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U.S. Posts New Records of COVID Cases and Deaths; Biden Will Ask for 100 Days of Mask Wearing; Trump Feuds with Attorney General Bill Barr Over Election; White House Holds Events, Holiday Parties Despite Pandemic; Two Georgia Runoff Races Will Determine Control of Senate; U.K. Exceed 60K Total Deaths as First Vaccine Doses Arrive. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired December 04, 2020 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
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, two new grim records the U.S. just post the most COVID cases in a single day and the most deaths.
And 100 days of masks, president-elect Joe Biden details his plans to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. CNN's exclusive interview there.
But the current President is still focused on his election loss feuding with the Attorney General over his failure to back Mr. Trump's baseless claims of fraud.
Good to have you with us. A record 217,000 new COVID cases were confirmed across the U.S. on Thursday, pushing the total number of infected Americans to more than 14 million. More than 100,000 people are now fighting for their lives in U.S. medical facilities.
Hospitalizations have never been this high since the pandemic began, and tragically many patients are too sick to survive. The death toll has been approaching 3,000 people per day during the past several days. Health experts say reversing these grim trends could be as simple as wearing a face covering. In an exclusive interview with CNN, U.S. president-elect Joe Biden said he will act on that the moment he takes office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: My inclination is in the first day I'm inaugurated to say I'm going to ask the public for 100 days to mask. That's just 100 days to mask. Not forever. Just 100 days, and I think we'll see a significant reduction. And that occurs with vaccinations and masking to drive down the numbers considerably. Considerably.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: And the anticipated approval of a COVID vaccine in the U.S. can't come soon enough for many parts of the country. CNN's Erica Hill has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERICA HILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new emergency break in California.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D) CALIFORNIA: The bottom line is if we don't act now, our hospital system will be overwhelmed.
HILL: Once ICU capacity falls below 15 percent, in any region of the state, a mandatory three-week stay-at-home order will be triggered. Bars, hair salons and playgrounds will close, but schools will stay open.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE AND VIRAL SPECIALIST: We are at high tide and the hurricane is hitting.
HILL: More than 100,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. A record.
GOV. LAURA KELLY (D) KANSAS: Currently there are zero staffed ICU beds in our state's southwest region.
HILL: Massachusetts prepping a new overflow field hospital today in Worcester.
MICHAEL OSTERHOLM, CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH AND POLICY. UNIVERSITY MINNESOTA: More hospitals in this country are right on that edge of not being able to provide that care. That's when the number of deaths will really go up.
HILL: The CDC on ensemble forecast now projecting 329,000 Americans could die by December 26th.
DR. LEANA WEN, FORMER HEALTH COMMISSIONER, BALTIMORE: I'm so terrified, and very anxious about what's going to happen in the weeks ahead.
HILL: Fourteen million confirmed cases in the U.S. and rising.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We shouldn't expect something different when doing the same thing over and over again.
HILL: Nine months in, Americans are tired and frustrated.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are destroying Staten Island business.
HILL: Hundreds turning out to support the owners of this New York bar, after it was shut down for violating new COVID restrictions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just trying to support my family.
HILL: Hope is on the horizon. GOV. NED LAMONT (D) CONNECTICUT: Prioritizing health care workers in nursing homes, we ought to have to be able to have all of them vaccinated with their second dose by mid late January.
HILL: States already preparing to distribute the vaccine which if approved could ship in less than two weeks. CVS and Walgreens will handle vaccinations for long term care facilities.
Dr. TROY BRENNAN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, CVS: Our plan is to be ready to go as early as December 15th.
HILL: Now that pushes on to make sure Americans trust it.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science.
HILL: Former President Clinton and Bush are also confirming to CNN, they'll get the vaccine publicly to boost confidence. As the current president continues to ignore the raging pandemic.
[04:05:00]
(on camera): One more note on the vaccine. Earlier this week, a CDC advisory panel recommending frontline health care workers and those living in long-term care facilities like nursing homes should get the first doses of an approved vaccine on Thursday. CDC Director Rr. Robert Redfield said he agreed with the recommendation, and also suggested that future recommendations should prioritize older people living in multigeneration households.
In New York, I'm Erica Hill, CNN.
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CHURCH: Dr. Jonathan Reiner is a CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine at George Washington University. He joins me now from Washington. Thank you, doctor, for being with us and for all that you do.
JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: So doctor, U.S. COVID numbers are heading in the wrong direction with one American dying every 30 seconds now. And yet so many still refused to follow basic public health advice. But now, president-elect Joe Biden is calling on all Americans to wear a mask for the first 100 days of his presidency. What is your response to this very different approach from the top?
REINER: Oh, it's a breath of fresh air. It's like a hurricane of fresh air. But it makes me a little sad because I wonder what would have been different, where we would be now, if in March we had heard those words from the President of the United States. You know, let's all wear a mask for the next hundred days. We'd be in a much different place now. But I think going forward, it's a great start. I would amend that a little bit, and say, let's not wait until January 20th, let's make it 148 days. Let's do it now. Because that's how we're going to flatten the curve and we need to do that.
CHURCH: Yes, indeed. And Joe Biden says he would be happy to get a COVID-19 vaccine as soon as Dr. Fauci says the vaccine is safe. And he also says he will get the shot publicly to instill trust in the vaccine, just as former Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton have vowed to do.
How important is it to help convince everyone this vaccine is safe, to see leaders like that take it on camera, to show people this is safe, don't be afraid of this?
REINER: Well I think it's so important. We're going to have to do a lot of things to educate the public about the safety of these vaccines, and their efficacy, and how it will impact their communities. And I think having the three former presidents do that live is a fabulous start. Having the incoming president and vice president do that is also great.
But we really need to get down to the grassroots level and educate people how important this is. Because in order to get vaccine induced herd immunity, we are going to need to vaccinate about 70 percent of the United States population, or about 200, 230 million people. So that's a giant endeavor.
And there's a lot of skepticism. There are a lot of people who are wondering, you know, whether corners were cut, whether the vaccine is safe. And we're going to have to spend a lot of time educating them that this is the right thing to do. And I'm thrilled that this is a priority for the incoming president and his administration.
CHURCH: Right, and of course that education needs to start now, because there's so much misinformation --
REINER: Yes.
CHURCH: -- certainly out on social media platforms. So, as we countdown to the approval and distribution of this COVID vaccine, some private businesses are considering whether to make it mandatory for employees to be vaccinated against COVID. Would you like to see that happen? Do you think it's possible to do that?
REINER: Well, I think it's one tool. And I'll see that a lot of industries already do this. So, for instance, where I work at George Washington University Hospital, you must be vaccinated for the flu. Every person who works in that hospital has to be vaccinated for the flu.
They can't force you to take the vaccine, but then again, they can prevent you from working. And I think there are businesses that might make that decision. So, you can imagine the meat packing industry, where the virus has just roared through, would make that a mandatory part of their employee -- employment. Nursing homes as well. Every employee that works in the nursing home must be vaccinated. So, I think you will see that in multiple places, yes.
CHURCH: Dr. Jonathan Reiner, again, thank you so much for all that you do for everyone, we do appreciate you.
REINER: Thank you so much for having me.
CHURCH: And Dr. Anthony Fauci, America's top infectious disease expert was front and center during the earlies days of the pandemic, but as President Trump downplayed the crisis, Fauci's role was greatly diminished. Now Biden says he wants to restore Fauci to a prominent role in the new administration.
[04:10:00]
And here's what Biden said in an exclusive interview with CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I asked him to stay on in the exact same role he's had for the past several presidents and I asked him to be a chief medical adviser for me as well and be part of the COVID team.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Both Biden and the vice president-elect Kamala Harris made it clear they would trust health experts when it came to a vaccine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: When Dr. Fauci says we have a vaccine that is safe, that's the moment in which I will stand before the public and see that -- look, part of what has to happen, Jake, and you know as well as I do, people have lost faith in the ability of the vaccine to work. Already the numbers are really staggeringly low, and it matters what a president and vice president do.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA) U.S. VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: Of course I will. But we also want to make sure that the American people know that we are committed. The president-elect and I talk about this all the time that the people who need it most are going to be a priority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And when it came to politics, the president-elect was clearly trying to build bridges. Hear what he had to say about Republicans on Capitol Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: There have been more than several sitting Republican Senators who privately called me to congratulate me. And I understand the situation they find themselves in. And until the election is clearly decided in the minds of the electoral college votes, they get put in a very tough position. And so, that's number one. Number two --
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So you think the fever on that will break after the electoral college meets.
BIDEN: With at least a significant portion of the leadership.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: But Harris took the opportunity on CNN to draw a forceful and stark comparison between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Joe Biden is someone who has endured real struggle and sacrifice and pain. He also is someone who knows love. He is someone who has dedicated his life to public service and there couldn't be a more extreme exercise and stark contrast between the current occupant of the White House and the next occupant of the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well meantime, U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr's immediate future is unclear. After a very public disagreement with Donald Trump over the President's false claims of voter fraud, the two shared what's being described as a very contentious meeting earlier this week. Jeremy Diamond has more from the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you still have confidence in Bill Barr?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ask me that in a number of weeks from now.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump unable to conceal his anger toward his attorney general, two days after Barr undercut Trump's baseless allegations that the 2020 election was rigged.
TRUMP: Well, he hasn't done anything. So he hasn't looked. When he looks, he'll see the kind of evidence that right now you're seeing. They haven't looked very hard, which is a disappointment, to be honest with you, because it's massive fraud.
DIAMOND: The truth, there's no evidence of massive fraud, which Barr acknowledged on Tuesday, telling the Associated Press, to date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election.
That kind of reality-based talk sent the president into a fury, leading to a lengthy meeting with Barr that one person familiar with the matter described as contentious.
TRUMP: Bill, please.
DIAMOND: Trump's anger toward Barr, one of his most loyal Cabinet members, had already been mounting for weeks, fueled by the lack of indictments in U.S. attorney John Durham's inquiry into the Russia investigation.
Two White House officials said Trump has considered firing the Attorney General but is being advised against it by several people.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President, if he has any personnel announcements, you will be the first to know it.
DIAMOND: With less than seven weeks left in his presidency, Trump seems more detached from reality than ever.
TRUMP: It was about fraud. This election was rigged.
DIAMOND: Delivering a 46-minute rant laced with lies and debunked conspiracy theories on Wednesday, as courts continue to reject his lawsuits as meritless.
The President also ignoring the darkest chapter of the pandemic, hosting a mostly maskless audience in the Oval Office after the single deadliest day of the pandemic.
And both the White House and the State Department are flouting CDC guidelines, inviting hundreds to holiday parties this month.
[04:15:00]
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany defending the events.
MCENANY: You know, if you can loot businesses, burn down buildings, engage in protest, you can also go to a Christmas party. You can celebrate the holiday of Christmas, and you can do it responsibly. They'll have smaller guest lists. Masks are going to be available. Social distancing is going to be encouraged.
DIAMOND: But that's not true. Social media posts from White House parties this week show guests tightly packed together, many of them not wearing masks.
(on camera): And amid tensions between President Trump and Attorney General Bill Barr, CNN is also learning that the White House liaison, that's the person who's meant to be the White House's eyes and ears at the Justice Department, but that individual has now actually been barred from entering the building where the Justice Department is headquartered. This coming as a source tells us that this White House liaison attempted to access sensitive information about investigations into potential voter fraud. Seemingly that she was trying to obtain that for the White House.
And as the President continues to make his claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, he's not conceding this race. But what we are seeing is we're starting to see aides headed for the exits. CNN has learned that White House Communications Director Alyssa Farah, she submitted her resignation on Thursday, just a month and a half before President Trump is set to leave office.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Nathan Gonzales is a CNN political analyst and the publisher of "Inside Elections." He joins me now from Washington. Good to have you with us.
NATHAN GONZALES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you for having me.
CHURCH: Absolutely. So instead of focusing on the pandemic, President Trump is considering preemptive pardons for those close to him and attacking Attorney General Bill Barr for rejecting his claims of a rigged election. Where's this feud with Barr going and does it matter anymore in Trump's final days in office?
GONZALES: Well, anyone who can say they know for sure where this is headed is probably just lying to you, because I don't know if anyone knows for sure but it's really no surprise. I mean, the President has allies or has loyalties until he doesn't, and so he doesn't mind turning on people if he feels like they turn on him. And it might not matter so much in the near term, but in terms of the longer term in particular with pardons, that can have a dramatic impact on what happens.
CHURCH: Right, and meantime, the state of Georgia is gearing up for two critical Senate runoff elections on January 5th. How is that likely to go, given the growing animosity between Donald Trump and state Republicans who have pushed back on the President's false claims of election fraud.
GONZALES: I think we have to call these races a tossup. I mean, look at how close the results were in Georgia in November. I mean, Biden won Georgia very narrowly. The two Senate races were very close with the Republican candidates inching out the Democratic candidates.
But the key question is turnout. It's a cliche to say it all comes down to turnout but that's really what matters. And Republicans have kind of boxed themselves in a little bit where they don't want to admit that the President has lost reelection. But if he had indeed won the election, then these two races wouldn't matter because Republicans would have control of the Senate. And so, they need to make sure that their voters turn out to vote.
Now Democrats have to make sure that their voters turn out to vote after they have accomplished the mission of defeating President Trump. And so both sides have question marks in two races that are critical. There should not be an assumption that the fight for the Senate or Senate control is done, because these two Senate races are close, expensive and competitive.
CHURCH: Yes, and those political ads are certainly showing how close it is there coming at us left, front and center.
So, in contrast to the chaos at the White House, president-elect Joe Biden is getting on with business, preparing to take office on January 20th. Calling on all Americans to wear a mask for the first 100 days of his presidency and signing up Dr. Fauci to be his COVID expert and medical adviser. What message does all this send with how Biden intends to deal with the deadly pandemic compared to his predecessor?
GONZALES: Well, I think it shows that there is a stark contrast that the president-elect, when he becomes president is going to try to lead by example. Try to have some sort of coordinated effort. You know, he stopped short of a national mandate or really declaring things, but I think there is going to try to be this national effort and that should be no surprise. I mean this is what the former Vice President campaigned on, and that's what I think we should expect. One thing that stuck out in this interview is that no one should really have been surprised about pieces of that. Because he's been, you know, upfront about what he wants to do.
[04:20:00]
CHURCH: Yes, very true. And just finally, Biden responded to the wave of pardons expected to come from Trump in the next few weeks saying his administration will not have the same approach to pardons, and the Justice Department will go back to being independent and nonpartisan, instead of what we have been seeing, of course during the Trump era. What was your response to that?
GONZALES: Again, I'm not surprised. I think that what president-elect Biden is trying to say is that he wants to in a way go back to the norms of how a president interacted with a Justice Department. And to some people that is going to upset them, but for other people, you know, that is what they have been wanting. You know, something that there is a sense of normalcy again when he takes office.
CHURCH: Nathan Gonzalez, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis. We appreciate it.
GONZALES: Thank you.
CHURCH: And the first doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's COVID vaccine have arrived in the United Kingdom. Just ahead, the challenge of getting them to the people who need them the most.
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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, as the holidays approach, COVID- 19 is taking a heavy toll across much of Europe with numbers rising by the day.
[04:25:00]
Germany is battling a fierce second wave reporting more than 23,000 cases each day since December 1st. That's according to Johns Hopkins University.
In Sweden, the public health agency recommended that high schools move to distance learning as the death toll crossed 7,000.
And U.S. disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci is apologizing for saying Britain rushed it approval process. He says he didn't mean to imply any sloppiness. Well, this happened as the U.K. became the first country to approve the Pfizer vaccine on Wednesday. And Pfizer doses have arrived in the U.K. So let's bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. She joins us live from London. Good to see you, Salma. So how quickly can these Pfizer doses get distributed to health care workers and the elderly? And what are the major challenges ahead?
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Rosemary, you have it right. It's all about the challenges. This is going to be a large and complicated rollout. And that is because this vaccine has to be stored at those extra cold temperatures, negative 94 degrees Fahrenheit, negative 70 degrees Celsius and the only place that can have the refrigeration capacity are hospitals. So there's been 50 hospital hubs set up around the country. They are expected to be receiving this vaccine over the next days, and they will be giving the first vaccinations early next week.
Now a government advisory body said among the first people that should be receiving this vaccine are residents of nursing homes. But in practical terms -- again because of that extra cold storage -- really the first people who will be receiving it are health care workers, people in hospitals, their staff as well as nursing home staff and people aged over 80 who already have appointments.
There are apparently doctors already going through the list of who's going to have an appointment and can we get them a vaccine if they're over 80. So a larger logistical challenge here. Still need to figure out the care home factor. Again, because residents there have to be able to get that. Maybe they need to go to hospitals. That still being figured out. But all of this early next week.
It's important to remember again, U.K., first Western nation to have this vaccine. It's been controversial. You mentioned Dr. Anthony Fauci who initially said that the U.K. was hasty in this. That they rolled it out too quickly. The U.K., of course responded and Dr. Anthony Fauci has since apologized. But this reminds us all that all eyes are on the U.K. What happened here is going to set a precedent -- Rosemary.
CHURCH: Of course, criticisms came from Europe as well. But it is very exciting that the U.K. is moving forward with this. Salma Abdelaziz many thanks to you.
And after weeks of silence, top U.S. lawmakers, Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell had a high level conversation Thursday. Does this mean a much needed stimulus deal is finally on the way? We'll take a look.
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