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As Trump Refuses To Concede, Pro-Trump Groups Protest Results Of Most Secure Election In American History; HHS Secretary Says, Pfizer Presents Unique Distribution Challenges; L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti Spoke Earlier On Rising COVID Cases, Massive Testing Operation at Dodger Stadium, Biden Election, Newsom Apology For Dinner Gathering. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 14, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Hello, I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. Thanks for joining us. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And the streets of Washington, D.C., today filled with denial, disbelief and defiance. A full week since the race for the White House essentially ended with bad news for President Trump, his supporters turned out in large numbers today protesting an election that they insist was not fair, and marching from White House and the Supreme Court.

At one point the president's motorcade passed by this rally slowing down to the cheer of this crowd. Among the group marching today, members of the far right group that calls themselves the Proud Boys. Remember, they were the group that President Trump told to, quote, stand back and standby at the first presidential debate back in September.

Also today, a common theme of the Trump presidency, exaggerating the size of a crowd, the White House press secretary tweeting that, her words, more than a million marchers gathered in the nation's capital in support of the president. Observers and news organizations on the ground, including CNN, agree the crowd was large, many thousands of people but nowhere even close to the number the White House is claiming. One million or more people, that's just not true.

Let's go straight to the White House right now with CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

So we understand President Trump is back there after his morning on the golf course. Are you hearing anything today that might indicate the president is coming around to this notion that he lost this election or that he's maybe -- is he given this rally some more momentum?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, if you look at the president's Twitter feed this afternoon after he returned from his golf course and that quick run through that rally happening in Washington, D.C., it certainly seems like that rally has energized the president and encouraged him to dig in more on these false claims that he is making about the fact that this 2020 election, in his view, was stolen from him, that it is rigged and corrupt, of course, despite the fact that election officials in all 50 states have made very clear that there is no evidence of any widespread voter fraud and that this election was one of most secure elections in history.

But our sources have told us over the last week that the president has really been vacillating between a more combative stance where he encourages his allies to push through with these lawsuits and seize a potential path to overturning the results of the election while at the same time, at other moments, acknowledging the reality of the situation that Joe Biden will be the next president of the United States.

Publicly, we have mostly seen that combative stance. But yesterday, we did get a sliver of the president perhaps starting to come to grips with reality.

(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)

DIAMOND: And you can see there the president acknowledging at least the prospect of a potential Biden administration even as he continues to make those false equivalencies about lockdown versus no lockdown.

As for the coronavirus, the president though doing nothing really to address the surge and the explosion, really, of coronavirus cases that we have seen in the last week. He was talking yesterday about this vaccine, but that, of course, is months away in terms of wide distribution in the United States, and the president instead insisting that the surge in cases is merely connected to an increase in testing. That is not true. And the president, of course, showing an absence of leadership as the country is dealing with a worsening pandemic. Ana?

CABRERA: And it's really, really important that Americans understand that it isn't just testing. They have some responsibility to keep the spread from happening when we're looking at these record-breaking numbers and more and more people hospitalized right now. Jeremy Diamond, thank you.

Let's go now to CNN National Correspondent Sara Sidner in D.C. today following this large pro-Trump rally. She has this report. Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Thousands and thousands of people showed up here in Washington, D.C., to march from Freedom Plaza to the Supreme Court. This was a conglomeration of three different marches that were put out on social media over the past week, the million MAGA march, the so-called stop steal march and the march for Trump, all coming together in one place. We heard a lot of different speakers, including famed conspiracy theorists. We heard also from Congress people who came -- who feel that this was not a free and fair election when it comes to Donald Trump. All of that has been proven to be untrue. Indeed, all of the folks that are in high level election official positions have said this is indeed not a fraudulent election.

However, the folks here feel differently. And we have been hearing that over and over again from those who have been speaking to the crowd and from the people in the crowd themselves. At this point in time, there are some folks here who say they are not going to accept Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as the president and vice president in January when indeed the vote would actually have been certified. But there are others that say, yes, indeed, we will accept it, we just won't like it.

Sara Sidner, CNN, Washington, D.C.

CABRERA: Thank you, Sara.

Each day that President Trump denies the reality of his loss is another day President-elect Biden has his hands tied.

[17:05:02]

For instance, right now, the Trump administration is blocking Biden from accessing critical COVID-19 data, intelligence briefings and correspondence with foreign governments.

My next guest is someone who knows firsthand the serious cost of a delayed transition. Andy Card was chief of staff to President George W. Bush when he carried out that fateful duty of whispering in President Bush's ear that America was under attack on 9/11.

Later, when the 9/11 commission finished its report, it found that Bush's delayed transition, because of the historic Florida recount in Bush v. Gore fight, that it had come at a price. Hampering the administration's ability to recruit clear and obtain Senate confirmation for key appointees in the national security arena.

And Andy Card joins us now. Andy, so good to have you. As someone who lived through that chaotic time, I have to ask you, what is your reaction that a week after this race was called for Biden, we have a president who won't concede and a president-elect who can't even get intelligence briefings?

ANDREW CARD, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, Ana, it's good to be with you. Thank you for having me on. Yes, President Trump should allow, I think, President-elect Biden, and maybe he's not the president-elect, I believe he is, should allow him to access to intelligence briefings and briefings on the most challenging situation that we have in this country right now, which is the pandemic, because most of the response to the pandemic that has been planned by President Trump will end up being the responsibility of President Biden when he takes the oath of office. So, President Trump, I think he did lose the election. But he has to be careful, because now he is also losing credibility, he is losing trust and he is losing respect. And I don't think that's what we want to see happening.

Right now, our democracy is in transition and it's likely to transition from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. I think that's credible expectation. I don't see any path to victory for President Trump in terms of winning a second term. So I think that he should demonstrate to the world we're a remarkably good democracy and we can transfer power without being hostile.

And we should be cooperative, living through the challenges that president George W. Bush had when he came into the presidency, and, remember, that race wasn't decided until the middle of December when the Supreme Court made its decision.

We did not have the benefit of a really lengthy transition. We had a short transition and the 9/11 commission did say if there had been better information shared with the Bush administration before we took office, we might have been able to mitigate the challenges of 9/11.

I don't know that that would have been the case but it clearly was something that the 9/11 commission recognized as being important. I actually feel it's even more important today because the world is got a lot of boiling points right now, Iran, Iraq, you've got problems Azerbaijan, in Armenia, in China, it's doing terrible things in Hong Kong and threatening Taiwan. There's a lot to be worried about. And I think a President-elect Biden should be able to have his team be ready to understand those challenges and meet them when he becomes the president.

CABRERA: What do you tell somebody who uses what happened in 2000 and how long it took to call that race and says this is what's happening now and tries to compare the two?

CARD: Well, they're really not comparable, because, first of all, there was no pandemic. So we did not have a crisis in our country going on at the time. There was a transition, and I have to give President Bush credit for being quiet during that recount period of hanging chads and waiting for the Supreme Court to do their thing.

I also give Vice President Gore at the time credibility, plus acknowledging the decision made by the Supreme Court, respecting it, showing respect for the legitimate practice of our democracy and then conceding. Now, he did concede once, and that was it. It made all the difference in the world because we were demonstrated to the world that we could be great democracy in transition power from one person to another person without being hostile.

CABRERA: Here is what the president's former chief of staff, John Kelly, wrote. The delay in transitioning is an increasing national security and health crisis. It costs the current administration nothing to start to brief Mr. Biden and Mr. Harris, the new chief of staff and all identified cabinet members and senior staff, as they are identified over the days and weeks ahead. That said, the downside to not doing so could be catastrophic to our

people regardless of who they voted for. What's your biggest fear about this delay transition?

CARD: Well, my biggest fear is that bad players around the world could try to take advantage of America. And it's happened before or at least the threat of it has happened before.

[17:10:02]

We don't want that to happen, especially when we're in the midst of a pandemic. We don't want it ever to happen.

But among the incredibly concerns, a President Biden should have a chance to have a team around him that is already in the process of getting their security clearance so that they can see information and have information and make a difference. They are not being allowed to begin the process of getting the FBI and the Secret Service to be able give clearances to people to do the job that will be necessary on day one.

We want the baton, when it is passed, to be passed to someone who understands what it will be like to feel that baton and know what the responsibilities are, literally, the first minute of being president of the United States. And if the transition is going to be from Donald Trump to Donald Trump for a second term, obviously, he will be prepared.

But I think the path to that solution, I guess, for Donald Trump is not viable. I just don't see how it can happen. I think Donald Trump has lost the election. He did a remarkable job of getting people to turn out. He should celebrate that. Boy, did he participate in a remarkable exercise of democracy in getting record number of people to the polls and a record number of people voted for him.

I do think Joe Biden got more votes than Donald Trump and I think that Joe Biden will end up being the next president of the United States. He already has 306 Electoral College votes, apparently. So I think it's time to recognize reality. President Trump should not lose more credibility. He should not lose more trust. He should not lose more respect. He should recognize the reality today and help the next president be able to do the job on day one.

CABRERA: The bottom line is Joe Biden has now received more than 5.5 million more votes than President Trump in this election, as well as the Electoral College victory.

Let me ask you about something that is not related to this race, specifically. In his memoir, President Obama talked very glowingly about President Bush and how he handled his transition.

Obama writes this. Whether because of his respect for the institution, lessons from his father, bad memories of his own transition or just basic decency, President Bush would end up doing all he could to make the 11 weeks between my election and his departure go smoothly. I promised myself that when the time came, I would treat my successor the same way.

Was it all those things, lessons from his father, the bad memories of 2000 and just him being a decent guy?

CARD: It was all of those things. And he had a wonderful chief of staff, Josh Bolton, who helped make sure that the transition was very smooth and (INAUDIBLE) by the name of Blake Gottesman, who coordinated a lot of the activities for the White House, and they were great team. But President Bush set the tone and he actually did it very early in his presidency.

If you remember, he got elected to a second term in 2004 but he was already talking to those of us around him and I was chief of staff that if he were not to win, he would be very cooperative in a transition. So he understood the importance of being able to have that baton and understand what it feels like before you have to grab it and run.

CABRERA: Andy Card, I really appreciate your insights. Thank you very much for joining us.

CARD: Thank you, Ana.

CABRERA: Pfizer announcing this week its vaccine is 90 percent effective at preventing coronavirus infections. So, how long until you can receive it? I'll ask a doctor that question and more, next.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

CABRERA: In the race for coronavirus vaccine, it's Pfizer that's currently in the lead and officials say Americans may have access to that vaccine as early as next month. But the distribution will be anything but easy.

CNN's Sara Murray explains the challenges ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: With the U.S. on the cusp of a coronavirus vaccine, states are still in the dark about how many doses they may get, yet another hurdle in the scramble to nail down distribution plans.

CLAIRE HANNAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ASSOCIATION OF IMMUNICATION MANAGERS: States have heard different reports about how many doses they will get. Pfizer is saying they will have several million ready to go. We're not quite sure exactly how many it will be.

MURRAY: With Pfizer's vaccine showing promising results in clinical trials and Moderna on the verge of announcing its own efficacy data, experts say a vaccine could be available to some Americans beginning in December. HANNAN: It will be targeted to priority populations, mostly health care workers and then essential workers, and those over 65.

MURRAY: But the alphabet soup of government agencies overseeing the vaccine effort, CDC, DOD, HHS, has states struggling to plan for what's to come. Adding to the unease, memories of severe shortages in personal protective gear early in the pandemic, which left states clamoring for more supplies and undermine confidence between states and the federal government.

Once again, states tell CNN they are looking for more clarity and transparency. In Missouri, General Gustave Perna, one of the leads of Operation Warp Speed, told a top health official he knew how many doses the state would likely get but wasn't willing to share the number yet. In California, officials say they are planning for multiple scenarios. And in Minnesota, officials say they need more federal funds to carry out a vaccination program.

The government hasn't publicly revealed its allocation formula, but HHS official Paul Mango says they will take into account priority groups in each state when dolling out doses.

PAUL MANGO, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY, HHS: We know how many folks are residents in nursing homes, for instance. We can get through the Bureau of Labor Statistics and otherwise information on the number of frontline health care workers. We can get the number of folks who, again, the Department of Agriculture and others, the number of folks working in meat-packing plants.

MURRAY: Once states learn how many doses they will get, they will decide where to direct them.

Pfizer's vaccine comes with an added challenge.

[17:20:00]

It must be kept around minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which could limit where it will be made available.

ALEX AZAR, HHS SECRETARY: The Pfizer vaccine does require extra cold storage. It also will come in large quantities. So it will be best attuned early on to mass vaccination programs, for instance, of health care workers at hospitals or our skilled nursing facilities.

MURRAY: Sara Murray, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Let's take a deeper dive about vaccines right now. Dr. Rochelle Walensky is CNN Medical Analyst and the Chief of Division of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Walensky, given what we know about this vaccine, how challenging do you think it's going to be to distribute it to the masses, especially given that cold storage of negative 70 degrees Celsius? DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good evening, Ana. I think we have some challenges ahead. So we have the cold chain that we have to work through. There are many hospitals that have access to minus 70 freezers but you need to be near a hospital in order to receive them in that space. So we have cold chain challenges.

We have challenges of documentation and medical records. So that will be fine as we're trying to vaccinate health care workers. But as you start thinking about public and people who may not have a primary care doctor or may not have a medical record, we need to vaccination people twice. So we need to not only vaccinate them the first time, we need to keep record of the vaccine that they got, the lot that got.

And then we need to bring them back at some period of time, generally around 21 days for the Pfizer vaccine, 28 days for the Moderna vaccine. So we need to get them the first time, we need to get them the second time and then we need to be able to keep a record to make sure we give them the same vaccine the second time.

There has been an extraordinary amount of money that's been invested in getting us to a vaccine. I think now we really need money invested into the implementation of vaccination, because vaccines will not save lives, vaccinations will.

CABRERA: Pfizer says the efficacy rate of its vaccine is 90-plus percent. Is that considered really good for vaccine? Is that typical? How does it compare to, say, the flu vaccine or the chickenpox vaccine, for example?

WALENSKY: This was extraordinarily good news. So, we have vaccines that are more efficacious than that, so measles and mumps around 99 percent. But the chickenpox vaccine is around 90 percent. This is fair and really competitively with some of our best vaccines. Our flu vaccine, as everyone knows, fairs different every year depending on circulating strains. So it ranges between 40 and 60 percent, generally. So, this would be way better than most of our flu vaccines.

CABRERA: Moderna says it should be able to determine its vaccine's efficacy by the end of this month, so here we go, back-to-back. Both of these companies are using this messenger RNA technology, which is relatively new, I believe. Can you explain how this works?

WALENSKY: So the messenger RNA is sort of the coding for the protein that binds to the receptor of the immune cell in the human. So, essentially, what we are trying to do is have a little piece of protein that our own immune system can recognize so that we will make antibody against this little piece of protein in the absence of seeing any virus so that we have that antibody ready to go so that if we were to see virus, we have antibody already. So, that's the process of the mRNA vaccine.

We've never had an mRNA vaccine, so both of these would be first of its kind.

CABRERA: Now, does it prevent somebody from getting infected or does it just prevent somebody from getting super ill from the infection? WALENSKY: The data with that are yet to emerge. We know from natural immunity of SARS, for example, that the immunity can last for several years. For other coronaviruses, it can last for several months and many people can get infected within a year. How well it's going to do not just in decreasing the amount of infection out there but also decreasing the severity of the infection will be some of the data that we're anxiously awaiting.

CABRERA: What do we know about this vaccine's effect on children? Are there any concerns there?

WALENSKY: Well, so we know very little. So, most of the vaccine trials right now have not yet enrolled children. Pfizer announced that it would start enrolling adolescents aged 12 to 18 in the middle of October. But all of the data that we're going to see in the weeks ahead do not involve children.

CABRERA: Okay. Good to know. There's still more to learn. Dr. Rochelle Walensky, I really appreciate it. Thank you.

WALENSKY: Thank you.

CABRERA: A sign of the troubling times we're in, Dodger Stadium turn tailgating site to testing site. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

CABRERA: We have some breaking news now, the state of California reporting 10,000 new coronavirus cases. This comes as we see a massive, massive COVID testing operation in full force at L.A.'S Dodger Stadium right now. And CNN's Paul Vercammen is there for us.

Paul, you just spoke to L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti. What is he saying?

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is an extraordinary measure you took. Why?

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI (D), LOS ANGELES, CA: We see the tsunami coming. But the good news is we can hear the alarm as well. We stood this up as the biggest testing center in America together with our firefighters and for our volunteer group. And it's been incredibly successful to help people know when they have the symptoms and when they don't have the symptoms, whether or not they're positive.

And right now, this is right outside of Dodger Stadium.

[17:30:00]

If this was a baseball game, we're in the bottom of the 6th and this game will be decided in next couple of innings.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The hospitalizations are going back up in Los Angeles County, almost up to 1,000 again. Your concerns there?

GARCETTI: Our cases went from about 1,000 a day to today nearly 4,000. That's in the period of three weeks. We're seeing this around the world and across the country.

But when we expand capacity, when we sent a wireless alert to everybody, we said, get tested now so we can find out where the disease is, where the virus is living, and do our best to make sure we can bend that down.

VERCAMMEN: You were a coach here on the Biden campaign. You're close to Joe Biden.

What is he relaying to you recently? What are your concerns now that President Trump is not conceding and what sort of roadblocks that could cause for you?

GARCETTI: This election is over. Nothing will change that.

I think it's not just about the information given to an incoming administration but to the American people. No more hide the ball.

We need that information to be public. And anything that needs to be given to the next administration so they can prepare and continue a seamless transition,

I think about George Washington, our greatest president. And one of the greatest things he did was how he exited power. Now just how he entered it and exercised it, but how he exited. And, to me, that laid down the foundation for our democracy.

Right now, we need to see those better angels come out from Trump and the administration.

VERCAMMEN: We're talking about exiting a position. In 2022, you will no longer be mayor here. Even right now, the rumors are swirling.

Would you entertain an offer to join a Joe Biden cabinet?

GARCETTI: First, I was savoring the minute of him winning and this moment of experiencing the change of what has been four years of war against American cities and our values and the unity of this country.

But I'm too busy with this to entertain that now.

I never turn down Joe's calls. If he calls, I'll answer that phone. But we have only talked about the election.

And right now, my focus is on making sure we save lives and protect livelihoods.

VERCAMMEN: When your term is over in 2022, how tempting would be, let's say, a transportation secretary job?

GARCETTI: Whatever Joe needs, I've been there, whether it's helping with vice president, working together to raise minimum wage here. He is somebody who I know and trust, and I have a personal

relationship with.

I do think this next decade will be a defining decade for us. The next two years, because of COVID and our economy. The next decade because of climate change.

While I'm focused, you know, 99 percent of my time just on my job as mayor, I'll certainly talk to him at right time.

VERCAMMEN: Also, here in California, Governor Newsom had to apologize for that dinner at a very expensive French restaurant with 12 other people. They did not live in the same household.

Have you spoken to him about that? Are you concerned about the optics of that?

GARCETTI: No. I haven't spoken to him about that.

But of course, for all of us, look, this is a tough, tough moment. We miss each other. We want to spend time with folks we care about.

There are a lot of moments where we all are human. We got to let people be human but we can't slip. We have to make sure we continue to do everything we can.

And 10 percent of the spread in Los Angeles has been probably people going in stores and watch the Lakers win, watch the Dodgers win, celebrate the election.

We can't do those things. We can't let down our guard. Doesn't matter who we are. That is what causes the spread and in this cold weather. And that's why we're seeing these numbers begin to spike.

VERCAMMEN: Given what's happened here in Los Angeles with unemployment, there's a lot of people concerned about how they will continue to make ends meet or really not meet, given everything that's happened.

Can you assure them we're not headed for some complete lockdown in Los Angeles if the numbers continue to get exponentially worse?

GARCETTI: The good thing about where we are now is we're smarter than we were in March. We understand this blanket kind of lockdown, which did the trick then, may not be the best way now.

In other words, we've had the best numbers while these things have been closed and the worst numbers approaching them now while the same level of things are closed.

So it's not about whether a store is open or not. It's about your and my behavior.

It's about whether we think, well, I know that person so I'm familiar with them, I can hang out with them and then three other people tomorrow and three other people the next night and three other people the next night in my backyard or maybe we go indoors and open a window.

Those things are what is causing the spread.

So to me, it's really getting people to realize, cancel those vacation plans now. Do not sneak into other households for Thanksgiving. Get a chicken instead of a Turkey or a small turkey. Do those things.

To me, the mantra is two things. Don't share your air. And don't do stupid things.

We all, now, are smart. We know the difference between stupid behavior and smart behavior.

There will be people who die because of our behavior if we don't go back to that disciplined way, that in March, April and May we're able to bend this curve down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VERCAMMEN: Now back here, live here at Dodger Stadium, they are now open for testing from 8:00 in morning to 8:00 at night.

They are setting some record numbers, 7,800 people tested yesterday and another 8,000 earlier this week. They have really ramped things up in terms of testing here in Los Angeles.

Back to you, Ana.

[17:35:00]

CABRERA: OK. Thank you so much, Paul Vercammen. And our medical experts are saying testing is like the key in order to get a handle on where this virus is.

Thank you, Paul.

What does Trump's -- the powers that Trump has as a lame-duck president? Can he prevent Joe Biden from getting a full transition or his electors? We'll answer your legal questions up next in our weekly "CROSS EXAM."

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: President Trump's baseless and dangerous attacks on this election and his refusal to concede defeat to Joe Biden not only undermines American democracy, it raises a lot of question about the transition of power, the lame-duck session, and what President Trump can and cannot do in next couple of months before he leaves office.

Here's to answer some of your legal questions is CNN legal analyst, Elie Honig. He's a formal federal and state prosecutor. And it's our weekly "CROSS EXAM" segment.

So let's start with this question from a viewer, Elie, who is wondering: Now that President Trump is in the lame-duck period, does he lose any part of his pardon power?

[17:40:07]

ELIE HONIG, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: No, he does not, Ana. Get ready because this will be pardon bonanza.

He holds onto his power until 11:59 on January 20th, inauguration. That includes powers that are broad.

Who might he pardon? People like Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos, Rudy Giuliani. He's running this effort to challenge the election results.

You might have to think about whether he will try to pardon family members. The Trump Organization is under investigation.

It only covers federal charges. It cannot stop a state-level prosecution.

The big question then: Will President Trump try to pardon himself on the way out?

We simply do not know if this is lawful because it falls under the header of things that's never happened before.

On the one hand, there's no specific limitation on the pardon power in the Constitution. On the other hand, the framers deplored self- dealing.

If Trump does pardon himself, it will be first, and a historical stain on his record.

CABRERA: This is an unlikely scenario but a viewer wants to know: Could Republicans have their own electors, even if their state voted for President-Elect Biden?

HONIG: This theory is out there. I'm hearing it a lot.

I want to make it clear. This is not going to happen. The Constitution does give state legislatures to the manner to which they choose the state's presidential electors.

Everyone knows we have had a law saying we do that based on the popular vote within the state.

While state legislatures could change that, they would have to do it by, one, passing a new law and, two, doing it before the election.

It's common sense and it's the law. You can't just say, we'll choose based on the popular vote and change it after the fact.

Also, as a political matter, it seems very unlikely state legislators would be on board with this and appoint electors that go against their state's vote.

It would be fundamentally undemocratic. It would be politically self- destructive.

I know there's a lot of concern about this but, folks, don't lose sleep over this possibility.

CABRERA: A lot of people are asking this next question. Can the Trump administration legally prevent the incoming Biden administration from conducting a full transition?

HONIG: They are trying. It won't stand if challenged in court.

The GSA, the General Service Administration, is the agency that controls certain funding. That money gets released only when the GSA does what's called ascertains and there's been an apparent winner of the election.

The law doesn't tell us when we have an apparent winner of the election. But let's use some common sense here. We are well beyond apparent. We are into done-deal territory.

The Biden transition team is considering legal action. They have said that. It seems they want to avoid escalating this at this moment.

If push comes to shove, they may need to force this into court. I'm confident it's likely they will win.

GSA is really pushing the legal limits here and they are impeding a safe and smooth transition. That is potentially dangerous to our national security and it is terrible for our democracy.

CABRERA: Elie Honig, it's always great to have you with us. Thank you for doing this with us --

HONIG: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: -- week in and week out.

I want to remind our viewers to submit their questions and keep them coming a CNN.com/opinion.

See you next week, Elie.

HONIG: Thanks.

CABRERA: Meantime, CNN has obtained a copy of Barack Obama's forthcoming memoir. We have some emotional and revealing excerpts we'll share with you, including the night the Bush family gave the Obama daughters a tour of their new home.

[17:44:10]

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: The world will get an up-close and personal look at former President Barack Obama's time in the White House in a new memoir that comes out on Tuesday.

Titled "A Promised Land," Obama opens up about his family and his relationship with his former vice president, and now President-Elect Joe Biden.

In a rare glimpse, Obama even confronts the racist politics of President Trump and how his own presidency played a role in Trump's rise.

CNN's Brian Todd has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(MUSIC)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the home stretch of Joe Biden's campaign, former President Barack Obama was front and center, energizing crowds and building support for his close friend.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And it felt like the old days. For eight years, he was the last one in the room whenever I faced a big decision.

TODD: The former president delves into his complete confidence in Joe Biden in his new memoir, "A Promised Land," obtained by CNN. And says this about selecting Biden as his running mate in 2008.

Quote, "My gut told me that Joe was decent, honest, and loyal. I believed that he cared about ordinary people, and that when things got tough, I could trust him. I wouldn't be disappointed."

[17:50:04]

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We never saw Joe Biden really going out and contradicting the president or undermining him or trying to attack him or even, you know, there being whispers in the media about, you know, disagreements between Joe Biden and Obama.

(CHANTING)

TODD: Some of the most powerful sections in Obama's 768-page book deal with the struggles over racial tension in America during his time in office.

Donald Trump's race baiting and his Birther conspiracy theory, the false claim that Obama was not born in the U.S., were particularly frustrating.

Obama's White House team initially saw Birtherism as a joke, but Trump persisted.

Obama, against the advice of his aides, released his birth certificate in the White House briefing room, but then told young staffers, quote, "We're better than this. Remember that."

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have great respect. TODD: Still, it seemed an unsettling tone had been set.

OLORUNNIPA: Especially in the second half of President Obama's time in office, he did spend a lot of time battling the very forces that brought Trump into power: the sentiment against him as the first black president, the angst within the country about the idea of changing demographics.

TODD: Obama writes that his predecessor, George W. Bush, could not have been more gracious during their transition. That Bush's daughters, Jenna and Barbara, gave Obama's daughters, Sasha and Malia, their own tour of the White House.

Quote, "President Bush would end up doing all he could to make the 11 weeks between my election and his departure go smoothly."

April Ryan, who covered that transition and others, laments what we're going through now, with Trump refusing to accept Biden's victory.

APRIL RYAN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: It is the ugliest that we've ever seen. And our Founding Fathers are probably turning over watching this, from wherever they are.

TODD: Obama also gets intensely personal, especially about the toll his presidency took on his wife, Michelle.

Quote, "All her previous sources of frustration became more concentrated, more vivid, whether it was my round-the-clock absorption with work, or the way politics exposed our family to scrutiny and attacks."

RYAN: They put their lives on the line. They were vulnerable. They put their hearts on the line to be attacked, to be chastised, to be made fun of.

TODD (on camera): One of the White House reporters we interviewed, Toluse Olorunnipa, says he'll be interested to hear how former President Obama sees the upcoming Biden administration, whether Obama will view that as a return to normal, or whether that's even possible.

We may learn that in the next volume of Obama's memoir, which is coming later.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: A quick programming note for you. Coming up tonight, CNN brings you the story of Joe Biden and his long journey, from receiving the Democratic Party presidential nomination this summer to becoming president-elect.

See his ambition, tragedies, and his dramatic fights in the race of his lifetime. Don't miss "FIGHT FOR THE WHITE HOUSE, JOE BIDEN'S LONG JOURNEY," starting tonight at 10:00 Eastern here on CNN. This year's "CNN HEROES, AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE" will be a special

celebration of the heroic efforts of the many women, men and children from all around the globe who, when faced with two simultaneous crises of COVID and racial injustice, stood up to do more to help others.

It's been a challenging year. But there have been moments of resilience, hope, joy and inspiration. Moments that helped keep our spirits lifted and moving forward together.

We want to share those with you and for to you tell us which ones inspired you the most.

Here's one of this year's most inspiring moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(APPLAUSE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Before, we never noticed the shift change. We didn't see the nurses, the doctors and hospital workers head home. We didn't notice the first responders leaving their stations after a long day. And now we do.

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: At 7:00 p.m. in New York, at 8:00 p.m. in Los Angeles, in France, in Italy, and all around the world, the deafening applause --

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: -- and humble salutes, we stop to say thank you.

(CHEERING)

COOPER: From sidewalks, windows and balconies, masked and alone in homes, people joined together to give thanks to those incredible heroes --

(APPLAUSE)

COOPER: -- who spent their days tending to sick, helping families say good-bye, and holding back their own pain to keep saving countless lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Word offered to everybody. And thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:54:43]

CABRERA: You can go to CNNheroes.com right now to vote for this moment or any inspiring moments.

When you vote, you can upload your own videos telling us why these moments moved you. And you might just see yourself on "CNN HEROES, AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE," which is Sunday, December 13th, at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks so much for staying with me. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

[17:59:08]

Washington, D.C., today, where thousands of disenchanted, disbelieving and just plain angry supporters of President Trump came out to march, to argue, and to protest the election that President Trump lost to Joe Biden.