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Trump Signs COVID-19 Relief and Government Funding Bill; California Hospitals Rapidly Running Out of Room; Trump Complicates Perdue, Loeffler Campaigns; Authorities Identify Nashville RV Bomber; European Union Begins Massive Vaccination Drive; Japan Banning Entry to Foreign Nationals after Finding Cases of COVID-19 Variant; Biden Team Prepares for Security, Foreign Policy Challenges. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 28, 2020 - 00:00   ET

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

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

[00:00:30]

Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM. President Trump takes a break from the golf course to do some work, signing a much-needed coronavirus relief package. What it means, though, for millions of Americans who are struggling right now.

Nineteen million COVID cases in the U.S., the latest million added in less than a week. Dr. Fauci warns the worst might be still to come.

And a real-life episode of "48 Hours." Investigators have pieced together who blew up that RV in Nashville on Christmas morning. The big question remains: why?

Almost a week after calling it a disgrace, President Trump has finally signed the sweeping COVID relief package and government funding bill that so many Americans have been waiting for, but there are strings attached. In a statement, the president said he only approved the bill after getting the U.S. Senate to agree to consider increasing the amount of stimulus checks from 600 to $2,000, which is what Democrats wanted all along, of course.

The president has also vowed to send a, quote, "redlined version" of the bill back to Congress, asking for what he calls wasteful items to be removed.

Now, he also claims the Senate will take up legislation that starts an investigation into voter fraud in the presidential election, even though there is no evidence of any widespread wrongdoing.

Now, the president's reluctant signature came after unemployment benefits for more than 12 million Americans expired on Saturday and ahead of the government shutdown that would have kicked in on Tuesday.

President Trump now back at his Mar-a-Lago report. CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who's been traveling with the president, reports from West Palm Beach, Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, five days after President Trump threw billions of dollars of desperate coronavirus relief into limbo, by suggesting he might not sign a massive piece of legislation passed by Congress. The president has now signed that legislation.

The president signing that $2.3 trillion spending bill. That includes $900 billion in coronavirus relief on Sunday night here in south Florida.

The president, thought, only signed this legislation after unemployment benefits for more than 12 million Americans lapsed on Saturday night after the president didn't sign the legislation then.

And the president's signature also comes after he threw millions of Americans into financial uncertainty by delaying signing this piece of legislation. Those Americans, who are counting on those $600 stimulus checks to soon be arriving, they will now have to wait longer for those stimulus checks.

And then, of course, there are the millions of businesses that were counting on additional PPP funds to come through. Now they will be coming through but only after a period of five days of uncertainty here.

The president then explaining why he finally signed this legislation. He says this in a statement released by the White House. Quote, "I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, and money for PPE, return our airline workers back to work and substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more. The Senate," he says, "will start the process for a vote that increases checks to $2,000, repeal section 230, and starts an investigation into voter fraud."

Now, those last two items, it's really not clear what the president is talking about. Because there isn't stand-alone, specific legislation to accomplish those goals. But there is a piece of legislation being advanced by House Democrats on Monday that would increase those $600 stimulus checks to $2,000, in accordance with the president's demands.

And it appears that the president has now secured a commitment from the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, to bring that legislation to the floor. Whether it actually passes, though, is another matter, given that a number of Republicans remain opposed to $2,000 stimulus checks.

But regardless, this only comes because the president had checked out of governing after the election, for weeks after the election, as these negotiations were underway. And it was only after Congress passed this legislation with overwhelming bipartisan majorities, and, we should say, with the endorsement of the treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin, who is negotiating on the president's behalf. It was only after that legislation passed that the president began to raise his objections.

[00:05:10]

And so all the president accomplished was sinking more Americans into financial uncertainty, at a time when we have 20 plus million Americans unemployed. And all of this, of course, during the holiday season.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Let's go now to Los Angeles and CNN political analyst Ron Brownstein. Good to see you, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: How are you?

HOLMES: The president, he may have signed now, but not signing that bill on Saturday triggered some real-world impacts for millions of Americans. Why do you think the president let this happen at all? Especially, of course, as he played golf all weekend.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think, you know, the initial motivation seems to be a desire to lash out at both Democrats and Republicans who he have felt, on the Republican side, are not fighting for him hard enough.

And look, he has enjoyed chaos throughout his presidency. I mean, he has -- he has believed that he benefits from chaos.

But I thought, you know, what gave away the switch was the fact that he tweeted, a little before he tweeted that he was going to sign the bill, he tweeted that he was going to Georgia on January 4. And I -- and I -- I would bet that he was getting an earful from Republican senators, saying this level of disruption, the disruption of the benefits, the possibility of a government shutdown, was a very dangerous game he was playing, with those two Senate seats that will decide control of the Senate. And I thought the fact that he said he's going to Georgia right before he said he was signing this bill was probably not coincidental.

HOLMES: Yes. And, you know, what's crazy about this situation, I guess, is the president's own team negotiated the bill. You have Democrats saying, Yes, the president's right. Let's increase the amount to 2,000. Republicans refusing to do so.

So Republicans blocked $2,000 checks but now will be forced to say yes, maybe. I mean, it's just bizarro world.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I mean, it is -- it is of a piece, though, right? I mean, the president was disengaged from this throughout. You know, he did not have an oar in the water in trying to bring this to completion.

And it's very similar to what we've seen -- this is on the economic side. It's very similar to what we've seen on the public health side, where really, you know, since some point in the summer, they have, essentially, checked out of the public eye -- particularly after the election, and left Americans fundamentally on their own; left states on their own, trying to deal with hospitals that are overrun. Trying to deal with a death toll that now amounts to a 9/11, or a Pearl Harbor, a day.

So the fact that he, you know, was disengaged from this attempt to find an economic solution, I think, is totally of a piece with his really AWOL behavior on the public health challenge, as well. A president who has essentially walked away from his job.

HOLMES: Yes, it's a good point. You and I have both often spoke about how congressional Republican have stayed mute as they, you know, watched the Trump wrecking ball swing.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HOLMES: But you know, more and more are speaking out in recent days with some pretty harsh words. I mean, Pat Toomey was saying Trump would be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allowed this thing to expire. Congressman Kinzinger said that the president is trying to burn the place down on the way out, because he can't handle losing.

It's interesting that that is starting to happen, but is it too little, too late?

BROWNSTEIN: It's too little, and it's too late. I mean, those are familiar voices. Toomey has been one, you know, who has been a little more critical. Obviously, one of the last Republicans in a state that has voted mostly Democratic in presidential elections in this century. And Kinzinger has been a lone voice in the House.

I mean, really, the big story is, I mean, if you put all of the pieces together since the election, the disengagement on the pandemic. The 11:59 effort to torpedo this bill. The persistent efforts to subvert the election. The calls on the Justice Department to investigate his political rivals.

And again, here, asking the Senate to pursue this nonexistent election fraud. And then, these pardons to his cronies.

HOLMES: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: And people who were directly implicated in shielding him from the Mueller investigation.

I think if you add all of this up, Michael, it looks -- and you probably know this better than I. It looks like the final hours of some tin-pot dictatorship. I mean, a Noriega or a Somoza or a Ceausescu.

The walls are closing in. The strongman knows that the clock is ticking. He is addled. He is angry. He is vengeful. He is lashing out. And I think it's just embarrassing. I mean, the U.S. sends people all over the world, trying to teach countries how to stand up a democracy.

And here we are, watching ours being torn down day by day, mostly with silence from Republicans in Congress.

HOLMES: Yes, you touched on this, and I wanted to come back. I mean, the part that still gets me is the guys who took -- took part in the massacre in Iraq, the Blackwater men being pardoned.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

HOLMES: Which is just unspeakable. But you touched on this, and let's touch on it briefly before we go.

[00:10:04]

How might the president's actions or inaction, his behavior, impact public sentiment with those January 5 elections approaching? I mean, Biden's ability to govern hinges on those elections.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, I think, you know, these elections are so tribal, and the lines are so deeply ingrained in every state. And Georgia is so closely divided that probably not much that has happened since the election is going to affect it very much one way or the other. This really is a turnout battle.

But I do think that Loeffler and Purdue are looking at just a worst- case scenario if Trump allowed the -- all of the other benefits to lapse. The eviction moratorium, the extended unemployment, as well as a government shutdown.

And now, you can imagine a scenario where they get a chance, on the floor of the Senate, to vote for a $2,000 payment, which might benefit them at the margin. So you know, I don't think anything is going to change -- affect it that much, but on balance, they're probably feeling better tonight than they were 24 hours ago, the two Republicans.

HOLMES: Yes. Yes, indeed. He's also called on his supporters to turn out in D.C. on January the 6th. He did that on Twitter, as well.

BROWNSTEIN: Chaos. Chaos coming then, too.

HOLMES: Yes, exactly. It's going to be interesting to see how that unfolds.

Ron Brownstein, I wish we had more time. We do not. I appreciate it, as always.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me, Michael.

HOLMES: The U.S. has now surpassed 19 million cases of the coronavirus. That's according to Johns Hopkins University. Still, by far, the most in the world and almost double the next closest country, which is India.

America's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says cases may swell in January, in part because of the millions of people who traveled for the Christmas holidays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: 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 advise 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)

HOLMES: Now U.S. health officials say nearly two million Americans have been vaccinated so far, nowhere near, though, the Trump administration's prediction of 20 million by the end of this month.

Now, if you live in the U.S. and want to see what could happen in your town as coronavirus cases soar, take a look at California. Right now, the state is reporting some of the highest new daily case numbers per capita in the entire country. Hospitals quickly running out of room to care for patients, even the very sickest patients. Health officials worried about running out of resources.

Paul Vercammen explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, here in California, the blare of sirens here at Huntington Hospital in Pasadena, 189 patients in the hospital with COVID-19. They've even set up surge tents to accommodate other patients with other problems and keep them away from the COVID-19 patients.

In all, 20,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals in California. And something of concern here. If there is a tidal wave of cases after New Year's Eve, top officials at this hospital say they may have to ration healthcare.

DR. KIMBERLY SHRINER, INFECTION DISEASE SPECIALIST, HUNTINGTON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: Indeed, that's what we may have to do. That's really the ultimate triage. We have a limited number of ventilators. We have a limited number of ICU beds. We have a limited number of plastic tubing for oxygen tanks. And so a lot of those decisions, if we get to that point -- we're not there yet, but if we did, we're going to have to make some of those decisions. And again, that's a decision that, you know, no physician, or nurse, or anyone wants to ever have to make about someone.

VERCAMMEN: They call that practice of deciding who gets what type of healthcare, they call it a scarce resource policy. And Dr. Shriner ought to know all about it. The infectious disease expert also served in Africa in the fight against HIV. Now, they're just crossing their fingers, and hoping that Californians

pay attention to smart social distancing and don't get out of control by not wearing masks or but getting together for large gatherings during the New Year's holiday.

I'm Paul Vercammen, reporting from Pasadena. Now back to you, Michael.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Appreciate that, Paul.

Now, we are learning more about the Nashville bombing on Christmas morning. Investigators say they know who did it, but they're still trying to figure out some key details. We'll have the very latest when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:18:44]

Holmes: Welcome back. President Trump's signature on that COVID relief bill removes one political stumbling block for Georgia's two Republican senators running in next week's runoff, as we were just discussing with Ron Brownstein.

David Purdue and Kelly Loeffler released a statement praising the president's leadership in approving the aid that he did not approve for days as he golfed. Both senators had voted for the measure and never said whether they backed President Trump's last-minute call for higher direct payments to Americans.

It has been a challenge for Purdue and Loeffler to campaign around the president's surprise moves on legislation and his messaging on election fraud. Ryan Nobles reports on the pivotal runoff.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just a little more than a week to go before the final votes are cast in the Georgia Senate runoff, and there's a lot at stake, both for Republicans and Democrats. Republicans are hoping they can hold onto at least one of these seats. And if they do, they will retain the majority in the United States Senate.

But it hasn't been easy. Republicans running as close as they can to President Trump, but he continues to throw both Kelly Loeffler and David Purdue curveballs.

The most obvious being the president's waffling on the coronavirus relief package. Of course, that big omnibus spending bill which both Purdue and Loeffler voted for and promoted.

[00:20:06]

Trump also not -- deciding, I should say, to veto the National Defense Authorization Act. That's something that both Purdue and Loeffler voted for.

And then, of course, Trump continues to sow doubt and misinformation about the voting system in Georgia, while at the same time as Loeffler and Purdue begging his supporters to come out and vote.

Now, on the Democratic side, you have Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, the two of them really putting a focus on coronavirus and the relief package in general.

Ossoff quickly said that he believed that the president was right for once about the amount of money that should be in these direct payments. He endorsed increasing the amount from $600 to 2,000. Raphael Warnock, the Democrat, as well, saying the same thing.

We've seen kind of a bit of quiet on the campaign trail over the holiday season. That is expected to change starting this week, Monday, leading right up through this final week of campaigning.

All four campaigns expected to be out and about across the state of Georgia. And of course, hundreds of millions of dollars being spent, as well. The campaign is approaching the $500 million mark in combined ad spending, as we await final results here on January 5.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now the E.U. is launching a COVID vaccination campaign with the first doses happening all over Europe right now, including in the former epicenter of the pandemic.

Plus, details on why Japan is banning foreign nationals from entering the country. We'll be live in Tokyo coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:25:09]

HOLMES: And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. And thank you for doing so.

Well, authorities say they now know who set off the bomb in that parked RV in downtown Nashville on Christmas morning. They've identified 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner as the bomber, using DNA found at the scene. An investigator says Warner was, in his words, present when the bomb went off and died in the blast, of course. No one else was killed. Three people were slightly hurt.

Investigators, though, aren't sure why Warner did it. They say they're looking at any and all possible motives, but they say it's not terrorism, per se.

Nashville police tweeted this video Sunday, which shows the blast from a new angle. The explosion happened just seconds after an officer walks out of frame to safety. And we are hearing from the police who were first to arrive on the

scene before the blast. They say the RV had cameras, and all of its windows were covered from the inside.

Now, we know that a computerized voice in the RV was broadcasting an evacuation warning, and police have added an eerie detail. They say it was also playing the song, "Downtown" by Petula Clark.

One of the officers describing the moment when the bomb went off.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER JAMES WELLS, METRO NASHVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: As I turned around, you know, for me it felt like I took three steps, and the music stopped. And as I'm walking back to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) 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 tell myself, stay on your feet, stay alive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, CNN law enforcement analyst, Peter Licata, joins me now from New York. He's a former supervisor special agent with the FBI, and a former FBI lead bomb technician. Just the man for this conversation.

We know who the alleged bomber is now. A neighbor described him as a loner, a former employee, essentially a nice guy. What will investigators be looking at in terms of his mental state, or what led him to do this? Police were asked about reports of 5-G technology paranoia, but police didn't confirm anything.

What are they going to be looking at?

PETER LICATA, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Good morning, Michael.

What the police are doing right now as they're still processing this crime scene, which was quite large, the crime scene will still be processed, they're going to be taking deep dives into Warner's social media accounts. They'll be pulling every cell phone he owns, every -- every computer, every hard drive that he has access to.

They're going to be pulling his social media, tracking his websites, looking at his phone calls to see who he was potentially in contact with. And then also to see what websites or what postings he had on social media to understand what his ideology was, if any, and what his motive was to conduct this attack.

HOLMES: Public records show that he was issued an explosive user permit's handler license back in November 2013. That expired in 2016. So we can presume some sort of knowledge of explosives.

But you're the expert. I mean, how easy is it to make a bomb of this size with what are fairly easily obtained materials?

LICATA: Well, in the United States, commercial military explosives are very well-regulated. So not saying he didn't have access to those, but they're very well-regulated, considering his license expired some seven years ago.

However, improvised or homemade explosives are very easy to procure, and are really the explosives of any criminal's choice, because the precursor materials are easy to get, whether on the Internet or at retailers. And it's -- in general, it's pretty simple chemistry in order to make some of these explosive mixtures.

HOLMES: And so what pieces of the puzzle are most important and for investigators to put together now? The makeup of the bomb, obviously. But I guess motivation is -- is key. Because we don't know why he did this. We're kind of stuck, aren't we?

LICATA: Agreed. So obviously, the makeup of the bomb will -- The forensics don't end just because we -- we know who the main subject is. So the forensics are going to continue to develop any leads, to confirm that he, in fact, was the sole producer, manufacturer of this device, the only culprit involved in it.

So along with that, it's just going to be confirming that no one cooperated with him, collaborated with him on this effort. No one pushed him forward to -- to increase his motivation, whatever his motivation ends up being to perform this -- this catastrophic act.

HOLMES: The FBI confirmed threats against infrastructure earlier this month, unrelated to this, but -- but apparently related to the election in some way. Now obviously, we don't have that political connection in this case or know about it.

[00:30:08]

But -- but the thing that's interesting, if it's shown that the AT&T facility was the target, and this vehicle was parked right out in front of it.

Does that show any sort of weakness in infrastructure protection? Is that a warning sign? Because there was sort of damage in terms of, you know, the cellphones coverage and stuff like that.

LICATA: Infrastructure has always been a focus of law enforcement and corporate security. It has been since prior to September 10, 2011, where -- when terrorism really hit the United States. There was a boost in the way infrastructure, from utility companies to communication systems, to switches, are maintained and managed, obviously to airports.

So those things have always been considered a target by -- at terrorist groups, or just any other groups, so in this case, Mr. Warner. So those things are always considered to be a target.

So security has always been very heavy, whether it's CCTV, whether it's a hardened infrastructure, all different means to try to protect that, but it will always be a target. And that's something that law enforcement and corporate security need to consider. HOLMES: Yes, and you're well-practiced in this sort of, you know,

field. But you know, it just sort of strikes me that, and it's worrying in some ways. It's -- it's not that hard to do this kind of thing.

LICATA: Unfortunately, it's not. There's way too much information out there on the Internet. There's -- that just lead people down these paths.

HOLMES: Yes. If you have the right motivation. Peter Licata, fascinating to talk to you. Thanks so much. Appreciate your expertise.

LICATA: Thank you.

HOLMES: And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:35:11]

HOLMES: The European Union kicked off a huge vaccination campaign over the weekend, with hopes of turning the tide on the pandemic that has claimed more than 1.7 million lives worldwide.

Cyril Vanier shows us how the rollout is going across Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CYRIL VANIER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR (voice-over): First the caretaker. Then one of the most vulnerable. That's how Greece began the process of distributing its first doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

"Today marks the first day of the countdown to bring our lives back," the Greek health minister says.

A hope resounding throughout the European Union as member countries roll out their own vaccination programs. Two doses for each citizen. Inoculations that will stretch well into next year.

But then one day potentially vanquish the virus that has so far killed nearly 1.8 million people worldwide.

Residents in a retirement home in Germany were among the first to get the shots, one 85-year-old welcoming the possibility of a sore arm. "We want to see our families again," she says. "That's the most important thing, and to be able to go out again."

The E.U. is due to get 12 and a half million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine by the end of the year. And it's expecting more, which along with contracts from companies including Moderna and AstraZeneca, should add up to a total of more than 2 billion doses of potential vaccines, if companies keep up with demand.

In the Czech Republic, the first shots given to the prime minister to encourage skeptics that it's safe. Polls show many Europeans are wary of taking a COVID-19 vaccine, at least for now.

One man says, "I think it's been a bit quick for it to be really effective, but we will have to see how it works. That reluctance not shared by officials in Hungary and Slovakia, who are so eager to begin vaccinating that they started a day early on Saturday.

Some countries are even calling retired medics and revising rules on who can give injections to prevent any logistical delays.

In this town in Italy, once the epicenter of the pandemic in Europe, a site almost unthinkable nearly 10 months ago. Vehicles carrying vials of vaccine. A light at the end of the tunnel that so many across Europe did not live to see.

Cyril Vanier, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Japan is now banning foreign nationals from entering the country after reporting several cases of the COVID-19 variant. That ban will last until the end of January.

Japanese citizens and foreign residents will be allowed entry, but they'll have to self-quarantine for 14 days. Japan reporting nearly 3,000 new coronavirus cases on Sunday.

CNN's Selina Wang joins us now from Tokyo. Tell us how worried authorities are about this new variant appearing. And also, how this ban is going to work.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What we are seeing concerns growing here as Japan steps up those border controls, as you mentioned, temporarily banning entry to foreign nationals, as well as temporarily stopping the issuance of new visas.

And now up until this point, Japan had actually been slowly opening its borders. Throughout this pandemic, Japan has taken this relatively relaxed approach without any strict lockdowns, but it did have one of the world's strictest travel curbs, at one point banning entry from more than 150 countries.

Now, under this new measure, however, foreign residents, as well as Japanese citizens can still enter, as can business people and students from several countries that Japan has these special travel arrangements with, which include South Korea, as well as China.

But Japan is decidedly in the midst of a massive surge in COVID cases, reporting thousands a day, and the government has really been struggling to balance COVID-19 prevention with preparing for the Olympics and reviving the economy.

In fact, up until this week, the government had been encouraging people to go out and travel and eat -- Michael.

HOLMES: China reporting some outbreaks ahead of the lunar new year. What's been the response to that? WANG: That's right. We've seen China take a very different approach to

these local flare-ups. China has largely brought the pandemic under control, but every time we do see these localized outbreaks, we see the area go into wartime mode with mass testing, contact tracing, and heightened restrictions.

If you take the instance of Dalia (ph), and this is a city in the northeastern part of China, since December 19, it's reported about 60 coronavirus cases. And starting last week, the city started mass testing. And already they've reported that they've already completed testing 6.4 million people.

[00:40:06]

At the same time, the capital, Beijing, is under high alert currently undergoing high testing of around 800,000 people. This is after reporting just two locally transmitted cases in a northeastern district of Beijing. We're seeing authorities there already seal off residential compounds and villages where the cases has been found.

So even though, Michael, this is a very small number of cases. As you say, the lunar NEW year holiday is coming up. And this is a mass travel period when authorities do not want to see any uptick in cases -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, absolutely. Selina, good to have you there. Selina Wang in Tokyo for us.

And thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. For our international viewers, you're going to see WORLD SPORT next. For everyone else, though, I'm going to be back with more news after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[TRANSCRIPT OF CNN FOLLOWS]

[00:45:27]

HOLMES: Welcome back. We're just over three weeks away until President-elect Joe Biden takes office, and his team is getting busy ready -- readying for the challenges ahead.

CNN's Jessica Dean has the latest on their preparations from Delaware.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will be briefed by key members of their national security and foreign policy teams on Monday.

These are team members who are part of the agency review teams who have been going into these government agencies to really get a lay of the land and report back what Biden and Harris will be inheriting when they assume office on January 20. We're told that they will be briefing them on any key challenges that

they'll be inheriting when they take office. And then we are expecting the president-elect to give remarks following that.

One thing to keep an eye on, there has been this back and forth between the Department of Defense and the Biden transition team and the president-elect himself, saying that the Department of Defense has not been briefing his team on information they need, including about the cybersecurity hack.

The Department of Defense, a senior official from that refuting that, saying it's patently false. The Department of Defense, a senior official from there refuted that, saying it's patently false. The Department of Defense has said there was a mutually agreed upon pause for the holiday to take a little break.

But the Biden transition team says they never agreed to that, and they're still not getting the information they need. So it will be interesting to see if we hear any more about that from the president- elect on Monday.

Also looking ahead to the days and weeks to come, the president-elect has five remaining slots to fill in his cabinet. He still needs to name an attorney general, a director of the CIA, a secretary of labor, a secretary of commerce and someone to head up the Small Business Administration. We're expecting him to complete that by early January.

Jessica Dean, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Syrian refugees were forced to flee a camp in Lebanon after a tent caught fire and the blaze spread through the entire settlement. The U.N. refugee agency in Lebanon says the fire happened after a violent dispute on Saturday night, although no official cause is being given.

The temporary camp was destroyed along with the few possessions the refugees had with them. Neighboring communities in Lebanon and Syria have offered shelter with more aid coming in from the U.N.

And in Iran, a dozen climbers were killed when blizzards triggered an avalanche. It happened north of Tehran in mountains that are popular with tourists. The search-and-rescue operation was called off Sunday after the last two bodies were recovered.

Now, for many around the world, of course, 2021 can't come soon enough. Just one year ago, the term "COVID-19" wasn't even on our radar. Twelve months later, it's on the tip of everyone's tongue and has upended countless lives along the way.

CNN's Clarissa Ward looks back at the year of the pandemic and some of the biggest moments of 2020.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a year we'll never forget.

(voice-over): In 2020, we witnessed world-changing, paradigm-shifting events, all happening under the cloud of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But what's the secret?

WARD: And CNN was there every step of the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was very scared.

WARD (on camera): This is no longer safe.

(voice-over): A stretch of bad events started off the year. Wildfires engulfed Australia with apocalyptic scenes.

(on camera): We cannot see the fire, but we can certainly smell it and feel it.

(voice-over): Burning up to 73,000 square miles, about the size of the state of South Dakota, and killing an estimated one billion animals.

STUART BLANCH, SENIOR MANAGER, AUSTRALIA LAND CLEANING & RESTORATION WORLD WILDLIFE FUND: This is not normal. It's like fires on steroids.

WARD: Lives were lost and thousands of homes destroyed.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A day after claiming that Iran's top commander was planning to attack a U.S. embassy --

WARD: The death of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in a U.S. drone strike on January 3 led to days of terrifying tension between the U.S. and Iran.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Saying that there would be revenge, there would be some sort of response from the Iranians.

WARD: Threats of war and Iran's retaliatory attack on Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God damn!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was scared at the moment but it happened. It's something that we were ready for.

WARD: Just hours after Iran launched that ballistic missile attack on two U.S. military bases in Iraq, a Ukrainian passenger plane was shot down in Iran, killing all 176 people on board.

[00:50:06]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New video obtained by CNN seems to show a missile strike as a fast-moving projectile flies across the sky before striking another object. WARD (on camera): Well, Wolf, CNN has obtained new footage, CCTV footage that appears to show the dramatic and extraordinary force of the impact as that Ukrainian airliner slammed into the ground in Tehran.

(voice-over): Meanwhile, in China, a strange new virus began to spread, its presence a silent clock, counting down to the time it would bring the world to its knees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to grasp this scope of it. Twenty million people. That's what we're talking about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've noticed a good number of people rushing to this train station. This railway station is located just a few blocks away from the seafood market, the epicenter, according to health officials, of this virus.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Coronavirus is showing no signs of letting up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was back in late December when Li sent a group message saying that a test result from a patient quarantined at the hospital where he worked showed a patient had a coronavirus. But hours after hitting send, Wuhan City health officials tracked Li down, questioning where he got the information.

WARD: Dr. Wenliang would pay with his life for his bravery, like thousands of other medical professionals on the front lines all over the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can barely breathe.

WARD: Shutdowns followed across the globe. Life as we knew it seemed to grind to a halt overnight.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For the town of Nembro, the month of March was a month of daily death. You just need to look at the death notices here. This woman died on the 7th of March. This died the 8th of March.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Starting here, you don't only see the ferocity of this disease but the silence with which it kills.

WARD: Empty flights, deserted city centers, and cruise ships floating listlessly through the open water, their trapped passengers hoping in vain for a place to port.

The virus made its way around the world like the grim reaper, taking victims as it spread its wrath.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was called out last night to a dear old chap, and it was his wife of many years had passed away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This video shows patients lying on the floor at a Madrid hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are bodies. And if just watching the video is difficult, imagine going through those containers in person, looking for your dad's body.

WARD: On March 11 the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic.

DR. TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS, DIRECTOR-GENERAL, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION: "Pandemic" is not a word we use lightly.

WARD: By then, life as we knew it already long gone. Millions across the world living for months under strict lockdowns to try to stop the spread of the virus.

Face masks became a familiar sight, social distancing a way of life.

In early August, Lebanon struck by a massive deadly explosion, sparked by the detonation of thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate, killing more than 170 people and injuring more than 6,000 others.

WEDEMAN: This is where CNN's office used to be.

WARD (on camera): Something of this magnitude. So unnecessary. This has pushed the rage felt by the Lebanese population to unprecedented level.

(voice-over): In 2020, CNN exclusively exposed a troll factory in Ghana, backed by Russia, that was actively aiming to influence the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

(on camera): And let me tell you, Anderson. It's not where you might have expected it to be.

This is the compound where the operation has been based. There's no sign for an NGO. We're about an hour outside of the city.

(voice-over): And a CNN/Bellingcat investigation identified Russian FSB operatives who trailed Putin's nemesis, Alexei Navalny, before he was poisoned.

ALEXEI NAVALNY, RUSSIAN OPPOSITION LEADER: I get out of the bathroom, turn over to the flight attendant and said to him, I was poisoned. I'm going to die.

WARD: After a difficult spring fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, most of Europe opened back up for the summer.

But despite the short respite in the summer months, the virus back with a vengeance in the fall and winter in Europe.

PLEITGEN: The things the Germans are doing now, is they're putting a stricter lockdown in place a lot earlier than anybody would have thought.

BLITZER: A troubling headline coming from the U.K.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Worry growing over a new COVID variant.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: The implications of this new variant that could be 70 percent more infectious but not more deadly in the U.K. are growing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: French border is closed. All day long, we've seen these police officers in IVIS (ph) jackets turning these 18-wheelers that you see behind me around with their goods.

[00:55:08]

Worldwide coronavirus cases hit 73 million in December. There were 16.5 million in the United States alone and more than 1 million deaths globally.

A uniting global goal in 2020: a vaccine. And by December, we saw the first approved vaccines administered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let the mass immunization program begin.

Ninety-year-old Margaret Keenan making history. The first person in England and, indeed, the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine outside the trial.

WARD: A moment of hope that 2021 will be the beginning of the end of the pandemic that spares no one.

Clarissa Ward, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, the tennis great Roger Federer is going to miss the first Australian Open of his career. It's a tournament he's won six times, by the way. Organizers announced on Sunday he had withdrawn. Federer is still recovering from two knee surgeries.

The Australian Open, the first grand slam of the year, is going to be starting in early February, delayed by three weeks due to the pandemic.

And they don't call this football field the Frozen Tundra for nothing. This was the scene at the Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, as the Packers took on the Tennessee Titans. Heavy snow moved in before kickoff, making it a winter wonderland. The Packers, well, they're used to that. They won the game, 40 to 14.

I've been there for a winter game. It's quite cold.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Michael Holmes. Stay with us, though. I will be back with more news in just a moment.

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