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Trump Signs Coronavirus Relief And Government Funding Bill After Costly Delay; Anthony Quinn Warner Identified As Nashville Bomber; Chinese Journalist Who Documented Wuhan Outbreak Jailed For Four Years. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired December 28, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00]

RYAN NOBLES, CNN ANCHOR: Senators from Georgia running to keep their seats. The president now says he's going to campaign for them next week.

So with millions of Americans at risk of going hungry, losing jobs and homes, the president finally relented -- of course, after another day on the golf course. That's where he's now spent almost 20 percent of his presidency.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is traveling with the president and he reports from West Palm Beach, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning, Christine and Ryan.

At long last, President Trump has signed that $2.3 trillion spending bill that includes $900 billion in desperately needed coronavirus relief.

The president signing the legislation late Sunday night here in South Florida five days after he called this very same piece of legislation a disgrace and demanded that Congress amend the legislation in order for him to sign it. But now, the president has signed that legislation without any of those changes to the bill actually happening and only after the president sunk tens of millions of Americans deeper into financial uncertainty.

And more seriously, more than 12 million Americans on Saturday saw their unemployment benefits -- those supplemental unemployment benefits provided by the federal government -- an expansion of unemployment benefits for gig workers, for example -- that lapsed on Saturday night because the president didn't sign this legislation soon enough. And so while those programs will be coming back it comes at a cost, obviously, and a delay.

But here is what the president says in explaining why he finally signed this legislation. Quote, "I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop

evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP, return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more. The Senate will start the process for a vote that increases checks to $2,000, repeals Section 230, and starts an investigation into voter fraud."

Now, we don't know about those last two items because there's no legislation currently being considered in Congress to address that.

But what we do know is that House Democrats, they are advancing later today a piece of legislation to increase those stimulus checks from $600 to $2,000. And so it appears that President Trump may have secured a commitment from the Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell to actually allow that legislation to come to the floor. But whether that actually passes in the Senate is a whole other question given that we know that many Republicans still remain opposed to those $2,000 stimulus checks.

And, of course, if the president really wanted those $2,000 stimulus checks -- if that was his goal here, he could have perhaps accomplished it before this legislation was passed overwhelmingly by bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate.

But unfortunately, the president, in the weeks before that legislation passed as those arduous negotiations were happening, he was completely checked out of the business of governing, remaining on the sidelines as his Treasury secretary supposedly negotiated on his behalf.

It was only after that legislation passed that the president decided to check back in and make these demands. The only result though was throwing these millions of Americans into financial uncertainty and delaying the arrival of those stimulus checks and allowing some Americans to stop receiving unemployment benefits -- all of this during the holiday season -- Christine, Ryan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Jeremy Diamond.

And you know, Ryan makes such a good point. Just the chaos -- the chaos of this whole process has been just remarkable. There are some people who will now receive one week fewer in benefits --

NOBLES: Yes.

ROMANS: -- than they otherwise would have because the president dithered on this.

And, you know, Goldman Sachs, though, this morning, out with a new outlook for next year. First-quarter GDP, five percent, they're saying, because this did get signed and another $900 billion that will be into the economy. So that -- that's good news.

But so much of the outlook for next year really depends on what the new president will be able to do -- whether he'll be able to harness his allies and opponents in Congress to get more stimulus through. And a lot of that depends on Georgia. You've been down in Georgia covering these runoffs. Connect the dots for us here.

NOBLES: Well, first on the coronavirus package, I was there all last week and David Perdue was up on the air in Atlanta the morning after this legislation was signed with an ad claiming that he had delivered coronavirus relief.

ROMANS: Right.

NOBLES: Well, that was before the president signed it into law. And then, we couldn't get Perdue and his team to respond to what the president had to say about his issues with the bill. And to this point, David Perdue still hasn't said whether or not he supports a $2,000 check.

So it just shows and illustrates how the president continues to put these Republican candidates in a difficult position time after time. It wasn't just the coronavirus aid package, it was also the National Defense Authorization Act, which he vetoed and both of them supported. And, of course, his claims about voter fraud.

But kind of the broader picture here about what this means for the future -- you know, Christine, that exact argument you're making is an argument that both Republicans and Democrats are making.

[05:35:00]

ROMANS: Right.

NOBLES: Democrats are saying yes, you need to put us in office so that Joe Biden can get his agenda moving; otherwise, there's just going to be obstruction. Republicans are arguing you need to put us in office to prevent the Joe Biden agenda from being put into place. That, you know, Democrats controlling everything will lead to socialism and kind of all sorts of dark pictures that they're painting down there.

So, you know, it's a very interesting contrast here that's really become a base election in this state -- the state of Georgia. And really, it's impossible to predict what's going to happen.

ROMANS: You know, one weird irony, too, is that the president has said a vote for Democrats is a vote for socialism. Remember that was one of his big arguments?

NOBLES: Yes.

ROMANS: And then suddenly, he goes and adapts the Bernie Sanders -- Sen. Bernie Sanders' $2,000 --

NOBLES: Right.

ROMANS: -- a month in coronavirus payments. So it's -- you know, trying to thread -- draw a thread through his philosophies --

NOBLES: Right.

ROMANS: -- has been so very interesting.

NOBLES: Right. The $2,000 checks puts him on the side of the Democrats in Georgia --

ROMANS: Right, right.

NOBLES: -- not on the Senate Republicans, no doubt.

ROMANS: So fascinating. And so I know you're going to be heading back there and continue to follow that for us January fifth.

All right. So this morning, let's get to our other big top story of the morning.

Nashville remains a city on edge after the R.V. bombing that ripped through downtown on Christmas day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RECORDED MESSAGE FROM R.V.: If you can hear this message, evacuate now. If you can hear this message, evacuate now.

(Bomb exploding)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: The blast badly damaged infrastructure in the area and left officials scrambling for answers. Miraculously, no one was killed.

On Sunday, a truck driver was detained just outside of Nashville after the truck was playing audio similar to what was head before that R.V. blast. No explosives were found.

Authorities in Nashville say they know who the bomber was, but why he did it remains a mystery.

CNN's Shimon Procupez is on the ground for us in Nashville.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHIMON PROCUPEZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning, Ryan and Christine.

Authorities identifying the bomber here in Nashville, Tennessee using DNA samples. They say they found human tissue at the blast site. They then were able to take DNA from that and compare it to the man's family members, and they say they have a match.

Authorities officially identifying the bomber as Anthony Quinn Warner. He is 63 years old.

Authorities also here describing how they went about in the initial moments in the hours after the bombing in identifying Warner as a suspect, and here is what they said about that. LT. COL. MATT PERRY, SUPPORT SERVICES DIVISION, TENNESSEE HIGHWAY PATROL: Our special agents with the Tennessee Highway Patrol are trained in that. We have responsibilities there and they were able to come out starting Christmas night and coming again once daylight came up the next day yesterday and just help identify on particular vehicle parts.

PROCUPEZ: And that VIN number -- the vehicle identification number came from a part that was found at the blast site. Enough -- despite the enormous explosion there was enough that remained for officials to find that number and then they were able to link the R.V. to him.

As to motive, that is still unknown. Authorities continue to work through that. They say right now they don't have a clear motive and it could be that they may never really know exactly why this man decided to set off this bomb -- Ryan, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: Shimon, thank you.

Nashville police officers described the shock of the bombing and narrowly escaping with their lives. They were the first on the scene following the 911 calls.

One officer says he did what he could to protect his comrades. He's spiritual -- and listen to him talk about he believes God saved him from harm.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER JAMES WELLS, NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: Walking back toward the R.V. -- this might not be politically correct but this is my truth -- l literally heard God tell me to turn around and go check on Topping who was by herself down on Broadway.

And as I turned around -- you know, for me, it felt like I only took three steps and then the music stopped and as I'm walking back toward Topping I just see orange and then I hear a loud boom. And as I'm stumbling -- it rocked me that hard and I started stumbling. I was telling myself stay on your feet and stay alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Brave heroes who went into the line of danger. Officials say that Officer Wells and five of his fellow Nashville officers went door-to-door before the explosion getting nearby residents out of harm's way.

And, December has been the deadliest month in the United States since the pandemic began. One in every 1,000 Americans has died from coronavirus. The number of people dying every day is surpassing the loss of life that caused so much grief early on in the pandemic.

[05:40:00] Now, about 10 million vaccine doses have been delivered but that is a little behind the expected pace. And only about two million have actually been given -- and that's before the surge from Christmas and New Year's. So there is still a long haul to normalcy ahead.

ROMANS: An alarming number of Americans are ignoring health officials and traveling. U.S. air travel numbers have been near or more than a million passengers for six straight days.

There's major concern in California. Some areas are totally out of ICU beds. The state is outpacing all of Europe with new cases. The Los Angeles County public health director says a person now dies every 10 minutes there from coronavirus.

CNN's Paul Vercammen has more from Pasadena.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Christine, Ryan, perhaps the most concerning number in California right now, those 20,000 or so hospitalizations. One hundred eighty-nine patients hospitalized with COVID-19 behind me here at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena.

You can see the surge tent is up where they're putting some patients who don't have COVID -- obviously, separating them from the COVID-19 patients.

And resources are strapped. There's just only so much equipment to go around. And what they're fearing here is if we get a tidal wave after New Year's Eve, this hospital is going to have to carefully ration its resources and make choices as to when and what patients receive what type of care.

DR. KIMBERLY SHRINER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, HUNTINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: That's really the ultimate triage. We have a limited number of ventilators, we have a limited number of ICU beds, we have a limited number of plastic tubing for oxygen tanks.

And so, a lot of those decisions if we get to that point -- we're not there yet but if we did, we're going to have to make some of those decisions. And again, that's a -- that's a decision that no physician or nurse or anyone wants to ever have to make about someone.

VERCAMMEN (on camera): Dr. Shriner, here at Huntington Hospital, also served in Africa. She knows all about this scarce resource policy that may come to be here at Huntington Hospital.

Everyone here now all hands on deck -- long shifts, long hours. They're just hoping to get through these next few weeks.

Back to you now, Ryan, Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Paul for us in Pasadena. Thanks, Paul. So if you want to travel next year you may need a vaccine and a vaccine passport. Several companies are developing apps for digital credentials to allow you to enter concert venues, stadiums, or even countries.

The Commons Network is an initiative started by the Commons Project and the World Economic Forum that has partnered with several airlines to create the CommonPass app. The app allows users to upload their medical data, like details of their COVID-19 tests and eventually, vaccinations. It creates a pass that can be shown to officials without revealing sensitive information.

IBM has developed its own app called Digital Health Pass. That allows companies to -- and venues to customize credentials required for entry.

There's still a lot of variables companies need to take into account of course, including multiple vaccines manufactured across several countries in different stages, and how to handle private medical information. But already trying to plan for what the next year will look like in this vaccine world.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:46:50]

ROMANS: President Trump signing the spending package and COVID relief bill overnight after President-elect Biden warned the delay could have devastating consequences.

With just 23 days until the inauguration, Biden is about to get a reality check on the challenges in store as he succeeds a president who seems determined to burn the place down on his way out the door.

CNN's Jessica Dean is with the Biden transition team in Wilmington, Delaware.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning, Ryan and Christine.

President-elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris will be briefed by key members of their national security and foreign policy teams. They're going to be going over what the agency review teams have found as they have gone into these federal agencies and gotten a lay of the land. They're going to be briefed on any challenges they're going to be inheriting when they assume office on January 20th.

And then after that briefing, we're told President-elect Biden will give some remarks about what he's learned.

Now, something to watch out for tomorrow. There has been this back- and-forth between the Department of Defense and the Biden transition team. President-elect Biden saying himself that his team is not getting briefed by the Department of Defense on key issues and that they need more information.

The Department of Defense -- a senior official said that's patently untrue. The Department of Defense maintains that there was a mutually agreed upon break for the holidays. Well, the Biden transition team says they never agreed to such break and are not getting the information they need. So something to keep an eye out for later today as well.

Also in the days and weeks ahead, Biden still has five slots remaining in his cabinet that he needs to fill. He needs to decide on an attorney general, a CIA director, a secretary of Labor, a secretary of Commerce, and someone to head the Small Business Administration. He's hoping to accomplish that goal by early January -- Ryan and Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NOBLES: All right, Jessica -- thank you.

A big question hanging over the White House and President Trump's final days, when will he get the coronavirus vaccine? Leaders around the world have been rolling up their sleeves, including ones the president admires, like the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Even Vice President Mike Pence got the vaccine on camera.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: I, of course, think that the president should get a vaccine at the right time. Seventy-five million people voted for him. He has devout followers and I think it would set an example.

I would say that there is a medical reason and I don't know -- I'm not his physician so I don't know exactly right. But he did receive monoclonal antibodies within the last couple of months and there is sort of a guidance about waiting 60 to 90 days after a monoclonal antibody because it could interfere with the -- with the actual vaccine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: Now, as for that 60- to 90-day issue, President Trump was diagnosed on October first. That was 88 days ago.

ROMANS: All right.

Israel is waking up in its third lockdown since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, this one the most politically complicated for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Elliott Gotkine live in Tel Aviv with the latest. Good morning.

ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Good morning, Christine. [05:50:00]

Yes, not only is the government here trying to bring down the number of coronavirus cases from around about 3 1/2 thousand a day but it's also, of course, in full-blown election mode, which means that every utterance and every decision made by the government and Prime Minister Netanyahu will be subject to even more scrutiny than usual and to see whether it's what he's deciding is in the best interest of Israelis or if it serves a broader political end.

Of course, sometimes the two combine, such as with the vaccination campaign, which has been going for a week now. Israel vaccinated another 100,000 people yesterday. And according to one report briefly retweeted by Netanyahu, Israel now leads the world in terms of vaccinations per 100 people. And if his targets for ramping up vaccinations go to plan then potentially, much of Israel could be vaccinated in time for those elections in March, something that could do wonders for his political fortunes, especially given the criticism that he's come in for regarding his own handling of the coronavirus pandemic -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, Elliott Gotkine for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you -- Ryan.

NOBLES: All right, now to Japan adding itself to the list -- growing list of nations restricting travel because of the coronavirus variant from the U.K. Japan now bans all foreign nationals from entering the country as it tries to limit the scope of its biggest surge of infections.

CNN's Selina Wang is live in Tokyo with the latest. Selina, tell us what's going on there.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ryan, after confirming new cases of that potentially more contagious COVID-19 variant, Japan is stepping up its border controls, temporarily banning entry of foreign nationals as well as temporarily stopping the issuance of new visas. However, foreign residents, as well as Japanese citizens, can still get into the country, as can some businesspeople and students who are from countries that Japan has special travel arrangements with.

Now, up until this point, Japan had actually been slowly easing its border restrictions trying to stimulate the economy and prepare for the Olympics. But now it is dealing with another surge of record-high daily COVID-19 cases. However, we have learned that according to a government minister, Japan is preparing for the Tokyo Olympics, working on this tracking app that all visitors would have to download. It would track your movements after you enter Japan in an effort to curb the spread during the massive Tokyo Olympics next year.

NOBLES: All right, Selina.

Let's talk now about China. They're taking a different approach to COVID, once again mass testing. And now, a citizen journalist has been sentenced for coverage of the original epicenter in Wuhan. What do we know about that? WANG: Ryan, an extremely concerning development. This citizen journalist, Zhang Zhan, has been sentenced to four years in prison over her coverage in Wuhan. She was found guilty of quote "picking quarrels and provoking trouble." Now, this is a common -- a broad offense -- common offense that is used to target human rights activists and journalists.

She's actually a former lawyer that had traveled to Wuhan in February to cover the pandemic. For months, she was documenting life under lockdown. She was reporting on the harsh conditions residents were facing, including overflowing hospitals, empty stores and shops.

And while she is the first journalist -- citizen journalist that we know of to be sentenced for her role in reporting during the pandemic, we do know of several journalists who have disappeared or who have been detained because of the reporting during the pandemic.

Now all of this comes in tandem as China is clamping down on media coverage of the pandemic and as state media aggressively pushes a narrative that Beijing's response was both effective and timely -- Ryan, Christine.

NOBLES: All right, Selina Wang live for us in Tokyo. Selina, thank you.

ROMANS: All right, to Illinois now. An active-duty Special Forces soldier is charged with killing three people and wounding three others.

Authorities say 37-year-old Army Sgt. First Class Duke Webb opened fire at a bowling alley in Rockford. Three men between 65 and 73 years old were killed; two teens were wounded. Police think this was a random attack.

Webb is a Green Beret based in Florida. An Army commander says the shooting is out of character with Webb's 12 years of honorable service.

All right. This Monday morning, looking at markets around the world to start the last week of 2020. Europe has opened up here. Asian markets closed mixed. Markets in London closed for the holidays.

On Wall Street, looking at futures right now, leaning higher here. Investors are hoping for the so-called Santa Claus rally this week. Despite the pandemic, there have been big gains for the stock market so far. Stocks have recovered strongly since March.

The Nasdaq has surged more than 40 percent so far this year. And there's optimism this morning the president finally abruptly changed his mind and signed that stimulus into law.

Shoppers are stuck at home and they're buying furniture. New furniture and decorations to redo their spaces is sending holiday retail sales up three percent during this year's longer holiday shopping season. MasterCard says online shopping grew a stunning 49 percent, further emphasizing how the pandemic has reshaped how Americans shop.

[05:55:04]

At the same time, sales at department stores and apparel brands declined. Many stores have been crushed by loads of debt, closures, and changing shopping trends. A vast number of retailers and restaurants have filed for bankruptcy or shut down altogether this year, Ryan.

NOBLES: That's right.

A 7-year-old Tennessee boy is being hailed as a hero after he saved his baby sister from their burning home. The parents managed to grab two children and run outside but they couldn't get to their 22-month- old daughter Erin (ph). That's when young Eli sprang into action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELI DAVIDSON, SAVED SISTER FROM BURNING HOME: Well, dad busted the window and then -- and then I said I can't do it about two times. And then -- and then I said -- and then I said I got her, dad. And then -- and when we got down there I said -- I said that I was scared but I didn't want my sister to die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: I got her, dad.

The family has fostered more than 30 children, including Eli. They've adopted two others.

They lost everything in the fire. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support them. The goal was $5,000 and as of this morning, it is up to $325,000.

ROMANS: Oh, wow.

NOBLES: Unbelievable.

ROMANS: I got her, dad. That just -- that just breaks your heart and warms your heart at the same time, right?

NOBLES: Yes.

ROMANS: Just what a wonderful story for Christmas.

NOBLES: No doubt.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

NOBLES: And I'm Ryan Nobles. "NEW DAY" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA): But he'll be remembered for chaos and misery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was disengaged from this attempt to find an economic solution, I think is totally out of piece (ph) with his really AWOL behavior on the public health challenge.