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How Vaccines Will Be Distributed in Rural Areas of U.S.; Canada Authorizes Emergency Use of Pfizer Vaccine; Nevada Hospital Sets Up COVID Wing in Parking Garage; Health Board VS Anti-Mask Protesters; Dozens of U.S. States, Feds Sue Facebook. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 10, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Here in the U.S., a health advisory committee later today is expected to recommend an Emergency Use Authorization for Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine. But once it gets final U.S. approval, distributing it to rural areas of the country will be a tall order.

CNN's Omar Jimenez looks at what health officials in South Dakota are doing to make sure the vaccines reach distant areas.

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When the backdrop is windmills and open fields, you can see how getting a COVID-19 vaccine to actual people turns into a challenge.

It involves literally loading cold packs into a minivan that eventually will be part of keeping this vital medicine cold as it travels tens, even hundreds of miles to clinics and hospitals that need them.

JESSE BREIDENBACH, SENIOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PHARMACY, SANFORD HEALTH: Each state will receive its own allocation of vaccine and so we plan for that accordingly and strategically place freezers like this across our four-region footprint.

JIMENEZ: At Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, they're ready for whatever amount of vaccine they get.

BREIDENBACH: Locks inside and then there are inner doors as well.

JIMENEZ: Months ago they bought these ultra-cold freezers, at least negative 70 degrees Celsius or negative 103 degrees Fahrenheit required for the Pfizer vaccine. Negative 20 degrees Celsius for Moderna's.

BREIDENBACH: Right now the freezers are empty.

JIMENEZ: The Pfizer vaccine can only survive for up to five days in typical refrigeration.

BREIDENBACH: In order to get orders from our clinics to distribute that vaccine, we'll pack it coolers on ice and then monitor that temperature to make sure it's at that point maintaining refrigerator temperatures until it is given to the patient.

JIMENEZ: But the actual distribution is complicated. Sanford's coverage area encompasses more than 200,000 square miles over multiple states. That's almost comparable to the size of Texas. They have to rely on hubs that have the ultra-cold storage facilities in key regions of these states. And that's because each state has its own allocation of the vaccine. So Sanford can only take supplies across state lines, not the vaccine itself.

And then from the hubs they transport just enough vaccine to even more remote locations to get people what they need but not leave anything wasted in clinics or locations that can't store it properly.

DEAN WEBER, VICE PRESIDENT CORPORATE SUPPLY CHAIN, SANFORD HEALTH: Delivering multiple times over many days to move the vaccine, we will continue to do that rather than moving big portions of vaccine to a small clinic or a critical access hospital. So that we don't run into that, you know, temperature dilemma.

JIMENEZ: What is the most difficult part about administering and distributing a vaccine in a rural setting versus a city setting?

KELLY HEFTI, VICE PRESIDENT, NURSING AND CLINICAL SERVICES, SANFORD HEALTH: The geography itself, just the miles that separate us. Making sure the resources can reach all of those areas.

DR. JEREMY CAUWELS, CHIEF PHYSICIAN, SANFORD HEALTH: I think worrying about when you're going to get a vaccine within six days of taking it out of the freezer and within six hours of reconstituting it is really something we hadn't -- I don't think anybody has done before.

JIMENEZ: And something to keep in mind for some of these rural areas as we head deeper into the winter months is that if the roads become too dangerous to drive on because of inclement winter weather, which happens often in this part of the United States, then simply vaccines can't be delivered.

And then another hurdle get past for this part of the country is after the initial vaccine rollout, it's going to come down to convincing people to actually get vaccinated.

It's a conversation that at least one doctor we spoke to here in the area says has come up every single time he has seen a family.

JIMENEZ: I'm Omar Jimenez, CNN. Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Canada has just authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use and says a limited rollout could begin as soon as next week. CNN's Paula Newton has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Canadian regulators have approved this vaccine for emergency use. They say the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is amazing really, and they point to certain things in the data which were interesting and perhaps we've haven't heard before. And that's that they are confident that there is a case to be made, that this will provide continuing immunity that perhaps boosters may not be needed all that often, if at all.

And the fact that there is also the possibility that if you get this vaccine, that you will not spread the disease to others, that you cannot infect others, and also of course the data showing that you will not be severely ill. Most people will not get severely ill after getting this vaccine, even if they are infected with the virus.

Now here in Canada, the hard part begins especially as the country is in the middle of a deadly second wave. They're having a dry run on the vaccine this week. Vaccinations should be in arms next week.

This rollout, though, is largely symbolic. Canada getting just a few hundred thousands of the 20 million doses that it ordered.

[04:35:00]

And as I said, with them here in Canada in the middle of a deadly second wave, the priority here will be health care workers but also those very vulnerable residents of long-term care centers.

Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.

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BRUNHUBER: Anti-mask protesters in Idaho forced a health board meeting to end early. Ahead, we'll hear from a doctor who says the protest even got out of control next to his home. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The worsening pandemic is forcing some communities to create emergency COVID field hospitals in whatever space they can get. But when the U.S. President seems to suggest one of them was fake, well, CNN's Sara Sidner went to see for herself.

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SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Jacob Keeperman is mustering all his mental and physical strength as another wave of COVID-19 patients show up in the intensive care unit at his hospital. Everyone here has been going nonstop for months.

What was your worst day?

DR. JACOB KEEPERMAN, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, RENOWN TRANSFER AND OPERATIONS CENTER: So, my worst day of this pandemic was actually the day I posted the tweet thanking my teammates. I had just finished a seven- day stretch in the intensive care unit. There had been patient after patient after patient who was not surviving this illness. SIDNER: The tweet he sent was a simple selfie showing off their new COVID-19 wing. That wing set up in the hospital parking garage. That fact seemed to set President Trump off, who retweeted the tweet calling it fake and a scam. That unleashed the Twitter trolls.

KEEPERMAN: I was sad and devastated, and I was angry.

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SIDNER: Devastated and angry because of all of the hard work being done by his colleagues inside this parking garage hospital every single day, from the food staff to the CEO.

ANTHONY SLONIM, HOSPITAL CEO: This is not fake. This is as real as it gets.

SIDNER: The idea was conceived and executed months ago, but during this COVID surge patients are now parked in the spaces instead of cars.

The number of coronavirus cases in Washoe County, Nevada that this hospital services has exploded. This week, there are actually 10 times the number of COVID-19 cases than there were just a couple of months ago, so the hospital had to do whatever it takes to find more bed space. And so, here we are on floor G of the parking garage.

JANET BAUM, NURSING MANAGER, ALTERNATE CARE SITE: It was scary. You know, we don't expect to go to work and be working out of a parking garage. We've made it a hospital, so we don't even consider it a garage anymore.

SIDNER: Did you ever think that in America they would have to treat people in a parking lot?

ROSALIA MARTINEZ, CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: I apologize for what I'm going to say. When they started building this, I laughed.

SIDNER: Making a dusty, dirty parking garage into a sanitary space seemed laughable. But then, she ended up hospitalized here.

R. MARTINEZ: People don't realize how bad this is, the pain, how you feel. The not being able to breathe, that's one of the worst things that I ever did experience in my life.

SIDNER: A few days later, her husband of 35 years was also hospitalized with COVID.

LUIS MARTINEZ, HUSBAND OF ROSALIA MARTINEZ, CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: I thought she was going to die.

SIDNER: After spending days in isolation with no visitation, they found each other again parked just four beds apart in the parking garage.

R. MARTINEZ: He coughs at nighttime. I can hear him. And if I yell, he can hear me. He knows that I'm still alive. (END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Well, that was Sara Sidner reporting.

In Boise, Idaho, a public health meeting abruptly ended when intense protests threatened public safety.

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CROWD CHANTING: We will not comply. We will not comply.

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BRUNHUBER: Scores of people, some carrying signs supporting action against COVID, and others clearly against any restrictions and lock downs gathers outside Boise's central district health office on Tuesday. Some of the anti-restriction protesters even rallied outside a few of the health board members' homes. It apparently got so intense that one board member tearfully left the meeting to rush home to her child who she feared was in danger. That moment was broadcast live on the board's YouTube channel. Take a look.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to take care of you.

DIANA LACHIONDO, ADA, IDAHO COUNTY COMMISSIONER: Can I interrupt you for just a moment? My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now, and there are protesters banging outside the door. I'm going to go home and make sure he's OK. I will reconnect with you when I get there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now is Dr. Ted Epperly. He's the commissioner of the Idaho Central District Board of Health, and he's faced protests outside his own home from anti-mask demonstrators. Doctor, thanks so much for being with us today. Let's just start -- describe to me what happened when the protesters showed up. What were they saying? What were they doing?

DR. TED EPPERLY, COMMISSIONER, IDAHO CENTRAL DISTRICT BOARD OF HEALTH: Yes, we had a meeting last night at 5:15 Mountain time here. And right about at the exact onset of the meeting, I heard a lot of banging and clattering, pots and pans being beat. Strobe lights flashing and I turned around, looked out the window and to my great surprise, were 15 people unmasked, standing on the street, right next to my yard, looking right through my window, right at me.

And they were out there for about 15 to 20 minutes, until the meeting actually got stopped by the mayor and the police chief because there was widespread protests happening. On two occasions they even came up to the door and started banging on the door.

BRUNHUBER: Oh, my gosh. You say you were surprised, quite frankly, I would be terrified. What was going through your mind when you saw that?

EPPERLY: You know, I wasn't terrified, but I was annoyed and surprised that in the act of trying to do the public's good that people have taken so much umbrage with that act. So I knew it was a possibility, but I didn't think this would happen. Simultaneously here in Boise, Idaho, where our meeting was, we had 300 protesters, some bearing arms at our major central district health office, and then also one other residence of one of the other commissioners also had protesters outside her house as well.

[04:45:03]

BRUNHUBER: Yes, I mean, that's why I said I would be, you know, terrified. I mean, it is an open carry state and you never know, you might feel that your life was in danger here. The problem is, I mean, all of this worked, right, they were able to derail the meeting in a pandemic when you're, you know, trying to save lives.

I mean, Dr. Fauci has said that the timing of this pandemic in the middle of a contentious election, which has hyper-politicized everything, including the measured you need to fight this, led to the worst possible situation for a pandemic. So concretely, how is all of this affecting your ability to protect your community.

EPPERLY: It's made it much more difficult. There is no question. We've done surveys in the community, and about 70 percent of people are compliant with face masking, and there's about 30 percent that absolutely aren't. And of that 30 percent, 20 percent are absolutely adamant they won't.

And it's sad to me, because I think if we had had better leadership at the onset of this pandemic from a national level, we could have actually pulled the nation together in a much more productive fashion. This has become very political, very polarized and it's actually both hurting the efforts in my locality, and my state, and sadly is going to lead to unnecessary loss of life.

BRUNHUBER: I mean, that's the thing, you know, is there a way back from this, I suppose? Boise mayor, Lauren McClean who is the one who called for the end of the meeting, said this has gone too far. We're at a point now that we need to remind ourselves this is not who we are. As you look at the deep division, does any part of you fear this is who we are or who we have become anyway as a country?

EPPERLY: Yes, you know, that's a great question. I have abiding faith in the people of my state and my locality. I think underneath all of this they really are good people. I think what the pandemic has done is brought out the best in people and the worst in people. And if you're in that latter category that thinks this is a personal infringement on rights and their personal liberties, you're seeing this in a totally different way than those, others are seeing it in terms of let's pull together, try to do what we can to protect each other. It's one of the most polarizing things I have ever seen in my life.

BRUNHUBER: Well listen, thank you so much for speaking with us. I mean, your job is hard enough without, you know, people trying to intimidate you and, you know, perhaps physically stopping you from what you're doing. So we wish you the best of luck. Again, thank you, Dr. Ted Epperly, appreciate it.

EPPERLY: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: Ahead on CNN, a social media slug fest. Why the U.S. government and dozens of states are suing Facebook and how the social media giant is fighting back. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Facebook is in the legal fight of its life. Dozens of U.S. states plus the Federal Trade Commission are suing the social media giant. They say Facebook is a monopoly that has abused its dominance in the digital marketplace and has stifled competition. And they're calling for the company to be broken up. Facebook, meantime, is calling the accusations revisionist history.

CNN's Sherisse Pham has more on all of this. Now, Sherisse, yet another tech giant in the cross hairs, first Google, now Facebook. And this move is unusual for at least one reason. It's managed to do what no issue has done, unite Democrats and Republicans. Tell us what's at stake here?

SHERISSE PHAM, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes, the support of bipartisan hatred is a truly great feat for Facebook at this time. Now, this is truly an unprecedented move, particularly from the federal trade commission whose lawsuit is looking to force Facebook to sell WhatsApp and Instagram.

These are crown jewels in Facebook's empire. Instagram brings Facebook a lot of young users. WhatsApp, a huge global player here in Hong Kong. It's a daily necessity for me and everybody else that I know. So the Federal Trade Commission director of competition basically saying in a statement that Facebook has, you know, moved to maintain its monopoly, to deny customers the benefits of competition. And the goal of their lawsuit is to roll back Facebook's anticompetitive conduct, restore competition so that innovation can thrive.

Now, of course Facebook is pushing back on this because they paid a lot of money for these platforms. They paid a billion dollars for Instagram in 2012, which seemed like a lot of money at the time, until two years later when they paid $19 billion for WhatsApp.

So as you said in the introduction there, it's a bit of revisionist history according to Facebook. The FTC signed off on these acquisitions at the time. Now the U.S. government will have to prove in court that Facebook's alleged misconduct led to harm to consumers and to competitors. We can look to the past for this a little bit. The last time the U.S. government went after a big tech company was its lawsuit against Microsoft in the 90 and early 2000s.

That lawsuit was eventually settled, and experts say, because it was settled, it really helped lead to the rise of one of Microsoft's big competitors at the time, which was Google. And Google, of course, has grown to become a big tech giant in its own right and is facing fire from multiple governments around the world.

BRUNHUBER: Interesting. All right, so in the meantime, French regulators have fined Google for privacy violations. What can you tell us about that?

PHAM: Yes, this decision came out just a few hours ago. I think actually a little bit less than two hours ago. Google was fined by France 100 million euros. Amazon was also fined 35 million euros.

[04:55:00]

And this was basically because the French regulators say that the companies broke France's data protection act. You know, Europe is a lot more strict when it comes to data privacy, and data protection than the United States is. Google has already pushed back on this saying that, you know, the privacy -- the protection and the privacy of our consumers data is of paramount importance to them, and -- but so far, you know, they have been fined. So we shall see if they're going to have to fork over the money or if they'll push back and try to wiggle out of it or get it reduced -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, we'll be following all those stories. Thank you so much, Sherisse Pham, appreciate it.

A rocket prototype exploded on Wednesday, but the owner SpaceX still considers the fire test a success. The rocket soared 8 miles high, performed some acrobatic moves and came back down to what SpaceX called a hard and exciting landing. Now despite the fire ball, CEO Elon Musk says he's pleased because they got much needed data.

SpaceX is trying to develop a spaceship to take huge satellites into orbit and eventually create a human settlement on Mars.

And we'll keep gazing up at the sky for our last story. The northern hemisphere's dark winter night might be illuminated by the Northern Lights as far south as Pennsylvania and Oregon thanks to a solar belch basically. So the sun sent out a burst of highly charged coronal matter, so massive that communications might even be disrupted. But most spectacularly, you could be witnessing scenes like this, the luminescent green and even the pinks and purples of the Aurora Borealis. So keep an eye out and share pictures if you see any impact from this huge solar flare.

Thank you so much for your company. I'm Kim Brunhuber. "EARLY START" is up next. And of course you are watching CNN.

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