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U.S. Adds Over One Million New COVID-19 Cases In Five Days; Trump Holds Superspreader Rally In Georgia; Countries Prepare For Vaccine Rollouts; What It's Like To Get A COVID-19 Vaccine; Georgia Runoffs Smash Election Spending Records; Trump Considers Pardons Before Exit; Germany Dealing With New Coronavirus Wave; Families Wrestle With Aftermath Of COVID-19. Aired 4-5a ET
Aired December 06, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Welcome to all of our viewers joining us in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow.
Just ahead, the president back out on the campaign trail. Donald Trump takings his unfounded election grievances to Georgia. We'll look at whether his message can help the state's Republican senators.
Plus stay at home: in just hours tens of millions of Californians will be ordered to do just that in a bid to slow the pandemic spread.
And what it's like to actually get the coronavirus vaccine. Dr. Sanjay Gupta shares one man's story.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.
CURNOW: So many Americans are now sick with COVID that hospitals are running short of beds to treat them all. We know that millions of Californians will face new stay at home orders in the coming hours to try to slow that infection rate.
Nationwide, more than a million Americans we know have tested positive in the first five days of December.
President Trump, however, continues to ignore the health crisis gripping the country. Instead, he remains fixated on his election loss to Joe Biden. Here's what he said on Saturday while campaigning in Georgia for two Republican Senate candidates.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you don't get out and vote, they are going to win. Now you know, a lot of people, friends of mine, say, let's not vote. We're not going to vote because we're angry about the presidential election -- and they're friends of mine.
They are people that are great people. And more than just two. There are numerous people and it's almost like a protest. But if you do that, the radical left wins. OK?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: So more on Mr. Trump's message in a moment. But first, to California. The governor is urging people in his state to hang tough a little while longer. He tweeted on Saturday there is light at the end of the tunnel. A vaccine is coming. We can do this. Paul Vercammen has the latest on California's deepening health crisis.
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PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The number of new cases in California, just alarming; shocking, really. Let's go right to a graphic and show you: 25,000 new cases, in California, more than 10,000 hospitalizations, more than 200 deaths.
And, all of this, helping contribute to these new stricter stay-at- home orders, which means people cannot go to wineries, to nail salons, hair salons, playgrounds and the rest. And they must wear a mask.
Let's look at where this is being impacted. In Southern California and in the San Joaquin Valley, 27 million people, one minute before midnight Sunday, the order goes into effect.
Well, it's not being embraced throughout California. In fact, let's hear from the sheriff of Riverside County, who calls these strict regulations ridiculous.
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SHERIFF CHAD BIANCO, RIVERSIDE COUNTY: While the governor's office and the state has threatened action against violators, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department will not be blackmailed, bullied or used as muscle against Riverside County residents in the enforcement of the governor's orders.
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VERCAMMEN: These stricter rules, also, affect other parts of California. Some Bay Area counties, also, joining in on the new regulations. And the order's being applauded here by top brass at UCLA Medical Center. They say they need something to help bend this curve, somehow, someway, with all these doctors and nurses facing a tsunami of new patients.
Also UCLA playing another huge role in the fight against the pandemic. It can store 1 million vaccines in seven freezers and expects to be able to put shots in people's arms in about two weeks -- reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.
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CURNOW: Paul, thank you for that.
As we mentioned at the top of the show, despite the worsening pandemic, U.S. president Donald Trump held a packed, largely maskless rally here in Georgia on Saturday to give Republicans a boost in the upcoming runoff elections that will determine control of the Senate.
But as Ryan Nobles reports, the president mostly focused on himself and his baseless claims of voter fraud.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump came here to Georgia, seemingly, with the goal of helping support the two candidates running in the runoff election, here, to the United States Senate.
But he spent far more of his time here in Georgia, talking about the election that he has just lost than he did supporting those two candidates in their upcoming fight.
President Trump went through a laundry list of perceived grievances that he had about the electoral process.
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NOBLES: Specifically the electoral process here in Georgia while, at the same time, trying to convince his supporters that they need to come out and vote in January.
Take a listen to this one excerpt of the president's speech, where he talked about how he feels that this election was stolen from him.
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TRUMP: They cheated and they rigged our presidential election. But we will still win it. We will still win it. We'll still win it. And they're going to try and rig this election, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: President Trump spoke for more than 90 minutes in Valdosta, Georgia, which is right along the Florida border. And it was just a speech filled with lies.
He talked about evidence of fraud and malfeasance in elections, not just here in Georgia but in Wisconsin and in Arizona. Much (sic) of these claims have been debunked. He even played clips from the conservative news networks, Newsmax and OAN, that claim to show evidence of voter fraud.
Those examples have, also, been debunked and he did it to the glee of this crowd, that said repeatedly throughout his speech that they wanted the two Republican candidates to "stop the steal" and they also asked them to fight for Trump.
It's not necessarily the message that Republicans for looking for here tonight. They wanted the president to focus on Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, those two candidates running for the Senate.
But as is often the practice with President Trump, this speech was all about him and his hope of trying to overturn an election, a hope that, really, is not based in any kind of reality -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Valdosta, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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CURNOW: Joining me is Julie Norman, a lecturer in politics for University College London.
We heard Ryan lay it out. This was a campaign rally, a laundry list of perceived grievances. But the president's trip was supposed to get voters mobilized for the Georgia runoffs.
Could he have accomplished the opposite?
He says the electoral process is a fraud but go vote anyway.
JULIE NORMAN, LECTURER IN POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: That's certainly a concern for many Republican officials in Georgia right now, that voters will be hearing this message from Trump, that the election system is flawed and be discouraged from voting.
In reality, I don't think that will be the case. We see from Trump that it's really the momentum that he brings even more than the message. He is quite clearly still a very strong political force.
Even if his messaging is more in the fact that vote to support me, defend me, that is still a very galvanizing message for his base and one that will still get a lot of his supporters out to the polls or to vote for him by absentee. So I think some of those concerns will be downplayed as we move forward.
CURNOW: Despite the fact that Joe Biden won Georgia, this is still very much the heart of the Bible Belt. I live here. There's still a clear devotion to guns, church, conservative values, very deeply rooted.
How likely do you think it is these Senate seats will flip blue?
NORMAN: Of course, Georgia is an interesting state right now in the sense of how the demographics are changing with the Old South and the new South. We saw so much of that come together in the presidential election and with Biden's slim victory there.
But I do think that this is going to be a very close race for both of the Senate races. We know that a lot of it is going to come down to voter turnout. Of course voter turnout is always lower in what's just a Senate race rather than a presidential race. But we see both parties really trying to get voters to register before
the deadline on Monday.
Stacey Abrams and many Democratic organizers are trying to get first- time voters to come out again, at the same time really going up against, as you said, a state that is historically Republican, has not sent a non-Republican member to the Senate in over 20 years.
And that is still going to be a challenge for the Democrats to overcome. Democrats are also, of course, aware that many of the votes for Biden were from individuals who would still probably identify as Republican but just didn't want to vote for Trump, especially in some of those suburbs. So it will be hard to flip both those races.
CURNOW: So what we do know is what happens in Georgia will have a significant impact on how the Biden administration could get things done in Congress. So whoever wins, it's also clear that Mr. Trump will continue to cast a long shadow over this administration.
NORMAN: That's exactly right. And we've heard from both parties that they really see this vote and who will control the Senate as being quite decisive for how the Biden administration will move forward.
As you noted, however, Trump is not going away, whatever happens with the Senate races.
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NORMAN: We've seen that he still holds a very strong control over GOP voters as well as many elected officials in both the House and the Senate, who see how strong of a resonance he still has with his base and with Republican voters.
So I don't think we'll be seeing Trump go away, regardless of how the Senate races turn out.
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CURNOW: Our thanks to Julie Norman, a lecturer in politics at University College London.
The U.S. Congress can't really agree so far on what should be included in the next COVID relief package. Talks continued on Saturday. But Republicans and Democrats are far too far apart. The need is certainly urgent but sources say a deal could take another week.
President-Elect Joe Biden has also been weighing in and is urging lawmakers to consider a bipartisan proposal, as Arlette Saenz now reports.
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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Joe Biden is clear- eyed about the economic situation he will face when he takes office. And Biden is pressing Congress to act now to provide relief to Americans across the country during this pandemic.
Biden has embraced that roughly $900 billion bipartisan package being discussed in Congress and says that can be a big start to providing relief. Take a listen.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm talking about the folks out there aren't looking for a handout. They just need help. They're in trouble through no fault of their own. We're in a crisis, need to come together as a nation, need the Congress to act and act now.
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SAENZ: And Biden has said that, that package would simply be a down payment. That, more relief would need to be provided by lawmakers, come the new year. And he believes that, despite the division and acrimony, that Republicans will want to work together to provide a bigger relief package to Americans once he takes office.
Now while President Trump was campaigning, holding a rally down in Georgia, Biden spent the weekend here, in Wilmington, Delaware. He attended church and met with transition advisers. He has said he will travel down to Georgia, at some point, for that Senate runoff in January.
And Biden is, also, preparing for the week ahead, where, early in the week, he is expected to announce more members of his administration, including that health team that will help tackle the coronavirus pandemic -- Arlette Saenz, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
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CURNOW: There's more to come on CNN, including a look at the state of play for some vaccination programs around the world. Stay with us for that.
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CURNOW: It's 16 minutes past the hour. I'm Robyn Curnow. Thank you for joining me.
The world waits anxiously for a vaccine that could end this pandemic and then in the U.S. an emergency use authorization is expected for Pfizer's vaccine this month.
But a member of Joe Biden's COVID advisory board warns the full impact of the vaccines won't be felt for some time.
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DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think we need to be realistic about what the impact of the vaccine is going to be in the next couple months. I think it is going to be a while before we have manufactured enough doses for everyone who wants to be vaccinated, before we have vaccinated our priority groups.
So health care workers, nursing homes, staff and residents and others including essential workers. And before we're able to provide vaccination to the general population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Meantime, many states are learning how many doses they'll get in the first shipments. And it's not enough. There won't be enough doses for everyone designated as a priority, frontline health care workers and residents of care facilities.
Meantime, Russia began distributing the Sputnik V vaccine on Saturday, even though phase II human trials are not complete.
And the U.K. is set to begin its vaccination program this week after becoming the first country in the world to approve the Pfizer vaccine.
Sterghios Moschos is an associate professor of molecular virology and joins us now.
You're in Newcastle in England. It's going to be a big week for all of you in the U.K.
What excites you about the progress being made about the rollout and the vaccine in the U.K. in particular?
STERGHIOS MOSCHOS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF MOLECULAR VIROLOGY, NORTHUMBRIA UNIVERSITY: I think the most exciting thing is we're going to see those most vulnerable able to receive the vaccine as quickly as possible.
And that concludes the aged population, for whom, fortunately, we have seen evidence of the efficacy of the vaccine, and also the health care professionals, upon which we all rely to make sure we can go about our daily business.
As you said yourself, getting enough material out there is going to be a process that's going to take months. So we've got a long road yet. You and I are not going to see this vaccine for a long time.
CURNOW: But at least as you say, the elderly, grandparents, the sick are going to be able to at least get that first line of defense. That's just great news. We'll take all the good news we can get.
I'm here in the U.S. and the number of infections is just skyrocketing every day. It's almost mind-boggling.
With the nature of the virus, some people have suggested that folks might need to start wearing a mask at home just because of the breadth and the depth and the number of infections here in the U.S.
What do you say about that?
MOSCHOS: A home environment is a lot more complex than passing down a corridor of somebody you work with or going into a closed space like a supermarket or a convenience store.
You hug people. You kiss people. You share utensils in the kitchen or even just the surfaces you share in the kitchen or the bathroom. You sit down on a couch and put your hand on the armrest.
There's so many different sources that you could be contaminated from. And the home is where we let our guard down. What we've seen throughout this outbreak is it's nigh on impossible to prevent transmission inside the home environment, unless the person who is infected is literally segregated in the house in a part where nobody else goes to.
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MOSCHOS: That means if you have a communal toilet or kitchen, most people have one kitchen in their homes, you need to have that person come in, then open the windows on their way out so you air the space and then wipe and clean everything as you come in so that it's safe to operate in that space.
And it's not exactly straightforward and easy to make sure you're not going to get infected.
CURNOW: With the numbers we're seeing in the U.S., one person is dying every 30 seconds.
Are you seeing, potentially down the line, particularly in multigenerational families, that elderly people should be told, listen, if you're living with younger children or living with your daughter or your son, you should probably be wearing a mask?
MOSCHOS: That's a very difficult question. When it comes to public health work, my opinion is that you need to have a top-down approach as well as a bottoms-up approach.
So in this instance, I would suggest that families that are multigenerational should be approached by the local states or municipalities, government, whatever it is, these people should be moved into a facility where they can stay there for a short duration of time to prevent any transmission from working members or members of the family that attend school.
Simply put, we have to look after these people. We have care homes for those who can afford them. This is an extraordinary situation. We should try to protect these populations in a much more centralized way. A lot of those families don't have the resources to do so.
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MOSCHOS: And if we allow the virus to transmit in the community, it's going to be a lot harder to contain this, even with the vaccines. The vaccines take a month to work, roughly.
So if you don't have the vaccination or protection against transmission, how are you going to do it? CURNOW: When you talk about the vaccines, there's so many different kinds, various companies and also different countries coming up with their own. Russia seems to be forging ahead with their vaccine.
Do you see any safety concerns for many of the Russians lining up to take it?
MOSCHOS: Well, Russia hasn't conducted a formal or at least publicly available phase III trial. So unlike what we see here in the West, where in 30,000 people per vaccine, we have evidence of lack of any severe adverse events. We're all going to get the swelling and the bumps and maybe a little bit of fever but that's about it.
We're not going to get anything worse than that in the West. In Russia, we don't know. What has happened in Russia is there was a rollout initially among the health care professionals. So perhaps they have some data as to how safe it is.
Generally speaking, the approach that they are using is generally safe. I wouldn't be so concerned that it will generate severe adverse events. From a basic science point of view, there's nothing to suggest we're going to have any kind of risk to the population from that.
I think it's good for the Russians to just get a 90 percent effective plus vaccine and try to return to normality as soon as possible.
As you said for many of us at the bottom of the list, it's going to be several months down the line. Sterghios Moschos, always good to speak to you, get your expertise. Thank you so much. Coming to us live.
MOSCHOS: You're very welcome.
CURNOW: Now that hope of getting a vaccine is closer to reality in many parts of the world, many people want to know what to expect when they actually get the shot. We heard Sterghios describe a little bit of what might happen. But here's Dr. Sanjay Gupta on the experiences of one recipient. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YASIR BATALVI, VACCINE TRIAL PARTICIPANT: That evening was rough. I mean, I developed a low-grade fever and fatigue and chills.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yasir Batalvi is describing the side effects that he experienced during Moderna's COVID vaccine trial.
BATALVI: Thirty minutes later, I had a little bit of stiffness, muscle soreness in my left arm. It's like you -- you're punched in the arm, basically.
GUPTA: When you're going through this whole process, Yasir, 22-page consent form, hearing about all the potential side effects, knowing that you're trialing something that we don't have a lot of data on at the time, did you have any second thoughts before taking it?
BATALVI: Honestly, Sanjay, yes.
GUPTA: Every decision we make is risk vs. reward. And when the company announced early data showing over 94 percent efficacy, Yasir was confident it had been worth it.
BATALVI: It doesn't last long. And the potential of folks not getting this vaccine and actually infecting people with COVID, those effects lasts a lot longer. And they can be life or death.
GUPTA: These are early days. And the two vaccine front-runners in this country, Pfizer and Moderna, use a type of genetic sequence called mRNA.
[04:25:00]
GUPTA (voice-over): It's a technology that has never before been used in humans outside of a clinical trial; mRNA stands for messenger RNA.
It carries the instruction for making whatever protein you want, in this case, the spike protein the virus uses to enter our cells. These vaccines require two doses, one to prime, one to boost, a few weeks apart, so the body mounts what we hope will be a lasting immune response.
One of the biggest concerns now is that the side effects that Yasir is describing, fatigue, muscle pain, fever and chills, will deter people from getting that second dose.
SLAOUI: Maybe 10, 15 percent of the subjects immunized have quite noticeable side effects that usually lasts no more than 24, 36 hours.
GUPTA (on camera): Do you worry about the impact of this vaccine on you long term?
BATALVI: I gave it a lot of thought. And the only thing that gave me some calm was trying to research the actual vaccine, trying to understand how mRNA vaccines work.
GUPTA (voice-over): We understand this for sure. You can't get infected from this vaccine, because the vaccine doesn't actually contain the virus. And even though these are genetic-based vaccines, they don't alter our DNA.
And as far as those side effects go, that may even be a good sign.
DR. PAUL OFFIT, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: That means your immune response is working for you. You should feel good about that. And it shouldn't really be any difficulty coming back for that second shot, knowing that you're now in a much better position to fight off this awful virus.
GUPTA: For now, Yasir is looking forward to his next appointment, which is on December 10, the exact day the FDA might authorize the first vaccine for COVID-19.
BATALVI: So, I put my name down because I just -- I felt so helpless. It's public service. I have to do it, because I think mass-scale vaccination is really the only realistic way out of the pandemic that we're in.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Still ahead, two runoff elections in Georgia will determine who controls the U.S. Senate. How President Trump is encouraging Republicans to vote while also claiming the vote will be rigged.
And New England and Atlantic Canada are getting pounded by severe weather. It's triggered a bomb cyclone. That's next. You're watching CNN.
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CURNOW: Welcome back to all of our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN at 30 minutes past the hour.
More now on President Trump's efforts to impact the crucial Senate runoff in elections in Georgia. He held a packed rally on Saturday for Republican candidates there. But it may as well have been for himself.
He spent most of the time repeating false claims about the presidential election. And when he did mention the Georgia races, he spread baseless claims about them, too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They cheated and they rigged our presidential election. But we will still win it. We will still win it. We'll still win it. And they're going to try and rig this election, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: So with the balance of power in the Senate at stake, massive amounts of money are being poured into the races to buy ads. Kyung Lah now takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kelly Loeffler knows she's lying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raphael Warnock is a radical.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raphael Warnock even hates puppies.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the hyper-partisan battle for the Georgia Senate seats, there is uniform agreement about this. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're on, I would think, 75 percent of the time. Every commercial 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: We can't even get through our interview.
There's another one.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too redundant, if you will. I mean, I get tired of seeing people bashing people.
LAH: They should all prepare for more.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jon Ossoff has dedicated his career to fighting injustice.
LAH: Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff just released this new ad and listing the help of one of his party's most potent political forces.
OBAMA: Every vote like our lives depend on it, because they do, we will elect Jon Ossoff to the United States Senate.
LAH: It is the latest in a flurry of new ads on Georgia's airways. Ossoff's opponent is Republican Senator David Perdue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Jon Ossoff wins, they control Washington but Georgia can stop them.
The other Republican incumbent, Kelly Loeffler is fiercely attacking her opponent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Reverend Warnock and Alvin the Beagle responded.
RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I think Georgians will see your ads for what they are, don't you?
LAH: Total ad spending, including reservations through the January 5th 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 have 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 doesn't make sense. We're in the middle of a pandemic, like to come home from work and watch TV and see that -- is kind of like even more depressing. It's so polarizing.
LAH: Jon Ossoff, in speaking with reporters, said he fully expects to be outspent in the ad war but he does intend to win at the ground game -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: President Trump has just 45 days left in office and now we're learning more about how he's planning to use one of his most significant powers, which is granting pardons. Jeremy Diamond explains, it's not whether he can absolve crimes but who would benefit.
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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, as President Trump nears the end of his presidency, the White House has been abuzz with meetings about potential pardons.
The White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, has been leading a series of meetings since Election Day about who President Trump will pardon in his final days in office.
And the question here, though, isn't so much about how many people the president will pardon; he's actually used his pardon power far less than previous presidents.
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DIAMOND: But it's about the nature of these pardons.
President Trump has been far more willing to go outside the norms of what these pardons actually look like, using them to dole out rewards for his political allies, as he did in the case of the former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. That was a highly controversial pardon that the president issued just 1.5 weeks ago.
And he's, also, of course, granted pardons outside the normal bounds of the Justice Department's pardon office, circumventing those procedures and, instead, favoring appeals from high-profile celebrities like Kim Kardashian.
But in these final weeks, our sources have told us the president is considering more controversial pardons for his political allies. And there is also a quiet lobbying campaign by some, including the president's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, for preemptive pardons, pardons that would be issued on the basis of any potential crimes that may have been committed.
And some names that are, also, coming up are the president's children. There is a lot of discussion inside and around the White House, right now, about the potential for President Trump to issue some of those preemptive pardons for himself and for his family members, which would, of course, be highly, highly controversial.
Now it's notable, of course, that the president is looking at these pardons, clearly, clear-eyed about the fact that he has a limited -- limited amount of time remaining in office. But of course, that hasn't stopped the president from continuing to allege that this 2020 election was rigged, despite a total lack of evidence of any widespread voter fraud.
And one of the reasons why is that President Trump has been able to fund-raise, massively, off of this, raising more than $207 million since Election Day for himself, for his campaign, for the RNC, as well as for a political action committee that the president will use in the coming months after his presidency to continue to maintain influence over the Republican Party and his loyal voter base -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: And a powerful winter storm is now plowing through the northeastern U.S. coast and Canada's Maritime Provinces. The storm has become a bomb cyclone with some areas under nearly a foot of snow; more and 190,000 homes and businesses are without power in Maine alone.
And more than 2 million people in New England are also under winter storm weather alerts.
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CURNOW: You're watching CNN. Still to come, as vaccine rollouts pick up speed, we'll look at why scientists are still cautious over the spiking numbers. There's that and much more.
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CURNOW: As countries prepare for a rollout of coronavirus vaccines, the World Health Organization warns the pandemic is far from over. There are more than 66 million cases around the globe and more than 1.5 million people have died.
Tokyo set a new daily record with 580 new infections on Saturday. Severe cases across Japan are up with some 520 people in intensive care. I want to take a closer look at developments in Europe. For more on that, I'm joined by Cyril Vanier.
What can you tell us?
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a mixed picture when you look at Europe. In the U.K. it's go time. It's vaccine delivery time this week with the first injections set to start on Tuesday, that's in Wales and in Scotland and also during the course of the week in England in Northern Ireland, although we don't know the day.
The doses are already in country. They're being distributed to the 50 or so centers in England. They're going to serve as vaccination hubs. Personnel are being trained as to how to deliver those doses. And that's going to start in a few days.
We're not going to see a big difference arising from the vaccinations as to the actual infection numbers and the lifestyle in this country and potential lockdowns that may still come in the U.K. We're not going to see a difference for probably three months until spring. So you have to hang tight.
But it is starting and that is good news for everybody, with the British press this morning speculating the queen may get a public injection or, rather, that it may be made known that the queen will get an injection in a few weeks to increase the level of acceptance within the general public of this vaccine. That's the U.K.
In Germany, vaccines set to start in maybe a few weeks. But the talk is all about trying to contain a surge of COVID. They've had a fairly light lockdown since the end of October and they have managed to cap the exponential rise in infections. But they're not decreasing infections.
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VANIER: In fact, this week we saw the highest number ever of deaths since the pandemic of the pandemic with 487 on Wednesday, 483 on Friday. So a different picture, Robyn, depending on what European country you're looking at.
CURNOW: Thank you for the update from London, Cyril Vanier, thank you.
Chief negotiators from the European Union and the U.K. are hoping to break the deadlock on a post Brexit trade deal. They're meeting in Brussels today. Key differences remain.
And the European Commission president says no agreement is possible if they're not resolved. Let's stay in London and go to international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson, who joins me now on meetings that are being described as the last roll of the dice.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. And I think there is that feeling to it. Certainly, you know, we've heard so many metaphors. These negotiations, at least particular sticking points as well on the terms of fishing, the terms of what is called the level playing field that British government doesn't subsidize companies that would undercut European companies.
And also the regulations that would govern the outcome of any agreement made, we've heard talk about this. But the last roll of the dice, the deadline is coming close.
The fact that the negotiators had to hit the pause button and push it up to political leaders as well as Boris Johnson to have a telephone conversation before they could move forward is an indication of just how sort of apart and the need of political guidance on this there was.
I think when you look at Ursula van der Leyen issuing the joint statement that Downing Street has released as well, it's hard to try to read which way she thinks this is going. Take a look.
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URSULA VAN DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: We welcome the fact that progress has been achieved in many areas. Nevertheless, significant differences remain on the three issues, level playing field, governance and fisheries. Both sides underline that no agreement is feasible if these issues are not solved.
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ROBERTSON: So using the gambling analogies, the last roll of the dice here, that's a poker face, right?
That's where the negotiators are at right now. They're looking each other in the eyes or will be later today. And they want to know who blinked. What she's saying is, if neither side blinks, there's no deal.
CURNOW: There is a big game of chicken going on. But with that in mind, there's been a lot of criticism, if you read the U.K. papers, of the way the Europeans have dealt with this and particularly the French.
ROBERTSON: There is a real feeling here. I think it was always going to come to this, that where there was disagreement and a necessity from a political point of view here for Boris Johnson as well, to be able to say to his hardliners, we've gone as far as we can go; it's not our fault. They're hardline on the other side, moving the goal post. A deal is important. We need to get one.
There is a sense that the other side isn't playing fair from the European perspective. The perspective is, well, look, you chose to leave the European Union. If you want this sort of tariff-free access and zero access that you want to have in the European Union, you have to sign up to tough principles. That's our position.
The narrative for the moment here plays for Boris Johnson both ways. One, it says, look, they're not being fair. The other side also says I'm trying as hard as I am to get the best deal. But we're going to have to make some compromise.
But we're not hearing the word compromise yet, so there's another phone call on Monday after the second day of negotiations expected tomorrow. Everyone will be looking at that.
Will that be another roll of the dice?
CURNOW: Well, let's see. There's been a few of those games. Playing a lot of poker as well, as you're saying. Nic Robertson, I think you might have a busy few days ahead of you.
You're watching CNN. Still to come.
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DR. SHANNON TAPIA, GERIATRICIAN: I don't want to say it's been harder for us than it has for everybody else. But the truth is, it has.
CURNOW (voice-over): For many caregivers and families, the holidays will be lonelier after losing someone to the coronavirus. We'll look at some of the precious lives lost in the pandemic.
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CURNOW: COVID has certainly turned the holidays from a joyful celebration into a season of mourning for many thousands and thousands of families. Brian Todd takes a look at the pandemic's devastating mental impact.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lizanne Jennings, a seasoned nurse and instructor in Oklahoma, lost her husband, Dennis, and her mother to coronavirus in the span of three days. She describes the moment she got in her husband's ear and told him he was about to die.
LIZANNE JENNINGS, WIFE AND DAUGHTER OF COVID-19 VICTIMS: They started giving him morphine and Ativan and I turned him over. I rubbed his back and I said, I love you.
He said, "I love you."
And I said, "You're going to go now, OK?
"You can finally be at peace."
And he said, "Ooh," and then he took his last breath about 30 minutes later.
Then I bathed him and I cut his hair and I put clothes on him. And then I left him. There was nothing else I could have -- I couldn't save either one of them.
TODD (voice-over): The staggering figures on coronavirus casualties don't illustrate the pain of people like Quincy Drone and Anastassija White, who lost their 5-year-old daughter, Tagan, just hours after she tested positive.
QUINCY DRONE, PARENT OF COVID-19 VICTIM: As parents, you never expect to see your daughter in a coffin. You never expect to see your daughter in the emergency room, with her eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling, dead.
TODD (voice-over): Comedian Joe Luna, who went by the stage name Joe El Cholo, chronicled his own battle on social media.
JOE LUNA, COMEDIAN: I'm in a battle where I know that I won't win unless I knock it out, unless I get lucky.
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TODD (voice-over): As his condition worsened, Luna struggled to speak on a breathing apparatus.
LUNA: Bless you guys. Much love. Good morning
TODD (voice-over): Luna died just hours after delivering that message. The toll on frontline health care workers devastating.
TAPIA: I don't want to say it's been harder for us than it has for everybody else, but the truth is. It has. It's not the same. And it is not the same when you feel responsible for people's -- whether it be their life or quality of life because you care.
ALLISON BOERNER, CHARGE ER NURSE, CENTURA-PARKER ADVENTIST HOSPITAL: We are treating that person dying like our loved one dying, because they don't have anyone else. And they need that grace and they need that human touch and they need someone to be there when they're taking their last breath.
MARVIN O'QUINN, PRESIDENT & COO, COMMON SPIRIT HEALTH: You've got to wonder if people will have, you know, having gone through this type of trauma of what their empathy levels are going to be like in the future.
TODD (voice-over): Dr. Joseph Varon found that empathy on Thanksgiving Day at his Houston hospital, this photo of him comforting an elderly patient who was crying because he couldn't see his wife went viral.
DR. JOSEPH VARON, CHIEF OF STAFF, UNITED MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER: Some of my nurses will start crying in the middle of the day. I mean, they see one patient die. And then soon thereafter, we see another one. And the problem is, we don't see an end in sight.
TODD: And there are serious concerns about the long-term effect this pandemic will have on health care in America decades from now because my CNN colleagues and I have spoken to two hospital executives in recent days, who say they're really worried about doctors and nurses leaving the profession because they're so burned out.
And they're worried about the difficulty they may have in recruiting people to come into the profession in the future -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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CURNOW: Brian Todd, thank you for that.
Please stay safe. Please wear a mask. Certainly, it makes all the difference.
I'm Robyn Curnow. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
