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Downtown Nashville Sealed Off After Intentional Explosion; Nation Celebrates Christmas as Pandemic Rages Across U.S.; White House Says President Trump Has Been Briefed on Nashville Explosion. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired December 25, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:30:00]

AMARA WALKER, CNN NEWSROOM: Welcome back, everyone. We are continuing to follow breaking news in Downtown Nashville, where there was a massive explosion. Police believe it was intentional. This is in the historic arts and tourist district down there. This happened just after 6:30 this morning.

We know that three people were injured as a result of this blast that we understand could be felt about nine blocks away, although the injured are not in critical condition. And we do know that one police officer was knocked to the ground and suffering right now from temporary hearing loss.

So, what you see right now is an active crime scene and investigation is under way to find out who may have been behind this and the motive as well. We'll continue to stay on top of this.

In the meantime, let's talk about the pandemic. And the coronavirus has changed Christmas as we know it. But there are millions of Americans who are not heeding the warnings from the medical experts who say what family do now could lead to a post-holiday COVID spike during an already trying time.

Just yesterday on Christmas Eve, the U.S. reported over 2,800 deaths and added over 190,000 new cases. But despite the rising numbers, millions of Americans are still traveling this week. But for some passengers, the rules are about to change. With rising concerns about the new COVID-19 strain in the United Kingdom, the CDC will soon require proof of a negative COVID-19 test for all passengers entering the U.S. from the U.K.

Let's start there with CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. Hello, Elizabeth.

So, walk us through the new requirements and how it will work.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Amara, there is a lot of skepticism about these requirements and how effective they will be. So, let's first look at what they are. So what the CDC has done is that they're saying that passengers must get tested within three days of leaving the U.K. So, you don't have to get tested right before, just within three days. And that those passengers then have to provide documentation that they got a negative test to the airlines.

Here is the problem. There are several days in there in which you could get infected but it wouldn't show up in a test. So, in other words, let's say, the day before you got tested, you got infected with COVID-19, it wouldn't show up on the test the next day. And, of course, it wouldn't show up if you got tested the day after -- I'm sorry, if you got infected the day you're tested, the day after that. So, in other words, you can pretty easily get on a flight infected and not know it even with this testing system.

Several experts I've talked to this morning, they used the word, porous. They said it is just porous. It really doesn't do all that much to help keep this strain out of the U.S. But I will note, the strain is probably already in the U.S. Amara?

WALKER: Yes, and that's what we're hearing. Thank you so much, Elizabeth Cohen.

All right, joining me now is CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Megan Ranney. She is an Emergency Room Physician in Rhode Island. Merry Christmas to you. Thanks for joining us.

So, first off, I mean, it's crisis mode, unfortunately, at many hospitals across the country. We know that many hospitals are under immense stress right now. We know in Southern California, the capacity is at zero percent. What are you seeing on the frontlines at the hospitals?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: So, here in Rhode Island, we have two alternative hospital sites open because we have so many COVID-19 patients that it was overwhelming our hospital capacity. I have heard tales from my colleagues across the country in L.A. and Southern California. I have friends who had EMS agencies decline to take patients to the hospital because the hospitals are so full. I have colleagues at other hospitals that or on diversion, putting beds in their gift shops because simply have no space.

And then you add on to it, something like that Nashville explosion, there is virtually no space for these crisis occurrences, the traumas that often occur when we are full up with COVID patients. So, it has this knock-on effect of not just making it tougher to take care of the sick COVID-19 patients but also making it tougher to care of all the other emergency that occur over the course of a normal day or with a tragedy like this morning in Nashville.

[11:35:05]

WALKER: Yes. And I was at the hospital -- excuse me, at the airport yesterday, Atlanta International Airport, covering the fact that millions of people are still traveling this holiday season, even though public health officials have been asking people to not travel, if you don't have to. I spoke to a lot of passengers and a lot of them seem to take things in stride. They told me, look, I haven't traveled all year. I miss my family. I took a COVID-19 test and I'm going to take all the necessary precautions once I get to my destination, even though they'll be gathering indoors with their elderly parents or whatnot. What is your message to them?

RANNEY: I think there's a lot of confusion about what the necessary precautions are. And I think that all of us at this point in the pandemic are looking for those little loopholes to make us feel like it's safe to get together with family indoors without a mask. Just like those CDC recommendations about the test before you travel from the U.K., getting tested before you travel to go visit family is not sufficient. You could be infected and with you and just didn't have a positive test yet, or you could be getting (INAUDIBLE).

And I can't tell you, Amara, how many people I have seen in the E.R. who got sick during Thanksgiving. They thought, I've been safe all along, I'm just going to bend the rules for this little short period of time. I trust my family. And somebody brought the infection into the home and many members of the family got sick. Many members of families are getting hospitalized. That's not that any of us want to see from Thanksgiving.

So, the message to folks that are traveling is to keep a mask on, try to be outdoors if possible, if you must be indoors with people, maximize ventilation, keep windows open and try as hard as can you not to spend time with people who are not part of your day-to-day household.

WALKER: Yes, we heard from Dr. Fauci just this week saying he is concerned about another surge superimposed on this surge following this Christmas and New Year season. The CDC, as we were just reporting with Elizabeth Cohen, requiring a negative COVID-19 test. That could be a PCR or an antigen rapid test for anyone traveling to the U.S. from the U.K. But Elizabeth Cohen was saying, I mean, a lot of health officials believe that U.K variant of the virus is already here in the United States. So, how effective do you think these new restrictions will be?

RANNEY: I think the new restrictions are too little too late. The cat is already out of the bag. We've been having flights back and forth between the U.K. and U.S. consistently. The virus variant was first identified in late September in the U.K. There is virtually no way that it's not already here in the U.S.

Moreover, as Dr. Cohen described, that 72-hour test is just not sufficient to keep it out. So if by some magical chance it's not already here that, protocol is not going to stop it from getting here. We already saw trying to block flights from China to keep the virus out. That sure as heck didn't work. I don't expect that this will either. And I worry based on what we know about this new viral variant that it's going to lead to more super-spreader events and quicker transmission of the virus, which is just so sad because we're almost at that light at the end of the tunnel with the vaccine. This will make it tougher for us to control the stop of the virus.

WALKER: Yes, that is really discouraging and scary. And we do know that studies are under way to see if the vaccines will protect against this variant. We will see.

Dr. Megan Ranney, I appreciate you, thank you so much.

RANNEY: Thank you. Merry Christmas.

WALKER: You too. All right, still ahead, the Nashville Police Department plans to give yet another update on an explosion that happened in the downtown area. That will happen at 1:00 P.M. Eastern. We'll continue to follow this breaking news and bring you any updates when they come in.

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[11:40:00]

WALKER: And updating our top story this morning, investigators on the scene of a massive explosion in Downtown Nashville, Tennessee. The blast was felt as many as blocks away and it left at least three people injured although not critically.

Listen now to the moment when it happened.

Wow, yes, that's extremely loud. Police have now sealed off Downtown Nashville as they gather evidence. And I guess once you just heard that, it's no surprise that a police officer was not only knocked to the ground after that the explosion, but we're told he is now experiencing, hopefully, temporary hearing loss.

CNN Crime and Justice Correspondent Shimon Prokupecz has been following this story all morning long. What's the latest? I know that residents are saying that they actually heard gunshots ring out before this explosion occurred.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So there was an 911 call, the police said, for a reported gunshot, shots being fired. And that's what brought the police to the location. So that is the latest. Some of the local reports indicate that they have witnesses and local reporters have talked to witnesses who said they called 911. It could some kind of popping sound maybe that's tied to the explosion. And so perhaps that's what may have sounded like gunfire, but, in fact, it may have had to do with the explosion.

It's really in terms of what those 911 calls were about. So we're trying to get more information from the police. And as we know, they're going to have another press conference in about an hour.

But the Department of Justice, the acting attorney general, Jeff Rosen, just put out a statement. And he says that the acting attorney general, Jeff Rosen, was briefed on the Nashville incident early this morning and directed that all DOJ resources be made available to assist in the investigation,

So that is the Department of Justice now saying that they're throwing all of their resources with the FBI and the ATF at this investigation to try and figure out who is responsible for this and why. And as we continue to see pictures from out here, I mean, those pictures, right, the damage, the debris field, how wide it goes. I've been watching the local news there. There were people that are reporting, hearing the explosion, they were miles away when they heard the explosion.

And we keep seeing these pictures, the damage, the cars that are now just burned out, the buildings that are completely destroyed by the explosion. And then you just continue to see what looks like beams, the steel beams from buildings, trees down and the facades of a lot of these buildings have been destroyed.

[11:45:03]

The other thing we're hearing stories from the police that when they got there, after that 911 call for shots fired, they saw the R.V., they saw something suspicious about this R.V., and so they called the bomb squad in. And as the bomb squad is rolling in, they're evacuating the area. So we're hearing some heroic stories from the police who were able to get a lot of people out of that area which prevented obviously many more people from getting hurt.

WALKER: Shimon Prokupecz, thank you so much for that.

I do want to mention that it has been a very difficult year for Tennesseans. I was just there in March covering the tornado that hit its downtown district. And, clearly, they're still recover from that, at least economically. And also the COVID-19 pandemic is surging in that state. In fact, the Tennessee governor, Bill Lee, recently called it ground zero for the COVID surge. It's experiencing the highest rate of new coronavirus infections in the country right now, so a very difficult time for those living in Tennessee. Obviously, we'll continue to stay on top of this story.

Coming up, the $900 billion coronavirus relief bill is now down in Florida with President Trump. But is he getting any closer to signing it?

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[11:50:00]

WALKER: We're following the breaking news out of Nashville, Tennessee, where police are investigating what they are calling an intentional explosion in the city's downtown. Police are expected to hold another briefing at 1:00 P.M. Eastern with more information. And we have just learned the President Trump has been briefed on this explosion.

CNN's Joe Johns is in West Palm Beach with more. Hi there, Joe. What are we hearing from the White House?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, pretty short and sweet, Amara, quite frankly. The information was released to the White House media pool just a little while ago from the White House Press Office indicating that the president has been briefed about the explosion in Nashville and essentially that he is getting updates, expects to be getting updates as well. He also said that he's praying for the people who were injured and also said a word of thanks for the first responders. So that's about all we know about the president being briefed. No other information available at this time, Amara.

WALKER: And, Joe, is the White House saying anything about that COVID relief bill that's waiting for the president's signature? Do we know if he intends on signing it?

JOHNS: Right. We know it was flown here for the president but aides say they have no idea whether the president is going to sign the bill, veto the bill or not sign the bill at all. Part of the problem is that we have not heard from the president since he got down here on Wednesday. Yesterday, he went golfing, he is back out at his golf course once again today here in the West Palm Beach area, and simply no word from the president directly to the media or anybody else that we know of.

However, we do know that the president at least was expected to take some meetings and phone calls. He wrote on Twitter last night that he did have a meeting but it wasn't about the stimulus, it wasn't about any of the other things that are facing the country right now, especially up in Washington. What the president said on Twitter is that he talked with people, about eight senators, who are not helping overturn the election, essentially saying that he's never going to forget that.

WALKER: So, he's focusing on himself while millions of Americans are literally on the edge right now, economically. Joe Johns, thank you so much for joining us.

All right, joining me now are CNN's Abby Phillip and CNN Political Commentator Doug Heye. All right, so, welcome to you both, Merry Christmas, a beautiful Christmas tree behind you, Doug.

So, let's start with the COVID relief bill which is now in jeopardy. Who knows what will happen. There are obviously some real life deadlines that will determine whether people will be able to feed their families or pay their rent. Tomorrow, unemployment benefits run out for more than 12 million Americans. On Monday, the country faces a government shutdown.

So, Abby, first to you, any idea what the president is thinking here or is literally everyone in the dark expect for his very close inner circle?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think right now, Amara, everyone is in the dark about what is going on with President Trump and what he intends to do here. The problem with last minute demand for these $2,000 checks is that there's really no mechanism by which that could possibly happen in a timely fashion. There is no plan B over on Capitol Hill. So the choice that faces is either to sign the bill, to veto the bill or to delay and further increase the kind of pain that people are experiencing in this country right now, especially economically. And I think right now, it just seems that the president is sort of holding the country hostage to the idea that he wants to have some influence in the process that, frankly, he could have had influence in several months ago but chose not to, and now is trying to do it at the last second.

WALKER: Yes. And, Doug, I mean, not only as Abby was mentioning, not only did Trump stun even his own aides and his party with that last minute upending of the bill, there's a lot of frustration as well on both sides.

Congressman Anthony Gonzales, a Republican from Ohio, tweeted this on Wednesday. If he thinks going on Twitter and trashing the bill his team negotiated and we supported on his behalf is going to bring more people to his side in this election fiasco, I hope he's wrong, though I guess we'll see.

Doug, what kind of fallout are Republicans bracing for if the president doesn't sign, and will there be impact on the Senate race here in Georgia?

DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I think that's the real big question right now, is Senate races politically. That's the question because the Republican candidates staked out a position that was based on where the president was.

[11:55:00]

And now, the president has seemingly, if not, reversed course, really put things on pause. And it's caused a real question mark for the Republicans and that Democrats who are running in that Senate race now, both of those races, they're on the offense, saying, yes, I agree with the president, which is something that they haven't really said a lot in this campaign.

And also it signals to Republicans, we said in 2004 about John Kerry, he was for it before he was against it, this is where Donald Trump has put Republicans. They were for this. They voted overwhelmingly for it. And now there is a real big question mark here.

WALKER: Abby Phillip and Doug Heye, we'll leave it there. Thank you very much for joining us.

HEYE: Thank you.

WALKER: All right. Coming up, we are standing by for another police briefing in the explosion, you heard it there, that police are calling intentional. We will bring you the press conference live at 1:00 P.M. Eastern when it happens.

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[12:00:00]

WALKER: Hello, everyone. Merry Christmas to you. I am Amara Walker.