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Trump Team Has No Vaccination Plan; U.S. Hospitals Fear Deadliest Season Yet; Scotland, Wales Begin Vaccinations on Tuesday; Georgia's Special Election; Trump's Continuing Lies; E.U.-U.K. Trade Deal Negotiations Paused; Monoliths Sparking Questions. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired December 05, 2020 - 03:00   ET

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

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Shattering records yet again, the number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. ticks up relentlessly. One out of every two people now say they know someone who was hospitalized or died.

Hope in vaccines, some countries are set to start mass vaccinations in the coming days. We'll take a look at the rollout.

Also, a stalemate over a post Brexit trade deal and time is running out.

Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM, everyone, appreciate your company. I'm Michael Holmes.

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HOLMES: The U.S. yet again setting a new single day record for coronavirus cases, more than 227,000 on Friday. Johns Hopkins University reporting that takes the country's total to more than 14.3 million.

Another record: more than 101,000 people in hospitals across the U.S. right now. That number comes from the COVID Tracking Project.

Worldwide, the total number of cases fast approaching 70 million. U.S. officials saying 20 million Americans could receive a vaccine by year's end with two strong candidates under consideration for emergency use. By the U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden says his team still hasn't seen a detailed plan from the Trump administration.

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

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HOLMES: The White House responded, claiming the plan is publicly available.

Meanwhile, one health official has a warning about investing too much hope in the vaccines.

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DR. MICHAEL RYAN, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: Vaccines do not equal zero COVID. Vaccines and vaccination will add a major, major powerful tool to the tool kit that we have. But by themselves, they will not do the job.

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HOLMES: The top U.S. infectious disease expert says people will still need to wear masks when that mom vaccine becomes available. Dr. Anthony Fauci speaking at CNN's coronavirus town hall. He says there isn't enough vaccine to go around yet and there's still a lot of virus floating around out there.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: And even if you are vaccinated, you may be protected against getting sick. But you may not necessarily be protected against getting infections.

So, you may have some virus in your nasopharynx. It wouldn't bother you and maybe it wouldn't even infect anybody else. But it could be there. That's the reason why you can't abandon all public health measures.

You can gradually attenuate them, the more and more people that get vaccinated, the less and less the threat in society is until you get to the point, where if you have the overwhelming majority of people vaccinated and you have a good umbrella of herd immunity, then I think you can get back to as close as to normal as you would really want.

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HOLMES: Experts fear this winter will be deadlier than any other point so far in this pandemic. And that's because it could take months for a vaccine to be distributed throughout the country widely, as CNN's Athena Jones explains.

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DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: We are seeing numbers that none of us believe it was possible to see with this pandemic right now.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's never been this bad. And it's only getting worse. The U.S. setting records for new coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths Thursday, some 14,000 people losing their lives to the virus just since Thanksgiving.

Now an influential model predicting the death toll will nearly double to almost 539,000 people by April 1st. That is more people than live in Atlanta and Sacramento or in Kansas City, Missouri. Experts warning there is more trouble ahead.

FAUCI: So I think we have not yet seen the post-Thanksgiving peak, that it is likely we will see more of a surge as we get two to three weeks past the Thanksgiving holiday.

JONES (voice-over): That peak putting more pressure on already struggling hospitals and 9-1-1 systems.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: What lies ahead for the next few months is actually our worst-case scenario in terms of overwhelmed hospitals, in terms of the death count that is occurring.

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JONES (voice-over): Ohio's governor warning the state's hospitals are already in crisis.

California, which hit another single day high for new cases Thursday, with more than 21,000, pulling the emergency brake with new restrictions tied to hospitals ICU capacity.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): The bottom line is if we don't act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed. If we don't act now, we will continue to see a death rate climb, more lives lost.

JONES (voice-over): With hospitals in the golden state treating a record number of COVID patients in the ICU, the new stay-at-home orders will go into effect 48 hours after a region's ICU units fall below 15 percent capacity. 4 out of 56 regions expected to reach that threshold quickly.

Meanwhile, states are preparing to distribute thousands of doses of a coronavirus vaccine as soon as possible after the FDA signs off which administration officials say could happen within the next couple of weeks.

GOV. NED LAMONT (D-CT): We're going to get the most vulnerable and our essential workers all vaccinated within three or four months. That takes us say to mid-spring. That doesn't mean we are out of woods but it does mean we're beginning to turn the corner. Then we work broadly, get the vaccine out there.

JONES (voice-over): The doctors say mitigation efforts are still essential, a message echoed by a 23-year old in Arizona, who suffered a stroke during a bout with COVID.

RILEY BEHRENS, COVID-19 RELATED STROKE VICTIM: I thought if I get sick, if I test positive, I'm just going to have a little bit of trouble, but I'll be OK. And I was not OK. And so, I would just say it's time to start taking this more seriously than I think a lot of people have. It's like wear your mask and social distance. JONES: And the San Francisco Bay Area is getting ahead of California's new statewide restrictions, issuing a stay-at-home order for nearly 6 million people in five counties and the city of Berkeley.

Under the new health orders, outdoor dining is no longer allowed here, and nail salons must close. The restrictions go into effect on Sunday and last until January 4th -- Athena Jones, CNN, New York.

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HOLMES: Coronavirus vaccine centers are now open in Moscow; 70 vaccination points will be working around the clock on a daily basis. CNN's Matthew Chance joins me now for more on Russia's plans for mass vaccinations across the country.

Hey, Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michael. The announcement came just yesterday that Moscow would be opening these 70 vaccination centers to enable people to first register across the city to get Sputnik V, which is the vaccine that Russian devolved itself with its own scientists and registered for public use as early as August.

And apparently, according to the Moscow mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, there's been an enthusiastic pick up with more than 5,000 people registering to take that vaccine in the last five hours since registration centers opened.

So it's going to take time to get everybody vaccinated. Only certain groups are going to qualify first of all because of the limited supply of vaccine. But as production steps up, authorities say it's being stepped up now, they intend to roll out vaccinations not just across the whole of the Russian capital but across the whole of the country.

In fact, a couple of days ago, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, ordered authorities across the country to begin large-scale vaccinations across Russia. So the Moscow example, which has begun a few days ahead of everyone else, is sort of a way of testing how that system is going to work and how they're going to unfold and unroll these vaccination programs, which is very complicated, as you can imagine, across the country.

Now health officials in Russia say that, since August when Sputnik V was registered for public use, even before the third phase trials had begun, at least 100,000 people across Russia have already had the vaccine and have been vaccinated, including many members of the military, people who took part in trials, prominent political and business people, including Vladimir Putin's daughter, is supposed to have had it as well.

And so there's been a lot of people already that have had this vaccine obviously injected in Russia and in elsewhere across the world, is to get as many people as possible vaccinated as soon as possible -- Michael.

HOLMES: All right, Matthew Chance in London, thank you, appreciate, it

Some good news for Wales and Scotland. They'll be getting coronavirus vaccinations starting this Tuesday. No word yet on the rollout for England and Northern Ireland. CNN's Cyril Vanier is standing by for us in London with the latest on that.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Michael, it's crunch time now, right?

This is the beginning of a turning point or at least we hope it is for the U.K. and for many other countries that are going to be watching what happens in the U.K. this week.

So, the first doses of this Pfizer vaccine have now arrived in the U.K. and been in this country for just a little over 24 hours. And they were sent in unmarked trucks to secure, undisclosed facilities.

And a first check was done on them at that time because as the entire world knows now, this vaccine needs to be kept at 70 degrees minus, minus 70 degrees Celsius or colder. That is part of the big logistical challenge here.

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VANIER: So the first security check has been done in these undisclosed notations to make sure that the integrity of the vaccine hasn't been compromised. Assuming -- of course, there have been no reports that it has been so assuming that has all gone according to plan, they're going to be dispatched to 50 hospitals that are going to be acting as vaccination hubs across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Starting Tuesday, as you said, Wales and Scotland except to start their vaccinations that day. For England and Northern Ireland, we don't know the exact day yet but it will be this week. Several tens of thousands of people are going to get vaccinated this week in the U.K.

The U.K. has received 800,000 doses, which is enough for 400,000 people. That is less than what was expected because the government was announcing millions of doses before the end of the year. It seems we're not there yet.

It also means, if you think of the timeline, Michael, that it won't be until the very end of the year that the very first people will have been vaccinated, given that it takes two jabs at least three weeks apart, Michael.

HOLMES: All right, good to know. Cyril, thanks so much, Cyril Vanier there for us in London.

Now Bahrain has approved emergency use of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. The Gulf kingdom, the second country after the U.K. to do so. The Bahrain News Agency says the vaccine will go to vulnerable groups, including the elderly and people with chronic diseases.

Bahrain had already approved emergency use of the Chinese vaccine for frontline workers last month. And thanks to the pandemic, millions of Americans struggling to put

food on their tables. The incoming president promising he won't rest until he gets a relief package through. When we come back, we'll talk about what that will take.

Also, the U.S. president heading to the state of Georgia ahead of a crucial runoff election. But his visit making some Republicans -- yes, Republicans -- very nervous.

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HOLMES: U.S. Democratic lawmakers are expressing optimism that an economic stimulus deal could come by the end of the year. President- Elect Joe Biden says he's encouraged by bipartisan efforts in the Senate around a $900 billion relief package, but he says anything Congress could pass before his inauguration is, for him, just a start of the relief effort.

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QUESTION: Mitch McConnell still hasn't even signed off yet on this compromise bill.

What makes you so confident that you will be able to get Republicans to go big, once you are in office?

BIDEN: Well, because the country is going to be in dire, dire, dire straits if they don't.

QUESTION: Have you reached out to Leader McConnell?

Have the two of you spoken yet?

BIDEN: We'll be in dire trouble if we don't get cooperation. I believe we will.

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HOLMES: Well, jobs clearly aren't coming back fast enough. The U.S. added only 245,000 new jobs last month. Economists expected nearly twice as many. So, a lot of disappointment. About 10 million are needed to get employment back to pre-pandemic levels.

We are just a month from a critical runoff vote here in the U.S. state of Georgia and the U.S. president is on his way, ostensibly, to help the incumbents.

But for weeks, Mr. Trump, of course, has been sowing discord and doubt about the veracity and the integrity of the electoral process. And that is making Republicans very nervous. CNN's Jeremy Diamond explains.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With Georgia's special election looming, President Trump and vice president pence both heading South to defend Republican Senate majority. Pence is there now. Trump going tomorrow.

But after weeks spent attacking the state's November election as fraudulent.

TRUMP: Listen, you have a fraudulent system.

DIAMOND (voice-over): And railing against Republican officials in charge.

TRUMP: He is an enemy of the people, the secretary of state.

The governor has done nothing. He's done absolutely nothing. I'm ashamed that I endorsed him.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Trump's Saturday visit has Republicans on edge. Worried that another round of attacks on Georgia's election system could depress turnout among the Trump faithful. One Trump adviser telling CNN it's not helpful if he goes down there and attacks the governor for an hour and a half. But if he says the few things that we need him to say, it would be helpful.

Trump stuck to those attacks this week.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: He's kind of mad at you. He's tore at you, right?

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Well, I know, but I'm frustrated like he is. We've had a few battles, but nobody worked harder for Donald Trump before November 3rd.

DIAMOND (voice-over): While Trump refuses to accept President-elect Biden's victory, one of the candidates he is campaigning for tacitly acknowledged reality, Senator David Perdue telling members of the Republican Jewish Coalition, quote, "We know what this change of command at the top will mean with our foreign relations.

"If we can keep the majority in the Senate, we can at least be a buffer on some of the things the Biden camp has been talking about."

Meanwhile, Trump and his political operation raised over $207 million since the election after flooding supporters with 400-plus fundraising emails falsely claiming the election was rigged. Those fundraising appeals ongoing even as Biden's margin of victory rose to 7 million in the popular vote.

Biden telling CNN he still hopes Trump will attend his inauguration for the sake of democracy.

BIDEN: Important only in one sense; not important in a personal sense, important in the sense that we are able to demonstrate, at the end of this chaos that he's created, that there is peaceful transfer of power with the competing parties standing there, shaking hands and moving on.

DIAMOND: As for those comments from Senator David Perdue, Perdue spokesman John Burke putting out the statement, saying, "Senator Perdue totally supports President Trump and his fight for transparency and accuracy in this election.

"It is notable that all Perdue did here was tacitly acknowledge the reality that Joe Biden will, indeed, be the next President of the United States."

Yet, in this day and age, it seems that is something that is worthy and requires some kind of a cleanup from a Republican fighting for reelection. But no question, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, they are both hoping Trump's visit to the state of Georgia, his campaign rally, will help boost turnout among the Trump faithful in that state.

Of course, there are plenty of risks. But both Perdue and Loeffler, I have been told by Republicans familiar with the matter, both called President Trump for Thanksgiving to ask him to come down to the Peach State and campaign on their behalf -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

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HOLMES: Brexit deal talks are trapped in a net. Now the top decision makers for the U.K. and E.U. will try to break a deadlock overfishing rights. We will take you live to London and Nic Robertson, coming up.

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HOLMES: Welcome back.

In the coming hours, the British prime minister, expecting to hold emergency talks with the head of the European Commission. They will try to break a stalemate after crucial Brexit negotiations were put on hold.

Europe's top negotiator says there are significant gaps after a long week of tough talks. The major sticking point, E.U. access to U.K. fishing waters. CNN's Nic Robertson is live for, us in London.

With all of the pandemic, talk and the like, we forgot that there is still Brexit.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: I think there were quite a few people in the U.K. who did not quite forget about Brexit. It will be front and center in the run up to Christmas. COVID, the vaccine, that has been a bright light in the future.

But Brexit is the cloud that has come back over. Boris Johnson, today, is in a position where he will have to make some very tough political decisions.

You could look at this latest breakdown in the talks, if you want to call it that. The negotiators stepping aside after a week of intense negotiations. In London, the prime minister will be talking to the European Commission president and, in essence, this is the moment -- and there's many moments like this -- in essence, this is the moment that if a deal is to be made, that either side will have to make compromises.

The fact that the negotiators have said, in a joint statement, that there is plenty of hard work going into this and there are still significant differences, gives both sides the opportunity to turn to their electorate, if you will, 27 nations across Europe, 66 million people in the U.K., and say, we've done the best we can but we are in a tough place.

Both sides want to deal and that's the stated position. We have to make some compromises. Those compromises are things that have been essential and difficult, all along. As you say, U.K. fisheries are one of them and British fishermen don't want to give the European Union access or give them limited controlled access to U.K. fisheries.

The terms of that, far from sorted out. Indeed, British papers today, suggesting that President Macron has ambushed Boris Johnson here, because his fishermen, close to the U.K., are demanding that he doesn't back down or their access to British waters on a deal that could last 10 years.

The other issue is the governance issue. Simply, how do you regulate this once it's done?

The other big stumbling, block the major stumbling block, is the so- called level playing field. In essence, European countries do not want Britain to oversubsidize its manufacturers and give unfair competition against European manufacturers. The compromises will be made this weekend -- or not.

HOLMES: Exactly. Nic, thank you so much, good to see you, Nic Robertson in London.

Where are Mulder and Scully when you need them?

The mystery of the three monoliths has the world talking. It could be straight out of "The X-Files." Up next, we go in search of some answers.

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HOLMES: Welcome back.

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HOLMES: A whodunnit of global proportions, three mysterious monoliths have been sparking questions across the world and on social media.

Are they art?

Are they a prank?

A gift, perhaps, from extraterrestrials?

CNN's Kim Brunhuber takes a closer look. Cue the music.

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST (voice-over): The story started out like the beginning of a sci-fi movie. In mid-November, the U.S. state of Utah's wildlife agency conducted what was a supposed to be routine helicopter survey of bighorn sheep, only to discover a 3.5-meter meter monolith in a remote desert area at the base of a canyon.

The state's Bureau of Land Management opened an investigation and tweeted that such installations are illegal, quote, "no matter what planet you are from."

Just days later, the structure disappeared. An unknown party, caught on video, removing it. Then, a Utah tour guide posted this video on social media, claiming he and his friends were the ones to remove the monolith to protect the area from tourists.

Another explorer witnessed this group removing the structure.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To right after it had fallen over, amid a loud thud, they said, one of them said, "This is why you don't leave trash in the desert."

And as they loaded it up, were loading it up and walking away, they just said, "Leave no trace," and left.

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BRUNHUBER (voice-over): But that wasn't the end. The mystery only grew when a second monolith appeared atop a hill in northern Romania. This one, too, disappeared just days later but, again, no explanation from local authorities.

And, finally, a third monolith, suddenly appearing in California this week on a hiking trail in the U.S. state and, overnight, destroyed by vandals. All three monoliths shared an identical three-sided metallic structure as well as the same unknown origins, placed without permission from local officials. The whodunit has blown up on social media, puzzling people around the

world with theories, ranging from an artistic installment or a prank by teenagers, to the idea that extraterrestrials may have planted the statues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sorry to everyone who's into aliens like me but I bet they have better technology than popper (ph) this.

BRUNHUBER (voice-over): Still, no explanation for these elusive monuments has been agreed upon. But if there is one thing that is certain, it's that 2020 and all its surprises, isn't over yet -- Kim Brunhuber, CNN.

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HOLMES: Expect a movie coming out soon, I'm sure.

Thank you for watching, I am Michael Holmes, appreciate you spending part of your day with me. Do stay tuned for "AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS." See you tomorrow.