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Coronavirus Cases Rising in States Across U.S.; President Trump Blocking Funding for President-Elect Joe Biden's Transition to White House; Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) Interviewed on Necessity for Republican Leaders to Call for President Trump to Accept Election Results; Georgia Secretary of State Rebukes GOP Senators' Call to Resign; Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is Interviewed About Biden Considering Legal Action As Trump Threatens Transfer of Power. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 10, 2020 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Who likes evidence, then it is time to worry. The Trump administration is blocking the Biden transition. President Trump is preventing President-elect Biden from getting intelligence briefings and critical funding. President Trump is installing his cronies into powerful positions like secretary of defense. The Biden team is said to be now considering a legal fight.

Meanwhile, this is what the country looks like this morning in terms of the pandemic, a sea of red. Coronavirus is still spreading at alarming rates across the United States, as you can see, and hospitalizations are near record levels. We'll have more on that in a moment.

Joining us now is CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip. Abby, there's been so many times in the past four or five years that people feel it's a hair on fire moment, and then it is a hair on fire moment, or it somehow passes, and this morning feels like one of those. They are not ascertaining the election results. This has gone on longer than any election that we can remember, and I'm including Bush v. Gore because that was already in process, there was a real legal battle happening. These are amorphous threats that they're trying to come up with. There is no legal battle under way. And so where are we this morning?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think people really need to understand that the big difference between the 2000 election which Mitch McConnell mentioned yesterday and Republicans are talking about a lot, is that that was one state and a few hundred votes. We are talking now about Republicans trying to claim fraud that they have not had any proof of in at least four states, and to the tune of tens of thousands of votes. So there is absolutely no evidence for any of this, and they are franticly searching for it, and really seemingly coming up with absolutely nothing.

But in the meantime, you're seeing the Republican establishment backing the president up in an effort to hold on to power for a little bit longer. The big undecided political dynamic in Washington is who is going to control the United States Senate, and we all know that Mitch McConnell is almost singularly focused on that issue. And I think he has made a bargain here that he's got to back the president up for a little bit longer so that he can placate the president's base and supporters that they really, really need in a couple of months to come out so they can win two more Senate seats. I think that's why you're seeing all this action in the state of Georgia as well where Joe Biden is leading by over 10,000 votes, where you have those two Republicans running for that seat pushing Republican election officials to find voter fraud where there really is none.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: It's all connected, I totally agree. The question of when will it stop, though, is one that I think is increasingly of concern and open question, because some states, most states, you know, Pennsylvania, Michigan, certify their election results by November 23rd. Is that when it stops? Or I can see Mitch McConnell that day saying, well, let's wait until the electors themselves vote, that's December 14th. Or that day I can see Mitch McConnell saying, let's wait until the vote of the electors is certified in Congress the first week of January. I just don't know. This logic that they're using now, how can we be sure it ever stops?

PHILLIP: Well, I think that ultimately the states are going to do what they are required to do by law to certify their election, barring any legal fights. And Alisyn, you were just talking to Jessica, and she made a really important point that these lawsuits so far have been completely unsuccessful. They have won none of them. And there's not going to be any basis for states to delay their certification if these legal challenges are being defeated in court.

So whether Mitch McConnell likes it or not, he doesn't have the power to stop states from moving forward with their legal process to certify their individual results. He would have to get Pennsylvania, Nevada, or Arizona and Georgia to all delay the certification of their results. And to me that seems very unlikely.

I think the damage here is more to the institutions in this country and the faith that the American people have in its election system. And that's damaging not just to Joe Biden. It's damaging to all people running for office. We are already seeing Republican candidates down ballot trying to claim that the election results are not what it is just because the president is saying the same thing. This is like a ball rolling down a hill. It's not -- it seems like something that I think Republicans if they are looking a little bit further into the future would realize is a really, really bad idea.

CAMEROTA: We'll see. Abby, thank you very much as always for all of your insight.

Joining us now is Democratic Senator Chris Coons, he serves on the Judiciary Committee. Good morning, Senator.

[08:05:03]

SEN. CHRISTOPHER COONS, (D-DE): Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: I know that over the weekend President-elect Biden said that he wanted to give President Trump a little bit more time to try to absorb the fact that he lost the election and Biden won. Is today time's up?

COONS: Well, President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Harris are focused on moving forward, on delivering the plans and the action that the American people need and deserve to get us out of this pandemic, which is now spiraling out of control with more than 10 million Americans infected. Time is up for President Trump to accept the judgment of the American voters. And as you just detailed in that last segment, there is no credible evidence of voter fraud, there is no credible path by which these election results can be reversed.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but, Senator, President-elect Biden can't do any of that. He can't move forward with his plans until the GSA administrator --

COONS: I'm well aware.

CAMEROTA: Right. And she's not doing it. And so are -- is the team, the Biden team, going to court this week to make her ascertain and certify the election results?

COONS: Alisyn, I can't speak for the transition, but I will simply say that that is obviously the right thing both for the GSA administrator to do, and I think the right next step for the Biden transition team. President Trump, meanwhile, continues to sow chaos, firing the secretary of defense abruptly on Twitter.

And today, most importantly, the Trump administration and 18 governors represented by attorneys general are in the Supreme Court as a group arguing to overturn the Affordable Care Act. I will remind you this would have an impact on a majority of Americans, those who benefit from the Medicare expansion, those who benefit from protection against preexisting condition discrimination either because they're women or because they have another preexisting condition, or because they benefit from being on their parents health plans until they're 26. This is something that could touch the lives of over 150, 180 million Americans.

So, frankly, it is critical to keep moving forward with the transition process, to do everything that the transition team can to force an acceptance of reality. In the meantime, the Trump administration continues to do everything they can to distract us and, frankly, to undermine the health of Americans even in the middle of a pandemic.

CAMEROTA: Senator, I like your commitment to reality. I just don't know if that's what's happening.

COONS: I know.

CAMEROTA: Look at what's happening. President Trump has gotten rid of the secretary of defense.

COONS: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Who said in an interview, if he replaces me with a crony, God help us. OK, that's what's happening. So he's -- so President Trump in these last 71 days has -- is putting in one of his people as secretary of defense. He's gotten Attorney General Bill Barr to issue a directive to federal prosecutors to begin going out and prosecuting and looking for voting irregularities that no one has seen any evidence of it. The head of the Senate, as you know, Senator Mitch McConnell, is not accepting the election results. FOX TV, which, as you know, millions and millions of people, that's their information source, is not accepting the election results, at least not the opinion hosts.

And so I'm just not sure, senator, that the transition is going to happen the way you think it is.

COONS: Well, I said that's the way it should happen. There is a lot of important, difficult, and urgent work to be done on the transition. There is a robust and large transition team busy with policy plans, with interviewing potential nominees or candidates for positions. They are doing their work. They do need access to the vital federal resources that make it easier for them to do their work. They do need access to federal agencies that begin -- that need to begin planning.

But, look, Alisyn, we all know that President Trump has been an unconventional president who has colored outside the lines every chance he's gotten, who has, frankly, broken the boundaries and foundations of the modern presidency and the previous limitations that were accepted by every president. This is an uncertain time, these next 71 days. I think it is time -- past time for Republican leaders to stand up and say we should September results of this election, and I continue to work with colleagues to urge them to do so.

CAMEROTA: Do you see any evidence that Republican leaders are doing that, will do that?

COONS: I see no evidence of voter fraud in the key states that would need to have their outcomes changed, and I so far see little evidence of any Republicans standing up to the president. There have been four so far here in the Senate. My hope is that this is the week when that will begin to turn, as it is clear there is no possible pathway for the president to overturn these results.

[08:10:02]

And we are beginning to threaten the foundations of our democracy, which is a regular, orderly, peaceful transfer of power after every quadrennial election.

CAMEROTA: What are they telling you behind the scenes?

COONS: Bluntly, that they accept that -- they call me to say congratulations, please convey my well wishes to the president-elect, but I can't say that publicly yet. And so --

CAMEROTA: When? I'm just curious, when --

COONS: -- these are conversations best kept private.

CAMEROTA: OK, and when will they be able to say that publicly?

COONS: My job here, I think, is to continue to urge them privately to do the right thing, and to help the president accept reality, and to help their caucus stand up publicly, because, frankly, the transition is going to be chaotic at best if it doesn't get moving very soon. It should be under way already.

CAMEROTA: Senator, what about state level Republicans, do you have any fear that what we just heard in our last segment, that places like Georgia or Pennsylvania, that they will try to delay the certification of the results of the electors?

COONS: Look, the influence that President Trump has had on the conduct and behavior of people not just in our country but around the world at all levels of government is concerning to me. We've seen candidates run for office this cycle who engage in more outrageous and spectacular actions than at any point in my lifetime. I've certainly seen that in my region.

So far, the election machinery of our country has held. It's county elected officials and it's state elected officials who conduct the machinery of elections. And I will remind you just how hard to grasp is the core argument that the president and his advocates are making, which is that somehow they won in the key contested House seats and Senate seats, yet in those same states and races somehow Democrats were so clever at our voter manipulation that we managed to get Joe Biden in but not our own Senate candidates. It just defies logic in some ways.

I do have concerns that President Trump's style, his bombast, his refusal to accept tradition and convention and to follow what has long been the orderly transition of power, is inspiring younger or state or local level elected officials to behave the same way and to simply, with no evidence at all, stage photo ops and rallies in front of election counting locations or courthouses or secretary of state offices. I am confident, in the end, 71 days from now Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be sworn in at the capital I can see from where I'm standing as the next president and vice president of the United States. Our challenge as a nation is just how chaotic and unpredictable and destructive this period will be. We are in the middle of a raging pandemic. We have the worst pandemic response on earth, and we have a president in the Supreme Court arguing to overturn health care for a majority of Americans. Just think about that.

CAMEROTA: Buckle up. Senator Chris Coons, thank you very much.

COONS: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: We really appreciate getting your take on all of this this morning.

COONS: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: Georgia's two Republican senators are teaming up on the state's Republican secretary of state, calling for him to resign for doing his job. Two veteran political reporters in Georgia are going to tell us what's going on here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:14]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Georgia's Republican secretary of state is refusing calls for him to resign by the state's two Republican senators, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. They're alleging mismanagement somehow of the election without offering any evidence.

Here is part of secretary of state's statement. He said: Let me start by saying this is not going to happen. The voters of Georgia hired me and the voters will be the one to fire me.

Joining us now are Greg Bluestein, and Patricia Murphy. They are both political reporters for "The Atlanta Journal Constitution".

Great to see both of you this morning.

So, tell us what's going on? Just explain. Explain, Patricia, how we've gotten to this point where these two Republican candidates are going after the Republican secretary of state?

PATRICIA MURPHY, POLITICAL REPORTER, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Well, we have two Republican candidates who are each of course in a runoff for their own Senate seats on January 5th, and as we saw during the campaign, those senators really need Donald Trump's voters. I would say the loudest applause they have ever gotten in their entire political careers is when they went to Donald Trump rallies and he introduced them.

They cannot win in January without every one of Donald Trump voters to come out and support them and so I would say that what we're seeing right now is a play that is all about the base. They need as base voters, and they are willing to go after their own secretary of state to do it, even though I have to say we have so many reporters covering this election and we have uncovered no evidence of widespread fraud.

CAMEROTA: OK. And so, Greg, explain to me, then, the statement from David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler where they say the management of Georgia election elections has become an embarrassment for our state. Georgians are outraged, and rightly so. Every legal vote cast should be counted, any illegal vote must not, and there must be transparency and uniformity in the counting process. The secretary of state has failed to deliver honest and transparent elections.

What are Georgians outraged about that they contend and where -- why are they not explaining where they're seeing any sort of irregularity or illegality.

GREG BLUESTEIN, POLITICAL REPORTER, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Yeah, that's exactly the point. We've been asking them to cite evidence of these illegal votes. State election officials and even other senior Republican leaders have said there is no widespread allegations, there is no systemic issues, there's no illegal votes in Georgia.

And this is where the rub is. In June after Georgia had a disastrous primary with long lines, with faulty equipment, with lots of problems, none of these Republican officials stood up and said that Brad Raffensperger, the secretary of state, should resign. They're only saying it now after President Trump appears to have lost Georgia. And they're under tremendous pressure from President Trump to do so.

And one false word from him could really undermine their support in January 5th during the runoffs.

[08:20:01]

So, they are under a lot of pressure. They want to -- they want to appease Trump, they want to mobilize their base but at the same time, they are jeopardizing the integrity and the competence of the election system.

CAMEROTA: I thought that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's statement is also interesting. Here's what he said. Oh, I'd read part of it.

The voters of Georgia hired me. They'll be the ones to fire me. As secretary of state, I'll continue to fight every day to ensure fair elections in Georgia and every legal votes and illegal votes don't.

As a Republican, I am concerned about Republicans keeping the U.S. Senate. I recommend that Senators Loeffler and Purdue start focusing on that.

Wow. I mean, he is not pulling any punches, Patricia.

MURPHY: No, he's not at all. Senator -- I mean, sorry, Secretary of State Raffensperger is a little bit of a technocrat. He's been very focused on the details of these elections and getting our new voting systems in place. I have to say it was a very smooth election in November. We did see lines in June but those all seem to have been largely ironed out.

For him to kind that kind of a statement against the senators is quite extraordinary because Mr. Raffensperger is a Trump supporter. He supported the president throughout this cycle. So, it shows just how much emotion and how much is on the line here, and I think we're also seeing that this is not a Republican Party in Georgia, it's a Trump party and either you're in the party or you're not in the party at this point.

CAMEROTA: Man, strange bedfellows in politics.

So, Greg, explain what's going to happen now with this runoff. Are they going to allow mail-in ballots? Is that what the Republicans are objecting to? Because this is about to be under way, right? Aren't these going to be mailed out like next week? Isn't this sort of starting anew right now?

BLUESTEIN: It's already well under way. Yes, they will allow mail-in ballots and early voting is going to start next month. This race is going forward and monumental consequences for probably the fate of the control of the Senate hangs in the balance and the campaigns are already starting. Again, that's why you're seeing both Senators Perdue and Loeffler are afraid one false word from President Trump could sink their chances.

And so, they're trying to mobilize the base, at the same time Democrats are pointing out that Republicans are in disarray in Georgia because there's infighting among Republicans at a time where the GOP can ill afford this sort of civil war.

CAMEROTA: Patricia Murphy and Greg Bluestein, thank you both for explaining everything that's happening on the ground there.

BLUESTEIN: Thank you.

CAMEROTA: The Trump administration is blocking President-elect Biden's transition, potentially putting our national security at risk.

We'll get reaction from a U.S. senator next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:44]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: President-elect Joe Biden's team is gearing up for a legal fight now with the Trump White House who is standing in the way of the peaceful transfer of power. The agency that is supposed to handle the transition has yet to recognize the outcome of the election. That means, among other things, that the incoming president of the United States is not yet getting daily intelligence briefings.

Joining me now is Democratic Senator Joe Manchin from West Virginia.

Senator Manchin, thanks so much for being with us.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): Good to be with you, John.

BERMAN: Look, I think everyone knows that more than anything on earth you want unity and you want the ability to work across the aisle and find compromise, but given what you've seen in the last 24 hours with Mitch McConnell endorsing the president's refusal to concede in the election, with really no Republican senators except for four now congratulating Joe Biden, how can you be sure that you have willing partners to work with you on the other side of the aisle?

MANCHIN: I still think there is a silent group who truly do want to work and make the Senate work again and move America forward. I really believe in my heart of hearts, I talked to quite a few, as you know. I'm the most centrist senator -- really legislator out of 535 in all of Congress.

I look at the issues and which can go home to West Virginia, my beautiful state, and explain it, I vote for it. If not, I can't and I won't. And with that being said, Joe Biden is our president-elect, there is

no doubt about that. If later on, the courts decide differently or it's proven. Right now, there's been nothing substantiating, John, that moves forward and looks likes there could be fraud. I said how can there be that much fraud they're talking about when Republicans won so many races they weren't expected to win, whether it'd be in the House, whether it'd be in the Senate, retaining seats they thought might flip, and basically through all of the legislative branches in most of the states. That doesn't make sense because everyone is on the same ballot.

And then to have two of my colleagues, the Republican senators from Georgia basically ask for the resignation because they didn't get the outcome they wanted from their own Republican secretary of state, something just doesn't make sense here.

So we should move forward and it's a shame that we're not. We should be prepared to move forward. And the courts, if it goes to the courts, but I don't think it will, but if it would go to the courts, they'll -- they will work it out. And I have confidence in the system, but right now, we have a president-elect in Joe Biden.

BERMAN: To be clear, what you're saying is what Mitch McConnell is doing, what those two senators in Georgia have said, you're saying that's a shame now?

MANCHIN: It shouldn't be done. We -- trust me, everyone here and they have a tremendous amount of historical experience, they've been through many transitions, this has never been done before.

We've always tried to make sure we put our government and our country first, and now they're not, they're putting their party and politics first. I hope they come to their senses and say it's time to move on. I hope they do.

I'm counting on that. I'm counting on these better angels, John, I talked about.

BERMAN: But you say you hope and you're counting on their better angels, is that enough at this point? I mean, what are you going to do to make sure that they do, that they find those better angels?

MANCHIN: We're going to move forward, John. We have to move forward. There's processes to move forward. We will move forward.

I think that basically, they're just stalling and giving the rhetoric they're giving right now if they think that appeases President Trump as he exits and gives him a better feeling. I don't know what they're playing to. I really don't.

It's time to move on. I think people within the White House know that, I think people within the family structure know that. They're just scared, I guess, to go tell him the facts of what we're dealing with and how we're going to ahead and transition peacefully.

BERMAN: At best for Democrats.