Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
U.S. Hospitals Fear Deadliest Season Yet; Trump's Continuing Lies; Biden Team Blocked From Meeting Pentagon Intel Officials; Scotland, Wales Begin Vaccinations On Tuesday; Vaccination Centers Open Across Moscow; Vaccine Hesitancy Could Be Biggest Challenge; Georgia's Special Election; E.U.-U.K. Trade Deal Negotiations Paused. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired December 05, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN. I'm Robyn Curnow.
Just ahead on the show, as the pandemic rages across the U.S., Americans face huge logical challenges of distancing the first doses of the vaccine.
And why the president-elect says the current plan just isn't good enough.
Plus, economic desperation and a looming deadline, can Congress finally end the deadlock on a critical stimulus bill. And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you think won the election in your viewpoint?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump. I think Trump did.
CURNOW (voice-over): President Trump headed to Georgia to throw his support behind two Republican senators but could his base's claim it's a rigged presidential election keep voters at home?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.
CURNOW: So more Americans have now tested positive for COVID in a single day than at any point in the pandemic. Friday saw the largest number of new cases to date, almost 228,000 newly infected people. That's over 10,000 higher than the record set the day before. Now the virus is so pervasive that U.S. health officials say some
people should consider wearing masks inside their own homes. Deaths in the U.S. also have been soaring since Thanksgiving. So far this month alone, the virus has killed 11,000 Americans.
And hospitalizations have never been higher. The COVID Tracking Project said the number of patients being treated in U.S. facilities has more than doubled in the past month to over 100,000 patients. We get more now from Nick Watt.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This week, COVID- 19 is the leading cause of death in America and it's going to get worse.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We have not yet seen the post-Thanksgiving peak.
WATT (voice-over): By the spring?
More than half a million Americans could be dead.
DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATION DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT GRADY HEALTH SYSTEM: And while we're all excited about the vaccine, the reality, as the model says, the vaccine probably by April 1st will only save about 10,000 or up to 11,000 deaths.
WATT (voice-over): Thursday was the worst day of this pandemic, so far.
A record number of new cases, a record number of Americans in the hospital and 2,879 deaths. The most lives lost in a single day? One gone every 30 seconds.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Help is on the way. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
WATT (voice-over): A hint to how the next administration will handle this?
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to ask the public 100 days to mask. Just 100 days to mask. Not forever, 100 days and I think we will see a significant reduction.
WATT (voice-over): Masking alone could save tens of thousands of lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's cheap and it doesn't shut down the economy.
Shutdowns or lockdowns are really not on the table, at least not from the Biden/Harris team.
WATT (voice-over): And Fauci will be on that team, chief medical adviser. FAUCI: I said yes right on the spot.
WATT (voice-over): In the meantime, new national jobs numbers suggest the economic recovery is stalling.
PACO VELEZ, PRESIDENT, CEO, FEEDING SOUTH FLORIDA: Today, we have over a thousand families coming through this line to take this box home and provide it to their families. Unfortunately, this is the last week of this coronavirus food assistance program.
WATT (voice-over): And in many places, public school enrollment is down, distance learning just not the same.
ELIZABETH NEWHART, PARENT: They were, you know, having tantrums.
WATT (voice-over): So the Newharts of Illinois just went private.
NEWHART: We had to do a lot of number crunching but we felt like it was something that we had to do.
WATT: The San Francisco Bay Area is about to go back under a stay-at- home order. The governor said regions will have to do that if ICU capacity reached a critical level. It hasn't up there but local leaders said we know the numbers are going to get worse, so let's just do it now -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thanks, Nick, for that.
So face masks, social distancing and other measures will be facts of life in the future even when a vaccine is rolled out. Everyone will still have to remain extra, extra careful about other people. Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci explained why on Friday's CNN town hall. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Even if you are vaccinated, you may be protected against getting sick but you may not necessarily be protected against getting infection.
So you may have virus in your nasopharynx. It wouldn't bother you but 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:05:00]
CURNOW: With coronavirus cases surging, U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden said the Trump team hasn't shared a detailed plan for vaccine distribution. Also the latest jobs numbers are in. And they are not looking good at all. Here's M.J. Lee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Americans need help and they need it now.
M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dismal jobs report on Friday, a grim reminder of the painful economic recession that President-Elect Joe Biden will inherit come January.
The U.S. economy adding just 245,000 jobs in November, far fewer than economists had hoped for. Biden urging Congress to immediately take action.
BIDEN: The folks out there aren't looking for a handout. They just need help. They are in trouble through no fault of their own.
We are in a crisis. We need to come together as a nation. We need the Congress to act and act now.
LEE (voice-over): Biden also raising the alarm about vaccine distribution, saying he is not satisfied with what he has seen so far from the Trump administration.
BIDEN: There is 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 its a very expensive proposition.
LEE (voice-over): Biden revealing that he asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, a widely trusted figure in the fight against COVID-19 to stay on in his government.
BIDEN: I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well and be part of the COVID team.
LEE (voice-over): Fauci said he readily accepted the offer.
FAUCI: Absolutely, I said yes right on the spot.
LEE (voice-over): Now less than seven weeks until Inauguration Day, Biden indicating Trump's attendance would send an important signal.
BIDEN: The protocol of the transfer of power, I think, is important. But it's totally his decision and it is of no personal consequence to me. But I do think it is for the country.
LEE (voice-over): Next year, a closely divided Senate awaits Biden, who himself served as senator for more than three decades. Some of his former Republican colleagues in Congress have yet to publicly acknowledge his White House victory. But according to Biden, it's a different story behind the scenes.
BIDEN: There have been more than several sitting Republican senators who privately called me to congratulate me. And I understand the situation they find themselves in. And until the election is clearly decided in the minds with the Electoral College votes, they get put in a very tough position. LEE: Now we've been doing a lot of reporting on the ongoing push for
more racial diversity in Biden's cabinet. What we're learning is there's a lot of lobbying to try to avoid the situation that the four top cabinet positions are all appointed with white women and men.
Keep in mind, Biden has already chosen his secretary of state and Treasury Secretary but outstanding still are his picks to be attorney general as well as Defense Secretary. But Biden telling reporters here in Wilmington that he's not going to make a commitment when it comes to those two positions but that there will be significant diversity in his cabinet when all of the announcements have been made -- M.J. Lee, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: President Trump will be here in Georgia, later today, campaigning for Republican senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. But Mr. Trump's baseless claims of election rigging are sowing so much doubt that some conservatives say they don't even want to vote. Well, vice president Mike Pence called that out as he campaigned in Georgia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I actually hear some people saying, just don't vote. My fellow Americans, if you do not, vote they win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: So Georgia is drawing a lot of national attention and donor money. Jeremy Diamond has the latest on that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
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.
[05:10:00]
DIAMOND (voice-over): 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. (END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Thomas Gift is director of the Centre for U.S. Politics at University College London.
Thanks for joining us. Thomas, hi, lovely to see you. Georgia is very pivotal for Dems and for Republicans to control the Senate.
Is it about turnout again?
Who can be relied to come out to vote?
THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRE FOR U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Robyn, I think that it both Democratic candidates are able to win, that would represent a considerable swing in Georgia politics.
I think it's an uphill battle for Democrats because, in the past, Republicans have shown up. They have generally outperformed them in these Georgia runoffs.
Another challenge for Democrats could be that there's somewhat of an unspoken preference among voters for divided government and a reluctance to turn over the keys fully to one party.
Ultimately, it's going to be a base mobilization game and a question of who wants it more. Turnout will be lower than during the presidential election on November 3rd, which means the electorate will be more conservative on the Republican side and more liberal on the Democratic side.
But clearly, it's a high-stakes race because it has implications for the Democratic policy agenda.
CURNOW: It certainly does. Talking about that, Team Biden is talking up the need for a serious stimulus package and doing business with Republicans in Congress. We know that Joe Biden likes to champion his bipartisanship over the many decades he's been in Congress.
How likely is that, with or without Georgia tipping the balance of power in the Senate?
GIFT: I think that the stimulus package will be a good test of how effectively Biden can get progressives on board with his agenda and his prospects for compromising with Republicans.
Clearly, Biden wants stimulus legislation as part of his first hundred days. And he's exerting considerable pressure on his party to strike a deal. I think it is a hopeful sign that some top congressional Democrats are backing a stimulus of around $900 billion. That's considerably scaled back from the $2 trillion that Nancy Pelosi had been advocating earlier.
Previously I think Pelosi had miscalculated the politics in asking for so much. And Biden wants to avoid a repeat of that error. But I think, in all likelihood, the two sides will be able to meet somewhere in the middle, extend unemployment benefits, grant aid to small businesses and so on. I think that's a positive sign even though many economists wish a deal had been brokered earlier.
CURNOW: And many Americans are just absolutely struggling. We also know that Team Biden is being stonewalled by the Trump administration in terms of getting access to, say, intel briefings. The Biden administration would like to hit the ground running.
But can they?
GIFT: Certainly, Robyn. Experts will say there's no excuse for the Biden team not to have full access to the documents they need. That's especially in the area of national security.
A while back, George W. Bush's chief of staff, Andy Card, had warned a delay on the transition could have consequences for national security. He pointed to the 9/11 Commission Report, which noted that the brief transition between Clinton and George W. Bush in the wake of the election court battles back in 2000, could have partially been responsible for preventing a better response to the terrorist threat.
[05:15:00]
GIFT: So we're in a position where the election has been decided. It's about six weeks away from the inauguration. So we'll see if Republicans push back on some of the stonewalling.
CURNOW: And we know this. The president lost by 6 million votes, lost the Electoral College, lost Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. It's been a month since the election and he still won't concede. And nearly every major Republican still refuses to pretty much say it's over.
So when does it get to be over?
GIFT: I guess on January 20th. But Trump clearly has no intention of conceding. We did hear Bill Barr say earlier this week there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud. Even Kellyanne Conway acknowledged it's over. But the story continues to be how Republicans are refusing to state the obvious.
I think Trump will continue to cast a long shadow over the GOP after he leaves office. Trump remains immensely popular within the party. Many in Congress won their elections by running on pro Trump platforms. And they're afraid of being on the receiving end of a 3:00 am tweet.
So Trump will be Trump but I think the lack of pushback from Republicans is what is regrettable because it depresses trust in government and it fuels resentment among voters who are convinced by his claims.
CURNOW: Thomas Gift, always good to speak to you. Thanks so much, live from London, thank you.
GIFT: Thanks, Robyn.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Ahead on CNN, COVID vaccination centers are open in Moscow, as Russia races to reverse a surge in cases there.
And why people reluctant to take the vaccine could present the biggest challenge ahead in the pandemic.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CURNOW: Twenty minutes past the hour. Thanks for joining me.
So across Europe, several countries are rolling out coronavirus vaccinations at a breakneck pace. In Moscow, 70 vaccination points are already open across the Russian capital to distribute the country's Sputnik V vaccine. For more, I want to bring in Cyril Vanier and Matthew Chance from London.
Cyril, I'll begin with you. Tell us what's happening there.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Robyn, it's go time for the British health system, which it says is the biggest challenge ever, which is to inoculate the entire country against the coronavirus.
It's going to start small. The doses have been in the country for less than 24 hours. They came from Belgium in unmarked trucks. They're going to be sent to undisclosed facilities to be checked, to make sure the integrity of the vaccine hasn't been compromised.
Then they'll be fanned out to some 50 hospitals that will serve as vaccination centers. Staff is being trained how to administer the vaccine because there is some complexity to it. It takes several hours to thaw.
Our viewers know that this Pfizer vaccine, the one that we're talking about currently, the Pfizer vaccine has to be stored at minus 70 degrees, which obviously presents logistical challenges.
The priority populations, the people who administer the vaccines, people in care homes, people who work in care homes and over 80 are going to start getting it. The result being that, on Tuesday, we'll see the very first people who will start to receive their vaccine, that's going to be isn't Scotland and Wales.
When you factor in it takes two jabs of this drug, that means, at the end of December, we'll see the first Britons vaccinated.
CURNOW: I want to go to Matthew Chance.
Can you tell us about the vaccinations being rolled out across Moscow?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's interesting to hear Cyril talk about how mass vaccinations will start in Britain.
Russia has tried to make sure it's the forefront of all of the latest vaccine technology. It was the first to register for public use of vaccine back in August. And since then, 100,000 people, according to health officials, have already been vaccinated, including people in trials. Also including members of the military and prominent members of the business and political community as well, as well as front line doctors and some teachers as well.
Today, what's happening in Moscow, the authorities there are rolling out their first attempt at mass vaccinations across the city; 70 vaccination centers have been open for registrations to start delivering those jabs of Sputnik V, that the Russians have developed.
The Moscow mayor said there's been an enthusiastic pickup so far for the start of the program; more than 5,000 people registered to get the jab in the next few hours. That's going be to obviously increase in the days and weeks to come.
This week Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered all governors and administrations around Russia to begin large-scale vaccinations. Russia wants an end to this pandemic as soon as possible. But it also wants to show the world that it can lead the way in not just developing a vaccine but actually delivering it as well.
So from next week, we're expecting to see, across Russia, near a wide- scale attempt in towns and cities across that vast country to get as many people as possible vaccinated. The authorities say they've got enough doses of Sputnik V to vaccinate 2 million people right now.
And that production process is being stepped up by the day and the week. By January, they're going to have 5 million to 7 million people, enough to vaccinate 5 million to 7 million people. So, yes, Russia is doing what it can, it says, to vaccinate as many people as possible. There are also still concerns about efficacy, safety and effectiveness of the Russian vaccine.
[05:25:00]
CHANCE: But all of the trials made available through peer review have indicated that the vaccine produces a strong antibody response and no serious adverse effects. So you know, like the other vaccines, Sputnik V is being delivered to as many people as possible now.
CURNOW: Great stuff. Thanks so much. Matthew Chance, appreciate it. Cyril Vanier as well.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: I want to bring in now Dr. Peter Drobac, infectious disease and global health expert. Lovely to see you. We spoke earlier on this week. But looking ahead to
next year, such positive news, particularly where you are in the U.K. These doses are apparently already in country.
DR. PETER DROBAC, INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND GLOBAL HEALTH EXPERT: We've all been waiting obviously a long time. And the news that data from these vaccines have been so positive. And while we haven't seen all the full data themselves, the regulatory agencies certainly have.
The most important thing is that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. We have to remember that this is a massive logistical effort that's ahead of us. There are going to be some bumps in the road.
It's probably the largest vaccination campaign in history. We have to vaccinate everyone on the planet. And that is going to be difficult. It's also not going to make a meaningful difference in most of our day-to-day lives for at least several months.
So in the midst of this winter surge, of course, we should be optimistic. But we really have to focus on making good choices and staying safe and saving lives.
CURNOW: I think you make an excellent point there. A lot of people have been asking about this vaccine and I've had these conversations among family and friends.
Give us, from your technical perspective, does this vaccine protect you from getting sick or protect you from getting infected?
That affects how long people will have to wear masks and social distance.
DROBAC: That's right. We know specifically from these trials that they seem to offer very good protection against serious illness with COVID. We don't have any information from the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines as to whether they prevent infections.
So it's possible people who are vaccinated could still get asymptomatic infections and be contagious. We just don't know that yet.
With the AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine, there was some data to suggest it does prevent infection. We don't know yet the public health implications of this but I think that will come over the next months.
CURNOW: It's still early days and people no doubt must go and get their vaccine.
How do health officials, people like you say, listen, this is in your best interest, particularly among communities of color here in the U.S., where research is showing there is reluctance as well.
DROBAC: Yes. It's really important to understand vaccine hesitancy is variable. Different communities may have concerns for different reasons. We have to understand that. So it starts with transparency and clear scientific communication. I
think, you know, from my experience over, you know, 20 years fighting epidemics, that also a vaccine rollout and communications strategy that is community based, that actually goes from the ground up, is more important than something that comes from the top down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Dr. Peter Drobac there in Oxford. Thanks so much for that, Peter.
Still to come on CNN, COVID vaccines wouldn't work if people don't take them, as we've been talking about. So the U.S. government will pour millions of dollars into a campaign to show they are safe.
But will it persuade the skeptics?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know 100 percent what's going on or how they count the votes or whatever so it's confusing.
CURNOW (voice-over): That's what President Trump's baseless election claims have created. Some voters don't know what to believe. Why that may hurt the runoff chances for Republicans in Georgia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:30:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CURNOW: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world, thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow, at 32 minutes past the hour.
Now the coronavirus continues to infect Americans at a staggering rate. Nearly 228,000 people reported on Friday to have tested positive, the highest so far in a single day. That has pushed the U.S. total to 14.3 million cases since March, far, far higher than any other country.
And the death toll also has been skyrocketing since Thanksgiving. Almost 11,000 Americans have died from the virus just this month which, of course, is just beginning. One or more promising vaccines, though, are expected in the near future. There is good news.
During a CNN town hall, America's top infectious disease doctor explained why the vaccination requires two separate shots, several weeks apart.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: What you have is you get some degree, not optimal but some degree of immunity a couple weeks after the first dose. That's not optimal. After the second dose you get optimal immunity anywhere from seven to 10 days after the second dose.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: Now a COVID vaccine, no matter how effective, is perfectly useless if people refuse to get it. So U.S. health officials are beginning a progressive public relations campaign to convince Americans that getting vaccinated is both necessary and safe. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
FAUCI (voice-over): This will end. This is not something that will be with us forever.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me more.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me more about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CURNOW: We get more now on the PR campaign from CNN's Kristen Holmes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Health and Human Services national education plan is being described as a major push across digital and social platforms that's meant to educate the public about the vaccine and also to convince them that it's safe, given all of the politics around it.
Now what we've seen so far is a very small portion of that, an ad by -- on YouTube that's essentially a streaming public service announcement, using Dr. Fauci, one of the most trusted individuals in the country, to talk about the safety of the vaccine and the virus itself as well.
[05:35:00]
HOLMES: It's just a surprise that they're using them at this period because again because he is one of the trusted officials in the country. And they're also describing it as science-based.
This is interesting, given what we know about the earlier ad campaigns. Several months ago, HHS announced it was doing a $15 million celebrity ad campaign around coronavirus. And it received blowback, particularly from Democrats, who said that they were just using it as political propaganda about the election. So they scrapped that.
But this is a new plan that we're expected to see a major rollout as early as next week when we start entering that phase I process.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: CNN's Kristen Holmes there.
Despite that PR effort, some people in the Black and Latino communities are certainly thinking twice about getting the shot. Jason Carroll talked to them in one Alabama town to find out what feelings those mistrust.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hobson City, Alabama; the term city used loosely. It's really a small town, population about 800.
MAYOR ALBERTA COOLEY MCCRORY (D-AL), HOBSON CITY: We are a small community, small enough to know everybody and everybody's cat.
CARROLL (voice-over): Hobson City's mayor says small enough to know that when it comes to trusting in a COVID-19 vaccine, many people here feel the way she does.
MCCRORY: Mama loves to take the vaccine.
CARROLL (on-camera): Wait, you yourself are reluctant to take it?
MCCRORY: I'm reluctant.
CARROLL (voice-over): Most of those who live in Hobson City are African American. Distress of the medical community runs deep. The town, located about 100 miles from Tuskegee, Alabama, home to one of the darkest chapters in American medical history.
In the 1930s, government doctors conducted experiments on Black men, leaving them untreated for syphilis until the 1970s so doctors could monitor how it affected them.
Alabama is taking a beating from the coronavirus, the state's 14-day positivity rate at just over 29 percent. In Calhoun County, where Hobson City sits, the rate is 37 percent.
Still, older residents such as Joe Cunningham have such little faith in doctors, he was reluctant to go in for a COVID-19 test. And any discussion about a vaccine is off the table.
JOE CUNNINGHAM, HOBSON CITY RESIDENT: I'm afraid to take the test.
CARROLL (on-camera): Why not, Mr. Cunningham?
CUNNINGHAM: I don't know. I don't understand it. I like to know who it's coming from.
ANITA JACKSON, CUNNINGHAM'S DAUGHTER: I'm going to have to convince my father because he don't know what this vaccine is about. As Black people, that's all we know is to trust the Lord. And trust God, we have to convince our family that this is the right thing to do. Because this will help slow it down and help us to survive.
CARROLL (voice-over): Distressing communities of color is not just a small town problem. It's nationwide. A study conducted in September exploring the issue in Black and Latino communities found just 14 percent of Black people and only 34 percent of Latinos trust a vaccine will be safe.
CARMEN BAILEY, COVID-19 SURVIVOR: It's like it's almost to me like a fear like I have a phobia of needles. I'm almost at the point where I have a phobia of doctors.
CARROLL (voice-over): Carmen Bailey was diagnosed with COVID-19 in April. Bailey says she avoided medical help because she feels she has been poorly treated by doctors in the past. Now, the grandmother of three suffers from adverse effects with her heart, lungs and kidneys.
BAILEY: Sometimes I can barely walk. And I'm trying to hurt and I don't know what to do.
CARROLL (voice-over): What she will not do is take a vaccine.
BAILEY: We don't know any kind of side effects from them. So, I just really felt like at this point where it's people that's going to take that vaccine as guinea pigs do.
CARROLL (on-camera): You really think they're guinea pigs?
BAILEY: I do. I just feel like you -- we don't know enough.
CARROLL (voice-over): Dr. Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew and her husband, Chenits Pettigrew Jr., know the health community has a number of hurdles to overcome to reach communities of color.
DR. MARGARET LARKINS-PETTIGREW, CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER, UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS CLEVELAND: When you talk about trust, you know, you're looking at that tug of war.
So you know, do I trust the science because they're telling me this is what's going to help me?
You know. But I have a lived experience that says that this may not be so because I have been deprived of other things.
CARROLL (voice-over): The Pettigrews come from a place of experience professionally and personally. Both lived and worked in Tuskegee for a time. Both are participating in the COVID-19 vaccine trial currently underway. And the couple is advocating for trust in the science behind the vaccine.
CHENITS PETTIGREW JR., UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: We thought that it was important to make this contribution and to represent the community that we are part of in a way that says you can do this and we can take this vaccine.
CARROLL (on-camera): Was there any hesitation at all?
M. PETTIGREW: I had no hesitation. I see what happens when people of color are not included in studies. And that is the downside of thing.
CARROLL (voice-over): Back in Hobson City, Mayor McCrory says she's had a change of heart, but it had little to do with science.
MCCRORY: I sat across from a young man who came in to purchase a grave for his 59-year-old wife who died of COVID-19 last Wednesday.
[05:40:00]
MCCRORY: And if anything makes me change my mind. That changed my mind. His wife's grave will be right over there in our cemetery, 59 years old.
CARROLL (on-camera): He changed your mind.
MCCRORY: He changed my mind.
CARROLL (voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, Hobson City, Alabama.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: Jason Carroll, thank you for that powerful piece.
Just ahead on CNN, as a deadline is looming for the U.K. and E.U. to work out a trade deal after Brexit, a live report from London. That's ahead.
Plus, President Trump is heading to Georgia to campaign for two Senate Republicans. How his baseless election fraud claims could help Democrats gain control of the U.S. Senate. Stay with us for that.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CURNOW: So it is 43 minutes past the hour. In U.S. politics, President Trump will be here in the state of Georgia today, campaigning for two Republican senators. Now Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are in a fierce battle with two Democrats to hang onto their seats.
Their critical runoff election in January will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. But some Republicans feel President Trump's baseless claims about the November election being rigged might depress Republican voter turnout, as Kyung Lah reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sixty miles west of Atlanta sits Haralson County, Georgia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have a good day.
LAH (voice-over): Here, lunch is served with a side of disbelief.
(on-camera): Do you believe in the results and what happened here in Georgia?
RALPH HORTON, TRUMP DIEHARD: No. Really no.
LAH (on-camera): Who do you think won in November?
HORTON: I honestly think Trump did.
LAH (on-camera): Who do you think won the election in your viewpoint?
CHERYL CANTRELL, TRUMP DIEHARD: I think Trump did.
[05:45:00]
LAH (voice-over): For some shell-shocked supporters of the President, it's impossible to think about the upcoming January Senate runoffs with a continued (INAUDIBLE) of misinformation from President Trump and others.
(on-camera): You voted in November. How are you feeling about the runoffs?
MARK CLAYTON, TRUMP DIEHARD: I really don't know. I'm not going to change anything or not. It may or may not.
LAH (on-camera): Why do say that?
CLAYTON: I mean, without the voter fraud and other stuff that talking about. So, I don't know, hundred percent, you know, what's going on. Or how they count the votes or whatever. So, you know, it's confusion. But, you know, trust in anything anymore.
LAH (voice-over): That is the Republican nightmare in the upcoming Senate run offs, because here, the Republican who could hold the most sway is Trump.
In Haralson County, the President increases support by about 3,000 votes from four years ago, a trend in deep red counties. Donald Trump not only won these counties in November, he did so by roughly 276,000 more votes than in 2016. Republicans need that enthusiastic GOP base in places like Haralson to vote for incumbent Republican senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in the January 5th runoffs.
SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): We're going to win Georgia and --
LAH (voice-over): But there's a complication. The President keeps saying this.
TRUMP: They know it was a fixed election. It was a rigged election. They know it I appreciate the support.
LAH (voice-over): That baseless claim puts the incumbent senators on the ballot in a political pickle. Listen to David Perdue try to square that circle. PERDUE: But President Trump's very frustrated, I'm very frustrated and we're going to do everything we possibly can to make sure that whatever anomalies are uncovered in November, don't happen in January. But this is illogical for any Republican to think that, oh, I'm just going to sit down and not vote and hand as you say the keys over the Democrats.
BUZZ BROCKWAY (R-GA), FORMER STATE REPRESENTATIVE: It has caused me concern.
LAH (voice-over): Republican Buzz Brockway is a former Georgia State Representative. He says Republicans are already telling him they will not vote in January.
BROCKWAY: I've had dozens of people tell me that the people that I knew --
LAH (on-camera): There's not going to show up?
BROCKWAY: I do my best to try to talk them out of it. But the internet spreads things like wildfire.
LAH (on-camera): What happens if the President keeps tweeting and talking about a rigged election?
BROCKWAY: That hurts and absolutely hurts, because he has a very passionate group of followers who frankly are more committed to him than they are to the Republican Party. If he were to continue with that message that would be very hurtful to the Republican Party and to Loeffler and Perdue.
LAH (voice-over): Not everyone in Haralson County believes Trump's mixed message hurts. Andy Gunther active in the local Republican Party says the more outrage Trump is at the rally, the higher the enthusiasm for the senators.
ANDY GUNTHER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: It's going to boost the electorate to come out. Stronger I believe.
LAH (on-camera): And why stronger?
GUNTHER: It's defiance. It's, you know, we're not going to take this stuff sitting down. We're going to come back out. We're going to vote. We're going to show that we care.
LAH (voice-over): Kyung Lah, CNN, Haralson County, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CURNOW: And the European Union and United Kingdom are pausing their trade talks due to significant differences. The U.K. prime minister and the president of the European Commission will speak later today on where the negotiations stand on the post-Brexit relationship.
You recall the U.K. left the E.U. back in January. It's currently in a transition period which expires at the end of this year. Nic Robertson joins us now from London with more on that.
Hi, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, hi, Robyn. Look, there's opportunity for both the European Union and Boris Johnson to say we negotiated very, very hard. It was tough. We came really close. But it is a tough negotiation. Unfortunately, we're going to have to make compromises to get a deal.
Now that could be the narrative that emerges. Those compromises, if they're going to be made, are political compromises and that's what Boris Johnson will have to do in the phone call today with Ursula van der Leyen, the European Commission president.
I say Boris Johnson will have to make those. But it's clear that compromise will be required on both sides. The sticking points are pretty much what everyone has known about and the negotiators absolutely know about.
They are, how are you going to regulate any agreement that's made?
Who enforces the checks and balances, independent?
You know, how is that done?
Secondly, the fishing, it's a big issue for Britain, it's 0.08 percent of the national GDP. But it's a massive issue for Boris Johnson, that he can protect British fisheries. That means that the United Kingdom wants to keep control of its territorial waters and only grant a limited amount of access, if any, to European fishing vessels. That's a very tough sale.
[05:50:00]
ROBERTSON: And another big one for the E.U. is a level playing field. They want subsidies in the U.K. for U.K. businesses that could undercut European businesses. So the fundamental thing today, will there be political compromise?
Because really there's almost not enough time to actually get the relative respective parliaments to ratify any agreement by the end of the year.
CURNOW: Goodness, then what happens in January?
Nic Robertson, thank you.
Ahead on CNN, the northeast U.S. is bracing for a big winter storm. Just how much snow they expect it to bring, that's next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CURNOW: So the northeastern U.S. is bracing for a powerful weekend snowstorm.
(WEATHER REPORT)
[05:55:00]
CURNOW: Thanks for watching. I'm Robyn Curnow live from Atlanta. Coming up next for CNN for viewers in U.S. and Canada, it is "NEW DAY." For the international viewers, stay with us for "Business Traveller."
