>>> I AM OF THE POINT OF VIEW
THAT I STILL THINK THE MOST
LIKELY IDEOLOGY OF THIS VIRUS
FROM WUHAN WAS FROM A
LABORATORY, ESCAPED.
OTHER PEOPLE DONT BELIEVE THAT,
THATS FINE.
SCIENCE WILL EVENTUALLY FIGURE
IT OUT.
ITS NOT UNUSUAL FOR RESPIRATORY
PATHOGENS THAT ARE BEING WORKED
ON IN A LABORATORY TO INFECT THE
LABORATORY WORK.
>> THAT WAS FORMER CDC WORKER
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD ON SATURDAY
ENDORSING THE THEORY THAT THE
CORONAVIRUS CAME FROM A LAB
ACCIDENT IN WUHAN, CHINA.
BUT NOW THE WORLD HEALTH
ORGANIZATION IS OFFERING A
DIFFERENT EXPLANATION OR SEVERAL
EXPLANATIONS, ACTUALLY.
IN A JOINT STUDY EXPECTED TO BE
RELEASED TODAY, THE W.H.O AND
CHINA, THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT,
SAY THAT THE LAB THEORY SUN
LIKELY.
THEY ALSO SAY THE BEST THEORY
FOR HOW COVID STARTED WAS
ANIMAL-ANIMAL
ANIMAL-TO-HUMAN TRANSMISSION.
BUT THE REPORT IS BEING MET WITH
A GREAT DEAL OF SKEPTICISM, AS
BEIJING NEVER ALLOWED FULL
ACCESS TO INVESTIGATORS.
NBC NEWS SENIOR INTERNATIONAL
CORRESPONDENT KEIR SIMMONS
OBTAINED A COPY OF THE REPORT.
AND HE JOINS US NOW FROM LONDON.
KEIR, GOOD MORNING, ITS GOOD TO
SEE YOU.
THERES BEEN A LOT OF
SKEPTICISM, AS I SAID, AROUND
THIS.
DR. FAUCI SAID, I WANT TO SEE
THE UNDERLYING INFORMATION.
I WANT TO SEE THE DATA THAT WENT
INTO THIS.
SECRETARY OF STATE BLINKEN SAID,
WELL, CHINA HELPED AUTHOR THIS
REPORT, SO TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN
OF SALT.
SO WHAT WERE YOU ABLE TO CULL
FROM READING THROUGH THE REPORT?
>> Reporter: HEY, WILLIE.
WELL, I THINK THE CONCLUSION AT
THIS STAGE IS THAT THERE ARE AN
AWFUL LOT OF PEOPLE WITH A LOT
OF THEORYS AND NOT A LOT OF
EVIDENCE.
BE THAT LAB LEAKS, BE THAT
TRANSMISSION FROM BATS TO
ANOTHER ANIMAL TO HUMANS, BE IT
THE CHINESE IDEA THAT MAYBE IT
WAS IMPORTED ON FROZEN FOODS.
THIS IS A COPY OF THAT LEAKED
REPORT, OBTAINED BY US AT NBC
NEWS.
12 PAGES.
WE THINK WHEN ITS PUBLISHED
LATER TODAY, THERE WILL BE
APPENDICES IN HERE, AS WELL.
AND I MEAN, YOU CAN SEE, WILLIE,
ITS THICK, SO THERES A LOT IN
HERE, IT IS THOROUGH, BUT TO
SUMMARIZE, IT IS A THOROUGH
EVALUATION OF CHINESE
SCIENTISTS ANALYSIS.
AND JUST TO GIVE YOU ONE
EXAMPLE, ON THE SENSITIVE ISSUE
OF WHETHER THERE WAS MORE
CORONAVIRUS IN THE WUHAN REGION
BACK IN LATE 2019, IT SAYS THAT
DOCTORS AND SCIENTISTS IN CHINA
EVALUATED 76,000 CASES OF
ILLNESS IN HOSPITALS, NARROWED
THEM DOWN, AND THIS IS A PANEL
OF PEOPLE.
ITS NOT AN ALGORITHM.
SO HOW NARROWED THEM DOWN TO 92
CASES THAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
CORONAVIRUS, TESTED SOME OF
THOSE 92 PEOPLE.
FOUND THEM ALL TO BE NEGATIVE.
AND THEREFORE, DISMISSED THE
SUGGESTION THAT THERE WOULD HAVE
BEEN A LOT MORE CORONAVIRUS
AROUND.
THE REPORT IS RELATIVELY
CYNICAL, IF YOU LIKE, ABOUT
THAT.
AND SAYS MORE RESEARCH NEEDS TO
BE DONE.
ITS JUST ONE EXAMPLE.
AND AS YOU MENTIONED, THE
CONTEST OF THIS
CONTEXT OF THIS IS THE U.S.
GOVERNMENTS CONCERN ABOUT A
LACK OF TRANSPARENCY BY THE
CHINESE GOVERNMENT IN BEIJING.
THIS WAS SECRETARY BLINKEN
TALKING TO ANDREA MITCHELL A
LITTLE EARLIER THIS YEAR.
>> THERES NO DOUBT THAT
ESPECIALLY WHEN COVID-19 FIRST
HIT, BUT EVEN TODAY, CHINA IS
FALLING FAR SHORT OF THE MARK
WHEN IT COMES TO PROVIDING THE
INFORMATION NECESSARY TO THE
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY, MAKING
SURE THAT EXPERTS HAVE ACCESS TO
CHINA.
ALL OF -- THAT LACK OF
TRANSPARENCY, THAT LACK OF BEING
FORTHCOMING IS A PROFOUND
PROBLEM.
AND ITS ONE THAT CONTINUES.
AND SO AS WERE THINKING ABOUT
BOTH DEALING WITH THIS PANDEMIC,
BUT ALSO MAKING SURE WERE IN A
POSITION TO PREVENT THE NEXT
ONE, CHINA HAS TO STEP UP AND
MAKE SURE THAT IT IS BEING
TRANSPARENT, THAT IT IS
PROVIDING INFORMATION AND
SHARING INFORMATION.
THAT IT IS GIVING ACCESS TO
INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS AND
INSPECTORS.
>> ON THE QUESTION OF A LAB
LEAK, GUYS, THE REPORT SAYS THAT
IT IS EXTREMELY UNLIKELY.
WHATS GOING TO RAISE EYEBROWS
IS THAT IT AT THE SAME TIME SAYS
THERE IS GROUNDS FOR
INVESTIGATING MILITARY GAMES
THAT WERE HELD IN CHINA, WHICH
THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT HAS
SUGGESTED, BECAUSE THERE WERE
AMERICANS THERE, MAYBE THAT
WOULD BE A SOURCE.
IT ALSO SAYS THAT ITS WORTH
INVESTIGATING FROZEN FOODS, AS I
MENTIONED, ANOTHER CHINESE
THEORY.
I MEAN, CRUCIALLY, JUST ON THE
FRONT HERE, ITS CALLED A JOINT
W.H.O/CHINA STUDY.
SO ITS VERY EXPLICIT.
ITS A STUDY BY THE W.H.O -- BY
INDEPENDENT EXPERTS BROUGHT IN
BY THE W.H.O, INTERNATIONAL
EXPERTS, AND THE CHINESE.