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Erin Burnett Outfront

Donald Trump Spends Holidays in Mar-A-Lago; U.S. Hits Record Hospitalizations for Fourth Straight Day; Russia Claims Cyberattack May Be Plot To Hurt Ties With Biden; Iconic Chicago Deli Adapts As It Struggles To Survive COVID; Restaurant CEO To Congress: "We Need Relief & We Need It Now"; Black Americans May Face Roadblocks Accessing COVID Vaccine. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired December 24, 2020 - 20:00   ET

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

[20:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: Perhaps it is because there is nothing that Mike Pence can actually do.

We are learning now that the two men met yesterday for over an hour in the Oval Office right before Trump left for Florida, and then Trump retweeted from Air Force One, a call out that Pence should reject the Electoral College votes when he presides over a joint session of Congress in January, something Mike Pence cannot do.

But while the President focuses on his fantasy, the reality is, the American people desperately need a President who is in fact -- who in fact will work tirelessly on their behalf, not on his own behalf.

Because right now, 27.4 million American adults don't have enough to eat. Nearly eight million more Americans are in poverty since June. More than 20 million Americans are now dependent on their unemployment benefits, and 12 million of them are about to lose those benefits after Christmas if the President doesn't sign the COVID relief bill, as he is suggesting. That is creating chaos, that is not working tirelessly.

And President-elect Joe Biden will soon be facing clearly a mess to clean up, a fact that he seems concerned about right now telling journalists according to "The Washington Post," this, "Many of the people with the competence to be able to tell us what exactly is going on in the Justice Department or the Energy Department, they have either been fired, or they left, but they're not there. And so I think it's going to take a while to find out where the intentional, as well as unintentional landmines are."

They seem more and more intentional by the day.

Jessica Dean is OUT FRONT in Wilmington, Delaware covering President- elect Joe Biden. Jeremy Diamond is OUT FRONT near the President's Mar- a-Lago resort in Florida.

I want to start with Jeremy, if I could. Any indication, Jeremy that the President is planning to give the country some clarity on what's next for the COVID relief bill? JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know that that

bill was actually flown to Palm Beach today. The question, though, is whether that is for the President to sign that legislation, or whether he intends to veto it.

The White House so far has declined to answer our request for comments on that very question. And today, though, if you're reading the tea leaves, the President wasn't focused on this relief bill at all.

He was golfing. He was meeting with some of his wealthy friends who belong to his golf club and he was talking not about the coronavirus relief bill, but talking about contesting the election and those efforts that the President has continued to engage in and be single- mindedly focused on.

I'm told by a person familiar with the matter that the President was talking about the fact that he intends to continue to contest this election. This person said that the President seems to be very resolute in continuing to contest this election, believing that things are not over.

But where the President is not resolute is in trying to fix this -- the problems that he seems to have or that he says he claims to have with this piece of legislation.

And perhaps that's because chaos is simply the objective here, Kate. The President doesn't seem like he is -- he is not making phone calls to Republican Members of Congress, to the congressional leadership, certainly not to the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who he hasn't spoken with in over a year.

And perhaps ultimately, the objective is not only chaos, but making Joe Biden's job as President and his first days as President, his first weeks as President that much more difficult.

BOLDUAN: Jeremy, thank you. So let me go over to Jessica now. Jessica, Joe Biden is clearly gearing up for battle when he takes office now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, I mean, you just read that excerpt from what he told journalists yesterday where he talked about these intentional and unintentional landmines that he knows he is going to find and that his administration is going to find when they go into office on January 20th.

And that is very particular, he was addressing President Trump and his political appointees when he was talking about that.

What's interesting, is also in that conversation with journalists, he really did continue to hammer home his bipartisan message when it came to congressional Republicans. Kate, he really still believes that they can get some deals done, that they will be willing to find some middle ground where they can get some things done, and of course, much of what he wants to do has to go through Congress in order to get done.

What he said was, he is ready to fight. He is willing to fight, but he said in his experience, that if you get into one of these blood matches, nothing gets done.

So he is talking about his decades of experience in the Senate, but of course, Kate, he acknowledges this as well, some people have called him naive, saying that the Senate is not the same place that it was even when he and President Obama were in office.

Of course, we'll see what happens January 20th and beyond.

BOLDUAN: Okay, that's for sure. Jessica, thank you. All right, OUT FRONT with me now is Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic," David Cay Johnston, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist who has been covering Donald Trump for over 30 years and Brittany Shepherd, White House correspondent for Yahoo News.

Ron when Joe Biden says that Donald Trump is leaving landmines behind, how big could those be?

[20:05:11]

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, you know, there have been very few occasions in American history when we have changed chief executives in the middle of a full scale national crisis.

I mean, you could argue that the pandemic is the most serious national security challenge we have faced since World War II, and other than Richard Nixon succeeding Lyndon Johnson in 1968, very rarely have we changed Commanders-in-Chief during wartime.

So it's an unusually large challenge to begin with, and then, on the other side, we're seeing less cooperation, more active hostility in the transition than we probably ever experienced in American history.

Maybe Buchanan and Lincoln was comparable, you know, leading into the Civil War.

So the challenge is at the high end, the lack of cooperation, the amount of cooperation is at the low end. So you can see where this is becoming a situation that is enormously challenging, not only for Joe Biden, but for the country.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, he is clearly laying that out. If he is telling that to reporters now, you know, that he really is -- has to be concerned. And that's what I wanted to ask you, Brittany, because you've been covering the Biden transition. How concerned are they really about the chaos and mess that could be left behind? Or is it just President Trump? Or does that extend down through staff?

BRITTANY SHEPHERD, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, YAHOO NEWS: Well, Kate, there's frustration at every rung of the Biden transition right now, and they are so upset that they're not even able to be frustrated about the big things, it is the small things, too.

I think Joe Biden is a politician known to be hot under the collar. But look at his Christmas address earlier this week, it was just supposed to be address about goodwill, you know, saying that everyone should stay home and that he was going to get the vaccine, but it slowly became a frustrating speech about how the transition, especially the Pentagon's Department of Defense, were not giving the transition adequate information about this huge SolarWinds cyber hack, which we know is not just a cyber-issue, but can also be an issue of domestic and international terrorism.

And they have to go to the press and go to the American people to point out the malfeasance that they wish they could just keep private. And aides have been telling me that they can't even be banging the drum about this when they're banging the drum about really small petty things coming from Trump political appointees.

They're pointing mostly towards this Twitter password that usually happens when administration's change hands. Usually, you get to keep all of the followers you gained. And now the Trump administration is saying you have to start at bullseye, you have to start at zero.

And aides are kind of texting me, and they are saying, we can't -- if this is his floor of pettiness, where is his ceiling going to be as lives are on the line and they don't really know what they can do beyond scream and yell and hope that the American people will retaliate in due time?

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, that is the definition of petty. I mean, David, we saw, but David, you'd have some more insight in this because when it does come to Twitter followers, that is no small thing when it comes to President Trump, that's like the entire ballgame.

And we saw the President today, David, golfing, but there is no reporting of him actually dealing with the crisis that he just created that will be impacting millions of Americans with this COVID relief bill.

And since there is a tweet for everything, this seems a good occasion to bring one out. October 23 2014, Donald Trump tweets, "President Obama has a major meeting on the New York City Ebola outbreak with people flying in from all over the country, but decided to play golf." Irony is definitely completely lost on him.

DAVID CAY JOHNSTON, PULITZER PRIZE WINNING INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Yes, not to mention that he said if he was elected President, he would never play golf while he was in office.

Three years ago, I wrote that if a virus were to hopscotch around the planet on jetliners and caused a worldwide pandemic, Donald Trump would not know what to do. Well, we've seen exactly that, he doesn't know what to do.

He is doing here what he did when he was in financial trouble 30 years ago, when he should have been dealing with people he owed money to. Trump was sitting in his office going over swatches of cloth on what fabric to pick for one of his casinos.

He is running away from responsibility because he's a con man and he does not know, Kate, what to do in a situation like this. He has absolutely no idea.

BOLDUAN: But David, this is not a casino. He knows this isn't a casino. These are millions of people's lives. He has had multiple briefings. He has pushed for -- he has been -- I mean, he knows all of this.

We don't even need to go into the examples. This is not a casino.

JOHNSTON: Correct. Right. But he doesn't -- the point is that he doesn't have any real executive skill. He's always hired people to run his businesses for him, his TV show -- to anybody who understands how business works. It may have made him a hero and a star to a large audience of people who've never been in any dealings with high level executives. But to executives, it's a ridiculous show.

He simply doesn't have the skill to assign people to demand results, because he really doesn't know how to manage. It's all a con. His whole life has been bullying, making claims and hiring people then to do things on his behalf.

[20:10:36]

BROWNSTEIN: Ron, you know, other than golf, it does seem that the other thing that the President is focused on is pardons, and at the top of his list is anyone that is wrapped up in the Russia investigation who stayed loyal to him.

I want to read you something that Senator Lindsey Graham actually said to Manu Raju nearly two years ago about pardoning folks related to the Russia investigation.

Lindsey Graham told Manu, "Pardoning Manafort (Paul Manafort) would be seen as a political disaster for the President. There may come a day down the road after the politics have changed that you'd want to consider an application of him like everybody else, but now would be a disaster." That day came?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Was it a disaster for the President?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, you know, we're going to see, but it is a disaster for the country, I think. I mean, it is absolutely embarrassing and demeaning to America's standing in the world.

I mean, we literally send people all over the globe trying to teach countries how to stand up democracies. The National Democratic Institute says it's worked in 156 countries.

Now, we have a President who is literally trying to tear down our own democracy both through his attempts to subvert the election since November, these pardons for cronies and Confederates, people who have worked with him. The efforts to pressure the Justice Department into launching independent counsels against his political rivals.

I mean, this is the kind of thing, Kate, that you see in a third world country when the walls are closing in on Somoza, Ceausescu, or Trujillo or Noriega, I mean, this is the kind of the last, you know, gasp, really of a strongman who knows that the days are numbered, who is addled, who is erratic, who is vengeful, who is angry, and what is most striking to me about this is just the continued reluctance of almost all Republicans to call out what the President is doing.

They have enabled him for four years, they have allowed him to develop the assumption that no matter how far he goes, there will not be effective sanction, and you are seeing the results of that every day and probably we're going to see it in even -- you know, even more outrageous ways between now and the inauguration.

BOLDUAN: And Ron is actually getting something I'm curious about Brittany. When it comes to let's just say the pardons. The President does not care about the fallout clearly. Does people around him care at this point?

SHEPHERD: Well, I think people around him are just kind of looking for the door. I mean, aides are privately sending their resumes around trying to get -- trying to land somewhere normal.

I think there's lots of worry in Washington that folks who worked for Trump won't be able to have a job again. I do think it's important for us to kind of remember who Donald Trump is. He is a man whose personal orbit has gotten smaller and smaller over the years. He is someone who is very big on loyalty.

Those we thought were his friends have now sold him up the river in books, and so as he feels that he can't get a net win in his mind, and in his aides' minds, he is just going to help his friends out. That's why we haven't seen a Michael Cohen pardon, but we have seen a Papadopoulos and Manafort pardon.

You know, he thinks himself a hero. He is someone who believes in these big, gregarious comic book narratives. This is a television producer, and I think those in his wake understand that and they know, they don't want to be in the firing line, they're going to keep out.

BOLDUAN: You know, David, last hour, it actually was raised and it really now has me thinking the way that you are describing the President.

He likes to be -- and David Gergen bringing it up that he likes to be the white knight, even if it's manufactured, right? He's the arsonist that lights the fire and then comes in and then you know, puts out the fire.

Do you think that's what this is? Like that when it comes even to the extent of when you're talking about millions of people's livelihoods that really need help, and these benefits are going to be expiring right after Christmas, that he is planning some grand entrance and he thinks he's going to get credit for it.

JOHNSTON: Yes, Kate, I actually think one of the smarter things Donald has done politically for his own future, is saying that $600.00 is not enough. The check should be $2,000.00, something he could have said a long time ago, but says now.

Then what does that do? Well to people who really need $2,000.00 rather than $600.00, he is a hero. Secondly, he can blame any delay on Mitch McConnell and of course, a key to Donald's campaign and political position to say, I'm not part of Washington, I'm not part of this imaginary Deep State. So it really helps him position himself going forward where he's going to try and be a sort of government critic in exile or create a new TV career for himself.

[20:15:22]

JOHNSTON: And I don't see any loss for him in this because if there isn't a passage quickly of a revised bill, he can A, decide not to veto it and say, well, I did everything I could for you folks; or he can veto it, and say, well take it up with the establishment Republicans, it's their fault.

BOLDUAN: It is all branding. Thank you all very much.

OUT FRONT for us next, the U.S. hitting record hospitalizations for the fourth day in a row, creating a crisis for healthcare workers.

We're going to speak to two doctors on the frontlines on this Christmas Eve.

Plus the Kremlin tonight is spinning quite a story about the massive hack into U.S. government agencies. It's not us, they claim.

And an iconic Chicago deli, like so many restaurants struggling to hang on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think a lot of people would cry, a nostalgic place would be gone and we are losing enough of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: We have breaking news. The United States is reporting a new record high number of coronavirus hospitalizations. More than 120,000 Americans currently fighting for their lives in the hospital tonight. The fourth straight day that the U.S. has hit this very grim milestone and at least a dozen states are also reporting record high hospitalizations.

[20:20:09]

BOLDUAN: So let's go there. OUT FRONT right now, two doctors on the frontlines this evening, Dr. Nader Kamangar. He is working today in the COVID ICU at Olive View UCLA Medical Center and Dr. Murtaza Akhter, an ER doctor at hospitals and multiple places -- including multiple states, including Arizona.

Thank you both for being here tonight. Dr. Kamangar according to the COVID Tracking Project, which everyone keeps a very close eye on of course, California is one of the top two places in the world, nation or state for new COVID infections. The other one is Tennessee, which is really startling in the world. In California has now 23 straight days of record hospitalizations, ICU capacity is basically zero. It is, I think, down to one percent now.

These are all very startling numbers, but they are just numbers that people become numb to. How do you describe what you are seeing in your hospital?

DR. NADER KAMANGAR, OLIVE VIEW UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: It is nothing short of horrific. As you're alluding to, you know, California is obviously in a state of major surge, and certainly Los Angeles County is the epicenter of that surge.

And, you know, it's something else to be dealing with this disease on a day-to-day basis with these extremely ill patients. You know, I've never been in a war zone, but just from reading about it and seeing films, this is as close as it gets sometimes to being in a war zone.

And it's something that is -- it is something that none of us will ever forget. It is extremely humbling, challenging, and it takes really every bit of will and energy that healthcare providers, physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists have to really -- to get us through this.

And we're all seeing some light at the end of the tunnel with the initiation of vaccinations broadly. But we have many months to go for there to be any effect.

And right now, we're in the midst of this horrific surge, and our hospitals in Los Angeles County, including those in the system that I work for, the Department of Health Services are at a real breaking point.

BOLDUAN: Dr. Akhter, today Arizona reported another record of coronavirus hospitalizations. You know, back in the summer, when you were on the show, you had said that the virus was spreading so fast that virtually every single patient you had was testing positive.

Can you compare the summer to what you're looking at now?

DR. MURTAZA AKHTER, ER PHYSICIAN, VALLEYWISE HEALTH MEDICAL CENTER: Yes, Kate. It basically feels like Groundhog's Day. I almost feel like a broken record. I thought we were getting better, but we're right back to where we started, if not worse. Similar thing, lots of patients coming with COVID-like symptoms, I thought we were over it, we are not.

Similar thing where we test them, they are all frequently positive. Similar thing where we can't get a bed in the ICU. The shift I just left, I just walked out and I signed out a patient to my colleague, who has been there since yesterday, this patient came in with COVID and coded, which means she died, was resuscitated and brought back and the next day is still in the emergency department. Patients who die and get resuscitated usually goes straight to the

ICU. But there are so few beds and so many cases that she is still in the ER. It's a horrific thing to have to happen, and you can imagine the downstream effect that causes on all patients whether COVID or not. It's really troubling.

BOLDUAN: And that's the thing, right, Dr. Kamangar, it's not just the COVID patients, unfortunately. It's everyone else that needs to come in for anything.

I had a family member who needed to go into the hospital recently and they were concerned about bed space and she was not a COVID patient.

KAMANGAR: Absolutely. As Dr. Akhter said, you know, we're seeing in Los Angeles County, about 50 percent of hospital admissions right now are COVID patients. In our ICU in particular, we are about 80 percent for COVID patients and there is less and less room for patients that have other conditions, because certainly we're in a time of year where we see a lot more illnesses and we just are getting to a point where we have no capacity to care for those patients.

And this is despite us actually having limited elective procedures, surgeries and put a lot of those on the back burner while we're fighting this pandemic.

There is a real worrying concern that as things get worse, we're not even going to be able to take care of the patients we have, especially with some of the forecast models suggesting that things certainly could get worse before they get better.

[20:25:09]

BOLDUAN: For sure. Dr. Akhter, what is bringing people in to the hospital with COVID at this point? Is there a common thread? Is it -- do they -- is there a common -- you know, are they breaking protocols? Do they have COVID fatigue and then they went out and then they got -- are you hearing anything from patients of, you know, now almost a year into this, what it is among the patients that are making it into your hospital?

AKHTER: Yes, you know, part of it is almost predictable from a public health perspective, we knew that the gatherings on Thanksgiving would cause a spike, and we knew that the worst would happen about four weeks later in terms of hospitalizations. We are at almost exactly that point right now with Christmas coming up.

So part of it is unfortunately, what people are going to be doing today and tomorrow, which is gathering, which is what we don't want, but they'll be doing it. They were doing it and they are going to continue to do it. It's really unfortunate. So that's part of it. It is that it is predictable.

The other thing that's interesting, I don't know if it's interesting, or maybe it's more upsetting than anything is that they seem to be more -- this is anecdotal -- but to me, they seem to be more from household contacts, where people will come in and say my brother had it, my mother had it, et cetera, and now the patient coming in to the hospital has it.

Now, early in the summer, when we were in the hotspot, a lot of them were coming from sick nursing homes or congregate settings as well as from the community, but now a lot of people coming in saying, boy, you know, my sister or brother had it, I don't think I'd get it this bad and they're coming in.

So again, it's anecdotal. No matter how you get it, it's bad. The best way of treating COVID is to just not get it and I wish people would just you know, even if it looked acting selfishly, look out for themselves and try to take care of themselves so as to not get themselves sick, at the very least and also to not spread it.

BOLDUAN: Now, Dr. Kamangar, I want to play -- well, I'm going to play this for both of you what a nurse out of Houston told one of my colleagues, Miguel Marquez, when he was in their ICU unit last week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like, we're nonexistent and it's like you do realize that we're still here, taking care of these people, putting my life at risk, putting my kid's life at risk and my mom's life.

I think we've been forgotten, truly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Just speaking to the fatigue, just the exhaustion over such a long period of time, Dr. Kamangar. Do you feel the same way?

KAMANGAR: Absolutely. And I see it unfortunately, every day on the faces of healthcare workers, nurses, respiratory therapists, or residents or fellows who are working so hard, that that sense of frustration, and almost sometimes outrage at what they're seeing still happening out in the community at large where people are still gathering, where people are still outside occasionally not wearing masks and really not abiding by the protocols that are in place.

And there is almost this disconnect, where people are not recognizing what is happening really at the hospitals, and if they themselves or their loved ones were to get sick, that they may not be able to receive the care they need.

And I think it's an important message to really enforce in that, you know, now that we see a light at the end of the tunnel, you know, I think people can really take it upon themselves to really be more vigilant these next few days over the holidays, do everything they can to stay at home, not see their loved ones, recognizing that in a few months to come, the things hopefully will change and to give those of us that are taking care of these patients a better opportunity to give the patients we care for the care that they really need and deserve.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Well, thank you both so much.

KAMANGAR: Thank you for having us. Merry Christmas.

AKHTER: You're welcome.

BOLDUAN: OUT FRONT for us next, Russia saying tonight that the hack into U.S. government agencies being blamed on them is an effort actually to undermine their relationship with Joe Biden.

And a Chicago institution fights to survive in these very tough times, but it's more than just a restaurant to customers and employees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like coming to work and being with your family, especially now it's important more so than ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:33:24]

BOLDUAN: New tonight a top official for the Kremlin is trying to bat down claims Russia is behind the massive cyber attack on the U.S. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman now claiming that the massive breach could be a plot to hurt relations with the incoming Biden administration. This is just one day after Putin's spokesman said that Russia expects nothing positive from Biden as president.

Outfront now, former CIA chief of Russia operations Steve Hall and former senior adviser to the National Security Adviser under President Obama, Samantha Vinograd.

Steve, what do you make of this defense from Russia tonight? Someone else did it and they're trying to put the blame on us.

STEVE HALL, FMR CIA CHIEF OF RUSSIA OPERATIONS: Yes, this is standard operating procedure code for the Kremlin. I mean, they're going to they're going to admit nothing, they're going to deny everything, and then they're going to make counter-accusations. That's always what they do. The really interesting part for me, though, is the excuse. They're saying, well, you know, this is going to t-- here's somebody trying to clear the relationship with the incoming Biden administration, which actually, to me indicates that there are -- they're concerned about it, as well they should be because of course, incoming, you know, President-elect Biden understands having seen it firsthand during the Obama administration, just what the Russians are all about. So they should be worried about it. It sounds like they are.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it definitely when you read between those lines. Sam, I want to ask you about the incoming administration. But first, about the outgoing. I talked earlier this week with President Obama's former CIA director, John Brennan, and I want to play for you what he said about what President Trump has done here, which is downplaying Russia's role in this hack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOHN BRENNA, FMR CIA DIRECTOR: I think it's because he doesn't see Russia as a threat to him personally. In fact, I think he really realizes that Russia has helped him prior to the 2016 election and even afterward, which is why he's given them a pass. Now I must also say that the most dangerous times that for an autocrat in terms of what they might do is when they are seeking power and as well as when they're on the verge of being deposed from power. And that's what I think we see right now with Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:35:21]

BOLDUAN: It's very interesting. Do you think an attack on this scale, Sam would have been attempted to had President Trump stood up to Putin in any of the last four years?

SAMANTHA VINOGARD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Certainly not. If President Trump had not had an insatiable fixation on keeping Vladimir Putin happy, he would not have given him a lifelong get out of jail free card. President Trump's personal failure to stand up to Putin made Putin feel omnipotent and made Putin feel like he could quite literally get away with murder. But by the same token Kate President Trump because of his allergy to intelligence, and because of his desire to placate Putin, President Trump did not bring to bear the full weight of the U.S. government when it came to countering malign Russian behavior, we did not see a strategy. We still haven't even for example, sanctioned officials involved in the Navalny poisoning. And the overall U.S. approach to countering Russia was hindered.

I spent more hours than I can count with President-elect Biden, Jake Sullivan, Tony Blinken and other incoming officials. And I can tell you, this President-elect Biden, isn't scared of Vladimir Putin. President-elect Biden, in the time that I've spent with him relies on intelligence to inform policy decisions, and relies quite heavily on doing something that President Trump is finds to be anathema, which is working with our allies. So with President-elect Biden, I think we can expect that Putin's personal feelings won't factor into any decision that affects U.S. national security.

BOLDUAN: Steve, I asked you earlier this week, about when the U.S. could actually get this cyber attack under control and kind of even wrap their arms around it. And you told me that it's not going to be overnight, because the Russians are really good at this. And now we've learned from the U.S. cybersecurity agency that this attack is even impacting state and local governments, they're now learning. How far is this going to reach?

HALL: Well, it's going to reach Kate, as far as the Russians can get it to reach. Yes, as we were discussing earlier in the week, they are very good at this. And they will try to get to every level of the government, not necessarily perhaps because they're interested in what's going on in a particular state. But because once you get inside a system, you know, you're able to maintain some permanence there. And a lot of the Russian intrusion sets actually just sort of sit there for a month or two mapping out the terrain before they move forward. But again, as we were discussing earlier, NSA and other parts of the U.S. intelligence community are have gotten better over the past four years in a really, really good now at detecting this stuff and getting it out. It's not going to happen overnight, it's complicated. And the Russians are very good at hiding things. But eventually, probably in weeks or months, we'll be able to clean the system out and hopefully focus on protecting against, you know, the next Russia attack which is certain to happen.

BOLDUAN: One coming, coming right up. It's good to see you both. Thank you very much.

Outfront for us next, so many restaurants barely holding on. I'm going to speak to one restaurant owner with a message for lawmakers.

And the challenges of getting Americans to vaccination points in some communities it's literally a matter of life and death.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCHELLE SYKES, LIVES IN CHICAGO'S AUSTIN NEIGHBORHOOD: OK, you hear gunshots, you know, you got to get out and get in your car, you're doing car jacking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[20:42:36]

BOLDUAN: Tonight, it's one of Chicago's most iconic restaurants. An institution Barack Obama dined at just days after being elected president but now it faces one of the biggest challenges and it's nearly 80-year history because of the coronavirus.

Adrienne Broaddus is outfront.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If history is a teacher.

DAN RASKIN, OWNER, MANNY'S CAFETERIA & DELICATESSEN: There's Manny that was my grandfather and my dad.

BROADDUS (voice-over): The owner of Manny's Deli has learned the only thing constant.

RASKIN: I'm not on changing it.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Is change. Chicago's iconic Jewish deli was started by the Raskin brothers before the U.S. entered World War II.

RASKIN: I am Dan Raskin. I'm the fourth generation owner operator here at Manny's. We've been in business for 79 years.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Manny's.

JERRY KARP, LOYAL CUSTOMER: All traditional delicatessen that you cannot find in many cities in the world.

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: For 44 years has been the place where I go to clog my arteries and clear my head.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Manny's closing its doors for good because of COVID-19 would be like someone you love dying.

KARP: I think a lot of people would cry and nostalgic place would be gone and we're losing enough of them.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Inside the walls hold history.

RASKIN: I definitely think my favorite memory was when President Obama came in.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Days after Obama was elected in 2008. His first public stop was at Manny's.

RASKIN: He wanted to come in and get a corned beef sandwich and some cherry pie.

AXELROD: Best corned beef you'll find. Sliced by the best corned beef man behind the counter you'll find anywhere Gino.

BROADDUS (voice-over): The kitchen is 70-year-old Gino's second home.

GINO GAMBAROTA, MANNY'S EMPLOYEE: It's like coming to work and being with your family. You know, especially now it's important more (INAUDIBLE) than ever, you know.

BROADDUS (voice-over): The empty chairs and declining revenue are reminders of what the pandemic has stolen.

RASKIN: It's been hard. I mean, especially businesses downtown. There's not a lot of people working in the city. This is just Manny checking out a customer.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Memories can't protect Manny's from the pitfalls of the pandemic. On Twitter, Dan asked for help and customers came to the rescue.

RASKIN: At certain times during the pandemic there has definitely been low lows.

[20:45:03]

BROADDUS (voice-over): Decades before COVID. Manny's face challenges.

RASKIN: The riots in the '60s.

BROADDUS (voice-over): That was following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It forced the company to pivot. Dan's father Ken shared stories about cutting hours. RASKIN: He said when the riots started then he said that they decided to close because it wasn't safe and there was curfews.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Fast forward to 2020.

RASKIN: It was heartbreaking.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Unrest following the police killing of George Floyd force Manny's to adapt again.

RASKIN: The last eight months, when you look back at all the events, it's, it's not just COVID, but it's the rioting, the everything just compiles on top of each other and just happen to survive it.

BROADDUS (voice-over): Survival is in Dan's DNA. He found a way to keep business going, by delivering to Chicago suburbs, a motto involving more labor to pack everything up and go. And it costs more but means 43 employees continue working. And with each meal, Dan delivers hope.

RASKIN: We will survive and we'll get through it. So, we're very fortunate we have had some great support and people are understanding that we're working under different conditions. And we're here for people to place orders.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS: And Dan says as he prepares to end what has been a difficult year he can't wait to start creating new memories inside with his customers. Of course, that's once the indoor dining restrictions are lifted. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Adrienne, thank you so much. And restaurants like that one across the country are in desperate need of help, and many are now depending on the federal government to pass the coronavirus relief package. Yesterday I spoke with Justin Nedelman, he is the CEO of Eureka restaurant group. He has had to lay off more than 1,500 employees so far. And I asked him how it feels now to see this relief stall?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JUSTIN NEDELMAN, CEO & CO-FOUNDER, EUREKA RESTAURANT GROUP: Well, what I'd like to say is, you know, I don't want to bite the hand that feeds us. But we need relief. And we need it now. And we needed it. Frankly, two months ago, even as certain red, you know, cities were closed. So, we need to release fast, we're going to need more than even what's in the current. And we need it yesterday. Because again, as you said, we've unfortunately taken a lot of people off the schedule, and are not working in the holidays. And the guests want to dine at our restaurants. And we're trying to serve them the best way we can with to go. But I would say just hurry up because every day that passes another smaller restaurant group similar to ours is shutting and probably not going to reopen.

BOLDUAN (on-camera): You know that. So this bill includes about $284 billion for small businesses. But that's all small businesses. And I'm curious if you think it's going to be enough, because I know a lot of small businesses had trouble accessing the PPP loans in the earlier round. I mean, describe what it's like right now, for you guys what it has been like, in these months.

NEDELMAN: So, while we may appear to be big, we're actually quite small, we got denied on the first round of financing with PPP, and we're scrambling for a bank to support us. And it's not enough. Right now, it is full triage crisis mode. We've got managers back in role whether bagging groceries, cooking on the line, and doing whatever it takes to keep the kind of the Eureka dream alive. And I -- you know, my heart goes out to them. As you said, we've lost a lot of our loyalty members, some of which have been with us for more than 10 years, which is amazing. And what the bill doesn't recognize is the cost to retrain people. And will they be available? Have they left the workforce so they move to another market?

BOLDUAN (on-camera): Restaurants are the lifeblood of so many communities. And when you look at what Congress has provided it's there is money specifically targeting certain industries like airlines and live event venues and movie theaters even nothing specifically related to the food and beverage industry. Why do you think that is?

NEDELMAN: I think what's unique about the restaurant industry is it's fragmented. And I think we're just not organized enough. It's I find it odd that, you know, you can fly on an airplane, six inches from a random stranger. Well, you eat peanuts, and drink Coke, or any other beverage but you can't six feet here in California from a stranger with a divider. So, I think it's a function of just a lot of small entrepreneurs that are hustlers and it's made up -- the industry is made up of truly the blood and sweat of America. And it's kind of sad that we can't all band together in every state in every city but the reality is we think about it but we're not organized enough.

[20:50:00]

And as much as the lobbying efforts that they try to do at the state and national level, it's obviously not as big as some of these large, larger industries and my hearts go out to them as well. They have had they've been suffering. But I think the restaurant industry and the hospitality industry has been suffering almost the most. And we need, we need someone to help us here.

BOLDUAN (on-camera): Look Justin, I mean, Donald Trump is heading out the door, his administration is on their way out, Joe Biden has said on his way, and that he wants Congress to pass another relief bill, he wants to see another round when he's coming in. I mean, he's going to be taking over in weeks, what is your message to him?

NEDELMAN: What I would say is, again, there's we're not alone, the schools are impacted, various charities are impacted, the world has been impacted, but for businesses that have been asked to shut down for the greater good of society, and maybe that's the right decision, maybe that's the wrong decision. That's not for me to decide. But if you're going to ask us to shut down, just like if you're going to, you know, buy my house and take it and build a road via maybe eminent domain, you've got it, you've got to subsidize us at the same time. And it can't happen one month or two months or three months later, it's going to happen immediately. And even as Biden enters office, it'll be too late for some of our peers.

So, there needs to be swift action specifically focused on any industry that's been asked to shut down. That's what I would say whether that's us or a hair salon. Focus immediately on cash in the bank that's forgivable so that we can maintain our people because without them, we have nothing.

BOLDUAN (on-camera): Justin Nedelman. Thank you.

NEDELMAN: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Outfront for us next. Fighting coronavirus in some communities isn't just about disease.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AFYA KHAN, DIRECTOR OF INFECTION CONTROL, LORETTO HOSPITAL: We're experiencing three types of pandemics and that's violence, racism, as well as COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:55:54]

BOLDUAN: Tonight, as the coronavirus vaccine rolls out across the country, black Americans and communities lacking grocery stores and pharmacies, even adequate transportation. They are worried they will be left behind.

Omar Jimenez is outfront.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OMAN JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): How long you live in this neighborhood?

SYKES: All my life, 55 years. It's changed a whole lot. If they're going to roll out of that same and they're going to roll it out to grocery stores and pharmacies. I see a problem.

JIMENEZ (on-camera): You feel just because the vaccine is available. It's not necessarily going to be accessible.

SYKES: That is correct.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Rochelle Sykes lives in the predominantly black West Side Chicago neighborhood of Austin and as in a zip code that has among the highest COVID-19 death rates in the city. And the barriers to getting a vaccine are already taking shape, ranging anywhere from distance to pharmacies, confidence in health care and even personal safety as Austin is also among the city's most violent neighborhoods.

SYKES: Is it even worth its time? OK, you hear gunshots, you know, you got to get out and get in your car, you're doing carjacking. And if you don't feel safe, then you just don't do it.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Just down the street Loretto Hospital was host to the city's first COVID-19 vaccination. And the first to set up a Westside community testing site back in April. One they plan to soon turn into a community vaccination site.

KHAN: In order to stop this virus eventually, we all have to do our part. And we want to make sure we involve everybody. We're experiencing three types of pandemics. And that's violence, racism, as well as COVID-19.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): It's an issue leadership continues to wrestle with.

ALLISON ARWADY, COMMISSIONER, CHICAGO DEPT. OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Where any part of the city is not supported enough. It indirectly impacts the entire city, not just that this is a let's make sure that we treat COVID it's about what are the root causes that have made these neighborhoods, these subgroups in Chicago, more vulnerable.

JIMENEZ (on-camera): Parts of the downtown Chicago area have a life expectancy of up to 90 years old, according to an analysis out of NYU. Then just about 10 miles down the road near here on Chicago's South Side, the life expectancy goes down to 59.9. That's a difference of about 30 years, which that same NYU analysis says is the largest gap in the country.

EMMA WASHINGTON, CHICAGO'S SOUTH SIDE RESIDENT: Now all of a sudden, this virus came in took my sister away.

JIMENES (voice-over): Emma Washington is almost 80 years old. She lost her sister to COVID-19 in September, and her brother to COVID, the day before Christmas Eve. And now she's considering what getting a vaccine is going to look like with their pharmacy over a mile away and no car to get it there.

WASHINGTON: I had to take one bus then I had picked another birth because there was only one place around Walgreens around my area.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Now she mostly has her medications delivered. But this isn't a new phenomenon. One study based on data from 2000 and 2012 found over 50% of the city's black communities were so-called pharmacy deserts, low income neighborhoods where pharmacies are far from the population. And people don't have regular access to vehicles compared with just 5% in white communities.

ARWADY: This is not something that's going to get solved in a year or in five years. But how do we take the COVID conversation and turn it into the conversation that links to chronic disease and homicide and infant mortality and HIV and opioid overdose? Those are the five main drivers of our, you know, disparate life expectancies in Chicago and COVID has indirectly impacted all of those. JIMENEZ (voice-over): But when it comes to COVID for Sykes along with those and Washington's community, the vaccine shot is about more than medicine. It's about getting a fair shot without it being a long shot.

SYKES: We are in a lifeboat. They are on a cruiser. If you can come up with a vaccine within a year, why are we sitting in a community where there is no grocery store with fresh fruits and vegetables.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Oma Jimenez, CNN Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[21:00:02]

BOLDUAN: Omar, thank you so much for that.

A programming for all of you, you can say goodbye to 2020 finally and hello to 2021 with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen live from Times Square New Year's Eve starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.

Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Kate Bolduan. Happy New Year, Merry Christmas. The CNN Special Bats The Mystery Of Behind COVID starts now.