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Connect the World
Trucks Blocked From Crossing Border Stuck At Airport; Explosive Admission Rips Hole In Kremlin Denials; New COVID Variant May Require Higher Vaccination Rates; Dr. Anthony Fauci Receives COVID-19 Vaccine; E.U. Giving "Final Push" To Reach Brexit Deal?; Tel Aviv Hospital Celebrates Arrival Of Vaccine. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired December 22, 2020 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Hundreds of trucks are stuck on the border between the France and the UK as a new variant of COVID-19 halts
travel between the two countries. And Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny tricked Kremlin agent into confessing how he was poisoned
incredible phone call caught on video.
Plus, with less than a month left in office President Trump says he is ready to approve a stimulus package of $900 billion to the American people.
This is "Connect the World." Hello. I'm Max Foster in London in for Becky Anderson. This is "Connect the World."
The UK is feeling the strain of global travel restrictions brought on by the newly identified Coronavirus variant. More than 40 countries have now
banned or restricted travel to some extent from the UK and some have shut down their borders entirely.
There's a mixture of concern and hope about how the new variant will pact the spread of the virus. The BioNTech CEO telling CNN today that vaccine
testing is under way, and there's a high likelihood the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine will still be effective. He says if it needed could be adjusted to
work against the new variant.
The British government got some positive news today from the European Union Commission as well. They recommended all member states lift travel bans
though it's discouraging non-essential is travel to the UK. The biggest impact so far comes from the blockade on the French border and it's causing
scenes like this.
Look at the thousands of trucks lined up at the Marston Airport after they were blocked from leaving the Port of Dover. The UK government has been
working with France to unblock the flow of trade across the English Channel. Our UK teams are covering this for you. Nima Elbagir is at Downing
Street today watching the British government's response.
Salma Abdelaziz is at Marston Airport where those trucks are lined up. First of all to you, Salma take us through I know the lights are going but
you've had some comings and goings there and this is linked to the possible testing of trucks as a way of unblocking this chaos testing the drivers
obviously.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: That's absolutely right, Max. I've been here now I think for a couple of hours and the flow of drivers has not stopped.
We're just going to pan over here for a second here for you. You can see there's just literally truck after truck after truck after truck that has
been passing through this site.
You can see those men in the high-vis jackets instructing them to go into this location which is essentially a massive airfield. I'm going to have
you turn this way so you could see inside behind this fence here. You can see them going through that hangar.
On the other side there's essentially a huge air trip that's been turned into a parking lot for what I can only expect at this point has to be
hundreds of trucks and their truck drivers and their goods. I actually stood on the side of the highway here for a little while trying to speak to
some of them, trying to find out what's happening and trying to get some answers.
Most of these drivers come from other parts of Europe from Poland, from Armenia, from Italy, from Spain, from other parts, and English is not their
first language. They have been instructed to come here and they themselves, some of them, don't know why.
What we do know is there there's a Coronavirus testing center located here and a lab located here. We did ask officials, they would not confirm but
what we also know is that British and French officials are talking about Coronavirus testing as part of the agreement to reopen the border so will
all these drivers be tested?
That's a huge logistical nightmare, Max. We've only accomplished the first part of it or maybe the first part of it has been accomplished which is
bringing in all these drivers into one location. Next you would have to test all of these drivers. There's controversy over what kind of tests you
use, how long the results will take to come out?
Do these drivers sit here for two or three days waiting for test results? That's part of the question. Who pays for the testing? If a driver tests
positive, where will he self-isolate? Where will his goods go? So many questions an absolutely logistical feat.
People caught in the middle. These drivers are telling us they don't believe they are going to make it home for Christmas also goods caught in
the middle. We cannot forgot just how crucial, just how vital a supply line this port city is. Dover is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.
It brings in food and it brings in medicine, and if there is no resolution we're potentially looking at empty grocery shelves and we're potentially
looking at shortages around the holidays. Max?
FOSTER: OK. Nima, yesterday we had a press conference at Downing Street where you are, and the Prime Minister and the Chancellor Secretary were
very much playing all of this down. I think the Transport Secretary pointed out there are 170 trucks queuing up to go into Dover and there are few down
the road parked up but looking at those images that Salma just showed us. That's not a complete picture and it's very difficult to know what the
government means with this messaging right now.
[11:05:00]
NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, and that's been really the issue throughout this, that when we have heard from
the government and we both heard yesterday from the Prime Minister as we watched that press conference, Max, it's very, very low on tangibles.
He said he spoke to the French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron who is himself suffering from COVID-19 from the Coronavirus so the concern is that
perhaps he has not been able to be across the brief in the ways that he would be if he was not unwell.
There's real concern about what the public is hearing from the Prime Minister, so we heard very different numbers from the Prime Minister, from
the number of trucks that are stuck in Dover from the numbers that we're now hearing from Kent County Council today which is 3,000 trucks.
The government was speaking about 100 something. They had to bring in some of the measures that they were putting in place for the potential crashing
out of European Union and the concerns that that would cause to the supply chain.
Really there seems to be very little that we're hearing from the government that puts the public at ease, and we're seeing these queues at supermarkets
across the country. Just this morning walking through my local high street at least four main supermarkets had queues going absolutely around the
block.
And this comes all from the same source which is a lack of trust, lack of trust on the part of the public, on the government's handling of this. A
lack of trust on the part of the European Union member states on the British government's handling of this.
There has been some good news just as we were going to air, Max, which is that Belgium, the first European Union state to lift the full restrictions
still has a partial ban, but it is a start if nothing else. Max?
FOSTER: Is still going to cause logistical problems though, isn't it? Still going to be queues of people at airport and queues of trucks down in Dover,
it won't resolve this straight away.
ELBAGIR: Absolutely, and we - the British public has found itself in a very strange position where the spokespeople for leading supermarket chains are
having to contravene what the government ministers are saying. So the government said there is nothing to worry about and then we had - one of
the largest supermarket chains followed by Tesco also a massive provider of food to the British public and British high street saying actually there is
a problem.
We have enough to get through Christmas which is in three four days time, but if this is not resolved we could be looking at Britain a G-8 economy
actually having food shortages, and that's an extraordinary thought, Max.
FOSTER: Absolutely. Nima, in Downing Street, Salma in Marston Airport thank you very much for bringing us that. We're witnessing the already dramatic
impact this new variant has had on a travel ban so what the research has uncovered since it emerged Keith Neal is a Professor in the Epidemiology of
Infectious Diseases at the University of Nottingham. I know it's very early days, but what are you hearing about the nature of this new virus and how
we control it?
KEITH NEAL, EPIDEMIOLOGY PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM: Essentially spread exactly the same way as the previous strains. It just appears that
it might be more transmissible because of the mutations in the spike proteins. It makes it more readily to attach to people.
The important thing so far it doesn't seem to be more virulent. The control measures remain the same. Social distancing in keeping the people we meet
to a minimum.
FOSTER: What about the effectiveness of the vaccines? We've heard from BioNTech that they are - that they can't guarantee that the vaccine works
against this new variant but they feel it probably does, and if it doesn't, they can adjust the vaccine accordingly. They are pretty confident about
that.
NEAL: I think they know a lot more about the vaccine they made than I did, but my understanding is the vaccine derives its potential from the RNA
sequences which were the one sequence back in the early days of Wuhan.
If we need to put in a different RNA sequence we already know we've got the technology to do it which is probably what reflects the six-week window
they have suggested to start to actually seek the RNA sequences are all available and published, so it's only a matter of tweaking the vaccine.
The essentially this isn't similar to what we do with the flu vaccine every year, but being an RNA vaccine we can turn this process of switching the
part of the vaccine very quickly.
FOSTER: What are your feelings on restricting travel to and from the UK even within the UK? We heard that in Manchester they wanted to restrict -
they wanted people to go into isolation if they are coming from London, for example.
So Manchester and North of England more affected by this new strain and also hearing in the United States that they assumed the virus might already
have arrived there, but they are not going to restrict travel there because it's not necessarily the solution. Should there be travel bans on Brits
right now, do you think?
[11:10:00]
NEAL: I think the idea of a travel - having to isolate for two weeks because you go up to Manchester is really not quite the most sensible
policy I've heard of recently. The travel bans with Europe are quite interesting because it's just predominantly in the Southeast England and
Kent, and given the amount of movement between Europe and that part of Britain it is quite likely that it has already spread to France and the
rest of Europe and also there's also the possibility that it came from France originally.
One of the difficulties is that Britain has one of the highest rates of sequencing or the genetic isolates of the virus we find, and we're finding
this strain. If you're not doing genetic sequencing, you may be missing variants.
FOSTER: An interesting concept there that the virus may have come from France, and now they are trying to protect themselves from it, but that's
just based on the fact that there's a lot of movement between the Southeast of England and that, you know, part of France as well?
NEAL: It can't be eliminated, but I suspect it - small likely originated on the British side of the channel but it's almost certainly crossed back
because of the sheer numbers of people with the virus.
FOSTER: There will be new variants of this virus. They may take different forms. They may be more virulent in different ways. Are you confident that
the systems are set up to keep responding to these new variants because it doesn't follow as though - it feels as though we were completely caught out
by this one and people are suffering in extraordinary ways and even as Nima was saying talking of food shortages in the UK.
NEAL: I think the food shortage is due to the response of shutting lorry transport down which can be managed by testing drivers, and we know it's
almost certainly spread. I think the fact that any virus that mutates, and they do mutate quite quickly and that by the strains that vary and more
efficient transmitting strain will turn up it will be spread preferentially.
But I think we need - should be clear on one thing this. Virus mutates slower than the flu virus which we manage to deal with every winter.
FOSTER: That's a good point. Professor Keith Neal for the University of Nottingham, I appreciate your time. Now the new variant is already being
found in several countries. As the professor was saying, and now top experts say they wouldn't be surprised if the variant is already in the
U.S. We'll take a look at the crisis there next.
Plus, Russia slaps sanctions on some Europeans after a CNN investigation revealed Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny duped a Kremlin agent into
admitting how he was poisoned?
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FOSTER: Russia lashing out at Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny after an exclusive CNN investigation into his poisoning. Yesterday we told you how
Navalny duped a Kremlin agent into revealing on tape exactly how the opposition leader was poisoned?
[11:15:00]
FOSTER: Now Moscow's FSB service is calling the recording a tape, a Kremlin spokesman went even further slamming Navalny as a megalomaniac with a Jesus
complex. Meanwhile, Russia has announced travel bans against several EU officials in direct response to sanctions imposed on Moscow over Navalny's
poisoning.
CNN's Clarissa Ward joins us now from London. You were expecting a response at some point to your investigation. Is this what you expected to hear from
the Kremlin?
CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think by now, Max, we're used to these sort of extravagant over-the-top insults and
obfuscations, but even by Dmitry Peskov's standards this was certainly something to behold.
Peskov, of course, is the Spokesperson for President Vladimir Putin. He said that, as you mentioned, Navalny had a Jesus complex, that he was
paranoid essentially, and my personal favorite part says he has sort of a Freudian obsession with his own crotch, but what he didn't say, Max, and
this is the crucial thing in all of this was that anything that we've been reporting over the past week was in fact wrong.
Make no two bones about it. This is deeply embarrassing for the Kremlin, this entire episode. Take a look. It is an extraordinary scene. Russian
Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny on the phone with one of the FSB unit he believes poisoned him in August.
Navalny is pretending to be a senior figure from Russia's National Security Council investigating the attempted assassination. The Operative Konstantin
Kudryavtsev is hesitant at first but then reveals the poison was placed on Navalny's underpants.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, imagine underpants and in what place?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The insides, the groin.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The crotch of the underpants?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, the circled flap. There's some seams there so across the seams.
WARD (voice over): The explosive admission punches a gaping hole in the Kremlin's repeated denials that the Russian government played any role in
Navalny's poisoning. Kudryavtsev was one of an elite team who trailed Navalny for years as CNN and Online Investigative Outlet Bellingcat
reported last week.
The unit was headquartered in this unassuming building in Moscow suburb. Most of its members were doctors or scientists. Kudryavtsev graduated from
the Russian Academy of Chemical Defense. When Navalny was poisoned back in August, his flight was suddenly diverted to Omsk.
Flight records show that just five days later Kudryavtsev flew to that same city taking possession of Navalny's clothes. On the 45-minute call with
Navalny he offers an assurance that no trace of Novichok would be found on them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, all is clean. Visually it will not be visible. They did not remove; there are no stains on them, nothing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, nothing. They are in good condition and clean.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pants?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's the same inside area. Perhaps something was left on it, too. We washed it off there also but this is presumably because
there's contact with the pants. Perhaps there was something on there, too.
WARD (voice over): The FSB toxins team trailed Navalny on more than 30 trips around Russia. Five of its members flew to Siberia around the same
time as Navalny during the fateful August trip when he was poisoned. Toxicologists have told CNN that Navalny is lucky to be alive and that the
intention was almost certainly to kill him, a point that Kudryavtsev himself appears to acknowledge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he had flown a little longer and perhaps would have not landed so quickly and all, perhaps it would have all gone differently,
that is, had it not been for the prompt assistant of doctors or ambulances on the landing strip and so on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The plane landed after 40 minutes. Basically this should have been taken into account while planning the operation. It wasn't that
the plane landed instantly. They calculated the wrong dose, the probability.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I can't say why. As I understand it, we added a bit extra, so--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got everything. How could you do this?
WARD (voice over): At the end of the call Navalny and his team are elated that their sting operation has worked and despite everything he's
discovered he's still determined to return to Russia as soon as possible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He told the whole story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:20:00]
WARD: Now Max, you mentioned the FSB Russian state security services, they have called this phone call a fake. They said its only intention is to try
to discredit the work of the security services and have also said that Navalny couldn't have pulled it off without the help of foreign special
services trying to essentially cast him as a pawn of western intelligence services.
As for those sanctions that you mentioned as well, those retaliatory tit for tat sanctions against several EU representatives, very interesting that
the countries that were chosen, the ambassadors who were summoned, Germany, Sweden and France, what do all three of those countries have in common?
They are all country, the three countries were independent laboratories confirmed the presence of Novichok in Alexei Navalny's blood. Max?
FOSTER: Clarissa Ward in London. Thank you. Turning now back to the Coronavirus pandemic in the front of a new variant America's top infectious
disease expert says he wouldn't be surprised if the UK's variant has already made its way into the United States and that Americans should
assume it's already there.
And officials tell CNN the White House could require travelers from UK to have a negative test before arrival, but the big question will the current
vaccines be able to fight off the new variant? More than 4.6 million vaccines have been delivered so far in the U.S. and more than 600,000 dozes
have been given out.
The CEO of BioNTech says he has, "Scientific confidence" that the current vaccines will still work against the new variant, but both Pfizer and
Moderna are testing their vaccines and we'll have more information in about two weeks time, they say.
Joining us now is one of the doctors on the front line of the crisis in the U.S., Dr. Rob Davidson, an Emergency Room Physician at a rural hospital in
Michigan. Thank you so much for joining us. I know that the Moderna vaccine, a bit like the AstraZeneca vaccine has been long-awaited by
smaller hospitals because it doesn't have the same storage requirement as the Pfizer vaccine.
DR. ROB DAVIDSON, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Yes. I'm getting the Moderna vaccine in five day disease and I work at a small rural hospital that could
not do the investment in a minus 70 freezer and really a week later we were able to get our hands on the Moderna vaccine so starting to get vaccinated
very soon.
FOSTER: So this is a big moment for the rural areas, really. The areas that don't have the bigger hospitals able, to you know, afford these big
fridges.
DR. DAVIDSON: It really is. And this pandemic unfortunately in the United States is raging in every part of the country, but the rural areas have had
a significant challenge. I know in our area just looking back over the last seven weeks we've had a test positive rate well over 10 percent, sometimes
as much as 20 percent in most of our region.
And we have some degree of resistance to mask mandates in the state, particularly in rural parts of the state, and so getting this vaccine into
as many people as possible I think is the hope that we've all been waiting for.
FOSTER: And what are your thoughts on this new strain that's developed where I am in London and the UK which is moving so quickly and Anthony
Fauci says could already be in the U.S., could emerge and crop up in any area.
DR. DAVIDSON: Yes. It's certainly a concern any time a virus has as many mutations as this strain appears to have, and, again, it appears to be more
transmissible. Now, you know, the data we have is epidemiological data and at various parts of the pandemic these strains have shown different degrees
of transmissibility just depending on how many cases we see in certain areas.
Given that the number of cases in the U.S., 18 million plus and the degree of transmissibility, it's extremely likely that this is one of the strains.
We simply haven't been sequencing those cases. I think 51,000 have been sequenced out of 18 million and so to know even what strains we have here
is a challenge.
Testing has been a challenge overall in this country from the beginning because the powers at be at the very top have not prioritized testing, so
it's just really hard to know where we are right now relative to the new strain.
FOSTER: You're already under pressure. If there was a sudden escalation in the impact of a virus, a new strain comes in or a new, you know, variant
comes in which is much more powerful, what sort of impact would that have you on you and your colleagues?
DR. DAVIDSON: Yes, fortunately it looks that this new strain doesn't create more severe disease, just potentially more transmissibility so we're
starting at a very high level of hospital bed usage and ICU usage.
I know at our hospital pretty much every shift over the last seven weeks I've either started or ended my shift without a bed to admit a patient to
and so it's always a scramble for that last patient to get that last bed and then figuring out where they will be transferred after that and a
strain on the EMS systems.
[11:25:00]
DR. DAVIDSON: So any strain or any behavior frankly, Christmas holiday coming up, New Year's holiday coming up. I know we saw a spike after
Thanksgiving. All of these add to the concern that we could over burden the system, you know, at any given hospital and then have to rely on
transferring people out to other hospitals that are also facing the same exact burdens.
FOSTER: And if you had the same sort of issues of some rural hospitals in hiring nurses, for example, because there's so much competition over
particularly members of staff and the temporary workers were and the bigger hospitals are simply able to outbid the smaller hospitals.
DR. DAVIDSON: Yes. I mean, is there's a nursing shortage in this country for a decade or more, and so this is just exacerbated that. I know that
we've been able to fill gaps in the schedule over the past, you know, decade or so with travel nurses, you know, contracts for a few months at a
time and those folks, have you know, largely been - we've been unable to get those folks.
I'm not sure exactly the reason but certainly the demand is so high in so many places. I think we have a very hard time attracting those folks and
so, you know, nurses are being mandated to work longer shifts to work extra shifts and, again, this puts a strain on them.
We've got a few nurses decide that they can't do this anymore. They are near the end of the careers anyway, and this is just a story we,
unfortunately, see repeated in too many places.
FOSTER: Yes, so much pressure on so many fronts. Dr. Rob Davidson, thank you very much indeed for joining us.
DR. DAVIDSON: Thanks.
FOSTER: Now as the world battles the Coronavirus pandemic, there may be an even more menacing virus that we've yet to uncover. CNN's Sam Kylie goes
inside the Congo rain forest where he finds early warnings signs that according to some experts unknown pathogens could threaten all of humanity.
SAM KILEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This pristine wilderness in the Congo is under pressure. Farming in the trade and wildlife is being compounded by
logging and industrialization. The ecology destroyed by the twin pressures of business and a population explosion.
The country's population has nearly doubled to around 90 million in just 20 years. With every year that passes, people pushed further into the forests
closing the gap between humans and new diseases that could kill them.
FOSTER: Do be sure to tune in for the full episode of the "Coming Contagion" starting Thursday at 3:30 pm in New York and 8:30 pm in London
only here on CNN.
Now still ahead a vital vials the U.S. makes history as it is a gives emergency authorization to two COVID vaccines. We're live at the hospital
next as it's given to those who need it the most and after months of delay more help is finally on the way for Americans struggling during the
Coronavirus pandemic. We're live in Washington with details of a new stimulus package just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
FOSTER: Well, as we've been reporting both Pfizer and Moderna are testing their vaccines against the new COVID-19 variant that's emerged in the UK.
Some of the batches of Moderna vaccines are being administered today making the U.S. the first country in the world to give emergency authorization to
two injections.
Alexandra Field is at Jefferson Health Hospital in Voorhees Township, New Jersey where people have been getting the shots, an exciting moment,
Alexandra.
ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Max. It really can't be understated. We're at a hospital that's part of a larger hospital system in
the southern part of New Jersey. These are hospitals that did not receive the Pfizer vaccine last week, so today was really the first opportunity to
have any COVID vaccination.
Of course, they are prioritizing their frontline workers, the men and women who are working the most closely with COVID patients. We were there when
Rene Stephens volunteered to go first. She's a nurse who has been working in the COVID unit and she reflected on what she's seen over the last ten
months, the kind of despair that she has seen the volume of death that she has seen here in a state that's been hit hard by the pandemic.
She said she was blessed to be getting this vaccine, and she also said that she hoped that the image of her getting the shot in the arm would resonate
with others and perhaps help those who remain on the fence. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RENE STEPHENS, CRITICAL CARE NURSE: The hesitancy that I've seen is a lot of people of color have a lot of hesitancy regarding this vaccine. There's
a lot of misinformation and disinformation being passed about through social media, so it would be my hope that they can see that this is
evidence-based practice.
We're following the science in order to get everyone vaccinated so that when it's time for the community to be able to get in line and have their
vaccine that they will have the proper information that they need to make their informed choice about a vaccine so hopefully this will help them have
a little more confidence that the vaccine is safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FIELD: Stephen says she wants others to follow science in the way that she's doing. She has said she has seen the hesitation up close and personal
within her own church community and, Max, I should point out that across the United States we're seeing the numbers go up in terms of people who
report that they are likely to get the vaccine when it becomes available to them but you do still see more hesitancy reported among black Americans,
Americans in rural parts of the country and Republicans. Max?
FOSTER: OK, Alexandra Field in New Jersey, thank you very much. Well, despite speed at which the vaccine was developed scientists are keen to
underscore its safety. Earlier America's top Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Anthony Fauci joined the list of U.S. officials getting vaccinated on
camera as you can see along with Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and the National Institute of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins.
Heidi Larson is Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project here with more that anyone who may have concerns. Thank you so much for joining us, Heidi.
First of all this one, I know you've answered many times the regulation and testing was all rushed through, but that wasn't the case, was it is? It was
just done in a slightly different way to make it possible sooner.
HEIDI LARSON, DIRECTOR, VACCINE CONFIDENCE PROJECT: Yes, the reason I think a lot of people have the question because indeed it is much shorter - it
has been developed much shorter than other historical vaccines, but we have a lot of new technologies and new tools and approaches that are letting
parts of the development process be quicker, but it's not compromising the safety. That has really been rigorous from the start.
FOSTER: It's been heartening to see senior officials and politicians really joining in the project that you're involved in by having their vaccinations
on camera to try to add to the confidence in this vaccine. Let's have a look at Anthony Fauci last hour as he received the Moderna vaccine and hear
what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I feel extreme confidence in the safety and the efficacy of that
vaccine, and I want to encourage everyone who has the opportunity to get vaccinated so that we can have a veil of protection over this country that
will end this pandemic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: It helps, doesn't it, Heidi, having someone so respected taking the vaccine on camera?
LARSON: I think that everyone we're seeing on camera can help, and it's great to see that it's on both side of the party line, but also I think
we're going to really need some community members, some leaders in the communities that are less trusting right now to also be joining that
because that's also going to have a powerful impact.
[11:35:00]
FOSTER: It's not as simple as saying that some people want the vaccines and some people don't want the vaccine, is it? There are a lot of people in the
middle who says they will take the vaccine but they want to be in first in line for it and that's a problem for you as well?
LARSON: Yes, I guess it's a bit like the swing vote, but I think that one of the things we need to remind people about is that you won't be first in
line. The only reason these vaccines are becoming publicly available now is that across the different vaccine candidates being developed hundreds of
thousands of people around the world have taken the different vaccines so they are trialed and safe and effective.
And those are the people that put themselves front of the line to help the rest of the world be sure of an effective and safe vaccine, so you won't be
first in line. There are a lot of people behind you that would have taken the vaccine.
FOSTER: Having some side effects with the Pfizer vaccine. Some people that are allergic reactions, but that's quite normal aren't it, for a new
vaccine?
LARSON: Well, yes, certainly there's - there's been the typical kind of fatigue sometimes and headaches that you can get after a vaccine which
means it's working but usually resolved pretty quickly but indeed there were a couple, some cases where people who had underlying allergies and
other - severe allergies had allergic reactions.
So I think they are being much more attended to asking people about any background factors that might influence that.
FOSTER: We will have more vaccines coming on stream pretty quickly. The America the first to have two vaccines and AstraZeneca isn't far behind I'm
told so it's getting - it's getting easier to get vaccinated right now. Do you have a concern that some people may worry about the different types of
vaccine, or is this just a general issue with vaccines that some people have?
LARSON: Well, I think people will be questioning about the different vaccines, but because they are not here yet, now is the time we really made
an absolute concerted effort to help people understand the different vaccines that are coming down the pipeline.
Now is the time to ask their questions and concerns and not wait until the day that you're standing there with the vaccine for their questions. We
should prepare the ground and make people ready for - for the various options, and there's also going to be - there's at least one and probably
more vaccine candidates that are only one doze so that's another factor, and to explain to people what these differences are. Now is the time we
should be doing that.
FOSTER: OK. Heidi Larson, really appreciate your time. Thank you very much indeed. Good luck with your projects. More help finally coming for millions
of Americans struggling because of the pandemic. U.S. lawmakers burn the midnight oil to pass a desperately needed stimulus bill after months of
delay.
The $900 billion relief package now heads to President Donald Trump's desk to be signed into law and it includes direct cash payments to Americans and
unemployment benefits as well as more for small businesses. CNN's John Harwood joins us live from the White House with more. A lot of discussion
going into this, but they finally got there.
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Max, this is the best news we've had out of Washington in months, $900 billion at a time when the
economic recovery is faltering because of the spread of the Coronavirus.
Even though the vaccine is coming, that's light at the end of the tunnel, it's going to take a considerable amount of time before we reach herd
immunity and the pandemic is over. We've seen lately retail sales slowing down.
The jobless - claims for new jobless benefits rights rising, forecasts that we'll have a loss of jobs in the month of December and a loss of economic
growth, that is to say negative growth, in the first quarter of 2021 so the relief package that congress finally agreed, to Democrats and Republicans,
House and Senate, Senate passed it just before midnight last night, is very, very badly needed relief.
It includes extended unemployment benefits for some whose benefits have run out, a $300 federal bonus unemployment benefit and replacing the $600
benefit that expired earlier this year, $600 cash payments for families earning under $75,000 a year. That is down from the $1,200 checks that came
before but nevertheless it will be welcomed by American families.
[11:40:00]
HARWOOD: And as you mentioned the relief paycheck protection relief for some small businesses. We've had thousands of businesses fail, Max, during
this pandemic. This is designed to have them sustain their payrolls try to stay in business until we get to the other side of this pandemic.
FOSTER: John Harwood in Washington, I appreciate the time. Thank you. Let's get you up to date on some other stories that are on our radar right now.
Without a last-minute deal Israel's unity government will fall apart in just a few hours.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main rival Benny Gants have been locked in a budget battle for month now. It's now likely that Israeli
voters will soon go to the polls for the fourth time, can you believe it, in less than two years. U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and
Adviser Jared Kushner are accompanying an Israeli delegation on an historic to Morocco.
The first direct commercial flight from Tel Aviv to - landed just a short while ago. Israel and Morocco are firming up diplomatic ties after
normalizing relations. Officials in the U.S. State of Hawaii are asking residents to stay indoors after a volcano erupted on the big island
following a series of earthquakes. They are also advising pilots to avoid the area warning that a significant emission of volcanic ash could cloud
the atmosphere.
Now as colorful cuisine can now be found across continents looking at you start Chef Jessi Singh who is the woman in his life, mom and grandma,
especially for his success. Plus, with the UK staring down the barrel of possible no-deal Brexit at the end of next week the EU's Chief Negotiator
is talking about a final push in the trade talks, plenty of insight coming up from the Deputy Editor of "The Spectator."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Now all this week we're exploring the many cuisines of India with top Indian chefs from all around the world. Unable to travel during the
pandemic these chefs are finding a way to reconnect from afar with India's culinary traditions might of which go back thousands of years. But for one
chef born in the North Indian State of Punjab some traditions are a lot newer as Cyril Vanier reports.
CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chandigarh is a grand experiment, the dual Capital of Punjab and Haryana State was dreamed into life in 1950s by the
leaders of a nation finally free of colonial rule. Chef Jessi Singh was born just outside this new and very different place where authenticity was
of his own making.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSI SINGH, CHEF AND RESTURATEUR: There is no such thing as authentic Indian food. Authentic is what your mom, your sister or your grand mom
cooked here.
VANIER (voice over): Singh's food is fun-loving, colorful and enjoyed from New York to Australia at restaurants named for the women who raised him.
SINGH: I was born in India in rural Indian up north in Punjab in village and then I grew up between Australia and America.
[11:45:00]
VANIER (voice over): Dishes here might not be what you expect from Indian cuisine but they are authentic to Singh and grounded in his Punjabi village
upbringing.
SINGH: Before I even ten I knew how to milk the buffalos, I knew how to make butter, bread, I was helping in the family and you're going to help
your mom, your grandma, your sister, get up at 4:00 in the morning, milking the buffalo and bring the milk.
VANIER (voice over): Those early mornings are remembered in Singh's signature buffalo milk kebabs.
SINGH: It's basically yogurt we make into a little croquette, shallow fry and we would serve with a beetroot and ginger sauce. Color is a big part of
our culture so that's what I brought to my cuisine. As my grandma said, dress up your food as like a newlywed bride.
VANIER (voice over): Singh grew up as part of Punjab's Sikh community where in collective temple kitchens everyone was welcome to come and share a free
meal.
SINGH: The whole religion revolves around food, food cooked by community, together donated by community and eaten together as one.
VANIER (voice over): As Melbourne locked down for the pandemic this year, Singh and the wider Sikh community conditioned the tradition providing
hundreds of meals for those less fortunate a task that Singh was more than prepared for.
SINGH: I grew up cooking in temples where we will cook every Wednesday and Sunday and we'd cook a meal for 10 to 15,000, 20,000 people.
VANIER (voice over): Not quite that many in Singh's restaurants despite their popularity, but diners no less grateful to get a taste of Singh's
inauthentic Indian food. Cyril Vanier, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Returning to one of our top stories. Thousands of trucks are piling up near the Port of Dover in the Southern England, it is the second day
that Britain is cut off from the rest of Europe over fears of a new Coronavirus variant and the EU now recommending the bans on essential
travel chance it would be lifted but for now it's gridlock.
The UK was already bracing for potential travel chaos especially at the ports but it was over Brexit and not COVID-19. Still no trade deal between
the UK and the European Union with just days to go until a hard deadline. The EU's Chief Negotiator says its crunch time, but they will keep talking.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHEL BARNIER, EU CHIEF BREXIT NEGOTIATOR: We are really in a crucial moment and we are giving it the final push. In ten days the UK will leave
the single market and go to work in total transparency with the member states.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Let's go to Freddy Gray, the Deputy Editor of "The Spectator." So hard to figure out what's going on, isn't it here, because we really don't
know what's going on in that room? How much of its posturing? I mean, what's your feeling about where they are right in the big sticking point?
FREDDY GRAY, DEPUTY EDITOR, THE SPECTATOR: Hello, it's good to be with you Max. I think there's a little bit more optimism today, this afternoon, the
noises that we're picking up is that there is some sign of progress. It seems that Boris Johnson and Ursula Von Der Leyen have established quite a
good talking pattern in the last few days over the last bits of the deal.
So the latest noise is optimistic but of course we're so used to this with Brexit. That you have these sort of tiptoeing up to the last bit and then
something goes wrong and it's pulled away again and the thing that pulls it away again, it looks like, is fish, arguing over fish which is going to be
a feature of British politics for some time to come I fear.
So I think unless France can be pushed into a position and President Macron, of course, suffering from COVID himself is pushed into a position
where he's comfortable with where Britain wants to be on fish, there - the deal may be derailed still, but at the moment I would say 60 for a deal and
40 for a no deal come the New Year.
FOSTER: Is it really true that either side would allow this whole trade deal to collapse because of fish? I know on the Boris Johnson side it's a
matter of principle, but is that the case for the Macrons as well who believe, you know, that the European fishermen should have access to the UK
waters if they want to sell back to Europe?
GRAY: I think fish is the one issue that could collapse the deal still. I don't necessarily think that it will. I think there is a strong possibility
that I'm one of these people thinks that the can - actually always can be kicked down the road, always told that the next deadline is final.
The New Year, this is it. Got to be done but we've been told this eight or nine times both by the European Union and by the British governments, but
these are governments. They can't actually find ways of overriding the law and kicking the can further down the road.
[11:50:00]
GRAY: So it's quite possible that we could be in this sort of Brexit weak low, this Brexit eternal hell of negotiation for another few months.
FOSTER: Trying to explain it to the world as well. Surely one of the options here is to agree that the rest of the trade deal and kick the fish
issue down the road.
GRAY: Well, that's sort of what they are already trying to do. There will be a transition phase over fishing. It's the length of the transition
that's really causing the sticking point, and, again, I think - I think Britain and Europe, Britain and Ursula Von Der Leyen seem to be close to
the some sort of agreement but it's President Macron that's resisting, so, therefore, we need to - to find some way of accommodating the president.
The tensions at the moment between Britain and France, because of course, Britain announced this new variant of COVID and France immediately lock
down its borders giving us the simulation of Brexit and a lot of people feel that this was a kind of political gesture to do with Brexit far more
than health and safety gesture to do with COVID.
FOSTER: You're referring there to how - it might be seen as a punishment to the UK as part of the negotiation, this whole thing in Dover, but is that
taking too far? I spoke to an Irish Minister for Europe yesterday and he said definitely not the case Britain is not being punished here by these
travel bans, but there is talk of that, isn't there?
GRAY: I - I think there is a lot of Brexiteers are getting quite agitated about it and they feel, not necessarily punishment, but this is more like
this is what you're going to get when you do Brexit type example. And I think although it would be pushing it to say that's, why I think it
probably is a genuine COVID panic.
I think there is - there is a sort of finger-wagging element to the European Union, too, that would have said, well, you know, we're doing this
for health and safety, but also look, this is what you're going to get. In fact, you do hear various European officials saying things like that.
So there's bad blood on both sides about that which is not helping in this sort of final push to get an agreement through.
FOSTER: We'll get there in the end; I'm sure Freddy Gray, thank you very much for joining us. Good to see you again. Britain's royal family
meanwhile being accused of breaking COVID-19 rules during a Christmas outing.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their three children seen here at a different event earlier in the year were photographed with Prince Edward
and his family in a park in Sandringham. That breaks UK regulations according to the pictures we see least limit outdoor gatherings to just six
people.
Sources Sandringham tells CNN there were - was difficult to keep the two families apart. It can be difficult with children after all. Coming up
next, doctors in Israel have a reason to celebrate as health care workers receive their first rounds of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Now, I want to give you some joy to end the program. We could all use a bit of that by now, can't we? CNN visited a hospital in Tel Aviv
early on in the Coronavirus pandemic when things were pretty dire but now doctors are celebrating as the first shipments of vaccine arrives there.
CNN's Elliott Gotkine takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELLIOTT GOTKINE (voice over): It felt like a party. But what the dancing doctors and health care workers were celebrating was the start of Israel's
COVID vaccination campaign among them Dr. Adi Nimrod.
[11:55:00]
DR. ADI NIMROD, ICU DIRECTOR, SOURASKY MEDICAL CENTER: It's a very happy day for me today, and I think for all over the world it's a happy day. I
hope this is the beginning of the end of the virus.
GOTKINE (voice over): When CNN's Oren Liebermann visited the Dr. Nimrod at the ICU here in April, Israel was in the throes of it its first COVID wave.
The death rate was low back then. Fewer than 200, but the battle against COVID was only just beginning.
DR. NIMROD: The virus taught us to be more modest, more humble, and a lot of compassion for families, and it's just a virus but not just a virus,
something much bigger.
GOTKINE (voice over): Bigger even than Dr. Nimrod might have feared. Since the pandemic struck this country nearly 380,000 people have come down with
COVID and more than 3,000 have died.
DR. NIMROD: Sometimes I felt helpless against this virus so I really, really pray that this nightmare, medical nightmare we pass away.
GOTKINE (voice over): And those cases here are back at more than 3,000 a day Israelis will be hoping the vaccination campaign will help push those
numbers down and that the countries and the world's deadly dance with this disease will soon be a thing of the past. Elliott Gotkine, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Wonderful images there, thank you for watching CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Max Foster in London. The news continues with my colleague Kate
Bolduan.
END
