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GSA Triggers Transition While Trump Refuses to Concede; Biden Introduces First Round of Cabinet Picks; Hotels and Their Workers Struggle as Virus Surges. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 24, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: A very good Tuesday morning to you this holiday week. I'm Jim Sciutto.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Poppy Harlow. We're so glad you're with us.

Well, finally, the transition is moving forward, but that does not mean that President Trump is giving up his fight to try to steal the election. But as he refuses to officially concede, President-elect Joe Biden will announce several of his first cabinet picks today. Theme here really is years of experience and also diversity.

SCIUTTO: The fact is it is crucial that Biden's new cabinet will be hitting the ground running. They face, of course, a raging pandemic in this country, sadly getting worse each day. A key model now projects 20 million infections in the U.S. by Inauguration Day. For perspective right now, the country has already 12 million-plus infections and that a lot of experts say understates the actual number.

We're covering a lot of fast-moving headlines this hour. Let's begin though with Arlette Saenz. She is in Delaware on next steps for Team Biden. They've been doing this quietly over the last several days. Now, you get a sense that things are accelerating.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jim. Now, the Biden transition can really be working full steam ahead as they now will have access to key transition resources. That letter from the GSA administrator, Emily Murphy, allows for that official transition process to begin.

Now, what does this mean? The Biden team will now have access to millions of dollars in funding to fund its operations. It also has access to things like office space and I.T. help. But also the Biden team can start launching their agency reviews team to start working with the outgoing administration to see what is happening in their departments and agencies. It essentially gives them a look under the hood of what the Trump administration has been up to over the course of the past few years and months. And we already know that the Department of Defense has been in contact with Biden's transition team and that is something that will likely play out across the departments and agencies as Biden's transition team is trying to get a look at how these agencies and departments are structured.

Now, one key area where the Biden transition team is looking to gain access is when it comes to information about the coronavirus pandemic. For weeks, they have been warning of the possible threat that a delay in vaccine distribution planning could pose in the long run. So they are interested in getting these briefings and also access to just basic data about the coronavirus pandemic and what the administration has been doing.

Another question is when Biden will start to receive those highly classified intelligence briefings that lays out any possible national security threats that could be posed against the country. That is something that will be coming soon. And we also are expecting to see Biden and Kamala Harris today with some of their cabinet members as they're rolling out that national security and foreign policy team.

HARLOW: It's important that this can finally, officially begin for the sake of all Americans. Arlette, thanks for the reporting from Wilmington, Delaware.

SCIUTTO: Well, the incoming Biden administration may be just beginning its official transition but President Trump, he is still fighting over the election. Jeremy Diamond is at the White House.

Listen, let's be frank here, the president continues to share disinformation about the election, calling it rigged, and that appears to be a story he's going to stick to if you want to call it that.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it certainly seems that way, Jim. The president saying on Twitter once again last night that he will, quote, never concede this election, maintaining that it was rigged despite lack of evidence of any widespread voter fraud or anything that should have changed the outcome of the election. But that is the president's story and he's sticking to it, as you said.

Nonetheless, it took a lot for the president to get to the point yesterday he was allowing the transition to proceed or at least not standing in the way of it. The president has watched as one court case after the next has failed in state and federal courts across the country. More than two dozen brought by him or his allies that have been withdrawn or dropped. And the president has also watched those political pressure efforts in Michigan and Pennsylvania, those have also failed.

And so, yesterday, we're told that in the Oval Office, the president huddled at different points during the day and on the phone with some of his top advisers who convinced the president to allow this transition to begin to move forward.

But, nonetheless, as he allows this transition to move forward, he is making clear that he won't concede and he's using that to fundraise as well. More than 346 fundraising emails that the president's campaign has sent over the last three weeks since the election, eight of which came in the hours after the GSA administrator, Emily Murphy, ascertained that Joe Biden is indeed the president-elect and can move forward with this transition.

[10:05:05]

So that is also part of the political calculus here.

But, nonetheless, we should note that beyond the president's own calculations, what factored into his decision yesterday to allow the transition to proceed was the pressure, the mounting pressure that we are seeing from Republican lawmakers in Congress who have made clear that the president needs to allow this transition to move forward. Now, whether he goes any further than that over the coming weeks is another question all together. Jim, Poppy?

SCIUTTO: And those fundraising emails, we should be clear, give a lot of leeway to Trump as to where that money goes, including the campaign debt. Jeremy Diamond at the White House, thanks very much.

More than a million passengers are expected to go through Atlanta's Hartstfield-Jackson International Airport alone this week, that, of course, despite the CDC urging people not to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday.

HARLOW: Our Ryan Young joins us there again this hour. Good morning to you, Ryan. Social distancing, masks in those lines, I would hope, at the airport if it's crowded?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the good news here is we've been able to count on one hand the number of people who have shown up without masks. And, in fact, the airports here hand out masks. But, look, you're talking about a massive number of people.

And at 6:00 A.M. this morning, we saw hundreds of people lining up in line. Of course, this airport is really set up with several different security checkpoints. When you look at this, you can't tell how busy or not busy it is from looking at this checkpoints.

They've been handing out masks to people who show up without a mask and there's also places where you can wipe your hands down throughout this airport. But you're talking about traveling during a busy time and with coronavirus numbers peaking throughout the area.

Now, I talked to several travelers who basically told us they felt like they had to go see their family. 2020 has been very difficult. In fact, listen to this one woman we talked to in the last half hour.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We gave it a lot of thought. We contemplated driving. But we talked about staying safe and we want to see our family. And they're all taking precautions on their end. So we're all very hopeful that we're going to have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving. And somebody has to make the key lime pie.

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YOUNG: Yes, you understand that the people really want to go home and spend time with family. When you think about it though, Ohio basically says, it's had its most ICU patients since the pandemic started. When you see those numbers and you know the impact of the virus, you have to sort of take a deep breath here. But we have been talking to people all day long who are really being really vocal about this pandemic fatigue and the idea that they're tired of being cooped up and not seeing family members. And they're willing to take the chance during this weekend.

We've also talked to people who have gotten tested before getting on these flights because they thought that would protect them as well. But as you know, coming to an airport, being packed in with all these people, touching trays that other people have touched, that might be the place where you come in contact with the pandemic. You just don't know.

SCIUTTO: Ryan Young, thanks so much.

Well, joining us now is Dr. William Schaffner. He is an infectious disease expert and professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He's also member of the CDC advisory committee on immunization practices. Dr. Schaffner, always good to have you on.

We've had a pretty good couple of weeks on vaccine development here, three now showing a lot promise in terms of their efficacy. We know health care workers are going to get the vaccine first, possibly before the end of the year. For folks at home, what's the most realistic expectation as to when they, and we, and Poppy and I, and our families get vaccinated?

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, PROFESSOR, DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, good morning, Jim and Poppy. Yes, there's light at the end of the tunnel but the tunnel is still pretty long. Health care workers and people who reside in nursing homes will go first. But then will come essential workers, people who keep our society going. You know, they're disproportionately people of color, people of lower socioeconomic status in our society, those are the folks who are disproportionately affected by the COVID virus itself.

So we want to make sure that there's equity in making sure this vaccine is widely distributed. Then will come people 65 and older and other people who have chronic underlying illnesses. And then will come younger, healthier people. So this is a long-term, months' long vaccination program that will be ongoing. So we'll need the masks and social distancing for quite some time, Jim.

HARLOW: Dr. Schaffner, for people that don't know, we were, you know, really glad you could join us on the show today because your advisory committee, your CDC advisory committee just met yesterday. And you guys are the ones who make these determinations that you just laid out in terms of the order of vaccine distribution and then recommend that to the CDC.

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So what you just walked through for us, can you tell us what it was like in the meeting yesterday in terms of the key sticking points for you guys, where your concerns may lie still in terms of vaccine distribution?

SCHAFFNER: Well, first of all, it was a virtual meeting, of course.

HARLOW: In a virtual Zoom room, I should say.

SCHAFFNER: Exactly. So these discussions actually have been going on carefully and meticulously for several months. This was the culmination of a meeting and what you heard was what the final discussions were. There are still concerns. We're very concerned that people in minority groups have a particular skepticism about this vaccine. So we need to make sure that they get the information and the reassurance and that they're comfortable in making decisions for themselves and their family members.

The other thing is, local public health and state public health have really been stressed. They are working overtime on COVID and on COVID vaccine planning at the same time. They need more help, support and resources. And those are a couple of the themes that came up that continue to concern us.

SCIUTTO: Okay. In a couple of months, we will have a new president inaugurated here and President-elect Biden will take office in the midst of just the worst of this, right? And not a lot is getting done between now and then. The president effectively checked out. If you had ten minutes with President-elect Biden, what would you say is job number one on January 20th?

SCHAFFNER: I think job number one is clearly continuing vaccine distribution, which will start, we hope, by the end of December. And I hope that the political leadership will support public health and clinical medicine to get this word out. We need to take politics away from the vaccine. And then, of course, more widespread testing, making sure we have appropriate PPE, personal protective equipment so that our colleagues at the bedside can take care of patients safely.

HARLOW: Just to your point about minority communities, in the Chicago Sun Times yesterday, Reverend Floyd James is quoted saying, we've been hoodwinked so many times with vaccines, we've been experimented on by the government, by the scientific communities and the hospitals. How do you build that trust with the black community?

SCHAFFNER: You have to get appropriate spokespersons. You have to be completely transparent, completely honest. You have to reach out to leaders in the minority communities of all types, bring them into the process, have them understand what's going on and try to recruit them as helping to get good information and reassurance out to that population. We want everyone to participant in this vaccination program.

HARLOW: Dr. Schaffner, thank you very much.

Still to come, President-elect Biden expected to announce his cabinet picks, the main ones today officially. We'll speak with one of President Obama's key members, of course, his former chief of staff, Bill Daley, about his advice for the president-elect, next.

SCIUTTO (voice over): Plus, among those hit particularly hard in this pandemic are hotels and the staffs that work there.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last year, I was making good money, but it's gone. I don't know where I'm going to go back to work.

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SCIUTTO (voice over): So what's the future for the hotel industry? Can these hotels open again? Will many stay closed?

We're going to be live in Moscow as well with new details about Russia's coronavirus vaccine, some positive numbers there. Stay with us.

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HARLOW: Well, now that Biden's transition can move forward, let's talk about next steps for the president-elect as he builds his cabinet. Bill Daley is with us. He served as White House chief of staff under President Obama, also as a cabinet member, secretary of commerce under President Clinton. Good to have you, Good morning.

BILL DALEY, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF UNDER PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thanks very much for having me, Poppy.

HARLOW: So, a lot of well known names here from the Obama era but also diversity, Avril Haines, first woman to lead the intelligence community, Alejandro Mayorkas, first Latino to lead DHS, of course, Janet Yellen, the first woman ever -- the first person who is not a white man ever to lead the treasury department. What do these tell us about what we will get from the Biden administration?

DALEY: First, I think you're going to get obviously experienced people. Every one of the people you mentioned is engaged in government. So they're experienced, they know what they have to do, they know their jobs and it's diverse. And Joe Biden has been saying this since he started his campaign, that if he had the opportunity to be president, he would bring a very different cabinet and White House staff. And then the sub jobs, which are many more and obviously extremely important, there would be diversity of gender and race from parts of the country that I think he will fulfill.

I think the president-elect really understands that this is an opportunity for him to send a message to America about a different way to govern and a different way of governing, and it will be reflected in the people he brought in.

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HARLOW: In the commercial break, we were just talking about a great new book about Lincoln that you were reading and, of course, Lincoln is also famous for surrounding himself with a team of rivals, as President Obama did to an extent. Do you think that there is at least, so far, in the cabinet too much of a similarity in world view around the president-elect when you look at Jake Sullivan, Tony Blinken, very close friends for a long time, they share a world view, is there enough diversity and thought on that front?

DALEY: Well, he's just begun to do the cabinet and White House staff. There's plenty more jobs to be filled. And I think at the end of it, you will see a diversity. But I think in the middle of a pandemic, in a middle of an economic difficulty, and I think looking at the need to reassure our allies around the world the president-elect is going to go to people who can do that quickly and speak for him and people will know that the president-elect, who has strong opinions. I mean, this is a man who has been engaged in government and politics for 40-some years and is well known around the world.

So I think it's a good thing. But I think we should judge that question you've raised -- answer that question, pardon me, at the end of the -- not only the top jobs of the cabinet but, really, as you begin to see people being brought in at agencies that are regulatory agencies that will really send a message in different industries and to different parts of the economy.

HARLOW: Yes, fair enough. All right, so when you -- I certainly learned the most from my failures. I think we all do. And Tony Blinken talked back in May about the deep failure that he thought the administration, the Obama administration's approach and stance and ultimate actions or inactions on Syria were, and that it's a weight he still carries with him. As someone that you've praised highly as being an enormous advantage to the incoming Biden administration, what is the lesson there?

DALEY: I think, as Tony expressed, a sense that when you say you're going to do something, you need to do that. And I think the president -- President Obama had good reasons to go to Congress and say, you know, I want you to weigh in, it's pretty obvious that Congress didn't want to do that. So I think the credibility of that action, the credibility of the United States and the president was heard and I think both people around them would acknowledge that, as Tony did.

And I think the lessons obviously learned is if you're going to go out and say here is the red line, don't cross it, then if somebody crosses it, you must take some action.

HARLOW: Let me end on this. Janet Yellen, obviously, first as treasury secretary, first woman, what is imperative now, though, is she strike a deal with Congress, you know, with -- do something that, frankly, Steve Mnuchin hasn't been able to do. So, do you think that unless there is a deal in the near term here, in the lame duck, will she be able to get Mitch McConnell and the Senate, if the Democrats don't win both those seats in Georgia, on board with a big round of stimulus?

DALEY: I think -- well, obviously, big is in the eye of the beholder. I think that definition, obviously she's going to have to wait until she gets confirmed because for the next 50-some days, it's the Trump administration that's got to either push or not push on Congress. And there will be some pushing that will have to take place.

I think Janet Yellen is well known by people on the Hill, Republicans, Democrats, she has worked with them over time. I think she's obviously credible and she's respected. And I think she's going to be a very good advocate for building the economy and the need to respond to help those people who are really in difficult times right now. And I think she'll be a strong advocate.

And what always helps with any cabinet person, especially someone like treasury, is when people know that that person has the ear and is close to the president of the United States. And that is very clear with Janet Yellen and President-elect Biden.

HARLOW: That's a very good point. Well, Bill Daley, it's good to have you. Happy Thanksgiving.

DALEY: Same to you. Thanks very much. Good luck with your turkey.

HARLOW: Oh, I need it. Thank you.

Jim?

SCIUTTO: Good to have the view from the inside.

Well, hotel workers are still struggling to make ends meet due to the ongoing pandemic but they are hopeful the vaccine and more federal aid will help.

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HARLOW: Well, usually, in a normal year, this is the season when hotels would be booking holiday parties and New Year's Eve festivities, but due to this tragic pandemic, America's hotels are struggling just to stay in business with many still closed or barely occupied.

SCIUTTO: Yes, or going out of business. The hospitality industry has only regained about half of nearly 8 million jobs lost earlier this year. And if Congress fails to negotiate a new stimulus deal, it's possible more layoffs could be on the way.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more.

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VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jesus Morales looks forward to the bustle of the holidays at Chicago's historic Drake Hotel.