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Pandemic Reaching Record Highs; Biden Introduces Cabinet Picks. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired November 24, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:03]

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: All right, we will take it from here. Good to be with you all. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

We begin today with the president-elect wasting zero time in the 57 days left to the transition process, introducing some of the first members of his Cabinet, many of them with, as we heard, personal connections to the president-elect, highlighting their backgrounds, and detailing their critical missions ahead, including the nation's, of course, most pressing issue, a pandemic that continues to claim thousands of lives day after day.

Today, the president-elect is more properly equipped to get the job done because, after weeks of delay, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy finally and officially ascertained the election results, freeing up millions of dollars in resources and opening the doors for agencies to start cooperating with the transition.

But President Trump seems to still be playing games. After declaring that he will -- quote -- "never concede" and continuing his rampage against Biden's victory on Twitter, the president, if you tuned in -- and you blinked, you might have missed it -- because he abruptly called the White House press corps to the Briefing Room late this morning.

And in this bizarre, not even 60-second pat on the back to his team, he touted gains in the stock market today and said this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I just want to congratulate all the people within the administration that worked so hard. And, most importantly, I want to congratulate the people of our country, because there are no people like you. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: We should note a number of experts are citing the formal start of the Biden transition and a new hope for coronavirus vaccine as the cause for the Dow topping 30000 for the first time ever. More on the president's bizarre behavior today in just a moment. But I want to start in Wilmington, Delaware, where the president-elect just met with some of the people that will now help him run the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: It's a team that will keep our country and our people safe and secure. And it's a team that reflects the fact that America is back.

The team meets this moment, this team behind me. They embody my core beliefs that America is strongest when it works with it's allies. Collectively, this team has secured some of the most defining national security and diplomatic achievements in recent memory, made possible through decades of experience working with our partners.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Let's go straight to our CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

And, Jeff, listening to all of this, the bios, the personal connections to this president-elect, the emphasis on service and science and facts, what stood out to you today?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, one thing I think that stood out was, there was no mention of President Trump.

President Trump called that briefing, if you want to call it that, in the Briefing Room just shortly before Joe Biden was set to take the stage there. Not a mention of President Trump.

But embedded in his words and embedded in the choices he is making at these various agencies, this is an entire rebuke of the Trump administration and how he ran his government. From a person to person to person, these nominees said, we will serve our country, not you. There was no sense of loyalty oath to the president-elect.

So, Brooke, what we saw there was a team not of rivals. It was a team of a stable, competent leaders, a changing of the guard, not necessarily a new guard, but people with deep experience inside the government.

So, it was a big changing of the subject, which, interestingly, did not mention the president's name at one point. And Mr. Biden said he's grateful to finally have this GSA ascertainment, so he can start uniting the country and the world.

But, Brooke, it was entirely looking forward, almost jumping beyond these next 57 days, who knows what will happen in them, but certainly looking ahead to January 20, in the afternoon, when he takes powers the nation's 46th president -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much. We will come back to this and this momentous day with the president-elect and his Cabinet. But to the president, the current president. And although Trump is showing no signs of stopping his Twitter tirade against the election, he faced the American public just last hour, the first time in days, for the annual turkey pardon.

Kaitlan Collins is there at the White House.

And so, Kaitlan, we mentioned off the top that sort of bizarre "press conference" -- air quotes -- touting the Dow, taking credit for the Dow, and then the turkey pardon.

Watching it all, having covered the this White House now for a couple of years, what's your read on all of this?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's the president trying to take credit for what's happening with the stock market.

Of course, you remember, before the election, he often warned of what would happen to the stock market if Joe Biden did win the White House. And now the president is attempting to take credit for this good news, which, of course, as you noted, experts are chalking it up to the GSA formally moving forward with the Biden transition last night, this good vaccine news that we have had over the last several days and, of course, the Janet Yellen news, this reporting that Joe Biden is expected to pick Janet Yellen to be the next Treasury secretary.

[15:05:13]

But Donald Trump wanted to take credit for it. He came out to the Briefing Room. Reporters had got about a two-minute heads-up that the president is going to be making that appearance. And, of course, he's made these sporadic appearances since the election, but not taken any questions, as he did today, even though he was in the Briefing Room.

And so that only lasted for about a minute. And the vice president was there with him, but no questions from reporters. And, of course, that was just shortly before the president took part in this tradition in the Rose Garden of pardoning the turkeys before Thanksgiving, something that is usually a pretty quiet ceremony before they -- the first family leaves to go somewhere for the holiday.

But we know Donald Trump is staying back in Washington this year, because he knows his time in office is coming to a close, and he has things that he wants to get it done, I'm told by sources. So even if he's not acting publicly like the transition is actually going to happen, because he's not committing to the tradition of conceding the election, behind the scenes, of course, he is preparing for it.

BALDWIN: Well, let's talk about behind the scenes. You have got some reporting, just a little bit more on the tweet last night, saying he felt that the GSA should go ahead and ascertain, right? That's the formal word, authorize the transition.

What have you learned about that?

COLLINS: Yes, the president tried to frame it as if he had recommended that to the GSA.

But in that letter to the Biden team, Emily Murphy, who runs GSA, said it was a decision, she came to independently and even attributed it to the string of court losses the president has suffered over the last few days. And that is something that he has talked about with his legal team. And we're told they did several times yesterday as they were talking about a path forward and what the president's next steps were going to be.

And so while you have seen moves that looks like the president could be coming closer to publicly acknowledging reality, as they dropped Sidney Powell from the legal team in recent days, the president has signed off -- or gave his blessing, really, to this GSA transition, the president is also still vowing to move ahead with his legal fights, and he's still pushing conspiracies, conspiracy theories on Twitter.

And it's three weeks after the election, and he still has not acknowledged Joe Biden's win. So, you have got to pair those two things with each other, and the president still attempting to undermine democracy with those statements.

BALDWIN: Kaitlan, thank you.

I want to talk about all of this with my next guest, CNN political commentator Mitch Landrieu. He is the former Democratic mayor of the great state of -- city of New Orleans.

So, Mr. Mayor, a pleasure, as always.

And I just want to begin with the -- on Biden's appointees and the nominees today. As I watched the whole thing, I was listening to a lot of people talking about it, the fact that he was really drawing a distinction with his predecessor, as Jeff pointed out, never name- checking, right, Trump, but drawing this contrast with his picks, but also in how they will change the way this country does business.

What did you think when you were watching it?

MITCH LANDRIEU, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, a couple of things come to mind, now that now that things are clearer.

First of all, president-elect Biden won this election overwhelmingly, six million votes, 306 electoral votes. We call that down here in the South of big whooping.

(LAUGHTER)

LANDRIEU: And it's clear and it's convincing.

Secondly, it doesn't matter what Donald Trump does. It's not up to him to declare who the next president is. And whether he concedes or not is not a Constitution requirement.

Thirdly, the president-elect has been demonstrating and modeling what presidential behavior looks like. And aside from philosophy, he's just trying to demonstrate to the people of America what it really looks like when you have a person that's balanced, that is stable, that is thoughtful and experienced.

And, of course, his picks are reflecting what the future the country should look like, as he promised. So I was really happy to see people of great experience, great stability, calmness, a sense of kindness.

I think the president-elect has been handling a very difficult situation in a very gracious and thoughtful way, yet a very strong way. He's very clear that he's moving forward, because it really doesn't matter anymore what President Trump does.

It would be wonderful for the country if he would do what every other president has done. But if he doesn't, time will move on, and Joe Biden will be sworn in on January 20. And he will be ready with a great team.

BALDWIN: Something else I noticed, unlike Trump four years ago, or even Obama in the beginning, the president-elect, Joe Biden, has a personal connection with every single person that was on that stage.

I was listening to Jeff Zeleny, who has been covering him and in this transition. He was saying, these are all Biden proteges. And when you heard the president-elect, when he was talking about these folks, obviously, they were humble and thanking him, but putting country first.

And Biden said this: "I want these folks to tell me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear."

How will that inform U.S. national security?

LANDRIEU: That is critically important.

As you know, I served as lieutenant governor and the mayor of the city of New Orleans. And it was critical into my ability to be able to govern well to have people that were smarter than me who would tell me what I needed to know, not what I wanted to know.

And people have to be able to speak truth to power. And it is apparent that these people that he appointed have great experience. But they also have the kind of relationship with him where they can tell him the truth.

[15:10:09]

The second thing is that their loyalty -- and they were clear about this -- is to the country first, not to the president. And, of course, Joe Biden has always understood that.

It's been one of the great abuses of power of President Trump to make sure that it wasn't the exact opposite way. And that's not the way it's supposed to be. So, I thought these picks were great. They come with great experience. I feel very comfortable. It's very stable, and it feels very balanced. And it's very refreshing, to be honest with you. And on top of that,

they seem to reflect the diversity of the United States of America, and they're going to prepare us well for the future.

BALDWIN: Mayor Landrieu, let's talk about President Trump.

As I pointed out a second ago, we have seen him twice today, once when he pardoned the turkey. And we saw him with the quick appearance in the Briefing Room. There's still just over 50 days left of this administration. We are in the midst of a pandemic, a critical time in our country.

And as my colleague John Berman has pointed out in recent weeks, the president seems to be fighting very hard to keep a job that he's not currently doing.

LANDRIEU: Well, there a couple of things about this.

First of all, we are in a hell of a mess in this country. We have hundreds of thousands of people who are getting sick and dying. The transition can't happen quick enough. The COVID is the first thing that we have to do. We have to beat COVID. We have to kill it. That is the first order of priority.

And in a reasonable, sane world, this president who we have now would be handing over the transition very quickly to the president-elect so that no balls are dropped and people are not hurt more than they have to be. And I think that that's just unfortunate.

Nothing is going to change the way President Trump is doing things. He's going to act the way he's always acted. And I think the president-elect is doing everything he can to make sure that his team is ready to attack COVID, to get the economy back up and operating and to make the people of America safe.

BALDWIN: How about some bipartisanship in Washington? I mean, we know Republicans now, after that Trump tweet announcement, GSA ascertainment, they seem to be acknowledging that Biden is the president-elect.

But when you have certain Republicans who still can't seem to admit that Joe Biden won, how does he work with them?

LANDRIEU: Well, I think that's unfortunate. And I think that you can see the president-elect has many -- on many occasions just in the last couple of weeks reached out, probably privately and certainly publicly, to the Republicans that are in Washington, D.C.

But they're not the only ones who are governing this country. Yesterday, the president-elect had a meeting with the mayors of America. And he said, listen, there are no red cities of blue cities. We're all one America. We want to seek the common good. We need to work together to make sure that we do the business of government quickly, so that we can secure the future for the American people.

And he said, please come to me. I represent everybody. And you have heard him say that many, many times. His hand is outstretched. And I'm very, very hopeful that in the near future, Republicans in Washington, D.C., to be distinguished from governors and mayors, quite frankly, that not nearly as partisan, will understand that beating COVID is the most important thing that we can do.

And COVID does not respect political party. That is the first and the most important thing that we do. And I know the president-elect is preparing himself and his team to do just that.

BALDWIN: Isn't that the truth? Doesn't care if you're left, right or center.

LANDRIEU: Sure doesn't.

BALDWIN: Mitch Landrieu, thank you very much. Have a great Thanksgiving.

LANDRIEU: Thanks. Thank you.

BALDWIN: Be safe. Be well.

LANDRIEU: Happy Thanksgiving to you as well.

BALDWIN: Thank you. Thank you.

LANDRIEU: Bye.

BALDWIN: President Trump's top health officials say they are now coordinating with the Biden transition team.

And it comes, as we were just discussing, as cases spike and some hospitals warn they are running out of beds. We have much more on that today.

And millions of Americans are ignoring the CDC's advice to stay home this Thanksgiving -- how the experts say you can celebrate safely.

And tens of thousands of Americans are lining up for food assistance ahead of this holiday, but the nonprofits trying to help them are now hurting themselves. Let's shine a light on this today.

You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

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[15:18:09]

BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Even in the midst of a pandemic, this is an alarming number. In the U.S. so far this month, more than 3.3 million new COVID infections have been confirmed. That is the most reported in a single month since the pandemic began.

And we have another week before this month ends. Hospitalizations are also reaching distressing highs. More than 85,000 people were in U.S. hospitals with COVID-19 yesterday. That is the 14th straight day hospitalizations in the U.S. set a pandemic record.

CNN Athena Jones looks at other trends that are fueling concerns among health care workers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Health care workers, we are sending out an SOS.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As coronavirus infections explode across the country, with no signs of slowing down, health care providers are pleading with Americans to do their part to stop the spread.

DR. SHIRLEE XIE, HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE: I can't prevent anyone from getting COVID. All I can do is try to keep COVID from killing you. And so what we need is for people to step up and to wear masks and to distance from people and just try to keep themselves safe and everybody else safe.

JONES: New COVID-19 cases topped 100,000 for the third week straight, with hospitalizations setting a record nationwide for the 14th day in a row Monday, 14 states reporting their highest number of hospitalizations yet.

Officials warning, if the virus continues to spread out of control--

DR. JEROME ADAMS, SURGEON GENERAL OF THE UNITED STATES: You may not be able to go in and get your heart attack treated. I have heard hospitals not being able to provide care for pregnant women because they're filled with COVID beds. So that's the reality.

JONES: In fact, Ohio's governor said hospitals in his state are approaching capacity. And health officials in Pennsylvania warn they could run out of ICU beds in a week.

In California, where ICU admissions have risen 55 percent over the past two weeks, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors is considering more closures. In Nevada, which saw its highest seven-day average for new cases Monday, new restrictions limiting gatherings to 10 people start today.

[15:20:08]

This as one new model predicts COVID-19 cases in the U.S. could nearly double by Inauguration Day to 20 million cases, and another well-known model projects 140,000 more people could die over the next two months.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: This is not a time to be gathering in any numbers. And, certainly, if you're in an airport or a bus station or a train station or a gas station, you will be up against people with COVID-19.

JONES: Despite the warnings, millions of travelers are packing airports ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

TONY ROBERTS, TRAVELER: Of course, we have some fear of COVID, like everybody else, but we have to keep living.

JONES: Meanwhile, with schools in Nashville moving to remote learning next week, new questions about priorities.

DR. NICHOLAS CHRISTAKIS, YALE UNIVERSITY: There should be no community in this nation where the bars are open, but the elementary schools are closed. This is the wrong priorities.

DR. MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH: More than anything, we want to keep our schools open. We know how important education is to our kids. We also know that you can't have a very effective work force if you have to stay home with your kids because they can't be in school.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JONES: And now that the transition to a Biden administration has officially begun, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said his department is in communication with Biden's team.

They will ensure coordinated briefings with them and that transition planning and execution will be professional, cooperative and collaborative.

Meanwhile, over at the CDC, a senior official telling CNN there's an expectation there will be some rebuilding at the agency and enthusiasm that they may be able to restart regular briefings, something the Trump administration halted at the beginning of the pandemic -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: I want to start precisely on that point with my next guest.

Athena Jones, thank you so much.

Dr. Ali Khan is the dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. And he is also the former director of the CDC's Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response.

So, Dr. Khan, a pleasure, sir. Welcome.

DR. ALI KHAN, FORMER CDC OFFICIAL: Always a pleasure, Brooke. Thank you.

BALDWIN: Now that this transition has been green-lit, what does this allow for that the Biden team is now working with the CDC?

KHAN: I think it allows for the better coordination between the existing team and the transition team in terms of what sort of strategy that they will push out with the coming administration.

However, based on your excellent reporting, you know we can't wait for the transition. That's potentially 50,000 to 60,000 deaths, so people who will never make it to the transition. So it's time now for the current government either step up with science or step out of the way and let CDC do what it does best, which is remind us that this is a self-inflicted tragedy.

There's over a billion-and-a-half people worldwide who are celebrating no cases and no deaths every day. That could be us here even before vaccine.

BALDWIN: I appreciate you reminding us of all of that.

And as we look forward to this transition, and your point well-taken about, this all needs to be happening now, if you are on this Biden team, what are the first items on the COVID to-do list?

KHAN: The first items on the COVID to-do list is integrated local, state, national leadership and messaging. So, work with the governors, get a strategy, everybody have the exact same strategy, a strategy that's around containment, and how do we layer different public health measures, including eventually vaccine, to get us down to little to no cases, like, as I said, a billion-and-a-half people are enjoying now.

How do we make use of the tools we have available to us? So why do we not have enough contact tracers in America? Why does everybody not have a contact app in America? We have lots of money for other things. Why is there not money for isolation and quarantine pay for people who are asking to stay in isolation and quarantine?

So there's all sorts of tools available to us that I hope the new administration will use or the current administration will allow it to be used by CDC.

BALDWIN: And here's hoping that, to your point about the strategy and coordinating with the governors, that all of the governors left and right will play ball in terms of just looking out for the public health of their citizens.

In terms of a vaccine, Dr. Khan, we know that the CDC is trying to figure out who gets the vaccine first. Some have said the elderly and front-line workers should be first. Others are arguing it should be the younger people and teachers.

What do you think?

KHAN: So, I think the approach that is being adopted by CDC and the Advisory Committee on Immunization and also the National Academies is spot on, which is social justice first.

So, we know this disease disproportionately sickens hospitalized and kills people who are black, indigenous and people of color. So all of these recommendations really bring that up to the front in terms of ethical principles, and then they do it based on risk.

So, what you want to do is save the most lives, and you're going to save the most lives if you focus on health care workers, if you focus on people who are critical infrastructure, more likely to be at risk, people with high-risk conditions and people who are over 65 years of age.

[15:25:05] So those would be the categories to focus on first to save the most lives.

BALDWIN: Dr. Ali Khan, thank you for your expertise. Thank you for all of your work.

We will speak again, I have a feeling. Thank you.

KHAN: Thank you. Mask on.

BALDWIN: Love that. There you go.

Appreciate it. Thank you, Doc. I got mine right here, I promise you.

President-elect Joe Biden now facing another huge challenge, how to govern for all Americans, including the nearly 74 million people that voted for President Trump.

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