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NIH Director Says Trump Pressured Him to Endorse Unproven COVID Treatments; Fauci: Omicron "Is Going to Take Over" This Winter; CDC: Under 30 Percent Fully Vaccinated Americans Have Had Boosters; One Relief Fund Has Raised $19 Million for Storm Victims; Interview with Rep. James Comer (R-KY). Aired 7-8p ET

Aired December 19, 2021 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:39]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES: We are in for a world of trouble, I'm afraid, in the next month or two.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST (voice-over): COVID cases spiking around the world with Omicron on track to become the dominant strain in many countries.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It's as contagious as measles, and that's about the most contagious virus that we've seen.

BROWN: Hospitalizations now surging among the unvaccinated.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, CHIEF MEDICAL ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Do not do things like go to gatherings where there are people who you do not know what their vaccination status is.

BROWN: Overseas, the Netherlands locking down. Israel putting travelers from Canada, Germany and the U.S. on their no-fly list. And the U.K. not ruling out new restrictions.

SADIQ KHAN, LONDON MAYOR: Over the last 24 hours, we've had the largest number of new cases since this pandemic began.

BROWN: Also tonight, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin dealing a potential death blow to the president's ambitious social spending plan.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there.

REP. AYANNA PRESSLEY (D-MA): He has never negotiated in good faith.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): I think he's going to have a lot of explaining to do. Let him vote no in front of the whole world.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Just days before Christmas and the prospect of a new year, sobering warnings tonight in the fight against the coronavirus. This new surge of cases and hospitalizations in the U.S. is being driven by the Delta variant. For now, at least.

The nation's top expert on infectious diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, says the inevitable takeover of by Omicron will stress test a healthcare system already at the brink. He says Americans need to brace for a few tough weeks and months ahead. Dr. Fauci's boss agrees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: All of the other previous variants pale by comparison terms of the rate at which this is spreading, doubling every two to three days, first in South Africa, now in parts of Europe, and the U.S. is on that exponential curve right now. So we are in for a world of trouble, I'm afraid, in the next month or two.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So let's dive into the numbers and the images. Here is a visual look at the spike in cases in the United Kingdom in orange. In red, you see the recent jump in the U.S., and in blue, the beginning of what Israeli officials are calling their fifth wave.

And here is a look at COVID patients in intensive care beds across the U.S. In New Mexico, Minnesota and New Hampshire, COVID patients occupy 40 percent of the ICU capacity. Deaths in the Midwest slightly outnumber the other regions right now, and nationwide, deaths rose by 8 percent from the week before.

The case for COVID-19 boosters has never been stronger. Unvaccinated people are 20 times more likely to die from COVID-19 than people who have been boosted. That is, according to brand new CDC data. Yet, only 60 million people in the U.S. or less than 20 percent have those odds in their favor as we head into what will likely be a brutal winter surge.

So let's take you out now to Los Angeles and that is where we find our Natasha Chen who is tracking the rising hospitalizations there.

Hi, Natasha. So what is the latest?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pamela, hospitalizations haven't been this high since about early October but really we just need to look at the case numbers in Los Angeles County to see the real story here. The case numbers have tripled just within this past week. If you look at Tuesday, L.A. County Public Health reported about 1100 positive test cases. By Saturday, more 3700. Today's new number is 3500.

So these weekend numbers of more than 3,000 positive cases. We haven't seen more than 3,000 since late August, early September, and they even mentioned that today's numbers may be low because of the lag in weekend reporting, so that's not even a full week and we've already seen that number triple. And now, L.A. has been requiring proof of COVID vaccination to enter

places like restaurants since early November, but the state of California stepped it up recently starting December 15th, a set of new protocols because of the recent rise in cases.

[19:05:06]

State-wide, it is required now to wear masks indoors and indoor settings and if you're going to a mega event, there is a proof of vaccination or negative test required to enter either indoors with a thousand people, outdoors with 10,000 people, and of course, Pamela, it's always recommended now for travelers coming into the state to get tested three to five days after they arrived.

BROWN: It's very troubling news out of Los Angeles and really across the country.

Natasha Chen, thank you so much.

And in New York, the state broke the record for the highest single day COVID-19 case count since the beginning of the pandemic, and that was for a second consecutive day. Now the good news is hospitalizations remain relatively low, and nowhere near previous spikes, that is important. In New York and many cities across the country, the lines for COVID testing are long.

And joining me right now is Eric Adams, mayor-elect of New York City.

Thank you for coming on the show. Tell us, how worried are you about the surging number of cases right now? What is going on in your city? In your state?

ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK MAYOR-ELECT: I think the country and if not, the globe, is dealing with this new variant. I believe when we do a proper analysis that the cases are high, but here in New York, we're not at a place where we're seeing a substantial number of deaths and we're not seeing a real problem with hospitalization.

The real problem is the pandemic of lack of vaccinations. If we can get that under control, you see the hospital levels drop for those who are vaccinated and with booster shots as well as the serious impact of COVID.

BROWN: We have been showing our viewers those long testing lines in New York. What can the local government do to help expedite testing? Will that be a priority for you?

ADAMS: Yes, it will be, but we need to understand that many people on the lines, they have determined to just do testing over and over again instead of doing the right thing for fellow New Yorkers and that is to get vaccinated. We have over two million New Yorkers who have yet to take the booster shots and so the goal is to really be aggressive, make it accessible, the booster shots as well as the vaccinations, so that we can get people protected in a right way.

But we're going to do massive testing throughout the entire city and I'm really partnered with the current mayor to make sure we have the seamless transition to deal with this virus.

BROWN: And I understand what you're saying that testing should never supplant getting the vaccination, right? But the bottom line is, is that testing is a very important tool to fight in this fight in the pandemic, and at-home COVID tests cost right now around $20, $25, sometimes more. New York City's minimum wage is $15 an hour. Do you support free testing for all?

ADAMS: Yes, and we're doing that. We're doing much of the free testing here in New York City using mobile vans as well, looking at those hot spot areas and that's something I'm going to focus on, to go to those areas where we are seeing the spikes.

What's different about this variant than others is that because it's such a mild, really, symptoms in some cases particularly with those who are vaccinated, people think it's just a common cold, and then you can continue to spread the virus. We want people to get tested, understand their results and really self-contain themselves like our public advocate. He has COVID, but he's home, he's self-contained, he's not moving around, mild symptoms, but he understands how important it is not to spread the virus.

BROWN: Current mayor, Bill de Blasio still hasn't announced whether or not the city will hold an in-person New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square. If you right now were in his shoes what would you do?

ADAMS: Right now, with the information that we have, I would move forward with the New Year's Eve but remember, that can change in the number of days that are in front of us. This is a moving target, it continues to evolve, it's a formidable opponent but we have two crises that we're facing. The crisis of hope that many people believe our city should remain closed and tourism, a multibillion-dollar industry, we want them here, but at the same time we're finding the safety that is involved.

And I think he's making the right approach. He's going to pivot and adjust based on what the numbers look like in time for New Year's Eve celebration.

BROWN: Why do you say you would allow the New Year's Eve celebration to go forward based on what you know now, and what would be the metric for you for it not to go forward?

ADAMS: Two things that I'm looking at, number one, hospitalization. Can we control and handle the flow right now? We're doing an amazing job. New Yorkers are doing what's right. They are using masks when necessary.

[19:10:03]

They're taking their vaccinations. We have the substantial number of New Yorkers that have done so. And number two, the severities of death, the number of deaths that's associated. So if we reach a point where we cannot handle the hospitalizations or there's a major threat here, then you make the determination of canceling the New Year's Eve celebration. I don't believe we're there yet. If we are, we will do something, though.

BROWN: Do you think mandating boosters is a necessary step to beat COVID? You talked about how important vaccines are. What do you think on that front?

ADAMS: I believe we make it to that point. I cannot continue to emphasize that this is a moving target and we should not be so stringent and unwilling to pivot when it's necessary. We may get to that point where we will have to mandate booster shots. We can now encourage people to take the booster shot. I took mine and I hate needles, but trust me, when I tell you I felt confident as I moved throughout the city knowing that I took the booster shot, and I'm out often and thank God thus far I have not had to deal with the impact of COVID.

BROWN: All right, Mayor-elect Eric Adams, thank you for your time tonight.

ADAMS: Thank you. Take care.

BROWN: Well, the COVID surge is playing havoc with entertainment and sports. This afternoon the National Hockey League announced it is suspending dozens of games.

Nadia Romero joins me now from Atlanta. So, Nadia, tell us more about the NHL's decision here.

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and Pamela, this really feels like deja vu, the early days of the pandemic when we saw so many of our different professional leagues canceling, postponing games. The NHL announcing today that they will be postponing 30 -- 30 games between this weekend and December 23rd, and there also among those games cancelling all cross-border travel. Remember there are several teams the NHL has in Canada and here in the U.S. so they are postponing those games as well.

Not just the NHL, though, but the NBA as well announcing this weekend postponing five games because they have so many players throughout the league and COVID-19 protocols under the restrictive list including NBA super stars like Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant who are not eligible to play. That's big news out of the NBA, having to do this yet again, another season.

And then the NFL for the first time this season postponing some of their games. They were supposed to have a big double header on Saturday and that ended up just being a single showdown between the Patriots and the Colts, and so now you have those games that are going to be rescheduled to be played potentially tomorrow night, and other moves the NFL says that they are going to change their protocols.

Without routinely testing, vaccinated players who are asymptomatic, that's a big change for the NFL, and Pamela, we can only expect to see more of this throughout the next couple of days.

BROWN: You're absolutely right about that. Nadia Romero, thank you so much. And still ahead on this Sunday evening, Democratic Senator Joe Manchin

dealing a likely death blow to the president's ambitious social spending plan.

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell joins me live up next and I'm going to ask her where the Build Back Better plan goes from here.

Plus the director of the National Institutes of Health revealing Trump once pressured him to endorse unproven COVID treatments.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: I was not going to compromise scientific principles to just hold on to the job.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:17:45]

BROWN: Tonight Democratic Senator Joe Manchin likely dealing a death blow to the signature piece of President Biden's domestic agenda. A massive social safety net bill that included money for everything from universal pre-K to paid family leave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANCHIN: I cannot vote to continue with this piece of legislation. I just can't. I've tried everything humanly possible. I can't get there.

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: You're done. This is, this is a no.

MANCHIN: This is a no on this legislation. I have tried everything I know to do.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The White House response followed quickly, saying the president spokeswoman writing, "Senator Manchin promised to continue conversations in the days ahead and to work with us to reach that common ground. If his comments on FOX and written statement indicate an end to that effort they represent a sudden and inexplicable reversal in his position and a breach of his commitments to the president and the senator's colleagues in the House and Senate."

An administration source tells me tonight that President Biden played a role in crafting that damning statement and he personally signed off on it. This, after Manchin's staff reportedly ignored a call from the White House earlier in the day. My source telling me it was the president trying to reach Manchin himself.

So with the Senate evenly divided and Republicans united in their opposition, President Biden's Build Back Better plan now seems dead in the water. So where does this go from here, if anywhere, and who's to blame?

Joining me now, Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Dingell of Michigan.

Hi, Congresswoman, great to see you.

REP. DEBBIE DINGELL (D-MI): Pam, it's good to see you. Happy Holidays.

BROWN: Happy Holidays.

DINGELL: Or it's not so happy holidays.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Well, for you, certainly, and other Democrats. I'm curious, after working on this for so long, do you feel betrayed by Joe Manchin? And what would you say to him right now? Because you heard what the White House said in that statement and clearly the president feels that way.

DINGELL: You know, I quite frankly was stunned this morning when I heard the news and in my initial feeling was Joe Manchin is the Grinch that stole Christmas. Look, he had raised some issues. I'll sit down on any table and talk them through, but in, he had indicated he was going to keep talking.

[19:20:06]

What he did today was take hope away from a lot of people who wanted to see lower prescription drug prices, who were worried about childcare. I spent years working to get long-term care for people that are desperate on, to stay in their own homes and just need a helping hand. There are a million people on that waiting list. We've had two within one-week, high wind incidences. You've been seeing the tornadoes across the Midwest, the wildfires.

Global climate is real. We better work on it. There are so many things that matter, we have to figure out what we're going to do, but Joe Manchin's no can't be an acceptable final answer to all of this and we've got a lot of issues we got to tell the American people. We got to help on and we're going to have to figure out how we get there.

BROWN: And I want to go and talk about that in just a second but first I want to play this, another key part from Manchin's statements this morning. Take a listen to what he said about the way Democrats were attempting to meet his demands.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANCHIN: The thing that never changed, Bret, was basically the same amount of things that they're trying to accomplish by just changing, if you will, the amount of time that we can depend on it.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So the argument he was making was there should have been fewer items paid for over a longer period of time rather than just trying to do all of this over a shorter amount of time. What do you make of those comments? Did Democrats do enough to write a bill Manchin could vote for?

DINGELL: I think people spent a lot of time trying to get a bill he could agree to. Many issues had already been brought. He's raised issues with me that I was -- I set tables, when you're talking about electric vehicles, we have to go to EVs, we've got to eliminate the internal combustion engine, but how do we do that? (INAUDIBLE) performance. I hear them, I've been pulling environmentalists and the unions together and saying OK, how are we going to get there?

I don't know what I'm supposed to tell people who are so upset about how much they're paying for their insulin or the long-term care people that I have been working with for years and we're almost at the finish line. I just don't believe this man wants to take hope away from them but that's what he did today the way he delivered this message and I'm telling you, I'm not going to let the hope die. We're going to have to figure out how we're getting some of this done.

BROWN: So then how do you explain this? Because the White House according to our reporting was totally surprised by Manchin's announcement today. They knew that he was leaning in that direction but didn't expect that he would already make this final decision. So how do you explain that disconnect?

DINGELL: You know, I don't know. I actually, I think that if you respect each other, you trust your colleagues, you owe it to them to tell them what you're going to do, to talk to them, so to go on FOX News this morning and announce this without giving anybody a heads up, was quite frankly just startling. And I think everybody's --

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: Well, he did give the White House a heads up about 45 minutes or so before.

DINGELL: Thirty minutes and wouldn't return the president's call. That's not the way you treat each other. If you believe and respect each other, you call and give each other an adequate heads up, and I'm disappointed. I'm just disappointed. I don't treat my Republican or Democratic colleagues that way.

BROWN: Do you think the Build Back Better is dead, or is there another way forward? You keep talking about hope, you're not ready to give up hope, but I mean, what does the way forward look like?

DINGELL: Well, we're going to have to sit down and figure out how to get things in there, because we can't give up. The child tax credit, on childcare, on lowering prescription drugs. I know Republicans who believe that we need to do that as strongly as we do. There are things in this bill -- and is anybody going to say that global climate isn't real? I have these young people who are looking at me and saying what do we do to protect future generations?

They're really worried when they hear and see what's happening with glaciers melting and they see this extreme weather, and they're worried that it's going to get worse. We can't put our heads in the sand. We've got to work together to get something done. And I'm disappointed, because I was willing to work with Senator Manchin, as were others, to find that common ground, because the problems we're addressing aren't going away and need answering.

BROWN: I want to ask you before we let you go, we're just learning that Senator Elizabeth Warren, now, New Jersey Senator Booker, they have tested positive for COVID. Are you worried that your fellow lawmakers are getting sick like this and what's going on with COVID across the country?

DINGELL: I did not know they both had tested positive but I am extremely worried. I think that all of us have got to listen to what the scientists are saying, wear our masks, keep our distance, and also really rethink our holiday plans.

[19:25:05]

And I know we miss that human interaction but we need to contain it to smaller groups, and we need to make sure that people are testing themselves before they go to these gatherings. I have at least 10 friends in the last 24 hours that have tested positive and quite frankly, that got my attention, seriously.

BROWN: Yes.

DINGELL: Though I haven't been with any of them.

BROWN: A lot of people are having that experience where if they're not testing positive a lot of people in their circle are at the very least.

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, thank you so much for making the time for us tonight.

DINGELL: Thank you.

BROWN: Well the COVID surge leading to new shutdowns and cancellations this weekend and into the holidays. Up next, the medical director at the Baylor College of Medicine answers your COVID questions. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:17]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Well today was NIH Director Francis Collins last day. And this morning, he spoke about the political pressure he faced from then President Donald Trump to do a number of things like fire Dr. Fauci and promote a bunch of unproven COVID remedies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, OUTGOING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I got into a difficult place and got a bit of a talking-to by the president of the United States about this, but I stuck my ground. RITA BRAVER, CBS HOST: Would you have resigned if it had come to the White House trying to get you to do something you didn't want to do?

COLLINS: Yeah, I was not going to compromise scientific principles to just hold on to the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Let's bring in Dr. Richina Bicette-McCain. She is the medical director at the Baylor College of Medicine.

Hi, Doctor. Thanks for joining us.

So, tell us, what are the dangers of political pressure in Medicine like we just heard from Dr. Collins?

DR. RICHINA BICETTE-MCCAIN, MEDICAL DIRECTOR, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: I think we're seeing the results of those dangers and living in that danger right now, Pamela. The partisan divide and turning this pandemic into a political issue is part of the reason why we had over 800,000 deaths from COVID in this country.

The United States only makes up 4 percent of the world's population, yet we make up 15 percent of deaths in the world from COVID. It doesn't make sense. And the reason is because of mixed messaging from different political parties.

BROWN: Yeah, I mean, I think that's a really good point and really stunning when you put it into perspective like that.

Dr. Fauci told ABC on Friday that he doesn't think we're going to get to a point where we don't need masks on planes. Do you agree with him?

BICETTE-MCCAIN: I definitely agree that that's not going to be happening anytime soon. When the pandemic first started, we thought that this would be something quick that we could tackle, and it's proven that that is not the case. The pandemic is unlikely to be over in 2022. We're likely still going to be talking about COVID in 2023 so masks are still going to be in use.

BROWN: So right now, we know testing is hard to come by for a lot of people. We're seeing those long lines and so forth. What should someone do if they are exposed to COVID? If they were in a group, someone in their group had COVID, what should they do, especially with holiday travel on the horizon for so many?

BICETTE-MCCAIN: If you've been exposed to COVID you definitely need to get tested. The CDC has changed their recommendations so that if you're vaccinated, you can wait about three to five days to get tested. If you are not experiencing symptoms. If you're unvaccinated, you should try to get tested right away. If you have been exposed and have not tested negative, please do not go travel and potentially expose other people.

BROWN: All right. I'm going to get to our viewer questions. We have some great ones. Our first viewer asks, "How are the kids handling Omicron based on data from South Africa and Europe? Will the kids who have only received two doses have enough antibody response to protect them from severe disease?"

BICETTE-MCCAIN: So, we aren't sure exactly how children are responding to Omicron from the South Africa and UK data. We do know, however, that for the 18th week in a row, we have seen over 100,000 pediatric cases of COVID in the United States and that number is increasing. As cases spike, cases in children will spike.

BROWN: That's really troubling, as a mom of two little ones.

Our second viewer asks, any -- is there "Any real current information on which booster is most effective?"

BICETTE-MCCAIN: The Pfizer and the Moderna boosters are the boosters that you should be getting. If you got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine it's OK to mix and match, but please go get one of the mRNA vaccines as your booster.

BROWN: And so, for everyone watching this right now maybe feeling anxious, what should they think? What else do you want to tell people who are just on edge given the current state of the pandemic right now?

BICETTE-MCCAIN: I understand the anxiety, I mean you know we're almost two years into this and seems as if every time we start to get things under control, there's another blow and another hit. But what I do want people to realize is that we are now at a point in the pandemic where we have tools at our disposal that can help us combat this virus and this disease.

Please go get vaccinated if you're not vaccinated. If you've been vaccinated and you're eligible for a booster, now is the time, do not wait.

BROWN: Very quickly, if you would, how swamped is it in your hospital and what do you want to say about just what medical professionals are going through right now.

BICETTE-MCCAIN: I think here in the south, we're not seeing the amount of ICU saturation and emergency department saturation that they're experiencing in the Midwest such as Michigan and in the Northeast. But we are starting to see numbers rise.

[19:35:00]

I have had multiple patients, Pamela, over the last week that have come in, have tested positive for COVID and told me, oh, I was going to get my booster tomorrow, I had an appointment next week and before they could do that, it was too late. They contracted the virus.

I can't stress enough. It is not the time to start relaxing recommendations and to start being laxed with what you're doing to protect yourself. BROWN: Yeah. No procrastinating when it comes to the boosters.

All right. Dr. Richina Bicette-McCain, thank you.

BICETTE-MCCAIN: Thank you.

BROWN: Will all of the missing people from the Kentucky tornadoes have now been accounted for?

Up next, we're going to give an update on efforts to help the survivors from Congressman James Comer in Louisville.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:18]

BROWN: We're barely a week after a deadly tornado ripped through Western Kentucky. People are rallying around those who suffered the worst damage. One relief fund has already raised $19 million to help the thousands of people whose homes were destroyed.

Congressman James Comer of Kentucky joins me now. He represents Mayfield, a town of less than 10,000 people that was devastated by the storm.

Congressman, thanks for joining us.

I just spoke to one of your constituents last night on the show and he actually said look, it's been really rough since the tornado came through, lost his home, his car, he's worried about, you know, money and so forth. But he did say that the local organizations, the state, has been helpful in helping people like him with their needs. Tell us more about how your constituents are doing.

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): Well, I think they're doing as well as can be expected. The outpouring of support from across America has been unbelievable. And Pam, you did a great job covering the storm in the early days and that helped propel an outpouring of support.

The charitable organizations have been unbelievable and there are many more communities besides Mayfield and Dawson Springs that were affected. Remember, there were three tornadoes that touched down in Kentucky. And they were all predominantly in my congressional district.

And you know they've all been declared disaster areas. FEMA is in there on the federal level but on the local level, the first responders, they were there before the sun came up. I mean just minutes after the tornado hit. They were there, rescuing people and never stopped. The utility crews have been working in the rain nonstop and just about all the power has been restored so it's just been an amazing process to watch everyone come together.

BROWN: It's incredible. I mean they were doing that day or two after the tornado, putting up power lines and so forth. It's really incredible and we talked about the relief fund that's been created by the governor. What else has been done to help those in need?

COMER: Well, Red Cross is there and just so many charitable organizations. A little county in my district, Russell County, which is on Lake Cumberland, east of where the tornadoes hit, they had a radiothon and raised $206,000 for tornado relief, just about every county in Kentucky has had some type of relief effort and they're sending it to the various communities that were affected, and every community has a shelter and they're full of clothing. They're full of food. And of course, that will eventually run out and hopefully people will continue giving because this is going to be a many, many months long process of rebuilding.

BROWN: And I'll be - also from my end, covering it as well. I want to turn to the pandemic. The Omicron variant has been detected in Kentucky. And Gov. Andy Beshear is asking people to take it very seriously. He said, "As contagious as this is going to be, you are going to get the Omicron variant." Going on to say, "Masking is important because if you test positive, you will have to quarantine for 10 days to not get others sick."

The governor is urging people to get vaccinated and to go back to wearing masks in public, including kids at school. What do you think about that?

COMER: Well, I think it's great to urge people to wear their mask and to be vaccinated. I wear my mask when I'm around people and obviously, I've been vaccinated. My entire family's been vaccinated, but there are people that will choose not to be vaccinated. There are people that don't want to wear a mask. And I think when you have government leaders trying to mandate vaccines and trying to mandate mask-wearing, I think it has a counterproductive effect.

And unfortunately, I think a lot of people have refused to be vaccinated and refused to wear masks because there are a lot of politicians that are telling them they have to do it. That's just the nature of how some people react. And I'm glad that the governor is encouraging people to do it. I think he'll get a lot better response by encouraging people to do it than by mandating people to do it.

BROWN: So, let's just talk about that very quickly. Every doctor I've spoken to tonight is emphasizing the need for vaccines and booster shots. I know you clearly don't support a federal vaccine mandate. But 30 million Americans are still without the vaccine. We could be within another of wave right now.

I mean, how bad does it have to get for you to support a vaccine or test mandate or would you ever support it? Would you ever support it at the state level rather than the federal level? Is there anything where you could get behind that?

COMER: No. And I think that people in my district firmly believe that. We have to trust the science, trust our doctors.

[19:45:03] And unfortunately, Pam, for better or worse, this has been politicized by both parties from the very beginning and I think there are a lot of people that just really have a large distrust of government and politicians in general. And I think the more that they go on TV and certain politicians and say you have to do this, you have to do this, more and more people are saying I'm not going to do it. And Dr. Fauci, for better or worse, I think has got to the point of where he's at the law of diminishing returns with a lot of people in America.

BROWN: Well, but hold on, and we do have to go. But I mean we talked about politicizing. I know you're trying to the -- both sides. But let's be very clear here. This pandemic started under former President Trump and he was the one that politicized it.

Look, Fauci -- Dr. Fauci, I know he's become the boogie man of the right but -- and you can have whatever opinion you want of him, but wasn't it President Trump who started that trend of politicizing this?

COMER: I think President Trump did a great job with Operation Warp Speed to get a vaccine. I don't think a lot of liberal presidents would have cut through that much red tape and gotten a vaccine created that early. So, I think he deserved credit for that.

But, you know, the politicization started when you started having government shutdowns. I think that's when the wheels came off with a lot of people especially conservatives who didn't like the government saying, OK, you cannot open your restaurant or if you open your restaurant you can only do so at 30 percent capacity.

And I'm not saying that's right or wrong, Pam, but that's when things started getting bad. And then, through time, the more we've learned about the origination of COVID and some things that Dr. Fauci have said that have contradicted himself, I think there are a lot of conservatives that just don't believe anything he says.

And that's why I think it would be wise to try to get some new faces as we move forward with this new variant and probably future variants. We need to have new faces in place at the CDC. Faces that will hopefully gain the trust of the majority of Americans.

BROWN: All right. Congressman James Comer of Kentucky, thank you so much.

COMER: Thanks, Pam.

BROWN: For more information about how you can help tornado victims, go to CNN.com/impact. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:52:00]

BROWN: Families who have children with autism spectrum disorder have often struggled with no FDA approved drugs to treat the core symptoms, some parents are desperate to help for their kids. Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to some of these families in a CNN Special Reports "Weed 6: Marijuana and Autism."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What you are watching in real time is what happens when Kara Zartler needs to be rescued by cannabis.

It's hard to watch, but the Zartlers want you to see this.

The repetitive hitting associated with her severe autism seems to vanish as she inhales the cannabis vapor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's be calm. Calm.

GUPTA: Her mind and her body seem to slowly relax and calm, something no other medicine could do for her.

CHRISTY ZARTLER, KARA'S MOTHER: I didn't tell her physicians until she was 14. I took her medicated to her neurologist and he sat there in awe and said, I'm not going to chart this. This won't go in her chart, but I think if you have this positive of a result you need to continue with this medicine for her.

GUPTA: A medicine that keeps Kara from hurting herself. But it's also illegal in Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA (on camera): Now, Pamela, I will tell you that no one is suggesting this is a cure by any means, but there are these well- designed studies that have taken place, are still taking place in Israel and New York and Southern California. We spend time with these researchers and when you see a story like Kara's there, and see what happened to her, keep in mind that it's one story but it's emblematic of so many other people just like her who have these types of symptoms and have tried many different things to no avail, so it's a remarkable insight for me. I've learned so much working on these documentaries. Hopefully you get a chance to watch it as well.

BROWN: Yeah, we will be. Don't miss CNN Special Report "Weed 6: Marijuana and Autism" at the top of the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:58:53]

BROWN: In the season of giving, we want to show you how you can help our 2021 Top Ten CNN heroes continue their important work. Here's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: I'm Anderson Cooper.

Each of this year's top ten CNN Heroes proves that one person really can make a difference. And again, this year, we are making it easy for you to support their great work.

Just go to CNNHeroes.com. Click donate beneath any 2021 top ten CNN hero to make a direct contribution to that hero's fundraiser on GoFundMe. You will receive an e-mail confirming your donation which is tax deductible in the United States.

No matter the amount you can make a big difference in helping our heroes continue their life-changing work. Right now, through January 3rd, your donations will be matched dollar for dollar up to a total of $500,000.

CNN is proud to offer you this simple way to support each cause and celebrate all these everyday people changing the world.

You can donate from your laptop, your tablet or your phone. Just go to CNNHeroes.com.

Your donation in any amount will help them help others.

Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And thank you for joining me this evening. I am Pamela Brown. See you again next weekend.