WE’LL TAKE GOOD NEWS, SUCH AS IT IS IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS HORROR
HORROR, FOR ONE DAY.
>> EXACTLY.
>> EXACTLY. >>> NOW TO IMPORTANT NEWS.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS
JOHNSON SAYS HE WAS MOVED TO THE
INTENSIVE CARE UNIT YESTERDAY
AFTER HIS CONDITION WORSENED.
IT WAS JUST 11 DAYS AGO WHEN THE
55-YEAR-OLD TWEETED A VIDEO
MESSAGE, SAYING HE WAS
EXPERIENCING MILD SYMPTOMS AND
WAS SELF-ISOLATING AFTER TESTING
POSITIVE FOR CORONAVIRUS.
ON SUNDAY, THE PRIME MINISTER’S
OFFICE SAID HE WAS STILL
BATTLING SYMPTOMS AND WAS TAKEN
TO THE HOSPITAL.
INSISTING IT WAS JUST A
PRECAUTION.
PRECAUTION. NOW COMES THE NEWS HE’S IN THE
ICU.
ICU. HIS AIDES INSIST THIS, TOO, IS A
PRECAUTION, IN CASE HE NEEDS A
VENTILATOR.
VENTILATOR. SKY NEWS REPORTS THE PRIME
MINISTER HAD TROUBLE BREATHING
AND WAS GIVEN OXYGEN BEFORE HE
WAS MOVED TO THE ICU.
WE’RE TOLD HE REMAINS CON
CONSCIENCE.
CONSCIENCE. HE’S ASKED DOMINIC RAAB, BRITISH
FOREIGN SECRETARY, TO STEP IN
WHEN NECESSARY.
WHEN NECESSARY. KEIR SIMMONS?
KEIR SIMMONS? >> Reporter: IN AN INTERVIEW, IT
WAS SAID BORIS JOHNSON IS NOT ON
A VENTILATOR BUT IN INTENSIVE
CARE IN THE HOSPITAL BEHIND ME.
THE GOVERNMENT REASSURING PEOPLE
THEY WILL UPDATE THE PUBLIC ON
THE CONDITION OF THE PRIME
MINISTER IF ANYTHING CHANGES.
JUST TO SHOW YOU SOME OF THE
FRONT PAGES HERE IN THE UK.
SOME JUST GIVING PEOPLE THE NEWS
STRAIGHT.
STRAIGHT. IT IS, AFTER ALL, BAD ENOUGH.
"JOHNSON IN INTENSIVE CARE AFTER
VIRUS SYMPTOMS WORSE."
OTHERS MORE DRAMATIC.
"DAILY MAIL," "STRICKEN BORIS
TAKEN TO INTENSIVE CARE," AND
TALKING ABOUT THE AGONY FOR HIS
PREGNANT FIANCE.
PREGNANT FIANCE. "THE SUN,," "BORIS IN INTENSIVE
CARE AND DOCTORS PREPARED TO
VENTILATE HIM IF NECESSARY."
TO GIVE YOU A PICTURE OF HOW
STUNNING THIS FEELS, WE’RE
STANDING IN FRONT OF THE
HOSPITAL.
HOSPITAL. IF YOU JUST LOOK IN THAT WAY, A
SHORT DISTANCE, THAT’S
WESTMINSTER BRIDGE.
WESTMINSTER BRIDGE. THAT’S THE HOUSE OF PARLIAMENT.
THAT’S THE COMMONS WHERE BORIS
JOHNSON HAS HELD COURT FOR
MONTHS AS THE PRIME MINISTER.
JUST, FRANKLY, HARD TO TAKE IN,
THAT HE IS NOW JUST ACROSS THE
RIVER HERE, FIGHTING FOR HIS
LIFE, FRANKLY, ALTHOUGH WE ARE
ONLY BEING GIVEN LIMITED
INFORMATION ABOUT EXACTLY HOW HE
IS DOING.
IS DOING. FRIENDS, PEOPLE WHO WORKED WITH
HIM, TELL ME HE’S FIT.
HE’S NOT A SMOKER.
THEY HAVE, IN THE PAST, GONE
RUNNING WITH HIM.
SO PEOPLE ARE HOPEFUL.
YOU KNOW, WE KEEP TALKING ABOUT
TESTING, AND WE CAN’T TALK ABOUT
IT ENOUGH.
IT ENOUGH. IT REALLY SAYS SOMETHING,
DOESN’T IT, ABOUT THE CRISIS IN
TESTING ON THIS SIDE OF THE
POND, THAT IN DOWNING STREET,
THAT DOWNING STREET WAS ABLE TO
BE INFECTED.
BE INFECTED. THERE WEREN’T TESTS TO TRY TO
ENSURE THAT DIDN’T HAPPEN.
JUST ANOTHER PIECE OF NEWS OP
TESTING, A SENIOR ADVISER TO THE
BRITISH GOVERNMENT HERE TELLING
ONE NEWSPAPER THAT IT WILL BE AT
LEAST A MONTH BEFORE ANTIBODY
TESTS ARE READY THAT MIGHT BE
ABLE TO TEST FOR ANTIBODIES IN
THE MILLIONS.
THE MILLIONS. THAT’S THE CASE AROUND THE
WORLD.
WORLD. IT’S NOT -- WELL, IT IS A SPLIT
SCREEN, ISN’T IT?
THE CRISIS RIGHT NOW WITH THE
MAN WHO IS SUPPOSED TO BE
LEADING THE UK THROUGH THIS
FIGHT AGAINST CORONAVIRUS IN HIS
OWN PERSONAL FIGHT NOW IN THE
HOSPITAL BEHIND ME THERE.
AND THE ONGOING CRISIS TO TRY TO
GET A GRIP ON THIS, PARTICULARLY
THROUGH TRYING TO ACTUALLY TEST
THE POPULATION SO THAT WE CAN
STEP FAST THESE LOCKPAST THESE L
>> KEIR, WE’VE HEARD SKEPTICISM
FROM THOSE REPORTING AROUND
THIS, THAT THIS IS EVEN AS --
WELL, NOT WORSE THAN IT SEEMS.
APPARENTLY, HE HASN’T SPOKEN TO
HIS FIRST SECRETARY OF STATE
SINCE SATURDAY.
SINCE SATURDAY. HE HASN’T BEEN IN CONTACT WITH
OTHER PEOPLE IN THE CABINET
SINCE SATURDAY.
SINCE SATURDAY. SOME RIGHTFULLY SPECULATING THAT
THINGS CERTAINLY MAY SEEM WORSE
THAN, RIGHT NOW, 10 DOWNING IS
LETTING ON.
LETTING ON. WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT?
>> Reporter: WELL, IT IS THE
CASE THAT THE FOREIGN SECRETARY,
WHO CURRENTLY IS STEPPING IN FOR
BORIS JOHNSON, DOMINIC RAAB,
EFFECTIVELY KIND OF ADMITTED IN
A NEWS CONFERENCE OVER THE
WEEKEND THAT HE HADN’T SPOKEN TO
BORIS JOHNSON SINCE SATURDAY.
I THINK WE’VE GOT SOME SOUND OF
HIM THAT WE CAN BRIEFLY PLAY.
YOU HAVE TO LOOK AT HIS FACE,
JUST HOW STUNNED HE IS.
TAKE A LISTEN.
>> GOVERNMENT’S BUSINESS WILL
CONTINUE, AND THE PRIME MINISTER
IS IN SAFE HANDS WITH A
BRILLIANT TEAM AT ST. THOMAS’
HOSPITAL.
HOSPITAL. FOCUS OF THE GOVERNMENT WILL
CONTINUE TO BE ON MAKING SURE
THE PRIM
THE PRIM THAT AT THE PRIME MINISTER’S
DIRECTION, OUR PLANS TO PULL THE
COUNTRY THROUGH THE CORONAVIRUS
CHALLENGE WILL BE TAKEN FORWARD.
>> Reporter: I THINK, JOE, THE
HONEST ANSWER IS WE JUST DON’T
KNOW ABOUT THE CONDITION OF THE
PRIME MINISTER.
PRIME MINISTER. THAT MIGHT NOT SIMPLY BE THAT WE
AREN’T BEING GIVEN INFORMATION,
BUT WHAT WE KNOW WITH THE VIRUS,
AND SEEING IT PLAYED OUT WITH
THE LEADER OF BRITAIN, WE KNOW
IT CAN TAKE SUDDEN TURNS AND
IT’S UNPREDICTABLE.
IT’S UNPREDICTABLE. PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD PRAYING
FOR HIM, INCLUDING POLITICAL
OPPONENTS.
OPPONENTS. MACRON OF FRANCE TWEETING HIS
GOOD WISHES.
GOOD WISHES. THE TWO OF THEM, OF COURSE,
HAVING DONE BATTLE OVER BREXIT
OVER A SUSTAINED PERIOD.
POLITICS PUSHED ASIDE AT THIS
STAGE.
STAGE. >> IT IS TERRIBLE NEWS, AND HE
IS CERTAINLY IN OUR PRAYERS.
KEIR SIMMONS, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
WE GREATLY APPRECIATE IT.
>> KATTY, THERE IS THE QUESTION
OF TRANSPARENCY DURING THIS
TIME.
TIME. WHAT ARE YOU HEARING?
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. SO SOME JOURNALISTS HAVE SAID
THEY WEREN’T REALLY GIVEN THE
FULL PICTURE, THEY FELT, OVER
THE COURSE OF THE WEEKEND, WHEN
THEY WERE BEING TOLD THAT BORIS
JOHNSON WAS STILL VERY
DETERMINED HE WAS GOING TO BE
RUNNING THINGS IN THE COUNTRY.
THEN THERE WERE ALLEGATIONS THAT
APPEARED ON MONDAY, BIZARRELY,
FROM RUSSIAN REPORTERS ON
MONDAY.
MONDAY. THERE WERE REPORTS IN THE
MORNING THAT POORBORIS JOHNSON W
NEEDING A VENTILATOR.
DOWNING STREET SAID THOSE WERE
DISINFORMATION, DISMISSED THOSE
REPORTS AS DISINFORMATION.
IT MAY WELL BE THAT THE RUSSIANS
WERE SOWING DISINFORMATION, AS
WELL, AND IT COULD BE A VERY BAD
COIN
COIN COINCIDENCE OF TIMING.
HOURS LATER, DOWNING STREET HAD
TO SAY JOHNSON WAS BEING MOVED
TO INTENSIVE CARE.
MONDAY, MY UNDERSTANDING IS HE
WAS GETTING WORSE, NOT BETTER,
AND WAS BEING MOVED TO THE
INTENSIVE CARE UNIT IN ORDER TO
HAVE ACCESS TO A VENTILATOR.
HE HAD OXYGEN THROUGHOUT THE
COURSE OF THE DAY ON MONDAY.
HE STARTED TO GET WORSE.
THEY MOVED HIM TO INTENSIVE
CARE.
CARE. REMEMBER, 15% OF COVID CASES IN
THE UK END UP IN HOSPITAL AND
NEED OXYGEN.
NEED OXYGEN. THAT’S ALREADY PUTTING BORIS
JOHNSON IN THE ONLY 15% BRACKET.
IT IS ONLY 5% WHO END UP IN
INTENSIVE CARE AND NEED
VENTILATORS.
VENTILATORS. HE IS AT THE EXTREME END OF THIS
ILLNESS AT THE MOMENT.
WE DON’T KNOW WHETHER HE IS
GOING TO GET THAT VENTILATOR,
WHEN HE’LL NEED IT.
OF COURSE, IT’S THE PRIME
MINISTER.
MINISTER. THEY’LL TAKE EXTRA PRECAUTIONS.
THEY MAY NOT MOVE SOMEBODY ELSE
INTO THE ICU IN HIS POSITION,
BUT IT IS THE PRIME MINISTER.
THEY’LL DO EVERYTHING THEY CAN.
>> KATTY, THANK YOU.
WILLIE?
WILLIE? >> SUNDAY NIGHT, WE WERE TOLD IT
WAS A PRECAUTION.
I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE SAID,
WAIT A MINUTE, THE PRIME
MINISTER OF THE UK, ONE OF THE
MOST POWERFUL MEN IN THE WORLD,
THEY DON’T JUST CASUALLY DROP
HIM INTO THE HOSPITAL UNLESS IT
IS SERIOUS.
IS SERIOUS. WHAT ARE YOU HEARING ABOUT HIS
CONDITION AND HIS PROGNOSIS FROM
YOUR SOURCES THERE IN THE UK?
>> I’M QUITE GOOD FRIENDS WITH
MEMBERS OF BORIS’ FAMILY,
SIBLINGS WITH BORIS.
ONE OF THEM, LEO, HIS MIDDLE
BROTHER, TEXTED LAST NIGHT THAT
HE IS STRONG AS ON OX AND
THEY’RE CONFIDENT HE’LL PULL
THROUGH.
THROUGH. HE IS ROBUST.
HE MIGHT NOT BE SLIM.
HE MIGHT NOT BE AS THICK AS SOME
PEOPLE.
PEOPLE. HE IS AN EXTREMELY DURABLE
MODEL.
MODEL. LET’S PUT IT THAT WAY.
THE ELEMENT HERE, BORIS IS A
CLASS
CLASS CLASSIST.
CLASSIST. THE ELEMENT HERE OF POTENTIAL
GREEK TRAGEDY, YOU KNOW, CAN’T
BE OVERLOOKED.
BE OVERLOOKED. HE DID, AS HIS GOVERNMENT DID,
MAINTAIN A STANCE OF HERD
IMMUNITY FOR MANY, MANY WEEKS.
HE WENT OUT, AND BY HIS OWN
ADMISSION, HE WAS HAPPY GOING
AROUND HOSPITALS, AS A
POLITICIAN DOES, HE SAID,
SHAKING HANDS WITH PEOPLE, AND
WOULD CONTINUE TO DO SO.
TRAGICALLY, HE GOT STRUCK DOWN
BY THIS.
BY THIS. WHAT KATTY WAS SAYING ABOUT
DOWNING STREET’S COMMUNICATION
OF HIS CONDITION IS, I THINK,
QUITE SIGNIFICANT.
QUITE SIGNIFICANT. THEY WERE SAYING HE WAS FULLY IN
CHARGE, CARRYING OUT NORMAL
PRIME MINISTERIAL DUTIES, UNTIL
LAST NIGHT.
LAST NIGHT. WHEN, IN FACT, AS WE SEE,
DOMINIC RAAB IS DE FACTO NUMBER
TWO.
TWO. HASN’T SPOKEN TO HIM SINCE
SATURDAY.
SATURDAY. SO CLEARLY THERE IS SOME
SKEPTICISM ABOUT WHAT DOWNING
STREET IS TELLING US.
HOPEFULLY KATTY IS RIGHT, AND
OTHERS ARE RIGHT, IN SAYING HE
HAS BEEN MOVED INTO AN ICU AND
GIVEN OXYGEN PREEMPTIVELY,
RATHER THAN BECAUSE HE’S IN A
CRITICAL CONDITION.
CRITICAL CONDITION. BUT I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE
WORRYING THAT IT IS WORSE THAN
THAT.
THAT. I HAVE TO SAY THOUGH, FROM
HEARING FROM BORIS’ FAMILY,
THEY’VE GOT -- THEY GIVE HIM
PRETTY HIGH MARKS IN TERMS OF
HIS ROHBUSTROBUSTNESS.
HIS ROHBUSTROBUSTNESS. >> ED AND KATTY, CAN YOU ALL
BRIEFLY TELL US ABOUT DOMINIC
RAAB, THE MAN WHO FOR ALL
PRACTICAL PURPOSES IS RUNNING
THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT RIGHT
NOW?
NOW? >> YEAH.
>> YEAH. YOU KNOW, WE DON’T HAVE THE SAME
CONSTITUTIONAL LINEUP THAT YOU
DO HERE IN THE U.S.
UNFORTUNATELY, IN A POSITION
LIKE THIS, WHERE IT IS CLEAR
WHAT THE LINE OF SUCCESSION IS.
SO IT WAS THE PRIME MINISTER WHO
APPOINTED DOMINIC RAAB
EFFECTIVELY TO DEPUTIZE FOR HIM.
HE IS A GUY WHO HAD BEEN
INVOLVED HEAVILY IN THE BREXIT
NEGOTIATIONS.
NEGOTIATIONS. HE’S VERY MUCH ON THE BREXIT
SIDE OF BORIS JOHNSON’S
POLITICAL WING OF THE FAMILY.
HE’S CURRENTLY THE FOREIGN
SECRETARY FOR THE UK.
HE’S, AS YOU SAW IN THE CLIP, I
THINK, HAS NOTHING OF THE ENERGY
AND THE CHARISMA OF BORIS
JOHNSON.
JOHNSON. HE WASN’T A PARTICULARLY
SUCCESSFUL BREXIT SECRETARY.
THERE WERE A SERIES OF BREXIT
SECRETARIES.
SECRETARIES. HE HAD A SHORT STINT AND WASN’T
PARTICULARLY SUCCESSFUL AS A
BREXIT SECRETARY DURING HIS
TIME.
TIME. IT’S NOT CLEAR EXACTLY WHAT
HAPPENS NOW BECAUSE THERE ARE
SOME PEOPLE IN THE UK CALLING
FOR A GOVERNMENT OF NATIONAL
UNITY, SUGGESTING THAT,
ACTUALLY, ALL THE POLITICAL
PARTIES, THE LABOR PARTY HAS A
NEW LEADER, AND MAYBE THERE
SHOULD BE AT THIS MOMENT OF
CRISIS, IF THE PRIME MINISTER
WERE TO STAY INCAPACITATED FOR A
WHILE, A RETHINK OF HOW THE
SUCCESSION PROCESS WORKS.
>> ED?
>> ED? >> AS SOMEBODY HUMOROUSLY PUT IT
YESTERDAY, IT WAS A STROKE OF
GENIUS BY BORIS TO MAKE DOMINIC
RAAB HIS NUMBER TWO.
NOW, THE ENTIRE NATION,
INCLUDING BORIS’ POLITICAL FOES,
ARE ROOTING FOR HIM TO RECOVER
AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
>> OH, MY GOSH.
>> DOMINIC RAAB WAS A DISASTROUS
BREXIT SECRETARY.
BREXIT SECRETARY. >> I WAS TRYING TO BE
DIPLOMATIC, ED.
DIPLOMATIC, ED. >> YOU WERE DOING A WONDERFUL
JOB, KATTY.
JOB, KATTY. I ADMIRE IT.
AS AN OPINION JOURNALIST, I FEEL
LESS CONSTRAINED.
LESS CONSTRAINED. HE’S CONSIDERED TO BE A VERY,
VERY HARD-LINE FIGURE.
NOT AN EMOTIONALLY HIGH EQ
POLITICIAN.
POLITICIAN. MAYBE HE’LL GROW INTO A BIGGER
ROLE, AND MAYBE I’M BEING A
LITTLE BIT UNCHARITABLE.
BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, BORIS,
WHETHER HE DESERVES IT OR NOT, I
WOULD ARGUE NOT, BUT BORIS HAS
VERY HIGH OPINION RATINGS.
HE IS LIKED, EVEN THOUGH HE
MIGHT NOT BE PARTICULARLY
TRUSTED.
TRUSTED. HE IS A LIKABLE PRIME MINISTER.
DOMINIC RAAB IS NOT CUT FROM THE