Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

Vice President and Surgeon General Get Vaccinated; Struggle to Finalize Stimulus Deal; Nursing Home Residents among First to be Vaccinated. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 18, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Start to understand the data and see people like the vice president, the surgeon general, Mrs. Pence, Dr. Rice getting this vaccine. I think it makes a huge difference.

I'd like to believe it makes a difference. We'll see. It's tough to measure these things sometimes, but I think it will make a difference.

Well, it was clearly the design of what we just saw. That was clearly the message, the intentional message from the vice president, from the surgeon general and from Dr. Anthony Fauci.

And Kaitlan Collins, our White House reporter, is with us as well.

It's such an important message to take on the issue of hesitancy head- on. This was such an important message to deliver. And the whole time, Kaitlan, I kept thinking, as historic as it is, as helpful as it might be, how much more impact could this moment have had if the president of the United States had been there, if the president of the United States had been saying those same words?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think that's a great question.

BERMAN: So, why not?

COLLINS: I mean what you saw was a public education campaign right there. There's a reason they picked the vice president, the second lady and, of course, the surgeon general to come out and be, you know, these notable figures, getting it on camera, talking about it, addressing those concerns, like sandal was saying, that we've heard from people across the nation.

But you could not ignore that the president was not there. And, truly, as this moment right here was happening, where the vice president was getting this vaccine, the president was tweeting about the Russian hoax. I'm not kidding. That's really what he was tweeting about as this was going on. And people in the White House have explained the president's, you know

-- why he's not getting the vaccine today as well on camera by saying, well, he did have coronavirus, he still has the antibodies. But for him to not even be in attendance at this event was also notable, I think, because you saw the members of the task force, Dr. Redfield, Dr. Fauci, Seema Verma, Ben Carson, who himself had coronavirus, of course, but the president was not there.

And when he has been talking about the vaccines, the president has been talking about it in the optic sense, how the coverage of the vaccine rollout is going, and I think that's, you know, just incredibly notable to see the culmination of what's been happening in the last several months where the vice president has been the one in charge of the task force and, of course, that's why they chose him to be one of the first figures in this administration to go on camera and get it.

And we still don't know when the president himself is going to do the same. And I do think it has prompted a concern, even inside the White House, where they do wish the president would be more visible in this vaccine campaign because they do know he has a ton of sway with his supporters.

He often tweets about how much support he has within the Republican Party and, of course, we always talk about his base. And so similarly to what we saw happen with the mask situation where people insisted the president was fine with it and he encouraged people to do so, of course that wasn't a practice he actually followed in real life. And so I think the concern now is that could be something that happens with vaccines. So there are people who do want the president to do what the vice president and other figures just did.

BERMAN: His absence is clearly a choice and it's a message that's being sent. The surgeon general, Jerome Adams, said, we can see the finish line, but we have to keep running.

Kaitlan Collins, thank you for being with us.

Sanjay, thank you so much for being with us. Thank you for being willing to get the vaccine yourself on TV so people can see the safety and ask the questions and be reassured about the process. Thank you very much.

GUPTA: Of course. Thank you.

BERMAN: A quick programing note, Sanjay will be back tonight for a special coronavirus town hall focused on building trust for vaccines in minority communities. Don Lemon hosts with special guest Dr. Anthony Fauci and Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who just received the vaccine himself and delivered a very, very important message. "The Color of COVID" tonight at 10:00 p.m. on CNN.

All right, still no deal. Congressional leaders struggling to find common ground on a $900 billion relief bill. A government shutdown looms. What happens next?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:37:33]

BERMAN: This morning, congressional leaders scrambling to finalize a $900 billion coronavirus relief deal. Despite days of negotiation, frankly months of waiting, there are still some sticking points. And if no deal, there could be a government shutdown theoretically tonight.

CNN's senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju live on Capitol Hill.

Manu, where are we really?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a big question, John. We really don't have a good sense yet of when this deal will eventually come together, when there will actually be a bill to review, when there will actually be votes in the House and the Senate and when and if the president will sign this into law.

What we do know is the general, broad outlines -- the general disagreements that exist and the fact that the leaders are still expressing confidence even as time is running out. And today is a very critical day. Initially they had said today is the deadline to get some sort of deal together, get votes in both chambers, get it out of Congress.

That appears unlikely to happen even as the threat of a government shutdown happens by midnight if they do not pass another funding package. Initially they wanted to tie this $900 billion relief bill to a bill to keep the government open past today, but they still don't have a deal on the government relief package, around the COVID relief package, so there's a question about whether or not they actually can get -- can avoid a government shutdown by tonight.

Now, there are some key sticking points right now, including how -- whether or not to pair back the Federal Reserve's emergency lending authority. That is what Republicans have been pushing. There's some debate about whether to extend the federal eviction moratorium or instead rely on rental assistance.

And there's also some discussion about how exactly the structure of what's in the proposal right now, which is $600 direct payments, one time direct payments of $600, there's some discussion among Republicans to try to restrict those to fewer people. Democrats have pushed back on that. It's unclear how that has been resolved.

This proposal overall would provide about $300 a week for people who are about to see their jobless benefits expire. That is half of the amount that was approved in the March stimulus law. So there are a lot of details they need to hash out. There are so many people that are waiting, John. It's unclear when they will see that relief. But today's a critical day. We'll see if the leaders can actually get there, John.

BERMAN: All right, Manu, we'll let you get back to reporting. Please keep us posted. This is so important to so many.

So this morning protecting the most vulnerable. One state on a mission to vaccinate every nursing home resident in the next 30 days.

[08:40:00]

We're going to speak to one woman who just got her shot, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: America's seniors, particularly those living in long term care facilities, nursing homes, are perhaps the most vulnerable to coronavirus. In West Virginia, officials have set a goal of vaccinating all residents and staff at assisted living facilities within the next 30 days.

Now, this comes as the state, just yesterday, hit an all-time record for new infections and hospitalizations.

Joining us now, Pat John, one of the first nursing home residents in the country to receive a vaccine, and Dr. Carl Shrader, who is the medical director at Sundale Rehabilitation and Long Term Care in Morgantown, West Virginia.

It's great to have both of you with us. A big week for both of you there.

Ms. John, I'm just curious, how are you feeling after your vaccine?

PAT JOHN, NURSING HOME RESIDENT, RECEIVED VACCINE ON TUESDAY: Fine. I do. I haven't had one bit of trouble.

HILL: Which is so great to hear. I'm told that you're a little bit of a social butterfly. And so I imagine it's been kind of tough over the last several months to not be able to see people in the same way, to not be able to interact perhaps with other people in the same way.

Are you hopeful that with the vaccine rollout some of that could be coming back for you?

JOHN: What do I think about the vaccine?

HILL: Do you think --

DR. CARL SHRADER, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, SUNDALE REHABILITATION AND LONG- TERM CARE: She's asking --

JOHN: I think everyone should be willing to take it after all the billions they have spent to make us well.

[08:45:08]

HILL: I love it.

JOHN: And it's foolish for anyone not to take it when it's available because years ago, for polio, diphtheria, all the different diseases, and it -- and its corrected, why not this?

I believe wholeheartedly. And it doesn't hurt. In fact, it hurts less than when I've even had the shot in the arm. So I wholeheartedly think everyone should take it. And I am very much (INAUDIBLE).

HILL: It's so -- it's so great to hear you say that.

And, Dr. Shrader, I would imagine for you, too. I mean we know how hard hit nursing homes in particular have been. The -- you learned of the first positive case in your facility, as I understand it, on March 22nd. It was the site of one of the first community spreads in West Virginia. So to know that, you and your residents are a focus in the beginning in your state.

What's that like for you?

SHRADER: Yes, it was quite an experience. You know, March 22nd is when we found out that we had the first case in the facility. And you're correct in stating we were the first site of community spread and the first long-term care facility in the state to have coronavirus in the building.

And, of course, at that time, there was such little information known. And it was a scary period of time. But we're really fortunate to have such wonderful staff here and residents like Pat John that were willing to work with us through that and families that supported us and the community and the local health system.

And, quite honestly, the response that occurred here and the outcome, while bad enough, was far better than we could have hoped for in the beginning. And to work since May 30th, when we became a COVID- recovered facility, to try to stay safe and keep the coronavirus out of the building, to get to this point, to where we're actually in week one of the rollout of the vaccine, it was quite remarkable and we're all sure excited about it.

HILL: It's -- I mean it really is fantastic and what a moment especially as you paint that timeline and that scene for us.

As I understand it, about half of your residents do not have the capacity to make their own medical decisions, so they may have a medical power of attorney, understandably, or a surrogate. Has there been any hesitancy? Clearly Pat John is a great advocate this morning for the vaccine, but has there been any hesitancy amongst residents or even their surrogates or your staff?

SHRADER: You know, I think, as we've termed this Operation Warp Speed and things have rolled out so quickly and such a mixed presentation depending on the sources you rely on about safety, effectiveness and so forth, there were (INAUDIBLE) and we were very diligent here at the facility to have communication with the medical powers of attorney and the health care surrogates and our residents and staff to try to educate them to get the truth out about the safety of the vaccine and the effectiveness.

And what I found, from that time forward, once we had those discussions, be it via Zoom with virtual meetings with families and so forth, everyone was in agreement for the most part. We've had very few people who have declined receiving the vaccine.

HILL: That's great. I know the question for many people is when can visitations come back. Not yet, I know you've said, but hopefully down the line as more are vaccinated.

Dr. Carl Shrader, Pat John, appreciate you both joining us this morning. Thank you and happy holidays.

SHRADER: Happy holidays and thank you for having us.

HILL: And a programming note for you, CNN and "Sesame Street," we are excited to be teaming up for our fifth town hall to answer your kids' questions, they can be your questions, too, as we're all facing these unprecedented challenges.

Join Dr. Sanjay Gupta and I tomorrow morning, along with our good friend Big Bird and several more of our friends from "Sesame Street." One important focus for us tomorrow morning will be how families can persevere through this pandemic, how to prepare for a very different holiday season and winter.

Here's a quick preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Erica. Hi, Dr. Sanjay. I'm collecting food for our neighborhood food drive.

ELMO: Daddy, food can't drive. That's silly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, no, Elmo, a food drive. It's when people collect food to give to families who need it.

ELMO: Well, why do families need food, daddy?

[08:50:03]

Can't they go into their kitchen and get food?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately, no, Elmo. The virus has been very hard on some families. People are out of work and don't have money to buy the food and warm clothes they need.

ELMO: But, daddy, everybody needs food and clothes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they do, son. And that's why it's important to remember that the holidays are about giving and helping others.

ELMO: Well, Elmo will help, daddy. Oh, and Elmo will ask his friends to help, too.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: Please join us for "The ABC's of COVID-19 tomorrow morning, 10:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: This year's "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute" celebrated the incredible people behind this year's biggest stories. It was a truly amazing finale.

Anderson Cooper shares your choice for this year's most inspiring moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Sometimes a photograph can capture the mood and the attention of the world. In June, one image did just that.

During protests on the streets of London, events turned violent. A Black Lives Matter group was there to condemn statues of people with racist ties and many white protesters were there to protect the statues. Things got heated. One man, Bryn Male, a white former police officer, wandered into the crowd and he started to get beat up. One of the Black Lives Matter protesters, Patrick Hutchinson, saw that he was in peril. Patrick moved in, picked up the injured Bryn, carried him through the crowd to safety.

PATRICK HUTCHINSON, UK BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTESTER The biggest thing for me was making sure that no harm came to him because I knew if harm had come to him, the narrative would just be changed and then the blame would be full on the young Black Lives Matter protesters. We made sure we got him out of there safely.

COOPER: Patrick, a father and grandfather, hopes that everyone who sees the image understands that the responsibility to do the right thing resides in all of us.

[08:55:01]

HUTCHINSON: We just want equality for all races, for all people, that right now we're the ones who seem to be the oppressed ones and it's about time things would change, you know, the world over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: If you missed any of the other moments, or our uplifting special, you can still watch any time on CNN Go, CNN ON DEMAND, and on HBO Max.

And nominations are now open for your 2021 heroes.

BERMAN: All right, my current nominee, Sanjay Gupta, who got vaccinated live on our show.

HILL: Yes. But also Sanjay Gupta because he's Sanjay Gupta. BERMAN: What a morning we've had. CNN's coverage continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)