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Memphis Police Permanently Disband SCORPION Unit; Israel Proposes New Measures To "Fight Terrorism"; Ukraine Asking For U.S. ATACMS Long-Range Missiles; Dovhenke Residents Return To Ghost Town After Russian Retreat; Peru's Congress Rejects Motion To Hold Election In December; Over 13 Million Under Winter Weather Alert; House Republicans Launch COVID-19 Investigation. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired January 29, 2023 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM --
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KINKADE (voice-over): -- calls for justice and cities across the U.S. after the brutal beating of Tyre Nichols. Now the controversial police unit linked to his death has been dismantled.
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KINKADE (voice-over): Israeli-Palestinian tensions soaring. Now Israel's prime minister is outlining a new plan.
And New Zealand's most populous city begins to recover after devastating and deadly flooding.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.
KINKADE: The Memphis Police Department has announced the permanent end to the special anticrime unit known as SCORPION. The move comes one day after the city released police videos of five officers fatally beating Tyre Nichols on January 27th.
Police have confirmed all of the officers were with the special unit. Some of the images you are about to see maybe disturbing.
SCORPION was created over a year ago in response to rising homicides and violent crime. But why the officers targeted Nichols that night is unclear. Nichols, who was unarmed, was compliant.
Yet the video showed even while restrained, Nichols was repeatedly kicked, punched and struck without apparent provocation. Steve Cohen, a Memphis congressman, spoke earlier with CNN and said he
was disturbed that no other officers intervened. Take a listen.
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REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN): There were at least four other officers on the scene that stood around and did nothing. The duty to render aid is a major part of a police officer's job to protect and serve. And those officers did not do that.
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KINKADE: Well, for the latest, here's CNN's Shimon Prokupecz in Memphis. A warning: some of the images in his report are graphic.
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SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: A significant move here by the Memphis Police Department. The police chief announcing that they are disbanding the SCORPION unit.
This is the unit that the five former officers were a part of. Their tactics have been called into question. Of course, we saw their aggressive moves when they pulled over Tyre Nichols.
And when it was learned that these five officers were part of that SCORPION unit, many of the community members and of course, Nichols' family all came out asking that the police chief disband this unit.
Now what this unit does is that they drive around in unmarked cars aggressively fighting crime and some of their tactics have come into question.
And because of the concerns raised by the community, the police chief said that she met with officers in that unit.
And they all decided that, in the interest of trying to heal the wounds here and try and help some of the work that the police department and the community knows they are going to need to do to try and win back the respect, she is going to disband it. And then we will see what happens.
You know, certainly there is a lot more work here to do as this investigation continues -- Shimon Prokupecz, CNN, Memphis, Tennessee.
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KINKADE: Well, attorney Ben Crump, who represents Nichols' parents, says he's also concerned that no other officer present that night intervened. Speaking to CNN, Crump said prosecutors may yet decide to charge those other officers as well.
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BENJAMIN CRUMP, ATTORNEY: We do think there was some other officers there that should have been charged, not just these five, because they definitely should have been charged. But we think the other officers there, how heartbreaking was it when he was handcuffed there on the ground, moaning.
And everybody was walking around so nonchalantly, as if, this is just business as usual.
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KINKADE: Well, last hour, we spoke with civil rights attorney Areva Martin, about the uncommon speed both the city and police department have moved in the aftermath of Nichols' brutal death.
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AREVA MARTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think they acted in a fashion that is quicker than what we have typically seen in these cases, to, one, fire the officers involved --
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MARTIN: -- charge them with very serious charges, second degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated assault.
But I think there is still so much we do not know about the case. I am disturbed by the police chief's refusal to come before a press conference to answer questions. I know she sat down with our colleague, Don Lemon, to give a interview.
But we have not seen the police chief. We have not been able to ask her questions. The public has been unable to ask critical questions. And we are hearing from citizens on the ground in Memphis that there was problems with the SCORPION unit well before their attack on Mr. Nichols.
Many citizens came forward and complained about their aggressive tactics and those complaints were for the most part ignored.
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KINKADE: Well, the five officers are expected to be arraigned February 17th.
Across the U.S., peaceful protesters poured into the streets, demanding justice for Tyre Nichols. In cities like Atlanta and New York, they have made their voices heard by chanting slogans against police violence and waving signs that call for accountability.
Demonstrators say the marches will continue until their demands are met.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So we are out here to fight and call for justice once again and continuously because the work did not stop in 2020, in 2021 or in 2022. We are still here and we are still fighting so justice is done. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: In the city where the beating took place, there was a unique march to honor Tyre Nichols' passion for skateboarding. Rapper NLE Choppa called on supporters to skate through the streets of Memphis on Saturday, something Nichols loved doing since he was 6 years old.
Israel's prime minister announced new proposals to fight what he calls terrorism. Benjamin Netanyahu says the measures are in response to a pair of shootings in Jerusalem that left seven dead and five wounded over the weekend. Hadas Gold has more on the violence that has rattled the area.
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HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two shooting attacks rocked Jerusalem this weekend, just 15 hours apart, in what Israeli officials are calling one of the worst terrorist attacks in recent memory.
Saturday morning, police say a 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot and injured two men just outside the Old City before being shot and injured himself.
Then the previous evening, at a synagogue in Northeast Jerusalem, after Shabbat services, authorities say a 21-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem began shooting worshippers as they left, killing seven, including 14-year-old Asher Natan, and injuring three more before fleeing by car. Minutes later, he was shot and killed by police.
DEAN ELSDUNNE, ISRAELI POLICE INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON: This is a significant rise in the level of terror that we have seen and it marks a heinous attack on the holy Sabbath day.
GOLD (voice-over): The shooting celebrated in parts of the Palestinian Territories coming after what became the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in over a year.
An unusual daylight raid by the Israeli military on Thursday in the occupied West Bank targeting members of the Islamic Jihad. The Israeli military said they were planning an imminent attack. The ensuing firefight killing nine, among them militants but also a woman in her 60s, according to the Palestinian health authorities.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): (INAUDIBLE) the truth. She opened the window to look over to check what is going on. A bullet hit her here in her neck. The bullet hit the wall and the TV screen.
GOLD (voice-over): The Palestinian Authority calling the raid a massacre, announcing they were severing security coordinations with Israel as a result.
And then rockets, launched by militants in Gaza toward Israel, Israel responding with airstrikes, although no injuries were reported on either side. The past few days, a major test for the recently installed government, under Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, under pressure from his right-wing cabinet to respond with force.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): I will bring to the cabinet additional measures to fight terrorism. This includes significantly speeding up and expanding gun licensing for licensed citizens. As we have seen time and time again, including this morning, this thing saves lives.
GOLD (voice-over): International condemnations and sympathies poured in, including by President Joe Biden as U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken prepares to make a preplanned trip to the region, where his meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leadership under even higher stakes -- Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.
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KINKADE: The U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken's three-day trip to the Middle East begins today. His first stop will be Egypt, where he's scheduled to meet with the country's leader, Abdel Fattah el- Sisi. Then he will make highly anticipated trips to Israel and the West Bank.
This will be his first time in Israel since a far-right coalition government led by Netanyahu came into power. I want to bring in journalist Elliott Gotkine, who is live for us from Jerusalem.
Good to see you. I want to start first with Netanyahu's response to this wave of violence in Jerusalem.
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KINKADE: Will it bring calm or could it further escalate the situation?
Take us through the plan.
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The plan is designed necessarily to bring calm. First and foremost, in the words of the prime minister, it's designed to show that there is a price to be paid for what he describes as terrorism.
So in terms of the points, we have a little bit of a snippet there from Hadas' report. But there were six points in total that the security cabinet outlined at the end of the Jewish Sabbath yesterday.
First of all, the home of the attacker from Friday night, the Palestinian gunman who killed seven by the synagogue, so that will be sealed immediately ahead of its demolition. Now it's already been sealed. The Israeli police confirmed this morning.
National insurance rights and additional benefits of families of militants that support terrorism will be revoked, they say.
There'll also be legislation to discuss the revocation of Israeli identity cards of families of attackers that support terrorism.
Again, in the words of the security cabinet, they say that firearm licensing, as we heard in Hadas' report, will be expedited and expanded.
You'll recall that the 13-year-old boy, the Palestinian boy that attacked people in Israelis on Saturday in Jerusalem, that it was the civilians themselves in that group that was attacked that responded, because two of them were carrying licensed weapons.
Another point was that in response to these attacks, they say that they're going to be strengthening settlements. Now it's a bit vague. They haven't gone into specifics. But we'll be expecting more details in the coming days perhaps.
Finally, reinforcing military and police units, expanding arrests and focused operations to collect illegal weapons is also going to be carried out.
So those are the main six points announced by the security cabinet yesterday evening. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ahead of those discussions, outlined the reasons why they were going ahead with these things.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): Our response will be strong, swift and precise. Whoever tries to harm us, we will harm them and everyone who assists them. We've already carried out widespread arrests of those who support and assist and incite terrorism.
We are deploying forces, we are reinforcing units and we are doing this in various sectors.
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GOTKINE: And there's been more violence overnight as well. There was an attempted attack by a settlement near the Dead Sea, where the gunman's gun malfunctioned, apparently, according to the Israeli army.
Also, there was an attempted infiltration of a settlement in Kadumim (ph), which is in the north of the West Bank. That attacker was killed by the security patrol there.
And we're also hearing from Palestinian officials in the West Bank, saying that dozens of settlers went on a kind of rampage, setting fire to cars and, in one case, a home caught fire after the car that was set alight, the flames then spread to the home. So a lot of property damage there. That's according to Palestinian officials.
And so, on the eve, effectively, of U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken's visit to Israel and the West Bank, clearly this is showing signs of the situation just escalating, more violence.
And no doubt this will be on the agenda between secretary of state Antony Blinken and Israeli officials, both with the Israeli officials and with Palestinian officials, as well. Lynda.
KINKADE: And we will be following that trip very closely in the coming days. Elliott Gotkine, good to have you with us. Thanks so much.
We are following three major stories in Iran: a massive fire at a oil refinery, an explosion at a military plant and an earthquake.
The fire happened at a refinery near the city of Tabriz on Saturday. Just moments ago, we learned the fire has been put out. One firefighter was treated for smoke inhalation. State media says the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Meantime, Iran's defense ministry says a explosion at a military plant in the city of Isfahan was caused by small drones. State media say there was no casualties reported and only minor damage occurred to the roof of the complex. Still no clarity yet on what or who was behind the attack.
And in northwestern Iran, at least three are reported dead and 816 injured after an earthquake hit the city of Hoy (ph). That is according to state media. Saturday's 5.9 magnitude quake was so strong, it was felt across several nearby cities.
A Ukrainian village liberated from Russian troops doesn't feel like home for its residents anymore. Still ahead, why the area remains a ghost town, even the Russian forces are gone.
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KINKADE: Plus, New Zealand residents assess the damage and begin the cleanup from heavy rain and storms and flooding. We'll have the details later this hour.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
Ukraine is taking Russian artillery fire in the east just as it works to get more firepower to fight back. An official said on Saturday that Russia had unleashed artillery attacks on the town of Vuhledar, launching close to 300 strikes over the last day.
Ukraine is concerned that town could be a springboard for future Russian advances if it is captured.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is in talks with Western allies about getting U.S. long-range missiles. The so-called ATACMS system would enable Ukraine to hit Russia's logistical bases behind the front lines. But Washington is still reluctant to send it because of concerns Ukraine could use it to hit targets inside Russia.
For more, Barbie Nadeau joins us from Rome.
Good to have you with us, Barbie. So Ukraine wants these tactical longer-range missiles. [04:20:00]
KINKADE: He's calling them vital. At this point, the U.S. won't go that far, fearing that it could escalate the situation.
BARBIE NADEAU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. You know, Ukraine is saying that basically Russia is going to have this very aggressive spring offensive. And they're trying to use that as a motivation to get more allies to sort of help them beef up their military capabilities.
These long-range missiles are a key part of that. Let's listen to what President Zelenskyy had to say about this.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): It would be possible to stop this Russian terror if we can provide our military with relevant missile power so that terrorists do not feel impunity.
Ukraine needs long-range missiles in particular to remove this option for invaders to destroy Ukrainian cities using missile launchers deployed far from the front line.
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NADEAU: And you know, these missiles have about four times the capability of anything in Ukraine's arsenal right now. Now Washington, of course, saying that it could lead to Ukraine using them to attack inside Russian territory.
But Zelenskyy saying that he instead believes they would be a deterrent that could perhaps hold Russia back a little bit in these relentless attacks.
KINKADE: And tell us a little bit more about the fierce battles in the east, particularly this town that has been pounded in recent days by Russia.
Why is it strategically important?
NADEAU: Well, you know, a lot of military analysts say that it's not so much that this is a strategically important town as much as it is a way to engage a Ukraine military and to keep them from being stronger elsewhere, perhaps in the north, where some attacks may be going on.
Of course, the front line is several hundred miles long. So it's a very difficult thing for the Ukrainian military, especially when they don't have all the equipment they say they need to protect it. But a lot of these analysts are saying that this is really just a way for Russia to engage these troops to keep them busy while they attack elsewhere. Lynda.
KINKADE: Barbie Nadeau for us. Good to have you across the story. Thanks so much. Well, meanwhile, residents in some eastern communities are struggling
to rebuild months after a Russian retreat. CNN went to a village the Russians fled months ago that's still practically a ghost town. As our Ben Wedeman reports, its people have next to nothing to come back. To.
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BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): War passed through the village of Dovhenke and left desolation in its wake. It once was a quiet farming village, home to a few hundred souls. Then the Russians came.
They moved into houses; their uniforms, their boots, their boxes of rations strewn among the rubble. They moved into the school and the community social center. And all over town, Russia's once-mighty war machines reduced to rusting hulks.
A now headless statue stands atop a scarred monument commemorating the dead from the Second World War.
WEDEMAN: The Russians were driven out of this village in autumn of last year but barely a home, barely a structure is intact. It's going to be a long time before anyone can move back here.
WEDEMAN (voice-over): Or so we thought. We stumbled across a handful of residents, struggling to resume a pale shadow of their past lives.
"There was no roof," says Mikhailo (ph). "We had to rebuild it with our own hands and with the help of volunteers."
A missile landed directly on his well.
Anatoly (ph) was the last to leave before the Russians came. Since returning, he's scavenged scraps left behind to build a tractor.
"Even when spring comes, we won't be able to plant anything," says Anatoly (ph). "We have nothing to work with and the fields are full of the mines. There will be no harvest this year."
"It's like the end of the world," says Tamila (ph).
Before the war, she and her husband had a new home built next door for their daughter. It was destroyed.
"There were farmers working here," she says. "Kids were going to school, grandmothers were walking around. Now it's like one big graveyard."
Where the dreams of the past lie buried in the ruins.
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WEDEMAN (voice-over): Ben Wedeman, CNN, Dovhenke, Eastern Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KINKADE: Well, Finland's foreign minister says he does not expect progress on his country or Sweden's NATO membership bids before elections in Turkiye in May. But he says he believes both nations are on course to eventually join the military alliance, according to Finnish media.
The statement comes days after Ankara called for the postponement of a three-way meeting in February involving Turkiye, Sweden and Finland.
Turkish-Swedish relations suffered a major blow earlier this month after Stockholm police authorized a protest outside of the Turkish embassy, where a far right politician burned a copy of the Quran.
The incident sparked anger in Turkiye, where protesters set fire to the Swedish flag outside the Swedish embassy. Well, Turkiye has threatened to reject Finland's and Sweden's bids to join NATO, saying the Nordic countries harbor members of a military Kurdish separatist party which it views as a terrorist organization.
In light of all that, Turkiye's foreign minister has issued a travel warning for its citizens, traveling or living in Europe, citing an increase in anti-Islamic, xenophobic and racist actions.
The warning reads in part, "Be cautious, stay away from areas where demonstrations may intensify. Act calm against possible xenophobic and racist harassment and attacks."
Still ahead this hour, Donald Trump hits the campaign trail for the first time since announcing his latest presidential bid. We'll have details on his new message to voters. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
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KINKADE: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Former president Donald Trump has pledged that his 2024 presidential campaign will focus on the future. He announced his strategy as he visited supporters in South Carolina and unveiled his campaign leadership team for the state.
Earlier, he was in New Hampshire, holding his first campaign event, since announcing his presidential bid back in November.
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DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: They said, he's not campaigning. This is like about a month ago when I announced. Well, I said, you know, I've got two years. They said, he's not doing rallies. He's not campaigning. Maybe he's lost that step. I'm more angry now and I'm more committed now than I ever was.
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KINKADE: Well, Trump's visit to New Hampshire comes as he trails Florida governor Ron DeSantis in the state's Republican primary polls. Right now, he's in second place with 30 percent.
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KINKADE (voice-over): This was the scene in Lima, Peru, on Saturday, as police and protesters clashed in the streets. One person died during the demonstrations, bringing the protest-related death toll to 58.
Meanwhile Peru's congress rejected a motion for a presidential vote in December. Demonstrators have been demanding new elections since unrest began last December, when the former president was removed.
His successor, Dina Boluarte, expressed regret at the failure to pass the motion. Protesters have been calling for her resignation for weeks. So far, she has refused.
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KINKADE: Well, let's get more now on this developing story. For that, we turn to Stefano Pozzebon.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Confrontations between demonstrators and the police continue in Lima as thousands took to the streets, calling for the resignation of president Dina Boluarte.
Early Saturday Boluarte expressed regret, that the initiative she endorsed to hold early January elections before the end of the year did not receive enough support to go through the congress.
Lawmakers will discuss the motion again on Monday, with the hope that, going to the polls will broker a truce with the demonstrators, that have been voicing their demands for almost two months.
The weeks of unrest have inflicted damage on Peru's economy, particularly in the regions of the Amazon and the Andean Mountain range, where communities are isolated by roadblocks set up by the demonstrators.
With fewer products reaching markets, more people are going through other channels to get fed.
JENNY VILCHEZ, FARMER (through translator): Our soup kitchens have started from the first days of the strike. We have started cooking for 100, 200 and so on and now we cook for 500, 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 people.
POZZEBON (voice-over): According to the government, these protests have already caused over $1 billion in losses due to blocked roads and damages to infrastructure across the nation -- for CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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KINKADE: In the Czech Republic, former army chief and retired NATO general Petr Pavel has won the presidential election. He won over 58 percent of the votes, defeating billionaire and former prime minister Andrej Babis.
Pavel, a social liberal, had campaigned as an independent. He backs keeping the Czech Republic firmly in the European Union and NATO and supports continued aid to Ukraine.
In his victory speech, Pavel thanked his supporters and promised to bridge the country's political differences.
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PETR PAVEL, PRESIDENT-ELECT, CZECH REPUBLIC (through translator): Thank you very much. I would like to thank not only those who voted for me but I would also like to thank those who did not vote for me but who came out to vote, because --
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PAVEL (through translator): -- because it's clear that they care about this democracy and what happens in this country.
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KINKADE: Pavel will take office in March.
And some news just coming into CNN. British prime minister Rishi Sunak has sacked Conservative Party chair Nadhim Zahawi. This comes after the completion of an independent investigation into Zahawi's personal finances.
The inquiry revealed what is described as a, quote, "serious breach of the ministerial code." That's according to a letter from the prime minister's office shared with CNN.
Well, in the U.S., more than 18 million people are under winter weather alerts as dangerously cold air and gusty winds move into the Northern Plains and the Upper Midwest and snow spreads from the Cascades to the Rockies and into the Great Lakes region.
On top of that, the coldest temperatures since that record-breaking freeze at Christmas are already causing traffic chaos.
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KINKADE: Officials in Wisconsin believe snow, ice and whiteout conditions were a factor in a massive 85-car pileup on Friday. At least 21 people were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
In New Zealand, people are facing a tremendous cleanup and recovery after torrential rains caused widespread flooding in Auckland. The death toll has now risen from three to four.
Auckland airport resumed international flights earlier today, while the heavy rains have now eased for now. More wet weather is expected in the coming days. Isobel Ewing reports.
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ISOBEL EWING, NEWSHUB CORRESPONDENT: Well, the situation here in Auckland is simply an enormous cleanup job and what's expected to be an historic number of wet weather insurance claims. Thousands of people without their homes.
Now there have been three deaths across Auckland as a result of the floods. One was a young man, kayaking in the floodwaters, who was swept into a storm water drain. And one was a man living in this house, you can see, behind me.
A landslide came down while he was inside and his body was found on Saturday. The house was shifted off of its foundations and tilted forward.
Now landslides have been replicated like this across the region. There have been 5,000 homes being assessed for damage from floods and landslides. And what's simply staggering about this whole event is just the magnitude and the extent of the damage and the severity of the weather.
We've had four months of rain in just a few hours. It's the most rain, the biggest rain event ever recorded in Auckland.
Now for Mayor Wayne Brown, who has been in office since October, this has been the first big test for him and one that many believe he has not passed. He's been under fire for a lack of communication from official channels while the emergency was unfolding on Friday night.
People were swimming out of their homes, cars were floating, people were being evacuated and a state of emergency wasn't announced. It was only declared at 10:20, late on Friday night. And that's when the central government support could be triggered.
Now this has left huge questions over the preparedness of the region for an event like this. Auckland airport is back up and running. Mostly, it's still quite chaotic. That since there was torrential rain and high winds on Friday that caused a plane, a pilot to lose control, taking out six of the runway lights. Now that caused massive delays.
Now international arrivals and departures have resumed. But there is still ongoing delays at that airport.
Now as for the weather, you may be able to notice the wind here is picking up. We have just received a civil defense alert warning, telling people to stay indoors. There is more heavy rain coming overnight. Some reprieve on Monday but another serious weather event coming through on Tuesday and Wednesday.
And that is going to seriously hamper the cleanup efforts and also, the concern is, cause more landslides around the region.
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KINKADE: Isobel Ewing there.
Well, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy taps conspiracy theory advocate Marjorie Taylor Greene to investigate the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. We'll talk to an expert about the implications of that when we come back.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
House Republicans are making good on their promise to investigate the response to the COVID pandemic. Earlier this week, new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced the formation of a select subcommittee to get answers to the origins of the coronavirus.
He also wants it to investigate what McCarthy calls, quote, "The federal government's gain of function research that contributed to the pandemic."
Gain of function refers to altering viruses in a laboratory to learn more about how viruses infect and impact humans. But doing so could make them more infectious or more virulent.
Now among those on the committee, Democratic (sic) representative from Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene. Her personal Twitter account was permanently suspended at the beginning of the year for spreading misinformation about COVID.
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KINKADE: Well, I'm joined now by Dr. Scott Miscovich. He's the president and CEO of Premier Medical Group USA and a national consultant for COVID-19 testing. Dr. Miscovich joins us now from Hawaii.
Good to have you with us.
DR. SCOTT MISCOVICH, FAMILY PHYSICIAN AND NATIONAL CONSULTANT: Thank you and how are you today?
KINKADE: Pretty well, pretty well. So I want to look at this committee, which obviously was created by the Republicans to look at the Biden response. I want to start with some of the people on the committee, because, obviously, there are some doctors on this committee. But there's also some COVID conspiracists, like the lawmaker Marjorie
Taylor Greene from Georgia, where I am right now. She was banned from Twitter for spreading disinformation about COVID. She claimed the Omicron variant was a Democratic host -- hoax and she said that the vaccines don't work on numerous occasions.
What do you make of the fact that there's someone like that on this investigating committee?
MISCOVICH: It's very concerning, because she clearly is the extreme messenger that our country hears a lot. And she's feeding these individuals that believe in these conspiracies.
Now we totally believe that this type of messaging causes Americans to lose lives. It causes them to lose faith in things like the vaccinations, which have just saved lives in the medical studies across the United States and the world have left no doubt.
And so, the other thing that she will do is continue to foment dissension for other things that are working, whether it's the medications that we use, the antivirals that we use, even wearing masks or other things that, you know, we know save lives.
It really is a dangerous time. Yet at the same time, this is payback probably for, you know, the fact that the Democratic controlled legislature had a committee that finished in December. And they were feeling they probably want some retribution.
KINKADE: Yes, it seems that that may be the case, given she's not the only conspiracist on this committee. There's also Ronny Jackson, a former physician to both Trump and Obama, who also claimed that the Omicron COVID-19 variant was a Democratic hoax.
Does it do a disservice to the cause?
And what concerns do the medical community have about these hearings potentially sowing more doubt?
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MISCOVICH: Well, we have concern and we try to look to see that some of these members, I think we have three physicians on the panel, we hope that their medical ethics -- and two of them have long-term military careers, including Ronny Jackson, who's a rear admiral, with 25 years as an emergency physician.
But, right now, I think we're looking at still saving lives. That is the key. And then we're moving forward as COVID has lessened in the United States but not over. We're looking for proper preparation for addressing future pandemics.
And if all we're doing at this stage is talking about conspiracy theories and not focusing on the bipartisan problems that we know existed throughout the United States, we're missing what America needs right now moving forward. We're missing what the world needs right now, is for us to assume a
role of leadership and to have proper communication with other governments and also coordinate within our country the messaging that needs to be coordinated.
KINKADE: And are there concerns, Dr. Miscovich, that this could impact, in real terms, the uptake of COVID booster shots?
MISCOVICH: Oh, absolutely. You know, right now, we are in a position where, if you look at the major countries that are offering boosters, that are wealthy countries with solid medical systems, we're dreadful. We're, you know, we're in the 70s at best with our ranking.
And we still need these boosters, because, as we now know, obviously, the new variant that is spreading across the country still can cause deaths.
And where are the deaths occurring?
In our nursing home communities, in our senior citizens and those at risk. So right now, besides that, the other thing it will cause is just no Americans, it seems like anymore, are even thinking about wearing masks when we still know that this is the recommendation if you are at risk.
So very concerned about booster uptake and the basic messaging that we have tried to give to the American people for safety.
KINKADE: Dr. Miscovich, we're almost four years into -- since this pandemic was announced, was declared a pandemic.
What more do you think we can learn about the origins of this virus?
MISCOVICH: Wow, you know, at this stage, you know, we've all heard the conspiracy theories of the lab leak. But at this point, Lynda, let me be point-blank. We're going to have other pandemics. We will have future pandemics.
And the origin of the pandemic at this stage, certainly, let's follow it, let's talk about what we can do. But it's all about preparation. There will be future respiratory pandemics. We can learn back in history of similar pandemics that occurred when these labs didn't exist, you know, back right at the turn of the century.
We now know that there was likely another coronavirus that was very parallel. And there will be other viruses that will happen from, you know, the animal-to-human spread that won't be coming in labs, that we have seen across the world.
So you know, we need to focus on it, prepare for the next pandemic. Get the United States to get a good information system, so all of our states and counties talk to each other.
Coordinate the world, so that we're all on the same page, so that, unlike this last pandemic, the messaging kind of leaked out across the world, let's get it. And, finally, let's find a way to get every person on the planet, in
the United States, the necessary treatment instead of, you know, the bias that has been, where people in second world countries or third world countries have less access to care. We need to find a way to treat everyone.
KINKADE: Yes, being prepared and having clear communication is key. Dr. Scott Miscovich, good to have you with us. Thanks so much for your time.
MISCOVICH: Thank you, Lynda.
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KINKADE: Well, the battle of Melbourne in men's tennis is underway right now. The favorite, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, facing the young challenger, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. We'll tell you who's leading at the Australian Open when we come back.
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KINKADE: Welcome back.
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KINKADE: That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. I'll be back with much more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break. Stay with us. You're watching CNN.
