Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Bipartisan $908B Stimulus Deal Gains Support On Capitol Hill; More Americans Suffering And Dying Of COVID-19 Than Even Before; Record 100,667 Americans Hospitalized, Concerns About Capacity; Former Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Discusses Fight Over Harris Senate Seat; Trump Supporters In Georgia Hold Onto Hope; Update On Coronavirus Responses Around The World. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired December 05, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: It's getting so bad the nation's top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci says some parts of the U.S. could be forced to postpone elective surgeries as hospitals fill to capacity. And it's not just sickness that has people in dire straits, millions of Americans are facing financial hardships.

There are new hopeful signs that Congress may finally be on the cusp of passing a new stimulus package with leaders from both parties now willing to negotiate over a bill Democrats had previously said was too small to consider. Hospitals across the country are struggling to maintain enough beds as more and more Americans fight the coronavirus.

Joining me right now two people who actually work together in an emergency room last night in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Megan Ranney and registered nurse, Megan Ellinwood. Good to see both of you. All right, first to you, Dr. Rainey, you see this firsthand every day. What are you dealing with right now as we see this new surgeon cases?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, DIRECTOR, BROWN-LIFESPAN CENTER FOR DIGITAL HEALTH: Fred, I wish I could take you behind the doors of the ER with me, we are seeing day by day increasing numbers of patients with COVID-19. Both those who are a little bit sick, and those who are really sick. We're also seeing increasing numbers of patients who have survived their initial bout with COVID.

But now we're having long lasting symptoms that are making it impossible for them to work, to do their normal activities that dreaded long COVID syndrome. And as that happens, our hospitals are filling up and our workers are getting sick. Our floors are short on techs, on respiratory therapists on nurses. Our doctors are covering for each other both in order to cover for those who are out sick and to help us open our field hospital here in Rhode Island. And we are on the verge of being in a crisis state.

WHITFIELD: So, Megan, as a -- as a nurse, you know, how has this pandemic affected you? Your colleagues. Tell me -- tell me, you know, what personally you're thinking and feeling and experiencing on a day to day basis? MEGAN ELLINWOOD, E.R. NURSE: Sure. So, I think the second surge that we're experiencing is quite different from the first where, you know, our focus was on the more severely ill of the COVID patients. And now we're seeing this affect us, myself, my colleagues, you know, healthcare workers all across different interdisciplinary fields where we're not only seeing this on the front lines in our day to day work, working with less resources and trying to do more for our increasing patient volume.

But also, as Dr. Ed mentioned, were dealing with us personally contracting the virus, seeing our colleagues out of work for recovery, as well as, you know, family members and loved ones also contracting the virus. So, it's now much more personal. And I think, you know, burnout and shortages, which were already well known to our field are definitely on the rise. And I think it's going to be a bigger crisis in the weeks to come.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Ranney, are you concerned about, you know, the weeks to come? What -- what's on the horizon? I mean, we just had Thanksgiving holiday. The Christmas break now just a few weeks away even though people have been urged, you know, to not commingle with anyone outside of your household. We saw the pictures of people at airports who were clearly traveling to go to other households. So what are you concerned about? Very soon, we'll all be feeling the effects of that.

RANNEY: Yes, I'm certainly concerned. You know, here in Rhode Island, we're on a pause, where we're not supposed to socialize with people outside of our household. But I'll tell you, Megan and I work together last night, and we took care of a bunch of people who'd been out and about. I know that people got together for Thanksgiving. And if even just one percent of those resulted in new infections.

We're looking at more than 500,000 new infections across the country in just one day. And each of those new infections has a chain reaction, and it's going to lead to increased hospitalizations next week, the week after and leading into Christmas week. I'm also worried about my colleagues. Again, Megan and I were sitting there last night talking with one of our newer nurses who was telling us that she just wasn't sure that she could keep coming back.

As these numbers grow, as we are dealing with these personal stressors. It is tough and exhausting to work in the hospital right now in full PPE. It's frustrating, and we're worried that we're going to start losing staff not just to the virus but to burnout and emotional exhaustion as well.

WHITFIELD: Megan, you are -- you're nodding your head. You know, the burnout factor is real. What are you experiencing? What keeps you going back to work while perhaps you're hearing from colleagues who are questioning whether they, you know, should return to the hospital, returned to the doctor's offices and do this very difficult frontline work?

ELLINWOOD: Sure. It's definitely a challenge to kind of do an uphill battle for so long on I think the biggest drive for us is to remind ourselves that we are not alone. [13:05:04]

ELLINWOOD: You know, this is a very isolating situation or so it feels. But nationally we are in this together. And I think trying to remember that we are a team, you know, no matter what your role is in the healthcare system, we are working together to get through this. And I think frequent discussions with our peers, with our leadership, with our colleagues to try to find a way to see some light at the end of the tunnel that, you know, while there is quite a bit of darkness ahead.

There will be a light and just relying on each other and speaking out, you know, in the emergency room. We have kind of a very strong ability to preserve ourselves due to the nature and the stress of what we do. But I think we are more likely to have a conversation these days with each other, to support each other and provide whatever resources we need to just really get through these days day by day.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Ranney, is it the vaccines that keep you hopeful or something else?

RANNEY: It's a few things that keep me hopeful. The vaccines are certainly one of them. We're going to be one of the early states, hopefully, to get the Pfizer vaccine here in Rhode Island, and I cannot wait to take my place in line and get that vaccine. I do see an end at the tunnel -- of the tunnel there. But the other thing that gives me hope is just ordinary Americans. I think that this time feels dark, as Megan said.

But I still see the actions of regular people making a difference. And I still see people who are doing the social distancing and the masking and who are showing up to think us in healthcare to make donations, to do the things that help create community despite this virus, and that gives me hope as well.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dr. Megan Ranney, Megan Ellienwood, thank you so much. And thank you for all that you're doing continue to, you know, give it your all to help so many.

ELLINWOOD: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. The FDA could issue emergency use authorization for coronavirus vaccine as early as next week. The President-elect Joe Biden says his transition team has not yet seen any detailed vaccine distribution plans from the outgoing Trump administration. CNN politics reporter Rebecca Buck joining me now from Washington. Rebecca, how is the White House responding?

REBECCA BUCK, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Fred, as you can imagine the White House defending their position and a statement they said that the administration has, "been working nonstop for months to put the pieces in place to distribute these vaccines when the time comes." And they also said the military could have confirmed preparedness to ship those vaccine doses.

So, the White House saying all the pieces are in place as much as they can be at this stage, but a very different story we are hearing now from President-elect Joe Biden. I want you to take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no detailed plan we've seen anyway, as to how you get the vaccine out of a container into an injection syringe into somebody. And it's going to be very difficult for that to be done and it's very expensive proposition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCK: Now, one person who will be aiding Biden in his response to the coronavirus is of course, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the nation's top infectious disease expert and for the Biden administration will be the chief medical officer as well. Fauci was asked about this vaccine preparedness issue, and how to sort a very different answer from Biden hedged a little bit on the federal government's preparedness thing.

The military is ready, but also, a lot of this will be up to states and localities. Take a listen to what Fauci had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR NATIONAL, INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGIES AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE: Well, there clearly is an organized approach that's right from the military component of Operation Warp Speed, General Gus Perna who's responsible for the actual transport. Once it gets there and listen, it is up to the state and local authorities in their individual way to make decisions about the distribution as well as the logistics of it. So, it really is going to be at the level of the state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BUCK: Now the vaccine of course, is just one piece of the puzzle for Joe Biden, as he plots his approach to the coronavirus when in preparation for taking office next month. Of course, the vaccine will still be spreading, they will take some time or the virus rather will still be spreading it will take some time for people to be vaccinated. So, while that process is taking place, Biden is going to also be focusing on stopping the spread or slowing the spread as much as possible.

He said this week that he is going to be urging Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days of his presidency is his prediction as people are getting the vaccine and as we are working toward that herd immunity. The other big factor of course that we'll be following and watching is the economic recovery. Right now there is of course a discussion ongoing in Congress about a potential coronavirus stimulus package.

[13:10:00]

BUCK: Biden is urging Congressional leaders to reach a compromise even before he takes office, but it's a near certainty that that will be an issue hanging over his head when he takes that oath of office next month. And Biden facing his first big test as president with this coronavirus response, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rebecca Buck in Washington. Thanks so much.

BUCK: Thank you. All right. So just hours now before President Trump heads to Georgia to hold a campaign rally for two Republican senators and run off races he is once again attacking Georgia's governor and Georgia's Secretary of State. Both Republicans and Trump blaming the Republicans for not overturning the election that he lost in the State of Georgia. CNN's Sarah Westwood at the White House for us. So Sarah, is a sign of what we can expect to hear from the President this evening in Georgia.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: And well, Fred, there are certainly some GOP nerves about that question of what we can expect from President Trump tonight in Georgia because to date, he's really been so fixated on his loss and really consumed with these debunked claims of election fraud that he hasn't spent much time promoting the two senators that he's heading down to the Peach State to campaign for.

So, there are certainly some Republican nerves about the President's appearance tonight. And those nerves were unlikely to be calmed by what the President just tweeted about the Republican governor of Georgia. I want to read you that tweet. I will easily and quickly when Georgia if Governor Brian Kemp or the Secretary of State permit a simple signature verification. Has not been done and will show large scale discrepancies.

Why are these two Republicans saying no, if we win Georgia, everything else falls in place. Now, this is not true. Obviously, there are not enough electoral college votes in Georgia, even if Trump were to somehow win, Georgia, he would still lose the election. Georgia's results have also already been certified. And that was after a hand recount. So really, no part of that tweet was accurate, a blatant falsehood from President Trump.

But this is exactly the kind of thing that Republicans are concerned about ahead of his visit to Georgia. They are worried that the President's message on election fraud could essentially backfire for Republicans to press turnout. If he convinces voters that it's not worth their time to go out and cast their ballot on January 5th, because the fix is in. And that's the message that he's been promoting for a month. Really counterproductive for Georgia Republican.

So there are a lot of concerns there. But despite the fact that the President did lose Georgia narrowly to President-elect Biden, he's still popular in the state. And that is why Loeffler and Perdue lobbied personally for the President to come down and campaign for them. So did the RNC chair who also tried to ply Trump with the prospect of claiming credit for their victory if you did come down and campaign. So a lot riding on the President's appearance tonight, Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Sarah Westwood at the White House. Thank you so much. And this programming note, the new CNN film President in Waiting takes a very personal look at the role of the vice president that's tonight at 9:00.

All right. This breaking news out of California, nearly 23 million in the state about to face a new stay-at-home order. We're live in Los Angeles plus. Plus, hackers now targeting key executives in the COVID vaccine supply chain. Can authorities piece together a motive? Plus, as Vice President-elect Kamala Harris makes history. She leaves a very important senate seat behind in California. Could history be made again?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:32]

WHITFIELD: Right now to this breaking news in California which is on the verge of issuing new stay-at-home orders for nearly 23 million people in the state. CNNs Paul Vercammen is tracking this for us. So Paul, what more are you learning about these new measures?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have these new measures that are going to go into effect very strict measures that will shut down most businesses in two regions. That's Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley region. And when you put together those populations, that's 27 million people. And if the ICU the intensive care unit capacity in these regions drops below 15 percent when these numbers are reported again today, then at 11:59 Sunday night, this order will go into effect.

It bans people going to museums, playgrounds, also restaurants. We know that there have been many bands throughout California that already are in effect such as an L.A. County, but this will make it a sweeping, sweeping stay-at-home order. It is being met with some resistance already. The Riverside County Sheriff among others blasting Governor Newsome suggesting that he's not going to enforce the order by going out and arresting people who are violating.

Now also here in California, the numbers have been awful. It is not a curve, it is a rocket line, a launch straight up. Here at UCLA Medical Center, among other places. They are girding for what they think will be an absolute tsunami of patients getting ready to put doctors and nurses on long shifts as they battle that pandemic. Also here, UCLA in short order, they are going to get.

They think in two weeks the first of the vaccines, and they say they're going to start by vaccinating these nurses and doctors and then going in throughout the UCLA system, going into care centers and going to vaccinate the most vulnerable, vulnerable, I should say, seniors and others first and then spread from there.

But they can store one million vaccine units in seven freezers here at UCLA. So here on the West Coast, this will be the first wave of these vaccines to arrive. Back to you now, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Paul Vercammen, thanks so much for that. All right. COVID-19 vaccines are closer than ever to reaching the American public. And cybersecurity is emerging as a new challenge to getting them where they need to go. Officials say hackers are targeting vaccine supply chains. Let's discuss with CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. Julia, good to see you.

[13:20:08]

WHITFIELD: So, are we any closer, you know, to knowing what these cyberattacks are aiming to accomplish?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: We are. Just so, it's unclear whether it's a, you know, sort of corporate espionage to find out information about this unique aspect of the vaccine distribution which is the cold storage or if it's other nations trying to wreak havoc on the global supply chain just to be a menace. Look, the cyber vulnerabilities in this massive global supply chain execution are going to begin from the demand side and fake news about the security of the vaccine.

You know, all the way to the last mile and privacy information regarding an individual's health. So, what we're seeing is sort of a both the Department of Homeland Security, telling people, telling institutions to protect their networks and also attempts to figure out how we better protect a supply chain that we just can't afford disruptions right now.

WHITFIELD: Are you leaning towards suspecting foreign attackers?

KAYYEM: No. I'm actually think that it's -- it is probably -- it is more likely than not corporate malfeasance or state sponsored corporate malfeasance. There's a lot of really interesting information around the vaccine, not just the vaccine itself. But in terms of cold storage, in terms of distribution. And so, you could imagine that, you know, simply that a corporation or a company wants to get information about how to do it better, about what other companies are doing.

If it's another state, chances are, we will discover that sooner rather than later. And look, all the states are in the same position right now, our enemies and allies, they want distribution very quickly.

And simply there's no evidence right now that this these cyberattacks are targeted against the United States, specifically, what worries me more in terms of the United States is either last mile disruption, in other words, an enemy wants to come in and make what we call sort of into the arm distribution, you know, sort of wreak havoc on our cyber networks or the harder part which is authenticity.

Who has what vaccine and when because we are -- we are going to live in a world in which you have to prove vaccination. And that's a lot of privacy information, a lot of health information that that someone may try to get.

WHITFIELD: Is your instinct -- or what is your instinct about what the motivation would be behind these hackers? Would it be money to make money? Or is it to directly pose harm to human beings? KAYYEM: Well, we don't know right now. But I think that there's a lot of money. You know, there's a lot of money in a global supply chain like this. So, if another company can get information about how to do the cold storage that protects these particular vaccines, or at least the ones that we're talking about, Now, remember, we have -- we alone, the United States has five or six other vaccines that are being tested.

The globe has, you know, a dozen or more. And so, there's money to be made. And so we should anticipate that corporations or, you know, they'll be malfeasance and trying to get information. Other states as we don't know yet, other states will probably be more interested in disrupting the supply chain of a particular country. And that's what worries me more once we start to get distribution next week with our vaccine.

So look, we call it layer defenses. This is a massive endeavor, it will have vulnerabilities. And so, what we try to do in building it is build up cybersecurity and cyber defenses as well as physical ones. We are going to have to protect these vaccines from being stolen from, you know, people who are desperate or being destroyed by people who are sort of anti-vaxxers.

WHITFIELD: All right, Julie Kayyem, thank you so much,

KAYYEM: Yes. But it's going to work.

WHITFIELD: OK. I like your optimism. I'm hearing a lot of optimism today. I like it. Thank you.

KAYYEM: I know. I know. I think it's going to work. Just give it a lot of months. But wear a mask (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Very good. Thank you so much. All right. Even in a long list of distribution challenges, the biggest hurdle to vaccinating the public, maybe nothing more than bad information. Dr. Sanjay Gupta went through and corrected some of the common myths associated with COVID vaccines. Take a listen.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We hear a lot of things about the vaccine and some concerns that people have, some myths that are out there being shared on social media, such as the fact that the vaccine, the platform for the vaccine was designed in two days. Isn't that too rushed? Well, it's interesting, it really is pretty remarkable how fast the vaccine was developed.

But it was more like taking the code, the genetic code and plucking out a piece of that code that will be used to make the vaccine. So, it's more like computer code than making a biologic in a lab for example. But also the technology that we're talking about for these vaccines. The messenger RNA vaccines.

[13:25:03]

GUPTA: A lot of that research has started decades ago, really -- decade two decades ago in terms of actually figuring out how to create these new messenger RNA vaccines. So, yes, it is fast. Typically, these things take years, not months. But a lot of the scientific development around this has been ongoing for some time. Another thing that I hear a lot is, if you've had COVID, if you've got it, you don't need the vaccine.

There's a couple things to keep in mind there as well. One is that if you've got the natural infection for COVID, you likely did develop antibodies. And that gives you protection. The issue right now is we don't know how long that sort of protection lasts. It could last a long time, but it may not. And we're seeing evidence of reinfection. So that's one reason that you should probably get the vaccine anyway.

The second reason is that the vaccine is sort of designed, especially with these two shot vaccines to prime the immune system, and then to boost it. And the idea, hopefully, is that the type of immunity that you get lasts longer and stronger from the vaccine than from natural infection. We don't know that for sure yet. But that could be the case. Another thing that we hear a lot about with these genetic vaccines specifically is could it actually cause me to get infected?

Could the vaccine actually lead to me becoming infected with the coronavirus? Well, one thing about these vaccines is that they're not -- you're not actually getting virus, that's typically how you think of vaccines like going back to smallpox and give a little bit of a virus, the body would react to it, wouldn't make the body too sick but the body would react to it. And then they would have antibodies.

In this case, you're just giving the genetic code for a portion of the virus. As a result, you're not actually giving any virus note, certainly no live virus at all in the vaccine, and you really can't get infected. We're going to see these trial results. We're going to see what happens with the FDA next week. But a lot of these are the same types of questions that are being considered by them right now.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you again for that, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. All right. Still ahead. Jockeying for Kamala Harris's senate seat as the vice president-elect prepares to head to the White House. There's now debate over who should replace her. I'll talk to the first woman to hold that seat next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:31:50]

WHITFIELD: When Senator Kamala Harris is sworn in as the next vice president in January, her departure will leave a major vacancy in the U.S. Senate. And the fight is already under way to find her replacement.

Joining me is former Senator Barbara Boxer. She held that California seat that Kamala Harris now holds before retiring from office, not seeking re-election in 2016 after serving three terms.

And it will be up to California Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint a replacement for Senator Harris.

So, Senator Boxer, what criteria? Who does the governor consider in making a selection?

BARBARA BOXER, (D), FORMER U.S. SENATOR FROM CALIFORNIA: The governor has an incredible embarrassment of riches to choose from, which is such a tribute to our great state. I mean, we have a deep bench.

And so the governor has a decision to make. Should he make an appointment of somebody who will run again in two years when the seat is up? Or should he just appoint a caretaker and then start fresh and let there be a primary and let the people decide?

This is a good decision for him.

WHITFIELD: What are you leaning toward? If you were to nudge him, encourage him, what would you say?

BOXER: Well, I tell you, I don't ever tell other people what to do. I really don't.

But I could say, if it were me. So if this were me, I would let the people decide.

And I'll tell you why. If you look at the whole issue of women in the Senate, it's kind of fascinating, Fred. Right now, we're doing the best ever. We've got 25 women and 75 men.

Over history -- and I just looked this up so I'll give you the quote. "Over history, there have been 1,984 people in the United States Senate since our history began. And only 57 women in that entire time."

And so when I left the Senate, when I announced I wasn't running, people like you asked me, well, what do you think? And I said, I would like to see a woman of color.

And, by god, not only did we elect Kamala Harris, but the runoff was between a Latina and Kamala. So it was pretty remarkable. Two women of color.

And so -- but I can't tell Gavin what he should do.

And I will say this. I know that he's used to history-making moves. He's done it many times. And, you know, he's going to look out at the landscape.

I do want to make a point. We have almost 40 million people in our state. And there are many states that have a million or less. And so we need a workhorse. This is a hard job.

I actually held it for four terms, 24 years. And I could tell you, our people need a workhorse because, whatever problems there are in the country, we have more of it just because we're so big.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it will be, at a minimum, a requirement for somebody to be a workhorse and that's among the criteria.

[13:35:01] And when you think of how Governor Newsom has to make considerations, Harris right now is the only African-American female in the U.S. Senate. Senator Carol Moseley Braun was the first black woman to be in the Senate.

BOXER: Right.

WHITFIELD: But is it your feeling that Newsom needs to be thinking or leaning toward a black woman? And looking right there in California, you know, tapping perhaps Congressman Karen Bass, Barbara Lee, who are already members in the House?

But, would this be, I guess, a more amenable, I guess, choice, particularly for the voting public because they are very familiar with those two women?

BOXER: Well, absolutely, they're on the list. They're fabulous.

And here's the point. The reason I think it's so important to consider diversity, who is in the Senate is this. You know, all the decisions happen behind, frankly, closed doors.

You don't decide everything when you're at the debate stage. So there's a big table and everyone is around the table.

And I have to say, even the most compassionate, empathetic people who try to walk in everybody else's shoes -- God knows I tried my whole life.

You're missing something when you don't have a real -- a group of people who represent different backgrounds in the room, whether it's male/female, the color of your skin, your religion, all of those things, who you love.

All these things are important. So Gavin has this opportunity.

And I do think the argument can be made, Kamala, it's a great loss having her as vice president. It's a loss to the Senate, a gain for the country, right? I could make that case very readily.

And, you know, for our governor, this is a really -- this is a hot potato, Fredricka.

You have to understand, the quality of the people we have in every single group, whether you are looking at LGBT, whether you're looking at African-Americans, whether you are looking at Latinos, Latinas, whether you are looking at Asian-Americans.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BOXER: Pretty remarkable.

So, you know, whatever he does, somebody said this, there will be a lot of people mad at him and one ingrate. But that's kind of what he faces at this point.

WHITFIELD: And Latinos, Latinas comprising a plurality of Californians.

BOXER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: There's some strong Hispanic candidates, including California secretary of state, Alex Padilla, who your former colleague, Senator Dianne Feinstein, has endorsed.

Will you see yourself making an endorsement?

BOXER: Absolutely not. And you know, I just don't believe in that. I want the people to decide.

Look, you asked me what I would tell the governor. He's not asking me. He doesn't have to. He has got his own instincts. And I know whoever he chooses will be great.

But I would predict, in two years, there will be a big fight still over who gets that seat.

If it were me, I would say a caretaker, then an open election. Let the people choose.

(CROSSTALK)

BOXER: Don't have one person make the choice.

WHITFIELD: If the governor were to ask you to be a caretaker, to come back, fill that seat, even if it's temporary, would you?

BOXER: No. I think I want to give someone else a chance. That honor, that extraordinary honor.

You know the expression "you can't go home again?" I did it. I was in the House. I was in the Senate for 34 years. And I -- it was an honor of my life. I left it very much at the top of my game.

And I am doing other things now that I adore that I love. I'm doing some teaching. I'm doing some consulting. I am doing some TV. I have got a lot of things.

I want to give someone else a chance to have that honor.

I told you before, there have only been 1,984 Senators in the history of the country. I had that chance.

I made that history with Dianne. We became the first two women ever elected from one state. And I'm so thrilled at that career.

And I think I'll leave it at that.

WHITFIELD: And a remarkable achievement, indeed, over 30 years in the U.S. Senate.

Senator Barbara Boxer, honor to talk to you. Thank you so much.

BOXER: Thanks, Fred. [13:39:27]

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, some Trump supporters holding on to hope the president can overturn election results. Why they say they are sticking with him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Joe Biden won the 2020 election. But some Trump supporters are still holding out hope that their candidate will remain in the White House.

CNN's Gary Tuchman talked to some of them in Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In many American neighborhoods, the beginning of December still looks like the beginning of November.

Trump campaign signs flags, banners on houses and barns, on fences, on trees, all left up by Trump voters who, in many cases, believe giving up on their signs means giving up on their president.

Julie Darnell lives in Cherokee County, Georgia, just north of Atlanta.

(on-camera): You still have up a lot of signs and flags for Donald Trump and Mike Pence. The election was November 3rd, how come the signs are still up?

JULIE DARNELL, TRUMP VOTER: And they're going to stay up to the end, to the very end. I think he's going to come through, you know.

TUCHMAN (on-camera): What do you mean to come through?

DARNELL: I think he's going to turn it around. I think he's going to turn around. I think we got cheated down the election and I'm -- I'm sticking with him.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Donald Trump has a lot of loyal supporters here. He received 69 percent of this county's vote. So you will find a lot of signs here that are still up.

J.D. Ortega says, during the campaign, some of his Trump signs were stolen. So he put other signs, high in trees, and that's where they will remain for now.

J.D. ORTEGA, TRUMP VOTER: Well, they're still up because I'm hopeful. You know, I'm hoping that something is going to come out of these investigations. I'm hoping that something will turn the tide. And I'm just I'm a big supporter.

[13:45:07]

TUCHMAN (on-camera): And Donald Trump can still be president? ORTEGA: And I'm hoping that he could still be president. Yes, I absolutely am.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): But then there is reality. The formal certifications that of results in battleground states, the Trump attorneys failures in courtrooms throughout the country to prove what the president claims was a fraudulent rigged election.

(on-camera): That's a concern you though that the President and other say there is evidence, but it's not being presented in the courtroom.

ORTEGA: That does concern me. I definitely.

TUCHMAN (on-camera): It definitely is.

ORTEGA: I don't know. I don't know all the ins and outs of what he's got going on. So it does concern me that it hasn't come to light yet.

TUCHMAN: The lack of evidence presented by the Trump lawyers is not comforting to many still flying the Trump flag.

Including Roger, who didn't want his face shown, but did want to tell us he nevertheless feels Donald Trump could win the election.

(on-camera): And why, other than him saying it?

UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP VOTER: Just anecdotally. Like I said, it's hard to say. We have so many --

TUCHMAN (on-camera): Maybe -- is it maybe wishful thinking on your part as opposed.

UNIDENTIFIED TRUMP VOTER: Sure, sure. Absolutely.

DARNELL: If America voted Joe Biden in, then Joe Biden should be. But I think it all should be fair. I think it all should be fair.

TUCHMAN (on-camera): Does it bother you that that you haven't seen any evidence of it, that it hasn't been presented and that maybe you're being tricked, that maybe this man just wants to stay in office so badly, he's going to keep saying it, but not show any evidence proving it?

DARNELL: Bother me? I don't know why he would want the office the way they've done him.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Many people still sporting the signs look at post-election Trump as a political martyr.

(on-camera): Each person we've talked to here recognizes that, for every day that goes by, things get more complicated for Mr. Trump. But these are true believers who refuse to stop believing.

Do you think that it's possible that America elected Joe Biden to be the next president? I mean, I know you don't want that to happen.

DARNELL: Possible. Possible. Not probable. Possible.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Gary Tuchman, CNN, Cherokee County, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, some countries are set to roll out vaccines as soon as next week. We'll take you there live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:51:44]

WHITFIELD: Protesters are clashing with police in Paris this weekend as crowds demonstrate against a new security law in France that they say undermines people of the press.

Officials say 44 people have been questioned by police in the three hours since the rally started.

The French government said it intends to rewrite the most controversial part of the security law. That announcement has yet to tamp down on countrywide protests.

As the U.S. gears up for vaccine distribution, countries worldwide are facing their own unique challenges in protocols.

CNN's reporters around the world tell us what it's like.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London, where there's a mad dash to get this country ready for vaccinations starting early next week.

So the plan is 50 hospitals in the U.K. will be injecting their own staff. So medical workers with the vaccine as well as people over 80 who have an appointment.

Now, originally, the device to the government was to prioritize nursing home residents. But because this vaccine has to be kept at extra cold temperatures, it has to go to the hospital first.

That means health care workers will be the first to be vaccinated.

MATT RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matt Rivers in Mexico City.

As many of Americans look forward to vaccines being produced right in the United States, there's many countries across Latin America that not only don't have the capacity to produce their own vaccines. In some cases, they don't even have money to buy ones made abroad.

There's also questions about delivery times. Back in 2009, during the H1N1 crisis, the WHO says some of Latin America's poorest countries received their vaccine some six to eight months after some richer countries did. Now during this pandemic, a U.N.-backed program, called Covax, is

aiming to get vaccines into the hands of those poorer countries much faster. And there will be roughly 10 countries in Latin America that will receive vaccines free of cost through this program.

One of those countries is Bolivia. I talked to that country's health minister recently. He's optimistic about the program.

But said, if there's issues with the program, he's worried that his population will go unvaccinated even longer.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Matthew Chance. And Moscow has launched a mass vaccination campaign.

Opening 70 vaccination centers across the city, according to officials, where residents can get infected with Sputnik-V, the vaccine developed by Russian scientists, which is still to complete phase three human trials.

Officials say priority will be given to designated high-risk groups. But that as the vaccine production is stepped up, everyone in the Russian capital will be eligible for the jab.

The mayor of Moscow has suggested that early participation has been enthusiastic. Saying more than 5,000 people have registered for vaccination in the first five hours alone.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Salma, Matt, Matthew, thank you to all of you. Appreciate it.

[13:54:36]

All right, coming up, President Trump is campaigning in Georgia today for two Republican Senators fighting to keep their seats. But could Trump do more harm than good while still challenging the results of the election?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with the U.S. in a full-blown crisis as the coronavirus pandemic spirals out of control. Hospitalizations, cases, deaths all at levels not seen since the disease was first found.

More than 100,000 Americans are suffering in a hospital right now. And 227,000 were infected on Friday alone. With another 2500 Americans losing their battle with the disease.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, there's growing optimism that both parties will come together for a new coronavirus relief package.

[14:00:06] That package is expected to be a lifeline to millions of Americans unemployed and facing financial hardships.