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First Shipment Of Moderna Vaccine Leaves Distribution Facility; Trump Holds Oval Office Meeting Including Talk Of Invoking Martial Law And Naming Sidney Powell Special Counsel; Congress On Brink Of Deal For COVID Relief Package. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired December 20, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:01:52]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for being with me this Sunday, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

All right, right now a second coronavirus vaccine is being shipped out to all 50 states following C.D.C. authorization to administer the first doses, the first truckloads of Moderna's vaccine left a distribution facility in Mississippi. The U.S. now, the first country in the world with two vaccines to help battle this disease.

Meanwhile, Congress may be closing in on a deal for millions of Americans in desperate need of relief. Among the still to be finalized details and the $900 billion package, jobless benefits, money for individuals and small businesses.

It's a dire time, another 2,500 COVID deaths on Saturday alone. The U.S. is closing in on 320,000 Americans killed. Nearly one out of every 1,000 Americans gone. That's more American lives lost than in any war fought by U.S. troops, and it happened in just 10 short months.

We begin with a President desperate to stay in office with a pandemic surging, new COVID vaccines rolling out, and the U.S. under a massive cyberattack, President Trump is instead reportedly lashing out in fury and frustration over the election results.

People familiar with the clash today, it involved the President discussing declaring Martial Law to overturn the election and seizing voting machines to inspect them.

For more on this, let's bring in Jeremy Diamond at the White House and Jeremy, walk us through this meeting and what the President may have up his sleeve now.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, what this meeting tells us, Fredricka, is that the President is not only publicly continuing to contest the results of the 2020 election, but he is also privately still grasping at ways even outlandish ideas to try and overturn the results of the election or at a minimum, to try and delegitimize Joe Biden's presidency.

We understand that the President gathered in the Oval Office Friday night with Sidney Powell, the former attorney for his campaign, who has floated a series of debunked conspiracy theories, including suggesting that the late Hugo Chavez was involved in rigging the 2020 election, Michael Flynn, the former National Security Adviser who pleaded guilty to lying to Federal investigators, he was also in the room.

And both of them, we are told, were floating these ideas, including the potential for naming Powell as a special counsel to investigate voter fraud issues and Michael Flynn has previously publicly raised this idea of using Martial Law to rerun the 2020 election. We're told that that idea was also discussed in this Oval Office meeting.

Now to be clear, there is no indication that Martial Law is something that the President is seriously considering. But of course, it is notable the fact that this was even being discussed in a meeting with the President of the United States in the Oval Office of the White House.

But clearly, this was a controversial meeting and not everyone was on board besides Powell and Flynn. In fact, the White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows and the White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, both of them were opposed to some of these more outlandish ideas and we are told, according to our sources, that this meeting devolved into a shouting match at times and got, quote, "ugly" according to one of the sources who is familiar with this meeting.

But again, the fact that the President is even considering these ideas to try and continue contesting this election is truly remarkable.

[15:05:09]

WHITFIELD: And then Jeremy, what do we know about the Trump Campaign apparently trying to reach the U.S. Supreme Court in another way?

DIAMOND: Yes, another day, another longshot attempt by the Trump campaign and the President's legal team to try and overturn the results of a democratic election. This time the Trump Campaign is going to be -- is actually petitioning the Supreme Court to hear a case in which they are asking the Supreme Court to overturn rulings -- three rulings by the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Supreme Court regarding mail-in balloting cases.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has, of course, repeatedly thrown out of court lawsuits by the President's campaign and their allies to overturn the results of that election. But it seems the Trump Campaign is taking one more stab at it with the Supreme Court even asking the Supreme Court in this case to invalidate the slate of electors for that state who voted for Joe Biden when the Electoral College convenes on December 14.

Again, just trying to essentially throw out the votes of millions of people in one of these key battleground states, Pennsylvania.

Again, this election is over and the President refuses to accept it.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jeremy Diamond at the White House, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about all of this. Jeff Mason is with us. He is a White House correspondent for Reuters. Also joining me is CNN national security analyst, Samantha Vinograd. She is also a former senior adviser to the National Security Adviser under President Obama. Good to see both of you.

All right, so Sam, you first. You know, I'm wondering your reaction to this heated White House meeting -- Oval Office meeting, the President taking very seriously the idea of Martial Law to overturn the election, what message does this send? How does this potentially even undermine national security, let alone trying to plot to overturn a free and fair election?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Fred, clearly, if it were up to President Trump, we wouldn't be a democracy anymore. His behavior sounds like the death throes of a tyrant.

If this was happening in any other country, the National Security Adviser and the President of the United States would be working the phones to tell a foreign leader the cost of such behavior and to urge him or her to stop it.

No democracy supporting President would allow himself to be exposed to these ideas, let alone entertain them. No patriotic President would allow himself to be surrounded by such dangerous nonsense peddlers.

And furthermore, Fred, any President who actually cared about the American people would be actually working right now. We're combating the COVID-19 pandemic. We're under live attack by Russia. And we're in the midst of a transition.

Trump is going out the way that he governed as a live national security threat to the homeland, and the best thing that can happen right now is for Republican lawmakers to get on the phone and tell him to knock it off.

WHITFIELD: So Jeff, I mean, is the President and his team -- are they serious about this? Is this just an effort to, you know, be talked about so that he feels relevant? Or is the President really putting real stock into this petition now to the U.S. Supreme Court, not long after the Supreme Court already weighed in once saying, no, there's no there, there in trying to overturn and undermine elections -- this election that has already happened?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: Well, I think there's no question with regard to the Supreme Court case that he is serious and that his team is serious, and it reflects the fact that despite several -- nearly every single legal challenge that the Campaign has brought to state courts and to join the Texas one that went to the Supreme Court, nearly all of those failed.

So Jeremy, I think was right when he described this as a longshot attempt. But it is a reflection, again, of the fact that the President does not believe that he lost the election, and still hopes that perhaps some of the appointees, or nominees that he helped to get onto the Supreme Court will back him now.

WHITFIELD: Even former Trump National Security adviser, John Bolton reacted to this notion of Martial Law. This is him earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: At least a few national security advisers have read the Constitution. Look, this is appalling. There's no other way to describe it. It's unbelievable. It almost certainly completely without precedent.

But I think it's important to understand, this is just another day at the office at the Oval. This is just another day at the office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Sam, even if it goes nowhere, except for the fact it was you know, swirling conversations taking place. How do you see that some damage has been done even the President entertaining the idea of Martial Law?

[15:10:07]

VINOGRAD: Well, I think Trump will go down in history as a U.S. President who again, did not support democracy, and who likes to be surrounded by unhinged conspiracy theorists. That's his legacy.

I think the world is starting to tune Trump out, though. I think that the world acknowledges that there will be a peaceful transfer of power in January, and is frankly paying more attention to what President- elect Biden has to say.

At this point, one of the safest things that we can do, whether it's on COVID-19, our elections, or this Russian cyberattack is ignore the sitting President and look for Congress to certify the results of the election early January, for the inauguration on January 20 and for a democracy minded President to come into office on January 20th.

WHITFIELD: Jeff, is this what the next 31 days is going to look like? I mean, just every day, there's going to be something said or done by the President or some of his supporters to make sure that January 20th doesn't happen?

MASON: Probably, I mean, it's hard to predict what is going to happen with the President and what his legal team and his other advisers are going to do. I do think it's worth noting that there are others in the White House who are moving on, senior and junior staff who are looking for jobs and the fact that some of these advisers in the Oval Office, discouraged him from some of the moves that he was considering is also worth noting.

But in general, Fred, I think I think the answer to your question is yes, the President is going to continue to consider these options. He's going to continue to come up with ideas or ways that he can cast doubt on the election, cast doubt on the legitimacy of President-elect Biden's presidency and see what he can do to hold on to power. WHITFIELD: Yes, I mean, it's an interesting confluence. It's

laughable. It's sad, and it's all still very dangerous, too.

MASON: I'll just throw it at the end. I mean, this is also -- I think some people see it as a shame for his legacy because he could be focusing on the vaccine right now. He could be focusing on things that his supporters at least wanted him to do during these four years, but he's not doing that.

WHITFIELD: Yes. All right, Jeff Mason and Samantha Vinograd. We'll leave it there for now. Appreciate it.

MASON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: So as the President does work to try to overturn the election, Moderna is busy trying to get its coronavirus vaccine into the arms of millions of Americans.

Nearly six million doses of the vaccine are being delivered right now. White House Coronavirus Taskforce member Admiral Brett Giroir says the plan is to get 20 million doses distributed by the first week in January.

CNN's Pete Muntean is live for us in Memphis, Tennessee, where more of the vaccine is rolling out today. Tell us what's happening.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, the Moderna vaccine arrived here at not that long ago. In fact, two truckfuls came straight here to the Memphis International Airport from the McKesson facility not too far away from here in Mississippi.

Now, that shipment is going to 3,000 individual locations across the country. The deliveries begin tomorrow at places like hospitals, pharmacies, CVS and Walgreens. This rollout, four times the size of the initial Pfizer rollout. In fact, six million doses are included in this shipment and the Department of Health and Human Services says 20 million people could be vaccinated by the end of this month, even more after that, a significant expansion of Operation Warp Speed, thanks in part to the Moderna vaccine advantage.

It does not need to be kept at such a cold temperature as the Pfizer vaccine. In fact, a regular freezer will do just fine. That opens this up to more rural communities and clinics. It is a massive movement and it all begins right here in Memphis -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Pete Muntean, it is extraordinary effort, that's for sure. Appreciate it.

Coming up. A race against time on Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are trying to secure a COVID relief deal before the U.S. government shuts down at midnight, and there are still several sticking points that need to be resolved.

Plus Vice President Mike Pence got the coronavirus vaccine last week. So why didn't President Trump get vaccinated? We'll tell you the medical reason. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:18:27]

WHITFIELD: After a major breakthrough last night, Congress is now on the brink of a $900 billion coronavirus relief package that could be finalized within hours.

CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. So Manu, Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer have both said that they feel like the deal is closed.

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and that's an indication from all sides. But in a deal of this magnitude, it takes a lot of time to draft the bill language, especially in this compressed timeframe, even though they have been haggling and going back and forth and attacking each other for months, the real negotiations really have not begun until this past week.

And now where we head up to Christmas, we are up against a government shutdown deadline again at midnight, and they are scrambling to get this deal together and get this bill language out there so people can review what's actually in the bill before it's actually voted on in the House and the Senate.

And it's still unclear the timeframe when they will actually put out that language, when members of both sides will be able to review that, when they will actually vote. It's possible this could spill into tomorrow even and there's talk about extending government funding for one day, maybe two days, so they can actually set up those votes.

Now I'm told that there are still some handful of issues that they're sorting through including money for education, and specifically how private schools are treated. Overall, there are $80 billion for education in this $900 billion proposal.

But there's a fight over how much money should be given to private schools. Republicans pushing for a bit more than Democrats. There's an expectation those kind of issues will be sorted out, but there are also a question about whether this will be far enough.

Democrats are already setting the stage for trying to do more when Joe Biden becomes President, in part because the unemployment benefits that are outlined in this proposal don't go far enough in the eyes of many Democrats. There'll be about 11 weeks of a jobless benefit extension at about $300.00 a week in enhanced benefits for individuals.

Also, this proposal would cap $600.00 for direct payments for individuals who make less than $75,000.00 and they would have additional $600.00 per person in their family if they're under the correct income threshold.

Those are the general outlines of this proposal that include as well as $300 billion dollars or more than that for small businesses, money for vaccine distribution, money for food assistance, money for hospitals, healthcare providers, also, potentially they're talking about money -- specific money for restaurants, as well and live venues that have been hit hard by this pandemic.

[15:20:53]

RAJU: So we will see the details when they emerge. But Fred, the question has been, when will we see the details? When will they vote? Will the President sign it? And when will the American people finally get this relief?

WHITFIELD: Yes, lots of big questions still. Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thank you so much.

All right, coming up next, hospitals in California overflowing with coronavirus patients before Christmas. We'll hear from a doctor who is worried about the winter months.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:43]

WHITFIELD: California is getting hit hard by the pandemic with hospitals in Los Angeles County at capacity. On Saturday, the State Health Department reported more than 43,000 cases and 273 deaths. More than 15,000 people are hospitalized and doctors fear that number will soar to new records after the holidays.

CNNs Paul Vercammen is at UCLA Harbor Medical Center in Torrance. So tell us, Paul, how worrisome are the circumstances there?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's just horrendous here, and let's get right to this. I'm going to bring in Dr. Mahajan. He is the Chief Medical Officer here, and right now, they are at full capacity in the ICU. And if you can tell me right now, describe the battle against the virus that's going on in this hospital.

DR. ANISH MAHAJAN, ACTING CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: Well, we are overwhelmed. Our staffing is stretched thin. We have over 110 COVID patients hospitalized this morning and we have no more ICU beds.

We are creating ICU beds in locations that we don't normally put critically ill patients.

VERCAMMEN: And you're calling an extra staff, everything you can. You don't turn anybody away because you're a county facility.

MAHAJAN: We do not turn any patients away. We take care of everybody that comes to the Emergency Department. But this morning, we've had to call staff who are home for a needed break, told them we need you back, we need your help.

VERCAMMEN: And it's been so bad, this is one of the worst weeks you've had in recent memory, in the last few days. You've even had situations where you've lost relatives who are COVID patients. MAHAJAN: Yes, this COVID illness is so terrible. It runs through

families. We've had multiple members of a single family hospitalized in the ICU where some members pass away and others fear for their lives, all the while, their family members are not able to come in to see their loved ones because we have to protect them and everybody else.

VERCAMMEN: And just the other day, you lost a father and then a son.

MAHAJAN: We did. We did have a situation where you know, father and son were hospitalized and unfortunately, the father passed away. You know, these are the real stories that are happening all across our nation. This is a devastating illness for some percentage of people who get it.

VERCAMMEN: And with that father and son, crushing, they were next to each other at one point.

MAHAJAN: Correct.

VERCAMMEN: You serve at times at this hospital, the poorest of the poor, but also the working poor, they can't stop, and they come in here with COVID. Tell us about that.

MAHAJAN: Yes, I mean, the patients who are working, they are essential workers. They need to put food on the table. They need to make rent. They work in difficult conditions.

It's hard for them to stay at home, but they are most at risk. But that's what we have seen. We've seen COVID exacerbate the inequalities in our society. COVID is ravaging people who are working poor in difficult conditions.

VERCAMMEN: And in looking at the video of you inside your unit. I know that you converted your operating room into an extended ICU. You've converted parts of the emergency room an extended ICU. Talk about the logistics of getting all this done.

MAHAJAN: It's very difficult. You can imagine that taking care of patients who are critically ill requires all kinds of equipment, all kinds of staffing. And so we have to sort of put it together in locations that don't usually have all of that equipment there.

VERCAMMEN: And you're also still finding among some patients this belief that it wasn't going to happen to me, that they don't think it's a problem because they heard about someone being asymptomatic or that sort of thing.

MAHAJAN: That's the difficult thing about COVID. A lot of people get COVID, they're sick for a little while, they get better. Some people get COVID. They're sick for a little while, and they have long term complications.

But there are the very unlucky, 10 or 15 percent of people with COVID who will end up hospitalized, many of whom will pass away. We need everyone to take care, stay at home and know that this could be something devastating for someone who gets COVID and everyone has a role to play to prevent COVID from spreading.

VERCAMMEN: Great. We thank you so much for taking time out, Dr. Mahajan.

Well, there you have it, Fred, you can hear it directly from the Chief Medical Officer here. Everybody has a role to play. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: And so many of us are so thankful that he and his colleagues are there to assist the way they are and they are risking their own lives to help so many of us.

Thank you so much Paul Vercammen. Appreciate it.

I want to bring in Now Dr. Ashish Jha. He is the Dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. And good to see you Dean Jha. And I wonder, you know, we just saw how California and I've got to get used to your new title because you have so many.

DR. ASHISH JHA, DIRECTOR, HARVARD GLOBAL HEALTH INSTITUTE: I have too many.

[15:30:18]

WHITFIELD: Yes, but that's a wonderful thing. It's a wonderful thing. We just saw how, you know, California is struggling with this. So many other states are facing similar crises. Are you concerned, particularly as we embark on the Christmas holiday? What we, as a nation, are likely to face shortly after the holiday season?

JHA: Yes, Fred again. So thank you for having me on. I am concerned, and what we're seeing in the national data is as the number of COVID hospitalizations increase, hospitalizations for other things are starting to decrease.

Basically, bed space in hospitals and ICUs is really starting to get tight, and so people who would normally get ICU stays for other things, hospitalizations for other things are having a hard time accessing those services. So this is bad for everybody, not just for COVID patients.

And then, of course, over the holidays, what we've seen after every holiday is a surge, I'm worried we're going to see that again. Again, we can avoid it if people are careful over the holidays. But if they're not, things are going to be bad.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So let's talk about this Pfizer vaccine. I mean, that it certainly created a lot of hope. And now, you know, let's multiply that hope with the Moderna vaccine that's rolling out right now. But there have been concerns that even the rollout isn't fast enough.

There are certain states and localities that haven't received, you know, the Pfizer vaccine here. Here's President-elect Joe Biden's incoming Chief of Staff earlier today with his concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RON KLAIN, INCOMING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We are reviewing the

progress of Operation Warp Speed and the ways in which we can structure the vaccine distribution most effectively.

It's great that about 200,000 Americans have been vaccinated in this first week, but 200,000 is a long, long way from hundreds of millions of people. That's where we need to get to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what do you want to see in distribution?

JHA: Yes, So Ron Klain is completely right about this. It's a good start, but we've got to get to really ramp up here. I mean, 2.9 million doses went out. Only about 10 percent of those were administered. We heard from Pfizer that there are millions of doses sitting in the warehouse that have not gone out.

Again, it's going to be really important to get these doses out, but states need help, localities need help in getting them into people's arms?

WHITFIELD: And how do they get help?

JHA: Honestly, detailed plans.

WHITFIELD: I mean, because the Federal government has said, okay, we're going to leave it up to the states and localities to do it. But then, you know, if you were to advise any, you know, state governor, what -- how do you help them get started on even figuring out what's the distribution plan? How do we get it to the places in greatest need?

JHA: Yes, so two things need to happen. One is this is the classic role of C.D.C. The C.D.C. works with states to get these distribution plans up and running. And then the second part is Congress. Congress has to allocate the money.

I mean, at this point, if Congress doesn't allocate money to states to get vaccinations, like, at some point, you have to ask, what's Congress doing? So it's both of those things that need to happen. C.D.C. and Congress needs to help states. The states cannot do this by themselves.

WHITFIELD: And Congress is still in the throes of that, and it's still unclear whether they're going to make that midnight deadline. Some are optimistic, they are still wondering.

So the Surgeon General, you know, said today, President Trump doesn't need to get the vaccine because he is, you know, still inside that 90 days after being diagnosed and treated for COVID.

But do you see that it would be potentially influential if the general populace heard from the President on the hope of these vaccines, if he were to say something about the vaccines as they're being rolled out, you know, aside from whether his medical team is recommending whether he should be a candidate right now or even later?

JHA: Yes, absolutely. The President has an enormous following, a lot of people listen to him and follow his words. And I think the President should absolutely be talking up the science behind the vaccine, which his administration has helped facilitate.

And I also think that once he is out of that 90-day window, which should be while he is still in office, he should commit now to say, look, when I'm out of that 90-day window, I will get vaccinated, and he should do it. It would be good for him and it would be good for the country as well.

WHITFIELD: And as you know, he is still the leader of the Republican Party, particularly the numbers are staggering. You know, some research polls are showing anywhere between, you know, 20 and 40 some percent of Republicans have expressed they're not so sure about this vaccine, so indeed, he could be very influential as you say.

Dr. Ashish Jha, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

JHA: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, new acts of hate during a year of racial reckoning. We'll talk live with the leaders of two of the most prominent anti-hate groups in this country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:35:13]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. The U.S. is experiencing a disturbing slew of hate crimes in recent weeks. Black churches targeted during a far right march in Washington last Saturday. Black Lives Matter signs ripped off buildings, at least one sign burned in the street.

On Monday, a Jewish school on Long Island was the target of anti- Semitic hackers. Hackers plastered the school's website with Nazi imagery and hate speech.

With us to discuss right now, the leaders of two of the most prominent anti-hate groups in this country. Derrick Johnson, President of the NAACP, and Jonathan Greenblatt heading the Anti-Defamation League. Good to see both of you, gentlemen.

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: Good to be with you.

WHITFIELD: So Derrick, I want to begin with you. I mean, what a convergence have things. You know you've got hope with the vaccines to combat one virus, but then still active vestiges of another virus plaguing this country -- hate.

Those churches in D.C., they aren't the only ones being targeted recently. We're also seeing their threats against the Ebenezer Baptist Church here in Atlanta just ahead of January's U.S. Senate runoff races, what is going on in your view?

[15:40:25]

DERRICK JOHNSON, CEO, NAACP: We have seen the emergence of this level of intimidation and violence and harm to communities over the last four years of this administration and that is why it's so important for the January 5th election in Georgia.

It's not simply a Senate race for the residence of the State of Georgia, it will set the tone moving forward. And the outcome of this election would allow for this administration to put in place the necessary guardrails ahead of the Department of Justice to go after these domestic terrorists.

It is terrorism like we have not seen since the 50s in the African- American community, it is terrorism in the Jewish community, and it is unfortunate that we still have to live out this reality in 2020.

WHITFIELD: And Jonathan, you know, what took place in Long Island involving this private school. You know, your organization says last year -- last year actually saw some of the most anti-Semitic incidents since the ADL started compiling statistics 40 years ago. What is the nature of what's happening and how can it be combated?

GREENBLATT: Well, thank you very much for the question, Fredricka. And to build on what my friend, Derrick said a moment ago, indeed, over the last four years, we've seen a surge of anti-Semitic incidents, the likes of which we don't simply have any record for in our history.

In 2019, as you pointed out, had the most anti-Semitic incidents we've recorded in more than four decades, and these things happen in the physical world. Just last week, there was vandalism of the Anne Frank memorial in Idaho. A Jewish man was literally -- there was a vehicular attack on a Jewish man in Kentucky at a public menorah lighting.

And then in Long Island, a vicious and ugly hacking of a Jewish Day School. As you pointed out, the website was defaced, personal accounts were breached, and students were sent the most grotesque anti-Semitic images you could possibly imagine.

Look, it is a scary time, and I am hoping -- I think Derrick is hoping, the country is aching for a kind of healing now Fredricka, so we can finally get past this hate.

WHITFIELD: Do you wonder or at least hope that you know, Derrick, instead of invoking or provoking more fear that if anything, these kind of recent examples is only stealing people further to try to stamp out hate or respond to hate in a way that unifies people.

JOHNSON: You know, one of the reasons why we took all the stop hate for violence campaign along with ADL, and many other groups is because social media platforms allow for individuals to recruit, implement plans and carry out harm. And that's why it's so important for us to continue to push for a level of accountability of dealing with these social media platforms such as Facebook.

It's going to be really important for us to change the discourse, the dialogue, the care and compassion for neighbors. But that cannot happen if there are enablers like Facebook that continue to allow this level of festering and carrying out intimidation.

WHITFIELD: And then Jonathan in this collaboration with the NAACP for this stop hate for profit campaign. Unilever, you know, has said that this week that they will resume advertising on those social media platforms. The company says the platforms have made some progress. Do you agree it is enough?

GREENBLATT: I think they have certainly made progress, but it isn't enough. I couldn't be more proud to have ADL and the NAACP working together in collaboration to fight hate. And the fact of the matter is, the stop hate for profit initiative, we never thought we were going to bankrupt Facebook, but we put pressure on them to take action, Fredricka, they haven't done enough.

But they've taken off white supremacist groups. They've clamped on armed militias. They're removing Holocaust denialism. They've created a VP of Civil Rights, none of that would have not happened. None of it would have happened if not for stop hate for profit.

And in this year, when we've seen ugly anti-Asian racism spawned by COVID, we've seen awful anti-black racism in response to the Black Lives Matter movement. We've seen continued just nasty, xenophobic, anti-Latino slander pushed against the people who want to immigrate and the Hispanic population and of course, anti-Semitism.

It underscores, Fredricka, we are all in this together: Jews, blacks, Latinos, LGBTQ, Asian-Americans, Muslims, we've all got to work with together because ultimately, our fates are intertwined, and only together we can make America the diverse nation that it should be.

WHITFIELD: Yes, we are indeed, Jonathan Greenblatt, Derrick Johnson, thank you so much. Thank you for the work that you're doing for everyone. Appreciate it.

All right still to come, as Congress works on a coronavirus relief package, millions of Americans are struggling. We'll have some expert's advice on managing your money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:49:50]

WHITFIELD: After a long day of negotiations, it appears Congress might be inching closer to a new relief package. Lawmakers are signaling they just might pass the new $900 billion deal soon and that is welcome news for millions of Americans still suffering financially through this pandemic.

[15:50:09]

Right now, in America, 27 million people are going hungry every day, another 85 million are struggling to pay bills, while 13 million are falling behind on their rent and mortgage payments. And on top of that, and eviction moratorium in so many places expiring in just 11 days. Here to talk about all of this, personal finance columnist for "The

Washington Post," Michelle Singletary. Michelle, always good to see you.

MICHELLE SINGLETARY, PERSONAL FINANCE COLUMNIST, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Oh, good to see you as well.

WHITFIELD: So Michelle, you always, you know, keep it real and break it down. This is how you manage your money. But right now, there are a lot of people who don't have any money to manage, they are just trying to figure out, you know, how am I going to get food on the table?

Whether it's standing in long lines. You know, because there are a lot of places who are there to help them, or they're worried about, you know, eviction being served very soon, or trying to make decisions about the few dollars they have, do I pay for my medication? Or do I try to keep the lights on?

How do you help people manage this kind of anxiety that is coming with these financial constraints?

SINGLETARY: Yes, so what I've been telling people is when it comes to your expenses, think of it like a triage when you go to the emergency room, and they treat the most critical patients first.

So whatever money you still have coming in, that's how you handle your bills. The things that are the most necessary, medication, and maybe you go to your pharmacist and say, okay, I can't afford 60 days' worth, but can you, you know, split the prescription and give me 30 days.

Same thing with food, you know, take advantage of food pantries in your area. And really, to the people who know folks who are in trouble, reach out to folks that you know, who have lost your job.

Maybe there was a clerk at the grocery store that you said hello to all the time, find out if they need help, or people at a restaurant that you know is closed down, contact the restaurant managers and say, is there anything I can do?

Contact HUD approved housing counseling agencies that can maybe help you find some rental assistance programs. This is a time that you're going to have to maybe do a little bit more work to help yourself. And I know, there's not a lot of help out there, but you can still make some calls to try to help yourself.

WHITFIELD: And what about for families? What do you say to families who have children who want Christmas? They want the holidays? You know, just like all the previous ones, but you know, the money isn't there, you know, for the gifts? Or I mean, the money isn't there to help make sure the roof is over the head.

So what's your advice to families, to parents on the kind of conversations that they should be having with their young ones about the expectations that can or cannot be met? SINGLETARY: That's a really great question. So I talked to a child

psychologist, and she said you talk to them in an age appropriate manner. So the little ones, you just go, you know, mommy and daddy might not be able to have the same -- buy you the say things that we did or we might -- or you know, not have the same Christmas and the older children, you talk to them and they know what's going on and just say you know we're not working and we may not be able to have the same holiday that you're used to.

Because children are very aware of things and not talking to them is not going to depress their anxiety about what's going on. And if you can't buy, don't try to do that. That money needs to go for the things to keep the roof over your head and food on the table.

And you know, in years past, you know, I've been on the show, I talk about the things that you can do with your children and your family that don't cost any money. And Lord knows, this is the year to try to do that coupons, family game night, you watch movies -- anything that takes your mind off the fact that you can't go out and buy stuff. That's not a priority right now.

What your children need is security, and you talking to them and calming them down that is going to be worth more than anything that you can put under the tree.

WHITFIELD: Those activities and even just that time to be together. I mean, it really is a time that so many of us are being challenged right now. We are helping to send that message to our kids that the time that we spend together is invaluable, certainly more valuable than any thing that you can receive.

Michelle Singletary, thank you so much for that and hopefully this helps soothe a lot of anxieties that so many families are feeling right now and you have a great holiday. Appreciate you imparting your gift.

SINGLETARY: You, too.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

SINGLETARY: That's true. Yes, thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, a Georgia teenager sentenced to prison in the Cayman Islands for breaking coronavirus rules. I'll talk live with the young lady's heartbroken grandmother.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin with this breaking news. The C.D.C.'s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices just voted on who will get priority during this next phase of the coronavirus vaccine distribution.

They include now frontline essential workers and people 75 and older, not just the elderly in long-term healthcare facilities.

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