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COVID USA: Deadliest Day Yet; Europe Goes Into Christmas Lockdown, U.K. Allows Five-Day Dispensation; Sao Paulo Officials To Roll Out Chinese Vaccine Independently; Kidnapped Nigerian Schoolboys Located; Powerful Storm Threats in Both the U.S. and Fiji; Ex-Election Security Official Blasts False Fraud Claims; Congress Reports Progress on $900 Billion Deal Ex-Cop Arrested over Bogus Voter Fraud Investigation; China's Lunar Probe Returns to Earth with Moon Samples. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 17, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
ANNA COREN, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, everyone. I'm Anna Coren live from Hong Kong. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Ahead this hour. The deadliest day yet in the battle against coronavirus in the United States. But more help maybe on its way.
Giving birth in the middle of a pandemic. We'll take you inside a maternity ward where some mothers are being forced to wait days until they can finally hold their newborn.
Also ahead. A category five cyclone with 260 kilometer an hour winds barrels across the Pacific towards the islands of Fiji.
Even with the COVID vaccine moving at warp speed in the U.S. and another vaccine soon to be authorized, the country has a long way to go from its record-shattering numbers in this pandemic.
Yet again on Wednesday, we saw another record for COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., nearly 3,500. There were almost 240,000 new infections, also a new daily high. And a record 113,000 Americans are now hospitalized with the virus.
Meanwhile, as thousands of health care workers continue to get vaccinated nationwide we've learned one worker in Alaska did have an allergic reaction to the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. She was treated and now is stable.
A top health official says it's a small price to pay for protection against this virus.
Well, America's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the Food & Drug Administration could greenlight Moderna's coronavirus vaccine as soon as Thursday.
Well, CNN's Sarah Murray has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARAH MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the pandemic refuses to relent across the country, optimism is growing a second coronavirus vaccine could soon be on the way.
The Food & Drug Administration independent advisory committee meeting to assess Moderna's vaccine.
ADM. BRETT GIROIR, ASST. SECRETARY OF HEALTH, U.S. DEPT. OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: We're looking at about a 95 percent efficacy, on this vaccine, 100 percent at preventing severe illness.
MURRAY: If the FDA authorizes Moderna's vaccine, nearly 6 million doses can begin shipping out soon after.
Because Moderna's vaccine doesn't require the same ultra-cold storage as Pfizer's, it's slated for broader delivering to more than 3,000 sites nationwide including more rural areas and long-term care facilities.
But it will still be months before the vaccine is available to most of the public.
GIROIR: Right now we're really immunizing for impact. we're immunizing only a few million people to start, our most vulnerable.
MURRAY: Officials say they don't yet know how many people have been vaccinated nationwide.
ALEX AZAR, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: I can't tell you at this precise moment how many have gotten it. We're just of course two days into the vaccination program.
MURRAY: Today, the first nursing homes are receiving the Pfizer vaccine.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Let's let her rip.
MURRAY: All this while the outbreak worsens.
In New York, hospitals are going into crisis management mode as officials warn shutdowns could be ahead.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-N.Y.): Is a close down possible in January? Yes.
MURRAY: California activated its mass fatality plan purchasing 5,000 additional body bags and deploying refrigerated storage units to serve as makeshift morgues.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CALIF.): This is a deadly disease. We are not at the finish line yet.
MURRAY: As officials continue to plead with Americans to lay low --
GIROIR: Avoid crowded spaces whether that's a bar or a house party of 100 people, you can't do it. This is a setup for spread.
MURRAY: They're also warning a vaccine will only bring life back to normal if roughly 70 percent of the population takes it.
Health & Human Services is unveiling its first radio ads touting the vaccines.
VOICE OVER (HHS RADIO): "Vaccines won't make over go away overnight but they give us a real chance to finally overcome it."
MURRAY: But many Americans are still hesitant.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The challenge is the acceptance on the part of various elements in our society.
Minority populations, understandably, have somewhat of a skepticism.
MURRAY: Now, obviously, the goal is to get as many doses of these vaccines as possible to the American people as quickly as possible.
And to that end, the Trump Administration is still negotiating with Pfizer over buying another 100 million doses of that company's coronavirus vaccine.
One sticking point, though, officials say is that Pfizer is having some difficulty accessing raw materials. Both sides still say it's possible the federal government could use the Defense Production Act to help speed this process along.
Right now Pfizer is saying they can't deliver these doses until the third quarter and the Trump Administration's saying look, we really need these by the second quarter.
MURRAY (On Camera): Sarah Murray, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:00]
COREN: Joining me now is CNN medical analyst and internal medicine and viral specialist, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. He joins us now from Los Angeles.
Great to have you with us.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: Thank you, Anna.
COREN: Doctor, let's begin with this allergic reaction.
The health worker in Alaska had no history of allergies unlike the two cases in the U.K. The fact that this person had an anaphylactic fit within 10 minutes of being given the vaccine, is that of concern to you? RODRIGUEZ: Well, it's always a concern when someone receives either
an antibiotic or any injection, an anaphylactic reaction can happen with any of these.
Is it a concern to the extent that I don't think people should take the vaccine? Absolutely not.
You have to keep in mind that there have been 20,000 people on the Pfizer study, no anaphylactic reactions. Probably 10- to 15,000 other people have already got the vaccine, three anaphylactic reactions. It is minimal.
It is something, of course, that is newsworthy and we should be aware of. But in no way should it keep people from getting this very necessary vaccine.
COREN: But does this sort of news, I guess, give ammunition to the skeptics. Because there are a lot of people out there, rational, normal people, who are reluctant about this vaccine because of the speed at which it has been developed?
RODRIGUEZ: Sure. I think that this news will give some people pause, I don't think it is necessary that they become fearful of it. But I think someone that is seeking a reason not to do something, is going to find it.
And again, it's very dramatic to say that somebody had a huge anaphylactic reaction and indeed it can be dangerous, but it has not been.
The main thing is that if you have ever had any sort of allergic reaction to a shot, you should wait and not take this until we know more.
But otherwise you need to be in a controlled setting, just in case something happens, that the health professionals can be on hand to help you out.
COREN: Well, let me ask you this. As a doctor what is your advice to people who perhaps may have concerns?
RODRIGUEZ: My advice is for them to wait. My advice is for them to wait a couple of months until we see what is going on. And that is for people that have had actual allergic reaction.
Many of us carry the mythology that our parents told us, that we've been allergic to penicillin or this. You better be sure that that's correct before you deprive yourself of this potentially lifesaving vaccine.
So my patients, if they have a real history of anaphylactic reactions, I would tell them to wait until we see more data on this.
COREN: Now as we know, Moderna is expected to receive emergency authorization from the FDA this week in regards to its vaccine. Meaning there will be two vaccines out there on the market. Obviously, bringing a great deal of desperately needed help. But health officials are saying to people do not drop your guard. Tell us more.
RODRIGUEZ: Well, if you would look on the website of the University of Washington Health & Metrics, they have been completely on the money as to how many people are going to get this virus, how many people are going to die.
Getting the vaccines now will start making an effect that we can see somewhere around February, mid-February.
However, if there are universal mask mandates throughout this country we will start seeing a difference in the death rate in two weeks. So therefore, don't assume that everything's going to be peachy dory, right, in a couple of months.
The biggest change that can happen today is for people to adhere to mask mandates and social distancing. Without a doubt.
COREN: Dr. Rodriguez, we know that Vice President Pence is due to receive the vaccine on Friday alongside his wife and the U.S. surgeon general. It's going to take place in front of the cameras. Tell us about how powerful those optics will be?
RODRIGUEZ: I think it's amazingly powerful. I think people can't relate, first of all, to the number of deaths that are occurring unless they have had a family member -- it's just out there.
And I think that seeing someone that you respect, no matter what political party you are involved in, I think it carries an impact.
I would love to see some pop culture -- people that people look up to or admire also take the vaccine in public. I think it would make a world of difference.
COREN: OK. Well, the call is out there for the celebrities of the world to take the vaccine.
RODRIGUEZ: Yes.
COREN: Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, great to see you. Thank you for your advice --
RODRIGUEZ: Likewise.
COREN: -- and for (inaudible) being on the show today.
[01:10:00]
Well, the World Health Organization is warning of another wave of COVID-19 in Europe early next year. And it's urging people to take special precautions over the holiday season.
Germany has begun a strict lockdown to try to bring down soaring infection rates. It says it will roll out the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine after Christmas.
And Denmark will shut down from Christmas to early in the New Year. The country is expanding restrictions for the fourth time in a week. The prime minister says almost half of the hospital beds reserved for coronavirus patients are in use.
Well, most of the U.K. is also under tight restrictions but the prime minister is still planning to ease them over the Christmas holiday despite surging COVID-19 cases and criticism from health experts.
Salma Abdelaziz has the details from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted on his coronavirus Christmas plan, despite the fact that he's been facing massive criticism from the medical community, from the opposition Labor Party.
That's because on December 23rd, there'll be a special Christmas time dispensation of five days to ease social restrictions.
Up to three households will be allowed to come together, they can celebrate together, go to each other's homes, go to church if they like. This was announced about a month ago.
But since that time there has been a spike in coronavirus cases in mounting pressure for the administration to reverse this plan.
But the prime minister insisted on it saying that people should exercise extreme caution but that they can go ahead with those rules. Take a listen.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We're collectively, across the U.K., governments at every level, asking you to think hard and in detail about the days ahead. And whether you can do more to protect yourself and others.
We're keeping the law is the same but we all want to send the same message. A smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas.
ABDELAZIZ: On Wednesday, London's COVID alert level was raised to very high risk, that means England's toughest coronavirus restrictions. Which is shutting down pubs, restaurants, bars closing, all night life. Virtually banning households from mixing together.
But again, because you have that December 23rd deadline for that special Christmas time dispensation, these rules will only be in place for just one-week time.
And the statistics are worrying. In the last seven days a number of positive cases has increased by 28 percent, the hospitalizations has increased by 14 percent.
A lot of doctors and people in the medical community very worried about this. And saying that this plan, this reversal during Christmastime, will mean that hospitals will be overwhelmed next year.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, London mayor, Sadiq Khan, is among Prime Minister Boris Johnson's critics.
Our Wolf Blitzer asked him about Mr. Johnson's plan to ease restrictions over Christmas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Do you believe that's a mistake?
SADIQ KHAN, MAYOR OF LONDON: I do. And so do many health experts in the U.K.. And there's a big discussion, debate, argument taking place whether our Christmas period will lead to a big surge in this virus.
We've seen across the globe people making huge sacrifices.
The Chinese New Year was celebrated very differently this year, the Muslim Haj pilgrimage celebrated very differently; Eid, Diwali, Passover, Hannukah.
Our concern is the relaxation from our prime minister to allow many households to meet, to allow travel across the U.K. over five days when the restrictions are lifted could lead to another surge in this virus.
And what concerns us is the fact is that we can see light at the end of the tunnel with a new vaccine being rolled out. And imagine how heartbreaking it would be to lose a loved one who's is elderly when he or she could have received a vaccine and lived a long and fruitful life.
BLITZER: How are those vaccines -- the vaccinations going? You guys are about a week ahead of us.
KHAN: Well, I was present at a hospital last Tuesday when the first vaccines were rolled out. About 140,000 of my fellow countrymen and women have received the vaccine so far. It's the Pfizer one.
It's a really good example of international cooperation. A vaccine invented by Germans of Turkish origin, made in Belgium, a company owned by the Americans, administered in our country for the last week.
And we're hoping these two doses shows a way out of this awful, awful year that we've had.
We now have a road map in the meaningful sense of the word which means that we can finally see light at the end of the tunnel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: London Mayor Sadiq Khan there speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer. Well, Brazil has now surpassed 7 million coronavirus infections. With
the nation's reporting its highest single jump in cases, there's a dire need for a vaccine.
[01:15:00]
But as CNN's Shasta Darlington reports, it could be weeks or longer until its first shots are delivered.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brazil reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as a second wave grips the country.
According to the health ministry, more than 70,000 new infections were registered bringing the total number of cases to over 7 million. And more than 900 people were killed by COVID-19 in the last 24 hours.
After peaking in July and August, the coronavirus pandemic showed a steady decline in Brazil. But starting last month, the number shot up filling hospital beds beyond capacity in Rio de Janeiro and forcing Sao Paolo to reimpose restrictions.
So far, none of the potential vaccines have been approved in Brazil and the government's vaccination plan has been marred by delays and political infighting.
On Wednesday, the health minister said national vaccinations would begin in February. But the Sao Paolo governor has insisted he'll roll out the CoronaVac vaccine for the country's biggest state in January.
CoronaVac is being developed by the Chinese company, Sinovac, and tested by a Brazilian biomedical research institute.
President Jair Bolsonaro, however, has repeatedly insisted he won't be taking any vaccine at all.
Brazil has the third highest number of cases in the world and the second highest number of deaths.
Shasta Darlington, CNN. Fernandina Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, the World Health Organization is warning that vaccines alone will not stop the spread of the virus.
A top health official says recent vaccine roll outs are promising but most people won't have access to the shots for months, even years to come.
He says the best way to contain the outbreak is to continue following safety guidelines like wearing masks, washing hands and practicing social distancing.
It appears hundreds of kidnapped Nigerian schoolboys have been located.
Coming up. What one government official says they are doing to bring the boys home safely.
Plus the struggles of childbirth in the age of COVID. How the pandemic is creating new challenges for some new mothers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SNR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She hasn't seen her baby yet. It's been (Speaking in Foreign Language)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: (Speaking in Foreign Language)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It's been 15 days since she gave birth and she hasn't seen her baby yet. Just these photographs that are on the phone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COREN: A government official in Nigeria says talks are underway to secure the release of more than 330 kidnapped students.
[01:20:00]
The governor of Katsina state tells CNN authorities know where the boys are being held and the area has been secured.
Well, CNN's David McKenzie has the latest on the search.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No children now. No excited chatter in the dorms or boys ready to return home. Just an awful silence.
And a lingering fear from the children who escaped.
"They came at 9:30 at night," says 13-year old Gelid Niagobe (ph). "They attacked our security guard. They were shouting as they shot their guns. They shouted, 'God is great.'"
As gunmen attacked, Gelid says, their bullets little up the sky. Some boys jumped out of windows, the younger ones cried out.
One boy told us the men gathered them together like a herdsman gathering sheep. They said we are not here to rob you, says Gelid, no one should run. We're going to help you.
But instead, they took them. More than 300 boys still missing from Kankara secondary school in northwest Nigeria.
Authorities told CNN that contact has been made with the kidnappers raising the prospect of a ransom demand. UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER (Speaking in Foreign Language, Through Translator): This work that was done in Katsina was done by us.
MCKENZIE: Now in a new audio message, a claim of responsibility. Purportedly from this man, Abubakar Shekau, a leader of extremist terror group Boko Haram.
CNN could not independently verify the message. He said they targeted Kankara because of its Western education.
If true, it's a deeply disturbing sign that Boko Haram has widened its influence beyond its stronghold in the northeast where it's terrorized Nigerians for close to a decade. The northwest has suffered through years of criminality and isolated kidnapping for ransom.
And Nigeria's president, Muhammadu Buhari, blamed the apparent abduction on banditry.
But the disappearance of so many children is on another scale. And a cruel reminder of Boko Haram abduction of more than 300 schoolgirls from Chibok in 2014.
Years later, and more than 100 are still missing.
OBIAGELI EZEKWESILI, CO-FOUNDER, BRING BACK OUR GIRLS MOVEMENT: Six years after, I'm listening to a mother say exactly the same thing that some of the mothers of Chibok girls said to us in those years.
MCKENZIE: The founder of the movement to bring the Chibok girls home says the government's actions are unforgivable.
Buhari promised to rescue the boys from Kankara unharmed but he promised to stamp out Boko Haram years ago and he has failed.
EZEKWESILI: The governance is made up of a ruling class that is indifferent to the sufferings of the people. All you would have -- repetitive patterns of failure.
MCKENZIE: "They said if we resisted, they would kill us," says Gelid. He says he ran barefoot, escaping to a nearby forest.
The next morning we came to the school and there were a lot of people, he says. They had blood, blood all over their bodies.
MCKENZIE (Voice Over): David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, Moscow is dismissing CNN's exclusive investigation with Bellingcat into the poisoning of a top Kremlin critic.
It found Alexey Navalny was trailed for years by elite Russian security forces highly specialized in nerve agents. Navalny was poisoned in August and almost died.
Here's what's Russian's foreign minister said on Wednesday. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SERGEY LAVROV, FOREIGN MINISTER, RUSSIA (Through Translator): All this news is funny to read but it says only one thing -- or rather the manner in which this news is presented, says only one thing.
That our Western partners do not have any ethical standards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Well, Russia may find it funny but some U.S. lawmakers do not.
Michael McCaul, a Republican on the house foreign affairs committee says CNN's reporting, quote -- "uncovers truly disturbing information about the Putin regime's culpability in the poisoning of Alexey Navalny."
The committee is urging the Trump Administration to finish its investigation into what happened.
Around the world, pregnant women infected with COVID-19 are dealing with new challenges as they prepare to give birth.
CNN's Arwa Damon shows us how a COVID maternity ward in Istanbul is grappling with the crisis.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: He is now seven days old.
DAMON: At seven days old, all this baby knows is the touch of strangers through latex gloves and hazmat suits. Not the feel of his mother's skin or the warmth of her chest.
His mother is in the ICU with a severe case of COVID-19.
This is the coronavirus maternity ward at Istanbul's Basaksehir Cam and Sakura Hospital.
[01:25:00]
Where the joy of bringing a child into this world is overshadowed by an illness we still know very little about.
Dilara Erscan (ph) is seven months into her first pregnancy.
"I didn't believe it, that it could be this bad," she admits. "I thought I'd get through it, even if I caught it."
With the swelling of the belly that leads to the thorax getting smaller, trouble breathing is more common in pregnant women than other COVID-19 patients.
Clotting is also a bigger issue.
When Dilara (ph) was at her worst unable to talk, walk, breathe, she was terrified. For herself, for her unborn child.
Doctors say they can't give pregnant women antivirals but they have other medications they can use. If the mother is asymptomatic or has mild symptoms, like Minerva Karadinyas (ph), she can breast feed, have her baby in the room at a distance.
It's her fourth child but this time there is no loving family around her, no husband by her side.
She didn't find out she was COVID positive until she came in for her C-section. Even now, even though she's OK she's overcome with emotion.
"I thought if something happens to me, what is going to happen to my kids," she sobs.
COVID itself takes a psychological toll. Doctors say coupled with pregnancy or with postpartum depression, it can take an even bigger one.
"There needs to be psychological support before and after birth," Dr. Ibrahim Pollot (ph) says.
"Even those that are able to go through a natural birth have an unnatural experience with this plastic barrier lowered around them during the final stage, the final push.
Sibel Saltol's (ph) baby, her third, was born prematurely. She was hit hard by the coronavirus spending days in the ICU.
"There is a line between life and death. At a certain point you cross that line and you start to pray for death," she tells us. She clung to life for her children.
She hasn't seen her baby yet, it's been -- (Speaking in Foreign Language)
SIBEL SALTOL (ph) (Speaking in Foreign Language)
DAMON: It's been 15 days since she gave birth. And she hasn't seen her baby yet. Just these photographs that are on her phone.
Baby Lena (ph) is being cared for by relatives. Sibel and her husband can hear other babies in the ward crying. It's agonizing for them. That longing they have to just hug theirs.
Oh, they just found that she's PCR negative. That's amazing. (Speaking in Foreign Language)
If the pulmonologist signs off, they can finally go home.
DAMON (Voice Over): Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, what questions do your children have about the COVID-19 vaccine? CNN and Sesame Street are coming together for a new Town Hall that helps children and parents understand the latest issues surrounding the coronavirus and details on the vaccines.
Join Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Erica Hill and Sesame Street's Big Bird, of course, for the ABCs of COVID-19. That's this Saturday, 3:00 p.m. in London, 11:00 p.m. in Hong Kong. Only on CNN.
Well, Joe Biden is making history again with his diverse picks for his administration. They now include the first openly gay cabinet nominee, Pete Buttigieg. We'll hear from him, just ahead.
Plus, a powerful cyclone is barreling towards Fiji. And it could become one of the most damaging storms in years. We'll have a live forecast just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:31]
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Anna Coren, live from Hong Kong. The headlines this hour.
The U.S. set new daily records for COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths on Wednesday. There were nearly 3,500 new fatalities reported, almost 240,000 new infections, and more than 113,000 Americans are now in hospital with the virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could authorize Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine as soon as Thursday. Meanwhile, long term care residents in the U.S. are now receiving the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, along with many of the nations health care workers.
Right now, we are tracking two powerful storms in different parts of the world and each could cause significant damage in the days ahead.
In the U.S., more than 16 million people are on alert, as a major winter storm rolls through the East Coast. It's bringing heavy snowfall, and freezing rain and could cause widespread power outages.
And in Fiji, a tropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds is soon expected to make landfall. Officials warned the impact could be devastating.
Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us more with more. And Pedram, Fiji's prime minister, he's just visited an evacuation center ahead of this cyclone. What is the latest?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Anna, you know, this is a serious storm. We know it's equivalent to a Category 4. In fact the last observation of the satellite imagery does make it appear that it is officially was making landfall on the island of Vanua Levu here at this hour, which of the two largest islands across the Fijian archipelago, this is the second largest island. So certainly not a good set up when it comes to a storm of this magnitude moving ashore with an island of a population of roughly 150,000 people. But you'll notice the storm system will quickly move out of this
region within the next 24 or so hours and it will traverse over dozens and dozens of islands, some that are inhabited and some that are not. About 330 islands make up the Fijian archipelago. About one-third of those, about 110 of those islands are inhabited.
So there is certainly a lot of them are set to be impacted as the system moves across the region.
And you look back into 2016, one of the most notable storms on record to make landfall across the islands with cyclone Winston. It was the costliest, it was the deadliest, it was the only category 5.
Ayasa (ph) came in with a category 4 equivalent, but you all notice storm in 2016 left behind $1.4 billion U.S. in losses 44 lives lost and one point for 1.4 billion by the way equivalent to about 32 percent of Fiji's GDP.
So a significant event, of course, another one taking place at this hour.
But you will notice tropical cyclone season typically peaks in the month of December through February. It's not unusual to see storms along this particular region this time of year but it is -- those other islands here in the path of it that are going to be far more difficult for officials to make their way to potentially provide some aid here within the next 24 hours that are really going to be the next area of concern.
Now, with that said, I want to show you another area of concern, as you noted, where 60 million Americans are dealing with wintry weather and we are talking about an impressive one at that as well with historic amounts of snow in some of these regions, especially given that autumn is still not over yet. We have a couple more days left in the autumn season.
[01:34:50]
JAVAHERI: 60 million Americans underneath these advisories with winds as high as 100 kilometers per hour or about 65 miles per hour at the height of it and snowfall amounts measured in several feet, or as much as 45 centimeters before it's all said and done.
Of course, disruptions for anyone, getting on the road's going to be major here. And we know the wind is going to make it very difficult to see anything with snow being blown around major cities there, Anna.
COREN: All right. Pedram we appreciate the update, thank you.
Sources tell CNN Joe Biden could decide next week on his choice to be America's top law enforcement official. The president-elect has reportedly narrowed the field to a short list of front runners. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more on Biden's day.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want to get ahead of the line but I want to make sure that we demonstrate to the American people that it's safe to take.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR Washington CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President-Elect Joe Biden making clear he is ready for his COVID-19 vaccination. And plans to get his shot for all to see.
BIDEN: When I do it, I will do it publicly and so you all can actually witness my getting it done.
ZELENY: Biden's first shot is likely to take place early next week, CNN has learned, as the vaccination rollout continues across the country to medical workers and other high-ranking U.S. leaders.
Meanwhile, Biden is adding more faces to his administration, and defending his picks so far.
BIDEN: Our cabinet doesn't just have one first, or just two of these first, but eight president-busting appointments.
ZELENY: And the ninth with Pete Buttigieg to serve as Transportation Secretary, the first openly gay nominee to a president's cabinet to face Senate confirmation.
BIDEN: A new voice with new ideas, determined to move past old politics.
ZELENY: A campaign rival turned confidant. The 38-year-old former South Bend Indiana mayor would also be the youngest person to serve in Biden's cabinet.
PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY NOMINEE: I can't help but think of a 17-year-old somewhere who might be watching us right now, somebody who wonders whether and where they belong in the world, or even in their own family.
Thank you for honoring your commitment to diversity, with this administration that you are assembling.
ZELENY: With the goal of filling his cabinet by Christmas, Biden will name his climate team on Saturday, including former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm as Energy Secretary, and the Obama administration's EPA Gina McCarthy to a new role as White House climate coordinator.
Biden is also still laying his choices for attorney general, CNN has learned, with Judge Merrick Garland and Alabama Senator Doug Jones the top contenders.
The president-elect also urging congress to pass an economic relief bill before the holidays.
BIDEN: It's a down payment, an important down payment and it's going to have to be done.
ZELENY (on camera): The goal of the Biden transition is to still fill all of the cabinet or certainly most of the key positions before the Christmas holiday. That means next week is likely the time for attorney general as well as the director of the CIA. As well as the president-elect getting his COVID-19 vaccine.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN -- Wilmington, Delaware.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, some conservative lawmakers say they plan to contest Joe Biden's election during a joint session of the U.S. Congress next month. That comes despite a warning from the Senate's top Republican, Mitch McConnell, to let the results stand. Well, Donald Trump slammed Mr. McConnell for acknowledging Biden's victory earlier this week. Meanwhile, a former election security official fired by Trump told senators Wednesday it is dangerous to embrace false attacks on the 2020 vote by the president and his allies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS KREBS, FORMER DIRECTOR, U.S. CYBER SECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY: While elections are sometimes messy, this was a secure election. Of that, I have no doubt.
I think we are past the point where we need to be having conversations about the outcome of this election. I think that continued assaults on democracy and the outcome of this election that only serves to undermine confidence in the process is ultimately as you both have said corrosive, you know, ultimately corrosive the institutions that support elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COREN: Let's now head to New York and CNN political analyst Patrick Healy. He's also "The New York Times" politics editor. Patrick, great to have you with us.
President Donald Trump, he obviously refuses to accept defeat. He's now pushing, as we reported, for the appointment of a special counsel to investigate his baseless allegations of voter fraud and allegations surrounding Hunter Biden.
Do you think that any of this will get off the ground?
PATRICK HEALY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, it's not likely. He -- President Trump is just so isolated right now. You have Mitch McConnell who has really been the key Republican to get the Trump agenda, to get Trump's nominees to the courts through the senate now saying that Joe Biden is the president-elect.
[01:39:49]
HEALY: The reality is that yes, there are some conservatives in the House who are going to make an effort in early January to try to draw attention to the president's claims.
But right now, he is so isolated. You have Bill Barr leaving. You have Mike Pompeo quarantining. And the reality is just that this isn't a president who is really able to move much beyond just making noise on Twitter.
COREN: Yes. I mean, the courts that have ruled against him, including two rebuffs roam the Supreme Court. The Electoral College has confirmed Joe Biden as president-elect, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as you say has finally congratulated Biden. Why is Trump continuing to play this game?
HEALY: It's a great question. You know, I think Trump is on one level still very angry as our reporting has showed. He is full of a sense of grievance. He's not wanted to really engage with his job. He really hasn't been going into the Oval Office much in the last few weeks.
But he's determined for the narrative to be set from his point of view, that this election was stolen from him. It was not. But it goes to the president's inability, and we've seen this throughout his entire time, to accept the fact that he has lost. That he is a loser in this scenario, and that for him, and sort of the projection, you know, of his own self, he must keep pushing the idea that now, he actually won, it was stolen from him.
And I think that in some ways he's also looking to the future in terms of his influence within the party and his ability to influence the base, you know, voters in both parties have a tendency to move away from politicians who have lost.
And he knows to have any kind of influence, he needs to still be seen at least among part of his base as a winner, even if it is a fake winner.
COREN: Patrick, CNN has been reporting a pardon frenzy underway within the White House and hundreds of Trump's friends and allies are trying to get a pardon request in front of the president.
What are you hearing and who do you think the key people are?
HEALY: Well, we are hearing the same thing. And this is -- this is the kind of power that the president likes. It's a power that is not regulated by the House or the Senate. It's somewhere -- power where he can act unilaterally.
You know, what we are hearing is -- this is the most interesting -- it's just the -- some of the immediate people around him such as Rudy Giuliani who, some of President Trump's allies say very much wants a pardon.
And then even some, you know, family members, and again even Trump himself, you know, as unusual a scenario as that sounds like, the reality is that when this president leaves office, he may well have some vulnerability in terms of both federal and state investigations and the pardon cover federal, but not state.
But at this point, the reality is that this president loves to play not just kingmaker, but all-powerful figure, and pardons and the ability to kind of dole them out is a big part of that. So it's definitely something they're looking at.
COREN: Patrick Healy, joining us from New York. Always great to get your insights. Thanks so much for joining us.
HEALY: Thanks for having me.
COREN: It's been eight months since Americans got that first COVID stimulus check from the government, but there is hope another one could be on the way very soon.
Details on the COVID relief package just ahead.
[01:43:36]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COREN: Welcome back.
Talks will resume in the coming hours on a new economic stimulus package for Americans suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. The deal could include a second check from the U.S. government, although not quite as hefty as the first one.
CNN's Manu Raju has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MANU RAJU, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Leaders of the United States Congress are closing in on a major deal after months of partisan bickering. Now they're talking about a proposal of roughly around $900 billion. That is about half of what Democrats wanted. In fact, Democrats wanted more than $2 trillion, that's a fraction of what they had been pushing for.
Republicans have been asking for about $500 billion dollars but twice what a lot of Republicans are willing to spend. But this compromise, of course, both sides have sort of put aside some of the things that've been pushing for the hardest.
Democrats are not going to get money for state and local government. They've been pushing for that. Also the Republicans are not going to get lawsuit protection for businesses and others that open up during the pandemic.
We're getting a general sense of what's in this proposal -- expecting a onetime payment, direct payment to individuals, about $600 we're expecting there if they're under a certain income threshold.
Also, we are expecting about $300 a week in jobless benefits. Now both of those are about half of what was approved in the previous rescue package that was enacted back in March, but it's something that both sides, at least, appear to be agreeing on at this moment.
We expect also about $330 billion for small business loans that have been hit hard during this crisis. In addition to money for vaccine, potentially also, we're expecting the extension for the federal eviction moratorium ones as well as deferring student loan payments as well.
So, all of these proposals are going to be wrapped into this major package, they're going to jam it through Congress within days, potentially by the end of the week potentially into next week or over the weekend.
But both sides recognizing they have to act now, at the moment, it appears, that they will.
Manu Raju, CNN -- Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: We have new developments to tell you about, in the case of a former Texas police captain, who took the law into his own hands in a fake voter fraud investigation. And we're hearing from the man whose life he threatened.
CNN's Ed Lavandera has this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two weeks before the presidential election, prosecutors say Mark Anthony Aguirre drove a man off the road and held him at gunpoint. The former Houston police captain suspected the man driving the box truck was the mastermind of a voter fraud conspiracy.
Investigators say that mastermind was actually David Lopez Zuniga. An air conditioning repairman who says he was blindsided by the attack. He said "help me, help me" with his hand inside his coat, then when I tried to help him he pulls out a gun. That's when I was told to get on the ground.
When I saw him unlock the safety, is on him unlock the safety I thought he was going to shoot me. He thought he was about to die.
Former Harris County election clerk Chris Hollins says it's a dangerous example of when the conspiracy theories go too far.
CHRIS HOLLINS, FORMER HARRIS COUNTY, TEXAS CLERK: an innocent man, a working man, a family man who was accosted at gunpoint for no reason whatsoever. It's extremely unfortunate, it's dangerous, this man deserves being prosecuted.
GUPTA: Prosecutors allege Aguirre and a team of investigators worked for a group called Liberty Center for God and Country. the group tracked the repairman for four days, suspecting the man was carrying 750,000 fraudulent ballots in his work truck.
Police say there were no ballots in the truck, just air conditioning repair parts and tools. Prosecutors say Aguirre crossed the line from dirty politics to commission of a violent crime, and we are lucky no one was killed.
Aguirre's attorney, Aguirre's attorney dinner disagree.
Terry yates, mark Anthony Aguirre's attorney: Well, I believe it's a political prosecution. He was working and investigating voter fraud, it was an accident. They were surveilling a vehicle, there was an accident, and a member of the car got out and rush towards him. And that's where the confrontation took place.
[01:49:52]
LAVANDERA: Prosecutors say Aguirre was paid $266,000 by the Liberty Center. The group is run by Republican activist, Steve Hotze (ph), the wealthy Republican donor who pushed controversial lawsuits against Harris County to throw out nearly 130,000 presidential election ballots cashed at drive-through polling locations.
After a judge ruled against the Republican lawsuit the day before the election, Hotze acknowledged he had a team of investigators hunting what was really a phantom voting menace.
(on camera): Do you think Democrats are stealing the election in Texas?
STEVE HOTZE, REPUBLICAN ACTIVIST: Yes. I know that. I have had investigators on the ground. The Democrats have committed massive voter election fraud in Harris County.
LAVANDERA: No reports of massive widespread fraud and voting. That is a fact, no matter how many times you say it.
HOTZE: Sir, you are totally wrong on that.
LAVANDERA (voice over): Houston police say when Lopez-Zuniga got out of his truck, Aguirre pointed a gun at him, forced him to the ground and put a knee on this back. Houston police say part of the incident was captured on police body camera footage.
Court documents say that Aguirre demanded that the responding officer arrest the AC repairman. Aguirre told the officer that he can quote, "Be a hero, or part of the problem. I just hope you are a patriot."
(on camera): The wealthy Republican activist who bankrolled that team of investigators says that the charge against the former Houston police officer is, bogus. And he also went on to say today that he had actually hired at least 20 different investigators including a former FBI surveillance specialist to dig up information of widespread voter fraud, but despite all of that prosecutors and investigators in Houston say they have not seen a single shred of evidence to support those claims.
Ed Lavandera, CNN -- Dallas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Well, China's space agency accomplishes something not seen in decades. The details on the country's latest mission to the moon and how it could change our understanding of the solar system. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COREN: Well, China is claiming another major milestone in its flowering space program. The country says it's lunar capsule known as the Chang'e 5 has successfully collected samples from the moon and brought them back to earth.
CNN's Kim Brunhuber has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Touching down in inner Mongolia during the early morning hours Thursday, a piece of China's history successfully returned to earth. After a 23 day mission, the Chang'e 5 brings on the first lunar samples collected in nearly half a century.
China is now only the third country to deliver such precious cargo. It's flag now proudly planted at the site of the lunar probe's. Named after the mythical Chinese goddess of the moon, the Chang'e 5 mission had a twofold objective.
One part discovery the other to advance China's ambition in space, with one of the most complicated and challenging missions in the country's aerospace history.
The four-part Chang'e 5 probe lasted off from an island on China Southern Coast November 24th. It touched down seven days later on a part of the moon that has never been visited before, a massive lava plane known as Ocean of Storms.
There, a lander began collecting samples with a drill and robotic arm before loading it onto an ascent vehicle.
Two kilograms of the material were sealed in the reentry capsule which left the moon Sunday and brought the to earth the first lunar sample since the 1970s.
[01:54:53]
BRUNHUBER: Soon scientists will be analyzing the structure, physical properties and material composition of the soil and rock samples.
They hope to find information that helps explains the moon's origins, how long it was volcanically active and when it's magnetic field which protects life from the sun's radiation, disappeared.
Possibly other clues can be found, with answers to long held mysteries about our nearest celestial body.
Kim Brunhuber, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: A store Japan is getting in on the face mask craze. No, their masks won't protect you from COVID but they're sure to turn a few heads and probably freak a whole bunch of people out. Here's Jeannie Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNIE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Think of it as wearing someone else's face, the hyper realistic face of a stranger. That's what an arty mask shop in Tokyo is selling.
Maybe Tom Cruise would approve, the shop's owner got over 100 submissions to be the model for this mask, right down to the skin imperfections.
There is one word in particular the mask evokes "creepy", deliciously or otherwise. And those freaky eyes, that's probably how the model's eyes looked when realizing he was paid a mere $386 dollars to serve as the face of a mask that will sell for $950 apiece.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I own a mask shop, so I thought to be fun selling and buying people's faces.
MOOS: At least the model's face was recreated using a 3d printer. No surgery required, as it was when John Travolta and Nicholas Cage swapped faces in "Face-Off".
The Japanese mask is not intended to protect against COVID. Someone tweeted "All the annoyances of wearing a mask, with none of the medical benefits."
Other mask makers like this Brazilian artist, have created life like masks that meant to protect, while at the same time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I use this mask in order not to lose my identity.
MOOS: To confuse your identity, seems to be the point of the Japanese mask, good for bank robberies was a typical tweet. Can't wait for this dude to show up on wanted posters worldwide. "I hate it. I hate it. I hate it".
But enough people love it that the store owner says interest is higher than expected for when the mask goes on sale in the New Year. Creepy, yes. But it could've been worse -- much worse.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Love your suit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Take this thing back to Baltimore.
MOOS: Make that Tokyo.
Jeanne Moos, CNN -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: Just a bit creepy. Thank so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong. The news continues right here after the break. [01:57:52]
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