Questions here. What does this tell us about the efficacy and the safety of the vaccine . What can we learn in the shortterm from the United Kingdom . Why did they go first . What does the president think of that . We have new information this morning on who in the u. S. Will get this vaccine first. Plans approved overnight for front line workers and nursing homes. At this moment, the pandemic is at its worst stage in the u. S. Record hospitalizations overnight. Nearly 2,600 deaths reported. Thats the second highest day since the pandemic began. There is also a lot of breaking news out of the white house this morning. Cnn has learned in the past month, President Trump has discussed preemptive pardons for several people close to him, including his own children, his soninlaw, and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. This is in addition to potentially pardoning himself. Were also learning unsealed Court Records reveal that the Justice Department is investigating a potential crime related to the funneling of money into the white house or related Political Committee in exchange for president ial pardons. We will get to all of it. We want to begin with max foster on this breaking news out of london. Max, good morning. Erica, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, has just left downing street with a spring in his step. Hes about to address parliament in this huge moment. This morning, the british regulator, the equivalent of the fda, the mhra, announced that not only is the Pfizer Vaccine 95 effective, its also safe. Lets hear from the head of that group. This vaccine has only been approved because those strict tests have been done and complied with. And everyone can be absolutely confident that no corners whatsoever have been cut. Boris johnson, as you can see, speaking to this. Well bring you the highlights of that speech as they come through. But the regulator here described how they were able to carry out all sorts of tests on this new vaccine in parallel to each other, as opposed to one after the other, which led to this extraordinary moment where a drug has gone from concept to reality in just ten months, when it would normally take ten years. So now we have a situation where Boris Johnson has confirmed the rollout of this vaccine will start next week. 800,000 doses made in belgium at the pfizer factory on their way over here to the United Kingdom. A very delicate operation, although pfizer says it is ready. Theyve created this special containers that keep the doses at minus 94 degrees fahrenheit, which is vital to keep this drug safe. Once it gets to the United Kingdom, it will be taken into key hospitals, and then the injections will begin. Starting off with people in care homes and their careers, and then Front Line Health Care staff. Also, people over the age of 80. Theyve drawn a list of who gets the vaccine first. But this will be a sixmonth process to get the nation vaccinated, so theyre very much warning everyone in the United Kingdom not to get too excited, but to stick to those safety rules at least for now. Yeah, now is certainly not the time to let down your guard when you know that it is so close at time. Max foster, thank you. Meantime, here at home, cnn has learned the first shipments of pfizers Coronavirus Vaccine are set to be delivered in two weeks, and the cdcs vaccine advisers also have recommended who should get those first doses here in the United States. Cnns sara murray live in washington this morning. So fill us in more on this recommendation from that Advisory Panel at the cdc. Yeah, so, look, this is going to be a huge logistical challenge ahead. Heres what we know. We know that the cdc has recommended that Health Care Workers be at the front of the line, and we know that it could be as soon as december 15th, pending fda authorization, that these start to get shipped out. They go out within 24 hours from pfizer. And its really up to states to get them into the arms of these Front Line Health Care workers. We know that even in this first initial round, there arent going to be enough doses, even to do all of these Front Line Health Care workers. States have already thought about, how do you prioritize within those priority groups . For instance, if youre a Health Care Worker thats working every day with covid19 patients, you are probably going to be at the front of that line. The federal government has taken this 10,000 foot management view on this. Theyre talking to states about what they might need. You know, do you have enough cold storage. These Pfizer Vaccines need to be kept in ultracold freezers. If not, do you have enough dry ice. Theyre helping states acquire enough dry ice so they can keep these vaccines cold. But a lot of this really does fall to states. And one of the things were hearing that states really worried about is making sure that people come back, not just for the first dose, but obviously for the second. Less of a concern with Health Care Workers, which most of these states expect will be very eager to get the vaccine and also very responsible in terms of getting both doses. But states are saying they need more money from the federal government in order to make sure that theyre appropriately tracking everyone who comes in for vaccine number one. And then, following up with them and encouraging them to come get vaccine number two. No state wants to waste any of this vaccine, because that will also impact how many doses they could get from the federal government in the future. Great points. Sara murray, thank you so much. Obviously, a ton to discuss, joining us now, dr. Sanjay gupta. Great to see you. Lets start with this news out of the United Kingdom. The significance of that country granting emergency use approval to the Pfizer Vaccine. The significance, why are they a week ahead of the United States . Is that even the right framing . Yeah, i think thats going to be something that a lot of people ask about. So i think its a very fair question. I mean, the data the data from pfizer was received by this Regulatory Authority, mhra, just a couple of days after the fda received their data. So its really a question of how quickly do you analyze this data, and we know, you know, this Regulatory Authority in britain typically does tend to move pretty quickly, quicker than the United States. Things often do get approved in europe and specifically the uk faster than they do in the United States and thats always the subject and that relies, on how much of the analysis do you, do you start from scratch and analyze all the methods and the raw data yourself . I was talking to some folks this morning about exactly what the process was in the uk. But its a good process. I think its really good that there were no big red flags that jumped out. Keep in mind, the only folks that have really seen this data up until now have been the company. Thats all when we hear the 95 number, were hearing that from the company. So now this is evidence that there is another body, Regulatory Authority that says, hey, weve looked at this. We feel confident to go ahead and move forward. Its a huge move. And i think it really does telegraph thal wet were going see that in other places, including in the United States and with the fda and the rest of the European Union in pretty short order. People have said by the middle of this month, that still seems to be whats on track. It was noteworthy, too, out of the uk, they went out of their way to say, look, this authorization meets international standards. Right. Yeah, because that is the question. And all right, as i was on a call this morning with a few different folks, that is lar little b already a little bit subject of a debate. Were any corners cut . Im not suggesting that and i dont think anyone is suggesting that, but this did move quickly. And again, is there an increased reliance on the companys data. How much did you start from scratch . But i dont think anyone necessarily that i was talking to this morning suggested that it did not meet international standards. Just moved fast, and its probably going to be a signal of what we see here in the United States. So overall, i think what were seeing in the uk is good news now for the rest of the world. Because its likely that those types of approvals will start happening all over the place. Maybe next week. I mean, in the United States, its coming very quickly here. I dont think people should get overly anxious that its there, but not here yet. Something did happen overnight in the United States, which is the cdc Advisory Panel put together guidelines for who gets the vaccine first. And as expected, the front line medical workers come first. Also people in nursing homes. When it comes to front line medical workers, sanjay, what does that mean, exactly . And i suppose its not just medical workers, its people who work in these medical settings, i suppose is a better way of saying it. But what does it mean. Who specifically does that cover . Yeah, this is a really important point. And some of this sara murray may have just alluded to this, but this may come down to not just the states making these triage decisions in terms of whos getting the vaccines first, but even individual institutions, hospitals, for example, exactly as youre saying. For example, im a neurosurgeon. There have been times when i have taken care of patients who have covid, but thats not the primary purpose theyre coming to see me. Theyre diagnosed with covid after coming to the hospital. For doctors, nurses, staff who are taking care of Covid Patients on a regular basis, theyre likely to be first in line, because theyre most at risk. It makes sense. And obviously, in the beginning, theres not going to be enough. You saw the numbers here. Were talking perhaps on a rolling basis, 40 million or so doses if this all goes well available by the end of the year. Thats 20 million people. There are 21 million Health Care Workers alone. So, obviously, theres going need to be triage done. On top of that, you have some 3 million longterm care facility residents and staff that will also be at the front of the line. So there will be some triage decisions made. There are some states that may focus more on nursing home staff and residents, because they have more of those types of patients. So its going to vary from state to state and well track that and see how thats going. I should also point out, with regard to the authorizations, the vaccines already prepurchased right. So these authorizations shouldnt affect where the vaccine is going. We know how much is likely to be available in the United States versus the uk, versus other places around the world. And weve started to hear, too, from states and even hospitals about what theyre preparing for in terms of doses they expect to get. As we look at all of this, it is such great news and so good to focus on that light at the end of the tunnel, but we cant ignore the reality of the situation were in. The Staggering Number of deaths reported overnight in this country. This open letter from the american medical association, the nurses association, the hospital association, pleading with americans to stay vigilant in the weeks and months ahead. As you look at these two moments, it is more important now than ever that we keep doing what were doing, sanjay. Yeah, you know, this has been the thing. And i think for now, a few weeks, a few months, really, this anticipation of this very good news regarding vaccines, at the same time as very, very awful news in terms of where the numbers are. Thats what people are hearing. Theyre hearing both of these at the same time. Some people will say, well, the vaccines are coming, therefore, you know, were done. This is over. Its not. And theres just a pragmatic nature to this. We talk about the vaccine going to Health Care Workers and longterm care facilities. Those are institutions that may be able to accommodate and administer the vaccine more quickly. For everybody else, this process is going to take a while. In part just because the vaccine is being manufactured inand distributed sort of at the same time. Usually off huge stock supply and can surge demand quickly. Thats not the case here. This is happening realtime. And as a result, most people really arent going to be able to get to the vaccine until late spring early summer. And even then, therell be a period of time where youre still building up that herd immunity in this country. These are all terms and strategies that people have heard now for the next several months. Its starting to unfold, but its still going to take time and there are so many lives that can still be saved in the interim without a vaccine, without any new therapeutic. We hear this all the time, but 100,000 lives could still be saved if people were diligent about simply masking, avoiding large public gatherings and avoiding being in indoor, clustered sort of locations. Just those three things, if we did those for the next few months, even aside from the vaccine, would make monument aa difference. We have evidence that shows that to be the case. The hospital figures, nearly 99,000. Thats grim and continues to be head in the wrong direction this morning. Much more with you coming up. Thanks so much for being with us, sanjay. Okay. A quick programming note. Anderson cooper and sanjay will host a new cnn coronavirus town hall on friday night. Tune in at 9 00 p. M. Eastern to get your vaccine questions answered. So sources tell cnn that President Trump is discussing preemptive pardons for his children, his soninlaw, and Rudy Giuliani. Maggie haberman reports that giuliani has been lobbying for a pardon. She joins us next. Tired of overpaying for your prescriptions . Try optum perks. Its a new way to save up to 80 . And everyone can do it. Its from optum, a Health Care Company thats trusted by millions of people. You dont have to sign up for anything. Just go to optumperks. Com. And get a coupon to use at your pharmacy. Thats it. I opted in. I opted in. You can, too. Opt in and save big today. [anthat can leave cleaning gaps and wrap hair. So shark replaced them with flexible power fins to directly engage floors and dig deep into carpets. Pick up more on every pass with no hair wrap. Shark vertex with duoclean power fins. 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Breaking overnight, a source tells cnn that since the election, President Trump has discussed preemptive pardons for several people close to him, including his children, his soninlaw, and his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani. Joining us now, maggie haberman, who broke the story last night in the new york times. In some cases, you may think, thats not entirely surprising, but it really is in a lot of ways. Because there are not really allegations of crimes for his children, so why these preemptive pardons, if we start first with his kids . If we start with his kids, erica, were not clear whether theres some specific thing that hes worried about. What we understand, mike schmidt and i, from our reporting, is that the president is worried, and he has been for many, many weeks, he has talked about his fear of the prosecutors if he lost the election were going to come aggressively, not just at him, but at his children. And so he believes that there is a chance that there will be some effort for some kind of retaliatory prosecution by the biden Justice Department. Its not clear that hes worried about one specific thing. We do know that there have obviously been investigations that have touched on his family over time. Theres certainly state investigations into aspects of his own business that could impact his children. Those are state prosecutions. Its not like a federal preemptive pardon would do much. And its not clear that a federal preemptive pardon is going to have much legal standing, but that is whats on his mind right now, as hes heading into the final stages here. Thats the kids. Now, Rudy Giuli