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GA GOP Election Chief Says Graham Asked About Tossing Votes; Interview with Jaime Harrison, former Georgia Democratic Senate Candidate; How Trump Team's Claims & Promises Line Up with COVID Spread; Howard Stern: "Trump TV" Would Fail Within a Year. Aired 1:30- 2p ET
Aired November 17, 2020 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:32:31]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Georgia's Republican secretary of state, who is in the middle of a hand recount of Georgia ballots after Joe Biden's win there, is resisting tremendous pressure from within his own party to fix the recount for Donald Trump.
Brad Raffensperger tells CNN that the Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called him and asked if it was possible to throw out certain mail-in ballots. A witness is now confirming this account.
Here's what the Georgia secretary of state told Wolf Blitzer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, (R), GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Well, h asked if the ballots could be matched back to voters. And then I got the sense it implied that then you could throw those out. Really look at the counties with the highest frequent error of signatures. So that's the impression that I got.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: I want to be clear on this, Mr. Secretary. You say Senator Graham wanted you to find ways to get rid of legally cast ballots?
Because CNN asked him about these allegations. He denied them. He says that's ridiculous. His words, "That's ridiculous."
RAFFENSPERGER: Well, just an implication that, look hard, see how many ballots you can throw out. And I think that they were looking at that as part of a court case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: So Graham is not denying he called him. He is denying he inquired about his ability to throw out certain mail-in votes. But that contradicts both Raffensperger and that other witness that heard the phone call.
Graham tells CNN he was just pushing the Georgia secretary to strengthen mail-in ballot rules. He admits he also spoke to officials in Nevada and Arizona, too.
The problem is Graham only seems to worry about states that Trump failed to win.
I want to bring in the man that challenged Graham in the South Carolina Senate race and lost that race, Jaime Harrison.
Thank you so much for being with us.
JAIME HARRISON, (D), FORMER SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: Thank you for having me.
KEILAR: Look, I want your reaction to this. I know you talked about it in social media, but tell me what is your reaction to learning this?
HARRISON: It is disgusting. My grandma told me, she said, Jaime, sometimes when you buy rotten apples, don't be surprised to find worms.
This is the sort of thing we've been telling folks about Lindsey Graham. He needs to focus on South Carolina.
There's no reason whatsoever that he should be calling the secretary of state asking about the election and recount that they're in the midst of.
[13:34:58]
We should not have any political influence on counting of our votes. Every American citizen should have their votes counted and not have political influences, Democratic or Republican, officials trying to influence that.
My advice to Lindsey Graham, focus on South Carolina. We have enough issues here that you can fill up your calendar on. You don't need to be in Georgia messing with their elections.
KEILAR: You call it criminal. Do you think he broke the law?
HARRISON: Well, I think an investigation should take place in order to see if he did. I'm not sure. I wasn't on the phone call. But it doesn't smell right. Something is not right.
The question is, are there other secretaries of state he is calling.
He needs to focus on issues that are important to people of South Carolina, not on how votes are being counted in Georgia.
KEILAR: There are, in Nevada and Arizona, we know that. He admitted that.
Do you have any awareness of other secretaries of state that he might have called? Do you have any awareness of him communicating with the secretary of state in your state?
HARRISON: No. I'm not sure, you know. I'll leave that up to investigators to figure out.
But again, it is about focusing on making sure people have confidence in their system, and that's Democrats and Republicans.
We all, as Americans, should be confident that our votes when we cast ballots that they're going to be counted and that we won't have elected officials calling around, seeing if they can if you're legally cast ballot can be thrown out for political reasons.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRISON: That's just not right.
KEILAR: If it should be investigated, who should be investigating this in your opinion?
HARRISON: You know, I'm sure they have their own election laws in Georgia and they will look into that, and even on the federal level.
But at the end of the day, my advice is representatives, Senators, focus on your own state. Don't call up secretaries of state in the midst of a recount, the states.
Lindsey Graham knows better. He is chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
KEILAR: You're watching this go down, but you're seeing Brad Raffensperger in Georgia resisting. He is facing death threats, resisting pressure from people within his own party.
It can make you wonder if there was a secretary of state who hasn't really walked this very straight line that we see him doing, what that might mean in an election like we have seen in Georgia.
We have heard Republicans talking about widespread voter fraud, that is not. Now we're talking about a Republican that's trying to influence the outcome of an election or certainly which ballots are being cast.
Do you think the system is insulated enough against this kind of interference?
HARRISON: It seems like, Brianna, this is the Wild, Wild West where everybody can do and say whatever they want. But there are certain rules we have. There are certain laws that we have.
You can see why folks like Lindsey Graham can be embolden, when you can break the hair jack (ph) and have a convention on the White House grounds and there are no repercussions, when you can raise money in the Senate office building and there are no repercussions.
You can see why someone can then believe they can call the secretary of state and encourage them to possibly toss out good ballots and not have repercussions.
We have to change that. There has to be fundamental new laws with some teeth to make sure these types of things don't happen.
Rule of law has to mean something. It means something here in South Carolina, means something in Georgia, all across this country.
We need our elected representatives to actually follow those laws.
KEILAR: Jaime Harrison, sir, thanks for being with us.
HARRISON: Thank you.
KEILAR: The president making more moves behind the scenes to put Joe Biden behind the eight ball when he is sworn in. This includes a possible attack on Iran.
And we'll see the president-elect in moments as he gets a briefing from national security officials.
And we'll roll tape on all of the promises and claims the Trump administration made about COVID as cases soared.
[13:39:22]
This is CNN special live coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: At this point in a lame-duck presidency, we often talk about the legacy of an outgoing commander-in-chief. Never in recent decades has a legacy been as dark as President Trump's.
Unencumbered by planning for another term, he should be using his remaining two months to address the coronavirus pandemic and save American lives.
Instead, it is more of the same. His refusal to operate in the reality of the pandemic against all data, against all scientific advice, will define his legacy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This president will always put America first, always protect American citizens. We will not see diseases like coronavirus come here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have contained this. We have contained this. I won't say air-tight, but pretty close to air-tight.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: It is being contained.
And do you not think it is being contained?
(CROSSTALK) [13:45:05]
CONWAY: Look, when you said -- you said it is not being contained. Are you a doctor or lawyer when you say it is not being contained thus far?
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: You said something and it is not true.
JARED KUSHNER, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP (voice-over): Trump is now back in charge. It's not the doctors. We have like a negotiated settlement.
ERIC TRUMP, SON OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: You watch. They're milk it every single day between now and November 3rd. Guess what? After November 3rd, coronavirus will magically go away, disappear. Everybody will be able to reopen.
DONALD TRUMP JR, SON OF PRESIDENT TRUMP: I went to the CDC. I kept hearing about new infections.
But I was like, why aren't they talking about this? Oh, oh, because the number is almost nothing. Because we have gotten control of this thing. We understand how it works. They have the therapeutics to deal with this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: In Mid-June, Vice President Mike Pence wrote an op-ed that said, in part, quote:
"In recent days, the media has taken to sounding alarm bells over a second wave of coronavirus infections. Such panic is overblown. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and the courage and compassion of the American people, our public health system is far stronger than four months ago. And we are winning the fight against the invisible enemy."
That's wrong. And Pence knew he was wrong when he said it at that point in the pandemic.
The media sounded the alarm because scientists sounded the alarm, scientists that were advising Pence.
The leadership of President Trump denigrated mask wearing, turning his White House and campaign events into super spreaders, unleashing COVID among the president and vice president's staffs.
The public health system stronger than it was four months ago, Pence said. But it is maxed out right now. Hospitals are out of ICU space. They're turning patients away to go to other hospitals.
These facilities and these staff are not stronger, they're exhausted because their country asked too much of them and the virus rages on, as their leaders refuse to lead. All the way up to the president who thought he could just pretend a
pandemic wasn't killing hundreds of thousands of Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The virus that we're talking about having to do, a lot of people think that goes away in April with the heat, as the heat comes.
When you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple days is going to be down to close to zero, that's a pretty good job we've done.
I said calm. You have to be calm. It will go away.
This will be gone. It will be gone. Hopefully, gone for a long time.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: It's eventually going to go away. Hopefully, at the end of the month. If not, hopefully, will be soon after that.
It is going to go. It's going to leave. It's going to be gone.
The numbers are very minuscule compared to what it was. It is dying out.
And it is dying out. The numbers are starting to get very good.
I'll be right eventually.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: I will be right eventually. I said, it is going to disappear.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: It's going to disappear.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: And I will be right.
(voice-over): My view is schools should open. This thing will go away. It will go away like things go away. My view is schools should be open.
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP (on camera): Well, once you get to a certain number -- we use the word herd, right? Once you get to a certain number, it will go away.
It is going to disappear. It is disappearing. And vaccines will help and the therapeutics will help a lot.
It will go away. And as I say, we are rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner.
Look at what's going on. And we are rounding the turn. We're rounding the corner.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: We're rounding the corner beautifully.
We have to get our lives back. We have to take our country back.
(CHEERING)
TRUMP: It is going away. It is rounding the turn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The only one rounding any kind of turn is the president, turn for his time in office.
It will be defined by his refusal to even acknowledge suffering caused by COVID, defined by his lack of a plan, by his preferred coronavirus task force adviser, speaking against measures that would keep Americans safe and alive.
Trump hasn't taken questions in 12 days. And he is hold up with advice of advisers who are reinforcing his worst tendencies, like his son-in- law, Jared Kushner, who as of last week, was pushing his father-in-law to hold rallies calling for recounts.
In April, at the beginning of the pandemic, Kushner told veteran journalist, Bob Woodward, this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KUSHNER (voice-over): The most dangerous people around the president are overconfident idiots, right, because that has a way sometimes of getting past his defense mechanism.
Because if you're overconfident, sometimes, on a topic where he doesn't have other people around to kind of validate it, then he can sometimes say, OK, let's go with that.
So that's kind of -- I think if you look at the evolution, over time, I think we have gotten rid of a lot of the overconfident idiots. And now a lot more thoughtful people who kind of know their place and know what to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Gotten rid of the overconfident idiots. If you say so.
Coming up, why radio host, Howard Stern, says President Trump's attempts to start his own TV network after his presidency are laughable.
[13:50:02] Plus, more on our breaking news. Georgia's election official says the recount will be completed tomorrow and it will show that Joe Biden won the state.
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KEILAR: Just in, an election official in Georgia says the state's recount is on track to finish tomorrow and it will reaffirm President- Elect Joe Biden's win.
He says the vast majority of counties report results that are spot-on to the initial tallies.
I want to bring in CNN's Amara Walker, who has been following this and all things Georgia elections.
Tell us where things stand now? Looks really very much on track.
[13:55:04]
All right, unfortunately, I think -- Amara, can you hear me?
All right. OK. We're going to try to re-establish our connection with Amara and get that important information about the Georgia recount.
Moving on, though, President Trump has found a new target since losing the election, and that is actually FOX News.
The president has unleashed, retweeting a stream of negative comments about the network. His growing obsession has sparked speculation that Trump could try to launch a conservative TV alternative to compete with FOX once he leaves office.
Howard Stern, the self-proclaimed king of all media, has a grim prediction for President Trump if he pursues this path. Stern says a Trump news network would do about as well as Trump's bankrupted casinos and other failed business ventures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD STERN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, "THE HOWARD STERN SHOW" (voice- over): The president all weekend was busy tweeting about FOX News.
He's made at them because they actually had some reality over there. And now he's talking about how the OANN network -- which I've never seen actually. I don't know how --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Oh, it's a doozy.
STERN: Is it? Well, I haven't seen it.
But now he likes that. And he's going to start -- now they're saying he's going to start his own news network. Wait. He thinks running the country's hard? Wait until he has to run a
news network. That will fail inside of a year like all the other businesses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: CNN chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, joins us now.
First off, is this really going to happen, Trump TV. Is this really a thing?
And then, what do you make of Sterns prediction?
BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, "RELIABLE SOURCES": We don't know. I don't think Trump knows for sure. But it's likely he will find some way to stay in media limelight, whether it's radio, TV, streaming service, something to that effect.
But as Stern is hinting, it would be very difficult. Trump's options will be limited. There's a lot of media entities, business partners that don't want anything to do with him. Launching a streaming service is really hard.
So I think Stern has some wise words of advice for his longtime friend, maybe now former friend.
It would be difficult. But that doesn't mean Trump won't try to do it.
He has Twitter and Facebook as his foundation. He can build from there -- Brianna?
KEILAR: Yes. Look, he likes to lend his name to things sometimes. Other times, he doesn't want to do the work. It'll be interesting to see.
You know, we're watching in real time, Brian, this re-alignment of conservative media. In a post-Trump world, where of his supporters going to go for their news?
(CROSSTALK)
KEILAR: He seems to be trying to direct them places.
STELTER: A re-alignment is exactly what it is. FOX News used to be dominant, used to be the only big player out there, outside of Rush Limbaugh.
Now though, focus on-screen, Newsmax, OANN, they are drawing viewers away from FOX because they're even further to the right.
On Newsmax and OANN, there's a fictional universe where the race isn't over yet, the race hasn't been called, Trump might still win the election. Fantasy talk. But some FOX viewers prefer it.
We're seeing Newsmax gain in the ratings. FOX having a bit of a ratings slump, although it's still the number-one player. Trump has been hitting FOX, criticizing FOX, but also promoting
propaganda through Maria Bartiromo and Sean Hannity. So he's trying to have it both ways.
And it's possible, in a few months, Trump may wind up in business with FOX. Maybe have a show on the network.
If not FOX, there's now competition. FOX has this market to itself and now there's competition.
Trump has a fan base. It's not a huge fan base. It's not all 73 million people who voted for him.
But over the weekend, he tweeted out telling people to watch Maria Bartiromo on FOX. And about half a million viewers suddenly changed the channel.
So there is a base audience that will basically buy whatever he's telling them to buy. Buy whatever he's selling.
It's not a big base, Brianna, but it is something. It's something he can tap into in the future.
KEILAR: Brian Stelter, thank you so much.
STELTER: Thanks.
KEILAR: It is the top of the hour. I am Brianna Keilar.
And we have, unfortunately, entered the disaster zone of the coronavirus pandemic. The country is now averaging more than 155,000 new infections a day.
This is climbing. Monday alone the nation 166,000-plus new cases with 995 deaths, 995 who are gone when they did increase. Positivity rate we're seeing across the country ensure that.
More than 10 percent of coronavirus tests nationwide are coming back positive, a level not seen sense May.
And yet, 301 days since the first U.S. case was reported, there's still no nationally coordinated plan.
The president has given up. He's not governing. His White House task force, which he hasn't met in five months, has increased its urgency in its weekly reports to states.
[13:59:43]
Writing, quote, "There is now aggressive, unrelenting, expanding broad community spread across the country reaching most counties without evidence of improvement, but rather further deterioration. Current mitigation efforts are inadequate and must be increased to flatten the curve to sustain the health system for both COVID and non-COVID emergencies."
[14:00:03]
Many health systems on the brink.
