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Trump, Top Republicans Still Not Accepting Election Results; Biden Projects Calm as Trump Refuses to Accept Loss; Supreme Court Signals Affordable Care Act May Survive Latest Challenge; U.S. COVID- 19 Hospitalizations Hit Record High; Fauci Says Help is Coming with a Vaccine, But Keep Guard Up; European Union Aims to Procure 300 Million Pfizer Vaccine Doses; U.K. Tries Population-Wide Testing Strategy in Liverpool. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 11, 2020 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to you, our viewers joining us here in the United States, Canada, and all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Kim Brunhuber.

Just ahead, President Donald Trump is still clinging to the notion that he hasn't lost the election and is encouraging his top ranking officials to do the same.

President-elect Joe Biden didn't hold back on that saying the President's refusal to concede is an embarrassment.

And more Americans are hospitalized with COVID-19 than at any other point in this pandemic. And some hospitals say they're at their breaking point.

It's been eight days since the election here in the U.S. and President Donald Trump still not willing to publicly accept his defeat by Joe Biden. Mr. Trump and his allies continue to undermine the legitimacy of the election and delay the transition of power. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is among the latest high profile officials to dismiss President-elect Biden's win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the State Department currently preparing to engage with the Biden transition team? And if not, as what point does the delay hamper a smooth transition or pose a risk to national security?

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: President Trump is still mounting legal challenges to the 2020 election results and his administration has even carried out sweeping changes at the Pentagon removing several of its most senior officials and replacing them with perceived loyalists to the President.

President-elect Biden, meanwhile, is taking a calm and measured tone in the face of Republican resistance and he's pressing ahead with his transition to the White House. As CNN's Boris Sanchez reports, Biden faces increasing challenges.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The President's latest moves indicate that he is not ready to concede anytime soon and that he may not leave all that gracefully. Several sources throughout government agencies indicate that President Trump has put out the word through his staff that he does not want any federal agency cooperating with the Biden transition team. And further that he doesn't want any government agency doing anything that would imply that Biden won the election.

The President clearly not complying with the idea of a smooth transition. We're also learning that the White House has started to press these agencies to come out with a budget for next year as if there will be no change at the White House. One official actually telling CNN that the White House is, quote, going forward assuming a win.

The President here clearly in denial, angry about the loss. We should point out it has been several days since we've actually heard from the President in an official capacity. He hasn't done any events since last Thursday when he stood at the White House podium and espoused all sorts of conspiracy theories and quite nonsense about how the election was stolen from him. The President still moving forward with these claims on Twitter, but we've not seen him in person. We should also point out that the President has been emboldened partly because Senate Republicans have largely either remained quiet or encouraged the President in this endeavor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Now while the President digs in his heels over the election results, Joe Biden said the Trump administration's refusal to start the official transition process isn't preventing him from moving forward. CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden moving forward to build his new administration even as President Trump and Republicans try complicating his transition to power.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly. How can I say this tactfully? I think it will not help the President's legacy.

ZELENY: Reality is setting in that Biden is facing new roadblocks as the Trump administration refused to cooperate with the time honored tradition of a peaceful transition. But Biden also taking pains to cool the temperature saying he could still begin forming a government without access to federal funding or intelligence briefings. He downplayed the possibility of taking legal action.

BIDEN: We can get through without the funding. We're in a position that we feel very good about our -- there's nothing that slows up our efforts to put things together.

ZELENY: At his first news conference since the election, Biden playfully smiled at the Republican resistance.

[04:05:00]

(on camera): Have you spoken to your long-time friend in the Senate, Mr. McConnell, and what do you make of his specific comments over the last 24 hours?

BIDEN: I haven't had a chance to speak to Mitch. My expectation is that I will do that in the not too distant future. I think that the whole Republican Party has been put in a position, with a few notable exceptions, of being mildly intimidated by the sitting President.

ZELENY (voice-over): Yet world leaders are moving on. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a longtime Trump ally and admirer, offering his congratulations in a call to Biden, as did French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

BIDEN: I'm letting them know that America's back. We're going to be back in the game. It's not America alone.

ZELENY: Biden sought to keep the spotlight on policy. Namely protecting the Affordable Care Act.

BIDEN: We're going to fight for your family's health coverage the same way we fight for our own family's health coverage.

ZELENY: The turmoil is even more telling, considering this day in history. It was four years ago that Biden met with Vice President- elect Mike Pence. A week after election day Biden stroke an optimistic tone still insisting, he can unite the country.

BIDEN: I'm not a pessimist as you know.

ZELENY: And for those Republicans who haven't come to terms with the election, Biden had this to say.

BIDEN: They will. They will.

ZELENY (on camera): Mr. Biden is clearly trying to intentionally play this cool. You can see it from the smile on his face right there. Now even as his legal team is calling the Trump lawsuits noise not law and political theater. Unclear when all of these tensions will end, but Republicans, Mr. Biden believes, will eventually come around to working with him. Of course, he will need them to help set up this cabinet. As of now at least, Republicans still control the U.S. Senate.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The Affordable Care Act may live to see another day. On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court hinted that it's not likely to void the entire 900 page act much to the chagrin of Republicans who fought it for the last ten years. CNN's Jessica Schneider reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The justices signaling that they will once again step in to save the Affordable Care Act. All it will likely take is one of the President's picks. Justice Amy Coney Barrett or Justice Neil Gorsuch or Justice Brett Kavanaugh. And it was Justice Kavanaugh that seemed to most clearly side with the push from Democrats, that even if the individual mandate was declared unconstitutional, that would not mean that the entire ACA should be invalidated. It all comes down to this idea of severability. Whether one part of the law can be struck from the entire law without being the entire law also being struck done.

Justice Kavanaugh weighed in as did the Chief Justice.

JOHN ROBERTS, CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT: I think it's hard for me to argue that Congress intended the entire act to fall if the mandate where struck down when the same Congress that lowered the penalty to zero did not even try to repeal the rest of the act. I think, frankly, that they wanted the court to do that, but that's not our job.

BRETT KAVANAUGH, JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT: Congress knows how to write an inseverability clause and that is not the language that they chose here.

SCHNEIDER: Now this all comes down to the decision Congress made in 2017 to put the penalty for not purchasing insurance at zero dollars. Republicans are arguing that no longer makes it a tax and is therefore unconstitutional. But Justice Amy Coney Barrett, she also questioned whether Congress would really intentionally do something that would kill the entire law. And she seemed to carefully craft her questions to keep observers guessing about how she might rule.

This of course, is a decision that will affect millions of Americans, whether it's those 20 million that have gained coverage through Obamacare or those who have benefitted because they have pre-existing conditions, or for example are still on their parents' insurance until age 26. So, a lot at stake and the Supreme Court likely won't issue a decision in this case until the spring or summer.

Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: While the political fight rages on, so does the COVID-19 pandemic. New data now shows that more Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 than ever before. On Tuesday nearly 62,000 people with coronavirus were in hospital in the U.S. that's according to the COVID tracking project. On average more than 1,600 people with COVID are admitted to American hospitals each day. But despite those numbers there are concerns that some may avoid getting a vaccine. Dr. Fauci says he believes a vaccine could be widely available by April.

[04:10:00]

But with case numbers climbing steadily across the country, he said sticking to social distancing measures will be crucial. CNN's Athena Jones has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Help is coming, and it's coming soon.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dr. Anthony Fauci hailing the progress Pfizer has made on a coronavirus vaccine but warning just because a vaccine is on the way that doesn't mean Americans can relax when it comes to masks and social distancing.

FAUCI: We would likely be able to start dispensing vaccines in December and then progressively over the next few months. But in that interim, we could get into a lot of difficulty if we don't adhere to the public health measures.

JONES: Those measures are more important than ever, with coronavirus infections rising in 44 states, and new daily cases topping 100,000 every day for the past week. Thirty-two states seeing their highest seven-day averages for new cases. Among them, Illinois, where infections have been climbing faster than any other state in the last week. The governor announcing new restrictions in some areas. And experts warn it could get a lot worse.

LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We really have to keep up our guard, because we are looking at another season, at least, or multiple seasons, but certainly this winter season, when we are right now on track to having maybe 2,000 deaths a day or 2,000 -- 200,000 new infections just this winter.

JONES: That's 200,000 new infections a day, more cases mean more hospitalizations. Seventeen states reporting record hospitalizations, including Nebraska, where new restrictions including new rules on masks take effect Wednesday in Idaho.

DR. JOSHUA KEM, VICE PRESIDENT OF MEDICAL AFFAIRS, ST. LUKE'S HEALTH SYSTEM, EAST REGION: The numbers continue to be very high. We continue to have 50 plus patients with COVID in the hospital. And just for a reference point back in September, we were having maybe 10 or even less patients in the hospital with COVID.

JONES: As more people are hospitalized with severe illness, the number of deaths also rises. In El Paso, Texas, hospital morgues have reached the brink. Officials adding four mobile morgues to the six already in place to handle the overflow. A county judge now likely to extend a two-week lockdown. (on camera): And to give you a sense of just how much and how quickly these case numbers are rising nearly everywhere, if you look at the five states with the lowest seven-day COVID test positivity rates, so places that we're doing well. On Friday, all five were under 2 percent positivity. Today, four out of the five surpassed that 2 percent positivity number.

It's something that's raising a lot of concerns here in New York City where the positivity rate stands at 2.8 percent. If the seven-day rolling average hits 3 percent, schools will have to go to all remote learning, and the kinds of restrictions we saw here in the spring could return.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: While the news of a potential vaccine has offered a surge of hope this week, Dr. Anthony Fauci says it's not a reason to back off on other public health measures. He says mask wearing, social distancing, and hand washing all need to continue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: The news of the vaccine should not get people to say that we don't need to continue to do the public health measures because I look at the vaccine is that help is coming and it's coming soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And we'll have more on the response to the pandemic ahead this hour.

Meanwhile, right now funeral services are underway for Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat who died after contracting COVID-19 and suffering organ failure. Now what you're seeing are live images of Erekat's funeral procession. His remains are expected to arrive at the presidential compound before traveling from Ramallah to his hometown of Jericho. That's where he'll be buried.

Erekat was a major voice in Palestinian politics and a fixture of peace negotiations with Israel since the 1990s. Erekat was also an outspoken critic of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Trump's involvement in Middle East politics. So do stay with CNN as we continue to follow this story.

Still ahead, the race for a vaccine. Pfizer says they have one but once it's approved, how will it be distributed? European companies have already put in huge orders. So we'll go live to Berlin and London next.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRUNHUBER: A short time ago the Hong Kong government disqualified four members of its legislative council. The move came immediately after Beijing ruled the city could strip local politicians of their credentials if they were found to be supporters of Hong Kong independence. Chief Executive Carrie Lamb says lawmakers who don't respect China's sovereignty cannot perform duties as legislators.

Until now pro-democracy lawmakers say their parties remaining members of the council will announce a mass resignation later today.

In Europe countries are already rolling out plans to procure and distribute a new Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. That's before it's even approved by regulators. The European Union will authorize a contract today for up to 300 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine. The EU Commission president says the plan is to deploy it quickly across Europe once it becomes available.

The U.K. government says it will procure 40 million doses. Some of those maybe available by the end of this year.

Now the Pfizer vaccine was developed in partnership with a German company, BioNTech. That firm's CEO says he's confident it will be approved. CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins me live from Berlin. What more can you tell us, Fred?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kim. Well, I think one of the things that European Union certainly wants to do, is they want to make sure that this vaccine is available, not just in large countries like, for instance, Germany and France, but the smaller European countries. And also in European countries that don't necessarily have the financial means as some of these larger European countries have.

That's why the European Union, the European Commission is buying this vaccine in bulk as an entire block.

[04:20:00]

And you can hear over the past couple of days, especially after the efficacy of that vaccine was proven, and that especially the Germans and some other countries came out and said, look, we really need to make a deal with this company to make sure we get the vaccine. There had been a memorandum of understanding for several hundred million doses in place already. But it's going to take -- or took until today for that deal to be authorized. I want to listen into some of what Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

URSULA VON DER LEYEN, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN COMMISSION: In the past months, the European commission has been working tirelessly to secure doses of potential vaccines. We authorize a contract for up to 300 million doses of the vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer. This is the most promising vaccine so far. And once this vaccine becomes available, our plan is to deploy it quickly everywhere in Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: And of course, she's saying once that vaccine becomes available, what the European Union is saying is that this vaccine obviously has not been approved yet. And the processes are a bit different in Europe than they are where you are in the United States. Right now that vaccine is involved in what's called a rolling approval process. Which means once Pfizer and BioNTech get their own data, they immediately share that with regulators who then make the move to at some point, obviously, give the vaccine the approval.

There is no Emergency Use Authorization in Europe as there is in the United States. But again, the head of BioNTech, Ugur Sahin, he said yesterday on a call that we were on as well that he believes it could be by next week that they might apply for that Emergency Use Authorization with the FDA -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: There is prioritization as to who gets it. When will sort of, you know, ordinary people be able to get it?

PLEITGEN: Yes, that's a really big question, Kim. What's going on or what Pfizer and BioNTech has said, is that they plan to manufacture at least 50 million doses of that vaccine by the end of that year. That's not very much especially if you take a look at the fact that two doses are necessary to receive full immunization. Which means that would be enough for about 25 million people around the world.

So first and foremost, there would be vulnerable groups, first responders, emergency medical workers -- or general medical workers who would obviously get this vaccine as a priority. Right now European governments -- and we're listening to this from the German government last year -- talking about the first quarter of next year for that vaccine to become available in bulk for many people here on the European continent.

And of course, then in the United States and North America as well. Canada of course also has a deal with BioNTech and Pfizer. The companies say that in fact, the they believe they'll be able to manufacture about 1.3 billion doses by the end of next year and of course one of the things we have to keep in mind is that there are other vaccines that could very well also be available in that time frame as well. The CEO of BioNTech saying yesterday on that call he believes their vaccine will not be the only one that will be successful -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, thanks so much. Fred Pleitgen live in Berlin.

Well, while the world waits for that vaccine to be available, the city of Liverpool in England is trying a bold new experiment. Officials are offering testing to all residents bid to get the virus under control. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz visited Liverpool to see the effort for herself and she joins us now live from London. So, Liverpool obviously a COVID hot spot with this innovative program that could have national implications. Explain what they're doing.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER: So the Prime Minister has essentially rolled out this new strategy of regular mass testing. The idea is, is that if testing is available to all freely and easily accessible that people could get tested regularly and normal life could resume. Now everybody is hoping and wishing and waiting for this vaccine. But the Prime Minister has said the worst thing we could do is slacking our resolve at this critical time.

So this is his answer to the spike in coronavirus cases. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Imagine a world with no lockdowns. No social distancing. No restrictions. This is the British government's bold new vision, and it all starts here in Liverpool with a citywide coronavirus testing program. It is a twofold experiment. First, to get as many residents as possible tested in a 2-week window.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard about the testing and thought it was a good idea.

ABDELAZIZ: And second, to try out a new rapid test that could save precious lab capacity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's one of the best things Liverpool has ever done for the public, you know.

ABDELAZIZ: The scale is massive. Some 2,000 troops are on hand to help administer thousands of tests a day. Mayor Joe Anderson says the initiative is critical to his city's fight against the virus.

JOE ANDERSON, MAYOR, LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND: We're facing tough times, so my message to everybody in the city is let's show we can do this and we can bring the rates of the virus down and stop people dying in our hospitals.

[04:25:00]

ABDELAZIZ: Liverpool was selected because it has one of the highest rates of coronavirus deaths in England.

(on camera): If this program works, the idea is to roll it out across the country. People could get tested regularly. Normal life could resume. But here is the catch, everyone here is a volunteer. This is not mandatory.

(voice-over): Away from the long lines, we meet a very conflicted Paul Freeman-Powell at his home.

PAUL FREEMAN-POWELL, LIVERPOOL RESIDENT: What concerns me is that if you go for a test and then you test positive, then you potentially have two weeks off work when you're not able to earn anything as a result.

ABDELAZIZ: Those on low incomes can access a small amount of financial support but this father of three says, even if he qualified, it's simply not enough.

FREEMAN-POWELL: It's not a clear cut black and white scenario because, on the one hand, you want to do what's best but then you've got to make ends meet.

ABDELAZIZ: To defeat the virus through mass texting will require mass participation and even more personal sacrifice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Now so far, this was rolled out last Friday, so we've been about days. And so far, in Liverpool, you've had 23,000 people tested. It's a population of half a million. So that is a very far cry from the mass testing, everyone gets tested that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government had envisioned in that.

Again, it comes down to the fact that it is not mandatory. In this second wave that we are dealing with right now here in the U.K. could be even deadlier than the first one in the spring. I just want to give you an idea of the numbers. Yesterday we heard in a 24 hour period that more than 500 people had lost their lives due to coronavirus and 20,000 new cases were reported. Those were the worst numbers since May 12th. So still a lot of room to go here for the Prime Minister and his government to get a grip on these rising cases -- Kim.

BRUNHUBER: At least they're trying something. Salma Abdelaziz in London, thank you very much.

Ahead on CNN, how conservative media outlets are still parroting President Trump's false claims on the election being stolen, stay with us for that.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My husband fights for our country. He has offered to pay the ultimate sacrifice and I stand alongside him, and now my own vote is called into question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Military spouses tell CNN they were fraudulently identified as fraudulent voters by Nevada Republicans. That and other stories coming up next.

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