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Trump Stays Out Of Sight, Uses His Social Media Megaphone To Spread Lies About 2020 Election; Interview With Sen. Chris Coons (D- DE); COVID-19 Cases Spiking; U.S. Surpasses A Quarter Of A Million COVID Deaths. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired November 18, 2020 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:03]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Let's go right to our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny.
Jeff, the United States, sadly, has just passed a quarter-of-a-million COVID-19 deaths since January, as the president-elect is preparing for his administration.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, these are grim and staggering numbers.
A quarter-of-a-million people, that is what is driving the urgency of president-elect Joe Biden to try and get his arms around this situation. It's also driving the frustration between the Biden team and the Trump team, which is still not recognizing the fact that he indeed won the election.
But, Wolf, we are learning new information tonight. My colleague Evan Perez and I are learning that there are a growing number of people inside the Trump administration who currently work for this administration and have formerly worked for them who are reaching out to the Biden transition team, trying to help them in any way they can.
This is happening in small incremental levels, really person to person, not an overriding thing. But we did hear Mr. Biden say today why he needs the GSA to recognize his transition team. He said lives are at stake because of COVID.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden praising medical workers tonight on the front lines of the coronavirus fight.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT: It's not enough to praise you. We have to protect you and we have to pay you.
ZELENY: He's shining a light on their heroism and calling out President Trump's obstructionism, as his administration still refuses to cooperate with Biden's transition team, especially on fighting COVID.
BIDEN: We have been unable to get access to the kinds of things we need to know about the depth of the stockpiles. We know there's not much at all.
And there's a whole lot of things that are just -- we just don't have available to us, which, unless it's made available soon, we're going to be behind by weeks or months.
ZELENY: Yet staffers inside the Department of Health and Human Services were instructed to not communicate with any Biden advisers, CNN has learned, and asked to report any outreach to top agency officials.
ALEX AZAR, U.S. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We have made it very clear that when GSA makes a determination, we will ensure complete, cooperative, professional transitions and planning.
ZELENY: As the U.S. reported the deadliest day of the pandemic in six months, a Minnesota nursed begged Biden for more help.
MARY TURNER, MINNESOTA NURSES ASSOCIATION: I have taken care of co- workers as they fight for their lives on a ventilator, and knowing that they got sick because of the hospital or their government hasn't protected them.
ZELENY: Biden showing his empathy said this.
TURNER: I'm sorry I'm so emotional. It's just...
BIDEN: No, you got me emotional.
ZELENY: Tonight, members of Biden's COVID-19 advisory board say Biden's team will be ready, but said they were skeptical of any credible plans that exist inside the Trump administration.
DR. RICK BRIGHT, FORMER DIRECTOR, BIOMEDICAL ADVANCED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY: We will be ready on day one. We have waited 10 months for a plan to be shared with the American public and health care experts on the vaccine program.
ZELENY: The Biden transition team is also placing a high priority on building the government, particularly the Health and Human Services Department. Officials tell CNN that two Democratic governors are now top contenders for the post, Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island and Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico.
They, along with Dr. Vivek Murthy, a former surgeon general, are leading contenders for the post.
All this as Biden's advisers are blasting Trump's attempt to undermine democracy by firing Chris Krebs, who was in charge of U.S. election cybersecurity, for telling the truth about the election.
REP. CEDRIC RICHMOND (D-LA): It's dangerous. The entire transition, Trump's whole behavior right now should frighten the American public.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: And, Wolf, it's growing increasingly clear tonight that even members of the Trump government who are working in this administration are also concerned about this rocky transition.
It's been more than two weeks since the Election Day. Now, one current Trump official we spoke to said that he is doing this because he's putting country over partisan concerns. They did not vote for Joe Biden, but they recognize that he was indeed the winner.
Now, for the Biden part, they still believe that need full access to the transition funding and, more importantly, the information about COVID-19.
Wolf, all of this is coming as Mr. Biden is continuing his push here in Wilmington at his transition headquarters. Tomorrow, he will be meeting with governors, the leading governors from the National Governors Association, Republicans and Democrats alike -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, it's very, very important.
All right, Jeff Zeleny, stand by. We will get back to you in a moment.
I want to go over to the White House right now.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is on the scene for us.
Jeremy, the U.S. death toll from coronavirus just crossed a quarter- of-a-million; 250,000 Americans have died since February, when the first U.S. deaths were confirmed. But we aren't hearing anything about that at all from the current president of the United States, are we?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We certainly are not, Wolf.
As we pass this devastating mile marker of a quarter-of-a-million coronavirus deaths in the United States, we are seeing a president where he has been during much of this pandemic, and that is missing in action, Wolf, the president not talking about the pandemic, not advising Americans to take the mitigation steps that all of the doctors are urging Americans to take amid this devastating surge in cases.
[18:05:17]
Instead, what we're hearing from the president, Wolf, is just on social media, and it's not talking about the pandemic. It's continuing to spread misinformation about this 2020 election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (voice-over): As he wages a brazen campaign to subvert the 2020 election, President Trump is also avoiding public scrutiny, hunkering down in the White House and dodging questions.
QUESTION: Mr. President...
DIAMOND: It's been more than two weeks since Trump took reporters' questions, a dry spell believed to be the longest of his presidency. And his top officials are also evading accountability. QUESTION: Can you tell us why you're not going to take any questions?
QUESTION: Can we get your take on that stuff?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm sorry. I have a meeting to run to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.
QUESTION: How can you not take questions?
QUESTION: Why won't anyone in this administration take questions?
DIAMOND: As Trump stays out of sight, he's still using his social media megaphone to spread lies about the 2020 election and to silence those telling the truth, the latest firing by tweet, Chris Krebs.
CHRISTOPHER KREBS, FORMER DIRECTOR, CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY: I'm here today to tell you that my confidence in the security of your vote has never been higher.
DIAMOND: A top cybersecurity official at the Department of Homeland Security, who joined state and local election officials in calling the 2020 election the most secure in American history. Trump calling that statement highly inaccurate, before repeating many of the same claims Krebs has been debunking.
Several Republican lawmakers panned the firing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was very disappointed when I found out that he had been terminated.
DIAMOND: Trump is dealing with his own disappointment. Courts in key battleground states have handed him a string of losses, and most states are inching closer to certifying the election results.
Powerless to stop Georgia from completing its audit today and certifying a Biden win this week, Trump blasting the process as a joke and calling for the state's Republican governor to intervene.
In Michigan, where Republicans backtracked on a partisan attempt to stop votes from being certified in a key Democratic county, Trump lodged a futile protest, arguing the state cannot certify the election, Biden's margin of victory in Michigan nearly 15 times greater than Trump's in 2016.
And, in Wisconsin, where Joe Biden leads by 20,000 votes, Trump's campaign requesting recounts in two Democratic strongholds, backing off plans for a pricey statewide recount.
Meanwhile, his top attorney, Rudy Giuliani, is making dubious arguments in a federal court in Pennsylvania, drawing concerns from Trump allies.
MICK MULVANEY, FORMER ACTING WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: I still am a little concerned about the use of Rudy Giuliani. It strikes me that this is the most important lawsuit in the history of the country, and they don't -- they're not using the most well-noted election lawyers.
DIAMOND: Even as Trump's legal options fizzle, he's still refusing to concede, leaving the head of the General Services Administration, Emily Murphy, to decide whether the transition can begin. So far, Murphy won't sign off.
And two people who've spoken to her say she feels she's in a no-win situation and struggling with the weight of the decision. Pressure is still building on Trump to grant Biden intelligence briefings, including from Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been working to contest Biden's win.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The president is contesting the election, and I would urge him to give intel briefings to Joe Biden. How much further to go, I don't know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND: And, Wolf, as the president's refusal to concede drags on, we are seeing some splintering among Republican lawmakers.
Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Senator Kevin Cramer, both of them saying they believe that the transition should begin, even as those legal challenges by the Trump campaign continue, others, like Senator Ted Cruz, saying that the legal challenges need to wrap up first before the transition can happen.
But, Wolf, health experts have been that the warning the longer that transition delay happens, the more the coronavirus response in the Biden administration will be impacted -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, lives clearly are at stake right now.
Jeremy, stay with us.
I want to bring back Jeff Zeleny, also our senior commentator former Ohio Governor John Kasich, and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Sanjay, horrific news. A quarter-of-a-million Americans have now lost their fight with this virus. It's a milestone, of course, we hoped we would never reach. We, sadly, have reached this milestone.
Here we are. Help us fathom a little bit on this sobering death toll.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Wolf, I don't know what I can say to help people fathom this.
It's -- a quarter-of-a-million people have died of a disease that did not exist a year ago. We can see how we have done compared to other countries in the world. Maybe that's a way to contextualize this for people. It's hard for me to believe the best we could do was be the worst in the world when it comes to overall deaths.
[18:10:07] I mean, it's very, very dispiriting, Wolf. You look at these numbers, it's now at least the third leading cause of death in the United States. It's likely to lower life expectancy for an entire country, what has happened here.
I -- you know, Wolf, I don't know. There are so many things I could say in terms of what we could have done, should have done, and I don't know that that's very helpful at this point. I guess what I would say is that we still have work to do.
These numbers are not going down. There's no end here at this point. We will look at the end of the year. That's not going to end the pandemic. We have to actually take action to start bringing these numbers down, Wolf. But, sadly, there's many more people who will still die.
BLITZER: Yes, the first confirmed deaths here in the United States were back in February.
And you remember, and I remember, too, Sanjay, that, back in March, in March, Dr. Fauci predicted this virus might kill up to 240,000 Americans. Now we have surpassed that prediction only nine months into this pandemic.
When it first started, did you realistically think a quarter-of-a- million Americans were going to die in these next several months?
GUPTA: You know, I didn't.
I think, Wolf, a lot of times, people in the medical community often go by this adage of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. I think you often sort of imagine worst-case scenarios, because it should be very motivating to do something about it.
And when Dr. Fauci said that -- and I remember exactly what you're talking about, Wolf -- I thought that's probably what he's doing, you know, really prepare for the worst and hope for the best. The idea that we'd actually get there, I really did not think, no, to answer your question directly.
And, again, Wolf, we're talking about this number, 250,000. You know the projections, Wolf. They say, by -- in February, it could be 400,000 people who would have died of this.
So, it's -- I will say the same thing, though. There are still things we can do, even short of the vaccine, that could make a significant, significant improvement in both the number of people who get infected and decrease the number of people who would die.
BLITZER: Another 70,000 might die between now and the inauguration on January 20.
Governor Kasich, we have passed this awful milestone, a quarter-of-a- million American lives lost. The president is nowhere to be seen at all. It is, in a word, given what's going on in our country right now, I should say, sort of disgraceful. JOHN KASICH, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, Wolf, this is
a cult of personality.
And whenever you have a cult of personality, sometimes, the damage is not able to be calculated. If we'd started earlier -- and I agree with Sanjay, but we need to look back. If we'd started as a country pulling together, I think we'd be in a far better place.
But now the inability or the unwillingness of his orders to share this information with Biden, so they can think about distribution, they can think about stockpiles, they can think about all the things that must surround the distribution of a vaccine -- thank God it's just around the corner is what we understand.
But this cult of personality has taken over people in his own administration. And, unfortunately, it's taken over a lot of members of the Republican Party.
I don't know what they're afraid of. You know, Wolf, it's sort of like, if you get a little baby alligator in your house, and you just don't pay attention to it, it gets bigger and bigger, and the next thing you know, you're out of the house and the alligator's running it.
That's what it seems like as to what's going on now, because the Republicans have been afraid of him, continue to be afraid of him, for a variety of reasons, some selfish, maybe some not, because they're worried about this election in Georgia. This is disgraceful.
And, Wolf, I have to tell you, I have been sitting here and my blood is boiling. If I was there, I'd be shouting from the rooftops. And I don't know why we're not hearing it. This is -- you know, every one of these people are going to have to look in the mirror someday, and maybe their kids are going to say, what did you do in the middle of this, when you had that man running the country?
BLITZER: Yes, I mean, it is totally, totally awful.
You know, Jeff Zeleny, as Governor Kasich just mentioned, the milestone underscores how essential it is right now that the president-elect of the United States and his incoming team be, at a minimum, permitted to begin the transition in earnest, get all the information they need to have so that, on January 20, they can hit the ground running.
ZELENY: Wolf, it was the soundtrack of the last presidential campaign, but now it is a real-life metric that Joe Biden will be judged by.
But what he is worried about, his team is worried about, that they are not being given a fair start here, because they do not have access to that.
And one thing the president-elect is clearly trying to do is use his bully pulpit to drive home the point how serious this is, as if these numbers aren't serious enough. Of course they are.
[18:15:05]
But he holds up a mask at every turn. He's meeting with front-line health care workers.
Wolf, I cannot recall a time that the president, President Trump -- he is still the president of the United States -- I cannot recall the last time he met with a front-line health care worker.
That is what president-elect Biden did today, talking with paramedics and the people who are in these hospitals. So, this is something that they're trying to change the messaging of.
But one thing is unclear, if they will be able to change the actual facts of getting their hands behind the data here. That's what they are asking for.
So, Wolf, I am told by sources on both sides that Republicans are certainly losing patience. We see some people inside the Trump administration working privately with the Biden transition team. I'm told by Friday, if the president does not make some type of concession or gesture, that he will lose more Republicans in the Senate.
We will see. By Friday, it's been two weeks since Joe Biden was projected a winner here.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: As he should.
(CROSSTALK)
ZELENY: So, we will see if that happens.
KASICH: Wolf...
BLITZER: Yes, go ahead, Governor.
KASICH: Wolf, let me just say, he says they're losing patience. Are you kidding me? Losing patience?
You have got -- you have a group of doctors who are saying to the administration, we need the information, we need the information to protect our front-line workers, we need the information to protect our patients, we need the front-line information to make sure how to distribute the vaccine, and they're losing patience?
What the hell are they doing down there? Stand up. Start speaking out. Let's put the country first. Maybe some of them ought to just get together and march down to the White House and demand that the president start sharing this vital health information with the incoming administration.
To say, well, we have got to have everything certified, we know how this election's going to end up. And if it ends up differently, so what? You have given them the information, so they can help our country. Stand up. And we will remember those that didn't. I can promise you we're going
to remember them.
BLITZER: Yes. These are critical moments, indeed.
Jeremy, you cover the White House for us. Are you getting any reaction at all to this stunning new development from sources over there? Has President Trump been briefed, as the death toll here in the United States has passed 250,000 Americans; a quarter-of-a-million Americans have died over these months?
DIAMOND: No reaction from the White House yet, Wolf.
And we know that this is a president who has essentially disengaged from this coronavirus fight. I mean, as he is spending time on Twitter and in the courtrooms through his legal team trying to fight to save his job, try to overturn the results of the election and remain president for another four years, he has disengaged from the job of commander in chief and president of the United States, on no issue more so than on this pandemic.
We know he hasn't attended a task force -- a Coronavirus Task Force meeting in months. And he is certainly not echoing any of the public health messaging that we are hearing either from president-elect Joe Biden or from the health experts on the president's own task force.
Today, Wolf, we heard from Admiral Brett Giroir, who is a member of the Coronavirus Task Force. He was painting a very, very dark picture of the situation happening in the United States. And yet we are hearing nothing of the kind from the president.
And, ultimately, Wolf, it's not so much about what the president is saying today, but what he has and has not said over the last year of this pandemic. This is a president who repeatedly undermined the science, repeatedly mocked mask-wearing, did not take the kinds of actions that health experts would have liked to see from him, and those consequences are reverberating today in no more way perhaps than in this issue of trust in science and belief among his own supporters in the importance of wearing a mask -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Yes, the last several weeks of the campaign, he kept saying the U.S. is rounding the turn, rounding the turn, things are getting better, we're rounding the corner. He kept saying that.
It's getting worse and worse and worse by the day.
The only bright spot, Sanjay, is that we are getting some potentially very, very good news about vaccine development. But the sad thing is, there will be many months ahead before the majority of the U.S. population can get vaccinated.
How do we prevent even more thousands, maybe tens of thousands of deaths in the meantime, when this new vaccine -- and, God willing, it will be safe and effective -- is widely available to 300 million Americans?
GUPTA: Yes.
Well, I think the first thing to sort of say is we can do exactly what you said. We can prevent many more people becoming infected, becoming hospitalized and dying, even short of having the vaccine. It can be done.
We have seen examples of that here in this country when you look at certain communities at a hyperlocal level that really had these significant spikes in cases, exponential growth, where the growth just -- it looks like a rocket ship going straight to the stars, by doing basic things, Wolf, that we have been talking about, mask mandate, stopping large public gatherings, and indoor cluster locations where people can't mask, like restaurants and bars, limiting capacity significantly to some 20 percent.
[18:20:01]
If you do that, you probably decrease viral spread by 80 percent.
Wolf, we have been saying this, some version of this, now since March, right? So it's pretty clear that a lot of places in the country really haven't done it, or they only do it when they start to redline.
And you look at the Dakotas now, and this is a place where I think many people in the Dakotas -- and I would talk to primary care doctors there. They thought maybe we had sort of dodged the bullet. And now we know that they have one of the highest death rates in the country. They got to this point.
They -- each state, South Dakota and North Dakota, worse than the entire country of South Korea now, just to give you an idea of how bad it's become.
But we can. We can make a significant impact on changing that curve, flattening that curve, and even bringing it down with basic public health measures, if we'd actually do it.
I would just throw testing on the list as well, to the governor's point. You know, if there was sort of this ability to do things now, it would probably be to really ramp up the amount of testing available, let people be testing themselves, find out if they're contagious, stay home if they are. That would also make a huge impact.
BLITZER: Yes, some good news. There's going to be some of at-home testing capabilities coming up as well very, very soon.
Go avenue head, Governor.
(CROSSTALK)
KASICH: Wolf, at times like, leadership is indispensable.
And maybe it's not going to come out of the White House. But it's got to come out from the governors. It's got to come from the members of Congress who have relationships. It's got to come from all of us, from the from the faith community. Look, we're in the middle of a war here. And when we're in a war,
leadership allows us to be -- it puts us, enables us to pull together as a society. This is a test for the United States of America. Are we going to get through it? Absolutely.
Is Donald Trump going to leave the White House and we're not going to have a crisis there? Absolutely.
But every day we wait, every minute that we delay, it just puts somebody at risk. And that -- you know, I have got to tell you this. I think the lord looks down, and he just is -- I think he's got a tear in his eye for what he's seeing happen, because we can -- as Sanjay says, we can make significant progress.
And God bless those front-line workers and God bless those scientists who are working day and night in those laboratories trying to bring this -- trying to get ahead of this curve and be able to defeat this thing. We will win, but it's going to take leadership for all of us, even those who watch in their homes.
BLITZER: Yes, we need national leadership. We need a national plan.
Sadly, the president of the United States, he has not actually sat down and met with his Coronavirus Task Force for five months, five months, hasn't even bothered to go to one of their meetings.
All right, everybody, stand by. We're going to stay on top of the very sad milestone. We're now reporting a quarter-of-a-million Americans have now died from coronavirus over the past several months.
We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:27:21]
BLITZER: We're back with breaking news.
The United States has just reached a truly horrific milestone. More than a quarter-of-a-million Americans have now died from COVID-19.
Joining us now, Senator Chris Coons, Democrat of Delaware, very close friend and ally of president-elect Joe Biden.
Senator Coons, thanks so much for joining us.
Let me just get your thoughts, as we have now passed 250,000 American deaths, a quarter-of-a-million deaths, here in the United States since the first deaths back in February. This is an awful, awful development.
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): It is, Wolf.
This is a grim milestone and a reminder of just how much loss there's been all across our country. This pandemic hasn't spared a single town or village, state or community in our country. And of those 250,000 who've died so far, how many of them died alone?
How many of them died without their families having a chance to mourn or grieve or come together? This is a truly staggering loss.
And what makes it sharper, what makes it harder for all of us is, frankly, the fact that it didn't have to be this bad. The nation of South Korea had the same first day first infection that we did, and, if you look at the course of the pandemic in that country and our country, they managed to get control of it far faster, far better.
And it was relatively simple. As Dr. Sanjay Gupta was just saying in the panel you had on before me, the public health measures required to manage this are pretty simple, wear your mask, wash your hands, respect social distancing, coordinate testing and tracing, and develop a vaccine.
Had we had coordinated, competent national leadership, we would not be recognizing a quarter-million American dead today.
BLITZER: Yes, yes, a quarter-of-a-million mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, grandparents, good friends, they have died.
And, as you correctly point out, there was a lack of national leadership from the top on down. And that resulted, so sadly, in this total failure here in the United States.
Despite this very grim milestone, as you point out, Senator, the president-elect and his transition team -- and this is shocking -- they are still not getting the clearly important information they need. Biden says this could lead to a vaccine rollout being delayed once he takes office after January 20.
That rollout could be delayed weeks, he says, even months. Do you agree with the president-elect that what is going on right now, this lack of cooperation, potentially could cost American lives?
COONS: Well, Wolf, Joe Biden, as our president-elect, is showing leadership.
[18:30:00]
He is consulting with frontline workers, with public health experts, with the folks who are developing these vaccines, but he doesn't have access to the most vital information about the logistics challenges, about the supply chain plans that will be essential for the incoming Biden-Harris administration to move forward rapidly with vaccinating more than 300 million Americans.
We have really good news in that two vaccines now show enormous promise, more than 90 percent efficacy. But this is maddening that President Trump is continuing to indulge himself in now a two-week- long temper tantrum and refusing to accept the results of the election and that my colleagues here in the Congress are coddling him and sustaining him in this fever dream. When it breaks, we're going to see more Americans dead unnecessarily and a longer delay in the delivery of this vaccine that was unnecessary.
BLITZER: If President-elect Biden believes this will cost American lives, and that's what he said today, a delay in delivery of the vaccine, why not take immediate legal action now to get this formal transition under way?
COONS: Well, I can't speak to the legal strategy of the transition. I can say I think they've got good grounds to do so. The GSA -- the mid- level administrative agency that has the responsibility technically for making the determination that the transition should begin should have done so ten days ago.
It is the thinnest of excuses that not every state so far has certified as the recount is completed in Georgia and as Georgia certifies, there is no credible path for President Trump to overturn the outcome in the four states he would have to overturn for him to instead be declared the winner.
And, frankly, in the absence of the GSA making that determination, there's absolutely no harm to sharing the vital information about the pandemic and about the path toward vaccination with the incoming administration even if there were some path, some way that President Trump could remain in office. What would be the harm in sharing this information with the incoming team?
BLITZER: I don't know if you heard the reporting from our Jeff Zeleny that current and former Biden administration officials, current and former, are now reaching out to the incoming Biden transition team wanting to help, wanting to get some assistance to the incoming team. We're talking about Trump administration officials, current and former Trump administration officials. You're very close to the president- elect. Have you heard of that?
COONS: I am aware that there are both Republican senators and folks in the administration or former members of the administration who are trying to connect to the transition but it's been very tentative and very halting so far. What we need is President Trump to end this temper tantrum transition and accept electoral reality and authorize the sharing of robust information.
It is encouraging. There are some early outreach steps going on. But, frankly, the federal government is an enormous entity and undertaking. And the alarming news yesterday that President Trump fired Chris Krebs, the head of the Homeland Security Cyber Security Agency, in just the latest casualty of his four-year war on the truth, is a sign of how President Trump on his way out the door is intending to cause further chaos and havoc by exercising his favorite sentence, you're fired, to punish people who are speaking up against his delusions about the outcome of the election.
BLITZER: And earlier, he fired the defense secretary as well. Senator Chris Coons, thank you so much for joining us. Stay safe. We'll stay in touch with you.
COONS: Thank you, Wolf. BLITZER: All right. Just ahead New York City public schools are closing indefinitely right now as COVID cases rise in the former epicenter of the virus here in the United States, this as the U.S. death toll now surpasses a quarter million.
Also, take a closer look at ways to stay safe this Thanksgiving as health officials are now warning that the usual family gatherings potentially, potentially could be very dangerous and even deadly.
We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00]
BLITZER: We're following awful breaking news this hour on the unimaginable loss of life inflicted on this country by the coronavirus pandemic. The death toll now surpassing 250,000, one quarter of a million Americans gone 300 days after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in the United States.
Let's get some more from CNN's Nick Watt. Nick, a truly horrible number, and the sad thing is it's going to keep getting worse and worse and worse.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. 250,000 lives lost already and we could lose 200,000 more by the first day of spring if that model holds up.
And we've also just lost a symbol of hope and progress. New York City schools will not open tomorrow because the city has reached 3 percent positivity, and everyone agreed that if they reached 3 percent, they would close. But the situation in New York City now is a little strange. Kids aren't allowed into classrooms, but adults can still go to a bar and grab a beer.
[18:40:00]
It's complicated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATT (voice over): New York City is the biggest school district in the nation, so many parents right now scrambling to balance work with childcare for the morning.
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): That's the law in orange and the red zone. Follow the facts.
REPORTER: I'm confused --
CUOMO: And I'll tell you what need.
REPORTER: Parents are still confused as well. The schools are going to close tomorrow.
CUOMO: No. They're not confused. You're confused.
WATT: Meanwhile, in Iowa --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to make sure you don't have a blood clot in your lung.
WATT: More than 76,000 Americans now hospitalized with COVID-19. That's an all-time high.
GOV. STEVE BULLOCK (D-MT): In some places we're already out of beds and room to put even new beds.
WATT: So, Montana's mask mandate goes statewide Friday.
In Michigan, a three-week pause kicks in today. No more indoor dining, bars, movie theaters.
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): The inherently dangerous situations are when you are inside with people from a different household or many different households for a prolonged period of time with masks off.
WATT: In South Dakota, the governor still won't mandate masks.
GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): People that want to wear masks should wear masks, and people who don't shouldn't be shamed because they choose not to.
WATT: In Oregon, there can be no more than six at a Thanksgiving table this year.
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's Orwellian in a place like Oregon to say if you gather in numbers more than six, we might come to your house and arrest you and you get 30 days of jail time.
WATT: Orwellian or just life-saving?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We're all in this together as a nation. If one element of the country or multiple elements of the country don't cooperate with an infectious disease, we are going to continue to be in trouble.
WATT: 1,707 lives reported lost Tuesday, COVID's deadliest day in America for six months. The average daily death toll is now rising in 33 states.
DR. TOM INGLESBY, DIRECTOR, JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: I'm the most concerned I've been since this pandemic started. States across the country are having the most rapid rise they've seen since the start of this.
WATT: Good news, the FDA just authorized the first fast at-home self- test and Pfizer now says its vaccine is 95 percent effective. And they'll file for FDA authorization within days. Moderna won't be far behind. ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: By the end of December, we expect to have about 40 million doses of these two vaccines available for distribution, pending FDA authorization, enough to vaccinate about 20 million of our most vulnerable Americans.
WATT: But likely early summer before it's widespread.
BULLOCK: There is light at the end of the tunnel. However, that tunnel is long.
WATT: And some places panic buying is now back, also long lines at food banks and COVID-19 testing sites. The pain of this fall now resembles now the spring and it's getting worse.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Nick Watt reporting for us. Nick, thank you very, very much.
Joining us now, Dr. Tom Frieden, the former Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Frieden, thank you so much for joining us.
When the first case of coronavirus was first reported here in the United States back on January 21st, could you ever have imagined that we would wind up these months later with more than a quarter of a million Americans dead?
DR. TOM FRIEDEN, FORMER CDC DIRECTOR: Well, Wolf, this is the most disruptive health event we've had in a century. And as you've been saying, it didn't have to be this bad. But let's look forward and let's see what all of us can do together, because at the current rate, there will be at least 300,000 deaths by January 20th, exactly one year after that first case and inauguration of the new administration.
And it's so important that that hand-off be done smoothly because this is going to be the most complicated vaccination program in American history and it's going to span two administrations. And the sooner the current administration begins speaking openly and in detail with the incoming administration, the better and the smoother that handoff will be and the more we'll be able to protect people.
But one thing that's so important to understand, Wolf, is that although the vaccines are coming, they're not going to come as soon as we would wish. There still is a lot that can go wrong with vaccination programs. And for the next few months, we're going to have to be much more careful starting next week with Thanksgiving, which could become a whole host of super-spreader events all over the country.
BLITZER: The vaccines are really critical, and it's such positive news. But it's going to take time for it to get -- for millions and millions of Americans to get those vaccines safe and effectively.
[18:45:00]
And, you know, we did make some significant progress over the past few months, but now, it seems all that progress has collapsed. Are we, Dr. Frieden, back now where we started?
FRIEDEN: In some ways, we're worse. We have more cases in more places than ever before. We're hitting high numbers of hospitalizations, already more than 70,000. We will hit over 100,000 hospitalizations within the next few weeks. We'll hit 2,000 deaths a day by the end of the year.
We really have to get it under control, and that means all of us working together, not just wearing masks, which is very important, watching our distance and washing our hands. But also, we're going to have to dial back on indoor dining, on bars, on indoor activities with lots of people together.
And those Thanksgiving plans really do have us concerned because it's a formula for spreading the disease. When people travel from a lower incidence area to a higher incidence area, they're likely to get infected.
If they travel from a higher rate area to a lower COVID rate area, they're likely to spread it. And that kind of travel and spread acts as an accelerator, just ramping up the spread of this virus, which is already in the exponential increase phase in many parts of the country.
BLITZER: Yeah. As much as we want to be with our family and our loved ones on Thanksgiving, we have to err on the side of caution. The threats are simply too, too great.
Dr. Frieden, as usual, thank you so much for joining us. Stay safe out there as well.
I want to get some more on the breaking pandemic news we're following. We're joined by the mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot.
Mayor Lightfoot, thank you for joining us.
And as you heard over the past half hour or so, the country has now crossed this horrific milestone of a quarter of a million deaths here in the United States. Cases are surging all around the country, in your city as well. In Chicago, you just had a record high for hospitalizations.
So what's the situation like right now in Chicago's hospitals?
MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT (D), CHICAGO: You know, we are seeing, unfortunately, a steady climb in hospitalizations but most disturbingly we're seeing a climb in the number of people who are in ICU beds with COVID or under investigation for having COVID.
So that is obviously a very, very concerning number. We follow this very, very closely. And we've seen a significant uptick, three to four times the number of hospitalizations, ICU beds since early October.
So we're unfortunately experiencing the same kind of horrific surge in cases that we're experiencing also across the country. So, we're not in the place where we want to be. We're still on an
upward trajectory. But we're doing everything we can to reiterate to folks that they've got to practice the public health tools that we know work -- using masks, social distancing, eliminating your involvement in crowds.
And I'm mindful of the comments of your previous guest. Thanksgiving can't be like it normally is. You've got to make sure you stay at home.
BLITZER: Yeah. It's really so, so critical and potentially life- saving. You recently enacted in Chicago a stay-at-home advisory, Mayor, and limited events to 10 people. The state of Illinois is enacting more health measures on Friday.
Do you have any enforcement mechanisms, though, in place? Because people are clearly fatigued and they're clearly all over the country. This is so sad. Letting their guards down.
LIGHTFOOT: Yeah. Look, we obviously have some tools at our disposal, but where we're seeing I think the biggest challenge is in these private spaces, in homes. People are still having weddings and other kind of private events that exceed what the capacity limits should be.
We have some tools of enforcement and we've been using those really throughout the pandemic. But the most important thing I think is educating people into compliance.
There is COVID fatigue. That is a real phenomenon. People are frustrated. People are tired. And they want to get back to their old lives.
But as we very well know, doing that, ignoring the reality of the pandemic and how deadly this virus is, is only going to lead to more cases, more hospitalizations, and unfortunately more deaths.
We acted last week in putting into place the stay-at-home advisory because our conservative estimates were that 1,000 more people would die in Chicago if we didn't do more.
BLITZER: The president-elect, Joe Biden, is warning that the vaccine rollout could be delayed because his transition team isn't getting the badly needed information it needs from the outgoing administration.
How concerning is that to you, Mayor?
LIGHTFOOT: Well, I would just say shame on them. We are in a crisis. We need to be coming together.
And the president needs to acknowledge the loss, but more importantly, he needs to let the transition move forward. Precious days and hours are being lost because of this silliness around the election.
The election's over. Joe Biden won. We need to start to change the tone and we need to turn the page, but most importantly, in the middle of this crisis, we need unity and cooperation. I am just calling upon the Republicans of goodwill to step up and call
out this nonsense. We've got to cooperate as a country so that we can move forward together.
BLITZER: Well said.
Mayor Lightfoot, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck in Chicago.
LIGHTFOOT: Thank you so much, Wolf.
BLITZER: Just ahead, with Thanksgiving on the horizon, we'll take a closer look at ways you can celebrate this holiday safely.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:55:21]
BLITZER: As deaths from the coronavirus now surpass a quarter of a million, and new cases are surging all around the country, experts are warning Americans about the danger of Thanksgiving gatherings and are giving tips for how you can protect your friends and your family over the upcoming holiday.
CNN's Brian Todd is looking into all of this for us.
Brian, tell us more. What are you learning?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, tonight, experts, top health officials are saying even the small to midsized gatherings are risky. They say this year, Americans are going to have to do things different differently and get creative to stay safe at Thanksgiving.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): This year, unprecedented warnings from health experts about Thanksgiving.
DR. FRANCIS COLLINS, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH: We're all in trouble. And in fact, this is a potentially life-threatening situation for our whole country.
DR. JAMES PHILLIPS, PROFESSOR OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: We're going to see an unprecedented surge in our hospital systems and in positive cases across the country following that holiday.
TODD: The current upward surge in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations is only getting worse as we head into Thanksgiving. And tonight, top health officials and experts are pleading with Americans to take measures to stay safe over this holiday.
COLLINS: This thing looks like a mask. It's actually a medical device that can be life-saving. Think of it that way. You wouldn't hold back on that, if you thought you could help somebody.
Keep those distances, where they need to be six feet or more. Avoid those indoor gatherings.
TODD: That recommendation to consider canceling gatherings is one piece of guidance the CDC recently issued to Americans regarding Thanksgiving.
Other recommendations from the agency -- consider having Thanksgiving dinner outdoors. But is that realistic for people who live in the northern half of the U.S.?
ANNE RIMOIN, EPIDEMIOLOGIST, UCLA FIELDING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: Outdoor dinners may not be feasible for a large portion of the United States. Anybody that's living in areas where it is going to be cold. So, the best thing you can do, if you are going to have people come to your house is to spread it out and to open as many windows as you can, provide as much circulation as you possibly can.
TODD: Other recommendations from the CDC -- think about hosting virtual dinners, limit the number of people at any gathering.
PHILLIPS: Having a small gathering of five or six people might be reasonable, if you're within a bubble, who you know each person is maintaining their distance, wearing their masks and protecting themselves as well as possible.
TODD: As for wearing masks at Thanksgiving, experts acknowledged, masks have to come off when people are eating, but one expert suggests placing a straw under your mask when you drink, so the only time you take the mask off is to actually eat. And she has other recommendations many of us may not have thought of.
RIMOIN: What you should do is have people eat in various places in the household with their own family pod. Don't have loud music. Do everything you can, turn music way down so that people do not have to speak loudly.
Bring your own plates, bring your own utensils, bring your own serving dishes, and take them home with you.
TODD: Or, as painful as it might be, experts say for many Americans, it might be best not to come together for Thanksgiving at all this year.
PHILLIPS: My 100 percent medical opinion is that we need to sacrifice our holidays this year. We need to stay at home in our own personal household bubble for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year's.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (on camera): One expert believes we could see a spike in deaths around Christmastime this year because of Thanksgiving, pointing out that the patterns indicate that we often see coronavirus deaths start to occur about three weeks after exposure. So our behavior this Thanksgiving is going to be all the more crucial -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Really, really important report, Brian. Thank you so, so much.
Finally tonight, we pay tribute to some of the 250,000 Americans who have died in the coronavirus pandemic.
Michael Lewis of Arkansas was 63 years old. His wife, Sharon, says he was the life of every party and loved fishing, hunting, and farming. He leaves behind nine children, 24 grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.
Helen Belcher of New York was 74. She was a nurse for 45 years who contracted COVID-19 from a patient and wound up as a patient herself, dying at the same hospital where she worked. Her daughter, Lucy, says she wants everyone to know her mother was a frontline hero.
May they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.
Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
