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Moderna Vaccine Injections Begin Today; House to Vote on COVID Relief Bill Tonight; New COVID Variant Closes European Borders. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired December 21, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

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[14:00:29]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Hi there, you are watching CNN on this Monday, I'm Brooke Baldwin, great to be with you.

We begin with news about the second COVID vaccine that is now available for use. We are seeing the first Moderna vaccines being administered at hospitals all across the U.S. The goal right now -- this is according to the nation's testing czar -- is to inject 20 million doses by the first week of January, and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says he is confident the distribution to the general population could be closer than they originally thought.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: We believe late February into March, we could be seeing more general vaccination approaches -- of course subject to the decisions made by governors on prioritization. And of course, if we have Johnson & Johnson and Janssen, or -- and-or AstraZeneca entering into play in the February timeframe, that only accelerates these timelines. And then in that second quarter of next year, enough vaccine to vaccinate every American who wants to be vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Certainly comforting words, right? For all of us listening, for a nation set to surpass 18 million positive cases by the end of the day.

And there are 113,000 Americans in hospitals right now. U.S. health officials are trying to calm panic amid a new report out of the U.K. about this new variant of coronavirus that could be more transmissible. we're going to talk to an expert on that in a little bit.

We also -- just a heads up -- we expect President-elect Joe Biden to receive his first dose of the vaccine today, and so as soon as we see that happen we'll take that live for you. Also today, Congress is on the verge of passing this $900 billion

COVID relief package, finally reaching a deal. More on that in just a moment.

But first, we go to CNN's Miguel Marquez, who is live there in Houston. He is at a hospital that will be giving the first shots of the Moderna vaccine outside of a clinical trial.

So, Miguel, thank goodness. Tell me where those vaccines are and when those workers get those shots.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It comes as such a huge relief. It's rooms like this across the country where this pandemic will start to become the end, will come to an end.

This is United Memorial Medical Center in Houston. They have 300 doses of it, that's enough for about 150 patients -- 150 medical staff that have been working here.

I want to show you, this is actually one of the boxes that arrived with the Moderna vaccine. They sent everything, not just the vaccine, which came in two very small boxes loaded with dry ice around them. But they gave them everything that they need: protective gear and syringes to dose the vaccine.

And then employees will line up here shortly, in the next 15 minutes or so. So about two hours ago, we saw the actual box -- a fairly small cardboard box -- come in, the vaccine itself surrounded by dry ice. It was a very heavy box, but very, very small vials inside, enough for 300 doses of vaccine.

They've let it -- they put it from a freezer into a refrigerator to let it warm up to about two or three degrees Celsius he said, that's 34, 35 degrees Fahrenheit. And then very soon, in this room, they'll be able to start injecting it into arms. They have a list of individuals that work here at the hospital, first in the COVID unit.

They've had a very busy COVID unit here. They have 117 beds total in this little hospital, 88 of them are now COVID beds, 66 of them or around there are being used by patients, so they have a few beds left here. They've been receiving patients from all over the state because the numbers across Texas have been climbing so high. Here in Harris County, they haven't been quite as bad but they are starting to go up as well.

So this little hospital did not get any of the Pfizer vaccine, so they were really desperate to get some of the Moderna vaccine. They now have enough for about 150 of their staff -- that's not all of their staff, that's probably about 10, 20 percent of their staff that will be able to get it, but they are very happy to be on the road to getting past this pandemic -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: I know you've covered wars in conflict zones, never in a million years thinking you'd be describing the box and a play-by-play of the vaccine, but you said it off the top, that is the room where this pandemic begins to end. Miguel Marquez, thank you. With me now, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. He is an internal medicine and viral

specialist and a CNN medical analyst. Dr. Rodriguez, great to see you --

JORGE RODRIGUEZ, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You too, Brooke.

BALDWIN: -- and big news from you, you got the shot. How are you feeling?

[14:05:01]

RODRIGUEZ: I did. Actually I got the shot a few days ago, and I'm feeling great. My arm hurt a little bit the next day, I felt a little bit tired like an impending flu maybe, but you know, after that, just kicking on all cylinders.

But I've got to tell you, it was a really kind of emotional thing to get it. Not only did it seem epic, it just seems like, God, we've gone through so much, you know, to get to this point, and so many other people need it that, you know, my Catholic guilt kind of kicked in and I'm like, oh, maybe I shouldn't get it.

But you know, it's a great, great beginning to end this pandemic for sure.

BALDWIN: No, you're a doctor, Catholic guilt aside, you need that because we need you.

RODRIGUEZ: No, I know.

BALDWIN: Do you feel a sense of -- I don't know, like does it put your mind at ease knowing you have one half of this thing?

RODRIGUEZ: Yes, yes, to some degree. But again, I know that I can still get it. I know, more importantly, that I can still transmit it. And what we need to understand is that this is a community issue. And I don't mean just, you know, that we need to help each other, and maybe we're going to talk about the variant. The more virus there is in a community, the more people that have it, the more likely there is for there to be a mutation.

So it's very important that even after you get the vaccine, that we really not put down our defenses and pretend like we're going to be OK. Because at the end of the day, nothing is OK until this virus is completely eradicated.

BALDWIN: No, I appreciate you saying that.

I do want to ask you, you know, everybody wants to know, well, when can I get it, what are the various waves? Here's what I have, the CDC has just issued guidance about who should get the vaccine next. So now they're saying people 75 years old and older, then it's folks 65 to 74 and then finally 16 to 64 with high-risk medical conditions. What do you think of that order of things?

TEXT: CDC Recommendation of Vaccine Allocation Work Group Considerations: Prevention of Morbidity and Mortality: 1a. Long-term care facility residents; 1b. Persons 75 years old and older; 1c. Persons 65-75 years old, persons 16-64 with high risk medical conditions. Preservation of Societal Functioning: 1a. Health care personnel; 1b. Frontline essential workers; 1c. Other essential workers

RODRIGUEZ: I think that order makes a lot of sense because what we need to look at, which is what they've done, is to see who has been the most susceptible population. And it is people that are older, it is people, you know, that have comorbidities.

And up to this point, a lot of young people were saying, hey, I'm not going to get it. Well, that's still true. So that is why those people are not going to get it until later. I think that they've done a very good stratification of who is most susceptible.

BALDWIN: I also wanted to ask you, just because you are in L.A. and it's not great, you know, in California, when you look at all these numbers. You know, I saw a number today, health officials are estimating that one in every 64 Los Angeles residents has COVID, one in 64.

And I was listening to this E.R. doctor, Dr. Rodriguez, in L.A., talking about just how overwhelmed she was with the sheer number of patients she's been seeing. And she said it was actually the first time in her career when, you know, she wasn't herself sure whether she was able to give every patient the best care possible. I'm curious if you're feeling that at all.

RODRIGUEZ: I absolutely am, and I'm not even an E.R. doctor or an ICU doctor, I have my private practice. And I can tell you that over the two -- the last two weeks, the number of people that we have seen with COVID, the number of people who have called in with symptoms and then we see them through telehealth, is probably five times greater than it had been even in April when things were at its worst. Even this weekend, three more patients called and they -- you know, and they tested positive.

And I was just talking to another doctor friend of mine this weekend, and I can just sit at home and maybe it's my imagination but the number of ambulances, sirens that you hear has definitely gone up. We're definitely in a new unfortunate phase here in Los Angeles.

BALDWIN: Let these vaccines be the beginning of the end. I'm so glad you got vaccinated, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez, thank you so much for coming on, good to see you.

RODRIGUEZ: You too, thank you.

BALDWIN: Another huge story we're following, this one unfolding on Capitol Hill. All signs point to Congress finally passing this new COVID relief package today. It will provide a lifeline for millions of families struggling financially during the pandemic. And if it's passed, it would be the second largest federal stimulus deal ever reached in Congress. Now, not everyone is getting what they want. So for that, let's go to

CNN's Manu Raju, he is live on Capitol Hill. And first, do we know when Congress is set to vote on this -- Manu?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, just in the last matter of moments, they finally released the bill text. After much delay and negotiation behind the scenes, the legislation has formally been introduced. And it's going to pass Congress in a lightning-fast speed, in just a matter of hours.

There will be virtually no time for members of Congress to actually read the details, digest the details. But they'll have a choice to make, either vote up or down on this package. And the expectation is that they will vote up and it will pass, certainly in the House and then very likely the Senate.

[14:10:04]

Now, the House passage is going to go first. First the House Rules Committee is going to consider the proposal, prepare for the House floor. We expect a House floor vote later this evening, and then they'll kick it over to the Senate.

Now, in the United States Senate, any one senator can delay the process, can derail the process. But at the moment, it's unclear if that will happen, it's expected to move pretty quickly in the Senate.

I just talked to one Republican senator, Rand Paul, who has been sharply critical of the deficit spending in this $900 billion package that will be tied to a $1.4 trillion spending bill to keep the government open. He told me he will not object to holding up final passage of this bill, so he's one who won't object. We'll see if any others -- otherwise this will pass tonight, it could go to the president's desk within days. And he is expected to sign it.

Now, this bill would affect virtually all sectors of the economy, one of the biggest packages in American history including $600 in direct payments that would go to individuals who make less than $75,000 a year. That would be an additional $600 per person in their family.

Now, in addition, it would have jobless benefits about $300 a week for people who are about to see their unemployment benefits go away, those enhanced benefits would last about 11 weeks under this proposal. There would be $280 billion in forgivable loans under the Paycheck Protection Program, administered by the Small Business Administration. In addition to that $25 billion in rental assistance, billions more for vaccines, more -- and about $13 billion for food stamps and child nutrition benefits and the like.

So as you can see, this is a sweeping plan, Brooke. It'll be added to this spending package to keep the government open, and we'll see how quickly it'll actually get into the economy.

It'll take some time for it to have an impact, but certainly it'll give a lifeline to folks who are losing those unemployment benefits, help people who are at risk of getting evicted from their home by extending the federal eviction moratorium; help with people who have student loan payments that they have to pay that have been deferred so far.

So this bill will pass with a big bipartisan vote, but members of Congress have had no time to see even the details because this has been negotiated by the congressional leadership, but now it's out there, the votes will happen in a matter of hours and expect it to soon go to the president's desk.

BALDWIN: Great, we'll follow it all, those -- you know, so many Americans need those $600 checks like yesterday. Manu, thank you very much for the latest on the Hill.

Still ahead this hour around the world, borders are being closed to the United Kingdom as the British government scrambles to contain a fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus.

Plus, as we mentioned off the top, President-elect Joe Biden and his wife Jill are set to receive their coronavirus vaccines this afternoon in public, in front of cameras, we'll look for that.

And later, Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny disguises himself and dupes an FSB agent into revealing exactly how he was poisoned. You do not want to miss this.

You're watching CNN, I'm Brooke Baldwin.

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[14:17:02]

BALDWIN: Welcome back, you're watching CNN, I'm Brooke Baldwin, thank you for being with me.

Even as a second coronavirus vaccine is rolling out, there are growing concerns about a new variant of COVID-19, and it's unclear exactly how contagious this thing may be.

It seems to have originated in England, south of London, and is spreading rapidly in the U.K. where strict lockdowns are now in place in so many areas. England's top medical officer says it's caused 60 percent of new infections in London right now, and it's not just the U.K. This variant has also been spotted in Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Iceland, Italy and Australia.

Dozens of countries are now banning or restricting travel from the U.K. just to try to keep this COVID variant out. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held an emergency meeting today of his top cabinet officials, particularly on this crisis. And CNN's Nima Elbagir joins me now live from London.

And Nima, how worried are these U.K. officials about this variant? And are they taking additional precautions?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Incredibly, incredibly worried, Brooke. But even as more countries lock down their borders from travelers to and from the United Kingdom, we still didn't hear that much that was tangible from the British prime minister. He just tried to maintain an upbeat tone.

However, from his chief medical officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, what we heard wasn't exactly cause for optimism. Take a listen to this.

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PATRICK VALLANCE, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC OFFICER, U.K. GOVERNMENT: Evidence of this virus is it spreads easily, it's more transmissible, we absolutely need to make sure we've got the right level of restrictions in place. I think it is likely that this will grow the numbers of the variant across the country, and I think it's likely therefore that measures need to be increased in some places in due course, not reduced. So I think it is a case that this will spread more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELBAGIR: The right level of restrictions, that is the key question that so many are asking tonight. Why didn't we have the right level of restrictions here in the United Kingdom? Why, until just days ago, was the prime minister saying in spite of what his own medical experts were concerned about, that we would still be able to celebrate Christmas with our loved ones? Of course that is now all out the window.

Here in London, we're in tier four, a new set of restrictions has been put in place to try and staunch the flow of these transmissions -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: So speaking of tier four, what about shortages of food, Nima, or other items if these travel restrictions on the U.K. stay in place for a while?

ELBAGIR: Well, we saw these extraordinary images down on the south coast, where goods come through from France, of miles and miles of lorries, miles and miles of haulage carriers lined up.

And there is a real concern, in spite of the prime minister's attempt at maintaining and upbeat tone and saying that he spoke to the French prime minister -- who, by the way, it was his birthday, which wasn't really what the nation was looking for in that moment.

[14:20:00]

There is a real concern among supermarkets that we could be days away from really critical shortages, and that's before we crash out of the European Union in 10 days' time -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Nima Elbagir, thank you very much, there in London at 10 Downing.

The question back here at home, should the U.S. be worried about this new COVID variant? I want you to listen to what the Trump administration's COVID testing czar, Admiral Brett Giroir, told my colleague John Berman just this morning. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: How much do you know about whether or not this variant is here in the United States?

BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: So we don't know whether it is or it isn't. Again, it was identified in September so there's been a lot of travel back and forth. In general, the typical test that we do to detect the virus, except for a very specific one, would not show this variant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: My next guest says this COVID variant is a real warning we need to pay attention to. He is Jesse Bloom, he's an associate professor at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

So thank you so much, Jesse, for being with me. And before we get into your opinion of all of this, let's just start at, you know, level one. Explain what a virus variant or a mutation is, and how does a virus mutate?

JESSE BLOOM, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, FRED HUTCHINSON CANCER RESEARCH CENTER: Yes, so viruses are mutating all the time as they transmit. So every two or three times SARS-Coronavirus-2 transmits from one person to another, there would be a viral mutation.

And I really want to emphasize that these mutations are not in general something that we need to be especially alarmed about. It's possible that mutations will sometimes make the virus slightly more transmissible or might help the virus be a little bit more resistant to immunity, but I don't expect that any single viral mutation -- including the mutations observed in this U.K. strain -- are going to have any sort of dramatic effect on the effectiveness of these really successful and effective vaccines that are being rolled out right now.

BALDWIN: You answered my next question because, you know, to me, it's like, OK, well, I know that this announcement in Britain prompted concern that this virus might evolve, might be become resistant to the vaccines that are rolling out. I want to hear that again. Is this a real possibility?

BLOOM: Yes, I am quite confident that this particular strain is not going to be resistant to vaccines. So I know there's been a lot of talk about --

BALDWIN: Tell me why you're so confident.

BLOOM: OK, so I will tell you that. So first of all, I want to make sure when we're discussing this strain, that we don't really bury the lede of the big scientific news over the last few weeks, which is that there are several coronavirus vaccines which have been shown to be extremely effective in humans and are now starting to be rolled out in the United States.

So we do know, as scientists, that over the course of years, viruses including coronaviruses can accumulate mutations, which gradually allow them to sort of hide from the immunity elicited by infections or vaccines. But this takes a long time. Our immune system and the immunity from these vaccines recognizes the virus in many different ways, and no single mutation is going to evade that.

So as scientists, people like me really need to be paying attention to these mutations because it's possible that in a few years we might need to update our vaccines to account for the mutations. But for the general public, I would still feel extremely optimistic that you're going to be able to get a vaccine, you know, relatively soon. And when you do, that's going to dramatically reduce the risk from this virus.

BALDWIN: OK, good.

I guess my last question is, you know, we're just reporting on all these countries blocking people coming from the U.K., they don't want any part of this, you know, virus mutation or variant -- even Governor Cuomo here in New York is disappointed that we have yet to bar anyone coming in from the U.K.

You know, if you were advising U.S. officials on this, should we block people from the U.K. or no?

BLOOM: Yes, so I mean, I'm a scientist, I'm not a politician or policymaker, so I can tell you what I think are the two key scientific facts and then I can tell you what I'm doing personally.

So the two key scientific facts --

BALDWIN: Spoken like a scientist.

BLOOM: -- yes. So the two key scientific facts are, first, that SARS- Coronavirus-2 is a really serious infection and, you know, most people get better but some people get seriously ill or die so you don't want to get this virus, and that's regardless of whether or not it's the U.K. strain or the other viruses that are circulating here.

The second key fact is that these vaccines that are extremely effective are starting to be rolled out, and within, you know, the next six months, most people will have been able to get those and I think those will have a huge protective effect.

So those are the scientific facts. What I'm doing personally is just doing the best thing I can to avoid myself or anyone in my family getting infected over the next few months. I think we can really see the end of the tunnel here, we're not going to have to be doing this social distancing forever, these vaccines are coming out,

And the key thing is just that we all stay safe and keep our families safe even if that means we have to, you know, in my case it means my daughter won't get to see her grandparents for Christmas, but I think what we're thinking is we hope that we're all just healthy in four or five months when we've gotten this vaccine and life will be back to normal.

BALDWIN: Yes, I won't be seeing my mom, my brother, my little nephews this week for precisely the same reason. I hear you loud and clear, thank goodness for our scientists. Jesse Bloom, good to have you on, thank you.

[14:25:03]

BLOOM: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, a surprising turn from Attorney General William Barr, undercutting the president and any idea of election conspiracy theories.

Also, this is just one day after the president met with an attorney who is known for pushing those exact conspiracies. So who is the president listening to? We'll go to the White House, next.

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BALDWIN: Attorney General William Barr with a clear message on the way, out the door. The president doesn't know his facts. A massive hack into the U.S. government system appears to trace back to Russia, Barr says, a clear contradiction of the president who refuses to attribute the attack to anyone.

Barr also says there is no need for a special counsel to helm an investigation into President-elect Joe Biden's son Hunter. He doesn't see a need for a special counsel to investigate voter fraud claims either, and insists he would have appointed one if he did. '

[14:30:01]

Asked if he sees merit in a White House idea to seize voting machines, Barr says there is none. Translation?