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Trump Invites Michigan GOP Officials to White House in Bid to Overturn Results; Joe Biden Calls Trump's Efforts to Overturn Election Totally Irresponsible; U.S. Sees Record Surge in New Coronavirus Cases; Pfizer to Seek Emergency Use Authorization for Vaccine Today; Trump Invites Michigan Republican Lawmakers to the White House. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 20, 2020 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:33]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good Friday morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

Listen to this because it's real. It's happening before us. What happens when the president tries to undercut democracy, overturn the results of an election, which you voted in?

You arm people with the facts because while the president and his allies claimed fraud and tout conspiracy theories, the numbers don't lie. Like this one. 150,000, the number of votes that Biden beat Trump by in the state of Michigan. Still, the president has invited Republican lawmakers from the state to the White House today in his bid ongoing to overturn the results in that state and other states. Your votes.

HARLOW: Two Republican senators publicly overnight opposing the president's actions, Mitt Romney calling it undemocratic, Ben Sasse also weighing in. But where are the others?

We will see the president just a few hours from now at a time when the nation needs leadership more than ever because while he is holding up this presidential transition, Americans, thousands of them, are dying from COVID as it surges, and this country needs a smooth handover to ensure the smooth distribution of the key vaccines that we all so desperately need.

We have a lot to cover today. Let's begin this hour with our Joe Johns at the White House on this invitation by the president to Michigan state lawmakers for what?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, the bottom line is it's pretty clear that the president is in desperation mode right now. This is the Hail Mary pass to try to get the Michigan and other battleground state legislatures to essentially move in, overturn the popular vote, and pretty much name electors that wouldn't otherwise have been sent to Washington in the electoral college, and it doesn't sound like it's going to work, quite frankly.

In fact, we do know that the president has invited the Michigan speaker of the House as well as the Michigan Republican majority leader of the Senate, in the legislature there, here to Washington, D.C. Not clear at all that the speaker is coming, he sent word on CNN this morning that he had not confirmed for the meeting, but it's a different story for the Senate majority leader of the Michigan legislature, his name is Mike Shirkey, and there is every indication that he is on his way here.

There's actually video on social media of him apparently at the airport. But it's not clear at all that he's going to do what the president wants him to do. In fact, he's made it quite clear in a recent interview that he has no intention of overturning the election in Michigan and his office has put out word, in fact, that there's no provision in Michigan law for electors to be named other than those who would vote for the person who won the popular vote in their state.

And I think it's also important to say that this is the kind of situation that really doesn't fly for any of the battleground states. The most interesting thing about this, of course, is if that they overturn the election in Michigan, it's not just for the president of the United States, it's for everybody who ran. So that's a problem.

HARLOW: Right. Right.

SCIUTTO: That's an essential point here. They're the same ballots, the ballots in which Republicans won seats in the House, retained Senate seats, same ballots, same election.

Joe Johns, thanks very much.

Well, joining me now is the vice chairman for the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, Jonathan Kinloch. Wayne County of course includes the city of Detroit.

Mr. Kinloch, thanks so much for taking time this morning.

Good morning and thank you for inviting me.

SCIUTTO: I want to ask you first if you could give myself and our viewers a view inside that raucous meeting earlier this week in which some of your colleagues, two of them Republicans, flipped and flopped and refused to recognize the results of this election.

JONATHAN KINLOCH (D), VICE CHAIRMAN OF WAYNE COUNTY, MICHIGAN, BOARD OF CANVASSERS: Yes, so this past Tuesday, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers met to certify the general election. At that meeting a motion was made to certify the results and the two Democrats, we voted to certify as we have in all the other elections and the two Republicans basically voted no on the first vote.

[09:05:09] We then proceeded with public comment, and the citizens called in, well over 300 to 500 individuals called in, and just railed on those Republican members for trying to disenfranchise the votes, voters within Wayne County. But more specifically, the chair of the board suggested by asking for us to entertain a motion to certify the election without the city of Detroit votes.

That caused a very strong response from myself and my other Democratic colleague, and the citizens, when they had an opportunity to speak, they let it be known that that would not be tolerated and it was just amazing to hear all of the speakers and the residents basically lay into those Republicans.

SCIUTTO: Now, they did eventually vote to certify but then claimed they were rescinding those votes. Does that claim, that effort hold any water legally?

KINLOCH: Not at all, because here in Michigan, we have 14 days to certify the election, and certifying the election also needs to be noted that it isn't a discretionary role that Boards of Canvassers, whether it's the county or the state, it's not discretionary. It is mandatory. The state law says that we shall certify, and so all of the comments and all of the lies that have been put out there surrounding what occurred throughout the election process has no bearing in whether or not the election will be certified.

So we then voted on a subsequent motion. They agreed with the understanding that we would ask the secretary of state to conduct an audit in those precincts that had unexplained out of balance precincts, and so --

SCIUTTO: Right.

KINLOCH: -- it was just amazing to think that they could even repeal or change or even address it at this point. The conversation -- no conversations may be held that the time regarding anything with that election. It's over. It's done for.

SCIUTTO: So that's over at that step. The president has not given up and he's invited lawmakers from Michigan to the White House, our understanding is at least one is going there. For folks at home who are watching this and are concerned about the integrity of a presidential election, can they be confident, based on the law and the processes in the state of Michigan, that the votes will win out here, or that the president can overturn this?

KINLOCH: We had the Senate majority leader, I believe it was either earlier this week or last week, stated that he did not have the appetite to go down this path. On Monday, the state board of canvassers will be meeting. They will be considering the certification and the reports received from the various county board of canvassers, and it is my thought that in the end, the election will be certified.

More specifically, in Michigan, the election will be certified because if those board members do not certify, and in that instance you may go to the courts and get a writ of mandamus. But I don't think it's going to even go that far. We're talking about a lame duck president and I do not think anyone wants to revisit what occurred in 2016 by being a coconspirator to any campaign that's trying to disenfranchise or to basically hijack the votes in this election.

SCIUTTO: Well, we'll be watching. It's important and we appreciate people like you, Democrats and Republicans, frankly, in this country, who continue to do their jobs without political bias.

Jonathan Kinloch, thanks very much.

KINLOCH: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, President-elect Joe Biden, and he is the president- elect, is unleashing some of his strongest comments yet about President Trump and his efforts against the election.

HARLOW: Let's go to our Jessica Dean, she is following the Biden team, the transition that they're attempting to make in Delaware.

Good morning, Jess. Talk to us about the change in tune and why now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning to both of you. President-elect Biden holding a press conference yesterday after that meeting, that bipartisan meeting with governors, and he talked and answered a lot about the transition, and what he thinks of President Trump's behavior, and it was interesting, guys, I was in the room, to see his whole demeanor switched.

He really was choosing his words very carefully, really thinking on this, and we really heard some of his strongest words yet about what the delay in transition is doing not just to what they're trying to do, but to American democracy. Take a listen.

[09:10:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: I think we're witnessing incredible irresponsibility, incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Again, making the assertion that this is even bigger than simply and it's not a simple process but the transition process. This is about democracy and about American democracy as a whole, the fundamental peaceful transition of power. So that's a little bit of what we were hearing from Biden yesterday.

And he did say that all options remain on the table in terms of forcing this transition forward, but he was clear to say he doesn't really want to pursue legal action, even though it remains an option, that he'd much more prefer to bring Republicans over to his side, to acknowledge that he's the winner and help him begin this transition process, put pressure on the president and his allies to begin this process -- Jim and Poppy. HARLOW: Yes. Well, it's important to get everyone on the same page

here.

Thanks, Jessica. Have a good weekend. Appreciate the reporting.

Coming up, the CDC now with a very clear message to Americans, do not travel, they say, for Thanksgiving, as experts warn of a brutal few weeks ahead.

SCIUTTO: And her job is to help protect people like you and me from this pandemic, but one county health director says that threats against her and her children and their lives are forcing her to quit. Today is her last day, we're going to speak to her just ahead. You'll want to hear it.

Plus, just two Republican senators, two have publicly opposed the president's ongoing attacks on a free and fair democratic election, but is there really any viable path in the president's strategy, and what damage is he doing in the meantime?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

SCIUTTO: All right, these are the sad facts. Coronavirus infections are reaching a new record high here in the U.S., nearly 186,000 new infections reported in a single day on Thursday along with the deaths now of more than 2,000 Americans, that's been ticking up dramatically in only one state, Hawaii, is showing a decrease in new cases greater than 10 percent.

HARLOW: Let's go to our colleague Adrienne Broaddus, she joins us this morning in Chicago, all of this comes as Thanksgiving approaches and everyone's worried that that's just going to make it worse.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, you're exactly right. This Thanksgiving will look a lot different for some families, and families here in Illinois and across the country are having those tough conversations with their loved ones. Listen, it's really a tale of two stories.

On the vaccine front, some promising news, it looks like we're steps closer to getting that shot in the arm, that could turn things around. But this also comes at the same time we are entering a troubling phase of this pandemic. You guys just shared those numbers yesterday, the U.S. reported some of the highest numbers since the start of the pandemic, nearly 188,000 new cases, also breaking records the number of deaths, nearly 2,000 families had to say good-bye to someone they love. That's because 2,000 people died.

Governors across the state are making moves, governors are trying to do all they can to slow the spread of this virus. In California, Gavin Newsom announced a curfew that will go into effect at 10:00 p.m. starting on Saturday, and here in Illinois, big changes coming. For example, casinos, movie theaters, banquet halls all shutting down.

Retail spaces as well as grocery stores will operate at reduced capacity, and there's been mixed emotion. Healthcare workers we heard from appreciate the changes, by contrast, Jim and Poppy, some business owners say this change will hurt their businesses, and of course, right before the holiday shopping season, this is a time they were depending on those sales. Jim and Poppy?

HARLOW: Yes, of course they were. Support your local businesses as much as you can. Adrienne, thank you for the reporting out of Chicago. Well, this morning, more than 2,400 people across New Jersey are in the hospital with COVID, that is the most they've had in that state since June. The positivity rate is approaching 12 percent, statewide, the governor is begging, pleading with residents to be vigilant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): But there's a lot of fatigue. There's a lot of transmission in private settings. We've got the holidays before us. We are pleading with people to not let their guard down, to stay strong. This virus is dying for us, literally, to let our guard down. We've got to do everything we can to push back at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: With us now is Judith Persichilli; she is the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health. Thank you, commissioner, for being here this morning. We heard from the governor making it very clear that it looks like in the coming days, there will be new and more restrictions in New Jersey to get these numbers down. What will they be?

JUDITH PERSICHILLI, COMMISSIONER, NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH: I don't think that's particularly been decided yet. What we're looking at is just about everything. We're identifying through our contact- tracing methodology where we're seeing the majority of the outbreaks. We've developed hot spot teams to be going out to those counties that have significant cases per 100,000, and positivity rates, and we're looking at just about everything.

[09:20:00]

We're asking people and we know this to be true, that social gatherings are where most of our outbreaks are occurring.

HARLOW: Yes --

PERSICHILLI: So, we are asking people to be extremely careful about that.

HARLOW: And you know, it's not for that much longer. We're talking about a matter of months until it sounds like these vaccines will be widely available. But the big concern -- one of the big concerns is distribution across states. Can you tell us to the best of your knowledge how many of the vaccines New Jersey is going to get in the first round, and have you decided who is going to get them first, right? Who do you deem an essential worker?

PERSICHILLI: Oh, sure. Well, we're expecting hopefully by the third week in December to get about 130,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, and that will be followed by another 130,000, perhaps two weeks later. So that's 260,000, and concurrent with that, we're hoping that Moderna sneaks in with a 100,000, and that will be a 100,000 two weeks apart, so we're planning for over 400,000 doses to be delivered to New Jersey through to the end of December, the beginning of January.

We're following the CDC playbook in terms of the prioritization, and the first tranche will go to paid and unpaid healthcare workers who have the potential for exposure to patients and/or infectious material. We have a professional advisory committee that is working through that prioritization.

HARLOW: OK --

PERSICHILLI: To identify who actually gets it first.

HARLOW: So 400,000 doses, that means about 200,000 people, but you've got a lot of healthcare workers in the state, and I was so struck, commissioner, when you told "60 Minutes" just a few weeks ago that in your survey, only 60 percent of physicians and 40 percent of nurses were willing then to take a vaccine. I wonder if that's changed now, that these fantastic efficacy numbers for both Moderna and Pfizer's vaccine have come out?

PERSICHILLI: Yes, we're seeing a lot of enthusiasm about the vaccine, particularly amongst healthcare individuals like nurses and physicians. That survey was done mid-October when we knew much less than what we know right now.

HARLOW: OK --

PERSICHILLI: But the excitement about the vaccine now is pretty significant. I'm getting calls every day from groups that are saying, can I be in 1A? So --

HARLOW: Of course.

PERSICHILLI: I'm suggesting -- I'm going to suggest.

HARLOW: That's really good news because it worried me to hear so few doctors and nurses even wanted to take this in your state. Let me just finally get your reaction to this. I want you to listen to an ICU nurse in the state of Minnesota, she's also head of the nurses association there, she was with the President-elect Joe Biden this week. Let me play the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY TURNER, PRESIDENT, MINNESOTA NURSES ASSOCIATION: I myself have held the hand of dying patients who are crying out for their families that they can't see. I've taken care of co-workers as they fight for their lives on a ventilator, and knowing that they got sick because of the hospital or their government hasn't protected them. I'm sorry I'm so emotional.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT, UNITED STATES: No --

TURNER: It's just --

BIDEN: You got me emotional.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: You're a commissioner, yes, but you're also a registered nurse. What do you think when you hear that?

PERSICHILLI: It's painful. I'm a former ICU nurse. It's been quite some time before I've been on the frontline like that nurse shared, and it's painful to hear. Our goal here at the Department of Health along with our hospitals is to make sure that everyone has the protective equipment they need to take care of the patients that are presenting in our hospitals, and we have stockpiled PPE, unlike March and April. We believe we have the backup to protect the frontline workers, and that is a very -- that tape was very painful to me.

HARLOW: Yes, it breaks your heart there, the true heroes for sure. Well, Commissioner Persichilli, good luck and thank you.

PERSICHILLI: Thank you so much.

HARLOW: Jim?

SCIUTTO: This just in to CNN, a source telling CNN that the Michigan house speaker is going to the White House today as the president continues his bid to overturn, you heard me right, to overturn the results of the presidential election.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:25:00]

HARLOW: It's hard to believe but despite zero proof --

SCIUTTO: Yes --

HARLOW: And dozens of dismissed court cases, the president is still trying to say that there is a way that he won this election and essentially trying to steal a fair election.

SCIUTTO: The facts aren't with him, neither is the law. His plan convince Republican state legislatures to change some electoral college laws so they can vote in effect to overrule the popular vote so he can stay in office.

At least, two Senate Republicans, just two at this point, Senators Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse are issuing strong rebukes of the president's effort. The rest of the party remains largely silent. With us now is Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg, he represented George W. Bush in 2000. Mr. Ginsberg, always good to have you on this program. BEN GINSBERG, LAWYER: Thank you, good to be here.