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Twelve GOP Senators Now Plan To Oppose Certification Of Biden's Win; California Sets New Daily Record For Coronavirus Deaths; New Hampshire Governor Cancels Inauguration Over Anti-Mask Protest Concerns; CDC: 4.2 Million Americans Have Received Coronavirus Vaccine So Far; Iranian Commander: Any "Retaliation" May Come From Within U.S.; Larry King Hospitalized After Contracting COVID-19; Stimulus Bill Delays Pose Financial Hardship For Workers. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired January 02, 2021 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.
Our breaking news this afternoon, 18 days until the inauguration of soon to be President Joe Biden, and yet we are learning of more and more Republicans signing on to what can only be described as a sad and shameful example of trying to overturn America's fair and free election.
[17:00:14]
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley and 11 other sitting and incoming Republican senators now say they plan to oppose the certification of Joe Biden's win on January 6th.
Let's be clear. Their objection still doesn't change the facts, and it won't change the outcome. Joe Biden won this election. Dozens of lawsuits challenging the results have been thrown out by state judges, by federal judges, including some Trump himself picked, even the Supreme Court. Election officials have done recounts and audits in states like Georgia. President Trump's own Homeland Security and Justice Departments including the attorney general of the United States have said there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud or anything that would change the outcome of this election.
What these lawmakers do next week will be etched into history, and the only thing they'll accomplish is causing a spectacle.
CNN's Boris Sanchez joins us from the White House.
Boris, President Trump and some of his most fervent supporters still seem to leave the election can be overturned but anyone with political sense knows this is over.
What's in it for Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz and these other senators?
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, specifically for Josh Hawley, he's a rising star in the Republican ranks. It is widely believed that he is anticipating a run for president himself in 2024, and this elevates his profile with Trump supporters who still remain the bulk of the Republican base.
You could say the same about Ted Cruz. He has made a number of moves in a recent year in anticipation of a potential 2024 run, but for many of these other lawmakers, it's simply about survival, Ana. President Trump has gone after Republicans who have said they will not object to the election results, including John Thune, the number two Republican senator, calling for him to be primaried in South Dakota.
For many of these lawmakers looking to protect their seats, they do not want to be primaried by a Trump-backed candidate. It puts them in a very precarious situation and it's obvious where the power lies in the Republican Party. It begins and ends with President Trump.
I do want to point out, there are some Republicans that have come out and essentially said that they are going to support the certification of the Electoral College results, including Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and, of course, Pat Toomey, the senator from Pennsylvania, a state that many of these lawmakers have frequently cited as one where the election results are, for some reason, dubious without real, substantial evidence of widespread election fraud.
I want to read to you a portion now from a statement put out by Senator Toomey. He writes, quote, the evidence is overwhelming that Joe Biden won this election. His narrow victory in Pennsylvania is easily explained by the decline in suburban support for President Trump and the president's slightly smaller victory margins in most rural counties. I voted for President Trump and endorsed him for re- election. But on Wednesday, I intend to vigorously defend our form of government by opposing this effort to disenfranchise millions of voters in my state and others.
This move by these 12 Republican senators and more than 130 lawmakers in the House of Representatives who are anticipated to object to these results done out of political expediency, Ana.
CABRERA: Boris Sanchez at the White House for us, thank you.
Joining us now to discuss all this is CNN legal analyst Elie Honig, CNN political commentator David Swerdlick, and Washington bureau chief for "USA Today", Susan Page.
Susan, let me start with you. We have a dozen Republican senators completely dismissing reality, supporting an opposition that even the president's own Justice and Homeland Security Departments won't put their name on. What's your reaction?
SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, USA TODAY: Well, and, of course, four of these senators are senators-elect. They won their seats in the election that they're now suggesting was fraudulent. I think it does show that President Trump has done something no losing presidential candidate has done in modern times, and that is kept control of his party even after losing the presidential race. This is a sign of the sway he's going to have for the next couple years, whether he ultimately decides to run for another term in 2024 or not, and that's going to create a series of conflicts for Republicans.
You know, this is -- Democrats are decrying this across the board. Republicans are quite divided on the issue about whether this is the appropriate thing to do. That is not good news for the GOP going forward.
CABRERA: David, these senators are attempting to undermine the vote of millions of Americans. This week, Republican Senator Ben Sasse said this. When we talk in private, I haven't heard a single congressional Republican allege that the election results were fraudulent. Not one. Instead, I hear them talk about their worries about how they will look to Trump's most ardent supporters.
[17:05:05]
Do these senators truly believe what they're saying publicly today?
DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yeah, hi, Ana.
So, I don't know if they believe it but it looks like theater. You have a situation where this has been through Election Day, the certification, the safe harbor deadline, the Electoral College voting, and dozens of legal challenges.
No one has brought evidence forward that suggests that there was widespread voter fraud or there is any way for this election to be legally or constitutionally overturned. So it's either a case of senators being afraid to get on the bad side of President Trump and his supporters, or, as Boris said at the top, you can look at this as the start of the 2024 Republican primary. Senators proving, especially those like Hawley and Cruz, who are likely to run, posturing for their voters to say, look, even if President Trump lost, I'm on the side of President Trump's 74 million voters.
CABRERA: Elie, here's an excerpt from the Senate Republicans' statement today. The election of 2020, like the election of 2016, was hard fought and in many swing states narrowly decided. The 2020 election, however, featured unprecedented allegations of voter fraud, violations and lax enforcement of election law, and other voting irregularities.
Allegations are not evidence, no matter how many times the president repeats them. The, you know, Trump team of lawyers has presented dozens of claims that have been tossed out of court because they failed to provide actual evidence of any of this.
So, what legal ground do they have to stand on here?
ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: They've got nothing. They have no legal ground here, Ana, you're exactly right. Look, there's a difference between allegations based on proof and allegations that are just this wild fantasy that this whole idea is built on. The law they're using here is called the electoral count act of 1887.
It's an obscure law. What it says is, if you get one member of the entire House of Representatives, one member of the Senate to agree, you can go into debate, and from that point, it takes a majority vote in the House and the majority vote in the Senate to discard any of the electoral votes.
It seems very likely they're going to get neither. There's enough Republicans who are not on board with this in the Senate. There's no possible way they get this in the House.
So even though it is a completely doomed legal effort, it is still so injurious, so damaging to our basic democracy.
CABRERA: And, Susan, Senators Ron Johnson and Mike Braun, a couple of names on this list today, they said on the record, publicly, a couple weeks ago, that they would not challenge the results. In a recent interview, Senator Johnson said he would not object to the vote certification unless new evidence surfaced, quote, that would call into question the legitimacy of the election. Also, Senator Braun saying, we must set aside politics and respect the constitutional process that determines the winner of our political election.
No new evidence has come to light, so what possibly could have changed for them to flip their position in just two weeks?
PAGE: Well, they must have felt, I think, the heat from President Trump's continued criticism.
Here's one thing that's the most sobering aspect of this. We know this is doomed because Democrats control the House, but they don't control the House by much. What if Republicans had won control of the House in the election, which was not an impossible prospect? Would they be prepared, at this point, to seriously consider overturning the votes of the electorate to keep President Trump in office?
Because a majority of Republicans in the House are -- say they're ready to do that, are ready to protest, to participate in these challenges to the Electoral College count on Wednesday. That is something that I think raises some serious questions about how the Electoral College works and what the prospects might be if we got into that situation down the road.
CABRERA: David, Senator McConnell is telling members to vote their conscience. He did acknowledge Biden's victory, but he's not necessarily slapping down this latest political stunt, at least not yet. How much of this circus lies at his feet, in your opinion?
SWERDLICK: Well, there was a point in time, going back closer to election day, when Republican leadership could have come out more forcefully, congressional Republican leadership, in both Houses, and put a stop to all of these sort of stop the steal rhetoric coming out of the White House and from some of the president's other prominent supporters and said, look, this election was run fair and square.
There have been legal challenges. The president has a right to pursue legal challenges, but once they were over and once the Electoral College has had its say, there would be enough.
But the -- but senator McConnell and others did not do that vocally and now we're seeing, at least in part, the price of that. Ana, can I just step back and say one thing that has been under-discussed here? This case has gone to the Supreme Court in that case from the Texas attorney general.
[17:10:03]
The Supreme Court is two-thirds Republican appointed and one-third Trump appointed. If there was validity to these legal challenges, it's inconceivable that these justices would not have at least given it a look. But case after case after case showed that those bringing those legal challenges just didn't have the goods.
This is a situation where the Republicans challenging this say they have raised questions or they've heard questions raised but they just haven't brought the goods to the table.
CABRERA: And that's so interesting because, yeah, that's what I read in their statement today, this two-page statement that they put out is that there are all these allegations, people are, you know, uncertain about what to believe, and that's why we need to investigate this further, but yet they're not presenting any new evidence and they even mentioned the Supreme Court cases that you mentioned, David, to this point, twice. They write, the Supreme Court had the opportunity to do so. Twice, the court declined, talking about hearing evidence and resolving these claims of serious election fraud.
Elie, they bring up the Supreme Court slapping down or dismissing these cases. Should the Supreme Court have done more to settle this?
HONIG: No, I think the Supreme Court was very decisive. They were unanimous in rejecting these cases and I think if I could sound a positive note here, we have seen our courts, the independent judiciary, step up here, and our Constitution has with stood attacks. It will withstand this attack.
But we've seen judges from the Supreme Court, as David noted, on down to the federal courts of appeals, the state courts, regardless of who put them on the bench, standing firm and saying, you get nowhere if you have no facts.
Our Constitution is resilient. It is strong. This is a major test, but it will withstand this.
CABRERA: Elie Honig, David Swerdlick, Susan Page, good to have all of you with us. Thanks for your perspectives and expertise.
HONIG: Meanwhile, California just set a new daily record for deaths from the coronavirus. And the surge is pushing hospitals to what one official calls the brink of disaster.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: The first weekend of the New Year bringing with it new hope that the coronavirus vaccine will bring an end to the devastating pandemic, but it's been slow going so far. The federal government aimed to have 20 million Americans vaccinated by New Year's Day. The actual number is just above 4 million today.
[17:15:01]
As states struggle to administer this vaccine without much federal guidance, the grim COVID numbers keep soaring across the country. In December, the U.S. suffered its highest one-month death toll yet. And hospitalizations have risen to new highs for four straight days. Perhaps the starkest illustration of these alarming trends is seen in California. Once again, a dangerous hot spot in all the world that officials say is on the brink of catastrophe.
CNN's Paul Vercammen joins us from Los Angeles. Paul, they're witnessing one COVID death every ten minutes there.
PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In Los Angeles County, specifically, it's just been overwhelming. In the state of California, 21,000 people in the hospital with COVID-related symptoms. Behind me, White Memorial Hospital, not huge, 350-bed hospital, 180 of the patients are COVID patients.
But a moment -- a joyous moment here. The Army Corps of Engineers has arrived and this is one of seven hospitalizations now in the Los Angeles area that's being looked over by the corps of engineers for improvements, particularly for the oxygen supply. How do they get that vital oxygen to these COVID patients, more of it who are gasping for breath?
They've been to four hospitals so far. A colonel telling us that they've seen some issues with the possibility of freezing and they're going to make recommendations to improve all of this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COL. JULIE BALTEN, U.S. ARMY CORPS: We're going to make recommendations, the best that we can, through our technical expertise that we have on the ground, to make recommendations on ways that that could be useful for these facilities to lessen the impact on their mechanical staples, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERCAMMEN: So, they're also looking at such things as surge tents and how the oxygen supply is being administered there. Going through hospital and hospital and hospital, and I should note that Colonel Balten told me off camera that she was astounded by the great job many hospitals have already done, the proactive job, is adjustments made, the expansion of ERs and ICU units.
She said one hospital in Panorama City had gone so far as to convert all the administrative offices into a COVID unit. Just amazing, Ana, when you see these daily acts of valor here in California.
CABRERA: Absolutely. Paul Vercammen, thanks for that reporting. Our next guest was forced to cancel his own inauguration ceremony
after armed demonstrators gathered outside of his home to protest his statewide mask mandate.
New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu says it culminated Monday night. Police caught a man in his backyard armed with more than two dozen rounds of ammunition. The Republican governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu, joins us now.
Governor, that sounds terrifying, and I'm sorry for what you and your family have been going through. What has your life been like since these protests started and how do you explain it to your children?
GOV. CHRIS SUNUNU (R-NH): It's hard. There's no doubt.
Look, here in New Hampshire, we take kind of take pride in our accessibility of our leadership. We live in a small residential neighborhood. I don't live in a governor's mansion behind a lot of walls, nothing like that, been living in the same neighborhood for 15 years. That's just the way all governors do it.
But with the accessibility comes the understanding that there has to be understanding of privacy for my wife, I have young children in school.
And if folks want to protest, that's fine. We have protests all the time. Come to the statehouse, so nice public sphere, it's actually more appropriate if you're talking about policy to come there.
But to come into the residential neighborhood, to come on to my property in a threatening way, obviously that just -- it's really, honestly, an accumulation I think of what we're seeing across the whole country, right? There's this whole new boundary, this whole new goal post of what people deem as acceptable when they are not happy with a policy or they want to protest something.
We saw it with what happened over the summer. We saw cities burning. We saw all of this real chaos, things that we never imagined were seeing and I really think that overall, our society has just taken it to another level of how far can we push the boundaries?
Well, unfortunately, we do have to make some changes. My first responsibility is to the safety of my family, the safety of my citizens. And while we were moving the inaugural ceremony outside to be socially distanced and safe because of COVID, to be able to secure that entire plaza in an appropriate way and guarantee everyone's safety just became too problematic.
So we'll do a smaller private ceremony and it's just unfortunately, these are COVID times, and we all have to make changes and make adjustments based on what's happening out there.
CABRERA: Right, even making this adjustment, though, doesn't change the mindset of some people. Are you concerned about your own safety and that of your family? SUNUNU: I -- look, since the day I became governor, I'm always
concerned about that. I know it just takes -- it just takes one individual that wants to be on TV or whatever it is, and make a point, and -- so it doesn't take much to put yourselves in a dangerous situation.
And one thing I try to do, I try to stay very optimistic. I try to stay very positive.
And what I try to tell people is, with all the emergency orders, many of the emergency orders I put forth that even I don't like, right? I mean, I wish -- I hope no governor has to make some of the decisions that we have had to make. But they are temporary. They are hard, but they are necessary.
And they are necessary to get us through this while maintaining a lot of flexibility with our economy but also a balance -- you know, I'm very proud we're still below average with our COVID cases, been able to manage the vaccines coming out. We have a lot of things to be hopeful for in 2021 and I think that's the step the entire country wants to see us take, not just as public officials.
But we got to put the election behind us. We got to put, you know, the tough times of COVID behind us, understand that we still have to be disciplined with what we're doing for a few more months. But with the vaccine here, with, I think, a lot of new hope on that horizon, I think 2021 stands to be a great year.
But, you know, it just takes one individual that wants to spoil the party for everyone.
CABRERA: Right, and what is your message to protesters who refuse to acknowledge the science, who are instead focused on this idea that this is, you know, the Live Free or Die State? And what if it happens that they're also, you know, not only not wanting to wear a mask but refusing to get a vaccine? I mean, there's -- this is a much bigger snowball.
SUNUNU: Well, yeah. Look, I can't convince people of the science. If you're not buying into the science of what's happening now, there's not a lot of hope there, frankly. What I do try to implore people to understand is it's not -- the restrictions aren't about you. It's about your neighbors and your community.
We wear masks for others. We maintain social distance for others. We do it for those who might have a child who has an illness that could get compounded with COVID or a parent, maybe, that if they get COVID would be put in a high-risk situation.
So we try to remind folks that it's not just about just protecting yourself. It's about the community around you.
And these, again, are temporary orders that we're putting into place, and to think a little bigger, and understand that there is, you know, something on the horizon here. We don't mandate vaccines. We're not going to be mandating the vaccine here. People choose not to get it. That's fine. When your number's called,
if it's your choice not to get it, that's okay.
We're making sure all the individuals in the high-risk populations do have access to it today. And over the next few weeks, we're going to get our entire high-risk population vaccinated, and then we'll go to phase two and phase three and so on.
So, we just feel very confident that we are definitely moving forward. There's a lot of opportunity here. But we just want to keep it positive and, again, we just want folks to be safe. It's just that simple.
CABRERA: The president on more than one occasion has retweeted anti- mask claims to his, you know, 80 million followers. As a governor who's been working hard to combat the spread of coronavirus and is now facing threats, does that frustrate you?
SUNUNU: Sure. I mean, it's not just the president. There's a lot of folks out there that make claims that masks aren't -- that COVID is a hoax, and masks don't work.
(CROSSTALK)
CABRERA: But the president has the biggest platform of all, right? And the opportunity to influence --
SUNUNU: Sure.
CABRERA: -- people in a way no other American does.
SUNUNU: Sure. Look, I support -- I voted for President Trump. I support the president. But I also call the balls and strikes like I see them.
He's said a lot of things that get frustrated -- that frustrate us, that we have to push back on. At the end of the day, you know, we have a new administration coming in.
I think, you know, I think when it comes to the messaging that's out there in terms of what we should be doing to keep ourselves and our families safe, it isn't just the president, right? Or the governor.
It's our community. It's our nurses. It's the doctors.
It's -- you know, here in New Hampshire, Dr. Chan and our commissioner of health and human services, Lori Shibinette, they're out there every week, with me talking about this.
So, the good news is this: 90 percent plus of individuals out there understand the science. They understand the threats that this has posed to our communities. They're doing the right thing. The vast majority of folks really are doing the right thing.
This is a very small minority. It can be frustrating because it can be very loud. But -- and so, you do have to respond to it. But at the same time, I'm only speaking for New Hampshire. You know,
we're in a very good place here. We found that balance with the strong economy. Most people are wearing their masks. They're maintaining social distancing.
They're taking those steps they have to because it's hard to not know anybody that hasn't had COVID right now. It's hard. In fact, most of us know people who have passed away. We lost -- our incoming speaker of the house was going to be Dick Hench and we lost Dick. He's a long- time friend of mine.
We lost Dick to COVID and that was an alarm bell that rang true across this state and said, whoa, this can happen to anyone. It can happen very suddenly and we all have to take it very seriously.
CABRERA: Well, I'm sorry you're getting threats, and I hope that situation resolves itself. I hope you stay safe and your whole family and everybody in your state. Thank you for joining us, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu.
SUNUNU: Thank you.
CABRERA: Even as the nation's vaccination effort remains behind schedule, there are some who are trying to get to the front of the line ahead of frontline medical workers and vulnerable seniors.
[17:25:03]
Details ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: Just more than 4 million Americans have now received the COVID-19 vaccine so far according to the CDC, while more than 13 million vaccines have been distributed. And two and a half weeks after the first shot went into an arm, the slow rollout and a limited supply mean it's a scramble to get in line for this shot.
Here's CNN's Brian Todd.
(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. Capitol 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 necessary for continuity of operations of the government, staffers who come into the office and interact with people face-to-face.
This comes as less than 10 percent of the frontline healthcare 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, vaccines supplied to them.
[17:30:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): 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 that to ESPN.
ADAM SILVER, COMMISSIONER, NBA: There's 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.
Dr. David Nazarian, with the concierge medical practice in Beverly Hills, has among his patients A-list celebrities and entertainment execs.
He says he is getting a lot of calls from those clients pressuring him to give them the vaccine now.
DAVID NAZARIAN, MY CONCIERGE M.D.: I have patients who call who want to make donations to charities, 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.
NAZARIAN: People that are wealthy and usually have access to things, this is one of those things that's 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 are concerns that crime syndicates may target vaccine supply chains to steal doses or run vaccine scams.
ROBERT KIM-FARLEY, PROFESSOR, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: 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 s for doctors in private practices who were coming under enormous pressure to give the vaccines 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 the licenses of doctors who break those rules.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CABRERA: It could be months before the general population can get the vaccine.
CNN medical analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, joins us now. He's a professor of medicine at George Washington University.
Dr. Reiner, more than 13 million doses distributed now but just more than four million people have actually received shots. What's going wrong?
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You know, we've had all these months, Ana, to prepare for this, and we keep fumbling the ball.
The federal government, basically, has outsourced vaccine administration to the states. This has been really par for the course for management of the pandemic.
They outsourced testing with really disastrous consequences. They outsourced mask mandates and decisions on when states should open. And now they're outsourcing vaccine administration.
We need a massive, coordinated campaign to vaccinate large numbers of Americans quickly, not telling people eventually they'll be able to go to Walgreens or CVS.
We need a campaign, organized probably with National Guard assets, building not field hospitals but field vaccine administration centers, using, you know, racetracks and football stadium parking lots and convention centers.
And using the resources that the U.S. government can allocate to the states to vaccinate millions of people a day. I think we need to vaccinate two million people a day in order to get herd immunity by next fall. We're not on track to do that.
Our biggest problem is getting shots in the arm right now. We have 9 million doses of vaccine on the shelf ready to go.
CABRERA: So, both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines need two doses, of course, so we're only talking about the first dose of these vaccines.
But the U.K. announced some plans to delay the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine for up to 12 weeks after the first dose. Now I guess the thinking is this should offer some protection to more
people while alleviating some of the supply-demand issues.
But Pfizer says they only tested, you know, that three-week interval between doses during the clinical trials. And Dr. Fauci says the U.S. will not follow the U.K.'s decision.
What's the right answer here?
REINER: Dr. Fauci's answer is the right answer. We know that we have at least two vaccines that have 95 percent efficacy, and almost 100 percent efficacy against severe disease as tested as a two-vaccine strategy, either given three or four weeks after the first dose.
We know that is spectacularly effective. If we ever got to the point where we were able to vaccinate people so quickly that we just did not have enough supply, we should look at that.
But we're nowhere near that. That's not our problem now. We have the vaccine to give. We just don't have the infrastructure to give it. So we do not need to consider that now.
If we were to do that, if we were to hold back second shots now, we would just have millions more doses on the shelf looking for arms. We need to concentrate on getting vaccine in as it was studied.
[17:35:03]
And if three, four months down the line, we're running short, maybe we'll have data on one dose by then. But right now, stick with the two-dose sequence.
CABRERA: We just saw that there in Brian's piece, a concierge doctor getting calls from patients trying to get this vaccine.
You know, for a moment, just let's look past these patients who are offering to pay to jump the line. When will private practices have access to this vaccine, if ever?
REINER: Not for a while. Not for the foreseeable future, I would say.
I think there will be a point when we have vaccinated large numbers of people where the vaccine will be widely available in all the venues that influenza vaccine is currently administered. But that's going to take a while.
And I think what we're going to see going forward is vaccine administered by hospitals, by the national retail chains, and what I hope is through -- via large vaccination events in cities all around the country.
Eventually, it will get to doctor's offices but that's going to take a little time.
CABRERA: Dr. Jonathan Reiner, we really appreciate your expertise. And thank you so much for your time. REINER: My pleasure.
CABRERA: Tensions between the U.S. and Iran are rising this weekend ahead of the first anniversary of the U.S. assassination of Iran's top military commander. We have the "WEEKEND PRESIDENTIAL BRIEF," next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: Now back to our breaking news. Despite no evidence, absolutely none, of widespread voter fraud in the election, the stage is set for a GOP political charade that undermines the most sacred part of American democracy, a free and fair election.
At least 11 Republican Senators announced they will join Missouri Senator Josh Hawley in objecting to President-Elect Joe Biden's victory when Congress meets Wednesday to certify his win.
I want to discuss with CNN national security analyst, Samantha Vinograd.
Sam, to be candid, this is embarrassing for America, but are there also national security implications involved, and especially when our allies and adversaries are watching this?
[17:40:10]
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Ana, this amounts to a home-grown attack on our democracy. And it has national security implications.
Russia's probably having a field day. For years, Russia has tried to undermine the credibility of U.S. institutions.
And the fact that Republican lawmakers are prioritizing personal politics over upholding our Constitution certainly helps advance that Russian narrative.
Separately, the United States has, for years, tried to promote democracy overseas. We've spent time and money trying to promote, for example, the orderly transfer of power.
This development today is just the latest example of Republican lawmakers trashing democracy here at home while our team works to advance it overseas.
These lawmakers are making our home team look like hypocrites, which makes them a lot less effective.
CABRERA: Let's turn to the rising tensions right now between the U.S. and Iran. Tomorrow marks exactly one year since the U.S. assassinated Iran's top commander, Qasem Soleimani. And Iranian officials are warning retaliation could happen on U.S. soil.
Sam, how big of a threat is this?
VINOGRAD: It would be national security malpractice not to increase monitoring for some kind of Iranian attack right now.
This is a particularly high-risk period. Tensions with Iran have skyrocketed under President Trump. Just last month, Iranian proxies attacked the U.S. embassy in Baghdad again.
And the anniversary of Soleimani's assassination could spark another similar attack by Iranian proxies in the region or could lead the Iranian regime to try to inspire assets around the world to attack U.S. interests or our allies.
But, Ana, we can't ignore the elephant in the room. Trump is a risk factor here, too. It's no secret that Trump has been keen on striking Iran for some time.
And he has no problem inventing intelligence to validate his military operations.
After he assassinated Qasem Soleimani, Trump inaccurately claimed that Soleimani was plotting to blow up three U.S. embassies.
We could see President Trump again try to invent intelligence as a basis for some kind of strike against Iran.
The best thing that we have going for us right now is Biden's upcoming inauguration. We'll soon be able to trust a U.S. president again.
And I do think that if Iran does launch an attack, they'll try to calibrate it because they don't want to box themselves in before Biden takes office.
They want to leave room to negotiate with the incoming administration on nuclear negotiations.
CABRERA: And while the Trump administration monitors the situation with Iran, it's also dealing with a massive cyberattack. What new information are we learning?
VINOGRAD: Well, Ana, we do have news, but it isn't good. Initial reports indicated that a few dozen entities were affected in the attack.
We're now learning that up to 250 federal agencies and private-sector organizations were victims in this attack. And that list could continue to grow.
We've also learned that these hackers used servers on U.S. soil. And it is clear that U.S. cyber defenses failed to detect this attack, as did U.S. intelligence assets. Across the board. U.S. capabilities failed.
What we still don't know is equally as troubling. We still don't know Russia's ultimate intent behind this attack.
For example, whether they were solely seeking to conduct an espionage operation or if they'll leverage the information they gained in this attack and their access to launch some kind of future sabotage operation.
That's a question that President-Elect Biden and his team will seek an answer to when they come into office.
And Biden will concurrently have to factor in working with Putin on issues like negotiating an extension of our last arms control treaty with Russia.
So overall, this is going to be a very delicate balancing act for President-Elect Biden.
CABRERA: It's a lot, that's for sure.
Samantha Vinograd, thank you.
VINOGRAD: Thank you.
CABRERA: We have more breaking news right now into CNN. This is about the medical condition of broadcasting legend and former long-time CNN talk-show host, Larry King. Details emerging a short time ago that he is in a Los Angeles hospital.
And I want to get right to CNN's Chief Media Correspondent, Brian Stelter.
Brian, what can you share with us?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES" That's right, Larry King, more than one of 125,000 Americans in the hospital right now battling COVID-19.
Larry King, of course, the CNN legend, an anchor, a host here for more than 25 years. He retired from this network nearly a decade ago, continued producing, hosting interview series, in fact, as recently as just a few weeks ago.
But he has been in the hospital for at least the past week, Ana. CNN's Brad Parks just confirming that King has been hospitalized, according to a source close to the family.
[17:45:07]
King is 87 years old. He's been hospitalized at Cedar Sinai Medical Center for more than a week, according to the source.
Just reading one more line here from our reporting. Due to protocols at the hospital, we've all heard about the isolation that happens at these hospitals. King's three sons have been unable to visit with him, according to the source.
This just another example of how COVID-19 is absolutely tearing through Los Angeles and through southern California.
We have heard about hospitals being overwhelmed in that region. And obviously, we know that high-profile individuals, stars of Larry King's caliber, are not immune. King, 87 years old, has had many health scares in his life. He
underwent heart treatment last year to replace a stent. He also suffered a very serious stroke last year and was able to recover from that.
And like I mentioned, Ana, he's been working all year long, hosting from his home, just like a lot of us, hosting his web show for TV from his home, still interviewing news makers.
One of his recent interviews went viral on social media over the holiday season. So at 87 years old, Larry King, he still has it. He still has it.
I know a lot of folks watching CNN remember him hosting "Larry King Live" for 25 years. Of course, interviewing a wide world of celebrities, politicians, and news makers.
Now we know he has been hospitalized with COVID-19 for more than a week at this point -- Ana?
CABRERA: And are you surprised, given he's such a public figure, that we're just learning about this? If he's been in the hospital already for a week.
STELTER: That's true. It is a little bit of a surprise. This was starting to leak out today. Obviously, everyone's entitled to their privacy.
And these hospitals in L.A., I got to tell you, they are used to working with celebrities and A-listers and they know how to keep people's privacy front and center.
Larry has had a very difficult year. Two of his adult children died earlier this year, one due to a heart attack, the other after being diagnosed with lung cancer.
And it's been a very difficult year. He has opened up about that when he felt it was appropriate and when he was ready to talk about it.
But like everybody else, seeking some privacy during the horrid year that was 2020.
Certainly, he spent the New Year, New Year's Eve, in the hospital. We haven't heard from him directly, of course, since he's in isolation.
But obviously, I think I can speak for everybody at CNN, when I say our thoughts, our hearts go out to Larry and his family at this time.
CABRERA: Yes. We will keep him in our hearts, our prayers, our thoughts, of course.
And 87 years old, Larry King, again, in the hospital right now, battling COVID-19.
Brian Stelter, thank you.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:51:37]
CABRERA: There was good news and bad news in the new pandemic relief package for the millions of Americans working in the gig economy.
The measure extends their unemployment support for nearly three months. But because the president delayed signing it, most are still waiting for the assistance they desperately need.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich spoke to one of those families.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fareeha Haq and her husband, Amir Bukhari, are raising a family of six on less than $400 a week in unemployment. Next week, they could go without that money.
AMIR BUKHARI, UNEMPLOYED: It's going to hit rock bottom. Because right now, we were able to eat. You know, forget the rent.
YURKEVICH (on camera): That money that was supposed to arrive this week was just to feed your family this week?
BUKHARI: Just to feed the family.
YURKEVICH (voice-over): Pandemic unemployment programs for millions lapsed on December 26th, a day before a new federal aid package was signed. That delay means most Americans will have to wait until next year for states to issue their checks.
FAREEHA HAQ, UNEMPLOYED: Like, I'm very grateful that money will be coming in, but sometimes it takes so long for the money to actually kick in.
YURKEVICH: Fareeha and Amir are both gig workers. She drove a school carpool, he an Uber. The loss of income in March put the family onto a growing pile of bills.
BUKHARI: I mean, if I tell you all the bills is up to date? No, they can't be. It's just impossible.
YURKEVICH: Nearly 12 million renters will owe more than $5,800 in back rent by January.
Fareeha and Amir owe nearly that much, and their $8,000 in credit card debt.
HAQ: You have to take the letters and you have to put it on the flowers.
YURKEVICH: Their small apartment is a virtual classroom, and the four kids eat all meals at home. That's 16 a day. HAQ: You can do it. Come on, mommy's got to go make breakfast, too.
It gets so emotional because I'm overwhelmed. And I'm like, I don't know how to live any more. Sometimes it's so hard.
YURKEVICH: A recent survey shows 27 million Americans say they don't have enough to eat.
This family relies on food stamps and the food pantry at the Brooklyn community service group, COPO. It's familiar for Fareeha.
MOHAMMAD RAZVI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COUNCIL OF PEOPLES ORGANIZATION: You're going to get raspberries and squash, and I got these special cucumbers.
YURKEVICH: She used to work here, handing out the food.
HAQ: I was there helping people receive benefits. And now I'm on the other end and I'm asking for benefits.
YURKEVICH: And the need for many Americans is only getting greater.
RAZVI: They're running out of their checks. That's why they're coming even, you know, more in hardship because they're not sure how they're going to make ends meet.
YURKEVICH: The new stimulus bill adds an extra $300 a week in unemployment through mid-March, a much-needed boost to families like this one.
HAQ: Before you see the money, it's gone already. I already know where I'm going to spend all that money. And it's hard to get back to that place where everything will be OK.
I made it special just for you.
YURKEVICH: Vanessa Yurkevich, CNN, Brooklyn, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: One of the things that has held America together has been the music that we share.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jimmy Carter used music into politics. It would never been done quite that way.
CARTER: I want to introduce to you, the Allman Brothers.
(CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He enjoyed our music and he became a friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a kindred spirit of a rare kind. A man you don't meet every day and you're lucky to meet if you ever do.
(MUSIC)
WILLIE NELSON, SINGER: Jimmy and I basically come from the same spot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we went to the White House, we were welcomed in.
(MUSIC)
[17:55:03]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His love for music makes sense to me because music is the voice of the heart.
(SINGING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the music of change and dissonance. There was a risk politically for that. And it didn't matter to him.
(SINGING)
CARTER: I think music is the best proof that people have one thing in common, no matter where they live, not matter what language they speak.
ANNOUNCER: "JIMMY CARTER, ROCK AND ROLL PRESIDENT," tomorrow at 9:00 on CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CABRERA: CNN is following some breaking news out of Michigan. Our affiliate, WDIV, is reporting a small plane has crashed into a house in Lyon Township just outside of Detroit.
You can see the images showing just how bad from the smoke and other damage is. In fact, one side of the house is destroyed.
Listen to how one witness describes the crash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS: I got up and I walked downstairs. I asked my little brother: Did you hear anything? He was like, it was a garbage truck, they make a lot of noise. I was like, no, that was a little louder than that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CABRERA: Authorities say the pilot is still believed to be in the plane. And they are also urging people to be avoiding this area, because it's still an active situation.
As we know more, we'll, of course, make sure to bring you an update.
[18:00:00]
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
CABRERA: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for being with me.
Breaking today, a routine congressional ritual threatens to blow up into a major spectacle on Wednesday.
