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Coronavirus Cases Continue To Surge In States Across U.S.; President Trump's Supporters Gather In Washington D.C. For Rally; Coronavirus Case Increase May Result In City Lockdowns And Other Restrictions; 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. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired November 14, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've got it in my pocket.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: All the time?

BIDEN: I keep it all the time. He had it when he passed away. It was more gold. You can see it's worn.

BORGER: After Beau's death, Biden decided not to run for president in 2016, and he felt his political career might be over. But as we all know now, it wasn't. Back to you.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Gloria, thank you. You can see more about Joe Biden's ambition, the tragedies and dramatic fights in the race of his lifetime. CNN Special Report, don't miss, "Fight for the White House, Joe Biden's Long Journey" tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

Good afternoon. Thanks for joining us. I'm Erica Hill in New York in today for Fredricka Whitfield.

Right now the United States is facing a growing coronavirus crisis. It is a threat that is only being complicated by the fact that the White House is refusing to cooperate with the president-elect's transition. On Friday we marked another grim milestone in this country, a new daily high for new cases, more than 184,000 reported on Friday. That's the fifth straight day of record-breaking case counts. Also breaking records, hospitalizations, and hospitals are being stretched thin. More than 68,000 people were hospitalized with coronavirus on Friday. Again, that is also a new high.

And the rapid rise in cases, in hospitalizations, that is forcing some states to crack down again. In New Mexico, the governor ordering a statewide closure of all non-essential activities, Oregon announcing new restrictions for the next two weeks, including limits on gatherings. We're seeing that in a number of states. Idaho's governor now mobilizing the National Guard to help in the pandemic response. All of this as the Biden organization is calling this a national security threat, and said the recent spikes in infections and hospitalizations are a, quote, grim day for the country.

Despite this very real threat, despite the numbers that do not lie, despite a raging virus, the White House, the current White House is refusing to cooperate in the transition, refusing to concede the election, refusing to allow the Biden transition team access to daily security briefings or classified information, all of which could be vital not only for national security, but for helping to stop the spread of the disease.

And today, President Trump's supporters are gathering in Washington. They are there blasting the election, falsely claiming it was stolen. CNN has a team of reporters around the country monitoring the latest on the coronavirus and the Biden transition.

Let's begin in Washington, D.C., this hour with those Trump supporters loudly denying the results of the presidential election. CNN's Sara Sidner is there. She's been covering these protests throughout the day. So what are we seeing at this point, Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are thousands of people, not a million. They called it the Million MAGA March. But certainly thousands of people have shown up here. And we're a little bit away from them because there's just so many people it's hard to get a signal out because there are so many folks who have gathered here.

They've gathered near the capital, right in front of the Supreme Court. And they said the reason for that was that they believe that Donald Trump is going to win, and he's going to win because somehow the Supreme Court is going to make that decision in the end.

That is false hope, as you know. All of the states' electoral officials have said this was a free and fair election. And although the votes have not been certified yet, all roads lead to Joe Biden winning this presidential election in 2020.

We have heard from several different speakers, including conspiracy theorist in chief Alex Jones, who ranted about Democrats, calling them all sorts of names, including calling them Nazis, which, of course, they are not, and basically saying that this is a revolution and egging on the crowd to try and overturn the government, but of course not the Trump government, saying that they believe that Trump will get four more years.

The crowd has been large all day. There have been just two very small skirmishes with folks who are here supporting Biden, but very, very small groups. What you're seeing the most of and the masses are 10,000 plus Trump supporters who are here still rallying right outside the Supreme Court.

They marched from Freedom Plaza today. And they got a surprise, although he did tweet, the president saying that he might be able to come out and see them. Well, he actually did, and we were there to see that happen.

He came in the motorcade and he sat in his SUV and waved from the SUV and drove all the way around Freedom Plaza where people chased down his car trying to get a glimpse of the president that they support so much, Erica.

HILL: We're also hearing, Sara, as you mentioned off the top, this was billed as a million MAGA rally. There are thousands of people there, not a million. That did not stop, however, the White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany from tweeting about it and tweeting incorrectly about it.

[14:05:10]

SIDNER: Yes. Look, the numbers have been a thing with the Trump administration, if you remember. For whatever reason, he's really interested in pumping out numbers that are not exactly correct, including the numbers of people who voted for him or who voted for Joe to Biden, whichever one you want to look at.

But we can tell you that there is a sizable number. This isn't a small rally. There are certainly thousands of people here, and they are crediting themselves for saying, hey, we started this five days ago and look at all of the people that have shown up.

But Kayleigh McEnany also says this is amazing, where she had also criticized Joe Biden supporters who came out to rally and dance and have a good time because of the coronavirus. So it is a double standard that you're seeing yet again from the Trump administration.

Certainly we have seen about half the crowd that has masks on, about half the crowd doesn't. There are lots of people here that do not believe that they should have to wear masks even though the coronavirus is raging through the country at this point in time.

And there are lots of people here who falsely believe that President Trump is going to be the president come 2021. But again, all the elections offices across several, all of the states at this point have said this is a free and fair election and that Joe Biden is the winner, although those votes have not yet been certified. Erica?

HILL: Sara Sidner live for us there in Washington. Sara, 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, we know the president is refusing to concede the election and that his administration is not playing along in the normal transition as we would see.

What's happening at this point? Is there still that belief that we just heard from Sara about people in the crowd there, is that a strong belief in the West Wing, that they're actually on their way to a second Trump term?

SARAH WESTWOOD, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Erica, the West Wing, the Trump administration is really in a holding pattern right now as President Trump continues to tread water, refusing to acknowledge the results of this election. And the transition process is one that would ordinarily be well under way right now. Every day of the transition is precious when you're talking about an undertaking of this enormous scale that the Biden transition team has in front of them.

There's no indication that that's going to change any time soon. There are transition offices, office space here in Washington that has been set aside for the Biden transition team's use. That is just sitting vacant while we await the president's next move here. Federal agencies, the Treasury Department, the State Department, many others are effectively just twiddling their thumbs as they await sign-off for this president to initiate contact with their counterparts on the Biden transition team.

President Trump today went golfing. He hit the golf course this morning. There are no indications that today is going to be the day of his concession. And in fact, multiple cabinet officials this week even suggested that there might not be a Biden transition, so taking their cues there from a president who has refused to acknowledge the results. But yesterday we did get something of significant development from the president during his Rose Garden appearance, because he acknowledged, even for just a brief moment the prospect that he's been denied 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 this 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: During that appearance the president was touting progress in the development of a COVID vaccine. He said it would be widely available by April, but threatened to withhold that from New York, essentially, so that it might not be available in New York.

He accused Governor Andrew Cuomo of playing politics with the vaccine. Andrew Cuomo shot back, saying that he had done no such thing, that he had ordered extra reviews of the data behind the vaccine just to instill public confidence.

But at this point, Erica, pressure is mounting on President Trump to concede. Republicans are pushing him to at least allow President-elect Biden access to the same classified information that Trump gets briefed on every day.

HILL: Pressure mounting to face reality. Sarah Westwood, appreciate it, thank you.

Let's go now to Delaware where President-elect Joe Biden is meeting with his transition team this weekend. CNN's Jessica Dean is live for us this hour. So what more do we know about today's meeting? JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Erica. The

president-elect spent today with his advisors, but he's also taking some time out for a little recreation. We saw him out on a bike ride with his wife, Jill Biden, earlier today.

A member of the pool that was with him did ask him, are you any closer to making a cabinet decision. He did say yes. But we also know that Joe Biden likes to take his time with personnel decisions. And he said that he hopes to have a couple cabinet announcements by Thanksgiving, but it could be a little later than that. We're waiting to see exactly how that timeline plays out.

[14:10:04]

I'll you'll remember, when he was choosing his vice-presidential partner, it took a little bit longer than he said it would. So he's still considering all of his options, spending this weekend really focusing in on potential cabinet nominees.

He's also continuing to meet with his COVID-19 advisory board. The Biden transition team and President-elect Biden know very well that when they take office in January that COVID is going to be a very dire situation across the United States. They're trying to do everything they can to prepare for that, really focusing in on what they can do right now because, remember, the GSA, the General Services Administration, has still not formally signed off on him being the president-elect which triggers that formal transition process.

What does that mean? It means that his transition team cannot formally begin talking with federal agencies, Erica, so they're left, as Biden said yesterday in a statement, really just urging Americans to do all the things that they've been saying all along, wear their masks, wash their hands, socially distance themselves from others.

But they know that they can't really take action until they get in office on January 20th. But Erica, we also know his chief of staff, newly named chief of staff Ron Klain saying earlier this week that he will be naming a White House COVID coordinator, someone who is going to report directly to him every single day on this very issue.

HILL: Certainly something that will needed on a daily basis. Jessica Dean, appreciate it, thank you.

Joining us now, Dr. Esther Choo. She's a professor of emergency medicine at Oregon Science and Health University and also CNN medical analyst. Good to see you this afternoon. As we look where we're at as a country, hospitalizations on record levels and breaking those records on a daily basis now, are hospitals in the United States, do you think, prepared for what could be coming in the weeks and months ahead?

DR. ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Erica, I think there is good news and bad news here. The good news is this is not our first rodeo. We have been through the spring. We are able to put in a lot of policies and procedures in place for different levels of surge and volume. We really are working on a regional, sometimes state level or regional

basis where we can coordinate with other facilities and try to spread the burden of patients across those facilities and try to strategize around limited resources, including human resources.

The tough thing is we can only flex so much. The walls of the hospital are what they are. The workforce is what it is. And the numbers of COVID cases are just galloping out of control, and we're seeing, like we knew we would, at a slight delay, we're really seeing exponential rise in hospitalizations, and then following that will be deaths as well.

And so it's just going to be incredibly challenging going into this winter. We haven't really had flu hit yet, so there are going to be other factors that play into COVID. It's not just COVID. It's all the other patients that we're trying to take care of as well who will receive compromised care because there's only so much we can do.

And of course, as hospitals get crowded, our staff will get sick as well, which will really reduce our ability to provide care. So it's not just bed count. It's sort of what we're able to do with our hospital staff and really just an explosion of patients.

HILL: As I heard one doctor said yesterday, it's not just about having enough beds. It's about having the staff there to help the patients in those beds. We look at what's happening around the country, too, local officials, whether it be like the city of Chicago, as we saw or even in Oregon where you are, we are seeing new restrictions being put in place, we are seeing different measures be added. How effective do you think those are at this point when we are also dealing with not just with the virus but we're dealing with virus fatigue?

CHOO: That's exactly right. And I think the difference now is that we're really trying to acknowledge that. There is no question that these are difficult decisions, they are not easily made. On the health side as well, we are really wanting people to know that their economic prosperity is part of their health, and we appreciate that.

It is completely part of the calculus. And at every step, even public health officials have been criticized sometimes for not being strong enough. But we are trying work to with people because, as their businesses suffer, they suffer too.

And so here in Oregon just yesterday, our governor announced a two- week freeze where we are closing a lot of businesses, places like gyms and indoor venues and pools are being shut down right now. Also restaurants and bars are going to takeout only. We're restricting numbers of indoor gatherings at places like churches.

But I want to emphasize too, this time around we're also really being careful about what gets to stay open. Schools that are open for the most part get to stay open, and we're not changing restrictions around that. Youth sports programs, those are staying in place.

[14:15:00] So we're trying to be a little bit more nimble and allowing people to do things that for the most part have been shown to be safe and are so important for people's well-being in this time because it's exhausting to not do things like see people and exercise. So we're trying to be a little smarter to allow for things that will sustain people in this period, and places that can do the two-week freeze and then go back will be great. There are some places like where we are that might need to be a little bit longer.

HILL: I want to get your take really quickly on this next question, because this really sparked, frankly, it sparked a lot of outrage last night. I'm not sure if you saw it. But the fact that there was planned dinner for new congressional members, for Democrats, in Washington, and a picture was tweeted about it. Speaker Pelosi pushed back, saying, you can see the pictures here, these are the table setup, ready to go, saying they were abiding by all the guidelines, that it was blessed, it was ok.

And yet it raises some really serious questions. We're hearing from not just experts like yourself, not just those in the healthcare community, but we're hearing from our elected officials at various levels of government saying you need to forego Thanksgiving this year. You need to stop gathering as you normally would.

And yet seeing that this was planned, Republicans are reporting now is that they're trying to figure out what to do about their dinner planned for this weekend as well. I'm just curious your take, what message does that picture send, that plan that there was going to be this big dinner, no matter how spaced the tables, as families across the country are recognizing that they're not going to be together this holiday season?

CHOO: I think people in public positions, they're examples for the rest of us, and they're hugely influential ones. And they need to set the best example. Are there individual situations in certain states and certain conditions, like sitting outside where you could have a gathering? Potentially. And we want people who make those decisions to have best practices like spacing and masks and good ventilation.

At the same time, what should people at the top who are hugely visible be doing? They should be doing the absolute safest thing. Yesterday, Governor Jay Inslee of Washington showed how he and his wife are planning to spend Thanksgiving, just the two of them. They're going to Zoom in with their other family members. And many, many people in our area said after I saw that, I cancelled Thanksgiving. After our press conference with the governor yesterday, people on social media said I had plans and I just changed them. People will do what you show them you're doing, not just what you tell them to do.

So everyone in the public eye needs to be the best example they can be. That was certainly a disappointing moment, and we want consistency in message and in action from here on.

HILL: Once again, as we know, actions often speak louder than words. Dr. Esther Choo, really good to have you with us today, thank you for your insight and for your expertise. CHOO: Thanks so much, Erica.

HILL: A programming note for you. Dr. Anthony Fauci will be on STATE OF THE UNION tomorrow morning at 9:00. Jake Tapper will also be joined by Senator Bernie Sanders, Governor Mike DeWine, and Reverend Raphael Warnock.

Coming up, "baffling," "laughable," "insulting," those are the words coming from a senior election security official blasting President Trump's postelection claims. Former chief of staff John Kelly sounding off as well.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:22:42]

HILL: Former White House chief of staff John Kelly now blasting President Trump for not helping with the transition to a new Biden administration. General Kelly issuing a rare rebuke of his former boss, saying the "delay in transitioning is an increasing national security and health crisis," adding that "the downside to not doing so could be catastrophic to our people regardless who they voted for."

Joining me now to discuss, Kimberly Dozier, CNN global affairs analyst and a contributor for "Time" magazine. Kimberly, as we look at this, just how significant is that message itself coming from General Kelly?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think General Kelly is aiming not at the president, but at the GOP, the leadership that may still care about both the transition and the security of the nation, because the Biden team does need to get those intelligence briefings in the coming weeks, because adversaries often hit during or right after a transition, or they challenge the United States.

But the other message that some in the GOP want to get across is the longer the president drags this out, the more likely it is to feed into things like turning out the vote in Georgia in those two Senate runoffs that could determine who controls the Senate, and therefore the GOP fate in the coming Biden term.

HILL: You mention what could happen in this lame duck period, in this transitional period. We look at the number of world leaders who were very quick to come out and congratulate President-elect Biden, and we've heard about the messages that were not received because of what is not being shared from the State Department. The message that that sends to both our allies and our adversaries, what's that impact?

DOZIER: The interesting thing is many foreign diplomats, they are just taking this as Donald Trump at his normal behavior. They're seeing this as a sort of kabuki dance that they think he has to do to message to his base that he is going to keep up the fight for them, the grievance parade. And remember, he also knew that this march in Washington was coming today, this MAGA march.

[14:25:00] And he's setting the stage for either his media empire for a 2024 presidential run. And foreign leaders understand all of that. That's why you've seen a parade of Britain, France, Germany, making phone calls to President-elect Biden no matter how that might impact Trump's feelings.

HILL: When we look at what's still happening or not happening back here at home, CNN has reported that CIA Director Haspel was essentially iced out of a meeting on Friday. And there is a lot of talk that she may soon be fired. What is that impact, right, especially as we look at the next 60 days plus to come, how significant would it be if President Trump in fact fired Gina Haspel?

DOZIER: That is the kind of move that really would upset U.S. allies, Britain, Canada, the organizations that share intelligence closely. They know Haspel well. But people also know that what Haspel has been doing is carefully messaging this president, not always sharing things with him that would upset him or inflame his anger.

She wanted to make sure that the intelligence community could keep doing its job. Right now, the thing, though, that she's having to fight back on is DNI Ratcliffe and the president want to declassify a lot of FBI Russia investigation documents that would serve as, again, that foundation for the grievances to come, and would serve as a foundation for a 2024 campaign just possibly.

And Director Haspel doesn't want to do that because she knows the information in those documents can reveal sources and methods that took decades to establish in one of the hardest countries to spy on on the planet, Russia.

HILL: Absolutely. Kimberly Dozier, great to have you here as always. Thank you.

DOZIER: Thank you.

HILL: Up next, coronavirus shutdowns are back. We'll take a look at which states are taking the most drastic action.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:31:37]

HILL: Governors across the country are offering new -- ordering, rather, new restrictions, and in some cases going so far as to bring back lockdowns as cases of COVID-19 surge. We have just witnessed five straight days of record-breaking days of new case counts. On Friday alone, more than 184,000 new cases were reported. CNN's Evan McMorris- Santoro joins us now. So Evan, which states are taking the most drastic measures here?

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erica, as you mentioned, those staggering new numbers are leading governors across the country to reimpose some restrictions to try and get a hold of this virus that really seems to be spreading out of control at this point. Let me show you a graphic that can give you a list of some of these states we've seen in recent days.

In North Dakota, bars and restaurants are now closing to indoor patrons between 10:00 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. Indoor dining is allowed, and masks are required inside. So outside of those hours you can dine inside, but most of the time it's closed at night.

In New Mexico, the governor has essentially reinstated the stay-at- home orders that we saw back in spring, but on a temporary basis. They start Monday. The governor there hopes to lift those restrictions again on November 30th.

In Oregon, we've also seen a reimposition of temporary new restrictions, closing restaurants to indoor dining and severely restricting indoor gathering sizes. Those are also temporary, supposed to reopen in about two weeks.

And in Vermont, the governor has banned public and private gatherings of people from different households, and he's also closing those bars and restaurants and shutting down youth sports for the time being. The difference between these restrictions we're seeing talking about now and the ones that we had back in the spring, is they're temporary, they're more targeted, and they're not so open ended. But they are new restrictions, and they show that governors are nervous that without doing something, they won't get this virus under control, Erica.

HILL: In terms of being nervous, there are a lot of folks here in New York and specifically in New York City who are nervous about what could be coming. The mayor talking about these thresholds that are in place in New York, Governor Cuomo talking about it as well. How are we seeing leaders respond in the onetime epicenter, New York?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Erica, that's a great question, and a very important question. And up until a couple hours ago I had a pretty clear answer for you. But tight now where I'm standing, it's kind of unclear. Let me show you a tweet that came from the mayor this morning where he was talking about how this city has not crossed the three percent threshold in the seven-day rolling averages of the infection rate that he says is required to keep the schools from shutting down.

So all week last week, the mayor said that if that three percent number was crossed, schools would immediately close to in-person classes once again here in New York City. But then just a couple of hours ago, the governor on a press call with reporters said something different. The governor said, maybe schools could test their way out of shutting down. If inside the schools the numbers are lower than three percent, those schools can stay open.

Now, we don't really know which one of those two things is going to turn out to be what happens next. We've reached out to the mayor's office for his response what the governor said. But there have been a lot of weekends, Erica, where I have stood here in Manhattan in between what the mayor has said, and what the governor has said.

And means that Monday we just don't know what is going to happen. And this is another one of those weekends, Erica, where really people are sitting at home wondering what is going to happen, and we just don't really know.

[14:35:00]

HILL: Yes, you're absolutely right, and interesting, because we did hear from the mayor, I think it was as recently as Thursday, saying schools are extraordinarily safe, but to your point, the one thing that is clear is there is still a little tit-for-tat when it comes to the governor in this state and mayor of New York City. Evan McMorris- Santoro, thank you, as always.

In California, Governor Gavin Newsom now apologizing for flouting his own statewide health guidelines. Reports emerged last week that he and his wife had attended a birthday party at lavish restaurant in Napa Valley. The gathering included people from several different households, more than the three allowed under state guidance. Newsom's political opponents have been quick to call him a hypocrite. On Thursday, California became the second state to record 1 million cumulative cases of COVID-19.

The city of Los Angeles, meantime, is trying to expand its COVID-19 testing, and is now using Dodger Stadium as a testing site, and it's been very popular, to say the least. Paul Vercammen joining us now live from Los Angeles. There have been lines, I would say in the pictures that I've seen, since it opened, Paul.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And Erica, we have got no official count, but we think this is the busiest testing site in the nation. Let me step out and show you why. They're able to function with six lines here at Dodger Stadium. And the hours previously were 10:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon. Now they are going, under the mayor's direction, from 8:00 to 8:00 at night. So cars streaming through here.

And as horrendous as this might look in terms of the lines, I can attest to this, I have been tested a few times, and it usually takes somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes with those six lanes going here. It's almost like NASCAR trying to get an inside lane it seems like you go faster. So this is all part of the effort here in the city and county of Los Angeles to get way ahead and make sure people are tested as they fear a coming surge.

Right now in California, the numbers are not horrific. L.A. County has 10 million people. We know that yesterday the statistics showed that there was something around 942 hospitalizations. The key to that number is we were well above 2,000 at one point in Los Angeles County, 2,481 new cases yesterday.

But this is one of the keys, one of the ways they're trying to keep this under control, the COVID-19 pandemic -- lots of testing, and then of course the contact tracing that comes after that. But yes, you're right, Erica, it is extremely busy here at Dodger Stadium. Not only was this a COVID-1919 test site. You may know the Dodgers won the World Series, and they had early voting here. So a lot of Los Angelenos have been making their way through here in the past few weeks, Erica.

HILL: That's for sure, and it looks like it's going to remain busy for some time. Paul Vercammen, thank you.

Still ahead, pro Trump supporters rallying in Washington, D.C., fighting the results of the presidential election. Some of them part of the Stop the Steal movement, you may have heard those words recently. It turns out, though, this isn't something new. It was started more than four years ago. How about a little separating of fact from fiction? Stay with us. That's after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:42:22]

HILL: Stop the Steal is one of the refrains we're seeing and hearing at pro-Trump rallies in Washington today. It's become the chosen shorthand for the president and his supporters as they claim the election was stolen. Turns out, though, the movement didn't just emerge in 2020. CNN's Drew Griffin explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's an Internet battle cry, "Stop the Steal" has swept across inboxes, and Facebook pages, and Twitter like an out of control virus. The claims that Democrats stole the 2020 presidential election from Donald Trump are all false, but the truth means little to people inundated with lies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe that they tried to steal the election.

GRIFFIN: Stop the Steal may appear as a grassroots uprising, but it started more than four years ago, the brainchild of a political dirty trick artist and convicted liar, who has pushed disinformation schemes for years, Roger Stone.

ROGER STONE, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER: Stop the Steal is posting much of this material. This is insurmountable, compelling, overcoming evidence of fraud.

BENJAMIN DECKER, FOUNDER AND CEO, MEMETICA: Stop the Steal is actually a coordinated effort that has been revived twice by Roger Stone and allied political operatives in an attempt to gaslight the entire integrity of our voting and election process.

GRIFFIN: Ben Decker, who conducts digital investigations, says far from a grassroots campaign, Stop the Steal is a business. In 2016, Roger Stone's PAC launched StoptheSteal.org, which was asking for $10,000 donations, purportedly back then to help uncover evidence of vote fraud against Donald Trump. Stone told CNN the group was a nonprofit, created to ensure the integrity of the vote.

Stop the Steal reemerged briefly in the 2018 midterms. Then in the run-up to 2020, the Stop the Steal campaign rebooted by a group of people orbiting Roger Stone. The cast of characters include Ali Alexander, a Roger Stone wannabe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually just got a message from Roger Stone. GRIFFIN: He began hash-tagging Stop the Steal weeks before election day and launched the Stop the Steal website. Amy Kremer, a Tea Party activist who in 2016 formed the group Women Vote Trump with Roger Stone's ex-wife. Kremer was behind a Stop the Steal Facebook group, along with two people who worked on Steve Bannon's discredited We Build the Wall fund. It was taken down by Facebook.

Also shut down, a cluster of pages affiliated with Bannon that coordinated posts, according to Facebook, using inauthentic behavior tactics to artificially boost how many people saw their content. In all, the pages had 2.5 million followers before they were shuttered.

[14:45:13]

DECKER: Stop the Steal is a highly coordinated partisan political operation.

GRIFFIN: This week, Stone even took his message to the most notorious conspiracy theorists of all, Alex Jones.

STONE: A hoax is being perpetrated on the American people.

GRIFFIN: On Twitter, researchers at Clemson University saw the hashtag "Stop the Steal" mentioned in nearly 2 million tweets. The tweets, the Facebook posts filled with unsubstantiated and false evidence of widespread voter fraud quickly caught the attention of disinformation researchers like Ciaran O'Connor.

CIARAN O'CONNOR, ANALYST, INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC DIALOGUE: It only took a day-and-a-half before Facebook took the group down. But by then it was already too late.

GRIFFIN: Copycat sites now number in the dozens, and the false information initially spread by a few is only multiplying.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Coming up, the hunger crisis intensifying as the coronavirus pandemic also intensifies, and the situation is likely only to get worse during the holidays. The president of the food bank for New York City is with us live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:45]

HILL: The stimulus stalemate continues as Democrats and Republicans have failed to reach a deal on a COVID stimulus package. President Trump this morning tweeting that Congress should pass a COVID relief bill, saying it should be big and focused. While Congress and the White House battle over how to help Americans get through this economic stress related to the pandemic, food banks across the country are preparing for even heavier demand this Thanksgiving. We're going to dig a little deeper with Leslie Gordon. She's the

president and CEO of Food Bank for New York City. Leslie, good to have you with us. First of all, just set the scene for us, if you would. What are you seeing in New York City in terms of need in November of 2020 versus what you saw in 2019?

LESLIE GORDON, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FOOD BANK FOR NEW YORK CITY: Good afternoon, Erica, so pleased to be with you, thank you for having me and the Food Bank for New York City with you this afternoon. So the need remains persistent and really stubbornly high, and you can see on the ground at our nearly 800 partners throughout the five boroughs, long lines at food pantries and soup kitchens.

Our warehouse remains open, our trucks are rolling on the road with good, nutritious food, focused on getting food to people where they need it, and when they need it.

And I'm here to tell people, of course, not surprisingly, that we're going to be at this for some time to come. It's not just about the holidays, certainly. It's about the fact that the rate of unemployment in New York City is still at 14 percent. And so we have a lot of folks that, frankly, means that one in seven people who are actively looking for employment in New York City can't find a job and earn wages.

And so we've got new folks standing in our line who are either furloughed or not making enough money to make ends meet, not looking for food. But Food Bank from New York City and other food banks across the country were made for this sort of thing. So we're going to remain on the front lines for as long as people need us.

HILL: You talk about Food Bank in New York City and others across the country, we are seeing that need literally nationwide, and we are seeing how it's grown, people lining up hours before food distribution is set to begin, again, all across the country.

You say you're made for this need and you'll meet it. I wonder, though, in terms of donations coming in to you, whether it's money, whether it's food, making sure that you can meet that need, has that become more of a struggle not just because the need is growing but also because perhaps some of those who were more generous in the past might not be able to do that this year?

GORDON: Sure. So there are definitely pain points that we are experiencing at Food Bank for New York City and other food banks across the country are grappling with as well. And that is that donated footed is in shorter supply. And so food banks are competing on the open market with the likes of Walmart and Stop and Shop and other big box retailers for purchasing food.

And so our work is getting more expensive in the contest of COVID and ensuring that we can feed people, and so donor dollars are especially important. We're really efficient with how we can purchase food, so every dollar turns into five meals. And so if people are positioned to be able to be generous, they can visit us at FoodBankNewYorkCity.org, or you can find us on Facebook at Food Bank for New York City. We're focused right now, Erica, on making sure that people not only

have food for the long haul, but also to be able to celebrate the holidays. I tell people often that food is love, food is culture. And so we're on pace to distribute more than 100,000 turkeys across the footprint of New York City to make sure that our neighbors can celebrate that all American holiday of Thanksgiving.

HILL: Food is love, food is culture, food is security. And as people are thinking about what they are thankful for, I hope many, I am certainly one of them, are also thankful for the work that you and your team are doing every single day and for your counterparts across the country. Leslie, thank you for your time today. We'll continue to check in.

GORDON: My pleasure. Thanks so much.

Now more than ever we know that the world needs heroes, we need something good to focus on. This year, CNN Heroes isn't just saluting everyday heroes, we're also taking a look at the larger moments that defined the biggest stories of the year. And you can vote for this year's most inspiring moments at CNNheroes.com.

[14:55:12]

Lastly, as I mentioned, we all need a little something to smile about right now. This has certainly got a lot of play recently. This is the gargantuan gator wandering a golf course in southwest Florida during the recent tropical storm. Perhaps even scarier, though, an alligator expert says that the size of this one is nothing unusual. The animal's sheer mass left many on social media wondering if the beast was even real. I can tell you one thing for sure, it is not one I want to meet in person.

Thanks for joining me today. I'm Erica Hill in for Fredricka Whitfield. CNN NEWSROOM continues with Ana Cabrera after the break.

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