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U.K. Administers First Dose of Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine; U.S. COVID-19 Hospitalizations Hit Record High; President-Elect Announces Key Members of Health Team; Trump Calls Election Officials in Swing States; Trump Repeats False Claims U.S. Vote was Rigged; U.S. Lawmakers to Vote on Stopgap Funding for Relief Talks. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 08, 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, a remarkable moment in this pandemic as the U.K. becomes the first country in the world to start using Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. CNN is live in multiple locations with the very latest.

It's also a key week in the U.S. with the FDA meeting Thursday to discuss that very same vaccine as President Trump gears up to sign an America first COVID-19 order later today.

And Chuck Yeager, the first pilot to break the sound barrier has died at the age of 97. A look back at his remarkable life.

And we begin with a major development in the fight against the coronavirus. The U.K. has started to administer the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to its most vulnerable citizens. And just a short time ago this 91-year-old grandmother became the first person to get a jab. Her name is Maggie Keenan, and she says she feels privileged to be vaccinated because it means she'll soon be able to spend time with her family. Here's how the British health secretary reacted to that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT HANCOCK, BRITISH HEALTH SECRETARY: I'm feeling quite emotional right actually watching those pictures. It's been such a tough year for so many people, and finally, we have our way through it. Our light at the end of the tunnel as so many people are saying. And just watching Margaret there, you know, it seems so simple having a jab in your arm, but that will protect Margaret, and it will protect the people around her. And if we manage to do that in what is going to be one of the biggest programs in NHS history.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Go Maggie, making history there. And here in the United States, health officials will meet on Thursday to discuss the Pfizer vaccine and determine whether to grant it Emergency Use Authorization. Now if given the green light, the U.S. health secretary says tens of millions of Americans could be vaccinated by January 20th.

And in the coming hours, the U.S. President is expected to sign an executive order which seeks to prioritize the shipment of a vaccine to Americans before any other nation.

CNN's covering this story across the U.K. For the latest, CNN's Cyril Vanier is in London, and Phil Black joins us from Edinburgh in Scotland. Great to see you both on such a marvelous historic day. Cyril let's go to you first. V-day in the U.K., already people are getting a shot in the arm. We said Maggie at 90 take hers, Bill also, Bill Shakespeare has taken his. Talk to us about this rollout, how it's going, how it's progressing, and the confidence people have in this.

CYRIL VANIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Rosemary, good morning to you. And I think V-day from here on in should be known as vaccination day. Vaccination rollout has begun here in the U.K. and already we have great news that is bound to bring a smile to many people's faces. Margaret Keenan, you were talking about her. She's 90 years old, about to turn 91, and she says that this is the best early birthday present that she could think of because it means she's going to be able to spend time with her friends and family next year, after spending much of this year alone. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET KEENAN, FIRST IN U.K. TO RECEIVE PFIZER VACCINE: It hasn't sunk in yet. I can't really answer the question yet. It's just really, I don't know what to say, it's just my first is the family really. I say go for it. Got for it because it's free and it's the best thing that's ever happened, and the moment, please offer it. That's all I say, you know. If I can do it, well, so can you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VANIER: She's got two children, four grandchildren. She won't be immune in time for Christmas because of course there are two jabs, 21 days apart, and then after that according to NHS guidance, it takes 7 to 10 days to actually be fully immunized. So she won't be protected against the coronavirus until the early days 2021 and still plans to have because of that a small Christmas celebration with only a few people around her.

[04:05:00]

Still, though, she has become the face of this vaccination program, and, you know, there was a poll not so long ago by ITN news -- CNN's affiliate here -- said that two thirds of Britains were thinking of getting this vaccine and would accept to receive the vaccine. Well, if you see more Margaret Keenans, and they're calling on people to get it. They have no side effects. Everything's all going well, I think it's reasonable, Rosemary, to believe that that number two thirds of Britains willing to get vaccine, could go up in the near future. One more thing I want to tell you before you go to Phil just because

it's poetic. The second patient to get that vaccine at that Coventry Hospital, his name, Rosemary, William Shakespeare. No spelled quite the same as the English playwriter, still if that doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will.

Well done, Shakespeare, and from Maggie, I love it -- if I can do it, so can you. That has to go into some sort of health ad for the U.K., and indeed the world. Many thanks, Cyril. Phil let's go to you now in Edinburgh, Scotland. What's the situation there with vaccinations?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just a short time ago, Rosemary, the Scottish First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said he had a lump in her throat watching that video of Margaret Keenan getting that first vaccination.

It's going to roll out here today too. The numbers are relatively small in a global sense. But still so powerful in the hope they represent, 65,000 doses dedicated to Scotland initially from some 23 vaccination centers. This is one of them, Edinburgh's Western General Hospital. And the idea is -- as across the U.K. -- get it to those most at risk, most vulnerable. So frontline medical staff, care workers, the over 80s care home residents. And the thinking is if you get it to them in the short-term, those most need protection will have it, and deaths will very quickly be prevented.

Then in the slightly longer term, a little further over the horizon, as the vaccine is rolled out more widely, well, there lies the possibility for people, families, communities, entire cities of going back to living their lives as they were, or something very close to it. But the official message here is that although that is the promise of this mass vaccination program, it is not yet the reality. This is a hugely significant day. A turning point, perhaps the beginning of the end, but it is not yet the end.

So the message is for people to very much revel in the hope and the optimism that this hugely significant day represents but use it to inspire further vigilance in their behavior, not complacency in this final stretch -- Rosemary.

CHURCH: It is a shot in the arm both literally and figuratively. Cyril Vanier, and Phil Black, many thanks to both of you, appreciate that.

While the expected rollout of the vaccine is providing a ray of hope in the U.S., the situation is still dire here right now. The country again reported more than 100,000 hospitalizations on Monday setting a new record. Hospitals are reaching ICU capacity. In California ICU admissions are up 69 percent in the past two weeks, and the governor says medical staffing reinforcements have been requested from the federal government. Nick Watt has more now from Los Angeles.

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NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The United States just logged more than a million new COVID-19 cases in just five days. A comparison, South Korea, smaller population, sure, but, in five days, they logged fewer than 3,000 new cases.

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Today is Pearl Harbor Day. And, on Pearl Harbor, 2,403 Americans were killed. Three days last week, we exceeded that.

WATT: The U.S. average daily death toll is higher than it's been since April and record numbers of Americans are now in the hospital.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Our surge right now is intensifying. It is amplifying.

WATT: Post-Thanksgiving surge hasn't even hit yet, and soon there could be another, but bigger.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: With Christmas, it starts several days before. It goes through Christmas. The week after Christmas into New Year's and the New Year's holiday, I think it could be even more of a challenge than what we saw with Thanksgiving.

WATT: Sunday night a last hurrah for many restaurants in California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know the drill, and it's the only way to survive.

WATT: much of the state is back to takeout-only, back under stay-home orders.

FAUCI: They said, we feel we need to do this. What do you think? And I said, you really don't have any choice.

WATT: Because ICU beds are getting scarce, too scarce.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Hospitalizations, we're now over 10,000 patients in our hospitals, 72 percent increase over the last 14 days. You can see how quickly this grows.

WATT: New York City reopened some schools.

BILL DE BLASIO (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK: The parents were so happy and so relieved.

[04:10:00]

WATT: But, just hours later, a warning from New York's governor.

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): If we don't get the rate under control, and you are going to overwhelm your hospitals, we will have to go back to shut down.

FAUCI: The middle of January can be a really dark time for us.

WATT: And not just in New York.

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: This surge is different than earlier surges, because it's not about PPE. It's not about testing. It's really about health care capacity. And certain places are just being overwhelmed. We've got the vaccines coming, but we want as many people to be alive to get them as possible.

WATT: An FDA committee meets Thursday. A green light for Pfizer's vaccine is expected to follow.

MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: I really hope they do it quickly, and that the vaccine will be available to our population starting later this week.

WATT (on camera): Now until the vaccine rolls out, we've got a problem. Here in California, for example, over the past 14 days, hospital and ICU admissions are up by about 70 percent. They're trying to hire more health care workers and the California government has appealed to the federal government asking for reinforcements.

Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Well meantime, president-elect Joe Biden is laser focused on the pandemic making his health team a priority as he announces several key members. And then later today, sources say Biden is also expected to announce that retired Army General Lloyd Austin will be his nominee for Defense Secretary. Jeff Zeleny has more on Biden's critical nominations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden is filling in another piece of his new administration, announcing today his health experts who will drive the nation's fight against coronavirus.

XAVIER BECERRA, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY NOMINEE: Right now, during COVID, the last thing we need is to have Americans who are left behind.

ZELENY: Xavier Becerra is Biden's pick for secretary of Health and Human Services. The California attorney general and former member of Congress is not a medical expert, but he's led the charge defending the Affordable Care Act.

BECERRA: At a time when we're going through this COVID-19 pandemic, this is not the time to take away people's health care.

ZELENY: The rest of the team also taking shape, with Biden unveiling nominations for surgeon general, head of the CDC, and a chief medical adviser on COVID-19. That post goes to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who's become a household name as the nation's top infectious disease doctor.

FAUCI: I have worked all of them before. They're excellent choices.

ZELENY: Dr. Vivek Murthy, who served as surgeon general for three years in the Obama administration, will return to the position. He's been a top COVID adviser to Biden all year. DR. VIVEK MURTHY, SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE: We not only can do better, but we must do better, because lives are on the line.

ZELENY: Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the chief of infectious diseases at Mass General, will lead the CDC.

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, BIDEN'S PICK TO LEAD CDC: Now is the time to redouble our efforts, to pay more attention than we ever have before.

ZELENY: Their faces became familiar ones on CNN during the pandemic. And in just seven weeks, they will be responsible for overseeing the vaccine distribution and trying to bring the deadly virus under control.

If confirmed by the Senate, Becerra would be the first Latino to serve as HHS secretary, another barrier-breaking pick from Biden.

REP. CEDRIC RICHMOND (D-LA), INCOMING SENIOR ADVISER TO BIDEN: I think his life experiences, which we don't talk about enough, as a minority, is going to be very important in HHS as we tackle health disparities across the country.

ZELENY (on camera): Now president-elect Biden is also planning to roll out other cabinet members here this week, including his defense secretary. We're learning that he is tapping former retired Army General Lloyd Austin, the former leader of the central command. He would be the first African-American man to lead the Pentagon if announced by the Senate. Also, other economic posts expected to be announced here later this week.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Up next, Donald Trump is making some calls to Republican election officials in swing states he lost, but some in the White House realize time is running out.

Plus, test pilot, Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier, but it was the film "The Right Stuff" that made him a household name. Remembering his life and legacy, that's next.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Donald Trump is clinging to his false narrative that the U.S. election was rigged. CNN has confirmed that he's called election officials in Pennsylvania just like he did in Georgia and Michigan. CNN's Kaitlan Collins has the latest now on Mr. Trump's efforts to try and overturn the election results.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you very much. KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Still fuming about the election, President Donald Trump compared the U.S. to a third world country today, as he appeared to acknowledge that his legal efforts to change the results have gone nowhere.

TRUMP: No, this was like from a third world nation. And I think the case has been made. And now we find out what we can do about it.

COLLINS: But the case hasn't been made. Trump and his allies have lost or withdrawn at least 40 court cases since the election. Now sources tell CNN that, between those court losses, some fast-approaching deadlines, and his top attorney being hospitalized with coronavirus, the President's legal efforts might end soon.

TRUMP: Well, I think the case has already been made, if you look at the polls.

COLLINS: There were two more blows to the President's efforts today. Federal judges in Michigan threw out the latest attempt to overturn the result there, calling Trump allies Sidney Powell's lawsuit, quote, nothing but speculation and conjecture.

And the state of Georgia recertifying its results after counting presidential ballots for a third time and affirming Joe Biden's win once again, despite what President Trump claimed during a rally there Saturday night.

TRUMP: You know, we won Georgia, just so you understand.

COLLINS: As he awarded the Medal of Freedom to wrestling legend Dan Gable, Trump attempted to compare their records and wrongly claimed he had won two presidential elections.

TRUMP: Well, you know, in politics, I won two. So I'm 2-0. And that's pretty good, too. But we will see how that turns out.

COLLINS: Trump also provided an update on his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani's condition after the 76-year-old was admitted to Georgetown University Medical Center with coronavirus.

[04:20:00]

TRUMP: Rudy is doing well. I just spoke to him. He's doing very well. No temperature.

COLLINS: Giuliani has been crisscrossing the country to push Trump's baseless claims about the election, and he often greeted people with a handshake and no mask.

While Trump has refused to acknowledge Biden's win or even call the next president, CNN has learned he's already plotting his next steps. And some staffers are now speculating he may not return to the White House after going to Florida for the Christmas holidays, though no final decisions have been made.

(on camera): And some sources have speculated that the President will come back to the White House, pointing to how he cancelled his Thanksgiving break because he wants to get more things done as he does recognize his time in Washington is coming to an end.

But while we wait to see what decision they make finally about that. We know the President is expected to go to Georgia again to campaign for those Republicans ahead of that Senate runoff in January. Though when the President went on Saturday it was supposed to ostensibly about the campaign, it ended up being more about the President and his loss, instead.

Kaitlan Collins, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining me now from Los Angeles is Michael Genovese. He is a political analyst and author of "How Trump Governs, An Assessment and A Prognosis." Always great to have you with us.

MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: So, Donald Trump is still falsely claiming he won the election, but with Rudy Giuliani now hospitalized with COVID-19, and Trump running out of legal avenues with his baseless claims of a rigged election, what is the likely next step for the outgoing president with some of his aides speculating that once he goes to Florida for the holidays he may never return to the White House?

GENOVESE: Yes, I think Donald Trump is going to be more of the same, he won't be able to admit defeat. He cannot see himself as a loser, and so rather than be the loser he will be the fighter. He'll keep fighting. He'll keep fighting a hopeless battle, a losing battle. And it's kind of a soap opera right now in Washington with the President. It's like a bad Fellini movie. Not the early movies of Fellini, but the "Satyricon" when there was this chaos and madness. And that's what Trump usually thrives on. But now when he is on the losing end, he is coming up short and it's embarrassing. It should be embarrassing to him.

But he is standing there all alone saying I won, I won. When everyone around him knows he didn't. I mean, it's like me saying that I just want one of the George Clooney lookalike contest. And the President is just embarrassing himself, and one by one, day by day people are just falling along the roadside and losing faith in the President.

CHURCH: But at the same time in just a few hours a vaccines skeptic would testify before a Senate committee, and now we learned that some House GOP allies are telling Trump not to concede, but to press for a floor fight even after the Electoral College affirms Biden's win.

This as most Republicans refused to acknowledge Biden's win. How big a threat is this to a peaceful transfer of power for this very fragile democracy, given we are already seeing armed protests at the homes of public officials and death threats being sent to election officials?

GENOVESE: Fragile democracy. I've never heard that in my lifetime until Donald Trump. But I think it's true. I think that we've proved that when someone does not accept the norms, the rules of the game. When the guardrails start to collapse, it is a fragile democracy, and you have to keep supporting it. And we can't take that for granted.

But there are a number now of tinfoil hat wearing Republicans -- and let's call them for what they are -- who for some reason want to wait until December 14th when the Electoral College votes -- and they'll go for Joe Biden -- and then they want to take it to the floor of the House to contest it.

And what can they do? They can cause some trouble for the sake of trouble. They can sow chaos and confusion and doubt. They can cast shadow on the incoming legitimacy of Joe Biden, which is probably one of their main goals. But they're not going to be able to get this turned around.

And so this is what happened when Donald Trump pollutes the bloodstream of our political system, and the Republican Party has just accepted it. They bought it hook line and sinker. Very few Republicans are willing to admit Joe Biden has won. And so the Republican Party is no longer acting like a party, they are acting like a circus.

CHURCH: Michael Genovese, thank you so much for your analysis. We appreciate it.

GENOVESE: Thank you, Rosemary.

CHURCH: We are keeping an eye on Capitol Hill, where U.S. lawmakers still haven't delivered on a COVID relief bill. The clock is ticking to provide a lifeline for Americans in urgent need of aid right now. But first, they've got to pass a spending resolution to keep the government from running out of money this Friday.

John Defterios is looking at what is fast becoming a desperate situation for millions of people across the U.S. Good to see you John. So this is a congressional debate that has carried on since September. Are the two sides closing the gap at all?

[04:25:00]

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Well you know, we hear progress was made over the weekend, Rosemary, but we don't see any hard evidence of that. As you're suggesting, now they're in the emergency phase, having to put a stopgap measure to basically keep the government funded going forward.

But what's very alarming, you see the spike in the cases, California going into lock down, that's a G7 economy on its own, and many programs, a handful of them that will fade away in the next supple of weeks. The paycheck protection program for small businesses to keep their employees on the rolls. Those not finding work, still getting benefits and even renter protection for those who are facing eviction. This was all part of the package before.

And it's down to these two people, Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, and Mitch McConnell who's the majority leader for the Republicans on the Senate side. McConnell said let's stop the games, but many suggest that he hasn't budged off his original program of a half trillion dollars, and they have been talking for months. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Republicans and Democrats do not need to resolve every one of our differences to get badly needed relief out the door. We just need both sides to finally do what members of Congress do when they're serious, when their serious about wanting an outcome. Drop the all or nothing tactics, drop the hostage taking and make law in the many places where we have common ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEFTERIOS (on camera): Where is that common ground, though, Rosemary, that's the question here. There was a bipartisan bill launched a week ago for just over $900 billion. Perhaps this negotiation is a pathway to there. But in the meantime, we those suffering the most, are those below $27,000 of annual income or less, right. Their employment opportunities have dropped 20 percent since the start of the year.

And it's amazing, if you look at the job figures from last month, in October, we created more than 600,000 jobs, that was down to 245,000 for November and, Rosemary, with a case spike, it's going to get much, much worse, and why the stimulus bill is needed even for the first hundred days of the Biden administration.

CHURCH: Main street is hurting. They need some help. John Defterios, joining us live from Abu Dhabi, many thanks as always.

Well the U.K.'s biggest vaccination program ever is not underway, but health officials warn the coronavirus pandemic is far from over. Ahead, the challenges the country still faces as it rolls out the vaccine. Back in a moment.

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