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New Day
Giuliani's Post-Election Fight; Missouri Doctor Makes Emotional Plea; Reggie Love is Interviewed about Obama's Comments. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired November 16, 2020 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:30:00]
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DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Former federal prosecutor Ken McCallion, who specializes in Russian organized crime and once worked with Giuliani, believes Giuliani may be unwittingly doing the Russian's business in this election.
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KEN MCCALLION, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: What they're doing is -- is completely 100 percent in the interest of Russia, which is to create as much damage and confusion to the U.S.
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GRIFFIN: And it's working. The lies and false reports sending thousands into the streets for a pro-Trump protest this past weekend, and perhaps convincing millions of Americans to doubt the U.S. election system. Staunch Republican and former Trump National Security Advisor John Bolton says it's a damaging strategy that won't end after Trump leaves office.
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Real distrust in the system, casting doubt on the integrity of our electoral system, the constitutional process, the Russians and the Chinese couldn't ask for any more. What Trump's doing is potentially dangerous for the country.
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GRIFFIN: Alisyn, we've talked to former colleagues of Giuliani who question whether there's real cognitive decline leading to a lack of judgment. They just don't understand what has happened to Rudy Giuliani.
One even noting that because Donald Trump doesn't even pay his attorney, Rudy is destroying his reputation for free.
Alisyn.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: That part is astonishing, Drew. Thank you very much for going through all of them. It's helpful to have it all in one place.
CNN's senior political analyst John Avlon joins us now.
John, you worked with Rudy for many, many years, wrote his speeches. At one time I know you had told us that Rudy's philosophy was sort of relevance at any cost. Do you see something different now?
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I don't think that's his philosophy, but I do think there's an ex-mayor's disease where you become addicted to attention. And I think Rudy has been determined to remain the star of his own opera but he's lost the plot and it's sad to see. It is heart-breaking for someone who was proud to work for him. And he deserves to be remembered for what he did as mayor, what he did during 9/11, what he did as a U.S. attorney.
But this final chapter, I'm afraid, will define him. And it's the source of a lot of anguish for people who served with him in city hall at senior levels. It's heartbreaking to see members of the Trump White House disrespect and denigrate him behind his back as he plays the attack dog for the president and is not being his best self. He has been too easily duped by different conspiracy theories that are floated towards him. I believe he thinks he's fighting the good fight, but the evidence simply is not there.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Look, this is on him. I'm sorry. I mean he has got the responsibility for this.
AVLON: Yes.
BERMAN: Unless what you're saying is that he doesn't have control of his faculties. So is this loss of intellectual capability, is that what you're saying, or lack of moral compass?
AVLON: Look, I think Rudy is not who he -- who he was at his best state. There's no question, unfortunately. I'm not going to diagnose somebody on air. That's not my place to do it.
But what's clear is good people can disagree about politics. What you can't disagree about is a faith in a free and fair election when you offer up evidence that doesn't stand up to anything resembling scrutiny. And that's the position that Rudy has placed himself in. He has relevance, he has the president's ear, but I'm heartbroken that he has sacrificed his reputation in this specific fight because he's better than this, or he was, but this is how he's choosing to go out. Everyone's got to carry their own hide to market. But for those of us who were proud to work with him, it's been sad and distressing to see.
CAMEROTA: Yes, totally understand.
John, thank you very much for all of that insight.
All right, coronavirus cases reaching records almost daily, breaking the records, we should say. One doctor calling it a losing war as hospitals hit their capacity. What he is desperately calling on his own governor to do to save lives.
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BERMAN: This morning there are record coronavirus hospitalizations in Missouri and it's just breaking the health care system there. One key health official is pleading for help.
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DR. ALEX GARZA, ST. LOUIS METROPOLITAN PANDEMIC TASK FORCE: Our health care heroes have fought valiantly day after day, but we have no reserves. We have no backup that we can suddenly muster to come in and save the day.
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BERMAN: Joining us now is Dr. Alex Garza, chief community health officer of SSM health and a member of the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force.
Dr. Garza, thank you for being with us this morning. Thank you for what you're doing or trying to do there.
Why the frustration in your voice? What are people missing here?
DR. ALEX GARZA, ST. LOUIS METROPOLITAN PANDEMIC TASK FORCE: Yes. Well, thanks for having me on, first off.
And let me just say, I represent a lot of health caregivers, so it's not just me. I just view myself as the voice of all these health care providers.
But what makes it so frustrating is I think we can clearly see what's going on and we can clearly see where we're headed towards and we know that there are things that we can do right now to prevent a catastrophe from happening. And they seem to be either falling on deaf ears or there just seems to be too much delay in avoiding what we know is going to be happening in the future.
BERMAN: How much pressure is this putting on you and on the medical professionals, the doctors and nurses, the front line workers?
GARZA: Sure. It's putting a tremendous amount of strain on our health care workers. And, you know, it's even more straining, I think, on those front line health care workers than it is even on myself. You know, I work as part of the task force to try and organize the systems to a very, you know, administrative level, but it is even that much harder for the folks that have to care for these patients day in and day out, many of them are the last face that these patients see because we don't allow visitors into our COVID units and you can just imagine the mental anguish that that places on these health care workers.
[08:40:02]
It's -- it is astounding. BERMAN: I -- you know, I don't want to force you to be the bearer of
bad news, but what happens not if at this point but when the numbers get even worse in Missouri?
GARZA: Yes, that's -- that's something that's difficult to think about. But we know that we have to plan for it. And so that's what we do. We try and plan for what we believe is going to be the most likely scenario. And in looking at our models right now, that's a pretty scary projection. We know that we have to get the infections down because it takes time for that to then impact our hospital admissions and our deaths. And unless we can turn it around quickly, that is what we're going to be facing. And so if this continues, we are absolutely going to need more staff, more help, more of everything to deal with the crush of patients that we see coming at us.
BERMAN: What does that mean, you know, if I'm in St. Louis and I have appendicitis, what does it mean if I show up at the hospital in two weeks?
GARZA: Yes, so, you know, we'll always take care of our patients, but what that does mean -- so if there are patients in our rural communities that need transfer to a higher level of care, there may not be an ICU bed or a capacity to take those patients.
We had a disturbing story last week of a patient in southern Missouri that had to fly all the way to Iowa to get a surgery done because there was just no capacity to take this -- take care of this patient in the state of Missouri. And that is a frightening scenario for everybody in the state, not just in St. Louis.
BERMAN: And I know you're calling on measures to be taken statewide in Missouri.
Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer is trying to put some measures into place to stop the rise in cases there and rise in hospitalizations. And Dr. Scott Atlas, who is the lead adviser at this point on the president's Coronavirus Task Force, is calling on the people of Michigan to rise up against these measures. What kind of message do you think that sends? As someone who's trying to fight this virus, what message does that send?
GARZA: Well, that's a very disturbing message. And, you know, as physicians we take an oath to do no harm. And we take that seriously. And so that is not helpful at all. I guess I would turn that a little bit and ask our citizens and our health care workers to rise up to demand more action by our state governments more so than the other way around.
BERMAN: Just, finally, you know, how much more in reserve do you all have in battling at this point?
GARZA: Well, I'll tell you, you know, we're at the 90, 95 plus on capacity right now. We are beginning to ramp down our -- some of our operations in order to make room for the cases that we know are going to be coming in. And that doesn't help anybody. Those people will still need to get health care, it will just be delayed and it will get that much worse. And so it just compounds the problem.
You know, we'll try as best we can, but health care is a finite resource. Health care workers are a finite resource. We just can't make those on the spur of the moment. We just can't create ICUs on the spur of the moment. And so we're planning for the worst. We're hoping it doesn't get there, but that's what we have to do.
BERMAN: Dr. Garza, I appreciate you joining us this morning. I appreciate the efforts that you and your colleagues are making. And I hope people listen. You know, wear a mask. Don't gather in large groups. Stay at home with your family. Don't have other people over. At this point we all can do our part to make your job easier to fight this pandemic and beat it back. So, thank you so much for what you're doing.
GARZA: Certainly appreciate it. Thank you.
BERMAN: All right, overnight, a revealing interview from former President Obama comparing the outgoing President Donald Trump to a comic book character. We're going to speak to one of his closest aides, next.
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CAMEROTA: In an interview with "60 Minutes" last night, President Barack Obama saying it's time for President Trump to concede the election.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: A president is a public servant. They are temporary occupants of the office by design. And when your time is up, then it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego and your own interests and your own disappointments. My advice to President Trump is, if you want, at this late stage in the game, to be remembered as somebody who put country first, it's time for you to do the same thing.
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CAMEROTA: All right, joining us now is Reggie Love, President Obama's former special assistant and personal aide.
Reggie, great to see you.
REGGIE LOVE, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT AND PERSONAL AIDE TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Alisyn, thank you for having me on. And John as well. I hope you guys are hanging in there.
BERMAN: Glad I snuck in. Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Yes. We are -- we are hanging in there at the moment.
Before we get to President Obama's words last night, I know you spoke to him early on election day and I'm just curious what his mood was or what he said because the outcome was far from decided at that point.
LOVE: Yes, I think he was pretty optimistic about people being engaged and involved in this upcoming election and the idea that we would have -- that there would be historic turnout and that people would believe in democracy and believe in the idea that their voice matters.
[08:50:09]
BERMAN: So, obviously, you know him better than most. And when we hear him talk about the current situation with the transition and the election, he's disappointed, but how upset is he? Can you tell how worked up he is over this because sometimes it's hard to tell with the even keel. I mean on a scale from one to ten, what's his level of outrage here?
LOVE: Well, look, I -- you know, I think in the interview he does a really -- he very much explains this idea that democracy, even though imperfect and even though the country that we live in is an imperfect union, that we do all have a responsibility as -- not only as voters and constituents, but also public officials and office holders to do everything that we can to continue to try to create a more perfect union and to hold up the principles that make democracy work.
And, you know, and I think his comments were pretty pointed that, you know, Trump has an opportunity to do that, though he hasn't done it yet, you know, I think that it's a responsibility that I think the president -- that President Obama believes president Trump currently has and, you know, and I think when President Trump was elected I don't think Democrats or President Obama himself were extremely thrilled with that outcome.
But, nonetheless, you know, handled it with dignity and with grace and with understanding that his actions and how he had a transition of power had an impact on how democracy would play out.
So, yes. So I think, you know, I think it's tough.
CAMEROTA: Hey, Reggie, have you had a chance to read any of President Obama's 768 tome of a --
BERMAN: That's just part one.
CAMEROTA: I know. No, I know. I know. I get it.
Have you had a chance to read some passages?
LOVE: I have started reading it but have not finished it, unfortunately. I feel very embarrassed to say that. But I look forward to -- to finishing it.
CAMEROTA: Oh, you're going to be in trouble.
Because I've not read it yet either, but Jeffrey Goldberg at "The Atlantic" said that in it President Obama does something clever where he saves his best lines -- he assigns his best lines to his wife Michelle and to you. And I was wondering if you had approved any of those lines or seen any of it before publishing?
LOVE: I have seen some of the lines and I don't know if I got the best lines, but I do think that he said, look, I gave you some good quotes. And so I hope that, you know, I'm not overly embarrassed.
CAMEROTA: It sounds great. It sounds like you're being immortalized in a great way.
Do you know any of them, any of the good lines?
LOVE: Well, I think that will be for the readers to determine which ones are the good ones.
BERMAN: Yes.
They're all so great is what you're saying. I hear you.
Listen, with Scott Pelley last night, the former president talked -- took us back, actually, to 2006-2007 when then Senator Obama made the decision to run for president and how difficult a decision it was for the Obama family and how unpopular it was for Michelle Obama or with Michelle Obama. So I want you to listen to this exchange. It was interesting.
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SCOTT PELLEY, "60 MINUTES": You quote her as saying, the answer is no, I do not want you running for president. God, Barack, when is it going to be enough?
Why did that not stop you?
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Look, it's a legitimate question. Keep in mind the context here. We had -- just two years earlier I had run for the U.S. Senate in an unlikely race. Two years before that I had run for Congress.
PELLEY: In a race you lost.
OBAMA: In a race I lost. A couple years before that, I had run for the state senate. We've got two young kids. Michelle's still working. And I ask myself in the book, you know, how much of this is just megalomania, how much of this is vanity.
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BERMAN: So how much of that did you see during the campaign, Reggie?
LOVE: Well, look, I have to say that the comments around how he and Michelle talked about his decision to run for president, those comments were pretty -- were new to me. It wasn't new around this idea of how much stress he was under around trying to maintain some sort of balance of being a father and husband during the campaign.
[08:55:10] You know, I can remember points in times where we would be on trips and, you know, you'd have a bad story about someone saying why is Barack Obama running for president in early 2007 when it seemed a little more clear that Hillary Clinton might have been a safer choice, or a better option, and him saying to Axelrod and to Robert Gibbs, like, you know, I can't believe that I let you guys convince me into doing this. You know, I could be home with my family.
And I can remember me at times saying, you know, look, you know, sir, like, I'm having the time of my life. I think this is great for the country.
But, look, I think, you know, if you look at -- if you remember some of the stories that Barack Obama used to talk about during the campaign, one of the ones that always struck me was that he had just paid off his student -- their student loans like very shortly before becoming president, right?
CAMEROTA: Oh, yes.
LOVE: And so when you think about the challenges that real families are facing around trying to, you know, balance the books and trying to do all of the things that they can do to be financially responsible, and I think it's a very reasonable question.
BERMAN: Yes.
CAMEROTA: Yes.
BERMAN: Yes.
Reggie, thank you so much for being with us this morning. It helps put it all in perspective. Really appreciate it.
CAMEROTA: Great talking to you, Reggie.
LOVE: All right, thank you. You guys have a great day.
CAMEROTA: You, too.
All right, there is a major breakthrough in the race for a coronavirus vaccine.
CNN's coverage continues right after this.
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