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U.S. Covid Cases Climb as Delta, Omicron Surge Across U.S.; Omicron Surge Threatens Holiday Travel, Gatherings; Germany Reports Jump in Omicron Infections; U.K. Breaks Record with 88,000+ Infections in One Day; Build Back Better Won't Make Christmas Deadline; At Least Two Dead as Powerful Typhoon Slams Philippines. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired December 17, 2021 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London. Just ahead right here on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's here now and it's spreading, and it's going to increase.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we're really just about to experience a viral blizzard.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would urge people to be extremely cautious, especially because we already had a surge of Delta, and now we have a surge of Omicron on top of that. And we really don't know what's going to happen with Omicron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: A sobering warning as COVID cases across the United States continue to increase, and fast. This as the CDC voted to recommend Pfizer, Moderna over Johnson & Johnson's vaccine due to side effect concerns.
Plus, anger boiling over inside the Democratic Party as a key part of Joe Biden's agenda is now in jeopardy.
And the wild and dangerous weather hammering the United States as typhoon Rai barrels across the Philippines leaving destruction in its path. We're live for you at the world weather center.
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.
SOARES: Welcome to the show, everyone. It is Friday, December 17th. And we begin this hour with the surging in COVID cases across the United States and really dire warnings that things are about to get worse. Officials are scrambling to stem the spread of not one, but two highly contagious variants, both Delta and Omicron infections are climbing fast just as the holidays of course are approaching. CNN's Nick Watt has the story for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations climbed around 40 percent this past month, deaths says the CDC forecast to rise in the month ahead. The Delta variant is still rampant, Omicron on the rise.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's here now and it's spreading, and it's going to increase. For unvaccinated, we are looking at a winter of severe illness and death on the unvaccinated for themselves, their families, and the hospitals they will soon overwhelm.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Very soon, it's going to be the dominant variant. We've seen that in South Africa, we are seeing it in the U.K., and I'm absolutely certain that's what we're going to be seeing here relatively soon.
WATT (voice over): For the vaccines, this variant is now the most complete escapee, say researchers in a new preprint study, although vaccines are still highly effective at preventing severe disease or death.
DR. JEANNE MARRAZZO, INFECTIOUS DISEASE PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM: It is reassuring that these infections seem to be less severe, but that's really only true probably if you're a healthy person who's been immunized and ideally immunized with three shots.
WATT (voice over): Meantime, "Hamilton," among the Broadway shows canceling performances once more after cases amongst the cast, just two months after reopening.
Princeton and NYU just joined Cornell and others moving what is left of the semester back online, a depressing dose of deja vu.
Officials in Philly are warning don't party with people outside your household over the Holidays.
DR. CHERYL BETTIGOLE, PHILADELPHIA HEALTH COMMISSIONER: It's hard and it feels impossible, and it feels unfair. These gatherings when we get together with friends and family are when we infect each other with COVID.
WATT (voice over): Pro sports teams demonstrating how the virus is spreading, Odell Beckham, Jr. scored Monday night, next morning, joined a long list of players and staff testing positive or quarantining after exposure.
DR. JEROME ADAMS, FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: They're really a window into community spread. And kudos to the sports leagues because they are actually doing a fantastic job of surveillance testing. And the rest of the country, we're driving a car down a dark road with the headlights off while looking in the rearview mirror. WATT (voice over): This afternoon --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have 15 yeses, zero no's.
WATT (voice over): CDC vaccine advisers unanimous in recommending the CDC change its guidance to say that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are preferred over the J&J. Why? Well, those very rare blood clots connected to the J&J that can be fatal.
WATT: Here in the U.S., they're looking at the U.K. as a forewarning of what might land on American soil. The U.K. just recorded its highest ever daily case count of new COVID cases of the entire pandemic.
[04:05:00]
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And we'll head to the U.K. in just a moment. But of course, vaccinations are key as we head into the holiday. CNN spoke earlier with Dr. Phil Offit, a member of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's vaccine advisory committee, and he explained how boosters and even initial doses are critical to controlling the spread. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. PHIL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINES ADVISORY COMMITTEE: The CDC estimated today that the doubling time was about two days, which is much faster than the Delta variant in terms of transmissibility. So, you're therefore much more likely to be infected. The best thing you can do is to vaccinate yourself. I know we talk about giving a third dose, but the most important thing is to get those first two doses.
I mean, I just came off of being on service for a week at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and we saw a number of children, more than really, I've seen consistent with the national average in the surge in children. And what all those children had in common even though most were over 5, many were over 12, none of them were vaccinated. None of their family members were vaccinated, siblings, parents, no one was vaccinated. So, I think we talk about boosting, but we need to make sure even if you just get two doses of an mRNA vaccine, I think that's highly likely to protect you against severe illness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Phil Offit talking to CNN earlier.
While booster shots are playing a central role in European efforts really to slow the Omicron variant, Moderna is expected to deliver 10 million doses to Germany as supplies were running short.
Here in London, a source tells CNN Queen Elizabeth has canceled a pre- Christmas lunch because of course the surge in COVID cases. The U.K. has recorded more than 88,000 new infections in the past day. That is yet another record. Scotland is telling people to stay home as much as possible. In France, is saying visitors arriving from the U.K. will need to have a compelling reason to travel. It's tightening travel restrictions and urging its own residence to postpone trips to the U.K.
And Denmark's Prime Minister is warning of new restrictions to slow the spread of Omicron. The government meets with Parliament today to really discuss its recommendations.
Well, CNN's Salma Abdelaziz is standing by live this hour here in London. But first I want to go to Eleni Giokos who joins us in Athens, Greece. Good morning to you, Eleni. Look, as we just really painted out here, is a picture that's beginning to look a lot like last Christmas for much of Europe. Talk us through the measures that are being taken to try and stem the rise of Omicron as well as the spread of Delta -- I think it's fair to point out -- and the challenges, Eleni, the governments are facing.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean it's fair to say that what's happening in the U.K. is almost a harbinger of what's to come in various parts of Europe.
Let's focus on Germany, for example, that says it's only a matter of time before the Omicron variant becomes the main variant in that country. And while its seven-day incidence rate has dropped, they still reported 51,000 positive cases in the last 24 hours, and they're running out of vaccines. They've now procured over 92 million vaccine doses. They're trying to at least, spending over $2.5 billion on that to try and ensure that they have enough to get through the first quarter of 2022. And they've said that that booster shot is going to be vital to fighting Omicron.
And then importantly, also knowing that 30 percent of the population has not been vaccinated. They are clamping down on the unvaccinated, Isa. They're not allowing them to go to public areas apart from essential businesses, and that's caused a lot of anger on the ground.
If you see what Denmark and Norway are doing, where Norway has said Omicron is going to be the dominant variant by the end of this week. And Denmark now clamping down on public areas. No more than 50 people can meet at any one time. It's cold. It's Christmas. You know, we know that New Year's is going to be a very big issue in terms of community transmission.
Rome, for example, is another Italian city that has canceled New Year parties and events. So, governments in Europe, in various parts of Europe, are very worried about what Omicron is going to mean for its health care system. We know if you're vaccinated, it causes less severe illness and it's unlikely you'd need to be hospitalized. But it's still an unknown factor. So, it's about booster shots, Isa, and about restrictions and about ensuring that people are not meeting in close proximity over the holiday season.
SOARES: Eleni do stay with us. I want to go to Salma who's in London. And Salma, we were warned, of course, of a tidal wave of cases and that's really what we're beginning to see here in the U.K. with yet another record high. Yet there's still to plans to cancel Christmas.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Isa. I mean, that's why the Prime Minister is being accused of lockdown by stealth. I mean, you know, you're here. It feels like either you have the virus or you know someone with the virus. That tidal wave has absolutely arrived two days in a row now records have been broken for daily case counts. And the top doctor in this country is warning that more records will be broken in the coming days because Omicron just travels that much faster.
I want to point to that "R" rate, that "R" number of 3 to 5. What does that mean?
[04:10:00]
That means for every one person infected, he said, they in turn on average will infect 3 to 5 others. That's why even though we're seeing these huge case numbers, we're concerned about that lag time, that period of time between these positive cases and when people start to show up in hospital. And what kind of pressure that can put on the health care system.
Now, businesses are already independently, some of them, shutting down, closing their doors. Cancellations abound left, right, and center. People are canceling their social gathering, and everyone, Isa, is reconsidering what they're going to do and where they're going to be on December 25th. Because more positive cases means more people in self-isolation, means more people alone on Christmas.
SOARES: And the hospitality industry also panicking about what this means for them at this busy season. But let me ask you about this. Because overnight, Salma, we saw Boris Johnson and his party really suffering, I think it's fair to say, a blow to his authority with a by-election defeat. Normally we wouldn't cover by-elections, but why do you think this is so important here?
ABDELAZIZ: Yes. I never thought that on international news we'd need to talk about a by-election, but we are doing that because this is an indication of what Boris Johnson's credibility is like, his authority is like, his power and his ability right now. Because this was a conservative seat that's been held by the party for 200 years. And yesterday in a shock election, it went to a Liberal Democratic candidate that won by 6,000 -- nearly 6,000 seats. They used to have in the last election a 25,000-vote majority. That's the majority that was overturned. And Conservative lawmakers have been on the airwaves today. They've been saying, look, this is an indication of how people are angry at Prime Minister Boris Johnson over the recent scandals.
I'm going to remind our viewers of those scandals, plural. Christmas parties allegedly taking place inside Downing Street during lockdown last year, during a period in time very similar to now when a variant was spreading through the country. Hundreds of people were dying a day. And the allegation is that the Prime Minister's senior staff were holding Christmas parties inside Downing Street, violating rules and restrictions. So, this here is yet another strike towards Prime Minister Boris Johnson and just gives us an indication of his weak leadership potentially at a very critical moment -- Isa.
SOARES: Yes, well we don't know yet is whether this is a protest vote or really shifting sand here for the Conservative Party. Thank you very much, Salma Abdelaziz in London and Eleni Giokos. Ladies, great to have you on the show this morning.
And of course, we'll have much more ahead on the pandemic, including Dr. Sanjay Gupta's report on which vaccines health experts prefer. Steve Jiang is live in Beijing -- as you can see there -- with an update on COVID cases spreading across Australia's New South Wales. And then Alex Thomas joins me here in London with the latest Premier League games being canceled because, of course, the rise of the COVID- 19.
Now, I want to take you to Washington, where the January 6th committee has subpoenaed a retired army colonel who circulated a document about undermining the 2020 presidential election. Now, James Walden sent the PowerPoint presentation to Trump allies and U.S. lawmakers. It was turned over to the committee by former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. From the Trump administration official, Ken Cuccinelli, says he spoke to the panel last week about the Department of Homeland Security preparations ahead of January 6th.
Now the right-wing TV network Fox News has lost its bid to stop a billion-dollar lawsuit over the 2020 presidential election. A judge in the U.S. state of Delaware is allowing Dominion Voting to press ahead with its defamation case against Fox News after finding its coverage of election fraud may have been inaccurate. In his ruling, the judge wrote -- I'm going to read out to you.
Given that Fox apparently refused to report contrary evidence, including evidence from the DOJ, the complaint's allegations support the reasonable inference that Fox intended to keep Dominion's side of the story out of the narrative.
The ruling allows Dominion to try to uncover extensive communications within Fox News and to interview the network's top people under oath. Fox called the suit baseless and an all-out assault on free speech.
Meanwhile, President Biden's landmark spending bill is languishing in Congress with little hope it will be voted on by the Christmas deadline set by the White House. Democratic lawmakers who have been trying to work out a deal are growing increasingly impatient with two Senate colleagues who continue to block the legislation. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your general feeling about where things stand -- are you frustrated?
SEN. DICK DURBIN (D-IL): Frustrated and disappointed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point, is it time to start thinking about maybe breaking up BBB into more digestible pieces? DURBIN: I don't know if that's the answer or not. Apparently,
Manchin's approach to this has changed a lot. I don't know where he is today or where he'll be tomorrow.
[04:15:00]
SEN. MAZIE HIRONO (D-HI): For one person or two people to stop everything and that is why people in our country should know that a 50-50 Senate sucks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Well, what does that all mean? We get more now from CNN's Jeff Zeleny.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: With just a little over a week remaining before Christmas, it is looking increasingly less likely that President Biden's Build Back Better agenda will make it through the Senate. Christmas was always a deadline, an artificial one, but certainly designed to be a motivating factor for Democrats to pass this really center piece of the president's economic agenda. That sweeping set of programs covering social programs and the environment.
Well, Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, has simply raised objections to this that have not been worked out. He spoke several times with President Biden throughout the course of the last week, trying to reach some type of a compromise. But as this week draws to a close, the holidays are looming. It simply is not there. There is no agreement at hand.
So, now the question going into next year, will this program, will the Biden agenda still have momentum to carry forward? That is certainly an open question next year an election year. Difficult to pass anything of this magnitude. But certainly, with the holidays upon the White House and upon Congress, time is running out. It's a lost opportunity in some respects to not get this part of the Biden agenda through. But the White House remaining optimistic that something can be done early in the new year.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: Well, President Biden said Senator Manchin is general supportive of the legislation, but he acknowledged getting the bill through Congress probably won't happen until next year. The president said this in a statement.
My team and I are having ongoing discussions with Senator Manchin. That work will continue next week. It takes time to finalize these agreements, prepare the legislative changes and finish all the parliamentary and procedural steps needed to enable Senate vote. We will advance this work together over the days and weeks ahead. Leader Schumer and I are determined to see this bill successfully on the floor as early as possible. Those words there from U.S. President Joe Biden.
Still to come right here on the show, search and rescue efforts are underway in the Philippines as a powerful typhoon devastates communities right across the country.
And days after devastating tornadoes touched down in the United States, more dangerous weather spreading across parts of the country. Scary sights and an unprecedented storm next on CNN NEWSROOM.
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[04:20:00]
SOARES: Now, more than 24 hours after landfall and typhoon Rai still battering parts of the Philippines with strong winds, torrential rains as well as flooding, at least two people have died in the storm. And so far, the damage as you can see is extensive. Houses are being levelled. Boats destroyed. And water is chest deep really in some areas. The Coast Guard floated a one-month-old baby to safety there using a plastic tub as they waded through the waters.
More than 330,000 have fled their homes for safer grounds. Many before the storm hit thankfully. For more CNN's Vedika Sud joining me now live in New Delhi. And Vedika, authorities on the ground clearly have so much to contend with. No power, COVID, infrastructure damage, and still unpredictable weather.
VEDIKA SUD, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely. Three to four full challenges into it, Isa. This typhoon, super typhoon Rai has left behind a trail of destruction and leaves behind a trail of destruction because the typhoon hasn't really left the country yet. We are expecting that to happen in the next couple of hours according to the disaster management team. This typhoon will only exit the country Saturday morning local time.
But let's just tell you more about the devastation because strong images have started to come in for the last few hours. Now, we do know of the holiday island off the eastern coast called Siargao that's known really well and is popular for surfing which is opened or rather reopened last month to tourists. That has been absolutely battered bring by this super typhoon. It lies on the eastern coast.
We also know that eastern and central Visayas region has suffered a huge blow due to this typhoon. Com lines are down, power outages are being reported. We also know that the Siargao airport has been heavily hit by the impact of this typhoon.
Evacuation processes continue. The latest press conference, which is a couple hours ago, and that they mentioned that the focus continues to be on the evacuation and rescue efforts. And this flooding, there's just deep flooding in many areas, and some strong images, that you also reference to, including the infant who was carried away in a tub where the water levels were really high, under an umbrella to safety, is just one of them. Also, we have images coming in from southern Philippines where there
is this couple that has been rescued inside their home, completely inundated by the huge rainfall that the area received. They have been pulled out through a makeshift box which is serving as a boat for them with the little belongings they could put together.
Now, Isa, it is very important to note that Philippines has been through 15 typhoons this year. And this is the worst typhoon that it's seen in the month of December since the year 2012. And this is because of Philippines being very vulnerable to climate change because of the warm oceans, and that is due to global warming, and thus the reason for these record typhoons in the area that keep slamming the coast line. Which obviously also is a huge worry when it comes to the aftermath of this super typhoon because the worry is not only COVID, as you mentioned, and these people being in these evacuation centers, but also landslides and storm surges -- Isa.
SOARES: Absolutely. Thinking of everyone in the Philippines right now. Very worrying indeed. Vedika Sud in New Delhi, thanks very much, Vedika.
Let's get more on this. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is tracking this and he joins me now. Good morning to you Derek. Look, as Vedika was saying, you know, this storm has weakened a little since then, but you have officials warning of flooding as well as landslides. That remains a threat clearly, right?
DEREK. VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, clearly it does. This storm is still impacting portions of western Philippines, and that means the threat has not diminished just yet.
[04:25:00]
We still have another six hours to go before the system really pulls away from the western fringes or western coast line of the country.
Let's take you into one of the eastern-facing cities that has seen complete destruction. We're talking the storm surge and the strong winds that impacted this area, which was equivalent at the time of its landfall 24 hours ago, of a category 5 Atlantic hurricane. That constitutes a super typhoon within this part of the world. That is an oppressive very dangerous storm to say the least. Of course, it interacts with the land and weakens some. It's currently at 175 kilometers per hour, which is now an equivalent to a strong category 2 Atlantic hurricane -- to put this into perspective for domestic viewers watching.
But the interesting note here, as it exits the western coast line of the Philippines it will enter into some warmer waters across the South China Sea. It's forecast to restrengthen. And some of our computer models having it get dangerously close to the coast line of Vietnam through the course of the weekend and into the early parts of next week for southern China.
You can see the wind forecasts going forward over the next 12 to 24 hours. It's going to be a very direct hit once again for the Palawan Province of extreme western sections of the Philippines, with another 4 to 5 inches of rain, or roughly 125 millimeters for them.
Now, a little closer to home across the U.S., I know December has been extremely active in terms of severe weather. I have to report this because we have the potential for more severe weather throughout the Southern Plains today. Storm prediction center has a slight risk of tornadoes, anywhere across north Texas into southeastern Oklahoma. This really puts it into perspective, Isa. We have had 116 tornadoes so far this month. On average we typically only receive 23 in the month of December. What a busy month it's been.
SOARES: Very worrying indeed. Just stay safe everyone. Derek Van Dam, thanks very much. Great to see you.
Coming up right here on CNN NEWSROOM, the U.S. CDC now says some vaccines are better to get than others. Why it's recommending the shots from Moderna, Pfizer over Johnson & Johnson.
Plus, the link between Taylor Swift and a COVID outbreak in Sydney, Australia. We'll have the latest in a live report next.
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