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U.S. Records more than 100,000 New Cases for 24th Straight Day; Restrictions Underway in California as State Sees "Dangerous" Surge; Trump Falsely Claims Victory with Fantasy Conspiracies. Aired 11- 11:30a ET

Aired November 27, 2020 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:17]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hi. I'm Boris Sanchez. I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world.

Unfortunately, the holiday week is ending just as it began with a record number of Americans hospitalized with coronavirus. In fact, for 17 days now, the country has shattered the hospitalization record set only the day before. The latest count from the COVID tracking project more than 90,000 people are being treated for coronavirus by doctors, nurses and other medical staff as they are sounding alarms saying that our health system is being pushed to the brink.

There are no localized hot spots anymore either. The whole country is experiencing a major spread. But if you follow that yellow line on your screen, you see that deaths in the Midwest are roughly double that of any other region. The U.S. right now averaging 1,500 deaths and 164,000 new infections per day.

Just on Thanksgiving, the nation reported roughly 110,000 new cases. That actually does not even include reports from 20 states. They didn't report new numbers because of the holiday.

The virus is raging with one of the busiest days of travel of the year still to come on Sunday. More than 6 million people have defied CDC guidance to stay at home and not travel this Thanksgiving.

Despite consistent guidance from health officials the state of Florida remains defiant over the issues of masks and social distancing. The governor there, Ron DeSantis extending an order this week that bans local municipalities from issuing fines for violating pandemic related mandates like face masks or limiting restaurant capacity without justification. This comes at a time when the use of hospital ventilators in the sunshine state is surging.

CNN correspondent Rosa Flores is in Miami. Rosa, first, what's the situation with ventilators and how are people reacting to the news from Ron DeSantis, to the order?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Boris, there's so much frustration here in Florida because of this. Here's the back story. Last week, five mayors met, they had a virtual press conference because what they want is for Governor Ron DeSantis to do more so that they can stop the spread of COVID-19 in their communities.

Now that got followed up by a letter that was written by Miami Beach's mayor, Dan Gelber, directed to the governor, asking him specifically for several things. And that includes more money for testing, a state mask mandate, better contact tracing and also exactly what you were talking about, the return of the power to localities so that they can curb the spread of the coronavirus. Things like being able to impose mitigating measures so that restaurants can abide by these rules and also so that they can fine individuals that refuse to wear a mask.

Now that is where the rubber meets the road because I've been in contact with both city of Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and with Gelber. And they have not heard back from the governor. Now, they've been trying to contact him since last week. I've contacted his office as well for several days and I have not heard back from the governor's office.

But, Boris, here is why there is so much worry. The number of hospitalizations here in southeast Florida is beginning to increase. The number of ventilators in the past two weeks increased by 48 percent.

Now I do want to give you some perspective here briefly because it's important. In July when we were talking about the surge of hospitalizations here in Miami-Dade, we were talking about 2,000 people that were hospitalized. Right now, there's 667 individuals fighting for their lives here in Miami-Dade only. So, Boris, it's important that there's only 667, it's not 2,000 but this is what leaders are trying to do, they're trying to curb the spread so that number doesn't continue to increase.

SANCHEZ: Troubling figures there, Rosa. We're going to speak with the mayor of St. Petersburg later on. We'll likely hear some frustration about that order from Governor DeSantis.

Rosa Flores, in Miami, thank you so much.

I want to get to the West Coast now, in California where positivity rates are spiking.

CNN correspondent Stephanie Elam is in Los Angeles for us. And Stephanie, what are you learning?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, let's just compare it to what we heard Rosa talking about there. Here in the entire state of California, they're saying that nearly 7,200 people are in the hospital right now. And they're saying that there's less than 2,000 ICU beds that are available.

[11:05:08]

Now, the state does have a plan to bring on 2,000 more beds and open up 11 more facilities if necessary. And this may be the case because right now the positivity rate is at 6.1 percent. We're starting to see these numbers go back towards those highs that we saw over the summer surge when we hit above 7.5 percent for our positivity rate there. This is obviously very much concerning.

California did report numbers yesterday. Yesterday's number 14,640 people testing positive for the coronavirus. We'll likely see numbers again today. They're not going to be as big as we've seen. We saw two records hit within the last week. Obviously, during a holiday those numbers are going to be smaller which just means that next week we should be prepared we might see larger numbers as the virus is clearly spreading clearly throughout the entire state here, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, preparations for larger numbers and potentially preparations for even stricter restrictions, California being one of the most-strict states in the nation.

Stephanie Elam reporting from Los Angeles. Thank you.

We're joined by Dr. Mark Morocco. He's an emergency medicine physician at Reagan UCLA Emergency Medical Center and a professor of Emergency Medicine at UCLA.

Doctor, thank you so much for being with us today.

California, your state, is number two in the country for coronavirus infections with a recent disturbing spike as we just heard in positivity rates. But putting all the numbers and the charts aside, because they only tell part of the story, I want you to share what you're seeing behind closed doors and what you're seeing in your hospital right now.

DR. MARK MOROCCO, EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN, REAGAN UCLA EMERGENCY MEDICAL CENTER: Well, I think in our hospital, even nationwide in emergency rooms and intensive care units, the care givers, the physicians, the respiratory therapists, the nursing staff, were very frustrated, we're actually little angry. And you'll never see that because we're professionals.

But we really believe that this is a time for a call to unify our un- United States and to really go to war against this coronavirus. This is really a war. And the time is now. The next six weeks is going to tell the tale about whether this is an inconvenient winter or a disastrous winter. Right now, the virus is like a fire and we're dry grass and it's burning sea to shining sea.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it appears we're headed to a disastrous winter. How are you doing on supplies? Does your staff have enough masks and gloves and other PPE to weather the surge, and how about beds for your patients?

MOROCCO: Well, you know, there's a big diversity of hospital experiences in a place like Los Angeles, California, and even across the country, places that are lucky to be in relatively resource rich environments. We're going to do well for a long time. But smaller hospitals are going to struggle, and some of them, especially in places that are burning hot spots in the Midwest and Dakotas, they're already in a position where they're running out of supplies. And so, we are really in a beginning of a danger zone, which is why we wanted to reach out now and say we really need to get together, get a unified message and move on against this virus.

SANCHEZ: Doctor, I'm glad you mentioned some of the frustration that you and your staff are feeling, because I'm sad to report that there's a mental health crisis tracking with these coronavirus numbers. Suicide rates among health care workers, especially, those numbers are up. So, how is your team doing in terms of fatigue and burnout? How do you cope with the stress and pressure that's on you?

MOROCCO: Well, we're trained to do that. That's kind of what we signed up to do, but this is an unusual, once in a lifetime event. Something that we rarely dreamed about. So, we're trying to put in place lots and lots of checks and balances, and making sure people really do ask how are you doing?

Unfortunately, you know sometimes you ask that question to somebody and they really tell you and then you have to do something about it. So, our institution has been very aggressive about providing support. But there's never going to be enough until we feel it from the public you know.

And even today, you know, there's a Supreme Court ruling that came down. That's going to be something that's going to make for some of us to be pretty frustrated because it seems to me like that ruling is reflective of sort of the polarization over something that shouldn't be polarizing. The virus is not partisan. The virus does not have a geographic location. It doesn't care if you live or die. It's going to attack all of us. And this recent ruling may make it more difficult for us to do what we need to do.

SANCHEZ: All right. Dr. Mark Morocco, we have to leave it there. I hope you take care of yourself, sir. Thank you so much for joining us.

MOROCCO: Thanks, Boris. Have a good weekend and be safe.

SANCHEZ: Same to you.

President Trump says he will leave the White House if electors choose Joe Biden but he's still falsely claiming victory and pushing conspiracies. Ahead, we'll fact check the president.

Plus, why he erupted at a White House reporter. Hear for yourself the question that set him off.

And breaking news, according to state reports a top Iranian nuclear scientist has been assassinated. What we know and what it means as CNN's special live coverage continues.

[11:14:28]

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SANCHEZ: For a president who normally takes every opportunity he can get in front of cameras to steer the news cycle, it's noteworthy that until last night Donald Trump did not take questions for several weeks since his election loss, the one that he repeatedly refuses to acknowledge. In fact, here he is when asked about how he feels about his last Thanksgiving in the White House.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We don't know what is last, if you look at what's going on. You have to really take a look at what's going on. They're finding tremendous discrepancies in the votes.

[11:15:02]

So, I can't say what's first and what's last in terms of is this the last one or is this the first one of a second term. We'll see what happens.

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SANCHEZ: Let's go ahead and take a look at what's really going on. Fact check. There was no widespread election fraud and his legal team has declined to argue that there was widespread fraud in court. We also don't have to wait and see anything. You can see it on your screen. President-elect Biden won 306 electoral votes to the president's 232. If the president does get a second term, it'll be because he runs again in 2024. Nevertheless, here's one unexpected portion.

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QUESTION: If the electoral college does elect President-elect Joe Biden, are you not going to leave this building?

TRUMP: Just so you -- certainly I will. Certainly, I will. And you know that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: It's a step in the right direction that he admits it. But it's obvious he has no choice. He has already taken enough steps, pardoning, Michael Flynn, troop withdraw, et cetera. That are tacit admissions he will not be in office come January 21st. But one step forward, two steps back.

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QUESTION: If the electoral college votes for Joe Biden. Will you concede?

TRUMP: If they do, they've made a mistake. Because this election was a fraud.

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SANCHEZ: Again, there is no evidence of widespread fraud. That's according to state election officials, both Democrats and Republicans, who notably voted for and donated to him and officials in his own government. Listen to this.

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SCOTT PELLEY, CBS HOST, "60 MINUTES": It's the most secure in American history, there is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes or changed votes or was in any way compromised.

CHRIS KREBS, FORMER DIRECTOR, CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY: Yes. I stand by that.

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SANCHEZ: That was the director of the cyber security and infrastructure security agency, you might recall the president fired him for contradicting claims of fraud. Here's what happened last night when the president was pressed on the lack of evidence again.

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QUESTION: Can we know the timeline of when you're going to present this evidence of voter fraud --

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Well, it's happening now. We're in courts. We're in courts. But we're also in front of legislatures. And we're doing very well in front of the states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: They're actually not doing well at all. The election is over. It appears many of the claims that the president is making are just a kind of snake oil riling up supporters to donate to his legal fund so he can continue a fight he knows he lost. But point of fact. Those hundreds of e-mails the Trump team has been sending out since Election Day about raising funds for this legal fight. If you read the fine print, it clearly states the vast majority of that money is going to his political action committee to fund his life post presidency.

By the way, a note on the Trump legal team their efforts are falling apart. Lawyers have fled that team and another who pushed some absurd conspiracies went so far-off the deep end that she got exiled from the rest of his legal team of conspiracy theorists. Look, even some of the strongest Trump backers are publicly balking. Take one of Trump's biggest allies, Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, who called Trump's legal team a national embarrassment. And perhaps the best evidence that things are not going well.

The president and his allies have outright lost or withdrawn 30 cases since Election Day. The only wins that they've scored in court, two. Both affecting only a very small number of votes, not nearly enough to overturn election results anywhere.

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TRUMP: I don't know what is going to happen. I know one thing. Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes. And I got 74 million. But there were many ballots thrown away, so I got much more than that. But I got 74 million. 74 million is 11 million more than I got last time.

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SANCHEZ: So, in his world, there's no way Biden got 80 million votes. But all of his 74 million votes, those are totally fine, they're real. They're not worth questioning.

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TRUMP: Those machines are fixed. They're rigged. You can press Trump and the vote goes to Biden. All you have to do is play with a chip.

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SANCHEZ: That's false. It's a baseless conspiracy theory. He's already trying to also sow doubt in the runoff elections in Georgia and defame the secretary of state there.

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TRUMP: They have a fraudulent system. The secretary of state, who is really -- he's an enemy of the people.

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SANCHEZ: That's secretary of state is a formerly Trump backed Republican.

[11:20:02]

He supported the president. In fact, in a recent op-ed, Brad Raffensperger touted the state's record turn out and how the process was completely fair and then he said this. Listen closely. Quote, "...my family voted for him, donated to him and now are being thrown under the bus by him."

The president also erupted at a reporter for asking three times whether he would concede.

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TRUMP: Don't talk to me that way.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Sorry, sir.

TRUMP: You're just a lightweight. Don't talk that - don't talk -- I'm the president of the United States. Don't ever talk to the president that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A point of fact. That was Jeff Mason of "Reuters." Jeff is someone I consider a friend, full disclosure, I work with him on occasion. He's one of the most professional reporters in that press room. He's sharp. He asks fair questions.

But this isn't about defending Jeff who has actually been complimented by Trump on previous occasions. I do want to repeat the legitimate and obvious question that Trump was asked. Quote, "If the electoral college votes for Joe Biden, will you concede?" It's a simple question. Here's another way that he tried to answer it.

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TRUMP: It's going to be a very hard thing to concede because we know there was massive fraud.

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SANCHEZ: The president is right about an aspect of that. A concession is something that he doesn't have to do, although in a democracy it's been the tradition and custom that most gracious candidates and incumbents, even though they may have been very bitter on the inside, it's something they've done to maintain the integrity of an election and the will of the voters to maintain an air of civility within our democracy. Still with or without a concession, Trump lost.

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TRUMP: I think it's not right that he's trying to pick a cabinet.

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SANCHEZ: We can't stress this enough. This is not Bush versus Gore. There's no legitimate dispute of an outcome. There are no hanging chads or complaints from senior citizens in South Florida about confusing ballots. This election was not even close. The president lost. And it's the winner's right to start the transition and build his administration, just as then President-elect Trump did, very famously before cameras at his properties.

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TRUMP: The Biden administration said that's OK we'll get rid of America First. No. We don't want to get rid of America First. We want to put America First.

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SANCHEZ: So that is a correct claim from President Trump that Biden has promised to pivot from the president's slogan over the last four years when it comes to global relations. It's fair to point out that many do not feel that America First actually puts the United States in the best position to lead the world. Including the president's former defense secretary, the one he handpicked who recently said that Biden should get rid of the America First mantra on day one. This is no typical person. This is mad dog Mattis. James Mattis. Perhaps what's most troubling in the president's gaggle with reporters is that threw the lies and conspiracies he barely referenced the pandemic that's ravaging the United States. The main point that he brought up regarding coronavirus was only to make sure that he gets credit for the coming vaccines.

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TRUMP: Don't let Joe Biden take credit for the vaccines because the vaccines were me.

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SANCHEZ: Joe Biden has so far in no way tried to take credit for the vaccines. Regardless, hospitals are hitting record after record, doctors, nurses, hospital workers, you just heard them, they're all overwhelmed. Beds are running out in some states. More than 2,000 Americans died in each of the past 48 hours. And millions of Americans are going hungry as the pandemic also ravages the economy.

But let's take a look at his tweets. Fox ratings, Twitter trends, the Dow, not to mention pardons, he's more consumed about himself and what people are saying about him and what credit he thinks he is due than with the crisis he refuses to call one.

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TRUMP: You wouldn't know that to listen to the news reports, but the whole world is suffering. And we're -- we are rounding the curve.

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SANCHEZ: We've been rounding the curve for months now. There's a lot to talk about here.

And joining me for analysis on all of it is CNN contributor Michael D'Antonio. Thank you so much for joining us, sir. Michael is also a Trump biographer and author of the book, "The Truth about Trump."

Michael, you've written extensively about the president. You had a very close encounters with him, some good, some not so good. When you hear all those sound bites back to back, Trump spewing lies about widespread voter fraud, lashing out at a good reporter, calling the Georgia secretary of state an enemy of the people when the guy is a Republican who voted for him. What do you make of all of this?

[11:25:09]

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Boris, this buffoonery, and actually I think it is cruelty as well as you noted, there were Americans who literally died in the time that the president was giving us that horrific display. It's all consistent with who he is and who he has always been. He is a profoundly incompetent person. A loser, if you might say. He's so incompetent that he cannot even succeed at being a loser. He's failing at this essential task, which all men face at some point in their lives. We all lose at various moments. And he can't man up and do the mature thing. And do the right thing by the country, which is acknowledge that the system worked, that there was no fraud. That our democracy is strong, and our institutions have held. Instead, he's dragging us through this show, and it is really redolent of all of the flaws in his personality and character that have been present almost since birth. This is the creature he has always been.

SANCHEZ: Wow. The president said he would leave the White House if the electoral college affirms Joe Biden's victory. But he wouldn't commit to attending Biden's inauguration. Do you think he would actually skip it?

D'ANTONIO: I think he's quite capable of skipping it. I think that the answer to that will be determined by what he thinks will profit him the most. And by "profit," I mean literal profit, dollars and cents in his pocket. But also, what he imagines will profit him going forward.

So, he could very well declare a 2024 run before Inauguration Day, and thereby, try to deprive Biden of the attention that he deserves and the respect that he deserves. So, I don't think that it's a sure thing that he will attend the inauguration. He will leave the White House, because he doesn't want to be frog marched out by law enforcement. But the rest of it, I don't think we can assume he'll do anything normal.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And we've heard from people close to the president that he is contemplating a 2024 run. I'm also wondering whether some of the Republicans that have yet to acknowledge that Joe Biden won the election whether they would show up to his eventual inauguration. Michael D'Antionio, we got to end the conversation there. Thank you so much for the time.

D'ANTONIO: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

We're following breaking news today, a top Iranian nuclear scientist assassinated. What we're learning about the attack.

And this breaking news, North Korean hackers suspected of targeting vaccine maker AstraZeneca in a cyberattack. We have the details on the other side of a quick break.

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