Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
FDA Authorizes Moderna Vaccine for Emergency Use; Mexico City Imposing New Three-Week Lockdown; U.S. Officials Found Early, Inconclusive Signs of Cyberattack. Aired 12-12:15a ET
Aired December 19, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
ANNA COREN, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Anna Coren, we want to take you to our top story.
On the same day the United States reported a record number of new coronavirus cases, the nation is a major step closer to rolling out its second coronavirus vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration has brought in Moderna's vaccine emergency use authorization. It's now up to the CDC to sign off. But millions of doses could be deployed by early next week. And that relief is badly needed. Nearly 250,000 cases were reports Friday alone. Hospitalizations are at an all-time high. And as Randi Kaye reports, some health officials believe more Americans could die than previously thought.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The United States now in far worse shape than at any point during the pandemic, deaths reported Thursday, 3,270. And the IHME is predicting roughly 560,000 U.S. deaths by April, a significant increase since their last projection.
Hospitalizations also mounting nationwide, and all eyes are on California, which is in a gruesome predicament. L.A. County's Health Department says on average, two people are dying from COVID-19 every hour and there are now zero ICU beds left in Southern California.
The director of the L.A. County Health Department says their hospitals are under siege. The vaccines are in high demand. Today, Vice President Mike Pence and surgeon general Dr. Jerome Adams got their first dose for all the public to see.
The surgeon general is doing his part to encourage people of color to get vaccinated.
DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: And as the U.S. surgeon general and a Black man, I am equally aware of the symbolic significance of my vaccination today.
KAYE (voice-over): The vaccine rollout also getting some help from pharmacy chains Walgreens and CVS. They are expected to help vaccinate millions of residents in nursing homes and long-term care facilities. But what about Pfizer's vaccine distribution?
Health officials across the country are confused after multiple states were told by the federal government to expect fewer doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine than initially promised.
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER (R-MA): It's not clear to us why the shipment amounts have been adjusted. We're certainly frustrated that we won't be receiving the amount that we expected in the first wave.
KAYE (voice-over): A reason for the delay wasn't given, though Pfizer released a statement Thursday, saying they have millions of doses in their warehouses, but no shipment instructions.
KAYE: Here in the state of Florida, they are preparing to receive 367,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine next week. That would be the Moderna vaccine. And those doses will be going to 173,000 hospitals in the state that did not get the Pfizer vaccine in the first round.
The larger hospitals got the Pfizer vaccine. Those are the larger teaching hospitals, which have more staff to assist -- Randi Kaye, reporting in West Palm Beach, Florida -- back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: In about an hour, millions of people in Mexico City and the surrounding area will be under a strict new lockdown. It will last for at least three weeks. With an alarming spike in cases and people flooding streets in shopping districts ahead of Christmas, officials say they have no choice. Matt Rivers reports from Mexico City.
[00:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For weeks now, health officials here in Mexico City have been warning the general public that if the situation with COVID-19 did not get better, that they would be forced to close down sections of the city, to take more drastic measures.
Over the past few days, we have seen record numbers of hospitalizations here. We've seen a record number of new cases being added on a day-to-day basis. Because of that, officials are following through on that threat.
As of midnight Saturday, all nonessential businesses, both in Mexico City and in the surrounding state of Mexico, which, combined, make up one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world, all those nonessential businesses will be forced to close until at least January 10th.
Health officials say it could go on longer, depending on the status of the pandemic. Make no mistake: health officials tried not to do this. In fact, they faced criticism over recent weeks, as we've seen this disease trending in the wrong direction in terms of new hospitalizations and new cases. Some of them calling for businesses like these to be closed earlier.
But health officials resisted that, at least in part because of the economic pain that this is going to cause. Mexico City, the state of Mexico, huge economic drivers for the country overall.
And this will be an economic hit to an economy that is already struggling during this pandemic. But officials are saying they didn't have a choice here. They were forced to make what they are calling, quote, "extraordinary actions" to try and get the pandemic more under control.
And, of course, they are going to be looking at the upcoming holiday season. We're in it right now and just like other countries around the world, Mexican families gather during this time of the year. That poses a risk. Mexican health officials are urging people to stay home.
There's no mandatory stay-at-home order. But we know that these businesses are being closed. That's is the play by the Mexican government right down, to try and get the case numbers and hospitalizations moving in a different direction -- Matt Rivers, CNN, Mexico City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: More European countries tightening restrictions and hoping to avoid another wave of COVID-19 infections after the holidays. Italy will go into a nationwide lockdown for much of Christmas and New Year's. People will only be able to travel for work, health or emergency reasons on Sundays.
Millions more people are now under the tier 3 restrictions in London and other parts of England. That is the toughest level. Infections are spiking and there are fears that a new variant of the virus is accelerating the spread.
Sweden is dropping its controversial strategy of avoiding lockdowns and face masks. The prime minister is now recommending face coverings on public transportation.
French president Emmanuel Macron says he is doing fine a day after testing positive for COVID-19. He's working in isolation from an official residence outside Paris. Mr. Macron says he has the same symptoms as many other people, fatigue, headaches and a dry cough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): Yesterday I tested positive, showing that the virus can infect anyone. I was very protected. I was being very careful. I respected the safety measures, the distancing. I wore a mask. I was applying alcohol gel regularly.
And despite everything, I caught the virus. So, we must continue to respect these rules that may weigh on you, that may sometimes seem hard for you. But we have to hold on.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COREN: President Macron says he will stay focused on his country's response to the pandemic and continue to give updates on his health.
U.S. lawmakers voted to buy themselves more time to negotiate an economic relief bill that could help millions of struggling Americans. The House and Senate passed a 2-day funding extension to avoid a government shutdown. That gives them more time to negotiate but not much.
President Trump signed the extension Friday night. For days, Republican and Democrat leaders have said that they've been on the cusp of reaching a deal on the $900 billion relief package. But there are still several outstanding issues that keep them from agreeing.
U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo says it's clear that Russia was behind the massive cyberattack against several U.S. federal agencies. Meanwhile, we are learning more about when U.S. officials first began to notice that something was wrong. Alex Marquardt has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): We are getting new information about what was known and when. It was several months ago that American officials, who monitor for threats to critical infrastructure, when they first noticed suspicious activity, according to three sources speaking to CNN.
That suspicious activity, we now know, was linked to what we are now reporting as one of the largest hacking operations in history. At the time, those officials were not able to tie what they were seeing to the software, which we know the hackers used to get inside.
The activity they saw was classified and did not provide conclusive evidence that the networks had been compromised. Still, it worried top cybersecurity officials that there were potential vulnerabilities in the systems.
[00:15:00]
MARQUARDT: Then, fast forward to 10 days ago. The top cybersecurity firm FireEye revealed that it had been hacked. Then followed several days later by the U.S. government, admitting, it, too, had been targeted in what we now know is the biggest breach the U.S. government has ever seen.
We are learning more every day about what the hackers, who are believed to be connected to the Russian intelligence services, what they had access to. But given the sophistication, there is still so much that needs to be learned.
What data was accessed?
What was done with it?
18,000 customers use the software that the hackers rode into these networks on. It's from a company called SolarWinds. All of those clients, including many in the U.S. government, they all need to do a forensic analysis. That could take months or longer and we may never know the full extent of what these hackers did.
The U.S. cyber agency, known as CISA, has also said in a statement that there were other methods used to get in and techniques that have not yet been discovered. The scale and sophistication of this operation that has been going on since March cannot be overstated -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COREN: A massive snowstorm has been hitting Japan very hard. Some people were stuck in their cars overnight. It's all thanks to a weather phenomenon called the sea effect.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COREN: Hundreds of Nigerian boys who were abducted from their school one week ago are now back home. Family members cried and hugged their children as they were reunited on Friday. Gunmen on motorbikes kidnapped the boys. The Nigerian army rescued the children on Thursday.
Thank you so much for your company. I'm Anna Coren in Hong Kong, "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is coming up next.
