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CDC Vaccine Advisers Vote To Recommend Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine In The U.S.; Biden To Travel To Georgia Tuesday Ahead Of Critical Senate Runoffs; CDC Director Issues Dire Warning As Coronavirus Deaths Rise; Letters To Santa Reveal COVID Toll On Children; Answering Viewers' Legal Questions In CNN's "Cross Exam"; Protests In California Over Stay-At-Home Orders As Cases Soar. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired December 12, 2020 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:42]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for being with us in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A historic day. CDC vaccine advisors have just voted to recommend the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccines for people age 16 and older. So, this is the second to last step to getting this vaccine in Americans' arms. It just needs the signoff from the CDC director and hopefully then beginning the end of this pandemic.

No vaccine has ever been developed faster, and it couldn't have come at a more desperate time. Yesterday, the U.S. shattered every single record, including hospitalizations and the number of deaths -- 3,309 American deaths due to COVID-19 reported yesterday alone. That is more in a single day here in the U.S. than some countries have seen during the entire pandemic. In fact, more than Japan and South Korea's total death toll combined.

We are following all the latest developments.

CNN correspondent Adrienne Broaddus is standing by at a Chicago hospital where they are prepping to receive the first vaccines and CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is at Pfizer manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

So, let's start there with you, Pete. When will we see trucks leave with the first doses?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, we're getting new insight into why the vaccine is not on the move right this moment. Pfizer says shipments will start here starting tomorrow morning. What's so interesting is that this spot is so critical to the vaccine distribution network, Pfizer's largest facility near Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Operation Warp Speed says vaccine will start leaving here bound for 600 individual locations. Those are places like hospitals, pharmacies, CVS, and Walgreens. But Operation Warp Speed says many of those places will not actually

see the vaccine until Monday. The bulk of the shipments arriving on Tuesday. It is FedEx and UPS who are carrying those packages and FedEx tells us there is a reason why the vaccine is not on the move right this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD SMITH, REGIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAS AND EXECUTIVE VP, FEDEX: We could deliver it within 24 hours, but the decision was made by the team that because there are hundreds of administration sites that are going to be receiving these, they thought it best that we wait until Monday to deliver them to ensure they're all open and ready to receive. So, a weekday, a normal business day seemed like the optimal time to send out those first shipments, rather than try to get them delivered on a Sunday, when some of these administrative sites might be short staffed or not open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: This is not just a ground game, Ana. Also an air operation. The FAA is directing airports to get ready for vaccine shipments, whether or not they were expecting them already. It says, s get ready for trucks, step up security.

You know, this could be the beginning of the end of this pandemic, but it's just the start of a massive movement beginning here in Michigan -- Ana.

CABRERA: We'll check back with you, Pete. Thanks for that update.

Adrienne, you are at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and the staff there is preparing to receive the very first doses of the vaccine. What's that process going to be like for them?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a complicated process, and once healthcare employees are most at risk for contracting the virus get to this stage in the process, it will look no different than, let's say, someone getting a flu shot.

This is the employee vaccine clinic. Behind me, you see the vaccine prep area. And you'll notice right now, the sunlight comes through with ease but engineers and staff here at Rush learned this morning the vaccine is sensitive to light. So in the next few minutes, they're going to transform this area and darken it.

Over on my right, you will notice there are vaccine stations here. Ten of them. This is where those employees will receive that shot in the arm. Each station will be equipped with an EpiPen. That's in case someone has an allergic reaction.

And after those employees receive the shot, they'll be in the waiting area, which is down the hallway. Staff wants to monitor and just to make sure those employees don't have an adverse reaction.

But if something were to go wrong, Rush has already planned for it. This vaccine clinic is right near the emergency department, so help is close by.

I spoke with a clinical physician who's going to administer the first shot.

[16:05:02]

He says it's complicated, and there's a lot of pressure, but he is ready to start getting shots in the arms of those healthcare employees here who have been working so hard to save lives of COVID-19 patients. And not all employees who are eligible to receive a shot have said they want to get one. The hospital is conducting a survey to understand their needs -- Ana.

CABRERA: Thank you both.

I want to bring in now Dr. William Schaffner. He's a professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University and the division of infectious diseases.

Dr. Schaffner, this is the first ever emergency use authorization given to a vaccine for use on the American general public. I just want to know what your feelings are like about this moment. It is certainly historic.

DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, DIVISION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Oh, Ana, you can't believe how excited I am. It wasn't long ago, just a few minutes, when I got off that call with the CDC.

I've been listening to that discussion all day, and they all voted unanimously, yes, go, and our folks here at the hospital, my own medical center at Vanderbilt and my good colleagues down at the Tennessee Department of Health, they have been planning for this for weeks. So, they are prepared, ready to get the vaccine, and get our vaccination program going.

It's light at the end of the tunnel. It's a long tunnel, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. This is a safe and effective vaccine.

I can't wait to get it. I'm ready. I hope everybody else gets it too.

CABRERA: You can't wait to get it and yeah, I think, people are thinking, gosh, it happened so fast. Can we really trust it?

The head of the FDA says the decision to grant this EUA was based on science and data, despite some of the pretty heavy political pressure we saw from the White House that, you know, desperately wants credit for a successful vaccine.

So you're satisfied that the timing is appropriate and is grounded only in the wellbeing of the American people?

SCHAFFNER: Absolutely satisfied. Yes. We've worked very hard and very fast, and we have used wonderful 21st century science, but no corner has been cut. This was a unanimous vote by a tough, serious committee. You know,

Ana, I've been associated with that committee for over 30 years. They look at the data very carefully, and to a person, they said they were ready to get the vaccine and give it to their family members. I'm right up there with them.

CABRERA: It's such great news and we should trust it, especially hearing that from you, and yet, we know there are a lot of questions. There aren't any studies on long-term side effects because it just hasn't been around for that long. We do know there are some short-term potential side effects at the site of the injection, you might have a sore arm, you might get some chills, you might develop some fatigue but they say that's normal, to be expected. It could, you know, be 24 to 48 hours and then it's worth the immunity.

But what about long-term side effects? Should we have concerns about that? How do we know there won't be potential effects long-term?

SCHAFFNER: Well, we will have a surveillance system out there looking for those. We don't anticipate any. There's no biological reason why that should happen. But we're going to be very careful and if we get any what we call a signal that something might be going on, we have investigative teams ready to go to work and look at that very, very carefully.

We are going to be completely straightforward with everybody. You've gotten all the information already. You said it. Expect some sore arms, maybe not feeling great the next day. That's your immune system working on the vaccine. Small price to pay for that kind of protection against COVID.

Easier to get a slightly sore arm than have to get a ventilator.

CABRERA: Oh my gosh, seriously, and we just are reporting on 3,300 Americans who, you know, died. Those deaths reported just yesterday in one single day. So once somebody receives this vaccine, Doctor, how long until they're immune?

SCHAFFNER: Well, it's a two-dose vaccine. And you do start to get some protection after the first dose, but that second dose really socks it in, and about 7 to 10 days after that second dose, you're going to be protected.

CABRERA: And can people who receive this vaccine, including the second dose, can they just return to their pre-pandemic way of life, going out to eat, not wearing a mask, traveling, hanging out with others?

SCHAFFNER: You know what I'm going to say. Nope. Keep those masks on. There are lots of reasons for that but we'll all have to keep our social distancing, wearing the masks for some time.

We don't know for how long this protection will last. And we want to be very careful. In these early days, remember, it's -- we have months to go to vaccinate everybody. We want to keep up our masks and social distancing. Very important that we all work on this together. CABRERA: And is that most important because with this particular

vaccination, we don't know if, you know, people can still spread it, even if they aren't being impacted by it?

[16:10:07]

Is that a part of why we have to keep wearing the masks even as people are getting immunized?

SCHAFFNER: We're still studying this, but we don't know. This is a hard concept for people to understand. We know that these vaccines protect against disease. We don't know whether they protect against spreading. We'll learn that in due course, further studies on the way.

But in the meantime, because we don't know that they stop spreading, let's keep wearing the masks.

CABRERA: That's important. And as you've been discussing, and we've talked about, this vaccine, the Moderna vaccine, which is the next one expected to be authorized, requires two doses.

So, can you, you know, interchange those? Is there any -- is that possible for you to get one first and then the other second?

SCHAFFNER: Somebody will try to do that, but let's not. Let's stick with what we know. All the studies have been first dose, second dose with the same vaccine.

So, let's stick with that and not try to mix and match, as we say.

CABRERA: Of course, you know, the availability is the big challenge at this moment. Dr. William Schaffner, thanks for being with us throughout this entire journey and many more questions as the journey continues. We'll have you back. Thanks for all you do.

SCHAFFNER: Thumbs up, Ana.

CABRERA: Thumbs up to you. I'll give you two thumbs up today.

President-elect Biden is headed to Georgia this week ahead of the state's two Senate runoffs. So, just, how important can two seats be?

My next guest says Biden's administration will get nothing done if Democrats don't win.

Former presidential candidate and ex-HUD secretary, Julian Castro, is going to join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:15:53]

CABRERA: Georgia is currently at the center of the political universe here in the U.S. Only 24 days now before its two critical Senate runoff elections and with the senate's balance of power at stake, both parties are all in to turn out the vote. In a sign of just how significant these races are, President-elect Joe

Biden will travel to Atlanta on Tuesday to stump for both Democratic candidates.

CNN's Kyung Lah has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The immediate political impact is on the two Senate runoff seats here in Georgia. Now, Democrats and Republicans are crisscrossing the state, talking about voter enthusiasm, trying to get people to focus on the early vote, which starts on Monday.

Now, as far as those bus tours, what we were listening for and what we are continuing to listen for is whether the Supreme Court's decision to not hear the case is going to be immediately talked about on the campaign trail.

Now, we did see the Club for Growth Save America bus tour. One of the speakers, Representative Louie Gohmert, who comes from Texas, directly addressed it. I want to see if you can follow his twists and turns as he attempts to spin this.

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT (R-TX): And they may wimp out, but we have got to show the Supreme Court wimps or not, there are people in this country that still stand up for right.

LAH: Republican notable Sarah Palin, the former vice presidential candidate, joined Gohmert on the trail and what she was saying along with other speakers is you still got to vote. Don't be discouraged. Don't be disillusioned. Yet following up with that, by basically disparaging the entire American democratic system.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Let's discuss all this with former 2020 presidential candidate and former Housing and Urban Development secretary, Julian Castro.

Secretary, good to have you with us.

You say nothing is going to get done in Washington if Democrats don't take the Senate. How would you rate your party's chances right now?

JULIAN CASTRO (D), FORMER 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I'd say right now that it's a very, very competitive runoff. I was there just the other day. I saw a lot of enthusiasm for our two great Democratic candidates, Reverend Warnock and Jon Ossoff. The polling has consistently showed that these are basically tied and that means that we need to do everything that we can to make sure that folks get out and vote.

I'm very happy that President-elect Biden is getting out to Georgia on the 15th. He certainly understands the importance.

I said if we keep Mitch McConnell in charge, what you're going to see is, you know, a couple more years of what we were seeing right now. We see a lot of people in long lines at food banks. We see millions of Americans who are on the brink of eviction. We see a lot of small businesses that are either still shuttered or only doing 40 percent, 50 percent of the business they normally do.

We see a lot of folks who need help. They're still unemployed. And yet, Mitch McConnell and his Republican buddies in the Senate won't lift a finger to make the investments that we need to make so that people of every stripe, whether they're Republican, Democrat, independent, throughout the country in red states and blue states so that families can be okay. That's what you're going to get, more of those folks who are so disconnected from everyday Americans, that they don't meet their need.

CABRERA: And yet, wasn't a big part of Biden's appeal this idea that he was going to be able to get people to cross the aisle and be the one to foster more bipartisanship?

CASTRO: Well, look, if there's somebody that can do it, it certainly is Joe Biden. He spent 40 years in the United States Senate. He served as vice president, as a whip for President Obama trying to gather support on the Affordable Care Act and other successful legislation. There's nobody better at it.

At the same time, Mitch McConnell has shown that the only people that he wants to serve are big corporations and wealthy special interests, just like he is holding up this package right now, this relief package, because he wants corporate liability -- corporate liability protection if an employee or if a patron at a business gets COVID.

[16:20:18]

He's holding everything up for that reason. So he's so disconnected, and also, he has shown that he will not budge. He will not help out everyday Americans. He'll only serve these big corporations. You can try and try and try, but if we keep him in charge, there are going to be more Americans that are in food bank lines, more Americans that get evicted, more people that lose their jobs. That's why it's so important that people go out and vote in Georgia.

CABRERA: There is a tremendous need out there, and it is really, really hard breaking and frustrating for, I think, everybody to see the lawmakers on Capitol Hill not come to some kind of agreement to get more money into the hands of Americans who need it so badly and yet you brought up Mitch McConnell digging in and Republicans digging in on liability insurance or protections, I should say, for businesses, and yet, we know Democrats have been digging in on state and local funding.

And so, McConnell has said, maybe we just put those two issues aside. Let's just remove them from this current package and pass, you know, the parts of this agreement that we all come together and agree on. But Democrats have rejected even that idea. Do you think Democrats are being too stubborn?

CASTRO: No. I mean, if you look at where things started, there was originally a $3 trillion package on the table the Democrats supported in the House of Representatives. Now we're talking about a $908 billion package and Mitch McConnell has said no to that so I think they're suggesting a $500 billion package. It's simply doesn't meet the dire needs, the emergency needs of everyday Americans.

You think about police officers, firefighters, you think about all of the county employees and city employees that have been ensuring that life goes on, that the basic needs of people in their towns and cities are met. Towns and cities and states are in an emergency budget situation. That's not fluff money.

That is money that has been spent from local taxpayers, and they need federal relief. So it's not a luxury. It's an absolute dire emergency that those needs get funded. It's not coming out of thin air. If they don't have a federal partner, that means that they're going to have to, you know, raise it at the local level and they've already been stretched thin.

On the other hand, what Mitch McConnell was trying to do and folks like Kelly Loeffler and Perdue in Georgia, is to create a special kind of corporate liability protection that hasn't existed in any other case and shouldn't exist here, compared to serving the needs of everyday Americans. So it's apples and oranges. It's not the same thing.

Democrats are fighting for families out there of every stripe, every background, in every single state in our union, and Mitch McConnell is doing what Mitch McConnell does, which is to serve his wealthy donors and corporate interests.

CABRERA: Let's pivot to the incoming Biden administration, and its diversity. You have Xavier Becerra. You have Alejandro Mayorkas who've now been named to top positions.

Are you satisfied? Do you feel like Latinos are sufficiently represented?

CASTRO: Well, I mean, I think it's a work in progress. Certainly, Mr. Mayorkas and Attorney General Becerra are talented. They're going to be great additions to the cabinet. I was glad to see the nomination of Representative Fudge to my old stomping grounds at HUD.

At the same time, there are many more cabinet positions that need to be filled so I think it's a work in progress, whether it's with the Latino community, the African-American community, we have not had, in our nation's history, an appointed cabinet member who was Native American.

We had a vice president who was a member of a tribe, but not a cabinet member. And I think that should change. In 2020, it's long overdue. The Asian-American community, the LGBTQ community, and some people ask the question, oh, well, why are you talking about, you know, this identity politics? Well, the reason is that you have talented people of different

backgrounds who historically have been excluded from service, and we want to make sure that now they're included, because all of these communities have a wonderful perspective and great talent to offer. So, I think that so far, so good for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

[16:25:03]

But there's still work to do.

CABRERA: Were you contacted to explore potential opportunities as part of the Biden administration?

CASTRO: I have not had those conversations. You know, I was very honored to serve President Obama, and you know, I have no doubt that the team that President-elect Biden assembles when it's all assembled is going to be super talented. You know, Donald Trump four years ago said that he was going to hire the best people, get the best people around him.

That turned out not to be true, but fortunately, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are gathering a lot of the best people around them to make sure --

CABRERA: You served --

(CROSSTALK)

CASTRO: -- for four years. What's that?

CABRERA: You served alongside a lot of them in the Obama administration and there has been some criticism over how many former Obama administration members have been now tapped for new positions, more than a half dozen, in fact, now, as I look at the list, I guess. I count them, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11. We're over a dozen now.

Is that -- is the criticism about, you know, the old faces coming into the new administration, is that fair?

CASTRO: No, I think you always need a balance. Because we've had a lot of times, you have a president, for instance, that serves eight years, right? And so, by the time the next party comes in, the people who served eight years ago, they've all gone off and they're doing new things, different things. Because you only had a one-term president with President Trump, I think the ability to get those people in the administration is greater.

They're more likely to be willing and able to serve still. I look forward, though, to seeing some new blood there in the Biden administration. My hope is that with some of the remaining appointments that he's going to make, that you're going to see some men and women who, you know, maybe this is their first time serving in an administration.

They're going bring a fresh perspective. That's always good. And I think you need to balance it out.

But the people that have been appointed, that he's nominated, are fantastic people, very knowledgeable, competent. They have a good passion and a good heart to serve the American people well. And I think they're going to make all of us proud.

CABRERA: Julian Castro, great to have you with us. Thank you.

CASTRO: Good to be with you.

CABRERA: The deaths of 3,309 Americans in one day from COVID-19. This was a record. Two days before that, another 3,000 gone. It's equivalent to a 9/11 happening daily.

So, why aren't Americans acting like it? We'll ask two psychologists next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:03]

CABRERA: Some sad news from the world of country music. The legendary Charlie Pride has passed away at the age of 86 as a result of complications from COVID-19.

Pride was a Mississippi sharecropper's son. He was the first black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

It is a sobering warning and a reality check from the director of the CDC.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: We are in the time frame now that probably for the next 60 to 90 days we're going to have more deaths per day than we had in 9/11, where we had at Pearl Harbor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: And 2,403 killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor, a day that will live in infamy. And 2,977 killed in the 9/11 attacks, a day we promised to never forget.

Meanwhile, the deaths of more than 3,300 Americans from the coronavirus were reported yesterday alone. More than 3,100 Americans died Wednesday. More than 2,800 died the Thursday before that.

Days that may not live in infamy but dates we will in all likelihood forget.

Joining us now is professor of psychology at Georgetown University, Andrea Bonior. She's also the author of "Detox Your Thoughts."

And with us also, clinical psychologist and associate professor at Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Jeff Gardere. Andrea, we are experiencing a mass casualty event daily in the U.S. We

have lost nearly 300,000 Americans in less than a year, more than double the number of Americans lost in World War I.

And yet, it doesn't feel like it. Americans aren't really acting like it. Why?

ANDREA BONIOR, PROFESSOR OF PSYCHOLOGY, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY & AUTHOR: Yes, I think we've become desensitized. These losses, these numbers are staggering.

And yet, because we've been at this for so long, and each day has seen types of losses that we hadn't seen before, we just start to be numbed to it.

And if it doesn't affect us personally, it's very easy to depersonalize these losses.

It's also become very politically polarized, even to talk about the virus in certain ways, and I think that affects it as well.

CABRERA: When you talk about being numb to it, is that because of how humans are wired to cope?

BONIOR: Yes, that's part of it. You know, we can't always carry with us the emotional turmoil of things that are happening outside of our circle. We have to tune out certain things in order to cope with everyday life.

But on the other hand, I think we're really reaching a point where many of us are affected by this personally, and it's going to get so much worse.

And that's the danger. If the numbness actually makes us tune out the precautions that we need to be taking.

CABRERA: Jeff, we witnessed 9/11 live. We can immediately see the impact of other big disasters, natural disasters like hurricanes, fires, or, you know, other tragedies like mass shootings.

But in this case, we hear from family members who have lost loved ones. We hear from doctors and nurses who are just overwhelmed right now, but we don't necessarily see the mass casualties.

[16:35:10]

Do you think that makes the impact different?

JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST & ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, TOURO COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE: I think so. And that's why I think here we can talk about how the silence of this kind of pandemic in the way that it kills people.

They're isolated. They're by themselves. It impacts the immediate family members. But for the rest of us who don't see it.

The professor is right. If we don't have people in our own orbit, then it doesn't impact us as much.

I think the other thing that's going on is almost a learned helplessness.

I mean, let's face it. Let's be real about this. There has been really no leadership for the past several months from the federal government. It's been politicized. And therefore, we haven't taken this as seriously as it needs to be.

But I can tell you that people in the African-American community, black and brown people who are disproportionately affected by COVID, are paying attention, because they're the ones who are suffering as much as others if not more.

CABRERA: A study just released yesterday found that, from a single person at a single conference in Boston, that one person seems to have been responsible for 245,000 cases.

I can't think of a better argument for social distancing and mask wearing.

And yet, some Americans don't seem to see their role in combatting the spread of this virus. Instead, they protest these restrictions and the idea of having to wear a mask.

Andrea, why isn't this virus being viewed as a common enemy?

BONIOR: Yes, I think Dr. Gardere is exactly right. The tone could have been set from the top months and months and months ago. And instead, the tone became divisive.

There was denial. And there was the attitude that we don't have personal responsibility to take to protect our neighbors and to protect folks in our community who are more vulnerable.

And I think, really, it is showing on a massive scale how little decisions can spread and when the social norm is going in the wrong direction, it just takes off, and it can do so much damage.

CABRERA: And I think about the mental and emotional impact on the vulnerable, like our children.

I want to read you just clips of letters. The U.S. Postal Service, they shared these letters that children have written to Santa this year and they reveal the toll this pandemic is taking on these children.

One child named Jonah writes: "Dear, Santa, I don't want anything for Christmas but I would like to ask you if you can do me a favor. Can you please find a cure for COVID-19 and give it to us to save the world? Thank you."

Another child writes, "P.S., I'm sorry if I've been bad. It's really hard because of COVID-19 and online school. I'm trying to be good. Hope you understand."

Andrea -- both of you -- I really want to ask, get both your takes.

But I'll start with you, Andrea.

Do you think this is going to have a generational impact?

BONIOR: I hope that we can mitigate that impact, really, by letting our kids get the help they need by talking with them, by listening to their feelings, by finding ways for them to show that we're going to learn from this, and that we're going to move forward stronger than before.

So I really hope that although there's no doubt this is a huge disruption, that we can find ways to help these kids be more resilient because of it.

CABRERA: Jeff, what's your take about these letters?

GARDERE: I think it's going to be a game of catch-up. The experts are saying, academically and socially, and interpersonally, the children have suffered.

We tend to see kids as being resilient. But I can tell you, with my young patients, and as a father of six, kids of all ages, I mean, we're talking very young right up to teenagers, have been devastated, psychologically, emotionally, academically, interpersonally, by this virus. Their world has been turned upside down.

And as parents, we need to listen. As academic institutions, we need to do everything we can to give them what they need, especially when we go back to some sort of a normal or even a new normal.

There's a lot of catching up to do.

CABRERA: OK. Well, I could talk to you both for much, much longer. I think it's such an important conversation.

I really appreciate your expertise and your thoughts and perspective on all of this.

Jeff Gardere, Andrea Bonior, appreciate it. Thank you.

BONIOR: Thank you.

GARDERE: You've got it.

CABRERA: Up next, we're going to take you to California where people are protesting new stay-at-home orders even as the state just reported its most new cases in a single day.

[16:39:43]

Stay with us. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Late last night, the Supreme Court soundly rejecting that long-shot lawsuit from Texas and the president to overturn the election.

That brings us to our weekly "CROSS EXAM" segment with CNN legal analyst, Elie Honig, former federal and state prosecutor. He's here to answer your questions.

So, Elie, one viewer asks: What exactly was the legal basis for the Supreme Court's rejection of that Texas lawsuit? And is there any room left for further lawsuits?

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Ana. First of all, as you said, this was a straight-up rejection, and deservedly so, because this thing was just a legal train wreck from the start.

Now, the heart of Texas's claim here was, we don't like how other states ran their presidential elections.

Problem is the Constitution specifically gives each state individually the right to determine how to run its own election.

So, seven of the Supreme Court justices, including all three appointed by President Trump, rejected the case on what's called standing grounds.

Meaning, you don't even have the legal right, the legal ability to sue here.

And the other two justices -- and there's been some misunderstanding about this, so I want to be clear. Alito and Thomas said, OK, you can file your case, but we would reject it on the merits.

[16:45:02]

Indeed, there are so many problems with this lawsuit, no standing, no facts, no law, no precedent, to name a few.

The U.S. Supreme Court now, it is final. There's no appeal from the U.S. Supreme Court. And it's binding on all the other federal courts.

So, Ana, we've been telling viewers for weeks now that these cases would not flip the result of the 2020 election. Now it's official. This is over.

CABRERA: Before I move on to the next viewer question, just a quick follow for you, Elie. Do you think it would have been more powerful in some way if the Supreme Court justice has written more than they did?

HONIG: No. I think sometimes less is more. The fact that they threw this case out with about two paragraphs, I think that says quite a bit.

Another viewer asks: Is it possible to get rid of or change the Electoral College?

HONIG: Yes, Ana, the Electoral College comes to us from the Constitution itself. It's in Article II. So in order to change it, you would need -- we would need a constitutional amendment. That requires two-thirds of the House, two-thirds of the Senate, and

three-quarters of the 50 states. That is extraordinarily difficult.

But there are some possible workarounds.

First of all, states can decide to apportion their electoral votes based on congressional district rather than winner take all.

In fact, two states, Maine and Nebraska, already do it this way. Other states are free to adopt the same kind of law.

Then there's this thing called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact. This is an agreement between states to award their electoral votes to whoever wins the national popular vote.

That compact only becomes effective once states that have together 270 electoral votes agree to it. They're short of that right now.

And there are real questions about whether this would be constitutional and lawful.

So, Ana, we've had the Electoral College for over 220 years, and it is likely here to stay.

CABRERA: Here is another viewer question that I don't think most people had even thought about before this election: Can a state's electors vote for a candidate other than the winner of that state's popular vote?

HONIG: Yes. A lot of people are asking us this now and I think it's pretty clear why.

So the Electoral College officially votes on Monday, December 14th.

Now, it's important to understand the actual electors, they're human beings, they're not selected at random. They're chosen by the political parties.

They tend to be party loyalists. So good luck getting a pledged Democratic Party loyalist to flip and vote for Donald Trump or vice versa.

Now, this can happen, but it's extremely rare. Over our history, this has happened less than 0.5 percent time for all the electoral votes cast.

And this past summer, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously approved what is called faithless elector laws, punishing faithless electors. The majority of states have these laws, which make it even harder to go rogue.

So finally, remember, Ana, given Joe Biden's electoral vote lead, 306- 232, we would need to see not just a handful of electors voting for the other side. We would need to see 37 Biden electors voting for Donald Trump.

That's not going to happen.

CABRERA: Not to mention the seven million-plus more votes Joe Biden got in the popular vote over Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Elie Honig, always good to have you with us. Happy Hanukkah.

HONIG: Thanks, Ana. Thank you. You, too.

CABRERA: Up next, we'll take you to some protests in California over the stay-at-home orders, even as this state is reporting its most cases in a single day.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:52:49]

CABRERA: As new COVID cases shatter a record today in California, hitting 35,729, protesters from the state's hospitality industry are making their voices heard.

This is coming as talks in Congress are stalled over a possible COVID relief stimulus package.

Right now, millions of Californians are under stay-at-home orders issued by California's Governor Gavin Newsom in an effort to bring down his state's soaring COVID hospitalization numbers.

I want to go to CNN's Paul Vercammen in Beverly Hills now.

And, Paul, what are you hearing from these protesters?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're just frustrated beyond belief because they say they're in the southern California region where all outdoor dining has been shut down and they want to reopen.

They're the hospitality business.

I'll pivot out this way and you can see they marched four miles from the famous Chinese theater in Hollywood to here at the Los Angeles- Beverly Hills border.

And they feel like they're being unduly blamed for some super spreading event of the virus where they feel like they can open up outdoors safety.

Let's listen to a man who owned four restaurants. He now owns only three.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG HOROS (ph), RESTAURANT OWNER: You're investing these funds that are supposedly to keep you afloat, to keep your rent paid, and you're investing in the infrastructure of your business to be safe. We want to be safe.

And yet, still, we are not given the opportunity to earn. We are not asking for a handout. We are asking for the opportunity to make a living.

Small businesses are dying. And we are the backbone of the economy and that is what makes Los Angeles.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And they're also calling for Congress to pass a stimulus bill, which will directly put money into the hands of restaurant owners and their employees because they are just being absolutely savaged by this pandemic.

In fact, they were talking just a few moments ago about collecting up money to buy presents for the children of restaurant workers who are going to not get any presents for the holidays.

Reporting from Beverly Hills, I'm Paul Vercammen.

Back to you, Ana.

CABRERA: It's all so heartbreaking. And we heard from the L.A. mayor the other day calling this the greatest crisis Los Angeles has ever faced and on so many levels, obviously.

Thank you, Paul.

[16:54:59]

Now, more than ever, the world needs heroes. Join Anderson Cooper and Kelly Ripa for "CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE" tomorrow night at 8:00 here on CNN.

Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CABRERA: Thanks for staying with me. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

[16:59:58]

And today is one for the history books. The CDC's vaccine advisors voted just hours ago to recommend the Pfizer and BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for people 16 and older.