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The Lead with Jake Tapper

U.S. Economic Outlook; Trump Set to Reduce Troop Presence in Iraq and Afghanistan; Oregon Governor Kate Oregon is Interviewed About the Coronavirus Pandemic; Russia's COVID Reality Not What Kremlin Portrays. Aired 4:30-5p ET

Aired November 16, 2020 - 16:30   ET

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

[16:30:02]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: By March 16, two months later, shots were going into arms as part of these clinical trials.

I didn't -- I couldn't believe it when I saw that pace. It typically takes years to really get these vaccines approved. It'll be done within a year. So, that is worth celebrating. And now we have some early data to be very optimistic about.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So, all of the scientists, everyone behind this, all the way up to President Trump and Vice President Pence, congratulations on this great accomplishment. We are obviously waiting for more news and for the vaccine to be available.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much today. Appreciate it.

GUPTA: You got it.

TAPPER: Thousands of cars lined up for food in Texas, as president- elect Joe Biden outlines his plan to jump-start the economy. But can we wait until next year for the money to start flowing?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:35:25]

TAPPER: In our world lead today: Sources are telling CNN that the U.S. military has been told to begin planning to draw down the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq by January 15, five days before outgoing President Trump leaves office.

This call comes in the final days of the Trump administration, of course, leaving president-elect Biden in a precarious situation of sorts.

Let's go straight to CNN national security correspondent Vivian Salama. And, Vivian, there are currently 4,500 troops in Afghanistan, according to a Pentagon decision made in June, and 3,000 troops in Iraq. How many troops are expected to remain in those two countries?

VIVIAN SALAMA, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Jake, the new order has asked commanders to start making plans to bring the numbers in Afghanistan down to 2,500 troops and in Iraq to 2,500 troops, levels that we haven't seen in years.

And, obviously, this is getting a lot of bipartisan pushback, including from Mitch McConnell, who took to the Senate floor a little while ago and said that he was concerned about it, as well as others.

Now, it's always good news, Jake, when we bring the troops home safely, but there are serious national security implications involved, and a lot of people concerned that there's going -- this is going to create a vacuum, leaving our allies at bay to have to fend for themselves without U.S. protection, leaving our allies in those countries, whether it's the Afghans or the Iraqis, to fend for themselves, and then also creating a vacuum in terms of other actors, maybe actors who don't have the same ideals as the United States to come in, like Russia and Turkey and others, in the area.

And so this has been a huge problem and something that the president has so far resisted even in the last days of his presidency.

TAPPER: And Esper sent a memo to the White House before he was fired earlier this month, saying that conditions were not met and that there should not be a -- what he viewed a precipitous withdrawal because of all the national security concerns you just outlined.

Esper was then fired, as were a number of his deputies, and a number of Trump loyalists have been put in there instead. How is this all going to impact the incoming Biden administration, which is obviously going to have to pick up the mantle of leading, commanding our troops?

SALAMA: Jake, history has taught us time and time again that hasty and -- hasty withdrawals can end very badly.

And so we are seeing here that, when the Trump administration withdraws, Biden's going to have to basically answer to any of the national security concerns that come up in these countries, and whether or not we're going to have to send U.S. troops back to those countries remains to be seen.

But this has happened time and time again in our history, and we will see what happens now.

TAPPER: Yes, I'm old enough to remember Republicans attacking Obama for withdrawing troops from Iraq, thus leaving a power vacuum, and there was the rise of ISIS. But who cares?

All right, Vivian Salama, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

In the money lead: Moderna's word of a promising coronavirus vaccine did wonders on Wall Street today. The Dow closed this hour up 470 points, after trading all day near an all-time high of 30000. The Dow was well on its way to that 30000 benchmark back in February, right, of course, before the pandemic hit.

I want to bring in CNN anchor Julia Chatterley.

And, Julia, Moderna's encouraging vaccine news, it's great news for investors. But Wall Street, of course, is not Main Street. And just this weekend, 25,000 people in Dallas, Texas, lined up at a food bank. How does this encouraging news on a vaccine help, if it does at all, the larger U.S. economy?

JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN BUSINESS ANCHOR: Look, it helps provide some degree of hope for the future. But you're so right, Jake. What it doesn't help is the estimated one in seven Americans that are relying on food banks during this crisis put food on the table.

It doesn't help if we don't get more support from Congress. It doesn't negate the need for that, nor does it negate the need to control the virus.

Just an illustration, I spoke to the CEO of one of the biggest hotel chains in the country, Best Western, today. He said -- and I quote him -- they're seeing a tremendous amount of cancellations of bookings as a result of the rising COVID cases.

People are simply afraid. He described it as maddening that Congress couldn't agree more support. This is going to have an impact on businesses. Many of them are small, and it's going to cost workers jobs. None of this is helped by vaccine news, as great as it is.

TAPPER: All right, Julia, and late December, obviously, that's the earliest estimate for any vaccine, the Pfizer one. Thanksgivings is next week. Then it's Christmas and Hanukkah, all big spending holidays.

This could be a real make-or-break stretch for the U.S. economy.

CHATTERLEY: Let me explain how big.

An estimated one-fifth of all the spending that gets done for the entire year takes place in the months of November and December. This year may be different, of course, given the pandemic, but these are critical months for businesses of all shapes and sizes.

[16:40:04]

In my view, the next two to three months are going to determine whether or not we double-dip, i.e., we go back into recession. And then the risk is that we lose more jobs. It's going to come down to consumer confidence in the end, as we watch virus cases spike, as we see hospitalizations rise.

And, Jake, the real fact here is, it didn't need to be this way. We could have controlled this virus better, and we wouldn't have been having this conversation.

TAPPER: Julia Chatterley, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

In one state, new strict COVID restrictions, which include fines, jail time, and a possible impact on all Thanksgiving dinners.

The governor of that state will join me next.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with our national lead.

[16:45:05]

And Vice President Mike Pence speaking with the nation's governors about coronavirus this afternoon for the first time in over a month. This morning, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the call will focus on how an eventual coronavirus vaccine will be distributed.

Joining us now is the Democratic governor of the state of Oregon, Kate Brown.

Governor Brown, what did you learn from your call with the vice president today? Are you confident that the distribution of a vaccine will be efficient?

GOV. KATE BROWN (D-OR): Look, the vice president clearly articulated a strategy for distributing the vaccines across the country. But the conversation was extremely disingenuous when we have a new administration coming in, in a matter of weeks. There was conversation about what the hand-off was going to be and how they were going to ensure that the Biden/Harris administration would be fully prepared and ready to accept the baton.

TAPPER: Did anybody bring that up or was it not that kind of phone call where he could ask questions?

BROWN: It was not that kind of phone call.

Here's the other piece that's really concerning. Jake, you're well aware what we are seeing in states across the entire United States with cases increasing exponentially in communities around the United States.

In order to keep American safe and healthy, we are having to impose restrictions on our businesses. These businesses are obviously vital to our economies and communities around the state of Oregon. We need a federal relief package.

The Trump administration needs to step up. Republicans and Democrats need to work together. We need significant investments in our businesses large and small and our workers across the country need additional pandemic unemployment assistance and they need it now.

TAPPER: Let me ask you about steps you're taking in Oregon to try to control the virus. You have issued an order limiting any social gatherings to six people maximum for the next two weeks. Anyone who violates that order could be ticketed or even jailed for up to 30 days.

Could somebody actually be jailed for having a Thanksgiving dinner with more than six people?

BROWN: Look, our cases in Oregon have doubled in the last two weeks. And hospitals in the Portland area are having to reduce surgeries for Oregonians that need medical care. So, we are seeing an incredible increase in cases.

I am not expecting law enforcement to be going door-to-door. But in cases where there's a flagrant disregard of the law, people should and will be cited. It's no different than local officers responding to noise complaints for loud parties, for example, and issuing citations as a result.

But we know that the virus spreads through these informal social gatherings like wildfire. I put on aggressive and immediate restrictions because we still have an opportunity to curb the virus and ensure that we have adequate hospital bed capacity.

TAPPER: An incoming Oregon County commissioner, Republican Tootie Smith, responded to your announcement of these new restrictions on Facebook, saying that she will celebrate Thanksgiving with as many friends and family as she can find because she disagrees with your orders.

What's your response to that?

BROWN: Look, here's what I know -- the vast majority people of Oregonians are complying with these restrictions because they know and the science tells us that these restrictions save lives and keep people healthy. It is not too late for us to stem the tide of the virus here in Oregon and we know that it's the social gatherings that are spreading this deadly disease.

And, frankly, as elected officials, we need to hold ourselves to a higher standard and make sure that our constituents, the people of Oregon, are getting the information they need to protect their families from COVID-19.

TAPPER: What are you going to be doing for Thanksgiving? And in the minute we have left, what's your message for Oregonians?

BROWN: So, what I'm going to be doing with Thanksgiving? I'm sharing it with my spouse, my partner, and new puppy and, of course, his daughter and her partner as well. They have two dogs.

We're going to keep it small. We're going to keep it tight. We want to make sure that we don't accidentally kill someone.

TAPPER: That's four people, three dogs, but I guess that's under six.

Do you have -- is there a message you have for those citizens of Oregon?

BROWN: Yes. Oregonians across the state have made tremendous sacrifices.

[16:50:03]

It is not too late to reduce the spread and slow the transmission of the virus. We can do this. We're Oregon. Please, please, please, comply with the safety measures, including watch your distance, wear your mask, wash your hands, and get a flu shot.

TAPPER: All right. Oregon Governor Kate Brown, thank you so much for your time today. We really appreciate it.

BROWN: Thank you. You stay safe out there.

TAPPER: This is the COVID response Russia wants the world to see. An ice rink turned into a hospital. But CNN found horrific hospital scenes that are much more common than that vision. The video the Kremlin does not want you to see. We'll bring that to you next.

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[16:55:23]

TAPPER: Our world lead now. A rare look inside a coronavirus treatment center in Russia. This converted ice plex may look calm and orderly, but CNN's Matthew Chance obtained new video showing chaotic, overcrowded and frankly appalling scenes inside hospitals and morgues across Russia. A warning, some of the footage you're about to see may be disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the pandemic response Russia wants us to see, a vast state-of- the-art field hospital set up to manage the coronavirus surge.

(on camera): We are about to head into the red zone.

(voice-over): It was a world championship ice skating stadium called the Ice Palace.

Now the view from the stands is 1,300 beds and the staff of highly protected medics apparently in control of this COVID-19 crisis.

We have all of the necessary diagnostic equipment including ultrasound and ventilators, the chief doctor on the left tells me.

The Russian government is taking serious anti-coronavirus measures, he insists, not just here in Moscow, but far beyond.

But there is another side of Russia's raging pandemic. Authorities here would prefer we ignore, with shocking evidence of an overloaded health care system buckling under the strain of COVID-19. On social media, there are heart breaking scenes like this one of an

ambulance medic trying to in vain to get a 90-year-old patient admitted to an overcrowded ward.

I won't take her home to die, the paramedic says. Why do I have to weep and beg you to take in a patient, she cries.

The Russian authorities admit hospitals in some regions are at more than 95 percent capacity.

But there's mounting evidence of a surging death toll too. In this video recorded last month and sent us by an opposition linked Russian Doctors Union, a dead woman dangles unattended from a hospital bed while other patients gasp for breath just feet away.

We lost another two in the ward overnight, says a male voice on the video. This is how COVID-19 is killing everyone, he says.

There are horrific scenes of inundated morgues, too. Some too graphic to show. Corpses strewn across floors and stretches and emerged an official Russian COVID death figure is significantly low compared to other badly infected countries may grossly understate the real toll by excluding people who are presume to have COVID postmortem, even those with pre-existing conditions that proved fatal due to the infection.

If they were counted as many other countries, Russia's official death toll of over 33,000 people would be higher, much higher, according to a former government statistician who has compiled figures on excess deaths and spoke to CNN.

ALEXEY RAKSHA, FORMER RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN: I think it's 130,000 people.

CHANCE (on camera): A hundred and thirty thousand people who have died in Russia with COVID-19?

RAKSHA: (SPEAKING RUSSIAN)

CHANCE: And do you believe that the Russian government is purposely hiding the real cost of the COVID-19 death toll?

RAKSHA: Of course. They need to make people not afraid of the virus. It's very helpful for providing good picture so we are Russian, we are Russians. We are proud of our country. Everything is good with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, Jake, so far, the Russian government have not responded to that allegation that they are purposely distorting the COVID death toll. What I will say if you scratch the surface of what they want to show us in that hospital we saw was a great example of that, you look at social media, you listen to testimony from front line medical workers and you can see the real COVID-19 situation in Russia is much bleaker than the government are prepared to admit.

Back to you. TAPPER: All right. Matthew Chance, great reporting. Thank you so much

for filing that. Appreciate it.

This pandemic has taken almost a quarter million lives in the United States. Victor Cabrera (ph), he was one of them. He was 61 years old, he was a nurse from Manteca, California. His wife Anna described victor as selfless.

During the pandemic, victor worked directly with COVID patients. Anna says victor's patients came before everything. He had three adult fans. He loved to travel. He's a big fan of "Harry Potter." Our deepest condolences to the Cabrera family and may Victor's memory be a blessing.

Our coverage on CNN continues right now. I'll see you tomorrow.

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