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Trump Refuses To Concede; President-Elect Biden To Appoint A 12-Member Coronavirus Task Force; Kamala Harris Makes History; Record High For New Cases Of COVID-19. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 08, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

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ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. We begin this hour with two men, two different outcomes to Tuesday's presidential election. And less than 24 hours after a winner was projected, two very different mornings for each of them.

President-elect Joe Biden along with his daughter and his grandson, today visiting the gravesite of his late son Beau Biden. President Trump, who has so far refused to concede, paid a visit to one of his golf resorts.

And while the president hit the greens for the second day in a row, the coronavirus pandemic is again hitting record highs in this country. The past three days each saw more than 120,000 new cases. And for the past five days, more than 1,000 daily deaths.

Now, sources tell CNN president-elect Joe Biden is wasting no time in this fight against the pandemic. He plans to announce his 12-person coronavirus task force tomorrow. President Trump, meanwhile, still digging in, despite a growing chorus within his inner circle to come to grips with his re-election loss.

Want to begin with CNN's Arlette Saenz joining us from the Biden headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. And Arlette, former president, George W. Bush we learned called Biden and Harris today to congratulate them, making him really one of few Republicans to offer their support.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ana. It's quite significant that former president, George W. Bush, spoke with Joe Biden as there have not been many major Republican figures who have been out there congratulating the president-elect.

And that includes the current president, President Donald Trump, who has yet to acknowledge the fact that Joe Biden has won the election and will be the 46th president of the United States. And the former president, George W. Bush, a Republican, released a statement this morning talking about his conversation with both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. He said, "I extended my warm congratulations and thanked him for the

patriotic message he delivered last night. I also called Kamala Harris to congratulate her on her historic election to the vice presidency. Though we have political differences, I know Joe Biden to be a good man who has won his opportunity to lead and unify our country."

And then former president, George W. Bush added, "The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair. Its integrity will upheld and its outcome is clear." This comes as the current president, President Trump, has not acknowledged the results of this election and has also continued to question the legitimacy of it.

You have seen him and his allies doing that over the course of the past few days. But it is quite important that a former president, a Republican, is out there urging the country to come together for unity around the current president-elect Joe Biden.

Now, as for what Biden's next few days are going to look like, tomorrow he will announce the formation of a 12-person task force to address the coronavirus pandemic. This was a hallmark, one of the main things he talked about in those closing months of his campaign.

As he has said, that he wants to get straight to work on tackling the pandemic. He has also in the past said that he intends to reach out to Democrat and Republican governors to see what they need regarding the coronavirus. Today though, president-elect Biden spending time with his family as he's ready to get to work tomorrow.

CABRERA: There is a lot of work ahead. Arlette Saenz, thank you for your reporting.

Now, a source tells CNN that even First Lady Melania Trump has advised the president to accept the fact that he has lost the election, but we're also learning she's not the only family member who has approached Trump about conceding. CNN's White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond is joining us now. What more are you learning, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, it's been more than 24 hours since CNN and other networks projected that Joe Biden will be the 46th president of the United States. And what we've seen from the president so far is his attempts to continue to deny that truth and to continue to try and cast doubt on the integrity of the 2020 election.

[17:054:58]

And as that is happening, what we're seeing among his circle of advisers and his family members is we're beginning to see some splits over how long this period of time where the president doesn't accept the elections, how long that should continue.

We are seeing, according to a source, that the First Lady Melania Trump has advised the president that it is time to accept this loss and we've also heard from two sources that Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, has approached the president about the idea of conceding the election.

Now, on Melania Trump, we should note that after CNN's Kate Bennett reported that, the First Lady took to twitter to say, "The American people deserve fair elections. Every legal not illegal vote should be counted. We must protect our democracy with complete transparency."

Taking a line there that many of the president's allies have taken, who haven't been willing to go quite as far as to say the president won the election as he himself falsely claimed, but who nonetheless want to stand by him in this moment.

We should also note that senior campaign adviser Jason Miller has denied that Jared Kushner is urging the president to concede. Instead saying that Jared Kushner supports exploring all legal avenues.

What I have also learned from my sources, Ana, is that the president's sons, Eric Trump and Don, Jr., that they have been some of the key voices within the president's inner circle urging him and urging allies to continue to contest the legitimacy of this election.

They want to fight this out. I'm told that Eric Trump was telling some Republicans recently that he believes that Democrats have stolen this election from his father. Of course, there is no basis for that.

And ultimately, that is the point, is that the Trump campaign and the president, they are making these allegations, wild claims about widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, but they have yet to put forward any substantial concrete evidence to actually prove that point.

But nonetheless, they are moving forward with these legal challenges in this coming week. And we will just have to see how long that goes on because so far every legal challenge that the Trump campaign has put forward, just about every legal challenge, has gone absolutely nowhere. Ana?

CABRERA: OK, Jeremy Diamond, thank you.

And joining us now is former independent senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman. In 2000, he was on the ticket with Al Gore when Gore conceded the race to George W. Bush after that contentious election. And you wrote recently for the "Wall Street Journal" that Al Gore taught you the importance of accepting an adverse outcome for the good of the country.

We know now that there is this split in the president's family about how they should proceed. The First Lady, Jared Kushner reportedly want him to concede while his sons, Don, Jr. and Eric Trump want their father to fight on. Thank you first of all for being with us. And let me ask you, how important is it that the president accept the finality of the outcome of this election?

JOE LIEBERMAN, 2000 VICE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: First, Ana, great to be with you. Second, what I learned in 2000 and since, you know, a candidate for the presidency, particularly one that looks like he's going to lose, does have a right to take his case to court. That is where we settle conflicts in our country. Not in the streets.

But at some point, you've got to decide it's time for it to end for the good of the country. President Trump has made some very strong claims so far, as you well know, about the election being stolen, and the time is coming where he and his lawyers are going to have to prove those claims in court or decide how long they want to keep this going.

I mean, the story I told in "The Wall Street Journal" very briefly was that after the Supreme Court of the United States decided against us, much to our shock in 2000 election, there were lawyers advising the Gore campaign who told Al Gore that he had the opportunity to go back to the Florida court and ask them to implement their order of a few days earlier for a statewide recount.

And Al said, it's got to end. The Electoral College meets next week, we're already into December, we're about a month away from the inauguration. For the good of the country, it's got to stop. And at some point, unless President Trump really comes up with proof of a fraudulent election, for the good of the country, which he always says he puts first, his appeals have to stop.

CABRERA: And you talk about 2000, and I'm sure you've relived those moments following the election itself before Al Gore -- you both conceded. I just wonder, you know, that was just some 500 and something votes that made the difference in that election. Has there ever been a moment since 2000 when you've regretted conceding?

LIBERMAN: No. In fact, it reflects my (ph) reaction to Al Gore when he called me Tuesday night, December 12th, 2000, the Supreme Court decision had just come down against us. I hadn't seen it, but he told me there was a dispute among the lawyers.

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Some said nowhere to go anymore, others said let's go back to Florida and ask for a recount, what did I feel? And I said, look, I always believe, I used to be attorney general of Connecticut. If you feel like you have a plausible case, take it to court and let the judge decide.

But he called me back about an hour and a half later, after midnight that night and said what I said earlier. He decided that it was time for it to end for the good of the country. And he did the right thing. He did what was best for the country.

So, I never looked back and say, we should have kept fighting. I think -- we fought for more than a month. I mean, the decision of the Supreme Court of Florida was a month after the Election Day and the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court was a month and about five days, four days after that.

So, it went on for a while, but the Electoral College was going to meet the following week, so we were really pressing up against the deadline.

CABRERA: Right. The country is so divided obviously right now. And while some Republicans like President Bush and Senator Mitt Romney have congratulated president-elect Joe Biden, others including Senator Lindsey Graham, who you know well, continue to urge President Trump to not to concede. And I want you to listen to what Graham has said about Biden in the past, and then what he's saying today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): If you can't admire Joe Biden as a person, then it's probably you got a problem. You need to do some self- evaluation because what's not to like? He's the nicest person I think I've ever met in politics.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that right?

GRAHAM: He is as good a man as God ever created.

You can take it to the bank, I ran on it, I won overwhelmingly being an impediment, a block to the most radical domestic agenda in the history of the country. We will kill it dead in the Senate if you give us the majority. We will work with Biden if he wins, but Trump has not lost. Do not concede, Mr. President. Fight hard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: You and Graham and John McCain were once dubbed the three amigos in the Senate. So, again, you have a close relationship with Senator Graham. Are you surprised by the Lindsey Graham you're hearing today?

LIEBERMAN: Here's what I'm confident though, that if Joe Biden becomes our next president, which I'm sure he will. I think he's won. I don't at this point see any substance to the legal claims that President Trump is making. So one way or the other, this is going -- the Trump campaign is going to end and Joe Biden will be our next president.

I think you're going to find Lindsey Graham going back to that first expression of opinion toward Joe Biden which is really positive, but also to what he is. He's a -- Lindsey is a natural bridge-builder. He's a natural problem-solver. And I'm hopeful that he's going to be one of President Joe Biden's best allies on the Republican side in the Senate.

CABRERA: Well, he certainly changed his opinion of President Trump from before the election throughout the years of the Trump administration. And we'll see if he changes yet again. Do you believe President Trump's repeated attacks on John McCain, even after he died, wound up costing Republicans the state of Arizona?

LIEBERMAN: He might well have. I mean, as you well know, the McCain family beginning with John's widow, Cindy, supported Joe Biden. And Joe Biden and John McCain were very close. There's probably a lot of factors in Arizona, but you know, Arizona loved John McCain.

And I wouldn't be surprised if some of those really outrageous things that President Trump said about John cost him a fair number of votes in Arizona. So, maybe in the end there's justice, there is a god, and I have had a vision of McCain up in heaven smiling down at these results.

CABRERA: Finally, I just want to play you something Joe Biden said in his speech last night as president-elect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again. And to make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies. They are not our enemies. They are Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: He said let's listen to each other. Can that be done today?

LIEBERMAN: I believe it can. I tell you, I was really thrilled. I mean, I know Joe Biden forever and we served together for 24 years. This is who he is. And, honestly, he is just the right person for this divided and very difficult moment in our history.

He has a history, as you know, Ana, working with Mitch McConnell, but he's going to reach out to try to overcome the divisions, beginning with Washington so that Washington can work to deal with these terrible challenges we have from COVID-19 and also with the economy first of all.

[17:15:09]

So, I thought those words last night from President-Elect Biden just couldn't have been better. And frankly, I think it's one of the major reasons why he won the election. People are tired of division. They really want us to work together -- want our leaders in Washington to work together across party lines to solve our problems. And COVID-19 and the economy are one and two and I think Joe Biden, President Biden, will focus on those.

CABRERA: Former senator Joe Lieberman, I appreciate the conversation. Thank you very much.

LIEBERMAN: Thank you, Ana. Be well.

CABRERA: You, too.

Considering how President Trump has spent his weekend, does he really want another four years or does he just not want to lose? You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

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CABRERA: President Trump has yet to formally concede the presidential race despite a small chorus of advisers, including his wife and his son-in-law, telling him it is time to accept his loss. Instead, he spent the weekend at his golf course as a pandemic grips the nation and is worsening every day. President-elect Biden, on the hand, vows COVID-19 will be priority number one, and he plans to announce a coronavirus task force tomorrow.

Joining us now, CNN senior political analyst John Avlon, and host of "Firing Line" on PBS, Margaret Hoover. Good to have both of you with us. President Trump seemingly, you know, trying to maintain grip on power, refusing to concede, vowing to fight the election results in court. And yet today, yesterday he's golfing. Is he behaving like he really wants to govern for another four years? John, I see you shaking your head no.

JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, he hasn't put forward any evidence. They've made a lot of noise about putting forward court challenges. They haven't really done it. They haven't showed a willingness to put the money behind it.

And when they have gone to court in one case, the judge basically said, what are you guys talking about? So, you know, we're at sort of put up or shut up stage. I understand he doesn't want to be a loser. We all get that.

But at some point he has got to expect reality or this pattern we are seeing, where he would rather ruin if he cannot rule. He would rather hurt our democracy than admit defeat, and that's an unacceptable calculation for an American president to make.

CABRERA: Margaret, I just wonder why Republicans who are looking for an off-ramp haven't taken it?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Ana, explaining, I mean, look, if I could explain the Republican Party and their behavior, vis- a-vis Trump over the last four years, you know, I'd be in a different business, I suppose.

Listen, it is sometime for the president to accept where this is going. There's nothing wrong, by the way, with him pursuing every voting irregularity and putting to bed this notion for him and for his supporters that he did lose fair and square.

That all of the legal ballots cast, which by the way, they were all legal, but let's ensure that they were all legal and allow him to do that. But Mitt Romney was -- spoke today and said it took him about 90 minutes with his legal counsel when he was nominee of the Republican Party in 2012 to recognize that there weren't serious merits to legal challenges that he could pursue and litigate.

And so, it's time for this president after this weekend to make a decision and move forward for the good of the country. Now, he's not in a habit of doing things for the good of the country. We all know at this point he does things for himself. I think that's why resoundingly, you know, the American people rejected his leadership. But it's time and I think we're all -- we're all waiting for that.

CABRERA: We've learned there are opposing forces within the family right now. Jared Kushner and Melania Trump have reportedly approached President Trump about conceding while Eric Trump and Don, Jr. are digging in on contesting the election. What do you make of that?

AVLON: Look, this family episode of "Dynasty" should really play out some place other than our democracy. I mean, you know, I'm not going to give folks gold, you know, little thumbs up for trying to do the right thing, which is you know, Mr. President, behave with dignity and uphold the traditions of our democracy as opposed to trying to inflame conspiracy theories that keep our country perpetually divided.

Of course, people in the administration should have the spine and, frankly, the soul to say, face facts, do what's right for the country, but we haven't seen a whole heck of a lot of that over the years. We'll all take what we can get right now, but let's not, you know, enflame this family drama any further.

They should all be saying, if they truly care about the country, do the right thing Mr. President. You may not have that muscle memory much anymore, but please do the right thing.

CABRERA: It's not lost on me. Is it lost on you, Margaret, that it's the two people who are actually like working within the White House that are saying it's time to concede but the two family members who aren't in the White House, the president chose not to bring with him inside the White House, are saying, stay and fight another day?

HOOVER: Yeah. I don't know. It's truly it's like this Kremlinology of the family is almost not worth our time. We've done it for four years, we're tired of it. The American people rejected it. I don't want to humor it anymore in a way, Ana, you know.

It's like we all know what's appropriate and what is necessary. And, you know, it just brings me back to Cindy McCain discussing what the best political speech of her life was. Of course, she's referring to John McCain's 2008 concession speech to Barack Obama, right.

CABRERA: And actually -- actually I want to play a few clips of past concession speeches. I don't mean -- want to interrupt you, but I have a couple cued up. Let's listen to those for a second.

HOOVER: Let's do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:25:00]

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The people of the United States that made the choice and, of course, I accept that decision, but I have to admit, not with the same enthusiasm that I accepted the decision four years ago.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The people have spoken and we respect the majesty of the Democratic system. I just called Governor Clinton over in Little Rock and offered my congratulations. He did run a strong campaign. I wish him well in the White House.

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that many of my supporters are disappointed. I am, too. But our disappointment must be overcome by our love of country.

JOHN MCCAIN, FORMER SENATOR OF ARIZONA: I urge all Americans who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our next president our good will and earnest efforts to find ways to come together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Margaret, I'll let you finish your thought.

HOOVER: Look, that's exactly -- that is the tradition of American history. That is the tradition for 240 years. That is -- and what should be communicated to the president right now, that is the strong thing to do. The strong thing to do is leave our democracy and the office that he held better as he leaves not weaken it on his way out.

And, frankly, it will be best for his legacy as well. I mean, it does, you know, presumably he'll have a presidential library and museum, as every ex-president does. Presumably he will want to have a post- presidency that is respectful. He does not want that to be his last chapter of his presidency.

AVLON: But that is the way he seems intent to go out. If you listen to that litany, you are reminded of that old line, that America's greatness flows from our goodness and that involves decency and respect.

And the contrast, you know, Joe Biden last night, president-elect, talking about bringing the country together, uniting the nation in a spirit of goodwill. Democracy depends upon the assumption of goodwill among fellow citizens.

That has been eroded and attacked, unfortunately, from the executive. Let's try to leave the country stronger than we found it in these final months of the Trump administration.

CABRERA: Joe Biden didn't even mention President Trump in his victory speech last night. Instead he called for unity and he said Americans need to listen to each other. Margaret, what do Democrats need to do a better job of understanding about Republicans?

HOOVER: Look, I think what's quite interesting, Ana, is that actually Donald Trump expanded by about 10 percent the number of people who voted for him this time around. I mean, for Republicans, what Republicans recognize is, there are a lot of people who didn't vote for the president at the top of the ticket but voted Republican down- ballot.

So there is really an opportunity to actually in the next administration find some ways to work together and build some bridges. And I think there will be opportunity because the constant news cycle and tweet storms and bad and irregular behavior emanating from the Oval Office hopefully won't be taking up as much real estate in our minds as possible and maybe we can actually get something done.

AVLON: But I want to highlight something Margaret just said. You know, sometimes the shorthand of this election is Donald Trump was rejected but Trumpism endorsed. No. Take a look at what she just said about a lot of Republicans rejecting Donald Trump in suburban districts, Nebraska's second congressional district is a notable example, but then voting for the Republican.

So they're saying no to Donald Trump but voting for the Republican. The construct of this election as we can see now is a huge win by historic perspective for Joe Biden. A clear mandate. But it looks like we're going to have divided government.

And so, it will be incumbent upon those folks to say, do they want to continue the division and the dysfunction or do they want put the legacies first and try to find ways where they can work together on common ground?

The extremes won't be happy. But do we want to solve problems together as a country? And the COVID pandemic, I think, increases the urgency for us to do that as one people, as one nation.

CABRERA: And it is a choice for each of those individuals, each of those leaders. Thank you so much, John Avlon, Margaret Hoover. Appreciate it, guys.

HOOVER: Ana, thank you so much.

CABRERA: We are waiting for brand-new numbers out of Arizona. Numbers that could help CNN call the winner of that specific state. As we wait, President Trump is still refusing to concede. But is it really up to him? Your weekend presidential brief is next. Stay with us. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:30:00]

CABRERA: President Trump has made it very clear he is not planning to concede defeat in this election. Instead, he continues to spread false and baseless claims that the results are somehow rigged against him and the Trump campaign says starting tomorrow, they will start prosecuting their case in court.

All of it, a dangerous attempt to undermine the most sacred part of our democracy, the vote. CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd is with us now. She's also a former national security adviser in the Obama administration. Sam, does Trump's refusal to concede actually have any impact?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Ana, someone needs to FedEx President Trump a copy of the Constitution. His personal opinion is irrelevant here. The 12th Amendment clearly lays out a process for declaring a winner in this presidential election.

The 20th Amendment clearly stipulates that at noon on January 20th, the president's term ends. There is no legal requirement for President Trump to personally concede. Now, he seems to be trying to slow the process down through the courts. The truth is, he can cry fraud until the cows come home but it's

really just background noise unless he can make a compelling case in court. To date, his team has been throwing legal spaghetti against a wall and they haven't been able to get anything to stick.

Remember as well that they're up against the clock. According to federal law, states have to settle election-related disputes by December 8th in this election cycle.

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So overall, Trump's personal concession won't impact the peaceful transfer of power.

CABRERA: How much can Trump influence the transition process, though?

VINOGRAD: Well, recognizing that any disruption occasioned by the transfer of executive power could harm our national security, Congress passed a Presidential Transition Act and subsequent legislation. This legislation lays out specific requirements for both the pre-election and post-election period.

The Trump team largely met their statutory obligations in the pre- election period. They set out their transition counsels, success plan and reported to Congress.

After the convention, the Trump team signed a memorandum of understanding with the Biden team and gave them access to certain funding, certain office space and gave them the ability to process security clearances. They also started to allow Biden officials to sit on the transition councils. From the Biden transition team's perspective, keep in mind, this isn't Biden's first rodeo.

He went through a transition process with President Obama and reportedly he is making good progress on his personnel list and he's already published policy plans. The outstanding question is when the Trump administration is going to pull the trigger on the post-election transition process.

CABRERA: And what needs to happen for this post-election transition process to proceed?

VINOGRAD: Well, by law, the administrator of the General Services Administration has to ascertain the winner of the election. Historically, the administrator has made that ascertainment shortly after a winner is declared. An anomaly with 2000, of course, because the results of the election were contested.

Unfortunately, the administrator confirmed yesterday that the GSA is not yet ready to make that ascertainment. That means that additional funding, additional office space and the ability of Biden personnel to enter federal agencies and departments can't kick in.

Concurrently, the Biden team can't finalize the vetting process for their political nominees. And we don't know if the Biden team will be able to start receiving intelligence briefings absent this ascertainment.

Now, Trump may be putting political pressure on the GSA to hold back on this certification. The Biden team could go to court. But it's worth noting that the only people that Trump is harming is the American people by potentially pressuring the GSA not to move forward with this post-election transition process.

CABRERA: As always, Sam Vinograd, great information. Thank you so much.

VINOGRAD: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: Watch out for all the glass. We have much more on Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris' record-breaking ascent right after this. You're live in the "CNN Newsroom."

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[17:40:00]

CABRERA: Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris making history on so many levels. Harris becoming the first female, the first black woman, the first woman of south Asian decent to be elected to the office of Vice President. CNN's Kyung Lah takes a closer look at Harris and the historical significance of her ascent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Wearing the color of the women's right to vote movement a century ago, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris showed the world what the future now holds.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT: Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibility.

(APPLAUSE)

LAH (voice-over): The audience mirroring her message.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now we know that we have hope to do that.

LAH (voice-over): From those who saw her in person --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a refugee myself that I came here 11 years ago, I'm really excited to see her in the office.

LAH (voice-over): To those who spilled into city streets.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today was a monumental day. I didn't wake up this morning expecting for this to be one of the best days of my life, but it really is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A woman made history!

LAH (voice-over): To posts across social media.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

LAH (voice-over): Women and girls, especially those of color, celebrating themselves, finally reflected in one of the most powerful positions in the country. Paving the path has been a passion for Harris. The daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, a mission instilled in her by her late mother, as she told me during her own presidential run.

HARRIS: When I see those little girls in particular, I mean, I see myself, right? And I see the children of my family and I see the children of our country. And I see the promise of our country. My mother had many sayings and one of them is, you may be the first to do many things, make sure you're not the last.

LAH (voice-over): A dream now realized.

HARRIS: While I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH (on camera): And it's not just future generations that Harris hopes to lead the path. She also hopes to make an impact right now. As we saw during her presidential run, and we've seen in her hiring in senatorial staff, she seeks to have a diverse staff leaning on women of color.

And, Ana, it's not just in the numbers of people surrounding her, it's also about putting these women of color in decision-making roles. Ana?

CABRERA: Yes. Having influence, having a seat at the table. This is like the epitome of girl power or woman power, I guess we should say. Kyung Lah, thank you for your reporting.

We are now five days out from the election and the coronavirus pandemic has not disappeared. In fact, the U.S. is setting bleak records this weekend.

[17:44:56]

And one doctor warns the virus will be running rampant by the time Joe Biden takes office. An expert joins us next live in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: While much of the country was fixated on Election Day and the tense days of vote counting that have followed, the coronavirus crisis in the United States is getting worse and worse. Three days this past week alone saw more than 120,000 new cases. And in five days in a row, the virus claimed more than 1,000 lives each day.

So why are we seeing this exponential growth at this moment? Let's bring in Dr. Jonathan Reiner, CNN medical analyst and professor of medicine at George Washington University.

[17:50:00]

Doctor, what is different now from a week ago? Why this huge spike in new cases and deaths?

JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: The ship of state has had no captain. We've had no mitigation efforts. We haven't changed anything that we were doing prior to this time. You're right, over the last week we've seen an enormous increase in the number of cases.

Yesterday we had 128,000 cases. If you look at the last week, we're averaging 102,000 cases per day. We've had only three-quarters of a million cases in the last week, and it's not just infections. You know, deaths are up.

As you mentioned, we're now seeing routinely more than 1,000 deaths per day. And if you look at the last week and compare it to the prior week, deaths are up about 14 percent. Hospitalizations up 15 percent. Remember that death is a lagging indicator.

So two to three weeks from now, we're going to see really the terrible impact of more than 100,000 cases per day. I'm afraid we might see close to 2,000 deaths per day until we do something differently.

CABRERA: And so let's talk about what can be done differently because Joe Biden says this is going to be priority number one as he takes office. And tomorrow he's already planning to name a task force that will include a former surgeon general, former head of the FDA.

We're learning a little bit more about the Biden/Harris plan for the coronavirus. It will include pledging to ensure free, reliable testing for all Americans, a better supply of personal protective equipment, clear and consistent guidance, and a $25 billion vaccine manufacturing and distribution plan. What do you make of this agenda?

REINER: I think it's a good start. It's good to see -- it will be really good to see some federal leadership finally. What we've seen up until now is sort of a Darwinian federalism. You know, every state out, you know, sort of on their own.

I'd like to see a national mask mandate. I think that's how we're going to -- that's how we're going to start to temper the rise in cases. I'd like to see certainly a federal mandate for masks on any form of public conveyance around public transportation around the country.

I'd like to see the federal government use the Defense Production Act to produce more PPE. These hospitalizations are going to fill our hospitals, and we're going to run into issues with PPE availability going forward. I'd like to see more testing with cheap and rapid tests that people can do at home, massive increase in the amount of testing.

And then finally I want to see a public education campaign, a large public education campaign to start educating about the safety of vaccines because once we have a vaccine, we have to get people to take it.

CABRERA: Quickly if you will, you know, Trump is still president for the next 73 days. What kind of shape is the country going to be in when Joe Biden is inaugurated?

REINER: A lot more people are going to be dead. You know, unless we come together and understand that until we have a vaccine, we can create a temporary vaccine by increasing the amount of masking around the country. If we can get 90 percent of the country to wear masks, we can put a firebreak around this virus and get it to slow down in advance of us starting to vaccinate the country.

We need to do that. I'm glad that the president-elect is appointing a task force, and it will be good to hear from them in sort of a shadow way until they take office 10 weeks from now.

CABRERA: It was notable that the now president-elect, Joe Biden, ran onto the stage wearing a mask yesterday prior to addressing the nation. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, as always, good to see you here, and it's unfortunate that our situation is what it is right now. But we'll have you back so we can help our viewers walk through these next tough moments.

REINER: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: Any moment now we are expecting new vote totals out of Arizona. If president-elect Joe Biden can maintain his lead there, he will successfully flip that state for just the second time since the 1950s. We'll take you live to Arizona right after this.

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[17:59:59] CABRERA: You're live in the "CNN Newsroom." Thank you for staying with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in --