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Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is Interviewed about Stimulus; Texas Administers Vaccinations Today; AG William Barr Resigns; Georgia Governor Criticizes Attacks. Aired 9:30-10a ET.

Aired December 15, 2020 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Bernie Sanders and Republican Senator Josh Hawley are insisting on direct stimulus checks to folks. This does not have that. And this is what Sanders told "Politico" last night.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): Sure.

HARLOW: Quote, what kind of a negotiation is it when you go from $3.4 trillion, that's what passed the House, to $188 billion in new money? That is not a negotiation. That's a collapse.

What's your response to him?

MANCHIN: Well, I hear Bernie loud and clear. And I understand where Bernie's coming from. I want to reemphasize this is an emergency package. If you're losing -- if you're losing basically your unemployment assistance because it's not your fault that you've lost your job because businesses have closed and they're closing more, you need a lifeline.

That's what this is. If you're losing your food assistance, you don't qualify for food stamps, but basically you're in a hunger line you've never been in before. If you're losing your rent assistance or eviction notices, they're going to throw you out at the end of the year.

Bernie, all I'm asking for is a lifeline for those people that are desperate right now. Joe Biden comes in as our president June (ph) 20th. He'll put another package forward. That package will be all inclusive, that will look at everything it takes in order to get our economy back up and roaring again. So let's look at this as an emergency lifeline through the first quarter until April 1. That's how we should be doing it.

HARLOW: Senator, there are a number of your Republican colleagues in the Senate, including the leader, who still have not acknowledged, even after yesterday, that Joe Biden is the president-elect. I mean, for God's sakes, Putin even did so overnight. And then you have this from Republican Congressman Paul Mitchell who is now leaving the Republican Party because of what he sees. Listen to what he told our Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL MITCHELL (R-MI): I'm going to stand on my principles. And, yes, I will take abuse from both the far left and the far right. In my opinion, the far -- the extremes of both parties are dragging their parties and this country off a cliff.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The extremes in both parties are dragging the country off a cliff.

How does our fragile democracy survive this or should the American people buckle up and say, OK, the fighting we've seen for the last four months over stimulus, that both parties said we needed, is what we should just expect for at least the next four years?

MANCHIN: Well, what we -- the good thing about America is, we're resilient. We've been able to see the rule of law. The rule of law practice and sustained to the level to where people weren't threatened, they weren't -- they weren't intimidated to change the love that we have in democracy, the orderly transfer of power.

They did it. The college board yesterday voted. This will pass. This, too, shall pass.

John Thune, my dear friend John Thune, in the Republican caucus, spoke up. More people will speak up.

I would not advocate taking Putin's lead. Please don't -- don't take Putin's lead on anything. But this, for him to come out before other Republican leaders have, I think this will go away after January 5th and January 6th is the final day of reckoning. I think then you will see that. I wish that they would stand up now.

And I've always -- I've kind of related this to like, all of us have gone through bullying in our life. There's somebody we were always concerned or scared of was going to beat us up when we went to school or pick on us or intimidate us and this and that.

And there's a day when you wake up in your life and say, enough's enough, I'm not going to take it anymore. I've had enough. The worst I can get is a bloody nose, but I'm going to face that bully and I'm asking my Republican friends face that bully and speak up to them and show up and be ready to do whatever it takes to move on with your life.

HARLOW: And who is that bully?

MANCHIN: You know, it -- that would be basically the president.

HARLOW: All right.

MANCHIN: That's his -- his stature. And here's the thing, we all know who he is. But you have to speak up

to him. And you have a hard time getting a word in edge wise sometime. But I think he'll respect that and say, listen, enough's enough, Mr. President, let's move on. Our country deserves better.

HARLOW: Senator Joe Manchin, thank you very much for your time. We are all watching what you guys are doing with these bills.

Thank you.

MANCHIN: We're going to get it done. We will get it done, Poppy, we will.

HARLOW: Welcome words.

Jim, he will.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: He says they won't go home until they do. We'll hold him -- we'll hold him to that, because we've heard that before.

Well, health care workers in Texas are receiving their first doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine today. We're going to be live from the University of Texas in Austin, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:38:39]

SCIUTTO: All right, so would you like to hear some good news? About 300 health care workers are expected to get the coronavirus vaccine today at UT Health Austin. It is one of four locations in Texas that received the vaccine yesterday.

And, Poppy, it's a scene we're seeing across the country now.

HARLOW: Yes, Yes. It's a great thing to see.

Our Ed Lavandera joins us there this morning.

Good morning, Ed.

I don't see them jumping for joy, but they've got to feel like that.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There is a great deal of excitement and you --you just kind of listen to the buzz of the frontline health care workers who are showing up here at the UT Health Dell Medical School on the University of Texas campus.

This is one of four locations in Texas that received the first wave of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday. And in all four locations, about 19,000 doses delivered, another 19 sites across the state will receive about 75,000 doses again today. In all, about 224,000 doses will be distributed at 110 locations across the state in the coming weeks. So that is the big picture that is going on. And here, this is the process where they've -- frontline health care

workers check in at this site here. Then they go down the hallway where the doses and the shots are being administered. And this is all a highly choreographed situation here.

[09:40:00]

We were with the pharmacists that were basically reconstituting the coronavirus vaccine, preparing the shots this morning before the first of 325 health care workers started showing up here this morning. And this is a process that will take about a week to fully vaccinate this first wave of 325 people.

But each of those shots, by the time everything gets mixed up together and put into that shot, they have about six hours to administer the shots to the people here. So all of this is highly choreographed, highly organized to be able to make sure that none of these doses get wasted or ruined in any -- in any kind of way.

So the first people here are saying they are incredibly excited to be some of the first here in the state to receive this vaccine.

Poppy and Jim.

HARLOW: For sure. It's great to see.

Ed, thanks so much. You've been with us the whole journey of how bad it was in Texas over and over again and now some relief coming.

LAVANDERA: Yes.

HARLOW: Well, President Trump loses a key member of his administration just as the Electoral College affirms that his presidency will indeed end on January 20th. We'll have more on the transition of power ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:36]

HARLOW: So the Electoral College has now affirmed officially what we have all known to be true for weeks, that President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on January 20th.

SCIUTTO: But, still, many Republicans, lawmakers, elected lawmakers, many of them elected in the same election, still refuse to acknowledge Joe Biden's win in that election. And President Trump may be trying to change the subject.

With just 33 days -- 37 days left in his presidency, Trump announced shortly after Biden's Electoral College win that Attorney General Bill Barr, one of his staunchest supporters in office, would be resigning.

Joining us now to discuss, Jeff Mason, White House correspondent for "Reuters," and Shan Wu, he's a CNN legal analyst but also for -- served as a federal prosecutor.

Thanks to both of you.

Shan, you know this better than me, a typical attorney general, when they leave, much of the praise heaped on frontline prosecutors. There was a half-line in Barr's letter about that, but most of his praise reserved in glowing terms for the president, who seems to have pushed him out.

I'm going to quote a little bit here. Your record is all the more historic because you accomplished it in the face of relentless, implacable resistance. You have restored American military strength by brokering historic peace deals in the Mideast, you have achieved what most thought impossible.

I mean not exactly things in her purview. Based on your reading of his letter and his service, what does that say about his term as attorney general?

SHAN WU, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: That's very much par for course for Barr, Jim. His failure to thank the service of the career prosecutors, the men and women at the Justice Department, because throughout his tenure he ignored that, throughout his tenure he really degraded their independence by inserting himself into investigations, by being just blatantly partisan. So that's, you know, surprising he didn't even take the courtesy to do that, but it's completely in line with his approach to being the attorney general.

HARLOW: Jeff, what do you think Barr's legacy is?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "REUTERS": Well, certainly mixed. I mean his -- his letter made clear that he wants to be tied to the legacy of President Trump through that praise that you were just talking about. Of course, one of the reasons he's leaving the administration, roughly 36, 37 days before its end is because they essentially had a falling out over his refusal to suggest that there was wide-spread fraud in the election in November.

So -- but, overall, Poppy, I think his legacy will be one of an attorney general who decreased the distance between the Justice Department and the White House, who supported the aims of this president and maybe a little bit or a couple times went up against him, but overall was a very staunch, staunch supporter.

SCIUTTO: Shan, you said that you were, and I'm quoting you, terribly wrong about what to expect from Barr. What do you make of his resignation and timing?

WU: Well, I think the timing, as Jeff was saying, it's obviously indicative that he was being forced out and perhaps he wanted to save some dignity. But, more importantly, I think, the timing is probably more fodder for Trump to claim that he got rid of this fella who wasn't doing his job in terms of the investigation.

You know, I was very wrong about Barr. I think a lot of former career people, former officials thought that because he had been a previous attorney general, that he would have a lot of respect for the institution. We were very wrong about that and it's going to take a long time for the institution to recover. I remember as a young law student, I saw a brochure that said that the DOJ was America's lawyer. Very inspirational. It's going to be a long time before people have that trust again.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: So whoever, Jeff, you know, is tapped by Biden, assuming they get confirmed by the Senate, to be the next attorney general, has a big task on top of their normally big task, right, and that is to restore confidence within -- within the ranks and with the American public.

There are four front runners right now and there's a big push for diversity, right, to have a black attorney general or maybe with Senator Doug Jones, someone who has really fought for civil rights for a very long time.

Are you -- do you have any reporting on who is the leading contender in Biden's mind right now?

MASON: Nothing beyond what you've just said, Poppy. But, I mean, Doug Jones has been seen as a front-runner for a little while and because of that civil rights background. But, yes, the -- the president-elect is under pressure to put somebody in who is a minority candidate and I think it's interesting that we're this far into the process now and to have one of the big four basically spots left in Biden's cabinet that he hasn't yet appointed.

[09:50:10]

So that is one that is being looked at closely, both for the reasons that you just said in terms of diversity, but also to find someone who can go back in and, at least from a Democrats' perspective, clean up the Justice Department and restore confidence in an institution and a -- part of a U.S. government that they feel has suffered because of Bill Barr's tenure.

SCIUTTO: Shan, Sally Yates has a record as well on civil rights. I wonder, beyond civil rights, what is job number one, briefly, for a new attorney general?

WU: I think they really have to show that the department is going to be independent again. I think they probably need to speak to the American people, as Biden has, to reassure the country that there's going to be a return to normalcy, that the department is going to be independent. It's not going to be just a wing of the White House.

SCIUTTO: And there will be a test for that, for instance, in ongoing investigations with Hunter Biden.

Jeff Mason, Shan Wu, thanks so much to both of you.

WU: Good to see you.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, Georgia's GOP governor is now criticizing fellow Republicans for what he calls ridiculous attacks in the wake of President Trump's loss in that state. He was a big supporter of President Trump, now finds himself on the wrong side of him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:55:38]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back.

Well, President-elect Biden is heading to Atlanta today to campaign on behalf of Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, the candidates in the Georgia Senate runoff there. Early voting started in the state yesterday.

HARLOW: This comes as the state's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, lament some in the Republican Party furious that he followed the law and refused to call a special legislative session in an attempt to overturn the president's loss. Kemp tells "The Atlanta Journal- Constitution's" Greg Bluestein, quote, it's ridiculous, quite honestly, that many are blaming me for being responsible for what happened in the election.

Greg Bluestein joins us now.

And there's another development. We're glad you're here. Moments ago the president retweeted someone suggesting that Governor Kemp and the secretary of state, both Republicans, should go to jail for doing their jobs. I mean this is what we've come to. What else stood out to you from your conversation with the governor?

GREG BLUESTEIN, POLITICAL REPORTER, "ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION": Yes, I mean, this is emblematic of the struggles that Georgia Republicans are facing right now because they're being called on by President Trump and his supporters to do something that's illegal, that's impossible, overturn the election results.

And Governor Kemp doesn't even have the power to do what -- what President Trump and others are pushing him to do, which is -- which is to order a signature audit of -- of ballots that quite possibly -- quite -- you know, quite realistically can't happen. And this is all in the backdrop of these January 5th runoffs that decide control of the U.S. Senate. And, clearly, not just Governor Kemp, but other top Republican officials are just getting very, very frustrated with all these calls perpetuated by the president to do something they can't do.

SCIUTTO: So, Governor Kemp, in your conversation with him, did he express regret for his support of the president given that this is, of course, not the first time the president has attacked one of his own, baselessly attacked one of its own. I mean, in effect, it's Governor Kemp's turn here, right, because he didn't do what the president wanted. I mean what -- what are -- what are the governor's thoughts on that? Does he have regrets?

BLUESTEIN: Yes, he is walking a fine line. He pointedly did not say anything negative whatsoever about President Trump. He was more broad in the ridiculousness, in his words, of all the claims coming from -- from Republicans, from fellow Republicans. And there's a reason for that. He can't afford to further alienate the president, even though the president clearly has Governor Kemp in his targets because he can't -- he can't risk ostracizing the Republican base ahead of these January 5th runoffs.

So Governor Kemp is basically, in taking all this inning, but he feels like, from reading between the lines, he's -- he'd rather be taking the fire than David Perdue and Senator Kelly Loeffler, the two senators up for election on January 5th.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: So getting to that critical election, you've got the vice president -- the president-elect, I should say, Joe Biden, in Atlanta today, obviously doing whatever he can to help their opponents, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

What can he do? Like, I mean, when you look at the numbers, Republicans had more in the November 5th elections. You know, how much fire power can Biden bring to help the Democrats here, try and get them over the line?

BLUESTEIN: Yes, that's the big question because Democrats are trying to reenergize that same coalition that helped Biden win a narrow victory in Georgia by about 12,000 votes. But to do that, he'll need to get back independents and moderates and voters who -- Republicans maybe, who voted for -- who held their nose and voted for Biden rather than President Trump.

And to do that also, you know, they've got to counter all these claims from Republicans that Ossoff and Warnock are radical liberals, they're socialists, they're Marxists, whatever -- whatever Republicans are throwing at them, and Democrats feel like Joe Biden is the perfect messenger for that and as someone who's more centrist, who can bring that more --

SCIUTTO: Right.

BLUESTEIN: You know, that validation message.

SCIUTTO: Turnout is key here. Who's got the advantage, Republicans or Democrats?

BLUESTEIN: Republicans have the historic advantage in turnout in Georgia. They've won every statewide runoff in Georgia history. But Democrats feel like they've got enthusiasm at their back and they also don't have to contend with President Trump's false narrative of a rigged election, which Republicans are quietly and publicly concerned about.

HARLOW: Greg, good to have your reporting.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HARLOW: I'm sure we will have you back before January 5th. Thank you so much.

[10:00:01]

BLUESTEIN: Thank you.

HARLOW: Morning, everyone.