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Congressional Leaders Near Deal on Coronavirus Relief Bill; More Americans to Receive First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Today; Capitol Hill Leaders Looking at Stimulus Deal Close to $908 Billion; U.S. Investigates Possible Russian Hacking of Government Agencies; Futures Flat Amid Progress on a Potential Stimulus Deal. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired December 16, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:13]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

This morning some potentially good news, and we do like to bring you good news when it's out there. This for millions of Americans who perhaps like many of you desperate for financial help this holiday season. After months of stalemates and bickering, congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle now express confidence they will reach an agreement on a much needed stimulus funding bill.

Moments ago, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin told CNN this bill could include direct payments to Americans. We will have much more on that breaking news in just a moment, including details. But as lawmakers try to hammer out those details the vaccine rollout it's full steam ahead. So many pictures like this one around the country today, even more people will receive their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

HARLOW: But even with that encouraging news, the reality today is bleak. The U.S. reported more than 3,000 new deaths from COVID just on Tuesday. This marks the third highest daily death toll since the pandemic began. And for the past week the country has averaged more than 212,000 new daily cases and set hospitalization records for 10 straight days now.

We will get to all of that in a moment, but let's begin with the breaking news this morning, so let's go to Capitol Hill. Our colleague CNN congressional correspondent Sunlen Serfaty joins us now.

Sunlen, what do we know about negotiations, i.e., are they going to vote on this soon? And to Jim's really good point, does it include direct stimulus payments?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's all of those things, Poppy, that the negotiators and the leadership from the House and Senate are sorting out right now, but they do at this moment appear very close to striking a deal.

That expectation is that they could announce it as soon as this morning. And we are starting to hear some of those little details about what's actually in this bill, how much it cost, including -- and this is from my colleague Manu Raju, a source tells him that the price tag for this deal that's being negotiated $900 billion.

And we will be getting details, of course, over does this include a stimulus payment, another round of stimulus checks to people, to individuals in this country? That of course a big thing that the White House is pushing for, what progressives were pushing for, and the big question of course, does this include liability protections? That's something Republicans were pushing for. And aid to state and local governments, something that Democrats wanted. Those two things widely seen as concessions that likely will have to be made here.

But here is Senator Joe Manchin who of course was a part of that bicameral, bipartisan group that drew up a proposal that largely framed the contours, it sounds like, of this deal coming together. Here's what he spoke to moments ago about what he's hearing is in this deal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I'm understanding that it could be maybe some direct payments in lieu of state and local.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And what would those look like? The direct payments, because that was a big sticking point and obviously the progressives in the House really want that. So how much?

MANCHIN: That I don't know. I can't speak to that. I know it wouldn't be more than $1200, but I think it will be in the $600, probably $500, $600 range to try to help through these most difficult times. That would be my guess. I have no knowledge of this whatsoever. I'm telling you I think and this is the conversations we've been hearing for the last day or so. So they're looking for a pathway forward. That might have been the pathway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: So, again, him focusing there on the second round of stimulus checks that so many people fought for to potentially be included in this deal.

And Jim and Poppy, it is of course worth remembering that they are really up against the wall, up against this big deadline. You have the clock ticking towards a midnight Friday deadline. They won't attach this deal to the government funding deadline to get that done. A lot procedural that needs to happen. So just when they reach a deal later today likely, does not mean that it's across the finish line? A lot needs to happen.

SCIUTTO: Well, the deadlines matter, right, because for a lot of people those benefits will run out the day after Christmas.

SERFATY: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Which of course would be a horrible prospect to face.

Sunlen Serfaty, appreciate it. We know you'll be on top of it.

Today, other major story we're following this morning, doses of Pfizer's vaccine are arriving at more and more facilities across the country. One of them Loyola Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois. That's where CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is.

So tell us how you're seeing this roll out there and how many folks are getting their shots per day?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots of anticipation here. Among the eligible staff, already 400 people have already signed up to receive the vaccine. It hasn't arrived here yet, but when it does arrive the hospital is anticipating 16,000 doses will be delivered here. It's unclear if the first shipment will contain all of the 16 or if it will follow up later. Meanwhile, the hospital conducted a survey about two weeks ago.

[09:05:03]

It wanted to find out if staff members would be willing to take the vaccine. The staff here about 9400 total. Among those people who were surveyed, at least 70 percent responded by saying yes. They want the vaccine.

And right now I want to bring Dr. Rich Freeman. He's the chief clinical officer. He can tell us a little bit more about their plans here and the rollout.

Doctor, thanks for taking time to join us this morning. Let's begin by talking about what this vaccine will mean for you and your staff.

DR. RICHARD FREEMAN, CHIEF CLINICAL OFFICER, LOYOLA MEDICINE: Good morning. Yes, we're very excited about receiving the vaccine. It will mean the first positive move that we've made in months toward preventing COVID in our staff and the general population. So we're very excited to start vaccinating hopefully tomorrow.

BROADDUS: Hopefully tomorrow. And we know those 400 who have already signed up are the employees who are working directly with COVID-19 patients. Indeed, hope is on the horizon with this vaccine, but what is the message in the coming days? What do people really need to do?

FREEMAN: Well, really there's two things to keep in mind. Number one, it will take months to get us all vaccinated so we need to continue to wear masks and socially distance, and we need the general population to be patient because it will take several months to get all the frontline workers and the high-risk people vaccinated before the general population can receive the vaccine.

BROADDUS: All right, thank you so much for your time, Dr. Freeman.

And he's underscoring what we heard from Chicago's mayor yesterday when that first shot in Chicago was administered on the city's West Side. It will be weeks or months before we see widespread vaccination -- Poppy and Jim.

HARLOW: We're so close so do your part, stay healthy, keep everyone else healthy, and we'll get there together.

Adrienne, thank you for the good news this morning.

We're joined now by Kathleen Sebelius, former Health and Human Services secretary under President Obama.

It's wonderful to have you. Thank you for the time this morning.

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, FORMER HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY UNDER OBAMA: Good to be with you.

HARLOW: Secretary, what do you make of the rollout so far?

SEBELIUS: Well, it's great news. It is a triumph of science to have an effective vaccine within 11 months of the identifying this novel coronavirus. It's great news for the public that help is on the horizon, but as you said, Poppy, at the beginning of this broadcast, we are in some very difficult times.

The death toll is as high as it's ever been. Hospitals are full. Emergency workers are exhausted. And I think people watching the vaccine travel around the country are thinking, OK, it's over. We have months and months to go and there's some real uncertainty about how much vaccine will be available, how quickly, and so people really have to be patient and be very vigilant about the rules that are mask wearing and social distancing and staying out of indoor gatherings when you can't stay away from other people.

SCIUTTO: A lot of folks, a lot of organizations rose to the occasion here, pharmaceutical companies, National Institutes of Health, around the world, too, but I wonder do you give the Trump administration credit for helping to shepherd this along, to get to a vaccine remarkably quickly and get to the distribution of that vaccine now?

SEBELIUS: Well, I think definitely the investment in multiple candidates for the vaccine and sort of pre-paying for vaccines that were going to work was hugely effective, convincing pharmaceutical companies there was a willing buyer and accelerating this whole scientific endeavor.

This is a triumph of science and the scientists did their work in record time. I have no idea why the administration turned down the opportunity as late as November to purchase additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine. I wish we had done that. We had an opportunity to have up to 400 million more doses from Pfizer. Didn't have to pay for it until we had all the evidence that it was safe and effective and approved, but we turned that down.

So those contracts have gone elsewhere. That's a problem. There is a real problem pending with money running out for state and local governments to conduct this vaccination campaign. There's been about $10 billion spent by the administration in producing a vaccine, but about $380 million passed out to states around this country and local jurisdictions to mount the most massive vaccination campaign that this country has ever seen. People need to be hired, data need to be kept, we need to have this amazing logistics of very cold storage going to potentially remote and rural areas.

[09:10:02]

That financing isn't there. It's desperately needed.

HARLOW: This vaccination only works really if you have a high number of people that are vaccinated around the world, right? Because we travel outside of the United States and people come to this country all the time. So the new research out overnight that says that it looks like about half the planned doses of vaccine have been bought up by high-income countries like the U.S., Japan, Australia, the U.K., and that means that a lot of the world, the poor nations, won't get vaccinated until 2022.

This is exactly what Bill and Melinda Gates have been warning about a lot, and I just wonder what your advice for the Biden administration is. Because right now as I understand it the Trump administration has not paid into what's called COVAX to help distribute the vaccine outside the U.S. Is that like one of the first things the Biden administration should do?

SEBELIUS: Absolutely, Poppy. We need to reengage immediately with all of the international partners, with the WHO, where the United States has always been a leader, that's the organization that facilitates distribution and purchasing throughout the world. We need to immediately become an active participant in COVAX which is the joint vaccination effort to both purchase vaccine for developing countries, but also, again, stand up the vaccinators so that they are ready to go, because a disease anywhere is a disease everywhere.

There are no borders that keep out viruses as we very well know, watching COVID travel from other countries and ravage the globe. So we need to get the world vaccinated. It is -- the Trump administration has withdrawn the United States from all of the international efforts, from all of the collaborative partnerships and that's just dangerous for the American public. As you say, we travel back and forth and viruses clearly travel back and forth.

They don't have passports, they can easily get on airplanes, they don't need tickets, and no one in the United States is safe and secure until we can get herd immunity throughout the world, which is about a 70 percent vaccination rate.

SCIUTTO: Long way to go. We all need patience. Kathleen Sebelius, thanks so much.

SEBELIUS: Sure.

SCIUTTO: Still to come this hour, growing confidence of a stimulus agreement finally will be reached up there on Capitol Hill. We're going to speak to the Senate Democratic whip, Dick Durbin. That's next. For an update.

HARLOW: Also President Trump lashes out overnight at Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell while Senator McConnell tells Republicans to get in line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

SCIUTTO: All right, welcome back. Some good news finally. It appears on Capitol Hill, a stimulus negotiations still under way, some potential developments this morning. Senator Joe Manchin telling CNN just moments ago that a bill could be on its way and include direct stimulus payments to Americans. Joining me now to discuss this and other issues. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, he is Minority Whip and a member of the Judiciary and Appropriations Committee. Senator, thanks so much for taking time this morning.

SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Good to be with you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, we're hearing a lot of hope from the Hill, from your colleagues on both sides of the aisle on the Hill. We have heard hope before. Will a deal get done?

DURBIN: Well, I think we have an excellent opportunity. I was part of the group of bipartisan group that put together this package. I think President Trump is right that $916 billion should be our target in spending.

That should include help for state and local governments from my point of view, I think many of us feel that way. But it also ought to include the $784, 48 -- I'm sorry, $748 billion that we had as a consensus agreement. Give you an example. We put money in here for testing, treatment, tracing and also for the logistics of the vaccinations. We put a lot of money in, but not enough.

More will be needed. So let's not short change it. If we're going to sit down and put more money into this project, I would certainly put --

SCIUTTO: OK --

DURBIN: More money into vaccines.

SCIUTTO: Senator Manchin seems to suggest that direct payments to Americans in this bill might replace state and local aid. Are you saying that state and local aid is still in play?

DURBIN: It is for me. It's a priority. I can tell you in my state and in the city of Chicago and other major municipalities in Illinois, they've taken a real beating. Revenues are down dramatically and we know why? People don't go out to eat anymore, they don't shop --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

DURBIN: In the neighborhoods as much as they used to. SCIUTTO: So direct payments. So what would these involve? Exactly how

much and to how many Americans?

DURBIN: Well, that's a good question. And I would say that with the current amount of money that we have talked about, $900 billion, you couldn't do state and local payments as well as direct payments. I think the state and local are absolutely critical.

When it comes to direct payments, I'm not opposed to them, but we have to up the ante. We have to put more money into the effort. And I think it's money well spent to give to families a helping hand at this point in our economy. Many families have no savings, there are little or no savings, and they are in a desperate situation.

So, if we would give the money, say, to those making $50,000 a year or less, individuals, $100,000 per couple, I think that it would cost somewhere in the range of $200 billion, and I'm just speculating to do that across the nation.

SCIUTTO: Liability protections, of course, that had been the price in effect for Republicans or at least, the suggested exchange from the bipartisan group, state and local aid for liability protections. Are liability protections guaranteed in this latest version of a bill?

DURBIN: No, we weren't able to reach an agreement. There's some real difference of opinion about the giving to corporations immunity from liability.

[09:20:00]

I do not want small businesses or any businesses to be harassed by ridiculous lawsuits, but I don't want to close the courthouse doors to individuals who have no other recourse for what they've suffered in terms of damages or pain and suffering or even death in their family. We can't close that door because that really is the option for justice.

SCIUTTO: OK, I want to move on to another topic, and that is a massive hack of multiple government agencies. It appears by Russia. Senator Richard Blumenthal who is on one of the relevant committees has tweeted that out. I wonder, it appears Russia was inside crucial U.S. systems at crucial U.S. agencies for months. Who is to blame?

DURBIN: Well, the press reports say that it went undetected for months. Listen, let's get to the bottom line here. Russia is relentlessly trying to invade America's cyber space and to compromise individual identities as well as critical and sensitive information. They've been at it for years and they continue to do so. Apparently with some success.

And let's put it on the line here. We need an honest reset in terms of relationships between the United States and Russia. We can't be buddies with Vladimir Putin and have him at the same time making this kind of cyber attack on America. This is virtually a declaration of war by Russia on the United States, and we should take it that seriously. SCIUTTO: As happens so often, the president has yet to make a public

comment about this. He is tweeting about "Fox News" commercials this morning. In your view, was the Trump administration asleep at the wheel here?

DURBIN: Completely compromised. On one hand, we knew what the Russians have been doing during the last four years and how much they put America's security at risk, and what it means to our own personal privacy. And the president with his arm around the shoulders of Vladimir Putin, is calling his best friend. So we can't have that kind of dichotomy between policy and reality.

SCIUTTO: Senator Dick Durbin, thanks so much for joining the program this morning.

DURBIN: Thank you, Jim.

HARLOW: Quite a statement, Jim, from him on --

SCIUTTO: Compromised.

HARLOW: Russia, right? And essentially a declaration of war. A lot --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HARLOW: For the incoming administration to deal with. Great interview. OK, ahead for us, frontline healthcare workers who have seen firsthand the impact, how deadly this pandemic is, they are saying that getting this first dose of the Pfizer vaccine has been a huge relief. Well, we're going to speak next with the ER nurse who was the first person to get the vaccine in New Jersey next.

SCIUTTO: And we are moments away from the opening bell. Futures are flat, still there is optimism about the prospects of a stimulus deal, and as the rollout continues of Pfizer's vaccine, they will also be keeping a close eye on comments from the fed chair later today on the state of the economy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

HARLOW: I can see that light at the end of the tunnel. Those are the words of New Jersey emergency room nurse, Maritza Beniquez right after this history-making moment, she became the first person in her state to be vaccinated on Tuesday and on her birthday, no less. She may have had a mask on, but there is no hiding that joy and that sense of relief. Here is what she said about the moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARITZA BENIQUEZ, EMERGENCY ROOM NURSE: This to me -- this is a lifeline. This to me -- I don't have to be afraid. I know that another month and a half, I will not have to be afraid to touch people.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: Oh, emergency room nurse Maritza Beniquez joins me now, and

happy belated birthday.

BENIQUEZ: Hi, thank you.

HARLOW: And I don't know if you can see me, but I will send this to you if you can't, you are on the front page of the style section of "The Washington Post" today, by the way.

(LAUGHTER)

Yes, you made it!

BENIQUEZ: Oh, wow.

HARLOW: OK, I'm sending this to you after the show. We'll get your address, but in all seriousness, what a birthday gift. What was it like?

BENIQUEZ: Yes, it was incredible. To me, it was probably one of the best birthday -- you know, gifts that I've gotten, right? And it signified life versus COVID. Life versus death. And so it's such a powerful -- right? That's a powerful emotion and a powerful gift to give yourself because in truth, I gave my arm. It's a gift that I gave to myself. That a gift that keeps giving because I give it my family, I protect my family, I protect my community. So it was incredible to be a part of that.

HARLOW: For anyone watching, I think they need to also hear your story and your journey of how you got here, because not only is your life dedicated to giving back as an ER nurse, but you lost your job at the height of the last, you know, Great Recession, 2009.

And then you know, through raising kids, you are now a grandmother which I can't believe because you look 29, but this is true. You went back to school, you got your nursing degree, you were top of your class, just talk about all of that and your message to your fellow, you know, proud Latinas in this country, your proud U.S.-born Puerto Rican. Your message to them today through your whole journey and what you're trying to represent right now.

BENIQUEZ: The message is never give up, right? We are stronger than what we think at times, right?