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Answers to Coronavirus Questions; Unemployment Rate Edges Down; Exclusive Interview with Biden and Harris. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired December 04, 2020 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The leading causes of death in the U.S. have been heart disease and cancer. And so where is COVID now in that ranking?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no, Alisyn, this -- this is -- this is, you know, again, pretty disheartening. But if you look at average -- cardiac deaths, cardiac disease still has been the number one killer in the United States, around 600,000, men and women alike, die of heart disease every year. It's roughly close to between 10,000 and 11,000 per week on average.

What we know now, that this past week at least, COVID surpassed that weekly average of cardiac deaths in this country. So as things stand right now, COVID is the number one cause of death this week. Who knows how that's going to go. We know that cardiac deaths as a whole have been coming down between over the last few years, whereas we know for the next few months, probably, COVID deaths, next couple months, COVID deaths will continue to go up.

So, you know, no one could have believed that, a disease that didn't even exist a year ago is now quickly becoming the number one cause of death in this country.

CAMEROTA: Oh, my gosh.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's appalling -- it's appalling. I mean it's appalling because it didn't need to happen and it hasn't happened in other countries. I will tell you, once again, that in Japan, fewer people have died in this entire pandemic than died yesterday in the United States. So it is just simply appalling.

Sanjay, a key question that Alisyn asked last hour, and I think it is one of the crucial questions that people need to know, the vaccine is coming, which is wonderful, right? It is. It is legitimately wonderful. But -- but what you need to know in this model when we look at deaths going forward, it says, if the vaccine rollout goes exceptionally well, it will only reduce the number of total deaths projected by April by 11,000.

Explain why the vaccine won't make a difference sooner.

GUPTA: Right. Right. Well, first of all, you know, I mean, I agree with you, this -- the

vaccine's really -- it's good news and I think it is worth celebrating that news. I don't want to take away from that. But I think what this model suggests, what we need to remember is that, first of all, it's going to take a while for this rollout of this vaccine to happen. And even the rollouts that we've been reporting on that have been projected are kind of best case scenario rollouts, that nothing goes wrong, that there's not bad batches of vaccine, as they start to produce that -- this at industrial scale, that they don't have problems with quality control. Even if all that goes right, it's still going to take a while for that vaccine to get rolled out and for the majority of people it's really going to be, you know, late spring/summer before they get vaccinated.

The second thing to remember is that vaccines aren't like a surgical strike. They don't -- they don't actually go in there and take care of the problem acutely. It takes a while to build up increasing immunity in a population. This is where that term herd immunity comes back in. Herd immunity can be achieved in two ways, naturally infecting the population, which everyone realized was a terrible idea, would lead to too many -- so many deaths and hospitals would become overwhelmed. The other way to get to herd immunity is through a vaccine, but that's 60 percent to 70 percent of the population would need to be vaccinated, and that's not likely to happen until late summer, mid to late summer.

So therein lies the problem. You will get impact of vaccine earlier when 30 percent of the country is vaccinated. But keep in mind, 30 percent, 100 million people, that's when you would need at least 200 million doses and, you know, that's the springtime, as we're looking at these models.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay, thank you very much for all of the information.

GUPTA: You got it.

CAMEROTA: And we will be watching tonight. Dr. Anthony Fauci is going to join Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta in a new coronavirus town hall focused on vaccines. And all of your questions will be answered tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

OK, breaking news, the monthly jobs report just released, giving us a final look at the unemployment crisis facing this country amid the pandemic.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:38:35]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BERMAN: We do have breaking news. The Labor Department just released the November jobs report as lawmakers inch closer to some kind of relief.

CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans joins us now.

Romans, I'm looking at this. This is a big miss.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it really is. And it's more evidence that, you know, Congress does need to give relief to these so many millions of people who are out of work.

There were 245,000 jobs added back into the economy in the month. And in a normal year that would be a big number. But when you look at what has happened to us in the coronavirus recession, you can see, that's a lot less than anyone forecasts and it's the smallest jobs added back since this recovery began.

You saw what happened there in March and April, we're still at a 9.8 million jobs hold, 9.8 million jobs that are still gone. And the pace of the recovery is slowing.

Now, the unemployment rate slipped to 6.7 percent. You can see it's been such a wild ride, it barely registers there on that screen. But 6.7 percent, a remarkable decline in the unemployment rate over the past few months here.

But one of the reasons so many people are leaving the workforce, John, another 400,000 people dropped out of the labor market just in this month. Over the past few months you've had some 4 million people leave the labor market and those are predominantly women and baby boomers who have found themselves because of coronavirus, because of the education system, because of risks to their health, they found themselves actually leaving the labor market.

[08:40:06]

That could be scarring on a recovery later on.

Let me show you where there were jobs. Jobs lost in retail, no surprise there with the resurgence of the virus. Transportation, though, gains. These were couriers and warehouse jobs. You can see the changes happening in the retail sector, right? Health services, gains there. Business and information services, once again, gains there. K- shaped recovery, John.

BERMAN: All right, we will watch very closely over the next several hours, Romans, and see how this pushes lawmakers. There are major developments in Washington on that front. Thanks so much for being with us.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

BERMAN: Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, John, this year CNN Heroes is focusing on the fight against coronavirus and the battle for racial and social justice. We're making it easy for you to help by highlighting eight organizations working on both those fronts to make the world a better place.

Anderson Cooper explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The Center for Disaster Philanthropy provides strategies to help donors increase the impact of their contributions during global crises like COVID-19.

Chef Jose Andres and his World Central Kitchen feed the needy in times of crisis using the power of food to heal and strengthen communities.

JOSE ANDRES, CHEF: We need to be part of the solution.

COOPER: Adopt a Classroom advances equity in education by giving teachers and schools access to the resources they need.

GLENN CLOSE ACTRESS: I challenge every American family to no longer whisper about mental illness behind closed doors.

COOPER: Co-founded by Glenn Close, Bring Change to Mind is working to end the stigma surrounding mental illness by encouraging dialogue and raising awareness, understanding and empathy.

The Make A Wish Foundation provides life-changing experiences for children battling critical illness, restoring in them --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

COOPER: A sense of childhood and giving normalcy to their families.

The Equal Justice Initiative fights to end mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the United States by challenging racial and economic inequity and protecting basic human rights in the prison system.

Water.org has helped change the lives of millions of people with access to safe water and sanitation in 17 countries around the world.

And, finally, Issue Voter is increasing civic engagement beyond the voting booth, helping people share their views on new bills with their elected officials with just one click.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can create the world that we want to live in through representative democracy by making all of our voices heard on the issues.

COOPER: Want to learn more? Go to cnnheroes.com and click "donate" beneath any of this year's organizations to make a direct contribution to their Go Fund Me charity campaign. You'll receive an email confirming your donation, which is tax deductible in the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: OK, so to repeat, if you want to learn more about each organization, go to cnnheroes.com. And don't forget to tune in to the 14th Annual "CNN Heroes: All-Star Tribute" on Sunday, December 13th.

John. BERMAN: All right, coming up, we will be joined by the man who just did an exclusive interview with the president-elect and vice president-elect. Mr. Jake Tapper joins us next to tell us what it was like and what he felt to be in that room. So, stick around. There he is.

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[08:47:57]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT FOR THE UNITED STATES: Since the first day he asked me to join him on the ticket, been very clear with me that he wants me to be the first and the last in the room. And -- and so on every issue that impacts the American people, I will be a full partner to the president-elect and the president.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT FOR THE UNITED STATES: Whatever the most urgent need is that I'm not able to attend to, I have confidence in me turning to her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That was President-elect Joe Biden and his vice president- elect, Kamala Harris, in their first interview together since winning the election. They discussed what they called their simpatico relationship and their approach to government.

And joining us now is CNN chief Washington correspondent and anchor of "THE LEAD" and "STATE OF THE UNION," Jake Tapper.

Jake, we have so enjoyed watching your interview all morning and dissecting it and analyzing it. And so let's just start there with that sound bite that we chose. They talked about their relationship and what Kamala Harris expects -- what role she'll play for Joe Biden. And just tell us what their dynamic was like in the room that you observed.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was interesting because there would be a few times during the interview where he wouldn't be sure of a fact that he was asserting, whether, you know -- whether it was about the amount of a compromised legislation, is it $800 billion, is it $900 billion, and he would turn to her. And I don't -- I don't think it was for show, I think he was literally, you know, leaning on her, or figuratively leaning on her and turning to her. And she would -- you know, she would reaffirm or tell him, no, no, that meeting's on Tuesday. So there really was this workplace dynamic playing out in front, which is, he's the president- elect, he is an individual that is -- well, we should -- you know, he's 78 years old so -- and in addition to that, he's got a lot on his plate and he relied on her. And that was -- that was interesting to watch.

[08:50:03] BERMAN: You know, my wife, who watches everything that we all do here, notes that he's very deferential to her and has a very comfortable relationship with her. I will note, she didn't answer your question when you asked what it is -- is there something she'll be heading up? Is there a specific thing that she'll be heading up? I can't remember when during transitions or presidencies, vice presidents took over certain things before. But I'm wonder, you know, what did you take away from that? Is there something specific that she'll be running?

TAPPER: Well, it seemed to be, from what -- actually, it's funny because he -- you know, she answered the question to say that she -- I -- you know, I asked one of these questions that had like 15 points on it, which was, you know, are you going to meet with him every -- every week? Are you, you know, are you -- are you going to be the first one, the last one out before he makes a decision, blah, blah, blah? Are you going to be heading up the COVID task force? And she answered some of it, which is basically, you know, that they're in partners. You ran a little clip of it. And then he jumped in, which is to basically say that the model of the vice presidency that they're following is the one from when he was vice president, not when Al Gore was vice president. When Al Gore was vice president, as some people -- some of our viewers might remember, Al Gore basically handled a lot of environmental matters. He also handled this thing called reinventing government, you know, having to do with the bureaucracy in Washington. And those were kind of his issues, per se. But he said -- the president-elect said that's not going to be what Kamala Harris is going to do, the vice president-elect. She'll be there for when I need somebody to take over an important project, like I did for Barack Obama when I was in charge of the Recovery Act. So that's kind of the model they were talking about.

But it was interesting because she didn't say that she was going to be heading up the COVID task force. And, in fact, I think the president- elect has picked a guy named Jeff Ziance (ph) to do that, according to CNN reporting. So she'll be there basically to -- you know, for whatever assignment comes her way when there's something really important and Biden, the president-elect, can't focus on it.

CAMEROTA: And, Jake, as a journalist, just let us in on what it was like preparing for this interview, the difference between interviewing President-elect Biden and President Trump. You -- all of us, several times, interviewed Donald Trump when he was running for president and I remember that it was that feeling of having to fact check a lot in real-time. You had to really kind of be up on everything because it was an unpredictable experience and you had to make sure that you held his feet to the fire if he was going to make some sort of claim that you knew not to be true. And so how did you prepare for this one and how was it different?

TAPPER: Well, first of all, as you know, outgoing President Trump hasn't given CNN an interview since he became president. So it's -- I don't know what it's like to interview President Trump. I know what it's like to interview candidate Trump. The last time he let me interview him was when I pressed him on whether or not saying that a Mexican-American judge couldn't do his job because of his heritage, whether or not that wasn't the definition of racism, back in, I think, June 2016.

I guess there are a lot of things. Yes, first of all, the -- I mean as Daniel Dale has said, you know, President-elect Biden says things that aren't true. But in -- just in terms of the speed and the brazenness of the falsehoods, nothing compares to outgoing President Trump. It's just as a factual matter, especially these days with the craziness he's saying about the election. I mean just bizarreness from a different planet.

On a different note, I think there are two other factors that made it different. One is, you know, you don't really have to steel yourself for the attacks. It's more just like what we're used to normally on a day in, day out basis as journalists where you ask questions that might be uncomfortable. For instance, I asked President-elect Biden about, you know, whether or not Hunter or his brothers, Jimmy and Frank, were going to follow the example set by Kamala Harris' husband, Vice President-elect Harris' husband, Doug Emhoff, who resigned from his law firm so as to remove any, you know, even appearance of impropriety.

Just -- but asking that of President-elect Biden was, you know, I knew that's not his favorite subject, Hunter, especially the way that his son was attacked during the campaign by Trump and his allies. But, look, it's an important question about ethics and I did really -- you know, I didn't have to steel myself for it because even if I knew like he -- if he didn't like the question, I knew he was going to behave like a rational adult. You know, maybe the worst that might happen is he might, you know, get his Irish up a little bit as they say, but I didn't -- I didn't -- I didn't have to prepare for, like, you know, a full blown, emotionally abusive session, which I think a lot of people who interview President Trump have to deal with.

[08:55:10]

I mean it's what we saw in that first debate.

And then, more importantly, I think, was just the fact that this was just a substantive interview. I mean there are a million subjects that I wanted to get to that I didn't get a chance to get to just because, you know, the guy and her -- I mean, they're in charge of the whole world now, so, I mean, I would have loved to ask about the Abraham Accords, I would have asked -- loved to ask more about veterans. We talked about veterans after the interview. But, you know, I -- I -- you want to have a mix of 40,000 foot questions, also some policy stuff, also some newsy stuff about, for instance, the compromise legislation on the relief package, et cetera, et cetera. So the balance is difficult.

But I think what was -- what was enjoyable as a journalist was -- I mean, look, we all got into this business so that we could cover policy debates and discussions about issues that affect people's lives. We didn't get into this issue -- into this business to fact check or to call out racism or indecency. That's not why we're journalists. It's what we spent a lot of time doing over the last four or five years, but it's not why we got in the business. And so there was just a certain kind of -- pleasure is not the right word for it, but I like covering substance. I like covering policy. I like asking about the COVID relief package. Do you support this compromise or not? And that's, honestly -- that's something that outgoing President Trump isn't particularly good at in terms of substance. He doesn't really know what he's talking about a lot of times.

BERMAN: And, again, there was news, the president-elect said he would support -- or does support the $908 billion compromise bill. Says it's not enough. It was news when he said he was going to push for everyone to wear masks for 100 days. That's actually really big news and very interesting also.

I thought it was fascinating to watch him tip toe through some answers. You had this exchange, we don't have time to play it right now, but where you asked him a question basically about President Trump, and he said, I'm going to try to be tactful. You said, no, no, no, don't be tactful, spill. But he was being tactful. He wanted to be very careful. And I wonder what you made of that and why you think he was doing that.

Look, I've covered -- I've covered Biden since the '90s and the guy he is now is different from the guy he was then for a lot of reasons, one of them is nobody is at 78 who they were at -- you know, at 58. I mean it's just like we -- you know, we get older. We slow down a little bit. But also, I mean, there's a humility about him now that was not there when I first met him in, I think, 2000 was when I first covered him, he was chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. He was, you know, kind of more arrogant and obnoxious, to be honest. And he's different. He's a lot kinder now. I don't know what that is other than I guess maturing or maybe going through what he went through with Beau was humbling or, I don't know. But he certainly watching his tongue a lot more than he did 20 years ago or even before that. You can go back and find CSPAN clips of him attacking reporters when he ran for president in 1987.

And, you know, I think he -- I think the moment you're talking about is when he was talking about how some Republican senators had called him to congratulate but he didn't want to name them. He wouldn't name them. And also he's just trying to be tactful about the fact that, you know, look, it's preposterous that it's a minority of Republican senators, a minority who have acknowledged that he's the president- elect. Whether that's because they're deranged and they think there's a chance he's not going to be inaugurated, or more likely they're tiptoeing around the gentle, brittle soul of the president, who's still going through this difficult process, I don't know. And, frankly, I don't care. It's stupid. I mean he's the president-elect. We should just acknowledge it. But he was trying to be sensitive to their sensitivities, which is interesting because I don't think 20 years ago he would have done that, but that's who he is today.

CAMEROTA: That's really interesting, Jake, as the whole interview was. Thank you so much for sharing it with us and sharing your insights. Great to see you this morning.

TAPPER: Good to see you guys.

CAMEROTA: OK, a programming note, the new CNN film "President in Waiting" interviews every living former president and vice president to get their unique perspective on the second most powerful job in the world, including Joe Biden. "President in Waiting" premieres tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. only on CNN.

And CNN's coverage continues right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Friday morning to you. It is Friday. I'm Jim Sciutto. Poppy has the day off.

The breaking news this morning, the economic recovery sadly is stalling.

[09:00:03]

The U.S. added just 245,000 jobs in the final report of the year. That's about half of what experts.