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CNN Live Event/Special
Joe Biden Elected As 46th President Of The United States; Cities Erupt In Celebration After Biden Beats Trump; COVID Pandemic Rises At An Alarming Rate; Andrew Yang Discusses Biden/Harris Win; World Leaders Ignore Trump, Congratulate Joe Biden. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired November 07, 2020 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Anderson Cooper alongside Erin Burnett. We want to welcome viewers here in the U.S. and around the world.
A historic day we had been witnessing. Joseph R. Biden Jr. elected 46th president of the United States defeating incumbent President Donald J. Trump, now facing the challenge of leading the country after one of the most bitter races in modern history.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Anderson, of course, Biden turned 78 this month. He will become the oldest person sworn into the office. His achievement capping four decades of public service and two previously unsuccessful runs for president. Dr. Jill Biden tweeting out this photo today, Doctor and the president live here, as you see, putting her hand over Vice.
Also making history, Kamala Harris, the first woman, the first person of color to serve in the second highest office in this nation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), VICE-PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We did it. We did it, Joe. You're going to be the next president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And we have seen jubilant crowds of flooding the streets of major cities, waving flags, dancing, honking horns, voters choosing to end the volatile Trump presidency. And, certainly, in some cities in this country, Anderson, you can feel the excitement people feel right now.
COOPER: Yes, that's certainly the case. President Trump has told allies he has no plans to concede, no plans to invite Biden to the White House for the traditional Oval Office meeting but people have spoken. Biden has not only won the Electoral College but more than 74 million votes, the most ever cast for a presidential candidate in American history. I want to go to CNN's Jeff Zeleny, who is at the Biden headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. Jeff, they're obviously not only elated, I'm sure, in headquarters but also working furiously about what comes next. We expect Biden to address, the president-elect, to address the nation tonight. What are you hearing?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, Joe Biden will address -- we should say, president-elect Joe Biden will address the nation at 8:00 P.M. from his hometown here in Wilmington, Delaware. The stage behind me, as we've seen all week long, has been at the ready for this moment.
And tonight, he will deliver the victory speech. And I am told it is going to be like many of the speeches he's given in recent days. He will be calling for a unifying moment and period for the country. He'll reach out to those who did not vote for him and say he will govern for them as the 46th president.
Now, we're also going to hear from senator Kamala Harris, who will be the vice president, a historic role in its own right, we should point out, first woman vice president of the United States, the first woman of color to be the vice president of the United States. So she, I'm told, will talk first and then Joe Biden will talk after her.
But Anderson, they are already at work getting ready for the transition to power, the transition to government. I'm told one of the first steps will come on Monday announcing a coronavirus task force, 12-member task force to really tackle one of the biggest challenges that is facing this incoming administration. It's an open question how the Trump administration will cooperate and participate with them. But the Biden administration soon to be is not waiting for that. They are moving forward with that.
But I'm told in the hours since he was declared the winner in his native state of Pennsylvania, he's been fielding phone calls, including from Barack Obama, the former partner, his partner, who played a key role in this election, first, by staying on the sidelines throughout the Democratic process, intentionally stayed on the sidelines so Joe Biden could make his own way. A difficult primary for him, of course, but in the end, these closing weeks, Barack Obama was key out on the road in states like Pennsylvania, in Michigan, in Georgia and Florida, which came up short. So that was one phone call.
Also, from Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer, who spoke with Mr. Biden on a conference call, interestingly, Senator Schumer held up the phone. He was on the street in Brooklyn, so Mr. Biden could hear cheering that we're seeing happen in so many cities across the country. So we're not expected to see Joe Biden until he delivers those remarks here this evening. But, certainly, this is the beginning of his major challenge in trying to, A, unify the country and tackle these challenges.
This is what he said in a statement, which is the words we've heard from him. Let's take a look at this. He said, I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris. In the face of unprecedented obstacles, a record number of Americans voted proving once again that democracy beats deep in the heart of America.
With the campaign over, it's time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation.
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It's time for America to unite and to heal. We are the United States of America, Mr. Biden says, and there's nothing we can't do if we do it together. So, those words, of course, coming as we see the pictures coming in around the country celebrating Mr. Biden but, of course, his challenge is unifying those who did not vote for him and, again, those folks will be the central theme of his message tonight as well, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes. Jeff Zeleny, I appreciate it. Thanks very much. Erin?
BURNETT: All right, and not surprisingly, President Trump made it clear he definitely does not accept that he has lost and Joe Biden has won the election. Let's get to the White House and CNN's Jim Acosta. We were looking at an aerial shot there. We could see people gathering outside. The president, obviously, was on the golf course when he found this out and now headed back. Tell me what you're seeing there, what's happening?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Erin, it's an incredible scene here at the White House. I could tell you, we've been here all morning, all afternoon and you can hear the celebrations coming from the streets of Washington around the White House grounds. And we've been hearing that all day long. You're looking at these live pictures right now, Black Lives Matter Plaza. That's the crowd outside St. John's Episcopal Church.
It's worth noting to our viewers, Erin, for those who have not already figured this out on their own. That is the same scene where the administration brutally cleared protesters, used tear gas like chemicals on protesters to clear that area so the president could have that photo op where he held up the bible in front of that church back on June 1st. Now it is a scene of celebration. It's one of those tweets you might see out there, how it started, how it's going. That paints the picture right now.
The other image we could show you here on the streets of Washington over 17th street heading towards the White House complex, the U.S. Secret Service has cleared off that area. That is where the president's motorcade will arrive shortly.
So he will be arriving back at the White House, that's it right there. He'll be arriving back at the White House in the next couple of minutes to a scene of a city that is celebrating his departure, that he is now the outgoing president of the United States.
Now, of course, Donald Trump doesn't see it that way. He released a statement earlier today after Joe Biden was declared the winner. He is not accepting that Joe Biden has won this election. We don't need to read that statement. It's full of more of the same false information that we've been seeing from the president in his tweets and so on, but he is saying -- his team is saying that they're going to start filing some of these legal challenges starting on Monday to contest these election results in these various states.
But I can tell you in talking to Trump advisers, people inside the president's own campaign cannot point us to any evidence of voter fraud. I talked to one adviser earlier this morning who said nothing concrete, we have nothing concrete that would point anybody, a judge for that matter, to any instances of voter fraud.
And so the president right now is playing with a losing hand. He's been out on the golf course all day long, essentially trying to avoid the scene that he's coming back to right now. There is a chance we may see the president later on this evening. They haven't called a full lid for the day. Perhaps he'll want to come out and make a statement. But past is prologue.
Consider what he was saying Thursday night. I was there in the White House briefing room and when he just sort of had a meltdown in front of everybody and could not accept what was on his itself way to happening. And I suspect Erin, if he does it again, he's going to have the same type of episode and it will just be a further embarrassment not only to the president's team but to the Republican Party, something that a lot of people inside the campaign, a lot of people inside the Republican Party would like to avoid.
But no question about it, Erin, I've been in Washington all my life, I grew up here, and I've never seen a scene like this outside the grounds of the White House. The only thing I could compare it to is mission to take out Osama bin Laden, the hostages coming home from Iran, I saw that as a spectator as a grade-school kid. You just don't see this kind of celebration maybe after Super Bowl or World Series championship. You just don't see any celebrations like this in Washington and we're seeing one this evening.
This is a president who has demonized people who use the First Amendment, not just the arrest but also protesters. Now, I can tell you, having been out in this crowd, I was out in this crowd earlier this afternoon, these are peaceful protesters up until this point, very peaceful, also wearing masks, Erin, people being very safe. Yes, they're in large crowds, there's no question about it. It's a risk for the coronavirus but almost everybody I saw out there was wearing a mask as they were exercising their First Amendment rights and celebrating the departure, the eventual departure of Donald Trump.
BURNETT: And you can only just -- we all wonder what the president is thinking as he sees this outside.
So you talked about being in that crowd. When you look at the crowd, it is something that we are seeing in many places across the country, certainly here in New York. We heard it, the horns, people out in the streets, people waving, cheering, cow bells. Joe Biden's victory has sparked celebrations in other cities across the country and our CNN reporters are live on the ground for us.
[15:10:06] Let's go outside the White House to that crowd that you can see. Vivian Salama is in the midst of it. So, Vivian, tell me what are you seeing.
VIVIAN SALAMA, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And it certainly is a celebration out here. We're on the south side of the White House, which you can see behind me. In fact, Jim was just talking about BLM Plaza, Black Lives Matters Plaza, which is on the north side of the White House. We were there earlier and we actually lost our live signal because the crowds are so dense that the signal actually jammed up and we couldn't really talk to you.
And so I wanted to take you for a little bit of a walk just so you could get a sense of how many people are here on the south side, which is a little bit of a lighter crowd but still an enormous crowd. People lined up on the street behind me. This is Constitution Avenue and you can see just swarms of people lined up here celebrating.
Of course, it's a warm day here in D.C., and so a lot of people out here just enjoying the weather but also celebrating with people I've spoken to all over the National Mall here, talking about, they're happy that President Trump is out, they say he was a threat to democracy, some of them. Others saying that they liked Joe Biden, they think he's a good guy and that he's going to do good things for the country.
And so I've been talking to folks all over, and you can see the National Monument behind me here, folks gathering around, swarming at the base of the monument. Those I've been talking to, bringing their children here to celebrate, saying that this is a change happening basically. It's history in the making. And so they really want us to have their children out here, come as a family and just be part of this celebration.
In fact, there's one family I've been speaking to right now, the Bernsteins here who came from Maryland and have joined the party, they came as a family here. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Great. How are you?
SALAMA: I'm good. And can you tell CNN viewers here why you came out here as a family, where you're coming from and just what brought you out here today?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. We come from Tacoma Park, Maryland, just outside of town. And we got in the car to drive around. We decided to just keep going until we got here. It's such an important day. We finally are going to have a president after four years who we can trust to tell us the truth.
SALAMA: And you mentioned to me earlier when we were chatting that a couple of you volunteered including your daughter over here and others.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
SALAMA: Can tell me a little bit about what you did here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was texting for the Biden campaign because I wanted a president that would actually help our country and not discriminate against many people.
SALAMA: Okay. And that's great. And so you were saying you were texting in Spanish because you're taking Spanish in school, is that correct?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
SALAMA: Okay, that's excellent. And so -- and then you -- what made you come out here? Why did you want your children to be part of this event?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just a historic moment. When the Supreme Court approved gay marriage, this was five years ago and I brought the kids down. We went to the Supreme Court. And I had the same feeling today where it's like I want them to remember this. I want them to be part of this and just really be cognizant of how important it is that Biden won today.
SALAMA: Thank you so much. And so we've been hearing this from a lot of people here. It's just -- in general, they wanted to be with families to be part of this historic moment outside the White House today.
I'll hand it back to you but we'll be continuing to be part of this gathering going forward for the rest of the day.
BURNETT: All right. Vivian, thank you very much. Anderson?
COOPER: Joining me now is Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.
Senator Sanders, first, your reaction to, A, seeing all these people out on the streets celebrating and to president-elect Biden's win.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Well, I congratulate Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for their great victory here in Burlington, Vermont. I think we have people out on the streets as well and all over the country. And the reason for that is this was, Anderson, an election like we have never seen in our lifetimes because it went really, really deep. It was about whether or not we remain a country that believes in the Constitution, that believes in the rule of law and that believes in democracy. And, thank God, democracy won out.
So I just wish Joe and Kamala the very, very best in leading our country.
COOPER: We know President Trump has not conceded. We know it seems like he has no plans to invite President-elect Biden to the White House at this point. What are your thoughts about just what this transition is going to be like?
SANDERS: Well, whether Trump concedes or not is not relevant. Biden has won the election. He's going to be inaugurated. What is important right now, it seems to me, is that we understand the need to bring our people together at a time when so many of our people are hurting. And I think, Anderson, that's not widely perceived. We've got millions of people who are unemployed, people working on starvation wages, people have no health insurance, people who can't afford to go to school, can't afford college, dysfunctional childcare system.
So I don't envy Joe Biden in terms of the enormous challenges he faces, including systemic racism, including climate change, a crumbling infrastructure, you name it, that's what he's going to have to deal with.
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And our job right now is to bring people together, it seems to me, around an agenda that works for all people, everybody, Republicans, Democrats, you've got to raise the minimum wage through a living wage.
We know that health care is a human right. We cannot continue being the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people. They know that we must deal with the existential threat of climate change.
So I think the challenge is, to reach out the people and say, we hear your pain, and we have the courage to take on the big money interest at 1 percent, the campaign contributors, who have exerted so much power over the political and economic agenda of America. Now it's time for working people to be heard and for their pain to be addressed.
COOPER: One of the messages you had during your campaign and the Democrats certainly hoped would be the case here is that there would be such an overwhelming turnout and such a wave of Democratic victories in the House and the Senate, obviously, in the White House as well that significant change on the Democratic platform would be possible.
Though Joe Biden is now the president-elect, there were not the same victories in the House. In fact, the Republicans gained seats in the House and maintained control of the Senate. What sort of a mandate do you think president-elect Biden actually has? And how in terms of getting an agenda, clearly, you would like a progressive agenda across?
SANDERS: Well, I think he has a very, very strong mandate, Anderson. And I think if you look at the issues, one by one, do people think that health care is a human right, are they happy with a dysfunctional health care system which makes billions for the drug companies and the insurance companies leaving 90 million uninsured or underinsured? They're not.
Are they happy that tens of millions make starvation wages $10, $12 an hour? No, they are not. Do they think we have to deal with systemic racism in this country, immigration reform? Most people do. Most people do.
Are they sick and tired of a growing gap between the people on top and the billionaire classes doing phenomenally well right now while so many of our people are struggling?
So I think if you look at this country, issue by issue, and what the American people want, they want an agenda that stands up for them, for working families, the black and white and Latino, that's the agenda they want. And they want Congress to have the courage to take on the powers that be.
COOPER: Senator Bernie Sanders, I appreciate your joining us on this historic day. Thank you very much.
SANDERS: Thank you very much.
COOPER: It is a historic moment for the country and we're seeing people out in the streets in cities across the country at the election of as President-elect Joe Biden.
As we get a break, let's just listen to sound of celebration in Chicago in the streets after the defeat of President Donald Trump by President-elect Joe Biden.
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BURNETT: All right. Of course, you see celebrations happening, as we said, in cities across this country and we're going to be taking you to the ground just to see what is happening. That's Washington, D.C. Let's get some more perspective on this historic moment. It is a historic moment, a historic day, Joe Biden going to be the next president of the United States.
So, joining me now, Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, also the author of Leadership in Turbulent Times. Doris, thank you very much for being with me.
So there is this moment, you know, that we are in right now, watching this happen on a day that is a very warm, glorious fall day across much of this country and people are out and people are out celebrating. Today, Kamala is making history in her own right. She will be the nation's first woman, first black, first South Asian vice president. What does this mean for the country?
DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN, PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: You know, I think when we look at the massive turnout, if that becomes a habit, history is going to look back on this election and really see it as an important moment. Think about it in the past, only sometimes 50 percent of our people voted. This time, despite the pandemic, because of the provisions we put in, perhaps, which may become permanent now, mail-in voting and early voting, it's always been crazy to me that people should have to stay in line one day to vote.
As presidents have said, voting is the power in the democracy. Lyndon Johnson said, without it, other rights are meaningless because it allows us to control our destinies. I think in a certain extent, if we become participants and not spectators in our democracy, trust in government will rise again. It won't be some foreign body out there. It's us, it's, we, the people.
The statistic that really scared me before this election was the idea that 77 percent of the people used to believe in the mid 1960s that government did right almost all the time. It's down to lower to 20 percent right now. But maybe if we're part of the process and we continue to vote at these rates, even more rates without a pandemic, without voter suppression, then we'll have control of the democracy and that's the most important thing.
BURNETT: I mean, it is crucial, when you think about it, and, you know, that this should be permanent, right? That these various ways, right, to enfranchise people, it's sort of one of those things that was staring us right in the face. And the solution to it could have been really this easy, to have early voting and mail-in and we didn't do it until now, I mean, it's incredible perspective that you offer.
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Donald Trump is now though, Doris, only the tenth president in American history to be rejected by voters in his quest for a second term. How will he be remembered?
GOODWIN: Well, it will take a while, of course, for us to remember. But right now, he's facing an important decision, because one of the most important norms that a person who loses an election faces is to concede that election and allow that peaceful transfer of power to go forward.
I mean, ever since elections have been covered by television since 1952, that concession speech becomes the end of the story. We all need to know that this is past and we're starting forward. And every single one of those candidates has come forward and said, we fought hard, but now it's time to draw us together.
Think of what Gore did at the time after 35, 37 days, the Supreme Court makes a decision and he says, I don't agree with this decision, but it is the rule of law. It's the honored institutions and I ask my supporters to go with me.
So, one of the ways he's going to be remembered is if he doesn't give a concession speech soon, if he doesn't make that peaceful transference of power, that's going to be a very, very tough mark on his legacy.
BURNETT: What, Doris, will be the significance of it in terms of transfer of power? When you spend your whole life studying presidential transfers of power and presidents, what is at stake if he does not do this the right way?
GOODWIN: What is at stake is that it's a signal to your supporters that despite this loss, this is our government now. This is the new president and you've got to give them a chance and you've got to come forward and accept this decision. If not, it really creates that hole that stays in this society.
I mean, from the very beginning when George Washington decided not to run for a third term, if he had stayed forever, it might have been a dictator. It might have been king or a queen, but he decided that it was a civilian transfer of power. He could have had it as a general. He could have stayed in power and just become president. But this is our system and every single president has done this.
So it's really an important moment for allowing us to move forward, start again and hopefully bring the country together, at least at the start to make a chance that we've got to reset.
BURNETT: Yes. And if you think about of these moments and John McCain, I remember his speech so eloquent, and you see the pain as they make it but, yet, the importance of that moment, of that concession.
Doris, thank you so much. I'm glad to talk to you.
GOODWIN: Really, the conceder is the star of the night in some ways, usually.
BURNETT: Yes, it is. It is a beautiful way to say it. Thank you so much.
GOODWIN: You're so welcome. Thank you for having me.
BURNETT: All right. And, Anderson, as we were talking to Doris, we're seeing the reaction across this country.
COOPER: Yes. We've been watching that now, spontaneous crowds in the streets and various cities. Our reporters are all across the country in cities, as Americans fill the streets, making their -- or I should say supporters of this result in the election fill the streets.
I want to bring in CNN's Polo Sandoval in New York. So, set the scene for us here in Times Square. What are you seeing?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, you would think that the Yankees just won the World Series based on the massive crowds that are coming together on the streets of New York City. I want to step out of the shot so that you can see what Times Square looks like right now, Anderson. It's basically turned into a massive peaceful bloc party.
In fact, the NYPD, early on, sealed off some of the streets that are directly accessing this part of New York City. Because, I have to tell you, I have seen multiple bottles of champagne (INAUDIBLE) in the middle of Broadway. There is definitely a celebratory group here, as you look at the crowd, mostly masked folks who are gathering here.
What we're seeing here is that celebrating this victory is a sign that the nation is perhaps seeing a turn towards unity. And I think you see that, Anderson, where, yes, there are plenty of pro-Biden and anti- Trump signs, but more than anything, we are seeing a lot of American flags, people who are coming out in support of the nation.
And, in general, in fact, one woman, Janice Raleigh (ph), a New Yorker, who returned a little while ago, that now she feels like she has hope again, that she no longer has to hang her head in shame anymore, to quote her. And I think that that's really what we're seeing a lot of here in the Big Apple and cities across the country.
It's also important here, Anderson, is that multiple businesses are boarded up. Obviously, the days leading up to the election, there has been this concern, this fear of uncertainty what kind of reaction we might get, particularly if we have some of those who wanted to see the re-election of President Trump.
So that is certainly a reminder that that is still a concern at this hour, but mainly it is all about a massive, safe celebration that we're seeing here on the streets of New York City. And it's going to likely go on until this evening, Anderson.
COOPER: And, Polo, obviously, it may not have gotten as much coverage given the election that's been going on for the last several days but the pandemic right now is at an alarming high. We're seeing more cases over the last several days than we have seen anywhere else in the world at any time.
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So obviously, that is a concern. That's the backdrop for this. It may not be foremost on many people's minds today, certainly, people in that crowd.
But most people, it does look like a lot of the people we see are wearing masks, though clearly, not social distancing.
SANDOVAL: The reality, Anderson, the social distancing is going to be hard to come by, or nearly impossible, when you look at the scenes behind me.
But I have been able to count the number of people without masks on one hand.
So, yes, people are taking precautions. But many people are also taking in the significance or this and are choosing to be a part of this, albeit, taking the right precautions like wearing a mask.
And I've seen people with hand sanitizer and trying to keep their distance. But the reality is when you come into Times Square, you're obviously going to find that very difficult.
These are pictures I leave you with here right now, coming together in Times Square, people across walks of life, obviously seeing this as the way they describe it to me as a new day.
COOPER: Polo Sandoval, appreciate it.
Let's go to Shimon Prokupecz in Philadelphia.
Shimon, what's the scene there?
SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME & JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: So, Anderson, we're outside the city of Philadelphia. And Philadelphia is known for its sports fans. And that's what it feels like out here, like they're celebrating a championship. We've seen people with champagne bottles. We've seen people chanting
and celebrating all through the crowd.
Many of these people marched here. They were at a different area. They marched over here. Now then most of them standing here and celebrating.
The other thing going on, Anderson, on the other side, there are Trump signs and Trump supporters who also have been here for several days.
And so there's been a face-off between the Biden supporters and then, of course, Trump supporters.
And then I just want to bring in Angie here who's a resident of Philadelphia.
Tell me what this has been like for you today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We made history today, baby. We made history.
PROKUPECZ: It's been history.
How does it feel for you to be out here with all these people?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love it. I love it.
PROKUPECZ: Thank you.
Anderson, most of the people say this is historic. For them, they didn't expect to have a day like this.
Certainly, a lot of them have suffered through this year because of the pandemic. Many people losing jobs.
And just to be out here in this crowd together has meant a lot for them.
The celebrations are expected to continue here through the night. The police have basically closed off this entire area and have allowed the Biden supporters to stay here and chant and celebrate.
As you can hear behind me here, more of the Biden supporters just chanting over the Trump supporters.
They've been playing a lot of the music from Trump's campaign. And actually a lot of the Biden supporters have been dancing to it.
We've heard the Village People, the YMCA. And so they've been singing along. And now you can hear them chanting out for them to go home.
This is expected to continue through the night in what has really become one big party here -- Anderson?
COOPER: And, Shimon, do you know how this started? Was it -- did it go out on social media? Was it groups that had organized that just said -- or was it just individuals coming out and then more people joined? PROKUPECZ: Yes, so what happened here, Anderson -- I'm going to walk a
little bit so you can see behind me.
This has been an area where for the last several days, a lot of protesters have been gathering because the convention center is where they've been counting the ballots.
It's historic here because this city really ultimately clinched the presidency for Biden. So many people were gathering here for days.
I asked people inside the convention center where they're counting. For days, there was a D.J. set up here. They were chanting. They were counting. They are not here today.
But this has become the place where many of the Biden supporters have been gathering and also the Trump supporters. But the Biden supporters outnumber them here the last several days.
[15:35:00]
So what happened here, as CNN projected that Biden would win the presidency, everyone from around here, from this city started coming here. And that is how all this grew into what it is now.
And as you can see, so many young people, Anderson. A diverse crowd. There were some older people here. But mostly now, it's been a lot of the younger people who are just so excited to be here, to be part of this. For many of them, this is truly historic.
I have to say, talking to some people here, they did not expect to see a moment like this.
COOPER: Shimon Prokupecz, appreciate it. Thank you very much.
Joining me now, someone who thought he'd be named the president, 2020 presidential candidate, Andrew Yang, joins us.
Andrew, your reaction to President-Elect Biden?
ANDREW YANG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I could not be any happier, Anderson. Joe and Kamala defeated Donald Trump.
When we were on the trail, that was the mission. Mission accomplished. We did it.
I am like millions of other Americans exulted today and excited to turn the page for our country.
I was celebrating for the last number of hours, ever since CNN called it.
COOPER: Biden is moving forward with the transition process. Plans to announce a Coronavirus Task Force on Monday.
How do you think he should deal with the, what's going on with the White House, President Trump's refusal to concede? How do you think he should handle that?
YANG: I think he's taking the right approach. We have so much work to do in so little time.
And I'm happy to say it seems like Trump is going to be, in your words, an obese turtle on his back flailing around, Anderson, while Joe and Kamala starting to put the work in to build the team to figure out how we're going to address the coronavirus, the recession, and so many of the other problems.
I will say the major variable on the table is whether Joe and Kamala will have a unified government in the form of a Senate that isn't beholden to Mitch McConnell.
And that will be determined on January 5th in two special elections in Georgia.
So if you're helping Joe's victory today, you should be intent on helping those Senate races go blue on January 5th.
COOPER: I should say I regret using those words because that's the person I really want to be. And, yes, in the moment and I regret it.
But right now, Biden's progressive agenda, it's difficult, obviously. There's a lot of expectations on all sides of the political aisle.
I talked to Bernie Sanders just a short time ago. There's a lot of progressives who want seats on the cabinet, who have expectations about promises that were made or how this race was won and the support they gave.
It's going to be difficult, both for the Resistance, the President- Elect Biden.
YANG: Right now, everyone is just thrilled that Trump is gone. And we're going to be thrilled to try to work together with Joe and Kamala and the team.
I'm sure there will be jockeying for positions. Everyone always wants to have their person in a key role.
But the celebration today is about the fact that the Biden and Harris team is going to be infinitely better for progressives, for the vast majority of Americans than a continuation of the Trump era.
COOPER: Hey, Andrew, if you could just stay with us for a second.
I want to check in with our Omar Jimenez who is in Chicago monitoring what is going on there in terms of the celebrations.
Omar, what are you seeing?
Omar, you're on the air.
What's the situation there?
Thanks for sticking around. Glad we asked you to stay around.
I mean, just in terms of what lies ahead, has anyone talked to you about a possible role?
YANG: I haven't talked to them in a little while, which is A-OK. I did text Kamala a few minutes ago.
But, to me, right now, they have their hands full trying to put the team together. I'd be thrilled to be part of the team. They know that.
Right now, I'm intent on trying to help make sure that those Georgia races head in the right direction. So I actually expect to be campaigning in Georgia myself over the next little while.
They have a lot of work to do to put together a new government. But a lot of attention should be paid to what's happening in Georgia.
I wouldn't be surprised to have Joe and Kamala head there before too long.
COOPER: Explain the importance of Democrats with the two runoff races in Georgia.
[15:40:01]
YANG: We remember Mitch McConnell playing the obstructionist during the Obama years and we're set to return to that.
Right now, he's going to be the majority leader. But the two races in Georgia on January 5th would make it 50/50 if they both go to Democrats. And then Kamala becomes a tie-breaking vote.
You can imagine a Biden administration with the House and the Senate aligned. That's one version of the world. The other version of the world, the one that we are dealing with right now is that mitch McConnell will have to approve everything that goes through Congress. That's a very, very big difference, Anderson, and which world we're in is going to be determined on January 5th in Georgia.
COOPER: In terms of -- excuse me, President-Elect Biden, still adjusting.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Yes. President-Elect Biden has talked about announcing a Coronavirus Task Force on Monday.
This pandemic has not gone away. It hasn't gotten a lot of attention because the nation's been focused on this race.
But the pandemic is actually at an all-time high in this country. We've seen record numbers of new cases in each of the last several days.
How difficult is it going to be, do you think, for the transition because clearly both people, President-Elect Biden has a very different approach to the importance of mask wearing, social distancing than President Trump had.
YANG: This is the tough reality, Anderson. Having a competent administration will not make the coronavirus any better in many communities.
You're going to have much better unity in terms of messaging around the need for social distancing and mask wearing.
You'll have better coordination, federal resources that can help get PPE into the hands of various schools and the rest of it.
But we are seeing record highs in many, many locations. The winter will be difficult in terms of coronavirus.
And one thing that frustrated me was the notion that if you had better people in government, that we'd be able to turn the page like that. That's just not reality. And we should never talk like it is.
I mean, it's going to be a very difficult road, even if we all do wear masks, socially distance.
Unfortunately, we're at a time where those are the most practical measures many of us can take.
The other measures involved, shutdowns of restaurants, bars, concert halls, sporting events, and things that have people congregate indoors, that's very much hit or miss depending upon the rates in a given community and other variables.
COOPER: Obviously, the economic pain that those kinds of measures take on everybody.
Andrew Yang, appreciate you joining us.
Let's go back to Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: You see what's happening in the streets of Los Angeles is what we're looking at now with this aerial picture, Anderson. People gathering as the news sort of sunk in. Bit by bit.
Early on, you heard people yelling to other people as they figured it out and now more people.
Let's go to Gary Tuchman who is on the ground in Atlanta for us.
Gary, what have you see thus far? Look at an area of near where you are. A lot of people gathered.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Erin, I'll tell you, Joe Biden ends up winning in the state of Georgia, it will be because of neighbors like this in the state of Georgia.
(CHEERING)
TUCHMAN: This is the very progressive, liberal, young community of mid-town Atlanta. And you can see right after we made our projection today, this area,
which is the center of Atlanta started off in a spontaneous celebration.
And people have been out here all day enjoying themselves, having fun. You get an idea of the traffic right here, bumper to bumper.
You can see down the street, people holding signs, honking horns, celebrating. I've never seen anything like this in the United States.
When Osama bin Laden was killed, we saw celebrations in this country. But there was a different tone than what we're seeing here. But this is very spontaneous. People are very excited.
I will add to you that most people seem to be wearing masks. That's an important thing. There's no social distancing and that's a little concerning.
But you can see almost everyone is wearing masks except for when they eat or drink.
There are no police here. Police have stayed away. It has been peaceful. It has been absolutely jubilant.
And it's quite a unique celebration seeing this very busy section of Atlanta so full of people having a good time celebrating.
Very unique, in my career covering politics in this country. And I've been covering politics since I was 20 years old in 1980. This is very out-of-the-ordinary.
[15:45:00]
But this is mid-town Atlanta, which has helped Joe Biden become the president-elect of the United States.
Erin, back to you.
BURNETT: Gary, it's incredible.
Just watching Gary kind of get through that crowd. I think Andrew Yang used the word exulted. These people are exuberant. This is what's we're seeing with the people obviously celebrating, who are getting their heart's desire with what we're seeing today in Atlanta and Georgia.
Obviously, going to be deeply personal for these folks, given the count that is ongoing in Georgia.
You see them all seeing our cameras and responding to that.
We're going to take a brief break. We will be back in just a couple of moments as our special coverage continues here with myself and Anderson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:50:31]
COOPER: There were record turnouts in this election for President- Elect Biden as there were for President Trump as there was for President Trump as well,
And there's big turnout in the streets to celebrate the victory of President-Elect Biden.
I want to go to CNN's Omar Jimenez in Chicago.
What have you been seeing today, Omar?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, I can hear you now. I've been seeing a lot of people in the crowd behind me where we are gathered across the water from Trump Tower here in downtown Chicago.
I'm going to step out for one second.
What you're seeing behind me is a rally of people obviously that has formed but more importantly people have been coming by on Michigan Avenue just to their right behind the police line honking their horns as people had been cheering and celebrating, as others have held Biden/Harris signs up, American flags up, things of that nature.
Even beforehand this is a rally that actually moved over the course of a block and a half or so, where the day started right outside of Trump Tower as people were cheering and at first just taking pictures.
But as the day grew up on, as the day went on the emotions of course got higher and more excited. It is no secret.
This is downtown Chicago. This is a very blue part of the country within a very blue state of Illinois.
Almost since day one of President Trump being in office they wanted him out,
So it is a very happy day for people here in Chicago. You look no further than the celebrations behind me to see it -- Anderson?
COOPER: Omar Jimenez, thanks very much in Chicago.
Erin?
BURNETT: Anderson, world leaders have ignored President Trump's refusal to concede the presidential race thus far.
They've now now, en masse, been coming out to recognize and congratulate the President-Elect Joe Biden.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has been one of President Trump's allies on the world stage, has come out saying he looks forward to working with both Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris.
Justin Trudeau, from Canada, citing the close relationship between the U.S. and Canada and how he wants to continue to build that.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered her congratulations and a special mention of Kamala Harris winning as the first female vice president of the United States.
And the French president, Emmanuel Macron, saying there are a lot of challenges to overcome, adding let's work together.
Our Chief International Anchor, Christiane Amanpour, is following the world's reaction.
I went some of it there, Christine.
You do have some overseas who have been a bit more on the nose, the mayor of London. London looks forward to working with you, building bridges not walls."
And the mayor of Paris, "Welcome back, America."
But overall, they are all quick to jump onboard with vice president, with president-elect-- sorry, getting used to the words-- Joe Biden.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Certainly. Of course, they know him right? He was vice president for two terms under President Obama and has long experience handling foreign affairs. So they are welcoming him as you said.
The French prime minister, rather the French mayor, said welcome back and there are bells ringing across Paris we can hear. We can see on the tweets being sent around.
We also know that there's a huge sense of relief, Erin. We had a funny tweet but also very tart and amusing the former prime minister of Sweden who said, "I think it's fair to say that most of Europe feels relief at this particular bit of news."
All the way over to Australia, the former prime minister there said, "Surely, all world leaders are feeling relief today."
That is the key word. Because it's been four incredibly disruptive years on the world stage.
And many of the allies have been struck by the fact that President Trump's style was almost to treat allies as adversaries and adversaries certainly the authoritarians as allies. This has been very discombobulating.
And also the United States under President Trump has essentially dropped its main role as a consensus and coalition builder.
Whenever there's crisis in the world, particularly that that the allies have to deal with, the United States, is the one that normally convenes a coalition to respond.
We saw that under so many presidents before but not this time. So you've had President Trump over the last few months of a massive
pandemic pulling out of the World Health Organization and removing American funds from that. That is a huge blow and it matters.
You have the president of the United States pulling out of the global climate accord, five years old this very week. That matters. Europe hopes, and the rest of the world that signed on, that he will go back into it.
[15:55:07]
You have the president of the United States pulling out of a major security deal, which was the Iran nuclear deal, without proposing or putting anything else in its place.
Europeans want to see that go back into place because that lowered those tensions on the nuclear issue.
So that is from the ally perspective. Certainly, from the European perspective.
BURNETT: And, Christiane, what about adversaries, whether China or rivals, at least, you know, in terms of U.S. foreign policy, like Vladimir Putin?
AMANPOUR: Well, you can imagine adversaries like Russia, competitors like China, they have been quite gleeful, frankly, at the endless days of count it took.
Because what they like is to see American institutions and Western institutions belittled and degraded. That's what they like.
BURNETT: Yes.
AMANPOUR: They were able to show on their own televisions what looked to be a disruptive president denigrating the process in the United States, refusing to accept the count, trying to stop the count.
They were all saying, that's democracy? That's America? What is this?
So it is a huge relief for everybody to see this count finally come to the end that it has, in so much as the president-elect has been named.
And America essentially has been giving now a living lesson in democracy.
I think a lot of people, a lot of leaders and people around the world are very keen that the United States restores its sort of moral imperative, the values it has always upheld, always sought to promote, and has always been relied upon for. I think that is really important.
Interestingly, the Chinese prime minister -- president said last week, you know -- President Trump has been in a trade and tariff war with him.
He said, "No amount of protectionism, unilateralism, or extreme egoism is applicable and works in the world today."
Let's just go to the Middle East though. Allies there would have wanted President Trump to win.
Israel, certainly --
COOPER: Sure.
AMANPOUR: -- the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu wanted President Trump to win because President Trump has given him everything that he wants.
Not given Israel everything but given the right-wing prime minister everything that he wants, which is, you know, as you know, the peace process was heavily weighted toward Israel.
BURNETT: Yes.
AMANPOUR: There's no peace process with the Palestinians.
And, of course, MbS, who has his own major authoritarian problems, he has ordered the murder and dismemberment of a journalist. He is very pro President Trump.
And so, too, are the Gulf States because they believe that President Trump has really been on their side against Iran.
BURNETT: We'll have to -- obviously, all of these competing interests.
But as Christiane is noting, all of this coming in from overseas here. Now into the evening for Europe and early, early morning hours in Asia, in Beijing.
Thanks so much to you, Christiane.
We'll take a quick break. Live pictures here you're looking at of New York. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
