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U.S. Breaking Records for Cases, Hospitalizations as Virus Rages; President-elect Biden Announces Key Members of Health Team; Rudy Giuliani Hospitalized after Testing Positive for COVID-19. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired December 07, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:22]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. Thank you so much for joining us this hour.

There is some striking perspective today. It took the United States three months to hit its first 1 million coronavirus infections. But there have now been 1 million new infections in the past five days in the United States. That is breathtaking.

And when you look across the country, almost every state is showing an increase in the number of COVID deaths compared to the previous week and half of the states we're looking at are seeing increases of more than 50 percent. This is not new infections which is often what we talk about from this week-to-week comparison. This is the number of people who are dying from coronavirus from week-to-week with that sea of red lighting up the country right now.

I know a vaccine is likely to be approved soon, possibly this week. Health experts say the dangers right now could not be greater.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think it could be more of a challenge than what we saw with Thanksgiving. So, I hope that people realize that, and understand that as difficult as this is, nobody wants to modify, if not essentially shutdown their holiday season. But we are in a very critical time in this country right now. We've got to not walk away from the facts and the data. This is tough going for all of us.

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: We need you to hang on just a little bit longer because we've got vaccines coming but we want as many people to be alive to get them as possible. And a lot of that is going to depend on your behavior.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That is such a sobering statement of reality right now coming from the outgoing surgeon general. It really is. President-elect Joe Biden, he just announced this morning his incoming health team. Tapping Xavier Becerra, the attorney general of California to lead the effort. He would be the first Latino to head the Department of Health and Human Services if confirmed.

And it is no surprise to any of you who have been watching the show that this is not where the president's focus is today. Yet another person though in his close orbit has contracted the virus. His attorney, the former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, tested positive and is now in the hospital. We're going to have much more on Giuliani and his condition shortly.

But first, we need to turn to California where more than 30 million people are facing new stay-at-home orders setting in as we speak. Stephanie Elam standing by. She's been tracking all of this. She's joining us right now. Stephanie, what's happening there right now?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's what we're seeing across the country, Kate, as we are seeing these coronavirus numbers just rise. And really, when you take a look at all of the records that are being set, not just in California, but in many states across the nation, this is a problem that now the states are trying to fix.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): The alarming surge in new coronavirus cases has medical experts more concerned than ever.

SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: We're not likely to see a peak in the number of infections until about the end of December, maybe into January. So as bad as things are right now, they're going to get a lot worse.

ELAM: The United States has added more than 1.2 million new coronavirus cases in the first six days of December alone.

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE MEMBER: The gatherings that we saw on Thanksgiving will lead to a surge. It will happen this week and next week. And we cannot go into the holiday season, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa with the same kind of attitude.

ELAM: Hospitalizations continue to rise. More than 101,000 Americans are hospitalized with the virus nationwide.

DR. ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Hospitals are getting full. And it's just hard to find spaces for people. So that's actually another crisis situation. I'm very worried about what's going to happen over the next three to six weeks.

ELAM: This morning, some 33 million people in California are under new stay-at-home orders, as ICUs in parts of the state are rapidly filling up.

On Sunday, California's Department of Public Health reporting more than 30,000 cases, a new daily record. The new restrictions order bars, hair salons, museums, and movie theaters to close. But retail stores are allowed to remain open at 20 percent capacity. Restaurants are limited to takeout and delivery services only.

Some restaurant owners pushing back on the new regulations. One restaurant owner frustrated that her outdoor dining patio has been forced to shut down, even though she says a video production company set up an outdoor eating area for its employees right next to her own parking lot.

ANGELA MARSDEN, OWNER, PINEAPPLE HILL SALOON AND GRILL: Tell me that this is dangerous, but right next to me, as a slap in my face, that's safe.

[11:05:02]

ELAM: This week, the Food and Drug Administration will meet to discuss authorizing emergency use for Pfizer's vaccine.

President-elect Joe Biden saying Friday his team had seen no detailed plan from the Trump administration to deliver a vaccine to Americans. But the Trump administration is assuring the public they are ready.

ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We have comprehensive plans from the CDC, working with 64 public health jurisdictions across the country, as our governors have laid out very detailed plans that we've worked with them on.

DR. MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: We haven't had the chance yet to sit down with the transition team and explain in detail everything that has been planned and been done. We look forward to that happening. We actually, I think, have a meeting planned later this week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (on camera): And Dr. Anthony Fauci telling our John Berman earlier this morning that he's been in touch with California officials and believes this was the right thing to do, to start the stay-at-home orders in place because the numbers are rising so much.

And he has concerns, Kate, about the fact that December has so many holidays and that they're longer than Thanksgiving. And we haven't seen the surge from Thanksgiving that many health officials are expecting. That's what's really concerning to them because that means we could even see a larger number of people reporting sick from this virus as we get further into December. It's just staggering.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Stephanie, thank you for your reporting. It's great. Thank you so much.

So, while this is happening in California, Joe Biden is rolling out the team -- his team that will be leading the efforts against the virus, just 44 days from now.

Let's go over to CNN's Jessica Dean. She's joining me now. She's got all of this. Jessica, what are you hearing from there?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Biden team will tell you, Kate, that this team shows the contrast with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. How they're going to handle and tackle the coronavirus pandemic versus how President Trump and his administration have tried to get their arms around the coronavirus pandemic.

You see, if you take a look at the announcements that were made early this morning, this is made up of a lot of doctors, scientists, experts, it will be led by California Attorney General Xavier Becerra. He is also -- he has been responsible for really leading the fight to preserve the Affordable Care Act, which is key. He was a member of Congress when that was passed.

And we also know behind the scenes, the Biden team has been getting some pushback, or some pressure rather from outside groups like the Congressional Hispanic Caucus to put more diverse members on their cabinet, more diverse nominees. If confirmed, Becerra would be the first Latino to hold that position.

We also know Dr. Vivek Murthy will be reprising his role as surgeon general. He served in that position under President Obama, will be returning under President-elect Biden. He was the youngest and first Indian American to serve in that position. He's also been a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board for Biden and Harris as they have gone through the transition.

All of these people together have quite the task before them. Here's what Dr. Fauci said about the team, of which he's a member.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAUCI: I worked with all of them before. They're excellent choices. I mean, all of them. I mean Becerra is -- you know had been in the Congress for a considerable period of time, a very experience person. I've had considerable interactions with all of these individuals and they're outstanding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: We also saw a tweet from Dr. Rochelle Walensky who we are familiar to a lot of the viewers at home. She does appear on CNN as a contributor. She's been tapped to head the CDC.

And one part that caught everyone's attention on this. She said, we are ready to combat this virus with science and facts. And Kate, again, that's the contrast they really believe they are showing between how it has been handled so far by the Trump administration and how a Biden administration anticipates and plans to tackle this virus, and that's with science and facts. We do expect Joe Biden to formally introduce this team at an event tomorrow. Kate?

BOLDUAN: The job that they have, the numbers that they're going to be facing when they come in is just enormous. Thank you so much, Jessica.

Joining me right now for more on this is Dr. Megan Ranney. She's CNN medical analyst, emergency physician at Brown University. It's good to see you again, Doctor. What do you think of Joe Biden's health team announced today?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I am thrilled by the announcements about the health team. He really couldn't have chosen three better people to help lead our nation out of this horrific pandemic and to build our health system back truly to be better.

To move us from a reactive system where we're trying to pick up the pieces to a proactive system where we're using science and facts and data to help drive a great public health infrastructure that not just makes up for COVID-19, not just stops the transmission of this virus, but also helps Americans to achieve full health in so many other ways. They're really just three wonderful, science driven great leaders.

[11:10:02]

BOLDUAN: And what they're going to be facing coming in is just -- it's a huge task. I don't even know the correct words to use to describe what they're up against. Not just the numbers we're seeing in the virus but also the rollout of the vaccine, the logistics that they're going to be dealing with just coming in. And the fact, Doctor, that the country just saw a million new infections in five days. Something that took three months to happen at the beginning of the pandemic. What should that mean to people sitting at home today?

RANNEY: So, the first thing is that the Biden/Harris administration is not taking over for another month and a half yet. We have a long and dark winter to get through before those new picks are put in place. For the next month and a half, it is still up to us to maintain mask wearing, to maintain physical distancing, to avoid indoor get together with people who are not part of our household. That is the only way that we are going to survive, literally, the next 50 days.

The second thing is, is that we cannot expect that the new administration is going to come in and there's going to be this magical disappearance of COVID. You know Trump has said multiple times during this pandemic that it's just going to disappear.

Let's be honest, it's not going to disappear on January 20th. It's going to take time for us to get the virus under control. It's going to take time for us to distribute the vaccine. And I'm quite worried about those vaccine distribution plans. I have not yet seen evidence from the Trump administration that they

really have the stuff together to get it out into the arms of all Americans in a timely manner. So, there's going to be a lot of planning and we're still going to have to hold on for a bit longer. But just to buckle down through January 20th.

BOLDUAN: And look, to your point, I mean CNN did an analysis of states' vaccine data and found that none of the -- I think the 27 states that they were able to get the data on, none of them would be getting enough of the vaccine in the first shipment in order to vaccinate all of the people that are in this first priority group.

Which then leads to that gut-wrenching horrible decision you have to face of how you go about then rationing first doses. Which health care worker should get the vaccine when there isn't enough for all of them, which nursing home resident should get the vaccine when there isn't enough for all of them in that first shipment, Doctor?

RANNEY: That's a really challenging question. We've got great bioethics experts as well as infectious disease specialists who are weighing in. I'll tell you, the thing that concerns me isn't just that they're not going to come through on the shipments as promised but also that there's no plan for the distribution.

The administration has appropriately put a lot of money into creating vaccines in record time, but they have not invested the money in preparing the states and counties for distributing these vaccines.

Remember, the Pfizer vaccine has to be kept at these ultra-cold temperatures. Once it is thawed, it has to be used within four or five days. That requires a tremendous data infrastructure.

We're talking about an administration that still can't get us testing supplies and still can't get us PPE. And we're expected to believe that somehow, states are going to be magically standup the ability to appropriately distribute this vaccine with no funding. There's just a lot of holes in the plan that make me quite concerned about our ability to get the vaccine in the arms of all Americans as quickly as the current administration is planning.

BOLDUAN: The way that you're putting it I think is something that more people need to pay much closer attention to. Doctor, thank you for your time.

RANNEY: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Coming up for us, the White House reaction to the president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, now hospitalized with coronavirus.

And later, an Arizona ER doctor essentially begging at this point for more public safety rules in his state. What he told the president- elect when Joe Biden called him directly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:18:10]

BOLDUAN: This morning, President Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is in the hospital after testing positive for COVID-19. The 76-year-old, he was on TV just hours before he entered Georgetown University Hospital and he is saying -- he says via Twitter that he is feeling good.

Giuliani joins a growing list of people in the president's team, in his orbit, who he is very close with that have contracted the coronavirus. Just look at the list. But his diagnosis also means the potential of a ton of people needing to quarantine now as last week, Giuliani was traveling around the country, continuing to try and fight - fight the presidential election results on the president's behalf. Giuliani often seen on video without wearing a mask. CNN's John Harwood, he has been watching all of this. He's joining us right now. John, what are you hearing about Giuliani?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Nothing more than the Giuliani tweet saying that he's in the Georgetown Medical Center, that he is getting great care, that he is feeling good, recovering quickly. Of course, the president tweeted out the news of his diagnosis and said get better, well, and all that sort of thing.

It's extraordinary the extent to which people, including Donald Trump and those around him, have been careless about the virus, not just with the nation but with their own health. The president, of course, got it, got gold plated treatment, came out of it. Ben Carson, his cabinet member. Melania Trump, a couple of his kids. Many, many top aides.

This has been going on for months and it's the legacy that Donald Trump will leave that when Joe Biden takes over on January 20th, the pandemic is still going to be raging and the proof can be found not just what's going on in the midwestern states and those other states with surging rates of infection but with those close to Donald Trump.

[11:20:02]

BOLDUAN: Yes. I mean, look, we wish Giuliani well but the amount of people he encountered without a mask in the days prior to his positive diagnosis is really, really scary.

John, there's also this new reporting from our colleague Jamie Gangel that Attorney General Bill Barr is considering resigning before the inauguration. Is it he wants to, or he's being pushed to or -- and also, what's the point at this point?

HARWOOD: Well, there's not much of a point. You know, there's six weeks to go in the administration. So, everybody is going to be out of a job in terms of people like Bill Barr at that stage. But I think this is a, you can't fire me, I quit, type of situation.

Bill Barr has done the president's bidding time after time after time. But one of the things you see with people around Donald Trump is Donald Trump is a bottomless well of needy. There's not enough that you can do to gratify him when he wants support, wants assistance, asks people to do more and more extraordinary things and Bill Barr has decided that asking him to help him overturn the results of a Democratic election with a clear outcome is simply too much.

And so, Bill Barr said no, we haven't seen any evidence. President Trump responded by saying, well he hasn't done anything, he hasn't really looked into it and the suggestion is that he's going to fire Barr and Barr is suggesting, through associates, you know what, I don't need this, I may leave early. So, it's not going to matter for the governance of the country. It's more about a dispute between those two men and who's going to save face and who isn't.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Fragile egos all around. Thanks, John. It's good to see you. Still ahead for us, a U.S. military veteran and ER doctor says that treating COVID patients is worse than being in a war zone. What his message was then when he talked to the president-elect directly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:26:48]

BOLDUAN: Today is December 7th, the anniversary of Pearl Harbor. 2,403 Americans were killed in that attack. And the country is now facing another war against this virus where that same number of Americans is essentially dying from COVID on a daily basis. Some of the country's healthcare workers have been on the frontlines of both kinds of battlefields we're now realizing more and more often.

President-elect Joe Biden spoke to one of them as he prepares to take the lead in this fight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): Hey, Dr. Gilman. This is Joe Biden.

I just called to thank you for your service. You're an Iraqi War veteran. You know, I understand that you're going to do whatever it takes to get this pandemic under control. And I just want you to know how much I appreciate what you and so many others like you are doing, risking your rear ends and going out of your way to help other people.

DR. CLEAVON GILMAN, ER DOCTOR IN YUMA, ARIZONA: Thanks a lot, sir. You know what? I grew up with a speech impediment and I did not really have a whole lot of opportunities until I joined the military. I've been very fortunate to have to come home unscathed. I was in New York on the frontlines where I lost three of my colleagues out there. I lost my 27-year-old cousin, who was really healthy. He was trying out for the NFL. I'm really looking forward to you becoming president, sir.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is Dr. Cleavon Gilman. An emergency room doctor at Envision Healthcare in Yuma, Arizona. Doctor, thank you so much for your time.

I want to ask you about that call with Joe Biden in one second. But first, I do want to ask you about today. Today is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor as I laid out. You served on the frontlines in Iraq. You're an Iraq War veteran. You've seen war.

Why do you say that this pandemic and what you've seen in the hospitals and what you've been up against is a lot worse than the war that you've seen?

GILMAN: Thank you, Kate.

Well, it's a lot worse than being in Iraq because we're losing 2,500 people almost every day. It has no boundaries. It's everywhere. We're on multiple fronts here in the U.S. and there's also this aspect of the Trojan Horse. That you can be at your job, you can get infected and bring that home to your family and infect them as well.

And we've seen this happen time and time again. And there's also this like hidden war, right? The war is not being waged on the streets. It's being waged in the hospitals and you have no access to the hospitals. You can't see what's happening. And there's no support for us at all here in the U.S.

BOLDUAN: You were caring for patients in New York in the spring at the height of the first surge. You're now in Arizona. How do you describe what you're seeing in your hospitals now there?

GILMAN: We, you know, the war out here is not the same as it is in New York. In New York, there was a large surge of patients, which just overwhelmed the hospital. Here in Arizona, we're having a kind of slow drip, tensed sick and critical patients per day in the hospital. And they're being admitted to the ICU and to the floors. They're not getting outside the hospital.