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U.S. Cases Spike ahead of Pivotal Vaccine Approval Meeting; Idaho has Second Highest 7-day Positivity Rate in the Nation; NAACP Pushes Biden to Create Cabinet-Level Civil Rights Envoy. Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired December 09, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

[10:59:25]

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

Hope and denial, two opposing forces colliding in more and more stark ways over the coronavirus. Here's some hope for you. A top official with Operation Warp Speed says shots will be in arms within 96 hours of receiving emergency use authorization. That is expected to happen after the big FDA meeting on the Pfizer vaccine tomorrow. Here's the immediate timeline for HHS - from HHS Secretary Alex Azar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEX AZAR, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: 20 million people should get vaccinated in just the next several weeks and then we'll just keep rolling out vaccines through January, February, March as they come off the production lines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:00:06]

BOLDUAN: Even with that hope on the horizon, the current reality of the virus just keeps getting worse. Hospitalizations hit another record high, jumping by more than 2,400 cases -- 2,400 in the past 24 hours. More than 105,000 Americans are now sick enough with COVID that they need hospital treatment.

But despite that reality, there is still clear signs of Americans wanting to deny the reality. In Idaho, for example, anti-mask and anti-vaccine protesters forced local health officials to abruptly halt a meeting in Boise.

The board had been expected to discuss and vote on new restrictions there in a state where the seven-day positivity rate now tops 50 percent, the second highest in the nation. Demonstrators even showing up at some of these officials' homes. They can protest, but the sad truth is there is no denying what is happening in Idaho when you see the numbers and also what is happening in so many other states. New restrictions are coming. Let's get to CNN's Alex Field. She's live outside of field hospital in Providence, Rhode Island. Alex, what's happening there?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Kate, Rhode Island is a small but densely populated state and it now has a big problem, it has the designation of the highest rate of new cases per capita in the nation. Hospitals are so strained that they had to open two field hospitals including this convention center in providence with a capacity of some 600 beds. Cases are climbing in the state even as it's on a two-week pause. Further restrictions are not off the table. Similar story across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): As new coronavirus cases spread rapidly across the country, some states are shifting into crisis mode once again, enforcing more restrictions as intensive care units fill up with patients.

GOV. JAY INSLEE (D-WA): What we do now literally will be a matter of life and death for many of our citizens.

DR. MARK GHALY, CALIFORNIA HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We're experiencing a surge like we've never seen.

FIELD: Among those with stay-at-home orders in place: California, Michigan, and North Carolina, where the governor's also enforcing a 10:00 p.m. curfew.

GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): We will do more if our trends do not improve. That means additional actions involving indoor restaurant dining, entertainment facilities, or shopping in retail capacity.

FIELD: The virus running rampant, with the U.S. recording more than 215,000 new cases Tuesday.

Here in Rhode Island, there's a 9.4 percent daily positivity rate and the nation's highest new average of new coronavirus cases per capita.

Health officials treating patients inside this field hospital in Providence. More than 104,000 people nationwide are hospitalized with the virus, a dangerous record.

President-elect Joe Biden outlining a coronavirus response plan for his first hundred days in office.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: As a country, we've been living with this pandemic for so long, we're at risk of becoming numb to its toll on all of us.

FIELD: His top three goals: safely getting more children back into classrooms, promoting widespread mask wearing, and distributing vaccines to at least 100 million Americans.

BIDEN: It's going to take some time, but I'm absolutely convinced that, in a hundred days, we can change the course of the disease and change life in America for the better.

FIELD: Tomorrow, an FDA panel meets to consider whether the first vaccine candidate will be granted emergency use authorization in the United States. A decision is expected this week.

DR. STEPHEN HAHN, FDA COMMISSIONER: We do feel that preliminarily, that the success criteria have been met.

FIELD: But in the meantime, with most of the country likely facing a months-long wait for a vaccine, Dr. Anthony Fauci says it's important to accept the reality of the pandemic.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There are a substantial proportion of the people who still think that this is not real, that it's fake news or that it's a hoax. It's extraordinary. I've never really seen anything like this. We've got to overcome that and pull together as a nation, uniformly, with adhering to these public health measures.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (on camera): Next couple of months absolutely critical as we all know too well. And certainly, Kate, you have heard HHS Secretary Alex Azar sounding optimistic about the volume of doses that we should be getting here in the states in those next few months.

He's also telling CNN today that he has met with the Biden transition team and he says there will be a smooth transition process. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Alex, thank you very much.

Joining me right now is Dr. Celine Gounder, former New York City deputy health commissioner and a member of the Biden Transition COVID- 19 Advisory Board. It's good to see you again, Doctor. Thank you for being here.

100 million shots in arms in the first 100 days. How much does this depend on what the Trump administration does in the next 42 days to pull off that goal?

[11:05:10]

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, MEMBER, BIDEN-HARRIS TRANSITION COVID-19 ADVISORY BOARD: Well, I mean, it is highly dependent on what's happening in the interim between now and January 20th. It's not just about ordering vaccines and paying for vaccines.

You then now need to figure out how are you going to transport, deliver, track that entire supply chain. Who the staff who are going to be providing these vaccinations? Where is that going to happen? And then, how do you track all of that? That's a huge information system technology challenge, too.

So, there's a lot of steps that go between having an emergency use authorization for a vaccine and getting those vaccines into people's arms. BOLDUAN: And just as a matter of point to clarity, is the goal 100 million people getting a shot or is it 50 million people getting both doses in 100 days?

GOUNDER: Yes, it's 50 million people getting both doses for a total of 100 million doses in 100 days.

BOLDUAN: Do you think the president-elect should be the first person to get a shot when the vaccine is approved?

GOUNDER: I think that the president-elect should be among the first who are vaccinated. He is about as critical of an infrastructure worker as they come. And I think it would also demonstrate a huge vote of confidence in the FDA process, in the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. This is an approach that has been used in many different vaccination campaigns where respected elected leaders and others are vaccinated in front of TV cameras really to be an example to the rest of the public.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I asked because that's exactly what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, he's going to be the first person in Israel to get the vaccine to serve as an example. Do you know where the conversation -- if that conversation has been had with the president-elect about being first?

GOUNDER: I don't know about whether he would be first, but I certainly know that the president-elect, vice president-elect and others have said that they would be vaccinated in front of cameras so that people can understand that this is truly a safe and effective vaccine.

BOLDUAN: We learned from the UK this morning that two healthcare workers who were vaccinated had suffered allergic reactions. And now as a result, the UK is advising folks, and the way they put it is to -- advising people with a significant history of allergic reaction to vaccines, medicine or food to not get vaccinated. What does that mean to you, Doctor?

GOUNDER: Well, when we do these clinical trials, we start by studying the vaccine in the most straightforward of populations. So, we usually exclude, for example, people who've had severe allergic reactions. We exclude pregnant women. We exclude children. So, those are groups in which this has not been studied.

And so, you know I think even the initial guidelines were -- even before these reactions occurred where that people who have a history of severe allergic reactions should probably wait on getting vaccinated and if somebody like that does get vaccinated, they really should remain under observation, have an EpiPen, one of those Epinephrine pens at hand in case they do have a reaction because we certainly don't have as much information among those people, how the vaccination will play out.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And the FDA's vaccine adviser committee is meeting tomorrow to make this decision if they're going to recommend approval for the Pfizer vaccine. With the data that's out there and the positive response that we have really heard across the board, do you think it's a foregone conclusion? Is it a foregone conclusion in your mind that it will get approval?

GOUNDER: Based on the data that I have seen, some of which has also been released to the public, the data looks very good. Even after one dose of the Pfizer vaccine, now that data is more preliminary, but you know even after one dose you see quite a robust immune response and after two doses, it does seem to be very efficacious.

You know I think one thing people should be aware of is the side effects are a bit more significant than you might have with a flu shot. I think people should be prepared, you know, to stay home after they get vaccinated for a day or so. You might have fever, headache, that sort of thing. But these are not severe reactions and they're certainly nowhere near as bad as what you would suffer if you actually get the coronavirus itself.

BOLDUAN: And real quick, the top scientific adviser to Operation Warp Speed, Moncef Slaoui, he says that he's going to be meeting with the transition team tomorrow. I assume that includes all of you as well on the COVID Advisory Board. What is the biggest question you have, Doctor, for Moncef Slaoui and the Trump team?

GOUNDER: I think really getting more details on how they're planning to do distribution. You know, in terms of not just --

BOLDUAN: Are you not satisfied with what's been put out there yet?

GOUNDER: We certainly don't have enough detail yet. I mean it is a process of handing over this information and reading us in. So, I wouldn't say I'm not satisfied, it's a process.

[11:10:02]

BOLDUAN: Yes. And it's getting underway in a very major way at this moment. Thank you, Doctor, I appreciate your time.

Coming up for us, 50 states and 50 different vaccine distribution plans. We're going to talk to Michigan's chief medical executive about how the rollout is going to go in that state. Do they have what they need? Do they have the information that they need?

Plus, the NAACP is calling on Joe Biden to create a new cabinet level position entirely focused on civil rights. Is that going to happen? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: The most massive vaccination effort in a century. That is a task at hand for the Trump administration and governors and state health officials across the country and those efforts could start in just a matter of days. Here's one of the federal officials in charge of logistics.

[11:15:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LT. GEN. PAUL OSTROWSKI, DIRECTOR OF SUPPLY, PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION FOR OPERATION WARP SPEED: From Pfizer at Kalamazoo, the trucks will roll right out of there to the nearest airports. We will begin distributing the vaccines across the entire country. Within 24 hours, the trucks roll and then overnight -- basically overnight within 48 hours, vaccines have arrived at their locations that they've been designated by the jurisdictions and the administration of the vaccine can occur immediately afterward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And joining me right now is Dr. Joneigh Khaldun, Michigan's chief medical executive, a key point person in the rollout of the vaccine in the state of Michigan. And Doctor, thank you for being here. You heard Ostrowski there talking about trucks will be rolling within 24 hours after approval and he's talking about rolling out of a facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Does that mean that your state will be getting doses earlier than others?

DR. JONEIGH KHALDUN, MICHIGAN CHIEF MEDICAL EXECUTIVE AND CHIEF DEPUTY DIRECTOR FOR HHS: So, we, like other states have identified pre- positioned hospital sites so we know exactly where all of the initial vaccines will be going. We've been working with those hospitals for weeks and we understand where they're going and how they're going to administer those vaccines.

BOLDUAN: Can you lay out -- I want to get to those plans because they're critical, as you know better than anybody. Do you know how many doses the state is going to be getting in the first shipment?

KHALDUN: We still don't know unfortunately. That still remains to be seen. What we do know is that we know where they will be going. We know the hospitals. We know the hospitals that have that special ultra-cold storage capability that's needed for this Pfizer vaccine but we still to this date don't know exactly how many Michigan will be receiving.

BOLDUAN: I can imagine you can make plans as you are for where they would go, where the key positions would be, but how really if you don't know, if you haven't heard and don't know how many doses you're getting, how do you make plans? It seems almost impossible, especially if you're expected to be potentially getting these doses, the first shipment next week.

KHALDUN: You know we had to be flexible throughout this entire pandemic response. So we have gotten some estimates that change sometimes multiple times a week from the federal government but we are planning for best-case scenario and I think we will be ready, depending on how many vaccines that we get whether it's very few or a lot, I think our hospitals will be ready to start vaccinating on day one.

BOLDUAN: How many doses did you request?

KHALDUN: So, we're requesting as many as they can ship to us, quite frankly. I mean we want to get this vaccine out as quickly as possible. We know it will be available in very limited amounts in the beginning. But again, the more we can get, the more we can get it out to the general public eventually.

BOLDUAN: Why is the number - why is the number fluid? You have to know, I mean at least in this moment, the static number of healthcare workers that there are, static general number of people in nursing homes. Why is the number fluid?

KHALDUN: So, at the state level we have those numbers. I don't know how many I will be receiving from the federal level. And again, that's not what I'm in charge of. It depends on the manufacturer as far as I know. So, that's what we're waiting to hear from the federal government.

BOLDUAN: You have around about a population of 10 million people in the state of Michigan. What is the number that you requested, if you can give us an estimate?

KHALDUN: So, our goal for 2021 is actually to vaccine 70 percent of Michigan's adult population. And so, that means that's a lot of vaccine, obviously. And again, we'll be learning as we go along as far as more about how this vaccine works and especially if we can use it in pregnant women and children, which we know at this point we don't think we would be able to.

BOLDUAN: How would people learn in your state when it's their turn, when they can get in line and schedule to get a shot?

KHALDUN: So, we have a massive communications campaign that we've actually been rolling out for weeks, giving people information about the vaccine development process, making sure we understand that it's safe, that it's effective. We have a website. We have multiple stakeholder groups as well making sure that people have the information they need. And so that they can start planning for how they will get a vaccine when it's their turn.

BOLDUAN: Is there a website that they can go to, right? I've got a lot of family in Michigan. Is there a website they should be going to right now to see where they are in line? I feel like that might be impossible since you don't know what you're getting.

KHALDUN: So, we do have a website, michigan.gov/covidvaccine and that's for people in Michigan can go to get information about the vaccine process and how we will be distributing it.

BOLDUAN: Who's first in line in the state?

KHALDUN: It will be frontline healthcare workers. It's important to us that we keep our critical healthcare infrastructure open and available to take care of COVID patients but also non-COVID patients. And we're also prioritizing our nursing facilities. our long-term care facilities, which we know across the country, that's been where we've seen a lot of deaths unfortunately.

BOLDUAN: You got a lot of work ahead of you. Thank you very much, Doctor, for coming in. We'll check back in. KHALDUN: Thank you very much.

[11:20:00]

BOLDUAN: Still ahead for us, CNN has learned the names of two more picks for Joe Biden's cabinet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:25:03]

BOLDUAN: CNN is learning more about the two latest picks for Joe Biden's cabinet. The president-elect expected to nominate Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge to lead the Housing and Urban Development. And meanwhile, Biden's pick for Agriculture secretary, a man who served in that role for eight years under President Obama is expected to be former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack.

CNN's Jessica Dean is in Wilmington, Delaware with much more on this. So, Jessica, what are you hearing about these latest nomination - these expected nominations?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, Kate, right now our sources are telling us about two of -- two people that are expected to fill these slots.

So, let's start first with Tom Vilsack and the Agriculture Department. We're told by sources that Biden is expected to tap Vilsack, the former Iowa governor, to serve as his secretary of Agriculture. As you mentioned, it's a post he served in for the duration of the Obama administration. So, he's certainly no stranger to the Department of Agriculture, what it needs to do, how it can be run.

He's also no stranger to Joe Biden. And this is just another example of someone who has a long-standing relationship with Biden. Biden really leaning on them, leaning on their relationship, his comfort level with someone he knows. Vilsack was one of his earliest supporters in Iowa. He and his wife campaigned very aggressively for him throughout Iowa and on the campaign trail.

Also, Congresswoman Marcia Fudge. Fudge, we're told by sources, is expected to become the secretary of the Housing of Urban Development Agency. And she is, as I said, in Ohio, Congresswoman. Well, that's notable because Biden has been so hesitant to pull anyone from Congress. The House has such a strong Democratic majority and we still don't know what's going to happen in the Senate.

Now, Fudge was clearly the exception or will likely clearly be the exception. She's in what is considered to be a very safe seat for Democrats. So, that's what we're looking at with those two potential nominations.

Now, later this afternoon, right here in Wilmington, Delaware, President-elect Biden will be formally introducing his pick to be secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, a retired army general. He will be here with Biden in Wilmington. There has been some pushback though on the Hill from members of their

own party on a potential waiver. Austin would need a congressional waiver because he's only been retired for four years from the military. Federal law mandates you need to be out for seven. Those waivers, Kate, are quite rare. There was one given to James Mattis during the Trump administration.

So, we'll see how that plays out on the Hill, but we will see them later this afternoon here in Wilmington. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Jessica, thank you.

So, Joe Biden is also facing new pressure on the makeup -- more pressure and new pressure on the makeup of his cabinet. The NAACP asking the president-elect to create an entirely new cabinet level post. A civil rights star and adviser to the president focused exclusively on racial justice, diversity and equity. The head of the NAACP met with the president-elect and his team just yesterday about this and more.

Joining me right now is the president of the NAACP Derrick Johnson. It's good to see you again, Derrick. Thank you for coming in.

What was your big takeaway, first and foremost, from your meeting with the president-elect?

DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, NAACP: Well, the biggest takeaway is they're openness for ongoing dialogue for civil rights leaders. I think that's important. Many of us in civil rights community know that the success of this administration will be all of our success.

Our goal is to have ongoing dialogue to explore opportunities to open up, looking towards 2030 and beyond, to ensure equal protection under law for everyone and to make sure that the commitment from this administration of racial equity is carried out across the entirety of the administration.

BOLDUAN: Why do you think Joe Biden needs a cabinet level civil rights czar?

JOHNSON: If it's going to be a priority of this administration as he has stated, someone should own that portfolio to ensure that it's actually being implemented. Very similar to climate. If climate is a priority of the administration, which he has stated, he has empowered former U.S. Senator John Kerry as the senior adviser on the issues of climate.

We believe that racial equity is as strong as a consideration as any other consideration. It would allow this nation to begin to address future opportunities by celebrating the diversity of this nation and empowering individuals to truly be included in the prosperity at this nation.

BOLDUAN: What was the reaction in the room? Did Biden - I mean can you tell us, did Biden say that sounds great? Or we'll think about it? JOHNSON: Right, so we put many things in front of him. And another thing we wanted to come out of this conversation is that there will be ongoing discussions around big-picture ideals such as this. And so -

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: But no concrete commitment to creating the positions in that meeting?

JOHNSON: No, there were no concrete commitments but there was a commitment to continue the conversation.