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COVID-19 Hospitalizations Set A New Record Across The U.S.; Trump In Denial Over Election Defeat As Pandemic Rages To Record Levels; Biden Transition Team Speaking To Former Pentagon Officials To Gather Information; About 20 Percent Of Ballots Counted In First Full Day Of Georgia Recount; Senate Runoffs in Georgia To Determine Senate Majority; Obama: Trump Not Conceding Could Cause Long-Lasting Damage to Country. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired November 14, 2020 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:29]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello from New York on this Saturday afternoon American Hill in for Fredricka Whitfield. We begin this hour with a nation suffering facing two gripping crises. There is the coronavirus pandemic, which is raging across the country at frightening new levels that we have yet to see before. And also, a White House that is actively resisting President-elect Joe Biden's transition and the two are very much connected.

If we look first at the coronavirus, the U.S. shattering records on a daily basis. Friday alone more than 184,000 view cases reported. It's a stunning surge and yet in many ways, it is consistent with the trend we have been warned about five straight days now of record-breaking new case numbers. New highs at hospitals as well, many of them reaching critical capacity and the staff increasingly stretched thin.

President-elect Joe Biden is making the pandemic his top priority. One of his advisors calling the coronavirus a national security threat. It despite that very real threat the current White House is refusing to cooperate, still refusing to concede the election, refusing to allow the Biden transition team access to daily security briefings or classified information. Information of course that is vital in helping to stop the spread of this disease.

Today, Biden is meeting with his transition advisors to go over their next steps and that includes speaking with former Pentagon officials who worked under former defense secretary Jim Mattis in the hopes of gathering crucial information. And at this hour thousands of President Trump's supporters are gathered in Washington. As you can see from these pictures, blasting the election results, falsely claiming the election was stolen.

That there was rampant fraud. Of course, we know that is not true. We have reporters covering all of the latest developments unfolding now across the country. I want to begin with CNN Sara Sidner, she's on the ground there where these pro-Trump rallies are taking place in the nation's capital. And Sarah, it bears repeating the Trump campaign has provided zero

evidence for its claims of widespread voter fraud, that is not stopping the defiant supporters from getting together today and doing their best to actually amplify that message.

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They believe what they want to believe, even if the information that they believe is actually false. And we know that all of the states have said that this has been a free and fair election. And that it appears although it has not been certified in all states yet that Joe Biden is the winner of this presidential election. That being said, a lot of these folks here and there are thousands of people.

I'll give you a look, we're going to go sort of pointing down towards Freedom Plaza where everyone started walking, the March is on it started about 15 minutes ago, and they're going to march all the way to the Supreme Court, where we understand there are some folks that are out there, from the left who are defying this group of folks who believe that Donald Trump should be in office for another four more years.

That is not going to happen by all accounts, all of the electors. There was a -- there was a number out there that everyone is talking about 306. And that number is the winning number for Joe Biden. He will have that many electors when all of the votes have been certified at this point. But folks here don't believe that, they still believe they have a chance. And they are walking with signs like stop the steal and walking with signs like Trump for four more years.

There are lots of different disparate groups. There are white supremacist groups here. There are regular Americans who just support Trump here. There are legislators here, members of Congress here. There are members of militant groups you see walking here, you've got the three percenters here, you've got oathkeepers here, you've got the far-right group, the Proud Boys here.

You've got lots of different groups who have come together under several different umbrellas. But they're all here with one real message. And that is that they don't believe that this was a fair and free election, although they do believe that 2016 was a fair and free election. And so, it's hard to get a real sense of why they think Republicans who wanted their districts got and were fairly elected and why they think that Joe Biden was not really elected.

All that being said, In January, we fully expect that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take the helm as president and vice president of these United States, Erica.

HILL: So, there's a significant number of people there and we saw you a short time ago folks for with us. I mean, you're really sort of in the middle of a crowd packed in fairly tight obviously, it's a little bit more spread out now as they're walking making their way as you point out to the Supreme Court. Look at any big event, whether it's folks celebrating when they were happy to see Joe Biden declared the winner last weekend or folks here who are protesting the outcome of the election. [13:05:04]

HILL: You have to wonder in the middle of a pandemic about how distant people are, whether there is mask wearing. Are you seeing either of those things? Is that seemed to be a concern for folks?

SIDNER: It's about 50/50. I'm going to -- I'm going to have Albert turn the camera around for us. And you will see there are some folks who are wearing masks and some folks who are not. Now we're actually in an area where people can actually be pretty spread out from each other. But there are folks who seriously believe that they should not have to wear masks and they are not wearing them.

And then there are folks who have the math on and or even holding signs, they don't believe they should have to wear them, but they're wearing them for the safety of others and themselves. But again, you see all sorts of people young, older, you see college students who are out here as well. And for the most part, folks have been self- distancing. But as you can see, there's a lot of people who are all gathered together.

And you know, that could definitely cause a problem. That certainly causes concern, whether you're here supporting Donald Trump, or whether you see the crowds that were, you know, celebrating, you know, a week or so ago for Joe Biden. Erica?

HILL: Sara Sidner, appreciate it. Thank you. In his first public appearance since his defeat, President Trump did not mention the election results. For more now let's bring in Sarah Westwood at the White House. So, Sarah, the President, as we know, has refused to concede the election. His administration also is not actively helping the Biden team with the transition, which is a normal part of the transfer of power. That's not happening. And that could have some really serious consequences.

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Erica. Ordinarily, that's a process that would be well underway. There are offices here in Washington that have been set aside for the Biden teams use for the transition, those are just sitting empty. Now, a week has gone by since Biden was declared the winner of the election and every day in the transition process is very important. It's enormously complicated and extensive.

But federal agencies from State Department to the Treasury Department are effectively just twiddling their thumbs right now. They're really an awkward position, because they haven't gotten the sign off from the White House to initiate contact with their counterparts on the Biden transition team. So, the whole administration really in a holding pattern while the President continues his refusal to concede.

No concession appears to be on the horizon. Today, President Trump hit the golf course earlier this morning. So, today does not appear to be the day that he is going to issue that concession. And multiple cabinet members in this administration have also suggested that there might not even be a Biden transition at all. But yesterday, something pretty significant happened to the Rose Garden here at the White House.

President Trump made his first public appearance this week. And during that he acknowledged even for just a brief moment, the possibility that he might not be getting a second term.

(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 will be I guess, time will tell. But I can tell you, this administration will not go to a lockdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WESTWOOD: Now, pressure is mounting on President Trump to at least acknowledge the results of this election and get the ball rolling on that transition process. Congressional Republicans, for example, are publicly pushing the White House to at least allow Biden access to the same classified information that Trump gets briefed on every day, Erica.

HILL: All right. We will see how this continues to play out. Sarah Westwood, appreciate it. Thank you. Well, despite the President's refusal to concede President-elect Joe Biden is moving forward with his transition. CNN's Jason Carroll is live in Delaware for us this morning. So, Jason, we know that Biden is meeting with his transition team today. What's on the agenda?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, we got a hint as to how things are going that came a little early this morning, when cameras caught up with the president-elect as he was out exercising with his wife, Jill Biden, someone shouted out, hey, how were the cabinet decision making process. How's that go -- how's that going? And Biden shouted back. They said, are you making any progress? And he shouted back, yes.

I mean, he didn't say anything beyond that, Erica, but at least we know that process is proceeding. We also know that he is going to be continue to have continued meeting with his transition advisors. They're going to continue having talks about the cabinet. We do know that there are names for all of the positions that are out there, including key positions like health and defense and treasury.

We know that the President-elect is taking a very deliberate approach at naming these cabinet choices. He knows that anyone that he puts forth is going to come under intense scrutiny from Senate Republican Republicans. In terms of the transition, though, that's what a lot of folks are asking given all of the roadblocks that the Trump administration has set up here to try to stop the transition process from going forward.

On a press call yesterday, the Team Biden was basically asked about that how they're proceeding given that you see that the President- elect still is not receiving intelligence briefings. You've got the General Services Administration still not signing that pre paperwork so they can get access to funds and to resources. And so, they were asked about this stalemate between themselves and the GSA.

[13:10:08]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN 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: And so, definitely some roadblocks have been set up. But the Biden transition team taking some creative approaches in terms of getting around it. One example of that is their COVID response. COVID- 19 response. Basically, what they're doing is reaching out to state governors and local officials on the ground to sort of get around the Trump roadblocks that are being set up. So, it's moving forward, not in a straight line, but it is moving forward. Erica?

HILL: All right. Jason Carroll live there in Delaware. Thank you. Well, defeated and dejected. The President showing no signs of conceding leading -- leaving the U.S. handling of the pandemic in question as we just heard. All of this as new single day cases have surpassed more than 184,000.

That is yet another new record. Meantime, the battle for Georgia, Democrats zeroing in on those two Senate seats now headed to a run-off as the president gets his demand for a recount in the presidential election.

Some of those numbers are now and we're going to break them down live coming up.

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HILL: The U.S. is in the midst of this alarming surge of new COVID-19 cases, we have just witnessed five straight days of record-breaking case counts on Friday alone, more than 184,000 new infections reported. That's a jump of more than 30,000 just in Thursdays at number which was an alarming 154,000. CNN's Polo Sandoval is here now with the latest developments. And of course, the hardest part, Polo, this doesn't look like it's getting any better.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It isn't Erica, especially when you really pause and think about that number for a second 184,000, the highest number of new COVID cases across the country since the start of the pandemic. So, to your point, it certainly tells the story here that the situation is certainly getting worse in many parts of the country, and also tell the story of this latest surge that is not only bigger, but is also broader, affecting more parts of the country.

And those grim indicators are also prompting governors across the United States to take stricter measures now. To try to keep those numbers from spiraling even more out of control. I'll start in New Mexico, for example, where the governor there has ordered temporary closings of all in person non-essential services. Also, in Oregon, they are starting a two-week freeze that's also limiting sort of the business, some of those restaurants can do.

Idaho as well deploying its state National Guard to try to keep up with demand for treating so many patients. And then finally, of course here in New York, Governor Cuomo this weekend is meeting with other governors to try to come up with other measures. So, those are just four different snapshots of what states across the country are trying to do to deal with these numbers.

And then back to New York, we also should keep in mind that President Trump just yesterday from the White House threatened to potentially not distribute a future COVID-19 vaccine to New York saying that it would not be immediately distributed to the residents in New York State. The governor though firing back quickly saying that he is essentially turning these things political to the president. Let's take listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): His line has hurt the nation in many ways. And his lying has hurt the nation in that now --half the Americans don't trust the vaccine. And if they don't trust it, they're not going to take it. So, my challenge is and other governors, how do you restore that trust?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And to go just an extra step there. The governor also saying that that is one of the reasons why this independent Task Force was created back in September to review any kind of FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine. And then finally, the hospitalization rate, Erica, that's also a grim number close to 69,000 people hospitalized yesterday. Also, the highest number that we've seen here.

It is a 20 percent increase over last week. And that obviously is going to be potentially putting a strain on health professionals across the country. It's like we're in some parts of the country back in April again.

HILL: Yes. It certainly does feel that way in many ways. Polo, thank you. Joining me now, Dr. Uche Blackstock. She's an emergency room physician at Yahoo News medical contributor. Doctor, good to have you with us this morning. You know, what Paul was just laying out there at the end, as we look at hospitalizations, this is a number that's really key, yes, the cases matter.

But the number of people who are getting sick enough that they need to go to the hospital, the fact that we are seeing those records broken every day. And I know there's a special concern as we look at the Midwest in terms of not just beds, but staffing. Do you think that this country as a whole is prepared to deal with what could be coming in terms of hospitalizations?

DR. UCHE BLACKSTOCK, MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR, YAHOO NEWS: Thank you for having me, Erica. So, you know, I think that, you know, hospitals across the country have tried to prepare as best as they could. But the fact is, is that they're going to be receiving an onslaught of patients, they are receiving an onslaught of patients, and with the cases increasing exponentially over the last even few days, our hospitals are going to be at an over capacity.

And what happens when that happens is that there it compromises the care that patients receive, not just patients that are coming in with coronavirus or patients that are coming in for run of the middle illnesses like heart attacks and strokes. And so, that's what we really have to be concerned about even over the next week or so.

HILL: As we look at all of this, I know you're the founder of Advancing Health Equity, which is focused on the bias in healthcare. One thing that coronavirus has really exposed I would say is the long- existing disparities when it comes to health care in this country.

[10:20:00]

HILL: As we look at this new updated data on COVID-19 from the CDC, we're seeing that hospital rates among black and Latino Americans is something like four times higher than it is for white Americans. We've been talking about this a lot since the spring. Is it your sense that anything is changing?

BLACKSTOCK: So, I'm, I am encouraged by the Biden-Harris transition Task Force. One of the -- one of the plans is to develop a committee that will address regionalize health disparities. And what I actually hope they do is to develop state task forces, because the needs of black communities and other communities of color are unique, then you just start with a robust testing and tracing infrastructure, ensuring all community members have personal protective equipment.

But even more important will be messaging and outreach. And that will require collaborations between the private sector Department of Public Health and the Federal government as well, because what we'll see is the numbers will worsen even more. And these communities were already vulnerable and at risk for being infected with the virus.

HILL: Can you bring up testing? There were new two reports of the clinical labs are worried about, you know, being able to keep up. There are plenty of reports of extended wait times just to get a test. And then we're now we're starting to hear about results taking a little bit longer. You know, to your point, we're going to see more and more people wanting to get tested. Where do we stand as a country in terms of being able to meet that need right now?

BLACKSTOCK: Right. And so, we desperately need to ramp up testing. And I think that right now we know we have some options in the rapid antigen testing. While it's not perfect. It's a test that can be done very quickly, and can be repeated quickly. We need to have rapid testing and community centers, churches, people should be able to do it at home. But I think that once this COVID-19 test sports get started, this testing infrastructure is going to be something that we'll have to pay special attention to and ramp up as soon as possible. HILL: Are you concerned about this lack of, you know, transition communication that's happening and how that could impact the coronavirus, the next coronavirus taskforce that we could see with the Biden-Harris administration?

BLACKSTOCK: Absolutely. This task force needs access to current data information from the FDA, CDC from the current Coronavirus Task Force and what this will do will only delay the speed to which the Biden COVID-19 Task Force will be able to really get started on working to mitigate the spread of this virus.

HILL: Dr. Uche Blackstock, great to have you with us today. Thank you.

BLACKSTOCK: Thank you, Erica.

HILL: A programming note for you, Dr. Anthony Fauci will be on CNN State of the Union tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. right here on CNN. Jake Tapper will also be joined by Senator Bernie Sanders, Governor Mike DeWine and Reverend Raphael Warnock.

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[10:27:21]

HILL: About a fifth of the nearly five million ballots cast and the presidential election in Georgia have now been retaliate. A statewide recount is underway as President Trump works to undermine confidence in the election results with baseless claims of voter fraud. CNN senior national correspondent Kyung Lah is in Georgia following two GOP Senate candidates that have embraced the President's claims as they move toward their runoff races.

We want to begin though with CNNs Amara Walker who's also in Georgia, in Atlanta, and she's looking at that recount there. So, where do things stand this morning?

AMARA WALKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the official numbers right now stand at 1.1 million ballots that have been hand recounted out of the five million ballots that were cast during the presidential election, Erica. So, the Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger is saying that things are moving along pretty smoothly. And that seems to be the case here in Fulton County at the Georgia World Congress center.

The people here on the floor, there's more than 300, who've been hand counting these ballots. They've been here since 7:00 this morning. And the elections director Richard Barron says that their goal remains to be done with all of this counting all half a million ballots by Monday. It's a tall order, but it looks like they're on track for it. Now, transparency to this process has really been a priority that's been hammered home by election officials.

And that's why they've allowed this process to be live streamed in some counties where they're able to, the public allowed to physically come in and monitor and of course, both parties being allowed to bring in their own monitors. What's been unusual about this recount or this audit, I should say is that the Carter Center, deployed monitors here and in other locations as well. That's rare because they usually deploy observers to other countries during elections when they feel like the democracy is being threatened.

So, again, this is about building voter confidence, especially after President Trump and his campaign have repeatedly undermined the integrity of the system, including allegations from his campaign in recent days that four dead people in Georgia had voted. We know in two of those cases, that's absolutely not the case. And we know of one individual who was actually alive and well and our affiliate WXIA caught up with her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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

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

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who did you vote for? You don't have to share that.

BLALOCK: I voted for the Democrats, Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see. And so --

BLALOCK: I guess I voted against the other one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:30:00]

WALKER: All right. So the Trump campaign tweeted a few days ago and claimed that it was Mr. James Blaylock who voted illegally although he died back in 2006.

He did not vote. Election officials confirmed it was his wife, Mrs. James Blaylock, who you saw there who voted on November 3rd.

And she's been voting under her married name, Mrs. James Blaylock, for many years now.

Erica, back to you.

HILL: Amara Walker, with the latest from Atlanta. Thank you.

And as we mentioned, there are the Georgia Senate races. We'll get to that when we come back.

Stay with us. We'll see you on the other side of a quick break.

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HILL: Republicans and Democrats are pouring resources into Georgia's two runoff races. The hope there, of course, is to tilt the balance of power in the Senate. CNN's Kyung Lah joining me now.

Kyung, what more do we know about those efforts this morning?

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a lot of cash that's coming into this state. We are looking at total ad reservations and spending.

[13:35:00]

So what they have booked all the way until December, and already $55 million has come into Georgia. And that will be, again, all the way through December.

The GOP taking the bulk of it, $47 million to GOP forces. The two Senators, the incumbent Senators, as well as their allies.

And the basic message was this. At a joint campaign rally for the two Senators is that their fates are tied to control of the U.S. Senate and being a check on a Biden presidency.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): This is it.

(CHEERING)

PERDUE: I win, she wins, she wins, I win.

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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: That's a similar argument being fired back by the Democrats. Jon Ossoff has said, yes, it's about the future of the country. It's absolutely about Senatorial control.

Reverend Raphael Warnock, who has seen an onslaught of negative ads from the incumbent Senator Kelly Loeffler, he's taken a more direct approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REV. RAPHAEL WARNOCK, (D), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: She knows she's misrepresenting who I am and what I represent. I'm going to stay focused on Georgia families.

JON OSSOFF, (D), GEORGIA SENATE CANDIDATE: 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 VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And more money and people are expected to come into Georgia, Erica.

The RNC has said that they will pledge $20 million into the state. That's on top of what's already been spent. And send 600 staffers here to Georgia -- Erica?

HILL: We're going to be talking about those two races for a long, long time, until January 5th.

Kyung, thank you.

Peaceful transfers of power are a cornerstone of the American political establishment. Right now, though, in 2020, it's simply not happening.

President Trump is still refusing to concede to President-Elect Joe Biden, even as Biden's lead grows to an insurmountable level.

It's not just the White House, though. A number of Republicans have refused to acknowledge the election results, something former President Barack Obama says could cause long lasting damage to our country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, look, Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States. Kamala Harris will be the next vice president.

There's no legal basis. There's no --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But he's getting support from members of the Republican Party who are not challenging him.

OBAMA: And that has been disappointing. They, obviously, didn't think there was any fraud going on because they didn't say anything about it for the first two days.

But there's damage to this because what happens is that the peaceful transfer of power, the notion that any of us who attain an elected office, whether it's dog catcher or president, are servants of the people. It's a temporary job.

We're not above the rules. We're not above the law. That's the essence of our democracy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me, White House reporter for "The Daily Beast," Asawin Suebsaeng.

Asawin, when we look at this, the Trump campaign is digging in hard here. Despite the fact that the results at this point, I mean, there's nothing to show that anything will change.

What is the point? What are they hoping to gain by digging in so hard on this? ASAWIN SUEBSAENG, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, it's

not only the Trump campaign. It's also vast swaths of the federal government and the Trump administration.

And what they are all doing is rallying, as an administration, as a political campaign.

And as an entire mainstream Republican Party, they are marshalling vast resources primarily in the protection and in the service of President Donald Trump's fragile ego.

You correctly pointed out the majority of Trump's political dependents know it's over. They know the ballgame has been called.

But they are still doing this. They are still going ahead with their legal and public relations blitzes and campaigns because President Trump is demanding it.

Because he doesn't want to ever say that he actually lost the election unless he gets to say that, oh, it was rigged and stolen from me, which is the exact opposite of what, objectively speaking, is going on right now.

President Trump is in the process of very hand-fistedly trying to steal this election. And he and his lieutenants are flailing at it and doing a very bad job at it.

Having said that, when it comes to the federal government, because of President Trump's orders and the enforcement of this delusion of a fictitious victory, the federal government and the Trump administration are proceeding accordingly in very fantasy-laden sort of ways.

As we reported at "The Daily Beast" earlier this week, the White House's personnel office, which is headed by Trump uber loyalist, John McEntee, is still vetting appointees for a potential Trump term two.

[13:40:00]

But different parts of the government, they're running through background checks, vetting people by calling up and contacting listed references, as if a second term was going to happen.

And we obviously know that one is not going to. Some of Trump's top security brass have gone against even using Joe Biden's name in internal meetings and conversation for fear of reprisal.

This isn't coming where everybody is just doing it to please the leader, please Donald Trump. They are actually devoting serious tax- funded resources to this cause.

HILL: Which, again, makes you question the motive, right? The reality is the president's time in office is ending. There's not a second term that is going to start at noon on January 20th.

So why does the blind loyalty continue at this point? Is it because, as we're hearing floated, there may be a Trump 2024 campaign?

SUEBSAENG: Well, that's certainly part of it. But even if there isn't one, Donald Trump, unless something dramatically changes within the mainstream Republican Party, even as he steps out of office as is currently scheduled and planned for early next year.

He's not going away. He's going to still want to be, in many respects, kingmaker in the GOP. He's going to faun away even the most popular persons (ph), as all of the publicly available polling shows in the modern-day Republican Party.

And anybody who wants to succeed him in the near future as a Republican presidential successor is going to have to go straight through him and his people for at least a major chunk of that race.

The GOP is going to be in the throes and under the spell of Trumpism for the foreseeable future. I could be wrong. I've been wrong before. But I don't see how that goes away in the years to come.

HILL: Asawin Suebsaeng, great to have you with us this morning. Thank you.

SUEBSAENG: Thank you.

HILL: This morning, it's no longer morning in the east coast. I don't know what I'm talking about. It's the afternoon here. Morning on the west coast.

Up next, an icy welcome may be in store for President Trump's family as they leave Washington. How the New York social circles that once coveted Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner may no longer be so welcoming if they choose to return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:46:39]

HILL: COVID-19 has thrust the U.S. into economic crisis on top of a health emergency. As infections spike, though, the economy is struggling and there is no stimulus deal in sight at this point.

CNN's Matt Egan joins us now.

Matt, you wrote this week about how even a vaccine can't replace stimulus. President Trump tweeted on the need for a deal earlier, telling Congress it was time.

But realistically, what's the hope at this point for any progress in this lame-duck period?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS LEAD WRITER: Well, Erica, I do think there's some reason for hope, especially after President Trump's tweet that you mentioned this morning calling for big stimulus.

But it won't be easy. One of the obstacles somewhat ironically is that really positive vaccine news we heard from Pfizer this week. Unquestionably, the fact that Pfizer says they have a vaccine in the

works that is more than 90 percent effective against coronavirus is a big, huge positive.

Eventually, that could give people a lot of confidence to go do things we all stopped doing. Go to a football game. Go to the movie theater. Hop on a plane. Maybe even go stay at a concert eventually.

But this is not a reason for Congress and the White House to sort of declare victory on the economic recovery. There's still an urgent need for fiscal stimulus.

And I think there's three big reasons.

One, the economy has definitely not fully recovered. The U.S. has 10 million fewer jobs today than it did before the pandemic.

Two, as we know, the vaccine has not been approved yet, and it's going to take time to get it distributed.

And the other big thing is that this dark winter that we're facing, you know, hasn't been canceled by this vaccine news.

Unfortunately, we're at record-high infections, near record hospitalizations.

Every day, we hear about new health restrictions that are being put in place. And that's going to hurt people who work in restaurants and bars and hotels and airlines.

And, Erica, I spoke just this week to a woman in Jersey City, New Jersey, who is a career bartender. She's been out of work since March. So has her husband.

And she said that, you know, if it weren't for friends and family, she would have starved. She's been living on Ramen and eggs.

And she thinks it's ridiculous that Congress hasn't acted in months because this is really a humanitarian crisis.

So, Erica, I think these are the stories that lawmakers need to listen to when they deliberate whether or not to act on a stimulus package.

HILL: As we heard a short time ago from chef, Tom Colicchio, right here, telling us that's exactly what needs to happen. Put the politics aside and let's take a look at what's really happening to the American people who need this help.

Meantime, when we look at the presidential transition, or lack thereof at this point, that, too, could have a really significant impact on the economy.

What's not getting done because the transition, communication, and the transition help isn't happening?

EGAN: Right. Joe Biden faces these two huge crises, both the health one and economic one. And this messy transition is really not helping.

And every day that there's a delay in stimulus, it means more people are going to fall into poverty. More small businesses are going to fail.

But it doesn't have to be like this. Just look at what happened in 2008. Obama was coming into office. George W. Bush was the president. These were political rivals.

[13:50:01]

But Bush still went ahead, a $17 billion bailout to G.M. and Chrysler to try to keep them afloat because he didn't want to leave Obama in a mess.

So I think that that's what we kind of need to remember that there are real economic consequences here to this messy transition -- Erica?

HILL: There are.

Matt Egan, great to see you today. Thank you.

EGAN: Thank you.

HILL: White House adviser and first daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, are making the kind of headlines today that may run counter to their very carefully crafted brand.

One involves their plans to return to New York society. The other is a report about the couple pulling their children from a private school in Washington, D.C., over concerns about the family's adherence to COVID-19 precautions.

Let's bring in CNN's Kate Bennett, joining us from the White House.

Kate, what happened here with the school? Why did they pull their kids out of the school?

KATE BENNETT, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Basically, the issue was COVID precautions. Writ large, the country can't control what people do.

A private school can. And the school in D.C., where their three small kids go, had a handbook for parents to follow COVID precautions to keep the school and its community safe.

Obviously, they've seen the same news reports we've been putting out on CNN about the super-spreader events at the White House, a number of people getting sick from that.

Also seeing Ivanka Trump not wearing a mask at the first presidential debate.

Essentially, Erica, parents called in and complained to the school that the Kushners were not abiding by the school. The school administrators decided that they would take action. They

first tried to negotiate some sort of way around it and work with the family and not upset the kids.

But ultimately, it was Kushner and Ivanka Trump that withdrew their children from the school.

HILL: It's amazing to think of that.

Meantime, we know the administration's time is coming to an end in D.C. There's a lot of talk about where the Trump family will go at this point.

Will Ivanka and Jared come back to New York City? Turns out, New York City not exactly rolling out the red carpet.

BENNETT: Yes. This is a city that the president has trashed. He's in an open battle with the governor. He said there's no life, there's no business, what's happened to New York.

The administration hasn't been too kind on the city that really built the Trumps.

Certainly, the people we spoke to are not necessarily going to welcome them back with open arms.

Is it going to be a situation where they will be invited to gala parties as they were before or invited to red-carpet events as they were before?

It's a tricky situation clearly because New Yorkers do not want to necessarily be associated with that Trump brand any more or the Trump family, as they were more than a decade ago and longer with Donald Trump.

It's posing an issue for Ivanka and Jared who need to reestablish themselves after this White House and this very contentious administration and all of the problems that might be caused with people back home in New York.

This is again -- might not be the warm homecoming they were expecting should they decide to make their home again in Manhattan.

We have heard they have not decided yet where life will be after the White House.

HILL: We'll be looking for that.

Kate Bennett, great to see you today. Thank you.

BENNETT: Thank you.

HILL: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:58:09]

HILL: Tonight, CNN brings you the story of Joe Biden and his long journey to becoming the president-elect.

CNN Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: While president-elect Joe Biden was serving as vice president, his son, Beau, was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor.

Biden rearranged his life and Beau worried about him.

(voice-over): While the vice president tried to help his son, the son tried to help his father.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I actually believe and I will believe it to the day I die, that the thing Beau was most afraid of was not dying.

What he was most afraid of was the impact it would have on his dad, that it would really take his dad out.

BORGER (on camera): Did he tell you that?

BIDEN: Oh, yes, oh, yes, all the time.

BORGER (voice-over): It's something the vice president wrote about in 2017 in his book, "Promise Me, Dad."

BIDEN: Beau just made me promise -- this was just before he died. He said, dad, you have to promise me you will be OK.

I said, Beau, I will. He said, dad, look at me. Look me in your eye, dad. Give me your word as a Biden dad, you will be OK.

BORGER (on camera): Are you ok?

BIDEN: I am because, it is still emotional, but I knew what he meant. He was worried I would walk away from everything I worked in my whole life, the things I'd cared about that.

He knew I would take care of the family. He never wondered about that. But he didn't want me walking away.

UNIDENTIFIED SERVICEMEMBER: Forward march.

BORGER (voice-over): Beau Biden died on May 30th, 2015. He was 46 years old.

(on camera): Is it true you keep Beau's rosary with you?

[14:00:03]

BIDEN: I have it in my pocket. BORGER: All the time?

BIDEN: I keep it all the time.