Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

VP-Elect Harris Receives First Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine; Fauci: U.S. is "Below Where We Want To Be" On COVID Vaccinations; Only 2.1 Million Vaccines Administered So Far, Well Below Prediction; WI Official: 500 Moderna Vaccine Doses Discarded at Medical Center Due to a Storage Error; U.S. to Fall Short of Goal for 20 Million Vaccinations By Jan.; Cases Rising in England Despite Lockdowns as New COVID Strain Spreads Across U.K.; Higher Relief Checks, Defense Bill Now in Senate's Hands; Senate Faces Critical Votes on Relief Checks, Trump Veto Override; President Faces First Veto Override Weeks Before Leaving Office; Trump Lashes Out at Republicans After Vote to Override Veto; GOP-Led Senate Under Pressure to Vote on $2,000 Stimulus Checks; GOP Rep: "I Do Worry" About Potential Violence on Day Congress Certifies Electoral College Count; Biden Accuses Trump Appointees of Obstructing Transition. Aired 11-11:30a ET.

Aired December 29, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we are all done.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: OK. Awesome. Thank you (inaudible).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

HARRIS: Well, I want to thank United Medical Center for the work that you do in Southeast D.C., serving a community that is often overlooked. So, it is good to be here and I have now been vaccinated, as Joe likes to say, there's a big difference between the vaccine and vaccinations.

I want to encourage everyone to get the vaccine, it is relatively painless, it happens really quickly, it is safe. The Moderna, the Pfizer -- today I had the Moderna vaccine, my husband is going to have it today as well. I look forward to getting the second vaccine and literally this about saving lives. It's literally about saving lives.

I trust the scientists and it is the scientists who created and approved this vaccine. So, I urge everyone when it is your turn get vaccinated. It's about saving your life, the life of your family members and the life of your community.

And so, thank you and let's all just do what we need to do to stay healthy and safe this holiday season and every day of the year. Thank you all. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Madam Vice President-elect, I have two

questions. One, is this -- taking this test -- excuse me, this vaccine (inaudible) black community --

HARRIS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- is this an effort to dispel fears and mistrust in the minority community with this vaccine, particularly --

HARRIS: Well, I (inaudible) today because first of all we have phenomenal healthcare providers, like Nurse Patricia (ph), who serve the community and we have hospitals and medical centers and clinics like this all over the country who are staffed by people who understand the community, who often come from the community and who administer all year round trusted healthcare.

And so, I want to remind people that right in your community is where you can take the vaccine, where you will receive the vaccine by folks you may know, folks who otherwise are working in the same hospital where your children were born, folks who are working in the same hospital where an elderly relative received the kind of care that they needed.

So, I want to remind people that they have trusted sources of health, and that's where they will be able to go to get the vaccine. So, I encourage them to do that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And lastly, on the stimulus check, Chuck Schumer's trying to increase it to $2,000 with unanimous consent today. It may not pass. Mitch McConnell is voting (ph) (inaudible). What's (inaudible)?

HARRIS: Well, I actually have a bill for that. We are -- a while back I recommended that folks receive a $2,000 check. And so, I would urge Mitch McConnell to put my bill on the floor for a vote.

Thank you everyone. Thank you.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right, you were watching there the Vice President-elect Kamala Harris leaving the public hospital here in Washington, D.C., as she just received her first dose of two doses of the coronavirus vaccines.

She said that she was receiving the Moderna -- Moderna's vaccine there.

I want to bring in our Senior CNN Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen as well as CNN's Kristen Holmes in Washington. And, you know, we've heard so many times, Elizabeth, from epidemiologists, from the doctors, the vaccine won't save lives, vaccination will save lives.

And it's no coincidence that the top question there, the only question that Kamala Harris fielded as she left was one about suspicion among the black community and it's no coincidence about where she went to receive this vaccine in Washington, D.C. in a -- in the black community in Washington, D.C., that is where this hospital is -- is located.

She's trying to send a message and she -- as she said, I trust the science, it is the scientists who created and approved this.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, there's a reason, as you said, there's a reason why she went to the place where she chose to go. Polls have shown that there's been a fair amount of hesitancy and suspicion about this vaccine in general across the country, but especially in the black community and there are really legitimate reasons for that. When you look at Tuskegee, when you look at other experiments that were done on black people, when -- that went on for decades.

When you look at the current state of things, I mean, there are still biases in medicine today. And so, I think we can acknowledge that and at the same time say, look, this is a different situation, this vaccine was tested on tens of thousands of people. It has now been used in over 2 million people, including the vice president and we have not seen serious reactions.

[11:05:00]

And hopefully what people -- all people, not just people of color, but what all people will feel is, look, there is science, it has been transparent, it is out there, you can read it if you want to, you can ask your doctor to read it and there have been very, very few side effects to this. They have been maybe a fever or body aches, lasted a day or two. There have not been any serious side effects. There have been a very small, six people, that we know of who've had allergic reactions that as far as we know were handled very quickly and easily.

So, I think that's the important thing that people need to remember here, is that there is real science behind it and there are real scientists, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, who stand behind those findings.

KEILAR: Yes, and that is, as you mentioned, there are real reasons for suspicion when you're talking about the African-American community in the U.S. and then there's also the fact of just how hard hit African-Americans in the U.S. have been affected.

So, this is hugely important to see Vice President-elect Kamala Harris getting this vaccination.

Right now, Kristen, there are a lot of obstacles that need to be overcome in order make sure that Americans are getting vaccinated, I mean, especially when you look at the supply at this point in time, the number of vaccines that are available, this is the part that is most troubling, the people who are watching the rollout of this.

You have 11 million vaccinations, doses of this -- of these vaccinations from Pfizer and Moderna that have been distributed, and yet only 2.1 have been administered. And when you look at other countries, you know, the U.S. just isn't doing as well as getting these out the door and in the arms of people. KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right Brianna. And I

spoke to a senior administration official today about this, asking why exactly we are so woefully behind, we have to keep in mind, the Trump Administration promised 20 million doses in arms by the end of the year. We are now two days from that deadline and we are at 2.1 million according to the CDC.

Now, a senior administration official said to me that this was expected, that this is because of a lack in reporting of data, and a top official at Operation Warp Speed actually explained this even further to me, saying that according to the CDC healthcare providers have to report the doses to state, territorial and local public health agencies up to 72 hours after the administration of the vaccine and then they have to then give that to the CDC. So, that's why those numbers are behind.

But, when we hear about this underestimation of those numbers, I have to point what Dr. Fauci said on our air today, which was essentially that even if it is an underestimation how much of a possible underestimation could it be, even if it's 2 million that still leaves us, again, woefully behind that 20 million doses.

And you mentioned this, you know, several of the health officials that I've spoken to have said that supply is still a huge issue. The fact that eventually we're going to need to have 330 million people getting vaccinated and we are nowhere near that kind of number.

And the other part here that wasn't taken into consideration, I'm hearing this from healthcare providers across the country, is how hard it is to transport and store this vaccine and how many of these places just weren't prepared.

And I want to note that, when we talk about human error, we have learned that 500 doses of the Moderna vaccine were actually thrown out at a healthcare in Wisconsin because they were inadvertently taken out of a refrigerator and then not put back. And this is the kind of human error that we're talking about here when we talk about the vaccine.

KEILAR: Oh, I mean, that is just -- that is something to hear, Elizabeth, that's very difficult to think of that going wasted, really the elixir of life as we know for so many Americans who are in desperate need of this vaccine.

Elizabeth, that explanation, an underestimation of how many vaccines have actually been administered, I mean, what do you make of that considering that we're hearing, according to certain doctors, like Dr. Ashish Jha, that manufactures like Pfizer say they've got millions of doses sitting around waiting for these vaccine doses to be allocated.

COHEN: So a couple of points here. First of all, what Kristen just said is -- is on the nose. Dr. Fauci said, even it is an underestimate essentially it's still too low, 11 million distributed about, about 2 million put into arms. Even if that 2 million is doubled, even if it's 4 million, even if it's tripled, even if it's 6 million, you can't just say underreporting. Sure it's underreported, but is it underreported by that much? It's hard to believe, even if it's double that number, even if it's triple it is still too low. And, you know, I'm thinking back to the conversations I had with Operation Warp Speed officials last fall and they emphasize we're going to get these doses out there, we're going to get 20 million doses out there, FedEx, UPS, trucks, we're going to make it all happen. And they did.

But, what I would say to them, well what happens once those doses get there, how are you going to get them into arms quickly? They basically said, oh, that's up to the hospital, that's up to the state, that's up to the nursing home.

[11:10:00]

That's the problem. They did a great job of, you know, planning how to get the doses to the places, but having these clinics, getting these shots into arms, that is not always quick and easy. There a number of logistical hurdles that need to be overcome and the bulk of the planning was about just getting the doses there, not about how to make these clinics work quickly.

We're seeing other countries do this much more quickly and I will note, those are countries with single payer systems, with national health services. It's a lot easier and a lot quicker to do it when you have one place that's in charge, which is not the situation in the U.S.

KEILAR: That's a very interesting point. Elizabeth, Kristen, thank you so much for your great reporting.

Let's talk now about this more with Dr. Leana Wen. She's our CNN Medical Analyst. She's a former Baltimore -- a Baltimore Health Commissioner and she's a contributing columnist for the "Washington Post."

Dr. Wen, when you look at these numbers how concerned should we be?

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think we should be pretty concerned, especially if we do the math, because right now if we're at 2 million doses that are vaccinated or given to people within two weeks at that pace it will take us more than 10 years to reach 80 percent of all Americans vaccinated, because this is a two-dose vaccine.

Obviously, we need to scale this up or ramp this up rapidly and what I would like to see from the Trump Administration is an acknowledgement that the pace is not where it should be, that we need to be doing a lot of things differently, but we need to start by being honest and saying, this is -- we're really not on track at all, and so where are the barriers, where are the problems and how can work together to address them instead of deflecting responsibility to state and local entities.

KEILAR: Do you have a sense of where the barriers are? Because, we're talking about -- I mean, look, getting to the vaccine was a huge step, then it is manufacturing the vaccine, which they were doing obviously ahead of this emergency use authorization, then it's about getting it to the states, it's about getting it to different hospitals, some are publicly owned, some are privately owned, lots of them are owned by different places. And then there are considerations about refrigeration, keeping these frozen. Who needs to have put in place a -- a widespread plan that didn't just take a piece of this?

WEN: I think you've just articulated the primary issue, Brianna, which is that there are so many elements to this incredibly comjplex operation and there needs to be a single national strategy for how we're going to do this.

And I'm not saying that the only the Federal Government is in charge here, we know that so much is going to be happening at the local level. It's going to depend on employers and -- and individual health clinics and pharmacies to actually do the implementation on the ground.

But, we need to have a lot more direction from the Federal Government and the estimates and the timeline that's given, sure, it can be optimistic, but it should be realistic as well.

And once we identify what the barriers are we can all work together to overcome them, because ultimately the challenge is everyway it's production, it's distribution and then it's the last mile issue of how we're actually going to translate the vaccine in vial into vaccinations.

KEILAR: So, we're keeping an eye -- I'm sure you're tracking very closely what's happening the U.K. as well, you have cases that are reportedly rising again despite lockdowns. Some scientists fear that this is a newly contagious COVID strain that is driving the increase.

What do we need to know about this more transmissible strain?

WEN: What we know so far is that this strain is not more virulent, and so it doesn't seem to cause more severe disease. If you get you're not more likely to be hospitalized or to die, however, it looks like it's up to 70 percent more transmissible, which is a big problem, because the more this virus is contagious, the more it spreads, the more infections we're going to get and then be definition if you have more infections that also will translate to more hospitalizations, to overwhelming our healthcare system even more and unfortunately to more deaths as well.

And so, what we need in the U.S. is a much better surveillance system, much better testing to figure out if there are not only is this strain here, but also are there other strains that are homegrown that we're not even picking up yet.

KEILAR: All right, as we know this virus mutates every, I think, few weeks. Is that right Dr. Wen?

WEN: It actually is constantly mutating and that's just what viruses do. But again, it's with surveillance that we're able to pick up on the mutations.

KEILAR: No, it's a good point. Dr. Wen, thank you so much for your expertise on this, it's great to see you.

And coming up, there are two critical bills that are now in the Senate's hands and both of them are putting Republicans in a tight spot. Could they support a larger amount for those stimulus checks, those pandemic relief stimulus checks? And will they override the president on the defense bill, his veto of it?

[11:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:19:35]

KEILAR: From the runoff battleground in Georgia to the golf club in south Florida is visiting yet again this morning, all eyes are no on Republicans in the Senate. Next hour we could learn how Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will handle two critical issues now in his chamber following votes in the House. Increasing pandemic relief checks from $600 to $2,000 and then overriding the president's veto of the Defense Funding Bill.

We find CNN's Lauren Fox on Capitol Hill covering all of this on a very busy time between Christmas and New Years. So, let's first start with the stimulus checks, where are we on these checks, Lauren?

[11:20:00]

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, very important today at noon Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expected to open the Senate and that's when we will get he first glimpse of what McConnell's plan is here.

Remember, this passed with overwhelming support in the U.S. House of Representatives last night with a two-thirds majority. Many Republicans voting with Democrats to make sure the president got this across the finish line in that chamber. So, now the key question whether or not McConnell will bring this to the floor for a vote in his chamber.

Now, there have already been five Republican Senators who say that they support a $2,000 stimulus check for individuals, whether or not they support the exact language of the House bill might be a term of difference here to really realize moving forward, Brianna..

But, it's important to note that there a few key senators we've heard from today, including David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are both running for reelection on January 5 in the state of Georgia. They say that they now support these $2,000 stimulus checks. Obviously, a very important note on just how and where this might go in the U.S. Senate. I'm still told that there are a lot of Republicans very concerned about having to take this vote and potentially cross President Trump, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, this is a tough one for them. And then, they're also facing this vote on the Defense Funding Bill. Of course, the president vetoed it, the House voted to override the veto, now it's really up to the Senate here. And tell us a little bit about this plan that Bernie Sanders has as he tries to make sure that there's a vote on the relief checks first.

FOX: Well everything really goes back to those $2,000 stimulus checks. Essentially what Bernie Sanders, and Independent from Vermont is arguing is that unless he sees Majority Leader McConnell move forward with these $2,000 stimulus checks, he is going to essentially delay a vote on the NDAA override.

McConnell had hoped to bring that to the floor tomorrow, but if Bernie Sanders objects, and that only happens again if McConnell doesn't bring this $2,000 stimulus check bill to the floor, then essentially what that does is it pushes that vote into Friday, that's New Year's day, of course, a holiday when a lot of lawmakers would like to back in their states. Brianna.

KEILAR: Nothing like threatening them with some work on a holiday to get them to stick around and do the job. All right, Lauren Fox, thank you so much. Live for us from Capitol Hill.

The president is lashing out after getting mixed results from the House of Representatives last night. More than 100 Republicans joined with Democrats to override the president's veto of this big defense bill.

In tweets this morning he slammed Republican leadership as, quote, weak and tired and he's also keeping the pressure up on this $2,000 value for these relief checks going out to Americans.

I want to bring in CNN Political Commentator and former Republican Congresswoman Mia Love of Utah to discuss this. I wonder what you think about this. Does the president have a firm grip on the Republican Party or is it slipping or are we about to find out?

MIA LOVE (R), CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's actually slipping. Look, the president is not going to be there in January and Kevin McCarthy and all of the other Republicans have got to decide what they're going to do next. They've got to decide whether they're going to get back to the fiscally disciplined Republican Party, whether they're going to continue to follow the president, I do not see any win-win for them to continue to follow the president at all costs.

They still have a lot of work to do, and as you remember, everything that they do in the House of Representatives and in the Senate is going to affect what happens in these runoff races. So, they have to be very careful about how they define themselves and how that affects other races around the country.

KEILAR: And in those runoff races you have both of Georgia's Republican Senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who say that they support this call to increase these relief checks to $2,000. Do you have a sense of what -- of how this might play out in the Senate? Do you think that this is something that is going to succeed?

LOVE: Look, I think that Mitch McConnell has got his hands full. I also think that if there is anybody that can get something to happen, it's Mitch McConnell, and I do not believe that he's actually even taking the president into consideration except for that he knows that the president still has a large following. So, what he's going to do, is he's going to have to try and play off what the president is doing and how he can maintain the majority in the House -- in the -- in the Senate. That is going to be his number one priority.

So, if you've got some of these people that are still going through election that are saying, hey, we want to support this, he is going to take that into consideration because he wants to maintain the majority in the Senate, which is his number one priority.

KEILAR: How difficult a spot are Republicans in -- Senate Republicans where they potentially would have to vote against more money for Americans and against a veto by the president?

[11:25:00]

How do they manage this difficult spot and how do Republican leaders manage this?

LOVE: So everyone's going to have their own ways of managing it and what they're constituents are telling them. But, it is an incredibly tough spot, it's one that I am actually happy that I'm not in right now. The fact that you have to still decide who you're going to be.

Remember, fiscally disciplined, we're at $27 trillion in debt right now, that is something that they still have to take ownership for, because that was run up large part by the president and Republicans have gotten away from that and -- and Americans are still saying, who's going to handle the debt.

You also have to understand that there a lot of people that have been out of work and right now their number one priority is, I need to feed my family. There is nothing to hold me over, so I've got to be able to do -- there -- it's going to be a very difficult situation and unfortunately Republicans are in a less advantaged place right now in terms of making these decisions.

KEILAR: Yes, they are. And look, they are, Congresswoman, facing some real challenges here posed by the situation on the ground. We spoke yesterday with a single mom of two from Nebraska who had to take a leave of absence from her job because she is at risk if she were to get COVID dying, and she is a single mom. And she's feeding her kids on $50 a week when it comes to groceries.

I -- I do want to ask you about a loyalty test for Republicans that's coming January 6. Congress will certify the Electoral College vote. Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger says that he is concerned that there may be violence. And -- and I wonder what you think about that, if that's a concern that you share?

LOVE: I -- I certainly hope not. Anything's possible. This has -- this has been a really interesting, odd year, odd presidency, anything's possible. But, I certainly hope not and I certainly hope that Republicans remember who they are actually loyal to, and that is the American people that have elected them to be in the position to represent them.

Remember, that the House of Representatives and members of Congress all together are -- is a branch of government that's closest to people.

KEILAR: Very good reminder. Thank you so much, really appreciate it. Congress Mia Love, thank you for being with us.

LOVE: Thank you.

KEILAR: Up next, President-elect Joe Biden is accusing Trump appointees of obstructing the transition of power. What dangers could this create?

[11:27:30]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)