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Hospitalizations Soar to Record Levels Ahead of the Holidays; Supreme Court Rejects GOP's Attempt to Overturn Pennsylvania Election Results; New Jersey Charter School Offers Night Classes for Elementary Schoolers. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 09, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN BUSINESS EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: We've had about 500 cancelations of this 737 MAX.

[10:00:07]

It's been terrible for a Boeing overall. And they'll have to restore trust. Even GOL was saying that if you're not happy flying the 737, we'll change the tickets for free. That's a signal that this will probably take through 2021 to get through it all.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: John, thank you for that update very much. It's been a long two years on that front.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.

HARLOW: Top of the hour, good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

Stay home, that is the message from the White House task force as Christmas and Hanukkah approach. And new coronavirus infections in this country now averaging more than 200,000 a day. Right now, we are seeing the most people ever hospitalized any one time in this pandemic above nearly 105,000.

HARLOW: And states are ordering people to stay home as they ready vaccine distribution plans. The pivotal FDA is meeting tomorrow, just 24 hours away. And officials say if the Pfizer vaccine is approved then, it could be rolling out Friday, as in Friday of this week, with the first vaccinations just hours after that.

SCIUTTO: We begin this hour in Rhode Island, where cases are now rising at the fastest rate of any state in the U.S. Alexandra Field outside a new field hospital yesterday there necessary, as we see overflow. Alexandra, tell us what you're seeing.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Jim, good morning. Look, this is a heavy burden for the state of Rhode Island, a small state but a densely populated one. And they are fighting this surge in cases. The primary concern is, of course, the strain on hospitals across the state.

They have stood up two field hospitals, including the one I'm standing in front of, convention center in Providence. This is the largest of the state's field hospitals. It has capacity for 600 beds. It doesn't have the staffing for that at this point. Don't forget there's a need for health care workers, frontline workers across the country and in Rhode Island. But right now they've treated about 50 patients here in the last week.

Today in Rhode Island, there are more COVID patients in the hospital than at any other point in this pandemic. What is particularly alarming is that cases have continued to rise in the last few days in Rhode Island despite a two-week pause that was put in place by the governor. That meant more restrictions for people living in Rhode Island in order to try to stop or slow the spread of COVID.

The governor has said -- has not taken an extension of that off the table. She hasn't taken additional restrictions off the table. This is a state that will have to throw everything at this problem, just like states across the nation where you're hearing other governors similarly saying that more restrictions are necessary, that hospitals are too strained under the pressure that COVID is now posing for health care systems across the country.

They say it's unsustainable that people will need to take greater action, more responsibility, in order to bring these numbers down.

A reminder of the numbers nationwide in the last week, we've seen an average of 206,000 new cases a day and an average of 122 deaths a day in the same period. That puts us on par with where we were in April, the previous height of the pandemic, and we're certainly bracing to see ourselves exceed those numbers shortly. Jim, Poppy?

SCIUTTO: If folks don't take action to bring us down, those people will not be able to get the treatment they need. Alexandra, thank you so much.

A top official for so-called Operation Warp Speed this morning said that vaccines will begin moving in this country within 24 hours of authorization and given to Americans as soon as 96 hours after authorization.

CNN's Jacqueline Howard joins us now. Jacqueline, tell us about the timeline here, it's ambitious.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, it is ambitious and all eyes are on this FDA advisory committee meeting happening tomorrow.

Here is a timeline of what we know. So, December 10th, which is tomorrow, is when this advisory committee meeting is going to occur to review data on Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. And based on that review of the data, an authorization for the vaccine could happen within days following tomorrow's meeting, from December 11th to December 15th. And, Jim and Poppy, if an authorization occurs, first shipments of the vaccine could be delivered as early as December 15th.

So things are happening quickly. And like you said, officials are speaking out and saying that if an authorization happens, people could get vaccinated within 96 hours. That's within hour days of an authorization.

And the deputy chief of supply, production and distribution for Operation Warp Speed had this to say just this morning. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. PAUL OSTROWSKI (RET.), DEPUTY CHIEF OF SUPPLY, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION FOR OPERATION WARP SPEED: From Pfizer Kalamazoo, trucks will roll right out of there to the nearest airports and will begin distributing the vaccines across the country.

[10:05:02]

Within 24 hours, the trucks roll. And then overnight, basically, overnight, within 48 hours, the vaccines have arrived at the locations that they have been designated by the jurisdictions and the administration of the vaccine can occur immediately afterwards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So you see how quickly things can happen and, of course, the first people in line to get vaccinated will be health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities. That's what the CDC recommended.

HARLOW: Coming so soon, Tuesday, as you said, potentially. Thanks, Jacqueline, very much.

Joining us to talk about all of these headlines, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Esther Choo, she's a Professor of Emergency Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University. Good morning to you, Doctor. It's nice to have you on with some good news.

One question though, and that is this news out of the U.K. overnight that there were two people who got the vaccine that generally have severe allergic reactions, who did have allergic reactions to this, and needed to use an EpiPen. They're okay now. But I'd assume that's going to be something the FDA looks at pretty closely tomorrow?

DR. ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes, we need to hear more about this but, certainly, this is what we expect as we roll out the vaccine across the population in a much bigger number than what was possible than even a large phase three trial. And so the question will be, were there other things in the environment, other medications that may have caused that, and so this association is spurious or does this really seem to be temporarily related to the vaccine.

I think in any case, the warning is that people who have had severe allergic reactions or anaphylaxis in response to vaccines in the past should take a lot of caution for this vaccine as well.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Sanjay made an interesting the point the last hour, that in the trials, it was just as likely to happen among the placebo group as the vaccine group so it leaves open questions about the cause. Let's talk about timeline, because Secretary Azar says that as soon as March, large portions of the population beyond these crucial groups, such as health care workers, could begin getting access to the vaccine. That's a little earlier than folks like Dr. Fauci and others have talked about, perhaps April/May. Is March realistic in your view?

CHOO: I think it's realistic. I mean, we are rolling out vaccines this month for health care workers, which is a touch earlier than we thought. What we have to just wait and see about is how successful our early distribution efforts are. There are so many complexities on the ground. A lot of fine details that need to be made at the local level.

We have this kind of broad priority categories but exactly how we're going to make priority decisions within those groups is difficult. We still don't understand how well we're going to be able to deal with some of the technical issues like the super-cold temperatures that the Pfizer vaccine needs, distribution to rural areas and to other hard- to-reach populations. So I think a little time will tell us how efficient we are.

But, certainly, the early planning stages, the exciting news that it really seems like the next week, many health care workers will be set up to receive the vaccine sounds like we're going to be as efficient and nimble as possible.

HARLOW: I think one of the things many folks are looking forward to is not wearing masks anymore, once it's safe not to do so. But I wonder, do we know if you can still spread COVID even when you are, you know, immunized to it? And if we don't, does that mean you still have to wear a mask?

CHOO: Yes. Unfortunately, this is something that in the FDA report that was released yesterday ahead of the EUA determination, they were very clear on. We know some things. We know the vaccine looks very promising for confirmed COVID disease development. We do not know what it does for asymptomatic spread, so people can still transmit disease while they experience less severe disease and have a lower rate of symptomatic disease.

So this means that as exciting as the vaccine news is, we have to be very careful about messaging here. People cannot stop wearing masks. They can't stop social distancing. People who can stay home still need to stay home so the vaccine does not actually change our behaviors until we get additional data that suggests that it actually reduces the rate of person-to-person transmission.

SCIUTTO: So we have to get, basically, from where we are today in the midst of a worsening pandemic, and the numbers are only going up, sadly, and when the vaccine is widely available. You heard the president-elect put out his plan yesterday, including encouraging folks to wear masks, also he's going to get 100 million doses in the first 100 days. What else will get us there as a population, as a country?

CHOO: I mean, this is the most ambitious, collective project that we've had in the country possible ever, to get to the rates of vaccination and that sort of immunity together, to get a vaccine out to the population not only once but twice, because it requires two doses.

[10:10:02]

I'm trying to imagine a similar thing that we need 70 percent of the population to do that we have done successfully.

So this will take really everybody. This needs to be a huge national conversation. The education and the messaging needs to happen really well and effectively and across all segments of our population. We need to all be actively engaged in sharing information, good information with our friends and family and really rejecting some of the misinformation campaigns because that can be very damaging to our vaccine efforts.

SCIUTTO: Yes. And I was thinking post-9/11, we ought to take our shoes at the airport, right, go through more severe screening to reduce the risk of terrorism. This is in effect what we're asking people to do here to reduce the risk of a pandemic. Dr. Esther Choo, thanks so much.

CHOO: Thank you both.

SCIUTTO: The attorney general of Texas is asking the Supreme Court to take up a lawsuit that seems to block the election results in four other states. The president pinning his hopes on this. Any merit?

HARLOW: Also, firefighters on the frontlines of this pandemic but there's a new poll that finds a majority of New York City's firefighters say they do not plan to take the vaccine. Why is that? We are going to speak with the FDNY commissioner ahead.

And there's a solution for children who cannot log in for virtual classes during the day. Ahead, we're going to take you to a night school for kindergarteners and elementary students.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:00]

HARLOW: Overnight, the Supreme Court squashing President Trump's hopes of trying to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania. They flatly denied a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to block certification of Joe Biden's victory in the state.

SCIUTTO: Joining us now, CNN's Ariane de Vogue who covers the Supreme Court for us. Ariane, this one-line definitive dismissal, in effect, by the Supreme Court with no dissents, you've covered the court for a long time, tell us the significance of this message.

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right, Jim. This was a decisive message from the Supreme Court. It did not want to get involved with this post-election challenge. They rejected this bid by Pennsylvania Republicans who were seeking to block final certification or even the election results here. And the court's order, as you said, it was a one-liner. The court said, the application is injunctive relief presented to Justice Alito and by him referred to the whole court is denied.

I've covered the court for a long time. And this one came out unusually quickly. We actually never know what the actual vote count is but it's worth noting no justice chose to make public any kind of dissent and this marked the first election vote that we've seen from Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

And it was a big blow for President Trump, because he has been making these claims that there was massive voter election fraud. And even yesterday, he had appealed to the Supreme Court during an appearance saying he hoped that the Supreme Court or some justices would rule in his favor here or see things this way. They clearly did not.

These Republicans were challenging the mail-in voting system in Pennsylvania, but Pennsylvania, in its court papers to the Supreme Court, said, basically, this claim was fundamentally frivolous.

Now, there is another petition pending at the court. This one is from Texas that's challenging other states' election results. But, so far, the Supreme Court has been very clear here, it does not want to get involved, Poppy and Jim.

SCIUTTO: Ariane de Vogue, we know you will be watching that Texas case as well. Thanks so much.

Well, as we noted, the court put an end to Pennsylvania Republicans' bid to overturn the election results, and that was the intention, by the way. Now, we will watch this other last-second lawsuit from Republicans in Texas. You have to listen to the details in this, because folks in Texas are challenging the election laws in four other states, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia and Pennsylvania, states, notably, that Joe Biden won. The court has until tomorrow to respond to Texas' claim that states exploited the pandemic to justify changes in election laws.

Joining me now, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Good to have you on this morning.

DANA NESSEL (D), MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: So, the core of this suit, the Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, his argument is that your state and others, quote, exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to justify ignoring federal and state election laws and unlawfully enacting last-minute changes. Your response?

NESSEL: Well, firstly, I feel bad for the taxpayers in Texas that have to finance this ridiculous and frivolous lawsuit. You know, we should note that A.G. Paxton is a member of the Trump campaign, very involved with that, also that he is currently under federal indictment for securities fraud and also being investigated by the FBI. So I see this more than anything as an effort to ingratiate himself to a man who could potentially provide him with a presidential pardon. But that being the case, every issue that is part of this lawsuit has been already litigated in these four states. And so we've had dozens and dozens of cases that have been filed in state court, in federal court, that have been heard by judges, appointed by Democrats and appointed by Republicans. And each and every one of them has been found to be lacking totally in merit.

[10:20:04]

And this is no --

SCIUTTO: Let me ask you, because you're suggesting a connection there between the indictment of the Texas attorney general and his pursuing this case. Do you have evidence that there's a connection there?

NESSEL: Well, I just think it makes common sense because of the ridiculous nature of this lawsuit. And, I mean, think about it, you have the Texas A.G. trying to disenfranchise the votes of some 39 million people who live in these four other states that the Texas A.G. does not represent.

21 million people voted in those states. Each and every one of those states, of course, is a state that went for Joe Biden. In my state, nearly 155,000 more votes for Joe Biden than for Donald Trump. And yet the Texas A.G. is seeking to set aside all of that and to allow to have our republican legislatures basically substitute their votes for that of those millions and millions of people who voted in their states and overturned the will of the people.

SCIUTTO: And something the president himself applied pressure.

The Supreme Court, as you know, swiftly and decisively dismissed the Pennsylvania lawsuit brought, in that case, by lawmakers in Pennsylvania. Do you have concerns that the Supreme Court, with its conservative majority, will take this case up or consider it in any way?

NESSEL: Well, they asked us to respond, so all four states have to respond by tomorrow. And I think that each one of us, obviously, all of the attorneys general of each of these states, have been very clue about what their thoughts are about this lawsuit, I would say, including the Georgia attorney general, who is a Republican and a Trump supporter.

So that being the case, I will say, I don't think the Supreme Court will take this seriously. They will read the responses. They will entertain it to that extent. But then I suspect it will be summarily disposed of and dismissed as the Pennsylvania case was.

SCIUTTO: It's a sad fact with this ongoing assault on the election that state officials have received threats. I don't have to tell you, but the Michigan secretary of state had armed people outside her home while she was with her children.

I want to share a tweet, this from the GOP in the state of Arizona, asking supporters if they're willing to sacrifice their lives to challenge the presidential election results. Given the threats we are seeing, very real ones that require police protection including for Republican officials around the country, how concerning is this to you?

NESSEL: It's incredibly alarming to me. And at this point, not only what Trump is doing an effort to undermine our faith and our confidence in our system of elections, but it's actually undermining the safety of those who administer our elections all around the country. And I will say in Michigan, we had over 1,600 clerks, both Republicans, Democrats, independents, non-partisans, who administered our elections and many of them have been subjected to threats of violence and great bodily harm and this is not the way a functional democracy operates.

And all Donald Trump would have to do is today he can get before the cameras or he can send out a tweet and say, I concede and the election was fair and accurate and all of this would stop. But, of course, he's unwilling to do that. And it's really unfortunate because he's putting people's lives at risk.

SCIUTTO: What do you say to the people and groups that are making these threats, these very personal threats against election officials, as you know, to both parties in the state of Michigan?

NESSEL: Well, we're pursuing those cases. And so when we have people make complaints and when we have credible threats of harm to our public servants, we absolutely investigate and we absolutely will charge those people and hold them accountable.

SCIUTTO: Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

NESSEL: Thanks for having me.

HARLOW: Ahead for us, wait until you hear this, some parents in New Jersey have a new way to make sure their children can attend school virtually, ahead.

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[10:25:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

A school in New Jersey is taking a creative approach to making sure some of its youngest students can attend class in person.

HARLOW: After facing an attendance issue with kindergartners and first graders, this charter school decided to offer night school.

Our Bianna Golodryga joins us with more. Good morning. Something I never thought of, is it working?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Hey, guys, good morning to you. Well, when we typically think of night school, we think of parents and adults going, not kindergartners, right? Well, for the past few months, we've been talking about the struggles that so many families have faced trying to log into online classes while also maintaining their jobs.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. We now want to focus on some exclusions and we seemed to have found one in Newark, New Jersey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RACHEL HODGE, PARENT: It's been really hard doing this on my own.

GOLODRYGA (voice over): For single mother Rachel Hodge, every day is a juggling act.

HODGE: Trying to make ends meet and being able to go to school to further my education.

[10:30:03]