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New Day

U.S. Again Shatters Records for Coronavirus Deaths and Hospitalizations; Georgia Sets Record with 2.5-Plus Million Early Votes in Senate Runoffs; Nurse Treats Her Father Until He Died from Coronavirus. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 31, 2020 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEW DAY: But they MacGyvered it at the end there. It was just little mayo and tape.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEW DAY: Who will notice?

New Day continues right now.

CAMEROTA: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is New Day. John Berman is off. Jim Sciutto joins me. Happy New Year's Eve.

SCIUTTO: Yes. So New Zealand is already there. We're only a few hours away. We'll get there.

CAMEROTA: That's right. Let's take a look at what it looks like in New Zealand. Wow, that is a fantastic, majestic fireworks display. It's rousing, even in a horrible year, particularly maybe in a horrible year. It's stirring to see this celebration.

SCIUTTO: And folks in New Zealand, they got to celebrate it out in public, because that's a country that got hammered.

CAMEROTA: Wowo, that is really telling.

Here in the U.S., as we countdown the final hours of 2020, we are again shattering records in the pandemic, 3,744 Americans reported dead on Wednesday. The CDC now projects another 81,000 Americans will die in just the next three weeks. And more than 125,000 are now hospitalized with coronavirus. That's a new all-time high.

As you know, there's this new case of a highly contagious strain of coronavirus. It has now been found in Southern California. Health officials confirmed the strain in a 30-year-old man from San Diego who has not recently traveled. Hospitals in the state are so overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, the National Guard has been called in to help.

SCIUTTO: All right, this disappointing news. The White House coronavirus task force is acknowledging that the pace of vaccinations is far short of what this administration promised. 2.7 million Americans have now been vaccinated. That's only about 20 percent of the doses delivered, well below the 20 million people the White House said would be vaccinated by today. In fact, just a few weeks ago, they said 100 million.

Also breaking overnight, President Trump cutting his New Year's vacation short, returning to Washington this morning to tackle the pandemic? No, to continue his baseless attempts to overturn the result of the election. On January 6th, Congress will need to certify President-elect Joe Biden's win.

CAMEROTA: Okay. We begin with breaking news on the pandemic. Joining us is Dr. Paul Offit, Director of the Vaccine Education Center and Pediatrics Professor at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia and a member of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee. You're the perfect person for us to talk to this morning. Dr. Offit, thank you very much for being here.

Let's start with this new variant. So one confirmed case in Colorado, a second suspected case in Colorado, and now one confirmed case in Southern California. None of these folks, as far as we know, had a travel history. That means that, obviously, there's community spread. How concerned are you this morning?

DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR OF VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER AND PEDIATRICS PROFESSOR, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, that had to happen. I mean, this variant virus was first identified in the U.K., end of August, beginning of September, international travel is common. It had to come here. So that's not surprising. It is more contagious. That's worrisome. But the good news is that it doesn't appear to be more virulent. And the really good news is it doesn't appear to have escaped recognition by the vaccine. I mean, that it is contagious doesn't change what we're doing, which is we still need to try and do our best to mask and social distance.

Were this, however, to escape recognition by a vaccine, that would dramatically change what we're doing. And this was a warning shot. We need to, I think, increase our surveillance in terms of sequencing these strains, to see when variants emerge. And then when they emerge, we need to immediately determine whether or not it has escaped recognition by the vaccine, which takes only a week or two. So I think that's what hopefully we've learned from this.

SCIUTTO: Okay. That is a relief to belief that these current vaccines will still protect you from this, but it's more transmissible. That means more infections, does it not? And, sadly, just based on the way the numbers work, more deaths. I mean, because we're already in the midst of a surge on a surge.

OFFIT: Yes, that is what it means. But, you know, the current non- variant virus is also very contagious. And so we need to do our best to stop that. And we're not doing it. That's what's the most upsetting. I mean, if you were watching the Eagles/Dallas game over the weekend in Dallas, there's 30,000 people on the stands. I mean, what are we thinking? We sort of exist in this kind of cult of denialism, where we just kind of close our eyes tightly and hope this all goes away. [07:05:05]

We're not doing the things we need to do to prevent spread.

CAMEROTA: That leads us to the vaccinations. So there was so much hope and promise earlier this month when we heard from the administration that 20 million people, Americans would be able to be vaccinated. We were going to turn a corner. Today is the last day of the month. Something like 2.8 million people, as far as we know, at last count, have been vaccinated. It's a fraction of what they promised. Obviously, we're not doing this with any kind of the urgency that we need to be.

And so, number one, what can we do to turn it around? And number two, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the U.K. And we read that it won't be approved here or won't be put to use here until April. Why? Why are we waiting until April?

OFFIT: Okay, there's a few questions there. Here is what I would say. It is remarkable what we've done over the past year. I mean, the urgency that we brought to making a vaccine and the money that we brought to making a vaccine, we spent $24 billion doing essentially a Manhattan Project-like response to this. We had the virus in hand in January of this year, using these novel technologies, messenger RNA. We have two vaccines that are highly effective and safe. That's amazing. But it took a lot of money to do that. That's the vaccine part.

Now comes the vaccination part, which is equally hard and is equally going to require this Manhattan Project-like response. We need to do essentially the kinds of things we're doing in our hospital. In our hospital, we vaccinate 12 people every 30 minutes. And so we will plow through tens of thousands of people by having a very efficient system, and that's what has to happen across this country, where you have mass vaccination campaigns for all of these different groups, initially, health care workers, but then people who are teachers and people who work in utilities or mass transit and just have these mass vaccination events. We need to put that in place and that does --

CAMEROTA: But are you seeing that happening?

OFFIT: In terms of the AstraZeneca vaccine, it's -- that -- the phase three trials, the trials that were done similar to Pfizer and Moderna, have been questionable with the AstraZeneca vaccine. They did trials in the United Kingdom and Brazil, but they had two different dosing strategies. One was half dose/full dose, the other was full dose/full dose. They had different intervals. One was one month later, the other was up to three months later. And then they tried to combine those results. That's not the way to do a phase three trial.

And, unfortunately, there are still trials of AstraZeneca's vaccine ongoing in the United States. Hopefully, we can reach the same levels of numbers of people tested in this country before we then license the vaccine in this country. But I think it will take a few months before we get there. SCIUTTO: Dr. Offit, I asked Dr. Fauci earlier this week, whether he believes the U.S. will be able to turn around this slow start on the vaccine rollout. He acknowledged the slow start, but said that he expects that into next month, things will get better. It will pick up. And I wonder if you share that confidence.

OFFIT: I think we have it in us. I think as Americans, there are times when we pull together in faces of national tragedy, like World War II or like 9/11, where we do pull together and see ourselves as all part of this shared problem. This isn't a Republican problem or a Democratic problem, this virus affects all of us.

And do we have it in us to do the sort of mass vaccination campaign events? Of course we do. We just need to get it together to do that. And we do need money to do that. I mean, the federal government does need to step up their response to vaccination in the same way that they stepped up their response to making the vaccine.

CAMEROTA: You know, we just had Dr. Reiner on last hour and he was saying that the way to do it is, there's a convention center in every city, there's sports arenas, there are race tracks. You know, he wants to see those mass events that you're referring to and people start to line up and, as you said, plow through thousands of people in one fell swoop. But where's the plan for that? We're not seeing that.

OFFIT: Right. So we need that. We need to plan not only at the federal level, but at the state and local level, as well. And we do need money to do that. I'm really optimistic we can do this. But if we're going to do what President-elect Biden has argued for, which is a million doses a day, I mean, even at that level, you're going to take probably about eight months to get to 240 million people being vaccinated, which is roughly the 70 percent level that Dr. Fauci is talking about. And we're far away from that. We haven't even given 3 million doses in this country, which is less than 1 percent of the population.

SCIUTTO: We've got a lot of people watching right now who have to be wondering when am I and where am I going to be able to get vaccinated? I mean, a big portion of the plan is leaning on private pharmacy chains, right? I mean, is this going to be lining up outside of CVS, hoping they don't run out of doses? I mean, I don't get -- I mean, I'm asking myself the same question. Is it just going to be like getting a flu shot, except 330 million Americans are going to want it at the same time?

OFFIT: Right. So it can't be like getting a flu shot, where you walk into CVS when you can.

[07:10:01]

There has to be, as Dr. Reiner said earlier, that there has to be these mass vaccination events. That's the most heartbreaking aspect of this. I mean, I was fortunate to have gotten my first dose of vaccine on Saturday, I'll get the next one in a couple of weeks. I'm one of the lucky ones. I mean, I know that in a couple of weeks, I'm going to be protected against this virus. And I also know that there are going to be tens of thousands of people who are going to die over the next few months because they didn't have the opportunity I had. I just wish that we had 400 million doses available now and we just got it all out there but that's not going to happen. And while we're waiting, people will die because of it. It is utterly heartbreaking.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Dr. Paul Offit, we always appreciate your expertise. Thank you very much for being on New Day.

OFFIT: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Now to politics, the Georgia Senate runoffs breaking all kinds of records for early voting and for ad spending. What impact could President Trump's attacks on the state's top Republican leaders have? Well, Georgia's lieutenant governor is going to join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Okay. Five days away from those hotly contested runoff elections in Georgia.

[07:15:02]

Early voting is already setting records, with more than 2.5 million ballots cast. President Trump is intensifying his attacks on the state's top Republican leaders.

CNN's Ryan Nobles is live in Atlanta with more. What's happening, Ryan?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDNET: Yes, Alisyn, it's pretty incredible. 2.5 million people have already cast their ballots here in Georgia and there are still a couple of days of early voting left. Now, that's a little bit behind the pace that we saw for the general election at this stage of the race, but it's still an enormous amount of votes, especially for a runoff where turnout is traditionally a bit lower. And it's not a surprise, frankly, because you cannot turn on the television here in Georgia without being inundated with ads. More than $500 million has been spent on television ads already.

And yesterday, Jon Ossoff, one of the Democratic candidates, was asked to respond to an attack ad against this other Democrat in this race, Raphael Warnock, while he was live on Fox News. Listen to how Ossoff responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: And right now, we have a crisis corruption in American politics. And since we're live on Fox, let me take this opportunity to address directly the Fox audience. We have two United States senators in Georgia who have blatantly used their offices to enrich themselves. This is beyond partisanship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: So you see there, Ossoff trying to extend his reach and looking for supporters, even in places where Democrats may not normally find them, with the Fox News audience. It show has this race is going to be incredibly close and they're not taking any of those voters for granted now with just five days to go before this runoff concludes on January 5th. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Ryan Nobles, thanks very much. Joining us now is Georgia's Republican lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan. Mr. Duncan, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R-GA): Yes, good morning.

SCIUTTO: So, the president was returning early from Florida to Washington, not to tackle the pandemic, that CNN is understanding (ph), to focus on his continued attempt to overturn the election. I wonder, from where you're sitting in Georgia, is his denial of this loss hurting the GOP candidates in these runoffs?

DUNCAN: I think so. Unfortunately, the president has committed to the way he's going to act and react to losing the election and at this point, it's not helping us here in Georgia. We've got a very important event on January 5th that's not just big for us here in Georgia but it's big for Republicans all over the country. My hope is that enough Republicans hang on with us through January 5th to re-elect Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue to re-elect us and Republicans all over the country in the U.S. Senate.

SCIUTTO: President Trump will be visiting the day before that vote, as you know, from past visits and his public comments since then, he often focuses less on the elections than his own continued claims about the election. Will that visit, in your view, help or hurt?

DUNCAN: Look, I'm going to stay positive. I'm going to continue to encourage him to stay focused on trying to build up Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and their accomplishments to this point and also what, you know, conservative leadership has done for us here in Georgia. We've been able to keep one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country through this pandemic. We've been able to get our schools back in order. We've been able to make sure that hospitals have capacity. Conservative leadership is working here in Georgia and my encouragement to the president is to stay focused on that.

It is concerning that Republicans not just here in Georgia but all over the country have decided to try to stay focused on reforming the system, thinking that's going to win us the White House back in four years, and, quite honestly, that's not the case. We've got work to do on the party, we've got some work to do on the issues going forward and I'm going to definitely try to be a part of that as we move forward.

SCIUTTO: Will you meet with the president when he comes to Georgia?

DUNCAN: I have not been asked to do that. And, certainly, I'm going to stay focused on trying to get Kelly and David back in there and try to make sure we drum up enough voters out there and encouragement and do all we can do.

SCIUTTO: To your credit, you've stuck to the facts on this election, often in the face of blistering attacks, including from the president. I mean, he's accused you of being too dumb or corrupt to stand with him on this. And the sad fact is that many Republicans buy it. I mean, NPR had a poll recently, fewer than 50 percent of Republicans believe that Joe Biden won this election, rightfully.

I wonder, when you speak to your constituents there, do they, over time, come to believe the facts here or are they still accepting the president's claims?

DUNCAN: Yes. For the most part, if somebody just gives you a couple minutes to be able to listen to what their perspective is but then to be able to outline with them the facts and figures and the data. You know what, this loss is a whole lot simpler to explain than trying to piece together the largest conspiracy in the history of the world.

This is death by a thousand cuts. This is a number of people woke up after the first debate and just couldn't stomach, you know, making that decision. Folks in Arizona woke up and just couldn't stand the president picking on John McCain. Folks in Georgia woke up and just couldn't understand or make the math work why the president would pick on a governor that's going to work for them every single day here in Georgia, making sure small businesses can be open and schools can be back and open.

[07:20:01]

This is -- look, we've only got four years as Republicans to convince up to 7 million more people that voted for Joe Biden than Donald Trump in this last election. We've only got four years to figure out how to get them back on our team and I'm certainly going to be committed with that process.

SCIUTTO: There will be a challenge on January 6th on the Hill. You already had House members, Republican House members willing to challenge the results of this vote. Now, you have a senator in Josh Hawley who will join them. That's all it takes.

It won't work. Biden will be president on January 20th but it still fuels these feelings, right, among many Republicans out there. What damage does that do, in your view?

DUNCAN: Yes, it's damaging, right? I mean, short-term here, I am worried that the side shows and the distractions are causing some disruption around January 5th. But, long-term, gosh, it's just not helpful. And quite honestly, it is a side show.

You know, look, we've had every court from Atlanta to Washington, D.C., rule in the fact that there was no sort of systemic or organized fraud. We've had every investigative agency, including the GBI. I mean, if you're a supporter of law enforcement, if you're a Republican and support law enforcement, then you should pragmatically look at what we've done here in Georgia and see that we are using every resource at our disposal to verify and validate this election. We've counted, recounted, certified, we've done everything that we can possibly do. And just because the guy I voted for doesn't win, doesn't change the outcome of the election. And certainly, we're better than this, and I'm hoping that we can move past this January 5th. Get David and Kelly back in there. Start the process of healing and start the process of putting this Republican Party back together and looking forward to 2024, where we can put a Republican back in the White House to lead this country.

SCIUTTO: So what is the GOP 2.0 look like to you? What are the changes that are necessary and do you see, I mean, given the president's support that remains among a large portion of the Republican base, I mean, do you see a drive for that, for a 2.0 of the Republican Party?

DUNCAN: I do, right? I mean, I think, one, we need to validate the fact that what went right the last four years? President Trump was an outsider business-minded guy that came into D.C. and started getting things done right out of the gates. That was validated.

But, I think, looking forward, I'm calling this my pet project, policy, empathy and tone. We've got to get better at the policy, we've got to understand. Build the wall is a project name. It's not necessarily an immigration reform.

And empathy, we've got to understand different communities around the country. We've got to understand what it's like for a single mom to worry about health insurance. We've got to understand what it is for a small business owner or a Latino.

And also with tone, we've got to figure out a better way than 280 characters on Twitter to communicate with America.

Certainly, I think that a majority of Americans support Republicans' ideas. They think that we're good at creating jobs. They think we're good at keeping communities safe. These are things that we need to stay focused on. And I think it's a winning strategy, Jim. But complaining about election fraud and trying to drum up stories and fan the flames is not a strategy to win long-term.

SCIUTTO: Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, we appreciate your time and your straight talk.

DUNCAN: Thank you, sir.

SCIUTTO: Well, a nurse in New Mexico who has seen dozens of coronavirus patients never expected one of them to be her own father. She shares the story of their final days together. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

CAMEROTA: A nurse in New Mexico who has been treating coronavirus patients for months and has even contracted the virus herself had to care for one very special patient in his final days. It was her own father. 68-year-old Jose Garcia contracted coronavirus in November and died just a few weeks ago.

Jose is survived by his wife of 50 years and nine children, 28 grandchildren, and to two great grandchildren.

Joining us now is Jose's daughter, Nurse Carolina Garcia. Hi, Carolina, we're so sorry for your family's loss. How is everyone doing?

CAROLINA GARCIA, NURSE WHOSE FATHER DIED OF CORONAVIRUS: Oh, we're doing okay. We have our days where, you know, we can't help but to cry and still sometimes can't believe that this is actually what ended up being my dad's case with COVID-19.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And because you are a nurse and work in that very hospital where your father was taken, and because you had coronavirus yourself and had the antibodies, you were allowed to be at his bedside throughout his sickness. And there's this photo, there are several photos of you with him, that are so touching and tender. And maybe we can pull one of them up just so that people can see what it was like. And just tell us what it was like to be at his bedside and what you -- were you able to talk to him in those final days?

GARCIA: You know, I was able to be there with my father. I can say that I was very lucky to be able to be there. And, yes, because I had tested positive, I was able to be at his bedside. Before my father got intubated, I, you know, was able to FaceTime my family, my mom when the doctor talked to us about intubation, and all I can do is just reassure my father that we were there, from day one, and we will always be there with him.

Once he was intubated, I did have two occasions where he was intubated and I would talk to him and I can see tears come down his eyes. So I know my dad knew that we were there and my dad was not alone. So I was very happy that I can be there, but at the same time, seeing my father lay there was very heartbreaking.

[07:30:08]