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U.S. Deaths and Hospitalizations Hit Record Levels; Devastating Toll on Frontline Workers; U.S. Vaccine Authorization Could Come this Month; Russian Official: 100,000+ Sputnik-V Vaccinations So Far; Sources: Trump Frustrated with Barr After Election Comments; President Considering a Flurry of Pardons; Biden Pushes Congress to Adopt COVID Relief Bill. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired December 03, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Rosemary Church.
Just ahead, record COVID deaths, record hospitalizations, everything is going in the wrong direction as a senior health official warns this winter will be the most difficult time in U.S. public health history. Plus --
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DR. SHANNON TAPIA, GERIATRICIAN: I don't want to say it's been harder for us than it has for everybody else, but the truth is it has.
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CHURCH: The devastating toll being felt by front line workers in the United States, desperately trying to save lives during this pandemic.
And the Bill Barr backlash, Donald Trump is reportedly fuming after his Attorney General undercut the president's claims for voter fraud.
Good to have you with us. Well, the U.S. has now recorded its worst day ever for COVID-19 deaths, a staggering 3,100 fatalities were reported on Wednesday. That is 20 percent higher than the previous record set on April 15th. And with a potential vaccine still months away for most Americans, many thousands more could die by next March. The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not attempt to sugar coat the grim forecast.
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DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: We're in that range potentially now, starting to see 1,500 to 2,000 to 2,500 deaths a day from this virus. So yes, the mortality concerns are real. And I do think unfortunately before we see February, we could be close to 450,000 Americans who have died from this virus.
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CHURCH: And more than 100,000 Americans are so sick they're in the hospital. That's also a record. Some U.S. medical facilities say they have run out of beds to handle the rapid influx of new patients. U.S. regulators will review Pfizer's application for an Emergency Use Authorization on December 10th. If it gets the OK, the vaccine distribution could begin almost immediately. We get the latest from CNN's Nick Watt.
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NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A global first. The Brits just authorized the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, they might start vaccinating people next week.
UGUR SAHIN, BIONTECH CEO: We believe that it is really the start of the end of the pandemic.
WATT: December 10th, an FDA panel meets. U.S. authorization could come within days, and then --
GEN. GUSTAVE PERNA, COO, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Distribution to the American people becomes immediate within 24 hours.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): We expect if all safety and efficacy approvals are granted, those doses will arrive on December 15th.
WATT: Moderna's vaccine is about a week behind. The plan, vaccinate 20 million Americans in December, 30 million in January, 50 million in February, by March 1st --
MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF ADVISOR, OPERATION WARP SPEED: We will have potentially immunized a 100 million people, which is really more or less the size of the significant at-risk population.
WATT: Refrigerators are ready at airports and hospitals across the country. Pfizer's vaccine must be stored at minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit.
First in line for the limited supply, medical personnel and residents of long-term care facilities. The CDC advisory panel just made that call.
DR. AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We can do those via mass immunization events. We can't use mass immunization events for every person in the U.S.
WATT: And it's two doses, not easy, going to take time, yes, this could be the start of the end, but it is not the end.
DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, U.S. CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: December and January and February are going to be rough times. I actually believe they're going to be the most difficult time in the public health history of this nation.
DR. SHANNON TAPIA, GERIATRICIAN: We might not show it if we're interacting with you, but it's so hard.
WATT: Some hospitals now maxed out.
DR. JASON MITCHELL, PRESBYTERIAN HEALTHCARE SERVICES, ALBUQUERQUE: We really are truly out of beds and it's not just the Intensive Care Unit, it's all the medical beds as well.
WATT: How, why did we get here? Well in, part --
REDFIELD: This nation was severely underprepared for this pandemic. I think we have to call it the way it is.
WATT (on camera): Here in California, we were just told that the spread right now is terrifying and that the death toll will rise. California just set a new record since the pandemic began, added more than 20,000 new cases in a day.
Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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CHURCH: Joining me now from Portland, Oregon is CNN medical analyst, Dr. Esther Choo. Thank you so much, doctor, for being with us and for all the work you do.
ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Rosemary.
CHURCH: Now before we get to the vaccine, let's look at the reality we're all facing right now. The director of the CDC warns the next three months will be the most difficult time in U.S. public health history as hospitalizations set a new record at a 100,000 plus and deaths saw above 2,600 a day.
Of course, Thanksgiving and Christmas travel will make this even worse, yet more Americans ignore public health advice. What needs to be done here and where all this going, do you think?
CHOO: Yes, it's hard to know what to ask of people anymore. I mean, we have been pushing throughout the fall, headed into these winter holidays for people to really listen to public health recommendations, be very strict about mask wearing and social distancing, and yet people have been gathering, and of course we all have fatigue. But I think all we can do is try to take some measure of hope from these incoming vaccines. And ask for people to do more of the same, but this time with hope in a very specific timeline in mind.
And I'm hoping that the promise of these vaccines sometime in the New Year will give people that extra energy they need to really buckle down and try to get us through the virus between now and then, we really need to just save as many lives as possible.
CHURCH: Yes, let's just try to do that as you say. And doctor, yesterday the U.K. approved Pfizer's COVID vaccine. They are ready to start vaccinating next week. But they have been criticized for moving too fast on this even though they insist corners were not cut here. What's your response to that?
CHOO: Well, it really does seem like things are expedited rather than rush. I think it's really the right terminology. I mean, we're not very far away from the same here in the United States. We're looking at getting some vaccine pushed out to health care workers as early as later this month.
And I think it seems like the studies have been done with tremendous care and rigor. That the safety data have been incredibly reassuring. So, I haven't really seen any cause for alarm, but a lot of reassurance of the benefits outweigh the harms that have been observed, not just with this latest trial but from phase one onwards.
CHURCH: Yes, indeed, and of course the U.S. isn't far behind the U.K. Vaccinations could start right after the December 10th FDA advisory meeting. The plan is to potentially vaccinate 100 million Americans by March.
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How do you think that distribution will play out and what are the major challenges that you see going forward with this?
CHOO: Well, distribution is an extremely complicated thing, and we're still looking to see how this is going to play out in the United States. And there are many, many questions that have not been answered. How is this going to be coordinated across states? How are we going to manage things like even storage of the vaccine, of course the Pfizer vaccine requires these ultra-cold refrigerators. These are not standard issue even for major medical centers.
But you know if anybody has them it would be larger hospitals. How are we going to get it out to rural areas or simply places that are at enough driving distance that we won't be able to get batches out to them?
And then of course, the huge public health messaging piece. There's a lot of vaccine hesitancy. We have to get people interested and willing to take the vaccine while we work out the delivery issues. And not only receive one dose of the vaccine but come back and receive a second dose.
And so, there are tremendous challenges. This is also an incredibly expensive process to get the vaccine out and to educate both health care providers who need to administer the vaccine, and how to do that, how to store and how to, you know, administer the vaccine. And also -- and also educate the public and make sure that people have the knowledge and the understanding and the confidence to receive the vaccine.
So, we have tremendous challenges ahead of us, really more questions than answers. I mean, a lot of work to do over the upcoming months to make sure that this very successful vaccine in the clinical trial setting is actually successful when we get it out there. CHURCH: Yes, absolutely. Dr. Esther Choo, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it. And we appreciate you.
CHOO: Thank you.
CHURCH: Well, even when a vaccine is approved and available, there are many Americans who remain skeptical the injections are safe. In an effort to reassure the public about safety and encourage widespread vaccination, three former U.S. Presidents say they are willing to get the shots for everyone to see. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush have all volunteered to get vaccinated on camera as a way to build public confidence in the procedure.
Well, U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci echoed EU concerns about the U.K.'s vaccine approval. In an interview on Fox News, Fauci said the U.K. didn't examine the trial data on the vaccine as carefully as the Food and Drug Administration is doing in its review.
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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We really scrutinize the data very carefully to guarantee to the American public that this is a safe and efficacious vaccine. I think if we did any less, we would add to the already existing hesitancy on the part of many people to take the vaccine because they're concerned about safety or they're concerned that we went too quickly. It's almost a dammed if you do and dammed if you don't.
Because if you go quickly and you do it superficially, people are not going to want to get vaccinated. The U.K. did not do it as carefully. They go a couple of days ahead. I don't think that makes much difference. We'll be there. We'll be there very soon.
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CHURCH: While Western countries prepare to vaccinate millions of people, Russia's health minister says more than 100,000 Russians have already been vaccinated so far with the country's Sputnik-V vaccine. Front line health care workers, teachers and several top level Russian officials have been among the first to take the vaccine. All this comes as Russia just reported more than 28,000 new COVID cases on Thursday, it highest number of cases in a single day.
And CNN's Matthew Chance joins us now from Moscow. Matthew let's talk about the vaccine, what the latest on its safety and efficacy. Because there was much concern in the initial stages, wasn't there?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there was some concern expressed by those outside of Russia. The trial group of people who underwent the early phase trials was not significantly big enough. Wasn't as big as other pharmaceutical companies. But I mean, you have to balance that with the fact that the results that were accrued from those early trials were peer reviewed in a very prestigious medical journal called "The Lancet," and there were no adverse -- no serious adverse effects were found. And then the people that were part of that trial, you know, they were reported a strong antibody response.
And so, you know, there's not a lot of scientific data that backs up the skepticism for the Russian vaccine but there is this more general kind of concern that the process is not as transparent as it is in other countries and with other pharmaceutical firms.
You know, having said that, the Russians are confident in their scientific, you know, production.
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They are stepping up vaccination -- the vaccination program. Just yesterday, Vladimir Putin, the Russian President called on the government to start large scale vaccinations across the country. He said that 2 million doses of Sputnik-V -- which is what they've call their own vaccine -- has already been produced and there are expected to be millions more produced within the next several weeks and months. And so, you know, they're pressing on full speed ahead to get as many people as possible vaccinated in this country -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Of course. And let's hope it all goes smoothly. Matthew Chance joining us with the very latest from Moscow. Many thanks.
With just seven weeks to go until Donald Trump leaves the White House, one source tells CNN a flurry of Presidential pardons could be coming soon. We'll have the details next.
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CHURCH: We are learning more about Donald Trump's reaction after the U.S. Attorney General broke with the President and said there's no evidence of widespread fraud in the election.
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Two sources tell CNN Mr. Trump is frustrated and disappointed with William Barr over his comments Tuesday to the Associated Press. This as the President continues to push his false claims of fraud. The sources say officials are discouraging Mr. Trump from firing any top official, including the Attorney General just weeks before he leaves office.
Well, President Trump's daughter Ivanka has been questioned under oath about her father's 2017 inauguration funds. On Wednesday, she sat for a deposition with investigators from the Washington, D.C.'s Attorney General's office. It filed a lawsuit earlier this year alleging the Trump organization misused nonprofit funds for the inauguration by grossly overpaying for use of event space at the Trump hotel.
The attorney for the Trump organization says Ivanka's only involvement was connecting the parties and instructing the hotel to charge a fair market rate, which he says they did.
Well meantime, a White House insider says President Trump is considering heading off potential legal problems with a flurry of pardons before he leaves office.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins has the details.
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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With his time in office coming to a close, President Trump has discussed potentially pardoning three of his children, his son-in-law, and his attorney, Rudy Giuliani. While their potential criminal exposure is unclear, sources tell CNN Trump has talked about pardoning those around him preemptively because he's concerned prosecutors will target them once he's out of office.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I've heard no mentions of pardons in any conversations I've had in the White House, other than the pardon of Lieutenant General Michael Flynn.
COLLINS: Other allies are encouraging Trump to not only pardon his family but myself.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS: My question is, why wouldn't he pardon himself and his family on the way out the door? Because I think he would be right to do so because these people are nuts.
COLLINS: The President hasn't commented but he has dismissed a newly revealed Justice Department investigation into a potential bribery for pardon scheme as quote, fake news.
The investigation was confirmed by the Justice Department when a judge unsealed court documents last night which are heavily redacted and reveal no names. No one has been publicly charged to date, and a Justice Department official said no government official was or is the subject of this investigation.
Although Attorney General Bill Barr was at the White House for over two hours yesterday, the press secretary couldn't say whether he met with Trump after disputing his election fraud claims or whether the President has confidence in him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does he still have confidence in Bill Barr.
MCENANY: The President if he has any personnel announcements you will be the first to know it.
COLLINS: Another official who's standing with Trump is in question is the FDA commissioner, Stephen Hahn. Who was summoned to the White House again today for a second meeting with the Chief of Staff Mark Meadows after Trump complained the FDA wasn't moving fast enough on emergency vaccine approval.
The President made no mention of Hahn as he greeted guests at a White House Christmas party last night where he teased another presidential run.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's been an amazing four years. We're trying to do another four years. Otherwise I'll see you in four years.
COLLINS (on camera): And reporters did not see President Trump in person on Wednesday. But he did record a 46-minute video that he published on Twitter and on Facebook, which was filled with the same lies and conspiracies he has been pushing about the election results for nearly a month now. And as the President repeated him, he made clear he has no intention of conceding this race anytime soon and said actually his attorneys are going to continue to file lawsuits.
Though of course several of the things the President mentioned have been debunked by his own Attorney General, by officials who used to work for him before he fired them and by Republican election officials in the states that he's trying to contest.
Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.
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CHURCH: President-elect Joe Biden gave small business owners and workers hit by the pandemic some words of encouragement during a virtual round table on Wednesday. As CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports the incoming President is also busy on many other fronts.
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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden is urging Congress to offer immediate relief to Americans struggling with economic pain from the deepening pandemic.
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENT-ELECT: My hope is that we'll be able to help in a short order. But that depends a lot on our friends in Congress.
ZELENY: After naming his economic team, Biden listening to the stories of workers and small business owners being crushed by hardship.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The unemployment helped so much when we had the extra money. Who wants extra money that is down from there.
ZELENY: Tonight, Biden is also focusing on building out his cabinet with the Department of Health and Human Services coming into sharper focus.
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CNN has learned New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is a leading contender for HHS Secretary, a pivotal role at the center of the coronavirus fight in the vaccine distribution.
GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM, (D) NEW MEXICO: While I'm incredibly honored and flattered that my colleagues can see the work that I'm doing on the ground and know that I've got 40 years in comprehensive health care experience. I'm focused on making sure that I'm saving New Mexico lives.
ZELENY: Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo has also interviewed for the post CNN has learned, a sign that Biden is looking for governors on the front lines of the pandemic. But Biden is under pressure tonight to make good on his pledge to build a diverse cabinet.
In a letter obtained by CNN, more than 30 Hispanic lawmakers in Congress are urging him to consider Lujan Grisham for the post saying, She has the vision and drive to see through large projects and effectively lead large organizations and brings the necessary skills to serve our country as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus are also lobbying Biden to consider a Hispanic candidate for Attorney General. NAACP president Derrick Johnson tells CNN tonight the civil rights group is also requesting a meeting with Biden to ensure proper representation in the cabinet.
The first wave of Biden's nominees and top advisors have been filled with barrier breaking choices yet civil rights leaders are calling for more diversity in the top cabinet posts, namely attorney general and secretary of defense.
(on camera): Now Biden officials telling me that the full diversity of the cabinet will become clear once everyone is announced and it's premature to judge it now. That is not stopping civil rights groups for calling for a meeting with president-elect Joe Biden to discuss all of this. Seven civil rights groups, including the NAACP have asked for that meeting, and so far, one has not been scheduled.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
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CHURCH: On Friday, our Jake Tapper will sit down with U.S. president- elect Joe Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris. It will be their first joint interview since they won the White House. Viewers in the United States can watch at 9:00 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. 7:00 a.m. Friday in London, and 10 in the morning in the Hong Kong only here on CNN.
And still to come, COVID vaccines are facing a powerful misinformation campaign on social media. How health experts are trying to counter that.
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