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U.S. Set to Kick Off Massive Vaccination Campaign; At least 23 Arrested during Washington Protests; Trump Not Moving beyond Election Loss; Republicans Rally Georgia Voters; Rural U.S. Vaccine Rollout an Icy Logistical Challenge; 2020 a Tough Year for British Prime Minister Boris Johnson; Gunmen Attack School in Northern Nigeria; Country Music Legend Charley Pride Dies at 86. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired December 13, 2020 - 02:00   ET

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

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ROBYN CURNOW, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hi, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. Thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Coming up, the COVID surge gets worse and the United States prepares to ship doses of vaccine around the country. That's not what is on president Donald Trump's mind. He is said to be considering firing his attorney general.

Meanwhile, violence in the U.S. Capitol as far right Trump supporters, the Proud Boys, clash with counterprotesters.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from CNN Center, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Robyn Curnow.

CURNOW: Coronavirus cases and deaths are surging in the U.S. But even as the pandemic worsens, the country is gearing up for a massive vaccination effort.

The first Pfizer BioNTech vaccines are set to be delivered to 145 sites across the country on Monday. Health care workers and elderly residents of long care facilities will be first in line to get them.

The U.S. reported a new record of more than 108,000 COVID hospitalizations on Saturday and there are more than 60 million cases in this country right now. Well, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has more on the vaccine and what this rollout will look like, once the CDC signs off on it.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Just remarkable developments scientifically with this vaccine. It is now authorized and has now been recommended by the Centers for Disease Control as well, which means that lots of moving parts are starting to unfold. We know that the shipments are scheduled to begin this weekend. Likely

going to be arriving in many places by Monday morning. And we could see people starting to get vaccinated for the first time outside of a clinical trial early this week, perhaps Monday or Tuesday.

The process has been so far, once the FDA authorized it, the CDC recommended it and we get some better clarity on not only who the vaccine is recommended for but also who may not be recommended.

For example, we know that this is going to be recommended for people 16 and over. There was some back and forth on that among the advisory committee. Some felt that the age should be 18 and over but the FDA and now CDC think 16 and over.

We know that pregnant women, for example, were not part of the original clinical trial; 23 women in the trial became pregnant while in the trial. But there's not a lot of data to worry that it's dangerous or that it's not safe. There's not a lot of data to show its efficacy in pregnant women specifically.

That's likely to end up being conversations between pregnant women and their doctors. For example, if a pregnant woman is in a high-risk profession and exposed to COVID over and over again, for example, they may go ahead and ask for the vaccine.

We know that people who have had a significant allergic reaction in the past, so significant that they carry an EpiPen, they may not be recommended to get the vaccine. And people who have conditions that have compromised their immune system.

But I think a lot of this is going to be conversations between individuals and their health care providers to try and figure out what's going to be the best course of action for them.

Three million doses, roughly, are going to distributed around the country. And it's up to each state to sort of triage these doses. We know that specifically health care workers who take care of COVID patients and people in long-term care facilities are going to be at the top of the list.

But each state may give all their doses to health care workers or all their doses to long-term care facility residents. Or they may split it up. So it may be different in one state compared to the state next door. So that may feel a little disjointed in the beginning.

But the hope is, as more and more vaccine is created, it's going to help smooth out some of the demand surges that are likely to occur obviously in these various states.

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CURNOW: Thanks to Sanjay there.

As people hold out for vaccines, the pandemic is surging in countries across the world. In South Korea, for example, health officials are trying to cope with the highest number of daily cases since the pandemic began; 1,000 confirmed infections from Saturday.

In Europe, the German chancellor plans to meet with local leaders over a possible nationwide lockdown there.

Let's talk about this was discussed with Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. He joins me now from Los Angeles.

Doctor, hi, lovely to see you. It's -- this is fascinating. It's a huge scientific -- historical scientific moment. We're seeing this vaccination roll out.

Has anything like this ever been done before in the U.S.?

DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: Nothing at all. Even while -- I wasn't around but even in the polio vaccinations, no effort has ever been put together with this degree of, you know, sort of urgency and with this degree of cooperation.

Just remember that a vaccine has gone from the beginning of the pandemic to administering the vaccination in approximately nine months. That's unheard of.

And this is a worldwide pandemic. So the solution is not just to give it to people in the United States. It's to give it to people world- round, so nothing like this has ever been done. It is quite astounding.

CURNOW: It is quite astounding, particularly organizationally now. There's the need for ultracold freezers, tracking equipment, military backup plans, if need be, tight security and basic distribution.

What do you think is the most -- what needs to be done the most effectively, the most efficiently?

RODRIGUEZ: The most efficient thing that should be done, first, since the vaccine requires such cold temperatures, is that it needs to be gotten and taken to the areas that are necessary under the correct environment.

It needs to be distributed in the correct environment. So precision is the most important thing.

I think the second most important thing is telling the public when they can get the vaccine, how they can access it, because there are a lot of questions right now. So I think the communication to the public is going to be absolutely the most important thing.

CURNOW: Yes. It certainly is. That's not just a U.S. thing as well. Many people asking questions and they just need some trust, essentially, in their health care providers. That, of course, is also seen when other people take it. We have all these millions of people potentially being vaccinated in the coming months.

How important is it for people who have already had COVID to also get vaccinated?

Where does that fit in?

RODRIGUEZ: Well, the people who already had COVID need to be stratified as if they never had it. We don't know if they can harbor the virus later on, if they can get it a second time.

Therefore, people that are -- that have been already infected with COVID should not have a sense of security that they're never going to get it again. They need to be vaccinated. Probably the most long- lasting immunity will be obtained through vaccination.

CURNOW: That's interesting. Also the interesting thing, doctors like you still don't know if this vaccine stops the infection or just stops you from getting sick.

This is about mask wearing way into next year, isn't it?

RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely. I think one of the disservices we've done to the public is we have almost propagated the myth that, when things are better, we can go out and be normal.

Let's realize that normalcy is going to take a while. We don't have long-term data on this vaccine. So until we know, six months out, a year out, that it is safe to come out of our homes, we are going to have to still just take precautions. We don't know if we can spread it.

Until we know differently, we still have to take precautions to protect those who've not been vaccinated. And actually, ourselves, because we don't know how long it will be effective in those who have gotten it.

CURNOW: What do you think about the need to test people at home?

Does regulation need to change?

Do you see the Biden administration being pressured to change regulations so we can self-test at home?

RODRIGUEZ: I don't know if they're going to be pressured. But I think being self-tested at home is one more bullet in our armor to fight this. The sort of bottleneck and the cog in the works, if you will, is the ability of people at home to be able to test themselves correctly.

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RODRIGUEZ: Therefore the test has not only to be effective, it has to be easy to be performed at home. I think it's going to be a huge help in what we do. Even if people just test themselves, you know, often, it is better than not being tested at all.

CURNOW: Dr. Rodriguez, always good to speak you. Thank you for joining us.

RODRIGUEZ: Thanks, sure.

CURNOW: Coming up on CNN, more on that logistical nightmare of getting the vaccine to hundreds of millions of people. We look at the plan to ship it throughout the U.S.

Plus the U.S. attorney general is one of the latest to be on the receiving end of presidential tirade. Why Donald Trump appears to be turning on his top law enforcement official. That's next.

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CURNOW: Washington's mayor says at least 23 have been arrested during a day and night of post election protests. Officials say at least four people were stabbed and taken to the hospital in critical condition. Large groups of so-called "Stop the Steal" protesters and-counter protesters gathered in the capital.

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CURNOW: The large demonstrations were mostly peaceful during the day but video circulated on social media of scuffles that broke out sporadically. On Monday, the Electoral College will meet in state capitals around the country and make Joe Biden's victory official.

meanwhile, President Trump remains stuck on his false claim that he won the election. He is lashing out at the Supreme Court and his own attorney general. Boris Sanchez has more from Washington -- Boris.

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump spent Saturday mostly focused on the 2020 election and mythmaking, repeating false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen from him.

And now the president is focusing his ire on those in his administration and elsewhere that are refusing to go along with this fantasy.

On Saturday, President Trump tweeting that the Supreme Court acted disgracefully in dismissing that lawsuit from the state of Texas and other states, trying to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania and a number of other states.

The president also focused on his attorney general, William Barr. CNN reported earlier this month that President Trump was furious with Barr after the attorney general revealed in the Associated Press that he did not believe that there was any widespread election fraud, there was no evidence of widespread election fraud.

CNN has learned that President Trump, at that point, contemplated firing the attorney general but was talked out of it by aides, ultimately suggesting that he was so close to January 20th and a new administration that it wouldn't be worth it.

Now the president is again revisiting the idea after news that attorney general William Barr worked to keep news that the Department of Justice was investigating President-Elect Joe Biden's son, Hunter, under wraps.

Barr, following precedent and policy at DOJ to not reveal any sort of information about a candidate or their family members being under investigation around election time, the president tweeting this, quote, "Why didn't Bill Barr reveal the truth to the public before the election about Hunter Biden?

"Joe was lying on the debate stage that nothing was wrong or going on. Press confirmed. Big disadvantage for Republicans at the polls."

That "truth" there that the president is alluding to, a bit nebulous at best. Nevertheless, this is history repeating itself. Remember, President Trump frequently berated his former attorney general, Jeff Sessions, on Twitter because Sessions did not do his bidding and ultimately recused himself from the Russia investigation.

That went on for the better part of a year before President Trump ultimately fired Sessions, replacing him with Barr.

Now we're in a similar situation with the current attorney general. Sources close to the two men say that the communication between them is virtually nonexistent, that there has been a breakdown between the two of them.

They likened it to a cold war between the two men. At this point, we understand the president has mused about firing Barr. It's unclear whether he will, so close to a new administration on January 20th -- Boris Sanchez, CNN, at the White House.

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CURNOW: Joining me is Jessica Levinson, professor of law at Loyola and host to the podcast, "Passing Judgment."

Jessica, lovely to see you. The president tweeted we have just begun the fight. We see Americans fighting on the streets, D.C. images we showed a little before Boris.

But is the legal fight now totally over?

JESSICA LEVINSON, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: Almost, almost, almost. I wish I could say totally over. Now any legitimate legal fight is way, way over and, frankly, never even began.

So people have asked me, when it comes to the post election litigation, are you going to talk about this in your election law class?

The answer is no. I would talk about this in an ethical lawyering class or professional responsibility class as to what not to do. There haven't been any real legal questions.

Is it over, over, over?

I mean, any potential small path to victory is over.

But will the suits potentially continue in order to help fund-raise?

Maybe.

CURNOW: That's a good point.

How has the legal fight to overturn the election created political opportunities for the president and his supporters?

In many ways, some have suggested that these legal losses have created a very clear post-presidency message and even movement for Mr. Trump.

LEVINSON: I think so. If you look at how much President Trump has been able to fundraise as a result of continuing to fight in the courts, I think, at this point, it's probably upwards of $200 million. So continuing the legal fights has really allowed him to continue his political fights and his political fundraising.

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LEVINSON: This money, particularly for a leadership PAC, could really allowed him to continue to hold sway over the Republican Party, not just by using the media but also by using this frankly huge slush fund.

So I think that's what we're talking about here. There really is no realistic path, even in 2020, even in our crazy, topsy-turvy world, there is no legal path to overturning a democratically-elected president-elect; in this case, Joe Biden.

CURNOW: So is what you calling a slush fund and examples such as the majority of House Republicans supporting this Texas court case, how and to what extent Mr. Trump has co-opted the Republican Party and how long will that endure after the 20th of January?

I mean, how much does the political landscape change in the years ahead?

LEVINSON: I wish I knew the answer to that. I suspect that anybody who says they know for sure, I'm a little suspicious of that.

But what we do know is that the Republican Party really has become the party of Trump. We saw this in the Republican convention, where the platform was one thing: re-elect President Trump.

And I think for some Republicans, some voters, not elected officials, it's become kind of unrecognizable, because none of these things have anything to do with your view of tax policy or the environment or criminal justice or voting rights.

It's all really just about trying to elect President Trump.

Now how much noise is he going to make going forward?

In part, it's how much the elected Republicans allow him to make. I mean, the fact that a majority of them signed onto a lawsuit that was so absurd that it is -- we should have a real conversation about whether the lawyers should be sanctioned.

Doesn't say a lot about the institutional strength of the Republican Party. And that's not good for our country. It's better for our country when we have two legitimate parties, not one party with certain views and then another party that supports, at least publicly, undermining our democracy.

CURNOW: Bill Barr: how does potentially firing the attorney general weeks before the handover impact things?

Is this likely?

And what -- more importantly, if it happens, what does that change, if anything?

What opportunity does it give the president in the last few weeks?

LEVINSON: Well, you know, what does it change?

I mean, for Bill Barr, I don't think -- frankly, this has been the curious case of Bill Barr for so long, because he did serve as the attorney general before. Many people, including myself, incorrectly thought that he would be the adult in the room.

And you know, at this point he did kind of two things that showed respect for the rule of law and reality. And as a result we're talking about him being fired.

Now what could happen if Bill Barr's no longer there, it's not like he served as a guardrail or a protector of democracy and our Department of Justice. We don't know who would be installed. I think we're at about 38 days before the inauguration.

So certainly President Trump is still in power. There's still a lot of levers that he can pull. And he can still try and, for instance, undermine protection for career members of the federal government. But I would say we don't know the answer to that yet. We don't know if Bill Barr is going to be ostracized or if he'll be shown the door.

CURNOW: Jessica Levinson, always important to get your perspective. Thank so much. Have a lovely weekend.

LEVINSON: You, too.

CURNOW: Activity is heating up in Georgia ahead of the two crucial Senate elections in January. The results will determine the balance of power in the chamber. Many Republicans in the state are repeating President Trump's false claim of election fraud as well. But they are still urging people to vote next month. Here's Kyung Lah with more from Atlanta.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The immediate political impact is on the two Senate runoff seats here in Georgia. Now, Democrats and Republicans are crisscrossing the state, talking about voter enthusiasm, trying to get people to focus on the early vote, which starts on Monday.

Now, as far as those bus tours, what we were listening for and what we are continuing to listen for is whether the Supreme Court's decision to not hear the case is going to be immediately talked about on the campaign trail.

Now, we did see the Club for Growth Save America bus tour. One of the speakers, Representative Louie Gohmert, who comes from Texas, directly addressed it. I want to see if you can follow his twists and turns as he attempts to spin this.

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): And they may wimp out.

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GOHMERT: But we have got to show the Supreme Court wimps or not, there are people in this country that still stand up for right.

LAH: Republican notable Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate, joined Gohmert on the trail and what she was saying along with other speakers is you still got to vote. Don't be discouraged. Don't be disillusioned. Yet following up with that, by basically disparaging the entire American democratic system -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Coming up here on CNN, how to get a coronavirus vaccine to hundreds of millions of Americans. We look at the massive logistics that could start in just a few hours' time.

Plus, reaching rural Americans with the vaccine. We look at how some of the distribution challenges will impact rural Americans. That is after the break.

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CURNOW: Welcome back. Great to have you. It's 29 minutes past the hour. To all of you in the United States and all around the world, thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow.

The U.S. is preparing for the biggest vaccination campaign in its history. Everyone is just waiting for the CDC director to give the final go-ahead to the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. Doses are set to be delivered to 145 sites across the country. U.S. Marshals will accompany the shipments from factory to final destination.

[02:30:00] CURNOW: Health officials say the vaccine could alter the course of the pandemic in the U.S. and around the world. And it's not a moment too soon. With cases and hospitalizations surging. Dianne Gallagher has more now on how the vaccine will get from cold storage into the arms of millions of Americans.

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DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As a race to distribute the Pfizer vaccine in the United States is set to begin, there are different parts of the logistics, the process of actually getting that vaccine to hospitals and nursing homes and government agencies that have taken months to plan.

Different carriers like FedEx and UPS are going to take that vaccine and ship it all over the country to try and get it to people who need it quickly. Now there are three different aspects to this.

Of course, temperature, much has been made about the fact that this vaccine must be kept in extremely cold conditions, negative 94 degrees Fahrenheit.

And timing: FedEx has said it's using Bluetooth and GPS to make sure it has eyes on these packages of vaccines everywhere they go, every step of the way, to make sure they get there as quickly as possible.

And then there's the transit and that's because airports across the country have been told by the FAA to prepare for these vaccine flights even if they're not expecting them. One airport that has been told to potentially expect those vaccines is Ford Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I have Stephen Clark with me now.

And, Stephen, proximity wise, it's very close to Kalamazoo where Pfizer is shipping a lot of these vaccines out.

But what is it about this airport that has made you guys ideal for this vaccine distribution?

STEPHEN CLARK, GERALD R. FORD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: It's all about infrastructure. When carriers are looking to transport this vaccine not only here in the United States but globally, it's all about long runways, air cargo facilities and the ability to get people and goods in and out rapidly.

So we have a 10,000-foot long runway, perfectly capable of handling wide body international flights. We handle wide body domestic air cargo flights every single day of the week. So for an airport like Ford, it's just business as usual for us.

GALLAGHER: I know you guys, though, have been planning for this about a month now. It's not just technical and a difficult process, it's been kind of emotional as well, right?

CLARK: Absolutely. I think, for us, our industry has been impacted so much by COVID. Many of our colleagues, our friends, our loved ones, they lost their jobs, they're laid off, furloughed, changed jobs. So to have an opportunity to be on that starting line of heroes, we

think of health care workers, we think of nurses, we think of, you know, scientists, all these folks, the fact that transportation gets to be a part of that story and put an end to the beginning of this terrible pandemic is pretty incredible.

GALLAGHER: I know the Ford Airport say they've spoken or been in talks with at least four international carriers in terms of the vaccine. Of course, a lot of this is still shrouded in secrecy and there's massive security involved in the vaccine distribution here in the United States and worldwide -- Dianne Gallagher, CNN, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, staff will be ready to roll when the vaccine arrives. Saturday morning, the staff learned the vaccine is sensitive to light. So engineers developed a plan to transform what they call the vaccination preparation area.

You see this crew is working right now. They're going to darken the area to help maintain the integrity of the vaccine. Over to my left, you'll notice there are 10 vaccine stations. This is where those health care employees who are most at risk for contracting the virus will receive that shot in the arm.

I spoke with the clinical physician who is going to administer the first shot. On Friday, he participated in a dry run here at the hospital. They wanted to test out their system and see how things would flow. I asked if there were any surprises. This is what he had to say.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's turning into a very nice, full-sized clinic, so it'll bee -- it's one of those things I'm excited to be able to have the opportunity to vaccinate so many people. It's also is a little mind-boggling how this whole process is going to work.

But we have so many different plans in place and different people working on different aspects of that, that really I think this clinic will run smoothly. It's just a matter of getting it going.

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BROADDUS: A new process for everyone. A staff also tells me, once people get to this stage in the game, it'll look no different than receiving the flu shot. The hospital is expected to receive about 2,000 doses. There are roughly 10,000 employees at Rush.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) 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.

[02:35:00]

JIMENEZ (voice-over): 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 -- I'm Omar Jimenez, CNN. Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: It is decision day in Brussels. Talks have been going on through the night to try an avoid a no-deal Brexit. The British government descriptions the trade negotiations between the U.K. and the European Union as difficult. We expect to hear a progress report in the coming hours.

Now all of this caps off what's been a rough 12 months for prime minister Boris Johnson. Despite a landslide election victory a year ago this weekend, he seems to be stumbling from crisis to crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, as Nic Robertson now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Boris Johnson has had a tough year and it shows, his party in rebellion as waves of COVID-19 pandemic battering Britain worst than most other nations.

BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: Well, we did it. We did it.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Yet a year ago, surfing electoral success.

JOHNSON: I am humbled that you have put your trust in me.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): A massive 80 MP majority.

Then came floods and COVID-19's first wave.

JOHNSON: I was at the hospital the other night, where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients. And I shook hands with everybody. ROBERTSON (voice-over): Johnson slow to grasp the gravity.

JOHNSON: You must stay at home.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Slow to lock down, slow on PPE, slow on test and trace.

JOHNSON: I've taken a test. That has come out positive.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Days later, rushed to hospital.

JOHNSON: NHS has saved my life. No question.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): By mid-December, more than 60,000 of his citizens not so lucky. Many in care homes lost their lives to COVID- 19. And through it all, Johnson losing credibility.

JOHNSON: Anyone who cannot work from home should be actively encouraged to go to work.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): His return to work message ridiculed.

MATT LUCAS, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN: If you can work from home, go to work, don't go to work. Go outside. Don't go outside.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): His chief adviser flouting lockdown guidelines.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if I could drive safely.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): But managed to hold onto his job for another six months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just hoping that the government make a U-turn.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Humiliating U-turns, including over free meals for school children.

JOHNSON: But this is not a return to normality. I wish it were so.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): By year's end, the country, his party, deeply divided over his handling of COVID-19.

[02:40:00]

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The pandemic not his only controversy.

THERESA MAY, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: The government is acting recklessly and irresponsibly.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Drawing unprecedented rebuke from his predecessor following his plans to break terms of a legal Brexit treaty with the E.U.

NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER: To the other countries of the E.U., Scotland wants to return and we hope to do so soon as an independent member state.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): And worse, Scotland's drive for independence gaining momentum, their leader's handling of COVID-19 perceived better than his, humiliating infamy for Johnson should the 300-year union uncouple on his watch.

JOHNSON: I do think it's vital that everybody now gets ready for that Australian option.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): And on the other union, Brexit leaving the E.U., almost 11 months of talks, still no trade deal.

JOHNSON: We're not stopping. The talks will continue to negotiate.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Less than 20 days to go, time running out. Failure could lead to economic pain. Yet, amazingly, in a year packed with drama, he added more at home, a divorce, a betrothal and a baby.

For a man who once dreamed of being king of the world, the weight of it is surely on his shoulders now -- Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CURNOW: Thanks, Nic, for that.

So a shootout, gunmen on motorbikes and then children caught in the middle. The search is now on for attackers who raided a school in Nigeria. A live report is next.

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CURNOW: Thanks for having me. It's 44 minutes past the hour.

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CURNOW: So police are looking for the gunman who attacked a school in Northern Nigeria on Friday. Investigators say the attackers might have been trying to kidnap the students in exchange for ransom. I want to bring in CNN's David McKenzie, live from Johannesburg.

Hi, David.

What do we know?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we know is this is a group, according to witnesses we spoke to, in that part of Katsina state in Northwest Nigeria, that at around 9:00 pm in the evening on Friday, as these young students were preparing for exams, a group of gunmen on motorbikes, as you suggest, came into that large secondary school of maybe about 700 pupils.

An 18-year old, Musa, that we spoke to, said he was terrified by the increasingly loud sounds of gunfire. He and a few of his classmates jumped out of the windows, ran into a nearby forest. They were barefoot. They have had to sleep the night there and return to the school.

What is unclear at this stage is just how many people were taken by those gunmen. This is not an area known for radical extremists. This is -- but there is a lot of insecurity and criminality in this region and a history of kidnapping.

Now the president says that they're going to do everything to find out what happens. He happened to, in fact, be in the state, his home state, Muhammadu Buhari, a couple hundred kilometers away. So it's deeply embarrassing, this incident.

Unclear yet how serious it is in terms of how many children were taken and how many have been freed at this point.

CURNOW: Keep us posted on any new information you get on that. Broadly, Nigerians concerned about a series of some disturbing, violent incidents over the last few weeks and months with relation to lawlessness.

What can the president do about it?

MCKENZIE: He came into power, as you know, as former general, someone who would come in and secure the country, in his words. His primary objective, when he came into power initially, was the northeast of Nigeria, where they're still fighting a long-running insurgency from Boko Haram.

Toward the end of last month, you had that hideous example in Borno state, of more than 100 farmers murdered in one massacre by Boko Haram. So the threat of Boko Haram is still there.

You also still have in the northwest, like this current incident, a feeling of lawlessness by citizens. And then the protests against the SARS security group and the fallout from that.

So the president will be under a great deal of pressure right now to do something about keeping Nigerians safe. There is a large amount of discontent about different issues of security with different actors. But in a way with the same result; people just feel unsafe.

CURNOW: But this time, again, real concerns that children were targeted.

Have you spoken to many families in the area?

And when will we know how many children are still missing?

MCENANY: Well, as I was speaking to our colleague in Nigeria just a few moments ago, the irony of this is that it can take several days to figure out how many children were at the school, how many potentially were taken.

But there is some good news. It seems like a lot of kids were able to escape. It is unclear whether the primary objective of these gunmen were to take people to try and get ransom or just to rob the children. At least one person said they ransacked their dorm rooms.

There are some indications that the attackers were in the town associated with the school before this. It might have been an issue of just a target of opportunity. It could take several days to figure out how many of these kids were taken, if there have been released.

But the bottom line remains is that these incidents continue to happen in several parts of Nigeria.

CURNOW: David McKenzie, thanks so much for that update there, thank you.

So coming up, legendary country singer Charley Pride passed away on Saturday from COVID-19 complications. After the break, we look back at his trailblazing decades-long career.

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CURNOW (voice-over): What happens in Vegas didn't stay in Vegas for this man. He was taken into police custody on Saturday after climbing onto the wing of an Alaska Airlines plane at Las Vegas airport and then falling to the tarmac, which you can see in this video, shot by a passenger who was waiting to board that jet.

The airport tells CNN the man was taken to a medical facility. No word yet, though, on why he was actually scaling the plane in the first place.

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CURNOW: Now some sad news from the world of country music. The legendary singer Charley Pride has passed away at the age of 86 as a result of complications from COVID. Pride was the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Stephanie Elam has more on his trailblazing career.

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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Charley Pride was country music's first Black superstar. The son of Mississippi sharecroppers, he fell in love with country music after listening to Grand Ole Opry radio shows in his youth.

CHARLEY PRIDE, COUNTRY MUSIC LEGEND: I've always loved entertainment. I've always loved to listen to not only just singing but the radio shows. ELAM (voice-over): Yet he first found success in a different field.

PRIDE: That was where I wanted to make my mark. Baseball, I saw Jackie Robinson and I was down there picking that cotton in Mississippi and I said, hey, here's my way out.

ELAM (voice-over): Pride entered the Negro Leagues at the age of 16 and eventually became an all-star player. He sang in local music clubs in his spare time. And after a failed tryout with the New York Mets, made music his focus. Pride's race proved to be a hurdle for country labels at the time.

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ELAM (voice-over): But legendary country guitarist and record executive Chet Atkins took a chance on him and launched his career.

Pride's first singles were released without any mention of his race or even a picture of him. But in due course, country music fans discovered who he was and liked what they saw.

His 1967 breakthrough single, "Just between You and Me," was a top 10 country hit and earned him his first Grammy nomination. In the decades that followed, Pride would score more than 50 Top 10 country hits and sell tens of millions of records.

His 1971 Grammy winning number one crossover hit, "Kiss an Angel Good Morning," was his most successful song, selling more than a million copies.

PRIDE: I'm through talking. I guess I'm just going to thank everybody again.

ELAM (voice-over): In his later years Pride picked up Lifetime CMA and Grammy Achievement Awards and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

He also continued performing, introducing new generations to the honky-tonk music of his youth. Charley Pride, a pioneering performer, who broke barriers, singing the music he loved so well.