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Biden Announces Key Cabinet Picks, Declares America is Back; Meghan Markle Reveals Miscarriage in NYT Op-Ed; Millions Risking Infections by Traveling for Thanksgiving; Republican Voters Urge Georgia's Incumbent Senators to Back Trump's Claims. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired November 25, 2020 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:31:11]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: With just 56 days to go until Inauguration Day, the formal presidential transition is finally underway here in the United States.

President-elect Joe Biden has wasted no time moving forward. On Tuesday he introduced key cabinet picks as he announced to the world America is back, and the White House has now given formal approval for Biden to receive the president's daily briefing.

CNN political analyst Toluse Olorunnipa joins me now. He's also a White House reporter for the "Washington Post."

Great to have you with us.

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Great to be here.

CHURCH: So America is back. That was the message from President-elect Joe Biden Tuesday as he introduced his key cabinet picks. A team that signals a rejection of Donald Trump's isolationist policies and Wall Street welcomed the news. The Dow hitting the 30,000 mark.

How different will this team be to the one assembled by Trump and now that contact has been made with all federal agencies, what comes next?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, night and day is how different it will be in terms of the foreign policy establishment regaining control in the U.S. government. We saw what President Trump's sort of a disruptive approach in which he brought in outsiders, he brought in people who did not have government experience. They came into office and really created a lot of disruption on the global scene.

Joe Biden is saying America is back. He's saying he wants to restore some of the global order that was in place before Trump came into office, re-establish connection with allies, maybe distance America from some of our adversaries that President Trump has sidled up to or gotten very close to in the last four years.

And when it comes to actually preparing for that, the fact that Joe Biden now has access to the traditional transition experience, he's able to connect with government employees, he's able to have funding from the government, it will make it easier for him to try to move forward and put forward a foreign policy platform that is more in line with what we have seen before President Trump came into office and really disrupted a lot of American foreign policy.

CHURCH: Right. And in an interview with NBC on Tuesday, Joe Biden said he would consider nominating a Republican on his team. Let's just listen to what exactly he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESTER HOLD, NBC HOST: Have you considered for the sake of national unity selecting or nominating a Republican, someone who voted for President Trump?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: Yes. And we still have a lot more appointments to make. I want this country to be united. The purpose of our administration is once again unite it. We can't keep this virulent political dialogue going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Toluse, is that a wise move? I mean, how would progressives respond to that?

OLORUNNIPA: Well, progressives definitely would not like Joe Biden selecting a Republican to any of the cabinet positions, especially if it's a high-ranking cabinet position. They are jockeying not only to get progressives into that position but to make sure that moderate Democrats or Republicans don't end up in some of those positions. So there is a big fight going on on the left wing of the Democratic Party.

But Joe Biden realizes that he won with a record number of votes, more than 80 million Americans voted for him, but the second highest number of votes ever to vote for anyone in American history was for President Trump. That was more than 74 million people voted for President Trump. He had much more support this time around than he did four years ago.

So Joe Biden realizes that he's going to have to govern those Americans, too, and some of those Americans feel like their voice is not going to be heard and I think Joe Biden is trying to show that he would be willing to have someone representing the Trump supporters within his government and try to govern as a uniter, which has been his motto from the beginning of the time he ran his campaign.

[04:35:08]

CHURCH: Toluse Olorunnipa, thank you so much for talking with us. Appreciate it.

OLORUNNIPA: Thank you.

CHURCH: Some breaking news coming in to CNN. Meagan Markell has revealed that she had a miscarriage in July of this year. The Duchess of Sussex revealed the news in an article in "The New York Times" entitled "The Losses We Share." And CNN's Max Foster joins us now. So, Max, it is a sad story shared by so many women. And as Meghan

Markle says herself, it's talked about by so very few. What more are you learning about this?

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we were sent the article by the team this morning. And it's a very, very powerful piece, an opinion piece in "The New York Times" that she obviously wrote herself. And she speaks to her own experience then plays out all into all the issues that so many people have been plagued with during 2020, this extraordinary year. She said that on a morning in July earlier this year she felt a sharp cramp and hours later from a hospital bed she watched as my husband's heart broke as he tried to hold the shattered pieces of mine.

She goes on to say, "I knew as I clutched my first born child that I was losing my second. Hours later I lay in a hospital bed holding my husband's hand. I felt the clamminess of his palm and kissed his knuckles, wept from both of our tears." So a very powerful, moving story from someone who suffered absolute tragedy, something that she's had to live with for the rest of the year.

Of course, but she also speaks about how other people are suffering in similar ways. So she's speaking to a wider cause here, but this is the first we've heard about this very powerful moment obviously in her parenthood.

CHURCH: Yes. And Max, as I mentioned, I mean, so many women can tell you their stories of miscarriage, but to end up in the hospital obviously this was a much more serious situation for her. We don't know how advanced this pregnancy was, do we?

FOSTER: No, not getting any more details, that's basically saying that the article speaks for itself. So I don't think we're going to get any of that detail. And if you read the piece, it's really the peg for Meghan to talk about a wider issue.

You may remember, Rosemary, when I was in Africa with her last year she did an interview with a journalist where she was asked if she was OK, and she gave this answer almost surprised that someone had asked her if she was OK. A lot of people read something into that but she's using that question really ahead of Thanksgiving to say people should go out and ask people if they're OK, and just have that connection with people in this very extraordinary year.

And she talks about so many ways that people have suffered this year. She talks about her own experience, but she's talking about something much bigger here. So she's not actually wanting to go into any more depths about what happened to her, although it's a huge talking point this morning not just here in the U.K. and the U.S. but I think around the world because obviously so many people can relate to this situation and feel for her and for Harry.

CHURCH: Yes. It makes such a difference for so many people when someone who has this sort of influence talks about a situation like this. Miscarriage for so many women, of course, not spoken about as she points out. Max Foster, many thanks for bringing us up to date on that breaking

news story. Appreciate it.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:41:54]

CHURCH: The coronavirus is raging across the United States with hospitalizations at record levels and the number of people dying at its highest since May. The Trump administration is now considering reducing the recommended 14-day quarantine for those who might be exposed to the virus. It comes as millions of Americans have been risking infection this week as they travel for their Thanksgiving holiday. One expert told CNN just how dangerous that could be.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: It's potentially the mother of all super spreader events. One of the ways we think the Midwest was seated with virus during the summer was with the Sturgis South Dakota Motorcycle Rally where people were infected and then dispersed out through the Midwest. Now imagine that on a massive scale with people leaving from every airport in the United States and carrying virus with them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: CNN's Athena Jones has the latest on states across the U.S. are trying to cope.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SHIRLEE XIE, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF HOSPITAL MEDICINE, HENNEPIN HEALTHCARE: I can't prevent anyone from getting COVID, all I can do is try to keep COVID from killing you.

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.

XIE: So what we need is for people to step up and to wear masks and to distance from people and just to try to keep themself safe and everybody else safe.

JONES: New COVID-19 cases topped 100,000 for the third week straight. 14 states reporting their highest number of hospitalizations yet. Officials warning if the virus continues to spread out of control --

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: You may not be able to go in and get your heart attack treated. I've 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 warned 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. New Mexico is seeing uncontrolled spread of the virus with infections more than doubling week over week. The state setting new records for cases, hospitalizations and death. And in Kentucky --

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): We're being overwhelmed with a record number of cases, with hospitalizations going up, with numbers of individuals in the ICU increasing every day.

JONES: 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. And more children are becoming infected with more than 1/4 of a million new COVID cases in children in the two weeks ending November 19th according to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association.

Meanwhile, the new Axios-IPSOS poll found more than half of Americans now says they would take a first generation COVID vaccine. An increase of 14 points since September.

[04:45:03]

An FDA committee is set to meet December 10th to consider an Emergency Use Authorization for Pfizer's vaccine. And if all goes well, the U.S. could start distributing doses soon after.

ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We believe we can distribute vaccines to all 64 jurisdictions within 24 hours of FDA authorization. Then we hope administration can begin as soon as the product arrives.

JONES (on camera): And now the transition to a Biden administration has officially begun, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says his department will ensure coordinated briefings with Biden's team and ensure that transition planning and execution will be professional, cooperative and collaborative. Meanwhile, over at the CDC a senior official telling CNN that with President-elect Biden's transition getting underway, the expectation is that there will be a rebuilding of sorts at the agency.

And a federal health official said there is more enthusiasm that the CDC may restart regular briefings, something the Trump administration halted at the beginning of the pandemic.

Athena Jones, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Dr. Esther Choo joins me now. She is a professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Health and Science University.

Thank you, Doctor, for being with us and for all that you do.

DR. ESTHER CHOO, PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, OREGON HEALTH AND SCIENCE UNIVERSITY: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So U.S. hospitalizations are at their highest level since the COVID pandemic began. Cases and deaths are surging and now the White House COVID Task Force is considering shortening the 14-day quarantine period to 10 days instead as long as a negative test is in the mix there. What do you make of that?

CHOO: Well, I think it's part of our ongoing struggle to balance best practice with what pragmatically people will do. It's clear that people are having a hard time adhering to all the rules. Some of them feel restrictive or are not compatible with people's lives and sometimes, we don't go for perfect because that can be the enemy of the good. So, you know, nothing official yet.

We definitely want to see more data and modeling around this to see what that will do to infection rates, but I think it is balancing out, you know, the idea that we might get more people engaged in quarantining to begin with if it is a little bit easier to comply with.

CHURCH: Yes. That makes sense. And Doctor, we're also hearing that if all goes well with the approval process, Pfizer's vaccine could be available to front line health workers by mi-December. How do you feel about that timeline? And what do you think it means in terms of the rest of the population getting access to this vaccine?

CHOO: Yes, that's exciting news. It's really just around the corner. Again, availability is one thing, and actually getting people to accept the vaccine and take it when it's available is another. I'm hearing even among my peers in health care there is some hesitancy around the vaccine. So we have some work to do if the vaccine is coming that quickly. We have to really get to work making sure that people understand the safety data, that we have conversations now about risk versus benefit and that we make sure that as many people as possible are ready to actually receive the vaccine.

CHURCH: Dr. Choo, thank you so much for joining us. We appreciate it.

CHOO: Thank you so much, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Hong Kong's chief executive Carrie Lam says the situation in the city had developed to the point that Beijing's interference was needed. In her annual policy address at the legislative council she credited the national security law implemented on June 30th for putting an end to pro-democracy protests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRIE LAM, HONG KONG'S CHIEF EXECUTIVE (through translator): In the past year or so Hong Kong has experienced the most severe political challenges since its return to the motherland. One of our urgent priorities is to restore the Hong Kong special administrative region's constitutional order and political system from chaos. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Lam also addressed the coronavirus crisis warning that the city is on the brink of another wave of outbreak. Hong Kong has already experienced three waves of the pandemic.

Well, a critical state runoff election will decide if Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate, but many of Georgia's Republican voters want the nominees to focus on a much larger and much more pointless battle. We'll explain on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:53:31]

CHURCH: More than 760,000 absentee ballots have been requested for the January Senate runoff in the U.S. state of Georgia. These election results determine which party will control the U.S. Senate. But some Georgia Republicans wish the nominees would focus more on helping President Trump in his futile attempt to stay in the White House.

CNN's Ryan Nobles has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The political stakes in Georgia's Senate runoffs couldn't be higher.

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): This isn't about my seat. This is so much bigger than me.

NOBLES: But three weeks since election day some Republicans have yet to shift their focus to the contests coming in January.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you doing to help Donald Trump?

NOBLES: One Trump supporter even interrupting David Perdue at a campaign stop demanding the incumbent senator and Kelly Loeffler, the other Republican senator running, do more to help President Trump's effort to overturn the results of the election.

DAVID WEST, GEORGIA VOTER: I think they should be more vocal.

NOBLES: Republican voter David West believes President Trump's unfounded claim that the presidential election was stolen. He wants Perdue and Loeffler to focus their efforts not on their own re- election, but instead Trump's fanciful fraud allegations.

WEST: They should be using every news outlet that will give them a voice, every social media that will give them a voice, that this whole election is a farce.

NOBLES: Pressure from voters like West has forced Perdue and Loeffler to continue to fuel Trump's narrative. Even at the expense of fellow GOP leaders in Georgia who have repeatedly defended the integrity of the election. [04:55:02]

PERDUE: We called for the resignation of our secretary of State is what we did. We're calling for lawsuits right now. We're doing a lot because right now we want him on every ballot, every legal vote should be counted for Donald Trump.

NOBLES: But every legal vote has been counted and is in the process of being counted for the third time. Today Republican Governor Brian Kemp who's been the target of attacks by Trump supporters defended the administration of the election.

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): Over the last several weeks unfortunately we've seen a lot of misinformation and more recently, quite honestly, baseless attacks that are absolutely absurd and accusations made against myself and my family.

NOBLES: While the president's supporters remain passionate, it's still unclear how big of a role he'll play in the runoff. So far the president has been quiet about the runoff election but his son Donald Trump Jr. made it clear in a tweet the GOP majority needs to be protected.

A Trump visit to Georgia remains a possibility. But the campaigns are not counting on it. They believe even a tweet from the president would be enough to calm his supporters' fears. Meanwhile, Georgia's lieutenant governor is pleading with his fellow Republicans to look forward while warning the party is at a crossroads.

GEOFF DUNCAN, GEORGIA LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR: I also think for the Republican Party, this is a -- you know, a starting point or at least points us in the direction of starting to talk about what, you know, potentially GOP 2.0 looks like.

NOBLES (on camera): Now to be clear, that Trump supporter we spoke to said that he intends to vote for Kelly Loeffler and for David Perdue in the January runoff, but he is just concerned that they're not doing enough to help President Trump. It demonstrates this difficult position, the Republican candidates find themselves in. Yes, they'd like to focus on their race but they can't forget about President Trump.

Ryan Nobles, CNN, Atlanta, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thanks for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. "EARLY START" is up next. You're watching CNN. Have yourselves a great day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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