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Biden: Nobody Saw Omicron Coming; FDA Authorizes First Pill for COVID-19 Treatment; Biden in Favor of Eliminating Filibuster to Get Voting Rights Passed; Deliberations Continue in Kim Potter Trial. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired December 23, 2021 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Berman. Brianna is off today. Erica Hill joins me.
[05:59:22]
On this NEW DAY, no one saw this coming. President Biden defending his administration's response to the rapid onslaught of Omicron. But there are several new reasons to be optimistic this morning.
Plus, what the president said about running for re-election and a possible rematch with Donald Trump.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Delayed game. Several of college football's biggest bowls in jeopardy this morning. Why a national champion could be crowned via forfeit.
And with great power comes great responsibility. Spider-Man keeping his promise to a young hero.
BERMAN: Good morning to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. It is Thursday, December 23.
And it's getaway day for millions of holiday travelers, expected to be one of the busiest travel days of the entire year. This despite the alarming rise of a new variant which is now everywhere.
In the three weeks since Omicron was first identified in the United States, the variant is now in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. It accounts for 90 percent of new coronavirus cases nationwide.
President Biden last night addressing criticism of his administration's fight against COVID, specifically that they didn't see the Omicron variant coming.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS: How did you get it wrong?
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How did we get it wrong? Nobody saw it coming. Nobody in the whole world. Who saw it coming?
MUIR: Did the administration not expect that there could be moments like this one, where you'd have a highly transmissible variant that's possible around the corner?
BIDEN: Sure, it's possible. And it's possible there could be other variants that come along. It's possible. But what do you plan for? You plan for what you think is available. That is, most likely threat that exists at the time. And you respond to it.
And I think that that's exactly what we've done. And that's -- for example, Omicron is spreading rapidly. But the death rates are much, much lower than they were. This is not March of 2020.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Much more from that interview in just a moment. But there are several positive developments to report this morning.
The FDA has authorized the first antiviral COVID pill in the U.S., given to high-risk people over the age of 12 within the first five days of symptoms. The Pfizer pill can reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by 88 percent.
Also, three international studies -- England, Scotland, South Africa -- all suggest a reduced risk of hospitalization from Omicron versus the first Delta variant.
And in South Africa, health officials believe they have passed the peak of the outbreak, just weeks after it began.
HILL: Here at home, Vice President Kamala Harris has tested negative after a close contact with an aide who tested positive for COVID. As of this morning, at least nine members of Congress have tested positive in just the past week. The latest, House Majority Whip James Clyburn. The 81-year-old, who says he is fully vaccinated and boosted, is asymptomatic.
And in the "lawmakers, they're just like us" category, Clyburn said it took more than 56 hours to receive his test results.
Let's begin our coverage this morning with CNN's Joe Johns. He is live at the White House. Joe, good morning.
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erica.
Starting with that interview last night, at times the president struggled to get command of the message, but he also offered a blunt assessment of the struggle to contain the pandemic, as well as the counter measures.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): Ahead of busy holiday travel and family gatherings, President Joe Biden acknowledged his administration's struggle to contain the largest spikes in COVID-19 cases.
BIDEN: No, nothing's been good enough. We were closer than ever. But there's a lot we don't know. It's like I'm sure you're going to ask me when's this going to end? How are we going to do this? JOHNS: Despite being optimistic about the long term, President Biden's
simple answer to ABC News' David Muir is we don't know for certain.
Uncertainty, as Americans are eager to get tested, and thousands having to wait for long hours, and even longer waiting for those test results.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: More testing, including new federal sites and a half a billion tests will be free to all Americans. And more capacity to get shots in arms, including new mobile clinics.
JOHNS: Over the last couple days, President Biden has also touted his administration's efforts to provide Americans with tools to protect themselves.
On Wednesday night, reacting to Omicron, now the dominant variant of coronavirus in the country, Biden said this.
BIDEN: No, I don't think it's a failure. I think it's -- you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago.
JOHNS: As for the high demand for COVID-19 testing, the president made this promise to Americans.
BIDEN: Five hundred million test kits that are going to be available to be sent to every home in America if anybody wants them.
JOHNS: But for many health experts, the biggest issue with at-home test kits will be access.
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I think the Biden administration's plan to acquire half a billion of these tests and to allow folks to order them online is great. It's just not enough.
These tests need to be available everywhere you look. Drug stores, gas stations, libraries, bank. They need to be free and easy to get.
JOHNS: Across the nation, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been climbing back up. As of Wednesday, according to the CDC, the seven-day daily average of cases are up over 25 percent over the previous week, while hospitalizations have increased by about 3.5 percent.
[06:05:07]
Despite the uptick in COVID-19 cases and growing concerns from health officials, millions of Americans are going on with their holiday plans.
MUIR: Have you considered requiring passengers in this country to be vaccinated to get on flights?
BIDEN: It's been considered. But the recommendation I've gotten, it's not necessary.
MUIR: Even with Omicron?
BIDEN: Even with Omicron. That's the recommendation I got so far from the team.
JOHNS: According to TSA, around two million travelers flew each of the past five days. The agency says it is expecting even more travelers on Thursday, one of the busiest travel days of the season.
And for all of those travelers and people at home, the White House COVID-19 response team is echoing the same prevention strategies.
DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CDC DIRECTOR: Get vaccinated. Get boosted. Wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial and high-risk community transmission. And take a test before you gather.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Meanwhile, the legal struggle over some of the president's pandemic policies continues in the courts. The Supreme Court has scheduled oral arguments on January 7 for the president's vaccine mandates.
Erica, back to you.
HILL: We will be watching for that one. Noted on the calendar. Joe Johns, thank you.
Here in New York, another record day of COVID cases. The new daily average, nearly 22,000. Those cases, though, it's important to note, are not leading to record hospitalization numbers. The majority of the cases, right here in New York City where a decision on whether the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square will happen. That decision is expected soon.
CNN's Shimon Prokupecz is live in Times Square. Shimon, good morning.
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Good morning, Erica.
We're actually live outside a testing site here in Times Square, which has been seeing a really large number of people show up.
A lot going on across the city today as at-home test kits are the focus of city officials. Several sites across the city will be handing out those at-home test kits.
It's a cold morning here. It's going to be a cold day. Certainly, we'll be seeing how the cold and how the weather plays into the lines that we have been seeing for the last several days across the city.
The thing is, is what we're seeing here in the city is truly staggering numbers. The governor's office yesterday releasing the latest data showing that nearly 29,000 people have tested positive for COVID.
More than half of those here in New York City in the five boroughs of New York City. So certainly, there is a lot of concern here as the demand for testing ramps up and continues to go up, more people showing up at lines.
So the city is trying to get those at-home test kits out and into people's arms so they can do those tests in their homes.
As you said, hospitalization, Erica, that is the key thing. And the man who runs city hospitals here said that what they're seeing is about 50 or so people in COVID ICUs across the city-run hospitals, 11 of the city-run hospitals.
That is much less than what they saw during the March 2020 peak, where there were over 900 COVID ICU hospitalizations.
So the city is looking at those numbers and saying, okay, we seem to be doing okay. That is why right now for them they are focusing on vaccinations. They want more people vaccinated and boosters. And that is why they are giving people 100 bucks when they come into some of these city sites to get boosted, Erica.
HILL: Shimon Prokupecz, appreciate it. Thank you.
BERMAN: All right. More now on Pfizer's newly-approved pill to treat COVID. Joining us is Dr. Rob Davidson. He's an emergency room physician in West Michigan and the executive director of the Committee to Protect Healthcare.
Doctor, thanks so much for being with us. Thank you for everything you're doing.
This newly-approved pill from Pfizer, this antiviral that can reduce hospitalizations by nearly 90 percent, how much promise do you think this holds for you? I suppose in the long term and in the short-term.
DR. ROB DAVIDSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COMMITTEE TO PROTECT HEALTHCARE: I think in the short-term it's going to be a challenge because of supplies. And in the long term, I think it's a challenge because of just the inequity in our system that is built in. Thirty million Americans still don't have insurance.
And this bill requires a prescription from a doctor. It requires a positive test. And I don't have the exact guide answer, but I don't think that is a positive at-home test. I believe it's going to be some kind of a test in either a pharmacy or a health care facility. It's going to require people getting to those places, getting an order from their doctor, perhaps, for a test at a hospital or a clinic.
And so I think there's going to be logistic challenges for a lot of people, especially I know where I practice it's very rural, that has a high uninsured rate.
You know, so I think we have to still say, you know, even though that 89 percent number is so amazing, having a vaccine and booster reduces your risk of getting into the hospital by just as much. And that is continually what I've been talking about.
[06:10:06] You know, to have a pill with this much investment by the government that can do the same thing as a vaccine that's been around for almost a year now, we need to keep pushing this vaccine and pushing against the disinformation around the vaccine to get more people vaccinated.
HILL: Which I know you've been working tirelessly to do, to push back against that misinformation.
When you look at the numbers in Michigan, and you've been very clear about just how difficult it's been, starting to slip a little bit. But record-high hospitalizations. I'm curious where you are, because it is rural, because I know that there is a much lower vaccination rate. Is that same trend what you're seeing as what's being reported elsewhere in the state?
DAVIDSON: Yes. The trend line on test positives is down, although we're still right around 18 percent test positive rate, which compared to 30 percent where we were about three or four weeks ago, is great. But you know, compared to under 5 percent where we'd like to be, it's still a big number.
And you know, I worked a shift yesterday. Still had three unvaccinated people who required hospitalization from COVID-19. And when I left my shift, they were still sitting in the E.R., waiting to find a bed somewhere, because we're full and, quite frankly, everywhere is still extremely full.
The other piece we're seeing influenza now popped up and people being admitted with that. And those influenza vaccination rates are down about 20 percent across our state and I think across the country, compared to previous years.
You know, this is the perfect storm. Hopefully, Omicron will prove to be less -- less deadly, less risky. And that will give us a bit of reprieve.
BERMAN: Just to review one thing I read, and I want to make sure this is true. You personally have admitted zero boosted patients to the hospital?
DAVIDSON: I personally have admitted zero boosted patients. And I -- you know, I think the numbers across our system are, you know, less than 2 percent of people in intensive care are people with -- who have ever had a vaccine at all. I don't know that we collected the numbers, specifically, on boosted. But I can say personally, I haven't seen any boosted people requiring hospitalization.
BERMAN: That's pretty amazing. And at home, though, your daughter has tested positive. Is that correct?
DAVIDSON: Yes. My -- my college-aged daughter. She goes to school in New York, actually, came home a couple days early from her planned return for Christmas break, you know, had exposure. Found out after she got home that she had an exposure, tested several times and eventually had a positive test. Now is isolating in your basement. You know, I tested negative yesterday. I'm going to test again today.
She's vaccinated, boosted, healthy individual. I'm sure will do fine. It's probably Omicron because it, you know, came from New York City, where this is one of the epicenters currently in the country.
But it just underscores, you know, we're all dealing with this stuff. We're all trying to navigate how to alter holiday plans, how to figure out how to get tested, when to get tested. It's hard for a two-doctor family like mine. It's got to be so tough for -- for the average American family out there.
HILL: To that point, what are you hearing from, you know, folks outside the hospital system, people who are coming in, in terms of getting a test where you are? It's not easy, as you point out.
DAVIDSON: It is a challenge, especially now, again, with the pill requiring a test that isn't just an at-home test. I think it's great to get more at-home tests that people can use to make decisions about getting together, about travel, about work.
But, you know, a lot of people resort to just coming to the E.R. We had people come in, and we'll do the test in the waiting room. And many of them will get their result on their phone on an app, and they'll just kind of cut out of the E.R. before we give them back. Because we're so full, they're unfortunately waiting for several hours.
You know, I don't blame people for doing that. I think the system -- I wish it were better able to handle. I wish more people had insurance and had primary care doctors that they could go to and get these tests or get these, you know, assessments. I don't blame people for trying to, you know, use the system any way they can, but that's just the reality.
BERMAN: Dr. Rob Davidson, listen, I hope you have a wonderful holiday. Best of health to you and your family. Thank you again for everything that you're doing.
DAVIDSON: Thank you so much. Same to you.
BERMAN: Coming up, what President Biden said about the prospect of facing Donald Trump again at the ballot box.
And Mitch McConnell's public pitch to Joe Manchin to ditch his party.
HILL: Plus, we're monitoring what they -- what is being called a major industrial accident at an ExxonMobil oil refinery. This is outside of Houston. Several people have been reported injured. We're going to bring you the very latest on this developing story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:17:09]
BERMAN: All right. New this morning, President Biden did that interview overnight with ABC's David Muir, made a lot of news in it, including when asked what his plans are for 2024. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUIR: Do you plan to run for re-election?
BIDEN: Yes. But, look, I'm a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times. If I'm in the health I'm in now, if I'm in good health, then in fact, I would run again.
MUIR: And if that means a rematch against Donald Trump?
BIDEN: You're trying to tempt me now. Sure. Why would I not run against Donald Trump if he were the nominee? That would increase the prospect of running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Joining me now is CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein.
Ron, it was that smile that creeped across his face. He's given the answer about fate determining what's going to happen before in terms of running. But that answer on Donald Trump was really interesting.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. Look, I take him at his word, you know. I think it's a big "if" if his health allows, I think his inclination clearly would be to run.
You know, John, you can look at kind of the political and economic dynamics and easily see a scenario that encourages exactly the rematch that he's talking about.
Midterm elections, the first midterm election, is almost always tough for the party holding the White House. Republicans only need five seats to pick up the House. There are just four midterms since the Civil War when the party out of the White House didn't win at least five seats.
So if Republicans have a good day next November, you could certainly imagine Trump taking credit for it, making -- that making him more likely to run, making it easier for him to clear the field.
And then, if the economy improves over the second half of Biden's, you know, first term, his position could solidify, making him more likely to run.
And by the way, that's the trajectory that we saw with Reagan, Clinton and Obama. They came in in a moment of economic turbulence. The economy didn't turn around fast enough in the eyes off most voters. They had a very bad first midterm.
But then, you know, when the trend lines started pointing up in years three and four, their position improved, and they all ultimately won re-election.
I'd say Biden, you know, is clearly on that track. But it is entirely possible that six or eight months after the midterm, he will look significantly stronger than he does on the morning after the midterm.
BERMAN: Yes, I'll tell you, the happiest he looked in that interview, which was a tough interview for him last night --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
BERMAN: -- was when David asked him about the prospect of running against Trump.
Ron, a little bit of other news in that interview that didn't air at 6:30; it aired overnight. And this was on voting rights. This was on what President Biden would support doing in order to get a voting rights bill passed. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Do whatever it takes. Change the Senate rules to accommodate a major piece of legislation without requiring 60 votes. The only thing standing between getting voting rights legislation passed and not getting it passed is a filibuster. I support making the exception of voting rights for the filibuster.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:20:10]
BERMAN: So this is a man of the Senate saying ditch the filibuster for voting rights.
BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I mean, he opened that door in his townhall with Anderson Cooper in his answer then. And now, he's just kicked it open completely, and he's put the focus where it should be, on senators -- funny, Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema.
You know, John, what we have seen is Republicans in the red states are passing these voter suppression laws on a party-line majority basis in state after state. There is no bipartisanship in the -- in the construction of these laws in the states that are making it harder to vote.
Sinema and Manchin, in essence, are giving Republicans in the Senate a veto over whether Washington responds to this entirely party-line offensive in the states. And now I think, with Biden making that statement, by far the clearest he's made on this front, it really puts the focus where it should be.
Are they willing to protect minority rights in the Senate at the expense of voting rights in so many states that are moving more aggressively than we've seen since the Voting Rights Act in '65 to curtail the right to vote?
BERMAN: Yes. The calculation they have to make is, is getting this passed, is it worth -- worth what the Republicans might do to them if and when they get control of the Senate which, look, could be sooner rather than later.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes.
BERMAN: On that note, Ron --
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, yes.
BERMAN: -- Mitch McConnell has consistently now been talking in public about trying to get Joe Manchin to switch parties. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): I've suggested a good solution to his problem would be to come across the aisle and join us, where he'd be treated with respect. You recall the White House basically called him a liar Sunday.
Treated him with respect, and find himself in agreement with the party he was caucusing with most of the time. He'd be a lot more comfortable on our side. But that's a better question for you to ask him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: First of all, every time McConnell talks about this, he gets an impish look on his face. It would be malpractice for him not to try to do this. However, every time McConnell talks about it, Ron, he also says, I don't think it's going to happen.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I keep waiting for someone to do a -- you know, a mashup of Darth Vader, you know, kind of beckoning Luke in the -- in "The Empire Strikes Back" for one of these McConnell appeals to Manchin.
Look, anything could happen. Certainly, we've seen senators switch parties before. But there isn't a lot of logic in this. I mean, I think switching to the Republican Party would put Manchin in a position of less leverage and more risk.
I mean, McConnell says he would be more comfortable there. But Joe Manchin, you know, basically is a conservative Democrat. He is a Scoop Jackson Democrat. We don't see many of those anymore, but they're not Republicans.
He voted twice to convict and remove Donald Trump from office. He voted against Amy Coney Barrett. He voted against the Trump tax cut. He voted for preserving the ACA.
Would you want to take that record into a Republican Senate primary in West Virginia? The odds of him losing a Republican primary to a challenger to his right is far greater, I think, than his odds of losing a Democratic primary to a challenger to his left in West Virginia.
And in terms of his leverage, he is now the 50th vote on everything. He basically is all roads, as we have seen in the last week, lead to Joe Manchin in this version of a 50/50 Senate. He would be the 51st Republican. He would still have leverage, because if he said no, you'd have a tie. And Kamala Harris could break it in favor of the Democrats.
But each time he said no on a Republican priority, he would increase the risk of, you know, point No. 1 in a -- in a Republican primary.
So I think becoming a Republican, more risk, less leverage. Yes, you can imagine him doing what Joe Lieberman did and Lisa Murkowski did, becoming formally an independent before the 2024 election but still caucusing with his party.
I don't see what the gain is for him in either switching to the Republicans themselves or making them in the majority.
BERMAN: On that Darth Vader reference, I will make a donation to charity if Mitch McConnell ever says to Joe Manchin, "Joe, I am your father."
BROWNSTEIN: Exactly.
BERMAN: Ron Brownstein, have a happy holiday. You're in with me on that.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. OK.
BERMAN: The jury is still deliberating in the case of former police officer Kim Potter, who says she mistook her gun for a Taser. What our experts are saying about what that might mean.
HILL: Plus, the January 6th Committee wants to talk to Congressman Jim Jordan. So if that happened, would he give a straight answer about his conversations with President Trump on that day?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): I don't know if I spoke with him in the morning or not. I just don't know. I'd have to go back and -- I mean, I don't -- I don't know that -- when those conversations happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:28:50]
HILL: We remain on verdict watch. Jury deliberations resuming for a fourth day today in the manslaughter trial of former Minnesota police officer, Kimberly Potter.
Potter, you may recall, claimed she confused her firearm for her Taser when she fatally shot 20-year-old Daunte Wright during a traffic stop last April.
CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson and CNN legal analyst and former New York City prosecutor Paul Callan back with us this morning to take a closer look at those deliberations.
So Joey, let's start with you this morning. When we look at where we're at, the fact that we're about to enter day four, we know the jury is sequestered. The holidays are looming.
Is there anything that we should be zeroing in on at this point that could give us some sort of clue as to where they may be leaning?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Erica. I think you called it in that with the holidays pressing up against us. Good morning to you.
Good morning, Paul.
You know, that's always a relevant consideration. But if you juxtapose that next to what I'm talking about now, the Ghislaine Maxwell trial, we know that they are on recess until Monday.
And so I think the commitment with this jury and Kim Potter is to get it right.
I do, again, really say that it's a very difficult thing when you look at the process of our system. You're looking at 12 people trying to get something right.
