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CNN Live Event/Special

The Electoral College Votes; First Coronavirus Vaccinations Begin In U.S.; Electoral College Begins Voting To Seal Trump's Fate. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired December 14, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Anderson Cooper alongside Erin Burnett. I want to welcome viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. This is CNN's special live coverage of two historic events.

Underway right now, hospitals across America administering the very first doses of the coronavirus vaccine to frontline health workers 11 months after the first case was documented in the United States.

In New York, critical care nurse Sandra Lindsay of Northwell Health was the first in the state, possibly the entire country to get the vaccine today.

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COOPER: And that was it. CNN is live at several locations where the first shots are being administered.

This monumental development obviously comes as the country nears a tragic milestone, nearly 300,000 Americans have lost their lives in this pandemic and the crisis is getting worse. The next few months are going to be tough. The U.S. hit another record of hospitalizations yesterday, marking the 12th consecutive day more than 100,000 people in the hospital.

Second event unfolding right now, the Electoral College voting to confirm President-elect Joe Biden's win sealing President Trump's fate yet again no matter what he or his Republican allies say. Electors from all 50 states in D.C. will follow the Constitution and affirm what the voters decided on November 3rd.

You can see the official tally at the bottom of your screen, electors in Indiana, Vice President Mike Pence's home state, is expected, just sent their Electoral Votes -- 11 Electoral Votes to the president.

And moments ago, electors in New Hampshire as expected put their four votes for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. Let's listen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you now -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For Joseph R. Biden, president of the United States. And four votes cast for Kamala Harris for vice president of the United States.

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COOPER: Let's go to CNN's John Berman who is following all of today's votes. So, John, break it down. Exactly what is happening today and explain why.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first of all, let me tell you where we are right now. Donald Trump is winning. As of 11:02 a.m. as the electoral votes come in. But I do have a public service announcement for the president who has a hard time understanding this. He's not going to win over the course of the day. Just because he's ahead right now he will not be ahead as the day continues.

Let me tell you what we're going to see over the course of the next several minutes here.

These are the states where the electors meet in their capitals to vote this hour. A number of states here, including and I want to highlight this, because this tells a story, the state of Nevada.

Now, this is the first state we've seen today which had a relatively closed issue on Election Day. The vote was pretty close that day. Let me just go in there, you can see on that day, Joe Biden won by just 33,000 votes. What does that matter today? Not at all. Not at all.

Joe Biden is going to get all six electoral votes from the state of Nevada because Nevada has decided that winner takes all as almost every state in the nation has. One other thing about Nevada that's interesting here is they do not allow faithless electors. By law, the electors in the state of Nevada are bound to vote for the winner of that state. If someone walks into this event today and tries to vote for Donald Trump they get tossed and then they're replaced by a Joe Biden elector.

So, Joe Biden will leave this hour with six votes from the state of Nevada. And this all has to do with the Constitution of the United States, Article II Section 1, which states that "Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress."

That sentence there, where in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct. That's what gives the states the power to choose how they appoint their electors. In Nevada it means you can't have faithless electors. In Nebraska, it means that congressional districts get to choose at least a few of the electors.

In every state but plus the District of Columbia, it means that now we have elections to choose the electors. There's nothing in the Constitution that guarantees that. It's only been that case in every state since 1854. And just one other thing. It's the 12th Amendment of the United States which says that electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for president and vice president. They cast two ballots today. The reason for that, for anyone who has seen Hamilton - Anderson, I'm sure you're a big fan.

[11:05:03]

It's because the election of 1800, electors used to go in and cast two ballots for whoever they wanted, whoever finished first was president, whoever finished second became vice president. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson tied with Aaron Burr, and it became a giant mess, so they changed that with the 12th Amendment.

COOPER: And can you just talk about the electors and why they were chosen?

BERMAN: Yes. So, let's look at the state of Delaware this hour here. Let's go in. The state of Delaware, which is Joe Biden's home state, they will vote this hour. Electors are nominated by state parties, months before the Election Day itself. Each state party gets to put together a slate of electors. They're either chosen by a party convention or by a party committee. Delaware is fairly representative of this.

You can see you have a former state party chair who was chosen. You have a former state house candidate who was chosen. You have Marla Blunt-Carter who is actually the sister of the one House member from the state of Delaware, Lisa Blunt-Rochester. They're chosen for their record of party activism, party loyalty in the state. Each party gets to choose a slate. Whichever a candidate actually wins the state, those are the electors who are meeting today to cast their votes.

The Republican electors who were nominated months ago in Delaware, they are just sitting at home today. They have no role whatsoever to play in this. And you know, there are some famous electors today. Some people who you will know. A lot you may not know but there are some prominent electors today who you'll see cast their ballots. Stacey Abrams in Georgia, you have Bill and Hillary in the state of New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo is an elector from New York.

The Constitution merely says, it can't be a member of Congress or someone who is paid by the federal government. So, you can have state office holders, but not federal office holders serve as electors, Anderson.

COOPER: All right. John Berman. John, thanks. We're going to -- we've been watching as the Electoral College begins voting across the country. Let's check in with our reporters on the scenes. Jessica Dean in Wilmington, Delaware. Jessica, how is it going?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning to you, Anderson. Of course, as we have noted today, this is typically a formality but for the Biden team, the transition team and also the campaign people who have been watching this, today marks a big line in the sand as this vote is certified by electors all across the country. And to that end, we are expecting to hear from President-elect Joe Biden later this evening. He's going to address the nation in prime time, as currently scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. He's going to talk about the Electoral College certification but also, we're told, the strength and resiliency of this Democracy.

And of course, Anderson, you'll remember that all throughout the campaign one of his key pitches to voters was that he was going to bring people together, to unite the country, to heal so much of the political division that has taken place, especially over the last year as this campaign has gone on.

So, we can certainly expect to hear themes like that tonight. It's the perfect opportunity to talk about now that the Electoral College has met and certify this election, that Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris can look forward to the future and bringing Americans together.

Also of note, Anderson, we have heard him say it many times that he's pledged to be a president not just for the people who voted for him but for the people who did not vote for him. So, we expect to hear some of those things tonight. But again, the key thing here that we will hear from the president-elect later this evening. Anderson?

COOPER: Jessica Dean, thanks very much.

Erin, let's go back to you.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Despite all of this, you know, you're going to have Joe Biden speaking tonight, this is Illinois that you're watching here during the electoral process. President Trump still says the fight is not over. I mean, it is over. It's been over for a long time. Today it is formal.

Dozens of lawsuits have now been withdrawn or dismissed. The Supreme Court has refused to get involved with those tersely worded statements unanimous from the judges for both Texas and Pennsylvania rejecting Trump's efforts to overturn the election.

With me now, political analyst David Gregory and Jamie Gangel also back with me. So, David, you know, someone I know the other day was in the Oval Office with the president for just about a half an hour. And it ended like this, the president saying I have 73 million people, they're mine. Don't take them away from me, I'm the president. It doesn't seem that's ever going to change, does it?

DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I think it's really going to be really difficult because I think President Trump, even out of office, is going to try to maintain a choke hold on that base of support. I don't know how well he'll do. He certainly has the ability to create something of a -- of a thought empire. Whether it's a media venture or just in using social media. I mean he's going to lose the power of the presidency, which is big.

And I think he could be a slowly burning ember. But he does have impact. He can run again. He's going to promise to run again. He's going to try to at least freeze the race. He's going to be a factor. And that's -- and that's potent.

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And I think that, you know, here you talk about the president-elect is going to be speaking tonight. I was thinking and reading over the weekend, Lincoln's second inaugural where he talks about binding up the nation's wounds.

Well, we're not binding up those wounds. Those wounds are still very much open. And we can't allow as a society for us to be so divided that we have an open wound over here and we're kind of marching on over here.

And that's where I think Biden has an opportunity, yes, he has got to speak to those who didn't vote for him. He has got to really take on all of the misinformation that's out there, but he also has to take on his own party. He has to take on Democrats who sought to de delegitimize President Trump, who didn't show up at the inauguration as elected official. There can't be just a cycle of recrimination back and forth where we look at the other side as being illegitimate. And Democrats are responsible for that too.

BURNETT: Right. Well, you raised a great point, right? The president has used that as some of his justification, right, to say well look, there were some. You know I have the sound bites, they called for my impeachment right when I took office. And so, this is what -- you know, you get what you gave.

So, Jamie, you've been speaking with several senior GOP sources, a lot of this now relies on them. Trump can go and remain powerful and have a media empire and be a king maker if he wants. But it is Republican leaders who are going to make the difference right now. Are they going to do it? Are they going to step up and say who the president of the United States is? Knowing that there's going to be that guy over there, who's not going away, who's going to want to slam them and crush them for it.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I'm laughing, Erin, because I actually thought, silly me, that after Election Day, that moment would happen. But I think what you have to remember is it's not just that they're scared of Donald Trump. They know that his base, those 73 million, those are real voters.

And they - you know Jared Kushner said to Bob Woodward that Donald Trump had hijacked the Republican Party. I think the question for the Republicans now is, can they take back the party? Are those 73 million voters willing to go with them? And to the point about his teasing about whether or not he would run in 2024, that is a real problem for the next generation of Republicans, who would like to run in 2024. They are frozen out until he makes a decision.

BURNETT: And he's going to wait as long as he possibly can.

GANGEL: Absolutely.

BURNETT: Because he wants that power, right? This is all about feeling that power.

So, David and Jamie, please stand by. Because as we are watching this process, and again, you see Springfield, Illinois the capitol of Illinois in their Electoral College votes. There are several states that are dealing with security concerns because of this open wound David is referring to and the president's actions.

Let's start in Michigan. Dianne Gallagher is there. He's in the capitol Lansing where electors are set to vote around 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Dianne, tell us what you're seeing.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, that 2:00 p.m. start time, will likely begin with those electors being escorted by police into the capitol, which is closed to the public, in part due to COVID but also because of planned protests. And then, last night an email went out to House and Senate staff and members letting them know that both House and Senate buildings are being closed because of a, quote, "credible, violent threat."

And that is from the press secretary of the Senate. Saying that they didn't close the buildings due to the impending protests that we are expecting here today for the Electoral College. It was because of a threat of violence that they had been briefed on by Minnesota state police that they made that decision.

Now, of course, we have seen protests really for the past month or so, even before the election here in Michigan, but the expectation is those 16 electors from the state of Michigan will cast their votes for Joe Biden beginning around 2:00 p.m. today. We expect protests to be taking place outside. It's important to remember that Michigan is an open carry state. Of course, we have seen those scenes, Erin, with people carrying weapons on scene for election-related events here in Michigan.

BURNETT: Yes. I mean, certainly, Dianne, that's a lot of pressure and intensity to the situation. Dianne Gallagher, thank you very much on the scene on Lansing.

And as this is happening across the country throughout this day, let's go to Mississippi now and listen in to what's happening there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It appears as we have six votes for Donald J. Trump for president of the United States and six votes for Michael Pence for vice president of the United States.

BURNETT: And those are the votes in -- as you saw there, six and there they are, Mississippi.

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Wisconsin Electoral College members are set to vote around 1:00 p.m. this afternoon. And you're going to see a process that's similar but different. Every single state has its own specific process for doing this.

Let's go straight to Adrienne Broaddus. She is in Madison, the capitol there. And Adrienne, vote goes on. Even with the state's Supreme Court, I believe, still deliberating a lawsuit from President Trump, right?

ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. The 10 electors will gather here in Wisconsin at the state capitol later this afternoon. What room they'll meet in we don't know. That's because the electors don't even know what room they'll meet in.

We just learned moments ago that they will be escorted by capitol police into the state capitol and they will have that significant vote in a secret room. This is an extra layer of security that has been put in place because some of the presidential electors here have been receiving threats.

Just a short time ago I spoke with presidential elector t Khary Penebaker. He said at least three of the 10 electors here in Wisconsin are black. And he's concerned about the electors who look like him. He said he has received threats, those threats started almost immediately after Joe Biden became president-elect and he said no matter how many threats they get, they will continue to go on. Erin?

BURNETT: All right. Adrienne, thank you very much.

And just in, states have instituted security protocols due to exactly what you heard Adrienne talking about and Dianne, right? Safety concerns, threats that electors had received because of the heightened attention on today's Electoral College voting.

Our Kristen Holmes is live in Washington. So, Kristen, when you look at this process, right, that we are watching live throughout this day, something that usually nobody watches live and nobody actually watches how the sausage is made. We are watching and the world is watching. And there have been some changes because of the security concerns, haven't there?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Erin. It's really stunning. Particularly when you hear Adrienne just now talking about the electors getting threats. If you look back to 2016 and before that 2012, most people in America don't even think about who their electors are. Now we're in a position in 2020 in which we're looking at the electors and people are threatening them and threatening the Democratic process.

So, across the country, we're seeing new security protocols. I'm just going to recap quickly what we heard from Dianne and Adrienne. Michigan the House, the Senate chambers both of them are closed. They are having police escort the electors in and out of that building. In Wisconsin, same thing here with the police escort in an unmarked entrance four electors so they are safe.

In Pennsylvania we had Brian Todd there, and he is reporting that police escorts are actually taking electors from the hotel to the vote and then back to the hotel, because of these threats. And in Arizona they're not even telling us where the meeting is located. That is an undisclosed location because again of these threats and concerns about security. And remember back to the election, the days afterwards when Arizona was still counting those votes and they had to shut down the vote early because the protests were getting so unruly outside of that counting center in Maricopa County. One thing that all of these states have in this common, they're swing states and they were all states that Donald Trump has targeted.

The victories of Joe Biden and he has said basically time and time again there's massive fraud in the states, his campaign has brought lawsuits, they tried to bring the stop the steal rallies. You can see here it's having real impact on the men and women who are tasked with this really critical part of the Democratic process.

BURNETT: Pretty incredible just to think about that. We all remember Kyung Lah outside when that was happening outside that voting facility, as you point out, Kristen. And now here we are having to have increased security measures. Thank you very much, Kristen.

Anderson back to you.

COOPER: We'll have more on the breaking news. The first vaccines in America underway at hospitals across the country. We'll take you there live.

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COOPER: And I want to show you video from Oklahoma, electors there casting seven votes for President Trump, as expected.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As governor of the state of Oklahoma, I certify and confirm that all seven elector votes from the state of Oklahoma will be cast for Donald J. Trump and Mike Pence.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secretary Bingman, will you please attest to the signatures.

COOPER: There are seven votes cast as expected in Oklahoma for President Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence. More states voting right now. We'll continue to bring you those results. But first -

As healthcare facilities across the country begin to rollout the very first doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, the chief of Operation Warp Speed says his biggest concern is any accidental loss of temperature control when shipping or storing the vaccine.

[11:25:04]

I'm joined now by CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. So, what other potential pitfalls could come up in the rollout today? ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Anderson. that pitfall is a big one. The vaccine is unprecedented it needs to be kept at minus 103 degrees Fahrenheit. Freezers in most places like doctor's office and pharmacies don't have that. So that's a big one.

But you can also see -- I'm going to show you some numbers that show you, Anderson, just how much of an incredible endeavor this was. It was an incredible endeavor to get the vaccine in the first place but now to distribute it.

Over the course of the next three days, today distributing vaccine to 145 sites, tomorrow, another 425, on Wednesday another 66. So, in three days 2.9 million doses to 636 sites. I mean that is really stunning in just a few days.

But it looks like so far so good. But again, the real key here with this Pfizer vaccine, this is the only one where there is this concern, is keeping it that cold consistently. Keeping what they call that cold chain. Anderson?

COOPER: And the amount of vaccines given in the first batch it won't meet the needs of frontline workers or elderly care residents. Talk about the batches coming in February and later next spring.

COHEN: Yes. This is really important. So, in January and February, there's going to be enough vaccine by the end of February for about 100 million people. So, that's about a third of the country. So enough for 100 million people. So, that's actually quite a bit. But still it's going to take a couple of months to get there.

Then let's talk about big picture where we get all the vaccine from. If you take a look, there are six companies, including Pfizer, Pfizer being the first, that have contracted with the U.S. to give doses and together they have plenty of vaccines.

So, eventually that will be enough for everyone but if we're talking about low risk people. People who are not obese, people who don't have heart conditions, people who are not healthcare workers, people who are not essential workers, likely they won't start getting vaccinated until March or April. And it'll take months to finish vaccinating the whole country.

So, what I'm hearing from my sources is you know what maybe in the summer is when we'll start getting back to something resembling normal. Anderson?

COOPER: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

I want to go now to CNN's Martin Savidge. He's at Ohio State University. Martin, we saw some people being vaccinated at the top of the hour. What's happening now?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're just about done. They've gone through just about everybody in the room here. But I want to have a conversation with Dr. Stella Ogake. She received her injection a few minutes ago. You work in pulmonary and critical care. DR. STELLA OGAKE, RECEIVED VACCINE: Yes.

SAVIDGE: I mean, I can't think of any department that has probably had hard time, who has been as close to patients as you have.

OGAKE: Correct.

SAVIDGE: What does this moment mean?

OGAKE: I would say this is a very exciting moment. It's very surreal as well. But for us, the frontlines taking care of these patients it is such a moment to hope because we can see the light. We can see the end of this pandemic. It's the beginning of the end. We definitely have a lot of work to do to get there. But it's definitely a moment of hope.

SAVIDGE: Is there an emotional element to all of this?

OGAKE: Absolutely. Absolutely. When I saw the truck coming out of the Pfizer manufacturing plant yesterday, I was so emotional just thinking about all the work that we had to put in to get here. It's -- yeah, it's just outstanding.

SAVIDGE: You've obviously been through a lot.

OGAKE: Yes, absolutely.

SAVIDGE: Does this help you both mentally -- of course, it helps you physically?

OGAKE: I will say for me here just getting the vaccine and knowing that it reduces my chances of getting the virus, while taking care of patients, reduces the chances of taking the disease home, it's a good moment and I want that for other people, for other Americans.

SAVIDGE: It's a fear for so many in the medical professions one that you could get sick but worst of all that you take it home to someone you love.

OGAKE: Yes, absolutely. That's the biggest thing. Seeing patients in the hospital and seeing what they go through, my biggest fear is getting it myself or taking it home to my son or my husband, or my other family members and for them to get as sick as the people I take care of, that's definitely my biggest fear.

SAVIDGE: This alleviates some of it?

OGAKE: It does help to alleviate that.

SAVIDGE: How do you feel, physically?

OGAKE: I feel great. I just got the vaccine. It wasn't painful at all.