Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

McConnell Finally Acknowledges Biden's Win; Will Congress Pass COVID-19 Relief Package?; Biden Campaigns in Georgia; Survey: 71 Percent of Americans Say They Will Get COVID Vaccine; U.S. Government Agencies Breached by Russian-Linked Hackers. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired December 15, 2020 - 16:30   ET

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

[16:30:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: We're back with our 2020 lead.

Moments ago, president-elect Joe Biden was speaking in Georgia, campaigning. Two run-off races will decide which party controls the Senate when Joe Biden takes office.

This afternoon, the president-elect also confirmed that he spoke with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after the top Republican finally publicly recognized Biden's win for the first time, as CNN Jeff Zeleny now reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden is back on the campaign trail a day after the Electoral College affirmed his victory.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Thank you for standing strong to make sure your voices were heard, your votes were counted and counted and counted again. I'm starting to feel like I won Georgia three times.

ZELENY: He's headed to the White House in just 36 days. But, first, he's in Georgia, trying to help Democrats win control of the U.S. Senate.

BIDEN: The lives of every Georgia's still depend on what you're doing. Yes, you still need to vote as if your life depends on it, because it does.

ZELENY: It all comes down to the state's two run-off races on January 5, the outcome of which will shape the ambitions of Biden's agenda and help determine the early success of this presidency.

With early voting already under way across the state, Biden arrived in Atlanta today for a drive-in rally with Democratic candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.

JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: It's Georgia voters who have the power to write the next chapter in American history.

RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D), GEORGIA SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm ready. I'm ready to be one of your next two United States senators from the great state of Georgia.

ZELENY: They are trying to defeat Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler.

The outcome of the Georgia races will affect one of the most closely watched relationships in Washington, between Biden and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who acknowledged Biden's victory today, six weeks after Election Day.

The president-elect telling reporters he reached out to the Republican leader.

BIDEN: I called him to thank him for the congratulations, told him, while we disagree on a lot of things, there's things we can work together on. We have always been straight with one another. And we agreed we would get together sooner than later.

ZELENY: The Georgia races will determine McConnell's hold on the Senate. Regardless of the outcome, Biden is vowing to bring the country together, facing monumental challenges from the pandemic and recession.

BIDEN: And now it is time to turn the page, as we've done throughout our history, to unite, to heal.

ZELENY: As the COVID-19 vaccine rollout continued into its second day, Biden said he will get his first shot soon.

BIDEN: Dr. Fauci recommends I get the vaccine sooner than later. I wanted us to make sure we do it by the numbers when we do it.

But, when I do it, you will have notice and we will do it publicly.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now, as the president-elect leaves Georgia today, he is still trying to form members of his Cabinet.

Jake, we are learning tonight that Pete Buttigieg, a former rival of Joe Biden's during the primary, will be asked to join the Cabinet as the transportation secretary. That announcement expected to come later this week in Wilmington, as well as other announcements to the Cabinet.

They're still planning to try and wrap this up by Christmas. Attorney general remains the biggest Cabinet position not yet decided on -- Jake.

TAPPER: And if Buttigieg is confirmed by the Senate, according to the Human Rights Campaign, he would be the first Senate-confirmed openly gay Cabinet secretary in American history.

Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much for that.

Let's discuss with our political panel.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has finally acknowledged reality. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): The Electoral College has spoken.

So, today, I want to congratulate president-elect Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Laura, has the fever broken? Are Republican officials in Washington finally going to acknowledge the reality that we have all (AUDIO GAP)

[16:35:05]

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I don't know if we can say the fever has broken just yet, Jake, because even though the Senate majority leader, McConnell, as well as a number of Senate Republicans are starting to acknowledge the reality that Biden is the winner of the election, a majority of House Republicans are still not acknowledging that.

There are state GOP apparatuses across the country that are not acknowledging it. And so there are still these futile attempts to try to overturn the election, and no mass, loud rebuttal of that from the majority of Republican leaders.

TAPPER: Yes, it's quite something, because, of course, it's not just about recognizing that Biden won or that 80-plus million Americans voted for him. It's also about the fact that Donald Trump has been trying to stage a nonviolent coup.

Senate Majority Leader McConnell, Jackie, urged Senate Republicans today on a conference call to not object to the Electoral College results on January 6, because -- it's interesting why he doesn't want -- he doesn't want them to object, because, A, he said it would be fruitless.

But, B, it would put them all in a position where they would end up voting against President Trump, or a majority of them.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Right.

TAPPER: So, I mean, I still can't believe we're in this reality.

But what do you think is going to happen on that day? Do you think that the Rand Pauls of the world, the Ron Johnson of the world, are they going to listen to Mitch McConnell?

KUCINICH: That is -- really remains to be seen, and McConnell has been pretty good about keeping everybody in line, more so than Kevin McCarthy on the House side.

But if some of these senators want to show Trump that they love him best, you could totally see it happening, or more like they want to show that they're the heir apparent when he decides to step aside, if that ever happens.

TAPPER: Yes, that's true. I mean, there's been a real rush to just humiliate themselves, all these 2024 hopefuls.

KUCINICH: Right. Exactly.

TAPPER: Laura, do you think Vice President Pence, who also wants to run for president someday, will he accept the loss on January 6? He will be presiding over the Senate, I believe.

BARRON-LOPEZ: It's really difficult to say what any of these Republicans are going to do, Pence included.

He could very well not utter the words that he acknowledges Biden's win and leave the White House, along with President Trump, come January. Pence, if he does want to run, as you mentioned, Jake, he has to balance trying to win over these Republican voters that are very much behind President Trump to this day.

TAPPER: There have been, Jackie, at least five fund-raising e-mails and one text from the Trump campaign just since the Electoral College called the election for Biden yesterday.

The former Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub tweeted: "Donald Trump will keep denying the election results for as long as he thinks there's money to be made off the suckers who believe him."

Is that to harsh, or what do you think?

KUCINICH: Well, he's amassing this war chest. And whether he chooses to use it for his own political fortunes or to retain power by maybe funding challengers, maybe supporting some, not others.

He's already trying to start a fight in Georgia by getting Governor Pence (sic) primaried. So, the fact that he's sending out these releases and making sure that this is going, it very much benefits the president. And he doesn't care about the Republican Party.

I think most Republicans know about that. It's a vehicle for him to amass power and to, in this case, fund-raise more.

TAPPER: It's just very embarrassing for the entire Republican Party. And I think a lot of people in leadership know it.

Laura Barron-Lopez and Jackie Kucinich, thanks so much.

While the new coronavirus vaccine is great news, for one hard-hit community, it is a reason to be skeptical. We will explain.

Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:43:22]

TAPPER: In today's money lead: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is promising not to leave Washington, D.C., without a deal, but struggling Americans are still waiting for congressional leaders to sign off on economic stimulus money that they need to pay bills and not get evicted.

McConnell and the other leaders are meeting behind closed doors this hour, trying to reach some sort of consensus on both COVID-19 relief and a massive spending package to prevent a government shutdown.

CNN's Manu Raju joins me now live from Capitol Hill.

Manu, can they get there?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's the big question.

The meeting is actually happening right now. I just came back from outside of Nancy Pelosi's office, where the top leaders of Congress are meeting, along with the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, who is participating by phone.

And the outlines of a deal have been pretty clear for days. The ultimate question is, can the two sides finally come together around some package that's going to be smaller in scope than what the Democrats want, a little bit bigger than what the Republicans want? And will that be enough?

What is driving a lot of discussion is a bipartisan proposal that just came out this week that essentially looks at -- separates these discussions into two. There's one $748 billion proposal. About $300 billion worth will go to small business loans. Another $300 of jobless benefits would be given to individuals, in addition of money for vaccines. That would be part of that proposal.

There's also a separate plan for $160 billion for state and local aid and for liability protections for businesses, lawsuit protections. That issue, state and local aid and lawsuit protections, is almost certainly going to fall by the wayside, just because there's no consensus on it.

[16:45:01]

The question is, can they agree to the rest of it? And that is what they are discussing right now. And if they do, this can move to Congress pretty quickly. There's agreement potentially by the end of this week to tie that into a bill, to keep the government open past Friday.

But, Jake, that's going to require an agreement. So, we'll see what the leaders say when they emerge from those meetings.

TAPPER: Manu, what happens if they don't agree?

RAJU: If they can't get a deal, there are so many issues that are on the table -- expiring jobless benefits, student loan payments, deferral of student loan payments essentially will come back. Federal eviction moratorium also set to expire. Business tax breaks are also expiring.

So, so many people are waiting for this, including 14 million who could be affected by those expiring jobless benefits, really putting pressure on Congress to finally come around something here, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Manu Raju, thanks so much.

Turning to our health lead today, a new survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation finds growing willingness to get the COVID vaccine. Seventy-one percent of Americans say they will definitely or probably get the vaccine, 27 percent say they are not planning on getting the shot. But while public trust on the vaccine is improving, there remains an unwillingness among black Americans to get vaccinated, a community that's been hit especially hard by the virus.

Only 20 percent in the Kaiser poll say they will get the vaccine as soon as they can. Well, just over half of those polled say they are going to wait to see how it works for other people. Ten percent of black Americans in that survey say they will only get vaccinated if required to. Fifteen percent say they will just flat out refuse it.

Now, there are historical reasons behind the skepticism such as the notorious Tuskegee experiment.

Joining now is the founder of Grapevine Health, Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick, who is a lecturer at GW University School of Public Health and a member of the Black Coalition Against COVID-19.

Dr. Lisa, your reaction to the survey, it's depressing to me. Does it surprise you?

DR. LISA FITZPATRICK, MEMBER, BLACK COALITION AGAINST COVID-19: Hi, Jake. Thanks so much for having me.

I actually am encouraged by this survey because the acceptance has increased since September.

TAPPER: Okay.

FITZPATRICK: So I think this is good news and we should think about this as an opportunity to encourage more people to accept the vaccine.

TAPPER: You actually volunteered for a COVID vaccine trial, partly, to help build trust around the vaccine. What's your message to those who are skeptical about whether they can trust the vaccine?

FITZPATRICK: Well, it sounds like they are only 10 percent of the people who will flat out refuse according to the study and as you just said. So it means there is a lot of room for us to educate people and have them accept the vaccine. I think with the right information, we can absolutely improve those

rates, even beyond what they are now. I would love to see you and many of your colleagues take the narrative a little bit away from hesitancy to acceptance, because thousands of us have volunteered to be in the study.

In he Moderna study alone, 10 percent of black and brown (ph), that's 3,000 people, so maybe talk to these people and understand the motivations for previous study despite knowing the Tuskegee (AUDIO GAP) and I would think that give a lot of motivation (AUDIO GAP) people think about the vaccine. So, I think this positive study and I would love for us to start (AUDIO GAP)

TAPPER: So, according to the Kaiser survey, black Americans top concerns with the virus are possible side effects, a general lack of trust in the government to make sure the vaccine is safe.

How new the vaccine is and how much politics have played into the vaccine development? If somebody were to come to you and say that those are their concerns, how would you respond?

FITZPATRICK: Well, I don't have to imagine this because it happens to me all the time. Just last Friday, I was conducting outreach in Washington, D.C., and I met two men who said flat out I'm not interested in taking the vaccine.

And these were their questions. The first was, I don't want to go first. The side effects, they were afraid of the side effects. They were also concerned the vaccine might give them COVID, which is something they found in the Kaiser study.

But after educating these gentlemen about vaccine trials and telling them about my participation and the side effects I've had, one of them said, well, I'm open to it now. The other one said, I'll take the vaccine.

TAPPER: There's a disturbing history as you alluded in the U.S. in terms of the medical community abusing black Americans. Obviously, one of the most notorious examples is the Tuskegee syphilis experiment which lasted 40 years and only ended in the 1970s.

[16:50:02]

A U.S. government run experiment designed to study untreated syphilis in black men who were told -- who were not told that they had the infection and they did not consent to the experiment. This is obviously very well-known in the black community, this horrific part of our nation's history.

How can health care providers rebuild trust with black people who know of that history, which is a horrific medical injustice? What do you -- what do you say to people who say, look, that was in my lifetime, the 1970s?

FITZPATRICK: I get this also a lot, Jake. I appreciate you raising it. I think it's important for us to acknowledge that this happened, but also to educate people that this is no longer the time of the Tuskegee experiment because people like me, many scientists and you mentioned I'm a member of the Black Coalition Against COVID, and there are many scientists involved in this process whether it's monitoring the progress of the study, the results, participating as research in the study.

Again, there are at least 3,000 people just in the Moderna trial who are black and brown people who talk about our experiences. I never felt like (AUDIO GAP) encouraged that this is a different time and I think we have to find a way to respectfully acknowledge what happened, but also help people realize we, the black community, is most affected, one of the most affected groups by COVID-19.

This is an opportunity for us to reduce the impact on our communities and I would tell health care providers not just health care providers, but I think are government leaders, a cross-sector, leaders of cross- sector all have to recognize what's happening, the injustice of the past and agree (ph) and promise that this will never happen again.

TAPPER: Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick, thanks so much for your time today and your expertise.

Coming up next, Russia's latest cyber attack on the U.S. that may be much worse than originally reported.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:56:57]

TAPPER: In our world lead today, the White House says it's taking a hard look after a stunning and broad cyber attack on the U.S. government. We should note, President Trump has yet to comment. U.S. officials tell CNN that they suspect Russian-linked hackers breached the computer systems at several federal agencies, including one key department tasked with stopping cyber attacks in the first place.

CNN's Vivian Salama joins me now.

Vivian, what do we know about how widespread this is and who is suspected to be responsible?

VIVIAN SALAMA, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Jake, federal investigators are still scrambling to understand the scope of this attack, but officials I speak with tell me that it is significant and an alarming breach of agencies across the government.

Now, this all started over the weekend when a cyber private security firm FireEye alerted U.S. intelligence officials that there had been a breach to the layer of defenses that protect these government softwares. And we have to note that a lot of these agencies actually rely on one particular company, Solar Winds, for their software. So, Solar Winds came out in the last few days and said that they believe that 18,000 government and private users downloaded a Russian-tainted software that essentially allowed these hackers to seep in and infiltrate these government softwares.

So, you put up the list now. Let's just look at it one more time. We've now confirmed that the Commerce Department, the Agriculture Department, and CISA as its known, the cybersecurity arm within the Department of Homeland Security, have been attacked. Officials tell me they are still investigating potential breaches at the Department of Defense, the Department of Treasury, and the U.S. Postal Service, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Vivian, some of the agencies jump out at me for a number of reasons. CISA, the cybersecurity arm, obviously, is tasked with preventing this sort of thing. But in addition, CISA, the Postal Service, the Pentagon, they've had recent turnover at the top with President Trump either firing or bringing in new people.

Could that be a reason they were targeted?

SALAMA: Jake, a lot of unknowns more than knowns right now. But officials I've spoken with in the government tell me that any kind of political disarray or chaos is something that's extremely inviting to foreign adversaries, including Russia who they suspect but are still trying determine whether it's responsible for this.

So, while it's hard to make a direct correlation to those events, the shake-ups in those agencies and this severe attack, they tell me don't underestimate how much that is impacting our adversaries for coming in and taking advantage, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Vivian, thank you so much.

Finally, today, even as health care workers around the country are getting vaccinated, some, of course, have paid the ultimate price and we would like to end the show just remembering one front line hero.

Maisha Oni Muhammad-Brinkley was a 43-year-old beloved respiratory therapist and a mother of four, her patients called her the breathing lady. She worked 12-hour shifts at Medical City Dallas, placing severe COVID patients on ventilators. In mid-September, she herself started feeling dizzy at work and her positive COVID test came back two days later.

The respiratory therapist was herself put on a ventilator. She died on November 18. Her husband of 24 years said she, quote, gave her last breath to the very machine that she made sure others could survive. Tragic story.

May her memory be a blessing.

Our coverage on CNN continues right now.