Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Hunter Biden Announces Taxes Under Investigation; Trump Denying Election Reality; House Passes Stopgap Funding Bill To Avert Shutdown Amid Negotiations Over Additional Coronavirus Relief; Pivotal FDA Meeting Hours Away, Authorization Of Pfizer COVID-19 Could Be Imminent; Trump Seeks To Intervene In Longshot Texas Lawsuit To Overturn Election In Four Battleground States Biden Won. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 09, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:40]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

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.

Tonight, as coronavirus is spreading and killing with terrifying force in this country, one of the most significant moments in the pandemic is now just hours away.

An FDA advisory panel is set to meet tomorrow to discuss authorizing Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine. U.S. officials say nearly three million doses are ready to go once the green light is given. Supplies like needles and syringes should start being shipped out today.

Also breaking: President-elect Biden's son Hunter Biden just revealed that he is now under federal investigation involving his taxes. We're going to tell you what we're learning about that. That's coming up.

But let's start right now with more on the pandemic.

CNN's Nick Watt is joining us.

Nick, after months and months of suffering, authorization of a vaccine potentially may be imminent.

NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, tomorrow could be one of the most momentous days of this entire pandemic.

This FDA vaccine advisory committee is going to meet for nine hours. A member of that committee tells us that after the nine hours they will take a vote, and as early as Thursday night or Friday, the FDA commissioner could give the thumbs up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (voice-over): A green light for Pfizer's vaccine in the U.S. could be just a day away. TOM MCCAFFERY, U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR HEALTH AFFAIRS:

Within 24 to 48 hours from that advisory committee decision we will actually have shots in arms.

WATT: The needles, syringes, wipes are ready to roll.

GOV. GUSTAVE PERNA, U.S. ARMY MATERIEL COMMAND: We will begin that today. It will be -- distribution will be completed by Friday.

WATT: But doses of the vaccine will be tight.

LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), MAYOR OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: Between now and the end of the year, we are going to only be able to immunize a fraction of the front-line workers that are going to need it. Our timeline for widespread distribution, which I will say again is months away, remains very fluid.

WATT: There's another issue, vaccine hesitancy.

LT. GEN. PAUL OSTROWSKI (RET.), OPERATION WARP SPEED: We must build the trust in the American people. We must make them understand that the science that went into this, that the oversight they wanted this is gold standard.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, NIAID DIRECTOR: When they then say that the vaccine is safe and effective, I will tell you all that I myself will be perfectly comfortable in taking the vaccine, and I would recommend it to my family.

WATT: The FDA now also analyzing allergic reactions to the vaccine in two British health workers who do have a history of allergic reaction.

DR. MONCEF SLAOUI, CHIEF ADVISER, OPERATION WARP SPEED: The expectation would be that subjects with known severe reaction, allergic reactions, should not take the vaccine, until we understand exactly what happened here.

WATT: The White House Task Force warns it could be late spring before vaccines slow the spread. And this country is now averaging more than 200,000 new COVID-19 cases every day -- that's near doubled in just a month -- and averaging well over 2,000 deaths every day. That's more than doubled in just a month.

DR. BARBARA FERRER, DIRECTOR, LOS ANGELES COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH: I would say this is the start of the Thanksgiving bump.

WATT: ICUs in many places are filling, and fast.

DR. PAUL OFFIT, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA: Well, I feel like we are at some level on a precipice. But, again, we're not helpless. Wear a mask. Social distance.

WATT: Many states are reintroducing restrictions. And?

GOV. ROY COOPER (D-NC): We will do more if our trends do not improve.

WATT: But some citizens just will not toe the line, in Idaho, forcing a health board to abandon a meeting.

DIANA LACHIONDO, ADA COUNTY, IDAHO COMMISSIONER: My 12-year-old son is home by himself right now, and there are protesters banging outside the door, OK? I'm going to go home.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Now, here in California, we have just heard that one more region is going to go back under a stay-at-home order, because ICU beds are running low. That means that, as of tomorrow night, Wolf, there will be more than 36 million Californians told to stay home as much as possible -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Nick Watt reporting from L.A., thank you very much.

Let's bring in our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, what will you be watching for during this critical FDA meeting on Pfizer's vaccine tomorrow?

[18:05:05]

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, pretty much all the data that we have really seen has come from the company itself.

So, we're going to be looking to see how these FDA scientists are looking at this data. And they're looking down to the level of the individual medical record of these participants, so seeing if anything in particular jumps out at them.

But the big things are, are there people who may be excluded from this vaccine rollout? We have heard, for example, people under the age of 16, women who are pregnant, people with certain immunocompromised conditions. How are they going to essentially be treated?

And then other things. Wolf. You have got tens of millions of doses. Do you give tens of millions of people the first dose, or do you sort of hold half the doses back, given that this is a two-dose vaccine? There's pluses and minuses to both.

And I think that's going to be a source of debate probably among the committee. So those are the sorts of things, really validation of a lot of the things we have heard so far from these FDA scientists themselves.

BLITZER: If emergency use authorization, Sanjay, is granted tomorrow -- and we anticipate it will be -- how quickly could the first American who isn't part of the clinical trial, shall we say, actually get the shot?

GUPTA: You know, we have talked to a variety of people about this. And you do get some differing answers.

But as a general rule, we have been hearing around four days, 96 hours, people will say. We sort of have this calendar sort of put together in terms of what -- how things might unfold. December 10, obviously, tomorrow, is this committee meeting. A decision could be made tomorrow as to whether or not this actually gets emergency use authorization or it could be in the next couple of days.

Sometimes, they take a few days to deliberate, December 15, the first shipments of the vaccine delivered. And, Wolf, the expectation is, especially given the need, that people will start getting those injections almost immediately after that. So, we're looking at early next week, Wolf.

BLITZER: Operation Warp Speed officials, as you know, Sanjay, they insist that 2.9 million doses will be distributed in the first shipment. Is that enough to make an impact and start to change the course of this pandemic in the U.S.?

GUPTA: Well, first of all, you know the 2.9 million number is sort of interesting. What they did was, they have 6.4 million doses. They take 500,000 and essentially put them in stock supply, you know, to meet some surge demands.

And then the rest of it, they take half and ship those out. That's the first dose, 2.9 million people. And then they keep the other 2.9 million for that second dose. Again, this will be a point of discussion tomorrow in terms of how those vaccines go out.

Those first vaccines aren't going to change the trajectory of this pandemic at this point. In fact, if you look at the overall models, they say, even with vaccine rollout happening in the early part of next year, you're still having an upward tick of cases, because the vaccine really works to start to protect people when you get to herd immunity, when you start to get to lots and lots of people vaccinated.

You will get some benefit when you get like 30 percent of the country vaccinated. But the most benefit from the vaccine on the country itself will probably come sort of midsummer, because that's when you get to the 60 percent, possibly 70 percent of the country vaccinated.

BLITZER: Important points.

Sanjay, thank you very, very much. We're going to stay on top of this story, because it's critical.

There's more breaking news unfolding right now involving Hunter Biden revealing his taxes now are under federal investigation.

Our senior justice correspondent, Evan Perez, has been looking into all of this for us.

What are you learning about this investigation, Evan?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, this is an investigation that's been going on since 2018, and it's being led by prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware.

Hunter Biden said he was officially notified by those prosecutors on Tuesday that this investigation is looking into his taxes. I will read you a part of his statement that he issued through the Biden transition team.

He says -- quote -- "I learned yesterday for the first time that the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware advised my legal counsel that they are investigating my tax affairs. I take this matter very seriously. And I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers" -- unquote.

Wolf, this is an investigation, again, that is looking into his taxes and whether or not Hunter Biden properly reported income over a number of years. Principally, the investigation, we're told, myself and Pamela Brown are told by sources that it is looking into Hunter Biden's business activity overseas, principally in China.

And the issue there would be whether Hunter Biden reported all of that income, whether any of that violated tax and money laundering laws.

[18:10:00]

Again, this is an investigation that's been ongoing. We saw that, because of the election, the Justice Department has these rules that requires politically sensitive investigations to go quiet for a period, and that's what happened in recent months, we're told, Wolf. That activity now is allowed to continue.

Overt steps are allowed to begin once the election is over, and Joe Biden had won.

BLITZER: And this is a criminal investigation, right?

PEREZ: That's right, Wolf. This is a criminal investigation. Again, it's looking into his activities -- his business activities in China.

One of the things that we know, investigators have taken a look at is his -- this business that he was pursuing with a company called CEFC China, which had to do with an energy venture that he was trying to set up. In particular, there was a businessman by the name of Ye Jianming who the Chinese have since arrested allegedly for possible corruption.

Now, the -- we don't know a lot of what else the investigators are looking at. But there was one curious episode that Hunter Biden described in a "New Yorker" profile last year. He said that Ye Jianming had sent him a 2.8-carat diamond at the end of a business meeting in Miami.

He said in this interview that he didn't know what happened to the diamond. He gave it to some associates. We're told that that is one of the issues investigators have taken a keen interest in.

BLITZER: All right, Evan, I know you're working this story for us. Thank you very much.

I want to bring in our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.

Jeff, any reaction from team Biden to the breaking news on the investigation of Hunter Biden?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, reading a bit of reaction to this.

This is coming in a statement from a transition official, not giving much about the substance of this investigation.

But they are saying this. They said: "President-elect Biden is deeply proud of his son, who has fought through difficult challenges, including the vicious personal attacks of recent months, only to emerge stronger," so very much a statement from a father about a son, but, Wolf, really not shedding any light at all about what the specifics are in this investigation.

All of this, of course, is hanging over the president-elect, who is not implicated in this in any way, we're told, but it's continuing as he is building this Cabinet here in Wilmington.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): He's the definition of duty, honor, country.

ZELENY (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden making one of his first commander in chief decisions, introducing retired Army General Lloyd Austin as the secretary of defense to help rebuild America's frayed alliances.

BIDEN: He's loved by the men and women of the armed forces, feared by our adversaries, known and respected by our allies, and he shares my deeply held belief in the values of America's alliances.

ZELENY: Austin would become the first African-American to lead the Pentagon, a barrier-breaking pick, considering 40 percent of the nation's active-duty troops, but few high-ranking leaders, are people of color.

They have known each other for years and worked together to end Operation Iraqi Freedom.

GEN. LLOYD AUSTIN (RET)., U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE NOMINEE: You can expect that, as secretary of defense, that I will give you the same direct and unvarnished counsel that I did back then.

ZELENY: After rising to the highest levels of the Army and serving 41 years, Austin retired in 2016.

AUSTIN: I come to this role, this new role, as a civilian leader, with military experience, to be sure, but also with a deep appreciation and reverence for the prevailing wisdom of civilian control of our military.

ZELENY: To be confirmed, Congress will need to waive federal law requiring a seven-year gap between military service and civilian leadership, which some members of Biden's own party have balked at.

BIDEN: I would not be asking for this exception if I had not -- if I did not believe this moment in our history didn't call for it.

ZELENY: Biden said Austin's long military background in logistics could also be essential in trying to tame the deadly coronavirus.

BIDEN: We need his experience in large-scale logistical operations to help support the swift and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

ZELENY: Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a retired black four- star Army general himself, said Congress should confirm Austin, saying: "He has demonstrated his war fighting skills and his bureaucratic, diplomatic and political acumen."

Biden has now settled on nearly half of his Cabinet, with the latest picks of Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge going to housing and former Ag Secretary and Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack heading back to USDA.

The attorney general remains the biggest post still unfilled. CNN has learned Alabama Senator Doug Jones, Judge Merrick Garland and former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates are the leading contenders.

Officials tell CNN that several more Cabinet picks are coming before the holidays. And, six weeks from today, Biden will be sworn in as president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: And the pick of attorney general certainly always important, Wolf, but it may take on even more significance, given that investigation into Hunter Biden's business dealings.

[18:15:08]

We're already hearing from Republicans on Capitol Hill who are calling on the attorney general to appoint a special counsel. No word on if that will happen.

But, certainly, this will be among the questions facing whoever the attorney general nominee is by president-elect Biden -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

All right, Jeff Zeleny, reporting from Wilmington, thank you very much.

Just ahead: President Trump turns to the United States Supreme Court in another longshot bid to try to change the outcome of the election he refuses to concede.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We are following breaking news on President Trump's efforts to try to overturn the results of the presidential election.

[18:20:01] He's now looking to intervene in a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general which seeks to invalidate millions of votes in four battleground states.

Let's go to our chief White House correspondent, Jim Acosta.

Jim, the president, he seems to be clinging to this longshot lawsuit, even as he refuses to accept defeat.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.

President Trump wants in on this lawsuit brought by the Republican attorney general of Texas, who is asking the Supreme Court to throw out millions of votes cast in four battleground states; 17 others, 17 other GOP-led states are also supporting this lawsuit.

The president's decision to involve himself in the case shows just how desperate he has become at this point. Mr. Trump is still raging out about the election with the most ridiculous claims on Twitter. And some of Mr. Trump's own advisers are tired of it.

As one White House adviser described it to me earlier today, the president has -- quote -- "stress-tested American democracy."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): Stuck in election challenge Groundhog Day, losing time and again in court, President Trump is sounding more detached from the reality of the pandemic, tweeting cries for help in the election from his social media bunker, falsely declaring "Rigged election" and: "If somebody cheated in the election, which the Democrats did, why wouldn't the election be immediately overturned? How can a country be run like this?"

This tweet makes even less sense. "At 10:00 p.m. On election evening, we were at 97 percent win with the so-called bookies."

The president isn't hiding he's #sad.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All of the things we have done, and we were rewarded with a victory. Now let's see whether or not somebody has the courage, whether it's a legislator or legislatures, or whether it's a justice of the Supreme Court or a number of justices of the Supreme Court.

Let's see if they have the courage to do what everybody in this country knows is right.

ACOSTA: The president's latest act of desperation? Pinning his hopes on Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton's longshot request that the Supreme Court invalidate the results in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, even though the high court just rejected a similar GOP attempt in Pennsylvania.

Michigan's Democratic attorney general accused Paxton of shopping for a presidential pardon. DANA NESSEL (D), MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL: I feel bad for the

taxpayers in Texas that have to finance this ridiculous and frivolous lawsuit. You know, we should note that A.G. Paxton is a member of the Trump campaign, very involved with that, also that he is currently under federal indictment for securities fraud and also being investigated by the FBI.

ACOSTA: Louisiana House Republican Mike Johnson is backing the Texas lawsuit, writing in an e-mail to his GOP colleagues that they should sign on too, saying Mr. Trump is "anxiously awaiting the final list of supporters in Congress."

Back in September, when the president was seeking to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, he signaled he might turn to the Supreme Court to bail him out.

TRUMP: I think this scam that the Democrats are pulling -- it's a scam -- this scam will be before the United States Supreme Court. I think it's very important to have a ninth justice.

ACOSTA: Utah GOP Senator Mitt Romney is blasting the attempts at sabotage as madness: "This is madness. We have a process. Recounts are appropriate. Going to the court is appropriate. And pursuing every legal avenue is appropriate. But trying to get electors not to do what the people voted to do is madness."

Even the first lady may not be sure that Mr. Trump's efforts will succeed, with one source telling CNN she just wants to go home. Tell that to Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Mr. Trump's biggest enablers.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): If you're not fighting for Trump now, when he needs you the most, as a Republican leader in Georgia, people are not going to fight for you when you ask them to get reelected. There's a civil war brewing in Georgia for no good reason.

It's not unreasonable to ask the legislature to come back in and order an audit of the signatures in the presidential race to see if the system worked. It's not unreasonable to change the law while you can so Stacey Abrams can't steal another election.

What is unreasonable is to sit on your ass and do nothing, when you have got a chance to save the country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Now, as for that Texas lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to overturn the election, the attorney representing the president in that matter was pushing a racist conspiracy theory earlier this year that Kamala Harris was not eligible to be vice president.

Mr. Trump sounded intrigued, we should note, about that idea at the time. That theory, of course, is bogus, but it's an indication that the president doesn't exactly have a legal dream team working on his behalf.

But, Wolf, when you get back to the fact that 17 other states are also trying to join in on this lawsuit, it's astounding to think that 17 states are trying to dictate to the rest of the country what should happen in this election, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it's really, really awful.

All right, Jim Acosta, thank you very much.

Let's get some more on all of this.

Our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, is with us.

Gloria, as you heard, the president, he is jumping on this push in the United States Supreme Court to try to overturn the election results in these four battleground states.

[18:25:00]

And as you heard also, there's a lawyer who promoted a racist conspiracy theory about vice president-elect Kamala Harris. A lot of Republicans, though, are supporting these antics. And that is so disturbing.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, 17 attorneys general in red states, a number of members of the House and in the Senate.

And this has become a litmus test. And if you are a member of the Trump rigged election caucus, Trump will be loyal to you, and I think this is what it all boils down to.

It seems to me, from legal scholars we have been hearing from, that this is a Hail Mary, at the very least. I mean, this is not going to go anywhere. But the president is using all his political power to say to these people, you have to be with me, or I will be against you. And that's what they're facing right now.

BLITZER: And, as you know, Gloria, today, we learned that all 50 states and the District of Columbia have now officially certified the election results, confirming Biden won 306 electoral votes, compared to President Trump's 232.

Biden also won more than seven million more in the popular vote. It was a pretty decisive win, 51.3 percent to 46.8 percent for Trump.

So, how many times can we project, can we call, whatever you want -- whatever word you want to use, this race, even as the president is continuing to try to fight, maybe for one reason, to try to raise more money?

BORGER: Sure. He's trying to raise money out of this because he gets to pocket for his PAC 70 cents out of every dollar that he raises.

He's trying to make sure that, if he isn't going to be king, he's going to be kingmaker in the Republican Party. Who knows, Wolf, if he's going to run again? So this is a charade. And it's going to continue, because we know that this president's never going to concede, Wolf. So, until Joe Biden puts his hand on that Bible on January 20, the president's going to be squawking. He probably won't be there. He's not going to be gracious about it. He can never admit that he's lost anything.

And he needs this facade, so that he can say to his base and probably to himself, look, I didn't lose, the election was rigged, and then he can move on from there, in his own mind.

BLITZER: Yes. He lost by more than seven million votes.

All right, Gloria, thank you very much.

The House of Representatives, by the way, has just cast an important vote, as lawmakers are looking to try to buy some more time for negotiations on coronavirus relief to millions of Americans.

I will speak to the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. There he is.

We will discuss when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BLITZER: So there is breaking news up on Capitol Hill tonight. The House just approved a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown at the end of this week. The measure goes to the Senate as lawmakers there are trying to hammer out a sweeping spending bill and desperately needed new coronavirus relief.

Joining us now, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us.

As you and I know, millions and millions of Americans, they are suffering right now, but two sticking points on this COVID relief bill are -- liability is one, state and local funding another. How close are you, Congressman, to a desperately needed deal?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, it's my understanding that things are moving in the right direction. One, we've got to make sure that any COVID-19 relief package provides immediate and direct and comprehensive assistance to everyday Americans, including an extension of unemployment insurance, including dealing with food insecurity and the needs of the American people in that area, and, of course, making sure that we can provide assistance to renters who are struggling and homeowners who are struggling and to extend out the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures.

With respect to the liability issue, the problem is Mitch McConnell wants to layer into this COVID-19 relief package a multiyear blanket liability protection provision which would be a giveaway to the wealthy, the well-off, multinational corporations and those who have actually done well over the last several months in the context of this pandemic while everyday Americans are continuing to struggle. That's unacceptable.

BLITZER: So does that mean if he insists, if he doesn't budge, it's over, the folks are not going to get the money they so desperately need?

JEFFRIES: No, I believe we're committed to making sure no matter how long it takes that we will reach -- that we arrive at an agreement and that we do not adjourn here in Washington until we get that agreement to be able to assist those Americans who are in need.

This is a once in a century pandemic. It requires a once in a century ongoing, comprehensive and continuing congressional response. House Democrats under the leadership of Speaker Pelosi are committed to making sure we arrive at that type of comprehensive agreement. Hopefully, we'll find partners this time around in the Senate.

BLITZER: Yes, you've got to do it quickly because two days after Christmas, millions of people are going to be losing all sorts of benefits.

[18:35:01]

It's going to be a, really, disaster. I hope you guys succeed in getting this done.

Let me get to another issue while I have you, Congressman. In addition to the groundbreaking cabinet nominees that the president-elect has named so far, do you agree with the head of the NAACP, Derrick Johnson, I spoke with him yesterday, that Biden should establish a cabinet-level civil rights czar?

JEFFRIES: I thought that that was a very interesting suggestion, and I think given the fact that America this year, in the immediate aftermath of the killing of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street corner, is trying to deal with systemic racism which has been in the soil of this country for 401 years, we've come a long way, this is a great current, we still have a long way to go, that in the same vein that the Biden administration appointed a czar, John Kerry, who's an excellent choice, to deal with the urgent climate crisis, that this is an area that does require perhaps a special envoy to work with the Congress, work with community groups across the country, work with the civil rights community to be able to make meaningful progress.

Ultimately, it's Joe Biden's choice, but I think it was an interesting and compelling suggestion.

BLITZER: As you know, two members of the House, two Democrats, your colleagues, are about to leave to join the Biden administration. Democrats fell way short of the very high hopes of actually expanding the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives. You lost, what, 10 or 12 seats. You, at best, will have a slim majority of, what, about 222 seats, you need 218 for the majority.

Steny Hoyer, your majority leader, says he's very concerned about all of this right now. Is he right? JEFFRIES: Well, we're going to be lean, mean and unified in the next Congress and be able to work closely with Joe Biden as president, Vice President Kamala Harris. We're looking forward to that opportunity and what we can do to build back better for the people and to dramatically improve the quality of life of everyday Americans who are struggling.

With respect to the numbers, we'll see where it ultimately lands. There are two races, one in Iowa, one in New York. That haven't been decided. Those could be two additional numbers that add to our majority. But whatever the circumstances are, we are in the majority, and that's important. And we'll see what happens with the United States Senate because Democrats could be in the majority there.

And we know that Joe Biden is going to be the 46th president of the United States of America. That's a reason for optimism. Help is on the way. And we're going to be able to make a difference for people who are dealing with this deadly pandemic.

BLITZER: Yes, we'll see what happens in those two Senate runoff seats on January 5th. Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, thanks very much for joining us. Good luck with all the relief talks. We hope you work out a deal as millions and millions of Americans are suffering right now. Thanks so much for joining us.

JEFFRIES: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: I'll talk to the Washington State governor, Jay Inslee, about his decision to extend COVID-19 restrictions in his state and his plan for distributing vaccines in the days ahead. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: More breaking news tonight. The FBI -- FDA, I should say, the FDA expected to grant emergency use authorization for the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine as soon as tomorrow.

Joining us now tomorrow, Democratic Governor Jay Inslee of Washington State. Governor, thank you so much for joining us.

If the Pfizer vaccine is approved tomorrow, and we do expect it will be approved, when do you expect the first doses will arrive in your state and when might your first residents start getting vaccinated?

GOV. JAY INSLEE (D-WA): Well, within a few days, we are having a state review that should just take a day or so to make sure that everything is according to Hoyle. The good news, it appears that it is, I am so happy that our medical establishment has stood up against Donald Trump and kept his hands off of the process.

I think it's really good news that we won that battle, to have a very efficient, clean and a process to get this potential approval. So it's just a matter of a few days. We're very excited about that. We think we're in good shape in our distribution system and our plans, so all systems go at the moment. And we could not be more pleased.

But I do want to reiterate, there's one thing I know all of the governors reiterating to folks is, this is a time of utmost importance to protect ourselves while the vaccine is being widely distributed. For whatever we've done for the last several months, we've got to be even more intense and dedicated to our own survival and protection in the next several months while this vaccine is being distributed.

BLITZER: Are you ready to get that vaccination?

INSLEE: If it's approved, yes. I will, you know, be vaccinated in whatever priority my classification ends up. I won't be the first. I can tell you that. We are working for our high-risk health workers and our people in our long-term care facilities that are obviously the most vulnerable. Those are going to be the first people.

But we feel good. We're told we're going to get over 200,000 doses of Pfizer this month and hopefully about 180,000 from Moderna if, in fact, they are approved. So we're off to the races.

And I have to say, this is a dark time but this is a moment of great light to have such an incredible accomplishment in such a short period of time, to have vaccines, which appear to be extremely effective.

[18:45:06]

So this is good news. But again, I want to reiterate, you -- we've got to have both hands in this fight. We've got the hand of the vaccine but we have to have the commitment of people this holiday season not to do big holiday gatherings, not to be in a position where you're inside. The vaccine won't save people, by and large, unless we do both of those things.

BLITZER: Yeah, the -- it's critically important that everybody -- you know, everybody understand the urgency of getting the vaccines. But it's going to take months and months for most people to get vaccinated. It's not going to be easy at all. In the meantime, you've got to be really, really careful.

INSLEE: Right.

BLITZER: What are you doing to address what's called vaccine hesitancy? Because there are folks out there who are skeptical.

INSLEE: Well, we're doing a lot. Actually, our communication plan is one of the reasons I think we've had relative success in Seattle. We've got, in Washington, lower numbers than 45 other states. And I think it's because we have really been intentional in communicating information to the public.

So we've had running for some period of time commercials, talking about how the vaccine works, how the approval process works, for people to familiarize themselves with it. We've also along with Oregon and California have an independent review that will look at what the FDA did to make sure that all the steps were followed.

As I've said, I'm very confident that within a day or two after an FDA decision, there's no reason to believe that that approval will not come sailing through. And then we're going to continue our communications strategy, sharing information with people.

And I think it's like everything that's new, there -- some people will have some questions in the early days. As more and more people are vaccinated, as you come to know more and more of your friends and relatives have been vaccinated and they're still enjoying Christmas, I believe we're going to be successful getting to the numbers.

If we all stick to an honest discussion of the science, which again, I want to reiterate, we were in danger. Donald Trump was trying to subvert this process. But he failed. And that's a really happy event for us in America.

BLITZER: All right. Governor Inslee, good luck to you. Good luck to everybody in Washington state.

INSLEE: You bet.

BLITZER: Thanks so much for joining us.

All right. There's more breaking news we're following here in THE SITUATION ROOM. A new effort by President Trump to try to overturn the election. He's trying to join a long-shot lawsuit asking the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out votes in four key battleground states that Joe Biden won.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:52:22]

BLITZER: There's more breaking news we're following right now. "The New York Times" just reporting that President Trump has asked Senator Ted Cruz to argue a case seeking to overturn the election if the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear it.

Meanwhile, the president is also trying to intervene in a long shot Texas lawsuit seeking to overturn election results in four key battleground states.

Our justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider, is working the story for us.

Jessica, so when should we harry from the Supreme Court on this case?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, we're expecting that the court could weigh in on this case by the end of the week. And that's because Texas that in this action that even some Republicans are calling ridiculous, Texas is asking for the Supreme Court to stop electors in four states, that's Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan, stop them from voting for Joe Biden.

Well, of course, the Electoral College meets on Monday, so the Supreme Court could step in before then. And the justices will probably discuss this unprecedented case when they meet in conference on Friday.

So, the Texas attorney general who is now joined by attorneys general in 17 other states, he's asking the court to stop the certification process because he argues that the changes that were made by those states to broaden out voting opportunities because of the COVID pandemic, well, the Texas AG Ken Paxton, he says that was unconstitutional because the decisions were made in many cases by secretaries of state or governors and not the legislatures.

So this is what Paxton wrote in his request to the Supreme Court asking the justices to wipe away December 14th as the day that electors meet. He wrote this, saying that deadline, however, should not cement a potentially illegitimate election result in the middle of this storm. A storm that is of the defendant states own making by virtue of their own unconstitutional actions.

And, of course, President Trump also asked the Supreme Court to include him as a party in this case. Wolf, of course, we saw yesterday a swift decision from the nine justices when they made clear they do not want to step into the political fray, so we're curious to see if the Supreme Court will act as swiftly and also deny this case out of Texas -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yeah, that clock is clearly ticking. We'll see what happens.

Jessica, thank you very, very much.

And we'll have more news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:01]

BLITZER: Finally, tonight, we try to do what we do every night. We try to honor some of the truly remarkable people we have lost in the coronavirus pandemic.

Margaret Kornegay of Washington, D.C. was 80 years old, passing just three hours before her 81st birthday. Her daughter, Carolyn (ph), says she took great pride in voting, happily going with her family to the polls, including her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Miriam "Shun" Broadway of Texas was 40. She was the youngest of five siblings, and a single mom who always made sure her daughter was cared for. Her sister Lanisha (ph) says she had a sweet nature and never argued with anyone.

May they rest in peace, and may their memories be a blessing.

Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. You can always follow me on Twitter and Instagram @WolfBlitzer. You can always tweet the show @CNNSitRoom.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.