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Don Lemon Tonight

Double Defeats for Trump's Attempt to Overturn Biden's Victory; Trump Still Falsely Claims He Won Election; Trump's Contempt for Democratic Norms Could Haunt America for Years; Georgia and Michigan Stand By Election Results; United States Tops 193,000 New COVID-19 Cases; Trump Campaign Legal Adviser Makes False Claim About Colorado Election; Twelve Million Americans Could Lose Unemployment Day After Christmas; CNN Heroes is Spotlighting This Year's Most Inspiring Moments. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired November 20, 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: Double defeats tonight for President Trump in his attempts to subvert the results of the election. Even as he falsely claimed again today that he won, Georgia's Republican Governor and Republican Secretary of State officially certifying that Joe Biden won the race in that key state and its 16 electoral votes.

And after meeting with Trump at the White House today, the GOP leadership of Michigan's state government saying they're not aware of any information that will overturn Biden's decisive victory in that state. I want to bring in now CNN's senior political analyst John Avlon and Ron Brownstein. Good evening, gentlemen. Good to see you both. John, I just want to play what Georgia Governor Kemp said tonight, and we'll talk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): As Governor, I have a solemn responsibility to follow the law, and that is what I will continue to do. We must all work together to ensure citizens have confidence in future elections in our state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK. So, and here's the statement, John from Michigan lawmakers after visiting the White House. They say we have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan. And as legislative leaders we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan's electors. Just as we have throughout this election. Follow the law. In two states, the president is trying to steal. Seems he can't do it.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, and steal is the operative word here. Remember, the hall of mirror situation where is the president is trying to steal an election while accusing his opponents of stealing an election. LEMON: It's a Jedi-mind trick, isn't it?

AVLON: Yes, I mean, that's one word for it. Maybe a little bit generous. I think force is not on their side on this one. But look, this is about our democracy. And good for the Michigan legislative leaders for not getting ruled by presidential pressure. But don't normalized this. No president has done this, to try to disrespect our democracy. To try to overturn the results of an election by pressuring elector to overturn the will of the people. It is such a disrespect. It is such a disinformation effort being pushed by this president. And all Republicans were still silent at this point are complicit.

LEMON: Yes, Ron, here is what sources are telling CNN. There are discussions underway to invite Pennsylvania lawmakers to the White House. We saw how Wayne County board members in Michigan tried to rescind their votes certification, are you worried about what could happen? What could still happen?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, look, I mean, as long as the vast majority of Republican elected officials refused to call this out for what it is, and open attempt to subvert the election and the share and as a partly as a result, the share of Republican voters who say that this election was stolen continues to rise in polls. There is always the chance that Donald Trump will find a way to pressure either Republican legislators or Republican appointed judges into siding with him until it is completely put to bed.

You know, and Don, this is a fundamentally racist conspiracy theory. I mean, he's ending the state of his political career the same way he started it. He started it with birtherism. And he is ending it now by accusing the voters in large cities with big African American populations of stealing the vote.

[23:05:09]

You know, they talk about Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Detroit, and Atlanta. His vote declined even more in big diverse suburbs, like Montgomery, and Delaware outside of Philadelphia, or Oakland outside of Detroit or (inaudible). You know, you don't hear Rudy Giuliani talking about vote stealing in those places. When this is a very clear message to his electorate that those people are trying to take away your country by stealing the vote.

LEMON: Well, why would he talk about that? I mean, those are predominantly white communities.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Those are predominantly white communities where he is showing -- when even was worse, it declined even more.

LEMON: That was a bit of sarcasm, obviously.

BROWNSTEIN: Exactly. I mean, no, right, I mean, that kind of what it gives this away. You know, as John knows, in many of the cities we're talking about, Trump actually ran better in 2020 than he did in 2016. He increased the number of votes. He declines precipitously in many of this white collar suburbs that were talking about, and yet when they talk about fraud, they are talking about these cities. They are talking about Las Vegas. They are talking about Phoenix. They are talking about the ones I mentioned.

I mean, this is an attempt to basically say those people have stolen the election. And it's an extraordinary cynical for all of these Republicans in Congress to kind of bite their lip and go along with it in the hope that it will kneecap Joe Biden coming out of the gate, both in terms delay in the transition, but also in terms of making it harder for him to talk to Republican voters. Which in term it makes it harder for him to build bipartisan coalition as in Congress. I mean, this is kind of a party wide.

LEMON: Cynical is, I mean, you're going easy with that word cynical. But John, it is so obvious that you're like, you can't believe, you're like, you're going to be that obvious? They're telling you exactly what they're doing. You don't want to believe it's so ridiculously obvious.

If there is a point where the president's outrageous actions of trying to overturn this election, John, just turn into outrageous words, is he going to keep looking for ways to subvert the vote? Is he -- he's not going to stop until January, until he leaves that office? And even after that he might not stop.

AVLON: Well, look, I mean, there are certain drop-dead deadlines. Right? I mean, there's the Electoral College meeting on December 14th. But the damage they are doing simply in instructing the GSA not to cooperate with the transition is a matter of cyber security, national security. Lives will be lost in terms of the pandemic.

While Donald Trump tries to create this illusion of a lost cause around his election. Trying to rewrite history. Deny a defeat for his supporters. Who helped tried to raise money off of them? And to keep some degree of political power, but that's where Republicans at this point need to recognize that this is about much more than politics.

LEMON: John, if they haven't done it now, are they going to do it? If they haven't done it already? What's the point?

AVLON: If they have a shred of actual patriotism that goes beyond a bumper sticker.

LEMON: OK, we'll see.

BROWNSTEIN: Real quick.

LEMON: I got to go, quickly. Because Fareed Zakaria is waiting in the wings.

BROWNSTEIN: They are locking themselves into his dominance in the party though by accentuating and abetting this narrative that he did not really lose, he wasn't a dead-end, he didn't lose by 7 million votes. It was stolen from him. It means they are going to be under his thumb for a lot longer than January 20th.

LEMON: Thank you. Thank you, gentlemen. There's a big star waiting in the wings. I mean, above the title. Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

That is Fareed Zakaria, the host of as I said, Fareed Zakaria GPS, and the author of 10 lessons for a post pandemic world. Fareed, it's good to see you. Thank you so much for joining tonight. Are you doing OK?

FAREED ZAKARIA, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS SHOW HOST: I'm doing all right.

LEMON: So, listen, you've been watching this, what this president is doing to subvert this election is unprecedented, that's the word. Would you call this a coup? An attempt on a coup?

ZAKARIA: Oh there's no question it's an attempt on a coup. As with everything Donald Trump does, the intention is as malign as one thinks. The execution is as incompetent as you can imagine. And so, it is likely to fail because it is not particularly well thought through. But there's no question he is trying to -- you know, you put it exactly right. He's trying to execute a coup.

And you pointed out, people say it's unprecedented in American history. It's really pretty unprecedented around the world. I mean, when Augusto Pinochet in Chile, the general who had run the government as a dictatorship for decades, when he lost an election. He left office. You know? When Indira Gandhi lost after had been declaring essentially martial law in India, when she lost an election, she left office. This is pretty out of bounds, really anywhere in the world.

LEMON: I'm reading something in your column, you write Trump's actions today will have a large and lasting effect on this country's politics for decades, creating a cancer that will metastasize in gruesome ways. What does that look like?

[23:10:15]

ZAKARIA: Well, think about what he's doing. Even if let's assume that he fails. What he has done is he has planted the seed in the Republican Party that there is a conspiracy around the election of 2020, that it was stolen. If you believe the polls, some would agree 60 and 80 percent of Republicans now believe this. Which means that they are going to be utterly uncompromising towards Biden. There's going to be no cooperation. The Party is going to be in this vengeful.

And imagine erosion of McCarthyism, you know, the (inaudible) around that times 10. And remember, Donald Trump is (inaudible) just have ceded this conspiracy theory and then go away. He is still going to be around. He is going to be the most powerful Republican. As Ron Brownstein was saying, this party has now become a personality cult. And he will continue to feed this conspiracy theory which warps the Republican Party. It shreds American democracy. But you know what? It's good for Donald Trump. It's good for his ratings. And that appears to be all he cares about.

LEMON: I mean, you say the number of people who believe in it in the Republican Party. It's just -- it's mind-boggling. So, if there's a real fear that there could be huge consequences or a large amount of people believing the lie that 2020 was stolen, and everything that you just said, what is the solution here then? Is that -- go on, I will ask you another question. What's the solution?

ZAKARIA: The only we can really hope for is that the fever breaks at some point. Something has happened to the Republican Party over the last 20 years. I think it began with Newt Gingrich. This kind of weird, dark conspiracy mongering. You know, to believe that politics is war, that your political opposition our enemies. That has culminated in Trump. And you know, when you have people who basically don't care if American democracy goes down into the sewer. As long as their guy wins. That fever has to break. I don't quite know what else does it.

LEMON: Yes. OK, that was a perfect segue to what I want to ask you about. The follow-up to the question. So, then how do you -- because everybody says, you know, we got to come together. And it is true. You know that. We do -- we certainly should find ways to come together. But how do you come together, how do you compromise with people who don't believe that a fair election was won. People who don't believe in science. People who don't believe in facts. People who don't believe in reality. How do you do that?

ZAKARIA: Look, Biden is the perfect guy to try this. Because what I think Biden's philosophy of government is going to be, let's not have an existential debate over everything. Can we agree that people deserve relief for COVID? Can we agree that you know, we could do a better job with infrastructure in America? Can we agree that, you know, on certain areas of immigration reform? And he will try piece meal to get things done.

But again, the test is going to be the Republicans. It's really important to not to keep saying we all need to get together. This is not an equal side thing. Barack Obama tried to get together. He made a series of gestures toward the Republican. He appointed Bush's defense secretary. He appointed a Republican -- he offered the job commerce secretary to a Republican, he took Mitt Romney's plan for health care and made it his own. None of it worked. He didn't get one vote from the House Republicans.

LEMON: I'm so glad you're saying this. Go on.

ZAKARIA: For the stimulus, he did not get one vote for health care. We've seen this movie before. So I think we know what Biden would like to do. I pretty much bet that is what he will try to do. The question is, does Mitt Romney believe that the politics of vengeful obstructionism is what keeps him in power, or does he believe that at some point you kind of have to do something for the country?

LEMON: OK. Good. I'm glad you said that. Because I've been saying this the same thing. Barack Obama tried all of this and nothing happened. It didn't work. You know, McConnell said we're going to make him a one-term president. No matter how much he reached across the aisle, they didn't want to work with him. Right? And then they blamed him for the division in the country. And the country has never been more divided (inaudible).

ZAKARIA: Exactly. That's right.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: So why would Joe Biden do the same thing? And on another note, Joe Biden has said, I don't think that you know, the prosecution of Donald Trump, if he's done anything wrong, right. If it comes to that, that it is good for the country. And he doesn't believe it. When at this moment, Joe Biden keeps saying that. But Donald Trump keeps trying to subvert the will of the people. He keeps breaking rules.

[23:15:11]

He is -- I don't know if he's breaking any laws, so then why would he say this guy shouldn't be prosecuted, or shouldn't be investigated if he has done something wrong? And why should he go on down the same path that did not work for the person he was the vice president with?

ZAKARIA: Because, Don, the problem is the Democrats won't have a majority in the Senate. It's that simple. The only way you are going to get something done is if you can get some Republicans to come along with you. And at the end of the day, the reality is in this country, thank God, the president doesn't personally decide who gets prosecuted.

The tragedy of what we are witnessing with Donald Trump is that we're realizing that American democracy is built on a lot of norms. Not laws. There are lot of weird things in the system. For example, we have this strange almost three month transition when president can do, you know, the guy who loses can do really crazy stuff.

It hasn't happened because presidents had abided by a norm that says when they -- after the election, and before the inauguration, they generally tried to smooth things out. They try to keep things stable. And they try to assist in the transition. Donald Trump reminds us that all of these things are norms.

You know, he is doing everything to shred every one of these norms. This is the, you know, the fear I have, you know, take up of a George Orwell line, but if you want a picture of the future of American democracy, it is Donald Trump stumping on the face of American democracy forever. Because people have seen that this can be done.

And now what happens when the next president? We are going to have to come up with an anti-Trump rescue democracy legislative package at some point. And take all these norms and make them laws. You know, if you want to run for president, you have to release your tax returns. You have to put your business in a blind trust.

When you lose an election there are certain things you can't do as president. You know, we are going to have to institutionalize what has been norms, good behavior, you know, matters of good judgment and good manners. Because Donald Trump reminds us -- he has spotlighted one of the great weaknesses of American democracy which is that we expect people of goodwill to occupy high offices. And Donald Trump is not that. LEMON: And he's exploited every single loophole in the system. Thank

you Fareed Zakaria. I wish we could Zoom call with like a fire and a glass of wine, or some brandy or something.

ZAKARIA: I think it's going to take more than wine at this point.

LEMON: No, I mean, because (inaudible) yes, probably. All right, Fareed.

ZAKARIA: A double scotch.

LEMON: All right. OK, that's where you're going? Thank you Fareed Zakaria. I appreciate it. The book again is 10 lessons for a post pandemic world. And make sure that you watch Fareed Zakaria GPS, Sunday at 10:00 a.m., and 1:00 p.m.

So we have passed 193,000 new cases of coronavirus in this country. The highest one day total since the pandemic began. But you wouldn't know it to look at the crowds at the Phoenix airport. The day after the CDC recommended people cancel their holiday travel plans.

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[23:20:00]

LEMON: So here's our breaking news tonight, more than 193,000 people testing positive for coronavirus today. That is a new single day record, breaking the record that we set yesterday. That as the president son Don Jr. also tested positive earlier this week. But I want you to look at these crowds. This is at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. Despite this CDC recommending that people don't travel for thanksgiving this year. Look at that.

There are masks in these crowd. But you've got to wonder where all this travel is really essential, as they say. And are they social distancing? It's hard to social distance in an airport line. But you know.

There's good news as well. Pfizer and BioNTech, formerly filing for emergency use authorization of their COVID-19 vaccine today. Which could potentially be available to high-risk populations as soon as the middle of December.

So, let's discuss now. William Haseltine is a former professor at Harvard medical school, he joins us now. Doctor, good to see you. Thank you so much for joining.

WILLIAM HASELTINE, CHAIR AND PRESIDENT ACCESS HEALTH INTERNATIONAL: Good to see you too.

LEMON: So, let's put that video up again. OK? So, I want you to look at these crowds. Thanksgiving rush underway despite all the warnings to stay home. We see masks there. But what do you think when you see this video, doctor?

HASELTINE: I see numbers climbing even higher. It's a tragedy that it's happening. It is almost incomprehensible that people are not getting the idea. And it doesn't seem as if the government doesn't issue orders that it won't happen.

Let's take a case of France. France is on an exponential curve just like ours. But they, it stopped. It stopped flat and it stopped suddenly. And it stop because the French government took strong action. We're not seeing that action. And we're going to be talking about 220,000, 250,000, 300,000 people infected every day. More than 1 million people a week. And very high numbers of people dying. Almost 2,000 people died yesterday.

LEMON: Yes. So, look, if you look at the people in those lines, I don't know if we can put it back up, but you know, they're wearing masks. They probably think they're doing the right thing.

HASELTINE: Well, the problem is that we've known now for some time, that the mask doesn't fully protect you from the virus. The virus hangs in the air, in enclosed spaces. It can get into your eyes. It can get into your mouth.

[23:25:11]

It is a very, very infectious virus. I've heard Robert Redfield say this is the second most infectious virus he's ever come across. Except for measles, this is it. This is worse than Ebola. This is extraordinary. You know, measures were taken right now are stopping flu, but they are not stopping COVID. Same thing happens in South America, the measures they took stop flu, but this is a lot more infectious. And people don't seem to get it.

And unless there are strong action taken, we're going to have a disaster. Now we're talking about also vaccines. That's the best of news if the vaccine works. Tony Fauci said, it's like a hold on folks, the cavalry is coming. But the wagon train is going to be burned down before they get there.

LEMON: So, thanksgiving? Is it going to result into even more cases hospitalizations, deaths?

HASELTINE: And the sad part about that is going to be the people that you love the most, the people you choose to be with at times of celebration. You're going to be putting them at the highest risk. Not only for travel, but while you're sitting in the same room with them. You are putting your fellow and your family, those people you love, your closest friends at risk. It's not a good idea. The CDC said you shouldn't do it. I say you shouldn't do it. But you shouldn't do it. It's not safe. It's not saying it.

LEMON: When I look at those things and when I talked to people, they say, well, you know, the CDC always says, you know, we shouldn't do this, we shouldn't do that. Or they are always coming out with recommendations or, you know, they didn't say it's a travel ban. It's not a warning. It's just a -- sort of like, maybe you shouldn't. That's how people feel about it. What do you say to that?

HASELTINE: They don't have the government authority. They don't have the authority to issue orders. They only can recommend. It's up to our central government and our state governments, to issue the orders that are necessary.

(CROSSTALK)

And if people aren't going to do it voluntarily. Now, there are solutions that we can get to. We could have, and have, could have had, massive testing. Britain just started 2 billion home test. 2 billion. That's a lot. Why didn't we order those? We order 150 million, not 2 billion. And we could have done that. So people could test themselves at home. We could pass legislation that says if you're positive, we are going to pay you to stay home. Pay home leave. That would get Americans to not only test themselves, especially if you paid them something like $500 a day to stay home with their families. That's something we could do today.

And if we did that, we would see this pandemic come to a screeching halt before the vaccine. That's what we're seeing in lots of places. You know, if you look in Israel, they were terribly off a month ago. Today they decrease the transmission by 20 fold, 20 fold, by observing strict measures. We can do the same.

But having home test and paying people to stay home, why are we not doing it? It's unfathomable. We have to do more if we're not going to see -- you know, I saw body bags in the street near my home in New York. I don't want to see that around the country. But that is where we're headed right now.

LEMON: Well, you make too much sense. And you're too logical for some -- I don't know what's going on, but there we go. Thank you Dr. William Haseltine, we appreciate it.

HASELTINE: My pleasure. Thank you.

LEMON: So, Team Trump's latest false fraud claims now focused on Colorado. Colorado Governor Jared Polis responds next. Plus, nearly 12 million people could lose their unemployment benefits in December and millions are already struggling, a single mom shares her story here.

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[23:30:00]

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LEMON: The Trump campaign's legal team has filed a wild, baseless accusation of voter fraud this week. One of their main targets is a company called Dominion Voting Systems.

Rudy Giuliani and Sydney Powell are falsely claiming on Thursday that the Denver-based company is somehow tied to Hugo Chavez. It's not. And Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis making this wild and baseless accusation during a radio interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JENNA ELLIS, TRUMP CAMPAIGN LEGAL ADVISER (voice-over): We are seeing how Dominion may have swung some of the state and local races in Colorado as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: OK, so, facts first. This is false. Federal officials have said there is no evidence of widespread fraud or irregularities during the election, and there had been no credible report that any problem with Dominion's machines affected vote counts.

So, let's discuss now. Governor -- Colorado Governor Jared Polis joins us. Governor, thank you. Appreciate you joining. So --

GOV. JARED POLIS (D-CO): Thanks, Don.

LEMON: What is your reaction to this accusation about Colorado voting?

POLIS: Well, you know, it's absurd. Frankly, if these kinds of charges weren't being echoed by the person who is currently the president of the United States, these would just be folks with tinfoil hats that would scream and no one would listen.

Unfortunately we have to listen until January 20th because they're being echoed by the guy who is president, but they're not going to matter at the end of the day. We are all looking forward to the very next day when these sort of bizarre, paranoid, conspiracy theories are just relegated to the small market that apparently they have, you know, among American society.

[23:35:03]

LEMON: So, the president has been smearing mail-in voting for months. He is falsely saying that it's open to widespread fraud. Do you have people in your state who now distrust it?

POLIS: This is the way we've been voting in Colorado for well over a decade. I honestly was trying to remember if I had ever voted in person. Maybe I did when I was 18 or 20. But we've had a majority of people voting mail ballots for -- I don't know, 16 years, and it has been a default for about 10.

So it's the way we vote. And you know what? It leaves a paper trail, there's an actual paper ballot there. If they want to count them again, they can count them again. We've had recounts. The ballots are physical, they're there. We have signature verification. It has worked so well in Colorado, Don.

Democrats, Republicans, independents, frankly, they're all proud of our election system here.

LEMON: Yesterday, governor, you and a bipartisan group of governors met with president-elect Biden to talk about COVID relief. Your state and a lot of other states really need funding after about eight months of damage. What do you want the incoming administration to do that this one has not?

POLIS: It was a very productive discussion between president-elect Biden, four Republican governors and four Democratic governors. We really gave him the view from the ground. He was very much in listening mode, as well as vice president-elect Harris.

They asked a lot of insightful questions just about what we need and how we can help, a very different kind of conversation that we've had with the current White House. And frankly, we can't wait until we have a real partner in the White House that helps us finally end this horrific pandemic and help people get through from an economic perspective.

LEMON: Mm-hmm. So let me -- your state is really seeing a wave of new coronavirus cases. Just tonight, modelling report from the state Department of Health and Colorado School of Public Health estimating that one out of every 49 residents in Colorado is infected. That's tens of thousands of people, governor. How are you going to stop this?

POLIS: This is just horrific. I mean, this is our entire country, Don. State after state, it's the worst, north of us, in the Dakotas, the upper Midwest. We have a large outbreak here, one in 49 people.

This is the message we are trying to drive home folks. I mean, if you have, you know, 10 people over for Thanksgiving from different households, it gives yourself a one in five chance of being exposed to this deadly virus. For every five households to do it, one of them is going to have an outbreak.

That's why we got to avoid interacting with people outside of our homes for the next few weeks. We just got to do this not just in Colorado, Don, but in pretty much every state in the county where there is such a resurgence of the virus. It is almost 200,000 cases today.

LEMON: You said today that 80 percent to 85 percent of the state's ICU beds are in use now. What is your message not only for the people in Colorado but around the country, governor?

POLIS: Yeah, I mean, look, it can't get much worse for longer unless we do something now to take -- to make sure we have enough beds for people. Not just people with COVID but people with heart attacks and strokes. We need to do all that work in the system.

Many of our counties that have highest rates are now ceasing indoor dining, which is tough from an economic perspective. I called a special session of the legislature to work on some ways to help restaurants and small businesses get through this tough time, provide relief for renters.

But frankly, we need the federal government to step up. This is the United States of America. We need a national response, a national health response, and a national economic response.

LEMON: Thank you, governor. Be safe. I appreciate it.

POLIS: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: So, we talk about all these things. The election, we talk about COVID, all of it. That is on my podcast. I want to make sure you know about it. "Silence is Not an Option." I'm taking on hard conversations about living in America, but also specifically about being black in America.

This week's episode is the past, present, and future of black politics in America. I'm going to speak with one of the first openly gay black men elected to Congress and Missouri's first black female representative. You can find it on Apple podcasts or your favorite podcast app.

So, she says that she's given up on food banks because there's too much demand. She says the stress is never ending. A single mother who lost her job because of COVID speaks out, next.

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[23:40:00]

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LEMON: So, things are about to get worse for millions of jobless Americans already facing financial ruin because of the COVID pandemic. Expanded unemployment benefits are set to expire on December 26th, the day after Christmas, for about -- for 12 million Americans.

So Karin Smith of Florida is one of them. She's a single mom of a 14- year-old son, struggling to get by after her job as contract worker and data compliance at the U.S. Department of Education ended back in March. She joins me now to talk about a situation she calls exhausting, stressful, and terrifying.

Karin, thank you so much. I'm sorry for what you're going through. Not only that -- just real quickly, we will talk about the job, but you said -- you mentioned to me that you had a friend you had lost. What did you do today for the first time?

[23:45:00]

KARIN SMITH, UNEMPLOYED DUE TO COVID: I went to a virtual funeral for my friend, Jen's mom. She died in an assisted living facility of COVID on Saturday. And they had the service today in Virginia, and it was virtual.

LEMON: Yeah. Wow. I'm sorry for your loss. So, you had a solid job, making good money. Tell me what it has been like --

SMITH: I did.

LEMON: -- since you lost your job. That was back in March.

SMITH: It was March 14th. Without notice, a lot of us were let go. And I guess everything kind of fell apart at that point for everyone. I remember the NBA cancelling the season and all kinds of things kind of happened at once. And so once the shock wore off, it was kind of like, what's going to happen? And then they passed the CARES Act. OK, you know, there would be some employment. This isn't going to be too bad. It took me two and a half months to get any money at all from Florida. Then it's probably early July, they're actually caught up.

But I managed to stay on top of things with the extra $600 payments. The cost of living here is high. I saved a lot of the $600. I didn't think they would come back in August. The senators were really adamant about not paying us extra.

And then we had that little bit of money that the president gave us, with his executive order around Labor Day. But Floridians didn't get all of it because the governor wouldn't allow us to. So we only got a fraction of what other people got. And now, we are watching it end and I'm not sure what to do.

It's been really hard to find another job and it's been really hard to manage staying safe and healthy in a state where we don't have any restrictions at all. We're open. I'm in a county that has a mask mandate that is unenforceable because the governor signed legislation that says they can't enforce it or impose fines or anything like that on people who don't wear mask. We are dependent on other people's good behavior.

We don't go out much. My son has Ehlers-Danlos, so I'm conscious of his health. He is home schooling now. I'm looking for a job, really hard. And mostly just worrying about what I'm going to do and trying to find ways if there's help available.

LEMON: What would help you the most right now, Karin?

SMITH: I think a job. At this point, I really would like not to have to depend on the government. That would be great. But not having to worry and panic all the time about where are we going to live and what are we going to do would really (INAUDIBLE). It's hard to have both of those things going on in your mind at the same time.

LEMON: Mm-hmm. Hey, Karin, you cut out just a little bit at the end there. Your signal went a little wonky. Say the last part again, please.

SMITH: I said it's really hard to kind of juggle, panicking about survival and looking for a job and writing good cover letters and reaching out to people at the same time. Those are hard gears to switch between.

LEMON: And raising a son and worrying about your son's health.

SMITH: All of the time.

LEMON: Yeah.

SMITH: And it's hard. He's 14. He wants to be active. He's been in the house since March. He's bored, like everybody else's kids are bored.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: I'm letting him foster animals. He has got a puppy that he's having fun with because that's harmless and something nice to do.

LEMON: You know, you never just foster an animal. They never go back. We tried that at the beginning of the quarantine and Gus-Gus is stuck with us. He is part of the family now. We've fully adopted him. So, you're going to end up adopting all those.

SMITH: My son is already calling him Lincoln. I'm like --

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: So, Karin, let me tell you, I don't know what to say to you, but I'm sorry for what you're going through, and I appreciate your bravery for coming on.

SMITH: Thank you.

LEMON: If we can help in any way, please let us know. You're the face of -- you're like so many other Americans around the country dealing with this. We wish you the very, very best. God bless you. Thank you so much.

SMITH: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you. We'll be right back.

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[23:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This year's "CNN Heroes: An All-Start Tribute" will be a special celebration of the heroic efforts of the many women and men and children who around the globe, who when faced with two simultaneous crises of COVID-19 and racial justice, stood up to do more to help others.

It's been a challenging year. But there have been many moments of resilience, hope, joy, and inspiration, moments that help keep our spirits lifted and moving forward, together. We want to share those with you and for you to tell us which ones inspired you the most. Here's one of this year's most inspiring moments.

[23:54:59]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Her name is Gianna Floyd. She's six years old and experienced a tragedy that shattered her world and woke up ours. For nearly eight minutes, handcuffed on the ground and with a knee on his neck, her father, George Floyd, pleaded for his life. His death on May 25th by a white police officer in Minnesota sparked worldwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism.

UNKNOWN: I'm here for my baby and I'm here for George because I want justice for him.

COOPER: After Gianna and her mother spoke at an emotional press conference, longtime family friend and former NBA player, Stephen Jackson, comforted Gianna. He did what her father would have done. He told her how proud he was of her and hoisted her onto his shoulders where she shared a hope for us all.

GIANNA FLOYD, DAUGHTER OF GEORGE FLOYD: Dad changed the world.

STEPHEN JACKSON, FORMER NBA PLAYER (voice-over): Daddy changed the world.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LEMON: An incredible moment of inspiration that helped defined this year. Go to cnnheroes.com right now to vote for this moment or any of our most inspiring moments. You can vote now at cnnheroes.com.

And once you vote, you can also upload your own videos telling us why these moments moved you. You just might see yourself on "CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute," Sunday, December 13th at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. And thanks for watching, everyone. Our coverage continues.

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