Page, as weve done throughout our history. To unite, to heal. President elect, tonight. His remarks coming, not long after the Electoral College made it official. Casting 306 votes for him and 232 for the president. It was pro forma was it was certainly not normal. As michigans electors met, the State Capitol was closed to the public and ringed with security due to threats of violence. Arizona electors had to meet at an undisclosed location, again, because of concerns about their security. Covid vaccinations, as you see, began today in the u. S. Healthcare workers getting the first dose of the newly approved Pfizer Vaccine. Still, any hope was tempered by the reality that more than 300,000 americans have now died of the virus. Many of them, nurses and doctors, emts, and hospital workers. The president , showing no signs of acknowledging their sacrifices or honoring their lives. Instead, his sideshow continues, and that is what it is. A sideshow, and a sad one, at that. Attorney general barr, stepping down today in a letter that began with, dear, mr. President. But sounded like it was meant to say dear leader. I am proud to have played a role in the many successes and unprecedented achievements you have delivered for the American People. The gushing continues. Your 2016 victory speech, in which you reached out to your opponents and called for working together for the benefit of the American People was met by a partisan onslaught, was out of bounds. It goes on like that for two more paragraphs. At the very end, he mentioned he is resigning. As discussed i will spend the next week wrapping up a few remaining matters important to the administration and depart on december 23rd. Jeff zeleny in wilmington, delaware. So, jeff, what did the president hope to accomplish with this speech . Anderson, i think, first and foremost, was just to set the record straight and say, look, democracy worked in america. This was, you know, the most forceful we have heard president elect biden talking this way, since winning the election. Weve never seen someone deliver a winning speech again and again, but weve never heard him talk about President Trump, by name, like this so many times. And really correct the record, you know, going list by list, defeat by defeat, talking about that supremecourt unanimous decision, on friday night. He did not have to go through all this. But he wanted, clearly, you know, to show some anger here. Democracy was under assault, was under attack. He put it, of course, into context. And he this was a short speech, on purpose. He can deliver a very long speech, as we all know. He was coughing throughout, so perhaps that was why as well. But he clearly wanted to put a bow on that and say democracy worked and then move on. But to clearly correct the record of what has been just this litany of misinformation and disinformation really, you know, sort of confusing the results. He won 81 million votes. 306 electoral votes. And he says, if he is judging by the measure of what President Trump said four years ago, its a landslide. As covid19 vaccines rolled out across the country for the first time today, what kind of hope is the president elect expressing for how that process is going to play out . Well, look. He talked about the grim toll this has taken as it hits the milestone of 300,000 americans. And he said it is an urgent priority. But the reality here is this is a big test. The biggest test, yet, of the transition between the trump government and the biden government is continuing the vaccines we saw today roll out. So, the bidentransition team is actually trying to work with the trumptransition team. There are signs they are, in fact, doing so. But that, of course, is a big challenge here. And do state and local governments have the money to keep this going . That is a big question. Hes called on congress to do more before. So now, this will soon be his huge challenge that he is inheriting. He only talked about that briefly tonight. And he did not answer perhaps one of the biggest questions of all. When is he going to get the vaccine . We are told, it could be potentially later this week. But they have still not, yet, decided that. That, of course, is an open question here but he knows this is the biggest challenge facing his presidency and, indeed, the country. Jeff zeleny, thanks very much. Now, the president , new reporting, as well as the attorney generals departure. Jim acosta joins us now with that. So, what happened . Because we heard the relationship, obviously, between the president and attorney general has been on the rocks. And now, this letter, which is, i mean, so over the top, even by trumpadministration standards, what are you learning . Yeah. Ive never seen a dear leader Resignation Letter before. I think this has less to do with whether or not bill barr was fired this evening, and whether or not the president was trying to change the subject. I talked to a trump adviser earlier this evening who said its probably the latter. You know, he he is really dreading the day when he is no longer in the ablock, anderson, which is some tv vernacular about the top of the newscast. And the president only has about 37 more days of that to go, when he is when hes no longer in the block, that will happen january 20th. But getting back to what happened with bill barr, white house officials are telling us, no, he was not forced out. No, he was not fired. That the president and he had an amicable conversation in the oval office, earlier today. But thats all beside the point, i think, anderson. Because this was really one of the last gasps from the president trying to stay relevant, trying to stay in that a block, by announcing that bill barr was leaving the administration some ten minutes after joe biden was put over the top in the Electoral College. Given that joe bidens victory has now been confirmed by the Electoral College. In terms of the president s moneymaking scheme, his grift thats going on to battle baseless charges of election fraud. Is there any reason to believe he is going to change tactic now . No. I talked to a source close to the white house, talks to the president on a regular basis, says he is not moving in the direction of accepting the election results. The disinformationfordollars campaign continues. And i talked to a separate adviser earlier today, who said that the president and his allies are are likely to try to challenge these these electoralcollege results on the floor of the house. That is when the Vice President mike pence is to preside over official tallying of the electoral votes. And it is it is during that ceremony, anderson, when republicanhouse members plan to challenge these election results. And theres a huge problem. There are some systemic problems with that. They need a senator to sign on. There are already republican senators calling joe biden the president elect today. But also, this is happening in a democraticcontrolled house of representatives. So again, this is going nowhere. Just like the president s hopes for a second term, a secondconsecutive term in office. And so, yes, anderson. I mean, what what were hearing from our sources, and what i am hearing from trump advisers is that, yes, he is going to continue challenging these election results, to the point where just about nobody is left listening to him. Anderson. Jim acosta. Appreciate it, jim. Thanks very much. Perspective now from cnn chief political analyst, gloria borger. David axelrod. Also, former Nixon White House counsel, john dean. David, you know president elect biden well. What do you make of his speech tonight . And does this now feel like the biden era is much closer at hand . Oh, theres no doubt about it. Look. I think hes been rather rather restrained, in the face of everything thats gone on over the last several weeks. Its been clear that hes won this race, for weeks and weeks and weeks. Theres been this barrage of disinformation. You know, nuisance lawsuits, across the country, that had no foundation, in fact. And a president calling him illegitimate. Having won by 7 million votes and the same number of electoral votes that donald trump claimed, in 2016. So, he had every reason to be irritated. But i thought he hit right tone, anderson, because the fact is there there is a lot of heroism in what happened. Theres a lot of beauty in what happened, which is that our democracy held. And all across the country, people did their job. Sometimes, in the face of enormous pressure. Sometimes, in the face of threats to their lives. That is a thats something we should all be concerned about. But but the democracy held. And he celebrated that. But he, obviously, was eager to level the indictment on trump and his and his enablers for whats gone on in the last few weeks and and continues. Which is an assault on our democracy. You know, he finished with a plea for unity. Said, let us build a house on a rock that can never be washed away. But, you know, lincoln said a house divided against itself cannot stand. Were a divided country, tonight, and donald trump has done everything he can to continue those divisions. And, gloria, there are many on capitol hill who are still wanting to continue those divisions. Yeah, they are. You know, lamar alexander, tonight, who is very close to Mitch Mcconnell and is, also, retiring. Came out and said, okay, its time. Its president elect joe biden. But, there are many folks on capitol hill, who are still grudgingly hanging back, until when . January 6th . January 20th . Its hard to know. And its outrageous. And its a shame. And they are undermining the very democracy that got them elected. But im sure youre going to see some shenanigans on the house floor, on january 6th. But in a way, i think we heard the president elect talk about donald trump more than he has, since hes gotten elected. I mean, mentioning his name, many times. We didnt hear joe biden do that before. He sort of, tonight, i think, felt the need to set the record straight. That he won the election, fair and square. And, john dean, just in terms of legal challenges and, i mean, im using the term rather loosely because, i mean, im not sure how much well, i know how much legal merit there was to the challenges that were made. Dozens of them. The president never had any ground to stand on. Despite, you know, people sending pictures on, you know, instagram and tweeting stuff. And and, you know, stuff on social media. When push comes to shove and, actually, lawyers in court have to present it to a judge, it doesnt hold up. You expect that the joint session of congress on january 6th, the final step in counting the electoral votes before the inauguration. I mean, does that devolve into some sort of like mess or what . It could, very easily. I think theres going to be a lot of thunder and rumbling by the republicans. But again, thats what theyve done in court, anderson. Theyve tried to go in, and pretend like they have information. But judges, who are very perceptive at this sort of thing, cut through all of the the dust and find whats really there is nothing. And i think that thats whats going to happen when if they manage to object and they get the procedures where they go into each chamber. And then, start debating these different caucuses as to whether or not there are electors or not. Its going to fall apart, again, because they dont have any evidence. And theyve been unable to present it. So, its just not going to work. But i think itll be theater. You can count on that. David, the Resignation Letter from the attorney general. I mean, its its so fawning and over the top. Its almost a parody of what President Trump would demand of someone, even though all credible reporting indicates their relationship had been severely deteriorated. I guess, how else would it end, other than in some huge, you know, firing on twitter . Well, i think whats most sorry, that was sorry, that was for david. Go ahead, john. Then, well go back to david. Go ahead, john, yeah. John, go ahead. I think whats most telling is the way it was handled. The fact that barrs people remain in place. His Deputy Attorney general who he hand selected and brought in to run the department on a daily basis. And his principal deputy, now escalated up to deputy and Deputy Attorney general. This isnt going to be a radical change, from barrs point view. They may be people who will do things for trump, that barr was not willing to do, however. And that might have been part of the agreement and understanding when barr left. But i think they wanted to put a congenial face on this, for some reason, that theres some more business they want to get out of the department. And so, there was not a lot of hard feeling in the way it ended. Yeah. David, i mean, how much more can be done in the amount of time, you know, before january 20th . Well, one thing can be done is pardons. And i i expect theres going to be a number of them, and theyre going to be quite controversial. And and barr probably knew that and knew that this was a good time to get out. He, obviously, had antagonized the president on two fronts. One, because he wouldnt attest to the charges of massive fraud, which is a big Conspiracy Theory that has no foundation. He wouldnt put the weight of the Justice Department behind it. And he he kept with the practice of the Justice Department, did not reveal an investigation against hunter biden. You know that these two things enraged the president. So, barr understood that he was probably at the end of the line here. But, i also think he knows what can happen in the next few weeks, and i expect there are going to be more grotesque distortions of the rule of law here in the next few weeks, as the president as the president gets ready to leave to leave the white house. I i think barr is a master of the clean getaway. And i think thats what he was trying to do here. Not only because there are going to be some pardons that he might have objected to, and wouldnt wouldnt want to be associated with. And he also knows that he was probably going to be fired by tweet. If he didnt go in and write this ridiculous, fawning letter to the president. And i want to point out that that not only was the timing of this suspicious, of course, right after joe biden went over the top in the Electoral College. But the first line of this letter says, i appreciate the opportunity to update you, this afternoon, on the departments review of voterfraud allegations in the 2020 election. And how those allegations will continue to be pursued. Never again is that mentioned in the rest of the letter. There is no update here. But, it is clearly what the president dictated to him, and said you need to talk about this. And how youre continuing to pursue that in your Justice Department. So, i guess, that conversation was held ahead of the meeting. So that, barr then comes to the white house with that letter already done . Or its with mark meadows, you know, the white house chief of staff. So, you think they wrote it while they were there and just printed it up . I dont know but i have a real suspicion that the president had a lot of input to the first line of this letter. And the rest of it is just fawning. Ridiculous. Do we think, after all this time, that bill barr doesnt know how to write a letter that will please the president . Exactly. Hes the cleangetaway guy. I imagine he knew how to construct it. You know . I did think it was interesting, in his tweet, john, the president actually references the letter. Clearly, the president was in on this whole because, suddenly, he is referencing the letter, as if the letter has great import, which is not a thing youd normally see the president doing. But, john, i mean, just in terms of what may happen january 6th. I mean, theres not really theres no options, really. There are not options. There theres set procedure that the Congress Must follow. They must convene. They must pence. If he doesnt want to announce the findings of the or the results of the Electoral College, he has to step aside and let the president pro tem step forward and announce those results. Its not something where he can get up and say i refuse to do this. He if he is not going to do it, hes got to have hes got to tell them in advance. And he cant lay his body down on the tracks, at that moment, and pull a show. So, this is going to go just by script and and weve been here before. Weve done this, many times. And youre right. There are very few options, other than for little internal argument, going into each chamber, debating these things. And then, coming back when they cant resolve because they have no alternative. There are no other certified electors, other than those that support biden as the winner. 306 of them. John, david, gloria, appreciate it. Thank you. Fascinating day. What a day it has been. Gloria borger, appreciate it. Ahead tonight. Stacey abrams, she joins us. Next, more on William Barrs departure. Whether he accepts them or not. Conservative legal scholar and critic of the president , george conway, is here. Pus, icu nurse and Covid Vaccine recipient and what today means to her and the Healthcare Professionals on the front lines with her. Feeling sluggish or weighed down . It could be a sign that your digestive system isnt working at its best. Taking metamucil everyday can help. Metamucil psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. It also helps lower cholesterol and slow sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. So you can feel lighter and more energetic. Metamucil. Support your daily digestive health. Try new metamucil fiber gummies made with a prebiotic plant based fiber blend that helps promote digestive health. To help you build a flexible wealth plan. Youll have access to taxsmart investing strategies, and with brokerage accounts online trades are commission free. Personalized advice. 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But as jim acosta reported before the break, todays Electoral College vote has not persuaded him to give it up. Biden spoke to the situation tonight, and indirectly to the president s republican enablers. He took full advantage of each and every one of those avenues. President trump was denied no course of action he wanted to take. He took his case to republican governors and republican secretary of state, as he criticized many of them. To republican state legislatures, to republicanappointed judges, at every level. And in a case, decided after the Supreme Courts latest rejection, a judge appointed by President Trump wrote, quote, this court has allowed the plaintiff the chance to make his case, and he has lost on the merits. End of quote. Lost on the merits. Respecting the will of the people is at the heart of our democracy. Even when we find those results hard to accept. But thats the obligation of those who have taken on a sworn duty to uphold the constitution. So, theres that. Theres the ongoing, white house scheme for challenging the electoral vote, whatever that may mean. Attorney general barr, today, removed his tongue from certain boots long enough to compose and, especially, well, letter. Next guest, Supreme Court litigator and attorney and antitrump conservative george conway. Mr. Conway, really appreciate you being with us. What do you think it says about america, that the voters have spoken, the courts have spoken. And now, tonight, the Electoral College has spoken. And still, the sitting president of the United States, refuses to, at the very least, even acknowledge his dually elected successor. Well, first of all, thank you for having me on, anderson. I think it says less about the country. One, hes delusional, as you just said. The other, he is basically running a scam on the American People or some segment of the American People. And third, he is malevolent. If he cant have the presidency, he doesnt want anyone else to have the presidency. And he is seeming to undermine the next administration. To go to the point about delusion, how delusional he is, the Trump Campaign brought a lawsuit, today, in new mexico in Federal District court. Arguing that drop boxes, where too many drop boxes were put in different places before the election. And this lawsuit, they could have brought more than 41 days ago when the election was held. And think about it. It makes absolutely no sense to bring this lawsuit. New mexico has only five electoral votes, and he is down by 74. He lost new mexico by 100,000 votes. 11 . There is, literally, and and today, the electors of new mexico and 49 other states cast their votes. No court is going to give relief, at this point. The lawsuit is just a joke. Its crazy. And its just its delusional, as you said. But, if you look at it as a grift. I mean, if the grift is getting money, raising money, from people who genuinely believe the president. You know, continuing the these these frivolous lawsuits allows or at least gives cover for the grift. No . I mean, he is making a lot of money. Correct. I saw one figure, i think it was reported on your air, that they had raised over 200 million to pay, what, lawyers who arent worth a nickel . But its more than that. Its also its also, he needs to convince himself and his supporters, for his own, psychological needs, that he actually won the election. And thats when you get back to the point that he is delusional. He cant see the truth, from his own lies and his own fantasies. I mean, imagine if a Network Executive at cnn behaved like this. Imagine if a a a pilot at United Airlines behaved like this. Imagine if an army colonel behaved like this. Imagine if kyle shanahan, the coach of the 49ers, went out after the super bowl, after losing the super bowl, and said, hey, all those points in the Fourth Quarter were fake. Those those passes. Those passes by ma mahomes werent real. They shouldnt have counted. And then, brought 60 lawsuits and lost them all. You all these people would be cashiered in a minute or made to talk to someone. Do you think he believes it . Yeah. I think i think he convinces himself of what he wants to believe at any given i dont think, in his own mind, truth and lies mean anything. You know, you can you can show him that he lied, and hell keep lying. Or hell think up a new lie. Truth. Theyre just words to him. Theyre just Everything Everything in his own mind is what counts. And anything out there, in reality, doesnt count. And thats just the way hes behaving. The scary thing is that people are following and believing him. Thats thats the next thing i wanted to ask you about, which is i mean, i get, you know, people who are not, on a daily basis, obsessed with following the ins and outs of whats happening in politics. Believing the president because they want to they like him or they they believe hes done good stuff. And they they want to believe their president. I understand that. But, i guess, the stuff, what i dont understand, are folks on capitol hill, who should know better. Who, certainly, know the law better. And yet, are have have allowed the Republican Party to just be completely, now, turned into the party of trump. And, i dont know, now, allowing the party to essentially be held hostage for the next four years, to the whims of what he decides to do. Its absolutely astounding. And that is the most astounding. Not his behavior. Hes shown himself to be who he is, over the past four years. And all of this, you could you know, his behavior after the election could be predicted. And but the fact that, even after he has lost and lost decisively, people are still pretending pretending that he didnt or at least humoring him and not criticizing him or contradicting him, that you could get 18 state attorney generals to file in support of this garbage they sent to the Supreme Court. And and then, 126 members of the house to sign onto an amicus brief, also, in support of that garbage that the that the Supreme Court, unanimously, slapped down. I mean, its terribly disheartening. It shows, basically, people are theyre just theyre just doing it because theyre either afraid or maybe maybe theyve been taken in. I i i the psychology of it is just beyond my comprehension. I do think there are a number i think a lot of these people know better. They know hes nuts. They know he is a pathological liar. They know all of this. But the price that they would pay, in terms of their stature or their electoral viability is too great. And so or they want something from, i dont know what now that hes going to be gone in 40 days. They they they simply keep, you know, they either bury their heads or they go along, and they just, you know, they hope that they hope that they theyre not the subject of a mean tweet. And meanwhile, the people who do the right thing, now even barr, get cashiered or they get criticized, like Governor Kemp and governor ducey and secretary of state raffensperger. You do the right thing, you get trashed. Well, that seems to be i mean, maybe i think, maybe, weve all spent too much time sort of trying to image figure out what is in the president s head. But it does seem. You could look at that as a strategy, that he attacks the people who have been his most loyal servants. I mean, jeff sessions, whether you agree or not with what he did at the Justice Department. He was executing orders. I mean, he was doing what the president wanted to. He was actually getting judges through, and and getting people on the bench, other than recusing himself. And barr, the same. You could look at it, i guess, also, as a message to all republicans in congress of dont cross him, in any way, because he will he has no compunction about whatever youve done for him in the past, about kneecapping you if it serves his interest, in the present. Thats absolutely right. There was this great oped about a year ago in the New York Times talking about the president s narcissism. And the last line of it was, you can never love a narcissist enough. And you can never do a narcissists bidding, enough. You can never do enough for him. He doesnt care about what you did, yesterday. If you find some kind of a conflict between your public duties, and what he thinks is in his interest to have you do at a given moment, youre done. Thats what happened to jeff sessions, who was his earliest and most significant supporter in 2015 and 2016. Thats what happens, you know, thats what were seeing now to to to Governor Kemp, who campaigned, extensively, for the president. To seek the reelection of the president. And so did governor ducey, who is also being trashed. And then, bill barr, who, you know, has been criticized to the ends of the earth for his behavior in kowtowing to the president , including, in giving the misleading presentation of the mueller report. In conducting a reinvestigation of the russia investigation. In intervening in the prosecution of roger stone. Hes done all of that, but its worth nothing now. At least to trump trump is concerned because he committed three new sins. One is he never issued that report about the russia investigation. Two, he never he he he sat on on on the investigation and kept secret the investigation of hunter biden, which is what he was supposed to do under his duties under Justice Departments prosecutorial g prosecutorial guidelines. And three, he didnt know of any actionable fraud in the election. And those are pardonable sins for trump. Doesnt matter what barr did for him yesterday, trump doesnt care. What do you see, i mean, for the next i mean, obviously, its impossible to think four years out, these days. But what do you imagine his postpresident ial life to be . I dont know. I think its going to be continual grift and grievance. He is going to be trying to raise money, and trying to continue, you know, being the center of attention because he needs to be the center of attention, psychologically. So, hes going to keep, you know, stirring people up out there. And probably, trying to hold rallies and trying to raise money. Without having the president ial seal, though, does it its going to be a lot harder. Yeah. Thats what i want yeah. And theres going to be the grievance aspect. And that grievance aspect is going to be, until his dying breath, he is going to claim that this election was fraudulently taken from him. And then, you are going to hear more. If he gets prosecuted, weve seen report reports by, i guess, New York Times most recently, that the New York CountyDistrict Attorneys Office is ramping up its criminal investigation of somebody. I guess, maybe, the trump organization. Maybe, the president , himself. And, you know, he hes just going to be continual a continual of grievance, until forever. George conway, really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Speaking of history. Was certainly made today with the first pfizer vaccinations in the u. S. Coming up, ill talk to one of the First Healthcare workers in the nation to get the vaccine. An icu nurse who has seen so much pain, suffering, and loss of life from covid19. Gillette proglide and proglide gel. Five blades and a pivoting flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke, while washing away dirt and oil. So youre ready for the day with a clean shave and a clean face. After a night like this, crest has you covered. 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Thanks for believing. More breaking news. Tonight, in the face of an ongoing surge in coronavirus cases, there is a new Record Number of people hospitalized in the u. S. More than 110,000. And with the u. S. Death toll topping 300,000, the nation witnessed something truly historic today. The first doses given of pfizers covid19 vaccine. Cnns sara sidner joins us now from the hospital in michigan. Sara, you have been reporting on this, all day long, because i was with you early this morning talking about this. Talk to me about what you have seen, today. You know, anderson, im sure you felt this. There are times in history, where you really feel the gravity of something. The momentousness of something. And this was one of those days. We watched, as the vials came into this hospital. They are one of the first to get it here, at the university of michigan. But it, also, came around the same time that the United States surpassed 300,000 people dead due to covid19. This really is a bit of light, at the end of a very dark tunnel. This moment could not come soon enough. Icu nurse, sandra lindsey, is one of the first people in the United States to get the covid19 vaccine, outside of a clinical trial. So is emergencymedicine doctor, eve. Didnt feel any different than receiving any other vaccination that i have received in the past. Reporter today, workers loaded boxes of pfizer and biontechs vaccine onto trucks by forklift, for shipping to medical facilities and hospitals around the country. An historic day that arrived in record time. Cnn was there the moment university of Michigan Medical Center staff got the vaccine. A box, filled with dry ice and 390 vials. Each vial has five doses inside. Once thawed and mixed with saline, it was administered to healthcare workers who have exhausted themselves taking care of coronavirus patients, while putting themselves in danger. The really important thing is that we can now see the horizon. We can see how this is going to end. Reporter from michigan medicine, to tampa general hospital, in florida, something to cheer about, finally. After a year of devastating loss, more than 300,000 covid deaths, in america. To medical staff at ohio state university. Three, two, one. Vaccinate. Its momentous. I feel honored to receive it, humbled to receive it. Its a really wonderful day. Reporter the complex task of figuring out how to store and ship the vaccine has been underway, for months. The vaccine needs to be kept at ultracold temperatures. Ups and fedex are helping to deliver the vaccine, nationwide, using a complexpackage design by pfizer called a thermal shipper. Now, after so many months of uncertainty, there is renewed hope this vaccine can start us down whats to be a long road to recovery. We are exposed to it, every minute, of every day. So, i cant tell you how much this means to me. I feel like i won a milliondollar lottery, getting this vaccine. Sara, hospitals and medical septembers may have tho centers may have ultracold refrigerators. What happens when vaccine is taken to places that dont have that specialized equipment . That is why it is packaged away as it is. You saw those boxes. That has all of that dry ice in there. The bunker is how one of operation warp speeds officials told us and that really can keep it keep it cold as cold as it needs to be for several days. There are also, other little packets they have been sending out that does the same thing. That is how they will get out to different places. If they dont have the cold storage, they will just need to keep it and bring more dry ice which is relatively cheap to try it and keep it in those subzero temperatures. As sara mentioned, at the beginning of the report, one of the first to receive the Pfizer Vaccine and possibly the first was sandra lindsey. Shes seen, firsthand, what coronavirus can do to those who are critically ill. She works at long island Medical Center here in new york. Pleased that she joins me now. I know its been a long day for you, although i am sure youre used to a lot of long days in your lifesaving work. How are you feeling . First of all, how did it feel to be part of history . And also, physically, are you feeling anything from the vaccine . Anderson, first of all, thanks for having me on, and for giving me this platform to share my experience. I feel great. It doesnt feel any different than the influenza vaccine, i take annually and that i took two months ago. So, how did you get to be the first in the u. S. To receive the vaccine . Or one of the first, at least. I assume you volunteered for this. I volunteered, and i have been speaking openly that, whenever this vaccine is approved to be given, that i would be among the first. When my when my turn, you know, came up, that i would take the vaccine. I have no fear. I trust the science. My profession is deeply rooted in science. I i trust science. What i dont trust is getting covid19 because i dont know how it will affect me and the people around me, that i could potentially trans transfer the virus to. So, today, the Surgeon General addressed Vaccine Hesitancy. And and noted the distrust among people of color and and others. Saying that the distrust is not without good reason. Referring to the tuskegee studies, in the 1930s. Horrific experiments that were done on on black men. People people of color have also been disproportionately affected by the virus. Were these things on your mind, when you volunteered to receive the vaccine . So, i understand the mistrust among the minority community. So, yes, it was on my mind. But mostly, i wanted to i want to be a part of the solution to put an end to this pandemic, once and for all. As you mentioned in your introduction, i have seen tremendous loss, pain, suffering, fear in the eyes of my colleagues. Every day, that we come to work, courageously, to save lives. And i just think, also, as a leader in the organization that i i lead by example. I dont ask people to do anything that i would not do, myself. And so, i was happy to to volunteer to be among the first. I did not know that i would make history, and thats not why i did it. I wanted to do it to inspire people, who may be skeptical about taking the vaccine and trusting the science. I think about you and and so many of those who are who are in the trenches, who are on the front lines, seeing death, day in and day out. And saving lives. When you go outside the hospital, on your way home, and you see people not wearing masks. Or not social distancing. Hanging out in a bar, you know, thinking that theyre young. Its not doesnt really matter. Theyre not going to get sick. What what is your message to people who may, now, think, oh, okay, well, theres a vaccine now. So, the mask wearing, its not as important. So, its its just as important now. We are not out of the woods, yet. The light is brighter, tonight, in the tunnel. Were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. But its this is, certainly, not over. So, i will say i would say to people, that the covid19 virus is real. I have witnessed it, firsthand. We are still witnessing it. So, i urge you, please, to listen to the experts. Wear your mask. Let science be your guide. Practice social distancing. Also, to remember the vaccine is no good in a freezer. It is better, more effective, of course, when it goes into your body and starts interacting with your immune system. So, please, listen to the science. It is real. Continue to wear your masks. Social distance. And if you can put off your celebrations, please, put off your celebrations. Do them virtually. People have been coming up with all sorts of creative ways to interact with family. And so, do that, this year, so that we can be together next year, in person. Yeah. Sandra lindsey, i appreciate you talking tonight. But also, what you and what you do as a nurse and and everybody in the medical field, what they are doing. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you, anderson. A tremendous thanks to my team members and frontline workers and essential workers all across the world. Yeah. Who are fighting the good fight. Thank you. Thank you. Were lucky to have you. Joining me now is cnns chief medical correspondent, dr. Sanjay gupta. Who, like all of us, has certainly been waiting for this day for a very long time. So, sanjay, first, your reaction to what sandra was just saying, as well as your own thoughts on this day. Well, you know, it its its a historic day and shes going shes going to be a person who is recorded in the history books. I mean, it is its one of those things, sometimes, when you are in the throes of it, its hard to understand that this is all part of whats going to be written about in the history books, one day. Just like i have been reading about what happened in 1918. You know, going back looking at that time. One day, people will look at this, and sandras name will probably be in there as the first person to be vaccinated in this country. The other thing that struck me, you asked her about it, is sort of that that whiplash, i think a lot of Healthcare Providers have. You know, sometimes, they have to prone these patients and theyre walking in with ipads so that they can have conversations with their families. Then, they walk out of the hospital and, you know, sometimes, its treated as if its not a real thing. I think thats what sandra was sort of alluding to a little bit there. And, you know, people have been, you know, whove worked in the hospital. Theyre frightened. Theyre frightened they may be carrying the virus, themselves, and taking it home. Then, to be going to the supermarket or gas station. People not believing its real. Its been a lot of whiplash for some period of time. So its good to see people like her getting vaccinated. From all the people you talk to, all the folks youve been talking to in the production of this. Everybodys watching tonight. When do most people, who are not, necessarily, you know, are not in the medical field, who are not frontline, when do those of us farther back, when do you think the the vast majority of people will actually be touched by this vaccine . Well, you know, its its its dependent on a couple of things. I mean, you know, overall, i think were looking at spring, maybe early summer. I think we did your calculation. I think you were like 280th million or something. Yeah. But we have the Pfizer Vaccine. Were going to go through the same process, this week, on possible limo der th possibly moderna vaccine. Theres astrazeneca, and Johnson Johnson which, you know, may receive authorization end of january, early february. I bring that all up, anderson, to say it you can see that the doses there, astrazeneca was the big bet, 300 million doses of that. If those come to fruition, there will be a lot more vaccine out there much more quickly. You got to make sure the manufacturing is up to par as well, creating tens of thousands of doses for Clinical Trials is different than hundreds of millions of doses for the world. So you got to make sure theyre doing that. But im hearing from a lot of people who are modeling this out, sort of late spring, early summer for most people in the country. Givens the Vaccine Hesitancy among some in the country, how important do you think it will be for people to continue to, you know, receive those shots on camera . I think theres something about normalizing it. Once you actually start to see it, you see it as a real thing. Oh, its something thats kept in a freezer. Its not just some kind of thing thats come out of nowhere. Right. Yeah, i mean that was striking today to see those shots and hear sandra talk about it because theres so much Science Behind this. Weve been reporting on this for so long, these mrna vaccines and this amazing technology, and then its this mundane shot that goes into the arm just like any other shot people have had. I think stories like sandras go a long way towards addressing vaccine hesitanchesitancy. You have people who black americans who can cast a scientific eye toward it and say that, yes, i evaluate it, and i decided to take it. I think it goes a long way. Sanjay, appreciate it. Thanks. Up next on this busy monday night, ill talk with stacey abrams. Her thoughts on president elect bidens speech tonight and his visit to georgia tomorrow to cha campaign for two democrats in campaign for two democrats in Senate Runoffs. Trusted soothing vapors, from vicks or psoriatic arthritis, Little Things can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. 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And we kept going. So you only pay for what you use. Because at dell technologies, we stop. At nothing. Its certainly worth repeating. Our breaking news at the top of the program, the Electoral College has affirmed the election of joe biden and Kamala Harris to be the next president and Vice President of the United States. Biden won many of the socalled battleground states along with two not in that category before november 3rd, arizona and georgia. Overseeing georgias electoral vote today was stacey abrams. She joins me now. Thanks for being with us. Today was obviously a historic day in georgia. Not since bill clinton in 1992 has a democratic ticket won your state. What did it feel like to affirm President Bidens victory and do you feel like it marks a shift in the transition . I will say it was a thrilling relief. I believe we have closure and certitude, but that doesnt mean there arent those who will continue to try and undo the outcome. But i think what we affirmed across the country is that democracy holds, that we are willing to go through this process and regardless of the outcome, we are willing to do the work of preserving what has gotten this far for more than 240 years. As you know, the president has gone after the governor of georgia, also the secretary of state, both republicans. The governor he used to praise lavishly during the pandemic when the governor opened things up very quickly. What do you think the impact will be of his constant attempts to undermine the voting process, particularly on the Senate Runoffs next month . One of the differences between myself and donald trump is that i actually believe in every voter who is eligible being able to cast a ballot. And it is always deeply disappointing when an elected official works to undermine the integrity of the ballot and works to create confusion among voters. We are pushing hard to get voters to use absentee ballots, mailin ballots because its the safest, most effective way to vote in georgia. We are in the midst of a third covid surge, and while we are all excited about the possibility of this vaccine, there are still millions of georgia voters who need to be heard before the vaccine reaches them. And its our mission to make certain that in georgia, everyone who wants to vote by mail can go to peachvote. Com and find out how to make a plan to vote, voting either early in person starting today, voting by mail. But its disappointing that the president of the United States is trying to undermine this integrity of the vote. So today as you just mentioned was the first day of early voting in your state. Turnout for runoff races is usually lower than in general elections. What is your strategy to getting people out to the polls without the attraction of a president ial ticket on the ballot . Obviously you have done extraordinary work in georgia to register people, to get people to vote in the general election. Peoples lives are on the line. Whether its President Biden or former President Trump as we get to january, its still going to be a question of do people get relief from the economic effect of covid, from the Public Health impact of covid . Will there be any action on the Racial Justice questions that continue to plague our country . And there are only two candidates in this race that have actually demonstrated any concern for the people of georgia, and thats jon ossoff and Raphael Warnock. Where Kelly Loeffler and david perdue have failed georgia is that theyve allowed david perdue im sorry. Theyve allowed Mitch Mcconnell to block access to the millions of dollars that could be coming into the state of georgia. Weve had one in four businesses, Small Businesses that were open last year, that have shut down. We have 160,000 people facing evictions. We have 4. 1 million job loss claims, and we have watched nero fiddle as the nation burns. And unfortunately as Mitch Mcconnell fiddles and refuses to take action, anderson, unfortunately weve watched david perdue and Kelly Loeffler standing next to him with the matches. Its time for us to have real leadership, and that means electing Raphael Warnock and jon ossoff to the United States senate and georgia voters understand this. Cnn is reporting there are fewer voting sites. How concerned are you about that for voters of color . We know there will be fewer locations available because this will have a smaller turnout number than a president ial election. President ial elections are high watermarks. However, we have target the certain counties where we know not only have they closed polling locations, theyve closed them in largely democratic areas that serve largely communities of color. Cobb county was one of those counties. Luckily because of a Consortium Including fair fight we were able to convince them to open additional locations. Were working on forsythe county and hall county. But fundamentally we want everyone in georgia to understand that you have three ways to vote. You can vote early in person starting today through january 1st. You can request your absentee ballot by going to peachvote. Com, getting information about requesting your absentee ballot. And you can vote on election day, january 5th, although we consider that last call and wed prefer that people bank their votes before we get into the holidays. Stacey abrams, i appreciate your time tonight. Thank you. Reminder, dont miss full circle. You can catching it streaming live at 6 00 p. M. Eastern orou