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Interview with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congressional Delegate Representing Washington, D.C; 19 Million COVID- 19 Cases Reported in the US. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired December 27, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:10]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello everyone, thank you so much for joining me, I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin on this final Sunday of 2020 with millions set to loose crucial benefits as we enter the New Year.

President Trump's delay in signing a $900 billion relief package passed by Congress last Monday leaving many working families on the brink of financial crisis. And while millions of Americans sit on the verge of homelessness President Trump is back at his Florida golf club this morning.

The president sharing more false claims about the election overnight while calling on Congress to increase direct stimulus payments to $2,000. For months Senator Bernie Sanders urging President Trump to sign the current bill now and then push for more assistance next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: You can't diddle around with the bill. Sign the bill Mr. President and then immediately, Monday, Tuesday, we can pass a $2,000 direct payment to the working families of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All this as the pandemic continues to rage on as more than 117,000 Americans spend the holiday weekend hospitalized with coronavirus. Experts bracing for a post-Christmas surge as more than one million people boarded airplanes in the U.S. yesterday despite urgent travel warnings against holiday travel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR NIAID: And we're really at a very critical point. If you put more pressure on the system by what might be a post-seasonal surge because of the traveling and the likely congregating of people for, you know, the good warm purposes of being together for the holidays, it's very tough for people to not do that and yet even though we had -- we advised not to, it's going to happen. So, I share the concern of President-elect Biden that as we get into the next few weeks it might actually get worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Millions are set to loose crucial benefits this weekend as President Trump continues to delay the signing of that $900 billion relief bill.

CNN's Sarah Westwood joining me now from West Palm Beach. So Sarah, has President Trump given any indication about whether he has read that proposal, whether he will ultimately sign it or even take the recommendation of other members of Congress to sign it now and then work on more money later in the week?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes Fred (ph), the White House is providing just no clarity on what President Trump plans to do here, whether he plans to veto it, whether he plans to sign it ultimately or wait around for changes to be made to it.

All we know is that the president today is golfing, but we don't have a lot of insight into whether he's actually been engaging members on the demands that he's making here. But meanwhile Republicans and Democrats are practically begging him to put his signature on this legislation that was the product of months of hard negotiations.

Millions of Americans are facing economic uncertainty because this bill is hanging in limbo and because jobless benefits lapsed yesterday and on Thursday millions more Americans are facing the prospect of homelessness because that's the expiration date of the moratorium on federal evictions.

And the frustration on Capitol Hill is all the more intense because this is the bill that the White House negotiated, the amount, the $600 for the individual checks is what the White House brought to the negotiation table and Republicans voted for it under the impression that this fully had Trump's backing.

So, there's a lot of pressure on Trump to sign this bill. Republican Senator Pat Toomey pleaded with Trump on Fox News this morning saying he'll leave behind a legacy of hardship if he refuses to sign the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R), PENNSYLVANIA: As he leaves offices he will -- I understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he'll be -- he'll be remembered for chaos and -- and misery and erratic behavior if -- if he allows this to expire.

So, I think the best thing to do, as I say, sign this and then make the case for subsequent legislation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now the House is set to vote Monday on a measure that would up the amount in the individual checks to $2,000 meeting this demand. Senate Republicans though still don't seem supportive of that measure and the reason why the checks weren't bigger in the first place is because there wasn't enough support in the Senate to do that.

And Fred, as if this wasn't all complicated enough, if Trump doesn't sign the bill by tomorrow night, we are also looking at the prospect of a government shutdown because the relief deal was tied to the spending bill that is going to keep the government open. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, lots at stake. Sarah Westwood, thank you so much.

[13:05:00]

All right, a number of key benefits provided by the CARES Act which Congress passed last March are already expiring or set to expire in a matter of days. And estimated 12 million plus Americans just received their last week of unemployment benefits and without a new measure that would mean no money at all from here on out.

Even those who are still receiving benefits will likely loose at least one week of additional federal money and that could end up being much more depending on how long the bill is held up.

CNN's Senior Writer Tami Luhby joining us now from Washington. Tami, good to see you. So, can you explain the benefits that would come if the president were to sign this bill that has been sent to him a Mar- A-Lago?

TAMI LUHBY, CNN SENIOR WRITER. Sure. Well, last week Congress passed an extension of two key pandemic programs that were very important to millions of Americans were affected by the coronavirus and also the approved sending 11 weeks of $300 checks to all of those receiving unemployment benefits right now.

So, Trump hasn't signed the bill yet, which means that those two things aren't happening. As you heard, the benefits under the two pandemic programs, those folks, the 12 million are seeing their last payment this weekend and at this point no one is going to be getting the extra $300 until the president signs the bill.

The problem is, is that the states can't start paying that money, obviously, until the bill is -- the law is official. And so, the clock is ticking (inaudible). So the issue is, is that these two programs that were extended, one of them was called the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program.

That's the one that extended it to independent contractors, to the self-employed, to freelancers, to gig workers, all of those folks don't normally qualify for unemployment benefits but they do now under this PUA Program.

Plus, we have millions of Americans, over 3 million Americans who are now long-term unemployed, they're unemployed for more than six months. The CARES Act provided an extra number of weeks for them, but that program's also running out. So, under the bill that Congress signed, they would each get an extra 11 weeks.

WHITFIELD: The other issue here is this looming eviction crisis, some -- you know -- 7 million Americans could be homeless very soon, in a matter of days. So, if nothing is done what could potentially happen January 1st?

LUHBY: Yes, I mean the Center for Budget and Policy Priority -- the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said that it could be even 9.2 million people who lost employment income during the pandemic are behind on their rent. So, we could have a wave of evictions coming in January. It's going to be a very big problem for a lot of people.

WHITFIELD: All right, Tami Luhby, thank you so much. Some pretty dyer prospects there.

Joining me now to discuss is Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Congressional Delegate representing Washington, D.C. She also sits on the House Oversight Committee. Good to see you and happy holidays, although it's not very happy for a whole lot of people.

REP. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D), DC DELEGATE: Very same to you.

WHITFIELD: So, the government is set to run out of money tomorrow, which -- you know -- many government workers will likely be put on furlough if President Trump does not sign this relief deal. Over 140 federal workers live in the District of Columbia. So, that makes up about 8 percent of the total federal workforce according to a 2017 government analysis.

So, how costly will this be, not just for government working and not working, but for individuals if there is indeed a government shutdown?

HOLMES NORTON: Well, this will mark the second government shutdown during the Trump Administration and the people who will be hurt most of course are government workers. So yes, my residents who are disproportionally in the federal government, not to mention this entire region, will be disproportionally hurt but so will the American people.

They will -- our workers will keep working, we're not going to stop delivering to -- for the American people, but the unnecessary pain delivered is completely avoidable. We would probably have to do some kind of short-term spending if the president keeps this up and shuts the government down. After all, he's not going to be there after January 3.

WHITFIELD: So -- so, who would a government shutdown at this particular moment -- you know -- in the midst of this pandemic in your view impact the nations response to the coronavirus pandemic?

HOLMES NORTON: Yes, we've got to understand that while it -- it affects federal workers, a shutdown means that what we have already done is not going to be delivered because the government is itself is not working.

[13:10:00] And this needless -- particularly when you consider that we have already got a package out and that we're talking about a stimulus package which is so small that it has been labeled an emergency relief package that that can't even get out with evictions set for this month.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HOLMES NORTON: Small business already on its hind legs. Airlines run out of money. The whole country is out of pocket. So, we may not -- and I hate to forecast this, but we may not get the relief, even the small relief until there is a new administration.

WHITFIELD: But that's, what, 24 days still away and in that time--

HOLMES NORTON: It's nothing (ph).

WHITFIELD: -- a lot can happen, particularly these dyer potential consequences of no additional relief money and when we talk about evictions and people who are worried sick about whether they're going to be put out on the street, whether their things are going to be put out on the street.

We're talking about 9.2 million renters who have lost their jobs during this pandemic and behind rent according to the analysis of the census bureau data by the center on budget and policy priorities.

What are you envisioning? What are you bracing for to see particularly in the nation's capital in terms of people being put out on the street, their things being on the curb? What are you bracing for?

HOLMES NORTON: I'm not giving up yet and the House hasn't given up yet. The house is coming back into session on Monday. We're supposed to be out of session this entire week. We're going to try to get this extra money.

He wants triple the amount of money $2,000 rather than $600 million and we're going to try to get that for him and keep on trying until he runs out of demands. He could pocket veto this bill. That is -- by pocket veto I mean just he's already vetoed the defense bill.

We can overwrite that. We have the votes we believe to do that. He has not said what he's going to do on the stimulus bill. And one thing he could do is to do nothing and that would have the effect of vetoing the bill as well.

WHITFIELD: As it relates to this pandemic, perhaps Congresswoman you saw that powerful Facebook post video of Dr. Susan Moore documenting what she said was the dismissal of her COVID related pain leaving her to feel less than valued as a black woman and a doctor herself. Take a listen to what she posted.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SUSAN MOORE, BLACK PHYSICIAN: I put forward and I maintain if I was white I wouldn't have to go through that. I was in so much pain from my neck. My neck hurt so bad. I was crushed. He made me feel like I was a drug addict and he knew I was a physician.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WHITFIELD: She posted that and then she died. She died last weekend. Hopefully, Congresswoman, you're still with me. So this really is another page in the litany of experiences of this kind of structural and systemic racism. How did this hit you and what can be done?

HOLMES NORTON: Well, she didn't start out to be a spokesperson for the racism that is being felt. I hope you can hear me even if you--

WHITFIELD: I can.

HOLMES NORTON: -- can't see me.

WHITFIELD: I got you (ph).

HOLMES NORTON: The racism that is being felt in our healthcare system, if we were to say what -- who is the best spokesperson for that, a black woman doctor graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School goes in with COVID and finds herself ignored or otherwise disparaged. Leaves the hospital, has to come back again and dies.

This is not the way we wanted to make the country understand what happens when African Americans are in the healthcare system.

[13:15:00]

But her death will be a memorial and hopefully will signal reforms. We already see the hospital saying it's doing what is the least it could do which is an investigation on what happened to her.

So we thought -- we hope this will encourage reform just like we are seeing reform throughout the country on matters effecting African Americans.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Your hope is that this will help inspire a type of reckoning -- a race reckoning in medicine as did George Floyd did--

HOLMES NORTON: Precisely.

WHITFIELD: -- to make this nation pay attention. All right. Thank you so much. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, appreciate your time. Thank you and Happy New Year.

HOLMES NORTON: My pleasure.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, coronavirus cases surge across the country. Hospitals overwhelmed. And California may have the worst of it. We're there live. Plus, President Trump waffling over the relief for Americans is having a direct impact on Georgia's U.S. Senate run- off races, how one candidate's campaign ad is now falling flat.

And dealing with a year long pandemic and a Christmas day explosion I'll speak to a business owner who may have to shutdown for good. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

All right. There's breaking news now in the investigation into the Christmas day bombing in Nashville, Tennessee. Authorities say they believe the blast was likely the result of a suicide bombing and now we are hearing from Nashville's mayor about a possible connection to the AT&T building that was badly damaged in the blast. CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is in Nashville for us. So, what more are you learning?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That is on of the motives that law enforcement here, the FBI and other agencies here are looking at with the ATF is whether or not the AT&T building was the target by this individual as you said in what officials here suspect was a suicide bombing.

And for the first time publicly we heard the mayor respond this morning on CBS as to a possible motive and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:20:00]

COOPER: Those of us in Nashville realize that on 2nd Avenue there's a big AT&T facility and the truck was parked adjacent to this large historic AT&T facility, which happens to be in downtown Nashville somewhat surprisingly.

And to all of us locally it feels like there has to be some connection with the AT&T facility and the site of the bombing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: And that is one of the motives, whether or not the AT&T building was targeted is something that the FBI is looking at, but there are also other motives perhaps, you know.

I've been talking to sources here on the ground and they all say basically they don't have a clear-cut motive yet. It's something that they're still looking for. It could be several things, and so they need to look at everything and then perhaps put something together to try and figure out what happened here.

Just a couple of notes on the FBI, they continue to be on scene here with the ATF, going through the debris, the blast site just several blocks behind me. One of the things that's been hindering them a little bit today is the wind. It's a windy day here in Nashville, so they've been having -- debris' been flying around, some of the debris off the buildings, so they've been slowed by the weather, but they're continuing to work to try and piece all of this together and they're hope -- they hope they can clear out the scene in a couple of days.

WHITFIELD: And then Shimon, you know, we're also hearing today from some of the officers who were on the scene and when we heard the Police Chief Drake so eloquently put yesterday that -- you know -- so many went right for the danger and when they heard that recording they immediately went into action and really saved a lot of lives potentially.

PROKUPECZ: Yes, when you look at the blast site and when you look at the damage and the force of this explosion it was enormous. Buildings that have come down, have crumbled down because of the explosion, cars melted, the painted melted off some many of these cars because of the heat and the size of this explosion.

And these six officers who arrived on scene and started just evacuating, getting people out of their homes, telling them to leave, acting quickly because within about 30 or so minutes of the police arriving this explosion occurred. And from -- for the first time we're hearing from some of those officers today and here's what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES WELLS, NASHVILLE POLICE OFFICER: And as I turned around, you know, for me it felt like I only took three steps and then the music stopped and as I'm walking back toward Topping now I just see orange and then I hear a loud boom. And as I'm stumbling, because it rocked me that hard, I started stumbling, I just told myself to stay on your feet, stay alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PROKUPECZ: It's those heroic moments that the mayor here, the FBI, the ATF, everyone here who's been on scene since this happened has said, has saved so many lives. And when you think about, Freddy, you know we keep talking about these bizarre scenarios that were playing out.

You've got this R.V., this music playing from the R.V., this warning for people to evacuate and for the officers to react as quickly as they did, certainly really what was really a scary situation for everyone, to be able to get everyone out so quickly certainly saved a lot of lives.

WHITFIELD: Right, really remarkable because remember they were responding to the reports of gun fire and only once they go to that location did they end up hearing that recording and then, you know, immediately kicking into action. Pretty heroic stuff indeed.

Shimon Prokupecz in Nashville, thank you so much.

So, as the investigation and clean-up continue, new video has emerged showing the force of that blast from inside a restaurant.

All right, that's actually a video of the investigators who had descended on a property outside of Nashville, collecting evidence as it relates to that R.V. Nashville's Mayor meantime says part of the downtown area that are now closed off should be reopened by later on today, but for some other businesses there is a long road ahead. In fact, now here's the video of -- caught inside that restaurant which got the moment of that blast. Let's watch it one more time.

All right, you can see the force of that blast. Carla Rosenthal is the owner of the Melting Pot where that video was taken and the Rodizio Grill which was also damaged in the explosion. So good to see you and -- and I hope you're able to tell us that everyone as it relates to your restaurant and grill there is OK.

CARLA ROSENTHAL, RESTAURANT AND GRILL OWNER IN NASHVILLE: Oh yes, every -- everyone is safe. This took place at 6:15 in the morning on Christmas morning. It was our one day to be closed and let our families enjoy a day off in -- in pure joy. And it -- it did not go that way at all. But, we are -- we are very fortunate that no one was physically hurt.

[13:25:00]

However, that's not to say that's not say that there aren't hundreds of people hurt by this. So, in our --

WHITFIELD: Absolutely.

ROSENTHAL: -- just in our two businesses alone.

WHITFIELD: Right. And -- and as it relates to businesses, including yours, it means a lot of people are unable to get back to business and -- you know -- get an income and go on with their lives. This has been a huge, gigantic disruption.

So then give me an idea of what you're hearing about how you are able to pick up the pieces, go inspect, how do you ensure your employees, you know, that they'll be able to have jobs again? What's going on?

ROSENTHAL: Well, that is the big unknown for us right now. We were just downtown and we were told that where our businesses are located, where that footage that you showed was, we were the epicenter of the blast directly -- that R.V. was parked directly in front of our two restaurants and that our building is not structurally sound, so they will not let us in at this point in time.

We -- we -- we know that we watched our security cameras that day for hours and hours and just watched the building fill with water on top of -- of the damage from the explosion. So, we don't foresee any time soon that we'll be back in there.

As far as our staff goes, right now we -- we were fortunate enough have some of our other franchise businesses for both the Melting Pot and Rodizio Grill that were thoughtful enough that they put together GoFundMe pages and right now our focus is on our -- on our Melting Pot and Rodizio Grill families in trying to help to supplement their -- their losses too.

This money does not go to owners; this money is for our -- our staff, our employees, some of whom have worked us for 10 plus years. Melting Pot has been there for 26 years, Rodizio Grill for eight and we have a lot of people that we're -- we're trying to look out for while we figure out what our next steps forward will be.

WHITFIELD: And already this is on the heels of the COVID crisis, which I'm sure made a gigantic impact on you being able to conduct business.

ROSENTHAL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: You're trying to rebound from that. Now, will your insurance help you considerably to assist your employees or is it the -- the relief, you know, the federal disaster relief that the governor says he's hoping to get as a result of this blast? Might that be supplemental? Might that help you?

ROSENTHAL: Well, we certainly hope so, that is information we are trying to obtain right now. It is way too early in this for us to learn anything about insurance of federal assistance.

Like I said, the FBI just made it very clear to us that -- that we cannot go back into that space, therefore no insurance adjuster can get into that space. So, a lot of those questions are -- are yet to be determined and right now, you know, we're -- we're just dealing with what we -- what we do know and trying to help our staff to put food on their tables and -- and hopefully communicate with some other restaurants and businesses that -- that may be hiring.

Like you said, with COVID, Nashville is only at 50 percent. We -- we had been doing OK, our -- our restaurants were very large physical spaces, city block long, so therefore we could handle the spacing of our guests and still do some business. Some others have not been that fortunate, but right now we're just in a -- in a wait and see pattern.

WHITFIELD: And just for our viewers, you were seeing some video earlier of a property in Antioch, Tennessee and you saw the R.V. These were images that we taken actually last year of that R.V. that was outside of the businesses what investigators believe and how eye witnesses, neighbors had seen that same -- what appeared to be that same R.V. parked outside that residence in Antioch last year.

The -- the correlation here now, for you Carla, that that R.V., that explosion took place right outside of your business. We are wishing you the best. I hope that you and all of your employees and your entire, you know, Melting Pot family will be able to get the assistance that you need and -- and pick up the pieces from here.

ROSENTHAL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Carla Rosenthal, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

And we'll be right back.

[13:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

The U.S. just reached a terrible milestone. More than 19 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported. Add that to December being the deadliest month in the U.S. since the coronavirus began. More than 63,000 Americans lost their lives to the virus in the past 26 days. In comparison, the entire month of November saw more than 36,000 deaths. Health experts warn projections for January are nightmarish. Those projections made worse by millions of Americans traveling and spreading the virus during the Christmas holiday.

The TSA reporting more than a million people traveled through airports Saturday the day after Christmas. In California, not only is the state now reporting the highest number of new daily coronavirus cases per capita in the country hospitals are so full medical services are spilling out into the parking lots.

CNN's Paul Vercammen is at a hospital in California's front lines in this war against the pandemic. So, Paul, what are you seeing there?

[13:35:00]

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The numbers astounds you by the minute. We have just learned that here at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena where they have one of those surge tents to accommodate many of these patients.

They have gone up from 177 to 189 COVID patients so on the front lines right now exhausted doctors and nurses are fighting this. I'm going to bring in infectious disease specialist Dr. Kimberly Shriner. How are your employees holding up when all of a sudden 12 more COVID patients show up?

DR. KIMBERLY SHRINER, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: Well, it is this moment of dread that we're trying to kind of deal with and I think that at this stage of the game they just plow on. They know what to do. We've been doing this for ten months. We anticipated that the winter would be tough. We didn't think it would be this tough.

We thought maybe the message would get to people to try to help us bend the curve. But apparently that hasn't happened and so it's just one thing after another. The nurses are working extra shifts. They're spreading it out a little bit thinner.

We had nurses that normally take care of one or two patients in the intensive care units are now taking care of three or four. We have -- we've expanded our intensive care unit capacity for COVID.

We are at about 200 or 300 percent in our ICUs because we have them scattered all over the hospital. The COVID wards also are sort of expanding throughout the hospital. And right now we're managing but it's we're kind of hanging on by our fingernails.

VERCAMMEN: And what words would you assign to the nurses, the doctors, they are--

SHRINER: Courageous and just they put -- they're exhausted. They're highly experienced now. We know how to deal with this disease and we know what the best interventions are to help try to save people.

But people still die. It's a very serious virus. It affects people that have weakened immune systems but it also affects people who appear to be normal and healthy. So I think that that's really something that people have to understand. This is a very, very dangerous virus.

VERCAMMEN: And there's a cautionary tale here that you hear every day from people who are in your COVID unit and they say to you what?

SHRINER: I wish I hadn't gone to that party. I wish I hadn't gone back to visit my relatives for the holidays because now two of them are in the hospital. We hear it over and over again. We have had many families in our hospital, some of whom never left the hospital.

And so, I think it's really important that the virus doesn't care if it's your uncle or your brother or your son or your aunt. It just wants to go to somebody who hasn't had the disease.

VERCAMMEN: We super appreciate you taking time out for us live, Dr. Shriner. Best of luck to you and your nurses and I know that you're anxiously hoping that everyone behaves on New Years Eve and doesn't cluster up and have these large gatherings.

SHRINER: Absolutely. Thank you very much.

VERCAMMEN: Appreciate it. Well there you have it, Fred, from Dr. Shriner herself as this ongoing all out war on COVID-19 goes on in this hospital in Pasadena, California. This is being played out throughout the state.

WHITFIELD: It is sobering. It's frightening. Paul Vercammen, thank you so much. So I want to discuss the situation in California and the pandemic in general with Dr. Anish Mahajan. He is the Chief Medical Officer at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Dr. Mahajan, good to see you. So, how bad is it when you've got a situation where people have to be treated in the hospital parking lot?

DR. ANISH MAHAJAN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER AT HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: It is horrible. We are facing something we've never thought we would face. We have so many patients coming in with COVID that as you just heard like every hospital in the region we are putting patients in wards and locations that we shouldn't have to put patients simply because they just keep coming in.

Our staffs are exhausted and they're doing the best they can. But as COVID spreads through the community it also spreads to our staff. We have many staff that are out sick with COVID and stress related conditions as well.

WHITFIELD: So Dr. Mahajan, who -- how do you make the decision about who is treated like in the parking lot kind of situations? I mean, is it the most recent who have come in? How do you make the decisions?

MAHAJAN: Well, in our public hospitals here in L.A. we are fortunate that we haven't yet had to do something like that. We are treating ICU patients in surgical wards, in ERs and other locations within the building. But what we do is we do the very best we can. We are providing the best care we can wherever we can as patients come in. That's how it's done.

WHITFIELD: This new variant of the coronavirus sent the U.K. back into lockdown and the U.S. now imposing travel restrictions. CNN's Dana Bash asked Dr. Fauci if the U.S. acted too late. Listen to his response.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Dana, I'm not going to say it was a mistake or not. Obviously I think the move to put some form of restriction on travel and restriction could either be blocking out travel completely which the decision was made not to do that.

But I think it's prudent and a good idea to do some form of testing and not let somebody on the plane from the U.K. unless they have a documented negative COVID-19 test. So I agree with that. I mean you could argue about the timing whether it should've been done a few days before.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WHITFIELD: Do you agree with that?

[13:40:00]

DR. ANISH MAHAJAN, CMO HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: You know, this new variant is very concerning. What we do know, as Dr. Fauci has explained and others, that it -- it does transmit more easily. And so, you know, we have to what we can to prevent the transmission of all COVID strains including this one.

Any measures to reduce that transmission are welcome from us here in the healthcare system where we are doing our best to take care of patients getting sick.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much and thanks for all that you and colleagues are doing. Dr. Anish Mahajan, appreciate it.

MAHAJAN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Early voting is underway in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoff election. Up next why President Trump's inaction on the COVID relief bill is putting the state's Republican incumbents in a major bind.

[13:40:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:44:20]

WHITFIELD: A week from Tuesday voters in Georgia will decide which party controls the U.S. Senate and President Trump's failure to sign the $900 billion COVID relief bill is putting Republican incumbents, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in a rather tough bind. They have been running at Trump loyalists, but they also wanted to run on delivering that relief money.

Check out this ad from David Perdue's campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator Perdue never gave up. Perdue again delivered real, meaningful help for Georgians, $900 billion in new COVID relief, direct checks to Georgians, critical funding for vaccine distribution, small businesses, public schools and help for folks out of work.

Ossoff obstructed, Perdue delivered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:45:00]

WHITFIELD: Uh-oh. Ryan Nobles is following these runoffs from Washington. So Ryan, you know, do we have any indication of how these GOP candidates now will try too, you know, play their hand?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes Fred, in many ways it seems as though the Republicans in this race are just ignoring the fact that President Trump has yet to sign this legislation into law, despite the fact that both of them, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue bragged about their support for it, bragged about the fact that they had passed it into law, and as you just showed there, David Perdue was up with ads the following morning claiming that he had delivered this relief, but unfortunately it just hasn't come through yet.

And so, it really puts these Republicans in a tight spot because on the one hand they don't want to be critical of President Trump. In fact, both of them have gone out of their way not to be critical of President Trump, but at the same time they want to claim that they've done something to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, so essentially David Perdue has gone AWOL, he hasn't had a public event since before Christmas. His office has not responded to any requests from us as to how he feels about President Trump not signing that bill into law.

Kelly Loeffler did hold a press conference right before the holiday, where she was asked about it. She said, she was open to the idea of $2,000 checks, but said that she wanted to see some offsets in the bill, in other words, some of the spending cut in other places. But both of them at this point have refused to criticize President Trump and his role in all of this.

Fred.

WHITFIELD: And also Ryan, you know, how -- how are we seeing their Democratic opponents, Raphael Warnock, Jon Ossoff responding?

NOBLES: Well, they are not going to let the Republicans off the hook. They put a lot of pressure on them to say exactly where they stand. You know, Jon Ossoff, even after the bill was initially passed before President Trump came out and said that he wanted more in those direct payments, said that $600 was a joke, he immediately backed President Trump in his plan to add more money to -- in direct payments, that $2,000 he agreed with that.

And Jon Ossoff even took it a step further yesterday by sending a letter to television stations in Atlanta telling them that they should take that ad off the air because it's factually untrue, that that aid has not been delivered even though Perdue claims it has. Now, that is somewhat of a political stunt, these TV stations really don't have a lot say over -- as to what they can and cannot put on the air because of FEC laws.

But still, it shows how these Republicans in a really tight spot. They want to offer the voters of Georgia one thing, but it seems like turn after turn, time after time President Trump continues to get in the way. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan Nobles in Washington, thanks so much for that.

An iconic Jewish deli in Chicago is struggling to keep its doors open because of the pandemic. Coming up, see how customers are determined to keep the food, history and nostalgia from being lost forever.

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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Kaitlan Collins at the White House and this is CNN.

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WHITFIELD: Congress passed a $900 billion COVID relief bill just before the holidays, but President Trump still hasn't signed it into law. Economic relief for millions of Americans now hangs in the balance.

Adrienne Broaddus spoke to one of those Americans as he tries to save this iconic Chicago restaurant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If history is a teacher --

DAN RASKIN, OWNER OF MANNY'S CAFETERIA & DELICATESSEN: There's Manny, that was my grandfather, and then my dad.

BROADDUS: The owner of Manny's Deli has learned the only thing constant --

RASKIN: I'm not done changing it.

BROADDUS: -- is change. Chicago's iconic Jewish deli was started by the Raskin brothers before the U.S. entered World War II. RASKIN: I am Dan Raskin. I'm the fourth generation owner/operator here

at Manny's. We've been in business for 79 years.

BROADDUS: Manny's.

JERRY KARP, LOYAL CUSTOMER: Old traditional delicatessen that you cannot find in many cities in the world.

DAVID AXELROD, LOYAL CUSTOMER: For 44 years has been the place where I go to clog my arteries and clear my head.

BROADDUS: Manny's closing its doors for good because of COVID-19 would be like someone you love dying.

KARP: I think a lot of people would cry. A nostalgic place would be gone and we're losing enough of them.

BROADDUS: Inside the walls hold history.

RASKIN: I definitely think my favorite memory was when President Obama came in.

BROADDUS: Days after Obama was elected in 2008, his first public stop was at Manny's.

RASKIN: He wanted to come and get a corned beef sandwich and some cherry pie.

AXELROD: Best corned beef you'll find, sliced by the best corned beef man behind the counter you'll find anywhere, Gino.

BROADDUS: The kitchen is 70-year-old Gino's second home.

GINO GAMBAROTA, MANNY'S EMPLOYEE: It's like coming to work and being with your family. You know, especially now it's important, more so than ever, you know?

BROADDUS: The empty chairs and declining revenue are reminders of what the pandemic has stolen.

RASKIN: It's been hard, I mean, especially businesses downtown, there's not a lot of people working in the city. This is just Manny checking out a customer.

BROADDUS: Memories can't protect Manny's from the pitfalls of the pandemic. On Twitter, Dan asked for help, and customers came to the rescue.

RASKIN: At certain times during the pandemic there has definitely been low lows.

BROADDUS: Decades before COVID, Manny's faced challenges.

RASKIN: The riots in the '60s.

BROADDUS: That was following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It forced the company to pivot. Dan's father Ken shared stories about cutting hours.

RASKIN: He said when the riots started then he said that they decided to close because it wasn't safe and there was curfews.

UNKNOWN: Get extra bread.

BROADDUS: Fast forward to 2020.

RASKIN: It was heartbreaking.

BROADDUS: Unrest following the police killing of George Floyd forced Manny's to adapt again.

RASKIN: The last eight months, when you look back at all the events, it's not just COVID, but it's the rioting, the -- everything just compiles on top of each other and just happy (ph) to survive it.

BROADDUS: Survival is in Dan's DNA.

[13:55:00]

He found a way to keep business going by delivering to Chicago's suburbs, a model (ph) involving more labor to pack everything up and go. And it costs more, but means 43 employees continue working. And with each meal, Dan delivers hope.

RASKIN: We will survive and we'll get through it. So we're very fortunate we've had some great support, and people are understanding that we're working under different conditions, and we're here for people to place orders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And with days to go before the expiration of the eviction moratorium, Beyonce is now stepping in to do what the president apparently won't -- helping to reach out to struggling Americans who are desperate to save their homes.

Beyonce will offer 100 people grants of $5,000 each if they're facing foreclosures or evictions because of the pandemic. An estimated 9.2 million people are behind on rent in America. And once the eviction moratorium is lifted, many renters will have to pay back rent on January 1st.

Applications can be made to Beyonce starting January the 7th, via Beyonce's BeyGOOD Impact Fund.

All right. We're following breaking news in Nashville. Coming up, we are live with details on why the mayor believes the bombing could have something to do with the location of the AT&T building.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

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