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Azar Says, Vaccines May Be Getting Into People's Arms Before Christmas; Biden Receives First Intel Briefing, What Will Be Included; Fantastical Farce, Trump's Election Lies Enabled by Fox, Many in GOP. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 30, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And there are real concerns that the Republicans won't show up as the president blasts the voting system.

And so what we're seeing is Don Jr., Donald Trump Jr., taking to the airwaves with the super PAC, both on television and on radio, Dana.

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Kyung, thank you so much for that reporting. Thank you so much for joining us. Brianna Keilar picks up our coverage right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN RIGHT NOW: Hello, I am Brianna Keilar., and I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

As the coronavirus floods the U.S., we start today with some sobering numbers on the effect of the pandemic and also some hopeful news on the vaccine effort. Another vaccine maker is ready to ask the FDA for emergency approval after new data shows some great results. We're going to have more on that in a moment.

Here though is where the pandemic stands right now. There were more than 138,000 new cases reported on Sunday, and that marks 27 straight days that the United States has recorded more than 100,000 new cases. Today is expected to be number 28. 93,000 Americans were in the hospital as of last night. 19 states set new records on hospitalizations and that is straining health care systems with overcrowded hospitals and ICUs out of room and out of life-saving equipment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARRIE SAIA, CEO, HOLTON COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: We can't continue to work extra shifts forever and ever without having some type of burnout. The fear of the unknown, what the Thanksgiving holiday may bring for already the surge that we have seen the last few weeks is very concerning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So that's where we are. We're waiting for an expected post- Thanksgiving COVID tsunami. More people flew Sunday than on any other single day in this pandemic. Doctors say that the gatherings they traveled to to participate in will lead to surge upon a surge as we head into the December holidays.

There is reason to be optimistic today though about vaccine efforts. Moderna has new data out showing the efficacy of their double-dose vaccine candidate, which one member of the FDA's vaccine advisory committee calls amazing. Today, Moderna expected to ask the FDA for emergency authorization on that vaccine.

And here is what the data is showing now. It shows it is about 94 percent effective against the coronavirus. And then this, 100 percent effective against severe cases. By end of the year, Moderna hoping to have 20 million doses available in the United States. It is a double dose. So that would be enough for 10 million people.

Pfizer is also asking the FDA for authorization after they released similar numbers for their vaccine candidate. The CDC is now calling an emergency meeting tomorrow to discuss who will be first in line for these vaccines.

Joining me now is Dr. Stephen Thomas, he is Chief of Infectious Disease at Upstate University Hospital, he is also an investigator in Pfizer's vaccine trial. Doctor, thank you so much for being with us, because we have a lot of questions. We have been getting a lot of questions

from Americans.

And so I would like to kind of go rapid fire through them, if we could. And so let's start with the when of this. When will Americans start getting this vaccine?

DR. STEPHEN THOMAS, CHIEF OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, UPSTATE UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: So if the FDA and bodies that advise the FDA give the thumbs up to either one or more than one vaccine before the end of this year, then I believe that vaccines are going to start leaving the manufacturing warehouse and start going to the distribution centers. And so I would that expect before end of the year, people outside of the clinical trials will start being able to receive vaccinations.

KEILAR: Okay. SO who is going to get this first?

THOMAS: Good question. I think there are lots of different groups that are kind of pondering this question, and who should be first, and who should be second. But I do think that most agree that the first few groups that should get this, one would be those frontline health care providers who are taking care of COVID patients day-in and day- out.

Also in that top tier would be people that live in sort of communal living arrangements, so people that live in skilled nursing facilities, typically elderly people, people with other medical problems, those are people that have borne a lot of burden of this disease. So they would also be up in that primary group.

And then we would look at essential workers, so people that keep the country running and they can't do it working from home. So that would be kind of the first tier of people to receive a vaccine.

KEILAR: What about kids? When will kids be able to get vaccinated?

THOMAS: So, my expectation that kids are probably going to be in the lower tiers. And when I say kids, I am assuming these are healthy children that do not have other medical problems, because we do know that kids can get very sick from COVID. Unfortunately, kids have died from COVID, and these are typically kids that have other medical problems.

But the kids that are healthy, they're probably going to be in the lower tier, and that would be sometime second or third quarter of calendar year '21.

[13:05:02]

KEILAR: Second or third quarter, okay. So let's talk about how it's going to be -- or how the vaccine is going to be distributed.

THOMAS: Yes. So this is a complex process, and it really requires great coordination. Because what you're going to have to do is you're going to have to get millions of doses of vaccine from the manufacturing sites to the distribution centers, and then, ultimately, to the places where they're going to vaccinate people, so that would be a hospital or a pharmacy or a doctor's office.

The other thing that you need to do is you've got to make sure that what we call the cold chain is preserved. So, some of these vaccines need to be stored at very cold temperatures, minus 20, minus 70 degrees Celsius. So there are special shipping boxes that have been created that measure the temperature 24 hours a day, they have GPS systems within them so they know exactly where they are in that whole shipping process. And then once they get to their site, they have different sort of life spans, if you will, once they get to the site for administration.

What they're going to try to do is they're going to try to leverage pre-existing infrastructure that exists at the federal level, at the state level, tribal nation level, like we use for influenza vaccines, for example. But they're going to have to bolster those just because of the size of the distribution that we're talking about, and, again, that complexity of cold chain.

KEILAR: How many doses will each person need to take?

THOMAS: So it depends on the vaccine. The vaccines that are applying for emergency use authorization, those are two-dose vaccines. So, the Pfizer vaccine is given, you'll get your first dose, three weeks later, you get your second dose. The Moderna vaccine is separated by four weeks. The AstraZeneca vaccine is separated by four weeks. So, that's a two-dose vaccine. And that's an important point because when you see companies report we're going to deliver 20 million doses, we're going to deliver 50 million doses, first of all, those numbers are typically global numbers, so they're not specific to the United States. And second of all, those are total doses. So you have to divide that by number of doses that an individual needs. So if the United States is going to get 20 million doses, that's 10 million people.

KEILAR: And then, so many people want to know how quickly we go back to normal after getting this vaccine. Is this going to change how we socially distance? Are we going to still need to wear masks?

THOMAS: That's a great question because, no, we are not going to immediately, once you get vaccinated, be able to go back to 2018-2019. The absolute best way for us to combat this virus and to, as quickly possible, turn those epidemic curves in a completely different direction is by improving public health behaviors, which we have spoken about a number of times, which social distancing and masks are the foundation, and ensuring that everyone who is eligible to get a vaccine is willing to take the vaccine and get both doses of the vaccine. If we do both of those things, this time next year, we could look completely different in a positive way compared to where we are now.

KEILAR: Gosh, let's hope we get to that point. It feels so far off, but we can see it from here. Dr. Stephen Thomas, thank you for walking us through this.

THOMAS: Thank you.

KEILAR: For the next three weeks, L.A. County residents will be under a new stay-at-home order, this announcement coming one day after California set a new pandemic record with more than 7,000 people hospitalized across the state.

CNN Correspondent Stephanie Elam explains what this latest order involves. Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, Los Angeles County implementing a new stay-at-home order that will be in effect for three weeks and it bans anyone gathering outside of their household during this period.

Also taking looking at hospitalizations in the county, there are now more than 2,100 people in the hospital, and that's noteworthy, because California, as a whole, has hit a record number of hospitalizations.

Also seeing here that now they pulled nine counties back into these restrictive tiers, which means now 99 percent of the population in California is now at the most restrictive level. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right. Stephanie, thank you so much for that.

And now to Florida, where the governor spoke to reporters last hour about schools after weeks of being essentially MIA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Schools will remain open for in-person instruction, and we will continue to offer parents choices for spring semester. And every parent in Florida can take that to the bank.

Closing schools due to coronavirus is probably the biggest public health blunder in modern American history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, the governor is standing firm on masks. He will not mandate them or fine people who fail to wear them. The announcement coming as the state comes close to crossing the 1 million mark for coronavirus cases.

[13:10:00]

And CNN Correspondent Rosa Flores has more on the disturbing rise in numbers across the boards. Rosa?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, take a look at the line behind me to get tested here in Miami Beach, it wraps around the corner. This as the state of Florida nears 1 million cases with more than 190,000 cases reported just this month. Here is the reality on the ground in the state of Florida. The number of hospitalizations has increased by 30 percent in the past two weeks. Here in Miami-Dade County, where I am, it has increased by 29 percent.

But here is the biggest worry right now in Miami-Dade. The positivity rate continues to rise, with that being 10 percent yesterday. Brianna?

KEILAR: Rosa Flores, thank you so much for that from Miami for us.

President-elect Joe Biden getting his first presidential intelligence briefing today. We'll hear what's in it or at least some of it. A lot of it is classified, right?

Plus, as Biden unveils his new economic team, there is one name won't make the right or left very happy.

And we'll roll tape on the president's fantasy land rant about the election, the one that he still refuses to admit he lost.

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[13:15:00]

KEILAR: A milestone moment for President-elect Joe Biden. After weeks of waiting, he is finally getting the president's daily brief from the intel community today. It's the first time that he'll receive the top secret intelligence since the election. Trump and the White House, they just signed off, the only ones that could grant access to this material. Biden will receive intelligence and analysis about threats to the U.S. that he needs to know to run the country and keep it safe.

CNN National Security Correspondent Vivian Salama is with us now to talk about this.

Okay, Vivian, this is a big day. It is a bit delayed here, but just tell us more about what's in this brief and just how critical it is for the president-elect to finally get it.

VIVIAN SALAMA, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Brianna, that's right. So, Joe Biden is going to be receiving his presidential daily brief or the PDB, as it's known here in Washington in Wilmington. And he has essentially waited a couple of weeks. Normally, this is a traditional thing that you give to the president-elect, a courtesy, if you will, once they have won the election, you let them receive the daily briefing.

This is not just a courtesy, it goes beyond that. It is a very important issue for national security. The PDB is essentially a collection of intelligence that's gathered from all the different agencies and compiled for the president, everything that the president needs to know, as well as also his top national security advisers.

And so let me give you a real world example that we're looking at. Our viewers may have heard us talk about a situation brewing in Iran, where a nuclear scientist was assassinated. Iran is blaming Israel for that. This issue has a very big, large national security implication, not just for the Trump administration right now to deal with, but also for the incoming administration.

So, something like that would definitely be in the briefing as well as other potential threats. We have got troops all over the world, the incoming president and his team will need to know what threats are posed against them, what they have to deal with.

And this essentially makes them go in on day one, ready to take on any threats to the United States. And so, obviously, that delay in the presidential daily brief was a concern to a lot of people in the national security world because they wanted the president-elect to be up to speed from day one.

Now, remember, Joe Biden is not someone who is new to this. He has been in the White House, and he has also had roles in the Senate where he had access to intelligence matters. And so he's well read, so is his team.

And so, while it wasn't necessarily a situation where you had these people coming in new to the job and unfamiliar with what they're going to be dealing with, it still is a changing landscape. National security threats change by the day. And so it is important for them to be up to speed January 20th when they hand over the keys to the Biden team, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, no, it's such a good point. Vivian, thank you so much for that report. Vivian Salama live for us here from Washington.

President-elect Biden today is unveiling his economic team which will take the financial crisis in this country head on. As millions of Americans are unemployed, they're facing eviction, they're facing loss of their unemployment benefits, Biden says he is committed to building an administration that, quote, looks like America.

Women actually tapped for four of the top spots, former Fed Chair Janet Yellen as treasury secretary, she would be the first woman in that role, if confirmed, Neera Tanden to lead the Office of Management and Budget, Economist Cecilia Rouse to chair the Council of Economic Advisers. And I want to bring in our CNN Political Correspondent, Abby Phillip, to talk about this.

So, Yellen and Tanden, Abby, both have to be confirmed. Tell us about what Republicans are saying about these nominees.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, I think, first of all, we'll start with Neera Tanden, who is the head of the Center for American Progress, and is someone who has been more than Janet Yellen, for sure, in the kind of political space. She has made a lot of public comments about not just policies but also about personalities, about individual United States senators and so on and so forth. She's also a political ally of the Clintons.

So she's someone who, I think, no matter what, Republicans would probably have something to say about her nomination. And they're suggesting because of past comments about them, particularly on Twitter, that she might face tougher confirmation process. I think one of the questions about that going forward will be will they really hold up a president's nominee because maybe she said not nice things about them on social media. And I think that's going to be a big question going into confirmation.

As for Janet Yellen, I do suspect that she might be an easier confirmation for Biden because she's someone who has held a top economic position before.

[13:20:08]

She is someone who is a well-known, well-respected economist, and is not really a political figure in that sense.

And so there's a sense that while Republicans may disagree with her economic philosophy, the grounds that they would have to push back on her nomination would be, I think, much less significant than what we might see with Neera Tanden, which I think might end up being a lot of theater when it comes to the United States Senate and some of these lawmakers who she's had some things to say about in the past.

KEILAR: And, of course, we're in the middle of a pandemic right now. There are millions of Americans who do not have jobs. Is this team going to be able to help Biden push through big stimulus spending measures? What's the outlook there?

PHILLIP: Yes. I mean, it does seems like the team that he is putting together is a group of people, progressive-minded economists and policymakers, who are thinking about things in a very specific way, especially when it comes to workers' incomes and when it comes to government intervention in the economy. I think the big question right now is how much does the federal government need to push the economy forward, to get the economy back up and running, to help the country recover from the coronavirus.

And it seems that based on some of these names he is putting together, these are people who favor strong federal intervention in those areas. But someone like Neera Tanden, who comes from a progressive think tank, those are the kinds of organizations that come up with policies like $15 federal minimum wage, they are talking about whether or not how much the government should intervening to help boost worker salaries. They're talking about issues, like the government's policy toward labor.

So, this is clearly a team that's going to be looking toward worker incomes and actual salaries, dealing with this income gap that we have between the rich and poor, but also the big question, I think, which faces Biden, which is how much would they push for the government to spend more even if it means increasing the amount of debt.

KEILAR: Yes. We will see what the path holds. Abby Phillip, thank you so much.

The president escalating his absurd claims about the election and introducing new conspiracy theories that Republican senators are enabling, plus, how a Fox host is helping him do it.

And Republican lies backfiring in Georgia as Republicans have trouble convincing voters to participate because they think the system is rigged.

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[13:25:00]

KEILAR: Nearly a month after losing the election, President Trump still won't admit he's lost. And the conspiracy theory he is spinning to explain Joe Biden's win is a doozey even for him.

Planet Trump wants you to believe without a shred of evidence to back it up that the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, Venezuela, poll workers in multiple states, but only the ones that Trump lost, Fox anchors, but only the dayside ones, Republicans, but only Republicans in the states Trump lost, and, of course, Democrats were all in on a conspiracy that forced him to lose the election. The strangest of strange bed fellows, the motleyest of motley crews somehow, Trump claims, all came together to throw the election. That's what Trump wants you to believe what happened.

He also wants you to believe that they covered their tracks impeccably because, remember, there is no evidence they coordinated or communicated and there is zero evidence of widespread voter fraud, zero. We know this because election officials across the country, both Democrats and Republicans, have told us that. We know that because Trump's own administration has told us that. Joe Biden won the election fair and square and, quite frankly, it wasn't even close.

But President Trump continues his journey through Never Neverland held aloft by Tinker Bell T.V.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT (voice over): I don't think we even have to prove this. They say that I was doing so much better than they thought that they panicked and they started just doing ballot after ballot very quickly, and just checking the Biden name on top.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, that is a new one, alleging they, and who is they, by the way, he doesn't say, that he panic-led them, whoever them is, to fill out ballots for Biden, ballots that are verifiable, that were counted by hand in some places by Democrats and Republicans.

His desperate conspiracy theory even fails the plausibility test there and it certainly flunks the evidence test. He says he doesn't even have to prove this, well, how it works is he does have to prove this, unless he is not actually trying to prove anything, unless he is just trying to muck things up, be a sore loser, assuage his bruised ego at the expense of the country and its citizens' faith in its government and its institutions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice over): This is total fraud. And how the FBI and Department of Justice, I don't know, maybe they are involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Then Maria Bartiromo seemed shocked by the president of the United States, casually suggesting the FBI and the DOJ rigged the election against him, departments helmed by his own appointees.

[13:30:06]