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U.S. Sets Pandemic Record For New Cases 187,000; CNN: Conservations Underway About Inviting PA GOP Lawmakers To White House; Trump Still Denying Election Outcome As Legal Challenges Stumble; CNN: Trump Told Ally He's Trying To Get Back At Democrats For Questioning The Legitimacy Of His 2016 Election; Dr. Birx: Some Americans Confused By Mask Guidance. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired November 20, 2020 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN HOST: To sum it up, good to see you Manu. Thank you so much. Thanks all for joining me, I am Kate Bolduan. Dana Bash picks up our coverage right now.

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: Hello to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I am Dana Bash in Washington where we are at a very precarious moment. The president's morning tweets suggest we are moving towards a constitutional crisis. Hoax and rigged are how the president continue to describe a fair and clear election outcome, but today it goes even further.

He is now actively seeking to overturn results by any means, including summoning local officials to the White House. The president's conspiracy mongering is an object of his attention, but it's not the only thing that perhaps he should be worried about. The biggest is the virus that is raging all over this country, the one that he still leads.

The vice president led a public Coronavirus Task Force briefing yesterday, the first in months. And the message from the doctors is that we are in a dangerous moment that requires vigilance. The numbers underline the life or death stakes of the next few months.

Thursday, 187,000 new cases, a record setting pandemic total, and 2,000 American deaths. 80,000 Americans are in hospitals with the virus, and Dr. Anthony Fauci says that number will explode if Americans don't rethink their Thanksgiving plans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Take a look at your family and say do I have a person there who is an elderly person, a person with an underlying medical condition that might put them at an increased risk of a severe outcome if they get infected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Today, the drug maker Pfizer says it will apply for an Emergency Use Authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine. The hope is that some doses will be ready by December. But when the vaccine will be available for everyone is a top line concern, one made bigger by the delay in transitioning to the new administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So there's been no slow down because you can't communicate with Biden's transition team?

GEN. GUSTAVE PERNA, OPERATION WARP SPEED: Absolutely not. Clear, concise guidance. Get safe and effective vaccines to the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: The president's election denial hovers over the whole government. But the challenge itself is sputtering, the bumbling nature of the president's mission includes error filled legal filings, no actual assertion of widespread fraud in court.

And Rudy Giuliani had a rambling and evidence free press conference that caused alarm, even among Trump's closest allies. The latest setback to the president's case, concrete confirmation that he lost Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD RAFFENSPERGER, (R) GEORGIA SECRETARY OF STATE: Like other Republicans, I'm disappointed our candidate didn't win Georgia's electoral votes. Close election so distressed. People feel their side was cheated. I live by the motto that numbers don't lie. As Secretary of State, I believe that the numbers that we have presented today are correct.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Numbers don't lie from somebody who supported President Trump early on. And the intrigue and alarm today surround a White House meeting that some say may actually break the law.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you! Shame on you!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: That's jeering this morning at the airport as senior Michigan lawmakers arrive here in Washington that one lawmaker and another senior Michigan Republican will meet with the president today at the White House. The face to face is part of the president's campaign to subvert the election outcome in Michigan and elsewhere.

Let's get straight to the White House and CNN's Kaitlan Collins is there. Kaitlan, you're learning more information, it's not just Michigan lawmakers the president is trying to bring to the White House to have discussions about getting rid of election outcomes.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. They're the only ones we believe who have gotten those invitations yet. But we are told by sources that there are discussions underway about doing the same in other states, and one that is been at the top of the president's list is Pennsylvania. And that's a consideration that apparently has been under way here that the president has been discussing.

We don't think those invitations have actually been extended based on what we've heard from Republicans in Pennsylvania. But Dana, this is a brazen step by the president to invite this delegation of Republican state leaders in Michigan here to the White House this afternoon.

And White House officials are not really saying much about what's going to happen at that meeting or what the president's message for them is going to be. It's not a meeting that's on his official schedule that we do still think it's going to take place later on this afternoon.

But this is part of this broader effort where the president is grasping at everything he can to try to overturn the results of this election, though it is never seemed likely that he would do that, it's only getting more and more unlikely by the day. Because you saw them waiting on votes to come in, in places like Arizona and Nevada, then they were pursuing this litigation, and they've lost a dozen court cases so far.

[12:05:00]

COLLINS: And now of course, the president is taking this extra step by inviting these people to the White House, hoping that they could potentially appoint these pro-Trump electors, and have them basically override what the voters in places like Michigan have said where Biden has a lead, a margin of 150,000 votes.

So those are really the questions the White House is facing. I am here in the briefing room of course; this is somewhere we have not been in a long time, Dana, because we haven't actually gotten a briefing from the press secretary since October 1st.

And yesterday we were in here when the vice president and the task force of course, they took no questions. It's been this broader pattern of people in the federal government refusing to take questions because of course they don't want to talk about the president's attempts to overturn the results of the election.

BASH: And we'll see if we get factual answers to your questions, which will no doubt be right on. Kaitlan, thank you so much for that reporting. And today, evidence of a clear and growing fracture in the Republican Party, between those who bolster the president's conspiracy theory and those who are beginning to acknowledge reality in public the way they have in private.

A growing number of Republican Senators say it's the president's duty to start the transition. This from Senator Lamar Alexander who is retiring. He put this out just this morning saying "If there is any chance whatsoever that Joe Biden will be the next president and it looks like he has a very good chance. The Trump Administration should provide the Biden team with all transition materials, resources and meetings necessary to ensure a smooth transition so that both sides are ready on day one."

Let's get straight to Capitol Hill and CNN's Lauren Fox. And Lauren, you heard or you saw that from Lamar Alexander, even the beginning of that statement, it looks like Joe Biden may be President of the United States. He is going to be. And so, even he retiring feels that he needs to couch of what he is saying, which is start the transition process.

I am told that there are a handful of Republican senators who saw what happened yesterday, the combination of the Giuliani press conference and the Michigan meddling. And there's a growing alarm and they're talking about ways to break their silence and be more forceful in a way that is effective with a mercurial president. What are you hearing on Capitol Hill from Republicans?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well Dana, I think over the last 24 hours, we have started to see that damn break with really the rank and file members. Remember that leadership, they're in sort of a different position here. We have not heard from McConnell telling the president to concede at this point.

Of course, he has his eyes on that very important election, two elections in Georgia coming in January. But Dana, I want to read to you some of the rank and file comments we've had. And there are some very alarming ones. This one from Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah saying, "It is difficult to imagine a worse, more undemocratic action by a sitting American president".

Senator Ben Sasse, obviously Rudy and his buddies should not pressure electors to ignore the certification obligations under the statute. We are a nation of laws, not tweets. Senator Joni Ernst responding to one of Trump's leaders yesterday, saying that there was some kind of conspiracy that Republicans and Democrats were involved in, she said "To insinuate that Republicans and Democratic candidates paid to throw off this election, I think is absolutely outrageous, and I do take offense to that".

Senator Dan Sullivan, they have a high bar to make and they have to prove it in court. Representative Fred Upton said, ""o one has seen any real identification of any real fraud. I think it's all said and done".

And a few moments ago, I talked to Representative Greg Walden who told me Dana that, while he thinks the president has a right to pursue his legal strategy in court, he said at this point he is not very impressed with that legal strategy and ultimately it will be good for the Republican Party to get this behind them. Dana?

BASH: Yes. Not impressed is a very diplomatic way to say what I'm sure you are hearing behind the scenes from Republicans as am I that they are completely baffled by the attempt to pursue this in court, because it seems to be kind of a keystone cop situation.

Lauren, thank you so much for that. And the president's election defiance is an affront to voters that also tracks President-Elect Joe Biden in a tough spot, unable to fully begin his transition. And as of now, unwilling to pursue legal action to force the president to start the transfer of power. On Thursday, the president-elect gave his most direct condemnation of the president's actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me choose my words here. I think we are witnessing incredible irresponsibility, incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions. I don't know his motive, but I think it is totally irresponsible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[12:10:00]

BASH: Joining our conversation is Chief Correspondent for "The Washington Post," Dan Balz. Dan, good to see you. Thank you so much for coming on. I was told that the president is telling his allies that his resistance is in part retribution against Democrats who never considered him legitimate as a president.

And my colleague, Gloria Borger has told the following. She is told that Trump has been heard from a multitude of friends and business associates who have been urging him to at least let the transition begin, even if he doesn't want to concede. And another source who is also familiar with the president's thinking told CNN. His answer is no, you're absolute wrong.

Dan, you are incredibly plugged in, in this town. What are you hearing you're your sources about the president's actions or lack thereof?

DAN BALZ, CHIEF CORRESPONDEN, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, I think the president's actions are quite clear based on the way he is operating. I think this is much larger than whether the transition starts this week or next week or in a couple of weeks. I think this has much more to do with what's in his head at this point, which seems to be an effort to delegitimize the Biden Presidency.

So this is not just a short term battle that is raging right now. And obviously it is raging right now, but this is a potentially longer term fight that he wants to undertake. And I think everything that he is doing points in that direction. And so, this is something that is likely to continue even after Biden takes the oath of office in January.

BASH: As you know and everybody knows at this point the president's legal team held a marathon news conference yesterday, led by Rudy Giuliani. Let's listen to part of it and talk about it on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S ATTORNEY: We cannot allow these crooks, because that's what they are, to steal an election from the American people. They elected Donald Trump. They didn't elect Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: So there's absolutely no evidence to match what Rudy Giuliani just said that, we want to make that very clear. The recently fired homeland security official in charge of election security, this is a Trump official, said the following in a tweet, said the most dangerous one hour and 45 minutes of television he called that press conference, the most dangerous one hour and 45 minutes of television he has seen in his life.

And I am hearing from Senate sources that press conference and the unprecedented meeting we're going to see at the White House later today of Michigan lawmakers who he is trying to, the president is trying to coordinate with somehow to undermine the election results there, even though it doesn't seem he has an avenue to do that. But this might finally cause Republicans to speak out even more aggressively. What are you hearing from Republicans?

BALZ: Well, I mean, Dana, if this doesn't begin to turn Republicans, and we all know that privately many of them are whether it's alarmed or truly alarmed, they see what's happening. But they also recognize as they have shown throughout his presidency that there is a tremendous cost of confronting him directly on these things.

And that's why only a handful of people, some of whom have spoken out loudly about him in the past like Mitt Romney who voted to convict him during the impeachment trial, those are voices that he's heard before and he dismisses those. But it will take much more and bigger volume of Republicans to have any influence on him, if even that has much of an influence on him.

And I just don't think he's in a position where he's paying attention to that kind of thing. This press conference that Rudy Giuliani held yesterday was as Chris Krebs said totally alarming. The allegations he threw out, again, as you said without any shred of evidence are among the most bald-faced allegations that have been made about an election in the history of this country.

And if Republicans can't begin to step up in a more direct way, then you have to say what the future of the Republican Party is. What will this - be even after Trump leaves office, doesn't leave the scene.

BASH: You're exactly right. And I don't know that anybody will have an impact on him at this point. It's a question of them putting themselves on the right side of history on the record finally after four years of not doing that for the most part.

Speaking of history, really quickly, Michael Beschloss who is a well- known historian has a quote in your paper taking the long view, and frames the current moment in a way that is really rattling, frankly, saying that, this is a president abusing his very great powers to try to stay in office, even though it's obvious to everyone that he has been defeated in the polls.

I don't want to be an alarmist, but I do think it is our job as citizens to keep watch on every one of these things with an eye to that ultimate dread of the founders, which is that a president rejected by the voters would use his powers to try to stay in office anyway. Your thoughts on that.

[12:15:00]

BALZ: I think Michael as always is right on point on this. This is an abuse of his power. And I think that over the next 50 plus, almost 60 days between now and January 20th, he can do great damage.

We've seen moves that he has made, whether it's at the Pentagon or firing Christopher Krebs or anything like that, he has more time to do that, in essence to kind of lay waste to the executive branch in advance of Biden coming in and having to take over.

I mean, he can kind of poison the atmosphere for Joe Biden as he becomes the next President of the United States. It is a great abuse of power and I think people, most people recognize that and Republicans need to recognize it in a more substantial and volume way.

BASH: Very well said as always. Dan Balz, always good to talk to you, and get your reporting and your insights. Have a good weekend. And up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me to talk about his exclusive interview with Dr. Deborah Birx. And just to show how important the two Georgia Senate runoff races are, look who made an appearance at a rap battle watched around the world.

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[12:20:00]

BASH: Every day now we get a new reminder that the Coronavirus pandemic is not under control in America. Cases are surging at a disturbing clip. Nearly 188,000 new cases added just yesterday. That is a record, a record already broken 17 times just this month.

More than 80,000 people were sick enough to be admitted to a hospital yesterday, and that's another broken record. In 13 states, hospitalizations have never been higher. And here is the most painful of all those painful statistics, the deaths of more than 2,000 Americans were reported yesterday.

That is 2,000 Americans in one day alone. That's the highest number since May. COVID-19 has now killed more than 252,000 Americans and counting. And the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington now projects that the number will grow to 471,000 Americans by March.

At this moment of unprecedented crisis, the White House Coronavirus Task Force did have a briefing yesterday but didn't take any questions from reporters. It was the first time we saw them in months. But Task Force Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx did speak exclusively with our Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Was this a failure in this country? I mean, did you expect it to go this way?

DR. DEBORAH BIRX, COORDINATOR, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: I always worry when we have an outcome that none of us want and none of us wanted. Did we miss a communication; did we say it the wrong way? And I think really that's part of the reason why I went out into the states is really understand what they were hearing when we were speaking and really being in a dialogue and a partnership to really understand how we could do this better together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: And Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me now. You're wearing a mask, so you didn't have to keep a straight face when she said did we miss a communication, I don't know how about wear a mask from the President of the United States, but that's me talking here for the record, not you.

But the White House has faced a lot of criticism to say the least, rightly so, about how they have communicated or not communicated throughout this crisis. What was your take away from your conversation with Dr. Birx?

DR. GUPTA: Well, you know, she's so careful, you've seen Dana. But this is the most candid I think I've seen her. No one likes to be asked if you're the coordinator of a response and you get asked look, did it fail. So I realize these are tough questions, but I think she was basically acknowledging it.

We had a longer discussion comparatively to other countries how did we do. Obviously the best we could do is, be the worst in the world. She acknowledged that. She was in the Dakotas you may remember Dana, the end of October, really beating the drum over there on masks and things. And the numbers have tripled since she left in terms of new cases and sadly new deaths in North Dakota.

So it's tough. So I think there was acknowledgment of failure for all sorts of different reasons, but also this idea that, you know, we're still in the middle of it, right? We keep looking, saying, OK, what we have to learn. But we're still very much in the throes of it. There are still lots of miscommunication going on as you point out. And one of those issues still is masks, which I asked her about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BIRX: And I think the thing that confuses Americans, and I've heard this in Rocky Mountain States, when we tell people that these masks prevent transmission, they're not perfect. But when we tell them they prevent transmission and then we close the spaces where people are 100 percent masked and leave open the spaces where people are unmasked, which we know is a transmission area, that's confusing to the American people. I understand why it's confusing. I worry about that, because then it

gives people the option to say well, bars and restaurants are open, and then I can have 20 people over for Thanksgiving.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GUPTA: This came up, Dana, in sort of the conversation about schools, right? And you and I had some conversations around that time. I was skeptical about schools. Kids are little germ factories, why would they not cause the significant spreading events within school.

[12:25:00]

DR. GUPTA: But so far if you look at surveillance testing in places like New York, really low positivity rate, 0.17 percent, you got to give credit where creditors do. But how can you simultaneously close schools while leaving areas where we know there is significant spread happening, restaurants and bars, leave them open.

I have been living with that here in Georgia for some time, this cognitive dissonance. And that's part of the mixed messaging. Everything is fine, the bars and restaurants are open, yet we are closing schools.

BASH: Yes, I mean, that's the case here in Washington with a Mayor who has been pretty careful and obviously we're seeing that in New York City, too. Such a fascinating interview, Sanjay.

I want to ask about another important, important piece of news which is a big step forward today with Pfizer and BioNTech saying that, they will ask for Emergency Use Authorization for their Coronavirus vaccine. Listen to General Gustave Perna of the Operation Warp Speed talking about the next big hurdle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERNA: We have about 40 million doses of vaccine, give or take exactly when the EUA comes out. And what we're going to do is we're going to execute fair and equitable distribution based on the population of the jurisdictions, jurisdictions identified as the 50 states, eight territories, and six metropolitan cities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: What a logistical challenge is in front of the government and these companies who are doing obviously a very, very good job of getting these vaccines up and ready quicker than we've ever seen. But from your point of view, does it seem like the government is approaching it the right way? And how much further do we as citizens have to go do you think before accessing the doses that everybody needs to get this under control?

DR. GUPTA: Well, Dana, I think there are a lot of challenges with the distribution, it will be one of the largest distributions sorts of logistical challenges maybe we've ever faced as a world. And there's a lot that can go wrong. But having covered this story for so long, I think what we see here is that, so much of the efforts of this pandemic response in this country have been focused on the vaccine.

It's kind of like that, we're just going to go for the homerun, we're not going to worrying about singles and doubles, just a homerun. And as a result I think that, there's a lot to celebrate there. The idea that there may be two vaccines that receive Emergency Use Authorization, we'll see, but it looks promising, within the next few weeks is incredible.

And I have spoken to Moncef Slaoui at Operation Warp Speed; they have been planning this distribution for some time. So I am less worried about that. But the other things kind of fall by the wayside. We should still have more tests; we're seeing these long lines in Chicago, people still waiting for tests.

It's unbelievable in November, we still see that. We still have this confusion on masks. So the simpler things that would have had much bigger impact are still getting ignored. But with the vaccine to answer your question, I think 40 million doses they say by the end of the year, two doses per person, so maybe 20 million people, few fast forward to sort of April time frame and do the math there.

You're talking about 150 million doses sort of by end of March, April, 75 million people. That's obviously not enough for the country, but the manufacturing continues. And if you look into the end of summer, perhaps Dana, I think young healthy people like yourself start to be in line to get the vaccine at that point.

So I think it does, I think about my kids, I see everything through my kids' eyes now it is with three teen girls, going back to school next year. Is it going to feel relatively normal? I think it might. I think it might.

BASH: Well, let's hope so. Sanjay Gupta, you are a national treasure and you always walk us through these very complicated, daunting scientific facts and figures and realities like nobody else. So, good to talk to you, Sanjay.

DR. GUPTA: I learned from you, Dana, thank you.

BASH: Thanks. And up next, President Trump's largest target in his assault on American legal norms is the right to vote. Just largest and his latest.

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