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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
U.K. Is First To Administer COVID-19 Vaccine In The West; Biden Picks Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin As Secretary Of Defense; Inside A Tehran Hospital Amid Iran's Biggest Coronavirus Surge. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired December 08, 2020 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:03]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Christine Romans.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett. It's about 30 minutes past the hour here in New York.
And we begin this half-hour with big breaking news. Overnight, a landmark moment in the pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NURSE: All done, all done.
MARGARET KEENAN, 90-YEAR-OLD BRITON RECEIVING CORONAVIRUS VACCINE: All done?
NURSE: All done, yes.
(Applause)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: The United Kingdom becoming the first Western nation to vaccinate its citizens less than a week after the U.K. approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
CNN's Cyril Vanier is live at a hospital in London for us. Cyril, tell us who got it first.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, the U.K.'s biggest and most complex vaccination program in history is now well underway.
And the first patient, patient A, was Margaret Keenan. She is going to put a smile on your face. She is 90 years old. She's an early riser. She got the jab at 6:31 a.m. local time at Coventry University Hospital.
Here's Margaret Keenan just after the jab. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEENAN: I say go for it. Go for it because it's free and it's the best thing that's ever happened at the moment. So do, please, go for it. That's all I say, you know? If I can do it -- well, so can you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VANIER: Yes, she says she felt privileged to be the first Briton to get the jab. If she can do it so can you, she said. She says she spent most of this year, 2020, alone, unable to see family and friends and that she's looking forward to being able to see her relatives in the new year.
She won't be immunized until the very first days of 2021 because if you look at a calendar she got her first jab today, 21 days until the second jab, and then another seven to 10 days until she's fully protected from the coronavirus.
And look, there is also poetry in who it was that got the second jab in that hospital. It was a man named William Shakespeare. Not still quite the same as the English playwright but there is poetry in the fact that one of the first Britons to get it is called Shakespeare. He was a patient of frailty ward at the same hospital -- 81 years old.
We're told that his grandchildren's artwork was nearby as he got the jab and that he went for a rest afterwards.
JARRETT: All right, Cyril. Thank you so much -- appreciate it.
Well, for now, President-elect Joe Biden can only stand by and watch as a crisis that he will have to confront deepens.
It's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst, John Avlon. John, nice to see you, my friend.
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
SANCHEZ: Good morning, John.
JARRETT: So on --
AVLON: Morning, guys.
JARRETT: -- the same day that the U.K. administers this Pfizer vaccine for the very first time, it looks like the U.S. passed up on a chance to have more of this vaccine available. "The New York Times" reports that the Trump administration turned down an offer from Pfizer for more doses and now Pfizer can't guarantee anything beyond the initial 100 (sic) doses before June.
So what do you think happened here? Is this just basic incompetence?
AVLON: Well, the Trump White House denying "The New York Times" report which, itself, means very little given the history. But, 100 million doses is what they're guaranteed.
Now, the president is expected to put forward an 'American First' proclamation, which doesn't extend -- have any teeth other than the fact it says America will be first for vaccines developed here. That's not what will happen.
And the Pfizer vaccine is going to be distributed globally. Obviously, the U.S. with a population of over 300 million is going to need more than 100 million vaccines. However, we should note, obviously, that they -- Pfizer is not the only vaccine mayor -- maker. It does seem, however, to be a pretty expensive fumble.
SANCHEZ: And John, I want to ask you about the big news regarding the nomination for Defense secretary. The president-elect Joe Biden set to announce retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as his Defense secretary.
[05:35:05]
He's not exactly a household name but Joe Biden knows him and certainly his resume. He's a retired Army general. He led U.S. Central Command for three years. He was also commanding general of U.S. forces in Iraq.
What are your thoughts on this pick?
AVLON: Somebody who could have a lot of credibility with troops in uniform. However, there are some disputes coming out of the congressional quarters because Austin will require a congressional waiver because he has not been out of the military -- retired for a requisite seven years. Now, that was granted to Gen. Mattis but a lot of Democratic senators at the time said it was inappropriate and they wouldn't greenlight something like that again.
So an impressive pick -- a series of firsts. Good to have someone with military experience. But because of that seven-year waiver issue there could be a fight for this one up on Capitol Hill.
JARRETT: John, even if there's a fight, the U.S. has a rich history -- I think you'd agree -- of relying on career servants in this country, like Lloyd Austin. But the president -- he's trying to gut that apparatus before Biden even takes office.
A member of the Pentagon's Defense Business Board, we're told, has now resigned over the recent purge of the board's membership. Trump loyalists are being replaced. Former military officers with decades of experience in the defense industry.
Is this actually going to affect Biden's ability to govern, or is Trump just messing with the system before he's out of the door?
AVLON: Well, the full-court press I think the administration is making is designed to create headaches and to try to implement some of their ideological agenda before they go out the door. However, while it is petty and pathetic to replace defense industry professionals who have served without regard to party with just political apparatchiks, like Bossie and Lewandowski, there's every expectation that an incoming Biden administration could and should replace them when they come in the door.
This one is just more of a petty headscratcher rather than an attempt to implement policy and solidify it before they leave.
JARRETT: All right, John, always helpful to get your help sorting through --
SANCHEZ: Thanks so much, John.
JARRETT: -- all of this. Appreciate it. See you soon.
AVLON: All right, guys. Take care.
SANCHEZ: A quick update on an important story out of the Sunshine State. A former coronavirus data scientist is defending herself after Florida State Police raided her home on Monday. About 10 officers, with guns drawn, showed up at Rebekah Jones' Tallahassee home at 8:30 in the morning.
Remember, she was fired in May and she's been accusing Florida officials of trying to cover up the extent of the coronavirus pandemic.
Now those officials are investigating whether Jones accessed a state government messaging system, without approval, to urge other employees of the state to speak out about coronavirus deaths. According to court documents, investigators traced a message to an I.P. address connected to her home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REBEKAH JONES, FORMER GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS MANAGER, FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: They took my phone and they took the computer that I use to run my companies.
And on my phone is every communication I've ever had with someone who works at the state who has come to me in confidence and told me things that could get them fired or in trouble like this. And I just want to say to all those people right now if he doesn't know already, DeSantis will know soon enough that you've been talking to me, so be careful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Jones is refuting the state's account. She tells CNN that she did not access any state messaging system improperly and that she lost access to her government computer accounts after she was fired.
Hey, stay with EARLY START. We'll be back after a quick break.
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[05:42:48]
SANCHEZ: Hong Kong is imposing a dining curfew and closing gyms and salons as coronavirus cases tick up. But keep in mind Hong Kong's new surge pales in comparison to the United States. There were 192,000 cases reported yesterday in the U.S. Hong Kong had 78.
Meantime, Japan is taking steps to jumpstart its faltering economy.
CNN has the pandemic covered around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERISSE PHAM, CNN REPORTER (on camera): I'm Sherisse Pham in Hong Kong.
Japan is pumping billions into its economy as it battles a new wave of COVID-19 cases. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pledging to spend more than $700 billion to help save jobs and keep the economy afloat. Japan has already spent trillions to boost its economy.
The latest measures come as the country battles a rising number of COVID-19 cases and that's putting a strain on the country's medical system.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Fred Pleitgen in Berlin, Germany where the key indicator of coronavirus infections per 100,000 inhabitants has hit a new record high. The German health minister is warning that new lockdown measures might become necessary if the surge in coronavirus infections, hospitalizations, and deaths is not brought under control.
And also some state governors who are saying that planned easings during Christmastime might not happen if the numbers don't go down.
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Jomana Karadsheh in Istanbul.
Turkey, on Monday, reported 203 new COVID-19 deaths, making it the single deadliest day since the start of the pandemic.
This, as the government prepares to start vaccinating the population. Turkey's developing its own vaccine but right now, their vaccine of choice is one of the candidate Chinese vaccines being developed by Sinovach Biotech. That is undergoing phase three human trials right now in Turkey. But the government has already preordered 50 million doses it says it will start rolling out this month.
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JARRETT: Thanks to all of our international correspondents for those reports.
Iran is facing its biggest surge in coronavirus cases and hospitals are being stretched to their limit right now. The country's global isolation not making it any easier for people to survive there.
[05:45:08]
CNN's Nick Paton Walsh went inside a hospital in Tehran and here's what he found.
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NICK PATON WALSH, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): A bleak winter outside, as was Tehran's summer and spring before it. Relief is scarce. Over 750 have died from coronavirus in these corridors. Another, a young woman, as we arrive.
Just turning the corner marks the start of the ICU here. Two dead is a good day, four average, and nine bad, doctors say.
Iran's heroism in the pandemic a little fierce as they're doing it under the maximum pressure of the Trump administration's sanctions. They're as proud of what they've done with this equipment as they're angry that it's all they have.
WALSH (on camera): One of the hardest-hit countries in the Middle East by the coronavirus, they're suffering, they say, so much more acute because of the impact of sanctions led by the United States.
WALSH (voice-over): Khalif doesn't look it but is much better.
KHALIF FARAHANI, CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: (INAUDIBLE) outside in one of the parks and there we got the coronavirus. (INAUDIBLE) very pain in my chest and (INAUDIBLE). It is cruel upon America -- cruelty -- yes.
WALSH (voice-over): Three hundred medical staff have died in Iran on this job, we're told. But like all numbers there, it is at the mercy of limited testing equipment and exhaustion. But even in that numerical chaos, 10,000 officially died in November alone from COVID- 19 and seem here to be getting younger, we're told.
ASLAN AMIRI, CHIEF ICU NURSE, SHOHADA-E-TAJRISH HOSPITAL: (Speaking foreign language).
WALSH (voice-over): The most bitter day was when I had a 47-year-old mother of three here, he says. She didn't respond to treatment. When she died, that was the most terrible, bitter day for me. I could not save her. It's stuck in my memory.
And if you have lost the fight, you often head south across the city to where there is both little and plenty of space in the Behesht-e Zahra cemetery. Economy and scale -- every final hope measured precisely, even as the bodies arrive.
The Imam's prayers here caught in a loop of loss reverberating into and over each other day in, day out. Each of a dozen Imams leading about 30 funerals a day.
A woman's scream, which would normally freeze everyone here, almost lost.
Nobody wanted to talk but the stories off-camera were similar -- diabetes, late-50s, coronavirus. The vulnerabilities that underpin the fond memories of the departed and fuel each final tender ritual.
Care is all around. These are tombs, not holes. And even the grim process of decay handled meticulously. The outside world may never see the full picture of Iran's battle with
the same enemy we've all faced or appreciate how much more crippling the deliberate tightening of sanctions made it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WALSH: Now, we've seen some pretty chilling tolls pass in the last week here. On the weekend, Iran passed 50,000 dead from this. That's what they know of.
Their ICUs where the capacity for testing not being as strong as they would like to be. Many countries face that, too. And they've now passed, as well, their million case mark since the pandemic began.
No doubt, though, that while you hear from doctors a consistent message of we've managed to get a grip with this and get our domestic production of medicines and equipment where we want it to be, they don't have surplus here. They are worried about an escalation. And, of course, November, the deadliest month, a fifth of those known dead within that month alone.
Startling to see the damage the coronavirus is doing here. And at the same time, too, as the tension escalates in the region around diplomacy and the nuclear standoff here.
Back to you.
JARRETT: Nick, so important to show the reality on the ground there. Such great reporting, as usual. Thank you.
WALSH: All right.
SANCHEZ: Back to the United States now.
The House set to vote today on a one-week stopgap to keep the government open until December 18th. Notably, that bill just one of three critical items on the agenda this week.
[05:50:01]
CNN's Matt Egan is here. He's the lead writer for CNN Business.
Matt, this is shaping up to be an insane week in Washington, as if we haven't had enough of those. Take us through the huge pieces of business that Congress needs to get through and why they matter.
MATT EGAN, LEAD WRITER, CNN BUSINESS: Good morning, Boris and Laura.
You're right, it is kind of insane that Washington is trying to cram through all of this stuff all at once. This would be like trying to get married, have a child, and move into a new home all at the same time -- what could go wrong, right?
So here's the deal.
First, there's this $740 billion military spending bill. Even though it includes pay raises for soldiers and new equipment, President Trump is threatening to veto it, and that's because he's upset with Silicon Valley. Specifically, he wants to include the repeal of Section 230, which is the law that shields Internet companies against being sued for what people post on their Web sites.
What's so telling here is that Republicans and Democrats are actually working together to cobble together enough votes to override the president's veto threat.
Up next, as you mentioned, the government could run out of money as soon as Friday. That's why there is a plan right now to vote on a continuing resolution that would basically keep things going for another week so they could then do the third big item of business, which is this COVID relief bill. It would be nearly $1 trillion and the economy desperately needs it.
JARRETT: Matt, thankfully, it looks like there has actually been some progress on a bipartisan stimulus package. It may seem obvious but just explain what happens to the economy if Congress drops the ball on this yet again.
EGAN: Yes, Laura. I mean, basically, the recovery is losing serious momentum and it could stall out if Congress does not act soon.
Just look at what's going on in the labor market. The November jobs report that came out Friday, it showed the (audio gap) pandemic. Economists that I've been talking to, they said that basically, the economy can start losing jobs if Congress does not act soon.
Also, millions of Americans could lose access to unemployment benefits. That's because two unemployment programs, they're set to expire -- one covering gig workers, the other for people on long-term unemployment.
The big thing to watch here is what happens on liability protection -- basically, whether or not the federal government is going to shield companies from getting sued for COVID outbreaks. Senator Mitch McConnell -- he said that is a redline for him. And so if there is no progress on that item the whole thing could collapse, which really would be a shame because we have vaccines on the horizon and the economy just needs Congress to sort of bridge the gap.
SANCHEZ: Yes, that liability protection a huge priority for McConnell.
I want to ask you about Bernie Sanders and other progressives that are not happy with the stimulus package because it does not include stimulus checks. The same actually goes for Republican Josh Hawley of Missouri. But would that idea have enough impact on the economy that it would to ultimately spiking this bill altogether, do you think?
EGAN: Well, I think the criticism is right in the sense that this $908 billion package is not enough to get the economy through the whole pandemic. And what's interesting, as you mentioned, it's not just from the left. We heard Sen. Josh Hawley say that he told President Trump (audio gap) stimulus checks are not included. But, you know, the economists that I'm talking to, they say listen, we don't know that stimulus checks are really needed right now. Most Americans would probably just save that money rather than spend it. And there's a lot of really good stuff in this package, including extending the unemployment benefits that I was talking about earlier, forgivable loans for small businesses, state and local aid from the federal government.
And so, you know, you don't want to just kill the whole bill because of that single issue. I mean, it's like if your house was on fire you wouldn't turn away the one fire truck that comes up just because you think two are needed. You would take the help and hope to get some more.
SANCHEZ: Yes --
JARRETT: Yes.
SANCHEZ: -- that's the idea. You can't let perfect get in the way of helpful or just good.
Matt Egan, CNN Business lead writer. Thanks so much for the time this morning.
JARRETT: Thanks, Matt.
EGAN: Thank you.
JARRETT: Well, finally for you this morning, America's greatest pilot, Chuck Yeager, has passed away. The World War II fighter ace and Air Force general became the first to break the sound barrier in 1947. The breakthrough famously captured decades later in the book and the movie, "The Right Stuff."
Yeager's wife announced his death, saying an incredible life well- lived and a legacy of strength, adventure, and patriotism will be remembered forever.
Chuck Yeager was 97 years old.
SANCHEZ: Yes, he was once known as the fastest man alive -- incredible story.
JARRETT: Sure.
SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Christine Romans.
JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
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[05:59:20]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Without substantial mitigation, the middle of January can be a really dark time for us.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: If we don't get the rate under control we will have to go back to shutdown.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Biden is poised to introduce his new health team.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are assessing how many doses were ordered, what the timeline is for delivery, and what the current administration's plans are to deliver those doses.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: There is a summit happening on vaccines here today at the White House. Pfizer and Moderna are not going to be present at this event.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The reason he's not talking about the pandemic is he's actually not interested in doing the job of president.
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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, December eighth.
