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Don Lemon Tonight
Pfizer Got Green Light from FDA; Another Loss for President Trump; Newspaper Regret Endorsing a Trump Backer; Justices Say No to Texas's Brief; Vaccine Will Gradually Immunize the Population; Giuliani Making Absurd Comparisons. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired December 11, 2020 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
REP. DOUG LAMALFA (R-CA): Yes, we know the electors are going to do their business on the 14th, should somebody think come out, I agree, the grounds are getting smaller for this conversation. But you know, I don't know what it would be at this point.
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: Me either, because it's supposed to be over.
LAMALFA: The people -- there's a lot of people in the country that certainly want us to keep asking the questions. Because it really comes to, Chris, is that people want to have confidence in their elections.
CUOMO: Hey, if you want them to have confidence, don't lie to them about what happened in the election, we'll be better off. But I do respect this, Congressman. Thank you for coming on to make the cause. I You're the only one who would. Good luck doing your job. I hope it gets much more progressive and productive very soon. Good luck.
LAMALFA: I'm a Sicilian, so I figured I had to be on the show. So, anyway, merry Christmas. See you. Thanks for having me.
CUOMO: Merry Christmas, Bon Natali and take care. Do your job.
LAMALFA: Jen teani (ph)
CUOMO: Thank you for watching. CNN Tonight with D. Lemon starts right now.
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Those pictures he's talking about debunked. He's probably talking about Georgia.
CUOMO: No, no, there were pictures. People were afraid when they were working in the polls looking through the windows and seeing --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: No, no, no, that's now what he is not talking about.
CUOMO: -- enraged people outside.
LEMON: He is talking about the surveillance video from Georgia, that shows a packing up and that has been debunked by the secretary of state, the person who's in charge of the election --
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: -- they have explained what that video is, it is nothing to do with stealing votes or not counting votes or any of that.
CUOMO: I agree.
LEMON: It's all B.S. and he --
CUOMO: I agree. He said pictures.
LEMON: -- and they know it.
CUOMO: I agree.
LEMON: It has nothing to do with anything. And they keep pretending that things are going on that's not. Here's the bottom line. Right? And we both can agree on this. Look at what we are covering tonight. Right? Approval of a drug. The Supreme Court saying no, reject.
It's time for America to come together. This, we are at a very critical moment in this democracy, because of a pandemic. A once in a century or life-time health crisis, right? And because we had a president who is bonkers who is trying prove something that is not true. It is as you say, a lawsuit in search of evidence.
CUOMO: Yes.
LEMON: They filed a lawsuit and there's no evidence of anything.
CUOMO: But that's why it mattered so much.
LEMON: But that's why tonight mattered, Chris.
CUOMO: This is huge.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: You have a conservative court, six-three. Three judges that he put on there had and they said in no uncertain terms, sure they could have written long opinions saying why it's wrong. I think less is more.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: You have no case.
LEMON: You have no case. And the two people they say, Alito and Thomas when they say, well, they want. No, they didn't. They said, you have the right to bring it or to file it.
CUOMO: It is a totally separate issue.
LEMON: It's a whole other issue and it's not --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: They have a beef about jurisdiction of the Supreme Court --
LEMON: Right. It's about procedures.
CUOMO: -- and interstate agencies.
LEMON: It's about procedures.
CUOMO: They said they would offer no relief here.
LEMON: So, here's the thing that I want to, Chris, because I want to bring in Sanjay in on this --
CUOMO: Sure.
LEMON: -- because we have some big stories tonight. Two big stories, right, they were talking about tonight.
The FDA moments ago, officially authorizing the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. Sanjay, talk to us, Chris and I here, glad that you are here with us. It's such a big step. You have gone through this report, did anything in there, since you -- I know you had time to go through it more since you did with Chris. What else stood out to you, what stands out to you with this when you look at this?
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I was looking for any red flags, you know, something that was going to be of concern but pretty much the document talks about the rationale for granting this emergency use authorization which is, an emergency use authorization different than an approval, they are still going to be collecting data at least for a couple of years and they are going to have an adverse event reporting system.
So, you know, that's part of collecting data, if people having the adverse events to report, they are going to continue collecting that data. I think for consumers, I think the two most interesting things were for people who had a history of some sort of severe allergic reaction in the past, they are basically saying, don't take this vaccine.
There was back and forth on that, I want to get the language right here, but they said don't take it, some had said, look, can you pretreat with Benadryl or something like that or just make sure that people have an EpiPen close by, they are being cautious there. It's not going to be recommended for people who had a severe allergic reaction.
CUOMO: Right.
GUPTA: As far as pregnant women go, remember, pregnant women were not part of the trial. There were 23 women who became pregnant during the trial. So, they had a little bit of data. What they said is if you are pregnant or breast feeding discuss this with your health care provider. Basically saying, figure out the risk/reward. If you are a high-risk
person, if you are working in a high-risk environment for some reason, whatever it may be, then you may to lean towards the side of the vaccine. But you got to be educated that there just isn't a lot of data there, that data is going to be collected.
You remember, I will just tell you quickly. One of the points at the convention at the advisory committee meeting yesterday was 16 and 17- year-olds specifically.
LEMON: The ages, right.
GUPTA: There was only about -- the ages, and basically you had, I looked at the data you had 103 people total that fell -- that were 16 or 17 years old out of the 44,000 that were in the trial. So, not very much data, some had argued you should just authorize this for people 18 and over. Not 16 and over.
[22:04:59]
And the FDA, according to this document sounds like they are sticking with 16 and older. So, they are going to be much lower down in the list in terms of getting the vaccine. Because there's going to be a triage, you know, health care workers and people in nursing homes, it's going to be a while before 16 or 17-year-olds can even get it and by that time, there may be more data collected.
But, no, look, this is a, it's a positive document. As I told Chris last hour. I mean, I can't believe we are having this conversation right now. Here we are. You know, whatever 10 months after the sequence for the virus was actually identified, we have an authorized vaccine. HIV AIDS 40 years we still don't have a vaccine. Some vaccines take a quarter of a century to make. You know?
So, this is, it is a remarkable day, tough day in terms of the overall numbers but a great day for science.
LEMON: Chris, you know what the number one thing is when, you know, I'm sure people ask you when they see you out. When are we going to -- when is this vaccine coming? When are we going to be able to get it?
I know there's a whole bunch of procedural things, right? Both of you. But the bottom line is, and not just procedural, people want to know when does that shot go into my arm. That's what they want to know, right?
CUOMO: They are going to get frustrated, because part of it has to do with what's happening in Congress. They have, I think, Sanjay will tell me if I'm wrong. But I think it's $6 billion they have the earmarked right now for manufacturing needs. Which, my understanding is, that on the manufacturing side, within government, what they know, they've already pre-spent that money and still need more to get where they need to be in terms of demand.
See, so, them delaying right now, is creating a potential backlog. We are assuming that people will reluctant to take this vaccine, because you have, you know, the polls and people don't trust Trump. I think once it starts to roll out, and people realize it's their best bet of not getting this, they are going to start to want it all over this country.
And you will have two huge issues. One, you won't have enough, because you got double shots on this stuff, and two, you will have states, Don, making choices about who gets it.
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: Within medical workers, within hospitals and where those hospitals are. And which people. And we are going to have to police that very carefully.
LEMON: Yes, but --
CUOMO: You will have big problems.
LEMON: You're right. But again, to my point, the bottom line is, that's what everyone wants to know. They know that --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Months.
LEMON: -- people play around.
CUOMO: Months, people like you and me, months?
LEMON: Yes. When is it going to go into people's arms, Sanjay, that's the question?
GUPTA: Yes, so, you know, we are going to see vaccine actually being administered, you know, this week. You know, almost for certain. About three million doses are going to be distributed now. I mean, as the EUA --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: For the vast majority of people, though?
CUOMO: No.
GUPTA: Three -- no, no, for the -- so let me put it to you like this, we may have these graphics, I don't know showing you how much of the various doses from the various companies have been ordered. Right now, we are talking about Pfizer, so and 100 million doses of this have been ordered. It's going to take time. They got about seven million, 6.5 million that have been already manufactured. They are going to keep manufacturing this stuff.
Moderna is also manufacturing and they are going to have this whole process that we are talking about today, may rinse and repeat next week. Because you have an EUA the application there, and they are going to have a similar sort of advisory meeting on Thursday of next week. After that, you got two other companies, AstraZeneca and Johnson &
Johnson that are in phase three trials. I talked to Moncef Slaoui, you both have talked to him over time, he is pretty, he is pretty optimistic about it, and they will probably apply for emergency use authorizations at the end of January.
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: But, Sanjay, remind people --
GUPTA: So, they're not just thinking the number --
CUOMO: -- who gets this vaccine first, second, you know, third, you know, the people who coming up to Don and me and asking you and asking when they are going to get it, they are nonessential worker, nonmedical worker, healthy people. They are after medical workers, long-term care people. People who are medically fragile. You know, I mean, there's going to be time here.
LEMON: That's on in to the spring. Wrong?
CUOMO: At least.
GUPTA: Yes, I think so. So, if you're like health care workers and people in long-term care facilities. We know they are in the first group. That is roughly 20 million people in this country. Forty million doses, right? Everything multiplied times two. And that's when we know for sure, the CDC has already said that, they are going to be meeting tomorrow, by the way, they just moved up their meeting from Sunday to tomorrow at 11 o'clock.
And I think one of the big questions is going to be, OK, we know that first group, but what about the second group, is it the essential workers like you are saying, Chris? Is it going to be people who are over a certain age and with certain preexisting conditions, should they come next? You know, that, we will see what the recommendations are from the CDC and then we will see how the states take it.
But one of those groups will be the next group. If you are talking about young, healthy people, people under the age of 50, no medical problems, yes, you are probably talking about the spring. And the overall number of doses that are necessary in this country, you know, depending on what percentage of the country decides to take it, you are talking 600, 700 million doses we're going to need.
Pfizer has 100 million. We now know Moderna, if they are authorized, there's 200 million. The federal government bought an extra 100 million today. So, there's 300 million.
[22:10:05]
AstraZeneca, Oxford AstraZeneca, obviously we don't have the data yet, but if that gets authorized the government has bought 300 million of those doses. That was their biggest bet probably. Johnson & Johnson, another 100 million. So that's where the vaccines are likely coming from. But in terms of
what it means for when you could actually go get the shot? I think for people who don't fall into one of these high-risk categories that I just described, you are talking, you know, sort March, April, sort of timeframe. And that is if things go well.
LEMON: Yes.
GUPTA: I'm really anxious to see how this distribution goes over the next couple of days. This is a huge logistical challenge, they seem like they're well prepared but you know, we are going to follow it closely.
LEMON: Well, I have to say --
(CROSSTALK)
CUOMO: Fauci said immunity should be about the fall, Don, --
LEMON: Yes.
CUOMO: -- in terms of when we hit the critical mass.
LEMON: Well, as I've said, we've got a couple of big breaking news stories to get to. Sanjay, I'm so glad that you could help us on this. Chris, thank for sticking around and helping me through this. It broke on your watch, so I figured if you could help with this helping the American people understand. This is big. The American people --
CUOMO: It's a huge night.
LEMON: -- won today. It's a huge night. And they won in two fronts. And I want to talk about the second one coming up now. Sanjay, I may have to get back to you, so stick around.
CUOMO: But not me.
LEMON: Don't get sleep, Chris. You are out of here.
CUOMO: I love you, Don Lemon. I love you, Sanjay.
LEMON: Thank you. I love both of you guys. I'll see you soon.
CUOMO: Big night.
LEMON: This is CNN Tonight. I am Don Lemon.
This is such a big night for news, for two major breaking stories. OK, so, we have been talking about the emergency approval of the first COVID vaccine. That is extremely important. Light at the end of the tunnel. Right? But the second story, it has to do with our democracy, with the republic, with our election.
And the breaking news is this, you lost, Mr. President. Again. The Supreme Court delivering a slap in the face to this desperate, un- democratic last-ditch attempt to throw out the votes of millions of Americans.
Now, here's what the court wrote for the record, OK? It said, the state of Texas motion for leave to file a bill of complaint is denied for lack of standing under article three of the Constitution. Texas has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections. All other pending motions are dismissed as moot.
So, let me give you the translation here. That was legalese, the translation is it's over. You don't even get to file this case. Let alone argue it. Let alone win it. Over. Not over, over.
You lost at the Supreme Court. You lost the popular vote. You lost the electoral vote. And you lost multiple recounts. Here's what sources are telling CNN, that the president thought that he actually had a shot this time. But even the justices he put on the Supreme Court had no interest in allowing his desperate legal bids to continue.
The two justices, Thomas and Alito. And I want you to listen to this very closely, right, because it is being spun in other places as if, well they were standing and they wanted to hear, they wanted to hear all this. It's not true, OK.
Thomas and Alito, who would have least, they would have allowed the lawsuit to be filed. They were not appointed by Trump. They were already on the court when they took office. And they specifically said, and I quote here, again. It is really important. They say, "I would therefore grant -- therefore grant the motion to file the bill of complaint but would not grant other relief, and I express no view on any other issue."
So, yes, what they are saying is, you can file it, and then you can go home. So much for his hopes that the judges he thought as, you know, his own would save him. Didn't happen. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think this will end up in the Supreme Court. And I think it's very important that we have nine justices.
We will be going to the U.S. Supreme Court. We want all voting to stop.
We should be heard by the Supreme Court. Something has to be able to get up there, otherwise, what is the Supreme Court?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: What is the Supreme Court? They are the people telling you to hang it up. And here's the message tonight to those 18 attorneys general and those 126 House Republicans who signed on to the president's doomed attempt to overturn the election. You will never be able to walk away from this. Hang your head in shame. Tried to kill our democracy. This will go down on your permanent record. So, how do the Republicans feel now, the 126 House Republicans who
supported this president's fight to throw out millions and millions of votes in four swing states just because they went for Joe Biden and not for him?
[22:15:02]
Those elected officials you see there, their names are up on your screen right now, they got where they are because of voters, right, they all won their elections. Now, they have the privilege of joining Trump in losing his. Way to turn yourselves from winners to losers.
And you can see how they are going to try to back away here, right? Congressman Bruce Westerman, who signed on to the president's attempt to steal the election, trying to do just that tonight. Tweeting, I signed on to an amicus brief, encouraging the court to consider the case, the case is constitutional question. SCOTUS rejected the case?
Going on to say, I also believe at this point that electors will vote Monday and issues certificates of the vote in which Joe Biden will win the Electoral College. The only milestone heft in completing the election process will be Congress counting the votes on January 6th.
The casting of electoral votes will end a hotly contested election. And we should come together as Americans to work together for the future of the country.
Congressman? If you cared at all about the future of our country, if you cared at all about Americans coming together you never would have signed on to this president's blatant attempt to steal the election. But you did. And you signed on, along with 125 other Republicans. They have shown Americans who they are.
And the wise words of Angelou Maya, Angelou -- Maya, excuse me. when someone shows who they are, believe them. Believe them and don't forget what they said.
Listen to this, it's from a scathing editorial in the Orlando Sentinel, apologizing for endorsing Congressman Michael Waltz, who supported the president's flailing last-ditch effort to undo the will of the people.
And I quote here, "we had no idea had no way of knowing at that time that Waltz was not committed to democracy. During our endorsement interview with the incumbent congressman we didn't think to ask, would you support an effort to throw out the votes of tens of millions of Americans in four states in order to overturn a presidential election and hand it to the person who lost, Donald Trump? Our bad."
That's what they wrote. It's somebody's bad, all right, those 126 House Republicans will never live this down. And they shouldn't live it down. They signed on to this president's doomed attempt to steal our election, putting the foundation of our democracy at risk, and they had no right to do what.
I want you to listen to Senator Chris Murphy on the Senate floor today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Right now, the most serious attempt to overthrow our democracy in the history of this country is underway. Those who are pushing to make Donald Trump president for a second term, no matter the outcome of the election, are engaged in a treachery against our nation. You cannot, at the same time, love America and hate democracy.
But as we speak, a whole lot of flag waving Republicans, are nakedly trying to invalidate millions of legal votes because that is the only way that they can make Donald Trump president again. It is the only way they can make Donald Trump president again because he didn't win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: He is right. They did it because it's the only way that they could make Donald Trump president again. They did it to save their political skins. To pass a political litmus test.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Right now, you are having a sort of political litmus test for 2022. And I asked one of the individuals who signed on, he said, I'm not saying that it's going on. I just think we need more information and my thing is how much more information do we need? What is the 1 in 50, or 1 in 51 for lawsuits. I think at think point the one loss record is not very good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The record is not good. It is not good, and you should be embarrassed, you deserve it. This should scar you forever. And like I said this will go down on your permanent record.
CNN's White House correspondent is Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, good evening. She joins us now with this bit of breaking news. Kaitlan, man, what a day, how is the White House reacting to the Supreme Court's latest election smack down?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's been silent from the president so far. He did comment on the FDA authorization of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, but he has not said anything about this rejection by the Supreme Court, even though the president and the White House spent this whole week touting and joining this lawsuit. Of course, the president was telling people privately that he thought it could prevail.
[22:20:10]
But, Don, I talked to some of the Republicans that you are talking about, who signed their names on to this amicus brief, they were pretty realistic about it. They thought that the Supreme Court was going to shoot it down pretty quickly, but they believe there's a loyalty test for the president. And so, they put their names on here. And you know, a sign of the president's silence. They have been having
nightly Christmas parties here at the White House and the president hasn't come to every single one, Don, but he has come to a bunch of them. He normally stops by on his way back from the Oval Office to the residence, guests were informed tonight that the president was not going to be coming not going to be making remarks.
So, unless he says something on Twitter, we will not see him again until he leaves the White House tomorrow around noon.
LEMON: Didn't show up at the party. Probably if they had taken it, he would be celebrating as a win. Here we go, to the Supreme Court, but now, won't come out of his basement bunker. Or residence.
Thank you so much, Kaitlan. I appreciate that.
Two huge stories tonight. The FDA issued an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's vaccine and Supreme Court hands the president a smack down on his attempt to steal the election at a time when we need leadership more than ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are in the teeth of a crisis right now. And this nation needs a presidential leadership right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[22:25:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So here is our breaking news, the Supreme Court rejecting President's Trump's -- President Trump's desperate attempt to overturn the election results. The justices including three appointed by Trump himself acting with unusual speed to dismiss a bid for Texas attorney general -- from Texas attorney general to throw millions of votes in battleground.
So, joining me now is CNN senior legal analyst Laura Coates and our election law analyst, Richard Pildes.
Thank you both for joining us. We are going to continue to talk about the breaking news as it comes to the vaccine. But this is the other big story tonight.
Laura, I'm going to start with you. Popular vote, lost, electoral votes, lost. Countless recounts, lost. And now, the Supreme Court, this is twice, where they have gone to the Supreme Court, right? And they have lost. Can this all just end now, please?
LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I would like to get off this ride. I don't know about you. The hamster wheel is getting extraordinarily old. Particularly given the fact that there was never any merit behind any of the lawsuits that have been brought. We haven't seen evidentiary basis for any of the case in the lower
court and now in the Supreme Court, you don't even have enough according to the justices, seven out of nine of them to even get through the front door. This motion is standing. Meaning do you actually have a dog in this fight? Have you been harmed in some way or are you the right party to come before us?
Well, the Constitution said quite clearly as you know, Don, that states have the authority to oversee and administer elections. And other states do not have the ability to control how other states do that. And this was a clear indication that Texas and others ought to stay in their lane and the Supreme Court was going to stay in theirs.
LEMON: Rick, every day is almost, you know, one right after the other. Were you on last night or the night before, where you predicted it?
RICHARD PILDES, CNN ELECTION ANALYST: It was last night --
LEMON: It was last nit.
PILDES: -- but it feels like it's endless.
LEMON: that's why I'm like, was that last night or was that the night before. And you said this would happen, right? And you thought it would be roundly rejected and I think you thought it would be quicker the response than the last one.
Even Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas they said they would allow the case to be filed but will grant no other relief. Please, explain what that means. It doesn't mean that they would want to hear it or that they would agree with it, they just said they had the right to file it.
PILDES: That's correct. This is a case in a very, very rare category of cases in which you can come directly to the Supreme Court if you are a state and ask the Supreme Court to hear the case by-passing all the other courts. Most of the justices think they still have discretion to say, as seven of them did here, we are not going let you file this e complaint because there's not enough basis to it.
Justice Thomas and Justice Alito have said long well before this case, no, we don't agree with that. If the state files a case like this to respect the dignity of the state and what Congress has done with the jurisdiction here, we should agree to let them file the complaint. Which is what they voted to do here but then they said immediately there's no relief here we would agree to grant.
So essentially, you know, the same day Texas finished filing its papers within a few hours the Supreme Court decisively in two sentences, essentially, without any dissents, rejected Texas's claims, seven of them saying you can't file this, two of them we would let you file, but we would not give you any of the relief you ask for here, it's just not appropriate.
LEMON: Laura, I just want to play what the president said, this was back in September and why he wanted a 9th justice on the court?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think this will end up in the Supreme Court and I think having a four-four situation is not a good situation. If you get that, I don't know that you get that. I think it should be 8-nothing or nine-nothing, but just in case it would be more political than it should be, I think it's very important to have a 9th justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK, so, he just said even if you get eight-nothing, that's what happened. He got nine-nothing right now. Do you think that he, he always had this fundamental misunderstanding of how the court operate it.
PILDES: Absolutely.
COATES: Yes, I think he absolutely did.
LEMON: This is for Laura, sorry.
PILDES: I'm sorry.
COATES: And I think he absolutely also misconstrued the role of the Supreme Court in the Bush v. Gore decision. And I think he had the notion that the Supreme Court, when all else fails can act as the salvation for the losing candidate and push them over the 270 edge, but that wasn't the case in Florida, that wasn't the case with Bush v. Gore and it was a nuanced case that had pretty much a strained equal protection claim.
But the reality here is, you got two justices who are on the court at the time that Bush v. Gore was decided. I believe it's Breyer and Thomas. You've got three of the justices who actually were a part in some way of the litigation in favor of Bush.
[22:30:05]
You're talking about Roberts and Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh, you got breathe of justices right now who knew about the nuances, who understood the role of the Supreme Court and more importantly, Don, what the Supreme Court was not. And the president trying to bank on them being the salvation and being able to catch the Hail Mary, was a fundamental miscalculation for him but a win for democracy.
LEMON: Rick, you are out with the New York Times op-ed, and you said that state legislatures are still a threat, to appointing electors contrary to the will of the people. Do you think President Trump is going to turn to that, is that what he's banking on right now or will bank on?
PILDES: Well, the sequence here is President Trump first turned to the courts and he was losing overwhelmingly in the courts. He then already did turn to the state legislatures, we read the stories of him having them in the White House or calling them up. So far, none of the state legislatures have been willing to do his bidding.
What he is going to turn to now is the very last gasp, it's that when Congress meets on January 6th to count the electoral vote, there are going to be objections from some Republican senators and representatives, we believe, that will object to the votes from these four states, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, and that will require the Senate and the House to vote on those objections.
So, I suspect the drama will get extended till January 6th, it will play out longer than it ought to on January 6th. But the House and the Senate are going to confirm the results of the election and that will be the end of the matter.
LEMON: It's interesting, that they are not contesting he and his folks are not contesting any other states. Wow. Or any states that he won. Thank you both. Thank you. I appreciate it.
COATES: Funny how that works, Don.
LEMON: Funny, yes, funny how that works.
COATES: Funny how that works.
LEMON: Yes. Thank you so much. One hundred twenty-six House Republicans signed on approving this lawsuit, signed on to tossing out millions of votes, all for a man who is about to be out of office. Stay with us, more on the breaking news, that's next.
[22:35:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, the Supreme Court coming out with a very clear message to President Trump tonight, stop. Just stop, that's what it said, the highest court in the land dismissing his latest attempt to overturn the election. but will this ruling finally put the craziness to rest? Is that too much to ask?
Let's discuss now, with CNN senior political analyst, Kirsten Powers, former adviser to George W. Bush and John McCain. Mark McKinnon, is it too much to ask? Good evening to both of you.
So, Kirsten, can we talk about, because this shows you what's going on. I know you are laughing, right, sorry. Guests at tonight's White House Christmas party were informed that the president wouldn't be joining them shortly after the SCOTUS decision was announced. Seems like some, you know, what do they always call it? Snowflake behavior there?
KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I mean, you know, he is just not going have a good explanation for this. And this is, really is hard to believe though that he thought that the Supreme Court was going to rule in his favor. But you know, maybe he really did. This was such an obviously meritless case. Everybody could see it.
As been reported on CNN, there are even members of Congress who sort of signed on to this sham who have admitted as much privately that they knew that it wasn't going to go anywhere. But, you know, the jig is up, it's over.
LEMON: Yes.
POWERS: It's, you know, it was over a long time ago.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: But it's interesting --
POWERSW: But in the Republican world, I don't know what else you say.
LEMON: There are a lot you can twist yourself in a -- come on, Mark, you know and do a pretzel, you can twist what Alito and what Thomas what they said about, well, you can bring it, but --
(CROSSTALK)
POWERS: Yes, I mean, you can twist it, but --
LEMON: -- you missed the last part where they said but we give no relief, meaning just because we said you have the right to bring this suit, but even if you did, we would say no. We are not giving you any relief. That's clearly what it says.
The Republicans are using that to say, well, they wouldn't even see it, and they, and Alito and Thomas thought they should see so that they could therefore rule on it. They saw it and they made a ruling. Is this a procedural thing, where the other folks said you don't have the right to bring it, they said you have the right to bring it but that doesn't mean we are going to side with you.
It's just nuts, Mark, did 126 Republicans, the ones that signed on to this ridiculous lawsuit, do they follow, just essentially follow the president off of this crazy clip?
MARK MCKINNON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, sure, that's just a purity test for and a loyalty oath for Trump supporters. But today was a good day for prisoners of hope. They got out of jail on two fronts. We got the vaccine, Supreme Court upheld the laws of the land, and it strikes me, Don, that a couple of things.
One is, thank God we have an appointed Supreme Court, right? Imagine if they were elected and acted like the representatives around the country did. And two, even Democrats, I think, can be thankful for The Federalist Society who gave him a list of relatively recent experienced justices, because imagine if he didn't have that list and he appointed who he really wanted to, we would have justice Pirro, DeGenova, and Giuliani ruling on this case. So, at the end of the day, it's a pretty good day.
LEMON: Yes, listen, when I said, I can, I can see how they are going to twist themselves in to a pretzel doing it, right, they are going rationalize this. You saw it, Mark, you know. Am I wrong about that? They are doing it already. MCKINNON: Sure, they are, and Don, I think they'll continue to do it
right up until January 6th and you know, they will hold out and they will register some protest folks when they -- when they formally endorse what the electors have put forward and beyond.
[22:40:06]
You know, they are going to hold out and it's going to help them in their Republican primaries as Trump continues to be like a shadow presence. Holding everybody in line.
LEMON: Kirsten, when you were on this program, excuse me, you made the point to me that, a lot of the Republican lawmakers are not just supporting this far simply because they are afraid of President Trump, a lot of them really like him. So, what happens after Trump is out of the White House?
POWERS: Well, I don't know, I do think he will continue to loom large over the party because you know, they don't, they don't, you know, I think I was on Anthony Scaramucci and he said, well nobody really likes him because he's not really that nice of a person.
LEMON: Yes, that's --
POWERS: But when I say somebody -- when I say someone likes a politician, I don't mean they are wanting to be besties. I mean, they like what they are doing. And I think that a lot of Republicans who would say I'm only going along with this out of the fear. I think a lot of them are fearful of him but I also think a lot of them like the Trump supporters, like what he does. And you know, they call it playing hardball. You know, or punching back, even though he is usually just punching.
And this is just, this is taking it to the extreme end of that continuum, which is to try to overthrow an election and try to, you know, upend democracy. I mean, this is been a scary time for a lot of people. I think for a lot of people who watched this, and never thought they would see an American president doing something like this, and that you wouldn't expect, you know, people to be going along with it the way that they are.
LEMON: Yes. And whoever is beeping, your microwave popcorn is ready, and you can get to it now because the segment is over. Thank you very much. I appreciate both of you.
MCKINNON: Keep it on.
LEMON: And I'll see you soon.
POWERS: OK.
LEMON: So, we are going to have more on our breaking news tonight. We have a lot of news tonight. The FDA issues an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's vaccine and officials say Americans could start getting shots as soon as Monday. Stay with us.
[22:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, here's our breaking news. One of our breaking news stories. Big night. The FDA issuing an emergency use authorization for Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. This is a major turning point in the pandemic. But it's a CDC's that gives it, the CDC that gives the final sign-off for Americans to be vaccinated, the two final steps in the process.
The CDC advisory board meeting tomorrow morning and then a final sign off on the vaccine by CDC Director Robert Redfield.
Dr. William Haseltine joins me now. He is a former professor at Harvard Medical School and chair and president of Access Health International.
Doctor, it's good to see you on tonight where there are some good news. I appreciate you joining us.
So, the FDA authorization has been granted. We could see doses of the Pfizer vaccine being given as soon as Monday. And while it's positive news, we still have a lot to learn about what the vaccine's impact will be. Do you think that this marks the beginning of the end for the pandemic?
WILLIAM HASELTINE, FORMER PROFESSOR, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL: Well, this is a wonderful day for America, it's a wonderful day for the world. This is a triumph, not just of an administration or a country. It's a triumph for humans and it's a triumph for science. We have to realize that we are now joining the fifth country to have approved the vaccine and that the vaccine we have approved is a collaboration between two countries.
It's actually the Pfizer/BioNTech German company vaccine. This is a real triumph for science, people around the world have different forms of vaccine. They all seem to be working pretty well. They all seem to be relatively safe. And this is we now can begin to see, if not an end, a control of this epidemic, this pandemic, not only in America, but around the world. It's a great day.
LEMON: Are you worried that there are going to be hiccups with this vaccine that we aren't ready for, like the allergic reactions, the ones that record in the U.K., just to give you an example?
HASELTINE: Well, there really been hiccups. There been hiccups in manufacturing a couple of vaccines have stumbled and fallen out of the race just today. One from Sanofi and another one from Australia because, of manufacturing difficulties. When you go so fast, they are bound to be some problems.
And I should say, when the FDA advisory committee gave the advice, I listened to them. And they carefully considered the pros and cons. Given the terrible events of the magnitude of this pandemic in the United States today, they were willing to take some risks. When you take risks, you are taking risk. There are going to be some other events. We don't know what they are going to be, anaphylaxis came as a surprise.
But there's going to be some other surprises too. That doesn't mean the risks don't outweigh the benefits. You know, when 3,000 people a day die, more than died in the 9/11 tragedy in one day, and then followed by the next day, and the next day and the next day, that's a terrible, terrible thing for America and we do need relief.
But we also have to remember vaccines alone are not going to put this Jeanie back in the bottle.
LEMON: Right.
HASELTINE: We have to continue to wear masks, social distance, and at the very expeditious, this vaccine can make a dent will be probably by mid to late spring before enough people have vaccinated that the vaccine will be impacting in any serious way this pandemic. So, we've got two things do do. Get the vaccine out to people and make sure people are happy about taking it and then make sure while we are doing that, we do everything we can to control the pandemic by conventional methods.
[22:50:00]
LEMON: Doctor, we thank you so much. Be safe. Have a good weekend.
HASELTINE: You're welcome. Thank you. You, too.
LEMON: So, if Rudy could have gone any lower than he did passing out dope. Take this. That's part of Rudy Giuliani's latest insane election claims. Passing out dope.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: So, take this, fresh out of the hospital with coronavirus, Rudy Giuliani Zoomed in to a Georgia state House meeting yesterday to peddle more lies. This time about a widely debunked video that he and others falsely claim shows election workers mishandling ballots to steal votes in Atlanta's heavily black Fulton County. And the racist dog whistles are now sounding more like a bull horn.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[22:55:04]
RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LAWYER: How can they say there's no fraud? Look at that woman who could have taken those ballots out, look at them scrolling around with the ballots. nobody in the room, hiding this. They look like this. They look like they're passing out dope not just ballots. It is quite clear they are stealing votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Passing out dope? Rudy Giuliani, you are the dope. Facts first here. Here's Georgia's election chief, Gabriel Sterling, who investigated that video and found these allegations totally false.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABRIEL STERLING, GEORGIA VOTING SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION MANAGER: The secret suitcases with magic ballots were actually ballots that had been packed into those absentee ballot carriers by the workers in plain view of the monitors and the press.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: But Giuliani kept attacking election workers in Fulton County, many of them people of color, comparing them to drug dealers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GIULIANI: Quite obviously, surreptitiously passing them around, USB ports as if they are vials of heroin or cocaine. I mean, it's -- it's obvious who is a criminal investigator or prosecutor they are engage in surreptitious illegal activity again, that day. And after a week ago, they're still walking around Georgia, lying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Again, linking people to drugs and crime for no reason at all. I guess disgraceful is a word. There are stronger ones that I cannot say on television. It's all part of their plot to throw out votes in cities with large black populations like Philadelphia, Detroit, and Atlanta. It's another disgraceful chapter in their part of American history. Shame, shame. We'll be back.
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