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U.S. Surpasses 11 Million COVID Cases; Trump Still Will Not Concede; NASA And SpaceX Set For Historic Mission To ISS; Fulton County Completes Manual Recount. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 15, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Also coms checks. And shortly thereafter, the hatch will close. So that would be the next major milestone, Ana, that we're looking out for, is for that hatch to close because that means that we are one more major step ahead to getting these astronauts off the ground and on the way to the International Space Station, Ana.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Okay, the countdown continues. It's all scheduled for 7:27 Eastern. We will be there every step of the way for you. Thank you, Rachel Crane.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Great to have you with us. Unfortunately, I do not bring good news at this hour. The U.S. has just surpassed 11 million cases of coronavirus. That is more than any other nation in the world.

And yet it is not top of mind for the president. President Trump today, again today doubling down on his baseless insinuation that the election might still go his way. The president spent this morning on one of his golf courses, but it wasn't before blasting out a barrage of tweets. Most of them completely untrue.

Like insisting the election was rigged, that voting machines were glitchy and that the media is working against him. Now, there's no evidence of any of that. Bottom line, the American people picked Joe Biden. Yet at one point the president tweeted, "I concede nothing."

I'll take you live to the White House in just a moment, but we also have our eyes fixed on Florida right now and the launch that's coming up where the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will lift off a short time from now with four astronauts on board. This launch was supposed to happen yesterday but the weather didn't cooperate. We'll keep you updated, but for now the countdown is still on.

Okay, let's go to the White House with CNN's Jeremy Diamond. Jeremy, it has been a week and a day now since the election was called. It did not go how President Trump had hoped, but even now he's still telling his supporters that they're still in this race. What's his explanation?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: You know, Ana, this morning there was a brief moment where the president seemed to acknowledge reality with two words saying he won, referring to President-elect Joe Biden's victory last week.

But then he was back to the sea of misinformation that we have seen so often from this president and his twitter feed. The president saying he won, but then adding that Joe Biden only won this election, claiming falsely that it was because this was a rigged election.

And then the president in a follow-up tweet a couple of hours later saying that he will not concede this election saying, I concede nothing. And that was very clear as the day continued to go on as the president returned from his golf course.

He continued to tweet a series of lies and false statements, you know, conspiracy theories that he is alleging about this 2020 election. And it was really representative of what we've seen from the president over this last week.

At times, our sources have told us that the president seems to be coming to grips with reality, with the reality that all of these legal challenges will not overturn the results of the 2020 election. And then at other moments he is encouraging his legal team to continue pursuing every possible legal venue in the hopes that perhaps something can happen to change the results of this election.

Yesterday, the president putting the former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in charge of his election efforts but we know that the track record so far is very much not on the president's side. On Friday alone, nine cases brought by the president or his allies intended to try and overturn Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election were either dropped or dismissed by courts in several key battleground states.

And what else is clear, Ana, is that while the president is very focused on trying to overturn the results of this election, he is not focusing on the coronavirus pandemic, an explosion of cases that we have seen over the last couple of weeks.

The president on Friday was very glad to take credit for some of the vaccine progress that has been taking place, but he returned to his same lies and misinformation as it relates to the increase in cases, saying that it was because of an increase in testing. And so far we've seen no leadership from the president as cases and as this coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen in the United States. Ana?

CABRERA: And his task force members confirm today that it's been at least five months since the president even attended one of these coronavirus task force meetings, although Vice President Pence has been there and has been briefing him we are told. Jeremy Diamond at the White House for us. Thank you.

So as the president continues to deny reality, the president-elect is at his home in Delaware and he's continuing to plan his transition. CNN's Jessica Dean is in Delaware, joins us now. Jessica, what are you hearing about how the Biden team is continuing on with this transition?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, they are continuing to try to press forward as quickly and as rapidly and as effectively as they possibly can. But the fact remains that the General Services Administration, which is the federal office responsible for officially validating Joe Biden as president-elect and thus setting off the official transition process has yet to do that.

And Biden's newly named chief of staff, Ron Klain, was interviewed this morning.

[17:04:56]

He called on the GSA to do so as soon as possible because right now they're not allowed access to any of the federal agencies and that is a particular concern for them for a number of reasons. He really highlighted the COVID situation, how they're trying to plan for vaccine distribution. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON KLAIN, CHIEF OF STAFF, PRESIDENT-ELECT BIDEN: We're going to have meetings between our top scientific advisers and the officials of these drug companies, not just Pfizer but there are other promising vaccines as well.

We're going to start those consultations this week. Well, you know, it's great to have a vaccine, but vaccines don't save lives. Vaccinations save lives. And that means you got to get that vaccine into people's arms all over this country. It's a giant logistical project.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And it's a project they know they've got to plan for right now. And they feel like any day that is delaying that is putting them behind when it comes to Joe Biden taking office on January 20th and then being ready to distribute a vaccine.

It is a large logistical project. It's massive and they can't even speak to HHS right now, Health and Human Services, in order to coordinate with them. We know they're back-channeling with local officials with the medical community, but also when it comes to intelligence, Ana, President-elect Biden is still not getting daily intelligence reports.

That's also setting them behind as well. Typically by now, the new president-elect would be getting those. It has simply not happened. So, Ron Klain, again calling on the GSA to validate Joe Biden as the winner, begin this process.

The transition team has said they're going to continue to put pressure on them and that all options remain on the table, including legal action, Ana. We'll see how it unfolds in the coming days.

CABRERA: And what can you tell us about how the Biden coronavirus team is trying to get around the obstructionism or obstruction behavior that we're seeing in the Trump administration when it comes to the pandemic and trying to get the necessary information, specifically for vaccine distribution to go smoothly?

DEAN: Well, it's tough, Ana, because, again, they're not allowed to talk to the people who are making these plans as we speak. And they want a seamless transition. They know this is a giant undertaking to get a vaccine to this many millions and millions of people.

And you add in all the other things that has to be -- it's likely going to have to be kept at very cold temperatures. There might be multiple doses. How do you do all of this? Again, they're not allowed to liaison at all with the people who are helping make this plan right now.

So we've got the COVID-19 advisory board that's talking amongst itself developing its plans. They're back-channeling to, like I said, the medical community, to local officials, but Ana, until they get that green light, they're kind of in this holding pattern.

CABRERA: Okay. And then I think I read that they were also reaching out directly to some of these companies like Pfizer to try to just communicate directly with them because obviously they're not controlled by the government. Jessica Dean, thank you for your reporting.

Joining us is CNN senior political analyst John Avlon and CNN political commentator and host of PBS "Firing Line," Margaret Hoover. Guys, these tweets from the president, not exactly a concession today, but at least in one of them he did appear to acknowledge that Biden won. Has he, at minimum, John, ripped off the Band-Aid?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. He acknowledged by mistake. He made it very clear. He said he won only because of fraudulent votes baselessly and accurately against, you know, the evidence of his own administration.

And then when he realized that he, by mistake, conceded, he tried to fix it backup. Look, it's not even at this point it's not whether or not President Trump believes he won. It's that his supporters believes he believes that.

And his own administration and his DHS has been very clear, these are baseless claims. This is an attempt to preserve the president's ego at the expense of the integrity of our democracy and Republicans need to start standing up and speaking out the truth or they will be complicit -- they are complicit in undermining the integrity of our elections.

CABRERA: Margaret, here we are a week later because a week ago when we were talking it was relatively fresh. We were asking, when are Republicans going to acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect? But, again, a week later, legal battles are all fizzling as Jeremy outlined. Every state has now been called. Hello! When are Republicans going to acknowledge reality?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I hope soon, Ana. Look, it is no secret to the country that -- or rather, to the political party that so easily wraps itself in the American flag. The fundamental bedrock principle of the democracy and our democracy is the peaceful transition of power. And we absolutely -- the reason a concession is important from the president is for what John said, that it signals to his supporters that we are going to continue in this great tradition of 240 years of a peaceful transition of power to the next person.

[17:10:00]

A presidency would live in infamy if Donald Trump were the first U.S. president to not continue that tradition. But what would be worse is how divisive it could be -- not divisive. I mean, truly, 72 million Americans need to understand that Donald Trump lost fair and square and that in the continuation of this great tradition of a peaceful transition of power, he is going to step down peacefully and they don't need to take to the streets.

He should not encourage that. That is the worst thing that we could have for Joe Biden who is to be a uniter, will make his job so much harder.

CABRERA: When you talk about unity and, you know, compromise, I talk to a lot of voters prior to the elections saying that's what they were seeking, that's what they were craving.

And so I want you to listen to President Obama in this new interview where he talked about obstruction that he encountered from Republicans when he took office. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAYLE KING, CBS NEWS HOST: We're going to make you a one-term president. Mitch McConnell said that out loud. How do you deal with that type of hostility?

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Part of what I try to describe is how early that obstructionist attitude starts.

KING: It started on day one.

OBAMA: I mean, it started on day one because we were trying to pass the Recovery Act, the stimulus package. People were losing their jobs, they were losing their homes and the economy was collapsing. At the time I thought, all right, well, obviously Republicans aren't going to agree with me on everything, but on this all the economists agreed this is what we need, they'll give some cooperation on this. And we didn't get any.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: John, a wrecked economy, a country in need of relief, a new Democratic president. McConnell in power. This feels like deja vu. Is bipartisanship a fantasy?

AVLON: It shouldn't be. It can't be. And I don't think it's Pollyannaish to hope that perhaps some Republicans wants Joe Biden sworn in as the president-elect and becomes president on January 20th. Maybe he can work with them on a couple of issues in which there's common ground. But there's been enormous bad faith in our politics. Trust has been eroded.

So Republicans need to decide whether they want to benefit the country and enhance their own legacy or whether they want to try to burn it all down again for some political victory in the future. There's an obligation to govern and Republicans need to stop screwing around.

They can't pretend as that the party of super patriots if they're not just undercutting not just the legitimacy of elections, which they know to be false, but then stopping the ability of any kind of common ground to be defined and built on.

I think that is Joe Biden's intention. He understands he's not going to be able to push through a progressive, you know, a boat load of legislation given the reality of where the Senate is, but it will require Republicans finding some areas where they can work in good faith with Joe Biden and then follow through on it.

HOOVER: I just want to add something here. There's nothing fundamentally different about the beginning of Joe Biden's term in presidency --

AVLON: A few things (inaudible) --

HOOVER: There are a couple of things fundamentally different about the beginning of Barack Obama's, but one basic thing, and I know Democrats will say it was racism, the Republicans never wanted to work with him in the first place and there are some elements of both of that are true.

But what's fundamentally different here, Ana, is that everybody -- what Mitch McConnell said was that his goal was to make Barack Obama a one-term president. Fast forward to now. Nobody on the Republican side thinks Joe Biden is going to be a two-term president.

And so in four years, in one term, what can Republicans do because they don't have anything to lose? They might be willing to actually give a Democratic president some wins in order to also advance some legislative and policy priorities themselves.

I think there is a real chance that we could see legislation and Washington work in a way that we haven't for many years. And I don't think it's Pollyannaish. I think Mitch McConnell and Joe Biden have known each other and liked each other for decades.

CABRERA: Although, when you said there's one thing fundamentally different here, I thought you were going to talk about how -- what's fundamentally here is that Republicans won't even acknowledge Joe Biden as president-elect. I mean, at the very least, they're already doing that.

(CROSSTALK)

HOOVER: There's also that. Okay. So there are -- we could write a chapter book about all the things that are different. But Republicans will acknowledge this because it will happen. I mean, what is going to happen on January 20th -- AVLON: I hope.

HOOVER: -- is that Joe Biden is going to be inaugurated president of the United States, whether Republicans or Donald Trump acknowledge or concede or recognize or not. That's going to happen. And then governing is going to fall on Republican's hands and Democrats.

AVLON: But the problem is that some Republicans running in 2024 will try to claim the mantel by playing to the crowd by insinuating that this is not a legitimate election and there will be a rush to the right on some folks to try to stoke fear and confusion and disinformation and that will be to their eternal discredit.

CABRERA: Do you guys think President Trump will be, again, running for president in 2024, will be potentially on the Republican ticket?

AVLON: He wants the attention, not the responsibility. He wants the -- he wants to remain relevant and to keep having attention.

[17:15:00]

That's the thing he craves more than anything else. Clearly, he doesn't actually want the job. He doesn't actually want to do the job. He hasn't been in five months been in a coronavirus meeting at a time when the pandemic is going out of control. He wants the attention so he will troll as he trolls and do anything he can to keep the attention on him.

And then it becomes a little incumbent upon us as well as the Republican Party not to simply pay attention when bleeding, desiring it, doing anything to achieve it at the expense of the country or his own political party.

CABRERA: Quick final thought, Margaret.

HOOVER: I mean, Donald Trump I think will do anything he can to remain relevant and to lead the headlines, but I think he's going to find it's going to be a lot more difficult to lead the headlines when he's not the president of the United States anymore.

AVLON: Definitely.

CABRERA: All right, Margaret Hoover, John Avalon, good to see you guys. Thanks.

AVLON: Take care.

CABRERA: Coming up, the stunning COVID surge. New cases at new highs, hospitals under siege, and the U.S. just surpassed 11 million coronavirus infections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're entering a very dark phase in this pandemic.

JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You know, our house is on fire and the president has basically locked himself in his bedroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:00]

CABRERA: There is no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic is surging. It is skyrocketing in this country. The U.S. just surpassed 11 million coronavirus cases. Just a grim milestone. And it only took six days to go from 10 million to 11 million.

Yesterday saw the second highest number of new daily COVID cases, second only to the day before. The nation's health care system is overrun as hospitalizations continue to soar. The U.S. set a new record high number of patients hospitalized with the virus just yesterday -- more than 69,000.

In fact, we've been above 60,000 people hospitalized five days in a row now. We didn't even get that high last spring or during the summer surge. And it is everywhere. But don't just take my word for it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD LITTLE, GOVERNOR OF IDAHO: Our hospitals are telling us it is only a matter of weeks at the current rate of spread before they must start rationing care.

GRETCHEN WHITMER, GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: I don't sugar coat things and I'm not going to start now. We are in the worst part of this pandemic to date. Our case numbers are skyrocketing here in Michigan.

J.B. Pritzker, GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS: If things don't take a turn in the coming days, we will quickly reach the point when some form of a mandatory stay-at-home order is all that will be left.

MARK GORDON, GOVERNOR OF WYOMING: It's time that Wyoming woke up and got serious about what it's doing. Our state is at a fever pitch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Just a few of the nation's governors there raising the alarm about the dangerous trajectory of this virus. I want to bring in professor of medicine at George Washington University and a CNN medical analyst, Dr. Jonathan Reiner. He's back with us. We just heard from the governors there, doctor, who kind of sound like they're starting to panic, but as a doctor, what are you feeling right now?

REINER: I'm feeling a sense of urgency to tell everyone in this country to mask up. And, you know, what I would suggest to folks around the country who have maybe not gotten this sense of urgency, why don't you just ask your doctor what he or she thinks about this. Why don't you ask your doctor if they think you should wear a mask? I think I know what they're going to say. They're going to say, yes.

We're seeing really explosive growth of infections in the United States. We had yesterday 163,000 new cases. And if you look at our volume this past week, it's up 38 percent compared to the week before. Hospitalizations are up 25 percent and deaths are up almost 20 percent also.

So, what that means is that if we don't do something differently within a couple of weeks, we're going to start to see about 2,000 deaths a day. And then two to three weeks after that, we'll see 3,000 deaths a day. And what the public can do is the public can avoid large gatherings and wear a mask. Masks work.

I work with a colleague who a couple of weeks ago actually got COVID. And none of this person's co-workers at work contracted the disease because we all wear masks at work. And you can do the same thing in public. Avoid large gatherings and wear a mask. And then we'll start to blunt this curve. That's what we need to do.

CABRERA: Do on you attribute this current surge to people stopping those types of mitigation efforts or are people still doing what they've always done and it's simply not enough?

REINER: I think its multi-factorial, Ana. It's gotten colder so we're indoors more. Kids have gone back in school and they are certainly transmission via that route although we're not quite sure how much there certainly is.

No doubt there is pandemic fatigue. And, you know, all of this combines to an increase in the number of cases. So, acknowledging that cases are on the rise, we need to redouble our efforts to do what we can and then get ready for a vaccine, which is going to help, but we need to get there. We need to get there.

It's going to take us really a couple of months until we really start vaccinating people at any kind of significant numbers in this country. And until that time, we have to protect our health care system, which in large parts of the country are being saturated.

North Dakota has no more hospital capacity. The governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, who has resisted statewide mask mandates is urging the citizens of North Dakota to wear masks because their hospitals are filled. And we're going to see more of that.

CABRERA: Yes. We heard from the governor of Wyoming in that mashup that I played at the top and he too, has not issued a mask mandate, but he also warned his citizens that he left it up to them to do the responsible thing and they haven't. And that a mask mandate could be coming in that state. Obviously a very, very red state there.

[17:25:02]

I have a question for you about how we should act when it comes to symptoms that may be cold, flu, potentially coronavirus. The guidance right now is if you have any symptoms of COVID-19, don't go to school, don't go to work, quarantine, get a test. But again, because its cold and flu season, a lot of people can't afford to call out sick each time they have a cough or a runny nose. So, what's your advice? REINER: If you have symptoms that feel like you have a virus, it will

be indistinguishable between COVID and influenza, so you should not go to work, you should not go to school if you develop what feels like "flu" because that could be COVID. So, you should quarantine and get a test.

You should not -- you should not go to work if you feel under the weather. We're urging, you know, all, you know, throughout hospitals around the country are telling their workers not to go to work if you feel sick. No one should go to work if they feel sick now because if it is COVID and there's an incredible amount of that virus in the community, you will contribute to the spread. So stay home and arrange for a test.

CABRERA: Dr. Jonathan Reiner, many thanks.

REINER: My pleasure.

CABRERA: Americans are making their plans for Thanksgiving, and despite the various travel warnings, airlines are still preparing for a holiday rush. CNN/s Pete Muntean reports.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So many of you are considering whether or not to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, and airlines think the week of Thanksgiving will be the busiest they have been since March. American Airlines, United and JetBlue are all adding hundreds of flights to their schedule that they slashed because of coronavirus.

But what's so interesting here is that this is coming as the virus is surging across the country and as airlines are announcing they're doing away with policies they put in place at the start of the pandemic. JetBlue says it will sell every seat on board its flights starting January 8, 2021.

Right now it's capping capacity at 70 percent on board. Southwest says it is done capping capacity after the Thanksgiving rush. Airlines feel empowered by new research studies, a new one from Harvard University says that ventilation on board an airliner keep virus transmission rates low so long as everybody on board is wearing a mask, something that airlines have had to police on their own without any help from the federal government.

Delta Air Lines just said it's added even more people to its no-fly list for refusing to comply with its mask policy. Delta now says 550 people are now banned from flying. Pete Muntean, CNN, Washington.

CABRERA: Next, it's launch day. The astronauts now on board the SpaceX rocket and the capsule, the Dragon capsule. We'll take you live to the Kennedy Space Center for a preview of tonight's historic mission set to happen in just two hours from now. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00] CABRERA: In just two hours, space exploration history is set to be made begin and we're giving you the live images right now when four astronauts are already on board. They'll be launching in the SpaceX crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.

There you see them outside before getting into the capsule. CNN's Rachel Crane is live at the Kennedy Space Center with the very latest for us. So we know the hatch door is now closed. We still have almost two hours until lift-off. So, what happens between now and then?

CRANE: That's right, Ana. So, that hatch closing that was a major milestone. And those technicians that you see there, the people wearing those black outfits, they're actually nicknamed the ninjas. So they are the ones that helped Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi strapped into their seats, connect them to the seats so they now have coms and pressurization in their suits will be possible soon, also air flow.

But we're also hearing, Ana, here on the ground from the 45th Weather Squadron that the chances for a favorable launch have increased actually. So, we're at 70 percent chance of a favorable launch. Space enthusiasts across the globe are crossing their fingers and toes that this launch will take place today at 7:27 p.m. So, a little bit of good news there.

And an interesting little tidbit is the four astronauts on board Crew Dragon who are set to make this historic launch today, they will be rendezvousing with the International Space Station 27 hours later where they will meet two cosmonauts and another NASA astronaut.

That puts the total crew number that will be on board the International Space Station at seven. But Ana, they only actually have six proper crew sleeping quarters. So -- thank you so much. I'm actually hearing from my producer right now that they've had to reopen the hatch, that there's been an air leak.

So, we'll be getting you more information about that. But they had actually closed that hatch prematurely. They were ahead of schedule. So, hopefully this won't put them too behind schedule, but it is important to note that today's launch window is an instantaneous launch window so it must happen at 7:27 exactly.

If they slip at all, then they won't be able to make today's launch. A backup window is scheduled for Wednesday. But hopefully, they will be able to figure it out, get to the bottom of what this air leak is and close that hatch back up and get these astronauts back into the international -- get them to the International Space Station, Ana.

CABRERA: I can only imagine what is going through the mind of these astronauts right now. What an exciting day, but has to be so nerve- racking. Rachel Crane, thank you for that update. We will check back. I know you're going to work to get information about that air leak and see what it means for this launch. Talk to you soon.

[17:35:00] Sixty-six days and counting until the inauguration. And coming up, we'll talk about the critical steps that still need to happen before Joe Biden is sworn in as the next president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: President Trump may refuse to believe it, but in 66 days, Joe Biden will be sworn in as president. So, what important steps need to happen between now and then? Here's Tom Foreman with the timeline.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From now until the second week of December, states should settle their vote counts and certify the results. They all have their own particular deadlines so it won't happen all at once. And of course, if there are local rules or legal challenge require a recount that could produce some delays.

But they're all headed for the same goal, saying within a few weeks we've settled all disputes and this is our final tally for each candidate. They must have that complete by December 14th, because that is when the electors must vote.

[17:40:05]

Who are they? They are 538 people from all 50 states chosen by the parties and they mirror the number of senators and representatives in each state. Plus, the District of Columbia, which gets three. This is the Electoral College.

Typically, they gather at their local statehouses and award their electoral votes, in most cases, to whoever gathered the most popular votes in their state. Although, occasionally, some break from that and cast rogue votes, becoming what we call faithless electors.

Although the Supreme Court ruled just this year they can be punished or removed if they take that action. In any event, the results must be sent to Washington no later than December 23rd. And then on January 6th, those electoral votes are counted during a joint session of Congress under the watchful eye of the president of the Senate, meaning Vice President Mike Pence.

And when that count is done, he will be the first person to officially announce the names of the next president and vice president. And then on Wednesday, January 20th, at noon, as prescribed by the Constitution, the big finish. The president and vice president will be sworn in at the U.S. Capitol and begin four years of leading the country, or at least trying to, amid these challenging times. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

CABRERA: No doubt, challenging indeed. Thank you, Tom. So, here's where things stand today. The president made a big acknowledgment, sort of. President Trump tweeting he, meaning Biden, won, but then in the same tweet, he unleashes a bunch of lies and false claims about election rigging.

And here's the president's follow-up tweet, "I concede nothing. We have a long way to go." Joining us now for our weekend presidential brief, CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd. She served as the senior adviser to the national security adviser in the Obama administration. Sam, do you think this is indicative of Trump, perhaps, eventually conceding?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Ana, these tweets are just pure desperate cries for attention. And any law-abiding administration, a president's personal view on who won an election would be totally irrelevant.

By law, the administrator of the General Services Administration or GSA is required to make an independent ascertainment about the apparent successful candidate in an election. The president's personal views should have no bearing.

In this administration, the current GSA administrator appears more focused on doing Trump's political bidding than on meeting her statutory obligations. So, in so far as Trump's concessioney (ph) type tweets spur the GSA into action, that's a net benefit for national security.

The delay in the transition process raises the risks of disruption associated with the transfer in executive authority. The Biden team is trying to work around Trump-imposed constraints but there are just certain things they cannot do absent this ascertainment from the General Services Administration.

CABRERA: We have seen the Biden team issuing some policy announcements, call readouts, personnel lists, but what exactly hinges on this GSA ascertainment?

VINOGRAD: Well, from a resource standpoint, $6.3 million in congressionally appropriated funds for transition team operations are currently on hold. But this is about a lot more than about money. It's all about personnel.

The Biden team cannot finish the security clearance approval process or vetting key national security personnel absent this ascertainment. They may not have a full team on the field on day one because of the delay in ascertainment.

Notably, the 9/11 Commission report specifically cited the risk of delays in personnel appointment in the run-up to 9/11 as a key risk factor and we may repeat that mistake unless something changes soon. The delay in the transition process also impacts a handover of information.

Agency review teams or ARTs should be in federal agencies as we speak reviewing policy, personnel, and budgets, and we should have the Biden team's COVID-19 task force meeting with their counterparts. Instead, that is all prohibited without the ascertainment.

And from an intelligence perspective, we know that President Trump likes to get his intelligence from television, but the 46th president wants to get his intelligence from experts. He wants to be fully informed. However, President Trump is precluding his -- Biden's ability to get

the president's daily brief. So, for all those reasons, Ana, Trump is really hamstringing the national security apparatus and that's a definition of unpatriotic.

CABRERA: We know Biden's team is trying its best to get around the obstructionist actions that we're seeing taking place, going so far as to try to talk to former Pentagon officials within the Trump administration who served Trump to get a better sense of the national security landscape going in.

[17:45:04]

What have you learned about Biden's policy priorities in his first 100 days?

VINOGRAD: Well, it's a really good thing that Biden is good at multitasking because he'll have a full plate on day one. In addition to inheriting an atrophied national security apparatus and trying to confront a global pandemic, Biden is going to have to put out some immediate fire.

For example, our last arms control agreement with Russia is set to expire 15 days after he takes office. And we also know that President Trump is making some serious moves on his way out of office, particularly with respect to Afghanistan.

So, Biden may have to clean up some of Trump's messes while trying to make progress on some strategic U-turns related to immigration, Iran and climate change.

CABRERA: Samantha Vinograd, good to see you. Thank you so much.

Breaking news from the Kennedy Space Center. Crews are investigating an air leak. This is ahead of the launch of a SpaceX rocket with four astronauts already on board. What could this mean for the mission? We'll get a live report and update, next.

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[17:50:00]

CABRERA: Let's get right back to the Kennedy Space Center now where officials are investigating what we've learned to be an air leak ahead of an historic launch scheduled for tonight of the SpaceX rocket. And CNN's Rachel Crane is joining us again live at the Kennedy Space Center with the very latest. What have you learned?

CRANE: Well, Ana, during that routine leak check, they noticed a drop in pressurization inside the crew capsule, "Crew Dragon." So, of course, they immediately re-opened the hatch. They had actually closed the hatch a little bit early so they were ahead of the schedule and they have about a 10-minute margin baked into the schedule.

So, hopefully, this will not throw off this evening's launch if, in fact, they are able to reseal and pressurize the cabin. But at this point, we know that the technicians who are the men in the black uniforms, which they call the ninjas, they did a check of the seal of the hatch and they found what they call FOD, which is a foreign object debris.

Now, we don't yet know what that debris was. That could be the root of this air leak. It could be as small as a piece of lint. So we're continuing to monitor the situation but they have re-closed the hatch at this point. They started pressurization again to see if there was in fact a leak.

We were able to hear on the NASA loops, the comms between the crew and they said that the crew capsule was, in fact, holding pressure. So that's a good sign that they have troubleshooted this problem and it's moving in the right direction.

But of course, technicians will want to see that pressurization hold for quite some time to ensure that the crew is safe to take off for a scheduled liftoff at 7:27 p.m., Ana. But of course, this is a fluid situation. We will continue to monitor it and get you the latest.

CABRERA: Okay, we'll check back. Rachel Crane, thank you very much. Let's go to Georgia now. The largest county is finished hand recounting the ballots cast in the presidential election days before the statewide deadline and CNN's Amara Walker has been monitoring this situation for us. She joins us in Atlanta. So, statewide, Amara, where do things stand right now?

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Statewide we haven't had the update since Friday, but it seems like things are moving along pretty smoothly. I can tell you, though, here in Fulton County, talk about being ahead of schedule, all the audit teams who were involved in the hand counting of the 528,000 ballots that were cast have finished.

Fulton County by the way, is the largest county in Georgia. So now the next step is for the counts to be uploaded to the secretary of state and it will be Secretary Brad Raffensperger who will announce the final tally.

Now, the elections director of Fulton County says look, you know, the numbers may come in a little different. That is expected, but he, along with top state election officials, including Secretary Raffensperger, who is a Republican, have all been saying, look, the overall results is not expected to change.

I do want to point something interesting out, though. There's a tiny little county in southwest Georgia called Early County. There was only about 5,200 ballots that were cast. And the elections director said that they finished counting on Friday and it turns out the results from that hand count turned out to be exactly the same as the original and she was thrilled and also shocked at the same time.

So, Ana, as I was saying, you know, I think a lot of people were perhaps concerned that because this is such a monumental task for Georgia to recount by hand 5 million ballots, but overall, it seems like things are moving along very well and that many counties are on track to meet the deadline Wednesday to finish up that recount. And then on Friday, the 20th, Secretary Raffensperger will be able to certify the final results. Ana?

CABRERA: Just a quick answer if you will, Amara. I'm curious, do we know what the potential difference was in this Fulton County recount compared to what it was when they did the machine count earlier?

WALKER: Well, this recount, I mean, this is all by hand, right. And I think the most difficult part for the recount was supposed to be the absentee ballots. And 20 percent of the ballots that were cast were via mail-in absentee.

And that was supposed to be the slowest going part because these were human marked ballots.

CABRERA: Right.

WALKER: Not printed out by the machines. And those seem to have gone -- everything seems to have gone pretty smoothly so, it looks like they are on schedule.

[17:55:00]

CABRERA: But was there a vote difference?

WALKER: Between the -- right now, those results we don't know right now.

CABRERA: Got you. Okay. That's what I was curious about. Sorry. My question was a little vague. Amara Walker, great reporting. Thank you very much.

President Trump says for the first time that Biden won the election, but then he insists he's not conceding. So, how will this play out with the whole world watching? Stay right there.

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