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Top U.A. Allies Extend Congratulations to Biden; How Right-Wing Media is Encouraging Election Idealism; Azerbaijan Celebrates Military Victory Over Armenia; Philippines Braces for Another Typhoon; Vatican Report Admits Failures in McCarrick Abuse Case; World's Biggest Online Shopping Event Underway in China; Remembering Saeb Erekat; Biden Projects Calm as Trump Refuses to Concede; U.K. Tries Population-Wide Testing in Liverpool. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired November 11, 2020 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.
Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, let the transition begin. President-Elect Joe Biden says the process is underway with or without a deluded Donald Trump who seems incapable of conceding defeat. For 3 decades, he was the face of Palestinian diplomacy, who never gave up on peace with Israel. In the coming hours, Saeb Erekat will be laid to rest, at a time when Palestinians need him more than ever before.
And with a global pandemic fueling record online spending, here comes Singles Day, the world's biggest 24 hour online shopping event and revenge spending is smashing the records.
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VAUSE: One week on since the U.S. presidential, election four days since Joe Biden was declared president-elect and while much of the U.S. in the world has moved on, it seems Donald Trump has not, still unable to accept one very simple fact, he lost.
Come January 20th, after all of his baseless claims about election fraud, Trump will leave the White House, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46 president. For, now team Trump continues blocking the transition as best they can. Advising agencies to draw up next year's budgets, as if nothing has changed.
And in case you were, wondering this is what a normal transfer of power looks like. Then, Vice President Biden, just days after the 2016 election, meeting with his successor, Michael Pence. Four years later, Trump world, steeped in denial and delusion.
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MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.
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VAUSE: That man is the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, refusing to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the election. His comments sparked fury from diplomats and Democrats who call them baseless and dangerous.
Joe Biden meantime, who received more votes than any other presidential candidate in history, is pressing ahead with his transition plans. A source says the sense of calm he's projecting right now is genuine but his team could get more aggressive if things do not change, in the coming weeks.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are already beginning the transition, we are well underway. And the ability for the administration, in any way by a failure to recognize this -- our win, does not change the dynamic at all in what we're able to do.
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VAUSE: Now lawyers for the president-elect, are considering their next move, here. But Biden says he doesn't see the need for a legal action, yet.
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QUESTION: How do you expect to work with Republicans, if they won't even acknowledge you as president-elect?
BIDEN: They will. They will.
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VAUSE: Meantime, some senior Republican lawmakers are still backing President Trump and his claims of election irregularities. CNN's Jim Acosta, has details.
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JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump and his GOP allies are steering the 2020 election into something out of the dystopian world of 1984. Ignoring last week's results and pretending somehow they won.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration. All right. We're ready.
The world is watching what's taking place.
ACOSTA: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo snapped at reporters who asked about the message being sent to the world as the GOP refuses to accept reality.
POMPEO: That's ridiculous. And you know it's ridiculous when you ask that because it's ridiculous.
ACOSTA: President-elect Joe Biden tried to laugh it off.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: There is no evidence of any of the assertions made by the president or Secretary State Pompeo.
ACOSTA: Vice President Mike Pence met behind closed doors with GOP senators as the president sent out a message of defiance from his social media bunker tweeting, "We will win," though Mr. Trump has yet to face reporters since last Thursday.
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
ACOSTA: President has dug in with the outright support of GOP senators.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, have you congratulated Vice President Biden yet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nothing to congratulate him about.
ACOSTA: Who are backing Mr. Trump's legal Odyssey in search of some kind of voter fraud case capable of appending the elections outcome, even as the president's campaign has yet to prove anything's amiss.
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SEN. ROY BLUNT (R-MO): The president wasn't defeated by huge numbers. In fact, he may not have been defeated at all.
ACOSTA: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says there's nothing wrong with that.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Until the Electoral College votes, anyone who's running for office can exhaust concerns about counting in any court of appropriate jurisdiction. That's not unusual. It should not be alarming.
ACOSTA: A key sideshow in the transition turmoil Georgia's Republican senators have called on their State Secretary of State to resign after Biden's potential victory there. But here's the deal, those two senators are still fighting for reelection and alienating the president could upset his base of supporters.
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Two Republican members of this chamber have called on their own Secretary of State, a fellow Republican to resign for no other apparent reason than the fact that President Trump did not win their state.
ACOSTA: Despite the GOP his antics, the rest of the world appears to be moving on. Leaders from us allies Britain, France, Germany, Canada and Turkey congratulating Biden.
Some administration officials are refusing to go along with the president's Fars. Attorney General William Barr is calling on prosecutors to investigate voter fraud prompted one senior Justice Department official to resign.
Saying in a statement, "Having familiarize myself with the new policy and its ramifications, I must regretfully resign from my role as director of the election crimes branch."
The president's son, Don Jr., and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, have another hostile takeover on their minds. As GOP sources tell CNN, they may have their sights on leadership roles at the Republican National Committee, something Don Jr. denied, but it's a scenario that has some of the party cringing.
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Ladies and gentlemen, leaders and fighters of freedom and liberty and the American dream, the best is yet to come.
ACOSTA: Privately Trump advisors are wincing at the idea pursuing the president's legal challenges to last week's election results. As one advisor told me, quote, "Not sure why the president wants a recount. It's like he wants to lose twice" -- Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House.
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VAUSE: CNN national security analyst Samantha Vinograd joining, me now along with Norm Eisen. He is a fellow at the Brookings Institution and served as the White House ethics czar during the Obama administration.
Good to see you both it's been a while.
SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Hi.
NORMAN EISEN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Nice to see you, John.
VAUSE: You too, thank you. Now let's pick up on those remarks, we heard from the secretary of state. Clearly, it could be argued that he is trying some levity, some humor, which is badly needed.
But Sam, what may be a real knee snapper to Mike Pompeo, can be heard very differently, around the world.
VINOGRAD: This is a stain on democracy promotion, the fact that the secretary of state, our nation's top diplomat, is directly undercutting democracy here at home makes him a hypocrite overseas.
How can Mike Pompeo or any member of his team, at this moment, try to call for free and fair elections in countries around the world?
He's going to be laughed out of the room.
And I served under a Republican president and a Democrat, I have never seen such a gross politicization of our State Department. And, at this point, Mike Pompeo is serving as a political surrogate for the president rather than as a public servant of the American people.
This could do lasting damage to the credibility of the State Department. And, frankly, a Biden administration cannot come in soon to try to clean up this mess.
VAUSE: Just as a reminder, let's connect to 2016, President Obama welcoming Donald Trump to the White House, at the beginning of that transition.
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BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My number one priority, in the coming two months, is to try to facilitate a transition that ensures our president-elect is successful. We now are going want to do everything we can to help you succeed. Because if you, succeed then the country succeeds.
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VAUSE: Ah, those were the days.
Norm, there's actually nothing written down in law, though, as to what an outgoing president is required to do during a transition. It's just this assumption that he's won't behave, like an 8-year old, having a tantrum.
EISEN: Well, John, I worked on the Obama transition in 2008 and 2009 and we had the utmost of cooperation from the Bush administration. There are some basic legal requirements that are set forth under U.S. law. You are right, that a lot of the behavior you expect from a president, that Obama got from Bush and 8 years later that Trump got from Obama, are norms, they're not ridden down in the law, they are bare minimums.
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EISEN: They are triggered, for example, the flow of funds, to support the transition from the General Services Administration, which is triggered by the recognition that you have a president-elect. We haven't had that ascertainment yet.
That is one of the games that the Trump administration is playing. But it's very clear, that the voters have spoken, this transition is going to happen. And there is going to be a peaceful transition of power.
VAUSE: Well, President-Elect Joe Biden seems to be doing a lot more than almost anybody else, to lower the temperature. On Tuesday, he essentially said Donald Trump's actions will only end up harming Donald Trump. Here he is.
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BIDEN: Well, I just think it's an embarrassment, quite frankly. The only thing that -- how can I say this tactfully?
I think it will not help the president's legacy. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: And that might be true but we're also seeing in the past 24, hours four senior Pentagon officials being forced out, including Defense Secretary. The actions of the U.S. president, just random acts of lashing out, to do anything he, can to throw anything at the wall to make this transition difficult, or is it telling us more, are you concerned there's something more here which could potentially be more sinister if you like?
A bigger plan to gum up the works, in the long term?
VINOGRAD: There may be but history should be a guide, here. We know, from 9/11, from the 9/11 Commission Report, in remarks made by the vice president-elect Dick Cheney, that delaying the transition process, in the 2000 contested election, did have an impact. The delay in vetting personnel, nominating personnel, getting them installed, was a contributing factor to the situation that led to the events leading up to 9/11.
Now with respect to Donald Trump's retribution tour, he may have some kind of sinister plan in play, vis-a-vis the Insurrection Act In the United States. But let's not forget, this is having an impact right now.
Cycling out four senior officials, at the Department of Defense, introduces undue burden on the Pentagon, at a time when they are supposed to be doing their day jobs and they are supposed to be working on the transition to the incoming administration.
Further, this is not an attenuated handover between outgoing personnel currently in the, Pentagon and the Trump loyalists that are replacing them. I am deeply concerned that balls could be, dropped again because of this enormous pressure on the Pentagon.
And that could lead to real risks, today. And of course, further down the road, when President-Elect Biden assumes the presidency on January 20th.
VAUSE: And Norm, there is the 1963 Presidential Transition Act, the law requires the General Services Administration to provide office space and other core support services, to presidents-elect and vice presidents-elect, as well as preelection space and support to major candidates. The Act requires the White House and agencies to begin transition planning before a presidential election.
This spells out what happens and when it needs to happen as part of an orderly transfer of power.
Are there legal remedies for the incoming Biden administration to get this moving?
EISEN: Well, possibly, there could be adherents to the law, is hardly a hallmark, of the Trump administration, over the past four years, John. And we've talked about that often on your show. The good news is, that the Biden-Harris transition could see what was
coming. They have built a deep bench. They've already announced the pandemic advisers, distinguished advisers. Today they announce the transition teams. They are rolling up their sleeves. Starting with, the president-elect and vice president-elect, deep government experience.
So that is some good news for the peaceful transfer of power. And, you know, the president is having a flailing, failing attempt to disrupt things. But we are going to see the reins of power transition peacefully, in the United States. As we have before.
It is a shame, as Sam points out, that some of these actions are contrary to the national interests. They serve only Trump's selfish interests and not even that. They make him look bad. So that, too, is a pattern we have seen of sacrificing the national interest. It's sad but I think the president-elect is up to meeting that challenge and having a good transition.
VAUSE: Very quickly, Sam, here, Donald Trump has a day job right now which he seems to not want to have anything to do with and that's actually running the country, in the midst of a pandemic. And that doesn't seem to be getting the attention it needs.
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VINOGRAD: When has Donald Trump actually focused on his day job?
I mean, this president has failed to perform the most basic functions of the presidency, like reading his president's daily brief, surrounding himself with experts and actually relying on informed analysis to lead him to take policy decisions that are in the best interest of the United States.
So Donald Trump not doing his day job is nothing new. And I really look forward to the day when we have a president who focuses on doing what's good for the American people and not what he perceives as good for him politically and personally.
VAUSE: Samantha Vinograd and Norm Eisen, two of the best, thank you very much.
VINOGRAD: Thank you.
EISEN: Thank you.
VAUSE: Coming up next, on CNN NEWSROOM, remembering a life dedicated to a peace deal with Israel. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, laid to rest, in the coming hours.
Also, with a record number of hospital admissions for COVID-19 in the U.S., health officials are hoping for a much sooner than expected rollout of the coronavirus vaccine.
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VAUSE: In the coming hours, Palestinians will lay to rest the one man who seemed to never give up on the two-state solution to end the conflict with Israel. Saeb Erekat was known to the world as the chief Palestinian negotiator. And on Wednesday, he will receive full military honors and prayers and three days of mourning, another victim of the coronavirus pandemic, which is sweeping through the occupied territories. Erekat is being remembered as a champion of Palestinian rights. CNN's Oren Liebermann looks back at his life and his achievements.
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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Saeb Erekat was a man with an increasingly impossible mission but one from which he never shied away. He was the head of the PLO's negotiations affairs department for decades, in charge of finding common ground with Israel that would lead to a peace agreement and to a two-state solution.
SAEB EREKAT, CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR: This is the only way to save the lives of Israelis and Palestinians. Please, let us stop scoring points, let us stop finger pointing, let us go to sanity, wisdom and courage and come back to the negotiating table immediately with no conditions whatsoever because, at the end of the day, we have recognized the state of Israel's existence. It's up to you to take the high ground.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Born in Jerusalem and educated in the U.S. and the U.K., Erekat joined the Fatah political party, growing close to its charismatic founder and leader, Yasser Arafat. Considered a hardliner at first, Erekat gained the respect of those who sat across from him.
ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI DIPLOMAT: Saeb Erekat is a man of peace, always has been a man of peace, a man that I trust, a man that I respect. That's the good news. The bad news is that Saeb Erekat does not call the shots.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): Erekat was a critical part of the Oslo accords when ending Israeli-Palestinian conflict seemed unachievable even imminent goal. But as the years passed and breakthroughs became sporadic, Erekat found himself with little common ground to stand on between Israelis and Palestinians.
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LIEBERMANN (voice-over): And their leaders who deeply distrusted each other, Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas. But Erekat never moved from his goal, even as it grew more distant.
EREKAT: My option is two states. I may be in the minority, I'm being criticized heavily by sticking to the two-state solution. But I know in history that I read and teach and write and so on that, if we want to have a solution we must have a negotiated solution between ourselves and the Israelis.
And if we don't help ourselves, as Israelis and Palestinians, that means this will be translated in the blood of my children and their children and nobody else will do it for us.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): When president Donald Trump unveiled the White House's plan for Middle East peace, it was soundly rejected by the Palestinians and the Arab world. Erekat and the Palestinian leadership wanted no part of Trump's vision.
EREKAT: President Trump is busy inviting Netanyahu, Gantz, so the three of them can determine my future, they can decide what's best for me and they want to dictate on me.
Actually what we hear about Jerusalem being Israel's capital, robbing the refugee issue, security, borders, it is -- it cannot even be called the deal of the century, it is the fraud and the hoax of the century.
LIEBERMANN (voice-over): But within months, Erekat would find himself on the outside looking in, as Israel normalized agreements, first with the United Arab Emirates and weeks later with Bahrain. He kept arguing stridently for the importance and necessity of a two-state solution.
It was his most important mission, one that remained unfulfilled in his lifetime.
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VAUSE: The U.S. is quickly approaching a pandemic death toll of 240,000. Right now more Americans are being treated for COVID-19 and hospitals than ever before. Experts are confident that a vaccine could be ready within months, maybe even weeks. Details from CNN's Nick Watt.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to ask you a few questions.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: While the virus runs rampant across the country, some promising news out of the lab. Pfizer's vaccine might even start rolling out within weeks.
ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: We have anticipated that we will have enough vaccine by end of December to have vaccinated our most vulnerable citizens.
WATT: And the rest of us?
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I think you're going to get vaccinated within the first four months. I would say, by April you'll be able to be vaccinated.
WATT: And an antibody treatment from Eli Lilly just landed FDA emergency use authorization. Limited rollout begins this week. DAVID RICKS, CEO, ELI LILLY: Potentially, in nursing homes, in outpatient centers, or even popup facilities.
WATT: This drug, similar to one used to treat the president, mimics the body's immune response, reducing the severity of symptoms in sufferers.
RICKS: This will help reduce hospitalizations.
WATT: And in just a week, COVID hospitalizations nationwide have climbed, nearly a quarter, now at record highs in 17 states, Idaho among them.
DR. JOSHUA KERN, VICE PRESIDENT OF MEDICAL AFFAIRS, ST. LUKE'S MAGIC VALLEY, JEROME AND WOOD RIVER: We have gotten to the point where we haven't turned patients away, but then required to transfer them to a sister hospital in Boise where they do still have some capacity. WATT: And in just one week, nationwide, the average daily case count has soared 42 percent, stands at nearly 120,000, never been higher. In South Dakota, more than half of tests are come back positive, ten times where states aim to be.
DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: You don't have a mask mandate here, but what I would say to the people of South Dakota is you really shouldn't need a mandate to do the right thing.
WATT: In Nebraska, a brand-new partial mask mandate kicks in tomorrow, if you're playing pool in a bar, for example, you now have got to wear one.
GOV. PETE RICKETTS (R-NE): Folks, this is serious. September 23rd, we have about 200 people in the hospital, now we've got nearly 800 in the hospital.
WATT: The governor himself quarantining after dining outdoors with someone Sunday who tested positive Monday. Texas, about to become the first state to pass one million confirmed cases.
In El Paso, one in 30 people has the virus right now. Six more trucks already deployed in the city, four more requested.
GOV. MARK MCCLELLAN, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: We've got some hard work to do before vaccines make a difference in the next few months.
WATT: Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.
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VAUSE: The E.U. was hoping to strike a deal with Pfizer for up to 300 million doses of the vaccine. A contract will likely be approved later today.
Sweden says the health care system in Stockholm is under great strain, with hospitals struggling to cope with a surging number of cases.
Moscow is now a tightening pandemic restrictions, an 11 pm curfew for bars, restaurants and entertainment venues in place for the next 2 months.
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VAUSE: In France, tighter restrictions could be paying off with a slight dip in infections on Tuesday. Health experts warn though, that the peak of the second wave is yet to come.
And in the U.K., they are now trying population wide testing. Starting in the city of Liverpool. Residents and workers there can get regular COVID tests, whether they have symptoms or whether they don't. CNN's Salma Abdelaziz has details on the new plan.
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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN PRODUCER (voice-over): Imagine a world with no lockdowns. No social distancing. No restrictions. This is the British government's bold new vision and it all starts here in Liverpool. With a citywide coronavirus testing program. It is a twofold experiment. First, to get as many residents as possible tested in the 2-week window.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard about the testing and thought it was a good idea.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): And second, to try out a new rapid test that could save precious lab capacity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's one of the best things Liverpool has ever done for the public, you know.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The scale is massive. Some 2,000 troops are on hand to help thousands of tests per day. Mayor Joe Anderson says the initiative is critical to his city's fight against the virus.
MAYOR JOE ANDERSON, LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND: We're facing tough times, so my message to everybody in the city is let's show we can do this and we can bring the rates of the virus down and stop people from dying in our hospitals.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Liverpool was selected because it has one of the highest rates of coronavirus deaths in England.
ABDELAZIZ: If this program works, the idea is to roll it out across the country. People could get tested regularly. Normal life could resume. But here is the catch: everyone here is a volunteer. This is not mandatory.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Away from the long lines, we meet a very conflicted Paul Freeman-Powell at his home.
PAUL FREEMAN-POWELL, LIVERPOOL RESIDENT: What concerns me is that if you go for a test and then you test positive, then you potentially have two weeks off work when you're not able to earn anything as a result.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Those on low incomes can access a small amount of financial support but this father of three says that, even if he qualified, it's simply not enough.
FREEMAN-POWELL: It's not a clear cut black and white scenario because, on the one hand, you want to do what's best but then you've got to make ends meet.
ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): To defeat the virus through mass texting will require mass participation and even more personal sacrifice -- Salma Abdelaziz, CNN, Liverpool.
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VAUSE: Up next on CNN NEWSROOM, more world leaders have now congratulated Joe Biden for winning the election than Republicans in the U.S. Senate. All the time Donald Trump hunkering down, not seeing as he hides in the White House.
Also conservative media still parroting President Trump's false claims of a rigged election. More on that when we come back.
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JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: The world, it seems, is moving on from the Donald Trump presidency, with the leaders of the U.K., Ireland, France, and Germany, all congratulating Joe Biden. In fact, more world leaders have been in touch with Biden than senators in the Republican side of the upper house.
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CNN's Brian Todd has details.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Many of America's top allies around the world extending a hand to Joe Biden.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reception and welcome we've gotten around the world from our allies and our friends has been real.
TODD: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who'd been a political soulmate of President Trump's, calling Biden and telling him he wants to strengthen the special relationship.
Turkish president Recep Erdogan, who had himself bonded with Trump, also reached out to Biden.
MAX BOOT, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: I imagine those are all cruel blows to Trump, because he is losing support, not only from American voters but from some of the overseas leaders that he has counted on and done the most for over the past four years.
TODD: Other American allies, like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canada's Justin Trudeau, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, have all reached out to the president-elect and his team. According to the official read-outs of their calls, many of them told Biden they're looking forward to working with him to strengthen NATO and fight the coronavirus pandemic.
BIDEN: I'm letting them know that America is back. we're going to be back in the game. It's not America alone.
TODD: But so far, there's silence from the former KGB colonel in the Kremlin. Vladimir Putin, has not yet called or sent a note to President-elect Biden. Putin's mouthpiece, Dmitry Peskov, saying it's because of President Trump's legal challenges to the election results.
DMITRY PESKOV, KREMLIN SPOKESPERSON (through translator): We think it is appropriate to wait for the official results of the election.
TODD: Trump's prolonged contesting of the election results has Putin and his acolytes reveling in the turmoil, analysts say. And a remark by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo only fuels that.
MIKE POMPEO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There will be a smooth transition, to a second Trump administration.
TODD: What's Putin's biggest worry about Biden?
MATTHEW ROJANSKY, THE WOODROW WILSON CENTER: They're going to really push on democracy promotion. It's a nightmare from Moscow's perspective. Because it essentially translates, in the way that the Russians see it, to attempts at regime change.
TODD: But Putin's not alone in not reaching out to Biden. Other leaders who Trump has engaged with have not yet acknowledged Biden's win, like Chinese president Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. Xi and Kim, analysts say, have similar motives to Putin's.
BOOT: Their only concern is that America will have a -- a successful and peaceful transition. That's the last thing they want to see. They want to make trouble for us. They want to undermine our democracy.
TODD: Experts say America's traditional allies will likely be thrilled, that the Biden administration will probably get America back into the Paris climate change accord; may not cut off the World Health Organization, as Trump threatened; that Biden may try to revive the Iran nuclear deal; and that he'll stand up to dictators.
(on camera): But analysts say that America's allies are probably worried that Trump, as Max Boot put it, might, quote, "burn the house down on his way out," that he might not share critical intelligence with the Biden team. They note that he's already leaked some sensitive intelligence operations while he's been in office. And they're worried that, overall, he might undermine the Biden team before it even gets started.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Meantime, over at conservative media world, Donald Trump's baseless allegations of voter fraud and corruption are just -- not just repeated, but they're also amplified. And in a bizarre feedback loop, picked up and promoted by President Trump. CNN's Brian Stelter explains.
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LOU DOBBS, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HOST: Many are trying to steal this election from President Trump.
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT/"RELIABLE SOURCES" HOST: This is the 2020 form of birtherism. It's election denialism,
delegitimizing a Democratic leader, and it's happening everywhere: from FOX News to Facebook, from talk radio to Twitter.
On Tuesday, eight of the 10 top-performing link posts on U.S. Facebook pages were from President Trump, his evangelist supporter Franklin Graham, and right-wing commentator Dan Bongino.
DAN BONGINO, RADIO HOST: The election oddities keep adding up.
STELTER: Unproven claims and innuendo about mass voter fraud are fueling right-wing talkers like Bongino.
BONGINO: There are way too many questions here.
STELTER: And he's telling his fans not to give up.
BONGINO: I'm not going anywhere. You're not going anywhere.
STELTER: Conspiracy theories about mass voter fraud are spreading widely on social media. This genie left the bottle days ago.
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SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Trump still has a path to victory.
STELTER: Trump's friends on FOX are telling millions of viewers that Democrats are cheaters; that big cities are voter fraud factories; and that Trump's lawsuits are serious.
DOBBS: You have courts defying appellate courts within the state, without -- without any consequence. It's outrageous.
STELTER: And this content is racking up big audiences on Facebook and on Twitter. Some of it is hard to fact check, because it's short on detail, heavy on innuendo. But these toxic claims are reaching Trump, misinforming Trump and his fan base, and garnering retweets from the president.
Trump dead-enders are digging in --
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I've not conceded anything.
STELTER: -- stoking grievances and swearing that Trump could still be a winner.
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST, FOX NEWS CHANNEL'S "THE FIVE": All of the weirdness went in one direction. So I think I have proved that this election is fraudulent.
STELTER: Brian Stelter, CNN, New York.
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VAUSE: Nicole Hemmer is an associate research scholar at Columbia University and the author of "Messengers of the Right." And she is with us this hour from New York.
So Nicole, thank you for being with us. It's appreciated.
NICOLE HEMMER, ASSOCIATED RESEARCH SCHOLAR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Thank you so much for having me.
VAUSE: OK, so up until Saturday, around noon, when all the networks were making the call for Biden, the hard news side of FOX News, the supposedly impartial and without bias part, was giving oxygen to Trump's false claims about voter fraud. Just take a look at the banners that had been on-screen up until this point: you know, stuff like "President Trump's legal team preparing lawsuits in swing states over claims of voter fraud." And a whole bunch of others there that you can see.
Now, while the news side is now reporting the story in a fairly straightforward manner, you just need to wait until prime time for a big helping of crazy, mixed in with conspiracy theory and disinformation like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: We don't know how many votes were stolen on Tuesday night. We don't know anything about the software that many say was rigged. We don't know. We've got to find out.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: And there's no question that mass mail-in voting, it's been an unmitigated disaster. We must never again allow Democrats to foist this on our country, given what we're seeing days and days later.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: They want you to believe that this week's vote, insane vote-counting process is totally normal, and it's above-board. Do you really believe that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: In terms of having an influence on the average Trump supporter, does this sort of break, if you like, between the news side of FOX and the opinion side of FOX, does it make any difference?
HEMMER: It does, for a couple of reasons. First of all, that opinion side of FOX really is the signature side of FOX News programming. It's the most watched part of the news network's output.
But then the other side of FOX News's programming, the news side, has been causing quite a lot of angst for conservatives and Trump supporters who really expected the network to fully back Donald Trump during this fight to overturn the election, or throw out the election results. And so you both have this dedication to those prime-time shows, and a real frustration with the news side.
VAUSE: And there have been two really noticeable moments when this friction between the hard news and the FOX opinion has been on display. On Monday, anchor Neil Cavuto interrupted a news conference with White House press secretary, Kaleigh McEnany. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Whoa, whoa, whoa. I just think we have to be very clear that she's charging the other side as welcoming fraud and welcoming illegal voting. Unless she has more details to back that up, I can't in good countenance continue showing you this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Facts and proof, and details, wow. A few hours before that, anchor Sandra Smith had a visceral reaction to a Trump supporter who refused to accept the outcome of the election. Here's that moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just because CNN says or even FOX News says that somebody's president doesn't make them president. So I think everybody --
SANDRA SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- wants to know that this was done properly and legally.
SMITH: What is happening? Trace, we've called it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I think we have to look into every one of these concerns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: It must be a challenge for FOX in the weeks and days ahead. How can a real news actually sit alongside a prime-time opinion lineup, which is increasingly pushing this delusional narrative and which could be potentially dangerous for the country?
HEMMER: It sit alongside it very uncomfortably, and you're even seeing a lot of this opinion-side programming starting to leak into the news side.
And what I mean by that is guests like Ken Starr are appearing on the news side of the programming, pushing these conspiracies. So they're not necessarily coming from the anchor's desk itself. But they are present there.
It's also something that's being used by other conservative outlets to bash FOX. Those clips that you just showed are being aired on talk radio. They're being put into news stories on outlets like Breitbart, in order to say that, Look, FOX News just doesn't support Trump enough, and you should be paying more attention to their outlet, instead.
[00:40:04]
VAUSE: Yes, it's interesting, because the president and his supporters, this all started with FOX News, you know, the reality side of FOX News, if you like, calling the -- Arizona for -- for Joe Biden. And in a series of tweets, Donald Trump on Monday, I think -- Monday or Tuesday, I think it was, accused FOX's opinion polls of being among the worst of many, he said, and have actually played a role in the outcome of this election.
And you know, there was that criticism from conservative media over Arizona and what we just saw there. But FOX is still the loudest and most reliable go-to place for conservatives, right? They will not be knocked off their perch any time soon.
HEMMER: That's right. You'll even notice, now, on the president's Twitter feed, he's pushing shows like Mark Levin, like Sean Hannity. He encouraged all of his Twitter followers to tune into Sean Hannity tonight. He knows that this is sort of prestige conservative media, and that's the conservative media he wants to be associated with.
So he'll point to outlets like One America News or Newsmax, but he's really just using that to try to get FOX to fall in line. At the end of the day, FOX News is still his go-to source and still a go-to source for most of his followers.
VAUSE: Very quickly. We're out of time, but is FOX News switching the narrative here, you know, the opinion side, about the election being rigged and all the various theories out there? Or is Donald Trump pushing it? Which one -- which one's first?
HEMMER: The chicken or the egg, right? Well, it's too hard to separate the two, in large part because people like Sean Hannity are advisers to the president.
So yes, the president to pushing it. It's being echoed on FOX News, but the arguments are also being refined on FOX. And then the president picks them back up. So it's -- it's a circular kind of discussion.
VAUSE: It's a great big feedback loop, it sounds.
HEMMER: Indeed.
VAUSE: Well, thank you. Good to see you.
HEMMER: Thanks for having me.
VAUSE: We appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.
The Affordable Care Act in the, U.S., known to most as Obamacare, seems likely to survive a Supreme Court legal challenge brought on by Republicans.
Oral arguments were made on Tuesday. Two conservative justices, Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, seem to indicate much of the law could survive, even if the controversial mandate requiring most Americans to obtain health insurance is struck down.
Oral arguments are not necessary an indication of how the justices will ultimately rule, but if Roberts and Kavanaugh do side with the court's liberal judges, it means other aspects of Obamacare could remain in place, like covering people with pre-existing conditions, allowing young adults to stay on their parents' insurance plans into their twenties.
Just ahead, protests in Armenia and raucous celebrations in Azerbaijan as two countries reach a ceasefire and Russia may be caught in the middle.
Also, a confession from the Vatican, in the sex abuse case of a former U.S. cardinal.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: Russian peacekeepers are arriving in Armenia, part of a cease- fire deal with Azerbaijan. They're staging at the Russian base in the capital of Yerevan.
[00:45:05]
Azerbaijan is celebrating what it considers a victory in a six-week- long conflict. The mood, though, is markedly different in Armenia, and we get details from CNN's Nick Paton Walsh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a peace deal on paper, but in reality, a sweeping victory as the streets of both sides betray.
This is Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, wrapped in celebration after a punishing campaign took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized as Azerbaijan but held for decades by ethnic Armenians.
And this is Yerevan. There, angry crowds are massed against their prime minister's submission to what he said was an unspeakably painful agreement.
They broke their way into parliament and raced into government's inner chambers, tearing down signs of authority. Men dancing on the desks of P.M. Nikol Pashinyan's officials.
Moscow disliked his closeness to the E.U. and so resisted Armenia's calls for military help until imposing this defeat, packaged as a ceasefire.
Putin said they signed a declaration that ends firing and military actions in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone at midnight, Moscow time. The signatories visibly winner and loser.
"Today," Aliyev said, "We end the occupation of Azerbaijani lands."
"Among those devotees who are ransacking government buildings," Pashinyan said, "there are criminal groups controlled by oligarchs."
But where does this leave a war Azerbaijan prosecuted brutally amid accusations of classed (ph) munitions used on civilian areas and claims of atrocities on both sides.
Both sides are meant to hold their current positions. Russian peacekeepers will step into the gap between them.
But importantly, Azerbaijan has taken parts of Nagorno-Karabakh and now exercises control on the main road between it and Armenia proper, with the added bonus of a land corridor to other territory it controls.
Both sides say they've each lost dozens of civilians. While Azerbaijan's military casualties have been kept secret, Armenian- backed forces have lost hundreds of troops, with hospitals stretched.
The question now: with the level of damage done and hatred ingrained on both sides, whether the deal holds. Or whether a confident Azerbaijan, praised by its backer, Turkey, unable to swiftly advance in a conflict that was frozen for decades, decides to keep going in spite of Moscow.
Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Yet another powerful storm is heading for the Philippines. Vamco is now a typhoon and gaining strength, passing really close to areas which were already battered by Super Typhoon Goni last week.
Meteorologist Terry [SIC] Mauldin -- Tyler Mauldin, sorry, joins us now with more.
Tyler, sorry about that. How are you? Good to see you.
TYLER MAULDIN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hey, John.
This is the absolute last thing that the Philippines want to see, because the Philippines have seen numerous storms impact the region since October 1. And we have yet another one making its way towards the Philippines.
This is Typhoon Vamco. Vamco has maximum sustained winds right now of 140 mile -- 140 kilometers per hour. So it is a healthy typhoon. And it is in a ripe environment to further intensify. And there is the possibility that Vamco, which is known regionally as
Ulysses, could rapidly intensify before landfall. And you can see it then pushes into the South China Sea and makes a second landfall over Vietnam.
We have to watch this very closely, of course, in the Philippines, because as you mentioned, this area was just impacted by Goni. The good news is that Vamco is going to make landfall just to the north of the hardest hit areas from Goni.
We do have a signal 3 wind threat here across Manila and surrounding areas, because the winds are really going to pick up when it makes landfall late Wednesday local time and on into early Thursday local time.
You can see the winds pick up to, I would say, wind gusts upwards of 110 kilometers per hour. Wouldn't be surprised if we saw some wind gusts even higher than that.
We're also going to see extremely heavy rainfall, upwards of 156 millimeters of rainfall across portions of the area. You can see just a wide swath of extremely heavy rainfall. Of course, this could lead to the potential for flooding and also some landslides out there, as well.
Now, in addition, we're going to see that rainfall come into the Vietnam area, as well, where they can see upwards, John, of 150 millimeters of rainfall, as well.
VAUSE: That's a lot of rain. Tyler, thank you. Appreciate you being with us.
Well, a Vatican report admits multiple failures at the very top in the sex abuse case of former U.S. cardinal, Theodore McCarrick. It says Pope John Paul II was warned about McCarrick; promoted him anyway. And the next pope, Benedict XVI, also failed to act.
[00:50:09]
Delia Gallagher has more now on the disgraced ex-cardinal.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THEODORE MCCARRICK, FORMER CATHOLIC CARDINAL: He is the one who has saved us.
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was once a prince of the church and a friend of presidents. Former Washington D.C. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick enjoyed a spectacular career at the heart of power in Washington and in Rome.
When the U.S. cardinals were summoned to the Vatican by John Paul II in 2002, at the beginning of the sex abuse scandal, Cardinal McCarrick was the reassuring face of that crisis, advocating zero tolerance for abusers, even as there were unrevealed allegations against him.
MCCARRICK: I can't see how anyone in the United States today would cover up something like that.
GALLAGHER: Theodore McCarrick was created a cardinal in 2001 by John Paul II. Around that time, an American priest wrote to the Vatican to warn them of rumors that the cardinal was sexually abusing seminarians. But no action was taken for years until, according to the Vatican, under Benedict XVI, McCarrick was quietly advised not to travel or to be seen in public, and live a discreet life of prayer and penance to avoid further rumors of his sexual misconduct with seminarians.
A recommendation which the cardinal seemed to ignore, as he continued traveling and appearing in public, even at the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis.
But then in June 2018, accusations that McCarrick had abused a minor were found credible by an internal church investigation in New York. Although McCarrick maintained his innocence, he resigned as cardinal, something that has really happened in the history of the Catholic Church.
In 2019, Pope Francis defrocked the former cardinal, officially removing him from the priesthood after a church trial found him guilty of sexually abusing minors and adults.
The pope promised a Vatican investigation into how McCarrick rose through the ranks of the Catholic Church, despite years of accusations of sexual abuse against him.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: Well, a shopping extravaganza like no other. Singles Day underway in China, and even amid a pandemic, it's expected to smash sales records once again.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAUSE: The world's biggest online shopping event is underway right now in China. It's known as Singles Day. The shopping bonanza was started as an informal anti-Valentine's Day tradition.
Last year, it brought in more than $38 billion in sales. This year, with China's economy bouncing back and massive pent-up demand from lockdowns, sales are on pace to break records again by a big margin.
CNN's Selina Wang is live in Tokyo.
So look at this initial data here. It's going to be big and a lot bigger than last year, right?
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, that's right. The initial data shows it already has surpassed that record-breaking $38 billion in sales last year.
In fact, just the first 30 minutes of sales, in addition to this extra three-day window they created to boost post-pandemic sales, Alibaba posted $56.3 billion.
As you said, this is the world's largest online shopping event. It dwarfs Cyber Monday and Black Friday combined. And every year, consumers in China will actually delay their spending, waiting for these big discounts on Singles Day, in which you can buy virtually anything. Groceries, cosmetics, electronics, even cars.
[00:55:12]
And every year the event is also seen around the world as a barometer for consumption in China. And it's being watched especially closely this year to see just how strong that consumer rebound is post- pandemic.
Now, China is expected to be the only major economy to grow this year. And in fact, I just spoke to a Beijing-based e-commerce consultant who said that, according to their data, not only has spending rebounded from post-pandemic levels, it's actually surpassed it already.
VAUSE: It's interesting what's happening in China. There's something called revenge spending, too. People are buying up big, because they've been locked down, and they haven't had the chance to go out and buy some luxury goods. So how are habits changing right now when it comes to consumption?
WANG: There is an interesting situation in China and around the world, because people have saved money during the pandemic. They also haven't been able to travel abroad, so that means there could be some of this revenge spending, you say, or spending on these indulgent products.
And analysts say they do expect to see the luxury sector to be especially strong, because these Chinese consumers have not been able to travel overseas, when they typically buy luxury goods.
Now, in addition to that, the pandemic has created this global trend of increasing online consumption, a trend that is expected to stay even after the pandemic.
We're also seeing trends in China like livestreaming now play a big role in sales for these online platforms. It was already a big trend before the pandemic, which has only accelerated. According to Core (ph) Insight, they estimate livestreaming in China will bring in $125 billion in sales this year.
Now, for instance, Kim Kardashian, she had done a livestreaming last year on one of Alibaba's e-commerce platforms with the Chinese influencer and sold out her entire stock of perfume just in the first few minutes.
VAUSE: Minutes. Wow. Good for her.
Selina, thank you. Selina Wang, live for us in Tokyo.
Finally this hour, a hole-in-one for the ages. This is Spanish golfer John Rahm warming up for the Masters. It's a practice round tradition. Skipped one across the pond on the par-3 16th. Rahm does it brilliantly. Watch this one roll all the way across a
very long green. Still going, still going. Wait for it. It's going to break off to the right. Just -- there it goes, into the cup.
And he made that happen on his 26th birthday. Kid's got talent.
Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm John Vause. A lot more CNN NEWSROOM after a very short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
