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CNN Live Event/Special

Electoral College Casts Votes For President; COVID-19 Vaccinations Begin in U.S. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired December 14, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Wolf, we have two major events happening right now, the Electoral College voting and the historic vaccinations happening throughout the United States.

CNN's Sara Murray is at G.W. Hospital, where Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and the surgeon general are watching some hospital workers get vaccinated.

Sara, tell us what you're seeing.

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake.

This is sort of the ceremonial kickoff for the Trump administration, the success, essentially, of Operation Warp Speed. Doses of the Pfizer vaccine got delivered here to the hospital this morning. They had about three minutes in order to unpack these doses to get them moved into the ultra-cold freezers.

And then they were de-thawing one of those vials ahead of the vaccinations this afternoon. So, inside, there were some remarks from the surgeon general, as well as Secretary Azar. And now they're taking in the first five hospital workers here at G.W. Hospital who will get vaccinated.

These are a combination of folks who work in the emergency department, who work as anesthesiologists, and who work in labor and delivery. And this is just the beginning of the process here at this hospital and, of course, the beginning of the process around the country.

They got 975 doses here today. They have about 4,500 health care workers. So it's going to take a while even to get through the front of the line. But we were talking to some of the doctors who helped set up this program earlier today. And it's a huge relief for them, Jake, just to be able to have these vaccines here on site to start to turn the corner and to know that they can have some protection for themselves and eventually for their patients as well, so a very big day here, as well as across the country.

TAPPER: All right, Sara Murray at G.W. University Hospital, thanks so much. And, Dana, I mean, this would be otherwise a real moment of triumph

for the Trump administration in terms of what they have been able to shepherd through and support, not to belittle the efforts of the scientists and private industry, that really, truly delivered this vaccine. But credit where credit's due. Operation Warp Speed is a big achievement and a big accomplishment.

And the vaccines are now going into arms. And that's great. But instead of being able to sing his praises, we're also watching President Trump completely trying to undermine democracy at the same time.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: One of the hallmarks of the Trump era has been the president, time after time, getting in his own way, getting in his own way with things that don't have to be, with baseless complaints.

This is the ultimate and the most profound and the most dangerous. But, yes, you're exactly right that the notion of taking the Electoral College is cool. It's democracy at work. And the fact that we have technology to do it now is -- is noteworthy, and it's nice for people to see how their Constitution comes to life.

But we're only doing it because we want to show that what is happening is in defiance of, as you put it, the fantasy world that Donald Trump has been living in and that he has been encouraging and pulling his supporters, many, many supporters, to live on.

But the fact is that this vaccine is beginning today. And it is the beginning of the end. It's going to be a very, very long runway until this plane lands.

TAPPER: And let me bring in Sanjay Gupta, our chief medical correspondent, because, Sanjay, just since we have been on air, the horrific numbers of individuals who have died of COVID have continued to tick up.

And I expect in the next couple hours we're going to pass 300,000 Americans dead because of the novel coronavirus. According to official numbers, that is the highest number in the entire world. The U.S. has roughly 4 percent of the world's population and, according to official numbers, 20 percent of the world's COVID cases, 20 percent of the world's deaths.

And the numbers keep getting worse and worse. So, while this is a moment of celebration, the vaccine is going into arms, it's also a moment where we need to show some humility, because the virus continues to rage.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right.

I mean, that's absolutely true. And we focus, I think -- in a country like the United States, we wait for the big scientific breakthrough, the big home run in all this, which is something certainly to be celebrated, as you were just talking about, but the numbers did not have to be this way. And I know we have said that for so many months. And it remains true

that more people are dying every day now in the United States than countries put together, several countries put together have throughout this entire pandemic.

So, it just goes to show that, even without some amazing breakthrough like this vaccine is, we could have saved so many lives. That is true, and it remains true going forward as well, because so many people -- it's going to take a while to get the vaccine out there, when it has its maximal impact, maybe months from now, but we could still save so many lives in the interim.

[15:05:01]

Wearing masks is surgical in terms of how quickly it can work. If you can -- if you can greatly diminish or prevent transmission of this virus, it -- that's how you really start bringing this pandemic to an end. The vaccine is another important tool.

(CROSSTALK)

TAPPER: Sanjay, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you keep using the word surgical, and I know what you mean, but just explain to our viewers what you mean by surgical when you say the masks are surgical.

GUPTA: I mean, it can work so fast, I guess, is what I'm really referring to.

You think of giving a medicine and taking a while to see if -- how it's going to work. And it may take months to really have -- the medicine to have benefit to an individual. With surgical procedures, you're doing it acutely. It can make a difference right away.

Masks are kind of, to surgery, what the vaccine is to some of these longer-range medicines. The masks -- I mean, for anybody right now, most people who are spreading this virus may not know that they're spreading this virus because we still have inadequate testing, we still have inadequate tracing. So people have to behave like they have the virus.

A lot of people are spreading it unwittingly, unknowingly. So, just getting out there and wearing masks, even if you think, hey, I'm totally fine, I have been good, I have not put myself at risk, wearing a mask can start to dramatically reduce and slow down the spread of the virus in this country.

It's a really important tool, just like the vaccine is an important tool, and the vaccine will help a lot. It's just going to take a while for us to really recognize the value of that help.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Sanjay, as I'm watching these images of these doctors and medical professionals getting their vaccines, we have been hearing the stories about the fear that they experience of bringing this virus home to their families or just falling ill in general. I wonder, as a physician yourself, what -- how does the vaccine change their day-to-day lives from this point forward? Does it really change it all that much. I'm just wondering, both from a practical perspective, or even just a psychological perspective, what happens after today, now that these folks who work in hospitals, we're looking at, at G.W. Hospital in Washington, have the vaccine for the coronavirus in their arms?

GUPTA: These are the conversations we always have, Abby, with each other, I think, health care providers talking about this very issue.

When you're in the hospital and you're taking care of patients, I mean, you do everything you can to be safe. You're wearing N95 masks if we're in COVID areas or dealing with COVID patients. People are really -- there's a real sense of trying to be as safe as possible.

But, despite that, you always worry that you could have still been exposed and that you might get sick. The vaccine will certainly help with diminishing that concern. But the other part of it, I think, that's been a big part of this, psychologically, is that you would then take it home.

I operate every week. And every time I come home from the hospital, there's always a part of me that wonders, am I possibly bringing the virus home with me this time? And I'll put all my clothes away. I'll shower. I'll do all those things.

But you still can't be 100 percent sure. As we were talking about before, as you know, Abby, the vaccine doesn't necessarily 100 percent make it so that you can't possibly still carry the virus and possibly transmit it.

So, you have still got to be safe, even if you have been vaccinated. But, yes, I think there's a significant psychological benefit to knowing that I am 95 percent protected against getting ill from this, and that it's going to be a big part of bringing the trajectory of this pandemic down.

So, there's a lot in there. But you're asking a question that is probably the biggest issue that we talk about amongst each other, I think, as health care workers.

BASH: I'm sure.

And, Sanjay, Dr. Fauci said this morning that the public won't be able to throw masks away until the late fall or early winter of 2021. So, a year from now, we are still going to be wearing masks. Does that sound right to you?

GUPTA: Yes, I mean, it's a little bit tough to project the timeline on these things. And we have been surprised, for example, how quickly things are moving now.

If we get a lot of vaccine out there, and we see the numbers come way down, and we have lots of testing and tracing, things that were -- that have always been important, but we have kind of forgotten in the midst of all this, maybe we accelerate that timeline a bit, because we can be very confident that I take a test, and I know today I'm not contagious.

Now, to be safe, for a period of time, I think we're going to continue to wear masks. But exactly when that -- when that time is, there may be people who wear masks for a much longer period of time. I mean, you certainly see that in countries around the world.

But in terms of the broad recommendations for society, late summer, early fall, depending on how many vaccines get out there, depending on whether all these other things, the testing and tracing, come back online and really give people the confidence that, when they go outside today, I'm not contagious, I'm not going to spread this virus today.

[15:10:14]

TAPPER: All right, Sanjay, stick around. You and I are going to talk to the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Alex Azar, coming up -- Wolf

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Historic day, indeed.

North Dakota's electors just convened in the capital of Bismarck to cast their three votes for the president of the United States and the vice president of the United States.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm pleased to announce the votes cast by the presidential electors of the state of North Dakota are as follows, for president of the United States, three votes for Donald J. Trump, vice president of the United States, three votes for Michael R. Pence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, so those three electoral votes going for Trump and Pence.

Let's go to Wyoming right now where, moments ago, the state's three electors there cast their ballots. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After counting the ballots cast and the votes cast, it was three votes that were cast for Mr. Donald Trump and there were three votes cast for Mr. Michael Pence.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Three electoral votes from Wyoming going for Trump and Pence. Also, moments ago, the Electoral College in Maine made their votes official. It's one of only two states, by the way, where the electoral votes that can be split between the two candidates. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The total number of votes cast is four. There are three votes for Joseph R. Biden of Wilmington, Delaware. There is one vote for Donald J. Trump of Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, there you have the -- three votes for Biden in Maine, one for Trump in Maine.

David Chalian, as we said, Maine, one of two states, the other Nebraska, where they can actually divide up their total count.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, that 2nd Congressional District up in Maine, Donald Trump won it four years ago, you just saw there the vote split in a way where he won it again, though the Biden campaign was hoping to be able to win that electoral vote there.

Remember, Wolf, also, it's just another example. Here's Joe Biden winning the state of Maine. Susan Collins, the Republican incumbent senator, had a very substantial victory in one of the toughest elections in her life. You're not hearing claims of fraud.

And, of course you wouldn't, because Republicans then would have to call into question Susan Collins' victory. I think seeing this process play out sort of belies what we have been hearing. It's like a real time fact-check of the fraud -- of the baseless claims of fraud throughout the country that Donald Trump and his team have been making.

But this is just one of the quirks in the system. Maine and Nebraska, as you noted, they do their Electoral College votes by congressional district. And then, of course, the statewide winner gets a couple of electoral votes as well.

So, we will see this again in Nebraska, where Joe Biden actually did win one of those electoral votes there, the 2nd Congressional District in Nebraska. That was a victory for Biden, despite the fact that Donald Trump late in the campaign made a play for that electoral vote in Nebraska.

Wolf, it just -- as you watch the process state by state by state, and you see the tally accrue -- again, there's no mystery here to how this is going to turn out. But what is actually happening is the constitutionally mandated process of how the president gets elected.

These votes are the ones that determine who the 46th president of the United States is, in this case, Joe Biden. And when they are all tallied up across these 50 state capitals and District of Columbia, they get sent off to Congress, and then they will be read aloud in a joint session. And the final moment of the process is when that tally happens in Congress to make it all official.

What I am watching for now, as we see this play out, are Republicans on Capitol Hill who have yet to call Joe Biden president-elect, are they going to start calling him president-elect once it's clear he has more than 270 electoral votes, not based on a projection, but based on this actual voting of these electors in state after state after state?

BLITZER: Yes, in addition to the all-important Electoral College, he also has more than seven million popular votes as well.

Let's check in to see what's going on in Texas, the second biggest prize in the Electoral College, with 38 electoral votes.

Ed Lavandera is in the capital of Austin for us right now.

So, they're beginning their roll call. Is that right, Ed?

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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Wolf.

Just moments ago, 38 electors now on the floor of the Texas state House of Representatives there in the Capitol Building that you see behind me. And this is a process that we are told will take about an hour, 38 electors there on the House floor. You see the Christmas tree there in the middle of the House floor.

They have been going through the roll call, and now those electors are beginning to take their oath. Now, what is interesting is, back in 2016, there were two electors -- even though Donald Trump won the state of Texas there were two electors that did not vote for President Trump back in 2016.

We do not have any kind of indication that anything like -- that there will be faithless electors this time around in 2020. We spoke with two electors on their way in to the House floor just a short while ago. And they said that they do not expect any surprises to unfold here.

But there is a -- this is a process that will take some time. They will have to go through the process of taking the oath. They will pick kind of a leader of this group, and then the voting will begin here. And it's a process that we expect to take about an hour or so here in the state of Texas.

And, as you mentioned, Wolf, this is a state with 38 electoral votes, one of the biggest prizes of the country and of this day. But Texas has also been garnering a great deal of headlines in the last week. It was the Texas attorney general, the very controversial attorney general, that filed that lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election that was quickly dismissed by the Supreme Court at the end of last week.

And that is why, once again, Texas finds itself here in the crosshairs and getting a great deal of attention. But, as we have spoken with people, we do not get any indication that there will be anything out of the ordinary in terms of the ballots that are cast today by these electors on the House floor. But it is a process we will continue to watch unfold here over the

course of the next hour -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And I should point out that 376 electors of the 538 in the total Electoral College, they have now cast their votes, no faithless electors yet. Not happening, everything as projected.

Ed Lavandera in Austin, Texas, for us, thank you. We will get back to you.

Up next: More electors are casting ballots in moments.

Plus, historic coronavirus vaccinations beginning today here in the United States, big numbers unfolding.

Looking at live pictures coming in right now from Ann Arbor, Michigan. We will watch these vaccinations. This is really, really important.

And, hopefully, all of us will be getting our vaccines fairly soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:37]

BLITZER: We're watching the Electoral College live. Take a look at these pictures, live pictures coming in from Austin, Texas, from Boston, Massachusetts, from Lincoln, Nebraska. We will get those results fairly soon.

By the way, all six of those so-called key battleground states where the president of the United States, President Trump, directly, and his supporters, his so-called legal team, directly challenged the election in those six states, the Electoral College votes from those six states have now been affirmed. All of those six battleground states affirmed the votes, as expected, for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

In Juneau, Alaska, right now, members of the Electoral College have just allocated the state's three votes. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, the three Alaska electors have cast their Electoral College votes for President Donald Trump and Mike -- Vice President Mike Pence.

Now, we will take these certificates of votes, along with the certificates of ascertainment, and they will be shipped off to the appropriate entities back in Washington, D.C.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right, so there you have the results in Alaska, those three electoral votes going for Trump and Pence.

John King is still with us over at the Magic Wall. John, so, all six of those key battleground states that the president

insisted were rigged, were a fraud, ballots thrown up or whatever, all of the -- all of those electors now have cast their ballots. It's official. Its formal. They all went, as expected, for Biden.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They did, Wolf. And, again, that's one of the values of this day. It's a tradition. It's a ceremonial day. It's a reaffirmation of what happened in the election.

But now it is proof-positive that what the president has been saying and tweeting and what his lawyers have alleged in court over and over again, to only be rejected and rejected and rejected, is simply not true.

You mentioned those states, Pennsylvania now done, Michigan now done, Wisconsin now done, Georgia now done, Arizona now done, and Nevada now done, all states in which the president and his team went to court alleging fraud, all states where those suits were tossed. In Georgia, they recounted the votes three times. In Wisconsin, they got to the Supreme Court at least twice.

The Pennsylvania case made its way all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. Over and over and over again, judges, the election officials who look at the votes have simply said, you keep saying fraud, you keep showing no evidence. You keep talking. You have to prove it. And they did none of it.

So, as you noted right there, it's nearly 80 electoral votes in all in those six states right now. And, again, today is a ceremonial day. We already -- we knew there's no drama. We know Joe Biden was the president-elect when we woke up this morning. He will be the president-elect when all these votes are counted.

[15:25:07]

But because the system has been attacked so repeatedly, consistently and falsely by the sitting president of United States, A, it's important and it's great that we can show this, remind ourselves of our civics lesson.

But, to the point you just made, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan, the three blue ball states, Georgia, a big flip, hadn't gone for a Democrat since 1992, Arizona, a big flip, hadn't gone for Democrats since 1996, and Nevada, in all six of those states, where Trump and his team went to court, in some cases repeatedly, all six of those states have now reaffirmed Joe Biden won.

He will get the electoral votes when Congress comes together to again, in another big ceremony -- to again reinforce the point, Joe Biden won the election, the president's claims of fraud are simply without any evidence.

BLITZER: Yes, 379 electoral votes have now been cast, and so far, no, no faithless electors yet.

I want to check in to see what happened in Nebraska right now, one of two states that divide up, they split their electoral votes. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The vote shows that Donald J. Trump received four electoral votes for the office of president of the United States. The vote shows the Joseph R. Biden received one electoral vote for the office of president of the United States.

And we will now proceed with item 12 on the agenda, which is the casting of ballots for vice president. The vote shows that Michael R. Pence received four electoral votes for the office of vice president of the United States. The vote shows that Kamala D. Harris received one electoral vote for the office of vice president of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Nebraska and Maine the two states where they can actually split the electoral count.

Let's check back with Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Wolf, thanks so much.

And as we watch this process, just a reminder, the number, the magic number is 270. Joe Biden right now has gotten officially 202 electoral votes. Again, we know how this is going to end -- 203, I'm told now. We know how this is going to end. This is going to end with Joe Biden winning the Electoral College.

But we're keeping an eye on it because of the historic nature of this moment and the fact that the institutions that make this country great have never before in modern history have been under such attack by the president of the United States, Donald Trump.

Anyway, Biden 203, having just gotten that one electoral vote from Omaha, and then Donald Trump has 177. We're still waiting -- 181 -- OK. The numbers have gone up in my head. And I'm being told in my head, I mean. They have gone up, and I'm being been told in my head by my producer that they have gone up, 203 to 181.

And, Dana Bash, we're still waiting for big states like California to come in.

BASH: That's right. And those are going to -- once we get those in we get later in the day, that's when Joe Biden will officially reach that 270 magic number.

As you were talking about the numbers and adding up the numbers, it's maybe -- it may seem very obvious, but I think it's important to note that this is the moment that campaigns spend years building towards, meaning their focus is in the battleground states that will get them to 270.

We talk about the magic 270. And when they focus on states that are traditional battleground states, from Pennsylvania to Michigan to Wisconsin, they are all doing it looking for a path to get to the number that we are going to see today.

And it is maybe, perhaps an antiquated system, the Electoral College, but it is the system that we have. There is much debate about it, has been for some time, but even more so, I think, recently, particularly a lot of Democrats, including Hillary Clinton even today tweeting, it's time to do away with it, and it's important to have the popular vote.

Not a surprise why someone like Hillary Clinton would say that, since she actually won the popular vote and lost the election, but the fact that we are here is evidence of how modern-day presidential campaigns run their election.

TAPPER: And, Abby, you heard Josh Shapiro, the attorney general of Pennsylvania, talk about that as well, because the truth of the matter is, even though Joe Biden has won the popular vote by seven or eight million votes at this point, if 25 or so election officials and secretaries of state and judges had been of lesser character and not stood up for the rule of law, then it is possible, in my view, that Donald Trump could have stolen this election.

PHILLIP: Yes, that's the scary part of what we're seeing here.

I think a lot of Americans were -- maybe a lot of Americans are continually surprised to find out that they are not directly electing their president when they cast their vote in November. They're electing these electors who we're seeing today, who are then casting their votes for a Joe Biden or a Kamala Harris or a Donald Trump or a Mike Pence.

And that's the way our system works. But, as you point out, it leaves a lot of room for shenanigans.