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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Congress Approves $900 Billion Coronavirus Relief Package; Administration Mulls Restricting Travel from U.K.; Biden Poised to Nominate Miguel Cardona As Education Secretary; Variant Strain Keeps France's Border with Britain Closed. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 22, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett. It's Tuesday, December 22nd. It's 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And we begin this morning with the big breaking news overnight. Congress has approved the long awaited $900 billion pandemic rescue package. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says stimulus payments could start being sent out as early as next week.

The stimulus deal includes the following: $600 checks for people below a certain income level, an extension of extra weekly unemployment benefits, $284 billion in small business loans, and billions for vaccines and rental assistance.

President Trump is expected to sign the bill and did sign a stopgap measure last night to keep the government open for seven days to get the stimulus bill and spending bill done.

SANCHEZ: And now, as a new variant of the pandemic worsens the situation in the U.K., two officials tell CNN, the White House is thinking of requiring travelers from Britain to present proof of a negative COVID test before entering the United States. At least 40 countries right now are banning travel from the U.K. over the new coronavirus variant that officials say may spread up to 70 percent faster, although there's no sign so far that it's anymore lethal.

JARRETT: Pfizer and Moderna testing their vaccines against this COVID variant in the U.K. The CEO of BioNTech which helped develop Pfizer's vaccine just spoke about the situation.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is live in Moscow with more on this.

Fred, what is the company saying about this new variant?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Laura. Really some fascinating details we just got from that press conference

from BioNTech, and this is the CEO speaking at that press conference. He's, of course, one of the main scientists behind developing that Pfizer BioNTech vaccine.

And he says they are currently indeed testing that new variant to see whether or not the vaccine will be effective against it. But he says that he is scientifically confident that it will be effective against it. He says that the vaccine essentially attacks the virus in so many different ways, and with so many different amino acids that he believes that the effectiveness will still be there.

He also said, by the way, that there have been mutations of the coronavirus in the past. They have also tested the vaccine against those in the past, and so far, the vaccine has always been effective. One of the other really interesting things that he did say, however, is that he believes or he thinks that perhaps, if the virus becomes more effective at infecting people that it could actually take longer to achieve herd immunity.

Of course one of the things that folks in the U.S. and folks in Europe have been talking about as well, that it could take around 60 to 70 percent of the population to be vaccinated for herd immunity to actually set in. He said that number could be higher if in fact, there are variants of the coronavirus that are more effective. But he does say, he does believe and scientifically founded belief that the vaccine will still continue to work, and will still continue to be effective, Laura.

JARRETT: All right, Fred, important news there. Thanks for breaking it all down for us.

SANCHEZ: U.S. health officials say that at this point, they do not believe the situation in the U.K. warrants suspending travel from Britain, though that could soon change.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Given the travel throughout the world, I would not be surprised if it's already here. When we start to look for it, we're going to find it. I think we should seriously consider the possibility of requiring testing of people before they come from the U.K. here, but I don't think that there's enough evidence right now to essentially lock down any travel from the U.K.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Some airlines, though, are already taking action. Virgin Atlantic is requiring proof of a negative test for all passengers traveling from London to the U.S. British Airways and Delta meantime will test all passengers before they enter New York state.

JARRETT: All this as a big spike in air travel is already increasing the risk of spreading COVID here in the United States. More than 1 million Americans passed through TSA check points for three consecutive days over the weekend. That's the biggest surge since the start of the pandemic, despite pleas from the CDC for folks to stay home, a plea echoed by the president-elect as he received the Pfizer's vaccine shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[05:05:01]

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: If you don't have to travel, don't travel, don't travel. It's really important because we're still in the thick of this. It's one thing to have the vaccine show up at a hospital. It's another thing to get the vaccine from that vial into a needle, into an arm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The U.S. is now hitting 18 million cases in total, but more alarming than that overall number is the pace, the rate of these new infections. It makes the spread of disease we had in the spring look tame by comparison. The first 9 million cases took 283 days to reach and the last million only 52 days. That, of course, is before the inevitable surge that we're expecting after Christmas and New Year's.

JARRETT: Well, the growing fear over what the president will do with his final days in office now stretches from the White House all the way to the Pentagon. CNN has learned there is increasing anxiety over what the next 29 days could bring, whether it's launching a foreign conflict or trying to draw the military into President Trump's effort to overthrow the election results. Some senior military officers are trying to steer clear of the White House remaining out of Trump's orbit.

And with the pandemic raging, and the Russians hacking U.S. government agencies, the president's focus apparently still is focused on staying in power. And last night he proved that once again, anyone who states the obvious, that he lost, will only be seen as disloyal.

SANCHEZ: The president now targeting Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell who recently acknowledged Joe Biden's victory after it was certified by the Electoral College. Trump's office sending this slide to a dozen or more GOP congressional offices to claim how McConnell's success is tied to public support for Trump.

The message is not subtle. In big red letters at the top you can read it there. Sadly, Mitch forgot he was the first one off the ship.

Yet the effort to keep President Trump in office hinges on the fringes. For the third time in four days, conspiracy theorist and attorney Sidney Powell was spotted at the White House.

JARRETT: We have also learned that President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence met with House conservatives over this push to challenge Biden's win on January 6th. Pence presides over the joint session of Congress that will count the Electoral College votes that day.

Now, here's the thing, any bid to overturn the vote is certain to fail, even the number two Senate Republican John Thune saying, quote, it will go down like a shot dog.

Jeremy Diamond reports from the White House.

All right. We're going to hear from Jeremy in just a little bit.

Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yeah, we have some news from the incoming Biden administration. President-elect Joe Biden planning to nominate Connecticut Education Commissioner Miguel Cardona as his education secretary. Cardona will be tasked with meeting Biden's goal to reopen most of the nation's schools within 100 days of his administration.

That goal has touched off come controversial with certain teachers union. Cardona will also have to restore morale among some at the Department of Education after Betsy DeVos's controversial four-year reign.

JARRETT: Cardona started his career nearly two decades ago as an elementary teacher in Connecticut before becoming a principal, and then the state's top education official in August of 2019. Also notable, the roles that Mr. Biden has not filled yet, that includes attorney general now undoubtedly complicated by federal prosecutors' investigation of Hunter Biden's business dealings with China.

Biden also still and picks for CIA director, labor secretary, commerce secretary, all jobs that will be vital in the pandemic recovery effort.

SANCHEZ: The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee says Russian hackers broke into mail system used by the leadership of the Treasury Department. Democrat Ron Wyden says the intrusion started in July, and its full extent remains unknown. But it's part of that massive cyber attack on U.S. government agencies that was revealed earlier this month.

Though President Trump still refuses to admit that Russians were behind the hacks, even as officials across his administration made clear it was Russia.

Here's the Attorney General Bill Barr on his way out the door, agreeing with Trump's own Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM BARR, ATTORNEY GENERAL: I agree with Secretary Pompeo's assessment. It certainly appears to be the Russians but I'm not going to discuss it beyond that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Notably, an aide to Ron Wyden says that treasury secretary's Steven Mnuchin's e-mail was not breached. Mnuchin said there was no break into the department's classified systems but he conceded, quote, our unclassified systems did have some access. JARRETT: The attorney general recognizing Russia's suspected role in

that hack. Just one of the ways that Barr broke with his soon to be former boss by simply acknowledging reality.

[05:10:02]

President Trump has been railing about election fraud, voting machines, Hunter Biden and more.

But Barr seemed to be done playing along.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARR: I see no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government, you know, wholesale seizure of machines. We had looked at suggestions or allegations of systemic or broad-based fraud that would affect the outcome of the election, and I already spoke to that, and I stand by that statement.

If I thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was appropriate, I would do -- I would name one, but I haven't and I'm not going to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Boy, have times changed. Barr was one of the president's most avid defenders in his cabinet. He helped push back against special counsel Robert Mueller's findings in the Russia investigation and appointed a U.S. attorney to investigate the origins of the FBI's work on the Russia probe, and Boris, it's so interesting, I think many were speculating about why you see the attorney general breaking from the president on all of these issues.

The question is whether he's trying to signal to the acting attorney general about what he should do on some of these issues as he faces increasing pressure from the president and his allies.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, a lot of questions for Jeffrey Rosen at this point. It's fascinating to watch as an observer of Trump world and the folks that they lend their support behind. It's the cycle that goes on and on. We saw it with John Kelly and James Mattis, and all of these figures.

At one point, they're lauded, embraced and as soon as they put forth a reality the president's supporters do not acknowledge, whether something with the election or something about his intelligence or anything else, they turn on him, and now we're watching it unfold with Bill Barr.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Mike Pence on January 6th when Congress validates the election result.

JARRETT: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, looking overseas, the U.K. and France working overtime to resolve border closures over coronavirus. Could testing be the key for truck drivers stuck on the border? CNN will take you there live after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:14]

JARRETT: This morning, France's border with Britain remains closed because of the new coronavirus variant discovered in the U.K.

Take a look at the port of Dover overnight. Trucks backed up there with drivers sleeping inside their vehicles, hoping the border reopens in time for them to make it home for Christmas.

Let's go there live and bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz.

Salma, any sign that this could resolve soon so folks can go home?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, Laura, the French government, the British government say they want this fixed as soon as possible.

But I just want to show you what it looks like in practical terms. Take a look just behind me here. We're going to pan a little bit for you to see. This street is lined with trucks.

This is just one street, and these drivers aren't supposed to be here. Some have been spending two or three nights in their vehicles. This is one street. This town has drivers parked all over it.

The highway that connects to this port city also 900 trucks there with their drivers as well. The next town over, Kent, dozens more drivers.

How is this going to be resolved?

I want you to speak to one of these drivers, Adrian (ph), who we have been talking to today. You have been sleeping in your car for three nights now, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ABDELAZIZ: Just tell me what the situation is like for you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not so good. A lot of us have families at home, kids at home, and they have to spend all the Christmas and all the holidays outside.

ABDELAZIZ: So, you don't think you'll make it home for Christmas?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, not really.

ABDELAZIZ: Have you called your family and said I'm stuck in England?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They know, they have seen it on the TV and everything, and they know about the situation, and they are not so happy.

ABDELAZIZ: Tell me, do you have access to food, to water?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are cooking the food. We have a small gas with us, and we are cooking for us.

ABDELAZIZ: You're cooking on a little gas cooker in the back of your van.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

ABDELAZIZ: And this is the only way?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ABDELAZIZ: Have you gotten help from any officials?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, nobody.

ABDELAZIZ: Do you have any information about what would happen next to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

ABDELAZIZ: So you are stuck here for Christmas?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know. Yes.

ABDELAZIZ: I'm very sorry to hear that. I hope you make it home to your family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope too. Thank you.

ABDELAZIZ: Again, this is just one story, Laura. Again, hundreds of people experiencing this.

We know that the French and British authorities are speaking to each other. We understand that part of what they're talking about is coronavirus testing, not just for these drivers but for anyone so that the flow between these two nations can resume again.

But I want you to for a moment to imagine the logistical nightmare if you wanted to test each and every one of these drivers, spread out over highways, in different towns, in cities, bringing them altogether, testing them in a safe and effective way.

Who's going to pay for the testing? If a driver tests positive, where are they going to self-isolate? And, most crucially, what's going to happen with these goods, if they don't make it into the country, if they aren't in the U.K. in time?

If this border remains closed, you're looking potentially at food shortages, medicine shortages, all at Christmas time, Laura.

JARRETT: Yeah. It seems like a totally unsustainable situation and the leaders are going to have to do something. Thank you so much for grabbing one of those drivers so that we could hear his story directly. Appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: Facing a dire shortage of ICU space, South Korea is telling people to stay home for the holidays. CNN has reporters around the world offering the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Seoul.

South Korea is curtailing Christmas celebration, announcing a special quarantine period from December 24th to January 3rd. Now, within these new restrictions, officials say that all ski slopes will be shut. All parks and tourist attractions could be closed and also all religious services h to be held online 100 percent, now, on top of that, from tomorrow, any gatherings of five or more people in the greater Seoul area are banned.

The prime minister has said that the message is clear, cancel your plans and stay home.

STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: I'm Steven Jiang in Beijing.

Taiwan reported a locally transmitted COVID case on Tuesday, its first such case in more than eight months. The island's health ministry said the case was a woman in her 30s who had close contact with a recent imported case, a pilot from New Zealand who flew to the U.S. in November. That pilot is now facing a potential fine of over 10,000 U.S. dollars because authorities say he failed to reveal his activities during the contact tracing investigation.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Newton in Ottawa where this city and Toronto, in fact, the entire province of Ontario, nearly two in every five Canadians will be in yet another lockdown, the day after Christmas, on boxing day. And the reason is that the hospitals can no longer shoulder the burden of the increasing case count here in Ontario.

Now, you might remember, Toronto and some of the suburbs have been in lock down, and the lockdown for both the last month has failed to bring down the cases. Now, this next lock down will be a little bit more strict, all retail will be closed, and it includes an extended school break.

[05:20:09]

JOHN ALLEN, CNN SENIOR VATICAN ANALYST: The Vatican Monday gave its blessing to the COVID-19 vaccine indicating that taking the shot is morally acceptable. The statement came after a couple of Catholic bishops in the United States had objected on the grounds that the vaccines and testing and development utilized stem cell lines derived from aborted fetuses. But the Vatican said that in this case, for the person getting the shot, the level of complicity in abortion is low, and the benefit high, it overrides any concern. No official word yet, though, on if or when Pope Francis himself will be getting the shot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Thanks to all of our correspondents for those updates. They started the season undefeated, 11-0, the hottest team in the

league. But now, the Pittsburgh Steelers are suddenly struggling. Your bleacher report is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: After starting the year undefeated, the Steelers lose their third straight game. This one to the struggling Cincinnati Bengals.

Carolyn Manno has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report".

It seems like Mike Tomlin and company took the night off, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: It certainly did, Boris. Good morning to you.

Now, a lot can change in two weeks. You have to be on your game even during a holiday week. Fifteen days ago, the Steelers 11-0, and after two straight losses, the Bengals seemed like the perfect time to wrap up the AFC north. Pittsburgh turned the ball over three times in the first half.

Ben Roethlisberger fumbling and exchange center, and then also throwing one right to McKenzie Alexander in the middle of the field.

[05:25:01]

So, the trio of costly errors led to 17 Bengals points. Cincinnati's third spring quarterback Brian Finley with a game to remember, five days shy of his 21st birthday. Bengals win by ten, snapping an 11 game losing streak to their division rivals.

In college football, a cluster of positive COVID-19 tests among players and coaches is forcing Tennessee to pull out of the Liberty Bowl. The team's head coach Jeremy Pruitt among those who tested positive.

Replacing Tennessee is Army, who despite a 9-0 record look like they would miss out on the chance to play one more time. After the cancellation of the Independence Bowl, but now, Army going to face West Virginia in Memphis on New Year's Eve. Iowa is halting team activities for at least five days after positive tests in their program, the team hoping to play in the Music City Bowl next week.

And the NBA opened its new season tonight, 72 days after crowning the Lakers champion in the Orlando bubble, teams going to crisscross the country in a 72-game regular season into the playoffs.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expects COVID-10 issues to arise during the season and prepares to adjust accordingly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: I think we wouldn't be acting responsibly and I wouldn't be acting responsibly if I said it's just full steam ahead no matter. Having said that, based on our experience in the bubble, we have a fair degree of confidence in our approach. The safety and health of our players and all the participants is our number one priority. And if any time we feel that's been jeopardized, we would stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: You can see the opening night games on our sister network, TNT.

Kevin Durant making his Nets debut against his former team, the Warriors. Lakers opening up their title defense against the Clippers after that.

And one other note for you, Laura, this morning, Adam Silver also saying that his players are not going skip the line when it comes to potentially getting the vaccine as well -- an important point.

JARRETT: Yeah, I think there have been a lot of questions about whether people wealthy, with money, in positions of power would be able to do that. So, that's interesting news there.

Carolyn, thank you so much. Nice to see you this morning.

MANNO: You too.

JARRETT: All right. Breaking overnight, Congress approves a much needed pandemic relief package and a top vaccine developer explains how a new variant in the U.K. could slow the global response.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)