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New Areas Enter Tier 4 in England; Two U.S. States Have Found U.K. Variant; U.S. to Fall Well Short of Vaccination Goal; Republicans Plan Disruption of Biden Win Certification; Trump Brief: China Offered to Pay to Kill U.S. Troops in Afghanistan; Post-Brexit U.K.-E.U. Trade Deal Becomes Law; Photographer Captures the Huan Face of COVID-19; Robots' Stellar Dance Moves Put Most Humans to Shame; Audio Tapes Show Melania Has No Interest in Press Coverage, Despite Trump's Complaints; Early Voting in Crucial Georgia Runoff Surpasses 2.5 Million. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired December 31, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us all around the world. I'm Paula Newton live from CNN Center in Atlanta. Ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM:
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BORIS JOHNSON, U.K. PRIME MINISTER: We can vaccinate and protect many more people in the coming weeks.
NEWTON (voice-over): Optimism from the British prime minister after the U.K. approves another vaccine. But it comes as the country faces new, tougher restrictions.
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NEWTON (voice-over): Plus Donald Trump is planning to return to Washington earlier than expected, days ahead of a crucial vote that will officially certify Joe Biden's win.
And later, I'll speak with an award-winning war photographer who has now documented people's emotional experience of the pandemic.
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NEWTON: The coronavirus is now raging out of control in England. And more than 44 million people there are now under the most severe tier 4 restrictions. That's nearly 80 percent of the population.
The explosion in cases is driven in part by that new COVID variant that we've been talking about. Experts warn it is in fact much more transmissible. Britain recorded nearly 1,000, gosh that number is so staggering, 1,000 COVID fatalities on Wednesday alone, its highest figure since April. This is happening a day after the U.K. approved the Oxford AstraZeneca
vaccine. The prime minister says tens of millions of doses of all approved vaccines -- now there are up to two there with more on the way. They will be out by late March. But until then, everyone must follow the guidelines.
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JOHNSON: We've seen a 40 percent increase in cases in England in the last week alone, almost 15 percent more patients in hospital, more than at the peak of the first wave.
So at this critical moment, with the prospect of freedom within reach, we've got to redouble our efforts to contain the virus.
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NEWTON: That new COVID variant we were talking about, you can see the countries that have detected it there. You can see them in red, 27 in all now, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan. The U.S. has reported in fact, cases of the variant in two states now, the latest emerging in Southern California, the other in Colorado.
This comes as the U.S. closes in on 20 million infections since the start of this pandemic. The country's top infectious disease expert says if vaccinations pick up, a big if, American life could return to normal by early autumn.
With the infection rate soaring, apparently uncontrollably, experts predict the U.S. death toll will only accelerate. The CDC estimates up to 424,000 people will have died from COVID by January 23rd. Yes, you're not wrong. It is already the end of the year. That's a rise of almost 25 percent in just three weeks. Each and every one of them a life.
Health officials insist help is on the way. So far, more than 12 million vaccine doses have been shipped around the country, though only about 2.8 million now have actually been administered. We get more details from CNN's Nick Watt.
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GEN. GUSTAVE PERNA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: There's two holidays, there's been three major snowstorms, there's numerous factors. And here's what I have confidence in every day, everybody gets better.
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): And we're lagging behind some other countries in shots per day per capita, better than Canada, worse than the U.K. and a lot worse than Israel.
OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER COVID TASK FORCE ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT PENCE: I think it comes down to really just a lack of a national strategy on this vaccine distribution. And this has been the problem from day one on the pandemic response. WATT (voice-over): Meanwhile, the Brits just authorized another vaccine. Oxford AstraZeneca's U.S. trials continue; authorization maybe in April. It's cheaper and easier to ship than those already greenlit here.
MONCEF SLAOUI, CORONAVIRUS VACCINE CZAR: We know that it should be better and we're working hard to make it better.
WATT (voice-over): Meanwhile, it's officially here, a new variant of the already rampant virus, one confirmed case, one more suspected in rural Colorado, both National Guard members deployed to a care facility after an outbreak.
GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): We don't yet have a good idea of how prevalent it is, either nationally or within our state.
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WATT (voice-over): This afternoon, another case confirmed in Southern California. There is no evidence this variant first detected in England is more deadly, but studies suggest it is more transmissible.
RICK BRIGHT, BIDEN CORONAVIRUS ADVISORY BOARD: That means it's easier to spread. It's easier for people to get infected by this virus.
WATT (voice-over): Potentially piling more pressure on already crowded hospitals, nearly 125,000 COVID patients currently hospitalized in the U.S., a record here in Los Angeles County. That number is up nearly 1,000 percent since late October. Some patients have been turned away due to oxygen supply issues.
TONI KATANO, ER NURSE: We officially have no more beds, zero beds and are more visible.
WATT (voice-over): In L.A., there's now a COVID death, on average, every 10 minutes.
WATT: So Admiral Brett Giroir, who is one of the people involved in the vaccine program in this country, admitted, he did say, we need to be doing a better job but added, all vaccine programs start somewhat slow -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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NEWTON: Dr. Esther Choo is a CNN medical analyst and professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health and Science University and joins me from Portland, Oregon.
I feel like the statistics are making us all so numb. And yet these numbers are so sobering. We've just finished Christmas. You guys are just ending the Thanksgiving surge, never mind Christmas and New Year's.
What is your worst fear at this point? DR. ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I do fear, Paula, that we are so disconnected from the numbers, that we think it doesn't make a difference what I do. I think a lot of people are making their individual decisions to go ahead and go out and continue celebrating the holiday.
And it's exactly as you say, we are feeling the effect of Thanksgiving. And that was a relatively short holiday. Here we have Christmas, right into New Year's, this extended holiday, a ton of travel. A ton of different kinds of gatherings. And I think this almost guarantees us a very terrible February into March.
NEWTON: What do you hear anecdotally from what's going on?
I hate to use that whole cliche, the front line but it is a front line. There are people dying.
CHOO: Yes, I know the comparisons to war, I felt at one point, were totally overblown. But it feels more and more right in the sense that we really are putting up a fight against this virus. And it feels right now that the tide has turned and the virus has just found its way into clever ways of spreading even as we try to respond with things like vaccines and medications.
But the vaccine uptake has been slow. It will take quite some time for those effects to really be felt on the ground and in the hospitals. And in the meantime, the numbers are just worse. There was a time where 1,000 deaths per day in the United States seemed very terrible. I don't know if you remember.
It was just a few months ago. If we saw 1000, it was really a mark of a terrible situation that day. And now, of course, we're approaching 4,000 a day deaths. And it is almost like that's no big deal as we triple some of these numbers --
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NEWTON: That's true, I hear you because, as you said, you tend to gloss over the statistics because they are just so staggering. And yet each one is a loved one that's gone.
I want to get to this issue of the vaccinations, though. We had hoped that even this would give us some kind of respite, even by March or April. That seems out of the question.
What needs to be done in order to pick up the pace of vaccinations at this point?
CHOO: It's really downstream at the level of the states and even individual communities and health systems. We need that money for states to be able to mobilize a huge health workforce, so they can get trained and educated, to talk to people about the vaccine, to ensure those uptake and also simply to be trained to administer the vaccine.
And we just need a lot of resources and actually a lot of central guidance, too, so that we can be really responsive to the different vaccines that are coming out, their supply, how we distribute them, how we inform the public about different vaccines as they come out.
We just need a huge support and direction of our public health workforce. And thus far, it has not happened.
NEWTON: Quickly, in terms of the U.K. saying, let's just try one dose.
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NEWTON: We'll worry about the second dose of the vaccine.
Would that help, considering we're really in an emergency right. Now?
CHOO: I definitely see and understand the instinct to say, let's do more for a greater number of people. Let's do a single dose but be able to be more inclusive.
From an equity standpoint, that makes a lot of sense. At the same time, people cannot get the message that a single dose is OK. These were tested as a unit, as a 2-dose vaccine.
And I think it is just critically important that we really keep up the message, that you still need to get a second dose in order to realize the full efficacy and really have a chance to tighten the pandemic.
NEWTON: All good points there. Dr. Choo, I want to take the opportunity to thank you for all your time that you spent with us throughout this year, educating us and really protecting us from this virus. Dr. Esther Choo there for us, thanks so much.
CHOO: Thank you, Paula.
NEWTON: Now president Donald Trump will be rushing back to the White House Thursday, apparently skipping his annual New Year's Eve bash in Florida. He plans to be in Washington when Congress meets to certify President-Elect Joe Biden's win next week. There is no doubt, of course, that Biden won the presidential election.
But Mr. Trump believes it may be his last chance to overturn the results. Now a Republican senator says he plans to vote against the certification. CNN's Kaitlan Collins has the details.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a move that will delight President Trump and rankle Republican leadership: Josh Hawley becoming the first Republican senator to say he'll object when Congress meets next week to certify Joe Biden's win, an effort that won't change the outcome but could set up a showdown in Washington.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: There is a very clear process to handle and dispense with objections from members of Congress to the counting of the result. And that's just what we'll do, dispense with them. COLLINS (voice-over): Hawley writing, "At the very least, Congress should investigate allegations of voter fraud and adopt measures to secure the integrity of our elections."
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell warned his caucus against this very move, saying it was bound to fail and would force Republicans to defy Trump or vote against a fair election.
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: So you've either got to say there was no systematic fraud or Donald Trump had the worst legal team in the history of Western civilization. This is a complete sham.
COLLINS (voice-over): Hawley is the first Republican senator to say he'll object but he may not be the last, as others also consider their political futures.
Meanwhile, the president argued that, because a Gallup poll found he was the most admired man of 2020, it also means he won the election. As $600 stimulus checks were being deposited into bank accounts of Americans overnight, the fate of the $2,000 ones that Trump pushed for the last minute remained in limbo, as he tweeted, "$2,000 ASAP."
McConnell made clear today the Senate won't move forward on a House- passed bill to increase checks to $2,000 and will only consider a bill that includes Trump's other demands as well, which, Democrats argue, will doom it.
SCHUMER: The only way, the only way to get to the American people the $2,000 checks they deserve and need is to pass the House bill and pass it now.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: The Senate is not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrats' rich friends who don't need the help.
COLLINS (voice-over): The president is also lashing out at Republican officials in Georgia, once again urging the GOP governor he once endorsed to resign from office, while falsely claiming the secretary of state who voted for him has a brother working for China.
President-Elect Biden announced he'll visit the state on Monday ahead of a high-stakes Senate race, the same day President Trump is scheduled to hold a rally there.
TRUMP: Hello, Georgia.
COLLINS (voice-over): The focus on the 2020 race and the fate of the Senate majority, comes as Trump is back to blaming states for criticism of his own coronavirus response, now saying it's on them to distribute the vaccine and telling them to get moving.
COLLINS: And on top of all that, we've now learned the president is going to be leaving his Florida club earlier than expected and going back to Washington. Typically he stays through the New Year, because they have that annual party at Mar-a-lago, where you often see the president walk the red carpet with the first lady, speak to reporters in front of all the cameras on all of his guests.
But instead this year, he's leaving Florida before that party has even happened, even though guests were told the president was going to be there. He'll be back in Washington, according to the schedule that we've seen so far by the time that actually happens.
Of course that comes as sources say he is single-mindedly focused on what's going to happen next week on Capitol Hill when he and his Republican allies are plotting a disruption to typically what's a pretty mundane event, by certifying Joe Biden's win.
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COLLINS: Kaitlan Collins, CNN, traveling with president in Florida.
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NEWTON: All right, time to bring in Larry Sabato, he's the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.
Larry, thanks so much for being with us. And, again, another curve ball in Congress. In terms of where this is going and as many times as people say that, look, this is going nowhere, the election was won by President-Elect Joe Biden, is there any type of method to this madness at this? Point
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Yes, individual ambition. You put it exactly correctly, this is going nowhere.
But that's not why it's being tried. This particular senator from Missouri has presidential ambitions on the Republican side. Well, he's jumping the line by doing this. He's endearing himself to President Trump and particularly President Trump's base. All he's doing is showboating and helping himself.
He Is putting his colleagues on the spot, at least those who understand that Joe Biden is absolutely going to be sworn in as president on January 20th but would prefer not to offend Trump and his backers, because, when they run for reelection, they could be challenged in the primary, based on this vote.
NEWTON: And yet, somehow, the depressing part here is that, do you think he will be rewarded for doing this?
Do you think this sends a message, a message that we thought we'd have a definitive end, at least for a little while, to Trump's presidency, and yet it will continue to have a long? tail
SABATO: He'll be rewarded in the sense that some of the Trump people will remember where he stood and how forthright and courageous he was. But he's also going to lose in other ways because not just Democrats but also I think independents and even some never Trump Republicans or I'm glad Trump is going Republicans, will remember that he put himself first.
And he made the party look bad, he made some of his colleagues look bad. Also it is just so incredibly obvious, if you're going to benefit yourself, try to do it with a little bit of subtlety. There's no subtlety here at all. It's embarrassing for him.
NEWTON: Right but look at -- Donald Trump was never about subtlety at all in any event. I guess some people are trying to take that on. Listen to get to the high stakes here in Georgia right now, less than a week to go, this is going to be a very busy weekend going into that campaign or that election next week.
In terms of I think everyone in the United States now knows what's at stake, it is really for the legislative agenda going forward for at least two years. It will be incredibly consequential.
Do you think the Democrats are getting ahead of themselves at this point in time?
Because I do hear a lot of optimism from them.
SABATO: They shouldn't be too optimistic but I think they are correct to recognize that they really are in this, race and normally Democrats are not in contention to win runoffs in Georgia. The runoff turnout normally goes down, it benefits Republicans.
That's not happening, amazingly enough. And I think is because of what you just said. The stakes are so high and everyone knows it. There has been so much coverage, so constantly since November 3rd about these runoffs that Georgians get it. They quite literally are determining the agenda for the country for the next year or two or maybe even beyond. That
Because of that, Democrats are getting a really good turnout, especially from Blacks in Georgia but also from young people. Young people often don't turn out in primaries or runoffs or even general elections. But they appear to be doing that now.
NEWTON: Yes, it'll be interesting, we will have to keep a lookout because, you know, Larry, the president with those late rallies really, even though he didn't win the election, got turnout going. And I guess that's what they're hoping for again here in Georgia.
SABATO: That's a very good point and he will be there on election eve. Of course, so will Joe Biden. But Biden isn't known for stirring rhetoric and Trump is.
But remember, what is Trump going to do?
Is he going to spend the time promoting the two Republican senators?
Or is he going to spend more time airing his grievances with the various Republican officials in Georgia?
I can see him doing more of the latter than the former. NEWTON: Yes, and if past pattern is correct, he's not disciplined on
that and he will go into those grievances. Larry Sabato, Happy New Year, thank you so much for joining us.
SABATO: Thanks a lot, Paula, Happy New Year to you, too.
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NEWTON: OK, CNN has learned of another plot against U.S. forces in Afghanistan, a senior Trump administration official says China offered to pay nonstate actors to carry out attacks.
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NEWTON: And President Trump was briefed on the matter just two weeks ago. The intelligence hasn't been verified at this point. But it's similar to reports earlier this year that Russia offered money to Afghan militants to kill U.S. forces.
President Trump has yet to publicly call out Russia on that issue.
Saudi Arabia is blaming Houthi rebels backed by Iran for Wednesday's attack on an airport in Yemen, the group though hasn't yet claimed responsibility.
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NEWTON (voice-over): Now officials say at least 22 people were killed in the attack, which happened soon after a newly formed government arrived from Saudi Arabia. There's an investigation into what caused the explosions. Saudi Arabia has managed to unite its two allies in Yemen's civil war against the Houthis to form this new, cabinet.
And the attack is the just the latest challenge it's had to face.
Years of debate, finally at an end. British lawmakers and the queen have signed off on a Brexit trade deal.
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JOHNSON: The treaty that I just signed is not the end, it is a new beginning.
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NEWTON: After four long years of debate and negotiation, Britain's post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union is now law. The bill was approved by the House of Lords just hours before the transition period ends. And Queen Elizabeth gave her royal assent early Thursday.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My lords, I have to notify the house that, in accordance with the Royal Assent Acts 1967, that Her Majesty The Queen has signified her royal assent to the following act: European Union Brackets (ph) Future Relationship Act.
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NEWTON: To give you the recap, the deal preserves Britain's tariff and quota-free access to European consumers. Prime minister Boris Johnson said it's like the U.K. is having its cake and eating it, too.
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JOHNSON: We will be able to do things differently, we will be able to do things to find ways to be more competitive to want to. Be will be able to support industries in the northeast, whether it's a fantastic green technologies in Teesside or whether it's battery technologies in the West Midlands. We will be able to do things differently but we will simultaneously have access to that E.U. market.
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NEWTON: Now the opposition Labour Party said the deal doesn't protect trade and services and fisher men accused the prime minister of selling out their interests.
We want to turn now to CNN European affairs commentator Dominic Thomas, who's in Los Angeles for. Us
It's breathtaking, isn't it?
In the shadow of an absolutely tragic pandemic, here we are, Brexit is done. I've read in the British papers, they're starting to talk about the issue of perhaps rejoining. I can't be the only one exhausted to even use that word.
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NEWTON: A you.gov poll says 57 percent support for this trade deal. This is a trade deal if not dripping in blood then at least a lot of sweat and tears.
What will this new Britain look like now?
DOMINIC THOMAS, CNN EUROPEAN AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, Paula, that is really the question that we have before us.
You have on the one hand those that are celebrating after years and years and years of fighting to leave the European Union and to regain what they see as this emotional kind of sovereignty.
And on the others, those of course who are bemoaning leaving this incredible post Second World War institution that brought peace and prosperity and also a kind of an opening to the world beyond the island mentality that Brexit has become so associated with. And, of course, the irony that rejoining the European Union would be a very different process on very different terms.
And that so many prime ministers over the years have gone back to the E.U. asking for concessions but at the end of the day, the debate was won by those pushing for this emotional sovereign argument.
And that's where Britain stands today.
NEWTON: And that's the point you may, Dominic, right, is that this went beyond any kind of consideration of is it going to be good for our wallets? It was emotional; we are Britain, we will remain Britain, we will remain the island.
THOMAS: You're absolutely right. And I think that, to that extent, so many things that have just unfolded at this last moment. On the one hand, the general election was won on just get Brexit done.
Boris Johnson achieved that. When it came to triggering, initially, article 50 to start the process they just jumped into it. They only wanted 11 months for the transition period.
At the end of the day, the question of the deal was really secondary and there was no time for Parliamenters to scrutinize this particular deal.
But when it comes down to it, the fact that there is a deal in place is absolutely crucial. Because I think it mitigates some of the appalling consequences that this deal is going to have on the United Kingdom.
And for those who enjoyed that connection with Europe, the process of mourning has only just begun.
So for Boris Johnson, it might be a new beginning but for many, the road ahead is certainly uncharted and full of anxiety.
NEWTON: Yes. And again, we go back to a debate that it was essentially emotional; what are we in terms of national character and our sovereignty?
I have to say though, Dominic, Europe, Europe itself gets so lost in this discussion, right? It's like the terrible toddler's been having the tantrum now for five years.
THOMAS: Yes.
NEWTON: Will these countries fragment further. will it change the character of that consequential European project?
THOMAS: Yes. Well, I think what's really interesting -- but I think first of all, the fact that a deal was achieved was crucial. Because if not, it would have given a further opportunity for the European Union to be blamed for having reached any -- sort of achieved any kind of consensus. And I think that what unfolded last week, those terrible scenes of the truck drivers and blocked and Dover suddenly fueled and pushed the argument across the line.
But at the end of the day, I think that the European Union comes out of this very strong.
It was interesting to listen to Boris Johnson and then also to hear comments from what is essentially a new president of the E.U. Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen, who deserves a lot of credit for shepherding through the final stages of this process.
Because let's not forget that the U.K. is not the only country that's ever left the European Union, it's also the only country that's ever had a vote to leave the European Union. And when she stated we are putting Brexit behind us, you can't help but think that she could accidentally have said we're putting Britain behind us. And then she said we are moving ahead.
And I think that's the big question, is who's in this "we?" We know that there are 27 united countries --
NEWTON: Right.
THOMAS: -- that understand the value of this project and the success that it has had. And it's really up to Brittan now -- because let's not forget, it's got a trade deal --
NEWTON: Yes.
THOMAS: -- but the trade deal is only as good as if the U.K. respects --
NEWTON: And I've got --
THOMAS: -- all the rules and regulations --
NEWTON: -- and I've got to leave --
THOMAS: -- it's going to have to follow now.
NEWTON: -- and I've got to leave it there, Dominic, but some good analysis for us to chew on. Dominic Thomas for us in Los Angeles, thanks so much.
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NEWTON: Now from Paris to New York, one photographer has been capturing the emotional roller coaster the pandemic. Coming up, I'll speak with the man sharing the human faces of COVID-19.
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PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: The world has now recorded nearly 83 million cases of coronavirus. In the United States, the highly transmission COVID variant has now been detected in two states. The latest known infection in San Diego, California.
Now, the variant is fueling an explosion of cases in England. Nearly 80 percent of its population is now under the highest lockdown level or Tier 4. And France has recorded its highest daily increase in infections in six weeks. It's considering a 6 p.m. curfew in the hardest hit areas.
Now, while 2020 may have seemed like a blur, one photographer is putting this year into perspective. In a visual tribute, Peter Turnley has been capturing the raw moments of the pandemic. From lockdown in New York to reopening in Paris, he spent months working to put a face to the heroes and victims of this crisis, while sharing their stories of triumphs and tragedies.
And award-winning photojournalist, Peter Turnley, he joins us now. He is the author of "A New York/Paris Visual Diary: The Human Face of COVID-19."
Peter, thanks so much for being here. And I have to admit, I found this painful and yet surprisingly very beautiful and evocative in a way. What were your hopes in being able to do this?
PETER TURNLEY, PHOTOJOURNALIST: When I began photographing the lives and streets of New York starting on March 21, I actually, I'm a nomad, I'm almost never in the same place for more than three weeks. I travel constantly. You know, and I found myself when Governor Cuomo declared the lockdown in a certain box with a small apartment. I spit split time between Paris and New York. And I have a small place in New York.
And I found myself in this small box of an apartment, and I woke up on the morning of March 21. And -- and the most natural thing in the world for me was to go out with my camera and take a look.
And when I did, I walked about 45 blocks south to Times Square, and I was literally turned upside-down by what I saw. I had covered many, if not most of the major news stories in the world over the last sort of 40 years.
But here I -- I was witnessing New York City in a way that I had never seen it before. I was just really kind of existing with my camera. And I took my time and I would always ask people the same question. I would say, what is your name? What is your age? And tell me, how are you making t?
And what I realized immediately was that every single person had a story. And every single person wanted to tell their story. And they all ended by asking me, and how are you making it? And that was really important. Because I wasn't really making it very well.
So after that -- that first excursion, I came home. I laid on my bed. I had a good cry. I sobbed for about two or three minutes. And -- and then I gathered myself, and I posted an album of the photographs in a very sincere sort of diary on social media.
And overnight, this just exploded. Worldwide, there was a response from people. And I realized that all over the world people had a need to identify with each other. And that one of the other ironies was that, while I had covered most of the wars in the world over the past sort of 30 or 40 years, that this was the first time I realized when I was witnessing a world war where the frontline was -- was with an invisible enemy and that every single person on the planet was going to be affected.
NEWTON: I want to talk to you about that. The scenes that really seem otherworldly. The black and white, you know, canvas that you've painted, as well, it really speaks to, I guess, an experience that so many of us still can't believe.
I mean, are you like me? There are days I just wake up and say to myself, this can't possibly be happening.
TURNLEY: From the very first day when I went outside, the world was not like we had ever seen it before. Everyone was wearing a mask. Every single yard, there was -- every yard, every few meters that I walked, there were visual cues that were different than anything that I or we had ever seen before. And it affected every single person. There was no one that was spared.
The other thing that I think really struck me was, in this time of wearing face coverings, of masks, I have always noticed the eyes in -- for me, I -- I'm very interested in the emotion of life. And I find most often, if not always, the really strong emotion of almost all scenes takes place in the eyes of people.
And -- and during these last nine months, never before have the eyes been so important, as -- as an expression of our feelings, of our connections with the world, with others. And in many ways, it's been extremely powerful.
NEWTON: As you say, it is through your lens and through that expressiveness of the eyes, that were all able to collectively look at such a poignant tribute that you have done to this pandemic so far.
Peter Turnley, thank you again for joining us. And if you would like to see more of Peter Turnley's work or buy his book, you can head to Peter Turnley.com. And we will be right back with more in a moment.
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NEWTON: Now, for those of you who thought this year couldn't get any worse -- yes, I've got to take a deep breath after that one. 2020 apparently has one last trick up its sleeve. There are now robots who probably -- I know for sure -- dance better than me. They might also dance better than you.
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CNN's Jeanne Moos is going to show us.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dancing robots. With enough rhythm -- (MUSIC: "DO YOU LOVE ME")
MOOS: -- to make someone tweet, "Great, now even robots have better moves than me."
(MUSIC: "DO YOU LOVE ME")
MOOS: That's Spot, the Boston Dynamics robo-dog you can buy for 74,500 bucks. Look at that footwork.
(MUSIC: "DO YOU LOVE ME")
MOOS: Noted one Twitter user, "That dog robot has come a long way."
The dance video released by Boston Dynamics, to celebrate a happier new year, inspired humans to imitate the robots.
"It's cool and creepy at the same time. We're doomed."
Even Elon Musk was impressed: "This is not CGI."
Instead of its usual work lifting boxes. The robot can work the dance floor after years of being shoved by researchers, being dragged by the tail to test its doggedness. Even kicked! The robots got their kicks for a change. Do robots to do the human as well as humans do the robot?
One Twitter critic praised the dancing robots as, "Better than One Direction."
(MUSIC: "Live While We're Young")
MOOS: Doing mash-ups with "The Terminator" and remixes. "Far less horrifying when they're dancing to Chuck Mangione."
{CHUCK MANGIONE MUSIC}
One fan changed the track to point out that these two are doing some dirty dancing. OK, so Spot isn't able to wrap himself around Handler's waist. They're still pretty hot for robots.
(MUSIC: "Do You Love Me")
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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NEWTON: Thank you, Jeanne. We all needed that.
Now as the year comes to an end, Google has revealed what the world searched for in 2020. You guys probably know all of this. Apparently, coronavirus tops the list, of course, of global general searches. Coming in ahead of election results. The video app calling app called Zoom, which we also know about, makes the tops five.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un were the most searched-for people. Tom Hanks, who contracted coronavirus back in March, was fifth on the list.
Now here's where it gets interesting. Dalgona Coffee was the most searched-for recipe for 2020. I had no idea what that was and just searched it. I'll be making it at home later on. Followed by ekmek and sourdough breads that I know something about, which became, as we all know, something of a lockdown craze. I've even learned something else through these search top lists.
I'm Paula Newton, and I will be back at the top of the hour with some more CNN NEWSROOM. WORLD SPORT is next.
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