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FDA Decision on Pfizer Vaccine Imminent as COVID Cases Surge; 100-Plus GOP Reps Back Texas Suit to Undo Election Results in Four States; More States Issue New Restrictions, Stay-at-Home Orders. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired December 11, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Morning, everyone, I'm Poppy Harlow.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

A decision and perhaps some good news imminent, the FDA could announce it is authorizing Pfizer's vaccine for emergency use. That announcement could come at any moment. HHS Secretary Alex Azar says the agency does plan to move forward.

HARLOW: And hours from now, another big step, a CDC advisory panel will meet. That sets up the final vote on the vaccine. That's expected to come on Sunday. And that means that Americans could start getting vaccinated just in a few days, critical as the nation is seeing its most dire days so far in this pandemic. And experts warn it is just going to get much worse from here.

So, let's begin this hour with our Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Good morning to you, Elizabeth. Talk us through what the next 24, 48 hours look like.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Poppy and Jim. This is indeed going to be a momentous weekend. Let's talk about what our sources tell us is going to happen. We are hearing that on Saturday, the FDA is expected to give its emergency use authorization that authorized the vaccine to be used. We hear it's going to happen Saturday, that's not written in stone but that's what government workers are told to expect.

And then on Sunday, a committee at the Centers for Disease Control is already scheduled to vote on this vaccine because this needs approval not just from the FDA but also from the CDC. And then after that, CDC director Dr. Robert Redfield will sign something accepting the committee's recommendation, which should happen within hours.

So, by the end of the day, Sunday, we could have an approved coronavirus vaccine. Poppy, Jim?

SCIUTTO: Okay. Can you explain to us how this emergency use authorization would work? Who does that then open to getting the vaccine right away?

COHEN: So, usually, we're used to just drugs being approved by the FDA and then whoever gets it, gets it. There's not any priority. It's whoever gets prescribed it, gets prescribed it. That is not the case with an emergency use authorization. With an emergency use authorization, the government steps in and has a heavy hand in saying, these are the people who are going to get it first.

So let's take a look at this. And we're expecting that this first group could start getting shots maybe even as early as Monday, certainly early next week. That first group will be health care workers and nursing home residents.

Next after that, over the next several months, other high risk groups are expected to be getting vaccines, other elderly people, essential workers, like police officers and firefighters and also those with underlying medical conditions. And later would be everyone else. By later, we mean probably the spring. That's what we are told. If you're not in a high-risk groups, you probably won't be vaccinated until the spring or maybe even into the summer.

Now, let's be clear, there are some groups who may not get vaccinated at all, and that's because there's not enough data to show that it's safe for these groups. So, let's go over who these groups are. There's really not any data on children under the age of 16, and whether the vaccine is safe for them, same with women who are pregnant or breast- feeding, those people with immune compromised systems, or people who had bad reactions to vaccine in the past. It may be that the FDA and CDC tell those groups, you know what, for now, you will not be getting vaccinated until we do more studies. Poppy, Jim?

SCIUTTO: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much. It's good news. It's moving. That's great.

Well, once authorized, the UPS and FedEx say that within 24 hours, they will begin carrying the Pfizer vaccine by both air and ground to more than 600 hospitals and pharmacies across this country.

HARLOW: Let's learn more about how they're going to actually get it to you. Pete Muntean, our colleague, joins us in Michigan again this morning. You are right in front one of Pfizer's main biggest facilities where they're going to ship this vaccine from. What's the timeline like and the logistics for them to get it all over the country? And it has to be freezing the whole time.

[10:05:00]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And, Poppy and Jim, you mentioned that Pfizer says it will send trucks out, could be carrying the vaccine within 24 hours of that final FDA American use authorization. This sport is so critical to the vaccine distribution network, Pfizer's facility here in Kalamazoo, Michigan, its largest facility, sprawling complex, 1,300 acres.

We know that vaccine arrived here late last month, but according to Operation Warp Speed, this vaccine could be leaving here bound for 600 individual locations. Those are places like hospitals, pharmacies, CVS and Walgreens. It is UPS and FedEx responsible for physically delivering those packages, UPS, responsible for delivering on the eastern half of the country.

And what's so interesting here is that it says that each package will come equipped with a thermal sensor. We know that the temperature of the Pfizer vaccine is critical in transportation. It needs to be negative 100 degrees Fahrenheit. That thermal sensor can beam the temperature inside the box packed with dry ice back to UPS headquarters in Louisville.

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WES WHEELER, PRESIDENT, UPS HEALTHCARE: Trailer loads that are coming out of Michigan and Wisconsin will carry this device and all that data is streaming in to our command center in Louisville. So we can see and we have eyes on these shipments all the way from origin to the final destination.

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MUNTEAN: No, it's not just companies bearing the burden here. The federal government is also helping out. We have learned that truckers now have relaxed restrictions to be able drive extra hours. Air traffic control is now being directed to give cargo flights carrying the vaccine priority clearance through the national airspace system. And we're also learning that U.S. marshals will be monitoring the security of these shipments. It is a massive movement, Jim and Poppy, and it all starts right here in Michigan.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: It does soon, as you said. Maybe 24, 48 hours, they'll be heading out. Pete, thank you so very much.

Joining us now is Dr. Jesse Goodman, he's a former FDA chief scientist and current professor of medicine at Georgetown University Medical Center. Good morning, it's good to have you.

DR. JESSE GOODMAN, FORMER FDA CHIEF SCIENTIST: Good morning, very exciting.

HARLOW: Can you explain to people who may be waking up this morning confused saying, well, I thought if the FDA committee advised the FDA yes, then they would just approve it and why is the CDC now a body that has to vote on Sunday? Can you explain that?

GOODMAN: Yes, sure. Well, first of all, as you pointed out, this is an emergency authorization. It's not the same as a full approval. But there is really strong evidence of efficacy and safety. CDC looks at the whole public health picture and helps decide who should be prioritized, who should get it first, and with the support of FDA's data, those recommendations go out. So it's an important additional step where there's outside expert input and an opportunity for the public to participate. SCIUTTO: There has been unevenness, I mean, if that's right word, in terms of access to health care throughout this pandemic, who can get tests quickly, who can get some of these experimental treatments quickly, concerns then about the vaccine as well.

I want to play what Dr. Fauci said on the FDA panel's recommendations and get your thoughts. Have a listen.

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DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We want to make sure that we impress the American public that decisions that involve their health and safety are made outside of the realm of politics, outside of the realm of self-aggrandizement and made, in essence, by independent groups.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Should Americans be confident that that holds true as the vaccine is distributed and why?

GOODMAN: Well, one, I'm very proud that FDA has had this speedy, but yet science-based processed and this transparency with its advisory committee and has taken the time to look hard at this data, perform its own analysis. And I think that increases the confidence we can have. So that's excellent.

I do think as the vaccine is rolled out, there are issues of equity. First, people need to realize there's very, very limited vaccine, not even enough right now to immunize that first group. So you're going to need to be careful and even though this is hopefully the beginning of the end of the pandemic, we're all going to need to keep distancing and keep wearing face coverings.

The other thing, as it's distributed, we want to be sure that it's distributed fairly to all those who are in those initial priority groups.

HARLOW: I want you to react to something that we heard from the person who heads up not the full CDC but the respiratory viruses branch, and his name is Aron Hall. And he said yesterday that he thinks the number of deaths is actually extremely undercounted. I think we have that sound. I just want you to explain this to folks. Here it is.

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ARON HALL, CHIEF OF RESPIRATORY VIRUSES BRANCH, CDC: Based on surveys and models, the total estimated number of infections is likely two to seven times greater than reported cases.

[10:10:06]

We do feel, as with hospitalizations and illnesses, that the reported number of deaths is likely an underestimate of the true number of deaths. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Two to seven times underestimate. What does that tell you about what we need to know now as we move into the vaccination phase?

GOODMAN: Well, first, it tells you that with these hundreds of thousands of infections and 3,000 deaths daily, this is a serious problem. And as I said we can't let up our guard. You know, it's -- lots of people with mild illness may not get tested. There are people who come into the hospital and die and the diagnosis may not be made. So we're not always seeing all of this problem. And that's really what this tells us, that we really need this vaccine, we really need a strong program of testing so that we identify individuals who are infected and we need to take public health measures and take this virus seriously.

SCIUTTO: A lot of inpatients in the country, understandably, to get on the other side of this. Dr. Fauci said that if the rollout runs smoothly, we'll have some form of normality, his words, by next summer, certainly the fall. What's your best assessment as to when that happens?

GOODMAN: Yes. I would agree with those predictions. I think both from the -- unfortunately, from the virus ripping through the population and then as increasing amounts of vaccine get used, that will kick in and start to protect more individuals. So I do think we're going to hopefully see this begin to go down towards the second half of last year. I would hope for sooner.

We still don't know how vaccine production is going to go. This is all new, new technology, new manufacturing. But let's hope it gets ramped up very quickly.

SCIUTTO: Well, Dr. Goodman, thanks so much for the work you're doing.

GOODMAN: My pleasure. Thanks, and stay safe.

SCIUTTO: Still to come this hour, a new twist in President Trump's re-election fight, more than 100 Republicans are supporting a lawsuit that has no basis to overturn the 2020 election. And now, the four battleground states targeted in this, they're firing back.

Plus, hospitals are struggling to treat COVID patients and now they're getting ready to vaccinate people, perhaps in just days. How one facility is making sure this will all go smoothly.

HARLOW: Also for us this hour, restaurants across the country are pleading this morning for a COVID lifeline and everyone is feeling the pinch. We're going to speak with two world-renowned chefs in San Francisco who wrote a letter to Speaker Pelosi pleading for help.

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[10:15:00]

SCIUTTO: Awaiting word now from the Supreme Court for a response this morning after more than 100 GOP lawmakers signed a brief supporting a Texas lawsuit, which is seeking, in the simplest terms, to invalidate millions of votes. All four of the battleground states mentioned in the case have issued their own blistering responses.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN White House Correspondent John Harwood, CNN Supreme Court Reporter Ariane de Vogue and Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju.

Ariane, if could begin with you. The Supreme Court already knocked down one case from Pennsylvania very swiftly and definitively earlier this week. When do we expect to hear from the Supreme Court on this one?

ARIANE DE VOGUE, CNN SUPREME COURT REPORTER: Right, Jim. Well, this particular one is a very unusual case, right, because you basically have one state, Texas, supported by Trump, telling other states that he didn't like the way they ran their elections.

And the Supreme Court often takes disputes between states, right, and they'll hear it directly. But, usually, those disputes are about issues like water rights or boundaries. And here, this doesn't seem to have that kind of injury between two states. And the more the Supreme Court sees this one as a political brawl and not discreet legal issue, the less likely they're going to rule in favor of Texas.

But Texas is going on making these arguments, because of COVID, they say, the state actors violated the state election law. And the states come back and say, look, we -- this dispute doesn't belong here and this has already been handled in the courts below. So now, the Supreme Court today, as early as today, could rule on this. They're meeting behind closed doors in a conference.

SCIUTTO: Just quickly, doesn't the Constitution leave it to states, Ariane, to write and carry out election laws?

DE VOGUE: That's the dispute here, and that's exactly what the states are saying. They're saying this isn't a job for the Supreme Court to step in, right? This is for the states.

SCIUTTO: Manu, 106 House Republicans, who I constantly keep noting on the air, were all elected in this same election that they're attacking. And 16 of them, I believe, in the states involved in this. You speak to a lot of lawmakers on the Hill. When you asked them, do you question your own election as a result, what's their answer to that?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They don't. And I have asked that question to a number of them. One of them being the House Freedom Caucus chairman, Andy Biggs, who says that he does not question his own election. He, like the president, is making that argument that has not yet been proven in court, that does not have evidence to back it up, that there was something nefarious that happened at the top of the ticket.

The down ticket was different. He believes that happened in his state of Arizona, which Joe Biden won. That is the argument that Republicans have been making, arguing that voting by mail, the way that these states have done it, in their view, is unconstitutional.

[10:20:04]

But a lot of Republicans don't view it that way. Some are pushing back. I've spoken to some from Texas themselves who are critical of it, including the senior Texas Republican senator, John Cornyn, who told me that he questions the legal theory behind this. Also another veteran Texas Republican, Kay Granger, said that this suit is just a distraction. Another Texas Republican, Chip Roy, who is a junior Texas Republican, said that this is not the way to go down.

And the Republican leadership in the House Has been split on this. Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, did not sign onto it. I asked him twice yesterday if he supports this lawsuit. He would not respond. So some of the Republicans are in a difficult spot as the president asks for loyalty, asks them to sign on. But some recognize that this suit is probably going to go nowhere and raises some serious questions about their efforts to overturn the elections here. So they may not be speaking out, but they're not joining this either.

SCIUTTO: We should note that every time Republicans in a number of forums have brought up this fraud allegation in court, they have lost the cases, and, in fact, have not alleged even that fraud in court, where there are sanctions for making false allegations.

But, John Harwood, I mean, this is, in effect, more a P.R. campaign than a legal one, is it not? And, one, even if the Supreme Court decides to knock this down today, do you expect it to end or is this something the president carries all the way to 2024?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I expect the president to continue ranting about the election defeat that he can't accept for some time to come. I think it's way too early to expect that the president is -- may run for re-election in 2024, setting aside his age, the fact that his health is not particularly great.

This is a president who is now facing a criminal investigation in New York. We just had reporting this morning from The New York Times that said that Cy Vance and his prosecutors, the Manhattan district attorney, have been questioning his bankers and insurance brokers about potential fraud.

And so, you know, this president has got a lot of things to worry about after he leaves office on January 20th than running for re- election, but that's not going to stop him because he finds it difficult emotionally and psychologically to accept that he was defeated, he's going to rant about it.

And to the extent that he continues to have a grip on the base of the Republican Party and, therefore, makes these Republican members afraid of him and afraid that he can turn that base against them, they're going to go along with it. It's a pretty sad spectacle.

SCIUTTO: Manu, just quickly, before we go, does this foreshadow efforts in GOP-controlled state legislatures to restrict or ban mail- in voting for the next election? RAJU: Yes. And I think it's going to not just do that but also on the congressional level, you're going to see Republicans try to take aim at mail-in voting. They probably aren't going to succeed in getting something through Congress, certainly not with a Democratic House. But they'll try to raise questions about it on the federal level.

You'll see those Republican state legislatures. You mentioned it go after it as well. But watch if the Senate Republicans retain control of the majority, those then to try to raise questions, investigate mail-in voting and do what they can to either pass something on the federal level, perhaps pressure the states to act instead. Jim?

SCIUTTO: John Harwood, Ariane de Vogue, Manu Raju, thanks very much.

HARLOW: All right. Still ahead for us, health care workers are preparing for a new chapter of this pandemic. We're going to take you inside a hospital that's being transformed right now into a vaccination site.

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[10:25:00]

HARLOW: Well, as we wait for the likely move by the FDA to give authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer, for three straight days, daily COVID cases in this country have topped more than 200,000 and more states are implementing new restrictions trying to stop the spread.

SCIUTTO: Well, Pennsylvania is temporarily prohibiting indoor dining in restaurants with indoor gatherings limited to just 10 people. Virginia has announced a statewide curfew from midnight to 5:00 A.M. starting Monday. And Delaware has issued a stay at home advisory with a 10:00 P.M. curfew for all restaurants and bars in the state. A lot of states taking different steps here.

Let's go to CNN's Adrienne Broaddus, she is in Chicago Rush University Medical Center. Adrienne, this hospital is one of the first locations that will receive the vaccine. So are they ready?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jim, they are preparing. You see they've already transformed this hall way behind me. This what's called the vaccine preparation area. Over in that corner, there is a fridge set at 3 degrees Celsius. It will store the vaccine that is already ready to be administered to health care workers here at Rush. And on the side of the hallway facing the windows, they have vaccine stations set up, ten of them.

[10:30:04]

Later this morning, Rush is going to do a test run with its staff.