Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
New Coronavirus Variant Detected In Colorado; U.S. Reels Under Daily Virus Death Tolls: Tuesday Record 3,700; At Current Pace Of Vaccination, America Will Take Ten Years To Vaccinate; U.K. Reinforces Tier Four Measures, Healthcare System Warns Public; Plea For The People's Vaccine To Reach Africa ; Biden Accuses DOD Of Stalling The Handover; Beijing Harsh Hold And Sentencing Of Young Hong Kong Activists; Concern Some Groups Trying to Skip Line for Vaccine; Years of Research Laid the Groundwork for Vaccines; At Least Seven Dead after Powerful Quake Hits Croatia; Navalny Misses Deadline to Return to Russia; A Look at British Prime Minister's Challenging Year; Prince Harry and Meghan Launch Podcast Series; Vaccine Selfies Flood Social Media. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired December 30, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
PAULA NEWTON, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, everyone. I'm Paula Newton and you are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.
Just ahead this hour. Just as the United States hits new highs in coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations, growing concern about a COVID variant inside its borders.
The United Kingdom is also breaking its own coronavirus records and warnings that the worst may still be yet to come.
And history could be made in the coming hours. Argentina debates whether to become the largest Latin American country to legalize abortion.
The new coronavirus strain first found in the U.K. has now been confirmed right here in the United States. On Tuesday officials said a man in Colorado was somehow infected even though he had no travel history.
Now it's the first time the U.S. has detected the new variant which has spread to at least 26 countries so far.
And yet this strain is thought to be more contagious as officials fear it could lead to even more infections and hospital admissions in the weeks ahead.
Now this news comes with the United States continuing to shatter pandemic records.
On Tuesday the country reported more than 3,700 new deaths for the first time. And there are close to 125,000 people in hospital nationwide at this hour.
As CNN's Athena Jones reports, the situation is not expected to get better any time soon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As coronavirus infections spike, America faces a bleak winter.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think we just have to assume that it's going to get worse.
DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: We clearly all anticipate, all across the country, a surge upon a surge upon a surge.
JONES: The rising case numbers driven by holiday gatherings. The TSA reporting 1.1 million people passed through airport security checkpoints Monday, the seventh day out of the last eleven with more than 1 million people screened.
And healthcare providers are already being overwhelmed.
SCHAFFNER: At a certain point, you can't open up more beds because there are no personnel to work them.
JONES: And data from the Department of Health & Human Services show coronavirus cases accounted for 40 percent of ICU patients last week, compared to just 16 percent in September.
DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: This is the nightmare scenario we worked so hard to prevent. Because we know that's when the mortality rates absolutely skyrocket.
JONES: Eight states recording record hospitalizations including California where Los Angeles County has reported nearly 100,000 new cases in just the past week, about 10 new cases a minute.
FRANKIE GALLAGHER, HAZEL HAWKINS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: We're hoping that people do understand that this is a crisis and that we're at a critical juncture here of maintaining our staff levels and maintaining bed capacity for our community.
JONES: California officials extending stay-at-home orders for Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley where ICU bed capacity has fallen to zero percent.
Meanwhile, America is missing the mark on vaccine distribution.
FAUCI: We certainly are not at the numbers that we wanted to be at the end of December.
JONES: According to the latest CDC figures, the number of Americans who have received the shot remains far below the 20 million people administration officials said would be inoculated by the end the month.
That's a problem, says an adviser to President Elect Joe Biden.
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, BIDEN-HARRIS TRANSITION CORONAVIRUS ADVISORY BOARD: That's 1 million people a week, at that pace it would take us over a decade to vaccinate all Americans.
JONES: Among those receiving a shot today --
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: That was easy.
JONES: -- Vice President Elect Kamala Harris.
HARRIS: I urge everyone, when it is your turn, get vaccinated.
JONES: And to give people a sense of why there is so much concern about this moment we're living in right now -- well, it's based on what we've seen over the course of this pandemic.
One doctor put it this way. We saw spikes in coronavirus infections after Memorial Day, after Fourth of July, after Labor Day and after Thanksgiving. And those are all short holidays compared to the combined Christmas-New Year period where it's also harder to gather outdoors in many parts of the country.
All of this means that the weeks ahead could be the worst period of the pandemic.
JONES (On Camera): Athena Jones, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And the British government is now under pressure to tighten COVID-19 restrictions even more there after hitting another record daily high for new infections.
[01:05:00]
There were more than 53,000 new cases Tuesday and officials say hospitals in England are being pushed to the brink.
Several areas may be put under the toughest tier four measures.
Salma Abdelaziz has the latest from London.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Health officials here are ringing the alarm as this country faces unprecedented infection rates.
For the second day in a row, the U.K. broke its record of new daily COVID-19 cases. And that's not the only warning sign.
There are now more patients in hospital with coronavirus than at any point before and the London ambulance service, they say they're receiving a huge volume of calls, thousands a day, nearly as much as the first wave of this pandemic in the spring.
Now doctors, nurses, health care officials pleading with the public to please follow the restrictions, please follow the rules. They say hospitals are vulnerable.
Take a listen to what the chief executive of the National Health Service had to say.
SIMON STEVENS, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, U.K.: This has probably been the toughest year that most of us can remember. That's certainly true across the health service where we've been responding to the worst pandemic in a century.
And now, of course, again, we're back in the eye of the storm with this second wave of coronavirus sweeping Europe and, indeed, this country.
ABDELAZIZ: A very stark warning there. And fears from experts that the worst is yet to come. Health officials expect a spike due to Christmastime celebrations to hit the hospitals next year.
At the same time, many health care workers are having to call out sick, having to isolate. So we're looking at potentially hospitals teetering on the edge in the new year.
But there are signs of hope, signs of progress. A new vaccine by Oxford University and AstraZeneca is set to be approved by British regulators anytime now. And it will be rolled out as early as January 4th.
ABDELAZIZ (On Camera): Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now at the outset of the pandemic, scientists feared the toll it could take in Africa. But African countries, thankfully, seemed to do better than Europe at first defying expectations.
The concern now though, eight countries recorded their highest daily counts so far this year.
And for more on this we want to go to Dr. John Nkengasong in London. He is the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control & Prevention.
And let's start there, Doctor, if you will. Why do you believe that at this point in time, worryingly so, we are seeing perhaps an uptick of the virus in Africa?
DR. JOHN NKENGASONG, DIRECTOR, AFRICA CENTRES FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION: I think we are experiencing a second wave and the second wave promises and is projecting to look more aggressive than the first wave.
At the peak of our first wave, we were recording about 18,000 cases a day and we have exceeded that number already. So clearly, the continent is experiencing a second wave.
And that is why vaccines, access to timely vaccination, has to occur right now to meet us at our point of need. I think we are really in that search for introduction of vaccines to counter the second wave on the continent.
NEWTON: And you know that the problem that I know you have been speaking of for so many months now -- that unless something changes the vast majority of people in developing countries in Africa will not get anywhere near a vaccine for possibly the entire year of 2021.
Will that change, what will change that? Are you hopeful?
NKENGASONG: I remain hopeful that the COVID facility will enable us to begin to introduce vaccines by March and April. But anything, anything, that can be done to bring that timeline forward would be really helpful because we are really experiencing an aggressive second wave across the continent.
So I think we don't have to have a moral crisis, this is a moral crisis in the waiting. We have to be sure -- that solidarity, cooperation that we have been talking about for the past one year about this pandemic.
NEWTON: Yes, you just said it. Talking about it. There has been a heck of a lot of rhetoric from many countries that have now procured four, five, six times the amount of vaccines that they need.
They say they will -- many of them, most of them, in fact, say they will donate those doses when they don't need them.
Is it the timeline here is most concerning, though, the fact that it may take months and months for those doses to arrive?
NKENGASONG: Absolutely. I think the key word here is timely vaccination of the people of Africa. I think we cannot afford to be at the tail end of the vaccination process there. It would be a disaster for all of us. We are in this together.
So I think it's a question of being ethically correct so that we do these vaccinations at the appropriate time. And again, meet us at our point of need.
There's no point giving us vaccines toward December when the pandemic would have taken a significant toll on the continent.
[01:10:00]
So I think really having that moral consideration of what will happen with a global solidarity and cooperation aspects and dimensions is critical for the manner in which we drive and win this battle against COVID-19.
NEWTON: And what do you say to some people in richer nations right now that are really suffering, that have already lost loved ones to COVID or fear they may lose loved ones and say look, some of these countries have not suffered the way we have, we need to be first in the queue for these vaccines?
NKENGASONG: Well, we're dealing with a virus that is extremely unpredictable. The way -- it's a question of matter of time before it seeds itself there and creates havoc.
And, especially, the greatest concern on the continent is the very weak health systems. The continent can be easily overwhelm once we do not take care of people early enough and they start (inaudible) into hospitals massively there. There won't be any possibility to contain and take care of a large number of people approaching hospital for care on the continent.
That's the difference we should always remember.
We have been relatively spared with about 63,000 deaths. That is not, by comparison, it is not a lot. But it can easily change and become very overwhelming to a very fragile system on the continent.
NEWTON: And I only have a few seconds left. What gives you hope that this could change, that you would see a massive vaccination program in Africa let's say by the middle of next year?
NKENGASONG: I continue to be hopeful that a global solidarity will work. That the people -- the concept of a people's vaccine will prevail and that morality will also prevail.
That we live in one world, one world that calls for ability to unite around issues -- like we did for HIV/AIDS -- and resolve it. Without that, it will continue to be very, very challenging for all of us.
NEWTON: Right.
NKENGASONG: We cannot eliminate COVID in any part of the world and then still have COVID on a whole continent like Africa. It would be extremely defeating for all of us.
NEWTON: Right. And the leaders of richer countries have echoed your comments. Let's see if they put some vaccines against those thoughts.
Dr. John Nkengasong, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
NKENGASONG: Welcome.
NEWTON: Now we have some startling numbers from the city where COVID- 19 first emerged, Wuhan, China.
As of Sunday, authorities there had confirmed just over 50,000 cases of the virus of this pandemic.
Now this is interesting. This is the result of a new study by China's CDC which suggests almost 10 times as many people may have been infected in Wuhan.
Now the researchers analyzed data to determine how many people would have antibodies. The CDC says the study was conducted a month after China moved to contain the first wave. So the incoming U.S. president is warning Americans that the pandemic
is going to get worse and tough times are still ahead. Joe Biden is calling on Americans to steel their spines.
And he's criticizing the Trump Administration's vaccination distribution plan.
CNN's M.J. Lee has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Things are going to get worse before they get better.
M.J. LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grip the nation, Joe Biden slamming the vaccine program currently underway under President Trump's watch.
BIDEN: The Trump Administration 's plan to distribute vaccines is falling behind, far behind.
A few weeks ago, the Trump Administration suggested that 20 million Americans could be vaccinated by the end of December. With only a few days left in December we've only vaccinated a few million so far.
If it continues to move as it is now, it's going to take years not months to vaccinate the American people.
LEE: The president elect laying out his own plan for administrating 100 million vaccine shots by the end of his first 100 days in office.
BIDEN: I've directed my team to prepare a much more aggressive effort with more federal involvement and leadership to get things back on track.
I'm going to work to set up vaccination sites and send mobile units to hard reached communities -- hard-to-reach communities.
LEE: Biden has also proposed a nationwide mask mandate.
BIDEN: I'm going to be asking the American people to wear a mask for the first 100 days of my administration.
LEE: And Dr. Anthony Fauci now endorsing that plan.
FAUCI: Everybody, every single person, put aside this nonsense of making masks be a political statement or not. We know it works.
LEE: This as the Biden transition team and the department of defense continue to clash over the transition process.
Biden accusing the DOD this week of obstruction.
[01:15:00]
BIDEN: We just aren't getting all the information that we need for the ongoing, outgoing -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas.
It's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.
LEE: A DOD spokesperson insisting that there have been plenty of meetings with the Biden transition in recent weeks. But a source familiar telling CNN that as of Monday no formal transition meetings have taken place between the two sides since December 18th.
BIDEN: And all of it makes it harder for our government to protect the American people, to defend our vital interests. In a world where threats are constantly evolving and our adversaries are constantly adapting.
LEE: Now what Biden advisers have told CNN is that they are concerned that a lack of cooperation from the Trump Administration now could lead to serious national security implication extending into the Biden presidency.
And as for those transition meetings between the DOD and the Biden transition team, we are learning that there are now three scheduled for sometime this week; two of those will be about COVID-19 and one of them will be about cybersecurity.
LEE (On Camera): M.J. Lee, Wilmington, Delaware. CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Meanwhile, President Trump and congress are still fighting over whether to increase COVID relief checks from 600 dollars to 2,000.
Democrats and President Trump support the larger payments -- that's right, I said Democrats and President Trump. The key thing here is many senate Republicans do not.
On Tuesday, Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell introduced legislation that combines the stimulus measure with two additional demands that, of course, Democrats oppose instead of allowing a direct vote on just the stimulus itself.
Now this maneuver could end up killing the push for bigger checks. That's why it's called a poison pill.
Meanwhile, President Trump is watching all of this unfold from his Florida resort while sending out a flurry of inflammatory tweets -- again, just in the last few moments here.
CNN's Boris Sanchez brings us up to date.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Object.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Objection is heard.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As lawmakers spar over stimulus checks on Capitol Hill, present Trump spending yet another day on the golf course. And teeing up a tweet spree attacking his own party, Trump calling Republican leaders "weak and tired."
Writing -- "We need new and energetic Republican leadership. Our leaders (not me, of course) are pathetic. They only know how to lose."
The president angry over an effort to overturn his veto of the defense spending bill despite strong bipartisan support for the measure.
SEN. PAT TOOMEY (R-PA.): I'm not very surprised about tweets that are critical of people who are overriding the president's veto.
SANCHEZ: A senior Republican also telling CNN Hill Republicans share Bill Barr's assessment -- these tweets are the ravings of a deposed king.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It really is a disgrace.
SANCHEZ: New details also emerging about how key Republican lawmakers narrowly avoided disaster by carefully persuading Trump to get behind the coronavirus relief bill.
Georgia senator David Perdue trying to survive a difficult runoff one week from today traveling to Florida to personally lobby the president for his signature.
While House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senator Lindsey Graham who golfed with Trump this weekend also nudging Trump who relented on Sunday signing the bill despite days of threats to veto it.
And more than seven weeks since Joe Biden was declared the winner, Trump today still peddling lies about voter fraud and fuming over a lack of Republican support for his claims of election rigging.
Though Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert is trying a last-ditch effort to overturn the election by filing a lawsuit against Vice President Mike Pence attempting to force Pence to ignore the electoral college results from five states when he oversees the congressional certification on Capitol Hill next week.
Legal experts say the lawsuit stands no chance, Democrats calling it a spectacle.
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): This crazy, frivolous lawsuit, of course, will fail. Whatever stunt they have planned for the joint session of congress will fail.
SANCHEZ: Perhaps what is most glaring about all of this is that the president spent the day on the golf course. No indication from the White House press office or our White House sources that the president actually personally reached out to senate majority leader Mitch McConnell on this issue to try to make a deal, to try to lobby him to taking his side on 2,000 dollar stimulus checks for Americans. This rift between the president and McConnell, although the president
does not name McConnell in these tweets -- dates back to the senate majority leader accepting that Joe Biden won the 2020 election when the electoral college results were certified.
SANCHEZ (On Camera): Boris Sanchez, CNN. Traveling with the president in West Palm Beach, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[01:20:00]
NEWTON: Argentina is set to vote on a bill that could eventually impact women right across Latin America. Why Pope Francis and the country's large Roman Catholic population object.
Plus China hands down sentences for a group of pro-democracy activists from Hong Kong. Not everyone is going to jail.
That's next, on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: At this hour, we're expecting Argentina's senate to vote at any moment on a landmark bill that would legalize abortion. Now it is, of course, a divisive issue in the predominantly roman catholic country bringing out huge crowds. You can see them there, protesters on both sides.
The proposal would allow for abortions for up to 14 weeks. Right now they're only permitted in cases of rape or danger to the health of the mother.
Now women's rights groups hope if the bill passes, it could in fact set the stage for wider reform right across Latin America.
CNN's Diego Laje is live this hour for us in Buenos Aires. And I want to thank you for joining us.
I know there's been a lot of emotions on the streets in the lead up to this vote. And yet this country continues to be so divided by the issue.
(Audio break)
NEWTON: And I apologize -- I apologize for that because we did, in fact, lose his audio.
We will get back to Diego as soon as we get some kind of a vote result there out of Buenos Aires.
Now meantime, a court in Shenzhen, China has handed down jail sentences for 10 pro-democracy activists who tried to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan.
Two minors among the group will, in fact, not be going to jail. CNN's Selina Wang is following developments live from Tokyo for us.
And you would never dare to describe this as leniency but yet there must be some relief that at least the youngest will not be serving jail time?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Paula, that's correct. The two minors had their cases dropped but this case has drawn international concern. These activists are between the ages of 17 and 33.
And back in August they had been arrested by Chinese coast guards when they were attempting to flee Hong Kong for Taiwan via speed boat.
Now most of the 12 are either on bail or facing charges related to the anti-government protests last year. And amid Beijing's tightening control over Hong Kong many high-profile activists have fled Hong Kong more recently fearing arrested over involvement in the protests.
Now of these twelve, two of them were convicted of illegal border crossing. They face sentences of two and three years. Another eight were convicted for taking part in the border crossing, they face lesser sentences of seven months.
Now 12 of these detainees -- they were detained for more than 100 days before this week's trial in Shenzhen.
[01:25:00]
Family members, journalists and diplomats were blocked from attending. The family members said that this unfair court proceeding was an example of a draconian political prosecution.
They said that the 12 were unable to contact their family members, they were denied access to lawyers of their choosing. And Paula, in China where the legal system is opaque, it is not uncommon for detainees to be held for long periods of time without access to legal representation of their choosing, without being able to contact their family members.
Now several countries around the world have pressured for the release of these 12 activists.
The U.S. state department earlier said that, quote --
"Their so-called 'crime' was to flee tyranny. Communist China will stop and nothing to prevent its people from seeking freedom elsewhere."
Now, meantime Beijing has tried to paint these activists as separatists emphasizing that they are wanted people in Hong Kong for serious offenses. Paula.
NEWTON: And Selina Wang for us in Tokyo. Appreciate the update there.
Now we are, as we said, expecting Argentina's senate to vote at anytime now on a landmark bill that would legalize abortion.
We want to go back now to CNN's Diego Laje, who is live for us in Buenos Aires.
And in terms of the anticipation of this vote, a lot of emotion there on the streets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIEGO LAJE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A lot of emotion, Paula. Right now people celebrating. And if you see people walking towards my right here converging towards congress building now.
Returning now because we're down to final speeches in a long, protracted and heated debate that according to a CNN projection and the math people are doing here will very strongly -- is very strongly suggesting the bill will pass.
And here I am, in the green camp, the pro-abortion camp. And they're already celebrating in anticipation for the very, very clear possibility that the bill may be passed this time. That would be a difference from 2018 when it was rejected.
And women's rights, feminists and other groups here converging, celebrating. And already you can feel the atmosphere of jubilation in will be a historic, historic event.
Not only in Argentina but in all of Latin America if this bill is passed within the next few minutes, Paula. The next few minute, Paula.
NEWTON: And we will wait to get that report from you. Before I let you go. Quickly, Pope Francis, has he said anything more about the vote going on in Buenos Aires?
LAJE: Pope Francis has tweeted and has defended the anti-abortion side, of course, that is the Church's side and that is also the Evangelical Church's side, a sector of Christianity that has grown briskly in Argentina.
Nevertheless, this time despite being more articulated and having a louder voice than in 2018, they seem to be the ones who are not going to carry the day.
On the other side, already they're anticipating, they're doing the same math and they're anticipating that this time -- well, the results will not go their way.
Paula.
NEWTON: Well, we will wait, we will to see, literally, in the coming moments there.
Diego Laje in Buenos Aires, thanks so much.
Now as the U.S. rolls out its COVID-19 vaccines, there are fears some groups are trying to cut the line to receive doses before the most vulnerable. We will tell you what's being done about that.
And a frantic search for survivors after a powerful earthquake rocks central Croatia. We'll have the details, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:20]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.
The headlines this hour.
Argentina's senate is expected to vote anytime now on a bill legalizing abortion. CNN projects it will pass. That would make Argentina the only -- only the third South American country where abortion is legal. The controversial measure has sparked huge protests from both sides.
British officials warned the National Health Service is quote, "back in the eye of the storm" because of rising COVID-19 cases. The U.K. reported more than 53,000 new infections on Tuesday alone, that is in fact another daily record high. And there are more patients in hospitals than there were during the April peak.
The new coronavirus strain first found in the U.K. meantime has now been detected here the United States. Health officials say a man in Colorado was somehow infected, even though he had no travel history. Experts appear the new variant is already spreading across the United States and could lead to even more infections and hospitalizations.
So far more than two million COVID vaccine doses have been administered right here in the United States. Now the shots have mostly gone to health workers and the most vulnerable.
But as CNN's Brian Todd reports there is concern other groups are trying to move ahead in the line.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): New information on who's moving to the front of the line for the coronavirus vaccine. A letter obtained by CNN from the attending physician of the U.S. capital to all the House and Senate offices this week says each of those offices can have at least two staffers receive the vaccine now.
The letter specifies that those staffers should be people whose jobs are necessarily for continuity of operations of the government, staffers who come into the office and interact with people face to face to face.
This comes as less than 10 percent of the frontline health care workers and residents of long term care homes in America, who have priority to get the vaccine have actually received it so far.
But one prominent doctor says it's appropriate for congressional staffers, to get it.
DR. ROBERT KIM-FARLEY, PROFESSOR, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Certainly keeping our government operating and serving us, as the citizens is an important feature. So I think it is important that government does have for essential workers to keep the government running, vaccine supplied to them.
TODD: In the sports arena according to ESPN, the NBA warned its teams last week that they should not try to get the vaccine for their players and staff ahead of everyone else, except people who have high risk for complications from the virus.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver spoke about that to ESPN.
ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: There is no way we would ever jump the line in any form whatsoever. And for the most part, because our players are young and healthy without some sort of comorbidity, they will not be a high priority.
TODD: This comes as we hear stories of wealthy, well-connected people trying to pay top dollar to jump to the front of the vaccine line. Doctor David Nazarian with a concierge medical practice in Beverly Hills has among his patients A-list celebrities and entertainment execs.
He says he's getting a lot of calls from those clients pressuring him to give them the vaccine now.
DR. DAVID NAZARIAN, MY CONCIERGE MD, BEVERLY HILLS: Patients call and want to make donations to charity, to hospitals, to the practice to be able to pay $5,000 -- $10,000 to get their families vaccinated.
TODD: But Dr. Nazarian says he is determined to follow the government's vaccine guidelines and has turned all those requests down.
[01:34:52]
DR. NAZARIAN: People that are wealthy, and usually have access to things, this is one of those things that is difficult -- it's difficult for them to understand that they have to wait.
TODD: There are also reports of hospitals taking unprecedented steps to boost security to protect their vaccines from being stolen. And there's concern that crime syndicates might target vaccine supply chains, to steal doses or run vaccine schemes.
DR. KIM-FARLEY: You always have the concern about it being stolen or siphoned off to a black market type of situation. This is something we need to be on the lookout for.
TODD (on camera): And as for doctors in private practices who are coming under enormous pressure to give the vaccine to their patients early, some states have already begun investigating doctors who are suspected of going against the government's guidelines on who should get it first. And those states could take away their licenses of doctors who break those rules.
Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Now vaccines of course usually take years, even decades to develop, but this year a handful of shots as we've seen for the coronavirus were produced and authorized really in record time.
Health experts say the breakthroughs were years in the making though and that previous research on other viruses helped in fact lay the groundwork for the shots we have today.
For more on this, I'm joined by Jason McLellan. He's an associate professor of molecular bio sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. And thanks so much for your time.
And I bet at this point you want to take a deep breath. It is so interesting to hear what your last year has been like when you first heard about what they had possibly found in Wuhan. I mean what were you doing and how quickly did you get into the lab?
JASON MCLELLAN, UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS -- AUSTIN: Yes we were tracking and we're aware of these pneumonia breakouts in Wuhan and it was actually early January. I was snowboarding with my family in Park City. I got a call from Dr. Barney Graham at the National Institutes of Health. And he let me know that it looked like this -- the pathogen causing pneumonia was a coronavirus, similar to the SARS coronavirus from 2002.
And he wanted to know if we are ready to crowd collaborate and try and quickly make a vaccine. I said yes and immediately contacted my lab. And we only had to wait a few more days for the genome sequence of the virus to be made available online. And then we are able to get to work.
NEWTON: And what was the platform that was already in place? Because we heard from so many people now that this was really years in development, even though we have been able to get a vaccine inside of a year.
DR. MCLELLAN: Yes, there's actually two separate pieces that have been actively developed. One was all the prior knowledge on coronaviruses. We've known about coronaviruses since the 1960s. A lot of research dedicated to coronaviruses since the first SARS break in 2000.
We knew about the spike protein, that it was the target of antibodies. It's a good vaccine antigen, my lab worked with Barney Graham to determine how to stabilize the spike protein in the particular confirmation that was good for vaccines.
We knew all of that about the coronavirus and vaccine development. And then a lot of the vaccine platforms like the mRNA platforms from BioNTech and Moderna, the adenoviral vectors from Johnson & Johnson, and then Oxford, protein sub-unit -- all these vaccine platforms were really mature. And so as early as January we knew what antigen we want to use. how the platforms needed to be developed quickly. And those two things came together and humans were vaccinated in March, I think for the first phase one clinical trial.
NEWTON: Yes, it's incredible isn't? It a total Mach speed, at least that's the way it seems to us. And yet given all of the research here and given the fact that we now coming up with the new variant perhaps, maybe more than one.
Given the way these vaccines work, do you have confidence that it will work no matter how the strain may change or how it may mutate?
DR. MCLELLAN: We are confident that the vaccines will be effective against some of the current variants, ones in U.K., South Africa. What we don't know is whether they're be some modest decrease in efficacy, maybe going from 95 percent to 85 or something like that.
And that's what's being actively investigated now and tested. If a new viral variant occurred that did drift too far away, some of these mRNA vaccines could be reformulated within six weeks and produced at scale.
But we're pretty confident that these current variance will be protected against by the vaccine.
NEWTON: Wow, incredible. It really is breathtaking just to hear you speak about this. And given that, and given all the work by so many scientists all around the world, is it upsetting to you to know that right now there are vaccines in storage, instead of in people's arms just because we're not quite as efficient as we need to be in so many different places right now, to get people vaccinated?
[01:39:54]
DR. MCLELLAN: It's upsetting. Obviously we want everybody to be vaccinated as soon as possible. But we understand that these are difficult times. There's a lot of logistics with some of the storage.
I'm confident everybody is working as hard as they can. And hopefully soon these hurdles will be overcome and more and more people will be vaccinated.
NEWTON: So Dr. McLellan, it must be gratifying to you to know that eventually you and your family members will get vaccinated, hopefully.
DR. MCLELLAN: Yes, my wife was actually vaccinated last week. She's a health care worker, treats cancer patients. And so that was a really exciting that she was immunized with a vaccine that my lab helped create with a protein we helped design.
I think we're part of phase 1-b or phase 1-c and so I should be vaccinated in the next few weeks. It's all really exciting and no serious side effects for my wife.
NEWTON: That is so amazing to hear. And again it must be so gratifying to you just to really see a lot of your labor for so many years in the lab, really helping your family out that way and so many people around the world. Gosh that's incredible. Dr. McLellan, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
DR. MCLELLAN: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now at least seven people are dead after a powerful earthquake struck Croatia. It was the second quake in just two days and the search for survivors is still on.
CNN's Cyril Vanier reports on the damage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The moment the earth shook in Central Croatia. The mayor of the town of Petrinja almost knocked off his feet by a 6.4 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter only three kilometers away.
After the tremor, this is what Petrinja looked like -- roofs collapsed, buildings destroyed, the damage extensive in this rural town of around 20,000 residents, the mayor fearing the worst.
MAYOR DARINKO DUMBOVIC -- PETRINJA, CROATIA: : I don't know if people in houses are alive or dead after the city has been demolished. Our kindergarten has been demolished. Our court is demolished, too. A lot of things were demolished.
We are now struggling to organize with the new strength that we must find in ourselves because this is a sadness. This is a torment. I call for help anyone who can come.
VANIER: First responders and emergency services are activated, so were soldiers from the nearby barracks. The priority, save lives. Search for possible victims, trapped under the rubble. And treat the injured, this one clutching a child as they're loaded into the ambulance.
This is the strongest earthquake to hit the country since the advent of modern seismic measuring tools according to the United States Geological Survey. And it was felt across the area.
In neighboring Slovenia, where the parliament session was interrupted. And in Croatia's capital Zagreb, residents huddling outdoors taking stock of the damage.
Back near the epicenter, several fatalities are confirmed. And the number of injured is rising, the hospital of Petrinja barely able to function, itself struck by the quake. The light knocked out, patients in the dark waiting to be evacuated,
Cyril Vanier, CNN -- Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Lebanon's caretaker prime minister says an investigation into dangerous chemicals stored at Beirut's port began just hours before the massive explosion. Hassan Diaz (ph) says he ordered the public works and justice ministers to investigate the chemicals that had been stored in the city since 2013.
Hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate blew up in August, killing more than 200 people and destroying the port. About 300,000 people were displaced.
Now 2020 has been a difficult year, in fact, for most people. Including the British prime minister. We'll look back at Boris Johnson's rollercoaster ride.
[01:43:57]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Russian authorities have launched a new criminal investigation against the opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his team. The frequent critic of President Vladimir Putin was in Germany where he was treated for poisoning allegedly at the hands of Russian agents.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Alexei Navalny missed the deadline to return here to Russia and go to a hearing of Russia's Federal Penal Service at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning in Moscow. And that means that the Federal Penal Service here in this country can now file a request with courts to have Alexei Navalny's suspended jail sentence turn into a real jail sentence.
That of course brings with it the danger that Alexei Navalny could be arrested if and when he decides to return here to this country.
Now, we asked the Kremlin about this. And the spokesman for Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov. He said that, of course, Alexei Navalny could return here to Russia anytime that he wants to because he is a Russian citizen. But at the same time he also said that he believes that the Federal Penal Service is simply doing its job.
So the danger for Alexei Navalny if and when he decides to return here to Russia it still seems to be fairly high. Now, of course, all of this stems from a case from 2014 which Alexei Navalny says was politically motivated. But where he did receive that suspended jail sentence. And Navalny believes that all of this is being cooked up again now because he thinks that the authorities are trying to get back at him after that investigation by CNN and Bellingcat showed involvement of Russia's intelligence services, the FSB, in the plot to assassinate and try to kill Alexei Navalny.
And of course Alexei Navalny even managed to contact by phone one of the FSB agents who was allegedly involved in that plot and duped that agent into admitting large parts of it.
We always have to mention that Russia continues to deny any sort of involvement in the plot to poison or try to kill Alexei Navalny.
At the same time, Navalny has always said that he wants to return to Russia. He feels that he needs to return to Russia. Of course, these new developments, it's unclear whether or not he may change his mind.
Fred Pleitgen, CNN -- Moscow.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Top E.U. officials and the British prime minister are set to sign the 11th hour Brexit trade deal in the coming hours. But then the U.K. parliament gets to weigh in.
Prime minister Boris Johnson is expected to tell MPs the accord means Britain will be able to trade with its neighbors still while controlling its own laws and destiny.
Mr. Johnson May end 2020 with a victory but he has certainly had an incredibly difficult year, to say the least. And it wasn't all because of Brexit. He -- his handling of the coronavirus, his own health and even his personal life have all played a part.
Nic Robertson takes us through the prime minister's ups and downs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We've taken back control of our laws and our destiny.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice over): Boris Johnson's big 2020 moment came Christmas Eve. Announcing a hard-fought post-Brexit trade deal with the E.U.
JOHNSON: This is I believe, a good deal for the whole of Europe.
ROBERTSON: It was a personal triumph in a rollercoaster year for the 56-year-old U.K. PM.
JOHNSON: I must tell you, we cannot continue with Christmas as planned.
ROBERTSON: A week earlier, announcing the impact of a new variant of COVID-19. Canceling Christmas plans for millions. And the week before that, Johnson on the up again. The first to roll out a fully tested COVID-19 vaccine.
But mostly his year packed with lows. First, the floods. Then COVID- 19's first wave.
[01:50:01]
JOHNSON: I was at the hospital the other night where I think there were actually a few coronavirus patients. And I shook hands with everybody.
ROBERTSON: Johnson slow to grasp the gravity.
JOHNSON: You must stay at home.
ROBERTSON: Slow to lock down. Slow on PPE. And slow on test and trace. JOHNSON: I've taken a test that has come out positive.
ROBERTSON: Days later, rushed to hospital.
JOHNSON: The NHS has saved my life, no question.
ROBERTSON: By the end of the year more than 70,000 of his citizens not so lucky. Many in care homes lost their lives to COVID-19. And through it all, Johnson losing credibility.
JOHNSON: Anyone who cannot work from home should be actively encouraged to go to work.
ROBERTSON: His return to work message ridiculed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you can work from home, go to work. Don't go to work.
ROBERTSON: His chief advisor flouting lockdown guidelines.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We agreed that we should go for a short drive to see if I could drive safely.
ROBERTSON: But managed to hold on to his job for another six months.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just hoping that the government make a U-turn.
ROBERTSON: Humiliating U-turns including over free school meals for children.
JOHNSON: This is not a return to normality. I wish it were so.
ROBERTSON: By year's end the country, his party, deeply divided over his handling of COVID-19. The pandemic though not his only controversy.
NICOLA STURGEON, SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER: To the other countries of the E.U., Scotland wants to return. And we hope to do so soon as an independent member state.
ROBERTSON: Scotland's drive for independence gaining momentum. Their leader's handling of COVID-19 perceived better than his.
Humiliating infamy for Johnson should the 313 year union uncouple on his watch.
Amazingly, in a year packed with drama, he added more at home -- a divorce, a betrothal and a baby.
2021, even with Brexit delivered, promises Johnson no easy ride. The health, wealth and unity of the nation, at greater stake now than for many of his recent predecessors.
Nic Robertson, CNN -- London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) NEWTON: And we are going to take a short break. We'll be right back in a moment with more news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: Now Britain's Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are offering encouragement to people during the pandemic in their very first podcast. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have a multi-year deal with Spotify to produce those podcasts. The episodes will feature hopes for the new year from celebrities like singer Elton John, actor Tyler Perry and tennis champion Naomi Osaka.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRINCE HARRY, DUKE OF SUSSEX: As we all know it's been a year. And we really want to honor the compassion and kindness that has helped so many people get through it.
MEGHAN MARKLE, DUCHESS OF SUSSEX: And at the same time to honor those who have experienced uncertainty and unthinkable loss. Our thoughts have been with you, especially during this holiday season.
PRINCE HARRY: And in too many instances, people weren't able to be at a loved one's sides or say goodbye as they would have wished.
[01:54:58]
MARKLE: We also want to thank health care workers, frontline service workers and so many others for their sacrifices.
PRINCE HARRY: Thank you, guys.
MARKLE: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Meghan Markle said no matter what life throws at you, in her words, "love wins".
Now move over selfies, vaxxies are the hottest new trend on social media. I kid you not.
CNN's Jeanne Moos explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Famous politicians tend to roll up their sleeves --
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The left's good.
MOOS: -- to have their shots shot by the media.
KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: That was easy. MOOS: Not quite as easy, taking a selfie while getting your COVID vaccination. "The New York Times" reported vaxxies is the new word for vaccination selfies.
Doctors and medical staff in particular are posting them. Brandishing their band-aids, even their scars. "TB on top, COVID in the center, smallpox underneath." Wrote this doctor, "Got my #FauciOuchie," though Dr. Fauci's showed no inclination to say "ouch".
Dr. Jonathan Tijerina got his shot at Jackson Memorial in Miami and posted his vaccination photo while joking the injection gave him superpowers.
DR. JONATHAN TIJERINA, VACCINE RECIPIENT: My left arm is now twice as large as my right one. I can see through walls and feeling more alive than ever.
MOOS: A group of neurosurgery residents held up their vaccination record cards. Vaccine card selfies are the new "I voted sticker" selfies posted with pride.
What's the point?
DR. TIJERINA: I'd like to hope that it's mostly encouraging.
MOOS: Encouraging others to get the vaccine, though vaxxies can create vaccine envy. Starting to get really annoyed by vaccine selfies because all I can think is, well they can go to a concert now.
The hashtag, not throwing away my shot, has been shooting around the Web. The words are from a song in the musical "Hamilton".
Even wearing a mask you can tell this Wisconsin doctor is smiling, "Only side effects so far are joy, gratitude and absolute relief."
Who needs a selfie stick when you're getting a needle stick with a lifesaving vaccine?
Jeanne Moos, CNN --
LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA, ACTOR: I am not throwing away my shot.
MOOS: -- New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: Undying gratitude there to Jeanne Moos still making us laugh during the pandemic.
And I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton.
I will be back with much more news right after this break.
[01:57:40]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
