Prof: 'Very dangerous' that Trump, Biden not communicating on COVID-19

University of Washington professor Ali Mokdad joins 'Your World' to discuss U.S. response to pandemic as cases rise.

Nov. 19, 2020 – This is a rush transcript from “Your World with Neil Cavuto” November 19, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: All right, Billy, thank you very, very much.

We are monitoring two different events, of course, on the White House Coronavirus Task Force. That is coming momentarily.

And, of course, this powwow while, the vice president, the former vice president, now the president-elect, Joe Biden, will be having with some of the nation's governors.

What could be at stake on this day everyone's paying attention to COVID-19 because of spikes in cases in better than half the states in this country?

What, if anything, can be done to address that on the day we learned a third major drug player has come up with a vaccine that could be out sooner, rather than later, and that there's actually a fourth player in the mix. We will get to that in a bit.

Lots going on.

Welcome, everybody. So glad to have you. I'm Neil Cavuto. And this is "Your World."

And what in the world to make up these spikes in cases and what we might be hearing out of the Coronavirus Task Force, and later on what we might be hearing out of the president-elect and how he plans to address this, and what, if any, cooperation between the two we're seeing right now in terms of exchanging information and the like

Let's go first to Kristin Fisher at the White House, what we might be getting out of the task force and who will be in on that -- Kristin.

KRISTIN FISHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Neil.

Well, this is a big deal. This is the first time that the White House's Coronavirus Task Force has briefed the public in about four months. And it comes at this really critical time in the nation's response to this pandemic, as the death toll here in the United States passes that 250,000 mark, really hard to believe.

Now, we're still not entirely sure who all is going to be doing this briefing, but the announcement was put out by the vice president's office.

So, there is a very good chance that Vice President Mike Pence is going to be there.

And in terms of topics, you can expect the recent news, the recent good news about these vaccines to be front and center. In fact, the V.P. tweeted about it just yesterday, saying that: "President Donald Trump promised the American people a safe and effective vaccine by the end of 2020. And he delivered. Because of his leadership in Operation Warp Speed, Pfizer completed its trial with a vaccine that is 95 percent effective on patients, including seniors."

Now, Dr. Anthony Fauci agrees that this vaccine news is very encouraging.

But, at the same time, he's also urging all Americans to not get complacent with that good news, especially when you're heading into the holidays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS

DISEASES: So, we don't want there to be a signal to the community that, ah, we have a vaccine, so let down your guard.

No, it should actually be an incentive to double down until we get everybody vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FISHER: Now, another member of the task force, Admiral Brett Giroir, is warning that we are now approaching the worst part of the pandemic. Cases are rising. Hospital beds are filling up.

Several states are now bringing back restrictions. And public schools are again closed in New York City. And now the CDC is recommending against traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Now, as we watch this live shot from inside the Briefing Room, you think about President Trump, and you have to wonder if he's going to be there. As of now, there are no plans for him to be in that room.

But, as you know, Neil, he can always pop right into the Briefing Room at a moment's notice if he chooses to do so -- Neil.

CAVUTO: All right, Kristin, thank you very, very much.

Want to go to Dr. Joshua Denson, what he makes of these spikes and all the promising vaccines that are out there. There's a third one right now working its way through the system there and potentially a fourth. The doctor is with Tulane University School of Medicine, pulmonary and critical care specialist.

Doctor, thank you for taking the time. I do appreciate it.

DR. JOSHUA DENSON, TULANE MEDICAL CENTER: Sure thing, Neil.

CAVUTO: What do you make, first of all, of the spikes, Doctor, and what can explain them?

I understand testing and all the -- all that. But it seems to be happening in places where there were restrictions, as well as places where there weren't restrictions, and, in Europe, countries that have done their darndest to be ahead of this curve that are right now being sucked into it.

What's going on?

DENSON: It's tough to really give a single answer. I don't think there is one, right? It's multifactorial, right? There's multiple things going on.

Part of this could be the colder weather starting out. People are spending more time inside. And a lot of it's just got to be somewhat complacency, right? We're all guilty of this in some aspect, where we have let our guard down in some aspects.

Well, all it does take is one example of that, and then you -- one person gets it and spreads it to five or 10 more. And I think that, along with some of the weather, is what I'm worried about maybe doing that.

But I agree. I mean, we don't have a silver bullet or exact explanation for it.

CAVUTO: Doctor, besides good news we got with Pfizer and Moderna that are separately working on very promising vaccines that could be at the very least out for emergency use...

DENSON: Right.

CAVUTO: ... within a matter of weeks, we learned right now that AstraZeneca, working in conjunction with Oxford, has something that could be readily available as well, and that Johnson & Johnson isn't that far behind with its own treatment.

I don't know if they're calling it a vaccine outright, sir, but something promising. How does this all enter into the mix? And should Americans be optimistic that whatever's going on with these spikes could be short-lived?

DENSON: I think, as others have said, like, putting our guard up higher right now heading into the holiday break, heading into cold weather around the world, actually, we shouldn't have let our guard down, we should be taking a lot of extra precautions, because all of these vaccines are really exciting for many reasons.

Safety is a big reason. So many patients, so many people receive them, and doesn't -- we don't seem to have any major bad outcomes so far. And, at least in among a few hundred patients so far, it seems like they're quite effective.

We still need to see the data. This is all from press release. But assuming it's reliable, I think there's reason to be excited about it, and hopeful.

And so right now is the time, with this spike in cases, to really not let our guard down, and really hunker down and try to live this out, just like we would have any other pandemic.

CAVUTO: Doctor, are you in that camp that says these smaller Thanksgiving celebrations, some states are advocating fewer than 10 family members or friends be gathered in a single household, are you -- are you for it? You think that is a good idea?

DENSON: Oh, absolutely.

And the numbers that are thrown around, six feet, 10 people, 3 percent, whatever the number is, these are arbitrary numbers that someone's essentially making up. Now, hopefully, it's a good opinion. But a smaller number of people is definitely the way to go. Anything that's outside is the way to go.

But the cold weather, again, does really limit you. But any sort of increased ventilation that you can, mask-wearing, and avoiding travel, and, honestly, avoiding getting together if you can tolerate it, it's just -- it's just adding up your risk and benefit ratio.

Is whatever you're doing worth the risk of getting the disease and either spreading it to someone that could get really sick from it or you yourself?

CAVUTO: Got it.

Dr. Joshua Denson, thank you very much. I do appreciate you taking the time, sir.

I want to go to a doctor and a congressman combined, Congressman Buddy Carter of the beautiful state of Georgia. Only a few things going on there, huh?

Anyway, he is with the GOP Doctors Caucus, Pfizer clinical trial participant as well.

So, sir, very good to have you. And I appreciate, with everything you have been going through and dealing with, that you could take the time.

What do you make of these vaccines that are out there? You're part of that Pfizer clinical trial. There are at least three other biomedical drug concerns that are working on treatments of their own. Are you optimistic?

REP. BUDDY CARTER (R-GA): I'm very optimistic.

I think the news that we're getting is tremendous. And I cannot say enough to the administration, to Operation Warp Speed, and what they have accomplished here. I have worked through this process in my professional career as a pharmacist.

And I know how stringent and how detailed this is. And I also know that the FDA has not compromised that any at all. So, when this does come out, and it should be shortly, and when it does come out, I'm convinced we're going to have a safe and effective vaccine, so convinced that I'm doing it myself.

CAVUTO: What are the worries, though, Congressman?

I mean, you know this stuff inside and out. And a lot of people in this country are still leery of taking any vaccine.

Now, a lot of it might be the fact that it's been a political football. I get that. But even prior to that, I mean, there was a reticence on the part of many to take a vaccine, especially one that's just out, it's been untested, even though it has been tested, I get it, and especially in your case with the Pfizer one that had thousands of people participating.

But they're leery. What do you tell them?

CARTER: Well, first of all, this is not mandatory.

But I would strongly suggest that they look at this and consider it. I think vaccines are one of the greatest medical breakthroughs in -- ever in our lifetime. And, certainly, they have saved so many more lives than -- and, surely, you're going to have some side effects. There's no question about that.

And that's where we have to trust the FDA, these great scientists who work at the FDA that make certain that there's not going to be anything that is going to cause harm to people. Otherwise, they wouldn't allow it to be on the market. And it is going to be effective.

And what we're hearing, that it's 95 percent effective, that is phenomenal.

CAVUTO: While I do have you, before we go, Congressman, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention what's going on in your state. I think there's something about a hand count going on, as well as two Senate run-off races, as if your state doesn't have enough to deal with.

I'm just wondering what you make of all of this and where it's going and the battle with the secretary of state. Both Republican candidates say he's got to go.

The president's had dust-ups with him, confusion over whether this process is even changing anything, whether the margin might be smaller, but it looks like Joe Biden will still win the state.

Your thoughts?

CARTER: Well, certainly, it's disappointing.

But I do thank the secretary of state for granting the request of the Trump campaign, as well as the Georgia Republican Party, in having a hand recount.

It is important, whether you're a Democrat, Republican or independent, that you have faith in the system, in the electoral process.

All of us, all of us want a fair and transparent process. And we need to have faith in that. Some things have been turned up; 2,600 people in Floyd County, their voices were not heard, their votes were not counted. That's unacceptable. They deserve to have their voice heard.

Those are the kind of things that we need to check on. And having this recount gives us the opportunity to do that. Is it going to overturn the results? It doesn't look like it's going to be enough to. But it's important to understand that we learn from it and we try to avoid those mistakes in the future.

CAVUTO: Do you think the time has come, then, where we are close to the time coming where the president has to just say, all right, I have exhausted this, it's time, we recognize Joe Biden as the next president of the United States?

CARTER: Well, certainly, that's up to the Trump campaign and up to the president himself.

I appreciate the president challenging this. This has been a razor-thin election here and a razor-thin margin. And, certainly, he has every right and every responsibility to question it. There have been some things that are very questionable here.

CAVUTO: All right, Congressman, I'm sorry about that. I had some audio issues, but thank you very much, sir.

Be well, be healthy, stay healthy.

CARTER: Thank you.

CAVUTO: Good luck with everything.

All right, I want to go to Congressman James Clyburn right now, the House majority whip, South Carolina congressman. I have often called him the kingmaker for Joe Biden. He wouldn't be president-elect without this gentleman.

Of course, Mr. Clyburn never takes credit for that, but it is true.

Anyway, Congressman, very good to have you with us.

What do you make right now of this transition process, whether the legal window is now closing on the president and what he should do now?

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): Well, thank you very much for having me, Neil.

I don't make much of this. I think that the president really ought not be putting the country through this. We are suffering from a pandemic, something that -- like we have not seen in over 100 years, and for us not to be able to move along with getting our arms around this.

And I just think that we have two companies now that seem to be ready, or soon will be ready, with a vaccine. And we need to get that vaccine out here. And if the president really wanted to see this country's economy come back...

CAVUTO: All right.

CLYBURN: ... he would be working with...

CAVUTO: Congressman, I'm jumping -- I'm jumping on you.

And I apologize, sir, but the president-elect is speaking now.

We're going to go to Joe Biden.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: ... pointed out, have just concluded a videoconference with the executive leadership of the National Governors conference. That included Governor Cuomo of New York, Governor Hutchinson, Governor Hogan, Governor Whitmer, Governor Ivey, Governor Polis, Governor Baker, Governor Lujan Grisham, Governor Herbert and Governor Carney.

And it was really a worthwhile undertaking.

You know, they have had to make some really tough calls during this unprecedented crisis. And we're incredibly grateful for everything they have done and will keep doing to try to keep their communities safe.

Unfortunately, because of the lack of ascernment (sic) as they say, which is -- that's a fancy word these days, but until the head of the GSA says that we, in fact, our team, this transition team, our team, the senator and I, have -- in fact, are the likely winners, until she does that, we don't have access to all the information that we need to get from all the various agencies.

We're not able to deal with everything from testing, to guidance, to the all-important issue of vaccine distribution and, even more importantly, vaccination plan to actually get vaccinations. We haven't been able to get into Operation Warp Speed.

But we will take what we have learned today and build it into our planning.

The country is still in a crisis. And there's a dark winter still ahead.

Yesterday, America reached another tragic milestone, 250,000 deaths. A quarter-of-a-million people died due to COVID-19. And there are empty chairs in dining room tables just -- were filled just days and weeks ago with loved ones, family, friends, who laughed and talked together.

To those families and friends that are left behind, Jill and I send our love and our prayers. We know, like many of you do, how tough it is to find purpose in the memory of a loved one you have just lost.

It will take time, but you will find it. You will find it. And you will find your purpose, as we're going to find our purpose for our nation, as a nation now. I promise you that.

And I promise you that we will work together. There's a great meeting we had today. All the governors, no matter their political party, whether they're from -- wherever part of the country they represented, no matter their political philosophy, shared a strong and abiding sense of a common purpose.

There was a real desire for real partnership between the states and the federal government. Each of the governors emphasized that we might be Democrats or Republicans, but we're all Americans first.

They congratulated us heartily for our win. What really pleased me was the

-- most was that governors made clear that beating COVID-19 is going to require all of us working together as one country.

Kamala and I agree. We are -- we were deeply impressed with how much consensus there was how to move forward amongst the governors.

What we need to do now is how we need to do it. How are we going to do it?

In what coordinated way can it be done? We discussed the number of critical ways we can work together and unify around a national approach to combating COVID-19, first delivering economic relief to the cities, states and tribal communities.

The lost revenue from COVID and the cost of COVID recovery is devastating to state and local budgets. As governors, as all of them indicated, we have got to come together. The federal government has to deliver this relief sooner, rather than later, and with flexibility for the states to meet their needs.

This includes helping businesses, schools, working families, from unemployment benefits to early education, continued access to affordable health care, all of that's needed during this pandemic. States and communities shouldn't have to lay off teachers, cops, firefighters, cut vital services for families and businesses.

The second thing there was uniform agreement on, delivering a safe and equitable and free vaccine. The governors all acknowledge that this will be a massive undertaking, one of the greatest operational challenges we will have faced as a nation.

One statistic that was raised by the governors, it took eight months to provide 100 million COVID tests, eight months to provide COVID tests. Just imagine how much more difficult it will be, they pointed out, if we don't find a more efficient and effective way to provide 330 million vaccinations.

Put it in perspective. They made the point we can't wait. That's what the governors are raising.

In the meeting, we discussed the challenges that lie ahead in distributing and administering the vaccine. The governors talked about how getting doses of vaccine distributed is just one step. We have to actually get vaccinations into the arms of 330 million Americans.

That takes enormous resources, people, product. We discussed the difficulty of that task. It's going to take time. It's going to take coordination.

It's going to take the federal government and state governments working hand in glove, working together.

The governors all emphasized, we need to be clear with the American people about what to expect, no false expectations. Let them know what we anticipate. They all acknowledged that this is going to take a massive public education campaign.

And we also need to reach traditionally underserved communities that are being hardest-hit by the pandemic, black, brown, Latino, Latin American community, Native American communities, small towns, rural communities.

They talked about that in some detail.

Thirdly, we discussed the need to help states with Title 32 funding for the National Guard. That's a fancy way of saying, governors, governors need to be able to get funding when they need to -- and bringing their National Guard into play. And the National Guard is going to have to play this. It costs a lot of money.

And governors need that paid for. Governors discussed the need for funding when waiving certain FEMA fees. The fact is that this is a national emergency. that's what FEMA is supposed to deal with. Our view is, that should be done.

When it comes to deploying the National Guard or COVID or real relief, that should be paid for. You know, that's something Kamala and I will be very focused on.

And, fourthly, we discussed the implementation of a national mask mandate.

Ten governors, Democrat and Republican, have imposed masking requirements and recognize the need for universal masking, North, South East and West.

It is not a political statement. It's a patriotic duty.

And, fifth, we discussed making testing more available and accessible.

Anyone who wants a test should be able to get one, period.

And, finally, while we focused on the immediate needs to control the virus, the governors also raised and talked about how much we have to build back better, especially on infrastructure and education, and so much more.

This was not a one-off meeting. I committed, we committed, we agreed that we will continue to work and meet with the governors on a regular basis, continue to seek their input, and that our COVID teams will follow up and coordinate on the issues coming out of that call, because some of them have very competent people on their COVID teams in their states.

The bottom line, we can do this. There's nothing beyond our capacity. But we have to come together as a country.

What this meeting, along with others we have had, reinforces, in my view, is the unity the country is looking for. They're looking for us to come together and deal with problems, most of which have no any ideological basis for disagreement.

That's what we have to do. That's what the governors talked about, and it really was pleasing to hear that.

I want to thank you all. And may God bless you all and those who lost someone. You're in our prayers. May God protect our troops.

I'm happy to take a few questions. And my boss is going to tell me who that is.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President-Elect.

I know you mentioned the economic impact and talked a bit about the relief package you wanted. But I was wondering if we could talk about things that you will be able to do just as president, or what will sort of govern your decision in terms of the economy?

So, I was wondering if I could ask what kind of framework you're thinking about as you decide about a Treasury secretary going forward, whether you would consider -- and you had said during the debates that you wanted to punish China over the way that they have been acting -- whether that could include economic sanctions or tariffs for China?

And, finally, do you think a strong dollar helps or hurts the U.S. as we're grappling with historic unemployment?

BIDEN: Well, look, let me try to take it one at a time. You will soon hear my choice for Treasury. I have made that decision. We have made that decision. And you will hear that either just before or just after Thanksgiving, number one.

And you will find it is someone who I think is -- will be accepted by all elements of the Democratic Party, from the progressive to the moderate coalitions.

Secondly, it's not so much about punishing China. It's about making sure China understands they have got to play by the rules. It's a simple proposition. And so that's one of the reasons why we're going to rejoin the World Health Organization, we're going to rejoin on day one as well -- and it needs reform, I acknowledge -- and rejoin the Paris climate accord.

And we have to make sure that the rest of the world and we get together and make sure there are certain bright lines the Chinese understand. We have to not only deal with this pandemic. We have got to plan for the next one.

The idea that viruses are going to go away is just not rational. We're going to re -- we're going to recalibrate and set up the institute we -- the institutional structures we had in our administration of Obama/Biden and build on it.

And what was your third question?

QUESTION: It was about the dollar, sir, whether you think a strong dollar will help or hurt with unemployment, or generally just how you would like the Federal Reserve to sort of approach the...

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: Well, quite frankly, the way the Federal Reserve has been approaching the -- dealing with the dollar has -- I think, has been in a positive direction.

Our interest rates are as low as they have been in modern history. And I think that is a positive thing. It lends credence to the possibility of us being able to expend the money and deficit-spend in order to be able to generate economic growth right off the bat. And so I think it's been positive so far.

QUESTION: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President-Elect.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: You have said that, if this transition doesn't get going, especially coordination on vaccine distribution, that lives will be lost.

How many lives do you think are at risk here if this transition remains stalled?

BIDEN: Well, look, we have -- you have heard the projections.

The projections are that, if nothing fundamentally changes between now and beginning of February, we're likely to lose up to 400,000 -- a total of

400,000 lives, another 150,000 lives.

And so it's real. Whether it's that, it gets to 360,000, whatever it is, it's real. And there is no excuse not to share the data and let us begin to plan, because, on day one, it's going to take us time -- if we don't have access to all this data, it's going to put us behind the eight ball by a matter of a month or more.

And that's lives. How many would be lost as a consequence of that, I can't tell you. But the purpose here is to get -- we talked a lot about with the governors about what the immediate needs are. I'm going to -- we're going to impose the -- we're going to enforce the -- excuse me -- employ the Defense -- the act to be able to go out there and dictate companies build and do following things.

We need much more testing. We need much more masking. That's more -- we need gloves. I asked them each to go and I asked the National Governors Association, through Governor Cuomo and the ones on the line, to let us know what their shortages are, what they anticipate, because we're going to move on day one.

That should be moved on now, now. But if it waits, it takes a long time to get this thing going.

QUESTION: And when you take a step back, and you look at the way the president is handling this, his refusal to concede, what do you think is really going on here?

In your view, Mr. President-Elect, what do you think the president is doing? What are Americans witnessing here?

BIDEN: Let me choose my words here.

I think they're witnessing incredible irresponsibility, incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions.

And I think it is -- well, I don't know his motive, but I just think it's totally irresponsible.

QUESTION: Are you concerned he may succeed, that people might question the legitimacy of your administration?

BIDEN: No, I'm not concerned. The vast majority of the American people, they have already -- all the polling data is indicated -- although the Republicans who worry about it, it's higher, but over 78 percent American people believe it's -- without question, it's legitimate.

And I just think it's -- and I think most of the Republicans I have spoken to, including the governors, think this is debilitating. It's not a -- it sends a horrible message about who we are as a country.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President-Elect. Thank you, Vice President-Elect Harris. Appreciate it.

BIDEN: Nice seeing you in person, not on television.

QUESTION: Nice to see you as well. Yes, appreciate it.

(LAUGHTER)

QUESTION: You have said that lives could be lost if you don't start getting briefings from the Trump administration.

And now here we are. More than 250,000 lives could be lost. Given that, how do you justify not taking legal action to get the briefings that you say are critical, that you say you need?

BIDEN: It would take a lot of time. It would take time. It's not going to speed it up considerably, in my view.

And, in the meantime, I'm hopeful that I'm going to be able to get cooperation from our Republican colleagues in the Senate and the House, as well as the governors, to build a consensus as to how we proceed when we do.

QUESTION: But why not use every tool in your toolbox to get the information that you say you need to do your job and to do it effectively on day one?

BIDEN: I'm making a judgment, based on many years of experience in how to get things done with the opposition.

QUESTION: Do you think you would win?

BIDEN: And my judgment is -- my judgment that it is -- we will get further along by actually working with our Republican colleagues now, and -- because the time in which we would win would not materially change, necessarily.

But it's still an open question. It's an open question. It could change.

QUESTION: So, you haven't ruled it out? You haven't ruled out legal action against the Trump administration, against the GSA?

BIDEN: We haven't ruled it out.

QUESTION: OK.

And given the death toll now, more than 250,000 Americans who have now lost their lives, you have said that you would support a nationwide shutdown, if scientists recommended it.

BIDEN: No. Let -- no, let -- I know.

QUESTION: You have spoken to scientists now.

BIDEN: You keep -- everybody asks that question every single time I stand here. It was a hypothetical question.

The answer was, I would follow the science. I am not going to shut down the economy, period. I'm going to shut down the virus. That's what I'm going to shut down.

QUESTION: So that's ruled out?

BIDEN: I will say again, no national shutdown. No national shutdown, because every region, every area, every community is -- can be different.

And so, there's no circumstance which I can see that would require total national shutdown. I think that would be counterproductive.

But there are constraints in which the degree to which businesses can be open. For example, it's one thing to say that you can have -- in a state where their infection rate is not as high, you can have a gymnasium open.

It's another thing to say it can only be open four hours a day with X number of people.

The church I go, my Catholic Church, not a lot more than 40 percent of the people are -- to come into the church. Those are rational decisions. It's not shutting down everything. It's calibrating based on what the threat is.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President-Elect.

BIDEN: Thank you.

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. Vice President-Elect and vice -- thank you, Mr.

President-Elect and Vice President-elect Harris.

A question for you first, which is, what do you make of the fact that the president is having these calls with Michigan county officials amid his bid to overturn the election? He's going to be having also Michigan republican legislatures at the White House tomorrow.

Is anything that he's doing making you rethink your strategy?

I know you say that you don't want legal action right now.

And what do you say to Americans, especially immigrant Americans who came to the United States, looking for political stability and seeing all the things that the president is doing?

BIDEN: Hang on. I'm on my way. That's what I say to them. Not a joke.

And what the president is doing now is really -- it's going to be another incident where he will go down in history as being one of the most irresponsible presidents in American history. It's just out of the -- not even within the norm at all. There's questions whether it's even legal, but it's going to be interesting to see who shows up in this call to meet with the leadership.

And -- but this is going to -- we won Michigan. It's going to be certified.

We're going to end up making clear that they are, and making clear that we won. But it just -- I just -- it's hard to fathom how this man thinks. It's hard to fathom.

I'm confident he knows he hasn't won. He's not going to be able to win and we're going to be sworn in January 20th, and I just, you know -- far from me to question his motive. It's just outrageous what he's doing.

QUESTION: As he -- as he ups the things that he's doing, calling officials, is it making you rethink your strategy at all? Is there anything that he would be doing that would make you say, OK, we really have to go to court now, or are you still watching what he's doing and saying we can still kind of wait and see what happens?

BIDEN: I'm not going to rule anything out, or anything in. But at the moment, the strategy is going to -- is not changing.

QUESTION: And if I could ask a question to the vice president-elect, would that be OK?

BIDEN: Sure.

QUESTION: Vice President-elect Harris, you talked about your state -- your state experience. My question is, is there anything you heard from governors today that made you specifically concerned about vulnerable populations, especially as I talk to Americans who say I don't have the privilege to work from home? I don't have the privilege to social distance if I'm living in a house with multi-generations.

Are you -- did you hear anything that concerns you specifically? And what can we do for them as a country?

HARRIS: Well, as the president-elect shared with everyone, we heard a lot from the governors, including that, including the concern that African- Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, people who live in rural communities, people who, as groups of people have historically been under-resourced and underserved.

So, there was consensus among the governors, a bipartisan consensus that our federal strategy should reflect those concerns in the way we'll support those states with the resources they'll need to get to the folks who have been often overlooked or ignored and the president -- elect, I think, has made it very clear that it's one of our highest priorities to support that.

As you may know, in the Senate, I actually led what we called a racial disparities task force, and that approach is something that we will be incorporating in our administration to ensure that all people have equal access to resources, but also taking into account equitable distribution of resources based on need.

QUESTION: Thank you, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect.

BIDEN: Let me add to that.

One important thing to understand is, there is a -- we talked a lot about this and we talked about it and we talked about it when I was running and seeking the nomination as well. And that is that the idea of the brown, black, Asian-American, Native American communities are always the first ones hit the hardest and the last ones who are brought back. We're going to flip that around.

It's going to be really important to determine priorities based upon access to the information that's available, access to everything from the vaccine to other opportunities to be able to deal with helping the country, part of the country that's been hurt the worst. You know, three times as many African-Americans have died than white Americans died from COVID.

So, there has to be a prioritization. That's why I would like to know exactly what this -- what this administration has in mind in terms of their Operation Warp Speed and how they plan it. That's what we talked with the governors today.

They all mentioned the need to focus on the communities left behind, particularly Governor Cuomo. It's one thing -- for example, vaccines distributed in all the Walgreens of America. I'm not -- no criticism of Walgreens, but there's a lot of those facilities that aren't in rural communities and are not in poor communities, African-American, Latino communities. So, we've got to make sure there's access for them.

QUESTION: Thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

BIDEN: OK, thank you.

CAVUTO: All right, you have been listening to the president-elect.

A couple of news items here. He did talk about the fact that he is not interested, even with the spikes in cases, that we have seen, in an entire national shutdown. He said he will not shut the economy down. He is trying to shut the virus down.

He didn't distinguish exactly how he would do things any differently than, for example, are being done right now.

Also made a little bit of news. He was saying he's already picked his Treasury secretary. Didn't hint who that might be. And when it came to these legal fights the Trump campaign has had and the counts in Michigan and Georgia, et cetera, that he was confident that the certification is inevitable in Michigan, and that we will win that, call that a day here.

But, again, he was more questioning the president's ongoing behavior to not call the election yet and make it very tough to transition, particularly in the middle of this virus.

I want to go to Dr. Ali Mokdad right now, Health Metrics professor, University of Washington chief strategy officer, much, much more.

Doctor, always good to have you.

The notion right now that we're going to hear from the president of the United States health care task force -- the vice president leads that, Mike Pence. We just heard from the president-elect.

And the fact that right now the two sides are not talking or convening or sharing information, does that worry you?

ALI MOKDAD, INSTITUTE FOR HEALTH METRICS AND EVALUATION: It does. It's very dangerous.

We need to sit down and talk to each other, because once we have the new administration, we need to roll out the vaccine. And we need to know right now, what are the plans, and make sure everybody is ready to do their own jobs as soon as they take over.

CAVUTO: All right, Doctor, we're going to hear from the officials very, very shortly.

I'm looking for the vice president here.

But does the spikes themselves worry you, what's going on here?

MOKDAD: Exactly.

We have seen a rapid rise in cases, and that's in the United States right now. And we revised at IHME our numbers projected all the way to March 1 upward, unfortunately. We will release these new numbers tomorrow.

So we are very concerned about the rise in numbers, also the stress on our ICUs right now, especially when it comes to the holiday season. And many people are going to do Thanksgiving. So, we are really, extremely worried and concerned.

CAVUTO: Any advice you have for those who, a week from now, will be celebrating Thanksgiving? Keep it small, keep it limited, what?

MOKDAD: If you can cancel it, by all means, cancel it. You can always celebrate again, but you cannot have a lost one back joining you.

And then, if you decide to go to Thanksgiving, please isolate for 14 days.

You should have been isolating. And make sure, when you arrive and sit down with your loved ones on the same table, you don't bring along COVID-19. Be careful.

This could be a super-spreader event if we don't do it right. And better to cancel it, if you can.

CAVUTO: All right, in the meantime, a lot of vaccines that could be out in the next few weeks or months, four companies competing for the honor.

Two, of course, are already getting attention, Pfizer and Moderna, growing news that AstraZeneca, working with Oxford, is very close to something.

I'm wondering now, with J&J also in that mix, whether there will be fielder's choice early next year.

MOKDAD: Yes, the vaccines are very promising.

We're so excited about the possibility of introducing vaccines sometime next month and most likely in January.

CAVUTO: Right.

MOKDAD: So, we are very encouraged.

CAVUTO: All right, Doctor, I'm jumping on you rudely. I do appreciate it.

Right now, the vice president, the head of the president's Coronavirus Task Force.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We just completed our second meeting this week with members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

And we've continued. We've continued to be on the same mission we've been on throughout the course of this year. And that is to save American lives.

We work every day toward that day that we put the coronavirus in the past.

I'm joined today and you'll hear in a few moments from members of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, including those that are leading the effort of distribution, vaccinations under Operation Warp Speed.

And I think you will be as impressed as I was at FEMA earlier today, when I heard the detailed plans for the virtually immediate distribution of vaccines when they become approved and available to the American people.

From very early in this pandemic, at the president's direction, we have followed an approach to this pandemic that was federally supported, state- managed and locally executed.

And to that end, this past Monday, we completed our 41st conference call with all of the nation's governors, every state, every territory.

There, we spoke about our current circumstances, where we see cases in hospitalizations rising, but we also continue to speak to them about expansion of testing, the availability of supplies and our ongoing efforts to continue to drive forward toward the development and the distribution of a vaccine for the American people.

As we gather here today, with cases and hospitalizations rising across the country, President Trump directed us to host this briefing to describe the ongoing work of our task force and our partnership with state and local officials and our partners in the private sector to continue to put the health of America first.

But, first, let me begin simply by saying that our hearts and our prayers are with all of those families that have been impacted by the coronavirus over the course of the past 10 months. And let me say, personally, not a day has gone by that I haven't thought personally about families that have lost loved ones.

I want to assure each of you that you will always be in our hearts and you will remain in our prayers. But we wanted to take this opportunity also to thank the American people for the extraordinary sacrifices that you've made over the course of the past 10 months.

We've been through a lot together. We went through four 45 days to slow the spread back when the positivity rate across this country was more than 20 percent. We managed to accomplish our objective. We slowed the spread. We flattened the curve. We saved lives.

And then, during the outbreak across the Sunbelt this summer, when we saw positivity rise to nearly 10 percent, the American people, officials at the federal and state level stepped up again, and we put that outbreak in the past.

And even as we see help on the way, vaccines being developed at a historic pace, as I mentioned before, as we gather today, we are seeing cases in positivity rising across the country. But we approach this moment with the confidence of experience.

We know the American people know what to do. We have forged a partnership that is truly seamless with state and local health authorities. And, as we'll describe to you today, we've continued to work seven days a week, all throughout this year and up to this very moment, to make sure the American people have access to the health care that we want any member of our family to have as we meet this pandemic.

Now, cases are rising throughout the country. Positivity in the last 30 days has risen from an average of 5 percent to 10 percent. And, to that end, we've continued the mobilization that began, at President Trump's direction, early this year.

We increased testing from a standing start in the month of February to now, as of today, we've completed more than 170 million tests and we continue to approve new tests, including an at-home test that the FDA just recently approved. And we're distributing more than 150 million Binax tests to schools and nursing homes around America as we speak.

Our mobilization of supplies, you will hear described in great detail, continues to serve each and every day. We actually are able to track PPE and supplies on a hospital-by-hospital basis.

So, we're carefully monitoring. We're working with state officials, with hospital administrators to make sure that our hospitals have the support they need.

Also, as we gather, more than 140 clinical trials for therapeutics continue to be underway, but effective therapies are already available. They're widely known among the American people.

And, for those over the age of 70, we're proud to report that we actually have decreased the fatality rate by more than 70 percent since those heartbreaking days of April.

In May of this year, of course, as the president spoke last week in the Rose Garden, we launched Operation Warp Speed, focusing on accelerating the development, the manufacture, and the distribution of a safe and effective vaccine.

And you'll have an update today on the progress from two of our leading experts and those that are coordinating Operation Warp Speed.

What I want to say in the midst of all of this to the American people, as we begin this briefing, is that with the massive of increase in testing over the last 10 months, with PPE and medical supplies and equipment that are available to the American people, with the medicines and the therapeutics, and very soon the vaccines that are available, America has never been more prepared to combat this virus than we are today.

But our pledge to each and every American looking on today is we're going to work around the clock to keep it that way. And we're going to make sure that hospitals that are seeing patients coming in on an increasing basis know that we're going to work around the clock to meet that need. And you have our continuing pledge and the practice of experience that we've had along the way.

So, in a few moments, you'll hear from members of our team. We're going to begin with Dr. Deborah Birx, who's going to describe what we're seeing in the rising cases. Literally, every day for members of the task force begins with detailed analysis of what's happening across the country, and she'll give you our very best, our very best information on rising cases and hospitalizations.

That information is summarized each and every week for the nation's governors and provided to them in particular detail as well.

After Dr. Birx speaks, we've asked General David Sanford with FEMA to provide an update on our ongoing efforts to provide PPE and medical supplies to our hospital needs, where we're literally going to make sure, as I said, that, as we see cases rising, that we're meeting the needs in hospitals around America to stand up the response that any one of us would want a family member to be able to have access to.

Then we've asked Dr. Fauci to give us an update on the incredible and historic progress on the development of vaccines. That seems like with good news happening every couple of days. That's a great encouragement to the American people.

And then General Gus Perna will outline our distribution plants on Operation Warp Speed. I was at FEMA today and received a detailed briefing about our distribution plans. And I asked General Perna to come here today to make that presentation to the American people.

And it is, in a very real sense, putting us in a position that, literally, the day after one of these vaccines is approved, we'll be shipping vaccines to the American people. And within a day after that, we'll be seeing those vaccines injected into Americans, with a particular focus on those most vulnerable and those that are providing health care to the American people.

Finally, we'll talk with -- a bit about the way forward, as state and local governments are continuing to act and take mitigation measures to slow the spread. You can assure them, as we did governors again this week, that we will support decision-making at the local level. And we'll continue to support decisions that are made in each individual community based on the circumstances on the ground.

But, that being said, President Trump wanted me to make it clear that our task force, this administration and our president does not support another national lockdown, and we do not support closing schools.

You'll hear from Dr. Robert Redfield of the CDC that, actually, the CDC never recommended that we close schools at any point this year. And Dr.

Elinore McCance-Katz, who also serves with substance abuse and mental health services at HHS, will describe the real costs to children being away from school.

But, in every one of these cases, we're going to give you the best information that we have up to this moment. And I just want to assure the American people, as I trust that you will have a sense today that we're going to continue to work around the clock to meet this moment.

But help is on the way. We have every confidence in a short period of time we could have one or more safe and effective vaccines for the American people.

And, as each of us does our part, in partnership with state and local officials, each of us does our part to look after our own families and our own communities, I believe the day is coming soon and we will put this coronavirus in the past.

With that, let me introduce Dr. Deborah Birx, who will update us on cases.

And, after that -- after that, we will get a presentation on the availability of supplies that we continue to make available to hospitals and health care providers around the country.

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE COORDINATOR: Thank you, Mr. Vice President.

And it's really a moment that we want to call on every American to increase their vigilance. And I want to go through some data about why we are asking people from Elko, Nevada, through Denver, Colorado, to Philadelphia, from Madison, Wisconsin, to El Paso, Texas, and across this great nation to really increase their vigilance at this moment.

I want to thank the governors and mayors and county commissioners that I've had the privilege to talk to over the last four-and-a-half months of being on the road.

We can have the first slide, please.

The number of universities, 42 States, 30 universities, and a large number of chairmen from our tribal nations. The reason we wanted to really be in here is to really understand the reality on the ground, what they were facing and understand how we could be more supportive.

And this is really a call to action for every American to increase their vigilance because of the graphic that is shown here.

Wanted to show you the difference in slopes between the spring surge, the summer surge and the fall surge, so the American people know that this is more cases more rapidly than what we had seen before, but to also make it clear, like before, we do know what to do, and we're asking every American to do those things today.

The next slide shows our increase in test positivity. The light brown bars are the number of tests that were performed. But even with the number, an ever-increasing number of tests perform, you can see the increase in test positivity to around 10 percent.

In some areas of the country, it is much higher than that. And it illustrates the ongoing community spread in your counties, in your small and large metros and in your rural areas.

The next slide really shows the country as a whole, and why we're asking every American to remain vigilant, to do those things that we have been asking you all to do, to wear a mask, to physically distance, to continue your hand hygiene, but really in this moment of bringing people together to really limit interactions indoors to immediate households when we see this level of community spread.

Behind this level of community spread is a lot of asymptomatic cases.

People are spreading the virus because they don't know they're infected with the virus. And so people are coming together indoors, everyone looks healthy, but among those individuals could be individuals that already are infected, have no symptoms, and are unknowingly spreading the virus to others.

It is because of this asymptomatic spread that we have asked people to wear masks indoors and to ask people to wear a mask when among others. But, sometimes, when we go indoors and we're with friends and family, we just assume that, if you look OK, you are OK.

And now we know that over 50 percent of the individuals, particularly among those under 35, many could be infected and unknowingly spreading the virus.

This virus increased so rapidly because there was an unusual cold snap that began in the Northern Plains and went down through the Heartland, where, in the end of September, beginning of October, a large number of people moved indoors.

So we've been going across the country to really tell them the Mid-Atlantic States and the Northeast to really increase testing, looking for these asymptomatic cases. And I really want to thank the governors across this great land who have really heeded that call and set up what we call sentinel populations, whether it's nursing home staff, K-12 teachers, whether it's community college students, county workers, specific businesses to really have routine weekly testing, so that we can see the spread of this virus down to the zip code and really combat that with additional mitigation.

The next slide shows what we have been talking about, about the level of hospitalizations. And, in this slide, you can see the hospitalizations by the darkness of the color. And I just want to make it clear on what the vice president talked about.

We now can see every admission every day, and I want to thank the hospitals who, from July, have been sending us that data and improving that data and working with CDC so that we can see new admissions, we can see inpatient status, we can see CCU, ICU status, and we can see who's being admitted by age group.

Right now, it's about 50/50 between those between 40 and 69 and those over 70. But you can see that we have some areas of the country in the hot red/bright pink, and these are -- the darkest red are those states that have more than 21 percent of their hospitals are COVID patients. And the light pink is between 16 and 20 percent, and the light orange between 12 and 15 percent.

But you do see that there's still states in the green areas. And to all of those states that have not seen this surge, to really increase your testing among asymptomatics by setting up these sentinel populations, when we did the 45 days to stop the spread, and we asked each state to follow the gating criteria, part of that gating criteria included looking for asymptomatic cases.

With these new antigen tests, we have the capacity to really expand testing to find those cases and stop that spread.

In the meantime, as we started with, we stopped the surge in the South through very targeted mitigations that start with masks, that start with physical distancing, but also include decreasing those friends-and-family gatherings where people come together and unknowingly spread the virus.

And I want to thank the mayors of Miami, Miami City and Miami County, who they were the ones that first in the summer really found how much asymptomatic spread was occurring in household gatherings. And so, as you bring together individuals, remember what the vice president talked about.

Every American needs to be vigilant in this moment, because we know that, when you are, we can mitigate this virus and stop this spread together.

PENCE: Great. Thank you, Dr. Birx.

And as you can see with particularity on a state-by-state basis, we want the American people to know that we have -- we have eyes on your local hospital. We know about admissions. We know about the availability of ICU beds, and we know about supplies.

And from very early on, at the president's direction, we stood up the greatest national mobilization since World War II, and I want the American people to know that that continues to this moment.

And General David Sanford, who has been us every step of the way, is going to brief you on the status of our supply chain and the reserves that we have in our ongoing efforts to make sure that our hospitals and health care facilities have the resources and the support to meet this moment.

General?

BRIG. GEN. DAVID SANFORD, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: Mr. Vice President, thank you, sir.

Dr. Birx, thank you, ma'am.

So, we are in a much better place and continue to improve upon that capability. You will see from the slides behind me that we continue to grow our national stockpile, but also our FEMA stocks, to meet the requirements laid out by our states and by our populations. We continue to expand upon these to bridge the vaccine delivery to continue to protect our American population.

Since the late summer, we have grown our personal protective equipment capabilities 10 to 15 times over what they were pre-COVID, and continue to grow capability to meet the surge requirements that we may expect from the current caseload.

As you can see behind me, around the third column or fourth column, we have four months of surge capability based on current case diagnosis just for

N95 masks. And we continue to grow that capability, more masks being added every month.

The Strategic National Stockpile and our FEMA stocks are ready to be the backstop when our states require assistance. And that's all built upon a foundation of a strong domestic medical industrial base, something where we've been able to expand upon or build, in some cases almost from scratch, using our Defense Production Act and other CARES Act authorities to provide the capabilities for American people not just now, but into the future and for future crisis or medical events going down.

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