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President-Elect Joe Biden Announces Health Team; Georgia Governor Refuses Trump's Request to Help Overturn Biden's Win. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired December 07, 2020 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: This is new deaths reported around the country. Everywhere there in any kind of red, deaths have risen more than 10 percent week-to-week, deep red, more than 50 percent week-to- week. No state, no state seeing new deaths trending downward.

And as we sit here this morning, more Americans are hospitalized with coronavirus than ever before.

ERICA HILL, CNN NEW DAY: One of those hospitalized this morning is President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani. He says he's doing well via Twitter. Giuliani has, of course, spent the last couple of weeks traveling the country, pushing false election fraud claims. And as you can see in this video and countless others, he was frequently unmasked, this most recently in Georgia.

Overnight there in Georgia, Republican Governor Brian Kemp rejecting President Trump's request to open a special session of the Georgia General Assembly with the goal of overturning Joe Biden's win.

Let's begin though with that breaking news about the incoming administration. CNN's Jessica Dean is live in Wilmington, Delaware, with more on these new nominations. Jessica, good morning.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Erica. Yes, getting word this morning, President-elect Joe Biden, his transition team announcing key members of their health team. Of course, these people have quite the task before them, as the Biden team works to get coronavirus under control, as we see these incredible surging numbers, record deaths.

We're also learning that President-elect Biden will hold an event on Tuesday to formally introduce the members of this team. So let me walk you through a few of them.

You mentioned California's attorney general, Xavier Becerra. He has been tapped to head up Health and Human Services. He has been one of the fiercest defenders of the Affordable Care Act in court. He also would be the first Latino to ever serve in that position if he's confirmed by the Senate.

Dr. Vivek Murthy will be reprising his role as surgeon general. You mentioned he served under President Obama. He's also the head -- one of the co-chairs of the COVID-19 advisory board for President-elect Biden and his team. He's also been a longtime adviser to him on the pandemic, really from the beginning, Both of those, again, Senate- confirmed positions.

We also know Dr. Rochelle Walensky has been tapped to head up the CDC. And she's probably a familiar face to a lot of you. She appears on CNN as a medical contributor. So she will be heading up the CDC. All of this coming also as we learn Dr. Anthony Fauci, of course, staying on as chief medical adviser. John and Erica, this team rounded out by Jeff Zients, who's going to be serving adds the COVID-19 task force coordinator, again, a slate of people who will be tasked with the giant job of getting coronavirus under control. John and Erica?

HILL: Certainly it's a giant job. Jessica, thank you.

Tens of millions of Californians this morning waking up to new stay- at-home orders, this as cases in the state smash records and concern grows about hospitals there. CNN's Stephanie Elam is live in Los Angeles with more on what's happening in California. Steph, good morning.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica. Let's just take a look at the bigger picture and you can see that across the country, we have a problem with this pandemic. It is getting worse. In just the last week, 1.2 million cases have been added. And right now, a record number of hospitalizations, more than 101,000 people currently battling the virus from inside of a hospital.

Here in California, it paints the picture very clearly that there is a problem, this as the state announced more than 30,000 new cases in people just reported in one day. This is obviously the way that we do not want to see these numbers to go. And because of that, we have this new stay-at-home order that went into effect regionally for two regions, the Southern California region and the San Joaquin region.

The state now broken up into five regions here, and that's because the ICU bed capacity has fallen below 15 percent. In fact, these two areas are getting close to above 90 percent here. So, obviously, scary numbers here.

What this actually means is that bars, hair salons, barbershops, also museums, movie theaters, playgrounds, all of those are going to be closed now for at least three weeks, as we try to bend the curve here in the state. And they're saying also that when you look at retail, they're going to be allowed to stay open this time. However, they're going to be limited to 20 percent capacity.

As far as restaurants are concerned, it's only takeout, delivery and drive-through that is now open here in the state as well in these parts of the regions where we have been put into these stay-at-home orders.

Schools that have been open through a waiver system, they can stay open, but you can see with the virus spreading as quickly as possible, they really want people to stay home. Here in Los Angeles County, reporting more than 10,500 cases in one day. That's obviously shattering records that we've seen here, the first time above 10,500 in one day and approaching 3,000 people in the hospital.

The situation is not good. This is why people need to stay home and this does not even take into account the fact that we have not seen the surge that many health officials expect we will see post- Thanksgiving. It is terrifying.

HILL: Stephanie Elam with the latest for us in Los Angeles, Steph, thank you.

[07:05:03]

Joining us now, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore City Health Commissioner, and Dr. Jonathan Reiner, he's a Professor of Medicine at George Washington University. Always good to have both of you with us this morning.

Before we move into where we are right now as a country, let's take a look at where we may be headed in the next 44 days or so as we're learning more about what incoming President Biden has in store, announcing this new health team. And I thought it was interesting in the release saying that the goal here is to restore public trust in the pandemic response by leading with facts, science, integrity, and I'm paraphrasing here in the last one, and, basically, a plan.

Dr. Wen, when you look at the folks who are on this team, what does that tell you about what could change January 20th?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, I love the fact that we are leading with science and that there is going to be a coordinated national strategy, because that's what's been missing all along during this pandemic, when we've been plagued with mixed messaging, where public health officials somehow seem to be at odds with the words that are coming out of the mouth of elected officials. And so I think it's wonderful that President-elect Biden has selected this team and made it clear that he will let public health lead this response.

I'm particularly excited about Dr. Vivek Murthy, who is a colleague and friend of mine. We were in residency (ph) together. He was incredible as America's doctor last time. And I'm so excited that he's going to be reprising his role as surgeon general. I know that he brings to this role a lot of experience, not only in pandemic response but in other aspects of public health, leading, for example, the charge against the opioid epidemic and addressing mental health and loneliness. These are issues that have not gone away, but have been amplified with COVID-19.

And I think it's exciting too that the president-elect is considering to have Dr. Murthy take on expanded roles either as part of his White House senior team or ideally also as a member of the cabinet, to really signify why it's important to have public health be represented at the highest levels of government.

BERMAN: It is interesting though, Xavier Becerra is not a scientist and not a doctor. He's a politician who served for nearly 25 years in Congress and now is attorney general of California, which is a major role, a managerial role. And he has been now -- he will be nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.

It's not unusual, Dr. Reiner, to have a politician or a leader head up that agency. Governor Tommy Thompson did it under George W. Bush, Michael Leavitt did it under George W. Bush, Donna Shalala under Bill Clinton. So it's actually rare to see a doctor there. But a lot of people were hoping this time to have a doctor or a scientist there. How much does it matter to you?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I don't think it really matters at all. HHS is a massive department. The budget is about $1.4 trillion, 80,000 employees, all of the critical agencies are under the HHS umbrella, CDC, FDA, CMS. And what I think that massive federal department needs is an experienced manager.

So Mr. Becerra has been in government for a long time. He was a congressman for quite a while now, attorney general in California. So I think he has the experience to manage all of these different pieces.

It would seem that maybe having a physician to head HHS would make sense, but I think what we really need now is competence and someone who can bring together all of these disparate elements and I think he's a very good pick.

HILL: As we look at what's happening across the country, the numbers are all going really in the wrong direction. We look at the death trend map and it's really striking. 47 states seeing the average weekly deaths increase. I mean, you look at the colors on that map and you know we're not in a good place.

And Dr. Wen, I know you're really concerned because you don't believe we've seen, even started to see this Thanksgiving surge we've been talking so much about. So, put that in perspective for us. What could we be looking at and when do you think we'll start to see it?

WEN: The incubation period for COVID-19 is about -- is up to 14 days. The average is about five to seven days. And so what that means is, we had Thanksgiving and people returning from Thanksgiving about a week ago. So this week, we're going to see the impact of that Thanksgiving surge.

And I'm afraid that all of those numbers that you just presented, Erica, they're going to go up. We're going to see increases of hospitalizations and hospitals are already on the brink. So where is the reserve capacity? Where are patients going to be going at this point?

I'm also deeply concerned about deaths going up. At some point, we're going to be surpassing 3,000 deaths per day, maybe even 4,000 deaths per day. Our surge right now is intensifying.

[07:10:00]

It is amplifying. And I hope that people realize that hospitals are the last line of defense. The first line of defense is the community. And we really need everyone to do their part to flatten the curve. And that means, of course, wearing a mask, keeping physical distancing but also so critically at this point, avoiding indoor gatherings. Anyone who has not canceled their plans yet for Christmas and the New Year should cancel their travel plans and absolutely not gather indoors with anyone who is not in their immediate family.

BERMAN: Dr. Reiner, California is already in the critical stage right now. Tens of millions of Californians waking up this morning to new restrictions in place, more than -- it's 28 million now, a lot, a lot of people. And these restrictions include stay-at-home orders, but I'm not sure it's perfectly consistent stay-at-home orders, right? Retail establishments will still be open, albeit at reduced capacity, restaurants, only for takeout and delivery, playgrounds will be closed, but still encouraging people to go outside. The totally of this, how consistent do you think it is and prescriptions, what's your take on this?

REINER: Well, I agree. It's not completely consistent, and I think there is some tweaking that could make that better. I agree, I don't think it makes a lot of sense to keep the playgrounds closed. But every state is going to face this. If we don't do something different, if we don't social distance and mask up, every state as they run out of ICU capacity is going to do what California has done yesterday.

I want to note that today is Pearl Harbor Day. And on Pearl Harbor, 24,003 Americans were killed. Three days last week, we exceeded that. Our average now is just about 2,200 deaths per day, so we're going to exceed maybe as early as the middle of this week the number on a daily basis, the number of Americans who died on that day of infamy. And it's not going to change unless we change.

So we need drastic measures and we can't really wait until January 20th to do that. So the governors are going to have to enact some of these really stringent measures to protect their health systems. And we're seeing it start in California. We'll see it all across the country, even in states with GOP governors that have been resistant to it. When their health systems start to break, they will be forced to do this.

HILL: In terms of what we do now too, it's important to note, as much hope as there is in this vaccine, the reality for most Americans is it will not be available to them for months and months, Dr. Wen. So while they wait for the science to help them, the power is really in our hands.

WEN: That's very well said. The vaccine will help us in the spring. I am so optimistic by next fall, our children are going to be going to school as normal, that next winter, we're going the see our families together in one place, all together again. I mean, I'm so optimistic about what lies ahead. Of course, we still have to get the vaccine into people's hands and build public trust and so forth. But we also have to critically get through this winter.

It is just such a profound tragedy if we have thousands of people dying every single day when we have that hope on the horizon so soon. And I hope people just consider the numbers that we're having right now with this high prevalence of coronavirus in the community. If you're in a dinner gathering of, let's say ten people, there is a one in four chance that someone there has coronavirus and just doesn't know it.

With that kind of level of coronavirus, we just all have to act as if everybody around us is infected and we are infected as well. Because I'm sure the last thing that we would want to do is to inadvertently infect those that we love the most and overburden the health care system where we are even more.

And so this is really the time to hunker down and I think every doctor and public health leader in this country is having this plea to the American people, because we can all, with all of our help, we can save lives.

BERMAN: You've been so consistent in making these pleas, so have you, Dr. Reiner. You talk about indoor gatherings like dinners. Well, what about legislative sessions? What about meetings with politicians? Which is what Rudy Giuliani, the president's lawyer has been doing over the last several weeks. You can see pictures of him here. He went to Arizona, Michigan, Georgia, just this past week.

And we know he's walking up, Dr. Reiner, down the street from you. He's in Georgetown Medical Center. He has coronavirus. He says he's doing well, but when you look at these pictures that we're looking at of him in Michigan, talking to people unmasked there, just a few inches away, what should we be taking away here? What's the takeaway for you?

REINER (on camera): Well, first of all, like I'm sure every American feels, I do hope that Mr. Giuliani recovers very quickly and gets back to his life. I will tell you though that it is not normal to be diagnosed with coronavirus and then admitted to a hospital.

So either Mr. Giuliani is sick and requires treatment that you can't get as an outpatient, such as high flow oxygen or steroids or some of the more advanced therapeutics like Remdesivir, or he's getting special treatment.

[07:15:18]

So I'll just assume, because I'll give him the benefit of doubt that he is sick and I'm sorry that he is sick, we know that steroids make a difference. Perhaps monoclonal antibodies, when given early, although those are only approved in the EUA for outpatient use, I hope he does -- I hope he does well.

But it's a cautionary tale. You cannot behave in public the way Mr. Giuliani has behaved in terms of traveling all over the country, holding meetings indoors with large numbers of people, typically not being masked and not acquire the virus.

So if you want to see what it feels like to have coronavirus, behave like Mr. Giuliani behaved. I'm not blaming him. I don't blame patients more their illnesses. But I'm just trying to explain to the American people that modeling that behavior is the way -- is a prescription to acquire the virus. And we need to change that in this country.

HILL: Dr. Reiner, Dr. Wen, always appreciate your insight and your expertise. Thank you.

REINER: Sure. Thank you.

HILL: And coming up in our next hour, we'll talk with Dr. Anthony Fauci about President-elect Biden's new health team, his place on that team, and, of course, the worsening pandemic, also the vaccine. Be sure to stay with us for that.

Georgia's Republican Governor and Lieutenant Governor rejecting President Trump's efforts to try to overturn Joe Biden's election win the state. We're going to speak with the lieutenant governor next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: Developing overnight, Georgia's Republican governor and lieutenant governor rejecting President Trump's request to open a special session of the state's general assembly with the goal of overturning Joe Biden's win in that state. The Georgia official stressed that doing so is, quote, not an option that is allowed under state or federal law.

Joining me is Georgia's lieutenant governor, Geoff Duncan. Lieutenant Governor, thanks so much for being with us. We really do appreciate your continued willingness to speak with us and speak openly.

Today, there was the vote in Georgia, there was the audit in Georgia, there was the certification in Georgia, and all of those things found that Joe Biden won. Then there was the automated recount that the Trump campaign requested and we expect today to be the certification of that recount. What do you think this certification will find?

LT. GOV. GEOFF DUNCAN (R-GA): Well, I think it's going to validate the processes and procedures that we've gone through for nearly five weeks now. And I believe that count is going to verify what we originally came up with, and that is Joe Biden is going to win the state of Georgia in this election and he will be sworn in on the 46th president on January 20th.

BERMAN: Do you believe the election was rigged?

DUNCAN: I don't. I'm proud to have worked hard with the attorney general, Chris Carr, with our secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and his entire team and put on what is a fair and legal election here in Georgia. We continue to chase down all the little one-off leads that we've got. I know the secretary of state and the GBI are working on one-off issues, like we would probably see in any other election.

But I believe the election was fair and legal. It certainly was close. The person I voted for didn't win, but that doesn't change my job description and we're going to keep working hard.

BERMAN: And that question I asked you, I asked you that question, phrased that way. Specifically, was it a hard question to answer, was the election rigged?

DUNCAN: No, it wasn't hard at all. This isn't a third world country here in Georgia. We've been running elections for a long, long time, and, certainly, we are working altogether and we got 159 counties and, certainly, we all try to hold each other accountable and make sure our standards are as high and as modern as possible. And, certainly, we're in the middle of that process.

BERMAN: So it wasn't hard at all, you say. I want to play for you the Georgia Senate debate last night with Senator Kelly Loeffler when she was faced with that question. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator, do you believe the election was rigged?

SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA): Look, Greg, it's very clear that there were issues in this election. There are 250 investigations open, including an investigation into one of my opponent's organizations, you know, for voter fraud. And we have to make sure that Georgians trust this process because of what's at stake in this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So I don't think she found the question as easy to answer as you did. She dodged the question that you answered quite clearly there. You say, no, not hard at all to answer the question about whether it was rigged. What's the impact of that kind of waffling on that question?

DUNCAN: Well, one, I was proud of Senator Loeffler's debate performance last night and certainly proud to campaign for her and Senator Perdue. My encouragement to both of them at this point in the game, with just a few weeks away from January 5th runoff, which is important to us here in Georgia, but also important to Republicans all over the country. My encouragement is to cut the strings to any sort of talk about election fraud, misinformation, and just focus on reminding folks how important conservative values are and creating high-paying quality jobs and fighting hard for law enforcement. Those are things that are going to win on January 5th here in Georgia.

BERMAN: Was that cutting the strings right there, her answer?

DUNCAN: My encouragement is to work hard. And the unique thing here in Georgia is all eight statewide constitutional officers are Republicans and you've got Republican majorities in the state senate and state house. We understand how to govern with conservative values here. Governor Kemp has certainly put that on display for us. And so my encouragement is to keep focused, make sure you redirect any of that information towards the misinformation on election fraud. Folks stood on telling folks why they are great leaders. BERMAN: So you and Governor Kemp wrote a letter yesterday saying that there's nothing in the law that would allow you to hold or declare a special session of the legislature to appoint a new slate of electorates to basically overturn the election. The law won't let you do it, you say. What about the sentiment? What's your take on the sentiment, even the ask to hold a special session to appoint different electors?

[07:25:01]

DUNCAN: One, the law doesn't provide for that opportunity, but, two, to your point, John, it's just a bad idea. I mean, to think I would wake up one day and decide that 2.5 million people's vote didn't count just because it wasn't the way I wanted the election to turn out, that's certainly not democracy. And so I personally think it's a bad idea, and oh, by the way, I have the benefit of the law supporting that decision.

BERMAN: I'm glad you said that, it's not just the law, it's also the whole idea of throwing out the votes of every Georgian there. You pointed out, it's, what, eight statewide office holders, everyone who holds a statewide office in Georgia is basically a Republican. What do you see as being important to the future of the Republican Party in Georgia this morning?

DUNCAN: Yes. Look, I think we're at a crossroads here. You know, I'm certainly grateful for the four years that President Trump validated what an outsider can do, what a business-minded individual can do. I'm grateful for that. It's proven to the Republican Party that that mindset is possible, that resume is effective.

But I think there are some lessons to learn here. I think we need to continue to look for better ways to communicate than 280 characters on Twitter. I think we can to continue to look at opportunities to tackle big issues, like immigration reform. You know, Build the Wall is a great project name. It's not necessarily policy.

And when we talk about health care, it's a huge win. When folks show up at the emergency room or have to pay a premium at the end of the month, they don't care if a Republican or a Democrat is making those decisions, they just need it to be affordable and accessible. I think it's a huge opportunity for us as Republicans going forward when we try to launch what GOP 2.0 looks like.

John, I would love to wake up one day in four years and instead of shooting to get 50.1 percent of the voters, I would love to see an opportunity to maybe go get 60-plus percent of the voters that are onboard with us.

BERMAN: Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, as I say, we appreciate you being with us this morning. We appreciate your willingness to keep on coming on and to talk to us and telling the truth about the election in your state. Thank you, sir.

DUNCAN: Thanks, John.

BERMAN: Erica?

HILL: Joining us now, Greg Bluestein, who is Political Reporter with the Atlanta Journal Constitution, also a panelist at the Georgia Senate debate last night, and CNN Political Analyst, Seung Min Kim, who is a White House Reporter at The Washington Post. Good to see both of you this morning.

And, Greg, I just want to start with you, and I do want to get to the debate in just a minute, but I think just touching on what John just discussed with the lieutenant governor, it was remarkable, his language there, which we've heard consistently from him.

As you pointed out, right, he's consistently telling the truth about what's happened in the election and why it's important to let those voices of the voters stand. He had no problem answering a question that Kelly Loeffler could not answer for you last night, saying very simply that he does not believe the election was rigged. Is his message getting through in Georgia?

GREG BLUESTEIN: It is hard to get that message through in Georgia, especially when President Trump attracts thousands of people to a rally in Valdosta, where he's telling Georgia Republicans to vote in a rigged election. The conflicting messages are very concerning to Republican leaders here, as you heard from Lt. Gov. Duncan. He's one of a small number of Georgia Republican officials who have urged the party to look forward rather than behind, because those conflicting messages of a false narrative of a stolen election could end up dampening, depressing turnout come January for these all-important runoffs.

BERMAN: Seung Min, what's the sense from national Republicans, those who have enabled the president's shenanigans over the last several weeks because they were so concerned about the Georgia election? Does everyone universally still feel that it was worth that kind of enabling or is there a concern now bubbling to the surface, again, among national Republicans that it may start actually depressing the Georgia turnout?

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There is definitely, definitely concern among senior Republicans right now about that concern that Greg just mentioned. Because, again, not only the president himself but the two Republican candidates and their respective runoffs are pushing this conflicted message, yes, please come out and vote for us. But, yes, there may have been problems in this voting system.

But as long as the president of the party or the leader of the party here continues to falsely say that the system was rigged, that he actually won the election, Republicans have really declined to stand up and basically prove him wrong and tell him the truth that, no, you did not win the election. We need to move on. We need to move on with the business of governing, to a new administration.

I just want to point to reporting from The Washington Post over the weekend, we surveyed every single sitting congressional Republican in the House and in the Senate, about 250 people and only 27 were willing to say that Joe Biden had won the election, which we know to be definitive fact.

And that is Republicans unwilling to stand up to a president that has had so much power over the party, had so much power over base of the party.

[07:30:01]

And you see it playing out in these two critical races that will determine the majority control of the Senate and have huge implications.