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Biden Unveils Climate Team, Pledges Ambitious Action; Biden Names First Native American to Cabinet; CDC Advisory Committee Votes To Recommend Moderna Vaccine For Emergency Use In U.S.; Operation Warp Speed Chief Apologizes For Miscommunication Over Vaccine Shipments; Fauci: Might Start Clinical Trials Of COVID Vaccine On Children In January; Pence, Top Congressional Leaders Get Vaccine, Trump Absent; Trump Refuses To Condemn Russia In First Comments On Cyber Attack. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired December 19, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:02]

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, ENERGY SECRETARY NOMINEE: They're going to upgrade their electric grids using smart technology. Millions of good-paying jobs are going to be created, millions.

But where? Where will those jobs be? Are they going to be in China or in the countries that are fighting tooth and nail to corner the market on this hopeful electric and clean energy future? Or are those jobs going to be here in America?

The path to building back better starts with building, manufacturing and deploying those products here, stamping them made in America and exporting them around the world. We can win those jobs for American workers with the right policy. We can. And I know what those jobs will mean for both the planet and for those workers and families.

I'm proud to have been a U.S. citizen now for 40 years, but I arrived here as a Canadian immigrant at age four brought by parents seeking opportunity. My mom is a funny and fierce Irish Welsh Newfi, born Newfoundland, which is a Canadian province off the east coast, a fishing province they called The Rock. And like many women in her generation, she didn't go to college. She married a great man, my dad, who passed away earlier this year with a cerebral hemorrhage.

My dad was born in rural Canada in a log cabin with no running water and extreme poverty. His father, my grandfather immigrated to Canada when, from Sweden during the great depression, again, seeking opportunity. But when my grandfather could not find a job to support his young family in desperation, my grandfather shot himself, leaving my grandmother and three young children in dire poverty.

My father was three years old when that happened. And when he was 11, my dad found work at a saw mill and he never stopped working. He married my mom. They came to America for work. And despite not having a college degree, my hard working gentle father got the fair chance that he was looking for in America. He had started out as a bank teller and he retired as head of the bank. And it's because of my family's journey and my experience in fighting for hard working Michigan families that I have become obsessed, obsessed with creating good-paying jobs in America in a global economy, obsessed with seizing the opportunities that a clean energy future will provide for American workers. So we can stand on the sidelines and let other countries beat us to these opportunities or we can get in the game.

And I am so ready and honored, Coach, that you are putting me on the field with this amazing team to help create those jobs in every pocket of this country and especially in the hardest hit places and for the people who are still waiting on the fair chance that they need. Thank you for tapping me to work on their behalf.

MICHAEL REGAN, EPA ADMINISTRATOR NOMINEE: Mr. President-elect, Madam Vice President-elect, thank you for this opportunity. Growing up as a child, hunting, fishing with my father and grandfather in Eastern North Carolina, I developed a deep love and respect for the outdoors and our natural resources, but I also experienced respiratory issues that required me to use an inhaler, upon days where pollutants and allergens were especially bad.

I've always been curious about the connection between our environment and our health, how the world around us contributes to or detracts from our enjoyment of life.

[15:05:09]

So after completing my education in environmental science, there was one place in particular that I wanted to work, the EPA. When I started that first summer internship, I never imagined that one day, I would be nominated to lead an agency as this administrator.

So this opportunity, well, it's a dream come true. Since the start of my career, my goals have been the same, to safeguard our natural resources, to improve the quality of our air and our water, to protect our families and our communities and to help them seize the opportunities of a cleaner healthier world.

Now, I'm honored to pursue those goals alongside leaders who understand what's at stake. When President-elect Biden called out the plight of the fence line communities during the campaign, he made it clear that we would no longer just deal with the issues up to the fence line of these facilities but that we would actually see the people on the other side of those fence lines. He's already backed up that commitment by assembling a team that reflects America.

And I'm proud to join the vice president-elect as a fellow HBCU graduate in this administration. Together, this team will ensure that environmental justice and human impacts are top of mind as we tackle these tough issues. After nearly a decade at the EPA, I know firsthand the remarkable dedication and talent of those career staff. And as a state official, I understand how actions from EPA can help or hurt local efforts.

We're going to ensure that EPA is once again a strong partner for the states, not a road block. We will be driven by our convictions that every person in our great country has the right to clean air, clean water and a healthier life, no matter how much money they have in their pockets, the color of their skin or the community that they live in. We will move with a sense of urgency on climate change, protecting our drinking water, and enact an environmental justice framework that empowers people in all communities.

But we also know that these challenges can't be solved by regulation alone. And we also know that environmental protection and economic prosperity, while they are not mutually exclusive, they go hand in hand.

We need an all-hands-on-deck approach from industry to individuals finding common ground to build back better for workers, for our communities, for our economy and, yes, for our planet. And that's what we will pursue together.

I look forward to continuing this work on behalf of the American people, so thank you.

BRENDA MALLORY, NOMINEE FOR CHAIR OF WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL ON ENVIRONMENT QUALITY: Good afternoon, Mr. President-elect, Madam Vice President-elect.

I am honored and humbled by the trust you have placed in me and I look forward to getting to work with this incredible team. I'm especially grateful for the chance to return to public service at a time when agency personnel are looking for optimism and so many communities are struggling under the weight of persistent interwoven crises.

I know firsthand the challenges that everyday people face when one unexpected illness or expense can upend the economic stability of a family.

I grew up in the working class community of Waterbury, Connecticut, a town not so different than Scranton, Pennsylvania.I know the faces of the marginalized and I appreciate the challenges of urban pollution.

While the words climate change and environmental injustice were not part of the vernacular back then, the evidence of their impact was all around. In that setting, there was plenty of opportunity to work to make a difference in people's lives.

[15:10:01]

For my parents and particularly my father, dedication to tackling community challenges was vitally important. Service in all its forms was essential. They taught me to be a problem-solver, to recognize that each of us is blessed with different talents and we are all called to bring those gifts to bear in wherever we are to work with anyone and everyone to make things better in communities that we share.

This has been the driving force and the guiding principle of my journey. I earned a high school scholarship that changed the course of my life. I became the first person in my family to go to college. I attended law school.

And at each stage, I was aware of how different the world I came from was from the one I was entering. I didn't set out to specialize in environmental issues, but once I started, I was always mindful of the practical implications of the decisions.

As a staffer at the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights, I learned environmental protection and ensuring that health and wellbeing of all communities had to be reconciled. It is essential that we deploy smart and humane policy to help communities pull themselves back from the edge and improve the health, security and prosperity of all people.

The Build Back Better plan poised to breathe new life into the council on environmental quality. C.Q. will with a broad range of partners on a broad range of issues, tackle the full breadth of climate change, preserve the natural treasures of our nation, center environmental justice and help more communities overcome legacy environmental impacts.

I am grateful to the president-elect and vice president-elect for elevating this work and lifting up the communities where it will make the most of us. Thank you for the opportunity to serve.

GINA MCCARTHY, NATIONAL CLIMATE ADVISER-DESIGNATE: Mr. President- elect, Madam Vice President-elect, thank you so much for this opportunity to serve and to work beside in which this incredibly talented team.

You know, the issues I've been taking on in this role are very personal to me and they have been for as long as I can remember. As key listeners, you would already have guessed that I grew up in and around the city of Boston. My dad was a teacher in the Boston school system for more than 40 years and my mom waitressed at local donut shops.

You know, looking back, I guess we were a low and middle class family but we didn't know it. Instead of expensive vacations, my sisters and I did our adventuring in our own backyards, playing in the woods -- oops, I'm going to take that off -- playing in the woods and around ponds in our hometown.

A beach day for my family was a swim in Boston Harbor, and at that point in time, it meant coming out of the water with oil and other things stuck to our skin, so we'd have to dry and clean ourselves all at the same time.

Well, that was back in the 60s before the first Earth Day, but we managed and Boston Harbor today is terrific. But all I can think of is back when I was in grammar school and the nuns used to jump up and say, run, close the windows in your classrooms because when the rubber factory across the street started to spew chemical stenches into the air, it would come wafting into our classroom and that smell kept us from recess more days than I or my teacher ever cared to remember.

So I figured out early that there was just an intrinsic connection between our environment and our health. And that understanding drew me into a very long career of public service, which I will never regret and always cherish.

[15:15:01]

And I did it because I was trying to help families and communities just like mine and those who are facing certainly much deeper and more insidious legacies of environmental harm so they could overcome the challenges that were holding them back.

Environmental protection is part of my moral fiber. It's what I live for. And I'm proud of the progress that we've made across the United States and I'm proud of the work that I did for many years at local and state governments as well as at EPA to make sure our air and water looks cleaner, to make communities safe and more livable and begin to confront the crisis of climate change.

And I'm here today because climate change is not only a threat to the planet. It is a threat to our health and our wellbeing. It's a threat to people everywhere and the precious natural resources that we depend on. Defeating this threat is the fight of our lifetimes and our success will require engagement of every community, every sector in our nation and every country in the world.

But the opportunities to act on climate change right now fill me with incredible optimism, with hope, with energy and excitement. We not only have the responsibility to meet this moment together, we have the capacity to meet this moment together.

The president-elect has put together the strongest climate plan ever raised to this level of leadership. It rises to the incredible moment of opportunity we have to build back better for our health, for jobs and for communities that have been systemically disadvantaged for years.

It will be my incredible honor to help turn this plan into promises kept by marshaling every part of our government working directly with communities and harnessing the force of science and the values of environmental justice, to build a better future for my two, very soon to be three grandchildren, and generations of Americans to come.

So, thank you for this opportunity to help put Americans back to work in innovative, good-paying clean energy jobs, to improve the health of our communities and to help clear the path for people in every hometown in America to live brighter, cleaner and more vibrant lives. Thank you.

ALI ZAIDI, DEPUTY NATIONAL CLIMATE ADVISER-DESIGNATE: Thank you, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris.

I am deeply honored to answer your call to serve this nation that I love, especially at this moment of consequence. For our planet and for the people who live here, the peril of the climate crisis is already evident but we can also see the promise in the jobs casting and machining, installing and rewiring, pouring new foundations and building new industries and in the possibility of repairing communities hurt places where pollution has been heavy and opportunity has never quite reached. Mr. President-elect and Madam Vice President-elect, you campaigned on delivering that promise by mounting a response equal to the existential threat that we face, not only by listening to the science, but also by invigorating the economy, revving up manufacturing and innovation, spurring good-paying union jobs and advancing justice long overdue, leading by the example of America at its best.

[15:20:00]

When my parents moved from Pakistan to Pennsylvania, they brought two little kids and a few suitcases of dreams, dreams their kids are living today, Donnish (ph), my brother, a doctor on the front lines of the COVID crisis and me, moving to the frontlines of the fight against climate change. To be healthy, to have purpose, to be able to give back, that is how our parents taught us to define the American dream.

I am so grateful to be serving alongside the team you have assembled, grateful for Gina McCarthy, my guide and my friend, for the incredible and inspiring leaders on this stage and for those with whom we'll partner all across your administration.

This has been a trying year for all Americans marked by so much loss but throughout, you, sir, have been there for us. And when the pandemic hit closer to home, you were there for me. Mr. President- elect, that is who you are, a person of faith and family, of decency and goodness. Your leadership gives me hope. My students, scientists imagining and inventing, they give me hope. Young organizers mobilizing and advocating, they give me hope. And together, I know we will meet this moment.

Thank you and God bless you.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Good afternoon.

A few months ago, as wildfires raged across the west, I traveled home to California. What I saw on that trip and so many others in recent years was heartbreaking, charred playgrounds, homes and neighborhoods in ashes, firefighters battling fires while their own homes burned to the ground -- my brother-in-law is actually a firefighter in California as well -- some of the most toxic air anywhere in the world.

Two years ago, in 2018, when I visited communities like Paradise, California, that had been devastated by wildfires, that year's fire season was considered the worst in California's history. This fire season was even worse, the worst in California's history and America's history.

And, of course, fires are only one symptom of our growing climate crisis. In recent years, families across the Midwest have experienced historic flooding while families all along our coast have endured some of the most active hurricane seasons on record. They only name a storm if it's particularly dangerous. This year, we had more named storms than ever before. Our climate crisis is not a partisan issue and it is not a hoax. It is an existential threat to all of us particularly poor communities and communities of color who bear the greatest risks from polluted air, polluted water, and a failing infrastructure.

Many years ago, 15 years ago, when I was district attorney in San Francisco, I created the first environmental justice unit in the city. It was one of the first in our country. Because I believed then as I do now, everyone has a right to breathe clean air and drink clean water. And, of course, so does our president-elect, Biden.

Part of the reason I was so proud to join Joe Biden as his running mate was because he was proposing one of the most ambitious climate plans in history.

[15:25:02]

A plan to secure carbon pollution-free electricity by 2035, a plan to achieve net zero emissions no later than 2050, a plan to invest in a clean energy future and create millions of good-paying union jobs along the way.

And the team that President-elect Biden and I are announcing today will help make that plan a reality. These are some of our country's most seasoned public servants and climate experts.

They have experienced mastering the most effective ways to get things done when it comes to climate change. They recognize the importance of bringing together the private sector and organize labor together with government to meet these challenges and to confront this crisis head on with our allies and partners around the world.

And they are compassionate leaders who understand that, ultimately, addressing climate change is building safer communities and healthier communities and thriving communities for all Americans. These public servants reflect the very best of America and they are the team we need to meet this urgent challenge.

In his 2015 and cyclical, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, wrote, quote, humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home. Starting on January 20th, we will work to heed those words and come together here in our country and around the world to build and protect our common home for generations to come.

Thank you, Mr. President-elect, for this day. Thank you.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST (voice over): And you have been listening to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Biden just announcing some historic picks as his key cabinet nominees and members of his climate team.

That includes New Mexico Congresswoman Deb Haaland as interior secretary, who would be the first Native American cabinet secretary if confirmed by the Senate. Michael Regan as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, he would be the first black man to lead the EPA if confirmed. He also nominated Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as energy secretary, Brenda Mallory to chair the White House Council on Environmental Equality, Gina McCarthy as National Climate Adviser and Ali Zaidi as Deputy National Climate Adviser.

Joining me now, Coral Davenport, who covers Energy and Environmental Policy for The New York Times and CNN Commentator and former Clinton White House aide, Keith Boykin. Welcome, both of you.

Coral, there's such a stark contrast from what we saw today to what President Trump has said about climate change. And let's be honest, even as a candidate in 2016. Can you help people understand how vastly different President-elect Biden's approach to the issue is compared to President Trump?

CORAL DAVENPORT, ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Sure. President Trump was, at the heart of it, very clear, he mocked the science of climate change. He called it a hoax, but he also campaigned actively on tearing up and aggressively undoing and reversing the Obama climate change policies.

The Obama administration put into place the first ever climate change policies and regulations in U.S. history. President Obama helped broker the 2015 Paris agreement which was, of course, the landmark deal binding almost every country in the world into agreements to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

President Trump campaigned and governed on literally undoing those things. He withdrew the U.S. from the Paris agreement and systemically, one by one, undid every single major climate policy that President Obama put in place.

So it was absolutely a 180 from the Obama administration and now I'm getting whiplash. It's a 180 back, only more, only more. President- elect Biden said, and he talked about just now, he intends to reinstate -- he intends to rejoin the Paris agreement probably on inauguration day. We're expecting to see him formally rejoin the U.S. to the Paris agreement.

[15:30:02]

He has said very explicitly he intends to reinstate those climate change regulations from the Obama administration.

But also -- and this is very important -- he said he intends to go a lot further. And we saw that today. He said he intends to reinstate, expand and strengthen the Obama climate change policies.

And what we've seen from his team already sends a signal in what we saw from his campaign.

President-Elect Biden's climate policy proposals are much stronger than what Obama proposed. Biden proposes eliminating CO2 emissions from the U.S. economy in 30 years. That is a much more ambitious goal than what Obama was aiming for. Obama created the position of kind of a climate czar in the White

House. He had one person in that job. President-Elect Biden has already beefed that up. He's got two. He'll double barreled that.

And he --

(CROSSTALK)

GOLODRYGA: And then he's got John Kerry as well, a very prominent and recognized name around the world.

It was interesting to hear Jennifer Granholm address the issue of creating jobs as well. Clearly, that's a divisive issue, especially from the right, saying that this could be a job killer.

She's suggesting that you could have very many environmentally friendly jobs created from their new programs.

Keith, let me turn to you because, during his announcement, President- Elect Biden hailed how diverse his cabinet is. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Already, there are more people of color in our cabinet than any cabinet ever. More women than ever. The Biden-Harris cabinet, it will be historic.

The cabinet that looks like America, taps into the best of America, that opens doors and includes the full range of talents we have in this nation.

Like the rest of the team, today's nominees are ready on day one, which is essential because we literally have no time to waste.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Keith, there's a lot of history being made here. The first Native American for the Department of Interior. We have across the board, a lot of history in terms of backgrounds and diversity, whether it's women, whether it's African-Americans.

What did you make of the people that he introduced now to focus on this issue?

KEITH BOYKIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I was very impressed actually because I've been watching the Biden cabinet announcements.

Wasn't entirely certain there would be this kind of diversity. And these latest announcements pleased people in the people of color communities, African-American communities and people like Marcia at HUD and the Defense Department.

But just seeing Michael Regan at EPA and Deb Haaland, people like Jennifer Granholm in Michigan, Ali Zaidi and Brenda Mallory, those are impressive names who don't necessarily come from corporate America. In contrast to the Trump model, the Republican model, and people who actually understand the importance not just of climate change but environmental justice.

Who understand the racial component, that black people in particular but people of color in general have been disproportionately impacted by environmental injustice.

So it's incredibly important and historic to have these people in place. And I think it's important these people have a sense of real- life experiences, not just corporate heads.

So Deb Haaland talked about being homeless. When was the last time a cabinet secretary talked about being homeless as opposed to a billionaire in the administration?

Or Michael Regan talking about going to an HBCU and using an inhaler as a child. Or Brenda Mallory talking about growing up in a working- class community?

These are real people. I think the country can appreciate that, the country can appreciate that. Not just the commitment to the environment, commitment to environmental justice, but the commitment to real ordinary people and not just corporate interests first.

GOLODRYGA: It was so effective to hear real-life stories and connections as well. Michael Regan interning at EPA and he will be heading, if confirmed.

I want to bring in our college, CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. He was at Biden's event for this.

Jeff, we talk about so many firsts here but when we talk about the first Native American woman to be nominated to this administration as EPA administrator, Deb Haaland, there's talk about how impressive she is.

Talk about how significant this moment is.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, there's no question. In weeks of historic picks to the cabinet, Congresswoman Deb Haaland stands out for a couple of reasons.

One, she would be the first Native American to serve in a U.S. president's cabinet. That's historic in its own right.

But also Interior. The Department of Interior has had such a checkered history with the Native American people, with the land. So that's something she spoke about on stage a few moments ago.

[13:35:07]

Let's take a listen.

REP. DEB HAALAND (D-NM), EPA ADMINISTRATOR NOMINEE: Growing up in my mother's Puebla household made me fierce. My life has not been easy. I struggled with homelessness. I relied on food stamps and raised my child as a single mom.

These struggled give me perspective so I can help people to succeed.

My grandparents, who were taken away from their families as children and sent to boarding school in an effort to destroy their traditions and identities, maintained our culture.

This moment is profound when we consider the fact that a former secretary of the interior once proclaimed his goal to, quote, "civilize or exterminate us."

I'm a living testament to the failure of that horrific ideology.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So certainly an historic pick there as well.

But also has ramifications for what we see unfold in Washington today with the House of Representatives. The majority now, should she be confirmed, would be down to three members when Democrats resume their House majority in January.

So certainly is a very narrow majority there but clearly, President- Elect Biden was intent on making this history-making pick.

But overall, just watching a lot of these cabinet members roll out, t The thing you're struck by, Bianna, yes, there's a lot of alumni from the Clinton administration and Obama administration.

That's where specialists in government come from. That's what President-Elect Biden ran on, on a promise to try to restore competence to government.

But they're in different positions. As you mentioned, Michael Regan was an intern in the EPA. Now he'll be the administrator of the EPA, if confirmed by the Senate.

So clearly, just a variety of new faces in this administration as well with problems.

And a clear takeaway, they're going to from day one put climate change at the center of their agenda and start overturning what the Trump administration did over the last four years.

GOLODRYGA: It was evident they have a familiarity with each other, which would be helpful going forward with an aggressive agenda.

ZELENY: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: We have to leave it there.

Coral Davenport, Keith Boykin, Jeff Zeleny, thank you.

And we have breaking news to bring you. A major development in the fight against coronavirus. The CDC advisory committee voting just a short time ago to recommend the Moderna vaccine for emergency use in the U.S. We'll talk to a medical expert about this coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:47]

GOLODRYGA: Breaking just moments ago. The CDC's advisory committee voted to recommend COVID's Moderna vaccine for emergency use for people 18 and older.

CDC director, Dr. Robert Redfield, is expected to accept the committee's recommendation this weekend.

And we know the distribution process is already under way. Meaning, it will likely Americans receive the Moderna vaccine by Monday.

With me now, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University and a CNN medical analyst.

Doctor, welcome. Thank you so much for joining us.

What is your reaction to a second vaccine receiving a recommendation by the CDC advisory committee?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: More good news. This is similar to the Pfizer vaccine we started using earlier this week. Moderna, I think they'll ship three million doses. Very good news, hopeful news now.

GOLODRYGA: And there have been some bumps along the way with the rollout of the Pfizer vaccine. And chief operating officer for Warp Speed apologized today for a miscommunication that resulted in states receiving lower allocations of the COVID-19 than expected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. GUSTAVE PERNA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: It was my fault. I gave guidance. I am the one that approved the forecast sheets. I am the one that approved the allocations.

There's no problem with the process. There's no problem with the Pfizer vaccine. There's no problem with the Moderna vaccine. It was a planning error and I'm responsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: Good on him for taking responsibility. It's not something we hear every day.

But what is your reaction to that as we look into the rollout of the second vaccine?

REINER: We need to do better than this. We've been planning for these vaccines for almost a year and the vaccine is racing across this country and we have a huge job to do. Vaccinate 330 Americans.

We have to get this right. And time is lives. So let's fix the problems.

It would be helpful if we heard from the task force. We heard from the task force exactly once in the last six months.

If members of the task force came out, we could ask them questions and understand where the trip wires have been and the outlook going forward.

We need more transparency, not less.

GOLODRYGA: Unfortunately, it's worth asking whether they would offer the transparency even if they did come forward, given the track record.

But, Doctor, Anthony Fauci said the coronavirus vaccine trials might begin in children in January and the results could be ready a few months after the trials What is your reaction t begin.

o the timeline? Does it seem reasonable to you?

REINER: It certainly does. Fortunately, children really tolerate this virus the best. So the fact this is being studied in them last makes a lot of sense.

[15:45:04]

But we really want to be able to vaccinate the entire country and you cannot extrapolate the data required in adults to kids. Kids are not just little adults. So we need to understand the safety and efficacy in children.

And I'm glad that the studies are starting now. So by spring, we should be able to start vaccinating kids hopefully.

GOLODRYGA: Because we do know kids can transmit the virus as well.

Vice President Pence was publicly vaccinated yesterday. President Trump didn't bother to attend. And as far as we know, has not received the vaccine himself.

Why do you think that is?

REINER: I think he's afraid of it. If you look at some of the statements the president made in the past, there's a threat of anti- vax or vax concern that has persisted in some of what he's said in the past. I don't know why.

He's missing an enormous opportunity to reassure the public. He should be taking a victory lap.

If I were one of the president's advisers, I would say, why don't you get on the road?

Why don't you start visiting vaccination centers all over the country and urge people that follow you and that listen to you that this vaccine is safe and effective and urge them to take it? Take a victory lap, Mr. President.

GOLODRYGA: Instead, he seems focused on this delusional thought that he won the election.

REINER: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Dr. John Reiner, thank you so much. Great to have you on.

REINER: My pleasure.

GOLODRYGA: Tonight, join Anderson Cooper to learn how the country defeated the 1918 pandemic. The new CNN's special report, "PANDEMIC: HOW A VIRUS CHANGED THE WORLD IN 1918," begins at 9:00 p.m.

And more breaking news. The president finally speaking out on the massive cyberattack linked to Russia. But guess what the president is doing? Downplaying it. I'll get reaction from the former director of National Intelligence James Clapper, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:33]

GOLODRYGA: President Trump has finally broken his silence on what's being described as the worst cyberattack in U.S. history, one that breached dozens of federal agencies and companies for months.

In what can only be described as a delusional, yet sadly, very on- brand tweet, Trump wrote: "The cyber hack is far greater in the fake news media than in actuality. I've been fully briefed and everything is well under control."

"Russia, Russia, Russia is the priority chant when anything happens. Discussing the possibility that it may be China. It may."

"There could also have been a hit on our ridiculous voting machines during the election, which is now obvious that I won big, making it even more corrupted. Embarrassment for the United States."

GOLODRYGA: This comes after Secretary of State Pompeo said in an interview that he believes Russia is behind the stake and that the U.S. must impose a cost on the Russians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE (voice-over): There was a significant effort to use a piece of third-party software to essentially embed code inside of U.S. government systems and it now appears systems of private companies and governments across the world as well. This was a very significant effort.

And I think it's the case that now we can say pretty clearly that it was the Russians that engaged in this activity.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GOLODRYGA: Joining me is the former director of National Intelligence under President Obama, James Clapper.

Director, thanks for joining us.

I worry that millions of Americans will see and hear the president's tweets and, thus, think that this isn't a big deal.

Can you explain why every American should be alarmed by the cyberattack and what is your reaction to the president's tweet?

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I share your concern, Bianna, that this is a gray situation with what the Russians have done.

And I would suggest I'm pretty sure we don't yet know the extent of this cyberattack. We're aware of one software company they used as a conduit.

But they could have used other software companies or other techniques that we don't know about. So this is a very serious thing.

And the access that the Russians obviously have is a treasure trove for them in terms of information.

As for the president, he's either delusional or in a state of denial or both about the seriousness of this attack.

It reminds me of 2016 when we described the Russian interference in the election process and he insisted it could have been the Chinese or 400-pound guy in his bed in Philadelphia or some such nonsense.

And it seems to be the same here, this refusal to dime out the Russians. And specifically Putin has been one consistent trait of this administration.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, some things have never changed over these past four years.

From a national security standpoint, how would you describe the threat level that this attack poses? Are we talking DefCon One here? Is this the nightmare cyber scenario?

CLAPPER: DefCons employ a reaction of some sort, putting military forces on a higher state of readiness. And apparently, that hasn't been done yet.

[15:55:02]

There's been the comparison with Pearl Harbor. That's in my mind. Not exactly the apt metaphor.

This is more like the reconnaissance the Japanese might have done before the attack on September 7th, 1941. Or just to stretch the metaphor a bit more, maybe the planting of mines in the harbors to be detonated later.

So we're more in that phase with respect to the cyberattack by the Russians than an actual attack.

Now if the Russians went to the next step of deleting data or, worse, perhaps manipulating it so that it can't be trusted. As far as I know, we don't have any signs of that. But that's certainly a potential.

That's why this is so bothersome. Not only because of the penetration widely apparently across the government to include parts of the Department of Defense, but in many large companies, many of which are contractors for both the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community?

GOLODRYGA: Where we could be sitting ducks, as you say. We don't know how deeply penetrated they are. And that could make it much harder to find them.

If they have been in the U.S. systems since March, how long and how difficult will it be to find the perpetrators and to make sure that they have been removed from the system?

CLAPPER: Exactly. Good question. March is, as far as we know. It could have been perhaps earlier than that.

And the Russians' approach here, very sophisticated and painstaking. It takes time to do this, particularly when you're doing implants in the supply chain. And we don't yet know the extent of this.

And so -- and it will take some time, effort and money to do the forensic analysis to fully understand the extent of this penetration.

GOLODRYGA: So let's talk about an effective response. One theory that has been floated is that this is some retaliatory move by the Russians following what is reported as a United States cyberattack in 2018 against the Russians' power grid in Moscow.

And thus creating a tit-for-tat scenario under the project of defense forward to make sure Russians don't penetrate our systems again as a deterrent.

Could that possibly be the case that the retaliating for something we've done and what's your view on this tit-for-tat cyberwarfare, if that's what it is?

CLAPPER: I don't know what prompted this. I think it's just -- I'm not sure anything prompted it.

It's just part of the Russian approach, which traces its origins to the Soviet approach of poking us, prodding us for weaknesses. Of course, they clearly found one here.

So I don't know, specifically, what prompted this assault. But again, it's serious. And we need to think twice before we retaliate.

First thing is to know the magnitude of the attack. And we don't actually know that yet. So if they're holding us cyber hostages, we need to know what the state of that hostage is.

And then if we're going to retaliate, we better think about what the counterretaliation might be.

And traditionally, we've kind of shied away from aggressive cyberattacks and gone to other techniques such as sanctions.

GOLODRYGA: And you know, President-Elect Biden has warned his administration would impose substantial cost on those responsible.

I don't know what that could mean because we have sanctioned Russians as far as we possibly can and that doesn't seem to be a deterrent. We still have a month with President Obama and President Trump and his administration.

The fact that he hasn't signed the defense authorization bill, which includes a substantial amount of money for cyber defense, what signal does that send to Vladimir Putin?

CLAPPER: Well, the signal it conveyed to Vladimir Putin, specifically, and the Russians in general is, you're getting a pass. And so we've not done anything to stem that aggressiveness.

And a part of this National Defense Authorization Act is the establishment of a cyber czar or cyber director in the White House, which we need.

[15:59:54]

There used to be a position like that -- last occupant was Tom Bossert -- to coordinate, not only intergovernmental, but for that matter, a society-wide approach, which is what we need now, because this isn't an assault just on the government.