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tv   CNN Newsroom  CNN  December 7, 2020 9:00am-10:00am PST

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hello, become to viewers in the united states and around the world. i am john king in washington. thank you for sharing your day with us. sobering coronavirus reality check today. numbers continue to break records. we have not yet hit the pandemic bottom. 175,663 new infections, highest total for sunday. more than 196,000, daily average by which the case count is growing now. 1,113 deaths, deadliest sunday since back in april. the scope of the thanksgiving spike will become more clear this week. we already know that it is pushing cases and hospitalizations to nightmare scenario levels. this morning, dr. fauci warns christmas poses a potentially
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bigger threat. >> there's a lot of community spread. it just compounds itself one after the other and the situation is that as we enter now from the thanksgiving holiday season into the christmas holiday season, it is going to be challenging. >> dr. fauci also offering praise this morning for the new biden administration that will take over the pandemic response six weeks from now. california attorney general, who have yer becerra is picked for health and human services, murphy, and rochelle wall enski for centers of disease control. the election outcome is not in doubt, despite what he says and tweets. georgia says it will recertify its vote. a federal judge says michigan voters have spoken and spoken clearly. joe biden won. this afternoon, president trump will award medal of freedom to
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an american wrestling icon. tomorrow, the president hosts a vaccine summit. wants credit for one piece of the trump administration response that is a clear success. but president trump remains mia, in the daily pandemic leadership challenge. wear a mask, stay home, words you will not hear from the president. this morning, a plea from his surgeon general, stick to the science, please. just a little while longer. >> my colleagues are dog tired. we need you to hang on just a little bit longer because we have vaccines coming but we want as many people to be alive to get them as possible, and a lot of that will depend on your behavior. >> let's go through some of the latest trends, and they're not positive if you look at the numbers. number one, state by state trend map, in some ways it looks better. i will show you comparison to weeks ago. 30 states are going the wrong direction. 30 states. orange and red means more coronavirus infections now compared to a week ago. 14 states are steady at high
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levels. six states trending down, could be deceptive, trending down from very high points. this is today. if you look at it a month ago, the map looks worse, 41 states at that time a month ago trending up. again, somewhat deceptive here in that those states are holding steady, many are holding steady here where they trended up. that's the new case trend. remember how horrific we thought the summer surge was? look at this. friday's record, 227,885. we are approaching 200,000 cases a day or more every day. 1.37 million cases reported in the last week. more than 1.37 new infections just in the last week. if you look at the death trend, you see the blue line, seven day moving average. red lines above 2500, approaching 3,000. that's the seven day average now dying of coronavirus, above 2200
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a day. it continues heading straight up. because again, first wave in the spring, thought summer surge was horrific, hospitalizations were about the same at 60,000. look at this. another record yesterday. 101,487 americans hospitalized because of the coronavirus, and again, trend lines keep going up and up and up. european union had winter surge, fall surge ahead of us. european union is coming down. more masking and restrictions and the like. european countries getting more of a handle on this. the united states is continuing to head up. one of the challenges now is the vaccine plans will start to kick in for most americans. we are still months from a vaccine, for front line workers, it could be weeks. cnn analyzed 27 states with vaccine data and plans available. none of them believe they get enough in the first shipment to vaccinate all first priorities. health care, front line workers, people in nursing homes and the like, none of them do.
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this will be a challenge, not only in the final days of the trump administration but early days of the biden administration. do you have enough vaccines. are you getting them to the right places and right people as quickly as possible. dr. anthony fauci will be one of the holdovers he says, it is an enormous challenge. >> this is an enormous challenge that we are all going to be facing throughout the country as we emerge into and from the winter months, so there's going to be a lot of activity from fundamental science standpoint, vaccines, therapies, understanding the disease better as well as the public health response, so i will be part of the team that the president-elect has put together to respond to this extraordinary challenge that we will be facing. >> we know more about the team today. we know the coronavirus pandemic will be its overwhelming early priority of the incoming biden administration health team. the lineup reflects the reality that biden's first year will include a supreme court decision
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that could reopen the obamacare debate and reflects pressure the president-elect faces to deliver on promises of diversity. xavier becerra running health and human services. he is not a public health expert. he fought for the affordable care act in court. others in significant roles you see them there, including several prominent doctors and public health experts sharply critical of the trump administration's pandemic response. let's continue that conversation. joining us, lisa layer from "new york times." it is fascinating in a presidential transition to see, number one, who does the president-elect want in charge leading the various fights. number two, how do you keep your political promises when it comes to secretary becerra, there will be a bruising confirmation battle, that was a surprise he went to an attorney general, someone who thought he might bring to washington for the justice department, ending up at hhs. what's the major calculation
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there? >> for sure it was a surprise, john. his name was being tossed around as someone that could be the next attorney general of the united states, not leading hhs. personally that was because he doesn't have much deep expertise in public health. that's the reason some medical professionals object to this appointment. he also hasn't really managed a big bureaucracy. he has been involved with coalition building in some lawsuits going after the trump administration with various other states but hhs is a huge bureaucratic department. he hasn't done that. part of what impressed the biden team and president-elect biden himself though was his fierce fight to protect health care law and his focus on using that law to expand health care access for people in the state of california. i think there was also a desire to get more latinos in prominent positions. certainly there's been a number of people in that community advocating for that. i think that was the kind of political calculation that was
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happening inside biden land with this appointment. >> we are reminded today, look, the new president will want his team as quickly as possible, especially the health care team, because of the raging pandemic. some of the confirmation battles will be bruising. this is from mike brown, senator from indiana about becerra. i took on health insurance companies to lower costs for my employees, have serious concerns about his ability to lead hhs because he accepted over 1 million in donations and 100% rating from planned parenthood. conservatives are already lining up to relitigate some of the obamacare fight and number two to find reasons, we will have maybe the democrats if they win both seats in georgia with with with a bare senate majority, likely would tell you republicans will have a narrow senate majority, some confirmation battles will be bruising. >> for sure. and becerra emerged as a resistance star. he was a public face for a lot of lawsuits, particularly on the
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aca, on immigration law, going after the trump administration, and certainly has not sat well with a lot of republicans in congress. you can predict now that they'll go after his lack of expertise in viruses and public health, that would be a clear line of attack for republicans that wanted to derail the nomination. i think working in becerra's favor, he spent a lot of time in congress, he understands how that body works, has some of those relationships, so he's certainly no stranger to the dealings of congress and the strange turns that confirmation battles can take up there. >> right. you can see the right already lining up, deciding early on if you pick fights, which fights are you going to pick. that's one they seem determined to pick out of the box. one of the most fascinating things about the transition, so many, because you have a biden administration, democrat coming in to replace a republican, so many compass points will change and dramatically. roesch he will walensky, harshly
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critical of the pandemic response. listen. >> we need some drastic measures i would say today so we can start hoping to see benefits a month from now. if we continue to double every week, we could easily be at 100,000 in the next week or two. given how critical the vaccine is going to be in our tool box of tackling this disease, i have real concerns about it becoming a political discussion and not a scientific one. >> i want to be clear that herd immunity is a vaccination plan, it is not mass infection plan. when i see footage like that, i worry. >> it is striking, number one, how different they are than the people they'll replace, number two, how complimentary dr. fauci was calling this an impressive team, talking about how he looks forward to working with them. that may raise eyebrows at the white house, i guess he has few
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friends there anyway. >> sure. one of the challenges facing the incoming biden administration, changing the course of the pandemic takes time. the idea the team will get in there and change how americans are feeling this virus in terms of illnesses and death rates and economics overnight is not realistic. there is a sense of political and medical reality they'll have to confront. >> i think that's the political part, too, especially if they could dot their is, grateful for the reporting and insight. let's continue that part of the conversation. biden team will have the challenge of distributing vaccines, answering outstanding questions about their impact. unknowns are whether you could be infectious after you get vaccinated. >> it could be that even if you do have virus in the nasal pharynx, the immune system boost you get from the vaccine might bring the level of virus in the anyways oh far ings so low, that
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even though you may be infected, it may be difficult for you to transmit that infection to someone else. that's a possibility. we don't know the answer to it now, but we will find out the answer. that's part of the follow-up of the vaccine trial. >> joining us now, dr. paul o offett, they'll meet to discuss emergency authorization for pfizer and moderna next week. great to see you. when will we know the answer to the question dr. fauci talked about, if you get a vaccine, can you still be infectious? how long does it take before you know the answer to that? >> right. the two trials that we're looking at this week and next week, pfizer and moderna trials, are not going to answer the question are you protected against infection. you could be asymptomatically infected. as dr. fauci puts out, you could be asymptomatically infected but
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shed so little virus you're not contagious. do vaccines prevent contagiousness. we won't know from the trials. there are trials planned early next year that should answer that question. i would like to think we will know that in a couple months. that said, assume you're not protected against asymptomatic infection. even if you have gotten the vaccine, you probably should still wear a mask and physically distance. >> important advice. look, you have a critical role as first pfizer and moderna come before the committee and make their case that they're ready for emergency use authorization. i want you to listen, this is the secretary of health and human services, alex azar. he says so far, so good. >> i have not heard of red flags but i will have to leave that to career scientists at fda digging through all of the data in terms of timing, assuming everything is on track and advisory committee goes well, we could see authorization of the pfizer vaccine within days after the advisory committee.
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>> do you think he is right, within days of the committee meeting or do you have outstanding questions you're not ready to go that far? >> well, so we've gotten our packet. we have reviewed the packet. we will sit down thursday in a nine hour meeting, go through all of the questions about safety and efficacy. certainly if the vaccine meets approval for safety and efficacy on the 10th, it is possible the vaccine could roll out by the 15th, and the following week on the 17th, moderna's vaccine could roll out on the 22nd. it is possible by the end of the month we're going to be vaccinating people in this country, yes. >> you and i have had this conversation for months. i know you'll put safety and efficacy first. there's also urgency of the moment. listen to the surgeon general here who is looking now, sees the hospitalization numbers way up, sees the case count way up, knows people on the frontlines, health care workers desperately could use a vaccine. >> this surge is different than
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earlier surges, it is not about ppe or testing, it is really about health care capacity. certain places are just being overwhelmed so we know that we can help them with health care capacity by immunizing health care staff. we'll leave it up to states, we'll give guidance. some states they have to immunize health care workers first, others get more impact vaccinating older people and those with vulnerable conditions first. >> your committee says yes or no on emergency use authorization. you don't have any role in who gets it. what would your advice be? do you think it should go to nursing homes and health care workers first and foremost? >> that's what the cdc said. they want people that live or work in long term facilities or essential health care workers to get it first. those two groups involve 24 million people. right now, we have 40 million doses. i want to make the point earlier. when the vaccine starts to roll out, the virus isn't going to
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magically disappear. we will need to vaccinate two-thirds of the population to stop spread of the virus. 20 million is less than 10% of the population. we still need to mask and social distance. let me say this. when i walk in the room of someone with covid-19 in our hospital and you gave me three choices, physically distance, if i don't physical distance, wear a mask or get a vaccine, my number one choice is physical distance. if i am six feet away, it is extremely unlikely a droplet spreads far enough to infect me. if i have to stand close, my choice is mask. it makes it hard for small droplets to get in. if i don't wear a mask, stand close and got a vaccine, that means the virus is going to enter the nose and throat, i am counting on my immune system to defeat the virus. no vaccine is 100% effective. i can't emphasize strongly
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enough how important physical distance and masking is until we get on top of the virus. >> amen. appreciate it going forward. hopefully getting to a better place, long way before we get to a good place. doctor, grateful for your time and work you have to put in on these important questions. up next, rudy giuliani, latest big player on team trump to be sidelined by, yes, coronavirus. remember,, the annual enrollment period is here. the time to choose your coverage... begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so call unitedhealthcare... and take advantage of a wide choice of plans... including an aarp medicare advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. it can combine your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescription drug coverage, and more, all in one simple plan... for a low monthly premium or in some areas, no plan premium at all. take advantage of $0 copays on all primary care doctor visits, all virtual visits, and all lab tests.
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three important and fresh reminders that joe biden will become president in 44 days, that the facts simply do not support the reckless and wild fraud allegations we keep hearing from president trump. georgia is set to recertify its results again. today after a third count of ballots there, the trump campaign requested the latest review, georgia secretary of state saying the results are unchanged. also in georgia today, a federal judge dismissing two motions this morning aimed at reversing
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the election results in the peach state. finally, a federal court in michigan throwing out the latest lawsuit trying to overturn the election results there. the judge in michigan saying the lawsuit was full of nothing but speculation and conjecture. kaitlan collins joins us live from the white house. let me twist a phrase. are they getting tired of losing? >> reporter: i think so. i think there's a culmination of things happening internally now, not just a string of court losses they face, he is not clear when he will be involved in efforts, he is rapidly approaching judicial deadlines coming our way. there is a sense developing internally within the legal team and what's left of campaign staff that legal efforts to overturn or delay results of the election are coming to an end. we have seen them go to court multiple times, time and time again, lose that. they lost when a federal court overturned an effort, threw out
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what they were trying to do there in michigan saying what they were arguing is basically full of speculation and conjecture as you noted, so they're not having any success in the courts. the pr effort is really not working either because of course what they have been doing instead of going to court is having rudy giuliani go state to state and hold hearings as they're calling them with state delegates. he is supposed to do that again thursday, john, appear in front of the georgia house delegates. whether or not he can do that is unclear since he is hospitalized in washington with coronavirus. what we're hearing is initially after the election they had a ton of calls, a lot of meetings about what next steps would be. the president was heavily involved. more campaign staffers were. and you're seeing fewer and fewer people involved, there are fewer calls happening, hardly any meetings happening in person any more to discuss what the next step is going to be. so the sense i am hearing and picking up from people is that
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all of these efforts are coming to an end, could come to a halt completely pretty soon, john. >> kaitlan collins. thank you very much. a feisty senate runoff debate and big deadline today in georgia. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home.
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[what's this?] oh, are we kicking karly out? we live with at&t. it was a lapse in judgment. at&t, we called this house meeting because you advertise gig-speed internet, but we can't sign up for that here. yeah, but i'm just like warming up to those speeds. you've lived here two years. the personal attacks aren't helping, karly. don't you have like a hot pilates class to get to or something? [ muffled scream ] stop living with at&t. xfinity can deliver gig to the most homes.
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radical liberal raphael warnock. wants to defund police.
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>> i do not want to defund police, and kelly lof letteffles it. >> the president has every right to make sure this was a free and fair election. >> we are several weeks after the election, kelly loeffler continues to cast doubt on an american democratic election. >> that was last night in georgia. republican senator kelly loeffler and raphael warnock squaring off. david perdue declined to participate in a debate with john ossoff. john ossoff stood there by himself. runoff vote is january 5th. stakes are enormous. democrats need to capture both seats for control of the senate. if republicans win one or both, they keep the majority, gives the gop more influence over cabinet nominations and big fights coming in 2021. today is the deadline for
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georgia residents to register to vote in the runoff election, two runoff elections. leon castro, former secretary of housing and urban development, one of the 2020 presidential hopefuls, joins ossoff for latino voter registration event. julian castro joins us live from georgia. love the elbows. say hello with the elbow bump. mr. secretary, good to see you. turnouts tend to go down for democrats. in the 2020 election in georgia, latino participation was 7%. that's a pretty good number, that's up from 2016. what do you loep yhope to get t january? >> look, we know there are 377,000 latino voters who are eligible to be registered to vote, about 250,000 who are actually registered. today is the last day to
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register to vote as you mentioned, so we are out here encouraging everybody to register to vote if not already registered. we have seen as you know, john, even in the elections of november that so many races out there come down to a couple hundred votes, sometimes a couple dozen votes. this is too important in georgia for people to sit on the sidelines. we need folks to get off the sidelines, into the voting booths, make sure that john ossoff and raphael warnock win on january 5th, and we can meet the moment we need to meet instead of obstructionism of mitch mcconnell, we can put people back to work, get small businesses up and going, make sure people have health care they need, ensure we have more prosperity and opportunity for everybody in this country, and i think the people of georgia understand that. >> help me with your perspective on the ground. i am a little jealous. you know what happens, air comes out of the balloon. people are tired, sick of politics, getting into the holiday season, yet the consequences and stakes of the
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two senate races are enormous. last day to register is today. early voting begins december 14th. you have 29 days for the runoff. it is mind boggling. more than $350 million has been spent on the senate races. normally, you know this, you run back home in san antonio, you talk about all about local issues. what do the people here need. how much is the stakes, if the democrats take the two seats, joe biden has a different life in washington if you will with a democratic majority. >> there's a lot of energy out here, john. i think even though we are going to go through the holiday season as you said, early voting starts december 14th, and election day is january 5th. people understand it is so important we make sure joe biden has the opportunity to actually invest in getting small businesses back up and going, putting people back to work, making sure the vaccine is appropriately distributed,
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ensuring we combat climate change and that we invest in our public education system so what i sense out here is that yes, folks of course, there's recognition that hey, we have been through this cycle more than a year and a half, we went through november. they also know america is watching georgia and that lives of so many georgians are going to be impacted by what happens in this election and that they cannot only make lives of georgians brighter but also the rest of the united states if they come out and vote for john ossoff and raphael warnock, make sure joe biden has a senate to work with to do what we need to do in this moment of crisis so everybody is able to not just survive but to prosper in years ahead. >> those signs behind you, i am a campaign guy. reminder of campaign 2020 extends into 2021 because of the importance of the races.
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let me ask you. as you know, there's always great debate when you have a transition, and president-elect biden promised the most diverse cabinet in history. xavier becerra, named as the pick for hhs secretary. your brother, a member of congress from texas issued a statement talking about how in this moment of crisis with covid-19, devastating latino communities, the congressional hispanic caucus is proud. becerra, dedicated public servant will be nominated by biden. how important is this nomination to you and the community and grade the president-elect. he is under a lot of pressure, african-american, latino community, women and the like, part of the nature, part of the challenge when you win, having to keep people happy. how would you grade him so far? >> i think so far so good. president-elect biden said he was committed to appointing a cabinet that looks like america
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and that seems to be what he is doing. he is committed to that. i was happy to see the nomination of attorney general becerra. he lived an immigrant's american dream story. he made so many people proud and in his home state of california and we need his leadership now. hhs is going to be right in the middle of making sure the vaccine is distributed effectively, in a timely way. we look forward to him stepping up, providing great leadership and to ensuring the rest of the cabinet picks are diverse picks with people who are going to offer excellent leadership. donald trump four years ago said he was going to pick the best people to serve with him. that turned out not to be true. joe biden is picking some of the best people to serve. >> secretary castro, grateful for your time. good to see you. >> great to be with you. up next, congress needs to
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make a big deal to keep the government running. part of the debate is will there be new coronavirus stimulus spending.
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it is a big week up on capitol hill, a week where a pandemic relief bill either comes together or falls apart. if congress fails to act, 12 million americans face losing unemployment benefits right after christmas. that's just one of the big decisions facing congress this week in what is expected to be a consequential but perhaps messy week for lawmakers. manu raju is live on capitol hill. manu, they always let it go until the end. now they're busy. >> reporter: all part of what's
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common on capitol hill, end of the year crunch. what's different about this year, we're in the middle of a pandemic and economic crisis, a toxic mess congress has to clean up after months of partisan bickering led to stalemate on key issues, namely a covid relief package we talked about for so many months, it has been stalled for months over a number of disagreements. there's a lot of focus on a bipartisan group of senators and house members who are trying to see if they can resolve key sticking points. $900 billion bill is now under discussion, but according to several sources, major sticking points remain, including liability protections for businesses and workers. some republicans have been demanding as well as funding for state and local governments. those are two key issues. but john, that's part of a mix of things they need to get done, including funding the government, that runs out this week, probably extend it another week, and major defense bill the president threatened to veto. republicans and democrats may override that veto, all of which is adding to a busy couple of
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weeks as congress tries and struggles to get it out the door here, john. >> manu raju, busy few days ahead on the hill. we'll keep in touch, see if they answer and compromise. up next, the uk getting ready to administer its coronavirus vaccine, and here at home, a warning from the new york governor. >> if we don't get the rate under control and you are going to overwhelm your hospitals, we will have to go back to shutdown. how can you talk about close down again, that was terrible. because it's the truth. i felt like... ...i was just fighting an uphill battle in my career. so when i heard about the applied digital skills courses, i'm thinking i can become more marketable. you don't need to be a computer expert to be great at this. these are skills lots of people can learn. i feel hopeful about the future now. ♪
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south korea's president recruiting the country's military and police to help with contact tracing, and testing centers are extending hours of operation. more global coronavirus developments from correspondents around the world. >> reporter: i'm in london. the first vaccinations are set to take place in less than 24 hours. officials here are saying it will be a marathon, not a sprint. there are 50 hospital hubs set up across england. they begin giving vaccinations for people over 80 that have an appointment or can get one and front line workers. officials say this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic, but there will be challenges. the uk is, right now,
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negotiating its exit out of the eu. that could complicate transporting the vaccine. one official said the army could be used potentially to bring in doses from abroad. >> reporter: i am fred pleitgen in berlin. germany continues to grapple with surging numbers of daily new coronavirus infections. you look at the numbers put out by german centers for disease control today, 12,300 new infections. about 1200 more than we saw monday of last week. one of the things the german government acknowledged, they say the light lockdown measures they've had in place so far managed to flatten the curve somewhat, but certainly haven't managed to bring the numbers down. some german states are feeling the heat about this. one state, bavaria, says it will unilaterally put new lockdown measures in place to bring the numbers down. up next for us, one member
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of the trump cabinet weighs leaving early. another thinks of his political future. when a hailstorm hit, he needed his insurance to get it done right, right away. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for. usaa so wrap up a supportive casper mattress and pillows. soft percale sheets, all things cozy for your best night's sleep. give the gift of a better bedroom with 10% off at casper.com
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gangel, barr is, quote, not someone who takes bullying and turns the other cheek. jamie gangel joins us with more. that's a colorful, interesting quote there, jamie. >> we have two very tough personalities and john, we have seen this movie before with other cabinet members. look, attorney general barr we know has carried plenty of water for president trump going back to his getting out front with summary of the mueller report. there's a lot of history of the two men being on the same page. but we are now seeing a very public break. and those that know barr well will tell you he has a strong personality. he does not take kindly to trump oral ice calling him out. what i hear from a source with knowledge, they may have gone too far. i have also been told by multiple sources that barr has always maintained certain personal distance.
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quote, he does his own thing. barr always has had sort of to use the phrase a trump card in his back pocket, if pushed, he would walk. i think the question now is, john, is he bluffing, is this push back on the white house, or is he ready to resign. two other things we always know with donald, he could fire him. it is a possibility that the attorney general is trying to get ahead of that. and the other thing is we have heard a lot about the president possibly pardoning members of his family, possibly pardoning himself. it may be that bill barr doesn't want to be having those things happen on his watch. john? >> a lot of drama left in 44 days until the next inauguration. grateful for the reporting. thank you so much. keep on top of it. come back when we know more. mike pompeo telling "the wall
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street journal" he looks forward to time home in kansas when team trump leaves town next month. the secretary of state is ambitious to say the least. kansas republicans would love him to run for governor. the gop chairman saying he can do whatever he wants. pay close attention to secretary pompeo's wording to "the wall street journal." his sights are seemingly set higher than kansas. i haven't given half a second's thought to the political races in the state of kansas. our global affairs analyst susan glasser joins me now. not thinking about kansas because he is thinking about 1600 pennsylvania avenue maybe? >> that certainly could be. in fact, it was just announced this morning he is taking one of his final trips as secretary of state not to the republic of georgia but to state of georgia where not coincidentally there are two crucial runoffs for the senate as you know and it seems
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like notable timing to say the least the secretary of state will be there to talk about china at georgia tech. in general, pompeo had a strikingly partisan and political approach to the secretary of state's office, far more so than any recent predecessor, including speaking at the republican national convention, violating a sort of unspoken rule of secretaries of state seen in the past as trying to be above partisan politics. that's very different than the route mike pompeo has taken. >> whether you're mike pompeo or mike pence, what president trump does is a cloud over you. you have your own political ambition, especially if you have presidential ambition, i found this interesting in the journal article. paul ryan praised mr. pompeo for cutting against the grain of the state department. another former speaker, john boehner, who tapped him into the
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intelligence committee, whatever he would do, i would be supportive. not surprising former house colleagues would say something nice. but boehner and ryan are not tru trumpees. i found that a little interesting. >> he is sought to carve out this identity for himself essentially using his official platform as secretary of state to create persona as a hawkish national security tough guy in the world. interestingly, left him pursuing policy that was really at odds or not policy that donald trump would necessarily have when it came to places like russia or china. you hear mike pompeo talking a lot more about china's violations of human rights or problems in cracking down on democracy in hong kong. he tends to praise those leaders. yet pompeo is notable for being the most devoted to trump of all his advisers, very different
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than bill barr's approach, for example, much more akin to that pursued by vice president pence. and remember, mike pompeo would not be anything in national politics if not for donald trump. he was essentially an obscure house member who did not serve very long, not in a competitive district from wichita, kansas. so donald trump has made his persona and career on the national stage. hard to see him being able to break away from him fully. >> that's what gets so hard if you will, trying to understand pompeo's calculation. they would love him to run for governor of kansas, they have a democratic governor, they think he would be competitive. some think after being secretary of state, you have national ambitions, travel the globe, do you want to be a governor, right? >> that's right. to me that's why he didn't run for senate. tried to recruit him this past year for senate and he took a pass. didn't surprise me. he is flying around the world in a big plane with united states of america, i figured he would keep that job as long as he could.
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he loves the national and international stage, john. >> susan glasser, grateful for your insights. we will watch. interesting calculations as this plays out. thanks for spending time here today. don't go anywhere. brooke baldwin picks up our coverage right now. john, thank you. hi, i'm brooke baldwin. thank you for being with me, watching cnn earlier on a monday. good to be with you. we begin with rapid escalation of covid cases in the country. just for context at the beginning of the pandemic, it took the u.s. almost 100 days to reach that 1 million mark of infections. now america reported another million cases in five days. new hot spots are erupting across the country, so are new restrictions. 33 million people in california are under the new stay at home order. that's roughly 85% of the