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Biden Names Ron Klain as His White House Chief of Staff; Democrats will Maintain Control of House with Smaller Majority; Utah Nears Breaking Point as Cases, Hospitalizations Keep Rising. Aired 11:30-12p ET

Aired November 12, 2020 - 11:30   ET

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

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[11:30:00]

JOHN KING, CNN INSIDE POLITICS: President-elect Biden's first big personnel appointment is quite telling. Tapping Ron Klain to be the White House chief of staff reminds us Biden, for years, has relied on a circle of trusted advisers.

Now, sticking with that group simply will not fly in today's Democratic Party, especially among progressives who want to see early proof the president-elect takes their concerns seriously and will bring diverse voices into the administration. But we should give on this day team Biden a little bit of credit.

Leading progressives were quick to praise the Klain announcement, proof the transition team is making sure not to blindside key party voices. This from Elizabeth Warren tweeting, Ron has earned trust across the entire Democratic Party, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez also gave Klain literally thumbs-up emoji there and called it an encouraging choice.

Andrew Card knows a thing or two about difficult presidential transitions and setting up a White House staff. Card was chief of staff to President George W. Bush when he took over in 2001 after the Supreme Court, remember, settled that election. Andy, it's good to see you on this day.

You were a member of the Bush family. You knew Governor Bush very well when he became President-elect Bush and then President Bush.

You have served in the administration of his father, George H. Bush. Ron Klain has deep experience like that. He goes back to the Clinton/Gore administration, he goes back to the Obama/Biden administration, he goes back to Biden's days in the Senate. How important is that for the gatekeeper, the chief of staff is the gatekeeper to the president, that personal bond?

ANDREW CARD, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, John, it's great to be with you and thank you for having me on, and congratulations to Ron. I think it's an excellent choice. Ron, he'll know Joe Biden. And part of the job of a chief of staff is to pay attention to the president 24 hours a day, seven days a week, because you never know when the president will have to make a very, very difficult and challenging decision.

And it's best if you really understand the president so that you know his mental health, his physical health, his emotional health and his spiritual health. And I think Ron will know that because he's worked so closely with Joe Biden in so many different capacities.

But I do caution Ron, like I would caution anyone who became chief of staff, the emphasis of your title is staff, not chief, the staffer in charge of the staff. And I remember telling President George W. Bush when he was president-elect and asked me to be his chief of staff, I said, understand if I do this, I cannot be your friend.

I will just be a staffer in charge of the staff. You can't feel guilty about hurting your friend if you disagree with me or don't like what I'm doing. You've got to tell me what it is and don't feel bad about hurting my feelings.

Now, if I'm no longer chief of staff, I'd love to be your friend again, but as long as I'm your chief of staff, I'm just a staffer in charge of the staff making sure the staff gives you what you need to do to make tough decisions and lead this country and the world.

So, Ron is going to recognize that he's stepping into a role that will have him serving the president, not being the president's best friend.

[13:35:05]

KING: We'll watch that play out. It's an interesting perspective. And you have some unique perspective.

I want you to listen here. Senator Angus King is an independent from Maine but he caucuses with the Democrats. You know Senator King well. He is among many people sounding alarm about the transition, the president's refusal, President Trump's refusal to sign the papers to allow the normal transition process to play out. And he has an eye, Senator King does, on history. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): Well, what's at stake is the security of the United States. If you look back through history, for example, Bay of Pigs, Black Hawk Down, September 11th, what do those have in common? They all occurred in the first year of a new administration.

Any transition is a moment of vulnerability when our adversaries look to take advantage, and this is being done for, as I say, no reason except, apparently, sort of the pique of the president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Andy Card, you do have unique perspective here. The history of books will record that you are the man who walked into that Florida classroom on September 11th, 2001 and whispered to the president of the United States, a second plane hit the second tower, America is under attack.

How important is it? What advice would you give to President Trump to get over it and get the transition under way?

CARD: Senator Angus King is exactly right. And I signed an op-ed piece with John Podesta just in the last 24 hours, suggesting that the administration should move forward with the transition. Even if the results of the election aren't really well known or well respected, move forward. We want a President Biden to be just as prepared as a President Trump to be in office on January 20th at noontime.

And there's so much going on. The pandemic, number one, is something that's a real-time challenge and it should be understood by both potential presidents on noontime of January 20th. And I happen to think it's going to be Joe Biden. I think the Trump administration should acknowledge that and do the full transition with him and do that now.

But even if they don't want to acknowledge that, make sure Joe Biden is fully prepared to be president in case he is the president at noontime on January 20th. Yes, the world is dangerous and it's particularly dangerous right now. Yes, we are in the midst of a pandemic. And it wasn't just the issues that Senator King raised.

I can also report, you remember after George W. Bush became president, we also had a situation over EP-3 plane being forced down and the Chinese to Hainan Island, and people were wonders is George Bush up to this challenge and he proved that it was, but that was certainly an unforeseen occurrence, as Matt McLarty, former chief of staff, would say, UFOs come all the time to the president of the United States. It's the chief of staff's job to make sure the president is ready to meet those challenges whenever they come.

And I hope the transition will be given to Joe Biden to be able to be ready should he be the one to take that oath of office on January 20th, 2001, and I honestly believe he will be. I think he's the president-elect.

KING: Well, you believe he'll be the president-elect, and I know this is a sad statement to you. But the Bush name and people who worked in the Bush presidencies, both of them, are somehow treated as pariahs in today's Republican Party sometimes. I want you to listen here to Senator Lindsey Graham who says, Mr. President, keep fighting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The election is not over, by the way. Somebody needs to be talking about Nevada. These lawsuits in Nevada are promising.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven't seen all the lawsuits perhaps that they will file. But what we've heard of so far, do you think any of those things have the chance of overturning any of the states?

GRAHAM: Yes, I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Andy, we met long ago. I've been at this a long time. I've read all these lawsuits. They have put zero evidence forward to many widespread fraud. There might five votes here or a dozen votes there. But the margins are outside of the box.

You did write in that op-ed with John Podest that this is not 2000. 2000 was about one state. It was about one state. The president would have to overturn the results of three states, three states to overturn this election. It is not going to happen. What Kool-Aid are Republicans drinking?

CARD: I don't know. I respect the process of recounting ballots, obviously. I respect the president's right to go to court and get things addressed. But even if everything the president suggests happens in terms of investigations, I don't think the results will change. In Florida, 20 years ago, 20 years ago, the difference in Florida was 537 votes. That's what it was, one state, and that made the difference in the Electoral College.

It's a much higher hurdle for President Trump to be able to turn the votes around in so many states that he would have to do it to be able to say he won. I think Joe Biden is the president-elect.

[11:40:01]

Yes, President Trump has the right to request a recount. Georgia is doing it by law. And others may have to do it because of other races. The only race in the country is not the race for president of the United States.

But recounts may happen and should happen, and we should respect the results of those recounts. But I don't see any path to victory that is credible for President Trump right now.

KING: Math is math. Andy Card, grateful for your time and your experience and insights on this day. It's good to see you.

CARD: Good to see you, John. Thank you.

KING: Up next, the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, will lead a smaller majority in the new House. And today, she tries to manage a rumbling family feud over who is to blame for that.

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[11:45:00]

Today is a big day for newly elected members of Congress. They will attend orientation up on Capitol Hill. Democrats will maintain control of the House. Just moments ago, the House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, saying this about Republican colleagues who will not let go, still contesting the presidential election.

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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Stop the circus and get to work on what really matters to the American people.

It's most unfortunate that the Republicans have decided that they will not respect the will of the people. And let me just say -- it's like the house is burning down and they just refuse to throw water on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Congressional Reporter for Politico Heather Caygle joins us now. Heather that is a classic Pelosi tactic. She knows she has a bit of a family feud she's going to have to deal with today. So let's light up something we all agree on and go after the Republicans and say they need to acknowledge the elections. Can she carry that unifying theme, if you will, into this meeting today?

HEATHER CAYGLE, CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, POLITICO: You know, John, I think she probably will be able to. Today is kind of the new members getting their feet wet. I think the thing to look for is next week when all of the Democrats are back and they're together for the first time since early October and they're voting on their leadership.

And that will be when I think we probably see some of these grumblings, so we've heard, over the week or so since the election, those things will really resume because members of different parts of the caucus will be together and be able to strategize a little bit easier and maybe get into a little bit more mischief.

KING: All right. Sometimes this is like behind the doors cloak and dagger secret and you have to source-report it out. This is not in this case. Hakeem Jeffries is a key Pelosi deputy, a House Democratic Caucus chair, said this to your organization, Politico. Do we want to win? Do we want to govern or do we want to be internet celebrities? I think it's a useful conversation for us to have because the socialism message wasn't helpful.

Well, one of those internet celebrities who think she can also govern is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who responded, pretty astounding, some Dems don't believe it's possible to govern, be political popular and command formidable bully pulpits at the same time, but it actually explains a lot about how we got here.

These are two young, rising star Democrats who -- from the same state, mind you, same city, who have issues. How much of this is personal rivalries and how much of this is a big party problem?

CAYGLE: I think it's a mix of both. I think the thing that was notable about what Chairman Jeffries is he actually said that on a private leadership call to Pelosi and some of the other top Democrats last week before they held a broader caucus call.

And then when he got on the caucus call, he did not say that. And so us reporting it, I think, some of these so-called internet celebrities, like Ocasio-Cortez, they were hearing it for the first time, and like you said, she didn't hold back yesterday. She went on Twitter and kind of put him on blast, essentially.

And I got a lot of eyes emojis from members of Congress and staffers yesterday after she tweeted that. Part of this is they're both rising stars, they're both competing a spotlight. He wants to be speaker in a couple of years. She has a huge platform, millions of followers, they're from the same state. So there's a little bit of that going on.

But part of it is they're representing different wings of the caucus and they are trying to make sure that their muscle is flexed and their voice is heard. It's part of the broader struggle that we're seeing in the caucus to determine where it goes next and how it leads in this next Congress when it only has maybe five to ten seats in the majority, which, as you know, is super slim.

KING: Super slim. And President-elect Biden should be watching because the little family feud happening among the House members is going to come to him when they have demands about policy. So it is a fascinating moment, to say the least. Heather Caygle, it's good to see you. I appreciate your great reporting.

Up next for us, coronavirus cases are exploding everywhere. One particular trouble spot right now, Utah.

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[11:50:00]

KING: In Utah, coronavirus is exploding, overwhelming hospitals and now forcing some areas to shut down schools again and revert to online learning. CNN's Lucy Kafanov has more on this growing crisis.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. Yes, the numbers here in Utah are simply trending in all the wrong directions. The state is averaging now more than 2,600 new cases a day. That is the highest this metric has been since the pandemic began. Eight consecutive days have seen new case numbers over 2,000.

And in terms of just how much this is ramping up in the past few weeks, we're now seeing a 44 percent week-over-week increase of case numbers. Deaths also going up. Last Friday was the highest day for deaths with 17 reported here in Utah, making it the deadliest week so far.

And now, the biggest concern for the state, more than anything, is, frankly, hospital capacity. In some hospitals, intensive care units are at 90 percent. Doctors are describing this as approaching a tipping point.

[11:55:01]

And this is actually something that's forced nurses to be brought in from out of state to supplement the nursing availability here in the state because resources are already so strained.

This concern is in part what prompted the governor to issue a state of emergency. He's issued a statewide mask mandate. He is forcing schools, for example, to postpone extracurricular activities. He is limiting social gatherings to small numbers of people, asking them to remain in their households, and college students will also be required to do weekly testing in the New Year.

In addition to all of this, the governor has tapped the National Guard to help with testing and contact tracing. John?

KING: Lucy Kafanov, thanks very much. There are problem in many states.

Up next for us, President-elect Biden's transition collides with President Trump's denial.

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