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New Cases Rise in Europe as Global Infections Decline; U.S. Begins Rollout of Pfizer Doses for 5 to 11-Year-Olds; China Holds Tight to Disappearing "Zero COVID" Strategy; Thai Police arrest CEO of Company Selling Used Gloves; Crew Member Expresses Concern Over Safety On Set; Fed Rolls Back Pandemic-Era Stimulus to Fight Inflation; Conflict In Ethiopia; Indo-Pacific Tensions; Nuclear Talks; Climate Summit. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 04, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[01:00:23]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Wherever you are around the world, you're watching CNN Newsroom. Ahead this hour. A conflict, which began in the north of Ethiopia a year ago, now threatens to engulf the entire country, with the U.N. fighting all sides already guilty of war crimes.
Depending on warns, China's nuclear stockpile is growing at an alarming accelerated pace. Part of a plan to supplant the U.S. as the most dominant military force on the planet.
And protecting kids from COVID. In the U.S., five to 11 year olds now getting vaccinated as parents weigh up the risks versus the benefits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from CNN Center, this is CNN Newsroom with John Vause.
VAUSE: What was meant to be a swift military offensive a year ago on a defeated political rival in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region, could soon erupt into all out Civil War. CNN has been told by a diplomatic source that a combined rebel force is on the outskirts of Addis Ababa heavily armed with enough firepower to breach the capital within hours should they so choose.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, warned the enemies of his government would be buried quote with our blood and bones. Well, residents of the capital have been told to take up arms and fight the Tigrayan rebels and from the U.N. Human Rights Commissioner, growing fears and already violent and bloody conflict is only getting worse by the hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE BACHELET, U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS: There has been escalation in the last days and the last hours of the conflict that could lead to a real civil war with a lot of bloodshed and with a lot of more pain and suffering for not only for the military forces who are who will be fighting but also for the civilians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUYSE: At the U.N. investigation has found war crimes. This was a joint investigation into the conflict, war crimes committed by all sides CNN's Larry Madowo has details.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): What a year it has been now a combined rebel force of the Tigray defense forces in the Oromo Liberation Army say to be on the outskirts of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. According to regional diplomatic sources telling CNN, whether or not they will take the capital is not clear at this stage. But the African Union is warning that it concerned about the possibility of a military confrontation.
Addis Ababa is also the seat of the African Union, so strategically important for the entire African continent. A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission says atrocities were committed by all sides in this conflict. But it doesn't go as far as some people expected it to do to say this was a genocide.
DANIEL BEKELE, EHRC CHIEF COMMISSIONER: The standard of proof we have adopted for such a human rights investigation is lower threshold than is normally required in a criminal investigation. So on the basis of the collectively gathered and collectively analyzed information and evidence we have, the violations we have identified may amount to crimes against humanity, or war crimes and a number of other violations but not genocide.
MADOWO: Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has set up an inter- ministerial task force to do its own investigation and bring the perpetrators of those crimes to justice. But a day before that report came out, he asked Ethiopians to take up arms. His Council of Ministers declared a state of emergency, and he's told Ethiopia's to prepare to defend themselves to defend their country.
The U.S. Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman is heading into Addis Ababa on Thursday and Friday, it is not clear if he will be meeting with the Prime Minister or members of his government, but this is a crucial moment in this conflict. What happens next will be critical for stability not just in the country, but in the Horn of Africa. Larry Madowo, CNN, Nairobi.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VAUSE: Samuel Getachew is based in Addis Ababa. He joins us now from the capital. It's just gone four minutes past eight on a Thursday morning, Samuel, welcome back. Last time we spoke we talked about this possible your imminent attack on the capital by the federal forces. From your reporter you say that there is no real signs right now that there are forces out there at least massing close to the to the capital Addis Ababa. But inside Addis Ababa, inside the Capitol, is there any indication that the military is is digging in that they're willing to defend the capital that preparations are being made?
SAMUEL GETACHEW, JOURNALIST Well, just be to be honest, we've been checking. And you reported your fact that a diplomat might have told you that they're in the outskirts I've been calling all my colleagues at different international and local media.
[01:05:05]
I live in the suburbs of Ethiopia. I haven't seen any groups heading to Addis Ababa. But, you know, the residents of Addis Ababa, as you mentioned, have been told to take up arms, to reach the arms and defend the interest against the TPLF. And that's where we are. But I have to tell you that the people of Ethiopia are really concerned where the country is heading at the moment.
VAUSE: Is heading in a dangerous direction for certain but just be clear on what's happening right now on Thursday morning, is there signs of the military is taking up positions? Are they putting up roadblocks or checkpoints? Any indication that some kind of conflict could happen anytime?
GETACHEW: There has been checkpoints. There was a knock on my door last night to check. They asked me basic questions and left. That's where we are, but the checkpoints are at night. It's been like that for the last few days. There's an emergency order declared in the country that, you know, what the U.S. had during the George Bush era with a Patriotic Act, or were kind of Canada had was in the 1970s with the War Measures Act. So that's where we are. But we are aware of what's happening. People are aware they're concerned. And it shows. But again, we're Ethiopia's heading is concerning to all of us.
VAUSE: Very quickly, when the police knock on your door at night. He said they asked you some questions. What specifically are they asking you? What are they looking for? What do they want to know?
GETACHEW: I don't know. It wasn't a conversation. They just asked my name. They asked for ID and just left. But that's all that happened last night. But again, you know, as we get -- as we move forward, it might get more intense. I hear that. I see that in the faces of Ethiopians.
But again, we're beginning to see concerns and readiness for whatever happens in Ethiopia. But I have to tell you, even the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa has told all its citizens to leave the country. So it's really, really concerning. But many of my friends were Ethiopian- Americans are even leaving Ethiopia. So I mean, you have to read between the lines where the country is heading.
VAUSE: Well, there is one American heading your way. Jeffrey Feltman, the special us envoy for the region is hoping to bring together these sides to some kind of diplomatic solution here. But certainly, there's no talk of diplomacy coming from the, you know, from the Tigray rebels or from the Ethiopian government.
So in this issue, in this matter, how much leverage does the U.S. have here to force the sides to try and sit down and find a solution to this without bloodshed?
GETACHEW: The U.S. and Ethiopia have had a historic relationship. The U.S. Embassy tweeted a few weeks ago saying 7 percent of Ethiopia's population are dependent on their support, their (INAUDIBLE) or some say handouts (ph). But though we've had a historic relationship. There are thousands of Ethiopians who reside in the U.S. who do matter in close elections. We've seen it in Virginia.
So, I mean, we are, I mean, Ethiopia has to have a conversation with, you know, its partners. And there has to be some kind of discussion to take place in Ethiopia, or people will continue to die. You don't have to read the reports from, you know, the U.N. to know that people are dying. I've been traveling in this country for a long time since I moved in 2016. Many people are being affected, many people are dying. And there are accusations of sexual violence that's happening that has defined this conflict. So something needs to be done in Ethiopia.
VAUSE: The U.N. Human Rights Commission reports an appalling level of brutality is leading to the deaths of many people in this conflict and that level of brutality could amount to war crimes. It seems that the -- this report, though, did not signal out any one side as being more guilty than the other or committing more war crimes, if you like, then the other side, is that because the Ethiopian government basically had a role in how this report was done and prepared.
GETACHEW: I can't speak or answer on behalf of the Ethiopian government. But what I know from my own experience, having conversations with everyday Ethiopian is this conflict has impacted not just Tigray, I'm not trying to discount what happened Tigray. I've seen it. It's very, very troubling, but it's happened in Ankara (ph) and Afar. It's the only reliable and, you know, I hope it's a down payment of the kinds of reports we're going to be having moving forward.
But you also have to know the fact that whereas the two beheading, how are we going to remember the victims? Are we heading to - are we creating these (INAUDIBLE) like we're in Rwanda, or trying to create like a two-two commission like South Africa, or just forget and move forward.
[01:10:01]
But something needs to be done. This is a troubling time for Ethiopia. And Ethiopia, as your spokesperson at the State Department said it's one of the most important nations in the continent. But something needs to be done in this country.
VAUSE: Samuel, thank you for being with us. We really appreciate your time. We wish you all the best. Stay safe, and we hope to talk to you again. Thank you.
GETACHEW: Thank you.
VAUSE: Well, Facebook has removed a post from Ethiopia's Prime Minister which called on people to fight back against the rebels urging to the capital. The post urged citizens to bury the Tigrayan forces with any available weapon. Facebook's parent company Meta said the post violated policies against inciting and supporting violence.
Investigation into a U.S. drone strike that killed 10 civilians in Kabul has found execution errors were made but says there was no violation of law. Seven children were among those killed in the August strike. The review found there was evidence children were at that site two minutes before the missile was launched. But the strike cell was not aware of that at the time.
The deadly strike is only added to concerns over how the U.S. handled is chaotic exit from Afghanistan.
The Pentagon is warning that China is increasing its nuclear stockpile at an alarming pace and is on track for 1,000 warheads, maybe, by the end of the decade, much faster than earlier assessments. U.S. defense officials believe Beijing is aiming to be the world's dominant military force by 2049. The 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, CNN's Oren Liebermann has details.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (on camera): In the latest China military power report from the Pentagon, the Defense Department focused partially on the rapid modernization of China's nuclear force saying the heavy nascent nuclear triad similar to the United States nuclear triad of air launched sub launched and ground launched ballistic missiles.
The estimate from last year that they could roughly double their force or stockpile of 200 nukes within 10 years, well, that's old news now. Now the Pentagon says they could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. And that comes from the speed with which they're modernizing and building out their nuclear stockpile and their nuclear options.
But that's just a part of what's concerning here in the short term.
In the bigger picture over the long term, the China's military power report says that by 2049, so before the midpoint of this century, China aims to supplant U.S. global influence and replace us partnerships and alliances in the region with its own partnerships and alliances in the region. How disturbing is that? Well, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Mark Milley said it best at a -- the Aspen security summit on Wednesday.
GEN. MARK MILLEY, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We're witnessing, in my view, we're witnessing one of the largest shifts in global geostrategic power that the world is witnessing. It only happens once in a while.
LIEBERMANN: One of the interim goals laid out in the China military power report is 2027 where China looks to build a system of systems within its military and modernize or at least advanced modernization dramatically over what it is now. The China military power report, the Defense Department says a lot of that is aimed towards Taiwan and options that would give China when it comes to Taiwan that would include blockading the islands, perhaps an amphibious assault on Taiwan itself or in some of the outlying islands. All of this modernization is also meant to build deterrence and essentially act as a warning sign against foreign intervention or any moves by Taiwan towards independence. A lot of that pointed straight at the US. Oren Liebermann, CNN, in the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VAUSE: Jeffrey Lewis is director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. He's with us this hour from Monterey in California. Jeffrey, thank you for your time.
JEFFREY LEWIS, DIRECTOR, EAST ASIA NONPROLIFERATION PROGRAM, MIDDLEBURY INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: My pleasure.
VAUSE: OK, so the headlines we're reading that they're alarming like this one from the Washington Post. China accelerates nuclear weapons expansion since 1,000 warheads or more Pentagon says, but context matters. And the concern here is over a nuclear buildup, which is moving faster than first thought. So instead of 400 nuclear warheads, I think China will have 700 warheads by the end of the decade, with aspirations for at least 1,000. So are we talking the difference around 300 warheads here at the end of the day?
LEWIS: Yes, look, I think when we step back, the important thing to keep in mind is the United States has about 3,500 nuclear warheads. And so while China's numbers are coming up, and that's something that we obviously have to take some consideration of. Their numbers still remained significantly below those of the United States. And so it's very hard to point at their numbers and say, well, this is terrible and not also look at our numbers and wonder like, well, maybe what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
VAUSE: So China having an extra 300 nuclear missiles, maybe 700 to 1,000. Does that change the balance of power in any way, with the U.S. having close to 4,000? I think the Russians have more than 6,000 warheads?
LEWIS: You know, I don't think it does. If you believe as I do that deterrence works pretty simply, which is to say that no one wants to start a nuclear war because even a few of these new weapons going off in in one's country would be a catastrophe of incredible proportions, then no. I don't really think that there's a fundamental difference between having 100 nuclear weapons or having 1,000. Because really, if 10 go off in your country, that's a pretty bad day.
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VAUSE: Study a couple of years ago found that if a nuclear armed power fired more than 10 nuclear warheads at an enemy, it would pretty much destroy society. So, anything over 100 nukes seems kind of like overkill, if you like, which raises the question of motors. Why is China doing this?
LEWIS: Well, you know, what tends to happen in a scenario like this is a country sort of looks at its nuclear weapons, and it looks at the countries around it and ask the question of, well, what would happen if one of my enemies attacked me with a surprise attack, and the Chinese are very afraid that the United States with a much larger nuclear force might in a crisis try to disarm the Chinese using a combination of offensive missiles to take out many of their missiles, and then using missile defenses to sort of mop up whatever's left over.
And so this is really the fundamental dynamic of an arms race that we saw in the Cold War, and that we're seeing again, which is as we build, they build, and we just go back and forth, and you get these ever spiraling higher numbers.
VAUSE: Where's China get the plutonium for this?
LEWIS: That's actually a really interesting question. It's not clear to me that China has the plutonium in order to be able to carry out the projections that the Pentagon offered. We have seen Defense Department officials say, Well, China has a really big civil nuclear energy program, but then again, so does Japan really.
What we haven't seen right now is a concerted effort by the Chinese to produce large amounts of plutonium. So, you know, I think this is something that we should be wary of, we should certainly be cognizant of it. But there's a big difference between saying the Chinese might want to do this over 10 years, and then actually watching them do it.
VAUSE: Yes. And while he was in Glasgow, the U.S. President was asked about China's military buildup and the possibility of an armed confrontation, Biden talked about what he plans to make clear when he next talks to China's Xi Jinping. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: You've heard me say this before. My dad had an expression. He said the only conflict worse than one that's intended is one that's unintended. And so in my meetings with him virtually coming up on we haven't set the exact date yet, I want to make sure there's no misunderstanding. It's competition, not conflict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: So does a greater number of nuclear warheads make an unintended confrontation more likely, or more of a possibility? Or does it make it less likely?
LEWIS: Yes, I think it increases the chance that something just goes wrong. I mean, there are all sorts of reasons that might happen. You know, one simple reason is, when two countries are engaged in an arms race, they tend to be suspicious of one another. You know, we saw during the Cold War that the Soviet Union really believed the United States might try to launch a disarming strike against it. Things get really complex.
You know, you get all these kinds of different advice for military officials about having to go first and how, what your timelines are. And so anytime you take a problem like this, and you just make it more complicated, that doesn't really help.
VAUSE: And when you have something you tend to use it, I guess. Jeffrey Lewis, thank you for being with us. We really appreciate it.
LEWIS: My pleasure.
VAUSE: Around nuclear talks set to resume at the end of the month in Vienna. It's been almost six months since the last round of negotiations. Since then, Iran elected a new president. Now has a new negotiating team. The goal overall is to bring the U.S. back into the agreement and to get Iran to comply with it.
Meantime, Iran has released footage of last month alleged confrontation between Revolutionary Guard and the U.S. Navy in the Gulf of Oman. The video shows what appears to be two American warships next to a large tanker and a smaller Iranian military vessels. Iran claims it stopped those U.S. ships from seizing already in crude oil on board the tanker. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby says those allegations are absolutely false. The only seizing in the Gulf of Oman was by Iran.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESMAN: I've seen the Iranian claims they are absolutely totally false and untrue. Iran's actions, the ones that are true of them, illegally boarding and seizing a merchant vessel constitute a blatant violation of international law that undermines freedom of navigation in the free flow of commerce.
(END VDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Kirby added the U.S. Navy assets to monitor that situation. At no time was it an attempt to engage with Iranian forces.
Still to come, phasing out fossil fuels comes into sharper focus in Glasgow. Now the COP26 summit is charting a path to clean energy.
Also as COVID infections for, for an eighth week in the Americas deaths from the viruses surging in other parts of the world. The Coronavirus pandemic the ebbs and flows in a moment.
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VAUSE: Well, phasing out the use of coal, oil and gas will take center stage on Thursday at the CO26 Climate Summit. U.K. is expected to announce an agreement among at least 20 countries to end financing the construction of all fossil fuel projects abroad. A closed source to the negotiation says the U.S. will be part of that agreement.
This comes as big money makes a big promise on achieving net zero emissions. Hundreds of banks and financial firms across dozens of countries have signed on and Bill Weir has details.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE) BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Of the four main themes laid out by COP26 host Boris Johnson, coal, cars, cash and trees probably is going to be cash that provides the biggest challenge, because unlike any other thing money represents human wants and needs and systems. And they're entrenched in so many ways. So many factors in the economy.
The U.K. tried to set the tone this morning by announcing a landmark pledge from 450 different corporations insurance company's pensions to go green, essentially, by 2023. They have $130 trillion under management. But like most things in finance, there's a lot of fine print. Only about a third of that money will actually go into green projects. And ultimately the goal is to reach net zero.
And Greta Thunberg, the youth activist, really put a fine point on what that meant this week, when she went viral for leading a profane chant. She tweeted today, I'm pleased to announce that I've decided to go net-zero on swear words, for every profanity, I promised to say something nice. The head of U.K. Greenpeace responded by saying or you could offset it by paying someone else to say something nice in a few years.
Also on the financial conversation is the promise to start giving developing nations $100 billion a year from richer nations to help them adapt and mitigate. But again, the fine print shows us that this promise was first made in 2009. And payments were supposed to start in 2020. That didn't happen. But now they say the check is in the mail for 2023.
Again, really complicated thicket of financial ideas, how best to spend the money, how best to monitor it, how best to protect against graft and corruption and waste. What about loss and damages? Could that end up being a major lever in the future here as well?
But the developing countries here are making the fine point that if these bills are not paid now, they will be much bigger in the future. If you look at the climate cause famine happening in Madagascar right now, million people starving, children eating insects to survive. If and when that happens in other parts of the world where migrants can move across borders, the bill will come due and a much more dramatic way they say. Bill Weir, CNN in Glasgow.
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VAUSE: Seven countries have now signed up to end the use of coal the latest Ukraine aiming for 2035. But right now we're burning more coal than ever before and ending this addiction will not be easy. But as CNN's Phil Black reports it is doable. At least it is in Austria.
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PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two power stations near the Austrian city of Graz, the one on the left is retired, a silent monument to a recent time when the country burned coal for some of its electricity. The neighboring shiny new gas fueled facility now does the work.
The upgrade is significant. Austria is one of only three countries in Europe to shut down all coal fired plants. Replacing coal with natural gas isn't carbon free, but it's a step in the right direction.
CHRISTOF KURZMANN-FRIEDL, OPERATIONS MANAGER, MELLACH POWER PLANT: The CO2 footprint of this power plant is much lower than this footprint.
BLACK: About 60 percent lower, but gas can only be an interim move if Austria is to achieve its green power ambitions. Christof Kurzmann- Friedl manages this site.
(on camera): Austria wants to be 100 percent renewable by 2030. Does that mean this will close down by 2030?
Kurzmann-Friedl: I'm not sure.
BLACK: Austria Australia embraced a big renewable energy source decades before the first warnings about climate change. Most of its electricity comes from hydropower.
MICHAEL STRUGL, CEO, VERBUND: We also have to build new capacity in solar power and wind power as well.
BLACK: Michael Strugl, the CEO of Australia's largest energy company says even with a big head start from hydro, getting to 100 percent renewables in under a decade won't be easy.
STRUGL: It's ambitious, for sure.
BLACK: And you don't necessarily have all the answers yet.
STRUGL: Yes.
BLACK: But it's important to try it?
STRUGL: We do not have all the answers. We have to do research. We have to put strong efforts on innovation as well.
BLACK: (voice-over): Much of the research innovation and hope in Austria is focused on green hydrogen. The basic idea is on windy or sunny days, you use excess electricity to make hydrogen gas which can be stored or transported. Then when it's cloudy, or the turbines aren't spinning, you turn the hydrogen back into electricity using a clean chemical reaction.
MARKUS SARTORY, RESEARCH AND PROJECT MANAGER, HYCENTRA HYDROGEN CENTRE AUSTRIA: We have when many questions to solve.
BLACK: Markus Sartory is a project leader at Hydrogen Centre Austria.
SARTORY: Of course, it's a very complex system, but we have the possibility to incorporate the renewables and to build up a new sustainable green energy system. And this is -- this can be done with actual technologies, but it will cost us. BLACK: At the power station in Graz, Hydrogen's potential is being tested with a pilot project. The possibilities are vast. So the challenges.
(on camera): It's a potential game changing. Do you think?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do think yes.
BLACK: And crucially, there's still so much work that needs to be done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. You're right.
BLACK: Because it's just too expensive by then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not too expensive, but we have to do the first step and this is one of the first step.
BLACK: Austria's coal habit was pretty modest compared to some other European countries. Poland, for example, still mines and burns it for around 80 percent of its electricity. And yet, even with Australia's strong starting position, early commitment, and willingness to innovate, the ultimate success of its low carbon transition is still uncertain. Phil Black, CNN, Graz, Austria.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
VAUSE: Few industries are more harmful to the environment than fast fashion, feeding that overwhelming desire to wear the latest whatever, uses enormous quantities of fuel and water every second truckloads of textiles are dumped into landfills and burned. CNN's spoke to British designers Stella McCartney on the sidelines of the COP26 solid that pushing for more regulations. She says more emphasis must be placed on increasing green initiatives as well as animal or human rights.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STELLA MCCARTNEY, FASHION DESIGNER: The ethical side to the fashion industry is not being taught tech at all it is the elephant in the room. And people aren't connecting the dots between actually human rights as well, the quality of life who wants to work for the minimum, minimum wage if that and an avatar and a leather farm skinning animals for a living every day.
The fashion industry is the most unfashionable, it's the most in danger of becoming irrelevant if we don't stand up to the fact that we're basically killing the earth through fashion. We need policy change. We need to have incentives for our industry. We need to inform people. You know, it's critical and that's why I'm here. I'm basically using my privilege as a platform to bring to people's attention what's really going on here. And this, you know, this installation is really showcasing facts like hard hitting facts, and then people can make conscious decisions on how they consume.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:29:52]
JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: McCartney adds that her designer labels strives for cruelty-free and ethical practices.
And for all the latest climate news and COP26 coverage, please visit our Web site, CNN.com forward slash climate.
Enough vaccine for every kid in America age 5 to 11. That's the promise from the U.S. President. Now it's becoming a reality. We'll head to one of the hospitals giving Pfizer vaccines to young children.
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VAUSE: The death toll for COVID-19 in the United States has now passed 750,000 according to Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. had the most infections and deaths of any nation in the world. But the Pan American Health Organization says overall, North America reported a drop in infections and death compared to last week. And there has been an overall decline in cases across the Americas for the 8th straight week.
Meantime in Europe, COVID-related death in Romania are at record high. One person dying every 5 minutes. We should note Romania has the second lowest vaccination rate in the E.U. Right now there are no ICU beds available.
And health officials in Ireland want the public to cut down on close contact with others after just reporting its highest infection numbers since January.
CNN'S Kim Brunhuber looks at why Europe is struggling to contain the pandemic and what some countries are doing to try and contain it now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Protesters clashing with police in the Hague this week. They were angry over new COVID measures after the Dutch prime minister announced that starting November 6th masks will be mandatory inside most public spaces like museums and gyms. Citizens will also need proof of vaccination, or a recent negative COVID test to get in.
In the Netherlands, new COVID infections are surging, rising in the months since previous social distancing measures were eased. It's just one of several European countries fighting new waves of the pandemic.
In Germany, infections, deaths and hospitalizations all growing. The health minister says the country is experiencing a massive pandemic of the unvaccinated.
Now at least one border town is tightening rules as cases surge. Clubs and other entertainment venues will be off limits to anyone who has not been vaccinated.
In Greece, there were more than 6,000 new COVID infections Wednesday. The country's most in a day since the start of the pandemic. Russia and the Ukraine also reaching record high numbers of new infections.
[01:34:54]
BRUNHUBER: Some European countries like Spain, Italy, France, and Portugal have avoided the same trend but the continent's overall average of new cases has been rising for more than 5 weeks while infections seem to be declining in the world's other regions.
Tides are changing once again in the pandemic as countries in both east and western Europe struggle with new waves.
Kim Brunhuber, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well regulators in the U.S. have authorized the Pfizer vaccine for 5 to 11-year-olds, shipments of the shots arrived at hospitals and health centers across the country out of 28 million doses secured by the White House.
CNN's Rosa Flores breaks down how the rollout is proceeding so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been an emotional day for parents with children between the ages of 5 and 11 because for the first time they have the opportunity to vaccinate their children against COVID- 19.
I'm here at Texas Children's Hospital, I talked to the lead pathologist who says that some of the clinical trials happened here. That's why they feel so confident that this vaccine is safe.
A few things that parents should know according to the lead pathologist, first of all that the dose for children is a third of the adult doses. Two doses will be required, three weeks apart and a booster will likely be required as well.
As for symptoms, children are getting less symptoms, that's what he says. And -- but some children will experience some symptoms. So parents should be on the look out for perhaps a sore arm or a mild fever. But in 24 hours he says, children are going to be back to running around and playing around.
About protection, this vaccine is 90.7 percent protective against COVID-19. And to the big question, does this protect children against the delta variant? I asked the lead pathologist here, and here's what he had to say.
DR. JIM VERSALOVIC, PATHOLOGIST IN CHIEF, TEXAS CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: Yes. And we saw that firsthand because we were conducting the trials here and elsewhere in the United States during the delta surge. It definitely gives us great confidence that we have a vaccine that will withstand even a variant as highly transmissible and dangerous as the delta variant.
FLORES: Again, what he's saying is that these critical trials were happening during the delta surge. That's why they feel so confident that it protects children against the delta variant.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Dr. William Schaffner is professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He is with us this hour from Nashville in Tennessee. Welcome back, good to see you.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR OF PREVENTIVE MEDICINE, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Good to be with you, John.
VAUSE: Now, after authorizing the Pfizer vaccine for kids under the age of 12, director of the CDC, Rochelle Walensky then made a point of trying to reassure parents who may still be asking if it's safe. Here she is
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: I want to speak directly to parents about this recommendation. We have followed the scientific process. We have done our due diligence. Please know we have thoroughly reviewed all of the available safety, immunogenicity and the efficacy data before recommending this vaccine for your child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Ok, but what about the amount of available data? You have a number of kids taking part in clinical trials, it was increased at the request of the FDA to run 3,000. But those numbers still seem relatively small. Do you have any concern?
DR. SCHAFFNER: I really don't. You see, John, that's the number of children that we usually have in clinical trials for other vaccines for children. And remember, we've now given hundreds of millions of doses to adults; many millions of doses to adolescents.
So, we can build on that extraordinary body of evidence. And then added to the experience in the trials of the 5 to 11-year-olds we feel very, very confident about both the effectiveness and the safety of these vaccines.
VAUSE: I guess, with any parent there is now this sort of risk-benefit analysis. But let's hear directly from one of the end users here about what this vaccine means.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt very nervous, but now it's over. And now we're vaccinated. That's a big step into making the world normal again. And so we all need to wear masks. And for everyone to be safe and healthy.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAUSE: Could not have said it better myself. A step towards normal, you know, it has been almost two years, no hug from grandparents, keeping friends at a distance.
Clearly this is some kind of, you know, return to normalcy. But beyond that could this be, you know, a game-changer in ending the pandemic?
DR. SCHAFFNER: Well, first of all those scientists are getting younger by the day. I can see that. But beyond that they will -- vaccinating these children will clearly contribute to making a more protected community, safer schools, better for your ability to visit your grandparents.
[01:40:03]
DR. SCHAFFNER: And it will inhibit the spread of this virus in communities. The more people vaccinated, the fewer places this virus has to go in order to continue to spread.
VAUSE: Are the risk from a COVID vaccination for kids any greater compared to other vaccines, which are already required to attend school?
DR. SCHAFFNER: Well, of course not. And the list of vaccines require to attend daycare and school is very, very extensive. So we know that these vaccines are really quite safe.
And we would tell parents who have hesitancy, which is normal, talk to their pediatrician and family doctors. Those people, know you very well, they know your children, and you can trust their judgment.
Of course, Bill Schaffner is going to say this, but I'm a stranger. Ask those people who care for your children.
VAUSE: Just quickly, there are some important news about vaccine booster shots as well. There was a study published in the medial journal, "The Lancet" came from Israel. It looked at two separate groups of around 700,000 people. One group was given a third dose, the other was not.
Compared to those who did not receive the 3rd shot the booster decreased the risk of hospitalization by 93 percent, severe disease by 92 percent and death by 81 percent. No matter the person's sex, the number of other underlying medical conditions, or the age of the person if they're over 40.
That would seem to be a very compelling argument why booster shot should be made available to everyone.
DR. SCHAFFNER: Well, big exclamation point. And there are essentially available now to must be 80 percent of the population at least. And, as we move further down the road I think we'll see the recommendations expanded even further.
That's a powerful study. Boosters are doing exactly what they're supposed to do. VAUSE: Dr. William Schaffner, thank you so much for being with us. We
appreciate it.
DR. SCHAFFNER: Thanks, John.
VAUSE: It's called zero COVID, a strategy which aims to eradicate the coronavirus by responding to the smallest of outbreaks with a sledgehammer.
Almost two years on and with the virus able to mutate and spread faster than ever, most countries especially in Asia, have given up on zero COVID opting instead to learn to live with COVID.
But not China. There, the sledgehammer approach remains in full swing. But at what cost?
Here's CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): California dreaming in China. Chinese social media influencers pose at a Costco in shanghai to pretend they're in Los Angeles. A vivid reminder of how long China has been sealed off from the rest of the world.
For nearly two years, most people in China have been unable to travel abroad due to harsh and lengthy quarantines upon return, as well as limited flights and some delays in visa processing.
The country is sticking to a zero COVID strategy determined to eliminate the virus within its borders, despite fully vaccinating more than 75 of the population.
(on camera): Hong Kong with its fate closely tied to China is also in a sort of coronavirus purgatory with many of its residents, especially ex-pats waiting for the city to reopen, just as the rest of the region is opening up.
(voice over): On Monday, South Korea took its first step to what they're calling a return to normal life. Despite reporting thousands of new cases every week, it's easing restrictions like lifting curfews, and allowing some social gatherings.
In Tokyo curfews were lifted for bars and restaurants at the end of October despite hundreds of new cases reported across Japan each day.
Thailand, on Monday, started to welcome fully-vaccinated travelers from low-risk countries without quarantine.
Also on Monday, Sydney and Melbourne relaxed its border controls for citizens and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated.
Fiji plans to reopen to fully vaccinated tourists on December 1st. Indonesia's resort island of Bali has reopened for some international arrivals while New Zealand has abandoned its COVID-19 elimination strategy. And Singapore, has also embraced living with the virus. The region's shift away from zero COVID follows generally high vaccination rates. Despite a slow vaccination rollout, countries including Australia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore are now among the most vaccinated in the world per capita.
China the country where virus was first detected is the only country in the region still chasing zero COVID. And it doesn't appear restrictions will ease anytime soon as the Beijing Olympic games edge closer. And President Xi Jinping pursues and unprecedented third term in power.
YANZHONG HUANG, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: To ensure a smooth transition of the leadership, (INAUDIBLE) that policy might be sustained through late next year.
STOUT: With most overseas travel no longer viable, Chinese officials have promoted domestic tourism instead. But with the highly infectious delta virus, that too is risky.
[01:44:59]
STOUT: A single confirmed case recently sent Shanghai Disneyland into temporary lockdown. And yet, many Chinese netizens praised the government and Disney for what they see as an effective response. One writes, "Although a pity, this is Shanghai speed with timely detection and control."
In zero COVID China, Disneyland can go into snap lockdown and influencers pretend they're in L.A.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN -- Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Now, an update on a CNN investigation into profiteering and the pandemic. The main suspect in our investigation which had uncovered the sale of fake and used medical gloves is now under arrest.
CNN's Scott McLean has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The CEO of the Thai medical glove company Skymed was arrested in Thailand on Wednesday. Kampee Kampeerayannon is facing several fraud related charges. Thai police say that the Skymed Web site is a facade, meant to attract foreign buyers. One of them was an American company called Rock FinTech, which paid Skymed more than $6 million for hundreds of thousands of boxes of medical gloves but never received any.
Other U.S. customers told CNN that the Skymed gloves they received were substandard or even secondhand. Thai police also say that in June a Rock FinTech representative even went to the address where Skymed said their gloves were made, but found no factory there.
Now we interviewed Kampee last week prior to his arrest and he gave inconsistent and contradictory explanation as to where it's gloves were produced eventually conceding that it has no Thai factory, but instead sources its gloves abroad.
He also claimed that Skymed was the victim of unauthorized counterfeiting by its former distributor, Paddy the Room which CNN found exported tens of millions of gloves to the U.S. many of them substandard or even soiled and clearly secondhand.
Police say Kampee denies all of the charges against him. CNN is attempting to reach out to him through his lawyer.
Scott McLean, CNN -- London.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Still to come here, new allegations of deliberate sabotage on the set of "Rust" where a crew member was fatally shot. Details in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: We have new details now on the fatal shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin's film "Rust". The lawyer representing the manager of the weapons has raised the possibility the gun that Baldwin fired had been sabotaged with a live bullet.
CNN's Nick Watt has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The armorer on the set of rust is in the spotlight. Her lawyer now claims this could have been sabotage.
JASON BOWLES, LAWYER FOR HANNAH GUTIERREZ REED: There was a box of dummy rounds, and the box is labeled dummy. She loaded rounds from that box into the handgun.
[01:50:00]
WATT: But of course we now know the round was live, fired by Alec Baldwin killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
BOWLES: We are assuming somebody put the live around in that box. I believe that somebody who would do that would want to sabotage the set, want to prove a point, want to say that they are disgruntled, they're unhappy.
WATT: No comment on that theory from the sheriff's office. Meantime the crew member who resigned the day before Hutchins died, is talking.
LANE LUPER, FIRST CAMERA ASSISTANT, "RUST": I think with "Rust" it was a perfect storm of the armorer, the assistant director, the culture that was on set, the rushing.
WATT: When he quit, Lane Luper sent an email to producers. "During the filming of gun fights on this job, things are often played very fast and loose," he wrote. "So far, there have been two accidental weapons discharge."
Luper also lambasted lax COVID restrictions and a lack of nearby hotel accommodation for crew.
LUPER: And specifically gun safety, a lack of rehearsals, a lack of, you know, preparing the crew for what we were doing that day.
WATT: "Mr. Luper's allegations around budget and safety are patently,' say "Rust" producers. "It is truly awful to see some using this tragedy for personal gain."
Baldwin, producer and star, says he can't comment on the investigation, but shared what looked like comments from the film's costume designer with the instruction, read this.
It reads in part, "The story being spun of us being overworked and surrounded by unsafe chaotic conditions, is BS."
(on camera): Now we were unable to reach that costume designer for comment, but we have also read another resignation email from another crew member who says I also feel anxious onset. He added that the assistant director, quote, rushes so quickly that props haven't even had the chance to bring earplugs and the rolls, and the actors fire anyway.
This is in the he said-she said stage of the investigation in public anyway. We are waiting for the FBI analysis, and for the incident report from the local sheriff, which might shed a little bit more light.
Nick Watt, CNN -- Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Just after the break the U.S. Federal Reserve says COVID stimulus will soon be winding down, so why did Wall Street hit a record high?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: A quick look there at some of the Asian markets one day after the U.S. announced it would begin scaling back its economic stimulus. Investors apparently anticipated this move and they are pretty happy about it.
The Federal Reserve's massive bond -buying program helped support the U.S. economy throughout the pandemic. And now for just the second time in a decade the U.S. Central Bank is tapping the brakes on the stimulus measures, as the economy improves.
Details from CNN's Richard Quest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) RICHARD QUEST, CNN ANCHOR: The thing about the Fed is, they don't like to take the markets by surprise. So the decision to begin to bring all, had been well telegraphed. The Fed said that it would reduce their number of bonds that it buys each month by $15 billion this month, and then reduce it even further the following months onwards and onwards.
[01:55:00]
QUEST: And so a long period of bond-buying, quantitative easing designed to prevent a depression on the back of the pandemic comes to at least the beginning of the end.
And that's what this is, the beginning of the end because there is a long way to go. First of all, the Fed has to stop buying bonds. Then it has to stop re-buying those bonds that are maturing, and finally interest rates will start to rise.
The time scale on all of this depends on inflation. And at the moment inflationary pressures as everyone is aware are high. The Fed believes they are transitory, that they will disappear next year when supply chains ease up.
But that is not a certainty, there are other economists and central banks that believe this inflation is sticking, and the fed may have to move quicker than it wishes.
Richard Quest, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Despite all that the Fed decision lifted Wall Street new highs. All three major indexes approaching record highs on Wednesday. Dow finishing about 0.3 percent up. The S&P rose 0.6 percent. The Nasdaq climbed a full 1 percent higher.
Getting a control on inflation is one of the goals behind removing some of the emergency support for the U.S. economy. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says while prices have been rising it's nothing like the surge we saw through the 1970s. She spoke with CNN about how the situation today is different.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: Inflation expectations rose and wage price spiral developed, but I certainly see no evidence that that is the case now.
Inflation expectations remain well-anchored, and I think the Federal Reserve has the ability and has learned from history that if there were to be evidence which there is not now, but if there were, to the evidence that it is developing into a self-fulfilling prophesy that they would learn the lessons of history and act appropriately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yellen expects inflation to normalize by the second half of next year.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Please stay with us. Rosemary Church takes over after a very short break.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'll see you tomorrow.
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