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6 Million Plus Travel Holiday Week Despite CDC Guidance To Stay Home; Report: North Korean Hackers Target Vaccine Maker AstraZeneca; Joe Biden's Big Week Ahead: Briefing, Economic Team, Congress; Trump Won't Say If He'll Attend Biden's Inauguration; Iran: Top Nuclear Scientist Assassinated Outside Tehran. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired November 27, 2020 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Moved in and picked up the injured - carried him from the crowd to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest thing for me was making sure that no harm came through in, because I knew if harm had come to in, this would be changed and then the blame would be fall on the young Black Lives Matter protesters. We made sure we got him out of there safely.

COOPER: Patrick, the father and grandfather hopes that everyone who sees the image understands the responsibility to do the right thing resides in all of us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just want equality for all races, for all people. Right now, we're the ones who seem to be the oppressed ones. And it is about time things were changed the world over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What a moment. Go to cnnheroes.com right now to vote for this moment or any of our most inspiring moments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST, INSIDE POLITICS: Hi, I am Boris Sanchez. I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I wish we had better news to start off with, but the fact is that more Americans than ever before are in the hospital right now sick with Coronavirus.

More than 90,000, a record high in the United States, and that's for the 17th day in a row. The nation is averaging 164,000 cases and 1500 deaths a day. And now hospitals and frontline workers already exhausted and overwhelmed are bracing for the storm that's coming after millions ignored CDC guidance to stay home and not travel this holiday.

The TSA just releasing their Thanksgiving Day travel numbers, 560,000 people passing through airports Thursday. And 65 percent reduction in travel from last year, that's still more than 6 million Americans that had already flown through the week, according to an earlier tally from the TSA.

Sunday expected to be the busiest travel day of the year. Now, California has a serious problem, an alarming escalation of positive cases. CNN Correspondent Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles for us. Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, more than 14,600 people tested positive for the Coronavirus. This is according to the State of California data coming out on Thanksgiving. We also know more than 100 people lost their lives as well. When you look at the positivity rate, you'll see for the 14-day period it is now above 6 percent.

So, we are seeing this number trending higher almost daily since November 1st, and this is of concern as we're starting to approach those summer surge numbers when the state was really trying to work to keep that number below 8 percent. As for hospitalizations, nearly 7200 people are in the hospital battling the Coronavirus. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Stephanie Elam from Los Angeles, thank you for that. We do have a disturbing development to share with you related to Coronavirus. North Korean hackers carried out a cyberattack against British vaccine developer AstraZeneca. This news breaking from Reuters. CNN's David Culver is in China for us. David, how exactly did this happen, and what's being done about it?

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, the claim is that this happened through fake job advertisement sites essentially through LinkedIn, which is a networking site that you and I know quite well, and WhatsApp, which is a messaging platform. So, this is all according to Reuters as you mentioned.

They are saying that this involved Russian, North Korean rather hackers using the Russian links and emails, some of the email addresses that they would send via these sites, LinkedIn and WhatsApp to employees at AstraZeneca, the British drug maker.

And the obvious connection here is that those staff members, many of them were working on the COVID-19 vaccine. And so, when they would click on this link or if they would have followed it, the idea is that, it would then give access to the internal systems of AstraZeneca, and potentially give information that is sensitive in dealing with COVID-19 vaccine to North Koreans.

Now it seems that they were not successful, North Korea, that is, in their attempt that's according to Reuters, but it goes to show the level of desperation that is happening within North Korea. We know that according to one South Korean lawmaker, they've even executed an official for their lack of ability in containing the COVID-19 outbreak within North Korea.

It seems perhaps that's more of a scapegoat than anything else. And it also shows that they're trying desperately to get their hands on this vaccine to get some sort of control over it. Now AstraZeneca declined to comment to CNN when we reached out. And a North Korean diplomatic official in Geneva called this a fabricated report, called it fake news. And Boris even laughed it off. SANCHEZ: Yes, not surprising, David, considering that on other

occasions, for example, the Sony pictures hack, the North Koreans to this day continue to deny that it took place, despite forensic evidence to the contrary. David Culver reporting from China. Thanks so much.

The news of the hacking comes at a critical time for AstraZeneca. The UK government just announced the vaccine that they produced is going to take a significant first step in its approval process. CNN's Senior Medical Correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen explores why AstraZeneca is pushing back against criticism about a lack of transparency in its data.

[12:05:00]

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Boris, there are questions about data from AstraZeneca which is testing out a COVID-19 vaccine. Let's take a look at what some of those questions are. First of all, there's a question about a dosing error. Some participants did not receive the right dose. Also, in a press release that AstraZeneca put out there's some missing data.

They say that it's on average 70 percent effective against COVID-19, but they don't explain how they got to that number. Moderna and Pfizer, two other companies in their press releases did explain. Also, there are no details about two participants who became ill.

We know that two participants in the trial who received the vaccine developed neurological problems and there are no details about what exactly happened there. Boris?

SANCHEZ: There are a lot of questions still to be answered, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks for that. Joining us now to dig deeper, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen, she is an Emergency Room Physician, and a Former Baltimore Health Commissioner.

Dr. Wen thanks for spending time with us today. Many Americans are spending the weekend traveling, they've gone to see family members or they're going potentially shopping. What do you think that means for the next three weeks?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I am extremely concerned about this, because we have an impending calamity on our hands. We're already in this major surge of Coronavirus and now we're going to get a massive surge on top of a massive surge, because we're starting out with this very high baseline level of infection.

We have hospitals that are already overwhelmed, and now people are getting together with loved ones, they are feeding the infection all over the country and then they are going to be going back to their home communities. And then increasing the infection rates there as well. And so, I really worry about what the next few weeks have in store for us because we have not even seen the peak of this pandemic yet.

SANCHEZ: Yes, so what can Americans do now? Travel plans have already happened; return flights have already been booked. Are there any safety measures that they can still take this weekend to try to protect themselves and slow the spread?

DR. WEN: Absolutely. So I know that people are eager to see loved ones. There are safer ways of doing that. I would highly encourage for people who have already traveled, and are already in different places, try to be outdoors as much as possible. Do not gather indoors, especially not for meals. Because around meals, you're taking off your mask.

And so, have your meals outside as much as you can. If your indoors open all the windows and all the doors, make sure to wear masks anytime you're around people who are not in your immediate household. And then when you return to your home communities, I would encourage people to quarantine.

Quarantine for at least seven days, and then get tested. If you cannot get tested, quarantine for 14 days. And the reason is we don't want to see Coronavirus wherever it is that we are going back home to, given how high the level of COVID is all throughout the country.

SANCHEZ: I know you have been asked this dozens of times, I'm sure. But at each point during this pandemic it's important to keep asking this question. Do you think we have enough tests to get us through the next month?

DR. WEN: Not at all. The demand for testing is increasing exponentially, because when you have more cases, you also need more testing for those individuals who are symptomatic as well as for all those people who they have exposed, too.

And then we haven't even come close to doing surveillance testing to pick up for those who don't know that they have an exposure, but just given the high level of COVID in the community, where are those places.

Because ideally you want to prevent an outbreak from occurring in the first place. And so, I really hope that the incoming Biden team is going to take this on as one of their top priorities, to massively ramp up testing, and not just to have any test but also to have smart testing because there are different types of tests that should be applied under different situations.

SANCHEZ: The least you can hope for is that they don't joke about doing less testing so that there are fewer cases. Anyway, Dr. Liana Wen, thank you so much for the time. We appreciate you joining us.

President Trump finally signals he is willing to leave the White House. So he's back on the golf course today as President-Elect Biden prepares for a big week ahead. Plus, new questions about President Trump and whether he will attend the Biden Inauguration.

And finally, the president's plan to campaign for Republicans in Georgia's all-important Senate runoff races. Will it help these candidates or could it potentially hurt? This is CNN special live coverage. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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SANCHEZ: Next week is going to be a big one for President-Elect Joe Biden. He and Vice President-Elect, Kamala Harris are expected to receive the president's daily briefing on Monday. It will be their first. Biden also set to announce several members of his economic team next week, a team that transition officials say will "Look like America."

Plus, congress said to return with plenty on its agenda. CNN's Arlette Saenz is live in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware that's where the Biden's are spending their holiday weekend. Arlette, what can you tell us about Joe Biden's plans for the coming week?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, even though it's a holiday weekend, President-Elect Joe Biden and his transition team are hard at work preparing for that upcoming week. And Biden is expected early next week to announce his economic team. While we are waiting to hear which positions this will entail, one name that Biden has already chosen is Janet Yellen to serve as the Treasury Secretary.

She was the Former Chairwoman of the Federal Reserve and would be the first woman if confirmed to serve as the Treasury Secretary at a time when the economy and the financial issues facing this country will be a top priority for Biden amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Now, also on Monday, Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris will receive their first president's daily brief.

[12:15:00]

SAENZ: This was something that had been held up for several weeks, but now starting on Monday; they will have access to the pressing national security issues that will be facing them when they take office. You remember that last week Biden rolled out his national security and foreign policy team, but missing from that group of cabinet nominees was a nominee for the Department of Defense.

That is something that Biden has not yet settled on. There are at least three contenders who are in the mix for that position, Michele Flournoy, also Former DHS Secretary, Jeh Johnson, and Senator Tammy Duckworth. So that is another announcement that we are expecting to come in early December, maybe even as soon as next week as Biden continues to build out that cabinet as his administration is quickly approaching.

SANCHEZ: We know you'll be watching it for us. Arlette Saenz reporting from Delaware thanks so much. President Trump meantime is spending the day golfing. The president could be seen this morning on his golf course in Virginia. Yesterday he took questions from reporters for the first time since Election Day.

The president said he is going to leave the White House if the Electoral College formalizes Joe Biden's victory. But he continued making baseless claims about widespread voter fraud and refused to say whether he would actually attend Mr. Biden's Inauguration.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN's Kaitlan Collins live at the White House, we're also joined by CNN Political Analyst Sarah Isgur, Staff Writer for "The Dispatch." Kaitlan, I want to start with you, you were there in the room last night, and you asked the president that question about the inauguration. What was his response?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He kind of had this response that you've seen the president have before where he says he knows the answer, but he doesn't want to offer it yet. I don't really think it's clear what the president is going to do yet, even to the president, about whether or not he would attend that inauguration.

Of course, if he didn't, it would be breaking with a major precedent those other presidents have set. And so, that is something that they've typically always done. However of course, what we are witnessing right now is something that you had never seen a president do once he's lost the election.

And that is the president protesting it and saying that he believes that if Joe Biden's win is certified as it's going to be in just a matter of weeks, he believes that the Electoral College has made a big mistake. So yesterday this is the first time the president had taken our questions in three weeks.

It's a notable stretch of silence for Donald Trump who often likes to engage with reporters. And so, you could really get the sense that the president is not set on conceding anytime soon or recognizing that Joe Biden has won this election. And he made that quite clear.

But you're right. He did say he would leave the White House if Joe Biden's win is certified. And that is something we had heard from advisers, they said it's not going to be one of those situations where he is being physically removed from the White House as some people had believed was going to be the case. But last night was the first time that the president had actually confirmed that is what would happen.

SANCHEZ: Yes, though he said that if the Electoral College certified the win for Biden, somehow it would be a mistake. Sarah, to you. If the president doesn't attend Joe Biden's inauguration, that sends a very clear message. And I am curious if you think it would also encourage other Republicans in Washington to potentially skip the event.

SARAH ISGUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think you see Republican Senators in particular struggling with what to do about Donald Trump's rhetoric at large. You have sort of the Rudy Giuliani Sidney Powell press conferences that go off the rails, making just wild accusations. Again and again, you have Republican Senators saying well, we need to give them the chance to present their evidence. It has been weeks now.

There has been no evidence of this sort of widespread voter fraud that could have changed the results of the election. And so, now Republican Senators are trying to look for a way, an out to say well, this has now happened, and therefore I can say move on. And you're seeing more and more Senators do that.

Of course, the last time that a president did not attend the Inauguration of his successor was 1869; Andrew Johnson did not attend the Inauguration of Ulysses S. Grant. I am not sure that Andrew Johnson is the president whose legacy anyone should be envious of.

And I think overall this past month has really undermined President Trump's legacy, even with his base. You know, this was someone who they saw fighting for them, not sounding like a regular politician, but the sort of wildness and unhingedness that we have seen in the last few weeks, I think has called into question some of his judgment with his supporters. And so, to follow in the path of Andrew Johnson, maybe not where he should be looking to go.

SANCHEZ: Great history lesson there. And speaking of unhingedness, Kaitlan, the president also lashed out at one of our colleagues yesterday. Tell us what happened.

COLLINS: Yes, this was in Jeff Mason of Reuters who was just asking the president if he would concede the election once it's certified, once Joe Biden's win is certified, basically trying to get a sense of the president's threshold of when is it going to be that the president does eventually give this up.

[12:20:00]

COLLINS: Because as Sarah was noting, even some of the president's allies are tiring on his tactics here. And it's a question that the president would not answer. He basically wouldn't say well, if it comes down to this, then I will finally recognize Joe Biden's victory.

And I think if you talk to sources around the president, they think that could be something that never happens, that actually never materializes. And that instead the president continues to sound like how he did last night, where he is insisting this is a fraudulent election, even though of course, he has presented no evidence of widespread fraud. His own attorneys aren't arguing this in court.

And you can see the disconnect between what the president thinks is happening in a legal situation and what's actually happening because last night he was talking, for example, about a situation where he said there were no Republican poll watchers in the room as ballots were being counted.

His own attorneys admitted in court that, that wasn't true. They were in the room; they didn't think they were close enough which of course is a very different argument. And so, when we pushed back on the president and said that his own attorneys admitted they were in the room, he said no, they didn't. They did. So it's just this situation of dealing with reality here that is just not being recognized.

SANCHEZ: Yes. The Trump legal team said there were a nonzero number of people. And yes, I want to ask Sarah about the idea that there's a detachment from reality here, because in the phases of grieving, denial is the first one and it appears that President Trump is moving away from denial and moving toward anger. ISGUR: I don't know that he was ever in denial. He has this public

persona that he is trying to keep up. But as Kaitlan said in court over and over again, his attorneys when pressed, do you have any evidence of fraud, no. Are you making an argument about fraud, no.

Did you have poll watchers in the room; we had a nonzero number of poll watchers in the room. I headed up Election Day operations for Mitt Romney in 2012, I'm an attorney has been in several recounts, I've just never seen anything like this in terms of court behavior on behalf of these attorneys.

There's no way that Donald Trump is unaware of what these attorneys have to argue in court. So I think you're trying to see him establish a narrative for when he does leave office. And again, the question is, is that really a narrative that is going to help him?

I mentioned Andrew Johnson not attending the inauguration of the Ulysses S. Grant. Andrew Johnson of course was another one term president who was impeached, the only other one. So this is a person looking for how to leave office gracefully and then doing the exact opposite of what that actually might look like.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and just a point of fact, that's 30 cases that his legal team has either lost or withdrawn. None of them alleging the sort of widespread fraud that the president claims took place. We have to leave it there. Sarah Isgur, Kaitlan Collins - go ahead.

ISGUR: Flip one of those. So now it's 31.

SANCHEZ: Now it's 31, I appreciate that correction. Sarah Isgur, Kaitlan Collins, thank you both so much. We are following some breaking news out of Iran right now. Reports that a top Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated outside Tehran we'll get the latest from the pentagon. Plus, people who don't wear masks are under fire today chastised by Pope Francis himself. Hear his message next.

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SANCHEZ: Breaking news, a key figure in Iran's nuclear program has been assassinated Iran's Defense Ministry confirming to state media that a top Iranian nuclear scientist was killed today outside Tehran. Let's go to CNN's Barbara Starr at the pentagon right now. Barbara, you have new reporting that the Trump Administration is monitoring these events closely. What can you tell us?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, make no mistake, officially there's no word from the Trump Administration or the Israeli government for that matter and the Iranians already accusing the Israeli, but the Trump Administration is now monitoring all of this very carefully. We know from sources we have spoken to.

What typically happens in these cases is they will start looking at intelligence threads, communications, and any imagery they can find to try and see if there is any clues about exactly what happened and any clues perhaps more importantly about what may come next.

Big question, of course, will the Iranians begin to plan for some type of retaliation. For the U.S., we know that President Trump in the tick down of his days in office has raised the question of whether or not the U.S. could strike at Iran's nuclear program, could the U.S. strike at Iran at all.

He has been told by several officials that what there would have to be is a clear, imminent provocation by Iran against the United States for that kind of strike to be justified, and so far, they haven't seen it. Striking against Iran by the U.S., very tough business.

One of the key targets might be that Natanz nuclear facility deep inside Iran. That's a facility military planner say would require repeated air strikes, getting past Iranian air defenses, possibly setting off a wider conflict and one of the big concerns, that Iranian retaliation.