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E.U. under Tougher Restrictions, under Pressure to Get Vaccine; U.S. Employers Weighing Mandatory Vaccines; Putin Congratulates Biden; Biden Stumps for Democrats in Georgia; Congress Debates Stimulus Proposals; Hanukkah Celebrations Scaled Back in Israel. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired December 16, 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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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Thank you for sticking around for a third hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause.
Coming, up much of Europe waking up under new restrictions or lockdowns as many countries struggle to control another COVID surge.
Plus, the authorization of a second COVID vaccine in the U.S. expected in just days.
And the U.S. Senate Republican leader finally congratulates Joe Biden on winning the presidency, six weeks after the election but not before Vladimir Putin offered his congratulations.
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VAUSE: We begin in Europe with new emergency measures to try and slow a surging rate of COVID infection. Tighter restrictions are in place now in many countries. Christmas is just around the corner. We've just learned that nearly 1,000 people died from the virus in Germany on Tuesday. That's almost double the previous single day record set just last week.
Numbers like that are driving these new lockdown measures and are why the E.U. is under growing pressure to approve a vaccine. Fred Pleitgen is in Berlin with the story.
First, we hear from Salma Abdelaziz reporting in from London on new restrictions.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: London is dealing with a worrying spike in coronavirus cases and a surge in hospitalizations. That's why the government has announced that this city will fall under England's toughest coronavirus restrictions starting Wednesday morning.
London will face tier 3 rules. That means there will be new rules to curb social life. Pubs and restaurants will be shut down. All night life will be closed. Households will be virtually banned from mixing together.
But even under the country's toughest restrictions, all nonessential shops can remain open. That means Christmas shopping can continue and, quite crucially, schools can remain open. This is worrying, because the fastest rising infection rates are among people between the ages of 11 to 18.
So what's the government's plan?
To test students, who are outside of a school here in London. A mobile testing unit has been set up. We can give you a look behind me here. There is a white van. That van has all the equipment that some of these health care workers need to start testing students, parents and staff. Take a listen to what the principal had to say about this program.
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JANIS DAVIES, SYDNEY RUSSELL SCHOOL PRINCIPAL: We were part of the rollout program that just happened in the borough yesterday. The mobile unit arrived. We tested over 500 students starting with the 11- 13, then down to other students, 10-9. Today, we are hosting another school. I think people are pleased to get tested in time for Christmas.
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ABDELAZIZ: There is a critical point being made. The testing program is not about breaking the chain of transmission on school grounds. It's about making sure that, when these children, when they go home and see elderly parents, relatives, grandparents over the holidays, that they are safe and know that they cannot pass the virus on.
So this mass testing program is about getting control of the virus citywide -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Several European countries have been putting pressure on the European medicines agency to get the approval process for the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19 going faster.
It seems as though the European Union is now budging, the European Commission announcing on Tuesday that a key meeting for the approval of that vaccine has now been moved to December 21st. Initially the European medicines agency had set the deadline for the approval of that vaccine to December 29th.
Especially the German government is under some heat here at home, especially because the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine was actually developed in Germany. But it is not available to people here because the Germans are part of that European approach to get the approval process going.
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PLEITGEN: In fact the German health minister, he said, Germany had opted for a pan-European approach to the European medicines agency, which would mean that the vaccine would get a full approval rather than emergency use authorization, like it has gotten, for instance, in the United States and in the U.K.
The German health minister, he came out on Tuesday, he said that he believes it is possible that the vaccine could get approval here in the European Union on December 23rd. And then the vaccinations could start shortly thereafter.
Of course Germany's currently facing a surge in new coronavirus infections and also a surge in coronavirus deaths -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin.
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VAUSE: Denmark is expanding lockdown after more than 3,000 new cases in one day. That was a record high. As of Wednesday, students in the 5th grade and higher will move to online classes. Bars, restaurants, theaters, museums, gyms will all close. Restrictions will be in place until January 3rd.
There seems to be renewed hope across the U.S. that maybe there can be a return to some kind of normalcy. But the second coronavirus vaccine is poised just days after the biggest mass inoculation in the nation's history began.
Hospitals nationwide, thousands of health care workers have been on the front lines of the pandemic are being immunized for COVID-19. In the coming days, after reviewing research and data from drugmaker Moderna, an advisory committee expected to recommend a second vaccine for emergency use.
If all goes as planned, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could greenlight Moderna's vaccine as soon as the end of the week.
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MONCEF SLAOUI, CORONAVIRUS VACCINE CZAR: All in all I think both vaccines will have a great impact on this pandemic going forward.
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VAUSE: But even with two vaccines, an end to the pandemic is still many, many months away. In the meantime, the U.S. is seeing record high rates of infection and hospital admissions. Alexandra Field has the latest.
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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first vaccine from Pfizer is going into arms across America. Now a second vaccine is nearly here.
Moderna's vaccine, proven 94 percent effective, is likely to receive its emergency use authorization later this week. That would trigger the shipment of six million initial doses from the company. That's double the number Pfizer sent out in its first batch, which has already arrived in all 50 states; 425 more sites are receiving shipments today.
In New York City, front-line workers are lining up to get theirs, Chicago's first doses administered at a hospital in one of the city's hardest-hit communities. California received more than 33,000 doses of the vaccine on Monday, nearly the same number of new hospital cases in the state on the same day.
SLAOUI: I think the biggest concern is accidental loss of temperature control in a cold chain-based -- particularly with the Pfizer vaccine. That's really the biggest concern, I think the last-mile delivery inoculation of the vaccines into subjects.
FIELD: Out of the gate, FedEx and UPS are reporting no problems with the massive undertaking of moving vaccine across the country.
A fast moving nor'easter could affect shipments later this week.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Sixty million people right now are under some type of watch or warning.
FIELD: Along with the challenge of getting vaccines to Americans, there's the challenge of getting Americans to take it. A Kaiser study shows 71 percent of people are likely to take it. The same study shows black Americans, Republicans and people from rural areas are more reluctant.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence along with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris should all get the vaccines as soon as possible.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: For security reasons, I really feel strongly that we should get them vaccinated as soon as we possibly can.
FIELD: In another promising development, the FDA is announcing they are authorizing the first at home test where you can also read your results at home. That's another step forward for so many people waiting days for results -- in New York, Alexandra Field, CNN.
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VAUSE: Arthur Caplan is a professor of bioethics and head of medical ethics at NYU Medical Center and he's with us from New York.
Professor, thanks for coming on.
DR. ARTHUR CAPLAN, NYU LANGONE'S DIVISION OF MEDICAL ETHICS: Thank you for having. Me
VAUSE: There has been a lot of discussion about the possibility of a national vaccine mandate. I want you to listen to President-Elect Biden. He's talking about a government mandate for face masks, here he is.
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BIDEN: If the federal government has authority, I'm going to issue a standing order that, in federal buildings, you have to be masked; in transportation and interstate transportation you must be masked, in airplanes and buses, et cetera.
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VAUSE: So in other, ways the president doesn't have the authority to even issue a nationwide mask mandate, let alone a mate for. Vaccines but state governments do.
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VAUSE: And they mandate vaccines all the time for school kids or health care workers.
Potentially does this end up being like a politicized issue?
Like wearing masks or not wearing masks?
CAPLAN: It usually is likely to become a very politicized issue. But I'll say in the short run no mandates for vaccines because they're still under emergency use authorization. That means technically they're still experimental.
It would be very tough to mandate anybody to take something that is unlicensed and hasn't been fully approved by the FDA. Remember they approved it on early data but not on a final approval. Once final approval comes, that could be in a few months, we probably will see some mandates.
But I'll make a prediction, John, I think it's going to happen through the private sector first, before government.
VAUSE: Just very quickly on that issue, that's an important point. The FDA has approved one vaccine for emergency use, another one is set to be authorized for, rather for emergency use, not approved.
I thought that was some legal blurring on the lines here whether they can a mandate an emergency use vaccine or whether or not it does need to have full approval.
CAPLAN: Yes, I believe that, if you tried to mandate an emergency use authorized vaccine, it wouldn't stand up to a court challenge. There would be court challenges, you get some opinions who say well maybe they can mandate it. I don't see it.
I think again with the incomplete data, it looks very promising, I would take a vaccine if offered to me tomorrow morning. But mandating something that doesn't have final approval, I don't think so.
VAUSE: OK, well you talked about how, it will be vaccines in the private sector which is sort of driving immunization around the country. Already we're seeing requirements for negative COVID-19 tests, Emirate Airlines requires travelers from these countries you are about to see on the map, they must arrive with a negative test for COVID-19, taken within four days.
Travelers for another group of countries, they need to arrive with a negative test and then they are tested again on arrival in Dubai. It doesn't seem to be much of a stretch to go from a requirement of a negative test certificate to proof of immunization.
CAPLAN: Absolutely no stretch at all. You are going to see it with certainty for international air travel. Countries don't want people coming in from places with huge outbreaks like the U.S. or some other countries. They want to protect if they've been locked down and have gotten their viral spread under control.
That's even with vaccines, they still want to be careful. There are still people out there who don't respond to vaccines. So I absolutely think you're going to see, with air travel, cruise ships, you're probably going to see with train travel when crossing international borders and within United States.
The other places you're going to see mandates happen very quickly is the military, they don't want to put up with refusal and dissent. I would predict very soon we're going to start seeing mandates occur there as soon as you get an approved vaccine.
VAUSE: It is still though unclear about whether or not your employer can essentially mandate a vaccine for employees. It's highly recommended sometimes.
But it's still one of those gray areas, isn't it?
CAPLAN: It is but, look, if the employer sides to work, here you have to be vaccinated because you're dealing with, let's say, handling meat products, it's unsafe, it's going to damage my business if people worry that they're going to get infected or that you are sick when handling, food.
I think you can make the case there. Someone says UPS, people are going to be afraid to have you delivering packages, even with a mask. I think you're going to get vaccine mandates there. Slowly, I think they'll creep in.
And then I think state governments may be emboldened to say let's try a mask mandate, maybe with exceptions for people with medical excuses. I don't think you're going to get one for a philosophical exemption, like I don't like it. But I think they may move in that direction.
VAUSE: The president can't order a national vaccine mandate but he can set the example, listen to. This
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: Dr. Fauci recommends I get the vaccine has sooner than later. I just want to make sure we do it by the numbers when we do it. But when I do it, you will have notice and we will do it publicly.
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VAUSE: OK, that was the president-elect.
But what about the current president?
Given his administration put all their eggs in the vaccine basket and the way they've dealt with this pandemic from the very beginning, it seems a lot more important to see Trump get an injection than Biden.
CAPLAN: Well, I would agree, I think there's no chance that's going to happen. He may get it, if you will, to protect himself, maybe his staff, maybe his friends, maybe people in Mar-a-lago. But he has given up on doing anything about this pandemic. He doesn't talk about, he doesn't reference, it I don't think he's going to come out on the White House lawn and get vaccinated.
So I think the hopes are on Biden. People ask me should other politicians do it as a way to be a role model. I'll say right now, no.
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CAPLAN: I believe what they should do is go to a nursing home, find their mom, get her vaccinated and stand there as it happens.
VAUSE: Good advice. Professor Caplan, it's good to see, you thank you very much.
CAPLAN: My pleasure.
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VAUSE (voice-over): Up next, it took 6 weeks. The Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell finally acknowledges reality. Joe Biden is president-elect. What he's advising fellow Republicans to do, that's next.
Also, Joe Biden campaigning here in Georgia to help Democrats flip the U.S. Senate. And he wants every voter to remember how Republicans behaved this past month.
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BIDEN: Do you know who did nothing while Trump, Texas and others were trying to wipe out every single one of the almost 5 million votes you had cast here in Georgia in November?
Your two Republican senators.
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VAUSE: Reality bites and, for Mitch McConnell, it means the Republican Senate leader actually accepting the outcome of last month's U.S. election. For the first time on Tuesday, McConnell recognized Joe Biden as president-elect. He is now urging others within his party to do the same. But as Kaitlan Collins reports, Donald Trump is still refusing to budge.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty votes for the Honorable Joseph R. Biden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sixteen votes for Joseph R. Biden.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Joseph R. Biden.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Though the Electoral College sealed his fate as the loser of the 2020 election, President Trump remains in denial, as aides claim he's still pursuing legal challenges.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Yesterday's vote was one step in the constitutional process. So I will leave that to him and refer you to the campaign for more on that litigation.
COLLINS: As the press secretary was passing off questions to the campaign, Trump was firing off tweets alleging widespread voter fraud that his own government says didn't happen, claiming: "There has never been anything like this in our country."
The president amplified a tweet from a pro-Trump attorney falsely claiming that Georgia Republicans will be imprisoned for refusing to break the law.
Referring to Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Lin Wood wrote, "They refused. They will soon be going to jail."
Despite Trump's pressure campaign, senior Republicans are now breaking with his efforts to delay the inevitable.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The Electoral College has spoken.
COLLINS: After weeks of refusing to recognize President-Elect Joe Biden's victory, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell congratulated him today.
MCCONNELL: So today, I want to congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden. I also want to congratulate the vice president-elect.
COLLINS: Utah Senator Mitt Romney urged his fellow Republicans to follow McConnell's cue. SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): So we need to have people who are strong Trump supporters come out and say that as well or you are going to continue to have this country divided, which is pretty dangerous.
COLLINS: Before McConnell acknowledged Biden's win, Russian President Vladimir Putin did, saying in a statement issued by the Kremlin that he wished Biden's success.
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COLLINS (voice-over): And was, quote, "ready for cooperation and contacts with you."
Meanwhile, the president remained behind closed doors today amid questions about when he will receive the coronavirus vaccine.
MCENANY: He will receive the vaccine as soon as his medical team determines it's best.
COLLINS: Vice President Mike Pence said he will take it soon but declined to say specifically when.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I look forward in the days ahead to do receiving the vaccine myself and do so without hesitation.
COLLINS: While vice president Pence did not say when he expects to get that coronavirus vaccine, we are told it's likely going to be this Friday when he does. Right now, they are planning for him to do it on camera though it still remains unclear when the president himself is going to get his -- Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
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VAUSE: President-Elect Biden returned to Atlanta on Tuesday, campaigning for the two Democrats running in George's Senate runoff election. At a drive-in rally, he urged voters to remember how Republicans tried to overturn the election results.
He criticized the Republican-led Senate for failing to pass a COVID relief package. Early voting started Monday. The outcome of Georgia's runoff races will determine which party controls the Senate and the fate of Biden's agenda.
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BIDEN: Do you know who did nothing while Trump, Texas and others were trying to wipe out every single one of the almost 5 million votes you had cast here in Georgia in November?
Your two Republican senators. They stood by. In fact, your two Republican senators fully embraced what Texas was telling the Supreme Court. They fully embraced nullifying nearly 5 million Georgia votes.
I think Georgia is going to shock the nation with the number of people who vote on January the 5th. I need two senators in this state who want to get something done, not two senators who are just going to get in the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Biden also announced plans to nominate former mayor Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary. He is the first former presidential candidate tapped by Biden for his cabinet. Buttigieg would be the first Senate-confirmed openly gay cabinet secretary, should his nomination be approved.
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VAUSE: Democratic strategist, professor of critical theory and social justice, Caroline Heldman, is with us now from Los Angeles.
It has been a long time and it's good to see you. Welcome to the show.
CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Thanks, John, great to see you.
VAUSE: OK. Even though Mitch McConnell waited longer than Vladimir Putin of Russia to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect, it is progress.
But it seems many Republicans still have a long journey back to reality. Watch this.
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MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (from captions): Now that Joe Biden won the election and he's president-elect ...
Would you say he's president-elect?
Quick question, yes or no, could you say he's president-elect?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Still can't say it. Now add to that new reporting that the outgoing Education Secretary, Betsy DeVos, has encouraged career employees at the Education Department on Tuesday to "be the resistance" when the Biden administration comes into power next month, according to a recording of her remarks obtained by "Politico."
At this point, Caroline, why would Biden repeat the mistake Obama made in his first few years of office and assume Republicans actually have any desire to work with Democrats on stuff like pandemic relief?
HELDMAN: Well, it's interesting. I think Biden won't do that. I think that he learned the hard lesson under Barack Obama that, while there was a good game being talked about bipartisanship, at the end of day Mitch McConnell had literally changed the rules of Washington.
And any victory for the Obama administration was seen through a partisan lens.
And I think we're in that very place right now. I think we're going to see the first 100 days of the Biden presidency, called the honeymoon period, we're going to see a real push to stop any major legislation that goes through.
And hopefully the stimulus will go through and this won't affect the vaccine distribution. But at the end of day party politics are still far more important than either side would like to acknowledge.
VAUSE: Yes. I want you to listen to a little bit more from Joe Biden's campaign stop for that senate runoff election here in Georgia. This was on Tuesday. Here he is.
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BIDEN: They fully embraced nullifying nearly 5 million Georgia votes. You might want to remember that come January 5th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: "They," of course, being the two Republican senators in the race. Now here's the thing. The coalition of voters including those 5 million voters in Georgia who put Biden in office, they voted for change which seems to be one reason for those very long lines for early voting in Georgia.
Control of the Senate will determine Biden's agenda and, in many ways, the future of this country. That's why this election is so crucial. And they want change, they don't want compromise.
HELDMAN: Well, it's a state though that has been Republican for so long, they haven't had a Democratic senator there since 1996. A Democrat hasn't won a runoff since 1988.
[02:25:00]
HELDMAN: But, John, I think you're right. That when we see states shift like Virginia or Colorado, we see them shift quite dramatically. And that's what we saw in the 2020 election, the presidential election.
I wasn't anticipating -- most folks were not anticipating that the state would go so solidly for Biden. So it's really anyone's game. Although I would say that winning both seats which is what the Democrats would need to do in order to have power in congress is a long shot for Democrats.
But who knows, right, given the fact that the state actually elected Joe Biden in this past election.
VAUSE: Yes. I'm talking to Democrats who believe they have -- they're in with a good shot, they're very optimistic about the outcome.
After Biden's though confirmed by the electoral college on Monday, the White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany was asked on Tuesday if Donald Trump now actually plans to do the right thing and actually meet with the present elect.
Here's her answer.
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MCENANY: Yesterday's vote was one step in the constitutional process. So I will leave that to him and refer you to the campaign for more on that litigation.
The president, again, is pursuing ongoing litigation. I would refer you to the campaign for further.
He's still pursuing ongoing litigation at the moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Yes. I don't know if that's delusional or asinine but it seems the Republicans are not done yet because January 6th, there's this joint session of Congress.
A number of Republican lawmakers have said they will make their objections known. Now Democrats have done similar in previous years.
What will be different this time?
HELDMAN: Well, it won't change anything. It certainly -- I think what we will see is a lot of political theatrics.
The process is that each state reports their votes. The members of congress can't say anything during that process but at the end of it they can lodge complaints but you need someone from the house and the senate to lodge a complaint.
They then go back to their respective houses, they discuss it for two hours, they come back and they vote as to whether or not that state's count should stand.
But the problem is for Republicans they don't have the votes to overturn the election. And so all of this, again, will just be political theatrics.
I think it will drag out, I think there will be some loyalists who want to make sure that they don't disaffect Trump and his supporters. But at the end of the day, there's no legal path that he can win, there's no electoral path, there's no congressional path. And as the supreme court made it very clear, there's no path through them.
This was a free and fair election and folks want it to stand.
VAUSE: So at the end of day, very quickly, it's just theatrics to support the president and his supporters?
HELDMAN: It is indeed. Sixty-one percent of the American public thinks it was a legitimate election, that means 39 percent have some questions.
He has profoundly altered and eroded democracy by challenging the legitimacy of a free and fair election. We will see the repercussions of this for years.
VAUSE: Caroline, thank you. It's good to see you, it's been too long. Thanks for being with us.
HELDMAN: Thanks, John.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: January 20 in the U.S. will be Inauguration Day although as conservative media calls it, the day of reckoning. Just a handful of right-wing news organizations and websites have acknowledged Biden is president-elect, while many others cannot seem to say just three words, Trump lost bigly. For more, here is Brian Stelter.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our president is in the fight of his life.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Now that the Electoral College has affirmed Joe Biden's victory, some rightwing shows and sites don't know what to do.
This banner on Newsmax asking, "Is it time to move on?"
While attorney Alan Dershowitz is saying yes.
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, TRUMP ATTORNEY: The election will be confirmed.
STELTER (voice-over): But some far-right outlets are still peddling false hope, knowing that that's what their audience wants.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If any Americans are questioning the electoral process --
STELTER (voice-over): One American News, a channel promoted by President Trump, running segments like this, claiming election manipulation is a long-term goal of the Left, carrying hearings about voter machine security and airing highlights from Saturday's pro-Trump rally in D.C., days later, to boost the spirits of Trump fans (ph).
With FOX News mostly accepting that Trump's time is up...
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: That Joe Biden is the next President of the United States.
STELTER (voice-over): -- some Trump defenders are flipping over to OAN and Newsmax instead.
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Do you accept that Trump lost Georgia?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump didn't lose anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. (LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, no.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did not.
O'SULLIVAN: Where do you guys get your news and information?
Is it online, TV?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Newsmax now, though, because we don't trust FOX News.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STELTER (voice-over): Officially, Newsmax now says Biden is the president-elect and will be referred to that way. But host Greg Kelly is telling viewers to stay tuned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not over.
STELTER (voice-over): And other pro-Trump personalities are turning against anyone who gives Biden legitimacy.
MCCONNELL: Today, I want to congratulate President-Elect Joe Biden.
STELTER (voice-over): FOX's Mark Levin lashed out at Mitch McConnell on two on Tuesday, saying, "Thanks for nothing, Mitch," and calling for fresh thinking and new blood in the Senate.
[02:30:00]
STELTER (voice-over): And Rush Limbaugh framed Trump's Supreme Court loss as some sort of elitist plot.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK SHOW HOST: This is strictly about getting rid of Donald Trump. There is not an entity in the American deep state, Washington establishment, whatever, that does not want to get rid of Donald Trump, including enough justices on the Supreme Court.
STELTER (voice-over): There is supply for these lies because there is demand for these lies. Demand that is not going away, even if the Geraldo Riveras of the world say that it should.
GERALDO RIVERA, TV PERSONALITY: It is over. I want the president, my friend, the current president, the 45th president, to understand it is over. The Electoral College has voted.
STELTER: Geraldo, talking to Trump through the TV again, but he is counteracted by dishonest hosts like Greg Kelly on Newsmax, who said once again tonight that he thinks Trump might be inaugurated again next month.
I want to be clear. These programs have far fewer ratings than CNN. For example, Newsmax is still relatively small but it is growing in size. There's only one word to describe what's happening here, in America, that word is radicalization.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Our thanks to CNN chief media correspondent Brian Stelter for that report.
We will take a short break. When we come back, let's make a deal. Lawmakers in the U.S. have been told no one is going home for the holidays until there is an agreement on a pandemic stimulus bill. Maybe now they will get something done.
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VAUSE: After months of delay, U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell says there has been significant progress in the push for a new stimulus package, which is desperately needed by millions of Americans suffering from the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Live now to CNN's Eleni Giokos with more on this.
What are the details?
ELENI GIOKOS, CNNMONEY CORRESPONDENT: Firstly, pressure is on in Washington and we know they have had self imposed deadlines in the past. Literally, they are out of time. There's a very small window to get this done before Friday.
Bipartisan lawmakers came together and put a package worth $908 billion and they split it into two separate bills in the hope that, where they disagree, they will be able to exclude those portions out of the package.
Here is what it looks like right now; $748 billion is earmarked for the priority areas -- small business loans, for example. And that important $300 dollar a week enhanced unemployment check as well will be included as well as billions of dollars for vaccine rollout.
[02:35:00]
GIOKOS: The second part of the bill includes the most contentious issues and some of the points that have been most divisive among lawmakers in Washington, that's $160 billion and it includes liability protections for businesses as well as aid to state and local governments.
The hope is that they will be voted upon separately so if one doesn't make it through, at least the $748 billion which has received bipartisan support will make it through before Friday. Lots of logistical things to think about here.
Firstly, we know both sides are saying they are looking at paperwork from both ends and a decision needs to be made, hopefully by the end of today. Then it has to go to voting on the floor of the House as well as the Senate. The legislative days are running out and this is why it's absolutely crunch time.
The big issue here is you have around 12 million Americans that are going to run out of unemployment insurance benefits by Christmas and another 2.5 million to 5 million Americans could be facing evictions.
These are the big issues that have been plaguing the discussions of negotiations for many months now. Hopefully, there will be a decision that will be made and, importantly, everyone is watching so closely. Two days left, that's all we have.
VAUSE: Not a lot of time. Eleni Giokos, live for us in Johannesburg.
The International Rescue Committee warns a triple threat of COVID, climate change and global conflicts are making some the world's biggest humanitarian crises even worse; 200 million people worldwide could suffer the consequences unless decisive action is taken. Stefano Pozzebon has the details.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While 2020 has been a year to forget for millions of people, 2021 is looking even worse for those countries already facing severe humanitarian emergencies.
A new report released on Wednesday by the International Rescue Committee identifies a triple threat of the COVID-19 lockdown, climate change and conflict as a threatening 200 million people worldwide.
According to the report, 20 countries represent just 20 percent of global population account for more than 85 percent of the humanitarian target needed. Countries such as Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan and Yemen, when the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown have only made a tragic situation even worse.
Speaking with CNN on Tuesday, the IRC president and the CEO David Miliband said that while Western countries in the U.S. for example and in the European Union are already looking at how to distribute the vaccine, 2021 is not going to be a vaccine year for many countries in the global sight with urgent action needed on both the financial side and the logistics side for the vaccine to be delivered and distributed to millions of people in southern Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Here in Colombia where I am, the government has pledged orders to several international providers but a complete schedule of when the vaccine will arrive in the country is far from being finalized.
That's one of the reason why the authorities that are urging Colombians to keep wearing masks and maintaining social distancing measures in place across the Christmas season -- For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon in Bogota.
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VAUSE: Israelis scaling back Hanukkah celebrations as a third coronavirus lockdown looms. With the holiday more than halfway over, how the nation is bringing light to an otherwise dark time of year. (MUSIC PLAYING)
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VAUSE: Hanukkah Sameach, Israel, or Happy Hanukkah but in the midst of the pandemic and with the nation on the verge of another lockdown, celebrations are being limited inside. But the Festival of Light is still burning brightly. Elliott Gotkine has more.
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ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than 2,000 years, Jewish families like the Silverbergs have been celebrating Hanukkah, lighting candles to recall how oil meant to last one day miraculously burned for eight.
But there has never been a Hanukkah quite like this, with indoor gatherings limited to 10 people and threats of a third lockdown if coronavirus cases continue to rise.
SAM SILVERBERG, TEL AVIV RESIDENT: It's definitely not a normal situation. It's actually kind of nice, because it's more intimate. You are at home with your family. There is not too much going on. It's not like I need to be somewhere else.
GOTKINE (voice-over): To the south of the city, a multicultural and largely masked backdrop.
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GOTKINE (voice-over): But something was missing.
GOTKINE: Despite the pandemic, the Tel Aviv municipality is doing its best to make everyone feel a little festive. But there are noticeably fewer people out and about than there would ordinarily be at this time of year.
There are hardly any tourists and all the bars and restaurants and what is usually the most buzzing part of the city are closed.
GOTKINE (voice-over): Still, families were trying to put on a jolly face.
ITZIK TUBIANA, CELEBRANT: (INAUDIBLE) because, you know, you know, Hanukkah is a holiday for kids and Christmas and there should be walking about, eating, enjoying, you know, other festivities.
MAGALY LEV, CELEBRANT: It's very weird. It's a very sad Hanukkah. I told the kids that it is supposed to be -- Tel Aviv is a light city and it's very dark.
GOTKINE (voice-over): But things could soon brighten up. Vaccinations, which have already begun in the U.K. and other countries, are due to start in Israel later this month. With any luck, says the country's coronavirus czar, Israelis will be able to return to more or less normal life in time for Passover in March -- Elliott Gotkine, CNN, Tel Aviv.
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VAUSE: Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us, "WORLD SPORT" is up next.
