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China Braces For COVID Spike As It Relaxes Strict Rules; Sports World Mourns U.S. Journalist Who Died In Qatar; L.A. Councilman Under More Scrutiny After Fight At Holiday Event; Netflix To Release Final 3 "Harry & Meghan" Episodes This Week. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired December 12, 2022 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:30:00]
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KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Beijing, many businesses are closed. Restaurants that are open are deserted. And some of the biggest crowds have been outside pharmacies and COVID-19 testing booths.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (through translation): It's better to just protect yourself. Cover yourselves. And don't let the elderly go out too much. That's all.
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STOUT: Residents are wary of an exit wave over a flare-up or infection.
One factor here is China's low infection rate, especially among the elderly. For the most at-risk group, over 80 age group, only 40 percent have received booster shots as of December 1. That's according to official data.
And another factor, just not enough medical capacity in China. While the U.S. has 25 critical care beds per 100,000 people, according to the Organization for Cooperation Development, China has fewer than four for the same number.
Last Wednesday, China dropped most of its strict zero-COVID curves following protests against the hardline policy. Mass testing has been rolled back and some people are allowed to quarantine at home.
And today, China announced it will eliminate one of its digital track and trace services. Now, other systems, though, including the health Q.R. code, remain in place.
As China slowly lets go of its top pandemic policy, one of the top disease experts is warning of a surge in cases.
In an interview with state news agency over the weekend, Jo Nanan (ph) called for an intensified COVID-19 booster drive, especially as China's spring festival travel season nears.
He says this, quote, "Preparations need to be beefed up. I suggest those planning to travel back home get a booster shot so that, even with COVID-19 infection, they don't become seriously ill," unquote.
Jo Nanan (ph) added that Omicron's fatality rate is in line with the flu, effectively downplaying the risks of COVID-19 as restrictions slowly ease across China.
Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Our thanks to Kristie.
The body of American journalist who died while reporting from the World Cup has now been flown back to the U.S.
Witnesses say Grant Wahl collapsed while covering Friday's Argentina- Netherlands match. He was just 49 years old. Tributes continue to pour in for the pioneer of U.S. soccer journalism.
This from Secretary of State Tony Blinken, saying in a statement today, "I so appreciated Grant Wahl whose writing captured not only essence of the beautiful game but also the world around it."
CNN's Don Riddell joins live from Qatar.
And Don, you wrote a touching piece for CNN.com on Wahl and your reaction to his sudden passing.
Do we know how he died or a cause of death?
DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR, "WORLD SPORT": No, we don't know that yet, Ana. obviously, we do know that Grant's remains have been repatriated to the U.S. I understand they're arrived back home at roughly 8:30 this morning, accompanied by an official from the U.S. embassy in Doha.
But we don't have further details. We do know that an autopsy is planned at some point.
And really all we have to go on at this point is what Grant Wahl himself said about his health in the days before his passing.
That he had been struggling with bronchitis or a similar condition, that he had felt a tightening of the chest, that he had been a workaholic and burning the candle at both ends for what is a really entertaining and exciting tournament to cover, but it can be a grueling one as well.
So, those are really the only details that we have. Hopefully, we'll get something more official soon.
CABRERA: Talk to us about your personal experiences with Wahl. It's been interesting to see the outpouring of support and love and admiration. It's been tremendous.
RIDDELL: Yes. I mean, if only people said those things about us when we were still alive, how nice that would be.
I mean, it's been an absolute tsunami of wonderful, wonderful tributes that have been painted of Grant Wahl.
I knew him over the years. He and I directed fairly regularly on CNN and with my show. He sat here, literally, right next to me, as you can see in the image, just a couple weeks ago after we attended the same Thanksgiving lunch here in Doha.
You know, he was an extraordinary journalist. Absolutely fearless. He wasn't one of those sportswriters that just wrote about the scores. He really wanted to understand the stories and the people and what it all meant on a much bigger scale.
And he was also very, very good at shining bright lights on the murkier aspects of professional sport. And he was no fan of FIFA. And he worked tirelessly to expose the corruption within the football's world governing body.
You know, he touched so many people. We've heard the tributes. One of them coming from LeBron James. Because it was Grant Wahl who helped introduce LeBron to the world with his "Sports Illustrated" cover story with the headline, "The Chosen One."
Back then, LeBron James was just a high school junior. Nobody had heard of him. Grant Wahl was the one, the man who broke the story.
[13:35:02]
And LeBron has been tweeting, saying: "Grant made a huge impact on me and my family. So appreciative of you. A great person and a great journalist."
And that is the kind of thing we're hearing from so many people, just what a great man he was, how kind and caring. He went out of his way to help other journalists when they were getting started or if they were looking for a story or a way in. He was that guy.
CNN has today spoken with another journalist, the European football writer, Guillem Balague. He was actually rooming with Grant Wahl here in Doha.
Here's what he had to say.
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GUILLEM BALAGUE, SPORTS JOURNALIST & SHARED HOUSE WITH WAHL IN DOHA: In the states, I know they've been trying and trying to make it an interesting world that people can come in and consume and watch games.
But you always need someone to tell the story. And Grant managed to put it into, I was going to say three dimensions, but it's like five dimensions, all the dimensions possible. So you had the voice of the person, you have the story behind, you had the politics behind.
He challenged authority. Makes his work to go well beyond the game, well beyond the game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIDDELL: And that's Guillem Balague speaking with my colleague, Amanda Davies, a few hours ago.
And that was in reference to the fact that Grant Wahl was the biggest cheerleader for the growth of soccer in the United States long before it was fashionable to be a football fan, a soccer fan in America.
Grant Wahl was that man. And he really promoted it to the rest of the world. And that is why the game is in such a huge debt to him.
CABRERA: He is an incredible individual. What a tremendous impact he's had on the sports world in particular. Our hearts are with his family.
Don Riddell, thank you so much for sharing all of that.
RIDDELL: All right.
CABRERA: A much lighter story from the sports world. It was a game where so-called "Mr. Irrelevant" took on the greatest of all time and won big.
Brock Purdy was the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft. That's how he got the "Mr. Irrelevant" nickname.
But the 49ers; main quarterback was out with an injury yesterday, so Purdy got his first start against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers.
You know, the Tom Brady he grew up watching win all of those Super Bowls and who had invited a bunch of friends and family to the game because he's from the San Francisco area.
But this game and this moment were all Purdy. He threw for a couple of touchdowns. He ran for another. He led the Niners to a 35-7 Buccaneer blowout.
And do you think his dad was proud? Check it out. The cameras got proud papa wiping away a tear. I don't think -- yes, you know, something in his eye. I don't think anyone can call Brock Purdy irrelevant anymore.
'Tis the season to be -- brawling? An L.A. city councilman who is already involved in a racist hate scandal gets into a fight with an activist in front of children at a holiday event.
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(SHOUTING)
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CABRERA: Welcome back. The Los Angeles city council is in the midst of another controversy with embattled councilmember, Kevin De Leon, facing more criticism.
Because of this. Dramatic video shows De Leon in a fight with a community activist at a holiday tree-lighting celebration. Earlier this year, he faced calls to resign after a leaked audio reveals De Leon and other councilmembers making racist comments.
CNN's Nick Watt joins us now with more.
What can you tell us, Nick, about this crazy video?
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, that video is now with the LAPD. So we'll see what they make of it.
I mean, what this really speaks are the political divisions here in Los Angeles. Here, it's not so much left versus right, red versus blue. There are some real division on the left, amongst the left, some real racial tensions. That's what was playing out here.
Listen, this was a tree-lighting ceremony, more than 100 kids present, and adults behaving badly.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Resign, Kevin!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Resign, Kevin!
WATT (voice-over): Kevin De Leon is wearing the Santa hat, a wounded lion of L.A. politics. Green jacket, that's Jason Reedy, community activist.
JASON REEDY, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST: You're a racist! You're a racist!
WATT: And then a quick descent into foulmouthed face-off.
(SHOUTING)
(EXPLETIVE DELETED)
WATT: The Santa hat fools, this was a holiday party.
OK, there is back story here. In October, some year-old audio leaked. City council president, Lori Martinez, talking about a fellow councilmember and his kid.
LORI MARTINEZ, (D), LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT: There's nothing you can do to control him. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WATT: Translation, "little monkey."
MARTINEZ: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(CHANTING)
WATT: She apologized and later resigned.
On that tape, she also said Councilman Mike Bonin uses his son like an accessory. De Leon appeared to agree, made a joke.
RON HERRERA, (D), LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCILMEMBER: They used to have those statues in the plantations, didn't they?
(CROSSTALK)
[13:45:00]
KEVIN DE LEON, (D), LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCILMEMBER: And when Nury brings her Goyard bag or the Louis Vuitton bag. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
WATT: Officially censored, De Leon has been laying very low, clinging hard to power, expressing regrets, but refusing to resign.
De Leon is high profile. Took a tilt at the L.A. mayor's job this year. Served as president pro-tem of the State Senate. Ran in a primary for a U.S. Senate seat. Well enough known to go by an acronym, KDL.
He claims Jason Reedy was the aggressor. "Reedy launched a pelvic thrust followed by a headbutt to my forehead," De Leon said in a statement Saturday. "My response, in defense of myself, was to push him off of me."
Reedy gave this video to the LAPD. We're waiting on comment from police.
"Reedy did not initiate physical contact with anyone," his lawyer told CNN. "Not only has Kevin De Leon lost all political legitimacy, but his claims he was the one attacked here simply underscores how he's lost touch with reality."
While appearing to grab hold of the constituent.
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WATT: Now, this all comes at a historic time in Los Angeles. We just had our first woman, our first woman of color, sworn in as mayor of the city, Karen Bass.
And this morning, before she went to city hall, she says she declared homelessness here a state of emergency.
That is the big political issue she has to deal with. She is basically staking her reputation on it. It will be a tough job that requires collaboration, cooperation amongst the city's politicians.
So, really, the last thing she needs right now is something like this, wrestling --
CABRERA: Yes. Yes.
WATT: -- between politicians and people -- Ana?
CABRERA: A side show. Let the work get under way.
Thank you, Nick Watt.
Forget spilling the tea. Is the whole world or the whole pot about to boil over? A trailer for the next three episodes of "Harry & Meghan just dropped and a few jaws, too.
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PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: They were happy to lie to protect my brother but they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The rogue royals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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CABRERA: New footage, more interviews and fresh accusations. A second round of episodes in the Meghan and Harry docuseries is dropping and we're getting an early look at what is to come.
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PRINCE HARRY: Only the freedom fight.
To see this institutional gaslighting.
MEGHAN, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: I wasn't being thrown to the wolves. I was being fed to the wolves.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were actively recruiting people to disseminate disinformation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Royal editor at "Hello!" magazine, Emily Nash, joins us.
Emily, we just heard Meghan say there she was fed to the of wolves before leaving Britain. Remind us of all that she went through. What is she talking about?
EMILY NASH, ROYAL EDITOR, "HELLO!" MAGAZINE: Well, it's a huge moment for the U.K. to hear this coming from Meghan, that she was fed to the wolves. Of course, this follows accusation from both Harry and Meghan people
were leaking stories about them, people within the royal households or within the palace, leaking stories about them to the media.
I really would like to know more about this, and what evidence that they have, because it's a hugely serious accusation to make.
But we know that Meghan, throughout this, did not feel protected. It's a theme she raised with Oprah Winfrey and it's one that's clearly coming out again this week.
CABRERA: Speaking of accusations, I want to play another clip from the new trailer that just dropped. Watch.
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PRINCE HARRY: They were happy to lie to protect my brother but they were never willing to tell the truth to protect us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Who is "they?" And what lies do you think he's referring to here?
NASH: There has been a bit of mystery about who "they" might be.
Today, we've seen two trailers issued by Netflix. One of them has Harry saying what we just heard him say. Another has subtitles, which, instead of just saying "they," replaces it with "British media."
I think the suggestion is he's accusing the media of, you know, working against them, I suppose.
I think it's going to be absolutely fascinating and very uncomfortable viewing for the palace.
CABRERA: When he says they were willing to lie for my brother, any thoughts on what he's referring to specifically?
NASH: I can't think of a specific thing it might be referring to. But the suggestion is he hasn't been treated equally or fairly.
And there's, again, this idea that he and Meghan were not being protected and were in some way, you know, being thrown to the wolves, as Meghan likes to say. Not looked after.
Now, I'm sure that is going to be disputed by people who work within their teams, who, you know, did work very hard for them.
It's going to be very interesting to see what level of detail they're go to.
CABRERA: As you were just talking, we were looking at a compilation of different pictures of the two brothers together. I many of them, they seem to have this real nice connection. This docuseries we know was filmed in August. This was before the
queen's death. And so we saw the royal family get together for the funeral. And, during this time, I personally wonder, is this an opportunity for them to sort of make up?
Do we know what Harry's current relationship is like with his family now?
[13:55:02]
NASH: I think it's not in a good place. And I think that, although there was a fantastic show of unity during the funeral, things didn't repair over that short period of time.
I think these new allegations, accusations being made are going to worsen that relationship. Unfortunately, it's incredibly sad.
CABRERA: We all know we will be watching the next few episodes.
Thank you, Emily Nash, for joining us today. Appreciate your time.
NASH: Thank you.
CABRERA: And that does it for us today. Thank you so much for joining us. See you tomorrow, same time, same place.
The news continues next with Victor and Bianna right after a quick break. Stay right here.
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