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Sources: Possible Human Remains Found Near Explosion Site In Nashville; Unemployment Money For Millions Runs Out As Trump Refuses To Sign Relief Bill; Trump Pardons Friends, Allies, Convicted Mercenaries; Trump Breaks With GOP-led Senate And Vetoes $740B Defense Bill; Health Officials Brace For COVID Surge After Holidays; CDC To Require Negative Test For All Passengers Traveling To U.S. From U.K.; South California Grappling With Rocketing Hospitalizations And Deaths. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired December 26, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN AVLON, CNN HOST: Good morning. I'm John Avlon. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas. Victor and Christi have a well-deserved morning off, and we are following breaking developments in Nashville, Tennessee where investigators have found what might be human remains near the side of what appears to be an intentional bombing yesterday morning. The blast damaged dozens of buildings and injured at least three people.
Meanwhile, with millions of Americans traveling for the holidays, health officials are warning another surge could be just weeks away. Already more than 100,000 patients are in hospitals across the country with COVID-19, but experts warn that a new wave of infections will strain the nation's already stretched healthcare system.
And after today, more than 12 million Americans will lose their extended unemployment insurance. That's because President Trump has not signed that COVID stimulus bill which was specifically flown from Washington to his home in Palm Beach yesterday morning. The bill would also extend a moratorium on evictions, revive federal loans for small businesses and provide direct $600 payments to Americans who are struggling.
Now, millions of Americans are waking up after Christmas to this cruel new reality. They are out of money because of a fight over COVID relief in Congress. Senator Lindsey Graham says he's changed his mind on the bill he voted to pass earlier this week which is still sitting on the President's desk. Now Graham's calling on his colleagues to back Trump's last-minute call for bigger stimulus checks which contradicts his own administration's negotiations to-date and that leaves many Americans twisting in the wind as they wait for money they need to buy food and pay the rent.
Now for more, let's go to CNN's Sarah Westwood in West Palm Beach, Florida. Sarah, we should note it was Republicans who initially refused to go higher on direct payments to Americans. Is there any indication that other GOP senators will follow Senator Graham and back the President's belated push for more money?
SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, John, Graham coming out and joining the president in his call for $2,000 stimulus checks is sure to put more pressure on these Republicans who, up till now, seem to be sort of treading water and hoping that the President's opposition to the bill was just him making some noise and perhaps it wouldn't rise to the level of a veto threat.
But the President's opposition is clearly pretty dug in at this point and we didn't have a lot of clarity as to just how seriously the President was planning to challenge the bill up to now. The video that he shot of himself opposing the bill took a lot of White House aides and Republicans by surprise and there hasn't been a lot of communication about the -- from the White House about whether the President plans to sign it, veto it, let it sit there, not a lot of clarity.
But I want to read you what Graham tweeted after he spent the day on the golf course with the President on Christmas. "After spending some time with President Trump today, I am convinced he is more determined than ever to increase stimulus payments to $2,000 per person and challenge Section 230 big tech liability protection." That Section 230 provision that he mentioned, that is the reason why the president vetoed the defense spending bill, by the way.
The President is tweeting about Section 230 again this morning saying, "End Section 230 before it's too late." The defense bill had passed with a veto proof majority, just like the relief bill and spending package that Congress passed earlier this week.
An overwhelming number of lawmakers did vote for it, but the President yesterday doubled down on his opposition to it writing, "Made many calls and had meetings at Trump International in Palm Beach, Florida. Why would politicians not want to give people $2,000 rather than only $600? It wasn't their fault, it was China. Give our people the money."
Now, John, you mentioned that $600 figure was actually the proposal of Trump's own White House because Republicans, concerned about the deficit they claim, did not want to go much higher than $600.
So this is a problem of the White House's own making and if it wasn't complicated enough, on Monday, the government is going to run out of money if the President doesn't sign this bill because it does include that omnibus spending package. So, there's a lot riding on whether the President puts his signature on this legislation, John.
AVLON: The President doubling down, escalation, Republicans backed into a corner and a shutdown looming. Sarah, in addition to all that, the President issued 41 pardons this past week.
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Now, what are the big names left on this potential pardon list?
WESTWOOD: Yes. John, hard to believe there are any big names given the marquee ones that he has already granted clemency to like Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Jared Kushner's father Charles Kushner. There are still some people that the President has not yet pardoned or granted clemency to including Rick Gates who was involved in the Russia investigation, a deputy of Paul Manafort.
And of course, there is still some speculation about whether the President will attempt to pardon himself before he leaves office, facing the prospect of potential legal woes once he is no longer president. So the pardons are something we are watching very carefully, John, and they are expected to continue as he finishes up his final weeks in office.
AVLON: Sarah Westwood, thank you very much. Joining us now, the Democratic Congresswoman from California, Maxine Waters. She chairs the House Financial Services Committee.
Congresswoman, it's great to have you with us. Thank you. Congresswoman, the Republicans in the House made it clear just this past week they would not support a $2,000 check to Americans, but of course some Democrats would love to see it increase to that amount. So, do you think President Trump should sign the current deal or push it back to Congress in the hopes of getting more money?
REP. MAXINE WATERS (D-CA): Well, first of all, Democrats would love to have $2,000 to all of our families. We fought very hard for $1,200. We wanted at least what we had in the CARES Act. The President and his negotiator, Mnuchin, and the Republicans refused it. They didn't want any money and we had to beg and plead and fight and leverage to get $600.
Then out of the blue, the President came out and said he wanted $2,000. I don't know what kind of game he's playing. I don't know what the Republicans are going to do, but, you know, they're all frightened of him and he's intimidated them. They don't have any guts and so let's see if he's going to make them come up with support for the $2,000. I don't know what's happening over there. I don't know what kind of politics the President is playing.
And of course, as you said, as was said, Lindsey Graham played golf with him and he's changed his mind. So, we're hopeful that the President will support $2,000 and sign the bill and not try to leverage that on the question of liability or anything else.
AVLON: All right. So it sounds like you are hopeful, you would welcome that, but if the President vetoes the current bill and Congress can't override him or get it together for a new bill, there is always the possibility that a Biden administration will need to essentially start from scratch. So, should the President-elect pursue a bigger package from jump?
WATERES: Absolutely. Absolutely. I want to tell you, the American people expect their government to come to their aid in this time of crisis and so yes, I would absolutely expect that Biden would take this issue up, that we would do the right thing, we would not only have more money for stimulus payments, but I had $100 billion in the original HEROES Act which was boiled down to about, I think, $25 billion. I had $100 billion. Yes. They cut it back to $25 billion. So, we need way more than that. So many people are threatened for eviction and these small landlords in particular, with two, four, six, eight, 10 units, this is their retirement income. Many of them still have mortgages. So yes, I expect Biden will do what needs to be done to support the American people who are waiting on their government to come to their aid.
AVLON: All right. Well, let's pivot to talk about the President's pardons of his friends and allies this week, including Roger Stone and Paul Manafort. Many are convinced the President will now move to pardon even his adult children or even himself. Is there any action that the House intends to take on this front?
WATERS: Well, as you know, unfortunately the Constitution gives the President the right to pardon and the President certainly is abusing that right by pardoning all of his criminal friends and allies and it's such a shame because we have so many people in prison for minor crimes and many of them are people of color, African Americans and Latinos, et cetera and they're not going to get a shot because the President does not care about them.
All he cares about is living up to the promises he's made to his criminal allies that, if they keep their mouth shut and if they don't tell what they know about him, that he would pardon them and that's exactly what he's doing and when I take a vote (ph) ...
AVLON: So ...
WATERS: Yes. Go ahead.
AVLON: So, no talk of censure or anything else to-date. I want to move on, though, because there's a lot I want to get to with you here in particular when your role is Chairman of the Financial Services Committee.
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What more have you learned about the extent of the Russian-backed SolarWinds hack and its impact on our economic infrastructure, either within the government or in private industry?
WATERS: Well, here's what I know about Russia and Putin. They have, in fact, you know, compromised this President and this President will not condemn them, will not criticize them and even when he knows it's a threat, whether it is to our election systems or to our energy systems, he is not going to do anything to disagree with them because he's a compromised president. He's a president whose met in secret with Biden, he's a president whose allies here in the United States are connected to the oligarchs of Russia and they have money agreements, et cetera, et cetera.
So, we cannot expect any pushback. We've got to rely on Biden and we've got to rely on the new administration to stand up to Russia and to stand up to China and to be the kind of government that's looking out for the best for their country and America and that's what we're relying on. We cannot expect anything from this administration. AVLON: So, based on your briefings, you have no doubt Russia was behind the hack. Correct?
WATERS: Oh, absolutely.
AVLON: OK.
WATERS: As a matter of fact, all of the intelligence has supported that. His own, you know, administration, folks in the administration are saying that this is true. It's only the President who can't open his mouth ...
AVLON: Right.
WATERS: ... and basically live up to the expectations of the American people for support ...
AVLON: I want to end ...
WATERS: ... you know, against the enemy.
AVLON: I want to end with COVID because your home state of California is in the middle of a dramatic COVID surge. Now, you tweeted that you hate needles, but it would be -- you'd grit your teeth and take the shot. So, here's my question, have you been vaccinated for COVID-19 yet?
WATERS: Yes. I have and I have taken the shot for any number of reasons. Number one, you know, our experts have told us that we should do this. Fauci has been behind it. My age is such that I am vulnerable. The airports and the airlines are all places where, you know, the virus tends to be able to, you know, undermine all of our efforts and to basically infect people.
And so, I'm in Washington, I did not go home. I've been here all the holidays from Thanksgiving on through Christmas because I didn't want to be one that would create to this crowd in the airports where people are being infected and so yes, I took the shot. I did. I closed my eyes. I grit my teeth and I took it.
AVLON: Well, Chairman Waters, thank you very much for joining us on CNN this morning. Be well.
WATERS: You're so welcome and thank you.
AVLON: All right. Now let's bring in CNN political commentator and host of the "You Decide" podcast, Errol Louis. Errol, now the President, of course, called this coronavirus bill a disgrace this week after his administration negotiated many of the terms. Now, he's pushing for $2000 direct payment to Americans. House Republicans rejected that just on Christmas Eve. Lindsey Graham now supports it. So what in the world's going on here and do you think the rest of the GOP is going to get on board with Trump's demands?
ERROL LOUIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: What's going on, John, is we have the very thing the President wanted, which is chaos. He, having lost the election, is now reverting to his prior businesses as a commercial operator and as a game show host in which you kind of, at the last minute, walk away from the deal or threaten to blow up the deal even if it's one that you yourself have negotiated.
That is what he is doing, and so Donald Trump then gets the number one thing that he wants which is all of us asking what is it that Donald Trump wants? So, he's put himself back in the middle of the negotiations, center stage of politics even as, day by day, he gets closer and closer to having to leave the White House and leave power forever.
So, this is the way he operates, this is the way his game show would sort of proceed. You know, you kind of pins and needles waiting to see what will happen. The unfortunate part of all of this, of course, is that it's going to leave millions of people with, at a minimum, uncertainty and at a minimum with less aid than they would have gotten had the President simply signed the bill that his administration negotiated. So ...
AVLON: That's ...
LOUIS: ... that's where we are right now and it could, in fact, get worse.
AVLON: That's, of course, the thing. This isn't a reality show, this is reality and people are waiting and suffering. Now, the President also issued this wave of pardons this week, notably from those implicated in the Special Counsel's Russia investigation. So, what's your take? Can we expect more pardons for his family, even for himself?
LOUIS: Oh, absolutely. Listen, this president is going to -- he's going to use every bit of power that he has. This is one that is unchallengeable, unreviewable and that allows him to personally confer favors on friends, allies, associates, perhaps co-conspirators and you can expect him to use it up until the very last day.
[09:15:06]
I would expect to see clemency notices coming out, pardon's coming out on January 20th as we get closer and closer to noon. That's the way his showmanship operates, that's the way his favor-granting operates, and I think it's going to get closer and closer to his inner circle and the most outrageous -- and frankly we've seen this with prior presidents. The most outrageous and inexcusable acts of clemency are going to probably happen right at the end, John.
AVLON: History would suggest that's true. Now, President Trump tweeted this morning and we don't always do President Trump's tweet, but this one really stands out. He said the defense bill that he vetoed is, quote, "A gift to China and Russia and big tech," and then it, "Makes 5G almost impossible."
Now, it's important to mention that almost everything here is not true. President Trump vetoed that $740 billion bill. Congress now votes to override Trump, but there's a lot in there, in particular tough cyber regulations, that would be not welcome to either China or Russia. So, do you think Congress is going to be able to muster the will to override the President on the National Defense Authorization Act?
LOUIS: There's no indication, based on past behavior, that you're going to see the Republican majority in the Senate vote to override. It's not in the cards frankly. It would be nice if it were, but one gets the feeling, John, that the real target here is Section 230, the real target here is the President wanting to deal a blow-back against some of the social media companies that he thinks helped Joe Biden beat him on November 3rd.
And so if that's what the real aim is, everything else is just a distraction and Congress will either go along with it, which is a considerable possibility, or take sort of a middle course and just vote to extend and extend and extend, get some continuing resolutions in place for the next couple of weeks in order to keep the government running until the day after this president leaves and then go back to something resembling normal behavior and make sure that the defense authorization is passed.
AVLON: Errol Louis, thank you very much, my friend.
LOUIS: Thank you.
AVLON: All right. Despite repeated warnings, millions of Americans are traveling this holiday season, making a new coronavirus spike all but certain and now there are new rules on travelers flying into the U.S. from the United Kingdom. Will it make a difference? We'll be discussing that and more with Dr. Saju Mathew when we get back.
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AVLON: Now to what police are calling an intentional bombing in Nashville, Tennessee on Christmas morning. When a bomb detonated, it shattered windows and sent debris through the air, damaging dozens of buildings. Now we also now have sound of a recording that warned people near the RV to evacuate. Let's listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you can hear this message, evacuate now. If you can hear this message, evacuate now. If you can hear this message, evacuate now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AVLON: Natasha Chen joins us live from Nashville. Natasha, investigators are saying there is no indication of terrorism. So, what else have we heard from investigators?
NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have just said that this is an intentional act, they believe, but we don't know much more beyond that. They're still piecing everything together. They have us standing on 2nd Avenue where this blast happened, but it is very far removed from their perimeter. So, it happened several blocks down that way and we can see, you know, just police blocking off that area. In fact, they're trying to keep everybody for the most part outside of this downtown Nashville area, to stay away. The curfew in place lasts until Sunday afternoon.
Yesterday, they talked to us confirming the fact that they found tissue believed to be human remains at the scene. I asked specifically where that was found and if there could be any link to a potential person who may have been in the RV. The police chief told us that they're not really ready to discuss that yet and that they're still looking into it, keeping in mind that this blast sent debris everywhere and I think you could see the images from above and on the ground just how much glass and parts of buildings were shattered.
The mayor said at least 41 businesses were destroyed in this historic core and that one building collapsed on itself. We heard from terrified residents who live near the blast who heard those gunshots at first, called 911, evacuated when they heard that recorded message. Here is one woman describing to our Anderson Cooper about how she was driving home again, thinking that perhaps this was a false alarm because they did not hear the blast go off at the end of the 15 minutes, but lo and behold, they did see the explosion as they were driving back. Here's what she saw.
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BETSY WILLIAMS, NASHVILLE EXPLOSION EYEWITNESS (voice-over): I drove up to our building. I drove as far up to our building through all the glass and took a couple of pictures and our Christmas tree was still on. We could see the Christmas tree through the window ...
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Yes.
WILLIAMS (voice-over): ... where it was just still burning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN: And all that area is really just in ruins right now and the mayor specifically said this has been a very tough year for Nashville. Seeing this scene reminds him of the damage they have already gone through earlier this year when tornadoes came through this area.
So really tough for the city. He did make sure to compliment those six police officers who responded to the scene and when that recorded message was playing giving the countdown to the explosion, they really worked hard to keep people out of the area and to evacuate the people who live there, John.
AVLON: Real heroism. Natasha Chen reporting live from Nashville, Tennessee. Thank you very much. Now let's bring in CNN's senior law enforcement analyst Andrew McCabe, former deputy director of the FBI. So Andrew, the blast tore into at least 41 businesses with one building partially collapsed and walk us through what the efforts would be to collect evidence over this kind of a crime scene that may have a radius of a few blocks.
ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Sure. So John, this one reminds me most of the efforts we put down in Boston after the Boston Marathon bombing and that was a situation with a similar crime scene that spread over five blocks and so what you'll see today is a phalanx of agents and crime scene investigators and local police and other federal agencies really dividing that massive space up into smaller and smaller quadrants and they will go through every inch of that ground to try to recover pieces of anything that might have been related to either the device or the vehicle that carried it.
[09:25:00]
And that work won't just be done on the ground. It'll also include the flat surfaces above building, so the rooftops of all the local buildings. You might remember in Boston, we recovered one of the most essential pieces of evidence, that being the lid from one of the pressure cookers, you know, one of the actual bombs, on the roof of a nearby building. So essential pieces of evidence can really be scattered quite a long distance, so it takes a really meticulous effort to pull all that together.
AVLON: So that radius of damage is really what's key. So how difficult is it for investigators to find pieces of the explosive device itself or identify any potential human tissue?
MCCABE: I mean, it's quite difficult, right? You see the mess on the ground there. The video that we're getting from the scene is pretty extraordinary, but despite that difficulty, we're typically able to do it. You know, think back to the 1993 bombing in the World Trade Center where a piece of the axle of the rented truck that was used to deploy the device was what identified that truck. It had a vehicle serial number on it and that's how we ultimately unraveled that crime.
So it's the hard work of many incredibly dedicated FBI and other law enforcement folks that will sift through everything that is there on the ground and ultimately pull out what we need to figure out who deployed this device because, John, that's the most important question right now. We need to know who put this thing there and detonated it and it's only after you figure that out that you start to talk about things like motive or purpose or terrorism or anything like that.
AVLON: That's exactly where I want to go next because there's so many unusual hallmarks about this intentional explosion that we know to- date and investigators, want to be clear, have not implied terror, whether foreign or domestic, played a part in this bombing, but is there anything revealed so far that might point in that direction under your expert eyes?
MCCABE: There's no specific facts that we have, I think, that points, you know, to terrorism either domestically or internationally and I can tell you that based on, you know, over 20 years of working in and around these same sorts of incidents. Investigators wait until they have a distinct link, some piece of evidence that either ties the individual to a terrorist group or at least explains that individual's thought process. Maybe that could be, you know, a video or a -- or something's posted onto the internet that would indicate what their -- what their desire was or what their -- you know, what sort of message they were -- they were trying to send. We don't have anything like that here yet. So, it's, I think, entirely appropriate that people are being very careful before they start ascribing terrorist or any other motives to this crime.
AVLON: Yes. No question about it. It's difficult to speculate about motive. Here's what we know. There does seem to be a desire to warn people ahead of time, something that was a hallmark of, for example, early IRA bombings, but the site itself seems significant. It's on the edge of Nashville's famous hospitality and tourist district, but the area was nearly empty, especially that hour on Christmas morning.
So do you think the plan was to detonate this bomb later in the day or was the message designed to warn people to leave the area and therefore might speak to a more conflictive motive on the part of the person who did the bombing?
MCCABE: We can't really say whether or not it was intended to detonate later in the day. We just don't know that yet, but certainly the time it did detonate is consistent with this apparent effort to minimize casualties by putting out a warning saying that the device is going to go off. So, all those things would lead you to believe that maybe they weren't looking to cause mass, you know, civilian or innocent casualties.
However, the other side of that coin is this was a massive explosive device deployed to a public place and detonated in a public place. That's not your typical scenario for a suicide or someone who's upset about their lot in life and deciding to kill themselves. So, it is by definition a very public, destructive, potentially violent event, so you have to keep open the possibility that this person must have been trying to send some sort of message here. We just really don't know what that is yet.
AVLON: Former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, thank you very much for joining us this morning.
MCCABE: Thanks, John.
AVLON: Christmas is over and now there's New Year's and coronavirus cases are already at record highs and after the break, find out how you can help prevent a post-holiday COVID surge that experts warn could have a catastrophic impact.
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[09:33:17]
AVLON: Despite repeated warnings, millions of Americans traveled over the holidays, raising concerns that the nation is weeks away from yet another devastating new spike in COVID-19 cases.
CNN's Alison Kosik joins us now. Alison, three weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday, we saw a surge across the country and now it looks like we're going to be in it for another round of new infections. Is that right?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And that is the big worry, John, yes. And we are in the middle of a holiday weekend, but certainly we're not getting a holiday from the coronavirus. That as cases spike from New York to California.
And now, there's a new travel restriction in place, a requirement that looks to keep a new infectious variant from coming to the U.S. But even Dr. Anthony Fauci says that new strain may already be here.
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KOSIK (voice-over): Starting Monday, in the U.K., all passengers must have a negative COVID-19 test within three days of boarding a flight to the U.S. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo praised the decision by the CDC for passengers to be tested who are flying from the U.K. "Testing people for COVID-19 before they get on planes is common sense. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past, and we must continue to do everything we can to keep New Yorkers and Americans safe," Cuomo said in a statement Friday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the new testing requirements for travelers but research by the agency's own scientists shows the rule may have only a small impact on the spread of the new U.K. strain of the coronavirus. According to researchers on the CDC's COVID-19 response team testing three days before a flight might reduce the risk of spreading the virus by just five to nine percent.
[09:35:05]
Pfizer and Moderna are testing to see whether their vaccines work against the new variant which thus far has not been detected in the U.S. Southern California is grappling with surging COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths as the state passes another grim milestone. Reporting more than 300 new COVID deaths for a third straight day. In Los Angeles County, a person dies every 10 minutes from COVID-19, the county's public health director says.
DR. CHRIS PERNELL, PUBLIC HEALTH PHYSICIAN: I think people don't think coronavirus will happen to them. They think coronavirus will happen to another family. But there is no safety other than those public health measures that we have been preaching from the mountain tops.
KOSIK: As Christmas comes to an end and we head into the New Year, experts say the safest way to celebrate is at home, with the people you live with or online with friends and family. For those that host a New Year celebration, the CDC suggests staying outside, limiting the number of guests, wearing and making extra masks available. And keeping background music low to avoid shouting.
ERIN BROMAGE, PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS: Well, we've just seen, you know, these amplification events and that's what's happened at the end of this year in the U.S. We had -- yes, Thanksgiving. We had Labor Day. We had Halloween. And each one of these events brought lots of people together. And just gave the virus more fuel to move through the population. So, Christmas is going to do a similar thing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: And just days before Christmas, the TSA says more than 1 million people passed through airport checkpoints across the country that's worrying health experts that we'll see another spike in the coronavirus and those cases on top of the spike that we're seeing now -- John.
AVLON: A million people traveling. Alison Kosik, thank you very much.
Joining me now to discuss primary care physician and public health specialist Dr. Saju Mathew. Dr. Mathew, great to have you with us.
Now, to combat that new COVID strain found in the U.K. the CDC announced it will soon require proof of a negative COVID tests for all passengers entering the U.S. from the United Kingdom. So as a doctor on the ground how effective do you think this new restrictions will be in preventing the spread of this new and potentially more contagious COVID strain?
DR. SAJU MATHEW, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes. Listen, John, you know, ultimately it's all about doing everything you possibly can. I think that if you just look at one measure of getting a negative COVID test by itself we're only going to catch maybe seven to nine percent. It doesn't really decrease it by that much.
It's a really simple explanation, if you get tested on Tuesday before your flight on Friday, well, you might be negative on Tuesday but if you're still basically in the community and hanging out with friends and then catch a flight on Friday you could have been reexposed and you could be incubating that virus in your body and not know about it. I think a couple of other better ideas would be to get the test. When you arrive at the U.S., maybe get a rapid test at the airport. Or you quarantine for seven days upon arrival and then get tested again.
But as you can see, John, it becomes complicated but that's the whole point. This virus is so contagious and unrelenting you really have to do everything possible and not just rely on a negative COVID test.
AVLON: Book ending rapid tests is one of your recommendations. But let's talk about this new variant because some experts say it's probably already in the United States. So can we test for it, and if so, are we doing it?
MATHEW: You know, if you look at the entire world, the United Kingdom does about half of these genomic sequencing. You know, we are -- the United States is a much larger country than the U.K. and we're not doing as much at all. If you look at the number of times that we have done the genetic sequencing since November we've done about 300 tests on infected people and the U.K. has done over 1,900 tests. So, we have a long way to catch up and given the fact that the RNA virus mutates so quickly, John, we should really be sequencing and watching out for these strains. And, by the way, the good news about the mRNA vaccines, the Pfizer and the Moderna is that you can adapt the vaccines to these possible new strains.
AVLON: That's such an important point and that gets me what I wanted to ask you about next which is the CEO of Pfizer says that he's actually optimistic their vaccine will work against this new strain. So, without any further adaptations, is there any reason to think that it won't?
MATHEW: I think that it's actually going to work. And the reason for that is, you have to remember, that when you start to attack the spike protein, you're attacking the spike protein on different parts of the virus, not just on one specific part. So, really, ultimately, the good news is even though there are about 15 to 20 mutations it hasn't really affected the entire anatomy so I think that the vaccines should work.
[09:40:09]
AVLON: OK. Listen, as we head into New Year's people are going to have temptation to get together. So, with these celebrations around the corner, what advice would you give to people to make this celebration less of a public health disaster?
MATHEW: Right. I mean, that's the right word disaster, John. I mean, ultimately, if you look at it, and this is the most difficult part. You can have all of the vaccines in the world and all the wonderful therapeutics against this deadly virus but what you have the least impact on is human behavior. People are going to do what they want to do so what I have done is sort of change my messaging as a primary care physician to more talking to people about risk reduction.
If you have traveled already, listen, it's not too late. If you're going to gather with friends make sure you try to do it outdoors. If you're visiting grandma, I still would not hug grandma even though you have a negative test. And when you come back after the extended holidays you really should quarantine and get tested again before you go out there. And if you're sick, you absolutely need to make sure that you are at home for at least seven to 10 days before you get tested.
AVLON: Be safe, be smart and listen to the good doctor. Dr. Mathew, thank you very much for joining us.
MATHEW: Thank you, John.
AVLON: All right. Plus, now Democrats are out raising their Republican rivals in Georgia as they vie to take control of the Senate. The big runoff race is January 5th. More on that next.
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AVLON: Early voting is under way in Georgia for not one but two Senate runoffs and it's already on track to be the most expensive race in U.S. history. Senator Kelly Loeffler on the campaign trail this morning hosting a rally with supporters. And later this afternoon in an effort to promote voter turnout, dozens of performers like Dave Matthews, Diplo and the Foo Fighters will take part in the "Georgia Comes Alive" virtual concert.
So, let's go to CNN's Ryan Nobles for more on all of this. Ryan, let's start with following the money. So much being spent on these races what do the current the numbers look like?
RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, it's really unbelievable when you take a look at just how much money is being raised and spent in the state of Georgia in what is really a pretty condensed amount of time before this runoff on January 5th. Take a look at this. These are the latest fundraising totals.
[09:45:01]
Now, this is money that just came in since October 15th through December 15th. Jon Ossoff, the Democrat leading the way with more than $106 million. Raphael Warnock, the other Democrat, with $103 million. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, the two Republicans both raising more than $60 million. And then look at that total at the bottom. The total number of dollars spent just on ads in this race, approaching the $500 million mark.
And now, John, you know that it seems as though the Democratic candidates are raising more money than the Republicans. And that's true, the Democratic candidates themselves are raising more but that doesn't tell the whole story. There's also hundreds of millions of dollars being poured in from outside groups both from the Republican side and the Democratic side.
So that just adds to the total of money pouring into the state. As you mentioned, John, the day after Christmas, these campaigns already back out on the campaign trail as voters are casting ballots leading up to the January 5th runoff -- John.
AVLON: And while money is not always determinative, particularly in southern Senate races, that number, almost half a billion dollars in ads spent to date. Unbelievable
NOBLES: Sure. Sure.
AVLON: Ryan Nobles, thank you very much.
All right. Still ahead, it was a tough year for sports. But up next, even in a year with so many bad headlines, we will still look back on some of 2020's biggest and best highlights.
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AVLON: Sports are centered around level playing fields, which may be why the impact of COVID-19 hit them so hard. But there were still plenty of amazing moments. And Andy Scholes looks back on some of them. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[09:50:11]
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: A big part of sports is the emotional ups and downs and in 2020 the highs were high, but the lows were as low as we've seen in a long time.
From Kobe's death to big time event cancellations, to the coronavirus leaving stadiums empty, sports had a tough go of it this year. The 2020 started off like any other year in sports.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the Tigers of LSU, a team of destiny and a team for ages, capturing the national title.
SCHOLES (voice-over): LSU won their first college football national championship since 2007, but then the sports world was dealt with devastating blow.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're following very tragic, very sad breaking news. The NBA legend Kobe Bryant has died in a helicopter crash. He was only 41 years old.
SCHOLES: The sports world mourning the loss of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others for weeks.
VANESSA BRYANT, WIFE OF KOBE BRYANT: God knew they couldn't be on this earth without each other. He had to bring them home to have them together.
MICHAEL JORDAN, 6-TIME NBA CHAMPION: When Kobe Bryant died, a piece of me died. Now he's got me. I'll have to look at another crying meme for the next --
SCHOLES: When the Lakers eventually took the court, they held an emotional tribute.
In February, Patrick Mahomes would lead the Kansas City Chiefs on a comeback to win Super Bowl LIV over the 49ers. Andy Reid finally had his Super Bowl title and the Chiefs their first in 50 years.
PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: I followed by dreams and now I'm here winning the Super Bowl with all my teammates.
ANDY REID, HEAD COACH, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS: I could coach another 20 years with this group.
SCHOLES (on camera): Soon after that on March 11th, the entire sports world came to a stop.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: The NBA has just announced that the season is going to be suspended.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: The NCAA is indeed now canceling its men's and women's basketball tournaments over coronavirus fears.
SCHOLES (voice-over): The NBA, the first league to shut down, the NCAA tournament was canceled for the first time ever, major league baseball sent their players home from spring training. Sports everywhere was put on hold due to COVID-19 with no return in sight.
ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: Even if we're out for a month, even if we're out for six weeks, we can still restart the season.
SCHOLES: For more than three months, we had no sports to watch. Over the summer events did start to slowly come back, with NASCAR being the first to allow fans. The sport's only black driver successfully campaigned NASCAR to ban the confederate flag from its races, then Bubba Wallace became the suspected victim of a hate crime at Talladega Super Speedway.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: NASCAR is investigating a noose found in the garage of driver Bubba Wallace.
SCHOLES: The entire sports world and Wallace's peers rallying around him.
BUBBA WALLACE, NASCAR DRIVER: Drivers wanted to do that, they wanted to show support of me.
SCHOLES: In the end, the FBI determined the noose was a garage door pull that had been in the garage before Wallace was assigned to it.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It looks increasingly like I'm going to be watching an unprecedented amount of sports on TV pretty soon.
SCHOLES: In July, the NBA returned, moving all operations to a bubble at Disney World. It was a great success with the league having zero positive COVID-19 tests for the nearly three months the teams were in the bubble, the NHL and WNBA following the NBA'S model, also completing their seasons without positive tests. But at one point, the NBA players nearly walked away from the successful restart in order to stand up for social justice.
BLITZER: NBA playoff games, all three of them tonight, have been postponed in protest of the shooting of Jacob Blake.
SCHOLES: In a show of solidarity with the NBA, teams across the WNBA, NHL and Major League Baseball also halting play. Athletes in 2020 more than ever using their voice to encourage change.
CROWD: We, the national football league --
MAHOMES: Believe Black Lives Matter.
NNEKA OGWUMIKE, WNBA PLAYER FOR THE LOS ANGELES SPARKS: We've always been about this fight. We're a league of 70 percent black women and we want to represent our communities as best as we can.
GEORGE HILL, POINT GUARD FOR THE OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER: It really woke the world up and let them know that we're serious. We need change. We need more love in the world.
SCHOLES: The NBA playoffs did eventually resume with Lebron James capturing his fourth NBA title and first for the Lakers since 2010.
LEBRON JAMES, NBA PLAYER FOR THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS: To be able to get to the finish line and then be able to cross it, this is just unbelievable film.
SCHOLES: The city of Los Angeles wasn't done celebrating in October after a rocky regular season dealing with outbreaks, the Dodgers winning their first World Series in 32 years, beating the Rays at a neutral site in Arlington, Texas. About 11,000 fans were in attendance for the game. And while fans did return to sporting events in 2020, it looked much different.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It feels sad but we're going to make the best of it.
[09:55:01]
SCHOLES (on camera): College football saw conferences tackle the coronavirus in different ways. The big 12, SEC and ACC were determined to play and never wavered, while the Big Ten and PAC-12 postponed their seasons.
KEVIN WARREN, BIG-10 CONFERENCE COMMISSIONER: We just believe collectively there's too much uncertainty at this point in time in our country to encourage our student athletes to participate in fall sports.
SCHOLES (voice-over): And nearly all conferences eventually decided to play in the fall but faced significant postponements and cancellations.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: This week's slate of college football games is the hardest hit yet by the pandemic.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Eighteen games in all have been called off this week because of COVID.
SCHOLES: The NFL also struggling to the finish line of their season, dealing with cases on teams from week to week.
JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: The fifth Tennessee Titans football player just testing positive for COVID-19, prompting the NFL to tweet "The Steelers/Titans game will be moved to later in this season."
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: The NFL is postponing tonight's game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers after the ravens confirmed multiple cases of COVID.
SCHOLES (on camera): No March madness, a Masters in November and big games played in empty stadiums, 2020 was a very different, challenging year. But with vaccines on the way, there's hope the sports world will return to normal in 2021.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AVLON: Memorable highs and lows in a year like none other. We'll be back in a moment with CNN NEWSROOM.
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