Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Poppy Harlow And Jim Sciutto 20201216

Around the country today, even more people will receive their first dose of the Pfizer Vaccine. But even with that encouraging news, the reality today is bleak. The u. S. Reported more than 3,000 new deaths from covid just on tuesday, this marks the third highest daily death toll since the pandemic began. For the past week the country has averaged more than 212,000 new daily cases and set hospitalization records for ten Straight Days now. We will get to all of that in a moment, but lets begin with the breaking news this morning, so lets go to capitol hill. Our colleague cnn Congressional Correspondent Sunlen Serfaty joins us now. What do we know about negotiations, ie, are they going to vote on this soon and to jims really good point does it include direct stimulus payments . Reporter thats all of those things, poppy, that the negotiators and the leadership from the house and senate are sorting out right now, but they do at this moment appear very close to striking a deal. That expectation is that they could announce it as soon as this morning. We are starting to hear some of those Little Details about whats actually in this bill, how much it cost, including, this is from my colleague manu raju, a source tells him that the price tag for this deal thats being negotiated 900 billion. We will be getting details, of course, over does this include a stimulus payment, another round of stimulus checks to people, to individuals in this country. That of course a big thing that the white house is pushing for, what progressives were pushing for, and the big question of course does this include Liability Protections, thats something republicans are pushing for and aid to state and local governments, something that democrats wanted, those two things widely seen as concessions that likely will have to be made here. Here is senator joe manchin who of course was a part of that bicameral, Bipartisan Group that drew up a proposal that largely framed the contours it sounds like of this deal coming together. Here is what he spoke to moments before about what hes hearing is in this deal. Im understanding that it could be maybe some direct payments in lieu of state and local. What would those look like, the direct payments, because that was a big Sticking Point and obviously the progressives in the house really want that, so how much . That i dont know. I cant speak to that. I know it wouldnt be more than 1,200, but i think it will be in the 600, probably 500, 600 range to try to help through these most difficult times. That would be my guess. I have no knowledge of this whatsoever. Im telling you i think and this is the conversations weve been hearing for the last day or so. So theyre looking for a pathway forward. That might have been the pathway. Reporter so, again, him focusing there on the second round of stimulus checks that so many people fought for to potentially be included in this deal. It is worth remembering that they are really up against the wall, up against this big deadline, you have the clock ticking towards a midnight friday deadline. They wont attach this deal to the government funding deadline to get that done. A lot procedural needs to happen. Just when they reach a deal later today likely does not mean that its across the finish line. A lot needs to happen. Well, the deadlines matter, right, because for a lot of people those benefits will run out the day after christmas which of course would be a horrible prospect to face. Sunlen serfaty, appreciate it. We know you will be on top of it. Today another major story were following this morning, doses of pfizers vaccine are arriving at more and more facilities across the country. One of them Loyola Medical Center in maywood, illinois, thats where cnns Adrienne Broaddus is. So tell us how youre seeing this roll out there and how many folks are getting their shots per day . Reporter lots of anticipation here. Among the eligible staff, already 400 people have already signed up to receive the vaccine. It hasnt arrived here yet, but when it does arrive the hospital is anticipating 16,000 doses will be delivered here. Its unclear if the first shipment will contain all of the 16 or if it will follow up later. Meanwhile, the hospital conducted a survey about two weeks ago, they wanted to find out if Staff Members would be willing to take the vaccine. The staff here about 9,400 total, among those people who were surveyed, at least 70 responded by saying yes. They want the vaccine. And right now i want to bring in dr. Rich freeman, he is the chief clinical officer. He can tell us a little bit more about their plans here and the rollout. Doctor, thanks for taking time to join us this morning. Lets begin by talking about what this vaccine will mean for you and your staff. Good morning. Yes, were very excited about receiving the vaccine. It will mean the first positive move that weve made in months toward preventing covid in our staff in the general population. So we are very excited to start vaccinating hopefully tomorrow. Reporter hopefully tomorrow. We know those 400 who have already signed up are the employees who are working directly with covid19 patients. Indeed, hope is on the horizon with this vaccine, but what is the message in the coming days . What do people really need to do . Really theres two things to keep in mind, number one, it will take months to get us all vaccinated so we need to continue to wear masks and socially distance and we need the general population to be patient because it will take several months to get all the frontline workers and the highrisk people vaccinated before the general population can receive the vaccine. Reporter thank you so much for your time, dr. Freeman. He is underscoring what we heard from chicagos mayor yesterday when that first shot in chicago was administered on the citys west side. It will be weeks or months before we see widespread vaccination. Poppy and jim . Were so close so do your part, stay healthy, keep everyone else healthy and we will get there together. Adrienne, thank you for the good news this morning. Were joined by kathleen sebl yus, former health and Human Services secretary under president obama. Its wonderful to have you, thank you for the time this morning. Good to be with you. Secretary, what do you make of the rollout so far . Well, its great news. It is a triumph of science to have an effective vaccine within 11 months of the identifying this novel coronavirus. Its great news for the public that help is on the horizon, but as you said, poppy, at the beginning of this broadcast, we are in some very difficult times. The death toll is as high as its ever been, hospitals are full, emergency workers are exhausted and i think people watching the vaccine travel around the country are thinking, okay, its over. We have months and months to go and theres some real uncertainty about how much vaccine will be available, how quickly and so people really have to be patient and be very vigilant about the rules that are mask wearing and social distancing and staying out of indoor gatherings when you cant stay away from other people. A lot of folks, a lot of organizations rose to the occasion here, pharmaceutical companies, National Institutes of health, around the world, too, but i wonder do you give the Trump Administration credit for helping to shepherd this along, to get to a vaccine remarkably quickly and get to the distribution of that vaccine now . Well, i think definitely the investment in multiple candidates for the vaccine and sort of prepaying for vaccines that were going to work was hugely effective, convincing pharmaceutical companies there was a willing buyer and accelerating this whole scientific endeavor. This is a triumph of science and the scientists did their work in record time. I have no idea why the administration turned down the opportunity as late as november to purchase additional doses of the Pfizer Vaccine. I wish we had done that. We had an opportunity to have up to 400 million more doses from pfizer. Didnt have to pay for it until we had all the evidence that it was safe and effective and approved, but we turned that down. So those contracts have gone elsewhe elsewhere. Thats a problem. There is a real problem pending with money running out for state and local governments to conduct this Vaccination Campaign. Theres been about 10 billion spent by the administration in producing a vaccine, but about 380 million passed out to states around this country and local jurisdictions to mount the most massive Vaccination Campaign that this country has ever seen. People need to be hired, data need to be kept, we need to have this amazing logistics of very cold storage going to potentially remote and rural areas. That financing isnt there, its desperately needed. This vaccination only works really if you have a high number of people that are vaccinated around the world, right . Because we travel outside of the United States and people come to this country all the time. So the new research out overnight that says that it looks like about half the planned doses of vaccine have been bought up by highincome countries like the u. S. , japan, australia, the uk and that means that a lot of the world the poor nations wont get vaccinated until 2022. This is exactly what bill and Melinda Gates have been warning about a lot and i just wonder what your advice for the Biden Administration is. Because right now as i understand it the Trump Administration has not paid into whats called co vacs to help distribute the vaccine outside the u. S. Is that one of the first things the Biden Administration should do . Absolutely, poppy. We need to reengage immediately with all of the international partners, with the w. H. O. Where the United States has always been a leader, thats the organization that facilitates distribution and purchasing throughout the world, we need to immediately become an active participant in covacs which is the joint vaccination effort to purchase vaccine for developing countries but also, again, stand up the vaccinators so that they are ready to go, because a disease anywhere is a disease everywhere. There are no borders that keep out viruses as we very well know, watching covid travel from other countries and ravage the globe. So we need to get the world vaccinated. It is the Trump Administration has withdrawn the United States from all of the international efforts, from all of the Collaborative Partnerships and thats just dangerous for the american public. As you say, we travel back and forth and viruses clearly travel back and forth. They dont have passports, they can easily get on airplanes, they dont need tickets and no one in the United States is safe and secure until we can get herd immunity throughout the world, which is about a 70 vaccination rate. Long way to go. We all need patience. Kathleen seebl yus, thanks so much. Sure. Still to come this hour growing confidence of a stimulus agreement finally will be reached up there on capitol hill. We will speak to the Senate Democratic whip, dick durbin. Thats next. For an update. Also President Trump lashes out overnight at Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell while senator mcconnell tells republicans to get in line. Senator mcconnell tells when youre through with powering through, its time for theraflu hot liquid medicine. Powerful relief so you can restore and recover. Theraflu hot beats cold. With acetaminophenction fights pain in two ways. Advil targets pain at the source. While acetaminophen blocks pain signals. The future of pain relief is here. 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I was part of the group of Bipartisan Group that put together this package. I think President Trump is right that 916 billion should be our target in spending. That should include help for state and local governments from my point of view, i think many of us feel that way, but it also ought to include the 748 billion that we had as a consensus agreement. Give you an exam. We put money in here for testing, treatment, tracing and also for the logistics of the vaccinations. We put a lot of money in. But not enough. More will be needed. So lets not short change that. If we are going to sit down and put more money into this project i would certainly put more money into vaccines. Senator manchin seemed to suggest that direct payments to americans in this bill might replace state and local aid. Are you saying that state and local aid is still in play . It is for me. Its a priority. I can tell you in my state and in the city of chicago and other major municipalities in illinois theyve taken a real beating. Revenues are down dramatically and we know why. People dont go out to eat anymore, they dont shop in the neighborhoods as much as they used to. So direct payments. So what would these involve . Exactly how much and to how Many Americans . Well, thats a good question. I would say that with the current amount much money that we have talked about, 900 billion, you couldnt do state and local payments as well as direct payments. I think the state and local are absolutely critical. When it comes to direct payments im not opposed to them but we have to up the ante. I think its money well spent to give to families a helping hand at this point in our economy. Many families have no savings, little or no savings and they are in a desperate situation. If we would give the money, say, to those making 50,000 a year or less, individuals, 100,000 per couple, i think it would cost somewhere in the range of 200 billion and im just speculating to do that across the nation. Liability protections of course that had been the price in effect for republicans or at least the suggested exchange from the Bipartisan Group, state and local aid for Liability Protections. Are Liability Protections guaranteed in this latest version of a bill . No, we werent able to reach an agreement. Theres some real difference of opinion about the giving to corporations immunity from liability. I do not want Small Businesses or any businesses to be harassed by ridiculous lawsuits but i dont want to close the courthouse doors to individuals who have no other recourse for what theyve suffered in terms of damages or pain and suffering or even death in their family. We cant close that door because that really is the option for justice. Okay. I want to move on to another topic and that is a massive hack of multiple government agencies. It appears by russia. Senator Richard Blumenthal who is on one of the relevant committees has tweet that had out. I wonder it appears russia was inside crucial u. S. Systems at crucial u. S. Agencies for months. Who is to blame . Well, the press reports say that it went undetected for months. Listen, lets get to the bottom line here. Russia is relentlessly trying to invade americas cyberspace and to compromise individual identities as well as critical and sensitive information. Theyve been at it for years and they continue to do so. Apparently with some success. Lets put it on the line here. We need an honest reset in terms of relationships between the United States and russia. We cant be buddies with Vladimir Putin and have him at the same time making this kind of cyber attack on america. This is virtually a declaration of war by russia on the United States and we should take it that seriously. As happens so often the president has yet to make a Public Comment about this. He is tweeting about fox news commercials this morning. In your view was the Trump Administration asleep at the wheel here . Completely compromised. On one hand we knew what the russians have been doing during the last four years and how much they put americas security at risk and what it means to our own personal privacy, and the president with his armor on his shoulders of Vladimir Putin is calling his best friend. So we cant have that kind of dichotomy between policy and reality. Senator dick durbin, thanks so much for joining the program this morning. Thank you, jim. Quite a statement, jim, from him on compromised. On russia, right . And essentially a declaration of war. A lot more the Incoming Administration to deal with. Great interview. Okay. Ahead for us Front Line Health Care workers who have seen firsthand the impact, how deadly this pandemic is, they are saying that getting this first dose of the Pfizer Vaccine has been a huge relief. Were going to speak next with the er nurse who was the first person to get the vaccine in new jersey next. Wnd we are moments away from the opening bell. Futures are flat, still there is optimism about the prospects of a stimulus deal and as the rollout continues of pfizers vaccine they will also be keeping a close eye on comments from the fed chair later today on the state of the economy. Hey, son no dad, its a video call. You got to move the phone in front of you like. Like its a mirror, dad. You know . Alright, okay. Hows that . Is that how you hold a mirror . [ding] power e trade gives you an awardwinning mobile app with powerful, easytouse tools and interactive charts to give you an edge, 24 7 support when you need it the most plus 0 commissions for online u. S. Listed stocks. 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L, with over 20 essential vitamins and minerals they are the most complete mini multivitamin. So you can focus on punching above your weight. No matter how high you set the bar. Try centrum minis. Oh my gosh you made it did you put some ah, kale in the greens . We didnt forget about you welcome to the family. Thank you. Wooooow. I can see that light at the end of the tunnel, those are the words of new jersey emergency room Nurse Maritza Beniquez right after this history making moment she became the first person in her state to be vaccinated on tuesday and on her birthday no less. She may have had a mask on, but there is no hiding that joy and that sense of relief. Here is what she said about the moment. This to me this is a lifeline. This to me i dont have to be afraid. I know in another month and a half i will not have to be afraid to touch people. Emergency room Nurse Maritza Beniquez joins me now. Happy belated birthday. Hi. Thank you. And i dont know if you can see me, but i will send this to you if you cant, you are on the front page of the style section of the Washington Post today, by the way. Yes. Yes. You made it. Oh, wow. Im sending this to you after the show. We will get your address. But in all seriousness, what a birthday gift. What was it like . It was incredible. To me it was probably one of the best birthday gifts that ive gotten, right . It signified life versus covid. Life versus death. So its such a powerful right . Thats a powerful emotion and a powerful gift to give yourself because in truth i gave my arm. Its a gift that i gave to myself. A gift that keeps giving because i give it my family, i protect my family, i protect my community. So it was incredible to be a part of that. For anyone watching, i think they need to also hear your story and your journey of how you got here because not only is your life dedicated to giving back as an er nurse, but you lost your job at the height of the last great recession, 2009, and then you through raising kids, you are now a grandmother which i cant believe because you look 29 but this is true, you went back to school, you got your nursing degree, you are top of your class. Just talk about all of that and your message to your fellow, you know, proud latinas in this country, your proud u. S. Born puerto rican. Your message to them today through your whole journey and what you are trying to represent right now. The message is never give up. Right . We are stronger than what we think at times, right, than what people or situations make us feel, but we have a power within us that theres theres nothing that we cant do short of flying, you know, growing wings and flying, that if you put your mind to it you cant do. So, you know, being able to not just do for me, but lead by example because i want my you know, my latinas to know that anything we can do hello . Did i were here. We can do anything. I lost the picture here for a second. So we can do just about anything if we put our mind to it and, you know, and support, community support, because it takes a village. It really does. It took the love and support of my friends and my family to help me get through that hurdle so that i can go ahead and go back to school and fulfill what i wanted to do my whole my whole life. Yeah, we can do it. We can do anything. Its such an important message. And i think particularly emphasized by the fact that the cdc data showed that hispanics across this country have been hospitalized at four times the rate of their white counterparts from covid, they have died at 2. 6 times the rate. So your message to them, which feel free to give in spanish which you did yesterday if youd like for anyone who is listening. The message is this, is that weve lost enough. You know, weve lost too much. And so, you know, theres always going to be those antivacs people, you know, and people that just dont believe in vaccinations, but if we go back to that same archaic way of thinking we would still be living in a world of polio, the devastating effects of polio and smallpox and so many other things that have cost so much, right . And so this, this thing, this covid, this it doesnt really it doesnt care whether you are a latina or you are a plaque or you are caucasian or you are asianamerican. It doesnt care. It wants to live. But it just so happens that i think, you know, theres a bunch of issues that are involved with the fact that, you know, the black and Latino Community are suffering at a greater risk or that we have worse outcomes and that is a very long conversation, it has to do with everything from socioeconomic status to underlying medical conditions, but we need to come together and i know because i am witness to what we can do if we come together and dont let fear cloud your judgment. I have a family and my family to me comes first. It comes before it comes before me. And so when i did this or when i do this i dont just do it for me, i do it for my family, i do it for my community because they are important to me. And i am important to them. So dont be afraid. I am fine. I woke up with my arm was a little sore this morning, right . But, you know, its expected. Again, we cannot afford to lose one more person. We cannot afford to lose, you know i think about the kids that are sitting at home, i think about they are not in school, i think about the Small Businesses that have been affected, i think about i mean, this has affected every portion of our lives and its time to put an end and get back to some form of normalcy. Nurse maritza beniquez, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Happy birthday. Thanks again. Youre welcome. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Jim . So nice to see smiles and hope when it comes to this. I just think i mean, think of how the danger is still out there, but think of how much tragedy weve covered with that and youve seen that change just a little bit. Totally. A staunch trump ally faces the fallout after going against the president s false claims of a stolen election. What Mitch Mcconnell said and his warning to fellow republicans. Thats next. My kids, they know im a scientist. But its hard to explain to them what i do every day. Right now, im working on purification technologies that help advance vaccine and Therapy Research for covid19. One day, theyll realize i wasnt just trying to help them go out and play again. I was trying to make it safer for the whole world to get back outside too. I was trying to make it safer ttheir love keeps you centered. Tell them. With a gift from the center of me collection. Exclusively at kay. New projects means you need to hire. Gers. I need indeed. Indeed you do. The moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. Claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed. Com home. To stir that fire, university of phoenix is awarding up to one Million Dollars in scholarships through this month. See what scholarship you qualify for at phoenix. Edu. So this has become sort of a familiar pattern or refrain. Congratulate the president elect, face the music from the president. This morning Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell is doing just that, facing the music or should i say the tweet. Yeah, and from a whole host of right wing media figures. John harwood is at the white house. John, mcconnell of course has been a staunch ally of this president at every turn, he simply acknowledged the truth yesterday after the Electoral College met and the president very quickly turned on him. Consequences . Reporter i think actually the consequences were fairly limited here. When you consider, jim, the extent of the pathologies of President Trump and the republican party, this was about as good of an outcome as you could have hoped for. Mitch mcconnell after the Electoral College voted put an end to the fantasy football that people have been playing with the election within his party, declared joe biden the president elect, congratulated him and Kamala Harris. Asked his republican colleagues not to engage in shenanigans on january 6th when the congress is due to certify the results of the Electoral College. He gave the white house a heads up in advance that he was going to do this. He bathed his congratulations for joe biden in a large cocoon of praise for President Trump and the reaction from donald trump on twitter was fairly muted. Now we seem to be on the verge of a covid relief deal which is badly needed and much platebela. Yes, it is a low bar but when you consider whats going on in the republican party, we had a case in texas where a republican donor paid a couple hundred thousand dollars to a former Police Official who is now in jail because he had detailed an air conditioning repairman in the belief that the guy had ballots in his truck when he actually had air conditioning equipment. When you consider that kind of stuff is going on around election fraud, you have to say that Mitch Mcconnell came out of this on the other side in not a bad condition. Listen, and far more Death Threats to officials, republicans and democrats than i think our viewers are probably aware. It is a real risk. Law enforcement is taking it seriously. John after hood, thanks very much. You bet. Also responding to mcconnell is Vice President elect senator Kamala Harris. I applaud Mitch Mcconnell for talking to joe biden today. You know, it would have been better if it were earlier, but it happened, and thats whats most important. So lets move forward. Lets move forward and where we can find common purpose and common ground, lets do that. Let that be our priority. Lets go to jessica dean. Good morning to you, jess. The Vice President elect also spoke a lot about the pandemic in that interview that aired this morning and today we could learn more about when she and the president elect might get vaccinated. Reporter yeah, were learning that it is coming soon. We had rick bright who is a member of their covid19 Advisory Board on our air this morning and he confirmed also what the transition has been telling us, which is that joe biden will be getting this vaccine very soon, that theyre working through the logistics of it. We heard from the president elect himself yesterday on his way down to georgia, he confirmed again he is going to be getting it and hes going to be getting it publicly and he will notify the media before he gets it. Again, rick bright saying that he doesnt want to jump in line or anything, but we also have dr. Fauci saying that he wants biden and Kamala Harris vaccinated as soon as possible for security reasons. We did hear the Vice President elect talk more about their covid plans and the vaccine in that interview earlier today. Listen. For the first 100 days lets everybody just wear a mask and see and see the outcomes there because, of course, the scientists and the Public Health officials tell us they will be really great outcomes if everyone does wear a mask when they are in public. It is about getting through the pandemic, around making sure that everyone has access to the vaccine and that they take it. And how do you go about doing that when you know theres so much mistrust, especially in the community of color. That means by listening to the people, it means about remembering history and why people feel the way they do and then also reminding folks this vaccine is just about one thing and one thing only, saving lives. Reporter and biden has promised 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days. Of course, poppy and jim, that relies on Congress Continues to fund the Distribution Plan and the Distribution Plan itself working as they want it to. Poppy and jim . And if they make this deal theyre talking about this morning. There is money for that. The biden team also filling out its cabinet. Former mayor, former president ial candidate, former governor, i think former Vice President ial candidate in the mix. Reporter yeah, thats exactly right. Some familiar faces starting with pete buttigieg, a former 2020 president ial candidate himself, who biden has tapped to be his secretary of transportation nominee. Buttigieg will be introduced at an event later today here in wilmington. Also former michigan governor Jennifer Granholm were told is poised to be tapped as his energy secretary, she of course a longtime adviser to biden who has helped him out on debate prep and other things over the years. Then we have Gina Mccarthy as the white house climate czar, the former epa director heading up a newly formed Domestic Climate Policy Office through the white house. She will join john kerry who will be looking at it from an international standpoint, she will be looking at it domestically. Still, familiar faces, jim and poppy. Thank you for the reporting. Still to come for us, when rhetoric meets reality. You heard john harwood this. We will explain what happened a former Police Captain charged after investigators say he pointed a gun at someone he thought to be a voter fraud mastermind. Its a vigilante investigation gone very wrong, the details ahead. May your holidays glow bright and all your dreams take flight. Visit your local mercedesbenz dealer today for exceptional lease and financing offers at the mercedesbenz winter event. Your happy place. Find your breaking point. Then break it. Every emergenc gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergenc. I got it all from you im always pushing through i know well make it to the finish line i know youre waiting on the other side im like you ondemand glucose monitoring. Because theyre always on. Another lifechanging technology from abbott. So you dont wait for life. You live it. The operation warp speed briefing on the vaccine and distribution is under way right now. Were going to hear are hearing from the hhs secretary azar, lets listen in. Great. Good morning, everyone. And thank you for joining this operation warp speed update today. We continue to have good news to report. As of today shipments of vaccine will have been delivered to every delivery site identified by Public Health jurisdictions for our first wave of for our first wave of shipments. I hope everybody have been as enheartened as we have been to see vulnerable Health Care Workers getting vaccinated this week. I had the chance to see this myself at two sites, George Washington University Hospital and this morning at med star, georgetown University Hospital. What i took away from those visits is this while operation warped speed delivery of vaccines on this time is extraordinary, administering these vaccines can feel white ordinary. At gw they were administering vaccines just like they do any other vaccines but with all of the appropriate social distancing precautions. At georgetown this morning, the director of pharmacy, jeff cox, showed me the pfizer packaging that he had received, showed me the gps tracking and the Cold Chain Storage tracking devices that connect directly into general personous command center for temperature control and excursions. And he showed me their cold Storage Facilities and he walked me through this very simple thawing, mixing and extraction process. And he said other than that this is covid, this is pretty standard. This is what we do. And thats been the message from virtually every partner that we are working with in this endeavor. Every hospital, ma kessens, cvs, walgreens, this is what we do. We have a lot of work to do in the coming months to get a vaccine to everyone who wants one but we have a confidence to approach hospitals and Health Care Workers who do such a good job providing tens of millions of vaccines every year. For next week we allocated another 2 million doses of pfizers vaccines to use and if modernas vaccine is approved in the coming days, we have 5 million doses of thatting pro. On tuesday you heard the analysis we will be briefed by the independent Adviser Committee meeting tomorrow. The agent concluded the vaccine was 94. 5 effective in reducing the incidence of covid19 among the treated group which is far ahead of where it is considered safe. And it is considered safe. And the Moderna Vaccine will go through the rigorous procedures the pfizer did and every oas will receive, emergency authorization to go through. That Clinical Trial is much larger than many independent trials. A data board that oversees those trials. We have been listening to the hhs secretary azar there, says almost 6 million doses of the Moderna Vaccine, 2 million of the Pfizer Vaccine by next week, remarkably fast progress on the vaccine. Good news all around. It is great news. Well monitor this for other news. We will bring it to you quickly. Back on the other side. From your walmart store. Really fast. Really perfect. Lets end the year nailing it. That will change me forever. Yes. Show them your love is unstoppable. Instore, online or by virtual consultation. Only at kay jewelers. Instore, online or by virtual consultation. At mercedesbenz, sits not just a job, its our mission. 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And keep costs down. Lets end the year enjoying more. You are all i need baby baby to get by zrushi disturbing story out of texas. A former houston Police Captain is charged with running a man off the road and pointing a gun at his head. Why . Investigators say he wrongly believed the victim was the mastermind of a massive voter fraud. This is where unfounded talk of a stolen election gets you. Mark ma geary had been hired by a private form to investigate alleged voter fraud and Authorities Say he followed the victim for days. Imagine that, believing he had fraudulent ballots, hundreds of them, in his truck. Turns out the victim was just an air conditioner repairman, no ballots. It was false. Cnn correspondent Josh Campbell is following the story. Josh, i dont have to tell you given the experience in the fbi the seriousness of plots like this based on nothing but real potential for violence. Thats right. Those of us who track National Security threats have been warning for months these claims of voter fraud, baseless claims of mass fraud, are not happening in a vacuum and there is a potential for violence. That appears to have happened in houston, texas, just before the election. Authorities arrested this former Police Captain. Hes charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. They say he was part of this group called Liberty Center, that was trying to probe mass voter fraud in the houston area. They say the man had started surveillance on another unidentified man thinking he was this mastermind. He followed him, crashed his suv into the back of the mans truck, ordered him to the ground at gunpoint and put his knee on the unidentified mans back. As you mentioned, the former Police Captain thought inside that truck were 750,000 fraudulent ballots. Of course, this man ended up being an innocent air conditioner repairman. An attorney said what prosecutors are alleging didnt happen. Theyre saying this is not in line with what the prosecutors laid out in their charges. Take a listen to what he said. He was working and investigating voter fraud. It was an accident. They were surveying a vehicle. There was an accident. And a member of the car got out and rushed towards him and thats where the confrontation took place. Its very different than what youre citing in that affidavit. Its worth pointing out he was not acting alone. Were hearing from a spoerks person from Liberty Center who says this former Police Captain was part of a group of 20 investigators hired by a republican activist named steve holtzy in the houston area. He became prominent before the election trying to validate hundreds of thousands of ballots unsuccessful in the courts. At this hour the former Police Captain remains behind bars and he faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. Jim, poppy . A reminder, the Justice Department under its job of investigating voter fraud under bill barr did not find any evidence