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Trump Pardons Blackwater Contractors Involved in Baghdad Massacre; Researchers: Hundreds in the U.S. Could Already Be Infected with New COVID Variant; Trump Administration to Purchase Additional 100 Million Pfizer Vaccine Doses. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired December 23, 2020 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news overnight. President Trump issuing a wave of new pardons. Among them, pardons for four military contractors convicted in connection to the massacre of Iraqi civilians. CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with more. I mean, this really just left a lot of people with their jaws agape.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica. Well, with a stroke of his pen, President Trump has now set aside one of the darkest moments of the U.S. war in Iraq. And as you say, it has since 2007, when it happened, it's widely been called the massacre of unarmed Iraqi civilians.

These four contractors, you see them here, they were convicted in a lengthy trial of a range of charges, murder, manslaughter and other charges. There had been an initial effort to prosecute them. A federal judge set that aside and it was actually Vice President Biden at the time that announced the federal government, the Justice Department would appeal and retry the case, and that's when these convictions happened.

The Iraqi civilians were shot and killed by Blackwater contractors. And of course, Blackwater at the time run by Eric Prince, a supporter of President Trump's today -- brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Those Blackwater contractors were moving through a traffic circle in Baghdad and opened fire. And when it was all over, again, so important to say, 17 Iraqis killed, some two dozen war wounded. And the impact on Iraq to this day remains significant.

[07:35:00]

Already, one of the survivors has spoken out about this, saying that it is unjust, what the president has done. The feelings in Iraq continue to run deep, a very deep feeling that this case showed they believed that the American contractors did not care about Iraqi civilians. Erica?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'll take it, Barbara. It was deeply emotional there, that have left scars that have gone on for more than a decade at this point. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks so much for being with us. This morning, researchers think the new variant of coronavirus spreading in the United Kingdom might already have infected at least hundreds of people in the United States. So, what does that mean for the vaccines that are already out there. The director of the National Institutes of Health joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00]

HILL: Growing concerns this morning about a variant of coronavirus that's been spreading in the United Kingdom. Researchers now believe hundreds of people here in the United States have already likely been infected by that variant. This, of course, as the first vaccines are being rolled out, raising more questions about just how effective those vaccines could be against the variant.

Joining us now, Dr. Francis Collins; director of the National Institutes of Health. Sir, great to have you with us this morning. Let's start on that variant. There is a lot of concern as we're learning more about it. How concerned are you in terms of how the vaccine or how it may respond to the vaccines that have already been authorized?

FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: Well, I think I can be mostly reassuring. First of all, this is not a surprise. This virus is an RNA virus. RNA viruses tend to change their instruction books slowly over time, which results in these kinds of variants emerging. If I can do a little demonstration with my visual aid here, this is a 3D model of a coronavirus. It's these spike proteins on the surface that we're most interested in, in terms of raising antibodies. So, I got immunized yesterday with the Moderna vaccine.

My antibody factory is probably kicking into gear right now, trying to make antibodies against those spike proteins, so that if I get exposed to the virus later on, they'll be ready for it. The good news is that the antibodies that these vaccines generate are quite effective in terms of attaching to multiple parts of this spike protein. And so, if there's a change in it, which is what the mutant has done, we would expect that the vaccine should still be effective against that. So, I want everybody to sort of take a breath here. I know there's been a lot of concern about this new mutant.

One of the things we are worried about is that it appears to be more transmissible. That's the main reason, I think to pay attention to this. So, if you have somebody who's infected, they're more likely to pass it on. And God knows we don't need more of that right now. All the more reason to double down on those public health protection measures.

HILL: Yes, we certainly don't. In terms of knowing how much though is already here or how much is already spreading, which to your point, especially if it's more transmissible, I was really struck by some reporting from our colleague, Elizabeth Cohen this morning, who looked at, there had been 7 million cases added in the United States since November 15th. Of those 7 million, just 292 were genetically sequenced. Now, she was told that, you know, we should have a better system up and running by next month. But in the meantime, are you concerned about what's being missed?

COLLINS: I am, and I think this has been a concern of mine for several months. We don't have the kind of really rigorous surveillance system that would help us right now to find out what are the new variants that are circulating in the United States.

United Kingdom has a much more vigorous surveillance system. That's how they found out about this thing happening. Ours is going to get beefed up now, and we will be able to determine this. I would agree, though, it's unlikely that this mutant is not already here, given that it was first detected in the U.K. back in September. And there's been a lot of people going back and forth. So it would be surprising if it has not arrived on our shores.

HILL: I want to get our take, too, on children because we've told that it could be more transmissible in children as well. Has it been shown according to our reporting at this point, to be more dangerous in children? But is it a greater concern at this point, this variant, when it comes to kids?

COLLINS: I think the data there is still very early. I am not yet convinced that the discussion about children is necessarily under girded by rigorous science. It does look -- I think I believe that this is more transmissible amongst adults.

We need more data on the kids to be sure that, that signal is there. If it is, it wouldn't be surprising if this is a virus that's particularly good at transmitting in adults, why not with kids as well? But again, very important issue, nobody has seen any evidence that this causes more severe illness, only that it spreads more rapidly. Very important distinction.

HILL: In terms of containing it, is banning travel the best way to do it if it may already be here? And if not, what is the best way to contain both this variant and what we're already dealing with?

COLLINS: You know, you had the new CDC director and nominee, Dr. Walensky on a little bit ago. And I think she made a really good point that, we shouldn't be thinking about travel restrictions just on the basis of some new mutation. We would really like to try to prevent travel from being a case where the virus spreads more rapidly. So, the idea of having everybody who is doing international travel tested before they get on the plane in a few days afterwards would make a lot of sense.

And we shouldn't take this new mutant to cause us to recognize that, that would be a really important thing to do. A number of airlines have started to do that, if more did it, that would be a good thing.

HILL: Does the U.S. have the capability though for that testing? Testing still seems to be a major issue.

COLLINS: It is, but you know, it's come a long way, Erica. NIH has engaged in an effort to try to develop new kinds of testing that can be done point-of-care in a project we called RAD-X, rapid acceleration of diagnostics.

[07:45:00]

In just the last few months, the capabilities for doing that kind of testing has gone up substantially. And we're not necessarily even deploying it as widely as we might. So, I don't think technologically, we have a barrier to that. We're beginning now to look at the possibility of doing home-testing and seeing whether all of us could benefit if we could find out before we went out into the workplace, whether we had a positive test that morning and we better stay home and isolate. I think that could be a game-changer if we can get it rapidly deployed.

HILL: It would be great. Really quickly, before I let you go, I've got two on the vaccine for you. So, first up, we've just learned that the Trump administration is going to buy up to 100 million more doses of the Pfizer vaccine. Those should be delivered by the end of July.

Meantime, we were told initially in the last several weeks, that there would be 20 million Americans likely vaccinated by the end of the year. Now it's looking that those numbers are coming in slightly differently. It's going to take a little bit longer to get to that initial 20 million number. How do you feel about the pace of vaccination at this point? Does it need to be a little quicker?

COLLINS: Well, frankly, I think it's pretty amazing that it's gone as fast as it has. Recognize it's only been 10 days since FDA gave their first approval for emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine, and then a week later for Moderna. And here we are, on December 23rd, with just a week until the end of the month. I think the distribution effort and through Warp Speed and then working through the states is pretty amazing. If we don't quite get to 20 million people being vaccinated this month, I hope people will understand, this is a logistic challenge of enormous proportion.

It is very good news that there's a new deal with Pfizer for another 100 million doses. That makes 200 from Pfizer, 200 from Moderna, that's 400 million doses. Recognize, though, this is a two-dose regimen, so that's 200 million people that we should now have enough vaccine for. And other vaccines coming along, like Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca may very well be able to show whether they're safe and effective in another month or so. So I'm still pretty hopeful we will have enough vaccine for all Americans who want it, and I hope that's all Americans by the Summer.

HILL: Really quickly because we're out of time. How are you feeling after getting the vaccine?

COLLINS: I'm feeling great, you know, my arm is a little sore, just like you would expect after a flu shot. But absolutely fine and delighted to be able to start down this path, and I hope anybody watching that was inspired by watching Dr. Fauci get his injection, that we all as scientists believe this is safe and effective. Come on, Americans, roll up your sleeves. HILL: Dr. Collins, great to have you with us this morning, appreciate

it, thank you. Happy holidays.

COLLINS: Nice to be here. And to you, too.

HILL: Doctors and nurses around the country have really been locked in a battle. A life or death battle with coronavirus for the better part of the last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What has 2020 been like for you?

TANNA INGRAHAM, ICU NURSE WHO GOT COVID-19: It's like hell and back. It's hard. And it's -- I'm stressed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN takes you inside, behind the frontlines, as yet another new wave hits hospitals.

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[07:50:00]

BERMAN: More than 9 months into the pandemic, the number of people sick enough to be in the hospital with coronavirus, it has never been higher. Record hospitalizations overnight. Some hospitals are overwhelmed with doctors and nurses, just exhausted. CNN's Miguel Marquez back behind the frontlines at a Houston hospital he first visited back in June. And Miguel, we talk about running out of beds, but I have to believe the professionals there are running out of emotional reserves.

MARQUEZ: Oh, indeed. Look, there are a couple of things that are different from June. There are a lot more patients on ventilators right now, that's significantly up from when we were here the last time. Also different, and for as bad as this year has been, the staff, the doctors, the nurses, they are grappling with the realization that this pandemic, the worst is yet to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Houston's United Memorial Medical Center, patient after patient on a ventilator. Their lungs devastated by COVID-19.

JOSEPH VARON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, UNITED MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER: This is COVID, it's from deep inside the lungs.

MARQUEZ: This will test?

VARON: This is -- this is -- this is COVID. This is COVID. This is what COVID looks inside the lung if you see it across the light, you can see a lot of mucous and some cells. MARQUEZ: The lungs swollen and red in this elderly patient. The

sample will be sent to a lab to find out what else might be happening in their lungs.

VARON: The question is, are they not healthy just because of COVID or is there a secondary infection which is common.

MARQUEZ: We visited this same hospital in late June, then two wings of the hospital had been transformed into COVID-19 wards. Today, prepping for what's to come, there are three.

VARON: In the next six weeks are going to be the darkest weeks in modern American medical history.

MARQUEZ (on camera): Even though the vaccine is being rolled out.

VARON: Absolutely. Because think about it, the vaccine is going to take you between six to eight weeks to get immunity. We're -- I mean, we're right during Christmas where people are not listening.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): About 40 percent of patients at this Houston hospital are from other parts of the state reeling from overwhelming illness. Across the Lone Star state, cases exploding, the seven-day average of positive cases hitting records far above where they were in June.

[07:55:00]

Walter Cuellar was transferred here from west Texas about 500 miles away. He thinks he and his wife picked up the virus at the supermarket. She had mild symptoms. Today, he is on the mend, but when he arrived, he was nearly put on a ventilator.

WALTER CUELLAR, TRUCK DRIVER: I went to the grocery store with my wife. And actually, she had no idea there were -- with the rest of the people than there were in the supermarket.

MARQUEZ: Bri Smith works with Foreign Exchange Students and recently moved to Columbus, Texas, west of Houston.

BRI SMITH, RECENTLY MOVED TO AUSTIN: It is the worst I have ever felt in my life.

MARQUEZ: She, too, thinks she got the virus while shopping. She has a husband and three kids. She wasn't sure she'd see them again.

SMITH: I love you very much, and I miss you so much. I can't wait to come home.

MARQUEZ: The staff here from Dr. Varon to nurses, to those who clean up are tired and stressed.

(on camera): What has 2020 been like for you?

INGRAHAM: It's like hell and back. It's hard. And it's -- I'm stressed. MARQUEZ (voice-over): We met ICU nurse Tanna Ingraham in June, then

she was a patient having picked up COVID-19, she thinks while performing CPR on a patient. She got COVID a second time, she is not sure how. After nine months of dealing with sickness and death, she's back at work with a message.

INGRAHAM: It's like we're non-existent, and it's like you do realize that we're still here taking care of these people, putting my life at risk, putting my kids' life at risk, my mom's life. I think we've been forgotten truly.

MARQUEZ: Something else new from June says Dr. Varon, patients are coming in sicker, having waited longer before seeking medical care.

VARON: Our average patient has spent about 20 days with symptoms before they come to us. So, I mean, even if I give them holy water after 20 days of symptoms, it's going to be difficult for them to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right --

VARON: Get better.

MARQUEZ: Richard Gonzalez has a wife and five kids, he works two jobs and isn't sure how he got it. He thought he could tough it out.

RICHARD GONZALES, RESISTED GOING TO THE HOSPITAL: I kind of like messed up from those symptoms that I got when I got it. I should have -- went to the ER room or the hospital right away, but I didn't. I laid in bed thinking it was going to go away.

MARQUEZ: For how long?

GONZALES: For about a week.

MARQUEZ: Luis Martinez's father, uncle and cousin died of COVID-19. The last thing he wanted to do was go to a hospital.

LUIS MARTINEZ, LOST THREE FAMILY MEMBERS TO COVID: Because I didn't want to do it because, you know, how it is, when they put you in a hospital, sometimes you never make it.

MARQUEZ: To listen to Juana Corona, trying to breathe is to understand everything one needs to know about COVID-19. She's pretty certain she got it from her daughter at a birthday party. Several other family members got it. Her 26-year-old niece died. She says she's scared, like everyone we spoke to, those who could speak, they all hope for one thing, to be home for Christmas. Margaret Evans says ten members of her family got COVID-19, she thinks at a birthday party.

(on camera): How tough is it to be away from family like this?

MARGARET EVANS-RANGE, TEN FAMILY MEMBERS GOT CORONAVIRUS: It's hard. It's hard. It's very hard.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): She has nine grandchildren, she'd really like to see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, hospitals like this have gotten very good at treating the disease and even making more bed space as sort of cases ramp up. What they can't change so easily are the staff members and scheduling people, the doctors, the nurses, the people who clean up, they are stressed, they are overworked. To be perfectly honest, a lot of them here and other places, they're pissed off that people aren't hearing the message and those numbers keep rising. Back to you.

BERMAN: Miguel, first of all, thank you for continuing to do this and show us what's happening behind the scenes. It's still unbelievable to me that you are back at a hospital you were at months ago, and in some ways, it's worse in terms of numbers. I guess my question is a pretty bleak one. What happens if it gets still worse from this over the next few weeks?

MARQUEZ: Yes, I mean, look, they are making preparations. We saw their third -- the third sort of unit that they've opened up to treat COVID patients here. This is a 117-bed hospital. Most -- about half their patients come in from other parts of the state right now.

They've opened up a third ward so that they can treat more COVID patients there. They can ramp that up to more serious stage, they can turn the entire hospital, they have a plan for that, into more bed space as well. So, they are planning here, they're planning across Texas, they're planning all over the country. They've had nine months to plan for this. No one thought they would need that plan, and it's looking very much like some places might.

BERMAN: Miguel, again, thank you so much for the work that you're doing. You and your team have just been remarkable. Thank you. NEW DAY continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump signaling that he might not sign the massive $900 billion COVID Relief Bill.