Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Positive Vaccine News Provides Optimism Ahead of Challenging Winter; Biden: "More People May Die" If Trump Doesn't Cooperate; NYT: Trump Asked About Possible Strike on Iranian Nuclear Site; NCAA to Hold March Madness in Single Location. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 17, 2020 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:23]

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers around the United States and around the world. This is EARLY START. Christine Romans is off. I'm Laura Jarrett. It's Tuesday, November 17th. It's 5:00 a.m. here in New York.

And we begin this morning with some much needed hope on the horizon for a COVID weary nation. Moderna joining Pfizer closing in on the vaccine finish line. Now, if approved, there could be two U.S. vaccines in distribution to people who need it the most in the coming months.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: The cavalry is coming but the cavalry is not here yet. So what we should do is that we should make the hope of a vaccine, motivate us even more to be very, very stringent, and very, very attentive to fundamental simple doable public health measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: It might be stating the obvious here but these vaccines cannot come soon enough. Monday was the third worst day ever for the spread of the coronavirus in the United States, at least 100,000 cases per day for two weeks straight.

Moderna says its vaccine candidate was nearly 95 percent effective at blocking infection and critically here, it doesn't need to be kept at temperatures as ultra cold as Pfizer's vaccine does. Americans everywhere now clinging to hope with more patients in hospitals than at any time in the entire pandemic. Officials are warning the winter surge could push some medical centers to the breaking point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DARA KASS, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: There is a fixed resource, not just hospital beds and protect, but also respiratory therapists, doctors, nurses, janitorial staff and when those resources get stretched, at some point, the entire system really does break down. (END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Some of the areas being hit hardest by the current surge in cases are also the least equipped to handle them. CDC data shows that Americans in rural areas are dying at nearly 3 1/2 times the rate of those in urban centers.

Now, ahead of Thanksgiving, more cities and states are tightening their restrictions, most notably in Iowa where half the tests are now coming back positive for COVID. The state now mandating masks just weeks after the governor basically ruled that out. Restrictions also tightened in Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York City.

A harsh reality for business owners struggling to keep the lights on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAZI MANNAN, OWNER, SAKINA HALAL GRILL: Each time we open, we're sitting all day. There's no customers. So we end up just shutting down and let the employee go.

ED GROSE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GREATER PHILADELPHIA HOTEL ASSOCIATION: The statistics mean jobs, they mean hardship, and it's awful for a lot of people right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: President Trump's refusal to coordinate with the Biden transition team could slow down delivery of this much needed vaccine. President-elect Biden had a blunt warning about the consequences if the White House obstruction drags on.

CNN's Jessica Dean is live this morning with the Biden team in Wilmington, Delaware.

Jessica, nice to see you this morning.

I thought it was interesting that Joe Biden, the president-elect, was sort of measured in how hopeful he was about the vaccine news yesterday but at the same time saying we've got a long way to go.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, exactly. Good morning to you, Laura. Great to be with you this morning as well.

It was interesting to see the president-elect really draw out those two contrasting thoughts. He has made a great effort, his whole campaign was about this, and now the transition as well to really project confidence and competence, as we head into this transition period. Yesterday we did hear him excited about the vaccine but also warning Americans, look, this isn't anywhere close to over yet. We are entering a really, really dark and scary period.

And he made the point yesterday to really dial up his pressure on the Trump administration to allow them to coordinate on vaccine distribution. That's going to be a giant logistical process. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: More people may die if we don't coordinate. They say they have this Warp Speed program that they not only dealt with getting vaccines but also how to distribute this. If we have to wait until January 20th to start that planning, it puts us behind over a month, month and a half.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And just a reminder, the Biden transition team and its team of experts has not been allowed to formally contact the administration and any of the federal officials who are planning for the vaccine distribution because President Trump's refused to concede, and thus the General Services Administration has refused to sign off on the official transition process, Laura.

[05:05:03]

So, all of this slowing this down and Biden making the case there that lives are at stake right now.

Also of note, he called on Congress to pass a stimulus package in this lame duck session that's coming up.

JARRETT: And, Jessica, the vice president-elect and the president- elect will be getting a national security briefing today, but it's from a team of diplomatic intelligence and defense experts we're told, not actually the FBI or any other government officials.

Behind the scenes, how worried are people going about this? We have been talking for days about the fact that they're not getting the briefings they need.

DEAN: Yeah, right. They're not, and at this point in any other typical election that is comparable to the one we just went through, the president-elect would be getting these presidential daily briefings, which are all of the bullet points on what's important in the national security of the country, what's coming in.

Now, Biden yesterday did point out that as a sitting member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, his colleague and vice president, soon to be Vice President Kamala Harris does receive those briefings. But that being said, even John Kelly, the Trump administration chief of staff has called on the Trump administration to administer these briefings to President-elect Biden, saying national security is at stake here. This could be catastrophic if something happened.

And when you go back to 2000, the Bush administration did say that they're slowing down the transition process because it took so long to get election sorted out, hampers them as they headed into their administration, and if September 11th had happened at the beginning of their term, it could have been very, very serious consequences for that non-seamless transition because of the delay.

So that is what they're facing behind the scenes, and they know that, and what's interesting is that last week, we started to see some Republicans, some Republican senators even, bubbling to the surface.

James Lankford saying he'll step in if President-elect Biden doesn't get this. Now he's walking back the comments. So, they're not even aligned on where they are. The fact of the matter is Biden should be getting these and he's not.

JARRETT: Yeah, Senator Lankford said he was going to step in last Friday, and now he says he's had some back channels with the General Services Administration, but yet to see any breakthrough there.

Jessica, thank you. We'll see you back in a little bit.

All right. Breaking overnight, "The New York Times" reports that President Trump asked senior aides last week about possibilities for a strike on Iran's primary nuclear site. Trump's question came one day after international officials said Iran's stockpiles of uranium had reached 12 times the limit set in the Iran nuclear deal, a deal I should mention the president pulled out of a few years ago.

Now, President Trump's advisers warned him that an attack could easily ballooned into a full fledged confrontation in his final days in office. It could also further inflame tensions with Tehran, making it harder for President-elect Biden to reenter the nuclear deal should he accuse to do so. This report in "The Times" came hours after CNN learned that the U.S. military expects the president will order further troop withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq. That goes against the advice of former Defense Secretary Mark Esper who was fired shortly after making his thoughts known on the matter.

CNN's Ryan Browne has more on all of this from the Pentagon.

RYAN BROWNE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Laura, the U.S. military is anticipating a White House order from President Trump as soon as this week directing the Pentagon to cut U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan and Iraq in the days leading up to the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden. Now, the troop level reductions in Iraq will be relatively minor, cutting some 500 troops we're told but the troop reductions in Afghanistan will be much more significant going from 4,500 personnel there now to some 2,500 troops.

Now, this will likely hinder the U.S. military's ability to train local Afghan forces to carry out counterterrorism missions against groups like al Qaeda.

Now, Pentagon officials have long warned that conditions in Afghanistan did not warrant such a reduction. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper is sending a memo cosigned by multiple generals to President Trump, warning him that the conditions were not right for reduction. President Trump choosing to fire Esper and proceed with the reductions despite the advice of his military commanders.

And while this would affect the counter terrorism missions on the ground there, it will also potentially constrain the ability of President-elect Biden to set his policy for the region as the reductions are expected to take place just days or be completed just days before Biden is expected to attend his inauguration. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: All right. Ryan Browne, thank you so much for that.

As the president continues to deny he lost the election, the Republican secretary of state in Georgia is sounding the alarm about some disturbing actions of his fellow Republicans. Brad Raffensperger revealed Monday that the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Lindsey Graham, pressured him to find ways to toss out legally cast absentee ballots to help reverse Trump's loss in that state.

[05:10:13]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, he asked if the ballots could be matched back to the voters, and then I got the sense implied that then you could throw those out. He really would look at the counties with the highest frequent error of signatures. So, that's the impression that I got.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Now, in response, Senator Graham calls Raffensperger's claim ridiculous, telling CNN he just wanted to understand the process for verifying signatures on mail-in ballots. Raffensperger has been vilified by fellow Republicans for his handling of the election in Georgia, which by all accounts was handled properly and has been transparent. The secretary of state told "The Washington Post" the situation has escalated so badly that he and his wife have received death threats in recent days over this.

The pressure cooker situation in Georgia likely to only grow in the coming weeks as the special elections for both U.S. Senate seats are scheduled for early January. The outcome of which will decide the balance of power in the Senate.

All right. Still ahead, the human toll from coronavirus could be exponentially worse than officials in a major country is letting on. A CNN exclusive ahead for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:15:43]

HILL: Well, states across the country are reimposing tough restrictions to curb the surging pandemic. CNN is covering the pandemic coast to coast.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ERICA HILL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Erica Hill. New restrictions for banquets, weddings and funerals in Ohio. Governor Mike DeWine is noting it's not the ceremonies but the parties afterwards causing issue. So, starting today, no dancing, no self- serve buffets or bars. Tables limited to ten people, and household members and masks may be kept on at all times except when eating and drinking.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Simon in San Francisco with a surge of cases in California.

The state is pulling what it says an emergency brake to slow the spread of the virus. Ninety-four percent of the state or 37 million Californians will live in a county under the tightest restrictions, restrictions that go into effect today. So, many businesses will have to change their operations. Restaurants, fitness centers, houses of worship, will have to be outdoor only in 41 of the 58 counties in California, including Los Angeles and San Diego.

It comes as the state is seeing a huge spike in cases up 50 percent from one week ago.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Athena Jones in New York.

At least 200 veterans have died of COVID-19 at a Kentucky veterans center of explosion of new cases in the state. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear says the facility has been following the guidelines since the beginning but because we Kentuckians have failed to stop community spread, we can't keep it out of places like this. The governor went on to encourage people to wear masks so fewer seniors and fewer veterans die, saying, with all the sacrifice they made, wearing a mask for them seems like a very small sacrifice.

CRISTINA ALESCI, CNN POLITICS AND BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Cristina Alesci in New York.

A group of business and labor leaders met with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. They discussed how to get COVID spread under control and how critical that is to a robust economic recovery.

Now, retailer Target CEO specifically wanted more guidance from the federal government on more COVID regulations, and safety protocols. He also wanted to know more about the vaccines rollout. Now, these are things business leaders have asked for from the Trump administration but rarely got.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

A weekend house party being blamed for a temporary transition to remote learning at a middle and high school campus outside of Boston. The school superintendent told parents an undetermined amount of students did not wear masks or stay socially distant while they attended a large indoor party on Friday. Out of abundance of caution, all students and staff will not return to in-person learning for two weeks. (END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: All right. Thanks to all of our correspondents for those reports.

Well, the NCAA taking a page from the NBA playbook to make sure that March Madness can return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:23:10]

JARRETT: After being cancelled for the first time ever this year, due to the pandemic. The NCAA tournament will look very different in 2021. Andy Scholes has this morning's "Bleacher Report".

Hey, Andy.

So, I guess it worked for the NBA, it can work for college sports?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRSPONDENT: Yeah, taking a page out of the NBA's book. No tournament in 2020 cost the NBA $375 million. So, they are going to make sure no matter what that it happens in the year 2021. The NCAA announcing yesterday that the entire tournament, all 68 teams for the men's basketball tournament, they're going to be in one single city for March Madness. The NCAA in talks with Indianapolis to be the location. That's where the final four is scheduled for 2021.

The typical tournament takes place in 13 different cities for early round games but organizers say not feasible to manage a complex championship in so many different states, but the challenges presented by the pandemic. As for the women's tournament, the NCAA telling CNN that the committee is still determining the next steps.

All right. Meanwhile, college football continues to have major problems with COVID. Fifth-ranked Texas A&M is postponing a game for the second straight week. Their match-up against Ole Miss is in jeopardy of happening. The game against Tennessee postponed last weekend was moved to December 12th. And the SEC championship game is on December 19th. So they brought out dates to move that game.

The ACC in the meantime are shuffling up to a half dozen games because of multiple positive cases at Miami. The conference is already saying the 12th ranked Hurricane won't be allowed to play for two weeks. Miami played last weekend by 13 players out due to the virus.

All right. It took ten tries but Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins finally has a win on Monday night football.

[05:25:03]

He connected with wide receiver Adam Thielen for two touchdowns on the night, including this amazing one handed grab there for the score. The (INAUDIBLE) for the Bears came just after half-time. Cordarrelle Pattison taking a kickoff, 104 yards for a touchdown, and he actually throws up the deuce on his way in for the score. His 8th career return for a touchdown, tying the NFL record.

Vikings, they go on to win this game, though, 19-13. Nick Foles, quarterback for the Bears actually had to leave the game with a leg injury, getting carted off the field.

All right. Finally, the Marlins making their historic hire official, introducing their new general manager, Kim Ng. Ng is the first woman and Asian-American to hold the job in Major League Baseball and is believed to be the first woman to be a GM in a major American men's pro sport.

After 30 years in major league baseball front offices, Ng explained what this job means to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIM NG, MIAMI MARLINS GENERAL MANAGER: It means the world to me and anybody who knows me knows that I have spent countless hours advocating for young girls, advocating for young women, and really trying to help them advance their careers and there's an adage, you can't be it if you can't see it. I guess I would suggest to them now, now you can see it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yeah. And, Laura, I love the way that Ng did not shy away from the fact that she is a trail blazer and just continued to deliver the message that, you know, even if you are a girl, if you believe that you can do that job, and you keep working hard, it can happen.

JARRETT: Can't be what you can't see. Good for her.

All right. Thanks, Andy. Nice to see you.

Coming up, Joe Biden says a delayed transition could cost American lives because of the pandemic. But that message is falling on deaf ears for the president and the Republicans backing his every move.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)