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President Trump Calls Georgia Official to Flip the Election Results; Slow Vaccine Rollout in the U.S.; Trump Claims Coronavirus Death Toll Fake News; Trump Tells Georgia Officials To Find Votes To Sway Election; Trump Threatens Georgia Officials, Tells Them To Find Votes To Tilt 2020 Election In Stunning Phone Call; Former Defense Secretaries: The Election Is Over. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired January 04, 2021 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching "CNN Newsroom" and I am Rosemary Church. We are following breaking news.

A stunning phone call that left much of Washington and the U.S. dumbfounded. A conversation in which sitting U.S. president, Donald Trump actually asks Georgia's Republican secretary of state to flip their election result in his favor. In an audio recording obtained by CNN, you can hear Trump insisting he won the state. And telling Brad Raffensperger to find the additional votes.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (via telephone): 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, you know, 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 is not a problem that's going away. I mean, you know. It's not a problem that's going away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: He didn't win the state. In an hour-long conversation, President Trump threatens, pleads, and repeats conspiracy theories about the election results, take a listen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: And Brad, why did they put the votes in three times? You know, they put them in three times. BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA'S SECRETARY OF STATE (via telephone): Mr.

President, they did not put that. We did an audit of that and we've proved conclusively they were not the scanned three times.

TRUMP: Well, where was everybody else at that late time in the morning? Where was everybody? Where were the Republicans? Where were the security guards? Where were the people that were there just a while before when everyone ran out of the room? How come we had no security in the room? Why did they run to the bottom of the table? Why did they run there and just open the skirt and rip out the votes? I mean, Brad, and they were sitting there I think for 5 hours or something like that the most. But they just all happen to run back and go, you know, Brad.

RAFFENSPERGER: Yes. Mr. President, we will send you the link from WSB that does the --

TRUMP: I don't care about a link. I don't need it. I have a much - Brad, I have much better link.

CLETA MITCHELL, REPUBLICAN LAWYER: Mr. Secretary, I will tell you, I have seen the tape, the full tape. So has Alex. We've watched it. And what we saw and what we've confirmed in the timing is that they made everybody leave, we have a sworn affidavit saying that, and then they began to process ballots. And our estimate is, that there were roughly 18,000 ballots. We don't know that. If you know that --

TRUMP: It was 18,000 ballots, but they used each one three times.

MITCHELL: Well, I don't know about that, but I know that I do --

TRUMP: Well, I do because we had ours magnified out. So, each one magnified out is 18 times three. But, you know, but nobody can make a case for that, Brad, nobody. I mean, look, that's -- you'd have to be a child to think anything other than that, just a child. I mean, you have your never Trumper U.S. attorney there.

MITCHELL: How many ballots -- how many ballots, Mr. Secretary, are you saying that were processed then?

RAFFENSPERGER: We had GBI certainly investigate that.

RYAN GERMANY, GEORGIA'S GENERAL COUNSEL: We had our -- this is Ryan Germany. We had our law enforcement officers talk to everyone who was there after that event came to light. GBI was with them as well as FBI agents.

TRUMP: Well, there's no way they could -- then they're incompetent. They're either dishonest or incompetent, okay?

MITCHELL: Well, what did they find?

TRUMP: There is only two answers. Dishonesty or incompetent. There's just no way. Look, there is no way. And on the other thing, I said too, there is no way. I mean, there is no way that these things could have been, you know, you have all of these different people that voted but they don't live in Georgia anymore. What was that number plate, Cleta? It was a pretty good number too.

MITCHELL: Well, the number who have registered out of state after they moved from Georgia. And so they had a date when they moved from Georgia, they registered to vote out of state. And then it's like 4,500, I don't have that right in front of me.

TRUMP: And then they came back in and they voted.

MITCHELL: And voted. Yes.

TRUMP: I thought that was a large number, though, It was in the 20s. And, you know, the point is -

GERMANY: We've been going through each of those as well and those numbers that we got that Ms. Mitchell was just saying, they're not accurate.

[02:05:01]

Every one we've been through are people that lived in Georgia, moved to a different state, but then moved back to Georgia legitimately. And in many cases --

TRUMP: Really? How many people do that? You mean, they moved out and then they said, ah, to hell with it. I'll move back in. You know, it doesn't sound like a very normal, like, you mean they moved out, and what, they missed it so much that they wanted to move back in? It's crazy.

GERMANY: Well, and then, this is -- they moved back in years ago. This was not like something just before the election. So there is something about that data that, it's just not accurate.

TRUMP: Well, I don't know, I mean, all I know is that it is certified, and they moved out of Georgia and they voted. It didn't say they moved back in, Cleta, did it?

MITCHELL: No, but I mean, we're looking at the voter registration. Again, if you have additional records, we've been asking for that. But you haven't shared any of that with us. You just keep saying you've investigated the allegations.

TRUMP: But Cleta, a lot of it you don't need to be shared. I mean, to be honest, they should share it. They should share it because you want to get an honest election. I won this election by hundreds of thousands of votes. There is no way I lost Georgia. There is no way. We won by hundreds of thousands of votes. I am just going by small numbers, when you add them up that many times the 11,000. But I won that by hundreds of thousands of votes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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. And the phone call is 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 runoff election on Tuesday. John Harwood has our report.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: With just a little over two weeks left in Donald Trump presidency, the bombshells just keep dropping. On Sunday, it was "The Washington Post" revelation of the audio tape of a phone call in 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. 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 is no evidence of widespread fraud or regularity 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 appeal 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 is 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 Kamal Harris said that this was a bold face abuse of power. The irony is, that this could end up strengthening Joe Biden's presidency if it tilts at all the very close races for two Georgia Senate seats to 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. John Harwood, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: Well, joining me now from Los Angeles, Ron Brownstein, is CNN's senior political analyst senior editor for "The Atlantic." Good to have you with us. Happy New Year.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, 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 find 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 being made to Watergate?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Look, I think if you take everything that has happened in 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, you know, some Republicans said immediately after the

election, well, just humor him, you know, how much damage could be done has really been exposed. I mean, we have seen an ongoing effort by the president to subvert the result of a democratic election, unquestionably.

In many spheres, through the courts, through pressuring state legislatures, and now this kind of direct mob-like intimidation of the Republican secretary of state in Georgia. And I disagree a little with Phil.

[02:09:56]

You know, the fact that there is divergence in the Republican Party at a time when they divergence means, are you going to stand with at the 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, both in the litigations, two-thirds of 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 a 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 we need to hear more from the Republicans who are willing to put the country before political expediency? Are we hearing enough from them?

BROWNSTEIN: No, I mean, I think, you know, all the way throughout, you know, 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 see this fantasy that the election was stolen from the Republicans in big diverse cities with large African-American populations.

Seventy percent of Republicans are 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 will go further, Rosemary, to say we need to hear more from Democrats. I mean, 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, have 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, a 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: You know, this is one of those things where if this conversation is not a crime, what is? And I know that there are legal experts who have said, well, the way he phrased it, you know, 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 "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 hm still, leave Biden with what, 290 or so Electoral College votes.

So, if he was threatening this to the Republican in Georgia, what 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 runoff on Tuesday in Georgia where the two Senate seats will be up for grabs?

Democrats have not elected as a senator in Georgia since the year 2000. Now they have to elect two in one day in order to reach a 50-50 senate split with 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 are enabling him or 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 (on camera): And staying with that crucial runoff election in Georgia, the incumbent Republican senators have run the entire campaign season in lockstep with President Trump. But his baseless claims and this phone call could set the stage for their political undoing.

CNN's Kyung Lah has more now from Savannah, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Democrats are seizing on that call between President Trump and Georgia's secretary of state, calling it un-democratic. We heard here from Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, who is here in Savannah, stumping for the two Democratic challengers, hoping to flip those two Senate seats on Tuesday.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Have you all heard about that recorded conversation? Well, it was, yes, certainly the voice of desperation. More certainly that. And it was a bold - bold face, bold abuse of power by the president of United States.

JON OSSOFF, DEMOCRACTIC SENATORIAL CANDIDATE IN GEORGIA: When the president of the United States calls up Georgia's elected officials, and tries to intimidate them to change the result of the election.

[02:15:02]

To disenfranchise Georgia voters, to disenfranchise black voters in Georgia who delivered this state for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. 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 Ossoff flip those two Senate seats, Kamal Harris becomes a tiebreaker, Democrats then control the Senate. That is what is at stake on Tuesday. We did reach out to Senators Loeffler and Purdue for comment on the call, neither of them returned our calls.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Savannah, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH (on camera): And we'll have more on President Trump's stunning phone call later this hour. Plus, America's vaccine rollout has been slower than expected. So, what can the country do to speed at the process? A health expert weighs in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

CHURCH (on camera): Well, the number of hospital admissions from COVID-19 has hit another record high in the United States. 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's claims, without proof, that those numbers are exaggerated. He said it's fake news and calls Americas counting method ridiculous. On Sunday, the nation's top infectious disease expert pushed back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The deaths are real deaths. I mean, all you need to do is go out into the trenches, go to the hospitals, and see what the health care workers are dealing with. They are under very stressed situations and 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 (on camera): 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 and Drug Administration is expected to meet this week to discuss the issue.

Dr. Ashish Jha is the dean of the Brown University School of Public Health. He joins me now. Thank you doctor for talking with us and for all that you do.

ASHISH JHA, DEAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Thank you so much for having me on.

CHURCH: So, over the weekend, Donald Trump called the U.S. COVID death toll of 350,000 plus a fake news, this despite so many families mourning their loved ones and hospitals at full capacity. What do you say to a U.S. president who calls the official death toll fake news and refuses to take responsibility for his own mishandling of the pandemic?

JHA: Yes. So, it's so deeply disturbing. I mean, first of all, it's not fake news. It's real news. It's probably an underestimate of the number of people who died because of this pandemic in the United States. But his comments are so deeply disrespectful towards the families of those loved ones.

Their losses are not fake news. It is just shocking to me that this is where our president is right now in the last days of his office, refusing not only to take responsibility, but really trying to erase the losses that we have suffered in the last year.

CHURCH: And meantime, doctor, this country is running far behind its own goal of 20 million people being vaccinated by December 31st, having only administered about 4 million doses so far. What needs to be done to increase this number and why have they fallen so far behind?

JHA: Yes. You know, this has been a pretty standard pattern in this entire pandemic. The federal government sees its job as essentially ending at the state border. They think that their job is to get things to the state and let the state figure it out.

And that strategy has not worked out for testing. It didn't work for protective equipment, and is largely not working for vaccines. States need resources. They need help. And the federal government has been lacking in its efforts (inaudible). And so that's why we are where we are.

I do think we're going to see a ramp up in the upcoming days and weeks as states make progress, but of course, all of this should have been planned weeks and months ago.

CHURCH: So, how hopeful are you that a better and more efficient vaccination plan can be put in place in the coming days and weeks, and do you think the federal government will give the states the necessary funds to do that or will it take President-elect Joe Biden coming into office? JHA: Well, Congress has finally passed a bill that does provide some

of those funds to states. So, I am hopeful about that. I've been talking to states. They are making good progress. Again, it would've been helpful to do all of this several months ago.

And I do think that it's very, very clear at this point that the Biden team has signaled that they really do want to be partners with the states and help states make progress. So, I expect a little bit of progress in the next couple of weeks, and then a lot more progress once the Biden team is in-house.

CHURCH: And doctor, despite the vaccine being available, until people actually get vaccinated, we are still in a very dark place with cases, hospitalizations, and deaths at record levels right now. How worried are you about where those numbers will likely be two to three weeks after the holidays and all of the air travel that we just witnessed, despite advice from health experts to stay home?

JHA: Yes. I am very worried. And there is one other factor, of course, as well, which is this variant that was initially identified in the U.K., is now in the United States and likely spreading quickly.

[02:24:58]

And so put that on top of everything else you mentioned, Rosemary. The next few weeks are going to be awful. I expect the number of cases to continue to climb, and I certainly expect many thousands of Americans, two to three thousands of Americans dying every day for the foreseeable future.

So that's the situation that President-elect Biden is going to inherit. And there is going to be a lot of work to bring that under control. Vaccines are one part of it, but of course, we need to do a lot more than just vaccines.

CHURCH: Thank you for the wise words, as always. Dr. Ashish Jha, many thanks.

JHA: Thank you.

CHURCH: President Trump is taking his claims of voter fraud to a dangerous new level. Next, hear more of that shocking phone call where he tells a state official to flip Georgia into his favor.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH (on camera): More now on our top story at this hour. A phone conversation, some are calling Nixonian in which President Donald Trump is heard talking to a top Georgia Republican official, repeatedly insisting he won the state, which he did not. In the call, Trump keeps pressuring Brad Raffensperger to change the election result in his favor, by finding 11,780 votes. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) TRUMP: So, I just don't know, you know. Mark, I don't know what's the

purpose. I won't give Dominion a pass because we found too many bad things. But we don't need Dominion or anything else. 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.

[02:30:00]

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 your Georgia are angry.

The people of the country are angry and there's nothing wrong with saying that you know that you recalculated because the 2236 in absentee ballots, I mean they're all exact numbers that were done by accounting firms, law firms, etcetera and even if you cut them in half and cut them in half and cut them in half again, it's more votes than we need.

VOICE OF BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well Mr. President. The challenge that you have is the data that you have is wrong. We talked to the congressmen and they were surprised but they - I guess there's a person named Mr. Reynard the came to these meetings and presented data.

And he said that there was dead people of I believe it was upward of 5000. The actual number were two - two people that were dead that voted and so that's wrong. That was too late.

TRUMP: I mean Cleta, how do you respond to that, I mean you tell me?

VOICE OF CLETA MITCHELL, ATTORNEY: I would say Mr. Secretary, one of the things that we have requested and we did - what we said was and if you look at - if you read our petition, it says that we took the names and birth years and we have certain information available to us. We have asked from your office for records that only you have. And so we said there is a universe of people who have the same name and same birth year and died but we don't have the records that you have and one of the things that we have been suggesting formally and informally for weeks now is to try - is for you to make available to us the records that would be necessary--

TRUMP: But Cleta, even before you do that. Cleta, even before you do that and not even including that. That's why I hardly even included that number although in one state we have a tremendous amount of dead people so I don't know. I'm sure we do in Georgia too. I'm sure we do in Georgia too but is that we're so far ahead, we're so far ahead of these numbers, even the phony ballots of (BEEP) known scammer.

You know the internet - you know what was trending on the internet? Where's (BEEP) because they thought she'd be in jail. Where is (BEEP). It's - it's crazy. It's crazy. That was the minimum number is 18,000 for (BEEP) but they think it's probably about 56,000 but the minimum number is 18,000 (BEEP) other night where she ran back in there when everybody was gone and stuff.

She stuffed the ballot boxes, let's face it Brad. I mean they did it in slow motion, replay, magnified right? She stuffed the ballot boxes. They were stuffed like nobody's ever seen them stuffed before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Officials in the Secretary of State's office recorded the 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, all living former U.S. defense secretaries including two who served under President Trump say the election is over. In an opinion letter published in The Washington Post, they emphasized the importance of a smooth transition of power. They said and 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 statute has arrived."

And they had a warning for the Acting Defense Secretary. "Efforts," they said "to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory." Well coming up on CNN Newsroom, much more on President Trump's controversial phone call to Georgia election officials.

How the President's antics are pitting Republicans against Republicans, ahead of Wednesday's Electoral College vote count. Plus what impact if any Mr. Trump's phone call might have on Congress certifying Joe Biden's win on Wednesday. Do stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Well, Nancy Pelosi has been re-elected to her fourth and possibly final term as Speaker of the U.S. House. Despite the Democrats' smallest House majority in decades, Pelosi was re-elected by a razor thin margin with two Democrats supporting someone else. Meantime some of the newly sworn-in Republican lawmakers have said they will support objections to certifying Joe Biden's election victory in Wednesday's joint session of Congress.

CNN's Phil Mattingly breaks down what to expect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A number of Republicans, more than a 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. 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 on any uncertain terms is trying to overthrow or overturn a legitimately democratically elected President of the United States, soon to be President of 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 upfront. Joe Biden will be the president elect and certified as a president elect once again when Congress meets to count the electors on January 6. He will be inaugurated as the 45th President of United States on January 20. That is not up for debate, it's not in dispute, it's not a maybe or possibly. It's going to happen.

What happens between now and then, that remains the open question as there's 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's been a frustration that I've been told has been growing behind the scenes for several days and it's 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 got 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. You got 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.

[02:40:00]

Putting out a full statement saying in part it is difficult to conceive a more anti-democratic and anti-conservative act than a federal intervention to overturn the results of a state certified election and disenfranchised millions of Americans. The fact this effort will fail does not mean it will not do significant damage to American democracy.

And it's that rupture, that split inside the Republican Party that I think everybody's paying attention to now. Obviously President Trump commands respect and loyalty of the Republican base, obviously of Republican members he has for the last four years. But the diversions inside the party right now as they try to figure out how to handle something that is just historically unprecedented from inside the Oval office, well, that's going to be something to watch for the next couple of days. Again Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 28. What the Republican

Party does between now and then, well history is going to judge. No question about it. Phil Mattingly, CNN Washington.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And thanks for watching CNN Newsroom. I'm Rosemary Church. For our international viewers, World Sport is up next. If you're joining us from here in the U.S., I'll be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Well, the number of COVID patients in U.S. hospitals has risen to more than 125000, a new daily record. The country's death toll is also soaring but President Trump claims without proof that those numbers are exaggerated. The nation's top infectious disease expert has pushed back saying the deaths are real.

Dr. Anthony Fauci also says the U.S. must do a better job with its vaccine rollout. To make sure it's 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 and Drug Administration is expected to meet this week to discuss the issue. Well, California is the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. right now. The Chief Medical Officer of one hospital systems says another spike could bring about the total collapse of the healthcare system. CNN's Paul Vercammen has more now from Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Just no easing up of the desperate COVID-19 situation in California. More than 45,000 new cases. More than 20,000 people in the hospital. 181 new deaths. President Trump tweeted that the cases are being exaggerated, calling COVID-19 fake news.

That did not sit well with Rosa Cerna. She was at a cemetery, mourning the loss of her father and her uncle due to COVID-19.

ROSA CERNA, FATHER AND UNCLE DIED FORM COVID-19: How could it be fake news? It took my dad, it took my uncle, it has taken so many lives. I don't think it could be fake. It's horrible. It's an insult to me. It's an insult to every family because there is absolutely no way for somebody to say that it was fake because my dad is not fake dead. My dad is not going to resurrect from here and say, oh just kidding, it was fake. Hahaha, it's funny. It isn't. It is not fake.

VERCAMMEN: Rosa's father Rehelio would've turned 73 New Year's Day and his brother a year older would have turned 74. Rosa likes to point out they were hard working, they became U.S. citizens. Instead of birthday cake, funeral flowers. Reporting from Los Angeles, I'm Paul Vercammen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Well, demand for COVID vaccines is causing long lines and lengthy waits around the U.S. for those hoping to get an early does. CNN's Camila Bernal reports from a Texas vaccine site with lines wrapped around the block.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN REPORTER: Many here in Texas are excited to get this vaccine. In fact here in Tarrant county, already about a 100,000 people have signed up to get this vaccine and they're willing to stand in line. This is by appointment only but none the less all of these people are having to wait two or three hours to get this vaccine.

And I want to show you the end of the line because the county is telling us that they're vaccinating between 1400 to 1500 people every day.

[02:50:00]

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 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 FEMALE: You know, I researched it and I think the benefits outweigh the risk and so I'm not too concerned about it at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know to each their own. I'm not going to judge anyone if they're fearful of doing that. I'm not. I'm not fearful. I feel like the Lord made these scientists brilliant and 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 do anything

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.

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CHURCH: And another vaccine side in Houston Texas filled all of its appointments Sunday, running much smoother than the day before. On Saturday the Houston Health Department's call system crashed due to an overwhelming demand for appointments to get a COVID vaccine. And I spoke earlier with the Mayor of Houston about the city's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYLVESTER TURNER, HOUSTON, TEXAS MAYOR: 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 to 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 hours later, the system was back on the line 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 1008 so we exceeded what we had planned and things turned out quite nicely.

CHURCH: So what lessons have you learned in 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 there are even with the - 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 homes to be able to go actually and make the home visits to provide the vaccinations.

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CHURCH: And the U.K. is launching its rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine today. It is the first country to do so. The British Health Secretary is calling this a pivotal moment in the fight against COVID-19. For more on this, let's bring in CNN's Salma Abdelaziz. She joins us live from London. Good to see you Salma.

So other countries having problems with these vaccine rollouts, particularly here in the United States. How's it going in the U.K. and what's the plan for the plan for the Oxford-AstraZeneca rollout? SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Well Rosemary, let me just start by telling you where I am. I'm outside of Royal Free hospital here in London, one of the locations that will be administering this Oxford University and AstraZeneca vaccine. It's a big day here in the U.K. A lot of national pride because of course this was developed, invented right here in the U.K. by Oxford university so it's a moment to really show off the U.K.'s scientific advances.

And there's a lot of advantages to this vaccine. That's why people are so excited about it. It's cheap but critically it doesn't need to be stored at those extra cold, those sub zero temperatures so it makes it easier to disseminate, easier to spread it, especially to more rural areas, areas that are far away from hospitals like the one that is right behind me here.

So a lot of excitement not just here in the U.K. but around the world in countries like India where they're really hoping that this vaccine could speed up the end of the pandemic essentially and as you mentioned yes, the Health Secretary Matt Hancock just speaking on air a short time ago, marking this as a massive accomplishment, as a big step in the vaccination program.

The U.K. has been quite bold in their vaccination strategy. They've been criticized for it, called the wild west of vaccines and I'll tell you why. That's because they're taking these steps that have divided the medical community. Like for example now the rule is as you get that first dose of the vaccine and you don't get the second one until up to three months later although the study showed that you should have it about 21 to 28 days later.

Why are they doing this? Well, the Health Secretary has said because it allows them to double the amount of people that they can vaccine in the next two to three months. Essentially they're taking a thin resource here, spreading it out over a greater amount of the population.

And you can understand Rosemary, why they're so keen to do this. This country is absolutely plagued by this new variant of COVID-19 that spreads more easily. There are record breaking number of cases of infection rates across the country. More hospitals with coronavirus and - more patients in hospital rather with coronavirus than at any point before.

So they are doing everything they can, even taking maybe risky steps, maybe too ambitious steps in order to get this vaccine into as many people's arms as they can and get control of this variant. Rosemary.

CHURCH: Yes. Very important of course. The problem here in the United States. We got the vaccines but we haven't been able to administer them. Certainly nowhere near the number that is required. Salma Abdelaziz joining us live from London. Many thanks.

[02:55:00]

Well, a professional surfer in Hawaii is being hailed as a hero after rescuing a woman from the ocean. Australian Mikey Wright was filming the waves on New Year's Eve when he saw the woman get swept off the rocks and into the ocean. Wright jumped into action, grabbing on to the woman and pulling her through the waves 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 to kind of directing us which way to go. She actually warned us that there was a double-up coming, which a double-up is where two waves meet on each other and it's not the force of one wave, it's actually two waves hitting us at once.

Her son even came running down the beach and just - the whole of me and she started fully crying and you know was just you know very emotional and just kept saying thank you, you saved my mother. I thought she was gone. So it was a very special moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Incredible and Wright is grateful to those calling him a hero but says the real heroes are the lifeguards who save lives every single day but he is a hero. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. The news continues now with Robyn Curnow right after this short break. Do stay with us.