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Don Lemon Tonight

General Services Administration Says Biden Transition Can Formally Begin; Joe Biden Announces First Cabinet Picks; President Trump Tweets He Will Never Concede To Fake Ballots And Dominion; President Trump's Attempts To Overturn The Election Are Fizzling Out; Millions Traveling For Holiday Despite Urgent CDC Warning; Lines Grow At Food Banks Across The Country Ahead Of Holidays. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired November 23, 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 (on camera): CNN TONIGHT continues now with none other than Laura Coates.

Laura, good evening. You are the perfect person to have on to discuss this especially all of these case after case after case being thrown out or they're losing. The perfect person to analyze. I mean, it's been amazing to watch. You've been telling us all along that it was -- their pursuits were fruitless.

LAURA COATES, CNN INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ANALYST (on camera): I know how to put it, Don, but I'm glad you have given me credit for that moment. It is a crazy time. I cannot believe all of the losses. I mean, I believe in persistence. I am somebody who likes to be persistent, but you really have to know when to hold them and know when to fold them and know when to walk away and it's time for them to run. That's who we are.

LEMON: It's time for them -- it's time for them to run and you know what? America is ready to move on right now. Enough of the shenanigans. We're dealing with a pandemic. It's time for us to come together. It really is.

COATES: I agree. And you know, it is a time when I think especially as the holidays are approaching and we're thinking and being reflective it is a really good time for people to start taking stock of what's important and priorities and looking ahead to the future and how do they want to really live the rest of their lives? How do they really want to explain the world to their kids?

And what we are seeing right now we've got to move past. If I could have a fast forward button right now, Don, I would take it. With one of those easy buttons with (inaudible), I want a fast forward button. I want to get to the future. I want to see what happens and be happy. How about you?

LEMON: Yes. Same here. But listen, before I let you get on with your hour because I don't want to take too much, people are ready to move on. I know that people are, you know, they want the holidays to be normal. They want to get back to some degree of normalcy. And you know what I did, there are little things you can do. Instead of like going and buying a bunch of gifts and being in you know, a superspreader situation I was telling you in the break, I made thanksgiving cookies and put them in Christmas cookie jars.

COATES: I was going to call you up just now.

LEMON: I ate half of them.

(LAUGHTER)

COATES: How was it?

LEMON: I ate half of them. But that's little things. But before I deliver them I said I know people are concerned, I texted my neighbors. I know you are concerned about COVID and you know, we can't get it through -- transmitted through food so, if you would like to take them and everybody said yes we would love it. We would love it. So as we spend this thanksgiving with our immediate families, nice things that you can do. Deliver some stuff to your neighbors. You can socially distance and still have a good time without a big, large group. Amen, right?

COATES: So Don, let me call you out. How many cookies did you actually bake and then how many were delivered to the neighbor?

LEMON: That's a secret. My suit jacket is a little tight. Have a great show

(LAUGHTER)

COATES: I wasn't going to say anything. Well, thank you. I'm looking frantically next. Thank you. Vanilla shortbread would be great. Thank you so much.

LEMON: Thank you.

COATES: See you soon, Don Lemon.

LEMON: Thank you. See you.

COATES: Good evening. I'm Laura Coates. And breaking news tonight, President Trump basically acknowledging that he lost the election to Joe Biden. The head of the General Services Administration letting Biden's team know that the formal transition process can finally begin. That frees up millions of dollars, taxpayer dollars, in transition funding and also allows Trump administration officials to begin coordinating with Biden's team.

And the President-Elect is already busy putting together his incoming administration. Naming key cabinet picks today. I want to bring in CNN White House correspondent John Harwood and senior political analyst Ron Brownstein good to have you both here on a night like this.

[23:05:02] You know, John, we begin with you because President Trump surprise-

surprise is trying to take credit for the GSA's decision but he's also saying he is going to prevail I think is the word he used. Is this as close as we're going to get to a concession so to speak, John?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Probably. But we can't predict what Donald Trump is going to do because we don't know. What we do know is that he is not a psychologically healthy person. That he has poor impulse control. And that he lurches from moment to moment depending on the needs of his ego and what he thinks is in his self-interest. But those calculations change.

So for three weeks he's been kicking up dust about the election to cover the embarrassment of having lost to Joe Biden to create a cause perhaps for a future campaign, to raise money for his followers. But as time has gone on, his cause has looked increasingly ridiculous. The cases are getting thrown out by judges. The legal team is embarrassing itself and fighting. Republicans are starting to complain. The business community is starting to complain. The heat is rising.

And so the president is beating a little retreat today. The GSA has ascertained that Joe Biden is the President-Elect. The president covered that retreat by saying he is going to continue to fight strongly. He thinks he'll prevail, which not coincidentally allows him to continue raising money for this legal fight. But those calculations could change again as we get closer to January 20th.

One example he's got legal exposure as he prepares to leave office. If Donald Trump thought that it would help his cause, that it would ease the thirst of prosecutors to go after him, if he said the word concede, no doubt he would say the word concede. But we just don't know how he is going to calibrate that as he gets closer to the end of his term.

COATES: Well, the money issue is always one we're looking at and figuring out what the real motivation here. And of course, we all can recite by this point the idea of you can't indict a sitting president but those last two words are really looming overhead.

Ron Brownstein let me go to you. Because you know Republicans are admitting behind the scenes that it's over but publicly many won't acknowledge that Biden is the President-Elect. We've actually heard nothing from the likes of Mitch McConnell, Marco Rubio, Cruz, or Graham. How long can this sort of thing last?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST, AND SENIOR EDITOR OF THE ATLANTIC (on camera): Right. It has lasted far longer than by any rational explanation, you know, it should. I mean, you know, everybody is kind of assuming that Republicans, so many Republicans are refusing to acknowledge the obvious that Biden won, you know, the sky is blue. Gravity exists. They're doing that because they're afraid of Trump. That's the argument. They're afraid of a tweet. They're afraid of a primary challenge if they step out against him.

I think you have to allow the possibility that a fair number of them would have been perfectly OK with him finding a way to subvert the will of the voters if he could have pushed enough, you know, found a judge or state legislators who had been willing to do so. I mean, Mitch McConnell's behavior in this month is kind of ominous about, you know, how he views his responsibilities to the democracy as opposed to the Party.

And I think, you know, again, Joe Biden is talking about unifying the country but if you watch the way Republicans have behaved over the past month with very, very few of them not only in Congress but among the Governors calling out Trump for these transparent efforts to subvert really the will of the voters, I think it's a pretty ominous signal for how they intend to orient themselves toward a potential Biden presidency.

COATES: And you know, due process certainly is one thing but once the process is over, then respect is due to the people who have given their will and made it apparent.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COATES: Ron, I want to get to the incoming administration. Because today President-Elect Biden announced a part, a big part of his national security team to get Antony Blinken, Secretary of State. Linda Thomas-Greenfield for U.N. Ambassador. Avril Haines who would become the first female National Intelligence Director. Alejandro Mayorkas who would become the first Latino Secretary of Homeland Security and Jake Sullivan as National Security Adviser. So, what are these nominations telling you about how the administration with Biden/Harris intends to act and serve?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I think they are revealing so far, as well as, you know, the indications to Janet Yellen at Treasury. Experience, familiarity, stability, kind of restoring the ship after all of these turbulent waters of the past four years. What's missing so far I think is -- and John Kerry as well in climate negotiator, very similar in the same (inaudible).

What is missing so far is what Biden promised frequently in the campaign beginning his last rally before COVID shut down everything that he would be the transition to a new generation of Democratic leaders. I mean, that kind of fresh approach, next generation, turning the page, hasn't really done that yet.

[23:10:06]

And you know, even if they win these two Senate seats in Georgia, it will be at best a 50/50 Senate and a narrow majority in the House. He's going to need a lot of creativity to advance his agenda through executive action. And while, I think he has put together a very impressive team on most metrics. The parts that I think that some Democrats are going to be looking for is OK where are the new thinkers who are kind of taking some of these issues from a fresh perspective. Hasn't really done that yet. And I would look for that in some of the remaining appointments that he has available to him.

COATES: I mean, John, he makes a good point the reason these names are familiar is because they have been part of prior administrations in some respect and they're a part of a familiar group of people in Washington. But I want you to hear from somebody who of course who is very familiar in Washington and beyond. Here the former President Barack Obama, what he had to say today, John.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I suspect at least on the Democratic side seeing Donald Trump eliminate all complexity and just do whatever he wants regardless of the consequences and demonizing the other side prompts I think sometimes this sense of, like, yes. That's what we should be doing too.

We don't need some fancy, over thinking, poetic sensibility. We just need to be, you know, this is what we want and we're going to go get it. I think that's a mistake, because I think the outcome in terms of policy ends up being really bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): I mean, John, a lot of progressives would like to see Biden play hardball from the very get-go even before the GSA decided to ascertain so to speak. I mean, is that his style or is this going to miss the mark and fall upon deaf ears?

HARWOOD: Well, I think Joe Biden is going to split the difference between Republican hardball and poetic sensibility that President Obama was talking about. Joe Biden is a solid, solid veteran of Washington. He is somebody who has deep relationships with Republicans and experience on the other side, but he has shown some signs of getting the way the Republican Party has changed.

I noticed today when he got a question from a reporter who said are you going to get any resistance from Republicans on your cabinet nominations that you're announcing today, Biden started laughing. Obviously he is going to get resistance. He is going to get resistance to everything.

So, I think Joe Biden's approach is going to be to play out the string a little bit. See if it's possible to do something especially if Republicans end up winning one or both of those Senate seats and have Mitch McConnell as majority leader, try to see if he can do something with Mitch McConnell but not have too long of a fuse before he moves on to other approaches as he sees what he can do in the first year.

He hasn't have a lot of time. He could have a difficult midterm election in 2022. There is no guarantee he is going to have the House after 2022. So what he gets done is going to have to get done pretty quickly. That's the pattern for most presidents. Maybe even more so for Joe Biden.

And I think he brings a certain set of instincts to it, but he has had his eyes open during the eight years of the Obama administration and I think there are people around him who also had their eyes open who will encourage him not to be too easy going about that.

COATES: The reason all eyes are on Georgia and that clock is always ticking. Thank you both for being part of the show. I appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Laura.

COATES: I want to bring in CNN's national security analyst and former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper. Welcome to the show. How are you?

JAMES CLAPPER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE (on camera): I'm fine, Laura. How are you?

COATES: I'm good. I'm glad that you're here because you seem like of course the right person especially on a day when we're hearing a lot about the transition team and people who already been named. But as you know, the Biden transition team has already reached out to the Pentagon and Biden can finally now get Intel briefings.

Are you concerned however that because of the delay that took place with not transferring over that power or that acknowledging him as the President-Elect that the briefings are only starting just now? That we might be behind a timeline? Are we at a risk of that?

CLAPPER: Well, Laura, I'd be a lot more concerned about it were it not for the assemblage of experienced hands that the President-Elect is assembling. This is an A-team. (Inaudible) that were experienced, professional, many of them have a long standing relationship with the president, which is huge.

So, yes. It would have been better to have those 20 days but I think they can get a lot done and will be able to hit the ground running in any event because of the experience and these are people who are used to working with one another. So, I am very pleased about what's transpiring.

[23:15:09]

COATES: Let's talk about those nominees and their experience. I mean, a lot of first with his national security picks although they have experience in this particular area. (Inaudible). You have got Avril Haines as the first female DNI. What do you make of a team -- do you see it as really a rebuke to this administration with all the experience that's coming to the table?

CLAPPER: Well, yes. I think it is. I mean, I'm dating myself here but this reminds me of the old 1950s radio show the Ted Mack amateur hour which is over now. And with specific respect to Avril, she is tremendous, I think it's a great choice. And, you know, the reason it's a great choice is because of her competence not necessarily because she's a woman.

And so I -- she will be welcomed with open arms by the way by the Intelligence Community. So, I think it's great and I think there will be more to come of this. And the diversity is a strength of this country and that is being reflected in these nominees.

COATES (on camera): You know, one of the things you talk about the idea of how it will be received among the Intelligence Community, and one of the concerns for every American going forward is how the U.S. will be received overseas. And one of the things that you may have heard is the former Defense Secretary James Mattis, who is now calling on Biden to ditch President Trump's so-called America first policy. And he also heard that President Obama said this today about our relationships abroad. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I think it's going to be important to recognize that the confidence that our allies had and the world had in American leadership is not going to be restored overnight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): Well, if not overnight, what is it going to take to restore these alliances?

CLAPPER: Well, I think in the first instance, and I've real have a big role to play here is reaching out to our closest allies and friends, whom, you know, who have kind of been abused the last four years and reaffirming our traditional relationships. And this is particularly true with respect to intelligence.

And these partnerships, whatever the functional area are really important. They're a strength for us. And it is not -- it is in our best interests to have these partnerships and important foreign relationships. So, yes, it will take time. I certainly agree with President Obama about that, but I think there is a powerful message here that's being conveyed by the results of the election and the people that the President-Elect is assembling to help him carry out his agenda.

COATES: Well, we'll hope that message is well received abroad. Thank you, Director Clapper. I appreciate it.

CLAPPER: Thanks, Laura. Happy Thanksgiving.

COATES: Thank you, you, too. The transition of President-Elect Joe Biden's administration, we know can now finally begin. But the current president still refusing to accept reality truthfully and concede the election. It's damaging to the country and damaging to the GOP. And former President Obama says this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: There is going to be a lingering sense that America is still divided, you know, some of the shenanigans that are going on right now around the election, that is making the world question how reliable and steady the U.S. may be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:20:00] COATES (on camera): Our breaking news tonight, the General Services

Administration telling President-Elect Biden that his transition can officially begin. A Trump adviser acknowledging to CNN tonight it's the end of the road.

Joining me now, CNN's political commentators Alice Stewart and Amanda Carpenter. Alice and Amanda, I'm glad that you're both here tonight especially on a night like this. Let me begin with Alice here. You know, first of all, the president's been tweeting and here is what he's just tweeted tonight.

He says, what does GSA being allowed to preliminary work with the Dems have to do with continuing to pursue our various cases in what will go down as the most corrupt election in American political history? We are moving full speed ahead. Will never concede to fake ballots and dominion.

Alice, I mean, does the president care what his behavior is doing to the country or to the party? I mean, he is saying he's not going to concede and still pointing to dominion the company that has the technology over some of these actual tabulation scanners right?

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (on camera): Clearly he wants to continue his legal fight and he said that right out of the gate earlier this evening when he did acknowledge that he was going to let the GSA move forward with the transition process. And following it up with the tweet you just said that he will continue the legal fight.

And the important thing here is not about whether or not he will concede but that we do proceed with the transition. And anyone who thought for one second that he was actually going to utter the words I think will have to understand he is not your traditional politician and offering an actual worded concession is more of a tradition than a requirement.

So, I think people should just go to the fact that he is your nontraditional politician. He is not going to do this in a traditional way. And I am much more concerned what he is going to do in the next 57 days than what he has done the last three weeks and I would like to see that things go a little bit more smoothly in terms of the new position and transfer of power.

[23:25:06]

COATES: Well, that's true. He is not traditional, but we do have traditions, Amanda, in this country like democracy and election counting and tabulation and certainly the idea, this is not just a semantics based notion of being able to say that you've lost an election.

I mean, Amanda, I want to hear you take here, but here is what a senior Republican official said to our colleague Jamie Gangel, said, based on calls today with heartbroken and angry Trump supporters, I can tell you the damage he has done by claiming this election was stolen, it's unparalleled and indefensible. So, Amanda, I mean, how is the GOP going to recover from this? AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS

DIRECTOR FOR SENATOR TED CRUZ AND THE AUTHOR OF GASLIGHTING AMERICA (on camera): Well, number one, Republicans need to acknowledge that it is important that a president concede. I fully recognize that Donald Trump may not do it. But there is a reason why we expect presidents to do it and why it's important. It signals to their base that the election is over and it was settled in a fair way so that base doesn't feel compelled to take matters into their own hands.

This is a critical measure that Democratic leaders take so that people don't resort to violence. Political violence that we have seen spread under Donald Trump and so number one, I thoroughly reject the idea that somehow it's OK for Donald Trump not to concede because he is a nontraditional guy, because what he is doing, what he has done is convince a base. I don't know how many Americans, is it 5 percent, 10 percent, 15 percent that our elections don't function?

And there is not a legal fight here. This is a joke designed to have P.R. shows so that we keep talking about what he's doing in court and he keeps losing and losing because courts expect evidence. They have filed these conspiracies based on nothing. Based on nothing people think that the elections were not run in a free and fair way. And this will outlast Trump.

I see a lot of high profile commentators saying, well, you know, they can't really prove anything happened but they just feel like it wasn't won right and they don't trust the mail-in ballots and they have no reason not to. And so this will continue because this is what Trumpism is. Its conspiracies. Its lies. And its power at all cost.

COATES: So Alice, I mean, you are one of our high profile commentators. I want to ask you the question. People are believing this, so, is there not an impact you can see? It is more than just a concession. I mean, he is making baseless claims that he hasn't filed any information about whatsoever. Isn't it more than just a discussion about saying the word concede? This is actually having consequences in real-time, don't you think?

STEWART: Look, Laura, I have said from day one on election night when the president questioned the integrity of this election and questioned the outcome, I called that into question. I firmly believe in the Democratic process. I believe in the elections. And I have never had one bit of confidence in his claims about widespread voter fraud.

I think it's important to instill the integrity of our election, instill confidence in our election process, and this show that Rudy Guiliani and the others have been doing. I have had zero confidence in what they have been talking about because if there was a bombshell evidence of election fraud, I'd like to see the bombs, because I have not seen it and these are very irresponsible claims.

But the important thing is, is to let voters know that every legal and legitimate vote will be counted. That is part of the process. And then we will move forward with the transition into the new administration. I certainly wish this president would have done this from day one, but he clearly wants to make sure that this is done in a legal way and a legal and legitimate votes are counted and I think that's important.

Look, I happen to believe I'm one of those people that grew up playing team sports and when the game is over, the votes are counted. The clock has run out. You go on the field. You do the high five, and you say good game, good game, good game. I would like to see this president do that? It's not going to happen. But I think the American people will do that once it's all said and done and Joe Biden is sworn in as our next president.

COATES: I got to tell you, Alice, I hope to share your optimism, but it sounds like to me we're past the good game. The stadium lights are off. The refs have all gone home. The Gatorade is taken away. And there are still being moments where you're asking for a referee to make a call that's already been decided and the game is over. But you know what? Crazier things have happened and maybe we'll have that good game moment after all. Thank you, ladies, for your time. I appreciate it.

STEWART: Thanks, Laura.

COATES: You know, the president and his allies have lost or withdrawn at least 30 lawsuits since Election Day alone. Because there is one thing they don't have no matter how many times they scream fraud. And that's evidence. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES (on camera): President Trump's ill-fated attempts to overturn the election are fizzling out. Two more big losses for him today.

Michigan is certifying its election results, formally giving Joe Biden the state's 16 electoral votes, and Pennsylvania's Supreme Court, rejecting the Trump campaign's effort to block the counting of absentee ballots in Philadelphia and Allegheny counties, ruling that technical violations of the state's election code don't warrant the throwing out of thousands of votes.

I feel like we are living in a perverse version of the "Wizard of Oz" here. The (INAUDIBLE) man behind the curtain pretending to be something he is not. But this time, it's no endearing character keeping up appearances for the sake of the nation or its people.

[23:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This tremendous litigation going on and this is a case where they're trying to steal an election.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COATES (on camera): No. What we have is a team of lawyers pretending to pull non-existent levers of power to grant the wish of one person missing the one thing that has eluded him in every courtroom across the country, a victory.

What is enraging is not just the total lack of sophistication or even competence. It's the duplicity of the arguments. They tell you, the people, one thing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: I know this city has a sad history of voter fraud.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (on camera): But they tell the courts the opposite. Each time the curtain is drawn, the wizards wait to see which audience is staring back before deciding which lie to weave.

If it's the court of public opinion, they'll shout words like widespread fraud as shrill as a wicked witch's cackle. They'll fire off tweets and press releases hoping to steal your belief in the integrity of our elections and send democracy to hell in a dog's hand basket. And they hope that you will be lulled into a false sense of election insecurity in a poppy field of misinformation and promises of evidence that just never seems to come to pass.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK SHOW HOST AND CONSERVATIVE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR (voice-over): You call a gigantic press conference like that -- one that lasts an hour -- and you announce massive bombshells, then you better have some bombshells. They promised blockbuster stuff and then nothing happened. And that's just -- that's not -- well, it's just -- it's not good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COATES (voice-over): Not good. It's a tornado of innuendo, baseless, and unsubstantiated claims threatening to drop a house on democracy. But if it's the court of law that draws back the curtain and it's a judge who is the one asking the question, well, that's a horse of a different color.

Suddenly, there are no more allegations of fraud, there's no forthcoming data, no case law to support a single thing, and most of all, no evidence, none. They can click their heels as many times as they want and they still won't have what wasn't in fact there all along, evidence.

After all, what makes a bald assertion turn into fact? Evidence. What makes a frivolous lawsuit meritorious? Evidence. What makes a legal claim sound? Evidence. What makes an election overturn? Evidence. But what's the one thing they ain't got? Evidence. You can say that again. After all, just like the courts, the Trump campaign and its own legal team have already said it more than 30 times, just not to you. But it takes courage to admit to being a cowardly lion. All roar with no bite.

Next, I want you to take a look at this. What you're seeing there? That's a packed airport. Millions of people are flying this weekend despite the CDC pleading with Americans to stay home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COATES: The U.S. adding more than 158,000 new coronavirus cases today. Forty-seven states are getting worse or holding steady.

Despite CDC guidance recommending people not travel for Thanksgiving, these were the scenes at the airports throughout the country just this weekend. Over three million people passed through security checkpoints, numbers frankly we haven't seen since March.

The virus spreading at record levels, including 21 days in a row with over a hundred thousand new cases.

Joining me now is CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner, the director of the Cardiac Catheterization Program at George Washington University Hospital. Good evening, Dr. Reiner. I'm glad you're here today. How are you?

JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST, DIRECTOR OF CARDIAC CATHETERIZATION PROGRAM AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL: I'm great. Thanks for having me, Laura.

COATES: You know, I have to ask you, what goes through your mind, Dr. Reiner, when you see these massive crowds of people traveling with the numbers that I have just rattled off?

REINER: You know, I really understand particularly this year why people crave to be with family, but this is the worst possible time to do it. So, as you said, the virus is really hot right now. It's never been this active in this country since the start of the pandemic almost nine months ago.

But the reasons not to travel now are to protect the people you love. You may not know you have the virus or you might contract the virus while you travel and then transports the virus to the people that are particularly vulnerable.

This is a family holiday, a lot of multigenerational dinners, and, you know, what will happen tragically all across the country as a consequence of this Thanksgiving is that people are going to inadvertently kill people they really love.

[23:45:00] REINER: So, this is New York State --

COATES: Excuse me. Go ahead, Dr. Reiner.

REINER: I was going to say this is the year to stay home. You know, we'll get together in the future. You know, I'm really optimistic -- I mean, I don't sound optimistic, but I'm really optimistic about the next few months.

We're going to get through this dark period then we're going to start vaccinating people and we're going to start to get our lives back. But we have to get to that point. Now is not the time to travel.

COATES: You know, getting to that particular point, we're thinking about, you know, parts of the country having posing different bans. I mean, what we do have part is part of the optimism. I mean, AstraZeneca announced today that their vaccine has an average efficacy of 70 percent. It seems we're so close to really being able to start these vaccines.

Does that make this latest surge all the more tragic to be so close to potentially vaccines that will help and solve this issue?

REINER: It does. You know, personally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. And for the first time in many, many months, it is not an oncoming train. But that makes me want to be more careful. That makes the people -- that makes me want to convince the people that I really care about, my patients, my family, my country, to be more careful because we're going to have a vaccine.

The vaccines are spectacularly effective. This is really a breathtaking achievement to have so many vaccines created in less than a year. We'll turn this around, but we need to get this. Now is not the time to be reckless.

So, let's hunker down. We'll have a Zoom Thanksgiving. We'll have a lot of leftovers. And then we'll get together with the people we love, you know, in the spring time. Our spring is going to be great in this country and the summer is going to be even better.

COATES: Dr. Reiner, from your lips to god's ears. Thank you so much for your time tonight. We are so close.

REINER: My pleasure.

COATES: We're all exhausted. It is time to do the things to make sure it ends. And one of the consequences you're seeing, huge lines at food banks across the country. My next guest not only works at one after being laid off, but for the first time is relying on it for her food.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COATES: Millions of Americans are out of work in the middle of this pandemic and that resulted in millions of people turning to food banks for the first time. Take a look at these scenes from four of the largest cities in the country: New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Atlanta.

Monica Wahlberg of Wisconsin lost her job due to the pandemic and is now getting help from a food bank. She joins me now. Monica, thank you for being here to talk to us about what you've been experiencing. It's such a powerful story, so thank you.

MONICA WAHLBERG, LAID OFF DUE TO COVID, USING FOOD BANK FOR THE FIRST TIME: You're very welcome. My pleasure to be here.

COATES: You know, talk to me a little bit about your experience because you actually had your dream job before it was cut back in June, and you ended up getting a part-time job at a food bank. You ultimately had to collect food for yourself. So, how are you getting by? How are you doing right now?

WAHLBERG: I get by by the grace of god and the help of friends and family. It has been a very challenging year. And I -- you know, it all started with so many of us back in March, given the pandemic and the community arts center where I was working, the board cut my salary in half.

I still worked full time. I was able to get unemployment for part of that. And thankfully, for my tax return and the federal stipend, I was able to pay my bills and all. In June, we had to cut the budget by 30 percent. That's an awful lot for a small non-profit.

I had a two-month severance and so I was able to try to get by. But when that was done, I went to go apply for unemployment. And as the weeks ticked on without any support, my pastor of my UCC church had suggested that I pick up food from a local food pantry that the church was sponsoring as a popup.

And that was the first time that I had actually been the recipient of -- I -- as a lot of middle class, social economic level, you know, we volunteer and we donate to such charities, but we're not always used to actually being the recipient.

COATES: And that's the story of so many people, for the first time in their lives, being faced with this predicament at a time when they couldn't have foreseen it. They couldn't have planned around it. And we see these massive lines at food banks and people waiting hours and hours across the country.

So, what are you hearing from people at your food bank? I mean, are a lot of people coming for the very first time like yourself?

WAHLBERG: Absolutely. So, I was able to get connected with a federal program, WIOA, dislocated worker program, and they're actually the ones that connected me with the River Food Pantry. There -- it was a six-week program that I could work 20 hours a week.

And then, after the six weeks, when I still didn't have a job, I've applied for over 50 positions in four states.

[23:55:00]

WAHLBERG: But there is just so much competition out there, that it is very, very hard. And they were able to extend my time at the River, part time. But we see people every day coming through the lines. In Dane County alone, we've seen a 63 percent increase in food insecurity.

I work in the kitchen and we help package fresh meals together. So there is the marketplace, which is more what you might think of as a typical food pantry. And then, there's the kitchen that they used to offer community meals. And, of course, we can't do that with COVID. And we serve over, you know, 400 meals on a Tuesday. And they're expecting over a thousand this week with Thanksgiving.

COATES: You know, your story is so much like so many others we're hearing about for the first time and what's happening and the idea of how much everyone wants things to change or how much it needs to change. And I thank you for your time. I wish you a very warm Thanksgiving. I hope that you find --

WAHLBERG: We have much to be thankful for.

COATES: Much to be thankful for. You are right. Thank you for saying that. Thank you for watching. Our coverage continues.

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