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Biden to Address Nation Amid Concern About New Variant; Uptick in Americans Who are Getting COVID Boosters; 4th Victim Dies, Suspect Charged as Adult in School Shooting; Meadows Calls Claims in His Own Book 'Fake News'. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired December 02, 2021 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to our viewers here in the U.S. And around the world. It is Thursday, December 2nd. And I'm Brianna Keilar, along with John Berman.
[05:59:35]
It is here. The first confirmed case of the Omicron variant detected in California in a traveler who recently returned from South Africa. Now, we know that this person was vaccinated. They're now in self- quarantine with mild symptoms that are improving. That's about all we know, though.
Let's listen to Dr. Anthony Fauci at a CNN townhall last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Having a single person who had what would be considered a breakthrough infection, because the person was fully vaccinated, doesn't really tell you much at all.
It's only a single person, Anderson. So you really can't make a broad general statement or an extrapolation for what would go on with unvaccinated people, or people who are boosted.
So there's a lot still to be learned.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Dr. Fauci went on to say that holiday travel is safe for those who are vaccinated.
More than two dozen countries on six continents have now detected the variant. We want to make clear: this was expected here in the United States and elsewhere. This is not some surprise or calamity.
Overnight, France joined the list, confirming a positive case in an unvaccinated man in his 50s, who just returned from Nigeria.
Later today, President Biden -- and this is a big deal -- he will visit the National Institutes of Health and deliver remarks on his plan to fight the pandemic, deal with the Omicron variant as the United States enters its winter months. Because of the variant, he plans to extend mask requirements for
travelers on planes, buses, trains and boats, as well as at airports and other transportation hubs, through March.
Natasha Chen in Los Angeles this morning with the very latest on all of this -- Natasha.
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, John, let's talk about the San Francisco resident who had traveled to South Africa and the timeline of what happened here.
This person left South Africa on November 21 and landed in San Francisco on the 22nd. Now, over Thanksgiving, that resident started feeling sick and got a test on the 28th. A day later, received a positive test result.
And here's where the San Francisco health officials are saying this person did a good thing by being proactive in reaching out to the local health department upon getting that positive test result. Because this person was aware of the Omicron variant and aware that that was a possibility, having traveled back from South Africa.
By November 30th, the University of California, San Francisco, labs were doing genome sequencing and had confirmed within hours that it was the Omicron variant; sent that sample to the CDC to have that confirmed, as well.
So this all happened rather quickly as soon as the positive test happened.
The person was, as you mentioned, fully vaccinated. Two doses, though, of Moderna; had not gotten the booster. And that's because they say that this person had not gotten that second shot more than six months ago. So it wasn't time for a booster yet.
They are doing contact tracing right now. And the people within close contact of that individual so far have not tested positive.
As you mentioned, the individual reportedly has mild symptoms, did not need to go to the hospital, and is improving right now. Of course, the U.S. right now tests a one in seven positive samples to see which kind of variant it is. And largely, it is still Delta, John.
BERMAN: So that patient is doing fine, not hospitalized, no sign of community spread yet. We're going to speak to a top San Francisco health official a little bit later to get the latest update on all of that.
Natasha Chen, thank you very much.
CHEN: Thank you.
KEILAR: And just in to CNN, a new report shows a significant increase in the number of Americans who are getting their COVID booster shots. CNN's Jacqueline Howard is joining us live with the details.
This is welcome news.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: It is welcome news, Brianna.
What this report shows, in the last month, the share of fully- vaccinated adults has more than doubled. So this is a survey from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
And what the survey found, they polled adults in November, last month. And you see here, among 1,800 fully vaccinated adults, about 23 percent say that they've already received their booster dose. Thirty- seven percent say they definitely plan to get their booster. Nineteen percent say they probably will.
Now, that 23 percent who say they've already received their booster, that's a big uptick from the previous month in October, when 10 percent say they received their booster.
And as you know, Brianna, health officials like Dr. Anthony Fauci say that it's important to get your booster dose right now at this moment. Vaccine makers are working on boosters in the future that could be specifically targeted against variants like Omicron or like Delta. But the main message now is don't wait. Receive your booster. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAUCI: If you are eligible, namely, six months with a double mRNA dose, or two months with the J&J, get boosted now. We may not need a variant-specific boost. We're preparing for the possibility that we need a variant-specific boost. But the mistake people would make is to say, Let me wait and see if we get one. If you're eligible for boosting, get boosted right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD: And Brianna, it seems fully-vaccinated adults are following that guidance. And it looks like more are getting their booster doses -- Brianna.
KEILAR: I am boosted and proud of it. Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much for that.
HOWARD: I am, as well. Thank you.
[06:05:00]
KEILAR: So is Berman. Very much boosting happening this morning here.
BERMAN: Yes. Me three. I got boosted yesterday. I'm either feeling the side effects, or I just woke up at 3 a.m. It's very hard --
KEILAR: It's all the same.
BERMAN: -- to separate the two. It's all the same, one or the other. So in just a few hours, President Biden will lay out the administration's plan for fighting COVID through the winter and protecting Americans against the Omicron variant.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond live at the White House. Jeremy, what are we going to hear?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, the White House is still trying to learn a lot about this Omicron variant. But in the meantime, we will hear President Biden outline his administration's strategy for combatting the coronavirus, the Delta virus, the Omicron variant in the winter months.
President Biden announcing a mix of increased screening for international travelers; increased testing availability. And also ramped up efforts to get Americans vaccinated.
On the international screening front, you're going to see that move that we talked about yesterday, which is international travelers arriving in the United States needing to provide a negative coronavirus test taken within one day of their departure. You're also going to see that mask mandate for domestic travel extended into March. That was set to expire in January.
On the testing front, expanded availability of tests. Millions of tests being shipped out to federal health centers. And you're also going to see the administration require that private insurers cover the costs of at-home tests. Those can now be reimbursed by your private insurance.
On the vaccine front, you have more clinics becoming -- coming online, including family clinics. That's a new initiative that the Biden administration is announcing today. Clinics that will have the doses for children, as well as adults, so the whole family can go and either get boosted or get vaccinated for the first time.
And finally, you're going to see these emergency response teams that we saw during some of those COVID surges help states with monoclonal antibodies, with logistics in setting up vaccination clinics. Sixty plus deployments will become available.
All of this is something that President Biden will outline in a speech at the National Institutes of Health this afternoon -- John.
BERMAN: Jeremy Diamond, we will be watching. Please keep us posted in the meantime. Thank you.
KEILAR: A fourth student has died after a 15-year-old student stormed a high school in Michigan Tuesday. Authorities say the suspect showed concerning behavior at the high school. This included an incident that had forced his parents to come to the school less than three hours before the attack.
Investigators have also discovered videos of the suspect talking about killing students.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz live in Oakland, Michigan, with more.
Shimon, it seems like, you know, it's just deja vu. We were learning that there were big red flags ahead of this shooting.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Certainly, that new information, the red flags, those behavioral concerns all being revealed by investigators about 24 hours after the shooting. Investigators not being specific about what that information is, saying -- the prosecutor saying that she wants -- she is concerned about trying this case and making sure that the victims here get justice.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PROKUPECZ (voice-over): The 15-year-old accused of killing four and injuring others at Oxford High School is now charged as an adult.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will enter a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
PROKUPECZ: Both the suspect and his parents appearing in court virtually. He faces two dozen charges, including terrorism causing death and four counts of first-degree murder.
KAREN MCDONALD, PROSECUTOR, OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN: In terms of the premeditation required for first-degree murder charge, this just wasn't even a close call, unfortunately. This was deliberate. This was planned well in advance. And disturbingly so.
PROKUPECZ: Investigators say they discovered troubling videos on the suspect's cell phone from the night before the deadly incident. While they did not give specifics --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You talked about shooting and killing students the next day at Oxford High School.
PROKUPECZ: The Oakland County sheriff says the suspect had meetings with school officials the day before and the day of the shooting for concerning behavior, and another undisclosed issue.
SHERIFF MICHAEL BOUCHARD, OAKLAND COUNTY, MICHIGAN: In fact, the parents were brought in the morning of the shooting and had a face-to- face meeting with the school. We did not learn of that meeting, nor of the content of that meeting, until after the shooting.
PROKUPECZ: Videos posted on social media showing the chaos and terror happening, as some students and teachers barricaded and evacuated their classrooms.
ZANDER CUMBEY, JUNIOR, OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL: I heard screams come from the hallway. And the first gunshot happened. And my teacher, he walked into the classroom. He locked the door, and he told us to call 911. And then we heard the rest of the gunshots go off, more screams.
PROKUPECZ: While Oxford High is blocked off with yellow police tape as authorities continue their investigation, outside the school a memorial is growing. A small way to remember and honor the four teenagers who died in the tragedy.
Among them, Hana St. Juliana, who played basketball. The 14-year-old was set to make her high school debut in the sport she loved Tuesday night.
[06:10:06]
Seventeen-year-old Madisyn Baldwin was in her senior year and already accepted to several colleges, according to her family.
Justin Schilling was 17 years old and the co-captain of the bowling team. He passed away at a local hospital Wednesday morning.
And Tate Myre, a star football player at Oxford High. He, too, was 17.
JAVON PITTMAN, SENIOR, OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL: He was smart. He could play well. He was really good at football. And he's really good at wrestling. And me and him used to joke around. Me and him used to play. He used to have, like, this cool smile.
PROKUPECZ: JaVon Pittman emotional describing the loss of his classmates.
PITTMAN: I can't see Justin. I can't see two of my closest friends. Tate was like a brother to me. And Justin was, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PROKUPECZ: And Brianna, the investigation here is not over. The prosecutor indicating to us that she intends to pursue potential charges against the parents of the alleged 15-year-old shooter.
Of course, a lot of questions over the gun and how he got his hands on that gun. Remember, his father purchased that gun, prosecutors say, four days before the shooting.
KEILAR: Shimon, thank you so much for that report.
Coming up, Donald Trump has attacked the truth. He did that his entire presidency. Why the evidence about his COVID status continues to mount now.
Plus, a FOX News personality doubling down on her insane comparison of Dr. Fauci to Nazi angel of death doctor as the network remains silent.
BERMAN: And for the first time in decades, baseball owners lock out the players. No agreement right now. Will there even be a baseball season?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:16:08]
KEILAR: We're learning now more about former President Trump and his administration hiding that Trump had tested positive for coronavirus before heading to multiple events, including a debate with then- candidate Joe Biden.
But Trump had lied about dozens of aspects of the pandemic from the very start of this crisis. Here's just a few from February.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: By April, you know, in theory, when it gets a little warmer, it miraculously goes away.
The coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country.
We're very close to a vaccine.
We're going down, not up. We're going very substantially down. Not up.
It's going to disappear. One day, it's like a miracle, it will disappear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: He also claimed this about the seriousness of the illness.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: In many cases, when you catch this, it's very light. You don't even know there's a problem. Sometimes they just get the sniffles. Sometimes they just get something where they're not feeling quite right. And sometimes they feel really bad.
But that's a little bit like the flu. It's a little like the regular flu that we have flu shots for. And we'll essentially have a flu shot for this in a fairly quick manner.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: But we know that he didn't actually believe that this virus would just go away or that it was like the flu. We know that from a conversation that he had three weeks before with reporter Bob Woodward.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (via phone): And so that's a very tricky one. That's a very delicate one. It's also more deadly than your, you know, even your strenuous flus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: And according to a later conversation, he wanted to downplay the situation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (via phone): I wanted to always play it down. I still like playing it down. BOB WOODWARD, AUTHOR/JOURNALIST: Yes.
TRUMP: Because I don't want to create a panic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: He made similar claims months later.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you look, the numbers are very minuscule compared to what it was. It's dying out.
We followed them with this terrible China virus. And we are likewise getting under control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: That was July when about 50,000 people per day were being diagnosed. This was Trump on testing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Anybody that wants a test can get a test.
We took over an obsolete, broken testing system.
There's not a lot of issues with testing.
We've done more testing than every other country combined. So in a way, by doing all of this testing, we make ourselves look bad
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Testing makes you look bad? No. It tells you if you're sick and how bad the pandemic is. Per capita, the U.S. lagged behind testing, far behind in testing.
KEILAR: And Trump also lied about how the disease affected children. Here's just one instance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP (via phone): If you look at children, children are almost -- and I would almost say definitely. But almost immune from this disease.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That's not the case. Thousands of children were reported hospitalized due to coronavirus, and thousands of others suffered from the mysterious multisystem inflammatory syndrome.
This isn't even the first time that we know that Trump lied about his own coronavirus illness. In February, outlets reported that Trump's condition was so concerning that there was talk of putting him on a ventilator. BERMAN: And now we are learning that he personally might have put
hundreds of people at risk by lies and obfuscations about a positive test for coronavirus.
He tested positive, so says his former chief of staff, although later the very day he was tested positive, he did test negative.
So this morning, the very definition of non-denial denial. The day after "The Guardian" published excerpts from Mark Meadows's book, revealing that Trump tested positive for coronavirus days before anyone knew and three days before the first debate last year, Meadows now is somehow trying to weasel out of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, the president is right. It's fake news. If you -- if you actually read the book, the context of it, that story outlined a false positive.
[06:20:09]
Literally had -- had a test. Had two other tests after that that showed he didn't have COVID during the debate. And yet, the way that the media wants to spin it is certainly to be as negative about Donald Trump as they possibly can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: So Meadows does write that there was a negative test the same day Trump tested positive. But still, there was a positive test the White House hid from the country.
Here's a portion of the book written by Mark Meadows, obtained by "The Guardian." It says, quote, "'Stop the president from leaving,' Meadows says Sean Conley, the White House physician, told him. 'He just tested positive for COVID.' It wasn't possible to stop Trump. But when he called from Air Force One, his chief of staff gave him the news. 'Mr. President,' Meadows said, 'I've got some bad news. You've tested positive for COVID.' After a brief but tense wait, Meadows called back with the news of the negative test. He could almost hear the collective thank God that echoed through the cabin," he writes.
Joining us now, is CNN political analyst and Washington correspondent for "The New York Times," Maggie Haberman.
Maggie, we should note Alyssa Farah, who was the communications director at the time, and others note that you were onto this --
MAGGIE HABERMAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I was.
BERMAN: -- in real time, very close to reporting this in real time. Meadows just confirmed your reporting for you, as has other White House sources. What do you think the most significant part of this is?
HABERMAN: Just to note what you just said: Mark Meadows has a history of lying about my reporting before he then confirms it. So this actually falls in that category.
What I make of this is that I can't decide which one is worse, is the fact that they imperiled all of -- I mean, I can decide which one is worse. But it's both -- it's bad that they are, on the one hand, acknowledging that they were imperiling all of these people. Well, not actually acknowledging, right? He's pretending that, Oh, no, no, this wasn't a real positive.
But also that he's just sort of glibly writing it in a book, and he's really surprised that people didn't see this as some act of radical transparency.
The tests that he's describing, John, these were antigen tests. If -- those just test for antibodies.
BERMAN: The negative test.
HABERMAN: Negative test. With the positive and the negative, we -- or at least as far as I know in terms of the one that came up positive, but the negative test, certainly, was an antibody test. All that said was that there were not antibodies his system was producing. We don't know whether there was virus in his system or not.
There's an actual science to this. It isn't just you get a positive, you get a negative, and you go with whichever result you like. And that seems to be what he was saying here.
BERMAN: Why on Earth did this end up in the book? What do you think is going on with Mark Meadows?
HABERMAN: I think Mark Meadows needs to make money, honestly. I mean, I think that he has legal bills, and I think those legal bills are not getting paid by the former president or any of his committees, as far as I understand it. I think that he -- he got an advance. Like, you know, who knows how much it was. But I think that he is trying to sell a book.
I don't actually know that the former president is upset about any of this. According to the people I've spoken to, at least early yesterday, he wasn't. Now, he may get upset looking at the coverage. Because that's often what happens. But, you know, why Mark Meadows does certain things is often a mystery.
BERMAN: What about Mark Meadows describing the former president's bronze hue. I mean, there's stuff that Meadows writes that --
HABERMAN: I thought that was odd.
BERMAN: There's stuff that he writes and the way he writes it that you think might be on the line of what would upset Trump.
HABERMAN: I think that what is confusing about watching this performance from Meadows, particularly what you just showed from Newsmax, is he's trying so hard, to your point on the line, to not offend the former president. He is trying so hard not to say things that are going to upset him. And yet describing Trump's physique -- and I'm not saying Meadows did
something wrong in doing this. It's just a fact. It's just that we also know that, you know, Trump considers covering him accurately to be covering him unfairly or to be covering him in a way that he doesn't like. So the fact that Meadows described how bad Trump looked: talked about his skin hue, talked about dark circles under his eyes. Certainly true. Right? Anybody who was watching him in that debate thought he didn't look good in that first debate against Joe Biden.
But it was striking to me that he would put that in a book.
BERMAN: A lot of people looked at this and said this came out the same day, within 24 hours of when we learned that Mark Meadows is going to sit for a deposition with the January 6th committee. And a lot of people were wondering, is Mark Meadows splitting from Trump? Does this signify some kind of shift away?
HABERMAN: I don't think so. I think that, A, I think "The Guardian" gets ahold of books, and they get ahold of them early, and they did here.
B, I don't really know the extent of Mark Meadows's cooperation with the January 6th Committee. And I think that's really important to bear in mind.
You know, I've heard conflicting signals about is he actually being that forthcoming or is he just doing something where he can check a box and tell folks like us that he's cooperating.
BERMAN: It is interesting. Because the people ask why would Mark Meadows write this. One of the possibilities was because he, they, don't care. They don't think they did anything wrong.
HABERMAN: That's what I'm saying.
BERMAN: Which is very revealing.
HABERMAN: That's my point about the glibness of putting it in a book. As I said to several people in Trump's world yesterday, many of whom -- well, Trump himself I'm not sure was upset. A bunch of folks around him were, and a bunch of folks who worked in the White House were, for a variety of reasons, including the aspects, I should just note, of what Meadows describes as to how he acted after that positive and then the negative test.
Folks I talked to do not remember him telling people, treat him as if he's positive on the rest of this trip. That struck folks as not in line with what actually happened.
[06:25:05]
But I think that Meadows didn't seem -- he seemed to think that he was writing a story that was going to be received as, Oh, look, this is proof Trump was negative before the debate.
And all this is, is proof that he did actually pop a positive test, which a bunch of us had heard, which yes, I did chase and was trying to get confirmation of. We don't know enough about the other kinds of tests he was taking. We don't know enough about what was happening when he headed into a debate against an opponent who was also an older gentleman and susceptible to the coronavirus.
BERMAN: And finally, Sean Conley, who was the White House physician at the time, we played sound from him quite a bit yesterday, dodging questions about when the president did or didn't test negative and positive. Jonathan Reiner on our show suggested that Conley should have either resigned or somehow stood in the way of Trump doing that debate.
HABERMAN: Dr. Reiner is in a better position than I am to judge what another physician should do. I don't -- I simply don't know. I know that, as a person and as a reporter watching this, and I can't quite believe that his duty of care was not to alert people more broadly that they could be in trouble.
Especially, again, I understand -- I don't agree with it, but I get that their argument is we didn't want to create a panic with that first test. But once you knew he had it for sure after PCR tests on October 2nd, and once he's being helicoptered off to Walter Reed, just do a chronology and explain to everybody what happened. I have heard arguments from some doctors that Conley's obligation is to his patient. I don't know enough to say one way or the other.
BERMAN: That's really the point. Once you do know for sure on October 1st or 2nd --
HABERMAN: Yes.
BERMAN: -- reverse engineer and tell everyone who was anywhere near the president that there could have been a serious problem.
HABERMAN: Or wait a year and put it in a book and object when people cover that.
BERMAN: Maggie Haberman, great to see you.
HABERMAN: You, too.
BERMAN: Thank you very much.
So a Holocaust survivor sat here with us and called it disgusting. A FOX host with a disgusting reference to Joseph Mengele, one of the most twisted Nazi criminals on record. Did this FOX personality apologize? No. She did it again.
KEILAR: And Merck's COVID pill winning blessings from the FDA as this could become the first COVID-19 pill to be taken at home.
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