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White House Refers to Vaccine as "The Trump Vaccine"; Pompeo Ignores Experts, Invites Hundreds to Holiday Parties as People & Businesses Under Restrictions; Warner Brothers to Stream All Films While They're in Theaters in 2021; Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Trial Volunteer Describes Side Effects; New CNN Film "PRESIDENT IN WAITING" Debuts Saturday; Warnings from Experts as U.S. Passes 14 Million COVID Cases. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired December 03, 2020 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Now, does she mean the business man who suffered chronic loses, has hundreds of millions of dollars in debt coming due, who avoided paying income taxes in 10 of the last 15 years, according to a "New York Times" investigation?
As Kayleigh McEnany tries to make fetch happen, she seems to miss that whatever credit the president deserves on the vaccine is eclipsed by the people that he continues to let drown while we wait for the vaccine to be widely available.
And 274,000 Americans have died on Trump's watch. The data shows that many of those deaths could have been prevented by better leadership.
So by the press secretary's standard, would that be the Trump death toll?
Millions have also lost jobs on his watch as the administration's failures to confront the public health crisis have stymied economic efforts.
So does that mean that it should it be called the Trump recession?
If the White House seriously wants to waste time trying to name this vaccine after someone, how about naming it after the scientists who are working around the clock?
Or the doctors and the nurses who are working months straight without a day off while people outside refuse to wear masks and ignore warnings about gathering together as they follow the example of the president and the White House.
Or how about naming it for the people who needlessly lost their lives to a virus that could have been corralled?
Or the families left behind and their children and their grandchildren who won't spend another holiday or another birthday or just another ordinary Saturday afternoon with their loved one.
People are dying. They're grieving. They're suffering. They're losing homes. They're losing jobs. They're hungry. Health care workers are exhausted and traumatized. We've heard that this hour. Kids aren't learning.
The person for whom she wants to name a vaccine after?
It's the same one who, on the very day that more Americans were reported dead than ever before in this pandemic, released a 45-minute video on Facebook.
Not addressing this immeasurable loss in this nation but delivering a cuckoo-for-Coco-Puffs conspiracy theory rant, absurdly claiming that he didn't lose the election that he resoundingly lost.
And despite a deadly resurgence in the pandemic and warnings to avoid large social gatherings, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is hosting several large-sale holiday parties over the next month.
CNN has learned he has sent more than 900 invitations to folks inviting them to State Department receptions in seeming violation of the agency's own guidelines and safety protocols.
This also follows a recent reception at the White House where, as we all know, there have been several coronavirus outbreaks.
I want to bring in Bill Rinetti, who owns Mossimo's Restaurant in the northern California city of Fremont.
He got in touch with a U.S. congressman about his concerns. And Rinetti is considering staying open, even at a reduced capacity.
Sir, thank you so much for being with us to talk about what you're dealing with.
BILL RINETTI, OWNER, MASSIMO'S RESTAURANT: My pleasure.
KEILAR: When you see and you're hearing news about parties like this, you're seeing people not following the rules, and you're living this, and it's impacting you and those who work for you economically, what goes through your mind?
RINETTI: It's anger. And it's unfair. We're struggling. The hospitality industry is destroyed. We're all struggling in this industry.
We can't have one person inside of our buildings, and it's cold right now, and we're forced to use an outdoor patio. And people are afraid to sit outside because it's cold and you're just afraid to be out anyways.
And here is our president having these huge parties. It's just not right.
KEILAR: I want you to listen to what the White House is saying about the hosting of these holiday parties.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If you can loot businesses, burn down buildings, engage in protests, you can also go to a Christmas party. You can celebrate the holiday of Christmas. You can do it responsibly.
Which is why the East Wing has noted that the much smaller guest list. Masks will be available. Social distancing is going to be encouraged. Hand sanitizing stations, among other measures.
But we will engage in the celebration of Christmas. And there will be a Hanukkah celebration as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: What do you think about that?
RINETTI: Again, I have a lot of customers calling me every day wanting to have parties here for their -- I mean, smaller parties. But we can't -- we can't do it because, you know -- and it's -- we're protecting our employees and we're protecting them as well because of this pandemic.
I don't see how --
(CROSSTALK)
RINETTI: Go ahead.
KEILAR: You were saying you don't see how what?
RINETTI: I just don't see how the government -- it's just -- we're not on the same -- we should all be on the same playing field.
There's been some discussion about some of our California state leaders that have been out at some parties recently, too.
And you know, we're not allowed to gather inside. Yet, some of these leaders I've heard have gathered inside at certain gatherings.
[14:35:07]
KEILAR: Yes. They're trying to make a distinction that it's not inside. But we're talking about covered areas with chandeliers. So certain those are indoor areas, to your point there. That includes your governor and also the mayor of San Francisco.
You have been a restaurateur for more than 40 years, Bill. At this point, California hasn't returned to a complete economic shutdown, unlike in Los Angeles County, you can, I guess, still do outdoor dining.
But it sounds like, as you describe it, it's kind of like tying your hands behind your back. Tell us why you're considering closing your doors when technically you
don't have to. Tell us what's driving that?
RINETTI: Sales. We're not doing any business. People don't want to sit outside in 40 to 50-degree weather. Even though you have heaters, sure, there's heaters, but you're still outside.
People are scared. People are afraid to be out now. Just every time you turn on the news, there's more and more cases. People just don't want to be in groups, any kind of group.
So I mean, it's concerning for all of us. But, you know, when the weather was great, I mean, our businesses were doing OK.
We still weren't doing what we normally do, but at least we were doing some -- we were sustaining our sales.
But now -- I mean, I live in a small town. I drove through the town, down Main Street, and every restaurant had maybe one table, one or two tables in each restaurant. We can't survive on one or two tables a night.
Last night, we only are four tables of business. I can't survive on only four tables of business on a Wednesday night.
KEILAR: On a Wednesday night, four tables to sustain how many employees?
RINETTI: I've cut down my staff. But I have about eight employees. And we have rent and we have utilities and we have all kinds of other stuff.
What we really need, what we restaurateurs really need is we need help. We need federal help. You know, we need it now. Because our industry is devastated.
KEILAR: Well, we know Congress is talking. We'll see if they actually deliver.
Bill, thank you for joining us and telling us what's going on in northern California where you are.
RINETTI: My pleasure.
KEILAR: Next, a closer look at what to expect when you get the coronavirus vaccine. There are some potential side effects. We'll discuss those.
Plus, just into CNN, a game-changing announcement from Warner Media that every one of its movies will be released on streaming at the same time they hit theaters next year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:42:03]
KEILAR: Just in, yet another loss in court for the president's baseless fight against the election results.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court rejecting President Trump's demand to hear his lawsuit seeking to remove more than 220,000 from the certified total.
In the 4-3 decision, the court cited basic factual issues.
Also just into CNN, a major announcement from Warner Brothers Studios about just how it will release movies in the coming year.
Warner Media is the parent company of this network. I should mention that.
Every single film it produces will be available on streaming at the same time that it is released in theaters.
CNN's chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" is joining me now.
This is a significant move. Tell us how it's going to work and tell us if other studios may follow suit.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": Yes, it is real a game changer. And I believe Disney and other studios are likely to follow suit in the coming weeks.
Warner Brothers, as you mentioned is owned by the same company as CNN.
First announced, something like this, is "Wonder Woman." They said the sequel of "Wonder Woman" will come out on Christmas, both on the HBO Max streaming service and in theaters.
And the reason, of course is the ongoing pandemic. We have seen movie theaters close, some actually open and then had to close again recently.
Movie theaters in this country have been decimated by the pandemic. And so the decision to put out "Wonder Woman" on Christmas was a logical one.
Now what we're seeing Warner Brothers do is they're going much, much further and saying all 17 of these films due out in 2021 will all come out on streaming on the same day as they're theaters, basically giving customers choices they never had before.
Hollywood, until the pandemic, was very clear, movies debut in theaters, and then months later they go to Netflix or HBO Max or other services.
What we're seeing, Brianna, is the pandemic, as it has in so many ways in life around the world, it's exacerbating trends that were already happening in the movie business.
There's no going back from a move like this. It's seismic for Hollywood for movies to be released on-demand on streaming and in theaters at the same time. A lot of movie owners may have concerns about this. Some filmmakers as
well. But, Brianna, I think this is a move that consumers will be really excited about.
Because it gives them a choice. If you want to see a movie in a theater, you can, but you can also stay at home and watch it if you want.
KEILAR: Brian, thank you so much. Brian Stelter.
Moderna now testing its coronavirus vaccine on teenagers and children as young as 12 years old. The clinical trial is seeking to enroll 3,000 volunteers between the ages of 12 and 18.
Moderna is the second coronavirus maker, after Pfizer, to test its vaccine in children and teens.
But what does it feel like to get a coronavirus vaccine?
CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, spoke to someone who knows firsthand.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
YASIR BATALVI, MODERNA COVID-19 VACCINE TRIAL VOLUNTEER: That evening was rough. I developed a low-grade fever and fatigue and chills and all.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Yasir Batalvi is describing the side effects he experienced during Moderna's COVID trial.
[14:45:03]
BATALVI: Thirty minutes later, I had a little bit of stiffness, muscle soreness in my left arm. It's like you're punched in the arm basically.
GUPTA (on camera): When you're going through the whole process, Yasir, 22-page consent form, hearing about the potential side effects, knowing you're trialing something that we don't have a lot of data on, did you have second thoughts before taking it?
BATALVI: Honestly, Sanjay, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: It's claiming the efficacy of --
GUPTA (voice-over): Every decision we make is risk versus reward.
When the company announced early data over 94 percent efficacy, Yasir was confident it had been worth it.
BATALVI: It doesn't last long. The potential of folks not getting vaccine and actually infecting people with COVID, those effects last longer. And they can be life or death. GUPTA: These are early days. The two vaccine front-runners in this
country, Pfizer and Moderna, use a type of genetic sequence called mRNA. It's a technology that has never before been used in humans outside of a clinical trial.
MRNA stands for Messenger RNA. It carries the instruction from making whatever protein you want. In this case, the spiked protein the virus uses to enter our cells.
These vaccines require two doses -- one to prime, one to boost -- a few weeks apart so the body mounts what we hope will a lasting immune response.
One of the biggest concerns now is that the side effects that Yasir is describing, fatigue, muscle pain, fever and chills, will deter people from getting that second dose.
DR. MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Maybe 10 percent, 15 percent of the subjects immunized have quite noticeable side effects that usually last no more than 24, 36 hours.
GUPTA (on camera): Do you worry about the impact of this vaccine on you long term?
BATALVI: I gave it a lot of thought. The only thing that gave me some calm is trying to research the actual vaccine, trying to understand how mRNA vaccines work.
GUPTA (voice-over): We understand this for sure. You can't get infected from this vaccine. Because the vaccine doesn't actually contain the virus.
And even though these are genetic-based vaccines, they don't alter our DNA.
As far as those side effects go, that may even be a good sign.
DR. PAUL OFFIT, DIRECTOR, VACCINE EDUCATION CENTER, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: That means your immune response is working for you. You should feel good about that.
And there shouldn't be difficulty coming back for the second shot, knowing that you're now in a much better position to fight off this awful virus.
GUPTA: For now, Yasir is looking forward to his next appointment, which is on December 10th, the exact day the FDA might authorize the first vaccine for COVID-19.
BATALVI: I put my name down because I just felt so helpless. It's a public service. I have to do it because I think mass-scale vaccination is the only realistic way out of the pandemic that we're in.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE) KEILAR: President-Elect Joe Biden meeting with Dr. Anthony Fauci this hour as COVID hospitalizations in this country hit another report high. More than 100,000 people needing care.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:52:33]
KEILAR: When President-Elect Joe Biden takes office, he will bring with him a ceiling-shattering vice president in Kamala Harris.
This Saturday, the new CNN film "PRESIDENT IN WAITING" debuts. And it includes interviews with every living former president and vice president to get their unique perspective on the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: So the way the president and I would talk about it alone, we'd talk about it with a small group.
Toward the end of the fall, when it was opened up to the secretary of state, to the Homeland Security, et cetera, there was a lot more discussion about trying to decide whether bin Laden was there.
But literally because of the phases of the moon, we got to a place where the president had 48 hours to make a decision to go or not go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Now we have CNN presidential historian, Tim Naftali.
Tim, I wonder how you think Joe Biden's experience as vice president will inform how he approaches the role of commander-in-chief.
TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, he was there in the room when a number of the issues that are still on the plate for a U.S. government were discussed.
Indeed, when it came to Afghanistan, his instincts in the discussions over the surge in Afghanistan in 2009 were correct.
He wanted to limit the U.S. military footprint and make the focus primarily counterterrorism as opposed to making it nation building. So it turned out he was right.
So he will have an opportunity now to implement a much tighter, more effective policy in Afghanistan.
He also worked on the stimulus package. He helped sell it in Congress. We'll have to have some kind of stimulus package in 2021.
So there are a number of issues that he dealt with as vice president and got to sit and listen and participate in discusses will now make, that he can now make the decisions on.
KEILAR: Tim, thank you so much. Really appreciate your perspective. Tim Naftali
Be sure to tune in. "PRESIDENT IN WAITING" will premiere on Saturday night at 9:00 p.m., only on CNN.
[14:54:38]
And just in, the U.S. has just crossed 14 million coronavirus cases as the nation sees its highest one-day death toll since the pandemic began. The warnings coming from experts, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Hi, there. You are watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you for being here.
This is the breaking news this afternoon. The United States has just surpassed 14 million cases of COVID.
How we got here is even more stunning. Since this pandemic began, it took the United States 248 days to reach seven million cases. But it only took the nation 69 days to reach the second seven million cases.
And just yesterday, it was the deadliest day for America since the pandemic began, 2,800 lives lost. That is one person every 30 seconds. Let me say that again. One person every 30 seconds.
[14:59:06]
Unfortunately, the death toll is not the only record we're shattering here.
