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Don Lemon Tonight
Trump Ignores Pandemic, And Lies About Election Fraud; Biden Picks General Lloyd Austin For Defense Secretary; Maryland's Governor Releases Video Calling For Change Within Party; Surgeon General: We Need You To Hang On A Little Bit Longer; Trump Plans Return Trip To Georgia For Senate Runoff Campaign; President-Elect Joe Biden To Announce Another Top Cabinet Pick; The U.S. Reports Record 102,000- Plus Hospitalizations As Coronavirus Cases Spike. Aired 11p-12a ET
Aired December 07, 2020 - 23:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[23:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DON LEMON, CNN HOST (on camera): The coronavirus pandemic is surging out of control in the U.S. More than 102,000 Americans hospitalized with the virus tonight. That is a new record. But President Trump isn't talking about the worst public health crisis in most of our lifetimes. He is pushing dangerous lies about election fraud.
That as President-Elect Biden is moving ahead with his transition. A source telling CNN he'll nominate retired army General Lloyd Austin for defense secretary. Austin led central command during the Obama administration and if confirmed would be the first black man to run the Pentagon.
Let's discuss now. CNN's White House Correspondent is Mr. John Harwood, he joins me now. Senior political analyst John Avlon and former chief strategist for Romney's presidential campaign Stuart Stevens they join me as well. Gentlemen, good evening.
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (on camera): Good evening.
LEMON: John Harwood. CNN has new reporting tonight about the president calling the Pennsylvania House speaker about his election loss. What are you hearing about this?
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, what we're hearing and our colleague Jim Acosta talked to the spokesman for the House speaker in Pennsylvania is that President Trump is personally reaching out to talk about election procedures in the states that he lost to Joe Biden but he somehow trying to conjure up a miracle that will change the outcome.
He's done it in Michigan. He's done it in Pennsylvania. He plainly is not satisfied with the string of defeats that he has suffered. And I got to tell you this is very unusual behavior. You know, we were talking on Friday with Susan Glasser about her piece where she said is the president crazy for pushing these absurd theories or is he just a stone cold liar and cynic trying to in effect stage a coup? We know the president is a liar. We know that he lies to protect his
image and his ego. We know that he lies for money and is collecting money from a lot of his followers. But to make these calls privately when it is pretty clear that it is not going anywhere. In a week the Electoral College is going to vote and show that Joe Biden has a majority. To do these things in private state officials have signaled they're not going to entertain these sort of attempts at an authoritarian override of the Democratic process.
You've got to conclude the president is a little bit crazy. That he would pursue this. And I'd even go a step further than that. You have to have a psychologist to actually diagnose this but when you think about the damage that the president is doing to our democracy, the way that he has frozen an entire political party in some combination of fear and complicity.
The way that he is stoking this menacing behavior that honest public officials are being targeted but simply for doing their jobs. I don't see how you avoid the conclusion that the president of the United States is a straight up sociopath.
LEMON: Wow. OK. John, I mean, I got to say that, you know, we are dealing right now with surging coronavirus cases, record hospitalizations. The death rate is overwhelming. Let me -- I want to play what the president was talking about today though. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It was a rigged election. You look at the different states. The election was totally rigged. It's a disgrace to our country. It's like a third world country. These ballots pouring in from everywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[23:05:06]
LEMON: John Avlon, I mean, you think when you, the millions of people who are infected with this virus or have been, the thousands of people who are hospitalized, or hundreds of thousands of people who have died, I mean, more than enough states have certified Biden's win to put him over the edge when the Electoral College meets next week. Sometimes I think everyone is just waiting for this insanity just to stop but I don't think it's going to stop on its own ever.
AVLON: Well, his term ends noon on January 20th and then he can cry and scream all he wants, but he is no longer going to be the president of the United States. And he'll try to drum up conflict and try to present himself as a 2024 candidate to keep attention, to keep the grift and the dollars coming, but that does not guarantee him the attention his needy ego so craves.
The reason he is not talking about the pandemic is he is actually not interested in doing the job of president. He never has been. He is only interested in himself. What is so stunning is you said and as Harwood said that a whole political party or you know, 80 plus percent of it has fallen in line behind him even after he lost the election. And they cannot pretend they're a Party of patriotism anymore.
If they're going along with somebody who is trying to undermine our elections which is what Donald Trump is doing in public and in private. The only third world sort of dictator scenario Donald Trump is talking about there, reflects his own banana republic and impulses as it relates to our democracy.
LEMON: Mr. Stevens, let me bring you in here, because it is not just the president ignoring reality. He has a bunch of Republican puppets either actively going along with it or standing back and watching it happen. I mean, they're complicit.
STUART STEVENS, FORMER CHIEF STRATEGIST, ROMNEY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN (on camera): Yeah. Look. I really think this is less about Donald Trump who we know is, you know, nuts as a bunny and he is a sociopath but how the Republican Party has allowed this legacy of democracy that they inherited to have this poison that they're spreading.
And look, I think this stuff is very hard to undo. It's that, you know, old cliche. It's easy to build something -- hard to build something and easy to tear it down. They're burning down faith and democracy. I mean, look, I spent years, decades working for the Republican Party. We had an ideological differences, but right now, I think the difference between the Democratic Party and the Republican Party is one is for democracy and one is not for democracy.
And I don't really think that is an exaggeration. That to stand by when the president of the United States is attempting to stage a coup which is what this is and do nothing to defend it, it's cowardly and shameful and I think it is going to have a lasting negative effect on our entire civic society.
LEMON: Listen. I didn't say anything for the sake of conversation were none of us are psychologists or a psychiatrist, we can't, you know, say whether he is a sociopath or not but -- a sociopath or not. But his behavior does speak for itself whatever it is. I think that everyone will, can agree with that. Stuart, I got another question for you though. So, listen, this is what President Trump told his supporters -- this is down in Georgia, this was on Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're all victims. Everybody here, all these thousands of people here tonight they're all victims. Every one of you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: I mean, what happened to the Republican Party? The message is now we're all victims? I thought they would say, you know, the other Party is the Party of victimization. The other Party is the Party of snowflakes. And Donald Trump is a victim? Donald Trump inherited millions of dollars. He's always flown around on private planes. He lives in a gold palace. How the hell is Donald Trump a victim, Stuart?
STEVENS: Look, I can't tell you how many ads I made about the virtues of personal responsibility. And some of those did accuse the Democratic Party of being victim shoppers. And this is just the most remarkable thing that the party now has become the victim's party. How this in any way squares with the sense of being an American, home of the brave, it really is just pathetic and sad.
AVLON: Don, it is also this. Donald Trump's actually the avatar for everything the far right says it has, hates about the far left. You know, this whole, you know this whole fantasy around the election is all about, you know, facts don't care about your feelings. Donald Trump constantly elevates feelings. He is a snowflake. He is easily triggered.
I mean, you go through the list of the negative stereotypes (inaudible) about the left and Donald Trump is it. At every step of the game. And yet they fell in line behind this guy despite that, despite the fact that he doesn't believe any of the policies they extensively believed in which makes you wonder it's actually about something else.
[23:10:11]
LEMON: But listen. MAGA always complains about identity politics. They are the definition -- with so much as -- when I see or hear a MAGA person or I read about it and they say I am so sick of this identity politics. I'm like, why are you a MAGA? Because that is identity politics.
AVLON: It is. Identity politics.
LEMON: John Harwood, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is releasing a new video calling for change within the GOP. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN (voice over): Are we going to be a party that can't win national elections or are we willing to do the hard work of building a durable coalition that can shape our nation's destiny?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Somebody has got to think about 2024, John.
HARWOOD: Well, right. But, you know, there is a third option that Governor Hogan didn't mention, which is that, try to become a political party that wins national elections without doing the hard work. That is what Donald Trump is trying to do right now. He lost the election and he is trying to finagle some sort of political/legal scheme to overturn the will of the voters.
You've got to wonder, when we're going to see the Republican Party actually look itself in the mirror and decide that it's going to change because it has not been willing to change. Remember, after the 2012 campaign where Mitt Romney lost to Barack Obama, and of course Stuart worked on that campaign, many Republicans were stunned by the outcome and immediately set about an autopsy at the party to try to say, look. How can we appeal to a broader segment of Americans? How can we appeal to more people of color? How can we appeal to more young people? How can we appeal to more women?
And Donald Trump took that playbook and trashed it and did a backwards looking campaign to try to make the Republican Party the Party of yesterday. He won the election. He drew Hillary Clinton as his opponent. That was fortunate for him in that particular year. Didn't work this year. But we don't see any sign.
Now maybe it'll come after December 14th, the Electoral College votes, Joe Biden takes over. Maybe then you'll see a Republican Party start to reconsider some of its assumptions but we don't see any sign that that's happening right now.
LEMON: Stuart, I want to ask you, because, you know, John makes a very good point. Hogan is a Trump critic. He advocates for this compromise. If the GOP, right, you know, he just mentioned you that you worked on the Romney, they were stunned by the Romney result, is now the party of Trump. How does someone like Hogan then stand a chance?
STEVENS: Well, look, I'm a little conflicted here because I worked for Governor Hogan in his campaigns and I love the guy. I love Phil Scott in Vermont. I love Charlie (inaudible).
LEMON: We are not saying -- but I don't think anyone here is saying anything bad about Hogan. They're saying he is doing a right thing but how does he stand a chance?
STEVENS: I'm conflicted. What I want to say is of course. To be able to elect an incredibly popular Governor in a state like Maryland, a guy like that if he can be the nominee for a party, he would win big. But is there any appetite for it out there? I hope there is. But right now I just see a competition as to who can be more Trumpy.
LEMON: Go ahead, John Avlon. I see you nodding.
AVLON: No, look. The core problem in our country is that hyper partisanship is killing us. In a rational world all the most popular Governors of the country are blue state Republicans. Charlie Baker, Phil Scott and Larry Hogan. And yet they don't even get mentioned in the Republican Party.
They don't have (inaudible) because it is a play to the base exercise. And that is the fundamental sickness that's dividing us. We got a huge market failure and we got parties rewarding the extremes particularly almost frankly exclusively on the right, right now. And that's why we're here. That's why we are in this place.
LEMON: We saw the big debates last night, right? Down in Georgia. The Senate majority all comes down, the Senate majority will come down to these two or does come down to these two Georgia run-offs. We're told that the president will head back to the state to campaign. Is he helping the party there? John Harwood, is he helping the party?
HARWOOD: I don't think we know the answer to that yet. And some of that will depend on what happens over the next couple of weeks. You know, one of the arguments that Republicans could profit from in this election is as Joe Biden prepares to take office they can say to the voters of this fairly conservative state turning purple but it has been a conservative state, they could say, look. We need to provide a check and balance on this Democratic president who is coming in.
[23:15:00]
But those Senate candidates can't say that now. Because if they do they will trigger the fragile ego of the president of the United States and who will then attack them and submarine them. Secondly, the president's continued attacks on Governor Kemp, on Lt. Governor Duncan, on Secretary of State Raffensperger, threaten to divide the party. You need party unity when you have a Senate race.
And further raises the question of whether he persuades some increment of Republican voters that the election is a sham and therefore they're not going to vote. I don't think we know whether that effect is actually going to occur. The president when he appeared over the weekend said, oh, yeah you really need to go out and vote and surely he would say that when he returns to the state.
But the effects of the fractures within the party are very difficult to measure right now. All we have is the polling and the polling shows both races extremely close as the presidential race was and I think we have got to assume that both of those races are going to go down to the wire and either party could win one or both of them.
LEMON: John, thank you for -- just for reaffirming the open to my show at 10:00 about are you really empowered these Republican lawmakers when he is dangling you by a string and you are afraid as you said to even speak out against him because you don't want to bruise his fragile ego. Who wants to live like that?
My mom used to tell me you know how you deal with a bully? You punch him, smack him right in the nose and then that bully is dealt with and they will never do it again. He needs a good old -- I'm talking metaphorically -- smack in the nose from his party, and members of his party. And then he will stop.
And then he will no longer have power. And then he will be the man behind the curtain and he will just be a man behind the curtain and it is not like the great wizard that everyone thinks. All right. I'm done. I'll get off my soap box. There I am. Off the soap box. Thank you. See you guys soon. Stay safe.
AVLON: Thank you.
HARWOOD: You too.
LEMON: The pandemic is raging across the country with vaccines, the light at the end of the tunnel hopefully but the surgeon general says hang on just a little bit longer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: My colleagues are dog tired. And we need you to hang on just a little bit longer because we've gotten vaccines coming but we want as many people to be alive to get them as possible. And a lot of that is going to depend on your behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[23:20:00]
LEMON: So questions tonight about whether the U.S. will get enough coronavirus vaccine doses in the first shipments. The White House is denying a New York Times report that the Trump administration passed on a Pfizer offer to sell the U.S. government additional vaccines in late summer.
That as a CNN analysis finds that the first vaccine shipments will fall short of what 27 states need for their first priority groups including health care workers and long term care residents. Federal officials estimate about 40 million vaccines will be available by the end of the month. A big contrast to what the administration pledged earlier this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: I have very recently seen early data from a clinical trial with a coronavirus vaccine and these data made me feel even more confident that we will be able to deliver a few hundred million doses of vaccine by the end of 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Joining me now CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner. Hello doctor. Thank you so much for joining. So this Times report is that Pfizer may not be able to fill any other U.S. vaccine orders until June because of commitments to other countries. How far behind will this put us?
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST (on camera): Well, hopefully that's not true and hopefully we'll have other vaccines come online. J&J vaccine, AstraZeneca vaccine. But according to the Times story the U.S. was offered an opportunity to purchase more than a hundred million doses that they committed to for the Pfizer vaccine.
And as a reminder the U.S. also committed to a hundred million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Seems like a lot. Those 200 million doses, but that will only vaccinate a 100 million people. Both those vaccines require two doses. So that is just 30 percent of the population. We need to vaccinate over 70 percent of the population. So we are going to need to fill the gap either via Pfizer and Moderna ramping up production.
But remember, they've committed vaccine to other countries around the world. Or the J&J vaccine or the AstraZeneca vaccine. My guess is that let's let the smoke clear here. We'll figure this out. But this is an illustration of why the Biden administration needs full access to all these governmental agencies. They need to understand where these trip wires are in the pipeline. This is, you know, it's not just creating the vaccine, it's getting the vaccine into people's arms.
LEMON: OK. OK. Listen, I know you said hopefully it is not true. But if it is true, how far did that put us behind? If let's just say that it is true.
REINER: So, we have to vaccinate about 230 million people in this country to really get vaccine adduced herd immunity. So to do that, at least using the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines, we are going to need, you know, almost 500 million doses. We've only committed to buying, and we've only contracted to buy 200 million doses.
We need 300 more million doses of vaccine. And we have to come up with that somewhere. Either through other manufacturers or ramping up production, but it has to come from somewhere. And we want it by, you know, before summer.
LEMON: Wow. OK. So that put us behind by a lot if that is indeed true.
REINER: Yes.
[23:25:02]
LEMON: So, listen, what about vaccine distribution, right? We used to talk about putting, getting it into people's arms. But there is a problem with that on the horizon, will the new administration's health team be able to fix it? I know you just said that's why it is important for them to know everything when it comes to the distribution, but what does it mean for them?
REINER: Well, we want to see, first of all I love the team that the President-Elect has put together. Every single person is a star. But you know, that's still five weeks off. And we're going to start probably vaccinating folks next week and the vaccine distribution as laid out now is really inadequate to vaccinate first responders. I'll give you an example. I work in the District of Columbia. D.C. is a city of about 700,000 people? There are a lot of healthcare workers over 60,000 health care workers in D.C. D.C. next week will get a shipment of 8,000 doses.
LEMON: Hmm.
REINER: 8,000 doses.
LEMON: Wow. 700,000 people.
REINER: And 60,000 health care workers. And you know, D.C. is not alone. We need to do better than that. So, there will be more vaccines coming, more shipments coming but, you know, we are going to have a lot of catching up to do.
LEMON: Hey, I really have to go but Rudy Guiliani, you know confirming that he tested positive for coronavirus. Him traipsing around the country how much of a potential super spreader, or how many people possibly did he infect or could have infected?
REINER: Well, the key issue is, when did he get sick? So, you know, typically people are hospitalized about a week after they start to develop symptoms. So it is not like oh, you know, you start, you lose your taste on Tuesday and you get admitted to the hospital on Wednesday. So if he was really sick this week and requiring hospitalization, he has probably been sick for a week.
LEMON: Wow.
REINER: And just look at what he did last week. So, think about that Michigan hearing he went to. Think about the other places. So he is potentially a personal superspreader. I hope he does well.
LEMON: Doctor -- thank you, doctor. I appreciate it. I'll see you soon.
REINER: My pleasure, Don.
LEMON: It's a conspiracy feedback loop. The election lies the president is spewing and how he is manipulating conservative media into amplifying his message to Georgians getting ready to vote in the high stakes Senate runoff.
Plus, Joe Biden making his pick for the Secretary of Defense. If confirmed, he will the first black man to have that job.
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[23:30:00]
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LEMON: We are just weeks away from the critical Georgia Senate runoff election. A source tells CNN that the president is planning another visit to campaign in that state. But this weekend, he seemed more focused on pushing baseless conspiracy theories about his loss rather than actually advocating for the Republican candidates.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan joins me now. Donie, it's good to see you. Thanks for joining us. You are in Atlanta, the state of Georgia. You know, you were at this rally on Saturday night. Tell us what you saw and what is going on in Georgia?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN REPORTER (on camera): Yeah, Don, I mean, a lot of folks in Georgia are living in a parallel universe. They are living in a world where Trump didn't lose the election and where they believe that elections in this state are rigged.
Now, the majority of them that I spoke to on Saturday before Trump's rally told me that they would come out and vote in next month's Senate runoff elections even though they believe the elections here are rigged.
But some Trump supporters are toying with the idea of not showing up or not voting Republican to punish the GOP in some way for, in their view, not standing by and not forcefully defending enough Trump's bogus election claims. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN: Republicans who are supporters of President Trump, who believe that trump didn't lose the election here, who believe the election in Georgia has been rigged, some folks are saying they're not going to show up.
UNKNOWN: I understand them because we're pissed.
O'SULLIVAN: So then would sort told voters in Georgia the other day, you know, if you don't believe the election is fair here, don't show up and vote. Newt Gingrich, another Georgia Republican, said that is going to destroy the Republican Party, it is going to give Democrats control of the Senate.
UNKNOWN: Give the Republican people and the base a reason to get off our tails and go vote for you, because if you don't stop this fraud of an election, you don't have our backs, so why are we having yours?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'SULLIVAN (on camera): And, you know, that really is a sentiment that was echoed across many supporters I spoke to at this rally. They don't think that the Senate candidates, the Republican Senate candidates here are forcefully enough defending Trump and trying to overturn, I guess, the results of the election here in Georgia for the president. Don?
LEMON: Wow. OK. So, Donie, during Saturday's rally, the president played a series of clips from Newsmax, One America News Network. These clips contained multiple false and debunked claims about voter fraud, and I'm sure the crowd was just eating it up even though it was -- none of it was true, they have been debunked. This is a real feedback loop of pro-Trump media going on here. So walk us through what is happening.
O'SULLIVAN: Absolutely. I mean, you know, you see these news organizations. Well, they purport to be news organizations, calling the election into question. And I guess ever since Fox News called the election for Biden, there is now a big gap in the market to misinform Trump supporters.
[23:34:57]
O'SULLIVAN: And as you mentioned, we're seeing new cable networks pop up like Newsmax and OANN that are pushing the idea that Trump did not lose the election.
And I want to show you this footage that we got before the rally on Saturday, a newspaper being handed out to -- thousands of copies being handed out to Trump supporters, being left on Trump supporters' cars, this newspaper run by Chinese dissidents who are extremely pro-Trump and who are pushing again the message that there any -- that there is some doubt about this election, that Trump really did not lose it.
So, you know, you're seeing thousands of print editions of that newspaper being passed around. You're seeing these new cable networks pop up. You know, when we talk about the parallel universe that some Trump supporters are living in, it is all enabled by organizations that purport to be news organizations like those ones. Don?
LEMON: It is all a grift and everyone needs their mark. Thank you very much, Donie. Appreciate it.
We have some breaking news tonight to tell you about. President-elect Biden making his pick to head the Defense Department and keeping his promise to have a cabinet that looks like America.
Plus, Dr. Anthony Fauci warning January could be a really dark time in the pandemic.
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[23:40:00]
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LEMON: Here's breaking news tonight. Sources are telling CNN the president-elect Joe Biden will nominate retired General Lloyd Austin as his defense secretary. If confirmed, Austin would be the first black man to lead the Department of Defense. Biden has been under pressure to diversify more of his top cabinet picks.
The news comes on the same day that Biden announces his picks for key health jobs in his administration, nominating California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to lead the Health and Human Services and tapping Vivek Murthy to step back into his old job as surgeon general.
Joining me now to discuss is Professor Michael Eric Dyson. He is the author of the brand new book, "Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America." So, did I say something wrong? No? OK, I thought someone was talking to my ear. So I am hearing things, Michael. You know, that is normal for me.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I have voices in my head.
MICHAEL ERIC DYSON, AUTHOR, PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY: It's my book saying, say it again.
LEMON: Say it again.
DYSON: Say it again.
LEMON: Say it again. "Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America." So, there you go.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Let's talk some news of the day, though. This defense secretary thing is big with General Michael Austin. What do you think?
DYSON: Oh, it's beautiful. Look, have you ever heard a president say before, I owe you --
LEMON: Yeah.
DYSON: -- I owe you a debt, you hooked me up, I'm hooking you up? I've never heard a president. I've studied presidential rhetoric. I've studied presidents' interactions with black America. I've never heard that.
And so the attempt to follow up and to follow through by president- elect Joe Biden is worthy of note, and I think he's been doing a very good job so far. You got to balance all the considerations of the competing interests that are vying for your time and representation. But I think black people are well deserved and this choice of General Austin today is truly outstanding.
LEMON: I got my Michaels out of context. I said -- I want to say Michael Lloyd Austin and I said, you know, but you get what I meant. His name is Lloyd Austin. I was talking to you, Michael.
DYSON: Right.
LEMON: So, OK, so then with him and then you have Xavier Becerra. What do you think? Is that -- is he living up to his pledge, you believe, right?
DYSON: Yeah, because if you compare him to other presidents in the last 30, 40 years, he is doing exceedingly well. I mean, he is not only living up to it, he put a black woman in as vice president. Let's be honest, Don. I think all of us are thinking this in the back of our minds. He has put her in a pretty position to become potentially the first female president of the United States of America.
LEMON: Mm-hmm.
DYSON: He has already made a pledge to put a black woman on the Supreme Court. No other president that I know has indicated that. So, yeah, I think he's doing a heck of a job in terms of diversity.
LEMON: Michael, what about attorney general, though, because you think about what's happened, you know, that is a key job in terms of ensuring equal justice? George Floyd and the police protests and what have you. What are you looking for in this role?
DYSON: Look, I'm looking for somebody who is sensitive and who is open and who is honest and dedicated to understanding the predicaments of black people.
And look, Don, I'm not only interested though I am in black faces in high places. I am looking for equitable representation. We have a black person on the Supreme Court and most black people would tell you that stroke of diversity do not represent the masses of black people.
So it takes more than a black face in a high place. It takes a willingness to understand policy, the application of law to particular situations and to understand the historic legacies of inequality that have prevented black flourishing in this country.
LEMON: Let's talk about your book. I think you need one more copy of there on your book shelf behind you. But, you know --
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: You know I got to keep it real. It's a series of letters where you write about the decades of racial violence that led to the protest movement this year.
DYSON: Right.
LEMON: Is this a racial reckoning? Have Americans woken up to the systemic racism?
DYSON: Well, you wake up and you go to sleep. That's why you have an alarm clock. You had to wake up again. The reality is George Floyd's death created a funeral atmosphere in America.
[23:45:01]
DYSON: And so many white brothers and sisters came to the funeral, grieved with us, mourned with us, saying we're going to get things better. But like most funerals -- I'm 41 -- I've been in the ministry for 41 years, the time after people die, people gather around the family, they send their flowers and the like, but then they taper off. And so people tend to taper off.
We have to remind people again that the need is still there. The reckoning must continue to happen. We better address it. We better go from marching in the streets and protesting to what are we do about corporate America. How do we reorganize the logic of American democracy? How do we do it in your home?
LEMON: Mm-hmm.
DYSON: How do you make sure that the commitment you had and the loyalty to this principle of Black Lives Matter translates into every day existence?
LEMON: That is a tall task. I mean you're talking about -- you mentioned earlier the Supreme Court and representational diversity. True diversity is a start. But we are a long way off in this country, especially considering what has happened over the last four years or so and even before he became a candidate. I mean, he has been fueling racial division now from the White House for four years.
DYSON: Right.
LEMON: The president-elect Biden says that he wants to heal America. But what does he need to do? Where does he start? Because there is so much anger, Michael. There is so much pain. It is hard to see how people are going to come together and really agree upon what racial justice really looks like.
DYSON: That is a great point. First of all, don't be Donald Trump, task done. Secondly, govern in a different way. Joe Biden is a calm, spirited human being who is able to bring a sense of comity and poise to this presidency to restore its decency and respect, but also to listen to human beings, to acknowledge in his own gut that black people have suffered, that racial trauma is real in America.
Here is a guy who is not interested in denying the legitimacy of those realities but embracing them.
And standing with Vice President Harris, I think we have in place a tandem, a duo that is capable of saying let's lead with strategic intervention on these serious issues, let us do some real policy work, let's talk about disparities in sentencing and criminal justice systems, let's talk about public education that is still victimized by re-segregation, let's talk about the economic disparity between the have gots and the have nots, and let's talk about how we can distribute wealth in such equitable fashion that black people who have been blacked out of the middle class because of lack of access to home ownership are regaining their footing in a culture that refuses to acknowledge our humanity.
So with those principles and policies in place, that is at least a beginning.
LEMON: Well, I just have to say two things. The man said comity and not comedy, I-T, not E-D.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I think you need a better vocabulary there.
(LAUGHTER)
DYSON: That was comedy.
LEMON: I know, I know, I know. I was just being sarcastic. You have one of the best vocabularies I know. Thank you so much. Again, let's put the book up. I appreciate you joining us. The book again is "Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America," by Michael Eric Dyson.
DYSON: Look behind me, Don, and look and see the title.
LEMON: I think you need a couple more back there. There aren't enough. I have to buy you a copy of your own book. Michael, thank you.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Always a pleasure. You be safe.
DYSON: Thank you, my friend. You, as well.
LEMON (on camera): A lockdown in California where severe restrictions are now in place because of the high rate of hospitalizations and it is spreading across the country. New York's governor says this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): If we don't get the rate under control, and you are going to overwhelm your hospitals, we will have to go back to shutdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[23:50:00]
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LEMON (on camera): Hospitalizations shattering another record as Dr. Anthony Fauci says the full brunt of coronavirus spread from Thanksgiving gatherings isn't even here yet. He also says that the middle of January could be a really dark time.
Here is CNN's Lucy Kafanov.
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LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across America, the coronavirus is spreading faster than ever. A whopping one million new cases of COVID-19 reported in just the first five days of December.
ABDUL EL-SAYED, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is a four-alarm fire, and we can't pretend that it's not blazing simply because it's been blazing for the past eight months.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Many hospitals stretched to capacity.
JEROME ADAMS, SURGEON GENERAL: This surge is different than earlier surges because it's not about PPE, it's not about testing. It's really about health care capacity and certain places are just being overwhelmed.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Ten thousand COVID patients are in hospital beds in California alone, where severe new restrictions are now back in place. Restaurants in many California counties are limited to takeout and delivery services only.
CROWD: (INAUDIBLE).
KAFANOV (voice-over): Some pushing back. One restaurant owner is frustrated her outdoor dining patio has been forced to close even though, she says, a video production company sets up an outdoor eating area for its employees, right next to her own parking lot.
UNKNOWN: Tell me that this is dangerous. But right next to me is a slap in my face that's safe.
KAFANOV (voice-over): New York also considering closing indoor dining in five days if hospitalization rates don't stabilize. As for schools in the Big Apple, some of those reopened today for elementary and special needs students.
[23:55:00]
UNKNOWN: The parents were so happy and so relieved.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Colorado Governor Jared Polis, recovering from COVID. His husband also is sick and rushed to the hospital. Posting on Facebook, I experienced a worsening cough and shortness of breath. My doctor suggested, as a precaution, I go to the hospital. This, as experts warn it's about to get worse.
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: And the situation is that as we enter now from the Thanksgiving holiday season into the Christmas holiday season, it's going to be challenging.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Some hope, seemingly, around the corner. Pfizer's vaccine expected to get emergency authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which meets Thursday.
But according to a CNN analysis, the first shipments will fall short of what 27 states need to vaccinate their priority group, frontline health care workers and the elderly.
According to the surgeon general, nearly half of all COVID deaths are among those in long-term care facilities or are older.
ADAMS: We want to make sure we are giving it to the people who are most likely to die from this virus. We also want our health care workers who are on the frontlines to be able to get it.
KAFANOV (voice-over): Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Denver, Colorado.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
LEMON (on camera): Lucy, thank you. And thank you for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.
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