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U.S. Hits New Record for COVID-19 Hospitalizations; Trump Says He'll Leave White House if Electoral College Seats Biden. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired November 27, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: COVID-19 cases in the United States is surging. The hospitals around the country are getting tested.

[05:59:54]

DR. PETER HOTEZ, DEAN, NATIONAL SCHOOL OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Unfortunately, now, 2,000 deaths per day is going to be the new normal. We'll probably head to 3,000 deaths per day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't believe that so much is being asked of healthcare workers with so little resources. We are not some superhuman invincible force.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be a very hard thing to concede, because we know there was massive fraud.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He repeated his accusations of widespread fraud, something his attorneys have been saying without evidence.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want free and fair elections, but we can't just complain about them, win or lose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. It is Friday, November 27, 6 a.m. here in New York. This is a special post-holiday edition of NEW DAY. Alisyn is off, Erica Hill with me this morning.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Nice to see you, John Berman.

BERMAN: Nice to see you.

HILL: Happy belated turkey day.

BERMAN: How was your Thanksgiving?

HILL: It was lovely. Yours? BERMAN: It was really nice. I mean, different.

HILL: Very different.

BERMAN: Like incredibly different.

HILL: Three family Zooms on our end.

BERMAN: Yes.

HILL: We survived them all.

BERMAN: Clunky Zooms. The Zooms are a bit -- the more you get, the clunkier it is.

HILL: This is true.

BERMAN: The more awkward silences there are. But you know.

HILL: That's when you move on to the wine.

BERMAN: Very nice.

So on this morning after Thanksgiving, sadly, more than 90,000 Americans are waking up in the hospital with coronavirus, and that number is rising to record highs every day.

The U.S. is now averaging 165,000 new cases every 24 hours.

President-elect Joe Biden spoke with healthcare workers on the front lines of the pandemic. His national security briefings begin on Monday.

As for the defeated president, for the first time since losing the election, President Trump took questions from reporters. It was this episode filled with lies, attacks, and statements that were really completely untethered to reality. And remember, this was Thanksgiving.

HILL: It was Thanksgiving, and the president took that moment to commit for the first time to leaving the White House in January, though indicated he may never actually concede. He also refused to say if he will attend Joe Biden's inauguration and confirmed he does plan to campaign in Georgia for two Republican senators in two critical January runoffs that will determine control of the Senate.

Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Rosa Flores, though. She's live in Miami with our top story.

Rosa, good morning.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, good morning.

The U.S. shattering its COVID-19 hospitalization record with more than 90,000 Americans waking up this morning in hospital rooms. That's a 35 percent increase in hospitalizations.

Look, hospitals across the country are getting tested, and now experts are warning that Thanksgiving will only make it worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES (voice-over): as many Americans celebrated Thanksgiving, the coronavirus pandemic is reaching record levels of cases and hospitalizations across the United States, the danger of spreading the disease causing some to downsize their celebrations or even spend the day alone this year.

But millions of others chose to ignore warnings from health experts not to travel. With the TSA reporting more than 6.8 million people have flown through U.S. airports in the week before Thanksgiving.

This Black Friday, retailers are encouraging shoppers to go online.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This year, it's a lot less people.

FLORES: But some customers are still going inside stores, even waiting outside in lines for big-ticket items. One health expert saying the holiday season could fuel the surge.

DR. LARRY BRILLIANT, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It's not just post- Thanksgiving. It's Black Friday and then the run-up to Christmas and then New Year's. This is our holiday season. And every day from now on can add to the toll.

Our hospitals are almost full to capacity. In some communities, they are full to capacity. There's no more rooms in the ICU.

FLORES: One thousand two hundred and thirty-two people in the U.S. were reported dead Thursday from the coronavirus. More than 90,000 people are hospitalized with the disease, a record.

With many hospitals already running low on beds and resources, one doctor says she's fearful of what's to come.

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Our hospitals are already at the breaking point. Many of us are already talking about opening field hospitals next week. Many of us have colleagues who are out sick.

FLORES: A virus outbreak among the Baltimore Ravens forcing the NFL to postpone their Thanksgiving matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They protect Jackson, who launches to Andrews.

FLORES: ESPN and the NFL network, citing league sources, reporting the team's quarterback, Lamar Jackson and three other players have tested positive.

And the PAC-12 canceling a game between University of Southern California and University of Colorado, Boulder, due to coronavirus, making it the 11th college football game canceled or postponed this week.

Coronavirus-related deaths are on the rise in at least 27 states this morning, and one health expert reminds Americans that it's crucial to keep following safety guidelines, even during the holidays.

DR. ERIK BLUTINGER, EMERGENCY MEDICINE: It is a real test of maturity and also of safety, to see whether or not we are able to keep our distance, continue to wear masks, because we are so close, given the vaccine candidates and where things are headed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[06:05:05]

FLORES: Now, here in Miami-Dade County where I am, local leaders are very frustrated with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. They are asking him to do more to stop the spread of the coronavirus.

Now, why are they so frustrated? Well, they're looking at these numbers. Now, this is the latest data released by Miami-Dade County. In the past two weeks, the number of hospitalizations has increased by 26 percent; the number of ICUs by 37 percent; and ventilators by 48 percent.

Now, Erica, when Governor Ron DeSantis reopened the state in one swoop in late September, he also clipped the powers of local leaders to impose restrictions to stop the spread of the coronavirus. And if you ask city of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, he'll tell you that the one thing that was actually working was the -- the fines that were imposed on mask violators. Well, the governor barred them from doing that, as well -- Erica.

HILL: Rosa Flores with the latest for us this morning. Rosa, thank you.

For the first time since losing the election, President Trump answered questions from reporters. And among those answers he gave, he says he will leave the White House if the Electoral College certifies Joe Biden's victory next month.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live at the White House this morning with more.

Kristen, good morning.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica.

That's right. This is the first time he has answered a single question since election day. And we should note, it came after a call with the troops.

Much of it was spent with him continuing these baseless claims of election fraud, saying falsely that he did win the election, but as you noted, this was significant. He said that if the Electoral College certified the election for Joe Biden, which they are expected to do, he would, in no uncertain terms, leave the White House. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If -- if the Electoral College does elect President-elect Joe Biden, are you not going to leave this building?

TRUMP: Just so you -- certainly, I will. Certainly, I will. And you know that. But I think that there will be a lot of things happening between now and the 20th of January. A lot of things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So you hear him saying "a lot of things" there. He is no doubt again referring to these baseless claims of voter fraud. And we should note that his own legal team hasn't been able to provide any evidence of this wrongdoing here.

Now, just a couple of other points he touched on. He said that it was wrong of Biden to be picking his cabinet already. He said -- actually, he wouldn't answer questions on whether or not he would attend Biden's inauguration, which is customary for presidents.

And lastly, he said that he would be traveling down to Georgia to help campaign those two senators, Loeffler and Perdue, who are in a runoff on January 5. And despite those rising coronavirus numbers, he also indicated that they would be holding a big rally while down in Georgia -- John.

BERMAN: Yes. Kristen Holmes at the White House, thanks very much.

We're going to talk much more about the president's answering of questions. It was really untethered from reality and really not in line with the feeling of Thanksgiving, shall we say.

President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are set to receive their first presidential daily briefings on Monday. Those are the intelligence and national security briefings. Of course, it's happening more than three weeks after being declared the winners of the elections. And it comes as the president-elect will reveal his economic team next week.

CNN's Arlette Saenz live in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with the latest on that. Good morning, Arlette.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

And even though it's a holiday weekend, President-elect Joe Biden and his transition team are preparing for those early days of their administration.

And that includes Biden is expected to announce the key -- some key members of his economic team as early as next week. Now, we're still waiting to hear which positions will be included in that announcement, but one that is expected to come next week is his announcement that he has chosen treasury -- as his treasury secretary, Janet Yellen.

Now, Janet Yellen has long experience in the financial sector. She served as the chairwoman the Federal Reserve. And she also served during President Bill Clinton's administration as the head of the Council of Economic Advisers. Now, Biden's economic team will be critically important as the

coronavirus pandemic continues to take hold across the country. And Biden is looking to bolster the economy, trying to get some relief to American families in the middle of this pandemic.

Now, in addition to the announcement of his economic team next week, Biden also will start receiving the president's daily brief. That will give him a glimpse, for the first time, at the pressing national security issues that he will face when he enters office in January. He and the vice president-elect, Kamala Harris, will be receiving that brief from the intelligence community.

And to add to all this, in addition to Biden's own work, his transition team is also plowing ahead, trying to get access to the Trump administration and key agencies as they are preparing for those early days of the administration. One of the top priorities is getting more information relating to the pandemic, as they are trying to craft their own plans -- John.

[06:10:08]

BERMAN: Obviously, that is so important with, what, 54 days left until inauguration. President Trump made the ridiculous claim, yesterday, that Joe Biden should not be nominating people for his cabinet or selecting them, even, at this point. Obviously, that needs to happen to get a running start.

Arlette Saenz in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, thanks so much.

So as we said, President Trump answered questions from journalists at a very small table. A very large man at a very small table. And that was the least odd thing that happened in this untethered rant. We'll discuss, next.

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TRUMP: It's going to be a very hard thing to concede, because we know there was massive fraud.

JEFF MASON, REPORTER, REUTERS: But just to be clear, if the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden, will you concede?

TRUMP: Well, if they do, they made a mistake. Because this election --

[06:15:01]

MASON: But will you --

TRUMP: -- was a fraud.

So, no, I can't say that at all.

MASON: You won't leave?

TRUMP: I think it's a possibility they're trying to -- look, between you people --

MASON: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

TRUMP: Don't answer -- don't talk to me that way. Let me just -- you're just a lightweight. Don't talk to me that -- don't talk -- I'm the president of the United States. Don't ever talk to the president that way.

MASON: Sir, I was just asking --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Happy Thanksgiving, America. That was the president, a large man at a very small table in the diplomatic room at the White House, answering questions from reporters. You saw lies, wrath, and rancor there.

Joining us now, CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein. He's a senior editor for "The Atlantic." Also with us, Natasha Alford. She's vice president of digital content and senior correspondent for TheGrio.

And Ron, he was yelling at Jeff Mason --

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

BERMAN: -- who's the most mild-mannered reporter in America, who was asking one of the most obvious questions in America, which is, will you concede the race that you lost?

I think it gave a window into where the president is this morning and how untethered to reality he may be.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, and frustrated, astonished, angry. And you know, doing real damage in the process. I mean, you know, John, you've seen the polling. Three-quarters of Republicans now believe the election was stolen. We've never seen anything like this, an effort by a president to systemically undermine the results of the election.

And I -- and I was listening to that performance. I came back to the same thought I always had. Where is Mitch McConnell? Where is Kevin McCarthy? Why are they abetting what the president is doing? I mean, I think it is too facile to say, they are silent only because they fear him. They fear a tweet. They fear that he won't, you know, go down to Georgia and mobilize the base.

You have to allow for the possibility that they see value in undermining Joe Biden's position among Republican voters, which will make it harder for him, make it harder for Republicans in Congress to work for him. I mean, this is becoming something that is partywide and quite ominous for its implications for American democracy over the coming years.

HILL: It is ominous. And Natasha, as we look at that heading forward, right, this -- this idea which, I think, makes a lot of sense based on what we're seeing and hearing or not hearing, that this is all about making it difficult for Joe Biden.

The reality is, he's going to have to deal with all of that on day one. Are they doing enough right now to counter that message that's coming from a president who still has a very strong hold on his party?

NATASHA ALFORD, VICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL CONTENT AND SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, THEGRIO: Well, I think President-elect Joe Biden is going out of his way to be the counterpoint to Trump. He wants to project coolness, calmness, and togetherness.

And as you all were saying, this entire press conference was unhinged. It showed a level of emotional instability on the part of President Donald Trump.

And you look at the way that he digs at Joe Biden. A lot of these critiques don't even have merit. You're talking about critiquing the president-elect for picking a cabinet? Well, yes, he's not going to sit around and wait for you to accept reality.

You're talking about the president-elect not getting credit for a vaccine, which you know, shouldn't really be a victory lap when you consider that more than 260,000 Americans have died from COVID-19, and lives could have been saved if this was managed properly.

So even some of those critiques of Joe Biden, I think, a lot of people see through that and really this entire display, this performance from the president shows a desperation and a need to be relevant. And again, I think that's why you see a focus on the Georgia Senate runoffs.

BERMAN: You know, as for President-elect Biden, it is interesting. Because we are seeing a lot of the same characteristics that we've seen this entire campaign, which is that he's not going to let himself get swept into the controversy of the moment. To Twitter feuds, to Twitter rants. To Democrats and/or Republicans lighting their hair on fire over certain things. So that's just who he is, at this point.

Ron, as for who he has selected so far, who he will nominate for various positions, people who have long ties to him, who have long ties to government, who have long ties in expertise to the areas they're covering, but not necessarily a step into the future, you note. How significant?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, look, experienced, competent, familiar, those are the strengths and perhaps limitations of the team that he has selected so far.

I mean, you know, he's picked a lot of figures who have broad support in the party, who are very familiar in Washington.

But you know, one of the most attractive things, one of the most attractive arguments he had during the campaign was that, Joe Biden -- from Joe Biden, was that he would be the transition to a new generation of Democratic leaders. There were Democratic activists who talked about the Avengers model, you know, of bringing together many of the talented younger leaders who either ran for president or emerged around the country.

We haven't really seen that yet. I mean, you know, he has picked kind of -- kind of a class of familiar figures in Washington. And I think the issue is whether he can ultimately reach out in that way. And even if he does, bring them into his inner circle.

[06:20:03]

I mean, one of the biggest questions about Biden always has been, is he truly going to be open to the way the Democratic Party has changed since he was first elected 50 years ago? And we'll have to see. Because so far the appointments, I think, have the -- you know, the strengths of their virtues and the limits of their virtues.

HILL: We're expecting to hear more about his economic team in the coming week. Natasha, as we look at that, to Ron's point, and to John's point, really, you know, how could, if he decides to, how could Joe Biden open that up a little bit? Is there anything that you are seeing or hearing on the radar that could perhaps make some progressives feel better, but also show that maybe he can, perhaps, move forward a little bit in his choices?

ALFORD: Well, I think the reality is, there were so many progressive voters who voted for Joe Biden, doing what they thought was best for America, but not necessarily because they bought into the vision that he was selling. And that's no disrespect to him, but that just reflects where the party is headed.

I think that a lot of progressive Democrats cringe when they hear names like Rahm Emanuel, because of his handling of the Laquan McDonald case in Chicago. Or even we're seeing this petition against Bruce Reed from the Justice Democrats.

So, you know, this generation is not going to be silenced. I think they're going to organize. They're going to rally. And they will resist and be pretty loud about it if Joe Biden does not reflect the diversity of the party.

But Joe Biden has said that this will not be a third Obama term. That he very much wants to represent that diversity of perspective. And I think that there are some picks that make people feel better about that, but there's still a lot to be seen.

BERMAN: Natasha Alford, Ron Brownstein, our thanks to both of you. Hope you -- hope you're recovering well from whatever Thanksgiving you were able to have, this morning. So thanks so much for waking up. Or Ron, in your case, not going to sleep.

New questions about one of the leading coronavirus vaccines that could end up delaying its rollout. We'll speak to a member of the FDA's Vaccine Advisory Committee, next.

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[06:26:23] HILL: This morning, over 90,000 Americans are hospitalized with coronavirus. And this is the 17th day in a row that the U.S. has hit a new record for hospitalizations.

Joining us now is Dr. Paul Offit. He's a pediatrics professor and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Offit, of course, is also a member of the FDA's Vaccine Advisory Committee.

Good to see you this morning.

As we just look at that hospitalization number for a moment, I feel like we need to say once again, people who are sick enough now to be in the hospital likely contracted the virus at least two weeks ago, perhaps up to four weeks ago, and we're hitting this record today, the day after Thanksgiving.

What are we going to see in another two, three, four weeks, based on what may have happened yesterday?

DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR OF VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: A progressive increase in the number of deaths. It's been a confluence of events, all of which are going to lead to a very tough next couple of months.

You have -- you're entering winter, which means cooler, drier, less- humid environment, which makes it much easier for this kind of virus to spread. The virus is similar to influenza, in that way, which is also a winter virus.

You're heading into, you know, Christmas and now Thanksgiving, which are going to be, you know, multi-generational families getting together.

You don't have a clear national plan that's -- that's been set forward by the administration. And, you know, at least for right now, we don't have a vaccine. So I think for the next couple of months, it's going to be very hard.

BERMAN: On the vaccine news, AstraZeneca, which is an important vaccine for a few reasons. No. 1, I think it's the vaccine that a lot of the rest of the world may depend on going forward, because it's researched and being produced out there. Also, it doesn't require the super mega-cold temperatures for storage.

When they announced their efficacy, they announced basically two efficacy rates. One, with a certain dosage, the second with a different dosage. The dosage that was most effective, 90 percent, it turned out, was when you took -- when you were given the vaccine the first time, it was at a half dose. That turned out to be more effective than the full dose. And they did that, it turns out, by accident.

This is what is now being reported this morning by the executive vice president: "The reason we had the half dose is serendipity. We went back and checked, and we found out that they had underpredicted the dose of the vaccine by half."

What does that matter, Dr. Offit, that this was accidental? And what does it matter that we haven't seen a lot of the data in the AstraZeneca trial, and there are new questions being raised about that?

OFFIT: Right, it's hard to know. I mean, this -- We're in an age of science by press release. We're seeing the data that the companies want us to see. And we're not looking at the -- sort of the base of the iceberg. So we're just trying to predict things based on tea leaves.

I mean, the way the AstraZeneca product works is it's essentially a vectored virus. So into that vector, which is like a Trojan horse that brings into your cell the gene that codes for the coronavirus spike protein. So then your body makes the spike protein. You make antibodies to the spike protein.

Typically, when you do a vaccine trial, you start with something called Phase 1 studies, which are dose ranging trials, where you give a variety of different doses. You see what dose induces the best immune response, and then you move forward with that dose.

What's happened here is that there seems to be a different dosing strategy that was used in the United Kingdom as compared to Brazil. And then you see that, like, it was 62 percent effective in Brazil on a subset of patients and 90 percent effective in the United Kingdom on a subset of patients that got a different dose.

I mean, regulators aren't crazy about this sort of thing. They don't like breaches of protocol. They also don't like people sort of, you know, putting forward just these kind of subset analyses. I mean, you want to know -- you've only seen like 2,700 patients with this sort of 90 percent effective.