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Trump's Call To Raffensperger: "Find Me 11,780 Votes"; Trump Attempts To Coerce Raffensperger To Change Georgia Election Results; Vaccine Call-In System In Houston Crashes On First Day; Trump Denies Record High Hospital Admissions As Fake News. Trump Continues to Throw Republican Party into Chaos; U.K. Reopens Field Hospitals to Cope with Surge in Cases; India's Coronavirus Vaccination Plan; Israel Vaccination Campaign Exceeding Larger Countries. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired January 04, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
CNN VOICE OVER: This is CNN BREAKING NEWS.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Rosemary Church.
We are following this breaking news.
A lot of reaction and condemnation pouring in from Washington and around the United States over the stunning phone call between President Donald Trump and Georgia's Republican secretary of state.
In an audio recording obtained by CNN, Trump is heard telling Brad Raffensperger he wants him to change the outcome of the presidential election in Georgia and tilt it in his favor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So look, all I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes which is one more than we have because we won the state. And flipping the state is a great testament to our country because there's just -- it's a testament that they can admit to a mistake or whatever you want to call it, if it was a mistake, I don't know.
A lot of people think it wasn't a mistake, it was much more criminal than that.
But it's a big problem in Georgia and it's not a problem that's going away. It's not a problem it's going away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: In a long-winded, sometimes incoherent and meandering phone call, the president repeats debunked conspiracy theories and insists he won the state of Georgia. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I won this election by hundreds of thousands of votes, there's no way I lost Georgia. There's no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes. I'm just going by small numbers, when you add them up they're many times the 11,000. But I won that state by hundreds of thousands of votes.
Now do you think it's possible that they shredded ballots in Fulton County because that's what the rumor is? And also Dominion took out machines, that Dominion is really moving fast to get rid of their machinery. Do you know anything about that? Because that's illegal.
RYAN GERMANY, GENERAL COUNSEL TO GEORGIA'S SECRETARY OF STATE, BRAD RAFFENSPERGER: This is Ryan Germany. No, Dominion has not moved machinery out of Fulton County. We're having --
TRUMP: But have they moved --
GERMANY: -- an election on Tuesday.
Trump: -- the inner parts of the machines and replaced them with other parts?
GERMANY: No.
TRUMP: Are you sure, Ryan?
GERMANY: I'm sure. I'm sure, Mr. President.
TRUMP: What about -- what about the ballots, the shredding of the ballots? Have they been shredding ballots?
GERMANY: No. The only investigation that we have into that, they have not been shutting any ballots. There was an issue in Cobb County where they were doing normal office shredding, getting rid of old stuff, and we investigated that. But this is stuff from past elections.
TRUMP: Oh I don't know about that.
GERMANY: And that's what (inaudible).
TRUMP: It doesn't pass the smell test though because we hear they're shredding thousands and thousands of ballots. And now what they're saying oh we're just cleaning up the office. I don't think that's likely.
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, Mr. President, the problem that we have a social media, people can say anything.
TRUMP: No, this isn't social -- this is Trump media, it's not social media. It's really not, it's not social media. I don't care about social --
RAFFENSPERGER: But -- TRUMP: I couldn't care less -- social media is big tech. Big tech is on your side, you know. I don't even know why you have a side, because you should want to have an accurate election. And you're a Republican.
RAFFENSPERGER: We believe that we do have an accurate election.
TRUMP: No, you don't. No, no, you don't. You don't have -- not even close. You've got -- you're off by hundreds of thousands of votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Again, there is no evidence of widespread election fraud. But this phone call comes just ahead of a vote to certify President Elect Joe Biden's win where several Republican senators and house members plan to join with Donald Trump to object.
The phone call just the latest attempt by President Trump to overturn the results of the election that took place nearly nine weeks ago.
And it comes just before Georgia's pivotal senate election runoff on Tuesday. John Harwood has our report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: With just a little over two weeks left in Donald Trump's presidency the bombshells just keep dropping. On Sunday, it was "The Washington Post"s revelation of the audiotape of a phone call on which President Trump pressures the Republican secretary of state of Georgia to find extra votes to overturn Joe Biden's victory there.
Never mind that the electoral college tally has been certified in all 50 states.
[01:05:00]
Never mind that Joe Biden does not need Georgia's 16 electoral votes to win, he's got 306 which is well over the 270 you need. Never mind that there's no evidence of widespread fraud or irregularity in Georgia voting or vote counting.
The president was repeating fantasies about shredded ballots and altered voting machines. Brad Raffensperger resisted, even though President Trump appealed to him to act as a fellow Republican.
Now the White House is not commenting on this tape. Hard to know what they would say considering that the president's on the tape as well as White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
But the Biden campaign was quick to say the tape affirms President Trump's assault on democracy since the election.
Vice President Elect Kamala Harris said that this was a bald-faced abuse of power. The irony is that this could end up strengthening Joe Biden's
presidency if it tilts it at all the very close races for two Georgia senate seats that take place on Tuesday.
If Democrats win both, Democrats will control the senate and that would give Joe Biden a lot freer hand in terms of legislation.
HARWOOD (On Camera): John Harwood, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: As John just reported there, all eyes on those crucial race in Georgia. The president is scheduled to be in the state on Monday to make a final push for the incumbent Republican senators.
But as Kyung Lah explains, Mr. Trump's antics could be hurting not helping his party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Well, Democrats are seizing on that call between President Trump and Georgia's secretary of state calling it undemocratic.
We heard from Vice President Elect Kamala Harris who was here in Savannah stumping for the two Democratic challengers, hoping to flip those two senate seats on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Have you all heard about that recorded conversation?
(Car horns)
HOLMES: Well, it was, yes, certainly the voice of desperation, most certainly that. And it was a bald, bald-faced bold abuse of power by the president of the United States.
JON OSSOFF, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: The president of the United States calls up Georgia's election officials and tries to intimidate them to change the result of the election. To disenfranchise Georgia voters, to disenfranchise black voters in Georgia who delivered this state for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
(Car horns)
OSSOFF: That is a direct attack on our democracy and if David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler had one piece of steel in their spines, one shred of integrity, they would be out here defending Georgia voters from that kind of assault.
LAH: It's hard to miss what this image means. If Raphael Warnock and Jon ossify flip those two senate seats, Kamala Harris becomes a tie breaker, Democrats then control the senate. That is what is at stake on Tuesday. We did reach out to senators Loeffler and Perdue for comment on the
call. Neither of them returned our calls.
LAH (On Camera): Kyung Lah, CNN, Savannah, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Meantime, news of the president's phone call overshadowed the re-election of Nancy Pelosi as house speaker on Saturday. Despite the Democrat's smallest house majority in decades, Pelosi was re-elected speaker by a razor-thin margin with just two Democrats supporting someone else.
It will be Pelosi's fourth and possibly final term to lead the house.
Well, joining me now from Los Angeles, Ron Brownstein is CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic." Good to have you with us, Happy New Year.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SNR. POLITICAL ANALYST: (Inaudible) Rosemary, Happy New Year.
CHURCH: So by now, of course, we've all heard portions of the stunning recording of President Trump's telephone conversation with Georgia's secretary of state demanding he finds specifically 11,780 more votes to tilt Georgia's election results in his favor.
What was your response to this and how significant could it be, with some comparisons already be made to Watergate?
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, I think if you take everything that is happening the last few months since the election we are witnessing the most sustained and broad scale assault on American democracy probably since the South seceded after Abraham Lincoln was elected in 1860.
The idea that some Republicans said immediately after the election well, just humor him, how much damage could be done has really been exposed.
We have seen an ongoing effort by the president to subvert the result of a democratic election, unquestionably, in many spheres.
[01:15:00]
Through the courts, through pressuring state legislators, now this kind of direct mob-like intimidation of the Republican secretary of state in Georgia.
And I disagree a little with Phil. The fact that there is divergence in the Republican party at a time when the divergence means are you going to stand with American democracy or are you going to stand with an effort to overturn it, it is striking how many Republicans are going along with this.
Apart from the litigation -- two-thirds of the Republicans attorneys general, two-thirds of the Republicans in the house. Now probably as many as 140 or 150 house Republicans and maybe a quarter of the senate Republicans willing to overturn the election to try to install President Trump in his second term against the will of the voters.
This is a very ominous moment for American democracy and one whose magnitude, I think, cannot be understated.
CHURCH: Do you think at this point that we need to hear more from those Republicans who are willing to put country before political expediency? Because -- are we hearing enough from them?
BROWNSTEIN: No. I think all the way throughout -- again, there was this view in the Republican party you don't want to anger the base, we want to ensure a big turnout in Georgia and they have allowed Trump to seed this fantasy that the election was stolen from the Republicans in big diverse cities with large African-American populations.
Seventy percent of Republicans or so now believe -- Republican voters -- believe the election was stolen and this has created a kind of snowballing effect that has made it harder for Republican elected officials to stand in the way of this.
I would go further, Rosemary, and say we need to hear more from Democrats. Joe Biden has made a very calculated decision to largely shrug this off and to basically be above the fray, to act as though this is all noise and he is going to unify the country when he comes in.
And I think that decision, while understandable from some angles, has allowed this to spread among Republicans and has inhibited the extent to which Americans understand the gravity of what we are living through at this moment.
CHURCH: And Ron, some analysts have suggested Trump's actions in this call are criminal, corrupt, amount to abuse of power, a bloodless coup. What do you say to those descriptions and what will be the likely ramifications of this recorded conversation going public , do you think?
BROWNSTEIN: This is one of those things where if this conversation is not a crime then what is? And I know that there are legal experts who have said well, the way he phrased it here or there might make it hard to prosecute it.
But unequivocally, the president was threatening the Republican secretary of state in Georgia with possible criminal or other sanctions if he did not quote, "find him enough votes to overturn the result."
And of course, Rosemary, as you know overturning Georgia would do him no good because it would leave him still -- leave Biden with 290 so electoral college votes.
So if he was threatening this to the Republican in Georgia, one else is he doing simultaneously because turning over Georgia by itself would not solve his problem. The big question is what does this do to that run-off on Tuesday in
Georgia, where the two senate seats will be up for grabs. Democrats have not elected a senate in Georgia since the year 2000, now they have to elect two in one day in order to reach a 50/50 senate split which Vice President Harris could tilt in their direction.
And I do think, if nothing else, this will be a powerful tool, for Democratic turnout on election day. Because you see the magnitude, not only of what Trump is doing but what the Republicans who are enabling him are allowing to progress.
CHURCH: All right. Incredible. It will be interesting to see what happens with that on Tuesday, the response, of course. Ron Brownstein always a pleasure to get your analysis. Many thanks.
BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: And still to come, hundreds of thousands of callers scrambling to get the COVID vaccine crash the computer appointment system at a clinic in Houston, Texas.
I will speak with the city's mayor about the overwhelming demand when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: The number of hospital admissions from COVID-19 has hit another record high in the U.S.
At this hour, more than 125,000 people have been hospitalized with the virus across the country. The U.S. death toll is also soaring. But President Trump claims, without proof, that those numbers are exaggerated.
He says it's "fake news." And calls America's counting method "ridiculous."
On Sunday, the nation's top infectious disease expert pushed back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The deaths are real deaths. All you need to do is to go out into the trenches, go to the hospitals, see what the health care workers are dealing with. They are under very stressed situations.
In many areas of the country, the hospital beds are stretched, people are running out of beds, running out of trained personnel who are exhausted right now.
That's real. That's not fake, that's real. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Dr. Anthony Fauci also says the U.S. must do a better job with its vaccine rollout. To make shots available to more Americans, officials are considering giving half doses of the Moderna vaccine to certain people saying there is evidence it can still be effective that way for many.
The Food & Drug Administration is expected to meet this week to discuss the issue.
Well, demand for COVID vaccines is causing long lines and lengthy waits around the U.S. for those hoping to get an early dose.
CNN's Camila bell Bernal reports from a Texas vaccine site with lines wrapped around the block.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAMILA BERNAL, CNN REPORTER: Many here in Texas are excited to get this vaccine. In fact here in Tarrant County, already about 100,000 people have signed up to get this vaccine. And they're willing to stand in line.
This is by appointment only. But, nonetheless, all of these people are having to wait two or three hours to get this vaccine.
[01:20:00]
And I want to show you the end of the line. Because the county is telling us that they're vaccinating between 1,400 to 1,500 people every day.
How it works here in Texas is that frontline workers, medical workers are already allowed to get the vaccine and anyone over the age of 65 is also allowed to get the vaccine.
In addition to that, they're saying that anyone over the age of 16 with underlying conditions is also able to get the vaccine.
Here in this particular site, they're administering the Moderna vaccine and so everyone has to be at least 18 and over in order to get it.
They've said that they have had no problems when it comes to giving this vaccine, they say no one has had any sort of reaction even though they are telling people to stay here for about 15 minutes just to make sure that they're OK after they get the vaccine.
I've talked to people in line and they all say they're excited and looking forward to having this vaccine widely available in 2021.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: I researched it and I think that the benefits outweigh the risk and so I'm not really too concerned about it at all.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: To each their own, I'm not going to judge anyone if they're fearful of doing it, I'm not. I'm not fearful. I feel like the Lord made these scientists brilliant for such a time as this.
BERNAL: And the county does anticipate to get more shipments of the vaccine, they've gotten two already. And the people here in line are getting the second shipment of those vaccines.
They say they will have enough for about three more days and expect to know within the next 24 hours or so whether or not they're getting more vaccines.
They also say, though, that the difficult part here is getting people to administer the vaccine. They may have locations available, but they need people to give the vaccine. They look to volunteers for help but they say they will get any hope they can to try to upgrade, essentially, and get more and more people to administer the vaccine so that more and more people can get the vaccine.
In Fort Worth, Camila Bernal, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: The Honorable Sylvester Turner, Mayor of Houston joins me now. Thank you, Mayor Turner, for talking with us.
SYLVESTER TURNER, MAYOR OF HOUSTON: Thanks for having me.
CHURCH: Your city's vaccine rollout experienced major problems with the computer system crashing when people tried to make appointments for their vaccination shots.
How are you addressing this issue and what's the latest on the current status of your COVID vaccination rollout?
TURNER: Well, it was a huge demand. We had a call in system that was scheduled to start early that morning at 7:30 and about 250,000 people rushed the system to kind of get in and get signed up. And the system totally crashed.
We ended up going to Plan B which was an onsite registration. We did that and then eventually, a couple of hours later, the system was back online so it was on site plus the call in.
We had about 750 -- we had scheduled to give about 750 vaccinations that day but we ended up doing 1,008. So we exceeded what we had planned and things turned out quite nicely.
CHURCH: So what lessons have you learned and rolling out your city's COVID vaccination plan and what would you advise other cities and states do to successfully vaccinate on this large scale?
TURNER: Well, there's a huge demand. What it indicated to us is that -- even with there being vaccine hesitancy, there are still a lot of people who want this vaccine.
And so it is important to work to build out the infrastructure as much as possible, to make it as robust, as widespread -- this was our first health clinic.
But over the next several days, several weeks, we intend to really build out, have multiple providers all throughout the system, not only on site, online registration. But at the same time to have mobile clinics available and in some cases for people who cannot leave their home to be able to go actually and make the home visits to provide the vaccinations.
CHURCH: Right. Because we saw in Florida, people were lined up in their cars, they were lined up on chairs.
The elderly -- because they'd been told 65 and older could just first come, first serve. What you've got is you've got 80-year-olds competing with 65-year-olds in those sorts of situations.
How do you make sure you scale them down so you just have a smaller age groups that come first and then work your way down? Is that what you're aiming to do?
TURNER: Well today, for example, today was much better. The online system or the call-in system was working so the registration was predetermined. And so today we ended up vaccinating about 786 -- I'm sorry, 986 but we didn't have nearly the issues that we had yesterday.
[01:25:00]
So that, yesterday, was the first. You really have to ramp up. But let me quickly add, this is just -- the health department for the City of Houston is just one way of getting the vaccines.
At the same time, the hospitals they are providing the vaccines, there are other multiple providers that are providing vaccines. The City of Houston is working in collaboration with the county so the county's providing vaccines. The Houston Fire Department, the EMS, they're providing vaccines.
So the more distribution outlets that you have -- and then turning to an online system as well I think will help to work out all of those problems.
So yesterday we learned a lot. Today it was much, much, much better and I anticipate as we move forward, it'll get even better.
And then at the end of this week, this coming week, we're hoping to set up a major mega site where we we'll be able to bring in thousands of people at one time. So (inaudible).
CHURCH: So, all right. I understand. And so just very quickly, what sort of help are you getting from the federal government?
TURNER: Well, of course they have provided the vaccines. And then the last week in December, congress signed -- approved the stimulus bill and the president signed it. There are dollars, resources in there for vaccine distribution and so that will be helpful.
So we're not receiving any dollars for the loss of revenue that we have, that we are missing as a result of COVID. But we're going to make it work.
CHURCH: And we wish you the very best in this going forward. Mayor Sylvester Turner, thank you so much for talking with us.
TURNER: Thanks for having me. And Happy New Year.
CHURCH: And Happy New Year to you too, sir.
TURNER: Thank you, thank you.
CHURCH: And next on CNN NEWSROOM. Outrage from Democrats and Republicans alike after President Trump's stunning efforts, all caught on tape, to pressure a state official to flip the election results in his favor.
You will hear more of what was said in that phone call, when we come back.
(CNN HIGHLIGHT)
BILLIE JEAN KING, FORMER TENNIS CHAMPION: We didn't have technology like we do now. So that the players today, the athletes today, can communicate quickly and mobilize quickly. And that's what you see, it's daily.
And I think it's fantastic. Black lives do matter, they've always mattered, and finally people are listening. I just want the young people to be a part of it, I'm worried for them.
I think they have a very -- they're really inheriting a heavy burden from us. I think we need to worry about climate change. There's a lot going on.
But we still, as athletes, we need to use what we have available to us, our platform, to help us make this world a better place. But it's going to be difficult, there's no question.
But we've got to step up, champions adjust, and really step and lead. I want the Billie Jean King Cup to inspire the future generations.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:30:34]
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: More on our top story this hour.
President Donald Trump urging a Republican official in Georgia to change the state's election results and sway them in his favor. In a shocking hour-long phone call, the president is heard pressuring Brad Raffensperger to find 11,780 votes to help him win. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have won this election, in Georgia based on all of this. And there is nothing wrong with saying that, Brad. You know I mean having -- having a correct -- the people of Georgia are angry. And these numbers are going to be repeated on Monday night along with others that we're going to have by that time, which are much more substantial even.
And the people of Georgia are angry. The people of the country are angry. And there is nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you've recalculated because the 2,236 absentee ballots, I mean they are all exact numbers that were done by accounting firms, law firms, et cetera. And even if you cut them in half, cut them in half, and cut them in half again it's more votes than we need.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, Mr. president, the challenge that you have is the data you have
is wrong. We talk to the congressman and they were surprised. But they -- I guess there is a person named Mr. Raynard (ph) that came to these meetings and presented data. And he said that there were dead people, I believe it was upward of 5,000. The actual number was two -- two. Two people that were dead that voted. And so that is wrong, that was two.
TRUMP: Well, we have a new tape that we're going to release, it is devastating. And by the way, that one event, that one event is much more than the 11,000 votes that we are talking about.
It's, you know, that one event was a disaster. But it was something that, it cannot be disputed. And again, we have a version that you haven't seen. But it is -- it's magnifying. It's magnifying and you can see everything.
And she put, for some reason they put it in three times, each ballot, and I don't know why. You know why -- I don't know why three times, why not five times, right?
Yes, go ahead.
RAFFENSPERGER: You are talking about the state farm video. And I think it is extremely unfortunate that Rudy Giuliani or his people, they sliced and diced that video, and took it out of context.
The next day, we brought in a WSE TV and we let them show -- see the full run tape. In which you'll see the events that transpired are nowhere near what was projected by --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Officials in the secretary of state' office recorded that call. But Raffensperger said he did not want it released unless the president attacked him, or misrepresented what was said, according to a source who was on that call.
President Trump later attacked Raffensperger in a tweet Sunday morning.
Well, there is bipartisan condemnation of President Trump's call, his relentless push to overturn the outcome of the election is dividing his own party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R-IL): You see, you know, threats made, threatening in essence a crime to the secretary of state, you see the repeating of conspiracy theories that you see on the Internet that get disproven. but the president believes these or at least he's saying and he believes.
And then again, just saying, we want people that will basically find the votes for us. It is disgusting, and quite honestly, it's going to be interesting. You know, all these members of congress have now come out and said they're going to object to the election.
I don't know how you can do that right now with a clear conscience. Because this is so obviously be on the pale, it's probably not even the way to describe it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And that is the question. Will some House and Senate Republicans still dispute the certification of Joe Biden's victory in Wednesday's joint session of Congress?
CNN's Phil Mattingly breaks down what to expect.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): A number of Republicans, more than 140 in the House, at least 12 in the United States Senate have made clear they are going to object in some form or fashion to a slate of electors or perhaps more.
[01:35:02]
MATTINGLY: Now, they say it is just to raise concerns -- raise awareness for what they believe are irregularities in the vote count. There is no evidence of any irregularities up to this point, at least not in a widespread manner that might change the election.
But they're saying they're just raising issues. And then the president's phone call to the Georgia Secretary of State became public making clear that these lawmakers are not just raising issues. They are lining up with a president who under no -- any uncertain terms is term is trying to overthrow or over turn a legitimately democratic elected president of the United States -- soon to be president of the United States in the case of Joe Biden which raises the question of what's actually going to happen next.
Here's one thing to stipulate up front. Joe Biden will be the president elect, and certified as the president elect once again when Congress meets to count the electors on January 6th. He will be inaugurated as the 46th president of the United States on January 20th.
That is not up for debate. It's not in dispute. It's not a maybe or possibly. It is going to happen. What happens between now and then, that remains the open question as there has been a rupture inside the Republican Party.
I already talked about the Republicans who plan to object at the president's wishes, at the president's behest. Now there are a number of Republicans coming out on the opposite side of things. It has been a frustration that I've been told has been growing behind the scenes for several days. And it is spilling out into public view.
On Sunday morning, Liz Cheney, a congresswoman from Wyoming, a member of House Republican leadership circulating a 21-page memo to her colleagues, talking about how dangerous a precedent those objections may set.
You had Adam Kinzinger, congressman from Illinois. He's been vocal about his opposition to those who plan to object saying even more so now after the leaked phone call with President Trump coming out.
You have Paul Ryan, speaker of the House, former speaker of the House who has said basically nothing since he left Congress at the start of the 116th Congress, putting out a full statement saying in part, "It is difficult to conceive a more antidemocratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of a state's certified elections and disenfranchise millions of Americans. The fact this effort will fail does not mean it will not do significant damage to American democracy."
And it's not rupture -- that's split inside the Republican Party. And I think everybody is paying attention to you now. Obviously, President Trump commands the respect and loyalty of the Republican base, obviously Republican members he has for the last four years.
But the diversions inside the party right now as they try and figure out how to handle something that is just historically unprecedented from inside the Oval Office. Well, that is going to something to watch over the next couple of days.
Again, Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20th. What the Republican Party does between now and then, well, history is going to judge, no question about it.
Phil Mattingly, CNN -- Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: And all 10 living former U.S. Defense secretaries, including two who served under President Trump, said the election is over. In an opinion letter published in "The Washington Post", they emphasize the importance of a smooth transition of power. They said, I'm quoting here, "The time for questioning the results has passed. The time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes as prescribed in the constitution and statue has arrived."
And they had a warning in the acting Defense Secretary. Quoting again, "Efforts to involve the U.S. Armed Forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful, and unconstitutional territory. Well the Pentagon has reversed course and ordered a U.S. Aircraft carrier to stay in the Middle East amid rising tensions with Iran. Last week, the acting secretary of defense had ordered the U.S. (INAUDIBLE) to redeploy to its home base in the state of Washington, but he says the warship will now stay in the region because of Iranian threats against President Trump and other U.S. Officials.
It is not clear how those threats are any different than recent cause for retribution for the killing of a top Iranian general last year.
Well, India is battling the second highest coronavirus case count in the world. Now the country is hoping two vaccines will make the difference in its fight against the pandemic.
We will go live to New Delhi after this short break. Stay with us.
[01:39:18]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: The number of serious coronavirus cases is becoming so large, the U.K. is having to reopen field hospitals just to cope with the growing need. And this comes as the country rolls out the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine.
CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We are outside the Excel Center in London, you can see the that massive conference building behind me here. It is been converted into a field hospital, to deal with an influx of patients that is flooding this country's hospital.
The U.K. is right now dealing with a horrific spike in coronavirus cases, that is why these field hospitals, which have been called a measure of last resort are being reopened. They could be accepting patients in a matter of days.
It's just a sign of how dire things are in this country right now, two thirds of beds in London, hospital beds in London are occupied by COVID-19 patients. And doctors are warning things could get worse before they get better.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the Sunday talk shows, today of course, addressing this and saying that more rules, tougher rules could have to come into force.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It may be, that we need to do things in the next few weeks that will be tougher in many parts of the country. you know I'm fully, fully reconciled to that. But my bet the people of this country are reconciled to that.
ABDELAZIZ: There is one sign of hope, one sign of progress on the horizon. A vaccine by Oxford University and AstraZeneca is set to be rolled out
for the first time on Monday. There is half a million doses that are ready. And there is a lot of hope about this vaccine because it doesn't need to be stored at those extra cold temperatures -- at those sub-zero temperatures. A normal fridge will do.
So a lot of hope that these could reach the most vulnerable in more rural areas. Those who are disconnected from the large hospitals.
Now Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government have been promising that this vaccine and the others will be able to return this country to some semblance of normalcy by the spring.
But in those Sunday talk show interviews, the prime minister revealed than in order to reach that promise, in order to fulfill that promise, two million people would need to be vaccinated every single week in the U.K., just to give you an idea. So far the vaccination program has been around for about three weeks, and only about a million people have been vaccinated. So we're talking about a serious ramping up of this vaccination program.
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ABDELAZIZ: That's why you're seeing government guidance issued like getting that first injection and waiting up to three months for the second or the possibility of mixing vaccines essentially. They are willing to do everything they can to get this dire situation under control.
Salma Abdelaziz, CNN -- London.
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CHURCH: India's drug regulator has approved emergency use of both the Oxford AstraZeneca and Covaxine vaccines.
The country has more than 10 million cases, second only to the United States. Covaxine was developed by an Indian company and a government institute. And some critics are worried the approval was rushed through without enough data.
Vedika Sud is in New Delhi. She joins us now live. Good to see you Vedika. What is the latest on plans to roll out these vaccines?
VEDIKA SUD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to be with you Rosemary. Well, it's a shot in the arm for India. Two vaccines have been given the approval for emergency use authorization.
Now, what's likely is that the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine known as Covishield in India which is being manufactured buy one of the biggest manufacturers of vaccines across the world, Serum Institute of India, will be rolled out in the next seven to ten days, it looks likely that that will happen.
When I spoke with the CEO of Serum Institute of India, Adar Poonawalla, he did mention that 15 million vaccines will be ready for roll out by the end of January.
So, now remember as part of the vaccination program here in India, in the first place, 33 million people will be inoculated. This is almost a population of the United States of America, this includes people from the health care sector, as well as frontline worker. And this is going to be a huge task and challenge for India along with the fact that India is the second most populated country across the world.
Now, when we talk about the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine known as Covishield, Adar Poonawalla was speaking with me did mention that the outcome, restrictions that have been imposed on his company to see him essentially in the Institute of India while the rollout takes place. This is what he had to say to me.
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ADAR POONAWALLA, CEO, SERUM INSTITUTE OF INDIA: This is our fight, you know, this is not going to go the private market, the private hospitals and other places. Right now, we're giving a restricted license to only give and provide it to the government that went there be2c they want to prioritize the most vulnerable and needy segments.
And about the stocks that you have with your vaccine currently, how many people can be inoculated as of this?
POONAWALLA: Well, we can inoculate about 50 million people by the end of January provided we start very quickly in our kingdom with the logistics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SUD: The Serum Institute of India is upping the manufacturing of the vaccine already. They're hoping my mass we can also tell these vaccines and the product market if the government gives them the green signal to do so.
One vaccine as well that's the indigenous vaccine being produced by (INAUDIBLE) BioNTech here in India, a bit of controversy over it since we do not have the latest data of the third phase of trial that's undergoing there as of now, no news about the efficacy as well from the 3rd phase.
So a lot of medical experts have been questioning the direct control of the car (INAUDIBLE) or how and why they have given Covaxin the approval for emergency use authorization.
Back to you Rosemary.
CHURCH: Yes. Good point there Vedika Sud bringing us the latest from New Delhi, many thanks.
Well, Israel's vaccination campaign has already reached more than a million people, a rate that far exceeds other larger. It makes Israel a good testing ground for pharmaceutical companies trying to roll out massive efforts elsewhere around the world.
Elliott Gotkine has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELLIOTT GOTKINE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The pop-up vaccination center in Tel Aviv's main square. A sure sign that Israel has no intention of slowing down it's turbocharged campaign to be free from COVID-19.
(on camera): Since opening on Thursday, thousands of people have streamed through what is one of the city's biggest makeshift vaccination centers. All they have to do is present proof of their employment. They fill in a health declaration form and they're shown to one of these booths where they receive the first dose the coronavirus vaccine. After that they're off to come here, a waiting area for just 15 minutes to ensure there has been no adverse reaction. And then they go on their merry way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's the ticket to freedom.
GOTKINE (voice over): Aside from the needle everyone was thrilled at this first step towards a return to normality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I can go visit my grandchildren in the U.S.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can now travel without problems.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel free. Freedom.
GOTKINE: So what's the secret. For Israel's health minister, there are three main reasons.
YULI ELELSTEIN, ISRAEL HEALTH MINISTER: We got prepared very early understanding that we are a very small country and companies would rather sell the vaccine to huge countries once they're successful.
Second was my immediate decision not to put all the eggs in one basket, realizing that we still at that stage did not know who will be successful, who will be the front runner in the end.
[01:49:58]
EDELSTEIN: And the third was that I was a very active supporter of Prime Minister Netanyahu who was very instrumental in bringing the vaccines earlier to Israel.
GOTKINE: For this expert, Israel's robust health care system, a dearth of antivaxes and a country's unique security challenges all helped.
NADAV DAVIDOVITCH, PUBLIC HEALTH EXPERT: We have a very strong tradition of vaccination with very few people actually resisting it. A very strong public health care system. They have excellent access to the patients with computerized medical records.
And also, because Israelis unfortunately are in a state of emergency, many times we have in the past decade many drills dealing with the biological threats including mass vaccinations. All of this together creating a perfect day atmosphere of doing this campaign.
GOTKINE: Against this backdrop, coronavirus cases are again surging. A tightened lockdown could be on the cards.
For this young mother though, the end is in sight, although not in an at risk group or over 60, she says her village found itself with surplus doses about to spoil. So rather than let any go to waste, her local health center offered her a vaccination even as she was feeding her baby.
"Unbelievable," she said.
Elliott Gotkine, CNN -- Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Showing the rest of the world how to do it. You are watching CNN newsroom.
Still to come, a surfer jumps into action to rescue a woman swept out to sea in Hawaii. The struggle to save her life, when we return.
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CHURCH: A professional surfer in Hawaii is being hailed as a hero after rescuing a woman from the ocean. Australian Mikey Wright (ph) was filming the waves in Oahu on New Year's Eve when he saw the woman getting swept off the rocks and into the ocean.
Wright jumped into action, grabbing on to the woman and pulling her through the waves and until they were safely back on shore.
He says the ocean can be unpredictable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKEY WRIGHT, PROFESSIONAL SURFER: It was good having my sister on the beach kind of directing us which way to go. She actually warned us that there is a double-up coming which a double-up is where two waves meet on each other and instead of the force of one wave it's actually two waves hitting us at once.
Her son even came running down the beach and just, you know, lash to hold me and she started fully crying. And I was just you know, very emotional and just kept saying thank you. You saved my mother. I thought she was gone. it was a very special moment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Wright is grateful to those calling him a hero but says, the real heroes are the lifeguards who save lives every single day. But well done anyway.
Thank you for joining us, I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more news in just a moment.
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