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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Post-Christmas COVID-19 Surge Expected; Nashville Bombing Investigation; Trump Keeps Focus on Overturning Election Results. Aired 4-4:30p ET

Aired December 28, 2020 - 16:00   ET

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

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Right now, we just aren't getting all the information that we need for the ongoing, outgoing and -- from the outgoing administration in key national security areas.

It's nothing short, in my view, of irresponsibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: President-elect Biden went on to accuse the Trump administration of hollowing out the key U.S. agencies responsible for keeping the U.S. safe.

Let's go straight to CNN's M.J. Lee. She's live for us in Wilmington, Delaware.

And, M.J., it was clear the president-elect is frustrated with what he sees as lack of cooperation from the Trump administration.

M.J. LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake, I think frustrated and frankly concerned.

Historically, the transition process is such that the incoming administration gets a lot of cooperation and transparency from the current government. And that, of course, has been delayed to begin with, because the GSA would not offer the official ascertainment for a number of weeks.

So, these teams, these agency review teams working for the Biden transition, they were already late in getting their access to some of this critical information, and now Biden today, after he was briefed by these teams, saying, yes, from some parts of the government, the cooperation has been just as it should be, getting all the information we need, but from other parts of government, this has simply been obstruction.

Here's what he said:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BIDEN: For some agencies, our teams received exemplary cooperation from the career staff in those agencies. From others, most notably, the Department of Defense, we encountered obstruction from the political leadership of that department.

And the truth is, many of the agencies that are critical to our security have incurred enormous damage. Many of them have been hollowed out in personnel, capacity and in morale.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: And just more broadly speaking about foreign policy and national security, Biden really emphasizing that these international alliances with other countries have really been weakened under President Trump, and that rebuilding foreign policy is going to be one of the biggest and most important challenges for him and vice president-elect Kamala Harris -- Jake.

TAPPER: And speaking of vice president-elect Kamala Harris, you have some news about her. She's going to get the coronavirus vaccine tomorrow.

LEE: That's right. She is going to be receiving the coronavirus vaccine tomorrow in Washington, D.C. And, importantly, she is going to be doing it in a public setting.

This is, of course, the same as what we saw president-elect Joe Biden do last week, receiving his vaccine in front of the cameras. One of the reasons that they are pushing to do this in a public setting is so that they can start to build the public trust for the vaccine as the vaccination distribution process continues.

I should note this is particularly noteworthy coming from Senator Kamala Harris, vice president-elect Kamala Harris, because she has talked pretty openly, including an interview with you, Jake, about how important it is going to be for people of color to start having more trust that the vaccination is safe.

These are communities that have typically been more distrustful of the vaccine. So, they know, this transition team, that building that trust is going to be very important in this vaccination distribution process that is going to be unfolding over the next couple of months.

TAPPER: All right, M.J. Lee, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Meanwhile, President Trump's destructive and erratic behavior continues to harm the American people. The president waited until unemployment benefits expired for millions of Americans before he signed a COVID relief and government funding bill.

As CNN's Boris Sanchez reports for us now, the president, frankly, seems more focused on his flailing attempts to overturn the democratic election than actually doing his job.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hours after finally signing a coronavirus relief package, President Trump back on the links, despite his public schedule claiming he is working tirelessly for the American people.

Trump waking up to a scathing headline in one of his hometown papers, the conservative leaning "New York Post," which endorsed him for president, calling on Trump to stop the insanity.

In an op-ed, the "Post" editorial board writing: "It's time to end this dark charade, saying Trump is cheering an undemocratic coup with his claims of election rigging," adding -- quote -- "If you insist on spending your final days in office threatening to burn it all down, that will be how you are remembered, not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist holding the match."

The most recent example of that insanity, Trump's handling of the bipartisan coronavirus relief package.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am asking Congress to amend this bill.

SANCHEZ: Sources telling CNN there were plans in place for Trump to sign the bill into law on Christmas Eve, but he declined. Then, after delaying for days, allowing unemployment benefits for millions of Americans to expire, Trump finally relenting Sunday night, without any of his demands met.

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Though the president vowed to send back to Congress a list of red-line spending items he deems unnecessary, there's no requirement for lawmakers to even consider his requests.

A frustrated senior White House aide telling CNN -- quote -- "Why should any supporter fight for him when he quit on trying to get them more than a measly $600?"

Democratic leaders on the Hill taking up that fight instead? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi putting up $2,000 stimulus checks up for a vote later today, though it may die in the Senate, where there's no sign yet Republican senators will get on board.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Donald Trump talked about it. But now he's got to act. The House will vote for this tonight and pass a law for $2,000 per person for a relief check. But it's up to the Senate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: And, Jake, lawmakers are also focused on overturning that veto of the defense spending act that President Trump vetoed last week.

Within the next hour, the House is expected to take that up. The Senate side will likely pick it up later this week -- Jake. TAPPER: All right, Boris, thanks so much.

Let's discuss.

Jackie, President Trump, ultimately, he gave in and signed this COVID relief bill, but only after nearly forcing a government shutdown. He allowed unemployment benefits, additional ones, to expire for millions of Americans.

A Republican official told me that all of this pushback against Congress by President Trump was entirely about lashing out at senior Senate Republicans like McConnell and Thune because they acknowledged that Joe Biden won.

What are your sources telling you?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, he sure showed them.

You also saw Pat Toomey, a Republican senator from Pennsylvania. I think he said on FOX News that I know that the president wants to be seen fighting for these $2,000 checks, but enough is enough.

It was all an exercise in futility, Jake. The president is enraged. He's not going to stop being enraged. And, apparently, he seems to -- he -- as Boris pointed out, he's on the golf course. He was absent during the negotiations over this bill and only seemed to snap to after Republicans started saying things he didn't like.

And he seems to be reiterating why a lot of people voted him out just a month ago -- over a month ago.

TAPPER: And, Ron, a senior White House official who was frustrated that President Trump gave in told CNN -- quote -- "What's particularly hilarious is watching Trump quit on his coronavirus relief push, while complaining about everyone quitting on his reelection. Why should any supporter fight for him when he quit on trying to get them more than a measly $600?"

What do you think?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, he already has quit fundamentally on the most important aspect of his job in these months, which is responding to the terrifying surge of cases.

I mean, we are living through, as you report every day, a 9/11 or a Pearl Harbor a day. Hospitals in cities all over the country are being overrun. They're talking about rationing care in Los Angeles, where I am. And the president is fundamentally AWOL from that entire crisis, just as he was AWOL from the negotiations over this bill.

I mean, him coming in at 11:59 and trying to undo the agreement that was reached, clearly, I think the fact that he was silent for so long before makes it clear that this was about his personal pique at the way he believes Republicans should be responding to his unfounded charges of fraud. And the other thing that seems to be pretty obvious, the fact that he

tweeted that he was going to Georgia to campaign for Perdue and Loeffler right before he tweeted that he was going to sign the bill probably shows you the motivation here, the fear that the level of chaos that would have ensued if he sat on the bill would have endangered the two Republicans in Georgia.

TAPPER: And then speaking of chaos, Jackie, on January 6, we're expecting the House and the Senate to vote on ratifying the election.

Republican senator-elect Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, he's left open the door to joining some of the House Republicans in this last-ditch, futile, deranged effort to overturn the election results when Congress meets to finalize the vote.

Obviously, this is something that Senate Majority Leader McConnell does not want to have happen. But Trump's encouraging it. Who do you think, ultimately, Republican senators are going side with?

I kind of think that a bunch of Republican senators, especially those who have 2024 hopes, might join with Tuberville.

KUCINICH: You know, we have been watching to see if someone from the Senate would end up doing this.

And Tuberville is someone who -- the reason he has that seat is, in a lot of ways, because of President Trump. He was running against Jeff Sessions, who -- the president's former attorney general, who he obviously did not like and did not want to be back office. So he owes a lot to him.

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And he said he's not going to turn his back on the president. And to not be the senator to stand up and do that, I think a lot of these 2024 folks who have been trying to prove their loyalty and prove that they're the next Trump may sign on because it wasn't them.

However, they will have Mitch McConnell to deal with, someone they will have to deal with day in and day out, who doesn't want this vote to happen, because it will require Republican senators to make that choice between loyalty to President Trump and the will of the American people.

It'll be a vote to watch, if it ends up happening.

TAPPER: And, Ron, I just -- I look at the 126 members of the House, House Republicans, who signed on to that crazy Texas lawsuit that would have disenfranchised 20 million voters from four states because they voted for Biden.

Like, I just think that is -- that's just a notch against them forever, whether House Minority Leader McCarthy or Steve Scalise or whomever. I mean, if you signed on to that madness, you have made a really bad decision that I think should stick with you. What will you think about Senate Republicans who vote with House

Republicans to fail to overturn the election when that happens next week, assuming any of them do so?

BROWNSTEIN: Look, it is part of the process that we are experiencing throughout the Trump presidency, but especially since the election.

I mean, we send people from the United States all over the world trying to instruct countries on how to stand up democracy. And now we have a president who is in so many ways trying to tear down our democracy with the active support or at least tacit support of much of his party in Congress.

I mean, if you look at all of the pieces that we are watching since the election, these repeated efforts to subvert the clear will of the voters, the lawsuits, the threats of congressional action, the pardons that we have seen for his cronies and confederates in the campaign, his open demands on the Justice Department to launch special prosecutors about the election or about Joe Biden, the 11:59 torpedoing of this bill, as I said before, you put all this together, this is what you would see in the final hours of some tin-POTTER: dictatorship in the Third World, where you have a strongman who knows that the walls are closing in, who's addled, angry, vengeful, just lashing out in all directions and leaving a permanent stain on the democracy.

And the fact that so many Republicans have been OK with this may be the critical fact here. It's not that we -- Donald Trump behaving this way is not a terrible surprise. The fact that so much of his party is going along with him may be the surprise. And that has ominous implications for the decade ahead.

TAPPER: Yes. No, I think a lot of people are writing some sorry chapters in their legacies just these last few weeks. And for what? For a guy who lost and is going to exit on January 20, period.

It is just a such a squandering of reputations.

Ron and Jackie, thanks so much. Really appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: The hunt for a motive behind the Nashville bombing intensifies, as the bomber's mother cooperates with investigators. We're going to go live with new details.

Then: December is the deadliest month of the pandemic, but Dr. Fauci has a grim warning about January and beyond.

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our national lead: Authorities in Nashville are urgently trying to discern a motive in the suicide bombing that sent at least eight people to the hospital and left more than 40 buildings damaged.

The suicide bomber, identified as 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner, was killed during the blast, his R.V. disturbingly playing a countdown to the destination and the song "Downtown" by Petula Clark.

CNN's Martin Savidge joins me now.

Martin, are there any clues about the bomber's mode?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are a lot of clues that authorities have been receiving, but, as far as any official information that they are giving out as to what may have been the motivation, that is still -- they're very tight-lipped on all of that.

I should point out that they're talking to just about everybody. And the interesting thing is, aside from very close family -- and they have been talking to Warner's mother -- and she has been cooperating with authorities. But that's the only thing that authorities will say about the conversations. They aren't revealing anything about the gist of what is being said.

But that said, we have talked to people who are connected as far as -- he worked as a freelance I.T. guy for a realty company. And they say he was the nicest guy and that, actually, everything he did was on a very professional level

You talk to his neighbors, now they say, look, he wasn't the most talkative kind of person. And they knew him for years. And the most you might get out of him was a brief conversation about his pets or maybe a wave. But they never saw him as a threat in the community.

And there again, they didn't seem to know that much about him. He was a very reclusive kind of individual. Now, the authorities, of course, are doing a much more deeper dive into all of this. But they were quick to be able to identify who the bomber was here. But it could take them a lot longer when they try to figure out the why behind all of this.

And it's the why that everyone wants to know.

TAPPER: And it's the reason authorities haven't called this domestic terrorist terrorism, because they have not discerned whether there's a religious or political or ideological motive.

Do we know the extent of the damage, both in terms of property and people?

SAVIDGE: The damage is extensive.

I mean, there's been already imagery. And I think we have some new imagery we can show you that is of the blast site itself. And this was a massive blast. Now, we knew that already, of course, because of the eyewitnesses and the police officers that were there that literally risked their lives to get people out of the way.

But it had a tremendous impact. Over 40 buildings were damaged. And then, of course, there was the AT&T telephone a facility that was heavily damaged. And that knocked out a lot of telephone communication and Internet service, not just in the immediate area, but in this region.

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So, the damage is extensive. The price tag is still being added up. And right now, what they're trying to say is that it clearly was meant to damage, it wasn't meant to kill, with the exception of the bomber himself -- Jake.

TAPPER: OK, all right, Martin Savidge in Nashville, thank you so much.

A coronavirus record that could mean deadly trouble down the road.

Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our health lead today: the great hope of COVID vaccine coming quite a bit slower than expected at the worst possible moment.

December now marking the deadliest month of the pandemic in the U.S., and the month, of course, it's not even over.

At CNN's Athena Jones reports for us now, the U.S. is bracing for a surge upon a surge after a spike in holiday travel.

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ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As holiday travel hits new highs, this weekend saw the busiest day at U.S. airports since mid-March, the TSA reporting nearly 1.3 million people passed through security checkpoints on Sunday alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got my face shield. I have an N95 and then my cough mask on top of that, so definitely trying to take all precautions that I can.

JONES: Now health officials are bracing for a post-holiday surge in new coronavirus infections, just like after Thanksgiving.

DR. JEROME ADAMS, SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: We're very concerned. And we always feel a little bit of a bump after holidays and sometimes a large bump. We need to remain vigilant now.

JONES: Concerns mounting, as hospitals nationwide report more than 100,000 COVID-19 patients for the 26th day in a row.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: I have described it as a surge upon a surge, because, if you look at the slope, the incline of cases that we have experienced as we have gone into the late fall and soon to be early winter, it is really quite troubling. It might actually get worse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, here we go.

JONES: Meanwhile, vaccinations continue to be rolled out nationwide. Residents and staff at the Kirkland, Washington, nursing home that was an early epicenter of the pandemic began getting shots today, along with nursing home residents in New Jersey, like 103-year-old Mildred Clements, who New Jersey's governor said survived the 1918 flu pandemic.

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): Today, she represents the resiliency and fighting spirit of New Jersey.

JONES: So far, about two million doses of vaccine have been administered out of the roughly 10 million delivered.

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: The two million number is probably an underestimate.

JONES: Still, it's a far cry from the 20 million people Operation Warp Speed estimated would be inoculated this month.

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: The idea that we're going to get to 20 million vaccines, vaccinations by the end of the year, that's probably unrealistic at this point.

JONES: That's partly because vaccine delivery is complicated.

DR. ABDUL EL-SAYED, FORMER DIRECTOR, DETROIT HEALTH DEPARTMENT: You have to have stay and local organizations that then actually get vaccines to vaccinations into arms. And that's where the investment really hasn't been made.

JONES: More vaccine candidates are making their way through the pipeline, Novavax beginning phase three trials in the U.S. and Mexico.

But, as 2020 comes to a close, a sobering statistic, December marking the deadliest month of the pandemic in the U.S., nearly 65,000 lives lost to the virus, and there are still a few days left.

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JONES: And to put this all in perspective, more than 5.5 million people have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the U.S. this month. That's more new cases than France and the United Kingdom combined have reported the entire pandemic, and it's likely an undercount since half the states didn't report new case or death numbers on Christmas Day.

And we just got an update on vaccine distribution now from the CDC; 2.1 million doses of vaccine have now been administered. That's an update we just got just in the last few minutes -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Athena Jones, thanks so much.

Dr. Julie Morita joins me now live to discuss. She's executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a member of president-elect Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board.

Dr. Morita, watching video of all these travelers rushing through the airport, it's hard not to be afraid of what might come as a result of all this holiday travel. We know mass holiday travel could likely lead to more hospitalizations, more death.

If Biden were president right now, would you have recommended that he take any action to prevent holiday travel? Or would it be just more of a public campaign about discouraging it?

DR. JULIE MORITA, BIDEN CORONAVIRUS ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER: Hi, Jake. Thanks for having me again.

As you pointed out, this last month has been a very difficult month for the United States, in terms of record numbers of cases and hospitalizations and deaths.

And so I think the challenge is really the strong recommendations to discourage people from traveling is really important, and encouraging people to not congregate, because we know that, when we have travel, when we have congregation of groups of people, that's when disease spreads.

And so, right now, at a time when there's so much disease spreading throughout the nation, we really would strongly recommend discouraging travel.

I think the other thing that can be done, in addition to discouraging travel, is also making recommendations that, if people are actually going to take the risk of traveling, that they do it safely, so they continue to wear their masks, they continue to wash their hands, they try to maintain the six-feet distance, so that we can actually try to travel safely if people are going to do that.

But, really, discouraging travel is the best thing that can be done, and then also making sure that, if people do decide to make that decision to travel, they do it safely.

TAPPER: We heard Dr. Fauci predict that the worst is yet to come. Do you agree? Is there any way to turn things around from here, beyond the vaccine?

MORITA: I think it's not too late for people to make their changes in plans. If they haven't traveled and were thinking about traveling, they still can make that decision to not travel.

But, again, it is really important to think about discouraging inappropriate behaviors, like congregating in groups or not wearing your mask, or not washing your hands, or not maintaining the distance.

So, it's those simple measures that can make a big difference, if people are going to be doing things over the holiday season.

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