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Vaccinations Ramp Up in Alabama; Seven Variants Identified in U.S.; More than a Million Screened by TSA over Holiday Weekend; Teen Saves Her Mom From Eviction; Winter Storm Leaves 3 Million Without Power. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired February 15, 2021 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:54]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning we're learning about seven new coronavirus variants that have been identified here in the United States. This puts pressure on states to get as many vaccine shots into arms as possible.

CNN's Miguel Marquez has a look from Montgomery, Alabama.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EL WANDA PENN, VACCINE RECIPIENT: It's called survival.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): El Wanda and Rhonda Penn, twins, 66 and finally getting their first COVID-19 shots.

MARQUEZ (on camera): How was that?

E. PENN: It was easy.

MARQUEZ (voice over): The hard part, getting to this first come-first serve mass vaccination center in Montgomery.

E. PENN: It's been a tough year because it's just -- like, you don't have a chance to deal with one death before you got another one.

MARQUEZ: For weeks, the Penns have tried to make a vaccination appointment.

RHONDA PENN, VACCINE RECIPIENT: I have had some health issues. So I wanted to make sure I took it so it wouldn't interfere with my other problem.

MARQUEZ: Alabama has struggled to get shots into arms, often at the bottom of the CDC's list on how many vaccine doses each state gets and how many they're getting into arms. That may be changing.

CHRISTINA THORNTON, DIRECTOR, MONTGOMERY CITY AND COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: We have a goal for every day for a thousand doses. On Monday we gave away 1,955. Yesterday we did just over 1,500. And today we're goaling again for 1,500.

MARQUEZ: Most of the vaccines at this site come from the state, hundreds more doses kicked in by Baptist Health.

MARQUEZ (on camera): How confident are you that the second shots will be there in three weeks, plus more first shots?

KADIE AGNEW, MANAGER, MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS, BAPTIST HEALTH: We're confident. Absolutely. We continue to order every opportunity we get. And we are confident that we will be able to do this again.

MARQUEZ (voice over): In December there were just 15 vaccination locations across the state. Today there are 355. And state health officials say nearly 900 have been approved. But they need more vaccine.

The federal government now pitching in with 14,000 doses going to 22 Walmarts state wide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have some people in our rural counties and our rural towns that Walmart is their only access to be able to get this vaccine.

MARQUEZ: Loretta Wimberley (ph), 88 and unstoppable, her life dedicated to equal rights, she still works at Selma's historic First Baptist Church. Today her focus, getting friends, neighbors and parishioners vaccinated.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This community, Selma, is predominantly, you know, black. And then we are a part of the black belt, which is predominantly black. And most of the people don't have the transportation to get to the large sites, you know, what they're setting up for them to get vaccine.

MARQUEZ: Wimberly got her first shot. Her friend Pearline still trying.

PEARLINE SEAY, WAITING FOR VACCINATION: I know I pray a lot, but it makes you even pray more.

With this going around, you don't know who has it.

MARQUEZ: With the state's broadening eligibility to people over 65 and confidence growing in the safety of the vaccine --

BETSY STEWART, CHIEF SALES AND MARKETING OFFICER, MAIN STREET FAMILY CARE: We do have just those vaccines here in the freezer.

MARQUEZ: Locations in Selma and state wide struggling to meet demand.

[08:35:01]

MARQUEZ (on camera): How much do you hear from people that they want the vaccine?

STEWART: Oh, thousands. We've had an interest form online that people could submit their information if they weren't yet eligible. And we have probably had 15,000 to 20,000 people submit interest forms.

MARQUEZ (voice over): Alabama, like everywhere, in need of more vaccine, but moving in the right direction.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Montgomery.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Miguel, thank you for that.

There is some cautious optimism this morning. New coronavirus cases continuing that downward trend in the U.S. They're actually down 70 percent since the peak in early January. Hospitalizations also dropping. All of that is positive news. Experts, though, caution, now is not the time to let down your guard, especially with variants spreading.

Joining us now, Dr. Ashish Jha. He's the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health.

Dr. Jha, always good to have you with us.

You know, this morning we're paying very close attention to these seven new variants we've learned about that have been identified in the United States. A lot of talk about, you know, how closely or not these mutations resemble those first identified in the U.K. and in South Africa.

Just two quick questions for you. One, how concerned should we be? And, two, is it your sense that these seven variants are perhaps as transmissible as that variant first identified in the U.K. which has so many people concerned?

DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Yes, so, good morning and thanks for having me on.

I'm concerned about these variants because we're not doing enough surveillance. So we don't know how widespread they are. We don't really have any information right now about, are they more contagious, are they more deadly? And we also don't know if they're going to work against our vaccines.

But let me be clear about one thing, I have full expectations that our vaccines are going to work against these seven new variants. But in, you know, we should test those things out. So a lot more to find out in the days and weeks ahead.

HILL: Can I follow up with you on the vaccine point? So one of the things that stood out to me, and, again, not a scientist, so tell me if I'm not reading this correctly, but was that the mutations themselves are all happening on one spike protein. So given that they're sort of mutating, I guess, maybe in the same way, I may not be saying that correctly, does that then lead credence to the thought that the vaccine is going to continue to remain effective because we can also, you know, figure out how to modify it if needed? JHA: Yes, so there are two sets of questions here, right. One is, do

the vaccines that we have currently, will they be effective? And these mutations, for these variants, as well as the U.K. and South African variant, are all on the spike protein. That's the protein we're targeting with our vaccines. So far all the evidence says these vaccines are going to work.

But you're also right that if somehow one of these variants ends up escaping our vaccines, which I don't think is going to happen, but if it does, we can always modify our vaccines and update it. So that would be the worst case scenario, but I think even that we can manage.

BERMAN: So I think one of the most interesting questions out there this morning, Dr. Jha, is one of the simplest, but also one of the hardest to answer, which is, as we see these numbers drop, and I'm always most interested in the hospitalizations because that's the most rigid piece of data we have, right? And hospitalizations have absolutely dropped, albeit they're still at a very high level.

But why? Why do you think we have seen this precipitous drop?

JHA: Yes, it's a very good question. And the precipitous drop has happened across the nation and it's been very substantial.

I think a few things. I think one is, we came off of really high numbers from the holidays. I think, second, there is pretty good evidence that people are doing a better job of social distancing and mask wearing. And, third, I think in a lot of communities we've had so much infection that you have some level of population immunity. Not herd immunity, but enough population immunity that it is causing the virus to slow down. Those are all, of course, good news and we want to make sure that we keep going down as much as possible.

BERMAN: Do you think it's possible to keep driving that number down even further so that we -- I remember -- I was trying to remember the exact levels Dr. Fauci, the beginning of the summer, said he would like to see in terms of cases and hospitalizations. We're nowhere near that level yet. Hospitalizations are actually still very high, but do you think we can push it down to the 10,000 or 20,000 level?

JHA: Absolutely. We've done it before. I think we can. This is why I am asking governors and mayors to hold off a little bit longer on reopening restaurants and bars and other things. I think if we can drive these numbers down, and we want to because the variants are out there and they can quickly cause a spike. And if we're going to see spikes, I'd like to see it off of a much lower baseline than what we have right now.

HILL: Dr. Ashish Jha, always good to have you with us. Thank you.

JHA: Thank you.

HILL: So more Americans flew domestically this weekend despite the pandemic. We have more details in a live report, next.

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BERMAN: The TSA reported more than 1 million passengers screened at U.S. airports per day over the holiday weekend. It comes and the CDC says it is not recommending a negative test requirement for domestic flights.

CNN's Pete Muntean live at Reagan National Airport with the very latest on this.

Pete.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, we will see if these new numbers lead to any new change in that policy after what has been one of the biggest weekends for air travel in a month. The TSA says more than 4 million people passed through security at America's airports over the last four days, more than a million people on Thursday, more than a million people on Friday, more than 900,000 people on Saturday and then 900,000 again on Sunday.

The CDC is recommending that people do not travel right now, but these numbers, airlines say, are numbers we would not see if the CDC did require that passengers traveling domestically get tested for coronavirus before their trip.

You know, that whole idea was really thrust into the limelight last week by Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He said the Biden administration was talking to the CDC about that idea and that any decision would be guided by data. The CDC now says definitively it is not requiring that, although it is recommending that people get tested one to three days before their trip and then again three to five days after travel. Again, just a recommendation, not a requirement.

[08:45:01]

Airlines say requirements would kill travel numbers that we are seeing right now.

It's important to put into perspective, though, the industry is still struggling in a big way. These numbers are very depressed. Only about 45 percent of what they were a year ago. We will see if all the people traveling this weekend actually follow through with that testing recommendation, not a requirement.

John.

BERMAN: Yes, Pete, it's really interesting. Pete Muntean, we were talking about what's driving some of the case load and hospitalization rates down. Some people do speculate it's because travel dropped after the holidays. Travel dropped, therefore the spread has dropped. We'll see if it starts to pick up again as people travel for this vacation week for a lot.

Pete Muntean, thank you, as always, for your reporting on this.

We've been watching throughout the morning, major problems across a big part of the country with weather. This is Dallas, Texas. I mean Dallas, Texas. That's snow and ice on the ground there. We're approaching 3 million people without power across a big part of the country. We're going to bring you the latest details, next.

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[08:50:08]

HILL: Time now for "The Good Stuff," and it's a good one.

A Houston high school student gave her entire college savings to her mom to help pay the rent after learning that her mother had lost her job during the pandemic. Eighteen-year-old Alondra Carmona didn't think she'd be able to attend her dream school. She got into Barnard College. She wants to be a pediatric neurosurgeon. Family, friends and total strangers, though, stepped in to help her and, in turn, help her family. Her mom is also getting some good news. There's a lot to this story. And, bottom line, there's also a lot of good people in the world.

Joining me now is Alondra Carmona.

It's great to have you with us, Alondra.

First of all, congratulations on being accepted to Barnard, which is no small feat. Really impressive. And I know this was your dream school. You were doing everything you could to make it happen. As I understand it, you were on the phone with financial aid trying to rework your package. And after that call is when your mom shared with you that she had actually lost her job months prior but she just didn't want you to know.

What was that conversation like with your mom?

ALONDRA CARMONA, USED COLLEGE SAVINGS TO SAVE MOTHER FROM EVICTION: Well, the day she told me, I had been telling her that there was a really big gap in my financial aid package that I wasn't going to be able to pay myself. So she had told me she was going to help me. And then after I call ended, I kind of broke down crying because I know I wasn't going to be able to pay for it, even with my mom. And then she told me that she hadn't been working for three months. And then I just had to accept that because I thought, well, my mom's not going to help me, then I'm not going to be help, but even with -- even with a second job and more hours, it wasn't -- it wasn't going to be possible. So I was just crying and then she told me that and everything -- it was just like my world was falling apart.

HILL: You felt like your world was falling apart.

I know you also learned that, you know, your mom was behind on the rent. I had saved some money. You have a part-time job. That was part of your college savings. This is your dream, but in that moment, you wanted your mom to have that help. You wanted to help out your mom.

I'm sure, as a parent, you know, I can only begin to imagine what that moment was like for her, the pride she must have felt in the young woman that you are and also how much it probably hurt her, right, to know that she did need that little bit of help and that she just wanted to help you instead.

CARMONA: Yes. So when she told me she was kind of skeptical of taking the money because she said she felt bad. But she really needed it. And she didn't want to ask me for help, but I just wanted to do it for her, because she's so hard working and I knew she needed the money and I didn't want her to (INAUDIBLE) give it to her.

HILL: So you stepped up. You offered to help.

I'm going to fast forward a little bit because the good news is we've now learned that your mom, you know, has her job back as a longshoreman at the Port of Houston, which is huge.

CARMONA: Yes.

HILL: We know so many people impacted by the pandemic. So that's some good news. And in addition, you, like your mom, probably didn't want to ask for a lot of help, I know, but eventually you did. And you have had this overwhelming response to your Go Fund Me. I mean things have really -- you went from this moment of feeling like your world was crashing down around you and things have really changed. So give us an update. Where are you at right now?

CARMONA: Yes. So right now I'm going to be attending Barnard College in the fall of 2021 and I'm so excited. I'm so thankful. And about two days ago, my mom found out that they're offering her job back because of the news outlets like you that have been sharing our story. And we're just so thankful.

HILL: Well, it's such great news. And it's wonderful to hear, you know, this great story about you and your family. Clearly, a really strong family of women, which we love to hear about, but also so much support for you, helping to make this dream happen. I'm so excited for you to start at Barnard in the fall and, you know, we will get through this pandemic and you can come down here and meet us at CNN, because I'd love to meet you in person.

Thank you, Alondra.

CARMONA: Thank you.

HILL: Best of luck to you and your mom and your sisters. You have such a bright future ahead of you. And maybe we'll be talking you doctor, soon, too.

CARMONA: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, breaking news, nearly 3 million houses without power this morning. More than half the U.S. under winter storm advisories.

CNN meteorologist Chad Myers with the very latest.

A lot of people watching this, Chad. CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and 2.3 million people in Texas

not watching us because there's no power. Rolling blackouts in Texas because there just isn't enough power to go around. They are trying to spread that power out. Wind chill factors there in the 20 below zero range. One million square miles, John, under wind chill warnings right now through the central part of the country and there's going to be more cold air today. Wind chill weather here across parts of Texas, hard to keep your house warm if you don't have power.

Here comes the snow for many people too. An awful lot of traffic yesterday. Accidents everywhere. Oklahoma, Texas and more still to come. Ice storm for Nashville.

[08:55:01]

Ice storm all the way up even into parts of Kentucky. Many people there will be losing power because the power lines will be falling down, not because they have to roll the blackouts, John.

BERMAN: All right, Chad, I know you're going to keep people posted.

And just so people know, on the right side of the screen there, we're looking at pictures of the roads in Dallas, right? I know there are probably a lot of jaded people in the northeast who say our roads look like that all the time. They don't look like this in Dallas hardly ever. So this is a big deal. And we will be covering it all morning long.

CNN's coverage continues, next.

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