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Supreme Court Denies GOP Effort To Block Certification Of PA Election Results; FDA Review Confirms Pfizer Vaccine Safe And Effective Ahead Of Expected Authorization This Week; Trump Signs Executive Order Prioritizing Americans For Vaccines; Showdown Vote On Defense Spending Bill Trump Threatening To Veto; Biden To Nominate Retired Gen. Lloyd Austin As Defense Secretary; First Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Administered In U.K. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired December 08, 2020 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The two men know each other quite well. Their relationship dates back to when Austin was in command in Iraq and Beau Biden, the President-elect's late son, was on General Austin's staff. Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Our coverage on CNN continues right now.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following breaking news.
Following what's being described right now as a near fatal blow to President Trump's efforts to try to overturn the presidential election that he clearly obviously lost. Only moments ago, the United States Supreme Court officially denied a request, the last minute request from Pennsylvania Republicans to block certification of the state's electoral votes, the election results as the President has been aggressively pushing for. Including today, the President and all of his lawyers have completely now failed in their effort to discredit the results of the election five weeks ago today.
Let's go to the White House first. Our Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta is joining us right now.
The Supreme Court just dealt the President a huge setback. It looks again and again, like it's completely over for the President, he's going to have no choice but to accept reality.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's been over four weeks, Wolf, and it's over again, if that's a good way to describe it. Yes, you're right, the Supreme Court. And we're just getting into this, in the last several minutes has rejected the Pennsylvania Republican attempt to block certification of Joe Biden's victory in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. That is obviously yet another fatal blow to the President's attempt to overturn the election results. This is something the President was talking about earlier today at this summit, this vaccine summit he held over here at the White House. The President was asked why he did not invite members of the incoming Biden administration to the event. And he said, well, perhaps he'll be staying on as President United States. And he went on to make an appeal to the Supreme Court, saying he was hoping that they would show some courage on the Supreme Court to somehow overturn the election results and hand the President another four years in office. None of that is taking place.
And Wolf, this comes on the heels of the President making some phone calls to the Pennsylvania Speaker of the House in an attempt to try to strong arm legislative officials there in Pennsylvania to see if he can somehow up and these election results. All of these overtures, all of these attempts, either through state legislators or at the court, courthouse, just have not been working out for the President and his legal team. This is yet another serious loss, another major blow to this attempt to overturn the election.
I will tell you, Wolf, talking to Trump advisors, White House advisors. They have been saying for weeks that the President understands that he's lost this election, that the advisors understand he's lost this election. Members of his legal team are now coming to the realization that he's lost this election. But all along they have thought that if there was some way to manufacture a win in Pennsylvania, that perhaps there would be some sort of domino effect.
But really, Wolf, it all hinged in many of the theories I've heard, you know, bandied about by White House advisors and Trump advisors, all of it hinge really on getting some kind of victory in Pennsylvania and the courts in Pennsylvania. And with the Supreme Court rejecting this attempt by Pennsylvania Republicans to overturn these results for Joe Biden.
This is it. It's over. But of course, Wolf, we've said this so many times, it has been over for the president for many weeks now.
BLITZER: It certainly has been. I wanted you to stand by. I want to go to Justice Correspondent Jessica Schneider right now.
Jessica, let's talk a little bit about the Supreme Court action, making it clear they are not going to take up with the Republicans. Some Republicans, I should point out, in Pennsylvania wanted. Pennsylvania had officially certified that Biden carry that state, will get its electoral votes. And now the Supreme Court says what Pennsylvania says is true.
JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Wolf, and they're saying it very succinctly tonight. They are saying that these efforts by Republicans in Pennsylvania to block the certification, all of those efforts are denied.
Now, this was a simple order from the Supreme Court. It came out moments before 5:00. It was one line it said quite simply denied. This was an unsigned order. So we don't know if there were any dissents in this but there were no noted dissents. So it's unclear exactly how the justices came down.
But it's notable that this is the first time since the election that the Supreme Court has weighed in on any election related legal disputes. They have stayed out of the fray. But tonight on the Safe Harbor deadline, December 8, the Supreme Court has decided to weigh in here and just saying simply, this is denied.
[17:05:02]
Now, it's notable that earlier today we got the response from the Pennsylvania government. They were saying that this is a ridiculous lawsuit that all of the efforts here should be denied. And that's exactly what they got.
I want to read you one line from what the government in Pennsylvania put forward earlier today. They said, "Petitioners asked this court to undertake one of the most dramatic, disruptive invocations of judicial power in the history of the Republic." Quite a strong statement that these justices took to heart by denying all of this relief that was sought by Republicans.
This effort was led by a Republican congressman in Pennsylvania. This has been ongoing for several weeks now. They were rejected at the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. And then in recent days, they've taken their effort all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
But the Supreme Court so far has been staying out of these election related disputes. And tonight, making their mark, really sending the message here to Republicans, that they are taking this obviously very seriously, and that they will deny a lawsuit like this that is looking to blanketly block the certification in Pennsylvania.
So Wolf, tonight, the Supreme Court saying and very simply that this effort is denied and potentially sends a warning shot to any other Republicans who are trying to get to the Supreme Court. We saw the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton make an effort to go to the Supreme Court today asking the Supreme Court to block certification in several other states. It's unclear if and when the Supreme Court will act on that.
But this really does send out that warning to these Republicans that the Supreme Court is not taking these claims seriously, and will likely act to deny any efforts to block the certification as we're seeing tonight out of Pennsylvania, Wolf.
BLITZER: A huge, huge blow to the Trump legal efforts. The President of United States, obviously is going to be very, very depressed, seeing that the Supreme Court with three of his own justices that he nominated for the Supreme Court refusing. Apparently we don't know what the exact outcome was, but the Supreme Court as a whole decided not to even take up this request from these Republicans in Pennsylvania.
Abby Phillip is watching all of this for us as well.
Abby, it comes on this day, the so-called Safe Harbor a day where all the states are supposed to have officially certified the results of the election. I think 49 out of the 50 states plus the District of Columbia already have it. And it's clear that the -- that Biden has 306 electoral votes, Trump has 232.
The President keeps talking about the six battleground states that he claimed, including only a few hours ago that he won. While he didn't win all six of those states, including Pennsylvania, Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, they all have certified that Biden carry those states, Biden will get those electoral votes. All of this happening five weeks, again, after Election Day.
The timing of this Supreme Court decision, I think, is significant.
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. And it really signals, I think two things. One, which is that the Supreme Court is not eager to step into a electoral result that is outside of the wild claims being made by the President and his lawyers. It's already settled. And they -- it seems to be a recognition of that, though, the ruling doesn't really have much, much to read into it, except the fact that they could have weighed in, they chose not to.
And I also think that because it is coming on the Safe Harbor deadline, and also less than a week before the Electoral College is expected to meet, it is yet another signal that this process is moving forward in actually a very normal fashion, every effort that the Trump legal team has made to stop the process, to hold it up, to even delay the process has not worked. And we are reaching these benchmarks as expected and Joe Biden will be inaugurated on January 20 as the next president, because he has one far more electoral votes than Donald Trump did.
BLITZER: He certainly did. And he's won more than 7 million votes. In the national popular vote, he's got a seven million vote plus advantage.
Standby, Abby, I want to bring in our Senior Legal Analyst Laura Coates who's watching this and has watched the Supreme Court over the years as well.
We know next Monday the electoral college, Laura, is going to meet and they're going to officially declare that Biden will be the next president of the United States based on all the electoral votes that all of the states are presenting to the Electoral College. What the Supreme Court has done today is really significant.
LAURA COATES, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: In other words, Wolf, the jig is up. The President has no more viable path to even try to articulate some legal basis for why he thinks that President-elect Joe Biden should not be sworn in this coming January.
[17:10:07]
You see what he tried to do in a lot of different a lot of different efforts here was, first, remember he began trying to use bald assertion that he hoped he could work backwards. And somehow the evidence would appear.
He wasn't able at the lower courts for a variety of reasons, the classes country to ever have any evidence to support his claim. And then he tried to work his way to the Supreme Court to say, hey, can you please be the last ditch effort in this Hail Mary, and the court is refusing to do so primarily because one, there is no evidence to support any substantive reason whatsoever to overturn the election.
And also, Wolf, there has not been anything at the lower court level that would even allow it to be prudently before the court today. I think the writing was really on the wall when you saw that, as Abby articulated, as eloquently as ever that the Safe Harbor deadline being today, and this being the day, the court decided to make the ruling when they had officially announced even a court filing deadline after the deadline, and then they moved it up, tells you that they were very, very aware of the importance of this date. And the Supreme Court does not want to weigh in to political questions where they have no absolute vehicle or avenue in which to change anything.
And you said it right, Wolf, it is extraordinarily telling that even in the Supreme Court or the President of United States has been able to nominate and confirm three justices. That was certainly not enough for them to be at the marionette strings of the President. They decided instead to go by what they did not have, which is a course of action, any evidence and any substantive legal claim for which they should rule otherwise.
BLITZER: All right, Laura, I want you to stand by. Jeff Zeleny, is covering the Biden transition for us.
Jeff, I don't know if there's been any official or even unofficial reaction from the Biden team. But clearly, they're going to be very, very happy.
They've known for weeks that Biden will be the next president of the United States, Kamala Harris will be the next vice president of the United States. But now the Supreme Court has for all practical purposes underscored that.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Sure. And Wolf, there's no question that Biden legal advisors have been watching all of these lawsuits very carefully. They've had teams of lawyers who have stayed on over this last more than a month, you know, watching everything happen in Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Georgia.
So clearly, this is something they've been waiting for. They had this date marked on their calendar, as well, of course, as they do next Monday, when the electors are finally resolved in maybe some Republican senators who said they would come forward will.
But as of right this moment, talking to a Biden advisor just a few moments ago, saying that they are reviewing this. So, if they have an official comment on this, we will pass that along.
But, Wolf, what they've also been doing is closely monitoring this, but not engaging, because the reality here is this has been over for a long time. President-elect Joe Biden introduced his health care team today, he talked about coronavirus today. The contrast has been stark really every single day. It grows starker by the day in some respects, talking about vaccines. So that's what the Biden transition team wants to keep their focus on.
But at the same time, even though they haven't been talking about it a lot, these lawyers, Wolf, have been watching every single minute of this. Because if the Supreme Court, of course, had accepted this, boy, that would have thrown into, you know, a whole array of things. So look, this is something that does not surprise them. We'll see if they formally dignify this with a comment. But it's just one more thing on the way to him being president.
Wolf, 43 days from today, he takes office and inherits a world of trouble on coronavirus, the economy, other matters, that's what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and their teams are focused on. Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, that's really an important point as well.
You know, Gloria Borger is with us as well.
Gloria, in the past couple of days, the Republican senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, who went to Harvard Law School, he's been making a big point, I'm ready to volunteer and make the case and argue before the U.S. Supreme Court, I'm ready to go to the Supreme Court. I guess he could stand down right now, doesn't have to worry about coming up with an argument.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: That's right, Wolf, it's over. It's completely over. This is a crushing defeat for the President of United States. Ted Cruz is not going to be able to argue his great case. There were no noted dissents in this.
And let me just remind you what the President said earlier today in his vaccine summit. He said, you know, now let's see whether or not somebody has the courage, whether it's the legislature or a Justice of the Supreme Court or a number of Justices of the Supreme Court. Let's see if they had the courage to do what everybody in the country knows is right.
Well, guess what? First of all, everybody in the country doesn't know what's right. Secondly, the Supreme Court just gave the President of the United States the back of its hand and said sorry, we don't decide elections. This way, your case is not valid, and we're not even going to consider it.
[17:15:09]
So, I think that this puts to rest. Any kind of thought that the President might have had, that the Supreme Court, and he just put Amy Coney Barrett on the court, for example. And he said that out loud at one point, you know, you know, maybe they're going to help me out here. Well, they're not. They're not going to help him out.
And I think the next question is, what do those Republicans do in the Senate, whom we have not heard from and those Republicans in the House, whom we have not heard from now that the President's Ave seemed to be exhausted? It's absurd at this point for anyone to deny that Joe Biden is the president-elect. And I'm waiting to hear what the White House says about this.
BLITZER: Well, I want to go to the White House. Once again, Jim Acosta is standing by.
You know, Jim, every time a Republican, whether a governor like a governor of Georgia, a Republican, governor of Arizona, a Republican or any of the state, secretaries of state, others who were involved say there was no evidence of widespread fraud, it was a free and fair election, the President has attacked them.
When the Attorney General of the United States Bill Barr said the Justice Department investigated, the Department of Homeland Security investigated, the FBI investigated, Bill Barr said there's no evidence of widespread fraud. The President could barely control himself, refused to say whether or not he had confidence in the Attorney General of the United States.
Here's the question, I wonder what the President is going to say now to the U.S. Supreme Court, which basically told him it's over.
ACOSTA: Well, earlier today, Wolf, the President was tweeting out pictures of Amy Coney Barrett, his latest justice placed on the Supreme Court, with lasers coming out of her eyes. I think he was hoping that perhaps she would burn a hole through Biden's status as president-elect. And that hasn't come to pass.
I mean, I will tell you, Wolf, the Trump legal team composed of Rudy Giuliani and Jenna Ellis, who are both dealing with the coronavirus, they put out a statement earlier today saying that they're going to keep fighting these legal challenges and that they don't see the Safe Harbor data today as being the end all be all. And the statement that they put out earlier today suggested that they may keep fighting this out until January.
And speaking of January, Wolf, we also have coming up in the House of Representatives in January and official presiding over the counting of electoral votes for Joe Biden to become the 46th. President. And there are Republican members of Congress saying that perhaps there should be a floor fight in the House then.
And so, the President has these enablers around him, Wolf. Yes, you're mentioning Republican governors like in Georgia in Arizona, the attorney general who are essentially telling the President the jig is up. But he also has enablers up on Capitol Hill. He has enablers like Rudy Giuliani.
And I think the one thing that the President runs the risk of and I think he's already done it is that he is now going to go down in history, potentially, as somebody who is trying to play a spoiler, somebody who is trying to cheat his way into a second term of the presidency, more than just about anything else that was achieved during his four years in office because of this long dragged out, ridiculous spectacle that we're seeing being orchestrated out of the White House. The President will not give it up. I'm told he's never going to concede.
And until he leaves the White House, much of the rest of the Republican Party is right or die with President Trump right off the cliff into the history books, Wolf.
BLITZER: You know, it's interesting, Jim, because the President for five weeks now, since the election phase, exactly five weeks since the day of the election, he and his political efforts have raised what more than $200 million. And presumably as long as he can claim, he continues to claim that there was fraud, widespread fraud, the election was not fair, he could raise a lot more money that he could be using in the years to come.
ACOSTA: That's right.
BLITZER: But once it's over, will he still be able to go out there and raise all that kind of cash?
ACOSTA: Well, Wolf, by that point, I think he'll have hundreds of millions of dollars potentially, at his disposal. And I think yes, Wolf, I think he will continue. I mean, I've talked to advisors who have said, you know, if this doesn't work out, and obviously it's not going to work out, he will go into this next period of his post presidency, suggesting that he may run in 2024, and play the victim once again.
And it'll be the ultimate portrayal of the victim in the case of Donald Trump, because he'll say that he was cheated out of a second term. And you'll have millions of people believing him, Wolf, that's the sad, sad tragedy in all of this.
But you know, at the end of the day, Wolf, and yes, he is carrying out this disinformation $4 scheme. There's no question about that. At the end of the day, much of the Republican Party is still in his grip. And I've talked to a number of advisors in recent weeks, one in particular, who said he's never seen anything like it, the grip that the President has over the Republican Party.
[17:20:01]
And until the party tells the President to get lost, he's not going to give this up, Wolf, no matter what the Supreme Court says.
BLITZER: Yes, the President and his legal team, they've lost what 30 or 40 legal efforts before various courts all over the country. But now the Supreme Court of the United States has weighed in and the Supreme Court denied a request from Pennsylvania Republicans to block certification of Pennsylvania's electoral votes, which will now go, obviously to Joe Biden.
I want you to stand by. We're going to get back to you. But there's other breaking news.
We'll stay on top of this major decision by the Supreme Court. But there's more breaking news we're following. The President-elect Joe Biden introducing the team he's assembled to combat the coronavirus crisis, vowing they will be ready on day one.
Meanwhile, the U.S. has now surpassed sadly 15 million confirmed coronavirus cases adding almost one and a half million cases in the first week of this month alone. But there is promising news, an FDA review has confirmed that Pfizer's vaccine is in fact safe and effective. And emergency use authorization is expected later this week.
Let's get some more in all of this. The Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services Admiral Brett Giroir is joining us right now.
Admiral Giroir, Dr. Giroir, thank you so much for joining us a major breaking news story. But I want to get to this crisis involving the coronavirus.
As you know, general -- Admiral, I should say, a Yale immunologist reacted to the FDA Pfizer review by saying and I'm quoting, quoting now, "This is what an A plus report card looks like for a vaccine." A plus. Do you agree?
ADMIRAL BRETT GIROIR, MD, ASSISTANT SECRETRY FOR HEALTH, HHS: Well, thank you, Wolf. I absolutely agree. I read both the companies report and the FDA is complete report today on.
And as advertised previously, the efficacy is in the mid 90 percentile. It works across ages. It seems to work across chronic conditions.
The side effects are just consistent with a vaccine that works, soreness in the arm, potentially a little fatigue, those kinds of symptoms. But this is an incredible breakthrough day. The end of the pandemic is in sight.
But as you pointed out, we have a lot of work to do, because we're going to have those vaccines out at Warp Speed. But we've got to do the kinds of things we know how to do to flatten the curve right now, because vaccines won't provide relief immediately.
BLITZER: Yes, that's going to take months and months to get the most of the country vaccinated assuming a lot of those people are willing to get the shot.
We saw the first vaccinations as you know, Admiral, the first vaccinations of the Pfizer vaccine in the United Kingdom today. How soon will the United States, from your perspective, follow suit? We know the FDA is going to meet on Thursday.
GIROIR: So, I never want to presuppose what the FDA is going to do. But I cannot imagine that with the data as presented and summarized by the FDA, it won't be authorized incredibly quickly, whether that's a day or two days. I'm not sure.
But we heard today and I've heard many times and I believe it because we reviewed it that we will have vaccines in people's arms within 96 hours, if not a shorter time than that. General Perna has the logistics ready to go. We had an incredible vaccine summit. I interviewed the executive level people from FedEx, UPS, McKesson and Thermo Fisher, we're ready to go. We're ready to put it in people's arms.
And again, we think we will be able to vaccinate 20 million individuals, 20 million people by the end of this month and up to 100 million total people by the end of February. So, quite exciting for the country.
BLITZER: It's really amazing. And I know you're working with various drugstores pharmacies out there, Walgreens, CVS, to make sure that folks can just go there and get the necessary life-saving shots.
As you know Dr. Scott Gottlieb, who's on the board of Pfizer, he confirmed that the Trump administration, he says actually turned down multiple offers to buy more doses of the Pfizer vaccine in 2021. An administration official admits they shouldn't have closed the door to securing more doses. Tell us what's going on. Explain what you know about this, because there's some controversy.
GIROIR: Well, I've been told by very senior people in my department that that story is not true. I was not involved in that transaction, but it was not true. That there's 100 million doses purchased, there's an option of 500 million doses from Pfizer, and that there is an absolute commitment with the highest degree of certainty we can, that by May or June, everybody in this country who wants a vaccine will be able to get a vaccine. That's using Moderna and Pfizer and we certainly expect other vaccines to be authorized, if not approved by that time.
BLITZER: Well, do you think --
GIROIR: That's all I know.
Yes.
BLITZER: Do you think Johnson and Johnson, Oxford AstraZeneca, their vaccine supposedly are going to be ready for FDA approval in January sometime. What do you think about that? Because two vaccines are good, four vaccines are even better?
GIROIR: Yes. And again, that's why Operation Warp Speed invested in really six vaccines. They invested in different ways, three different platform technologies. What we're seeing right now is the mRNA.
[17:25:06]
By the accrual numbers, in other words, how many people are getting enrolled in their trial, we certainly would expect Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca to be ready, you know, about by January, given their accrual of people into their trials. Can't rush things, it has to be done right.
And again, we don't know what the results are. But if they are good results, we would expect in that timeframe EUAs to be submitted to the FDA, and they will go through the safe, careful process that they're doing with Pfizer and Moderna.
BLITZER: At the White House Summit, today, the Warp Speed summit as it's called, President Trump signed an executive order for claiming that Americans will get vaccine doses first. But vaccine companies, as you know, like Pfizer, for example, already have a lot of deals in place, not just with the U.S., but with other countries as well. So will this executive order change anything as far as you can tell?
GIROIR: As I understand the executive order, and again, it was just signed today, and I came and ran right over here to get on with you. It's really just making sure that the vaccines that are procured by the United States are given to Americans with priority, not necessarily solely, but certainly with priority, as we need to protect our citizens and everyone in America who happened to be here in one way or another, because we're all in this together. You know, we're at, we're at a critical time in the pandemic. I think that's all it really said.
We do know that other countries will get vaccine. There are other contracts, that's very appropriate. But the American purchase vaccines, his order was to prioritize Americans first, as I understand it.
BLITZER: So I just want to be precise, the executive order says Americans will get the United States government vaccines first. The President can't get these companies like Pfizer, for example, Moderna to nullify existing contracts that they may have with other countries, can he?
GIROIR: So, I'm a public health guy, you're starting to ask legal questions about what the President can or cannot do. And if I could answer those I would, Wolf, but I just really don't know the answer to that.
BLITZER: So what's your sense now, because all of us are so worried about these numbers, hospitalizations, cases, deaths, they're really exploding right now. We haven't -- according to Dr. Fauci, we don't even have the real impact yet of Thanksgiving and Christmas and Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's, it could get even, even worse. What's your assessment? What's going to happen in the rest of this month, January, February?
GIROIR: All the docs, all of us we are in -- we are incredibly concerned, right? Because the rate of rise is the highest we've seen. It's more widespread. This is not a regional phenomena. But it's really spread all across the country.
Our hospitalizations are well over 100,000. And you're right, Wolf, we could just be starting to see the impact of Thanksgiving travel.
But I want to implore the American people. And thank you for letting me do this, that we can flatten the curve. But you've got to do those simple things that we've been telling everyone for months. Wear a mask, please wear a mask when you're in public and can't physically distance.
You've got to avoid the indoor crowded spaces, because that is a prime area for transmission. Wash your hands.
Look, we don't want to ruin Christmas or Thanksgiving, but if you can avoid travel, please avoid travel. So you don't mix potentially people who may have the virus that you've never been exposed to with other people.
And remember, for young people, at least half or maybe 90 percent of individuals are asymptomatic. They show no symptoms. And even for the people who are symptomatic, they have the highest virus right before their symptoms start. So you've got to protect yourself and others by wearing a mask avoiding crowds.
If we do that, and we do that really religiously, we can flatten the curve. If not, as Dr. Fauci says, you know, the country is going to be in for a whole lot of hurt before the vaccine can make the impact.
The end of the pandemic is in sight. The vaccine will work it will end the pandemic and return us to as near normal or normal as possible. But we have to do our part right now, which is those mitigation techniques.
BLITZER: You know, you're absolutely right. And I totally agree with you, Dr. Giroir, for what you're saying. Unfortunately, this is so sad and I know you don't want to react to what the President is saying and doing.
You work for the President of United States, but he's having all these Christmas parties, a lot of folks just showing up not much social distancing. They don't have to wear a mask. Saturday night, he went down to Georgia, we saw 1000s of people gathered no social distancing. No mask for all practical purposes. No mask. He's encouraging this. He spoke for some 90 minutes at that political rally in Georgia.
And now yet another person in the President's orbit has become infected with a virus, the Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis, this after Rudy Giuliani. He's still in the hospital at Georgetown University Medical Center right now suffering from COVID, getting all sorts of experimental treatments.
[17:30:00]
Ellis was at a holiday party at the White House on Friday. She regularly goes out there. We don't see her wearing a mask at the White House. Shouldn't these people be setting an example for the American public right now, given the dangers, the deaths, the hospitalizations, the cases that are erupting?
GIROIR: The virus doesn't care what political party you belong to. It doesn't care about your station in life, whether you're male or female, what your race, what your ethnicity is. It unites us as human beings. And no matter who you are, you have to take these precautions, because the virus will do what the virus does. It will infect other people. It will kill, especially the elderly. And it's not going to stop until we make measures to stop it and finally, until the pandemic ends by the vaccines that we have just around the corner. So I implore everyone going into the holiday season, everyone make better choices, avoid crowds, wear a mask, you can safely physically distance and wear a mask. If not, we're going to see tens of thousands or even more deaths in this country before the vaccine could rescue us.
BLITZER: I know you got to run. One final question before I let you go, Dr. Giroir. Have you had any conversations with the incoming Biden team? Will you be staying on in the Biden administration?
GIROIR: So I have had a number of informal calls. And I had just really what I would characterize as an outstanding nearly two hour briefing on testing last week that was organized according to the transition process. Again, it's up to the Biden administration to disclose who is on their side, but they're very senior people, people in public health that I work with intermittently no matter what. And we had a great briefing. The transition is going to be professional.
All of us just want one thing to save lives, reduce suffering, and to get the pandemic behind us. I have certainly not been asked to stay on and nor would I expect to be asked to stay on. My job is to make the transition as smooth as possible to be as professional as possible and pray for everyone coming in because it is a challenge of our lifetime.
BLITZER: Because the stakes are so, so enormous. These are life and death issues. If you were asked to stay on, would you?
GIROIR: Hypothetical question. You know, it hasn't even crossed my mind about being asked. I'm a political person in this administration. And I certainly will do everything I can to support the next administration, because we're all in this together. It's about American lives, Americans suffering, and saving the world. And there's no higher cause than that that goes beyond politics.
BLITZER: Well said. You think the Biden folks are putting together a good team?
GIROIR: You know, I don't know all the people on their team. The people in public health are certainly, you know, respected. Dr. Kessler? I don't know Dr. Wolinski very well, but I've worked with her on several HIV issues, and she's certainly an esteemed academic. So, you know, I can't comment on the full breath because I just don't know them because I don't work in the political circles, et cetera. But, you know, the public health people are certainly respected public health people.
BLITZER: Yes.
GIROIR: Tony Fauci staying on. You know, Tony and I work together every day and we've had a long collegial relationship.
BLITZER: And that is so encouraging that he's staying on is because he is the leading infectious disease expert in our country. Admiral Brett Giroir, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for all your work in this area. I know these are critical, critical moments right now. Appreciate it very much. GIROIR: Thank you, Sir.
[17:33:32]
BLITZER: There's more breaking news we're following on. We're going to have more on the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that's dealt near fatal blow right now to President Trump's efforts to try to overturn the will of the American people, the election. We'll go live to the United Kingdom as well for the latest on day one of the coronavirus vaccinations there. Stay with us.
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BLITZER: We have the breaking news here in THE SITUATION ROOM including right now up on Capitol Hill where lawmakers are voting on a defense spending bill that President Trump has actually threatened to veto despite what he says is his love for the U.S. military and the Defense Department. Let's go to CNN's Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill. What's going on? What's the latest, Manu?
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we expect this bill to pass pretty easily. The question is going to be whether or not there'll be enough to override an expected presidential veto. This will be the first test about whether or not the Republicans and Democrats have enough support to defy the President.
The President has battle this on completely unrelated matters. Specifically, the President wants this bill to attack social media companies. He is asking Congress to include language that will roll back protections for social media companies like Twitter and Facebook. And he contends it's all about national security when a lot of people Republicans and Democrats has nothing to do with the Defense Department.
This is $740 billion bill. It is something that is very popular in Congress. It has passed virtually every single year for more than half a century. But the President threatened veto is now imperiling its chances. While it's going to pass today, they need to have two-thirds majority ultimately to overcome a presidential veto. And Republicans in the House in particular, some of the most conservative members plan to side with the President.
The Republican leadership is split on this issue. Liz Cheney, a member of the Republican leadership told me that they should override the President's veto. But Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader said today he would not support a veto override. So the expectation on the Hill is that it will be very close, this vote happening right now on the House floor, the vote to pass this bill. After it passes the House, then you will go to the Senate. The Senate will pass it. We expect a veto proof majority pretty comfortably on the Senate side.
And just today, the Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, a Republican Jim Inhofe told me today that he spoke to the President last night for 30 minutes. He said that he urged the President to back off this. He said the President he talked about how significant this bill is. And he said he's disappointed in the presence posture. [17:40:15]
But Inhofe did not listen to what the President wanted which is to include that effort to go after the social media companies, as well as to remove a provision that would require the Defense Department to rename military properties, military bases that are named after Confederate leaders. That provision is in the bill despite the presence opposition.
So Republicans in the Senate planning to defy the President, the Republicans in the House also planning to defy the President. But the big question is, will they have enough to override a veto in the House? It'll be close Senate we expected but the President is digging in here, a lot of Republicans and Democrats pushing back, Wolf.
BLITZER: I think the main reason the President doesn't like the fact that Twitter, for example, very often has to say what the President is tweeting is false, is not true. The President doesn't like that. So now he's ready to veto $740 billion for the U.S. military for the Defense Department but he tweets has nothing to do with the U.S. Army, the Navy, the Air Force, Marine Corps, et cetera.
Let's talk a little bit about what's happening with the COVID stimulus bill. There are millions of people, Manu, who are in desperate need right now. What's the status of getting this passed, because so much of that money is going to run out two days after Christmas?
RAJU: It's very uncertain. Right now the Republican and Democratic leadership are sparring. Mitch McConnell is pushing to do a narrow bill that had dropped some of the key sticking points, including money for state and local governments, as well as liability protections for businesses. Those issues have been essentially, the two sides have been at odds over that.
But these negotiators in the Senate side and with the House are still trying to cut a deal over those issues. So Wolf, uncertain if Congress can get a deal, despite the expectation hopes of so many people around the country, that Congress and the White House will actually do something there, Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes. They better do something because people are suffering right now. All right, Manu, we'll stay in close touch with you.
Also breaking right now President-elect Biden today confirmed he's chosen retired U.S. Army General Lloyd Austin to become the next Secretary of Defense. Let's discuss with a former Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us.
In this article explaining his choice, President-elect Biden wrote this about General Lloyd Austin. Let me put it up on the screen. The fact is, Austin's many strengths and his intimate knowledge of the Department of Defense and our government are uniquely matched to the challenges and crises we face. He is the person we need in this moment, end quote. If confirmed, as you know, Mr. Secretary, General Austin would be the first African American in history to lead the Pentagon. What do you make of this groundbreaking choice and the opposition that's emerging right now that he hasn't been out of the military long enough to become the defense secretary?
WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: Well, the first issue is, is he confident, is he qualified to be Secretary of Defense? Looking at his record, going from West Point all the way to a four- star general in this military tells you he didn't get there without having the qualifications to assume this office.
So the second point is that Joe Biden campaigned on the issue. He wanted to make his Cabinet reflective of the diversity in this country. And certainly, General Austin fulfills that box as well. And the real issue is whether or not he's been separated from the military long enough. He's been out four years require seven but there is an exception, and flexibility in the law that says it can be waived.
And the question is, will the members of the Senate waive that provision? I think they should, for the reasons that Joe Biden really laid out in clear language in his piece in The Atlantic magazine. Namely, he knows General Austin, he trusts him, he's worked with him during the eight years he was Vice President, he understood the man himself, his command presence, his command ability, the ability to run a division, commanding a division of our military.
So he trusts him innately in terms of the challenges they're going to be faced in this country. He needs him to help in the distribution of the vaccine that we're going to have, hopefully, in the near future. He needs him to be able to draw down the forces in the Middle East.
It's going to be required. So he wants him to be at the policymaking desk, as well as over the Pentagon. He wants him to share in policy decisions that he brings up that warrior experience who had to deal with the fighting of wars on the ground. Bring that plus his organizational talent and his ability to lead. He is a perfect choice, in my opinion.
BLITZER: As you know, there are some Democrats right now who have already said they won't support this waiver. But if it is granted, there will be two defense secretaries to get these waivers in just four years General Austin following General Jim Mattis, General George Marshall, the only other general that got the waiver back 1950 by President Truman at the time. They are worried about a President being set right now to which you say what?
[17:45:08]
COHEN: I say the Senate made the right decision when they waived it for Jim Mattis. Jim Mattis also was CENTCOM commander. Jim Mattis had a history of being a great warrior. And when he was appointed Secretary of Defense, he did the right thing by resisting the pressure coming from the President of the United States to try and politicize the institution, the military.
I would say, General Austin is the same way. He's a civilian, but he has great respect for the rule of law for the command structure and the fact that he would never use his position as a warrior in any way to try and cultivate a relationship with the soldiers, sailors, airmen, marine, et cetera. So I think that there are times when you need to have waivers. I think this is a time we are, as you pointed out earlier, these are unprecedented times. We have a vaccine coming, but we've had a virus, which is decimating our country.
And we've had a commander in chief have left the wounded on the battlefield. So yes, we have Joe Biden says, let me take command, let me put the people in place, who I have respect for, and who the country can rely upon and feel that they're good for this country. They'll do the job that I give them, and not simply try to cultivate a relationship with the President in order to accommodate his every need.
I think that this is an excellent choice by the President. I hope the Senate will do what they did with Jim Mattis. So, you know, there are times when we have to waive it, this is one of them.
BLITZER: And General Austin, as we know, was head of the U.S. Military's Central Command, which involves the all U.S. troops serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, throughout the Middle East right now. It's a critically important issue and he was highly, highly respected in that role. Secretary Cohen, go, make a quick point because I got to go.
COHEN: One quick point. He is a symbol also to millions of people in this country who have sacrificed on behalf of this country who have never had the recognition they deserve. He's a symbol to those African Americans on our country who have given so much from the Revolutionary War, all the way to the wars that are being fought today.
BLITZER: Well said. Secretary Cohen, thanks so much for joining us.
COHEN: My pleasure.
BLITZER: Up next, coronavirus vaccinations now underway in the U.K. We're gone there live when we come back.
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[17:52:16]
BLITZER: In Britain today people began receiving the very first doses of the fully tested and approved Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine. Let's go to CNN's Max Foster. He's joining us live from Wales right now. Max, you've seen those first vaccines administered today. What are the folks there in the U.K. telling you?
MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they've been very emotional. I have to say, we even saw the Health Secretary Matt Hancock on television earlier this morning on the verge of tears, as we saw the first images of the first person to receive this Pfizer vaccine, not just in the U.K. but of course, in the world. Her name is Margaret Keenan, she's 90 years old. She received the vaccine in Coventry early this morning. Let's hear from her and some other people involved in this remarkable moment in medical history.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARGARET KEENAN, FIRST VACCINE RECIPIENT: It's the best thing that's ever happened at the moment. So do, yes, go for it. That's all I say, you know. If I can do it, well, so can you.
MARTIN KENYON, RECEIVED COVID-19 VACCINE: I hope I'm not going to have the bloody bug now? I did to tend to have its snuggle granddaughters. Now, I want to live a long time to enjoy their lives.
FOSTER (voice-over): The world is watching, so we'll be learning from your example.
TRACY MEREDITH, CARDIFF AND VALE HEALTH BOARD: Yes. Well, I hope so.
FOSTER (voice-over): And what's your message then?
MEREDITH: The message is I think get everybody and get everybody vaccinated, obviously it's a choice. But we're here to look after everyone and for everyone to look after each other. So please get vaccinated.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: The good news, Wolf, is the system so far does appear to be working. So the vaccine is being offered for free in this country. But according to a very strict priority list at the top of the list of those in care homes, frontline, medical workers, and also the over 80s and just to give an example really of how strictly they're sticking to that here in Wales, at least, they're keeping the locations of the vaccination centers secret so people can't just turn up and start queuing.
You have to be invited to come in, strictly invitation only, but so far it's working. The bigger test perhaps is getting out of the hospitals and to the smaller care homes or the doctors surgeries, as well the doctors offices where, you know, there's challenges with refrigeration and also the mixing of the vaccine that don't come ready made, so a few challenges ahead. But so far on day one, it all seems like good news.
BLITZER: Yes, a very, very encouraging, indeed. Max Foster reporting for us, Max, thank you very, very much.
We have more breaking news coming into the Situation Room right now. The United States Supreme Court just a little while ago, officially rejecting the latest Republican attempts to overturn the presidential election results in Pennsylvania. This is really huge.
[17:55:03]
Standby, we have details and reaction when we come back.
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BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following major breaking news.
[18:00:00] Just a little while ago, the United States Supreme Court delivered a near fatal blow to Republican efforts to invalidate President-elect Biden's election victory.
