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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Republicans Petition Supreme Court to Overturn Election; FDA Set to Vote on Pfizer Vaccine Approval; U.S. Hits 3,000 Daily COVID-19 Deaths. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired December 10, 2020 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Yesterday was the deadliest day of the pandemic so far in the United States, and one of the deadliest days in American history, with 3,124 Americans losing their lives to this virus.

And another 221,000 Americans tested positive just yesterday, horrific milestones that President Trump, of course, has yet to even acknowledge. He's too focused on continuing to spew lies and conspiracy theories about the election.

I want to bring in CNN's Nick Watt in Los Angeles.

Nick, where are we on the discussion at the FDA and the advisory panel, and where are we on the pending vote on the Pfizer vaccine?

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, this panel started meeting at 9:00 this morning. They just took a quick break. They are now in the final discussion section before they take a vote.

Now, it's been streamed all day. I'm watching it right now. And as members themselves have said, it is so important that this entire process is transparent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much to both of you.

WATT (voice-over): History right now being made in little boxes.

DR. WILLIAM GRUBER, PFIZER: Younger individuals tended to have more reactions. But, in all age groups, the vaccine was well-tolerated and the reactions were within an acceptable range.

DR. KATHRIN JANSEN, PFIZER: We believe that our data have satisfied the EUA requirements for a COVID-19 vaccine, as you see here on the green check marks.

DR. DORAN FINK, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, FDA DIVISION OF VACCINES: We will have a single question for the committee to vote on.

WATT: Less than two hours from now, that advisory committee could vote to recommend a green light for Pfizer's vaccine.

DR. STEPHEN HAHN, COMMISSIONER, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Our plan is to take their recommendations into account for our decision- making and make a decision shortly thereafter. Again, it really depends upon the complexity of the issues discussed. But we intend to act quickly.

WATT: Needles and syringes already on the move, nearly three million vaccine doses ready to be deployed within hours to states. But...

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: And I'm really, really just fearing what's going to happen over the next several weeks. Hospitals are overwhelmed. People are tired. And, quite frankly, people are dying.

WATT: Yesterday in America, 3,124 people were reported killed by COVID-19, the highest daily toll of the pandemic, more lives lost than 9/11. Get used to it. The CDC forecasts another 70,000 or so Americans could die from now through New Year's Day. That's an average of over 3,000 people every day.

ICUs at one in three hospitals were over 90 percent full last week. Reno, Nevada, this wasn't a hospital. It was the parking garage, now filled with beds and patients.

ROSALIA MARTINEZ, COVID-19 PATIENT: He coughs at nighttime. I can hear him. And if I yell, he can hear me. He knows that I'm still alive.

WATT: The worst days, months could still be to come. So Bill Nye, The Science Guy, is on TikTok explaining why masks really do work.

BILL NYE, THE SCIENCE GUY: Viruses don't travel by themselves. No, they travel in droplets of spit and snot. And the fibers are a tangle.

WATT: And those who know best are Grinching Christmas.

DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH: No Christmas parties. There is not a safe Christmas party in this country right now. I don't think we're going to see really a sizable amount of vaccine for the American public well into March and April.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on-camera): And some other nuggets we have picked up from this ongoing committee hearing.

This Pfizer vaccine can be manufactured quickly and safely. It is highly efficient. Two doses 21 days apart work best, but we still don't know how long the immunity might last.

And we still don't know quite how long this meeting is going to last. The chair did say that a previous meeting went until 6:45 p.m. Eastern, and he said that they don't want to go quite that long tonight -- Jake. TAPPER: All right, Nick Watt, thank you so much.

CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, joins me now to discuss this very important meeting.

Sanjay, the FDA advisory committee has been meeting since 9:00 this morning East Coast time. We know the vaccine has hit FDA efficacy standards.

But there are still some questions remaining on the safety of the vaccine for certain groups of people. Tell us more.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so, when you looked at the trial results overall, one thing you were looking for is obviously to see how well it worked, but then also, were there sample sizes large enough for certain groups of people to actually make some sort of determination?

So we can show you, there's certain groups that at least we're going to hear the final recommendations. There are certain groups, either because of small sample size or because they were just excluded, where it's going to be unclear so far if the vaccine will be authorized for them, children under the age of 16, pregnant women, breast-feeding mothers, people who have existing immunocompromised sort of situation.

[16:05:03]

And, as we know now, Jake, the news from the last couple of days, people who've had severe allergic reactions to vaccines in the past. And I can tell you, in that last category, for example, there -- the people who had severe allergic reactions were excluded from the Pfizer trial.

So, there just wasn't a lot of data there. Pregnant women were excluded from the Pfizer trial. But there are women who became pregnant while in the trial. So they have some data from that. Sometimes, the way it comes down, Jake, is that they basically say, we don't have enough data to suggest it's beneficial. We don't have any reason to believe that it's going to be risky. Discuss with your health care provider.

That's what a pregnant woman or a woman of childbearing age may be told, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, people have to remember this virus came on the world suddenly, and this -- these vaccines are being developed quickly as well.

Sanjay, it's just -- I am so sick of saying this to you, but, once again, the U.S. reported its deadliest day in this pandemic. It was Wednesday, yesterday, more deaths than on Pearl Harbor, more than 3,100 Americans, more deaths than September 11.

This vaccine can't come soon enough. Is there going to be added pressure to rush the approval process because of how bad it's getting out there? GUPTA: Yes, I mean, Jake, first of all, it is hard to believe that

we're seeing these numbers. And I'm glad you bring it up all the time, because I think people are becoming inured to it. It just sort of washes over them.

And it's worth repeating often, because there is something that can be done about it. Just presenting a problem without presenting a plan is a terrible idea. But if you could present a plan -- and there have been very effective ones proposed, aside from the vaccine -- it makes all the difference.

I mean, we could turn this around, lower the numbers within the next few weeks, without a vaccine, without all the things that we have been talking about for months, Jake.

I think there is obviously added pressure to get this vaccine out as quickly as possible. When you talk to people like the commissioner of the FDA, what's also very much weighing on their minds is the idea that there's so much vaccine hesitancy as well. So, how do you assure people that you're giving this a full and thorough review?

I asked Dr. Stephen Hahn about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAHN: If we don't do our job to reassure and ensure the safety and efficacy of the vaccine to American people, then we're going to contribute to vaccine hesitancy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUPTA: You know, Jake, it's no secret. I mean, there's been some issues with the FDA's emergency use authorization on other things like hydroxychloroquine.

This, they want to do right, and it's taking a few days longer than, for example, what we saw in the U.K.

TAPPER: Sanjay, how many people need to get vaccinated to get the United States to a point where we can actually feel some sort of impact?

GUPTA: You know, it's interesting, Jake.

When you look at this vaccine, what it really is shown to do is to decrease the likelihood someone gets sick from COVID-19, OK? They may still get the virus. They still may even be able to transmit the virus, but it's really to prevent them from getting sick.

So, in terms of overall deaths, you will see probably an impact earlier. You target people who are most likely at risk of getting seriously ill or dying, you will probably see some impact.

But in terms of overall bringing the numbers down, that's when you start talking about herd immunity and things like that. You see some impact when we may have 30 percent of the country vaccinated. Keep in mind, 15 to 20 percent of the country may already be immunized because they have been infected at some point. So they may have some lasting immunity for a period of time.

And then probably, the end of the summer, when you get to this number that Dr. Fauci always talks about, 65 to 75 percent, you have enough people immunized that way, it just makes it harder for the virus to jump around and find a host. End of summer, early fall, Jake.

TAPPER: Sanjay, we assume that the Pfizer vaccine is going to get authorized. But there are only 2.9 million doses that are going to be initially distributed; 2.9 million in a country of, what, 340 million, I mean, that seems low.

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, this is going to take a while.

I mean, so this is the Pfizer vaccine, 6.4 million doses. They're putting 500,000 away, essentially, in a stock supply, dividing the number in half -- that's where you get the 2.9 million -- and sending those out, keeping the other 2.9 in refrigerators for the second dose.

But you're right. And states are going to have to make some tough choices immediately in terms of how they're going to distribute this vaccine. Pennsylvania, for example, is going to mainly vaccinate health care workers. Alabama and Alaska are going to sort of split the vaccine doses between health care workers and long-term care facilities.

But the idea is that there is hopefully, if this works, going to be these rolling supplies of vaccines coming into these states over the next several weeks and months.

TAPPER: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

[16:10:01]

We have more breaking news for you. Not just a few, but dozens of House Republicans are making it official and supporting President Trump's ridiculous legal fight to overturn the will of the voters in four states that went for Biden.

And then: thousands of Americans waiting for hours to put food on the table, more than 850,000 Americans filing for unemployment last week. What is it going to take for Congress to agree on a stimulus deal?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Breaking news in our 2020 lead.

We have just learned that more than half of the House Republican Caucus, 106 House Republicans, to be exact, are backing President Trump's deranged legal push to undermine the election results and disenfranchise millions of voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Georgia.

[16:15:07]

President Trump is staging something of a nonviolent coup by siding with the Texas attorney general and asking the Supreme Court to overturn the votes in these four states that Joe Biden won.

The lawsuit is full of all sorts of crazy conspiracy theories. The attorney general of one of the states or commonwealths in question, Josh Shapiro from Pennsylvania, called it a -- quote -- "seditious abuse of the judicial process."

And it is hard to see how that is anything but dead on accurate

CNN's Kaitlan Collins joins us now live at the White House.

Kaitlan, there are a few notable House Republicans who did not sign on to this effort here. Tell us who.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right.

But it's still stunning that 106 elected lawmakers, some who were elected or reelected in this election that they're now trying to imply was rife with fraud, have signed on to this, Jake, because, in weeks where we have had so many stunning developments since the election, this is certainly one of the most, with 106 lawmakers now on the record, though, notably, there are a few people in Republican leadership who did not sign on to this brief.

That's Kevin McCarthy, Liz Cheney, a few others that are not on this list, though people like Steve Scalise did sign onto this brief, agreeing that they should overturn the results of this election, siding with this Texas lawsuit that so many people have dismissed as frivolous.

And, remember, it was the president who personally instructed Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson to go out and get Republicans to put their names on this list.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (voice-over): In another attempt to discredit Joe Biden's win, President Trump is now asking how the country can be run by an illegitimate president, while he clings to another far-fetched lawsuit, as his efforts to override the election grow more desperate by the minute.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All I ask for is people with wisdom and with courage. That's all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here, Mr. President!

TRUMP: Because if people -- certain very important people, if they have wisdom and if they have courage, we're going to win this election.

COLLINS: that was Trump's message for a Hanukkah party, as he's now eagerly backing a lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton attempting to stop the certification of votes in four swing states that Trump lost.

Legal experts said they doubt the high court will take it up. But Trump tweeted: "The Supreme Court has a chance to save our country from the greatest election abuse in the history of the United States."

This afternoon, Trump held a conveniently timed, but, according to the White House, previously scheduled lunch with Republican attorneys general, including Ken Paxton, who is currently being investigated by the FBI over allegations he abused his office to benefit a political donor.

GOP Senator Ben Sasse implied Pakistan's efforts to do Trump's bidding had more to do with his legal troubles, telling "The Washington Examiner" -- quote -- "It looks like a fella begging for a pardon filed a P.R. stunt, rather than a lawsuit."

CNN has learned Trump personally called Senator Ted Cruz and asked him to argue the case if it goes before the Supreme Court.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): And I told him I'd be happy to. And I believe the Supreme Court should choose to take the case. I think they should hear the appeal.

COLLINS: But not all Texas Republicans are on board. Senator John Cornyn said: "I frankly struggle to understand the legal theory of it."

Veteran Congresswoman Kay Granger called it a distraction. And Congressman Chip Roy said: "I cannot support an effort that will almost certainly fail."

Other Republicans up here ready to move on as well. Today, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said he will consider Biden's win official after electors meet and certify the results on Monday.

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Yes, I think he's the presumptive president- elect, but we just can't -- I won't at the same time dismiss that there are filings that deserve to go through the justice system, like anybody else in America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates into this discussion.

And, Laura. I mean, I'm stunned. More than half the Republicans in the House have signed on to this lawsuit that legal experts, conservative legal experts, have said is a garbage lawsuit, is insane, would set horrific precedents.

What do you make of this?

LAURA COATES, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I mean, it's so completely counter to even common sense that this is happening, because the Supreme Court doesn't want to weigh in on a political matter where there hasn't been some real basis for them to even hear it, where you have a state that says, you know what, even if we're not really affected by it, we want to lodge a complaint, only after we have waited to see the outcome and only after our own person who's bringing the lawsuit not only is an indicted person right now, probably auditioning for a pardon right now, Jake, but also did make changes that his people in Texas relied upon.

Now he wants to say that other states couldn't have done so and other electors couldn't have done so at the same time? It's absurd.

[16:20:05]

But what you're seeing here really is going to be a preview to what's going to happen on January, what is it, 7, when the Congress is going to meet to try to count these electoral votes, and they have a chance to object to them.

You're seeing a preview of that political theater on full display that's going to most assuredly be the case now.

TAPPER: Well, it's just absolutely undemocratic. I mean, it is seditious.

Kaitlan, the attorneys general for Michigan and Pennsylvania, both Democrats, they're being very vocal today, opposing this stunt with briefs at the Supreme Court.

The Michigan attorney general writes -- quote -- "Texas comes as a stranger to this matter and should not be heard here" -- unquote.

Have we ever seen this kind of legal showdown between states before over anything other than borders or water rights?

COLLINS: I don't think in a situation like this. And that's why you're even seeing Texas lawmakers say that they can't get behind this, because, even if you do agree about the questions about mail-in voting or the other, of course, allegations that the president has raised, often baselessly, they say, federalism is a thing here.

And having Texas sue another state for the way they are running their elections -- and, of course, they're only suing states that Donald Trump lost -- is their problem here. So even some of those conservative, very conservative Texas lawmakers are refusing to get behind this.

And if you talk to sources in the Trump campaign and the legal team and the White House that are dealing with this, they know it's not a realistic case. They do not even think that the Supreme Court is going to take it up.

But what the president can now do and why he obviously instructed Mike Johnson to go and get these Republicans to sign on is now he can say, look how many Republicans are behind me on this. Look how many Republican attorneys general are behind me on this. And so he can use that to continue with his push of -- his baseless push that this was a rigged election. TAPPER: Well, it works the other way, too. I mean, these members of Congress and these attorneys general, they're going to be forever associated with this crap, with this insane un-American, undemocratic lawsuit.

Laura, we interviewed conservative attorney George Conway this week. He's a Trump critic, but Trump did early on consider bringing him on as solicitor general.

Here is what George Conway had to say about this specific lawsuit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Is there any merit?

GEORGE CONWAY, CONSERVATIVE ATTORNEY: No, no, this is the most insane thing yet. It's absurd and an embarrassment.

And for a public official, let alone any lawyer, let alone any member of the Supreme Court bar, bringing this lawsuit is atrocious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Conservative legal experts are saying, in addition to nonpartisan, middle-of-the-road and liberal legal experts.

COATES: Even the phrase atrocious is a vast understatement here.

I mean, you have something that is nonsensical. There's no evidentiary support that's ever been put forth. You have got states that have already decided from their state Supreme Court levels how to interpret their own constitution. So, you have a fundamental misunderstanding of what the role of the Supreme Court is in even hearing cases and weighing in.

And you also have people who I think are really misinterpreting -- I think that Donald Trump and his legal team is misinterpreting what Bush v. Gore was about. The Bush v. Gore case, where you had the Supreme Court weigh in, there was actual -- an actual controversy, some understanding of who may have won, and there was actually a case and controversy.

Here, you have none of that. You have no concern about whether or not Joe Biden secured the requisite number of Electoral College votes or whether there's any irregularities.

And don't just take my word for it. Take Attorney General William Barr, who has said there is no evidence of irregularities or widespread fraud that he is aware in the entire department to overturn the election.

And yet and still you still have this, which is why I say that the notion here about this being nonsensical, look to the person who is bringing it entirely, talking about Mr. Paxton. He is somebody who, of course, knows full well, I'm sure, the power of the presidential pardon, and he himself is indicted, and could be the recipient of a preemptive pardon.

But also note here that what's also antithetical is also anti- Republican, last I checked. I thought that the Republican Party were also known for people who were advocating states' rights. Well, what is more antithetical to that than the notion of telling a state that is not impacted that they have to change their ways that they conduct their own state elections?

TAPPER: Yes.

COATES: Befuddling.

TAPPER: Laura Coates and Kaitlan Collins, thanks to both you.

President-elect Joe Biden is pulling more names from the Obama era for his Cabinet. What happened to an administration that's a bridge to the future that Biden promised during the campaign?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In the 2020 lead today: President-elect Joe Biden today announced the return of two familiar faces tapped to join his own administration.

He wants Susan Rice to lead the White House Domestic Policy Council. You may recall she was President Obama's national security adviser and Obama's first ambassador to the United Nations. Biden also selected Obama's former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough to lead the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Biden now has at least 12 names on his roster that come back from the Obama administration.

Let's bring in CNN's Arlette Saenz -- she covers the Biden transition -- from Wilmington, Delaware.

Arlette, the Biden team says this is about expertise, as well as his comfort level with people he knows. But he sure is opening himself up to criticism of wanting to preside over a third Obama term.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: And, Jake, president-elect Biden has really, in these early Cabinet picks, focused on people

[16:30:00]