As the 2022 Winter Olympics begin, Beijing becomes ‘a fortress against COVID’

Read the Full Transcript

• Judy Woodruff:

  The 2022 Winter Olympics officially kick off tomorrow in Beijing. Over the next two weeks, more than 2,800 athletes from 91 countries will compete for their shot at the gold.

  But with the excitement comes intense criticism of China, its record on human rights and the decision to host the Games there.

  I spoke to USA Today columnist Christine Brennan last night, our time, about all of this. She's the author of "Inside Edge," now available as an electronic book.

  Christine Brennan, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

  So, what, you have covered 20 Olympics in a row, you were just telling me. Tell us, how do these Beijing Olympics compare to all the rest?

• Christine Brennan, USA Today:

  Judy, nothing like I have ever seen before.

  Obviously, this is the COVID Olympic Games, and it's even different from Tokyo, Japan, which viewers will remember was just six months ago, the Summer Olympics. This is a closed loop. This is a fortress against COVID.

  Once I'm inside this bubble, this closed-loop bubble I can't get out. And I don't want to get out. And if you leave, you can't come back. There — we're using burner phones and burner laptops because of our concerns over the Chinese infiltrating our wireless, our laptops, our phones.

  So we have got that concern of China's awful behavior on the Internet and trying to steal whatever we might be working on, that concern. And then, of course, throw that on top of it the COVID concern. I have never seen anything like it, athletes testing positive. They are stuck in quarantine, yet they should be competing.

  That's the nature of these Games, a real kind of rough, tougher edge as these Games as they're about to begin, understandably so. That's not China's fault. That's just the nature of COVID, trying to put on a worldwide event, thousands of athletes, when we're still in the midst of a global pandemic.

• Judy Woodruff:

  And we have seen the Chinese taking this very seriously with their lockdowns.

  But, as you point out, Christine, the athletes and others have been testing positive. What's it meant, though, for you trying to do your job there? We saw — I think we saw a picture of you, and there was some kind of a robot cleaning.

  Tell us what it's like.

  (LAUGHTER)

• Christine Brennan:

  Right. In some ways, it's future world.

  There are robots cleaning and spraying out sanitizing liquid in the hotel, my hotel and other hotel lobbies. Everyone's in hazmat suits. So every single person I run into in China is in a hazmat suit, including the first two people in the jet bridge when my flight landed from Tokyo, and then throughout the airport, throughout the Olympic — any site.

  It's just people head to toe dressed in — again, in protective gear, which I look at as, of course, strange and unusual and dystopian in some ways, but also as a real sign of respect for the athletes in trying to put on these Games.

  And when you consider there are nations where people won't wear masks, and then you see this — now, obviously, they're being told to do this, but it's also a sign of how much they do respect the athletes and the journalists and not wanting us to test positive.

  And there's even in the press center — I have not yet been to the bar in the press center. I — who knows if I will ever get there because of the workload, which is wonderful. But there is a robot serving drinks, shaking drinks…

  (LAUGHTER)

• Christine Brennan:

  … and serving drinks at the bar in the press center. In fact, there are no humans. It's just the robot serving drinks.

• Judy Woodruff:

  So, well, we hope you do make it to the bar, at least by the end of the Olympics.

  But, Christine, so there's so much to deal with in terms of COVID. But we also know there has been discussion since we knew China was hosting these Olympics about that country's human rights record and the hesitation, and much more than hesitation, that it caused on the part of countries, on the part of athletes.

  And yet you have written that, despite this, you hope these Games are successful.

• Christine Brennan:

  Yes.

  You can despise these Olympic Games. You can despise China for hosting them, and the ultimate irony, Judy, of Beijing being the first city to host both a Summer and a Winter Olympics. Fourteen years ago were the 2008 Summer Games, people might remember.

  And now here we are back again. What an irony that this would be the city, this — and, of course, China being able to celebrate, the repressive, awful government of China, its terrible human rights violations, the way it treats so many different groups of people, genocide, so many other things, and yet they're the ones that get to have this great gift from the International Olympic Committee.

  It's reprehensible. It's absolutely reprehensible. And I will say that every day that I'm here.

  And yet it's not the athletes' fault. The athletes had nothing to do with this decision. And we should, I believe, still celebrate them, even as we look at that — the awful, awful behavior of China, whether it's Peng Shuai, the missing tennis player, three-time Olympian from a few months ago. We still haven't seen her, in terms of in the flesh, anyone actually getting a chance to observe her.

  And, of course, now just athletes who are very concerned. They'd like to speak out. Some — for example, some figure skaters did speak out about the human rights abuses in China a few months ago. And now they said they just want to focus on their competition, which is understandable for young athletes at the peak of their lives, at the most important moment of their lives, but also the fact that they're just concerned about speaking out and causing any kind of ripple, any kind of issues for themselves, their teammates, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee or other Olympic committees at this key moment in their lives.

• Judy Woodruff:

  We can't let you go without asking you about the competition, Christine, the athletes.

  What are you looking for from the Americans?

• Christine Brennan:

  Well, I do spend a little time around figure skating.

  And I — Nathan Chen is a name that people should know, if they don't already. Nathan Chen is 22 years old. He came here four years ago as a metal favorite. He bombed in the short program. And he really — it was — obviously did not win a medal, won a team bronze medal, but it was a disappointment.

  And for the last four years, he's been building, building, building, building, three world championships, four more national championships. He is the quad king. He's the one that goes those four revolutions in the air over and over again.

  And this is his gold medal, the men's gold medal, for him to win. If he makes a mistake, he might not win, if there's great competition. But Nathan Chen from the United States is the gold medal favorite in the men's event.

  Otherwise, for the women in figure skating, not so much. We're not used — and these are not the Peggy Fleming or Dorothy Hamill days for U.S. women. Ice dancing should win a medal as well for the United States.

  And then Mikaela Shiffrin, the great skier, 26 years old, coming back after winning two Olympic gold medals in previous Games. Here she is. She's going to try all five of the alpine events in skiing. And those are that — again, like skating, that one little slip, that centimeter off, and everything changes, these Games on ice and snow and slippery sports.

  And so Shiffrin is back. She had COVID a couple of months ago, as many did six weeks or so ago. She's back. She says she's healthy, she's ready to go.

  Also, U.S. women's ice hockey. Here's a prediction for you. When all is said and done, it will be the U.S. against Canada for the gold medal in women's ice hockey. And I predict that not because I'm clairvoyant, but because that's always the game to win the gold. And it's also one of the great matches in hockey, men's or women's, every four years.

  And so the U.S. women get started here soon, and watch them in ice hockey as well.

• Judy Woodruff:

  So much to look forward to, Christine Brennan.

  And we will be talking to you again from Beijing. Thank you so much, the Olympic reporter like none other. Christine, thank you.

• Christine Brennan:

  Judy, thank you so much. Take care.

Improved audio player available on our mobile page