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U.S. Reports More Than 3,000 Deaths Overnight; Soon: Vice President, Surgeon General to Get Vaccinated; Progressives Celebrate Biden's Historic Interior & EPA Nominees; Feds Tell Some States to Expect Fewer Pfizer Vaccine Doses Next Week. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 18, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): Healthcare workers overwhelmed by a record 114,000 patients now being treated in hospital for COVID.

[05:59:57]

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE (voice-over): I think it can get a lot worse, as you're saying. We're seeing an incredible surge. The hospitals are full.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The rollout of Pfizer's vaccine continues across the country.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're going to see the vice president get it alongside the second lady, alongside the surgeon general, as well. They're doing that to try to instill confidence in people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Congress drawing closer to a stimulus deal with the lives of millions of Americans on the line.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The fact that we can't come together on a bipartisan basis on what is essentially disaster relief, I think, is shameful.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Friday, December 18, 6 a.m. here in New York. Alisyn is off. Erica Hill with me this morning.

And it's a big morning, an important morning, not just because you're here.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: No, for -- no, this is the least of the importance, let me tell you.

BERMAN: Well, that's -- HILL: This is a big, big day here.

BERMAN: It's important that you're here, at least to me.

HILL: Thanks, J.B.

BERMAN: But there's a lot else going on this morning. Vice President Mike Pence and CNN's own Dr. Sanjay Gupta will receive coronavirus vaccinations on-air during this program. We will bring you those events live.

Overnight, a key FDA advisory committee voted to recommend authorization of Moderna's vaccine, meaning a second vaccine could be going into the arms of Americans within days.

Now, this comes as the Pfizer vaccine has some new distribution issues. At least six states say they will told by the Trump administration that they would be receiving fewer doses than anticipated next week.

It was another catastrophic day of loss in America: 3,270 new deaths reported overnight. In Los Angeles County alone, two people are dying every hour.

Hospitals in California, they've hit the breaking point. ICU capacity in L.A. County is now zero percent. Zero percent. About the same level of concern for the wave of death shown by President Trump. He has said absolutely nothing.

HILL: Overnight, Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond announcing he has tested positive for coronavirus. Richmond was at the same event as President-elect Biden in Atlanta on Tuesday. The Biden team says they were masked and outdoors.

We're also learning the wife of Health Secretary Alex Azar testing positive, as well.

Meantime, congressional leaders are struggling to hammer out a desperately-needed stimulus deal. So what do we know at this hour? Well, it looks like talks will continue into the weekend. And of course, there is that government shutdown looming at midnight tonight.

CNN's Dan Simon is live in San Francisco, and we start there with our top story, which is, of course, the coronavirus.

Dan, good morning.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica.

Here in San Francisco, city officials ordered a mandatory quarantine for anybody coming to the city from outside the Bay Area to quarantine and stay away from others for ten days. It is a sober reminder, even with the hope of a vaccine, that the pandemic is not slowing down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SIMON (voice-over): The pandemic ravaging the nation. Thursday, the United States reported more than 233,000 new infections and over 3,200 deaths. More than 114,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with coronavirus, the 12th straight day of record hospitalizations.

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: We have another couple of dark months ahead of us if we don't do something at this point to try to stop this dreadful upward curve of hospitalizations and cases and deaths.

This is not the moment to be throwing down your guard and gathering for the holidays like nothing was happening. We have a lot of trouble here in front of us.

SIMON: Forty-eight states have positivity rates above 5 percent over the past week, including Pennsylvania, which recorded more than 10,000 new cases on Thursday and a test positivity rate of nearly 39 percent.

In neighboring Ohio, more than 11,000 cases reported.

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): There's nothing to be happy about, as we look at these numbers.

SIMON: California, a major hot spot for this wave of the pandemic. In just the last two days, the state has recorded more than 109,000 new cases.

BARBARA FERRER, DIRECTOR, L.A. COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: I would estimate at this point probably 1 in 50 people in L.A. County may be infected, and that's going to include people you know and you care about and who are in your family. Anybody can be become infected. And anybody may be infected. And you've got to keep your distance, wear your mask.

SIMON: In Southern California, ICU beds are at zero percent capacity, something Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti had warned would happen by Christmas Eve.

Los Angeles is looking at ways to up capacity, such as converting regular hospital beds for ICU units, and setting up triage tents in parking lots of hospitals.

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D), LOS ANGELES: One hospital administrator conveyed to me in a Zoom call that if we see a similar spike after Christmas -- and these were his words -- we will go under.

SIMON: But as hospitals across the country face the brunt of the surge, the Food and Drug Administration's Vaccine Advisory Committee recommending Moderna's coronavirus vaccine be granted emergency use authorization.

DR. JAMES HILDRETH, MEMBER, FDA VACCINES ADVISORY COMMITTEE: The that was data presented to us is very strong. The efficacy was consistent across all the age groups. They included people with chronic conditions.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:05:10]

SIMON: As for that Moderna vaccine, it now needs just final sign-off from both the FDA and the CDC. That could happen this weekend with, hopefully, the vaccine being administered next week.

We also learned that CVS and Walgreens will both begin administering the Pfizer vaccine today in some long-term facilities -- Erica.

HILL: An important development there, Dan. Thank you.

Well, just hours from now, Vice President Mike Pence, his wife, and Surgeon General Jerome Adams will also be receiving their vaccinations. That will happen live for the entire country to see.

This as President Trump is avoiding the biggest crisis of his administration.

CNN Joe Johns live at the White House with more.

He is not set to get vaccinated, though, we should point out, Joe.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: At least as far as we know. And you really have to put that caveat in there, because we have seen surprises from the president.

But look, this is not your typical photo-op that's expected here at the White House later this morning. This is part of an urgently-needed public relations push to try to push back against public skepticism about taking the vaccine.

The vice president, who happens to also be the head of the coronavirus task force, is going to get the shot, along with his wife, Karen Pence, and the surgeon general.

One person not expected, as I said, to get the coronavirus vaccine is the president of the United States, Donald Trump. Now, he, of course, could go a long way, by getting that shot, to send a message to his fervent followers around the country.

The president continues to be holed up here at the White House, tweeting but not talking. And it's also important to say that the only thing that really seems to be on his mind is the election that he lost.

Still, there are many things the president could be talking about, including the huge spike in the coronavirus here in the country.

And there's also been an enormous data breach involving the federal government. Russia is the suspected perpetrator. But the president, lame-duck so far, missing in action.

John, Erica, back to you.

BERMAN: Yes, he could lead. He could choose to lead, which would be an interesting choice. The right choice for a president of the United States, no matter how many days he has left in office. Joe Johns at the White House, thanks very much.

Developing overnight, President-elect Joe Biden making history with two more cabinet picks. CNN's Jessica Dean live in Washington for us with the very latest on this -- Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to you, John. Some history being made here, if they are confirmed by the Senate.

Let's start first with New Mexico Representative Deb Haaland, who Biden has tapped to be his secretary of interior. If confirmed, she would be the first Native American to serve as a cabinet secretary.

And she tweeted about this. She wrote, quote, "A voice like mine has never been a cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior. Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household made me fierce. I'll be fierce for all of us, our planet and all of our protected land. I am honored and ready to serve."

We're also learning that Biden has tapped Michael Regan to be his head of the EPA. If confirmed by the Senate, Regan would be the second black American to hold that post.

So these announcements are coming as we're also learning that someone close to President-elect Biden has tested positive for coronavirus. The transition releasing a statement last night that incoming White House senior adviser Cedric Richmond has tested positive for coronavirus. He did travel to Atlanta earlier this week.

You'll remember, President-elect Biden was also there, campaigning on behalf of the candidates there in the Senate runoff.

Now, the transition is saying that they were never in close contact. Here's what the transition said about their interactions: "Richmond's interactions with the president-elect happened in open air, were masked, and totaled less than 15 consecutive minutes, the CDC's time frame for close contact."

Now, they also told us that Biden was again tested for coronavirus yesterday, with a PCR test, that gold standard test, and it came back negative. We also know, of course, John, that Biden is scheduled to get that vaccine publicly early next week -- John.

BERMAN: Yes. It emphasizes the need for that to happen. We also know that members of Congress now, the vaccine being made available to them. Continuity of power is certainly very important.

Jessica Dean, keep us posted. Thank you very much.

So this morning, several states reporting that they've been told they will receive a smaller number of vaccine doses than expected next week. But Pfizer says they have millions of doses waiting to be shipped out. So what's going on here? That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:14:00]

HILL: New details this morning about a delay in vaccine shipments to multiple states.

CNN's Sara Murray is live in Washington this morning with the very latest. And some confusing answers on this as well, Sara.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is a lot of confusion, you know. But we're hearing from multiple states, from Washington and Oregon, to Michigan, to Iowa, to Illinois, that they are getting word that their shipments of the Pfizer vaccine are going to be smaller than they expected.

And of course, this is frustrating for them. This is confusing for them. This is a tricky vaccine, because of its ultra-cold storage requirements. And it involves a lot of complicated choreography on -- on the states' ends to line up when they're going to receive it and who they're going to distribute it to.

And frankly, we're not getting a lot of straight answers from anyone about what is going on here. Pfizer put out a statement, essentially saying, Look, this is not our fault. This is not about a production slowdown. They said, "We have millions more doses sitting in our warehouse, but as of now, we have not received any shipment instructions for additional doses."

Now, as for the federal government, HHS is saying it's not that they're going to be reduced, these dosages that are being sent to states. They're saying it's just going to be spread out over the course of several days, but ultimately, states are still going to get what they need.

[06:15:11]

But of course, we know that any delay means that it's going to take longer for these frontline healthcare workers and for these nursing home residents to begin to get some protection from this deadly virus. So a lot of confusion and a lot of frustration in the early stages of this vaccine rollout -- John.

BERMAN: Sara, we know you're trying to get answers. Please keep us posted on this. Very important to so many people.

Joining us now, Dr. Peter Hotez. He's the co-director of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children's Hospital, where he was vaccinated this week. There are the pictures there. The thumbs up. He's also the Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Hotez, thanks so much for being with us today. Thank you for being willing to get vaccinated and show the world that you did it. This morning in just a couple of hours, we are going to see the vice president of the United States, Mike Pence, and the surgeon general of the United States, Dr. Jerome Adams, they will receive vaccinations. Why are they so important? Why is that so important for America to see today?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Yes, thanks, John. I'm also happy Dr. Gupta is going to get vaccinated, as well. That's terrific news.

Look, the reason it's important is the Kaiser Family Foundation came out with a very important survey, a poll in the last couple of days, and it shows that two groups in particular are vaccine hesitant. One are Republicans. That's the term they used, 42 percent. And the African-American population. So for reasons that we can talk about.

But the bottom line is having, you know, the vice president up there getting vaccinating as a role model for other people to the political right and Republicans, I think that's going to be important. And of course, having Dr. Adams getting vaccinated is important.

So that's -- that's a positive sign. But because we have -- I am really worried about the middle part of the country, southern part of the country refusing to get vaccinated at this point.

HILL: I know you're also a little concerned about some of the markers that have been put in place, specifically the age of 65. And in looking at that, you've said that that's really more of a cutoff for non-Hispanic white men. And this, again, speaks to the need to make sure that communities across the board are being addressed.

So explain for us what the issue is with that -- with that age number.

HOTEZ: Yes, Erica, I don't like that 65-year-old age cutoff. Here's why. If you look at the CDC numbers over the summer, and I haven't seen them updated yet, but there may be more updated numbers by now. But it showed that about 13 percent of non-Hispanic whites who -- who lose their lives from COVID-19 are under the age of 65.

But it goes up to 35 percent for African-Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans. So by that 65 cutoff, you're going to lose a lot of mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters in their 50s and early 60s, especially in minority communities. So I don't -- I'd like to see that number go down to at least 60, maybe 55.

The CDC has all the demographics. They can identify a more realistic cutoff, so we don't lose too many of the lives of parents unnecessarily and others over the age of 50.

BERMAN: So Dr. Hotez, late yesterday, the FDA advisory panel voted to recommend authorization of the Moderna vaccine. If the full FDA grants its emergency use authorization and the CDC signs on, people could be getting these shots as soon as Monday or Tuesday. The significance of having a second vaccine online, tell us that.

And what are the differences between Moderna and Pfizer? There aren't many, but there are a few subtle ones that could have some impact.

HOTEZ: Yes, John, you know, we're -- you know, if we -- when we look at what we want a vaccine to do, we want it to save our lives and keep us out of the ICU in the hospital. And they all seem to do that by inducing our body to produce virus-neutralizing antibodies.

But the others, we'd like it if enough Americans get vaccinated, we could actually stop transmission of this virus, and that's a pretty high bar. We estimated with a group of City University of New York, over 75 percent of the population.

So we're going to need more than one vaccine. We're going to need -- have to go beyond mRNA vaccines. We'll need a whole fleet of different vaccines in the new year. So it's welcome news that now the Moderna one is -- is getting up. And then we're going to have the two adenovirus vaccines, a particle vaccine, maybe our vaccine. So this is really a positive development.

You're right: the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are pretty similar. They both work by the same mRNA technology. There are some differences in terms of -- of the approval.

For the Pfizer, it's going to go down to the age of 16. For the Moderna, it's still 18 and above.

Also, the freezer requirements are a bit more onerous for the Pfizer vaccine, which has that deep-freeze, minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit; whereas the Moderna is stable in typical household freezer temperatures, minus 20. And they could stay 4 degrees, refrigerator temperatures, for periods of up to a month.

So that's going to meet logistically, especially in underserved areas and rural areas, we'll be able to distribute the Moderna vaccine a little more widely.

But we're going to need both. And, you know, when you look at each of these vaccines, every one has -- each one has strengths and weaknesses. But having that portfolio -- And that's one of the really positive aspects of Operation Warp Speed, is throwing a diverse array of technologies at the problem, because you don't know at the end which is going to be the best in terms of delivery and durability and in terms of length of protection and safety and everything else.

So -- so I'm glad Moderna is going. I'm looking now at the J&J adenovirus vaccine, the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, looking at our vaccine moving through clinical trials. It's an exciting time, but you know, it's a heartbreaking time, as we just heard what's going on in California. The numbers in a -- the numbers are almost unspeakable at this point.

HILL: They really are. And I know you have talked about it with us for so long at this point. It's wonderful that all of these vaccines are in the works, that we could have two authorized as soon as this weekend.

But the fact that we are here, we can't lose sight of that moment and the fact that we, Dr. Hotez, didn't have to be here, putting so much hope and trust in a vaccine that's, you know, still months away for most people. HOTEZ: Yes, you know, I can't tell you how many times I tried to knock

on doors with this, with what I called our October 1 plan, where over the summer, if we had identified mechanisms for stopping this deep surge, we could have delayed things long enough to save lives in order to get everyone vaccinated.

But we -- I just couldn't get the federal government and White House to launch a national control program. It's just beyond frustrating, when you're seeing -- this is exactly what we didn't want -- did not want to happen. We did not want to see these massive surges on our ERs and intensive care units, because we know that's when the mortality skyrockets. We learned that lesson way back in March and April when we were talking about this. This is when the death rates really go up.

And -- and so, this was predicted and predictable, that if we could -- if we could just slow these surges down, we could save thousands and thousands of lives. And yet, now the new numbers indicate 400,000 Americans will lose their lives about a week after the inauguration. I mean, just this catastrophic staggering loss of life, it's almost beyond comprehension.

HILL: Yes. It really is in so many ways. Dr. Hotez, always good to speak with you. Thank you.

HOTEZ: Thank you. Thank you, Erica.

HILL: Two quick programming notes here. Just what will it take to build trust in science? Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams join Don Lemon and Dr. Sanjay Gupta tonight for a new CNN town hall, "THE COLOR OF COVID: THE VACCINES." That's tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

BERMAN: And tomorrow night, join Anderson Cooper to learn how the country defeated the 1918 pandemic. The new CNN special report, "PANDEMIC: HOW A VIRUS CHANGED THE WORLD IN 1918." It begins at 9 p.m. Eastern.

What about tomorrow morning?

HILL: Tomorrow morning, if you're free at 10 a.m., I highly encourage you to join us along with Dr. Sanjay Gupta for "THE ABCS OF COVID-19."

BERMAN: Erica Hill hosting such an important special there.

President-elect Joe Biden now defending his son Hunter in a brand-new interview. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:28:03]

HILL: Developing overnight, President-elect Joe Biden making history with two big staffing picks, nominating New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland for interior secretary and top North Carolina environmental official Michael Regan to lead the FDA [SIC]. Now, if confirmed, Haaland would be the first Native American to serve

in a presidential cabinet. Regan would be the first black man at the head of the F -- of the EPA.

Joining us now is CNN political analyst Toluse Olorunnipa. He's a White House reporter for "The Washington Post." And Natasha Alford, who is vice president of digital content and senior correspondent at TheGrio. Good to see both of you this morning.

So as we look at this, these are important picks, Toluse, right? In not only what they mean for a broader and more diverse cabinet, but also in terms of the experience that these folks bring. Just -- just walk us through why these picks matter so much this morning.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, you hit the nail on the head. There is, you know, government experience. There is traditional experience that we've seen throughout the course of American history. You know, picking technocrats.

But there's also life experience. And people like Representative Haaland bring the life experience of someone who is a Native American, who has the understanding of what it means to be part of a community that was really at the founding here before the founding of this nation, as -- as we know it. And she brings a lot of the -- the history, the trauma, and also, the background and experience of someone who can take this role and, you know, essentially, represent a community that has been forgotten in many ways.

She will be the first Native American to be a part of any cabinet, going back through the hundreds of years of this -- this country. And I think that will really be a sign for a lot of people within that community that they are seen by people in the Biden administration.

At the EPA is also an agency that has an important role in racial disparities. And we have seen a lot of black communities left behind, really traumatized by the way that the EPA has handled itself. And I think we will have.