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CNN Live Event/Special

World Ushers in New Year with Hope and Optimism; New Year Starts with Daunting COVID 19 Challenges; Brexit is Done; Trump Returns to Washington, Focuses on Disputing Election; Ranking 2020 as the Worst Ever. Aired 1:30-2a ET

Aired January 01, 2021 - 01:30   ET

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

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[01:30:30]

PAULA NEWTON, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Paula Newton.

And the world is welcoming a new year with optimism and some much needed hope. A feeling that 2021 will finally bring an end to the pandemic and all the heartache it's caused.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: Five, four, three, two, one.

(MUSIC)

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NEWTON: The songs familiar, but the circumstances oh, so different. The ball dropped in New York Times Square about 90 minutes ago, the one million revelers usually show up watched it all from home. But dozens of essential workers are allowed to attend.

That was earlier in Dubai. Fireworks lit up the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Now this year's theme, togetherness, paid tribute as well to frontline heroes. And in London, Big Ben marked the stroke of midnight in the country facing strict lockdowns but a fresh start apart from the European Union.

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BEN GERING, AUSTRALIAN LIVING IN LONDON: I think it's highlighted for all of us, what's already evident in that the fragility of life and the gross disparity between London and the rest of the world and it's made us profoundly grateful for what's important.

So I think as, without swearing, as traumatic as this year has been, it's been a good lesson to be grateful for what's important in life and highlighted this, you know. In time that will come again. .

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, by now, Most people around the world have already said goodbye to 2020, most also said good riddance.

Here is a look at celebrations from New Zealand to New York.

(VIDEO CLIP OF NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS AROUND THE WORLD)

NEWTON: Now unfortunately, the end of 2020 will not bring an end to the coronavirus pandemic. The U.S. has broken yet another record with more than 125,000 COVID patients in hospitals at this hour.

[01:34:58]

NEWTON: More people died in Los Angeles on Thursday than on any day since the pandemic started. The county's health director says hospitals there are now on the brink of catastrophe.

Meantime, infections are surging in Japan, where health officials are reporting 4,300 new cases on Thursday. It is the first the country has surpassed the 4,000 mark.

Meantime, the virologist who discovered a COVID-19 variant in South Africa says so far the vaccines appear to be effective against the mutation. Good news, right, but much more research is needed.

Now the World Health Organization says that variant and another one now spreading in the U.K. and beyond, are more transmissible because they produce more of the virus in the body. A U.K. study finds the new variant is prevalent in people under the age of 20. That is new, although they don't know why.

British doctors aren't welcoming the government's decision though to extend the period of time between the first and second doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. In fact, they're calling it grossly unfair. U.K. regulators have previously recommended to wait three weeks after that first dose. But then they announced Wednesday that the second dose could be given between three to twelve weeks after the first one.

The British Medical Association says this is putting the country's most vulnerable patients, the elderly at even greater risk. The government argues it will help though, more people get vaccinated.

And now scientists advising the British government say it will be highly unlikely to contain a new coronavirus variant that is spreading there if schools stay open.

The U.K. found a more contagious strain of the virus in December, which led to travel restrictions and tough new lockdown measures. For now, primary schools in areas with the highest infection rates don't have a return date yet. But the education secretary says primary schools elsewhere would open as planned on January 4th and that closures should be a last resort.

Now the COVID variant first identified in the U.K. is now reported in three U.S. States -- Florida, California and, of course, Colorado. But experts say there is little doubt it's even more widespread than that.

We get more from CNN's Athena Jones.

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ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The latest surge could make January particularly deadly as experts acknowledge the distribution of lifesaving vaccines is so far falling short -- just 2.8 million doses administered. A tiny fraction of the 20 million-dose goal government officials set.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We would have liked to have seen it run smoothly and have 20 million doses into people today, by the end of the 2020, which was the projection. Obviously, it didn't happen. And that's disappointing.

JONES: Giving more people a first dose of vaccine to provide some protection is under consideration.

DR. FAUCI: You can make an argument, and some people are, about stretching out the doses by giving a single dose across the board and hoping you're going to get the second dose in time to give to individuals.

JONES: Still, several states face problems getting shots into arms.

GOVERNOR TOM WOLF (D-PA): Maybe my expectations were too high, that the vaccine would've been rolled out faster in a much more efficient manner than it has been?

GOVERNOR JARED POLIS (D-CO): If we had more doses, we'd get those into arms as well. The demand at this point far exceeds the supply.

JONES: Meanwhile some states are expanding access to the vaccine like Florida, where it is available not just to health care workers and nursing home residents, but to anyone over 65 leading to long lines in some places.

This, as the tragic toll of the virus mounts. Hard hit Los Angeles County surpassing 10,000 COVID deaths since the start of the pandemic. Officials there tweeting at regular intervals to drive home the message that someone -- a mother, a grandpa, a friend, a barber -- dies of COVID in the county, every 10 minutes.

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D), LOS ANGELES: This has been the toughest year of our city's history. The most difficult that Los Angeles has ever faced, our public health officials tell us that still the worst numbers are yet to come.

JONES: Arizona nurse Carolina Garcia who treated her own father until he died of coronavirus, sharing the pain so many are feeling.

CAROLINA GARCIA, ARIZONA NURSE: I was very happy that I could be there but at the same time, seeing my father lay there was very heartbreaking. JONES: And while the nation prepares to put 2020 in the rearview, New York's Times Square will see a much smaller celebration than usual. Just a few dozen invited guests.

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: Those invited guests are our health care heroes, our essential workers who did amazing things in the year 2020 to see this city through. So that's going to be part of the magic.

In a country, in a city that sometimes could use some more unity, one thing unifies all of us as Americans. We want to get the hell rid of 2020.

[01:39:51]

JONES (on camera): And now a potentially concerning new variant of the virus is spreading quickly in South Africa. The new variant has been found in 90 percent of samples taken from 400 COVID patients at clinics across the country since mid November. The new variant has been found in seven other countries including the U.K., France, Japan and Australia.

And researchers don't yet know if it poses a challenge to the vaccines developed so far.

Athena Jones, CNN -- New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Dr. Jorge Rodriguez is an internal medicine and viral specialist. He joins me now from Los Angeles.

And first off, you will have New Year's in a little bit there but Happy New Year to you. And we really do want to turn the page here don't we?

California though right now, in dire straits. And it is a bit of a puzzle to me and really tragically emblematic of so many places that we've covered here at CNN around the world.

California tried and failed to contain the virus, through this last year that we've gone through why do you think, you know, places like California are failing at this?

DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: Gosh, you know I wish I had one answer. It certainly doesn't help to see sometimes, some overly zealous and privileged people having parties, you know throughout the county or going away on vacations and coming back. Because the true heroes of this epidemic of the people that have really toed the line and have put on their mask and distanced.

So just like everybody else, I think there is a huge degree of fatigue. You know, we have a very sometimes transient population here. I would not be surprised if we find out that in a few weeks that there is a much more contagious variant going on in Los Angeles. Unfortunately in U.S. We don't check for genotypes of the viruses as frequently for example as in the U.K.

NEWTON: Yes and at least one case has now been detected in California. But as you say the variant could be there for a while.

And I want to speak to that right now if it is in fact so much more transmissible, what does that mean for what the next few months are going to look like until everyone gets vaccinated?

DR. RODRIGUEZ: It's going to mean that it's going to be dire and worse than it is. It is already bad enough in the hospitals here. You can hear the ambulances where I live between two hospitals all the time now. And some hospitals can't even provide enough oxygen, because the infrastructure is so old that the oxygen can't go, you know, through the tubes to that many patients.

So what it's going to mean from what we know of this virus is that it isn't more deadly, but there will be more people that are sick, which means there will be more people trying to access health care which means that what is already crowded is going to get more crowded.

So it could go from disastrous to even more disastrous.

NEWTON: Yes. The outlook there is bleak.

DR. RODRIGUEZ: It is.

NEWTON: Now we had of course the vaccine is true medical miracle here and yet the rollout has been abysmal. Where do you believe that has failed and what is the -- when do you think it will get the urgency it deserves?

DR. RODRIGUEZ: You know, I think the failure is the failure that we've had also with testing in this country.

This is a national problem. There should be a national solution. There should be a national plan that is the same in every state.

We revere all of our states' independence, but at times of war we don't allow Colorado to have a different draft, you know, sort of a plan than Oregon. It's one country and we should've had the same plan for the whole country. We should have the same distribution plan I think for every state and every county in the state. And we don't have that.

NEWTON: We don't have much time, but quickly, I'm going to lean on your expertise as a virologist. The vaccine, one dose versus two. Do you think it's wise to give more people just the one dose and wait for the second?

DR. RODRIGUEZ: I do not. I think it's a dangerous gambit. I think in areas where there are not enough vaccines it's a desperate thing to do. But maybe that's the best that they have.

Here in the U.S. we're not even handing out the vaccines that we have. So let's give the people that want the vaccine that are the most susceptible the highest chance of survival and the highest immunity. NEWTON: To get that efficacy up to where it was in the clinical

trials. Dr. Jorge Rodriguez in Los Angeles, we hope for better times in 2021.

DR. RODRIGUEZ: Thank you.

NEWTON: I really want to thank you.

DR. RODRIGUEZ: Happy New Year.

NEWTON: Now just like the year 2020, Brexit was a long grueling experience, thankfully it's over.

Just hours ago, Big Ben rang in midnight in London, an hour before that midnight Brussels time, of course, marked the end of the Brexit transition period and the end of nearly five decades of Britain's E.U. membership. Now Prime Minister Boris Johnson says it's a time for celebration.

[01:44:54]

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BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is an amazing moment for this country. We have our freedom in our hands and it is up to us to make the most of it.

And I think it will be the overwhelming instinct of the people of this country to come together as one United Kingdom -- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland -- working together to express our values around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, not everyone agrees with Boris Johnson. At precisely the moment the U.K. officially left the E.U. Scotland's first minister Nicole Sturgeon tweeted this. "Scotland will be back soon Europe, keep the light on." Scots voted overwhelmingly to stay in the European Union. And Brexit is reenergizing the fight for Scottish independence from the U.K.

Now even though the diplomatic divorce between the U.K. and the E.U. is official, there are still a lot of issues that need to be worked out.

CNN's Cyril Vanier explains.

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CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Four and a half years after Britons voted to leave the European Union, it's happening. The Brexit transition period has ended. And the 27-member states of the European Union will now treat the U.K. as a third party.

(voice over): There wasn't a great deal of emotion about it in recent days on the European side. Any tears that were going to be shed were shed a long time ago.

On the day the Brexit deal was struck last week, E.U. Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen said it's time to put Brexit behind us. And indeed it feels like that's what many Europeans have done.

The immediate consequence for the 450 million citizens of the European Union is the end of free movement to the U.K. That means the Europeans will now need a visa if they want to study, work or live in Britain. Although importantly, tourism will still be possible visa free.

The popular study exchange program, Erasmus also fell victim to Brexit. And starting next academic year, students taking part will no longer be able to do a year abroad at a British university, and vice versa.

For businesses on both sides, customs are back. Goods traded between the U.K. and the 27-member states will have to be checked and accounted for which means more paperwork and slightly higher costs to get products certified.

France, which is one of the main gateways between the continent and Britain plans more border checks and has recruited 600 custom officers and 300 border control agents.

(on camera): There's also much of this new relationship between the E.U. and the U.K. that has not been negotiated. Services for instance, were not included in the trade deal. That means London's banks can no longer sell their financial products in Europe, British architects or accountants for example, can't practice in the E.U.

And crucially, there is no cooperation planned on foreign policy and on defense. The reality is the E.U. and the U.K. are now economic rivals and while both sides have a plan to work together as allies, overtime this new relationship will inevitably be tested.

Cyril Vanier, CNN -- Paris.

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NEWTON: And stay with CNN for the latest on Brexit in the hours ahead. We'll have a live report from our Cyril Vanier, you just saw there from Paris, to see how travel between the U.K. and France is being affected.

And Al Goodman will be live in Madrid for the latest on talks between the U.K. and Spain about the future of Gibraltar.

Still ahead, right now on CNN NEWSROOM it's a new year but the same fight for President Trump. The growing number of lawmakers now willing to support his efforts to overturn the election.

[01:48:33]

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NEWTON: U.S. President Donald Trump is ringing in the New Year with additional support in his effort to challenge the election results. Now, two House Republicans say they expect at least 140 of their colleagues to vote against counting the electoral votes next week. CNN's Kaitlan Collins has more now from Washington.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mister President, will you take our questions?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Without answering a single question from reporters, President Trump cut his Florida vacation short today and left behind a ballroom of disappointed guests at Mar-A-Lago, for tonight's New Year's Eve party.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Hello everybody. Happy new year.

COLLINS: Instead of walking the red carpet like last, year Trump will ring in the New Year in Washington after spending most of his time in Florida in an irritable mood, fuming about everything from his election laws to First Lady Melania Trump's renovations.

Sources say the president is almost singularly focused on a plot by his Republican allies to disrupt Congress's certification of Joe Biden's win next week which Democrats are dismissing as absurd.

SENATOR BOB CASEY (D-PA): They've got to choose here, it's real simple there's only 2 choices. You choose democracy of the constitution or you choose the big lying Trump. It's as simple as that. It's hard to comprehend that he wants to attach his name to one of the biggest lies in American history.

COLLINS: Josh Hawley is the first Republican senator to answer Trump's call to challenge the election results, which will force the senate to debate his claim before affirming Biden's win. But he may not be the last.

SENATOR JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): This is the one opportunity that I have as a United States senator, this process right here, my one opportunity to stand up and say something and that's exactly what I'm going to do.

COLLINS: Senator Ben Sasse said he won't participate in the stunt by his fellow Republicans, urged others to reject this dangerous ploy. Adding "Let's be clear about what's happening here, we have a bunch of ambitious politicians who think there is a quick way to tap into the president's populist base, without doing anything real long term damage.

But they're wrong. And this issue is bigger than anyone's personal ambitions.

Sasse also said "When we talk in private, I haven't heard a single congressional Republicans say that the election results were fraudulent, not one.

Although the Vice President only has a limited ceremonial role in this process, sources say Trump is demanding that Mike Pence fight harder for him. The Wall Street Journal editorial board, which has often been friendly to Trump during his presidency says he's putting his loyal VP in a terrible spot. "Mr. Pence is too much of a patriot to go along, but the scramble to overturn the will of the voters, tarnishes Mr. Trump's legacy and undermines any designs he has on running in 2024.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Thanks there to Kaitlan Collins, who I do not think has had a day off this entire year.

Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, 2020 has been a terrible and trying year. But where does it rank among the worst years ever? The answer is next.

[01:53:45]

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NEWTON: So what do you think? Is 2020 the worst year ever? Well, the mental health app Bloom, asked some notable historians to rank the world's most terrible times.

Now they say 1348 was the worst as the black death raged across Europe the bubonic plague is estimated to have killed between one-3rd and 2- thirds of its population. 1944, of course, was picked as the 2nd worst year when Nazi Germany murdered millions of Jews. 1816, was the year without a summer. That's be volcanic debris clouded the skies, blocking out the sun's rays.

And then there's 1644, with a double whammy with the collapse of the Ming Dynasty and the height of Europe 30-years war. 410 Rome fell to the Visigoth, a key moment in the fall of the Roman Empire. Now you have to wait to get to sixth place, to get to 2020.

Now while this past year has, of course, been filled with hardships, there is always that silver lining that we're all looking for. Communities around the world have found ways to support each other during these darkest of times.

Earlier, comedian Stephen Colbert shared this message of hope.

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STEPHEN COLBERT, TALK SHOW HOST: One of the things that we've learned this year, is that we need each other so much. And that there is a need to collectively engage with each other, to take care of each other.

If there's one thing that COVID has taught us is that we cannot get through crises alone. And that this latest crises, this latest mountain that we're all climbing. We have to do together or else there is no way over the top.

So, that overt public need has just reminded all of us that we are never really alone in a democracy but in this society and hopefully that is something that will take to the other side of this, this moment we're in right now is to pay attention to the people who don't have somebody else to care for them.

Or don't have somebody else to be with them because you might be that person in a moment, which is what we've just learned in the past nine months.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Hopefully we have learned a lot.

I'm Paula Newton.

And I'll be back with more CNN Newsroom in just a moment.