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U.S. Reports Deadliest Day of Pandemic; V.P. Pence to be Vaccinated Tomorrow, President-elect Biden Next Week; Nor'easter Dumps Heavy Snow from Pittsburgh to NYC; Hill Leaders Eye New Round of Stimulus Checks in $900 Billion Deal. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 17, 2020 - 06:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

[05:59:39]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Thursday, December 17, 6 a.m. here in New York. And breaking news, records shattered overnight: 3,656 new deaths reported from coronavirus. That number is just almost impossible to get your arms around. It has never been higher. And this morning, there is every reason to believe it will grow even more.

Hospitalizations hit a new peak overnight. More than 247,000 new cases reported. That is a record, as well. It is clear we are in the midst of a wave of death, even as vaccines begin to take effect.

In just hours, an FDA advisory panel will review Moderna's vaccine, meaning we could have a second vaccine authorized within days.

Overnight, a really interesting and a promising development. It seems there is more of the Pfizer vaccine in every vial than previously thought. Medical workers were able to get more doses out of each vial, which means more people will be able to get vaccinated more quickly.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Also breaking this morning, French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for coronavirus after experiencing symptoms. His office says he will isolate for seven days. We have a live report from Paris with more details, coming up.

Back in the U.S., the highest profile vaccination yet is scheduled for tomorrow. The White House confirms that Vice President Mike Pence plans to get his shot on camera tomorrow morning. CNN has learned that President-elect Joe Biden will get the vaccine next week.

But we begin in San Francisco with CNN's Dan Simon, where an at -- a stay-at-home order goes into effect tonight.

What's the situation on the ground, Dan?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, good morning.

California reported an astounding 53,711 cases yesterday, shattering all previous records, although officials did note that it did include several days of backlog. Nonetheless, it is a remarkable figure.

In the meantime, we are here at UCSF Medical Center, which received its first distribution of the vaccine yesterday. A hopeful development now taking place across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON (voice-over): Here in California, a shot of hope, as nurses, doctors, and other essential healthcare workers receive the first dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

DR. MEDELL BRIGGS-MALONSON, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, UCLA HEALTH: I'm very proud to stand here and get the first vaccine here at UCLA Health, to also make sure to spread the message that this vaccine is important for everyone, but especially for those who are black, Latino, and other people of color.

SIMON: But alongside the arrival of a vaccine, a dangerous surge with new cases, hospitalizations, and coronavirus-related deaths in the state setting records, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.

CHRISTINA GHALY, DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES: I want to be very clear. Our hospitals are under siege, and our model shows no end in sight. The worst is still before us.

SIMON: The entire San Francisco Bay Area will be under the state's stay-at-home order for the next three weeks beginning tomorrow. This after the region's intensive care bed availability plunged to just below 13 percent Wednesday.

Across the country, many hospitals are on the brink, with over 113,000 coronavirus-related hospitalizations across the United States, a record. And as new cases continue to rise, vaccine distribution could, with time, help change the course of the crisis.

In just hours, an FDA panel is expected to discuss emergency use authorization for Moderna's candidate. If cleared, federal officials say around 6 million initial doses will be shipped.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If Moderna gets the EUA, which I hope they will, then you will, by the time we get to the end of December, have 40 million doses for 20 million people to be able to administer.

SIMON: While there have been few reported issues with vaccines administered so far, Alaska health officials reported one healthcare worker had an allergic reaction to Pfizer's vaccine Tuesday, despite having no history of vaccine allergies.

DR. LINDY JONES, ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, BARTLETT REGIONAL HOSPITAL: I was concerned about an anaphylactic reaction, so gave her the standard treatment of a dose of intermuscular epinephrine, and she responded immediately.

SIMON: Health experts say the occasional allergic reaction is to be expected and urge Americans with allergies to check the vaccine's product label.

DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: What we need to find out is what specifically seems to be inducing this allergic reaction. But remember, even for this patient or person who's never had an allergic reaction before, she would have been instructed to hang around for about 15 minutes, during which time usually, if you're going to have a severe allergic reaction, you have one.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIMON: While there is some optimism, Alisyn, with the vaccine arriving in California, there is some grim news. The state reporting that it had to order an additional 5,000 body bags and 60 additional portable refrigeration units to deal with the rising death toll -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes, the death toll is very bad everywhere this morning, Dan. Thank you very much.

So the White House announcing that Vice President Mike Pence will be vaccinated tomorrow morning. CNN can report that President-elect Joe Biden plans to roll up his sleeve next week, and both man [SIC] -- men plan to get their shots on camera.

CNN's Jessica Dean is live for us in Wilmington, Delaware, with more. What do we know, Jessica?

[06:05:00]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Alisyn.

You're exactly right. President-elect Joe Biden expected to get his COVID vaccine early next week, and we're told that any hesitation -- or that any delay on their part has nothing to do with hesitation, but rather with logistics of getting this all together and getting it on camera for people to see.

Here's the president-elect yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're working on that right now. I -- I don't want to get ahead of the line, but I want to make sure that we demonstrate to the American people that it is safe to take. I believe they're working on that plan right now. And when I do it, I'll do it publicly, and so you all can actually witness my getting it done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Also right now, we're getting some new reporting about Biden's search for who will be his attorney general, which has turned out to be one of the more complicated decisions of this transition process, with several things hanging over the decision; and that includes possible investigations into President Trump, a federal probe into Hunter Biden, and also pressure from outside interest groups on Biden and his transition team, affecting who they may choose.

We know that it has been narrowed down to a list, a short list of contenders. And leading that list are Alabama Senator Doug Jones and also Judge Merrick Garland.

But we're also told it's not out of the question that Biden would take another look at a former deputy attorney general, Sally Yates, or former Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick.

But because the majority of the contenders are white, we're told that many in Biden's orbit would like to roll out other Justice Department nominations and appointees at the same time, including the deputy attorney general, and the head of their civil rights division, as well.

But again, John, that decision for attorney general, not expected until next week at the earliest. Biden has said he wants to get his cabinet all announced by Christmas, but time is ticking away.

A week away at this point. Jessica Dean, thanks so much for being there for us. Keep us posted.

This morning, there is a lot of snow out there, especially here in the northeast. More snow in some cities than all of last winter.

CNN's Brynn Gingras live near New York's Central Park with the very latest, Brynn. What are you seeing? What are you feeling? How is it out there?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, why are you laughing? Why are you laughing?

BERMAN: You look so comfortable.

GINGRAS: Listen, it's still snowing out, but I've got to tell you, even worse than the snow coming down, it's the wind. We're getting so many wind gusts that are really quite strong, and they're mixed with snow and that ice. So it's really biting.

But if we go and just check on with my, you know, trusty ruler here, you can see we got probably about 6 to 8 inches right by where we are here in Central Park in New York City. I'll defer to Chad Myers. He can let us know if we'll actually reach that foot mark that they were expecting for this part of the northeast.

But nevertheless, it's caused some major disruptions, this snowstorm. We've seen more than a thousand flights that had to be canceled. See, there's one of those wind gusts. And we've seen major disruptions across mass transit.

So if people do have to venture out -- today hopefully you don't -- you definitely have to be careful. I saw a lot of cars, you know, slipping and sliding on the roads as I was just trying to get to this live shot.

But yes, if there's any silver lining, John, in this pandemic, it's that there is a lot of remote learning, and a lot of people can work from home. Of course, that's not everybody. But that will hopefully help. People will be able to clear these roads, make it a little bit safer; and definitely people will be able to get out and about as the snow dies down in a couple of hours -- John.

CAMEROTA: I'll take it, Brynn, so that John doesn't laugh at you again. Isn't it nice when anchors in their warm, cushy studios laugh at the reporters outside? As John and I really are warm.

GINGRAS: Yes, appreciate that, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Thank you for being out there. That wind was crazy. If it's any consolation, Brynn, I had to walk from the hotel to here, Chad, and I was like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Like, I was -- I almost didn't make it. And I was also wearing high heels. So the whole thing was --

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And good thing you didn't have an umbrella.

CAMEROTA: That's right.

MYERS: Or you would have been gone with it.

Yes, a lot of snow in a lot of places. If -- the farther you get to the southeast here, you mixed it in with a little bit of sleet. So that didn't pile up the inches of snow. And even if that sleet was only two or three hours, those were the important hours to really get the heaviest snow.

You know, back up in towards Binghamton and Eagles Mere in Pennsylvania. Really deep in the snow here. Parts of I-80 completely shut down. Many roads aren't even passable.

And there's still more snow to come. Most of it somewhere between Saratoga and almost Killington, up toward Rutland. That's where these big purple areas are up here, still coming down. Another still, maybe an inch of snow for New York City still to come before it's all finally stopping here.

But Boston, you're still going to see at least a few more hours of this, like five more hours of this still coming down, heavy at times. And if you get farther north on up into parts of Maine, that's where the heaviest snow is going to be. Probably still another foot of snow here, at least a foot in some spots, because it's still going to be blowing with some wind off the ocean. Maybe a little bit of ocean effect going on.

But get this: by the time we get to Christmas Eve, temperatures in New York City may make a run at 60.

Back to you guys in New York.

CAMEROTA: That's confusing.

MYERS: I know. CAMEROTA: Thank you. Thank you, Chad, for keeping an eye on all of that.

All right. So coming up, a surprising development that could allow more people in the U.S. to get the vaccine right now. Details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: Breaking news this morning. The United States shattering every coronavirus record: 3,656 new deaths reported overnight. That's a record. A hundred and thirteen thousand hospitalized this morning. That's a record. More than 247,000 new cases. That's a record.

Later today, an FDA advisory panel will review Moderna's vaccine, meaning we could have a second vaccine authorized and going in arms within days.

[06:15:06]

Joining us now is Dr. Carlos del Rio. He's the executive associate dean at Emory University School of Medicine and a contributor to the NIH/Moderna vaccine trial.

Dr. Del Rio, thanks so much for being with us.

As we see these records shattered, the new deaths, 3,600. It really -- it's just hard to get your arms around it. And what makes it even worse is when you see the hospitalizations rising at the same time. There's every reason to believe it will continue to go up or at least not go down any time soon.

I want to couple that with some news that we got from the White House coronavirus task force, which put out a statement overnight saying many states and local governments are not implementing the same mitigation policies that stemmed the tide of the summer surge. So the White House coronavirus task force says, we're not doing what we need to do to stop this.

So, how much worse can this get, and what will turn it around?

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: John, I think it can get a lot worse. As we're saying, we're seeing an incredible surge. The hospitals are full. The ICUs are full at capacity in many places. This is very concerning.

And I absolutely agree with the White House coronavirus task force. We're just not seeing people seeing people doing the implementation necessary to stem the tide of this -- of this virus right now.

What we saw in the summer, what Europe has done, simply, we're not doing it. We're just simply saying, Oh, we'll get the vaccine, but the vaccine is coming way too late for thousands of people who will die before we get the vaccine.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Del Rio, I had naively, I guess, held out some hope earlier this week when the numbers came in from over the weekend, the numbers of deaths came in from over the weekend, and on Monday, and they were lower than we had expected. They were in the, you know, 2,000 range. And I thought, I know that they're always lower on the weekend and Monday.

But I thought, maybe we dodged the bullet. Maybe somehow the Thanksgiving peak didn't -- wasn't going to actually happen. And then today, to wake up to 3,656. I mean, that's higher than I think we had predicted, of 3,000 deaths a day.

And so when you say it could get much worse, just what does that mean?

DEL RIO: Well, what it means is that, you know, transmissions are happening, actively happening. And I -- I think before the end of the year, we may be getting close to 4,000 deaths per day.

The number of people getting -- coming down, the transmission of this virus is continuing. And as hospitals get busy, as hospitals get overwhelmed, simply the ability to care for people as well as we should simply goes away and, therefore, the mortality goes up.

BERMAN: So Dr. del Rio, I want to ask you about a really interesting development overnight. It turns out that there might be more of the vaccine in the vials, the Pfizer vaccine, than was previously thought. And all these centers that have been administering the vaccine are reporting back, saying, Hey, when we finish giving people the five doses that we thought were in there, we've got a little bit left in the vial.

So finally, the FDA last night put out a statement saying, basically, if you have enough to give someone a full dose, go ahead and do it. And this might mean there's a lot more vaccine out there, one or two doses, maybe, per vial.

How could this happen, first of all? I mean, it's a great, fortuitous accident, I suppose. How could it happen, and what are the implications?

DEL RIO: I'm not sure how it happened, but obviously, it's at the time of the putting the liquid into the vials. It is not very frequent that a vaccine comes in a multi-vial like this. And I think the amount of fluid, the liquid you need for each vaccination, which is 0.3 mLs, is small, and therefore, you know, you can easily make a mistake of putting a little bit extra. I think it's possible. And I think, you know, in a way it's good news.

But Pfizer was very clear about those. If you have 0.1 in one vial and 0.3 in -- 0.2 in another, don't mix them. Don't mix vials. So if you have enough in one vial, use it, but if you don't, don't mix it.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Del Rio, there's also a CNN article that I was reading about the monoclonal antibodies. That is the treatment that President Trump was able to get, as well as Chris Christie and Ben Carson. That's -- that's what has saved live. I mean, giving people who are stick the antibodies saves lives. But you have to do it early, it turns out. I mean, you have the best -- I guess you have the best outcome the earlier you do it. But not everybody goes to the hospital as early as they were able to.

And so it turns out that monoclonal antibodies are in, we thought, short supply, but it's possible, according to the CNN report, that some states are not using all of their monoclonal antibodies, that they are sort of holding in reserve or that not all patients are getting -- that need it are getting access to it. How do we make those more available?

DEL RIO: Well, I think we need several things. We need people to get tested and to get results quickly. You know, the test results take five to seven days. You're already too late to get the monoclonal antibody.

No. 2, we need people then to present early in their disease process to healthcare.

[06:20:05]

And then within healthcare, we need to be able to organize ourselves. You know, you have to find an infusion room where you can bring people who are, you know, COVID positive, but not sick enough to be hospitalized. So you have to do it in some sort of outpatient setting infusion room. And don't want to do it right next to your cancer, chemotherapy, or other infusions that you're doing.

You also have the -- the problem that you have to have, you know, the nurses and all the different people that need to be administering this.

And right now, as hospitals are overwhelmed, you don't have enough staff. So you have to have your staff in the ICU. You have to get your staff here. And so you have to find the staff able to do it, trained and able to do it.

So logistically, it's taking some challenges. I think hospitals are simply, you know, taking time, because there -- the logistics are not there to do it immediately. It's not an easy drug to administer. I think it's a valuable drug and, I -- you know, once you get it going, I think you'll find that it works just fine.

BERMAN: So Dr. Del Rio, there was an email that came to light overnight from a doctor who worked inside the Trump administration, who was rooting for people to get infected to build herd immunity. And I'm not overstating that. He literally was.

This is what Paul Alexander, again, who was an HHS senior adviser, said: "Infants, kids, teens, young people, young adults, middle aged with no conditions have zero to little risk, so we use them to develop herd. We want them infected," he said.

Now the reason -- in addition to it just being startling that someone would ever say that -- that I'm reading that to you now is because there's an article in "JAMA," "The Journal of American Medical Association," overnight -- and one of the doctors of it is Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who will run the CDC starting in a few weeks -- which found that young people are dying at higher rates over the last year than they were before. It found that July appears to have been the deadliest month among this group in modern American history.

"Over the past 20 years, an average of 11,000 young American adults died each July. This number swelled to more than 16,000." We're talking about people ages 25 to 44. Five thousand more deaths in the month of July than the previous average.

And the implication is, is that it's largely because of coronavirus. What does that tell you?

DEL RIO: It tells me what we all knew all along, is that while coronavirus is not as severe in young people as it is in older individuals, it is not risk-free. And the best thing you can do is not get infected.

The problem is, you know, we had many people saying, Oh, it's fine, get infected. Coronavirus is no worse than the flu.

We know it's a lot worse than the flu. We've looked at it. We know it's a lot worse than the flu, even on young people.

And I think, you know, what Dr. Walensky and her team describe in "JAMA" is exactly what we are all seeing,, is that the coronavirus mortality in young people is not trivial.

And unfortunately, young people live with older individuals, so as that young person gets infected who then infects somebody else. This whole idea that we can just let people get infected, let the virus run loose, and -- and develop the so-called herd immunity, what we're seeing is an increased number of hospitalizations and deaths. I think this is absolute proof that that was really the wrong strategy.

BERMAN: Dr. Del Rio, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Appreciate your help. I know that Moderna vaccine, which you have worked on, it's up for emergency use authorization today. An FDA advisory panel will look at it. So congratulations on this moment to you, sir.

DEL RIO: Thank you, sir.

BERMAN: So the deadline to pass a desperately-needed stimulus bill is fast approaching. Still no deal as of now. Congressional leaders say progress is being made. We'll give you the very latest on what we know, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:52]

CAMEROTA: Millions of Americans are desperately in need of jobs and money and food. Yet as of this hour, still no stimulus deal. Congressional leaders say they are getting close.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is live on Capitol Hill with the latest. How close?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, leaders say they're very close, and they have optimism. They say they're getting there, but there certainly is no final deal yet. And that's significant, given that we are here on Thursday, and leaders are facing a midnight Friday deadline.

Now, they are going over, essentially, the final fine print details. They will reconvene later this morning.

And here's what we know that has been agreed to so far. The contours of the deal, as it's coming together, looks like a $900 billion package and includes another round of stimulus checks, but notably much less than what people got -- received earlier: $600 is what it's looking like right now. Jobless benefits at $300 a week, also less than people were receiving before. And money for vaccine distribution.

Both sides here, notably, did have to make some concessions. Democrats had to give. There is no money for state and local aid and Republicans giving on liability protections. That's something that they had pushed very hard for.

There are significant hurdles that, essentially, will have to get negotiated in the room this morning, namely Democrats. They are pushing for $90 billion in state aid that would be distributed by FEMA.

But Republicans here are arguing, that essentially is just state and local aid disguised by that. It's distributed by FEMA. So they are raising issues with that.

Now, Speaker Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, they were on the phone with the treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, late last night; and they will reconvene again this morning, all working towards announcing a final deal.

But after they announce that final deal, it is a lot of steps to actually get this passed. So a lot of uncertainty on what the exact path forward is, at this moment, Alisyn, as the clock certainly strike -- clicks towards that deadline tomorrow night.

CAMEROTA: OK, keep us posted all morning. Sunlen, thank you very much.

So it's being described as the most significant hack of the U.S. government ever. Why isn't President Trump alerting the public to this? And why are Senate Republicans holding hearings on debunked election claims? That's next.

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