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General Perna: Moderna Vaccine Distribution Has Begun; December Already Second Highest Month For New COVID-19 Cases; Talks Drag Into Weekend As Lawmakers Debate Aid Deal Fine Print; Pompeo: Russia "Clearly" Behind Massive U.S. Cyber Attack; Trump Downplays Massive Cyber Attack, Contradicts His Own Experts Who Say Russia Is "Clearly" Behind It; Fourteen Million U.S. Households Face Eviction As COVID-19 Surges. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired December 19, 2020 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again everyone. Thank you for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're following this breaking new this hour a CDC subcommittee is meeting to discuss the Moderna vaccine right now and then it will be CDC Director Robert Redfield who gives the final green light.

If all goes according to plan, Moderna doses will be administered as soon as Monday. That makes the U.S. the first country using two weapons against the pandemic. That achievement cannot be overstated but neither can the country's current state of crisis.

A key model now projects the death toll to hit 562,000 by April. The nation is also reporting record cases, deaths and hospitalizations. And that's partly why congress is working this weekend. Lawmakers are trying to finish an 11th hour COVID relief deal after months of deadlock. It's proving elusive.

New sticking points keep popping up, the leadership on both sides optimistic that they can get it done. But there's no votes scheduled today. And that means this window is going to be very tight come tomorrow. And as vaccines continue to roll in, the country is feeling the impact by COVID-19 like never before.

More than 1.5 million new Coronavirus cases were reported over the last seven days. The most cases added in a single week since the pandemic began. CNN's Polo Sandoval joining us live from New York right now, Polo?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Fred, you touched on a very important point there. You are referring to those comments made by one of the Directors at the FDA saying that the United States is the first country to have two effective and safe vaccines in its arsenal of weapons against this deadly pandemic.

And the timing couldn't be - really can't come soon enough here as many parts of the country, many experts saying that they are going to be experiencing the situation get worse before it gets any better. Worst case COVID scenarios are playing out all over the country as vaccines are administered almost as quickly as they're delivered, more than a million and a half new COVID cases reported in just the last week. U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams among those already vaccinated against the virus.

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JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I am really pumped because this is, again, the light at the end of the tunnel we've been waiting for. This is the beginning of the end. Make no mistake about it. It's going to be a hard couple of weeks. We've still got work to do to get over this surge. But I want people to be encouraged.

SANDOVAL (voice over): It what was once a COVID surge is now a COVID siege and California Director of Los Angeles Country's Department of Health Services Dr. Christina Ghaly, this week that state shattered its highest number of COVID deaths in a single day as well as a zero percent ICU capacity in parts of Southern California?

But the biggest limiting factor is not a lack of space or supplies, says Dr. Ghaly. It's the exhausting demand on hospital staff.

DR. CHRISTINA GHALY, DIRECTOR, L.A. COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: When there's not sufficient, highly trained staff to be able to care for the ICU patients you end up with a situation where you have people without that high level of training caring for the patients or you have those highly level trained nurses, doctors, respiratory therapists taking care of more patients than they otherwise would have.

SANDOVAL (voice over): Another health official in L.A. County expecting that region will become the next epicenter of the pandemic. It's going to get worse between now and April much worse. The Institute of Health Metrics an evaluation at the University of Washington now warning 49 states may see high or extreme stress on ICU capacity over the next four months.

AMESH ADALJA, SENIOR SCHOLAR, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: We haven't even seen the brunt of what happened during Thanksgiving. And then on top of that with Christmas, deaths lag cases and you just have to look at the sheer number of cases that are occurring everyday and then translate that to certain percentages that are going to need hospitalization and the certain percentage are going to die.

[12:05:00]

SANDOVAL (voice over): The same IHME model predicting the national death rate may peak in mid January at 3700 dead Americans a day and possibly reach 562,000 totals by April.

DR. SANJU MATTHEW, PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN & PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST: That is over half a million deaths. And when this pandemic is going to be over, what's really sad for me to say as a physician on air is that we're going to find out that a good 80 percent to 90 percent of these deaths are preventable.

SANDOVAL (voice over): Rhode Island going in the opposite direction with a noticeable decrease in infection rates going from 10 to about 4 percent. Gyms there will soon be reopening and indoor dining capacity increased.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL (on camera): Next up for the Moderna vaccine, a CDC Advisory Committee will be meeting to vote on whether or not recommend it to the CDC. Meanwhile, as we wait for that, we're getting just a few but nonetheless disturbing reports out of Southern California reports that some wealthy patients are essentially trying to buy a spot in line to get COVID vaccine.

In fact, Dr. Jeff Toll who has admitting privileges at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles telling CNN that one patient who went as far as to offer a $25,000 donation to the hospital in exchange for a shot. Dr. Tolls' response to that, get back in line. At this point obviously we know Fred that that first allotment reserved for not only those frontline health care workers but also most vulnerable as well.

WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval, thank you so much in New York. With me now, Dr. Carlos del Rio, the Executive Associate Dean of Emory University's School of Medicine right here in Atlanta. Dr. del Rio, good to see you.

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EXECUTIVE ASSOCIATE DEAN, EMORY UNIVERSITY OF SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Good to see you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, so let's talk about the hope of this Moderna vaccine. Now the FDA has approved it for emergency use. The second now vaccine to receive, you know, that kind of seal of approval. But what has to happen now before its actually distributed and frontline workers perhaps among the first to receive the Moderna vaccine?

DR. DEL RIO: Well, the CDC committee will meet today, will make a recommendation. Director Redfield will then approve it and then at that point in time it's time to distribute the vaccine. And the vaccine is ready to be sent to the different sites. It will be sent to the states. It will be sent to facilities that then will start vaccinating.

The advantage of this is it gives us yet another vaccine. It more than doubles our capacity. There's a lot more of the Moderna vaccine than there is of the Pfizer vaccine currently already produced. So we expect to have probably three or four more times the amount of vaccine in the next week than we had initially. This is very good news.

WHITFIELD: Right. Our reporting was there would be something like 3,000 locations. Moderna would - in which Moderna would be distributed versus Pfizer, BioNTech vaccine which saw more than 600 locations. So is it your feeling though that the CDC is likely to approve it and it could be as early as Monday when some recipients, there will be recipients of Moderna?

DR. DEL RIO: Yes, I think that's going to be the case. And I will tell you, I'll start by saying that I'm one of the investigators in the Phase III trial. I'm very excited about the study and I'm really - I'm really very thankful to the volunteers, to the research staff and to everybody that worked to make this effort possible. You have no idea how - what incredible effort this was and we're very helpful that we got here.

WHITFIELD: I talked with a - earlier who said while it may be "Operation Warp Speed" there was nothing that meant the short-changing of the usual consequences - of events that happens for any kind of approval of a vaccine and that nothing was short term - shortchanged in the development of this vaccine. What do you have to add to that?

DR. DEL RIO: Oh, I am absolutely agreeing with that. I would tell you as an investigator, while we are all looking for efficacy, as investigators, we're really concerned about safety. And safety, to me is one of the number one priorities. And the safety of our participants in clinical studies is really of paramount importance.

Everything was very careful. As we've seen in other studies, the moment there was any safety signal, the studies were halted and they were investigated. I'll tell you this vaccine, as well as the Pfizer vaccine, they are reactogenic and want people not to confuse safe adverse events where reactogenicity.

You will feel pain at the site of injection. You may get a little redness. Some people get fever. Some people for a day or two don't feel well. But that's all good that actually means your immune system is responding to the vaccine.

WHITFIELD: So, put into context in your view how extraordinary it is that inside a year of this country enduring in this pandemic that there would be two now vaccines for at least emergency use?

DR. DEL RIO: Well, I will tell you, it's beyond belief. I don't think any of us would have predicted this.

[12:10:00]

DR. DEL RIO: Also what is incredible is that we have so - two vaccines that are incredibly effective. We were hoping FDA was looking for effectiveness of 60 percent. 95 percent effectiveness is really a home run, is really hitting it outside of the park and that to me is actually the most exciting. Not only do we develop vaccines but we develop really good vaccines.

WHITFIELD: All right, Dr. Carlos Del Rio, thank you so much, thank you for your part in helping to get America and the rest of the world to this point.

DR. DEL RIO: Appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to work toward a deal on a $900 billion aid package this weekend. Take a look right now, live pictures inside the Senate Chambers as lawmakers hash out some of the fine print. Late last night congress approved a last minute 48-hour stop-gap spending bill avoiding a government shutdown for now.

But lawmakers remain divided over the details for a COVID economic relief package. It's expected to include money for vaccine distribution in schools, as well as federal jobless benefits and small business loans.

Discussions are also under way for possible new round of $600 stimulus checks. So for the very latest now, let's bring in Suzanne Malveaux on Capitol Hill. Suzanne, are lawmakers optimistic are they any closer to reaching some sort of deal?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Fred, it's interesting because the time just ticks away. This clock has been reset. What we have been hearing from lawmakers this morning is, look to Monday or Tuesday potentially for a vote when it comes to COVID stimulus relief but that they would actually vote on the $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill to keep the government funded through next year.

Those were two different pieces of this but Senator Bernie Sanders again reiterating this morning that what were really essential and important for him is these direct checks to people who need that money desperate desperately. Not just $600 but he's saying up it to $1200. That's the rate he's looking at. That's the dollar figure.

So he is part of those negotiations behind the scenes, the leadership meeting on both the House and the Senate side to work out some of these sticking points. Another one, the Federal Reserve their authority to issue loans during emergency situations.

Republicans who I have spoken to this morning say, look, things are getting better. We've got a COVID vaccine. We don't need a lot of money. We have to restrict that authority for the Federal Reserve. There are Democrats who are crying foul saying it's political that it ties the hands of the Biden Administration.

Had a chance to talk to several Senators this morning, one of them Senator Chris Coons a Democrat from Delaware who is very frustrated. One of the original bipartisan group of lawmakers who came up with the COVID relief package that had very little to do with these sticking points. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): It's frustrating as all get out to me that we have been at the final point now for days. It's unclear to me exactly what the last final issues are that are holding this up this weekend. I expect a final vote in the Senate on Tuesday. But it's entirely possible we're here up until Christmas Eve given the history on this particular impasse. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: And Fred, I also had a chance to talk to Republican Senator James Lankford from Oklahoma. He is one of the people who is pushing for that limited authority on the Federal Reserve. He is pushing back hard this morning saying it is not the GOP that's playing politics here, that this was an issue that came up before the election that this was a concern of theirs.

So as you can see and imagine, this back and forth on both sides, we do expect, however, that the spending bill will pass. The government will continue, but that these debates will play out next week in terms of just when and how much congress can do for those in needs, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow, painfully drawn out even further, all right, Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much. All right, this just in President Trump tweeting about that massive cyber attack on U.S. federal agencies and he is directly contradicting the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

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WHITFIELD: Following days of silence from the U.S. President on the worst hacker attack suspected by Russia on American Federal Agencies, President Trump says this now via Twitter. Today Trump is downplaying the severity of the hack and casting doubt that Russia could be involved.

He's insinuating without evidence that China could be behind the cyber attack. For more now on this strange development, let's bring in Sarah Westwood at the White House. So Sarah, exactly what is the president saying, and who is backing him?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Fred, pretty remarkable that this is the first that we're hearing from President Trump about this massive cyber attack that affected multiple federal agencies across the government.

As you mentioned, he's minimizing the severity of this attack, the scope of which officials are still trying to determine as we speak. He's also deflecting blame away from Russia in direct contradiction to what his own top administration officials are saying, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo who has pointed at Russia as the culprit for this attack.

And I want to read you what the president wrote just moments ago. The cyber hack is far greater in the fake news media than in actuality. I have been fully briefed, and everything is well under control. Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens because lame stream is, for mostly financial reasons, petrified of discussing the possibility that it may be China.

It may. Then he goes on to float a baseless conspiracy theory about election hacking that's not based in reality nor is it related to this hack, but the president's tone here is reminiscent of the one he struck after the 2016 election in which he consistently downplayed Russia's role in interfering in the 2016 election and floated repeatedly that China may have been behind hacks of democratic inboxes during that race. That was in, at the time, direct contradiction to what his own intelligence community was saying.

[12:20:00]

WESTWOOD: And again, here he is directly contradicting Pompeo who said just last night that it was pretty clearly Russia, his words, who conducted this attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: There was a significant effort to use a piece of third party software to essentially embed code inside of U.S. government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and companies and governments across the world as well. This was a very significant effort.

And I think it's the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now Trump had remained silent on this hack throughout the week, even as some Republicans were coming out and urging the president to weigh in on this massive breach. The White House has called a lid Fred so we don't expect to see President Trump on camera for the rest of the day.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sarah Westwood, thank you so much. Boy, is this confusing? Let's bring in now Ryan Lizza, the Chief Political Correspondent for POLITICO and a CNN Senior Political Analyst. Ryan, so good to see you.

RYAN LIZZA, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you Fred.

WHITFIELD: I mean, confusing, perplexing, you name it, that you'd have the U.S. President who - and via Twitter. Doesn't matter what means he's saying it, but he seems to be protecting Russia against suspicion when his Secretary of State says we can say clearly it's the Russians. What is going on here?

LIZZA: I mean, we're so used to tweets like this that are just jarring, that every once in a while you get smacked with one that at least for me, reminds me that I'm still able to be shocked by some of this stuff. To suggest without any evidence that it was China when his Secretary of State says it's Russia, just to spread confusion about that is unusual in itself.

And then to just throw in, we're being told by government officials the United States was attacked, right?

WHITFIELD: Right.

LIZZA: Cyber warfare is a type of warfare. And the-- WHITFIELD: And that this would be the worst occurrence and that it's been going on for months.

LIZZA: It's a big deal. Other countries have been attacked as well. And not only is he downplaying it, it's confusing what the origin of the attack is, contradicting his Secretary of State, then out of nowhere, he's throwing in this idea that our election, the most sacred event in American democracy, was somehow compromised.

If that's true, that's the biggest scandal in modern American history if our election was hacked. So for the president to just casually throw that out there is, you know, it's beyond words. And, you know, we in the media talk about this all the time as usual with these kind of false statements.

The big issue is silence from his own allies and his own members of his own party who clearly would be absolutely outraged if President- Elect Biden said something like this.

WHITFIELD: Right. And this on President Trump's way out. He doesn't want to face the music, but it's on his way out 30-some days away from the new president to be sworn in. Not only is the president - sitting president not showing leadership in terms of national security, protecting this country against ongoing, you know, cyber spy campaigns and with an ongoing pandemic.

He is silent on that as the numbers continue to escalate. But instead, we see some leadership coming from the Vice President Pence who rolled up his sleeve on camera to get this COVID vaccine but not a peep from the president on this, even given his experience after testing positive for Coronavirus.

Even though he received a different kind of treatment than most Americans at Walter Reed but just this silence is - this dearth of leadership, it would seem that even in his final days to cement his legacy is undermining any hope of doing that. A legacy of leadership, that is.

LIZZA: Look, Trump probably lost the election because of his handling of the pandemic. There's an enormous amount to point to of ways that they messed that up. But the vaccine they accomplished or at least on his watch, these companies got the vaccine and the logistics of moving it to frontline workers and others seems to be going pretty well so far.

That is something that Donald Trump could point to if he wanted to militate against the disastrous 313,000 deaths that happened on his watch. But he seems uninterested in it. I think what we're seeing is this divide between Trump and Pence on this clearly.

[12:25:00]

LIZZA: Pence was not too old. He probably wants to run for president one day. And I think he sees politically, if not just, you know, morally, he wants people to take this vaccine. He probably wants some of the credit for being vice president and, you know, when this came out, and will be something he'll be able to point to if he runs for higher office later on.

Obviously, there will be a big debate about whether it was enough, considering a number of deaths in America and the other mess-ups. But that's what I see as a divide right now between the president and vice president on this.

WHITFIELD: And it would seem that most people would find it understandable that the president is unable to get a vaccine right now, likely because he's still inside 90 days in which he did have COVID-19 or perhaps even that the therapy that he did receive doesn't allow him to be a good candidate for a vaccine right now.

But he is silent on that as well even making the correlation of the differences between his experiences and that of other people who were eligible to take the vaccine right now. It's just confusing what is going through the president's mind right now in these waning days before the swearing in of a new president.

LIZZA: I mean, we've watched him long enough to know, you know, I always say, psychological analysis is sometimes more important with President Trump than political analysis. He gets obsessed by things. Right now he's obsessed by the fact he lost.

He's obsessed by changing the narrative of his loss by coming up with various, you know, all so far false schemes that may have - that he claims, you know, led to some kind of rigged election. None of that is true but he's obsessed with that.

He wants to leave the White House with this idea that he was somehow cheated out of re-election and so he will tweet about the vaccine every once in a while. We'll see something like that from him or from his people or his Press Secretary the other day did a briefing on this.

But he single mindedly is obsessed, if you talk to the people around him, by the election loss, by the fact he's leaving office on January 20th and he wants to continue to sort of salt the narrative with this false information. That is his priority. Don't expect that to change in the coming weeks or months.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And it's very - it's a different time right now. Very serious business with this ongoing pandemic and how it's impacted Americans and the world. But don't you miss the days of, remember seeing that videotape of Clinton and Tony Blair, kind of what the lame-duck presidency looks like and, you know, being self-deprecating?

I have a feeling we'll not see anything like that to document these last few days or weeks of this administration.

LIZZA: No, it's going to be - it's going to continue to be a roller coaster to the end. I think you started to see a glimpse of a return to semi normal politics recently when one of Biden's top aides used the "F" word in an interview and a lot of people were outraged by that. In fact, I saw more Republicans outraged by that than some of the things Trump has said.

WHITFIELD: The litany of other stuff.

LIZZA: To me, that's a sign of maybe some normalcy returning to politics post-Trump.

WHITFIELD: OK, all right that's one way of looking at it. Ryan Lizza, thank you so much.

LIZZA: Thanks Fred.

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: The U.S. is facing yet another crisis as families could be left homeless just as COVID cases surge. The CDC's moratorium on evictions expires at the end of the month. And if Congress doesn't do something to extend it, at least 14 million U.S. households are facing potential eviction.

Nearly five million of those households could receive eviction notices by early January. I want to bring in Andrew Maberry. He is an attorney at Southeast Louisiana Legal Services which provides free civil legal aid to low income people. And Cierra Synegal is the mother of a two- year-old and is now facing eviction by her landlord. Good to see both of you. Sadly, on such circumstances, I wish we could talk about good news, but this is the reality right now.

So Andrew, you know, you first. Are you expecting to see a flood of evictions of a lot of hardship cases only increase in a matter of days?

ANDREW MABERRY, ATTORNEY, SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA LEGAL SERVICES: Hi Fred, thank you for having me. And that is absolutely the case. You know, come in June of 2020, we already had our caseload tripled. And so that has just consistently increased. And if nothing is done, then we are looking at what people are considering a catastrophic tournament events with people being homelessness or with people being homeless in the middle of the pandemic.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, Andrew, I remember was the case when there was an extension of the last moratorium, there were still some landlords or there were some predicaments in which the word didn't get out and people were still evicted, you know, pushed out of their homes. What are you expecting December 31st, January 1, 2 are going to look like?

[12:35:15]

MABERRY: Not good. You know, with the CDC moratorium, I think what a lot of people don't understand is come January 1st. If nothing's done, landlords, we will be able to pursue the evictions, but they will also be able to pursue for the debt that they are owed. Recent studies are showing that come January 1st, there is over $30 billion dollars that is going to be owed nationwide in rent. And if nothing is done outside of halting evictions, you know, in

terms of rental assistance or some kind of rental forgiveness, then you're going to be not only be looking at evictions, but also a consumer debt crisis in a sense. And that just has lasting impacts that are, you know, far, far ahead of what anyone may expect.

And so there's just, there's so much to be concerned with, not only evictions and people being homeless, but those people that are being evicted through no fault of their own, because they haven't been able to pay their rent, they're now going to be struggling to just get back on their feet in general, you know, it's going to -- if you get evicted, and you have to go to a new apartment complex, how are you going to be considered a qualified applicant to sign a lease if you have debt from the previous place that you've lived. And that debt is only in existence, because you were a victim of this pandemic.

WHITFIELD: Cierra, I'm so sorry that we are talking under these circumstances and meeting this way. You and your two-year-old are looking at eviction right around the corner. How are you bracing yourself? What are you doing? What are you thinking right now?

CIERRA SYNEGAL, 20-YEAR-OLD MOTHER FACING EVICTION: So I'm glad to be here. It's just very hard to get the moment. Ever since October, I've lost my job due to COVID. They told me and they told me that they didn't need me anymore. So I just got let go, you know, without a notice. So ever since October, I've been out of work. And it's been very hard and hectic for me.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, just so people can really understand me, you lose your job, and in the middle of a pandemic as a result of the pandemic. And, you know, it's not so easy just picking up and trying to find another job, I mean, businesses are closed and because of the protections you're making for you and your two-year-old and other family members, you can't just go out there and knocking on doors, right, and just showing up and saying, hey, I want to apply for a job.

So describe what it has been like, you know, since October? I know, it has been very hard. But if you could, you know, be specific about what you're enduring, on a day to day basis, to try to land more employment, to try to pay bills, to try to eat.

SYNEGAL: I've tried to applying ever since I lost my job in October, I've just been applying all over even, you know, for a little side jobs, just things like that to make any type of money that I can. I get barred because you call places and maybe they can't afford to pay you the hours. People hours are getting cut. Just different things like that. It's just, it's very hard.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I'm so sorry. Hey, Andrew, you know, as people are hoping for some sort of stimulus coming from any kind of congressional package, and you talk about people who have lost their jobs, you know, and their homes, they may not have an address.

So what, you know, are people thinking anticipating if there is some sort of check to be expected in their accounts, some people have lost their banking accounts, because, you know, they were down to two cents or negative? How do you suppose people are going to be able to receive any kind of assistance like that?

MABERRY: That's such a tough question. I mean, you know, we always can mail the checks, but, you know, where do we mail them? How do we get them to them? And even, I think something more important on that is, if we do get a stimulus check, rent has been due the entire time. And so, we are looking at balances that are 2,000, $3,000.

And so while that check would be useful and is necessary, it's not going to do much to alleviate the bigger issue that is in existence right now. I think the conversation really needs to turn towards what can be done to make the balance that everyone owes their landlords right now, something reasonable, you know, that could easily come into just a conversation with your landlord. But so much of this relies on government action. And I just don't think that there has been anything adequate enough to really address the issues in their heart.

[12:40:02]

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll leave it there for now. Andrew Maberry, Cierra Synegal, thanks to both of you wishing and praying for better, for you, and for so many.

MABERRY: Thank you so much.

SYNEGAL: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: All right.

We'll have so much more news in a moment. And a programming note, tonight join Anderson Cooper to learn how the country defeated the 1918 pandemic of a new CNN Special Report, Pandemic: How a Virus Changed the World in 1918, that begins at 9:00. We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: In Georgia where there are two U.S. Senate runoff races, the first week of early voting has wrapped up with big numbers, which help tell the story. As a Friday afternoon, 1.1 million ballots had already been cast with people voting both in person and by mail ahead of the January 5th runoff race.

This as Donald Trump Jr. campaigned earlier this morning in Georgia for Senator David Perdue. With the control of the Senate in play, all eyes are on this state of Georgia. As Kyung Lah reports, it's those who have just gotten the right to vote who are making the biggest impact.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[12:45:21]

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It has taken 18 years for Valerie Ponomarev to finally get here.

VALERIE PONOMAREV, 18-YEAR-OLD GEORGIA VOTER: I've been looking forward to this day for so long. I'm just so excited to see what my votes going to accomplish.

LAH (voice-over): Ponomarev is just turning 18, one of the thousands of Georgians too young to vote on November 3rd, but able to vote for the first time in the January 5th Senate runoffs. While you hear the two Democratic Senate challengers talk directly to them.

JON OSSOFF (D-GA), SENATE CANDIDATE: So the bottom line is that victory in Georgia comes down to young people in Georgia.

LAH (voice-over): And the issues those voters care about.

REV. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA), SENATE CANDIDATE: When we do something about student debt, we will unleash the power of the American economy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get out here and do it.

LAH (voice-over): Grassroots group Georgia STAND-UP says the youngest voters may be the difference maker, 18 to 24-year-olds made up 12 percentage points of Georgia voters in November, a small group. But Joe Biden won the state by less than one point.

ARIEL SINGLETON, LEAD ORGANIZER, GEORGIA STAND-UP: That vote right there for any candidate is going to be one that makes the difference. Because as you see, when they show up, they show out.

LAH (voice-over): Like Aryana Gooden who wanted to vote after a summer of Black Lives Matter activism. And now finally, can.

ARYANA GOODEN, 18-YEAR-OLD GEORGIA VOTER: I just want to be a part of this group of young people, you know, voting to make a change, make a difference.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In terms of the actual --

LAH (voice-over): That belief drives Students for Tomorrow. These young activists have backed Democrat Jon Ossoff as they brainstorm how to boost youth energy in the runoffs. They say they've registered 3,000 new voters who will turn 18 between Election Day and January.

EDWARD AGUILAR, STUDENTS FOR TOMORROW: That is an extremely sought- after group because you're talking voters out of thin air.

LAH (voice-over): Michael Gousto (ph) wanted to vote for the Republicans, but --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It feels like my entire group, my demographic are just completely written off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will win.

LAH (voice-over): The Republican senators have been far less specific about targeting young voters. But they may be looking at November exit polls that show 43 percent of 18 to 24-year-old Georgians voted for Donald Trump, 12 percent more than their peers nationwide.

MADISON TATHAM, 18-YEAR-OLD GEORGIA VOTER: A lot of my friends are Republicans so it's nice seeing them get all excited about voting.

LAH (voice-over): At the Save America event in Atlanta, 18 and 19- year-old Republican say they're not to be overlooked.

LAH (on camera): What is that about Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue that draws you to them, to vote for them?

GAVIN SWAFFORD, 19-YEAR-OLD GEORGIA VOTER: They're constitutional conservatives, I know for a fact that we may be outnumbered but our will is strong. Our will is strong to come out and vote.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Kyung Lah, thank you so much for that perspective.

All right, breaking news, Christmas canceled in the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a big announcement. We're live in London next.

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[12:52:32]

WHITFIELD: All right, this just in. Christmas may not go as planned in the U.K. after promising a five day respite from pandemic restrictions, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has now reversed course. CNN Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from London. So Salma, explain what's happening.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Fredricka if you've packed your bags for Christmas, unpack them. That's the message from the government this evening as they do a massive about face a complete U-turn on coronavirus restrictions. The Prime Minister had been insistent to go ahead with a relaxation of plans during Christmas time. Now there are tough new measures that are going into place from tomorrow morning.

Part of this is driven by a very worrying new variant of coronavirus that the government says is 70 percent more transmissible. And it's very common they say in London, in the southeast of England. Of course, they're worried about the spread of this, so what are they doing? New restrictions into place tier four rules. This is a new level that's been created. It's essentially going to function like a lockdown, stay at home, don't go out unless it's essential, and crucially cancel all travel plans.

I can't tell you how many hearts are breaking across London as people scramble to figure out what they're going to do about their Christmas times plans, also this relaxing of Christmas rules that has been cancelled as well, the Prime Minister now essentially taking away Christmas, canceling Christmas, taking these steps to deal with the surge in cases. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Canceling Christmas as many people know what they will have to celebrate at home without transporting themselves from house to house, that's what that sounds like. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much. Appreciate that. All right, this year's CNN Heroes, an all-star tribute celebrated people fighting the pandemic and fighting racial inequality. Viewers also voted for the most inspiring moment of the year. Here's Anderson Cooper with your top choice.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Sometimes a photograph can capture the mood and the attention of the world. In June, one image did just that.

During protests on the streets of London, events turned violent. A Black Lives Matter group was there to condemn statues of people with racist ties and many white protesters were there to protect the statues.

Things got heated. One man, Bryn Male, a white former police officer, wandered into the crowd and he started to get beat up. One of the Black Lives Matter protesters, Patrick Hutchinson, saw that he was in peril, Patrick moved in, picked up the injured Bryn, carried him through the crowd to safety.

[12:55:04]

PATRICK HUTCHISON, CNN HERO: The biggest thing for me was making sure that no harm came to him because I knew if harm had come to him, the narrative would just be changed and then blame would befall on the young Black Lives Matter protesters. We made sure we got him out of there safely.

COOPER: Patrick, a father and a grandfather, hopes that everyone who sees the image, understands that the responsibility to do the right thing resides in all of us.

HUTCHISON: We just want equality for all races, for all people, so that right now, we're the ones who seem to be oppressed ones, and it is about time things will change, you know, the world over.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And you can watch CNN Heroes an all-star tribute anytime on CNNgo and CNN on demand, and HBO Max.

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