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FDA Meets Tomorrow to Consider Authorizing Pfizer's COVID Vaccine; Supreme Court Rejects GOP's Attempt to Overturn Pennsylvania Election Results; CNN Reports, First Lady Melania Trump Just Wants to Go Home. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired December 09, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:01]

DERRICK JOHNSON, PRESIDENT, NAACP: And so there were seven of us.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: But no concrete commitment to creating positions in that meeting?

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

BOLDUAN: As Jessica Dean, was just reporting, Tom Vilsack is expected to be named as Biden's agriculture secretary, a position that he held in the Obama administration. You specifically called out Vilsack, we've talked about this, as someone that you do not want in the cabinet. Did you bring this up to the president-elect in your meeting?

JOHNSON: Well, it was expressed a concern but we also respect the authority of the president to select the cabinet. And once we have expressed that directly, we want to pivot and look at the totality of the appointments to ensure that African-American specifically are allowed to fully participate in the policy priorities around racial equity as a part of all of the appointments of the cabinet.

BOLDUAN: So your tone, Derrick, seems softer than when you and I last spoke about the agriculture secretary. Are you warming to the idea of having Vilsack as agriculture secretary?

JONSON: Oh, our position is the same, but once the decision is made by the president, then we have to adapt where we go here. It's not that our position has changed on former Secretary Vilsack, it is the same. But we also recognize that the president has the prerogative of selecting a cabinet.

It is our goal to provide input as much as receive around what we feel will be in the good, best interest not only of the nation but with our communities. Because we represent African-Americans both urban and rural, we represent black farmers, we represent many individuals who depend on the Department of Agriculture for healthy, quality food. And so as a result of that, we have done an analysis and we say we feel there would be somebody better placed in this position, but with that, that's only our input. The president always will have the final say on cabinet appointments.

BOLDUAN: Would you say that you are proud of the cabinet that you've seen President-elect Biden lay out so far?

JOHNSON: It's evolving. And the other thing about cabinet heads is also going to be important that they surround themselves with individuals who understand the need for racial equity. You look at ag, a lot of our historically black colleges that are (INAUDIBLE) would depend on an equitable department of ag to provide, to support so they can grow.

You have many black farmers who would depend on an equitable Department of Ag so they can recoup land that was lost because of past injuries. So the cast at the head of that department is also going to be very important.

BOLDUAN: Derrick, thank you for coming on. I appreciate it.

JOHNSON: Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity.

BOLDUAN: Coming up, this time tomorrow, the FDA vaccine advisory committee will be meeting to decide whether or not the vaccine should be approved for emergency use in the United States. One of the 23 doctors on that board who will be making this call joins me next.

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[11:35:00]

BOLDUAN: We have breaking news just in, Canada just joined the United Kingdom and now approving Pfizer's coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in Canada. Here in the United States, the FDA's vaccine advisory board will be holding a nine-hour meeting tomorrow to decide whether or not that very same vaccine should be approved here. And you'll be able to watch. Not only has the FDA released the briefing materials, the meeting is expected to be livestreamed as well.

One of the doctors who will help make this final recommendation is Dr. James Hildreth. He is an infectious disease expert and the president of Meharry Medical College, and he joins me here right now. Doctor, thank you for being here.

So you start tomorrow morning.

DR. JAMES HILDRETH, MEMBER, FDA VACCINE ADVISORY BOARD: Good morning, Kate. Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: Of course. You start tomorrow morning. How quickly do you think this authorization could come?

HILDRETH: Well, after the committee has a chance to hear the reports about the data, there will be a vote taken at the end of the day and the commissioner might make the decision as early as tomorrow or Friday.

BOLDUAN: So there's no pause, there's no wait? When you all -- what you guys recommend, the decision could come almost immediately?

HILDRETH: Yes. I think the commissioner has that prerogative to make that decision.

BOLDUAN: So the FDA has put out all of these briefing documents on the Pfizer vaccine. With what you've seen, Doctor, are you a yes for emergency authorization at this point?

HILDRETH: So unless there are some surprises in the data that we've not been made privy to, I don't think there are, I'm very excited about the results. And what's more exciting to me, Kate, is that there are two vaccines based on this platform that have provided almost exactly the same results and that also, to me, is a very encouraging and exciting result of all of this.

BOLDUAN: Yes, exciting and encouraging I think is what everyone is looking for at this moment, Doctor, and that's why we're looking to you in large part. We've learned this morning about two cases of an allergic reaction to the Pfizer vaccine in the United Kingdom. Is that a concerning surprise to you? Does that give you any pause?

[11:40:01]

HILDRETH: It really does not, Kate. It's not unusual when you introduce a new vaccine or new medicine, that there will be one or a few individuals who have an allergic reaction to them. What's happening now is that Pfizer and the U.K. health officials are going to pinpoint exactly what it is in the vaccine formulation that caused that allergic reaction.

Keep in mind that 40,000 people-plus participated in evaluating this vaccine, and only rarely did they see any kind of allergic reaction. So, this is not a major concern. They're going to sort out what it is and make sure folks who are allergic to that thing do not get the vaccine. So I'm not concerned about it at all.

BOLDUAN: As we saw in the data that was released, the documents that were released, people with an allergic reaction, a history of allergic reactions as well as pregnant women or women who are breastfeeding as well as people under the age of 16 were not part of the Pfizer trials. If approval is given, if you all recommend that tomorrow, what does this mean for this group of folks?

HILDRETH: Well, first, there were a number of women who became pregnant during the study itself, more than 20, I believe. And some of them withdrew from the study but some of them stayed in the study. So they're going to be followed over the long-term, maybe as many as two years, just to make sure the vaccine had no adverse effects on the women or the babies they deliver.

And there are also ongoing studies in rats to determine whether or not the vaccine has detrimental effects on fetuses or newborns. So there's going to be a lot of data we'll have in hand to make some decisions about pregnancy. But at the moment, it does not appear to be harmful to women or damage their chances of becoming pregnant.

So it's being evaluated. But at the moment, I don't think we have any concerns about pregnancy for this vaccine.

BOLDUAN: That's very interesting. A key concern for many in public health is convincing people to get the vaccine once it is approved. And that is especially a concern among black Americans considering the horrible history of medical mistreatment that African-Americans have faced. This is, I'm sure, a key consideration and concern of the panel, for sure. How do you instill a sense of confidence there? What do you think, Doctor?

HILDRETH: So, Kate, our approach is to identify trusted messengers. I learned this lesson in my work in HIV that unless the messenger is trusted, who delivers the messages about the vaccine or encouragement about the vaccine, is not going to be very effective.

And we're trying to do is to provide agency to minorities to they can make an informed decision. I honestly believe that if enough information is provided regarding safety, how the vaccine has been produced, the science underpinning the vaccine, that people will make the right decision. And the decision for minorities at this point is to get vaccinated because we are bearing the burden of the disease more than anyone else in the country.

So, our approach is to provide as much information that's factually- based that people can decide for themselves and make the right decision. And the right decision is going to be get vaccinated because we need it more than others.

BOLDUAN: No kidding. Doctor, I mean, you're one of those trusted voices. Is there one piece of data you would say that black Americans should be listening to, to convince them to go forward with the vaccine?

HILDRETH: Well, one of the things I hear often, Kate, is that people do not want to be guinea pigs like the men who were in the Tuskegee experiment. This is not Tuskegee, by any means. African-Americans and minorities have been on all sides of the table. They're among the scientists who helped develop the vaccine. There are two African- Americans sitting on the panel to review the vaccine for approval. So, at all levels bringing us to this point, going back quite some time, actually, African-Americans have been involved.

And I want people to know that we are at the table, we are part of the decision-making process and this is not Tuskegee. Tuskegee was horrible. But as a result of it, human research has never been the same. We have data monitoring boards, we have institution review boards. The level of transparency in this case is really unprecedented. So probably (ph) you could trust the process, this scientific process, this is it, because of the people involved and because of the transparency.

BOLDUAN: Sorry for the audio delay. Thank you very much, Dr. Hildreth. I really appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Good luck tomorrow. HILDRETH: Thank you for having me.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

Still ahead for us, new reporting just in to CNN on First Lady Melania Trump, she's ready to go home, the details, next.

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[11:45:00]

BOLDUAN: The U.S. Supreme Court just refused to take up a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to block the certification of the state's presidential election results. So what will President Trump and his allies in Washington say now after saying this for so long?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): When the process is over, we're going to know the results.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): There's a process in the law that exists after the election, before the results are certified, that process has to be allowed to move forward.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): I'm okay with the way things are going. The president's challenging the election results and within the rule of law, and that's allowed in America.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO) (voice over): The president has every right to present his case and every court that he wants to go to and has every right to be heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[11:50:05]

BOLDUAN: He did, he was heard, and it is over after the Supreme Court decides. That brings us to a question CNN Stephen Collinson imposed in a great new piece. He asked, the only questions now are how many times that President Donald Trump wants to lose the election to President- elect Joe Biden, and whether his Republican acolytes on Capitol Hill will wake up and recognize reality.

CNN's John Harwood joins me, now. John, now, there is a long-shot lawsuit out of Texas. So, is the answer this will never end?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this is a ridiculous lawsuit. It's not going anywhere. And, you know, on -- the question Stephen posed in that piece, when are they going to acknowledge it?

Have you ever seen those advertisements for hair-dye products that they offer for guys and you put in a little bit each day, and the gray gradually goes away, and then, you get to the other side, and all of a sudden, you don't have gray, anymore? Obviously, I have not used those products. But they are hoping to do it that way so that nobody ever notices that they change.

They can duck and dodge and offer statements of the kind that you just played. Until, all of a sudden, the Electoral College has voted and the inaugural stands are all built and the transition is well underway. And they can just treat it as a fact without ever having to do anything about it or say anything about it. That's not an option for state leaders. People like Brian Kemp, Geoff Duncan, governor and lieutenant governor of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, they have got to certify. They've got to do things.

And once they do that following the law, they get to denounced by President Trump, legislators are going to try to slide by this thing, that is federal legislators, are going to try to slide by this thing without ever drawing Trump's attention or the wrath of his supporters.

BOLDUAN: So, John, the strategy here is, for Republicans, is hair club for men, election style. I get it.

HARWOOD: Boom, you got it.

BOLDUAN: I get it. I get it. It's good to see you, John. Thank you.

HARWOOD: You bet.

BOLDUAN: All right. So we, also, have this just in, new reporting on First Lady Melania Trump. Sources are telling CNN she wants to go home, while President Trump is putting, as we were just talking about with John, all his focus into long-shot, dead end attempts to stay in the White House. And the first lady is focused on life after Washington and a smooth transition back to Mar-a-Lago for her and her 14-year-old son, Barron.

CNN's Kate Bennett has this new reporting. She is joining me right now. Kate, tell me what you are learning.

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, the thing is, as you just said, Kate, the president is wanting to stay. And the first lady is publicly very much, aligning with him, attending his rally the other day.

She hasn't come out and publicly said anything that she wants to go home. But, privately, she is putting out feelers, trying to possibly establish an office in Mar-a-Lago. She is packing up the White House, determining what goes, where. She is thinking about schools for their son back down in Florida. All of these things are happening. They started happening, shortly after the election was announced for President-elect Joe Biden.

So, again, behind the scenes, this is a first lady who is very much gearing up to think about life after the White House while her husband is still continuing this false hope that he may stay another four years. Again, it's that back and forth between the first couple that we see. She oftentimes is acting independently of what he is doing. This is very much the case as the Trump administration winds down.

BOLDUAN: Historically, we have seen, of course, first ladies continuing initiatives that they have started while they were in the White House and continuing it, when they -- after they transition back to civilian life. Do you have any -- private life. Do you have any sense if that's what the first lady is planning to do?

BENNETT: Well, I mean, she put out feelers to an emissary about whether or not there is a budget to establish an official office after the White House. There is not for first ladies. There is for presidents. First ladies don't get that. So it does indicate -- some people I talked to said she would like to continue some of her be-best initiatives in an official way.

However, you know, this is not an initiative that people sort of roll off the tongue and they understand, they get the point, et cetera, as previous first ladies have done. And her office in the east wing is very small. It remains around 10 or 12 people, and it has for four years. So, thinking about an established office in Florida outside of the White House, I don't think it's going to be a huge priority for her.

I don't think she is a prolific speaker or going to get on the speaking circuit. She is considering a book. However, I am hearing it's not a memoir. It may be history of the White House or design or decor.

So, certainly, we might expect her post-White House life nontraditional as her in the White House life has been as first lady.

BOLDUAN: Well, as she considers a book. I do know someone who wrote a very good book on First Lady Melania Trump that I could recommend, written by a great woman named Kate Bennett. It's very good to see you, Kate. Thank you so much for bringing that reporting. Let's see how Melania Trump acts as they are headed out of the White House. Thank you so much.

Coming up for us, a warning coming from the White House coronavirus task force about how long it will take for the coronavirus vaccine, once it is approved, which could be tomorrow, to significantly reduce how long it's going to take to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

I'm Kate Bolduan. We'll be back.

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