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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

U.S. Sets New Record With More Than 3,700 Coronavirus Deaths In One Day; McConnell Moves To Link Trump Demands To Stimulus Increase; Russian Officials Says Actual COVID-19 Death Toll Much Higher. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired December 30, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:08]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is just about 30 minutes past the hour.

We begin with the coronavirus pandemic and the darkest day yet for Americans. More than 3,700 friends, family members, and loved ones dying from the virus. That is a record. What is happening right now is far worse than the chaotic early days of this pandemic.

One of yesterday's victims, newly-elected Republican congressman Luke Letlow from Louisiana, now the highest-ranking U.S. politician to die of COVID-19. He was only 41 years old and supposed to be sworn in Sunday.

Another grieving family, that of 18-year-old Sarah Simental. She was supposed to graduate from her Illinois high school in just a few months. Instead, her family is planning her funeral.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBORAH SIMENTAL, MOTHER OF FRANKFORT, IL TEEN WHO DIED FROM COVID-19: I know she fought because one of the last times that I was able to talk to her on the phone -- because I couldn't be up at the hospital at that point and they were taking her from her regular room to ICU -- and she said I'm going to be OK, mom -- and that was the last thing. No parent should ever have to watch their child go through that -- nobody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Just heartbreaking.

Colorado has just discovered the first known U.S. case of the new COVID-19 variant first identified in the U.K. The patient, in his twenties, had not traveled, suggesting this was already spreading in the community.

The variant is not known to be more deadly but it is believed to be more contagious, which compounds a critical problem here -- overcrowded hospitals. U.S. hospitalizations up almost 40 percent since Thanksgiving.

And setting another record overnight, nearly 125,000 patients -- one of them, James Teltschick of Texas. He tested positive two months ago and COVID has ravaged his body so badly he now needs a double lung transplant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES TELTSCHICK, NEEDS DOUBLE LUNG TRANSPLANT DUE TO COVID: All I want for Christmas is a new set of lungs. The disease will keep trying to pull you in and you've just got to keep -- you've got to keep fighting it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Now, worries that hospitals might have to turn patients away are now a reality in California. At least five Los Angeles county hospitals declared an internal disaster Sunday because oxygen supply couldn't get to all the patients.

Breaking overnight, the U.K. became the first country to authorize the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. It is cheaper, it is easier to store. Health officials hope to vaccinate a million people per week. The country's hospitals are overwhelmed by cases of a new, more contagious COVID variant.

The slow pace of vaccinations in the U.S. is a growing problem nationwide. President Trump is blaming the slow rollout on states but remember, many states did not get as many doses as promised.

Now, President-elect Biden is taking the Trump administration to task and promising to speed things up.

CNN's MJ Lee is with the Biden team in Wilmington, Delaware for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning, Christine.

There is so much riding on the successful distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine and Joe Biden saying on Tuesday that President Trump is simply not getting the job done. He said that if you look at the numbers they speak for themselves. Many, many more Americans should already be vaccinated by this point in the year.

Here is what he said.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: The Trump administration's plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind -- far behind. A few weeks ago, the Trump administration suggested that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated by the end of December. With only a few days left in December, we've only vaccinated a few million so far.

And the pace of the vaccination program is moving now as it -- if it continues to move as it is now it's going to take years, not months, to vaccinate the American people. LEE (on camera): Now what Biden is proposing is a much more aggressive federal plan, essentially saying that the vaccination should be happening some five to six times faster than what we're seeing right now.

And a couple of other things that he mentioned as well. He talked about vaccination sites. He also mentioned mobile units so that people in hard to reach communities could also get vaccinated. He also talked about a national public campaign to try to convince those who have doubts about this vaccine that it is, in fact, safe. He also, of course, talked about this mask mandate requiring every American to wear a mask in his first 100 days in office.

Now he did, interestingly, say that he is prepared to move heaven and earth to make all of this happen, but he was clear that the task ahead is incredibly daunting. He said this is going to be the greatest operational challenge that the country has faced.

Christine, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, MJ for us. Thank you so much.

Now, while Americans wait for a widely available coronavirus vaccine, millions are in dire need of help right now. Now we know $600 is on the way but the push to increase those relief checks to $2,000 hit a roadblock -- a roadblock named Mitch McConnell.

[05:35:12]

CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, Christine, the big wild card in terms of whether or not the United States Senate would move forward on those expansions of $2,000 stimulus checks was Mitch McConnell, Senate majority leader.

What was he going to do and how was he going to react to the House- passed bill, to the president of his own party demanding those checks? Well, he took his hand a little bit on Tuesday. Take a listen.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): During this process, the president highlighted three additional issues of national significance he would like to see Congress tackle together. This week, the Senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus.

MATTINGLY (on camera): And then he tipped his hand a lot a little bit later when he introduced his own piece of legislation. It's a legislation that would also increase the $600 direct payments to $2,000. However, it would include two other provisions -- two other provisions requested by President Trump in order for him to sign that original COVID relief and spending package. That would include online liability protections, known as Section 230.

A repeal entirely, as well, as a voter fraud commission, something the president has demanded even though there has been no evidence up to this point of voter fraud.

So what does that mean -- McConnell putting out a bill tying all of the president's demands together? It means that if McConnell decides to put that bill on the floor, that bill will fail. It is considered a poison pill by Democrats.

And Democrats in the wake of that bill being put out, outraged. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Democratic leader, calling it a cynical play. Senator Chris Murphy saying it was a poison pill. Democrats making very clear they believe the only path forward is the House-passed bill to increase those checks from $600 to $2,000.

Here is the reality from McConnell. Not only is he balancing a president, he's balancing two Republican senators just days away from a crucial runoff for who will hold the majority of the United States Senate -- two Georgia senators. He's also balancing his conference -- his 52-member conference -- a large portion of which is opposed to the policy altogether.

So where do things stand? Well, he could go with his own bill. He could let the clock run out entirely on the -- on this Congress. Nothing may happen at all.

One thing we do know that's going to happen, at some point over the course of the next several days McConnell will lead an override of President Trump's veto of the National Defense Authorization Act. That's going to happen, it's just a matter of when. That's also held up by the stimulus check issue.

Senator Bernie Sanders, a key player in trying to expand those checks, saying he won't allow a vote on that or he will try and block a vote on that until he gets an up or down vote on that House-passed stimulus check bill. The problem with that, he can delay it, he can't stop it. And the longer he delays it the closer it comes to the end of this Congress. And the end of this Congress with no action on the stimulus checks would mean no stimulus checks -- Christine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Phil on Capitol Hill. Thank you so much.

There's growing support among Senate Republicans for increasing those COVID relief checks to two grand. That includes both senators from Georgia who are, of course, campaigning to save their jobs in a runoff election next week.

CNN has just learned that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be in Georgia in the final days before that vote campaigning for the Democratic candidates, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Biden's visit Monday will coincide with a Trump rally for the Republicans. The runoffs will decide balance of power in the Senate. Democratic wins would make Kamala Harris the tiebreaking vote in a divided chamber. Nearly 2 1/2 million ballots have already been cast in the -- in the

runoffs -- 2 1/2 million. That's already half of Georgia's entire vote total in the general election.

Breaking overnight, CNN confirming that the Nashville bomber's girlfriend told police more than a year ago, in August of 2019, he was building bombs in the R.V. at his home. A police report says officers tried to get Anthony Warner to open the door to answer questions but he did not answer. It's the first real indication that police could have had an eye on Warner before he blew himself up in that same R.V. on Christmas morning.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:42:46]

ROMANS: Another move here by the Trump administration that could throw a wrench into Joe Biden's diplomatic plans. "The New York Times" reports Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is considering a plan to reclassify Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism. The U.S. officially removed Cuba from the terror list back in 2015 during the Obama administration's brief effort at normalization.

The State Department proposal would please Cuban-Americans and other voters who helped push Trump to victory in Florida.

Two detectives linked to the Brianna Taylor shooting in Kentucky are on the verge of being fired. Attorneys for Myles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes say their clients received pre-termination letters from the Louisiana -- Louisville Police Department. The FBI concluded Cosgrove was the officer who fired that fatal shot.

Taylor was shot and killed in March after a botched forced entry into her apartment. It was one of several racially charged police incidents in 2020 that set off protests around the country.

One day after we learned COVID infections in Wuhan, China were likely much higher than reported, a top Russian official says the death toll in her country is much higher than official figures show.

CNN's Matthew Chance is based in Moscow. He joins us this morning from London. Another case here of, I guess, underreporting the extent of the damage from COVID.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. I mean, look, it's been -- it's been a wide load of skepticism over the past several months about the official figures that Russia has been putting out in terms of its number of dead that has been caused by COVID-19.

The official figure is 56,000 people which is, of course, terrible enough. But, you know, what we now know and what's emerged over the past several months and what has not been admitted by the country's deputy prime minister is that the actual figure is probably much, much worse than that. The number of excess deaths over the course of the past 11 months -- the duration of the pandemic -- close to 230,000 people.

Eighty percent or more of that -- of those people, according to the deputy prime minister in Russia, she now admits were caused by COVID. That would bring the death toll in Russia to somewhere in the region of 185,000-186,000, making it the third-highest death toll from this terrible global pandemic in the world.

[05:45:05]

And that's much more realistic when you understand that Russia has more than three million known reported COVID-19 diagnoses. And that the testimony we're seeing from frontline medical staff -- the terrible scenes in the crowded hospitals, the overcrowded morgues where there's simply not enough room to put the dead bodies -- it really does sort of gel a bit more with that testimony we're seeing coming out on social media and from frontline medical workers that we have seen and have spoken to.

Back to you.

ROMANS: Yes, the third-highest death toll in the world after the United States and Brazil.

Matthew Chance in London. Thank you so much for that.

A mix of snow, ice, and rain in store for millions of Americans as they ring in the new year -- socially distanced, we hope. Snow is already falling across the Midwest.

Here is meteorologist Karen Maginnis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Christine, the Midwest really got socked with lots of snowfall. In Des Moines, or around that area, as much as 10 inches of snowfall. Very dangerous driving conditions. Well, now, the bulk of that winter energy is moving across the Great Lakes.

The frontal system that's draped (ph) to the south, right across Texas. This is where we've got the warm sector of the system. And it could produce a couple of inches of rainfall across east Texas, the Gulf Coast, eventually spreading into the north-central Gulf Coast.

But here's what's interesting. You go back here across southwest Texas, right around El Paso, Lubbock, Amarillo, you could see snow or maybe some rain and sleet. It'll be that icy mixture along the I-10 corridor.

And then, our other storm system will make its way towards the north, move across the Ohio River Valley, then towards the lower Great Lakes. And for New York, it's rain on Thursday, then it could be icy going into New Year's Day. So that's something we'll have to watch out for.

Christine, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, everyone stay safe. Thank you so much for that, Karen.

Some new dietary guidelines to tell you about for Americans -- guidelines that have ignored input from scientists. A panel of experts recommended less alcohol and less added sugar per day, citing health risks, including the pandemic. But the government rejected the recommendation, saying it wanted more evidence for broad changes.

The guidelines do include, for the first time, specific recommendations for babies and toddlers. They need to avoid added sugars and high levels of sodium.

Now, this could influence school lunch programs and local health initiatives and even determine what kinds of food companies produce.

New federal rules will allow drones to operate at night and over people and could expand their use for commercial deliveries. The new guidelines will also require remote identification technology, which officials say will address security concerns.

Companies like Amazon, Walmart, and UPS have been testing the technology to deliver goods to customers.

Let's get a check on CNN Business this morning. Looking at markets around the world, you can see Europe has opened higher, a mixed performance -- though Hong Kong had a nice bounce. In the U.S. right now, futures are -- drumroll, please -- slightly higher here.

Look, stocks inched back from record highs on Tuesday. They feel a little bit here. The Dow closed 68 points. The S&P and the Nasdaq also finished lower.

It's a pause, really, in what has been a year of big gains for investors. But a reminder here, Wall Street is not Main Street. Investors have had a terrific year but the economy -- look at this -- is still down 9.8 million jobs from February. And I think this chart really shows each months' jobs report that hiring seems to have flatlined as the virus slows the economy again.

All right, despite an uptick in COVID-19 cases, the NFL Players Association remains confident the playoffs can go on without a bubble.

Carolyn Manno has this morning's Bleacher Report. Hi, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christine.

Well, like you mentioned, there have been a series of outbreaks across the league but so far, that hasn't affected the cancellation of a single NFL game as they march towards the last weekend of the regular season and right into the playoffs. You mentioned the uptick in cases. The latest numbers from the NFL

revealing that 58 players and team personnel tested positive last week. That's compared to the combined 45 who tested positive the week before that. Still, the president of the NFL Players Associations says both the league and its players are successfully navigating this pandemic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JC TRETTER, PRESIDENT, NFL PLAYERS ASSOCIATION: Now we're at a point where I think we all feel very confident we will finish as long as the protocols are complied to 100 percent. We're at a point now where we feel very confident in the protocol (INAUDIBLE). And now, these last weeks of the regular season and the weeks to the playoffs, as long as everybody involved -- staff, coaches, players -- follow the protocols. I think we feel confident that we'll finish but it's tough to pinpoint the odds at each one of those twists and turns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Elsewhere in sports this morning, Christine, there will not be a bowl game on New Year's Eve night. The Texas Bowl between Arkansas and TCU is canceled after an increase in positive tests within the Horned Frogs program. It is the 19th bowl game canceled this season.

[05:50:09]

Organizers planned to have more than 13,000 fans in the stands at Energy Stadium, which is the home of the Houston Texans.

Top-ranked Alabama will face Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl on Friday, though. All eyes are going to be on Crimson Tide's DeVonta Smith, the first wide receiver to be named the A.P.'s college football player of the year.

He is considered a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy, which is going to be presented next Tuesday. Smith up against a trio of quarterbacks, including his teammate Matt Jones, Clemson's Trevor Lawrence, and Florida's Kyle Trask.

And talk about hands, check this out. Texas big man Alfred Collins has one of the softest pair of mitts you will ever see from a big man -- six-foot-five, 300 pounds. The true freshman drawing high praise early in his career and it's easy to see why, coming down with the incredible interception in the Longhorn's bowl game against Colorado -- nice.

And the Milwaukee Bucks set the all-time record for three-pointers last night, hitting 29 of them in a 47-point blowout against the Heat and Jrue Holiday leading the way with six. But almost everybody chipping in last night, two nights after going seven for 38. (INAUDIBLE) in a loss to New York. Thirteen of 14 Bucks players (INAUDIBLE).

The only one who did not, the two-time reigning NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. And he only had nine points, Christine, but his brother who was zero for 11 previously from three in this career, even made one. So that kind of shooting night for Milwaukee and I'm sure they're going to get their money's worth -- Giannis -- in the games to come --

ROMANS: Yes.

MANNO: -- this regular season.

ROMANS: All right, Carolyn. Thank you so much for that.

All right, to the job crisis right now. Millions of Americans could miss unemployment checks this week because of a lapse in funding when the president delayed signing the stimulus bill. There's a big gap for gig workers who typically don't have as much stability or health benefits.

Vanessa Yurkevich reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Fareha Hawk (ph) and her husband Demire Bukari (ph) are raising a family of six on less than $400 a week in unemployment. Next week, they could go without that money.

DEMIRE BUKARI, GIG WORKER: It is going to hit rock bottom because right now, we are able to eat -- you know, forget the rent.

YURKEVICH (on camera): That money that was supposed to arrive this week was just to feed your family.

BUKARI: Yes, just to feed the family.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Pandemic unemployment programs for millions lapsed on December 26th, a day before a new federal aid package was signed. And that delay means most Americans will have to wait until next year for states to issue their checks.

FAREHA HAWK, GIG WORKER: Like, I'm very grateful that money will be coming in, but sometimes it takes so long for the money to actually kick in.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Fareha and Demire are both gig workers. She drove a school carpool, he an Uber. The loss of income in March put the family onto a growing pile of bills.

BUKARI: And if I tell you all the bills is up to date, no. They can't be. It's just impossible.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Nearly 12 million renters will owe more than $5,800 in back rent by January. Fareha and Demire owe nearly that much and they're $8,000 in credit card debt.

HAWK: You have to take the letters and you have to put it on the flowers.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Their small apartment is a virtual classroom and the four kids eat all meals at home. That's 16 a day.

HAWK: You can do it. Come on, mommy's got to go make breakfast, too.

It gets so emotional because I'm overwhelmed. And I'm like I don't -- I don't know how to live anymore. Sometimes it's so hard.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): A recent survey shows 27 million Americans say they don't have enough to eat. This family relies on food stamps and the food pantry at the Brooklyn community service group COPO. It's familiar for Fareha.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to get raspberries and squash, and I got these special cucumbers.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): She used to work here handing out the food.

HAWK: I was there helping people receive benefits and now, I'm on the other end and I'm asking for benefits.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): And the need for many Americans is only getting greater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're running out of their checks and that's why they are coming even more in hardship because they're not sure how they're going to make ends meet.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): The new stimulus bill adds an extra $300 a week in unemployment through mid-March, a much-needed boost to families like this one.

HAWK: Before you see the money, it's gone already. I already know where I'm going to spend all that money. And it's hard to get back to that place where everything will be OK.

But I made it special just for you.

YURKEVICH (voice-over): Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, Brooklyn, New York.

HAWK: Happy?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: And the Labor Department says that people will receive all 11 weeks of that extra $300 when they get the system here up and running.

All right, Elon Musk's global reach is expanding. India's government said Tesla will start selling cars there next year. The country's transport minister said after establishing sales centers, Tesla will look into setting up manufacturing in India.

India is the world's fourth-largest car market. Its government has set ambitious goals to reduce the number of gas-powered cars on Indian roads by 2030 while offering incentives to increase the number of electric cars in that market.

Tesla's stock has been on a tear, of course, up nearly 700 percent so far this year.

[05:55:00]

So you think you can dance? Try this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Robots showing off agility to 80's hit "Do You Love Me."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: No way. These are robots from Boston Dynamics showing off their best moves to The Contours' hit "Do You Love Me." These robots are named Atlas, Spot, and Handle, and they can do other things like help doctors and remind humans to keep social distanced in public parts.

This agility does not come cheap. Hyundai just recently purchased a controlling stake in the company for over a billion dollars.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, December 30th, 6:00 here in New York.

John Berman is off. Jim Sciutto joins me. We have a lot of news.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A tremendous amount of headlines today.

CAMEROTA: OK, so we begin with news on the pandemic. The U.S. has discovered the first confirmed case of a fast-spreading Coronavirus variant that originated in the U.K. It was found in Colorado. The man who tested positive for it is in his 20s and has not traveled, as far as we know. That suggests that the variant may already be spreading in the community undetected.

There is also a second suspected case there that is under investigation.

This comes as the pandemic in the U.S. is shattering more records. More than 3,700 American deaths were reported yesterday. That is the highest number yet in a single day. And a record number of people, nearly 125,000, are hospitalized this morning with coronavirus.

The situation becoming so severe.