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U.S. Sets Record Deaths, New Cases and Hospitalizations; FDA May Authorize Moderna Vaccine Thursday; Health Experts Worry about Vaccine Hesitancy; 60 Million Under Storm Warnings, 1,300 U.S. Flights Canceled; Congress Reports Progress on $900 Billion Deal; Hundreds of Allies Asking President for Pardons. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 17, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: A record day for all the wrong reasons. The U.S. sets COVID records for deaths, new cases and hospitalizations. Also --

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ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): I didn't believe it, that it could be this bad, she admits. I thought I'd just get through it, even if I caught it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: We take you inside a maternity ward for mothers who have tested positive for the coronavirus.

And more than 60 million Americans are hunkering down as a major winter storm rolls through the East Coast.

Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to all of you, our viewers 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.

Now, 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 being treated for COVID across the country.

The good news, a second vaccine is likely to join the battle soon. We get more from CNN's Sara Murray.

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SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH: 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, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: I can't tell you at this precise moment, how many have gotten it, we are just of course two days into the vaccination program.

MURRAY: Today, the first nursing homes are receiving the Pfizer vaccine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.

HHS RADIO PSA: Vaccines won't make COVID 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 (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.

[04:05:00]

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.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now from Berkeley, 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.

DR. DESMOND CARSON, PHYSICIAN, 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 were 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? It's not 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, you know, in public. They, you know, 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 would, 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.

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, for example?

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: Thank you so much for joining us. I really appreciate it. Dr. Desmond Carson.

CARSON: Thank you very much for having me. BRUNHUBER: Now one of the early lessons from the vaccination campaign is that some vaccine vials hold more than the standard five doses. The FDA is looking into the matter, but in the meantime, it says it's OK for health care workers to get as many doses as possible from each vial. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains.

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[04:10:00]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So they have these vials. They're supposed to have five doses. It's a frozen liquid that comes in. When they get to the hospital, pharmacy, wherever it's going, they thought and at that point they then take some of the liquid out, a said amount, and they dilute it with saline. And that's what you see in syringes, that's what you see going into people's arms. That is the vaccine.

What they're finding is there's more of the solution in those vials to make up more than five doses of the vaccine. So the FDA looked at this and they said, OK, based on the fact that it's a preservative free solution, that there does seem to be enough for an additional dose, sometimes two additional doses. Given that there's such high demand and such little supply, go ahead and do it if you can. Basically that's the message that they're hearing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Another major challenge for parts of America this hour, severe winter weather. More than 60 million people on the East Coast are under a winter storm warning or advisory and more than 1,300 U.S. flights have been cancelled. New York is anticipating the most snow it's seen in four years. Heavy snowfall earlier caused a 27 car pileup in the city. Thankfully, there were no critical injuries. The NYPD tweeted this.

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DEPUTY ASSISTANT DICE, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT: Good evening, everyone, my name is Deputy Assistant Dice. I am the commanding officer of Highway 1. If you don't need to be out, stay home. Presently I'm on the scene of a 19-car pile collision on the south bound of the Hudson. Please stay home. Thank you.

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BRUNHUBER: All right, our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with the latest. As we can see there it looks hairy there. This storm is already causing a big mess. How bad is it going to get?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, we're seeing the peak of it here across some of these areas around the northeast and really throughout much of the morning hours we'll begin to see conditions improve quickly. That's really the good news with the storm system. It is moving as fast as they get here. So we'll see it exit stage right as we go in towards the afternoon and evening hours and maybe even get some sunny skies across portions of the Northeast on the backside of this.

But the concern here is it's going to remain windy. The accumulations are already pretty impressive and just some of the latest observations as of the 1:00 a.m. tallies there. Upwards of almost 20 inches has come down and been around portions of central park and into Philly as well. About 6 inches and could see an additional few more inches on top of this as well. In fact, you kind of look at the radar imagery at this hour, and you'll notice a distinctive line with the rain/snow just on the eastern periphery.

So anywhere on the coast, say along Long Island, a lot of areas now begin to see mostly rain. While back behind this, transitioning into quite a bit of heavy snow still left in place. So really, where that line ends up placed over your region dictates the amount of snow you'll get as the system pushes off to the north and east.

But you know, it's a pretty expansive area of coverage here with the amount of people set to be impacted. When it's all said and done, we think as much as 2 feet could be seen in the highest accumulation zones. And right we do have coastal flooding warnings on the coast here and some beach erosion taking place as much as 2 to 3 feet above normal values right along the Delmarva region and coastal New Jersey as well. The storm that is moving through the region.

But notice this, anytime you get into those purple contours, I told you, this is a serious storm system. 24 inches though is not something to sneeze at. And of course, we're still looking at the winter season officially getting underway in about four or five days from now. So still the latter stages of autumn and we're getting a pretty significant storm system. But again, Kim, there it goes. It pushes offshore as we get into Friday morning, expecting the winds to finally begin to die down. But we could see a lot of snow on the ground across the Northeast -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, scary, as you say, the winter hasn't even begun yet. Thanks so much, Pedram Javaheri, appreciate it.

Well we're following two very different political worlds. Hundreds of President Trump's allies are asking for a pardon, while President- elect Biden is picking more cabinet members for his administration. We'll have the political roundup coming up. Stay with us.

[04:15:00]

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BRUNHUBER: After months of bitter stalemate U.S. Congressional leaders are nearing a deal on the $900 billion coronavirus stimulus package. It's expected to provide $300 a week in benefits for the unemployed. Up to $330 billion for small business loans and money for vaccine distribution. Now the deal also includes a new round of stimulus checks expected to be $600 per person, but Senator Bernie Sanders says that isn't enough to help struggling Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Do I think $600 is where we should be? No, I think we should be $1,200 in direct payment for every working class adult in this country and 600 bucks for their kid but we're making some progress, and we're going to continue that fight.

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BRUNHUBER: CNN's Eleni Giokos joins us right now with more details. A deal seems tantalizingly close, but it can't come fast enough for a growing number of struggling Americans.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, look, this is the closest we've been to a deal, and frankly both sides of the aisle agree that it has to be done with a sense of urgency. And you're absolutely right. We're running out of time. Washington is officially under pressure to try to get this done before Friday, and of course voted on the House and the Senate floor as well.

So here's where we stand right now. We know that the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, as well as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as well as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, concluded a meeting at 10:30 p.m. last night, and this is pretty vital. Because they have been saying that they are committed to not going home until they find a resolution here.

Talks are expected to continue on Thursday morning, and they've also said that they exchanged paperwork. When we're talking about paperwork, we're talking about 600 pages long documents. Wording is important here.

[04:20:00]

Spending allocation is important. And remember that the overall bipartisan package is just over $900 billion. A few months ago, we were talking about Democrats wanting a $2 trillion package, so it is watered down, it's very much smaller than what we had initially anticipated. But there are still sticking points. Like liability protections for businesses, and aid to state and local governments.

But the question here is, what will happen to the 12 million Americans that are going to be running out of unemployment insurance benefits the day after Christmas. Millions of Americans face eviction in January. It's going to be a tough month, Kim, in January if they don't put this into motion before Friday.

BRUNHUBER: They've really got to get this done. Listen, thank you so much for breaking it down for us. Eleni Giokos appreciate it.

Donald Trump's final weeks in the White House could include a number of presidential pardons. Apparently so many people have been contacting the West Wing seeking pardons or commutations that staffers have had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of all the requests.

At the same time, sources say the president pushing for the appointment of special counsels to investigate his baseless accusations of voter fraud and allegations surrounding Hunter Biden. And an advisory says Mr. Trump knows his days in the White House are numbered and he's, quote, lashing out and throwing a temper tantrum. The White House declined to comment.

Meanwhile, a calmer environment within Joe Biden's camp. The president-elect has been picking more members to fill out his administration. On Wednesday, he named former political rival Pete Buttigieg as his nominee for secretary of transportation, and he may decide next week on his choice for America's top law enforcement official. Biden reportedly has narrowed the field to a list of front runners, including Judge Merrick Garland, and U.S. Senator Doug Jones.

The president-elect also is keeping the pandemic a top priority. He's expected to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as next week. He wants to show the country a vaccine is safe to take.

All right, to discuss all of this and more, let's bring in Leslie Vinjamuri who's with Chatham House, an international affairs think tank based in London. And She's an expert in transatlantic relations and the U.S. role in the world. Thank you so much for joining us again.

LESLIE VINJAMURI, HEAD OF U.S. AND THE AMERICAS PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: Thank you for having me.

BRUNHUBER: I want to start with what actually matters most to Americans, which is COVID relief. Both parties -- as we just heard -- seem very close. Crucially, there won't be, it seems anyway, help for cities and states but it's likely to include a second round of stimulus checks. So what do you think of the deal so far, and what does it say about the state of politics that it's taken so long given the fact that unemployment is rising, and more and more Americans are having trouble even putting food on the table?

VINJAMURI: Well we know this has been -- this has taken far too long. It has been mired in partisan politics. It seemed at some point, it was inevitable that it would really take getting through the election and really getting to that confirmation, which we know has taken a lot longer because of the president's refusal to accept the result.

So it's smaller than we would like to see, but I think one of the key points here is at least we're seeing that there will be a negotiation. There will be a stimulus. It's better than nothing. But it does prepare the ground for the president-elect when he comes into office to negotiate much harder for more.

The real shortcoming, as you said, is the fact that it doesn't give that money to states, and to local governments. Remember, this is critical for education, for getting kids back to schools, for giving schools the money that they need to open up safely. And President- elect Biden has said that this will be his priority in the first 100 days. But again, that's a long way off for so many families that who have had their children at home, makes it harder for people to work.

So, you know still, getting that stimulus through, which likes it will happen by the end of the week or through the weekend I think is absolutely critical at this point. BRUNHUBER: Absolutely. All right, to the never ending election. More

and more Republicans are finally congratulating Biden, urging the president's supporters to accept the election results, but, I mean, does that even matter if Trump himself doesn't accept it?

VINJAMURI: Well, I think it does. I think, you know, critically seeing Mitch McConnell finally turn around and accept the result and say to the Republicans that it was time to accept the result is crucial. In the House, a lot more descent is coming out of the Republican Party, and of course, everyone has their eye on January 5th.

But I think, you know, the gravity of this cannot be underestimated not least because of the discord it's sewn in the American electorate. If you look at the polling of Republican voters, over 70 percent of them don't think that the election was entirely legitimate.

[04:25:00]

And that just makes the bar for the next administration that much higher on building unity and building consensus.

But what we are seeing is that President-elect Biden is already working behind the scenes to try and forge links with Republicans in the Senate and across Congress. That will be absolutely critical because the domestic policy agenda will be vital. More economic stimulus, distributing the vaccine and moving forward with those big questions of infrastructure investment. So really being able to work with Congress, and that will depend in part on really building bridges across the American electorate.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, we'll see whether that bears fruit. Now we've reported about the scramble for pardons. If the president does, you know, hand them out like candy. Is there a cost to that? I'm wondering sort of in the wake of this crazy election, you know, in the last four years, really, people have talked about all sorts of issues. This presidency has brought up the problems that the president is exposed by sort of flouting morass and traditions. So I'm wondering, should the pardon power perhaps be on the list of things that needs reforming.

VINJAMURI: Yes, I mean, this is going to be one of many issues that I think needs to be looked at. So many of the procedures in the U.S. we've learned over the last four years come down not to the law, but the norms, right? To having those in positions of power really respect the integrity of how these instruments should be used.

The pardon has a really important historical role to play. Reconciliation, making sure people aren't subject to partisan politics in the transition of power. But it's been overused. I think there's a real risk in the days ahead. We'll wait and see. But certainly, it's something that people are watching.

BRUNHUBER: All right, always a pleasure to talk to you. Leslie Vinjamuri of Chatham House, thank you so much.

Well COVID-19 is creating new hardships for pregnant mothers infected with the virus. So coming up, we'll visit a COVID maternity ward and get a firsthand look at the physical and emotional challenges they face. Stay with us.

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