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New Day

Comparing At-Home COVID Tests as Omicron Swells in U.S.; Early Sensor Readings: North Korea Missile Could Hit U.S.; Russian Troops Begin Withdrawal in Kazakhstan After Violent Protests; Prince Andrew Loses Charities, Military Titles and Sex Abuse Suit. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired January 14, 2022 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:09]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Biden administration says starting tomorrow, health insurers must cover the costs of at-home COVID tests.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard joins us now with how to get your hands on these what will be free tests, Jacqueline.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That's right, John. You know, this is big news. So far tests like these, like the BinaxNOW and Quick View, they cost about $20 to get at a local store or pharmacy so far. But starting tomorrow, if you do have health insurance, depending on your plan, you can get a test either at no cost up front or, depending on your plan, submit a set for reimbursement to your test.

So, here are some steps on what we can expect starting tomorrow. If you have health insurance, you can get it over the counter for free or file for reimbursement. Some insurers may set up a preferred network of stores, pharmacies or websites where you can get your test from. If you purchase your test outside of network, insurers are required to reimburse up to $12 per test.

Of course, there are people who don't have health insurance. And the Biden administration says, for all Americans, starting in a few days or weeks, definitely starting this month, according to the administration, they're going to set up a website where anyone can order a free test and have it delivered to them.

We are expecting deliveries to start this month in January, the launch of this website. We can expect that option for people without insurance. Even though it's exciting news, availability is still important. If it is still hard to come by the tests, we are hearing a lot of people are having difficulty finding tests at stores or pharmacies, if that is still a problem, then we still have that hurdle to address. According to the president, he says we can expect to see more tests available this month. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I got here, we were doing fewer than 2 million tests a day. This month, it is estimated that we will hit approximately 15 million tests a day and we'll have 375 million at-home rapid tests in January alone. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: The president says we can expect 375 million at-home tests available. Health officials say they hope the tests will materialize soon -- John.

BERMAN: Yeah, bottom line, in terms of what you can control, figure out if your insurer has a preferred place to buy them, and save your receipts no matter what.

HOWARD: Exactly.

BERMAN: Jacqueline Howard, thank you very much.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: This morning, there's growing despair and frustration for millions of American parents who have kids under the age of 5. There is currently no vaccination available for their children, even if they wanted one. Many parents feel their voices are being ignored.

Joining me now is Lauren Sherbuk. She's a working mom with two daughters, ages 3 and 1.

Lauren, I want to thank you so much for being with us. You are a mom with kids in this age group. Tell me about the frustration of not having this protection for them and how your life is different from other people who have kids who are a little older and can get vaccinated.

LAUREN SHERBUK, MOTHER OF TWO YOUNG CHILDREN UNDER 5 YEARS OLD: Hi. Thank you for having me. It's frustrating for sure. It's a lot on the adults and people who are eligible within our population to get vaccinated more to take those precautions. And that's hard that we have to rely on other people to keep our kids safe. And it's just really frustrating.

And I think with older kids, at least you have that option. At least they're able to vocalize how they're feeling when they do get sick. Is it COVID? Is it not? And parents can -- it's a little easier for parents to work remotely when there's exposure. You can't pop a 3- year-old in front of the TV. It might buy you 15 minutes, but that's about it.

KEILAR: Yeah. Tell us about what happens at day care when there's exposure and how often that has happened for you.

SHERBUK: We have been pretty lucky, especially because the numbers were so low for so long. The policy is if they have a runny nose, they can't go to school. That's what happens at day care.

So, then my husband and I are taking off work to try to figure out who's watching them, paying for multiple child care. You pay for day care but they can't go, so you have to pay for a babysit to watch them.

KEILAR: And if you think our child has COVID, then you can't necessarily pay for babysitter either in case you want to keep them from being exposed.

You're out of vacation time, right? So what happens when you're at home with one of your children?

SHERBUK: It's just time unpaid. I'm fortunate that I have that option, but it's obviously really frustrating when you are actively losing money because (AUDIO GAP) in day care.

[06:35:06]

KEILAR: What do you think of the messaging? I have a -- I have a 5- year-old who is vaccinated and I have a 3-year-old who is unvaccinated. And full disclosure, I gave the 3-year-old COVID over Christmas, which is obviously not what I wanted to happen. But I noticed that when I'm talking to people and they talk about the pandemic, I can almost always tell if they have kids who are 5 and under or they don't. It's almost like living two different kinds of lives.

What do you think the message is like when parents who have younger kids versus older?

SHERBUK: I don't think there's much messaging. I don't know what to do. The message is, oh, it's mild for kids, so they will be okay. But we don't know that.

We don't know the long-term effects. We don't know if it's -- you know, you get past those 10 days and it seems okay, but we don't know if anything is happening beyond that. It's frustrating to never -- like you know, you can't turn to anybody.

KEILAR: Did you think you have the option of a vaccine now or close to now?

SHERBUK: I was hoping, yes. I was hopeful that at least come 2022, there -- we would be closer than we are now. It's frustrating it keeps getting pushed back.

KEILAR: Yeah, it has been getting push back. We are certainly watching that and waiting.

Lauren, thank you so much for being with us. I think you -- you have frustrations that so many parents are experiencing right now. We appreciate you talking about it.

SHERBUK: Thank you.

KEILAR: A North Korean missile launch causing a last-minute scramble among defense officials. We're going to tell you why.

And Kazakhstan's president saying that it will take months to rebuild its largest city after violent there. We are there live.

BERMAN: And this just in, Joe Ragan is not a doctor. Hundreds of physicians and health care workers are calling on Spotify to take action against him after an episode filled with medical misinformation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:41:13]

KEILAR: Overnight, North Korea with another projectile. This is the third here in the past month. This as CNN has learned that one of those launches caused an urgent scramble when early warning systems suggested it might be able to hit the U.S.

CNN's Katie Bo Lillis joining us now on this.

Katie Bo, tell us what happened here.

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. So, there's been this mystery since this launch on Tuesday. Why did the FAA moved to issue what's called a ground stop, to ground some pilots in California, after the launch of a North Korean missile that by all accounts was short range, was never any danger to the United States, and, in fact, it splashed down pretty harmlessly between Japan and China.

What we learned is that early indicators from early -- early warning sensors suggested that the missile did, in fact, have the capability to potentially hit as far as California or the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Now, it's important t to understand that these kinds of early telemetry readings are often wrong and they are often dismissed as more data becomes available. And that's exactly what happened here.

Military officials were quickly able to determine that this thing was short range, that it was never going to be able to get to the United States, posed no real danger. The whole thing was over in a matter of minutes. But in the few uncertain minutes, the FAA issued a ground stop keeping pilots on the ground for about 15 minutes.

KEILAR: So, look, they are being conservative. They want to make sure nothing happens. What's the FAA saying?

LILLIS: Yeah. So, the FAA, which is always in the room for the kinds of calls that take place after launches of this kind, says it was just being prudent, taking precautionary measures. The military U.S. Northern Command, and NORAD, have been pretty frank that the decision to ground the planes was the FAA's alone. They've kind of obliquely suggested in some public statements that maybe the FAA got out over its skis here.

But really what we saw on Tuesday was officials going further down the checklist what to do in the event of a missile launch than we have seen for previous launches of this kind, at least in recent memory.

So, bottom line, Brianna, we got a glimpse of what it might look like if the threat were real.

KEILAR: Yeah. Very interesting to see that happened. Katie Bo, thank you.

LILLIS: My pleasure. KEILAR: Ahead, the Justice Department dolling out sedition charges to

11 insurrectionists including the leader of the far right extremist group the Oath Keepers. We will speak to his attorney.

BERMAN: The violent protests in Kazakhstan leaving the country in shambles. CNN is live on the ground.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:48:05]

BERMAN: This morning, the president of Kazakhstan says the violent unrest there has caused so much damage in the larger city, it will take eight months to restore it.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen live on the ground for us there.

Fred, lucky to have you there. Can you tell us the latest?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John.

I mean, I think he's absolutely right. It is going to take a very long time to repair some of the damage that was done here. I'm in front of the mayor's office here in the largest city in Almaty. And as you can see, in the outside of the building, the facade, it is completely charred because rioters entered that building when these protests were going on in the entire country, they ransacked the place inside, and then set fire to it.

Now, of course, Kazakhstan authorities say they are in complete control of the situation now, but were only able to do that after a massive crackdown. Let's have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (voice-over): Inside the charred carcass of the Almaty mayor's office, a massive cleanup is now under way. By hand and by machine, work has started to repair the damage caused by violent protests that gripped Kazakhstan. CNN is the first media outlet allowed inside to survey the extent of the damage.

The authorities have brought in dozens, if not hundreds of workers, to clean up the aftermath of what were the street battles here in the largest city of Almaty. And it's really remarkable to see the full scale of the destruction here in the mayor's office, as the authorities say rioters entered the building and set fire to all of it.

Kazakhstan's officials say they were dangerously close to losing control not just here in Almaty but other places across the country. Kazakhstan's president said protests that were originally against high fuel prices were hijacked by what he calls, quote, terrorists.

He issued a shoot to kill order and summoned an international military force led by Russia.

PRESIDENT KASSYM-JOMART TOKAYEV, KAZAKHSTAN (through translator): We prevented dangerous threats for our country's security.

[06:50:03]

As part of the counterterrorist mission, we are trying to identify people who committed those crimes.

PLEITGEN: The government says things are now largely under control. And there is evidence of that across the city. Life is almost back to normal.

The Russian-led military force has started its withdrawal, although the process is said to take another nine days. But authorities say their crackdown will continue. Around 10,000 people have been detained, and more than 160 killed.

Opposition activist Zhanbolat Mamay was at the protest. He says things started peacefully but then he, too, was beaten by what he called provocateurs. He provided with us this video seeming to show what happened. And these photos of what he looked like after the attack. Mamay says he believes the rioting was a pretext for a violent crackdown.

ZHANBOLAT MAMAY, KAZAKHSTANI OPPOSITION ACTIVIST: The government decided to slaughter their own people. And one more great problem, I think, is a that it was done not only with the help of Kazakhstan security forces but with interference of Russian troops.

PLEITGEN: Kazakhstan's leadership denies attacking peaceful protesters and says they've launched a full investigation into who was behind the violence that erupted.

Meanwhile, the country's president has vowed to improve people's living conditions and rebuild the sites damaged as fast as possible.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN (on camera): And they certainly are showing they want to do it as fast as possible, John. They are putting autopsy a tarp to begin the reconstruction of the mayor's office. They are doing that in a lot of places around the country. And, you know, one of the reasons why they also want to show that is because this country does have a lot of international investment, a lot of American business here as well. And they want to show they can get things back on track as fast as possible, and they are reliable partner internationally as far as business is concerned as well.

But you do feel that the events that took place here last week, those protests that happened, the violence that happened, of course, left deep scars in this country and in its society, John.

BERMAN: Yeah. Protecting the image of stability is important even if it may not be the reality deep down.

Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much for being with us.

So maybe Boris Johnson should just stop throwing parties. The latest shindig that has the prime minister's office under fire.

KEILAR: And more drama Down Under. The Australian minister revoking Novak Djokovic's visa. This happening just days before the Australian Open. So, what is next for the tennis star?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:56:54]

KEILAR: Prince Andrew will have to fight a sexual abuse lawsuit against him out of New York as a private citizen. Queen Elizabeth stripped her second son of his military titles and royal duties, and he will no longer be known as his royal highness.

CNN's Max Foster live in Hampshire, England, with more.

Big moves here to strip him of these titles. He still, of course, has some titles, Max, but this is significant.

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. He remains part of the family, so he is still Prince Andrew. He's still the duke of York. As you say, he has been stripped of that styling, his royal highness.

And that's significant because it means he is not any longer of the central core of the monarchy. That's what would normally get him a seat at the state events, family events. He is no longer part of that. And as you say, those cherished military titles have all been swept away, all the other royal patronages as well, which give him work as a working royal. He is effectively being fired from the firm, still part of the family, as you say.

I have to say, Brianna, I have been speaking to someone in York, a city in northern England, there is a local campaign to even have the title duke of York taken away because they feel that is an embarrassment. So, we'll wait to see what happens there. But this means that he will continue this fight in the New York court as a private citizen. He's going to have to find some way of paying for it. Who knows how he's going to get that money.

But it does appear that that is going to continue, not only because the judge has said there's a case to answer there, but also because Prince Andrew and Giuffre's team have both suggested they're not seeking, at the moment of least, an out of court settlement.

BERMAN: So, Max, talk about turmoil at the highest level of the United Kingdom. This morning, we are just learning of another boozy party at Downing Street while they were mourning the loss of Prince Philip?

FOSTER: Yeah. This was a period of lockdown, April of last year. Two more parties in Downing Street, according to the telegraph and confirmed today, at least one of them by Downing Street. It was a party -- it was a leading party for the head of communications the night before Prince Philip's funeral. The nation was in mourning. You will remember the poignant image of the queen having to sit alone in the church at the funeral and limiting her guests to less than 30 because those were the rules.

So this is another huge controversy about, you know, power, abuse -- the people responsible for creating the lockdown rules breaking those rules. It's currently under investigation, and we haven't heard from Boris Johnson because he is isolating at the top of number 10 Downing Street because a relative has COVID.

KEILAR: All right. Max, thank you so much for the latest there from England.

NEW DAY continues right now.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. It is Friday, January 14th, and I'm Brianna Keilar with John Berman.

We do have some breaking news and that is that the Australian government has revoked the visa for Novak Djokovic just three days before the Australian Open.

[07:00:00]