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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
CNN Calls Arizona For President-Elect Joe Biden; China Congratulates President-Elect Biden And Harris; COVID Outbreak On First Cruise Ship To Return To Caribbean. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired November 13, 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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[05:31:35]
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: All right, good morning, everyone. This is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Laura Jarrett, about 31 minutes past the hour.
And breaking overnight, CNN now projects that President-elect Joe Biden will win Arizona, a longtime Republican stronghold and the home state of the late GOP presidential nominee, John McCain. President Trump has repeatedly attacked the Republican senator even after his death in 2018, furious that McCain voted against repealing Obamacare.
Last night his widow, Cindy McCain, talked to Wolf Blitzer about what her husband might think of Trump's blocking Biden's access to transition funds and security briefings.
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CINDY MCCAIN, WIDOW OF SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: We are a country that passes peaceful transition between administrations. That's the way it's always been. And I'm quite certain my husband would be yelling at the top of his lungs at his colleagues and with his colleagues to help stop this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: We're also hearing from Joe Biden's newly-named chief of staff for the first time since the election.
MJ Lee is live this morning from Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. MJ, a Democrat hasn't won Arizona since 1996. The Biden team has to be happy about that.
MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They have to be, Laura. As you said, this is really a remarkable political achievement. A Democratic presidential candidate hasn't won the state of Arizona since 1996 and that was Bill Clinton, of course.
And a part of that -- and a large part of that just has to do with the changing demographics in the state of Arizona -- notably, the fact that there has been a growing Hispanic population. And when the Biden campaign really made an effort to campaign there hoping to flip that state, that is something -- a reality that they really tried to harness.
So, yes, I agree with you. This is going to be very happy news to have this race finally called. And, of course, what this means is that now Biden is cementing his lead after his win was already declared. Eleven electoral votes coming out of that state and he is now well over some five million votes ahead in terms of the popular vote.
But the reality remains that even despite all of that, the sitting president, President Trump, still has not conceded to Joe Biden. But as far as the transition team here is concerned for Biden, they are trying to signal every day that they are moving forward despite sort of the cooperation and the concession from President Trump.
Ron Klain, Biden's newly-named chief of staff, talking about COVID-19 in a new interview and talking about a COVID-19 coordinator that is going to work with Biden every single day. Take a listen.
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RON KLAIN, CHIEF OF STAFF TO PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN: And he will have a COVID coordinator who works in the White House who has direct access to him and will be briefing him daily. That official will have a team of people that he works with -- someone coordinating -- he or she works with -- someone coordinating vaccine distribution. Someone coordinating fixing the supply chain problems we're having. Someone coordinating fixing the testing problems we are having.
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LEE: So, Biden is going to continue keeping a close eye on the trajectory of this pandemic as we head towards January 20th.
But I just want to remind everyone one more time of everything that Biden currently does not have access to because President Trump hasn't conceded.
[05:35:00]
He is not receiving the presidential daily briefings. These are classified briefings that a president-elect at this point in a normal cycle should be receiving. He doesn't have access to transition funds. And, of course, we have been talking about all week these messages from foreign leaders that are basically stuck in limbo at the State Department and that Biden doesn't have access to because he cannot access State Department funds yet.
So all of these things are going on. But again, the Biden transition team is signaling that they are moving full steam had here in Rehoboth Beach. Biden is scheduled to be meeting again with transition advisers throughout the day -- guys.
JARRETT: All right, MJ. Thanks so much -- appreciate it. ROMANS: All right, breaking news.
China now congratulating President-elect Joe Biden on his election victory. CNN's Ivan Watson live in Hong Kong with more. Hi, Ivan.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Christine.
The outgoing President Trump may be refusing to recognize reality, but China is now adding itself to the list of U.S. allies and rivals that are recognizing this reality. A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry saying, quote, "We respect the choice of American people. We extend congratulations to Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris."
Make no mistake, though, the relations between the U.S. and China right now are at the worst point that we've really seen in decades.
We've had trade wars. We've had both countries engaged in tit-for-tat closure of consulates. The U.S. imposing sanctions on Chinese officials. A U.S. executive order just signed this week by President Trump, which bans U.S. investment in Chinese companies that are linked to the Chinese military.
And so, in the same briefing, this Chinese diplomat was really blasting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo for claiming that Taiwan is not part of the rest of China and for that executive order, as well as other issues.
Whether or not relations could improve under a Biden administration -- well, Biden campaigned on being tough on China. Chinese state media have indicated they think that there will be more professional communication with a Biden administration rather than hearing things over Twitter, as they have under the Trump administration.
But, Biden has made clear that he wants China to abide by international law and he's going to try to compose a multilateral effort with U.S. allies to try to push China to cooperate better with the U.S. -- Christine.
ROMANS: Yes. Even on those trade wars, it's so interesting to me that some of these states where American citizens suffered because of the trade wars with China, they still supported President Trump for being tough on China. So that's something that this new administration will have to -- have to keep -- take a close look at.
Thanks so much for that, Ivan. Nice to see you.
All right, 68 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 --
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
ROMANS: -- Joe Biden flipped the late John McCain's home state from red to blue. I mean, amazing.
Did Trump cost himself that win by mocking a man who is no longer around to defend himself and who is a hero?
AVLON: Yes, and here's why. Margins close enough -- I mean, not so close you could flip it in a recall or recount effort. But the reality is that John McCain is an Arizona hero.
Mark Kelly, the new senator, campaigned as a Democrat honoring John McCain's legacy. Cindy McCain coming out against Donald Trump and in favor of Joe Biden, cutting an ad talking about her husband's great friendship with the now-president elect.
And with this kind of margin everything matters, and going after John McCain during the campaign, after it, even after he died, was just not only indecent but it turns out really dumb politics.
JARRETT: So, John, sources are telling CNN that Trump's oldest children apparently are split on what to do in terms of going forward. Don Jr. and Eric want him to stay, tough it out, and keep going with the fight. Ivanka, apparently, is more realistic and doesn't want her father to damage his legacy more than he already has. Kushner apparently playing both sides.
Who wins this, and when?
AVLON: My impulse is to say who cares because ultimately, Donald Trump -- I mean, he's more likely to listen to somebody who shares his last name than anybody else. But look, the two sons can say he should stay and fight but the question is for what? To what end and what means does he -- what path does he have to success?
JARRETT: Right.
AVLON: Ivanka may be looking out for her father's dignity but I think that train sailed a long time ago.
Everyone, at the end of the day, in this family, is looking out for their own self-interests while trying to mask it as concern for their padre.
ROMANS: Yes, legacy or infamy. I mean, Donald Trump lives in infamy. Legacy is not something I see him try to really build, but maybe things change.
I mean, if and when he accepts defeat, sources say he'll consider using his power to pardon people before he leaves office. And former aides tell CNN he has asked in the past if he can pardon himself. Even Nixon didn't go that far.
[05:40:07]
AVLON: Yes. Well, I mean, counselor Jared may have a different opinion but it seems pretty obvious to me that no one's allowed to sit in judgment on their own case, and that would be seen as absurd. However, Donald Trump could easily try to stall for time, it seems to
me, by preemptively pardoning. He may also try to pardon his whole crew. I direct people that note the constitutional convention -- yes, I will get that nerdy this early in the morning -- because they actually contemplated that a president should not be able to pardon people who committed crimes at his behest.
I would expect a pardon spree. I would expect to find a lot of people who condemned past presidents for doing it rationalizing it if they're on the right side of the aisle. But you try to pardon yourself, I don't think -- I don't see how that can end well in a court of law.
JARRETT: I concur with Mr. Avlon's analysis on that score. I think -- you know what? We don't have kings in this country.
AVLON: Correct.
JARRETT: You cannot pardon yourself. The Justice Department actually looked at this decades ago and said you can't pardon yourself. I don't think a court in this country would say that that is legitimate.
ROMANS: All right, John Avlon --
AVLON: There you go.
ROMANS: -- nice to see you -- CNN senior political analyst.
AVLON: Take care, guys.
ROMANS: And that's why we have you on, to be nerdy before 6:00 a.m. in the east.
JARRETT: We love it.
ROMANS: That's the whole point. OK, thanks.
JARRETT: OK.
Chicago issuing new restrictions in response to a surge in COVID cases and hospitalizations there.
CNN has this pandemic covered coast-to-coast.
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ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Adrienne Broaddus in Chicago.
And starting Monday, the city will be under a stay-at-home advisory. This is in response to the rising number of COVID cases. The mayor is asking people to only leave their homes to go to work, school, or to pick up essential needs like groceries and medication.
Of course, this is in response to the rising number of COVID cases. The advisory will be in place for 30 days. The mayor says if Chicago doesn't change its path, by the end of the year, at least 1,000 more people will die because of the virus.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Omar Jimenez.
We have seen surges in coronavirus cases across nearly every part of the country in recent weeks. And in Oklahoma, the State Department of Health says they are now down to just five percent ICU capacity left. That literally translates to less than 50 ICU beds.
Now, what's more concerning is the way the numbers have been trending there. In Oklahoma, like in many places across the country, they've seen a jump of more than 50 percent in coronavirus cases this past week compared to the previous week.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I'm Bianna Golodryga in New York.
New York City could be on the verge of shutting down all in-person schools by or even before Thanksgiving due to the city's rising coronavirus positivity rate. Mayor Bill de Blasio warning Thursday that schools will close if the city's seven-day average crosses above three percent. The rate as of Thursday stands at 2.6 percent.
School closures would be a major setback for the country's largest public school district. There are currently 300,000 students attending in-person classes. The news comes even after recent data showed that since schools have reopened last month, the positivity rate among students and faculty was at just .17 percent.
Just this week, the Philadelphia School District shelved plans to bring students and staff back to the classroom. Schools in Des Moines, Detroit, and Cincinnati are all switching to a fully-remote learning plan.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I'm Pete Muntean in Washington.
More airlines are doing away with policies they put in place at the start of the pandemic.
JetBlue says it will soon sell every seat onboard its flights starting January 8th, 2021. Right now, JetBlue is capping capacity on its flights at 70 percent. And this is a phased approach. JetBlue will cap capacity at 85 percent starting December second.
In a memo to employees, JetBlue's COO says the airline felt empowered by new research from Harvard University. That study says that the rate of virus transmission onboard planes is relatively low so long as every passenger is wearing a mask. But those same researchers cautioned to CNN that there is little data on virus spread in airports, terminals, jetways, and security lines.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Newton in Ottawa.
And it's been about a month since Canadian Thanksgiving. And now, this country is trying to cope with a new surge in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and sadly, deaths.
Now, public health experts say that new daily cases have about doubled in the last month alone and a lot of that spread was caused by what some people believe is harmless -- those small social gatherings in people's private homes. It's important to note at the time of the holiday here in Canada, community transmission was lower than it is right now in the United States, and still, the holiday helped fuel the latest surge.
Now, some doctors in this country are calling for a second lockdown.
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[05:45:01]
ROMANS: All right, thanks to all of our correspondents for those reports.
More stimulus is needed to keep the economic recovery going but Republicans and Democrats still divided on how much money to spend and where.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell once again rejected Democrats' call for a big stimulus package, instead repeating his push for a bill that he says addresses, quote, "what the residual problems are."
Earlier, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer signaled they're not willing to change their position and argued the election strengthens that view.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): This election was more -- maybe more of a referendum on who can handle COVID well than anything else. The Donald Trump approach was repudiated, the Joe Biden approach was embraced, and that's why we think there's a better chance to get a bill in the lame duck if only the Republicans would stop embracing the ridiculous shenanigans that Trump is forcing them to do that this -- you know, in the election -- and focus on what people need.
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ROMANS: The need for more stimulus is amplified by the rise in coronavirus cases. Failure to act on more aid could mean lasting economic damage.
Schumer's office said President-elect Joe Biden spoke with Pelosi and Schumer Thursday and said the leaders talked about the pandemic and the need for economic relief.
And one of the things, Laura, that the Democrats have been saying all along is that you've got to attack the virus. That's got to be part of the economic --
JARRETT: Right. ROMANS: -- rescue. You know, testing and how you're going to actually kill the virus. Because you can't recover the economy and help families unless there's a plan -- a national plan on the virus. And that's been one of the many sticking points there.
JARRETT: Well, we've seen how that has failed for the past couple of months. If you don't have a plan then the economy keeps faltering because you have to keep doing these shutdowns every so often.
All right, still ahead for you, a Caribbean cruise meant to show off new safety protocols backfires. We have that story for you, next.
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[05:51:04]
JARRETT: Welcome back.
The oldest member of Congress has now tested for coronavirus. Eighty- seven-year-old Alaska Republican Don Young is also the longest-serving member of the House, first taking office back in 1973. He tweeted Thursday that he's feeling strong, following proper protocols, and working from home in Alaska.
Iowa GOP congresswoman-elect Ashley Hinson also announced yesterday that she has tested positive for COVID but says she's feeling great.
All right. Six passengers now testing positive for coronavirus on the very first cruise ship to tour the Caribbean since the pandemic began. The cruise of the SeaDream 1 was meant to show how testing and hygiene protocols could allow the cruise industry to restart operations. Many of the passengers and journalists on board were bloggers invited to cover the weeklong trip.
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GENE SLOAN, PASSENGER: The ship had a very rigorous testing schedule, more rigorous than what some of the big lines are planning to do when they come back in a few months.
BEN HEWITT, PASSENGER: It's just so disappointing that this has happened because everybody had their hopes up high and we can't see anything more that they could have done. It's just such a horrible virus. It just gets everywhere even with the constant testing.
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JARRETT: The ship's owner says the SeaDream 1 has returned to Barbados for more COVID testing and that all guests and non-essential crew are now quarantining in their rooms.
ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Friday morning.
Looking at markets around the world to end the week, a mixed performance, really, here. You've got Paris and Frankfurt up, but London just about steady here.
On Wall Street, U.S. stock index futures, to close out the week, are moving higher. That's after they closed lower on these comments from the Fed chief, Jerome Powell, who poured cold water on the market's hope for a vaccine as a cure to the economic crisis.
The Dow fell 317 points. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq also finished lower.
Now, time is running out for millions of Americans who still haven't received stimulus checks. The IRS is now reaching out to the last recipients who have to register online by November 21st. Now, most Americans received this $1,200 payment automatically. Very low-income people who don't normally file tax returns, they have to register online so the IRS knows how to reach them.
This is roughly 12 million people who fell into this category. It's unclear how many of them still have not received their money. But reach out to people you know. Make sure that they go to the IRS and get that $1,200 before the deadline.
Disney+ has been a lifeboat for Disney in a terrible year. The streaming service is up to nearly 74 million subscribers at the end of the quarter as millions of people stayed home.
Disney posted its second-straight quarterly loss Thursday as the pandemic just devastates the theme park and movie business. Disney said that Disneyland in California will stay closed at least now through December.
The housing market, though -- that has been the bright spot in the coronavirus economy. But now, prices are rising so fast that homes are out of reach now for many buyers. Data shows home prices grew four times as fast as the median family income in the third quarter. Prices are being driven up by a combination of super-low mortgage rates and a limited supply of homes to buy.
And I don't know if you've seen it where you live, Laura, but where we are -- I even said to my husband, we should sell our house. This is crazy, this market. He said yes, and then we're one of those buyers who can't find a place. Because, you know, the prices are just getting way out of hand.
JARRETT: And you're --
ROMANS: I think it will cool off but it has been wild.
JARRETT: You're always welcome at chez Jarrett, Christine, if you guys need to move out.
ROMANS: I've got three built-in babysitters for you, too. That's a -- we could -- we could work something out.
JARRETT: I'll take that.
All right, thanks for joining us. I'm Laura Jarrett. Have a great weekend.
ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. "NEW DAY" is next.
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[05:59:17]
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A growing list of Republicans are urging the president to accept his fate and move forward for the good of the country.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): They're engaged in an absurd circus right now, refusing to accept reality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Department of Homeland Security declared the 2020 election the most secure in American history.
GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R), OHIO: We need to consider the former vice president as the president-elect.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: COVID patients in hospitals hitting another all- time high. Deaths also climbing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a humanitarian tragedy. These are lives that don't have to be lost.
GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: I want to remind everybody how deadly this virus is. It hasn't abated. It hasn't changed. It's out there.
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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Friday the 13th.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Jason Voorhees.
