Return to Transcripts main page
Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Europe Becomes First Western Country To Approve Coronavirus Vaccine; First Shipments Of Pfizer Vaccine In U.S. To Be Delivered December 15; A.G. Barr: No Evidence Of Widespread Election Fraud. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired December 02, 2020 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:31:15]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett. It's about 31 minutes past the hour here in New York. And we begin with the big breaking news.
The United Kingdom just became the first western country to approve a coronavirus vaccine, leaping ahead of the United States. The U.K. could start giving people shots as early as next week.
Let's get right to CNN's Max Foster who is live in London with the breaking details.
Max, Pfizer, obviously an American drugmaker, co-developed this with a German company. So how did the U.K. beat the U.S. to the punch?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, the U.K. government actually saying they're the first country in the world to have a clinically proven vaccination. It is the Pfizer one as you describe. And they say according to their independent and very well-respected regulator that this is the first effective but also safe vaccination to go into hospitals as of next week. So the injections will start next week.
The Pfizer factory in Europe is in Belgium, so the first challenge is getting those doses over to the U.K. They have 800,000 on their way to the U.K. currently, we're told, with millions potentially by the end of the year. But they have to be contained in fridges effectively, at minus-70 degrees Celsius. So, Pfizer developed special containers for that, containing dry ice.
That's the first big challenge, getting it over here. And because of that challenge, the first injections will be in hospitals. In order of prioritization, it will be those in care homes -- workers in care homes who get it first, then frontline health and social workers, and also people over the age of 80. Then it will be expanded beyond that.
But just that group is millions of people. So we don't expect the wider inoculation program to go out until next year. And actually, the health secretary saying this is a six-month process. It won't really be until the spring that we start seeing life getting back to normal, Laura.
JARRETT: Yes, getting back to normal obviously, very exciting, but we cannot drop our guard right now. We've got to keep wearing our masks, got to keep up the social distancing.
Max, thanks so much for bringing us all the details.
ROMANS: All right. Also breaking overnight, the first shipments of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine in the United States set to be delivered December 15th. That's according to internal government documents obtained by CNN. And now we know who will get the first shots.
Here's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): An advisory committee to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control made a historic decision on Tuesday. They decided to recommend two specific groups to be the first in line to get a COVID-19 vaccine once it comes on the market.
Those two groups are residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, and also health care workers. Now, it's the thinking is that this vaccine could be available towards the end of this month and that then, they would start to vaccinate those two groups.
After those two groups, it's expected that other high-risk people will be able to get the vaccine. And those groups include elderly people who are not in nursing homes; essential workers, such as police officers and firefighters; and also, people with underlying medical conditions.
Now, for Americans who are not in any of those groups, Dr. Anthony Fauci at the NIH -- he says that those folks -- low-risk folks likely will not be able to get a vaccine until the end of April.
There are two vaccines at play in the United States. One is Moderna, one is Pfizer. They use similar technology in their vaccines. Both have shown efficacy of about 95 percent.
Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Elizabeth. Thank you.
The vaccine news comes on one of the darkest days of this pandemic. Nearly 99,000 people are currently hospitalized with coronavirus, the highest number of COVID hospitalizations we've ever seen in the U.S. [05:35:08]
Two thousand five hundred ninety-seven Americans were reported dead Tuesday, the second-highest single-day death toll since the pandemic began.
And senior administration officials say the CDC will cut the length of isolation following COVID exposure from the current 14 days to seven days following a negative test or 10 days with no test. CDC director Robert Redfield told the White House COVID task force the change is a data-driven decision.
One official tells CNN Vice President Mike Pence has been pushing the CDC for months to review its guidelines.
JARRETT: Attorney General Bill Barr finally stating the obvious, dealing a blow to President Trump's claims of widespread election fraud. He told the Associated Press on Monday, quote, "To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have effected a different outcome in the election."
It's just one way of making a factual, non-controversial statement, but the person it's coming from is noteworthy. Barr is one of the president's fiercest defenders.
Before the election, Barr echoed Trump's claims that mail-in voting was not secure. He said it without evidence. Now he says both the Justice Department and Homeland Security have looked into even some of the more farfetched claims we've heard that machines switched votes and they both came up empty.
Meantime, sources tell CNN that Trump associates have been lining up to request presidential pardons before the president leaves office. Among them, Rudy Giuliani, who has been leading Trump's failed lawsuits to contest the election.
All right, 49 days until Joe Biden's inauguration as president and it's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst John Avlon.
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, guys.
ROMANS: Hi, John.
JARRETT: Good morning, John.
So, John, if you're the president, why wouldn't you pardon your kids, Rudy Giuliani, and really, anyone else in your orbit that you want to protect before you leave office? Now, Biden's Justice Department may not prosecute any of those people, but if you're Trump, why would you even take the risk?
AVLON: Because it's totally un-American. Because we've had 45 presidents and no one's ever felt the need to do this, which begs the question why. And don't let him get away with some sort of playing the victim because of a hyperpartisan culture they've helped create. Usually, if you request a preemptive pardon it's because you think you've done something guilty. And this is just completely outside American norms for a very good reason.
ROMANS: You know, John, at the same time, you've got the president really undermining democracy, many say, by challenging this election -- the outcome of this election.
AVLON: Yes.
ROMANS: And now the person in charge of all federal prosecutions, the attorney general, saying the obvious -- there's no evidence of widespread election fraud.
And then this morning, the editorial board of "The Wall Street Journal" one-by-one debunking the wild conspiracy theories about ballot dumps and poll watchers and voting machines. I want to read you some of it.
Quote, "Fighting such claims is like whack-a-mole. No, Pennsylvania didn't count more mail votes than it sent out. No, Wisconsin didn't have 89 percent turnout. No, several states didn't simultaneously quit counting ballots on election night. No, ballots in Arizona filled out with Sharpie markers weren't discounted."
Trump, if he's lost the Murdochs, I guess what does that tell you about his claims at this point?
AVLON: It tells you they're baseless. I like the whack-a-mole metaphor --
ROMANS: Yes.
JARRETT: Yes.
AVLON: -- a sort of dark carnival ride -- except this isn't a game, it's our democracy.
And the sheer sum total of conspiracy theories really does drive home the desperation of the claims that have been made. And yet, some people are believing them. You know what? U.S. senators may understand the president's lying but his supporters don't, and that's where it gets dangerous.
But the more that conservative outlets come out and say the obvious and say it clearly, even if it starts at the top of that particular food chain with "The Wall Street Journal" editorial board, it starts emphasizing the gravity of reality and it's about damn time.
JARRETT: So, John, Barr has now started to speak the truth about the election. We also learned for the first time yesterday that he quietly appointed John Durham, this U.S. attorney, as special counsel. But he did it back in October and we never knew about it.
I find that timing fascinating given that this is a man who has repeatedly and like, really, all the time talked about Durham's work, talked about everything that he's looking into with the FBI. And yet, he kept this quiet before the election.
AVLON: Yes. Well, first of all, I think there's a tendency maybe even on Bill Barr's part not to try to politicize an election, although we certainly haven't seen that. But I think this is best understood as a consolation prize for the president. So many of these investigations that he has demanded have come up goose eggs because there's nothing there, including the much-hyped Durham report.
But by setting him up as a special prosecutor you basically say this is sort of a trolley administration. This is a trolley move designed to be a political problem for Joe Biden and that administration coming in.
JARRETT: It may protect him from getting fired --
AVLON: Yes.
JARRETT: -- but it's not what the president wanted. The president wanted something --
AVLON: That's right.
JARRETT: -- before the election and that is not what he got.
AVLON: Nope. This is just a little bonbon to keep him satiated over the next 50 days.
[05:40:02]
JARRETT: All right, John Avlon, senior political analyst. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
AVLON: Take care, guys.
ROMANS: All right, to markets now. President-elect Joe Biden's economic team faces a very big task, rebuilding an economy struggling through a growing pandemic. We are days away from living in a country where coronavirus rages, vaccines are coming but not yet available, and the financial lifeline for Americans is gone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: The full Congress should come together and pass a robust package for relief to address these urgent needs. My transition team is already working on what I'll put forward in the next Congress to address the multiple crises we're facing.
Our message to everybody struggling right now is this. Help is on the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: We heard from Biden's nominee for Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, who said the country faces a historic crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY NOMINEE: It's a pandemic and economic fallout that together have caused so much damage for so many and have had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable among us. It's an American tragedy and it's essential that we move with urgency.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: An American tragedy and a crisis that is not over. The economy is still down 10 million jobs since February. Americans are facing hunger as they choose between paying bills and putting food on the table.
The grace period for millions of people with student loans expires at the end of the year. Protections for renters disappear, which could leave to a -- lead to a wave of evictions. And states face layoffs without emergency aid to plug big holes in their budgets caused by the pandemic. When I say layoffs, I mean firefighters, I mean teachers, I mean sanitation workers.
JARRETT: Essential workers, really.
ROMANS: The very people who keep your community going.
JARRETT: Yes.
All right, still ahead for you, U.S. pharmacies have their work cut out for them as they get ready to give millions of people shots of a COVID vaccine. What they're doing to prepare, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:46:13]
JARRETT: Welcome back.
China is racing right now to develop a coronavirus vaccine and distribute it. CNN has gained exclusive access to the preparations at an airport in southern China where they're gearing up to ship a vaccine once it's approved.
Let's get right to David Culver. David, tell us everything. What are you seeing?
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Laura.
What makes this unique compared to what we're seeing in the U.S. and in the U.K. and other parts of Europe is that this is not about domestic distribution of the vaccine, this is about global distribution. So, China already planning to export it.
And they're not just doing this for goodwill, I can tell you that. It's partly because the Chinese companies behind it, part of them benefit financially. And it's an opportunity for them to repair what many perceive to be a tarnished image after a lot of allegations of mishandling early on with the start of this outbreak. In either case, we were able to get a look at what that distribution will look like coming from here in Shenzhen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER (on camera): You're looking at one of the cargo jets that will soon be taking vaccines that are approved here in China, made by Chinese biotech companies, to the rest of the world.
This one is a charter -- Ethiopian Cargo. It's their pharma wing. Look over here. You can see they're already loading up some of the PPE -- some of the face masks, some of the hazmat-like suits.
Inside, however, they have built an infrastructure that is temperature and climate-controlled. Why does that matter? Well, as soon as the vaccines are approved they have to be kept at a certain temperature setting and that is the only way they could be transferred from the start here in Shenzhen in southern China to finish. But this aircraft, it continues on to the Middle East.
One thing that's important to note is the logo on the side -- Cainiao. That is a part of Alibaba. It's their logistics and distribution part.
Normally, they're doing goods that people are buying online. Think of Amazon but on a massive scale. That is the company that here in China is helping with the distribution of vaccines as soon as they're given the go-ahead.
WAN LIN, CEO, CAINIAO: We are ready to move the vaccines.
CULVER (voice-over): Cainiao CEO Wan Lin says the company is now adding more routes for greater global reach.
LIN: We (INAUDIBLE) the exact demand but we are definitely -- continue to be prepared for that.
CULVER (voice-over): While China has yet to approve a vaccine for public use, Cainiao says their end-to-end climate-controlled infrastructure is in place and ready. The required temperature, which differs depending on the vaccine, must be maintained throughout transport from leaving the production facility to airport storage and finally, to global cargo distribution.
GEORGE MAO, VICE-GENERAL MANAGER, CAINIAO GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN: For example, the Shenzhen airport terminal, they have already set up a cold chain warehouse mainly for the medicine suppliers.
CULVER (voice-over): CNN got an exclusive look inside that cold chain facility, which will soon store the approved vaccines.
CULVER (on camera): And these chambers can be specified and even customized based on the required temperature for each vaccine, and they can put them in different chambers within so as to accommodate that.
CULVER: Cainiao then works with different airlines to ensure the cargo temperature is sustained throughout the flight. In this case, Ethiopian Airlines. Since the start of the pandemic, they've flown more than 3,000 tons of supplies to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and South America.
TEKLE GYOHANNES, ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES: So we do the same also for the vaccine to distribute to all destinations around the globe, and then we can cure a lot of human beings.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CULVER: Now, it all sounds incredibly promising but the reality is this all depends on a vaccine actually being approved here. And you've got several biotech companies that are competing in the development of a vaccine and they face a lot of scrutiny. There's skepticism over their lack of transparency and questions about how effective their vaccines really are.
[05:50:10]
If they can overcome that, Laura and they can win back some of the trust globally, then we know that companies that are the Amazon-like equivalents here are ready to ship starting today.
JARRETT: Just fascinating to see how it's all coming together logistically. All right, David, thanks so much.
ROMANS: All right, to business now. Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning.
Taking a look at markets around the world, a mixed performance really -- narrowly mixed in the U.K. and Paris and Frankfurt. Taking a look at Wall Street right now, stock index futures leaning slightly lower but not convincingly so.
Stocks rallied Tuesday to start the new trading month. The Dow closed 185 points higher. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq both record highs there.
Investors reading the D.C. tea leaves. There's talk about stimulus that encouraged -- they're encouraged that some kind of stimulus may come before the end of the year -- that and hopes that vaccines will come quickly. And on that point, the government is calling on pharmacies to administer vaccines to millions of Americans.
Now, before people can get their vaccines, some pharmacies are going to need to make big upgrades. Vaccines from AstraZeneca and Moderna only require standard refrigeration. Grocery stores with pharmacies could have an advantage over traditional drug stores because they already have storage space.
But pharmacies need to have ultra-cold storage units if they store the Pfizer vaccine. Ninety-nine percent of pharmacies in the country do not have ultra-cold freezers.
A spokesperson for Walgreens said the ultra-cold freezers will be an essential part of its plan to support these vaccines. CVS is planning on using Pfizer's shipping containers instead of buying its own. Now, storage isn't the only problem. Pharmacies will most likely have
to manage long lines. Some clinics are already testing out strategies with the flu vaccine while the pharmaceutical industry waits for approval for the FDA.
JARRETT: Control of the U.S. Senate is on the line in two Georgia runoffs. With the stakes that high, the candidates are blanketing the airwaves right now and breaking records for campaign spending.
Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POLITICAL AD: Kelly Loeffler knows she's lying. Raphael Warnock is a radical. Raphael Warnock even hates puppies.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the hyperpartisan battle for the Georgia Senate seats there is uniform agreement about this.
DAVID WILLIAMS, GEORGIA RESIDENT: They're on, I would think, 75 percent of the time. Every commercial is a -- is an ad -- a campaign ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too much. It is too much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh my God, it's -- I'm tired of it.
LAH (voice-over): We can't even get through our interview --
LAH (on camera): Wait, there's another one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all -- it's all -- it's all (laughing).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too redundant if you will. I mean, I get tired of seeing people bashing people.
LAH (voice-over): They should all prepare for more.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jon Ossoff has dedicated his career to fighting injustice.
LAH (voice-over): Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff just released this new ad enlisting the help of one of his party's most potent political forces.
OBAMA: If we vote like our lives depend on it -- because they do -- we will elect Jon Ossoff to the United States Senate.
LAH (voice-over): It is the latest in a flurry of new ads on Georgia airwaves. Ossoff's opponent is Republican Sen. David Perdue.
POLITICAL AD: If Jon Ossoff wins, they control Washington, but Georgia can stop them.
LAH (voice-over): The other Republican incumbent, Kelly Loeffler, is fiercely attacking her opponent.
POLITICAL AD: Raphael Warnock is a radical. He's wrong and he's dangerous.
LAH (voice-over): Rev. Warnock and Alvin the beagle responded.
RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D), CANDIDATE FOR GEORGIA U.S. SENATOR: I think Georgians will see her ads for what they are, don't you?
LAH (voice-over): Total ad spending, including reservations through the January fifth runoff, crossed $300 million. Spending by the incumbents and Republican backers topped the Democrats by $50 million. The Georgia runoffs are far and away the most expensive Senate races of the 2020 cycle.
BRENDAN FISCHER, CAMPAIGN LEGAL CENTER: Money absolutely matters.
LAH (voice-over): But the Campaign Legal Center's Brendan Fischer offers this warning with Georgia's ad war.
FISCHER: Voters are exhausted. They've just been through a hotly- contested presidential race. They just voted in November and they may not be motivated to vote again in January.
LAH (voice-over): Especially, says waitress Kayleigh Waters, when she's just trying to survive financially during COVID.
KAYLEIGH WATERS, GEORGIA RESIDENT: It just doesn't make sense when we're in the middle of a pandemic. Like, to come home from work and watch T.V. and see that (bleep) is just kind of like even more depressing and it's so polarizing.
LAH (on camera): Jon Ossoff did speak with reporters and said he fully expects that he will be outspent when it comes to the ad wars, but he plans on winning the ground game -- Laura, Christine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROMANS: All right, Kyung Lah. Thank you so much for that. And January fifth is the big day of the runoff so it should be interesting.
Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:59:24]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, December second. It's 6:00 here in New York.
Alisyn is off. Erica Hill with me this morning. Great to see you. ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
BERMAN: We do have breaking news. Just a short time ago, the United Kingdom became the first country in the world to grant emergency approval for Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. Immunizations will start there next week for people who need it most.
The United States could be just days away as well. The FDA meets next week to take action. We have new information this morning on who will get the vaccine first here. Plans approved overnight for frontline workers and for nursing homes.
At this moment, the pandemic is at its worst stage. Record hospitalizations overnight.
