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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

A New U.S. COVID Death Record Foreshadows Grim New Year; Missouri GOP Senator Hawley Says He'll Challenge Biden Electors; Intel: China South Mercenaries to Attack U.S. Troops in Afghanistan; U.K. Authorizes AstraZeneca Vaccine Amid Tightened Lockdown; U.K. Parliament Passes Bill Hours Before Transition Ends. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired December 31, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:24]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

It is Thursday, December 31st, the final day of 2020, and it is 5:00 a.m. exactly in New York.

It is midnight in Samoa and Kiribati. Happy New Year to the first part of the world to begin 2021.

At the end of a very challenging year, it is clear some of the hardships that marred 2020 will linger well into the New Year. Another sobering record set overnight, more than 3,700 American lives lost to coronavirus the second day in a row. We've said that's the same scale as 9/11 each day, which is really hard to wrap your mind around.

Here's a sense of what's ahead. This chart of cases looks bad, looks terrible. That was the spring.

Zoom out for a chilling view of the virus's escalation, bad now, and getting worse as we head into the colder indoor months. The U.S. toll far outpacing other countries, the CDC now projects up to 434,000 deaths in this country by January 23rd. That's 4,000 Americans every single day.

The vaccine rollout still behind expectations. Officials now admit it has been too slow. Medical experts are concerned about longer term strategy now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It's over promising in the first place. It's also not having a national strategy but instead throwing up our hands and basically saying now the federal government has done their job, it's just with the production and initially distribution. The states ramping up from now is going to be very challenging because the infrastructure actually needed to be built months ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMANS: Some states are giving the elderly priority for vaccination. Florida's plan leaving distribution to each community, and that has created to a scramble for a limited number of doses. The result, hours long lines at vaccination sites for the elderly, and overwhelmed county hot lines and websites. That's elderly people waiting hours for a live-saving vaccination.

A CNN analysis finds the U.S. lags behind other countries in its vaccination efforts. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine says more than half of nursing home workers are declining to be vaccinated. Governors in both parties wish they are receiving more vaccine faster.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: We can't control how fast the vaccine comes into the state of Ohio, and we know that there's a scarcity.

GOV. TOM WOLF (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I'm personally disappointed. Maybe my expectations were too high that the vaccine would have been rolled out faster in a much more efficient manner than it has been.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: That more contagious British variant has been confirmed in San Diego, California, a state has seen the virus spread rampantly the last few weeks.

The state of Texas has only distributed a third of the vaccine doses it has received so far. Flights at Dallas Fort Worth Airport were grounded Wednesday with ripple effects across the country, and air traffic control center was closed for cleaning after personnel there tested positive.

President Trump paying close attention to his golf game, while largely ignoring the worsening pandemic that has killed more Americans on his watch than World War II and Vietnam combined. But he's all in on the fruitless attempts to stay in the White House. The president is returning to Washington today, skipping his own New Year's Eve bash at Mar-a-Lago.

He's cheerleading Republicans planning to disrupt next week's congressional certification of Joe Biden's election win. Not everyone in the GOP is on board. Senator Ben Sasse saying: When we talk in private, I haven't heard a single congressional Republican allege that the election results were fraudulent, not one.

But one senator has put himself front and center in the effort to overturn the will of the people,

CNN's Phil Mattingly is on Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's been apparent for weeks that several House Republicans who are close allies of President Trump are going to vote to object to certain slates of electors as they counted President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the United States Congress. However, the key missing element of that was they needed to pair up with a U.S. senator for anything substantive to actually occur.

Well, now, they have that U.S. senator, Senator Josh Hawley, Republican from Missouri, says he will join in the objections, at least one objection, possibly more objections, and he cited specifically the state of Pennsylvania. His rationale being that he believes certain state rules were changed late in the game.

Those changes, well, they were made because of the pandemic, and it wasn't just in states that Joe Biden won. There are states that Donald Trump won as well. He also raised concerns about how tech companies treated Joe Biden and the Biden campaign as well.

[05:05:02]

He said he's willing to object because he wants to raise those issues to the public consciousness.

Now, what does it actually mean if both a member of the House and a member of the Senate objects? It means that both chambers will have to split, basically recess, and have a two-hour debate and then vote.

Now, those votes are not going to change anything in the outcome. It's not going to change a specific slate of electors. It's certainly not going to change Joe Biden's victory. Keep in mind, Democrats control the House and even though Republicans control the U.S. Senate, and most of the Republicans have made clear they know that Joe Biden is the president-elect of the United States, it will make the process a little bit longer.

It will also upset or at least ruffle the feathers of Hawley's Republican leader, and that's Mitch McConnell. He made very clear earlier in the month he did not want Republicans joining with House Republicans in those objections, making clear it was a losing battle and also one that would put several members in a precarious position of having to choose, whether to vote for something Donald Trump has made clear he wants, or vote with reality which is that Joe Biden won the election.

Now that's almost certainly going to happen. Josh Hawley making that clear. The big question, how many state wills he and House Republicans object to. And, two, will any other Republican senators join him?

For now, it seems the answer is likely yes. We'll have to wait and see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right. Phil, thank you so much for that.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell all but killing the chance for $22,000 stimulus checks for American families. There's a growing push after President Trump finally decided to demand the payments. He even found unlikely allies. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): We have a very unlikely ally in President Trump. Nobody here has disagreed with Mr. Trump more times than I have, and yet here is what the leader of the Republican Party says, he says $2,000 ASAP. So even on this issue, amazingly enough, the president of the United States is right.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Let's talk about COVID-19 relief. Four days ago, President Trump --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: But Senator McConnell remains unmoved, blaming it on Democrats who won't agree to link those checks to an election fraud probe and less liability protection for big tech.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCONNELL: The Senate is not going to split apart the three issues that President Trump linked together just because Democrats are afraid to address two of them. The Senate's not going to be bullied into rushing out more borrowed money into the hands of Democrat rich friends who don't need the help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Senate Minority Leader Schumer fuming, asking this question, after all the insanity that Senate Republicans have tolerated from President Trump, $2,000 checks to Americans in a pandemic, is this where Senate Republicans are going to draw the line?

There's concerning new intelligence about a threat to U.S. troops overseas. Mercenaries offered money to attack American service members in Afghanistan. This time, the offer came from China.

International security editor Nick Paton Walsh has reported extensively from Afghanistan, and he joins us now from London with this story.

Nick, what can you tell us this morning?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Well, it is something of a confusing tale here. I think the best thing is to give the context of the plot we heard about earlier on this year, under which Russian intelligence agents were accused by U.S. and European intelligence officials of paying money to the Taliban to attack American forces and that seems to have resulted in some casualties.

What we're hearing now, though, from a senior administration official talking to my colleagues in D.C. is the suggestion, in fact, that the Chinese paid what was referred to as non-state actors to launch similar attacks too. Now, this doesn't at this point seem to have been information that's been corroborated as far as these officials say, and it's not clear quite exactly resulted as a consequence of this plot. I should point out that China says through its foreign ministry, this is complete nonsense and denies it entirely.

But it appears to have been serious enough that it made the presidential daily briefing on December the 17th, and then President Donald Trump discussed with his national security adviser Robert O'Brien.

So it isn't really clear exactly what we're dealing with, whether this is an unprecedented bid by China to get involved in a similar plot that could potentially jeopardize or result in the death of American forces in Afghanistan. That would be a stark escalation frankly on China's behalf, if we're dealing with muddy intelligence and the fact that, of course, the Trump administration has yet to publicly -- I should say Donald Trump, has yet to publicly call out Russia for this alleged plot for Americans in Afghanistan. And we heard earlier on this year, they're adding China to that mix, possibly muddies the water there.

But still, very stark allegations here from a senior administration official talking to my colleagues in Washington. And clearly an escalation, potentially by China here, one that they staunchly deny, and something that the presidential administration in the U.S. says it will declassify in the days ahead.

[05:10:01]

So more to come on this -- Christine.

ROMANS: Nick Paton Walsh for us in London -- thank you, Nick.

All eyes on Iran this morning, as well as senior U.S. defense official telling CNN the threat level is the most concerning since the U.S. assassination of a top Iranian general nearly a year ago. Still, the Pentagon is divided over the specific risk from the regime and the militias, of course, it supports in that region.

CNN's Arwa Damon joins us live with more.

Good morning, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

A lot of mixed messages coming out from this administration. And a lot of confusing statements about the intelligence that the U.S. does have when it comes to the current threat level being posed by Iran. You have as you mentioned there some senior officials saying that this is the most concerning, the highest threat level since the killing of Qassem Soleimani about a year ago.

You have others who are saying that despite the fact that there are some claims that Iran is moving short range missiles into Iraq, that there is no real concrete evidence to back these claims, that there is no real intelligence that is corroborating statements that an attack from Iran is actually imminent.

The U.S. itself is also sending out very mixed messages to Iran, and to the region on Wednesday, flying B52 bombers over the Middle East in an attempt to flex its military muscle, and send a warning to Iran. But at the same time, acting Secretary of Defense Christopher miller decided against a push to extend the deployment of one of the U.S. aircraft carriers in the region, withdrawing it instead in an apparent signal of de-escalation to Iran.

But suffice it to say, that despite this conflicting intelligence, despite these mixed messages, this is very much a region that is on edge, not entirely sure what Trump may end up doing in his final days in office.

ROMANS: All right. Arwa Damon for us in Istanbul. Thank you so much, Arwa, for that.

Just about 12 minutes past the hour, how do you rebuild a jobs market that went from record highs to record lows because of the pandemic? What's in store for 2021, next.

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[05:15:34]

ROMANS: The coronavirus wiped out a decade of job gains. President- elect Joe Biden inheriting a huge problem from President Trump, America's job recovery is stuck in a rut. The unemployment rate catapulted from a near 50-year low to the highest level on record in just two months. It inched down to 6.7 percent in November, but that decrease came as more workers left the labor force for good.

Over the summer, the jobs recovery looked decent. But the economy is still down 9.8 million jobs. You can see there that the recovery has stalled. Economists estimated 100,000 jobs were added in December, but the unemployment rate will rise to 6.8 percent, the first increase since April. The biggest potential source of helped, a widespread vaccination programs is still months away. Eventually the vaccine will help provide jobs and sectors with face-to-face contact, like travel and hospitality.

Economists at Goldman Sachs expect a mid-year hiring jolt to push the jobless rate down to 5.2 percent by the end of next year. Until then, lower income jobs are the most at risk as states once again prepare for a surge in cases. Economists say tighter restrictions will mean more unemployment over the winter.

The AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine bringing much needed hope to the U.K. Three quarters of England is now under tier four lock down, heading into 2021. Most Europeans still face the same restrictions and health concerns they have for months.

CNN's Matthew Chance in London with more.

And there are warnings this morning, hey, no New Year's Eve parties and gatherings. This is a critical situation in the U.K.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, very dangerous situation indeed. According to officials that have been talking about this, not just the restrictions they have been facing for the past couple of months, they're ratcheting them up over the course of the past 24 hours. That's going to continue for days, weeks, who knows how long in the future.

Fifty thousand, just over, new infections of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, about a thousand deaths, that's the most there have been since the height of the pandemic back in April. And so, government officials here saying they're being left with no choice but to impose severe lockdown restrictions, tier four lockdown as they call it here, on 2/3 of the population, significantly more than that, in fact.

And so, you know, warnings being given by health officials not to party this New Year's Eve, COVID likes crowds is the message they're trying to put out there, urging people, warning people to stay at home, and not have parties. This would be the norm, of course, at this time of year.

It's not all bad news, though. There is a glimmer of hope, as 2020 finally comes to an end. The AstraZeneca, Oxford University vaccine has been approved for use in Britain, along with the other vaccines approved for use here.

It's got some advantages over the other vaccines in the sense it's more easily stored. It doesn't have to go down to, you know, kind of industrial sort of depths of temperature. It can be stored in a normal refrigerator, and it can be more easily distributed.

So, the hope is from government officials that that vaccination program is going to be bolstered and increased in the days and weeks to come, and hopefully, they say, there will be an end to this pandemic as early as the spring.

ROMANS: Hopefully. All right. Matthew Chance for us in London, thank you.

Britain's post-Brexit law goes into effect -- excuse me -- about 12 hours from now. It just beat the deadline. Now, the final countdown is on for the U.K. and the E.U. to go their separate ways after 47 years.

What does that mean for Britain, and European nations?

CNN's Salma Abdelaziz live in London with more.

Good morning.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Good morning, Christine.

Brexit is done. The war over Brexit is finally over. The peace treaty is signed if you will.

But in some ways, Brexit is never really over, is it? Because now, it goes into action. Now it's no longer just this theoretical idea. Prime Minister Boris Johnson would, of course, tout this as a victory, a moment of national pride, in which he says this country has gained back its sovereignty, the right over its national destiny. But for others who criticized this deal, it is, of course, a very sad day, a day in which British people lose part of their identity, the European part, in which you no longer have freedom of movement. You can no longer pick up and move to Italy or go study in Spain. All of that gone.

So, what's in the deal? It's a zero tariffs, zero quota deal. So, in some ways, the U.K. is spared the worst of the economic despair of leaving the single market and the customs union, and some of the major sticking points have been solved like fishing rates and no hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

[05:20:03]

I think everyone will tell you, that yes, no tariffs, no quota, but there will be more friction. There'll be more bureaucracy, more red tape, more restrictions for businesses to get through, and ultimately, ultimately, the test of this deal will be the economy, will be how the average British person does under this deal.

Of course, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will tell you, you will do better. But a lot of criticism that essentially this is happening at a time that could not be worse for this country. It's facing a recession, the worst it's seen in over 300 years, it's facing a job crisis and a pandemic to put more uncertainty at a time like this, Christine, well, that could be disastrous.

ROMANS: Yeah, it could. All right. Salma, thank you so much for following that for us.

A long overdue, a woman is a head coach in the NBA game, the "Bleacher Report" is next.

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ROMANS: All right. New Year celebrations around the world are still taking place but will look very different this year. In Times Square, the New Year celebrations will see police presence reduced 80 percent. The police chief is telling potential visitors don't come.

Cities like Las Vegas, Sydney, and Edinburg, Scotland are opting for smaller fireworks celebrations or virtual displays instead of the traditional show stopping events.

Fireworks in places like Los Angeles, London, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro are cancelled entirely.

An historic night in the NBA as Becky Hammon becomes the first woman to lead a team during the regular season.

Carolyn Manno has this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Carolyn.

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Christine. You know, Becky Hammon is already blazing a trail in the NBA. She's the first full-time female assistant coach in league history.

[05:25:01]

But this was in her words a significant moment, a really big deal. It's not exactly how she drew it up.

She didn't walk into the arena thinking she would be given the role, but after Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich was ejected in the second quarter against the Lakers, he gave the keys to Hammon who has been a coach in the organization since 2014. The Spurs ended up losing to the reigning world champs, but Hammon said at the time she was trying to focus on getting the win. She reflected on the gravity of the night afterwards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY HAMMON, SERVED AS SAN ANTONIO SPURS ACTING HEAD COACH WEDNESDAY: I try not to think about the huge picture and the huge aspect of it because it can get overwhelming. It's my job to go in there and be focused for those guys, and make sure I'm helping them do the things that will help us win.

I really have not had time to reflect. I haven't looked at my phone. I have no idea what's going on outside of AT&T Center.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MANNO: Meantime, the Buffalo Bills will welcome back fans when they host their first home playoff game in 25 years. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announcing yesterday, about 6,700 spectators are going to be allowed inside Bills stadium. All fans will be tested for COVID-19 before the game, and anybody with a positive test will not be allowed to attend.

Cuomo said this will be a pilot program of sorts to test ways that the state can reopen businesses and hold events safely.

Second ranked Clemson is in New Orleans ahead of tomorrow's Sugar Bowl Game against number 3, Ohio State. They are without an important member of this team.

Offensive coordinator and play caller, Tony Elliot is going to miss the college football semifinal after reportedly testing positive for COVID-19. If Clemson does win, Elliot might be able to come back for the national championship game. That is on January 11th.

And, finally, for you guys this morning, the Wisconsin Badgers beat Wake Forest in the Duke's Mayo Bowl in Charlotte yesterday. They just won't have any hardware to show for it when they return for campus because while dancing in the locker room, the quarterback Graham Mertz accidentally fumbled the Lennox crystal football, it fell off the base. It shattered on the floor.

But the Badgers are a resourceful bunch. A little tape, a little squeezable bottle of Duke's Mayo. And good as new. I wonder if anybody is going to notice it looks a little different.

It's a 2020 trophy if I have ever seen one.

ROMANS: You're absolutely right. That says it all.

All right. Carolyn Manno, thank you so much.

Say so long to 2020, and welcome 2021 with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen, New Year's Eve live from mostly empty Times Square. It's going to be so much fun, though, tonight starting at 8:00 Eastern on CNN.

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