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The U.S. has reported more than 3,000 deaths from COVID and almost a quarter million new infections, the highest since the pandemic spreads like a wildfire. Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is now being administered in the U.S. and 20 million more vaccines could become available once FDA gives Moderna a green light for an emergency use authorization. Dr. Desmond Carson from LifeLong Center says that inconsistency in following the health guidelines may result in spreading the virus to more communities. President-elect Joe Biden adding to the history books by picking a former rival and the first LGBTQ to join his cabinet. A Nigerian official say that negotiations are underway to bring back the more than 330 school boys who have been abducted from Kankara secondary school; U.S. Faces Another Milestone; Moderna Waiting for FDA's Approval; Guidelines Must be Followed Seriously; Joe Biden Forming a Diverse Cabinet; Schoolboys Abducted in Nigeria; U.S. Reports on Progress on Covid Relief Deal; Women with COVID-19 Face New Challenges During Childbirth; Texas Couple Die While Holding Hands; Tropical Cyclone Yasa Makes Landfall On Fiji; College Athletics Case Heads to U.S. Supreme Court; Tom Cruise's Explosive Rant. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 17, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): A second COVID vaccine might be authorized in the new U.S. just hours from now even as America marks its deadliest day of the pandemic.
Germans could start getting vaccinated in 10 days if the country crosses a hurdle.
The Nigerian government says it knows the location of more than 300 kidnapped students.
Welcome to you, our viewers here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.
As the total number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. approaches 17 million, more COVID deaths were reported in the country on Wednesday than ever before in a single day. More than 3,600 lives were lost. Wednesday also saw the most positive tests ever recorded in one day.
More than 247,000 new infections across the U.S. That's almost a quarter million people. Some of those people will end up needing intensive medical care in a system already buckling under the strain. A record 113,000 patients are now being treated for COVID across the country. A second vaccine is likely to join in the battle soon. The Food and
Drug Administration is expected to give emergency use authorization to a vaccine developed by Moderna. That could happen within hours. It would add about 20 million doses into the vaccine pipeline by the end of the month.
Now, a health worker in Alaska has been treated for a severe allergic reaction to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. Health experts say that will happen occasionally as the vaccine reaches millions more arms, but the rewards outweigh the risks.
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MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, MEMBER, PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN'S COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD: Every day we have to remember these vaccines are to prevent people from dying and from becoming seriously ill. And in the sense of having a reaction, which of course none of us want to have, but these are all very manageable. And in fact, in all three cases, these individuals are up walking around shortly after it happened once, they received an injection from their EpiPen.
And so, we can expect that this might happen. Surely none of them have led to any life-threatening or serious reaction that could have caused someone to be harmed in a permanent way. And so, to me, this is a small price to pay.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): We've got more now from CNN's Sara Murray.
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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL 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 and Drug Administration's independent advisory committee meeting to assess Moderna's vaccine
BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We are 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 six million doses could 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 delivery 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 are really immunizing for impact. We are 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, SECRETARY, UNITED STATES HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: I can't tell you at this precise moment, how many have gotten, we are just of course two days into the vaccination program.
MURRAY: Today, the first nursing homes are receiving the Pfizer vaccine.
UNKNOWN: Let's let it 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-NY): 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-CA): 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 are also warning a vaccine will only bring life back to normal if roughly 70 percent of the population takes it. Health and Human Services is unveiling its first radio ads touting the vaccines.
UNKNOWN: Vaccines won't make COVID go away overnight, but they give us a real chance to finally overcome it.
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MURRAY: But many Americans are still hesitant.
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.
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MURRAY (on camera): Now obviously, the goal is to get as many doses of these vaccines as possible out 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 saying, look, we really need these by the second quarter.
Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
BRUNHUBER: The world Health Organization is warning that vaccines alone won't stop the spread of the virus. The top health official says recent vaccine rollouts 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.
Joining me now from Brooklyn, California is Dr. Desmond Carson, an emergency room physician at LifeLong Medical Care. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us.
The situation in California right now is breaking all kinds of records. Cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions at an all-time high. You are in the E.R., tell me what you are seeing.
DESMOND CARSON, AN EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN AT LIFELONG MEDICAL CARE: Well, actually, I'm in urgent care, but to that end, our numbers are doubling as well, and as for today, as winter approaches, we have doubled in volume today, and I saw at least 40 percent of patients who had symptoms consistent with COVID, and I would expect that 50 percent of them will probably be diagnosed as COVID positive.
BRUNHUBER: And you know, during the last big spike in July, you got in front of a podium and said I want to read back here, our rights are going to kill us. Our rights not to wear a mask, that's B.S. is going to kill us. You are frustrated and angry back then. Are you still seeing the same thing?
CARSON: I would suggest that probably in public we do better, but in private, I'm not so convinced. From the high-ranking officials as the president delved through community organizations, and what we do at home, I don't think that we are protecting ourselves as we should.
So, in public, people go to the store, they were masks, blah, blah, blah, but when they go home, I think they do what they want to do and that's I think the continuum of the spread.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, because I was wondering, you know, California has some of the strictest rules, but also the worst COVID rates. So, you know, is it just that people are gathering together too much, as when they're necessarily going out to get the groceries and so on as you say, but they're just gathering with too many people, or going out at night? What's to blame here?
CARSON: I would say all of the above, namely that people are not abiding by the rules again while in private. They go in public, they show a good hand of wearing their mask and social distancing at the grocery store, because they are provided with a very conservative protocol to ensure not spreading the virus. But when at home, people who do what they want to do.
And so that's why I believe Tom Cruise, as well as others, have gotten pissed off, and as I was, and I still am about what we are doing at home and in private. BRUNHUBER: You know, the vaccine, obviously given the numbers
couldn't come soon enough, but experts, including Dr. Fauci, say one of the biggest challenges going forward will be vaccine hesitancy, particularly in minority communities. What are you telling people? What's your message to those who might be suspicious of this vaccine?
CARSON: So, I am blessed that I was able to read that New England Journal of Medicine. They just put out an article that I received on December 15th, and so I like to just state what the objective data and the sciences are stating. So, from the New England Journal of Medicine, it is stating that the vaccine is relatively safe, they went across the board as far as demographics, race, class, sex, gender, social economics, and they found to be relatively safe.
So, in the absence of a true cure, prevention is the best thing so I think we should go forward and take the vaccine, and I'm happy they are starting to distribute it to healthcare providers.
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BRUNHUBER: But is there a different sort of message, or is there some special outreach that needs to be done particularly in those communities that are, you know, suspicious of the healthcare system?
CARSON: Of course. I mean, I've read the Tuskegee Experiment, and I'm well aware of what goes on as far as trials and data, and the practice of medicine, where the word practice shouldn't be underlined. So, people are cautious because they know they're history.
But in this scenario, whereby we are disproportionately affected as far as death rates in Latino, Black, and let's not forget our Native American brothers and sisters, that we should probably at this point step up first.
BRUNHUBER: I suppose it doesn't help confidence when people hear news about, you know, somebody getting a severe adverse reaction like we just did. Are you more worried about the reaction in this case, or people's reaction to hearing it?
CARSON: Both, because I mean, if you have a bad reaction, let's not forget history is our greatest teacher. In 1972, my mother who's a nurse, told me about when they had a new influenza vaccine that people had some deaths. About 30,000 people died of (Inaudible).
Now this is not influenza vaccine, but people's history is our greatest teacher. So, we, you know, people are not going to forget that easy. So, I mean, we just have to balance the objective data, and I think the New England Journal of Medicine is very objective with the history and that went along with that.
BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate it. Dr. Desmond Carson.
CARSON: Thank you very much for having me.
BRUNHUBER: And a programming note, join us for a CNN town hall this weekend. Special guests Dr. Anthony Fauci and the U.S. surgeon general Jerome Adams join Don Lemon and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. They'll examine the distribution and education about the COVID-19 vaccines within communities of color. Tune in to the color of COVID, the vaccines. That's at 10 p.m. Friday in New York. And 11 a.m. Saturday in Hong Kong only here, of course, on CNN.
The World Health Organization is warning of another wave of COVID-19 in Europe early next year. Right now, Germany has begun a strict lockdown to try to curb the soaring infection rates. The country hopes to rule out the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine just days after Christmas once it's approved in the U.K. Relaxed holiday rules will stay in place, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson is publicly appealing for small Christmas gatherings.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us from London. And Frederik Pleitgen is standing by in Berlin. Let's start with you, Salma, a stark warning but also relaxing rules, a mixed message from the prime minister.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER (on camera): Kim, he's essentially trying not to be the grinch that stole Christmas. These plans were made about a month ago. It's a five-day Christmas dispensation period in which the rules will be relaxed to allow up to three households to come together and celebrate. They can go over to each other's houses, have dinner, go to church if they like.
Essentially, breaking bubbles and forming what they were calling a Christmas bubble to celebrate, but of course since that was announced about a month ago, there has been a spike in coronavirus cases, so it's been extremely concerning. A lot of opposition to these plans, but the prime minister yesterday in parliament was insistent. Take a listen to what he said.
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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Mr. Speaker -- Mr. Speaker, because we don't want to criminalize people's long made plans, Mr. Speaker. But we do think, we do think it's absolutely vital that people should, at this very, very tricky time, exercise a high degree of personal responsibility, especially when they come into contact with elderly people to avoid contact with elderly people wherever possible.
And that is how, that is how by being sensible and cautious -- not by imposing these lockdowns or canceling Christmas as he would appear to want to do. That -- well, that's the only implication I can draw from what he said, Mr. Speaker, unless he wants to announce some other idea. That is the way we will continue to work together to keep this virus under control to defeat it and take the country forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ (on camera): You hear the prime minister there really shifting the responsibility from authority and the government saying it is on everyone to exercise personal caution and to be very careful. A small Christmas is a safe Christmas is what the prime minister said. But of course, this is contradictory to what medical advice is. Now
the prime minister again tried to urge people to be very careful. He did say that people should try to isolate in the five days leading up to this period, but again against medical advice.
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This as we saw an op-ed just a few days ago from Britain's two most prominent knit medical journals where they were essentially pleading with the prime minister to reverse these plans, They said that this puts the house service at risk and that this country could very well be looking at a third wave next year if it carries on like this. Kim?
BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks. So, a very different scene in Germany. Fred, let's go to you in Berlin. Germany went from lockdown to hard- core shutdown. What's the latest?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kim, I think Salma was just saying that Boris Johnson doesn't want to be the grinch that stole Christmas. Angela Merkel for her part says she realizes that she needs to be the grinch. And that's exactly what's happening here in Germany.
Right now, the city of Berlin looks like Christmas, but feels like a lockdown. And we can look around a little bit. You can see there is still some of that remnants of a Christmas market back there. What they wanted to be a Christmas market, the streets are completely empty. And that's absolutely remarkable, because this is in central Berlin, one of the biggest business and also shopping districts as well. And as you can see there is almost no one here on the streets.
It looks like, it looks like a Sunday, really here in Berlin where normally the shops would be close. The lockdowns are certainly very much taking effect. And the Germans are saying simply right now it's necessary to do that. We had that record death toll for a single day that was recorded in Germany yesterday. Today the numbers once again very high. There's almost 27,000 new infections. Almost 700 people have died of COVID-19 related symptoms in the past 24 hours.
So, clearly, the situation is still a very difficult one in this country. That's why these lockdown measures are in place. But, Kim, one of the things that the German government and European governments are coming under increasing pressure about is the fact that, for instance, the U.K. and the U.S. have given that emergency use authorization to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. And Germany, where the vaccine was developed, has not so far.
And I was just looking overnight to the state of Berlin put out really saying that they have been formed by the German health authorities by the German health minister that that approval by the European Medicines Agency should come very soon. And right now, the German health authorities according to that, believe that December 27th will be the day that vaccinations are going to start here in Germany.
So, maybe a little glimmer of hope there. But certainly, right now if you look at the situation here, full lockdown and no sign of Christmas happening that many people thought that it would. Kim?
BRUNHUBER (on camera): All right. Thank you so much. Salma Abdelaziz in London and Frederik Pleitgen in Berlin. I appreciate you joining us.
Well, health officials have released sobering numbers on the pandemic in the Americas. They say Canada and the U.S. have the most newest cases, but the regional picture overall is complex because of widespread inequalities.
CNN's Paula Newton explains.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest data sticks from the Pan American Health Organization lays bare the fact that look, the Americas have been disproportionately hit by this virus. Now, its director, Carissa Etienne, points out that nearly half of all deaths and infections have occurred in the Americas so far.
And you just have to look at the United States and Brazil, number one and number two in terms of deaths. And to realize that cases are still surging in those countries as well. But, you know, the director also points out that look, cases are surging in places like here in Canada, where a deadly second wave continues to rage.
Now she also points out that in some of these regions, there were already not very well equipped to deal with this kind of healthcare crisis and that continues. She does point out that in places like Latin America they were able to double ICU capacity in very few months.
She points to that kind of behavior, which she hopes will continue, and will continue that other countries will contribute to the developing nations in both Latin America and South America to make sure that they can fully recover from this virus.
Paula Newton, CNN, Ottawa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): President-elect Joe Biden is making history again with a diverse pick for his administration. He is nominating the first openly gay cabinet member Pete Buttigieg. We'll hear from both men, next.
And from Nigeria, hopeful news. It appears hundreds of kidnapped Nigerians school boys have been located. Coming up, what one government official says they are going to do to bring the boys home safely. Stay with us.
[03:20:00]
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BRUNHUBER: President-elect Joe Biden is expected to get a COVID-19 vaccine as early as next week. In the meantime, he is making political history with his latest cabinet nominee.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports from Wilmington, Delaware.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't want ahead of the line but I want to make sure that we demonstrate to the American people that it is 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'll do it publicly, so you all can actually witness by 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 9th, 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 turn 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 chief, Gina McCarthy to a new role as White House climate coordinator.
Biden is also still weighing 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 on what'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.
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BRUNHUBER (on camera): Meanwhile, Russia is dismissing CNN's exclusive investigation with Bellingcat into the poisoning of the top Kremlin critic. It found opposition leader Alexei Navalny was trailed for years by elite Russian security forces specialized in nerve agents. Navalny was poisoned in August and almost died. Here's what for -- Russia's foreign minister said on Wednesday.
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SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): All this news is funny to read, but it says only one thing. Or rather, the matter in which this news is presented says only one thing. That our western partners do not have any ethical standards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): Russia may find it funny, but some U.S. lawmakers don't. Congressman Michael McCaul of the House foreign affairs committee says CNN's reporting, quote, "uncovers truly disturbing information about the Putin regime's culpability and the poisoning of Alexei Navalny."
The committee is urging the Trump administration to finish its investigation into what happened.
[03:25:01]
A government official in Nigeria says talks are underway to win the release of more than 330 kidnapped students. The governor of Katsina state tells CNN, authorities know where the boys are being held and the area has been secured.
CNN's David McKenzie has a firsthand account of the kidnapping from one of the students who escaped.
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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 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 Khalid Niogobe (Ph). "They attacked our security guard. They were shouting as they shot their guns. They shouted, God is great." As gunmen attacked, Khalid says their bullets lit 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. He said we are not here to rob you, says Khalid. No one should run. We are 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.
UNKNOWN (trough translator): This work that was done in Katsina was done by us.
MCKENZIE: Now in a new audio message, the claim of responsibility purportedly from this man, Abubakar Shekau. The 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 is a deeply disturbing sign that Boko Haram has widened its influence beyond the stronghold in the northeast where it has 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's abduction of more than 300 school girls 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 in some of the mothers of Chibok girls. They 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 boy from Kankara unharmed, but he promised to stand up to Boko Haram years ago and he has failed.
EZEKWESILI: If the governor is made up of a ruling class that is the front to the sufferings of the people. You would have repetitive patterns of failure.
MCKENZIE: They said if we resisted, they would kill us, says Khalid (Ph). 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.
David McKenzie, CNN, Johannesburg.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): Here in the U.S., Congress is closing in on a new COVID stimulus package. Ahead, the new infusion of cash Americans could be getting in the coming weeks.
Plus, the struggles of childbirth in the age of COVID. How the pandemic is creating new challenges for some new mothers. Stay with us.
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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Welcome back to all of you, our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. You are watching CNN Newsroom.
After months of bitter stalemate, U.S. Congressional leaders are nearing a deal on a $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package. It is expected to provide $300 a week in benefits for the unemployed, up to $330 billion for small business loans and money for a vaccine distribution. It also includes a new round of stimulus checks expected to be $600 per person. That Senator Bernie Sanders says that is not enough to help struggling Americans.
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SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): I think $600 is where we should be? No. I think we should be $1,200 in direct payment for the working class adults in this country. And 600 bucks for their kid. But we are making some purpose and we are going to continue that fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): CNN's Eleni Giokos joins us now with more detail. Eleni, a deal seems within touching distance, but it can't come fast enough for a growing number of struggling Americans.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN MONEY AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Absolutely. I mean, look, we are looking at around 12 million Americans running out of unemployment insurance benefits the day after Christmas. Up to 5 million Americans could be facing eviction by the end of January. This is why this relief bill is absolutely critical right now. And time is running out.
We have Friday as a deadline. That is when legislative federal spending days come to a close. That is when lawmakers go recess for the holiday season. This is why now we have been seeing the commitment from both sides of the aisle's saying no one is going home until a deal is done.
We actually saw a tweet coming through from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's spokesperson (inaudible) a few hours ago saying that the meeting between Mitch McConnell, Nancy Pelosi, as well as Steven Mnuchin, concluded at 10:30 p.m. and that the conversation will then continue on Thursday morning. And that paper had been exchanged.
Now, when we are talking about paper, we are talking about a 600 long word document. And the wording is important. The spending allocation is important. As you said, it's about those big ticket items, about extending jobless benefits, eviction protections, direct payments to families, which of course has disappointed some people within the process.
And importantly here the bipartisan package, as you said, it's just over $900 billion. You remember that the Democrats initially were talking about $2 trillion. It has watered down. It is much smaller. And now they have split it into two bills, removing the issues like liability protection for businesses and then the important parity items. So hopefully lawmakers, once a decision is made of course, will be able to vote on two separate bills before Friday.
BRUNHUBER: Yes, I mean, certainly taking their time here, but there seems to be momentum to get this done, but what happens if Congress does not have a deal by the Friday deadline?
GIOKOS: Look. The kind of conversation is no one is going home. And we've heard it from many Senators. The one thing we might see is the continuing resolution coming into effect. And that essentially will be buying time and extending the Friday deadline. Should that come into effect, we will see the conversations continuing over the weekend, but that is really kind of the worst-case scenario.
Worse of worst-case scenario of course is that we have been deferred us again to the beginning of 2021 which will be absolutely detrimental to the U.S. economy and to the most vulnerable in the country. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, yesterday, the last meeting and the last announcement of the year. He said the next 46 months are crucial. They are critical.
Because you've got vaccine roll outs. You're going to see the efficacy of vaccines. You've got COVID-19 cases and deaths on the rise. You have lockdowns, localized lockdowns, occurring in the United States. That's going to have a direct impact from the prognosis of the U.S. economy going into the new year.
[03:35:12]
That is why this deal is going to be absolutely critical. Importantly you saw U.S. markets earlier this week writing on the back of the fact that this is the closest we've ever come to a deal. We have the NASDAQ hitting a record high overnight and we've got U.S. futures pointing to (inaudible). So, hopefully, the messages here, if this deal is concluded it will be good for all.
BRUNHUBER (on camera): All right. Very well explained as always. Thank you very much, Eleni Giokos. I appreciate it.
Well, 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)
ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 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 a coronavirus maternity ward at Istanbul's (inaudible) hospital, where the joy of bringing a child into this world is overshadowed by illness, we still know very little about. (Inaudible) is seven months into her pregnancy. I did not believe it, that it could be this bad, she admits. I thought
I just 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.
Squatting is also a bigger issue. When De Lara she 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 (inaudible), she can breast feed. Have her baby in the room at a distance. It is 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 is OK, she is overcome with emotion. I thought of 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.
(Inaudible) 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 has been 15 days since she gave birth, and she hasn't seen her baby yet. Just these photographs that are on the phone.
Baby Lena is being cared for by relatives. Sibel and her husband can hear other babies in the ward crying. It is agonizing for them. That longing they have just to hug theirs.
They just found out that she is PCR negative. That is amazing.
If the pulmonologist signs off, they can finally go home. Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): Now to a devastating loss to COVID-19. A Texas couple married for 30 years were able to share one final embrace, holding each other's hands and the hands of their children before passing away. This is Paul and Rosemary Blackwell, pictured here with their family during happier times. The family says the middle aged couple, who were both teachers, died just minutes apart from COVID-19 complications after suffering for two weeks in intensive care.
[03:40:02] The family made the difficult decision to take them off life support
after doctors confirmed there was no chance they would recover. CNN's Don Lemon spoke with two of their sons. Sean and Brandon about their heartbreak.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHAWN BLACKWELL, LOST BOTH PARENTS TO COVID-19: After, you know, we were going up to the hospital. After they granted us the ability to see them, we were consulting with the hospital staff. And they were talking to us about where mom and dad were at. And you know, (inaudible) I mean, it just -- I kind of knew where it was headed. I just did not want to believe it.
But they told us our options and where mom and dad were at. And just that at the rate they were going, they were not going to make it anytime soon. And this allows us -- that was pretty hard to hear. But, I mean, it wasn't an easy thing to do by any means, but you know, me and Brandon had each other's backs on that.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Brandon, what were you saying, Brandon?
BRANDON BLACKWELL, LOST BOTH PARENTS TO COVID-19: No, I was just saying like my brother said. I was -- like the hardest decision that a child has ever had to make. You know, to say goodbye to a parent. You know, it still just seems unreal. Like, me and my brother were talking earlier. Like, my mom and dad are just going to walk through that door any second. But, you know, we know that they are not.
It's just the hardest decision I have to say that any child has to make for their parents. You know, I am just glad that my brother was there with me. And I was able to lean on him as he was able to lean on me, because that was just a crazy experience.
LEMON: But they allowed your parents to be together.
B. BLACKWELL: Yes.
S. BLACKWELL: Yes, they did.
B. BLACKWELL: They had the opportunity that they were able to be together in their last moments. We all were. Same room. They were in the bed together. Holding hands, as we all were as they took their last breath.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): Paul and Rosemary Blackwell, leave behind five sons and 20 grandchildren. The GoFundMe page raising money to help pay their final expenses has now reached almost $50,000 from more than 1,100 donors.
A powerful tropical cyclone has now made landfall in Fiji. We will have the latest and here in the U.S. a key case on how college athletes get compensated heads to the Supreme Court. We will explain what it means and why it matters, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BRUNHUBER: In the past hour, a powerful storm has made landfall on the South Pacific island nation of Fiji. Tropical cyclone Yasa is bringing winds of about 150 miles an hour, its equivalent to a category four hurricane. A nationwide curfew is now in effect. The Fijian Prime Minister calls it a climate catastrophe. Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking the storm for us. Pedram, what is the latest?
[03:45:15]
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Kim, you know, you noted that as well, that the climate catastrophe according to the Fijian Prime Minister. And we know water temperatures in this region of the southern Pacific as much as 2 degrees, nearly 2 degrees Celsius above typical general averages. And of course, you are looking at what has happened across this particular set of islands.
Just in 2020, this is not the first major cycle that they have seen in 2020. They had another one back in April that left with an extensive damage across this region. And this comes in with winds of 240 kilometers per hour, which is equivalent to a strong category four. And you take a look. Second major cyclone to impact this archipelago, 330 islands make up Fijian archipelago. And Herald, back in April was the previous one, of course you go back to just a couple of years ago, Winston came ashore as a category five in 2016. $1.4 billion in losses, 44 lives lost. That, by the way, is equivalent to about 32 percent of our island nation's GDP just from one storm.
So, it really speaks to how much of an impact any given tropical system can have in an area such as Fiji. And of course, dozens and dozens more islands in the path of this system, as it reemerges back over the south Pacific and crosses some of these islands that really are going to be frankly difficult for a rescue effort to be able to get to in a timely manner.
A lot of volunteer, 330 in particular. We know at least 110 of them are inhabited. So, it's certainly going to be a difficult go here over the next several days. Now, November through April is peak season across the South Pacific. It is the tropical cyclone season, with the peak being December through February. So we are experiencing that over the next several months. And we know rainfall amounts here, again really going to exacerbate what is happening on the ground in that region of the world.
Now look at what is happening across the northeastern United States. That's an (inaudible) Easter here on the final few days of autumn 2020 that is pushing out of this region. Nearly 60 million Americans underneath weather alerts. Up to two feet of snow could come down by the time this is all out of here by Thursday night. And you will notice already about 20 inches have come down across portions of Pennsylvania, across Central Park and Philly, still seeing heavy snow at this hour.
About 6.5 inches or so has come down here. And we expect powerful winds here to continue, Kim, into the next few hours. You could see those winds again, up to 60 plus miles an hour with snow blowing around across some of these major cities.
BRUNHUBER (on camera): At least it is moving quickly. Pedram Javaheri, thank you very much.
Now to a legal case that could have huge consequences for college athletics here in the U.S. U.S. Supreme Court says it will decide whether or not the country's top body for student athletes, the NCAA broke the law by having limits on how much educational related compensation athletes can get. Kenneth Shropshire is the CEO of the Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University and he explains why the case is so significant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNETH SHROPSHIRE, CEO, GLOBAL SPORT INSTITUTE, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY (on camera): This is going to resolve, we hope, the age old question about whether or not college athletes should be paid. It may not be bad directly, but the issue that is at hand is about the compensation that student athletes have not been able to receive besides reward, tuition and educational fees. There have been a couple of cases. There had been few along the way, finally the Supreme Court has accepted the case to review that big issue.
BRUNHUBER: Yes. And let's be clear, it's not as if they, you know, would be getting paid like a salary, but you know, having rights to their image and you know, compensation in other ways, right?
SHROPSHIRE: Well, in some ways this is the, you know, the tipping of the ledger in terms of the possibility of that. You know, the fact is, we don't know how far the Supreme Court might go on this. You are right. The key issues are related to fees beyond educational. So lay image and likeness are in the works. But there is a possibility for the lower court decisions, if the Supreme Court would open up more widely. But the question really at hand is whether or not the NCAA rules violate the trust laws. It is an old rules that restrict any kind of payment to go to these athletes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): And we will have the full interview with Kenneth Shropshire in our next hour here on CNN.
Still to come on CNN Newsroom, Tom Cruise is on a mission to enforce social distancing guidelines. His explosive rant on the set of his latest film when we come back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:50:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNKNOWN: Hong Kong. It's one of the most crowded cities on earth with around 7.5 million residents living on less than 280 square kilometers. Or 107 square miles. In the urban jungle it can be easy to forget that there is another side to Hong Kong.
Almost half of Hong Kong is green. But thousands of years ago, even more plant life existed here. Over the past few hundred years, Hong Kong lost swats of woodland according to Austrian born conservationist Dr. Gunter Fischer.
GUNTER FISCHER, HEAD OF FLORA CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT: In the past, it was common to clear forest for agricultural lands or (inaudible) and so on. When the British arrived in the last century, Hong Kong was known as an abandoned rock.
UNKNOWN: Then came World War II where the occupying Japanese cut down more trees to use for fuel.
FISCHER: It was clear that a large part of Hong Kong needed to be restored, (inaudible) forest.
UNKNOWN: In the 1970s, the Hong Kong government launched a program to restore the region's lost woodlands. Fischer is one of many conservationist, who continue this work.
FISCHER: Our main goal is to restore (inaudible) sites of Kadoorie farm and botanic garden to the original forests, which covered Hong Kong many, many thousands of years ago.
UNKNOWN: Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong's highest peak, Kadoorie farm and botanic garden has turn the sparse upper slopes from this, into this.
FISCHER: What we see here is a secondary forest which has recovered for the last 50 years.
UNKNOWN: Today, Fischer and his team are going beyond planting just any trees. They're reintroducing rare native plants, some the last few of their kind in Hong Kong.
FISCHER: A number of extremely rare plants species, especially trees have been brought into cultivation. Seeing it really contributions a lot to conservation and saving the species from extinction.
UNKNOWN: The entire process can take decades but Fischer says it increases the trees' chance of survival from 3 percent to 96 percent. And with a budding forest, comes a habitat for other life.
FISCHER: So, one of our biggest projects is on wildlife rescue. So we've got a wildlife rescue center here, which takes injured animals from the country parks and roadsides, and it's very interesting and fascinating to monitor this overtime, to see how the forest is changing and life is coming back.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): And you can find out more about the innovators who are taking on some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges, watch Going Green this Saturday at 6:00 a.m. in New York, that's 11:00 a.m. in London right here on CNN. While there is no tolerance for any risky business if you are working
with Tom Cruise on the set of Mission Impossible 7. In the recording obtained by Britain's Sun newspaper, the actor can be heard swearing at crewmembers and threatening to have them fired for breaking social distancing rules. CNN's Max Foster has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: So this allegedly happened during the filming of Mission Impossible 7. Filmed at least in studios just outside London by Paramount Pictures. The Sun managed to get a hold of recording on set, it says where you hear Tom Cruise clearly reprimanding members of the crew for breaking social distancing guidelines here in the U.K.
[03:55:07]
A word of warning, an explicit coming up. I don't ever want to see it again, he says, ever. And if you don't do it you are fired. If I see you doing it again, you are f--ing gone. And if anyone in this crew does it -- that is it.
So two crew members reportedly was seen within two meters, about 6 feet of each other, which is a clear breach of COVID guidelines here in the U.K. And it goes on to say, we are the gold standard. Back there in Hollywood, making movies right now because of us because they believe in us and what we are doing. You then hear him say that they are creating thousands of jobs. The people are struggling to put food on the table and to pay for college tuition fees.
Then this comes after (inaudible) earlier in the production of this movie, where production had to be stop in Italy, because of the coronavirus pandemic, allegedly. And apparently, according to U.K. media reports, Tom Cruise used more than $600,000 of his own money to pay for a ship to allow casts and crew to self-isolate. It shows how much he cares about this incident.
And actually, many people on social media, many fellow actors are coming out in support of his concern here. CNN contacted the crew's publicist and Paramount Pictures for comment. We did not get a comment from them. But the New York Time reports that Paramount declined its request for comment. (Inaudible) won by Warner Brothers, which is part of the same parent company as CNN.
Max Foster, CNN, Folkestone, England.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): Now while the tone of Tom Cruise's message was harsh, one doctor told CNN, the actor was right for wanting to enforce coronavirus rules.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL OFFIT, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Good for him. I think he is exactly right. You know, we -- in America this is a country that was founded on the basis of individual rights and freedoms and so, people claim freedoms like ones they do not have. Like this one for example. It is not your freedom to catch and transmit a potentially fatal infection.
When people sort of proudly take their mask off like they did for example in that motorcycle biker rally in South Dakota that is not their freedom. It affects not only you, but people with whom you come in contact. Good for him. I mean, I think he should have that rent pretty much on a daily basis and let everybody in this country here this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRUNHUBER (on camera): The pandemic has ravaged Hollywood financially. The company comes course as the box office in the U.S. and Canada is down almost 80 percent compared to last year.
Well, that's -- wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. And I will be back in just a moment with more news. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
