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Three New Cases Of UK Variant Discovered In San Diego; McConnell Calls Out GOP Senator Hawley On Conference Call, But Hawley Was Not On Call; Mitt Romney: "Inexcusable" That Administration Not Develop "Comprehensive Vaccination Plans"; More States Reporting Cases Of Fast-Moving UK COVID-19 Variant; Iranian Commander: Any "Retaliation" May Come From Within United States. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired January 01, 2021 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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ALISON KOSIK, CNN HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Alison Kosik. Welcome to a special edition of CNN Newsroom. Happy New Year! It is a new year, but the country is facing the same crisis that we've been dealing with for ten months and instead of getting better, the pandemic is only getting worse.

The U.S. is fast approaching 20 million cases with more than 125,000 people currently in the hospital with the virus. That is a new record and if that's not horrific enough, the U.S. reported more than 10,000 deaths from the virus in the final three days of 2020.

The COVID crisis is now affecting the Georgia state runoff, Senate runoff rather, now just four days away. Georgia Senator David Perdue is quarantining with his wife after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for Coronavirus.

It's not clear how long his quarantine will last or how it will affect his last-minute campaigning against Democrat Jon Ossoff? But one thing that is clear, a battle is brewing over congress' Electoral College vote count on Wednesday. CNN has learned that at least 140 House Republicans plan to vote to throw out electoral votes from swing states that President-Elect Joe Biden won.

There's a lot to discuss here but let's start with the latest on the COVID crisis, and new concerns about the spread of a variant strain of the virus that's been discovered in multiple states, including California and now possibly Florida.

CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is covering this story for us. Elizabeth, Happy New Year! But let's talk about the realities of what's happening here. Can you tell us more about the spread of this new COVID strain?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Alison, I think it's generally agreed that this strain is probably in many, many places in the United States, it's just that the surveillance system here is so well, poor, that it's only catching it in some places. So, let's take a look at a map. So far the strain has been caught or possible cases have been caught, four in California, one in Colorado, one in Florida, six but experts are telling me they think that there could be hundreds of cases of the strain in the United States in various places and let me show you why.

Look, well, actually, let's first talk about California. In California, it's two men in their 40s, one man in his 50s. Those are the three new cases; two of the men had no known travel outside the country. The third has yet to be fully interviewed.

So two out of the three we know didn't leave the United States, so obviously they caught it here from somebody else. And these folks, these three men have no known interaction with each other. County health officials believe that the new strain is widespread in the community because they're seeing that these people did not travel to catch it; they caught it in the community.

Now let's take a look at where this strain is all over the world. That's 29 countries that means that it is widespread all over the world, likely widespread in this country, too. And this variant, it doesn't make you any sicker but for sure it seems or not for sure, but it appears right now that it does spreads faster. Alison?

KOSIK: So, you're mentioning these cases around the world. We've also learned that there's another COVID strain, this one from South Africa that could potentially be resistant to the vaccines already in production. What are you hearing from experts?

COHEN: So, I spoke to the scientists in South Africa who discovered this variant. And he said look, it is possible, maybe the vaccine will work fine, but maybe there could be a problem. We don't know and that's why we need to test it.

You said, you've got too tested and so, it is being tested right now to see if the vaccine will work? Let's take a look at where the South African variant has been found, it's been found in eight countries, including South Africa?

Again to the point I made earlier when you see that it's in the UK, it's in Switzerland, it's in France, it's in places where people go from there to the U.S., there's an excellent chance it's in the United States as well. We just haven't found it yet.

KOSIK: OK, Elizabeth Cohen thanks for the latest. Now let's get back to the drama on Capitol Hill at least 140 house republicans plan to join President Trump's fight to overturn the election results when congress meets for the Electoral College vote on Wednesday. CNN Congressional Correspondent Phil Mattingly is following these developments and he joins us live now. So, Phil, walk us through, how is this going to play out?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's going to be a long day probably that's the best way to put it. But I think it's important to preface what's going on right now with, this is not going to change the outcome. Joe Biden will be counted as the President- Elect when the congress finishes its job on January 6th or maybe January 7th, depending on how long it goes, and he will be inaugurated on January 20th.

But what is happening right now, or you've got dozens of House Republicans, probably 140 may be on the low end of what I am hearing right now, at least one Republican Senator. What that means is, if you have a House member and a Senator who both object, that means both chambers have to recess, they have to debate those objections for up to two hours and then they have to vote on those objections.

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MATTINGLY: Now the Democrats control the House and a number of Senate Republicans have made clear they believe Biden is the President-Elect. So, every single objection will be voted down, but each individual objection is another two hours maximum of debate and another vote.

So, while this used to just be a Performa exercise where everybody kind of acknowledged reality and moved on, could finish in maybe an hour or two hours, couple of hours, this is going to be a long process as they go through that process.

And I think the big question right now is why? And I think the answer very clearly, take a look at the president's tweet related to Josh Hawley earlier today, the incentives line up if you're a Republican who wants to reach out to the base, who maybe has grander ambitions and who recognizes that there's no necessarily down side to doing this if all you care about is the politics.

As one Republican told me, Alison, it's easy to engage in the stuff when you don't think you're playing with live ammo. They know this isn't going to overturn the election, so they're purely looking at the political incentives, despite how might short sided that may be.

KOSIK: Yes, starting into quite the spectacle, so during a conference call with the Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell actually called out Senator Josh Hawley for objecting to the Electoral College vote. You know about this. What did he say?

MATTINGLY: Yes, sources I talked to who are on the call or at least briefed on the call made clear what McConnell is trying to do is essentially channel what he was hearing from his own members.

There are a number of Senate Republicans who are furious that the Missouri Senator, Josh Hawley has decided to go down this path, and go down this path against the warnings of senate Majority Leader McConnell just a few weeks prior.

What McConnell was asking Josh Hawley to do is essentially layout his rationale and lay out his plan. Why, why are you going down this pathway? And I think give some of those frustrated members an opportunity to weigh in on that plan. Now Josh Hawley was not on the call, which made for a little bit of an awkward silence I'm told, as McConnell tried a couple times to reach out to him for that answer.

But what was interesting is what happened when Hawley didn't answer. One of the people who did was Senator Pat Toomey, he's a Pennsylvania Republican. One of the states Josh Hawley has pointed to as his kind of genesis for moving through this objection, thinking there's regularities there.

And Pat Toomey I'm told laid out a very detailed kind of retort making clear he believed the Pennsylvania electoral slate was valid that the election was valid, and that Joe Biden was the President-Elect.

So, there's a lot of kind of back and forth inside the republican conference right now, underscoring kind of the difficulty Republicans are facing either embracing reality or what to do with soon to be ex- President Trump.

KOSIK: My advice to you, Phil Mattingly, get lots of sleep, and grab lots of coffee for Wednesday since you said it's going to be a long day. Thanks for joining us, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Thanks.

KOSIK: Vice President Mike Pence has rejected a last-ditch effort by Republicans to get him to overturn President-Elect Joe Biden's victory. The vice president asking a federal judge to throw out a request from Texas Republican Congressman Louie Gohmert that attempts to force pence to ignore the electoral votes of several key states.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is live for us at the White House with the latest. Kaitlan, what else did Pence's lawyers have to say and did this come as a surprise to the White House?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, we're told actually at that the White House Council Pat Cipollone and the Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows were aware that this was going to be the filing coming on behalf of Pence by the Justice Department, asking this federal judge to reject this lawsuit, basically invalidating the argument by the president's own Republican allies, Louie Gohmert and others who filed the suit against the vice president.

And in this argument, they're basically saying you've got the wrong defendant and then you should be suing the House and the Senate if you're trying to make this argument here. But what we could see with this Justice Department filing, depending on what the judge does, is it could alleviate some of this pressure that you're seeing building on the vice president from the president and his Republican allies.

Because the president we are told by sources Alison, has taken this outside focus on the vice president's role. And so, if they do come back and the federal judge does say no, his role is purely procedural as we've noted here and just really ceremonial, he can't actually change the outcome of this, it could help Pence be able to really shift and blame to that court ruling and not necessarily let it fall to him.

Because that is something that is an active conversation inside the White House right now about what it is he is going to do next week because we are told that the president has been complaining Pence isn't doing enough to fight for him, and is expecting him to take a bigger role when you see what is going to happen next week, the showdown that Phil was just talking about.

KOSIK: OK, Kaitlan Collins thanks very much, live for us from the White House. Coming up, state and local health systems are under pressure to pick up the pace of the Coronavirus vaccine rollout. What needs to happen to make that a reality? And later, I'll talk with the South Carolina man who is recovering from the effects of Coronavirus after spending 63 days in the hospital. Why he says his wife is the reason he came out of a coma.

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KOSIK: The nation welcomes in the New Year, but the U.S. is well behind schedule on vaccinations. And while pressure is mounting for states to pick up the pace, Republican Senator Mitt Romney is calling out the federal government for poor planning saying in part it was unrealistic to assume that the health care workers already overburdened with COVID care could take on a massive vaccination program that comprehensive vaccination plans have not been developed at the federal level and sent to the states as models is as incomprehensible as it is inexcusable.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is in Washington tracking all of this. So, Kristen, the big question here, why is distribution of vaccines taking longer than expected?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alison that's a big question and that's why we are turning our focus to the states to see what exactly is going on? When you look at those numbers, we know over 12 million vaccines have already been distributed to the states. But when it comes to actual shots in arms, we're only at about 2.7 million.

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HOLMES: So, what is the discrepancy? State officials that I am talking to say that this is just a huge undertaking and as you heard Mitt Romney say, state officials agree, that they are very stretched thin right now because of Coronavirus, because of all the health complications, that community is stretched incredibly thin and now they have to take on this rollout.

A lot of that involves things like having an infrastructure in place to deal with an incredibly complicated vaccine. Remember, this is not just a normal vaccine or a normal drug, it has to be stored, and it has to be transported. So, there's a lot of problems that the states are having training people and getting through that, and they're just wanting more resources to help.

KOSIK: You're also getting new details about how the vaccine has actually been mishandled in some states?

HOLMES: Yes, that's right, Alison. And it goes to show you that there's an infinite number of ways that a rollout of this magnitude can just go sideways. I want to walk through some of the things that we've seen. In West Virginia for example, 42 people thought they were getting a dose of the vaccine, instead it turns out that they were given COVID-19 antibodies.

Now health officials say that they don't believe there's any harm that was done to these individuals, they cannot or will not explain how a mix-up like that could happen. Now in terms of human error and human intention, in Washington, D.C., Safeway threw away two extra doses of the vaccine, they had just vaccinated 28 people.

There were two doses remaining and instead of keeping them, they in fact threw them out. So now they're working with the health department to try and figure out what to do with that? And then in Wisconsin, when we talk about human intention, we know that a pharmacist intentionally took out 500 doses of a vaccine from a refrigerator knowing that it would render those useless. So, there's a lot going on here, again, can show you what can happen in a complicated process like this.

KOSIK: Complicated is one way to put it. Kristen Holmes thanks so much. Joining me to discuss, Dr. Rob Davidson, he's an emergency room physician in West Michigan. Good to see you.

DR. ROB DAVIDSON, WEST MICHIGAN EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Good morning.

KOSIK: Good morning. So, talk with me about how the vaccine rollout has been at your hospital so far?

DR. DAVIDSON: Well, there have been a few hiccups. They're trying to get as many frontline workers, frontline health care workers vaccinated as possible. We're doing a little bit if a changeup and how they're doing the scheduling, so we can get more people.

And now reaching out to clinics outside the hospital to get those folks vaccinated, and then working with local health departments on the next level the people over 75, folks at nursing homes so you know, it is a huge undertaking and as our cases have been so high and hospitalizations high and number of staff out with COVID, it has just complicated it.

KOSIK: Yes and there's reporting that among the issues with these states rolling out vaccines, there's been this lack of planning or lack of direction from the federal government, essentially leaving it to local hospitals that are already overwhelmed to just figure this all out. What more do you think you would like to hear from the Trump Administration to help distribute these vaccines?

DR. DAVIDSON: I guess I would like to hear a sense of urgency, a need for the federal government to be involved. I think at this point they've basically said, we got you the vaccine, we'll get the doses, now the states need to figure it out. We saw the same thing with testing; have seen it ever since the beginning of the pandemic.

And we know that testing was woefully inadequate for so long, still for the numbers of cases we have but still inadequate. It's just 19 days until a new administration hopefully with a new focus, and the new sense of ownership of this rollout.

KOSIK: And because the rollout has been so slow some health experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, they suggested this idea of actually spreading out more first doses of the vaccine instead of holding them back for people's second doses. So, the idea here, you get people vaccinated, more people vaccinated with the first shot and then kind of circle back with the second but how risky of an idea do you think this is?

DR. DAVIDSON: But I think you are now going off of the plan of how the studies were designed for the two vaccines, either 21 or 28 days apart? The concern is if there's a holdup in distribution and people aren't getting those shots, we know that there's about 50 percent or so efficacy after one dose, but that's only up until people got the second dose.

What if they go five weeks, six weeks, seven weeks, that efficacy may really drop? We just don't know. And so, I think then you're left with a lot of questions that are almost impossible to answer.

KOSIK: Yes, you're thinking this idea probably not a good idea?

DR. DAVIDSON: Yes, I think we should just step up the production, step up the distribution, so we can ensure we get those two doses at the intervals that have been tested.

KOSIK: OK. And now you have more cases of this new COVID variant popping up across the country. How concerned should we be about this at this time?

DR. DAVIDSON: Listen, I think we should be extremely concerned. Anytime you have this virus that's mutated it so many times and the strains that we're seeing it just increases the risk of more people catching it.

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DR. DAVIDSON: Luckily so far, we're seeing it isn't causing more severe disease. But this just tells us the need to emphasize wearing mask, they need to emphasize people staying home when they can, limiting their interaction with people outside their household. This is kind of messaging we need up and down the board and this new strain tells us that we need to redouble those efforts.

KOSIK: Yes, keeping up the momentum, even if we're getting Coronavirus fatigue at this point. Dr. Rob Davidson thanks very much.

DR. DAVIDSON: Thanks, Alison.

KOSIK: Still ahead, tensions between Tehran and Washington are escalating as we approach the one-year mark since U.S. forces killed Iran General Qasem Soleimani.

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[12:25:00] KOSIK: U.S. official says over the last two days, Iran has raised its readiness levels in the Persian Gulf, but the latest intelligence is not clear on whether it's an offensive move or a defensive one? It's happening as the head of Iran's elite military unit says America may soon face retaliation for killing a top general last year, hinting of a possible attack from within the U.S.

So how would President Trump respond in the waning days of his administration? Tom Nichols is a Professor at the U.S. Naval War College. He argues that the president could be planning a final grand distraction before he is forced to relinquish his office and Tom joins me now. Great to see you.

TOM NICHOLS, NATIONAL SECURITY, NAVAL WAR COLLEGE: Good to be with you.

KOSIK: So, Tom, we're in the final stretch here of the Trump Presidency. Are you saying that you envision President Trump taking some sort of action on what's going on here on these renewed tensions before he leaves office?

NICHOLS: I hope not. I should also add that I speak for the War College or the U.S. government. But I am concerned that the president really relishes his role as commander in chief. We know that right after the election he was looking at options for striking Iranian nuclear sites, apparently, he was dissuaded from that by his aides, and I think it's a legitimate concern.

Of course, the Iranians are almost certainly up to no good and I think one of the things that most concerns me is this is the time when the president and the incoming president-elect should be communicating with each other, and sharing information and consulting with each other and of course President Trump isn't doing any of that.

So, I am genuinely concerned that the president could be thinking about saddling President-Elect Biden with some kind of military operation on his way out the door.

KOSIK: Well, Iran has certainly sent clear signals that it wants U.S. sanctions lifted, it's something that an attack could jeopardize. So maybe Iran would wait to take any potential action to see what the Biden administration does about these sanctions. So, wait for the new administration to take over, or do you see Trump just stepping in and doing something anyway?

NICHOLS: I'm not an expert on the internal mechanics of the Iranian regime. Of course, we're coming up to the one-year anniversary of the killing of Qasem Soleimani which the Iranian were still pretty vowed about and have vowed revenge for. So, it's possible that the Iranians could be planning something.

On the other hand, I think it's been clear before - that Donald Trump isn't much a deep thinker about these issues. And what he does whether it's in the foreign policies fear or in the domestic policy arena is always oriented around what he thinks is best for Donald Trump. And when it comes to questions of war and peace, of course this is the

one place where president can't afford to think that way. It's one of many places that president shouldn't think that way, but this is particularly a dangerous place.

And so, because there's no transparency and because we simply have no way of knowing what the president is up to, I think that should raise some concerns, because of the lack once again of transparency and communication with the transition team and with the incoming Biden Administration.

KOSIK: And you mentioned that Iran could be up to no good at this point. Is there something we should be watching for, are there certain signals from Iran or the Pentagon that could come next?

NICHOLS: Iran is always up to no good. That's the kind of regime it is. I think one of the things to watch for on our end are sudden bursts of activity at the White House of National Security Council, at the pentagon, which would indicate that people in our national defense establishment have spotted something that concerns them. You know, the problem here is that Iran is a real problem.

The president may well have to do something but to do this without consultation with the incoming administration, without coordinating between transition teams, without coming to the American people and to the congress, they're explaining the exact nature of the danger.

I think the problem here is that Donald trump within the way he's governed for four years certainly has not earned the benefit of the doubt on these kinds of actions. And so, I think if the country is going to have to face this kind of a threat, they need to face it in a more united way.

KOSIK: And you write in "The Atlantic" about how Trump asked for actions against nuclear targets in Iran after he lost the election but was persuaded by aides. So, if they stopped him then, would you think couldn't they do the same now?