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Interview with New York City Mayor Public Health Adviser Jay Varma; Georgia Set to Certify Election Results as Biden Continues Transition Process; Illinois Governor Increases COVID-19 Restrictions. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 20, 2020 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Dr. Fauci's comments come as New York City shutters all public schools for in-person learning after hitting a three percent citywide positivity rate. The decision by Mayor Bill de Blasio, impacting some 1.1 million students.

With us this morning is Dr. Jay Varma, infectious disease expert, also a senior adviser for public health to the mayor. We're so grateful to you for being here this morning.

JAY VARMA, SENIOR ADVISER FOR PUBLIC HEALTH, NYC MAYOR'S OFFICE: Great, thank you for having me.

HARLOW: I want you to listen to a New York City parent who is admittedly frustrated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why can a child go to a restaurant, why can a child go everywhere else but school? There is no excuse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: What do you say to parents this morning who want to know why their kids are home but the restaurants are open -- even at limited capacity, indoors -- the bars are open, gyms are open. Why are they more essential than schools right now?

VARMA: Yes, the first thing I want to say is as a parent of three children myself who attended the New York City schools for six years, I am, you know, deeply, at a very personal level, committed to making sure that we're able to reopen our schools and that we can do so safely.

You know, this was an incredibly difficult decision. We made a plan during the summer, when every other major school jurisdiction in the country was actually making the decision to go completely remote to do in-person learning. And part of that package included a decision to close our schools based on a threshold. And the mayor felt very strongly that he had made a commitment to parents, to teachers, to staff to hold that commitment. HARLOW: Yes. No, I hear you, but that was then and this is now and we

have a whole lot more data now, which is exactly what the CDC director, Robert Redfield, pointed to yesterday when he said we can do face-to-face learning, and one of the safest places for kids to be is schools.

And it's not just him thinking that, it's your own citywide data. I mean, you guys have tested now 4,200-plus schools and the positivity rate in the schools is 0.23 percent. Three percent for the city, but only 0.23 percent for the schools. So I still -- isn't just arbitrary to say, well, we said back then they have to close at three percent, so now we're going to keep our word? The data changed.

VARMA: Yes. No, absolutely, and I'm really glad that you pointed to that data, because this is something that we view as an incredible success. We have been -- done over 150,000 tests of students and teachers and staff, and shown that this -- schools can be one of the safest places you can be in the city, indoors --

HARLOW: So why'd you close them?

VARMA: Yes, so the decision right now is to actually -- again, the mayor made a difficult decision based on the commitment he had made, and the plan right now is to work on a plan so that after the Thanksgiving break, we can bring everybody back into the schools and we're going to adjust and adapt our protocols so that we can continue to do in-person learning.

HARLOW: So they're coming back shortly after Thanksgiving?

VARMA: Well, that is the plan right now. We are working very actively right now, on working on protocols, we're working on negotiations obviously with all of the people who are interested in this, and we're hoping that very soon, that we're going to be able to reopen our schools to in-person learning --

HARLOW: OK.

VARMA: -- with an adjustment based on what we've learned.

HARLOW: Yes, because I know even Mayor de Blasio said, look, it was not the teachers' union saying to you guys back this summer, well, you've got to close at three percent, right? It wasn't even a demand from them in negotiations.

And the reason I ask is because, like, we can handle it in my household. My daughter has someone there right now, while I'm here, helping her on the iPad. It's not the case for so many kids in the system, and you know that, right?

I mean, the fact that your chancellor has said, even 60,000 of these kids still, as we sit here this morning, do not have digital connection, do not have an iPad or a laptop and the American Academy of Pediatrics says children learn best in person. What are all of them doing right now? VARMA: So you know, we made a commitment to make these schools as

safe as we possibly could, and that's why we opened in-person learning when every other jurisdiction in the country, every big city was actually not doing this.

So the decision to close at this point was one that the mayor made based on a commitment he had made, but you're absolutely right, we feel very strongly that we can have in-person learning done safely and our approach right now is to really --

HARLOW: I know -- I know, Doctor.

VARMA: -- focus on how to do that.

HARLOW: And this is not to assign blame, I just -- the final question is just, you know, when you have 60,000 kids at home that aren't connected, which means they're not being taught right now, like, is that not considered when you decide to close all the school buildings? Is there any accommodation made for them to go somewhere so that they're getting this access?

Because otherwise it does, I think, exactly what Nicholas Kristof wrote yesterday in the "Times," which it just -- it just widens the inequality gap.

VARMA: Yes. No, you're absolutely correct, and so there are a number of efforts that the Department of Education is doing right now to try to make sure that as many kids as possible can be connected and continue remote learning.

[10:35:00]

We have a very large and diverse school district, and so trying to meet those needs is complex and something that the Department of Education is working on very actively right now. We want to bring them as soon as we possibly can, I can absolutely commit that to you and I think that we've demonstrated that we --

HARLOW: OK.

VARMA: -- can do this safely.

HARLOW: Thank you for making that commitment, it means a lot to a lot of parents. And thanks for your hard work. Dr. Jay Varma --

VARMA: Great, thank you very much.

HARLOW: -- appreciate it -- Jim.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, President-elect Joe Biden is pressing ahead with his transition into the White House, and we're learning he's close to naming some very key cabinet positions including Treasury secretary. Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARLOW: Sources close to President-elect Joe Biden say he is close to reaching a decision on a number of really key cabinet positions with a possible announcement next week.

SCIUTTO: Biden is believed to be fast-tracking some of his cabinet selections in an effort to move ahead with the transition despite, of course, the president's continuing and baseless attempts to overturn the election.

Let's go to CNN's Jessica Dean, she is following the Biden team in Delaware. Jessica, which positions and when?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you guys. Biden made news yesterday during his press conference when he said that he has selected a nominee for Treasury secretary. So he says that he's already made his decision on that.

We know one of the leading contenders for that was Lael Brainard, who is on the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve. If she's selected, she would become the first woman to be the Treasury secretary. But we have to underscore, we don't know who it is. We are expecting to find out more next week, perhaps by Thanksgiving, and perhaps they would be ready to announce positions like secretary of State as well.

Now, all of this has been sped up just a little bit because of President Trump's actions, we're told. The Biden transition team and Biden really want to make the point that they are putting together a government. They are moving forward no matter what President Trump is saying or doing, or the lawsuits, the baseless lawsuits that his team is filing. They want to make the point to Americans -- but also to Trump and his Republican allies in Congress -- they're moving forward with this.

So again, we're expecting to hear some of these nominees announced next week on or around -- just before or just after Thanksgiving of next week.

The other thing, too, to keep in mind is that the transition team and Biden himself are putting more pressure, they're really upping their rhetoric on President Trump's behavior. We heard President-elect Biden yesterday saying that he believes Trump is doing damage to the reputation for American democracy all across the world. We had Ron Klain, the incoming chief of staff, right here on our air last night saying that Trump is flailing around with what he called P.R. stunts.

So again, you guys, they're really doing this to present to the world, to Americans, to Republicans and President Trump that they are moving forward even though this formal transition process has still been stalled. They're doing what they can to be ready for January 20th.

SCIUTTO: Jessica Dean, thanks very much.

Well, we're waiting now for updates from Georgia. Georgia's Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, has said he will certify the state's election results. HARLOW: And so what that does, is that moves the ball into --

squarely into the court of Georgia's Republican governor Brian Kemp. He now has until 5:00 tomorrow to officially designate the state's 16 electoral votes for President-elect Biden. Our Amara Walker joins us in Atlanta with the latest.

Not to mention the president tweeted at him, at the governor, Governor Kemp, this morning about it.

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So just a few minutes ago, about 15 minutes ago, Poppy, we spoke with the Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger here in the halls of the state capitol, and he said that he will be signing the certification of the results in the coming hours, certifying that Joe Biden has indeed won Georgia, albeit by a razor-thin margin of 12,284 points once the audit was said and done.

Obviously a huge blow to President Trump, who, he and his allies have been trying to delay certification in this state, but with this recount over -- as you were saying -- the ball moves to the Georgia governor, Brian Kemp. He has to certify these 16 Democratic electors by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. We've reached out to his office to see if he does indeed intend to sign off on that certification, but that is the law, he must sign off on that by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow.

Secretary Raffensperger wouldn't speak to what Brian Kemp's next moves might be, but he did tell us about his timeline for signing off on the certification of the results. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Looking at working on that, certify it by noon. But no later than, you know, 1:00 or 2:00. We have 159 counties, and we have all the pieces of paper that we have to go through and then put that all together in a nice little bundle so it can be signed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: And Secretary Raffensperger, who has described himself as a passionate conservative, I asked him, look, you know, despite the president sowing doubt in the integrity of the election, especially here in Georgia, have you wavered at all in your support for the president? And he said, no, I am a proud Trump supporter despite it all. Back to you.

HARLOW: OK, Amara Walker, thank you very much. Everyone's anticipating what's to come in the next few hours.

[10:45:02]

SCIUTTO: With us now is Patricia Murphy, she's political reporter at the "Atlanta Journal-Constitution." Patricia, good to have you. You know the local politics in this process well.

The audit's already over, and that's been announced, that that affirms the results of the election, Biden won it. Now, basically, the secretary of state has to sign off on that, then the governor, he has to then officially give the electors to Biden. I mean, is there any wiggle room in there? Because what we think of as the law has often been ignored in this process. Is there any wiggle room in there for partisans to trump the process?

PATRICIA MURPHY, POLITICAL REPORTER, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Well, we don't expect anything to change between now and noon for Secretary Raffensperger. We fully expect him to certify these results. We also expect Governor Kemp to appoint those electors and to sign off on the Democratic electors. We haven't heard any sign that any of that is going to change.

We do have to note, though, that it is still within President Trump's legal authority to request another recount here in Georgia, so even though this audit has been completed, it doesn't count as an official recount if Donald Trump wants another one. So this could be the end of the beginning, but maybe not the beginning of the end quite yet.

HARLOW: Really? So --

(CROSSTALK)

SCIUTTO: Could -- yes, that's weird. Explain that to us.

MURPHY: Well, if an election is less than 0.5 percent -- which this election certainly is, it's razor-thin -- what's been done just now is a hand audit. Technically it's a risk-limiting audit that the secretary of state's office has completed, but Donald Trump is still allowed to request that official recount because it is within that 0.5 percent.

So it's something that he has the right to do. His lawyers have told us that they're going to try and pursue all of their legal options, and so it's something that he still has the chance to do if he wants to do it. So we -- it may not be quite over yet, but it certainly means that this election is certified by the secretary of state once he signs those papers today.

HARLOW: But what if the governor, Brian Kemp, goes ahead and hands the electors to Biden by the 5:00 deadline tomorrow? Then can the president still request that automatic recount?

MURPHY: Well, we'll have to see what the president does. I mean, I think that the -- it'll be certified, it will be -- the electors will be appointed, and then the president though does still have this option to request a recount on top of the hand-recount, which was a risk-limiting audit.

So that's the option that he still has, but this election will be certified once the secretary of state certifies it.

SCIUTTO: It's confusing, right? Because what you -- to Poppy's question --

MURPHY: It is. HARLOW: Just say the least (ph).

SCIUTTO: -- you have -- yes, what is the -- is that actually a deadline, then? I mean, because Kemp's under pressure -- the president's tweeted about this -- to step in, you know, whatever that means. Can Kemp then say, well, I'm not going to give the electors if the president's asked for a recount? That's something we haven't heard before.

MURPHY: No, I believe that the governor will still be required to give those electors to Vice President Biden, which would make him obviously the winner of Georgia for the first time since 1992, for a Democrat to win the state. But the president still can request a recount that would overturn the election results -- we don't expect anything to be changed, but yes that would be an option that the president still has.

This was not the official recount that the president could have requested, this was a hand-audit requested by the secretary of state. So it is confusing. We don't expect these results to change, we don't expect Secretary of State Raffensperger to not certify these results, but there are still options that the Trump campaign can pursue here in Georgia. But we don't expect it to change the results at all because we've seen no evidence of any fraud, we've seen no evidence --

HARLOW: OK.

MURPHY: -- that any of these ballots haven't been counted properly, but it is still his legal right to do that.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

MURPHY: It is confusing though, yes.

HARLOW: Thank you, Patricia. We'll keep an eye on it, all of this is moving quickly. We appreciate it.

[10:49:10]

Quick break, we're back on the other side.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The CDC, out with an important announcement overnight. They are urging every American to stay home this Thanksgiving, not to travel, in order to protect themselves and others.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And many states and cities are now issuing broader restrictions -- new ones. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is in Chicago this morning. Tell us what you're seeing.

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey. Well, the governor is making some bold moves. He says the bottom line is clear. If you don't need to do it, don't. Illinois is now under what the governor calls a tier three mitigation plan. So what does that mean? Things Illinoisans love will close. For example, casinos, movie theaters, banquet halls and cultural institutions like museums.

This comes one day after the state reported more than 14,000 new cases, and more than 190 deaths. Meanwhile, across the state, we have seen people line up to get COVID tests. Just around the corner, there's a line that wraps around a few blocks as people wait in line to get that COVID test.

But the state's top doctor wants to remind people, a negative COVID test is not a green light to visit your friends and family outside of your immediate household on Thanksgiving. So the governor here in Illinois, as well as governors across the country, are asking people to make a short-term sacrifice so they can spend time with the people they love down the road -- Jim and Poppy.

[10:55:11]

SCIUTTO: Yes, that's the challenge for all of us, it's a tough one, we grant that. Adrienne Broaddus, thanks so much.

HARLOW: And thanks to all of you for joining us. It has been a very busy week. We hope you have a good, healthy, safe weekend. We'll see you on Monday, I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. NEWSROOM with Kate Bolduan starts right after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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