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Iranian President Accuses Israel of Killing Top Nuclear Scientist; U.S. Tops 13 Million Coronavirus Cases; Europe Assessing Measures to Avoid Third Wave; Trump Losses Pile Up as Court Sinks Election Lawsuit; Republicans Descend on Georgia in Effort to Hold Senate; Los Angeles County Issues New Three-Week Stay-at-Home Order. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired November 28, 2020 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello, welcome to our viewers in the USA and all around the world, I'm Michael, Holmes you are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Coming up on the program, new details about the killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist. How the country is reacting.
And what does this mean for the Biden administration?
We are live for you in Tehran.
Also, the latest setback in Trump's efforts to overturn the election results, where he may go from here.
One expert says the rate the coronavirus deaths could double within the next 10 days. I speak to a doctor on the front lines.
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HOLMES: Welcome everyone.
Iran's president now accusing Israel of killing one of the nation's top nuclear scientists. President Hassan Rouhani said that the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was at the hands of terrorists, but he says, this death will not deter the nation's scientists from carrying on their work.
Iranian state media says that he was assassinated Friday in an ambush, outside of Tehran. So far, Israel remaining silent about his killing. But as CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports, they have had him in their sights for years.
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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Iran's most prominent nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, lived largely in the shadows. The force behind Iran's nuclear weapons program, gunned down Friday, in an apparent assassination, according to state media. He was traveling in the city of Absard, east of Tehran when the reports say his car was targeted by gunfire and a vehicle explosion. Iran's defense ministry say that he and his bodyguards were gravely wounded, succumbing to their injuries at the hospital a short time later.
Believed to be aged 59, he is said to have headed the research center of new technology in the country's elite Revolutionary Guard. U.S. and Israeli intelligence services say he was the mastermind behind Project AMAD, a decade-long secret program to design an atomic warhead.
That effort was scrubbed in 2003. But it's claimed he continued the research, a reference made by the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a 2018 press conference.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: Remember that name, Fakhrizadeh. So here is his directive, right here. He says, the general aim is to announce the closure of the Project AMAD.
[02:05:00]
NETANYAHU: But then he adds "Special activities" -- you know what that is -- "will be carried out under the title of scientific knowhow development."
WALSH (voice-over): The Israeli government had no comment on the killing. But Iran has long blamed Israel's intelligence service for the assassinations of several of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh's colleagues, going back decades. Theories are emerging as to what they have to gain from his death, right now.
VALI NASR, AUTHOR AND DEAN OF JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF ADVANCED INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: It is a twofold effect. One is slowing down the program and the other, which is something the prime minister Netanyahu would want, is to get Iran to do something that would make it impossible for the United States to engage Iran after January 20th.
WALSH (voice-over): Iran has long denied they plan to weaponize nuclear energy, claiming that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was merely an academic. For years, denying the IAEA's request to interview him.
A martyr for Iran, they vow revenge for the killing. Chief of staff of Iran's armed forces warns of, quote, "severe revenge" against the killers.
Iran's foreign minister tweeting, "Terrorists murdered an eminent Iranian scientist today. This cowardice -- with serious indications of an Israeli role -- shows desperate warmongering of perpetrators. Iran calls on the international community -- and especially the E.U. -- to end their shameful double standards and condemn this act of terror."
But the death of the scientist is about more than one man, aimed at damaging Iran's accelerating nuclear program and, above all, limiting the options for President-Elect Joe Biden to reopen diplomacy with Iran; namely, the 2015 nuclear deal so near to broken by the past months -- Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, London.
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HOLMES: For the latest development, CNN journalist Ramin Mostaghim is in Tehran. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is in Istanbul.
Firstly, Ramin, following the story in Iran, as we heard there, the foreign minister spoke earlier on Friday, now President Rouhani.
What is your read on what the messaging is?
RAMIN MOSTAGHIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, I think the officials, the top officials here, are trying to save face and explain to the people and to their domestic audience that there is no letup for the nuclear technology advancement and development and missile projects.
While they are adding a list of their martyrs for the sake of nuclear technology and for national security. So, from the official angle, there is no letup. They will go on as they have been for the past two decades. And, from their angle, the assassination of the nuclear scientist, as it started more than a decade ago, so it's not a new case and it won't be the last one from their angle.
HOLMES: To that point, will this be seen as, by some as a failure of domestic intelligence, given that it is the latest in a series of incidents on Iranian soil?
MOSTAGHIM: Yes. From the hardliner angles, for those who call themselves principalists or adherent to the foundation of the revolution, it is a failure and they call then for this severe revenge and they say, why in the daylight are top officials connected to the nuclear scientist is assassinated and there is nothing to do with that?
They are condemning their government for being unable to do anything seriously. At the same time, it shows that people here, the people in the streets, are just wondering what should happen next. Diplomacy, also, is at stake here and it's another blow to the diplomacy of the President Biden here.
HOLMES: Good to have you there, Ramin Mostaghim in Tehran, appreciate that.
Let's bring in Jomana Karadsheh, tracking all the regional reaction, joining us from Istanbul.
What are you hearing?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michael, as you would expect, the first reaction we hear is from some of Iran's allies in the region, some Iraqi political parties, condemning this, most notably, Lebanon's Hezbollah, the second in command there condemning this.
Importantly, saying it is up to Iran to decide how it will retaliate, how it will react. For the most part, Michael, there is silence coming from this region. As you can imagine, this is a Middle East that is on edge right now, waiting to see what Iran will do.
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KARADSHEH: You have some here who believe that Iran is, really, in no position to try and take this further, to try and widen this into a bigger conflict by retaliating.
If you look at what is going on domestically, in Iran, it is under a lot of pressure, this crushing U.S. sanction and one of the worst COVID outbreaks in this region. You have that school of thought there.
But others, who believe, Iran can really not afford to sit back and not retaliate. This was a huge embarrassment, as you mentioned there discussing it, this was a strike at the heart of its security apparatus, its intelligence, so close to the capital, one of the most secure individuals.
This was clearly a complex operation with some sort of surveillance that had been going on, perhaps. So it would have to save face, perhaps.
The question is, how?
Some would say, will it retaliate by striking Israeli or U.S. interests in this region?
Is it going to be using any of its proxies in this region?
Is it going to be retaliating against one of the U.S. or Israel's allies in this region?
One country, Michael, that would really be on edge right now, a country you and I know quite well, is Iraq. They are very concerned about the final days of the Trump administration, any move against Iran and what that would mean for Iraq.
We are pretty much ending the year as we started, following the killing of Qasem Soleimani in Iraq. That country found itself in the midst of a conflict between the U.S. and Iran, after years of being a proxy battlefield. So a lot of concern and, I think, the ball is in Tehran's court. Everyone is waiting to see what they do next.
HOLMES: Exactly. Great analysis. Good to see you, Jomana Karadsheh in Istanbul.
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HOLMES: Trita Parsi is the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, in order of losing an enemy (ph). He joins me now from Washington.
Great to have your expertise on this.
What do the Israelis achieve if, indeed, Israel was behind this, as the Iranians suggests?
It would be in the ninth or 10th Iranian scientist assassinated over the years. What will be the point?
TRITA PARSI, QUINCY INSTITUTE FOR RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT: I guess, for the Israelis, certainly for Bibi Netanyahu, I think he sees this as a win-win. If this assassination sparks Iranian retaliation that leads to war, Netanyahu will have achieved the war he is looking for for more than 10 years.
If it does not, even at that point, the Israelis achieved quite a lot, because it will sour the atmosphere and set back any likelihood of the Biden administration being able to kickstart negotiations with Iran over the nuclear issue.
It is something that Netanyahu, categorically, objects. He does not want to see any negotiations between the U.S. and Iran. He does not want to see any improvement of relations between the Americans and Iran.
HOLMES: How embarrassing is this for Iran?
Their top and supposedly well protected nuclear expert, taken out inside of the country. Of course, this comes after reports of news a few weeks back that Israel assassinated Al Qaeda's number 2 in the country and January 3rd is the anniversary of the killing of Soleimani.
PARSI: It is, without a doubt, embarrassing. It is embarrassing, mindful of the fact that the IRGC intelligence has been in charge of a lot of these different things and they're, clearly, not fit for this job. They have not been able to secure their borders. There are terrorist attacks taking place inside of the country, even highly protected targets have been assassinated.
What is interesting is that, for the first time in a long time, there is now the beginning of the debate about the competence and the role of the IRGC intelligence.
HOLMES: Speak again to the complications for Joe Biden, who will be president on January 20th.
How likely is it that the assassination will harden Iran's position and complicate the Biden team's attempts to revive diplomacy?
Of course, that would be in Benjamin Netanyahu's interest as well.
PARSI: It is tremendously likely it will harden the Iranian position. But there are a few things that both Europe and the United States can do at this point.
If Europe and if the Biden team comes out and condemns this, I think there may be a better likelihood for diplomacy to take place later on.
But if they are silent, from the Biden team, from Europe, then, unfortunately, I think the winning argument in Iran will be that the only reason why these assassinations continue to take place is because Iranians have not retaliated hard enough for previous attacks against it.
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PARSI: In order to prevent future attacks, Iranians need to hit back hard. Well, if Iranians do that, then we will likely see a very dangerous escalation in the region, which, in turn, will make it unlikely for diplomacy to get started again.
HOLMES: Absolutely. Briefly and to that point, Donald Trump has given all sorts of signals that he is itching to strike at Iran.
What are the risks in a lame duck period that the urge remains strong?
PARSI: I don't know if he himself has that urge but clearly, Pompeo, Elliott Abrams and those within the administration seem to have that urge. Then they are cheered on by Netanyahu, who has been pushing the United States to go to war with Iran for some time.
What I think is quite important here is that, if Israel was behind it, it does not seem likely that the Israelis conducted this attack without some form of a green light from Trump.
In addition to that, they probably also perceived Biden to not have the political will to make it costly for Israel to do something like this and, as a result, went ahead and did so.
It may be necessary for Biden to show the Israelis that there will be a cost for them in this if they engage in such destabilizing activities for the purpose of undermining Biden's ability to engage Iran in diplomacy.
HOLMES: Always good to get you on and get your experience. Trita, thank you so, much.
PARSI: Thank you for having me.
HOLMES: We will take a quick break on the program, when we come back, some Americans are not letting a pandemic get in the way of a good deal. How they are ignoring the best advice of experts and carrying on with holiday shopping and travel.
Also, still to come, U.S. vaccine distribution plans are set to be decided next week. We will tell you who is likely to get the first doses once the drug gets the green light. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: Warnings to stay home and not travel have been going unheeded by many Americans this Thanksgiving Day weekend. Black Friday shoppers did not pack stores as much as in years past. But as you can see from the crowds at this shopping mall in Texas,
many still did choose to come out in person. Air travel has increased so much that some carriers can't even keep up with de manned. Delta had to cancel 20 percent of its flights this week because it did not have enough staff.
Now health experts are concerned that all of this can lead to a surge, on top of the one we are already seeing. The U.S. surpassed 13 million confirmed cases on Friday, after adding 1 million infections in just six days. More than 264,000 Americans have now died since the pandemic began.
Things are expected to get worse in the coming weeks. Alexandra Field with that.
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ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The season usually filled with cheer is here, but the pain across the country only deepening.
DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: I expect that the daily death rate will double in the next 10 days. So, we will be seeing close to 4,000 deaths a day.
FIELD (voice-over): More than 90,000 Americans spent Thanksgiving in a hospital bed, another record-setting day for the 17th day.
DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Hospitals are full already. ICUs are full. In places like El Paso, we have been talking about accessing military hospitals. In other parts of the country, we're standing up field hospitals.
FIELD (voice-over): Deaths this week over at their highest level since May or forecasted to climbed by 60,000 in the next three weeks and health officials continue to warn about the holiday surge upon a surge.
DR. AMY COMPTON-PHILLIPS, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: If you were with your family yesterday, stay home for the next couple of weeks while you make sure that you observe quarantine.
FIELD (voice-over): The CDC recommended people stay home for the holiday last week. Since then, around 6.5 million have passed through security at America's airports. More than a million of them flew on the day before Thanksgiving. That's record travel during the pandemic. But the busiest travel day is still to come, expected on Sunday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What I can say for travel is that there really is no zero risk at the moment.
FIELD (voice-over): The pandemic hasn't put an end to Black Friday either. Deal hunters still lining up at some stores.
But this Thanksgiving weekend won't be all about football. 11 college football games canceled or postponed this week because of COVID. Positive tests also reported in the pros, including within the Browns, the Falcons, the Broncos and Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson.
The race toward a vaccine lately fueling more optimism but now some confusion. A dosing mishap in AstraZeneca's trial gave a small group of study subjects less dosage but it was more effective than the planned dose, leading to broader questions about their trial.
But without any vaccines available yet, more places keep adding new restrictions. In Texas, Houston's mayor is eyeing a curfew.
MAYOR SYLVESTER TURNER (D-TX), HOUSTON: Basically, we're going to look at people's behavior. We're going to look at the degree of community spread. Now, the positivity rate continues to go up, I don't take anything off the table.
FIELD (voice-over): But in Florida, where they are reporting 6,000 new cases a day, a decision from Republican governor Ron DeSantis to extend an order that rolls back virtually every COVID-related mandate.
FIELD: On the vaccine front, we learned that CDC advisers will meet next week, Tuesday, December 1st, to vote on who will get the first doses of the vaccine. Draft recommendations suggested that the early doses go to health care workers.
Others in the initial group could include people who are likely to get the disease, to spread it and to suffer the most severe consequences of it, such as nursing home residents.
But no one will get any vaccine until it has received the emergency use authorization from the FDA -- in New York, Alexandra Field, CNN.
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HOLMES: Dr. Bradley Collins is an associate professor of medicine at Brown University, joining me from Providence, Rhode Island, only finishing a shift a few hours ago.
Doctor, first of all, many Americans, of course, spending this weekend traveling back from Thanksgiving gatherings. Dr. Jonathan Reiner on CNN, earlier, projected that the death rate could double in the next 10 days.
What do you see possible or likely, unfolding over the next few weeks?
DR. BRADLEY COLLINS, BROWN UNIVERSITY: Yes, I think he may be right. I think people are having a big struggle between seeing their family and staying at home. I think a lot of people think it won't happen to them.
And then, that kind of behavior, it just takes one person to get an entire family sick. So it is difficult and they've had conversations with people to say they have aging parents or grandparents they may not see for the next Thanksgiving. And so they are taking the chance. It's just tough decisions to make.
HOLMES: How stretched are facilities where you are but what you also hear?
I'm talking of supplies, beds, qualified staff?
COLLINS: Yes, I think we are stretched everywhere. Early on, there were a lot of people who were afraid to come to the hospital because they did not want to catch the virus. So they stayed at home with their chest pain or their pneumonias, which was not good, necessarily.
But early on, it seemed like all routine care was just COVID patients. Since the summer, people are more comfortable coming into the hospital, we're taking care of regular medical patient as well as this new surge in COVID patients.
So it is quite difficult here in Rhode Island. And just next week, we will open a field hospital in a local convention center just to take some strain off of the actual hospitals themselves.
HOLMES: I was reading even suicide rates, among health care workers, are growing.
Is there any way you can convey to people what it is like to see what you see and the impact it has on health care workers?
COLLINS: Yes, it is really tough. I think there is a lot of frustration especially because people cannot come in and visit and see their loved ones. Oftentimes we are the ones with them when no one else can be around.
And luckily, we have some therapies that are helping. But early on, just being the only person in the room to hold someone's hand can take a toll.
HOLMES: You've been doing this a while, how are you doing?
Have you seen anything like this?
COLLINS: I've never have seen anything like this. I've been practicing almost 20 years and it was a little similar during the H1N1 epidemic when, along the East Coast, we were pretty full. But we didn't need to call in extra people like we've been doing now, just seeing these huge volumes.
Then, the other part of the problem is that you don't want to send someone to a nursing home or someplace that is an in between, because if you send one to a nursing home with COVID, you will get 10 people back.
So it's hard to discharge some people, which causes it to back up through the hospital and using up a lot of the beds and then you end up working in the emergency rooms so you get less emergency room beds. So it really can take its toll.
HOLMES: I can only imagine. Just yesterday, the president said we're rounding the corner again.
When you see what you see, what would you say to people?
COLLINS: I wish there was some way to make everyone safe to spend a few days with us. It is really hard to, number one, take care of people who are extremely sick on a day-to-day basis.
But again, I am used to walking into a room, giving someone a big smile, trying to reassure them. And with my new respirator, I feel like I look like Darth Vader. I have goggles on and it takes some of the humanistic parts of what we do out of it.
Sometimes, people are hard of hearing. So you yell through these respirators and it can be really difficult. So we see it. It's not anything that is fake, it's absolutely real. It is heartbreaking when we lose these people and it's a joy when we discharge them home to get them home. Yes.
HOLMES: Dr. Bradley Collins, I really appreciate you coming on, value what you do. And thank you for humanizing this for people. I think people who are not directly contacting with this illness don't really get it sometimes. It's important to hear stories like yours, thank you so much.
COLLINS: So very welcome, thank you for having me.
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HOLMES: Let's take a look at how Europe is handling the pandemic. Infection seems to be slowing in some countries that were running low on ICU beds a few weeks ago. A sign strict measures appear to be paying off. But now the region is trying to avoid a third wave at all costs. CNN's Melissa Bell takes a look.
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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in France, improving figures, once again, a positivity rate below 12 percent, after a high of around 20 percent. And yet, although some businesses open in France this weekend, a partial lockdown that will remain in place until December 15th, when things will be reassessed.
If the figures are at a certain target level, then, the partial lockdown will be lifted.
Similarly, in England, there will be a reassessment in mid December as a result of the country coming out of the partial lockdown and into a tiered system with much of the country in the second tier.
Has it gone far enough?
That is what authorities are looking, at as they look towards what is necessary restrictions. Similarly, in Germany, nationwide, the country looking at extending
the partial lockdown that is in place. Although, there will be a relaxing of it over the Christmas period, Berlin is saying that they will not be relaxing the measures there, simply because its figures are too high.
Italy, as well, with the prime minister there suggesting that some of those areas that are red zones, where the toughest restrictions are in place, could be moving into lower tiers. Orange colors, for instance, with lesser restrictions.
So Europe really looking at how it will come out of these various lockdowns. Gradually, with all eyes very much on avoiding a third wave -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
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HOLMES: Another day, another big legal rejection for President Trump. How his latest effort to unlose the election came crashing down in court. We will be right back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I am Michael Holmes, appreciate your company.
Back to the tense situation developing in the Middle East after the killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist. The president of Iran is blaming Israel for the nuclear scientist's death, saying it was an act of terror.
Israel has remained quiet on the matter so far. According to state media, the scientist was assassinated in an ambush, just outside of Tehran, on Friday. Iran's ambassador to the United Nations is demanding the Security Council condemn the killing. CNN's Alex Marquardt with more.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Iran has now accused Israel of being behind the assassination of its top nuclear scientist. This does have all the hallmarks of an Israeli attack and this scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was certainly someone that Israel was after.
He was specifically called out by Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, back in a speech in 2018. He was, simply, the most prominent nuclear scientist in Iran. He was involved since the early days in Iran's nuclear military program and, after that officially ended, he was still senior in the Revolutionary Guard and still believed to be involved in the ongoing nuclear program.
Now there is no denial or confirmation from Israel, which is fairly standard practice from them in this kind of situation. Here in Washington, the U.S. government is being very quiet.
One U.S. official told CNN, they are watching closely and the last thing we need right now is a conflict with Iran.
This attack was a brazen assassination. One former U.S. senior intelligence official telling me, it was conducted with surgical precision. This happened in broad daylight. The message here, very clear: we will find your most senior people and we will take them out.
How much of a deterrent this is remains to be seen. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was on a similar level to Qasem Soleimani, who was the commander of the Quds Force killed in January in a U.S. drone strike in Iraq. Now two very senior figures, killed within a year. Iran will feel pressure to respond, right as a new U.S. administration is coming in.
This will certainly complicate things for the future President Biden. Biden is looking to reengage with Iran. He wants to get the U.S. back into the Iranian nuclear deal. He wants to negotiate with Iran again.
Israel, meanwhile, which was had a major booster in President Trump and will have cooler relations with President Biden, knows that time is running out. So this could complicate the Israeli relationship with Biden as well.
Iran is vowing revenge for these killings. There are a lot of U.S. targets in the region. Someone who is aligned with President-Elect Biden, the former CIA director, John Brennan, under President Obama, he tweeted, "This was a criminal act and highly reckless," urging Iranian leaders to wait for Biden to become president.
That is something that they may very well do; we will have to see -- Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: Now as we just heard from Alex, the killing of Iran's top nuclear scientist comes at a critical time for the U.S. There are only 53 days left in the Trump administration and, in January, President- Elect Joe Biden will be sworn in. He is planning on taking a much different approach to Iran and the Middle East.
I asked CNN military and diplomatic analyst, John Kirby, how badly the killing complicates things.
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ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET.), CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: We do not know who's done this, there's been no attribution. Certainly this is an individual that's been on the Israelis' minds for a long time and he did have significant responsibilities inside of the Iranian nuclear weapons program. But doing it now, you kind of wonder if the Israelis were responsible,
if this wasn't a bit of their mindfulness of the clock. You have 50 some days before a new president, a new president who is likely going to take a different approach to issues in the Middle East and probably want to get the United States back into the Iranian deal.
So if this is something you want and you maybe want to get done before Biden comes in. The other thing about this, it has been very quiet on the Trump administration front and you have to wonder, regardless of how much knowledge they had beforehand, President Trump and his team, they, too, are not making too much of a big deal about this, because, to a degree, this closes down potential diplomatic space for the incoming president, for President Biden.
It removes some opportunities for him to, perhaps, pursue diplomacy, particularly if the Iranians respond in an aggressive way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now to the newest setback in President Trump's scheme to overturn the election results.
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HOLMES: A federal appeals court, in Pennsylvania, has delivered another withering blow, calling the campaign's effort, quote, "without merit." CNN's Jessica Schneider, with the details.
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JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: This is just the latest loss in what has been a string of more than 2 dozen lawsuits for the Trump campaign's legal team, all spearheaded by Rudy Giuliani.
Friday's loss in the federal appeals court came from a panel of three judges. One of whom, appointed by President Trump. It is circuit Judge Stephanos Bibas, who wrote the opinion that stated, plainly, "The campaign's claims have no merit. The number of ballots it specifically challenges is far smaller than the roughly 81,000 vote margin of victory.
"And it never claims fraud or that any votes were cast by illegal voters."
Now this is the exact sentiment that we've heard from other judges, both state and federal. And they repeatedly issued opinions that drill in on the fact that the Trump campaign has put forward no proof of widespread fraud and that, what they are asking for, to block certification and throw out votes, is really just too drastic for any courts to grant.
Nevertheless, the Trump campaign is vowing to, once, again appeal this time to the Supreme Court. All indications are that the Supreme Court wants to stay out of this fight.
In fact, there are several petitions pending before the nine justices, right now, challenging the ballots that were received in Pennsylvania after 8:00 pm on November 3rd. The Supreme Court, at this point, not acting on that. There is every indication that they will not take up this latest appeal out of Pennsylvania, especially since the vote has already been certified for Joe Biden there -- Jessica Schneider, CNN, Washington.
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HOLMES: President-Elect Joe Biden's campaign spokesman, saying this about the court decision.
Quote, "This election is over. And Donald Trump lost, both in Pennsylvania and nationally. Desperate and embarrassingly meritless lawsuits like this one will continue to fail and will not change the fact that Joe Biden will be sworn in as president on January 2021."
I'm Michael Holmes. If you are an international viewer, "MARKETPLACE AFRICA" starts after the break. If you are with us here in the United States, I will be right back with more news.
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HOLMES: The battle for Georgia is kicking into high gear, as the state becomes the center of the American political universe. In January, of course, Georgia voters are going to be deciding which party controls the U.S. Senate. No big deal.
The head of the Republican National Committee will visit Saturday to drum up support the incumbents. And President Trump says he will visit next week. But Democrats hope they can flip those Georgia Senate seats blue, just like they did the White House. CNN's Ryan Nobles explains.
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RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For decades, Georgia was a reliably red state but no more.
PROF. ANDRA GILLESPIE, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Georgia's not accustomed to being a swing state.
NOBLES (voice-over): President-Elect Joe Biden's victory in the state is the first for a Democrat since Bill Clinton in 1992. Four years ago, Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton here by 5 points, more than 200,000 votes.
In 2018, Democrat Stacey Abrams narrowly lost bid for governor by 55,000 votes, less than 2 points. That trend gave Democrats confidence Georgia could be competitive I 2020.
Andra Gillespie, a political science professor at Emory University, believes the state's political transformation has been many years in the making.
GILLESPIE: Democrats have been calling Georgia on the cusp of being a swing state for a number of years. But this was the first year they actually realized it.
NOBLES (voice-over): The question, now, is whether Democrats can realize it, again, in six weeks. With two Senate seats up for grabs in a pair of historic runoffs, the results will decide which party will control the chamber.
Republicans Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue are making Senate control a key part of their appeal to voters, arguing that a Democratic Senate would pull the country too far to the Left.
SEN. DAVID PERDUE (R-GA): What Chuck Schumer's saying, publicly, this isn't hiding or in secret meetings, he is telling us. He wants to change the voting rules in the Senate so he can do anything he wants with 50 votes. So if they get our two seats, it will be 50-50.
And what that means is that the tiebreaker will be the vice president. And so they'll have the majority.
NOBLES (voice-over): And they are counting on a boost from President Trump, who has promised to campaign in Georgia next weekend.
TRUMP: Speaking of Georgia, I'll be going there. I spoke with the two great senators. They're great senators. Kelly and David. We're going to have a tremendous turnout. We seem to always have a good turnout.
NOBLES (voice-over): Georgia Republicans hope that's a message that resonates with the party's voters. It has with GOP voter George Hollander, a loyal supporter of the president.
GEORGE HOLLANDER, TRUMP SUPPORTER: It's extremely important that everybody in the state of Georgia who are Republicans get out and vote and it's extremely important that they get that message out.
NOBLES (voice-over): But Democrats believe the pool of voters in Georgia is bigger than ever before, with 2020 turnout surpassing 2016 by more than 900,000 votes. The party's hoping Biden's surprise win will inspire Democratic voters like Michael Hill to turn out ad upend the historic GOP dominance in runoff elections.
MICHAEL HILL, DEMOCRATIC VOTER: This election is very important for the Senate to get out and vote, you know just like you did for Joe Biden, you got to get out and -- same thing for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
NOBLES (voice-over): Ossoff and Warnock are aiming to not only draw from a bigger pool of Democrats but also tap into independents and Republicans who have soured on the president.
JON OSSOFF (D-GA), U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: We are reaching out to voters of all backgrounds, with all views, reaching out, humbly, to ask for support. NOBLES: According to Professor Gillespie, this runoff is like nothing
Georgia has ever seen before. There is, obviously, the shifting demographics. But you also have the results in November and the impact it's having on the conversation this time around as well as President Trump's overall shadow looming over this race.
It's made for a runoff like nothing the state has ever seen before and that's why the results are unpredictable -- Ryan Nobles, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now a parliament meeting in Taiwan devolved into a vicious brawl on Friday. Complete mayhem erupting when lawmakers from Taiwan's main opposition party started throwing buckets of -- wait for it -- pig guts at the premier.
At the heart of the bitter dispute, some lawmakers angry the government will soon allow imports of U.S. pork containing an additive that is banned in the European Union and China. Taiwan's president posted on Facebook that Taiwan is a free market an people are not forced to eat the meat.
The ruling Democratic Progressive Party condemned the chaos, saying it was a waste of food and, quote, "disgusting."
Got to agree with that. We are going to take a break.
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HOLMES: When we come back, while the coronavirus rages across the U.S., people from New York to California are gathering at large underground parties. We'll see what the police are doing about it, ahead, right here on CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOLMES: The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department say they won't enforce a new stay-at-home order that starts on Monday and lasts for three weeks. They say they trust the community to assess the risk of going out.
Meanwhile, police in Los Angeles and other big cities have been busting large underground parties. CNN's Stephanie Elam with more.
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STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From a fight club called The Rumble in the Bronx...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These activities were illegal and sometimes deadly before COVID-19.
ELAM (voice-over): -- to a warehouse shooting in Los Angeles.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turned out that it was a gathering for a party.
ELAM (voice-over): Coast to coast, secret parties busted by cops, like this allegedly illegal bottle club with 120 people inside, last week in New York City, where deputies also shut down a swingers' club with 80 people inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The best and most pragmatic method for deputy sheriffs to save lives is to maximize enforcement at these types of dangerous gatherings.
[02:55:00]
ELAM (voice-over): Two warehouse parties in recent months led to two different shootings, exposing a reality, that, even in a pandemic, people are determined to party. LAPD says many of the warehouses are falsely booked as video shoots.
CAPT. STACY SPELL, L.A. POLICE DEPARTMENT: The fact that they're industrial areas, often don't get the same kind of attention that it would get in residential areas.
ELAM: What would LAPD tell these warehouse owners?
SPELL: We ask them to ask more questions, to be more selective and to try to better identify what the purpose of that is going to be.
ELAM (voice-over): The extent of the problem here, unknown. But on the same night of this warehouse shooting two weeks ago --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got a big party going on.
ELAM (voice-over): -- there were social media posts from this gathering in downtown L.A. and this one posted just last weekend. The parties are often organized online with no location given until hours before the event.
LAPD says, in an era of police reform, the department must think hard about sending armed officers to a gathering where no additional crimes are reported.
SPELL: And so, in those instances where a response would be more geared toward public health issues or we could direct, you know, unarmed response through, you know, we have partners in the fire department. There are other entities that could better respond to those kinds of things.
ELAM (voice-over): A curfew in Los Angeles County may have had an impact. We found two separate warehouse parties cancelled last weekend, just hours before the curfew was to take effect.
In California, raves were held outside in San Bernardino County, where the local health department says it approves and monitors them.
But in the cold weather of New York? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sheriff's office would be concentrating on large- scale gatherings.
ELAM (voice-over): Authorities have declared the underground party is over -- Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles.
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HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate you spending part of your day with me but do stay with us. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment.
