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A Coronavirus Christmas; U.S. to Require Negative COVID Test for Travelers from U.K.; Trump Vacations in Florida As Americans Wait for Help; Extreme Storm Hits U.S. East Coast. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 25, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:26]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: It's a Christmas like no other, as people everywhere spend the holidays under extraordinary coronavirus restrictions.

Health authorities say anyone flying into the United States from Britain will soon have to test negative for the virus.

And a Christmas storm is bringing extreme weather to the U.S. East Coast. We'll tell you what states are affected.

Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to you our viewers here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

(MUSIC)

BRUNHUBER: It's now Christmas day in the U.S. and across much of the world, but this year's holiday will be unlike any seen in recent history because of the global pandemic. Masks and social distancing are the new normal, and millions of people who have lost their jobs are now turning to food banks to feed their families. There's also growing concern over a new variant of the virus that was first discovered in the U.K. and appears to spread more easily.

Beginning Monday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will require a negative COVID test for all passengers coming to the U.S. from the U.K.

Nearly 1/4 of all the world's COVID cases are here in the United States. Record numbers of new infections and deaths in the U.S. occur almost daily, and U.S. hospitals now have more COVID patients on this Christmas day than ever before. More than 120,000 people, that's double what it was at the beginning of November.

The White House has released a cheery Christmas photo of President Trump and the first lady. But ever since losing the 2020 election, the president has all but ignoring the crises facing the country.

U.S. lawmakers earlier approved the modest financial lifeline to help struggling Americans get through the holidays but the president went on vacation without signing it, and now it's not clear if he will.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After throwing financial relief for millions of Americans into limbo, President Trump decamped to his Mar-a-Lago resort and quickly set his sights on his golf game. The president hitting the links after a pre- Christmas threat to sink legislation providing $900 billion in desperately needed coronavirus aid, even as the White House last night said the president would, quote, continue to work tirelessly for the American people. His schedule includes many meetings and calls.

But as the president tees off, 20 million Americans are out of work, nearly 8 million have fallen into poverty since the summer, and supplemental unemployment benefits are set to expire at the end of the week.

The president's refusal to sign the spending package could also trigger a government shut down on Tuesday.

REP. STENY HOYER (D-MD): The bill HR-9047, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.

DIAMOND: Even as Trump demanded Congress triple $600 stimulus checks to Americans, House Republicans objecting Tuesday to Democrats' attempts to amend that provision by unanimous consent.

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): It is Christmas eve, but it is not a silent night. All is not calm. For too many nothing is bright, and for too many, they are not sleeping peacefully.

DIAMOND: The president remains fixated on reversing the election he lost, complaining that his forever loyal vice president isn't fighting hard enough, retweeting a call for Pence to accept Electoral College votes during a pro forma session of Congress on January 6th, a breach of Pence's constitutional duty.

Trump and Pence spent more than an hour together in the Oval Office in the office before the re-tweet, and Trump has been quote confused as to why Pence can't step in to overturn the election. The president also plowing ahead more controversial pardons. A day after pardoning two men who lied to special counsel Robert Mueller's investigators and three corrupt congressmen, Trump issuing 26 more pardons, including to his long time political adviser Roger Stone who lied to investigators to protect Trump, and Paul Manafort, the former Trump campaign chairman who stopped cooperating with Mueller's team and lied to prosecutors.

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FBI: You have a president who's actively engaged in undermining the system of justice that he is supposed to protect and defend.

[04:05:05]

It's remarkably disgusting. DIAMOND: Republican Senator Ben Sasse slamming the pardons as rotten

to the core. And Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen who did cooperate with prosecutors said Trump's pardons show how broken the whole criminal justice system is. This is wrong.

But that's not all. Trump also pardoning his son-in-law Jared Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, who is prosecuted by Republican Chris Christie.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: Mr. Kushner pled guilty. If a guy hires a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law and videotapes it and then sends the video tape to his sister to attempt to intimidate her from testifying before a grand jury, do I really need anymore justification than that?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (on camera): And President Trump certainly seems to be getting the kind of gratifications his bruised ego may need at the moment. The president on Thursday, I'm told, received a warm welcome at his golf club as he went there for his first of what I assume will be many days of golf as he spends time here in South Florida at his Mar-a-Lago resort. The president had discussions with some of the members there, and friends and acquaintances who he often sees at the golf club and he discussed the 2020 election.

And according to a person familiar with the matter, the president was still talking about how adamant he is about continuing to contest the results of this election. I'm told by a person familiar with the matter that the president is, quote, very resolute in continuing to want to fight the Electoral College and the person said the president city thinks it's not over.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida.

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now is CNN political commentator, Alice Stewart.

Alice, thanks for coming on. I want to grow with the growing gulf between congressional Republicans and the president both the defense bill and most importantly, and the COVID relief bill. The president essentially holding this bill hostage, people will lose their benefits, the government will run out of money. Time is running out.

I just want to get your reaction to the president kind of sowing chaos at this late hour.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right, Kim. He's not only holding the bill hostage, but he's really holding the American people hostage, that need this COVID relief.

And, look, I talked with a lot of congressional Republicans and there's a lot of frustration with them because in the weeks leading up to their voting for this bill, they were under the impression that this was President Trump's bill, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin was complaining what the president wanted and they were okay with voting for the terms that were agreed to by Secretary Mnuchin and Nancy Pelosi. And they went ahead and voted for some of the aspects of this they didn't really like, some of the spending in this, but they voted anyway thinking that this was the president's bill.

Now come to find out, he has been talking about vetoing his own bill. So, they are frustrated because they feel as though they have walked the plank on this, and now the president has thrown them overboard. But the good thing is that there is relief in sight, I do believe if the president decides he wants to veto this. This is a bipartisan bill and had tremendous support by Democrats and Republicans.

And I see them moving forward with overriding the veto and getting help into the pockets of the American people exactly where it belongs.

BRUNHUBER: Is that a politically dangerous move, overriding the president?

STEWART: Not at this point, no, because at the end of the day, this is what the American people need. Donald Trump is just a few weeks away from not being in the oval office anymore, and the American people are just a few days away from losing precious benefits, from losing money that they need to keep a roof over their head and food on the table, and the reality is these members of Congress, they are beholden to their constituents, not President Trump.

And they're getting calls and they're getting e-mails and they're getting pressed by people in their districts that they need help, and at the end of the day, they're going to do what their constituents want, and the president's frustration with the fact that he did not win this election is going to take a backseat because help needs to be on the way, and they worked really hard to agree to this package and they want to see it implemented.

BRUNHUBER: You brought up the constituents, I'm justice, you know, want to ask you, since you're here in Georgia, we're both in Georgia where millions have already voted in the duel runoff election here, as a Republican strategist, you have sort of been on the ground with the candidates trying to get the two Republicans elected here.

Do you think that the chaos in Washington, much of it, you know, of the president's making will affect the race? After all, as you kind of mentioned there, your candidates were running on this basically before the president pulled the rug out from under them.

STEWART: Kim, I sure hope not because the integrity of our elections is paramount, and it's the cornerstone of our democracy, and anything anyone says to do anything to undermine the voting process is unfortunate.

[04:10:07]

And I know there has been talk by some saying that the last election wasn't valid so don't come out in January. That's nonsense, and I have been on the ground here in the state of Georgia, and people are motivated, on both sides, Republicans and Democrats, because they want their voices to be heard.

We had record numbers come out in the election in November, and we're on tap to see record numbers in January. And look, whether you're Democrat or Republican, everyone should come out and vote, and everyone should have their voice be heard.

I happen to think it's important to have a divided Congress and have a check and balance on the democratic leadership. But the most important thing is for people to come out and vote, whether you're on the right or left, having your voice be heard is the most important thing and having confidence coming out to vote and knowing that your vote will be counted is paramount.

BRUNHUBER: We'll have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us, Alice Stewart. We really appreciate it.

STEWART: Thank you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: When the British parliament meets next Wednesday, lawmakers are largely expected to ratify a historic post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union. U.K.'s final break with the E.U. officially begins January 1st, just one week from today.

Getting to this point took nearly a year of negotiations and came down to the wire but on Christmas Eve, the prime minister announced a trade agreement with the E.U. had finally been reached.

Now there's plenty of uncertainty and chaos leading up to this moment, thousands of truckers bound for Europe have been stranded for days in British ports while awaiting COVID-19 test results. And though the massive back ups were a consequence of the pandemic, they vividly underscored the urgency of getting a trade deal done before January 1st.

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has the latest from London.

Salma, take us through this. What's next?

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the next is two parts, the British parliament has to come into session tomorrow, Wednesday, and they will be approving, rather, Wednesday, not tomorrow, but Wednesday to approve this deal. It's 2,000 pages. So, a lot of Christmas reading to do there.

The E.U. will also have to rubber stamp this. It will come after the fact, so kind of a guarantee there that that will pass and this goes into place in one week's time. Prime Minister Boris Johnson feeling that this is a victory, something that's come on Christmas eve, a gift to the nation, and he was ready and willing to celebrate it on social media.

Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Tonight, on Christmas Eve, I have a small present for anyone who may be looking for something to read in that sleepy post-Christmas lunch moment. And here it is, tidings, glad tidings of great joy because this is a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: So finally, finally an agreement, and you can see the sort of tongue and cheek joy from Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a free trade agreement that is zero tariffs, zero quotas, meaning that there's no limitation on the number of goods, and that they will not be taxed on the goods.

But then there's 2,000 more pages of details to go through. But the real test is when it goes into place, and how it impacts the economy, how it impacts average families across Britain, how it impacts the E.U.

This country has been extremely divided over this issue for 4-1/2 years. It's been very divisive, polarizing and now comes the time to see which side was right. Of course, you had four and a half years of hearing the side stay in the E.U. If we leave, it's bad for the country. The economy will be damaged. It's not good for the future. It's not good for jobs, and, of course, Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the side of leave, saying this is the best deal for Britain. That Britain needs to leave, and that ultimately, it's better for the E.U. to have a partner like the U.K. leave that union when they were a reluctant member in the first place.

So, all of this now to play out, and maybe those divisions finally to be healed. The E.U. for it part says this is a fair and equitable deal, that they will continue to work in the partnership with the U.K. on issues like security and climate but that this is the beginning of a new friendship, a new relationship, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, a long new road ahead there. Thank you so much, Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Coronavirus hospitalizations in the U.S. hit an all time high on Thursday. So, after the break, why experts fear the Christmas holiday will cause even more people to end up in the hospital. Stay with us.

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[04:18:41]

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. is celebrating a Christmas holiday in the chateau of -- shadow of a pandemic that -- shadow of a pandemic that keeps getting worse. The country set a record for hospitalizations on Christmas Eve, more than 120,000 according to COVID tracking project and several states set records for new infections. More than 1 million vaccinations have been administered but the nation's top infectious disease expert said many more must be given to achieve herd immunity, at least 70 percent of the population.

Health experts fear that holiday travel and gatherings will result in even more new cases followed by more hospitalizations and then more deaths. Here's CNN's Alexandria Field.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALEXANDRIA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even on this COVID Christmas, America's airports are packed full of people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From Florida, from Orlando.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just came in from Denver.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mom really wants to see us, you know. You can only say no so long.

FIELD: On Wednesday, a pandemic era travel record set, 1.2 million passing through airports, according to the TSA which has counted a million fliers on each of the last six days.

MICHELLE WILLIS, TRAVELLING TO PORTLAND, OREGON: We got lots of masks and lots of hand sanitizer, headrest covers and gloves, and disposable, everything. So, really good.

FIELD: Dr. Anthony Fauci, who turns 80 today, is staying home for the holidays, and planning a family Zoom and hopes others will still decide to follow.

[04:20:05]

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I feel strongly that I need to practice what I preach to the country.

FIELD: But image of so many air travelers are fueling fears we will, in fact, see another surge super imposed on a surge and dark January days ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are very scared about what we're about to see.

FIELD: Hot spots are now spread out all over the country from Maine to Alabama to California which has passed the eye popping threshold of 2 million COVID cases, a first for any state in the nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A few months ago, we had five COVID patients in the hospital. And now, we're up to nearly 100, so that shows you within just a couple of months, how much it's accelerated.

FIELD: Hospitalizations are at a record high. December will soon become the deadliest month of the pandemic, and we are careening toward a total of 330,000 deaths. That's 1 in 1,000 Americans, killed by COVID.

RAUL RUIZ, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT: We need to tell everybody that this is not the time to have large indoor maskless parties, holiday parties. This is the time to hunker down.

FIELD: The CDC now projects as many as 419,000 deaths by January 19th. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation upping its projections again after just one week, predicting as many as 560,000 deaths by April. They models suggest more than 33,000 lives will be saved from now until then by vaccinations.

Nine-point-five million doses of them have now been delivered, just over a million doses over Pfizer's vaccines have been administered according to the CDC, much less than expected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (on camera): Here at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, front line workers are continuing to be vaccinated. That job will continue through the holidays, in another sign that this Christmas will be unlike any other along with letters to Santa. Pfizer, the maker of one of the vaccines, say they have received letters from children asking for not only enough vaccines for everyone but also a vaccine for Santa.

In New York, Alexandria Field, CNN.

BRUNHUBER: Joining me now is CNN medical analyst and professor of emergency medicine, Dr. Esther Choo who is in Portland, Oregon.

Doctor, thanks so much for joining us here.

There's a lot to talk about with the new variance, given how the virus travels, how these were circulating possibly months ago. Is it safe to assume that it is circulating here in the U.S.? And if so, does it mean we should change our behavior in any way?

DR. ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I do think that it's likely that it's here in the U.S., and there's reasons it wouldn't necessarily be detected because we do genetic sequencing of a very small sample of the virus in the U.S. I think that's due to change according to the CDC, but up until now, we haven't really aggressively tracked all of these mutations and they are things that happen routinely in viruses. Viruses are constantly mutating and finding better ways to survive.

The issue with this one is could this mutation mean that the vaccine that we're circulating isn't effective or as effective as it was in the original test, and that seems really unlikely just because the vaccine is polyclonal. It stimulates a number of different types of antibodies against the spike protein. And, you know, so it's likely that the vaccine will still be effective. If not, you know, we are watching constantly to see if that's the case, and we'll have to make modifications.

But, ultimately, the virus does the same thing and that is that it's very good at attaching to our cells. It is easily transmissible between patients, I'm sorry, between people, and so the same things that keep the virus from spreading now will keep any new variant from spreading, which is the social distancing, face mask wearing and hand washing. So, doesn't really change anything. Just makes us feel like we should be doubly committed to those things. BRUNHUBER: Yeah, that's not what I'm seeing. Experts in hard hit

California say the spike they are seeing now is driven by gatherings with people outside their households. You know, just anecdotally, I see cars lined up on my street, either people have really big families or people are having those Christmas parties that they're not really supposed to be having now.

So, what's your practical advice for people over the next few days?

CHOO: Well, I think if there's one thing we have learned over all of these holidays that lead to surges in COVID cases is that it's so hard to ask people to not celebrate and to not gather with their loved ones. And so expecting people to not do it at all just seems impractical. And we can aim for that. We certainly will encourage it.

I know many people are keeping their holiday celebrations small or skipping it if they're able to do that. And I think what we can ask people to do, if you are gathering, try to put some parameters on it.

[04:25:05]

Try to enforce face mask wearing. Keep people spread apart, keep ventilation good. You know, gather outside, if where you live allows that in terms of weather. Keep gathering on the shorter side, don't linger for many, many hours in close quarters.

So, change what you're doing. Make it a little bit different of a holiday in some ways, knowing that the best practice really is to stay home. We can celebrate Christmas in July as the saying goes. It doesn't have to be right now when we're at the hardest part of the pandemic yet.

BRUNHUBER: Speaking of staying home, I was reading that a person who went to work while they were sick was likely to have caused two separate outbreaks in your state of Oregon.

Is the message not getting out there that if you're sick stay home or is the problem that the government or the government's various levels aren't offering enough financial support for those who might have no choice or both, I guess?

CHOO: I really think it's both of those things and other forces. I mean, this case that you're talking about was so tragic. This person went to work feeling sick, and led to two separate outbreaks, and one of the outbreaks ultimately led to seven deaths from COVID. Imagine how that person feels.

And I think that person probably, I don't know who that is. We don't know the workplace. That hasn't been replaced but I mention that person feels like a lot of us do, which is it's probably going to be okay. You wonder how much do my actions really matter, and yet I know if I don't go to work, my coworkers will have to pick up the extra work, or I'll lose income, and can't support my family.

I think there are so many forces that lead us to behavior as we want to, back to normal times. I mean, I had a cough and low grade fever last week, and honestly, Kim, it took everything in me to actually call in sick. Our practice is, if you can, be vertical, go to work.

That is the culture in many workplaces. This habit of calling out sick, I mean, especially when you feel fine and you look fine, but you have a couple of mild symptoms. We're not in the habit of calling out.

I'm sure you don't normally call out sick when you have mild symptoms that you can ignore or take a few ibuprofen. You might not be perfect in remembering to stay home when you feel sick.

BRUNHUBER: Dr. Esther Choo, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it.

CHOO: My pleasure. Have a great holiday.

BRUNHUBER: The holidays across Europe are taking on a different feel this year. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, a live report on what Christmas looks like under lockdown.

Stay with us.

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