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The Situation Room

Joe Biden Faces Challenge Of Pandemic, Economic Crisis; Democrats Unite Around Biden Despite Party Infighting; What's Next For The GOP Post-Trump?; Trump Refuses To Concede, No Plans To Invite Biden To The White House; U.S. Hits Highest Daily New Case Count Since Pandemic Began. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 08, 2020 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[19:00:15]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a special edition of THE SITUATION ROOM.

It has now been one day since CNN projected that Joe Biden was elected the 46th president of the United States. But while President-elect Biden is preparing to assume the office of the presidency, the current occupant of the White House is still in a state of denial, threatening lawsuits that nearly every legal expert will tell you are destined to fail. The inauguration is now 73 days away.

Here's where things stand. Remember, you need 270 electoral votes to win. The president-elect is now projected by CNN to win at least 279 electoral votes and that number could rise. Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, remain too close to call. But Biden is leading in Georgia and as we reported last hour, he has widened his lead slightly in Arizona's Maricopa County and now has a lead there in the state of 20,102 votes.

When Joe Biden takes the oath of office on January 20th, he'll face almost unimaginable challenges including the raging coronavirus pandemic which seems sadly to be getting worse and worse by the day. On Saturday, there were more than 120,000 new coronavirus cases here in the United States. That's the highest single-day reported since the pandemic began back in January.

But while President Trump refuses to admit defeat, others in his party are signaling that it is well past time for him to concede.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is joining us from Wilmington, Delaware, right now.

Arlette, you've been covering the Biden campaign for the last couple of years. So what is the president-elect's agenda this coming week to prepare for the presidency?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, President- elect Joe Biden is ready to get right to work tomorrow starting with some major actions when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic. Biden will be unveiling his 12-person coronavirus task force as he is getting ready to tackle this pandemic even before he gets to office.

The coronavirus pandemic really was the focus and the center of his campaign's messaging in these closing months and it is now going to shape the early days of his transition. Biden has also in the past talked about how during this period he wants to reach out to both Democratic and Republican governors to gauge what their needs are relating to the health crisis. He is making it clear that this will be a top priority for him in the opening days of his transition.

Now Biden spent the day here at home in Wilmington, Delaware. He attended mass this morning with some of his family members and also visited the gravesite of his late son Beau Biden. Biden has been spending a lot of time with his family over the course of the past two days as they have taken in this moment that they've all worked so hard for, for decades.

And Biden has also been receiving some congratulatory phone calls, including one quite significant one from former president George W. Bush. The former president released a statement today talking about his phone call with Biden. He said, "I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the patriotic message he delivered last night. I also called Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency.

"Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man, who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country." And then the former president adds, "The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair. Its integrity will be upheld and its outcome is clear."

This is very significant as you have the current president of the United States, Donald Trump, who has not acknowledged the results of this election and he and his allies have continued to cast doubt about the integrity of the election. So the fact that you have former president George W. Bush, a Republican who has undergone peaceful transitions of power as he came into office and as he left, the fact that he is out there congratulating the now President-elect Joe Biden and urging these calls for unity is something that cannot be over stated -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. Good for President Bush. He did absolutely the right thing. Very, very impressive to do so.

Arlette, we'll get back to you. Thanks very much. I know you're working your sources.

The first lady of the United States, Melania Trump, is now weighing in for the first time publicly on the election results, tweeting in part, "The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal not illegal vote should be counted."

This comes on the heels of CNN's reporting that the first lady, along with several others in the president's inner circle are now urging him to concede and accept the loss. [19:05:02]

Let's go to our White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins who's joining us right now.

Kaitlan, the president's senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner is also advising him that it's time to concede. But can anyone really get through the president on this right now?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a good question, Wolf. And it appears that right now the answer to it is no because the president is sticking by these claims that this is a fraudulent election even though he has presented no evidence to back those claims up. He's been insisting for days that he won this election, even though CNN and other outlets have declared Joe Biden as the projected winner.

But what we're seeing happening in the president's inner circle is they're basically split on what he should do next. We know from sources that Jared Kushner is someone who has approached the president about conceding the election, clearly that has not been something -- a step that the president has taken yet. But what we're also learning from my colleague Kate Bennett is that the first lady, Melania Trump, has also urged the president to accept the outcome of this election, which is that he is not going to be re-elected to a second term.

However, you have to counter that advice from those people who were obviously very close to the president with what he's hearing from other people, people like Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, who are urging the president to stay in this, continue to pursue these legal challenges that their campaign has promised they are going to pursue in several of these critical states.

Even though privately, Wolf, several campaign officials have acknowledged that there's very little chance of anything that they're pursuing in the courts when it comes to Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, several of these states is actually going to change the outcome of this election. So really the question is, how long are they going to delay what seems to everyone else outside the White House to be inevitable because of course there's going to be at some point where they formally certify these results.

But, Wolf, if they continue to demand recounts and file lawsuits, it could delay that result. And we've heard from sources that though the president privately has acknowledged the reality, understanding that he has lost this election to Joe Biden, publicly he has not done that and we also haven't seen him besides when we went to the golf course earlier today and then returned back here to the White House.

BLITZER: He played golf today and he played golf yesterday, too, right?

COLLINS: Yes, he did. And that's something that actually we've not seen the president do for several weeks when he was on the campaign trail, going to several rallies a day. But yesterday, he was at the golf course when CNN called the election for Joe Biden. He golfed with a manager there at the club and then he returned again today. You can see him there where he was earlier this afternoon, right outside Washington.

And those are the only public appearances the president has made. Of course, CNN captured him but he has not appeared in front of our cameras, otherwise, to speak with reporters since Thursday night.

BLITZER: The weather has been great this weekend here in Washington, approaching 70 degrees or so. Good day to play golf.

All right, Kaitlan, thank you very much. We'll get back to you as well.

Joining us now, the host of CNN's "SMERCONISH," Michael Smerconish.

Michael, thanks so much for joining us. As you just heard and as you know, the former president George W. Bush, he called, congratulated President-elect Joe Biden today. I assume that's a sign to others in the Republican Party right now who are not doing so that it's time to acknowledge reality.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN HOST, SMERCONISH: So, Wolf, to quote Clara Peller from that 1984 Wendy's commercial, where's the beef? The president has got to make a showing. This is not going to go on for long. And the president I've always said gives good ear. And by that I mean, he understands well his base and where they're coming from. There's an assumption in all of this that I think is unfounded, and that is that the base will hang with him while he makes these charges without a showing of evidence.

I want to see the polling on that because I have to believe based anecdotally on what I heard from radio listeners Thursday and Friday when the handwriting was on the wall. Many who said I voted for Donald Trump, but I'm not going to stand for this. And I think that that could be rather than the people around him, rather than the first lady, rather than Jared Kushner, when the data shows that his base is walking away from him because he can't back up these charges, that may change things.

BLITZER: Well, we shall see. The president clearly is not yet ready to concede. President-elect Biden will become president whether or not the president concedes. But a president who refuses to accept the fact that he lost, he probably is not going to go out of his way to help in this critically important transition over the next, what, 73 days, before January 20th, which is so important to get a new president ready.

Michael? I think we may have lost our connection with Michael Smerconish. We're going to try to reconnect with him and get an update --

SMERCONISH: I hear you now.

BLITZER: But dramatic developments -- Michael, can you hear me now?

SMERCONISH: I can, Wolf. BLITZER: All right. Go ahead. I was just saying that if President

Trump decides not to concede, it's going to undermine the -- what normally should be a very smooth transition. It's so important for a new president, a new administration to get in there and see what's going on so that when January 20th comes, they're ready.

[19:10:01]

SMERCONISH: Well, that presupposes that the folks in the White House are going to follow his lead. That's not entirely clear to me at this point. As I was saying before I think we lost connection, I don't know that the base is going to stand with the president absent some showing to back up these assertions. And that's got to happen tomorrow in a court of law, where is the evidence? And if there's not evidence that's presented of widespread fraud that could explain what he believes in the results, I think the base walks.

BLITZER: You live outside of Philadelphia there in Bucks County. Pennsylvania went for President-elect Biden. Tell us how this all unfolded because in the process, as you know, the president-elect recreated that so-called blue wall which Hillary Clinton lost four years ago in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

SMERCONISH: And the data suggests that in the suburbs, in those color suburbs that we've heard so much about preceding and right through election day, that his margin, Joe Biden's margin exceeded that of Secretary Clinton by nearly 100,000 votes.

Look, four years ago, we thought she came out of the city of Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs with a sufficient vote to offset the rural rebellion in Pennsylvania. But so strong was his support in those red areas that wasn't enough. Joe Biden exceeded in suburbia even what Hillary Clinton did four years ago.

BLITZER: It's a fact that Biden now will become the president of the United States. But the Democrats did lose seats in the House of Representatives. Even though they were anticipating gaining several seats. Winning the Senate is now on the line. It's still going to be very, very tough. What should Democrats take away from that?

SMERCONISH: Well, I found fascinating the words of Jim Clyburn today who thought that the socialism tag and defund the police had (INAUDIBLE) poorly for Democratic candidates and that was an explanation as to why Republicans actually gained in the House of Representatives. So --

BLITZER: I think we're losing the connection once again with Michael. But stuff happens, obviously. And we'll stay in touch with him.

Michael Smerconish, thank you very much. Always important to have you here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM virtually, of course.

Right at the top of the ticket, Democrats pulled out a win. But once again some within the party are expressing frustration right now that the race wasn't necessarily a landslide and Democrats actually lost, repeat lost, seats in the House of Representatives, although they will maintain their majority. It will be a slight majority now.

Former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro is standing by. We have lots to discuss. We will when we come back. Stay with us, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:47]

BLITZER: After yesterday's very historic victory celebration, it's clear Democrats are strongly united behind President-elect Joe Biden, but there's plenty of work to be done to keep it that way. Moderates already are blaming progressive for House of Representative losses and progressives are warning against choosing centrist Cabinet members.

Here's what Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told our Jake Tapper earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): There are at least an inhouse caucus very deep divisions within the party, and I believe that we need to really come together and not allow Republican narratives to tear us apart. You know, as you mentioned, we have a slimmer Democratic majority. It's going to be more important than ever for us to work together and not fight each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I'm joined now by the former secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Obama, Julian Castro.

Mr. Secretary, thanks so much for joining us. So what do you think? You've got a lot of experience in the Cabinet. What does the president-elect of the United States need to do right now to shore up what potentially could be a fragile coalition that delivered him victory?

JULIAN CASTRO (D), FORMER 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are on the right track which is trying to unify the country. The speech that both of them gave last night, they were fantastic and I think they struck the right tone. Same thing within the Democratic Party.

Look, we won because we're a big tent party, and I think the last thing that we need is for some suggestion that there's no room for progressives in the Democratic Party. I mean, that is a huge part of your base. And it was an important part of winning in 2020. And we won the presidential race which was the big prize and even in states like Texas, although we didn't win Texas, we gained ground. A lot of that was because of the enthusiasm this year driven by progressives.

So I think there's room enough for everybody. And this is where Joe Biden's experience is going to come in very, very handy. I think he's uniquely suited for this moment, to bring the party together, the country together, and also to get things done in a Congress that even if we take the Senate back after these runoffs, it's going to be very close. So I think he's on the right track.

BLITZER: Yes. I'm old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan was president, he always spoke about a big tent Republican Party, conservatives and moderates. That's what existed then. He worked very effectively to bring them together.

As you heard Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez also criticize the Democratic Party for failing to harness the progressive wing when it came to voter outreach, let me read to you what she told the "New York Times." This is a quote, "The leadership and elements of the party, frankly, people in some of the most important decision-making positions in the party are becoming so blinded to this anti-activist sentiment that they are blinding themselves to the very assets that they offer," closed quote.

So this is a pretty pressing issue right now. There are two runoffs in Georgia that will determine the Senate balance as you know in January. Do you agree with her view of the dynamic of what's unfolding right now?

[19:20:02]

CASTRO: Well, I absolutely agree that we need to ensure that progressives have a strong role in the party. That is where a lot of the excitement comes from. And there's going to be a deep dive, I'm sure, like there always is, into what happened in 2020 and where the vote came from for Democrats. And I bet that just like you see, just, you know, on every cycle, that a lot of that was determined by whether the base of the party, progressives out there, came out and voted.

If we want to win those Georgia Senate runoffs in a few weeks, it's going to mean exciting the base of the party. So I think she's absolutely right that we need to ensure that we are a big tent party, that we embrace progressive values and policy, and we can do that and still work to be effective if we have a Republican-led Senate.

I'm not naive, I know Mitch McConnell's record. I also know that if there's somebody that's uniquely suited right now, it's Joe Biden because of his 36 years of experience in the Senate. He knows how to handle this situation, understands where he can work with Mitch McConnell and also what are the limits of Mitch McConnell's good faith. Because he certainly has acted in bad faith many times over the last few years.

BLITZER: Before we go, Mr. Secretary, we all know you worked in the Obama administration in the Cabinet. Have you had any serious conversations with the Biden transition team yet about serving in the new incoming administration?

CASTRO: I have not. I have not. And, you know, of course those decisions are the president-elect's and his alone. But I have every confidence that he's going to assemble a great team of people to lead the country. You can already tell that. A good example was the announcement of the coronavirus pandemic task force that will be led by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, a fantastically competent and effective leader. You know, so I'm confident no matter what happens that he's going to have a great team with him.

BLITZER: Are you open to coming back to Washington? That's where I first met you.

CASTRO: You know, I haven't taken anything off the table and I haven't put anything on the table. And I'm just -- you know, like everybody else, I'm breathing a great sigh of relief these days that this election is over and that Donald Trump is defeated, and that we're going to have two great leaders in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. It's been so jubilant by everyday people -- for everyday people these last couple of days. Just a burden off people's shoulders to understand that we're going to have real leadership in the Oval Office again. It feels good.

BLITZER: Yes. I'll take that as a yes but you don't have to comment on that.

Julio Castro, thanks so much for joining us. Appreciate it so much. Good luck. We'll stay, obviously, in close touch.

Meanwhile, as President Trump vows to fight the results of the election, what are the next steps for the GOP in a post-Trump era? Former Republican governor of Ohio, John Kasich, he's standing by live. We have lots to discuss. We will when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:32]

BLITZER: As the dust of the presidential election settles, both parties have some serious reckoning to do in traditionally red states like Georgia. Biden is currently leading, although the race has yet to be called there. And there's a split within the Republican Party on how to react to the projection that Biden has won this election. Listen to this. Here's one side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Trump has not lost. Do not concede, Mr. President. Fight hard.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): At this point, we do not know who has prevailed in the election. The media is desperately trying to get everyone to coronate Joe Biden as the next president. But that's not how it works.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Another prominent Republican disagrees. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITT ROMNEY (R-UT): I understand why the president wants to keep on fighting. I do believe however that it's destructive to the cause of democracy to suggest widespread fraud or corruption. There's just no evidence of that at this stage. And I think it's important for us to recognize that the world is watching. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The world is in fact watching. They're watching right now. CNN senior commentator and former Ohio governor, Republican John Kasich is joining us now, we'll take a closer look at what's next for the Republican Party.

Governor Kasich, thanks so much for joining us. So what does it say to you about the president and so much of the Republican Party that so many officials are actually refusing to accept the reality that Joe Biden has won?

JOHN KASICH, CNN SENIOR COMMENTATOR: That's a mystery to me, Wolf. I haven't been able to figure that out at all. I mean, look, as we know, when they count the votes and you have Republican and Democrat in the polls and then they send it to the board of elections and these things get certified and then there are projections. They're mathematical projections as to who has voted, how many votes are still outstanding, how much more is to be counted and you make a projection.

And everybody has made the projection. It's not just CNN, FOX News has done it, the Associated Press, NBC. I mean, they've all said it. So I don't know what they're trying to prove unless they're trying to say that because somehow they want to appeal to these Trump voters. But the problem with that is, I don't think it's the most responsible thing in the world. And I -- do they expect this is going to be overturned? Let them come on and say it's going to be overturned, because there's no widespread issue of fraud and I don't see any real legal challenges coming. I happen to agree with Mitt Romney on this.

BLITZER: Yes, it certainly sends an awful signal to people all over the world who are watching our democracy herein the United States and the president and some of his supporters are raising questions about the democratic process here in the U.S.

[19:30:02]

So what does Joe Biden's win mean for the Republican Party? What is your party, Governor, need to do in this post-Trump era that's about to unfold?

KASICH: Well, I think first of all, Wolf, this is -- what Donald Trump represented was a cult of personality. He was able to appeal to people, many of whom had traditionally been Democrats, because they feel as though they've been ripped off, they've been ignored and they have been put down.

And he also was able to appeal to people who were very worried about this rhetoric of defunding police, or you know, this issue of socialism. Just look down there in Miami Dade. You covered it very well on the first night. The Cubans coming out. Many people saying, oh, we don't want any of that socialism.

So I think the party has to realize, though, that you can't continue to win elections on the basis of a cult of personality. What is their position on healthcare? I still don't know. What are they willing to do on the environment? I haven't figured that

one out. What are they going to do about the issue of race? That's unclear.

I mean, there's so many issues where they don't have ideas and ideas is what creates energy. And it's energy that drives the system. So they're going to have to look at this and realize a lot of what has happened here is because of the cult of personality that will not stay around here forever. In fact, it'll be leaving the White House very soon.

BLITZER: I want you to listen, Governor, to a portion of President- elect Biden's remarks last night. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: But now, let's give each other a chance.

[CHEERING AND APPLAUSE]

BIDEN: It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again. And to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So when the President-elect says that, "Let's listen to each other," what do you think Democrats need to hear from your party? What do they need to do?

KASICH: Well, first of all, those words are the reasons why I endorsed Joe Biden, because he is trying to create a new normalcy. But here's what I think is going to happen here, Wolf.

Look, Joe Biden cannot come to the Congress because the Senate is likely to remain Republican, with a bunch of ideas that are really extreme. That's not his nature anyway. Because if he does that, then Republicans are going to say, well, you see, we told you he was this way.

But if he comes forward with a very reasonable proposal on the environment, if he comes forward with some things that we can do that are reasonable to make sure that people can have good healthcare, if he can come forward with some reasonable proposals, for example, why doesn't he just go ahead and create a Commission on Race with everybody to deal with and create a national model for how communities can decide to make sure we respect police, but at the same time, make sure that we answer the concerns of the community? I did that in Ohio.

If you want to talk about taxes, I'll give you a tax cut. How about an earned income tax credit boost, which would help working folks, those working class people who think they've been stuck and they've been ignored, they play by the rules, and yet they never get anywhere? Those are the kind of things that I think he can take to the Congress.

And if the Republicans say we're not going to do it, he can call them obstructionist.

So I said yesterday, Wolf, I think that Joe Biden is in a perfect situation. He cannot let the left try to move him way left, it won't work. So he can be who he is, which is basically a center left Democrat, and the Democrats better be very careful. This business about defunding the police, or you know, these wild economic schemes that that smack of, you know, the Republicans called them on it, on socialism, it won't work and they will get slaughtered in 2022 if they go in that direction.

Moderation, bipartisanship, good language.

BLITZER: We're totally out of time, but you can give me a yes or no if called by the President-elect, will you serve in the new administration? Yes or no?

KASICH: Well, look, I can't give you yes or no, Wolf. I didn't support him because I wanted anything. I'm happy where I am. If they want me to help him somehow, I'll listen.

BLITZER: I'll take that as a yes. All right, Governor. Thank you very, very much. I might see you back here in Washington at some point.

As the United States waited this week for news of who won the election, the coronavirus pandemic sadly continued to rage on in this country with the most new daily cases reported yesterday here in the United States since the pandemic began.

More than 126,000 new confirmed cases and what will it take to get the virus under control? Stay with us. We have new information.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:04]

BLITZER: While much of the country, and indeed, so much of the world was understandably fixated on Election Day here in the United States and the tense days that followed, the sad news is the coronavirus crisis here in the U.S. got worse.

Three days this past week alone saw more than 120,000 new cases each day. And on five straight days, the virus claimed more than 1,000 lives each day. So why are we seeing this exponential growth right now?

Let's bring in Dr. Megan Ranney, CNN medical analyst and Emergency Physician at Brown University. Dr. Ranney, thanks so much for joining us. So what's different now from a week ago? Why have we seen this huge spike in new cases and deaths and it's likely to even get worse?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You know, Wolf, the spike that we're seeing right now was completely predictable. This is what all of us feared in the fall months. We've been seeing slow spread across the summer. It started to increase in the early fall.

Now, we're seeing the northern states where so many people are spending time indoors and we know the science of this virus. We know that once it starts transmitting quickly, we see cases, hospitalizations and deaths go up exponentially and that's where we're at right now.

We're seeing very few states take the measures that are needed to slow the spread of the virus, and of course, although Biden has just won the presidency, we still have Trump in charge. We still have no Federal strategy. So the virus is going to keep spreading across the country. I fear as we head into these later fall months.

BLITZER: The President-elect of the United States Joe Biden is set to announce his COVID Taskforce tomorrow in Wilmington, Delaware. So what would you like to see, Dr. Ranney?

RANNEY: So the first and biggest thing that I hope to see from this Coronavirus Taskforce and I will say I have great confidence in the folks who are going to be appointed to it, is that I want to see them start working with governors now.

We have 74 days until Inauguration. As you said, we see 120,000 new cases a day. We're heading for a tough fall, we need to start making progress now on a state by state basis. After that, it's about those same things we've been talking about. It is masks and personal protective equipment, testing, having good data sources.

With those things in place, if the Coronavirus Taskforce hits the ground running, we can be ready on day one of the Biden-Harris administration to start stopping the spread of transmission of this virus and start saving American lives.

BLITZER: What is very encouraging about this new Biden Taskforce on the coronavirus is that Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former Surgeon General of the United States during the Obama administration and a doctor that all of us know well, he has been a frequent guest here in THE SITUATION ROOM, he is going to be in that Taskforce. He has been advising Biden all of these months as well.

Let's talk, Dr. Ranney, about stockpiles right now. PPE stockpiles, masks, gloves, supplies for everyone in the country, supplies that healthcare workers need to stay protected. Based on everything you know, and you're on the frontlines in all of this, are we in a good place now? Are there are any serious worries about the supply of this critical equipment down the road?

RANNEY: Wolf, I'm going to be frank, we are not in a good place. You know, I run this national organization Get Us PPE, co-founded it and we are seeing increased demand for donated personal protective equipment from healthcare facilities across the country.

Many of the larger hospitals are now outfitting their frontline healthcare workers like me, emergency docs and nurses with elastomeric or kind of molded personal protective equipment because they know that they are going to run out of those N-95s.

We're still seeing shortages in gowns, gloves, and hand sanitizer. The Trump administration has not stepped up. And as the virus spreads, we're running out of it literally across the country. I am hopeful that the Biden-Harris administration will activate the Defense Production Act very early in their administration. But until then we're going to have to suffer through as a nation and do the best we can as communities to try to keep our healthcare workers safe.

BLITZER: Well, we're grateful to you, Dr. Ranney for everything you're doing. Thanks so much for joining us.

RANNEY: Thank you.

BLITZER: When President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are sworn in on January 20th, they will be facing multiple crises from a surging pandemic, to a devastated economy, to a hyper-polarized nation.

CNN's presidential historian, Douglas Brinkley, he is standing by next and we'll discuss what history can teach us about how the next administration will navigate these turbulent times. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:14]

BLITZER: A raging pandemic, an economic recession, a deeply divided nation. When President-elect Joe Biden sets foot in the Oval Office in just over two months, he will have multiple crises awaiting him.

CNN presidential historian, Douglas Brinkley is joining us right now. Doug, thanks so much for joining us. What's your assessment? Has any President inherited a worse situation than what President-elect Biden is about to walk into?

DOUGLAS BRINKLEY, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, you know, Franklin D. Roosevelt inherited an economic mess from Herbert Hoover. And we sometimes forget how bad the Great Recession was when Barack Obama won and our country was teetering on economic disaster.

But what's going on right now with COVID-19 where we've had a Commander-in-Chief, Donald Trump, who claimed he was a wartime leader and just gave up on the fight on the coronavirus. He said after the election, Donald Trump that you know, nobody will be mentioning COVID anymore. Well, that's all we're going to be mentioning because the big wave is upon us right now.

[19:50:19]

BRINKLEY: So Joe Biden has his work cut out for him, but he has done the right things. He did a great rally last night, and I think he wants to pull our country together. He is using words like "healing" and "reconciliation."

And Wolf, I was very pleased to see George W. Bush's comment today, backing the fact that Biden has won. And in some ways, we have to kind of turn some of Donald Trump's noise and intransigence and peevish behavior, we have to kind of push it to the side and focus on COVID and get this new President-elect Taskforce on coronavirus up and running.

BLITZER: That's going to be announced tomorrow, as you know, critically important given what's going on. Depending on the two likely Georgia Senate runoffs, they are scheduled now for January, there is a chance that the President-elect will be dealing with a Republican-controlled Senate.

Once again, we saw the Majority Leader Mitch McConnell show absolutely no inclination to work with President Obama in those days. So what lessons should President-elect Biden take away from all of that to avoid what potentially could be years of gridlock if there's a Republican majority in the Senate, a narrow Democratic majority in the House, it's going to be smaller than it was before and a Democratic President?

BRINKLEY: Well, Joe Biden is uniquely qualified to deal with Mitch McConnell. He has been in Washington for 47 years in public service, Joe Biden, he has done endless number of deals across the aisle, and even during the Obama years when Mitch McConnell wouldn't deal with Barack Obama, Joe Biden would go and try to soften things on Capitol Hill. We'll see whether that can happen.

But we do have common ground in this country, Wolf, with things like how to deal with coronavirus, a pandemic upon us, highways and roads, infrastructure which Biden is good at and cares about a lot.

You know, we're going to have to find some common ground for the American people. We, right now still need a package to help all of these Americans that have lost jobs this year that are suffering from the pandemic.

And this is an opportunity at this moment for Donald Trump perhaps to promote some kind of relief aid here as we're heading into the Holiday Season. But Biden is steady and Mitch McConnell knows them and hopefully, they will be able to get some work done for the American people.

BLITZER: You remember in the aftermath of Watergate, then President Nixon bowed to public pressure and to pressure from his own Republican Party when he finally decided to resign. Do you see any parallels right now with President Trump? He is refusing to concede, but you see Republicans going to the President and saying, you know, Mr. President, it's over.

BRINKLEY: You know, Wolf, not enough. I think so far that we've, you know, seen Mitt Romney speak out, as I mentioned, George W. Bush, speaking out, but not enough Republican senators have come out yet.

I suspect they will in the coming days. They may have wanted to cool the temperatures down from the election, let Donald Trump golf a few rounds, and probably hopefully realize that he has actually lost and do the right thing what George Washington would have wanted me to do, step down and become an American citizen, which in the end is considered the highest calling of all. That's what Harry Truman used to say, being a citizen is as great as being a President.

BLITZER: Douglas Brinkley, thanks so much for joining us.

BRINKLEY: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Up next, we'll take you behind the scenes of discussions within President Trump's inner circle about the transition of power. Who is urging him to dig in and who is approaching him about conceding?

The next hour of our special edition in THE SITUATION ROOM starts right after a quick break.

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BLITZER: It's been a very long week for our nation as we all awaited for states to count the votes after the rather contentious election, but it is worth looking back yesterday when CNN was the first to project Joe Biden the winner at 11:24 a.m.

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BLITZER: After four long, tense days, we've reached a historic moment in this election. We can now project the winner of the presidential race.

CNN projects Joseph R. Biden, Jr. is elected the 46th President of the United States, winning the White House and denying President Trump a second term.

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BLITZER: And that certainly reminded me of another moment in my career just over 12 years ago, on the night of November 4, 2008 when I called another historic race, setting off a huge celebration in Chicago's Grant Park.

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BLITZER: CNN can now project that Barack Obama, 47-years-old will become the President-elect of the United States. We project he now has enough electoral votes, more than 270, more than enough to become the 44th President of the United States.

This little-known U.S. Senator only a few years ago seemingly coming out of nowhere, delivering the Democratic Convention keynote address back at the Convention in 2004, all of a sudden taking off becoming a United States senator from Illinois, and now, he will be the first African-American President of the United States.

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