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Coronavirus Cases Continue Rising in States Across U.S.; President Trump has Confrontation with Reporter During Press Conference over Questions about Conceding Election to President-Elect Joe Biden; U.S. Hits New Record for Coronavirus Hospitalizations. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 27, 2020 - 08:00   ET

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

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: NEW DAY continues right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is a special edition of NEW DAY. Alisyn is off. Erica Hill in this morning. Great to have you here.

HILL: Nice to be with you.

BERMAN: So on this morning after Thanksgiving, hospitals from coast to coast are stretched to capacity with more than 90,000 Americans waking up in hospital beds. This is a horrifying graphic you're looking at right there as the hospitalizations have doubled in the last month. The number rising to record highs every day over the last 17 days. The U.S. averaging 165,000 new cases of coronavirus every 24 hours. President-elect Joe Biden spent part of his Thanksgiving thanking health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. His national security briefings begin on Monday.

As for the defeated president, for the first time since losing the election President Trump took questions from reporters. The answers, insofar as they were answers, included lies, attacks, and allegations that are just completely untethered from reality. And, remember, this was Thanksgiving.

HILL: It was Thanksgiving. And in those answers the president did actually commit for the first time to leaving the White House in January. However, he indicated he may never actually concede. Take a listen to just how worked up the president got with one reporter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to be clear, if the Electoral College votes for Joe Biden, will you concede?

TRUMP: If they do, they made a mistake, because this election -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But will you --

TRUMP: -- was a fraud. So, no, I can't say that at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You won't --

TRUMP: I think it's a possibility. They're trying to -- look, between you people -- don't talk to me that way. You're just a lightweight. Don't talk to me -- don't talk to -- I'm the president of the United States. Don't ever talk to the president that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining us now, the reporter who the president erupted at, White House correspondent Jeff Mason, who is not a lightweight, as we know, joining us this morning. Good to have you here. I'm just curious, I have noticed, and I think most people have noticed that anytime the president gets a question that he does not want to answer, he pushes back very strongly and tries to push back on the person asking the question, not even necessarily attacking the question, sometimes it's a stupid question, but attacking the person, which is what you were on the receiving end of last night. Do you think there's anything else that went into it? Did you notice anything else different about the president's demeanor last night?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: No. I think you probably hit the nail on the head there. When he has a question or something that he feels cornered by, he will start to answer. And in this case yesterday, I had asked that particular question twice, and he filibustered a little bit, which is why I was pressing him. And he just didn't like that.

And luckily I was part of a really good team of reporters yesterday in the White House press pool, and my colleague Joe Colvin from A.P. followed up, and he ended up saying he would leave the White House. But I think in general despite his decision to take questions yesterday, he just, he didn't like the tenor of the question or the pressing.

BERMAN: It was Thanksgiving.

MASON: It was.

BERMAN: He attacked you for just no reason. Jeff, you were asking the question so respectfully. I have to say, he's got some problem with you that I can't quite figure out. He attacked you for wearing masks twice, and now this on Thanksgiving. It was just bizarre. And to think that the news out of this event was the president acknowledging that he will leave the White House on January 20th, it says a lot about where we are as a nation and who he is that that was even in question, doesn't it?

MASON: Well, it is definitely surreal that that's a question we had to ask, for sure, but of course, as you rightly noted, it's the first time that he has taken questions in about two-and-a-half weeks since Election Day, and since he has been alleging, without giving evidence, this massive fraud. And so we needed to ask him all of these things. And, of course, President-elect Joe Biden is moving ahead with his transition, and we have the sitting president not making clear what he's going to do.

And he didn't make a lot of that clear yesterday in some of the other questions and answers. He didn't want to clarify if he would attend inauguration. And initially he didn't want to answer my question about what he would do if the Electoral College voted for Biden, but eventually said he would leave the White House. So yes, John, that was news. Amazingly, that was news.

BERMAN: Can I just ask, what does it feel like to be attacked like that by the president of the United States?

MASON: Well, it's not awesome. But it's your job to just keep going, and that's what I did, and that's what the rest of our team did. Our team in this case, I mean the press pool. But it caught me off guard. I really -- I was not expecting him to yell. But he did and he was -- he was upset.

[08:05:07]

HILL: It's fascinating, too, because there was nothing, as John pointed out, there was nothing disrespectful in your tone, nothing inappropriate in the way that you were speaking to the president of the United States, which I'm guessing is the way that you speak to just people in general.

Susan Glasser earlier this morning was saying to us that her image of those moments last night were of a very weak president with no one around him to tell him that this is the image that he's putting forth. But that just made me think we know that there have been at some points in his presidency people around the president who can tell him things, but the bottom line is he has to actually listen to it and to want to take that direction. Are we at a point where -- there was very little going into the election, but are we at a point where there is literally no one right now who can say to the president, this is a good idea right now for you, and perhaps for your legacy, this is a bad idea? Is there anyone he'll listen to?

MASON: Well, that's a good question, and I didn't hear what Susan said earlier, so I'm glad you shared that. I think she's right in many cases in that for the last two-and-a-half weeks, this is a president who actually likes to take questions. He really is, and I think he's been advised for a few weeks not to because of the questions that of course we have to ask, which we did yesterday. And probably because some of his advisers anticipate how he would react, and that's what he did. He reacted with anger yesterday, and that will now be a part of his legacy. And this entire response from Election Day through yesterday and through the next roughly two months before January 20th will be part of that and part of his history.

BERMAN: Jeff, we've got to let you go here, but what was the deal with the desk there? It looked like a parent-teacher conference for a third-grade classroom where you're forced to sit in a tiny little desk, ram yourself in there. What's going on with that? MASON: I saw the reaction to that on Twitter. It didn't strike me as

anything that unusual. They just set up the diplomatic room for him to speak to the troops. I've seen desks like that before, I don't know if I've seen that particular smaller one. But I don't think there's anything to be read into it. It was just staging.

(LAUGHTER)

BERMAN: Jeff Mason, look, we appreciate you being with us this morning, and we really appreciate the work you do. You treat people with respect, you ask good questions. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

MASON: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: Joining us now, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Alice Stewart and CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers. He's the author of "My Vanishing Country." Alice, you do communications. What the hell was that, honestly? It was Thanksgiving.

(LAUGHTER)

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That was, to quote Jeff, it was not awesome. And, look, yes, the president likes to ask questions and answer questions, but he likes to answer questions that he likes. And when we're talking about this subject, it obviously is one that gets under his skin.

Look, I will be the first so say I voted for this president, I wanted him to win, but the majority of Americans didn't agree. And I think we should all accept that. Look, I think the president is not helping the situation, not just for himself politically, but for America, when he says a lot of what he said yesterday, questioning the outcome of the election, saying it's a rigged election, saying there's massive voter fraud.

And to be quite honest, he could help journalists and he could help supporters like myself, if there is widespread voter fraud, please show us some evidence. We would love to see it. And I'm talking about real evidence, not waving an affidavit around, not phoning into a meeting in Pennsylvania. Bakari is a smart lawyer here with us this morning, but I'm enough -- I know enough about law that waving around an affidavit and phoning it in is not going to make the case in a court of law. You have to not only make the case in the court of opinion but in a court of law, and right now, unfortunately, we're not seeing that.

HILL: He is firmly in the court of opinion, as we know. That is what he's going after.

One of the things that was remarkable yesterday is he was asked specifically, if you are continuing to say that there were all these issues with the presidential election, how is that going to help you turn out the vote in Georgia? And in his response, he once again questioned what was happening in Georgia, saying people are very concerned about election security, it's a fraudulent system, Bakari, going on to once again attack the secretary of state. But he's going to go there to help campaign for Senators Perdue and Loeffler. I still don't understand how he can have it both ways.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Well, we're about to find out. And I think that Alice, if she was working for Senators Perdue and Loeffler would have her work cut out for her. They are going to have to thread a very delicate needle, because if you listen to the words of Donald Trump and his supporters, Kelly Loeffler doesn't even deserve to be in this primary. They think it was rigged to take away votes from Doug Collins. It's a fascinating situation. The Democrats just have to sit back and watch and focus on getting your own voters out.

[08:10:09]

I've always said the reason you haven't heard from individuals like Lindsey Graham, you haven't heard from the Mitch McConnells of the world, who all know that this race is over, but they're displaying this calculated cowardice is what I'll call it, because this is all about January 5th for them. And they need that Trump base which came out and surprised us all to come out again, and they are trying to figure out by taking this bull in a china shop down to Georgia next week, how will they be able to thread that needle between him throwing out these baseless, fraudulent, asinine claims versus him actually bringing his supporters back out. I just -- it's one that I'm not sure if they can actually walk.

BERMAN: Bakari, how do you think the president-elect has been handling all this? Because Joe Biden just doesn't seem as worked up about the president's antics as a lot of Democrats, as a lot of people in the country right now. Has he handled it well? And where is he, do you think, in the transition at large?

SELLERS: So, it's kind of fascinating to watch, because I will throw myself under the bus and say I'm one of those Democrats who gets anxious, who says we should do this and we should file this lawsuit and we should move faster. But Joe Biden when he first announced his campaign for president back in the primary, he said he was going to be a stable, sturdy hand. He was going to run a disciplined race. He was going to be cool and calm. He was going to be collected. He was going to be the antithesis to what Donald Trump is.

And he won the primary that way. People voted for him because he was the antithesis to Donald Trump. And just yesterday you saw Donald Trump lashing out at a reporter, calling them a lightweight, while Joe Biden, the counterpoint, Joe Biden was calling frontline and essential service workers and telling them thank you. And so he's doing the same thing he's always done, which is just be calm and collected, be disciplined. They're still moving forward with the transition, now they get the hope they need. And he's just letting Trump act like he always acts, which is a buffoon. And he is going to be the antithesis to that.

HILL: Alice, really quickly, Donald Trump is obviously not in the ballot for this Senate runoff, but with him planning to go to Georgia, who do you think that could potentially help more? Who will it motivate more to come out, Democrats or Republicans, because he gets people to the polls?

STEWART: Certainly. It will help a lot of Republicans that he does have support with. I'm from DeKalb County right outside of Atlanta, and that area was traditionally ruby red. Now it's turning certainly more blue, but Trump can go to areas that are in the more suburban areas where he does have strong GOP support and rally them. Fortunately, Republicans generally have a greater turnout in runoff races, and he is going to remind people of that, as well as Mike Pence. We have other senators like Tom Cotton.

But the key is to try and stop this blue wave that has really worked over the years to really infiltrate Georgia and turn out voters, because this Senate race is the wall in the Senate to help maintain some kind of divided government in Washington, and it is critical. I encourage all Republicans in Georgia to get out there and vote and have your voice be heard, because with Joe Biden in the presidency it's important to have some kind of a check and balance.

BERMAN: Of course, Donald Trump won't even acknowledge that Joe Biden will be in the presidency which is part of the conundrum that Bakari was just describing there. Alice Stewart, Bakari Sellers, happy late Thanksgiving to both of you. Thanks for being with us this morning.

SELLERS: Thank you.

STEWART: Thank you, John.

BERMAN: A record number of Americans battling coronavirus in the hospital this morning. What will happen next with this surge in cases we are seeing? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:17:21]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, more than 90,000 Americans are waking up in the hospital with coronavirus. That is a new all-time high.

And the number of hospitalizations has more than doubled in the last month, and you can see by that chart right there it's not slowing down. The U.S. is averaging about 1,600 deaths per day now, new deaths reported every day, that's the highest it's been since May.

On top of this millions of people are traveling this weekend. Sunday could be the busiest travel day of the year following Thanksgiving. How will that affect things?

Joining us now, Dr. Colleen Kraft. She's the associate chief medical officer at Emory University Hospital. And Dr. Hassan Khoul, he's the chair of the Department of Critical Care and Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

And, Dr. Khoul, let me start with you, because, Ohio, we've spoken to the governor, obviously, there's been concern about the rising cases there, hospitals stretched. What are you seeing this morning in your state?

DR. HASSAN KHOUL, CHAIR, DEPARTMENT OF CRITICAL CARE MEDICINE, CLEVELAND CLINIC: Good morning, and thank you for having me on your show. We are very, very concerned about what we're seeing in the state of Ohio in our hospitals at this point, and in the intensive care units where we are now. We are seeing an increasing significant increase in the number of COVID-19 patients being hospitalized and they're coming to our intensive care units and they're occupying more and more beds.

We are at a turning point at this point during this pandemic. We have not seen not even close that number of hospitalization and ICU patients with COVID-19 and it's not just impacting COVID-19 patients, it's impacting the entire actually patients who come to the Cleveland Clinic, the largest health care system in Ohio.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And that's the concern, right? What happens to other people who need care, whether it's if you're having a heart attack, there was a report earlier this week that some pregnant women way not be able to get care.

Dr. Kraft, when we look at that it's also not just about the beds but it's about having the staff and staff we are hearing repeatedly they're burned out and there aren't a lot of backups.

DR. COLLEEN KRAFT, ASSOCIATE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, EMORY UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: Yes, we are very tired in the hospital setting as a hospital administrator this is something I think about every single day. I look up our numbers every day, I look up our staffing ratios, I look at our respiratory therapists, our lab technologists and people are not each sometimes willing to come in for incentive pay. They're tired.

When they do come in, there is a lot of work to be done, there is a lot of stress. They see loved ones separated from their patient family members. You know, when we were just talking about ICU beds, people can't get their serious surgeries if there is no ICU beds available because of COVID.

[08:20:09]

So this is really becoming a tragedy within a tragedy.

BERMAN: You know, so often I feel like we're warning people about what it's becoming. I get the sense, Dr. Khoul, it's here. I mean, it's here.

Hospitalizations are at the level where I think that you've been warning them for months and months. New cases are at the level that you've been warning about for months and months.

So I just want to know, again, in the sense of warning, where we're going to be in two weeks if things don't suddenly change.

KHOUL: You're absolutely right. And we haven't peaked yet. What you're seeing is exponentially increasing in the number of cases here, and as Dr. Kraft mentioned, this is about our staffing, our caregivers, they are part of this community, too, and they are falling sick as well. It is disheartening to see some of our colleagues, our nurses, our respiratory therapists, our physicians falling ill and looking them in the eyes, too, and see how this is impacting them.

This is as real as it can be and we have to -- we have to follow all the things that we know work, the practices that we have been emphasizing, wearing your mask, wearing your mask to cover the nose and the mouth, not below your nose, as we have seen sometimes. Washing your hands, the social distancing and now are the times during the holidays, avoiding any social gathering that can actually promote the transmission of this disease.

We urge everybody, again, to be very careful with this. This is impacting all of us, impacting actually everybody who is now part of this community and it's not just about COVID-19, it is, as Dr. Kraft mentioned, it's about actually other patients who need our case and if our staffing is being so impacted we are going to have a very hard time doing that.

We are tired. This is definitely not an easy thing to do. Our teams are tired. But we have to continue to go there and do what's right because there is actually help on the horizon if we can stretch these things out for a few more weeks.

HILL: As we heard someone say earlier this morning, this is a real test of our maturity and whether or not we have the patience I think at this point to do what we all need to be done.

Dr. Colleen Kraft, Dr. Hassan Khoul, thank you both for being with us this morning and thank you both for what you're doing every day.

KHOUL: Thank you. Thank you for having us.

HILL: As the pandemic worsens and the unemployment crisis continues, we have some important tips for you to help you survive this financial uncertainty. Those are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:48]

HILL: First time unemployment claims rose for a second consecutive week as the pandemic grips America and the ripple effects are really rattling the U.S. economy and the impact is not over. Millions of Americans as you know are out of work, struggling to get by. So how do you survive this financial uncertainty?

Joining us now is Jean Chatzky. She's the CEO of hermoney.com and a financial ambassador for AARP.

Good to see you this morning.

I think it's the uncertainty that is the most troubling for many people, even if they still have a job right now, you know, we see the economic outlook that's coming and the concerns that these financial institutions have. So as you look at all of that, Wall Street and Main Street are not the same thing and that's the message that I think is trying to be put forth.

Can you explain why they're different and we shouldn't be necessarily watching the Dow?

JEAN CHATZKY, AARP FINANCIAL AMBASSADOR: Yeah, the Dow is only meaningful for people who are invested in it and half of Americans have no money in the stock market. So we have to remember that at all times.

You're right that the pain isn't over. We are coming up against the expiration of a couple of big pandemic assistance programs, 12 million Americans are expected to lose those benefits at the end of the year. We're also going to lose benefits that have put mortgages on pause, student loan payments on pause, so there is a lot of trouble coming down the road.

HILL: So, as we look at what is ahead, I know you have some great tips on helping us plan for that and I want to go over some of those. Some were surprising to me. The first one sounds like a great one, I'll be honest, get a survival job.

What does that mean?

CHATZKY: It's not the time to focus on your career right now if you are out of work. We are in the season of seasonal hiring. There are a lot of jobs available, delivery companies, fulfillment centers, work you can do from home on the phone. Just get something to tide you through and continue to bring money in as these unemployment benefits start to lapse.

HILL: If you are at a point where you do need a little extra help making ends meet you said you could consider a coronavirus hardship loan and there are state and local resources I know, even emergency grants. How difficult, though, is it to get those?

CHATZKY: Not as difficult as you might think. 80 percent of credit unions, for example, are offering these coronavirus hardship loans, some banks as well. They are not a consistent product across the board but they are smaller loans just intended to get you through a tough time with a lower bar to clear in terms of what you have to have to qualify for them, although you may need to prove a hardship.

And these state and local benefits are really important. There is money out there in the form of emergency grants. Google your state or your locality and the words "emergency grants", or if it's a matter of putting food on the table, pick up the phone, call 211 or go to 211.org to find out about the programs in your area.

Finally, if you are worried about eviction, there is a resource out there as well that's funded by the Pew Charitable Trust at legalfaq.org that can help you find out about rent and eviction provisions in your area.

HILL: Which is going to be really important as you point out with some of these protections expiring.

You also suggest pulling money from your 401(k).