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Erin Burnett Outfront
Biden Poised to Name WH Chief of Staff as Early as Tomorrow as Trump Meets With Advisers, Shows No Signs of Conceding; Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) Discusses About President Trump's Continuous Claim of Voter Fraud; Biden Widens Lead in PA, Maintains Sizable Margins in GA & AZ; Republican Senator on Transition: If Biden Doesn't Get Intel Briefing by Week's End, "I Will Step In". Aired 7-8p ET
Aired November 11, 2020 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Erin Burnett OUTFRONT starts right now.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next, the President-elect Biden about to make a major announcement about his administration. The current president is putting country last, refusing to concede even as his advisors know he is fighting a losing battle.
And more breaking news this hour, CNN learning the State Department is preventing President-elect Biden from accessing messages he's been receiving from foreign leaders.
Plus, a Republican official tonight congratulating Joe Biden on his victory. I'm going to talk to him about why and why others in his party are silenced. Let's go OUTFRONT.
And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
OUTFRONT tonight, President Trump in a spiral of denial tonight, tweeting he will win when he didn't and President-elect Biden is forging ahead and announcement on his chief of staff coming as early as tomorrow. Yet after appearing for the first time in public in six days for a brief Veterans Day event today, Trump tonight refusing to accept reality hunker back down with his advisors and his lawyers.
Now, we can tell you that some of Trumps advisors are privately saying they know that there is no chance they will overturn Biden's win. But Trump won't have it and he's the boss. Trump and Trump alone right now is holding the country back complaining about mass voter fraud in states he lost.
Take Arizona where the President and his campaign have repeatedly declared victory. The State's Republican Attorney General just went on Fox News and said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK BRNOVICH, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF ARIZONA: It does appear that Joe Biden will win Arizona. There are no facts that would lead anyone to believe that the election results will change. What really happened, it came down to people split their ticket, people voted for Republicans down ballot, but they didn't vote for President Trump Martha McSally. And so that that's the reality. Just because that happened, it doesn't mean it's fraud.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's the fact. Is it that hard to say? OK, so that's Arizona. Now take Georgia. Trump tails Biden by more than 14,000 votes in Georgia. Just a short time ago that State's Republican Secretary of State responded to Trump in his campaigns for claims of mass voter fraud by saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Have you seen any evidence of widespread fraud or anything along those lines?
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, (R) GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: We have ongoing investigations, but we've not seen something widespread.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, no a widespread fraud. Now, take Pennsylvania. The President today came out and attacked a Republican Commissioner in Philadelphia after that Commissioner came on CNN and said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ACHOR: What evidence of any widespread fraud have you seen in the count in Philadelphia?
AL SCHMIDT, (R) PHILADELPHIA CITY COMMISSIONER: I have not. I realize a lot of people are happy about this election and a lot of people are not happy about this election. One thing I can't comprehend is how hungry people are to consume lies and to consume information that is not true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: This people all coming out and saying the truth. They're doing their jobs. They are putting their country first. They are counting the ballots. They do not see widespread fraud in state after state after state. And you heard a Commissioner Schmidt there say lies. These lies are being put out.
Well, Trump is the one putting the lies out there and he is seizing on some people's desire for conspiracy. What he is doing is wrong on the merits. It is counterfactual, it is lies and it is dangerous, because some people believe it.
Our Kyung Lah, talked to one of the President's supporters in Georgia who is buying what Trump is selling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there was large scale cheating. I think there was large-scale voter fraud and it has to be brought out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: All right. We're hearing alarming comments like that because of tweets like this from the President. "Nevada is turning out to be a cesspool of Fake Votes." OK. The facts in Nevada, Biden is ahead by nearly 37,000 votes. And Nevada's Republican Secretary of State pushing back against the President making it clear that at this point no fraud has come to light.
Again, the facts matter because, yes, every vote counts and when you say that it kind of gives you this moral high ground, but let's just be clear, every vote counts. But when someone gets enough votes to win, the loser concedes. That is what happens in this country.
Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. She lost Pennsylvania by a smaller margin. The Trump is losing it. Biden is winning Michigan by a margin of nearly 14 times more than Trump did. Yet Clinton conceded and she did so without waiting until every state certified results. She didn't do this every vote needs to be counted. I'm going to challenge every single thing in court. I'm going to ask for these recounts. I'm going to take it to court. I'm going to wait till the certification in the middle of December when the Electoral College meets.
[19:05:08]
She didn't do it because the outcome was clear. She, like many other presidential hopefuls, did the right thing. In fact, the last Republican president to suffer a bitter defeat after just one term conceded immediately. And then President George H.W. Bush wrote a letter to the man who defeated him, Bill Clinton, which reads in part, "I wish you well. I wish your family well. Your success now is our country's success. I am rooting hard for you."
Jeff Zeleny is with President-elect Biden in Wilmington, Delaware. Kaitlan Collins is at the White House.
So Jeff, let me start with you. You broke the news that the President- elect is moving ahead, forging ahead, trying to name who is going to be on his inner staff, poised to name his White House Chief of Staff as early as tomorrow. What more are you learning?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORREPONDENT: We are learning, Erin, that the President-elect Biden is poised to announce as early as tomorrow that his new West Wing Chief of Staff will be Ron Klain, who is of course a longtime advisor to him going back to his years in the Senate. They've known each other for decades. And he was a chief of staff during his years as Vice President and he was also in charge of the U.S. ebola response back in 2014. So one of the reasons he's being selected here, we're told, is because of his attention to a coronavirus.
Meantime, Mr. Biden is also moving to name other West Wing advisor. We're told that that could also come later this week. He is not going to announce any nominations to be in his cabinet, I'm told, till after Thanksgiving, likely next month sometimes and he may hold some of those announcements back pending the outcome of those Georgia Senate races.
But Erin, all this is coming as lawyers for the Biden team are keeping a careful eye on all of this. They're watching those recounts. They're watching those claims of fraud. But intentionally, I'm told, that Mr. Biden is not engaging in this himself. He does not want to get into a back and forth with the President. His advisors believe that's exactly what the President is trying to get him to do, so he's staying above the fray, staying calm and cool about this.
But the question is, as this goes forward, will it impact the transition to power or not. For now, at least, Mr. Biden, I'm told, is advising his team to just stay calm and watch this play out. But some Democrats, Erin, clearly are very concerned about this, what they're seeing play out across the country, Erin.
BURNETT: Right. Which, of course, I understand. But it is so important to see this people, regardless of party. Republican Secretaries of State and some of these hard-won states saying, look, it's just not there. This is what happened. These are the facts. Thank you very much, Jeff.
So let's go to Kaitlan Collins, as I said, at the White House. So Kaitlan, the President meeting again with his advisors today. What's happening in these meetings?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know so far what they talked about yesterday and today in part is really what they're going to do next and charting this path forward. Because you see how angry the President is on Twitter in all caps with these exclamation points like we've seen before. But behind the scenes, aides say the President is much more calmer, more reserved and realizes what's going on and that the math isn't there.
He's already come to terms of reality behind the scenes. He just isn't saying so publicly based on what our sources are telling us. And we should note, Erin, that tonight the President is still in the Oval Office. He's been spending his evenings there a lot later than we typically see him do. The last three nights he stayed there past seven o'clock, often until eight o'clock, which is not typical for this president, we should note.
But he is still there right now and so they've continued to push these baseless allegations, but they are starting to fall apart not only in the court of public opinion, but also in actual courts, where you are seeing frustration with the attorneys who are there about the details that they are trying to argue and litigate. So the question really is in Republican circles is how much longer are they going to indulge the President in these claims, because when you talk to people privately, they say they understand that the President doesn't have any evidence behind his claims to back them up.
We've heard that from even Republican election administrators in multiple different cities. But the question is how long is this going to go on, because we are increasingly see Republicans want to start to look ahead to that runoff race in Georgia, where it's going to determine the power of the Senate. The Vice President is going there next week to campaign on behalf of the Republicans, of course.
And so the question is how much longer does this go on and you're starting to see frustration. Even tonight, the Republican Senator from Oklahoma, James Lankford, saying in a radio interview that if by Friday, Joe Biden is still not receiving those intelligence briefings that Jeff was talking about, he said he is going to get involved. Because regardless of the outcome of the election, he believes Joe Biden should start getting read on that in case, of course, he's the winner, which we already know he already is.
BURNETT: All right. Thank you very much, Kaitlan.
So I want to go now to the Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania, Bob Casey. Senator, let me just start the - Kaitlan started with the President with these meetings with his advisors. He is out on Twitter in all caps tonight saying we will win, publicly completely defiant, even as Republican secretaries of state in these hard-fought states are saying there is no evidence of widespread fraud whatsoever. What happens now, Senator?
[19:10:08]
SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): Well, Erin, I think the President should do what every president who's been defeated has done in the past, whether 1976 or 1992 or 2008, 2016. Whenever there's a defeated president or a change in parties, we know that the peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy. And he should take the first step, which is concession.
And then from there, we can have the beginnings of the peaceful transfer of power but the worry that a lot of us have, I do, and members of the Senate at least on our side so far and I'm hoping more Republicans will join James Lankford, his National Security, it's not like our adversaries and terrorists take a day off.
BURNETT: So let me ask you about James Lankford, the Republican Senator from Oklahoma. Kaitlan just mentioned him. He just did a radio interview, so let me just quote exactly what he said about these intelligence briefings. He says, "If they're not occurring by Friday, I will step in and say this needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way that it goes, people can be ready for that actual task." And he also earlier in the interview said it appears Joe Biden has won.
So that may not be and it is not enough. But nonetheless, he's saying he's going to intervene, right? He's going to actually get involved if Biden isn't receiving these briefings by the end of the week. Is that a big step as you see it?
CASEY: Well, I think it's a recognition that Joe Biden is the President-elect. We've got other Republican (inaudible) very few say that. But the problem is we shouldn't have to wait till Friday. Those briefings should be happening right now, because any seam, any gap in intelligence for the next administration could be problematic. And it not only makes no sense, it's contrary to our national security
interest. So look, the Republicans in the Senate have to make a choice here. They've got to choose to genuflect to Donald Trump or to take steps that would ensure that we have a seamless transfer of power, not just a peaceful transfer of power with regard to our national security.
BURNETT: All right. Sen. Casey, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
CASEY: Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: And now longtime Republican election lawyer Ben Ginsberg who served as national counsel to the Bush campaign during the 2000 recount. All right. Ben, so here we are and I'm going to be asking you this question yet again. Trump is fighting. He says he will win. He says there's fraud in all of these states where the Republicans and secretary of state say that is not the case.
You've been going through every filing that's there. Have you seen any lawsuit that would impact the vote count in a meaningful way and is legitimate?
BEN GINSBERG, REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER: No. And what you're also seeing today in court is Republican claims affidavits that don't even challenge votes, but challenge the process are really getting derided by judges around the country; Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan have been bad court days for the Trump campaign so that more and more this is looking like a losing effort. And that brand is eventually going to stick to the President.
BURNETT: So let me just ask you, the Republican Secretary of State of Arizona, that was just one of the states that's very close. He just did an interview on Fox.
So Ben, just to quote what he said, there are no facts that would lead anyone to believe the election results will change. And then he laid it out. He said, what really happened is people split their ticket. They voted for Joe Biden and they voted for Mark Kelly. They split it. They wanted the division of power. He goes that is the reality, just because that happened doesn't mean it's fraud.
How significant is it to hear Republican secretaries of state step up like this?
GINSBERG: I think it's very significant. I mean, they know what happened in their state's elections. They believe in the integrity of the process, because that's their job. You're going to see that fall off again, reflected in the Georgia recount that's now been ordered, a hand recount. Already there were 50,000 less votes for the Senate race, for the Perdue (ph) Senate race than the Presidential race. That's what happens, it's not an indication of fraud.
BURNETT: Right. And just to be clear, people do that all over the place. I know people who do that. You vote, you go and you don't know what's going on the bottom of the ticket, maybe you don't care, you vote for the presidential. That's not fraud. That's just what you chose to do and I think a lot of people understand that if you put it in English, right?
GINSBERG: Yes, absolutely. I mean, it's what we talk about more on television, what's more written in the papers, it's more online, talk about the presidency. So it is not unusual for people to get very excited about the Presidential race, and then just vote for that race and go. It happens every election every year.
BURNETT: So what happens in Georgia? They have to certify by November 20 to move ahead. A hand recount sounds like a pretty involved thing.
[19:15:01]
This is 5 million ballots cast in the State of Georgia with a gap of, what, 14,057 currently in favor of Joe Biden. Can they get it done in time and what happens a few hundred votes swing perhaps, if that ...
GINSBERG: Perhaps mean that a few hundred votes is the most you could expect out of a recount. What's true about the hand recount is about 3.5 million of those were done on automatic touchscreen machines. So the paper trail just has the name of the person who received the vote. There are a million and a half mail-in ballots. Those will have some more scrutiny, but the mountain of ballots they have to go through is a million and a half and not 5 million.
BURNETT: All right. Well, they have until November 20th and, obviously, here we are in Veterans Day, November 11th. Thank you very much, Ben. I always appreciate your time.
GINSBERG: Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: And next a Republican Governor-elect breaking with the majority of his party, congratulating the President-elect Joe Biden. When does he think other Republicans will follow him? He's my guest.
Plus, Dr. Anthony Fauci speaking out about working for the President as the United States tonight reaches record-high coronavirus hospitalizations.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, it's obviously been very stressful. I mean, to deny that would be to deny reality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And more breaking news ahead. We are learning the State Department is blocking Joe Biden from accessing messages he's getting from foreign leaders. More details this hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:20:06] BURNETT: All right. New results coming in from the States of Arizona,
Pennsylvania and Georgia as President-elect Joe Biden's victory is growing wider each day. Biden has windened his leaving Pennsylvania, maintaining his margins in Georgia and Arizona.
Phil Mattingly is OUTFRONT at the magic wall. So Phil, what is the latest as these final votes here come in?
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, still counting and still giving results. I think the Biden campaign is pretty happy with. Let's start with the popular vote. Obviously, the U.S. election isn't decided by the popular vote, but Joe Biden now over 5.1 million votes ahead of Donald Trump.
Erin, to give you some kind of context here, that is larger than President Obama's 2012 margin over Mitt Romney. One of the largest margins in about 20 years. That's where it currently stands on the popular vote as to the states themselves. Well, you mentioned Pennsylvania, obviously, that has already been called for Joe Biden and that lead is only growing. Now, it sits at about 51,400 votes and the expectation is given where the vote is outstanding and what should be coming in over the course of the next couple of days that lead will grow.
For context there, well, in 2016 President Trump won the state by 44,000 votes. Joe Biden already 6,000 votes ahead of that and that's expected to grow. Now, you mentioned Georgia, obviously, Georgia is headed into a recount. We'll be starting soon.
Joe Biden's lead, though, has only served to grow over the course of the last couple of days, 14,000 votes. And a 14,000-vote lead heading into a recount? Well, that's a pretty comfortable margin recounts, at most traditionally over the course of history, maybe flip a couple hundred votes here and there. They certainly don't flip 14,000 votes.
I think the one everybody's got very close eyes on right now, Erin, is the State of Arizona. And the reason why is President Trump has been steadily catching up over the course of the last couple of days. Right now Joe Biden's margin is about 12,800 votes. And the reality is when you look at the numbers, it's about 40,000 votes outstanding, give or take a couple thousand because of provisionals being counted.
If you're the Biden campaign, you're looking at this right now, you're looking at what's outstanding and you're feeling very, very comfortable. Essentially, Donald Trump would have to win somewhere between 66 percent to 67 percent of the outstanding vote and a lot of that outstanding vote is coming from Democratic strongholds like Pima County, areas that you see blue here.
So the Biden campaign right now very much so on track for the potential of 306 electoral votes, Erin.
BURNETT: Right. So all of a sudden you're looking at a margin that have five plus million of the popular, 306 electoral votes. That is what people would call in the parlance of this country, a mandate. That is what has happened, it just took longer to get there. Let me ask you, though, about Alaska. We called Alaska today for
President Trump. His daughter, Ivanka, went on Twitter and she celebrated it saying, "President Trump and Senate Republicans win Alaska, overwhelmingly and by a massive 20-point spread. Put Alaska in the books for Trump."
She was retweeting The Associated Press, Phil, which called the entire race for Biden. So basically, when Trump wins something they are quick to jump on, look, the media makes the call. But when Biden wins, they say it's fake news and the media is making it up.
MATTINGLY: Yes. It's a good window into the complete lack of consistency going on here, including he said stop the count when it came to Pennsylvania but continue the count when it came to Arizona. Look, you take a look at Alaska, it gives you an insight into how these decisions are actually made, by our decision desk, very talented people, very smart people.
There's only 71 percent reporting right now, but our decision desk takes a look at the outstanding votes, takes a look at where things stand and where that votes going to be coming from. And they make the decision that there's no way Joe Biden can catch up. It's the same reason that up to this point, Arizona even though Joe Biden has a pretty comfortable margin or Georgia where he has an even more comfortable margin hasn't been counted yet, still trying to get an understanding of the universe of outstanding votes and when they may be coming.
And look people can criticize however they want to, people can be inconsistent however they want to as clearly the Trump administration and their allies have been on these issues specifically. But our decision desks and the people who go through this spend a lot of time are very, very careful and their end game doesn't change the fact that right now Joe Biden is on path to 306 electoral votes, Erin.
BURNETT: All right. That's what we're seeing, hearing from these Republican secretaries of state in Georgia, in Arizona, making it clear in Nevada. Thank you very much, Phil.
So I want to go now to the Republican Governor-elect of Utah, Spencer Cox. And Governor-elect Cox, I appreciate your time. You are one of few Republicans who have congratulated Joe Biden after the election was called tweeting, "Thank you for your commitment to unite us all. We pray for you and promise to work with you to benefit the people of Utah." Why was it important for you, Governor-elect, to send this message?
SPENCER COX, (R) GOVERNOR-ELECT, UTAH: Well, as people know here in Utah we really do believe in stability. We believe in the importance of trying to work together. I'm very proud that on that list of Republicans, a lot of them do come from Utah, former Gov. Jon Huntsman, former Gov. Mike Leavitt and we believe in trying to find ways to work together.
Now, I also mentioned in those tweets that it's important to let the process play out. We still have some very close races. We have one right here in the State of Utah. All of the ballots need to be counted and that's OK, that's a good thing. But I graduated (inaudible) all that had been made and hope that we can work together over the next four years.
[19:25:06]
BURNETT: So let me just ask you, four Republican senators have congratulated Biden publicly. By the way, you talk about people from your neck of the woods, Mitt Romney, obviously on that list. You mentioned your former governors, of course, Joh Huntsman and Mike Leavitt as well. Mike Leavitt was on the show the other night.
We are hearing in private though that many more Republicans are doing what you're actually doing in public. They won't do it in public, but they're doing it in private. Just listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): They call me to say, congratulations, please convey my well wishes to the President-elect. But I can't say that publicly yet.
BLITZER: Are you having similar conversations with Republicans behind the scenes?
SEN. Bernie Sanders (D-VT): Look, absolutely, the average Republican senator is not an idiot. They understand that Trump has lost.
REP. DENVER RIGGLEMAN (R-VA): We're even getting calls from Republicans into our office saying, hey, thank the Congressman. I can't really say much out here, but thank him for just doing the right thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So the last voice you heard there, Governor-elect, was Republican Congressman Denver Riggleman. He was on the show last night. He congratulated Joe Biden, just like you've been doing. Why do you think it is that other Republicans are refusing to acknowledge this in public? What's your thinking as to why?
COX: Well, unfortunately, politics has become so polarized and I've said for many years now that the politics has become a religion for too many people. And when politics becomes your religion than anybody disagrees with you isn't just - doesn't just have a different opinion, they're actually evil.
And it's very dangerous for our country to be in this situation. And unfortunately, too many politicians are scared that if they say something nice about someone else, that they'll lose their position and that's just untenable. We can't be like this as a country. We all have to do better and I'm trying to set that example.
BURNETT: Well, you certainly are setting it. I don't know if you heard just a moment ago, Governor-elect, before you came on. Republican Senator James Lankford had just spoken on a radio interview. He said he will step in if Biden does not get access to the Presidential daily briefing, all that important National Security information. He says if he doesn't have that by Friday, he's actually going to step in.
And then you heard the Republican attorney, the secretary of states here from various states; Arizona, Nevada, Georgia saying there's no fraud. I mean, you wouldn't think these ordinarily profiles and courage, OK. These are just people doing their jobs and I think that's how they would see it. They don't want to be profiles and courage. I'm doing my job. I'm saying what happened in my state. Do you think that they are profiles and courage?
COX: Well, I do think that we need to move forward. Look, none of this changes the actual outcome of the election. Those challenges and those lawsuits will go forward. And if there is a change, if there was, again, there's no evidence of mass voter fraud, but if there was, then the election would turn out differently. By starting that process, that doesn't change the election. It just makes sure that whoever the next president is, they are prepared on day one to govern and that's good for all of us.
So I don't know why, this shouldn't be controversial. The idea of helping both candidates get access to this material that they need. Obviously, the President has it already. So let's work together to make sure that Joe Biden has that as well, assuming he becomes a president. It won't change the counts at all.
BURNETT: No, it won't. And as we've said, these Republicans in these states have said they just have seen absolutely no evidence of anything. Now, I think what bothers me, Governor-elect, is we're in this point where someone can just throw an allegation out there that's completely false and manufactured. And then they put people like you in the awkward position of saying, well, let's run it down, because we need to run it down. Even though there's absolutely no fact, courts are throwing it out, left and right.
But somehow because someone says it, it has to get airtime. Does that frustrate you that you have to kind of keep saying if, if, if when you know what's right?
COX: Well, there are a lot of things that frustrate me and certainly social media in our willingness to believe anything I think is concerning. And again, I don't have a problem with going through those machinations. It happens in every election, every close election. But what we shouldn't be doing is accepting as fact baseless allegations and that does concern me.
Again, if there is evidence, let's review the evidence. Let's put the evidence before the arbitrators of truth. The judges, let's make those decisions and let's move on. But we can't accept that as the gospel until there is some sort of actual basis.
BURNETT: Right. And, of course, as of yet, just to emphasize that point again, there has been absolutely none put forward. I appreciate your time, Governor-elect. Thank you.
COX: Thanks, Erin.
BURNETT: And next, we're learning the State Department is blocking the President-elect Joe Biden from messages coming in from world leaders.
[19:30:04]
And health officials warning tonight that the President risks And health officials are warning tonight that the president risks
crippling America's response to the pandemic if he doesn't acknowledge Joe Biden's win soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Breaking news. The State Department preventing President- Elect Biden from accessing messages he has received from foreign leaders.
This is according to State Department officials familiar with the stack of messages.
And it comes just a day after Secretary of State Pompeo refused to admit Biden won the election, just like Trump, of course, who is delaying the start of a transition, refusing to concede.
OUTFRONT now at the State Department. Our national security correspondent, Kylie Atwood.
Kylie, how unprecedented and concerning is this to be blocking these messages?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Erin, traditionally, the State Department Operations Center is the one that facilitates phone calls between foreign leaders and the president- elect in the United States.
They set them up, provide translation if necessary. That is not happening here.
So, what is happening, just to paint a picture for you, is that foreign leaders who traditionally call into the State Department, send messages to the State Department, because that is a place that normally is able to get them in touch with the president-elect of the United States.
[19:35:07]
They're sending those messages and they're going nowhere. They're here at the State Department. They are not being received by President- Elect Joe Biden.
And of course, that is because President Trump has not accepted --
BURNETT: And obviously, it looks like we lost the shot.
But, you know, she's saying because President Trump refuses to acknowledge it, not allowing those messages to go ahead, they're blocking the transitions.
Not only is Trump blocking President-Biden on the diplomatic front, getting those messages, as Kylie reported. But his actions are threatening to hamper the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic, which is now at its worst levels ever.
We look at hospitalizations. For the second day in a row, a record high for hospitalizations.
The White House task force warning of continued accelerating communing spread.
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT.
Kristen, you're reporting on Trump's delayed start of a formal transition, refusal to start one at all. How is it impacting the COVID response?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, the bottom line is this. That every single day that goes by that the Trump administration refuses to sign off on this election, is a day in which the Biden team does not have access to critical information and resources it needs to quickly and responsibly be able to handle the coronavirus pandemic on day one.
And I spent the day talking to health experts and health care workers as well as former officials. And they pointed out two big concerns.
The first is, again, being ready on day one. The reason this is an issue right now is that critical information, the people who have access to it, those are the people who work at the agencies for the Trump administration.
When they continue to not sign off on this election, that means that the Biden team has no access to that. They can't even communicate with any of these agency heads. They can't get access to any of these resources.
The second big area of concern is a plan for a vaccine distribution. This is a nationwide roll out. It is something that takes months, at least takes several, several weeks.
And the Biden team is going to have to take this over from the Trump administration.
So either the administrations will have to be on the same page, which seems increasingly unlikely, or the Biden team will just have to know what exactly is going on so when they take this over it's a smooth transition for the millions of Americans who are likely to get this vaccine.
There really is one thing that all of these officials made clear to me, is that there's no time to waste, that lives are at stake. And that the more we wait, every day that goes by, is more lives that are put at risk.
BURNETT: And of course, hospitalizations at a record. More than 1,000 people dying every day relentlessly from the virus.
Thank you very much, Kristen.
I want to go now to Dr. Celine Gounder. She is a member of President- Elect Biden's COVID Advisory Board.
Dr. Gounder, good to have you back.
You hear Kristen's reporting.
How much is the delayed transition hampering your team's efforts right now with crucial things like distributing a vaccine to hundreds of millions of people that needs to be stored at almost 100 degrees below zero just to put one logistical thing out there.
What's it mean for you?
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, MEMBER, PRESIDENT-ELECT JOE BIDEN'S COVID ADVISORY BOARD: I think it's important to understand that the Biden team has been making plans for months.
This is not something they're jumping into just today, just this week with the appointment of the advisory board that I'm a member of.
There's a very deep bench of experts, policy experts, scientists who are working on plans, developing a blueprint. This is an ongoing process.
The plan is to be ready on day one to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. And unfortunately, we are not getting the Cooperation we would like.
But there are other sectors that are very crucial to the response, including the private sector, state and local health departments that we can work with now.
BURNETT: So, Dr. Gounder, I want to play something that President Obama's former CDC director, Dr. Tom Frieden, said today about what life is going to look like once there's a vaccine. Here he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: A vaccine is really important, and the news is very encouraging. But a vaccination is not going to be a fairy tale ending to the pandemic.
We're still going to be dealing with it at least through most or all of 2021 and quite possibly beyond that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: OK, is that a brutal reality check? A lot of people were thinking, OK, this is out, by March, we're all good, we're all done, we can move beyond this.
You're looking at the facts. Are we, as a country, and the Biden administration going to need to tell Americans the hard truth that you're looking at masks and social distancing and this odd new normal through a whole another year?
GOUNDER: Look, this is what scientists and public health experts have been saying for months, is that, even once we have the vaccine approved -- which we don't have quite yet.
Although the Pfizer vaccine looks very promising and there are others that are far along in the pipeline at this point.
So we are very encouraged that we are going to have effective vaccines by the end of the calendar year.
But it's going to take a long time. We have 330 million Americans in this country. And to distribute vaccines to all of those people is going to take well over a year. So, we're going to do this in a phased-in process.
[19:40:12]
And in the meantime, as you say, we are going to have to keep doing the masking, the social distancing, the ventilation, the testing, the contact tracing, because those are tools we have at our disposal now and that we can be implementing now.
BURNETT: President Trump's former FDA chief, Dr. Gottlieb, Scott Gottlieb -- I know you know him. He has warned that President-Elect Biden is likely going to take over at the absolute peak, the worse time of this pandemic.
He also tweeted, and I quote him, "The velocity of the rice in COVID hospitalizations is perhaps the most ominous observation from the recent trends, portending perhaps a long and tragic period of high and rising deaths, despite the recent advances in care."
Long and -- high and rising deaths. Do you agree, Dr. Gounder?
GOUNDER: Erin, I do. I'm really frightened by the spike that we're seeing in cases right now. And we know very well that hospitalizations and deaths will follow.
The faster, we as a country -- you know, we as -- citizens can take this into our own hands and do what we know the science says will work.
And the sooner we take responsibility for our own actions, we mask up, we socially distance, we ventilate, we go in for testing, we cooperate with contact tracing.
The sooner that we all do all of those things, the sooner we can curb the transmission, the sooner we can return to a semi-normal life.
BURNETT: Dr. Gounder, I appreciate your time. Thank you very much.
GOUNDER: My pleasure. BURNETT: Next, Georgia's Republican secretary of state announcing the
state will conduct a full recount by hand, even as Republican colleagues now are slamming him and want him to step down.
Plus, alarming pictures of a Republican rally in Georgia. This is indoors. Our Kyung is there with the mask. No social distancing. A concerning situation. Very few others wearing masks. Our crew was actually forced to leave.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:46:02]
BURNETT: Breaking news. Georgia's Republican secretary of state says he's seen no evidence of widespread fraud in his state, even as the Trump campaign is alleging dead people cast votes in the state.
Again, secretary of state says there's no evidence of any meaningful or widespread fraud.
The secretary of state taking the extraordinary step of conducting a full by-hand count in Georgia.
There were nearly five million ballots cast in the presidential election.
Our Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA): It's all on the line. All eyes in this country are on Georgia. We are going to save the country.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Control of the U.S. Senate coming down to two Senate runoffs in Georgia.
Two incumbent Republican Senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, are rallying their base, in part, by attacking a member of their own party, the Republican secretary of state in charge of the elections.
The Senators are calling on Brad Raffensperger to resign, questioning the legitimacy of the results without offering any specific evidence to support their claims.
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: I have my job to do. And I'll follow it faithfully. I think that integrity still matters.
LAH: Raffensperger fired back, saying he will not resign.
But today, announced a hand recount of the nearly five million ballots in the presidential race in the state, which Joe Biden currently leads by more than 14,000 votes. RAFFENSPERGER: Obviously, this is a very close race and people on one
side of the aisle won't like the results. I get that. I'm a Republican, staunchly Republican. But the results will be the results.
LAH: Georgia's leading paper condemned the Senators efforts to muddy the results, slamming them as "baseless accusations, reckless and a risky side show."
REV. RAPHAEL WARNOCK, (D), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: (INAUDIBLE)
LAH: Senator Loeffler's Democratic challenger, Reverend Raphael Warnock, jumped on the editorial, saying Loeffler intentionally seeks to erode trust in our democracy for her own political benefit.
JON OSSOFF, (D), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: Thank you, all.
LAH: And Senator Perdue's opponent, Democrat Jon Ossoff, also sees the Republican infighting, calling it a distraction.
OSSOFF: They're fighting amongst themselves over the election results. But the people have spoken.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): This is literally, you know, the showdown of all showdowns in term of politics.
LAH: Back at the crowded indoor Republican rally, Florida Senator Marco Rubio travelled in to stump for his Georgia colleagues, bolstering their message of distrust.
RUBIO: I don't think the politicians, I don't think the media enjoy the credibility any longer to tell people what to believe about these things.
LAH: Turn to the crowd, many not wearing masks.
And despite no evidence of widespread voting fraud, supporters say they don't trust the system works.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think there's something to it. They got to -- this is the tip of the iceberg.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BURNETT: All right, Kyung, you told us how crowded the event was and many people weren't wearing masks. What happened?
You were in the room. It's closed in. No masks. No social distancing. What did you do?
LAH: Not only was there no social distancing, but people were standing shoulder to shoulder. It became uncomfortably full in that room.
There were no windows, no ventilation that any of us could feel. So, it felt like a real health hazard.
Remember, we are in the middle of a pandemic. So in order to cover the story, we put a live camera rolling in the back of the room and we pulled out.
We left because of the conditions we have here in Georgia.
We should point out that the White House Coronavirus Task Force just moved this state into the red zone. That is the most dangerous for spread of this infection -- Erin?
BURNETT: Kyung, thank you very much.
Now I want to bring in Jon Ossoff, Democratic candidate for one of Georgia's Senate seats.
I appreciate your time, Jon.
Nearly five million ballots all now going to be recounted by hand.
Is there any question in your mind that Joe Biden will keep his lead and win Georgia once this recount is finished and it will be finished over the next few days?
[19:50:16]
OSSOFF: It appears to me that Vice President Biden, President-Elect Biden has prevailed in Georgia.
And that really reflects a decade of work here, much of it led by Stacey Abrams, organizing, registering voters and protecting ballot access.
There is a lot of enthusiasm here to continue that work through these two crucial Senate runoffs in January.
BURNETT: So this is the eyes -- all eyes are on those races, your race.
Most congressional Republicans are publicly supporting President Trump's efforts to dispute the election results. We understand privately they may not say it but publicly they are on board.
The Senate majority whip, John Thune, yesterday, said that some of this is actually you, in Georgia, in the runoff elections.
He told reporters, and I'll quote it to you, Jon -- this is Senator Thune. Quote, "We need his voters." Referring to Trump. "He has a tremendous following. He cannot have a tremendously positive impact on the outcome of the Georgia Senate. We want him helping in Georgia for sure."
Basically, they're placating him because they need him to defeat you and Reverend Warnock.
What's your reaction to that?
OSSOFF: They are placating because they are afraid of them.
But the most concerning of all of this, in my opinion, Erin, is that any disruption of the orderly transition of power in Washington puts at risk competent public health respond to this pandemic and the ability of the new administration to work swiftly to build our economy.
That, I think, it what this sort of temper-tantrum that the president is throwing risks most.
We're still in the middle of a crisis. I think there's still a lot of focus on presidential politics.
But as the dust settles on this race, we've got to remember that about a thousand Americans are dying per day. The virus is spreading at an accelerating rate.
And to put at risk a smooth transition for partisan political symbolism or to try to get an edge in one of these runoff elections is deeply irresponsible during a pandemic.
BURNETT: So during a campaign stop in Georgia today, you described what you think is at stake in this election. I want to play for our viewers who aren't in Georgia part of what you said. Here you are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OSSOFF: Unless we win these two U.S. Senate races in Georgia, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will not be able to pass the legislation to control this pandemic and to jump start our economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So you are making the point that these runoff elections are a package deal. So are Republicans on the other side.
Do you think that is it both or nothing? Right? That you're either going to get both candidates -- you are going to get both candidates from one party or the other?
OSSOFF: I think that's likely.
But what's most important, Erin, is the stakes. As I said in the clip, it is about whether we are going to recover from this crisis.
We know Mitch McConnell will do everything in his power to destroy the incoming administration, to obstruct their every effort, purely for partisan reasons.
The last thing we need at a moment of deep crisis is partisan gridlock in Washington.
We need President-Elect Biden and Vice-President-Elect Harris to be able to govern to get out of this mess and then to build upon the rubble of what's been destroyed these last four years.
To pass a new Voting Rights Act and a new Civil Rights Act. To make health care affordable for every family in my state and across the country. To invest in infrastructure and clean energy. This is the program that this country needs in order to thrive and
flourish and prosper and get through these crises.
And if we don't win these Sente races, it will be gridlock in Washington for at least four years.
BURNETT: it certainly will be gridlock.
Thank you very much, Jon Ossoff. I appreciate your time. Thank you.
OSSOFF: Thank you.
BURNETT: All right. And I want to be clear, we have invited Senator David Perdue to join us on OUTFRONT. I hope he would come on. He declined. But I hope that he will come. He's welcome any time.
Breaking news. We are learning, meantime, the first major appointment of the Biden administration. Sources telling CNN's Jeff Zeleny that President-Elect Joe Biden will name long-time confident, Ron Klain, as White House chief of staff.
Officials say Klain has accepted the offer and there will be a formal announcement on Thursday. That's tomorrow.
Klain knows Biden very well. They've worked together since 1989. He served as Biden's chief of staff when he was vice president. So this is a known hand.
OUTFRONT next, Trump is defiant. We'll show you, though, what a gracious concession actually sounds like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[19:54:59]
JOHN MCCAIN, FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BURNETT: Tonight, as we cover this moment in history, the president's refusal to step aside and our great democracy, we wanted to leave you something uplifting, something that shows losing is very hard.
And yet, presidential hopeful after hopeful in the history of this country have lost with dignity and grace and their pride. There's a way to do it. It is called the American way.
Here is how true leaders have done it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have great faith that our people, Republicans, Democrats alike, will unite behind our next president.
GEORGE WALLACE, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I shall continue my personal commitment to the cause of human rights, of peace, and to the betterment of man.
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a deep appreciation of the system however that lets people make a free choice about who'll lead them of the next four years.
GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's important work to be done and America must always come first. So we'll get behind this new president and wish him well.
(CHEERING)
AL GORE, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is America and we put our country before party. We'll stand together behind our new president.
JOHN KERRY, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are required now to work together for the good of our country.
MCCAIN: And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face.
SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT) & FORMER REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power. We don't just respect that, we cherish it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: If they can do it, so can he.
