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Sports Stadiums Across U.S. Open Up As Mass Vaccination Sites; Biden Says Trump Shouldn't Receive Classified Intelligence Briefings, Citing "Erratic Behavior"; Leon Panetta, Former CIA Director & Former Defense Secretary, Discusses Report On Frustrations About Politics Today; Two Republicans Fined For Capitol Security Violations; Families Look For Closure After Losing Loved Ones To COVID; NFL Working To Avoid Super Spreader Sunday At Super Bowl. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired February 06, 2021 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Virginia just reported its first case of the South African variant. And the CDC says more than 600 cases of new variants from South Africa, the U.K. and Brazil have been reported in 33 states. And with that in mind, the CDC is warning Americans against holding large Super Bowl parties tomorrow. New guidance says that you should only watch the game with people you live with to prevent any new outbreaks.

The U.S. has already administered nearly 37 million vaccines and the NFL is stepping up in a big way to help speed up those vaccinations. The league is offering all 30 of its stadiums as mass vaccination sites. Several sites are already open. CNN's Natasha Chen is at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Natasha, how are vaccinations going today?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the -- this site has been open for several weeks now. And today's event is special because it is targeting employees of local school districts and public transit, who happened to fall into the eligible category in Georgia. And, you know, in the last hour, since I spoke to you last time, they've gotten through another 100 people.

And every time they hit one of those markers, there's a cheer that goes through the room. So, there's a lot of optimism here and a lot of excitement from people who feel like this is the beginning the first step of gaining a little bit of normalcy. I can show you what's going on here is that when people come in, they'll line up on this side. And then they register at these tables over here, then they sit down in a waiting area and wait for their names to be called.

And so many of them are actually here for their second shots now. And so, the Fulton County schools, a chief human resources officer was telling me that, you know, given that right now, we're only looking at people 65 and older who are eligible. They've gotten maybe about 700 of their 14,000 employees vaccinated at this point. Still, there are a lot of questions and sometimes hesitancy from the community.

So, they tried to have efforts in getting experts to answer some of those questions. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON WADE, CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER, FULTON COUNTY, G.A. SCHOOLS: Our approach, our theory of action, in terms of this effort, is the first to inform give them access, which we've been able to do with a great partnership with Fulton County Board of Health. And then to incentivize. Today, we are going to be offering some incentives for employees at the end of the day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: So, they're offering some gift cards, there's actually a grand prize of a 70-inch T.V. here. So, encouraging people to come and get their shots. And, you know, they're not the only ones trying to do this. We also heard that Kroger grocery stores announced they're giving $100 along with store credit and fuel points to their employees who get vaccinated. Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Every little bit helps. Thank you so much, Natasha Chen. So it's not just the NFL teaming up to tackle the pandemic, several other professional sports leagues and teams across the country are also opening up their stadiums to administer vaccinations. CNN's Polo Sandoval is at the Major League Baseball's Yankee Stadium in New York. So Polo, this is a pretty incredible effort. And are the lines long, it doesn't seem to be, you know, a real home run?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. How about I show you, Fred, that you can actually see the line that that we've seen here that's just constantly on the move here. It's moving quite quickly, one woman told me that she waited in line only for about 15 minutes so that she could finally make it to her appointments. And then obviously get that subpoenaed vaccine.

Look at it this way, Fred, the Bronx has its own mass vaccination site. And of course, it's at the iconic Yankee Stadium. The people you're looking at right now are supposed to be basically Bronx residents and also fall within that the brackets of eligibility that will actually allow them to get this vaccine. The city, the state have made it very clear that with this, they're specifically targeting African-American and Hispanic communities to, you know, many of whom feel like this was long overdue.

That many of these communities have been specific -- particularly hit hard by this pandemic, are perhaps the most vulnerable. So, there was concern that many of these vaccines weren't going where they should. And that's why after a long wait, they finally were able to secure that vaccine supplies to actually open up this massive vaccination site. They're hoping to vaccinate about 15,000 people in about a week.

This is operating 12 hours a day. And again, we're only two days in so there certainly -- are certainly high hopes that there'll be able to vaccinate even more. Statewide there have been about 3.3 million vaccines that have been distributed throughout the State of New York, and of those a little over two million have been administered. I can tell you that with these kinds of events that number is certainly going to go up a lot higher.

You heard Natasha just described hope and optimism in Atlanta. That's exactly what I'm seeing here. You could see it in a lot of people's eyes. One woman who had her vaccine just as she got her vaccine just a little while ago, works in a grocery store has worked through the pandemic.

[13:05:05]

SANDOVAL: And after today she says she can at least go to work now with a slightly higher level of confidence and a little bit more protection, obviously, at least as much protection that this vaccine can give her knowing that she's already been vaccinated.

And then finally, there was another gentleman that walked out of this place with his arms held high. He said the next time he's coming back here is to hopefully catch a Yankee game. So, you certainly have that hope, that optimism in the eyes of people. And again, I think we're just starting here, we're going to see many more of these and the city and the state, also calling on those medical frontline workers to get their vaccine as soon as possible.

They only have about a week to go, because after that come February 15th, that's when the vaccines would be reallocated for some of those folks who have perhaps underlying conditions as well above the age of 16.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well, it's good to see that so many are feeling really hopeful and much better. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much. So, my next guests have just written a piece in The Washington Post headlined. White Americans are being vaccinated at higher rates than black Americans. Such inequity cannot stand. Joining me right now, Dr. Uche Blackstock, a Yahoo News medical contributor and emergency medicine physician.

And Dr. Oni Blackstock, a primary care and HIV physician. And first off, good to see you all doctors Blackstock. I do have to help people, you know, we think they're seeing double that yes, you are seeing doubles. You are twins, both studied medicine together at Harvard School of Medicine, but went separate ways on your medicine specialties. Dr. Oni B., I'll call you focusing on sexual health and HIV.

Dr. Uche B. on emergency medicine and advancing health equity. And so today, we are happy to have you both as a dynamic duo on navigating coronavirus and today's vaccine availability and of course, equity. So good to see you both. Wonderful. Thank you.

DR. ONI BLACKSTOCK, HIV PHYSICIAN: Thank you so much.

WHITFIELD: So Dr. Uche B., I'll start with you. You know, we've talked a lot, you know, on this show in the past few months about disparities in black and brown communities and at the root had been a lot of distrust that black and brown communities might have with the vaccine. But in your view, are the disparities that we're seeing today, is it because or as the result of something else besides distrust? DR. UCHE BLACKSTOCK, YAHOO NEWS' MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Fred, first of all, thank you for having us. Absolutely. There are other issues besides concerns about the vaccine. I think the other issue is outreach and accessibility. I think that, you know, actually work what I found out this morning, there are thousands of appointments that are still available at Yankee Stadium. So, at that same place your reporter was at earlier today, they still are thousands of appointments.

And so, we really need to be working with community-based organizations to also dispel some of the misinformation. But just having a vaccination center in a vulnerable community is not enough. We need to make sure that people who don't have smartphones, who don't have laptop computers are still able to sign up for appointments. We need to be able to provide transportation for elderly, for people with disabilities to get to their appointments.

So, we have to think about outreach, but also about making sure that vaccination appointments are accessible, so that anyone who wants one can get one.

WHITFIELD: So. Dr. Oni, you know, on that issue of outreach, you know, your piece, you're calling on the by the administration to do more, you know, prioritize black people, make the vaccine available in black communities to require states to collect racial and ethnic data. To what extent and how do you believe those are elements that will make a huge difference?

O. BLACKSTOCK: Yes, thank you, Fredricka for having us on. So, we really need a concerted effort to ensure that black people and other people of color are not left out of this vaccine rollout. We know that even when we look at different prioritization groups, like healthcare workers or nursing home residents, we still see black folk being disproportionately likely to be at risk for COVID and also to die from COVID.

Just as my sister was saying, we really need to do really enhanced outreach, there needs to be trusted messengers that help to facilitate appointments for folks. So, just as she was saying, having, you know, it's so great that at Yankee Stadium there's, you know, appointments that are now available and I actually practiced for 10 years, just down the block from there. So, actually hearing about it, made me very emotional.

But just having the sight there isn't enough. We need to have, you know, community-based organizations, clinics and other groups that have connections with the community be able to help with making those appointments. We also need this data collected, we can intervene if we don't know the extent of the inequities. Right now, data is required by the CDC to be collected, but it's not mandated.

[13:10:02]

O. BLACKSTOCK: We need an enforceable mandate to ensure that race ethnicity data is collected ZIP code data. So, we know what (INAUDIBLE) exist. And we can tailor interventions to increase outreach if needed.

WHITFIELD: And then just to elaborate further, since you just revealed that you, you know, you're familiar with the Yankee Stadium, you know, neighborhood, you work there, and this really is, you know, close to home and your heart that there -- as your sister said, you know, unfilled appointments. Why do you believe that is? I mean, you know, access now has been addressed for many people there.

Why do you believe there would be so many available appointments in such a densely populated area?

O. BLACKSTOCK: Well, I think one thing would be awareness. So the Bronx is actually quite huge, about 1-1/2 million people who live in the Bronx, or more. And so, people also may not know about Yankee Stadium that the appointments are available. If we're advertising this on online, we may miss folks who just listened to the radio or read, you know, print newspapers. So, we need to make sure we're getting the news out and using print media to do that immigrant radio.

Just a diverse, multipronged approach to making sure that folks who may not be online, are aware that appointments exist. Again, there is medical mistrust or vaccine hesitancy in the community, which again, is a result, is a symptom of systemic racism. So, we need to show folks in the community that, you know, the institutions, hospitals that are offering these vaccines are trustworthy.

And the best way to do this, in part is to ensure that we have members from the community, trusted members who are communicating with residents about the vaccine and can answer whatever questions they have and help to facilitate making those appointments for them.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Uche, the -- you piece says, you know, a -- and I'm quoting now from your piece, you know, "a colorblind approach to vaccine distribution will no doubt prove catastrophic if we do not act urgently, the pandemics exist -- existing racial health inequities will only worsen." So, how much faster is fast in your view?

U. BLACKSTOCK: No, no, absolutely. I think that we've seen these profound inequities in the pandemic. And if we are seeing the rollout function as it has, in a very stuttering fashion, those inequities are going to worsen. So, we need to balance speed with equity. And we need to make sure that we are allocating resources equitably to communities of color. It is -- it's a moral imperative.

If we don't, what does that say about our country and our society and that the way that we treat the most vulnerable and marginalized communities?

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there, ladies. Dr. Uche Blackstock, Dr. Oni Blackstock, good to see both of you. Thank you so much.

O. BLACKSTOCK: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And we know so many of you continue to have problems, you know, getting vaccine and finding out where to go, we've got you covered, go to cnn.com/help, and you'll find a link showing where you can find vaccine information in your state.

President Biden says he doesn't think former President Donald Trump should receive classified intelligence briefings. The President says Trump's "erratic behavior" should disqualify him from receiving them. We'll discuss with former CIA director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:30]

WHITFIELD: As President Biden moves forward with his $1.9 trillion COVID relief bill. He says it won't end up being exactly what he proposed. He's open to pursuing some parts of the bill later. In particular, the $15.00 minimum wage. Arlette Saenz is in Wilmington, Delaware traveling with the president this weekend. So, Arlette, you know, what is the President saying about the areas he's willing to negotiate on?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, President Biden indicated that he does not believe the $15.00 minimum wage hike will essentially survive during these COVID relief negotiations. He is talking that up to the Senate rules saying that it may not survive that process. Take a listen to what he had to say on CBS about this yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NORAH O'DONNELL, CBS EVENING NEWS ANCHOR: You also want to raise the minimum wage to $15.00. Is that something you would be willing to negotiate on in order to get Republican support?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, apparently that's not going to occur because of the rules of the United States Senate.

O'DONNELL: So you're saying the minimum wage won't be --

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: My guess is it will not be in it. But I do think that we should have a minimum wage stand by itself, $15.00 now and work your way up to the 15, doesn't have to be boom. And all the economic show. If you do that, the whole economy rises.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now the $15.00 minimum wage was something that President Biden campaigns on when he was running for president and you have seen Democrats up on Capitol Hill pushing for a measure relating to that. Senator Bernie Sanders among them being the people advocating for a $15.00 minimum wage, but ultimately, he does not -- the President is unsure whether it will be in the end of this COVID relief package.

Now another area that the President has said that he is willing to negotiate on those $1400 stimulus checks. That exact figure he will not budge on but he is willing to talk with Democrats and Republicans about targeting those checks to receive a more targeted area of Americans to ensure that those that need it most are getting it in their pockets. But when it comes to that $15.00 minimum wage, the President indicating that he ultimately does not believe it will be part of this package. But he is insistent It is something he wants to pursue down the road.

WHITFIELD: And the, Arlette, in that interview, the President was asked about Intel briefings that are often extended to the former president and presidents and he feels things might be a little different with the former President Trump.

SAENZ: Well, President Biden suggested that his own opinion right now is that former President Trump should not have access to these intelligence briefings.

[13:20:07]

SAENZ: This is a question that the White House has been getting for some time. But White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki also released the statements today saying that while the President was expressing his concern, he has trust in his own intelligence community to determine whether those should be provided to the former president. So, essentially, they're suggesting that it'll ultimately be up to the intelligence community to determine whether former President Trump can have access to these intelligence briefings.

Now, the reporting so far is that the former president has not yet requested one of these briefings, as is afforded to many presidents. So, that is still something that may need to be addressed in the future by the intelligence community.

And then of course, coming up next week is that impeachment trial in the Senate, President Biden has skirted around whether he would vote personally to convict Trump if he were in the Senate because this kind of tracks with the type of language that he has used in the past.

He has told our own colleague, Caitlin Collins, that he believes that this Senate impeachment trial does need to take place, but he is staying away from weighing in on whether he personally would be voting to convict though he has said that he believed that former President Trump was unfit to serve, Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right. Arlette Saenz, thanks so much from Wilmington, Delaware. And it has been a tradition that former presidents are allowed to request and receive classified Intel briefings. President Biden says that should not be the case for Donald Trump. We'll get reaction on this from former CIA Director and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta. And happening now in Miami. A procession for FBI agent Laura Schwartzenberger.

She was among two FBI agents killed while executing a search warrant near Fort Lauderdale earlier this week. The procession is headed to a memorial service, which is set to begin next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:26:36]

WHITFIELD: Welcome back. President Joe Biden expressing concern about President Trump receiving intelligence briefing something that is traditionally offered to former presidents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'DONNELL: I mean, you've called him an existential threat. You've called him dangerous. You've called him reckless.

BIDEN: Yes. And I believe it.

O'DONNELL: What's your worst fear if he continues to get these intelligence briefings?

BIDEN: I'd rather not speculate out loud. I just think that there is no need for him to have that that intelligence briefing. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact does he have at all other than the fact he might slip and say something?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A short time ago, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki followed up on President Biden's comments saying, I'm quoting now, "the President was expressing his concern about former President Trump receiving access to sensitive intelligence. But he also has deep trust in His own intelligence team to make a determination about how to provide intelligence information if at any point, the former President Trump requests a briefing.

I want to bring in now former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, he was also chief of staff to Bill Clinton and head of the CIA. Good to see you.

LEON PANETTA, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Good to be with you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So, you contribute it to this new report on fixusnow.org talking about the damage, you know, being done by hyper partisan politics. And I want to get to that in a moment. But first, I do want to get your reaction. Your thoughts on President Biden's remarks that Trump is not to be trusted with continued Intel briefings and this statement now from the press secretary, what do you think?

PANETTA: Well, there's no question that it is cause for concern. I mean, this is a president who wasn't particularly interested in getting intelligence when he was in office. And now that he's out of office, you have to ask the question, what need does he have for this kind of very sensitive intelligence? I think -- I think the White House is doing the right thing, though, turned to the intelligence community and get their best advice as to whether or when this kind of briefing should be provided to the former president.

WHITFIELD: And Secretary Panetta, I do want to turn to this report now. You know, from 50, former policymakers, including former members of Congress, cabinet secretaries, governors, ambassadors, who have nearly a thousand years of public service combined and your observations, you know, frustrations about politics today. So, as a former Secretary of Defense, former Congressman, and even before that Army veteran, you right in fix us, you had always felt lawmakers, especially in the 60s, you know, were led by a common goal on issues from civil rights to education and Medicare.

And I'm quoting now, a portion of your right saying, "their success was based on mutual trust and respect, a consensus that legislative action was needed. A willingness to compromise and a belief that achievement would be rewarded by voters whose lives were improved." So, what do you see happening now?

PANETTA: Well, it's obviously been the question that has concerned all of us, including President Biden, how do we get back to governing this country we?

[13:30:00]

You know, in my time in government, I've seen Washington at its best and Washington at its worst.

The good news is, I've seen Washington work. I've seen Republicans and Democrats, despite their political differences, when it came to big issues, working together to solve problems for the country.

Recently that has not been the case. Been a lot of political gridlock and polarization, partisanship and division.

And combat seems to be a lot more interesting to political leadership than actually getting things done. And so we've got to get back to governing this country.

We elect political leaders, not to go back to Washington just to pound their shoe on the table. We elect them to go back and solve the problems facing this country.

So the thrust of this report is, what's gone wrong, how do we fix it, how do we get back to making governing good politics.

WHITFIELD: You know, when I read -- you know, you're right, it didn't necessarily say, you know, there was no acrimony. It's just that, you know, it has reached a toxic, you know, height right now.

Do you see any hope, again, for lawmakers who are leading to, you know, fight for district, county, or country, versus fighting for party?

PANETTA: Yes, you know, I think there are some signs of hope here.

First of all, we have a president who's interested in trying to govern again and trying to work on both sides to try to see if he can resolve the issues of this country.

He comes from that experience. That's what he did when he was a Senator. I also think there are newer members, particularly in the House of

Representatives, both Democrats and Republicans, a lot of them veterans.

They didn't -- they don't want to go back to Washington just to do nothing and to just simply be party hacks. They go back to Washington to try to resolve the problems of this country.

There's a group called the Problem Solvers Caucus in the House of Representatives, 25 Republicans, 25 Democrats. They're working together to try to resolve issues.

And some of the same dynamic is taking place in the Senate.

So there's cause for hope. But they've got to work at it. They've got to be willing to take risk. If you're leaders, you've got to be willing to take risks in order to solve problems.

WHITFIELD: Are you concerned, however, that there are a lot of veterans who are abandoning ship at a time when the ship needs a whole lot of help?

And this injection of kind of new blood, which some accuse of being part of a fringe movement, that that is going to take over, particularly, the Republican Party, and then, you know, there's very little hope on the horizon?

PANETTA: Well, look, I think we can't -- we can't just allow the extremes on -- in both parties, either on the left or the right, to drive wedges into the system, and split us apart.

We've got to be able to govern, And governing is largely something that takes place at the center.

And if we allow the extremes, if we allow the parties to divide, if we simply -- instead of governing, just basically go back to Washington and fight each other, have gridlock, nothing gets solved.

Let me tell you, there's a price to be paid, And the price is you lose the trust of the American people in our system of governing. And that's what's happened recently.

So in order to try to restore that trust, in order to try to get back to what our forefathers intended in our democracy, you have got to sit down, trust each other, and work together to solve problems.

WHITFIELD: Secretary Leon Panetta, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

PANETTA: Good to be with you.

[13:34:01]

WHITFIELD: All right, it has, indeed, been a rather wild week for the GOP and as the party forms major divisions and deals with the fallout from the vote on Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. So where does the party go from here? More on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy has survived a tumultuous week for the Republican Party. But he didn't escape unscathed.

Questions about is leadership are growing after he took a hands-off approach to a pair of controversies within his caucus.

This week, 11 Republicans joined Democrats in removing GOP Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee posts.

And in a separate vote, Republicans decided to keep Representative Liz Cheney in leadership despite her vote to impeach former President Trump.

For more on this, let's bring in Suzanne Malveaux on Capitol Hill.

Suzanne, McCarthy still has several more challenges ahead to keep House Republicans united.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, he does. And the one thing he is messaging to his Republican caucus is the need for 2022, the midterm elections.

They want to control the House to put that in Republican hands and their power. And he's keeping an eye on the speakership.

That was the main point of this five-hour caucus they had midweek, essentially saying they have to make room for Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene as well as Representative Liz Cheney.

What happened really here was that a lot of Republican lawmakers, quite embarrassed and angry over Greene's previous comments, QAnon conspiracy theories and hate speech.

And it was earlier in the week that she said she had nothing to apologize for. That quickly changed by midweek. She was distancing herself from these comments, saying she no longer believed them.

It was enough for much of the GOP. They gave her a standing ovation during that meeting.

Also what happened during the week was Congresswoman Liz Cheney easily won her leadership position. There was a challenge to her on that front. She remained unapologetic about her vote in impeaching the former president.

[13:40:07]

But Fred, I have to tell you, I've been monitoring a situation that is a meeting that's happening out of Wyoming. The state GOP there essentially considering censuring her for her impeachment vote. That's likely to happen later this afternoon.

There is a move afoot to punish those, to punish those Republicans who have criticized Trump. We have heard from Greene in her comments, saying that the party, the Republican Party is Trump's party.

And that really is an open-ended question here, Fred. Just what is the future of the party and which way do they go?

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about something that zeros in on the security, or lack thereof, on Capitol Hill, you know one month after that insurrection.

Two Republican lawmakers, the first members of Congress to actually be fined for violating new security measures. What are their explanations?

MALVEAUX: Sure. Those measures went into place this past week, $5,000 fine taken out of their paychecks for either not going through the magnetometers or being wanded when they go into the House floor.

Two members who were fined, Republican Louie Gohmert, of Texas, and Republican Andrew Clyde, of Georgia. Both of them saying they're going to fight these fines but for different reasons.

Gohmert saying it was unintentional.

His explanation saying, "They made it sound like I avoided the metal detector. I've been abiding by those completely. So all of a sudden, somebody made an arbitrary and capricious decision to, all of a sudden, start winding when they saw you go to the restroom."

So, he says he's going to fight that.

Clyde making no apologies at all on FOX News, saying that he's blown by the metal detectors numerous times. He doesn't believe in them.

Saying, "I'm going to fight it. I'm going to appeal it. And then I'm going to take them to court because this is unconstitutional. We are all set to do that, but I had to have some standing."

And, Fred, according to his calculation, maybe he owes as much as $25,000 at this point for ignoring those security measures. But he will be fighting them.

And, Fred, you bring up a very good point. We're talking about Republicans fighting each other.

But also, where does the bipartisanship come in here when there's some Democratic lawmakers who are fearful of their own colleagues on the Republican side because of these very issues, the fact that some are not even abiding by these security measures -- Fred?

WHITFIELD: Again, $5,000 fine for each offense.

Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much.

Still ahead, health experts warn that southern California is one of the area's most at risk for the variant first identified in the U.K. So how do they plan on keeping the spread low in the weeks to come?

CNN's Paul Vercammen is live for us in Los Angeles with more -- Paul?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Fred. And we're going to talk to the director of county health here in Los Angeles, Barbara Ferrer, about the variant, about what group might be included next in the vaccine strategy. And a lot more. When might we see schools open?

That's coming up, Fred.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:47:35]

WHITFIELD: Today marks one year since the first known U.S. coronavirus death. Fast forward to now, more than 450,000 families will never see a loved one again.

And globally, that number stands at more than two million people, an incomprehensible number.

Families and friends struggling to come to grips with the reality that their loved ones, many of whom were perfectly healthy up until the time they were infected, are now gone.

Here now is CNN's Phil Black.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Like all of us now, Trish and Peter Skinner find comfort in family video calls. Here they are connecting to dozens of people across England and the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your boys are so grown up.

(CROSSTALK)

BLACK: For a brief moment, there's joy, seeing all those loving faces. But the feeling is quickly crushed as the screen shows why they've come together.

They are watching live images from a gray, windy cemetery near England's southern coast where Trish's father is being buried.

Herbert John Tait died from COVID-19. He was almost 104. Remembered as the strong-willed patriot who held his family together for generations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was granddad and I loved him.

BLACK: The pandemic means only a small number of young people can be there to mourn them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

BLACK: Trish can only watch and listen from home. A shaky image on a small screen is a limited window to the ceremony honoring her father's long, meaningful life. And then it's over.

(CROSSTALK)

TRISH SKINNER, DAUGHTER OF COVID-19 VICTIM: Beautiful funeral, hey, really lovely.

BLACK: But for a grieving daughter who longs to be with family, it's not enough.

SKINNER: The saddest thing now is that we're all going to leave.

BLACK: Grief in the time of COVID is made worse by loneliness.

SKINNER: It can't possibly be the same. There's no interaction physically. And that's the biggest thing that's missing during this terrible time.

EDWINA FITZPATRICK, WIFE OF COVID-19 VICTIM: He was like my best friend. Felt like I had known him forever.

BLACK: Edwina FitzPatrick also knows that pain. She and her husband, Nick Devlin (ph), both caught the virus. Nick deteriorated quickly.

[13:50:07]

FITZPATRICK: I wheeled him through to the hospital and we went in. And that's the last I saw of him, waving through a window, blowing kisses to each other.

BLACK: Edwina was abruptly alone with her grief, locked down in the home that they shared, surrounded by evidence of their life together.

BLACK (on camera): How dark did it get for you?

FITZPATRICK: Oh, I did think very strongly and seriously about committing suicide that first weekend.

BLACK (voice-over): Instead, Edwina chose to live to ensure Nick's (ph) first novel was published and to help others.

She set up COVID SpeakEasy, video support groups for those experiencing the pandemic's unique power to inflict trauma through grief and isolation.

FITZPATRICK: We don't want to tell people just how terrible we're feeling, both physically and mentally.

SAMIE MILLER, DAUGHTER OF COVID-19 VICTIM: I've never felt pain like it because I couldn't be with them. I couldn't hold him. I couldn't -- sorry. I couldn't say bye to him.

I mean it --

BLACK: Samie Miller is describing what it was like losing her father to COVID-19.

(SINGING)

BLACK: This was David Miller only a few months before he died, 66, and healthy, loving and loved.

Samie says everything about grieving him is harder because of the pandemic.

MILLER: I went in for bereavement counseling because -- how to live without my dad?

BLACK: To find closure, she turned to London's St. Paul's Cathedral, for centuries, a building focused on remembering loss and sacrifice.

Samie added her father's image to the Cathedral's Permanent Online Memorial, a project to help people cope with the specific challenges of confronting grief in the time of COVID.

MILLER: I just think it's a beautiful thing that St. Paul's Cathedral has done and I just want to keep his memory alive.

BLACK (on camera): He's not just a number?

MILLER: He's not just a number. He was my dad.

BLACK (voice-over): David Miller, Nick Devlin (ph) and John Tait, just three among the millions lost, a tiny sample from the pandemic's infinite pool of grief.

Phil Black, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[13:57:32]

WHITFIELD: The NFL has wrestled with the realities of the pandemic all season long. And tomorrow is the final and biggest test, the Super Bowl. Take a look at this snowy scene.

The Kansas City Chiefs' plane getting ready to depart Missouri en route to what they hope will be sunny Florida, living up to its moniker.

Randi Kaye is joining us live from Tampa.

Randi, earlier, it looked a little overcast in Tampa. Still looking a little overcast. But I'm sure that's much better than the snow in Missouri.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: So what's going on? How are people getting ready for the big game, the big dance?

KAYE: They're pretty fired up, Fred. If you look here over my shoulder, this is part of the NFL Super Bowl experience, there's still a pretty good crowd down there trying to safely social distance. But a lot of it has gone virtual this year. They've made a lot of

changes. You have to make a reservation for parts of the NFL Super Bowl experience this year.

Then you have the annual pregame tailgate party for the NFL. This year it's limited. Miley Cyrus is performing but it's limited to just 7,500 vaccinated health care workers.

Then you have the Taste of the NFL, which has gone virtual. I don't know how you taste and smell all that delicious food virtually. But they are going to do that.

But there have been a lot of the changes even at the stadium. Raymond James Stadium normally holds 65,000 people. This year, they're only allowing 20,000 fans, including those 7,500 health care workers who have been vaccinated.

Everybody there is getting a mask. They're getting a full PPE kit. It will have a mask. It will have hand sanitizer. It will have some wipes as well.

Around the town here, there are a lot of people. There have been 20,000 or 30,000 people coming in every day through Tampa International Airport leading up to the big game. And including 200 private jets are expected here.

But they are very crowded around town. We've been walking around. There's a lot of people. Most of them wearing masks. It is mandated.

If you can't socially distance safely, like we are, you do have to wear a mask if you're in an event area or an entertainment area. If you don't wear a mask, you could face up to a $500 fine here.

Lastly, I will tell you a lot of the officials here in town are pleading with folks not to get together at big Super Bowl parties. They don't want them doing that. They don't want them gathering in large groups. They know that that isn't safe.

They don't want them cheering at bars and restaurants. We know that the coronavirus can spread very easily when you're yelling and screaming and cheering on your favorite team.

[13:59:57]

So instead, locally, they're giving out things like this, a whistle or noise makers. They want people to use that instead so they don't start yelling and screaming and spread the virus. They don't want the Super Bowl to turn into a super spreader event -- Fred?