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Trump Re-Tweets Post Suggesting He Should Pardon Himself; U.S. Surpasses 13 Million Coronavirus Cases; Biden To Get His First Presidential Daily Briefing Monday; Iran Accuses Israel Of Killing Top Nuclear Scientist; Interview With Former National Security Advisor, John Bolton; Pandemic Hammers U.S. Economy During Holiday Shopping Season. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 28, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Ana Cabrera.

More than 13 million Americans have contracted the coronavirus since this crisis began with 4 million new infections just in November. All the Thanksgiving travel and gatherings could pour fuel on the fire. We've lost more than 34,000 people to the virus this month alone. That's one American dying about every minute, every 60 seconds. And experts warn that the number of deaths could soon double.

And while many Americans are working to put food on the table, working to find a new job, President Trump is working on his golf swing. By our count, this is how he spent one out of every five days of his presidency, golfing, something that he routinely criticized his predecessor for.

Thankfully, a vaccine is on the horizon. This week, a CDC advisory committee is holding a meeting to decide who is going to get access to that vaccine first. But as we wait, experts say that now is the time to hunker down and quarantine if you did celebrate Thanksgiving with people who don't live in your household.

Let's start with CNN's Miguel Marquez and Paul Vercammen. They're both at coronavirus testing sites, an opposite coast of the country.

First, to Paul in Los Angeles, where a new lockdown is in place because of soaring case numbers, deaths and hospitalizations. And I understand that, Paul, you've been talking with two leaders of L.A.'s massive free testing campaign.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right, Boris. Sean Penn came by along with Ann Lee, and they were co-founders of CORE. They have tested 3 million people across the country.

And let's look at what they are up against. The numbers are not good. The trend lines, both across the nation and in California, are not so much as a curve but a straight line almost straight up, the hospitalizations particularly astounding here in California.

So, what CORE and Sean Penn and Ann Lee, who has got tremendous experience in relief exercises, are trying to do is get more people tested and contact traced. We talked to Sean Penn about his efforts to get involved in this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN PENN, CO-FOUNDER, CORE: Now is the time to really quadruple down on all of the common sense efforts of masking, social distancing.

We have to recognize just how vulnerable we are and be humble to it because we all recognize the importance on so many levels of getting kids back to school, so we want to make sure that we can find ways to create bubbles the same way the NBA has for the teachers and the testing to be pervasive throughout.

ANN LEE, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, CORE: We need to treat our teachers like NBA players.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERCAMMEN: And what they mean by that is they want to have the students and the teachers tested before they go into school and at the end of the day. They say schools have an infrastructure, if you will, because many of them now do have some sort of single point of entry or maybe even a metal detector, so that's something they're going to pursue in the future.

It's a very hot button issue here in Los Angeles County. This county is ready to go into another set of new restrictions on Monday, and, basically, the new rules are, you should not be meeting up, gathering with people from other households. This is a stay-in-place order, again, that's going to go into effect on Monday, Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right, Paul, stand by. We want to go to Miguel Marquez. He is in New York City. And today, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced more than 6,000 new COVID-19 cases in the state, and a test positivity rate that's up nearly 4 percent. What are you hearing?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, that's bad. It is nowhere near what it was at the height back in the spring. But that said, those numbers across the country are rising like mad. People are getting tested here in New York City. They're not getting tested in the numbers that they were before the holiday. That's also happening across the country.

So, we expect -- what epidemiologists are saying is that the number of people testing positive, the number of deaths, all of those things we'll see either flatten or go down in the days ahead because we're basically in a long weekend mode because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but then they expect it to rise and rise sharply as it has been.

Keep in mind, Johns Hopkins today said that, right now, the U.S. has over 100,000 cases.

[17:05:02]

On a typical day these days, we're up around 170,000, pushing 200,000 cases a day across this country. It used to take weeks or a month or longer to get to a million cases in the U.S. Now, we're doing that almost every week. The concern is real here.

And these are not necessarily big, super-spread events. It is across the entire country. It is happening in ones and twos and places like South Dakota and Iowa and El Paso, Texas, and here in New York City. And the fear is now that there will be so much virus and so many hospitalizations and so much death that this Christmas, it's going to be one to remember but not for the reasons you want. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes, hard to say that there is any specific hot spot when the whole country right now appears to be one. Paul Vercammen, Miguel Marquez, thank you both so much.

As cases soar and hospitalizations reach record levels, there is a glimmer of hope. Vaccines are on the way. And on Tuesday, a CDC committee is going to hold an emergency meeting to determine who is going to get the coronavirus vaccine first once it's given the green light.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky is a CNN Medical Analyst and Chief of Infectious Diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Peter Hotez also joining us, he is a Professor and Dean of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Hotez, we'd like to start with you. Who needs to get this vaccine first, the most vulnerable members of the population, the elderly, or those who are most often spreading the virus, the younger demographic?

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF TROPICAL MEDICINE, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, Boris, so far, the priorities seem to be focusing on preventing deaths, preventing people from going into the ICU and dying but also stabilizing the health system, because that's another huge issue as we're overwhelming our health care providers, our health care heroes with numbers of patients.

So, the National Academies of Sciences, Medicine and Engineering have issued some recommendations, and, ultimately, the decision is going to be quite a bit left to the individual states, but the guidelines will indicate, of course, healthcare professionals need to get vaccinated at the front of the line as well as first-line responders, and then we move to highly vulnerable populations, older individuals.

Now, exactly what that age cutoff is remains to be determined because we're hearing the age of 65, but remember, among the Hispanic and African-American, Native American communities, up to a third or more of the deaths are in individuals under the age of 65. So, should it be at 60 or 55? All of those things need to be worked out at a state by state basis. And with the national academies and, of course, the CDC and ACIP are going to be really critical.

SANCHEZ: Yes, you can imagine. So, Dr. Walensky, there's concern among many about being the first in line to get a new vaccine. Do you have any reservations yourself about getting it?

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good evening, Boris. You know, I think that both Moderna and Pfizer would not move forward to the FDA if their data didn't look good. I think that I will look to the FDA and their guidance. I would like to see the data.

But it's going to go through a lot of scientific review, and after it goes through that scientific review, if those authorizations are moving forward, then we're likely to look at it again one more time at the state level. If all of those data look good, then I would be happy to be among those first vaccinated.

SANCHEZ: Now, Dr. Walensky, I want to ask you a question based on that idea that there are people that are hesitant out there about getting this vaccine. A former Maryland congressman, former Presidential Candidate John Delaney wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post this weekend advocating the idea of paying people $1,500 to take the vaccine. He says that it might help to limit that skepticism. What do you think about the idea?

WALENSKY: I think that's complex because we certainly don't want to entice people to get something that they don't want. So we have to -- I think those decisions have to be made at a community by community level. Certainly, I think we'd like to make sure that people who get the -- who want the vaccine can get it. We'd like to encourage people to get the vaccine.

I'm not sure that financial incentives are the right way to do that. And I would be happy to engage in further conversations about how we can work at the local level to make sure that people are really supported through the vaccination. That might be time off of work if they get symptoms after the vaccination. It might be other incentives that they might find actually valuable.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Dr. Hotez, I want to pick up on something Dr. Walensky just said. Would you have any reservations about getting the vaccine if it meant having some side effects, if it meant having some symptoms after you took it?

[17:10:00]

HOTEZ: Well, you know, you're talking to someone who's been developing vaccines for the last 40 years, and I've seen what vaccines can do and the power of vaccines. And so I'm quite eager to get vaccinated.

And here is the reason. We know that the one thing that could prevent you from going into the hospital or the intensive care unit is to have what are called virus-neutralizing antibodies in your system. And that's what all these vaccines do, whether it's the two mRNA vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer or the AstraZeneca/Oxford adenovirus vaccine or the J&J vaccine or our recombinant protein vaccine that we're accelerating in India, they all pretty work by the same way. And as Dr. Walensky says, if assuming that the FDA green lights this for emergency use authorization, I have a lot of confidence in our U.S. FDA. They've got the most extraordinary track record the world has ever seen in terms of vaccine safety and efficacy. So I have really zero hesitation. In fact, I'm quite eager to get any of those vaccines because they'll all give me virus-neutralizing antibodies into my system and I'm recommending them for family members as well.

We do have a lot of vaccine hesitancy in this country and a lot of that is due because we've got a very aggressive anti-vaccine lobby here. My hope is that as the first round of individuals starts get vaccinated and people see no untoward effects, that some of that will loosen up a little bit and we won't be -- things won't be as bad as some of the surveys seem to indicate right now.

SANCHEZ: Dr. Walensky, I want to take a step back because it's so important to provide good, thorough information about vaccines, as Dr. Hotez noted. There's a lot of misinformation out there, and it's infuriating when we talk about side effects. What can people expect?

WALENSKY: I think there's really good news here in that we really haven't seen any severe side effects from either of these vaccines that are moving forward, and that's really extraordinarily encouraging.

But what I want to say is that we should all expect that we're going to have some of those mild side effects, and those side effects come in two different forms. One is at the site of the injection, we might get pain, we might get swelling, we might get redness. And the other is that we might get systemic symptoms, symptoms like fevers and chills and aches and pains, and they are short-lived, they generally -- you know, in the first day or two.

But we should expect those, and not be put off by having those symptoms. That actually means that the immune system is getting revved up and is responding to the vaccine.

For the most part, those symptoms happen more often after the second dose of the vaccine rather than the first, but we really need to have the public understand that those are expected side effects of that vaccine and that that means the vaccine is actually doing its job.

SANCHEZ: Right. Very quickly, Dr. Hotez, you talked about an incoming surge that's going to be destabilizing for the United States, considering all the people that just got together for Thanksgiving and the rising number of cases. In three weeks, you project that we could be in a very serious, very precarious situation, one that we have not yet really experienced in this country. Why?

HOTEZ: Yes, especially in the middle part of the country where I am in Texas and up in the northern Midwest. What we're starting to see now are surges on intensive care units, and that's a bad sign, because we saw this in New York in March and April and in Southern Europe. That's when the mortality rate, the death rates really go up. And that's -- I'm quite concerned we could hit that definitely 2,000 deaths per day but even 3,000 or 4,000 deaths per day. So we're looking at a massive death toll. And that will be very -- that in itself will be destabilizing for the nation, because, practically speaking, it means pretty much everybody in the country is going to know someone who has been seriously ill or hospitalized from COVID or even worse who has passed from COVID, and we should not underestimate the security impact of that in addition to the food insecurity that we're seeing, interruptions in supply chain management. This is going to be a terrible winter.

And so the message is, there is good news coming later in the winter and early spring as vaccines arrive and do all you can to protect your family members now through social distancing and masks to keep them out of the hospital, because it's just a matter of hanging on a couple more months before vaccines arrive, and we're just going to lose too many people, tragically. And some of the numbers indicate up to half a million Americans could lose their lives by a week or two after the inauguration.

And the truth is, nobody has to die from this virus. We know what to do right now and I know it's inconvenient but it's just a matter of hanging on a couple more months.

SANCHEZ: Thank you so much, both of you, Dr. Rochelle Walensky and Dr. Peter Hotez, for sharing your expertise. Thanks so much.

WALENSKY: Thank you.

HOTEZ: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

President Trump raising eyebrows this week after he seemed to endorse a pardon for himself. Can he do that? And if he can, will he?

[17:15:00]

We'll talk to a former White House attorney for Richard Nixon right after this.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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SANCHEZ: President Trump this week drawing even more comparisons to one of his predecessors, Richard Nixon, after he appeared to endorse a pardon for himself. He re-tweeted this from Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz of Florida who wrote, quote, President Trump should pardon Flynn, the Thanksgiving turkey and everyone from himself to his administration to Joe Exotic if he has to.

Earlier this week, former CIA Director John Brennan told CNN he does not think a self-pardon is all that unbelievable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: I think Donald Trump is going to be handing out a number of pardons to his lackeys as well as look for ways that he's going to be able to pardon himself or get, maybe, Mike Pence to be elevated and to pardon Donald Trump himself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:20:00]

SANCHEZ: Joining us now, former White House Counsel to President Richard Nixon, John Dean.

You'll recall during the height of Watergate, there were rumors that Nixon would potentially pardon himself, and I'm curious, John, if you think that that's all this is now, just rumors and speculation, or if you think this is a real possibility.

JOHN DEAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Boris, it was a little bit more than a rumor, we learned, historically, on Nixon's behalf during Watergate. What he did is he had his staff check out with the Department of Justice, the Office of Legal Counsel, if he could pardon himself. The answer he got back was not the one he wanted to hear because they told him, no, he could not, that no man could pardon himself, could be a judge in his own case.

So they put a memo in the file, and he actually talked about how the fact if he went to prison that Gandhi had done great writing in prison, maybe he could get a great book out of himself if he went to prison.

SANCHEZ: That's quite funny. What do you make of President Trump sort of entertaining this idea? Is it something you think he may pursue seriously? There are other speculative scenarios at play too.

DEAN: I think, you know, we've heard a little from Trump on this. He's tweeted on it a couple times. He said once that he could self-pardon, that he had been advised by scholars. Well, of course, scholars are split on the issue, and they say only the Supreme Court can resolve the issue. But Trump has also said, well, I don't need to pardon myself because I've done nothing wrong. So, if he has that frame of mind, he won't test the issue in the near future.

SANCHEZ: Yes. I guess that's my next question, right, the insinuation, if you're going to pardon yourself, is that you've done something illegal, right? Could you think of anything the president would need to pre-pardon himself from?

DEAN: I can think of a lot of things he might need to pardon himself, starting with obstruction of justice, starting with some false statements that he has made. He's probably got a history of tax and fraud and tax violations that would be -- it's going to chase him for a long time.

I think there's a lot of things he would like to get rid of and not have federal jeopardy. He's also, of course, got a state case chasing him in the -- in New York City, Cy Vance, the D.A., has been looking at his tax returns and litigating and getting his tax returns. So I think there's a lot of things. He can't get rid of that with a pardon. He can get rid of federal cases with a pardon. And whether he'll do it or not, as I say, he might put one in his pocket, just write one to himself, and then if he -- not announce it and then if he ever is indicted in a federal case, to pull it out and say, listen, I pardoned myself. That will tie it up in the courts for years. So, it could be a nice insurance policy if he decides just to quietly do it.

SANCHEZ: So, another one of these speculative scenarios that has been put out there involves President Trump resigning and handing the keys over temporarily to a potential President Mike Pence and then having Pence pardon him. Some would argue that former President Ford's decision to pardon Nixon is why he ended up serving just one term. I'm curious if we are going to enter this speculative realm, what you would think of the politics of this moment if 70 million people voted for Trump in this last election, politically, that's a hefty consideration, is it not?

DEAN: Yes, it is. You know, I don't know how Pence is -- would play it if the president asked him to temporarily serve as president for the purpose of pardoning him. It's potentially an obstruction of justice. So he might well ask Trump to turn around and pardon him and really make it foul, because that's exactly what the pardon would be.

And you're correct, that Gerald Ford did lose the -- his bid for a full term in the office. He lost it because of his pardon. They say that 1 percent that was so annoyed. And, interestingly, the first wave thought he had done the right thing, and by getting rid of the nightmare. The second wave has come -- is just starting to come now and saying, the reason we have a Donald Trump is because of the pardon by Ford that made the conduct permissible for a president. And so, maybe it's time to stop that.

SANCHEZ: That's quite the historical connection there.

Very quickly on the transition, on one hand, the president is allowing the formal transition process to take place with Joe Biden, allowing the GSA to provide the Biden transition team with the resources that it needs to take power. On the other hand, he's tweeting all sorts of nonsense. Here is an example. Biden can only enter the White House as president if he can prove that his ridiculous 80 million votes were not fraudulently or illegally obtained.

[17:25:06]

I'm curious to get your perspective to this sort of dichotomy that we're witnessing with President Trump, this contradiction.

DEAN: Well, what's going to happen under the Constitution is at noon on January 20th, Donald Trump is no longer president. End of story. He has to have electoral votes or whoever does have electoral votes is then the president. If it's not resolved for some reason, which is not likely, that would make the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, the acting president until the matter was

resolved. So, Donald Trump has nothing to say about when his term ends or when Biden or whoever is the next president begins. That happens under the Constitution. That's going to happen out -- so he better get the moving van up before noon on the 20th because his term is over.

SANCHEZ: Certainly, the moving vans, moving Richard Nixon out, an image we will never forget as those crowds gathered outside the White House. John Dean, thank you very much for sharing a part of your weekend with us.

DEAN: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Speaking of the Biden transition team, they are pushing full speed ahead, despite President Trump's lies and baseless attacks on the election. Monday, President-elect Biden will receive his first presidential daily briefing, and he's expected to announce even more cabinet picks next week.

Our M.J. Lee has been following the Biden transition for us. M.J., what can we expect in the coming days?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Boris. Well, it has been a relatively quiet couple of days here in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where the president-elect has been spending his Thanksgiving weekend, skipping his usual tradition of traveling to Nantucket to have a bigger family gathering. But you're absolutely right, that next week is expected to be quite busy.

On Monday, as you mentioned, he is planning to receive his first presidential daily briefing. This is a very critical, classified briefing, that has basically been on hold for a couple of weeks until the GSA could formally ascertain that he was, in fact, the winner of this election. And then some point later this week as well, he is expected to announce some members of his economic team.

Now, one of those people, even though we don't quite know exactly which positions will be announced, one of those people could be federal -- former Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen, who is expected to be named Joe Biden's treasury secretary.

Now, you'll also recall, Boris, that earlier this week, Biden did announce some members of his national security team, but there were some omissions, like who he is going to name as CIA director or the defense secretary. And our reporting is that some of the top names that are being discussed to be Biden's defense secretary include Michelle Flournoy, veteran Pentagon official Jeh Johnson, who is the former Homeland Security secretary under Obama, as well as Senator Tammy Duckworth.

So, again, a quiet weekend here but we do expect things to ramp back up this coming week. Boris?

SANCHEZ: And we know you'll be watching it for us. M.J. Lee live from Delaware, thank you so much. Coming up, Iran threatening revenge after the mastermind behind its nuclear program is assassinated in an ambush. Could we see a confrontation in the final weeks of Trump's presidency? We'll ask his former national security adviser, John Bolton, next.

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(17:32:58]

SANCHEZ: Iran is vowing revenge after the killing of a top scientist who was the mastermind behind its nuclear program for decades.

Iran says that scientist was assassinated in an ambush attack with explosives and gunfire. And they are pointing the finger directly at Israel.

An Israeli official says they have no idea who killed the scientist.

U.S. officials, meantime, are staying quiet, even as protests erupt in the streets of Tehran, burning pictures of President-Elect Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The attack comes just weeks after a nuclear watchdog said that Iran now has 12 times the amount of enriched uranium that is permitted under the 2015 nuclear deal.

You might recall President Trump withdrew the United States from the JCPOA, a move that critics said emboldened Iran to punt on its obligations.

Joining us now is former Trump national security advisor and a former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton. He's also the author of the book, "The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir."

Ambassador Bolton, thank you for taking time out of your weekend to chat with us.

We obviously don't have all the answers or details yet. But when you look at those images and you read these initial reports, what do you think happened with this attack?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR & FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. & AUTHOR: Well, obviously, Fakhrizadeh was the target and was assassinated. We don't know by whom. You can speculate about it.

But, look, he wasn't simply the head of Iran's nuclear program. He was the head of Iran's nuclear weapons program, dating back 20 years if not more, when he was the head of what was then code named the Ahmad Program, a program that Iran has consistently denied.

So, Fakhrizadeh was at the center of Iran's continuing effort to get nuclear weapons.

SANCHEZ: And is there any indication in your eyes that the United States may have had knowledge that this was going to happen or potentially a role in this operation?

[17:35:00]

BOLTON: Well, I'm happy to say I don't know one way or the other. I've been out of government long enough that I don't know. And you know, we'll have to wait and see what becomes public.

SANCHEZ: Now, right now, Iran is vowing to retaliate. What do you imagine that might look like?

BOLTON: Well, I don't think they know. I mean, I think they have experienced some real setbacks over the past year.

Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds force of the Revolutionary Guards, killed. They've had some of their key nuclear and ballistic missile facilities the subject of attacks.

Showing that whoever is behind the attacks can get in pretty much anywhere they want. Iran -- so, they're in very difficult shape, I think.

SANCHEZ: And I mean, your views on Iran, Ambassador, are very well documented. I'm curious about this perspective that Iran was emboldened when Trump left the JCPOA.

Do you believe that this enhanced enrichment of uranium, do you believe that these steps that they're taking would have happened anyway with or without the Trump administration leaving the nuclear agreement?

BOLTON: I think they were probably happening anyway, even under the deal.

You know, when the IAEA reports something, by definition, it only reports what it knows.

And what it knows is what basically Iran has declared to it or that it can get access to when the IAEA receives information from other sources like the United States.

There has never been an indication that Iran has made a strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons.

In fact, the whole deal, U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231, is based on the fundamental lie that Iran gave up -- that never had a nuclear weapons program. It's simply not true.

So, what they have been doing, whether we can detect it or not, I think this is all a matter for debate and speculation.

But I think Iran, through its ballistic missile program, as well as its uranium enrichment activities, clearly is still seeking a nuclear weapon and they were even while the deal was in effect.

SANCHEZ: So, would you consider this operation, then, a success, a step forward in deterring Iran from pursuing a nuclear weapon? BOLTON: Well, I think it's a partial step.

I don't think fundamentally, while the regime that's there now, has been there since 1979, while these fanatics are still ruling the country, I don't think you can count on anything they say about giving up their pursuit of nuclear weapons.

When that regime's gone, different Iranian government is a different story.

SANCHEZ: I do want to ask you about the future and any potential advice you might have for President-Elect Joe Biden.

But, first, I want to ask you about a specific part of your book, "The Room Where It Happened."

You describe how you wanted President Trump to take a more hardline approach on Iran. You even said that it was irrational for him to not attack Iran after it downed an American surveillance drone.

There are reports that Trump was considering taking some military action in Iran, just a few weeks ago. Ultimately, he was talked out of it.

But if you were still national security advisor, what would you counsel the president to do in this situation, if he's leaving office in some 50-odd days.

BOLTON: Well, in any given situation, you have to ask if the U.S. is pursuing a strategic plan to eliminate Iran's nuclear weapons, to make sure that they don't have that capability.

And sad to say, Donald Trump has never pursued a strategic plan on Iran or much of anything else as far as I can tell.

So, the question that he raised that was reported in the press, possibly, about attacking the Iran -- Iran's centrifuge center, sounded to me like the same way he would raise questions on a number of other issues.

It's just the thought that crossed his mind at that particular time, not linked to a strategy.

So, no, I don't believe in random actions that don't have a beginning, a middle, and an end pointing toward some objective.

SANCHEZ: I can say that I've spoken to people close to the president who concur with your assessment, that often he sort of spitballs ideas and gages the reaction of folks in the room before deciding on something.

I want to move on to, as we noted before, the future.

What would you say to the incoming Biden administration when it comes to dealing with Iran and juggling deterring a nuclear weapons program and some form of engagement that can get there without war? BOLTON: Well, I think a lot of people have a fantasy about the nature

of the regime in Iran. And I think that's what they were pursuing when they signed the deal in 2015. I think it's a mistake to go back to that fantasy now.

[17:40:03]

And I think that the U.S. has to consider the needs and the concerns of their key allies in the region, the people who are right there faced with Iran's continuing support for terrorism, its belligerent conventional military activities, as well as its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Our allies, like Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, which have now exchanged full diplomatic recognition, this is not a hypothetical to them.

For Israel, this is existential. A former Israeli prime minister, Sharon, once described the threat from Iran as the threat of a nuclear holocaust, and I think we need to take that seriously.

Until the regime in Iran is gone and replaced by a new regime that reflects the will of its people, it will remain a threat, not a solution.

SANCHEZ: Sir, I have a dozen more questions for you but, unfortunately, we're all out of time. So, we have to leave it there.

Former national security advisor and ambassador, John Bolton, thank you so much for the time, sir.

BOLTON: Thank you for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Small businesses are hoping for a much-needed boost this holiday weekend. Are they getting it? We're going to take you shopping, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:25]

SANCHEZ: It's Small Business Saturday, and many owners are hoping for a much-needed boost in sales as the holiday shopping season begins.

But this year, many small retailers are struggling after eight months of pandemic-induced economic slumps.

I want to bring in CNN's Natasha Chen, in Lawrenceville, Georgia, just outside Atlanta.

Natasha, what are you hearing from small business owners there?

NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, we're seeing that a lot of them just barely made it this year. Now, Small Business Saturday really started as a campaign about 10

years ago. But we're noticing that people in the community truly recognize this is more critical than it ever has been, to shop local.

When you walk around to these shops in Lawrenceville here, there's a theme similar to probably what's going on in towns across the country wherever you live.

There are loyal customers who get it this time, who get how critical it is this holiday season to help these small businesses be healthy enough to go into 2021.

Here is a comic bookstore, called Galactic Quest, talking to us about what they've seen from their customers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNA PHILIP, EMPLOYEE, GALACTIC QUEST COMIC BOOK STORE: The thing about, you know, catering to a bunch of people who love superheroes is they recognize that it takes a village, it takes a group of people to come together and work towards a common cause.

And they really rallied around us and helped us stay afloat.

Yesterday, we had a Dungeons & Dragons book that got released. And their moms are coming in and saying my son said not to get this from Amazon, and to come here and buy it here.

I'm like, you're the guys that make the magic happen, so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHEN: That kind of gratitude is what we're hearing from a lot of small business owners.

Many of them who say they're only here and still open because of assistance from PPP loans from the federal -- the federal government really coming through.

And they say that our elected leaders really need to come through with more aid if they're going to survive.

They're also very worried about the current surge in cases.

One restaurant owner here telling me that, if there are another set of restrictions coming, if there's another lockdown coming, he's not sure how many small businesses can survive that --- Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yes. And you can hear the emotion there in Anna's voice. The concern is real, and it is merited.

Natasha Chen, reporting from just outside Atlanta, thank you so much.

It's hard to imagine two more different places than a prison and a prep school. But on the season premiere of "THIS IS LIFE," Lisa Ling shows us how these two unlikely worlds collide. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every man in blue here has been told the same thing: Be a man, be a man, be a man. We're taught this through so much multi-generational dysfunction.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dad beat into me not to cry. Grown man hitting a kid. Violence was the answer to everything at that time.

As I look at the youth and I'm like, you guys should not be learning that kind of lesson. You guys don't need that.

It took coming to prison for me to understand a man is loving. A man is understanding. A man treasures his family and friends. A man is selfless.

These are the things that you should be taught. We weren't. So now I teach them to you today.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: That is powerful.

[17:48:47]

Catch back-to-back episodes of "THIS IS LIFE," tomorrow night at 9:00 and 10:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:53:22]

SANCHEZ: This year's "CNN HEROES: AN ALL-STAR TRIBUTE" will be a special celebration of the heroic efforts of those who stood up to do more when faced with COVID-19 and racial injustice.

It's been a challenging year. But there have been moments of resilience, hope, joy and inspiration.

Here is one of the year's most inspiring moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST (voice-over): Hans Christian Anderson wrote, "Where words fail, music speaks."

(SINGING)

COOPER: In the early days of the pandemic, we didn't have the right words or know the right way to be together. But we had songs that filled the air.

In Florence, people sang the Italian national anthem.

(SINGING)

COOPER: In Chicago, they countered the sorrow and loss with "Living on a Prayer."

(SINGING)

COOPER: In Dallas, they made sure their neighbors knew they could lean on me.

(SINGING)

(CHEERING)

COOPER: In Boston, they belted out "Sweet Caroline."

(SINGING)

COOPER: And a Broadway legend, Brian Stokes Mitchell, serenaded us with "The Impossible Dream" from his balcony.

(SINGING)

COOPER: All across the world, people found a way to sing and spread hope and offer thanks and celebrate life. They posted on social media.

(SINGING)

[17:55:03]

COOPER: Communities belted out hits from balconies and neighbors brought their musical skills to the streets.

All over the world, we found a way to lift each other up and connect through the power of music.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Encore!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Incredibly inspiring. I would have been singing from my balcony, but I don't think that would have inspired anybody. I probably would have been yelled at.

That does it for me. I'm Boris Sanchez, in for Ana Cabrera. Thank you so much for joining us. I'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

My colleague, Jessica Dean, is going to pick up our coverage after a quick break.

Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)