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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Pandemic Surging; Biden Introduces Cabinet Picks. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired November 24, 2020 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:17]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Erica Hill, in for Jake Tapper.

We begin with breaking news in our 2020 lead, a Trump administration official telling CNN just moments ago the White House has given formal approval for Joe Biden to receive the president's daily briefing.

Now, this comes just hours after president-elect Biden introduced his first Cabinet picks this afternoon. The overarching message? America is back and the Biden team is ready to lead.

It was a striking visual, the nominees, as you see there, gathered in Wilmington, Delaware, but, of course, socially distanced with masks. The president-elect acknowledging he's glad his transition is finally being allowed to move forward, after weeks of delay from the Trump administration.

The Biden transition helping the stock market roll, a huge milestone on Wall Street today. You see it there on your screen, the Dow topping 30000 for the first time ever and then closing above that number as well just moments ago.

And it's that milestone that prompted President Trump to make his way to the White House Briefing Room for literally a one-minute speech bragging about the Dow. Hour later, he pardoned Corn gobbling alongside Cobb, two Thanksgiving turkeys who came from Iowa, a state the president said he loves.

One thing the president does not love these days, questions. Didn't take any. Not answering when asked about a formal concession, running in 2024 or any additional pardons.

But his lack of a formal concession doesn't seem to faze the president-elect's team, who made it very clear today they are approaching these new roles with a much different focus than what we have seen over the past four years, as CNN's Jessica Dean reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden making it official today.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: America is back.

DEAN: Formally introducing his first round of Cabinet nominees and appointees.

BIDEN: It's a team that will keep our country and our people safe and secure. And it's a team that reflects the fact that America is back.

DEAN: The national security and foreign policy picks are all heavy on experience. And, if confirmed, some will make history.

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY NOMINEE: Thank you for placing your trust in me to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

DEAN: Alejandro Mayorkas, the son of Cuban immigrants, would be the first Latino and immigrant to serve as homeland security secretary.

MAYORKAS: My father and mother brought me to this country to escape communism. They cherished our democracy, and were intensely proud to become United States citizens.

DEAN: Avril Haines would be the first woman to serve as director of national intelligence.

AVRIL HAINES, U.S. DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE NOMINEE: I have never shied away from speaking truth to power.

DEAN: Secretary of state nominee Antony Blinken spoke specifically of his late stepfather, who escaped the Holocaust as a child, finding safety with American forces.

TONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE NOMINEE: He ran to the tank. The hatch opened. An African-American G.I. looked down at him. He got down on his knees and said the only three words that he knew in English that his mother had taught him before the war: "God bless America."

That's who we are.

DEAN: Louisiana native Linda Thomas-Greenfield, nominated to be ambassador to the United Nations, promised to bring people together using what she calls gunboat diplomacy, a strategy she deployed in her 35 years in Foreign Service.

LINDA THOMAS-GREENFIELD, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS NOMINEE: Wherever I was posted around the world, I'd invite people of different backgrounds and beliefs to help me make a roux and chop onions for the Holy Trinity and make homemade gumbo. It was my way of breaking down barriers.

DEAN: The nominees were clear. Their message to the world is very different than President Trump's America first approach.

BLINKEN: We need to be working with other countries. We need their cooperation.

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER NOMINEE: And, perhaps most importantly, you have tasked us with helping unite America.

DEAN: Seventeen days after the election was called, the Biden transition is now fully in motion, with the General Services Administration signing off on the official process Monday night.

BIDEN: I'm pleased to have received the ascertainment from GSA to carry out a smooth and peaceful transition of power.

DEAN: The Biden team has already been in communication with several key government agencies, like the Department of Defense, Treasury, State Department, and Health and Human Services.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Today's introductions just the first of many, as Biden works to fill out his Cabinet. We know that he has selected Janet Yellen to lead -- to be his nominee for Treasury secretary, Erica, but many more of these announcements to come in the weeks ahead -- Erica.

HILL: Jessica Dean with the latest for us.

Jessica, thank you.

Well, in both brief appearances today by President Trump, not even a slight mention of his dwindling days in the White House.

However, as CNN's Kaitlan Collins reports, other members of his administration are acknowledging what is now officially in the works.

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(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): While refusing to commit to the tradition of conceding the election, President Trump took part in another tradition at the White House today.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Corn, I hereby grant you a full pardon.

Thank you, Corn.

COLLINS: Trump granting leniency to two turkeys in the Rose Garden ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, while making only a veiled reference to the presidential transition now under way.

TRUMP: And, as I say, America first. Shouldn't go away from that, America first.

COLLINS: It was his second appearance in front of cameras today, after the White House gave reporters a two-minute notice for this one- minute presidential statement.

TRUMP: The stock market's just broken 30000, never been broken, that number. That's a sacred number, 30000. Nobody thought they'd ever see it.

COLLINS: In the Briefing Room, Trump touted the milestone for the Dow and attempted to take credit for it, before leaving the room designated for questions without taking any for the third week in a row.

TRUMP: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

COLLINS: It was the president's first appearance in front of cameras since the General Services Administration announced the transition to the Biden administration can now formally begin, including coordination between officials like HHS Secretary Alex Azar and the incoming pandemic team.

ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We are immediately getting them all of the pre-prepared transition briefing materials. We will ensure coordinated briefings with them to ensure they're getting whatever information that they feel they need.

COLLINS: The move was seen as possibly the closest Trump could get to a concession, though he later tweeted: "What does GSA being allowed to preliminarily work with the Dems have to do with continuing to pursue our various cases? We are moving full speed ahead."

Even with the Biden transition now under way, the president is continuing to fund-raise off his own efforts to undermine democracy, sending multiple e-mails overnight. The e-mails claim the funds are to fight the election results, but the fine print shows Trump's new fund- raising arm gets the first cut.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And, Erica, we saw that GSA formally signed off on the transition last night. But there was still a question of when Joe Biden was going to start receiving those classified intelligence briefings that typically someone gets as soon as they have won the presidential election.

And CNN has now learned from a White House official that the White House has signed off on president-elect Biden receiving what is known as the president's daily brief. That's that written assessment prepared by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence that the president and his top advisers get.

Of course, it's been a point of contention at some points of Donald Trump's presidency. But we are now told that Biden does have access to get that. And right now, coordination is under way for him to receive his first briefing of that matter.

And so this is just another step in the process to move forward to this transition of power in the federal government from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

HILL: Kaitlan, thank you.

Joining me now to discuss, former Republican Congresswoman Mia Love and Democratic strategist and former adviser to President Bill Clinton Paul Begala.

Paul, I just want to pick up quickly on Kaitlan's reporting there that Joe Biden will now receive the president's daily brief. Again, this is, I think, one in a number of steps that would not feel as remarkable, had it not been withheld for so many weeks.

What does this actually change for the Biden team?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it changes a lot.

It's an absolutely critical briefing that the president-elect has to get every single day. And I'm glad that President Trump and his team have belatedly signed off on it.

I think it's done some real damage to our security to not have it. And I say that because, yes, Joe Biden has vast experience. And, yes, he was the vice president. So for eight years, he had that briefing. But he has not been briefed on our latest intelligence for four years, nor should he have been, right? He was a private citizen.

So he doesn't know a lot of what we're up to right now and a lot of what our enemies are up to. So, to prepare to defend America, he has to have that briefing. And so I'm very glad it's happened. I'm quite worried and angry that it was delayed for several weeks. But I'm really glad. This is critical information for the president-elect and his team to get up to speed, because the first job of the president is to protect America.

HILL: And, Paul, stick with me for one second on this, because the Biden team clearly was laying out a narrative today, right? They were highlighting experience and the qualifications of all of these nominees, also their personal stories.

But they wanted to put this storyline out there about service over self, talking about the country. That, too, was a departure that, in other times, may not have felt remarkable, and yet somehow it did.

BEGALA: Yes.

I have to say, I thought back to when Donald Trump was president-elect and he introduced his national security team. And a lot of them were very impressive too, General McMaster, General Mattis, General Kelly. These are people who've spent their careers putting service to the country ahead of themselves.

The -- and so are Trump's -- so or Joe Biden's team. The difference is, I do think Donald Trump practices the politics of narcissism, where everything has to be about him, everything.

[16:10:10]

And this was so normal, because it was a bunch of patriots, highly, highly qualified, ready to give up their private lives to serve our country and to protect our country. And they didn't do that kind of weird, almost sort of North Korean obeisance that Trump always requires. I mean, of course, they praised Joe. He's going to be their boss.

But it just seemed strong and secure, as opposed to that weak and insecure attitude that Trump seemed to bring to everything.

HILL: Congresswoman, one of the things that Joe Biden has said is that he wants to work across the aisle, that -- highlighting that he has successfully done it in his many years there in Washington.

So, that being said, what did you hear today that you think could maybe bring over some people from across the aisle, could constitute reaching out to Republicans?

MIA LOVE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Like what Paul Begala said, I think it's the fact that he actually said, I want people to tell me what I need to hear vs. what I want to hear.

I mean, that's a really good start, because that's saying, I don't want to work in a bubble. And I certainly hope that that's true, because it's gotten the current president in trouble quite a bit. And this is one of the things that I think is really important, transparency, making sure that the president has exactly what he needs to hear so he can do the job.

The other thing I think that is important is, I like Chair Yellen. I have worked with Chair Yellen as a member of the Financial Services Committee. She has always been very straightforward and tried very hard to be nonpartisan, to do the job.

I think that there are a lot of Republicans that are concerned about John Kerry. I think that he could have picked -- the best pick he could have had was to pick someone, a Republican, who is for climate solutions to show that this is not a political issue, but it's actually an issue that he wants to move forward with bipartisan support.

HILL: So, there is going to be criticism as well, Paul, from those in the Democratic Party. I mean, we're talking about Biden and the team trying to reach across the aisle.

But there is a large -- a large number of progressives within the Democratic Party who are -- they're starting to talk and they're not necessarily happy with what they're seeing in terms of the initial nominations.

BEGALA: Well, and that's the nature of putting together a coalition. And the Democratic Party is large and diverse, and it needs its left- wing and it needs its center. You can't do without one or the other.

I'm so thrilled to hear Mia praising Janet Yellen. I worked with Janet. She's a very able person. And you know who else praised her? Elizabeth Warren. Not exactly Mia's politics, a very liberal Democrat. Mia is a conservative Republican. This is what you want.

But the added -- so, the added complexity is not only does Biden have to unite his party. He has to reach out to Republicans. I would love to see him, for example, put President Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, former mayor of Chicago, former congressman, in a place like Transportation, which is not ideological.

Rahm is a moderate. That is a very good thing, I think. But some progressives don't like that. But, at Transportation, you're just putting deals together. And the Republicans may control the Senate. The Democrats control the House. Rahm is a guy who can put those kinds of deals together for moderates and the progressives and, yes, even the Republicans, because that's what it's going to take.

And I think that's what Biden's brand of politics is going to inspire.

HILL: So, before I let you go, Congresswoman, there's been so much made over the last several weeks about the lack of Republicans coming forward to acknowledge the outcome of the election, the will of the voters.

Here we are now. Look, I don't think anybody's holding their breath for President Trump to formally concede. But would you like to see more Republicans, specifically elected officials, speaking up and saying, yes, these are the results, this is how democracy works, we need to move forward?

Because there's still a lot of silence.

LOVE: Yes, what I'd like to see is grownups, grownups that are willing to do the right thing for the American people.

I was actually frustrated when -- even when Donald Trump became president, and there were people that were saying, this is not my president, there were members of Congress that were saying, we're not going to accept this election. Everyone needs to just grow up and understand that elections have consequences.

And if you did not like Joe Biden, the best thing that you can do is accept that he is going to be the president come January, and do everything you can to make sure that the president is successful, because we have got a lot of problems. And a lot of Americans need grownups at the table that are going to sit down and talk about what they are for.

And I really wish that this -- that we would just start the healing of America and the uniting of the American people, because there are people out there that want to see us harmed and do not want to see the United States of America succeed.

HILL: Congresswoman Mia Love, let's hope they are listening now to that message. Thank you.

[16:15:03]

Paul Begala, great to have you both here today. Thank you.

BEGALA: Thanks, Erica.

HILL: Hospitals so overwhelmed with COVID patients that pregnant women may not be able to get care, and they're not the only ones -- a top health official warning of a dark reality right now. Plus, these pictures becoming far too common, Americans waiting on

line for hours just to feed their families, food banks stretched thin ahead of Thanksgiving and a season of need.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: In our health lead: reaching a breaking point.

Nine months into this pandemic, health care workers are stretched thin. And they are worried about what's to come.

Frankly, they're exhausted.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SHIRLEE XIE, HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE: I don't think you can describe how that feels to us, as their caretakers, to have to see that kind of suffering from patients.

We're all just really, really scared of what's to come, because the hospitals are already full.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The hospitals are already full.

Today, more than 85,000 Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19. That is yet another record high, for the 14th day in a row, according to the COVID Tracking Project. And we know it is getting worse.

As CNN's Lucy Kafanov reports, a new model now predicts a total of 20 million cases in the U.S. by Inauguration Day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The coronavirus outbreak is accelerating across the nation, more than 169,000 new cases reported yesterday, the highest Monday on record, 30 states seeing a surge in new cases this week, and an uncontrolled spread of the virus across New Mexico, up 104 percent compared to last week.

COVID-19 so rampant across America that one model projects the U.S. will reach a staggering 20 million cases by January 20, hospitals buckling under the surge.

DR. JEROME ADAMS, SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: You may not be able to go in and get your heart attack treated. I have heard hospitals not being able to provide care for pregnant women because they're filled with COVID beds. So, that's the reality.

KAFANOV: From coast to coast, 14 consecutive days of a record- breaking hospitalizations, in California, surging by 77 percent over the last two weeks, while, in Minnesota, "The Star Tribune" publishing this dire headline: "No Beds Anywhere." XIE: I took care of a woman who, after over a month in the ICU, was recovering from COVID. And that should be a win. But we were trying to call her family every day to give them an update, and we couldn't get a hold of anyone. And then, one day, we found out it's because her husband had died of COVID and her daughter had died of COVID, all while she was in the hospital.

And so how do you tell somebody that? How do you tell somebody that their family has died?

DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH: Every place is like Minnesota, and Minnesota is like every place.

KAFANOV: If that warning is ignored, the Thanksgiving holiday could turn into a disaster.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: Going home to your home community for a wonderful traditional Thanksgiving holiday might actually, unfortunately, be a source of an even amplification of the surge.

KAFANOV: As cases keep surging, some states forced to implement new restrictions.

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): And we're being overwhelmed with a record number of cases, with hospitalizations going up, with numbers of individuals in the ICU Increasing every day.

KAFANOV: Los Angeles County reporting a new record for cases Monday, 6,124, setting the stage for a new stay-at-home order. Nashville Public Schools returning to all virtual classrooms after Thanksgiving.

DR. NICHOLAS CHRISTAKIS, YALE UNIVERSITY: There should be no community in this nation where the bars are open, but the elementary schools are closed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAFANOV: Here in Colorado, new models are showing one in 41 residents are likely to be contagious as the virus spreads unchecked across the state, this as a CDC director just moments ago announcing that most of the coronavirus spread across the U.S. is coming from small gatherings and people who are not exhibiting symptoms.

It's a stark warning ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday -- Erica.

HILL: Yes, it certainly is.

Lucy, thank you.

Well, my next guest is fighting the virus on the front lines. And she has been for months.

Dr. Lilian Abbo is the chief of infection prevention at Jackson health System In Miami.

Good to have you with us.

As we just heard from Lucy there, we're learning more and more about this disease as we go along. But the fact that we know the number of asymptomatic spreaders is now even larger than we thought it was, a lot of the spread is happening in young people, this is, I know, particularly concerning to you, because of the holidays. And you're worried about what this is bringing your way.

You already had a massive surge in July.

DR. LILIAN ABBO, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST: Thank you. Thank you very much for the invitation.

Absolutely. Like everything you have been hearing throughout the day, this is not drama. This is reality. We are concerned. We're seeing an increased number of flights coming through Miami. We know that people have pandemic fatigue. People want to get out. People are tired.

But this is what's going to get us into trouble. Our hospitals right now have good capacity to take care of people, but our hospitals are full with non-COVID patients. As the number of COVID cases increase, it's going to become very difficult to take care of everyone, and the same time maintain the economy open.

So this is the time for everyone to understand that it's up to each one of you to take social responsibility to protect yourself and to protect everyone around you, especially during these holiday times.

HILL: That's part of what we heard from the surgeon general warning this morning that hospitals are so overwhelmed, they may not be able to treat emergencies like heart attacks. We're hearing concerns about pregnant women.

What are the -- how much of that is a discussion for you in terms of rationing care? I mean, I know this is something that hospitals have had to address for a number of months, so that they're ready if they get to that point.

[16:25:10]

ABBO: So, we have not had to ration care.

And one message that is extremely important, we want people who need care to come and get care. When we were in lockdown, the number of people coming with heart attacks came down dramatically. And we don't know if people had heart attacks at home, and they were just worried about coming to the hospital.

So, first of all, in Miami, our emergency departments are open. They're able to take care of patients. If you're pregnant, if you need care, come and get care. We don't want to scare people from getting the care that they need.

What we want to make sure is that the community understands that wearing a mask, maintaining the physical distancing, and not having large gatherings is the only way we can really stop this pandemic. And we showed that when we had the restrictions, and when we had orders for universal masking.

We were able to take care of everyone. We were able to control our surge from July with these measures. And now, with upcoming new treatments, this is an option.

But it depends on the community behaviors. We don't want to collapse the health system. We don't want to get to the point where we have to ration care or send you to a park to get treatment under a tent. We don't want to get there.

HILL: Yes, we need everybody to do their part. That is for sure.

Your hospital is actually going to be one of the first to receive the Pfizer vaccine, one of five, I believe, in Florida. What more can you tell us? What do you know about the planning for that moment when the vaccine does arrive?

ABBO: Yes.

So, Jackson Health System is one of five hospitals in the state and the only one in Miami who will get the vaccine in the first phase. There are plans to distributed across the other hospitals and the health systems.

What we don't know yet is the amount of vaccine that each state will be getting, and how soon will that be allocated? We're hearing that very soon, in upcoming weeks. We have plans already in place. We have been working on this for several weeks.

And that includes the refrigeration that this vaccine needs. It needs to be a minus-80 degrees. It's two doses per person 21 days apart. We're educating all our staff and faculty and providers on what do we know about this vaccine, the safety, the immediate potential side effects, and we're making plans to make sure that everyone who needs the vaccine will have the opportunity to get the vaccine.

We will be starting with health care workers and people that are at high risk, front-line providers, following the guidelines from the health department and the state.

HILL: Dr. Lilian Abbo, appreciate you taking the time to join us today. Thank you for all your work over the last several months. Really appreciate it. Thank you.

ABBO: Thank you. Thank you very much.

HILL: Well, the Biden administration is now dot-gov official, how the transition is hitting -- moving into full gear, rather, with the federal government finally signing off on Biden's win.

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