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Countries Ban Travel to U.K.; Food Deliveries Halted in England's Port; COVID-19 Relief Bill Made It Through Congress; President Trump Makes Desperate Move to Redo Election Results; Cyberattack Compromised Critical Data; U.S. Hits Record Number of COVID-19 Hospitalizations; Biden Receives First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine; Growing Concerns Over New COVID-19 Variant in The U.K.; Vaccine Distribution Moving Slower Than Promised; European Union Authorizes Pfizer BioNTech Vaccine; WHO Reporting Variant in South Africa Separate from Variant In U.K.; Taiwan Reports First Local Case in 250 Plus Days; Kushner Leads Delegation on Landmark Israel-Morocco Flight; Making Lab Grown Meat Mainstream; CNN Reconnects with Vaccine Recipient Martin Kenyon. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired December 22, 2020 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, scientists are working to figure out if the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will work against the new COVID variant found in the U.K.
Another variant of the coronavirus has now been reported in South Africa. We have live report in Johannesburg with details.
And millions of struggling Americans should soon get some cash in their hands. Lawmakers have passed a long awaited COVID relief bill.
Good to have you with us.
As concerns mount over a new coronavirus variant, Pfizer and Moderna say their companies are now testing their vaccines to see if they work against the new mutated version found in the U.K. and other countries.
COVID-19 has mutated before and both companies say their vaccines work against other variations of the virus and the expectation is that their vaccines will protect against the new variant as well.
Scientists across the world meantime are scrambling to do their own research.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Studies both in the U.K. and here at the NIH where we are trying to isolate the virus, that's a particular setup that allows for rapid neutralization of the virus to assess that indeed serum and antibodies raised by the vaccines are able to neutralize this virus, which is very likely the expected outcome.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): Well a growing number of countries have halted travel from the U.K. where the new variant was first reported and now there are fears these restrictions could create a shortage of food and critical medical supplies in the U.K. British officials are telling the public not to panic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There is no reason to think that this new variant of the virus is any more dangerous than the existing strain.
PATRICK VALLANCE, U.K. CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER: The transmission is increased. We can't say exactly by how much, but it is clearly substantially in increased so it's clearly more transmissible that's why it's spreading so fast and we see it growing in many areas. No evidence that the disease causes any different. If you catch it, the disease is the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): CNN's Nic Robertson joins us from outside 10 Downing Street in London and Salma Abdelaziz is at the port of Dover in England where many truck drivers are now stuck due to travel restrictions.
Good to see you both. Nic, let's start with you. The U.K. government trying to avoid panic over this new variant and fears of food and vaccine shortages. How reassuring have they been?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, one of the major supermarkets in the U.K. did warn customers that there would be shortages of lettuce and brussels sprouts. Certainly, some stores have seen an uptake in the number of customers coming in and shelves have been emptied in some stores of some products. So, a line of people's concerns that doesn't seem to have been entirely successful.
The government's narrative is, and we heard this from Boris Johnson yesterday that he had a phone call with Emmanuel macron, the French president that they were working on a way to try to figure out how to get British truckers and other truckers out of the U.K. into France and into the rest of the Europe and vice versa.
This is something that's been handled in Europe in a Europe wide level as well. And the expectation in the U.K. is that there will be some sort of mechanism found to allow that freight traffic to get back to some sort of regularity over the coming days.
Obviously, the hope in the U.K. that it's going to be soon. The reality is that's not clear. Priti Patel, the British home secretary has been on one of the British news channels this morning, again trying to calm people's fears, saying that we're in regular contact with the French and this is something that we have to be able to deal with soon.
But again as with the prime minister yesterday, British officials not yet able to offer or say publicly at least, what that mechanism will be, how it will work, when it will come into effect, and I think is when people hear that they will begin to feel OK, this is a little more under control.
[03:04:58]
CHURCH: Yes. I mean, that's the problem. I mean, if they haven't got the plans in place now what are the possible options so people can feel reassured that they will have access to the food they need, and then of course, the vaccine supplies.
ROBERTSON: Well the vaccine supply, because of the upcoming Brexit or the ongoing Brexit talks and the possibility of border restrictions following Brexit, the failure perhaps of trade deal after, you know, following the transition period of Brexit, there were contingencies put in place then to get vaccine into the U.K., and certainly that has been the subject of conversation with the European Union and there was talk of British military aircraft being able to fly vaccines from the continent into the U.K.
So, I think at that level the British government feels that it's in, that it has that covered. I think also there is a level of feeling that, you know, where medicines and essential food stocks are concerned, a level of stockpiling had been done in advance.
It's been a concern, you know, for example if you're a chemist in Belfast in Northern Ireland, you recognize that you're at the end of a very, very long supply chain of medical supplies coming into the U.K. And I've talked to some of those pharmacists there in Northern Ireland about this, and they have been very concerned about the possibility of medicines, of medicine shortages and even food shortages in Northern Ireland through the Brexit process.
So, a level of stockpiling for that has been put in place. How strong that stockpiling is and how deep those stockpiles are, we are not really clear, but for the moment the government is saying look, the essentials that we need, we have and the majority of food that the country consumes does not come from continental Europe. So, again, it's that message of reassurance. Rosemary?
CHURCH: Right. Because of course it's uncertainty that's the big enemy here, isn't it? Nic Robertson joining us from 10 Downing Street, many thanks.
Salma, let's go to you now in Dover where the port is closed. What is the situation there right now?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: I'm just going to start by giving you a look, Rosemary, and letting you know how it is. I'm just going to pan over here and let my cameraman pan over here to show you the row of trucks really that is lined up on the street. This is supposed to be a public street. This is not where these truck drivers should be parked but they did that last night because they had nowhere else to go, Rosemary.
They spent the night in their trucks. There's a group of drivers actually that we have seen cooking in back of one of their vans. I just spoke to them this morning and said good morning. They don't know where they're going. Last night they are telling me they might celebrate Christmas in England. They are from Romania. They are joking and saying we're going to hang Christmas lights on the truck, that might be our only option.
That 48-hour period that the French government have put into place, that is set to expire this evening. But again, as you heard from my colleague Nic Robertson -- Nic Robertson there, the question is, what happens next?
There's local media reports that the French government would want to see these drivers get coronavirus tests, that they want to see a health protocol, a safety protocol put into place that would be Europe wide.
But I want you to imagine the logistical nightmare, if that was the scenario that went into place. I want you to imagine the logistical scenario that would play out if you try to test all of these drivers? This is just one street. And I'm looking at it right now. I can see dozens of trucks. These guys aren't supposed to be here.
There's hundreds more trucks, dozens more trucks up on the motorway and in the section of it that was closed. The next town over, the town of Kent, dozens of drivers there as well lined up on every street they can find. These are drivers from all over the world. They have already been stuck for two days.
I can't imagine how it would work out to test each of these drivers in a safe, effective, quick manner, to be able to get them across before Christmas without seeing those fears of shortages that you and Nic were speaking about, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes. Unbelievable situation for those truck drivers. And I saw an earlier report you did they're taking it in stride, just extraordinary. Salma Abdelaziz joining us there, and Nic Robertson before. Thank you to both of you.
Joining me now is Dr. Larry Brilliant, a CNN medical analyst and epidemiologist. Thank you, doctor, for all that you do and for talking with us.
LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALSYT: Thank you. It's nice to be with you again.
CHURCH: Good to have you. So, we don't know a lot about this new variant of the coronavirus that's been detected in the U.K. But Admiral Giroir says there is nothing to suggest the current vaccines won't be effective against this variant. And it's worth saying that the Pfizer and Moderna companies are now looking into that to see whether their vaccines are able to fight this new variant.
But do you agree with that assessment by the admiral? And what more are you learning about this new variant?
BRILLIANT: Well, first of all, COVID-19 is a coronavirus. It's an RNA virus, which means it's only got one strand. And it's not a stable as a DNA virus, which is two strands, one acts as a spell checker on the other.
[03:10:03]
So, I expect this virus to mutate. In fact, I think it's kind of mutated less than we might have expected, once or twice or three times a month in its short one year history. We've had about three of those mutations that cause some concern. Of course, the one in Amsterdam and Denmark the Minsk that seemed to have the virus go back and forth between humans and animals, that's a big concern.
And a mutation happened there in half a dozen farmers were infected by something which we are really worried about. Another one we've got in South Africa, that's a concern to us. We had one earlier that occurred in northern Europe, before it came to the United States, and now we have this one, which seems to be a different classification of mutation. It has 17 different spot mutations, which is an awful lot.
Enough that people are thinking of this as an independent clayed, and a clay is a funny word which kind of means a little bit like species to virologists, not exactly the same thing. But this has 17 different mutations. So, we should be concerned about it. What should we do? We should wear masks. We should practice social distancing. We should wash our hands. We should do testing, tracing, and isolation.
We should do that whether it's in the U.K. or whether it's in the United States, and we should do it more vigorously because we are still seeing the effect of Thanksgiving in the United States. We are about to see the effect of Christmas in all countries and we are in a world of hurt irrespective of the mutation, and when you add that on it's all more reason to be more careful.
CHURCH: So, we need to keep doing exactly what we're doing, wearing the mask, we shouldn't be concerned. But what is your sense when it comes to the vaccine we've got available to us now, the moderna and Pfizer that have been authorized for use here in the United States? Will they be able to fight this variant?
BRILLIANT: I think so. I don't see anything to cause concern. The mRNA vaccines are quite a bit different than the older vaccines. They're heat killed or attenuated vaccines. It remains to be seen whether any variant will affect the mRNA vaccine. So, I am not so much worried about that.
You know, there's been some concern about those countries that are barring visitors from the U.K., putting on some kind of, not letting people come in. I would say, what would be wise would be to test everyone who is leaving the U.K., wherever they're going, whether it's of the United States or Europe.
That the U.K. tests the PCR that's used in the U.K. is extremely capable of not only finding coronavirus but finding this mutation. So, you could do a lot of good by testing people who are traveling. You do good for the traveler, you do good for the country they're coming from, you do good for the country that they're going to.
That's not saying we don't love you in the U.K. We're very sorry that this is happening now to our brothers and sisters and friends in the U.K. around Christmas time, but it would be a good idea to test people just to get an idea of how pervasive this mutation is.
CHURCH: Yes. It really gets us back to what we should be doing and should have been doing at the start. Masks and a whole lot more testing. Doctor Larry Brilliant, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
BRILLIANT: Thanks for having me, Rosemary. Merry Christmas.
CHURCH: Merry Christmas to you.
Well hope is coming for millions of Americans struggling under the COVID crisis. This after Congress finally overcame a partisan deadlock to pass a relief bill. The far-reaching deal provides $900 billion for vaccine distribution, aid to small businesses, and the unemployed, as well as direct payments to Americans.
CNN's Manu Raju has the details now from Washington.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): After weeks and months of partisan divisions, stalemate, and talks breaking down, starting again and breaking down all over again, finally, a bill is on its way to the president's desk to deal with the significant problems facing the United States and the aftermath during the coronavirus pandemic.
All the fallout caused by that in the public health crisis leading to an economic crisis. This bill, $900 billion significant in its scale and its scope, affecting virtually all sectors of the American economy including individuals will get $600 of drug payments. If you make up to 75,000 dollars a year, $300 dollars in jobless benefits. Those will start kick in December 27th to last for 11 weeks.
More than $80 billion for schools. More than $280 billion for small businesses. Money that will be helpful for venues live performance art venues that have been closed during this pandemic, money for the farm sector as well.
Lots of billions more for vaccine distribution. This proposal is significant and it came after both sides essentially agreed to drop some of the big sticking points. Democrats came down significantly from what they were asking for in terms of the overall price tag.
Republicans increased the amount that they were asking for and ultimately this compromise was reached. Now it was tied together also with $1.4 trillion plan to keep the government funded from essentially now until September. And this package, altogether was about $2.3 trillion. It's more than 5,500 pages in its size. And it was dropped on Congress' desk, unveiled for the first time on Monday afternoon. Just hours before the House voted on it and hours before the Senate voted for it. And gave its final passes.
Now it's on the president's desk. It's going to take a couple of days for that to happen. They have agreed to pass a weeklong stopgap or resolution to keep the government open and give some time for the actual paperwork to come together. Then once the paperwork is done, they'll send it to the president's desk. And that's when Americans can start to see some relief after it takes a few weeks to kick in and get into the system.
Already, Democrats are saying, this is not enough, they need to come back. When Joe Biden is president and deal with more. Bu at the moment, a significant accomplishment for the 116th Congress after so much fighting, bickering, now some relief to the American public.
Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.
CHURCH: And U.S. President-elect Biden is praising the new COVID relief package. And he's calling on lawmakers to support his plan to fight the virus in the New Year. To all the Americans struggling right now Biden writes help is on the way.
Well, some White House advisers are fearing the U.S. president's final days, he has been meeting with some of his most controversial former advisers as he looks to overturn the election.
And fallout from a recent data breach is still being felt at the U.S. Treasury Department. We will have more on the compromised data, when we return.
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CHURCH (on camera): Welcome back, everyone. Well, with only weeks left in office, U.S. President Donald Trump is considering more unusual measures in a desperate bid to stay in the White House. Allies to the president are now distancing themselves as his moves become more unpredictable.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more now from Washington.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): President Trump's brazen and delusional pushed to overturn the 2020 election is alarming some senior officials and people close to the president, who say they are concerned about how he is handling his final weeks in office. One official telling CNN, no one is sure where this is heading. He is still the president for another month.
[03:20:00]
Now, as Trump considers an executive order to seize voting machines, naming a special counsel to investigate voter fraud, and even imposing martial law in key battleground states. Even his most loyal allies are pushing back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAM BARR, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: I see no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government. You know, wholesale seizure of machines by the federal government.
UNKNOWN: Do you believe there is enough evidence to warrant appointing a special counsel?
BARR: If I thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was appropriate, I would do -- I would name one, but I haven't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: The attorney general isn't alone. Sources telling CNN that White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows also push back on the outlandish ideas raised during a heated Oval Office meeting on Friday. Trump denied considering martial law but he is increasingly turning to the fringes of his political orbit.
Chief among them, former national security adviser Michael Flynn and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell who was removed from her position on Trump's legal team after baselessly accusing the CIA and the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez of rigging the 2020 election.
The pair were at the center of a heated Oval Office meeting on Friday, which sources said turned into a shouting match. Powell when Trump is considering named as a special counsel was spotted again leaving the White House residence late Sunday night. Also now backing the president here, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISOR: As I strongly recommended to the president, we need a special counsel named immediately. A special person just an election fraud and voter fraud, the two different things. Election fraud and voter fraud. You need to do that immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND: Bannon who was charged with counts of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy last summer may also be seeking a presidential pardon. Meanwhile, the president is missing in action on the coronavirus pandemic. And downplaying one of the worst cyberattacks on U.S. government systems. Calling it, quote, "far greater in the fake news media than in actuality. And suggesting China was the culprit, even though top U.S. officials say all signs point to Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: 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.
BARR: From that information I have, you know, I agree with Secretary Pompeo's assessment. It certainly appears to be the Russians. (END VIDEO CLIP)
DIAMOND (on camera): And President Trump on Monday spent several hours meeting with some of the most pro-Trump members of Congress who were plotting his long shot attempt to object and try and overturn the results of the Electoral College. That's on January 6th when members of Congress are supposed to certify the vote from the Electoral College to approve Joe Biden as the next president of the United States.
And this meeting is just one of several that the president was holding on Monday focused on this effort to overturn the results of a democratic election that he lost. The conspiracy theorist and attorney Sidney Powell, she was also at the White House on Monday, it was the third time in just four days that she's been meeting with the president.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
CHURCH: And we are learning more about that cyber-attack Jeremy just mention. The top Democrat on the Senate finance committee says it significantly compromised the Treasury Department. Ron Wyden says the SolarWinds hack do broke into dozens of treasury e-mail account and systems in the office of its highest-ranking officials.
Still, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says no classified systems were affected.
Meantime, a former Trump advisor on Russia says she has no doubt that Kremlin is behind the cyberattack. Fiona Hill spoke earlier to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FIONA HILL, FORMER SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE & RUSSIA, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: We have to bear in mind this is a win-win for Russia. First of all, it's getting into the systems having time to export information. And then being accused of it. And then of course, all of the spending weeks trying to pass what they've done and talking about it at the highest levels of government and here on the media as well. So this gives them an awful lot of publicly emphasizing again, you know, the prowess of the Russian intelligence services.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): Let's talk now with CNN national security analyst, Carrie Cordero. Good to have you with us.
CARRIE CORDERO, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Thank you. Good to be with you.
CHURCH: So just days before he leaves his post, Attorney General Bill Barr held his final news conference contradicting President Trump again, repeating there is no evidence of widespread election fraud, no basis for seizing voting machines, no need for a special counsel to investigate false claims of voter fraud, or of Hunter Biden. And insisting Russia was behind this recent massive cyberattack in the U.S. not China as President Trump claims. What did you make of this?
[03:24:59]
CORDERO: Well, in some ways, it's helpful for the attorney general to be stating these things, because this is what the true facts are that there was no evidence of widespread fraud. That there is no reason to appoint special counsels based on the information that's coming out of some executive branch officials, as well as member of Congress, it looks like the government is attributing the recent cyber intrusion to Russia.
So, it's helpful that the attorney general is actually saying these things, even though they are contrary to the messaging that's coming from the president himself.
CHURCH: Right. And sources tell CNN that some White House advisers fear President Trump's final days in office, warning that no one is sure where this is heading. That's his advisor saying this. What might that reveal about Trump's state of mind right now? And do you think he is serious about invoking martial law to redo elections in battleground states. And will Bill Barr's replacement Jeff Rosen push back on any of this?
CORDERO: Well, I don't think that we are going to be in a situation where martial law is going to be declared in the United States. The military is not going to go on with that, hopefully. If something like that were to be actually approached in a serious way by the president, there would be mass resignation amongst his senior advisers.
There has to be at some point, when the senior leadership, and even his closest advisers draws some kind of line and that's certainly would be it. But the president has since the November 3rd election done affirmative things to try to undo the results of the election.
Thankfully, we have a constitutional system, the Electoral College has met. The election is over. There is no evidence of substantial fraud, or any kind of systematic fraud in the election. And Joe Biden will be sworn in on January 20th. But the president certainly is creating a lot of unnecessary chaos and uncertainty.
CHURCH: And on the subject of these cyberattacks, why do you think President Trump has been so protective of Russia, and the Russian president? Even in these closing days of his administration insisting against all advice given that China not Russia was behind it.
CORDERO: Well, so according to all that information that has become public, it certainly sounds as if Russia is behind this particular attack. This is the most significant cyber intrusion. I think that the U.S. federal government has experienced in at least seven years since the hack of the Office of Personnel Management files.
And this is a really significant national security event. It doesn't seem like the president is going to address it in a serious way. One thing that he could do is he could sign a pending national security legislation bill. The National Defense Authorization Act, which is waiting for his signature, in which he said he is going to veto. And that bill actually contains some provisions that would help the country's cybersecurity.
We need a full, U.S. government response to it. And he doesn't seem at all interested, or in fact even acknowledging the seriousness of the events that are currently going on, and that the U.S. government is trying to counter.
CHURCH: And how much significance is there in the timing of this Russian cyberattack? Coming as it did in the midst of all this chaos with the president of the United States refusing to accept free and fair election results.
CORDERO: Well, based on the public reporting so far, it sounds like this intrusion was underway for many months. The problem of it from a defensive perspective in the U.S. Government, is that it wasn't, it doesn't appear to have been caught. At least from what we know publicly, the intelligence community has not said that they knew that this was going on.
So, it appears that it was going on for many months which much of the U.S. national security establishment was focused on protecting our elections from foreign interference. And so, one of the things that policymakers will need to take a look at as an after review is with so much effort diverted to trying to protect against foreign interference at the election that this other intrusion went undetected.
CHURCH: Carrie Cordero, thank you so much for your analysis. I appreciate it.
CORDERO: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well the European Union has now authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech, coronavirus vaccine. Ahead on CNN, the details of a live event in London surrounding this major development.
Plus, a new variant of the coronavirus has been identified in South Africa. But this one is different than the one found in the U.K. We'll have the details coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[03:30:00]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (on camera): Here in the U.S., new coronavirus infections, hospitalizations, and deaths are soaring, and the country reported a new sobering record. There were more than 115,000 COVID related hospitalizations on Monday, the highest since the pandemic began.
Looking to lead by example, President-Elect Joe Biden received the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine on Monday. He's shot was broadcast live as part of an effort to reassure Americans about the vaccine safety. At the same time concerns are mounting over a new coronavirus variant, first reported in the United Kingdom. America's top infectious disease experts says it could already be here in the U.S. too.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS
DISEASE: Given the travel throughout the world, I would not be surprised if it's already here. When we start to look for it we are going to find it. Certainly it is not yet the prevalent one the way it seems to have assume that prevalent nature in the U.K., but we are going to be looking for it right now and I am sure sooner or later we are going to run into it and find it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH (on camera): CNN's Sara Murray has more on the new COVID variant and the vaccination rollout in the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER (voice over): The first shots of the Moderna vaccine going into Americans arms.
ARLENE RAMIREZ, NURESE, EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT AT NORTHWEST HEALTH: This vaccine is hope. It is hope that we will cease this pandemic. It is hope that we will live a better life.
MURRAY: As Moderna's easier storage requirements allow more corners of the U.S. to begin accessing lifesaving coronavirus vaccine.
GUSTAVE F. PERNA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Over 4,000 locations will be receiving vaccines between today and tomorrow.
MURRAY: But concerns are growing about a new variant of COVID-19 in the U.K. that reportedly spreads faster than others.
UNKNOWN: It does mean that we have to work a little bit harder about preventing the spread, but again, these viruses mutate all the time.
MURRAY: U.S. officials say it is not yet proven whether it spread more quickly.
MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: I had conversations this morning with my U.K. counterpart. I think scientifically to date there is no hard evidence that this virus is actually more transmissible.
MURRAY: As researchers across the globe scramble to study the new variant a growing number of countries have halted travel from the U.K.
U.S. Officials still debating similar restrictions.
ADM. BRETT GIROIR, HHS ASSISTANT SECRETARY: I think everything needs to be on the table.
MURRAY: Dr. Anthony Fauci advising against travel restrictions, telling CNN the U.S. must keep an eye on it but don't overreact to it.
[03:35:00]
Some governors are urging the federal government to be more aggressive.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: And today that variant is getting on a plane and landing in JFK. How many times in life do you have to make the same mistake before you learn?
MURRAY: But officials warn the new variant may already be here.
GIROIR: It could be in the United States and we might not have yet detected it.
MURRAY: Still, experts say the coronavirus vaccine should fend off the latest variant of the deadly disease.
GIROIR: There is also no evidence to suggest nor reason to believe that it would evade our vaccines that we have right now. Remember, our vaccines developed antibodies against multiple parts of that spike protein, not just one that is the mutated one.
MURRAY: Those vaccines coming a bit more slowly than officials promised. Operation Warp Speed aimed to have 20 million shots in American arms by the end of the year. Now they are saying it may take until the first week of January to get those 20 million doses out to states.
ALEX AZAR, U.S. SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: It's not as if there's a moment in time where all of a sudden there's 330 million doses available a vaccine. It just progressively rolls off the production lines each week.
MURRAY: It will still be months before many Americans receive the vaccine. As CDC advisers voted over the weekend that the next move to get the vaccine should be adults over age 75 and frontline essential workers.
The hope for a more widely available vaccine coming as hospitals across the country warned they are already stretched. And fear the numbers could look even worse after Christmas.
CHRISTIAN GHALY, DR. LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES: It's heartbreaking really to see where we are at this point in the pandemic. These numbers continued go up and every day that puts more and more stress on the hospital system, on the nurses, respiratory therapists, physicians.
MURRAY (on camera): Most numerous big names step in front of the camera and roll up their sleeves to get the vaccine and to prove to Americans it is safe. Today Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said he hopes to be on that list in the coming days to get the Moderna vaccine. Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): All, right now to a big step for Europe, the E.U. has just authorized the Pfizer BioNTech coronavirus vaccine. It is the first COVID-19 vaccine to become available for the 27 nation bloc. The first phase of its vaccination program is set to begin later this week. Fred Pleitgen is monitoring this situation from his vantage point there in Moscow. He joins us now. Good to see you, Fred.
So we understand that this is, this conference is going to get underway soon we thought it would be underway by now but we are sort of poised and ready, give us an idea on what they will be discussing and how soon we can expect to see a vaccination rollout across Europe.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, hi, Rosemary. Well, the press conference is actually already underway there at BioNTech, and you know, they have been talking for a little (inaudible) and setting the stage the stage a little bit. There's a few interesting things about glean so far from that press conference. One of the things that they were saying at that press conference is that the logistics of the rollout in Europe has already started.
Essentially what they need to do is they need to get the vaccine to logistics centers but they also need to test all the vaccine boxes that have the many doses of vaccine in them to make sure that they don't deliver any sort of faulty vaccines or is there any sort of issues for instance with the temperature of the vaccine that is being shipped.
Of course, Rosemary, one of the things that we have been talking about with the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine is that it needs to be stored and shipped at minus 70 degrees Celsius. So about minus 100 Fahrenheit, so that whole logistical process is of course one that is very sensitive. They know how to do that. It is a well-working process but of course, it's something that they want to be very accurate about.
The other thing at that press conference that they started talking about, literally a couple of minutes ago and I'm sort of getting information as we are speaking right now from our folks who we're monitoring the press conference is how that vaccine potentially is going to deal with his new variant of COVID-19 that has been discovered in the United Kingdom, and they're were shocking the CEO of BioNTech, he's saying that he is very confident that their vaccine is also going to be able to deal with that variant of COVID-19.
He said something similar in a German interview late last night. He believes that the vaccine attacks the virus on so many different levels and in so many different ways that it will be able to deal with this new variant.
They say that there have already been different of course mutations of the coronavirus over the past couple of months. They have tested that against their vaccine, which back then was a vaccine candidate, and they say so far they have never had an incidents where the efficacy of the vaccine would have been depleted due to the fact that there was some sort of mutation with the virus.
So, they are very confident but they also say of course, they are going to test whether or not the vaccine is still just as effective even with that new variant of COVID-19 that is of course is causing so much havoc right now here in Europe.
CHURCH: Yes. That is certainly very reassuring, exactly what people want to hear at this stage. And of course just in the last couple of weeks you have actually taken us on a tour of the vaccinations center in Germany. Is there a similar plan across other countries in Europe? And talk to us about discussions on who gets this first in various European countries.
[03:40:14]
PLEITGEN: Yes. It is actually similar for most European countries but of course one of the things that we have to keep in mind is despite the fact that of course the European Union is one big economic and trading area, that each country is still a little bit differently organized.
We talked about it a lot in Germany. There's a centralized vaccination centers that had gone up there. There's hundreds of them in the country now but already and poised to be able to administer that vaccine when they get it.
There is some different cases in some other countries where there might be physicians who give out the vaccine. There might be other forms of those vaccinations. There could just be at hospitals as well. But in the end because of the way that the vaccine needs to be stored and needs to be delivered with those logistical challenges, a lot of them will actually opt to bring people to the vaccine rather than bring into every single individual.
So the way that they plan this, and in most European countries the vaccinations are set to start towards the end of this week, around about December 27th.
And of course, first and foremost in most countries, it's going to be vulnerable populations who are going to get the vaccine first, people who of course are older people and then, people who have illnesses, and then of course health care workers very much in the front row, if you will in getting the vaccine as well, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes. Very exciting that this is all about to get underway. I'm sure there is European countries really poised and ready for all of this. Frederick Pleitgen joining us live there from Moscow, many thanks.
Well, with global concern growing over the new COVID variant in the U.K., the World Health Organization says there is another new variant of the virus in South Africa. And this one is entirely separate. Eleni Giokos, is in Johannesburg, and she joins us now live. Good to see you, Eleni. So, what are you learning about this other COVID variant?
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN MONEY AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (on camera): So, there are various variance that are starting to emerge globally. South Africa differs to that of what we are seeing in the U.K. and the likes of Australia, but it does shades similar characteristics. The WHO saying that they are very different in nature. This is what has been happening over the past few months, and obviously as COVID-19 cases emerge and increase, the expectation was that it would evolve, but the virus has now gone into a new stage and it is a variant that has three different mutations which actually surprised the epidemiologist in South Africa.
And now what they are saying is that nine out of the 10 new cases that we are seeing over the past few weeks are of this new variant. So, it is dominating cases right now. It initially emerged in the Nelson Mandela bay area, which is in the Eastern Cape, which interestingly is currently the hot spot area of COVID cases in the country. The country now is currently in its second wave.
So, what they are trying to do is collect data. They are testing in labs to see mostly if it is more deadly and if it is more transmissible. Take a listen to what the WHO technical emergency lead had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA VAN KERHOVE, WHO'S TECHNICAL LEAD FOR COVID-19: South Africans are also working with us through our virus evolution working group and they are presenting, they have presented to us some preliminary results from the studies that they are doing. They are currently growing the virus in South Africa so that more studies can be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GIOKOS (on camera): So what we do know is that the swabs that are currently going to testing labs show that there is a bigger viral load currently that show this variance and that is why there is a big worry that it is and maybe more transmissible than the normal COVID-19 that first came into the country months ago. And of course flight bans towards South Africa started to emerge as fear grows around what this new variant could mean.
CHURCH: All right. Thanks for staying on top of that. Eleni Giokos, joining us live from Johannesburg.
Well, Taiwan is reporting its first local COVID-19 cases in more than 250 days. The health ministry says a woman in her 30's was infected after she came into contact with another positive case, a foreign pilot. Taiwan with a population of around 23 million people, last saw a locally transmitted case on April 12th. Its total number of cases, 770. Incredible.
Well, coming up on CNN Newsroom, Jared Kushner is in Israel for a landmark flight to Morocco after the two countries normalize relations. We are live in Israel with more on the trip. That's next.
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[03:45:00]
CHURCH: We are tracking what's shaping up to be a milestone flight from Israel to Rabat Morocco. Both countries agreed to normalize ties in a deal brokered by the U.S. White House senior adviser and President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner is leading the delegation on the flight. And Journalist Elliott Gotkine joins me now live from Tel Aviv. Good to see you, Elliott. So, how significant is this delegation and flight lead by Kushner? ELLIOTT GOTKINE, JOURNALIST: Rosemary, these kind of flights with our
country's that are signing peace agreements with Israel seems to been happening with such regularity over the last few months. And it's hard to -- it's easy to forget how significant this is. The first ever direct flight between Tel Aviv, and Rabat.
Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and the special adviser saying that this trip will pave the way for a warm peace between Israel and Morocco. As morocco joins the circled Abraham Accords, which the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan had already signed up to. Now we talked a bit about the warm for the peace between Israel and the UAE, and tens of thousands of Israelis had been popping over there, for holidays.
And with Morocco be on a whole new level, because Morocco is home to the largest Jewish community in North Africa, about 3,000 has a Jewish community for more than 2,000. And almost 10 percent of Israel's population, some 700,000 people in this country can trace their roots, back to Morocco.
So, you can bet that one sees direct flight start up in earnest that a month's of coronavirus hopefully is behind us. That there will be many takers, hopping on board the direct flights from Tel Aviv to Rabat.
CHURCH: And Elliott, this flight is taking place on the very day the Israeli government, looks close to collapse. What can you tell us about that?
GOTKINE: Yes. Boring a post Hanukkah or pre-Christmas miracle, this government is toast at midnight tonight. It will be dissolved and the reason is that the two main bits of the coalition government, that's Prime Minister Netanyahu's white wing bloc and the blue and white party, led by Defense Minister Bennie Gantz couldn't agree on a budget.
And when they agreed to form a coalition, the only, the one and only loophole that Netanyahu had, because they've agreed that they would share the Prime Minister shift. The only way that Netanyahu could avoid Gantz as becoming Prime Minister, was if this budget fail to pass. So, I don't think everyone is hugely surprise that it's happened.
But this government will dissolve, and it looks like Israel is heading towards its fourth election in the space of two years, probably in March of next year. But certainly the best grip of the day belongs to the leader of the opposition (inaudible), he said to Prime Minister Netanyahu, you don't care about the mutation of the coronavirus, you only care about the rotation. Rosemary?
CHURCH (on camera): Right, Elliott Gotkine joining us there, many thanks.
Well, vegan and meat free burgers are all the rage these days. Making their way into supermarkets, and even fast food chains. But some customers still want a good old-fashioned steak. And for the eco conscious, one inventor in Japan may have just the thing. [03:50:05]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In 1958, the Japanese company Nissin introduced the world to instant ramen. Making meals quicker, cheaper and more convenient. It since sold over 100 billion packets of noodles. Now, Nissin is betting on another transformative shift to the way we eat.
FUTOSHI NAKAMURA, NEW FOOD DEVELOPMENT, NISSIN FOODS (through translator): As the world population grows, we will be facing food shortage issues, including meat shortages. We have been thinking about something we should do to solve this.
WANG: One possible idea, a new steak flavored ramen. Featuring meat grown in a lab. Nissin is collaborating with Tokyo University professor Shoji Takeuchi to develop this so-called artificial or cultured meat. Grown from animal stem cells.
SHOJI TAKEUCHI, INSTITUTE OF INDUSTRIAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO (through translator): Cultured meat is a technology to create meat by massively growing a tiny piece of the animal's muscular cells, taken from the animal, without killing it. Whereas conventional meat is produce by (inaudible) livestock and then cutting into pieces.
WANG: It's not much of a meal yet, but this teeny tiny piece of meat is something of a breakthrough. Takeuchi says that in 2019, he made the first lab grown steak.
TAKEUCHI (through translator): Ultimately, the goal of the research stage was to produce meat. That's exactly the same as real meat. Something which could be mistaken for meat.
WANG: Takeuchi says he can in theory produce around 50 steaks from just five grams of cow muscle. That could one day eliminate the need to raise large herds of cattle.
NAKAMURA (through translator): Environmentally speaking, culture meat needs less water. Many can grow it with a small amount of water.
WANG: Takeuchi think it will take another five years to perfect his cultured steak. There are still hurdles to clear though. Safety regulations, lowering the cost, and making sure the texture is just right. And of course, convincing consumers to eat meat grown in a lab. But Nissin believes this is just what customers want. Eco friendly comfort food. And another big shift in the way we eat. Selina Wang, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): Well now, something to make you smile. Do you remember this 91 year old granddad? Well, Martin Kenyon became an internet legend after receiving his first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, earlier this month. When he gave a candid interview to CNN. Our Cyril Vanier caught up with him to talk about his Christmas plans, and that new web stardom.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARTIN KENYON, RECEIVE FIRST DOSE OF PFIZER VACCINE: Interesting history about this.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN SHOW HOST: 91 -year-old Martin Kenyan is not an obvious candidate to become an overnight viral sensation, yet that's exactly what happened after this --
KENYON: I said, what is this thing you are doing? The vaccination, he said yes. I hope I am not going to have the bloody bug now. I didn't intend to have it to travel to granddaughters, and I want to live a long time. Well, there is no point of dying now when I have live this long.
VANIER: Martin was one of the very first Britons to receive the coronavirus vaccine. His dry wit, humor, and let's face it, bluntness --
[03:55:02]
KENYON: I had rather nasty lunch.
VANIER: Won the internet, 6 million views and counting, on Twitter. It earned him a star turned on Good Morning Britain.
KENYON: Now, who are you?
(LAUGHTER)
VANIER: And gushing headlines. The sun wouldn't even like to see him in the hit Netflix series the crown.
So, what did Martin make of all this attention?
KENYON: 10 days of interactive (inaudible) and my video (inaudible) to happen now isn't it? They are ridiculous. All because I run up the guy's hospital, doctor.
VANIER: The embodiment of the British mantra, keep calm and carry on. Unruffled, even in the face of a global and deadly pandemic.
KENYON: I haven't thought about it particularly. I'm sorry to be (inaudible) about it. I'm really hesitant being (inaudible) as I thought about.
VANIER: Where you concerned about the danger to yourself?
KENYON: Well, I care to. I took precautions against taking, it doesn't make sense does it?
VANIER: And if he's generally indifferent, why did the rush to get the vaccine?
KENYON: I'm all for getting something done that told to get done. VANIER: As an Oxford graduate, he had hope Oxford's AstraZeneca
vaccine would be available first. But settled for the Pfizer BioNTech job, the only one so far approved in the U.K. With the second injection schedule late December and an extra week for his body to fully react, according to British health authorities, Martin should be protected from COVID-19 by early January. If he's looking forward to it, well, it doesn't show.
KENYON: If I listen to whether I'm having immunity (inaudible), until you just succumb to the thing and you realized oh, damn, I didn't have immunity. (Inaudible).
VANIER: Martin does hopes he can hug his grandchildren again, before long. But for first to talk about a life well lived. His travels to South Africa during the apartheid area. The lasting friendships, including with Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
KENYON: Desmond, used to call me Mr. Martin. I call him Mr. Tutu.
VANIER: Now, godfather to his daughter. His encounters with Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, and he says, the queens late sister Princess Margaret. As for that cameo on the crown, don't hold your breath.
KENYON: For God's sake what I've read about the crown, I wouldn't be near it. Very unkind they have been about the Prince of Wales, apparently. Very ludicrous about Dana --
VANIER: Cyril Vanier, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH (on camera): There you go. We've said we would leave you with a smile. Thanks for joining us, I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more news in just a moment. Stick around.
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