Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Brooke Baldwin 20201130

Azar is talking about the first round of vaccines which are expected to be prioritized for Health Care Workers, the elderly. Obviously, welcome news, nonetheless. Hospitals across the country are bracing for a postthanksgiving surge as well, but before enough time passes for those new covid cases to even register, the numbers are already catastrophic. Yesterday marked the 27th consecutive day that the u. S. Topped 100,000 new infections. And we now know that over 30 of all covid cases happened in november. Despite just the staggering numbers here, the president had one thing on his schedule today, a weekly lunch with Vice President mike pence, otherwise, hes continuing to keep his focus on pushing outright lies about the election on twitter. But while trump is stuck in the past, president elect joe biden and his v. P. Elect Kamala Harris, theyre pushing forward. They are finally receiving their first daily Intelligence Briefings today after President Trump held up the transition for weeks and weeks. Theyre also announcing some crucial new economic positions within his administration, and well get into how those folks could help the country out of this pandemic, but i want to begin with my colleague, erica hill, who has more on just where this country stands today. Reporter new freezers at hospitals, planes at the ready. Pharmacies gearing up. As a Coronavirus Vaccine gets closer. We should have enough vaccine by the end of the year to immunize 20 million americans. Reporter moderna now says its vaccine is 100 effective at preventing severe cases of the virus. Health care workers will likely be the first to receive an approved vaccine. The cdc is meeting on that tomorrow. And then once its widely available we can get back to normal, kids can be back in school, we can be working and very importantly, we can see our loved ones again. Reporter to do that, we need less of this if you traveled on thanksgiving, on thanksgiving holiday, you should assume youve been infected or exposed to the virus. Reporter and more of this. Its going to get worse over the next several weeks. Reporter new cases added in november, more than 4. 25 million. Now account for 30 of all confirmed cases since the pandemic began. Covid19 hospitalizations have never been higher. The u. S. Now averaging nearly 90,000 a day. Over 50 of our patients now are covid positive patients. Reporter dr. Joseph arone has been on the job for the last 256 days straight. I will be day in and day out, and people are out there doing the wrong thing. People are out there in bars, restaurants, malls, i mean, it is crazy. Its like, you know, we work, work, work, work, work and people dont listen then they end up in my icu. Reporter hospitalizations in california just surpassed the states high set back in july. Los angeles county now under a strict threeweek stayathome order. Virus is not going to go away. Reporter hospitals in rhode island just hit capacity on the first day of the states twoweek pause. Area, and indoor entertainment closed but schools remain open. New york citys youngest students will return for inperson learning next week. We had to reset the equation to create something that would be sustainable for the long haul. Reporter as hospitals brace for a postthanksgiving surge, the message is clear. Now is not the time to let down your guard. If your governor or your mayor isnt doing the policies that we know are critical, masking, physical distancing, avoiding bars, avoiding crowded indoor areas, if those restrictions dont exist in your state, you need to take it upon yourself to be restrictive. And, brooke, speaking of restrictions Florida Governor ron desantis who hasnt been seen for some time taking questions at pressers from reporters was just asked today about that, asked about mask mandates. Hes doubling down at this point. He said he does not have any plans to issue one. He said that it hasnt worked in other states. I should point out cases continuing to rise there in florida. Doctors that weve spoken with concerned about hospitals and the state is now just shy of a million cumulative cases. It would be the first state to hit that mark. Which is frustrating for so many mayors in florida who wants to implement the mask mandates and the governor is keeping them from doing so. Erica hill, thank you for the broader look. I want to focus in now on the two Coronavirus Vaccines the closest to distribution. Cnns senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is with me now on that. So, elizabeth, secretary azar says the first doses could be rolled out by christmas. Obviously, Health Care Workers are priority number one, but when can, you know, more regular folks like us get the vaccine . Okay. So, brooke, if by us you mean were under 65, were not Health Care Workers, we dont have any big underlying medical issues, were not essential workers, were not Police Officers or firefighters. Likely, we wont be able to get a vaccine until the end of april at the earliest. First, they have to give it to all those groups that i just mentioned. If youre not in one of those highrisk groups, again, probably starting to be able to get vaccinated at the end of april, but it might not be until may, june, july. And how will it be distributed . So, this vaccine is being distributed to sites in every state, and so the way that its going to work with this first batch from pfizer and moderna is it goes out to specific points then can be given to people. The one from pfizer needs to be kept at a super, super low temperature, so that one will likely be given not in doctors offices or pharmacies because those dont have the right freezers, but rather at Research Universities which do have the right freezers. And then with both moderna and pfizer, its two vaccines in total, correct . And how far apart do we need to get those vaccines . Right, so its two doses. You get one dose then between three and four weeks later, you get a second dose. This is a very big deal because it means that every person needs two doses so you need to make more of it, also people need to remember to show up for their second dose. Sometimes these vaccines make people feel a little sick, little bit of body aches, little bit of fatigue. Theres some concern that people are going to get the first dose, feel a little bit yucky and not be up for the second. That could be a problem. How much will the vaccine cost us . It should be in the United States, it should be free. And, brooke, thats because we already paid for it. Taxpayer dollars went to buy this vaccine and in some cases to even just develop this vaccine. So when it comes on the market, were supposed to be able to just walk in and get it for free. Great. Elizabeth, thank you very much. Ive got more questions for eye doctor waiting in the wings here. Thank you. Dr. Amy compton phillips is the chief clinical officer at Providence Health system in seattle. Dr. Comptonphillips, welcome to you, great to have you on. Thank you so much. What do you think . Do you think Health Care Workers can count on getting this vaccine in 25 days . Well, i definitely think theres a whole lot of Health Care Workers that are hoping we can make it ham within 25 days. The need for the vaccine is enormous right now. We have people that are putting themselves on the line daily. We still have, believe it or not, ten months into this crisis, we still have limitations on ppe and so every day we have exhausted Health Care Workers that are doing their best to care for the public and thats why theyre first in line. Theres a lot of individuals who are thinking that give it to the people at highest risk first. Well, Health Care Workers are at the highest risk, and we wont have anybody to take care of everybody else that comes to the hospital unless we can get them immunized. Were making sure we can get the details done and get the shots in peoples arms. Whats the plan at your hospital for administering the vaccine . How deep into the planning process are you . Very deep into the planning process. Weve been going now with our plans for about three months trying to make sure we know all the individual roles of every person we have across our Health Care System so because were not going to have every single highrisk person have availability on day one, so weve got to start rolling this out in a cadence that feels fair, that feels equitable, and feels achievable. So weve been planning for a long time because of all the challenging logistics that youve been hearing about, that we knew we were going to have to have things ready to go on the day that the vaccine is available. And we talked about these two vaccines in particular, pfizer and moderna, what is the biggest difference between the two and how are people and doctors supposed to determine which vaccine to get evif they even he a choice . Theyre very, very similar. Theyre both messenger rna vaccines that code for a protein that makes you much more immune to coronavirus and so theyre very similar. One, you get both require a primer shot then a booster shot. So two shots. And one you get the booster at three weeks, one at four weeks. One is kept at colder temperatures, but both are highly effective and they are reasonably interchangeable unless theyre not interchangeable in the point if you get the primer shot for one, you need to get the booster shot for that same one. You need to followthrough, get the two doses with the make up your mind. You got to get the same one. Right. Exactly. One or the other. Heres Something Else i was wondering about. After Health Care Workers get it, presumably the elderly are next in line. I know a lot of us are thinking about our parents, our grandparents. Whats the cutoff age for that group . And how soon can they get it . We will be hearing that when we get the recommendations from the acip, the group that advices the cdc on who and how. So theyre supposed to be issuing the recommendation some time around december 11th so well be able to get all the specifics great. On who, how, when and in one order. If someone has already had covid, should they get the vaccine . They should still get the vaccine. Right now were not planning on testing for antibodies prior to vaccinating people. Okay. Last question, how soon after getting both doses of the vaccine is it effective . Like, immediately . Or what . Your risk should be lowered almost right away because, again, with that booster shot wow. That booster shot, your immune system is revved unand ready to go. Wonderful. Dr. Amy comptonphillipsing tha. Thank you so much for all of that. Thank you. Well get you back to the covid news. I want to talk about the biden transition picking up speed today. President elect joe biden getting his first president ial Daily Briefing and naming several new members of his team. All the while, he suffered a fracture in his foot. We have all the details for you on that ahead. And President Trump continues as we mentioned to make these baseless claims about the election. How long will Republican Leaders like the Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell stay silent . And new york city scrapping a key threshold to reopen schools. Why the big reversal. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. Were all finding ways to keep moving. And at fidelity, youll get planning and advice to help you prepare for the future, without sacrificing whats most important to you today. Because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction youre moving is forward. To stir that fire, university of phoenix is awarding up to one Million Dollars in scholarships through this month. See what scholarship you qualify for at phoenix. Edu. Did you know you can shorten your coldp you qu[ ]fy for with coldeeze® lozenges. Coldeeze® can shorten your cold by 42 . 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While the leading competitor does nothing to kill the bacteria, pepto® diarrhea gets to the source, killing the bad bacteria. So, try pepto® diarrhea, and remember to have it on hand every time you travel. Also try pepto®bismol liquicaps for onthego relief. Were back. Youre watching cnn. Im brooke baldwin. President elect joe biden is making more transmission moves tod tod todayafter weeks of delay, biden and Kamala Harris are getting their first president ial briefings today. They announced new team members. The economic team. Biden made history again naming the first women and people of color to key positions and cnn has learned biden has narrowed down his choice for defense secretary. So for all of that lets go to cnn Political Correspondent m. J. Lee. So, m. J. , who did he announce today as part of his team . Reporter well, brooke, this is such a Critical Team because this is the team that will be spearheading bidens efforts on the economic recovery in the middle of this ongoing covid19 pandemic. A couple names worth mentioning, janet yellen is being chosen as his treasury secretary pick. We have been reporting this name for a while. She would be making history, if she is confirmed, serving as the first woman in that role. We also have nerra tanden. For the office of management and budget. We have Cecilia Rouse, a princeton economic, chosen to be bidens head of the council of economic advisers. The roles i just mentioned will require congressional approval. Now, while the announcement came today, we also expect an inperson event tomorrow introducing some of these folks. So that should be taking place tomorrow here in wilmington, delaware, brooke. What about secretary of defense . We havent had an announcement just yet. Who are names being floated around . Reporter thats right, you know, its interesting, last week we saw biden announce some members of his National Security team, but there were some omissions including who hes going to choose as his cia director and defense secretary as well as you said a couple of names that have been out there as the leading contenders for this role include michel flournoy, a veteran pentagon official. We also have jeh johnson who formally served as secretary of Homeland Security. We also have lloyd austin, a retired army general. Obviously, we know and biden has talked about this a lot, diversity in some of these top roles is very, very important to him. Whether it is appointing women to senior roles, whether its racial diversity, ideological diversity. So we know this is some of the things that biden and his team are thinking through as they wait to make these big announcements and some of these key cabinet positions in the coming weeks. Well talk later in the show as about the diversity, what message its sending to america. M. J. , thank you. As for the Current Administration as Many Americans celebrated thanksgiving weekend as best they could in the middle of a pandemic, President Trump gave his first tv, air quotes, interview, since losing the election. Instead of discussing how families are plagued by loss of life, loss of health, loss of financial security, President Trumps interview was riddled with lies and conspiracy theories and he was allowed to speak on tv with no pushback, no pushback from the person who conducted the interview and no major pushback from republicans in congress. Mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy. Lets be clear. President trump lost the election. His legal defeats are piling up and joe biden will become the next president of the United States in 51 days. With me now are White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins and, kaitlan, what is on the president s schedule today . Reporter not much, brooke. We actually havent seen the president hold that many public appearances since he lost that election. And hes only held probably a handful in the last few weeks and today the only thing on his schedule was a lunch with the Vice President which he does weekly, but other than that, he was not slated to appear in front of cameras. We only saw him this weekend when he went golfing and on his return from camp david where he was with his family. Of course, we continue to hear from the president in that interview, which was this rea y realreall realreally amounted to this airing of grievances youve heard from the president as hes continuing to lash out over the results of this election. What youre seeing today play out, something thats started to play out over the last few days is the president is taking his anger out on people who were once considered to be his allies. People like the governor of georgia, brian kemp, who the president went after yesterday saying he was ashamed to have endorsed him when he did, of course, in that governors race. Then he was tweeting at him today telling him he needed to use these nonexistent Emergency Powers to overrule the secretary of state there in georgia and the secretary of state pushed back on that saying what the president was asking for, another matching of ballots, signatures and the envelope, is impractical because they verify them once they arrive and separate them. Brian kemp who formalnormally dt push back on the president ,bo p out his own statement from his office saying he cannot interfere in the election and doesnt have the authority that the president is saying he does in his tweet. Seeing the president go after people like brian kemp, see him go after people like the official he installed as the person in charge of securing the election who sks of course, he later fired is this effort by the president to continue to push back on these results and say that, obviously, he does not like the way they turned out. Whether or not its changing the outcome, we know its not. No audit or recount or any legal challenge that youve seen on behalf of the president and his team has changed any of this. So hes going to continue to lash out, but, of course, materially, nothing is changing. Listen, if youre in georgia and you are a fan of this president , youre a republican and you have this president saying, you know, essentially i dont trust secretary of state, why am i going to go vote in that special election runoff . Im just wondering what republicans are thinking on all of that. Kaitlan, thank you. I want to pick up on that point and a couple others. Gloria borger is with me and sabrina siddiqui. Gloria, first to you. Lets big picture this first. When it comes to the current president , where are Mitch Mcconnell and other Senate Leaders . Somewhere sitting under a rock, i think. They they refuse to acknowledge the obvious, at least not publicly, and not out in the open, and thats because they are looking in the short term. Theyre not thinking about the president undermining democracy. I would bet that a lot of these people, most of these people, if not all of these people, believe that the election was free and fair. Maybe save for one or two. They dont want to poke the bear because theyre worried about georgia the bear lost. Huh . The bear lost. The bear the bear lost. And refuses to come out of hibernation. Okay. Thats enough of that metaphor. But the bear did lose and so, but theyre not going to say it because they dont want to anger him because he did win more than 70 million votes and they need him in georgia, if theyre going to win these runoffs, and so they dont want to do anything. They dont want to do anything where hes going to say, you know what, guys, i dont really care, go on without me. Listen, i get that they need him in georgia and yeah. Were reporting over the Holiday Weekend that he said hes going to go to georgia, sabine this a so brain th sabrina, this is for you. The president railed against Election Officials in georgia, the sec teretary of state whos republican, in a rare moment, put out a statement says the president is misleading with these half truths. How much might trump be hurting the republicans in this race, sabrina, as he continues to call the election process into question . Well, thats a concern that im hearing from a number of republicans ive spoken with who have expressed concern that President Trumps criticism of georgia and its process and repeated efforts to undermine the integrity of the outcome in georgia might dissuade some Republican Voters from showing up at the polls and control of the senate very much hangs in the balance and hinges on these two runoff elections on january 5th, and if you think about the 2020 election more broadly, one of the reasons that President Trump lost was because his campaign simply was not able to overcome the amount, the number of mailin ballots that were cast in favor of president elect joe biden. And it may be that the president s attacks on absentee ballots and mailin ballots may have caused his own supporters to not to trust the integrity of the electoral process going into the november general election. We already have seen that scenario play out to some extent. Thats something that republicans are very concerned about as they head into those allimportant runoff elections in georgia and just more broadly its not a good look when you have infighting within the Republican Party in the state that will very much determine control of the senate including from the two incumbent republicans who as we know called for georgias republican secretary of state to resign. Yes. Yes. Again, its controlling the u. S. Senate and thats why this matters so much, gloria. Is it incumbent upon other republicans in the senate to jump in here . I mean, Senate Republicans have a choice. Whether or not they speak up will have a direct impact, as sabrina said, in the fate of the u. S. Senate. What should those republican senators be saying . You know, they have a choice, but its not like its a sophies choice. Its an easy choice, to me. The choice is to say, lets move on, this election was not rigged, the one in georgia is going to be fair and not rigged, and you need to vote for if youre republicans saying this, the republican candidate. And, you know, theyre hoist on their own pitard. That they refuse to say the president ial election was safe, what what happens to them when they try to say, oh, that was the president ial but georgia will be sa safe. Thats why exactly. As sabrina said, theyre asking the chairman of the rnc, shouldnt we stay home . They created the situation with donald trump leading the way on this situation, im sure Mitch Mcconnell is nerve about it and unhappy about it, but because theyve refused to speak prior to this, its hard to see that they get anymore courage or decency now. And i think they got themselves in a pickle, brooke. Speaking of courage, last quick question to you, sabrina, you know, will congress get back to work this week and do something for the American People and get this stimulus plan done . Well, thats been the hope. I think its striking that even as we are seeing Record Numbers of new coronavirus cases across the country, and, of course, the Economic Impact of this ongoing pandemic, there still has not been another covid relief package that has been sent to the president s desk. The two parties still, of course, very much at odds over not only what a package might look like but whether there will be one by the years end at all, so, look, i think that, you know, the president as were noting is missing in action, himself. He has not in this nowlame duck session tried to use his influence or the bully pulpit to urge congress to pass some kind of relief for the American People. That may very well fall on the incoming administration, but there are still talks going on on capitol hill and certainly people are holding out hope as we have, you know, a Record Number of cases across the country that, perhaps, they might get something done by the end of the year or whether it falls on the new administration. That remines to be seen. We didnt need a reminder of how bad it is. I was talking to the mayor of houston on friday. Hed helped hand out 20,000 meals, a wonderful organization down there in texas. He was saying to me, brooke, the hardest part was all the people who passed up the free turkeys because they no longer have roofs over their heads. No longer have the ovens, the kitchens, in which to cook the turkeys. That is how bad it is and how much people need assistance. Sabrina and gloria, ladies, thank you both so much. Thanks, brooke. The nations Largest School district, new york city, is revealing its plan to reopen some schools which includes scrapping a key threshold and starting weekly testing for students. Should all schools follow suit . President obamas former education secretary will join me live, next. Liberty mutu they customize your Car Insurance so you only pay for what you need. Wow. That will save me lots of money. This games boring. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. With priceline, you can get up to 60 off amazing hotels. And when you get a big deal. You feel like a big deal. Priceline. Every trip is a big deal. Stayingtakes a plan. Ur game thats why at aetna, we take a total, connected approach to your health and wellness. With Medicare Advantage plans designed to surround you with the care you need every day. Aetna Medicare Advantage plans. [yawn] you. Look. Stunning. Want the truth to why i wake up feeling. [growls softly]. So darn awesome . 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Less than two weeks after making the controversial move to close new york citys Public Schools because of covid, mayor bill de blasio suddenly reversed himself announcing that one week from today, Elementary Schools in the nations Largest School district will begin to reopen in stages over time. Middle and high schools will remain closed. And as the percentage of people who tested positive for covid19 in both new york state and new york city topped 4 , the mayor announced the city is abandoning its 3 positive test threshold for closing schools. What happened was that that 3 standard after we had so much experience with the schools proved to be different than we thought it would be and then we said, what can we do now to sustain our schools for the long haul, all the way to having the vaccine present, decide we need a lot more testing and to make that in every school. That would be the difference maker. That was the new measure we needed. Lets get some perspective on all of this from former education secretary arne duncan. He served in that post during the obama administration. So, secretary duncan, welcome. Let me add, im glad you and your family have recovering or are recovering from your bouts with covid. I feel you. Welcome. Back at queyou. Thank you. Thank you. Weve seen new york citys reversal. It shows how each School District in each state as weve talked about is handling School Closures differently. Its certainly not a onesizefitsall thing. Do you believe all schools should remain open or should this be evaluated at the local level on a casebycase basis . This has to be done at the local level, brooke, its so complicated depending where you are and how prevalent the virus is in your community. Ive said repeatedly the schools arent islands, theyre not bubbles. The best ways to keep schools safe is to beat down this virus in the broader communities, across the country we havent done a good job of that, in schools, children have really suffered. I think youre going to see like new york, 15,000 School Districts around the country, trying to open, closing back down again, trying to open, closing back down again. This is going to be just a highly disruptive and Difficult School year probably all the way, you know, through the spring and maybe until the end of the school year in may and june. Here in new york city part of the partial reopening with Elementary School kids includes weekly testing of students. Every single student and staff member has to consent to weekly random covid testing. Can and should this be done on a nationwide level in schools . It absolutely should be done. I would argue, honestly, once a week is better than less than that. In a Perfect World youd be doing it two or three times a week. You know how quickly this creeps up on you and what youre trying to do, you cant stop all cases. Youre trying to mitigate and protect against, you know, fast and widespread, you know, numbers of folks getting this. So at a minimum once a week, but in a Perfect World would be more frequent than that to really try and keep those cases down. You have to quarantine and isolate and Contact Trace and do everything you can to try, to try to keep the physical schools open. One solution to some of this, i was talking to the legendary educator, jeffrey canada last week, and he is proposing, as these vaccines are presumably about to get green lit, that teachers are among the first wave of those who get the vaccine. He says best way to be able to, you know, open schools safely, keep them open. Secretary duncan, what do you think of that idea . Is it even feasible . I think its not just feasible. Its critical. Our teachers are essential workers just like those working, you know, the health professions. Just like those working if grocery stores. Teachers are on the front lines of this. So they should absolutely have access to it. The amount of stress and worry and anxiety that teachers and kids, parents are dealing with, are extraordinary. Whatever we can do to keep them safe and get our schools physically opened, we should absolutely commit to that as a country. No question about it. Last quick question, parents are obviously facing a tough choice. Youre a parent. You know this. Right . Should they risk their kids going to school and potentially getting sick or risk their kids falling behind because of Remote Learning . Whats your advice to parents . Well, again, it varies community by community and risk. Let me just say, brooke, these are very, very tough choices. No one wants their kids to be home. Kids want to be in a physical school. Those kids have to be safe. And not just they have to be safe, theyre going home to mom or grandma or grandfather with some preexisting conditions. As much as you might want to send the childing , it might no safe due to whats going on in your home. Health and safety has to come first. As critically important as education is, thats the second step in this process. Arne duncan, thank you, get better soon. Thanks so much. Thank you. President elect joe biden continues to make a big statement with his staff picks. Choosing women, all women, to lead the White House Senior Communications team and other key posts. That is next. [announcer] your typical vacuum has bristles that can leave cleaning gaps and wrap hair. So shark replaced them with flexible power fins to directly engage floors and dig deep into carpets. Pick up more on every pass with no hair wrap. Shark vertex with duoclean power fins. To customizes yourcan goCar Insurancetual. Com so you only pay for what you need . Really . I didnt aah ok. Im on vibrate. 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The incoming Biden Harris Administration is already making history and their choices for cabinet positions and other key office s in air administration represent another series of first. President elect joe biden named former Federal Reserve chairwoman janet yellen asy sec. He also named nerr argue tanerr. And Cecilia Rouse would be the first africanamerican woman to chair the council of economic advisers. Just yesterday, in another fi t first, biden named an allfemale Senior Communications team. Look at that picture. While there are certainly other several other women in key positions in the Current Administration, the Biden Harris Team really signaling their reliance on leadership and advice of women. Joining me now to discuss is lynn sweet, Washington Bureau chief of the chicago suntimes. Lynn, great to have you on, welcome. Hi, brooke. When it specifically comes to bidens comms team, the Washington Post notes, the allfemale team will instantly disrupt how journalists cover the administration at a time when mens views still typically dominate political and government coverage. Not that, again, previous administrations havent tried, but how Glass Ceiling shattering, lynn, are these picks . I think taken in their totality, the comms team plus the other women youre talking about means that these firsts are still being created and that means, brooke, we may have seconds. Thats always the point. Were speaking in the centennial year of women getting to vote, and 100 years later were still talking about firsts. So, i celebrate Glass Ceilings being broken by republicans or democrats because its time to bust all these ceilings and, yes, i mean, this team is very seasoned so they would shake things up no matter their gender but, yeah, they will have a very different sensibility. I think if i remember correctly in that first speech from Kamala Harris when she was talking on that stage about, you know, certainly being the first woman v. P. Pick, but also saying to the little girls out there, you know, i certainly wont be the last. Also worthy of a mention, lynn, the diversity not just within the comm shop, of course, his own as i mentioned v. P. Pick but his cabinet, black woman, latino american. What signal is his team trying to send to the American People just in terms of representation . Well, as Vice President elect harris has said, they are determined to have a cabinet that looks like america. Were coming off the almost allwhite male trump years, and if you want a cabinet, if you want an administration that looks like america, then that means youre going to have diversity. Biden was elected with a strong support of women, in general, black women, in particular. So, when you combine these two gaps, gender and diversity, these first picks, brooke, are showing a very good faith down payment on what the Biden Harris Administration wants to look like. I say down payment because theres a lot of other big jobs still to come. Agree. Lynn sweet, love that. The firsts leading to seconds. Thank you so much. Just a programming note for all of you you got it the new cnn film, president in waiting takes a very personal look at the role of the Vice President , saturday night, 9 00 eastern, only here on cnn. All eyes on georgia where the fight for control of the senate is gaining more and more attention by the day. And money by the day as well. Now President Trump is getting ready to campaign in that state next weekend. Well talk about that next. Youre all, youre all i need youre all, youre all i need as long as i got you then baby you know that youve got me, oh yea. You can earn your degree faster and for less with relevant Life Experience and eligible transfer credits. Because your experience matters. See how much you can save on your degree at phoenix. Edu. To high quality Computer Science and stem education. I joined amazon because i wanted to change education and i am impatient. Amazon gives me the resources to change the world at a pace that i want to change it. We provide students stem scholarships and teachers with support. Im a fighter and im fighting for all students. Ready to head to georgia this weekend. The states critical january 5th runoffs for the senate both of Georgia Senate seats will be decided and republican incumbents are facing tough challengers and this decides the fate of the u. S. Senate. In atlanta is kyung lah. Reporter this is an organized press conference by the oshoff campaign in order to seize on reporting from the New York Times last week that did a deep dive into the senators stock trading earlier this year. Now as the virus was gripping the country in late january, Senate Financial disclosures do show that is not perdue did sell off more than 1 million worth of stock. Now the stock at that point, was quite high. He then repurchased that stock six weeks later for a much lower price. What the oshoff campaign is saying is that the timing of all of this is, quote, suspicious and unethical. Senator perdue has repeatedly claimed that he doesnt control his daytoday stock trades. But federal agents secured banking records which revealed that senator perdue did, in fact, personally instruct stock trade. The truth is senator perdue did direct his investments personally. So every time he has said he is not personally responsible for profiting from this pandemic, he has been lying to you. Reporter now the Perdue Campaign in a statement said that these were simply baseless accusations and that they are being levied by the oshoff campaign for political gain. We should point out that the oshoff campaign certainly can say all of these things but that these stock trades were investigated by the department of justice, the s. E. C. , and the Bipartisan Senate Ethics Committee and they did not charge senator perdue with a crime. Quick followup for you. Is there debate scheduled this weekend. Will both candidates be there . Reporter well, senator perdue will not. He has already declined to be there. In his place is going to be an empty podium. That, again, was part of the oshoff attack this morning, saying if you really wanted to clear the air here, then he could show up and debated. Thank you. The candidates in the other Senate Runoff in georgia are both planning to show up for their final debate. Reverend Rafael Warnock goes headtohead with senator Kelly Loeffler sunday night at 7 00 p. M. Eastern on cnn. Two vaccines in the United States before christmas . That is a very real possibility according to the health and Human Services secretary alex azar. Who gets it first . We will be right back. You empty as little as once a month. And unlike standard robots that bounce around it cleans row by row. If its not a shark, its just a robot. Welcome to the lead. Im jake tapper. A key milestone for the biden presidency today. President elect joe biden and c. A. I. Kamala harris are receiving theirs fir daily update. Biden prepares to take office in less than two months. The transition process is delayed by outgoing President Trumps refusal to accept that he lost. Outgoing President Trump is continuing his baseless lies about the election even as chris krebs, the former Cyber Security czar at the Homeland Security is now publicly debunking many of the trump teams allegations but it is not just him. Official after official, democrat, republican, nonpartisan experts finding themselves responding to the deranged claims made by President Trump and his team. Here is Georgia Election official gabe sterling, a republican, earlier today. The