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FDA Now Considering Authorizing Pfizer/BioNTech Vaccine; New U.S. Jobless Claims Hit Three-Month High; U.S. Lawmakers Still at Impasse Over Stimulus Bill; President-Elect Joe Biden to Announce More Cabinet Picks; President Trump Pins Hopes on Dubious Texas Lawsuit. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired December 11, 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]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Just ahead here on the program, one step closer, a key panel recommends authorizing the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use in the U.S. We'll explain what happens next.

Also --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT REDFIELD, DIRECTOR, CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Probably for the next 60 to 90 days we're going to have more deaths per day than we had on 9/11.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Dire warning from the head of the Centers for Disease Control. Why medical experts say a vaccine won't come fast enough to stave off a grim winter.

Plus, keeping up the fight. President Trump takes his battle to overturn the election results to the country's highest court.

Welcome, everyone. If all goes well, the first doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID vaccine could be reaching American communities within days. It is now up to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration whether to accept its own advisory board's recommendation to authorize emergency use. America's top infectious disease doctor says it was the FDA's panel decision on Thursday that finally got the ball rolling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The reason I think this is so important is that 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 are made in essence by independent groups. So it was a very important step this evening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, the vaccine arriving of course as the coronavirus runs amuck across the U.S. Every day breaks another depressing record for deaths, for hospitalizations or new cases. There are currently a record 107,000 Americans in hospitals with COVID nationwide. And more keep coming every day, of course, as new cases explode. Hospitals running out of beds, exhausted frontline workers running on fumes.

Now, the U.S. President-elect Joe Biden called the FDA recommendation a quote bright light in a needlessly dark time. If the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine does get the go ahead as widely expected distribution of about 3 million doses could begin almost immediately. CNN's Sara Murray with our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We intend to act quickly.

SARA MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Within 24 hours of an FDA authorization, the first coronavirus vaccines are set to ship out across the country. FedEx and UPS on standby to carry the first batch of nearly three million doses from a Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to more than 600 sites nationwide.

RICHARD SMITH, REGIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAS & EXECUTIVE VP, FEDEX EXPRESS: There will be no high-priority shipments in our network than these vaccine shipments.

MURRAY: Another Operation Warp Speed partner, McKesson, is already shipping out supply kits, millions of syringes, needles, face masks, and vaccination cards.

The monumental task of beginning to vaccinate Americans coming as states are still grappling with uncertainty over exactly how many doses they'll receive and when. In Nebraska, the governor is warning delays could lie ahead.

GOV. PETE RICKETTS (R-NE): We have been notified that Pfizer shipments will be delayed for week two and week three. We've not been told what that actually means for us.

MURRAY: One thing is clear: nationwide, for a while supplies will be extremely limited.

DR. NIRAV SHAH, DIRECTOR, MAINE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION: Whenever the first shipment arrives, of course, it won't be enough for every single person in Maine who may want or need the vaccine. Unfortunately, that has prompted us to have to make some difficult, unsavory choices.

MURRAY: The first doses will be steered toward frontline healthcare workers and residents of long-term care facilities. Some hospitals are already setting up a delicate dance, staggering their staff vaccinations so entire departments aren't suffering the vaccine side effects, such as fevers and body aches, at the same time. And even those at the front of the vaccination line could still have to wait.

DR. NGOZI EZIKE, DIRECTOR, ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Definitely, we have to send the message that, yes, there are a lot of people in that priority group, and, yes, we want to make sure we get it to you, but no, it won't happen on day one or week one, or maybe even week two. So patients will be the name of the game.

MURRAY (on camera): Now it's still going to be months before we see this vaccine available to the general public. After we get through these healthcare workers, we're expecting essential workers could be next on the list.

[04:05:00]

Of course, it's going to be hard to decide who those essential workers actually are, and we're already starting to see early signs of lobbying campaigns today. An airline industry wrote to the CDC saying that these frontline aviation workers should be considered in this tranche of essential workers. You can bet, there are going to be a lot more pleas like that in the coming weeks and months.

Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): Dr. Peter Drobac is an infectious disease and global health expert at the University of Oxford in England. Doctor, good to see you.

So, the vaccine is about to roll out. And it's interesting, more than half now, 53 percent of Americans, have said they would like to get the first generation when it's available, according to recent polls. That percentage is going up. But putting a lid on the virus needs more like 75 to 80 percent of people, doesn't it? What happens if that number isn't reached?

DR. PETER DROBAC, INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND GLOBAL DISEASE EXPERT: Well, thank you for having me. That's right. Now we have to remember that we don't know yet for sure whether the vaccine prevents me from infecting others. We assume it does but the data don't show that yet. But presuming that's the case, we estimate we need at least 70 percent of a population to be vaccinated to give you that population level protection. We're going to have immunity from either natural infection or vaccination.

So, if we're at 53 percent that would suggest that at least 17 percent and probably a bit more of the population would need to be persuaded to ultimately get vaccinated if we want to have that effect.

HOLMES: Yes. What do you say to people who might think, well, you know, the vaccines are rolling out, this thing is about over? I mean the vaccine isn't a light switch, isn't it? It's more of a dimmer.

DROBAC: That's right. And it's frankly going to be on the slow dimmer. We know that we're not going to be a supply of vaccine. That's going to be really at scale until closer to the spring. It's going to be really months before vaccinations are going to be widespread enough that they're going to begin to turn the tide.

And as we just heard, we're experiencing a 9/11 level casualty event every single day in America. This is an emergency. The vaccine cannot help us today. The only thing that can help us today is being smarter about our decisions, masking, distancing, and frankly, having more restrictions on various kinds of indoor gatherings.

HOLMES: Yes, the vaccine, obviously, it's terrific news given what the world is going through at the moment. But there will be -- as we know, the priority groups and most vaccines need two doses, how long might it be before we're able to be effectively vaccinated?

DROBAC: Well, it's going to depend on a number of factors. Obviously, we're talking about the largest vaccination campaign in our lifetimes, not just in the U.S. but, of course, around the world.

So, there is a massive manufacturing burden. We've already seen a couple of shortfalls, you know, coming there. And then, obviously, the logistics of distribution and administering the vaccine. Realistically, I think it will be at least 6 months, but probably more likely a year before even in a place like the U.S. where a majority of the population would have access to vaccination.

HOLMES: Yes, you know, I'm curious on your take on, you know, the more your take on the more rapid tests as imperfect as they are. You know, other countries have them pretty much on demand. You know, they're not as accurate. Perhaps there are false positives. But the quick results and easy access could be effective in getting people to isolate. They're cheap. They're easy to make. Why aren't they more in use in the U.S. as they are elsewhere?

DROBAC: Some of it has to do I think with regulatory issues. And some of it has to do with overcoming, I think, a perception on a test being less accurate as therefore being less useful.

One of the most confounding things about COVID-19, what's made it so befuddling, is that so much of that transmission is happening in people without symptoms. So, I can be feeling perfectly well, walking around, infecting others without knowing it. And so, if we wait until people have system symptoms to test, we're going to miss a ton of transmission. We'll never get on top of this.

So rapid test, even if it's only 80 percent -- going to catch 80 percent of the cases, if everybody is getting tested frequently as a routine part of their business, that's going to really help us. Eighty percent is a lot better than 0 percent to do that.

So, you know, I think that actually in the short term, mass access to frequent rapid testing could make a bigger difference in helping us to control this pandemic even the vaccinations.

(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES (on camera): Our thanks to Dr. Peter Drobac there at Oxford University, speaking to me earlier.

Now millions of Americans are suffering in this pandemic of course, even those who haven't caught the virus. It is hitting them economically. More than 850,000 Americans filed first time unemployment benefit claims just last week. That is the largest number in three months.

Now, on top of that an alarming number of Americans are going hungry, and still Congress can't seem to agree on a new stimulus plan. CNN's Eleni Giokos joins me now.

[04:10:00]

Talk about how these latest jobless claims numbers are pointing to the economy perhaps weakening and how consequential that is?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, and look, Michael, when I look at these numbers and seeing it's at the highest level within three months and it's the biggest weekly rise since March, we know that this is directly correlated to the localize lockdowns due to a record number of coronavirus cases playing out in parts of the United States.

Economists are saying that this is pointing to a deteriorating labor market. And of course importantly, we have to look at this trend is going to continue over the holiday season. If you look deeper into those numbers embedded there of course are the continuous claims. 5.5 million, going up to 5.8 million people continuing to file for jobless benefits. And if you dig deeper, the people that were eligible for state benefits have exhausted those avenues. They're going to eventually into the pandemic emergency unemployment compensation fund which by the way, is only available for 13 weeks. Once you exhaust those avenues, you're left with nothing.

What is supposed to fill that gap then is of course the relief stimulus plan. Those benefits expired at the end of the July. You and I have been having conversations for so many months, self-imposed deadlines by both Republicans and Democrats missed constantly. And here we are, we've run out of time.

Legislative days for federal spending expire next week Friday. If the Republicans and Democrats don't come together to find a window of opportunity to talk about the two main sticking points on liability protections for businesses and aid for states and cities, then we're looking at delaying this even further into the new year.

We're talking about being on the cusp of the vaccination program in the United States. But we know it's going to take months. We don't know if people are going to require two doses. And all of these things are going to play a really important role in the health of the U.S. economy. So a bipartisan plan or the Steven Mnuchin plan, either way, Republicans and Democrats have run out of time.

HOLMES: Yet again, politicians detach from the realities going on in millions of American homes. Eleni Giokos, in Johannesburg, we'll leave it there. Appreciate your time, thank you.

Now more than a month after the U.S. presidency was called for Joe Biden, President Trump still trying to overturn the results. We'll have the details on the Republicans last ditch lawsuit when we come back.

[04:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris set to formally announce new members of their cabinet later today, and they include a lot of familiar faces from the Obama administration.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny with the latest appointments.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Joe Biden continues to fill out his cabinet here at his transition headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. He will be announcing new members including the Housing and Urban Development secretary, Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, as well as the agricultural secretary, Tom Vilsack. Of course he served in the post for all eight years of the Obama administration.

Other key advisers, including the U.S. trade representative and the head of the Domestic Policy Council and the Veterans Affairs secretary. Now many of these rank and file cabinet members are familiar faces. They do indeed come from the Obama administration.

And Mr. Biden, we're told, is not being defensive about picking some of these old hands. An ally of his tells me, look, he's going for competent leadership. He believes the government is broken and needs to have people filling the seats who know exactly what they're doing.

Now of course, one of the biggest seats remaining is attorney general. We are not expecting that to be announced until next week. Some leading contenders for that are Doug Jones, the outgoing Alabama Senator, as well as Judge Merrick Garland, of course who was once nominated to be on the Supreme Court. So all cabinet picks are expected to be picked by the Christmas holiday. After that, only a few weeks remaining until inauguration day.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well while Joe Biden moves full speed ahead to build his White House team, President Trump still insisting he won the election. Now he and his loyalists are backing a Supreme Court challenge from Texas demanding that millions of voters -- or votes in four key states that Biden won be tossed out. CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CROWD CHANTING: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

Four more years! Four more years!

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Surfacing at a White House holiday party, the president made it clear he wants the Supreme Court to gift-wrap the election for him, by siding with a group of pro-Trump state attorneys general, out to overturn the will of the people.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Certain very important people, if they have wisdom and if they have courage, we're going to win this election.

ACOSTA: Filing the lawsuit with the support of 18 Republican-led states, Texas GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton, who's under federal indictment and accused by Democrats of seeking a presidential pardon, wants the Supreme Court to consider the case before the Electoral College finalizes Joe Biden's victory next Monday.

KEN PAXTON, TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's a state-on-state action. The only place we can go is the U.S. Supreme Court.

ACOSTA: Pinning his hopes on the Texas case, the president is still scamming his supporters on social media, falsely tweeting --

How can you give an election to someone who lost the election by hundreds of thousands of legal votes in each of the swing states? How can a country be run by an illegitimate president?

Texas Senator Ted Cruz says he's willing to argue on behalf of the president before the Supreme Court.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I think we need a sense of resolution, and we need the Supreme Court to step in and ensure that we're following the Constitution and following the law.

ACOSTA: The same Cruz Mr. Trump repeatedly called a liar back in 2016.

TRUMP: Lying Ted Cruz. You know, he walks in, the Bible held high. Right? The Bible held high. He puts it down, comes over here, starts ranting and raving, and he starts lying.

ACOSTA: But other Texas Republicans are throwing cold water on the case. From Senator John Cornyn, who said, "I frankly struggle to understand the legal theory of it," to Congresswoman Kay Granger, who said, "I don't think it's going to go anywhere."

[04:20:00]

"The Atlanta Journal-Constitution" reported the president warned Georgia's attorney general against rallying opposition to the case, after he said it was constitutionally, legally, and factually wrong. Georgia Republicans are facing the wrath of Trump supporters, who threatened to boycott the states upcoming Senate runoff election. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some folks are saying they're not going to show up.

LUCRETIA HUGHES, TRUMP SUPPORTER: I understand them, because we're pissed. Give the Republican people and the base a reason to get up off our tails and go vote for you. Because if you don't stop this fraud of an election, you don't have our backs, so why are we having yours?

ACOSTA: The president's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, says he's ready to return to Mr. Trump's election crusade, after a bout with the coronavirus. Giuliani told WABC radio he received top-notch treatment because he's a Trump VIP.

RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY FOR TRUMP (via phone): Sometimes, when you're -- you know, you're a celebrity, they're worried if something happens to you, they're going to examine it more carefully and to do everything right.

ACOSTA: The president is fixated on the election as the pandemic is raging out of control, claiming more than 3,000 lives Wednesday, with the administration predicting there could be some 362,000 deaths by January. A reminder of all the times Mr. Trump downplayed the virus.

(on camera): What do you say to Americans who believe that you got this wrong?

TRUMP: And I do want them to stay calm, and we are doing a great job.

ACOSTA: As for that Texas lawsuit, the Pennsylvania attorney general has filed a blistering response to the case. In that filing, Pennsylvania accuses Texas of, quote, "seditious abuses" in its lawsuit.

Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): CNN political analyst, Toluse Olorunnipa joins me now from Washington, D.C. He is also a White House reporter for the Washington Post. Good to see you, Toluse.

Let's start with this bizarre Hail Mary lawsuit in the absence of evidence of fraud. Leave the case aside itself for the moment, but what does Republican support for it or silence about it say and what dangers does the president's path represent to the electoral system?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There is growing Republican support for this lawsuit even though it appears to be baseless and really without merit. But the president has been putting pressure on Republicans across the spectrum to support this lawsuit. He's really amped this lawsuit up as the sort of holy grail of this legal effort saying that this is where his fight -- where he wants his fight to be. And a result, because he has so much sway over the party, because he attacks members of his own party if they, you know, cross the line or if they decide to take a position that is different from his. There are several Republicans falling in line. And it shows how much they are willing to even sacrifice the democracy of the country in order to show allegiance to the president because they want --

HOLMES: Yes.

OLORUNNIPA: -- to preserve their own political fortune. So, it's clear that the president has a lot of strength in the party even though what he is doing is dangerous and is not in line -- and is not in keeping with the democratic values of the country.

HOLMES: Yes, critics talk about a personality cult and what -- I'm trying to imagine if Democrats did this in 2016 with the same lack of evidence. Why are Republicans enabling this course of action by the president and the damage it's doing? I mean, is it, as you say, just the fear of his wrath that anyone opposed to him as an enemy or could it be that they are true believers in what they're trying to do?

OLORUNNIPA: Behind the scenes, the vast majority of these Republicans realize that what they are doing is not in keeping with the facts on the ground. They know that the president lost his reelection. They know there was not massive fraud. But they want to, essentially, try to placate him by allowing him to move forward with these legal processes.

They know that they need to also speak to his voters because the polling shows that the vast majority of Republican voters believe what the president is saying. And if these Republican lawmakers decided to take a different position, they're going to be on the out with their voters. It's going to be hard for them to get reelected. The president is going to exact revenge on these Republicans.

So, this is really self-preservation. It's sort of a lack of political courage, where they are willing to take a stand for what is right. They're doing what's politically expedient by supporting the president's baseless claims, and that seems to be where the party is going at this moment.

If you want to have any standing within the Republican Party right now, you need to sign up for these conspiracy theories. You need to be on board with these baseless ideas of voter fraud, even though there's no evidence to back it up. And you have to put your name on the line and sign up for these lawsuits that are meritless and baseless. That's really where the Republican Party is right now.

HOLMES: And it really is. You got to wonder what damage is being done to the process long term.

I wanted to ask you about COVID relief and the congressional logjam. I know -- it's funny. You know, I saw that Taylor Swift has released two albums since the last relief bill for struggling Americans. That kind of puts the timeframe in perspective.

I mean, the delay in helping millions of people, many literally going hungry, just seems outrageous. Who is it hurting, politically? We know it is hurting on the street. [04:25:00]

OLORUNNIPA: Yes, it's really hurting the idea of Washington as a place where things get done. It's pretty clear in the minds of the American public that Washington has not been able to provide the kind of relief that is needed by millions of Americans. And it is really hurting both parties.

Republicans and Democrats have constituents that are struggling, that are suffering amid this pandemic. And with a record number of cases we are seeing, and the economy slowing down, President Trump is really nowhere to be found in these negotiations. We have already seen him, see his political fortunes dwindle because of the lack of progress and the amount of gridlock that has happened under his watch. So, he has already lost.

And there are a number of Republicans and Democrats that find themselves in the political crosshairs at this moment because the American people want there to be cooperation, and right now, there does not seem to be any of that.

HOLMES: Absolutely. We've only got a minute left, but I wanted to squeeze this in because a lot of people, friends of mine overseas, asked me this. It seems extraordinary to outsiders that one man, in this case, Mitch McConnell, can pretty much decide what gets voted on. And is that a portent of what is possible or likely if there is Republican Senate majority after February?

OLORUNNIPA: Yes, if Republicans can maintain control of the Senate, they will be able to block much a President-elect Joe Biden's agenda. They'll be able to stop him from passing the kinds of legislation that he wants to pass because if Mitch McConnell does not green light it, if he does not support it, then it won't go through.

He has the immense amount to power right now, and that's where there's a huge fight for these two runoffs in Georgia to determine control of the Senate. Because if Mitch McConnell maintains control, it will be very hard for Joe Biden to get anything done legislatively in the Congress with the Republican Senate in control.

HOLMES: It's amazing that you need one man controls what gets voted on. Toluse Olorunnipa, thank you so much. It's always good to get you on.

OLORUNNIPA: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (on camera): Now getting the U.S. government to sign off on a COVID vaccine is just half the battle. Next comes the huge challenge of shipping millions of doses across country at super cold temperatures. We'll have those details after the break.

Also, health care workers feeling the strain of soaring coronavirus cases. We'll talk to one nurse about the struggles and stress health care workers are experiencing. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)