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Don Lemon Tonight
Trump Uses Georgia Runoff Rally To Rail Against Election Results; At Least A Dozen GOP Senators Say They'll Object To Election Results; President Trump Spreading Lies Left And Right; Coronavirus Cases And Deaths Are Skyrocketing Across The U.S. With New Concerns Spreading For New COVID Variants; One In Five L.A. Residents Testing Positive For COVID, Death Toll Expected To Soar; Georgia Runoff Elections To Decide Senate Control. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired January 04, 2021 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): President Trump in Georgia tonight on the eve of the crucial Senate runoff election. Still insisting he won the state in November. And that rally tonight revealing more of the scheme to steal the election and applying public pressure to vice president, the vice president, Senators, other Republican officials.
But Georgia's Secretary of State saying emphatically tonight that Trump did not win in Georgia. All this as the president and his Republican supporters continue trying to steal the presidential election. And a White House adviser saying Trump is in a dark place as he pushes conspiracy theories about his election loss.
The adviser also saying it was crazy and a mistake for the president to call Georgia Secretary of State pressuring him to say Trump won Georgia in November.
Let's discuss now. CNN's White House Correspondent, John Harwood and our resident fact-checker, Daniel Dale, I'm sure he's got his gut (inaudible) in the last four years. Good evening to both of you. John, Trump is baselessly claiming that he won the election in a landslide. This is what he said tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Georgia and Pennsylvania and one other get me there. And we have six, and maybe eight if you look at them, and we were leading all of them by a lot until, like a miracle, it started to quickly disappear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): None of what he says is true, pretty much nothing that he says is true. It's clear that the Georgia call was only one part of his plot. He needs other states too.
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, he definitely needs other states. Look, Joe Biden got 306 electoral votes. Pennsylvania is 20. Georgia is 16. If he was somehow able to flip those two states, Joe Biden would still have 270 electoral votes. That's why he says he needs another state. Of course, he's not going to get another state. All those states have certified their results. Joe Biden is the winner.
But he continues to babble on, publicly and privately, repeating these ridiculous fantasies about winning the election. And he used them on the crowd at his rally tonight. Although, I must say, that I wasn't there, but it didn't feel, watching the rally, that it was a particularly effusive or enthusiastic one.
LEMON: I tried it not to, but I did. And it seemed mostly grievance, and I was like, when is he going to get to the candidates. Mostly grievance and not really like he believed any of it. It's worn thin. It's gotten old. Daniel, you've been fact-checking the president's rally tonight, what stood out to you?
[23:05:03]
DANIEL DALE, CNN FACT-CHECKER (on camera): Don, what stood out was that the speech was like it was from an alternate universe, that the president is not even remotely connected to reality. Either he's lying, his brain has been completely captured by internet weirdoes, or both.
And frankly as a fact-checker, I'm bored. Like, have you ever, you know sat in a family gathering, at a bar or on a date and had someone just talk your ear off, complete nonsense for like an hour, and you feel like you can't escape? That's all of us right now, because that's the president right now.
He said over and over that he won the election in a landslide, he lost the election. He said over and over the other side engaged in mass cheating, stealing, forging, ballot dumping, none of which happened.
He stood there and read, this is not adlibs, this is reading from a teleprompter, read a bunch of imaginary statistic about voting in Georgia and Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan. It's all wrong, all debunked by fact checkers, all dismissed by the courts, on and on and on. It hardly feels worth it to get into the details of it, even though it's actually my job. What I'm paid for.
Now, I do think it's worth getting to some of the details of some of the false in misleading claims that he made about the Democratic Georgia candidates. Of course we've got an election tomorrow.
For example, he claimed that Raphael Warnock talked about opening up the jails, if you go back and watch that full clip in context from Warnock last year, he was talking about opening up the jails and releasing people who are arrested for marijuana offenses in particular. Not just letting all criminals out.
Trump also said that John Ossoff is part of a crusade to defund the police. Ossoff is on record for months over in over saying he opposes defunding the police, he wants police reform. So, this was just, Don, a wildly dishonest speech and one of the worst honestly I've ever heard from the president.
LEMON: I'm with you. It's just -- as I said, when, you know, when I was asking the question, it's worn thin. The act is old. Except that call, that tape of that call that was some good stuff I got to tell. I'd never heard anything like it. I'm sure you guys will agree. I'm probably going to listen to it again after I get off work. Thank you so much. I'll see you soon.
So listen, I want to bring in now former Obama campaign manager Jim Messina and Stuart Stevens, he is a former chief strategist for Romney's presidential campaign and as senior adviser to the Lincoln Project. Gentleman, good evening. Good to see both of you.
Stuart, I'm going to start with you. This this is what Trump said tonight, about Vice President Pence's role when Congress meets on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I hope Mike Pence comes through for us. I have to tell you. I hope that our great vice president, our great Vice President comes through for us. He's a great guy, of course if he doesn't come through I won't like him quite as much.
No, Mike is a great guy, he's a wonderful man and a smart man, and a man that I like a lot. But he's going to have a lot to say about it and he -- you know, one thing with him, you're going to get straight shots. He's going to call it straight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What is he talking about? Because last time I checked, Pence's job is purely ceremonial?
STUART STEVENS, FORMER CHIEF STRATEGIST, ROMNEY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Yes, this is another one of his these complete fantasies that Trump has. You know, there has been this other fantasy in the Republican Party, that Mike Pence was somehow over the last four years is going to be the responsible adult in the room who would keep Trump's tirade, who would hold on to some sort of concept of government and service.
That's all proven to be just a complete lies as well. Mike Pence began his career when he (inaudible) to Congressional race when he was cult taking money from his congressional campaign to pay his mortgage. And it looks like he's going to end his (inaudible), his political career and another unsavory moment, where he's trying to basically steal an election for Donald Trump.
It's just, it's absolutely appalling. And Trump and Pence has to decide how he wants to be remembered here. But those that put plate in Pence, have been pretty well disappointed.
LEMON (on camera): Stuart Stevens, bringing the receipts tonight. Listen, Jim, This is what we heard from President-Elect Biden today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, 2020 PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Politicians
cannot assert take or sees power, power is given, granted by the American people alone, or nation. Build on honor, decency, dignity and respect. That's who we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON (on camera): So, Trump and his Republican allies are attacking our democracy, does the present elect need to fight back even harder?
JIM MESSINA, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN MANAGER: You know what, I think he's doing what he needs to, and he has given people the space to focus on Georgia and not make this about him. And to get ready to be the president of the United States. I think the bigger onus of course is on Trump. And Trump is doing exactly what he's done for four years.
[23:10:00]
Don, I looked earlier in the show, you showed the initial Hollywood Access clip. Because it showed who he is, when he said I can do whatever I want. And that's literally what he's done for four years. And now he's just incredulous that these people aren't following him, you know it's going to happen for Trump, but it's these other votes that I don't forget. These 13 members of the Senate.
LEMON: Right.
MESSINA: These over 100 members of Congress, who understand what they are doing is subverting the will of the American people. And its treason and they are still going forward with it. And you asked why they are going forward with it and its just pure politics. Especially these senators, they are running for president in 2024. Stuart and I are used to the Iowa caucus in the first political event.
This is the crazy caucus in tomorrow. Excuse me, Wednesday, during this votes. And the only person that anyone cares about these Republicans is Donald Trump. They are all making sure that he's not trashing them. And so tonight, he's sitting the stage threatening the Vice President of the United States to do whatever crazy convoluted thing Trump's whack job lawyers want him to do. It's insane.
LEMON: Right on. So, Trump is trying to galvanize supporters, to come to D.C. and protests in a show if either support or maybe intimidation. Given what we have seen from the president recently, are you worried about what could happen when he riles up supporters this week?
STEVENS: Sure, I think you have to be worried about preventing for violence with these supporters of Trump, he emboldens them. And look, leadership matters. And you have the president of United States who is (inaudible) human being. Who is encouraging people to really protest, to or riot against democracy.
And, look, you know, the ugly side of this is, yes, it's treasonous, yes, it's sedition, but it's also just about race. What they're really saying here is that African-American votes are illegitimate. That's the language they're using.
If you add all these votes up that they say shouldn't be counted, over 80 percent of them are African-Americans. In that sense this is just a sort of a Jim Crow caucus that is now formed inside the Republican Party trying to deny African-Americans the right to vote.
LEMON: Is it voter suppression, or racism, or both?
STEVENS: I think it's both. It's attempted voter suppression. The whole idea of Jim Crow was to stop people who legitimately should be able to vote from voting. So, they weren't successful on Election Day with that. This African-Americans voted. So now they're trying to after the fact disqualify their vote. It's how many jelly beans are in the jar before you can vote? And now it's after the fact.
LEMON: Yes.
STEVENS: It's just straight-up racism, and it's a failure of the Republican Party to expand and be able to give legitimate reasons for the majority of African-Americans to support him. All these Republicans and their Jim Crow caucus, they're overwhelmingly opposed by African-Americans in their own state. And now they're trying to take the votes away from others in other states. It's really just straight-up shameful racism.
LEMON: Jim, let's talk about tomorrow, because more than 3 million people have already cast their ballots in Georgia. On one hand, President Trump is sowing chaos and division among Georgia Republicans, but on the other hand, his campaigning in the general election drove more voters out than people expected. How do you see this playing out tomorrow?
MESSINA: Well, back to Stuart's point for one second, Don. The reason why we're here tomorrow in Georgia is systemic racism, right. Why is there a runoff in Georgia, it has been for a while? Because they changed the rules to make sure an African-American couldn't win in the general election by getting less than 50 percent of the vote.
So the fact that we're here on the runoff election whether it's going to be less turnout than there was in the general election, which is exactly how it was design is proof of Stuart's earlier point.
And I think, you know, the question for Democrats is -- traditionally it's a 30/30 rule in Georgia. You need 30 percent of turnout to be African-American, early votes it's 31 percent, which is a good sign for the Democrats. And Democratic leads 30 percent of the white vote. And we won't know that until tomorrow.
I think it's going to be very, very close. While Biden won Georgia, Ossoff and -- excuse me, Perdue and Loeffler both got more votes in the general, in the Congressional races, Republicans got 51 percent, in the statehouse recess, they got 54 percent. And so I think Republicans have gone into this as favorites. But Stacey Abrams has done an unbelievable job building over the last four years a ground operations that has the Democrats with a shot going to tomorrow. LEMON (on camera): Stacey Abrams, and also Black voters matter as
well. Thank you so much, gentlemen. I'll see you soon. We'll see what happens tomorrow and the next day and the next day.
The president is spending the last days of his term spreading lies left and right. Why do so many Americans believe him? Really, why is that? And is it all just a ploy to take down his toughest competitor?
[23:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Remember North Korea, it was going to be a tremendous nuclear fight, and all this? What happened with that? I got along very well with Kim Jong-un. I don't think that Joe us going to base on what I've heard but I got a long very with him.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON (on camera): President Trump using tonight's rally in Georgia to spread more of his election lies and conspiracy theories faster than officials can debunk them.
CNN's Business Reporter, Donie O' Sullivan caught up with some Trump supporters ahead of tonight's rally, and they're buying everything the president is selling.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER (voice over): Are Trump and his supporters just sore losers?
UNKNOWN: No, we haven't lost.
O'SULLIVAN: So, he will be president for two more weeks.
UNKNOWN: No, he will be president until 2024.
O'SULLIVAN: I see Trump is saying that the election was stolen from him here in Georgia and he doesn't trust the Republican election officials here. Does that cause a problem or an issues for trusts in this week's Senate election?
[23:20:06]
UNKNOWN: Yes, I think it has for some people. People have been demoralized and have actually told me that they, you know, do not want to vote, because they feel like their vote isn't going to count.
O'SULLIVAN: And what do you say to people?
UNKNOWN: I told them, well, if the Democrats are going to steal the election, we're not going to -- we're going to do the right thing, and we're going to vote.
O'SULLIVAN: Will you accept Joe Biden as president? UNKNOWN: No, he'll never be my president.
O'SULLIVAN: OK. But you know, you accept that he's going to be inaugurated?
UNKNOWN: No, I don't.
O'SULLIVAN: I mean, how can that change at this point?
UNKNOWN: There could be a civil war, you never know.
O'SULLIVAN: You don't exactly want a civil war, do you?
UNKNOWN: I don't. Show us the voting machines, show us the ballots. Show us that this was a fair election, or we'll never accept another vote again, ever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): Crazy. The civil war view, by the way, was not a common thing mentioned at the rally, but it's concerning that it was mentioned at all.
So, let's discuss now, former White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci is here. CNN's political commentator, Ana Navarro and Amanda Carpenter. It is just -- it's crazy. Show us, they've shown -- that guy said, show us the voting machines. They've done all that, and you're still living in la-la land. Hello, all of you.
Anthony, President Trump is spreading his lies on phone calls, he's spreading it on Twitter, and at rallies. The most dangerous part, the fact that so many Americans believe it. Why?
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, FOUNDER/ MANAGING PARTNER, SKY BRIDGE CAPITAL (on camera): Well, a lot of Americans unfortunately are dissatisfied with the system. And so they're prone to conspiracy theory. And he likes creating that kind of havoc. But just remember one thing.
This is totally pre-meditated. He knows exactly what he's doing. He knows he lost the election. He said the same thing about Ted Cruz after the Iowa caucus. He was going to say the same thing about the 2016 election, because he thought he had lost that election.
So he's just repurposing that for right now. It's a money making scheme. And it's designed to intimidate the Republican Party and bring -- basically effectively burn down the house, Don.
LEMON: OK, Anthony, I understand that. I mean, those people --
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SENATOR TED CRUZ AND THE AUTHOR OF GASLIGHTING AMERICA (on camera): I disagree with that a little bit.
LEMON: I was going to say, Amanda, those people are adults. Go on. CARPENTER: We shouldn't buy this idea that people are dissatisfied
with the system. I'm sorry, these people, the Republican base has been radicalized by right-wing media for many years quite frankly before Trump came along to believe that the other side is bad, right? They're evil. They're socialists. They're pedophiles running some crazy cabal. They've been primed for this message.
So when Donald Trump comes along and say they stole it from you, they say, yup, uh-huh. Because that's been in their ear in this toxic cultural soup that they've created in the right-wing ecosphere that started at the bottom with a lot of talk radio. And it has been exploded by Facebook, in algorithms and even see in Fox News all the time now.
Like you can trace what is on primetime television to these (inaudible) crazy channels. And so that's what is going on. They come to the rally already having that in their head. That's not something Donald Trump is spoon-feeding them because they lost a job. Sorry.
LEMON: I was just going to say --
(CROSSTALK)
Hold on, hang on, hang on. What I was going to say is, I will, hold on, Ana. I understand that people, you know, if you say you have to respect -- no. Those people are adults. They should know better. Yes, the president is responsible for spreading misinformation.
But as an adult, you have to take responsibility for your own beliefs. Those people are believing things that are probably not true and had been proven over and over and over to be false. And yet they still want to believe them.
Who do you think you are that you -- yes, you have the right to vote. And you should. But people don't -- the right only goes so far. No one has to show you a voting machine as a private citizen. That's what authorities do, the people who investigate. That's their job, to investigate the election and to investigate if there's voter fraud and to give you the information. It is not -- you cannot say, show me this, show me that, and show me that.
That is called entitlement. That is not deserved. That is not earned, just because you lose, it doesn't mean that you have the right to those things. That is not how the world works. The other side lost. People lose all the time. And they don't demand that you show them any of that stuff. That is delusional, and that's entitlement, and that should be called out. You guys, go on.
ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (on camera): Well, listen, Don, the ironic thing is, those voting machines have been shown. There's been court cases.
LEMON: Yup.
[23:25:06] NAVARRO: Joe Biden has won Georgia now three times. He's won in court,
he's won at the ballot box. It has been audited. I mean, they have been shown. They have been investigated. But, listen, part of what is happening with this Trump base, with this Trump cult, because when you are subject to a cult leader, and you put that over truth and over fact, it is a cult. Whether you like the word or not. It is a cult.
With the Donald Trump has been the precedent of that base, of that cult, right? So he'll tell Cubans what they want to hear regarding Cuba. Even though he may do something different. He'll tell racists what they want to hear about, you know, discrimination, against taking a knee and all of those things. So, they like Trump and with a lot of Amanda just said, but it's also the fact that he has courting that base.
But let me tell you something. You know, I cannot respect the Trump voter if they cannot respect the constitution. We cannot put respect for one man's supporter over democracy and over the constitution and over election results and anybody who heard that phone call, and if you haven't, you should, should know that this is the kind of stuff that happens in Venezuela. That happens in Nicaragua, under left-wing dictators.
I spent months hearing Republican elected officials warn that voting for any Democrat would mean that America would turn into Venezuela. Well, no, if they don't speak up against this abuse of power by Donald Trump, that is what dictators in those countries do. Harass, and attack and threaten the political opposition. That what all dictators do.
LEMON: I wanted to give Anthony an opportunity to respond. Anthony, what do we do? Go on, what did you want to say?
SCARAMUCCI: Well, you know, listen, all I'm going to say is I agree with Ana. I don't want to sound like a cult deprogrammer. But people that are unhappy or dissatisfied with the system are prone to conspiracy, they're prone to cult leaders. And we got to fix the system. You are going to have to acknowledge that 74 million people voted for him, that's more people that voted for him after he was impeached.
So, that tells you there's something wrong in the system. And yes, you guys are right that these Republican leaders are taking advantage of it, despicable people like Josh Hawley. But we got to, you know, either break down that party, rebuild another center-right party. But the people are unhappy.
LEMON: Is this something -- is there a breakdown in the system or is there a breakdown in the people? Is there a breakdown on the society?
SCARAMUCCI: No. Don, (inaudible), there are so many have and have nots, now, Don. Just go look at the data.
LEMON: This isn't about have and have not. I don't see this about haves and have nots, Anthony.
SCARAMUCCI: It's identity politics and it's economics.
NAVARRO: You know, Anthony, I got to tell you. There is no phrase that I hate more than identity politics. Because somehow when people talk about identity politics, when Republicans talk about identity politics, they're talking about people like me. And people like Don. They're talking about our agenda. They are talking about our sexuality. They are talking about our skin color. And our ethnicity.
How about people who identify as second amendment voters and who want to vote for candidates who represent that? Is that not identity politics? How about people who only vote based on abortion, and they want to vote for people who identify with the way they feel? Is that not identity politics?
LEMON: I've got to run, Ana.
NAVARRO: You know, identity politics --
SCARAMUCCI: I don't agree with it, Ana. I don't agree with it, Ana. I'm just pointing out what it is.
(CROSSTALK)
NAVARRO: It's a stupid --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I got to go.
NAVARRO: You know damn well it's a dog whistle. Anthony, you're too smart for that.
CARPENTER: Well, he worked for Trump, so I don't know.
(LAUGHTER)
SCARAMUCCI: You worked for Ted Cruz. You worked for Ted Cruz, a full- on traitor. I mean, what are you talking about? You don't have any standing to say that.
CARPENTER: Excuse me? Excuse me, Anthony Scaramucci.
SCARAMUCCI: You worked for Ted Cruz. A full-on traitor. Come on.
(CROSSTALK)
CARPENTER: I remember you going to the cameras and praising Donald Trump to the hilt. When I worked for Ted Cruz, you want to go there? He took principled constitutional stands.
SCARAMUCCI: You didn't praised Ted Cruz when you worked for him?
CARPENTER: Excuse me, what was that? You really think I should answer to you about my work history, when you were Donald Trump's communications person willingly? Get lost.
SCARAMUCCI: Don't be a hypocrite on national TV.
LEMON: OK.
SCARAMUCCI: I owned to the mistake of Donald Trump. Try not to be a hypocrite on national TV.
(CROSSTALK)
CARPENTER: You were Donald Trump's mouthpiece. And everybody knew what kind of person he was then and he has shown himself to be now.
SCARAMUCCI: Seventy-four million people voted for him, Amanda.
LEMON: All right. I got to go, guys.
SCARAMUCCI: This is the country you're living in. Seventy-four million people voted for him.
NAVARRO: Well, give me an award --
SCARAMUCCI: Understand those voters.
NAVARRO: If I didn't vote for --
SCARAMUCCI: Change their will.
NAVARRO: -- either.
LEMON: OK.
CARPENTER: Anthony --
LEMON: Thank you all.
CARPENTER: Goodbye.
LEMON: I got to go.
NAVARRO: Bye, guys.
LEMON: That went sideways. Thank you all. Every 30 seconds, another American dies from coronavirus. The vaccine is on the way but delays are holding up the help that people really need. How does that impact how many more Americans could die?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A dire situation in the United States as deaths and cases are exploding across the country and concerns about a new variant -- concern is spreading right now as vaccines aren't getting out as fast as officials had hoped.
The U.S. is averaging over 200,000 new cases a day and an average of over 2,500 deaths a day.
[23:34:59] LEMON: Every 33 seconds, another American dies of COVID-19.
Joining me now is Dr. Chris Murray, the director of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington. Thank you, Dr. Murray. I appreciate you joining us. Your current modelling is devastating. We could be facing 5,000 deaths a day by February if the government doesn't do more?
CHRIS MURRAY, DIRECTOR OF INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: It's certainly possible, Don. You know, our forecasts, which we hope will be just as bad as 3,500 or so in mid- January per day, just awful, of course, could be worse, could be 5,000 a day.
That depends on how each state responds to the surge and whether or not they take action by putting, you know, the right mandates in place, whether we wear masks as individuals.
LEMON: Mm-hmm. So, doctor, the slow rollout of the vaccine, it is the main issue here. What should the incoming Biden administration be gearing up to do differently? Listen, I quite frankly don't think we have 16 days to wait, right? But, you know, we got to do something. We have to think positively in some way. What could they be gearing up to do differently?
MURRAY: Well, you know, we can benchmark on what we're able to do every year with seasonal flu. We're able to deliver about three million vaccinations a day during the normal season, the flu period.
So we should be able to get to that number. Of course, these new vaccines require a stronger cold chain. It's new. It has new complexities. But that's what the Biden team should be focused on, getting to that three million a day number as quickly as we can.
And what we've seen in Israel, where they've scaled up vaccination incredibly fast, shows it is possible to get up to those levels pretty quickly.
LEMON: Let's talk about these variants. What is so concerning about this new South African one?
MURRAY: Well, you know, there are the two new variants. There is the English variant and then there is the South African one.
The South African variant is concerning for two reasons. First, we've seen a surge of cases in South Africa's summer when it should be much quieter. So that makes one suspect that, you know, this is more transmissible, and the fact this variant has become much more common amongst all the variants that are out there also adds to that concern.
And then it's the nature of the specific mutations in this variant. There are more mutations around what is called the spike protein. And that may, you know, raises question marks, but we just don't know yet whether the vaccine will be as effective on that variant as the variants that were tested in the trials.
LEMON: The World Health Organization says that they are expecting to see data this week on whether the highly contagious U.K. COVID variant is resistant to vaccines. Pfizer and Moderna are doing research of their own. What do you expect that data to show? Can you -- do you have any idea?
MURRAY: Yeah. We're all making educated guesses. I think that, you know, some of the people involved in developing the vaccines have suggested that they think the vaccines will still be quite effective or as effective on the English variant.
So I am pretty hopeful on that front that the vaccine will turn out to be quite effective against the English variant.
LEMON: What about these cases that we're hearing now of people becoming infected with the virus after having the first dose of the vaccine? Texas Congresswoman Kay Granger is the latest example. What does that tell you?
MURRAY: Well, if you look -- if you dig into the details of the FDA filing, for example, by Pfizer, what you see is that in the first 10 days after being vaccinated, you don't have much protection at all. And then after that point, the body has, you know, used the vaccine to mount an immune response and then you get the protection.
So we shouldn't be at all surprised by cases that occur in the first 10 days. That's exactly what we saw in the trials. It would be, you know, unfortunate after that point. But even then, you know, these vaccines are incredibly effective, 95 percent, but that means that one out of 20 people will still get infected.
LEMON: Thank you, doctor. I'll see you soon. Be well.
MURRAY: Thanks, Don.
LEMON: Tonight, in one major American city, one out of every five people testing positive for COVID, and EMS crews are being directed not to take patients with little chance of survival to hospitals. We need the vaccines more than ever but millions of doses are sitting on shelves. Why is that? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:40:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Coronavirus cases surging across the country. But things are especially bad in Los Angeles, OK? L.A. County's director of public health says COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county have reached an all-time high and one in five residents, one in five, testing positive for the virus.
Officials predict the death toll could soar to a thousand people per week and are calling the situation a human disaster.
[23:44:59]
LEMON: The city is also directing ambulance crews to conserve oxygen and not bring patients to the hospital if they have little chance of survival.
Joining me now is CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Doctor, good evening. Whoa, this L.A. news is shocking. EMS making these decisions because of oxygen shortages and ICU beds capacity. How is this happening in America, in Los Angeles, one of the largest cities and wealthiest cities in this country?
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, DIRECTOR OF CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION PROGRAM AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: We've been very poorly led and this pandemic has been left to run its course. Now, we're seeing the end result of that.
You know, when I was resident years ago on Long Island, an airplane crashed, and the hospital where I was working got a ton of trauma patients all at once. I remember seeing a patient who still had a pulse, but who was deemed non-survivable, who was not treated, because in a major trauma like that, you have to triage patients.
And now we're starting to see that in an American city, in an American county, the most populous county. It just didn't have to be this way, Don. It's heartbreaking.
LEMON: Oh, my gosh. Is it -- was that -- was that -- was that flight 587 that you're talking about?
REINER: That was Avianca Air.
LEMON: Avianca Air.
REINER: The Colombian airliner.
LEMON: Oh, my goodness. So, what a terrible position to put these EMS medics in, having to make -- these are the people who are on the front lines, right, that we talked about these essential workers who, you know, are coming close contact with this virus every single day of their lives, many moments of their lives. They have to make this life and death decision because of supplies.
REINER: Right. You know, they're running out of oxygen in Los Angeles County. Oxygen. How can that possibly be? There are so many patients who need it. So, we're going to learn a lot from this pandemic. We're going to learn about what the greatest health care system in the world lacks. And it's connectedness.
We live in these silos. Every city has a different sort of silo of care. And all the silos within cities, we need to become more connected. That's what New York did during the pandemic in the spring. They connected basically all the health systems. That's what we're going to have to really think about throughout this country.
LEMON: Just a possibility, though, and I have to ask you this. The variant in L.A., could that be causing such a spread? Because, you know, in the U.K., things spread to the point that they are now in lockdown.
REINER: We don't know. We don't have the kind of robust genomic surveillance system to understand whether the reason it's spreading so ferociously in Los Angeles that it is a different variant. But again, we need to learn from this, and we need to have a robust genomic surveillance system to understand whether the virus is mutating.
I'll tell you, though, that we have been talking for months about the necessity to lock down cities where the virus got out of -- where the virus gets out of control. And politicians in this country have been unwilling to do that.
There's been this false dichotomy between the economy and the pandemic when in reality the best way to restore the economy is to put the pandemic down. And that means in some cases having to lock down. We have to be prepared to do that.
LEMON: Doctor, thank you. I'll see you soon.
REINER: My pleasure. Sure.
LEMON: Polls in Georgia open just hours from now and more than three million people have already voted. What we know so far about the race to control the Senate. That's next.
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[23:50:00]
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LEMON: In just a few minutes really, it's special Election Day in Georgia. So, let's discuss now. Harry Enten is here, CNN senior political writer and analyst? Come on.
HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL WRITER AND ANALYST: More of an analyst than you are.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: You are more senior than I am, too. So, Harry, hello to you.
ENTEN: Hello.
LEMON: Huge day tomorrow.
ENTEN: Yeah.
LEMON: This Georgia runoff races or these races or this race, I should say, it's going to decide which party controls the Senate. So tell us more about how these races are looking.
ENTEN: Yeah, I mean, you are exactly right. We should set the stage here. You know, coming into this election, Democrats have 48 seats in their caucus, Republicans have 50 seats. If the Democrats win both of those seats and then you get vice president-elect Kamala Harris breaking the tie, they get that Senate majority.
And let me tell you, even at this late hour, Don, these races are incredibly close. You can look at the polling averages in these states and what you see is a race that is within a point or two in both cases, in both the special election, and the regular election. Perhaps the Democrats are up by a smidgen but really within the margin of error.
LEMON: It is. How are the dynamics in these races changed from what we saw just two months ago?
ENTEN: Yeah, two months ago, you might recall, Georgia, Georgia, Georgia, was on my mind and it was ridiculously close. Remember, the presidential race, Joe Biden won by a smidgen margin. The Republicans, though, in those two Senate races actually got more votes than the Democrats.
But basically, we are in the same spot where we were, which is that Georgia is now a swing state. These races are really, really close. I just don't really know who is going to win there.
LEMON: OK, all right, but listen, it's Georgia.
[23:54:58]
LEMON: Traditionally, you said it's a swing state now, but traditionally it is a red state, and it's an uphill climb for Democrats. Do you disagree with that?
ENTEN: Look, if you were to look historically speaking and you were to look at runoffs, right, and you know that in the first round in both the regular and the special, the Republicans got more votes, what would you think might happen?
You would think that the Republicans would win because seven out of eight times, Republican candidates have widened their lead from round one to the runoff, right?
But here is the thing to keep in mind. I think it is a good spot of Democrats. If you look at the early votes so far in the state of Georgia, what you see is that African-Americans are in fact turning out of this particular hour.
If you look at the early votes cast out one day morning, they made up 31 percent of the Senate runoff electorate. That is higher than in November, Don. Let me tell you that that is very unusual. Usually, black turnout drops. It's actually risen this time around.
LEMON: Uh-oh. There you go. In Atlanta, though, Atlanta makes up like 50-some percent of the electorate and it is a big city. It tends to be typically Democrat.
ENTEN: The Democrats, they need that turnout in the Atlanta suburbs, particularly that Georgia 6th congressional district, a lot of anti- Trump Republicans. We will see if those anti-Trump Republicans become Democrats, given everything that Trump has been doing recently. LEMON: And we will see if Harry is right about any of this stuff.
ENTEN: I'm particularly right. Send me some dog photos, Don, OK?
(LAUGHTER)
ENTEN: That is what you need to promise.
LEMON: I promise I am going to send you.
ENTEN: I want those three dog photos in my phone.
LEMON: I know. You texted me three times, and I've just been really bad --
ENTEN: Only twice. I am not that desperate.
LEMON: OK, only twice.
ENTEN: Twice.
LEMON: Thank you, sir.
ENTEN: Bye, Don.
LEMON: See you later. And, well, bye, everyone. Thanks for watching. Our coverage continues.
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