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Election Officials Say, November 3 Election Most Secure in U.S. History; CNN Reports, Dozens of Secret Service Agents Now Quarantined or Isolating Because of Coronavirus; More GOP Senators Support Classified Briefings for Biden. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired November 13, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN INSIDE POLITICS: President Trump's claims of massive election fraud in the states are getting a forceful rebuke from the people who know best, a group of national, state and private election officials including federal employees working in the Trump administration said this year's vote is a cause for celebration despite what you hear from the president.

Here is part of the group's statement. The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history. Right now across the country, election officials are reviewing and double-checking the entire election process prior to finalizing the result. There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Olive is with us. She is the president of the National Association of Secretaries of State. It is great to see you. I appreciate your expertise on this important day.

And it is important to talk to the people who know best because the president of the United States, again, just moments ago, and we could put the tweet up on the screen referencing the report that you are a part of. For years, the Dems have been preaching how unsafe and rigged our elections have been. Now, they are saying, what a wonderful job the Trump administration did. Actually, this is true, except for what the Democrats did, rigged election.

Madam Secretary, the president also, in a series of other tweets -- I see you shaking your head and I shake mine as well. I've been doing this a long time and I applaud the work of what you do. In addition in all these other tweets, the president in addition, the president talks at one point dominion deleting 2.7 million Trump votes because of software issues, Trump votes being changed to Biden votes. Can you address how ludicrous this is?

MAGGIE TOULOUSE OLIVER (D), NEW MEXICO SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, I think the bottom line is that there is no evidence that that is the case. And I think the really important thing to note is that, as we said in our statement, there is a process, and we've been saying this all along, a process that happens after every election to go back and make sure that the voting systems counted the election accurately.

A lot of states, in fact, most states now utilize all paper ballots to have that record of the accurate vote count and to use that record to go back and our voting systems to make sure that they did count directly, that nothing was tampered with, that there wasn't any maybe accident programming mistakes that cause an inaccurate count. And that is exactly what is happening throughout the states right now, is that everybody is going back and double and triple-checking to make sure that we do have accurate totals for this election.

KING: And if there is a Trump supporter watching, I don't want them to see the D next to your name and say, that is just a Democrat from New Mexico, I shouldn't listen to her. So listen to this. Some of your colleagues and others involved in this process, including Republicans say, this is a great year. Listen.

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BRAD RAFFENSPERGER (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: We have ongoing investigations, but we've not seen anything widespread of a large nature, nothing in the order over 10,000.

LT. GOV. SPENCER COX (R), UTAH GOVERNOR-ELECT: There is now evidence of mass voter fraud. But if there was, then the election would turn out differently. By starting the process, that doesn't change the election.

LT. GOV. JOHN FETTERMAN (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Math doesn't care about his feelings, it doesn't anyone's feelings. The math in Pennsylvania is damning for the president.

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KING: Two out of the three voices we just heard there are Republicans, who say there's no there there. And, actually, this was the most difficult election. Again, I've been doing this for a long time. You had people voting by mail, you had people showing up to vote early, and then you had Election Day turnout, all in the middle of a pandemic. From your -- I view people who hold your job is the unsung heroes of democracy in a sense you have to do this every two years anyway.

But in terms of when you have the report that says the most secure ever given the challenges you had because of the pandemic, what is your biggest takeaway?

OLIVER: Well, I mean, I think that is the big takeaway. Ever since the election of 2016 when we know in a there were foreign actors that attempted to interfere in our elections and particularly were looking for ways to penetrate our voting systems and to try to take advantage of the things that we do online to manage elections, we have come together in a bipartisan fashion as chief election officials around the country working together with the Department of Homeland Security to put so many safeguards in place.

[11:35:22]

And the safeguards have to do, of course, with protecting online voter registration systems, online results reporting systems, but also protect the safety and security of our voting systems at the ground level, those machines that count the votes.

And that involves those high tech solutions that we're talking about in terms of ensuring the safety and security of those systems, but it also involves low-tech solutions, the paper ballots, the post-election audits, the testing that every single machine goes through before it is deployed to a polling place to make sure there is an accurate count that is going to be ascertained by those machines.

And, again, this is a rigorous process that every election official, no matter what party they are a member of, goes through in a transparent and public way to ensure that there is accuracy in the vote count, not just on the front end, but on the back end.

And so, to me, I think that the fact that we all came together regardless of party over the last four years to work together to put these great systems in place around the country, that is the story. And that is what I'm personally the most proud of.

KING: Amen. Amen. Appreciate your work, Madam Secretary, and the work of Democrats, Republicans, some election officials are non-partisan around the country, but you pulled it off in an amazingly challenging year. Maggie Toulouse Oliver, the secretary of state of New Mexico, thank you for your time.

OLIVER: Thank you so much, John.

KING: And this just in to CNN, dozens of Secret Service agents and officers now either are in quarantine or isolation after either becoming infected with the coronavirus or coming into close contact with someone who has the coronavirus.

CNN's John Harwood is at the White House tracking this story for us. And, John, that's a troubling -- those are troubling numbers.

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It is, John. This is some new reporting from our colleagues Kaitlan Collins, Kate Bennett and Betsy Klein that document the toll of the fall campaign and the inattention of the White House to the coronavirus, not just on the president, the first family, the White House chief of staff, multiple White House aides, multiple top campaign aides.

There have been several waves at the White House. But this is also affecting the people who put their lives on the line to protect the president, the vice president and other officials in key positions.

This reporting is that several dozen U.S. secret service agents either have the coronavirus or are in quarantine. Many of those agents do not know themselves how many other agents have been infected because this is not -- they are not getting specific details of this. We got a statement from one of the Secret Service spokespeople who said, we're taking necessary precautions to put people in quarantine if they have had close contacts, but there has been zero impact on the mission, staffing levels are high enough to compensate for that.

There are about 7,600 members of the U.S. Secret Service. That refers to the gross number of people who are available, so several dozen of those is obviously not a huge number, but nevertheless, big impact on them and their families. And a reflection of the casual approach this administration has taken to controlling this pandemic, which is now raging out of control across the country.

KING: Important reporting. John Harwood, I appreciate your work, of our colleagues as well. You're right, Secret Service agents, they don't get enough credit for what they do, protecting the president and others every day. John, thank you.

Coming up for us, more Republican senators now pushing for President Trump to allow the president-elect to get daily intelligence briefings.

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[11:40:00]

KING: A growing number of Republican senators now say they support President-elect Biden receiving access to classified briefings. The list includes the majority whip, John Thune, and Trump loyalist, Senator Lindsey Graham, who has been encouraging the president not to concede.

Our CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent, Manu Raju, on Capitol Hill. Manu, cracks in the Republicans, what do we call this?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no doubt, there are cracks. The longer the president holds out, the more states that end up certifying their results, the more likely that you're going to see Republicans start to break from this president, assuming he does not concede the race.

And the first thing we're seeing here is the calls from a number of these Republican senators to at least allow for Joe Biden to get those classified briefings, something that would be normal during a transition process, something the White House has not green-lighted yet.

You're seeing just a handful of those Republican senators, even some of the president's closest allies, you mentioned Lindsey Graham, one of them suggesting that he should have the presidential briefings, Chuck Grassley, the most senior Republican as well.

And the argument among them from the Republicans is this. It's basically that this president -- if Joe Biden wins, which we're all projecting and which Republicans acknowledge privately, some publicly, that it is bound to happen, that at least he should get these briefings and be ready for these national security threats on day one. That is an argument that one Republican senator, Mike Brown, made yesterday.

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SEN. MIKE BROWN (R-SD): At this point, just as a matter of protecting our nation's interests, I do think that both the president and his competition here, Vice President Biden, should have access to those classified reports.

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RAJU: And these are the president's allies who are saying this, including Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, someone who is aligned with the president on virtually everything on Capitol Hill, said yesterday, at this point, at least, I think he should absolutely be getting intelligence briefings. The briefings he has been getting as a candidate should continue.

But there are other things too, John. One Republican senator who is close to the president, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, told me yesterday that they should at least allow for the official transition period to begin as the president fights the election results in court. That means signing off on funding from the General Services Administration so the transition process can begin. He said why not cooperate. That is how we do peaceful transitions of power.

So, John, it all points to this. Once these states are certifying their results, including the Republican-held states, like in Georgia and in Arizona, that Joe Biden is at least on track to winning, that more Republicans are going to say, it is time to move forward with the official transition process, it's time for the president to concede. The question though, of course, John, is what will the president do.

KING: Right, it's past time. But at least some people are giving a little nudge. It's not enough, just a little nudge. Manu Raju live on the Hill for us, I appreciate it.

Up next, a sneak peek at a very special CNN Heroes that looks at the most inspiring moments of this year.

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KING: Here at CNN, we are proud to celebrate people who are doing extraordinary work to help others. Anderson Cooper here gives us a sneak peek ahead of this year's CNN Heroes, an All-Star tribute.

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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It has been an incredible and unprecedented year of change in almost every way imaginable. But at times, it's also it is hope and inspiration. We have seen yet again the human spirit is resilient, communities are connected and that life can be filled with joy. This year's CNN Heroes, an All-Star tribute, it's going to be a celebration of the heroic efforts of the many people around the globe who too are the biggest story this year, the fight against coronavirus and the battle for racial equity and social justice.

Women, men and children in little towns and big cities all over say, we can get through this, we can do better. CNN Heroes salutes the remarkable people who, when faced with two simultaneous crises, stood up to do more to help each other. We want you to help us share some of the incredible moments of inspiration that moved you all this year, moments that helped keep our spirits lifted and moving forward together.

Here are some of this year's most inspiring moments.

Before we never noticed a shift change, we didn't see the health care workers, first responders heading home after a long day, but now we do. We celebrated these heroes every night in cities around the world.

For nearly eight minutes, George Floyd pleaded for his life, his death sparked worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism. At the press conference, his daughter, Gianna, shared a hope for us all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Daddy changed the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daddy changed the world.

COPPER: When the call rang out for PPE to keep our frontline workers safe, Americans responded with great generosity. But the workers at Braskem America did something extraordinary, they moved in and quarantined in two of their manufacturing plants for nearly an entire month to get the job done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's the team, the boys.

COOPER: In June, a photograph captured the world's attention. During a London protest, events turned violent. One man, Bryn Male, a white former police officer, wandered into the crowd and started to get beat up. Black Lives Matter protester Patrick Hutchinson saw that he was in peril and carried him to safety.

In Florence, people sang the Italian national anthem. In Chicago, they countered sorrow with living on a prayer.

And a Broadway legend, Brian Stokes Mitchell, serenaded us with The Impossible Dream from his balcony.

All over the world, we found a way to lift each other up and connect through the power of music. And this summer, millions of people worldwide were willing to risk their lives amid the pandemic by stepping out and stepping up to protest systemic racism, the call for justice, equality, inspiring a movement of all ages, races, religions, and creeds.

Which of these moments inspired you most? Vote now at cnnheroes.com and, again, every day through November 30th to let us know your favorite. Once you vote, upload your own videos telling us why these moments moved you. You just might see yourself on CNN Heroes, an All- Star at Sunday, December 13th, 8:00 P.M. Eastern on CNN.

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KING: And you can go to cnn.com Heroes -- cnnheroes.com to vote for the moments that inspired you the most and tune in to Anderson Cooper, special guest Kelly Ripa, host, Sunday, December 13th. We'll be right back.

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KING: This just in to CNN. The post master general, Louis DeJoy, says he is working on a plan to be announced within the next several months to completely overhaul the U.S. Postal Service.

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This comes, of course, amid the controversy during the election about previous changes DeJoy made that were blamed for failure to meet on- time schedules during the election season.