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Dozens of Countries Halt Travel from U.K. over New COVID Variant; Congressional Leaders Reach $900 Billion COVID Relief Deal. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 21, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour, good morning, everyone, I'm Poppy Harlow. Jim Sciutto has a well-deserved week off. We're glad you're with us this morning.

While on the same day that Moderna rolls out its COVID vaccine, there are growing concerns over a new COVID variant that is believed to be able to spread even faster, it's more transmissible. It was first identified in England leading dozens of nations to stop travel from the U.K. at least for now. A big question this morning, will the U.S. join the list?

Scientists are now working on the clock trying to determine whether this variant could be vaccine resistant. They don't think so. So do not panic.

We are following all of these developments and the rising cases here in the U.K., once again, on Sunday alone, more than 190,000 cases were reported across the country and 1,500 more people died from COVID yesterday alone. Health experts fear holiday gatherings are going to make this just worse.

And then there's the economic fallout of the pandemic. After months of clashing, lawmakers are poised to vote on a $900 billion relief bill today. What does it mean for you, for the millions of Americans waiting for financial help in the midst of this crisis? We'll get to that.

Let's begin though in London. Our colleague, Nic Robertson, joins us outside of 10 Downing Street. How are the officials responding to the discovery of this new variant?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, they're responding at the moment by trying to deal with the consequence of the discovery here in the U.K. And the announcement over the weekend of tighter lockdown measures, which was trying to sort of control its spread in the U.K. and people trying to flee London by train, by plane and the message very clearly for people not to do that.

But, by far, the sort of biggest consequence for the government has been that so many countries, well more than two dozen now, Chile, El Salvador, Argentina, Colombia, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Belgiums, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the list just keeps on growing, Jordan as well, all preventing British citizens or people living in the U.K. at the moment to travel to those countries.

And the biggest impact of all of those has been really with France where there's a ban on freight going to and from the U.K. between here and France. And that's important because 20 percent of the goods imported to the U.K. come through those port crossings and some of that includes fresh and frozen food.

So the government meeting right now in the emergency cabinet session with government special advisers as well is to manage the impact now, not only to contain the virus in the U.K. but to make sure that there's going to be enough food and other goods coming into the country if this persists. Currently this is a 48-hour suspension by France but it's not clear where it goes from there.

Poppy?

HARLOW: All right. Nic Robertson, thank you very much for that reporting.

This news, this new variant comes at the same time some that some very good news comes and that is the first doses of the Moderna vaccine are set to arrive at health facilities across the country today. Our colleague, Alexandra Field, is in Long Island, New York, this morning where they are waiting, waiting and hoping they're going to get some today.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they are hoping it's coming today. It looks very likely, Poppy, here at Long Island Jewish Valley Streamn. This is one of two hospitals in the Northwell system that is expecting to receive these first shipments of the Moderna vaccine. They will, of course, go to the hospital's frontline workers. They've already started vaccinating those frontline workers last week.

They've already gotten to 6,000, but there's a big job ahead. They have got 54,000 hospital staff members who do have contact with COVID patients across 19 hospitals. They currently have had an average of about 900 COVID patients. That's how badly it's needed in these hospitals. So the Moderna vaccine will go some way towards getting more of those frontline workers vaccinated as quickly as possible.

And, Poppy, while we have to remember that this vaccine is not likely to be available to the general public for a few months, the Moderna vaccine does give us all a big boost. And that's because, first of all, you should see about 5.9 million doses of it sent out this week, so that means more people can be vaccinated this week, but also because this is a vaccine that doesn't need to be kept at the ultra low temperature like the Pfizer vaccine. So it means there could be wider access to it, small hospitals, rural areas, other facilities that don't have the ultra low temperature storage capability could still get and distribute this vaccine.

It is a promising day, at least here at this hospital, Poppy. HARLOW: It is, for sure. Alex, thanks for the reporting very much.

While, residents and staff at more than 600 nursing homes across the state of New York are going to start getting Pfizer's vaccine today.

[10:05:02]

Our colleague, Jean Casarez, is with us this morning. Jean, you're at the Hebrew Home in River Dale, New York. They must be very relieved to finally be getting this.

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We just asked staff, Poppy, what is the feeling in there? How are residents and staff feeling at this moment? And they said it's absolute excitement in there because they've waited all year for this day to come. And there are 600 residents in this facility, in this long-term care facility, and they expect every single one of them, practically, to get the vaccine. They've gotten the consent from the residents or their family. They're hoping 200 day, 200 tomorrow and 200 Wednesday. And the vaccinations have just begun, by the way.

And here is how they're doing it. They've teamed up with the Walgreen pharmacies. And so there are six pharmacists that will room to room giving them these vaccines for the next three days. And it is miraculous, they say, that it is happening and that they have it. And we actually saw them bring in the vaccine this morning to the facility, and so they just got it.

And this home, along with all the long-term care facilities, have really had some rough times this year. There were 54 residents that passed away in this home during the course of this year. 15 of them, the facility says, from COVID, the rest were suspected COVID, but a lot of them were in the hospital and passed away. So the exact numbers aren't there.

They haven't had a case since June, they said, but they are so relieved for now the residents will be getting the vaccine starting at this very minute, Poppy.

HARLOW: Yes. And as you're reporting, Jean, I don't know if you know this, but we're looking at live pictures of folks inside that are getting the vaccine. So it's wonderful to see all around. Jean, thank you very much.

I'm joined now by Dr. Jay Varkey, he is Associate Professor of Medicine at Emory University. And you had a good weekend. You got the vaccine on Saturday. How are you feeling?

DR. JAY VARKEY, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: I feel great. I even have my little card confirming the fact that I received it. So, very grateful, I feel very privileged to have received it. And it was a good weekend for my colleagues, actually for the last four days. My understanding is we were able to vaccinate over 4,000 health care workers at Emory. So it feels good to take an initial step to try and protect those that had been on the frontlines. HARLOW: For sure, absolutely. Let's talk about this new variant that has been identified in the U.K. More transmissible, they believe, not more deadly, that's important to note. Should people in the U.S. be panicked? I mean, I just don't want to alarm people more than it is necessary.

VARKEY: Poppy, that's the key question, and the answer is no, people should not panic. Here is the thing. During this pandemic, your viewers are going to read and hear about emerging variant viruses. All viruses mutate over time. That's what they do. There is, to your point, no evidence that this new variant is more resistant to the therapeutics that we're using to treat COVID-19. There is no data to suggest that they're resistant to some of these emerging safe and effective vaccines that are being rolled out.

What I think it does is it highlights the need and the importance for the public to take action to try and protect those closest to them. So, again, this is specifically, if I can just distill it down into one sentence, it's really limiting time indoors unmasked with people outside of your household. And this becomes really critical as we move into the Christmas holiday.

HARLOW: Okay. We had Admiral Brett Giroir, who obviously is the testing czar at HHS. He was on with our colleagues on New Day this morning. I just want to play some of his reaction to the variant and get your thoughts.

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ADM. BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, HHS: It is not any more lethal or any more dangerous than the normal coronavirus, no evidence to suggest that, no reason to believe it. There is also no evidence to suggest nor reason believe that it would evade our vaccines that we have right now. Remember, our vaccines develop antibodies against multiple parts of that spike protein, not just one, that's the mutated one. So we are very encouraged about that, but, of course, we have a lot of work to do to understand this more fully.

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HARLOW: Can you talk about that work he said that needs to be done to understand it more fully? How long does that take?

VARKEY: I think we'll get more information as we study this variant. But I think it will probably take on the order of weeks. But that is what the virus does. We still have the ability, as citizens, to take action and protect ourselves.

And the other comment that was made, I think, is a really key one, is that if you get -- if you look at the virus, part of the beauty of how these vaccines are being designed is to design multiple antibodies to these spike proteins. And I think that that's one of the reasons why the public should feel confident and not be distracted as vaccines evolve.

[10:10:01] The key point about it is that we have control over what we need to do.

I worry that when the public hears about mutations or variants that there is this an interpretation that the virus changes what it does. That is not the case. This is still a respiratory virus and we still know what we need to do in order to prevent transmission to others.

HARLOW: When you hear the numbers from the TSA that now, for three days in a row, more than a million people have passed through security checkpoints across the country, that's never happened in this during this pandemic. So that ostensibly would mean more folks are traveling for the Christmas holiday than we saw for Thanksgiving and we've now seen the spike in cases from Thanksgiving gatherings. Can you believe it?

VARKEY: I would love to say that I don't believe it, but, sadly, we have repeated this time and time again. And, again, I guess what I would tell your viewers, Poppy, is that it's not too late to make difficult decisions.

I worry that people who get infected today, at lunch, will plan to get tested, say, on Wednesday. That will be two days after their exposure. Their test will be normal. They will test negative because the virus is not replicating in their nose or the back of their throat. I worry that those individuals will travel to families where they gather with other households as people do typically over Christmas.

And I worry on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day people will then infect their family members, their loved ones and not even know it because they won't be symptomatic until the day after or two days after Christmas.

This is so critical that the public take decisive action. We are so close to the endgame. We can limit the amount of tragic deaths that happen if the public acts now.

HARLOW: No question. Dr. Varkey, thank you, and I am so glad that you got the vaccine over the weekend. That's great news.

VARKEY: Thanks, Poppy. Stay safe.

HARLOW: You too.

Still to come, lawmakers are finally on the verge of passing a much needed stimulus bill. When will you, when will Americans see relief? We'll have that.

Also, a heated Oval Office meeting on Friday that has Trump officials even worried after discussions martial law to overturn the election results actually took place.

And millions hit very hard in this pandemic are looking for a meal, just a meal this holiday week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Holiday, for the first me to get the last of something and the person behind me to be in a worse position than I am.

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HARLOW: For months now, poverty has increased, the food lines have grown, an eviction crisis is growing by the day and Congress has just failed again and again to compromise. But today, relief is in sight. Word is that the text of the new stimulus bill will be finalized at any moment. And once that happens, congress in the coming hours will vote on it and pass this deal.

Our Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill with what is in the bill. And I think most importantly, Manu, how quickly Americans will see that relief.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It will take some time, some will see it quicker than others. It depends on the exact situation. It depends also when this bill will be signed into law. We have not seen the bill text yet of this massive proposal, even though both chambers of Congress are trying to approve it to today, $900 billion of relief tied to a $1.4 trillion spending package to keep the government open until next September, and no details yet.

But the question is -- it will pass the House today. The question is will it pass the Senate today. That's a body that requires all 100 senators to agree to schedule a vote. And that needs to happen sometime today. We'll see if that happens.

And then it's going to take a few days to get over to the president's desk as well because of how big this proposal with all the paperwork that's associated with it. The president, eventually, is expected to sign the bill, and at that point, they've got to implement it.

So it's going to take a little bit of time to get into the system, but this proposal does include a new round of unemployment benefits to the tune of $300 a week. Expect people to start seeing some of those benefits kick in as soon as December 27th.

This bill also has $600 in direct payments to individuals. That is capped at $75,000 for individuals, each additional person in the family would get $600, so a family of four could get $2,400, that -- those direct payments probably would take at least a couple weeks to start being kicked into the system once this bill becomes law.

And in addition to that, this bill has $284 billion in forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, the small business program. Another $82 billion for schools and colleges, $25 billion for rental assistance and extends that expiring eviction moratorium, also money for vaccine distribution, $20 billion for the purchase of vaccine, another $8 billion for distributing the vaccine, and $13 billion for food stamps and child nutrition benefits. But what is not in the bill or one reason why this deal came together, Democrats dropped their demand for aid to state and local governments, they want direct assistance, hundreds of billions of dollars to that. Republicans pushed back on that, Democrats dropped that demand. When the Republicans had pushed for liability protections for business entities and others, they dropped that demand. As a result, they came together on this $900 billion proposal.

But, Poppy, votes still need to happen, it needs to get to the president's desk and people need to see that relief. It's going to take a little bit more time for that to happen, Poppy.

HARLOW: And it could have come so much sooner for this in need. Manu, we appreciate the update this morning.

With me now is Democratic Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut. It's good to have you. Thanks for being with me, Congressman.

REP. JIM HIMES (D-CT): Hi, Poppy.

HARLOW: Your colleague on the Senate side, Vermont Independent, Bernie Sanders, isn't going to stand in the way of the deal but he is not happy with it.

[10:20:05]

He says it is, quote, not adequate to address the enormous economic crisis facing the country. My question to you is, it's been pretty much the promise for most Democrats that this is just sort of stop-gap emergency bill and much more aid is to come under the Biden administration. Are you so sure? I mean, is that a guarantee to the American people looking at the makeup of the next Congress?

HIMES: Well, I don't disagree with Senator Sanders. I mean, this bill comes months too late and it is too little. But it is better than where we were yesterday which is absolutely nothing. $600 in checks to every American, that's not enough but it's better than -- and when you combine that with the rental assistance and all the other items that Manu ticked through, there's going to be some real relief provided to the American people probably in the matter of a week or so.

Look, with respect to Joe Biden, a lot depends, of course, on what happens on January 5th in Georgia. There's a reason that this bill took a long time. There's a reason why the aid is not what it should be and that reason is Mitch McConnell in the United States Senate. And January 5th, the Democrats control the Senate chamber, then, yes, we will absolutely get a follow-on package done. I know Joe Biden, once he becomes president on January 20th, will use his executive powers to provide more aid to the American people but an awful lot depends on what happens in Georgia on January 5th.

HARLOW: I hear you on the McConnell point and saying he didn't have the Republican Senate votes there earlier for the packages. However, you know that there were offers made to Speaker Pelosi, including a $1.8 trillion offer from the White House and the treasury secretary at the end of October that she was not happy with. So I guess, you know, hindsight is 2020 and we learn a lot from our failures. And I wonder if you think there's a message here, particularly to leadership, and Democratic leadership included, on, you know, why this took so long and why the American people had to wait so long.

HIMES: Well, remember, Steve Mnuchin, when he was offering up $1.8 trillion, at the same time, the guy who matters, because Congress passes bills, not the treasury secretary, the guy who matters, the guy who runs the United States Senate, was laughing at that. He was saying $500 billion. You can go back and look it up. He was saying $500 billion.

So, Steve Mnuchin had no support in his party for the $1.8 trillion that he was negotiating with Speaker Pelosi, and Speaker Pelosi knew that because Mitch McConnell was very. And, look, one thing I'll give Mitch McConnell is that he's clear about where he is. So, instead of having the $500 billion deal that was real back in October, we now have more than twice that in a package that will be, I think, a down payment because we do know. And we didn't know this in October that Joe Biden will be president and that he will do everything he can to make sure that in the first couple quarters of 2021, the federal government is there in a way it hasn't been.

HARLOW: I think -- I want to move on to Russia, but there are a lot of Americans sitting at home watching this this morning, scratching their heads and saying, why does it take, once again, until the 11th hour for Congress to get something done that both sides agreed we needed something done months ago.

But let's move to Russia and this huge, huge hack and the president over the weekend downplaying it, saying Russia, Russia, Russia, everyone blames Russia, it could have been China. Even with the secretary of state saying that it was very clearly here, Russia.

You have said, if it is Russia, they are, in your words, a, quote, deterrable actor. But what do you do now, because sanctions have already been so ramped up already? How do you deter Russia?

HIMES: Yes. Well, the secretary of state is right. And the president is doing what this president has always done in the four years of his presidency, which is to defend Vladimir Putin, even at the expense of what his own intelligence community is telling him. I can't talk about it on T.V. but I know what the intelligence community is telling the president and, again, the president is doing what he's always done, which is defending Vladimir Putin.

So how do we deter Russia? And, by the way, this is not necessarily a slight on this president, although this president should be standing up and very being clear with the Russians about what they did and how we're going to respond. This is also Barack Obama when the Russians hacked the 2016 election. They got a wrist slapped. They had a whole bunch of their diplomats sent out of the country, a facility closed down.

I think we need to make it very clear to anybody around the world who does this, that if you do this kind of thing, you will pay a very severe cost. The Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians, the North Koreans, none of them believe that right now. And, eventually, we're going to need to use our offensive capabilities in a way that makes them realize that there is a very significant cost to hacking our systems.

HARLOW: You bring up your feeling that the Obama administration didn't do enough in 2016.

[10:25:01]

And Mitt Romney, I think, is finally getting apologies and the recognition that he was right in 2012, calling Russia the number one geopolitical foe. I guess my question for you is, because a number of the folks who were in the Obama administration at the time, Tony Blinken among them, who is going to be secretary of state, at the time, well, we're talking about 2012, when all those Russia concerns were brushed aside, including from Biden himself, what's your advice to the incoming president-elect when it comes to Russia?

HIMES: Well, Poppy, we need to be really clear about the nature of threats that face this country. And that's something that, again, I spend most of my days on as a member of the intelligence committee. Russia is a very bad actor in just about every realm out there, right, in terms of the hacks, in terms what they're doing in Ukraine, in terms of trying to kill their political opponents using chemical weapons.

But Russia, at the end of the day, is a very poor country, its economy is entirely dependent on oil, which, of course, is becoming less important, relative to the Chinese who are growing and innovating and with whom we've got lots of commercial business to do, relative to the North Koreans, which now are in a better position, or the Iranians ,which are in a better position to come up with a nuclear weapon, it's a little hard to say that the Russians are, in fact, a big threat there.

But what the new administration needs to do -- and I'll give Donald Trump credit for this -- they need to pick up on where Donald Trump's calling out of China, bad Chinese behavior, but they need engage in a constructive way, right? That means working with our allies in East Asia, getting our allies together so that we can counter Chinese attempts to expand their influence.

And each of those countries, North Korea, Iran, how we behave in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, there's no cookie cutter answer. The good news is that the team that's coming in, Poppy, is about as knowledgeable and thoughtful and smart and built up with relationships in those regions as any team we've ever seen.

HARLOW: Congressman Himes, thank you very, very much for your time. And if we don't talk to you before, have a good holiday.

HIMES: Thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: Well, the president's former lawyer who is known for promoting conspiracy theories was at the White House again yesterday. This follows a heated Oval Office meeting where the possibility of actually declaring martial law in an effort to overturn the election was actually discussed. More on that, next.

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