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Dr. Fauci: Coronavirus Vaccine Could Be Ready By End Of Year; State Election Officials: No Evidence Of Widespread Voter Fraud; A.G. Barr Tells Justice Department To Probe Voter Fraud Allegations. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 10, 2020 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:34:24]

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: And you have to go through the hoops of making sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed about the safety and the regulatory aspects of it. But we would be giving vaccine to people very likely before the end of this year. That is good news.

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That's Dr. Anthony Fauci weighing in on the promising early results of Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine. The news comes as the U.S. surpasses 10 million cases and hospitalizations are reaching an all-time high.

Joining us now is CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

That timeline was totally music to everybody's ears. The idea that it could happen by the end of this year is really positive. But how many people, Sanjay -- I mean, just help us set our expectations. How many people could be vaccinated by the end of this year?

[07:35:10]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think it's going to be a relatively small number still, compared to what is needed in this country, you know.

I spoke to the CEO of Pfizer yesterday. He said maybe 50 million doses available globally by the end of the year and by the end of next year, 1.2 billion doses. That's sort of what they're projecting.

Now, a couple of caveats. One is that it's probably going to be two doses, so every time you hear the number of doses, divided it by half -- divide it by two to get the number of people who would be impacted by this. But also, there are other vaccine manufacturers out there. We'll hear

more and more about these other possible vaccines over the next few days, weeks, months, but there may be other options.

So it is -- it is good news but it's not going to be immediately good or immediately actionable in terms of the impact on this. There's still other things we have to do.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and to that point, Sanjay, I certainly hope people look at this news or don't look at this news, which is phenomenally positive, and say OK, I'm tossing my mask now -- we're clear.

GUPTA: Right.

BERMAN: It's the opposite. It's all the more reason to double down and be as careful as possible over the next several months so we get to that moment when we get the vaccine.

GUPTA: Yes, and I've been thinking for so many weeks now about how to keep presenting that exact message to people. I mean, I think it's been one of the biggest jobs for us as medical reporters.

But you're absolutely right. We can do things that make a huge difference and we have to things that make a huge difference because the numbers are continuing to go up. And when I looked at all these models over the weekend, I realized that even with these types of actions we're going to hit these apexes of numbers of newly-infected and hospitalizations.

But take a look at this graphic. We'll put this on the Website -- print it out, even. Put it on your refrigerator -- whatever. But on the left is basically the way things stand now and you can see how quickly things spread. Within 60 days, one person could spread this to over 400 people.

If you do -- and this is without a vaccine or anything, basically just masking and maintaining physical distance when you go out in public -- the far right side of the screen there -- you reduce the likelihood of spread so significantly that by 60 days, it's just 2 1/2 people that would be impacted as opposed to 400.

Look, I mean, this is within our power. This is what the modeling shows. What we're doing is the left side of the screen. What we can be doing is the right side of the screen.

And we've seen examples. We talk about examples around the world where this has worked. We've talked about examples here in the United States.

In Delaware, they were having huge problems, huge spikes. They had mask mandates, they slowed down public gatherings -- large public gatherings -- and indoor bars, essentially, and places where people cluster together without masks. Decreased the viral transmission by 82 percent within three weeks.

We could be looking at a very different picture within a few weeks if we started doing these things in earnest.

CAMEROTA: That one's not very onerous. I mean, that is one that it sounds like other states should do in terms of that's not shutting down the whole economy, that's not issuing a --

GUPTA: No, it's not.

CAMEROTA: -- stay-at-home. I mean, that's one I think that we could -- obviously, we don't want any bars to go out of business. The economy is super in need right now of dollars. But that one seems like a sacrifice we might be able to all make.

GUPTA: You know, I don't think that anybody wants anybody to go out of business, and I think that's been a little bit of a -- the narrative -- either you've got to shut down or do nothing -- and that's not been the case.

And even for locations that can keep their customers primarily outside, more in areas with good ventilation, it makes a big difference. I think indoor, poorly-ventilated without masks is the worst scenario. So if you just think in your mind what are those types of situations and how do I avoid them for the next few months. I mean, not in perpetuity either -- for the next few months.

The vaccine will come, it sounds like. I mean, you heard the enthusiasm from people like Dr. Anthony Fauci. But we have to give that some time and do these other things in the interim.

BERMAN: I think it's an easier sell -- I hope it's an easier sell because you can tell people this is finite. There is an end. There is the end.

GUPTA: Yes.

BERMAN: Just get there.

GUPTA: That's right.

BERMAN: Get there. That's what I hope, at least.

Thanks very much, Sanjay.

GUPTA: OK, you got it. Thanks.

CAMEROTA: All right. We want to take some time now to remember some of the more than 238,000 Americans lost to coronavirus.

As a child, Roger Ryman wanted to be a cowboy, and "The New York Times" reports that's exactly what he became, riding and roping for decades on the ranch his great-grandfather founded in the Sandhills of Nebraska. Ryman was 70 years old.

Harold Boone was a firefighter in Georgia for 30 years. Monroe County Emergency Services paid tribute to Boone on Facebook, noting he loved to cook, make people laugh, and mentor other firefighters. He was just 49 years old. [07:40:06]

Anne Carley Gallun was born with Down syndrome 71 years ago. That's when people with her disability were often institutionalized. But the "Milwaukee Journal Sentinel" reports she was raised with love by her parents and the entire neighborhood. Social and outgoing, family members say she brought out the goodness in all of us.

We'll be right back.

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BERMAN: So, the Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia -- the Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia told us right here on this show that he has seen no evidence of voter fraud -- none. So you might think that that's where this would all stop. You might think that but you'd be wrong.

[07:45:00]

John Avlon here with a reality check.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Before the election, Donald Trump basically told us he would refuse to accept the results if he lost by claiming fraud instead and trying to reverse the outcome in the courts. And that's exactly what he's doing now, baselessly crying fraud, making unhinged accusations, and filing frivolous lawsuits without evidence.

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KAYLEIGH MCENANY, THEN-RNC SPOKESPERSON: Democrats are being sore losers and they refuse to acknowledge they lost the election. So what do they do? They cry malfeasance, wrongdoing, criminality, fraud.

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AVLON: Oh, I'm sorry. That was Kayleigh McEnany back in 2018 over a close race in Georgia. This is now.

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MCENANY: You take these positions because you are welcoming fraud and you are welcoming illegal voting.

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AVLON: It's not just the hypocrisy, it's that with Biden winning a much more convincing victory than Trump in 2016, now team Trump is trying to kill confidence in our democracy through disinformation, which many of his supporters will believe.

So let's clear a few things up.

When Trump tweets since when does the lame-stream media call who our next president will, the answer is since the 19th century, just like they did four years ago when Hillary Clinton conceded despite razor- thin margins.

They've pushed viral videos they say show ballot stuffing in Flint, Michigan. The video was actually from Russia. They've passed around allegations that a dead man voted in Michigan, but it was his son who shares the same name and address. They've claimed Republicans were given Sharpies in Arizona that vote scanners couldn't read, also false.

Now, these are just a few examples. And if it all sounds desperate that's because it is.

Their legal strategy isn't any better. After the infamous Four Seasons total landscaping press conference between a porn store and a crematorium, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani rolled his first witness, a convicted sex offender and perennial candidate from New Jersey.

The campaign had already been laughed out of court after they said they'd been barred from watching ballots, but then admitted it wasn't true. The judge responded I'm sorry -- then, what's your problem? Another judge said there's no evidence to support accusations of voter fraud. And when they tried to appeal another ruling they failed to provide necessary documents, which seems to be a theme.

Now they're trying to stop Pennsylvania from certifying Biden's win and requesting recounts in states they're losing by tens of thousands of votes when no modern recount has reversed a decision by that margin, as Wisconsin's former Republican Gov. Scott Walker pointed out.

They also can't explain why if there was massive Democratic fraud, Republicans actually gained seats in the House. But that didn't stop A.G. Bill Barr from greenlighting a federal election probe, prompting the official in charge of election fraud investigations to promptly resign.

Look, it's tempting to look at all of this toxic nonsense and ignore it, like this Clark County election official.

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CLARK COUNTY ELECTION OFFICIAL: He's stealing it.

JOE GLORIA, REGISTRAR OF VOTERS, CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA: Where were we? What was the last question?

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AVLON: But we can't entirely ignore this because the president and his minions are trying to overturn election results while crippling confidence in our system. And now, many Republicans are putting party over country by enabling his insult in the peaceful transfer of power.

So when Don, Jr. tweets it's time to clean up this mess and stop looking like a banana republic, it really is -- just not the way he thinks.

And that's your reality check.

BERMAN: It's happening.

AVLON: Yes.

BERMAN: It's happening and we can all see it. Thank you so much for laying it out so clearly.

So how many of the Trump campaigns legal challenges have been shot down in court? And honestly, even if they won on every single challenge that they've made so far, would it change the outcome of the election? We're going to ask a reporter who has been covering every single one of these cases.

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CAMEROTA: President Trump's campaign has tried filing a slew of lawsuits in states that Joe Biden won, and that is allegedly what is stopping the peaceful transfer of power. Do any of these lawsuits have merit?

Here to discuss is CNN analyst, Jessica Huseman. She is a reporter at ProPublica. She's looked into so many of these lawsuits, actually, and election fraud for years.

OK. So, Jessica, is there any way to quantify how many lawsuits? Has anybody tallied this up? Are we talking a dozen lawsuits across the country, a million? I mean, what? Where are we?

JESSICA HUSEMAN, CNN ANALYST, REPORTER, PROPUBLICA (via Cisco Webex): The numbers, I feel like, grow every day and they file small lawsuits in a bunch of different states. But we're at under about 20, more than about a dozen. All of the cases that have been decided so far have been dismissed out of hand. They have won none of them.

CAMEROTA: OK, interesting. So we're at about 12 to 20 lawsuits. None -- all of them, you're saying, judges have dismissed.

HUSEMAN: Yes. So the ones that have already -- there are a couple that have not had a hearing yet -- their pieces aren't quite done. I expect them to go in the exact same direction. But of those cases that have been heard, the Trump campaign has won zero of them.

CAMEROTA: OK.

So when Attorney General Bill Barr instructs federal prosecutors to move forward with investigating, is there something that he has seen that the rest of us haven't?

HUSEMAN: No, and I think that if we unpack the statement that he gave to the American public, we can tell that he doesn't have anything, right? He authorizes the DOJ to move forward with investigating substantiated significant crime. There hasn't been any. Again, all of the cases that the Trump administration have -- or that

the Trump campaign have brought to court are based on frivolous ideas and would impact 100 ballots, 150 ballots. But certainly, nowhere the margin that he would need to flip any of the states that we see lawsuits in right now.

And so, I just think that he knows the writing is on the wall and so he issued a statement to appease the president. But ultimately, the DOJ probably won't do much.

[07:55:04]

We certainly did see the resignation of the DOJ official that was in charge of the election crimes division as protest for this policy change. It had been that the DOJ would not involve itself in election- related matters unless it was absolutely necessary. This, of course, changes that policy. He resigned in protest.

But I still see no evidence of a grand conspiracy on this scale that would justify the DOJ's involvement.

CAMEROTA: That man who resigned last night in protest from the Election Crimes Branch, that is obviously laudable. He is standing up for his convictions. But doesn't this just mean that then, Bill Barr installs one of his lackeys and somebody who will go along with this more?

HUSEMAN: Yes, I mean, it very well could. I do not know, though, that in the 70 days that the Trump administration has left in office that he'll have time to put that person's replacement into office and then pursue any sort of meaningful case.

Also, "The New York Times" reported yesterday that Bill Barr has privately told people that he doesn't see substantial allegations of fraud. He does not believe that this is going to be overturned in the courts.

Again, I really think that all of this is just P.R. for the president.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, I've heard other people say that also -- this is just pacifying the president. But as you also note, Jessica -- I mean, things are fishing expeditions and sometimes when you go on a fishing expedition you catch something.

HUSEMAN: Sure, and you know what? I think that if the Trump campaign does have evidence of mass fraud in a way that does threaten the integrity of the election, as an election integrity reporter, I would love to see it. That is what I have been covering for the past 4 1/2 years. I've uncovered no evidence of it. If I'm wrong, I would love to cover that story.

So if he's got a ton of proof that our elections are deeply flawed and deeply insecure, and lots of people are fraudulently voting, then I would love to see it. But so far, all we have is a lot of unsubstantiated claims and a bunch of really damaging rhetoric that is going to slowly degrade the confidence in the American electoral system.

CAMEROTA: So, they have 71 days left until theoretically, the peaceful transfer of power will happen on inauguration. So these remaining lawsuits -- the few that still exist, as well as the directive from Bill Barr to find more -- how long will these take?

HUSEMAN: A couple of weeks. I mean -- and I think that because these have been so quickly dismissed out of hand, a lot of Republicans who are pursuing this line that says the president is legally within his rights to pursue all cases that he feels are justified, they're just kind of letting those play out, right?

It's sort of like allowing your 3-year-old to get really tired before you put them to bed. I think that they're just trying to let Trump tire himself out so that when they all have to fall in line and acknowledge that Biden is the new president, he won't go out kicking and screaming. And that may be a pretty cogent strategy.

CAMEROTA: We'll see.

Jessica Huseman, thank you very much for all of your reporting and information.

HUSEMAN: Thanks.

CAMEROTA: NEW DAY continues right now.

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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump's refused to concede the election to President-elect Joe Biden. Some in the president's inner circle are telling him to keep fighting.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The General Services Administration is declining to provide federal funds to President- elect Joe Biden's transition team.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But every effort to delay this, it's delaying us.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Joe Biden setting a new tone on coronavirus.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the U.S., this virus is spreading at record rates, averaging over 100,000 new infections every day.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT: A mask is not a political statement but it is a good way to start pulling the country together.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

BERMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. Two questions for you this morning that deal with nothing less than democracy itself. When will this stop and how can you be sure? We're talking about the concerted and now coordinated efforts to, at best, delay the outcome of an election -- and at worse, overturn them. When will it stop? How can you be sure?

Given what we've seen, how can we ever be sure that some people -- powerful people -- will accept the outcome of this election?

Mitch McConnell endorsing the president's decision not to concede.

Overnight, Attorney General William Barr shattered Justice Department precedent and instructed federal prosecutors to investigate allegations of voting irregularities despite the fact there's just no evidence. No evidence has been presented. This prompted the top election crimes prosecutor in the Justice Department to resign in protest overnight.

CAMEROTA: So if you're someone who likes evidence, then it is time to worry. The Trump administration is blocking the Biden transition. President Trump is preventing President-elect Biden.