Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom Live 20201222

And when you could see economic relief. A cnn exclusive position leader, Alexey Navalny tricks a kremlin agent to reveals how he was poisoning. That incredible phone conversation ahead this hour. Good to have you with us, and we begin with the latest on the new variant of the coronavirus spreading rapidly across the uk, and several other countries. Pfizer and moderna say their companies are now testing their vaccines to see if they work against the new mutated version that has captured global headlines. Meantime, a growing number of countries have halted travel from the u. K. Where the new variant was first reported. The u. S. Has not done so. Sources say the Trump Administration is considering requiring travelers from the u. K. To present proof of a negative coronavirus test before arriving in the states. Americas top Infectious Disease expert meantime says he wouldnt be surprised if the new variant is already here. Cnns Salma Abdelaziz is at the port of dover in england where many Truck Drivers are stuck due to restrictions Fred Pleitgen is live in moscow. Good to see you both. What is the latest on plans to start the vaccinations of Pfizer Biontech across europe. Logistics are already underway. Theres a Biontech Press conference that may have just ended. They said essentially ha theywh theyre doing is rolling out those doses across europe. They say they have to test each of these boxes to make sure everything is okay with all of those doses of vaccine, and of course especially the temperature there is okay as well. One of the things that we have been talking ant bout is the fa that this vaccine needs to be stored and shipped at minus 70 degrees celsius, minus 100 degrees fahrenheit. The other interesting thing we glean from that press conference from biontech is the fact that the head, the ceo of biontech believes its highly likely their vaccine will also be effective against that new covid19 variant. He says he believes their vaccines attacks the virus in so many different ways, it should still be effective against it. Theres other mutations of the virus that have been around that they tested it against as well, and the efficacy was not reduced. Another interesting thing we learned from the press conference is they say if the virus has become more efficient in infecting people, it could take longer to reach herd immunity in country where is vaccinations are taking place. Normally people supreme to about 60 or 70 of the population needing to be vaccinated to achieve the immunity. If the virus becomes more efficient, the number might have to be higher for people who get the vaccine in order to get herd immunity. Very important details and of course all medical experts saying wear a mask, do all of the things were being told to do, wear a mask, and keep the social distancing practice in place. Fred pleitgen joining us in moscow. Salma, lets go to you in dover. The new variant putting the u. K. Under incredible pressure, now, of course with the travel bans. And you have been talking with the Truck Drivers that have been held up. What are you finding there . Many spent the second night sleeping in their vehicles. Im going to pan our camera a little bit so you can take a look. Truck after truck, row after row of drivers who are stranded. Theyre not supposed to be here. This is just one street. Its a public street. It is not the only place. They have no access to food ror bathrooms or accommodations. Some are concerned theyre not going to make it back for christmas. Whats the solution . The french government had put in a 48 hour border closure. Thats set toi expire today. The French Authority wants to resolve this as soon as possible, the British Authority wants to resolve this as soon as possible. Something has to be put into place. The u. K. Government is talking about testing with the french he hers authorities to allow them back in europe. The l i can see dozens of trucks lined up and this is just one street. We know further up the way part of the highway is closed. 900 drivers and their vehicle. And kent, dozens of drivers stranded. Imagine having to bring the drivers together, test them for coronavirus. Whos going to pay for it, how is it going to be conducted, if you have to isolate, whos going to pay for the isolation of the drivers, and where will they isolate. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. Its not just about the drivers, its about whats in their cars, the cargo, goods needed in this country. Could be looking at food shortages, medicine shortages, a lot of logistics. Brexit, will they solve it in time or will this country be looking at actual shortages because its essentially being sealed off from the world. It is a real concern. Sal Salma Abdelaziz joining us there. Appreciate your reporting. Help is coming for millions of americans struggling under the covid crisis, after Congress Finally overcame a partisan deadline to pass a relief deal. The far reaching deal provides 900 billion for vaccine aid to small biusinesses. Cnns manu raju has the details from washington. After weeks and months of partisan divisions, stalemate and talks breaking down, starting again, and breaking down all over again. Finally a bill is on its way to the president s desk to deal with the significant problems facing the United States in the aftermath during the coronavirus pandemic. All the fallout caused by the Public Health crisis leading to an economic crisis. This ball, 900 billion, significant in its scale and its scope, affecting virtually all sectors of the american economy, including individuals, well get 600 in drug payments. Up to 75,000 a year. Those will kick in december 27th. Last for 11 weeks. 80 billion for schools. 280 billion for Small Businesses, money that would be a help for venues, Live Performance art venues that will be closed during the pandemic. Money for the farm sector as well. Billions more for vaccine distribution. This proposal is significant, and it came after both sides essentially agreed to drop some of the big sticking points. Democrats came down significantly from what they were asking for in terms of the overall price tag. Republicans includesreased the t they were asking for. It was tied together also with a 1. 4 trillion plan to keep the government funded from essentially now until september. And this package all together is about 2. 3 trillion. Its more than 5,500 pages in its size, and it was dropped on congresss desk, unveiled for the first time on monday afternoon, just hours before the house voted on it, and hours before the senate voted on it. It gave final passage. Its going to take a couple of days for that to happen. They have agreed to pass a week long stopgap resolution to keep the government open and give time for the actual paperwork to come together. Then once the paperwork is done, theyll send it to the president s desk and thats when americans can see relief after it takes a few weeks to kick in and get into the system. Democrats are saying this is not enough. They need to come back when joe biden is president , and deal with more. At the moment, a significant accomplishment for the 116th congress after so much fighting and bickering, now relief to the american public. Manu raju, cnn, capitol hill. U. S. President elect joe biden is praising the new covid relief package and hes calling on lawmakers to support his plan to fight the virus in the new year. To all the americans struggling right now, biden writes help is on the way. The need is real and it is urgent and we want to bring you some statistics now to show just how dire the Economic Situation is in the u. S. There are more than 12 million americans who are not up to date on their rent or mortgage payments. Thats according to the census bureau, and when it comes to food insecurity, the numbers are even more staggering. More than 54 Million People could soon face food insecurity. Thats according to feeding america, the nations largest hunger relief organization. Plus, the Organization Says that of those 54 Million People, 40 have never had to ask for Food Assistance before. Cnns rosa flores has more. Before dawn, people waited at a south florida mall on the weekend before christmas. Are we sleeping . Reporter but theyre not here holiday shopping. Theyre in line for free food. Always been hesitant about coming because im sorry. I would hate for the person me to get the last of something and the person behind me be in a worse position than i am. Can i have two melons here, please. Reporter its a scene replayed across the country from los angeles, where one food bank says distribution of groceries has doubled since the pandemic began, to the suburbs of atlanta, where 500 cars waited for an hour and a half before distribution started. This is another indication of the pain and the suffering thats being felt all across our nation. Reporter since the pandemic began in march, hunger in the United States has skyrocketed, feeding america, the nations largest Food Bank Network reports a 60 increase in the demand over last year. In south florida, one in five people need Food Assistance and a quarter of children go to bed hungry according to feeding south florida. Deborah hightower is an accountant. So, you know, this is hard for me to come here. Reporter the mother of three teenagers was recently hospitalized and says she has lost her job twice since the pandemic started. Im very independent, and do not like to ask for help. But sometimes you just have to do god humbles you. Reporter some people like Larry Batiste waited for hours not to get food for himself but three members of his church who are unemployed or cant leave their homes due to covid concerns. You certainly get a lot of smiles, and you cant hug them anymore. Reporter leonard and Julie Thompson delivered the food they received to seven neighbors and friends. Appreciate you sharing with me, as usual. Reporter as the pandemic surges demand for food. Merry christmas. Reporter is expected to grow. Ill see you soon. Reporter feeding south florida has distributed more than 150 Million Pounds of food since the pandemic began. That is double the demand compared to last year, and people from this food bank says that theyre only expecting for the need to grow. And you can help those in need right now. To learn how, go to cnn. Com impact. Every bit of help makes a big difference, and while youre on our side, just check out our breakdown of the covid stimulus bill. Weve got all the details on when most people can expect to get their new stimulus checks and other relief. The United Kingdom is being increasingly cut off from the world, after discovering a new variant of covid19. Ahead, how thehe crisis has thrn travel and trade into a nightmare just before chris nas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Christmas. Want to sell the best burger in every zip code . Add an employee. Or ten. Then easily and automatically pay your team and file payroll taxes. That means. World domination or just the west side. Run payroll in less than five minutes with intuit quickbooks. As concerns mount over a new coronavirus variety, pfizer and moderna say their companies are now testing their vaccines to see if they work against the new mutated version found in the u. K. And other countries. Covid19 has mutated before, of course, and both Companies Say their vaccines work against other variations of the virus, and the expectation is that their vaccines will protect against this new variant as well. Scientists across the world meantime are scrambling to do their own research. Cnns Martin Savidge has more. Reporter coronavirus chaos. Britain increasingly cut off from europe and elsewhere after discovering a new variant of coronavirus. The crisis throwing travel and trade into a nightmare before christmas. Supermarkets warn of shortages of perishable goods in coming days. The Prime Minister urging calm. The government has been preparing for a long time for exactly this kind of event. Despite travel bans by other country, so far, the u. S. Is not joining them. The assistant secretary of health and Human Services says the variant has actually been known about for months. The variant thats being discussed was first identified in september. Its not something that just arose in the last week. At an operation warp speed briefing today, scientists down playing alarm. I think scientifically to date, there is no hard evidence that this virus is actually more tra transmissible. And scientists are said to be studying the new variant, to see if it could evade current vaccines. Meanwhile, a second Coronavirus Vaccine from moderna began joining the fight today. This vaccine is hope. Its hope that we will cease this pandemic. Its hope that we will live a better life. Reporter meanwhile, vaccines advisers for the cdc are recommending who should get the potential life saving injections next. Phase 1b includes adults 75 and older, and front line essential workers. Phrase 1c, adults 65 to 75, and people ages 16 to 64 with high risk medical conditions as well as more essential workers. The vaccine help is desperately needed with the u. S. On the brink of surpassing 18 million covid19 cases. In just seven days, the country added 1 1 2 million new infections, meaning one in every 217 people across the u. S. Tested positive in the last week. In tennessee, the governors message was grim. We are in a war. Reporter at every University Hospital here in atlanta and at medical facilities all across the country, they are trying to vaccinate as many Front Line Health Care workers as possible because they know they face a very grim holiday period. Martin savidge, cnn, atlanta. Joining me now is dr. Larry brilliant, a cnn medical analyst, and epidemiologist. Thank you, doctor, for all that you do and for talking with us. Thank you, rosemary, its nice to be with you again. Good to have you. So we dont know a lot about this new variant of coronavirus thats been detected in the u. K. , but theres nothing to suggest the current vaccine wont be effective against this variant, and its worth saying that the pfizer and moderna companies are looking into that to see whether their vaccines are able to fight this new variant, but do you agree with that assessment by the admiral, and what more are you learning about this new variant . Well, first of all, covid19 is a coronavirus. Its an rna virus, which means its only got one strand, and its not as stable as a dna virus, which is two strands, one acts as a spell checker on the other. I expect this virus to mutate. In fact, i think its mutated less than we might have expected, once or twice or three times a month in its short one year history. We have had about three of those mutations that caused some concern. Of course the one in amsterdam and denmark, the minks that seem to have the virus go back and forth between humans and animals, thats a big concern, and a mutation happened there, and half a dozen farmers were affected by something which we really worried about. Another one weve got in south africa, thats a concern to us. We had one earlier that occurred in Northern Europe before it came to the United States, and now we have this one, which seems to be a different classification of mutation. It has 17 different spot mutations, which is an awful lot. Enough that people are thinking of this as an independent clade, a funny word which means kind of like species to virologists, not exactly the same thing, but this has 17 different mutations, so we should be concerned about it. What should we do . We should wear masks. We should practice social distancing, we should wash our hands, we should do testing, tracing, and isolation, we should do that whether its in the u. K. Or the United States, and we should do it more vigorously because were still seeing the effect of thanksgiving in the United States. Were about to see the effect of christmas in all countries, and we are in a world of hurt, irrespective of the mutation, and when you add that on, its all the more reason to be more careful. So we need to keep doing exactly what were doing, wearing the mask. We shouldnt be concerned, but what is your sense when it comes to the vaccines weve got available to us now, the moderna and pfizer that have been authorized for use here in the United States. Will they be able to fight this variant . I think so. I dont see anything to cause concern. The mrna vaccines are quite a bit different than the older vaccines that are heat killed or attenuated vaccines. It remains to be seen whether any variant will affect an mrna vaccine. Dr. Larry brilliant, thank you so much, appreciate it. Thanks for having me, rosemary, merry christmas. Merry christmas to you. Parts of the Asia Pacific Region are seeing a jump in covid19 cases as we near the end of december. In japan, doctors and nurses on the front lines are urging nmor action from their government to contain the outbreak, pushing its total past 200,000. South korea is imposing tighter covid restrictions for christmas and new years, calling it a special quarantine period to try and control its surge. Meantime, australia and taiwan will say they will not impose new travel restrictions on flights from the u. K. Claiming they already have enough measures in place. Australia has detected four cases of the new virus variant but insist there is no cause for concern. Well, taiwan is reporting its first role covid19 case in more than 250 days. The Health Ministry says a woman in they are 30s was infected after she came into contact with another positive case, a foreign pilot. Steven jung joins us with the latest. What are you learning about this, and what mores are put in place to prevent this from happening again. This one local case is getting attention because this is taiwans first locally transmitted case in months. Health officials are revealing information about the woman and the pilot from new zealand who supposedly gave her the virus. The two had close contact between december 8th and 12th after this pilot flew to the u. S. In late november and returned to the island in early december. Now, this pilot is now actually facing a potential fine of over 10,000 because the authorities said he failed to report his activities during the Contact Tracing investigation. And now Health Officials say they have also tracked down over 160 close contacts of this woman with over a dozen of them being placed under a home quarantine while her workplace, and other public areas have been disinfected. They also said this pilot had visited multiple Public Places without disclosing such information to the investigators so now the general public has been advised to monitor their health, if they have been to the same locations, and seek medical attention if symptoms do appear. Remember, before this new local case on tuesday, taiwan had been hailed as a Success Story in the against against the pandemic with the island of 23 Million People reporting over 700 cases. Without having to impose strict lock downs or other draconian measures we have seen in places like china. The government attributed success to early screenings, mass testing, and effective Contact Tracing. The latest case shows nobody can afford to get complacent in the fight against covid19. Rosemary. Steven jiang joining us from beijing. Critic says its nowhere near enough to help most people, and we will have more reaction next. Heart failure causes nearly two hospitalizations every minute. 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Com or contact your local agent today. They have businesses to grow customers to care for lives to get home to they use stamps. Com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the Amazing Services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com tv and never go to the post office again with only weeks left in office, u. S. President donald trump is considering more unusual measures and a desperate bid to stay in the white house. Allies to the president are now distancing themselves as his moves become more unpredictable. Cnns Jeremy Diamond has more from washington. President trumps brazen and delusional push to overturn the 2020 election is alarming some senior officials and people close to the president who say theyre concerned about how hes handling his final weeks in office. One official telling cnn, no one is sure where this is heading. Hes still the president for another month. Now as trump considers an executive order to seize Voting Machines naming a special counsel to investigate voter fraud and imposing martial law in key battleground states, even his most loyal allies are pushing back. I see no basis now for seizing machines by the federal government, you know a wholesale seizure of machines by the federal government. Do you believe there is enough evidence to warrant appointing a special counsel . If i thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was appropriate, i would name one, but i havent. The attorney general isnt alone. Sources telling cnn that white House Counsel Pat Cipollone and chief of staff mark meadows also pushed back on the outlandish ideas raised during a Heated Oval Office meeting on friday. Trump denied considering martial law but hes increasingly turning to the fringes of his political orbit. Chief among them, former National Security adviser Michael Flynn and conspiracy theorist Sidney Powell who was removed from her position after baselessly accusing the cia and hugo chavez of rigging the 2020 election. The pair were at the center of a Heated Oval Office meeting on friday which sources said turned into a shouting match. Powell, who trump is considering naming as a special counsel was spotted again leaving the white house residence late sunday night. Back in the president s ear, former white house chief strategist, steve bannon. As i recommended to the president , we need a special counsel named immediately, a special prosecutor on Election Fraud and voter fraud, two different things, Election Fraud and voter fraud. He needs to do that immediately. Reporter bannon charged with counts of wire fraud and Money Laundering conspiracy last summer may be seeking a president ial pardon. Meanwhile, the president is missing in action on the coronavirus pandemic, and down playing one of the worst Cyber Attacks on u. S. Government systems, calling it quote far greater in the Fake News Media than in actuality, and suggesting china was the culprit, even though top u. S. Official says all signs point to russia. This was a very significant effort and i think its the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the russians that engaged in this activity. From the information i have, you know, i agree with secretary pompeos assessment. It certainly appears to be the russians. Reporter and President Trump on monday spent several hours meeting with some of the most pro trump members of congress who are plotting this long shot attempt to object and try and overturn the results of the Electoral College. Thats on january 6th when members of congress are supposed to certify the vote from the Electoral College to approve joe biden as the next president of the United States. And this meeting is just one of several that the president was holding on monday focused on this effort to overturn the results of a democratic election he lost. The conspiracy theorist and attorney Sidney Powell was at the white house on monday. It was the third time in just four days that she has been meeting with the president. Jeremy diamond, cnn, the white house. Lets talk now with cnn National Security analyst, carrie cordero. Thank you for being with us. Thank you, good to be with you. Days before he leaves his post, bill barr held a final News Conference contradicting President Trump again, repeating theres no evidence of widespread Election Fraud, no basis for seizuring voting machin seizing voting schemes and insisting russia was behind this recent massive cyber attack in the u. S. Not china as President Trump claims. What did you make of this . Well, in some ways its helpful for the attorney general to be stating these things because this is what the true facts are, that there was no evidence of widespread fraud, that there is no reason to appoint special counsels, based on the information thats coming out of some executive Branch Officials as well as members of congress. It looks like the government is attributing the recent cyber intrusion to russia. So its helpful that the attorney general is actually saying these things, even though they are contrary to the messaging thats coming from the president himself. Right. And sources tell cnn that some white house advisers fear President Trumps final days in office, warning that no one is sure where this is heading. Thats his advisers saying this. What might that reveal about trumps state of mind right now, and do you think hes serious about invoking martial law to redo elections in Battle Ground states and will bill barrs replacement jeff rosen push back on any of this . Well, i dont think that we are going to be in a situation where martial law is going to be declared in the United States. The military is not going to go on with that, hopefully, if Something Like that were to be actually approached in a serious way by the president , there would be mass resignations amongst his senior advisers. There has to be at some point, when the Senior Leadership and even his closest advisers draw some kind of line, and that certainly would be it. And on the subject of the cyber attack, why do you think President Trump has been so protective of russia and the russian president even in the closing days, insisting against all advice given that china, not russia, was behind it. So according to all the information that has become public, it certainly sounds as if russia is behind this particular attack. This is the most significant cyber intrusion i think that the u. S. Federal government has experienced in at least seven years since the hack of the office of Personnel Management files, and so this is a really significant National Security event. It doesnt seem like the president is going to address it in a serious way. One thing that he could do is he could sign a pending National Security legislation bill, the National Defense authorization act, which is waiting for his signature, in which he said hes going to veto, and that bill actually contains some provisions that would help the countrys cyber security. We need a full u. S. Government response to it, and he doesnt seem at all interested. Thank you so much for your analysis. Appreciate it. Thank you. And just ahead, u. S. Lawmakers finally approve a massive covid relief bill. What it means for those most in need. Robinhood. I got this Mountain Bike for only 11. Dealdash. Com, the fair and honest bidding site. We sold an ipad worth 505 for less than 24. A stand mixer for less than 20. A 4k television for under 2. A macbook pro for under 16. As well as a playstation 4 for under 16. And brand new cars for less than 900. Dealdash. Com offers hundreds of auctions every day. All auctions start at 0 and everything must go. And dont forget, we offer a full 90 day money back guarantee on your first bid pack purchase. I won these bluetooth headphones for 20. I got these three suitcases for less than 40. And shipping is always free. Go to dealdash. Com today and see how much you can save. There are auctions going on right now, so what are you waiting for . President elect joe biden and his wife jill got their first doses of the Pfizer Biontech vaccine on monday. Joe biden received his on Live Television saying while the vaccine gives americans hope, its just the beginning of a long road to recovery. He also said the Trump Administration deserves some credit for operation warp speed and he thanked the Health Care Workers on the front lines. We owe these folks an awful lot, the scientists and the people who put this together, front line workers, the people who were the ones who actually did the clinical work, its just amazing. Well, as the u. S. Congress sends it coronavirus stimulus package to be signed by President Trump, the response from the senate has been mixed. Republican Majority Leader Mitch Mcconnell is praising the bills passage, but acknowledges there is more to be done. Take a listen. None of us think any of this legislation is perfect. But a big bipartisan majority of us recognize the incredible amount of good it will do when we send it to the president s desk. The American People have waited long enough. Im glad for our country that were now moving ahead together. Similar sentiment from senator Bernie Sanders on the left. He says he wishes the bill had gone further. What we needed was a major, major response to tell the working families of this country who are struggling to keep their families in place, we hear their pain, and we are responding. Now, this bill, to be honest, has a lot of very important stuff in it. I mean, we work very hard. I work with senator hawley to make sure there would be direct payments. I wanted 1,200 bucks, we ended up with 600, which the average family of four will be 2,400, will that help . Yes, it will. Is it enough . No, it is not. Joining me now is cnn Global Economic analyst, ronna, great to have you with us. Thanks for having me. Once the president signs off on this legislation, how long will it take americans to get their stimulus checks and the extra 300 per week for the unemployed along with the other help in the pipeline. The truth is its probably going to take weeks. Thats what happened last time around and there was a lag time once the first set of stimulus effects ran out, checks didnt run out right away, they keep going. Its going to be a little while before the checks get through, which is why its so important this bill got passed now. We couldnt have gone through the winter, without a significant downturn unless we got stimulus. The big question is will this relief package be enough to help people lining up at food banks, being evicted from their homes and struggling decaaytoday ju to survive. Any help is better than no help and in some ways, in bill represents what is a middle road forward and could be really a model for future stimulus. As you know, the u. S. Political system is incredibly polarizing right now. Both sides had to make big compromises to get here. Its not what either sidement wd but what you saw was the extremes in the democratic party, weve got to get something through. The center did hold, and we have a 900 billion stimulus packages. Democrats are seeing this as a starter package, and once joe biden takes office, hopefully they will roll out more. Well have to see, but certainly this is going to be a big help with what would be a very bleak winter in america. Absolutely, and of course the other group waiting for help is Small Business. But we all remember how Large Businesses elbowed their way in and took most of the money last time. How will the government ensure that doesnt happen again . You know, its a great question, and in fact, one of the downsides, i think, of this bill is that you did see another bailout for the airline industry. Thats something unions have supported. Theres a lot of unionized workers in transport and transit. The stimulus thats going to be received by the big Airline Companies is tied to keeping workers on the job, but i think, again, youre going to see this big square off and a lot of folks saying, look, the industries of the biggest lobbyists have been those that have gotten bailouts. There is help for Small Business in the relief package. It has to be said, but at the end of the day, america has got a real problem with money and politics, and i think thats going to be a theme that will continue through beyond the bailouts and through the biden administrations four years. And of course a lot of people, they will not forget the politics involved in getting to this point. Both sides were guilty of playing politics. How will voters remember this . You know, i think in a way, this bill will be seen as a success for the center and theres a lot of political analysis to show that, in fact, when you really dig into it, when you look at the nuance, there is more commonality between republicans and democrats than either side would like to admit. Americans meet in the middle. This bill is a testament to that, and i think that youre going to see both parties trying to, you know, sideline some of the extreme elements, at least for the moment until we can get to the spring and summer, and the vaccine rollout moves forward, and we really see where we are in the wake of this pandemic. Wise words. Rana, thank you so much for talking with us. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Just ahead, a stung update in the poisoning of russian Opposition Leader Alexey Navalny, how he tricked a secret agent into revealing how the whole plot unfolded. Well have the details next. rey with a clean shave and a clean face. Now to a cnn exclusive, a russian agent sent to tail Opposition Leader Alexey Navalny has revealed how navalny was poisoned in august. The agent, a member of the elite toxins team in russias fsb Security Service said the lethal nerve agent novichok was planted in navalnys underwear. A cnn investigation revealed that the unit has trailed navalny for more than three years. Cnns Clarissa Ward has the details. Reporter it is an extraordinary scene, russian Opposition Leader al lexy navalny on the phone with one of the fsb units he believes poisoned him in august. Navalny is pretending to be a senior figure from russias National Security council investigating the attempted assassination. The operative constantine kudretsev is hesitant at first, and then reveals the poison was placed on navalnys underpants. Translator well, imagine underpants and in what place. Translator the insides, the groin. Translator the crotch of the underpants . Translator well, the circled flap. Theres such seams there, so across the seams. Reporter the explosive admission punches a gaping hole in the kremlins repeated denials that the russian government played any role in navalnys poisoning. Kudretsev was one of an elite team who trailed navalny for years. The unit was headquartered in this unassuming building in a moscow suburb. Most of its members were doctors or scientists. Kudretsev graduated from the Russian Academy of chemical defense. When navalny was poisoning back in august, his flight was suddenly diverted to umsk. Flight records show that just five days later. Kudretsev flew the to same city taking possession of navalnys clothes. He offers an assurance that no trace of novichok would be found on them. Translator yes, all is clean. Translator visually, they were not removed, there were no stains on them, nothing. Translator no, nothing. Theyre in good condition, clean. Translator pants . Translator theres the same inside area, perhaps something was left on it too. We washed it off there also, but this is presumably because there is contact with the pants. Perhaps there was something on there too. Reporter the fsb toxins team trailed navalny on more than 30 trips around russia. Five of its members flew to siberia around the same time as navalny during the fateful august trip when he was poisoned. Toxicologists have told cnn that navalny is lucky to be alive and that the intention was almost certainly to kill him, a point kudratsev appears to acknowledge. Translator if he had flown a little longer and perhaps would not have landed so quickly and all, perhaps it would have all gone differently, that is had it not been for the prompt assistance of doctors or ambulances on the Landing Strip and so on. Translator the plane landed after 40 minutes. Basically this should have been taken into account while planning the operation. It wasnt that the plane landed instantly. They calculated the wrong dose, the probability. Why . Translator well, i cant say why. As i understand it, we added a bit extra, so. Reporter at the end of the call, navalny and their team are elated that their sting operation has worked, and despite everything hes discovered, hes still determined to return to russia as soon as possible. Cnn has reached out to the kremlin for comment. So far we have not heard back, but russias state Security Services, the fsb has called the conversation a fake. They have said it was designed to make the states Security Services look bad and that it could only have been done with the help of Foreign Special services. This is something they often accuse navalny of doing, of working with western intelligence services, but one has the suspicion that this story is not going away for them. There will be more questions asked. Clarissa ward, cnn, london. And thanks so much for your company. Im rosemary church. Early start is up next. Youre watching cnn. Have yourselves a great day. Ros the time to do money. 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Stop in or book an appointment to shop safely with peace of mind at your local xfinity store. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is early start. Thanks so much for joining us. Im Boris Sanchez in for christine romans. And im lauer. Its tuesday, december 22nd. 5 00 a. M. Here in new york, and we begin this morning with the big breaking news overnight. Congress has approved the long awaited 900 billion pandemic rescue package. Treasury secretary steven mnuchin