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Biden, Harris on Calls to Diversity Cabinet: We're Not Done Yet; Pelosi Defiant Over Handling of Stimulus: "Not a Mistake"; Many Black& Latino Americans Don't Trust Vaccine; Comedian Documents COVID Infection Online, Dies 2 Days Later. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired December 04, 2020 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Nina Turner is a CNN political commentator, former Ohio state Senator, former co-chair of Bernie Sanders's 2020 presidential campaign.

Nina, welcome.

NINA TURNER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Brianna.

KEILAR: I wonder what you think. Maybe you can answer that question. What do you think so far of the choices in the cabinet?

TURNER: Well, many of those are not necessarily progressive. They're hitting diversity marks slowly. Hopefully, it will come more quickly and surely.

But I think, Brianna, more important is not just the symbol but the substance. What I mean is just checking off boxes, that's not enough.

In the time of this kind of crisis in this country, we do need people, regardless of gender, their race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, who actually understand and are committed to doing those things that lift the greatest number of people in this country.

So it is an and. It's not an either/or. It is an and.

KEILAR: I think a lot of people, Nina, look at the picks so far, they see diversity, especially when you're comparing it to the outgoing Trump administration.

But it seems like this is really about diversity of thought.

TURNER: Absolutely. Absolutely, Brianna.

And you know what? We have to come to grips in this country about we know for a very long time that those cabinet picks have always been of one gender and one racial dynamic, and that's mainly white men.

It is not just comparison of the Trump administration. It is a comparison going all the way back to the first cabinets of any president. So all these things are relative.

But you are absolutely right. This is not just about female type diversity. This is about the diversity of ideology.

Because, again, when you have so many people facing eviction. So many people have lost their jobs. So many people have lost their health care, on top of people who are already uninsured, underinsured.

It is just not enough to say I am going to pick a woman. If that woman believes Social Security or Medicaid should be cut.

What difference does it make whether or not you have a man or woman in there, black person or Hispanic person if, in fact, they do not believe that the power of government is there to ameliorate the problems in the United States of America.

That's what we need in this moment.

KEILAR: Nina, let's talk names. If you listen, reading between the lines, what the president-elect is saying, someone like Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders may be discounted. He doesn't want to lose people in the House and Senate.

Put that aside. Who do you want to see? Give us names of people you would like to see in this cabinet to give it that diversity of thought you're calling for.

TURNER: Well, I knew you were going to ask me for names and I hesitate to get into naming folks. There's so many people on the battlefield of progressivism.

One name comes to mind is Dr. Debra Furr-Holden. She is epidemiologist from University of Michigan. She certainly would be a good pick.

Your point about members of the House, you have people like Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Congresswoman Karen Bass, who have been staunch progressives, who would make good fits into the cabinet.

But there are other people not necessarily in the Congress at this moment who would be good. And if they want to find those folks, they're out there --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Who? Tell us who?

TURNER: -- not too far to go.

Well, I just gave you I just gave you a --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: You did give me a couple. Yes.

TURNER: I hesitate to start naming these people.

Again, it is a difficult challenge but one that can be met. Not hard to do.

The Brookings Institute just wrote an article today and they give very good recommendations about how this administration can ensure diversity within their cabinet.

But once you get the female type diversity, you have to go a little deeper and make sure that you are having people from diverse life experiences.

And not just people from Wall Street, not just people from Ivy League institutions, but people who have lived the type of life where they can bring that experience.

People from labor, for example. Those types of people should be considered as well. People who have graduated from public colleges and universities should be considered as well.

It is a misnomer that you can only find the best people with experience on Wall Street. When you do that, you limit types of people you can bring to the fore.

Working-class people should be part of that as well or at least people have not forgotten their working-class roots.

KEILAR: Senator, great to have you. Thank you so much.

TURNER: Thank you.

KEILAR: Nina Turner with us today. Thank you.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defending her decision over not reaching a deal on a stimulus sooner.

Plus, many black and Latino Americans say they don't trust the vaccine. Hear the reasons.

[13:35:05]

And just 38 years old, a comedian begins to document his COVID infection online. Two days later, he dies. His last message next.

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[13:40:05]

KEILAR: The economic pain of the pandemic is evident in the final unemployment report of the year. The U.S. adding 245,000 jobs last month, about half what was expected.

The unemployment rate has inched down to 6.7 percent. Overall, though, the economy is still down nearly 10 million jobs since the pandemic hit.

While millions of Americans are struggling to find work, pandemic unemployment benefits introduced by the CARES Act are going to expire the end of the month, unless Congress takes action and fast. CNN senior congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, is with us now on

this story.

Manu, Capitol Hill negotiations are heating up. You have lawmakers are pushing for an agreement that has stalled for months.

Today, the House speaker is defending her handling of the stimulus. You asked her about that. What more can you tell us?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. There are high-level negotiations happening. There's momentum on both sides.

They're talking about a package around $900 billion. A lot of details they still need to sort out. It's possible negotiations could extend not just next week but the week after. Now, there's new optimism.

The question is how they got to this point. Nancy Pelosi was pushing a larger package for some time. She had also rejected the idea of doing half a loaf, coming back doing the rest of the half at another point. She made that position clear for some time.

I asked her earlier today if that was a mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Accept a half loaf months ago. You said I don't want to accept a half a loaf.

(CROSSTALK)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Don't characterize what we did before as a mistake, as a preface to your question, if you want an answer.

That was not a mistake. It was a decision. And it has taken us to a place we can do the right thing without other, shall we say, considerations in the legislation that we don't want.

So we're very pleased where it is. And as I say, with a Democratic president committed to a scientific solution for this with the idea we will have a vaccine is a complete game changer from then.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: She said the big difference is Joe Biden is coming in as president.

And, once president, they can get more of what they had been seeking at a later time, which is why she says the posture and the dynamics have changed on Capitol Hill.

She's making no -- not showing remorse or regret for her position for some time, saying we'll eventually get the big package that we have been looking for. What they're trying to do now, Brianna, is tie the relief to a funding

bill to keep the government open. Time is ticking. They have to avoid a government shutdown by next Friday, try to get to that.

But if they can't get a deal by next Friday, they may have to punt another week and see if they can get a deal that's been eluding the two sides for months.

KEILAR: How does the deal she had but turned down months ago, compare to this deal that's on the table now?

RAJU: She had been pushing for $2.2 trillion, down from more than $3 trillion in aid that the House passed in May.

The Senate Republicans did not want to take up that $3 trillion package, which is why she went down to $2.2 trillion.

Then the White House came back up and said they would be willing to go to $1.8 trillion.

The White House package at the time, Brianna, was not detailed. There were questions about what it would entail.

Pelosi didn't like the direction they were going. And Senate Republicans were resisting going to the level the White House wanted.

Pelosi was not willing to go with what the White House proposed at that time, which is what led to the breakdown before the elections.

Right now, what's clear is that this proposal, if they accepted $900 billion, is much less in scope and size than what the speaker was pushing for some time, but something that both sides believe they're going to do.

And so many people are waiting for action here -- Brianna?

KEILAR: Manu Raju, thank you so much for that.

President Trump adding another legal headache to his plate when he leaves office as tenants sue him over an alleged scheme involving their rent.

Plus, as his allies tell Republicans in Georgia not to vote in the elections that will decide control of the Senate, will the president's trip this weekend to the state upend the situation?

[13:44:26]

And what a White House aide is accused of doing that got her barred from entering the Justice Department building.

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KEILAR: The FDA is days away from authorizing a coronavirus vaccine. But lack of trust in the federal government is making some black and Latino Americans hesitant about taking a vaccine, according to a new study.

Nearly 40 percent of reported COVID cases have been black and Latino people.

But this lack of trust could result in big swathes of vulnerable populations not getting vaccinated as the pandemic continues to batter their communities at disproportionate rates.

I want to talk about it with our CNN senior writer for race and equality, Nicquel Terry Ellis.

Nicquel, it is easy to understand part of the findings you have here, which is that a lot of this has to do with what is a long history of racism in America when it comes to medical research.

Tell us about that and what else you found.

NICQUEL TERRY ELLIS, CNN SENIOR WRITER FOR RACE & EQUALITY: I think it is important to note the research here. A study by COVID Collaborative found only 14 percent of black Americans actually trust the vaccine is safe.

Latino Americans, however, were a bit more optimistic, with 34 percent believing it would be safe.

[13:50:02]

The concern here by health figures is that people simply won't be vaccinated, which is a huge concern, given that these are two groups that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 since earlier this year.

KEILAR: So those are staggering numbers, especially when you're talking about that 14 percent.

What are you hearing when you talk to people who say they don't want to take it? What do they say beyond what we're seeing in the numbers?

TERRY ELLIS: I think there's two factors, Brianna.

One is a level of distrust in the federal government between these two groups.

And also noting the nation's history of racism in medical research.

Even going back to the Tuskegee experiment, the historic experiment where black men with syphilis were used as subjects in research, where they had the disease and, instead of treating them, doctors only tracked their progress while they died or became extremely sick.

So I think this is sort has left a black cloud over the black community where people are kind of feeling like they don't want to be the first ones to go out take the vaccine. They don't want to go out right away.

They would rather wait and kind of see how it plays out over the first few months of the vaccine being rolled out.

KEILAR: So let's talk about, then, that trust issue. Clearly, that's something -- I mean, you can't erase decades of mistrust.

But of course, leaders and medical officials are working to build up this trust. What are they doing?

TERRY ELLIS: Yes. I think it's going to take a concerted effort by black and Latino leaders who are trusted in these communities.

So, your activists, you pastors, you mayors, your council members not only going out and taking the vaccine first and then sharing their experience.

But also helping to build that trust, by educating the community, about why the vaccine is necessary, why the vaccine is safe, to help people become more trustful of the vaccine.

KEILAR: Yes, it's going to be very interesting to see that campaign and how -- it may have a positive effect.

We know you'll be tracking that, Nicquel. Thank you so much for that report. Nicquel Terry Ellis.

So we're going to talk about the numbers. The numbers of COVID-19 cases, the numbers of hospitals overwhelmed, the numbers of Americans who have died, nearly 300,000.

And behind those numbers are people, like Joe Luna, a father and a son. He is just one of these people. He was just 38-years old. He's a comedian, known by his stage name Joe El Cholo.

And he thought he was doing everything right. He had stopped performing, stopped going out. But it took just one family dinner for him, his partner and two sons to get sick.

And after days in and out of the hospital, Joe turned to social media to share his battle with fans. And he warned, this is no joke.

The last clip you will see is Joe's final message. He died the just hours after making it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE LUNA, COMEDIAN: So, I don't if you guys know, but I tested positive for COVID. Not only that, I have pneumonia. Not only do I have pneumonia, you know, I'm a double amputee. I'm diabetic.

So I'm dealing with a lot, guys. A lot of just horrible feelings of what COVID can do, man.

Let me tell you, man, when I hear people talk about what COVID did to them, I think to myself, you know, man, I doubted it.

But dude, I'll tell you right now, I've been fighting for my life. I got hit with it. I got hit with it, like, where you know, I shake, my body goes through convulsions.

You know, I can't even taste nothing. I'm literally going there just horrible, horrible symptoMs. I had chest pains.

As a matter of fact I just got released from the hospital on Wednesday to come home, to only go back to, you know, how have the ambulance take me back to the hospital.

Then to find out, you know, that my girl and my kids all have COVID, you know, it's just an ugly feeling, man, to go through. I've been literally almost on my deathbed.

If you think that COVID is a joke, if you think that this won't be you, trust me -- it hits everybody different.

I'm -- you know, I'm in a battle where I know that I won't win unless I knock it out, unless I get lucky.

Sunday morning, there was a big problem. I couldn't wake up. My heart pressure was very low. The pneumonia was kicking my ass.

[13:55:07]

Hi, guys. I'm going to (INAUDIBLE). Bless you guys. Much love. Good morning, you know. God bless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He died just hours after leaving that message.

Joe Luna's son told the local affiliate, KTTV, that they're putting together a show instead of a funeral. He says that's what his father would have wanted, to make people laugh and have fun.

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