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First Vaccinations Begin in U.S. as Deaths Near 300,000; Electoral College Begins Voting to Affirm Biden's Win. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired December 14, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you feeling just physically?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel great. I just got the vaccine. It wasn't painful at all. I don't know how I'm going to feel in the next few hours but I feel really good.

SAVIDGE: Doctor, we do appreciate greatly the work that you do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

SAVIDGE: Thank you so much. It's a pleasure. Congratulations, that's what I would say.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, appreciate it.

SAVIDGE: So, Anderson, back to you.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Martin, excellent. Thank you so much, I appreciate it.

Back to the Electoral College voting under way now, let's listen into Illinois.

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D-CHICAGO, IL): -- to announce that former Vice President Joseph Biden has received 20 electoral votes for president from the great state of Illinois and United States Senator Kamala Harris has also received 20 electoral votes for vice president of the United States.

Each elector is now required to sign six copies of the certificate of vote, which will be distributed to the proper authorities. Secretary Harmon, please distribute the certificate for each elector to sign and each elector should be at ease for a few moments while the necessary signatures are gathered.

COOPER: And that's the mayor of Chicago announcing 20 electoral votes for Vice President Biden, or I should say, I guess, President-elect Biden at this point and Vice

President-elect Kamala Harris. Erin, back to you.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: So it's amazing. We've been talking about the security threats across this country, especially in states Donald Trump has targeted, states like Arizona and Michigan. So, just in to CNN, right, where they had to sort of lock the government offices in Michigan because of the threats today, a Michigan Republican house member just moments ago stripped of his committee assignments. The reason, he said there could be violent protests in the state capitol today because of the Electoral College vote.

Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield and Speaker-elect Jason Wentworth, they are both Republicans and they spoke with one voice and they removed Republican Representative Gary Eisen from his committee assignments for the rest of the term as a result of his comments from a radio interview. He said he was coordinating protests today and he said, quote, it's going to be violence, it's going to be protests when asked explicitly if he could say there wouldn't be violence and people would be safe, he said, no.

Joining me now, CNN Political Commentators Bakari Sellers and Scott Jennings.

Scott, what's your reaction to this? I mean, first of all, this representative, his name is Gary Eisen, he goes on a radio interview, right, and says that there -- it's going to be violence, it's going to be protests. And now, with one voice, the GOP speaker and speaker- elect have stripped him of his assignments and said, quote, violence has no place in our democratic process. We must do better, Republicans speaking up against a Republican here.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. My reaction is good for the leadership of those chambers to stand up to someone who is obviously a crackpot and a nut. I mean, to go on a radio interview and promise violence around the casting of Electoral College votes, it's crazy, it's insane, it's not democratic, it's not keeping with our American traditions and it's not right. And so his leadership did what they should have done. No one should be.

I mean, look, you can be butt hurt about the result of the election. That's fine. We are every two and four years as Americans. But there's no place for violence or calls for violence or to foreshadow violence, and so good on those guys for calling that guy down and giving him some punishment as well.

BURNETT: I mean, Bakari, it's an important thing, yes, they're doing the right thing but it's important that they're doing it. They're putting out a statement. They're not trying to brush it under the rug, right? They're doing it and making a statement loudly and clearly. And that is significant right now when there are so few at the national level who's seen willing to do that.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, no, you have to give them props where props are due. This isn't the first time though the state rep has put out incendiary posts. I mean, there was a proposed tax increase by Gretchen Whitmer of 45 cents. He posted that the only four, five he cares, and it's an image of his gun with bullets.

And so this isn't the first time that he's done this. He probably should have been called down sooner, but you have to give people props where props are due. The fact is that we have the Proud Boys, I don't know, these anarchists who travel around the country trying to wreak terror on unsuspecting people protesting in Washington, D.C., very violent.

But while we have people, like Scott Jennings, who comes on this T.V. every day, who carries the banner of the Republican Party proudly but also says like democracy reigns supreme. It's what matters in this country. You have these members of the Michigan legislature that are speaking up and using their voice. I mean, this is what this country is about.

You have a president who remains silent and that acquiescence actually tends to pour gasoline on the fire because you have these violent groups who are trying to wreak havoc on these democratic bodies.

[11:35:08]

BURNETT: Right, of course, he has called none of this out, none of it at all when it happened in Georgia, the threats, right? His thing was to re-tweet the incendiary things, right? That is how he's responded to stoke those flames.

And please stand by, Bakari and Scott, because we now have Arkansas, the electors voting there. So let's listen to that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Electors have voted for Donald J. Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Secretary, the vote is six Arkansas electors for Donald J. Trump.

We will now have the roll call for vice president of the United States. When your name is called please answer by stating the full name.

BURNETT: That's the process, you go first by president and then by vice president and, of course, in Arkansas, six Electoral College votes for President Trump.

In just moments, the electors in Georgia are going to cast their 16 votes. And, well, this is obviously one to watch. It has become the epicenter of the entire conversation, especially with that Senate runoff coming up in just weeks.

CNN's Nick Valencia is at the state capitol in Atlanta where, of course, early voting starts for that today, but all eyes, Nick, are on Georgia.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Georgia is, as we say here, the center of the political world here for another couple of weeks, January 5th, the Senate runoff. Early voting, as you mentioned, starts today for the next three weeks, Erin. But here at the state capitol, another historic moment, an often overlooked process is going to get a lot of attention today if only because President Trump continues to repeat baseless and unfounded claims that the election here was stolen. 16 Democratic electors are expected to cast their votes shortly after noon today expecting to certify President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the winners of the 2020 general election.

And it was just a short time ago, actually, I was messaging with one of the electors, an elector alternate, Jason Estevez, who says that he is excited about today. I asked him what he wants to say to those who are alleging that this was stolen or that this is a fraud. He says, there's no evidence of fraud, they had their opportunity in court, over 50 opportunities across the country, and they haven't introduced one iota of evidence.

President Trump and his allies did try to stop today's formality from happening. Thatlitigation was thrown out. As I mentioned, Erin, this was supposed to happen at about 12:00 today. Each elector will cast two ballots, one for the president, one for the vice president. And then the certificates will be generated. Thos certificates will be sent off to places like U.S. Senate President Mike Pence, as well as a district judge here that oversees this area along with the secretary of state and U.S. archivists. We expect the process to be a relatively smooth.

And just a quick story about one of the electors here. Representative Calvin Smyre, he's been an elector since 1975, this is only the second time he's going to be able to vote though because his party has only won twice since he's been an elector. He says, 1992 was calm and quiet, there's a little bit more chaos surrounding 2020 outside of heavy security, but we haven't seen anything go on inside. All is quiet here at the state capitol as we wait for those electors to cast their vote in just a little bit. Erin?

BURNETT: All right, Nick. And, of course, we hope and anticipate it will remain that way. So let's go to South Carolina and watch what's happening there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, I have nine votes cast for Donald J. Trump as president for South Carolina.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's nine votes for Mr. Donald J. Trump as president of the United States. Mr. Secretary, all of our votes have been cast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. President. Would you like to have a voice call, voice vote?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we would. Can we have a voice vote to confirm the results, all nine votes for Mike Pence and Donald Trump as president of the United States, all in favor, say, aye.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Aye.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Opposed no. Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary, it's unanimous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

COOPER: And there you see the process, nine votes there from the state of South Carolina.

Some of president Trump's allies have floated the idea of faithless electors to continue trying to subvert the reality that Joe Biden won the election. Let's go to CNN's John Berman.

We talked about people here are faithless electors alike (ph), we just talked about what exactly that means and do we expect any today?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. So, Anderson, there's nothing in the Constitution or in federal law which explicitly binds electors to vote for the candidates who win that state. We just look at Article 2 Section 1 of the Constitution here. As you noted, the founders designed the Electoral College to be this group of elites that would serve as a buffer and prevent the election of a demagogue. That's what they intended but it changed very quickly after they drafted the Constitution and the states really stepped in.

[11:40:01]

And now, you have 33 states, plus the District of Columbia, which actually require the electors to vote for the winner of that state.

And in some of these states, I mentioned Nevada earlier, Nevada, if you don't vote for the person who won the state, you are replaced. Oklahoma, which has already voted, if you don't vote for the winner of that state, you can be fined up to $1,000. And you just heard the results in South Carolina. South Carolina, if you don't vote for the winner of your state, you can get some kind of undefined criminal penalty. So, 33 states in D.C., the ones here in red and blue, require you vote for the winner of your state.

The ones in gray, the states in gray here, they still allow so-called faithless electors. So, in theory, the electors from these states could walk in today and vote for the person who did not win their state. They could vote for anyone they wanted but they could vote for Donald Trump if the state went for Biden. They could vote for Biden if the state went for Donald Trump.

The thing is, the reason why this really rarely happens at all, is the electors are handpicked by the party. So, Georgia, for instance, which allows faithless electors, Stacey Abrams, is an elector from Georgia, she is not going to vote for Donald Trump, the Clintons and Andrew Cuomo, electors for New York, they're not going to vote for Donald Trump. So while there are faithless electors, they rarely switch. They have in the past. We're not expecting it today, especially not in the states that matter a lot.

I want you to look at Pennsylvania, for instance, here. Pennsylvania, obviously, we know was close. It was decided by about 80,000 votes on Election Day, right? An 80,000-vote difference by the time it was all said and done.

Because it was close, does that mean something funny could go on at the electors today? Even though the state allows faithless electors, no. Why? Because by Pennsylvania law, it's the campaign itself that picks the electors. So the Biden campaign handpicked the 20 electors from the state. They included attorney general, the Democratic attorney general from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

So there aren't going to be faithless electors from Pennsylvania unless the Biden campaign really screwed up. So this is not one of those years where we think it's going to be an issue at all. And, Anderson, in fact, if you go back in history, faithless electors, even though we've had a few here and there, they have never, ever changed the outcome of the election.

COOPER: Let's listen in on Iowa electors voting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The results are six votes for President Trump and six votes for Vice President Pence.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So before we adjourn, I'm going to have these signed, if you would, and there will be a group photo right here. Let's do the signature part first and then we'll (INAUDIBLE), okay?

COOPER: We will, of course, bring you more states as they vote.

Plus, coming up, we'll talk to someone who participated in Pfizer's vaccine trial about what it was actually like to receive the shots and what kind of symptoms she experienced afterward.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

COOPER: Electoral College voting is under way. Let's listen into Nevada.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madam Secretary, we have six votes for Joseph R. Biden for president and six votes for Kamala D. Harris for vice president.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

Electors, please sign seven copies of the original certificates of vote. The certificate of vote is the official vote of your record here today and will be provided to the president of the United States Senate and the U.S. archives, the chief justice of the federal district court, Nevada, and my office.

COOPER: And there you see it being done remotely. Obviously, as we have been talking about, I want to bring in John Berman as well. There have been threats against electors in some states, some they had police escorts for COVID reasons and security reasons, some places are deciding to do things remotely or in undisclosed locations. John Berman is back with us. John? BERMAN: Yes, it's the first one we have seen really by Zoom, Anderson, which was so interesting. As you said, there have been physical threats but there's also the constant threat to the health. And each state can decide how it wants to cast its vote today.

One thing I want to point out in Nevada, which is really interesting here, remember how close Nevada was? It took days to decide results of the election in Nevada, several days of counting as the ballots come in. It just took 17 minutes for them. They started meeting 17 minutes ago, but decided to cast all their electoral votes, well, the six electoral votes from Nevada went to Joe Biden.

Just to give you a sense of where we are as the day progresses here, before Nevada cast its votes, you can see Donald Trump has amassed 56 electoral votes, Joe Biden has amassed 27. This will continue to change over the course of the day. The lead here at this hour, Mr. President, is completely immaterial.

[11:50:00]

In the 5:00 hour when California meets to cast their ballots, its ballots, the 55 will go to Joe Biden, he will go over the 270 needed to win, and he will, one more step of the way, be the official president-elect of the United States, Anderson.

COOPER: All right. John Berman, thank you. An Electoral College voting is under way right now in Delaware. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Madam Secretary, the certificate of vote is before us. I am casting my vote for Joseph R. Biden and Kamala D. Harris.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am casting my vote for Joseph R. Biden and for Kamala D. Harris.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am casting my vote for Joseph R. Biden and Kamala D. Harris.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will now each proceed to sign the certificate of vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ask that each elector sign --

COOPER: And, John, I think they moved it to that gymnasium there for -- to get more space and I think for security and also for more security on COVID.

BERMAN: This is Joe Biden's home state, obviously, Anderson. And three electors here, you can see their pictures, they voted for Joe Biden. Marla Blunt-Carter is the sister of Lisa Blunt Rochester the member of Congress from Delaware. Marla Blunt-Carter has recovered from a stroke. She has been practicing signing her name over the recent weeks so she could sign these certificates, as she has to, in order to make her vote official. So, big moment for her today, even is a very big moment for Joe Biden, wining his own state, picking up three electoral votes from Delaware, Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. John, thanks.

Meantime, right now, all 50 states and Puerto Rico are receiving the first shipments for the Pfizer vaccine today. Most people that we've seen getting those shots today are frontline health care workers, and one of my next guests may have already gotten this vaccine as part of the Pfizer trial. Kristen Choi is a Health Services Researcher and psychiatric nurse and a professor at UCLA, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is also with us.

So, Kristen, to be clear, you don't know for sure whether you've received the vaccine or placebo. What do you think you did?

KRISTEN CHOI, PARTICIPANT, PFIZER VACCINE TRIAL: Thanks for having me on, Anderson, and, yes, that's correct. I'm not sure if I received the vaccine or the placebo. This, of course, was a double blind study, which means the researchers and the participants didn't know which vaccine or which injection they got.

In my case, though, I had some fairly strong symptoms after the second dose, that was a signal to me that I had probably gotten the active vaccine because the symptoms I experienced are common signs that we know can happen when vaccines are administered.

COOPER: What kind of symptoms?

CHOI: So after the first injection, I didn't have any symptoms. It felt just like a normal shot, maybe a flu shot. The second injection though was different. I came back three weeks later for that second dose. And after the second injection, I developed quite a lot of symptoms.

I had chills, fatigue, headache, muscle pain a few hours after the study visit. And then later that night, I developed a fever. I woke up the next morning with a fairly high fever of 104.9 degrees. And at that point, that was a signal again that I had probably gotten the active vaccine.

Fortunately, those symptoms kind of went away quickly. My fever came down and I felt back to normal by the next day.

COOPER: How long did you have that kind of fever for?

CHOI: Not long. I think it was just a few hours in the early morning. I took Tylenol, of course, when I saw that it was high and it came down shortly after.

COOPER: So, Sanjay, is what Kristen is describing pretty standard side effects from a vaccine?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, we looked at the overall side effect profile, that was part of what came out this past weekend after the authorization. Closer to 20, 25 percent of people or so do have some sort of side effects like this typically as Kristen was sort of describing going away within a day or two. That was a high fever though. I will say that's a higher fever than I think we have heard is typical. What was also interesting, and maybe not that surprising, is that the side effects were much stronger in people under the age of 55. So between 18 and 55, those are people who tended to have more significant side effects. Again, I say side effects, not safety concerns. These side effects are expected. It is evidence that the vaccine is actually doing its job.

What is interesting is that because it is happening in younger people, it could be because their immune systems are just reacting more robustly to this vaccine. Again, that's what's supposed to happen, and, typically, as Kristen described, going away within a day or two, typically.

COOPER: Yes. Sanjay, Kristen Choi, I appreciate your time. And, Kristen, thank you so much for talking about what you went through. I appreciate it.

Coming up, we're going to have more as the Electoral College votes to affirm Joe Biden's win.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): You're looking at live pictures from Atlanta, Georgia, where that state's electoral members are meeting.

[12:00:02]

We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I am Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center.