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Health Expert Warns People of Gathering; Families Had Their Lesson Learned; Good News Coming Out of England; Perseverance a Key to Success; Trump Team Distancing to Sidney Powell; Joe Biden Set to Announce Cabinet Members; GOP Felt Embarrassed of Trump's Refusal to Concede; President Trump Going Back to Paris Accord Issue; P.M. Benjamin Netanyahu with Message to Incoming U.S. President; U.S. COVID Cases Far From Declining. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 23, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching the CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead. Refusing to accept reality as U.S. President Donald Trump fights his election defeat ignoring the surging coronavirus pandemic while the Biden team works to a smoother transition. And this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I withdrew the United States from the unfair and one-sided Paris climate accord.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (voice over): Sound familiar? Mr. Trump gives a final message in this year's virtual G20 summit, railing against the Paris climate deal and touting the U.S. economy.

And later, a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist faces jail time for his connection to protests outside police headquarters. We'll have the details and a live report.

(on camera): Good to have you with us. Well the U.S. enters this Thanksgiving holiday week amid an explosion of new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. More than three million infections have already been reported this month. That's according to Johns Hopkins University. That is a quarter of the total U.S. cases confirmed since the pandemic began. And there is a week left to go in November but the current president remains focused on his election loss.

Donald Trump spent much of the weekend at his own golf course while his legal team suffered fresh setbacks in court. Former New Jersey Governor and longtime Trump ally Chris Christie says it's time to accept defeat. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ): What's happened here is quite frankly, the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment. I've been a supporter of the president. I've voted for him twice but elections have consequences and we cannot continue to act as if something happened here that didn't happen.

The country is what has to matter the most as much as I'm a strong Republican and I love my party, it's the country that has to come first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): But nearly three weeks after election day, the Trump administration is holding up transition funds. President-elect Joe Biden and his team also can't communicate with government agencies that they will be running in two months.

Well resources say Antony Blinken will be nominated as Biden secretary of state. Blinken was a long-time foreign policy advisor in the Obama administration. That announcement should come Tuesday along with several other cabinet picks.

CNN's Arlette Saenz has more.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER (on camera): President-elect Joe Biden is set to roll out his first cabinet picks on Tuesday and the announcements are shaping up to be foreign policy focused.

CNN has learned that secretary of state is expected to be among the first jobs that Biden announces for his cabinet, and the leading contender for that opposition is Tony Blinken. Someone who served as deputy secretary of state and has long term ties to Joe Biden, having served as his national security adviser while he was vice president.

Now Biden also is expected to announce his picks for national security advisor and ambassador to the U.N. The top contender for national security advisor roll is Jake Sullivan, someone who served as a national security adviser for Biden when he was vice president and the top contender the leading contender for ambassador to the U.N. is Linda Thomas-Greenfield.

She is a long-time diplomat who worked in the State Department and she is also a woman of color which would fulfill part of Biden's promise to have a diverse cabinet.

Listen to what one of Biden senior advisors had to say about how Biden's cabinet will be diverse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, SENIOR ADVISER, BIDEN-HARRIS TRANSITION TEAM: The cabinet and the team will look like Americas that means diversity of ideology, diversity of backgrounds, and it wants to have a range of views of people at the table. (END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ (on camera): Now all of those leading contenders for those foreign policy and national security positions all have decades of experience in the sector. Biden throughout his campaign had said part of his goal would be restoring America's standing in the world and repairing relationships with allies.

So, in the coming days as he is rolling out these foreign policy focused cabinet positions Biden is trying to make it clear how his administration would look and operate in the early days of the White House.

[03:05:06]

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

CHURCH: Meanwhile, President Trump's legal team is trying to cut ties with lawyer Sidney Powell after she started spreading wild conspiracy theories about the election results.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has this.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well just after week after President Trump named attorney Sidney Powell to his legal team in his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, the president's legal team now says that Sidney Powell is not a member of his legal team.

Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, two of the attorneys for the president's effort saying in a statement, quote, Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own, she is not a member of the Trump legal team, she's also not a lawyer for the president in personal capacity."

Now this notion that Sidney Powell never was a member of the legal team is absurd. Not only did the president named Sidney Powell in a tweet as he was announcing the members of his legal team. But just a few days ago, Sidney Powell appeared right alongside Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis at Republican National Committee headquarters to talk about their legal effort.

Giuliani in fact saying that he was in charge of this investigation alongside Sidney, referring to the attorney Sidney Powell. Now Sidney Powell has been trafficking in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election over the last week during which she's been a member of that legal team.

She has alleged that the CIA was somehow involved in rigging the election, she's alleged that the late leader of Venezuela Hugo Chavez was also involved. And she's even accused Republican Governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp of also rigging the election in that state in favor of Joe Biden.

None of these claims of course have any basis in fact or reality, but nonetheless she's been trafficking these claims as a member of the legal team, and they're not all that far from what the president and his lawyers have also been saying.

The president has alleged this conspiracy theory about the Dominion voting software, saying that it's somehow deleted votes in his favor. No basis in reality, it's something that's been repeatedly debunked by state and federal officials across the country over these last several days.

Now as this is happening though, the president is losing in the courts, one case after the next. More than two dozen cases have been either dismissed or withdrawn by the Trump legal team. And Republicans are beginning to increase the pressure on the president, saying that it is time for him to either show the evidence that he has in court, or to move on and allow this transition process to happen.

Pressure coming in on Sunday from Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski saying that the transition needs to happen right now, others beginning to raise the alarm as well, saying that the transition delay could cost American lives amid this pandemic.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

CHURCH: Joining me now is CNN political analyst Jonathan Martin, he's also a national correspondent for the New York Times. Great to have you with us.

JONATHAN MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: So, Donald Trump is determined to undermine the 2020 election results, but pressure within the Republican Party is building with the GOP governor of Maryland telling Trump to stop golfing and concede. Chris Christie and increasingly number of other Republicans are now saying that Joe Biden clearly won, and Trump needs to put the country first. So when will he likely do that and stop dividing this nation?

MARTIN: I wouldn't hold your breath. I don't think it's going to be anytime soon. I think that this is going to take a lot more states certifying their results and perhaps even next month's Electoral College, you know, making it official before Trump sort of acknowledges reality at all.

But clearly, his own party at least when it comes to some lawmakers are starting to grow weary of this denialism. In large part because the efforts of he and his legal team to push all these conspiracy theories about the results have frankly become embarrassing to the party.

CHURCH: Yes, and President Trump lost the election but he is winning when it comes to casting doubt on a free and fair election. What about 70 percent of Republicans believing his false and baseless claims?

MARTIN: Yes.

CHURCH: How big a threat is President Trump to democracy in this country and how difficult will it be for Biden to lead and stop the pandemic, for instance? MARTIN: Well, Biden is going to take the helm on January 20th of a

very polarized very divided country. And it's not going to be easy for him to sort of forge a unified front when it comes to the virus, the economy or anything else because of those differences.

[03:09:57]

And to be candid, President Trump has exasperated the polarization by his refusal to do whatever losing candidate for president has done in the history of this country. And as when the results are clear, to concede defeat and he is obviously uneasy about dying that.

CHURCH: Yes, because a key GOP Michigan canvassing board member is a suspected to vote against certifying the election results, and Donald Trump made it clear he thinks this will all end up in the Supreme Court. What is your reaction to all of this? And does this amount to an attempted coup?

MARTIN: I think he's clearly trying to subvert the will of the voters by not conceding and by actively summoning GOP state legislators to the White House to talk about how they can undermine the results of the election. So that to me is clear enough.

I think we need to see what happens when more of these states certify the results then certainly next month when this is made official by the Electoral College, I think we'll have a lot more clarity on President Trump's posture.

I will say though that from talking to Republican sources, they are less concerned about him trying to stage a coup than they are frankly just embarrassed by his conduct and by what he is doing to the party. And I think all of them recognize that President Biden is in fact going to be sworn in on January 20th. I think it's just a matter of how and when President Trump faces that reality.

CHURCH: Right. And Trump's lawyers are now trying to distance them -- to distance themselves from the conspiracy theories. Trump's other lawyer --

MARTIN: Right.

CHURCH: Sidney Powell despite her being very much --

MARTIN: Yes.

CHURCH: -- part of the team --

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: They never knew her, yes.

CHURCH: -- just a few days ago, right? We went down this person. So, what is going on here?

MARTIN: I never heard of her. Yes. And that's a prime example of what I'm talking about. Somebody who is obviously a key part of the Trump legal team saying things that are just so outrageous and conspiratorial that the White House can't stomach or being part of the team.

And so, they put out a statement on Sunday saying that she's not part of the legal team even though she clearly was until her comments went too far around the band even for this White House. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about. It's just more cringe inducing than it is alarming for most Republicans on Capitol Hill right now.

CHURCH: We'll keep watching to see where all of this goes. Jonathan Martin, many thanks. I appreciate it.

MARTIN: Thank you for having me. Good night.

CHURCH: Well the coronavirus pandemic is reaching unprecedented numbers with incredible speed. Here in the United States over 12.2 million cases have been confirmed since the pandemic started. And the country just saw its 20th straight day with more than 100,000 new cases reported.

Meanwhile, we just got news of another vaccine candidate. AstraZeneca says its drug showed an average efficacy of 70 percent. The company says one dosing regimen was even higher at 90 percent. Cases are climbing in California.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is in Los Angeles County were new restrictions will soon take effect.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The number of new COVID cases in California just skyrocketing, it has tripled since the beginning November. And that means more restrictions throughout California. Among the most severe here in Los Angeles County you will not see scenes like the one behind me anymore where people are dining outdoors or even indoors. In Los Angeles County they are closing down restaurants for indoor and outdoor dining. That starts Wednesday at 10. You can only pick up and deliver. We talk to the G.M. of this oyster bar. She is absolutely just shattered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: It's really truly devastating. It's really upsetting. I just think about all our staff, all of my friends and colleagues in this business. Everybody is really hard hit. We are all struggling to get by as is with our patio set up. So, this is a real blow for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN (on camera): The economic ripple tremendous not only will employees' hours in these restaurants have to be trimmed or people will be laid off. But then all of the vendors and everybody else linked to the restaurant business is also going to see yet another downturn as the pandemic just rages on here in California.

Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you.

CHURCH: Thanks for that. Well President Trump is stepping off the world stage the same way he stepped onto it, railing against global efforts like the Paris climate accord. That and other highlights from the G20 summit ahead.

[03:14:59]

Plus, as Mr. Trump's time in office winds down, Israel's prime minister has a message for the next U.S. president about Iran. We'll take a look.

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CHURCH: The virtual G20 summit wrapped up Sunday with leaders of the world's largest economy is promising to ensure fair access to COVID-19 vaccines. They say they are committed to easing the global impact of the pandemic and most reaffirmed a commitment to tackling climate change.

U.S. President Trump however used the event to slam the Paris climate accord.

And CNN's John Defterios is here to explain. Good to see you, John.

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Thanks.

CHURCH: So, President Trump seemed to play to his base as he attacked the Paris climate agreement, yet again. And how did that sit with the other major players of the G20?

DEFTERIOS: Well, Rosemary, it almost seemed like he was attending the wrong session, to be candid. It was about safeguarding the environment, so the fact that he decided to go out here and bash the Paris climate accord really didn't sink -- sit well with the group that was around the virtual table, if you will.

[03:20:03]

In fact, Saudi Arabia, beyond COVID-19, and the response and equitable distribution for the vaccines that you talk about there, put climate change at the front and center of the G20 agenda. So, when President Trump said these words, people were pretty shocked. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I withdrew the United States from the unfair and one-sided Paris climate accord. A very unfair act for the United States. The Paris accord was not designed to save the environment, it was designed to kill the American economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (on camera): So, it's almost like this G20 summit was kind of designed to reset the climate accord. In fact, Ursula von der Leyen who is the president of the European Commission didn't mention Donald Trump. And in her comments over the G20 summit said we look forward to a multilateral relation. Again, with a clear nod to the President- elect Joe Biden.

And another issue that the president decided to hit home in a completely kind of out of the blue sky thinking here, was touting the U.S. as the number one oil and gas producer again. Again, there was no subject about this at the G20.

It is true the U.S. remains the number one oil and gas producer, but that's because the host nation of the G20, Saudi Arabia and its counterpart in the OPEC, plus Russia, have cut back production it's because we've seen three major downturns.

And the last one, the most severe because of COVID-19, remember prices, Rosemary, went negative in April. It would require these countries to cut back. And in the meantime, even though the president still touts the supremacy in oil and gas, we've seen unemployment in the big shale bases like in Texas quadruple over the last year to nearly 10 percent in a worst-case scenario. So, it seemed very odd, as an observer of the G20 for many, many years to see why he is talking about oil and gas.

CHURCH: Interesting. John Defterios bringing us up to date on that. Many things.

Well, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has an apparent message for U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. Don't to return to the Iran nuclear deal. Mr. Netanyahu didn't mention Biden by name during his speech on Sunday, but Israeli media widely interpreted his comments as being directed at the incoming president.

The prime minister had been a vocal opponent of the agreement, calling it a very bad deal when he addressed the U.S. Congress in 2015.

Let's bring in Oren Liebermann, he joins us live from Jerusalem. Good to see you, Oren. So, was this a message for President-elect Joe Biden from the Israeli minister on the Iran deal?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, I think that much is very clear. So often over the course of the past four years many of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's messages on Iran had an audience of one. And that audience was President Donald Trump.

Netanyahu was perhaps the most vocal supporter of abandoning the Iran nuclear deal, he was a vocal supporter of the maximum pressure campaign, the Trump administration has led against Iran with sanctions. And now that Netanyahu has finally acknowledged that it's Joe Biden who is president-elect who won the election it seems there is a new audience of one, that of Biden himself.

So, he said the following at a state ceremony for the memorial of Israel's first prime minister. He said, there can be no going back to the previous nuclear agreement with Iran. We must stick to an uncompromising policy of ensuring that Iran will not develop nuclear weapons.

That message it seems directly to Biden as he Netanyahu puts forward his priority list or what may be better termed as his wish list from U.S. foreign policy under a future administration.

One of the big debates going on with the intelligence community and this has been going on for quite some time now is whether the U.S. leaving the deal was the right move and the pressure campaign against Iran. There are those who are for it but there are those who are against it. Pointing out, and this is highlighted in an IAEA report from last week that Iran has exceeded the limits before the JCPOA after the U.S. abandoned it.

Is that a better position to be in at this point? And that's where that debate comes in. But Netanyahu's position is absolutely clear that abandoning the Iran deal was the right move and that rejoining it in its current iteration will be a mistake.

CHURCH: And Oren, on another topic, what's been the reaction to the decision to release convicted Israel's spy Jonathan Pollard after 30 years?

LIEBERMANN: Well this is something that was celebrated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by his government and by many here. There are groups here, as well as lawyers who have been trying to work on his release for not only years, but in some cases, even decades. It was seen as a victory when he was released from prison but he was released with travel restrictions.

And now those have been lifted Netanyahu saying he looks forward to welcoming Pollard and his wife Esther Pollard here in Israel when they are able to move here. It seems that won't be happening just yet. Jonathan Pollard's wife is receiving medical treatment in the U.S. and they won't move until that has completed.

Rosemary, another question that's worth asking at this point given the travel restrictions because of COVID, will they have to enter quarantine for two weeks upon their arrival here.

CHURCH: I'm sure they shall. Our Oren Liebermann joining us live from Jerusalem, many thanks.

[03:25:02]

Well as the U.S. heads into the Thanksgiving holiday this week, a huge number of Americans are on the move. This, despite a surge in coronavirus cases. The latest on that coming up.

Plus, the British prime minister is preparing to announce how he will move England out of lockdown. More details from Downing Street after a short break. Stay with us.

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CHURCH (on camera): Well, the U.S. continues to witness an alarming surge of the virus. Sunday marks the 20th straight day that more than 100,000 new cases were recorded. And to put it into perspective, a quarter of all cases reported in the U.S. since the pandemic began happened just this month. There are now more than 83,000 people hospitalized in the U.S., that's

according to the COVID tracking project and that breaks an all-time hospitalization record for the 13th consecutive day.

All of this underscoring the urgent need for a vaccine. The scientists leading Operation Warp Speed says the first Americans to receive a vaccine could be as early as the second week of December and told CNN's Jake Tapper that the vaccine is completely safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Our level of understanding on a broad population basis of the short-term safety of the vaccine is actually very good, better than what we usually have. What we are lacking is the long-term safety, just because it's a fact that we can't follow-up for too long in this vaccine while 1 to 2,000 people die every day. That's the risk we know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[03:30:05]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): But with Thanksgiving this week, Americans are on the move. Travel nearly hit a pandemic peak this weekend despite warnings from the CDC.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says people who are planning to celebrate the holiday together should think about the potential consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: As we're getting into the colder season, particularly the situation with the holiday season where you see people traveling, you see the clips on TV, people at airports, I mean, those are the things we've got to realize that are going get us into even more troubled and we're in right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (voice over): Joining me now is CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen. She is also a former Baltimore health commissioner. Thank you, doctor, for talking with us and for all that you do.

LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Always good to join you.

CHURCH: So sadly, U.S. COVID hospitalizations have set records for 12 straight days we. Have are seeing three million new cases and 25,000 new deaths in November so far. All this as Donald Trump's coronavirus vaccine chief admits no contact has yet been made with President-elect Joe Biden and his team. What impact might this have on the way vaccinations will be rolled out and on the lives of so many Americans?

WEN: Well, we are seeing this unprecedented number of cases, hospitalizations and soon to be deaths here in the U.S. But we have such amazing news this last week of a vaccine that could be 95 percent effective. I mean, Operation Warp Speed in terms of drug development has been a huge success if this really pans out in all the rest of the scientific studies and reviews.

But now we need to make sure that the warp speed for drug development translates to warp speed for distribution because it would be just so tragic if we have this lifesaving vaccine that for whatever reason is unable to reach the hundreds of millions of Americans.

And so anything that can be done to expedite the transition so that things are smooth and seamless and so that Americans can get access to this vaccine when it's out, that's what's going to save lives.

CHURCH: Yes. And let's talk about that. Because we are hearing that vaccine distribution should begin within 24 hours after emergency use authorization is given. But we're still getting mixed messages on a timeline, aren't we? So, what will it mean in terms of getting vaccines to frontline health workers, the elderly and ultimately the general public?

WEN: Well, the initial tranche of the vaccine is going to be given to those who are the highest risk. In different states maybe defining in different ways because there is a limited resource. Initially, the supply of the vaccine is going to be much less than the demand for it, and so there will be some level of prioritization initially whether it's healthcare workers treating COVID patients will get it first, and then maybe nurses in nursing homes, et cetera.

But then by the time that the general public gets access to it in the hundreds of millions of doses, we're looking probably at spring to maybe even early summer by the time that we can get that level of vaccinations out. And again, that's the key. It's not just the vaccine, it's the vaccination.

And local and state health departments are very strained when it comes to resources. So, they also need to hire many additional staff, they need to do all the coronation, they need to figure out I.T. systems so that they can input individuals and track their vaccination status. And so, all of that takes time.

CHURCH: Yes, and so much to organize. And doctor, as we countdown to Thanksgiving this week, what is your advice to families in the U.S. about how to mark this very important day?

WEN: I know it's extremely hard for people to not see their loved ones, my family, the same thing. We haven't seen the grandparents of the baby, who have never met my baby, and I know it's really hard in this time of stress, that we really want to see one another.

But know that there is COVID surging out of control everywhere in the country. It is just not safe to see people indoors unless they are in your immediate household that you live with. I would highly recommend for people to see others outdoors only. Household separated at least six feet apart, otherwise do not gather indoors. I know it's really hard, but hope is on the horizon. We need to get through this winter and not let this Thanksgiving be our last. CHURCH: Yes, It's so important. And doctor, just finally, how much

damage has been done so far due to President Trump and others politicizing masks, general public health recommendations and now vaccines?

WEN: So much of this response has been hindered because of misleading information and active disinformation, so we're facing not just a pandemic of the virus. We're facing a pandemic of disinformation as well.

[03:34:57]

And that's why it's so important for all of us to speak the truth about how masks save lives, masks protect the wearer as well as other people around us. That these public health measures like social distancing really do work, and so please help us spread the message, and together we can get through this winter.

CHURCH: We just can't say it enough, can we? Wear those masks, do all of the things we've been told to do and we should be safe. Dr. Lana Wen, always a pleasure to talk with you. Many thanks.

WEN: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH (on camera): All right, we want to go to the United Kingdom now where there is good news on the vaccine front. A coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca has an average efficacy of 70 percent. It comes as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to announce how he will lead England out of its latest lockdown.

The nation has been under a strict lockdown since early November and it's due to end next week. He is expected to unveil a new COVID winter plan, one that could see a mass testing program rolled out in the areas with the highest infections.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is outside 10 Downing Street with more details on the plan. But first, our Anna Stewart is following the latest on this vaccine. Good to see you, Anna. Let's go to you first. And what more are you learning about this new Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine, of course it's efficacy. We're talking about 70 percent less than the two, Pfizer and Moderna in the United States. So what's going on here?

OK. I'm having trouble hearing you, I'm not sure if anyone else is, but we might come back to you, Anna. We will try and to fix that. We'll go to Salma Abdelaziz. She joins us at 10 Downing Street as we said.

So, Salma, talk to us about this plan that Prime Minister -- have we -- have we got Salma? Have we lost Salma as well? Not getting any word from the -- all right. We need to take a break and we'll be back in just a moment. We'll go back to the United Kingdom. Back in a moment.

[03:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH (on camera): With Thanksgiving just days away here in the United States, many Americans are ignoring the advice of health officials to avoid traveling for the holiday this year.

Over the weekend, airport saw some of their highest passenger numbers since the pandemic began. Nationwide, security agents screen more than a million passengers Friday and nearly a million on Saturday. Of course, other Americans are heeding the travel warnings, most notably those directly impacted by the coronavirus. Some say gathering with family this Thanksgiving just is not worth the risk.

Natasha Chen shares some of their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: We know that there are so many people that are going through dark times right now.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After almost a year of dark times, there's an understandable urged to be together for Thanksgiving.

KATHY FAYNE, DEKALB COUNTY, GEORGIA RESIDENT: My father was a Methodist, he's 83.

CHEN: But the risk is huge.

FAYNE: So, I'm struggling with going to see him because my mother passed earlier this year so I'm struggling right now, trying to decide if I'm going or if I'm staying home.

CHEN: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says stay home. CDC experts now saying most coronavirus infections are spread by people with no symptoms and the spread is worse than ever. The U.S. saw more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases every day for at least the last 19 days. New cases this month already total about a quarter of all U.S. coronavirus cases during the whole pandemic.

One of the early cases was Pastor Arthur Breland.

ARTHUR BRELAND, PASTOR, UNITED CHURCH: It was the worst experience I ever had in my life.

CHEN: On March 25th, he woke up in a sweat.

BRELAND: I basically was trying to rush to the refrigerator to put my head in the freezer because I was so hot. And then that's all I remember and my wife waking me up a couple of moments after that and then being rushed to the E.R.

CHEN: After 12 days in the hospital and another month and a half recovering, he knows firsthand how real the threat is. This year his congregation is having more events outdoors. They will not be having their annual celebration, and Breland says he won't be visiting family across the country. Eslene Richmond Shockley is also forgoing her family's usual 50-person

gathering. That's to protect the family after they already lost her 83-year-old uncle who she says died from COVID-19 in April.

ESLENE RICHMOND SHOCKLEY, FOUNDER, CARING FOR OTHERS, INC.: He wasn't feeling well. He went to the hospital and he never came back HOME.

CHEN: Shockley runs Caring for Others, a charity organization that held its annual Thanksgiving food drive Saturday. She honored her uncle, Walter Green, who would usually be president at the vegetable station.

SHOCKLEY: And this is the first year in 20 years that my uncle will not be here to help us to distribute from (Inaudible).

Because that was someone I could pick up the phone and call, but that's someone that is gone.

CHEN: So, she says to make sure she can still see her other loved ones next Thanksgiving, she won't be seeing them this Thanksgiving.

SHOCKLEY: Life is precious. Let us try to save each other.

CHEN (voice over): Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH (on camera): Canada's largest city Toronto is now under a partial lockdown as it battles a surge of COVID infections. Over the next four weeks indoor gatherings will be restricted and businesses will only be allowed to provide pickup service.

The city is seeing one of the worst outbreaks in the country with hundreds of new cases being reported daily.

All right, we're going to try again to go to the United Kingdom where there is good news on the vaccine front. A coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca has an average efficacy of 70 percent. It comes as U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to announce how he will lead England out of its latest lockdown.

So, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is outside 10 Downing Street with more details on that plan. But first, our Anna Stewart is following the latest on the vaccine.

[03:45:01]

Let's hope your audio works this time, Anna. So, talk to us more about what you're learning about Oxford and AstraZeneca's vaccine, of course its efficacy.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: This is the moment that we've all been waiting for, for many, many months, what are the ultimate efficacy results for the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca's vaccine and the results are in for the early data. And this is just the preliminary stunt.

Now the headline figure, Rosemary, is a little bit disappointing. Over rule, the efficacy number is 70 percent. Now you can compare that to Moderna's which is 94.5, and Pfizer's which is 95 percent. So, it does look a little disappointing.

However, this is actually an average of different doses that they tried out through their phase two and phase three trials in the U.K. and Brazil. And really interesting, those participants that were given half a dose, and then four weeks later got a full dose. The efficacy results for that was 90 percent. For two full doses, it was 62 percent.

So now AstraZeneca are looking to focus much, much more on this idea of having a half-dose and then a full dose and they can start to incorporate that into the phase three trial that's ongoing in the United States. It is overall good news, they are very pleased with this result. They are now submitting all this data to their regulatory bodies all around the world to try and get approval.

There were no big adverse negative effects, that's obviously very, very important as well in phase three. The interesting thing about this, Rosemary, though, is they want to make three billion doses of this vaccine next year. I believe that's actually more than Moderna and Pfizer combined.

They have manufacturing hubs all over the world, they got many, many partners that will be making this for them as well. But this idea that it's now half dose and a full dose may of course have an effect on the supply chain, probably needing smaller vials.

But speaking to AstraZeneca just a few moments ago they were really overall pleased with the results despite what looks like a fairly disappointing headline figure.

CHURCH: Yes, I didn't like saying that 70 percent. But certainly, will toward the 90, it sounds like that's the direction they're going in. Anna Stewart, joining us from London, many thanks to you.

All right. Let's go to Salma now, she is outside 10 Downing Street. And Salma, we want to find out more about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's COVID winter plan. How is that likely to work, especially as England heads into these dark days of winter?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: Well, Rosemary, the prime minister is set to speak in parliament today and lay all of this out. This is essentially a roadmap out of lockdown and into the holidays. But here is what we do know, because the house secretary Matt Hancock was on air just an hour ago on the BBC, and what he said is t we are looking first of all at England's lockdown which we just about have over a week left of that set to expire on December 2nd.

That will be replaced with a three-tier regional lockdown -- regional restrictions system, rather and if remember I that was in place prior to this nationwide lockdown. It was extremely controversial but it was based on geographic area. That will go back into place and it will be even tougher than before.

We've already heard from conservative M.P.s that they are unhappy with this, that they want to see a cost-benefit analysis as to why the government has chosen to go back into this regional restriction system.

The other thing we are expecting the prime minister to lay out is several days, around Christmas time, maybe five days in which households will be allowed to mix together in a limited way, in a safe way to allow for some people to celebrate to enjoy the holidays but still not throw away all the gains that have been made during lockdown.

That has also been met with some controversy from scientists who say these restrictions are simply too lax and will result in having another spike in cases. So, a lot for the prime minister to lay out here.

And the important thing to remember is he is trying to have a unified strategy across the entire U.K. which is something we have not seen for months. So, lots of works to do the prime minister right behind me here will have a lot of work cut out for him this week, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes, most definitely. Salma Abdelaziz, joining us there from 10 Downing Street, many thanks.

Well, a city in northeast China is testing more than two and a half million people for COVID-19 after a new outbreak. Officials in Tianjin say they have already conducted most of the testing and expect to finish soon. They found five locally transmitted cases on Friday, mostly from the same residential area.

Well, for the south in Shanghai, official say all employees working in cargo areas at Pudong Airport have been screened for coronavirus. Two workers tested positive on Sunday making it a total of five reported infections link to the airport since Thursday.

Well, thousands of protesters march in Guatemala on Saturday protesting cuts in health care and education and calling for the president to resign. Most of the protests were peaceful but some demonstrators set fires inside the Congress building. A local hospital said 14 people were treated for a number of injuries.

[03:50:03]

The region is struggling to recover from two powerful hurricanes in a two-week period.

You are watching CNN Newsroom. Still to come, we will meet a South African Paralympian who has overcome every challenge in his path to compete for his country.

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CHURCH (on camera): Welcome back. Well, CNN is highlighting Paralympians from around the world who were defying the odds in their journeys to the Tokyo Games. One athlete from South Africa has overcome both physical challenges and social stereotypes to compete.

Here is Christina Macfarlane with more.

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MPUMELELO MHLONGO, PARA ATHLETICS: I think growing up with the stigma it actually taught me that you need to define success for yourself. I grew up saying successes about making somebody smart, and rising by raising others. And that's been the simply motto that I've lived in.

[03:54:58]

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): His name means success in the Zulu language. For Mpumelelo Mhlongo who broke his own world record in the 100-meter sprint last year in Dubai, it's a name that he strives to live up to. But his journey to this track in Cape Town began with a rocky start. Mhlongo was born with amniotic band syndrome, a rare condition which cause complications in the development of his limbs and digits.

MHLONGO: Basically, what happens is that when you are in the room there is constriction of your limbs. And that constriction restricts blood flow. It means you don't grow as much and as adequately as any other child.

MACFARLANE: Mhlongo says that because his disability isn't immediately apparent, it has caused issues for him in competitive support.

MHLONGO: One of the largest stereotypes that I faced in my life is that I'm either too disabled for an able-bodied competition or not disabled enough for the Paralympics. And then I sit there and say, OK, then where do you put somebody like me.

MACFARLANE: From the time he started running in primary school Mhlongo played for able bodies sports teams despite his condition. Until six years ago when a chance encounter with a para athlete inspired him to pursue an ultimate path.

MHLONGO: I ended up going for classifications, I found myself at world championships and went to the Paralympic games in Rio. I think Paralympics is the ultimate show of the human spirit, which is no matter who you are and where you come from you can get together and hone a skill and find a family where you are accepted.

MACFARLANE: Christina Macfarlane, CNN.

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CHURCH (on camera): What an inspiration he is. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Do stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)