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Downtown Nashville Sealed Off After "Intentional" Explosion; A Roller Coaster Year for Students as COVID Changes the Classroom; U.S. Reports At Least 330 Deaths from COVID on Christmas Day; Russian Opposition Activist Arrested by Authorities. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired December 25, 2020 - 14:30   ET

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

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: So, on the one hand, you have mass destruction. On the other hand, there appears to be intent to prevent mass casualties by having that warning go off, suggesting that the bomb would detonate in 15 minutes and giving police time to go door to door evacuating residents.

[14:30:10]

Have you ever seen a situation like that?

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: I haven't seen a situation like that. I certainly in my time investigating bombs in Pakistan and throughout the world, I've seen explosions of that magnitude or larger.

This is a fairly significant explosion, however. This is -- this is not a single pipe bomb. This is something big. And when the person -- I mean, the person thought this out. They had to put speakers in the RV. It's been there, I understand, for several days or at least a day, I'm sorry.

The person doing it on Christmas Day would be doing it for the least amount of casualties, at least ancillary or collateral casualties. They specifically put it in an area where all the businesses would be closed on Christmas. It was across from an office/technical building that had no windows even.

So, it tells me the bomb itself was specifically set in a way as to not injure civilians. However, we're going to want to know from the bomb investigation whether it had things like nails in it or bolts or even razor blades to find out if it was an actual anti-personnel explosive intended -- the only potential people that it could have been targeting were first responders, because the person who set this new they would respond to this, number one.

And the 15 minutes gives you time to do some evacuation, at least in the close area, but it doesn't give you time to disarm the weapon. So somebody thought this through pretty carefully.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, you just look at the devastation there and thankfully there were only three people injured. As you mentioned, two of them were first responders, police officers. One suffered, I believe, minor hearing loss but thankfully there were no lives lost and no severe injuries as well. This could have been much worse given the magnitude of this explosion, no doubt.

Steve Moore, thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it.

MOORE: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: And up next, it was a roller coaster year for students, teachers and parents. We take a look at a year unlike any other and the way 2020 may have changed education and schools forever.

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[14:37:02]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: Few things in 2020 drove home the reality of the coronavirus pandemic, more than millions of children being sent home from school. Just weeks after the virus given spreading across communities large and small, frantic officials made the decision to suspend in-person learning. Like everything else in the early stages of the virus, no one knew how long it would last.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The nation's largest public school system in New York City is shutting down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Schools across the country are closing for two weeks, in some cases like here in New York, a month.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Those estimates turned out to be optimistic. As the reality of the pandemic set in, so did the realization of how long school buildings would be closed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to be able to go back to school.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remote learning for the rest of the school year --

GOLODRYGA: And what would be needed to adapt. Many schools were essentially learning on the fly how to conduct virtual teaching while attempting to finish the school year.

LILY ESKELEN GARCIA, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: A lot of teachers have said we're building the airplane while it's going down the runway. Another teacher said it's bigger than that. We're Apollo 13.

GOLODRYGA: The same happened with colleges.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: The coronavirus pandemic forcing many college and universities across the country to shut down classrooms and dormitories, forcing students off campus and to continue their studies online.

GOLODRYGA: For the class of 2020, graduation was sometimes a ceremony of one online. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like a hood.

GOLODRYGA: Or it came to them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So good to see you.

GOLODRYGA: Or it took place on a ski lift. Those graduating from college faced the brutal reality of looking for a job during a pandemic-fueled recession.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many of the responses I've gotten have been, hey, we don't know if these positions ever going to reopen again.

SHADAE LESLIE, GRADUATED COLLEGE IN 2020: Decades from now, whenever we all reflect back, we all had this common and shared experience, and you'll always be able to say, oh, you're class of 2020, I know what happened.

GOLODRYGA: In 2020, we learned just how helpful educational technology can be but also its many limitations. It proved to be no match for in-person school learning. And as the months of online learning dragged on, experts began to worry about how far behind students may be falling.

MEGAN KUHFELD, RESEARCH SCIENTIST, NORTHWEST EVALUATION ASSOCIATION: Not only is we're getting process starting, but they're also missing out on exposure. It's the last (INAUDIBLE) of instruction. So, it's kind of a double whammy.

GOLODRYGA: A triple whammy for those students unable to log on. Online learning made existing inequalities even worse, as students from lower income and homeless families often struggled to get connected. School enrolment dropped across the country, prompting some administrators to even send out social workers door to door in homes of finding missing students and helping them to get back to class virtually.

ELISA OLMO, SOCIAL WORKER: We have some families that are just -- that they are having a difficult time with life in general right now. They're losing their jobs. They're maybe losing their house.

[14:40:00]

So school gets put on the back burn burner. It's no longer a priority.

GOLODRYGA: The need to find child care for children learning from home meant some parents giving up their jobs.

SARAH PARRA, LEFT JOB DURING PANDEMIC: It didn't make sense to go to work and pay somebody else to be home with my own kids.

GOLODRYGA: Throughout the summer, school administrations around the country began the monumental task of figuring out what they would do need in order to safely reopen their buildings, starting with how to safely get students back inside. GRENITA LATHAN, SUPERINTENDENT, HOUSTON INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT:

As you see, we've labeled our seats the way we would space students out. They'll enter here. We have hand sanitizer that is replenished throughout the school day.

GOLODRYGA: With the uncertainty of when school buildings might open, some families became creative, organizing pandemic pods with other families for their students at home.

ANDREA LABOUCHERE, ORGANIZED LEARNING POD: We wanted to create an environment where our kids could work together, be together and have that social part of school. It's so important.

ADDY LABOUCHERE, STUDIES IN LEARNING POD: I'd rather be in a pod with my friends than be at home just working on school by myself.

GOLODRYGA: When the academic year finally began, some schools offering in-person instruction had to deal with outbreaks or quarantines.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: This morning, over a thousand students and staff of two Georgia high schools are under quarantine following a coronavirus outbreak, which forced the schools to shut their doors.

GOLODRYGA: Delayed openings.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: School days, instructional days were slated to begin September 10th. We're going to hold that for a few days. We made a move here of a few days to get it right.

GOLODRYGA: And a few silver linings.

EMILY OSTER, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Well, there are people with COVID at schools but they really seem to be coming from the communities. We're not seeing a lot of large outbreak.

GOLODRYGA: With more evidence as the year went on that severe illness due to COVID-19 is relatively rare among children, a greater push was made to find ways to get them back into the classrooms.

JOSEPH ALLEN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, HARVARD T.H. CHAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: The science is quite good and tells us there is a way to keep adults and kids safe in schools.

GOLODRYGA: Even that wasn't without conflict as pressures from families pushing for buildings to be reopened at times clashed with other parent and staff worried about safety measures.

NASEEB GIL, TEACHER: The scariest part is you just -- you have no idea what you're walking into, into those classes.

I could be putting my students at risk.

I could be putting my family members at risk.

GOLODRYGA: Also unknown, the long-term social, emotional and academic costs of what students went through during this pandemic year.

BETSEY STEVENSON, PUBLIC POLICY PROFESSOR: It's not going to be like, oh, this is great, let me just put my kid back to school and get back to work and everything will go back to the way it was in 2019. I think these kids are going to need a lot of attention.

GOLODRYGA: As 2020 draws to a close, a widely available vaccine appears to be on the horizon. It cannot come soon enough for so many families, students and teachers who showed us that while we have the tools to make online education possible --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you come up to tell us our Zoom classroom rules?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Be on time. Stay on mute. Raise a silent hand.

GOLODRYGA: There is still no substitute for a classroom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA: And up next, the incredible toll of the coronavirus on the front line providers. We get one primary care physician's perspective on how serious the situation is for his patients, and how encouraging the vaccine contribution really is.

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[14:48:10]

GOLODRYGA: Today as millions of us celebrate Christmas, at least another 330 Americans have lost their battle with the coronavirus. Even more sobering, just yesterday alone, 2,800 Americans died and more than 190,000 were newly infected. December now accounts for the most infections of any month since the onset of the pandemic with more than 4.8 million cases in 25 days.

Dr. Saju Mathew is a primary care physician and public health specialist.

Dr. Mathew, compare what you're seeing now to what we saw back in the spring when the first wave hit.

DR. SAJU MATHEW, PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN & PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST: Yeah, Bianna, it's a huge difference. When I look at my schedule, I see about 20 patients a day. Every morning I look at my schedule for the next day, it's gone from diabetes follow-up, high pressure follow- up to shortness of breath, fever, chills, COVID, COVID, COVID, I was exposed to somebody at work.

These are the people I'm seeing on a daily basis, and then not to mention when I take a call, which is every five days, about 90 percent of the calls are COVID-related. And frankly, it does make a bit, you know, emotional, Bianna. I'm also scheduled to get my COVID vaccine on Sunday and perhaps really for me, this is also going to be hopefully the beginning of the end. I've been dealing with COVID for eight months and always worried if

I've exposed myself to my patients or when I visit my parents, have I possibly exposed my parents? So, yeah, I'm ready for this also to end and this vaccine hopefully is the silver lining. But until then, sadly, enough, a lot more Americans will die.

GOLODRYGA: And, seeing you get so emotional just reminds viewers and myself that so many countless first responders, doctors, nurses who have said this isn't the first surge, the second, this is the third surge that they're now experiencing it.

[14:50:11]

And they're human, too. It does take a toll on them emotionally to sometimes be the last with those patients who die in their care. I'm so happy to hear that you are getting your vaccine. It's so well- deserved, and I'm sorry to make you emotional on this Christmas day of all days, Doctor.

But I want to ask you about the new variant out of the U.K. as well. I know this is something you've been closely following. What stood out to me is that it appears to make children as equally susceptible as adults. I haven't heard much more about this analysis, but do you find this alarming if, in fact, that's the case?

MATHEW: No, not all, Bianna, I still think that we have to look more into this variant in U.K., and really in Europe, it's been in the Netherlands and we know for sure it's been in Denmark as well for three months. So we know for sure, that, unfortunately, given how contagious this virus is, it's probably in the U.S. as well, and we also know that children are as susceptible.

Quite a few months ago, maybe about three months ago, there was a scientist that talked about how the virus is present more in the nasal passages of children than they are adults, just the way that children behave. So, I'm not surprised. I still think that we shouldn't be too alarmed. The RNA virus mutates quite a bit and I don't think it's going to affect the efficacy of the vaccines.

GOLODRYGA: I don't want to end on an emotional note. I still see that you have tears in your eyes, and for good reason. But is there a message that you have for the thousands of patients who are now celebrating is the wrong word -- but are in the hospital on this Christmas Day, fighting for their lives, a lot of them alone. Many of them you have seen as well and helped. What is your message to them on this somber day?

MATHEW: Yeah, you know, my message to them, if they're able to watch or their family members, is you know what, don't -- don't give up hope. I think that it is really difficult when you are battling any type of disease by yourself, but can you imagine, Bianna, being in a room by yourself and the person holding your hands are hardworking nurses and respiratory therapists who are also just as emotional as I am today.

And for the people that are not in the hospital, to them, those are the people that I really want to plea. Listen, just hold on. We have these vaccines. If you look back at the Spanish flu pandemic in 1918, this is the time when people gave up. Five hundred million people were infected and 15 million people died. Most of those people died in the November/December months when they literally took their masks off and went into the streets.

We can't give up. It's all about risk reduction. It doesn't mean we have to cancel Christmas or New Year's, but really be wise about the decisions you make, and let's protect our family members and make it to this vaccine.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, you mentioned that l918 pandemic, CNN is airing a special on that hosted by Anderson Cooper tonight to remind our viewers of what transpired back then.

Dr. Saju Mathew, thank you so much. I'm so happy you're getting this vaccine for you and your family. Thank you.

MATHEW: Thank you, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: And up next, Russian police turned their attention to a close ally of opposition leader Alexei Navalny. This video about arrest, and why the Russian government would target her now.

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[14:55:00]

GOLODRYGA: Police in Russia raided the home and arrested an activist linked to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny and his investigative team say they believe it was in response to attempts by Lyubov Sobol to visit the home of a federal security agent. A CNN exclusive report showed a phone call between Navalny and the agent in which Navalny dupes him into revealing that Navalny had been poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok and it had been applied to his underwear. Can't make this up.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins me now from Moscow.

And, Fred, this obviously comes following CNN's exclusive reporting, along with Bellingcat, the Kremlin has now accused Navalny of poisoning himself, right, that's what they initially said. Then they said, Vladimir Putin said last week that he could have killed him if they wanted to. They banned the publication of this agent's information, turning that into law, and now they're making accusations against his allies.

Really questionable actions from the Kremlin.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, there's a few questionable actions. Also with that phone call, they also claim that is fake. There's been a bunch of claims out there coming from the Russian authorities.

But in this case, what they're doing now, we just got this a couple of hours, an investigative committee here in Russia is now investigating the Lyubov Sobol, this Navalny ally, for trespassing, using violence or the threat of violence for trying to go up to the apartment of that FSB agent. Now, she was actually able to tell her side of the story being before lifted this morning by the authorities.

And she claims she went to the apartment block, that there might have been interaction with a woman who claimed to be the mother of this agent, named Konstantin Kudryavtsev. She then went outside, she said nothing happened. Her car she says was surrounded then by police officers and then obviously she left the scene.

But then if you look at the video, and I think we're showing it right now of how the officers then went up to her apartment. You can see a lot of the guys who are part of that police force look like they're dressed like members of a SWAT team. They have a crow bar. They have something that appears to be some sort of ramming device in case they would have knocked down the door, so this was clearly a pretty severe posture that they show there.

But again, Navalny saying that he obviously believes that this is related to her trying to go up to that apartment, clearly showing that the authorities here are quite nervous after a lot of that reporting that CNN has done, that Bellingcat has done as well.

[15:00:00]