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FDA Expected to Allow Pfizer Booster for Ages 12-15; Omicron is Now the Dominant Variant in France; Sydney Rings in 2022 with Spectacular Fireworks; Thousands Forced to Evacuate as Fast-Moving Fires Burn Hundreds Homes in CO; CO Governor Reduces Truck Drivers Sentence from 110 years to 10 Years for 2019 Accident; President Biden Urges Putin to Deescalate Tensions with Ukraine. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired December 31, 2021 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
SHEPARD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: Happy New Year. And happy New Year to you --
UNITDENTIFIED FEMALE: Happy New Year, you all. Take care.
SMITH: -- to you all. Kaitlan Collins have had a blast bin within this week. I hope you have a wonderful New Year and here's to a great 2022 for all of us.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ACNCHOR: And you know, I was going to make a smart comment about what my resolution is. But you know what, I think more people should try to be like Turquoise LeJeune Parker and do good in the world like she did.
SMITH: Here's that. I'm with you. Turquoise LeJeune Parker for us all. Happy New Year. CNN's coverage continues right now. And there is Sydney, Australia setting them off.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow. So glad you're with me. Jim has the day off. Happy New Year's Eve. As the world counts down to 2022, the surging Omicron variant has forced many cities to cancel or alter their celebrations. Cases are higher than they have ever been in the United States and in most of Europe. In New York State, get this, more than 74,000 new COVID infections yesterday alone that, once again, breaks the state's record. In Georgia and specifically Metro Atlanta, hospitalizations are up as much as 200% in the last week. And the CDC is once again, warning against taking cruises, even for the vaccinated. It's still Doctor Anthony Fauci says he expects the peak of Omicron infections to come next month.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOIS DISEASES: I would imagine given the size of our country and the diversity of vaccination versus not vaccination, that it likely will be more than a couple of weeks, probably by the end of January.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARLOW: I would think. One piece of good news as we wait for that, the FDA is expected to approve COVID booster shots for kids ages 12 to 15 very soon. We have a team across the globe covering all of these developments. Let's begin right here in New York City in Times Square with Polo Sandoval. Polo, good morning. New York state has seen an 82% jump in COVID cases since Monday, yet Mayor Bill de Blasio says there are no plans still to cancel New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square. Why?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And in his final days in office. The Mayor also adding that the show will go on, Poppy. That's because based on the high vaccination rate that we have seen here in New York and throughout the state really, then the Mayor feeling that it's certainly viable to be able to put on this massive event that as we have heard time and time again from health experts, at least some health experts do have some concern about it potentially being a super spreader event. But again, those steps, those measures are being taken.
Now, let me just go down the list of some of those steps that are being taken. For example, this only open for the fully vaccinated, those only also required that they will be wearing masks, even though this will be an outdoor event. And also, the crowd that you're used to seeing, usually something like 58,000 people in the viewing areas only going to be about 15,000 people that are going to be allowed to the area a little later than usual. So that gives you a sense of what steps are actually being taken. And when you hear from organizers, they say that they are speaking to those health officials. And they do feel that they are taking those steps to make sure that it's as safe as possible. And at the end of the day, those who perhaps do not feel comfortable, that it might make it -- it make sense to watch this from home, including here watching a cover chair on CNN.
HARLOW: I'll be on my couch. Hopefully, with some good takeout. I still don't get, Polo, how they're going to enforce social distancing. I have covered New Year's Eve Time Square a lot. And there is people like to hug.
SANDOVAL: Yes. But scaling back those numbers, and instead of having close to 60,000 people, having 15,000 people, they do certainly hope that that will help allow or at least give people the opportunity to remain socially distant. But at the same time, yes, it's certainly not going to be easy to enforce. So just a matter of making sure that people have that space to move around if they want.
HARLOW: All right. Polo, happy New Year friend. Thanks so much. Let's turn now to Europe. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson praising the success of vaccines and his New Year's message and urging citizens to get vaccinated.
[09:05:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: And I want to speak directly to all those who have yet to get fully vaccinated, the people who think the disease can't hurt them. Look at the people going into hospital now, that could be you. Look at the intensive care units and the miserable, needless suffering of those who did not get their booster, that could be you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: An important message there. Let's go to Paris now where CNN Senior International Correspondent Jim Bitterman joins me live. Jim, Omicron is now the dominant variant also in France, where you are, what is being done for this tsunami of cases?
JIM BITTERMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, probably I guess the most dramatic thing is this idea that came up with the last few days here by the government to impose a mask mandate, which is to say that you now have to have a mask on whether you're inside or outside in the streets, walking around, you have to have a mask on. The only exceptions are for people who may be practicing outdoor sports like John Dean, you know, bicycling or something like that. It's just one of a growing series of restrictions here that have grown as the numbers have grown. The mandate applies to Paris and several other large cities where the numbers are just out of sight. We've an incidents right here of over 2,000. That means over 2,000 testing positive for every 100,000 in population. So the authorities are struggling to get control of that.
[09:05:33) And the same thing is happening in many other countries in Europe. Tonight in Paris, for example, the bars and the restaurants have to close at two o'clock. But in Australia, the bars and restaurants have to call and close two hours before midnight. Poppy?
HARLOW: OK. Jim Bitterman, thank you very much. Stay healthy and happy New Years to you.
BITTERMAN: Happy New Year.
HARLOW: Thank you. The FDA is expected to expand eligibility for the Pfizer vaccine booster in the coming days. A source familiar with the agency's plans says 12 to 15 year olds are up next for approval. Let me bring in our Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen. I feel like you have children in this age, Elizabeth? This is good news.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I do. I do. Our youngest child is in this age group. And actually, there are millions of children like her who are at least six months past their first -- their second shot so that they can now get a booster.
Let's take a look at those numbers. There are 4 million 12 to 15-year- olds who are at least six months past that second shot. So as soon as they give the green light, as soon as the FDA says OK, those children can get a booster. And then there's another 4.7 million who've been fully vaccinated, but later on. So they would be eligible in the coming weeks or the coming months. And I should say, you don't have to -- If you've got Moderna, you can get a Pfizer rooster for your child. So that's an important thing to remember. Now, here's another number, Poppy, that is actually even more
important. And that is 39% of children ages 12 to 15 have not gotten even a single shot, not even gotten their first shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. That first set of shots is even more important than the booster. More children need to get vaccinated, especially as Omicron is just spreading so quickly and those children will be going back to school next week. Unvaccinated children to a very large extent are driving the number I'm about to show you.
Back in September, we had the peak of the number of children in the hospital with COVID-19 in the US. It was 342 new admissions per day on average back in early September. We have now surpassed that peak with 378 admissions per day on average. And that number unfortunately is just going to go up, up, up even though it's unusual for children to need to go to the hospital with COVID as more and more children get infected a small percentage of a huge number can still be a very large number. Poppy?
HARLOW: That's exactly right. Elizabeth, thanks so much for your reporting today. And all year, you guys have helped inform us every single day. So happy New Year to you. Joining me now is Doctor Paul Sax. He is a professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital and at Harvard Medical School. Doctor Sax, thanks very much for being here. You paint a rather, relatively speaking, optimistic picture about Omicron. Despite these numbers, you ultimately believe it will be a more manageable and less deadly strain long-term?
PAUL SAX, PROFESSOR OF MEDICINE, BRIGHAM & WOMEN'S HOSPITAL: Well, you know, I want to stress that. I acknowledged that things are a mess right now. And I actually have written that yesterday because there are so many people, as you've just described who are getting COVID-19 right now.
And that creates huge disruptions in our society. Nonetheless, the evidence is pointing to the fact that Omicron appears to be leading to a milder disease. And that's really for two reasons. First, we have a lot of people who already have some degree of immunity, meaning they've been vaccinated or they've had COVID-19 before, or both. And they have clearly got some protection from Omicron. Even though they're getting infection, they're not getting that sick. And the second is very interesting that several labs, now, six labs have looked at this virus and found that it does not grow as well in lungs. And of course, the lungs is the primary target for severe COVID-19 and fatal COVID-19.
So in some ways we're quite fortunate that this very sort of vaccine- evasive virus does not appear to be causing a severe disease. It's still important that we try to avoid infections. These numbers are very, very striking. But nonetheless, I am optimistic that most people who get this infection will not become critically ill.
HARLOW: OK. That's so interesting. I had not heard that before about it growing less and being less severe for people's lungs. OK. So let's talk about some good news, shall we? I think we could all use it. And that is, we're hearing the FDA is going to give the green light to the booster for 12 to 15 year olds pretty soon. How important is that as we try to get our kids back in in-person learning in school?
[09:10:10] SAX: Well, one of the things that you've stressed already and it's appropriate is that the infection rate among children is extremely high. And we know that not just from the numbers, I know this personally because I'm married to pediatrician. But I will say that we've never seen so many infections in kids. Fortunately, most of them are quite rare, but also, importantly as it was mentioned, the vaccination rate among children is much lower than among adults. And that's something we really can work on. Good information yesterday from the CDC on the safety of the vaccine in children, it looks like it's safer even than expected, which is really excellent news. So people should move forward with their vaccine and with their booster.
HARLOW: That's great. Safe for then even expected. How long do you believe until boosters then for 5 to 11-year-olds?
SAX: Well, you know, most childhood vaccinations are more than two doses. It would not surprise me if that is the recommendation for 5 to 11 year olds as well. And currently, it's being studied.
HARLOW: What about our littlest ones, because that's what's scary for us as parents who have kids younger than five?
SAX: So studies are ongoing for COVID vaccines in that age group. If the other studies are similar, then I expect, we will see approval this coming year. Now, you might've heard earlier that there have been some data that it may not be sufficient to give just two doses to that age group. The immune systems of the little children are very different from older children. And again, just a reminder that a lot of pediatric vaccinations are already three doses. It would not surprise me at all if that's the recommendation ultimately going forward.
HARLOW: What about tonight, New Year's Eve? I'm surprised that New York City is still having this New Year's Eve celebration. And I think we're all who live here, crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. And I understand both sides of the argument here, what would be your recommendation for people who are trying to figure out what they should do? Like, even, you know, dinner with friends, a party of 10, do you just stay home alone?
SAX: I think it's better to keep the gatherings small. I do think it's reasonable to see friends and family. If one can get a hold of those rapid test, it does create an extra layer of security before you gather. What I personally go to a New Year's Eve celebration that is so large, I wouldn't. I think most infectious disease specialists wouldn't. On the other hand, at least it's outdoors and primarily, the spread of this virus is indoor. So, you know, if I were going to target something to reduce the spread of COVID-19, it would be the very crowded bars and restaurants that are present in most of our cities. It's not so much an outdoor event.
HARLOW: Doctor Paul sax, thanks so much. It's good to have you.
SAX: Thanks, Poppy. Happy New Year. HARLOW: You, as well. Next, thousands of people forced out of their
homes now allowed back. But look at these images, many, not even having a home to return to as wildfires tear through towns near Boulder, Colorado. We'll take you there live. Also, the January 6th committee asking the Supreme Court not to take up the case over the former President's efforts to keep more than 700 pages of his White House documents secret. And also, we're watching New Year's Eve celebrations around the world. Here's how Sydney, Australia ring in 2022.
[09:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARLOW: State of emergency. Look at these images out of Colorado. Nearly 600 homes destroyed, thousands of people evacuated, incredibly fast-moving wildfires fueled in some cases by hurricane force winds ripping across the city of Boulder, leaving scenes like this one, small town near complete devastation from the flames. Our Lucy Kafanov has been following this for us. And it seems so many people, Lucy, because of this wind had very little warning.
LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very little warning. I've been in touch with friends and loved ones over text who still don't know if their homes are standing. You know, this has been one of the most destructive wildfires in Colorado state history. More than 500 homes burned to the ground. These winds moving, in some cases, at 100, 115 mile per hour wind gusts moving faster than firefighters could get to them. The governor describing the magnitude of the blaze. Take a listen.
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GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): Very little time to get out, Very little time to even get the most important parts of your life. And yes, it will be a difficult process for Colorado families who were directly affected to rebuild their lives.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're all in a group text. Do we leave? Do we stay? What's everybody doing? Everybody is rushing around with their phones, taken videos of their home inside just in case, you know? Again, never saw this coming.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAFANOV: Now, as of last night, officials say this fires torched more than 1,600 acres. We understand that thousands of families were evacuated. The main affected areas are the towns of Superior and the Lewisville Superior had been devastated the 500 or so homes that we were talking about that burned down largely from that area. That's a town of some 13,000 people. We have yet to learn how many homes were damaged in this -- the town of Lewisville that's more than 23,000 people living there. A lot of folks, just hours away from New Year's eve, waiting for answers, waiting to find out if they have homes to return to. And this is being described as the most devastating wildfire in Colorado state history. The last one in 2013 damaged 511 homes. This one as of last night, damaging more than 580. And we're still yet to learn the scale of the destruction. Firefighters on the scene, trying to figure out what burned, what structures are still standing. The good news, Poppy, those snow is coming in. That should help firefighters with their, efforts.
HARLOW: Yes, they could use all the help they could get. What a tragedy. Lucy, thank you for the reporting. And let me bring in Hunt Frye. He was in Costco in Superior Colorado when shoppers were told suddenly to evacuate. Hunt, you recorded this video. Thank you for joining us. I have to play this for our viewers because the first time I saw it, I was just stunned. This, walk us through what we're seeing.
[09:20:05] HUNT FRYE, COLORADO RESIDENT. This is us exiting the Costco. When I pulled up, it was a normal day, kind of just looked like a fire on the mountain in the background. And that's not too abnormal for Colorado. And then we were shopping for my sick wife, getting her some soup. And the staff told us to evacuate. And one of the staff mentioned that the store might be on fire. And I'd really like to give a shout out to the staff for just being really calm and getting everybody out of there. And as soon as everybody kind of walked out the door, they were really calm. And then they kind of started running like an antelope and just running all over the place. And it was pretty scary. It was kind of like a life beyond a dream. It was just apocalyptic feeling. I
HARLOW: That's exactly what it looks like. This actually looks like it's a movie, not reality. I mean, you see, is that fire that you see at the top there?
FRYE: I think it's the sun, I'm guessing. But, you know, I'm not totally sure. It was, you know, once we got into our cars, it was continually being scary because I just had to surrender to the flow of the traffic and make sure that, you know, we were trying to get out of there in a safe manner. But, you know, people were running from their houses with their pet cats. And, you know, everybody was very panic- stricken. And the thing that really struck me was the fear in the police officer's face who are trying to kind of get traffic going there. They were legitimately scared.
HARLOW: Sure. Right, because this came so quickly. I mean, were there moments -- If I were driving, I could barely see where I would be going. Where there moments you could barely see?
FRYE: Yes. I could say I see about 10 feet in front of me. And luckily I'm in Colorado, in Boulder, in general, people were pretty nice. And I think, you know, our community is going to rally around this and really try to help everybody. But, you know, people were looking out for each other and helping each other. And I just remember a little boy on the way out, said, "It's a fire drill to me." And I said, "Yes, it is. It's a fire drill."
HARLOW: They prepare a little ones for that. I'm so glad you gave a shout out to the whole team at Costco doing, you know, really going above and beyond, it sounds like. Did the Costco make it through? Did it burned? FRYE: You know, I'm hearing rumors. I know that I hear that the target
has gone in the Superior (INAUDIBLE) down the street. I have to assume that it burned down. But I have not seen any official reports. I was hoping you could tell me that, Poppy.
HARLOW: I know. I should be the one figuring this out. I'll work on that, Hunt, OK? We'll let you know.
FRYE: Thank you.
HARLOW: Our thoughts with everyone. Thanks very much.
FRYE: Thanks, Poppy. Thanks for having me. Have a great one.
HARLOW: Yes, of course. You as well. The Governor of Colorado has stepped into -- commute the sentence for a truck driver who was sentenced to 110 years in prison for that deadly crash. Rogel Aguilera-Mederos is now facing a maximum of 10 years in prison for causing the fiery 28 car pile up they killed four people. In 2019, the governor are calling the original penalty highly atypical and unjust. But it was in line with Colorado's mandatory sentencing laws. The district attorney had already filed a motion, asking the court to reconsider the original sentence. And she released a statement saying she was "disappointed" in the governor's decision to act prematurely. We know that some of the family members of the victims had actually asked the governor not to step in before the court could fully play this out. But he did decide to the driver could now be eligible for parole in five years. Next to tough words from Russian President, Vladimir Putin. But is his threat to President Biden something else other than it seems. Where things stand after their phone call yesterday?
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HARLOW: Welcome back. President Biden again pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin to ease tensions with Ukraine on their phone call, Thursday. The White House shared this photo taken during the 50-minute call regarding the Russian troop buildup on the Ukrainian border. U.S. officials say President Biden laid out two choices for Putin, diplomacy or severe economic sanctions. Let's go to the White House. John Harwood joins me from there. What actually did the call accomplish though, John?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHIT HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm not sure it accomplished a whole lot beyond both sides, making clear their postures heading into the negotiations, Poppy, that are going to take place in Geneva beginning the week of January 10th. Of course, the goal of the United States and its NATO allies is to deter Russia, which is a mass -- 100,000 troops on Ukraine's border from mounting another invasion of Ukraine as it did in 2014 when it seized illegally. The Crimea still in Russia's possession right now. What President Biden had done on a call a couple of weeks ago was to say to Vladimir Putin, "If you go ahead and invade again, we may unplug you from the global financial system as part of a package of very severe economic sanctions that you've never experienced before." On this call, the Russian readout showed that they said to President Biden, "OK. If you do that, we will unplug our relationship with you," complete rupture in the relationship. So both sides have set where they're coming from.
And the United States acknowledges a senior official set after the call. They still don't know what Vladimir Putin's intention is. Is he trying to establish a pretext for invading? Or is he looking for some sort of concessions from NATO and the United States? We just don't know the answer to that. But both sides said the call was positive. That's better than the alternative, which would have been if Vladimir Putin came out, instead of, well, I lay out my demands, he didn't meet them. Therefore, we're going to move.
HARLOW: Yes, that's a great point, John. All right. Thanks very much. Happy New Year friend.
HARWOOD: Same to you.
[09:30:00]
