Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
U.S. Sets New Record for Air Travel During Pandemic; At Least 2.1 Million Vaccine Doses Administered in U.S.; Argentina's Senate to Debate Bill Legalizing Abortion; Police Release New Body Cam Video of Nashville Bombing. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired December 29, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[00:00:00]
(MUSIC PLAYING)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the, world I'm Paula Newton live from CNN Center in Atlanta.
U.S. House Democrats play their cards with 2 key votes, forcing Donald Trump's Republican allies to choose between loyalty and what is best for the American people.
Plus coronavirus vaccines are being distributed right around the world. Right here in the United States, experts say it's being given much slower than expected.
And to Argentina, now on the verge of legalizing abortion. We will hear from activists who have been fighting for change there.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NEWTON: Yes, it has now been nearly a year since China first alerted the World Health Organization about a mysterious pneumonia detected in Wuhan. Of course we now know it was caused by the coronavirus.
But months into this full-on global calamity that we are all living through that has killed nearly 1.8 million people so far, experts say this still isn't the worst possible pandemic.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MICHAEL RYAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION EMERGENCY HEALTH PROGRAMS: This pandemic has been very severe, it's been -- it's spread around the world extremely quickly and has affected every corner of this planet. But this is not necessarily the big one.
This virus is very transmissible and it kills people and it has deprived so many people of loved ones. But its current case fatality is reasonably low in comparison to other emerging diseases. This is a wake up call.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: It's chilling to hear that. Despite the grim figures, almost 1.3 million Americans passed through U.S. airport checkpoints on Sunday. That's the most since the start of the pandemic. But it's only about half as much as a year ago, which indicates that many people did heed experts advice and did stay home for Christmas.
This comes as the United States reports its highest number of COVID-19 hospital admissions yet. More than 121,000 on Monday. December is by far America's deadliest month in the pandemic.
In the meantime, financial help is on the way for millions of Americans. The new round of stimulus checks included in the $900 billion COVID-19 relief package are expected to go out this very week.
This comes from a administration official a day after President Trump, you will remember, took a break from golfing to sign the stimulus bill. The battle between the president and congressional leaders isn't dying down.
They are still at odds over not just the amount of stimulus we were talking about but also a defense bill that President Trump vetoed. CNN's Phil Mattingly has details on two new votes on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was just two votes on the house floor but it was also two specific demonstrations of where Donald Trump sits right now in the Republican Party.
Now you don't, obviously, want to read too much into a vote to override his veto of a major defense policy bill or a vote to sustain his request to increase direct payments in the COVID relief package from 600 dollars to 2,000 dollars. But it's hard not to pay attention to where Republicans in the house came down on those votes.
On the stimulus checks 130 Republicans voted against with the president wanted. On the national defense authorization act -- a bill that has been signed into law 59 consecutive years passed by congress with wide bipartisan majorities for 60 consecutive years -- well, the vast majority of Republicans sticking with their original vote in favor of the bill.
In other words, against president Trump.
So what does it all mean? Well, it's not an easy question to necessarily understand except for when it came to the defense policy bill, take a listen to what the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee said.
REP. MAC THORNBERRY (R-TX): I would only ask that as members vote they put the best interests of the country first. There is no other consideration that should matter.
MATTINGLY: Look, there's no question that President Trump still demands loyalty and the House Republicans in particular are willing to give it to him in spades. Just watch what's played out in the wake of the election.
However, with some issues whether it's defense policy and in this case economic policy as well, they do appear more willing to split from the president than they have been in the past.
Now, how's that going to play out in the weeks ahead?
Well, we're going to get a test.
[00:05:00]
MATTINGLY: Both of those measures are going to head over to the United States Senate.
The Senate is expected to vote to override the president's veto as well, Republicans on board with Democrats on that one.
What happens with the 2,000 dollar stimulus checks? Well, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hasn't weighed in yet, hasn't said specifically what he's going to do.
That will be the next interesting test where Republicans sit and where their president is on a daily basis -- Phil Mattingly, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: U.S. President-Elect Joe Biden says the Trump administration is blocking his transition team getting information from key agencies. That's including the all-important Defense Department.
After the, election President Trump fired his Defense Secretary and purged other leaders, leaving loyalists in political control of the Pentagon. MJ Lee reports on Biden's blunt response.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.
MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: President-Elect Joe Biden slamming the Trump administration for what he says has been far short of full cooperation during the transition process.
BIDEN: We have encountered roadblocks from the political leadership at the Department of Defense and the Office of Management and Budget.
LEE (voice-over): After getting briefed by members of his national security and foreign policy agency review teams, Biden accusing Trump officials of political obstruction. BIDEN: For some agencies, our teams received exemplary cooperation
from the career staff in those agencies. From others, most notably, the Department of Defense, we encountered obstruction from the political leadership of that department.
LEE: Biden also laying out some of the most urgent foreign policy challenges his administration will confront come January, saying major federal agencies have been handicapped under President Trump.
BIDEN: Many of them have been hollowed out in personnel, capacity and in morale, in the policy processes that have atrophied or have been sidelined, in the despair of our alliances and the disrepair of those alliances.
LEE: This as the country braces for post-Christmas spikes in COVID-19 cases across the country, Dr. Anthony Fauci saying he agrees with Biden's earlier prediction...
BIDEN: Our darkest days in the battle against COVID are ahead of us, not behind us.
LEE: -- that the worst of the pandemic is still to come.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: We very well might see a post- seasonal, in the sense of Christmas, New Year's, surge. I share the concern of president-elect Biden that, as we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse.
LEE: Just a little over three weeks out from Inauguration Day, Biden building out the rest of his administration.
The most prominent cabinet position still outstanding?
Attorney general: the top two contenders for the role remain Judge Merrick Garland and Senator Doug Jones.
Other major appointments still to come, CIA director, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor and SBA administrator.
LEE: Now as Biden was leaving his speech here in Wilmington, he was asked whether he supports the $2,000 in direct payments for COVID-19 relief. He said, yes, he does.
As for Tuesday, he's going to be giving a speech about COVID-19, as experts are worried that cases are going to spike across the country after the holidays -- MJ Lee, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Michael Genovese is a political analyst and president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University. He joins me now from Los Angeles.
Good to see you, Michael, really good. And these are interesting times on Capitol Hill. If you could just parse it for us.
You have Republicans in congress and the senate, perhaps, defying Trump with votes, something so many still refuse to do rhetorically. Do you sense this is somewhat of a shift here?
MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: A bit of a shift. But the Republican legislators has kind of a Sophie's choice; do I back to my president or do I risk my political career?
Because a lot of Republicans still fear Donald Trump but they fear him for one reason; his loyal base. And a lot of this has to do with 2024, you've got a least a dozen maybe 15 Republican senators who plan on running for president.
And so what role will Donald Trump be playing? Will he be a rival, will he be a kingmaker, will he be an albatross?
So you've got a lot of Republican senators who are walking on eggshells. And we know how difficult it is to walk on eggshells when you have no backbone. And that's where the Republicans are in the senate.
They will every once in a while rise up and take on Trump but they're usually afraid to. In this case, many of them feel they have no choice.
NEWTON: Well and if they weren't on the defense bill, what next, right?
Especially given the constituencies that many of these Republicans represent.
[00:10:00]
NEWTON: Let's talk a little bit about, though, I want to talk about that stimulus, the vote on the stimulus bill. The bottom line is there was collateral damage here.
How do you think tens of millions who are going to lose out on maybe even a week's worth of benefits, how are they going to react to this -- and I should say tens of millions of them, right, are Trump supporters.
GENOVESE: The human toll has already been devastating and it will continue to be so for a number of months now.
The economy is still in very bad shape and we need to give it a boost, we need to stimulate it, we need to get money into the hands especially of those who are unemployed, small businesses, restaurants.
Some of this money, yes, it's going to go to people who already have jobs and they may not spend it, they may putting it into savings accounts et cetera. But there are still a lot of people who are suffering. And a lot of those people are Trump supporters. And so you've got, again, those voters pulled in different ways.
You've got Donald Trump, especially since the November 4th election behaving in a way that is purely and totally Donald Trump. Everything's about him, how will it work out for me -- he has abandoned his constituency, he's abandoned his base.
I don't know that they're going to abandon him. They have remained incredibly loyal even throughout this post-election soap opera.
And so you've got Trump as a lame duck, three more weeks to be president. He's a bit of a dead duck because he's missing in action, refuses to be president. He also might be a bit of a Daffy Duck right now which is madness about trying to overturn a democratic election.
Hard to support a president who's doing that.
NEWTON: Yes.
And given where we are here in Georgia, right, how do you think all of this will play out?
GENOVESE: Well, it can't help the Republican candidates. They will have a ton of money they're outspending the Democrats by a great deal and money can get you something but it can't get you everything.
And in many respects, I think Donald Trump is putting a damper on the Republicans in the Georgia race because both of them desperately need a little boost, it's a very tight race. Money's been helping but Donald Trump has been hurting them.
And so, I think Donald Trump has been on the whole, a negative impact for the Republicans in Georgia.
NEWTON: And likely, Republicans in this state now know that and are wondering what to do next when it comes to these kinds of votes.
It is so stunning to me, Michael, look -- you and I just talked about Donald Trump again. We are just a little bit more than three weeks left in his presidency and yet Biden still seems to be in that Trumpian shadow. What do you think it will take to lift that?
We heard from MJ Lee telling us that look, very bluntly Biden said look, we're being hampered especially defense and national security issues, this transition has not been good. But what does it mean that we are still all talking about Trump, because we have to talk about him, he is still consequential?
GENOVESE: Because he forces himself into the public arena every second. He is a showman putting on a show. And for Joe Biden, he's facing one of the most fraught transitions in modern history.
Think of the overflow in his inbox; pandemic, the economy, divided government, divided people, racial problems. And so Donald Trump's non-cooperation makes it more difficult for him to hit the ground running when he becomes president. That may be intentional.
And so rooting it seems against Joe Biden is in a way rooting against America and Donald Trump has been doing that. He's the arsonist who's trying to set fire to the house before he leaves, thankfully he's had trouble lighting that match.
NEWTON: Yes. And it'll be interesting to see, as you said, going back to that backbone of the Republicans what unfolds in the next three weeks.
You didn't even add Russia to that inbox. And considering we've got both -- we've got so much, literally, you put it well there.
GENOVESE: Yes.
NEWTON: Michael Genovese, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.
GENOVESE: Thank you, Paula.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And that is why we will go to Russia now, where there continue to be developments and prison authorities now are threatening to jail opposition leader Alexander Navalny unless he returns from Germany. He fled Russia after he was poisoned in August.
You will remember, CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more now on the developments from Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Russian authorities have told opposition politician Alexei Navalny that he needs to return to Russia by the morning of Tuesday or face being put in jail. Now all this stems from a case from 2014 in which Alexei Navalny says is politically motivated but in which he received a suspended jail sentence.
Essentially, what the Russian authorities are now saying is that if he doesn't show up to that hearing on Tuesday morning, that he will have violated his probation and could then be arrested any time if and when he returns to Russia.
Now interesting aspect in this is that after Alexei Navalny was poisoned using the chemical nerve agent Novichok and was then on the mend after getting treated in Germany.
[00:15:00]
The renowned medical publication "The Lancet" published details of how the poisoning was found out and of the recovery process as well.
And that article is now being used by the Russian authorities in part of what they say, they say, quote, "Based on 'The Lancet' publication, A.A. Navalny was discharged from the Charite clinic in Berlin, where he was treated on September 20th. And by October 12th, all of the symptoms of his illness have passed."
So, essentially, they're saying that he is well enough to come back to Russia and face this hearing. Now the hearing is on Tuesday morning and it's physically impossible for Alexei Navalny to get to Russia in that time frame. There are no direct flights in that time frame and he would need a coronavirus test to even board a plane.
Alexei Navalny himself is obviously saying he believes all of this is politically motivated. He thinks Russian authorities are embarrassed after a CNN and Bellingcat investigation found out large parts of that alleged plot to kill Alexei Navalny.
And of course, he was also able to contact one of the agents who was allegedly part of that plot and dupe that agent into admitting large parts of it.
Alexei Navalny on his Instagram account said, quote, "Like I said, somewhere there is Vladimir Putin in his bunker stomping and yelling, 'Why didn't he die? And if he didn't die, then he is twice guilty and now we will jail him.'"
The Russian authorities of course have continued to say that they were not behind the poisoning of Alexei Navalny. Navalny, for his part, have continuously said that he wants to return to Russia -- Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: This is CNN NEWSROOM. We will go to London for a look at the battle against the coronavirus in the U.K. right now. A new weapon now in the pipeline.
Plus a year after detecting the first-ever cases of COVID-19, Wuhan, China, is now rolling out a emergency vaccination program. We'll have details on that live next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NEWTON: OK, so, thankfully, vaccination campaigns are picking up steam right around the world. Pfizer BioNTech says it will distribute 200 million doses of its vaccine right across the E.U. by September. Of course, challenges are to be expected, with such a massive undertaking.
Of course we're already seeing some of those. Delivery of a new batch in Spain was held by a temperature issue that has now been apparently resolved. Nursing home residents are among the first to get a shot there.
Meanwhile health officials in the U.S. say more than 2 million vaccine doses have been administered to date. But experts say the pace, of course, needs to be quicker. Public health authorities in England are worried of the high level of
infections there. They say numbers are spiking at a time when hospitals are already overwhelmed with new patient. The U.K. overall reported more than 41,000 cases Monday.
[00:20:00]
NEWTON: Incredible, just look at that curve. The situation there is worse than even prominent British medical journals have predicted. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: The U.K. recorded its highest daily increase of coronavirus cases on Monday, it's an absolutely tragic milestone. As this country tries to fight off a new variant of COVID- 19, that the government here says is up to 70 percent more transmissible.
But there is some good news, in a matter of days the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine is expected to be approved by British regulators and there's a lot of this excitement about this. This is the homegrown vaccine made right here in the U.K., by Oxford University. It's a cheaper vaccine and it costs only about $4, 3 pounds, the price of your morning latte.
And it does not need any special refrigeration capacity, unlike the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. This can't come soon enough, the U.K. fighting off this new variant and reports that they will try, the government will try, to vaccinate as many people as possible in the first 14 days of this vaccine.
This new variant as well being detected in the E.U. where a new mass vaccination rollout began this weekend. So a lot of positive news but that's being bounced off with the very real push to make sure people are following rules, following restrictions because, while these vaccines are rolling out, that's to a limited portion of the population. For the rest of, us you've got to follow the rules we're not there yet -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: You heard Salma talk about the new variant. The biotech company Novavax is testing its vaccine against the new COVID-19 variant, it announced the launch of its phase III trials in the U.S. on Monday. It confirmed it will be testing against the U.K. strain of the virus, that appears to be much more contagious.
But apparently, thankfully, not any more severe. It says results will take several weeks. Other companies including Pfizer, Moderna are also testing their vaccines against that variant.
Now with COVID cases rising all over the, world parts of Asia and Australia are making changes to their New Year's Eve celebrations.
In Sydney, the famous fireworks display will still go on as planned but officials are banning large crowds on the waterfront. Now the move comes as the city fights to contain a recent cluster of infections.
In the meantime, South Korea seeing its worst outbreak to date. The country reported 40 deaths on Monday alone, a new daily high. Officials say a vaccine could be rolled out in the first quarter of next year.
But in Wuhan, China, where the virus was first detected, authorities have already started the emergency use of COVID vaccines, CNN's Selina Wang is live for us in Tokyo.
And we've been following the Asian headlines.
In the first instance what do we know about those vaccination plans in Wuhan?
Of course, a first vaccine shipment in South Korea, it's interesting to me to look at that timeline through Asia.
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, that's right. It's really hard to believe that just about a year ago, that is when China had first reported cases of coronavirus to the World Health Organization. Now Wuhan, ground zero of the pandemic, is starting to vaccinate key groups of people.
According to health authorities they will need to take 2 shots an interval of about 4 weeks, China currently has 5 COVID candidates that have reached the phase III clinical trials.
Authorities say that more than 1 million doses have been distributed for emergency use in China. But from health experts, international health experts, questions still persist around the transparency, safety and efficacy of China's vaccine.
Now it comes to Wuhan and life in China, it's largely returned back to normal, even though China is still dealing with these sporadic outbreaks. Authorities say that they hope to vaccinate 50 million people before the Lunar New Year holiday in February.
When it comes to South Korea, on Christmas Day, that first batch of Moderna vaccines arrived for U.S. troops, frontline health care workers and medical workers were the first to get vaccinated. We have some images here of that shipment arriving, to the Brian D. Allgood Army Community Hospital.
South Korea's leadership has said that, overall, for the country as a whole, it wants to start vaccinations in February, Paula.
NEWTON: Yes, and not a moment too soon, we saw in fact just how those vaccinations affected the U.S. military there.
Meantime in Japan, dealing again with surging cases.
This is different, right?
They also have to worry about these new variants? WANG: Exactly. Now Japan has already reported several cases of the U.K. variant that's potentially more contagious. Now the government just confirming that they have their first case of someone coming into the country with the South African variant.
[00:25:00]
WANG: This was from a woman in her 30s who had recently traveled to the country. Things are on high alert here because Japan is also dealing with its own surge of coronavirus cases, reporting record highs in the thousands a day.
And the medical system is becoming strained. Paula, no surprise that the government is urging people to have a silent and socially distant New Year's holiday this year, Paula.
NEWTON: Yes, and certainly people are hoping that they heed that advice. We are just months away from Japan hopefully hosting the Olympics. Selina Wang from Tokyo, appreciate it.
South Africa is imposing tighter coronavirus restrictions. President Cyril Ramaphosa said 50,000 new cases have been reported since Christmas Eve. The new variant found in the country appears to be more contagious than the first.
He says many public and private hospitals are almost full. Under new restrictions there will be no alcohol sales again, indoor and outdoor gatherings are banned for 14 days and a nationwide curfew will be extended.
The U.S. says millions of COVID vaccine doses, have already been shipped but some say the rollout has been way too slow and will not be enough to contain a looming surge of cases.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: We very well might see a post-seasonal, in the sense of Christmas, New Year's, surge. And I've described it as a surge upon a surge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
NEWTON: The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to increase pandemic relief checks fro $600 to $2,000. The move was championed by President Trump.
But it's unclear if the Republican-led Senate will also consider the measure. The uncertainty comes as many Americans are still waiting to receive a coronavirus vaccine. So far more than 11 million doses have been delivered, though just more than 2 million have been administered.
Experts say the rollout has been slower than expected and they're urging officials to pick up the pace. CNN's Nick Watt reports the U.S. could face an even bigger infection surge in the days ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunday was the busiest air travel day of this pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've gone to Utah in the past to ski. So it was a good idea. We're just trying to get out of the house.
WATT: The search for normalcy will be fatal for some.
DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: We're very concerned and we always see a little bit of a bump after holidays and sometimes a large bump.
[00:30:08]
WATT: December is already the deadliest month of the pandemic, more than 65,000 lives lost, and --
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: As we get into the next few weeks, it might actually get worse.
WATT: More than one in 1,000 Americans are already dead, killed by COVID-19. Up in Canada, by the way, that number is around one in 2 and a half thousand, Six states now with record numbers of COVID patients in the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a limited number of ventilators. We have a limited number of ICU beds.
WATT: And California is now suffering the highest rate of new cases per capita in the country.
Now, remember that Seattle area nursing home?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why don't you guys cover his legs up?
WATT: The nation's first hot spot? Today, residents and staff are getting vaccinated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That feels good.
WATT: Around two million Americans have now had their first dose.
ADMIRAL BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: The two million number is probably an underestimate.
WATT: But the goal was to vaccinate 20 million people by year's end. DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER U.S. FDA COMMISSIONER: Well, the pace is
slower than what was stated, that's probably unrealistic at this point.
WATT: Novavax is now starting Phase 3 trials of its vaccine in the U.S., and Mexico, Oxford/AstraZeneca could receive approval for its vaccine in the U.K. within days. But the current rocky vaccine rollout proves a painful point: these elixirs will take time.
Here in Southern California, we will likely find out Tuesday if our stay-at-home order is going to be extended. It almost definitely will, because for that order to be lifted, capacity in the ICUs has to rise above 15 percent, and right now it's at zero.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON : Anne Rimoin is a professor at the Department of Epidemiology at UCLA, and she joins me now from Los Angeles. And it's so sad for me to talk to you in the sense that the last time we did, several months ago, we didn't think that we might be in this tragic situation in the United States, and at the same time, it's kind of mixed with a lot of hope, right? Because we didn't think we'd have a vaccine either. Still, where you are in California, we just heard Nick talking about it. How dire is the situation?
ANNE RIMOIN, PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF EPIDEMIOLOGY, UCLA: Well, the situation is extremely dire. We are at a -- we are in a situation where our -- our ICUs have zero percent capacity. We have ambulances not able to offload patients into hospital emergency rooms. So we are really at the precipice of having to ration care across Southern California.
And it -- it's a really serious situation. We have cases that just continue to skyrocket. It is like a snowball gathering momentum and rolling downhill very, very quickly. And there's no sign of stopping. So it is a very concerning situation here, right here in Los Angeles.
NEWTON: You know, as an epidemiologist, I'm interested to hear from you. Do you think this speaks to something we did or didn't do in the behavior, or does this speak to the insidious nature of this virus?
RIMOIN: I think it's a little bit of both. So we know that what we needed to do was to really shut down here in California, to be able to keep the -- the amount of virus down.
And unfortunately, the measure is just -- we're never quite severe enough, because we're trying to balance economy with -- with public health. It's a very, very difficult balance. But as a result, you know, we really did see the virus continue to spiral out of control.
Of course we know that the -- that the surge that we warned about at Thanksgiving time was going to happen, and here we are, just a month later with cases doing exactly what we suggested would happen. But there is also the potential of a more contagious variant that
should -- that may be spreading here in California. The L.A. County Department of Health is looking for it. We have many different labs looking for it right now. And it may not just be these -- these variants that we've been talking about, South Africa, U.K. We could have variants here that are just as contagious, but we're not looking very well for it.
NEWTON: No, and it does have to be identified. I'm also fascinated to learn that it's because this virus is so pervasive right now throughout the world, which is why these variants have been allowed to really flourish.
I want to get to vaccinations. Of course, they're promising, but how important is it that the pace picks up? I've been stung by some medical experts coming on CNN saying, Look, at this pace, it'll take 5 years.
RIMOIN: That's exactly right. Dr. Leana Wen just recently said she had done a little back-of-the-envelope calculation and demonstrated that it would take years to be able to vaccinate as many people as need to be vaccinated, at the pace that we're going right now.
[00:35:12]
You know, it's not -- unfortunately, it's not terribly surprising to see this happen. Because we've been talking about for months, how important the logistics of vaccine distribution is. It's not just about having a vaccine. It's about having it in people's arms.
And public health officials, public health specialists have been warning and ringing the warning bell for months about how difficult this is going to be.
So I'm really hoping that we're going to be able to ramp up quickly. But you know, unfortunately, the states don't have the money to deal with it. The local governments don't have the money to deal with it. And so, right now, it's not really clear how we're going to get hundreds of millions of doses into people's arms.
NEWTON: And yet that is so critical to containing this pandemic at this -- at this point, especially in the United States, when we have hospitalizations already so high.
I mean, do you think that there needs to be some settling of scores here, really, with this virus. I mean, what has surprised you about the way it has behaved? Because in so many jurisdictions now -- and you know, this is going to be the argument for many people -- where there even have been lockdowns, they don't seem to be working. We just discussed in the U.K. where this new variant has really thrown a curveball their way?
RIMOIN: Well, I think that the things that we know can make a difference we have to double down on. And that is social distancing, masks, hand hygiene. But also, you know, really people staying at home, unless it's
absolutely urgent for people to go. I just saw on CNN, a segment where we talked about how much travel was occurring here. We had, what, 1.3 million people just passing through airports the other day. This is part of the problem. People are continuing to travel. They're continuing to move around.
You know, the cell phone data show that mobility -- that we saw in Los Angeles showed that mobility had not decreased significantly. So people, I think, are so pandemic fatigued that they're not doing with the need to do.
If we have strains of this virus that are circulating that are more contagious, it means that we have to do more of this, not less. Vaccines are coming. We do have light at the end of the tunnel. They're starting to get in people's arms, but it is going to be a long road, and there are a lot of lives that will be able to be saved if people just stay home unless it's absolutely necessary.
NEWTON: Yes, it's such a good point that you make. It's -- it's modeling. It's what you do for a living. But that's the fact, right? You need to have the restrictions that match the virus, really, infection per infection. And if that doesn't happen, transmission for transmission. If that doesn't happen, we're all in big trouble.
Anne Rimoin, really appreciate you joining us.
RIMOIN: It's my pleasure.
Now, it's a polarizing issue in a changing region. Argentina is one step away from legalizing abortion. That's next, right here on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:40:07]
NEWTON: Police have released new body cam footage from the moment that powerful explosion went off in downtown Nashville, Tennessee. More than 40 buildings were damaged when that RV exploded early on Christmas morning.
Only eight people, miraculously, were hurt, none seriously. I mean, look at those pictures. Investigators -- investigators are combing through the debris for evidence.
They say 63-year-old Anthony Warner quill himself in the blast, but they don't know why. A neighbor says Warner told him last week he would be so famous Nashville would never forget him.
Abortion rights supporters in Argentina have just one more hurdle to overcome before they achieve their long-sought goal. The country's Senate will debate a bill to legalize abortion in the day ahead.
CNN's Matt Rivers has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Women's rights supporters in Argentina proudly wave their green scarves, hug each other, and cheer in jubilation as the conservative country is one step away from legalizing abortion.
The lower house of Congress passed a landmark bill two weeks ago, and now many are waiting as the Senate debates the issue. If the law passes, Argentina would become one of the few countries in Latin America to legalize abortion.
The Chamber of Deputies of Argentina approved the legislation with 131 members in favor and 117 against. Now the bill faces an even tougher vote in the Senate.
Abortion in Argentina is only legal in cases of rape or whether the woman's life is in danger. But activists argue that, even in those situations, women don't receive proper care.
According to Amnesty International, since 1983, more than 3,000 women have died in Argentina as a result of unsafe abortions. The new law would allow a woman to terminate her pregnancy up to the 14th week in all cases.
It's an historic move for the predominantly Roman Catholic country, with strong opinions both for and against the procedure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): No, no. I'm not in favor of abortion. The 14th week or whatever, it doesn't seem right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Yes I'm in favor of this legislation, I think it's correct that each person can choose what to do with their body.
RIVERS: Not surprisingly, Argentina native Pope Francis is opposed to the bill upholding Catholic doctrine forbidding abortion. He's been outspoken about the legislation, writing in a letter to Argentinian anti-abortion activists, quote, "The problem of abortion is not primarily a question of religion but of human ethics, first and foremost of any religious denomination."
Passing the law is also about President Alberto Fernandez fulfilling a campaign to make abortions legal so women don't resort to risky backroom procedures.
ALBERTO FERNANDEZ, ARGENTINE PRESIDENT (through translator): The first of them is to legalize voluntary pregnancy interruptions and guarantees that the health system allow their realization under sanitary conditions that ensure their health and their life.
RIVERS: Argentina lawmakers also took up the issue back in 2018. After intense debate and rallies on both sides, that bill passed in the House but was struck down in the Senate.
If the current bill becomes law, it could pave the way for a wider shift in similar laws throughout the region, as calls for greater reproductive rights for women ring louder.
As we wait to see what the Senate decides, it is an emotional time for many women, and it is a defining moment in the history of Argentina.
Matt Rivers, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. WORLD SPORT is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WORLD SPORT)
[01:00:00]
