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Trump Fires Defense Secretary Mark Esper; Trump & GOP Felt Differently about Calling Elections in the Past; Margins Show Biden Had Bigger Win Than Initially Thought; Balance of Power in Senate Hinges on 2 Georgia Runoffs. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired November 09, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[13:34:25]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We do have breaking news. President Trump announcing on Twitter he has fired Secretary of Defense Mark Esper.
Esper's increasingly tense relationship with Trump led him to prepare a letter of resignation weeks ago.
I want to bring in CNN's Jamie Gangel.
Jamie, you're familiar with the letter, with the preparation that Esper made. Tell us about this.
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: We've been hearing about this for some time. And I just want to say, while this wasn't a surprise, I immediately got a text from a senior Republican official who had been waiting for this to happen.
[13:34:59]
And the official said, quote, "This was not a surprise. But now we have to see who is next. Could it be the FBI Director Chris Wray? Could it be the CIA Director Gina Haspel?"
And the source goes on to say, "There are no limits to his anger and vengeance," talking about Donald Trump.
So there's concern that this is just the beginning.
And that especially because he lost, Brianna, and he doesn't seem to want to accept that, that these kinds of firings may be exactly what we see of him lashing out at people.
KEILAR: Yes. Because look, Jamie, right now, we're supposed to be talking about -- and we would in the absence of the president's impulse-control problem and his attention seeking behavior.
We would be talking about who Joe Biden is adding. We wouldn't be talking about who President Trump is subtracting.
But what does this mean for the country? How is all of this impacting the transition of power for Joe Biden?
GANGEL: I think there are two things we have to look at here.
I think President Bush, former President Bush, coming out and sending the congratulatory note. But calling Joe Biden, is one message from the Republican Party. Mitt Romney doing the same.
The other half, or more than half of the party is not coming out and doing that.
And I was told by one that they're going to give him some time to sort through this but -- meaning Donald Trump, but he has to do it soon.
As we have been reporting all day, the GSA head, who is a political appointee, will not push the button on the transition.
And sources I talked to said, look, this is very important for showing continuity of government.
But in fact, Joe Biden can appoint a COVID task force. He can pick who he wants to come in. He can work on the economy.
The thing my sources are most concerned about are national security, intelligence, military security briefings that my sources say should be happening today. And that will not happen until the president says go -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Yes. It is messed up. It is not in the best interest of the country. These are very important positions.
GANGEL: Right.
KEILAR: Jamie Gangel, great reporting. Thanks for sharing with us.
GANGEL: Sure.
KEILAR: The president and Republicans say the media doesn't project election winners. But they have felt differently in the past. We're going to roll the tape.
Plus, there are still a few states that have yet to be called and there are some interesting new developments in the numbers.
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[13:42:45]
KEILAR: All right. Let's talk about what's happening now here in Washington, D.C.
A lame-duck president that won't concede in the election he just lost. This isn't the stuff of presidential elections. It is the stuff of a bad breakup. The ex who just won't accept that it is over, who won't return your
favorite T-shirt or maybe your dog.
They're texting you, in this case, tweeting incessantly, when you're going to bed, when you're waking up in the morning.
President Trump insists it can't be over. He's in denial. Asking the question: "Since when does the media call who our next president will be?"
The answer: Since always when it comes to modern elections because they're following the data.
When Trump was winning in 2016, he was totally cool with that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I would like to take this moment to thank some of the people who really helped me with this, what they're calling tonight --
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: -- very, very historic victory.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: He trusted the media to call him the winner then. Now in 2020, despite the clear outcome of the election, he is insisting there's still a chance.
Maybe his friends will be honest with him that the ship has sailed or maybe not.
Ronna Romney McDaniel, head of the Republican National Committee, echoing the president in a tweet that the media doesn't decide who wins elections, voters do.
Except the media is just reporting what the voters have said. And the voters have been clear. They want to break up.
McDaniel says the margins are razor thin, so it's too early to call.
But check it out. Margins in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are about where they were in 2016.
And Michigan is a landslide for Biden compared to what it was for Trump four years ago when she congratulated the president after the media called the race.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONNA ROMNEY MCDANIEL, CHAIR, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE (voice- over): We need to bring this country together. We can't continue under the divisiveness and the vitriol. And Donald Trump will have to lead the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: McDaniel's relationship advice is very inconsistent. Last year, she lectured Stacey Abrams about conceding the Georgia governor's race.
Quote, "If Abrams actually cared about the integrity of elections, she would concede the Georgia governor's race that she lost by 55,000 votes. Instead she's on national TV today, still thinking she won. Completely ridiculous."
Maybe Senator Ted Cruz can tell the president the truth, and not just what he wants to hear in this moment of rejection.
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[13:45:09]
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I would expect a similar process to play out here, despite the media trying to tell everyone, give up, go home, we know who we want to win.
That's not how it works. We need to follow the law. And that means allowing the legal process to play out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: But back in 2016, at 3:00 a.m. on election night, Cruz tweeted congratulations to the president moments after the media projected him to win.
And even after a nasty primary battle where Trump accused Cruz of election fraud, suggested that Cruz's wife is ugly, and falsely linked his father to assassination of JFK, and Cruz opened his arms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: And I am eager to help anyone I can. I look forward to working closely with President-Elect Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: What about Senator Lindsey Graham? Maybe he will level with the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): This is a contested election. The media doesn't decide who becomes president. If they did, you would never have a Republican president forever. So we are discounting them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: There have been four Republican presidents in the past 40 years and two Democratic ones. The media called those races. Also like Trump, Cruz, and McDaniel, Lindsey Graham accepted the media
projection in 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAHAM (voice-over): Make America Great Again starting today.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: First lady, Melania Trump, has privately discussed whether President Trump should acknowledge his defeat.
So has his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, sources tell CNN.
But Kushner is walking a fine line, also urging the president to hold rallies pushing for recounts.
Jason Miller, an aide, and Rudy Giuliani, also making that argument. You know those guys. The ones that take their friends out to the bar after the breakup, trying to get him some digits and take his mind off things.
Most of the president's friends are insisting America will just come around, like former Congressman Jason Chaffetz, currently a FOX talking head.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON CHAFFETZ, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR & FORMER REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN: Let's remember that counties administer the election. States certify the elections. Not the national media. There's not a single state in the United States --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
CHAFFETZ: -- that has certified their election yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Like the others, he didn't have an issue hours after the media called it for Trump. Quote, "President-Elect Trump, congratulations."
Chaffetz, over the weekend, went on to say this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Donald Trump, when he won, his victory speech, first thing he did was thank and honor Hillary Clinton.
Joe Biden, in his speech last night, never even mentioned Donald Trump directly. Did not thank him for his service. Did not honor Donald Trump in all the success he had in this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Trump thanked Hillary Clinton? Well, Hillary Clinton conceded the race. Donald Trump hasn't conceded.
It is the equivalent of American voters breaking up with him but he just let the call go to voice mail.
Doesn't mean it didn't happen. Doesn't mean America hasn't found someone else at least for four more years.
And coming up, yet another White House official has tested positive for the coronavirus after attending an election night party. This time it is Ben Carson.
Plus, we're going to breakdown where the vote count stands in battleground states like Georgia and Arizona where no winner has been called yet.
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[13:52:54]
KEILAR: It's been 28 years since a Democratic presidential nominee has won Georgia. Bill Clinton doing it back in 1992. Now President-Elect Joe Biden hopes to flip the state.
We are waiting on a final tally in both Georgia and Arizona.
And we're also still watching Pennsylvania, which secured the margin of victory for Biden in the question for 270 electoral votes.
It's a win which is turning out to be bigger than was initially thought.
I want to bring in CNN political director, David Chalian.
First, David, just give us the latest on Georgia and where things stand for Biden and President Trump.
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, take a look at the latest Georgia vote totals. What you see is Joe Biden has consistently been increasing his lead since last week.
He's now 10,676 votes ahead of President Trump in Georgia. You see 49.5 percent to 49.3 percent.
Brianna, this is a race that's almost certainly going to go to a recount. The secretary of state has indicated that. And elections officials have prepared for that and indicated that is likely what is going to occur here.
That being said, a 10,000-vote lead is a hard thing to turn around in a recount, if you look at the history of recounts.
I'm not sure we should expect Joe Biden to be overtaken by Donald Trump in a recount. But that does look like where it's headed in Georgia. KEILAR: What about Arizona and Pennsylvania?
CHALIAN: Yes. Arizona is a different story, right? What we have seen is Donald Trump able to narrow the gap since last week with Joe Biden in Arizona.
But Joe Biden still has a healthy margin. He has 17,058 votes, more than Donald Trump does, 49.5 percent to 48.9 percent.
So you see that's 0.6 percent difference there between the two candidates.
The recount trigger in Arizona is so narrow that it is unlikely this is to go to a recount.
We'll wait for -- I think some 70,000 or so votes still outstanding that we expect to be counted and reported in. So we'll see.
But all the -- the trend indicates there that Donald Trump still may end up losing Arizona even by a smaller margin than that though.
[13:55:06]
And then, in Pennsylvania, what is so interesting here, as you know, Biden's lead has continually increased. He's now over 45,514 votes ahead.
Remember, Donald Trump won Pennsylvania four years ago, part of busting through that blue wall, that how he won the White House. He won it by some 44,000 votes in Pennsylvania.
So now Joe Biden's vote margin in Pennsylvania is actually greater than Donald Trump's was four years ago.
KEILAR: You know, now all eyes are really on Georgia and the Senate races there, which are going to have two likely runoffs, because if Joe Biden wants to have more freedom to do things, he's going to want a Senate majority.
Tell us what we're seeing there.
CHALIAN: Yes, balance for controlling the United States Senate does indeed depend on what is going on in these Georgia Senate races.
As you noted, they're having two runoff elections, which is amazing in and of itself.
Add to the fact that Georgia seems to have flipped from red to blue in the presidential and is the center of the political universe over these next many weeks.
January 5th is the date. Take a look. The first race is Jon Ossoff, the Democrat on the left side of your screen, nominee, versus Republican incumbent, David Perdue.
And then Raphael Warnock there, on the right side, is in the other race.
But here you see the vote totals from the initial run. And nobody got 50 percent plus one. That's what sends it to a runoff. Although David Perdue did have a higher vote total.
In the other race, it was a multicandidate split. And Reverend Warnock and Kelly Loeffler, the incumbent Republican Senator there, who was appointed to that seat ahead to the runoff. Nobody got close to 50 percent plus one there.
So circle January 5th on your calendar. Two Georgia Senate races. And the outcome could determine which party controls the United States Senate.
KEILAR: It's going to be very interesting to watch there in Georgia.
David Chalian, thank you so much.
CHALIAN: Sure.
KEILAR: It's great to see you.
CHALIAN: Good to see you.
KEILAR: We have some breaking news. President Trump just fired his defense secretary, Mark Esper. He did it with a tweet here in the last hour.
Plus, the U.S. has just cross 10 million coronavirus cases. This is a grim milestone heading into what is going to be an even tougher winter.
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