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Biden to Address Omicron; Health Officials Urge Vaccinations and Boosters; Dr. Francis Collins is Interviewed about the New Variant; Boebert Apologizes to Anyone She Offended; David Gergen is Interviewed about the Republican Party. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 29, 2021 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Do we know anything about the ornaments? I know sometimes they're really fun or they come from particular -- particular kids.

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, they're made from all over. There are thousands of ornaments on all these trees so it's hard to say. But a lot of them from the archies and a lot of them hand selected by Jill Biden herself.

KEILAR: Love it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Kate Bennett, thank you so much.

CNN's coverage continues right now.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning. I'm Erica Hill.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

Happening right now, experts are trying to learn more about the new coronavirus variant known as omicron. These are the three big outstanding questions this morning and going forward. First one, is it more transmissible? Second, is it more dangerous. But also this, how much do existing vaccines protect against it? We should be clear here, we don't know the answers to those questions yet and it could take weeks before scientists know for sure.

HILL: And as officials are waiting for those answers, starting today, the U.S. has decided to ban entry for all non-U.S. citizens and permanent residents traveling from South Africa and seven other neighboring countries. Japan and Israel going even further, they're banning all foreign nationals from crossing their borders. SCIUTTO: This morning, at least 15 countries and territories have now

confirmed cases, though a small number at this point, of the omicron variant. Among them Hong Kong, Canada, Scotland and Australia. As of right now, there are no known cases here in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Fauci says knowing how these things spread, though, it's likely inevitable. And some health officials say it's possible that evidence of this is already here.

Hours from now, President Biden will speak about what we know about the new variant and how he plans to respond. CNN will bring you those comments live as they happen.

Our reporters and correspondents, standing by to bring you the very latest from around the world. We're going to speak shortly, in a few minutes, with Dr. Francis Collins. He's the director of the National Institutes of Health to get some hard answers on this. We should note, he is optimistic in some ways, but, of course, there is still a lot more to be learned.

Lots of important questions to ask this morning. Let's begin at the White House. CNN's Jeremy Diamond on the North Lawn this morning.

Jeremy, President Biden expected to speak in a few hours. Do we know what his message will be?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we expect President Biden to address the American people after receiving his latest briefing on this omicron variant. President Biden is expected to urge Americans not to panic and he will make clear that we will learn a lot more about this variant in the coming weeks.

But in the meantime, what you will certainly hear from President Biden is making his latest plea for Americans who are not yet vaccinated to get vaccinated, and for those who have gotten vaccinated and are eligible for a booster, meaning all Americans six months after Pfizer and Moderna or two months after that Johnson & Johnson to go ahead and get that booster. That is the best protection that the president and his medical advisers say can be used now.

We know that President Biden received a briefing yesterday as well on this variant. And this is the statement that the White House released following that meeting. It says, Dr. Fauci informed the president that while it will take approximately two more weeks to have more definitive information on the transmissibility, severity and other characteristics of the variant, he continues to believe that existing vaccines are likely to provide a degree of protection against severe cases of Covid.

And that is why you will hear the president reiterating that message today after he receives his latest briefing, vaccines, vaccines, vaccines. While we still are working to learn more about this latest variant, vaccines are the key.

HILL: Vaccines are the key, although we're also seeing, as we were just talking about, this ban on travel. And, Pete, I know the U.S. Travel Association says the Biden administration should really reconsider these omicron travel restrictions that were announced over the weekend. So what would they like to see instead?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, we've seen statement after statement from the travel industry essentially calling these travel restrictions a knee-jerk reaction. And now we've seen this statement from the U.S. Travel Association, which is one of the largest industry groups representing the travel and tourism industry at large, saying that the Biden administration should respectfully reconsider these new travel restrictions on those coming from South Africa and seven other countries. They point to new rules that went into effect only three weeks ago that allow foreign nationals to come into the United States so long as they prove that they are fully vaccinated, and they show proof of a negative coronavirus test. That was a huge shift in the travel industry, ending a 600-day-long ban of travel of foreign nationals.

Here is the statement from the U.S. Travel Association. It says, with the vaccine and testing requirement in place to enter the U.S., we continue to believe that assessing an individual's risk and health status is the best way to welcome qualified global travelers into the United States.

This is coming during a time when there are big signs of life for the travel industry, 2.45 million people screened at airports across the country just yesterday. That is a new air travel record of the pandemic, about 85 percent of the way to where we were back in 2019.

[09:05:02]

And a lot of travel experts are saying those numbers are being pushed up for several (ph) reasons because of that resumption of international travel.

Jim and Erica.

SCIUTTO: Pete Muntean, Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much.

Listen, one common message we've heard over the last several days, best early response is vaccination and boosters, if you've already been vaccinated, and experts are hoping the concerns over omicron will spur the millions of unvaccinated Americans to get their Covid shots. The World Health Organization says the overall global risk related to the new variant is, quote, assessed as very high at this point.

HILL: CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard has been following all of this for us.

So, what more do we know, Jacqueline, about that WHO assessment? What should we take away from it?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: What we can take away from it, the WHO's assessment is really based on how the variant has a large number of mutations. Now, while the WHO does say that the global risk is very high, the organization also emphasizes that there's still a lot left to learn. So that assessment is based right now on some uncertainty. And as more data gets released, the WHO says that it could update its assessment, but for now the global risk is very high. Everyone should be on alert.

But while there's a lot that we still don't know -- and we should get more information in the next two weeks. But while there's a lot we don't know, there's still some that we do know. And here's what we do know for now.

We know that the variant was first detected or first described, I should say, in Botswana, then subsequently South Africa released information, making a big announcement last week. We know that the variant has been detected in several other countries since then, including Australia, Canada, Italy, the U.K., Germany, Denmark, Israel, and more.

And going back to those mutations, we know the variant has at least 50, among them 30 are on this spike protein. That's the structure of the virus that it uses to attach to our cells during infection. That's what we know.

And speaking of those mutations, here's what South African epidemiologist Salim Abdool Karim told our colleagues this morning on "NEW DAY." Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SALIM ABDOOL KARIM, CO-CHAIR OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN MINISTERIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON COVID-19: This new variant, omicron, has mutations that are common to the other four previous variants of concern. So it has mutations that are similar to the delta variant, so we are expecting it to transmit faster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARD: So you see there he mentions those mutations and some expectations. But, none of that has officially been confirmed in the data yet. There's still a lot we have left to learn. And, again, we're expecting more data in the next two weeks.

SCIUTTO: Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much.

So, let's get some answers about what we know and don't know. Joining me now, Dr. Francis Collins. He is director of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Collins, thanks so much for taking the time this morning.

DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: I'm glad to be with you, Jim and Erica.

SCIUTTO: So, we know it's early. The World Health Organization has said the risk of omicron is, quote, very high. But on Sunday, notably, said, it is not yet clear whether omicron is more transmissible or causes more severe disease, granting that there are a lot of questions still to be answered here and it's early.

Can you tell us what we do know at this point about omicron?

COLLINS: Well, Jacqueline made a nice summary just a minute ago.

What we do know, it has a lot of mutations. More than 50. That's a new record. And some of those we've seen before and some we haven't. So this certainly suggests that this is a new kind of virus that we have to take very seriously. And we do worry that if those mutations are in the spike protein, and I'll show you my little model here, the spike protein, of course, sitting on the outside of the virus, that's what your antibodies have to work against in order to protect you against this virus. So we worry that if the spike protein is of a different shape, maybe the antibodies won't stick quite as well. That's the reason for the concern.

On the other hand, I would say, all of the previous variants, which have also had differences in the spike protein, have responded to vaccines, and especially to boosters. That's a very important message I want everybody to hear right now. The boosters do, in fact, allow your immune system to have a wide range of capabilities against spike proteins it hasn't even seen before. So, if you needed one more reason, if you're eligible to get that booster right away, this would be it.

Now, in terms of its contagiousness, I think it is clear from what's happening in South Africa that this omicron variant does spread rapidly. But keep in mind, this is in the context of a circumstance where in South Africa there was relatively little Covid going on.

What we don't know is whether this omicron variant will outcompete delta in a country like ours or whether delta, because it's been so successful, will basically just push it aside. That's another unknown.

[09:10:02]

SCIUTTO: And we should note, a low vaccination rate country, South Africa here.

So, if you follow questions on what you just said there, first of all, Moderna's CEO, one of, of course, the makers of the vaccine, says it will be two to six weeks before we know if omicron reduces the efficacy of its vaccine. We've heard from others, Dr. Fauci and others, that maybe in a week or two we'll have an indicator. Are there any early signs about the effects on vaccine efficacy or is it just too early to state? And, if so, how long will it take to know?

COLLINS: So, there's two ways we're going to figure this out. One is by laboratory experiments. To do that, you need to actually have an isolate of omicron growing in the lab and then you mix that with serum from people who have been vaccinated and ask, does that vaccinated serum still neutralize the virus? That just takes a while for the virus to be grown up. There's not a lot we can do to accelerate that.

The other thing, though, is to see what's really happening out there in the real world. So, in South Africa, where some people are vaccinated, and now that the virus is finding its way into other countries, can we start to see what the effectiveness is of the vaccine in preventing illness and particularly severe illness. That will also take us a week or two to begin to see.

SCIUTTO: OK.

COLLINS: So there's going to be more data from both of those directions.

SCIUTTO: OK. A key question here, the World Health Organization says early data suggests there may be an increased risk of reinfection for those already vaccinated. What can we say, do we know about the protection offered from previous infection as opposed to vaccines, or is it too early for that, too?

COLLINS: It's pretty early to tell. But, again, in the part of South Africa where this omicron variant has emerged, most of those people had already been infected previously by delta. Their immunization levels were pretty high from that prior infection. And yet, clearly, this virus is able to cause reinfection in those folks. So it's not completely protective. Is it partially protective? I can't tell you yet until we have more data.

SCIUTTO: OK. Now another form of treatment, right, for those already infected with this are anti-viral drugs, Pfizer has asked, it's applied for Emergency Use Authorization for its anti-viral drug. You have said there's reason to be optimistic that an anti-viral drug like that for people who would -- who get infected with omicron might help keep them out of the hospital or getting severe illness. Tell us why you have that reason for optimism.

COLLINS: Well, again, the data that Pfizer generated in their trial of their drug called Paxlovid showed an 89 percent effectiveness in keeping people out of the hospital who got this drug within three to five days after their first symptoms. Would that also work for omicron? We don't know, of course.

But if you look at the viral genome sequence for omicron, it looks as if the target for this drug, which is a protease, is pretty much the same as it is in other isolates from Covid-19. So there's reason to think it would work there as well. But that's speculation until we have the actual data.

Notice there's another drug also being considered by FDA tomorrow, Merck's drug called Molnupiravir, which also potentially could play a role here, although recent data says maybe its effectiveness in preventing hospitalization is more like 30 percent instead of a higher number.

SCIUTTO: OK.

COLLINS: But, still, very worth looking at.

SCIUTTO: Very quickly, before we go, I just want to give you a chance to repeat your best advice in the meantime as we learn more. You said get vaccinated, get boosted. Tell us why. COLLINS: So we still have, of course, in the U.S. a serious surge of

the delta variant. We should be thinking about that. Your best protection against delta is to get vaccinated. And if you've already been vaccinated and six months have passed since you got Pfizer or Moderna, get your booster, two months since J&J, get your booster. That was a reason already.

But now add omicron to the mix and we do believe that this new variant, which will probably come to our shores, will also be something vaccines and boosters can help you with. So, please, folks, if you've been on the fence, I'm not a politician, I'm a scientist. Maybe we could even ask all the politicians to agree on this one, get your vaccine, get your booster. It's the best chance we've got to drive this Covid-19 pandemic away.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, let's hope they listen.

Dr. Francis Collins, thanks for helping us figure this all out.

COLLINS: Glad to be with you.

HILL: Up next, the top Republican in the House facing pressure to respond more forcefully to the far right wing of his party as GOP Congressman Lauren Boebert apologizes for comparing a Democratic colleague to a terrorist.

Plus, former Defense Secretary Mark Esper now suing the Pentagon for trying to block parts of his book which reveal details of his time in the Trump administration.

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[09:19:14]

HILL: The top Republican in the House says he's encouraging Congresswoman Lauren Boebert to meet with her Democratic colleague, Representative Ilhan Omar, but has yet to publicly condemn the anti- Muslim comments Boebert made. The Colorado Republican was captured on video last week calling Minnesota Congresswoman Omar a member of the, quote, "jihad squad," when describing an encounter they had on an elevator on Capitol Hill.

SCIUTTO: Well, Omar says that story was completely made up. Boebert later tweeted in part, I apologize to anyone in the Muslim community I offended.

Joining us now, CNN Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona.

Melanie, I wonder, I mean, you know, it's not the first time we've heard offensive comments on The Hill Have you heard behind the scenes other Republican lawmakers criticizing Boebert for this?

[09:20:03]

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: Yes, the anger and outrage with Lauren Boebert is not limited to Democrats. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted last week that Lauren Boebert is trash. And just listen to what Nancy Mace, a South Carolina Republican who's a moderate, had to say on our air over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): We have a responsibility to lower the temperature and this does not do that. I didn't come to Congress to throw bombs on Twitter, to raise -- take advantage of people by saying crazy things to raise money or to be a comedian. I'll leave comedy to Dave Chappelle. I was disappointed in the comments. I was encouraged to see that she did apologize.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: But you do condemn this comment from Congressman Boebert?

MACE: Oh, absolutely, 100 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: So, clearly, Republicans are starting to get fed up with some of the extreme behavior by some of their GOP colleagues. I also heard from a moderate House Republican over the weekend who said they're worried that if Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert become the face of the party that it's going to hurt them in swing districts and undermine their efforts to win back the majority.

Yet despite these frustrations in the GOP, there is little appetite to punish Boebert. You saw Kevin McCarthy, over the weekend, try to turn the temperature down and he's trying to play peacemaker by encouraging a meeting between Lauren Boebert and Ilhan Omar.

And then for Democrats, there's some concern about the precedent it would set if they punish someone who did apologize for her remarks and is at least trying to make amends. Nonetheless, there are still some Democrats who are pushing for action, including Ilhan Omar. So that is a decision Democratic leaders are going to have to make as they return to Washington today.

Jim. Erica.

HILL: It will be interesting to see what more we hear today and in the coming days in terms of reaction.

Melanie, appreciate the reporting. Thank you.

Also here now to discuss, David Gergen, CNN senior political analyst and former adviser to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan and Clinton.

David, good to see you this morning.

Over the weekend, Dana Bash asked Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson specifically about Kevin McCarthy and whether he needs to be more public when he is condemning comments, that rhetoric that we heard from Congresswoman Boebert. Here's his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. ASA HUTCHINSON, (R-AR): I think whenever even in our own caucus, our own members, if they go the wrong direction, I mean it has to be called out. It has to be dealt with, particularly whenever it is breaching the civility, whenever it is crossing the line in terms of violence or increasing the divide in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: He wants to see it called out. We just heard that reporting from Melanie, that moderate Republicans are concerned about how embracing some of the more vocal far right members of the Republican Party could hurt them in the midterms.

I wonder, though, do those moderates hold enough sway at this point within the GOP that that would actually make a difference?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, we do know this, that the Republican Party can't -- is in very, very good shape for the off year elections next year and they think they can win it. And I think a lot of this is about positioning before we get to the midterms, that the radical right can claim that it helped to win the House back and the radical right can go after Kevin McCarthy.

So I think more than anything else, Erica, this is sort of early skirmishing. What it does do is it confirms that the Republican Party, as we thought all along, has just as much a radical extreme set of people as does the Democratic Party. Both parties are facing this sort of split within between moderates and radicals. And it's -- it is -- it's not good politics for either one of them. I think the party that, in effect, did what the new senator did in Georgia, and that is to, yes, be supportive of Trump, but mostly be independent of Trump, that was a winning formula. It seems to me there's -- the rest of the Republican Party is still searching for a formula like that for the members of the House.

HILL: As Republicans are searching for that formula, though, we are hearing -- I mean it is often these most vocal voices. A perfect example, Texas Representative Ronny Jackson, over the weekend, was insinuating that this new omicron variant was somehow, you know, manufactured by Democrats so they could encourage more mail-in ballots heading into 2022.

When you have these, you know, anti-science, anti-reality thoughts out there, but that actually gain some traction, right, and we see that they work, what's interesting is Democrats, David, haven't -- haven't seemed to found a way to counter that misinformation.

GERGEN: They have not yet. And so far, Jackson and people like that are getting away with it. But I do think that historians will look back upon this and decisively write that the Republican Party, the once honorable Republican Party, has descended into this kind of madness just in order to collect votes. It's especially, I think, reprehensible when a doctor like Ron Jackson, who was the physician in the White House, gets himself in the middle of this, encouraging people to believe that this whole thing with a new variant is a conspiracy when -- when so many countries, what, you know, Jim was reporting earlier in your program, but how many countries now have agreed that -- to ban travel from southern Africa?

[09:25:11]

That's not the Democratic Party speaking. That's the Europeans and others who were trying to protect their people and to say that that's just a conspiracy among Democrats, you know, is so wildly off base and especially reprehensible by a doctor who -- and who has represented presidents in the past, you know, has that credibility, for to him mislead people the way he is.

HILL: It is, and yet here we are.

GERGEN: Here we are.

HILL: David Gergen, always appreciate your insight. Thank you.

GERGEN: Thanks, Erica.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, we will be live in South Africa as a growing number of countries are banning flights from that region. We're also watching how markets will respond to concerns about the omicron variant. The opening bell on Wall Street minutes away. European markets, we should note, they're already up after big losses on Friday. U.S. futures, as you see with those green arrows there, also pointing higher this morning. Vaccine makers, such as Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech specifically poised for a jump in stock prices today.

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