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Top Republicans Remain On Mute; Biden Team Presses On With COVID Plan Despite Shut Out; A Million More U.S. Cases In Just Six Days; World's Largest Free Trade Bloc Will Aid Recovery; Tokyo Gears Up For Olympic Games; Biden Denied Access to coronavirus Information; A Guide to What Happens Before Inauguration Day; Some Trump Supports Turning Off Fox News; SpaceX Launches Astronauts into Orbit to Dock with ISS; Dustin Johnson Dominates in Win at Augusta. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 16, 2020 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[01:00:00]
VINCENT COBEE, CEO, CITROEN: Middle of a transition. There is huge appetite out there for clean mobility, for either full electric or plug-in hybrid transport solution.
Now every customer wanting to buy into it at this point in time? Not yet. We're not going to make people choose a car based on the source of energy, we're going to offer a choice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, thanks for your company.
Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM.
HOLMES (Voice Over): The U.S. sinks deeper into pandemic misery while the president goes golfing and refuses to give the Biden team access to the coronavirus task force.
China's trade triumph. Beijing closes on the world's largest trade agreement as the U.S. watches from the sidelines.
And SpaceX ushering in a new era in space flight with an historic launch.
HOLMES: After acknowledging for the first time that Joe Biden won last week's U.S. election -- kind of -- President Donald Trump walking back those comments pretty quickly.
HOLMES (Voice Over): Moments ago, in fact, the president tweeted he was the clear winner of this race.
Just have a look at that tweet. All caps, "I won the election."
Now this comes just hours after Mr. Trump claimed, without proof, that Biden won because the election was rigged. The president says he won't concede, he is refusing to start the
transition process. And that of course prevents Joe Biden from receiving critical data about the pandemic.
On top of that, CNN has learned that the president hasn't even attended his own coronavirus task force meetings in at least five months.
This coming as infection numbers continue to soar.
On Sunday, the U.S. became the first country in the world to top 11 million confirmed cases of the virus.
HOLMES: As the nation sinks deeper into that crisis, the president obsessed with that election he lost.
Jeremy Diamond reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, for a brief moment on Sunday morning President Trump acknowledged something that he has not acknowledged before.
DIAMOND (Voice Over): And that is that Joe Biden has won this presidential election. The president saying in two words, "He won."
But the rest of the president's tweet and the tweets from the president for the rest of the day on Sunday were filled with the usual garden variety of conspiracy theories, baseless allegations about the 2020 election, and lies about fraud in this election.
The president making very clear in a follow-up tweet that he was not at all conceding this election as some Republicans are beginning to hope that he will do. Saying quote, "I concede nothing."
And saying that he still has a long way to go in terms of contesting the results of this 2020 election.
The president's comments on Twitter were really reminiscent of what we've seen from the president over the last week.
Sources have told me over the course of the week that the president has really vacillated between two states.
On the one hand, this combative desire to pursue every possible legal avenue as it relates to contesting the results of the election and at other moments, the president appearing to start to come to grips with reality.
But as of Sunday night, it was very clear that the president intends to continue fighting this out. He said that his administration or rather his legal team will be pursuing more lawsuits in courts in key battleground states.
So far, the president's team and other Republican allies who are trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election, they've been unsuccessful.
Nine cases on Friday alone were either dropped by those legal teams or dismissed by federal courts, many of which really laughed out some of the claims that were made by these lawyers who were not able to provide any substantive evidence of voter fraud.
The cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, they in a joint statement with other local and state election officials, they said in a statement very clearly that the 2020 election was the most secure election in American history and that there's no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, even though Biden has been denied access to federal data about the pandemic, he and his team are still trying to put together a working response plan by the time he takes office.
CNN's Jessica Dean explains how they're trying to get it done.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[01:05:00]
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: With a new week on the horizon for the Biden transition team, we're learning from incoming chief of staff, Ron Klain, that the team will meet with drug manufacturers including Pfizer to discuss a vaccine distribution plan.
DEAN (Voice Over): This as they continue to try to build their plan for a seamless transition on January 20th while still not being able to speak directly to people in the federal agencies to coordinate with them.
People like on the White House coronavirus task force or in Health & Human Services who are also developing a distribution plan.
That's because the General Services Administration, that federal office that's responsible for signing off on the transition, has yet to do so.
So that means that the Biden transition team is hamstrung in that way. But they are working around it, we're told they're also back channeling to local governments, to people in the medical community as they try to get the plans together for when Biden takes office on January 20th.
DEAN: Now on Monday afternoon we are expecting to see and hear from the president elect and the vice president elect. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris set to give remarks on the economy and "Building Back Better," that was their slogan on the campaign trail.
Now we wait to hear their plans for action when they take office on January 20th.
Jessica Dean, CNN, Wilmington, Delaware.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Thomas Gift is the director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College, London. He's joining us now live from Oxford, England. Good to see you, sir.
Among the many tweets on Sunday, Donald Trump tweeted this about Joe Biden.
"He only won in the eyes of the fake news media. I concede nothing, it was a rigged election."
Virtually everyone involved in the election says that is a lie, of course. What do you think the president's motivation is for allowing this to continue?
THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LONDON CENTRE ON U.S. POLITICS: Well, it's really good to be with you, Michael.
I think Trump's refusal to concede clearly presents a major challenge to democratic norms. Still, it's hard to be too surprised given that the president has been telegraphing this for months, that he might dispute the election results. In part, I think this might just be a personality byproduct of his narcissism.
Refusing to concede, however, also allows Trump to maintain his relevance, to attract dollars into his new political action committee he's recently created and also to sustain his position as de facto leader of the party.
Now I think more damaging here is that some Republicans on Capitol Hill continue to lend legitimacy to these claims, not all but some.
And I think they're doing it not just because they're afraid of Trump or don't want to offend him but because they realize that Trump remains extremely popular within the GOP base, they know that Trumpism will persist even if Trump leaves office.
And they sense that opposing Trump now would jeopardize their own electoral prospects going forward.
HOLMES: Yes. It's very unsettling when he tweets the things he did. "I won the election," he tweeted just in the last hour. That fires up people who probably shouldn't be fired up, to be honest.
The other thing, after the last election Republicans had a singular message for Democrats which was get over it, we won. In fact, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER, "FOX BUSINESS," 2016: Hillary is on her "Sore Loser Tour," and now we have her going through recounts. You know what she needs to do? She needs to get over it. She lost.
Get out of the way and let Donald Trump be president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER, "FOX NEWS," NOVEMBER 28, 2016: Do you think that Democrats are sore losers?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN HANNITY, HOST, "FOX NEWS:" Yes, I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY TO DONALD TRUMP: The reality is they're a bunch of spoiled crybabies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JASON MILLER, TRUMP TRANSITION TEAM 2016: Newsflash for many of the partisan Democrats and those in the mainstream media who continue to try to delegitimize President Elect Trump's massive and historic win last month -- the election's over. Hillary Clinton lost.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So what you heard then you're not hearing now, clearly. But when it comes to congressional Republicans staying quiet on all this, what do you think? Is it about not angering Trump ahead of the Georgia senate elections?
What is it, what are they afraid of?
GIFT: I really do think that, to some extent, it's just the fact that they believe that Trumpism is going to persist in some form after this election.
Trump did receive lots and lots and lots of Republican votes. And the mobilization behind his movement I think isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
I think Republicans realize that the party is going to evolve, it's going to move on but it's still going to maintain some non-trivial Trumpian elements within it.
And, as a result, I think they see the writing on the wall and don't want to say anything that could be construed as offending Donald Trump or rejecting Donald Trump.
HOLMES: Yes. As unsettling as that makes this period, of course. There is a chance Republicans under Mitch McConnell will hold the senate, of course. Joe Biden talks about reaching across the aisle.
But I find it interesting. There was a quote from Barack Obama's memoir about that very issue, describing an exchange when Biden spoke to McConnell after he blocked a bill and Biden explained the merits of the bill.
And Obama says McConnell told Biden, quote: "You must be under the mistaken impression that I care."
[01:10:00]
Now Biden could need the senate for everything from legislation to judicial picks, cabinet picks. Do you see cooperation or a stymied administration?
GIFT: Well, Mitch McConnell, of course, did also say that his number one priority was to make Obama a one-term president.
HOLMES: Yes.
GIFT: To some extent, I think that kind of steely-eyed focus is what has made McConnell so effective as a Republican leader but it's also the kind of obstructionism which I think we can probably expect under Biden.
It's going to create, I think, a degree of policy paralysis, a congress that's probably not necessarily going to be moving to respond to challenges.
And I think that we can expect McConnell to take a very similar obstructionist approach with Biden as he did with Obama even if there might be the rare area of compromise. You could think of things like infrastructure, prescription drugs.
But otherwise I think that you can expect a fairly combative relationship between the senate and the White House. That's just the state of play in national politics right now.
HOLMES: Yes. And maybe a lot of executive orders. Thomas Gift in Oxford, England. Always good to see you, thanks so much.
GIFT: Thanks, Michael.
HOLMES: Now, as we mentioned, the U.S. has now surpassed 11 million coronavirus cases. That is well ahead of every other nation in the world, of course. And it has happened at a record breaking pace.
One million cases were added in the last six days alone. That's a number that previously took weeks to reach.
More than a dozen states are already warning that their hospitals are nearing or at capacity and, as we know, hospitalizations usually lag behind new cases and that is a worrying sign of what is to come in the weeks ahead.
Dr. Jorge Rodriguez is an internal medicine and viral specialist. He joins me now from Los Angeles. Good to see you, Doctor.
DR. JORGE RODRIGUEZ, INTERNAL MEDICINE And VIRAL SPECIALIST: Thanks, Michael.
HOLMES: Do you think the delay in allowing the Biden transition to go ahead is hurting the plan for post-inauguration efficient action? Not being able to meet with the task force, have the latest vaccine information and so on. What's the impact?
RODRIGUEZ: Absolutely. It has a very deleterious impact. Yet again, the president has his knee on the American public due to his own agenda.
Listen, we need to look at this as what it is which is a war as opposed to a visible enemy. We are fighting a war against an invisible enemy.
And if this were that -- technically, war that we're used to, we would be completely besides ourselves if we weren't transitioning information.
So will it have deleterious effects? Absolutely. And --
HOLMES: Yes. If it was a war and 250,000 Americans have died you'd think that it would be a little more urgent too.
And speaking of numbers, I think cases up I think 38 percent up last week over the previous week, hospitalizations 25 percent, deaths around 20 percent.
What do you say to people becoming lax in their precautions or those who continue to say it's exaggerated. What do you say to them?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, if anything it is underreported, the number of people who have the virus. I don't see how much clearer it can be. If you just look at the graphs, this is growing astronomically.
What I'm saying is that we do have an opportunity to stop this without a national lockdown. All it takes is the precautions of wearing the mask, social distancing -- and I saw some doctors today on TV saying what is going to take, us having to walk over dead people on the street?
Gosh, I hope it doesn't get to that but we are very close.
I think half of all the states of the United States, all the hospitals in 25 states have reached the limits of ICU capacity. We're at a very serious ledge right now.
HOLMES: And to that point. I think it's one-and-a-half million new cases in the last two weeks. When you look at a number like that, if hospitalizations lag 10 to 12
days after cases, one-and-a-half million cases in two weeks, what is it going to look like in early December?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, it's going to look horrible. We're going to continue having these cases.
Even if today everybody in the United States started wearing a mask we are still two weeks behind because people who got infected are going to start having symptoms.
But however, the time to make changes is now.
What could happen? We could have half a million people that have died by the end of February, that's what could happen. If we don't take action today.
HOLMES: And, as you point out, also, the potential strains on the hospital system and the workers, the medical workers as well. It's just hard to imagine.
[01:15:00]
Let's try to be positive for a minute. What's your take on the vaccine landscape and how the months ahead unfold?
RODRIGUEZ: Well, that's something that's very exciting and it is very positive. But people shouldn't be hanging their hat on that.
If everything goes well -- I think Anthony Fauci was a little bit optimistic in saying by April we would have a mass vaccination. But I think by the middle of the next year, hopefully the majority of the United States will be vaccinated.
And that goes a long way, a long way toward curbing this epidemic.
So is there a light at the end of the tunnel, yes. And I think it is a sun and not a train. But till that end comes, we really still need to be cautious.
HOLMES: Yes. One other thing that is perhaps under reported is the elective and other surgeries impacted because hospital beds are filling up with COVID patients.
What is the impact on other areas of health with those surgeries, and also people who we've already heard are not going to the hospital with things they should be going to the hospital?
RODRIGUEZ: Right, absolutely. Earlier on this year it was estimated there will be anywhere from 60,000 and 100,000 unnecessary deaths due to filled hospitals, due to people's fear of going to either doctors or hospitals.
So you're going to have a depletion of resources, whether those resources are hospital beds, nurses or physicians. So this just not -- does not just affect the people that have COVID,
this affects all of us. Because people with heart attacks may not be able to get service quickly enough to help them in the hospital, pregnant women may have problems with delivery, people with asthma. And it just goes on and on and in.
HOLMES: Always a pleasure, Dr. Jorge Rodriguez. Even if the subject matter is less than pleasant. Thanks. Good to see you.
RODRIGUEZ: Thank you, sir. There's hope.
HOLMES: More than a dozen Asian economies signed on to the world's largest free trade bloc, Washington on the outside looking in.
Also, Japan preparing for next year's Olympics. But can it safely hold the games during a pandemic?
We'll discuss when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:20:00]
Welcome back. Fifteen Asia-Pacific countries now make up the world's largest free trading bloc, members signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership at a summit in Hanoi on Sunday.
The China backed deal excludes the United States. Washing also left out of the successor to the Obama Administration's Trans-Pacific Partnership.
John Defterios is covering all of this from Abu Dhabi.
John, Donald Trump wanted out of the Asian trade agreements and it just seems that it is just fine with Beijing. As 15 states coming together, they don't need the U.S. Does China's influence grow in Southeast Asia as a result of that?
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN EMERGING MARKETS EDITOR: Yes, I think it does, Michael.
Because it's covering all of Asia in this 15-member pact. And this kind of fits into the category of turnabout is fair play, right?
Donald Trump wanted to get out of anything that had to do with President Obama and he got out of the TPP back in 2017, it was only signed a year before.
And now China has gone deeper, as you suggested, with this 15-member pact, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership -- it doesn't roll off the tongue -- but it does give China influence.
It's the first time, in fact, that they've gotten South Korea, Japan and China in one single pact. So this will change, hopefully, the dynamics. Even Australia was saying that they hope, now that they're part of this, they can mend the trade relations with China which have been strained over the last six months, that's for sure.
Xi Jinping said it was a vote of confidence for multilateralism at the same time because there's been this kind of populist streak with Brexit, of course, and the European Union and Donald Trump with NAFTA, restructuring that and getting out of Asia, that perhaps they can reset within the World Trade Organization at the same time.
It's a big deal. The one criticism is, is that it is lacking in details but the overall trade architecture is important. Especially during this time post COVID-19.
HOLMES: Yes. The U.S. said we don't want it, they said, OK, we'll move on without you. Is this new trade -- is this a factor behind the rally in Asia on Monday?
DEFTERIOS: Yes. The stars almost seem to be aligned here, Michael, for Asian markets, that's for sure.
You have a trading agreement and then there's hopes here of a vaccine coming forward in Asia. And Asia, let's be frank, is mending a lot better than the rest of the world because of the discipline in dealing with the pandemic itself.
But look at the numbers that we're seeing here today. The NIKKEI index is the highest level since 29 years ago with this gain of better than two percent. Seoul is having a great day.
The MSCI, overall, for Asia, it is the highest level it's has been since 1987 and the stock market crash that we saw on Wall Street. So that is a big deal here.
And now if you take a look at U.S. futures. They're building on the record gains for the S&P 500. We've had gains here of nearly one percent across the board. And that's despite the fact the caseload that you're talking about is still spiking in the United States.
We're going to hear from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris starting to roll out their economic blueprint.
But regionally, in Asia, Japan growing five percent in the third quarter. Manufacturing in China was much stronger than expected. So they have their own DNA for a rally in Asia right now. And it's off to the races to start the week.
HOLMES: All right. The full bottle, as always, John Defterios. Appreciate that. Good to see you there in Abu Dhabi. (Inaudible) nice day, doesn't it?
The head of the International Olympic Committee says he's very, very confident that spectators can attend next year's games.
HOLMES (Voice Over) Thomas Bach and organizers are meeting in Japan to discuss safety measures and other issues. With the postponed games now less than nine months away, Japan recently held a test run for the big event.
CNN's Selina Wang is in Tokyo for that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[01:25:00]
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (Voice Over): Japan wants to show the world that it can host the Olympics in the middle of a pandemic.
Thirty-two gymnasts from Japan, the U.S., Russia and China plus 2,000 socially distanced fans gathered at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium earlier this month in Tokyo for one of the first international sporting competitions since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
It's a glimpse of what Tokyo may do for the Olympic Games scheduled for next summer.
For athletes, this was a competition like no other.
Masks, temporary checks, daily COVID tests leading up to the competition. Two weeks' quarantine in their home countries before arriving on charter planes to Tokyo.
The Chinese delegation even arrived in full hazmat suits.
Yul Moldauer, one of the six American gymnasts who competed said it was a strange but unique experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YUL MOLDAUER, U.S. GYMNAST (Voice Over): It was stressful but it was very special.
We haven't competed in what, like nine months or more.
MOLDAUER: So just to be able to be back in the venue, back in front of a crowd and back with other world class athletes, it was just amazing to feel like an athlete again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WANG (Voice Over): For gymnast, eMjae Frazier, this was her first time outside of the U.S. but her only views of Japan were through the hotel or bus windows.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMJAE FRAZIER, U.S. GYMNAST: Because of this competition it not only gives me hope that there can be other season, it makes me feel like we can.
We all stayed very safe and because of the bubble that we were all in it give us less of a chance of contracting the virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WANG (Voice Over): But this was a small scale event. It's unclear how Japan can scale these COVID measures for the Olympics which typically has hundreds of events, more than 10,000 competitors and millions of spectators.
Meanwhile, Japan is dealing with a third wave of COVID-19 cases as infections reached record highs of more than 1,000 a day.
One health expert says Japan need to strengthen its contact tracing and testing measures warning that there could be a resurgence as japan relaxes its border restrictions. At a time when cases in the U.S. and Europe continue to rise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENJI SHIBUYA, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, KING'S COLLEGE, LONDON: To really hold the Olympics, Japan needs to show that they can suppress transmission in the way that other Asian countries have done. And they have to stop it at the border as well. Which Japan is not doing swiftly (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WANG (Voice Over): But Japan is pushing ahead with other large-scale events. Recently, more than 27,000 fans watched a baseball game at the Yokohama Stadium.
After Pfizer said its COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90 percent effective based on an early analysis, Olympic organizers said they felt positive sentiment and relief.
But the organizers have said they're willing to hold the games at any cost, regardless of whether an effective vaccine is widely available in time.
Selina Wang. CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Even "FOX NEWS" is crooked.
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Even "FOX"?
UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yes. Good luck, bud. Only one good on "FOX" is Tucker Carlson. Maybe a little bit of Greg Gurka. The rest of them? Slanted (ph) liberals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES (Voice Over): Trump supporters feeling betrayed by "FOX NEWS" or by any news network reporting Biden's win. Find out where they're turning to next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[01:31:58]
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.
After previously acknowledging for the first time that Joe Biden won the election, kind of, President Trump now firmly walking back those comments over the last few hours.
The president says he was the clear winner. Have a look at this tweet here. This was about an hour and a half ago I guess. And coming just hours after claiming without proof that Biden had won because the election was rigged. All caps -- I won the election.
Not true. Mr. Trump says he will not concede. He will likely continue to delay the transition process preventing Joe Biden from accessing critical coronavirus information.
The President-Elect's chief of staff says the rocky transition benefits no one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON KLAIN, JOE BIDEN'S CHIEF OF STAFF: Joe Biden is going to become president of United States in the midst of an ongoing crisis. There has to be a seamless transition.
We now have the possibility, we need to see if it gets approved, of a vaccine starting perhaps in December, January.
There are people at HHS making plans to implement that vaccine. Our experts need to talk to those people as soon as possibly so nothing drops in this change in power to those people as soon as possible so nothing drops in this change of power that we're going to have on January 20th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now all of this comes as the total number of coronavirus cases in the U.S. has soared past 11 million. Despite the deepening crisis, the president spent his Sunday, yes, golfing for a second day in a row.
And now we're are learning that over the past five months he hasn't attended his own coronavirus task force meeting once.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEAS: You know, it was months ago, but you know, when we have our task force meeting its run, as you know, by Vice President Pence. And the vice president then translate that to the president himself but the last time the president was physically at a task force meeting was several months ago. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "The Washington post" is reporting this morning
that the president has not attended a coronavirus task force meeting in at least five months. Is that accurate?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, President Trump may refuse to believe it but the reality is in a little more than two months Joe Biden will indeed be sworn in as president.
So what's important steps need to happen between now and then?
Here's Tom Foreman with a timeline.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From now until the second week of December states should settle their vote counts and certainly the results.
They all have their own particular deadline so it won't happen all at once. And of course if they are local rules or a 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. Who are they.
[01:34:53[
FOREMAN: 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 3. This is the electoral college.
Typically they gather at their local state houses and award their electoral votes in most cases, to whoever gathered the most popular vote in their state. Although occasionally, some break from that and cast rogue votes, becoming what we call faithless electors.
Although the Supreme Court rule justice here, they could be punished or removed if they take that action.
In any of event the results must be sent to Washington no later than December 23r and then on January 6th those electoral votes are counted during a joining session of Congress. Under the watchful eye of the president of the senate meaning Vice President Mike Pence.
And when that count is down 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now President Trump made no secret over the years as to which cable news network was his favorite and no real surprise, but it wasn't this one. But the outgoing president appears to have soured on Fox News, and some of his supporters apparently feel the same way.
CNN's Donie O'Sullivan spoke to some of them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWD: Fake news. Fake news. Fake news. Fake news.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At this point I don't trust Fox News.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were you guys Fox News fans up until election night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were fading fast.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we're fading fast. Fox News is crap.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We like Tucker.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fox News called Arizona way early. They never switched it. They never switch it when it got close.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Who do you think is pulling Biden's strings?
DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fox News has been a favorite media outlet for President Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I watched "Fox and Friends" in the morning.
We have had some incredible strength in terms of people like Sean Hannity, the great Lou Dobbs.
I mean I like some of the things on Fox. Certainly Sean and Laura and Tucker has been great lately.
O'SULLIVAN: The network has been criticize for being Trump's mouthpiece.
BRIAN SELTZER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Pro Trump outlets and some of Foxes biggest stars are enabling this alternative reality to claims that Biden is not President-Elect.
O'SULLIVAN: But during the campaign as Joe Biden pulled ahead in the polls and was eventually declared the President-Elect, many Trump supporters I spoke to said they no longer trust Fox News.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't even watch the news anymore. I don't even watch Fox anymore because they're getting just as bad as the other ones.
O'SULLIVAN: What is your main source of information?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My main source of information is I listen to Alex Jones.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When George Floyd -- that all happened I stopped following CNN, Fox News.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN sucks man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why do you think CNN sucks?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because you suck. You're the worst news ever. So -- (INAUDIBLE).
O'SULLIVAN: Where do you get your news from?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OAN. OAN.
O'SULLIVAN: OAN.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're a lot more honest thank you. Even Fox News is crooked.
O'SULLIVAN: Even Fox?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, good luck bud.
Only one good on Fox is Tucker Carlson. Maybe a little bit of Greg Gutfeld. The rest of them -- slanted liberals.
O'SULLIVAN: Doesn't Trump like Fox. He calls them it
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No anymore probably.
O'SULLIVAN: He called in on election day.
(CROSSTALK)
O'SULLIVAN: He called in on election day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe.
O'SULLIVAN: He did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe.
O'SULLIVAN: No, he did.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know.
O'SULLIVAN: I watched it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Donie O'Sullivan reporting there. We appreciate his efforts.
Former U.S. president Barack Obama weighing in on this months election. Obama speaking to CBS News while promoting his new memoir. And he addressed the current state of the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GAYLE KING, CBS NEWS HOST: 72 million people voted for Donald Trump. What does that say to you about the state of this country?
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, what it says is that we are still deeply divided. The power of that alternative worldview that's presented in the media that those voters consume, it carries a lot of weight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Obama was also asked if he had any advice for his long-time friend and ally, President-Elect Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: He doesn't need my advice and I will help him in any ways that I can. I'm not planning to suddenly work on the White House staff or something.
KING: No cabinet position for you?
OBAMA: There are probably some things I would not be doing because Michelle would leave me.
KING: Yes.
Obama: She'd be like what? You're doing what?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[01:39:52]
HOLMES: All right. Coming up here on CNN NEWSROOM, an historic moment as Elon Musk's SpaceX launches four astronauts into orbit. Why it was a groundbreaking day for the future of space travel.
Also they'll get a good view of this up there. Hurricane Iota gaining strength as it barrels towards an already storm battered Central America.
We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, zero. Ignition.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And Resilience is rising, not even gravity contains humanity when we explore as one for all.
HOLMES: A giant leap there for Elon Musk's SpaceX. The company has launched 4 astronauts into orbit to meet up with the International Space Station. They will dock in about 21 hours, and spend the next six months there -- a mission that could pave the way for commercial space travel.
Leroy Chiao is a former astronaut and member of the SpaceX safety advisory board. He joins me now from Houston, Texas. It's been a minute. Great to see you Leroy.
I mean there are lessons to be learned from every launch, every mission into space as you know well. What lessons are SpaceX and NASA hoping to learn from this mission.
LEROY CHIAO, SPACEX SAFETY ADVISORY BOARD: I think what is going on here, we are seeing the commercialization of space, of transportation to and from the International Space Station. This is SpaceX's second mission, of course, they had a very successful flight test just a few months ago, this being their first operational test tonight.
Very successful launch, from everything that I so, it looked like there were no glitches, no major problems.
First stage was recovered. The crews in orbit, and getting ready to go travel to the International State Station.
From my perspective, it looks great.
HOLMES: Absolutely and it was -- it's always pretty to watch. And you of course, have been into space several times. I mean what are the astronauts thinking and doing now as they are on route? You know, 20- something hours until they get there. What are they thinking and doing?
[01:45:03]
CHIAO: Well, they are obviously very pleased to have had -- what looks like a very flawless launch. No significant anomalies that I could see. So they are happy to be in orbit.
You know, they've got a new first-time flyer in Victor Glover and I'm sure he's ecstatic to be in space for the first time be with other astronauts, all veterans and ready to give back to the International Space Station.
And so they're doing all the preparations here for all the several burns they'll have to do. The adjustments to the orbits to approach the station and hopefully dock successfully. And as you mentioned, this is around 20 hours.
HOLMES: Yes. How has the involvement of private enterprise impacted the space program? Good or bad.
CHIAO: I think it is been very positive, because as you know, several years ago, as a member of the White House appointed committee to review U.S. Human space flight plans. And part of what we put together as an option for the administration was to get these commercial companies to develop the capability to deliver, and return at NASA astronauts, some other and international astronauts commercially. Kind of a rental car model or maybe an Uber model if you will where instead of maintaining the infrastructure within NASA, NASA can contract with these services helping jumpstart these efforts.
And this is a great example where SpaceX now they're second flight this opens up the future. It opens up possibilities for other commercial companies to book rides, your flight with SpaceX down the road.
Hopefully early next year, Boeing will join in the fray in a similar model. We're opening up a whole new era of commercial space, transportation.
HOLMES: I like the Uber analogy. I think it's $58 million per seat. That's a heck of an Uber.
I wanted to ask you this so, too. If NASA doesn't need like Russia to get its astronauts up to the space station anymore is it the end of what has been a, you know, real era of cooperation between the two countries. What could be impacted in terms of international cooperation if anything?
CHIAO: Oh, not at all. I mean NASA will still be work hand in hand with Russia on the international space station. You know, Russia's the other major partner in the ISS program. You know, we depend on their mission control center, their cosmonauts, their vehicles, their re- supply ships as well. And so, no, the collaboration will continue. The only differences is now we have another option to get our astronauts and perhaps some of the other international astronauts to and from ISS.
We're not dependent so really under rush. And so I think that makes them happy to because in the past, we've had some issues where, you know, it kind of threatened the Soyuz (ph) ability to get to and from the station for a while. And so now, we've got another route and that makes everyone more comfortable.
HOLMES: Right. exactly. Great. Very exciting stuff. Everybody loves a space story and everybody loves Leroy Chiao, too.
Good to see you, man. Thank you.
CHIAO: Good to see you, thank you.
HOLMES: Now, the president of Colombia has been viewing the devastation in regions hit by deadly landslides and floods. Show you some scenes there. Look at that, playing out in several provinces where people were climbing on to roofs to get to safety. So far, several people have been killed hundreds forced to evacuate.
And just north of there, a hurricane, growing in strength and taking aim at a storm-ravaged Central America.
CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is tracking Iota for us. What are you seeing, Pedram.?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey Michael, Good seeing you. Since the last time we spoke about 90 minutes ago, this storm should turn their heads and intensified further from a category 2 at that point to now a category 4 major hurricane here on approach towards portions of Nicaragua and Honduras.
And I noticed one of these islands, this particular island, which is the San Andreas Island, just outside of the scope of this particular storm. On a approach here over the next few hours.
Again, we're talking about a major hurricane here, among the strong observed in when you look at the course of history, only a handful of storms that are these magnitude of impact in this region, one of which was about two weeks ago.
And this particular storm on a approach towards a very, very similar spot here at Puerto cabezas, where, you know -- which is where Adam made landfall about two weeks ago.
So now a category 4 on approach. We think landfall sometime into the overnight, early morning hours there of Monday night into Tuesday morning. Should make landfall as a category four across a near identical spot.
Of course, the concern is with that particular storm, left behind nearly 200 fatalities, you know, levees there are destroyed, dams have reached capacity. And water still on the ground up.
(INAUDIBLE) acquired quite a bit of water on the ground across some of these communities so, the last thing you want to see is another major hurricane here, making landfall, potentially in a very similar spot.
[01:50:03]
JAVAHERI: And again, statistically speaking to have a category four or stronger storm impact Nicaragua, it would happen once every 37 years. It is going to happen twice in a matter of two weeks across this region.
And of course, needless to say the amount of rainfall, the devastation already in place, all of it could lead to humanitarian crisis across portions of Nicaragua and/or Honduras once the system makes landfall, Michael.
HOLMES: All Right. Pedram, thanks for keeping an eye on it.
That's potentially devastating. Pedram Javaheri there, thank you.
We will take a quick break. When we come back it was a Masters like no other. First, a COVID delay, then a majors record shattered by that this guy, Dustin Johnson's big win. When we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: American Dustin Johnson is donning the famous green jacket after winning the 84th Masters held unusually late this year. And he did it with the fewest strokes ever.
P0:14:94:8[
HOLMES: Andy Scholes with the story.
[01:54:51]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDY SCHOLES, CNN WORLD SPORTS: Well after that big third round on Saturday that gave Dustin Johnson the lead, he was able to go out there in the final round of the Masters on Sunday, fight through the nerves and cruise to victory to put on his first ever green jacket.
And I followed D.J. around the course for most of his day. Looked shaky early on but was able to settle in, shoots four under for his final round. Ends the tournament, 20 under par, which is a Masters record.
D.J.'s little brother, Austin who caddies for him, tearing up on 18 as they were finishing up.
His fiancee, Paulina Gretzky running to give him a big hug and kiss to congratulate him.
Now D.J. grew up just about an hour from Augusta in Colombia, South Carolina. He dreamed of winning this tournament as a kid and he was very emotional when speaking about finally putting on his first green jacket.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUSTIN JOHNSON, GOLFER: No, just growing up so close to here, you know, it's always been, you know, a tournament that, you know, since I've been on tour that, you know, since I played my first Masters, has been, you know, the tournament I wanted to win the most.
As a kid, you know, I dreamed of playing in the masters and you know, the dream about putting on a green jacket.
I couldn't be more happy and, you know, I think I look pretty good in green, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SCHOLES: D.J. had been 0 for 4 closing out majors when leading after three rounds and he said after this win, it feels really good to finally close one out.
And there wasn't much drama either. D.J.'s five-stroke win the most here at the Masters since Tiger won back in 1997.
Tiger meanwhile had a wild day. He hit into the water on 12 -- not one, not two but three times. Last year Tiger survived 12 in the final round while others found the water which helped him win the tournament. This time around though not so lucky. Tiger a 10 on a hole for the first time in his career.
But he actually fought back with birdies at five of his final six holes. Take away that 10, Tiger had himself a decent tournament.
Now, he won't have to wait long for the next Masters. The 2021 tournament, now just five months away. This tournament, certainly odd to not have the fans out there on the course. Here is hoping they return in 2021.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Andy Scholes for you.
Thanks for watching, spending part of your day with me.
I'm Michael Holmes. I will have more news for you after the break.
[01:57:09]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
