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New Day

President-Elect Biden Names Ron Klain as White House Chief of Staff; U.S. Again Smashes Records for New Cases and Hospitalizations; GOP Senator Says, Biden Should Get Presidential Daily Briefings. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 12, 2020 - 07:00   ET

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

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEW DAY: For explaining all of this.

[07:00:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No worries.

CAMEROTA: We'll talk again soon.

And New Day continues right now.

And welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world, this is New Day.

President-elect Joe Biden is beginning to build out his incoming administration. He has named longtime adviser Ron Klain to be his chief of staff.

Now, Klain is interesting because he has a long history in Washington, he served also as the coordinator of the 2014 Ebola outbreak response. Obviously, that will be an invaluable experience that the incoming administration will need because they will be consumed by the worsening coronavirus pandemic.

Overnight, more than 144,000 new cases, that is the single highest total since the pandemic began, it's the second consecutive record- breaking day. This morning, more than 65,000 Americans waking up in the hospital, that is more than ever before. Hospitals in Wisconsin, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee all tell us they are nearing capacity.

What is President Trump doing about all of this? Nothing. He is inside the White House. He is not talking about the pandemic. There is no national plan. He is focused on somehow denying his defeat in the election.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: Look, he's not talking about anything. We haven't seen him in a week speaking in public. We have not heard his voice since last Thursday. Has that ever happened? Have we ever gone seven days without hearing the voice of President Donald Trump? Why so shy all of a sudden?

Overnight, CNN did learn that the State Department is preventing President-elect Biden from accessing messages from foreign leaders. They're calling the State Department, they're not giving the transition the messages. That's what it's come to. The president-elect is still not receiving the highest level intelligence briefings.

But are we seeing the first signs of a Republican split from the president? Maybe little cracks. One Republican senator says he will intervene tomorrow if the president-elect does not start getting these presidential daily briefings. And then there's famed GOP strategist, Karl Rove, who writes in The Wall Street Journal that all the president's actions in fighting, certainly not enough to change the final outcome of the election.

CAMEROTA: Joining us now, CNN Political Correspondent Abby Phillip and CNN Political Director David Chalian.

Abby, I think John might have to be careful of what he wishes for. President Trump was not very helpful when he used to have those coronavirus briefings where he --

BERMAN: Look, I'm just concerned for the guy. We haven't heard his voice. How do we know he's okay? I mean, seriously? Seven days without hearing his voice, there's a pandemic raging out of control. There's an election that has been called that we know the outcome of and he refuses to speak out loud and I'm just curious why.

CAMEROTA: Don't get me wrong, it's weird. But in terms of thinking that if the president were to think speak out loud, there would be a national coronavirus pandemic plan, I think we have to temper our expectations on that. You know, sometimes he suggests injecting bleach. There has been no plan, though he's promised one at different times.

And so here we are, on this rudderless ship for the next two months, while every single day, it is code red, hair on fire, the pandemic gets worse.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I don't think that you should expect anything productive from the president when it comes to the coronavirus, but perhaps, if he does speak, he might accept what we all know is happening, which is that the election is over and it's time to move forward with a transition.

And, you know, there's only so much that Joe Biden can do. You know, I do believe that the Biden transition wants to step into this gap. You saw Biden doing that when he gave a speech, imploring Americans to wear masks. But, again, there are limits to this.

And I do think the president, at some point, or somebody in the White House, you know, we knew that the vice president actually -- Vice President Mike Pence actually had a coronavirus briefing on Monday, one of the first ones that he's had in many, many months.

What came of that? What was the consequence of that? What is the message to the American people? There ought to be someone in this administration that was willing to speak up to help guide the public in this really difficult period that we're about to enter into. BERMAN: David Chalian, the president-elect is doing stuff already. I mean, he appointed Ron Klain as his chief of staff, named Ron Klain as chief of staff. That's significant. Obviously, Ron Klain has vast Washington experience and he is hugely respected by people on both sides of the aisle.

Overnight, you had Hugh Hewitt and Elizabeth Warren both coming out with statements, praising Ron Klain. That tells you something. And I also think it sends a message that this is the first appointment being made by the president-elect.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, yes, for a couple of different reasons. First of all, there's a 30-year history between Klain and Biden, obviously.

[07:05:00]

This is a longtime Biden adviser, showing that the president-elect is relying on a relationship with deep history and confidence and trust to lead up his team in the west wing. Obviously, Klain's experience as Ebola czar during the Obama administration speaks to this moment as well, with the pandemic that we're facing.

And so coming out of the gate, with this as your first announcement, as you said, he does have sort of a relationship and respect across the aisle, but I think it is more about a totally trusted person, not new to the Biden world, who has a mastery in pandemics and dealing with that from a federal government point of view.

And what can be done is the Biden folks trying to say, we're ready to govern on day one. We're ready to take over, irrespective of Donald Trump's desire not to concede, not getting the landing teams to arrive in each agency and do their review and begin the normal process of transition. This is the president-elect telling the country, I'm ready to go, folks, no matter what Donald Trump is doing.

CAMEROTA: I mean, yes, if only we had two months to wait for that. But, you know, as John said, the coronavirus is stampeding across the country right now. So there's that problem, okay?

And then there's the national security problem. We know from the 9/11 commission that during periods of transition is the time when our adversaries know that we are most vulnerable. And so, Abby, it was interesting to hear Senator James Lankford, Republican from Oklahoma, come out and say, it's time for President-elect Biden to be getting these high-level intelligence briefings.

So listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): There is nothing wrong with Vice President Biden getting the briefings to be able to prepare himself, and so that he can be ready.

There is no loss from him getting the briefings and to be able to do that. And if that's not occurring by Friday, I will step in as well to be able to push him and say, this needs to occur, so regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way that it goes, people can be ready for that actual task.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Interesting, Abby, to hear Senator Lankford say he's going to take action tomorrow. If this doesn't happen, will other Republicans join him?

PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, at this point, it's such a tightrope that they are walking, that they're trying to pretend as if this thing isn't resolved, while at the same time recognizing that there are real life consequences to not moving forward with the transition. And you're seeing Lankford literally in that clip saying, well, you know, maybe when it's resolved, Joe Biden might not be president. But just in case, we need to get him these briefings.

Look, increasingly, it's becoming clear that the American people know that this is over. That recent poll earlier this week showing about 80 percent of Americans, including about half of Republicans, believe that Joe Biden has won this election. I think maybe it was a signal to many Republicans that this is a -- the American public is ready to move on.

And that I think Americans understand the consequences of delay on these kinds of things. They also understand how really unusual and out of step it is with American history for the president to use the government to resist the results of an election.

So if you're James Lankford and if you're many other Republicans, now is probably the time for you to find a way to say gently to President Trump, it's time to allow the transition to move forward. Even if you want to continue this charade with your supporters, you've got to let the government move forward at this point.

BERMAN: James Lankford can count. And it turns out so can Karl Rove, who wrote this op-ed in The Wall Street Journal. And this is no accident. I mean, Karl doesn't do anything that's not calculated or highly calculated and this is what he wrote.

He says, the president's efforts are unlikely to move a single state from Mr. Biden's column and certainly they're not enough to change the final outcome. I mean, that's a pretty stark statement.

And, David, what he's looking at are the results and there are more numbers coming in. I mean, the president's lead in Pennsylvania -- president-elect's lead in Pennsylvania, Joe Biden, has grown to more than 53,000 votes. He leads by 14,000 in Georgia. There will be a hand recount there, but the secretary of state in announcing the hand recount basically says, yes, I don't really think anything is going to change. And then you have Arizona, where president-elect Biden's lead has shrunk, but most of the ballots that could have changed an outcome are already in. And it seems awfully hard now for that to change.

So what do you read into the numbers, David? What do you read into Rove's statement?

CHALIAN: Yes. I think there are still more than 20,000 ballots to be counted in Arizona specifically, John. And, clearly, the president is not gaining enough votes at a pace that he would need to overtake Biden. But we'll see the rest of the votes come in.

I take your point about Karl Rove. I would just note, that's not somebody who's unfamiliar with recounts and winning the presidency.

[07:10:00]

So, is it not just his shrewd political mind, it is also his experience in this in Bush v. Gore that points to the fact that -- I mean, look at the Georgia total. You said 14,000 votes, we're up to? I mean, there's no recount in history that overturned a margin that big. This is not about that. I really don't believe it is.

Excuse me, I think what you are seeing is an effort to try, from the Trump side, to delay the certification of these votes, the state certification deadlines that are upcoming, because that is what sends the slate of electors to the state capitol on December 14th when the Electoral College meets and formalizes Joe Biden's election. And I think that is what they're playing with, much more than actually trying to overturn the results that exist, because these vote counts are not going to be overturned.

PHILLIP: But even that strategy I think is so -- it's so unlikely to work.

CHALIAN: It's more than unlikely. It's ridiculous.

PHILLIP: Yes, exactly. It's just -- look, they have been in court for days now. And pretty much every single case that has been resolved has not been resolved in their favor. Judges all over the country are throwing these cases out because they are being viewed as frivolous. And if you look in the details, look at what is actually being said in court, they are literally saying, we don't think that there is any fraud happening in some of these cases.

So I don't even know if they would be successful in delaying it, because judges are simply not playing that game. They are going to throw out these cases when there is no evidence to prove what the Trump campaign is trying to say what is happening.

BERMAN: Abby Phillip, David Chalian, thank you both so much for getting up with us. Great to see you this morning.

Despite the fact that the situation in the country is downright awful, we are entering COVID hell. Those are the words from Michael Osterholm who will join us later in the broadcast. He's on the president-elect's coronavirus advisory panel.

Joining us now, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. COVID hell, Sanjay.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, you look at the numbers and they're already so bad. I mean, it's hard to get inured to sort of thing, but 240,000 people have died. I was listening to Peter Hotez, talked earlier. Peter and I communicate quite a bit, and the idea that this is a humanitarian disaster, probably the worst story sort of I've covered, I think, in my career here at CNN.

Before this was Haiti. And in Haiti, 240,000 people have died. Obviously, it was to a natural disaster, different circumstance, but it was just -- it was awful. And now 240,000 people have died here. It's hard to get your head around.

And then, as you point out, we're going into this period where you know so many more people are going to die. I was looking at the models from the IHME last night just to give you an idea. What they're saying is, look, if we do nothing different from right now, by the end of the year.

In fact, on December 31st, they think we're going to be close to 300,000 people becoming infected every day, diagnosed with the infection every day, 300,000. They think that by February 1st, 400,000 people will have died. They think that hospitalizations -- right now, they're, what, 62,000, they think it will double to 131,000 by sort of mid-January.

So, peaking sort of early January, hospitalizations a few weeks after that, at an unbelievably -- you know, just hard to imagine level of hospitalizations, again, for a disease that didn't even exist a year ago. And then, obviously, the deaths, 2,200, 2,300 people per day.

So, you know, COVID hell, yes, and I think some of this is now becoming preordained. I mean, we can still make significant interventions. But this is like a really fast-moving ship now through the sea that we've got to try and stop somehow.

CAMEROTA: I mean, Sanjay, I'm just getting my head around, it's no longer a medical crisis in your mind, it's a humanitarian crisis. We're at that level of catastrophe.

GUPTA: I really think so, Alisyn. I mean, you know, I interviewed folks from Doctors Without Borders a month or so ago. They are coming into the United States. I mean, this is an organization that typically covers true disasters and medical, you know, crisis all over the world.

And when they sort of like look at a map right now and say, where do we need to be, they pointed to the United States. They are in nursing homes in Detroit. They went to Missouri. They're in these different places trying to offer their services.

And still, the numbers are what they are, I mean, for a lot of places right now, especially in the rural areas. I mean, they're running out of options. North Dakota has some 20 to 25 ICU beds and then they're out. So these are true disasters that are starting to unfold.

Totally preventable, as doctors without borders calls them, stupid deaths, deaths that did not need to happen and they're obviously still happening.

[07:15:03]

BERMAN: And I just want people to know, this is on a rocket ship right now in terms of increases. We're going to Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on next hour. And the hospitalization increase in Ohio over the last week is so intense. And he says, in general, he calls it a third wave in the pandemic. He says it's more intense, more widespread, more dangerous.

The national hospitalization rate, Sanjay, as you point out, is now 65,000 people. That shot up 4,000 overnight. I mean, this thing is on a rocket ship right now.

GUPTA: Yes. And, you know, what's interesting is that you -- so I was listening to what Governor DeWine had to say. And you listen to the sort of plans that these various governors put in place. And many of them wait until they're sort of redlining, right, before they start saying, hey, look, maybe we do need to have mask mandates in public buildings, maybe we do need to shut down things at a certain time of day, limit capacity in certain buildings.

But right now it's a question, I think, for a lot of places around the country, are you going to wait until you're in crisis mode or are you going to start to intervene early? It's a basic question. We ask this question in medicine all the time. We have these conversations with patients all the time. Do you want to just sort of like watch and wait, which is a terrible idea, or do you want to do something about it? Too many places have watched and waited on this for too long.

You know, the idea of imposing some sort of shutdown again is something nobody wants to hear. But at some point, it's no longer our decision. If hospitals become overwhelmed, they simply cannot take care of patients, what are you going to do? You're probably going to have to break the cycle of transmission in the most aggressive way that you possibly can. Talked about masks and things like that which are very effective. Still, 60 to 65 percent of the country only are doing it.

Michael Osterholm, who you're going to talk to him later on, I mean, I've talked to him a fair amount, he has floated this idea of shutting things down for a period of time. Again, nobody wants to hear it, but maybe that's the sort of thing that people need to at least talk about, prepare for, because it may not be their decision after a while.

CAMEROTA: Yes, as you've taught us, the virus decides, and that's what's happening right now. Sanjay, thank you very much for all of this information.

GUPTA: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: We want to take some time right now to remember some of the nearly 242,000 Americans lost to coronavirus.

Tom Barnabo taught P.E. at Dowelling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa, for 24 years, also coaching boy's track and field. The school says he was also a defensive line coach at Grand View College. He's survived by a wife and two teenage sons.

Santa Staples was a nurse at McLaren Hospital in Flint, Michigan, for more than 30 years. She was known for her efficiency and toughness in the O.R., tough enough, friends said, to scare even neurosurgeons like Sanjay. But the Detroit Free Press reports she also loved her coworkers, tailgate parties and dirty jokes. And if you're wondering why her name is Santa, Santa Staples would have turned 60 on Christmas Day.

We'll be right back.

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[07:20:00]

BERMAN: Developing overnight, State Department officials tell CNN that the Trump administration is preventing President-elect Joe Biden from accessing messages from foreign leaders. They're calling the State Department, they're not giving the president-elect the messages. In addition, they're blocking the president-elect from receiving these critically important daily intelligence briefings, all while the president, the outgoing, Donald Trump, has engaged in what is described as a mass beheading at the Pentagon, firing the top-level brass and installing largely political loyalists.

Joining me now is independent Senator Angus King. He serves on the Intelligence and Armed Services Committee. Senator King, it's a pleasure to have you with us. Let's start with what's going on with the daily intelligence briefings.

You were on the Intelligence Committee. President-elect is not being given access to them. What's at stake here?

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): Well, what's at stake is the security of the United States. If you look back through history, for example, Bay of Pigs, Blackhawk Down, September 11th, what do those have in common? They all occurred in the first year of a new administration. In fact, the September 11th commission expressly found that the slow transition between going into -- between Clinton and Bush contributed to the problems that led up to September 11th.

So this is really trifling with national security for no real reason. There's no -- you know, you can walk and chew gum at the same time. If the president wants to contest these ballots in various states, he can do so. But at the same time, you can do the transition, you can allow the daily briefs so that the president-elect will have the information necessary.

This is a moment of vulnerability. The transition, any transition, is a moment of vulnerability when our adversaries look to take advantage. And this is being done for, as I say, no reason except apparently it's sort of the pique of the president and it's dangerous. It's just downright dangerous for national security.

BERMAN: Republican Senator James Lankford now says that if it's still happening tomorrow, he's going to say something. That enough?

KING: Well, listen. It's a start. James Lankford is one of the most thoughtful people in the Senate. And for him to speak out like that, he's from Oklahoma, very red state, I think is significant. But he ought to be joined by all of his colleagues, by people that are involved in national security.

But you've got to remember, John, this is a president who has expressed very little interest in the daily -- the president's daily brief, in terms of intelligence throughout his term. So maybe he just doesn't think it's a big deal, because he hasn't paid much attention to it himself.

But, again, if there were some policy reason, if there were some basis for this other than just, you know, we're just going to stiff-arm this guy who apparently beat us, you know, you can understand it. But there's no argument.

[07:25:07]

John, all of this week, all of the discussion, all the tweets and everything else, nothing has ever mentioned the national interest. There's been no discussion from this president about what's in the country's interests. And that's what's so disappointing about this, as well as being dangerous.

BERMAN: Look, Senator, you are an independent from Maine. Everyone likes you, which is, frankly, a little bit annoying. But given that, you know, what's your message to the Republicans in the Senate right now who have been incredibly silent as this has taken place? What would you like to tell your colleagues?

KING: Well, I would like to tell them what I have been telling them privately, which this is a moment of danger for the country. And do they really want at this dangerous time for their legacy to be silence?

Everybody knows that this election is over. This discussion of these various ballots and fraud, there's been no allegation where it's risen to the level of even coming close to overturning one of the elections. If Pennsylvania stays and Biden's lead is now over 50,000 votes, the election is over. It doesn't matter what happens in Georgia or Arkansas or Arizona or Nevada. So, it's not going to change.

So my colleagues, by being silent, are just -- they're not serving the country. And I hate to say that, because I'm very close to a lot of these folks. And, you know, I understand the politics, I understand they're worried about the Senate seats in Georgia and they're worried about President Trump coming after them in a primary or something, but at some point, it seems to me, the country has to come first.

And right now, it's clearly that every day that this goes on is putting the country in more danger. And to stand back and to allow the decapitation of the defense department in the middle of a transition, it's just -- you know, it's pretty shocking, as you can tell. I'm not usually speechless, but this is -- this is putting the country at risk.

BERMAN: You called it a decapitation, which is very similar to what Barbara Starr was reporting is being reported in the Pentagon. They're calling it a mass beheading in the Pentagon. Why do you think the president has done this?

KING: Well, there are a couple of possible explanations. One is just personal pique. He didn't like it that Mark Esper stood up to him last year when he was making noises about sending troops into American cities. And the issue is disloyalty. That's what I heard. I talked to some people and said, what's going on here. Disloyalty.

Well, the problem is, when Mark Esper took his oath of office, it wasn't to Donald Trump. It was to the United States Constitution. And the president -- do you remember, he said, my generals? They aren't his generals, they're the United States of America's generals. And he mistakes personal loyalty to doing your job. This is the first administration in history where the most likely way to get fired is to do your job.

So one is personal pique at Mark Esper. The other is, and this is more worrisome, is a desire to sort of clear the way for making major decisions in national security matters without any pushback, without any backtalk from those pesky people at the Pentagon who take their job seriously. What I'm hearing is the possibility of a unilateral, 100 percent pullout from Afghanistan, which, by the way, John, would be very dangerous.

We have an important counterterrorism mission there. Al Qaeda and ISIS are still active. And if we pull out our troops unilaterally between now and Christmas or whatever the date is, that mission is essentially compromised and we're right back where we were in 2001 subject to a terrorist attack being hatched in the wilds of Afghanistan.

That's the dangerous thing that I think that a lot of people are worried about. If I had to put money on it, that's what I would predict was going to happen.

BERMAN: All right. Well, we're watching, 70 days, Senator. Senator Angus King of Maine, a pleasure to have you on, thanks for joining us this morning.

KING: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: New this morning, former President Barack Obama reflecting on his time in the White House. He's got a new book coming out and we've got the first details of this new book before it's even released, next.

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