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Connect the World
Lavish State Funeral For Top Nuclear Scientist; Iran: Weapons Used In Attack Made In Israel; Moderna: COVID-19 Vaccine 94.1 Percent Effective; U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden Unveils Economic Team; Family: Saudi Family Activist Sent To Terrorism Court; Cuban Officials Report Increase In Smugglers Headed To U.S. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired November 30, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson.
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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: And this hour the pharmaceutical giant Moderna applying for approval for using its vaccine in
Europe and America as data shows it's more than 94 percent effective against COVID, and get this 100 percent effective against the most severe
cases of the disease. I'm going to get you a lot more on that in a moment.
First up, I want to bring you more from this region this hour, and a remarkable tale that Iran is telling. The country's state media claiming
that the weapons used in what was a daring assassination of the man known as the father of its nuclear ambitions were made in Israel and that they
were incredibly advanced.
We are talking about remote-controlled machine guns and self-detonated cars. Iran offering absolutely no evidence of this whatsoever you will
remember that Mohsen Fakhrazadeh was killed in his heavily protected car was targeted in a brazen attack on Friday. He was buried in just the last
few hours with full honors a military possession to carry his flag-draped casket, a marching band.
There are a lot of claims and counterclaims and a lot that we are quite frankly still to find out. My colleague Nic Robertson lays out everything
that we know so far.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The aftermath of Mohsen Fakhrazadeh's assassination indicates a carefully planned attack, but was
it a high-tech killing as Iranian officials claim or sloppy Iranian security? As Hollywood graphically depicts the technology depicts. In
"Breaking Bad" the key fob is the trigger just meters from the gun in the real world in Iran hypothetically possible.
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JACK WATLING, RUSI RESEARCH FELLOW, MILITARY SCIENCES: The challenge is in target acquisition. How does the autonomous device work out what it's
supposed to be shooting?
ROBERTSON (voice over): Typically automated machine guns are used at centers like the DMZ between North and South Korea. In an assassination
more technology is needed to confirm the target, creating multiple risks.
WATLING: If you're putting lots of very expensive communication relays, satellite uplinks and this kind of things into a device like that, then you
are handing that technology to your enemy, and you're also creating a signature that could be detected by the security services that need to be
in place and that's there for a long period of time. So you're more likely to find that it's being controlled from a fairly close proximity, but that
could still be a few kilometers.
ROBERTSON (voice over): The majority of nuclear scientists assassinated in Iran and there have been several over the past decade and have generally
been low-tech gunmen or bombers on motorbikes. Fakhrazadeh's assassination's appears to be an embarrassment for Iran's security
services.
He was a protected and prized scientist. However, blaming Israel as Iran has claiming sophisticated technology was used in the killing may mollify
angry Iranians but it won't gain international credibility without evidence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office would not
comment, but at least two Israeli ministers saying they had no idea who killed Fakhrazadeh.
WATLING: We have to be very careful because witnesses are not always reliable in high stress situations, and I think we would want the Iranians
to present some more evidence before we made any assumptions.
ROBERTSON (voice over): No one is saying it didn't happen as Iran claims. Simply Tehran has yet to prove its case. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, of course, all of this puts Israel's key ally America in a difficult position, especially with a new president on the way. Our next
guest says, and I quote here, by leaving the timing of its response to it the assassination open, Iran can benefit by exacting concessions later from
the U.S. and Europe after January the 20th for continuing to hold off on revenge those words by Vali Nasr who joins us now from Washington.
Before we talk about what happens next and how this might affect the sort of strategic calculations of a new Joe Biden Administration when it comes
to the Iran file, I just want to know what do you make of these new claims about what actually happened on the ground?
[11:05:00]
VALI NASR, PROFESSOR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: Well, I think it has to do with domestic politics in Iran. There are serious criticisms of the
security protection for Mr. Fakhrazadeh. There's a sense of anger at Israel being able to operate at will in Iran.
And also there might be accusations that of infiltration into the security services by foreign intelligence agencies in order to gather information
about the whereabouts of their targets. And I think Iran is trying to manage - the Iranian leadership is trying to manage the political anger
brewing internally, and there are several pieces to this.
One is actually accusing Israel so directly is self-interesting because Iran typically would have included America in these accusations but in fact
by not naming America they have left the door open to still being able to engage the Biden Administration after January 20th, and now their focus is
on Israel is an regional ally.
The revenge that they are calling for will be against Israel but at the same time domestically in Iran it's problematic to admit that Israeli
forces, Israeli agents were operating on the streets in Iran. So a high- tech answer, you know, explanation is politically perhaps more palatable to say that there are not Israeli agents at the level that this assassination
would suggest.
ANDERSON: Vali, to your point, this is, of course, the latest and what has been a decade long pattern of mysterious poisonings, of car bombings,
shootings, explosions and sabotage that have afflicted Iran and this year of 2020 has been specifically harsh with the killing of Hassam Soleimani
earlier in January.
You would think a country that if you buy as an enemy by so many of the world's strongest powers the U.S. Israel and Saudi Arabia that its security
apparatus would be more robust by now to avoid these situations from happening.
NASR: Exactly, and I think that's the expectation of the population is the expectation of the leadership, even those who are in positions of power in
Iran. But Israel perhaps has invested in - for a long period of time in building capabilities for intelligence-gathering and for carrying out
operations inside Iran.
I mean, this is not the first assassination that Israel has carried out inside Iran, but it's the most high profile, and it's coming after the
killing of Hassam Soleimani, is coming after very, very difficult period with the United States.
So it's particularly problematic at this point in time but it does suggest that Iran has difficulty protecting its own turf against Israeli
penetration. I would just add one thing, when Israel and the United States were able to put a computer worm that brought down Iran's nuclear program
for a period of time, there famous - net war.
I mean, that also was a massive security lapse, but it was not as publicly, you know, broadcast in Iranian media, and it wasn't affecting the lives of
Iranian leaders.
ANDERSON: We'll talk about what's going on internally here, so-called hardliners in Iran have blamed President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist who
had bet heavily on negotiations with the U.S., of course. They blamed him for security failures that allowed the attack to happen.
So now Iranians faced with a tough choice, and there are of course presidential elections halfway through next year, to embrace sort of
hardliners and go for swift retaliation or attempt to make a fresh start with the less hostile administration of the president-elect ahead of those
elections in June. Which do you think it will be in the short term?
NASR: Well, I think the United States and Iran will have to engage at some level. They may not resolve everything before there's a new Iranian
President in place, but I think given where we are, I think it benefits both sides to de-escalate.
It benefits the Biden Administration which wants to focus on varieties of domestic issues and China, and it also benefits Iran. So I think some
degree of engagement is necessary, but at the same time let's not forgot it's the hardliners that are in charge of security in Iran, so blaming
President Rouhani for the assassination.
And saying, well, it's probably the IEA inspectors who are coming to Iran that are passing intelligence information to Mossad is a way of shifting
the blame from themselves. But overall I think the mood in Iran, particularly in the governing circles, is now very angry, and it's going to
be more difficult for the United States to engage with Iran at this point in time given that, you know, the - the level of provocation that we have
seen.
[11:10:00]
ANDERSON: And, of course, as we pointed out there is an election in June, so the Biden Administration takes over at the back end of January and will
be staring down the barrel, as it were, of these presidential elections.
Of course, an event like this plays into the hands of conservatives, not a monolithic group, by the way, in Iran. How big of a chance do these sort of
ultra conservatives have, if you will, of winning in June?
And if they do, what will that mean, do you believe, for negotiations with the Biden Administration? How much can be achieved effectively between sort
of the beginning of Feb and those elections?
NASR: Well, I think some things can be achieved, some de-escalation, some negotiations over rules of the game, maybe some lifting of sanctions for
some Iranian concessions on the nuclear issue, but if - you know, in Iran you have conservatives and as you said you have ultra conservatives of the
right now sort of the balance of power seems to be towards moderate conservatives which, you know, have ties with the security services and are
much more hard line than the current president in Iran.
But it will not necessarily be averse to engaging the United States. If the Biden Administration engages with Iran, and there's some success at the
baby steps early on, it does make the election of the more pragmatic leader possible.
But if, you know, what we saw with the assassination and these patterns of things continue, then the hardliners would have a much stronger argument
saying that, look, the only thing that we've got from engagement with the west is assassinations and - and threats of war.
And we need somebody who is going to protect our national security, a general, somebody very tough on the security front, both domestically and
internationally.
So the conservatives would want the last thing people remember before going to the polls to begin killing of Soleimani and the assassination of
Fakhrazadeh whereas it behooves the United States to put something else on the table, something positive about engagement with the U.S., some degree
of sanctions lifting which send a more moderate voice can take on the election trail and perhaps turn it into success.
ANDERSON: Yes. This all assumes, of course, that Iran and a new nuclear deal plus, should that be the case, will be a key priority for a new Biden
Administration. Look, we know that Antony Blinken has talked in the past about the importance of the Obama era pivot to Indo-Pacific, the pivot to
Asia.
We know that there is a huge importance as far as this new administration is concerned about realigning alliances so Europe being a key priority,
Russia in the crosshairs, China a big issue for this incoming administration.
Does it worry you in any way that the Iranian file may just get knocked down the list of priorities and that indeed nothing is achieved in the sort
of short to medium term post inauguration in January?
NASR: Right. I mean, for the Iranian file to get knocked down and for the United States to be able to actually pivot to East Asia or focus on, you
know, the long list of domestic things that we are seeing in the United States.
It has to reduce tensions in the region. It has to reduce tensions between north and south of the Persian Gulf. It has to reduce tensions between Iran
and Israel. So the JCPOA Plus, Plus may be not an immediate possibility and it might take two or three years.
But the administration does not want to be on a continuous red alert with the Middle East and definitely doesn't want to get into another big war in
the Middle East, but rather it wants Iran to have certain rules of the game.
Others accept certain rules of the game and a nuclear file itself be brought into a situation where it would be a continuous page one discussion
on the media. All of that requires engagement, and there might be some benefit to both sides, at least to lower the temperature.
As I mentioned the United States would benefit from lowering the temperature and Iran would do so if it means some relaxation of sanctions
that - that have crippled its economy.
[11:15:00]
NASR: So they don't need to achieve the grand deal yet, but they definitely are - would be able to do things that would pull us back from where the
Trump Administration has left us.
ANDERSON: Fascinating. You and I - excuse me, let me start that again. You and I will speak in the weeks and months to come. It's always a pleasure,
sir. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
NASR: Thank you very much.
ANDERSON: I want to get you to another story that we are following. Frankly it's an absolute breath of fresh air amid all of what is the pretty
terrible news that we follow about a vaccine. It is coming sooner than frankly most of us could have imagined, and it looks to be far more
effective than we might have hoped.
Let's bring in our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen to break down what we've been finding out and finding out actually in just the last
few hours so you are in the right place to connect us to the very latest. Elizabeth, what is the latest on this mod persona vaccine?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Becky, the latest is that Moderna is going to be applying to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration as well as to the European Union for permission to market its vaccine.
They are planning to apply today. We are told at least in the United States that they are in the process of doing that application as we speak, and
they will be doing that application with a much larger data set than they had previously.
Becky, just two weeks ago you and I were talking about great results for Moderna. Well, those results got even better because their data set is now
twice as big which means that the data is more of a sure thing.
So let's take a look at what their data shows. The data shows that the vaccine is 94.1 percent effective at preventing COVID-19, and it's 100
percent effective at preventing severe cases of COVID-19.
Now, let's talk for a minute about how they came to that data because it didn't just come out of the blue sky. What Moderna did is they took tens of
thousands of people and they gave some of them the vaccine and gave some of them a placebo, a shot of saline that does nothing. They didn't tell people
what they are getting. They just said here's your shot.
Go back and live your life and we'll see who gets COVID and who doesn't. And so after several months here's what they found, that 11 of the 15,000
people who got the vaccine, only 11 of them got COVID-19 over a period of months, but 185 of the 15,000 people who received the placebo got COVID-19.
Look at the difference between those two numbers, 11 people that got the vaccine got COVID and 185 people who received the placebo, just the shot of
saline that does nothing. 185 of those people got COVID-19 and, again of those 11 who got COVID, none of them got severe COVID. None of them were
severely ill. Becky?
ANDERSON: Elizabeth, in the past hour - excuse me, I don't know what's happening to me today in the past hour President Trump tweeting this urging
the FDA to act quickly to approve the Moderna vaccine saying "Operation Warp Speed has been a great modern day miracle".
The company is also going for regulatory approval in the EU today, and we know that. Has Operation Warp Speed been a great modern day success story?
COHEN: I'm glad you said success story instead of miracle. When I talk to experts about this, they like to reserve miracle for things that perhaps
come from not of this world. So I hesitate to use the word miracle here, but it is a success story that this vaccine happened so quickly.
I mean, we evenly knew the genetic sequence of this virus back in January, and here we are in November with these results from Moderna and also from
Pfizer so that's really quick. I mean, that's unprecedently quick and we've never had a vaccine this quick.
You can argue was it Operation Warp Speed that did this? Was it the individual pharmaceutical companies that did this? Was it the National
Institute of Health with Dr. Anthony Fauci's Institute within the NIH, are they the ones that deserve the credit, really everybody probably deserves
the credit. This is a good thing. Everybody should be happy to share the credit. To give it to one agency doesn't really make sense.
ANDERSON: No, and at the same time we don't want to be churlish and say, you know, this wasn't something that was set up during the Trump
Administration and it has been a great success.
COHEN: It was.
ANDERSON: Because it clearly has, but as you rightly point out OK, you know, let's keep miracles for miracles basically. The Co-Founder of Moderna
spoke a little under an hour ago to our colleague Alison Kosik. Have a listen to what he said.
[11:20:00]
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NOUBAR AFEYAN, CO-FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN, MODERNA: I think that what you're seeing is our feelings vis-a-vis the ten months of very intense effort
that's gone into this process, and our goal all along was to demonstrate the most effective, the safest and the most thoroughly vetted vaccine we
could possibly produce.
And we put a lot of effort into it together with lots of collaborators, and to be able to get the results that we've seen today certainly is a feeling
of both relief and excitement, excitement about the impact. So I think that, you know, optimism is something you can judge in hindsight but the
excitement is two-fold, one is the impact and a second, is you know, messenger RNA is a technology that Moderna pioneered some ten years ago.
And ten years of work, several billion dollars of investment have gone into putting us in a position to be relevant in this important time, and that,
too, obviously is a - is a feeling that could cause emotions even where we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: And I can't let you go, Elizabeth, without asking the very important question I'm sure our viewers around the world want answering. At
this point, you know, if - if things are as good as they are going to get or better than we thought they would be at this stage, what do we know
about when we will all get an opportunity to take this vaccine if indeed that's what we want to do?
COHEN: So, Becky, the plan will be different in different countries, I'm sure. I can only speak to the plan in the United States, and this is the
plan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and then the Centers for Disease Control have to review this application.
Hopefully they will not do it is a quickly as President Trump says. We don't want them to do it quickly. We want them to do it thoroughly. We want
to make sure that it's really effective and that it really is safe.
Having said that, those meetings are already scheduled, and Dr. Anthony Fauci at the NIH says that he expects the first shots to go into arms in
the United States in the second half of December. That will be a very small group. It will likely be a group of health care workers and a group of
nursing home residents.
They will be the first groups. At least at this point we think, they will be the first groups to get shots and then you'll get other high-risk groups
such as other elderly people or police officers and other essential workers.
People who don't fall into one of these categories or people who don't have underlying medical conditions, they will likely have to wait until spring,
probably until the end of April to start getting vaccinated so it will take months and months to vaccinate at least the entire U.S. population.
It might be quicker in smaller countries depending on how much they purchased but I think it's safe to say that this will take months and
months. We should not think things should go back to normal quickly and we should remember things like wearing masks and practicing social distancing
for at least months to come. Becky.
ANDERSON: Very good. If you hadn't pointed that out, I was about to, so thank you for doing that. That vaccine, of course providing one of the only
hopes thank you, Elizabeth, for ending this pandemic as we speak across America more people are right now sick in hospital with COVID-19 than ever
before.
The complete and utter exhaustion at hospitals around the world captured in this single frame, this doctor is the Chief of Staff at a Texas hospital.
He is hugging an intensive care patient on Thanksgiving Day. He told CNN he's worked for more than 250 days in a row.
Well, as you can imagine, there's really no bigger issue facing Joe Biden than COVID, and not least because the disease is making a - America's
economy extremely sick. Coming up, we'll look at the key members that will form Joe Biden's economic team. Plus--
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From floor to ceiling, bags and bags of marijuana that's been captured.
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ANDERSON: Cuba hopes that with Joe Biden in the White House he may want to help their fight against drug runners. And then--
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was very weak. Her body was shaking than her voice as well, but even with that she was still very focused.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Family members of a Saudi prisoner say she and other women's activists are being brutalized behind bars. The alleged crimes, getting
behind the wheel details on that are just ahead.
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[11:25:00]
ANDERSON: The U.S. President-Elect finally moving full steam ahead with his transition into the White House. Both Joe Biden and the Vice President-
Elect Kamala Harris will receive their first daily intelligence briefings today, Monday, and just a short time ago Biden announced key members of his
economic team including nominating Janet Yellen, the Former Federal Reserve Chair amongst other things as Secretary of Treasury.
That's all the while that Biden nurses an injury, doctor says he has a hairline fracture in his foot after slipping while playing with his dog
over the weekend. We of course wish him well. CNN's Jessica Dean is live in Washington with more on what is an important day for the Biden team. We've
got more news on team Biden and news as I understand it on the fact that this intelligence briefing is now happening. What do we know at this point?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Becky, this will be the first president's daily briefing that President-Elect Joe Biden will be receiving
since he became President-Elect. Typically that's something that happens sooner than it did in this situation because President Trump, of course,
refused to concede and it's that briefing is given at his discretion, but what this is it's going to talk about short-term threats, long-term
threats.
All of this classified intelligence information that Biden will now have access to, and they can make it and form it exactly to his liking, how he
wants it to be hate out, that sort of thing. We know that this will not be the first time he's seen one of these. He, of course, got them as Vice
President when he served under President Barack Obama, and we know that he's a voracious consumer of this type of intelligence.
He likes to dive in and know as much has he possibly can so we expect he'll be doing that today as he receives this first briefing. And interestingly,
Becky, it also moves forward an interesting situation where Kamala Harris, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris was actually getting more classified
information because she sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee than the President-Elect was getting, and now she'll also receive the PDB as well.
Becky?
ANDERSON: Meantime, we've got further news on how team Biden is shaping up, and there have been let's call them criticisms in some quarters about the
fact that his team seems to have a whiff of the Barack Obama team about him. How have they - these new picks been received in D.C.?
DEAN: Well, it's been interesting. So let's start first with the economic team which was announced today. Of course, you mentioned Janet Yellen who
is nominated to be Treasury Secretary who served on the Federal Reserve. She will be the first woman to do so.
The economic picks that he has selected would represent historic diversity if they are all confirmed. Obviously the appointees can be appointed, but
these people have also been at this a long time. Most of these people have long history serving in roles adjacent to what they are being asked to do
now.
When it comes to this "Comms Team", to this communications team, again, making history here because it's all women in the senior leadership
positions of this White House team.
[11:30:00]
DEAN: And if you look at who he selected a lot of these are familiar faces from his campaign, so he's keeping a lot of his own people very close as he
transitions to the White House of course, being led by Kate Beddingfield who would be the Communications Director and Jen Saki who would be the
Press Secretary.
And as you have mentioned Jen Saki, of course, serving as Communications Director for Barack Obama so there are some threads here from the Obama
Administration that would - that would reappear in a Biden Administration, but certainly when it comes to this "Comms Team" Becky those are a lot of
people he's had by his side during this campaign as well.
ANDERSON: You've got to applaud the lineup of women there as well. You and I can say that. And so should everybody else. Thank you. You're watching
"Connect the World." Coming up--
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have fled for the second time. I feel really sad.
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ANDERSON: Well, tens of thousands it of Ethiopians has fled to Sudan. Why their stories are putting holes in the prime minister's latest claiming are
fighting in the North, and Australia and China swap insults over a controversial tweet. Why China is defending a doctored image. That is
ahead.
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ANDERSON: This river may seem small. For those crossing it, it is a massive leap away from the place they call home. Ethiopians pictured here are
fleeing across the Sudanese border amid a three-week military offensive in Ethiopian's northern region of Tigray, but not everyone has the chance to
even risk it all over this risk.
Humanitarian sources telling CNN that the Ethiopian Army is trying to block its citizens from fleeing the conflict. Well, for more let's connect you to
CNN's Senior International Correspondent Nima Elbagir. Nima, Ethiopia's Prime Minister made this claim today.
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ABIY AHMED, ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER: Under no circumstances in three weeks do I allow Humara, Dishah, Share, Adaga, Aduallala, Adnabet, Adailum,
Shrey, Sadapnaka, Aquism, Auda, Adigra, Zalambessa, Megale not even a single person was killed in these cities. No country can ensure such a
performance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I want to see Ethiopian Prime Minister and Nima there is a communications blackout making it incredibly difficult to verify
fatalities, to verify anything indeed on the ground. What are your sources telling you?
[11:35:00]
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, absolutely that information blackout is complicating any attempts to verify the
extraordinary claim being made by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. But also what we're hearing from humanitarian sources it's not just the blackout that is
stopping us getting information.
It's also the actions of the Ethiopian army itself that's stopping people coming out with those stories, with their testimony. We've spoken to
multiple humanitarian sources and eyewitnesses on the ground who says they saw for themselves Ethiopian Defense Force soldiers trying to dissuade
refugees from cross the border.
We also have a team on the ground on that Sudan-Ethiopian border, Becky, who have been sending back information and pictures, what little
information there is, and they are saying that the refugee flow has slowed down to a trickle but those who are managing to make it over in spite of
the checkpoints and the Ethiopian Army blocks are bringing with them really desperate stories. Take a look at this, Becky.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We put our arms behind us and fled, our food, our drink, our brothers and sisters. Our homes were destroyed. The homes that
were bombed and destroyed are too much to count. Only a few were left standing. We left the crops in the field, the sesame crop all of it. When
the bombardment started we were sitting down to it and out of fear we left leaving the food still on the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ELBAGIR: And if refugees are being prevented from coming across to Sudan to seek aid, to seek refuge, it's no easier for those - organization who are
trying to get into bring them some kind of sustenance. The U.N. says that it continues to ask for free and unimpeded access but that as yet has not
been provided to them, Becky.
ANDERSON: Nima on the story, and we'll continue to pursue further details and try to verify the claims making - being made by both side. From the
desperation of refugees seeking to flee Ethiopia for the push to free women imprisoned in Saudi Arabia, seven European nations are calling on the
kingdom to release Loujain and four other women.
Now Loujain has been in jail for 900 days, her alleged crime, campaigning for women to have the right to drive. When Hathloul finally appeared in
court last week, her family says the case was transferred to a secret terrorism court. Amnesty International's representative in the region says
the terrorism court is used for a specific purpose.
They say it is to silence dissent. The official also says the court is known for two other things, tough sentences and seriously flawed trials.
Nic Robertson who we heard from earlier reporting on Iran has more on her detention and her family's reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON (voice over): Saudi Arabia's most well-known female prisoner Loujain has gone from jailed rights activist to alleged national security
threat. Her sister is horrified. She alleges Loujan has been tortured in prison.
LINA HATHLOUL, LOUJAIN'S SISTER: My parents saw that she was very weak, that her body was shaking and that her voice as well, but even with that,
she was still very focused and wanted to read her whole defense. Her and other activists were being electrocuted, flogged, beaten, deprived of
sleep, force fed.
ROBERTSON (voice over): Saudi authorities have repeatedly denied allegations of torture and sexual abuse in their jails. Hathloul campaigned
for women to drive and then just weeks before Saudi's de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, known as MBS, gave the go-ahead for the long-
awaited reform she was arrested.
Human rights groups called on world leaders to use last week's virtual G-20 summit in Riyadh to pressure MBS to allow her release. Instead, days after
the event wrapped, Hathloul appeared before a judge only to learn her case was being referred to a notorious terror court.
ADEL AL-JUBEIR, SAUDI MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS: I believe the charges have to do with receiving money from hostile governments in order
to pass it on to the groups of Saudi Arabia.
ROBERTSON (voice over): So far the Saudi government hasn't published its evidence and Saudi's court where evidence would be presented are
notoriously difficult to access. International pressure for Hathloul's release isn't working. Unclear if President-Elect Joe Biden who has
promised to take a tough line on Saudi can make a difference.
JUBEIR: We're not subject to pressure. These individuals were arrested under our laws and our courts have jurisdiction and they decide. We don't
allow people to put pressure on us in order to do things that are against our interests.
[11:40:00]
ROBERTSON (voice over): Unclear, too, when Hathloul's next court appearance will be although the venue is set Saudi Arabia's specialized Criminal Court
which according to human right group Amnesty International is intrinsically unfair. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: CNN launched into life more than 40 years ago, our Founder Ted Turner told us to be a positive force in the world, to act upon our
convictions while others wait, and sometimes it's hard to do that, but I'm going to. It is never OK to detain people indefinitely without due process.
It is never OK to torture anyone no matter where it is, be that in this part of the world or Guantanamo Bay it the shouldn't happen. That's what
the law and due process is for and we should all seek to remind our governments of that. We're going to take a quick break at this point back
after this.
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ANDERSON: A Formula 1 car turning into a fireball after plowing into the barriers at a racetrack in Bahrain, but miraculously this driver walked
away, and now he is praising a safety technology that he himself had little faith in for saving his life.
We're joined by Amanda Davies, my colleague, who got reaction from the race team's boss. What were you told? I mean, this is remarkable stuff, isn't
it?
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes. I mean, if you didn't believe in miracles before, Becky, just watching those pictures and the speed with
which Romain Grosjean got out of that car and has suffered merely minor burns as they are being described on his ankles and his wrists really is
quite incredible.
And it is no underestimation to say that if this crash had happened a couple years ago, the outcome was likely to have been a whole lot more
tragic, and it really does say so much about the safety and technological developments in Formula 1 in recent times, it is a sport that really has
striven over the years to make it as safe as it possibly can within the realms of it being one of the most dangerous sports in the world.
The bit of technology that you're talking about is the Halo which was only introduced into Formula 1 in 2018. It was really controversial. A number of
the drivers didn't want it to be brought into the sport because of the way it looks on the cars, because of how it changes the aerodynamics.
[11:45:00]
DAVIES: Some people say it actually maybe doesn't make it as dangerous as they would want the sport to be. Romain Grosjean was one of those drivers
who oppose it had but he has now posted a video on social media sitting up in his hospital bed saying this is the bit of technology that saved my
life, and that was a view that was shared by his team Principal Guenther Steiner who I had a chance to speak to earlier on from Bahrain. He had been
to the hospital to speak to Romain Grosjean this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUENTHER STEINER, HAAS F1 TEAM PRINCIPAL: He says he has no pain. His hands are obviously bandaged up, but he - he was good. He was taken care of very
well in the Bahraini hospital here so he sat down and needs a few more days to understand how long he'll need to be laid up. Otherwise a good spirit
and hopefully as planned he can go hope. He wants to stay here and going to his hotel tomorrow and hopefully on the weekend in the Palace.
DAVIES: Yes, of course because the final race of the season in a couple of weeks time in Abu Dhabi. But I have to ask you. I know my reaction to
seeing those pictures as at incident played out yesterday. What goes through your mind as a Team Principal when you see a crash like that
involving one of your drivers?
STEINER: I mean, it is pretty similar what you guys see. I just see the same images on TV. Oh, it's our car. It's just like what happened? What is
going on, and it goes so quick? You almost can't think it and then they showed immediately on TV that he came out because obviously he had no
contact once he went off and hit the barrier so we just see that and we just wanted to get him out.
You're almost can't believe it. This is a miracle. As we've seen a few seconds before, the car hitting had the barrier going up in flames, all the
drama you connect and then he comes out in the middle of the flames with the head of the medical crew.
DAVIES: Are you in any doubt that the Halo saved his life? I mean, were you somebody who always was in support of the Halo because it - it was fairly
controversial for a while.
STEINER: Yes. Absolutely, the Halo saved his life and I looked at it the properly, you know. You can see that the impacts were happening with the
Halo and this could have gone a completely different way and yes, I was for the Halo, you know. So I - I'm pretty happy that they did a very difficult
job and convinced us that this is the way to go and for now it helps.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIES: That was Gunther Steiner, the Haas Team Principal speaking to me a little bit earlier on from Bahrain. The Halo, of course, was brought in the
wake of that crash in 2014 which ultimately caused the death of the young driver Jules Bianchi. Romain Grosjean's wife Marion, is actually a Formula
1 Journalist, she more often than not is in the paddock at a race weekend.
She wasn't there yesterday but was watching from home and she has post on Twitter it didn't take one miracle yesterday but several, and there have
been an incredible number of factors that have been brought in to Formula 1 in recent times, that led to this bit of technology being put on the car
which thankfully was there to save Romain's life.
That's not to say Formula 1 and the FIA Motor Sports governing body a resting on the laurels. There is going to be an investigation why was the
car able to go through the barrier? Why did the car split into two and burst into flames in such an incredible manner? You know, questions that
they still need to answer to make the sport as safe as it is can be, Becky.
ANDERSON: Yes, absolutely. Good stuff. Thank you very much indeed, fascinating listening to that interview as well. Thanks, Amanda. Well,
Cuban border officials are in a race of their own against a sudden increase in drugs headed for the U.S. with PPE an exclusive look into what they are
doing to stop it. That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
ANDERSON: Industries around the world have been disrupted this year thanks to the pandemic, but according to Cuban officials there's at least one
industry seeing a sudden boom, border control officials there are seeing a spike in drug smuggling on board boats in Cuban waters, folks headed for
the United States.
Well, a surge follows the Trump Administration's decision to end an Obama era agreement on counter narcotics activities and now Cuba wants the
incoming Biden Administration to bring it back. To get you more CNN's Patrick Oppmann. One of the mountains of confiscated drugs, he joins us
there now live. What have you got?
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are a few countries in the world, Becky, that are hoping to reset relations with the United States as
much as Cuba. You, of course, remember during the Obama Administration that Havana and Washington re-established diplomatic relations and you saw Cuban
officials working with U.S. officials for the first time on a whole range of issues including on counternarcotics, stopping drug trafficking going
through Cuba to the U.S.
That all changed though during the Trump Administration as Trump brought relations back to years of cold war era hostility and basically froze
relations with Cuba upending what Obama had done. Cuban officials said they are now seeing a surge in drug trafficking through Cuban waters through the
U.S.
Trespassing in the Cuban waters these drug smugglers attempt to outrun a Cuban government patrol boat. After the Cuban crew friends opened fire, the
smugglers throw their contraband into the ocean. Just in October Cuban border guard officials say they confiscated enough drugs to fill two whole
trucks.
Smugglers trying to steal boat loads of marijuana and cocaine past Cuban patrols into the United States have become an increasingly common
occurrence over the past year. The Cuban border guard officers tell us that in the last period there has been an increase he tells me.
We've detected 40 vessels that were suspicious or smuggling drugs as well as drugs that have been recovered. Under Coast guard by Special Forces
troops Cuban officials unseal the secure facility where they have stored the drugs, nearly three tons worth, they tell us.
We're going to walk in right now, and you can see from floor to ceiling bags and bags of marijuana that's been captured, either taken off boats
that were coming through Cuban waters, drug-smuggling runs or found, smugglers that ditched the drugs in the ocean that were found later and
then turned in, and what I can tell you is that the smell of the drugs in this room is completely overwhelming, just overpowering.
Much if not all the drugs of Cuban officials say they were headed to the United States, 90 miles of Cuban shores.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YURI GALA LOPEZ, CUBAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: The capable forces that we have in the law enforcement community are not only a guarantee for the national
security of Cuba, but it's also beneficial for the national security of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPMANN: While the U.S. criticizes Cuba on human rights and lack of multi- party elections the state department acknowledge in their 2020 report a narcotics that Cuba is not a major consumer, producer or transit point of
illicit drugs this.
This Cuban government video obtained by CNN shows U.S. Coast Guard officials turning over drugs to the Cuban border patrol that they were
covered at sea to help with the prosecution of the smugglers who were arrested by the Cubans.
[11:55:00]
OPPMANN: But after the Trump Administration rolled back improved relations with Havana, Cuban officials say that regular meetings with U.S. law
enforcement agencies were cancelled. The Trump Administration did not respond to our requests for comment.
Despite this policy, she tells me, Cuba is willing to combat international drug trafficking. We have stopped tons of drugs from reaching the U.S. To
make their point Cuban officials give us rare access to film as they load the drugs and then transport them under heavy guard to haul them by crane
to this industrial furnace where pact by pact they are incinerated, smoke signals the Cuban government is sending to the Biden Administration that
they are seeking a new U.S.-Cuban relationship.
Now two U.S. officials who are on the Biden transition team that played a big role in the Obama opening with Cuba say that they are hoping to get
U.S.-Cuban relations back on track and the differences they say they will be pressing more for changes from Havana on human rights and on Cuba's
support for Venezuela so it will be a bit more back and forth, Becky but at least there's a dialogue, something there has not been for the last four
years.
ANDERSON: A man in Havana for you. Patrick Oppmann, and that is, thank you Patrick, a wrap from us. Stay well. Look after yourselves wherever you are
watching in the world. It is a very good night from Abu Dhabi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
