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Chinese Documents Show Early Mishandling of COVID-19; Inside a German Vaccination Center; Abu Dhabi Launches Collaborative Effort for Vaccine Distribution; World Bank Warns of Prolonged Lebanese Depression; Turkey Announces Stricter COVID-19 Measures; Biden's All-Out Push for Stimulus Bill; Janet Yellen to Be First Woman as U.S. Treasury Secretary; Possible Negligence in Maradona's Death; F1's Lewis Hamilton Contracts COVID-19. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired December 01, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): This is what viewers in China will be seeing for the next few minutes: absolutely nothing. And that is

because the authorities there don't want you to see what we are about to show you about how the pandemic first took hold there and how they have

tried to keep us, the world, in the dark about it.

That's why we are here to uncover the truth this hour. Facts matter.

Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. We will get to where it all began with our exclusive reporting in a moment.

But first I want to get you the latest on where we are right now in this global pandemic. The numbers: more than 63 million cases of COVID-19

worldwide and we are approaching 1.5 million deaths. There are a lot of vaccine developments and we will get to those in a moment. But we still

have a long way to go before you get that shot in your arm.

Well, against that backdrop, we have new reporting for you this hour. CNN getting hold of extremely rare leaked documents from inside China that

reveal the missteps and chaos of the country's early response to the coronavirus.

These images are from the early days of the pandemic back in February in Wuhan. Our Nick Paton Walsh got a look at those documents and this is his

report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): An unprecedented leak of internal Chinese documents to CNN reveals for the

first time what China knew in the opening weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic but did not tell the world.

A whistleblower, who said they worked inside the Chinese health care system, shared the documents with CNN online, which show a chaotic local

response from the start.

YANZHONG HUANG, SR. FELLOW FOR GLOBAL HEALTH, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: This lack of transparency sort of also contributed to the crisis.

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Seeing information in black and white was very revealing and instructive.

WALSH (voice-over): CNN has verified them with a half a dozen experts, a European security official and, using complex digital forensic analysis,

looking at their source code.

The documents provide a number of key revelations about the province of Hubei, home to the epicenter city of Wuhan.

Firstly, some of the death tolls were off. The worst day in these reports is February the 17th, where these say 196 people, who were confirmed cases,

died; but that day they only announced 93.

China was also circulating internally bigger, more detailed totals for new cases in Hubei, for one day in February, recording internally nearly 6,000

new cases, some diagnosed by tests, others clinically by doctors and some suspected because of symptoms and contacts. But all pretty serious.

Yet publicly that day, China reported nationwide about 2,500 new confirmed cases. The rest were downplayed in an ongoing tally of suspected cases.

That meant patients that doctors had diagnosed as being seriously ill sounded like they were in doubt. But it later improved the criteria.

DALI YANG, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO: If China had been more transparent and also more aggressive in responding, clearly

that would have had an impact on how much the virus spread in Wuhan, in Hubei, in China and perhaps to the rest of the world as well.

WALSH (voice-over): Strikingly, the documents reveal one possible reason behind the discrepancy in the numbers.

A report from early March says it took a staggering 23 days on average from when someone showed COVID-19 symptoms to when they got a confirmed

diagnosis. That's three weeks to officially catch each case.

HUANG: This information seems to be very surprising to me because, normally, it would take just a couple of days.

SCHAFFNER: You're making policy today based on information that already is three weeks old.

WALSH (voice-over): Perhaps the most remarkable revelation concerns early December, the moment when COVID-19 first emerged in China.

Startlingly, these documents reveal there was an enormous spike in influenza cases in Hubei right when studies have shown the very first known

patients were infected with COVID-19. Twenty times the number of flu cases compared to the same week the year before.

Experts said it could have flooded the hospital system with patients sick from flulike symptoms, making it harder to spot the first cases of COVID-

19.

The documents don't link the outbreak to coronavirus' origins directly.

[10:05:00]

But they show flu patients were regularly screened and many did not have a known flu virus strain, leaving open the possibility they were sick with

COVID-19.

HUANG: The spike in Wuhan was very unusual compared to previous years, so that would raise a red flag.

SCHAFFNER: It was very, very sizeable. It's clear that the Chinese virologists can make precise diagnoses of influenza.

But in retrospect, you have to wonder, was there some COVID in there, masquerading as influenza?

WALSH: The documents also show the flu outbreak was biggest that first week in December, not in Wuhan but in two other cities nearby in Hubei, all

valuable information in the hunt for where the disease came from.

Chinese officials have said the outbreak began here, the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan in mid-December. And despite Western accusations that it

has limited its cooperation with the WHO investigation into the virus' origins, China has insisted it has been as transparent as possible over the

coronavirus.

HUA CHUNYING, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN: (Speaking foreign language).

WALSH: "For some time now, in order to shift the blame," she said, "some U.S. politicians have constantly used the pandemic and other issues as a

pretext to smear and demonize China and sow lies and misinformation about China.

"This will, of course, seriously mislead citizens of the United States and some other Western countries' understanding of the truth of China's fight

against the epidemic."

China's foreign ministry and health officials in Beijing and Wuhan have not responded to our request for comment.

This disease has killed nearly 1.5 million people, about a fifth of known deaths in America.

These documents, a rare, clear and open window into what China knew all along, trying to appear in control, while a local outbreak turned into a

global pandemic.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: His COVID reporting this year has taken him around the world, Nick joining us today from London.

Nick, what has been the response from Beijing to this reporting?

WALSH: At this point, we have no official response from the Chinese government. A state media-backed newspaper has put out a fairly lengthy

article in which they essentially take issue with the emphasis placed in our reporting on some of the numbers that were not transparent and say we

don't emphasize enough the reforms that happened in mid-February, in which diagnostic and accounting procedures were changed, taking into account some

of the more serious cases and make them public.

They also point out, too, that China, in their opinion, has been a model in terms of how to handle this disease. But no public official refutation and

that article from a state newspaper took no issue with the facts as we reported them in the article, Becky.

ANDERSON: Nick Paton Walsh reporting for you.

That is a look at the beginning of this pandemic as it were. And it's absolutely crucial that we learn those lessons for the next time, even as

we look toward what is, we hope, the beginning of the end of it with the development of a vaccine. And that's put us face-to-face with a cruel

juxtaposition.

On the one hand, a vaccine seems tantalizingly close; on the other, millions of people are still getting very, very sick every week. I want to

show you the reality through the prism of Germany.

But first in America, where there have been more cases detected than anywhere else, with millions more added just last month. Today, the head of

the Food and Drug Administration being summoned to the White House. Two sources telling CNN that the president is demanding to know why the agency

hasn't been moving faster on approving vaccines.

That as, in just a couple of hours from now, the Centers for Disease Control panel will meet to decide which Americans will get vaccinated

first.

It's not just America, of course. We have been reporting on this global pandemic everywhere it has been rearing its ugly head the entire year.

Let me take to you Germany at this point, as acute a place as any to observe what is going on as it faces down what its leader calls a dark and

deadly winter. It's building special facilities to get those shots in the arm as swiftly and efficiently as possible.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen on one of Germany's new vaccination streets with a sense of how it will all work -- Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, we've been talking so much about the logistical challenges of some of these

vaccines that are probably going to be coming out soon, probably going to be approved soon, in that a lot of them need to be frozen and cooled to

very, very low temperatures, minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, minus 70 to 75 degrees Celsius.

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PLEITGEN: So what the Germans are doing is building dozens of vaccination centers like the one they are constructing right here, where they will have

giant freezers to store the vaccines and bring many people here to get their vaccinations.

They say they need to be able to do that in a safe way. They want to give people the vaccine and make sure people don't get the coronavirus in the

process, when you're bringing a lot of people to a single place.

So they built these vaccination streets as they call them, it's one-way to make sure people don't meet each other as they're coming through here. In

this first room is where people who are going to get a shot first see a doctor. And that doctor asks them a bunch of medical questions, asks them

if they have any medical conditions which could make it dangerous to get a vaccine -- a vaccination shot.

And then they go to one of these four rooms right here and this is where you get the actual jab. The reason why they have four rooms is, for

instance, you will have one person who maybe will be taking his or her shirt off to get the jab; another person might already been finished. It's

to be able to move more people through here in a safe way.

Finally all of this ends around here back here. And this is sort of the monitoring area, as they call it. Everybody who gets a vaccination shot in

this center will be monitored for 15 minutes afterwards to make sure there are no serious and major side effects after they've gotten that vaccination

shot.

You can see some of the folks here, these are actually all volunteers from Germany's technical relief agency, who have been building this up. And one

of the things that we have to mention, I really want to mention, is they're doing this, constructing this center under pandemic conditions.

That's why you're seeing all of us with F-52 masks. They're working inside the whole time. They need to be kept safe. When you're wearing a mask the

whole day and constructing one of these things, it's very difficult.

But they say they are on target to open the center by the middle of December and it will be able to vaccinate about 1,000 people every day,

Becky.

ANDERSON: That is absolutely remarkable.

What timeline is Germany working toward for having vaccines available for everybody at this point?

PLEITGEN: Yes, so Germany, like many other countries, is embedded basically into a system of the European Union. What Germany has done, like

a lot of other people or most other countries in Europe, is they have acquired vaccine through the European Union. And then they're going to get

their share of the vaccines once those vaccines are approved.

This is also the country that, for instance, has the company, BioNTech, which will probably have one of the first vaccines on the market. So the

Germans believe that the first vaccines will be available probably in the middle of December, probably going to be administered toward the end of

December.

And then first of all, it's going to be emergency medical workers, vulnerable groups who will get these vaccines towards the end of the year.

And then they think that these centers, like the one you are seeing right here, will start off slowly at the end of the December and kick into high

gear as the new year begins.

And then they think, by the early stages of next year, maybe spring, you will see a substantial amount of population here having access to the

vaccine and getting their vaccination shots.

And that's when you're going to see dozens of centers, like this one here in Germany, operating at a very high capacity. Again, the reason why they

do this is they want to be able to store those vaccines that need ultra- cold storing and at the same time get it to as many people as possible.

ANDERSON: Fascinating. All right. That's Fred in Germany.

It isn't just Western vaccines, Western countries on the cutting edge, of course. Here in the UAE, we are waiting for the results of Sinopharm's

phase III trials. That is the massive Chinese state pharmaceutical trial that has been going on here and that we have been reporting on.

Nearly 100,000 people in the UAE have actually been given the experimental vaccine under emergency approval granted back in mid-September. That is 1

percent of the population. A third of those, about 30,000 people, for example, are in the military, all doing so voluntarily.

The scheme is currently limited to military health care workers, police and teachers in addition to those who are working right now, currently from

government entities.

I recently spoke to Dr. Jamal Al Kaabi about the New Hope Consortium. This is an end-to-end supply chain group that is looking to embed itself within

the sort of global distribution, sort of consortium setup, as it were, for vaccine distribution. He spoke about why it's so important to act as

leaders in getting vaccines distributed.

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DR. JAMAL AL KAABI, NEW HOPE CONSORTIUM: When we started with the trial, I think we physicians will be in the center of the developing such vaccine.

[10:15:00]

KAABI: It was for the first time Abu Dhabi took our own in regard to the clinical trials. And right now we are continuing that work. It's really

important for Abu Dhabi and it shows an example of how Abu Dhabi is leading in providing solution capabilities and capacity to help the world get

through this global pandemic.

Two-thirds of the world's human footprint within a four-hour flight of Abu Dhabi.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, a vaccine can't come soon enough for anyone but especially for those in Turkey, where the government has set new restrictions on

movement, hoping to end the streak of record-breaking cases. More on that coming up.

But first, Lebanon's economy is in desperate shape. We will take you live to Beirut as the World Bank calls for reforms -- and fast.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is important for us, what is important for Lebanon, is to move very quickly in a comprehensive reform program.

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ANDERSON: Reform can't come fast enough. The World Bank, out with a stark warning that Lebanon is suffering from what it calls an arduous and

prolonged depression.

The bank calling out the politicians running the country, declaring, if they don't get their act together sooner rather than later, Lebanon's brain

drain will be truly desperate and the country can't afford to lose its human capital.

It's been gripped by a world of trouble for some years now, brought to its knees by an economic crisis then ambushed, of course, by the global

pandemic and you will remember this tragedy, Lebanon's capital literally ripped to shreds by the port explosion in August.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is connecting us to life in the capital and what might happen next from his vantage point in Beirut.

For those who live in Lebanon, they will say what the World Bank is saying today is no surprise, Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not a surprise but certainly the bluntness of the language, Becky, in this World Bank report,

was surprising. Usually World Bank, IMF reports tend to be a bit heavy. But this one was blunt.

It said the deliberate lack of action of effective policy by the authorities has led Lebanon into what it said is the midst of a three -- of

three megacrises, each capable of extending the current trough into a long- term catastrophe.

And those three crises are, of course, the economic crisis, which really goes back about two years; in addition to COVID, in addition to the Beirut

bomb blast.

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WEDEMAN: We've seen the GDP here decline by about 6 percent in 2019. And in 2020 the World Bank expected -- expects it to fall by as much as 20

percent and in 2021 by 13.2 percent.

And you speak to anybody here who can get out of the country and they're trying to get out of the country. But because of COVID travel restrictions,

that is difficult.

Businesses are closing on a daily basis. The government is bankrupt. You have squabbling politicians, who simply cannot agree on anything. There's a

lot of finger-pointing.

Just a few weeks ago, there was an auditing firm here to do a forensic audit of the government. But the central bank would not give it the

information it needed to do that audit.

Now today the caretaker finance minister requested from the head of the central bank, who has been in his position since 1993, to provide all

public administration accounts so a forensic edit could be carried out.

But at this point, there is no indication that one branch of government is going to cooperate with the other. So the crisis continues without any end

in sight -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Meantime, what is the situation regarding the coronavirus in Lebanon right now, Ben?

WEDEMAN: It continues to go from bad to worse. Now the ability of the government to deal with this crisis is made all the more difficult, A, by

corruption and, B, by the fact that it's quickly running out of money.

But it's no more difficult for those who are on the front lines, the medical workers, who actually have to treat those who are ill.

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WEDEMAN (voice-over): Ali (ph) suits up for another day of work in the emergency ward at Beirut's Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Lebanon's main

facility treating COVID-19 patients.

A front-line worker in the struggle against coronavirus, Ali Awarki (ph), a nurse, only recently recovered from the disease himself. He knows the

dangers of his calling only too well.

"There is a risk," says Ali, "that we can get corona, like what happened to me. But in the end, this is our job, the job we chose, and we have to do

it."

Lebanon has just emerged from a 16-day nationwide lockdown. But according to hospital director Dr. Firass Abiad, the benefits are so far elusive.

DR. FIRASS ABIAD, RAFIK HARIRI UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: This is the highest death toll weekly -- highest weekly death toll since the beginning of the

pandemic here in Lebanon. Also, another thing we have noticed recently is the number of deaths that are happening at home and some of them for

patients who are young in age relatively.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Lebanon is grappling with a perfect storm of troubles. On top of the pandemic, there was the Beirut port blast last

August that killed more than 200 people and damaged large parts of the city.

The economy is in freefall. The government is bankrupt and gripped by total political paralysis. And the country is wracked by frequent unrest.

Back at home, Ali tries to shield his young daughters from the stresses and risks of his work.

"Sometimes I had to hide my pain," he says, "sometimes I had to hide just how tired I was."

Simple diversions have never been more precious.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WEDEMAN: And, Becky, what's rather depressing here is, oftentimes, people will tell you, they're much less concerned about dying from coronavirus

than they are of dying from hunger -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman is in Beirut.

Ben, appreciate it. Thank you.

Turkey imposing stricter COVID measures after recording eight consecutive days of daily death highs, pushing the total number of lives lost there to

almost 14,000, according to authorities. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is reporting for us from Istanbul.

What will these new restrictions look like?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, you and I were speaking a week ago. And that's when Turkey had introduced measures for the first

time since last June. And those measures were being criticized by some of the opposition groups here and some medical groups as not enough, being

described as Band-aid measures.

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KARADSHEH: As you mentioned, since then, we have also seen the numbers on a daily basis of cases and deaths continuing to rise to unprecedented

levels. That, with the strain on health care workers, on the health care services here, the government had to do more.

So President Erdogan came out yesterday and announced these new measures that go into effect this evening. These are some of the strictest measures

we have seen since the start of the pandemic. They include a nighttime curfew throughout the week that begins at 9:00 pm tonight and that goes on

until 5:00 in the morning the next day.

You've got a weekend lockdown where, starting 9:00 pm on Friday until 5:00 am on Monday, people must stay indoors unless they really have to go out

for essentials.

And then you've got that ongoing age-based lockdown, where people over the age of 65 and under the age of 20 are only allowed out for three hours a

day at certain times of the day.

That's been even made stricter, where they are not allowed to use public transport during those hours. You know, there are some people here, some of

the opposition groups, Becky, that are still saying this is not enough, that the country needs some sort of a two- to three-week lockdown to try

and bring down this surge.

But the government seems to be trying to avoid that at all costs, which, you can imagine, with the state of the country's economy, is something they

really want to try and avoid.

So, interestingly, right now, they're keeping nonessential shops, shopping malls open but with a bit more restrictions. And tourists in this country

are exempt from these restrictions, Becky.

ANDERSON: Jomana Karadsheh is in Istanbul for you.

Let's get you up to speed on some of the other stories on our radar.

Iran state TV reports the parliament has overwhelmingly approved outlines of a draft bill to boost uranium enrichment. The measures directly

contradict sanctions imposed on Iran's nuclear program and were proposed just after the assassination of the nation's top nuclear scientist.

White House senior advisor Jared Kushner will travel to Saudi Arabia and Qatar this week to try and end a prolonged dispute between the countries.

Saudi Arabia and several other Gulf states plus Egypt cut ties with Qatar in 2017, accusing them of supporting terror groups and backing Iran.

Iraq's prime minister insists elections will take place next June after the deaths of seven protesters over the weekend. They were killed when anti-

government protesters clashed with supporters of the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The prime minister has promised early elections to try

and ease the unrest.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson for you. Coming up, Joe Biden's transition to the White House is moving ahead at full speed,

with the formal introduction of one of the most important teams -- just hours away.

Plus another high-profile figure tests positive for COVID-19. Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton. We will tell you how it will

affect this weekend's Grand Prix and what's next for him -- after this.

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ANDERSON: Well, CNN is learning what the first 100 days of a Biden presidency is set to look at -- look like -- sorry. The U.S. president-

elect and his transition team are planning an all-out push to pass an ambitious new stimulus bill once he takes office.

In just a couple of hours, Joe Biden will formally introduce his economic team to the nation, which includes former Fed chair Janet Yellen as his

nominee for Treasury Secretary.

Now if confirmed, she will be the first female to take on that role in America. The challenges ahead for this group cannot be overstated. The fate

of millions of Americans will rest on their shoulders. Those who have lost their jobs, face eviction and are struggling just to put food on the table.

Connecting it all for us from Biden's home state of Delaware is CNN's Jessica Dean.

This incoming economic team will have plenty of weight on their shoulders. We've sort of got a sense of who we expect to be announced and a sense of

what is first on their agenda. This is going to be a tough ask.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they have a lot of work before them, Becky, that is certainly for sure. You mentioned Janet Yellen, the nominee

for Treasury Secretary; she will be joined by Neera Tanden, who Biden has tapped to lead the Office of Management and Budget.

Cecilia Rouse tapped to lead the Council of Economic Advisers among a host of other people, who will have the task before them of turning around this

economy that is the worst since the Great Depression.

Millions of people out of work, millions of people struggling to pay their bills. There are real economic challenges here. And not only do they need

to put the economy back together but they really have the ambitious goal that Joe Biden has set for them, which is to push it beyond where it was

before and include more people, make sure that more people are doing well in America, not just those at the top, as he said -- he said happened under

President Trump's administration.

So we expect to hear more from those people later today. They will be formally announced here in just a couple hours here in Delaware.

We're also learning more about what President-Elect Biden is zeroing in on for his first 100 face in office. And certainly the first 100 days of any

administration is always critical, it's when they want to hit the ground running, get as much done as possible. A lot can be decided in that first

100 days but even more so with so many crises facing this country.

So we know that they're zeroing in, first and foremost, on getting the coronavirus pandemic under control, that is absolutely critical to anything

else they want to do. If they can't get that done, they don't have a shot at getting much else done.

Also they want to push an economic stimulus package, a big one; that's where the economic team comes in. They will be working with Congress up on

the Hill to try to put together the pieces of this to get relief to small businesses, to American manufacturers, to American families that need help

right now as they try to get the pandemic under control.

We also know that he wants to tackle racial inequality in this country and he has spoken often of how the pandemic is targeting and affecting people

of color much more than white people here in America.

And that's important to him, that people of color -- Hispanic people, Black people have access to the vaccine, have access to medical care. So a lot of

this all weaves together in one moment.

We also know he is going to be focusing on executive actions and we have reported that the Senate hangs in the balance, who is going to control the

Senate, Democrats or Republicans. We are not going to know until early in January.

But he may have to rely on his executive power more than he had hoped. He always talked about a bipartisan group coming together, getting things done

but he may be relying more on executive actions, Becky, especially if Republicans take those two seats in the Senate.

So more to come, we will see what happens there but a lot to do and they certainly know that.

ANDERSON: Absolutely, Jessica. Thank you for that.

It was Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933, who coined the phrase "first 100 days" and it's sort of gone on to become a very symbolic moment for

incoming presidents. The woman at the head of Biden's economic team already getting rave reviews.

[10:35:00]

Here is CNN's Tom Foreman with a look at Biden's Treasury Secretary nominee, Janet Yellen.

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JANET YELLEN, FORMER FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: I can say emphatically that partisan politics plays no role in our decisions about the appropriate

stance of monetary policy.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hard-nosed, clear-eyed, Janet Yellen's nomination has triggered a flurry of praise from the right for her

intellect, foresight and independence and from the left where she is called smart, tough and principled.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She doesn't have a crystal ball but what she does have is a keen understanding of how markets

and the economy work.

FOREMAN: Her resume, which includes Brown, Yale, Harvard and the London School of Economics, spurred President Obama to put her in charge of the

Federal Reserve in 2014, keeping watch on the nation's banks, promoting economic stability.

YELLEN: I'm honored and humbled by the faith that you've placed in me.

FOREMAN: By the time her four-year term came to a close, however, Donald Trump was in office. He once said Yellen should be ashamed of her work and

has openly criticized the Fed ever since.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Federal Reserve raised the rates too fast and too soon.

FOREMAN: Yellen never blinked.

YELLEN: Obviously the president has a right to comment on the Fed, but I would worry that, if it continues or intensifies, that it could undermine

confidence in the Fed and the market's confidence in the Fed's judgment.

FOREMAN: Since the 1700s, when Alexander Hamilton served as the first Treasury Secretary, they've all been male, including Trump's man, Steve

Mnuchin, who has a deep pedigree in business and has staunchly refused to hand over the president's tax returns.

STEVEN MNUCHIN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: I've had no conversations ever with the president or anyone in the White House about delivering the

president's tax returns to Congress.

FOREMAN: Yellen, by comparison, is known for her balanced approach to business and consumer concerns, for imposing stiff sanctions on Wells Fargo

over widespread consumer abuses.

And her take on the pandemic economy was clear even last spring.

YELLEN: We're going to be looking at a decline in GDP of the least 30 percent and I've seen far higher numbers. So, this is a huge,

unprecedented, devastating hit and my hope is that we will get back to business as usual as quickly as possible.

FOREMAN: Appreciation for the suffering of regular folks and respect for the needs of business, those are the twin engines driving this rare show of

bipartisan support for Yellen in this deeply divided town -- Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: The former governor of Ohio and Donald Trump's one-time rival for the Republican presidential nomination has a few things to say about

this transition and, indeed, about Mr. Trump. We speak to John Kasich around an hour from now, here on CONNECT THE WORLD.

Ahead on the show, Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton is in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19. We will tell you what that means for this

weekend's Grand Prix. That after this.

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ANDERSON: Prosecutors in Argentina are investigating potential gross negligence in the death of the football legend, Diego Maradona.

Investigators are looking into the possible lack of medical supervision of the ex-footballer after he had surgery on a blood clot on his brain. The

investigation could lead to manslaughter charges.

Matt Rivers is in Mexico City with more on the accusations of negligence and malpractice.

What do we know at this point, Matt?

MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that this investigation is very much ongoing at this point, Becky, but prosecutors, while they haven't

officially charged anyone, they're certainly not mincing their words when talk being what they believe happened here.

They're saying that the lack of medical supervision that Maradona received after he had a surgery that you just mentioned was, quote, "absolutely

negligent."

Maradona had his surgery on November 3rd; he was released. It was successful, he was released back to his home on November 11th. But what

prosecutors are saying is that when he was home he didn't receive the required care.

So now the question for prosecutors that they're looking into is, is there some sign that malpractice, negligence or medical inexperience could

constitute manslaughter?

This is an ongoing investigation. One person they will be looking at is Leopoldo Luque, the doctor, the neurosurgeon that performed that surgery on

Maradona. And he is certainly a part of this investigation. Over the weekend we know that authorities went through his home, taking away certain

documents, some cell phones.

Luque has maintained his innocence in all of this to the point where he actually went yesterday to the prosecutor's office in the province of

Buenos Aires to try to testify in this case to his innocence. Prosecutors didn't let him testify because he hasn't yet officially been charged with a

crime.

His contention is that he performed a successful surgery but the home care wasn't up to him. He said that Maradona, according to him, didn't even want

a home health aide; how could he have home hospitalization?

But that's not enough for prosecutors. So far they are continuing this investigation. Several members of Maradona's family believe that his death

could have been avoided but this was a man who, at times, lived a tortured life and, even in his death, it seems, at least for the moment, that there

is no peace.

ANDERSON: Matt Rivers on the story for you. Thanks, Matt.

Well, as racers take the last few laps of the Formula 1 season, the king of the track is now in isolation with COVID-19. Lewis Hamilton tested positive

Monday just a day after adding a 95th win to his career. Amanda Davies is with me.

What does this mean for the next few races is the first question.

And how is he clearly is the most important question.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Becky. I mean, the good news is that all the messages coming out of the team and from Lewis himself

is that he's doing OK. He's only got mild symptoms.

He says he's isolating in Bahrain. What we understand is that the symptoms started exhibiting themselves on Monday after that victory on Sunday. He

tested negative on Sunday but requested another test yesterday, Monday, which has come back positive.

He says he's devastated, as you would expect, for him to miss the race on Sunday but we know the championship is wrapped up. He's already won that

seventh world title. The team have already wrapped up, the team competition.

So, you know, it's a blow for the spectacle of the sport. We're waiting to see who Mercedes are going to put in the car. But what it really does,

Becky, is throw forward the attention to where you are, of course, the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi now less than two weeks away,

December 13th.

We know he has to return a negative test before returning to the paddock.

But there are those different quarantine regulations on the island this year, aren't there?

ANDERSON: Absolutely. This is an F1 in a bubble. I mean, the authorities here have been very successful in running events in bubbles out here this

year. I think of the UFC Fight Island, which was on the island where F1 is held, and IPL, the Indian Premier League, which has played across the

Emirates this year, again in bubbles.

It's been interesting to see how authorities have been able to get these events sort of done, despite the fact that, of course, there's not the

possibility to have any audiences around.

And you and I know what it feels like to be a member of the spectating audience for what is the final F1. I'm sure people here will be

disappointed were he not to make it. But obviously we all wish him the absolute best.

We are taking a very short break. Back after this.

[10:45:00]

(WORLD SPORT)

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