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W.H.O. Warns of Another Wave of COVID-19 in Europe; British Prime Minister Urging Caution Over Christmas Gatherings; Women with COVID-19 Face New Challenges During Childbirth; Texas Couple of 30 Years Dies While Holding Hands; Tom Cruise Heard Scolding Movie Crew for Breaking COVID Rules; French President Emmanuel Macron Tests Positive for COVID-19; U.S. Government Investigation Massive Data Breach Tied to Russia; U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear NCAA Case. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired December 17, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to all of you, our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber, and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

The World Health Organization is warning of another wave of COVID-19 in Europe early next year. In the U.K., where new cases are spiking again, Prime Minister is urging people to avoid large Christmas gatherings, but the relaxed holiday rules will stay in place. London's mayor criticized the decision not to restrict travel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SADIQ KHAN, LONDON MAYOR: We have seen across the globe, people making sacrifices, the Chinese New Year was celebrated very differently this year. The Muslim Hajj 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: CNN's Salma Abdelaziz joins us from London. Salma, as the mayor says there, it seems like poor timing to relax the rules. What's been the reaction?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kim, the Prime Minister is really trying here not to be the grinch that cancelled Christmas. Because about a month ago, the government announced there would be a special Christmas time dispensation of about five days between December 23rd and December 27th when social restrictions will be eased to allow households to mix. Up to three households can come together. Form their own Christmas bubble, celebrate together, have dinner together at their homes, go to church, whatever they like.

It was seen at the time as sort of a treat, as England was coming out of lockdown. But now of course the country is dealing with a spike in coronavirus cases and the Prime Minister has been under pressure to reverse this plan. But yesterday in Parliament, he was insistent to go ahead with this. And said that it was up to people really to take the responsibility to be very careful. Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: 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 and avoid contact with elderly people wherever possible. And that is how -- that is how by being sensible and cautious, not by imposing endless lockdowns or cancelling Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ (on camera): Now, you hear the Prime Minister really there, shifting responsibility from the authorities to the individual saying that it's up to people to make sure they're making the right decisions. Now it's important to remember here that this is contradictory to medical advice. There was an op-ed a few days ago from Britain's two most important medical journals, essentially pleading with the Prime Minister to change this plan. They say that the consequences of this will be seen in the form of a third wave next year, and hospitals could very well be overwhelmed -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, let's hope not. Thank you so much, Salma Abdelaziz in London.

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 a COVID maternity ward in Istanbul, and how it's grappling with the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is now seven days old.

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 the coronavirus maternity ward at Istanbul's Basaksehir Cam and Sakura Hospital 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 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. Clotting is also a bigger issue.

[04:35:00]

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.

(on camera): 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.

(voice-over): Baby Lena 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.

(on camera): Oh, they just found that she's PCR negative. That's amazing. (Speaking in Foreign Language)

(voice-over): If the pulmonologist signs off, they can finally go home.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: 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 as they passed away. This is Paul and Rosemary Blackwell, 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 two weeks in intensive care. 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, Shawn and Brandon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHAWN BLACKWELL, LOST BOTH PARENTS TO COVID-19: After, you know, us 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, through my own personal note keeping, I mean, it just -- I kind of knew where it was headed, I just didn't want to believe it.

But they told us our options and where mom and dad were at and just -- at the rate that they're going, they're not going to make it anytime soon, and so 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 ANCHOR: What were you saying, Brandon?

BRANDON BLACKWELL, LOST BOTH PARENTS TO COVID-19: No, that was just saying like my brother said, that was like the hardest decision that a child has ever had to make, you know just to say goodbye to a parent. You know, it still just seems unreal.

Like me and my brother were talking a little earlier, like, my mom and dad are just going to walk through the door any second. But we know that they're not. And it's just the hardest decision, I could say, that any child has to make for their parents. And like I say, I'm 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.

[04:40:00]

B. BLACKWELL: Yes, they allowed the opportunity that they were able to be together in their last moments. We all were in the same room. They were in the bed together, holding hands, as we all were, as they took their last breaths.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Paul and Rosemary Blackwell leave behind five sons and 20 grandchildren.

We'll have much more after the break. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: After Tom Cruise is making headlines after having a big outburst on the set of Mission Impossible 7. But this was no bratty movie star temper tantrum. In a recording obtained by Britain's "Sun" newspaper, the actor can be heard swearing at crew members and threatening to have them fired for breaking coronavirus social distancing guidelines. CNN's Max Foster reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN 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.

A word of warning, an expletive 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, that 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.

[04:45:00]

Then this comes after an instant 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 Cruise's publicist and Paramount Pictures for comment. We didn't get a comment from them. But "The New York Times" reports that Paramount declined its request for comment. (INAUDIBLE) studios, one by Warner Brothers, which is part of the same parent company as CNN.

Max Foster, CNN, Berkshire, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: 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)

DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: Good for him. I think he's exactly right. You know, 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 don't 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 as they did for example in that motorcycle biker rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. That's not their freedom. It affects not only you, but people you come in contact with. Good for him. I mean, I think he should have that rant pretty much on a daily basis and let everybody in the country hear this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now the pandemic has ravaged Hollywood financially, on top of the rising costs to keep sets safe and crews safe, theaters have closed. Film releases have been delayed. And the company Comscore says the box office in the U.S. and Canada is down almost 80 percent compared to last year.

All right, we have breaking news now. CNN has just learned that French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19. The Elysee Palace says the president was tested at the first signs of virus symptoms. The palace says Mr. Macron will isolate himself for seven days, and he'll continue to work and carry out activities remotely.

Well a key case on how college athletes get compensated is now headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. We'll explain what it means and why it matters, next. Stay with us.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. officials are struggling to determine the extent of the damage after discovering apparent cyberattacks at major U.S. government agencies. They suspect Russia is behind it, and they say it's still going on. Here's what we know.

The data breach has targeted the Departments of Agriculture, Homeland Security, Commerce, and reportedly the Treasury. The FBI is investigating the same Russia-linked group that earlier breached the elite cybersecurity firm FireEye. The hack came after the national security agency warned about Russia accessing data on protected systems. We have much more on this story on our web site. So check it out at CNN.com.

All right, now to a legal case that could have huge consequences for college athletics here in the U.S. The U.S. Supreme Court says it will decide if the country's top body for student athletes, the NCAA broke the law by limiting how much education related compensation athletes can get. Let's talk now with Kenneth Shropshire, CEO of Global Sport Institute

at Arizona State University, thank you so much for joining us today. So the Supreme Court has avoided similar cases in the past. So the fact that it's taking this case is clearly a huge deal. Tell us a bit more about what's at stake here?

KENNETH SHROPSHIRE, CEO, GLOBAL SPORT INSTITUTE, ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY: Well you're right. This is usually the case when there is division among the circuits or there's a lot of confusion in the law, and that's what's going on here. This is going to resolve, we hope, the age old question about whether or not college athletes should be paid.

It may not be that directly, but the issue that's at hand is about the compensation that student athletes have not been able to receive, besides room and board, tuition and educational fees. There have been a couple of cases that have been appealed along the way, and finally the Supreme Court has accepted a case to review that big issue.

BRUNHUBER: So lawyers are presenting the athletes say that college basketball and football are lucrative industries built on, quote, the hard work, sweat, and sometimes broken bodies of student athletes. You know, the counter argument, you know, these students are getting a free education at very expensive universities.

The NCAA said compensating athletes would blur the traditional line between college and professional athletes. I mean, you've written a book about college athletics, you have written extensively about that line about what makes an amateur athlete. Do any of those arguments have merit?

SHROPSHIRE: Not really. I mean, it's really a historic kind of grasp that the NCAA made around 1902, 1903, when it formed to grab on to the amateur as a model, which keeps labor from being compensated. And the idea that there was some ancient Greek society that enjoyed sport for the glory of sport alone, where somehow compensation was unethical in some kind of way just didn't really exist.

You know, the NCAA argues and there's some merit to this, that the distinction between pro sports in the United States and college sports is this separation of pay versus no pay. Compensation versus no compensation. Performing sport for the glory of sport alone as opposed to doing it as a profession. So it's not a uniquely, an American kind of problem. And the Supreme Court is going to finally give us some clarity on whether or not we should be holding on to that old regulation.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, and it should be pointed out the coaches are being paid often many millions of dollars here. So if the students at large win here, how will this change college sports as we know it?

[04:55:00]

SHROPSHIRE: It opens the market up. I mean, at the most dramatic case, what could happen is the court could say some version of let's see how the markets decide athletes should be compensated at this level. So right now, there's a lot of flexibility in terms of what they can receive in terms of educational benefits but beyond that, can't be compensated otherwise. Can schools provide greater revenue to these young men and women to come to their institutions.

So that's really what the question becomes, and the NCAA's strong argument it is that this is the product that they have created is one that doesn't allow this kind of compensation. And that's really what the Supreme Court has held previously in the mid-80s. You know, a previous case that looked at this issue, that did decide in the favor of the NCAA. So it's going to be an interesting outcome sometime next year.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, it's a fascinating case and I look forward to talking with you again in the future about this. Kenneth Shropshire, CEO of Global Sport Institute at Arizona State University. Thank you so much for joining us.

SHROPSHIRE: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: All right, a programming note now. CNN and Sesame Street are coming together for a new town hall to help children and parents understand coronavirus and the vaccine. So join Dr. Sanjay Gutpa, Erica Hill, and Sesame Street's Big Bird for the "ABC's of COVID-19." That's this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. on the U.S. East Coast, 3:00 p.m. in London and 11:00 p.m. in Hong Kong. Only here of course on CNN.

All right, well we just want to recap breaking news. CNN has just learned that French President Emmanuel Macron has tested positive for COVID-19. The Elysee Palace says the president was tested at the first signs of the virus symptoms. The Palace says Mr. Macron will isolate himself for seven days, but he'll continue to work and carry out activities remotely. And stay with CNN for a live report from Paris coming up.

Well that's it for me, I'm Kim Brunhuber. "EARLY START" is next. Stay with us.

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