Transcripts For CNNW State Of The Union With Jake Tapper 202

How scared can we be . Pete buttigieg j joining us. The u. S. Scrambles to a sweeping cyber attack linked to russia. This is a major hack of our National Infrastructure sector. Reporter why is President Trump blaming someone other than putin . Ill speak with chris krebs. Hello. Im jake tapper in pennsylvania. T im jake tapper in washington. What an outgoing president can do in the final month of an office we are getting something of a an idea. Flynns proposal to declare martial law. Trump is talking about giving the powers of a special counsel to Attorney Sidney Powell whose crackpot conspiracies have been laughed courtroom after courtroom. And trumps attorney Rudy Giuliani has been asking officials of the department of Homeland Security about seizing voting machines. This as the United States suffered what experts are describing as a modern day cyber equivalent of pearl harbor that President Trump is dismissing as media hype and defending russia. The president is falsely using the cyber attack to his false conspiracy theories about the election. All of this as the country is facing a dark reality in the coronavirus pandemic. Record cases. Record hospitalizations. Record deaths. And key model now projecting that the virus will kill well over 500,000 people in the United States by april. Still, there are signs of hope. Overnight, lawmakers on capitol hill reached and agreement on a key dispute and on the brink of a relief bill to help shipments. The first shots could be in arms as soon as tomorrow making the u. S. The first country in the world with two vaccines deployed against this horrific pandemic. Im going to start this morning on the pandemic. Joining me now, is dr. Moncef slaoui. Thank you for joining us. The u. S. Just reported a new record of nearly 250,000 cases on friday, new cases. Almost 3,000 americans are dying every day. Is it going to get even worse than that . Could we see up to 5,000 deaths a day . First, i think, unfortunately, it will get worse because we still are experiencing the outcome of the thanksgiving holidays and the gatherings and, unfortunately, there may be more with the christmas over the christmas holidays, so there will be a continuing surge. Exactly what the numbers may be, i dont know. But, unfortunately, they are going to be higher than what they are today, most likely. As you were saying, there is light at the end of the tunnel. There are now two vaccines that are approved. They are incredibly effective and efficacious and they could be targeted first to the people who help us stay healthy the Health Care Workers and particularly those are in the front line with taking care of coronavirus patients. And on the other hand, to the most frayed part of the population, people, elderly people that are in homes and are suffering from this pandemic most. So hopefully it will get better after getting worse. Absolutely a light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to the efforts of you and the scientists for operation warp speed. I want to ask you. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is now imposing stricter guidelines because a new variant of coronavirus may be 70 more transmissible than the early straighten. Do you think that variant is here in the u. S. And what can you tell us about it . So we dont know yet. We are, of course, particularly the nih and cdc looking very carefully into this p. M. Many, many strains of the virus are sequenced all the time. This is virus is called rna virus, this is an approach to being a virus that is prone to more mistakes in the way rna is made than when its a dna virus and, therefore, there will be variance. The key is that the spike protein requires really very, very specific i mentioned structure that makes it hard for it to mutate too much. So up to now, i dont think there has been a single variant that would be resistant to the vaccine. We cant exclude it but its not there now. This particular variant in the uk, i think, is very unlikely to have escaped the vaccine immunicipality. Reporter okay. So youre confident that the vaccines we have, pfizer and moderna, will also protect against any of these new variants we are hearing about, whether in the uk or south africa . You can never say never in science. So there could be, at some point, something that helps the virus to escape. Because of the spike protein, the chances that all of them change, i think, are low. But they are not in existence, they are not there now. Many states say that they are not getting all of the vaccines they were promised. I want you to take a listen to your operation warp speed counterpart general gus perna just yesterday. It was my fault. I gave guidance. I am the one that approved the forecast sheets. I am the one that approved the allocations. It was a planning error and i am responsible. First of all, let me just say how refreshing it is to hear anyone in leadership in the United States government take responsibility for a mistake. Beyond that, though, what can you tell us about when this is going to be fixed so the states get what they need . Let me first acknowledge, indeed, the leadership of general perna. We work every day together and he is an exceptional leader, absolutely. I think he has been brave to take this on him personally. We all made the error or mistake of assuming that vaccine that is actually produced and being released is already available for shipment when, in fact, there is a two days lag between the time we generate a lot of data that shows this vaccine vial is actually safe and right, and the time we can ship the fda has to receive certain documentation, and that is really where that lag period has resulted in differences in between what was in the plan and what was actually done. I think we have addressed that. We will optimize every day what we are doing. We now are clear that we will be shipping 5. 9 million doses of the Moderna Vaccine and 2 million doses of the Pfizer Vaccine on monday and that is what will happen. And we are increasing the level communication with the governors in order to make sure that, you know, there are no mistakes that happen or miscommunication. We will work and learn from our mistakes every day and our focus is to make sure we get American People as many vaccine doses as are produced. Now, i do want to say, jake, that i explained this a few times. Manufacturing vaccines at very large scale is a very complex process. We are doing the companies moderna and pfizer and later on the others are doing Everything Possible to make sure everything happens as per planned. But i do want to make clear to everybody that this is not making watches. This is making living things or at least involving living things in the way we produce vaccines and we dont control everything 100 . And unless its perfectly right, we will not release vaccine doses for usage, and sometimes there could be small hiccups. There have been none actually in manufacturing now. The hiccup was more into the plan. Look. Dont get me wrong. With that kind of transparency i think is very welcome among the American People and everybody understands how difficult a task this is and how well its been pulled out. Pulled off. The fda granted emergency use authorization to the Moderna Vaccine this week. When do you expect the first shot of that vaccine toing into the first arm . First of all, its most likely to be tomorrow morning. Im thrilled for moderna, as i was thrilled for pfizer. I can see that science, in a way, is an equalizer. The Largest Pharmaceutical Company in the world and not so small any more, biotech is coming a week apart to help our population to start or at least have the prospects of controlling this pandemic. I think its outstanding and we look forward to the vaccine. Its going to be slightly easier to distribute because it doesnt require as low temperature as pfizer, and, yeah, monday morning. Hospital in illinois has temporary paused vaccinations this weekend after four Health Care Workers experienced tingling and elevated heart rates after receiving the vaccines. Therapy since reap assumed. Three Health Care Workers in alaska that experienced reactions. I dont want alarmist about these. All three are okay. How concerned should the American People be . So, first, i think what is very important to note here is the system that capture the safety of the vaccine as we used in the general population, is functioning very well in every single case is immediately identified and documented. Second, we are looking into this and i know the cdc and the fda are very, very carefully looking into the situation to correct these events. Some of them could be an an fa lattic shot. The keys we are aware of it now. The need to be in the areas where vaccination is happening, the right equipment to help people if they were to have an anaphylactic shock and for instance and epi pen where you make the injection and feel prepared. These are the kind of events that can be dealt with. We will continue to try and understand what is it in the vaccine that induces this, if there is something that induces this specific. We should just underline that everybody that has had any sort of adverse reaction, and its a very, very small number. All of them are okay and all of it was dealt with epi pen or some other medicine. Vice president mike pence was vaccinated on friday a. Youre saying people who have had the virus like President Trump, they should still get vaccinated . So what we know, jake, and its a really important question, because a lot of people have been affected with decease or without disease. What we know it is safe to being immunized after being exposed to the virus and that has happened in the clinical trials. People participateding in the trial had the virus or had the virus at the time of being vaccinated. It is safe. On the other hand, we know infection doesnt induce a strong response and it wanes over time. So as, i think as a clear precaution, it is appropriate to be vaccinated because its safe. It will induce a much higher immune response and ensure in case, infection doesnt induce longlasting protection and it allow to have better protection. I think people should be vaccinated, indeed. Lastly, in addition to being a fellow eagles fan, i should note that youre an immigrant as are many key figures in this amazing vaccine accomplishment. You were born in morocco. The ceo of pfizer is from greece and the ceo of moderna is from france and the founder of moderna is from lebanon. Its incredible how many immigrants have contributed to this incredible achievement by the United States. Listen. This is what we all are about, america, which its a country that is welcoming and i hope it will continue to welcome immigrants like all of the people that you have cited there. Opportunities are enormous. The possibilities are, frankly, limit is. Im very excited to be a moroccan, belgian and american but its the full potential of frankly what i could achieve in life has taken place and that great for america and its great for the world and all of the people you said, i know personally, and i know we all feel, at the same time american and proud of our origins. We are lucky to have you. Thank you so much. Big game later today against the cardinals and im sure i will be watching and rooting the same time as you. Likewise. Time is running out. Congress made a breakthrough overnight but will there be a deal today . Republican senator mitt romney joins me next. Bidens transportation pete, Pete Buttigieg joins me exclusively in moments. When i was laid off. It was absolutely terrifying. I felt like i was just fighting an uphill battle in my career. As a little kid i knew that i wanted to work with computers. So when i heard about the applied Digital Skills courses, that definitely appealed to me. Youre learning how to create spreadsheets, documents, forms and surveys. Im thinking i can become more marketable. I got to about the third course and im like, you know, i probably could do this for a living. You dont need to be a computer expert to be great at this. These are skills lots and lots of people can learn. I feel hopeful about the future now. Its empowering to have that knowledge that nobody can take away from you. Balanced nutrition for strength and energy. Whoohoo great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. Women with metastatic webreast cancer,. Standing in the struggle. Hustling through the hurt. Asking for science, not sorrys. Our time. For more time. Has come. Living longer is possible and proven in women taking kisqali plus fulvestrant or a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor. Kisqali is the only treatment in its class with proven overall survival results in 2 clinical trials. Helping women live longer with hr , her2 metastatic breast cancer. Kisqali was also significantly more effective at delaying disease progression. Versus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. Kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. It can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness. Yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills,. Or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. Avoid grapefruit during treatment. Kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. Its our time. To continue to shine. Because we are the thrivers. Ask your doctor about kisqali, the only treatment in its class proven to help women live longer in 2 clinical trials. Man 1 vo proof of less joint pain woman 1 oc this is my body of proof. And clearer skin. Man 2 vo proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis. Woman 2 vo . With humira. Woman 3 vo humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. Avo humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Man 3 vo ask your rheumatologist about humira. Woman 4 vo go to humira. Com to see proof in action. Welcome back to state of the union. Im jake tapper. After months of negotiations, stretching into the early hours of this morning, leaders on capitol hill now say votes could come as soon as today on a 900 billion dollar relief package. This would help millions of americans whose comehecks from American Government are expected to stop in the day. Joining is mitt romney. Good to see you. Thanks for joining us. I want to get to that relief bill in one second. First i have to ask you President Trump held a meeting on friday in which he reportedly discussed with his sgrafed former National Security adviser Michael Flynn martial law and force new elections in states that biden lost and discuss appointing Sidney Powell and issuing an executive order to seize voting machines. This is, needless to say, quite alarming and scary to hooa lot people. What will senate to do to make sure this doesnt happen . Its going to happen. Itsing going nowhere. Its really sad in a lot of respects and embarrassing because the president could, right now, be writing the last chapter of this administration with a victory lap with regards to the vaccine. He pushed aggressively to get the vaccine developed and distributed that is happening on a quick time frame. He could be championing this story but instead leaving washington with conspiracy theories and things so nutty and loopy that people are shaking their head wondering in the world has gotten into this man . I think that is unfortunate because he has more accomplishments than this last chapter suggests. He is going to be known for. I know youre eager to talk about the stimulus negotiations. It seems like there was a major breakthrough last night. Do you believe there is going to be a deal today . Well, i believe there is going to be a deal. There are always sticking points but the big one was resolved last night very late and over the past, if you know, several weeks, there has been a lot of work done. Of course, it should have happened a long time ago. But, you know, we got a group together about four weeks ago that sat down and said, hey, we got to find a way to get some progress here, four republicans, four democrats, we met time and time and time again. We came up with a 900 billion roughly proposal and that was picked up by leadership on both sides and they are working on some additional points but i think it will get done and get done before christmas. One of the major sticking points has been the size of the direct payments to americans. President trump weighed in last night tweeting that congress should send more money. Where does that stand . Is it still, do you think, going to be at about 600 per individual . Yeah. Its going to be 600 and it would be nice to be even more than that but i think there is a recognition on the part of those of us that worked on this deal that our highest priority is to get people who are worried about keeping their job and so getting, if you will, help to Small Businesses is critical. Helping people unemployed have extension of Unemployment Benefits and also National Infrastructure<\/a> sector. Reporter why is President Trump<\/a> blaming someone other than putin . Ill speak with chris krebs. Hello. Im jake tapper in pennsylvania. T im jake tapper in washington. What an outgoing president can do in the final month of an office we are getting something of a an idea. Flynns proposal to declare martial law. Trump is talking about giving the powers of a special counsel to Attorney Sidney Powell<\/a> whose crackpot conspiracies have been laughed courtroom after courtroom. And trumps attorney Rudy Giuliani<\/a> has been asking officials of the department of Homeland Security<\/a> about seizing voting machines. This as the United States<\/a> suffered what experts are describing as a modern day cyber equivalent of pearl harbor that President Trump<\/a> is dismissing as media hype and defending russia. The president is falsely using the cyber attack to his false conspiracy theories about the election. All of this as the country is facing a dark reality in the coronavirus pandemic. Record cases. Record hospitalizations. Record deaths. And key model now projecting that the virus will kill well over 500,000 people in the United States<\/a> by april. Still, there are signs of hope. Overnight, lawmakers on capitol hill reached and agreement on a key dispute and on the brink of a relief bill to help shipments. The first shots could be in arms as soon as tomorrow making the u. S. The first country in the world with two vaccines deployed against this horrific pandemic. Im going to start this morning on the pandemic. Joining me now, is dr. Moncef slaoui. Thank you for joining us. The u. S. Just reported a new record of nearly 250,000 cases on friday, new cases. Almost 3,000 americans are dying every day. Is it going to get even worse than that . Could we see up to 5,000 deaths a day . First, i think, unfortunately, it will get worse because we still are experiencing the outcome of the thanksgiving holidays and the gatherings and, unfortunately, there may be more with the christmas over the christmas holidays, so there will be a continuing surge. Exactly what the numbers may be, i dont know. But, unfortunately, they are going to be higher than what they are today, most likely. As you were saying, there is light at the end of the tunnel. There are now two vaccines that are approved. They are incredibly effective and efficacious and they could be targeted first to the people who help us stay healthy the Health Care Workers<\/a> and particularly those are in the front line with taking care of coronavirus patients. And on the other hand, to the most frayed part of the population, people, elderly people that are in homes and are suffering from this pandemic most. So hopefully it will get better after getting worse. Absolutely a light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to the efforts of you and the scientists for operation warp speed. I want to ask you. British Prime Minister<\/a> Boris Johnson<\/a> is now imposing stricter guidelines because a new variant of coronavirus may be 70 more transmissible than the early straighten. Do you think that variant is here in the u. S. And what can you tell us about it . So we dont know yet. We are, of course, particularly the nih and cdc looking very carefully into this p. M. Many, many strains of the virus are sequenced all the time. This is virus is called rna virus, this is an approach to being a virus that is prone to more mistakes in the way rna is made than when its a dna virus and, therefore, there will be variance. The key is that the spike protein requires really very, very specific i mentioned structure that makes it hard for it to mutate too much. So up to now, i dont think there has been a single variant that would be resistant to the vaccine. We cant exclude it but its not there now. This particular variant in the uk, i think, is very unlikely to have escaped the vaccine immunicipality. Reporter okay. So youre confident that the vaccines we have, pfizer and moderna, will also protect against any of these new variants we are hearing about, whether in the uk or south africa . You can never say never in science. So there could be, at some point, something that helps the virus to escape. Because of the spike protein, the chances that all of them change, i think, are low. But they are not in existence, they are not there now. Many states say that they are not getting all of the vaccines they were promised. I want you to take a listen to your operation warp speed counterpart general gus perna just yesterday. It was my fault. I gave guidance. I am the one that approved the forecast sheets. I am the one that approved the allocations. It was a planning error and i am responsible. First of all, let me just say how refreshing it is to hear anyone in leadership in the United States<\/a> government take responsibility for a mistake. Beyond that, though, what can you tell us about when this is going to be fixed so the states get what they need . Let me first acknowledge, indeed, the leadership of general perna. We work every day together and he is an exceptional leader, absolutely. I think he has been brave to take this on him personally. We all made the error or mistake of assuming that vaccine that is actually produced and being released is already available for shipment when, in fact, there is a two days lag between the time we generate a lot of data that shows this vaccine vial is actually safe and right, and the time we can ship the fda has to receive certain documentation, and that is really where that lag period has resulted in differences in between what was in the plan and what was actually done. I think we have addressed that. We will optimize every day what we are doing. We now are clear that we will be shipping 5. 9 million doses of the Moderna Vaccine<\/a> and 2 million doses of the Pfizer Vaccine<\/a> on monday and that is what will happen. And we are increasing the level communication with the governors in order to make sure that, you know, there are no mistakes that happen or miscommunication. We will work and learn from our mistakes every day and our focus is to make sure we get American People<\/a> as many vaccine doses as are produced. Now, i do want to say, jake, that i explained this a few times. Manufacturing vaccines at very large scale is a very complex process. We are doing the companies moderna and pfizer and later on the others are doing Everything Possible<\/a> to make sure everything happens as per planned. But i do want to make clear to everybody that this is not making watches. This is making living things or at least involving living things in the way we produce vaccines and we dont control everything 100 . And unless its perfectly right, we will not release vaccine doses for usage, and sometimes there could be small hiccups. There have been none actually in manufacturing now. The hiccup was more into the plan. Look. Dont get me wrong. With that kind of transparency i think is very welcome among the American People<\/a> and everybody understands how difficult a task this is and how well its been pulled out. Pulled off. The fda granted emergency use authorization to the Moderna Vaccine<\/a> this week. When do you expect the first shot of that vaccine toing into the first arm . First of all, its most likely to be tomorrow morning. Im thrilled for moderna, as i was thrilled for pfizer. I can see that science, in a way, is an equalizer. The Largest Pharmaceutical Company<\/a> in the world and not so small any more, biotech is coming a week apart to help our population to start or at least have the prospects of controlling this pandemic. I think its outstanding and we look forward to the vaccine. Its going to be slightly easier to distribute because it doesnt require as low temperature as pfizer, and, yeah, monday morning. Hospital in illinois has temporary paused vaccinations this weekend after four Health Care Workers<\/a> experienced tingling and elevated heart rates after receiving the vaccines. Therapy since reap assumed. Three Health Care Workers<\/a> in alaska that experienced reactions. I dont want alarmist about these. All three are okay. How concerned should the American People<\/a> be . So, first, i think what is very important to note here is the system that capture the safety of the vaccine as we used in the general population, is functioning very well in every single case is immediately identified and documented. Second, we are looking into this and i know the cdc and the fda are very, very carefully looking into the situation to correct these events. Some of them could be an an fa lattic shot. The keys we are aware of it now. The need to be in the areas where vaccination is happening, the right equipment to help people if they were to have an anaphylactic shock and for instance and epi pen where you make the injection and feel prepared. These are the kind of events that can be dealt with. We will continue to try and understand what is it in the vaccine that induces this, if there is something that induces this specific. We should just underline that everybody that has had any sort of adverse reaction, and its a very, very small number. All of them are okay and all of it was dealt with epi pen or some other medicine. Vice president mike pence was vaccinated on friday a. Youre saying people who have had the virus like President Trump<\/a>, they should still get vaccinated . So what we know, jake, and its a really important question, because a lot of people have been affected with decease or without disease. What we know it is safe to being immunized after being exposed to the virus and that has happened in the clinical trials. People participateding in the trial had the virus or had the virus at the time of being vaccinated. It is safe. On the other hand, we know infection doesnt induce a strong response and it wanes over time. So as, i think as a clear precaution, it is appropriate to be vaccinated because its safe. It will induce a much higher immune response and ensure in case, infection doesnt induce longlasting protection and it allow to have better protection. I think people should be vaccinated, indeed. Lastly, in addition to being a fellow eagles fan, i should note that youre an immigrant as are many key figures in this amazing vaccine accomplishment. You were born in morocco. The ceo of pfizer is from greece and the ceo of moderna is from france and the founder of moderna is from lebanon. Its incredible how many immigrants have contributed to this incredible achievement by the United States<\/a>. Listen. This is what we all are about, america, which its a country that is welcoming and i hope it will continue to welcome immigrants like all of the people that you have cited there. Opportunities are enormous. The possibilities are, frankly, limit is. Im very excited to be a moroccan, belgian and american but its the full potential of frankly what i could achieve in life has taken place and that great for america and its great for the world and all of the people you said, i know personally, and i know we all feel, at the same time american and proud of our origins. We are lucky to have you. Thank you so much. Big game later today against the cardinals and im sure i will be watching and rooting the same time as you. Likewise. Time is running out. Congress made a breakthrough overnight but will there be a deal today . Republican senator mitt romney joins me next. Bidens transportation pete, Pete Buttigieg<\/a> joins me exclusively in moments. When i was laid off. It was absolutely terrifying. I felt like i was just fighting an uphill battle in my career. As a little kid i knew that i wanted to work with computers. So when i heard about the applied Digital Skills<\/a> courses, that definitely appealed to me. Youre learning how to create spreadsheets, documents, forms and surveys. Im thinking i can become more marketable. I got to about the third course and im like, you know, i probably could do this for a living. You dont need to be a computer expert to be great at this. These are skills lots and lots of people can learn. I feel hopeful about the future now. Its empowering to have that knowledge that nobody can take away from you. Balanced nutrition for strength and energy. Whoohoo great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. Women with metastatic webreast cancer,. Standing in the struggle. Hustling through the hurt. Asking for science, not sorrys. Our time. For more time. Has come. Living longer is possible and proven in women taking kisqali plus fulvestrant or a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor. Kisqali is the only treatment in its class with proven overall survival results in 2 clinical trials. Helping women live longer with hr , her2 metastatic breast cancer. Kisqali was also significantly more effective at delaying disease progression. Versus a nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. Kisqali can cause lung problems or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. It can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. Tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness. Yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills,. Or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. Avoid grapefruit during treatment. Kisqali is not approved for use with tamoxifen. Its our time. To continue to shine. Because we are the thrivers. Ask your doctor about kisqali, the only treatment in its class proven to help women live longer in 2 clinical trials. Man 1 vo proof of less joint pain woman 1 oc this is my body of proof. And clearer skin. Man 2 vo proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis. Woman 2 vo . With humira. Woman 3 vo humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. Avo humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Man 3 vo ask your rheumatologist about humira. Woman 4 vo go to humira. Com to see proof in action. Welcome back to state of the union. Im jake tapper. After months of negotiations, stretching into the early hours of this morning, leaders on capitol hill now say votes could come as soon as today on a 900 billion dollar relief package. This would help millions of americans whose comehecks from American Government<\/a> are expected to stop in the day. Joining is mitt romney. Good to see you. Thanks for joining us. I want to get to that relief bill in one second. First i have to ask you President Trump<\/a> held a meeting on friday in which he reportedly discussed with his sgrafed former National Security<\/a> adviser Michael Flynn<\/a> martial law and force new elections in states that biden lost and discuss appointing Sidney Powell<\/a> and issuing an executive order to seize voting machines. This is, needless to say, quite alarming and scary to hooa lot people. What will senate to do to make sure this doesnt happen . Its going to happen. Itsing going nowhere. Its really sad in a lot of respects and embarrassing because the president could, right now, be writing the last chapter of this administration with a victory lap with regards to the vaccine. He pushed aggressively to get the vaccine developed and distributed that is happening on a quick time frame. He could be championing this story but instead leaving washington with conspiracy theories and things so nutty and loopy that people are shaking their head wondering in the world has gotten into this man . I think that is unfortunate because he has more accomplishments than this last chapter suggests. He is going to be known for. I know youre eager to talk about the stimulus negotiations. It seems like there was a major breakthrough last night. Do you believe there is going to be a deal today . Well, i believe there is going to be a deal. There are always sticking points but the big one was resolved last night very late and over the past, if you know, several weeks, there has been a lot of work done. Of course, it should have happened a long time ago. But, you know, we got a group together about four weeks ago that sat down and said, hey, we got to find a way to get some progress here, four republicans, four democrats, we met time and time and time again. We came up with a 900 billion roughly proposal and that was picked up by leadership on both sides and they are working on some additional points but i think it will get done and get done before christmas. One of the major sticking points has been the size of the direct payments to americans. President trump weighed in last night tweeting that congress should send more money. Where does that stand . Is it still, do you think, going to be at about 600 per individual . Yeah. Its going to be 600 and it would be nice to be even more than that but i think there is a recognition on the part of those of us that worked on this deal that our highest priority is to get people who are worried about keeping their job and so getting, if you will, help to Small Businesses<\/a> is critical. Helping people unemployed have extension of Unemployment Benefits<\/a> and also Housing Support<\/a> and then, of course, the cost of Vaccine Distribution<\/a> needs to be covered. We want to keep airlines flying, buses going, transit systems going. All of these things are very, very high priority. So the check is going to be roughly 600 a person and that will help, although i know people would like it to be a larger number. Reporter lets go to the massive ongoing cyberattack against the United States<\/a> which affected countless agencies and your colleague senator marco rubio said it was an essentially an act of warrior and crow called it a cyberequivalent of pearl harbor. Is that how you see it . Its extraordinarily severe and actually tom bossert the president s national Homeland Security<\/a> adviser said you couldnt overstate how serious this attack was. And its an invasion of kinds on our cyberspace. If you think back 20 years ago when we were attacking baghdad, you saw these cruise missiles launched from ship going across the landscape and taking out the communications tauowers and utility towers and you can cripple a country by doing that. Russia has put in place to cripple our electricity, our power, our communications. This is the same sort of thing one can do in a war time setting so its extraordinarily dangerous and its an outrageous front on our sovereignty and has to be met with a strong response, not just rhetorical but size response of magnitude or great. White house officials were prepared to blame russia on this hack on from i but told to stands do you. Yesterday, President Trump<\/a> tweeted the cyberhack is great in the media than actuality. Russia russia is the priority chance when anything happens because lamestream is petrified off discussing the possibility that it may be china. This is a long pattern throughout the Trump Presidency<\/a> of President Trump<\/a> refusing to hold russia accountable even though you and tom bossert and the secretary of state mike pompeo have all said this is rus russia. What is your response to the president s tweet . The president has a blind spot when it comes to russia and so you can expect that is the response he would have. But whether it comes to matters of intrusion into our cyberspace i frankly look to the experts because im not an expert on that dimension. And the experts, the thousands upon thousands who work at the department of defense and the intelligence unit, the cia, the National Security<\/a> administration, and others who have looked at this said, there is no question its come from russia. They have done this sort of thing before and they have done it again. And what it underscores is russia acts with impunity with regards these cyberattacks because they dont think we have the capacity to respond in like measure. They also recognize that our defense is inadequate. And they have come to recognize that what will come from the white house will not be the kind of rhetoric which would be jarring. So this is a big wakeup call for us and i think we are going to have to really rethink our military and National Security<\/a> readiness when it comes to cyberspace. This is the war fare of the future and i hope we get ourselves up to the capacity you would expect, the strongest, greatest nation on earth to have. Former white house cybersecurity czar Richard Clark<\/a> told me a few days something similar to what you just said that there arent many options left for sanctions. The only way for russia to take a seriously is to hurt them back in the cybersphere. I have to ask. When you ran for president in 2012, president obama and his team mocked you for saying that russia was the number one geo political faux of the United States<\/a>. You were proven correct about that. A lot of those same people who mocked you in 2012 are about to take over the Foreign Policy<\/a> of the United States<\/a>. Do you think they now agree that russia is the number one geo political foe of the United States<\/a> or at least one of the top two with china . I do, actually. You know . I had the chance to be madeleine albright, former secretary of state under the obama administration, and she said you were right and we didnt recognize it at the time and she said, but you were right. It was nice to hear but i would have rather seen the actions taken then that would have prevented the kind of things from occurring that we have seen over the last several years. But i think that president elect biden is a cleareyed and intelligent individual and hell assess russia in an appropriate raise but i think hell recognize and recognize that china is the longterm threat to america. Russia is a gas station parading as a country as john mccain used to say and they got extraordinary difficulties and they are lashing out in a moment of decline. China, of course, is emerging stronger and stronger and presents an extraordinary threat to freedom around the world and to our prosperity here. And so that is going to be the more significant challenge that will be faced by a new president. I have confidence that the people around the president , the president elect and the president elect, himself, will recognize the severity of what we face on the global front. Senator, youre consistently one of the only republicans in washington willing to criticize President Trump<\/a> and break with your party on issues of principle. There are two or three guys in the house. Youre pretty alone in the senate. Republican leaders have either remained silent or actively supported the president s deranged claims about the election. Do you still recognize the Republican Party<\/a> . Well, the party has taken a different course than, obviously, the one that my as a younger person. I mean the party i knew was very concerned about russia and putin and kim jongun and north korea and we pushed back aggressively against them and a party concerned about the budget and believed trade with other nations and we were happy to play a leadership role on the world stage because we felt it made us safer and more prosperous and we believed character was essential in the leaders we chose. We strayed from that and i dont see us returning to that for a long time. As i look at the 2024 contenders much are trying to become as much like donald trump as they can be although i must say his style and shtick is difficult to duplicate. He is an extraordinary talented person from that standpoint. I represent a very small slice of the Republican Party<\/a> today. Everybody has to stand up what they believe and i believe my colleagues are doing what they think is right. Do you ever think about believing the Republican Party<\/a> as congressman Paul Mitchell<\/a> did to protest the attacks on democracy that the Republican Party<\/a> and President Trump<\/a> are doing right now . I think im more effective in the Republican Party<\/a>, continuing to battle for the things i believe in and i think ultimately the Republican Party<\/a> will return to the roots that have been formed over well, the century. So we will get back at some point and hopefully people will recognize we need to take a different course than the one we are on right now. Senator romney, Merry Christmas<\/a> and best wishes to you and ann and your whole family for 2021. Thank you for joining us today. Thanks, jake. Good to be with you. He says hell fickets the longest running joke of the trump white house. Can mayor Pete Buttigieg<\/a> save it dshea i live in south jamaica, born and raised. Im a doordasher, im a momma with a special needs child, she is the love of my life. Doordash provides so much flexibility. If something happens with her, where i need to be home, i can just log out and just say okay, my family needs me. I dont have to answer to nobody. I dont want to be nobodys employee. I do what i want, im independent. Independent lady. Thats what i like about it. Welcome back to state of the union. Im jake tapper. Pete buttigieg is called a new voice to move past old politics. Joining me now, for his first interview since his nomination was announced the former mayor of south bend, indiana. Do we call you mayor beat or what do you want us to see here . Ill always answer to mayor pe pete. What is err reaction to Michael Flynn<\/a>s and what is biden about what President Trump<\/a> might do in the next month before january 20th . Well, obviously, its irresponsible and its dangerous. At the end of the day this is a country of laws and the American People<\/a> have spoken. The election took place. Vice President Biden<\/a> became president elect biden and he will become President Biden<\/a> on inauguration day. I just hope across the party and across the country there is an understanding about how important it is that we remain committed to democracy. It is the cornerstone of what it is to be american and we have got to get back to that. Youre a veteran. Were you alarmed when the secretary of the army and the chief of staff of the army felt the need to come out and say there is no role for the army, for the military in the elections . They did that on friday, i think. Yeah. And they shouldnt have had to, but it is also reassuring to know that the professionals, the people in the uniformed services, the Public Servants<\/a> and civil servants, understand what their job is. Again, therapy going to follow the law and the law makes very clear what happens next. And the presidency that is to follow. You will be the first openly gay person to serve in a Senate Confirmed<\/a> cabinet secretary position. You will also be the first millennial cabinet member. Does this do these milestones mean something to you personally . Absolutely. You know, i mentioned in the remarks when president elect biden introduced my proposed nomination. You know, i can remember being a teenager in indiana in the 90s watching on the news an an appoint of president clinton. James hormel was put forward and couldnt get a hearing in the senate and attacked relentlessly because he was gay. And, you know, i wasnt even out to myself at that time but i noticed that story. Over the weekend, having mentioned his stotory. I tracked down the former ambassador and called him. He did get to serve in the end only by a recess appointment. He said that he made sure that he asked to be put forward for something that would have to go to the senate, knowing full well what would happen, because he knew that that would chip away at that barrier for the next person to come along. And so i was mindful as that announcement came out that i was standing on the shoulders of people who came before me and i understand that part of my responsibility and my opportunity is to make it a little bit easier for the next person to come along and i hope they are young people who may have wandmaybe given reasons to whether they belong in their own families or communities and the message that the president elect when he creates a place of belonging at a place like the cabinet table in the white house. Now potentially youll be cabinet secretary if youre confirmed by the senate. Your new boss joe biden criticized your lack of experience in the primaries. Take a listen. Both former Vice President<\/a> and mayor pete have helped shape our economy. It led the passage and implementation of the recovery act saving our economy from a depression. Pete buttigieg revitalized the sidewalks of Downtown South<\/a> bend by laying out decorative brick. As mayor, you oversaw a City Government<\/a> with roughly thousand employees and now youre leading a department has nearly 60,000 employees nationwide. Are you confident you do have enough experience to take on this role . I am and im thankful for the president elects confidence. Look. This is a different job. It also brings different resources and different opportunity and it comes at a moment where the American People<\/a> are ready for us to finally actually do something with infrastructure. We cant keep letting infrastructure week be a washington punch line. This is a moment when we have a chance to answer to something i think people in republican and democratic and purple communities and rural and urban understand which americans shouldnt settle for less when it comes to our roads and our bridges and highways and trains and all of the infrastructure that really powers our economy and creates so many livelihoods. Im looking forward to joining the team that president elect biden is assembling and working with folks around the country, business, labor, environmental groups, and, of course, with congress to actually get something done. The biden team is reportedly already laying the groundwork for a major infrastructure bill within bidens first year in office and it could be one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement left in washington, although, of course, a deal has remained out of reach for years and as you know a running joke under President Trump<\/a>. Is a deal possible and what else would you focus on as transportation secretary, in addition to a major infrastructure bill . A deal is not just possible, its necessary. Again, americans shouldnt settle for less than our peers around the developed world when it comes to the Infrastructure Resources<\/a> that we really count on. And that is part of the mayors eye view, i think, too, when you come from that background in a Community Like<\/a> mine where daily life is shaped by transportation, but so is our economy. And that is true in so many parts of the country. So when i think about the opportunities ahead, im thinking about jobs and economic opportunity. Im thinking about climate. There is no way we are going to have what we must do as a country unless we move the transportation sector forward, and you look at what america is capable of on everything from electric Vehicle Production<\/a> to what we could be doing with our power infrastructure. The opportunity is huge. There is also an opportunity and an imperative when it comes tow justice. Its disproportionately back and brown project plowing through them sometimes they didnt have the capital to resist or sometimes nothing all and coming to the low neighborhoods. We have a chance to get that right. Enhancing equity and delivering on climate and creating jobs across the departments fundamental mission of, of course, ensuring safety and a lot we have to look at not just with traveler safety but the safety of the many workers who are working in transportation and that field. In general, but especially now. You know, when we think about front line workers and workers involved at the tip of the spear of covid. We think a lot about Health Care Workers<\/a>, folks in the Food Industry<\/a> and rightly so. But also think about how many people are indispensable to the vaccine supply chain and just to americas economy functioning . We have got to make sure that we are looking after their safety too, especially to get through this first year which will really be a test of this country in conquering covid. In addition to focusing on transportation, i am sure that you, as an experienced politician, will be asked for your advice on other matters and i have to ask. President elects son hunter has acknowledged he is under investigation by the attorney general in delaware. I know your focus is on transportation but youre an experienced police statiotician. How should Biden Administration<\/a> handle this that the American People<\/a> can be confident its done in a free and fair manner without any undue influence . We are emerging from four years of all sorts of swampy deals which it comes to investigations and pardons and commutations when it comes to the president s allies and such. What is the best way for president elect to handle the investigation into his son. Should there be a special counsel . What do you think . Its simple. Its that politics and personal concerns ought to have absolutely nothing to do with investigations. And that is something youre going to see in the Biden Administration<\/a>. We elected a president who is going to bring a level of integrity to the office. That means making sure that there is that separation. He has been very clear on that on any number of questions that have come up and its one of the things that i think our country can look forward to after four years of a president mixing political and personal, trying to use the department of justice as just another extension of his own agenda. Now is the time to get back to what we know is right, what we know is proper, and we are going to see that as we have through the transition into the administration. Its one of the reasons im proud to join what i think is going to be a team of teammates, getting work done in every important area for the American People<\/a> and doing it with integrity. Mayor pete, thank you so much. Congratulations on the appointment. Merry christmas to you and yours and hope best wishes for a great 2021. Thanks. Its been called an act of war and a great threat to the u. S. Why is President Trump<\/a> once again downplaying rou ining rus in a cyberattack . Alright, i brought in ensure max protein to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you dont. [grunting noise] ill take that. Woohoo 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. Ensure max protein. With nutrients to support immune health. With the kids at home and less money coming in, thered be no way we could afford health insurance. My kids think im a superhero. But even superheroes need help sometimes. We found help at covered california. And not just us. 9 out of 10 people who enrolled got financial help. Covered california. This way to health insurance. Enroll now at coveredca. Com union, im jake tapper. Secretary of state mike pompeo saying its pretty clear russia was behind the cyberattack, being called a grave risk to public and private institutions in this country. The only public acknowledgment of the attack has given russia cover. He seems reluctant to rattle Vladimir Putins<\/a> cage. Christopher krebs, he led the u. S. Cybersecurity while this was unfolding until President Trump<\/a> fired him. Chris, President Trump<\/a> tweeted for the first time on the cyberatta cyberattack he said the cyberattack is far greeder in news media. Everything is under role. Russia, russia, russia is the priority chant when everything happens because lame stream is when anything happens. He goes on to tie this to this false accusation of unfounded claims of voter fraud. Every expert we heard from has said this has the hall mmarks o russia. Whats your response to this . Everything i heard whether from cybersecurity, thread intelligence experts, things i have heard out of congress and the intelligence community, its russia. They are exceptionally good at this, particularly the foreign intelligence service, the svr, they are good, they are quiet, deliberate, patient, and careful. Your former agency determined that the cyberattack poses a grave risk to government, infrastructure and organizations. How afraid should the American People<\/a> be . I think we are just getting our arms around the scope of this, this cyber compromise. There has been a lot of conversation about one Company Solar<\/a> winds, but i think its probably more broad than that. I think this russian intelligence service, the svr, they are the best of the best out there. I would suspect that there are probably other Software Companies<\/a> that have been compromised, and in fact my old Agency Issued<\/a> a report to that effect just the other day, that we are looking for another ones, and supply chain compromises are particularly hard to defend against. The cyberattack has been ongoing since march, we are told. It was a private cybersecurity firm, not u. S. Officials that discovered the attack. Adam schiff said agencies will have to find out why they didnt catch this. Why didnt you catch this . I think there are three contributing factors here. First is, again, the russians, the svr are very, very good at what they do. The second is this supply chain compromise, this thirdparty trusted supply chain attack, that is a particularly hard attack vector to defend against. The third is that the federal civilian agencies, the 101 civilian agencies are not really optimized for defense right now. What that means is there is a lot of old, antiquated, legacy i. T. Systems that are hard to defend. Plus, the authorities are not in place for teams to get out there and aggressively root out adversaries. Now, there is a provision in the National Defense<\/a> authorization act, the annual defense bill sitting on the president s desk waiting for his signature, that would give my old agency the authorities to go out and really aggressively hunt and look for these adversaries and thats what we are going to have to do to get certainty to the other side of this, is really deep diving into these Agency Systems<\/a> looking for the russians and going handtohand combat to get them out of the systems. Was this a failure of sisa, a failure of u. S. Cyber command . Yeah, it happened op my watch, its sisa. We missed it. A bunch of other folks missed it. But there is work to do now Going Forward<\/a> to make sure, a, we get past this, that we get the russians out of the networks, but, b, that it never happens again. We need congressional support, we need the resources, we need the authorities to be able to make sure that, again, this doesnt happen again. Going back to the beginning, the russians are exceptionally good at this sort of work, and they found a seam in our defenses. You were fired on november 17th because you were standing up for facts and truth when it came to the election zchlt you know about this attack when you left . I did not. This came out in the public after i was terminated. Former Homeland Security<\/a> advisor said that the Defense System<\/a> called einstein was not designed properly, he called it a management failure. It was not detected for this threat. Einstein was designed to detect known threats. This was a neverbeforeseen capability. To find things like this you need a proactive hunt capability. That means that you have people in systems, sensors in the systems constantly looking for things that dont look normal. And those authorities are not in place yet. But again in the defense bill that the president must sign, there are authorities for sisa to do that sort of work. Do you think the hackers gained access to classified u. S. Government information through this hack . Probably not the right person to ask on that. Thats a good question for the administration. Everything i have seen or heard would indicate they did not. Romney said the hackers now have the capacity potentially to shut down our economy, shut down utilities, cause massive calamity. Is that true . Looking at the actor, if it is the svr, the russian intelligence service, thats not their typical modus operandi. They are intelligence collectors. They are looking for policy decisions. They are looking for diplomatic negotiations in federal agencies. They are typically not the ones to run the destructive types of attacks and they typically dont work with the other parts of the russian government, the gru, military cyber teams. They dont work well. There is a sense of competition there. That doesnt mean they cant hand off access. For now i think this is a intelligence collection operation. And you said that the cyber u. S. Cyber forces need to go in there, into the database or whatever, and engage in handtohand combat. You heard romney, Richard Clark<\/a>, others said there needs to be a retaliatory attack by the u. S. Against russia. Do you agree . I would be careful with escalating this. I think there needs to be a conversation globally, internationally, but what is acceptable. This is espionage. The thing that really concerns me about this particular campaign by the russians was the indiscriminate nature of the supply chain targeting. They have potentially compromised 18,000 companies. That to me is outside of the bounds of at least what we have seen recently of espionage activities. Lastly, we have 30 seconds, but your ponresponse to preside trump meeting with Rudy Giuliani<\/a>, Sidney Powell<\/a>, talking about martial law to overturn the election, making Sidney Powell<\/a> a special counsel, et cetera . I have said it a couple of times this week in a Senate Hearing<\/a> on wednesday, but this is not the america that i recognize and this is just bond the pale. Merry christmas to you and your family. I hope you have a great 2021. Thanks for spending your morning with you. Fareed zakaria gps starts right now. In my career. As a little kid i knew that i wanted to work with computers. So when i heard about the applied Digital Skills<\/a> courses, that definitely appealed to me. Youre learning how to create spreadsheets, documents, forms and surveys. Im thinking i can become more marketable. I got to about the third course and im like, you know, i probably could do this for a living. You dont need to be a computer expert to be great at this. These are skills lots and lots of people can learn. I feel hopeful about the future now. Its empowering to have that knowledge that nobody can take away from you. This is gps, the Global Public<\/a> square. Welcome to you in the United States<\/a> and around the world. Im Fareed Zakaria<\/a> coming to you in new york city. Today on the show, as big an intelligence failure as pearl harbor, that is how the New York Times<\/a> says david sanger describes the recent hack of u. S. Computer systems. All fingers point to russia as the perpetrator. I will ask sanger how bad the intrusion is for National Security<\/a>. And ill ask former National Security<\/a> advisor tom","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia801703.us.archive.org\/13\/items\/CNNW_20201220_140000_State_of_the_Union_With_Jake_Tapper\/CNNW_20201220_140000_State_of_the_Union_With_Jake_Tapper.thumbs\/CNNW_20201220_140000_State_of_the_Union_With_Jake_Tapper_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240619T12:35:10+00:00"}