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EARLY START

Coronavirus Hospitalizations Reach New Record High In U.S.; Biden To Receive First Daily Intelligence Briefings Today; Iran Vows To Retaliate Following Killing Of Top Nuclear Scientists. Aired 5:30- 6a ET

Aired November 30, 2020 - 05:30   ET

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


[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Great to have you back, Christine.

ROMANS: Thanks, Laura.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. It's about 30 minutes past the hour here in New York.

And we begin this half-hour with the number of people hospitalized from coronavirus reaching terrifying new heights -- more than 93,000 hospitalizations in the U.S. as of Sunday. And if you think that's bad, America's top health officials fear this isn't even the worst of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I want to be straight with the American people. It's going to get worse over the next several weeks.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: As we go for the next couple of weeks into December that we might see a surge superimposed upon that surge that we're already in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Officials worry that a surge of new infections related to Thanksgiving travel could push hospitals already overwhelmed to the breaking point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, COORDINATOR, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TAS FORCE: So if you're young and you gathered, you need to be tested about five to 10 days later. But you need to assume that you're infected and not go near your grandparents and aunts and others without a mask. And if you're over 65 or you have comorbidities and you gathered at Thanksgiving, if you develop any symptoms you need to be tested immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: CNN's Natasha Chen spoke to passengers returning home from the holiday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA CHEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I talked to some people arriving home to Atlanta after traveling for the holidays and their experiences varied depending on which airports they came from around the country.

Sunday was the busiest travel day of the entire Thanksgiving week. At the Atlanta airport, officials here estimated 190,000 people coming through on Sunday. That's still about a third of the travelers they saw this time last year.

I talked to someone who was traveling for the very first time since the pandemic began.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was a little nervous because it was literally our first time going out of the state. But, Charleston was really, really like empty this morning at the airport. And, Atlanta is always busy. So it was just very different for us just to have this -- and the mall were very crowded. But the airport itself, everything is really nice and safe and we're just keeping our distances, so I feel like it's safe.

CHEN (on camera): People did describe how tough it was to make the decision with their family on whether to travel for the holidays. Those who did travel tell me that they do plan on getting tested after they get home. In one case, someone said they would self-quarantine for 14 days.

The TSA says they screened more than a million passengers on at least three separate days during the Thanksgiving week, starting from the Friday before the holiday. Now, that's a sharp increase in passenger traffic because that record was only hit one other time since the pandemic began.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMANS: All right, Natasha. Thank you so much for that.

President-elect Joe Biden and V.P.-elect Kamala Harris will finally receive their first daily intelligence briefings later today after President Trump held up the transition for weeks.

Also today, Biden will announce key members of his economic team, even as he recovers from an injury. Biden's doctor says he has hairlines fractures in his foot after he slipped while playing with his dog.

CNN's MJ Lee has the latest on the Biden transition from Delaware.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Hey, good morning, Christine and Laura.

President-elect Joe Biden paying a visit to the doctor on Sunday. His transition office telling reporters that on Saturday, he had a little bit of an incident where he was playing with his dog Major, slipped and twisted his ankle. So upon returning to Wilmington from Rehoboth Beach where he was spending Thanksgiving weekend, he visited an orthopedist, had an x-ray done, and according to his doctor, he did have a sprain in his right foot.

It was a busy day for the Biden transition team on Sunday with them announcing some key members of his White House communications team. Some key names from the list of folks that were announced on Sunday include Kate Bedingfield who is going to be named White House communications director. We also have Jen Psaki who will be serving as press secretary at the White House.

Symone Sanders, who will be the chief spokesperson for the vice president-elect. And also, Karine Jean-Pierre who will be the deputy press secretary at the White House as well.

Now, looking forward to what we can expect on Monday here in Wilmington, we do expect an announcement on members of Joe Biden's economic team. We expect that Janet Yellen will be named his Treasury secretary pick. She is, of course, the first woman who would serve in that role if she is confirmed.

Two other names I want to note, Neera Tanden, who is currently the head of the Center for American Progress, will be chosen as the head of the Office of Management and Budget under Biden's administration. And also, Cecilia Rouse. She is a Princeton economist who is being named the head of the Council of Economic Advisers.

So what we expect is a formal announcement on Monday to be followed by an event on Tuesday to introduce some of these folks. Obviously, as you all know, this is a team that is going to have its work cut out for them as they navigate the economic recovery in the middle of a pandemic.

[05:35:13]

Christine and Laura, back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: MJ, thank you so much for that.

With 51 days until Joe Biden's inauguration as president, it's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN's senior political analyst, John Avlon. John, great to see you. Hope you had a good holiday.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning, guys. You, too.

JARRETT: So the president-elect promised to build a government that looks like America, right? He's already delivered I think a fair amount of diversity, but he's also facing pushback for some of the names that have been floated out there -- pushback from both the right and the left.

So how is he going to navigate this come January?

AVLON: Usually, in my book, if you're getting pushback from the right and the left you're probably doing something right. But I think the key question is what -- how do these appointments affect the chance for confirmation in the Senate.

You saw Neera Tanden coming under fire from John Cornyn's aides yesterday, saying it was going to be difficult to confirm her as OMB director, but somebody who really can secure folks on the progressive left.

There's a possibility of Transportation secretary Rahm Emanuel. Biden apparently thinking he'd be good in terms of his experience as Chicago's mayor but coming under fire from folks on the left for that possible appointment.

Look, at the end of the day, this seems to be a center-left administration. And again, if you're taking heat from both sides -- you know, sometimes --

ROMANS: Yes.

AVLON: -- it's a sign you're doing something right.

ROMANS: Staying with that econ team -- you know, center-left kind of econ team there.

AVLON: Yes.

ROMANS: You know, Janet Yellen -- that will be interesting to see what that team looks like in the end when it's finally announced. And then you're going to have Jen Psaki behind the podium.

How will the daily White House press briefing be different?

AVLON: Well, I think for one, there's going to be a return to something resembling normalcy. Look, Jen Psaki is someone who is a former colleague and a CNN contributor. But more importantly, someone who's experienced dealing with the press in the Obama administration.

And the Trump administration has suffered from a self-imposed credibility crisis that stems from the president. And too often, the press secretary at the podium has been assumed not to be telling the truth and defaulting to a kind of a dear leader approach to their job. That's not what the press secretary is supposed to do. So we'll have regular briefings again that aren't just mindlessly adversarial. And there, hopefully, will be actually facts to back up whatever statements are coming out from an administration. That would be a welcome change.

JARRETT: Yes, an all-female communications team is also a welcome change --

AVLON: Absolutely.

JARRETT: -- and pretty historic.

John, let's talk about what's going on in Georgia. The Republicans are sort of quietly grumbling -- maybe not so quietly grumbling that Trump's talk about all this widespread fraud, which is completely baseless, could actually cost the GOP those two Senate seats in Georgia.

Listen to the RNC chair, Ronna McDaniel, trying to convince skeptical Georgia voters who think the election is fixed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONNA MCDANIEL, CHAIRWOMAN, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: It's not decided, this is the key.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do we know?

MCDANIEL: It's not decided. If you lose your faith and you don't vote and people walk away, that will decide it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: So how can you claim that the vote in November was rigged and then still accept -- expect that people are going to show up in January for this runoff race when they have these two seats that are going to decide the balance of power in the Senate?

AVLON: There's the rub and Ronna McDaniel just caught the whole problem here. You can't tell people that the whole thing is a fraud, that it's been rigged, and then all of sudden say but it's really important you show up on January for this runoff.

Look, this is a problem of the president's own making. The president's party keeps trying to square the circle of his own irresponsible, delusional comments about the election because they think it will help them in Georgia. It won't. It creates this kind of chaos because it's a disinformation campaign being pushed by the president and it will have results like this.

So this is what happens when you abandon your principles out of fear for the President of the United States who is pushing disinformation.

JARRETT: This is why I don't understand why they didn't push back earlier. They knew they were going to have this situation and they --

AVLON: Did they?

JARRETT: Well, and they seemed to have banked on meting his enthusiasm -- but now, at a cost, clearly. So --

AVLON: Big time.

JARRETT: -- where did it get them?

All right, John. Thanks so much.

AVLON: Take care, guys.

JARRETT: Nice to see you.

AVLON: You, too.

JARRETT: All right.

The top cybersecurity official fired by the president for telling the truth about the election, he now says it's a travesty that election officials have been getting death threats for holding the line and refusing to buy into claims about widespread voter fraud.

In an interview last night with "60 MINUTES," Chris Krebs addressed some of the more wild accusations that have been put out there by the president and his lawyers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Let me ask for your reaction to some of the vote fraud that the president and his team have been alleging.

Votes tabulated in foreign countries.

CHRIS KREBS, FORMER DIRECTOR, CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY: So, all votes in the United States of America are counted in the United States of America. I don't -- I don't understand this claim. All votes in the United States of America are counted in the United States of America, period.

[05:40:00]

PELLEY: Communist money from China and Cuba used to influence the election.

KREBS: Look, I think these -- we can go on and on with all the farcical claims that -- alleging interference in the 2020 election, but the proof is in the ballots. The recounts are consistent with the initial count. And to me, that's further evidence -- that's confirmation that the systems used in the 2020 election performed as expected and the American people should have 100 percent confidence in their vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP) JARRETT: So how is Krebs so confident that all of these claims that have been put out there are just complete nonsense? Well, one reason is there's a paper trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELLEY: So back in 2017, as you're looking ahead to the election in 2018 and then ultimately, the election in 2020, you have a to-do list -- and the to-do list includes what?

KREBS: Paper ballots. Paper ballots give you the ability to audit -- to go back and check the tape and make sure that you got the count right.

And that's really one of the keys to success for a secure 2020 election. Ninety-five percent of the ballots cast in the 2020 election had a paper record associated with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: Krebs also talked about what it's like getting fired by the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KREBS: I don't know if I was necessarily surprised. It's not how I wanted to go out. I think I -- the thing that upsets me the most about that is I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my team and I'd worked with them for 3 1/2 years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JARRETT: The president fired Krebs after he co-signed a statement declaring the 2020 election, quote, "the most secure in U.S. history."

ROMANS: All right.

So this will be a critical week for a clearer picture of the fragile economy recovery and the jobs crisis. The jobs report is out Friday. Economists expect maybe 500,000 jobs were added in November. Now, in normal times, that would seem like a big number but it will be the smallest gain since the job market started its recovery.

Remember, the economy is now in a jobs hold, down still some 10 million jobs since February. And weekly jobless claims spiked again last week. That's a sign that rising virus numbers are hurting the jobs market.

America has a health crisis fueling a jobs crisis and no signs of any stimulus. Lawmakers are back in Washington this week and still far apart on how to help struggling Americans.

And I've been personally in about DEF CON 2 here for some time about what's going to happen in the jobs market. And as you get to Christmas and you have so many of these people rolling off of unemployment benefits, it will be DEF CON 1 to end the year with rent and loan moratoriums ending, and then all these people coming off of jobless benefits. It's a real, real problem for families.

JARRETT: Well, you just wonder is Washington not seeing the same picture that we're seeing. There are food lines literally for miles in states all across this country. People are clearly hungry. You don't stand in a food line for nothing.

And so, you just wonder what is it going to take for them to finally do their jobs.

ROMANS: Cynically, you wonder if their elections are over and now they're looking ahead to a new administration and, you know, where's the -- where's the urgency. There is real urgency for real people.

JARRETT: They're still accountable --

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: -- even if the elections are over.

All right. Still ahead, Iran is vowing revenge after the assassination of a top nuclear scientist in broad daylight. New information about how the attack was carried out, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:47:56]

JARRETT: Some tough new restrictions in many parts of the country as this virus resurges. But, New York City schools are restarting in- person learning.

CNN has reporters across the country bringing you the latest developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Miguel Marquez in New York where the city is trying to get at least some kids back into the classroom. Kids -- elementary school-age kids from three on up can start back in class on December seventh. And those with the most severe disabilities -- the so-called district 75 students in New York City -- they can start back on December 10th.

All of this is only students who had previously indicated that they would do in-person learning. For those other students, they'll have to remain doing their learning from home. But, New York City taking another step toward trying to get back to normal in a pandemic.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN REPORTER (on camera): I'm Paul Vercammen in Los Angeles County, California where the latest numbers -- those latest COVID-19 numbers -- 5,000 new cases, more than 2,000 people hospitalized.

And a brand-new set of guidelines to go into effect in Los Angeles County Monday. These refined guidelines basically say people can only congregate with people from their own household. It also says that churches can stay open, as well as protests for larger groups of people, but that is about it.

And right behind me you can see some people are dining. Well, this is Pasadena, which has its own health department. They are allowing people to dine outside here but only under strict guidelines from the restaurants in Pasadena. That means that the workers have to wear masks and shields.

All eyes on this city as we go forward to see if this experiment is going to work or if they're going to have to shut down restaurants here or outdoor dining like the rest of L.A. County.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Hi, I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

Rhode Island hitting the pause button for two weeks hoping to reduce community COVID-19 spread. Starting today and running through December 13th, some offices, bars, recreational venues, and also indoor gyms will be closed by order of the governor.

[05:50:05]

Also, there will be no in-person classes at Rhode Island colleges and universities. Social gatherings are to be limited to only the people who live in the same house. Also, indoor dining capacity is going to be reduced.

The state's health department tweeted last week that hospitalizations are rising at an unsustainable level and it could result in patients with other illnesses having to be turned away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JARRETT: Thanks to all of our correspondents for those updates.

So, new details are now emerging this morning on how a top Iranian nuclear scientist was assassinated just outside of Tehran last week. The scientist's funeral has just taken place and Iran is standing by, warning that it will retaliate.

Let's bring in CNN's senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen. Fred, more are you learning about how this assassination was carried out?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Laura.

Well, this comes from the semi-official Fars News Agency in Iran and the details really are amazing, if you will. The Iranians now saying what the semi-official news agency is saying, that it was a remote- control gun that killed this scientist, which was mounted on a truck.

They say that the scientist was on his way in an armored car in a convoy and that then something hit the car. He apparently got out to check the damage and then was hit in the back by several shots from this remote-controlled gun that was mounted on a truck. They then say that the truck with the gun on it blew up only moments later and that the whole thing only lasted about three minutes.

Now, the Iranians, of course, right now debating on how to retaliate to all of this. They have said that that's going to happen. So far, they're blaming Israel, but the Iranians always also saying that Israel is in cahoots with the United States when something like this happens in -- on their territory.

And essentially, right now, you have the Iranian hardliners saying they want a swift and a harsh reaction. But you also have more moderate forces inside Iran like, for instance, the country's president Hassan Rouhani, who are saying Iran should really bide its time. They believe that Israel and the Trump administration are trying to essentially bait it into some sort of irrational response.

The Iranians, of course, believe that once the Biden administration takes office that maybe there might be more favorable conditions to try and at least thaw relations between Iran and the U.S. somewhat, Laura.

JARRETT: Yes, it seems like a pretty intricate planning went on there, and certainly, more to come on all of this. Thanks, Fred.

ROMANS: All right, let's get a check on CNN Business this Monday morning.

Taking a look at markets around the world on the final trading day of the month, you can see Asian shares closed lower but Europe is narrowly mixed at this hour. On Wall Street, looking at the futures market there, also mixed here. The Nasdaq up and the Dow down just slightly.

Look, there's still this major disconnect between Wall Street and Main Street right now. The Nasdaq hit a record high Friday. It's up a stunning 36 percent this year. The S&P 500, it's up 13 percent in the middle of a pandemic. The Dow is up five percent year-to-date.

Now, vaccine progress and the transition to the Biden administration boosting markets recently, but we're looking at this likely surge in coronavirus cases after Thanksgiving and heading into Christmas. That could put a damper on a Santa Claus rally this year.

Shoppers skipped the lines and instead stayed home to score Black Friday deals online. About half as many people went to a store this year than last year. Instead, they bought some deals online. Online sales jumped 22 percent. That's the second-best shopping day behind Cyber Monday last year.

The pandemic reshaping how Americans shop. Record Cyber Monday sales are expected today with sales of at least $10.8 billion.

Record-low mortgage rates are driving buyers to the housing market, but starting tomorrow, refinancing your home will likely cost more. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will charge a new adverse market fee on refinanced mortgages. This one-time fee amounts to 0.5 percent of the total loan amount or about $1,400 on an average mortgage. The fee is to protect against losses and keep struggling families in their homes during the pandemic.

The Federal Housing Agency says loans with balances under $125,000 -- those will be exempt from this fee.

JARRETT: Well, finally this morning, an incredible rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard saving a man in Florida after nearly 48 hours at sea. Stuart Bee was found Sunday about 86 miles off Port Canaveral clinging -- look at that -- clinging to a piece of his capsized boat.

The 62-year-old man set out on Friday but raised alarms when he didn't return. Details on Bee's condition have not been released.

It's just kind of amazing. Can you imagine --

ROMANS: Yes.

JARRETT: -- being out there for that long just clinging? It's crazy.

ROMANS: Unbelievable. I'm glad he's safe.

JARRETT: Yes.

ROMANS: All right, thanks for joining us this Monday morning. I'm Christine Romans.

JARRETT: I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:59:10]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: More than 93,000 Americans are hospitalized right now due to the coronavirus.

ADM. BRETT GIROIR, ASSISTANT SECRETARY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: About 20 percent of all people in the hospital have COVID, so this is a really dangerous time.

ADAMS: I want to be straight with the American people. It's going to get worse over the next several weeks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Biden transition is on in full swing. The senior White House communications team will be a big break from tradition, all posts filled by women.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The whole world is watching and nobody can believe what they're seeing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is continuing to try and convince the American public to take them along with him in his denial of reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman. JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States

and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Monday, November 30th. It's 6:00 here in New York. Hope you all had a wonderful holiday.

If you traveled at all, assume you're infected with coronavirus. That's not my warning. It comes from Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.