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Europe Says "Not Where We Want to Be" with Vaccines; Interview with Dr. Seth Berkley of Gavi and the Need to Roll Out Vaccines Worldwide; WHO Panel Approves AstraZeneca's COVID-19 Vaccine; Myanmar Protesters Defy Military Rule, Demand Democracy Restored; Impeachment Turns to Evidence and Trump's Words; Biden Hosts CEOs to Build Support for Relief Package. Aired 10-11a ET
Aired February 10, 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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UNKNOWN: The main goal is easy to describe. Saving lives. Every life counts.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNNI HOST (voice-over): German military doctors land in Portugal to help combat COVID. This as the E.U.'s president admits Europe
is not where it needs to be with vaccines.
Then --
UNKNOWN (through translator): Mother Suu once said, the youth are the only weapon who can lead the country. Only when young people are good will they
become good leaders. I came here because of that proverb.
ANDERSON (voice-over): How Myanmar's Gen Z are using social media in the military-run country to help organize growing protests.
Plus --
BRUCE CASTOR, TRUMP DEFENSE LAWYER: After he's out of office, you go and arrest him.
ANDERSON (voice-over): Donald Trump reportedly furious about his lawyers' performance on day one of his impeachment trial. We'll connect you to the
Hill this hour.
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ANDERSON: Wherever you are watching in the world, hello and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Becky Anderson.
We're tracking the World Health Organization press conference. They are expected to weigh in on the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine after South Africa
halted its rollout earlier this week. This after a study indicated that the vaccine itself has extremely low efficacy against the South African
coronavirus variant. We'll get to that as and when it happens.
But for now, I want to turn to a stunning admission out of the European Union on its bumpy coronavirus vaccine program. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION (through translator): Today, in the fight against the virus, we're still not where we want to be.
We were late to authorize. We were too optimistic when it came to massive production and perhaps we were too confident on what we ordered would
actually be delivered on time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The E.U.'s program with a bumpy rollout and it is still playing catch-up, markedly behind nations like the U.S. and the U.K. This is a
daunting job, of course, getting vaccines into some 450 million arms in some of the hardest hit nations in the world.
Von der Leyen defended the process of buying vaccines as a block, saying that for each country to scramble for their own would amount to, quote,
"economic madness." Let's get to Melissa Bell, connecting us with the situation from Paris for you today.
An unmitigated disaster rather than just a bumpy rollout is how many people are describing this vaccine rollout in Europe.
What's the news where you are?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think that pretty exhaustive list you just heard from the mouth of the European Commission president about the
failures of the European Union when it came to the procurement rollout and distribution of their vaccines says it all.
This is a woman who has been under extraordinary fire for the last couple of weeks, not only from within the European Union and its institutions, a
lot of anger at what's going on but also within the press of the individual member states.
Von der Leyen has come under fire because this was a test for the European Union and also an important test after Brexit, of how the United Kingdom,
liberated of the need to coordinate with anyone, could go ahead and vaccinate its populations.
And inevitably, perhaps, because the process hadn't been set up before, because they had to create a system where none had existed after the
pandemic began, all these delays in terms of contract signatures. And now these delays you're seeing on the ground.
Spain delaying in some parts its vaccine rollout. Appointments here in the greater Paris region have had to be canceled and put off because of a lack
of vaccine supplies. So you're talking about, of course, the lives of people.
[10:05:00]
And the ability of the economies to stand up once again, which is why, I think, this particular failure of the E.U. is being counted so harshly.
There's been such great criticism over Van der Leyen.
ANDERSON: Melissa Bell on the story for you.
The slow rollout in many parts of Europe, a daunting prospect for Ursula Van der Leyen at this point. We are better together. That was the message
from the president of the European Commission.
But that's just not the reality. And a theme we've been discussing on this show is vaccine nationalism. Initiatives such as COVAX are stepping in to
help overcome that disruptive phenomenon and help distribute vaccines to all participating countries, including those that can't afford to access
them on their own.
Their goal: to deliver 2 billion doses by the end of 2021. But their efforts still depend on richer nations being willing to help.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Joining me now from Geneva is the CEO of Gavi, the vaccine alliance, Seth Berkley is leading that group co-leading the COVAX
distribution efforts.
It's really great to have you with us, Seth. I want to start by talking about Europe's vaccine rollout, which many will agree has been an
unmitigated disaster. The bloc's chair, Van der Leyen, is finally admitting to that. We heard her speak earlier.
How do you think that Europe could have done better?
And I do ask this because I want to go on to talk to you about the promises that have been made by many European countries who have signed up to COVAX,
to effectively help you guys at COVAX deliver vaccines elsewhere.
If they can't get the job done themselves, how will they help you do better going forward?
DR. SETH BERKLEY, CEO, GAVI: First of all, nice to see you, Becky. We have to put this into perspective, first of all. The normal timeline, four to
five years, seven years to make vaccines, we've done it this time under 10 months.
And so there has been a real scramble to do this, to get contracts, manufacturers to scale up, to get the regulatory systems working.
And it has been a challenge everywhere in the world in terms of the speed of rollout. Of course, my particular interest is making sure that we roll
it out everywhere in the world to get to those at highest risk, because we're not safe anywhere unless we're safe everywhere, as we've seen with
these new variants.
ANDERSON: Do you think Europe could have done better, Seth?
BERKLEY: Of course. Everybody could have done better. You have a similar complaint going on in the U.S. now. You have complaints in other parts of
the world. This is difficult stuff.
What it requires, of course, is amazing, impeccable planning. And it also requires knowing the volumes of vaccines, the yield of production, the
regulatory systems and, of course, in this case, we didn't have all of that.
So some manufacturers gave overly rosy predictions on their vaccines. And we've seen the consequences of this. This is, no question, a challenge for
the whole world.
ANDERSON: Are you confident, given the background, the mess that is the vaccine, certainly the mess that was the vaccine rollout in the U.S. --
that's getting better, of course -- and the mess that is the vaccine rollout in Europe, are you confident that those who have signed up to help
the COVAX initiative, the distribution of vaccines to lower income countries, to ensure that everybody, as you rightly point out, gets to --
gets this protection?
Are you convinced that those who have signed on the dotted line are actually going to pony up some of their stockpiles when, indeed, they get
them?
BERKLEY: Well, the key part of COVAX is not ponying up their stockpiles. The critical issue for us was to have finance to be able to purchase
vaccines. So we have now 190 participants, although the U.S. has also said it will join; that soon will be 191 countries.
Half of those are self-financing. They put money to buy doses. The other half, 92, are countries of lower income where we pay for their vaccines.
And so we have been able to raise about $6.4 billion. We still need to raise another couple of billion.
But we have adequate finance to make the deals and to begin to roll out the vaccines. The delay has been waiting to get WHO prequalification, which
we're expecting in the next few days. And we've published on our website the initial rollout of about 350 million doses in 145 countries.
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Which should start in the next few weeks.
ANDERSON: Have all those who have pledged financing actually paid up?
BERKLEY: So not all the money has flowed in the door. But we've never had a problem with that before. So we expect that we will have the finance that
is necessary to go ahead and roll out these vaccines.
Of course, now we have a large portfolio of vaccines. We're just starting now with the first few.
But we also are asking the question, do we need to adapt these vaccines and change them based upon the new variants?
And this is something we'll have to work with over time to see how we adapt and change as the science is changing, which is critical, again, if we want
to keep ahead of the virus.
But the most important thing is to get the vaccine out to those at highest risk, health care workers, elderly, people who have co-morbidities, to try
to stop this terrible burden of disease around the world, which is, frankly, bringing many countries to their knees.
ANDERSON: And these variants and, you know, what we may need to do as far as vaccine development is concerned going forward, is so important, isn't
it?
And we are talking to you as we await news from the World Health Organization today on the AstraZeneca vaccine, which, as I understand, it
was going to play a key role in the COVAX distribution of the vaccines in lower income countries because it's cheap and easier to transport.
As I understand it, COVAX announced to -- a plan to distribute more than 337 million doses worldwide.
Of which, how many of those would be AstraZeneca?
Is it clear at this point?
Because, you know, we do know that, in South Africa, this is a vaccine that people have concerns about with regard its effectiveness against these new
variants.
BERKLEY: So the AstraZeneca vaccine is a good vaccine. It's been now approved by two major stringent regulatory agencies. WHO is now finishing
the prequalification for that product. In fact, South Korea just approved today the AstraZeneca product that they are producing, which will be one of
the suppliers to COVAX.
We plan to roll out about 350 million doses of that vaccine to 145 countries in the first half of the year. Now we have seen a reduction in
South Africa in a small trial. We still don't know if that reduction in mild disease is also seen for severe disease and, obviously, that's what
we're concerned about.
So I suspect that South Africa will do some additional studies. That trial was in young, healthy people, small numbers, and just didn't give the data
that was necessary. But clearly it has a reduced effect against that B-1351 strain, which is the one that's called the South African strain.
But we also saw that with Novavax, with J&J and some of the mRNA vaccines. So clearly that strain is more difficult to neutralize and protect against.
So we'll have to see how useful that vaccine is there. But of course, around the world, that is not the dominant strain and so we see the vaccine
of AstraZeneca as being useful still.
ANDERSON: I interviewed the co-chair of South Africa's COVID-19 advisory committee. Have a listen to what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SALIM ABDOOL KARIM, CO-CHAIR, SOUTH AFRICA'S COVID-19 ADVISORY COMMITTEE: The proposal right now is to institute the rollout of the AstraZeneca
vaccine in a stepped approach, where we would start by vaccinating about 100,000 individuals in the first step. We would look at the hospitalization
rates once we've done those vaccinations.
And if we find that the hospitalization rates are below the threshold that we are looking at, then we can be confident that the vaccine is efficacious
and maintains its efficacy against hospitalization, at least.
And if so, we can then proceed to continuing the rollout. If we find that the hospitalizations are substantial, more than we anticipated, then we
would have to stop -- take stock of where we are and perhaps switch to other vaccines.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: So instead of trying to achieve herd immunity, the focus there, at least, is now on preventing as many deaths as possible, even while the
virus continues to circulate.
And does that concern you?
BERKLEY: Well, actually, that is the strategy in most places of the world right now. We don't yet know whether these vaccines block transmission of
infection. There is some evidence that they do but not definitive evidence. What we know is these vaccines are great at protecting against severe
disease, hospitalizations and death.
[10:15:00]
And so the goal is to try to protect those at highest risk from those outcomes. And that's what we're trying to do.
So the question in South Africa, given this small trial showed that the vaccine did not have a big effect on mild disease, is it still going to
have its effect on severe disease and hospitalization?
That's what they want to understand, which is going to be important in a country where 95 percent of the strains are now this dominant B-1135.
That's different than in many parts of the world. In the U.K., they have a different strain, 1117. That's transmitted more quickly. But the vaccines
seem to have a good response against that.
ANDERSON: Seth Berkley, it's always a pleasure, sir. Thank you very much, indeed, for joining us.
And as you and I have been speaking, the WHO just announcing that it has approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
So very pertinent to the conversation that Seth and I were having, when he suggests that, of the 336 million doses that COVAX are looking to
distribute, some 150 million of those are, indeed, that vaccine.
For most countries, the queue for getting a vaccine seems never ending. All the while, people are dying. Still front line workers continue to give it
their all. Let's zone in on one country, Portugal, which will likely extend its month-long nationwide lockdown. Here's Isa Soares.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the battle against the coronavirus, there is no time to lose. The paramedics in the front lines of
Lisbon, Portugal, know this all too well. They are rushing to help this 58- year-old woman, who is very anxious and worried she may have COVID-19.
"I have sharp pains in my chest and, when I cough, it gets worse," she says.
As she leaves her house not knowing when she will come back, she says goodbye to her mother.
She has been taken to one of Lisbon's overwhelmed hospitals. The country is seeing a devastating year with one of the worst infection rates on the
planet, more than half of Portugal's total COVID-19 death toll was reported in 2021. But this ambulance troop, there is little time for reflection.
UNKNOWN (through translator): When we begin our shift, we are already expecting that a large majority of incidents will be COVID-19 or suspected
COVID-19 cases.
SOARES (voice-over): They must clean and disinfect before the sirens sound out again.
It is a job of heightened emotions, only made more difficult now by the constraints of COVID-19.
UNKNOWN (through translator): It is very hard to work in these conditions. We struggle to see, we struggle to examine. The work itself, it takes
longer and then patients can be very critical. So it is a constricting situation for us.
SOARES (voice-over): As the long and arduous shift goes on, it doesn't get easier for them. They must now transport this COVID-19 patient, already on
a ventilator, to another hospital in Lisbon to free up much needed ICU beds in this part of town.
It is a journey that is lonely and delicate, with only the paramedic's hand providing human warmth.
They will now be in the care of this team of 26 German Army medical personnel, who arrived in Lisbon last week to help ease the pressure on the
local health care system.
DR. JENS-PETER EVER, GERMAN ARMED FORCES MEDICAL SERVICE: The main goal is easy to describe, saving lives. Every life counts.
SOARES (voice-over): While daily infections and deaths from COVID-19 have dropped over the last week, medical teams are still being stretched. This
team has now been sent out to help the elderly woman who is struggling to breathe. Unable to speak, the medics try to ease her fears.
"We are going to look after you. We will take you to the hospital to see what is wrong," said the nurse. But they, too, are worried. She may have
contracted COVID-19 from a family member. Unsurprisingly, it is all taking a toll.
UNKNOWN (through translator): There is a lot of pressure. We get insomnia, some want to sleep more but they can't. They start thinking about things.
But, well, we have to be here.
SOARES (voice-over): And in spite of it all, they will return tomorrow and start afresh in their fight against COVID-19 -- Isa Soares, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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ANDERSON: And just breaking in this hour, the WHO has now recommended for use the AstraZeneca vaccine, of course.
We're going to take a very short break.
Is that what we're going to do?
We are. Back after this.
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UNKNOWN: (Speaking foreign language).
ANDERSON (voice-over): Shouts of defiance as protesters fill the streets of Myanmar for the fifth straight day. The military, which seized power in
a coup last week, is cracking down by resisting gatherings in major towns and cities.
Yet, thousands still show up, demanding democracy be restored. Tensions have eased slightly from Tuesday's demonstrations, when police shot water
cannons into the crowds and fired guns in the air.
A source tells CNN that one woman, though, is in critical condition with a bullet wound to the head. Myanmar state media reports that four police
officers were also injured during the protests.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: This campaign of civil disobedience is growing across Myanmar and protesters say it will continue until the government they voted for is
back in power. Channel 4's Jonathan Miller with this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JONATHAN MILLER, JOURNALIST (voice-over): With three fingers to dictatorship, Burmese defied their unwanted ruler's edict banning protests.
In cities throughout Myanmar, Generation Z said no, demanding restoration of their elected government.
That connected Facebook generation rejecting the aging general's retreat into an isolationist abyss.
UNKNOWN (through translator): Mother Suu once said, the youth are the only weapon who can lead the country. Only when young people are good will they
become good leaders. I came here because of that proverb.
MILLER (voice-over): Water cannon deployed today, images conjuring the ties that bind Yangon to Bangkok and Hong Kong. They marched in tens of
thousands, in cities across the country. The military's weekend shutdown of the internet failed to quell the outrage.
Day four of protest and everyone on high alert and, with each dawn, the fear of brutal crackdown grows. Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a young activist in
Yangon, born into an army family, she's infuriated by the military's repressive record citing its ruthlessness with the Rohingya. She knows the
risks of speaking out.
How had she felt when she woke to learn there had been a coup?
THINZAR SHUNLEI YI, PRO-DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST: I felt broken, like I feel like all my energy that I have, all drain out. And I couldn't read. I
couldn't talk. It was such a speechless moment for me. That's the worst thing that we can imagine. If that happened, it's really hard, it's really,
really hard to get back on track.
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YI: I think many people fear this thing. It's like everything we built in the past 10 years all just broken. The coup is not a new thing. The coup is
many country also experience different types, especially in Thailand, for example. Also in Hong Kong. Young people like us, they were trying their
best. So they inspire us.
(CROSSTALK)
YI: -- we are facing the most brutal military in the world. So I think many of us are already aware.
MILLER: Do you really think the Myanmar military will back down?
YI: Well, we think they won't -- in the end, they won't have any other option. (INAUDIBLE) reverse the coup and restore everything. So we are
going to go for it. So that's the goal for us right now.
MILLER (voice-over): The general may have overplayed his hand but he's not a man of compromise.
UNKNOWN: (Speaking foreign language).
MILLER (voice-over): Protesters scoffed at his TV debut yesterday, in which he sought to justify his coup and pledged a true and disciplined
democracy would follow a year of emergency rule.
But a war crimes suspect was schooled in the use of force and leopards aren't known to change their spots. Today live shots were fired, most into
the air. But while sheltering from water cannon, a young woman in red, at bottom left of screen here, was shot in the head. She's now in critical
condition.
Blood has been spilled. There were numerous reports today of riot police relenting, joining in. But only mass defections from military ranks would
really raise the prospect of peaceful resolution to this generational impasse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: That was Jonathan Miller reporting.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD from our Middle East programming hub in Abu Dhabi. Still to come --
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CASTOR: I'll be quite frank with you. We changed what we were going to do on account that we thought that the House managers' presentation was well
done.
ANDERSON (voice-over): One of Donald Trump's impeachment trial lawyers admitting Democrats got an early edge in their first arguments before the
U.S. Senate. What is ahead after a gripping first day of presentations is after this.
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ANDERSON (voice-over): Plus, how will the Turkish president handle the new U.S. administration now that his old friend, Donald Trump, is no longer
calling the shots at the White House?
My interview with Recep Tayyip Erdogan's chief adviser is just ahead.
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REP. BILL CASSIDY (R): President Trump's team were disorganized. They did everything they could but to talk about the question at hand. If I'm an
impartial juror and I'm trying to make a decision based upon the facts as presented on this issue, then the House managers did a much better job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is Republican U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, explaining to the world why he sided with Democrats after the stirring opening act of
Donald Trump's second impeachment trial.
House Democrats begin presenting their case just 90 minutes from now. Cassidy, the only Republican to change his or her mind in a vote Tuesday
that allowed the trial to officially start, acknowledging that House impeachment managers effectively laid out their reasons for trying the
former president while Trump's lawyers delivered rambling, at times incoherent arguments that put little focus on the deadly insurrection that
Donald Trump is charged with inciting.
Well, Democrats bolstered their case with a chilling 13-minute video that served as a timeline of the events of January the 6th. Trump supporters
stormed the Capitol. Here is some of that video and it is, at times, disturbing to watch.
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UNKNOWN: We need fresh patriots to the front.
UNKNOWN: Traitors! Traitors!
RIOTERS: Fight for Trump. Fight for Trump. Fight for Trump.
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ANDERSON: Well, Donald Trump's lawyers apparently couldn't decide who was better off talking first, telling senators they pulled a last-minute switch
because the Democrats' presentation was so effective.
The first to speak also contradicted Donald Trump's longstanding lie that the election was rigged, saying voters have made their choice and the
country should move on.
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CASTOR: The American people just spoke and they just changed administrations. The people are smart enough, in the light most favorable
to them, they are smart enough to pick a new administration if they don't like the old one. And they just did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And he seemed to imply that Donald Trump is guilty of something. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASTOR: After he's out of office, you go and arrest him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: The second Trump lawyer to speak harped on one of the main defense arguments, that an impeached American president who has left office
can't be tried in the Senate.
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DAVID SCHOEN, TRUMP DEFENSE LAWYER: They've made clear in public statements that what they really want to accomplish here in the name of the
Constitution is to bar Donald Trump from ever running for political office again. But this is an affront to the Constitution, no matter who they
target today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, that is the defense. Donald Trump himself was said to be so incensed by his lawyers' performance he was on the verge of screaming at
his television as he watched.
Still, only six of the 50 Republican senators, with the addition of Bill Cassidy, voted for the trial to proceed; 17 of them will have to join
Democrats to actually vote to convict Trump at the back end of this trial, hammering home the huge challenge Democrats face to get a conviction in the
days ahead.
So here is what we can expect this week. Democratic impeachment managers have up to 16 hours to prevent -- to present their case, the first eight of
those happening today. You can expect to see more videos. They'll have another eight hours on Thursday.
Starting Friday, Donald Trump's lawyers get their turn. Lauren Fox is tracking all of this for us from Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
We just sort of laid out the bare bones of what we can expect this week.
What specifically do you expect to see today?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think you're going to see a lot more of this compelling video evidence. That is something that
the House managers are going to be leaning into. You saw that 13-minute video yesterday.
[10:35:00]
FOX: Some of which you played in the intro here. I think that that is really a good sneak peek, a table setter, if you will, on what the
Democrats are going to be doing in the Senate today.
Now I think that part of that is to bring members back to that moment on January 6th. They are jurors, all 100 senators. Many of them are also
witnesses. And I think that is what the House managers intended to do yesterday with that presentation.
Now things are going to feel a little different today than they did yesterday and that's because the former president's defense isn't going to
be able to speak for the next two days. So there's no way for senators to sort of come out of that moment.
They are going to be fully immersed in those video clips, in this testimony that we are heading into today at noon.
We are told from senior aides working on this impeachment trial preparation that there is going to be new footage. And that footage is coming from
security footage at the U.S. Capitol. So there are going to be some views we have not seen before on television.
In addition to the fact that House managers are going to be trying to string together the events of, not just January 6th and the former
president's role, when he spoke to that crowd of supporters, telling them to, quote, "fight like hell," we are also going to see the timeline of the
former president's words before the November election and after the November election, all culminating in many Americans' view that this
election was not fair, that this election was somehow rigged.
Obviously, that is something that is not true. There was a fair and free election. Joe Biden won. He is the president. But that is something that
the House managers are going to be digging into a lot more -- Becky.
ANDERSON: Lauren Fox is on the Hill for you.
Do be sure to stay with CNN all day and indeed through the night for our special coverage of Donald Trump's second impeachment trial. This is
history in the making, of course. It begins a little over an hour from now following a special airing of "AMANPOUR."
While Democrats in Congress are united behind the impeachment proceedings, it is also a critical week for negotiations across the aisle as U.S.
President Joe Biden looks ahead to his first big legislative move.
Biden hopes his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package will soon come to fruition. And majority leader Chuck Schumer says the Senate will be working
on both it and impeachment this week. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With his predecessor's impeachment trial underway, President Joe Biden is keeping
his focus on his administration's coronavirus response.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a job. My job is to keep people -- we've already lost over 450,000 people. We're going to lose
a whole lot more if we don't act and act decisively and quickly.
The Senate has their job. They're about to begin it. I'm sure they're going to conduct themselves well and that's all I'm going to have to say about
impeachment.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Biden forging ahead with his $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, meeting with business leaders in the Oval Office, Biden
throwing his support behind House Democrats' bill, which would send $1,400 checks to Americans making less than $75,000 a year, rejecting Republicans'
$40,000 income threshold.
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He supports that, where the status of the negotiations is right now, of the $75,000.
DIAMOND (voice-over): On the vaccine front, the administration nearing Biden's unofficial goal of 1.5 million shots a day. Officials announced
Tuesday that vaccine shipments to states will increase to 11 million doses per week.
JEFFREY ZIENTS, WHITE HOUSE COVID-19 RESPONSE COORDINATOR: So that's a total of 28 percent increase in vaccine supply across the first three
weeks.
DIAMOND (voice-over): On a call with the White House, governors still expressing concerns about supply.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We now have about 10 million New Yorkers waiting on 300,000 doses. Big question on the call with the White House coordinator
by the governors is supply, supply, supply.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The administration also boosting its effort to reach underserved communities. A million additional doses will be allocated and
sent directly to 250 community health centers starting next week.
DR. MARCELLA NUNEZ-SMITH, CHAIR, COVID-19 HEALTH EQUITY TASK FORCE: Equity is our north star here. This effort that focuses under an allocation to the
community health centers really is about connecting with those hard to reach populations across the country.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The CDC still hasn't released its guidelines for reopening schools, even as Biden pledged to reopen most schools in his
first 100 days. That guidance still expected this week.
PSAKI: His goal that he set is to have the majority of schools, so more than 50 percent, open by day 100 of his presidency. And that means some
teaching in classrooms.
[10:40:00]
PSAKI: So at least one day a week. Hopefully it's more.
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ANDERSON: That is the White House spokesperson closing out Jeremy Diamond's report there.
You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD with me, Becky Anderson. This wider region keeping a close watch on Washington.
And now that the Trump-Erdogan romance is a memory, will there be a new era for Turkey's relationship with the United States?
My interview with the Turkish president's chief adviser is next.
Actors seem to spend their money on crazy stuff, right?
Forget cars or Jewelry, though. Ryan Reynolds and his buddies get their kicks from something else. Details on that just ahead.
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ANDERSON: CONNECT THE WORLD has been bringing you in-depth reporting on how the new president has plenty on his plate but the world inbox already
has a bipartisan letter signed by more than 50 U.S. senators, urging the Biden White House to press Turkey on improving its human rights record.
Now President Biden's national security adviser has also been on the phone with the Turkish president's chief adviser, discussing the prickly topic of
their acquisition of Russian surface to air missiles.
And don't forget the old frictions last year. Joe Biden called President Erdogan an autocrat. There's not a stretch to think the Turkish leader may
be missing his old friend, former president Donald Trump.
The big question now, of course, how do Washington and Ankara reset their relationship?
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is connecting us to Turkey.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: It's a great honor to have President Erdogan from Turkey here.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Few world leaders have the kind of relationship that Recep Tayyip Erdogan had with former
president Donald Trump. That bromance, as some described it, may have prevented a total rupture of U.S.-Turkish relations that continued to sour
over longstanding disagreements.
From the U.S.' support for Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, that Turkey considers terrorists, and its main national security threat to NATO member
Turkey's purchase of the S-400 missile defense system, that triggered rare U.S. sanctions against a decades-old ally.
Now the U.S. president inherits the same old disputes with an increasingly assertive Turkey.
ASLI AYDINTASBAS, EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: A lot has changed over the past four years. This is not the Turkey of a decade ago. With its
smooth role in a trans-Atlantic alliance, Turkey is now a resurgent power, wanting to have a military footprint outside of its borders.
[10:45:00]
AYDINTASBAS: In fact, having a military presence in six, seven, eight locations across the Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean, including
Libya.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Turkey's military interventions and this more forceful foreign policy irked many in the region and beyond.
AYDINTASBAS: Turkey is very isolated regionally. So I think Erdogan understands that he needs to have a good relationship with the United
States, better relations. I don't think they want to start off on a bad footing.
We're already seeing Erdogan pivot, trying to pivot to Europe, going on a charm offensive and sending positive messages to Washington.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): Since President Joe Biden's win, there's been a clear shift in Ankara's tone. Turkey's presidential spokesman told CNN's
Becky Anderson, they are ready for change.
IBRAHIM KALIN, TURKISH PRESIDENT CHIEF ADVISER: Our president has said that Turkey is ready to start talking about purchasing Patriot or other
defense system from NATO allies. We are ready to do it. We are ready for full cooperation.
We believe that we'll have a need for a page turn with the Biden administration. He knows Turkey. He knows the Turkish political scene. He
knows the leadership here. He knows our president.
He came to Turkey four times as vice president. And I believe he will take all that experience and context into his new position as the President of
the United States.
KARADSHEH (voice-over): The Biden administration has signaled it will be taking a harder line against Turkey and it will likely be far less tolerant
of a worsening human rights record, largely ignored by the previous administration. But the two countries still need each other.
AYDINTASBAS: Turkey is a significant country and I think that, for Syria, for Iraq and in terms of pushing back against Russian influence in the
Middle East, Turkey is very important.
The Turkish-Russian relationship is also very complex. They look very close but Turkey -- but they are also limiting each other's power in different
theaters. That, too, is very precious for U.S. interests. So there is every reason to make this work.
KARADSHEH: Turkey's leadership knows very well that dealing with Biden's America is going to be really different. No more will this be mostly based
on a personal relationship between two presidents and an open phone line to the White House.
It is going to be a return to the traditional ways of doing business, institution to institution, state to state. And that may just be the reset
this complicated relationship needs -- Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: You just heard some of my interview with Ibrahim Kalin. We discussed the nuances of such a complicated relationship and how Ankara and
Washington need each other and even how Turkey is getting past Joe Biden's name-calling which, of course, we mentioned earlier. Have a listen to a
little more of what we discussed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KALIM: President-elect Biden said these things last year before I believe or about when he was about to become a candidate. He knows Turkey. He knows
the Turkish political scene.
I believe those statements were way out of line and he will change tone, he will change course. I'm looking at the team that he has gathered. They are
experienced professionals and they know Turkey. They work with us in the past.
And I believe they will follow the policy that will put Turkey's strategic place and value at the center of this relationship, especially when you
consider all the challenges from Syria to Iraq, from Libya to the Caucasus and the Gulf and other areas.
You know, they will, I believe, opt for a very positive relationship with Turkey. And those statements that we've heard, which we rejected, will be
something in the past as part of those political campaign days.
ANDERSON: Do you expect to have a better relationship with a Joe Biden administration going forward than that which you have had with Donald
Trump?
He considered himself a friend of the Turkish president in the past.
KALIM: Yes, he did consider himself and was a friend of Turkey. He said this on record and he did his best to the extent possible under the
circumstances in the political scene in the U.S.
In regards to the Biden administration, we believe he will have good relationship as long as that relationship is based on respect, mutual
interest and recognition of our sovereignties.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Ibrahim Kalin speaking to me recently.
Well, it seems the sun is shining on Wrexham Football Club, thanks to their new Hollywood A-list owners.
[10:50:00]
Can they turn this club in the north of England into a team of superheroes?
We'll take a look at that story after this.
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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ANDERSON: Right. Turning to the world of sports, where I want to connect you to Ryan Reynolds. Yes, Ryan Reynolds. After all, he's a man of many
talents. Well-paid talents at that. He was the second highest paid actor last year.
While he's, of course, known for his superpowers on screen, off the screen, he's also running laps around us mere mortals with his business portfolio.
The guy has got his hands in a gin company, a mobile phone company and now a football club. Yes, Wrexham AFC.
Well, it would be nice to connect you to Ryan for an interview but I decided I could go one better than that. Here's our resident superhero, Don
Riddell.
I've got to correct myself because our Welsh viewers will hate me for suggesting that Wrexham is in the north of England. I'm thinking, I have
relatives in Chester. I always think of Wrexham as just down the road from Chester. So I got my geography all mixed up. My fault. I hold my hands up.
Apologies on my part.
Listen, but let's talk about Wrexham and Ryan, which rhymes.
Does Ryan know where Wrexham is and what the club is all about, do you think?
DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think he does now. He's just dropped almost $3 million on this club. But this is just an absolutely wonderful
football story. Becky, most football fans wish that their team could be better. They wished they had a bit more money. They wished they could have
some better standard of players. They wish they could have a better football ground.
But most of them don't. That's just football. You can't all be Liverpool and Manchester United. Look what Manchester City have done since they got
new ownership. They won the Premier League title four times.
Wrexham are the lowest of the low. They are not even in the English Football League. They are a nonleague club. They have been --
(CROSSTALK)
RIDDELL: -- life support for the last decade because the fans decided that they needed to take it over and just kind of keep it going.
There's a lot of history in Wrexham. They have got the oldest football ground in the world, according to the Guinness book of records (sic), the
(INAUDIBLE), the third oldest football club in the world. But they've been on hard times for a long, long time.
And the atmosphere around that club now, I mean, they are just so excited because not only have they got significant new investment but they've got
Hollywood interest and owners now, who are saying that they are going to make this club world famous. And who knows what the future holds but they
certainly now believe the sky is the limit.
ANDERSON: It's a fantastic story. And as you rightly point out, this is such a club with such a storied history. But, unfortunately, it hasn't had
sort of a lot of luck in the recent past.
Just briefly, got about literally about 30 seconds, what are the fans -- what does a club hope will happen next, apart from this injection of cash,
which is the obvious one?
[10:55:00]
RIDDELL: Yes, look, they are talking about, you know, boosting the transfer funds so they can go out and get the best players they can afford
in the next transfer market. They can back into the football league. And then we'll see what happens after that.
But it's such a cool story. I've got to say one thing, 2012, one of the fans tweeted, you never know when Ryan Reynolds is going to turn up in
Wrexham.
He tweeted last year, you never know, adding, I've been waiting eight years to respond to this tweet and now we know why. It's the most random story in
world football. It's just absolutely brilliant.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: That is absolutely remarkable. I had no idea. What a wonderful story. Thank you, sir.
RIDDELL: And did you notice, by the way, they changed the spelling their names?
Their names are now Wryan and Wrob, the silent W. Very cool.
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Lovely story. Always a pleasure, Don, thank you.
Before we go, I want to leave you with a story I'm sure many of us can relate to this year. An attorney in Texas appeared for a virtual court
hearing but his computer was, well, let's just say, in contempt of court. While his assistant was on the case, the lawyer said something that's
probably never been heard in a judicial proceeding before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hear me, Judge?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can hear you. I think it's a filter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is, I don't know how to remove it. I have my assistant here. She's trying to but I'm prepared to go forward with it. And
that's -- I'm here live. That's not -- I'm not a cat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
ANDERSON: The judge graciously walked him through the process of removing the filter and tweeted a public service announcement, advising everyone to
check their filters if a child has been using the computer.
That's it from me. Thanks for tuning in to CONNECT THE WORLD. My colleague, Christiane Amanpour, is on the other side of this break with an early
edition from her show. From us here in Abu Dhabi, it is a very good evening.
END
