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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin
Death Toll Surpasses 250,000 in U.S. as Cases Surge; Biden to Meet with Governors to Shape Coronavirus Plan; Trump Wages Legal Fight While Holed Up Inside White House; NFL Mandates Intense COVID-19 Protocols. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 19, 2020 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:19]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START.
I'm Laura Jarrett. Christine Romans is off.
It's Thursday, November 19th, 5:00 a.m. here in New York.
Every morning, we show you a lot of numbers and a lot of graphs, but today's number is one that would have been unthinkable just a few months ago: 250,000 -- 250,000 American mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, friends and colleagues have now been killed by coronavirus. That's a milestone that's been reached during a dangerous coast to coast surge in cases that has the death rate soaring to levels we haven't seen since late spring.
Infection rates are rising that New York City's mayor shut down the entire school system.
CNN's Nick Watt has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York City is the biggest school district in the nation. So many parents right now scrambling to balance work with child care for the morning.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D), NEW YORK: That's the law. An orange zone and a red zone. Follow the facts.
REPORTER: I'm confused, parents are still confused as well.
CUOMO: They're not confused. You're confused.
WATT: Meanwhile in Iowa --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to make sure you don't have a blood clot in your lung.
WATT: More than 76,000 Americans now hospitalized with COVID-19. That's an all time high. GOV. STEVE BULLOCK (D), MONTANA: In some places, we're already out of
beds and room to put even new beds.
WATT: So Montana's mask mandate goes statewide Friday. In Michigan, a three-week pause kicks in. No more indoor dining, bars, movie theaters.
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D), MICHIGAN: Inherently dangerous situations are when you are inside with people from a different household or many different households for a prolonged period of time with masks off.
WATT: In South Dakota, the governor still won't mandate masks.
GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R), SOUTH DAKOTA: People that want to wear masks should wear masks and people who don't shouldn't be shamed because they choose not to.
WATT: In Oregon, there can be no more than six at a Thanksgiving table this year.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's Orwellian in a place like Oregon to say, if you gather in numbers more than six, we might come to your house and arrest you and you get 30 days of jail time?
WATT: Orwellian or just life saving.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're all in this together as a nation. If one element of the country or multiple elements of the country don't cooperate with an infectious disease, we are going to continue to be in trouble.
WATT: Seventeen hundred seven lives reported lost Tuesday. COVID's deadliest day in America for six months.
The average daily death toll is now rising in 33 states.
DR. TOM INGLESBY, DIRECTOR, JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH AND SECURITY: I'm the most concerned I have been since this pandemic started. States across the country are having the most rapid rise they have seen since the start of this.
WATT: Good news, the FDA just authorized the first fast at-home self- test, and Pfizer now says its vaccine is 95 percent effective. And they'll file for FDA authorization within days.
Moderna won't be far behind.
ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: By the end of December, we expect to have about 40 million doses of these two vaccines available for distribution, pending FDA authorization, enough to vaccinate about 20 million of our most vulnerable Americans.
WATT: But likely early summer before it's widespread.
BULLOCK: There is light at the end of the tunnel. However, that tunnel is long.
WATT: And some places panic buying is now back, also long lines at food banks and COVID-19 testing sites. The pain of this fall now resembles the spring, and it's getting worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (on camera): The situation in New York City is very interesting. So they reached 3 percent positivity which triggers the closure of all schools. So, now, in New York, kids can't go to a classroom but an adult can still go to a bar to get a beer. It's complicated.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
JARRETT: Nick, thank you.
Today, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris will meet virtually with governors from across the country as they try to sharpen their focus on the coronavirus crisis. Meantime, the Biden team is pushing forward with this transition, still without access to federal agencies or any real security briefings.
But behind the scenes, we're told they're getting help from an unlikely group.
CNN's Jeff Zeleny has the latest from Wilmington, Delaware.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[05:05:03]
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden praising medical workers on the front lines of the coronavirus fight.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not enough to praise you. We have to protect you and we have to pay you.
ZELENY: He's shining a light on their heroism and calling out President Trump's obstructionism as his administration still refuses to cooperate with Biden's transition team, especially on fighting COVID.
BIDEN: We have been unable to get access to the kinds of things we need to know about the depth of the stockpiles. We know there's not much at all. And there's a whole lot of things that are just -- we just don't have available to us. Unless it's made available soon, we're going to be behind by weeks or months.
ZELENY: Yet staffers inside the Department of Health and Human Services were instructed to not communicate with Biden advisers CNN has learned and asked to report any outreach to top agency officials.
AZAR: We have made it very clear when GSA makes a determination, we will ensure completely cooperative professional transitions and planning. ZELENY: As the U.S. reported the deadliest day of the pandemic in six
months, a Minnesota nurse begged Biden for more help.
MARY TURNER, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL NURSES UNITED: I've taken care of coworkers, as they fight for their lives on a ventilator. And knowing that they got sick because of the hospital or their government hasn't protected them.
ZELENY: Biden showing his empathy said this.
TURNER: I'm sorry I'm so emotional. It's just --
BIDEN: No, you got me emotional.
ZELENY: Members of Biden's COVID-19 advisory board say Biden's team will be ready, but said they were skeptical of any credible plans that exist inside the Trump administration.
DR. RICK BRIGHT, MEMBER, BIDEN COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD: We will be ready on day one. We have waited for ten months for a plan to be shared with the American public and health care experts on the vaccine program.
ZELENY: The Biden transition team is also placing a high priority on building the government, particularly the Health and Human Services Department.
Officials tell CNN that two Democratic governors are now top contenders for the post, Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island, and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico. They, along with Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general, are among the contenders for the post. All this as Biden's advisers are blasting Trump's attempt to undermine democracy by firing Chris Krebs who is in charge of U.S. election cybersecurity, for telling the truth about the election.
REP. CEDRIC RICHMOND (D-LA): It's dangerous. The entire transition, Trump's whole behavior right now should frighten the American public.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (on camera): We're also learning a handful of current and former Trump officials are reaching out privately to the Biden transition team, believe it's important to put country over party. They're reaching out to them directly one on one, trying to help with this transition, even as President Trump refuses to acknowledge the outcome of the election.
Now, Mr. Biden clearly is sounding the alarm as more than a quarter million Americans have now died of COVID.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
JARRETT: Jeff, thank you for that report.
President Trump meantime remains focused on fighting the election he lost instead of confronting the virus raging in front of him. He's doing so while sequestered inside the White House. No public events on his schedule. No time for taking questions from reporters. No accountability.
We get more from CNN's Jeremy Diamond at the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Laura. As the United States hit that grim mile marker of a quarter million deaths here in the United States from coronavirus on Wednesday, President Trump was behind closed doors as he has been for much of this two-week period since Election Day. Yesterday was the 11th day that the president spends with no events on his public schedule, and instead, what we saw from the president was nothing focusing on the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, he was spewing misinformation as he has been for the last two weeks about the 2020 election.
The president spewing conspiracy theories and false allegations of widespread voter fraud but a number of states are nearing that process of certifying the votes, and the president's legal challenges are fizzling. A number of them have been dismissed in the court, most of them, in fact, and so his options are really limited as we go forward.
One other thing that's notable here is as the president is dealing with all of that, even as he is making these allegations about the 2020 election as he is making some serious policy moves including the withdrawal of a significant number of troops from Afghanistan or as he is firing personnel at the Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, all of those consequential moves happening with the president taking no questions from the press.
It has now been more than two weeks since President Trump last took questions from reporters, and as of now, that's not changing -- Laura.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much.
The Trump campaign filed for a limited recount of votes in Wisconsin on Wednesday. It's another long shot attempt to overturn President- elect Biden's win in the state and it doesn't come cheap.
[05:10:00]
The campaign is limiting its recount request to Milwaukee in Dane County at a cost of $3 million. Now, given the margins, it's highly unlikely any recounts will actually change the ultimate result in the state.
In Milwaukee County, Biden won by nearly 183,000 votes. And in Dane County, Biden beat Trump by over 181,000 votes. Statewide, Biden defeated Trump by over 20,000 votes. The recounts will start on Friday.
And now to Arizona where the Secretary of State Katie Hobbs says misinformation about the election triggered ongoing and escalating threats of violence against her family and her office. Hobbs called it a symptom of a deeper problem in the state and the country.
In a statement she writes this: I was prepared for threats of violence I have been a social worker for many years and can anticipate this reaction when certain people feel powerless and angry. But there are those, including the president, and members of Congress, and other elected officials who are perpetuating misinformation and encouraging others to distrust the election results in a manner that violates the oath of office they took.
Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey also condemned the threats.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. DOUG DUCEY (R), ARIZONA: Completely unacceptable and I denounce any threats of violence against anyone in elective office or any Arizonian or American. So that's different than a court challenge. OK? A court challenge will play it out itself out, but it's completely unacceptable, any threats of violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JARRETT: Strong tone there, but Governor Ducey has repeatedly declined to criticize the conspiracy theories themselves or the politicians who have been promoting them.
Still ahead, new coronavirus restrictions at the grocery store, what it could mean when you go to stock up. That's next.
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[05:16:10]
JARRETT: All right. Welcome back.
People in Illinois who want to get a COVID test are waiting in long lines as new data shows just how deadly the virus has become.
CNN is covering the pandemic coast to coast.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Adrienne Broaddus in Chicago.
And here in Illinois, the governor says the coronavirus is the third leading cause of deaths just behind cancer and heart disease, and as we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, people are waiting in long lines to get a COVID test.
The state's top doctor wants to remind people a negative test is not a green light to visit friends and family outside of your immediate household on Thanksgiving.
And starting on Friday, Illinois will see tighter restrictions. For example, movie theaters, casinos, banquet halls, and museums will shut down. Grocery stores and retail spaces will operate at reduced capacity.
SARA SIDNER, CNN NATOINAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Sara Sidner in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where we spoke with an ER doctor who contracted the coronavirus and is recovering. He says he has treated hundreds of patients since March, but this time is the worst he has ever seen it, and he's begging people to do the right thing, wear a mask, social distance, and not to get together for Thanksgiving. He says he knows it's hard, but it is worth it to help safe your family and all the health professionals who are trying to take care of patients.
Plus, Michigan is in trouble. It is now at about 13 percent positivity rate. They're trying to get that number down to 3 percent. So, restrictions are in place again.
CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN POLITICS AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Cristina Alesci in New York.
A surge in COVID cases and renewed restrictions are driving Americans to stock up again. Now, there are empty shelves at some Walmart stores and shoppers load up on paper goods and cleaning supplies. Walmart is now allowing individual stores to impose purchase limits on certain items, and Walmart is not alone. Kroger imposed some limits, so has HEB in Texas.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I'm Pete Muntean in Washington.
Delta Air Lines says it will keep middle seats empty on its flights through March of next year. That is an extension of its social distancing policy it put in place at the start of the pandemic. This comes as other airlines are doing away with the policies.
JetBlue says it will fill every seat on it flights starting in January of 2021. Southwest says it will fill every seat after November 30th, after the Thanksgiving rush. American and United have been selling every seat since the summer. Delta insists it is the only remaining U.S. carrier to get guarantee an empty middle seat on board.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JARRETT: All right. Thanks to our correspondent for those reports.
Well, one NFL team is going to be without most of its defensive starters on Sunday because of coronavirus. Now, the NFL is rolling out strict new guidelines to stop the spread of the virus. We've got details in the "Bleacher Report" next.
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[05:23:30]
JARRETT: All right. The NFL is ordering all 32 teams to go into intensive coronavirus protocols starting on Saturday.
Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report".
Andy, it's a little surprising this hadn't been done yet.
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Laura, you know, it's happened from time to time, you know, across the league with different teams so far this season but, you know, in the latest round of results of coronavirus testing released by the NFL, 52 players and personnel tested positive for the virus. You know, the games have continued but Commissioner Roger Goodell saying that all teams are going to operate in that intensive coronavirus protocols for the rest of the season, and you know, previously the teams were only forced to do this if they had a player test positive or played against someone who did.
Starting Saturday, though, all meetings are going to be held virtually, in large spaces approved by the league. Masks will be mandatory during on field practices and the amount of players in locker rooms and weight rooms is going to be limited.
In a memo sent to all teams obtained by CNN, Goodell says the upcoming holidays, beginning with Thanksgiving next week will introduce new risk of exposure that we need to address now.
The Las Vegas Raiders meanwhile could be without most of their defensive starters for this Sunday's game against the Chiefs. Seven players were added to the COVID-19 list yesterday, joining two others placed on the list earlier. Only one player has tested positive but the rest are deemed high risk contacts.
[05:25:00]
If they -- those players continue to test negative, they could be allowed to return to play on Sunday against the Chiefs.
Now, for the second straight week, more than a dozen college football games might have been postponed or cancelled due to COVID. 14 games have been called off this week. Every conference has called off at least one game, except for the Big Ten. Teams certainly running out of dates to make these games up. And when it comes to the playoff, the playoff committee executive director telling ESPN, they would not replace any top four teams if one of them was unable to play because of the virus.
All right. Finally, NBA draft taking place last night, virtually the Minnesota Timberwolves selecting Georgia guard, Anthony Edwards with the first overall pick. When Edwards was 14 years old, he lost his mother and grandmother to ovarian cancer seven months apart, and he says everything he does is to make them proud.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY EDWARDS, TOP PICK IN NBA DRAFT: It's an undescribable feeling. I mean, I can't even describe it. My family is emotional. I feel like when I get out of here I'm going to get emotional and I'm blessed to be in this situation.
As you can see, my grandmother is right here, and my mother is right here. And the shirt with the collaboration I had, I have my grandmother's name and mother's name on my shirt. So, they're with me at all times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCHOLES: All right. Rounding out the top three picks, Golden State pick a Memphis big man, James Wiseman at number two, LaMelo Ball heading to Charlottes to play for Michael Jordan and the Hornets. He was the third pick.
And, you know, LaMelo's dad, LaVar, once infamously said he would beat Michael Jordan, if they played one on one. Well, maybe now that his son plays for Michael Jordan's team, that game of one on one could happen.
JARRETT: Hmm, we'll wait and see.
All right. Thanks, Andy, appreciate it.
SCHOLES: All right.
JARRETT: All right. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, he's about to do something that's never been done before. We are live in Israel, next.
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