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Congressional Leaders Near Deal on Coronavirus Relief Bill; Biden Picks Pete Buttigieg to be Transportation Secretary; U.S. Reports Third Deadliest Day of Pandemic; Trump Turns on McConnell after He Congratulates Biden on Victory; East Coast Braces for Biggest Snowstorm in Years. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 16, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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


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

[05:59:27]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Wednesday.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's Wednesday. No matter what it says anywhere else. No matter what they tell you.

CAMEROTA: Is it December 16?

BERMAN: It's Wednesday, and it is December 16.

CAMEROTA: They were half right.

It's 6 a.m., as far as I know, here in New York. Millions of Americans, of course, are out of work. They're desperate for help, and congressional leaders are expressing confidence this morning that they will finally strike a deal for more coronavirus relief before they go home for the holidays.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there has been significant progress. The exact details of the bill are unclear, but we will ask some lawmakers about it this morning. And we will also break down what we do know ahead.

BERMAN: Overnight, President Trump turned on Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for finally congratulating President-elect Joe Biden.

You know what's interesting? Vladimir Putin acknowledged that Biden won, but the president hasn't said anything about that yet.

CNN has also learned that McConnell is urging Senate Republicans not to stage any stunts when Congress meets to count the electoral votes next month.

Later today, President-elect Biden will formally announce Pete Buttigieg as his nominee to be transportation secretary. That will be interesting. And this morning, we're also getting new details about who else Biden is selecting.

Meantime, more than 3,000 new deaths reported from coronavirus overnight. Hospitalizations again reached record numbers. Obviously, so much needed, it's having an impact on not just health and the economy, which is why we begin with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, live on Capitol Hill with the breaking news on these negotiations that went on late into the night until finally, Sunlen, maybe some progress.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. There are certainly some glimmers of hope up here on Capitol Hill this morning, but this is such a fluid and delicate situation for negotiators as they try to hammer out the details of this deal.

Now, such an important signal, an important sign that things might actually be coming together is the fact that you had the four leaders in the House and the Senate actually in the same room, sitting down and negotiating this deal. They negotiated until midnight last night, and then they will revisit it again this morning.

And all sides, Republicans and Democrats, came out of that meeting expressing optimism, saying that they are closing in on a deal, that the end, potentially, is near to get this relief that Americans need.

Now, we do not know the details of what deal is coming together. We, of course, have that bipartisan, bicameral proposal that's on the table, that $748 billion proposal. A lot of these issues in there: some aid to small businesses, money for vaccine distribution, jobless benefits. Those seen as largely uncontroversial issues, things that everyone can get behind.

But of course, there are the major sticking points that are still on the table. Liability protections, that's something Republicans had been pushing for. Aid to state and local governments, something Democrats have been very firm pushing for. Who needs to make concessions here? Widely seen that those two issues, that's where both sides need to give.

Now today, an important moment here on Capitol Hill. The leaders will reconvene earlier this morning. And as you know, John, on Capitol Hill, deals come together very quickly or they break apart very quickly. So this morning's negotiations will go a long way in telling us which direction this will go. Will they be able to close in, finally, on the deal and get Americans the relief that they need -- John?

BERMAN: Yes, keep us posted, Sunlen. All the twists and turns happening very quickly. But it is interesting what can happen when four people finally get in a room together. It could have happened a long time ago, you might think.

Sunlen, thanks very much.

SERFATY: OK.

BERMAN: On the subject of things that could have and should have happened a long time ago, Senator Mitch McConnell finally acknowledged that Joe Biden is the president-elect, and President Trump has turned on him, as the result. McConnell, by the way, is also warning Senate Republicans not to pull any more stunts.

CNN's Joe Johns live at the White House with the very latest on this. Joe?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

It had zero effect here at the White House, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell finally acknowledging the fact of the 2020 election, congratulating Joe Biden for his victory on the United States Senate floor.

Also, in a conference call, advising colleagues in the United States Senate not to engage in any stunts by objecting to the tallying of the Electoral College votes that's expected to occur on January 6. McConnell is concerned that any such stunt could have long-term ramifications, complications for Republicans next year and beyond.

But there is still the possibility that there could be the type of stunt McConnell is talking about in the House of Representatives on January 6. The House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, refused to acknowledge the results of the election when CNN's Manu Raju caught up with him last night. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now that Joe Biden has won the election, and he's president-elect --

(REP. KEVIN MCCARTY WALKS AWAY)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNS: As I said, here at the White House, no change in direction. The president out on his favorite social media propaganda platform, encouraging McConnell, essentially, to get onboard with the lies he and his campaign have been telling about the 2020 election.

A source does tell CNN that McConnell did at least give the White House a heads up before he gave that ten-minute speech on the Senate floor.

Alisyn, back to you.

CAMEROTA: OK, Joe, really interesting. We'll see what happens today. Thank you very much.

[06:05:04]

So President-elect Biden will officially nominate Pete Buttigieg as his transportation secretary this morning. And we are getting new details on other key appointments.

CNN's Jessica Dean is live in Wilmington, Delaware, with more details. What do we know, Jessica? JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Alisyn.

That's right. Some new faces for President-elect Joe Biden's cabinet. We'll start with that familiar one for so many people. Pete Buttigieg, a former 2020 presidential candidate himself, has been tapped by Biden to be his transportation secretary. And if Buttigieg is confirmed, he will become the first Senate-confirmed LBGTQ cabinet secretary in our nation's history. He will be introduced at an event here later today in Wilmington, Delaware.

Also interesting to note, transportation is going to play a key role in any bipartisan push for an infrastructure bill.

We're also learning that Biden is poised to tap former Michigan governor, Jennifer Granholm, to be his energy secretary. She is a longtime adviser to Biden and has helped him in debate prep over the years.

Also, Gina McCarthy is likely to be tapped to become his White House climate czar. The former EPA director will head up a newly-formed White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy. Again, also joining John Kerry, who will be looking at this from an international perspective; McCarthy focused on a domestic perspective.

Also worth noting, we saw President-elect Biden traveling down south to Georgia yesterday, where that critical Senate runoff -- those Senate runoff races are in play right now. And those are so important to Democrats.

If the two Democrats win those Senate seats in Georgia, it will be a 50/50 split in the Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris becoming the tiebreaking vote. So you can see how important it is for Biden and the Democrats to win those two seats, as indicated by his travel down there yesterday -- John.

BERMAN: Jessica Dean, thanks so much. We will see Pete Buttigieg later today. For him, it's about to be infrastructure week, for a long -- for a long time.

CAMEROTA: Again.

BERMAN: Yes. Well, he'll have to handle it this time as transportation secretary.

CAMEROTA: Right.

BERMAN: All right. This morning, more than 3,000 new deaths reported in the United States from coronavirus. More than 112,000 Americans hospitalized. That's a new record again. Again, a jump of 2,000 people in just one day.

CNN's Adrienne Broaddus live in Illinois with the very latest -- Adrienne.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. We are at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood. Here, the staff

is still awaiting its initial shipment of the vaccine, but even with hope on the horizon, the pandemic is reaching an all-time low.

Across the nation, hospitalizations are up. ICUs are at nearly capacity. And every day, more and more people are dying after they've been diagnosed with COVID-19.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROADDUS (voice-over): From coast-to-coast, the distribution of the first coronavirus vaccine is ramping up and going into the arms of nurses, doctors, and other key workers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To receive this vaccine, not just for me, but, you know, for all of those that I love, we have no choice. We can't afford to lose any more people.

BROADDUS: Overshadowing this milestone, the harsh realities of the crisis, as new cases and deaths ravage many communities. The United States recorded more than 198,000 new cases Tuesday. More than 112,000 people are in the hospital with the coronavirus, a dangerous record.

In Los Angeles County, there were fewer than 100 intensive care beds available Monday. And California is experiencing what the governor calls its most intense surge.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We have orders in 60, 53-foot refrigerated storage units are currently standing by now in counties and at hospitals. We just had to order 5,000 additional body bags.

We need to be mindful of where we are in this current journey together to the vaccine.

BROADDUS: The rollout of the first vaccine is only beginning. And in days, a second vaccine could pass a major regulatory hurdle. An FDA panel will meet to discuss emergency use authorization for Moderna's candidate. Initial data has shown it's 94.5 percent effective. And regulatory clearance will allow the shipment of 6 million initial doses.

MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISOR, OPERATION WARP SPEED: My expectation is it should be, hopefully, approved also on Friday, a day after the advisory committee. Shipments will start 24 hours later.

BROADDUS: Health experts still sending this urgent reminder that even with the vaccine, the pandemic is far from over.

DR. PAUL OFFIT, MEMBER, FDA VACCINE ADVISORY COMMITTEE: It's going to take a while, months and months, really, to be able to vaccinate a critical number of people so that we can be comfortable that we've stopped spread. I mean, we're not helpless. We can wear a mask. We can social distance, which will go a long way to try and prevent the spread of this virus.

(END VIDEOTAPE) [06:10:13]

BROADDUS: And health officials are concerned vaccine hesitancy will affect how soon we can get back to some sense of normal. Keep in mind, in order to reach that place, at least 70 to 80 percent of the population must receive the vaccine. Essentially, the P.R. campaign to increase trust of vaccination is almost as important as the rollout itself.

Back to you.

BERMAN: It is. Some of the latest polling says 70 percent of Americans are willing to take it. So that's good news. Let's hope that number keeps going up.

Adrienne Broaddus, thanks so much for the reporting this morning. Appreciate it.

So overnight, President Trump going after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, as McConnell now works behind the scenes to encourage Republicans to accept the election results. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:15:06]

CAMEROTA: Developing overnight, President Trump going after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after McConnell publicly congratulated President-elect Joe Biden.

CNN has learned that McConnell also urged Republican senators on a private conference call not to join House members on January 6 to object to state electoral results. Doing so would be fruitless, he said, and force them to cast a politically-challenging vote against the president that day.

Joining us now to talk about this and more, we have CNN national political reporter, Maeve Reston. Also with us, CNN political analyst Toluse Olorunnipa. He's a White House reporter for "The Washington Post."

Well, Maeve, this is interesting. It's interesting to see how all of this is playing out behind the scenes. Mitch McConnell, I mean, OK, I guess better late than never. He, after more than five weeks, finally acknowledged that Joe Biden will be the next president.

And then President Trump didn't like that, and he tweeted, "Mitch, 75 million votes, a record for a sitting president, by a lot. Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight. People are angry!" Exclamation point.

I don't know if -- I don't think President Trump understands the math. Yes, 75 million. That is a lot. Joe Biden got more. He got more.

BERMAN: Is 80 million more than 75?

CAMEROTA: Eighty million is more than 75. Somebody needs to tell the president this in the White House.

Anyway, and then you heard House members who want to do this on January 6 and continue fighting, like Congressman Mo Brooks say that he hoped that this announcement of what Mitch McConnell had said was fake news.

MAEVE RESTON, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it's -- you know, you start to wonder if it's ever, ever going to end? And maybe it won't, until 2024.

But I think this is another example of, you know, the fact that no matter how loyal you are to the president or how much you do for him, he will turn on you, on a dime. And that's what's happened with McConnell here.

But it is the moment that a lot of people were waiting for, where you see an adult in the Republican Party stand up and say, OK, it's time for this to end. It's not good for the Republican Party. Mitch McConnell is thinking about, you know, the next set of elections coming down the pike. And trying to make -- carve a path, an exit ramp, for his members and also some of those members in the House. You think about the incredible number who signed onto that -- that final lawsuit that Texas filed that went up to the Supreme Court.

And I think that this is just a moment, maybe, where McConnell and others can start to really bring the temperature down and start thinking about what the next steps are for the Republican Party, that are not, you know, looking in the rearview mirror. And instead, you know, looking ahead to the legislative agenda and all of that.

I mean, I think there is so much -- so much dysfunction that people are watching in Washington right now. How long it's taken to get a stimulus deal together. And that's still not a sure thing. That a lot of people are watching around the country and saying, what's going on here? And maybe this is Mitch McConnell taking a first step to assert control.

BERMAN: As we've been talking here, it's hardly a profile in courage for McConnell to come out and say this now. His delay has had a real- world impact and been physically dangerous for some people around the country --

RESTON: So true.

BERMAN: -- which we'll talk about over the course of this broadcast.

But Toluse, what McConnell is now saying to Republican senators is, this is a dumb vote. If you're going to try to stand in the way of this on January 6, you are putting yourself in a bad position. You are going to force yourself to make a dumb vote here.

Do you think any Republican senators will come forward, still, and try to gum up the works? Some of the reporting I've seen in your paper and others, maybe Kelly Loeffler, maybe Tommy Tuberville, who will be a senator at that point from Alabama. What do you think? TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it really depends on

how much pressure President Trump puts on the Republican caucus and the Senate. In the Senate, we now do see him breaking with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

And he wants to keep this fight going. He wants to keep this going as long as possible, even potentially all the way up to January 20. So if he leans on any of these Republicans who want to show their fealty to him as -- as a sign of how strong they are in the Republican Party, then I could see some of these Republicans taking what Mitch McConnell has essentially said is a dumb vote.

But this entire process has not been strategic. These Republicans have done things that are defying all kinds of logic by pretending that, you know, President Trump is going to be able to serve a second term when he lost the election. They've gone through various bouts and stages of misinformation, conspiracy theories, and, you know, strategies, from the courts to the state legislatures, trying to overturn the election; and none of it has worked so far.

So I wouldn't put it past them to try one last-ditch effort on January 6 to slow things down, to delay the inevitable, and to try to show how much they support President Trump by, you know, siding on the opposite side of the democracy that is going to lead him out of office.

[06:20:10]

So I wouldn't be surprised if that happens. It won't change anything. January 20, Joe Biden is going to be elected [SIC] the 46th president, but we could be in for more shenanigans between now and then.

CAMEROTA: Yes. That is a safe bet.

Let's talk about President-elect Joe Biden and his cabinet picks. It's very interesting how it's all coming together. And we're seeing him choose Pete Buttigieg for transportation secretary, which is the second rival that he had had on, you know, during the primary, that he would put in his cabinet.

And remember, John, when -- when they were closing ranks around Joe Biden, when it seemed like he was the nominee or about to be the nominee; and they stood on sort of stage with him, and it seemed like maybe he was going to have this whole team of rivals, but he doesn't want to pick, like, somebody out of Congress and take them out, it seems. Like Amy Klobuchar.

BERMAN: Right. He's got a vice president.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

BERMAN: A vice president like Kamala Harris.

CAMEROTA: Sure.

BERMAN: That's a pretty big rival to put in a pretty big slot.

CAMEROTA: That was a big rival. So anyway, what -- how did he come up with Pete Buttigieg for transportation?

BERMAN: Maeve.

CAMEROTA: Thank you, John. That is important.

RESTON: So I mean, I think that Buttigieg, obviously, was someone who ran as -- as someone who could appeal to both Republicans and to progressives; someone who was trying to be sort of a bridge between those two worlds, as -- as Biden was, as well.

And you know, certainly, this is an historic pick for the LBGT community.

And I think that, you know, Buttigieg is also someone who has a long runway here. It's -- he is someone who Joe Biden became fond of during the presidential race. Always said that Buttigieg reminded him of his son, his late son, Beau Biden. And so you -- you certainly thought that Buttigieg was going to get a role here.

But there was a long time before he was picked for something in the cabinet, and a lot of people were kind of wondering and hoping that he would be picked in the Democratic Party.

And transportation, of course, will give him a lot of opportunities to also to -- to expand his climate portfolio. I think we'll see him run for president again at some point.

So I think this is a pick that would be appealing and pleasing to most people in the Democratic Party.

BERMAN: Maeve, Toluse, thanks so much for being with us this morning. Appreciate your time.

RESTON: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK. Listen to this weather news. The biggest snowstorm in years could dump more than a foot of snow --

BERMAN: On?

CAMEROTA: -- on the northeast, on us, basically, is what our point is. We have the forecast for exactly when this is happening and what it looks like, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:06]

BERMAN: There is a big storm coming that will affect tens of millions of people, so how much snow and exactly where? CNN meteorologist Chad Myers tracking it all for us.

Chad, what do you know?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A lot like yesterday, John, right along that I-95. West of there, heavy snow; east of there, rain/snow mix, maybe even some sleet.

Even this morning right now, we have some icing going on in the Carolinas. Going to have to watch out for that, especially now that it's still dark. There is ice on the roads here, especially on the bridges.

But later on today, things are going to get very interesting farther to the north. By 1, 2 p.m., things are really going to go -- start to go downhill in many big cities. Winter storm warnings and watches for 65 million people right now.

At least a foot of snow in that entire purple area here. But we zoom you in. Probably D.C., 1 to 3. Less in Annapolis, more in Gaithersburg. Four to eight for Philadelphia, less in Camden, more just to the west.

And then finally here up into New York City, probably somewhere in the ballpark of eight to 12. I'll get to that exact cities in just a second.

Here's how it happens. By noon, it's snowing in D.C. but not for much longer. It's going to change over to a rain/snow mix. By 4 p.m., it begins to snow in D.C., begins to snow in Philadelphia and New York. And then finally, by this time, though, D.C. begins to push that rain line back into the western suburbs of D.C., so you're getting to rain here and wash that snow away.

It snows most of the day. This is 8 p.m. tonight. Snowing in New York very heavy at this hour. May not be able to keep up at this hour. The snowplows are going to go another two inches. There may even be the possibility of thundersnow.

Here's 2 a.m., very heavy snow in New York City. Tapering off in D.C. Philadelphia and also down into Baltimore. That's the tapering off.

By this time tomorrow, it will begin to just be flurries in New York City, but very heavy snow in Boston. That's the progression of this storm.

And then by tomorrow night, it's completely gone. But the damage will be done. The snow will be here.

We're going to see eight to 12 in Boston. I would say 10 to 14 in New York City. Could be more. There's a lot of moisture with this. There'll be more here in the Poconos, of course, but it will be a very dry, fluffy, almost 15-1 inches, so one inch of rain will lead to 15 inches of snow, and it will blow away with a blower.

And then for Philadelphia, six to 10, more to the Northwest. D.C., 1 to 3, but that washes away. Could freeze up tomorrow morning for you, D.C., because of all the water on the roadways; and temperatures will go back down below 32 -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: It's possible I've worn the wrong footwear for this event. I will fix that at some point, Chad. Thank you very much. We'll check back with you through the program. MYERS: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: OK. Listen to this story. A former Houston police captain was charged Tuesday with running a man off the road and holding him at gunpoint, all allegedly because this former police captain believed President Trump's false voter fraud claims.

Police say Mark Anthony Aguirre told them he was part of a group called, quote, Liberty Center for God and Country. He says he followed the victim for days, for four days, believing he was the mastermind of a voter fraud scheme.