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Sources: Biden to Name Antony Blinken As Secretary of State; Michigan GOP Canvassing Board Member Expected to Oppose Certifying; Georgia to Conduct Another Recount After Trump's Request. Aired 5- 5:30a ET

Aired November 23, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START, I'm Boris Sanchez in for Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CO-ANCHOR, EARLY START: Great to have you this week, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Thank you, Laura.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett, it's Monday, November 23rd, it's 5:00 a.m. in New York, and we begin this morning with big breaking news overnight. CNN has learned President-elect Joe Biden is set to name his nominee for U.S. Secretary of State. Sources say long-time foreign policy adviser Tony Blinken will get the nod, when Biden start announcing his cabinet picks on Tuesday. CNN's Arlette Saenz starts us off this morning live in Wilmington, Delaware. Arlette, good morning to you. It's interesting, current and former officials already pouring in with praise for Tony Blinken, clearly very pleased with this move.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, Laura, good morning, and Tony Blinken is certainly a seasoned hand when it comes to foreign policy. He served as a deputy Secretary of State and also has long time ties to President-elect Joe Biden, dating all the way back to Biden's time in the Senate. Blinken also served as Biden's national security adviser while he was vice president. And he has these long-time relationships across the world, really, as he has spent decades in the national security and diplomacy sector.

And we are going to see Biden tomorrow announcing his -- the first of his cabinet picks, and it looks like it is shaping up to be a diplomacy and national security-related announcements, in addition to Biden announcing his Secretary of State tomorrow. Biden is also expected to announce his picks for his national security adviser and his ambassador to the U.N. Now, the leading candidate right now for that national security adviser position is Jake Sullivan. This is someone who served as Biden's national security adviser back when he was vice president, and also worked closely with Hillary Clinton while she led the State Department.

And as for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, the leading contender for that position is a woman by the name of Lisa Thomas Greenfield, and she -- sorry, Linda Thomas Greenfield. And she is someone who has long time had ties at the State Department. She is also a woman of color. So this is someone that would fulfill -- if Biden decides to select her, would fulfill Biden's promise to have a diverse cabinet that looks like the country. But right now, one of the common themes between all three of those people who are the leading contenders for those positions is that they have a lot of experience in this sector, and Biden, one of the main pillars of his presidency is expected to be focusing on rebuilding those relationships with foreign allies and trying to restore America's standing in the world.

JARRETT: All right, Arlette, thanks so much. We'll see you back soon.

SANCHEZ: Pennsylvania and Michigan, two key battleground states won by President-elect Joe Biden are supposed to certify their election results today, but the Trump campaign keeps pushing for delays. The campaign suffering an embarrassing setback in Pennsylvania on Saturday after a federal judge shot down its bid to throw out millions of absentee ballots, comparing the case to Frankenstein's monster. But certification of results in the state could still be held up because of another court case that's still pending. Meantime in Michigan, at least one of the two Republicans on the state's canvassing board is expected to vote against certifying results today. That raises a number of questions about what happens next? We get more now from CNN's Kristen Holmes.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Laura and Boris. Yes, all eyes right now are on Michigan, and what's going to happen today. The state was set to certify today, but we learned yesterday that there might be some complications with that. So, what exactly do we know? Well, we know the board of canvassers is four people, it is two Democrats and two Republicans, and they vote to certify the election. This is typically just a check box. It is not something that stops anything, they just take the will of the people, the vote count and certify the election formally.

This year, no surprise, based on what we've seen from this election, it is a little bit different. Now, yesterday, we learned that a Republican congressman had spoken to one of the Republican members of the Board of Canvassers who told him as of last week that he was expected not to certify the election, not to vote to certify the election, waiting for an audit of Wayne County.

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So that means right now that we are in a position that Michigan can only be certified today if that other Republican votes to certify with the two Democrats, which of course we expect to vote to certify. Here's what's going on. Late on Saturday night, Michigan Republicans as well as the Republican National Committee asked the Board of Canvassers to delay certifying the election until an audit of Wayne County, Michigan's largest county, home of Detroit, was completed. There appears to be no state law that allows this to happen.

And in fact, we heard from Representative Debbie Dingell, a Democrat yesterday who said that they were supposed to certify first and then later do an audit. But of course, everything here is messed up. So, the big question is whether or not this one Republican is going to vote to certify the election or create a deadlock, meaning 2-2. Now, if that happens, the state speaker of the house, Republican, said that this could lead to chaos or even a constitutional crisis. Now, another big thing I want to point out here, also supposed to see a certification in Pennsylvania.

That's done a little bit differently. It is not a statewide certification. That's done county by county. Well, last night, we saw that the Trump campaign was appealing a brutal ruling by a conservative judge in Pennsylvania. The question now is how that will affect that state, Pennsylvania's certification. Laura and Boris.

JARRETT: All right, Kristen Holmes in Washington, thank you so much for breaking all of that down. Well, there's some more cracks in Trump's wall of support from Republicans beginning to show this weekend. Some high profile Republicans apparently finally losing patience with all of the baseless claims about election fraud we've been hearing. Listen to former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, usually a staunch ally of the president.

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CHRIS CHRISTIE, FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: His legal team has been a national embarrassment. Sidney Powell accusing Governor Brian Kemp of a crime on television, yet being unwilling to go on TV and defend and lay out the evidence that she supposedly has. This is outrageous conduct by any lawyer and notice, George, they won't do it inside the courtroom. They allege fraud outside the courtroom, but when they go inside the courtroom, they don't plead fraud and they don't argue fraud.

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JARRETT: And now, there's infighting on the Trump legal team itself. Two of his lawyers are trying to distance themselves from a third attorney. We get more now from CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, just over a week after President Trump named attorney Sidney Powell to his legal team in his effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, the president's legal team now says that Sidney Powell is not a member of his legal team. Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, two of the attorneys for the president's effort saying in a statement quote, "Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump legal team. She is also not a lawyer for the president in his personal capacity."

Now this notion that Sidney Powell never was a member of the legal team is absurd, not only did the president name Sidney Powell in a tweet as he was announcing the members of his legal team, but just a few days ago, Sidney Powell appeared right alongside Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis at Republican National Committee headquarters to talk about their legal effort. Giuliani, in fact, saying that he was in charge of this investigation alongside Sidney, referring to the attorney Sidney Powell. Now, Sidney Powell has been trafficking in conspiracy theories about the 2020 election over the last week during which she's been a member of that legal team.

She has alleged that the CIA was somehow involved in rigging the election. She's alleged that the late leader of Venezuela Hugo Chavez was also involved, and she's even accused Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp of also rigging the election in that state in favor of Joe Biden. None of these claims of course have any basis in fact or reality, but nonetheless, she's been trafficking these claims as a member of the legal team, and they're not all that far from what the president and his lawyers have also been saying. The president has alleged this conspiracy theory about the Dominion Voting software, saying that it somehow deleted votes in his favor.

No basis in reality. It's something that's been repeatedly been debunked by state and federal officials across the country over these last several days. Now, as this is happening, though, the president is losing in the courts. One case after the next, more than two dozen cases have been either dismissed or withdrawn by the Trump legal team, and Republicans are beginning to increase the pressure on the president, saying that it is time for him to either show the evidence that he has in court or to move on and allow this transition process to happen, pressure coming in on Sunday from Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, saying that the transition needs to happen right now.

Others beginning to raise the alarm as well, saying that the delay in the transition could cost American lives amid this pandemic. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

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SANCHEZ: Now, Jeremy, thank you for that. Even as some Republicans call for President Trump to concede, his campaign to undermine the election forges ahead. It's requested another recount in Georgia, this one involving re-scanning all the ballots. The state just had conducted a hand recount of every ballot last week and they certify the results, showing Joe Biden the winner by more than 12,000 votes. The Republican governor of the Peach State, the Republican Secretary of State also verifying there was no widespread fraud that would have led President Trump to having won Georgia and having that win taken away.

JARRETT: Yes, sort of amazing they have to do this all over again with a Republican governor as you mentioned and a Republican Secretary of State who has said there is nothing to see here by way of fraud at all. All right, still ahead, breaking news overnight on a possible coronavirus vaccine, another one, what scientists found when they tested it on patients. That's next.

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SANCHEZ: Breaking news overnight. British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca says its vaccine trials have shown promising results. Let's get right to CNN's Anna Stewart in London with breaking details. Now, Anna, in the trials this vaccine was administered in two different ways, and in one of the methods, it was shown to have 90 percent efficacy.

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: And that is the key number that AstraZeneca wants you to hear. That was the great news. The overall efficacy, given they tried out different doses was 70 percent, and that seemed very disappointing. But those participants that were given half a dose of the vaccine, and then four weeks later, a full dose, showed 90 percent efficacy. This was the early results of their phase 3 trial, of course, more will be forthcoming, they also said there were no hospitalizations, no severe cases, nothing seriously wrong at all in terms of side effects.

And so -- and so, this vaccine will be submitted to regulators immediately right around the world, so it can be distributed. Now, changing up that supply chain to allow for a half dose is actually really good news because that means they're going to have 25 percent more vaccine available than they had initially planned. Now, this vaccine, they're planning to make 3 billion doses by the end of next year. That's actually more than Pfizer and Moderna combined. They have over 25 partners and supply chains right around the world, it will be made in multiple markets.

And this vaccine, interestingly, only requires a normal fridge temperature, 2 Celsius to 8 degrees Celsius, unlike of course those messenger RNA vaccines developed in the U.S. by Pfizer and Moderna. So, really good news today, and certainly, Prime Minister Boris Johnson very happy tweeting the results.

SANCHEZ: Yes, certainly, it could potentially help ease some of those restrictions that we're seeing imposed in the U.K. Anna Stewart from London, thank you so much.

JARRETT: All right, back here in the U.S., millions of Americans are planning to hit the road and the skies for the Thanksgiving holiday this week. That even despite the surge in new infections and the CDC urging people not to travel. CNN's Natasha Chen has the latest.

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Laura and Boris, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is the busiest airport in the world, but officials here say they are expecting about a third the number of travelers they would typically see during Thanksgiving week. Over the weekend, we're seeing people walk right on through security with no problems when in years past at this point, there would be lines all the way to where we're standing. Now, the CDC guidance is to keep Thanksgiving gatherings small and not to travel to see family.

Dr. Anthony Fauci over the weekend warned that it may seem innocent to have these family gatherings, but it can still be a great risk of spreading the virus especially as people take their masks off to eat and drink. Now, we talked to some people over the weekend who are really struggling to make those decisions about Thanksgiving travel. One person -- one pastor in the Atlanta area told me he survived COVID-19 in March, and he knows how serious and real the threat is. He is not traveling across the county to see his family.

Another woman we talked to lost her uncle to COVID-19, so she won't be going to the typical 50-person party that they would have at Thanksgiving. Now, TSA on Friday, they screened more than a million passengers across the country at various airports. That's the second highest day of passenger traffic since the pandemic began. So, the highest being in October. That shows that travel has been picking up over the last month or so, this as we are seeing more than 3 million coronavirus cases in November so far.

The highest, as you know, of any month since this pandemic began. And that accounts for about a quarter of all U.S. coronavirus cases. Laura and Boris, back to you.

SANCHEZ: Natasha, thank you for that. More college football games postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Your "BLEACHER REPORT" is straight ahead.

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SANCHEZ: The 2020 season looks to have come to a sad end for the NFL's number one draft pick. Andy Scholes has this morning's "BLEACHER REPORT", and Andy, this is not the kind of rookie campaign you wanted to see for Joe Burrow. You didn't want it to end this way.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS REPORTER: Yes, good morning Boris, you know, this is one of those injuries they didn't show replays of because of how bad it was. You know, Joe Burrow, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, number one overall pick in the draft, but his season is now over after just a gruesome leg injury yesterday. It happened in the third quarter against the Washington football team. Burrow hit by a pair of defenders near the end zone. You see him, he was immediately down in pain. He was loaded on a cart, his teammates and all of the opponents come over, pat him on the helmet. The initial diagnosis is torn ACL, but they're not going to know for sure until the result of the MRI come in.

But before that game was even over, Burrow tweeting, "thanks for all the love. Can't get rid of me that easy. See you next year." All right, now, the only team to beat the Kansas City Chiefs this season has been the Las Vegas Raiders. The two teams played a wild one last night on Sunday night football, six lead changes, under two to go, Derek Carr, Jason Witten put the Raiders up 31-28, but Patrick Mahomes plenty of time, laid the Chiefs right down the field, finds Travis Kelce for the touchdown with 28 seconds left. That right there wins it for the Chiefs, 35-31.

The Colts and Packers battling out in overtime thriller, the turning point coming in the second -- on the second play in overtime.

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Green Bay receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling toss up the ball for the first time in his career, and it turned out to be costly, four snaps later, Rodrigo Blankenship wins the game for Indi with a 39-yard field goal. After the game, the Packers wide out said he received some scary messages from fans tweeting "death threats over a football game. Jesus, you people need help. It's actually sick. I'm good. My team got my back."

Right, the Ravens and Titans game also going overtime yesterday, and that's Derrick Henry took over. He takes this one 29 yards to the house to end the game. No stopping the 6 foot 3, 250 pounder there. Titans celebrate, winning 30-24, after the game, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson said the Titans just wanted it more. All right, finally, there's not going to be a 2020 edition of the Apple Cup rivalry between Washington and Washington State. The PAC-12 calling off Friday's game because the cougars don't have the minimum requirement of scholarship players available due to a coronavirus outbreak.

Washington State was forced to cancel Saturday's game against Stanford for the very same reason. San Diego State and Fresno State also announcing that their game for Friday has been cancelled, and Laura, you know, this is after 17 games this past weekend were called off in college football due to coronavirus. It will certainly be interesting to see how many games get called off this week.

JARRETT: Yes, exactly. See what happens this season. All right, Andy, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

JARRETT: All right, President-elect Biden moving forward and ready to reveal who he wants in his cabinet. More on who he's picking first, next.

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