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Biden Meets with Health Care Workers; GOP Senator Congratulate Harris; Possibility of COVID Vaccine Approval and Distribution; France Reaches 2 Million Cases. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired November 18, 2020 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:38]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: President-elect Joe Biden set to hold a virtual round table with front line workers today. This is as his transition is trying to move forward without official recognition from the Trump administration.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: President-elect Biden moving forward, preparing for the job.

CNN's Jessica Dean joins us now from Wilmington, Delaware.

Jessica, so what do we expect to hear today?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're expecting to see President-elect Biden sitting virtually with front line health care workers. But, Poppy and Jim, I think it's also important to zoom out and remember this is the latest day in like four days where they have put the focus right back on COVID, where they have put the focus back on the fact that they don't have access to Health and Human Services, they don't have access to the White House Coronavirus Task Force and they're trying to make the point, and they have been out making the point, that any delay in getting to that data is going to really hamper their efforts to get, for example, the vaccine distribution plan in order, organized, ready to go, to get these vaccines to millions of Americans. It's a giant logistical undertaking.

And all of this is happening as yesterday we heard from the three co- chairs of the Biden transition team's COVID-19 advisory board. In a call with reporters, they said they do not have access to the data they desperately need. Yes, they talked about the vaccine distribution, which is a huge problem in and of itself. But they're also talking about hospital bed availability, PPE, things like that, testing supplies. They want to know day to day data on that, how much is available, what needs to be made, where are shortfalls. This is all stuff they're not allowed to get to and it's necessary for them to begin planning.

We also heard last night right here on our air from Cedric Richmond, who's an incoming senior advisor to the White House, he talked a little bit about what this delay in transition means, what the delay by President Trump means and then, of course, a little bit, too, about the firing of Chris Krebs.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CEDRIC RICHMOND (D-LA) AND INCOMING SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT- ELECT BIDEN: It's dangerous. The entire transition, Trump's whole behavior right now, should frighten the American public.

Krebs was an honest broker and a straight shooter. And so the simple fact that he said our elections are something we can believe in and there was no fraud or abuse or any cheating, the president didn't like his answer, so he got rid of him. And the American people at some point, my Republicans, no matter where you are, at some point stand up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And, again, they're just waiting for that transition process to happen before they can do these official things. They're continuing to name White House staff members, have meetings and briefings, Poppy and Jim, as best they can.

They're also continuing their search for potential cabinet nominees. Reporting by my colleague, Jeff Zeleny, that they're really looking very seriously and prioritizing Health and Human Services, as you would imagine, that they're currently zeroing in on Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and the New Mexico governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham, two peopled who, of course, had to manage the COVID response in their own states.

HARLOW: OK, Jess, thank you for the reporting.

SCIUTTO: Getting ready.

Well, as the president and other Republicans refuse to publicly acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden as the winner of the election, in private, in moments like this, some GOP senators appear to congratulate Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris.

[09:35:03]

Even Senator Lindsey Graham gave her a fist bump. We're going to discuss, next.

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HARLOW: OK. While many Republicans are still publicly siding with the president in his fight without evidence over the election results, we saw quite a moment on the Senate floor yesterday. Watch this closely. They'll spotlight it in a moment. You have several Republican senators congratulating their fellow senator for now, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris.

SCIUTTO: You'll see Senators Tim Scott, Mike Rounds, James Lankford, Ben Sasse, all Republicans, congratulating here at the end there. That was Senator Lindsey Graham.

[09:40:00]

Or here he comes, giving her a little fist bump.

CNN's senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill.

Manu, you speak to a lot of folks on The Hill, a lot of Republicans. I wonder if -- is that a little vision into what Republican lawmakers are saying privately, but still not willing to acknowledge publicly?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, a lot of Republicans realize that Donald Trump is not going to be a two-term president, that Joe Biden will get -- will win the presidency. A lot of them want to give the president space to mount his legal challenges, even when they know there's very little chance of that succeeding.

I was sitting in the gallery during that interaction and I overheard these conversations. It was not audible on television. But what I could hear from Senator James Lankford saying congratulations to Kamala Harris, as well as Tim Scott saying congratulations, Mike Rounds saying the same thing. None of them have acknowledged publicly that Kamala Harris is, in fact, the vice president-elect. And Lankford even asked to her -- or asked her, how's that food fight happening behind you in California? Referring to that effort to fill her seat. That's going to be vacated once she becomes vice president.

And I asked Lankford about that afterwards. He said that he still believes the election is not settled. He said that he's just being polite.

Lindsey Graham, who gave her that fist bump, said that he was just saying to her that if she does win, then that he wants to work with her. He was just saying hello. But he believes this will all be settled within a month. So Republicans being nice at least but privately also seeing the writing on the wall here, guys.

HARLOW: You wonder if she wanted to ask Senator Graham, so, fist bump, but why are you probing state officials in three states that the president lost?

RAJU: Yes, and that's exactly what a lot of questions have been around, Republicans and Democrats, too.

Lindsey Graham is defending what he's doing, arguing he simply has questions about how mail-in voting has been conducted in key states, including in Georgia in which the secretary of state, the Republican secretary of state, accused him of pressuring him to try to toss legally cast ballots that came by mail.

Now, Graham, who I spoke to yesterday, says that that is simply not the case. His argument is that he is just trying to understand how signatures are being verified in those mail-in ballots.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): What I'm very concerned about is that if you're going to continue to vote by mail, that we need to know what systems work and what don't. It's up to the people of Georgia. But I think I have every right in the world to reach out and say, how does it work? And that's what I did. It's really, I thought, a pretty good conversation. So --

RAJU: I mean he thinks it was an implicit threat by what you were saying.

GRAHAM: No, I categorically reject that. That wasn't my intent. And that wasn't the purpose of the conversation, you know, throw out ballots. We're talking about an election we haven't even had yet, which is the Senate races. That was my focus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So saying that he's focused on the Senate races, also very significant because those are the two Senate runoffs in Georgia that will determine who is the next -- which party is in power in the majority in the next Congress. And those mail-in ballots are going out today. And, of course, Democrats succeed in mail-in voting.

So a lot of questions about what Lindsey Graham is doing, but it's uncertain if he has support from the top Republicans, including the Senate majority leader, who I asked yesterday if he's OK with what Lindsey Graham is doing and he said ask Lindsey Graham.

Guys.

SCIUTTO: Well, listen, let's note Lindsey Graham is only questioning results in states that the president lost, right? If it was a big picture question about mail-in voting and fraud, which happens by the tens of millions across this country, including many states that Trump won, you might expect him to ask those same questions there. Just a point of order.

HARLOW: Thanks, Manu.

Pfizer tells us what we've been hoping to hear really great news that their vaccine is 95 percent effective. How long until we all get it? Ahead.

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[09:48:14]

HARLOW: Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer this morning saying their COVID vaccine is 95 percent effective. That is great news. They're trying to get authorization very soon from the FDA. But then when will you get it and how will it be distributed? States across the country are preparing for what a challenge that's going to be ahead.

Rebecca Coyle is here. She's executive director at the American Immunization Registry Association. It's great to have you and I wanted you to join us because of what you were quoted as saying over the weekend about how much anxiety there is. And -- and you said bluntly, Rebecca, that the states aren't ready today. So if you could just explain for people what you guys do to try to help guide this process in states.

REBECCA COYLE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, AMERICAN IMMUNIZATION REGISTRY ASSOCIATION: Sure. And thank you for having me this morning. This is part of the -- this is the weeds of vaccine distribution and management. So let me just explain.

Immunization information systems or registries have been in existence in this country for 25 and 30 years, you know, depending upon where you're located. So these are well-tested. These are systems that are used every day for routine immunizations.

I think when I say that there's some anxiety out there and that we're not quite where we need to be, or -- that's really because there's a lot of -- there are still a lot of work to be done in terms of making sure that all states are able to pull the appropriate data to really demonstrate, you know, what was administered for a COVID vaccine and then be able to communicate that information on to the appropriate folks. So whether that be a governor's office, whether that be CDC, there's still a lot of work happening to make sure that all of these fields are correct. There's still going to be some coding that needs to happen. So once there's an approval out there and we know, you know, sort of the minimum ages, minimum intervals of these vaccines, that that clinical decision support or the rules for how the vaccine can be leveraged have to be put into these systems as well.

[09:50:10]

HARLOW: And isn't it made even more complex by the fact that you need two doses? I mean I know when I take my kids to the pediatrician, I have this little yellow form that I've had since both of them were born, and I pray every year I don't lose it, and it says like when did they get their MMR, when do they need their booster, because there's not really a central database for that stuff that crosses state lines, right?

COYLE: For crossing state lines, no, but the good news is, state -- all -- all states except New Hampshire have an immunization information system. So the good news is that multiple doses are very common with almost all of our vaccines. In fact, it's very rare to have a vaccine where it's just one dose. So this is sort of what (INAUDIBLE) are great at. We have been doing this for many years. That's actually not where I have any sort of concerns whatsoever. This is done every day.

HARLOW: OK. Good, I'm glad.

When you talk about who needs these vaccines the most and how they're going to get them, the CDC data this week that rural Americans are 3.5 times more likely to die right now from COVID than those in big cities, it worries me about who's going to get the vaccine. It's easier to distribute it in a city like New York City or Chicago when you have a bunch of people line up, and they live pretty closely together, et cetera. When you're talking about getting Pfizer's vaccine that needs to be, you know, stored in such cold temperatures out to rural farms in America, is that a big concern of yours?

COYLE: Well, so, again, we're not going to be part of that distribution piece, but what we are going to be part of is, as that vaccine is administered, where does that data go?

HARLOW: Yes.

COYLE: So whoever's administering that vaccine, chances are it could be the local health department, it could be a local pharmacy, a lot of those systems are truly the ones that are -- those folks are going to be the ones that have to report that information. So local health departments are very familiar with registries. Pharmacies are familiar with registries. In fact, they're some of the best partners in terms of data exchange.

So I think the trick is going to be getting the vaccine out there, but actually collecting that information and passing it on, I think -- I don't think will be as challenging as the vaccine distribution.

HARLOW: And remind us again, if you could, just how much of a population needs to receive the vaccine in order for it to actually be effective whole scale, like broadly, for -- for the -- for the population of a state and for the country? It's over 50 percent, right?

COYLE: Right. So this is probably not something I'm best able to speak to, but I know for every vaccine, you know, every communicable disease, there's a threshold. And I think, you know, we've seen a couple of ranges out there in terms of what's most effective.

I think what we really have to focus on is, how do we ensure that we have met that goal? And that's where an IS (ph) can be really helpful in that we can be constantly monitoring in real time sort of how many persons have received the vaccine, where are the areas that still need to be targeted for those vaccines.

HARLOW: Incredibly helpful, right, if this region isn't getting enough of it, et cetera.

Thank you, Rebecca. Good luck.

COYLE: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

HARLOW: Sure.

Well, France has become the first country in Europe to top 2 million COVID cases. We'll take you there to see how they are fighting the virus surge, next.

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[09:57:33] SCIUTTO: Well, France has now become the first country in Europe to reach 2 million coronavirus infections. The country's health agency director said, quote, the second wave is massive, deadly and is straining all of our caregivers and our health system. The U.S. is not alone.

HARLOW: Over the past week, Europe has recorded a 10 percent climb in cases for the first time in more than three months, but the deaths there are continuing to rise proportionately. This is according to World Health Organization.

Let's go to Paris. Our correspondent Melissa Bell joins us this morning.

So over 2 million cases across France.

MELISSA BELL, CNN PARIS CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy and Jim, but that figure comes even as France begins to get its figures under control. It's now been more than two and half weeks in this partial lockdown and already we're seeing drops in the number of new cases, fewer people in ICU, fewer people in hospital. So a real sense that France perhaps has turned a corner.

Elsewhere, though, still worrying trends. Angela Merkel wants to increase the number of restrictions in Germany to further tighten them there. We saw today protests outside the parliament in Berlin where protesters who were fighting against those restrictions already in place were pushed back by police using pepper spray. Difficult figures also in Poland, which has seen its largest daily increase in the number of new cases. Sweden to announce fresh restrictions.

So, really, as the World Health Organization explained, Poppy, and what you just said, that places where restrictions have begun to get new cases back under control, but, of course, that takes some time in translate, both in terms of hospitalizations and, of course, in death.

HARLOW: Melissa Bell reporting for us in Paris. Thank you very much for that.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

The nation just reported the most coronavirus deaths in a day in six months.

And now this, the White House task force is warning of, quote, further deterioration that is putting the nation's health care system on the brink of disaster. That's coming from the White House task force.

It comes as the Trump administration is still refusing to share key information with the incoming president, the Biden transition team. One Biden adviser warning it's, quote, setting us back. What that could mean when it comes to distributing a potential vaccine, other measures. We're going to have more on that in a moment.

[09:59:56]

HARLOW: And as the president-elect's camp is trying to figure it out and move forward, a major political stunt almost in the middle of the night and then a reversal by Republicans meant to certify the count in Michigan hours after.