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Trump Administration Finally Acknowledging That Joe Biden Is The President-Elect Of The United States; President Trump Is Holding A Public Event Today, The Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Pardoning; U.S. Surgeon General Is Warning The Surge Of COVID Cases Are So Horrible In The Country Leaving Hospitals In Difficult Positions. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired November 24, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, I'm Kate Bolduan, thank you so much for joining us this hour. The Trump administration is finally acknowledging what the country has known for some three weeks now, that Joe Biden is the president-elect of the United States. The formal transition to the Biden administration is finally under way today, following last night's move by the head of the general services administration.

She finally took the, odd but necessary, administrative step of formally acknowledging the transition can begin, allowing the Biden team to work with current agency officials and tap into millions of dollars needed in government funds to get things set up. In her letter, GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said that she came to her decision in her words "independently."

I'll review some more of what she said. "Please note that I came to my decision independently, based on the law and available facts. I was never directly or indirectly pressured by any executive branch official -- including those who work at the White House or GSA -- with regard to the substance or timing of my decision."

But that is not how the President of the United States seems to see it. He put a tweet out saying this, "I am recommending that Emily and her team do what needs to be done with regard to initial protocols." But just as quickly, the president writes, of course, that he will not concede and also that the GSA does not determine who the next President of the United States will be.

So the temper tantrum continues. Regardless of the president's twitter feed, the transition is moving full speed ahead now with the president-elect -- with President-Elect Biden formally announcing some key cabinet picks this afternoon.

We have reporters covering all the angles for us. Arlette Saenz is with the Biden team in Wilmington, Delaware today and John Harwood is at the White House. Arlette, how is the Biden team reacting to the GSA officially allowing the transition to move ahead now?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN ANCHOR: Well Kate, President-Elect Joe Biden and his team now have that green light so they can get this official transition process under way. And there is are a number of things that they are taking a look at as they are starting to get some access into the Trump administration.

The executive director of the transition team said that in the coming days, Biden's team will be coordinating with federal officials to start to talk about the coronavirus pandemic and national security issues. Now one thing over the past few weeks, the Biden team had already launched their agency review teams and they will now have access to officials at these departments and agencies to get a look under the hood of what the Trump administration has recently been doing.

We know that the department of defense has already been in contact with Biden's transition team and that is something that you are going to see play out over the course of the next few weeks as they gain more access to more agencies.

And one thing that the Biden team is really looking for is information about the coronavirus pandemic, simple data sets like testing supplies and PPE and hospital beds but also wanting to look at the planning for the distribution of a vaccine. The Biden team finds that to be a critical component as they are heading into the early days of their administration and are seeking more information.

BOLDUAN: Yes, it's understandable. It's like going to be the largest vaccination effort that we've ever seen, so they should be concerned about how it's going to -- the plans are going. John, what are you hearing from the White House this morning about all of this?

JOHN HARWOOD, CNN ANCHOR: Well we're hearing, Kate, is a continuation of that attempt that you referred to last night of the president trying to cover his retreat with false bravado. Remember, just after Emily Murphy achieved that or signed that ascertainment letter, the president said well, I concede nothing, this morning more of the same.

He's tweeted out images of himself looming over the desk in the oval office saying I concede nothing, said that Emily Murphy doesn't decide who's going to be president. He's been retweeting the troubled actor, Randy Quaid, various images talking about fraud and of course he's continuing to raise money for his political endeavors in the future and not just his election defense fund.

In fact, the amount of money that he's raising for those future endeavors is rising. We do know that the president got a significant amount of pressure yesterday from lawyers and advisers saying this whole effort to resist the election results, claim it was fraud, was collapsing in on itself.

It was foundering at court, it was making him look silly, and so he finally yielded to that, but then tried to, characteristically of Donald Trump, act as if he hadn't done what he had just done.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Arlette, the president-elect is rolling out some nominees today and a lot of history is going to be made with this announcement today. SAENZ: Yes, it certainly is. In these appointees that he's announcing

today, you have the first person who could be a Latino to run the Department of Homeland Security, also the first woman who could lead the intelligence community.

[11:05:00]

And Biden and his Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris will be here in Wilmington, Delaware a little later this afternoon to formally introduce these people to the American public and each of those six national security and foreign policy focused nominees and appointees will also be on-hand here and will also have a brief moment to speak. This is all part of their effort to introduce their incoming administration to the American public.

And one thing that is also common in these appointments, that Biden is making, is that these people have decades of experience in each of their sectors. And you'll remember that Joe Biden ran as the experienced candidate. That was his whole selling point as he was a candidate. That he has been in office and knows how to execute and how things run. And he's also showing that in the picks that he's announcing later today.

BOLDUAN: And, John, real quick, the president is actually holding a public event today; the annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning. But jokes aside, on a serious note when it comes to pardons, it is a question at the end of any administration what pardons are going to be coming. What do you think the potential is here?

HARWOOD: I think the potential is high, Kate. You know we don't expect the president to take questions today, he hasn't since the election. But on the issue of pardons he is at bottom a transactional figure. He asks in every circumstance what is in it for me. So if he looked forward and says could I benefit politically by pardoning someone, he's going to consider that.

Could I benefit my legal situation? He's got legal exposure when he leaves the White House. He - during the Russia probe, by Robert Mueller, dangled the possibility of a pardon, for example, for Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman. I think there is every reason to think as we get closer to January 20, when he thinks about how he could come out ahead, that he will use that power as he's used every other lever of the presidency to benefit himself.

BOLDUAN: That's a really interesting point. Great to see you, John. Thank you, Arlette. Thank you, so much. All right, joining me now is CNN Political Director, David Chalian, for much more on all of this. David, back to kind of where we began at the - must begin is with we're seeing from Donald Trump with regard to concession or not. Do you think what we're seeing from the president, in this moment, is as close to a concession as we're going to get from this president?

And if that's the case; what is the impact of that?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I mean he's made clear, right, Kate, that he will not concede. So those were his words in his tweet. So this is as close as we are likely to see a concession; which is allowing the formal process of the transition to get underway and instructing his team to abide by those rules. You asked what the impact is of this. I mean the impact is that Donald Trump is looking for every possible avenue to hang on to political power inside the Republican Party. He knows he's leaving office on January 20. He understands that Joe Biden is going to be the next President of the United States.

But the impact of him saying that the fight continues and I'm going to keep going with recounts and litigation and this election was stolen from me; though it is clearly wasn't. That's all about maintaining a connection with his supporters that will live beyond his presidency to support whatever endeavor he goes into including holding open the possibility that he may run again in 2024.

And what that will do is maintain his power, his hold on the political dynamics inside the Republican Party.

BOLDUAN: That's actually - that might be part of the answer then to what I wanted to ask you about, as well. Because there's something I'm hung up on in some of Jim Acosta's great reporting. That a major factor his reporting is in persuading Trump to kind of move on and to concede was the (inaudible) with Giuliani last week. That that is what it took for republicans to start calling over and saying enough is enough. That is what it to take to start calling over to say enough is enough.

I mean so many of them saw exactly what everyone saw in the - in the election results but still stood by silently indulging the president's fantasies for the last three weeks. What do republicans do now?

CHALIAN: Well I would just note, Kate, the vast majority are still standing by. It did not -

BOLDUAN: Good point.

CHALIAN: -- when you say it took republicans, it took some republicans to view that press conference to come out and say something. I haven't heard Mitch McConnell congratulate President Elect Biden on his victory and talk about how he plans to work with him in the Biden administration. I haven't heard from a lot of republicans actually who have said what the president did here for the last two and a half weeks has just been completely against the grain.

So, yes, some republicans saw that press conference last week and said this is, as you noted, off the rails now. But the vase majority know. And remember that press conference, that was held at the republican national committee headquarters.

[11:10:00]

CHALIAN: I mean that - the party was literally -

(CROSSTALK)

[11:10:00] BOLDUAN: That's a good - that is a great play (ph).

(CROSSTALK)

CHALIAN: -- sponsoring the location of that press conference, Kate. So I think we - the Trump post presidency is not the same thing as the Trump post republican party. I think Donald Trump is going to remain a very, very viable force inside the GOP.

BOLDUAN: I think - that's a really great point, David. With all of this in mind, what does it mean for the Biden transition to, even if not getting acknowledgment, seeing the actual machinery, if you will, the gears of the transition now officially under way.

CHALIAN: Yes, Kate, let's make sure, this is clear, right, this is good for the country that this is now happening. It's two and a half weeks too late. There is nothing yesterday that occurred that couldn't have occurred two and a half weeks ago in terms of getting the ascertainment. Everything you've see in the last two and a half weeks, with vote certifications and what have you, that's proforma. It happens every election cycle.

But that is what the GSA Administrator was somehow waiting for and until the public pressure got untenable in some way. But what it means for President Elect Biden is that the formal process is underway now. Now he can actually send landing teams into these agencies, he can get briefings; his teams can start preparing and see as much as the Biden - the Trump administration is willing to share, where things currently stand. Everywhere from CDC to the Defense Department to the State Department, across the government.

So it's - it is really - it's hugely important that this is now beginning. Because what you're seeing is the formal, peaceful transfer of power.

BOLDUAN: And the way you - the way characterize it is the important bit. It's not just - it's not important for the - or good for the Biden administration. It's good for the country to see this transition happening and these conversations being started, albeit late, but starting in earnest. Good to see you, David. Thank you.

CHALIAN: Thanks. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Coming up, the U.S. - the U.S. Surgeon General is warning the surge in COVID cases is so bad across the country now that some hospitals are having to make tough, horrible decisions again. Having to turn away people who are dealing with heart attacks. Plus a new model is predicting the U.S. could reach 20 million cases of coronavirus by inauguration day. We'll be right back.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CALL)

ANTHONY FAUCI: If, in fact, you're in a situation when you do the things that are increasing the risk, the travel, the congregate setting, not wearing masks, the chances are that you will see a surge superimposed upon a surge.

BOLDUAN: The nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci warning again that traveling for thanksgiving could make a lot more Americans sick, and a majority of Americans seem to be paying attention. A new Axios-Ipsos poll just out finds that 61% have changed -- 61% have changed their thanksgiving plans, some now planning to hold smaller gatherings or only include their immediate household family.

And even before then, we know, cases continue to surge across much of the country. The number of people so sick that they need hospital care is breaking records too. More than 85,000 people are hospitalized with COVID across the country right now.

But even though -- but even though the CDC is urging people to avoid traveling for thanksgiving, we know that millions still are. CNN'S Ryan Young is at Hartsville Jackson Airport in Atlanta and he's joining us right now. Ryan, what are you seeing and hearing at Atlanta's airport today?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, look, we've been talking to people who say they wanted to travel this holiday season. Yes, they know about all the precautions. They are wearing their masks for the most part. We've only counted about a handful of people who were not wearing masks, but this is really the story. We've seen people lining up all day over there at the security line to come in and to go on their travel.

Look, we've been talking to these travelers and even the airport is passing out masks. They have hand sanitizer all over this airport, over 500 stations, and the line at some point has backed up all the way back here.

We've asked people, hey look, you heard the warnings from the CDC, what do you think about it and you look at those rates across the country as the numbers continue to rise, especially with hospitalization rates, are you concerned about traveling? In fact, listen to what a few travelers told us in the last half hour or so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CALL)

TONY ROBERTS: We will have precaution -- we'll wear our masks even with our family. It'll be a small gathering, so it's not going to be large. And COVID has been terrible, but I think it does emphasize family values.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: It's just going to help get us through it a little bit longer because it's not over, so just kind of being able to put your eyes on them in person.

(END VIDEO CALL)

YOUNG: Kate, here's the reality here as we talk to more and more people, they're tired of COVID and the reality is they want to see their family members. And a lot of people are saying look, they've been building up to this moment for a while. We even talked to people who went and got COVID tested yesterday in hopes that they would know they weren't taking COVID to their family.

But when you think about that, the process of going through the airport and all the touch points between here and the airplane, you can still pick it up before getting home. So there are people who are concerned and they said they even plan to wear masks at home. But in the end, people said they just felt like they needed to see their family members, especially this year.

BOLDUAN: Ryan, thank you for being there. Really appreciate it. CNN -- Joining me now is CNN Medical Analyst and former Baltimore City Health Commissioner Dr. Lina Wenn. It's good to see you again Dr. Wenn.

As we know, just as we are very clearly, a negative test yesterday does not mean that you do not get the virus today. Unfortunately that is just one thing that we know from this. I wanted to ask you about what we heard from Dr. Anthony Fauci and how he is talking about how there could be a surge upon a surge. What does that look like?

[11:20:00]

DR. WEN: Well we already have the surge that's happening all over the country and different from what happened back in March, April in the New York area or June and July in the Sunbelt, we now have hospitals being overwhelmed all across our country as it is. And the numbers just keep on escalating. And so now we have people gathering all over the country. We have these very high risk settings which is what happens when you get people indoors from different parts of the country, for prolonged periods of time, not wearing a mask, crowded together, in many cases, poorly ventilated areas.

And I am so fearful of what's going to happen in the coming weeks. And so I would just highly urge everyone; if you have not yet traveled please consider canceling and at least postponing the trip because this is not for forever. We can get through the next several months and celebrate Thanksgiving in the summer.

BOLDUAN: And you talk about you're fearful of what this could mean. I'm fearful of the stories I'm already hearing of what we're seeing in hospitals right now, quite frankly. There are new records being broken in terms of hospitalizations all the time. The Surgeon General spoke out today, doctor, and put it in really troubling terms what he is seeing and hearing. Let me play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEROME ADAMS, SURGEON GENERAL: You may not be able to go in and get your heart attack treated. I've heard hospitals not being able to provide care for pregnant women because they're filled with COVID bids. So that's the reality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And look that doesn't need much explanation of why that is so scary. What do people need to understand about what the Surgeon General is warning about here? DR. WEN: By definition when you have a resource that's scarce, that's running out, you're going to start having to ration that resource. We saw this happening in China, in Italy at the peak of the pandemics there. We also saw this beginning to happen in the New York area. But what helped was that it was just one area of the country that was the hardest hit and so you were able to bring in healthcare workers and equipment from other parts of the country to help New York City.

That's not going to be the case if we are overwhelmed all over the country. There just isn't a supply of additional healthcare workers. And we are on the brink of that happening. On the brink of patients not being able to get the care that they need not only for coronavirus but for all these other ailments too. That is a collapse of our healthcare system and we're not that far away from it now.

BOLDUAN: That is terrifying. And you - and your perspective is so important. You can't - you can't fly in 40, 50 medical doctors and nurses, military medical doctors and nurses all over the country as they did in New York and when there was a surge here because you can't do it all over the country at once.

And the pace at which the virus is spreading right now it has whilst (ph) you putting out a new model projecting the number of cases in the United States could nearly double by January 20; going from about 12.5 million - 12.4 million infections to 20 million infections. If that happens in this just really short amount of time what will that mean?

DR. WEN: Well I believe this model because we are seeing that level exponential spread happening all over the country. And what that means is hospitalizations will lag the infections by about two weeks. So our hospitals are going to be seeing that level infection. And then we're going to see mortality rates jump. Because the only reason we've been able to keep mortality rates low is that we get good care. But when you don't get good care is when you run out of staff, you run out of equipment.

And then you also get this excess mortality of all these other ailments too. So I fear that we're going to see hundreds of thousands of deaths potentially between now and the end of this winter. That's what coming our way and this again why I plead with everyone, look I know that it's failure ultimately of the federal government. It's failure of our policies. But that doesn't mean that individuals are powerless now.

It's really up to us to be the frontlines of the infection because we have to prevent one another and prevent the community from becoming overwhelmed with COVID-19.

BOLDUAN: Dr. Wen, thank you. Coming up for us, President Elect Joe Biden is about to roll out his national security team. What's the first challenge that they'll face 57 days from now?

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BOLDUAN: A big moment for -- big moment for President-Elect Joe Biden today. He will be formally announcing the first members of his cabinet in a couple hours from now. His nominees include some historic firsts and some long-time advisers, like Tony Blinken picked to serve as Secretary of State, the nation's top diplomat and Janet Yellen, the former Federal Reserve Chair now picked to be the first woman to serve as Treasury Secretary.

Alejandro Mayorkas would be the first Latino to head the Department of Homeland Security. And Avril Haines is a former top CIA official now picked to be the first woman to serve as nat --as Director of National Intelligence. Linda Thomas Greenfield is a career diplomat who served -- who served in posts really all over the world, she will be nominated as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Jake Sullivan, also a longtime Biden aide, will be the President's National Security Advisor.