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New Day

Biden Says, Trump's Refusal to Concede is an Embarrassment; Diplomats Express Outrage after Pompeo Touts Second Trump Term; U.S Smashes Records for New Cases and Hospitalizations. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 11, 2020 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN NEW DAY: Thank you very much.

All right, New Day continues right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN NEW DAY: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world, this is New Day.

And this morning, the president-elect, this is what Joe Biden, the president-elect of the United States, thinks about the actions that the outgoing president has taken while holed up, refusing to speak in public, somewhere in the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: Well, I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly. The only thing that -- how can I say this tactfully. I think it will not help the president's legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So, the president-elect says he is speaking with world leaders who have called to congratulate him. This is a not-so-subtle message, and even people thousands of miles away acknowledge the results of the election, even if Republicans down the street in Washington, in the Senate, do not.

The defeated president's actions are causing new alarm at the Pentagon after several senior officials were removed and replaced with Trump loyalists. One defense official calls it scary and unsettling, says it amounts to, quote, dictator moves.

CAMEROTA: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo did something very strange yesterday. He publicly denied the outcome of the election and declared there would be a smooth transition to a second Trump term, suggesting that a naked power grab is underway.

Outgoing President Trump has not been seen in public since last Thursday. Why? What is he doing? He is expected to attend a Veterans Day event today, but he is not expected to address the staggering new coronavirus numbers. The U.S. is reporting a record number of new cases. Look at your screen. And a record number of people hospitalized, nearly 62,000 Americans are waking up in the hospital this morning.

How is Vice President Pence, the head of the coronavirus task force, dealing with this crisis? He's going on vacation.

BERMAN: We're joined now by CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash and CNN Political Analyst David Gregory.

And, Dana, I want to start with something that frankly probably has been undercovered the last few days, which is the presidential transition, which is the words of the president-elect of the United States, what he is doing and how he is handling things. So when you hear Joe Biden come out yesterday and dismiss President Trump's actions as an embarrassment, that will hurt his legacy, but not really an existential threat, because that's clearly what Joe Biden was saying yesterday, why was that decision made and how far does the Biden transition team plan to go with this?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that decision was made for two reasons. One is because the -- according to people I talked to inside the Biden transition, it is what they really think, at this moment.

For now, I'm told, that not getting GSA funds is not that bad, for now. Ask them in a few weeks, I was told. For now, the president-elect not getting access to the PDB, the presidential daily brief, is okay, because there's nothing he can really do with actionable intelligence, for now.

And they believe that the best thing to do is to, you know, give an air of inevitability for the former vice president, president-elect, to talk about getting calls with world leaders -- from world leaders, talk about the fact that he understands that, at some point, soon, these states are going to start to certify the elections, make it officials, not just the network calls and the belief of many, many people that Joe Biden has won these key states. And so they believe that is the best thing to do.

And when it comes to Joe Biden, my understanding is that he feels that telegraphing that is as consistent as he can be with how he was during the campaign and is the most important thing to do to keep a sense of calm in America and even around the world.

[07:05:03]

CAMEROTA: David, are you someone who is in the school of thought that this is about the president's petulance and everybody is just saying all this publicly to try to pacify the president and at some point, his mood will work its way around to acceptance, or do you think that what we're seeing in terms of the secretary of state denying reality, the Senate majority leader denying reality, the president installing his loyalists at the Pentagon, the secretary of defense being ousted and being replaced with his loyalists, is all of that significant? Does that suggest something else at work? DAVID GREGORY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's significant, because it's not just norm-breaking, but it's completely inappropriate and unpresidential and very unlike the United States of America. But I still think it's the former. I think it's the petulance, I think it's the denial, and it's the most unsurprising thing we've seen in the history of Donald Trump as president, to argue that something is rigged, not to play by the rules, to lead his supporters along.

Donald Trump has a death grip over the grassroots of the Republican Party, and that didn't change in the aftermath of this election. So whether you are the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, whether you're other senators who are following his lead, whether you are a Mike Pompeo, who, again, I think totally inappropriate, but I do think that it was tongue in cheek as if to say, there will a transition, we're just not giving up the game yet, because the boss isn't. I think there's a lot of that.

And I think they don't see any value in pushing him at this point. Pompeo may want to run for president in 2024. Some of these other senators may want to run. And they know Trump is going to be around and dogging them, dogging Joe Biden. And there are these Senate seats in Georgia, so they want to keep the republican faithful up and going. None of this is an excuse.

But I think that Biden's approach -- look, Biden, a lot of the people who he's going to install have all worked in the west wing. They know the deal. They don't need the tour. And I think for now, they can keep their powder dry, because there's no there there. There's no fraud. There's no evidence that's coming to light. None of these lawsuits are prevailing anywhere. There's only so much time for this to go on.

BERMAN: I will note just very quickly that if Mike Pompeo was joking, it's not a really funny joke with the whole world watching with U.S. democracy being held up to a higher standard. It has an impact and it will have an impact beyond the outcome of this election, which I agree is frankly inevitable and should be treated as such.

Dana, I'm batting a thousand getting new fresh reporting from you from behind the scenes. Let me try at the White House. Where is the president? I know we're going to see him today honoring Veterans Day, as we should, and it is Veterans Day, and I want to acknowledge and thank everyone who's served in this country. But since Thursday, he has not shown his face, as he questions the outcome of an election, where is he? Is that he is embarrassed to be pictured and shown as someone who lost an election? Is he afraid of not being able to defend the actions that his administration is taking in public in a cogent way? What's going on here?

BASH: I'm going to disappoint you and say, I don't know the actual answer to that question. But what I do know is that there are a lot of Republicans who are very happy that nobody has seen the president since Thursday, because when he speaks, he disrupts even more. It's one thing for him to send all-caps tweets all the time, but it's another thing for the president of the United States to say incredibly disruptive things in front of cameras. And so the hope among Republicans, even those who are publicly say, let's let this play out, so on and so forth, are really bracing themselves and are hoping that the damage is as minimal as possible.

But what the Republicans on Capitol Hill, for the most part, not everybody, but for the most part, are doing is trying to play a long game, trying to say, look, we understand what's going on here. But they are afraid. I had a senior Republican aide say to me, yes, even if he loses, people are afraid of his retribution against anybody who speaks out against him, because he is incredibly powerful. As David said, he has a grip on the grassroots that is not going away anytime soon.

CAMEROTA: David, one senior Trump administration official told me that what they think, excuse me, is happening inside is that President Trump is trying to find some safe space -- some face-saving measure. And what that might be is announcing a 2024 run. So when he says, okay, all right, you know, there was lots of fraud, they stole this one, but I'm going to run for 2024.

[07:10:08]

Won't Mike Pompeo be sorely disappointed when he finds out that the boss is going to be running instead of him?

GREGORY: No. Look, I just -- wouldn't even speculate. I mean, I think Donald Trump is capable of everything and nothing, all at the same time. But there's no question the face-saving piece of it, whether it's, hey, I'm going to run in '24. And who knows? I mean, there's no question that he'll have power, would he be another one-term president? There's lots of thing for Republicans to consider and to be afraid of. And his strength in his showing and the Republican strength is something that makes him formidable.

I would think he would want to focus on the duties of governing, and you mentioned the virus. I mean, I was speaking to a friend in the Chicago suburbs last night who run several hospitals, they're saying it's going to be worse in the spring, that they're not going to have enough hospital beds. There's not enough nurses. So you have the very important news about vaccine, but there's very real work for this lame-duck administration to be doing to manage the crisis that is the pandemic.

BERMAN: I've got to say, if you think he would want to take up the business of governing, that would be an interesting departure, certainly, when it comes to the pandemic.

GREGORY: I just wanted to put it out there, just in theory, just as an approach.

BERMAN: You never disappoint me, Dana. I actually think the theory that the president isn't coming out because he's nervous about -- if he comes out and says, it's time to drink election bleach, then it's harder for Mitch McConnell at this point to defend him and give him the leash he is giving. So it allows Republicans to at least -- BASH: Look, there have been conversations behind the scenes, for sure. And the fact that the president feels comfortable that people like Mitch McConnell are carrying his water now is no doubt one reason why he is being quiet, for now. Don't expect that to last very long.

BERMAN: Stand by for news. Dana Bash, David Gregory, great to see you this morning.

GREGORY: Thanks.

BERMAN: So, multiple defense officials are warning that President Trump is making dictator moves. Is national security at risk? Two people who have been integral to U.S. national defense over the decades join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Is the state department currently preparing to engage with the Biden transition team, and if not, at what point does a delay hamper a smooth transition or pose a risk to national security?

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Yuck, yuck, yuck, really funny. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refusing to acknowledge President-elect Joe Biden's win. Why? What are they doing? And what impact does this have on national security?

Joining us now, CNN National Security Analyst James Clapper, he is the former director of the National Intelligence under President Obama, and CNN's Senior Law Enforcement Analyst, Andrew McCabe, he is the former deputy director of the FBI.

And it's great to have both of you, because there are two different paths that this affects, the Justice Department and the from State Department and national security.

But, Andy, I want to start with you. What's going on here? The fact that President Trump won't concede, the fact that the GSA won't certify, the fact that Attorney General Bill Barr is telling federal prosecutors to go try to find some sort of voting irregularities or fraud, what's happening?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I think two things, Alisyn. I think we're having -- we're seeing a very predictable response by President Trump, right? His inability to accept reality, his inability to embrace the fact that his campaign lost to Joe Biden, that part we knew would happen. The really troubling part is the second piece, which is, once again, administration officials and his political supporters on the Hill are getting right in line with his refusal to comply with the norms not only that we expect but that are required to ensure we have a smooth transition of power, and to ensure that we don't miss a beat in terms of protecting this country from foreign adversaries.

It's really, really concerning, both his failure to accept reality and the lack of courage and ethics that you see currently being displayed by Republican officials all over D.C.

CAMEROTA: Director Clapper, what about all the other stuff, what Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, the firing of the secretary of defense, the installing of loyalists at the Pentagon? What do you think is happening?

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, first of all, in the Pentagon, I spent about 13 years there for (INAUDIBLE) and I kind of understand the ethos there. And what's going on now obviously is very disruptive and distracting. And it -- you know, here's -- it's hard enough to work there under optimum conditions.

And now when you have the turnover and the purging and then the installation of a network of essentially political commissars, this is a real distraction from the nerve center of our national defense. So it's not a good thing, you know, just to reinforce what Andy said.

And as far as Secretary Pompeo's remarks, to me it struck me as, it's hard for him to say what he said and keep a straight face. And it seemed to me, in one sense, he was kind of belittling the vote and the voting process, and the people who stood in line for hours, regardless of their persuasion, at some risk to their health and perhaps their lives to vote. And it just gave me the feeling he was belittling it. And not to mention, of course, how bad this makes us look overseas.

Here in the United States is the champion of democracy.

[07:20:03]

And the current administration -- the president and his enablers are perpetuating this fantasy that he won the election. And, of course, if I were an intelligence analyst in a foreign country looking at the United States, you know, I would be writing up its slow slide into autocracy.

CAMEROTA: Well, I mean, just let's talk about that for one more second, Director Clapper. What are the national security consequences of all of these actions?

CLAPPER: Well, let me give you a specific one. In the election -- after the election of 2016, which was settled at the time, the night of the election, the very next day, President-elect Trump began to receive the president's daily brief, which was sort of a parallel to what President Obama was receiving. And I don't recall getting a (INAUDIBLE) from the GSA or anything like that to do that, right? It was just -- it was the right thing to do. If that is being held up and every day goes by that -- and I don't know what the facts are here. Every day that President-elect Biden does not receive it, that is not a good thing from a national security standpoint. And I think, just in general, the distraction that this causes throughout the national security community is not good for the country, because we are not paying full attention overseas.

CAMEROTA: Andy, do you think that FBI Director Chris Wray is going to survive these 70 days in that position, since he seems to be somebody whose head is on the chopping block? And what do you think the consequences of all of this are in real terms?

MCCABE: Sure. So, it's -- it's hard to imagine, with the negative things that the president has already said about the director of the FBI, it's hard to imagine that he survives another, you know, nine or ten weeks of the retribution -- you know, firings for retribution and doesn't end up the victim of one of those himself.

Now, that said, I think that Director Wray has put himself in that crosshair by doing exactly what he should do, which is doing his job, telling the truth, representing to Congress and to the nation what the true state of threats are in this country, and what they are not, specifically widespread voter fraud. So that's going to be a very interesting thing to watch.

The danger, of course, is increased instability at the highest levels of not just our federal agencies, but the agencies most responsible for our national security, which is you're basically kneecapping the country's ability to protect itself, which I don't know that there's a more significant threat than that.

CAMEROTA: Andy McCabe, James Clapper, thank you both very much for all the expertise on this. We will see what happens today.

Another record-breaking day in the coronavirus pandemic, the most new cases and hospitalizations since it all started. Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BERMAN: This morning, generally alarming new numbers in the coronavirus pandemic. A record day for new cases, more than 131,000, but this is the figure that really causes so much concern. More people hospitalized now, 62,000 sick with coronavirus, than ever before. And that curve you're looking at right there, it show no signs slowing down. Where will that stop? That is of concern this morning. 1,400 new deaths reported, that number is the most since the summer peak.

Joining us now is CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, this was, you know, a Tuesday. This was, you know, just a day in the week. There's no one

thing that should cause that record level of hospitalizations other than this is rising at a terrifying rate at this point. DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, it's going into this straight up exponential growth. We've been throwing that term around for some time. That is the line that goes straight up. That's the sort of line that we've been trying to avoid for some time. And, you know, I have been looking at these models for some time over the weekend, spent a lot of time talking to various modelers and epidemiologists and putting them together.

And, you know, the reality is, you know, we talk about this as a big ship moving through the ocean at a very fast rate of speed, lots of inertia. Even if you were to slam the brakes on now, that ship would still moving. This line will keep going up.

The question now is not so much is it going to keep going up. It is. I mean, there's nothing we can do at this point. There's no surgical strike at this point to stop that from happening. The big question is how long does it go up and how long does it stay up after that.

When I look at these various models, it looks like end of January, early February when you really start to get that peak, which is crazy, right? We're middle of November right now, Thanksgiving, Christmas, obviously, the cooler weather overall, these are all things that are going to factor into this.

And keep in mind, when you talk about that hospitalization rate, as you well know, that's reflective of four weeks ago or five weeks ago, you know, middle of October.

So what's the hospitalization rate going to be reflective of this time period now? We'll see four to five weeks from now. Hospitals have got to be prepared. I mean, it is absolutely catastrophic in some of these places. Positivity races in South Dakota, 55 percent, I mean, it was supposed to be below 5 percent.

So these numbers are so off the charts at this point that it's -- it's worrisome. I don't know how many more times that we can say that. But there are real practical concerns now for hospitals. They're trying to figure out what to do, how they're going to manage over the next couple of months in some of these states.

CAMEROTA: Sanjay, we just talked to Dr. Carlos del Rio.

[07:30:00]

He used a different analogy or metaphor than the boat. He saying that, to him, it's an out of control airliner with no pilot.