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America's Two Viruses: COVID-19 and Lies, Threats and Fear after the U.S. Capitol Insurrection; U.S. Republicans Deflect, Criticize Democrats for Second Trump Impeachment; FBI Warns of "Armed Protests" at U.S. and State Capitals; Texas Braces for Protests as Trump Heads to Border; U.S. States Diverging from CDC Guidance on Vaccines; L.A. County Reports 1,500+ Deaths in Past Week; Most Wuhan COVID-19 Survivors Have Health Problems; WHO Pandemic Origin Investigators to Arrive in China Thursday; 2021 Tokyo Olympics Move Forward amid COVID-19 Crisis. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired January 12, 2021 - 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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MAYOR MURIEL BOWSER (D-DC): If I'm scared of anything, it's for our democracy because we have very extreme factions in our country. Trumpism
won't die on January 20.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST (voice-over): Tonight, America on high alert as the FBI warns of potential violence in the days to come.
Then --
ELAINE STEVENS, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: I made it. A lot of days, I didn't want to make it. But I did it.
ANDERSON (voice-over): The pandemic horror stories are countless. This hour, we take you inside a hospital at the center of California's COVID
crisis.
And a new study out of China reveals troubling new details about the long- lasting impacts of COVID-19 on our bodies.
All of that is just ahead.
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ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson. Hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. It's 7:00 pm here in Abu Dhabi.
America is dealing with two very different types of illnesses today. One of them is medical, the coronavirus still ravaging the country, amid a
sputtering vaccine rollout.
The other, a plague of lies, threats and fear. The U.S. now bracing for more violence ahead of Joe Biden's inauguration next week after the
storming of the U.S. Capitol six days ago.
A Defense Department official tells "The New York Times," plans are in the works to protect against worst-case scenarios, such as snipers targeting
inauguration dignitaries, suicide-type aircraft entering restricted airspace around Washington, remote-powered drone attacks and multiple
active shooter situations all happening at once.
And warnings extend to all 50 states. There are reports of specific threats against certain lawmakers. On this show yesterday, we showed you video of
insurgents inside the Capitol shouting, "Hang Mike Pence," outrage that the vice president fulfilled his constitutional duty to certify Joe Biden's
victory as U.S. president.
Today the House is poised to put Pence on the clock. An hour from now, a committee will begin debate on a bill urging the vice president to invoke
the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office within 24 hours.
Since there is almost no chance that will happen, an impeachment vote is scheduled tomorrow -- and that is a near certainty -- on a charge of
incitement of insurrection. As for the president, we'll see him today in public for the first time since he urged insurgents to march to the Capitol
leading to that deadly siege.
This hour, he is heading to Texas for one last look at his border wall, a wall he promised Mexico would pay for.
A fact check for you: of the billions of dollars spent so far, Mexico has paid nothing. Most of what has gone up just replaces existing fencing.
Mr. Trump goes to Texas as Republicans turn their own inaction into a proverbial war of shame. A scant few of them have condemned the president's
actions, citing the Capitol siege or have called for impeachment. The vast majority have either remained silent or, in some cases, want to turn the
insurgency on its head and criticize Democrats for their response. Listen to Republican Florida senator Marco Rubio on FOX News.
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SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): So it's unfortunate that instead of unifying us right now, Biden and the Democrats have chosen to use this as an
opportunity to talk about ridiculous things like, let's impeach a president who isn't going to be in office in about nine days.
The Left has decided this is an opportunity to destroy the Right. So if you ever voted for Donald Trump, if you ever supported anything he did, you are
just as guilty as the people who went into that Capitol.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is sophistry taken to the extreme, folks, deflecting attention from the fact that every member of Congress, including Rubio
himself, faced the prospect of injury or death from a mob of domestic terrorists, who took over a pillar of American government.
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ANDERSON: The U.S. Capitol has become a fortress in Washington. Sunlen Serfaty connects us to what is going on in the U.S. Congress today --
Sunlen?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, this is a significant moment up here on Capitol Hill. Democrats are moving very, very
quickly here in terms of inching towards that all-important impeachment vote.
We'll see over the course of the day up here today a series of procedural steps, all driving towards that goal to get President Trump removed from
office.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERFATY (voice-over): Exactly one week after a pro-Trump mob held a deadly riot, storming the U.S. Capitol, House Democrats plan to vote to impeach
President Trump for the second time tomorrow, formally introducing an article of impeachment Monday, charging the president with incitement of
insurrection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Capitol of the United States was attacked by a mob of the supporters directed by the president of the United States, who
called them there and who sent them there. And there has to be accountability for that.
SERFATY (voice-over): Some Republican lawmakers already calling on Trump to resign. And one GOP congressman says he is strongly considering voting
to impeach him.
REP. PETER MEIJER (R-MI): To me, this is not the timing that we -- that is ideal. I'd prefer that we'd have a more fulsome investigation into what
happened. Most of what I know about January 6th came either from personal experience or from Twitter.
But at the end of the day, I think it is obvious that the president is no longer qualified to hold that office.
SERFATY (voice-over): Despite a source telling CNN House minority leader Kevin McCarthy indicated Trump holds some responsibility for the attempted
coup, he told his Republican colleagues in a letter, quote, "Impeachment at this time would have the opposite effect of bringing our country together
when we need to get America back on a path towards unity and civility."
REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Every hour that he sits in the White House is an hour where the American people and the world is less safe. So I will not
rest until we ensure that he is removed from office as quickly as you possibly can, using whatever tools are at our disposal.
SERFATY (voice-over): The House will vote on a resolution tonight, urging vice president Mike Pence to use the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from
office.
PROTESTERS: Hang Mike Pence. Hang Mike Pence.
SERFATY (voice-over): Pence, one of the apparent targets by some rioters, was seen leaving the White House Monday night after speaking to the
president for the first time since last week's insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, two administration officials tell CNN.
President-Elect Joe Biden says the decision to move forward with impeachment is up to Congress but wants to make sure that it does not
derail his agenda.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: You go a half-day on dealing with impeachment then a half-day getting my people nominated and
confirmed in the Senate as well as moving on the path.
SERFATY (voice-over): Meantime, some Capitol Hill Democrats say it will be possible to hold an impeachment trial without slowing down the start of
Biden's new administration.
SEN. SHERROD BROWN (D-OH): We can do impeachment while we're doing these other things that deal with this to combat the coronavirus and rebuild the
economy, starting now, starting January 20th at noon.
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SERFATY: So again, all of these procedural maneuverings today will set up that big vote tomorrow in the House tomorrow morning Eastern time,
impeachment of president Donald Trump. After that, it turns into a big question of what happens next, when it goes over to the Senate.
The big question is, how and when, Becky, they will take this up. And that is an open question at this moment.
ANDERSON: Well, it is not an overstatement to say that the stakes could not be higher for Mr. Trump at present.
Meantime, the FBI warning that even more violence might lay ahead and not just in the Capitol but across the country of the United States.
In an internal bulletin from last week, the FBI outlined information they had received, including credible threats of armed protesters, quote,
"storming all 50 state capitals in the U.S. and D.C."
And threats to not only President-Elect Joe Biden's safety but to Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as well. Well,
the bulletin also mentioned threats of an uprising if vice president Mike Pence were to invoke the 25th Amendment and remove Trump from office.
CNN's Jessica Schneider is covering this story for us out of Washington.
What do we know at this point, Jessica?
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, just the mere fact this is a lengthy, internal bulletin from the FBI to all of its agents
across the 50-plus field offices in this country, the FBI is warning its law enforcement officers about this real possibility that there could be a
cascade of uprisings and violence, not just in Washington but all across the country.
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SCHNEIDER: And because of that, all of these law enforcement officers are mobilizing to try to figure out these threats, unpack them and then move in
to take them down.
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SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Six days after the riots at the Capitol and law enforcement is bracing for more potential violence, as an internal FBI
bulletin warns of credible calls for armed protests at all 50 state capitals and Washington, D.C., in the lead-up to the inauguration.
The FBI also says it has received information on a group calling for others to join them in storming state, local and federal government courthouses
and administrative buildings in the event POTUS is removed as president prior to Inauguration Day.
Another critical concern are reports of threats against President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris ahead of inauguration.
BIDEN: I'm not afraid of taking the oath outside. And we've been getting briefed.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): President Donald Trump approving a request from Washington, D.C.'s Mayor Muriel Bowser, for an emergency declaration to
provide assistance for Inauguration Day. Bowser has been urging people to avoid Washington entirely that day.
BOWSER: If I'm scared of anything, it's for our democracy because we have a very extreme factions in our country. Trumpism won't die on January 20.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): According to the National Guard bureau chief, the Pentagon has approved an increase of National Guard troops for the
inauguration.
GEN. DANIEL HOKANSON, CHIEF, U.S. NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU: We're building that up to 15,000 between now and the inauguration to make sure that we
meet every requirement from each of those federal agencies, to make sure that they can conduct a peaceful transfer of power of inauguration on the
20th of January.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): The FBI bulletin obtained by CNN provides crucial information at a time when no federal law enforcement agency has held a
public briefing since the Wednesday attacks, fueling questions of how the attack on the Capitol was able to happen.
REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): I don't have any direct evidence of, as yet, of any kind of inside job. I do have a couple of Capitol police taking selfies.
And another Capitol police evidently put on a MAGA hat and was walking people.
SCHNEIDER (voice-over): Several Capitol police officers have been suspended and several others are under investigation, according to the
acting chief of the Capitol police. She says that the department is reviewing video and other open source materials for any potential
violations that could result in termination for the officers.
Authorities say investigating ties between insurrectionists and law enforcement is a priority. This video has circulated widely on social media
and appears to show an officer posing for a selfie with a rioter.
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SCHNEIDER: So that makes two Capitol police officers suspended now; at least a dozen under investigation and, Becky, that's not just here in
Washington. We're also hearing reports of other officers and other police departments across the country, who are also being investigated for either
social media posts they've made or for even participating in storming the Capitol or being part of the group that was outside the Capitol.
So a lot of law enforcement officers being investigated. "The Washington Post" also reporting that a Secret Service officer is being investigated
over Facebook comments, saying that President Joe Biden's win is not legitimate. So the Secret Service investigating that.
And at the same time, we're also learning that members of Congress last night, they were briefed on a number of credible threats. We heard from
Congress man Conor Lamb out of Pennsylvania, some of the specifics they're being told.
He says that law enforcement put it this way, saying that one of those possible plots could be to have 4,000 armed members of this group that's
organizing, to surround the Capitol and not let anyone, particularly Democrats, into the Capitol.
So he said that they have real plans here, which, obviously, makes this a real concern for law enforcement on how to tackle all of this -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely and understandably. Thank you, Jessica.
Police also gearing up for protests in at least two cities in Texas. Lawmakers are bracing for demonstrations outside the state legislature in
Austin.
And Donald Trump will be leaving the White House for Texas today for his first public appearance since the deadly siege of the Capitol. He has
chosen to avoid dealing with domestic terror threats, a second impeachment and overwhelming hospitalizations from the coronavirus to instead show off
his border wall with Mexico.
He is traveling to the border town of Alamo to trumpet the anti-immigration theme that helped get him elected back in 2016. Matt Rivers, my colleague,
is at the U.S. southern border, right next to the wall, where some local leaders say tensions are pretty high, Matt, ahead of this Donald Trump
visit.
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ANDERSON: How would you describe the atmosphere where you are?
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky, where we are is right along the border wall, not far from where the president is expected to go visit
later today. The major town in this part of the United States would be McAllen.
When you're talking about local leaders describing tensions, we heard from the mayor of McAllen, who basically is saying, I know tensions are high on
both sides. Let's keep any protests that might happen peaceful. There's going to be dueling protests, rallies, whatever you want to call it.
There's going to be a pro-Trump rally, which we'll hopefully show you next hour as it kicks off. There's also going to be a counter-rally later on in
the day held by Democrats. Just how big either one of these are going to get, that's the big question that we have today.
The president isn't expected to hold a big rally here today. He's expected to just go to the wall, visit the wall, make his remarks there to tout what
has been a complicated legacy for him.
The U.S. government says it's built more than 450 new miles of wall here along the U.S.-Mexico border. But the vast majority of that, exactly just
replacing old fencing. There's only about 50 or so miles that's been built that is actually new fencing.
For example, the stuff that's here behind me, it stretches way back there; for people who aren't really familiar with the way the U.S.-Mexico border
works, this is older wall. This was already here. You can see even here the difference between, up here, maybe this is 20 feet high. Down there it's
probably 12 feet high and even further south it's only about 6 feet high.
And let me show you how this works. Right here, the wall ends. So then there's a lake to my right over there. This gives you a sense of how
difficult it is to build sections of wall and how, when we're talking about "build that wall," it's not just a very simple thing in a lot of ways
because there's varied terrain across the more than 1,000 mile border stretching between these two countries.
And so that's why, you know, this will be a very complicated legacy for President Trump. Clearly this is something he is proud of but it's
something that a lot of activists have said won't make a huge difference in terms of the amount of drugs that are coming in from Mexico into the United
States.
And so that's going to be his legacy. He's clearly leaning into it, Becky, bookending his presidency here, starting out with a campaign that really
focused on immigration and was an anti-immigration campaign and ending with the kind of legacy-touting event that I think a lot of his aides said they
hoped he would have done more of in the last few weeks instead of inciting riots in D.C.
ANDERSON: Matt Rivers, on the U.S. side of the border. Thank you, sir.
Republican mega donor Sheldon Adelson, who was a close friend of Trump, very close friend, has died at the age of 87. His casino and resort casino
the Las Vegas Sands says he died Monday from cancer. The cab driver's son who became a billionaire had been among the most watched donors supporting
President Trump's 2020 re-election effort.
In 2018, Mr. Trump awarded Adelson's wife a Presidential Medal of Freedom. And back in 2012, the casino mogul spent millions in a failed effort to
prevent President Barack Obama from winning a second term.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson. We're based, broadcasting here from the UAE. This is our Middle East broadcasting hub.
Ahead on the show, the brutality of the COVID-19 crisis in America.
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JULIANA JIMENEZ SESMA, DAUGHTER OF COVID-19 VICTIMS: Don't let this be you. If you truly love your loved ones, don't let this be you.
ANDERSON (voice-over): A family grieves a couple who died from COVID-19 within days of one another. We'll get you to Los Angeles, where hospitals
are, quite frankly, in crisis mode.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON (voice-over): Then the city where the pandemic started is back in the news -- and not for positive reasons. We'll be live in China -- just
ahead.
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ANDERSON: The post-holiday coronavirus surge the U.S. has long been warned about is here, seven straight days of 200,000-plus reported cases.
Meanwhile, a race to get the vaccine out.
Of course, new analysis from Kaiser Family Foundation finds that states in the United States are starting to move away from Centers for Disease
Control guidance on who should get the vaccine first, the rollout raising concerns about more chaos to come.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PAUL OFFIT, U.S. FDA VACCINE ADVISER: They're just trying to get it out. We don't have a public health infrastructure for mass vaccination.
What you're seeing I think is we're learning to do that. Some states are learning to do it more quickly than others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that advisory committee member told CNN he is optimistic they will be able to meet or exceed Joe Biden's goal of a million people
vaccinated per day.
The president-elect here, getting his second dose on Monday.
But in Los Angeles, in California, officials say the real aftermath of holiday get-togethers is likely still to come. And hospitals there are
already in crisis mode. CNN's Sara Sidner is there.
You have been doing some excellent reporting from inside hospitals over the, what, almost year now, covering this pandemic.
What are you seeing now?
What sort of trends are you seeing, Sara?
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think you said something really important that I need to repeat and that is that the
doctors and nurses in these hospitals and experts looking at what has happened in this pandemic think that this is going to get worse.
And I can tell you right now, after being in my 10th hospital, that it is hell. It is a war zone inside these hospitals. The outside of the hospitals
are beautiful. They, you know, they look like hotels. The inside is like a war zone.
These doctors and nurses are working 18-hour days. Patients are just coming, just a tsunami of patients coming. And the worst hit are the Black
and Brown communities in this country.
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SIDNER (voice-over): Mariachi music slices through the silence. The melody is meant to soothe the family's sorrow. The cruelness of COVID-19 on
display. This is a funeral in a parking lot.
SESMA: My mother was a very strong woman and she fought to the very last breath.
SIDNER: Juliana Jimenez Sesma says these are the last words they exchanged.
SESMA: I told her, mom, do not be afraid, for the Lord is with us. I love and may God bless you. Keep strong for me, mom. And all she answered me
was, yes, mija. Yes, mija, with that -- with that voice -- with fear.
SIDNER: Sesma lived with and cared for her mom who had a lung condition. Her stepdad had asthma and diabetes. Her brother lives right next door with
his young family.
How many people ended up getting it?
Everyone --
SESMA: All of us.
SIDNER: Her stepfather and then mother ended up here, Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. They fought to live like those filling all the ICU
beds now but they died within 11 days of each other. Dr. Jason Prasso treated both of Sesma's parents.
DR. JASON PRASSO, PULMONARY & CRITICAL CARE PHYSICIAN, MLK JR. COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: I just want her to know that we here tried our hardest and, you
know, we're really sorry that things went the way that they did.
SIDNER (voice-over): The terrible scenario was not unusual, as COVID ensnares those who live in multigenerational families and are part of the
essential workforce.
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PRASSO: We have had the misfortune of seeing this disease run through families and, all too frequently, take multiple members of a single family.
SIDNER (voice-over): The state of the art hospital is an oasis of care in the health care desert of south Los Angeles. It is no wonder the heavily
Black and Latino neighborhood is suffering disproportionately. The inequities in health care invites death.
DR. ELAINE BATCHLOR, CEO, MLK JR. COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: Diabetes is three times more prevalent here than in the rest of California. Diabetes
mortality is 72 percent higher. The life expectancy is 10 years shorter here than in the rest of the state. And all of that is related to this
being an under-resourced and underserved community.
SIDNER (voice-over): That was before coronavirus arrived.
PRASSO: We're running like well over 100 percent capacity.
SIDNER: The 131-bed facility is suddenly treating more than 200 patients, 60 percent of them are COVID patients. They've made space everywhere, tents
outside, inside hallways, the prayer room, a former gift shop -- the battle to save a life physically and mentally exhausting.
But on this day, a surprise reminder of why they fight.
STEVENS: I'm here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my goodness. You look amazing!
STEVENS: I'm back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, let me see, let me see, you got dancing moves. Oh, yes!
(LAUGHTER)
SIDNER: Seventy-four-year-old Elaine Stevens returns to thank her doctor and nurses. She spent more than 40 days in this ICU before walking out
alive.
STEVENS: I made it. A lot of days, I didn't want to make it. But I did it.
SIDNER: As she celebrated a second chance at life, the ceremony for death was still playing out in the parking lot for the Sesma family.
SESMA: Don't let this be you. If you truly love your loved ones, don't let this be you. Continue to, you know, take all the cautions. Take all extra
precautions, exaggerate if you have to.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Hearing from Juliana Jimenez Sesma, giving that message to the rest of us, she -- it was heartfelt. She doesn't want anyone to see and
feel the -- see what she's seen and feel the way she feels.
Her and her brother wake up every morning now. Her mother and their stepfather are gone. And the loss is just incalculable.
I do want to mention the difficulties that are going on here. That ICU was full; all of them are full, not just in L.A. County but entire Southern
California. All the ICU beds are taken up.
So there are dozens of patients at some of these hospitals who are in the ER or in the hallways, waiting for an ICU bed. This is what's happening in
the supposed richest country in the world. We have got this wrong. And we must do something to fix it. Here in L.A. County, every eight minutes, one
person is dying of coronavirus -- Becky.
ANDERSON: It's a terrible, terrible statistic, behind which, of course, by so many people. Sara, thank you.
Next up, some tough new findings coming out of Wuhan. That is, of course, the city where this pandemic started. I'll collect you live to China up
next. Do stay with us.
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ANDERSON: In it for the long haul in the worst possible way. Concerns about what's being called long COVID are gaining more urgency because of
what's happening in Wuhan, the city where the pandemic began.
Chinese researchers are finding that 3 out of 4 patients in the capital of Hubei province are still suffering lingering health problems, from fatigue
and depression to lung damage. This is of course, six months after many have survived coronavirus.
The new findings come just days before a World Health Organization team is set to arrive after reportedly being blocked. They are taking a look at how
the virus got started. CNN's David Culver was reporting on COVID-19 out of Wuhan right from the beginning. Today we're connecting with him in
Shanghai.
And this study is truly troubling, David, an indication that, even those who recover from this infection could suffer long lasting effects.
What do we know?
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is really disturbing, Becky. It's also indicative that we just don't know what's going to happen,
say, another six or 12 months going down the line.
So the researchers that put this out are Chinese researchers. They had some 1,700 patients who were hospitalized. So these were rather severe cases of
COVID-19. But as you point out, some 76 percent of those who were hospitalized, six months later, still feeling some of the symptoms, still
dealing with some of the anxiety, the depression, the muscle weaknesses, some of the fatigue.
And beyond that, some of the severe lung damage. So it can be quite serious. This is not unusual when you look at SARS going back to 2003-2004.
They do, likewise, have some of the lingering effects indicated some three years later. Some 40 percent in fact, were dealing with lung damage.
But the timing of this is what's going to be really telling for scientists going forward, especially if we give it another 6 months, 12 months, to see
what the long-term impact of this virus is.
ANDERSON: David Culver is in Shanghai for you. A WHO team is set to arrive in China on Thursday to investigate the origins of this coronavirus.
Reportedly they have been blocked to date.
Do we know why and why the change of heart, David?
CULVER: So there is a bit of a delay from when they were supposed to get their visas in to come in. What we've now heard is they'll be flying in
from Singapore and flying directly into Wuhan, as you point out. That's going to be on Thursday.
Now what we anticipate is that they're not going to be hitting the ground running and checking out some of the origin spots, so to speak, or at least
the believed origins, including that seafood market. Instead, they'll be spending 14 days in quarantine. That's been standard throughout.
Why the delay?
Is it political?
A lot of speculation behind that. According to Chinese officials, this is just a matter of dealing with individuals coming from highly infected
areas. There's a lot of concern as to what they might be bringing with them as far as the virus itself.
And they say that they are open to allowing these researchers to do their work. They're not going to impede science, as they put it. WHO says that
they're not looking to cast blame. The reality is, they need to be in Wuhan because, as we know, that's the original epicenter where it was first
noticed, the massive cluster outbreak, the wildlife sold there believed perhaps the source of this.
However, we've seen the narrative change here among state media suggesting there could be other origins, such as an imported case of this virus.
Becky, we have seen that surfacing quite frequently here.
ANDERSON: David, let's just remind our viewers. It does seem remarkable.
[10:35:00]
ANDERSON: But it was this time last year that you were reporting -- on this show and others -- on this brand-new mysterious virus and indeed
reporting on what it was like to live out of a hotel for two weeks, which was almost inconceivable to most of us watching your reporting around the
world.
I just want our viewers to have a look at some of what you were reporting at that time. Stand by.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CULVER (voice-over): CNN decided we should return to Beijing and immediately limit our exposure to others. But we still wanted to tell the
story. And we had 350 square feet to do it.
CULVER: So not a bad commute from my bedroom to the living room or our studios essentially, can even do it in slippers.
This is the backdrop that we've got over here. Snowing today. We, in between live reports, have been doing a lot of research. Our producer has
been on the phone a lot, working his sources in Wuhan and Hubei province, in particular, in between some of our reports; Natalie behind the camera,
doing the same.
CULVER (voice-over): When we weren't on air, we were consumed with getting the story right. But truthfully, we're still feeling a bit guilty that we
walked away from the people of Wuhan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Just reflections, if you will, briefly, for our viewers.
What was that period like for you?
CULVER: It is so strange to actually hear that. I haven't heard it since we actually aired it nearly a year ago. Yes, I reflected, thinking about
our own quarantine and we were early on into this. You're right. We were having this conversation with you going back nearly 12 months ago now.
Our quarantine started at the end of January, lingered into early February and, Becky, it wasn't even mandated by the government. That was our bosses
at CNN, who said we want you to go into quarantine. They had the foresight to say this could potentially spread and you could be the one carrying it.
So let's be mindful of that.
And to fast forward it, to know that many people have done multiple quarantines. A lot of folks now working from home. That's the reality for
many in the U.S. if not most. And so that is something that you look back 12 months ago now and it's tough to believe that's the journey we've been
on.
ANDERSON: Remarkable, more than 90 million cases around the world, 2 million deaths. Just -- it's almost unbelievable were it not to be true. We
are going to be right back after this. David, thank you.
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ANDERSON: Well, the Tokyo Olympic Games are still moving full speed ahead, despite our COVID-19 state of emergency in the capital city. The head of
the Olympic Organizing Committee delivered a video address to staff members, assuring them that game preparations are continuing as planned.
But public support is crumbling. A Japanese news poll shows that 80 -- eight-zero -- percent of people there think the Olympics should be canceled
or delayed. Meanwhile, Japan's prime minister insists the games will be safe. CNN's Selina Wang has this for you from Tokyo.
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SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Becky, Tokyo Olympic officials say they are still committed to holding the games this summer, even though Japan is
dealing with a vicious wave of COVID-19.
The government is preparing to expand the state of emergency beyond the Tokyo area. Now Japan's government doesn't have any legal means to enforce
COVID-19 restrictions. But this state of emergency urges people to stay at home and for restaurants and bars to shorten their hours.
Daily cases in Japan are continuing to grow in the thousands a day. Hospitals here are under increasing strain. Public support for the Olympics
is waning. Yet the prime minister has reiterated that these games will be held safely and securely.
The Olympics are now only just over six months away but it is still not clear what these games are going to look like. Olympic officials have said
that the games will be simplified, that the opening and closing ceremonies will be pared back.
But will foreign spectators be allowed to attend?
Right now Japan has curbed entry of foreign travelers in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The prime minister's approval ratings have also
dropped dramatically over his handling of the pandemic, which one health expert described to me as "slow and confusing."
But Becky, the stakes here are high. These are set to be the most expensive summer games ever at $15.4 billion -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely.
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