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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Emergency Meeting In U.K. Over Travel Cutoff Due To COVID Variant; Deal Reached On Stimulus, Including Checks And Jobless Benefits; Trump Downplays Idea Moscow Was Involved In Cyberattack On U.S. Government. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired December 21, 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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[05:31:15]

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

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Always a pleasure to be with you, Laura. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Christine Romans. We are 31 minutes past the hour.

And this morning, a new variant of coronavirus said to spread faster than previous versions is causing concern around the world. The epicenter is now the United Kingdom where just days before Christmas, a rapid series of travel cutoffs reminiscent of the early days of the pandemic. More than 20 countries as far east as Hong Kong and across the Atlantic, including Canada and Argentina, all shutting down air travel from the United Kingdom.

JARRETT: Notably not on the list, though, the United States. President Trump largely avoiding the topic of coronavirus altogether these days.

Meantime in the U.K., Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to chair an emergency meeting shortly.

CNN's Nic Robertson is live this morning at 10 Downing Street. Nic, this virus has mutated many, many times before. Why is this time so different and causing alarm?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, what British scientists are discovering -- they believe at the moment the evidence that they have is that this particular variant is up to 70 percent more infectious than the previous variants. So in London, in the southeast corner of the country, they've seen infections going up significantly where they're seeing a lot of this particular variant.

It's still under examination. The government is saying that it is no more deadly than the -- than the other variants that exist at this time. They say it does not impact the vaccination rollout at all. We know that the U.S. Army medics and scientists will be examining this variant to make their determination on any impact that it might have on vaccines and the rollout of vaccines. But at the moment, that doesn't seem to be the danger.

The danger for the U.K. at the moment, if you will, is that it is being isolated from the world. More than 20 countries banning flights.

The biggest cause for concern in the U.K. at the moment is that France has put a 24-hour block on any travel to and from France. Twenty percent of U.K. goods come and go from France every day. That includes fresh food, frozen food, and other produce.

So the concern of the government when it has this meeting will be to examine the implications of this current isolation and the effect that may have on food supplies coming into and out of the country. The government has been trying to sort of calm fears and say that the majority of unaccompanied containers can still continue to move between the U.K. and Europe at the moment.

What we're hearing from the French is the French are working with other European countries to come up with sort of Europe-wide guidance over how to handle this new variant with the U.K. to try to get these supplies going. But, of course, food on shelves in stores in the U.K. before Christmas when everyone is already rattled by this new variant -- this more infectious variant -- that's a concern for the government.

JARRETT: Sure, certainly. Anything affecting the food supply is going to get attention.

It seems as though all of this started to snowball after the prime minister had to reverse course about Christmas protocols again and it set off quite a chain reaction.

ROBERTSON: A huge chain reaction. You know, just go back less than a week ago. The prime minister was telling the country you can have Christmas with your family. You can have up to three different families in one household for Christmas and that was -- you could do that over a period of five days.

He reversed course dramatically Saturday, saying that 16.4 million people in England -- that's a third of the country -- would have to go into a new tier of lockdown -- tier four -- where no one could be in anyone else's household but their own for Christmas. So that was a massive turnaround.

[05:35:04]

People had made preparations, so a lot of people tried to get out of the city -- out of the southeast of the country to go visit family and relatives elsewhere. And the advice from the government's scientific advisers was don't do that -- stay put. So, of course, the train stations, the airports all crammed with people trying to get away of the new restrictions.

JARRETT: All right, Nic Robertson at 10 Downing Street. Thank you so much.

SANCHEZ: The first vaccines from Moderna are expected to be given out this morning. It shipped out yesterday after the CDC granted emergency use authorization. The Pfizer vaccine has already been given to more than 550,000 people in the United States. And between the two companies, the CDC predicts there will be enough to vaccinate 20 million people this month and 30 million next month.

President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill are expected to get their shots today, part of a push to overcome vaccine hesitancy.

JARRETT: The nation is in dire need of these vaccines right now, but a return to normal is still a long way off.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is quarantining once again, this time after a staff member tested positive for coronavirus. Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley are completely out of ICU beds. And, Apple is temporarily shutting down all stores in California.

Meanwhile, in Tennessee, only 10 percent of ICU beds are available. Gov. Bill Lee now says the state can't sustain another holiday surge like the one seen after Thanksgiving. His wife was even recently diagnosed with the virus. But he still won't impose a mask mandate.

CNN has reporters covering the pandemic coast-to-coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Pete Muntean at a FedEx facility in Memphis, Tennessee where the Moderna vaccine arrived only moments after leaving a distribution center just over the state line in Mississippi.

Now this vaccine is going out to 3,000 locations across the country. The deliveries begin on Monday morning at hospitals, pharmacies, CVS, and Walgreens, and more rural clinics because this vaccine does not need to be stored at super-low temperatures.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Natasha Chen in Atlanta, Georgia.

A CDC advisory committee voted on Sunday on which next phases of people should be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine. Already, we've seen healthcare workers, as well as residents of long-term care facilities, start to be vaccinated.

The next group approved by this committee include people 75 and up, as well as frontline essential workers like first responders, teachers, grocery store workers. The phase after that will include people 65 and up, younger people with high-risk medical conditions, and other essential workers.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Hi, I'm Polo Sandoval in New York where starting today, some of those most vulnerable in the state will begin getting their shots in the arm. CVS and Walgreens are going to start sending their staff to long-term healthcare facilities to administer the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines to residents and staff. About three weeks after administering the first dose, Walgreens and CVS employees will be returning to administer second rounds. Places such as nursing homes and also rehabilitation centers have been devastated by the pandemic across the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks to all of our correspondents for those reports.

Help is finally on the way for millions of struggling Americans as lawmakers reached a deal Sunday night on a $900 billion stimulus package. The full text has not yet been released but here's what we know so far.

The deal includes $600 direct stimulus checks for people making under $100,000 a year. Out-of-work Americans would also receive 11 more weeks of enhanced unemployment benefits at about $300 a week. Now, the stimulus checks and the unemployment benefits are only half of what they were in the spring.

The bill also would reopen the Paycheck Protection Program, so some small businesses can apply for a second loan. There's also money to purchase and distribute vaccines and to extend eviction protections that are set to expire at the end of the year.

JARRETT: The need for help is all too real. The U.S. poverty rate just made the biggest jump in a single year since tracking began 60 years ago. And the number of Americans that don't have enough to eat and are having trouble paying the bills also on the rise.

As for what's not included in this stimulus deal, funding for state and local governments. That's been a big sticking point. That means money to help keep teachers, firefighters, and police officers, and other state workers on the job.

So, with 30 days until Joe Biden's inauguration, it's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN's senior political analyst, Mark Preston. Mark, great to have you this morning.

SANCHEZ: Good morning, Mark.

JARRETT: So --

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, guys. How are you?

JARRETT: -- at long last, a COVID relief package appears to be on the horizon. Not nearly soon enough, but it's here -- $900 billion. That's real money. It's also about half of what Democrats had turned down earlier this year.

So do you think that the president-elect has enough political capital to push for even more in the next few weeks?

[05:40:03]

PRESTON: I don't in the sense that we have to allow the next few weeks to play out and allow President Trump to fulfill his term in office, and then Joe Biden will come in.

The fact of the matter is, though, Laura, that it took really until the eleventh hour to try to pass this bill so that people could pay their rent and feed their children. It's just insane. It just shows you how dysfunctional, right now, Washington is.

It's not going to get any better next year. Perhaps though we will see a little bit more comedy (ph) and -- in working together between the Democrats and the Republicans.

JARRETT: Yes, Democrats are calling this a starter package but just look at what it took to even get this done. So the idea that they're going to get more in January, it's just not clear.

SANCHEZ: Yes. I want to -- I want to pivot, Mark, quickly to what's going on at the White House right now in the president's final days in office. We're breaking past the point of absurdity with this meeting in the Oval Office on Friday, even by the standards of the Trump administration.

Sidney Powell was there, a lawyer that frequently pushes conspiracy theories. Unclear if she's on or off the Trump legal team at this point. But the idea came up for her to become a special counsel on election fraud.

We understand that the idea of declaring martial law was also brought up, something the president tried to dismiss on Twitter. Some Trump aides did push back on that forcefully -- Pat Cipollone, Mark Meadows -- but just the fact that this even took place weeks before Joe Biden becomes president.

Beyond Mitt Romney, will Republicans ever stand up to this nonsense?

PRESTON: You know, what I think Boris is that Donald Trump is really hurting himself for the long-term. And when I say that is that he has the support of the Republican Party. Going into the election he received more votes, right, on Election Day than any incumbent president has. That is absolutely true.

However, what we've seen over the past six-seven weeks or so with what he's been doing and what Rudy Giuliani's doing, what Powell is doing, what Michael Flynn is doing right now has really eroded support, I believe, with him with regular Republicans. Not the far-right Republicans we're talking about or the folks who are -- who are talking about insurrection or trying to kidnap the Michigan governor or any of these malicious-style folks.

But what has happened though, I do believe in the long-run, is that Donald Trump is really going to hurt himself with Republicans, especially as he's talking about running in four years from now. I think people are going to look back at this time and just shake their heads.

JARRETT: Well, and he could certainly hurt himself with Republicans in Georgia, which I also want to get your thoughts on --

PRESTON: Right.

JARRETT: -- before we let you go.

The runoff elections there are just two weeks away. Kamala Harris is making a trip there to campaign for the Democrats. This is her first campaign swing as vice president-elect. Ad spending off the charts -- almost half a billion dollars -- and that's just for the two seats.

Mark, do you think Democrats, though, have done enough to hammer home just how crucial these races are to this incoming administration to getting things done, to getting people confirmed? Do you think people understand why these races matter?

PRESTON: Hey, Laura, let me just say one thing -- just a mea culpa on my part. Right before -- right after the election, I was talking to Democratic strategists who were doing a lot of work in Georgia and they said Mark, we think they could spend $200 million at that time. Listen to what you just said -- half a billion dollars in money being spent in Georgia. And by the way, there's still more time to be spent --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

JARRETT: Right.

PRESTON: -- for more money to be spent down there.

Look, I think that Democrats are doing what they need to do, sending the right people in to try to --

JARRETT: All right, it looks like we may have lost --

SANCHEZ: Oh.

JARRETT: -- Mark Preston there. Mark, thank you for getting up with us -- our senior political analyst. These technical difficulties these days during the pandemic.

SANCHEZ: In the age of COVID, all these signals not clear if they're going to come through. Thanks to Mark for joining us.

Stay with EARLY START. We'll be right back after a quick break.

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[05:48:09]

JARRETT: Welcome back.

The coronavirus relief bill is desperately needed by millions right now. Long food lines all too familiar across the country as food insecurity hits hard in the days leading up to Christmas. In South Florida, one in five people do not know where their next meal is coming from.

CNN's Rosa Flores has more from Palm Beach County. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Before dawn, people waited at a South Florida mall on the weekend before Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're sleeping.

FLORES (voice-over): But they're not here holiday shopping. They're in line for free food.

DEBORAH HIGHTOWER, FOOD BANK RECIPIENT: I've always been hesitant about coming because I would (crying) -- I'm sorry. I would hate for the person -- me to get the last of something and the person behind me be in a worse position than I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Melon -- can I have two melons here, please?

FLORES (voice-over): It's a scene replayed across the country, from Los Angeles where one food bank says distribution of groceries has doubled since the pandemic began to the suburbs of Atlanta where 500 cars waited for an hour and a half before distribution started.

MICHAEL THURMOND, CEO, DEKALB COUNTY: This is another indication of the pain and the suffering that's being felt all across our nation.

FLORES (voice-over): Since the pandemic began in March, hunger in the United States has skyrocketed. Feeding America, the nation's largest food bank network, reports a 60 percent increase in the demand over last year.

SANTA CLAUS: Merry Christmas. God bless you, guys.

FLORES (voice-over): In South Florida, one in five people need food assistance and a quarter of children go to bed hungry, according to Feeding South Florida.

Deborah Hightower is an accountant.

HIGHTOWER: So, you know, this is hard for me to come here.

FLORES (voice-over): The mother of three teenagers was recently hospitalized and says she has lost her job twice since the pandemic started.

[05:50:00]

HIGHTOWER: I'm very independent and do not like to ask for help. But sometimes you just have to do -- God humbles you.

FLORES (voice-over): Some people, like Larry Battisti (ph), waited for hours not to get food for himself but for three members of his church who are unemployed or can't leave their homes due to COVID concerns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You certainly get a lot of smiles and we can't hug them anymore. FLORES (voice-over): Leonard and Julie Thompson delivered the food

they received to seven neighbors and friends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Appreciate you. Appreciate you sharing with me, as usual.

FLORES (voice-over): As the pandemic surges, demand for food --

SANTA CLAUS: Merry Christmas.

FLORES (voice-over): -- is expected to grow.

SANTA CLAUS: I'll see you soon. Ho, ho, ho, ho, ho.

FLORES (voice-over): Rosa Flores, CNN, Palm Beach County, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Rosa, thank you so much for bringing us that important story.

President Trump's term in the White House is ending the way it began, downplaying Russia's role in a major intrusion on the United States. The only difference this time is he's leaving and he has nothing to gain from denying what's clear, especially after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think it's the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live for us in Moscow this morning. Fred, the president tweeted that the cyberattack is well under control. That's not even close to true.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it probably isn't when you listen to a lot of folks within the U.S. government. For the first time, we've also gotten a comment from the Kremlin on all this, especially on that discussion that you heard there between President Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

I want to read you a little bit of that. They said, quote "This discussion definitely has nothing to do with us because Russia has nothing to do with such attacks and this attack in particular. We say that officially and decisively. Any accusations against Russia in this regard are baseless and are probably the continuation of the blind Russophobia, which is being engaged in relation to any incident."

So the Russians once again denying being behind this hacking attack. It's the sort of denials that we've heard from the Russian in the past. One of the other things that they also commented on as well -- because we asked them whether or not they believe that there is going to be a retaliation from the Trump administration. They say right now, they believe the White House is unpredictable so they don't know.

President Trump, however, already under a lot of criticism also from U.S. senators from both sides of the aisle for his handling of all this. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): This is as broad and as deep as anything we've ever seen. And the idea that that should go unanswered would be very bad American policy and frankly, simply invite Russians or other to continue these kind of malicious activities.

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): The president has a blind spot when it comes to Russia, and so you can expect that that's the response that he would have. But when it comes to matters of intrusion into our cyberspace I, frankly, look to the experts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: And one of President Trump's closest allies, Sen. Lindsey Graham, also criticizing the president's handling of all this, Laura. He said he calls it a mistake for President Trump to blame the Russians.

The big question now, of course, is how is -- all this going to affect the incoming Biden administration --

JARRETT: Right.

PLEITGEN: -- the way that they deal with Russia. Of course, we know that the U.S. Intelligence Community believes that Russia tried to meddle in this past U.S. presidential election for the benefit of President Trump. And now, you have this. We'll see what happens when President Biden -- President-elect Biden takes office.

JARRETT: Yes. Clearly, undeterred so far. Fred, thank you for all of your reporting this morning.

SANCHEZ: We're following some breaking news this morning. Just moments ago, Hawaii's Civil Defense Agency asking residents to stay indoors after an eruption at the Kilauea volcano. The advisory follows a 4.4-magnitude earthquake near Hilo.

Kilauea erupted in May 2018. You may recall it forced residents to evacuate. It destroyed more than 700 homes.

JARRETT: All right, now to CNN Business.

Tesla officially joins the S&P 500 at the opening bell today, immediately becoming its top-performing stock for the year. Tesla's stock is up an astonishing 700 percent so far this year. It's the largest company ever added to the S&P 500 with a market value

of more than $625 billion. It will become the sixth-most valuable company, making Elon Musk the second-richest person on the planet behind Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Tesla's market value is higher than the combined value of GM, Ford, Fiat Chrysler, Toyota, Volkswagen, Daimler, Honda, and Nissan.

SANCHEZ: Here's a bit of holiday cheer on a dark winter morning. An anonymous diner at a restaurant in Ohio leaving a huge $5,600 tip be shared by all employees. Split 28 ways, that meant that each staffer took home an unexpected $200.

The gift lifting spirits at Souk Mediterranean Kitchen where employees and the owner have been struggling in the pandemic. The owner said it was just a beautiful thing to do for 28 strangers you don't even know.

[05:55:09]

JARRETT: That's so awesome to see. With folks struggling right now and going to food lines --

SANCHEZ: Yes.

JARRETT: -- and food banks, just struggling to pay rent, you love to see it. I saw someone say the other day, tip to the point of pain, which I think sums it up well.

SANCHEZ: It certainly does, especially in the holiday season.

JARRETT: Yes.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Christine Romans.

JARRETT: Great to have you, Boris. I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, December 21st. It's 6:00 here in New York.

Alisyn is off. Erica Hill with me this morning. And we have a ton of news.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: We really do.