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Don Lemon Tonight

Georgia Confirms Biden Victory; U.S. Tops 185,759 New Coronavirus Confirmed Cases; Senator Romney Speaking Out on Trump's Efforts to Overturn Election; Inside Rudy Giuliani's Attempt to Sow Chaos on the Election; Interview with Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes (D-WI) About Trump Requesting Recounts on Some Counties; Trump Stalling Transition to Get Revenge. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired November 19, 2020 - 23:00   ET

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

[23:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: So here is our breaking news tonight. The United States recording more than 185,000 new COVID-19 cases today, the highest one-day total since the pandemic broke out. Also, tonight, Georgia finishing its statewide audit of the presidential race, confirming Biden beat Trump by more than 12,000 votes. Officials saying the audit did not find any widespread fraud.

A source telling the president -- telling CNN the president knows that he lost the election, but he is trying to sow doubt in the results to get revenge on Democrats who he believes questioned the legitimacy of his 2016 victory, and saying he is only focused on himself, not the pandemic, or the transition.

In just a few minutes ago, Senator Mitt Romney, the Republican Party's former standard bearer, saying, well, this about the president's behavior. It's difficult to imagine a worse, more un-Democratic action by a sitting American president.

I want to bring in now CNN senior White House correspondent, Pamela Brown, and CNN senior political analyst, John Avlon. Good evening to both of you. Pamela, did I get your title right? Si that right? Senior White House correspondent?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I don't care that.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Thank you. I wasn't sure. She is a senior reporter over everything. She's the best. Thank you both for joining us. Good to see you. John, I need to start with you, because in just the last hour, Senator Ben Sasse is speaking out against the Trump team's legal approach and Senator Mitt Romney is castigating the president for applying political pressure to overturn the election. I just read the quote there for Mitt Romney. Do you think that we will see more Republicans join them?

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: We need to. You know, Sasse and Romney were two of the original four to admit the obvious, the fact that Joe Biden won the election. But the other 48 have been stunningly silent. And we are past the point where anyone who wants to be able to call themselves a patriot with a straight face needs to speak out against the sitting president, trying to undermine the integrity of our elections.

We get numb at the crazy train over the Trump years. This is different. This uniquely dangerous. This is totally inexcusable, and every Republican now needs to find the stones to stand up and speak out and condemn it clearly, period.

LEMON: Pamela, what we heard from the president seem today was really an all-out assault on democracy. I am sure you saw that press conference. My mouth was agape when I was watching this. Rudy Giuliani was rambling on about the wild conspiracy theories, but I just want to be clear here, there is not a shred of evidence to back up his claims.

BROWN: There is not. That is why there is been setback after setback in the court for the trump (inaudible). They don't have the evidence to back them up and that is why they have been losing in court overall. And why you heard Rudy Giuliani today and the other lawyers there up with them trying to basically sway public opinion.

One of the lawyers said this is the court of public opinion, essentially. It takes time to build our complete report. But what they were throwing out there was really astonishing, Don. They were throwing out baseless conspiracy theories that they have not bring down and form arguments about foreign governments, Hugo Chavez, as George Soros, conspiring with Democrats to commit fraud. There is nothing to back that up.

[23:05:00]

There's talk about his dominion networks, networks that were used in more than a couple of dozen states and that's somehow they were keen to votes. His Dominion has come out and said, this did not happen. The U.S. government officials had said this was the most secure election in history. And so you put all of that into context and this is a desperate attempt, Don, to subvert the election because they don't have the evidence to back it up. And the Georgia recount results, that recount only we affirmed that.

LEMON: Yes. It's just interesting to watch them scold the media but at the same time beg for the media's attention. You know, if you were covering this. If you were -- it's like, if you have the evidence the media would be all over it. If there was as much fraud --

BROWN: Right. Because they said at one point they said, we don't have to evidence yet. This is the court of public opinion. We're building our case and then on the other hand they said, you know, the media needs to show the evidence that we're providing today, but they didn't show the evidence.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: If I didn't watch it live I wouldn't believe it. John, let's talk about this. I want to move on and talk about what the president is doing. Because he's inviting the Michigan GOP leaders to the White House on Friday. One of whom -- remember that previously he said that he would not overturn the will of the people. The president is not even trying to hide that he's going to pressure them. But they have an opportunity here to be leaders and they have an opportunity to stand up for the republic, don't you think?

AVLON: Of course they do. And well, I would like to take them at their word. But hyper partisanship is a sickness in our country, and it can flip people from their conscious and common sense. And the president is doing this out in the open. The president is trying to persuade members of his own Party to overturn the results of the election and reject the will of we the people. That's where we are.

And you know, just like we talked about how Republican Senators silence is violence to the constitution. The full court press by the president to try to discredit and delegitimize our election is probably the most effective disinformation campaign. Our foreign adversaries couldn't even ever imagined being perpetrated from the White House. And it just adds to that urgency.

You know, Rudy Giuliani, you know, who I worked four years ago, his words are discrediting himself and democracy in this president. But it's the silence of everybody else. They need to stand up and say no and they should not even go to the White House to try to be rolled and played by a desperate president who is weak, not strong.

LEMON: John Avlon and senior reporter of everything, Pamela Brown, thank you both. I appreciate it.

(LAUGHTER)

Be safe. Have a good evening. If I don't see either of you. Have a great thanksgiving. I don't know if you are going to be on the show tomorrow, but I will see you later.

AVLON: You too, Don.

LEMON: Yes. Thank you.

BROWN: I'll be around.

LEMON: All right. I want to turn to the Democratic Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, Mandela Barnes. Governor Barnes, thank you. Lieutenant Governor, same thing. You're still governor. It's good to see you. I hope you are being safe and everything is good with you and your family. Thanks for joining us.

MANDELA BARNES, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, WISCONSIN: Yes. Thanks again for having me.

LEMON: Absolutely. So before we get to what's happening in your state, the big picture here. I'd like to get you thoughts on what the president and Rudy Giuliani are doing. Are they trying to steal this election? BARNES: Well, they are trying, but they are going to fail, just like

they failed in trying to win the election. And I say should got there and watch (inaudible) Gucci Maine and Jeezy, if they can put their differences aside then Donald Trump will surely (inaudible) --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Was it good?

BARNES: -- outcome of this election.

LEMON: So, Lieutenant Barnes, let's talk about Wisconsin now. Starting recounts tomorrow, and in Milwaukee and in Dane Counties, black people make up 27 percent of Milwaukee. More than any other County. We've seen the president make similar voter fraud claims about Philadelphia and Detroit. Is this all about trying to disenfranchise black voters?

BARNES: Well, absolutely. It's about delegitimizing the votes of people of color, because this is where we have the highest concentration of black and Hispanic voters in the entire state. Of course, he does not want our votes to count because he knows that he has not been a great president for people of color.

And we responded in kind at the ballot box. So, this is just another ploy, another waste of time. And it's unfortunate, because we have some very hardworking people, Republican officials, not many, not enough, but a handful that have stepped up and said that there has been nothing to nefarious taking place here. So, the president should be ashamed of himself. He should accept the results of this election and he shouldn't act like some petulant child that you were trying to drag out at (inaudible).

LEMON: That's a picture for you. The president is applying political pressure to Republicans in Michigan. Do you think he's doing the same thing in Wisconsin?

BARNES: I'm sure he is. But the thing is he has already had his enablers here in Wisconsin. He didn't need to apply this sort of pressure, because in an instance, in a time where we could have had a Republican leadership response to this pandemic, they haven't done that, but they have responded to these wild allegations about nefarious votes being cast, which is unfortunate.

[23:10:15]

So he didn't even have to, you know talk to them about it, because they went out there and did it on their own. There has been real work for them to do. They haven't showed up and passed a bill in over 200 days yet they want to support those bogus claims.

LEMON: Governor Barnes. Lieutenant Governor Barnes, thank you very much I appreciate it. You be safe.

BARNES: Thanks, Don, you too.

LEMON: Thank you. I want to bring in now CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein. Carl, good to see you. How you doing?

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good to see you.

LEMON: Listen. So, most Republicans have been enabling the president's destructive behavior. Tonight, two are speaking out -- Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse. They're both speaking out tonight. You have been doing some reporting on this. Do you think that we might see more Republicans do this?

BERNSTEIN: Yes, so I think there are some efforts under way for Republicans, some of them, to get together and try to bring a message to the people around the president of the United States as well as some other members in cabinet departments. I think it's taking place that there are Republicans who just think that this is an impossible dangerous situation, but they have enabled it, they have made it possible for a mad king in the final days of his reign to scorch the earth of his country in his own interest to bring down the whole system.

We have never seen anything like this in our history. We have a president of the United States who is openly sabotaging the interest of the United States and its people. Through the madness of his rhetoric, his tweets and his willingness to undermine the very electoral system that is the heart of our democracy. We never faced a dangerous moment like this with a despotic, tyrannical authoritarian leader willing to do unspeakable things for his own ends.

And Republicans know that's where we are. Those Republicans, perhaps half of them in the Republicans in the Senate of the United States, they know it but they're craven silence has enabled it.

LEMON: Yes. Carl, I here you, but the situation with this president seems to be getting worse by the day. I mean, he's trying to overturn the will of the voters.

BERNSTEIN: that's right.

LEMON: How do you see this playing out?

BERNSTEIN: It's more than trying to overturn the will of the voters. What we see in the polls and that 70 percent plus of those who voted for him believing because of his rhetoric, because of social media, because of the false narrative and untruth and pathological lying of this president, they actually believe that this is a rigged stolen election.

Because of this president's willingness to truck in a totally made-up narrative about what has transpired during his presidency and during our election. He announced before the election that this was going to be a fraudulent election. He was going to make sure that it was viewed as fraudulent by those who followed him, and that's where we are now.

But also, consider where we are in this mad king's exit, the final days of his presidency. We have $250,000 dead Americans because of his homicidal negligence and his indifference to their suffering and humanity. Look at what he is doing and saying. Not a word about what has caused the death and suffering of these people, while he is tweeting out the craziness that we are witnessing.

And yet, those Republicans have gone along with this, have allowed it to happen. We are approaching thanksgiving in a pandemic, the likes of which we have never seen in which we see school children can't go to school. Our economy is in ruins in terms of real wealth health and welfare of the American citizenry.

Because of this president, because of his inaction and because of his horrible action, and the most dangerous period of all are these final days. Look, in the final days of Richard Nixon, which are nowhere near as dangerous, so we can see now, Republicans went down to the White House and told the president he had to leave.

Well, the president is going to leave, Donald J. Trump is going to leave, but he is leaving with his following believing that something has transpired in this country that is fraudulent and the very electoral system, our most basic element of democracy is now in a state of disbelief and confidence by tens of millions of our citizens because of the recklessness and irresponsibility of this president. He has, as I said a moment ago, sabotaged the country.

[23:15:11]

LEMON: Yeah. And we still have days to -- weeks to see what he does, because he's --

BERNSTEIN: We have 60 more days.

LEMON: -- probably going to do more -- yes.

BERNSTEIN: We have 60 more days in which those around him are terribly worried about what he is going to do. And that's why there is now some pushback. For instance, the other day he was talking about perhaps we should take military action against Iran. Well, those around him, his military advisers, intelligence people, said no, Mr. President, this will not stand. That's really the message they gave him. So we knew the situation where they push back against the mad king.

LEMON: I hope that there are other people around him who can reign him in, Carl. But we shall see. Carl, thank you very much. I'll see you soon. I appreciate you joining.

Two Republican Senators speaking out tonight on the president's efforts to overturn the election, but what about the rest of them? That as the President-Elect Joe Biden says this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, 2020 PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's hard to fathom how this man thinks. It's hard to fathom -- I'm confident he knows he hasn't won and is not going to be able to win and we're going to be sworn in on January 20th.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [23:20:00]

LEMON: So, here's our breaking news. Two Republican Senators publicly opposing what the president is trying to do, and that is steal the election. Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse says, when Trump campaign lawyer haves stood before courts under oath they have repeatedly refused to actually allege grand fraud because there are legal consequences for lying to judges.

President Trump lost Michigan by more than 100,000 votes and the campaign and its allies have lost in or withdrawn from all five lawsuits in Michigan for being unable to produce any evidence while press conferences erode public trust. So no, obviously Rudy and his buddies should not pressure electors to ignore their certification obligations under the statute. We are a nation of laws, not tweets.

Utah Senator Mitt Romney says, having failed to make even a plausible case of widespread fraud or conspiracy before any court of law, the president has now resorted to overt pressure on state and local officials to subvert the will of the people and overturn the election. It is difficult to imagine a worse or more un-Democratic action by a sitting American president.

Nice to hear some Senators speak out against these lies. We will see if more join them. Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence showing no profile and courage today, ignoring reporters' questions about the assault on our democracy following a coronavirus task force briefing today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Thank you all.

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: Are you really not going to --

(CROSSTALK)

UNKNOWN: Why are you not taking questions?

UNKNOWN: All of you need to answer this. What's going on? You're not working with the transition. Your whole (inaudible) not recognizing democracy. You're all undermining the Democratic election. Every one of you. And you won't work with the transition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Wow. Sad, sad, sad for all of us regardless of Party. And joining me now to talk about their Party and the president is Scott Jennings, the former special assistant to President George W. Bush, Amanda Carpenter, former communications Director for Senator Ted Cruz, and Brendan Buck, a former top aide to Paul Ryan and John Boehner.

Hi, all of you. So, let's see, Scott, you know, Scott I have to commend you because you have also been speaking out against this madness. Senator Sasse and Romney joined you now. But they are two -- I probably most expect to do so. Do you think other Republicans who have been more supportive of the president perhaps Mitch McConnell, Senator Cornyn might join them?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think Republicans as the process rolls on and states certify their results as the electors meet, and so on and so forth, I think people will acknowledge the results. I also think different Republican have different motivations for speaking out or not speaking out, and I think you'll see that manifest itself as well.

But I cannot imagine that any Republican watched that press conference today and thought to themselves, this seems like a really good thing to jump on and ride for the next 60 days. It was an embarrassment. It was terrible for the Party. It was actually terrible for the president who honestly, Don, has the chance to exit office on a high note on several fronts, but they are ruining that possibility, and they are ruining his legacy.

And all of this is overshadowing some of the good things he's doing on the way out of office. It was a travesty and it was a tragedy what happened at the RNC today, and as a card carrying member of the Party and as a delegate to the last several conventions, that's not what I want to see in my Party headquarters. Ridiculous.

LEMON: Amanda, if this crazy spectacle today wasn't enough, what is enough? What would be enough?

AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR SENATOR TED CRUZ AND THE AUTHOR OF GASLIGHTING AMERICA: It has never been easier for a Republican to speak out against Trump. I mean, what happened today isn't that much different than what's been going on the last four years, but what's different now is that he has lost. OK? It's great that Mitt Romney said something. I'm happy Ben Sasse is speaking out, but what have you got to lose at this point, Republicans? Because what we're setting the stage for now is for this stuff to be normalized. We're going to now have a post-election period from Election Day until certification where the precedent is that you can try to gain the results and put the squeeze on state legislatures and try to get the results that you want.

[23:25:09]

This is the precedent that Donald Trump is setting because not enough Republicans are going to speak up. And they think it's OK, right? Because everyone -- they look at these people and know they're clowns. Rudy Giuliani, Jenna, Sidney, Kayleigh, they are clowns. But they're clowns who have a gun to the head of democracy with their makeup melting all over the place. It should -- it is easier than ever to go up and rip the nose off and they need to do that right now.

LEMON: Brendan, you're standing by patiently. I can only see some of your facial expressions. But listen, you have worked with people at the highest levels of what I guess we need to call the old Republican Party before it became the Trumplican Party. What does this Party stand for now? BRENDAN BUCK, FMR, CHIEF COMMUNICATION ADVISER TO FMR. SPEAKER PAUL

RYAN: Donald Trump. I mean, I'll be honest. That is what they stand for. Look. The president, when we talk a lot about the strangle hold he has over voters, but I think it's important to understand for all the conversation we're having here and perhaps some of the members of Congress are hearing about it back home, but you know what they are also hearing?

They're also hearing their constituents call up and saying, what are you doing to support the president? The president says he has enough evidence the overturn the result. What are you doing to help him? That's the pressure they're actual feeling. If you want to get a little window into what they're thinking and hearing and why they are acting the way they do, is because they know the president is leaving, but he is not going anywhere. He's going to continue (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Let me ask you something before you continue.

BUCK: We are a Party of Trump right now.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Brendan, let me just ask you something.

BUCK: All of these people who know that they need to -- you know, they want the get re-elected, you know, you want to have a future in the Party. You can't piss him off right now. You can't. And so that's the pressure that they are feeling. It's terrible. Scott said the right word -- embarrassment. It was embarrassing today and I think they all feel that way.

LEMON: No.

BUCK: It's just that they don't have the political space to say it right now.

LEMON: I don't know if you can hear me when you're speaking, but -- I just want to know when you said -- I understand what you're saying. I get your point about what they are hearing from constituents. But do you think any of those people are pushing back and saying, no, I'm sorry, there's no evidence. This is a farce. It's time to move on. Are they being honest with their constituent's right back at them? Or they're nervous about --

BUCK: I think -- I think they've taken this sort of middle ground, right. All legal votes should count. Just sort of stay in the truisms. Like the process should be allowed to continue, sure. I don't think anybody is really pushing back at this point, because they don't have an incentive too. I wish they would, but that -- politicians act in their own political self-interest, and that hasn't changed.

LEMON: Yes. And listen, I know Ben Sasse is doing it. He's response, what he said was in response to those kinds of constituents saying, listen, this is, you know, basically saying that this is a farce, right? It's time to move on. But I wonder if all the other lawmakers, Republicans are saying the same thing, because I watched that today and I couldn't -- like, who could stand behind this? This was like, I mean, SNL could not have done it better. We'll continue on the other side. Don't go anywhere with these guys. We'll be right back.

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[23:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So while President Trump tries to undermine the results of the election, his family's era in American politics may not be over. The New York Times is reporting today that the president's daughter-in- law, Lara Trump, is considering a Senate run in her native state of North Carolina, and there is, of course, also the possibility that Donald Trump himself may run for president again in 2024.

So back with me now, my guests here. Oh --

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Oh, my gosh. I thought my hair was thinning, and I was looking old now. Let's see what happens in 2024, if this indeed happens. OK, so, Amanda, Republican lawmakers seem afraid to alienate Trump's base by speaking out against him, right? But the president and his family don't look like they're leaving the political arena at all, so where does that leave the rest of the party?

CARPENTER: Listen. Republic -- we just had a segment where we talked about how all these Republicans are embarrassed by what they saw today, and I think that's true across the spectrum, even though a lot of people aren't saying that.

But guess what. When you never stand up to this stuff, you are accommodating it, and that's what the Republican Party has done all the way through.

All these Republicans who hate the tweets and hate Donald Trump's attitude but voted for him once, voted for him twice, are paving the way for Donald Trump to be the future of the Republican Party, they're paving the way for Lara Trump to go carpet bag her way back home to North Carolina and take a Senate seat from some other Republicans who probably been laying the groundwork to get that seat their whole lives.

This is your future. There is never an easy time to stand up and do the right thing, but when you don't do it, always gets harder. This is the future of the Republican Party, is Donald Trump maybe in 2024 or maybe just freezing the field so no other donors will fund other candidates and keeping them on the bench, while Don Jr. and Lara Trump and the family keep grifting off the grassroots of the party the rest of their lives. So, here we go.

LEMON: Mm-hmm. This is what I don't understand because if you -- some Republican lawmakers outperformed the president in their states during this past election. I mean, Brendan, isn't that evidence that Republicans might need Trump as much as they -- might not, I should say, need Trump as much as they think they do?

BUCK: I believe so, absolutely. There were a lot of people who came out and said -- their entire vote was against Donald Trump, and a lot of people who voted against Donald Trump voted for Joe Biden.

Those aren't necessarily Democrats, those are voters that we should be able to have, and it was just simply a reflection of the fact that he's such a bad person in their opinion, that his character is so bad.

[23:35:07]

BUCK: You know there are things that they can learn from the president about speaking to issues that the Republican Party has ignored for a long time. I will acknowledge that the part of the party that cares a lot about immigration and trade, we pushed that aside for a long time, took advantage of that.

Maybe there are lessons to be learned. There's also lesson to be learned that you can't be a bad guy and expect to get elected.

LEMON: Yeah.

BUCK: And so, yeah, they need to look at what happened here and realize that Trumpism has its benefits but there are also a lot of downsides. This is not necessarily a ticket to national notoriety. Maybe Trump can pull it off, but I don't think any of the other guys can.

LEMON: Scott, same question to you because -- listen. If you look at most of the places, especially the battleground states where the president lost, Republicans won. So what are they afraid of?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think Brendan made some good points. I mean, Trump has brought undoubtedly new people into the party. He has also brought a lot of new donors into the party.

One thing we don't talk about a lot is the small dollar donation revolution in the Republican Party is 100 percent tied to Donald Trump. These individual candidates don't drive it. Donald Trump drives absolutely all of it.

So he in a lot ways has changed the voting coalition of the party. He has also changed the donor matrix of the party. These lawmakers know that. They are wrestling with a future either without Trump or dealing with Trump from the outside, and they don't know how all that's going to work.

And so I understand the uncertainty and the confusion. So, at the same time, we've lost some voters. We lost voters obviously in the Atlanta suburbs. We lost voters in the Phoenix suburbs. Voters were lost in the process at the same time voters were gained. There has to be a sweet spot somewhere where you can retain both ends of the equation.

I believe it's out there. I don't know who is going to grab that ball and run with it, but I believe it is out there, because you can see down ballot, all these people wanted to vote Republican, they rejected Democrats, but some people just couldn't pull the lever for Donald Trump and it's quite obvious why.

LEMON: Amanda, I'm with you. Have a backbone. That's -- you know, why else are you here? What are you doing? Thank you, all. I appreciate it.

I want to make sure that all of you know about my podcast. All of you at home, not just the guests here. It is called "Silence is Not an Option." We are taking the hard conversations about being black in America. This week's episode is past, present and future, the past, present and future of black politics in America.

I speak with one of the first openly gay black man elected to Congress and Missouri's first black female representative. You can find it on Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast app. Here is the sneak peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MONDAIRE JONES, REPRESENTATIVE-ELECT (voice-over): When I get messages seemingly every other day from folks throughout my district and throughout this country, from people young and old, telling me that I'm helping them come to terms with who they are and to live authentic lives, that is the kind of representation I did not have growing up when I was questioning if there was a place for me in a world, filled with so much injustice. And it's the kind of representation that I know is really powerful in changing lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Make sure you download it, listen to it.

So, new guidance from the CDC about traveling for Thanksgiving, in a word, they're saying don't, all right? And if you need convincing, stay with us. CNN goes inside Texas hospitals at capacity with coronavirus patients.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENISE MOURNING, ACUTE CARE NURSE PRACTITIONER, ODESSA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: Please, not another one, you know. It's a prayer. It's inevitable and we know it's going to happen, but the probability of it being a good outcome is very, very low.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: So, we have some breaking news for you and it's on the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States recording more than 185,000 new cases today, the highest one-day total since the pandemic broke out, and just a week before Thanksgiving. The CDC advising Americans not to travel this holiday, saying, spend Thanksgiving only with the people in your household, right?

I want to bring in now CNN contributor Erin Bromage. He is an associate professor of biology at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Erin, hello to you.

So, Dr. Fauci tonight told Chris, when it comes to Thanksgiving, to conduct a family assessment, OK? See if you have older, more vulnerable members, make a responsible decision. Are you worried that virus fatigue wins and Thanksgiving turns into a massive super spreader?

ERIN BROMAGE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY AT UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS DARMOUTH: I really am. I mean, we're sitting there looking at people who have had plans for Thanksgiving since last Thanksgiving and they're having a lot of reluctance breaking those traditions that they have had.

We were in the sort of goldilocks period right through sort of July and August in most of the country, September it started to tick up, and people really haven't changed their mindset that we're in this full hockey stick exponential growth curve right now that it just does not make sense to be mixing many households together and certainly not traveling large distances or across the country.

LEMON: So, the CDC is recommending we only celebrate with people we live with, we don't travel for the holiday. But what about college kids, military members? Is there a safe way to include them?

[23:44:57]

BROMAGE: Yeah, I mean, this is the big dilemma that a lot of universities have right now is many have chosen not to come back after Thanksgiving. And so they're going to take whatever the infection rate was in the community, in the college community, and send it back to wherever those students came from.

And so, you know, I'm looking at a lot of the universities in Massachusetts, mine included, that are really encouraging students to, you know, get tested early before they head back and get another test just before they head back. In reality, they still should be distancing for quite a bit of time after they get home, certainly not sharing a meal across the dining table with their parents if they haven't been in constant contact with them for the last few months.

LEMON: What if you're going away with the person that you live with and you're just going to a cabin or staying by yourself?

BROMAGE: Yeah, so, you know, traveling is definitely increasing risk. I have been doing a lot of traveling lately and it is getting a little bit more concerning to me as I'm getting in those airports and there are more and more people that are there.

I am really concerned that traveling over Thanksgiving -- I heard one of my colleagues say COVID flights and I just -- it made me cringe to even think that that's what was happening.

But jumping in your car and going to a cabin and enjoying the beautiful scenic areas of Maine or wherever you live, is certainly not risky if you're keeping away from other people. It's really about mixing households together.

LEMON: Mm-hmm. Erin, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

BROMAGE: Thank you.

LEMON: Officials and experts warning, don't gather, wash your hands, wear a mask, and what you'll see next tells you why. CNN goes inside Texas hospitals at capacity caring for coronavirus patients. Stay with us.

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[23:50:00]

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LEMON: The state of Texas, being ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 12,000 new cases reported today and many hospitals in Texas are overwhelmed by the exploding number of COVID patients they are treating. More now from CNN's Omar Jimenez.

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OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a reality this part of Texas has only seen in its nightmares. The ICU at Odessa Regional Medical Center in Odessa, Texas is at its capacity with COVID-19 patients.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): We have an IS (ph).

JIMENEZ: Even with this hospital at maximum capacity, they are still trying to find places to put COVID-19 patients. All of the beds that you see in this section, curtained-off at the moment, did not exist before the pandemic.

(COUGHING)

JIMENEZ: Now, it's filled to its absolute capacity while patients here literally are fighting for their lives.

ROHITH SARAVANAN, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, ODESSA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER: We lost about 10 patients last week and one of them had been on a ventilator for about a month. The ones that are here now, on average they've been on the vent for about a week or so.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Denise Mourning --

UNKNOWN: We are getting closer, OK?

JIMENEZ (voice-over): -- is an acute care nurse practitioner. MOURNING: There was only a few times in the summer where we were really pushed to the extreme. But now, for the last few weeks, we're busting out of the seams.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): But she and everyone else remain at war with the virus, even as some patients begin to take a turn for the worse.

When you first have to make that declaration, what is the first thing that goes through your mind?

MOURNING: Please, not another one, you know. It's a prayer. It's inevitable. We know it's going to happen but the probability of it being a good outcome is very, very low.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): But most are able to fight it off --

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Look at you!

JIMENEZ (voice-over): -- and turn the corner. Ruben Romero (ph) is feeling better after two weeks in the hospital and says this isn't a game. I asked why.

UNKNOWN: (SPOKEN IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Because this is really serious, he says. This virus is not for people to be playing with. It's very dangerous. It attacks your entire body. I'm living it, he says.

And it's become life for so many in this part of the state. Hospital officials in Odessa say anywhere from 35 to 40 percent of the people getting tested are testing positive for COVID-19. They fear becoming what El Paso has become, mobile morgues for the dead, hundreds in the ICU amid record hospitalizations, and roughly one in every 24 people actively with COVID-19. It's required a regional coordination like never before.

WANDA HELGESEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, BORDERRAC: In a relatively short period of time, our hospitals have added over 600 beds.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Wow.

HELGESEN: Even with that, we have flown out about 84 ICU patients to other communities in Texas.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): And smaller towns once thought to have escaped the virus's grip find themselves right in the crosshairs. Town like Lamesa, Texas near Odessa, Shelley Barron was hospitalized twice with COVID-19, a diagnosis she is hearing more and more in her community.

SHELLEY BARRON, LAMESA, TEXAS RESIDENT: The scary word is positive, I'm positive. You know, oh, I tested positive. We got two more right now. We experienced a death in our church yesterday. This stuff is real. It's scary.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Medical Arts Hospital, where she was mostly treated, now has an entire wing dedicated to COVID-19 patients, transformations that have become shared experiences.

SARAVANAN: We are actually sending home patients on home oxygen to recover at home. That is not something we would normally do, but there is no space.

[23:55:00]

JIMENEZ (voice-over): All for months-long fight with no clear signs of an end.

MOURNING: People aren't taking the precautions that they need. Yes, we're frontline here in the hospital, but the real frontline is on the streets, in the grocery stores. Wash your hands. Wear your mask. Stay away. I promise that the little bit of time and the little bit effort it takes outside of here is worth it because once you're here -- wearing a mask is better than having a tube down your throat, I promise.

JIMENEZ (voice-over): Omar Jimenez, CNN, Odessa, Texas.

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LEMON: Be safe, everyone. Thanks for watching. Our coverage continues.

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