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Sources: No Sign of Trump Planning to Concede, Allies Pessimistic; Biden's Potential Picks for Key Cabinet Positions; Trump Campaign Falsely Identifies Military Spouses as Fraudulent Voters in Nevada. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 11, 2020 - 14:30   ET

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


[14:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: President Trump digging in, still refusing to concede the 2020 race and pushing ahead with legal challenges in key battleground state.

All of this is coming four days after every major news network, including this one, CNN, called the race for Joe Biden, who is now the president-elect.

Trump's delusional mindset currently being fueled by many fellow Republicans and his go-to shows on FOX.

I want to bring in former FOX news chief political correspondent, Carl Cameron. He is the co-founder of "Front Page Live."

Carl, I wonder what you think about Republicans.

We know that they know the writing is on the wall here. It's not like they're expecting that somehow this election outcome will be reversed, but they're placating President Trump.

I wonder, you know, if you can shed some light on when you think that kind of expires.

CARL CAMERON, CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "FRONT PAGE LIVE": Well, it will certainly expire once we get to the Electoral College. That would be the end of it, notwithstanding his ability to keep on barking.

It's also worth noting that his chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said there wasn't enough evidence to really go forward on this.

People like Corey Lewandowski and others in the administration have told him that it's a very shaky leg to stand on. Yet, onward he goes.

This is classic. Trump has made a history of accusing others of misdeeds or criminal behavior or aberrant behavior he's already conducted. So accusing Democrats of election fraud is to be expected.

Because he's the guy that was gaslighting his voters for the last four and a half years. KEILAR: No, there's a lot of projection where he's even doing things

now he's previously accused others of doing. We can't miss that pattern.

We've had sources telling CNN that Republicans, are they worried about President Trump and the blowback they would get if they didn't support him?

They're actually more worried about what they would be getting from right-wing media, and how that could impact them with their own constituents.

CAMERON: Well --

KEILAR: They're worried about FOX, for instance. You worked for FOX for over two decades.

How worried should Republicans be? Or put that fear into context for us?

CAMERON: Well, if you go long term for Republicans, they have to start thinking about the midterms in two years. They have to start thinking about the next presidential race.

And for many who have aspired to public service, the notion that Trump is now considering running in four year is disheartening. He had a shot. And here we are.

There's going to be some dissent in that.

We have already seen organizations like the Lincoln Project and Republican Voters Against Trump, folks like Ben Ginsberg, a noted super-lawyer on the right, who has come out strongly against what Trump is doing.

That will grow, because once Joe Biden is in office, he'll have the headlines. He'll have the coverage.

FOX has made it very clear with their early, early call on Arizona and their joining the rest of the nation by saying that Joe Biden has won.

That will not stop them from bringing in the people on Trump's side.

Some of the things being said, while completely crazy, for that reason, are newsworthy.

We shouldn't ignore some of that stuff that's coming out of the president's mouth and his allies because it's really dangerous. And to be unaware is even more dangerous.

KEILAR: Good point. That's why we cover it. You have to pay attention to it.

It's noteworthy -- and I'm sure you've been watching this, too. But other than today, on Veterans Day, with the president having an appearance and then golfing over the weekend, he hasn't made a public appearance in six days.

What do you make of him disappearing from the stage, at least the non- Twitter stage anyways?

CAMERON: This is purely conjecture, but, on this Veterans Day, the fact he doesn't do anything other than golfing may suggest he might have a breach with the U.S. military.

And indeed, he does. There are reports all over the country and the world that the Intelligence Community of the U.S. is concerned that the president might inadvertently or purposely leak confidential information.

If I were a president of the United States in his position, that would be a good reason for me to stay out of the limelight. But doing so on Veterans Day is a huge tell.

KEILAR: I want to be clear because I think I -- it sounded like I was saying that -- I meant he golfed over the weekend, and he did a brief Veterans --

CAMERON: Oh, I know.

KEILAR: Yes. But I don't think he's golfing today. But he had this appearance, just a brief appearance today on Veterans Day.

But you know, Carl, you can't escape the fact there's a breach he has with the military.

And we're actually seeing that play out in Nevada. We're going to be talking about this this hour on the show.

But there are a lot of military voters who are clearly being accused of voter fraud when they should not be by this campaign.

[14:35:01]

I wonder what you think that does how this reflects on how the campaign and how the president sees them.

CAMERON: Americans need to know those who serve in the military often bounce around. Sometimes they land in Nevada, register to vote, and get transferred somewhere else.

To suggest that's voter fraud is a horrible smear of our men and women in uniform. It's appalling.

The fact that it's actually being adjudicated in any fashion outside of the military itself is absurd.

We already know what the answer is. They moved. They were moved.

KEILAR: They were moved. Exactly.

Carl, thank you. Always such a pleasure to have you on. Carl Cameron, thank you. CAMERON: Thanks.

KEILAR: Ahead, Joe Biden is planning to move forward with naming key members of his administration as the president denies him a peaceful transition. The short list of potential candidates, next.

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[14:40:08]

KEILAR: President-Elect Joe Biden meeting with his transition advisers today, undeterred by President Trump's attempts to thwart the transition of power.

Biden's team already has a list of possible frontrunners for key cabinet positions, including attorney general and secretaries of Defense and State.

And Jeff Zeleny, our CNN senior Washington correspondent, is in Delaware with the transition there and the president-elect. And he has a closer look at who Biden might pick.

Let's start, Jeff, with secretary of state.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, this, of course, is one of the most important positions the president-elect can make. I'm told it will not come for a while, until December.

Let's take a look at some of the possibilities.

On the secretary of state list, Susan Rice. She is on the list of potential choices.

She, of course, is a former national security adviser in the Obama administration. She was the U.N. ambassador in the first term of the Obama administration.

And she was a finalist to be Joe Bidens running mate. She was on the short list for the vice-presidential candidates. Ultimately, chose Senator Kamala Harris, of course.

But also Tony Blinken, a longtime advisor to Joe Biden. He served as the deputy secretary of state in the Obama administration.

Also a deputy national security adviser. So he is a top ally of Mr. Biden's and a top briefer of his over the years. He certainly is on the list as well.

As is Senator Chris Coons from Delaware. He's on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was elected in 2010 to fill the seat that Joe Biden held for a long time.

He's known for working across the aisles. So he certainly has an interest in foreign affairs.

Those are three of the secretary of state possibilities. And, Brianna, of course, there could always be more.

KEILAR: All right. And maybe there will be.

Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much, live from Delaware.

Next, the Trump campaign putting military servicemembers and spouses on a list of potential voter fraud violators? One spouse will join me.

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[14:46:35]

KEILAR: The Trump campaign has compiled a list of what it says are voting irregularities in Nevada.

But this list, right here, may actually be just all of the military voters and other Americans who legally cast their ballots from out of state or out of country, including from war zones.

Let's look at what is in this list, which was obtained by the "Nevada Independent," that the Weir Law Firm, on behalf of the Trump campaign, flagged to the Justice Department.

This is a lot to follow but that's what the campaign is banking on, that you won't. So stick with us on this.

In this information on more than 3,000 Nevada voters, you see a telltale abbreviation for a number of forwarding addresses, APO and FPO. That is short for Army Post Office or Fleet Post Office, post offices for the armed forces.

If you've ever sent mail to someone overseas, you will recognize that abbreviation.

For context, when my kids and I sent my husband care packages while he was deployed to Afghanistan, we sent it to an APO.

You don't send the mail for Afghanistan or Germany or whatever when it goes to a military base.

In this list, there are 130 times that an APO appears in this list. You can see that there's a state listed, A.E. That's actually not a state at all, as you know.

It's a wonder that a lawyer didn't catch that and Google it and discover that it stands for armed forces in Europe, the Middle East, African or Canada.

Or there's also A.P. listed as a state in some of these cases. Armed forces in the Pacific, that's what that means.

There's also DPO, which is Diplomatic Post Office, for diplomats serving overseas.

These are Americans serving their countries. They're already jumping through the hoops of voting absentee and now appear to be flagged for possibly committing voter fraud.

Voters with addresses on military bases are in this list, Joint Base Andrews, JBER, that is Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, Ft. Bragg, in North Carolina.

By the way, we go through these pages and pages, and we found voters that the Trump campaign flagged that have home addressing on other bases like Beale Air Force Base, Hill Air Force Base, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Travis Air Force Base, Fort Belvoir.

And there's really so many more. This goes on and on.

Most military families, though, keep in mind, they actually live off base.

They're in civilian communities near military bases, like Tyler, Texas, Abilene, Texas, Oak Harbor, Washington, Norfolk, Virginia.

All of which appear over and over on this list along with other cities that are near military installations.

It seems very likely these voters listed here did not actually commit voter fraud.

But Trump campaign lawyers have characteristically muddied the water, which is the whole point, right?

Maximizing the confusion, the Weir Law Firm did not list the actual addresses or names of the voters. That would be an even bigger violation of privacy than this list is.

But it also has the effect of making it harder to connect the dots.

Instead, the Trump campaign identified voters by using detailed zip codes, five digits plus the extra four to know the more exact location of Nevada residents' out-of-state address.

That's been enough for some military families to locate themselves on this list.

We asked the Nevada Republican Party and the Trump campaign about this.

[14:50:58]

We did hear back from the Trump campaign from a spokesperson who told us this, quote:

"Due to privacy concerns, we have not shared and will not share the list of names with the public. We have no way to confirm whether a small number of these voters fall under an exemption, which is why we referred it to the authorities for further investigation. All valid voters' votes should be counted."

That statement, as my grandpa would say, is pucky. The Trump campaign and its lawyers won't share the names of those

voters with us. But they know them. And they could easily confirm if these active-duty military family members are on this list.

I mean, I could do that in a second. They just don't want to.

And not to mention, voting from one's home of record while serving the United States of America is not an exemption, as the Trump campaign describes it.

It is a right. It's not some special privilege to allow servicemembers, their families, or others who are serving their country away from home to vote.

My next guest believes she is one of the people flagged in this dubious Trump campaign list of alleged voter fraud.

Amy Rose is an active-duty Air Force spouse, who currently lives in California but previously lived in Nevada, which is where she and her husband voted in the presidential election.

Amy, thank you so much for being with us.

AMY ROSE, ACTIVE-DUTY MILITARY SPOUSE: Yes, thank you for having me.

KEILAR: So you voted in Nevada. You live in California. Why do you believe that you're one of the voters whose zip code is on this list?

ROSE: Sure. So, you know, I took a look at the list and I searched for the city that we live in now. And two votes popped up for where we live.

And the zip code matched where we live. The four-code matched where we live now, which is an indication of a very small one-block or so radius. And that matched up with where we moved from in Nevada.

So we just put two and two together and realized that was us.

KEILAR: Is it usual for the military to vote in a state they don't live in?

ROSE: It's actually the norm. It's so common for military families to have a legal state of residence that they keep as they move across the country, move overseas.

And they keep that as their state that they participate in through voting. They keep their licenses there. They keep their car registration there. That's their legal state of residence.

This is just such a common thing. Most military families I know vote this way.

KEILAR: And how did you become aware of this list?

ROSE: You know, so I was just generally paying attention to what was going on with the election. And I heard that the Nevada GOP and the Trump campaign were making these accusations that people who voted in Nevada but they don't live there.

And I just thought, oh, I wonder if maybe that's us. And thought, well, no way. There's no way they're going to accuse a military family who obviously has the right to vote there or not.

But sure enough, I was following the story.

I saw that a "Nevada Independent" reporter, Riley Snyder, had tweeted out a letter that the Nevada GOP and the Trump campaign sent to the DOJ, referring to 3,000 families for criminal prosecution for alleged voter fraud. And then the list was attached to that letter.

So just discovered it by paying attention to what was going on.

KEILAR: And, you know, military folks have to jump through hoops at times to vote. A lot of times, if they want to vote, they're going to have to vote absentee and go through that process.

Some people, if they don't get their ballots in time -- I've heard from one military spouse who knows other military spouses that there are folks who had to pay $50 in order to overnight a provisional ballot because their initial absentee didn't arrive.

So they're doing these things just to vote.

And yet, this letter that you mentioned that accompanies this list accuses folks, perhaps you, of criminal voter fraud.

And I wonder how that makes you feel.

ROSE: It makes me feel just very angry and very upset.

Like you mentioned, military families are already burdened with so many life difficulties, having to move so often, you know, having to uproot their lives.

And on top of that, now their right to vote is being questioned.

And it is, it's very difficult to continue to re-establish yourself someplace else. And the ability to keep this one state of legal residence is so important.

And it feels like that's being questioned without any basis in fact at all.

It also feels very frustrating because they're using all of these military families to try to undermine the Nevada election results with -- again, just so baselessly.

[14:55:10]

So it feels very frustrating to be used in that way.

KEILAR: Amy Rose, thank you so much for joining us.

ROSE: Thank you. KEILAR: And next, President Trump still refusing to accept the

election results. And he is upending national security in the process.

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