Return to Transcripts main page

New Day

U.S. Will Start New Year with 20 Million Cases; 140 House Republicans to Vote Against Counting Electoral Votes; NYT: Trump Lashed Out at Kushner Over COVID Testing; Coronavirus Vaccines Give Hope in the New Year. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired January 01, 2021 - 06:00   ET

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


ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is a special holiday edition of NEW DAY. Happy new year!

[06:00:33]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Happy new year!

CAMEROTA: That was the longest year of my life!

BERMAN: Happy new year, decade, millennia.

CAMEROTA: Aren't you glad 2020 is over? It was a year many of us would like to forget, as all of our lives remain upended and devastated by the pandemic. So this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta breaks down the hopeful signs for 2021, as vaccinations kick into high gear.

BERMAN: The new year will also bring a seismic shift in Washington. In just 19 days, President-elect Joe Biden, he will be inaugurated. In less than a week, we'll know which party will control the U.S. Senate.

And what will be President Trump's influence on the Republican Party after he leaves office?

CAMEROTA: Meanwhile, so many Americans are struggling financially. So Christine Romans breaks down what you need to know heading into this new year. We have that and much more ahead on this special New Year's Day edition of NEW DAY. But first, let's get a check of your headlines at the news desk.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Good morning and happy new year. I'm Alison Kosik in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three, two, one!

(END VIDEO CLIP) KOSIK: Finally, right? The world said good-bye and, in most cases, good riddance to 2020. The ball dropping in Times Square amid scant crowds.

Celebrations here and around the world were very different from normal, muted due to the coronavirus. Toronto canceled all in-person celebrations, instead providing at-home revelers a light show at CN Tower, streamed live on YouTube.

The coronavirus is still hitting grim levels to start the new year. Today in a matter of hours, the U.S. will hit 20 million cases, more than any country by far. That's also more people than the entire population of New York state.

Three thousand, four hundred nineteen Americans died overnight, the fourth highest day ever. And the number of people hospitalized in the U.S. also hitting a record for the fourth day in a row.

Army and Air Force medical workers have arrived in California, where the state is dealing with a crippling number of patients. The Los Angeles public health director says the surge is pushing hospitals to the brink of catastrophe.

In Atlanta, the Georgia World Congress center is beginning to take on overflow patients at a rebuilt field hospital.

CNN's Nick Valencia is there live.

Good morning, Nick. What are you seeing?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Alison is already, unfortunately, a deadly start to this year, 2021. For a third straight day, as you mentioned, we had 3,000 -- more than 3,000 Americans die as a result of this virus.

On Thursday, that number closer to 3,400. Also setting records in terms of hospitalizations with more than 125,000 Americans remaining in the hospital as of this morning. That's a record for a fourth straight day.

Another grim milestone we're expecting to hit later today as the U.S. is expected to hit 20 million cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic. It is just a really grim reminder that, even though 2020 is behind us, this virus is raging on, with California it seems right now, the center of the pandemic, specifically Los Angeles County, where the mayor there, Eric Garcetti, telling residents that the darkest days are ahead.

Earlier this week, we saw multiple hospitals in Los Angeles County report that they had limited access to oxygen. There's also scores of frontline workers that are now contracting the virus, as those records -- or as those cases, as I say, surge in California.

Here in Georgia, they aren't faring much better. In fact, things are getting so bad here, the governor is so concerned he's opened up behind me the Georgia World Congress Center as a sort of field hospital.

This is the third time since during that, in the last year, this winter surge is really causing a concern here for the governor. He's expecting the worst. They're expecting to have about 60 beds here, overflow beds for those suffering from the virus and more records here. Five thousand people remaining hospitalized in Georgia. The numbers just ticking up here, not just in Georgia and California, but really all across the states -- Alison.

KOSIK: Yes. It's a new year, but definitely everybody bracing themselves for what January may bring.

VALENCIA: That's right.

KOSIK: Nick Valencia, thanks very much.

President Trump waking up at the White House this morning. The president returned from Mar-a-Lago Thursday, ahead of schedule. He's beginning the new year right where he left off, spreading lies about the election.

[06:05:11]

And CNN has learned at least 140 House Republicans plan to challenge Joe Biden's win next week. CNN's Boris Sanchez is live for us at the White House.

Boris, what are you learning?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning and happy new year, Alison.

That's right. President Trump skipping out on a planned gala at Mar-a- Lago last night, deciding to come back to the White House early. The president still fixated on this idea of overturning the 2020 election.

The president not just celebrating the new year, but also celebrating Missouri Senator Josh Hawley on Twitter. Hawley, of course, in recent days announcing that he planned to object to the certification of the Electoral College results when Congress certifies that vote on January 6.

Here's the tweet from President Trump. He writes, quote, "America is proud of Josh and the many others who are joining him. The USA cannot have fraudulent elections."

Point of fact, there is zero evidence of widespread election fraud.

We should note, though, that as you pointed out, CNN is learning that up to 140 House Republicans are planning to go along with Hawley and play into the president's fantasies that there was election rigging by objecting to the results.

One specific congressman, Representative Louie Gohmert from Texas, filing a lawsuit trying to force Vice President Mike Pence, essentially to deny the Electoral College results from several states. Yesterday, we got a response from Pence's legal team. Here is one

portion of that. They write, quote, "A suit to establish that the vice president has discretion over the count, filed against the vice president, is a walking legal contradiction." They go on, "Plaintiffs have presented this court with an emergency motion, raising a host of weighty legal issues about the matter in which the electoral votes for president are to be counted, but these plaintiffs' suit is not a proper vehicle for addressing those issues, because the plaintiffs have sued the wrong defendant."

So essentially, the vice president's legal team here saying that Gohmert should take this case up with the House and the Senate, not with the vice president.

We should point out, in recent days we've learned that the president himself sat down with Vice President Pence to talk about the future. Unclear if this came up, exactly.

But we have heard from sources here at the White House that the president has had a difficult time with aides discussing Mike Pence's role on January 6. The vice president plays largely just a ceremonial role, overseeing the vote, not actually weighing in on whether to certify it or not -- Alison.

KOSIK: Interesting. We turned a calendar year, but the election for 2020 still not quite in the rearview. Boris Sanchez, thanks so much.

Joining me now, Margaret Talev, a CNN political analyst and politics and White House editor at Axios. Good morning to you and happy new year.

MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, Alison, happy new year.

KOSIK: So let's first let's get to what's happening in just a few days. The two Georgia runoffs will decide control of the U.S. -- of the U.S. and there's a lot of focus on that.

Let me first dovetail to where Boris Sanchez left off, though. That the 140 House Republicans, they're voting to challenge Biden's win on January 6. What is the point of doing this? Do they have any -- any leverage? Will this challenge go anywhere?

TALEV: No, it's not going to go anywhere? Because at this point, only Senator Hawley has objected in the Senate. And obviously, that decision was a huge frustration to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, because it forces the debate in the Senate.

But at this point, there is not the will in the House, which is controlled by Democrats, or in the Senate, which is controlled by Republicans.

So this will delay the outcome. But it is not expected to change the legitimate election results in President-elect Joe Biden's ascension to the presidency on January 20. KOSIK: So this is just a show, but this is going to wind up impacting

the Republican Party as a whole, splintering it even more. What does this say for the future of the GOP?

TALEV: I think the future of the GOP is obviously at a crossroads. You could say that the future of the Democratic Party is, too, but this is really in a different way.

And what we heard yesterday about Majority Leader McConnell's interactions with his own caucus, my colleague Jonathan Swan reporting that he has told his caucus that his vote on January 6 is going to be the most sequential vote that he's ever taken.

And you think about everything Mitch McConnell has presided over and, in some ways, how -- like how unraveled he ever seems by anything, right? He's been the steady ship, whether or not you agree with his policies, when it comes to everything from war to impeachment.

And now you see him saying, this vote is the biggest deal that he'll ever have to grapple with. As he has framed it internally, this has become this loyalty test between Donald Trump, who's still the most powerful figure in the Republican Party, and American democracy, you know, as it exists. And a real objection to this, anything sustained, any real effort to overturn these results of the election would be a repudiation of American democracy, a massive test of American democracy.

And part of the reason why you think you see these 140 House Republicans feeling comfortable pursuing the course that they may pursue, if that count ends up being right is because they know that this vote is not going to actually change anything.

They know that Joe Biden will become the president on -- on January 20. And someone like Senator Hawley, you know, educated at Stanford and at Yale, a former state attorney general, he knows what the election law is. He knows that his objection can't stop the legitimate results of the election from making the next president Joe Biden.

KOSIK: Let's get back to Vice President Mike Pence's role in this. His lawyers asked a federal judge to reject a request from Representative Louie Gohmert that asks Vice President Pence to ignore electoral votes of several key states when Congress meets to certify the 2020 presidential election next week.

Do you think that this will come as a disappointment to Donald Trump and his supporters?

TALEV: I think Donald Trump at this point understands where things stand. But yes, I think every person who says "no" to him now is disappointing him. And for Vice President Pence, this is the sort of the -- "it wasn't me" response. Right? He's saying, Don't blame me. I'm just the vice president. I'm just supposed to show up and read what the card says.

He really has two choices. He can be the one who fulfills the role on January the 6th, or he can have somebody else do it. And we believe he will do it. But those are really his choices.

And so it does set up an internal conflict, and it sets up a conflict for Pence if he wants to run for president at some point in the future. But this is the moment that we're at.

KOSIK: Let's quickly get to the Georgia runoff, because, you know, this is going to be a big day. Even Monday, we're going to be seeing the vice president, the vice president-elect [SIC], Joe Biden, visiting there. Trump will be visiting there on Monday. Talk to me about how high the stakes are here.

TALEV: I mean, of course, the stakes are huge, because these two races will decide control of the U.S. Senate, and Democrats would have to flip both of these seats in order to take control. Even if they succeed, it will be a very marginal control of the center. The most conservative Democrats and the most negotiable Republicans will hold an enormous amount of sway.

But if Democrats control the Senate, it will have a major impact on nominations, on what legislation is heard on the floor, on what sort of policy shifts can be executed through the legislative process, rather than executive power. And for Republicans and for McConnell, it is sort of the ultimate test of whether they are able to separate themselves from Trump and -- and still move on.

KOSIK: And switching gears now to -- to a "New York Times" article that I was reading from today, where President Trump reportedly lashed out at -- at Jared Kushner over COVID testing, because COVID testing, obviously, getting underneath President Trump's skin.

The report says in an August conversation, saying, "I want to do what Mexico does. They don't give you a test until you get to the emergency room and you're vomiting."

So clearly, he's focusing on his political future and less so on how the American public is doing and how the virus is progressing. What do you think this was saying about his intentions here?

TALEV: I mean, it's some extraordinary year-end reporting by "The Times," but to a big extent, it just illuminates what Americans watched play out, which is the president really toggling between, you know, how to address -- and how much transparency to address the virus with. And -- and, you know, whether to focus more on the economy or on people's health. How to separate his own political interests from the national interests of the country.

There are just, you know, a little bit less than three weeks left now in this administration, and now the management of the vaccine of millions of Americans' health is going to fall to the next president, to Joe Biden. We are in firm transition mode now. And even, as you see, like Senator Perdue in Georgia, having to self-quarantine, as you're seeing tragic deaths continue, a lot of this for President Trump is now in the rearview mirror. This is about the next administration having to take ownership of these massive problems that are going to continue for many months more. KOSIK: And of course, another massive problem that will be left to the

Biden administration is what's going to happen to support those who are unemployed in this country.

[06:15:00]

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is refusing to budge on direct payments to Americans, as Senator Chuck Schumer offers separate votes on Trump's demand. Where does the future of stimulus checks stand at this point?

TALEV: Alison, it stands with the next administration. I mean, the reason why the stimulus checks were at $600 before President Trump tried to stop the process and reset it is because that's what the Republicans in Congress were willing to do.

And for Senator McConnell, although the rhetoric publicly is about Democrats and is about -- he's coined this notion of socialism for the rich and all this sort of stuff. To some extent, this is about ideological differences and some Republicans' feelings that $2,000 checks are too much or not focused enough.

But to some extent, this is also about managing Trump and McConnell saying pretty clearly that he needs to be able to control his party in the Senate, and not have Trump, whether he's president or soon to be an ex-president, kind of jumping in from the sidelines and mixing everything up at the last minute.

There's going to continue to be a real push for more injection of stimulus into the economy in the incoming administration. And I think this is a dispute that's going to get re-litigated, that Senate Republicans and Senate Democrats may negotiate over the terms of.

But by attaching this Section 230 to it, the -- you know, notion of removing liability for social media companies, by attaching other measures to it, it ensures that it can't go anywhere in sort of this last-minute push.

So this is a debate that is going to continue under the Biden administration with the new Congress and again, which party is in control of the Senate may have an impact on the size of those stimulus checks. But this debate is going to come back. Doesn't look like it's going to be resolved in the waning hours of this Congress, though.

KOSIK: Yes. A debate will continue. But it -- one thing is certain, Americans continue to need support, even with the new administration taking over in a few weeks.

Margaret Talev, thanks so much. CNN political analyst. Happy new year again.

TALEV: Happy new year.

The two Georgia runoffs will decide control of the U.S. Senate. Be sure to watch the special live coverage as election night in America continues, beginning Tuesday at 4 p.m. on CNN. We are entering the new year in the midst of the devastating

coronavirus pandemic, but help is on the way as coronavirus vaccines are here. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains when we should expect life to start returning to normal, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:26]

CAMEROTA: I don't know a single person who is not happy to turn the page on 2020.

BERMAN: Good riddance!

CAMEROTA: Hopefully, vaccines will make a major dent on the global coronavirus pandemic. Dr. Anthony Fauci says average Americans can expect to begin receiving vaccinations this spring.

So joining us now is CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, great to see you. Happy new year.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Happy new year.

CAMEROTA: It's -- everybody's so hopeful that we'll be able to turn a page, but of course, coronavirus has followed us into this new year. So how different do you think 2021 will be?

GUPTA: I think it's going to look a lot different. I guess it's hard not to. 2020 was such a -- such a unique and -- and tragic year, you know? I mean, we've all lived through this, physically, psychologically.

These vaccines, I think, are -- they're here. They're going to be more widely distributed. And you know, it is -- it is incredibly hopeful, not just because of the vaccines, but I think also because of what they represent.

I mean, you know, we are able to respond so quickly to this pandemic by creating something that typically takes years, if not decades to make, a vaccine.

And they're going to make a significant impact, but it takes -- takes a while, still. So by this time next year, I think we're going to be in a very different position. The vaccines, the testing, things like that that will happen over these next few months here in 2021 will certainly change things a lot.

But we've got to still, you know, just hunker down for a few months more, as you see that light. It should make you want to redouble your efforts, I think.

BERMAN: Sanjay, one of the few good things about 2020 is, frankly, you and the impact you had on educating -- Sanjay, you were one of the few good things about 2020. And the impact you had on us and how you made us think about the pandemic.

One of the impactful things you did was write these essays treating the country as if it were your patient. So what did you learn about your patients in 2020, and what's your prognosis for your patient, the country, in 2021?

GUPTA: I think one of the biggest things I've learned -- ad I say this as a neurosurgeon, you know, someone who operates on people who are in the worst of situations often -- is that -- is that science cannot rescue us from ourselves.

We can have these incredible breakthroughs, and we will in vaccines and therapeutics and new forms of testing. And it is really just remarkable to see. And I think we will be a different world as a result of the medical innovation that we have seen this year.

But if we don't lean into the basic health practices, they make such a big difference. I mean, even now, a hundred years after the -- the great pandemic of 1918, the same things made the biggest difference: wearing masks, keeping distance, washing hands.

We can talk about mRNA vaccines and all those things, but washing hands and wearing a mask makes as big a difference. It doesn't sound as neat or as fancy, but it can make such a huge impact. And it's something I will now always remind my patients of.

BERMAN: All right, Sanjay, besides Alisyn Camerota, who are your healthcare heroes?

GUPTA: Well, Alisyn's way up there on the list, for sure. The --

CAMEROTA: Not sure what I've done to earn that.

GUPTA: You know, I think -- these -- there's so many people that I interact with the hospital all the time who -- who are taking care of these COVID patients and, you know, we know now, after a year of reporting on this, that you go take care of COVID patients, you worry -- as good as you are about personal protective equipment, and you still worry that maybe you were exposed and that maybe you would take that virus home to your family.

And that would be the greatest tragedy, you know, in trying to do the right thing. You potentially put your family at risk. It's just a very hard psychology still for people to sort of think about.

So I really have thought a lot about the people working in COVID units, not just the doctors, but the nurses, the people who are cleaning these units. The people who, you know, have lived for this past year with that psychological thing in the back of their minds.

Also, you know, as doctors and nurses, you know, you're giving care. It's objective care. You know, you give this medicine. You monitor these vital signs.

But because of the pandemic, you also had to be this bridge of -- of comfort, because family members couldn't visit.

[06:25:05]

So the real heroes for me were the people who then, at the end of a shift, took the extra time to wrap their phone or their iPad in plastic, walk into the room, in full personal protective equipment and show someone who was in the hospital, very sick, their family members and allow them to have a conversation. And sometimes, those were last conversations. That really stuck with me, you know. And it's obviously, psychologically, just so challenging.

But the idea that people who just stepped up and over the line, so many times, to make sure that those last conversations could happen, are, I think, some of the truest heroes of this and showed us, you know, what real empathy and real compassion looks like in the middle of a pandemic.

CAMEROTA: That is beautiful, Sanjay. I mean, they're angels on earth. That is beautiful.

Thank you for helping us think of them today. And for all you did for us the past year and, I'm sure, this coming year.

GUPTA: Thank you, guys. Thanks for having me this year. I think the conversations -- I like to believe that the conversations we have had with the audience over this past year made a difference. You know, you've got to believe that if you're a journalist.

BERMAN: We're going to try to book you some for 2021. So hang in there.

CAMEROTA: How's tomorrow?

BERMAN: Keep the phone close by, Sanjay.

CAMEROTA: Thanks so much, Sanjay.

A critical week ahead for the incoming Biden administration. Two runoff elections in Georgia will decide the balance of power in the Senate and the fate of Joe Biden's agenda. We discuss that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)