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US Sets New Records for New Cases, Hospitalization and Deaths; Miami-Dade Mayor Sends Dire Warning About Hospitalization Systems; Trump Intensifies Threat Not to Fund Troops Over Tech Beef. Biden And Harris On Calls to Diversify Cabinet: We're Not Done Yet. Aired 1- 1:30p ET

Aired December 04, 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]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Brianna Keilar. And I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

We're starting with a new dire prediction on the coronavirus toll. A new model is estimating half a million Americans will have died by April. Thursday, the US had a record-breaking number of new cases and hospitalizations and deaths. More than 217,000 new cases fueled by nine states that set their own records for new cases.

Wednesday, we saw the first ever day a more than 100,000 hospitalizations and a repeat of that yesterday when 2,879 people died from coronavirus. And as we see, these numbers climb a warning from Dr. Anthony Fauci that we haven't even entered the expected post- Thanksgiving surge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We have not yet seen the post-Thanksgiving peak. That's the concerning thing because the numbers in and of themselves are alarming. And then, you realize that it is likely we'll see more of a surge as we get two to three weeks past the Thanksgiving holiday. And the thing that concerns me is that abuts right on the Christmas holiday as people start to travel and shop, and congregate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, in Florida where there had been more than 1 million confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, the newly elected Miami-Dade mayor has a grave warning about the hospital systems as cases continue to surge. CNN Correspondent Rosa Flores is in nearby Fort Lauderdale covering this. Rosa, tell us, what is the mayor's main concern.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Brianna, she is very concerned about Miami-Dade reverting back to where we were back in the summer during the summer surge. I can paint the picture for you. There were more than 2,000 people hospitalized, the number of ICU beds were depleted. They were having to convert regular beds into ICU beds. The state of Florida was having to send nurses here to this area in Southeast Florida just to meet demand. That's what she's afraid of.

And if you look at the data, if you look at the trend map in the state of Florida, it is clear that we're in a new surge. If you look at it, you'll see that there's a clear summer surge than a lull in the numbers, and then the resurgence. That's where we are right now. And we know, because experts have told us and we've seen it on the ground, as soon as the number of cases go up, so do the hospitalizations. And that's what they're seeing here in Southeast Florida.

I just calculated the numbers for Miami-Dade County. The latest one show hospitalizations doing just that, and that's what the mayor is concerned about. In the past two weeks, hospitalizations have increased by 40 percent, the number of ICUs use by 28 percent and ventilator use by 30 percent. Now, here is the other compounding effect.

The positivity rate in this area is also increasing. The latest, according to Miami-Dade County, government is in the past two weeks the positivity rate has ranged from 6 percent to 10 percent. When the past few days, it's been closer to 10 percent, yesterday at 9.4 percent.

Now, Brianna, on top of all of that, what local officials here are very worried about and concerned about is, they are almost fighting this pandemic with their hands tied behind their backs. Why, because when Governor Ron DeSantis reopened the state in one swoop, he also clipped the power that local officials had to impose mitigating measures like, for example, imposing fines on mask violators.

Brianna, they can't do that right now because for an emergency order issued by the governor of this state, these local officials can't do that. And so, they're trying their best to impose mitigating measures. And what they're telling people to do in their communities is to wear masks, to social distance, to do the basic things because they really don't have more tools to impose more mitigating measures. Even though they see the numbers in there increasing, the hospitalizations are increasing as well, and they're here fighting this pandemic with their hands behind their back.

Brianna Keilar: Rosa, thank you so much for telling us what is happening there in Florida. This spike in cases is serious. Alaska, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, all just reported their highest single days of new cases since this pandemic began. And it gets worse.

CNN Correspondent Tom Foreman is here to highlight some of these grim milestones. And, Tom, let's start with the states that are really causing the greatest amount of concern right now.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The top three states in terms of cases are the three most populous states in the country, as you might expect. Take a look there. California, Texas, Florida, and Illinois and New York. Look at those numbers on the right, the total number.

[13:05:00] That, add it all up, is considerably bigger than the entire number of babies that were born in the US in this year. So that is a sense of what kind of scope we're talking about here.

Look what happened in California. Yesterday, they hit a new record there four cases in a single day, more than 21,000. And now look at this calendar. Look at what's happening now in Texas. Over the past 30 days, about half the time, they've had more than 10,000 cases a day. So, this is just going completely through the roof.

And as Rosa pointed out a few minutes ago, if you look at how that's expressing itself in terms of hospitalizations, look at that. The entire West Coast is having record hospitalizations, plus Utah and New Mexico. Come over toward the east, and you end up with Alabama, North Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, all record hospitalizations. And when you look at where people are in their single day deaths, again, here's another list of states getting pounded by this.

But what I really want people to notice when you look at all the states that you named, Brianna, and that I just named or showed on maps there. This is evidence that the entire nation is a hotspot. You're not in a good zone now or a bad zone now. They're all bad right now.

And as Dr. Fauci noted, as we come out of it, we start seeing all the Thanksgiving infection show up and people head into the holidays. That's the reason health officials are saying, look at the numbers and do the right thing, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. We are awaiting those Thanksgiving numbers that expected spike on a spike from that. Tom Foreman live for us from Washington, thank you.

As President Trump ignores the rising death toll and the virus itself, here in the US, of course, Canadians, though, are hearing something completely different from one of their elected leaders. Because as painful as it may be to not celebrate the holidays with loved ones, these gatherings come with deadly consequences.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN PALLISTER, MANITOBA PREMIER: I will do what I believe is right. And right now we need to save lives. If you don't think that COVID is real right now, you're an idiot. You need to understand that we're all in this together. You cannot fail to understand this. Stay apart.

So I'm the guy who has to tell you to stay apart at Christmas and in the holiday season you celebrate, with your faith or without your faith that you celebrate with, normally, with friends and with family that where you share memories and build memories. I'm that guy. And I'll say that because it will keep you safe.

I'm the guy who's stealing Christmas to keep you safe, because you need to do this now. You need to do the right thing because next year, we'll have lots to celebrate. And we'll celebrate this year if we do the right thing this year.

You don't need to like me. I hope in years to come you might respect me for having the guts to tell you the right thing. And here's the right thing. Stay safe, protect each other, love each other, care for each other. You got so many ways to show that but don't get together this Christmas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: COVID-19 has been the single biggest cause of death in the United States this week. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, it has killed more people than heart disease, cancer and diabetes. And hospitals across the country are running out of beds.

Joining me now is Dr. Saju Mathew. He's a Primary Care Physician and a Public Health Specialist. And, doctor, as the American people are hearing enough warnings or the proper warnings, do you think that they're getting enough of them from the people in charge?

DR. SAJU MATHEW, PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALIST: You know, Brianna, I just really feel like people have given up. I mean, we're talking about approaching the Spanish flu pandemic numbers. This last week, I have diagnosed eight people in the aftermath of Thanksgiving where the entire family is infected. A 19-year-old boy came back from college. The father gets sick two days later, the mother three days later, and the mother-in-law now is being admitted to the hospital who is 90 years old.

These are people that don't have to (inaudible), Brianna. These are people that don't have to die. We're talking about 3,000 to 4,000 deaths in December and over a half a million deaths by March of next year. I still think that we need to really look back and say, listen, how important is it for us to get back to a normalcy and the only way to do that is to forget about Christmas this year, is to forget about New Year's next year and focus on the task ahead which is hunkering down waiting for the vaccines to come and wearing that mask.

[13:10:02]

KEILAR: You know, I wonder why it is so difficult for people. Sometimes I think, you know, in the course of my work, I know in the course of your work, you have to give up holidays with family. And at first it is very difficult, and then it's something that you start to get used to. You start to put more emphasis on other holidays or other gatherings, and it's just something you do.

But it is incredibly difficult for Americans. They are having mental health effects. So what is it that you can say to them to convince them not to have a repeat of Thanksgiving at Christmas, doctor?

MATHEW: You know, it's sharing the stories that I just shared. Two weeks ago, I diagnosed a 41-year-old male, who was actually healthy, no high blood pressure, no diabetes. He's a bodybuilder. He's in really good shape. And he actually called me back to thank me because he was happy that I told him to get tested and that I suspected that a loss of sense of taste and smell was probably COVID. He thought it was just nothing. And just last week, he was admitted in the hospital with three blood clots.

This is a 41-year-old guy that we all thought had recovered, and two months later developed a blood clot. And I think what we need to forget about is these short-term gratifications. As a primary care doctor, Brianna Keilar, patients always come to me and say, I need this problem taken care of today. It's almost like we don't have time tomorrow.

What the way the COVID affects us and how so many people are dying, unless we think about tomorrow, next week, next year, and act on these different measures that we've been talking about. We may not be able to celebrate Christmas next year or Thanksgiving next year. We need to forget about trying to sort of appease ourselves with short-term gratifications. It's all about long term results.

And listen, the Calvary, the vaccine is around the corner, but if we're not alive to get it or we're too to sick to get a vaccine, it doesn't matter if we have an effective vaccine that is waiting for us.

KEILAR: No. It's such an important point. President-elect Joe Biden says that when he's inaugurated next month, he will ask the American people to mask up for the next 100 days. How do you think Americans will react to that?

MATHEW: You know, I think there's definitely going to be mixed feelings. I'd like to believe and say, hey, listen, it's a new administration. People realize that this is really not a hoax, and that people will wear the mask. I still want to be optimistic. You can't mandate mask, but modeling behavior.

A politician saying, listen, I'm going to wear a mask when the vaccine is ready. I'm going to get the vaccine. I think that type of modeling of behavior will make a difference.

Now, if you look at a couple of states back when the stay at home orders were lifted, Delaware and Arizona, the hospitalization rates went up by 100 percent. But when the masks were mandated, within two to three weeks, there was a huge difference. So I think that not even 100 days, two to three weeks of consistently wearing masks will make a huge difference.

KEILAR: All right. Doctor, thank you so much. It sounds like you're very much witnessing the grim reality on the ground and we appreciate you sharing those important stories with us.

The President escalating his threat to fund American troops over his beef with the tech giants. Plus, my next guest says President Trump is acting crazy. So why is America shrugging it off? We're going to discuss that. And President-elect Joe Biden says the President should attend, President Trump should attend his inauguration for the country. Do Americans feel the same way?

[13:13:46]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: President Trump is threatening to veto an annual defense bill unless Congress removes legal protections for social media companies, setting up a rare showdown between the President and Republicans on Capitol Hill. CNN's Lauren Fox has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Brianna, the President once again threatening to veto the National Defense Authorization Act. It's a Pentagon policy bill, and for 59 years it has passed with broad bipartisan support on Capitol Hill. Now, the question is whether or not there would be a veto proof majority. That requires two-thirds of both the House and the Senate to override the President's veto.

All eyes are on Republicans here and whether or not they're going to pick the President or the Pentagon, Brianna.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: All right. Lauren, thank you. And joining me now to discuss this more is Susan Glasser. She's a Staff Writer for the New Yorker and she is CNN's Global Affairs Analyst. Susan, it's great to see you.

And this is really one of the few times that we've seen Republicans take a stand against the President. Do you think that the President will follow through on his veto threat and force Republicans to go on the record overriding his veto?

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it's a good question. In the past, he has threatened to veto things before that he has not actually followed through with, Brianna. And I do think that, you know, if there would -- I can't think of a more clear cut example of one's lame duck status than threatening members of your own party, and having them failing to go along with you.

So, he may not want to risk an embarrassing defeat at the very end of his tenure, but obviously, Trump sometimes seems to be immune from being embarrassed. So he might go ahead with it.

Interestingly, he did get support this morning. I noticed from Lindsey Graham, senator, whereas some of the senators who lead the Armed Services Committee are pushing back very hard. So you're seeing a kind of rupture inside the Senate Republican Conference on the question of this.

KEILAR: You see this line, right, when it comes to this Defense Authorization that includes a 3 percent pay raise for troops. Republicans, that seems to be their line.

[13:20:06]

They, however, are remaining silent on the President's baseless claims that the election was stolen from him, which has sort of enabled his erratic behavior. You actually have a piece in the New Yorker, where you asked this question. You said, the President is acting crazy, so why are we shrugging it off? And we're seeing, Susan, that the President's power is waning, his days are numbered. Why are so many Republicans still looking the other way?

GLASSER: Well, you know, Brianna, that remains, of course, one of the essential questions of the Trump era. But I think, first of all, day- in and day-out, it seems to me that they're, you know, being humiliated, really, by Republicans in states and localities around the country, who are in fact, pushing back on President Trump. And, you know, his attack on the basic foundation of our democracy, which is the electoral system.

So, to me, you know, this juxtaposition has never been more clear. We have a Republican election official, some people who've even said, look, I voted for Donald Trump. This is too far, this is crazy. And so, juxtapose that with these Republican members of the Senate, there are fewer Republican senators to this day, who have publicly acknowledged that Joe Biden won the election than foreign leaders. I mean, that is just beyond precedent.

And I think that, you know, Trump's speech the other day, 46 minutes of just pure destructive fantasy. If ever anything cried out for response, a unified response, on the part of our political system, this is it.

And so, you know, again, I understand. I get it. There's Trump fatigue. There's a sense, look, the election is done. It doesn't matter what he says anymore. But, you know, when we look back, Brianna, don't you think that what's happening after the election and the President attacking democracy. To me, that's very likely to be in, you know, the list of the top things that he's done that are so outrageous to democracy.

KEILAR: Yes. Normally, at this point in time, a lame duck president kind of fades into the background. The President has ensured that he's not going to do that. And so, I know, I hear what you're saying because in your piece, you talk about this. This desire to ignore what he's doing, but at the same time, he's setting a dangerous precedent.

GLASSER: Well, that's right. Imagine if the election were not so decisive at the moment, it really has been decisive. I believe Joe Biden's leader with him is gone above 7 million votes nationwide, looking at a 360 vote Electoral College victory for Biden.

But what if the election had been closer, what are some of these key states? There were a few election officials who weren't so determined to stick with the rule of law. And I think he's -- if nothing else, showing us a playbook for how a more successful or competent would be authoritarian could actually undermine our elections.

And, you know, again, this is something that's so unprecedented. I do understand. It feels like for four years, he's been doing and saying crazy things, why should this be treated any differently. But, you know, it's just in the parade of unthinkable. This one deserves people's attention in my view.

KEILAR: Yes. It's very good point, it's a great column. Susan, thank you so much for coming on to talk with us about it.

GLASSER: Thank you, Brianna.

KEILAR: CNN confronts President-elect Biden on calls from Democrats to diversify his cabinet. So, who are the progressives that he's considering? Plus, drama is unfolding after Bill Barr's Justice Department boots a White House liaison from the building for spying on their election investigations. And a 38-year-old comedian starts to chronicle his COVID journey online, and then he dies two days later. We're going to show you his last message.

[13:23:56]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: President-elect Joe Biden's popular vote margin just grew to more than 7 million votes, and that is the second highest popular vote lead since the 2000 election. So, 20 years and they're still counting some votes at this point in time. But questions about the diversity of thought in Biden's incoming administration are beginning to pile up.

When pressed by CNN's Jake Tapper during their first joint interviews since winning the election, the president-elect and vice president- elect said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAKE TAPPER, HOST: Who would you point to now as a leading progressive voice in the cabinet?

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF UNITED STATES: We're not done yet, Jake. So we're not even halfway there. So, I think that we should have this conversation when we're done.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF UNITED STATES: A lot of people are saying, am I going to pick some very, very prominent and well-known progressive who sits in the House or the Senate right now? As closest everything is in terms of the House and the Senate, they are tough decisions to make, to pull somebody I'm going to badly need out of the Senate, and we don't reelect or have an appointment of somebody who is a Democrat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Nina Turner is a CNN Political Commentator, former Ohio State Senator and former Co-Chair of Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign. Nina, welcome.

NINA TURNER, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, ma'am.

Brianna Keilar: I wonder what you think. Maybe you can answer that question.