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Desperation Grows as Millions Locked Down in Xi'an; Push to End U.S. Reliance on Imported Protective Equipment; Investigators: Suspect Foreshadowed Crime in His Books; Body of Revered Archbishop Desmond Tutu Lying in State for Second Day. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired December 31, 2021 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Coronavirus cases driven by the Omicron variant are skyrocketing right across the United States. New infections at an all-time high averaging 355,000 per day. Especially troubling is the number of children being admitted to hospitals, pediatric hospitalizations in the U.S. are highest they've ever been over this entire pandemic with the average number of daily admissions up more than 66 percent from the previous week. And a source now tells CNN that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to announce kids between ages 12 and 15 will now be eligible for the Pfizer booster shot in the coming days.
Local officials, meantime, in the Chinese city of Xi'an say they are locked in a life and death battle with the coronavirus, and as the strict lockdown drags on into its second week, many say they're unable to get the most basic of necessities. Things like food. For more on that we want to bring in CNN's Steven Jiang. He joins us now from Beijing. And this lockdown is severe enough, but in terms of it accomplishing what it needs to accomplish, is it doing that? And are residents really getting weary? Especially when they don't even have a reliable source of food?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: That's right, Paula. That's why even local authorities have now at least acknowledged the severe impact of their increasingly harsh lockdown measures on the local population. Remember, for days we've talked about a growing sense of frustration and anger from residents about the lack of access to groceries and medicines and also a growing problem of their ability to seek medical attention on non-COVID-related issues such as pregnant women needing to go to the hospital.
That's why, as you mentioned, you see increasingly officials as well as state media emphasizing, they're redoubling their efforts to ensure the supply and distribution of those daily necessity items. By getting shipments from other provinces and coordinating better within the city of Xi'an for deliveries of those items. They have now assigned hundreds of local officials to those tasks and also created hundreds of chat groups on social media platforms to ensure smoother communications between the government and its citizens.
But still, we are also seeing some citizens who have aired their grievances online being attacked by trolls. So, definitely you see this intensifying effort by the government both to contain the virus but also control the narrative. But one thing is clear, Paula, as you said. The worst is not over yet for this city of 13 million residents --Paula.
[04:35:00]
NEWTON: Yes, Steven, another tough week ahead for them. Appreciate that update.
Now Britain's Prime Minister is hailing the success of his nation's vaccine program over the last year. In his New Year's message, Boris Johnson praised those who answered the call to get the COVID-19 shots during these challenging 12 months.
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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And I want to speak directly to all those who have yet to get fully vaccinated. The people who think the disease can't hurt them. Look at the people going into hospital now. That could be you. Look at the intensive care units, and the miserable, needless suffering of those who did not get their booster. That could be you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, Mr. Johnson is now urging the unvaccinated to make getting the COVID shot their New Year's resolution. So, 2022 will be a happy year for everyone.
Now, the pandemic cast an uncomfortable spotlight on the U.S. dependence on foreign imports. It relying on overseas suppliers for everything from masks to medical gowns and hospital gloves. But a factory in Illinois is among those hoping to change that. Scott McLean has been following all of this. And you know, Scott, make it at home seems like a mantra that's really worth it when it comes to supplies that arguably contribute to national security. Has there been a change since the pandemic started?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, Paula, the U.S. government is vesting a lot of money to make the U.S. less reliant on Asian PPE. But there are also American companies who say they can make money without any government help. That's surprising, because to make something like a nitro glove requires some very expensive equipment and some complex chemistry as well. There are now at least a dozen nitro glove factories popping up across the United States, and all but one are starting from scratch.
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MCLEAN (voice-over): Literally hot off the production line, the very first-hand molds being dipped in nitrile. The result? A reliable stream of medical grade gloves made in America. This is a big deal because, for decades, the U.S. has imported these gloves from cheap suppliers almost entirely in Asia. It took a pandemic to start to change that. Businessman Dylan Ratigan says he felt compelled to act. DYLAN RATIGAN, CEO, U.S. MEDICAL GLOVE COMPANY: We've just watched hundreds of thousands more, than a half-a-million Americans die and many of them for no reason. I think bad decisions have been made in American manufacturing, specifically for critical assets like class one medical devices. The decision has been made to make sure that never happens again.
MCLEAN (voice-over): When the pandemic exploded, the nitrile glove industry was plagued by price-gouging, fraud and scams. A CNN investigation found counterfeit, substandard or even dirty, used medical gloves being imported to the U.S. by the tens of millions.
MCLEAN: Pre-pandemic, there was only one nitrile glove producer in the U.S. in Fayette, Alabama. But the company says it struggled to get even the U.S. government to buy its gloves because they cost around twice the price.
That's because around 10 percent of the world's medical gloves are made in China, 20 percent in Thailand and 65 percent in Malaysia, where the U.S. government only recently lifted an import ban on the world's largest producer, after finding evidence of forced labor earlier this year.
MCLEAN: How do you compete with slave labor?
RATIGAN: The technology allows me to do it in a way that I can compete with even the dirtiest user of slave labor. You want to be a customer of a slave labor company? I don't.
MCLEAN: And you couldn't do it 30 years ago?
RATIGAN: You could never have done this 30 years ago, because the technology didn't exist. But the most important thing that you need to see is this.
MCLEAN (voice-over): Ratigan is a former cable news anchor and now CEO of the U.S. Medical Glove Company, committed to paying workers at least $25 per hour, plus health care coverage and plans for free on- site child care. There are currently about 100 of them now assembling new lines and ovens using all American-made parts.
RATIGAN: And that is a critical distinction between this company and others.
MCLEAN (voice-over): The start-up housed in a sprawling former Caterpillar factory is backed by a $63 million advanced purchase order from the U.S. government.
MCLEAN (voice-over): All told, Washington is spending $1.7 billion to help American companies manufacture PPE at home, after the pandemic exposed how dependent the U.S. is on foreign sources, which is a vulnerability in public health emergencies.
Another American start-up, USA Gloves outside Houston, was created by former importers who found it almost impossible to buy gloves from abroad. They don't have any government investment yet. But once the machines are finally up and running next month, they hope to turn a profit from private sales, even with higher prices than Asian brands.
ZISHAN MOMIN, CEO, USA GLOVES: And hospitals and clinics and even end users are willing to pay that slight premium, so that, you know, we're prepared for a future pandemic.
[04:40:00]
MCLEAN (voice-over): It's still early days but experts say it is essential for the U.S. to make more of its PPE at home. The question is --
PRASHANT YADAV, HEALTH SUPPLY CHAIN EXPERT, CENTER FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT: Whether people will remember this and be willing to pay that premium in the medium term or is this just a very short-term memory and soon people will go back to thinking about, who's my lowest-cost supplier?
MCLEAN (voice-over): That may ultimately be what determines the success or failure of these new enterprises, whether they're expensive experiments or the beginning of a new era that reduces America's dependence on factories on the other side of the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MCLEAN (on camera): Now, no one is complaining about U.S. government investment in domestic PPE production, but no one that we interviewed for this story thinks that that is a viable long-term solution either. The medical supply chain expert you heard from in the story thinks that the government instead ought to be negotiating better trade deals to make sure that standards and wages in Asia are comparable to standards and wages in the United States. So that American factories can compete on a level playing field.
In the meantime, though, Dylan Ratigan, he's trying to send a message to large multi-national companies outside of the PPE sector that take advantage of cheap labor in Asia. And of course, as we know, Paula, there are far too many of those to even begin to list. He says that if you can make money in the United States, making something like a nitro glove -- which is literally only worth a few pennies -- then you should have no problem making bigger ticket items like shoes or tablets or phones and still treat employees very well. But, of course, Ratigan has yet to prove that he can actually make money. He doesn't expect to sell his first shipment of gloves until February at the earliest.
NEWTON: Interesting, and it is a tall order. But I'm glad that you pointed out just the issues with, for instance, slave labor, and really trying to really authenticate where any of these gloves with this medical equipment comes from. Scott McLean, thank you for that update. Appreciate it.
Now coming up, a trucker is no longer facing a life time in jail. What the governor of Colorado has to say about his sentence ahead.
Plus, warnings about this week's deadly shooting spree in the Denver area. Where spelled out apparently in black and white, police say, before that suspect went on his rampage, he wrote books about it.
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[04:45:00]
NEWTON: The governor of Colorado has reduced the prison sentence of a truck driver by literally a century from 110 years to 10. The governor called the original sentence highly atypical and unjust but adding that the driver was not blameless. Now, that truck driver was found guilty of multiple charges after an accident in 2019 led to a fiery 28-vehicle pileup that left 4 people dead. He told investigators the brakes of this tractor trailer failed while traveling 85 miles per hour. The case drew national attention and with celebrities calling for a lesser penalty and millions signing a petition to ask the governor to reduce that sentence.
Also, in Colorado, investigators say the suspect in Monday's shooting rampage in Denver left clear red flags. They say Lyndon McLeod gunned down five people in multiple locations around the city before police killed him. Several people were also wounded. But according to investigators he dropped clear hints about what he was going to do in books he had written. Omar Jimenez has more now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Days after a deadly shooting spree across the Denver area Monday, the ongoing investigation moves from what happened to why.
CHIEF PAUL PAZEN, DENVER POLICE: This individual was known to law enforcement. He was on our radar. There were two previous investigations and neither of these investigations resulted in state or federal filings.
JIMENEZ CULVER (voice-over): The shooter was Lyndon James McLeod, who police say targeted some of his victims and in a series of books foreshadowed parts of what happened. He wrote under a pseudonym but used the real names and places for some of his victims.
In one book, McLeod wrote about a character named Lyndon McLeod, specifically mentioning a condo building overlooking Cheeseman Park in Denver and how, in his police gear, he would crash a man named Michael Swinyard's poker night and execute Michael for his betrayal and take everyone's cash.
The 67-year-old Michael Swinyard was killed in Monday's shooting at the same address. According to a memo from the building manager obtained by CNN, the shooter arrived at the building impersonating a police officer.
In another book, one character says, "Look, I killed Alicia Cardenas as well." The 44-year-old Alicia Cardenas was among the first to be killed Monday. She was the owner of a tattoo shop.
ALFREDO CARDENAS, FATHER OF ALICIA CARDENAS: She was a real leader in her community. A lot of people looked to her for advice and information about tattooing. The world we're living in is just horrible.
JIMENEZ (voice-over): In total, five people were killed in about an hour Monday, three of them worked at tattoo shops. The shootings spanned multiple locations, starting in Denver, before police tracked the gunman to nearby Lakewood, where he entered a hotel, shooting and killing 28-year-old Sarah Steck, who was working at the front desk.
Not long after, more shots fired, this time hitting Lakewood Police agent Ashley Ferris. But according to police, while on the ground wounded, she was able to return fire and kill the shooter.
JOHN ROMERO, LAKEWOOD POLICE SPOKESMAN: She was able to not only save others from this terrible tragedy but also neutralize the threat. I can't say enough about the courage and bravery shown by that Lakewood police agent.
JIMENEZ: That police agent, Ashley Ferris, is expected to be OK and has been recovering at a local hospital. As for the investigation into why the shooter carried this out, police will also likely be looking at his social media, which included a wide array of extremist views on the roles of women, war, guns and more.
Omar Jimenez, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now, he believed deeply in the power of forgiveness and helped heal many wounds of apartheid. Now South Africans are gathering to say good-bye and thank you to Desmond Tutu.
[04:50:00]
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NEWTON: In Cape Town, South Africa, the man who proudly called his country the rainbow nation is now lying in state. This is the second day mourners are being allowed to visit the coffin of anti-apartheid icon Desmond Tutu and pay their respects. His funeral will be held Saturday. "The Arch" as he was lovingly nicknamed wanted the cheapest coffin, the most simple one available, according to his foundation, and no lavish touches.
Our David McKenzie is with us from Cape Town. And he certainly would be very interested to see as he would say the rainbow, right? The spectrum of people coming to see him. We've looking at live pictures there and I'm struck how they're really coming from all walks of life. And have some heartfelt tributes that they feel they really need to make.
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Paula, and there's a long line stretching down the Company Gardens here in Cape Town as it's called. Coming in to pay their respects. You see flowers behind me. And it is people from all walks of life. One woman told me she came from more than a hour away, got up very early. She said she had to be here because of what Archbishop Desmond Tutu meant you and then to the country. [04:55:00]
Really one of the last great icons of the anti-apartheid struggle. And there are notes written in hand on that wall, including one I saw from clearly tourists with the hotel note pad saying, thank you for bringing light to the world.
This man had an impact here in South Africa, of course, with transition to democracy, often preaching in the cathedral behind me against the ravages of the apartheid government, and then a moral voice for the country after apartheid ended.
You know, I passed through that church to see, to pay respects to the man. It's a simple pine coffin, as you say. A small bouquet of carnations on it from the family of the Tutus. No great pomp and circumstance but certainly, a great moment for South Africa to reflect. And I asked what's next to the dean of the cathedral?
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MCKENZIE: The Archbishop always was striving for a better South Africa, has his wish been fulfilled?
REV. MICHAEL WEEDER, DEAN, ST. GEORGE'S CATHEDRAL: No, you know, goodness is never complete. It's always a work in progress. He had moments of great disappointment and he expressed it on various platforms including in our cathedral on many of times. But as we pointed, he also died at peace knows that he's not the last of the prophets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKENZIE (on camera): Many of the people I've spoken to today, Paula, have said that they will miss that voice, the conscious of this nation and in many ways the world. Also, worrying about the future of this country and what it will be like without a voice like Desmond Tutu's -- Paula.
NEWTON: Yes, he was such a voice, and really, I always remember his gregariousness as well. Which I'm sure people will also miss. David McKenzie, glad you were there for us in Cape Town, appreciate it.
And thank you for your company. I am Paula Newton. "EARLY START" is next. Stay with CNN.
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