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U.S. COVID-19 Cases And Hospitalizations Reach Critical Levels; Coronavirus Task Force Members Confirm Trump Has Not Attended Meeting In Months; Washington Governor Orders Sweeping New COVID-19 Restrictions. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 15, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:07]

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Good Sunday afternoon from New York. I'm Erica Hill in for Fredricka Whitfield this afternoon.

We begin with a nation in crisis. You are likely seeing this where you live, cases are surging, hospitalizations on the rise and there are new concerns about an increase in deaths.

More than nine months into this pandemic, there is no national plan. And despite the fact that this virus is spiraling out of control, just look at the spike on your screen there for new cases.

On Saturday, Johns Hopkins reported another 166,000 new cases and that continues this devastating trend. The President touting important vaccine news late last week and that is so important, yet he didn't address the rapid acceleration in new cases.

Today, he is not talking about it either, focus instead on spreading disinformation, railing against the results of the election when he admitted he lost this morning, but yet still can't seem to let go.

And today, members of the White House Coronavirus Taskforce confirmed to CNN that President Trump hasn't attended a meeting with them in months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: You know, it was months ago. But you know, when we have our Taskforce meeting, it's run, as you know, by Vice President Pence, and the Vice President then translates that to the President himself.

But the last time the President was physically at a Taskforce meeting was several months ago.

QUESTION: "The Washington Post" is reporting this morning that the President has not attended a Coronavirus Taskforce meeting in at least five months. Is that accurate?

ADMIRAL BRETT GIROIR, H.H.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY: That's true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: States meantime are grappling with this new surge, announcing new restrictions as they try to contain the spread. Just in the last hour, Washington State announcing strict new measures. Among them: no gatherings of more than five people; churches and grocery stores now limited to 25 percent capacity. Oregon and New Mexico also ordering new shutdowns and restrictions on businesses beginning this week.

I want to go first to the White House. CNN's Jeremy Diamond standing by. So Jeremy, this morning Dr. Fauci and others confirming a report that President Trump hasn't been at a Coronavirus Taskforce meeting in months. What more do we know about that?

Is the President even talking about coronavirus these days?

DIAMOND: Well, the revelation that President Trump hasn't attended a Taskforce meeting in more than five months really just adds detail to what we've already known, which is that President Trump for months now has been disengaged from this coronavirus pandemic.

Of course, part of it was during while he was campaigning for the job, he preferred to focus on the economic aspects of this and getting the economy started again, rather than addressing the virus, viewing that as a political weakness.

But now the question is, what is the excuse for the President to continue to ignore what is an alarming growth in terms of cases, in terms of hospitalizations, and even in terms of deaths? But that is the administration's mindset.

We saw the White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows last month talking about the fact that this is a pandemic that we cannot control, and that has indeed been the attitude of this administration.

And at the same time, as the President is refusing himself to take some decisive action on this pandemic, he is also preventing the transition from happening to the Biden administration. Here's Dr. Anthony Fauci on that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: Of course, it would be better if we could start working with them. The period are measured in several weeks to months is really important in a smooth handing over of the information, as well as it is almost like passing a baton in a race. You don't want to stop and then give it to somebody, you want to just essentially keep going and that's what transition is.

So, it certainly would make things more smoothly if we could do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: Now, of course, President-elect Biden and his Coronavirus Taskforce have begun laying out what they will do to address the surge in cases across the country. They've talked about increasing testing. They've talked about

improving a national contact tracing force and perhaps some kind of a national warning system to give states and localities some more guidance on what they should be doing as cases increase in their areas.

But the one thing that they cannot do is get under the hood of what is happening inside the Federal government right now and meeting with those coronavirus advisers inside the government right now like Dr. Anthony Fauci, like Dr. Deborah Birx to actually discuss the path forward as this pandemic continues to worsen -- Erica.

HILL: Jeremy Diamond with the latest for us from the White House. Jeremy, thank you.

Tonight, the Governor of Michigan is expected to update the coronavirus outbreak in her state. Moments ago, the governor of Washington announcing sweeping new restrictions there.

Let's bring in CNN's Paul Vercammen, so Paul, what did Governor Inslee just announce?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, he announced a series of measures to curtail the spread of coronavirus in Washington, a record number of cases above 2,200, and among these measures, he says there will be no gatherings indoors of five or more people. Also, they're going to shut down again bowling alleys, movie theaters, gymnasiums and the rest.

Let's get right to the Governor's comments.

[09:05:06]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JAY INSLEE (D-WA): Left unchecked, it will assuredly result in grossly overburdened hospitals. It will keep people from receiving routine, but necessary medical treatment because of the stresses our hospitals will be under.

Left unchecked, the economic devastation long term will be continually prolonged. And most importantly, left unchecked, we will see continued untold numbers of this.

We will not allow these things to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And in Washington, Oregon and California, a travel advisory: they do not want people going in between all of these states, and they are also saying people who arrive in these states are being advised to quarantine for 14 days.

And all along the West Coast, you can see behind me aggressive testing campaigns. Here in the City of Los Angeles, they have broken a record. They have tested 128,000 people this week. This is a pop-up test. Another concern in California is blood supply. Both whole blood and

plasma donor supply, part of the problem is, is there has been a misconception both at these test sites and in blood donations that you can get the virus from donating. That's not true.

They have also lost another way to get people to donate and that's with all of these school closures.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROSS HERRON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, RED CROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: A lot of our blood drives in the fall happen to be at schools. So if a high school is down and college is down, we can't have those kind of blood drives. That's about 20 percent in some parts of the country of our blood supply.

So we're trying to schedule additional blood drives at other locations and make up for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: So here on the West Coast, they are saying, donate your whole blood. Donate your plasma, if you've had COVID and get yourself tested -- Erica.

HILL: Yes, so important. Paul Vercammen, appreciate it. Thank you.

Joining me now Dr. Richina Bicette. She is the Medical Director for Baylor College of Medicine and an Emergency Medicine physician.

Doctor, good to have you with us today. First, I just want to get your reaction to those sweeping restrictions we saw out of Washington State and frankly, others that have been put in place around the country. Are you expecting to see more moves like this? And also curious what you make of this timing. Cases are arising, but we're also now two weeks out from Thanksgiving.

DR. RICHINA BICETTE, MEDICAL DIRECTOR FOR BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: I'm absolutely expecting to see more decisions like this come down. This is what happens when you allow the data to drive your decisions.

Washington State just recently recorded a record number of cases since the pandemic began. So, I think the Governor's hand was forced a little bit.

You see the cases rising, you have to do something to protect your constituents and to protect those that live in your state.

We've also seen new restrictions come down in New Mexico and in Oregon, as stay-at-home orders have been put in places by the governors of those states as well.

HILL: As we look at what we learned this week, there is this encouraging vaccine news and that is great to know that it is coming down the pike. Dr. Fauci though this morning, you know, giving us I think, an important reality check, too, as he is talking about the long road ahead. I want to play some of that for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: I think that if we get most of the country vaccinated in the second to third quarter of the year, and the vaccine continues to prove its efficacy and people adhere to those fundamental measures, I think we can start approaching to the degree -- it's not going to be a light switch, Jake. We're not going to turn it on and off, going from where we are to completely normal.

It's going to be a gradual accrual of more normality as the weeks and the months go by, as we get well into 2021.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Well into 2021. He said it could be second, even third quarter before we start to approach that normalcy. Do you think that is a large enough part of the conversation at this point with the American public? That not only do we need to buckle down right now, but that this is the reality for the coming months?

BICETTE: I think or I wish that it was more of the conversation. I think that people would like to get back to normalcy so soon and they are getting tired of the pandemic. But they don't realize that, you know, these measures that are coming into play, like vaccines, for example, will not save us right this minute.

It's remarkable that Pfizer has been able to come up with a vaccine. The data is showing it is over 90 percent effective, but there are other things that are going to go into play with that.

The funding needed to create the millions of units of vaccine in order to vaccinate most of the American population. Transportation and storage issues, because this particular vaccine needs to be stored at subzero temperatures.

So even if we have a vaccine that is released this year, it is definitely going to be up into 2021 where we start seeing a large proportion of Americans get vaccinated.

HILL: You know, you just touched on some of the difficulty in even just getting the vaccine -- having the vaccine is one thing, getting it to people is another, getting it -- getting people to take it is a third issue that we have.

[15:10:10]

HILL: The President-elect Biden's Chief of Staff, Ron Klain talked recently about, you know, the struggles at this point when it comes to preparing for that vaccine. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON KLAIN, PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN'S CHIEF OF STAFF: Vaccines don't save lives, vaccinations save lives, and that means you've got to get that vaccine into people's arms all over this country. It's a giant logistical project.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: In terms of that giant logistical project, how much do you think the lack of transition and the lack of communication right now between the current administration and the incoming administration, is potentially hampering those efforts?

BICETTE: Oh, it could significantly hamper the efforts to get this vaccine out. We heard so much talk of a vaccine in the days and weeks leading up to the election, and it just so happened that Pfizer released their data a few days after the election.

We then saw Donald Trump and his son take to social media to begin slamming the company accusing them of holding that data purposefully until after the election.

So one has to wonder, are they purposely standing in the way? Are they purposefully hindering efforts as some kind of get back because they think that this is in order to hamper Donald Trump's re-election campaign?

So we have a lot to think about and definitely a lot to consider here.

HILL: One would certainly hope not when there are lives -- American lives -- that hang in the balance. We should point out, too, Pfizer has said the reason they put that information out is because they had really received those results, the data, the day before.

Dr. Richina Bicette, I really appreciate you being with us today. Thank you.

BICETTE: Thank you for having me.

HILL: Just ahead. We continue to talk about vaccinations. How about that fight potentially brewing here in New York State? Governor Cuomo considering legal action if the Federal government doesn't change its distribution plan. Why he says black and brown Americans are at a major disadvantage.

Plus Georgia's largest county, finishing its hand recount in quote, "record time." Will Republican challenges though, will there be more than later?

Then later, will we see more empty shelves over the Holiday Season, perhaps into the winter? The major changes grocery stores are making as the pandemic enters a new dangerous phase, and as we're all told to stay home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:28]

HILL: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is now vowing to sue the Trump administration unless it changes its vaccination plans. Cuomo claiming the Federal government's current vaccine distribution plans leave hard-hit black and brown communities at a disadvantage.

CNN's Evan McMorris-Santoro joining us now from New York.

So, Evan, why does Governor Cuomo take issue with the current distribution plans? How is he saying that it's disadvantaging certain communities?

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in short, Erica, what the Governor is saying -- Governor Andrew Cuomo is saying is that the vaccine distribution plan released by the White House back in September leaves out a lot of the communities that were the most hardest-hit by the coronavirus.

In a hard-hitting speech, the White House -- let's go the White House plan really quickly. The White House plan says that hospitals and pharmacies and medical facilities will be the places where the vaccine is distributed and administered.

And what groups like the NAACP have said is that that leaves areas where those places aren't as common, out of the loop on the vaccine.

In a fiery speech today at a church here in Manhattan, Governor Andrew Cuomo echoed those concerns and said that he will sue the Federal government if he needs to, to make sure that whatever vaccine plan does emerge in New York is equitable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): Let me be clear, the black and brown communities that were first on the list of who died cannot be last on the list of who receives the vaccine. Period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So what Cuomo wants to do and what the NAACP and other groups want to do is, in part, distribute the vaccine through community organizations like churches and other groups that they say are better at getting into some of these hardest hit areas in the country.

This is one of those places where once again, the story of the virus in New York becomes the story of the virus in the country. Because whatever Andrew Cuomo is able to get done about this distribution plan in New York, could reverberate across the entire country -- Erica.

HILL: Yes. That is for sure. There's also been a real focus over the last few days on the positivity rate in New York City specifically and what that could mean for schools tomorrow, what's the latest on that front -- Evan?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So for the past week, everybody in New York who has a child in a public school has been watching one number: the infection rate. If that rate crosses three percent, the plan was that schools would automatically close down again to students. Everyone would go back to school remotely only. All weekend, we were waiting for that to happen. We're seeing what was

going to happen. The mayor was warning the schools could close down. And today, the number of the -- that infection rate number today turned out to be 2.57 percent. So it's high and getting close to that three percent number, but it has not yet hit that number.

And once again, this is another one of those stories where what happens in the city really has implications across the entire country. Because back when the schools reopened to students here back in early October, it was the first major school district to really try that and people wanted to see if it would actually work.

And now with the virus surging all across the country, people are looking at that New York number and seeing if New York and keep the number low enough to keep those schools open, Erica. Right now they can on Monday, but a lot of parents are going to be stressed out for the next few weeks to see if that stays true.

HILL: Yes, that's for sure. Let me tell you I'm not in a city, I'm right outside, but every day my kids are able to go to school is a win. And we consider ourselves lucky. Evan McMorris-Santoro, appreciate it. Thank you.

Up next, the President-elect Joe Biden expected to deliver remarks on the economy tomorrow, as the transition team calls on a powerful Republican to accept reality.

Then later, a new era in space exploration begins tonight. Four astronauts blasting off to the International Space Station just hours from now, and this one is historic for several reasons.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:24:45]

HILL: Just 66 days now until Joe Biden is sworn in as President and Donald Trump and his administration move on to what is next for them. With a pandemic surging and millions of people out of work, rarely in U.S. history have America has been more in need of a smooth transition from one administration to another. There is a lot of work that needs to be done.

In a tweet this morning President Trump admitted Biden won the election, while then insisting he is not conceding.

CNN's Jason Carroll is live in Wilmington, Delaware for us where the Biden team is huddled. So Jason, what is on the agenda there today?

[15:25:19]

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, those tweets aside, look, the President-elect and his team, his COVID Taskforce as well as his Advisory Board, they have been working behind the scenes, regardless of what the President is tweeting, and regardless of other roadblocks that had been put up here. I mean, look, there's still a lot of questions, Erica, about how this

team is proceeding with their transition efforts, given all the roadblocks that the Trump administration has put up, the Biden team, though behind the scenes has been working with state and local governments.

The President-elect for his part last week was reaching out to GOP leaders. He plans to do the same again this week, though, it's unclear which leaders he spoke to last week in terms of Republican leaders; unclear again, which Republican leaders he is going to speak to this week, but one leader that we know he has not spoken to as of yet and that's with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KLAIN: He has not spoken with Senator McConnell about anything yet. We're hoping that Senator McConnell will accept the reality that it is just the reality. Joe Biden won this election. Kamala Harris won this election.

And I think it's time for leaders in both parties to get to business of this transition, to get the business of working together, to start to plan out a legislative agenda for next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And so looking at the business ahead tomorrow, the President- elect as well as the Vice President-elect will be giving remarks on the economy. Also looking ahead, Biden plans to visit the State of Georgia. He plans to do some campaigning down there, thinking he can do some help in that very crucial Senate runoff there.

And as for the recount, just a little earlier this afternoon on a press call with the Biden team, they talked about how the recount was going. They said, it's been progressing on pace, and they said, as of so far, they say that in terms of how the county has been going -- the recount -- they say no significant change in the count there -- Erica.

HILL: The latest for us from Wilmington, Delaware. Jason, thank you.

Well, that had recount of the ballots that Jason just mentioned, the ballots cast for the President in Georgia's largest county, it is actually expected to be completed there this afternoon.

We've got a live look for you at the process unfolding in Atlanta. The Republican Secretary of State says he is hoping that this live look, this access and transparency will help build confidence.

This, as Georgia's two G.O.P. Senate candidates call for his resignation and accusing -- or accusing him of failing to deliver honest and transparent elections.

Joining me now Congresswoman elect Nikema Williams, who just went to see to the house seat formerly held by the late John Lewis, held, of course until his death over the summer. Congresswoman elect, once this recount is over, do you think we can put this behind us? NIKEMA WILLIAMS (D), U.S. REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT FOR GEORGIA: So Erica,

we're just waiting for everything to be said and done. We're watching the process and monitoring it, but I am confident that once the recount is completed, we're going to see the same results that we saw in the aftermath of the election that Joe Biden won Georgia and the 16 Electoral College votes.

HILL: So to that ends, so much of the conversation in the last couple of weeks has also centered around election integrity. Americans need to know that their votes are counted. They need to know that their voices are heard.

Have you had -- as the Chairwoman of the Georgia State Democratic Party, you also serve, of course in the Georgia State Senate. Have you had any contact, any communication with your Republican counterparts? Are there any plans to maybe put out a bipartisan statement expressing faith in the integrity of your state's election systems and also in this outcome?

WILLIAMS: I have not had any conversations with my Republican counterparts, but I have seen the same things that you've seen on social media and press statements where there is one faction of their party that is still making -- it is an affront to our democracy, the things that they're doing in following Donald Trump and pretending that they didn't see the same results that the rest of the country saw.

Erica, I literally went to jail standing with my constituents demanding that every vote be counted in 2018, so I'm the first person to say that we should count every vote, however, the votes have been counted and now, they are being recounted and we need to accept the election results as they stand and support our democracy because that is the beauty of this country.

We have an election, the people's voices are heard and we move forward with a peaceful transfer of power.

HILL: Just real quickly, yes or no? Do you think some sort of a bipartisan statement though, in the State of Georgia could help?

WILLIAMS: I am not sure that it would help when we have a President who is not willing to accept defeat. He needs to accept that the voters have spoken and they do not want him to continue to be our President.

HILL: As we look, your state is going to be front and center through January 5th, as we know, Democrats John Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock, of course, involved in this Senate run off on January 5th. They have a joint campaign event, I believe it's in the next hour or so.

There's a lot going on here. We know President Biden planning to make his way to Georgia this week. It's not just about getting the voters out, though, that we were there last time in November, it is also about bringing in new voices. Are you confident that there's a plan in place to bring enough people

out and perhaps even bring some folks from the other side over to yours?

WILLIAMS: I'm confident that we have a plan in place that will get both of our candidates to 50 percent on January 5th. We are -- we showed people what was possible by delivering for Joe Biden on November 3rd, and now, voters who did not turn out to vote on November 3rd, they understand the power of their vote.

Sometimes it is making the impossible things possible and here we are in Georgia, nobody ever thought that we will be flipping Georgia for the first time since 1992 for the presidency.

So, we have a plan in place. We are ready and we are going to deliver for the entire country by delivering John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock to the United States Senate.

HILL: As you know, the message that we're hearing from Republicans is very clear that this is the last effort that they have. This is a last hope for keeping a check on Democrats in Washington. That can be a very powerful message for voters.

Where do you think you need to target? Which areas within the State of Georgia do you need to target and maybe tweak your message a little bit so that you're lighting a fire?

WILLIAMS: Erica, we're not ceding any part of the state. We are engaged in all 159 counties, and our voters are going to turn out. We understand what is at stake. Voters turned out and voted for Joe Biden for his agenda and we have to have a U.S. Senate for us to pass it.

HILL: Before, I let you go, a lot was made Friday night at the dinner that was to be for obviously, for incoming lawmaker, Speaker Pelosi was pushing back on some of the criticism that she got when those pictures were posted of the dinner that was planned. Ultimately, I know mailboxes were made available for pickup.

I'm curious, have you been planning to attend the dinner? And did you have any concerns at all on both the optics and your own health and safety?

WILLIAMS: Erica, I have been taking lots of precautions, much more so than my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who are refusing to wear masks up here. One thing that I know is I've always said that we should follow the data and the science, and we have been following the orders of the attending physician, making sure that we're keeping people safe throughout this process.

Do you have any concerns when you when you head to Washington in January, again, as this virus is raging? To your point, making sure that everyone is following those health and safety protocols for your own health for the health of your family, and you know, your fellow staffers, too?

WILLIAMS: I do have concerns. I have suffered separate from this virus in early March, for three weeks, and my family was sick. And so now, I want to make sure that I don't put anyone else through what I lived through in March.

But what I do know is we have a new administration coming in and Joe Biden has already assembled his COVID-19 Taskforce, and so I am confident that we will have a national plan in place in January when Joe Biden is sworn in.

HILL: Congresswoman-elect Nikima Williams, great to have you with us today. Thank you.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

HILL: Just ahead, the Navajo Nation sounding the alarm again about coronavirus. You may recall, already a hotspot back in May, so what is different this time around as officials try once again to bring the virus under control.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:37:23]

HILL Tomorrow, the Navajo Nation begins a three week stay-at-home lockdown. Health officials there are warning of uncontrolled spread of COVID-19 across its vast land which as you see stretches across several Southwestern states. So far, more than 13,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the Navajo Nation. Nearly 600 people have died.

Jonathan Nez is President of the Navajo Nation and joins us now from Window Rock, Arizona. You know, sir, you've called this an invisible monster. Invisible, we all know is a tough sell, especially at this point.

Moving forward with this new three-week lockdown, there are other measures you have in place as well. How do you enforce those at this point?

JONATHAN NEZ, PRESIDENT, NAVAJO NATION: Well, we're hopefully having our local officials and leadership and also our community members holding each other accountable.

You know, there's only so much resources the Navajo Nation has to enforce these public health emergency orders. But we've done it before, you know, the United States of America now is going through its third wave. Here on the Navajo Nation, we just announced that we are going to our second wave.

So, we, here on Navajo managed to not go through one of the waves that we went through, this country has gone through, and so it's because of the Navajo people adhering to these very tough public health emergency orders that have been put in place and so we're right now in a curfew and starting tomorrow, will be full lockdown for the next three weeks.

And it's just skyrocketing numbers all around the Navajo Nation in the four states and in order for us to be precautious, you know, we have to do these very tough measures on our people. And so we're just wanting to let everybody know that now is not the time to come and visit your relatives here on the Navajo Nation or even visitors to come and sightsee.

HILL: There's also a major concern around the country about hospitals and about resources for hospitals, about staffing. This has always been a concern, too. Where do you stand right now in terms of healthcare? What's available for folks and what are you most concerned about?

NEZ: Well, during the first wave here on the Navajo Nation, the states around us were not going through big waves. So, we were able to send our citizens off to the surrounding hospitals to get their care.

Now, that many of these hospitals around the Navajo Nation are seeing an increase in hospital usage. Our fear is that we might not be able to send some of our citizens that need immediate help emergency care of the nation.

[15:40:12]

NEZ: So we're building up here on Navajo Nation with the limited resources that we have, and we also are reactivating our alternative care sites, quarantine and isolation units here on the Navajo Nation.

But as was mentioned in previous segments, you know, I think this time around, there have been a lot of lessons learned here on the Navajo Nation as well and we just pray that our cases don't beat the first wave.

We haven't beaten the first wave yet, but here in this country, the third wave has surpassed the first and second waves.

HILL: Yes, feeling like -- as someone who said on our team earlier -- it feels a little bit more like a tsunami at this point heading towards everyone.

You know, I am curious, sir, there was a lot of talk about the power of the Navajo Nation, as voters, you know, in the election specifically in Arizona. I'm wondering if you've had any contact with the Biden transition team, specifically when it comes to the issue of coronavirus.

There's a lot being made about the lack of transition resources and information being given to the Biden-Harris transition team. So, if you've talked -- I mean, if you've talked with him, let us know what you've told them in terms of your concerns.

And if you've haven't, what would your message be at this point?

NEZ: Right, you know, President-elect Biden and Vice President elect Harris did indicate that Navajo -- Native Americans would have a seat at the table, and they have kept that promise, which is encouraging to us.

You know, we've been having updates from the transition team, and there's even talk about possibly having our own public health expert to be a part of the COVID-19 team as well.

You know, because there's -- Dr. Anthony Fauci did say there's a lot of lessons learned from the Navajo Nation, what we've done to keep those numbers down. And maybe that type of lessons could be used in local communities or regional approach, you know, and we are open to that.

But now, our focus is on the second wave and we just appreciate the Navajo people for adhering to the public health emergency orders that are put in place, and for the next three weeks, we are going to do our very best to bring those numbers down.

HILL: We are wishing you the best in all of that, and we hope to see those numbers decline. President Jonathan Nez, as always, I appreciate you taking the time to join us. Thank you.

NEZ: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: Just ahead. Grocery stores now starting to limit some purchases as the pandemic rages out of control. Concerns about empty shelves like these that we saw back in the spring. So what are some of the changes you can expect in the coming weeks, especially with the Holidays upon us, and how our frontline workers handling the new surge? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:47:37]

HILL: I tend to forget the frantic run on certain items when the pandemic was first really taking shape in the U.S. back in March, people rushing to buy hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and yes, toilet paper.

Well, now the surge in cases, as consumers approaching a similar point of demand again. Grocery stores now starting to limit some of these purchases so they can keep the shelves stocked.

Joining us now is to Stew Leonard, Jr. He's the CEO of Stew Leonard's the supermarket chain based in Connecticut and New York. Great to have you with us today.

I have to say I'm starting to see this in some of my local grocery stores as well, more of those signs that we saw in the spring limiting purchases. Are you having to do that, too?

STEW LEONARD JR. CEO, STEW LEONARD'S GROCERY STORES: Well, first of all, hello, and no, we're not doing any limits. You know, we find we can get plenty of supply at Stew's.

HILL: So that's good news. So plenty of supplies. I know you were telling me briefly during the break, it just may not be all the brands that perhaps shoppers are used to buying, but they can still get toilet paper.

LEONARD JR.: Right? And that's like the poster child of the pandemic. And I'll just show like an example here, everybody, right, Charmin is the biggest seller here. But you know, here's another premium toilet paper that we have. We may run out of Charmin, but we'll always have another brand of toilet paper.

The same with paper towel, same with Clorox, like the cleaning supplies. So I would just say to everybody, don't panic. There's plenty of product there. People are a little nervous because they saw what happened back here in April and March when the shelves -- it was real tough to get product. But the industry has taken care of that. Now, there will be plenty for your Thanksgiving.

HILL: Well, that is good to know. When we talk about Thanksgiving. You know, we're hearing this important message from officials, from public health experts that Thanksgiving needs to be small. It needs to be maybe just the people you live with.

That's going to impact obviously, what you're selling at your store. Also your distributors. How is that changing things for you this year?

LEONARD JR.: Well, you know what? This Thanksgiving is really about smaller offerings for our customers. Like we would normally do a big 25-pound turkey. That was a big seller for us last year. This year, it's going to be like a 15-pound turkey.

So we've actually decreased the order on our larger turkeys and increased the ones on smaller, so, its downsides -- and same with shrimp platters here, if you can look down here, we've got a shrimp platter and you can see this is the one we sold a lot of last year right here and this is two pounds.

[15:50:15]

LEONARD JR.: Now what we've done, we've actually made a smaller one like this, which is only a pound. And my family is a good example, Erica, because what happened with last year, I had one Thanksgiving, and I have a brother and two sisters. So the four of us all spent Thanksgiving together.

This year, they're all doing their own. So in the Leonard family, it's not one Thanksgiving, it is four smaller ones. And we find the trend is the same with all our customers.

HILL: Yes, I think that's what it is for the Hill family this year, too, I have to say.

LEONARD JR.: Yes.

HILL: Before I let you go, I think it's really important to talk about your employees there. Everybody in the grocery stores, whether they are stocking the shelves or the produce, whether they are ringing you up at the register, these are our frontline workers, too and they really -- I know in some communities took the brunt of it during the height of the pandemic in the spring.

How are they holding up? And do they have new concerns based on the surge in cases? LEONARD JR.: Well, first of all, thank you for mentioning because that

is, you know, it makes me feel so proud of our people at Stew Leonard's, you know, because they came in every day.

I know it was difficult to manage their families, but what we've done is we've just had these shots of appreciation day where we're giving them $2.00 an hour. We're starting that again to run through the Holidays for our people.

And you know, we want to reward them. We feel good. We've been able to supply food for our community here in the Metro New York area, and it's really because of our great people at Stew Leonard's.

HILL: Stew Leonard, great to have you with us today. Appreciate you taking the time to join us and if anybody is ever in the area, go check out the Talking Butter. Trust me on this one. You won't regret it.

Happy Thanksgiving. Thank you. Stay safe.

LEONARD JR.: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: Just ahead, countdown to liftoff. We are now less than four hours away from the first fully operational SpaceX Dragon launch. What astronauts have to say about this historic moment, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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HILL: SpaceX is scheduled to send four astronauts to the International Space Station in just a few hours. This will be the first time a company has sent one of its spacecraft on a fully operational mission.

They are launching from the Kennedy Space Center, Merritt Island, Florida and that is where Rachel Crane joins us from now live.

Rachel, great to see you this afternoon. Are we still on track at this point for liftoff this evening?

RACHEL CRANE, CNN BUSINESS INNOVATIONS AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Erica, at this point, all systems are go, and you know the real variable here is weather. Is Mother Nature going to be on our side?

Right now, the 45th Weather Squadron who monitors the weather for NASA and SpaceX putting those odds at 50/50. So everybody here at Kennedy Space Center and really space enthusiasts all around the globe crossing their fingers that the weather cooperates.

And it's important to remember that they're not just monitoring the weather here at Kennedy Space Center, it is all across the ascent path. That's because Crew Dragon, the spacecraft has a unique abort capability, an end to end abort capability.

So they have to monitor the weather across the Atlantic, off the shore of Ireland, but right now, you know, as I said, it's really a tossup, 50/50 odds they are saying.

The astronauts Mike Glover -- sorry, Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut, Soichi Noguchi, from the Japanese space agency, they've just suited up so they are proceeding forward as though this is a go, wearing their space suits.

We expect to see them walking out and saying goodbye to their families shortly. I had the opportunity to speak to Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover before the launch. Take a listen to what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: What does it mean to you to be a black man and an astronaut at this moment in our country's history?

VICTOR GLOVER, NASA ASTRONAUT: You know, I'm not immune to the things going on in the world right now from the physical insecurity that many people are feeling to the economic insecurity, and I will say this, the overriding feeling that I have is that I want to go up there and do my job well.

MICHAEL HOPKINS, NASA ASTRONAUT: I think all of us can agree that 2020 has certainly been a challenging year: a global pandemic, economic hardships, civil unrest, and isolation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CRANE: So Erica, we're just a little over three hours from that expected liftoff of 7:27 this evening.

As I said, everybody crossing your fingers and toes that all systems keep cooperating and Mother Nature is on our side -- Erica.

HILL: Crossing all extremities. You're right. This is really a big step forward for SpaceX as a company, but also Rachel, when we look at the future of space travel in general, real quickly, why is that so important right now?

CRANE: Well, you know, having this capability, having a homegrown way of getting to and from the International Space Station relying on the commercial sector to do that that frees us up from Russia, and that allows -- you know, we paid Russia over $4 billion over the years to ferry our astronauts back and forth to the International Space Station because we haven't had a way of getting there since the end of the shuttle program.

So this allows NASA to focus on those, you know, really exciting missions like going back to the moon and one day hopefully, going to Mars -- Erica.

HILL: A lot to look forward to. Rachel Crane, great to see this afternoon. Thank you joining us live there from Kennedy Space Center.

Thanks to all of you for joining us, now more than ever, we all could use a hero, right? Well, this year, CNN Heroes isn't just saluting everyday heroes, we

are also taking a look at some of the larger moments that defined the biggest stories of the year and you can vote for this year's most inspiring moments logging on to CNNheroes.com.

Thanks for being with us this afternoon, I'm Erica Hill in for Fredricka Whitfield. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ana Cabrera.

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