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New Day
Moncef Slaoui is Interviewed about the Vaccine Program; Trump Casts Shadow on Georgia Runoffs; Trump Demands Finding Votes. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired January 04, 2021 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:32:53]
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. government vowed to have 20 million Americans vaccinated against coronavirus by now, but only 4 million people have been. Why is that and who can fix it?
Joining us now is Moncef Slaoui. He's the chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed.
Mr. Slaoui, thank you very much for being here.
What has gone wrong with the vaccinations?
MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Good morning. Listen, nothing has gone wrong. What we have committed to was to have 20 million doses of vaccine available for the American people to be immunized with.
CAMEROTA: No, no, Mr. Slaoui, we --
SLAOUI: We have worked --
CAMEROTA: No, it was that 20 million Americans would be vaccinated. And it wasn't just you who said it. I mean we heard this from -- we heard a higher number from the president.
SLAOUI: Let -- if I may.
CAMEROTA: Go ahead, but it wasn't -- it wasn't the doses.
SLAOUI: Would you like to listen to my answer?
CAMEROTA: It was people.
SLAOUI: It was the doses. And, based on that, we have worked with the states, each one of the states, to put together a plan with them whereby we would ship these doses to them. We have allocated the doses that the State Department from each state -- the -- sorry, the head of the department from each states have actually ordered the doses. They told us where to send them. We shipped them to those -- to those areas and to those locations. Now, indeed, it is lower than what we were hoping for. I believe
personally that the granular knowledge at the level of granularity needed to be able to say we need to ship a thousand doses to this CVS pharmacy or to this long-term care facility in a particular state, in a particular rural area, resides with the states. We are available and ready to help the states as they ask specifically for help. We will go and help them there. I don't think it's possible for the federal government to be able to say, you know, we should send vaccine to this particular location.
CAMEROTA: OK.
SLAOUI: So that's -- that's the point we're making. I think -- that's number one. Number two, the last three days there have been 500,000 doses a day inoculated. The holiday period is behind us. I am optimistic this number are going to go up.
[08:35:01]
CAMEROTA: OK. So just so that we're clear, I believe that we have the sound from the promise, from the administration, from several people, that it would be people. It would be 20 million Americans.
Producers, let me know if we -- when and if we have that sound. And in the meantime -- pardon me? OK, stand by.
And in the meantime, one of the things that the federal government could do, I mean according to our experts who have worked on vaccines in the past, are these mass vaccination events. So you don't have to just leave it up to CVS. You could fill stadiums. You could have convention centers. You could have people lined up and vaccinate, you know, tens of thousands in one fell swoop.
But in the meantime, here is the sound of the promise that was made. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will deliver 100 million doses of a safe vaccine before the end of the year. It may be quite a bit sooner than that.
ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We expect to have approximately 40 million doses by the end of this year, so that would allow us to vaccinate 20 million people in December.
SLAOUI: Overall, in the month of December, between the two vaccines, the Pfizer and the Moderna vaccine, we expect to have immunized 20 million of our American people and keeping 20 million doses for their second immunization a few weeks later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Oh, OK, I didn't even realize you were part of this.
Mr. Slaoui, you said 20 million people. SLAOUI: Yes. So I did say that and, you know, that was our hope. And
I, in a way, it's really interesting that we are in this situation. A virus has been discovered 11 months ago, described. We have two vaccines. We have made 14 million doses. We have delivered 20 million doses. We worked with the states to immunize. We agree that there is a lag. We'll work with the states. We need specific requests for help.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SLAOUI: Frankly, it's not for me to decide whether stadiums should be used. You know, my job is to discover vaccines and develop them and I think that has been achieved. So just I'm reacting a little bit to the tone of this discussion.
CAMEROTA: Well, except that -- except that vaccines aren't -- vaccines don't matter unless you vaccinate people.
SLAOUI: Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: And you personally promised there would be 20 million, or that's what you anticipated -- that's what you estimated.
SLAOUI: Hoped. We hoped.
CAMEROTA: OK.
SLAOUI: That's what we hope. Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: So, obviously, it's not -- OK. OK, so let's say that you hoped.
SLAOUI: Absolutely.
CAMEROTA: It's -- and so it's not working.
SLAOUI: Yes.
CAMEROTA: And so why wash your hands of it now? Why say, well, it's just up to the states? They have to ask for it.
SLAOUI: It's not -- we're not washing -- we are not washing our hands from it.
Let me just remind you that yourself and others from your station, when we said we will have vaccines by the end of this year, 2020, had hundreds of hours of the admissions (ph) saying that this would never happen. So I'm not sitting here telling you what your --
CAMEROTA: That's not true. That's just not true, Mr. Slaoui. We were so hopeful.
SLAOUI: It is true. It is -- it is true.
CAMEROTA: It's not true. We were so hopeful and we were optimistic and --
SLAOUI: I'm sure I'll send -- I'm sure I'll send that to you. I'm sure I'll send that to you.
CAMEROTA: I look forward to that. But all we can do is listen to the experts, like you.
SLAOUI: I am sure I'll send that to you. We'll make sure that we do that.
CAMEROTA: All we can do is put our faith in the experts.
SLAOUI: Yes, absolutely. And we have ambitions.
CAMEROTA: And so when it doesn't work, as it hasn't worked.
SLAOUI: We have ambitious goals.
CAMEROTA: Good. I'm glad you have ambitious goals. But it hasn't worked.
SLAOUI: You don't let people (ph) -- so we have ambitious goals -- we have ambitious goals. And if it didn't work to vaccinate 20 million people, we want to work with the governors, with the health department of each states --
CAMEROTA: Good. Good. What --
SLAOUI: To specifically help them to make it work.
CAMEROTA: What's the plan? Great.
SLAOUI: I mean I don't understand the tone of this conversation, to be honest.
CAMEROTA: Oh, good. What's the plan then to make it work?
SLAOUI: Work with the states. We can't decide where to help them. We, up to now, have made the strategic decision to work through the states. We went and visited them. We discussed with them. No states health department have told us this is the wrong approach. And then they told us where to send the vaccine and we sent the vaccine where they told us. We are sitting here ready to help them when they tell us where to help them. That's the message. We are ready to help the states where they ask us to help them.
CAMEROTA: OK. I mean that's -- that's awful passive. It could be more of an active plan.
SLAOUI: And we knowledge that we -- I wish we had vaccinated 20 million, obviously.
We worked day and night to have these vaccines available and we will continue to work days and night to have them immunized. I think it's a much more responsible and quiet conversation that needs to happen, frankly, to acknowledge that we have ambitious --
CAMEROTA: Mr. Slaoui, I would like to have a --
SLAOUI: We have ambitious objectives.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SLAOUI: And if we don't meet them, we take accountability and we'll work to find solutions rather than describe (ph) the problem.
CAMEROTA: That's what --
SLAOUI: That's what we always do. And that's what we have -- what we have achieved.
CAMEROTA: OK. I mean I'm asking you for that accountability and what the new plan is now that it hasn't worked. And you're saying you're waiting to hear from the states.
SLAOUI: No, it's -- yes, I think -- I think -- I am optimistic it will ramp up. You know, it's been two and a half weeks, almost three weeks and indeed it has been slower than planned. You know, there has been, I'm sure, in each states, opportunities to understand how they could do better. They will do better.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
SLAOUI: And they will ask us for help. We are inviting them to ask them for help. And we help them.
CAMEROTA: OK. Moncef Slaoui, thank you very much. We really appreciate you coming on and explaining this on NEW DAY.
[08:40:02]
And we will talk again.
SLAOUI: Thank you. Bye-bye.
CAMEROTA: How will President Trump's phone call with Georgia's secretary of state impact tomorrow's Senate runoff races? Details in a live report, next.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What an incredible week. Obviously Georgia's Senate runoffs take place tomorrow and the stunning comments from the president may very well loom large there.
Joining us now, Ryan Young, who is covering this race.
Ryan, what are you hearing?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, John.
If you think about it, the whole political universe is watching the state of Georgia. And think about this, $514 million has been spent already on ads. If you turn a television on, you turn the radio on, you hear ads nonstop. And already 3 million people have cast early votes. But it seemed like the focus has sort of turned in the last 24 hours,
especially after these comments have been released. And if you think about it, the president will be in the state today doing some campaign events. The president-elect will also be here.
But take a listen to two candidates talking about that stunning phone call.
[08:45:05]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: That is a direct attack on our democracy. And if David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler had one piece of steel in their spines, one shred of integrity, they would be out here defending Georgia voters from that kind of assault.
SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R) GEORGIA: I don't think it's really going to affect our election. I'm still shocked that a member of the Republican Party would tape a sitting president and then leak that. It's disgusting, in my view.
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YOUNG: John, you would think on a final pitch you'd want to hear the closing arguments for both sides. That's not happening as the focus has sort of changed to what the president was talking about. All this will play out, of course, tomorrow.
Talking to Georgia voters, a lot of them were concerned about the stimulus package, wanting to know how much money they would eventually get. Now everyone's just talking about that phone call.
John.
BERMAN: Yes, the Republican lieutenant governor of Georgia told Alisyn a few minutes ago, I can't see how this helps get Republicans to the polls.
Ryan Young for us in Georgia, thanks so much.
So, election night in America continues with special coverage of these Senate runoffs. It begins tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. here on CNN.
So our next guest calls President Trump's phone call with Georgia's secretary of state the ultimate smoking gun, worse than the Nixon tapes. And he should know. It's Carl Bernstein. He's with us next.
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BERMAN: All right, let's get "The Bottom Line" with CNN political analyst and legendary Watergate journalist Carl Bernstein.
[08:50:01]
And, Carl, pretty fitting that we have you on this morning. Obviously the Nixon tapes were part of the ultimate demise of the Nixon presidency. But you say the tape that we heard this weekend from President Trump calling the Georgia secretary of state asking him to find 11,870 votes, or 780 votes. You say it's even worse than the Nixon tapes. Why? What makes this so bad?
CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Because the president of the United States, we are listening in real time to the president proposed that there be a conspiracy to steal the election for the presidency of the United States, a coup, whatever word we choose to use, a dangerously out-of-control, unstable president of the United States provoking a constitutional crisis. And it's no accident that the generals, in particular, and the Defense Department officials are aware and are now saying out loud that the incumbent president of the United States is the gravest threat to the national security of the United States that we have.
This is unprecedented. It is extraordinary. And it is time for the Republican leadership and the Democratic leadership of the Senate and the House to demand that this president of the United States resign immediately. If this had happened and this tape were released at any other moment in our history, except Donald Trump's presidency, I think it's a very certain thing that the resignation of the president of the United States immediately would be demanded or he would be impeached and convicted in the Senate posthaste.
CAMEROTA: Carl, these former defense secretaries who have taken it upon themselves to band together to write a public letter to the American public, basically sounding a cautionary note that there's no role for the military in election results, I mean they're not putting it in as fine a point on it as you are. They're not saying that the president is a danger to the American people. But they're doing this for some reason. And so --
BERNSTEIN: They know it.
CAMEROTA: Yes, what do you think they 're seeing?
BERNSTEIN: They know it even better -- they know it even better than I because they know more classified information than I know. But I do know this, from some of those people's aides who have signed that letter, et cetera, people in the intelligence community, that there already has been something that Trump has done in the past few weeks that deeply, deeply troubled the intelligence community, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the generals, some kind of provocative action somewhere in the world that he had to be talked down from instigating. Don't know exactly what it is. We can speculate on trouble areas, Iran, the South China Sea, others, something happened.
Look, it has been a known fact that those closest to President Trump, in his presidency, in the national security area, his chiefs of staff, all concluded years and months ago that he was the principal danger to the national security of the United States, not our foreign adversaries.
We also have his niece telling us about his mental state. Same kind of picture of him we've gotten from his principal aides who have left his presidency. But we've heard now from a family member.
We are looking at a dangerously unstable president of the United States such as we've never had, including Nixon, in the final days of his presidency, attempting to create a constitutional crisis to somehow hold onto office in his desperation to selfishly exercise those followers of him, of himself to do something provocative, dangerous, perhaps violent. It's time for leadership of the Republican Party, especially Senator McConnell, to say, enough, Mr. President, we will not support you in any way.
This is the shame of the Republican Party. McConnell and his fellows in the Senate, particularly who have enabled this president in his acts, unstable acts, dangerous acts, illegal acts, a criminal and a seditious president of the United States is what we here on this -- on this tape, proposing to steal an election. And if McConnell, McCarthy in the House, cannot say, Mr. President, you have to go, you have to cease and desist, it is the shame of the Republican Party forever.
BERMAN: Carl, we have about 30 seconds left.
What are you most concerned about in the next 15 and half days?
BERNSTEIN: Everything. That the Republicans will not do what needs to be done, because that is the most effective thing that can be done to stop this president from his crazy utterings, actions.
[08:55:03]
He needs to be told in -- he needs to be told by the leadership of his party that they are going to restrain him in every matter and keep him from exercising his powers. And, otherwise, he should leave office and they should demand it immediately.
CAMEROTA: Carl Bernstein, we always appreciate getting your take. Thank you very much.
BERNSTEIN: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: And CNN's coverage continues right after this.
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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Monday morning to you in the new year. I'm Jim Sciutto.
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Poppy Harlow. We're so glad to be with you.
Well, this morning, democracy clearly under attack. A president who will stop at nothing to cling to power and a party fractured over the fight to overturn this election. This morning we are learning the president repeatedly pushed his staff to get him on the phone over the weekend with Georgia's secretary of state.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: No, I never believed it was appropriate to speak to the president, but he pushed out and I guess he had his staff push us and they wanted to call. The challenge that we have, first of all, we're in a litigation mode with the president's team against the state of Georgia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[09:00:03]
HARLOW: And it was a stunning one-hour phone call over the weekend, which clearly showed a desperate President Trump.
