Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Pfizer Begins Clinical Trial of Omicron-Specific Vaccine; San Jose, California Poised to Pass New Gun Ownership Requirements; Michael Avenatti Calls Fraud Case Against Him a Joke. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 25, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NEWSROOM: A New York State Supreme Court struck down the state's mask mandate. The judge ruled the governor and State Department of Health did not have the authority to enact the mandate without approval from the state legislature. The judge was careful to say his ruling was not against mask themselves as a tool to stop the spread of COVID-19, only that the mandate was not properly enacted. The state education department says schools must continue to follow the mask mandate despite the ruling. Governor Kathy Hochul said she is working to reverse the decision immediately. You can imagine there is some confusion.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN NEWSROOM: Right. Well, Pfizer this morning has begun a clinical trial comparing its original COVID vaccine with a vaccine especially designed to target the extremely contagious omicron variant. The company says that people who have received booster doses of the current vaccine are well protected against omicron but CDC numbers show only about a quarter of the total U.S. population is fully vaccinated and boosted.

So, joining me now is Dr. Colleen Kraft, Associate Chief Medical Officer at Emory University Hospital. Doctor, great to have you on.

So, thankfully, it looks like there are significant portions of the country, specifically in the northeast, where cases have peaked, right? We even heard this morning from New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy announcing that COVID cases were down about two-thirds from where they stood just two weeks ago.

Given that and given how quickly people do come down with omicron and, thankfully, the cases do peak, is this vaccine that useful given that we need it throughout the country and fluctuations right now?

DR. COLLEEN KRAFT, ASSOCIATE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Yes. I think it definitely is useful. It's hard for us to know. I've given up predicting what is going to happen next. And so whether there's a new variant of omicron or whether if there's a variant that comes after omicron that could actually be -- this could be protective of. I think anything we're doing to sort of make therapeutics better, more helpful to the individual is really key at this point.

GOLODRYGA: I guess this could lead to some confusion as to people who have already been boosted, right? We clearly need to see more Americans boosted. But that having been said, for those who are, does this now mean that they should go out and get a fourth vaccine, this vaccine that specifically targets omicron?

KRAFT: Yes. So, a year ago, I would have said we wouldn't have even needed a booster. But at this point, with the amount of people that are boosted and this high transmission rate, we are going to find ourselves needing another vaccine in the future. I don't know if that's news to everybody or I think trying to get us through our grief denial cycle about additional vaccines is probably -- this is probably the time to do that. I don't want us to continue to have every six month vaccines, but at this point, for protection against severe disease, it's really critical and health care workers and hospitals everywhere are absolutely exhausted.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, no, I can imagine. Obviously, we've been covering that at great length for over two years now.

That having been said, there are many of your colleagues who are now looking at sort of the light at the end of the tunnel, right, and what comes next, assuming, and it's a big if, we don't have another variant come up. What does the sort of return to normal look like to you? Dr. Ashish Jha said that as we start to see cases go down, as we start to see hospitals sort of stabilize, right, that restrictions should be lifted, if for no other reason than to give people an opportunity to not live under restrictions and let them know they're not here in perpetuity if, in fact, we do have another variant down the road. What are your thoughts on that?

KRAFT: Yes. So, I have a lot of thoughts, so I'll try to be concise. So, there's a couple of things. I think normal is going to look like many of these peaks and valleys of surges. We don't know that it's going to be a once a year thing yet with influenza. And so trying to figure out how we sort of ramp up a little bit, if we need to, hospitals certainly feel this acutely. The population may not at all, except that maybe their child has to stay home from school.

[10:35:02]

But we need to develop a sort of idea about how we sort of go back and forth between protecting ourselves, protecting others and kind of keeping those good habits going if we want to have sort of a new normal. We want to continue to have surges, our behaviors right now of maybe getting vaccinated, sometimes wearing masks, sometimes mitigating our risk. In my opinion, really doing things to protect myself and protect others has been what my new normal.

I'm not sure that I'm going to change from doing that, and so I'm sorry that people feel pressured to do something they don't want to do but it's also sort of a public health emergency that's been going on for a long time now. And so I think trying to figure out how you can be creative in how you wear your mask and predicting when you're going to be in a situation that you may want to be more careful, I think that's part of what natural life should look like going on.

GOLODRYGA: And a reminder, right, Doctor, that the ultimate goal is not to inundate the hospital systems. Because regardless of whether you have COVID or not, there are other reasons you may need to go to the doctor. And if they're inundated and overwhelmed with COVID patients, you're not going to get the aid that you so desperately need.

KRAFT: Yes. I don't know how to be more clear about the tragedy that unfolds at the hospital during these surges, both for health care worker burnout. I've said it a bunch of times. It's really hard for me sometimes to explain this to colleagues and friends who don't see this every day and that don't experience this at all. So, they may have had mild COVID, they have friends that only have had mild COVID, but this really is -- it's really crippling our health care systems and I'm not sure that that's only going to be now during the surges. I think I have worried about more long-term effects of the quality of our health care if we continue to just burn through our health care workers, burn through our supplies, et cetera.

GOLODRYGA: An important point, Dr. Colleen Kraft. That's why we have you on here for our viewers to remind of that. Thank you so much.

KRAFT: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, the first free N95 masks started to arrive in pharmacies across the country, and some people have reported receiving their free at-home COVID-19 test kits in the mail. That's good news, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, here is what we're learning, it's a popular move. A new Axios/Ipsos poll found that 84 percent of all Americans approve of mailing at-home tests to anyone who wants one. 65 percent of those who are unvaccinated say they approve of the move.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard joins us now live. Jacqueline, there are a few things that unite this country when it comes to COVID, so these are interesting numbers. The Biden administration had taken some flak for not doing enough to slow the spread. So, tell us what the importance is of this.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, I'll tell you, Jim. This seems like the Biden administration's latest effort to really curb the spread of the omicron variant. What they're doing, they're rolling out free stuff, right, free N95 masks and free at-home COVID tests.

So, when it comes to the free N95 masks, the main location where these masks will be handed out are local pharmacies and community health centers. Here's a list of some in-store pharmacies where you might see mask. That Hy-Vee and Meijer locations already have received masks and are already handing them out. Also CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, they expect to receive masks later this week. And then you see some others here, Winn-Dixie, for instance.

And how this works, some of these locations are setting up tables where they have a greeter who's handing out the masks. They're handing three masks per person and, again, community health centers also are going to play a role here. And this is all happening at the same time as we're seeing the rollout of at-home tests. Remember, last week, the White House launched its website, households can order four tests per household. They're already arriving in the mail. Jim I ordered one last week, I'm still waiting for mine but we're hearing that some are arriving.

SCIUTTO: I ordered mine as well. I've been looking for it. Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much.

Ahead, a first in the nation proposal that would charge gun owners in one city a fee, also require insurance, some opposing the proposal as a tax. We'll see what it's intended to do.

But, first, here's a look at some other events we're watching today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

GOLODRYGA: In San Jose, California this morning, the city's Democrat- led city council is poised to pass a first in the nation gun policy that would require all firearm owners to pay a fee and carry liability insurance.

SCIUTTO: The new regulations were proposed by San Jose's mayor in a push to reduce the risk of gun violence, also ease the financial burden of gun incidents on taxpayers, interesting argument there.

CNN's Camila Bernal live in Los Angeles. Camila, I wonder where this goes next.

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim, Bianna. It is unclear. I think there will be a battle here. Because even though the city council is mostly made up of Democrats, there is already opposition to this measure, without it passing. And so a lot of back and forth is expected in the meantime.

[10:45:02]

Now, the mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo, says that this is essentially his reaction to the mass shooting that happened in his city back in May and the many other gun incidents since. He says, after these incidents, there's thoughts and then there are prayers and then there's no action. So, he's hoping to change that.

And there are two parts of this proposal. The first is that annual fee, and it would require gun owners to pay $25 a year. So, that money would then go to a non-profit and that non-profit would then give the money to victims of gun violence and also use the money to prevent gun violence.

The other aspect is the liability insurance, and that would essentially pass the burden financially to the insurance and that insurance would be the one responsible for paying any damages related to that gun.

And so a lot of it revolves around these measures because what the mayor says is that it would essentially be like a car insurance. And he says that police officers would be able to go and ask for proof of that insurance, but already, so much opposition. There is the National Foundation for Gun Rights who says they will see them in court. They say this is a tax, essentially, on a constitutional right and so that's where you're going to see a lot of that back and forth. Jim, Bianna?

GOLODRYGA: A novel approach, for sure. We'll see what happens with it. Camila Bernal, thank you.

BERNAL: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, Michael Avenatti is on trial for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his client, Adult Film Star Stormy Daniels. Why the former celebrity lawyer is calling the federal case a joke. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

SCIUTTO: In Manhattan this morning, lawyers for Michael Avenatti are cross-examining the first witness in federal trial for fraud.

GOLODRYGA: Avenatti is charged with allegedly stealing nearly $300,000 from Adult Film Actress Stormy Daniels in connection to the money she earned from her 2018 memoir full disclosure. Daniels is expected to also testify in the trial.

CNN's Kara Scannell is live in New York with more on this. And, Kara, what has the first witness said so far?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Well, Bianna, the first witness is Stormy Daniels' book agent. He was on the stand yesterday and testified for the government laying out the book deal and all the payments that the prosecutors say is a key part of this fraud here. They alleged that Avenatti redirected payments that were owed to Daniels to an account in his name, that the book agent testified that when Avenatti asked him to do that, he asked him what authorization he had. That's when Avenatti provided him with a document that was purportedly signed by Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors say he forged her signature. That's the basis of this fraud case.

Now, interestingly today, on cross-examination, Avenatti's lawyers spent about 45 minutes asking the book agent numerous questions, continuing from about two hours of cross-examination yesterday. At about 43 minutes, the judge abruptly stopped the lawyer from asking questions and told him to sit down. Then outside the presence of the jury, the judge said to Avenatti's lawyer that he thought he didn't ask one single relevant question. A lot of these questions had to do with Avenatti's involvement in trying to get the book deal signed. The lawyer said he was trying to show just how involved Avenatti was, because part of their defense is that Avenatti was owed some of this money that Stormy Daniels got as this book advance because of all the work he did. But the judge had had it, he told him to sit down and said that they would move on to the next witness.

Well, then they took a short break and Avenatti's other lawyer came into the courtroom and said to the judge that Avenatti may want to represent himself in this case. The judge said he wasn't going to deal with this now. He would take it up later at the lunch break. We're expecting Avenatti's office assistant to take the stand. She is testifying remotely and that is getting under way right now. But a lot of developments in this case could have a significant turn if Avenatti does indeed represent himself going forward in this case. Jim, Bianna?

SCIUTTO: Court mellow drama, for sure. Kara Scannell at the court there, thanks you very much.

All right, so this next scene, not from James Bond. That's real. It's a real car. It just got approved for flying. Up next, when you might be able to get behind the wheel.

GOLODRYGA: How cool is that?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

SCIUTTO: The House Ethics Committee is opening a review into two lawmakers over allegations improper use of federal resources. The panel claims that it has, quote, substantial reason to believe Republican Congressmen Doug Lamborn misused official resources. It also believes that Democratic Representative Marie Newman may have promised federal employment to a primary opponent to get political support. Both denied Newman and Lamborn have the denied the allegation, saying the complaints were political in nature.

GOLODRYGA: Well, here is a story for you. A flying car has received an official certificate of airworthiness, potentially, potentially opening the door to mass production. There you see the video of it. The air car approved by the Slovak Transport Authority after completing more than 70 hours of test flights, including more than 200 takeoffs and landings. But it's still just a concept car and you will need to be a qualified pilot to fly one. Jim, no word on what insurance will cost for that as well.

SCIUTTO: In other words, it's a plane with four wheels.

Anyway, it took a month for the James Webb Space Telescope to reach its final destination, nearly 1 million miles from Earth. It will be orbiting the sun, not the Earth, like the Hubble Telescope does, and it has a sun shield the size of a tennis court to help protect its massive gold mirror from the sun's rays. The Webb telescope will be able to take photos of exoplanets or worlds outside our Solar System.

[11:00:06]

NASA expects to see the first new images this --