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U.K. Approves Use of COVID Vaccine; CDC Released on Who Gets the Vaccine First in the U.S.; Healthcare Workers Exhausted of the Pandemic; China Ramping Up Vaccine Deliveries; President Trump Thinks of Preemptive Pardons; U.K. Approves Pfizer/Biontech COVID Vaccine for Use; World Bank Warns of Arduous and Prolonged Depression; Conflict in Ethiopia Could Turn Into Guerilla War; Biden Unveil Economic Team Saying Help is on The Way; Biden Nominates Janet Yellen for Treasury Secretary; Bipartisan Senate Group Drafts COVID Relief Bill; Tensions Rise as Georgia Senate Runoff Nears; Young Georgia Voters Rally For Runoff. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 02, 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]
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UNKNOWN (voice over): This is CNN breaking news.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. We are bringing you this breaking. And I'm Rosemary Church at CNN center.
So, from the United Kingdom, the government has announced it has accepted the Pfizer/ BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for use. The U.K. regulators has concluded that the vaccine, quote, "has met its strict standards of safety, quality, and effectiveness."
A health department spokesperson says the vaccine will be made available across the U.K. from next week.
And CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins me now live from London. Salma, this is incredibly positive news. I mean, it put a spring in the step of everyone across the globe. Talk to us about why the United Kingdom has moved so quickly here and how soon they can start these doses next week.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: It's hugely exciting and so significant. And it couldn't come at a better time after such a tough year as people head into the holidays now a bit of hope. I know we've been talking about coronavirus now for months now and we kept saying if there is a vaccine, if there is a vaccine. Now we can say when there is a vaccine.
And for the U.K., the first country to give emergency authorization for this vaccine, that is next week. And we will start to see people receive those shots across the country next week. I mean, such extraordinary news to be sharing with you. Now the U.K. has preordered 40 million doses of this vaccine. But the
first batch is going to be 800,000. We are supposed to find out in a few hours who will get it first. But here's what's expected.
Remember, this vaccine has to be held at extremely low temperatures, negative 70, negative 80. And the places that would have that refrigeration capacity are hospitals. So, the idea is that it will potentially go to hospitals first, which would mean it could go to health care workers first, which I know everyone will be overjoyed to hear that after the sacrifices they have made, after the lives they have save to see them get a little bit of protection.
I know it takes two jobs. It will be a matter of time but getting finally protection from this virus. The other group, of course, that the government is most concerned about in the vulnerable category are people in care homes and care home workers. So, they are at the top of the list. We are supposed to find out stay as well how quickly they can receive the vaccine. But again, 800,000 doses arriving.
The house secretary, Matt Hancock was on air just a short time ago, saying that they will be disseminating this vaccine at speed, meaning as it's manufactured, it will go out. The bulk of it will of course be next year. But he started by saying help is coming. Just be patient. It's just a little longer, Rosemary?
CHURCH: Yes. It is very exciting news indeed. And we will watch very carefully to see, presumably, healthcare workers, I mean, that's certainly what was decided here in the United States by the CDC. Tuesday health care first and then of course residents and staffers in nursing homes.
So, we'll see what is decided in Great Britain. Salma Abdelaziz, many thanks for bringing us up to date on that breaking news.
So, here in the United States, a committee at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as we mentioned, has voted on who should get the first doses of a COVID vaccine once they are approved here. They want health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities to be first in line, since they are most vulnerable to the disease.
The advisers say the second wave should target essential workers like those in food production and emergency personnel. It may also cover people at high risk of complications and death from underlying conditions. The vote comes as the number of COVID-19 cases is accelerating rapidly.
On Tuesday, more than 98,000 COVID patients were hospitalized in the U.S. And that is a new record. And Johns Hopkins University reports a big jump in the daily death toll, with nearly 2,600 deaths reported on Tuesday. Now that is the second highest single day COVID death toll ever in the United States.
And the first round of vaccines are expected to be distributed later this month once they are cleared for use in the U.S.
CNN's Nick Watt has that part of the story. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): United Airlines now has vaccine cold storage unit at Dulles airport outside D.C. Pfizer has flown vaccine in from Europe. It's in Michigan, ready to be deployed.
[03:05:02]
And these? Vaccine refrigerators at hospitals at Delaware, and Texas. Here is a vaccine timeline on what to expect. December 10th, an outside advisory FDA panel meets to discuss Pfizer's application for emergency use authorization. December 17, same process for Moderna's vaccine candidate.
ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, UNITED STATES HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We could be seeing both of these vaccines out and getting into people's arms before Christmas.
WATT: By June 2021, every American that wants the vaccine will have had the vaccine. So says the federal government.
UNKNOWN: But I would also suspect there to be bumps in the road in the vaccination program.
WATT: Bottom line?
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you want to be part of the solution, get vaccinated.
WATT: Right now, too many people are part of the problem, spreading the virus like never before.
FAUCI: All things considered. We are not in a good place.
WATT: In California, concerned ICU beds could all be filled by Christmas. They are considering another stay-at-home order for much of the state.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We are assessing this in real-time over the next day or two.
WATT: Conversely, Florida just hit one million confirmed cases, but --
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I'm opposed to mandate, period. I don't think they work.
WATT: This country could be facing a surge on a surge on a surge. Surge one in November, all but three states saw average case counts rise. Nationwide, record numbers now in the hospital, creeping towards 100,000.
UNKNOWN (on screen): One second you think it's gone, then it's right back at you.
WATT: Surge two, Thanksgiving. Millions traveled and this virus spreads over a warmed crowded table.
FAUCI: You see the difference two or three weeks from now which will put it right at the time that people would be traveling for Christmas.
WATT: Surge three, it could be Christmas.
UNKNOWN: I would tell them to stay home, because they might see somebody this year and they won't be here next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Joining me now is Dr. Joseph Varon. He is the chief of staff at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, Texas. Thank you, doctor, for talking with us and for all that you do.
JOSEPH VARON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, UNITED MEMORIAL MEDICAL CENTER: Thanks for the invitation.
CHURCH: I do want to bring up this photo. It's of you embracing and comforting an elderly COVID patient on Thanksgiving Day. It went viral. He is crying, because he wants to see his wife. So many heartbreaking moments like this. And you have worked 257 days straight. How stressful has this been for you and your colleagues and how are you all coping?
VARON: By far, it's the most stressful situation I have ever encountered in my career. I have been in major earthquakes. I have been in bombings. I have been in tsunamis, and yet this has been by far the most stressful situation in my entire life.
CHURCH: And how are you coping with that? And how are the nurses and other doctors coping with this?
VARON: Well, you know, our nurses are tired. We are all exhausted. Some of my nurses will start crying in the middle of the day. I mean, they see one patient die and then soon thereafter they see another one, and then they have three more patients coming from the emergency room.
We are all very tired. It's been one after the other and the problem is, we don't see an end in sight, in any, you know, anytime soon at least.
CHURCH: Right. Yes, I understand that. I mean, at least there are vaccines in the pipelines. But before we get to that, I want to ask you how angry it makes you feel when so many Americans refuse to wear masks, and refused to follow other public health recommendations, putting you and your colleagues lives at risk, just because they don't want to basically, it's a freedom issue, isn't it?
That is what it comes down to. What do you say to those people? And some of the patients that comes in and see you who have refused to wear masks?
VARON: Well, I'll tell you. It's quite simple. First of all, I get annoyed. I get annoyed to the point that I would like to slap them in the face but I guess I cannot do that. Having said that, you know, I have several of them that tell me hey, I don't want to use a mask. It's my right. I mean, that is a right, but it's not a right to kill somebody else.
You know, if they want to die because they want to die, that's OK. But the problem is that there are so many people out there that they don't know that they are carrying the virus, that they are asymptomatic.
In our own data we have tested over 200,000 people. Of those people that are positive, 48 percent of them are totally asymptomatic. So, I get annoyed when somebody tells me I don't need to wear a mask because I'm not feeling sick. I mean, that's nonsense.
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CHURCH: Yes. Because of course we know from science that the mask protects both sides, the person wearing it and anyone else around them.
So, help is on the way, which is very encouraging. The CDC vaccine advisers voted Tuesday to recommend the first doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. They would go to frontline health care staff and long-term care facility residents and staff there as well. Once approved, of course for distribution, what is your reaction to that recommendation? And how difficult do you think it will be to vaccinate everyone in just those two groups?
VARON: I personally can tell you that in the United States, it's going to be extremely difficult. And it's going to be extremely difficult, because I work with a lot of health care providers. They don't want the vaccine.
I work with a lot of people that are Latin X or African-Americans. They don't want the vaccine. They are scared of the vaccine. The idea that the vaccine is the answer is not the answer. It's going to take months if not years to convince people that they need to get the vaccine.
When that actually happens, I mean, what happens in between now and then? That's why it's so important to keep social distance, wear your mask, wash your hands, avoid giant crowds. Those are the things that we need to work on in addition to other things that we need to start looking into, other medications that may help us prevent the development of COVID. That's where we need to start looking into.
Because the vaccine, I understand that, you know, everybody wants to get it with hopes that the vaccine is going to cure it all, but that is not going to happen. I see it every day. Latin X community, African-Americans, they said I'm not going to get the vaccine.
CHURCH: Yes. I mean, I think we'll all be wearing masks for a whole lot longer than we envisioned at this point. But we will see what happens. Dr. Joseph Varon, thank you so much for your time. And you are a hero to all of us. Many thanks.
VARON: Thank you very much. CHURCH: Well, China is now wrapping up plans for vaccine distribution
once approved. And in a country of more than a billion people, that task is daunting and enormous.
CNN's David Culver joins us live from Shenzhen in China with an exclusive report. Good to see you, David. So how does China plan to distribute the vaccine once it's approved?
DAVID CULVER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What's unique about what's happening here, Rosemary, is that the focus is not so much on domestic distribution, as you would see in parts of Europe and in the United States. Rather they talk about global distribution. Now that's not all a matter of goodwill.
Certainly, the Chinese biotech companies behind those vaccines will benefit financially, but also it's somewhat of a vaccine diplomatic move, if you will. A lot of folks have look at this as China's way of redeeming what some have considered to have been an initial mishandling of the outbreak.
So, if this vaccine, one of many here actually that's up for potential approval, goes through the Chinese regulation approval process and is eventually distributed, it could ultimately help China from a P.R. front, if you will. Now that all has to then go through a distribution. And so we were exclusively able to see what that type of distribution would look like from here in Shenzhen.
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CULVER (on camera): You are looking at one of the cargo jets that will soon be taking vaccines that are approved here in China, made by Chinese biotech companies, to the rest of the world. This one is a charter, Ethiopian cargo. It's their pharma wing.
Look over here, you can see they are already loading up some of the PPE, some of the face masks, some of the Hazmat like suits. Inside, however, they have built an infrastructure that is temperature and climate controlled. Why does that matter?
Well, as soon as the vaccines are approved, they have to be kept at a certain temperature setting and that is the only way they can be transferred from start here in Shenzhen in southern China to finish.
For this aircraft, it continues on to the Middle East. One thing that's important to note is the logo on the side, Cainiao. That is a part of Alibaba. It's their logistics and distribution part. Normally, they are doing goods that people are buying online. Think of Amazon but on a massive scale. That is the company that here in China is helping with the distribution of vaccines as soon as they are given the go ahead.
WAN LIN, CEO, CAINIAO: We are ready to move the vaccines.
CULVER: Cainiao's CEO Wan Lin says the company is now adding more routes for global reach.
LIN: We are not sure about the exact demand on that, but we are definitely building our capability to be prepared for that.
CULVER: While China has yet to approve a vaccine for public use, Cainiao says their end to end climate-controlled infrastructure is in place and ready. The required temperature, which differs depending on the vaccine, must be maintained throughout transport, from leaving the production facility, to airport storage, and finally, to global cargo distribution.
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GEORGE MAO, VICE-GENERAL MANAGER, CAINIAO GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN: For example, the Shenzhen airport terminal it has already set up a cold chain warehouse mainly for the medicine suppliers.
CULVER: CNN got an exclusive look inside that cold chain facility which will soon store the approved vaccines. Now these chambers can be specified and even customized based on the required temperature for each vaccine. And they can put them in different chambers within so as to accommodate that.
Cainiao then now works with different airlines to ensure that cargo temperature is sustained throughout the flight, in this case, Ethiopian Airlines. Since the start of the pandemic, they've flown more than 3,000 tons of supplies to Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and South America.
TEKLE G/YOHANNES, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES: So, we do the same also with the vaccine to distribute to all destinations around the globe and then we can cure a lot of human beings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CULVER (on camera): It sounds incredibly promising when you hear put it that way, but the reality is the vaccine still has to be approved by Chinese regulators here.
The BioNTech company is here in China that are competing to develop a vaccine, Rosemary, face a lot of questions. They face scrutiny over their transparency, and really the effectiveness of those vaccines. But if they can overcome some of that consumer skepticism and win trust globally, and companies like Alibaba's Cainaio say they already immediately to start shipping worldwide.
CHURCH: It's going to be a tough task for China for sure. David Culver joining us from Shenzhen in China, many thanks.
And still to come, Donald Trump says the election was a fraud. But one of the president's closest allies is throwing cold water on that claim. We will tell you who undercut the president in just a moment.
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CHURCH: Well, the final days for any U.S. president's time in office typically include a flurry of pardons. And Donald Trump is apparently considering some of the most controversial pardons in history. Sources tell CNN the president is talking to aides about pardons for
his children and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani. The pardons would be preemptive, because none of them are charged with a crime. Something that's highly unusual.
And speaking of pardons, there is word the Justice Department is looking into a potential pay-for-pardon scheme. Redacted court documents show an investigation into payments made to the White House or political committees in exchange for a promise of a Trump pardon.
The documents do not name anyone involved in the alleged scheme. The man behind the investigation, U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, also made headlines on Tuesday for directly contradicting President Trump's claim that the election was rigged.
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Barr, a longtime ally of the president told the Associated Press the Justice Department has not found any evidence of fraud that would change the results of the election. He said there is no evidence to back up the Trump campaign's claim that voting machines were rigged to switch votes.
Well joining me to sort through all of this is Thomas Gift. He is the director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College London.
Good to have you with us.
THOMAS GIFT, POLITICAL SCIENCE LECTURER, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Good morning, Rosemary. Good to see you.
CHURCH: You too. So, in a very public shaming of Donald Trump his own attorney general, Bill Barr, announced there is no evidence of fraud that would change the election result. What do you think triggered Barr's sudden rejection of Trump's baseless claims of a rigged election, and what are the possible ramifications of all this?
GIFT: Well, Rosemary, I think that this is Bill Barr saying to the president that he is entitled to his own opinion on election rigging but not his own facts. In some way, Barr's words were striking. In this White House we've grown so accustomed to Trump bending the truth to fit his own narrative.
And so little pushback including from the DOJ that it's a story when a high-level official who is loyal to the president puts his foot down. But in this case, I think Barr didn't have much of a choice if he wanted to maintain credibility. Trump's allegations of voter fraud and irregularities have gotten nowhere in the courts.
So, to lend credence to those accusations wouldn't have just seemed like a partisan move. I think it would have flown in the face of overwhelming evidence. With that said, I think that the fact that Barr did refute Trump's fraud claims so explicitly should add greater force, given that he has been such a staunch defender of the president. CHURCH: Yes, apparently enough is enough. So, there is progress
there. So, the other big revelation also coming from Bill Barr's Department of Justice is an apparent investigation into a potential pay-for-pardon scheme with payments apparently made to the White House in exchange for a Trump pardon. What do you make of this apparent moneymaking venture? And clearly verging on criminal.
GIFT: Well that would certainly be an explosive revelation if there were actually facts to back that up. I think at this point, we are still in the early going with trying to figure out what exactly is happening there. But if there was evidence that that was happening, it would be a monumental story, a huge story. And it is hard to figure out exactly what the fallout would be and all the ramifications. But it certainly would be a very serious charge and accusation.
CHURCH: Shock and surprises around every corner right now. So, a Georgia election official pleaded with Donald Trump and Republicans Tuesday to stop inciting acts of violence. But we already know that by perpetuating these false claims of a rigged election, Donald Trump has been able to raise tens of millions of dollars.
So how likely is it that he will listen and stop this before someone gets hurt or perhaps worse?
GIFT: I think it's very unlikely that we will see an explicit concession by the president. He has shown no indication that he's interested in doing that to this point. I do think that he received some political benefit from continuing to maintain that he didn't actually lose.
He's planning after he leaves office to form this political action committee, he wants to be able to fund that. It's possible that he is setting himself up for a 2024 run or at the very least wants to be a kingmaker. And as a result, I just think Trump is pretty dead set against granting a concession, and still continues to maintain that this election was rigged and fraudulent.
CHURCH: Yes. And just a quick chat and return to that pardons issue. Because now we understand that he is seriously considering pardoning his three older children. And Rudy Giuliani, perhaps even himself. That is still in the mix. What would be the likely response to that? And how legal is that?
GIFT: Well, it would be a preemptive pardon which is fairly uncommon. And I think what Donald Trump would do would be to frame this as trying to avoid a witch hunt against himself and his family. If he did do that, I think that there would be a lot of political fallout. But at the same time, he's an outgoing president so I'm not sure if he would actually face significant consequences.
There are some legal questions about what this would entail and how much of purview Donald Trump would actually have to do this. But at the very least, Rosemary, it would be considered highly unusual and unprecedented in lots of respects.
CHURCH: Yes, yes, indeed. Thomas Gift joining us there from London, many thanks as always.
GIFT: Thanks, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Well, three pro-democracy activists have been sentenced to jail in Hong Kong in connection to anti-government protests.
[03:24:58]
Joshua Wong and Ivan Lam are seen here leaving for court earlier. Wong has been sentenced to 13 and a half months in prison after pleading guilty to inciting and organizing a protest outside the Hong Kong police headquarters last year.
Ivan Lam has been sentenced to seven months in prison for inciting the protest. And Agnes Chao has been sentenced to 10 months in jail for inciting and taking part in the protest.
And when we come back, an economy and a health care system on the edge of collapse. We will take you live to Lebanon for a personal look at a place where hope is in short supply.
And the U.N. is already helping tens of thousands of Ethiopians who had fled recent fighting. But now, they are worried about the people cut off inside the region that's become a battlefield.
We're back in just a moment.
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CHURCH (on camera): More now on the breaking news we are following.
The U.K. has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine saying it has met strict standards for safety, quality, and effectiveness. The British Health Secretary, Matt Hancock tweeted this. Help is on its way and the NHS stands ready to start vaccinating early next week. The U.K. is the first country in the world to have a clinically approved vaccine for supply.
Well, Pfizer is reacting to this huge news. The chairman and chief executive officer of the company said this. As we anticipate further authorizations and approvals, we are focused on moving with the same level of urgency to safely supply a high-quality vaccine around the world. With thousands of people becoming infected every day, matters in the collective race to end this devastating pandemic.
So, let's talk about this latest development with virologist Muhammad Munir. Great to have you with us.
MUHAMMAD MUNIR, VIROLOGIST, LANCASTER UNIVERSITY: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: So, I mean, this is such exciting news. I think everyone watching at this very moment is very positive, feeling very positive about the future. But let's talk how about how this is going to work. Because we know that this is been approved now. Ready for use. Possibly to go to health care workers starting next week, which is very soon.
Talk to us about distribution. Talk to us about how many doses we are talking about here, and how easy this can be done.
MUNIR: Yes. Well, thank you very much, Rosemary. I think it's certainly great news from concept to reality in 10-month -- in 10 months is really groundbreaking.
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One of the things here in the U.K. we've been doing around a month before is to lay out the foundation given the National Healthcare System. So that when the vaccine would become available it will be easily distributable. And for instance availability out of the freezers, making people trained and making them (inaudible) that the vaccine is coming. That is certainly at the very high level.
And now having a vaccine approved by the U.K. is certainly going to help because we already prepared on the medical sector. The people who are in contact with me, they do keep me updated about the information that is on way from the government to the health care sector. So, certainly, we are on a very positive mode here. However, there are a lot of challenges that we will be face in the coming months, moving ahead.
Particularly when the vaccine availability would be at the scale to go into the general public. Because at the moment, for instance we would talk about the U.K. particularly, we have 10 million doses coming up into the country this year. This will be sufficient for 5 million people immunization.
Starting from probably health care and daycare homes. Although the detail will be laid out to their knowledge basically. So, certainly it's a great environment here. And I am honestly very much pleased with the progress on what we have so far.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Yes, and of course, we would expect challenges to be there. Do you think there's any possibility, of course all countries around the world are watching to see how the United Kingdom does this, how they move forward, and here in the United States on December 10th, there is the advisory meeting with the FDA where they will determine whether to go forward with Pfizer.
Of course this would have an influence on that. Is there any possibility, do you think as a result of this move made by the United Kingdom, that the United States, the FDA would bring that forward?
MUNIR: Yes. Very important point. Although their regulatory bodies are different from different region, continent or even at the national level. For example in the U.K. we have MHRH that approved -- that is equivalent to FDA in the USA. So, I don't really doubt that the data will be shared between the organizations, between regulatory bodies, because it has been looked into for the efficacy, stability and effectiveness, and the foundations for rolling out here in the U.K. should also be shared with the FDA, so that it can be learned between the organizations. So that we make sure that we don't really miss the time while we are assessing these vaccines on a very high scale.
Because all the while we are talking about here, at the moment, is something that never been practice and (inaudible) before deployment of the vaccine in the public, but in a very short time. So, therefore, of course, there is a pressure on the regulatory bodies. But at the same time, they need to make sure that it is only approved and it is safe and effective, and it is.
But that will give us you and me, also assurance. That when it comes to our own, it is safe and it is good to take on and that there should not be any hesitancy.
CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. Certainly here in the United States, various polls have shown that is around 58 percent of American adults who would be willing to take this COVID-19 vaccine. Is there that similar reluctance in the United Kingdom? Or are people more willing to take the vaccine?
MUNIR: Yes. There is certainly that element here in the U.K. as well as seen in most parts of the Europe as well. However, I think the percentage of hesitancy, as it has seen in the U.S., is not as high as it is here in the U.K. I think we have one quarter of the people that are having some concerns about the vaccine.
However, I think that the vaccine itself, particularly for Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, once these become approved, getting into the population there it need to be and start establishing an immunity, I think it's going to itself remove that hesitancy, because vaccines basically they should speak for their own.
So, I have no doubt that in coming months these number of people who were hesitant will be reducing significantly, because there is unprecedented need. And everybody know the importance of the vaccine and the impact this virus has at on us. So, I'm very positive, that we are coming days and months, we will have a lot more coverage for the vaccine. And that is probably end of this pandemic.
CHURCH: Very exciting news. I know, as a virologist for you, this would be just extraordinary. Muhammad Munir, thank you so much for joining us. I appreciate it.
MUNIR: Yes.
CHURCH: Well, the World Bank is now warning, of a prolonged depression in Lebanon where it projects the economy will shrink by more than 19 percent this year. And the spiraling COVID-19 pandemic has made deaths economic crisis even worse.
[03:35:12]
Ben Wedeman has been looking at the deepening crisis in Lebanon, he joins me now live from Beirut. Ben, the people of Lebanon have just -- had to deal with so much, the pandemic, the Beirut explosion and now this. How are people coping right now?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It's becoming ever more difficult, Rosemary, for people to cope, because this economic decline it did not begin this year, in fact last year, GDP declined by more than 6 percent. This year as you said, it is going to decline by around 19 percent. And next year, it is expected to fall by an additional 13 percent.
So people are seeing prices in ordinary goods going through the roof. The purchasing power of the Lebanese leader has essentially disappeared. And what makes it all the more galling as this World Bank report made clear, is that this is at what is described as a -- the result of a deliberate lack of effective policy by the authorities.
In other words, the government in its words, has not decided and not even implemented anything to really address the problem. And we went to the main hospital here in Beirut where they are treating COVID patients. And we saw with our eyes just how bad it is for the health care workers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (voice over): Aali suits up for another day of work. In the emergency ward of Beirut's Rafik Hariri University Hospital, Lebanon's main facility treating COVID-19 patients. The frontline worker in the struggle against coronavirus. Aaliyah Workie, a nurse only recently recovered from the disease himself. He knows the dangers of his calling, only too well.
There is a risk says Aali, that we can get corona like what happened to me. But in the end, this is our job, the job we chose, and that we have to do it.
Lebanon has just emerged from a 16-day nationwide lockdown. But according to hospital Director, Dr. Firass Abiad, the benefits are so far elusive.
FIRASS ABIAD, CEO, RAFIK HARIRI UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: This is the highest death toll -- weekly highest weekly death toll, since the beginning of the pandemic here in Lebanon. Also another thing we have noticed recently is the number of deaths that are happening at home. And some of them for patients who are young in age electively.
WEDEMAN: Lebanon is grappling with a perfect storm of troubles. Top of the pandemic, there was the Beirut Port blast last August that killed more than 200 people, and damaged large parts of the city. The economy is in freefall. The government is bankrupt and grip by total political paralysis and the country is rock by frequent unrest. Back at home, Aali tries to shield his young daughters from the stresses and risk of his work.
Sometimes I have to hide my pain he says, sometimes I had to hide just how tired I was. Simple divergence had never been more precious.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WEDEMAN (on camera): And of course this situation, this gathering of all these negative factors, is encouraging many young, educated and skilled Lebanese to try to get out of this country as quickly as possible.
CHURCH: All right, Ben Wedeman we thank you for that report. I appreciate it. Well, the U.N. refugee agency is urging the Ethiopian government to allow access to refugees and others fleeing the conflict in Tigray. Ethiopia's Prime Minister has claimed his military offensive is over, but the Tigray People's Liberation Front says their resistance continues.
Meanwhile the U.N. says, 100,000 Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia are not receiving the support needed to survive. The fighting has sent about 46,000 Ethiopians fleeing into Sudan. The U.N. is also worried about the people stuck inside the cut off Tigray region.
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BABAR BALOCH, SPOKESMAN, UNITED NATIONS HUMAN RIGHTS AGENCY: The camps will now have run out of food supplies making hunger and malnutrition a real danger. A warning we have been giving since the conflict began nearly a month ago. We are also alarmed at unconfirmed reports of attacks, abductions, and force recruitments at the refugee camps.
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[03:40:09]
CHURCH (on camera): CNN's Sam Kiley is in Abu Dhabi with details. He joins me now live. Good to see you, Sam. So, what's the latest information you have on this?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Rosemary, the UNHCR has appealed for access to this area on Becky Anderson's show last night, Connect The World, because this is an extraordinary situation in 21st century in which information is extremely difficult to come by due to a total blackout on communications.
In that context, the head of the UNHCR said that he had never seen such a problem with separation from refugees, because they are unable to communicate with one another and as you mentioned there, the 100,000 there Eritreans from a previous conflict, across border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea stuck in Ethiopian territory in dire need of resupply.
But the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front, against whom the central government launched this assault on November 4th has said that it's going to fight on and even after the central government claimed victory with the capture of the capital of Tigray at Mekelle, just a day or so ago, the Tigrayan Peoples Liberation Front said that they shot down an Ethiopian aircraft and captured its pilots.
Now, there were very difficult indeed to verify any of these claims and counterclaims. But clearly from the humanitarian perspective, it's extremely important for the humanitarian missions to get in there, establish what's going on and start to repair some of the damage that has been done so far in this conflict, which shows no real sign, whatever the claims made by the central government, of coming to an end anytime soon.
Indeed, the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front has vowed to fight on using what the mountains (inaudible) that they've used in past rebellions to considerable effect.
CHURCH: All right. Sam Kiley with the very latest there. Many thanks. And still to come, CNN on CNN Newsroom, Joe Biden unveils his new economic team and his plan to lift up struggling Americans in the midst of a pandemic.
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CHURCH (on camera): President-Elect Joe Biden says he has a message for every American who is struggling to make ends meet. Help is on the way. On Tuesday, he introduced his economic team, which will soon face the daunting task of rebuilding the U.S. economy in the midst of a pandemic.
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JOE BIDEN, 2020 PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The full Congress should come together and pass a robust package for relief to address these urgent needs. My transition team is already working on what I will put forward in the next Congress to address the multiple crises we are facing. Our message to everybody struggling right now is this. Help is on the way.
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[03:45:11]
CHURCH: And Biden has nominated Janet Yellen as his Treasury Secretary. She says the U.S. is facing a historic crisis.
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JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY NOMINEE: The pandemic and economic fallout put together have caused so much damage for so many and have had a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable among us. Lost lives, lost jobs, small businesses struggling to stay alive are closed for good. So many people struggling to put food on the table and pay bills and rent. It is an American tragedy. And it's essential that we move with urgency.
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CHURCH (on camera): CNN's John Defterios joins us now. John, we heard that urgency, of course, the word of the day is any momentum building for this team to act in the first 100 days on a COVID-19 economic response? And what is happening in the meantime on Capitol Hill?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR (on camera): Well, I think, Rosemary, team Biden has been very straightforward and therefore earning some respect and even global financial markets as a result. We have to keep in mind that when it comes to the stimulus packages, it's four months beyond the original date line. It's just done periodic bills to get us through the Christmas season if that's even the case.
And there's four major programs that expire by the end of the year, Rosemary. So, what we see now in the Senate is a bipartisan proposal, just over $900 billion which is about half the level that Donald Trump is willing to sign on to. But nearly two times the level that the Senate Republicans had proposed, right. So, they are trying to strike a middle ballots here. Here are the two co-sponsors, Mark Warner and Mitt Romney. Let's take a listen.
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SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): I came to this with the notion that I am hearing from Virginians. Somebody use and I borrowed their term. That it would be stupidity on steroids if Congress left for Christmas without doing an interim package as a bridge.
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UH): I happen to be a deficit hawk. I don't like borrowing money. I like spending money we don't have. But the time to borrow money, maybe the only time to borrow money, is when there is a crisis. And this is a crisis. We want to help people at this particular time.
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DEFTERIOS (on camera): Once again, the Senator from Utah, Mitt Romney. And the idea here is Rosemary to get this package put through, it carries the stimulus package all the way until April 1st, giving the Biden group here a 100 days to craft their own package for the rest of 2021. It is kind of staircase going forward.
CHURCH: That's exactly what people need. I mean, they are desperate. We see those food bank lines. It's just extraordinary. And John, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pursuing his own strategy with the White House. What does that entail?
DEFTERIOS: Well, you know, I worked on Capitol Hill for five years. It can be kind of a crafty game or a nasty game, or a combination of both. I think that's what we're seeing right now. You saw the bipartisan proposal that we just talked about. Mitch McConnell, in the meantime is dusting off his half trillion dollar package yet again. We understand that he has been having conversations with the current treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, to try to get this passed and have the president signed on.
Even though I suggested before the president was willing to sign on to $1.8 trillion. McConnell is absolutely against doing a bailout for state and local governments, and he doesn't think we should be spending during this time, even though there is a crunch, and even though we have people on both sides of the aisle saying this is a pandemic. It's the same thing that Janet Yellen did, the treasury secretary elect is suggesting as well. She is the nominee. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Absolutely. John Defterios, always a pleasure to have you on. I appreciate it.
And be sure to tune into CNN Friday as Jake Tapper sits down with U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris. Their first joint interview since they won the White House, that is Friday at 10:00 a.m. in Hong Kong, 2:00 a.m. Friday (inaudible) hours in London, only here on CNN.
Early voting begins in less than two weeks for Georgia's runoff election. And the states young voters are playing a big part in deciding who wins control of the Senate. Will have that for you on the other side of the break, stay with us.
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[03:50:00]
CHURCH: Well, the U.S. State of Georgia is just over a month away from a critical runoff election that will determine who controls the Senate. If the Democrats win, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris would be a tiebreaker in Senate legislation.
Meantime, Georgia Secretary of State is pushing back against lies and misinformation from President Trump about widespread voter fraud noting practices in the state have been completely fair. Another state election official is pleading with the president and his followers to stop their dangerous behavior before it's too late.
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GABRIEL STERLING, GEORGIA STATEWIDE VOTING IMPLEMENTATION MANAGER: I don't have all the best words to do this, because I'm angry. The straw that broke the camel's back today is a 20-year-old contractor for voting System Company, just trying to do his job. Just there, in fact I talk to the dominion today and said he's one of the better ones they got. His family is getting harassed now. There is a noose out there with his name on it. It's just not right. I can't begin to explain the level of anger I have right now over this.
And every American, every Georgian, Republican and Democrat alike should have that same level of anger. Mister President, it looks like you likely lost the state of Georgia. We're investigating, there's always a possibility. I get it.
You have the right to go through the courts. But you don't have the ability to do and you need to step up and say this, is stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someone's going to get shot. Someone's going to get killed. And it's not right.
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CHURCH (on camera): (Inaudible), it could be a major factor in the outcome of the Georgia runoff. A study found that 20 percent of Georgia's votes during the presidential election were from people under the age of 29. My next guest is trying to get more young people to register and vote ahead of the runoff. Edward Aguilar, joins me now from Atlanta. A pleasure to have you with us.
EDWARD AGUILAR, STUDENTS FOR TOMORROW: Thank you for having me. CHURCH: So, I want to start by asking why you decided to set up
students for 2020 in an effort to enlist young people to vote in the January 5 Georgia runoff election. And what response do you have so far?
AGUILAR: Originally, we started working on students for tomorrow. Formally students for 2020. Because we wanted to empower student voters by showing them the best place to vote based on Electoral College. People can show us their University address, and their home address, and based on whatever weights that the Electoral College would give certain states, we were able to produce which place would be the best place for them to vote.
From there we kind of shifted into this more long term goal of electing students into office. We define students as people in the age of 34, because we want to lower or either increase the number of representation that there is in government, because right now, as you said in your opening, Students make up massive amount of this country and its potential voting population, but such a small fraction of the actual elected government.
CHURCH: Right, and it is worth pointing out, that you don't asked these students, these young people, who they intend to vote to any Party affiliation. Which is important here. But I do want to ask you this, because U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr broke ties with Donald Trump Tuesday, announcing there was no evidence of widespread fraud that will change the outcome of the presidential election.
A move that will of course helped convince some Republican voters in Georgia, that they can trust the states voting system. This will of course make the job of the Democrats much harder trying to mobilize voters, to get out and vote, even more.
[03:55:00]
Because a lot of them were saying why, if it's a rigged system, why get out and vote? Has that factored into any of this for you, this effort to make sure you get as many people out there to vote as possible?
AGUILAR: I'll tell you what, I mean, there is a lot of chaos. As I'm sure you guys know whether it be within the United States or people outside of the United States watching inside, there just so much chaos in our politics right now. And when I'm kind of happy about is that the demographic we specifically work with.
People between the ages of 17 to 34, they seem relatively unfazed by a lot of this. People like Stacey Abrams, people like Ossoff, who are really restoring a lot of the faith that people have in the election voting systems. So, maybe around the country you are feeling a little bit of uneasiness but at least here in Georgia things seem to be going fantastic so far.
CHURCH: So, when you reach out to these young people, at what proportion of them do you think say, yes, this is a great idea. I do want to sign up. I do want my voice and my vote to count or do you find there's a lot of pushback as you mentioned, there are a lot of people saying, what's the use of voting? It doesn't make any difference?
AGUILAR: Yeah. To be honest with you that's when we started this whole thing. Right, originally, we built this platform because we felt that a lot of students were disillusioned with the entire voting system. A lot of people would look at students and say like, you know, they're apathetic, they really don't care about what's going on. A lot of them really don't feel like that their vote really matters at the beginning of the day. That's why we built the system that can literally increase the power of your vote by over a 100 times depending on where it is that you chose to vote, right.
So, initially -- yes, you're going to have a lot of pushback, people don't think that it's, you know, it's really worth it. They'll say (inaudible) yes, I really don't to be a part of this. But then if you see like, OK, you're vote really can make a difference. Especially in places like the Georgia election, where this election could be determined by few thousand votes.
You see people suddenly becoming a lot more motivated to kind of put their two cents in. You know, because in Georgia we're going to have a very special election where, just a handful of people will be able to decide it.
CHURCH: Yes. Every vote counts. We learned that more than ever in the election 2020. Edward Aguilar, thank you so much for talking with us, we appreciated it.
AGUILAR: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: Sixteen years old, very inspiring there. You are watching CNN Newsroom, I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
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