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Coronavirus Cases Continue to Surge in States Across U.S.; Coronavirus Case Increase May Result in City Lockdowns; Pfizer and Moderna Soon to Apply for Emergency Use Authorization for Coronavirus Vaccines; for President-Elect Joe Biden Still Not Receiving Daily Intelligence Briefings; Former Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly Criticizes White House Blocking Transition Processes for President- Elect Joe Biden; Trump Campaign Falsely Claims Voter Cast Ballot When Dead; Campaign Ramping Up for Georgia Senate Runoff Races; Masters Taking Place Late Due to Coronavirus Pandemic. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired November 14, 2020 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:15]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Cities and states are tightening restrictions as the U.S. nears 11 million coronavirus cases. Coming up, the new measures this morning to try and stop the surge.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Also, the final calls have been made in the 2020 race, but the president is refusing to concede. Now his former chief of staff says stalling is, quote, an increasing national security and health crisis.

BLACKWELL: And the Trump campaign claims that dead voters cast ballots in this year's election. One of the accused says she is very much alive and voting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AGNES BLALOCK, ACCUSED OF VOTING DEAD: I voted for the Democrats, for Biden. I guess I voted against the other one really.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Welcome to Saturday morning. We are so grateful to have you with us. It is November 14th. I'm Christi Paul.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. You are in the CNN Newsroom.

PAUL: And we are following all the headlines this morning. Jason Carroll is with the Biden transition team in Delaware, Sarah Westwood is at the White House, and Polo Sandoval has the very latest on the pandemic.

BLACKWELL: The U.S. recorded more than 184,000 new coronavirus yesterday. That's the most ever in a single day. It's the fourth consecutive day of record-breaking numbers. PAUL: Hospitalizations, those are up as well across the country. Some

health experts are saying some hospitals may have to start rationing care soon. This comes as several governors have just issued strict new measures to get the virus under control. CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval in New York. Restrictions there already in place for some businesses. And Polo, we understand the mayor says that come Monday they might have to close schools.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Christi, when you hear all of this language, it really does take us back to earlier in the pandemic when many of the regions across were beginning to shut down. And now, of course, there are many parts of the country that are once again taking a good, closer look at those measures that are in place, and perhaps even upgrading those in one sense.

For example, here in New York, for example, a lot of people are paying attention right now what will happen to the schools. Those have been reopened for some time now. However, Mayor Bill de Blasio is saying that the concern here is that the seven-day rolling average is moving ever so slowly to that three percent point, to that mark that they set for themselves, saying that if that infection rate, the seven-day rolling average does exceed three percent, then that would potentially lead to the closure of these schools. Right now, that is a number that is at about 2.8 percent. But there are very real concerns here in New York City that that number is going to continue to rise, potentially into the next few days. And that is why we do expect possibly a decision come Monday that the schools could potentially close again.

And that's why school officials have been preparing for this, reaching out to their teachers and also, of course, to the parents as well, because this would be a significant step back in terms of reopening or at least trying to get back a sense of normalcy. The numbers are simply not going to allow that in many forms.

And finally, of course, dining as well. Already here in the state of New York, particularly here in New York City, they're now reducing those hours of operations that the restaurants can now serve their diners, their in-person, rolling that back an hour or two. So that is certainly a concern. But when you look at the numbers outside of New York, just nationally, 184,000 new cases yesterday, the highest since the start of the pandemic. And then of course hospitalizations nearing 69,000 just yesterday. Those are two record numbers that we've seen, and it's November. Guys, back to you now.

BLACKWELL: Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

PAUL: CNN's Jason Carroll is with us. He's actually with President- elect Biden who is meeting with his transition team. He's there in Delaware where they are working. That's despite, of course, a lack of cooperation from the Trump administration thus far. Jason, do we know how that is affecting the president-elect and his team as they try to craft this transition?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's definitely mucking up the process that's for sure. First things first, this morning the president-elect was out getting a bit of exercise. Cameras caught up with him as he was doing that with his wife Jill Biden, the future first lady.

But onto business. Later this weekend he will be meeting with his campaign transition advisers. They'll be meeting all throughout the weekend discussing cabinet picks. They already have names in mind for all of their choices, specifically key positions such as Health, such as Treasury and Defense. We're told the president-elect is going to be taking a deliberate attempt at choosing his cabinet members.

[10:05:00]

He knows that there's really no room for error in all of this given the fact that whoever he chooses is going to come under intense scrutiny from Republican senators.

On Friday, there was a press call about the transition, how things are going given that the president-elect is still not receiving intelligence briefings. You've got the General Services Administration that still has not signed off on that paperwork which would allow his team to get access to government resources and access to funds. And so given all that, they were asked about how things are going with this standoff between themselves and the GSA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER PSAKI, BIDEN SENIOR TRANSITION ADVISER: We're not interested in having a food fight with the GSA administrator or anyone, really. We just want to get access to intelligence information, to threat assessments, to the ongoing work on COVID so that we can prepare to govern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So, the Trump administration clearly throwing up some roadblocks there with the transition effort here, but the Biden team doing some creative things, working behind the scenes. For example, when it comes to their COVID-19 response, they're working with state governors, working with local officials on the ground, coordinating their COVID response going forward. But, again, the Trump administration seemed to try to do everything that they can to throw up some roadblocks, but the Biden team was prepared for this, and they're moving around it. Guys?

BLACKWELL: Jason Carroll for us there at Rehoboth Beach, thanks so much.

Yesterday President Trump touted his administration's unequalled and unrivalled efforts to help produce a vaccine. He says it will be available soon.

PAUL: Now, the outgoing president, of course, not admitting defeat, but his former chief of staff calls the transition delay, quote, an increasing national security and health crisis. CNN's Sarah Westwood is following the latest from the White House. Sarah, we all watched the president yesterday, and there was just this moment, this little moment where we thought, OK, he's going to do this, and he did not. Yes? SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Christi, he did not,

and there are no indications that we're going to get a concession from President Trump anytime soon. He spent the past week really just treading water while his campaign pursues these legal challenges to the way certain states have handled the ballots. Those challenges, though, have no chance of overturning the verdict delivered by this election.

But nonetheless Trump has really been uncharacteristically absent from the spotlight over this past week since the networks projected that Biden would win this election. President-elect Joe Biden has really been taking center stage as the beginnings of his transition start to take shape. All we've really heard from President Trump has been his occasional tweets. Even within the last hour he's been continuing to peddle conspiracy theories about the way the states have counted the votes. There's just no evidence to support any of that from the president.

But really that changed yesterday, that silence from the president changed yesterday when the White House scheduled that event in the Rose Garden. It was the first time that the president had made public remarks since Biden won the race. We heard him acknowledge for a very fleeting moment that perhaps his administration wouldn't be here come January.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This administration will not be going to a lockdown. Hopefully the -- whatever happens in the future, who knows which administration it will be. I guess time will tell. But I can tell you this administration will not go to a lockdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: CNN has reported that behind closed doors President Trump has been wavering between wanting to keep up the fight and resignation to the fact that he has been defeated in this race. Victor and Christi, pressure is starting to mount on him to acknowledge his defeat and to formally concede this race.

BLACKWELL: And some of that pressure coming from his former chief of staff John Kelly. Tell us about that.

WESTWOOD: Yes, we got some strong words, Victor, from John Kelly last night in a statement warning about the wider implications of the White House's refusal to begin a smooth transition with President-elect Biden's team. And I want to read you what Kelly said. "The delay in transitioning is an increasing national security and health crisis. It costs the current administration nothing to start to brief Mr. Biden, Ms. Harris, the new chief of staff, and all identified cabinet members and senior staff as they are identified over the days and weeks ahead." Then he went on to say, "That said, the downside to not doing so could be catastrophic to our people regardless of who they voted for." Now, some among the ranks of Republicans are also starting to push the

Trump White House to engage in the transition planning that would normally be underway at this point in an election. Senator James Lankford, for example, has pushed the White House publicly to start giving Biden access to the same classified information that Trump has. And so you are going to start to see, most likely, more Republicans come out and push this White House at least to allow the transition to begin even if Trump is not going to come out and formally concede his defeat, Victor and Christi.

PAUL: Sarah Westwood, we appreciate it so much. Thank you.

[10:10:00]

BLACKWELL: So right now, Pfizer and Moderna appear to lead this race to develop a coronavirus vaccine. Both companies are looking for emergency use authorization within the next few weeks. but there are lots of questions still about the practicalities of a large-scale rollout in addition to the lack of public trust. I spoke with former FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARGARET HAMBURG, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: Well, vaccine development, as you say, is normally a very lengthy process. It often takes a decade or more. The fastest vaccine development to date has been four years for a mumps vaccine. This has been dramatically accelerated, and it has reflected both a huge mobilization of the scientific community, but it also reflects very rapid scientific advances to understand this virus and how to target it with the vaccine, and a systematic approach to compress the different elements of vaccine development, including, importantly, investing in manufacturing the vaccine even before we knew for sure whether a given vaccine would make it over the finish line. So that was a risk that both government and industry took.

But I can assure you that the FDA has a very serious set of scientists and reviewers that have been working hard to ensure scientific rigor in the process. Also built into the system are a number of steps where outside, independent scientists and experts are reviewing the data and making recommendation. So I think that we can have trust that the vaccine will meet standards for safety and efficacy. And in fact, the early data coming in is more promising than I think any of us expected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Well, up next, a hand recount of the presidential race is going on right now in Georgia. There's just six days to go before election results have to be certified. We'll give you the latest. Stay close.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: There is a hand recount going on right now in Georgia's presidential votes, and at the same time, attention is being turned to two down ballot races that are going to decide control of the U.S. Senate.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the two Senate runoffs in January, January 5th to be precise, could have huge implications. Democrats win both, they will take control of the Senate for the first time in several years. But if Republicans win either Georgia seat, Senator Mitch McConnell will keep his conservative majority in the Senate, a major obstacle to President-elect Biden's legislative agenda. Of course, we're following everything happening in Georgia closely with our team of correspondents. Amara Walker and Kyung Lah and both in Atlanta this morning.

PAUL: Good morning, ladies. Amara, let's go to you. I know that you've been following Georgia's hand recount, and I know the Carter Center usually monitors elections overseas, but it says it's going to be sending observers to several counties to Georgia to review that recount. Do you know, by chance, if they're giving any sort of timeframe as to when they think they're going to have this tackled?

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're being quite optimistic. The goal remains to be done with this hand recount of the 528,000 ballots that were cast in Fulton County by Monday. In fact, we just heard from the elections director Richard Barron of Fulton County and says, look, we are on track. We, in fact, actually have more teams than we initially thought that we would get. They were hoping for 125 audit teams of two, and this morning as of 7:00 a.m. they have 145 audit teams out here on the floor.

Just take a look behind me. The hand audit/recount is underway right now as we speak. There's also vote review panels here on the floor. They will be used if it's unable to be determined which candidate was voted for. And as you mentioned, Christi, there are also monitors from the Georgia Republican Party, also from the Democratic Party on the floor. And that unusual move by the Carter Center which usually deploys monitors to monitor elections in different countries where democracies are being threatened, they made this unusual move, and they cite the fact that they say that this is such an important election and transparency is so important, and the fact that President Trump and his campaign has continually spread false claims of widespread voter fraud.

And when you hear from state election officials, they've been hammering home, look, it's very unlikely that the outcome of the results is going to change. And what we're going to see is that the machines that counted the votes on election night are accurate. So, building confidence, voter confidence, is power mount for state election officials as these claims, false claims of widespread voter fraud, continue from the president. In fact, one of the claims is that the identities of four dead Georgia residents were used to vote. It turns out that's not true. In fact, one of those individuals, our affiliate caught up with them, and is very much alive. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president of the United States was accusing you of voter fraud, essentially.

AGNES BLALOCK, ACCUSED OF VOTING DEAD: I know it, and I knew it wasn't fraud.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything you'd like people to know about your husband? Because I'm sure he's dearly missed.

BLALOCK: Best man I ever knew. Best one to me. I couldn't have had a better one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: So, Mr. James Blalock is dead. He did not vote, as the Trump campaign claimed. That was Mrs. James Blalock, and, yes, she did vote. She's been voting under that name, and she is indeed alive as you just saw there.

[10:20:02]

But, again, I stress, after all this is said and done, the secretary of state, who is Republican, does not expect the outcome of the results to change in any substantial way. And let's be clear here, this is an audit technically, so the candidate who comes in within a half-percent margin who comes in second, which will likely be Trump once again, will be allowed to request a recount once this is all said and done, even if it won't change the outcome substantively in any way. Back to you.

BLACKWELL: Amara Walker for us there in Fulton County. Amara, thank you.

Kyung, you're up next. Let's talk about these campaigns that could shift the balance of power in the Senate. Tell us how they're shaping up.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're seeing President Trump already up this morning tweeting about the state of Georgia. And he's been continuously tweeting about the two runoff races that are coming up here in the state of Georgia, two Senate seats up for grabs because neither had a 50 percent majority. So, heading to the runoff in January, high stakes as we look to this state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): This is it. I win, she wins. She wins, I win.

LAH: Their first joint runoff campaign rally. The two Republican senators from Georgia are defending their jobs, hoping to secure their futures and control of the U.S. Senate.

SEN. KELLY LOEFFLER (R-GA): Make no mistake, we are the firewall, not just for the U.S. Senate but the future of our country.

LAH: Underscoring the national scale of this fight, Florida Senator Rick Scott.

SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): You saw what Chuck Schumer said, right? He said first we're going to take Georgia, and then we're going to change the country. Not in Georgia. Not today.

LAH: The political world has turned to Georgia, so has much of its money. Total ad spending and reservations from all four campaigns and outside groups already tops $55 million through the end of December. Of that, about $47 million is from the Republican side. Democrats behind early as they try to flip the Senate seats blue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote Perdue to stop them.

LAH: Incumbent Senator David Perdue's first ads focus on keeping the Senate majority.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You heard him. Chuck Schumer is trying to use Georgia to take the Senate majority and radically change America.

LAH: Fellow Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler's ads echoed that theme, but she also released an onslaught of negative ads against her opponent, Reverend Raphael Warnock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raphael Warnock, a radical's radical.

LAH: Warnock is defending himself in his ads.

RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: When people have no vision. They revert to division.

LAH: And television interviews.

WARNOCK: She knows she's misrepresenting what I am and what I represent. And so I'm going to stay focused on Georgia families.

JON OSSOFF (D), GEORGIA CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: We need leaders who bring us together.

LAH: But one area of common ground in this campaign, how high the stakes are.

OSSOFF: Joe and Kamala, they will not be able to govern, they will not be able to lead us, they will not be able to contain this virus and rebuild this economy unless we win these two U.S. Senate races here in Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: You saw Rick Scott was here in the state of Georgia earlier this week. Senator Marco Rubio was here, and Vice President Mike Pence is expected next week. The RNC has pledged to drop additional $20 million here in the state and bring in 600 staffers to help with the re- election effort of their two senators. On the Democratic side, the Biden campaign has also pledged a still TBD amount of money, and Andrew Yang, the former presidential candidate has said that he's going to be heading here to the state as well. Christi?

PAUL: Kyung Lah, good to have you here in the state, too. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: So, we're fewer than 10 weeks out from inauguration day, but the president has not acknowledged defeat. Coming up, how the stalled transition, which is really the important part of the acknowledgement, is threatening the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:28:43]

PAUL: So, as we unpack what's happening in the political arena today, I spoke with Valerie Jarrett, she worked in the Obama-Biden administration. She was a senior advisor with former President Obama, spoke with here on NEW DAY today. And she has a unique perspective, obviously, on what we can expect from the 46th president of the United States. So, I asked her, is President-elect Biden open to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party? Here's what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VALERIE JARRETT, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: I know that he's a man of his word, and whatever he has committed to do he will do.

PAUL: Do you anticipate that the progressive policies that are being pushed may become problematic for the president-elect in any way?

JARRETT: Look, I think he has an open mind. He's going to listen to all perspectives. So he's made it clear that he ran as a Democrat but he will govern as a president for all of America. So Christi, I think he is true to his core principles, and he certainly realizes he can't make perfect the enemy of the good. He wants to make progress, and that means you have to cobble together enough votes to make progress in the legislature. And so he will have an open mind. But I don't -- the sense that he's going to get hijacked by one part of the party I just don't think is true.

[10:30:00]

He is strong. He is consistent. You can look at his track record and get a clear idea of what his core principles are. He articulated them during the campaign, and he will stay true to those.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL: And thanks again to Valerie Jarrett for being with us this morning.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk now with Republican strategist, former Ted Cruz communications director and CNN political commentator Alice Stewart, and Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator as well. They are they co-hosts of the podcast "Hot Mics from Left to Right." Ladies, welcome back.

ALICE STEWART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Hi, Victor.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So, Maria, let's start right there with the Democrats and some of the divisions we're seeing within the party, the breadth of the party. "Politico" published this really good piece about Michigan Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin, moderate Democrat. Trump won her district in 2016 and this year as well. She will not vote for a fourth term for Nancy Pelosi as speaker, didn't do it in 2019 either, 15 Democrats ultimately did not. Do you think that Nancy Pelosi's speakership is in jeopardy?

CARDONA: I don't think it is at this moment, Victor. Look, I think moving forward what president-elect and vice president-elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are going to need in the Congress is somebody with the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience and talent like Nancy Pelosi. They are going to really have to put together a strong coalition in the House as well as try to convince enough senators, and hopefully if we get the Georgia Senate seat it will be a lot easier.

But you're going to need the talent that Nancy Pelosi brings to the table, the fact she can really pull together the Democrats and keep them unified in a way that I don't think we've seen anybody else be able to do in recent history. Now, will she get reelected? I don't know. I think she will. I think she still has tremendous support from all corners of the House of Representatives. And again, the challenges ahead for the Democrats are daunting, and I don't think there is no one that is better positioned to meet those challenges and help Joe Biden and Kamala Harris than Nancy Pelosi.

BLACKWELL: Alice, let me get your take on that from the perspective of, we know the Republicans had their share of intraparty fights, most recently from the Freedom Caucus and the tax bill of 2017, trying to repeal health care. What do you think?

STEWART: Right, we just look at recent history, Victor, and Democrats lost seats in the House. And we heard from many of their own mouths that it was in large part due to the progressive policies that they were told to tout, specifically meaning defund the police, Medicare for all, Green New Deal, and a lot of the far left policies that might work in the AOC district and those in the squad, but it's not a good template for across this country.

And what someone really needs to do is sit them down and say you might be in the wind in our sails, but you are not driving the ship. And if Joe Biden and, certainly, Nancy Pelosi want to make sure that they continue to hold the House and possibly pick up these seats in Georgia in the Senate, which I don't think, they need to make sure that at least for now they need to hold their fire with regards to progressives trying to continue to shove their far left policies down Joe Biden's throat and America's throat, because it doesn't work everywhere. It works in some districts, but it's not a one size fits all policy that works across this country.

BLACKWELL: Alice, let me stay with you. Is it time to begin the transition?

STEWART: I think so, yes. We can look at the reality. The numbers, Joe Biden has 306 Electoral College votes. Donald Trump is far behind. And from the numbers standpoint, I don't see them changing no matter how many times we recount. But I think at the same time it's important, if this president wants to make sure that every vote is counted and make sure that it's legal and make sure that it is legitimate, I see no problem whatsoever in verifying the validity of these votes and making sure ballot integrity is intact. That's also --

BLACKWELL: Is that what he's doing, really? If you look at his Twitter, Alice, he's saying if there are any question in some states, move them immediately to the Trump win category. That doesn't sound like someone who's trying to validate the votes or to make sure that every legal vote is counted. This sounds like someone who wants to overturn an election.

STEWART: Well, that's not going to happen given the sheer margins, Victor. Joe Biden has won by tens of thousands in these states. It's not going to happen. I'm a firm believer in the integrity of our election process. We need to let this play out, but we can also acknowledge that President-elect Joe Biden is the president-elect, and he needs to be able to get the information. He needs to be able to get the funds and resources in order to begin that transition process. And I see there's no time like the present for that to happen.

[10:35:01]

BLACKWELL: Maria, the president-elect said of the presidential daily briefings, which if he were to begin this transition as ordered by GSA he would get, he said this week on Tuesday access to classified information is useful, but I'm not in a position to make any decisions on these issues anyway. It would be nice to have, but it is not critical. If he says it's not critical, is it urgent that he gets that transition in the beginning for those briefings?

CARDONA: I do think that it's critical for him to get, but he's right. It's not like he can do anything about it right now. I think what he was doing, Victor, is to allow for everyone to calm down, to take a breath. This is what he does best, especially at this moment in time when tensions are at their highest.

But, look, I think even senators on the Republican side are saying that they believe it's time for Joe Biden to get the daily briefing, especially on national intelligence. He needs to start getting up to speed on what it is that we are facing from a national security standpoint. We've all talked about how the 9/11 Commission talked about the delay in the daily briefings that the Bush administration got and how that could have contributed to things falling through the cracks for 9/11. We certainly don't want anything to happen in terms of that.

And so I think that what Joe Biden is trying to do is, again, calm the fear and the tensions. He's saying, look, everything is going to be OK. He's confident that he will be the next president of the United States, the transition will happen whether or not Donald Trump wants it to or whether he concedes, and that he will start getting the daily briefings and everything else that he is entitled to in due time.

BLACKWELL: Maria, to you. Is it -- let me put it this way. Is an outgoing President Trump rallying in a state that he lost for Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue over the next seven weeks good for Democrats, good for Jon Ossoff, good for Reverend Raphael Warnock?

CARDONA: I think that what that demonstrates is a president who is still clinging desperately to power as he sees it disappear. Now, whether it's good for the Donald Trump base, absolutely. Is it good for Democrats? I think it's something that Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff can use to demonstrate to their base and to the very energized Democrats and activists and independents who helped us take Georgia that this is a president who is unfit to take office, who is incompetent, who in the face of a pandemic that has taken more than 240,000 American lives, the only thing that he cares about is his own political future. He cannot let go and look at reality. He does not want to focus on a transition and a peaceful transfer of power, which is the bedrock of democracy. I think they can use it to their advantage to show Georgians that this is not a president who is fit for office, and therefore what does that say about the Senate candidates that he's supporting?

BLACKWELL: Alice, to you. Are you convinced that the president will come to Georgia -- I say come to Georgia because I'm in Atlanta -- come to Georgia to support these runoff races? Listen, we know this president does things that are politically beneficial to and for himself. And even in 2018 those rallies in the midterms were about him. He'd invite the candidates to come on and say something, but he'd speak for 90 minutes at these rallies. He doesn't need a Senate majority. He doesn't need those votes for anything he has to pass. Are you expecting that he will campaign hard for these two candidates?

STEWART: I do, Victor. And I'll say this. I'm from DeKalb County, born and raised right there not far from where you are right now, and I can say the Republicans in Georgia do support Donald Trump. And look, historically and traditionally in runoffs Republicans do have a larger turnout than Democrats. So the focus is to energize these Republicans, get them out there to vote for these two Republican candidates.

I think it's probably more beneficial to have people like Senator Tom Cotton or Rick Scott to go in there and remind Georgians this is a firewall for this country, because if the Democratic Senate candidates win, they are basically rolling out the red carpet for those far left policies we talked about, Green New Deal, Medicare for all, and policies that are not in line with the majority of people in the state of Georgia.

[10:40:08]

So the key is, whether it is Donald Trump or whether it is Donald Trump Junior or whomever, we need to motivate Republicans in Georgia to get out and vote, because containing control in the Senate is critical to making sure that Joe Biden and the progressives don't get their policies through.

BLACKWELL: I will point out two things, that the Green New Deal and Medicare for all are not policies of the president-elect. But --

CARDONA: Thank you, Victor.

STEWART: They are policies of the progressives, and the progressives are pushing that very hard.

CARDONA: They're not the ones who won the presidency.

BLACKWELL: Got to wrap it there. Alice Stewart, Maria Cardona, always good to have you both.

CARDONA: Thank you, Victor.

STEWART: Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: And be sure to listen to their podcast, "Hot Mics from Left to Right." Christi?

PAUL: It is a good one. You do not want to miss it.

Listen, I want to share with you some of the pictures that we're getting in just now. Take a look at all of these people. They are Trump supporters, and that's Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. you're looking at. There's a rally that is set for later today. But just moments ago the president's motorcade left the White House, and it drove past this group of people. So, do you see how they're all clamoring to get to the street to see that? They ran toward the cars, and they were waving. And that is what we witnessed just a short time ago. So, we'll continue to keep our eyes on what's happening in D.C. for that rally that is happening to support the president today.

We have finally, meanwhile, hit the weekend at the Masters. Andy Scholes is live from Augusta. It is a beautiful fall morning. He got the golden ticket as he always does. And he's getting to watch Tiger kind of dig right in there. Hi, Andy.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christi, another beautiful day here in Augusta. You couldn't ask for anything better, and Tiger Woods in contention. He's teeing off for his third round as we speak. I'll let you know how he's fairing on the leader board coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:46:46]

BLACKWELL: Well, after playing some catch-up this morning, the third round of the Masters has begun.

PAUL: And five-time champion Tiger Woods is right in the thick of it. Andy Scholes, just another day at the office in Augusta for him.

(LAUGHTER)

SCHOLES: Christi, Victor, you can't get a better office than this. It is just gorgeous weather here in Augusta for the first ever November Masters. And Tiger Woods teeing off for his third round just moments ago. He was one of the guys that had to come out here early this morning to finish up his second round. So Tiger already has eight holes in today. He was only able to come away with one birdie this morning. Tiger right now four shots off the lead. Going to be an uphill battle for him, 32 of the last 33 Masters winners, they've been in the top 10 after two rounds. Tiger right now tied for 17th.

Jon Rahm, meanwhile, grabbing his share of the lad this morning. The 26-years-old Spaniard having himself a big week, celebrated a birthday on Tuesday, had two holes in ones during his practice rounds. Rahm widely considered the best young player yet to win a Major. We'll see if he can get it done this weekend.

And it's certainly a crowded leader board right now. For the first time ever the top three players in the world are tied for the lead after a round of a major. First time ever the history of golf. Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm, and Justin Thomas are one, two, three in the world right now, and they have a share of the lead after two rounds at the Masters.

Now, the favorite heading into this tournament was reigning U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau. But he's disappointed, shooting even par through two rounds, barely making the cut here this morning. And Bryson revealing after this round, hasn't been feeling well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYSON DECHAMBEAU, 2020 U.S. OPEN CHAMPION: And as I kept going through the round, I started getting a little dizzy. I don't know what was going on, a little something weird. So I got checked for COVID last night, and I was fine, nothing. But I had to do the right thing and make sure there was nothing more serious than that. But I don't know what it is or what happened, but these past couple of days I've felt really, really odd, and just not 100 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: So we'll see if Bryson can kind of shake that off and have himself a good round three and try to get himself back into this tournament.

But Christi and Victor, like I said, just beautiful weather today, expected to be beautiful again tomorrow. And we should have tons of drama over this next 48 hours with so many guys either tied or within a shot of the lead right now.

PAUL: Yes. You've got a lot going on there. Andy Scholes, we always appreciate you. Thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, Andy.

PAUL: We'll be right back.

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[10:54:39]

BLACKWELL: You know, we need some heroes. And this year's CNN Heroes is not just saluting everyday heroes, but the larger moments that define the biggest stories of 2020. So, go to CNNHeroes.com and vote for the year's most inspiring moments. PAUL: And speaking of heroes, there are a lot of places in the country

where teachers and helping their students with a lot more than schoolwork.

[10:55:02]

I want to introduce you to Stephanie Levinson here. She's a teacher in the Los Angeles public school system. She says all her students qualify for free meals. Some are homeless, some are staying in hotels, but they still show up. They log on, and they learn virtually. She realized, though, last week that a lot of the kids looked uncomfortable.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE LEVINSON, LAUSD TEACHER: We noticed they're shivering while they're on Zoom, either had their blankets around them, they're wearing multiple layers of clothing, their fingers are cold. They're not used to the cold weather because in our classrooms we have heat. I wouldn't have thought of this a month ago. It was 105 degrees. The kids were sweating and wearing tank tops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So she set up an Amazon wish list. She's asking for blankets, hats, socks, things that will keep them warm, and boy did people respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STACY STEWART, LAUSD TEACHER: It hits you in the heart very, very deeply because you would do anything for these students and their families. There's so much more than the Internet we need to worry about for these kids. They need to feel secure. They need to feel safe. And I know their families are doing their absolute best, but with the pandemic, financial struggles can make it really difficult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And as you can imagine, the teachers say they're just so grateful that complete strangers helped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: I'm overwhelmed with gratitude that there are so many people with kind hearts in this world that will do anything they can to make things better for these kids.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: And we thank our CBS Los Angeles affiliate for this story. So, if you had like to help, you can find those Amazon wish lists on the CBS L.A. website. And thank you so much for highlighting that.

Thank you for watching. Don't forget to tweet us, and we hope you make good memories today. BLACKWELL: Much more ahead in the next hour of CNN's Newsroom. Erica

Hill is up after the break.

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