Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

U.S. Surpasses 12 Million COVID Cases As Thanksgiving Holiday Nears; Trump Stonewalls Biden As U.S. Tops 12 Million Coronavirus Cases; Judge Dismisses Trump Campaign Pennsylvania Lawsuit Attempting To Invalidate Millions Of PA Mail-In Votes; House Democrats Demand Briefing From GSA Chief For "Blocking" Transition; CDC Urges COVID Testing Before And After International Flights. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 21, 2020 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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. The Coronavirus pandemic spreading across the United States right now, with unprecedented speed and infecting people in numbers we have not seen before.

The breaking news right now, 12 million people now confirmed to have tested positive for the Coronavirus in the United States alone. 12 million Americans, no other country has that many confirmed cases of the disease. And it gets even more shocking. Nearly 25 percent of those COVID cases have been reported just this month alone. We're talking about November.

Last week, the total number of cases in the U.S. hit 11 million. And just hours ago, as I mentioned, the total number in the U.S. reached 12 million. The pandemic is picking up speed and people sadly are dying. More than 10,000, 10,000 Americans passed away from the Coronavirus in just the past week alone.

And making matters even more worrisome, it's a few days before Thanksgiving, when millions of Americans often travel to loved ones. The CDC is urgently warning people that this weekend, don't do that. Stay home. Keep family gatherings small.

Public health officials fear that people without symptoms will bring the Coronavirus to their Thanksgiving celebrations. Let's start our coverage this CNN's with Jeremy Diamond he is over at the White House for us Jeremy, as we cross yet another truly awful marker in the Coronavirus fight, it's been 18 days since the president took questions from reporters. Tell us about his day so far.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, as President Trump has been fighting tooth and nail since this election to try to stay in office, at the same time, he's showing pretty much of a lack of interest in the job of being president and in the job of governing.

The president is nowhere to be found as it relates to urging Americans to take precautions ahead of this Thanksgiving holiday because of the worsening Coronavirus pandemic. This morning, he chose to go to his golf club instead of participating in a side meeting of the G-20 on the Coronavirus pandemic.

The president earlier this morning, he did begin his day attending one of the sessions of the G-20 briefly. But then Wolf, he went to the golf course as several other leaders of the G-20 gathered, including the Chancellor of Germany, the President of France, to discuss this Coronavirus pandemic Wolf.

This was the president's 303rd day that he's spent of his presidency at one of his golf clubs. And obviously the timing is notable. Wolf, the president, even as he is trying to overturn the results of the election, is being rebuffed in all corners.

Whether it is now the 29 lawsuits have either been dropped by the Trump Campaign's legal team or dismissed in federal court, or it is his attempts to pressure state lawmakers, like the Michigan state lawmakers to try and overturn the results of the election. The president is finding very few remaining avenues to remain in office past January 20th.

BLITZER: And Jeremy, we're learning that the president has faced yet another major setback in his legal case to try to stop the certification of results in one key state. Update our viewers on that.

DIAMOND: That's right, Wolf. The president's legal team has been trying to prevent the State of Pennsylvania, among others, from certifying the results of the election. In this case, this is now the 29th case, Wolf, to either be dismissed or withdrawn by the Trump Campaign in federal and state courts across the country.

In this case it is a U.S. district court, the judge in that case is Judge Matthew Brand, who has essentially thrown this case out of court, making very clear that while the Trump Campaign was seeking to essentially disenfranchise all the voters of the state by throwing out all of the votes because of some discrepancies on mail-in voting that the Trump Campaign was arguing.

This judge says there are no merit to this lawsuit and no reason to follow through. The judge, I want to read you one quick section of this Wolf. He says one might expect that when seeking such a startling outcome, a plaintiff would come formidably armed with compelling legal arguments and factual proof of ramping corruption.

And then he goes on to says, that has not happened. And Wolf, interestingly, this is a case in which you saw two lawyers, legal teams of the president withdraw from this case, and ultimately, it was the president's attorney, Rudy Giuliani, who argued this case in federal court just a few days ago, and now essentially this judge is saying this case has no merit, adding to the list of losses for the president as it relates to this election Wolf. BLITZER: Another setback, political setback, a leader in the Republican Congressional House of Representatives leadership now speaking out rather bluntly. Tell us about that.

DIAMOND: That's right, Congresswoman Liz Cheney she is a member of the House Republican leadership, and she is now also adding to this pressure among some Republicans that you are starting to see for the president to either put up the evidence of widespread voter fraud he's been chanting from the roof tops, but not making that case in court.

[19:05:00]

DIAMOND: And saying that if he cannot present that evidence, then essentially it is time to move on. Let me see if I can pull up this statement Wolf. This is from Congresswoman Liz Cheney. She says if the president cannot prove these claims or demonstrate that they would change the election results, he should fulfill his oath to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States by respecting the sanctity of our electoral process.

So while by no means she is saying Joe Biden is the President-Elect as a small minority of Republicans has said, you are starting to see Wolf, this growing pressure on the president to either put up or shut up.

BLITZER: Yeah, they're beginning to face reality slowly. But I'm sure surely in the end. Jeremy, thank you very much. I know you're working your sources over there. We'll get back to you.

Meanwhile, the President-Elect of the United States Joe Biden and his transition team still being denied access to critical White House resources and briefings they need to get up to speed and get ready to take office exactly 60 days from today.

Let's go to our Political Correspondent Arlette Saenz she is joining us from Wilmington, Delaware. Arlette, usually an incoming administration has access to federal money to pay for the work of a transition. The Biden team is even being blocked from those funds. So how are they moving forward?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, it's been exactly two weeks since President-Elect Joe Biden was projected the winner of the 2020 race, and he still doesn't have access to those key transition resources that you mentioned because of the fact the GSA administrator has not ascertained him as the winner of the election.

So what you are seeing Biden and his team do is taking matters into their own hands. When it comes to money, they are raising money privately for their transition efforts, even going to their grassroots supporters, sending an email recently and asking them to contribute to help fund their transition.

Right now, they cannot access millions of dollars of federal funding due to the fact that the ascertainment from the GSA has not happened. You have also seen Biden trying to convene his own groups of experts as they are unable to speak with the Trump Administration about the work that's going on in their agencies.

Biden has been warning for this past week that one of the issues that are under threat right now is the Coronavirus pandemic. And they do not have access to the administration's plan for distributing a vaccine and Biden has warned that that could delay his own planning by weeks and even months, trying to put a human cost and face to this staling that we're seeing from the Trump Administration.

But one thing that you are seeing Biden do is move forward with his announcements for his White House staff. He's also speeding up his timeline for when he's looking to announce his cabinet picks? Originally, it was expected that those nominations would not come until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

But now, it is expected that Biden could announce some cabinet nominees at the start of this coming week. One of those - one person that Biden said he's already decided on is the Treasury Secretary. We do not have the name that he's decided on, but a top contender is expected - is thought to be the Federal Reserve Lael Brainard, and he could also very soon announce his Secretary of State, where he's been considering a number of candidates for that job.

But Biden right now is in this position where he is trying to make it clear that he's moving forward with his work and his planning as he is preparing to become president-elect and part of that is putting together the administration that will be working with him. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Arlette thank you very much. I know you're working your sources over there, as well. I want to bring in the California Congressman Adam Schiff; he is the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman thanks so much for joining us.

Let's pick up where Arlette just left off. As you know the general services administration has refused to formalize this presidential transition. Your House colleagues have now requested the GSA Administrator Emily Murphy to brief them about this decision and to do so by Monday. Do you think she'll comply with that request?

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): Wolf, I really don't know. She should. In fact, she should make the ascertainment immediately. This is nothing but a political delay to the detriment of the country. But if necessary, the committee is prepared to subpoena and compel her to come in.

But I would hope that wouldn't be necessary still. If that's what is required to get this process moving during the middle of a pandemic, we will do everything we can in the House to make it happen.

BLITZER: But do you fear if she is subpoena, let's say, congressman do you think the White House will try to block her from complying with that subpoena?

[19:10:00]

SCHIFF: Well, you know, as you as long as to give stonewalling congress throughout this administration. So you could certainly anticipate that they might. But nonetheless, it will, I think, add to the pressure to resolve this issue. There isn't any doubt about who won the election.

Joe Biden won by six million votes and by a hefty number in the Electoral College, something that Donald Trump called a landslide four years ago. So this is nothing - risking American lives. And the GSA administrator needs to stop towing Trump's line and do the right thing here.

BLITZER: Yeah, because it's been almost three weeks since the election, exactly two weeks since almost all of the major news organizations, let me repeat that all of news organizations projected that Joe Biden is the winner. No significant examples of election fraud have been found, congressman.

Even Trump insiders have admitted this whole legal push is a real, real long shot. In your mind, is the president though guilty right now of not complying? Because some of his critics have suggested he could be guilty of what's called sedition.

SCHIFF: Well, he is certainly abusing, once again abusing the power of his office. This too is a long pattern of the presidency. For any other president, it would be unthinkable that after losing an election, they could be calling state legislators and trying to get them to overturn the results, ignore the popular vote, or they would have their deputies like Lindsey Graham calling Secretaries of State in places like Georgia and asking whether they're in a position to effectively throw out thousands of ballots?

But that's the kind of abuse of power we have come to expect from President Trump. I don't imagine that there's anything at this late stage that can be done about that at it will not be successful but it is delaying the transition at great cost.

BLITZER: The president early this morning did briefly attend a virtual G-20 meeting, but he then skipped, very quickly skipped the G-20 Coronavirus session, opting instead to go play golf in suburban Northern Virginia outside of Washington, D.C. at his club.

As this pandemic worsens here in the United States, clearly the president decided it was OK to go play golf this weekend, last weekend, the weekend before. What's your reaction to that?

SCHIFF: Well, it's absolutely shameful. When you think about however long Donald Trump was on the golf course, you can calculate the number of Americans who died while he was out there, you know, driving from the tee and chipping on to the green.

There were Americans dying all the time. We're losing Americans 1,000 to 2,000 a day. So that's what hundreds while he's out on the golf course. And the fact that leaders of the world are gathering in a summit to try to figure out how globally we can confront this virus, and he's out there chipping from the sand trap, I mean, it's just appalling.

Of course, the hypocrisy also grabs you by the throat. After all, this is a president who attacked Barack Obama for playing golf, who played a lot less than what we see with Donald Trump, and certainly wasn't out there in the middle of a pandemic.

BLITZER: Your State of California, as you well know, saw a record spike in COVID cases today. When it comes to distributing a vaccine and all of us are hoping that the vaccine will be available safely and smoothly very, very soon.

Is this delayed transition process going on from the outgoing administration to the incoming administration, going to wind up costing lives because the Trump Administration is refusing to allow their Coronavirus experts to even brief the incoming Coronavirus experts?

SCHIFF: You know, it certainly could and that's the fear that the president-elect has, that this delayed transition will make it more difficult, more time consuming for his team to come to speed and implement a vaccine distribution nationwide.

If there's any prospect of that happening that's yet another reason to get on with it already. You know, this GSA administrator, she has to realize there are lives at stake. And the lives of those Americans have a much greater call on her to do her duty than the fact that she was appointed by Donald Trump and wants to stay in the good graces of Donald Trump.

You know, the courts are speaking out in the most disparaging terms about these bogus legal arguments. Everyone understands exactly what's going on here, and to pretend otherwise is just shameful, because there is that real risk, Wolf, that this delay costs even more lives. The Biden team should be fully up to speed on how the military logistics are planning the distribution.

[19:15:00]

SCHIFF: They need to make sure that they're in alignment with where the priorities are, so that they're synced up. If a new administration has to take another look and they need to make changes in terms of the priorities and the vaccine distribution, well, then that is going to cause delays. So this needs to happen. It needs to happen now.

BLITZER: I'll ask you a final question, congressman, before I let you go. The question I asked you the other day as well, any progress, any developments in the possibility you might be taking a position in the new incoming administration?

SCHIFF: I'll have to give you the same answer I gave you before which is I don't have anything to comment about that. But I know that the president-elect has a lot of great folks to choose from. And judging from the staffing decisions he's already made, the country is going to be in very good shape.

BLITZER: Very diplomatic answer indeed. Congressman Adam Schiff, the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee good luck to you. Stay safe out there. Thanks so much for joining us.

SCHIFF: Happy Thanksgiving, Wolf.

BLITZER: Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, as well. As the number of new cases and hospitalizations across the United States are hitting new highs, the White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx is warning that the outbreak is moving faster more broadly than before, all ahead of a very busy holiday season. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:00]

BLITZER: Another truly terrifying total. The United States has now surpassed 12 million cases of Coronavirus. These case numbers are soaring. Remember that we hit 11 million cases only last Sunday, just six days ago. But as bad as things are right now, it's going to get sadly much, much worse.

The White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx told CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta the virus is spreading faster and more broadly than ever. And the CDC is now warning against Thanksgiving holiday travel. Just look at all the people though clustered at this gate at the Phoenix Airport on Friday.

And I want to mention, that some breaking news just coming into CNN right now. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has just literally moments ago new Coronavirus testing guidance for people flying internationally. The CDC now recommends that passengers get a test one to three days before flying, including the return flight and then again three to five days after travel.

Let's discuss all this and more with Dr. Patrice Harris, Former President of the American Medical Association, and Dr. Megan Ranney an Emergency Room Physician at Brown University. Dr. Ranney the guidance now for international travel from the CDC, would that be good guidance for domestic travel as well, get tested before and after?

DR. MEGAN RANNEY, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, BROWN UNIVERSITY: That is the minimum that I would recommend for folks planning to travel either domestically or internationally. You should absolutely be tested both before and after you travel to make sure that you're not bringing the virus with you and to make sure that you're not bringing it home.

But the best and safest thing, Wolf, is first not to travel at all, or if you must travel, to quarantine for the 10 to 14 days before you get on that airplane or that train or that bus. And to quarantine again after you arrive wherever you're going because one test is just one point in time, you could test negative today and then positive tomorrow.

So yes, use that international guidance, but that's the very minimum that I would recommend for folks who want to avoid bringing the virus home to their families for this holiday.

BLITZER: You know Dr. Harris, this week the CDC also said that more than 50 percent of more than 50 percent of the people who pass on the Coronavirus, in their words, it's spread by people who exhibit no symptoms at all.

How hard is it to battle a virus that can infect people before they even realize that they might have it, coupled with an administration that has so far almost completely, at least from the top, from the president, has down played it for so long?

DR. PATRICE HARRIS, FORMER PRESIDENT, AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION: Wolf, this asymptomatic transmission certainly makes fight this virus more challenging, more difficult. That is why it is all the more important to follow those measures. I know folks may tire of hearing that, but it is not just enough to decide that you are not having symptoms or haven't been around anyone that has symptoms.

You still have to make sure you are wearing your mask, washing your hands, watching your distance and making sure that you are avoiding large gatherings. And that is no more important than now, during this time traditionally.

I know we are used to gathering with family and friends, but during this time, I'm telling my family and friends, let's exercise our personal responsibility, not travel, stay home, celebrate by Zoom, so that next year we maximize the chance of having all those we love and treasure with us.

BLITZER: Yeah. By next year hopefully the vaccine will really be available for millions and millions of people. It will be a lot different. We can only hope. Dr. Ranney, you've been on the forefront in this battle for months and months, like thousands of other medical professionals. Talk to me a little bit about the physical and mental toll that it's continuing to take on your fellow doctors, nurses, and the patients alike.

DR. RANNEY: Yeah, Wolf, this virus is absolutely wearing us out. You know, it was exhausting and scary in March. It was exhausting and scary in June and July. But now here we are at the end of November, and it just keeps coming. You know, we have not reached a peak yet. The cases keep increasing day after day; the hospitalizations and the deaths keep increasing, too.

[19:25:00]

DR. RANNEY: For those of us on the frontlines, we are just worn out. And then the worst part is, we work in the hospital, we're wearing full PPE. We're taking care of people who are scared to death. I can't tell you how many patients Wolf who look at me when they come into the ER and say, am I going to die?

Most aren't, but they are terrified. Then I leave the hospital, I go to the grocery store, I go on Facebook, and I see people telling me that we're making it up. I see people challenging mask mandates. I think that's the most frustrating and exhausting part of all is that people don't recognize the reality of what this virus is in the hospitals, because they're not there, they're not seeing what this looks like when folks get super sick?

And I just - I wish to God that every American could see that. I think it might change the way that they behave over this Thanksgiving holiday. I am terrified about the number of infections that we're going to see over the next week, as families get together from that travel.

BLITZER: Yeah, they might be celebrating Thanksgiving together, but God forbid Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years might be another matter all together. This super spreader moment is really awful. Dr. Ranney and Dr. Harris to both of you, good luck out there. Thanks for everything both of you are doing. We are all so, so grateful. Stay safe. Thanks so much for joining us.

DR. HARRIS: Thank you for having us.

BLITZER: When the U.S. hits new highs in the pandemic, President Trump is still refusing to concede that he lost the election, but does his stalling equate, as some of his severe critics are suggesting to sedition? We'll discuss that and more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:31:22]

BLITZER: On this Saturday here in the United States, we are now less than two months from Inauguration Day. President Trump continues to refuse to accept the fact that he won't be the one sworn in on January 20th.

I want to bring in our political commentator, Michael Smerconish. He is of course, the host of CNN's "Smerconish" which airs every Saturday morning 9:00 a.m. Eastern. I'm a regular viewer as Michael knows.

So far, Michael, nearly all of the moves the President and his team have attempted since Election Day have gone absolutely nowhere. Joe Biden's margin of victory only growing right now. More than six million more votes nationally in the Popular Vote, 306 to 232 in the Electoral College.

So what's the President's endgame, as you see it?

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We're in the midst of a process right now, a process that consists of voting then tabulation. We've done both of those. Now certification.

He is trying to thwart the certification process so that it does not get to the Electoral College or that in certain state there is an alternative slate of electors that gets presented.

Then it goes to the Congress, then of course, we have Inauguration.

So I don't see any prospect of it, Wolf. The key date to circle is December 8 because there is an inoculation of the process that takes place then.

I think a major setback for him was the refusal of the Michigan legislators being invited to the White House not to go along with any plan to propose an alternative slate. There was talk of this taking place in Pennsylvania, as well. That has not materialized.

So I don't think anything is sticking thus far.

BLITZER: Just a little while ago, within the past half hour or so, a District Court Judge in your home state of Pennsylvania formally, officially dismissed the lawsuit, another lawsuit by the Trump Campaign, trying to invalidate almost seven million mail-in votes in your state.

People who voted legally, they simply mailed in their ballots. The Judge said it brought -- in the Judge's words, "strained legal arguments without merit."

But over in Pennsylvania, State Republicans led by Congressman Mike Kelly had already filed a new suit of their own. So what is your reaction to what is happening in Pennsylvania right now?

SMERCONISH: So I think that will go absolutely nowhere, for not the least of which reason is that it was a Republican-controlled legislature and a Democratic governor that passed the law that allowed Pennsylvanians for the first time to have mail-in balloting without cause for being out of the jurisdiction.

But something else, Wolf, something more simplistic is that the law expressly stated, if there are to be any constitutional challenges, they need to be brought within six months. We are six months beyond the six months.

And think of it from this standpoint. In my household, five of us followed the law, and voted by mail. So this lawsuit seeks to throw out our lawfully filled out ballots because of the problem that they have with mail-in balloting generally. It's a non-starter.

BLITZER: Yes, it certainly is. You're a lawyer, so I'm going to have a legal question for you. I want to show our viewers the Federal Law when it comes to seditious conspiracy. Here is a key portion and let me quote, "If two or more persons in my state or territory or any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the government of the United States, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 20 years, or both."

So as some of the President's fiercest critics have alleged, this should be applied right now. What do you think? Have we reached the point where this sedition law could actually, as remote as it seems, come into play?

[19:35:10]

SMERCONISH: I haven't thought about this since the Bar Exam, and I had hair in those days. That's how long it's been.

But I think the key part of the language is the necessary requirement of a conspiracy to use force, and that's missing here.

Think about it, sedition are words to overthrow the government, but not all words to overthrow the government are seditious necessarily. Throw the bums out.

Somebody says throw the bums out every election cycle, but we don't think that that's sedition. So I don't think the requirements are there to meet that standard.

BLITZER: Yes, and key word is "by force." You make an excellent point and that's why you're a lawyer and I'm not.

Let's play something that Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn said during an interview on Friday. Listen carefully, Michael as she talks about the President-elect and the Vice President-elect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Have you spoken yet with the President-elect to congratulate him on his victory?

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): I have not spoken with the President elect. We did have the Vice President come to the floor. The Vice President-elect come to the floor this week to cast a vote. I was presiding at the time, didn't get to speak with her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: She later, as you might know, she appeared to backtrack, Michael. Her spokesperson told "The Tennessean" that she simply misspoke. Are Republicans, Michael, so scared of this President right now that they will change what initially was a very truthful answer?

SMERCONISH: Yes, in a word, they absolutely are. I'm sure that you saw the Monmouth data this week, as well as the Reuters/Ipsos survey this week. In round numbers, they suggest that three quarters of Trump voters thus far agree with him that this was a fraudulent election, that this was somehow a rigged election.

Wolf, I think that those numbers will dissipate over time, but they haven't thus far. And so I'm sure that's why the Marsha Blackburns are deathly afraid of getting primaried if they are perceived being at odds with President Trump.

And one of the things I will say is, regardless of how he comports himself, whether he does concede or he chooses not to concede, whether he goes to the inauguration, doesn't go to the inauguration, he is the force to be reckoned with relative to the 2024 Republican nomination process.

I think he is unstoppable if he decides that he wants to go again then, and they know that.

BLITZER: Michael Smerconish, as usual, thank you so much for your insight. We appreciate it.

SMERCONISH: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right. She was a born leader, a fearless adviser, a political force. The CNN original series, "First Ladies" profiles Hillary Clinton tomorrow night here on CNN, 10:00 p.m. Eastern right after a special decision of THE SITUATION ROOM.

Coming up, Florida is third in the nation in total coronavirus infections right now. And also right now, a bipartisan group of mayors from across the State of Florida, they are demanding that Governor Ron DeSantis do more.

The Mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez is standing by live. We'll discuss when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:42:22]

BLITZER: Florida right now is third in the nation when it comes to total coronavirus infections. Just Friday, the state reported its second consecutive day with more than 9,000 new cases.

This week, a bipartisan group of mayors across the State of Florida, they asked Governor Ron DeSantis to do more. The mayors calling for a statewide mask mandate, more local control, improved contact tracing and more funding for testing.

The Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is joining us right now. Mayor Suarez, thanks so much for joining us. You weren't part of that group who actually wrote the letter to Governor DeSantis. Do you agree with their request? Were you not asked to sign the letter? Tell us what happened.

MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ (R), MIAMI, FLORIDA: Yes, I do agree with the request. Those are all mayors that I'm familiar with, and we were discussing how strategically to achieve the same goals.

My job, I guess if you want to call it was to intervene directly with the Governor. I tried to do that this week, I'm going to try to do it again next week understanding that it is Thanksgiving. But also understanding the gravity of the circumstances and the impact of making decisions.

I do agree that we should have local control. That's something we had at the beginning and we were effective at using that local control. In my case, we were the first city to implement a mask in public rule and were able to associated fines with that mask in public rule and that got us down by 90 percent.

We went from a high of 3,500 cases down to a low of 300, barely 300 cases. Our hospitalizations went down from 2,300 to a little over 300.

And now, we're skyrocketing again. We have close to 2,000 cases. Our hospitalization is up almost a hundred percent in a couple of weeks. So we need to do something, we need to do it dramatically.

I'm hoping to be able to communicate with the governor and get that control which we had at the beginning.

BLITZER: You want to reinstate mask fines, I take it. Were those fines effective the first time around? Because the numbers you just mentioned were very dramatic, but sadly it's getting pretty awful once again in Miami.

SUAREZ: They were very effective, and I can show it. We have graphs that I want to communicate with the Governor about -- that show two weeks right after the incubation period of us implementing the mask in public rule. The numbers started dropping precipitously.

We also have a graph that shows after the Governor implemented his order, which basically opened up all bars and night clubs, increased capacity to a hundred percent, since that point and took away our ability to fine people for wearing masks, we've seen the numbers start to skyrocket after a two-week period as well.

So I think the data is clear. I want to share it directly with the Governor and have a conversation with him about it. So even if we can't -- even if he doesn't do it right away, at least we can get agree on, if it gets to a certain point, he'll do it because you know Miami is not like every other city in Florida.

And I speak to mayors, not just in Florida, but I speak to mayors across the country and they are all, you know, suffering tremendously and are very, very worried about the state of affairs right now.

[19:45:27]

BLITZER: You know, this week, as you know, Mayor, the President-elect Joe Biden, he met virtually with a bipartisan group of governors, five Republicans, five Democrats. They met with him, they had a very substantive important meeting on coronavirus.

From the governors' perspectives, he wanted to be briefed on what was going on. I'm told he is interested in meeting with a group of mayors from across the country from major cities like Miami, for example, Republicans and Democrats. You're a Republican.

If you're invited to a meeting with the President-elect, would you attend?

SUAREZ: Absolutely. In fact, I am going to be attending the meeting. I'm the second Vice President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. I'm going to be the President of U.S. Conference of mayors in 2022 and I will be on that call.

It's already set for Monday at 2:45, and certainly one of the things that we are going to be stressing is having a unified approach to coronavirus.

I've been blessed also to have direct access to the National Coronavirus Taskforce and I've found it to be very helpful. I thought that Dr. Birx, Dr. Fauci, Dr. Redfield from the C.D.C. and the Surgeon General, Dr. Adams, have all been very supportive.

You know, they helped us throughout our mitigation processes and they have been extremely helpful, frankly, and so I also hope that at some point, both camps are able to talk to each other because I think the quicker that they collaborate, the better it is for our country. BLITZER: Well, they've got to do that right away. Otherwise, on

January 20th, when Joe Biden takes office, he is going to be starting from scratch basically. He's really got to get the act together, not necessarily for political reasons, but for -- these are life and death issues, Mayor, as you well know.

SUAREZ: Absolutely. No, I agree totally. I think the sooner that they are collaborating, the better. We need to put political differences aside, and we need to focus on what's best for this country and what's best for this country is that both those groups are collaborating and sharing information and are also speaking with a unified voice to the mayors who in many cases are the ones -- and the governors who are in power to make decisions to save people's lives.

So, again, my hope is that in the next week or two, I'm able to get the kind of local control that we had before, along with the other mayors locally and throughout the state, so that we can do everything that we can in our power to get this virus under control again.

BLITZER: Very quickly because we've got to go, do you see Biden as the President-elect of the United States?

SUAREZ: Yes, I do. I think it's very unlikely, almost impossible, to overturn the results of multiple states where you have more than 10,000 vote advantages in each state.

I think he won, you know, many of those states by a larger margin than the President won them in 2016. So I find it, you know, it's going to be very, very unlikely that the election will be overturned.

BLITZER: Mayor Suarez, good luck to you and good to luck to everyone in Miami. Thanks for joining us, as usual, and be safe out there. I know you had coronavirus a while back and hopefully you're okay and moving on. Appreciate it very much.

SUAREZ: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll be right back. Much more news after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:52:58]

BLITZER: It is the weekend before Thanksgiving and coronavirus is ravaging the United States as millions of families are struggling to put food on the table.

In DeKalb County just outside of Atlanta, families lined up at a food bank, some for the first time ever, simply to receive meals ahead of the Holidays and it is a very similar scene in the Los Angeles area today where lines were so long, some families had been standing there since yesterday simply waiting for meals.

Meantime, many people who have the chance to celebrate the Holiday with family are doing so even after the C.D.C. warned we should all stay home for the Thanksgiving Holiday. This video taken this morning at the Phoenix Airport is any example,

many people around the country are simply ignoring the warning.

CNN's Pete Muntean is over at Washington's Reagan International Airport.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The C.D.C. says people should not travel for Thanksgiving but what's so interesting is that it has not stopped people here at Reagan National Airport who tell me that they feel safe enough to fly.

AAA estimates that about 50 million people will travel for the Holiday, but that's only a 10 percent drop compared to last year.

Airlines are still adding flights to their schedules and insist that flying right now is safe, but they underscore that it is a very personal decision, one that passengers tell me they did not take lightly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like I have taken enough measures to protect myself and my family.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I understand the risk that I'm taking, but I want to see my family.

MUNTEAN (on camera): Airlines say they're not encouraging people to fly right now, but they are not discouraging them either. United Airlines says it is already seen bookings drop off as coronavirus continues to surge, even still, the head of the T.S.A. thinks we could break a record of the pandemic that was set back on October 18th when a million people passed through security at America's airports.

He says the busiest day will be the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday after.

Pete Muntean, CNN, Reagan National Airport.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:55:04]

BLITZER: All right, Pete, thank you. As the United States hits 12 million confirmed cases of coronavirus, amid a record new surge in cases and hospitalizations, President Trump skipped the special G20 session on the coronavirus pandemic.

So what was he doing instead? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:05:00]