President elect. In total, a half million doses have been administered. The rollout may take longer than previously promised. The tsa says it screened more than a million passengers each of the last three days in a row. Thats a pandemic first. Cnns Martin Savidge reports one in every 217 americans was infected with covid19 just last week. Reporter the battle against coronavirus gets another shot in the arm. Patients begin to receive the first doses of the new Moderna Vaccine. I think it is a great milestone. Reporter now with two covid19 vaccines green lighted, they plan to accelerate it this week. We have a long way to go and we want to be better and better and better. Reporter meanwhile, vaccine advisers for the cdc recommending who should get the injections next, following Health Care Workers and residents of longterm care facilities. Phase 1b prioritizes adults and front line essential workers. C is people 16 to 64 with high risk medical conditions and other essential workers. The vaccine help so desperately needed with the u. S. On the brink of surpassing 18 million covid19 cases. In just one week the country added over 1. 5 million new infections. Thats one in every 217 americans testing positive. Another symptom of the pandemic, hunger. In florida, cars lining up before dawn for a food give away, some waiting up to five hours. We are in need like everybody else out there. Reporter in tennessee, warnings of whats to come. Thousands of our neighbors are in the hospital tonight. More than 100 people are dying each day. We are in a war. Reporter officials are pleading with residents to limit holiday gatherings to their immediate household. In texas, too. Instead of holiday cheer, it is holiday fear. The next six to eight weeks, as we discussed before, i continue to think are going to be the darkest weeks in modern american medical history because people are not listening. Reporter the latest indication many are not listening coming from the tsa, reporting they screened more than 3 million passengers from friday through sunday. The largest number since march. Emory University Hospital in atlanta like hospitals across the country, pamela, are working to vaccinate as many of the front line Health Care Workers as they possibly can knowing that they face a very grim holiday season. Pamela . Grim is right. Just hearing the doctor says six to eight weeks, next six to eight weeks will be the worst in american medical history in this persons opinion is stunning. Thank you so much. We appreciate it, martin. The u. S. Still allowing travel with United Kingdom even though dozens of countries shut it down. Max foster reports it is attempt to block a new variant of coronavirus in the uk, one that appears much more contagious. Air passengers stranded, truck drivers, too, after cargo was banned from crossing into france. Some brits reacted by lining up outside shops to stock up. The government forced to reassure them food wont run out. All of this because of a highly contagious variant of coronavirus, spreading rapidly throughout the country, especially in and around london. The transmission is increased, we cant say exactly by how much, it is clearly substantially increased. Reporter dozens of countries have banned uk visitors. Prime minister Boris Johnson following crisis meetings, including with his french counterpart, was unable to say how long it would last. I have just spoken to president macron, we had a very good call. We both understand each others positions, want to resolve the problems as fast as possible. Reporter will the u. S. Join the growing list of countries banning british travelers . Dr. Anthony fauci told cnn he is not advising that to the white house. The u. S. Must without a doubt keep an eye on it, fauci said, but warned we dont want to overreact. The u. S. Is monitoring for outbreaks. It could be in the United States and may not have yet detected it. Reporter the uk has been put in quarantine by the rest of the world. Governments try to protect their citizens before they can be vaccinated. Some developments on the u. S. Side, Governor Andrew Cuomo saying delta, British Airways agreed to require passengers on uk flights to test negative before they board a flight to new york. Some restrictions starting to come. Well see how it develops over your side of the world, pamela. Max foster, keeping an eye on this. Thank you so much. Joining me, former Harvard Medical School professor, thank you for coming on. Lets talk about the new variant we are learning about that max laid out for us. Head of operation warp speed said theres no evidence to suggest this variant in the uk is more deadly. You heard dr. Anthony fauci say that he is not recommending the u. S. Shutdown travel to the uk now. What do you think of that . I respectfully disagree with both men. I looked carefully at the data, theres a lot of data that came up. Three things strike me about the new strain. First of all, there are a lot of changes that happened in one strain. That makes it more transmissible. You can look at the mutations that make it more transmissible. Two, its evolved to escape immune suppression, to escape immune reactions. There are three or four different mutations we can point to. Finally, there are at least three mutations that look to me to make it more dangerous. So i would recommend that we stop flights from Great Britain and i would not be sang win that this is not more dangerous that it can escape our immune systems and that it wont be more deadly. When you look at what it does to cells and culture, it is different from standard strains. From a vie roll gist point of view, this looks really different. I think we know how it came to be, too. I want to take a step back, breakdown more of what you laid out there. First of all, you said from what you studied, it can escape immune responses. The question that raises what about the vaccine from pfizer and moderna in the u. S. , could those vaccines not be effective with the new variant . I think that remains to be seen. It is not known yet. What you do know is this virus adapted itself to grow in people that were given convalescent serum, which would normally clear the infection. Serum given to the people in which the virus most likely arose, the virus learned to escape it. Whether that means it will escape a vaccine which is slightly different from what happens in convalescent serum is not known but i would say what it does say, what happens in one person can happen to the whole population. This is looking more and more like the flu than it is like other kinds of viruses. It looks like it is more of an escape artist than we thought. So why do you think it is more dangerous in particular . You heard others, other Health Officials say theres not evidence now to support the idea it is more deadly. Why do you think it is more dangerous . If you look at some of the mutations, one near whats called a cleavage site, between two pieces of the outside of the virus, thats what makes the virus in good part more dangerous than others and theres a mutation at that site in what it looks like evolution of this virus to keep growing, despite constant immune pressure from convalescent antiserum, probably how this arose. It had to do several things, had to escape the immune system and grow in a different environment. When you put this onto cells and culture, it eats them up in a different way from the standard virus. Those are hallmarks of a more dangerous disease. We dont know that yet because we havent seen, have seen some younger people get sicker than they might ordinarily be. To drill down, when you say more dangerous, can you be more specific what you mean by that . Were all learning about this together, and i think it is important to be specific what you mean by more dangerous, besides the mechanism. More specific. More transmissible, easier to catch with lower numbers of virus. More easily able to escape immune system already built in some ways to escape our immune suppression, and number three, capable of more destruction once you are infected. Got you. So you have a highly contagious strain that could be in the u. S. For all we know. The tsa says it screened more than a Million People every day for the last three days in a row, a Record Number during the pandemic. How concerned are you about the spread of coronavirus during the holidays . Im extremely concerned. It is hard toll tease out what the thanksgiving bump was, certainly we are worse off than we were before thanksgiving, and we all know christmas is a time where more people travel than they do through thanksgiving. Theyre away longer, meet with larger numbers of people. As you reported now it doesnt look like americans are getting the message that theyre putting their lives at risk, their family at risk and the community. This is not a time to travel and gather with friends. However much we would like. I join them in urging people not to do what they want to do, not even to do what they plan to do. With regard to the question is this already in the United States, it would be shocking to find this was not already here. This virus started to circulate in september. Wave we had millions of people come in from england and europe in that time. It would be very, very surprising if it werent already here. Talk about the timeline for the vaccine. That gives people some hope, right, that there are ways to suppress whats going on with this pandemic. You have bidens pick for Surgeon General suggesting it may be until mid summer or fall for the general population to get a vaccine. Do you think thats a more realistic timeline for folks to look forward to, and what about the group of 75 and older . First of all, i do think that the late spring, early summer is probably the right time. It takes time to manufacture this in bulk, takes time to line people up. It is probably late spring, early summer before most people can get it. In terms of the decision of the fda to say they prefer people 75 and older to be one of the next groups of people after front line Health Care Workers, i think that makes sense because those are people that are most likely to die if infected. Do you have a sense when they might get that vaccine . It is fine if you dont, just want to be clear on that. I think that will probably start late this week, early next week. I dont see why it shouldnt. But theres another group were concerned about, essential health workers. Those are largely minority, underrepresented classes of people that have to go to work, have to take public transportation. Thats a population that gets infected more heavily. I would hope after 75, thats the next group to get it. Thank you so much. William hazeltine. Alexandra field is at long island hospital, one of the first moderna vaccinations happened there, tell us about it. Reporter moments ago, in a place they know consequences of covid all too well. This was hit hard in the early part of the pandemic. They started giving the Moderna Vaccine to front line workers. The first volunteer was arlene ramirez, registered nurse that works in the emergency department. She watched her own father suffer from covid in the icu of this hospital for more than a month before he lost his life, and she fought covid herself. Before getting the shot, she says wondering whether or not she was going to make it was a horrible thing, something she couldnt imagine putting her family through again. We heard from her again just after she had the shot moments ago. This vaccine is very meaningful to me, very important to me. As a nurse with the emergency department, as a health care worker, seeing what we saw, death after death, having endured all at the same time illness of my fatherinlaw, being severely ill myself, 36 days of my father being in intensive care unit here. This vaccine is hope. Its hope that we will cease the pandemic, live a better life. We shouldnt be afraid of the vaccine. We need to be afraid of covid. It definitely changes peoples lives and takes and destroys life. So powerfully put. Shes one of 6600 front line workers to have received the first dose of the vaccine from pfizer and moderna. There are some 54,000 front line workers within the hospital system. A long way to go, pamela. Just hearing the nurse talk, to hear her emotion puts in perspective why this is so significant and not just for her but for everyone else waiting in line for this and those that received it. Thanks so much, alexandra. Covid relief expected to be approved by congress sometime soon. When theyll vote, more importantly, when you will see the 600 checks. Up next. Poison and underwear, one of Vladimir Putins biggest enemies tricking one of russias secret agents in a story youll only see on cnn and hear the audio tape. Thats coming up. Lets get checked for a full range of conditions. Lets get fast, accurate results. Introducing letsgetchecked Health Testing you do at home. Know your health. Know yourself. Order now at letsgetchecked dot com light it up like dynamite this is ah light it up like dynamite so watch me light the fire and set the night alight alright shining through the city. If you have type 2 diabetes and risks for heart disease, you could land in the hospital with heart failure. For people like you, farxiga does more than lower a1c. Farxiga also helps prevent hospitalization for heart failure. Do not take if allergic to farxiga. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. Stop taking and seek medical help right away. Tell your doctor right away if you have red color in urine, or pain while you urinate, or a genital area infection, since a rare but serious genital infection may be lifethreatening. Do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems or are on dialysis. Other serious side effects include dehydration, genital yeast and bacterial infections in women and men, urinary tract infections, low blood sugar, and sudden kidney problems. Stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis, which is serious and may lead to death. Answer the alert. Ask your doctor if farxiga could do more for you. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. Unfortunately, we are still limiting inperson appointments due to the pandemic and well need to move your fathers visit to a later date. Were sorry. To high quality Computer Science and stem education. 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Moments ago, president elect joe biden got the vaccine. His wife got hers earlier today. Joining me, jessica dean. Why did the president elect want to get the first round publicly . He wants to instill confidence in the American People that it is safe and effective, he said so after getting that vaccine. He said he is doing it to show people theres nothing to worry about, be prepared to get the vaccine when it is your turn. He gave some credit to the Trump Administration for operation warp speed, getting the vaccine to this point, thanked Health Care Workers and scientists. Take a listen. People who put this together, front line workers, people who give the clearance to work, just amazing. He will get that followup vaccine, he got the pfizer vaccine, he should be fully inoculated before he takes office january 20th. We also know that Vice President elect Kamala Harris and her husband are getting their first round of the vaccine next week. Thank you so much for that. Lawmakers will soon vote on one of the largest relief packages in u. S. History with barely a glance at the fine print. Congressional leaders reached a stimulus deal last night, spent the day putting final touches on the 900 billion bill. Lets go to manu raju on capitol hill. Any chance the bill will not get to the president s desk tonight . Reporter it is unlikely to get to the president s desk tonight because of how big the proposal is. 5,593 pages. Just introduced it this afternoon. The process goes like this. The house votes to approve the bill this afternoon into the evening, into the night. Then the senate will likely pass it as well sometime late tonight but they need to get all of the paperwork together to send it to the president s desk. That will take time. Congress meantime will pass a seven day stop Gap Resolution to keep the government open another week to give them time to get the paperwork done and to the president s desk. It will take time to be signed into law. The president indicates he will sign it. Well see when that will happen, though. What exactly is offered in the bill for Many Americans . This is a significant proposal, 900 billion plan is attached to 1. 4 trillion spending package. In the covid relief plan includes a number of key provisions that could help americans that are struggling now. There will be a 600 direct payment given to individuals who make less than 75,000 a year. Each person in that family could get 600. A family of four could get 2400, for instance, depending on income level theyre at. Also, 300 a week in jobless benefits, money for schools and colleges to the tune of 82 billion. 25 billion for rental assistance. It would extend Eviction Moratorium until end of january. 20 billion for purchase of vaccines. More money for food stamps. This effects virtually all sectors of the american economy, which is why it is significant that congress is finally getting a deal after months of bickering, months of stealemate even those seeing Unemployment Benefits drying up in a matter of days, congress has a deal, expect to pass it soon. The president will sign it as well. Manu raju, thanks so much. Youre tracking this. Attorney general bill barr with several stinging rebukes of President Trump as he prepares to leave his job. Thats up next. Research shows people remember commercials with nostalgia. So to help you remember that Liberty Mutual customizes your Home Insurance, heres one thatll really take you back. Wow whatd you get, ryan . Its customized Home Insurance from Liberty Mutual what does it do bud . It customizes our Home Insurance so we only pay for what we need and what did you get, mike . I got a bike. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Lelets get fast, accuratell range oresults. Ions. 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Turning to our politics lead, a major rebuke, the attorney general says he sees no reason to appoint a special counsel to investigate voter fraud or election machines. Joe johns reports the president is still unleashing on twitter, refusing to accept he lost the election. Reporter as President Trump intensified his efforts on twitter to convince americans the election should be overturned, his outgoing attorney general was once again rebuking the president s false claims of mass Election Fraud. Good morning, everyone. Reporter barr took questions from reporters today, two days before he is set to leave the justice department, asked whether they should appoint a special counsel to investigate voter fraud. If i thought a special counsel at this stage was the right tool and was appropriate, i would name one, but i havent and im not going to. Reporter trund, Sidney Powell, who he is pushing for special counsel on Election Fraud was seen leaving the white house. She with she and he talking about marshal law. I see no basis for seizing machines by the federal government. Reporter as trump continues to stew on twitter, hes been speaking with allies, like former white house chief strategist steve bannon who told the president not to attend president elect bidens inauguration. He is not going to back down. He will never concede. Reporter trump also soliciting alabama senator elect Tommy Tubberville to challenge the Electoral College vote january 6th, Something Senate majority leader is trying to quarterback. I spoke to Tommy Tubberville. He said you made me the most popular politician in the United States. Reporter the president praising tubberville after the alabama republican said this. You see whats coming. You been reading about it. Reporter he through cold water on the president s claims that china might be responsible for massive cyber attack on federal agencies, which is tied to a russian group. I agree with secretary pompeos assessment, it certainly appears to be the russians. Reporter senator mitt romney warning the russian aggression should be a wake up call. The president has a blind spot when it comes to russia. Theyve done this sort of thing before, theyve done it again. Reporter and one more note, pam, Sidney Powell, the attorney that made a reputation for herself by spreading baseless conspiracy theories about the election was not only spotted here at the white house last night, she was also spotted here by our team today. The personal attorney for the president , rudy giuliani, was spotted here as well as concern continues about the president s mental state in the last 29 days of his administration. And Sidney Powell, built reputation on error laden Court Filings produced in the fight against baseless election claims. Thanks so much, joe johns. We appreciate it. Lets discuss all of this. We have evan perez and laura barone lopez. Thanks for being with us. Start with you, evan, on bill barr. He has been as we know, you have been covering it, one of President Trumps biggest defenders and allies since he joined this administration. You were in the room questioning barr. Now that barr is on the way out . Is he acting differently . Certainly seems so. It is a big difference. We have seen reluctance by the attorney general in the last 22 months to show any kind of daylight between him and the president , no matter what the president said, no matter how nutty some twitter postings that the president has made. The attorney general tries to figure out a way to make it true. Today, we saw the opposite of that. We saw the attorney general seem to welcome the chance to put distance between him and the president on the question of whether there should be special counsel to investigate these allegations of vote fraud. The attorney general says as you heard in joe johns piece said i dont see it. He also said he didnt see any reason to appoint special counsel to investigate hunter biden, son of joe biden, and you saw his answer on the russian hack. What i think is most fascinating, pamela, is the idea that on his way out, two more days before he leaves the building, the attorney general seems to be giving answers as a way to sort of give breathing room to his successor, jeff rosen, who will be acting attorney general wednesday. We already have an answer from the attorney general, from bill barr. I think it gives them a little breathing room to be able to say no. Absolutely. And you have Sidney Powell leaving the white house residence last night. Trump is a fan of hers. I am told the president wants her as special counsel looking at the baseless election claims. Attorney general as evan laid out shot down the need for one at doj, doesnt mean trump cant make her part of the White House Team in his four weeks left. Thats true. Trump could try to carry this out with Sidney Powell at his side. Again though, what barr did was in strucktive, pamela. It shows that even barr, someone that followed President Trump through so many battles is not willing to follow him through this one where he is siding with powell who has repeated baseless claims about voter fraud and wild conspiracy theories, and barr flat out saying he is not going to give those credence and that those claims he cant back up that theres no evidence of. It led to outlets who are favored by trump to say they dont have any evidence for any of those claims that Sidney Powell has been repeating. Now theyre worrying about legitimate lawsuits. Lets break it down a little more. I am told from sources that basically Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn and others really have the president s ear and that the president is shutting out other advisers trying to keep the guardrails up saying look, none of this would work, it is not lawful, such as enacting marshal law to overturn the election and executive order to seize dominion Voting Machines came up, i am told. The question is you have the president , bill barr may not support a special counsel in some of this, but what could happen if the president wanted to move forward with this . You need to find someone who can take his orders and follow his orders. Pamela, what you see from bill barr and others is theyre saying not here. The president wants to leave the white house himself with Sidney Powell and ride horseback into georgia and all these states to go find the Voting Machines, he can try to do that, i suppose, but i dont see anyone in the federal government wanting to put themselves on the line, their reputation on the line to follow this line of thinking from the president. I think what you are seeing is sort of alarming from the justice department, from some of the people, some of the president s closest supporters saying hey, its time, it is over. Im hearing it from folks that have been loyal to President Trump from the beginning, now they can see theyre worried as well how they see it transpire the last few weeks. You also have the presidency ending how it started, the president down playing russias interference. This time over the massive cyber hack his own secretary of state linked to russia. Trump suggested it was china. Why is he still so reluctant to criticize the russians and specifically putin . It is a pattern with trumps presidency from the beginning. He never said russia meddled in the 2016 election. He always sided with russia over his own intelligence officials. He is continuing to do that again, whether because he has some fondness for putin or theres more to it, but he is just refusing to acknowledge the facts, russia according to pompeo and intel officials appears to be responsible for the latest aggressive hack on u. S. Agencies. All right. Laura, evan, thank you so much. Interesting discussion. Appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Up next, an unbelievable twist to cnns exclusive reporting from moscow. A secret russian agent spilling details how one of Vladimir Putins biggest enemies was poisoned, how it is linked to underwear. You wont want to miss this. Is installed quickly, safely, and beautifully, with a lifetime warranty. Go from old to new. From worn to wow. The beautiful bath youve always wanted, done right, installed by one expert technician, all in one day. Weve been creating moments like these for 35 years, and were here to help you get started. Book your free virtual or inhome Design Consultation today. Today russia is calling shocking new audiotapes fake. Recorded phone conversations you can hear a russian spy describe in detail the plot to poison alexei navalny. He managed to get the russian operative on the phone and admit the lethal nerve agent used against him was planted in his underwear. Cnns Clarissa Ward has the newest chapter in the stunning, exclusive investigation. So first off, the big question, clarissa. How did he get the russian spy to make such a confession over the phone, unsecured line . Reporter yeah, the mind boggles. Essentially he had two components to this. Firstly, he used, disguised his phone number to make it look like he was making the call from a land line within the fsb headquarters, within russian state security services, that was one component. The second part, he disguised himself, pretended he was a senior aide to the National Security council, carrying out an investigation into how the poisoning operation had gone. And in the beginning the operative whose name, we reported on last week, a team of operatives that had special knowledge of chemical weapons that trailed him more than three years. Eventually he started to talk and told him about the fact that it was put in his underwear. Take a listen. Translator one item of clothing, the most risky piece of clothing, which one is that. Underpants. Underpants. Risky in what sense . Well, in terms of where the most concentration would be. Well, underpants, was it the inside seam, outside seam, what was it adjacent to. I have a block of questions here. I will discuss all of this but i also need your information. Well, we applied to the internal one, at least there was application. Translator well, imagine underpants, what place . The ideas, the groin fr. The crotch on the underpants . Across the seams. You can imagine, pam, it puts a huge dent in the kremlins vociferous denaiials the government had anything to do with this. They are calling it a fake, saying it was designed to make Russian Security Services Look bad but tomorrow we anticipate hearing a little more from the kremlin which should be interesting. Pam . I want to go back to this learning about the fact that they put this nerve agent in the underwear, the underpants. Cnn talked to toxicologists about the poisoning. Why put it in his underwear . Reporter we have spoken to a number of experts, essentially different parts of the body are porous to different degrees. That area, the crotch, groin area is particularly porous, it is a natural place for toxicologists to choose. One other fascinating nugget that came up in this discussion, this 45 minute phone call was the bit where he talks about his role, primary role in all this that we know was clean up operation. He says five days after navalny was poisoned, he flew to omst. Thats where his flight was diverted to, where he landed, was taken to the hospital. He went and took possession of navalnys clothes to make sure they were scrubbed clean. Take a listen. Translator yes, it was cleaned. It will not be visible. They did not remove, no stains on them or nothing . No, nothing, theyre in Good Condition and clean. Pants . Theres the same inside area, perhaps something was left on it, too, we washed it off there also. This is presumably because theres contact with the pants. Perhaps there was something on there, too, the pants were also cleansed, theyre cleaned. Everything is fine with them. Reporter i think also whats striking, pam, is the casual nature of the conversation talking about using a powerful internationally prohibited nerve agent on an opposition member. He also seems to imply later in the conversation that the intent was to kill. Had it not been for the fact that the flight was diverted and landed early, he would probably be dead. Yet the russians say they probably would have finished it if they had been involved in this. Clarissa ward, thank you very much for your reporting. Black and white, a stunning admission, major newspaper apologizing for robbing an entire community of opportunity, dignity, justice, and recognition. Well talk to the man that wrote the full page editorial about whats next. Come on over here if you have type 2 diabetes and risks for heart disease, you could land in the hospital with heart failure. For people like you, farxiga does more than lower a1c. Farxiga also helps prevent hospitalization for heart failure. Do not take if allergic to farxiga. Symptoms of a serious allergic reaction include rash, swelling, difficulty breathing or swallowing. Stop taking and seek medical help right away. Tell your doctor right away if you have red color in urine, or pain while you urinate, or a genital area infection, since a rare but serious genital infection may be lifethreatening. Do not take farxiga if you have severe kidney problems or are on dialysis. Other serious side effects include dehydration, genital yeast and bacterial infections in women and men, urinary tract infections, low blood sugar, and sudden kidney problems. Stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of ketoacidosis, which is serious and may lead to death. Answer the alert. Ask your doctor if farxiga could do more for you. If you cant afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. Looking to save money this look at allstate. N . Drivers who switched saved, averaged 718 dollars. Saving is easy when youre in good hands. Call a local agent, or 1800allstate for a quote today. The national lead. A prominent local newspaper is issuing an apology. In a full page article, Kansas City Star told readers, quote, we are sorry. Apologizing for decades of coverage that honed in on crime, violence, black communities, ignored black culture, stayed on the sidelines during civil rights battles like desegregation, overlooked black icons that called kansas city home. I want to bring in mike fanin from the Kansas City Star. Thank you for coming on, mike. Thanks for having me, pamela. You wrote, quote, reporters felt regret that the papers historic coverage not only did a disservice to black kansas city ns but to white readers deprived of the opportunity to understand the true richness black citizens brought to kansas city. Your paper could have just vowed to do better. You have a six part series that examines past coverage. Why was that so important and why now . Pamela, the star is known for investigative journalism. Yet as we have written stories over the years about systemic racism in the institutions we cover in kansas city, we never put ourselves under the microscope to try better, to better understand how the star covered the black community for years. Without that self examination, i think many in the Community Felt we lacked credibility to tell some of the stories and like many Great Stories that come out of news rooms, this bubbled up from the ranks of a reporter, one of the veteran reporters, ray williams, brought the idea to us. You know, coming to a decision, the decision wasnt difficult to start down the path six months ago of reporting out this series because it is very clearly the right thing to do but executing the stories in a way that would express our sincerity and come without condition or qualification was difficult. Part of that is what you were just referencing. It was hard not to feel some sense of shame in this company that we all love and it was hard to reconcile some of what we found that we know today. From what i read, your newspaper put all these investigative resources you have into this sixpart series and you found some notable examples. You wrote about the massive plaza flood of 1977, your paper focused on a Property Damage to a white businessmans country club and largely ignored the 25 people that died, including eight black residents. You noted death of charlie parker, iconic jazz musician from kansas city, he didnt get a significant headline in your paper until he died in 1920. Even then misspelled his name, got his age wrong. One of the graphs that gave me chills is how it was tradition there for white families to receive the enough in their driveway, but you have black families with their children growing up thinking im never going to be in the paper unless i get into trouble. That gives you chills. Whats the cumulative impact of mistakes like this do you think . Well, i think that it is historic disenfranchisement. I think we all had a vague sense that our history was not spotless but i dont think anyone involved in the project knew, understood the depths of that failure and what we had done that had effected the kansas city landscape for generations. You know, it was really painful to truly understand through much of the first 100 years of the newspaper that black kids in kansas city were brought up, black families in kansas city knew they couldnt trust, there was a lack of trust and credibility in that community and thats heartbreaking. When you think about the stars platform, how powerful the star was at that time, and by the way, we are certainly not perfect now, dont want to suggest that, we still have a lot of work to do, but this is at least a start and place to go down the road here. When the star was not only the biggest morning and afternoon newspaper in town but had the biggest tv station, biggest Radio Station and was really the biggest news outlet in six states and had subscribers all across that region. When you think about what the opportunity was there for the star to stand up and say we shouldnt have these racist real estate covenants and were going to recognize and write about the issues that effect the black community. I think the landscape, no doubt in my mind would be different, very different than it is today, but were dealing with a lot of the same societal problems that are happening in every other city in america. Missouri unfortunately led the nation in black homicides. There are so many different pegs that you can think of, if the star had stood up and made these acknowledgments and stood up for all kansas city citizens, it is ultimately a pretty sad story. End of the day, told the news team this morning, everyone should be proud, and i think they are. Nobody is taking a victory lap because hopefully from here a relationship republican begins. Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you, pamela. Appreciate it. As we approach 318,000 deaths in this country, we want to take a moment, remember someone we lost in the pandemic. Billy laredo a 45yearold attorney, beloved, respected member of the community. His wife of 22 years said he took every precaution possible, still got sick. On his death bed wrote one last love letter to his wife saying in part if i dont make it, i want you to know i loved a happy wonderful life with you and would never have traded it for all of the riches in the world. Gives you chills. We send love and condolences to billys family. Follow me on twitter, or tweet the show at the lead, cnn. Coverage continues now. Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I am wolf blitzer in the situation room. We are following breaking news. This hour, congress is on the brink of finally passing a desperately needed covid relief package. We are awaiting a house vote on the 900 billion deal that includes direct payments up to 600 for many, Many Americans. This as first shots of modernas vaccine are being given in the United States, ami
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