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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

GOP And Dems Optimistic They Can Make Deal On COVID Relief; More Vaccinations Today For Frontline Healthcare Workers; Germany Shatters Record For Deaths With 952 On Tuesday. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired December 16, 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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[05:30:15]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Christine Romans. It is exactly 30 minutes past the hour this Wednesday morning.

With very little time left before a government shutdown Friday, Congressional leaders are signaling they are close now to agreement on a COVID-19 relief package for businesses and workers. After months of partisan finger-pointing, talks ended last night with both sides now saying they're hopeful they can make a deal.

CNN's Manu Raju has been following all the latest for us from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning, Laura and Christine.

Perhaps a stimulus deal is finally in reach providing relief to so many Americans who are hurting right now from the coronavirus pandemic.

After a marathon series of meetings yesterday that extended late into the night, Republican leaders and Democratic leaders emerged talking very optimistically about getting a deal. Kevin McCarthy, the Republican leader, said they're very close. Mitch McConnell said I'm optimistic. Chuck Schumer said we are getting closer and they're exchanging papers and proposals to actually get to a final agreement.

Now, we don't have all the details there because they didn't want to share those details as we're getting to the final stages of the negotiation, but this appears to be along the lines of what we've been hearing about for some time.

Money for small businesses, perhaps up to $300 billion -- that had been one idea on the table. Extension of jobless benefits, including $300 a week in jobless benefits. That had been another idea that had been seriously considered. Money for vaccine distribution also essential, as well as money for schools, education providers. And helping with expiring business tax provisions also could be on the table here.

Again, we will see the details but we do not have those yet. But when the leadership ultimately gets a deal, assuming they can, they'll have to unveil what they have. They'll have to get the buy-in of all the respective caucuses in the House and the Senate. Then they will have to try to attach it to a must-pass spending bill that needs to keep the government open past this Friday.

So they need to get this out immediately, get it through both chambers, and hope that nobody slows down the process in the Senate where so many senators can certainly do that. And said there probably will be some opposition because a lot of members have been pushing a number of ideas that are almost certainly not going to get into this proposal.

One idea that probably is not going to get in there, state and local aid. That had been a big sticking point. It's likely to have been abandoned in some way to get a deal here. Republicans also have been pushing for lawsuit protections but that was almost certainly off the table as well.

So we'll get a sense of whether or not this is going to have enough legs to get through Congress and whether or not the president himself will get behind it. But at the moment, very optimistic signs -- positive signs coming from Capitol Hill after months and months of bickering -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Manu, thank you so much for that.

Even as Pfizer's vaccine rolls out across the country, all signs are pointing to many more months of pain. More Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 this morning than ever before in this pandemic. Nearly 113,000 people in the hospital. That also inevitably means many more thousands of deaths as we near Christmas and New Year's.

Bells tolling at the National Cathedral there in Washington for the more than 300,000 who have already died from this virus.

But, Tuesday brought hopeful news as well. The FDA gave emergency authorization for the very first COVID-19 test that can be fully taken at home. The over-the-counter antigen test is expected to cost $30.00.

And by the end of the week, the FDA could also give the green light to another vaccine -- this one made by Moderna.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: We're seeing a very effective vaccine. Again, 94.5 percent efficacy against disease, 100 percent efficacy against severe disease, which is really exciting. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: CNN's Omar Jimenez has more from Chicago on the vaccinations already underway.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Christine and Laura, vaccine distribution is only set to ramp up from here.

Chicago, specifically, is already set to receive more than 23,000 doses in their initial allotment. And they, like many other cities, are looking ahead to the FDA Moderna emergency use authorization meeting to see if that will then add into the vaccine that is already in distribution at this point.

Tuesday, we saw the first immunizations here in the city of Chicago. Five frontline health workers got that vaccine. Again, they are in that 1-A designated groups -- ones -- people, I should say, that are at highest risk when dealing with COVID-19.

And we spoke to one of them, an emergency physician who is now the first person in Chicago to receive the vaccine for COVID-19.

[05:35:07]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the light at the end of the tunnel. It's knowing that there's an end to this. That as we get more people immunized, maybe there is some semblance of us returning to normalcy, to hugging our families, to our big get-togethers.

JIMENEZ (on camera): And, Chicago's commissioner of the city Department of Public Health added this is the beginning of the end of their fight against COVID-19 but they still have a long way to go from here.

She mentioned -- Dr. Arwady, who is the commissioner, mentioned that by the second or third week of vaccinations they expect this to expand to life care centers -- not just for residents but for staff as well -- as they begin, again, this long journey to returning to some semblance of normal -- a fight that we are seeing play out in cities all across the country. A fight though, now, that seemed to have momentum in the positive direction -- Christine, Laura.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Omar. Thank you so much for that in Chicago.

All right. Pete Buttigieg is President-elect Biden's pick for Transportation secretary. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana will be introduced at an event in Delaware. Mr. Biden is also expected to nominate former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm to lead the Department of Energy. And former EPA chief Gina McCarthy is his pick for White House climate czar.

The president-elect campaigning in Georgia yesterday ahead of those crucial runoffs next months. He called out the state's two Republican senators for supporting President Trump's bid to overturn the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT: Two Republican senators fully embraced what Texas was telling the Supreme Court. They fully embraced nullifying nearly five million Georgia votes. You might want to remember that come January fifth.

And I'll try to be generous here in the spirit of the season. Maybe your senators are just confused. Maybe they think they represent Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: President-elect Biden's inauguration committee says his swearing-in ceremony, by the way, on January 20th will be scaled down. They're encouraging people not to travel to the ceremony because of COVID.

JARRETT: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finally acknowledging Joe Biden as president-elect 38 days after his victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The Electoral College has spoken, so today I want to congratulate President-elect Joe Biden. The president- elect is no stranger to the Senate. He's devoted himself to public service for many years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Biden also personally heard from the majority leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I had a good conversation with Mitch McConnell today -- we talked. And I called him to thank him for the congratulations. I told him although we disagree on a lot of things, there's things we can work together on. We've always been straight with one another, and we agreed we'd get together sooner than later.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, however, noted how long overdue the McConnell acknowledgment was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: I applaud Mitch McConnell for talking to Joe Biden today. You know, it would have been better if it were earlier but it happened, and that's what's most important. And so let's move forward. Let's move forward and where we can find common purpose and common ground, let's do that. Let that be our priority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The president, meantime, still egging on his supporters, saying in a tweet, "Mitch, 75 million votes, a record for a sitting president by a lot. Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry."

At the same time, CNN reports that McConnell also asked his Senate colleagues not to stage any stunts when Congress meets on January sixth to ratify the election.

And with five weeks until Joe Biden's inauguration as president, it's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN's senior political analyst, John Avlon. John, great to have you.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, guys.

JARRETT: So it's interesting. McConnell finally faced facts, I guess, and realizes that Biden is, in fact, the president-elect. But what I find more fascinating is behind closed doors he's essentially telling his caucus --

AVLON: Yes.

JARRETT: -- don't pull any funny business on January sixth, when there's been talk of senators like Ron Johnson potentially doing something.

What did you make of that?

AVLON: I agree with you that's the more significant thing in some respects. Look, it's great he's respecting the Electoral College but it's the fact he's saying to his colleagues look, this January sixth date, some of you talk about working with folks in the House to kind of derail the debate, don't do it. It's bad for the Senate, it's bad for the country.

And that's the kind of leadership you need, however belated. It might have taken him six weeks to acknowledge reality but he did it. I will note it only took him one day to congratulate Donald Trump as president-elect after the '16 election.

But this is kind of the immovable object we've been waiting for. Someone in Republican leadership standing up to the president and corralling his causes.

[05:40:03]

ROMANS: Yes, the president still doesn't accept it. But, you know, now at least you have Mitch McConnell on the record --

AVLON: Yes.

ROMANS: -- on the -- on the Senate floor.

Meantime, the president-elect's cabinet is shaping up here -- what it's going to look like -- Pete Buttigieg as transportation secretary. There had been some talk recently that he could land an overseas ambassadorship, maybe in China.

What's the, I guess, significance of transportation secretary? What do you make of how this cabinet is shaping up?

AVLON: Well look, first of all, I think that Biden is actually trying to not do a team of rivals but to bring people who he respects, who understand him, and also who have the collegial working environment. Why? Because one of -- one of Biden's biggest tasks is simply to make government work again.

Transportation is not a token position in a Biden cabinet because one of the big things he can get done -- and just talking about finding common ground with Senate Republicans -- is an infrastructure bill. Put all your infrastructure jokes away, folks. This is something that should have been able to get done, it needs to get done.

And to have Buttigieg in this position as a former Midwestern mayor makes a lot of sense. It's going to be a key position because he's going to have to be an advocate, he's going to have to lobby for it. And in some ways, it's closer certainly to his experience than, say, ambassador to China.

JARRETT: So a little bit of a pivot here but I think it sort encapsulates where we are right now --

AVLON: Yes.

JARRETT: -- in this age of misinformation. It's a story out of Texas where this former police captain accused of holding a gun to a man's head, trying to run him off the road. Why? Because of some voter fraud scheme that wasn't true at all.

It is eerily reminiscent of Pizzagate, which I'm sure we all remember, in D.C. when someone read something crazy online and then shows up to a pizza parlor with a gun.

John, don't you think this is -- this is maybe a prime example of the real danger of making all of these false claims? It's one thing for Trump to do this for fundraising, for his ego, or whatever he's doing it for, but this is real. It shows you how this can actually affect people's lives.

AVLON: Yes. Some people in the Trump orbit may be doing this out of a grift, or to protect his ego, or to preserve political options going forward, or simply power. But the fact is it trickles down to folks who believe it. And we've seen -- you know, this is part and parcel what the increase in death threats we've seen against election officials.

You mentioned Pizzagate where someone shows up with a gun to go find a fictitious (INAUDIBLE) in a pizza parlor that doesn't have one because he believes Democrats are doing nefarious things down there.

In this case, the guy thought there were apparently three-quarters of a million ballots hidden in the back of a cleaning guy's van. Guess what -- spoiler alert -- there weren't. But the fact that guns are being used, the rhetoric is being propped

up, and these people feel, in a sense, a mission, that's the downstream effect of conspiracy theories, folks, when the President of the United States is stirring them. And that's what we're dealing with and that's why this stuff is dangerous. This uptick in violent rhetoric is not sustainable for a self-governing society --

ROMANS: You know --

AVLON: -- and we've got to stop it.

JARRETT: And how do you push back on it? I mean, we do so many fact- checks --

AVLON: True.

JARRETT: -- we do. You do an enormous amount of work on reality checks. How do you push back on this is, I think, the question for our time.

AVLON: It is.

ROMANS: It wasn't very long ago that we were doing stories about how to talk to your kids about what's real and not real online --

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: -- because of the stupid Slenderman thing. Remember the -- remember the kids who were believing --

JARRETT: Yes.

AVLON: Yes.

ROMANS: -- all these crazy conspiracy theories and actually acting on them? These are grown-ass adults who are looking at this stuff and really believe that they are protecting democracy. It's really troubling.

AVLON: But exactly to that point we've got to think more comprehensively --

JARRETT: Yes.

AVLON: -- about combatting disinformation. It's got to be part of what it means to be a citizen in our society.

ROMANS: All right. John Avlon, nice to see you. Thank you, John.

JARRETT: Thanks, John.

AVLON: Thanks, guys.

ROMANS: All right, 43 minutes past the hour.

With the economy crippled by the pandemic, President-elect Joe Biden enters office with serious challenges here.

CNN Business asked some of America's leading CEOs what they'd like to see from the new administration, from addressing inequality to ways to help struggling businesses recover after the pandemic.

The CEO of Ulta Beauty, Mary Dillon, wants Biden to keep the millions of Americans employed by retailers in mind, adding "We need a bipartisan path forward to put the pandemic in the rearview mirror."

Wells Fargo's CEO highlighted the disproportionate effect on communities of color, saying "We must cure the problem with a longer- term plan aimed at driving a more equal recovery with focus on small business, home preservation, and job creation."

Rite Aid's CEO says the pharmacy chain is ready to play a critical role in administering vaccinations.

And, John Stankey, the CEO of AT&T -- which owns CNN's parent company, WarnerMedia -- says this. "We must work together to ensure an equitable justice system, including redefining the relationship between law enforcement and all those they serve."

Now, the Biden administration wants robust comprehensive financial aid for workers and families. Even if a stimulus is passed before Christmas, Biden has said more, Laura, will be needed.

JARRETT: It's interesting to hear those CEOs with so much of the talk. It sounds like what you might think you would be hearing from people on Capitol Hill --

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: -- but instead, it's coming from the business community. It's interesting.

[05:45:00]

All right, still ahead for you, Germany is on lockdown right now because of COVID-19. We have a live look at the tough new restrictions in Berlin after the break.

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JARRETT: This morning, Germany is locked down for the holidays. Tough new restrictions are in place through January 10th. COVID deaths in Germany just shattered records.

Fred Pleitgen is live in Berlin. Fred, nice to see you this morning. What is the latest?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Laura.

Well, it's really a sad sight here in Berlin and I think in many other German cities as well. You can tell here some of the Christmas candy stands that had been operational, they're getting torn down or taken down today and hauled away.

And in general, the place where I'm standing right now, this is normally one of Germany's -- one of Berlin's main shopping streets. It's almost like the Fifth Avenue of Berlin. And now there's almost no one here because all the shops are closed. All non-essential shops have to close until at least January 10th. Schools have also shut down and all the students are now in distance learning.

[05:50:09]

I'll tell you what, if the Germans needed any sort of reminder as to why this national lockdown is necessary, they got it early this morning when the German Center for Disease Control with more than 950 COVID-related deaths having been recorded in the span of 24 hours. And just to put that into perspective, it's about the equivalent of 3,800 people dying in the U.S. in a single day.

And the German government has acknowledged that the lighter lockdown measures that they've had in place so far simply aren't working. So on Sunday, they decided on these stricter lockdown measures. And as you can imagine, people, yesterday, only here, were doing some last-minute shopping. Now everything is shut down and not going to open until January 10th.

And the German government has already said that whether or not the country opens up afterwards really is going to depend on the coronavirus situation here in this country. So certainly, that is not for certain as well, so far, that surge of new coronavirus infections, it still continues here in Germany, Laura.

JARRETT: All right, Fred Pleitgen in Berlin for us. Thank you so much, Fred -- appreciate it.

Winter storm warnings now in effect across the northeast from Philadelphia to Boston as major metro areas prepare for up to a foot of snow, with much heavier amounts possible further inland.

Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Christine and Laura, good morning, guys.

Lots to get to today. It really starts out on an interesting note around the northeast because partly cloudy to mostly clear skies at sunrise around areas of New York City. But that, of course, changes dramatically into the afternoon and evening hours. And you'll notice upwards of 65 million of you underneath these winter weather alerts and it stretches all the way down into the Appalachians.

You could see very strong winds with this also into the afternoon hours. At times, up to 60-plus miles per hour for those gusts. And, of course, the snow is going to be of the heavy, wet variety. So a lot of this plays a significant role in disruptions on the roadways, especially into the afternoon hours where we think the snow really begins to intensify. And really after, say, 4:00-5:00 p.m. is when you see the snow pick up in intensity.

But notice power outages could also be extensive because of this wet snow type. And, of course, travel disruptions as well.

But it moves out of here quickly. Intensity peaks at around 7:00 p.m. through around 7:00 a.m. with the heaviest snow coming down into the overnight hours. Total accumulations for a lot of you upwards of about a foot, with Washington possibly on the warmer end and getting less than that -- guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Pedram. Thank you so much for that.

Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. First, checking markets around the world, a mixed performance in Asia, but Europe has opened higher here. On Wall Street, futures are up this morning after yesterday's pretty good day.

Tuesday, a good day for stocks on vaccine progress and stimulus optimism. The Dow climbed nearly 378 points. That's just -- or 337 points. That's just below a record high. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also ended the day up. That made it another record for the Nasdaq.

Investors will also hear from the Federal Reserve later today. The Fed chief, Jerome Powell, expected to release an updated outlook on the economy.

The U.S. Postal Service warning customers of more delays ahead of the holidays. It says it is buried under an unprecedented volume of packages with a limited number of employees to process them because of the pandemic.

This week is estimated to be the busiest week for mailing, shipping, and delivery and the Postal Service is encouraging customers to send their holiday gifts and cards as soon as possible. The deadline now for shipping packages by priority mail express for expected delivery by Christmas is Friday -- Friday, everybody -- but even that is not guaranteed.

The Postal Service says it appreciates your patience and remains committed to delivering the holidays to you.

MacKenzie Scott taking new steps to donate a majority of her sizable fortune. Scott is a philanthropist, author, and the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos. Her giving is focused on getting money to underserved communities. Nearly $4.2 billion she's giving to 384 organizations.

In a media post she writes, "The pandemic has been a wrecking ball in the lives of Americans already struggling. Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires."

So this billionaire is donating much of her money. Over the summer she donated nearly $2 billion to more than 100 organizations, including four historically black colleges and universities.

She is on the Bloomberg billionaires list, number 18, in giving that money away.

JARRETT: I thought it was interesting that she pointed out the billionaires are making lots of money.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: The stock market, as you always point out Christine, is doing just fine.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: But the stratification of wealth in this country is just staggering and the pandemic has really amplified that.

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: All right, thanks so much for joining us today. I'm Laura Jarrett.

ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Put on your snow boots in the northeast, everybody. "NEW DAY" is next.

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[05:59:22]

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United State and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Wednesday --

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday no matter what it says anywhere else. No matter what they tell you --

CAMEROTA: Is it December 16th?

BERMAN: -- it's Wednesday, and it is December 16th.

CAMEROTA: OK, then we're half right. It's 6:00, as far as I know, here in New York.

Millions of Americans, of course, are out of work. They're desperate for help. And congressional leaders are expressing confidence this morning that they will finally strike a deal for more coronavirus relief before they go home for the holidays. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there has been significant progress.

The exact details of the bill are unclear but we will ask some lawmakers about it this morning. And we will also break down what we do know.