on the ongoing COVID outbreak in Australia, which is partly caused by the delta variant. The suspension goes effect at the end of the day Friday, and will stay in place, for at least 8 weeks.

Italy and Israel are fighting a surge in cases of the delta variant with green passes. The Italian government says a starting august 6, they will be mandatory for indoor events, and activities. The passes will prove that something has been vaccinated, tested negative, or recently recovered from COVID, and, the Israeli prime minister, planning to reinstate green passes in, about a week. But, they still must be formally approved by the government. This will apply to everything from synagogues, to sporting events, to tourist attractions.

Now, in the last hour, they start with Dr. Scott Miscovich. He is a family physician and a national consultant for COVID-19 testing.

And I asked him how worrying it is to see a surge in cases, largely driven by the more transmissible delta variant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SCOT MISCOVICH, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: The best study we have now is coming out of England, where they had almost 90,000 positive Delta variants. They had a 10 percent breakthrough in the vaccinated public.

Now, we're also getting some more data that shows that we're going to probably have a little higher risk if you've had J&J to breakthrough.

Now, very much want to highlight: your chances of dying are very, very unlikely if you've been vaccinated. There are some rare cases.

But you are very correct now. We're going to get more breakthrough with Delta for multiple reasons. Slightly less efficacy and also how contagious that virus is.

[01:20:06]

Remember, 1,260 times the amount of virus produces in the human body with Delta compared to the recent other variants.

So it is a very big concern. There's going to be a lot of discussion of boosters coming up. And we need to have our CDC push that ahead and not take their time.

And I'm a big advocate that we need to start advocating for individuals in our countries to be able to get a blood test, which is available, a spike antibody test to see the connection.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Dr. Scott Miscovich there, speaking to us earlier.

Now, the World Health Organization is calling on African countries to prepare to go all out on vaccinations. Sixty million vaccines, expected to arrive on the continent in the coming weeks. When they do, they say that the rollout must pick up speed by at least five times to keep up with the 3rd wave of COVID.

Larry Madowo has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY MADOWO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The major issue for low- and middle-income countries, like these in Africa, is that of access and supply of vaccines. There are way more people that need vaccines than those available. So far, the World Health Organization says only 1.5 percent of Africans are vaccinated.

And now, the UNDP, the WHO, and the University of Oxford say that vaccine inequality will have a lasting and profound impact for socioeconomic recovery here, unless urgent action is taken. And when you look at the latest data, with the exception of South Africa, cases are still up in Africa for the ninth straight week.

DR. MATSHIDISO MOETI, WHO REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA: Let us be under no illusions. Africa's third wave is absolutely not over. A small step forward offers hope and inspiration but does not mask the big picture for Africa. Many countries are still at peak risk, and Africa's unprecedented third wave surged up faster and higher than ever before.

MADOWO: The WHO's latest data actually indicates that cases are surging in 21 African countries. And this tracks with what the director general, Dr. Tedros, has been saying: that vaccine inequality is the biggest obstacle to ending the pandemic and recovering.

And for Africa, that's still a long way off, because only vaccines provide that protection. And as one leading doctor, Dr. Kataj Gadinji (ph), has been saying repeatedly, a vaccine delayed is a vaccine denied. The end is still far for many in the continent.

Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: YouTube has pulled 15 videos from Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's channel and say that the videos violate the COVID-19 medical misinformation policy by promoting unproven treatments, like hydroxychloroquine, and by saying that masks are effective. Since the start of the pandemic, President Bolsonaro has downplayed the pandemic, even when he got infected. Brazil has been one of the hardest hit countries, reporting tens of thousands of new cases, each day, and more than 1,000 daily deaths.

As Brazil's coronavirus death toll climbs, more are losing faith in President Bolsonaro to handle this crisis. His popularity is plummeting, and he is losing some of his most passionate fans.

Isa Soares has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(SINGING)

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of President Jair Bolsonaro's most enthusiastic supporters, Ana Claudia Graf, thought the right-wing leader would be Brazil's savior.

ANA CLAUDIA GRAF, FORMER BOLSONARO SUPPORTER (through translator): He appeared to us as a man who defended the fight against corruption, who defended the family institution, who said he would never allow cronyism, that it would be a different government. I really believed in this thing that was sold to me. I went all in. I fought for it to happen.

SOARES: But two and a half years after Bolsonaro swept to power, this former fan is full of regret.

GRAF (through translator): It was a mistake. It was the biggest mistake of my life.

SOARES: Tired of corruption allegations, devastated by Brazil's COVID death toll, she's become a full-time political activist, demanding her president's impeachment.

GRAF (through translator): I will not shut up. I will fight. I will fight until I take this man out of power.

SOARES: Graf is one of many to lose faith in the country's leader, putting pressure on Bolsonaro ahead of presidential elections next year. The president's disapproval rating is at an all-time high.

For the first time since he took office, more than half of voters now support impeachment proceedings. At issue, his handling of the COVID pandemic.

[01:25:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There are more than half a million people dead.

SOARES: Bolsonaro, skeptic of lockdowns, masks, and vaccines, once dismissed the virus as a little flu. It's now claimed more than half a million lives in Brazil, the world's second highest death toll. He faces a major Senate investigation.

JAIR BOLSONARO, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I won't answer to these kinds of people, under no circumstances.

SOARES: The government has also been rocked by corruption allegations over the purchase of COVID vaccines, damaging the image of a president who promised to root out graft.

As anger rises on the streets, former allies turn their backs on the president, disillusioned with a man who swept their party to power.

JUNIOR BOZZELLA, BRAZILIAN FEDERAL CONGRESSMAN (through translator): We really imagined that he was tough, that he was honest, and that he was going to fight for everything that was wrong in the republic. But in the end, it turned out to be nothing like that.

SOARES: Junior Bozzella is a federal congressman from Bolsonaro's former party, the PSL. He's backing a fresh impeachment request that has support from lawmakers from the left and right.

BOZZELLA (through translator): Every day that he is in power advances the process of corruption. He's bleeding the public coffers and at a time of pandemic, he's not giving a damn, shrugging his shoulders and making fun, mocking death and the lives of Brazilians.

SOARES: But Bolsonaro's critics worry he may not accept defeat next year.

BOLSONARO (through translator): I will hand over the presidential sash to whoever wins the election cleanly. Not with fraud.

SOARES: At a recent bike rally, these Bolsonaristas still stand firm, saying their president is a scapegoat, fighting to change the country for the better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): They will invent anything that's an excuse. Everything that happens is Bolsonaro's fault.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He's being bullied, abused, suffocated, and even so, we're seeing him do things others haven't been able to do in 30 years.

SOARES: The question now: how long Brazil will stand behind its populist leader?

Isa Soares, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Still ahead, CNN's Will Ripley tours the skies above Tokyo, as the city prepares for the first Olympic Games, without spectators.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Almost 70,000 seats in the stadium, and nearly all of them empty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:29:43]

STOUT: Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Kristie Lu Stout.

Now today marks the official start of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. The opening ceremony set to get underway in less than six hours. Japan spent billions of dollars preparing for these games, then came the pandemic. And most venues were suddenly closed to Olympic spectators.

CNN's Will Ripley takes us on an aerial tour of Tokyo and those massive structures now lying vacant.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Taking off it really hits you. Hosting the Tokyo 2020 summer games is a massive logistical challenge.

(on camera): This is one of the biggest cities in the world. Every single direction you look in, their skyline is never-ending.

(voice over): One building really stands out. Tokyo's $1.5 billion Olympic stadium.

(on camera): Right now, we are flying over the centerpiece of Tokyo 2020. Almost 70,000 seats in that stadium, nearly all of them empty.

(voice over): The Olympics' first-ever spectator ban, a dramatically scaled-down opening ceremony. Organizers say only about 950 VIPs attending including U.S. First Lady Jill Biden.

We get a closer look on the ground.

(on camera): This is as close as most Japanese are able to get to their Olympic stadium. Police have shut down surrounding roads and even fenced off the perimeter.

(voice over): For everyday folks this is their only shot at seeing the Olympics up close.

(voice over): Public opinion polls showed Japanese overwhelmingly don't want the games to go forward but you wouldn't know it looking at these long lines of people who are waiting to take selfies in front of the Olympic rings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm worried about the Olympic bubble. It's not perfect but I want to cheer on the athletes.

RIPLEY: That bubble to protect athletes from COVID 19. A small but growing number of athletes are testing positive even inside the Olympic Village.

POPPY STARR OLSEN, AUSTRALIAN SKATEBOARDER: I'm so excited to go to Tokyo but I'm also very terrified that you could fly all the way there and then test positive.

RIPLEY: Athletes are tested for COVID daily, asked to arrive five days before competing and leave two days after.

From above, you can see how packed it is.

(on camera): Some 18,000 athletes and officials will be staying in those buildings down there. You could see a lot of their national flags on the sides.

(voice over): Most of the Olympic venues are here in Tokyo. Japan invested billions only to have fake crowd noise echoing through all those empty stands.

(on camera): This is going to be an Olympics like none other. And the world is watching. They want to see if Japan can pull this off in the middle of a pandemic, in the middle of a state of emergency without the Olympics turning into a super spreader event.

Will Ripley, CNN -- flying above Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STOUT: Some amazing aerial shots there. Now to give you an idea of just the scale here, the sheer enormity of the Tokyo Olympics.

Over the course of the games we can expect more than 11,000 athletes to participate across 33 sports. And there will be nearly 340 Olympic events held at some 43 venues.

Now, our next guest was head of editorial services for the London Olympics in 2012, has worked on several bids and organizing committees including Tokyo.

Andrew Shields joins us now live from London.

Andrew, thank you for joining us. The opening ceremony for Tokyo is tonight. It's taking place 4at this extraordinary moment. What should we expect? What kind of tone will it set?

ANDREW SHIELDS, HEAD OF EDITORIAL SERVICES, LONDON OLYMPICS IN 2012: I think the tone of tonight's events will be somber and respectful.

Normally, the opening ceremony is the projection of the host city and the host country to the world. Japan will, for obvious reasons, have to miss out on an element of that opportunity. It needs to produce an opening ceremony which is fit for the world that we are currently living in.

STOUT: And ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, there was already, you know, the negative headlines. The controversy, the fear and the concern about everything from COVID-19 to even the heat.

Do you think that the IOC will be able to stage and manage a successful game?

SHIELDS: I think the Tokyo Organizing Committee will, barring utter disaster, be able to pull this off. Thomas Bach, the International Olympic Committee president, has described Tokyo as the best-prepared games ever.

Now, Thomas Bach often says this in the run up to games as a morale booster. He said this about the London Games. That I think the resilience that the organizing committee have shown their adaptability, their flexibility, and their willingness to go as far as it takes to be able to put the games on will mean that it can be delivered.

[01:34:50]

SHIELDS: There is, of course, a moral question about whether the games should go ahead in the current environment but we are now into very complex discussions around particularly money.

The IOC cannot afford for these games not to go ahead, so go ahead they will.

STOUT: You know, it is as you point out. It's become a moral question especially for the majority of people inside Japan, people who do not want the games to take place.

So, you know, how do you try to explain why the IOC is going ahead anyway? Is it really just all about money?

SHIELDS: In the run-up to any games, there is always a challenge around public sentiment. Very rarely will you find a universal agreement that the games should be taking place. In any country there are always competing interests, other things that the huge amounts of money invested could be spent on.

But the issues here are not just about staging a sports event. They are about the projection of a nation to the world. It's all those soft power benefits and the legacy benefits in terms of tourism and infrastructure that really make a games host have the opportunity to transform their global image and global reputation.

Now countering that, of course, is the fact that the contractual nightmare that would exist were the games to have been canceled would keep lawyers in business for many, many years. And would be an absolutely nightmare to try and unravel.

The IOC cannot afford for the games not to happen because effectively, the games' fund four-yearly cycle for international and Olympic sports would be largely penniless without the games happening.

So it is an extremely complex network of commitments and relationships that have to be factored in, rather than a simple yes we should, no we shouldn't. But it is a very a complex one and it is unprecedented. The Japanese government, Tokyo Organizing Committee and the IOC have had to manage.

STOUT: Got it. It's about commitment. It's about contractual obligations. It's also as you laid out just been about a soft power flex for Japan especially ahead of Beijing's Winter Olympic Games.

I want to ask you a question though about something that really matters to the athletes. You know, it's not just having a chance to compete. This is their moment.

But also the Olympic Village experience, it's very different in Tokyo. It's turned into, you know, an antisocial bubble there. You know, what are the athletes missing out on here?

SHIELDS: Well, I was very fortunate at the London Games to be based in the Olympic Village for the full duration of the games. So I got to experience firsthand what it's like.

And it is a joyful place. It's a very focused place because athletes are there to compete. But it is the celebration of humanity. And it is the enriching experience that the athletes would have.

95 percent of athletes go to the games, with no expectation of winning a medal. They are there for the experience of being part of global humanity. And that's just what most of them will most take away from their games experience.

That's going to be hugely diminished in Tokyo. Athletes are operating according to what you call playbooks, which define what they can and can't do. And there have been very, very clear rules that if they step out of line, the consequences could be very severe.

They are coming in. They are competing. And they are leaving. There's none of that broader enriching experience in the village.

Yes, it will be very comfortable. They will be well fed. But the kind of informal socializing that used to take place in the main dining hall, for example, or just sitting outside their residential areas after they've competed, that will be missed. And for those athletes for whom this will their only games experience, that will be a great shame.

STOUT: Yes. We appreciate the reminder about what the games are really about especially for the athletes.

Andrew Shields, thank you so much.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM --

SHIELDS: Thank you.

STOUT: -- coming to you live from Hong Kong.

But up next a resilient and expanding threat of terror where the United Nations says al-Qaeda and ISIS are gaining ground. And what's behind their increasing activity.

[01:39:32]

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STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has just made his first visit to Tibet as president. That's according to the state-run news agency Xinhua. It reports that Mr. Xi was in the region on Wednesday and on Thursday he was greeted at an airport before taking a train to the Tibetan capital Lhasa.

Others stops included inspecting city planning and railway construction. Tibet is an internationally recognized autonomous region within China though many Tibetans and others dispute the legitimacy of Beijing's rule.

Now Hong Kong is cracking down on the publishers of children's books it says are inciting hate against the government. Five members of a speech therapist union behind the books have been arrested.

Police accuse them of publishing seditious material and violating the Beijing-imposed national security law. The book series depicts a village full of sheep surrounded by wolves.

Police say the storylines reference pro-democracy protests and are poisoning the minds of children.

The United Nations is warning of increased threats from terror groups linked with ISIS and al-Qaeda. It just released a report detailing escalating jihadist activity as efforts to combat it wind down.

It says North Africa is a particular growth area as is an old familiar location -- Afghanistan.

As Nic Robertson reports, the easing of COVID lockdowns may be providing jihadists with additional opportunities.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): COVID-19 travel and other restrictions have kept international Islamist terror threats at bay. A new U.N. report reveals that it hasn't killed their threat.

EDMUND FITTON-BROWN, U.N. MONITORING TEAM COORDINATOR: One of the things we highlight in the report that's just come out is the possibility that the relaxation of lockdowns might mean that some preplanned attacks can then take place.

ROBERTSON: The report 20 years after al-Qaeda's horrific 9/11 attacks, reveals a world of growing jihadist threats and waning efforts to counter them.

From Somalia in east Africa where U.S. forces backing the government left this year, al-Qaeda affiliate al-Shabaab is spreading its brand of violence south into Kenya. Other al-Qaeda affiliates making gains through the Sahel region of Africa, too.

Meanwhile in central and west Africa, ISIS is strengthening, crossing borders from Mali into Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger, Senegal and from Nigeria into Cameroon.

In Nigeria, the death of an al-Qaeda affiliated leader as ISIS affiliated fighters surrounded him likely makes the ISIS affiliate the biggest outside of Syria.

FITTON-BROWN: Part of their vision of these regional structures is that these will enable them to increase the inter-operability of their global network and ultimately to mount a more effective threat, in particularly in the west.

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ROBERTSON: Another risk gaining momentum -- the birthplace of the 9/11 attacks, Afghanistan. Although it is too soon for the report to conclude the impact of the Taliban's recent gains and the U.S. drawdown, one member state estimates ISIS who claimed a rocket attack narrowly missing Afghan leaders, attending prayers in the capital Tuesday to have 500 to 1,500 fighters and be focusing on the capital Kabul.

And al-Qaeda who U.S. forces chased from the country after 9/11 now have a presence in at least 15 of the country's 34 provinces are fighting alongside the Taliban, and appear to be counting on a military victory. FITTON-BROWN: That gives them time in which to stabilize, to continue

to use Afghanistan as a platform. And then in the longer term, to review whether it's possible to use it as a platform also for international attacks.

ROBERTSON: 20 years on from the 9/11 attacks, al-Qaeda's then number 2, now its chief, Ayman Al-Zawahiri is thought to be unwell. His expected replacement, Saif al-Adel, the report says, is in Iran likely assessing if Afghanistan is safe for his return.

Nic Robertson, CNN -- London.

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STOUT: In the coming hours, Haiti's president will be laid to rest. Jovenel Moise was shot dead at his home in a brazen attack earlier this month. His wife, first lady Martine, also was wounded and airlifted to a Miami hospital. But she returned to Haiti last weekend.

The motive for the assassination remains murky. Haitian officials say dozens of foreign mercenaries carried out the killings, most of them Colombian but several Haitians and U.S. citizens also have been accused.

The suspects are in detention but have not been charged and have limited access to attorneys.

Just ahead, the great debate over the Great Barrier Reef. Why Australia and the U.N. have very different ideas about how to protect the natural wonder.

Plus, China's top ridesharing company skids into the regulators' crosshairs. That's one reason why Chinese IPOs are no longer the darlings of Wall Street.

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STOUT: Welcome back.

Now, search crews are still hard at work, more than three days after a deadly flooding in central China. Some survivors have been trapped in their homes without food, without water or electricity. The flooding has killed at least 33 people. Hundreds more are missing or stranded across Hunan Province. Many want to know why authorities weren't better prepared, as the region got a year's worth of rain in just three days.

UNESCO is scheduled to vote soon on whether to officially label the Great Barrier Reef as in danger. Australia is lobbying hard against the move, which could threaten the site's World Heritage Status.

CNN's Anna Coren is following developments live from Hong Kong. She joins us now.

Anna, U.N. officials, they want the reef to be put on an In Danger list and Australia has been pushing back. How is this face-off going to be addressed today?

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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting, Kristie.

UNESCO wanted to place the Great Barrier Reef on an In Danger list back in 2014, but the Australian government opposed it. They promised that they would come up with a plan to ensure and safeguard the health of the reef. None of that has taken place.

Hence, you've got UNESCO saying, right, now we have to do it this time. It's 2021. There is no improvements. We've seen three mass bleachings of the coral reef in the last five years. And this needs to be addressed.

And it now -- if it was to be placed on the In Danger list, it would mean that they would have to recognize what the problems were, you know, identify that and then come up with solutions and deal with it.

This is something that the Australian government is fighting, you know, fiercely to not occur. They've had the environment minister, the federal environment minister Sussan Ley fly around the world on an eight-day trip to lobby other members of the 21-member committee of UNESCO.

And if you listen to the Australian press, they will say that Australia has the numbers to defer this decision, to push it out until at least 2023.

However, I just got off the phone in from Professor Terry Hughes, who works for James Cook University up in Queensland. The reef is his life. He studies this. He knows it intimately.

He says it is in decline and will continue to decline. He is not so sure that UNESCO is going to vote against the reef being placed on the In Danger list.

Now, why is Australia fighting this so hard? Well, it certainly takes the, you know, spotlight at the fact that this very conservative governments has failed to do anything in relation to any, you know, climate change policies.

You know, it doesn't want that sort of attention. And it also means that it could jeopardize industries like the mining industry, which provide jobs. And this is what this government is all about, providing jobs which is completely understandable.

But you've got an industry and certain projects in particular like the Carmichael Mine which was approved by the Queensland and federal government. If the listing had happened back in 2014, this mine would not have been approved.

It will now be taking thermal coal from Queensland to India to burn in power stations. I mean this is dirty coal. This is coal that is further going to pollute the planet. How this affects the Great Barrier Reef is that there will be a rail line from this mine to the port which is on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.

You know, the environmental ramifications of that are absolutely enormous. So many saying the Australian government is more interested in protecting jobs and industries like the mining industry than they are in protecting the Great Barrier Reef, Kristie.

STOUT: Yes. This is more than just a World Heritage list ranking at stake here, right. It's the fate of an entire ecosystem.

Anna Coren, we thank you for your reporting.

A bug in a software update is apparently to blame for a sweeping Internet outage that knocked some of the world's top corporate Web sites off line.

We are talking about FedEx, Delta Airlines, McDonald's, British Airways -- all among the sites affected. The destruction only lasted for about an hour before the infrastructure provider Atomized (ph) fixed the problem. The company things are back to normal and it was not a cyber attack.

Now, shares of the Chinese ride-hailing company Didi are taking a nosedive, losing more than 11 percent as Bloomberg News reports that China is considering penalties against Didi. The company has been in Beijing's crosshairs ever since it went public in New York last month.

Before that IPO, 2021 was shaping up to be a huge year for Chinese listings in the U.S. but as Clare Sebastian reports, those expectations have changed.

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CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the spring of 2019, China's answer to Starbucks open trading in New York, Luckin Coffee promising to convert millions of Chinese tea lovers with low prices and high tech convenience.

RYAN CULLEN, CEO, CULLEN INVESTMENT GROUP: It was just so attractive because on a first door basis its market capital was very low.

SEBASTIAN: Then 23-year-old, Ryan Cullen, a finance professional in Ohio was sold.

CULLEN: I saw it as an opportunity to get in early on a very fast- growing company. And China, for me, has always been sort of like an untapped frontier.

SEBASTIAN (on camera): For years, American investors have flocked to Chinese companies listing in the U.S. as an easy to own a piece of China's fast growing consumer market.

[01:54:54] SEBASTIAN: And for years, China has resisted complying with the requirement for public companies here that the U.S. be allowed to inspect the accounting firms that audit these companies.

SENATOR JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Everybody has to comply with that rule. American companies, British companies, Malaysian companies, Turkmenistan companies. Except one -- Chinese companies. They just say no.

SEBASTIAN (voice over): Compliance with that rule may not have prevented what happen next with Luckin Coffee.

It turned out that the company have fabricated sales to the tune of about $310 million.

An accounting scandal that eventually led to its delisting. A bankruptcy filing and big losses for U.S. investors like Ryan Cullen.

CULLEN: Luckin really tainted the market, got a bunch of capital from its IPO, and they just sort of left. And it left a lot of American investors like holding the bag.

KENNEDY: Now, I have a bill, it's very simple.

SEBASTIAN: It did help spur action in Congress. Last December, then President Trump signed the Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act, forcing companies from countries which won't allowed audit inspections for three years to be delisted.

Right now, China is the only one. The SEC is still figuring out how to enforce the law.

DANIEL GOELZER, FOUNDING MEMBER, PUBLIC CO. ACCOUNTING OVERSIGHT BOARD: It's always been clear that the situation of uninspected auditors in one country just couldn't go on.

SEBASTIAN: And if U.S. regulators don't deter Chinese listings, Chinese regulators might.

Two days after China's ride hailing giant Didi went public, it was hit with a cybersecurity review in China, then it was kicked off App Stores.

PAUL TRIOLO, HEAD, GLOBAL TECH POLICY, EURASIA GROUP: They're handling huge amounts of data that is increasingly being considered sensitive. By the time the government --

SEBASTIAN: China has now proposed requiring all large tech companies that want to list overseas to undergo a cyber security review.

And all this complicated by tensions between the U.S. and China.

GOELZER: Didi, the recent events here, have sort of given ammunition to those really in Congress, for example, the China hawks in Congress, who really want to accelerate this process and are saying, you know, this is not good for U.S. investors but if it looks like the relationship is sort of going, you know, further south, then I would say that the Chinese government may decide that, hey why should we agree to auditing of our companies?

SEBASTIAN: It's clear after years of a fragile but mutually beneficial status quo, something has to give and investors could be caught in the middle.

Clare Sebastian, CNN -- New York.

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STOUT: I'm Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong. Thank you so much for joining us.

Michael Holmes will have more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.

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