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Biden Names Longtime Aide Ron Klain As Chief Of Staff; Biden Vows To Cooperate With Seoul On North Korea Relations; Control Of U.S. Senate Comes Down To Two Georgia Runoffs. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 12, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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


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[05:31:05]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. I'm Christine Romans. It is 31 minutes past the hour.

And President-elect Biden now building out his White House team naming longtime aide and trusted campaign adviser Ron Klain as his chief of staff.

The president-elect spoke to more world leaders Wednesday, including the prime ministers of Australia and Japan, and the president of South Korea. But many messages to Biden from countries around the world -- well, they're sitting unread at the State Department. Officials there preventing Biden from accessing messages from foreign leaders.

Let's go to CNN's MJ Lee live in Wilmington, Delaware. Nice to see you this morning, MJ.

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you, too.

Five days later, still no concession from President Trump, but the Biden team is full steam ahead with their transition efforts here in Wilmington.

Last night, Biden announced that he is naming Ron Klain as his chief of staff at the White House. This is somebody that he has known for many decades and has worked with for many decades. He served as chief of staff to Biden when he was vice president and importantly, he was the Ebola czar under President Obama.

And you'll notice that in recent months he has been very critical and vocal in taking on President Trump and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, another sign that things are moving ahead here in Wilmington, Biden continuing to have phone calls with foreign leaders who are congratulating him on his victory. Last night he spoke with the leaders of South Korea, Japan, and Australia. But an important side note here. There are other messages, CNN is

learning, from other foreign leaders that are basically being held up at the State Department. This is because Biden currently does not have access to State Department resources so he basically can't get ahold of these messages. So the Biden team is in a strange position where they are having to find other ways of reaching out to foreign leaders on their own.

Now, as for Biden's schedule this morning, we don't quite know exactly whether we will see him out in public, but we do know that he will continue his meetings with transition advisers.

ROMANS: So, MJ, give me a sense of the timeline here. When can we expect to see more appointments from the president-elect to -- who he's hoping to be on his team and in his cabinet?

LEE: Well, what we are told as that as far as cabinet appointments go, those probably won't be coming for a while, perhaps until after Thanksgiving.

And one of the things that the Biden team is watching very closely are these two Senate runoff races coming up in Georgia in January. And this is because that is going to determine the control of the Senate in Congress and that is going to determine a lot of sort of the political environment that Biden is going to ultimately inherit.

We just also want to point out quickly, since we are continuing to talk about Trump not conceding this race, Biden continues to pull ahead in this 2020 race as far as the popular vote goes. He is already some five million votes ahead. Obviously, when it comes to the Electoral College votes as well, he is ahead as well.

So all this talk about recounts from the Trump team --

ROMANS: Right.

LEE: -- that is not going to change the political reality that Biden is the winner of this 2020 race -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right, MJ Lee for us in Wilmington. Thank you so much.

JARRETT: All right.

Well, the president-elect is vowing to cooperate closely with South Korea on relations with North Korea. Biden spoke with South Korea's leader who called to congratulate the president-elect on his victory.

CNN's Paula Hancocks is live in Seoul, South Korea with more on this. Paula, nice to see you. What did the two leaders discuss?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, certainly one of the main things they discussed was how to improve the alliance -- the U.S.-South Korean alliance, which we do expect to happen as President-elect Biden considers alliances very important. But also, how to progress with North Korea. Now, notably, North Korea has still not mentioned anything about the

U.S. election. And I don't think it's any secret that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would probably have preferred a second term for President Trump.

[05:35:03]

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HANCOCKS (voice-over): This is the legacy of President Trump's North Korean policy -- historic meetings with leader Kim Jong Un, countless letters described by the U.S. president as love letters, a statement signed in Singapore, but little tangible progress on denuclearization.

CHRISTOPHER HILL, FORMER AMBASSADOR TO SOUTH KOREA: It's not really in a better place. It's not at all in a better place as a result of the sort of reality T.V. diplomacy we saw from President Trump.

JOE BIDEN, THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The thugs, like in North Korea and --

HANCOCKS (voice-over): President-elect Biden is very unlikely to have been North Korea's preference. Until today, there's been no reaction from Pyongyang, even after Biden called Kim Jong Un a thug in the last presidential debate.

North Korea has often welcomed a new U.S. administration with a provocation. Pyongyang launched a missile just three weeks after President Trump's inauguration in 2017. But opinion is split on whether a test is planned for the early days of Biden's presidency.

JOHN DELURY, PROFESSOR, YONSEI UNIVERSITY: The premise of a test is Kim Jong Un is desperate for attention and he needs it, and that's not what I'm seeing. Kim Jong Un looks very focused on just getting through COVID. North Korea has had a really bad year economically.

BIDEN: I know from my discussions with --

HANCOCKS (voice-over): President-elect Biden has not mentioned North Korea as a pressing national security priority as outgoing President Obama considered it four years ago. Coronavirus, climate change, racial inequality dominating his attention.

He's also not necessarily expected to return to the policy of strategic patience, waiting for Pyongyang to come to the negotiating table, a feature of Obama's time in office.

JOSEPH YUN, FORMER U.S. SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE FOR NORTH KOREAN POLICY: He has emphasized denuclearization. But at the same time, he has emphasized what he called principled diplomacy. So I would hope that the engagement door would be more open now.

HANCOCKS (voice-over): Ambassador Yun also cautions against ignoring what Trump did achieve by talking to Kim Jong Un.

YUN: We need to save what we can, preserve what we can, and build from that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS: So experts may be split as to whether or not there will be a missile launch or some kind of welcome for President-elect Biden, but they do agree that his approach will be far more conventional when it comes to North Korea -- that there will be working-level diplomacy, if any diplomacy at all.

And the days of the personality-led theater of President Trump and the top-down approach really seem to be coming to an end -- Laura.

JARRETT: That's a good way to put -- the personality-led theater.

All right, Paula, nice to see you. Thank you for your reporting.

All right, 69 days until Joe Biden's inauguration as president. It's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN senior political analyst, John Avlon.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, guys.

JARRETT: John, the voices on Fox starting to move here. You've got Karl Rove with an op-ed, and you've also got Geraldo apparently trying to get the president to see the writing on the wall. Are the walls of denial starting to come down?

AVLON: Well, these are two voices that have some credibility inside the president's psyche and that's helpful when you want a president to recognize reality.

You know, Karl Rove writing an op-ed laying out the fact that the math just isn't there. Geraldo Rivera trying the politics of personal diplomacy as was just discussed in a slightly different context. All of this might help move the president slightly.

At the end of the day, the president doesn't listen to anybody but his own self-interest. But if more people who he does not perceive as opponents appeal to his self-interest, maybe he will start to recognize reality and will get off this tricycling towards a cliff of our democracy.

ROMANS: You know, John, President-elect Biden just named Obama's former Ebola point man as chief of staff.

And then there's this. Here's what a doctor on Biden's transition advisory board said last night.

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MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, MEMBER OF PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN'S CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: We could pay for a package right now to cover all of the wages -- lost wages for individual workers, for losses to small companies to medium-sized companies, or city, states, county governments. We could do all of that. If we did that, then we could lock down for four to six weeks. And if we did that, we could drive the numbers down like they've done in Asia, like they did in New Zealand and Australia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: What can we tell from these appointments about how Biden will handle the pandemic?

AVLON: He'll handle it proactively. He'll handle it with policy as opposed to some combination of denial and back-dooring herd immunity, which has been basically the White House's position.

But I think Ron Klain's appointment is a very big deal. It's not a total surprise. He's been close to Biden forever.

Folks might know him -- he was actually played by Kevin Spacey in the HBO movie "Recount" for his role in that contested election.

So you've got a chief of staff coming in who's experienced. He's a steady hand who understands contested elections and pandemic policy because he ran the Obama administration's Ebola policy. He's worked with Steve Case at Revolution in recent years. That's a very good thing in terms of somebody's experience and personal connections that are totally relevant to what our country's got to deal with today.

[05:40:00]

JARRETT: John, staying with the transition here, Sen. James Lankford -- Republican, obviously from Oklahoma -- he says he's going to quote "step in" if the president-elect doesn't start getting those presidential daily briefings -- the security briefings -- by Friday.

My question for you is why wait until Friday? I feel like there's all these arbitrary deadlines that the president's allies have been setting while also sort of countening this idea -- countenancing these ideas that there's going to be a recount or there's going to be some movement there. Why wait until Friday if it's a matter of national security?

AVLON: Well, of course, in a rational world you make a very good point, but Republicans have been coddling this president. And I'll take a Republican saying that Biden should be getting briefings and insisting upon it over the kind of mute bleeding response that we've gotten to date from the vast majority of Republicans.

So let's take it one step forward with the Oklahoma senator saying this is not acceptable for national security for Trump's denialism to be affecting the transition of power and Americans' safety.

ROMANS: All right, John --

JARRETT: Fair enough.

ROMANS: -- CNN senior political analyst. Always nice to see you. Thanks. AVLON: Take care, guys.

ROMANS: It's not an official stay-at-home order but Illinois health officials are urging people to do just that after a new coronavirus spike.

CNN has the pandemic covered coast-to-coast.

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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Athena Jones in New York where starting Friday, indoor gatherings at private residences will be limited to 10 people. And bars and restaurants that serve alcohol will have to close at 10:00, though they can still sell food for pickup or delivery.

In announcing the new restrictions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo explained contact tracing has shown the biggest spreaders of COVID are places that serve alcohol, gyms, and indoor gatherings at private residences.

The governor cited increasing COVID-19 rates in neighboring states as the reason for the policy change.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Adrienne Broaddus in Chicago.

And here in Illinois, there's one request from top doctors -- stay at home for the next three weeks. The recommendation from the Illinois Department of Health, only go outside for essential services. For example, purchasing groceries or picking up medication if needed.

This, after Illinois reported more than 12,000 new coronavirus and probable cause cases. The state also reported, on Wednesday, 145 additional deaths.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Martin Savidge.

The mayor of Pensacola has declared a state of emergency over COVID-19 after hospitalizations in the city spiked. The Florida Department of Health says data indicates there's been greater community spread during the past week compared to previous weeks.

Meanwhile, the state of Florida says more than 3,000 people are now hospitalized due to coronavirus. Wednesday, Florida reported 5,838 new cases of the virus. This, as Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to push for a return to normalcy.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Stephanie Elam in Los Angeles.

Due to uncontrolled spread of COVID-19, the Navajo Nation has more than doubled the number of communities under a health advisory to a total of 34. Navajo leaders say the rapid spread is due to travel out of Navajo Nation as well as family gatherings with people from different households, two things the nation is asking residents to refrain from doing for now. The Navajo Department of Health says the advisory will be in place

until the risk and cases decline. A 56-hour weekend curfew will begin Friday night.

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JARRETT: All right, thanks to all of our correspondents for those updates on the virus.

The state of Georgia is set to conduct a full recount of millions of presidential ballots by hand. Joe Biden leads by more than 14,000 votes in the state but the results are being questioned ahead of two crucial runoffs that could change the balance of power in the Senate.

CNN's Kyung Lah has more.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Christine and Laura, control of the U.S. Senate comes down to Georgia and the two Senate seats here in play. Two Republican incumbent senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, are trying to rally their base.

Loeffler was the headliner of a "Save Our Majority" rally north of Atlanta. Now, this rally comes on the heels of her and Sen. Perdue's attacks on a member of their own party, the Republican Secretary of State in charge of the election. The senators are calling on Brad Raffensperger to resign, questioning the legitimacy of the results without offering any specific evidence to support their claims.

On CNN, Raffensperger fired back, saying he will simply do his job.

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: I have my job to do and I'll follow it faithfully. I think that integrity still matters.

LAH: The Secretary of State did announce a hand-count of the nearly five million votes here in Georgia and that could start as soon as Thursday -- Christine, Laura.

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ROMANS: All right, Kyung. Thank you so much for that.

Questions surround the new number-cruncher just hired by Florida's governor in the middle of a pandemic. That's story is next.

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[05:49:11]

JARRETT: All right, welcome back.

More sweeping changes at the Pentagon. A retired Army colonel who has been pushing for the quick withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and known for his remarks against immigrants has been named a senior adviser to the acting Secretary of Defense. Douglas Macgregor's appointment coming on the heels of a shakeup among top officials at the Defense Department.

Macgregor once called for the use of lethal force against unarmed migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The Pentagon says his decades of military experience will help the continued implementation of President Trump's national security policies.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has hired a new data analyst but there are some questions about his qualifications. Here is CNN's Randi Kaye.

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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From Ohio sports blogger to data analyst for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Kyle Lamb announced his big career move on Twitter. "I will be doing data analysis on several fronts for them, including but not limited to COVID-19 research and other projects."

[05:50:10]

But the governor's new data analyst has also been labeled a conspiracy theorist. During the pandemic, Lamb supported the idea the virus was created by China as a biowarfare test. Lamb has also falsely posted that science never supported masks stop the spread, that hydroxychloroquine is potentially a very effective treatment, and that mass lockdowns were not necessary, all of which has been debunked by scientists.

Still, Lamb directed us to his lawyer who told me Lamb stands by those posts about masks, hydroxychloroquine, and lockdowns.

So how did a guy like Lamb end up being hired as a data analyst for Florida's governor? The governor's communications director wouldn't say but told us Lamb was hired as a data analyst 2, which is an entry- level data analyst position, adding it has nothing to do with COVID- 19. Yet, this week, the "Miami Herald" quoted the same spokesman saying that Lamb's role would not focus exclusively on COVID-19.

The governor's office may have been aware of Lamb for some time. His communications director has retweeted posts from this blog that Kyle Lamb contributes to. He's also retweeted Kyle Lamb.

The governor may also have taken notice after a recent Fox News guest mentioned Kyle Lamb by name.

PHIL KERPEN, COMMITTEE TO UNLEASH PROSPERITY: Another Twitter user named Kyle Lamb has been a really good researcher on this stuff.

KAYE (voice-over): Despite that flattery, Lamb's qualifications appear thin even by his own measure. Lamb once wrote, "I have no qualms about being a 'sports guys' moonlighting as a COVID-19 analyst. Fact is, I'm not an expert. I'm not a doctor, epidemiologist, virologist, or scientist." Randi Kaye, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, 51 minutes past the hour.

Let's check in quickly on CNN Business this morning. You can see European shares have opened a little bit lower here. Asian shares closing mostly mixed.

A big story here in the U.K. The economy there grew 15.5 percent in the third quarter. That's a huge bump-up as lockdown measures eased over the summer. But you can see there the economy in the U.K. remains much smaller than it was before the pandemic hit.

Back on Wall Street, futures are a little bit lower -- mixed. Nasdaq up a little bit.

You know, we've got this latest report on last week's unemployment claims that comes out in a few hours, and claims have been stubbornly high as the jobs crisis drags on.

Stocks closed mixed Wednesday. The Dow down a little bit, the Nasdaq finished up about two percent. A big rotation going on as we look ahead to the post-COVID world here.

Coronavirus cases are rising. There's uncertainty about the economic recovery. But get this -- Americans are still contributing to their retirement accounts.

This new data from Fidelity shows the average 401(k) balance rose five percent to just over $109,000 in the third quarter. And, Fidelity says nearly 89 percent of people left their 401(k) contribution rate unchanged. Fidelity also said, though, ongoing financial uncertainty drove withdrawals from retirement accounts in some cases, so that shows the financial struggle of investors.

Pfizer's CEO filed to sell millions of dollars of his stock Monday. That was the very same day the company announced good news about its coronavirus vaccine. Albert Bourla sold nearly $5.6 million in the stock of the company. The sale, of course, though, part of a regularly-scheduled plan for him to periodically sell some of his shares.

When asked if Bourla thought to cancel the sale because of maybe the perception he might be cashing in on good news, a spokeswoman said these are predetermined plans. They are managed through a third-party stock administrator.

Executives sell stocks at predetermined times to diversify their portfolios but they can delay those sales to avoid the appearance of capitalizing on one-off items.

JARRETT: Yes, Christine. Even though it's a predetermined sale, you can obviously still go to the third-party administrator and say I want to put a pause on that, right? ROMANS: Yes, but there's also the argument that he may have missed out on a few days of a rally, as well. He may have missed out on money if he sold the stock on that very day and the stock continued to rise. So I think a lot of executives just stick to the predetermined quarterly sales so they don't have any kind of question about their behavior -- yes.

JARRETT: Got it. All right.

Well, with that Pfizer news, Moderna now says it expects to know how effective its coronavirus vaccine is by the end of the month. It's conducting a clinical trial of 30,000 participants. Half receive its vaccine, half get a placebo which does nothing. So if enough people receiving the placebo get sick, then that means the vaccine protected those who received it.

And it's interesting, Christine. This Moderna vaccine uses the same technology as the Pfizer vaccine, so you could potentially have two in the running now.

ROMANS: Yes. We could really see into next year that hopefully, there will be therapeutics and vaccines to get us to the other side.

Thanks for joining us. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

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[05:59:29]

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Trump continues his campaign of sowing distrust in America's electoral system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Refusing to admit defeat, even as his advisers privately acknowledge he cannot reverse the election results.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Biden's top attorneys are dismissing those lawsuits and accusations of fraud as political theater.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: COVID-19 is tightening its grip on the United States.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: There's been a little dip here and there, but now we're basically going into exponential growth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: America is setting records no country wants to set. Infections on the rise in 45 states.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am really frightened by the spike that we're seeing in cases right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.