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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; Pope Francis to Appoint First African American Cardinal. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 28, 2020 - 03:00   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 and welcome to our viewers here, in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Let's get to our lead story now.

Iran's president accusing Israel of killing the nation's top nuclear scientist. President Hassan Rouhani says 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 Fakhrizadeh 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 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. But then he adds "Special activities" -- you know what that is -- "will be carried out under the title of scientific knowhow development."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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: All right. Now world leaders are watching to see what Iran might do next. U.S. officials say they are closely monitoring the situation, as the timing of the death could, of course, complicate diplomacy under the upcoming Biden administration. CNN's Barbara Starr with more from the Pentagon.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Even with no official word from the government of Israel or the Trump administration, behind the scenes, U.S. officials are calling the assassination of this Iranian nuclear scientist a big deal.

The man is said to have been involved for decades in the development of Iran's nuclear weapons program. No one can say yet who carried out the assassination. Iran, very clearly, pointing the public finger at Israel.

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STARR: Israel, not responding.

So, the question really becomes, what happens now?

In the region, there is a good deal of concern that things stay calm, that Iran does not retaliate for this assassination, even though the Iranians are already threatening to do so.

For the part of the U.S., they are moving the aircraft carrier Nimitz back into the Persian Gulf region. Defense officials say it has nothing to do with the assassination; this move had been planned.

But this aircraft carrier and its fighter jets on board are going to provide air cover and defense for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, that President Trump had ordered to be completed five days before he leaves office in January.

So all of this, putting more firepower into the region, more tension, if you will, with President-Elect Joe Biden coming in to office, having to decide what to do about it all. And everyone is wondering if the Iranians are getting the message that the U.S. is after deterrent. They want to deter Iran.

As one general said, we are not looking for war -- Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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HOLMES: All right. Let's get more reaction from Iran and the region. Ramin Mostaghim joins me from Tehran. Jomana Karadsheh is in Istanbul.

Let's start with you, Ramin. You know, we heard from foreign minister Zarif, earlier. Now President Rouhani speaking.

What's your read on the messaging?

RAMIN MOSTAGHIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it's just saving face because the assassination was brazen in the daylight. And (INAUDIBLE), the former Iran atomic energy organization today, revealed that Mr. Fakhrizadeh, the lieutenant general physicist, nuclear scientist, has been under surveillance of Mossad since two decades ago.

So, if someone is assassinated in daylight, after two decades surface by Mossad, the enemy of Iran, as they say, then, if it is not failure, what it is?

It is a failure of intelligence to safeguard the most important, the most wanted person in the list of Mossad the past two decade. So, I think that it -- I mean, the officials here, squeezed between the international pressure, Mossad pressure and domestic pressure, that are calling for the severe revenge. The severe revenge has been postponed after Qasem Soleimani's

assassination on Iraqi soil. Now the second one is adding up the situation.

So, Iran is -- the officials of Iran are under pressure what to do, to take severe revenge and explore all the opportunities for diplomacy with President-Elect Biden or just be patient and try to have diplomacy work its way.

HOLMES: Yes. Delicate balance. Ramin Mostaghim there, in Tehran, appreciate that.

Jomana Karadsheh, in Istanbul, no shortage of tensions in the region, generally, enmities and so on.

What's been the reaction in the neighborhood?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, so far, Michael, interestingly, not much has been said. A lot of silence, in this region. Of course, as you would expect, Iran's allies have been fast to condemn the killing.

We heard from a number of political parties close to Iran, those who are in Iraq. And also its Lebanese ally, Hezbollah, number two in command, condemning this, blaming it on agents of Israel and America.

But interestingly, saying it is up to Iran here to decide how it is going to retaliate and what it is going to do.

And that is the question, Michael. You've got a region right now that was already on edge, very concerned about what might unfold here over the next few weeks, those final weeks of the Trump administration. There's been concern that he might make a move against Iran in those final days.

So, everyone is waiting to see what happens. Some believe that Iran can't really afford to risk any sort of a wider confrontation. If you consider what is going on domestically there, the country is really stretched, dealing with the worst COVID outbreak.

You have got the impact of the U.S. sanctions that have been really crippling for the country and others say it's not going to risk it right now when you have got a new U.S. administration on the way, that perhaps could mean reviving the Iran nuclear deal and talks with the United States.

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KARADSHEH: But others would say you have got hardliners in Iran, who can't sit back after this embarrassing attack for the Iranians, right in the heart of Iran so close to the capital, this kind of strike against one of the most prominent, probably the most well-guarded officials in the country.

Really, a strike against the country's intelligence services and its security apparatus. So, some would say it is going to have to retaliate in some way to save face here.

And, how is that going to happen, is the question?

Is it going to go after any U.S. or Israeli interests in the region directly?

Is it use proxies? Is it going to go after any of the U.S.' or Israel's allies in the region?

And one country that would, most definitely, be watching this very carefully and it's really tense for them is, of course, Iraq. We have seen this happening there. Earlier this year, as you recall, the assassination of Qasem Soleimani in Iraq.

And, you know, the concern is that country that was the proxy battlefield for the United States and Iran, for years, it turned into a bloody confrontation earlier this year. And their concern is they will be dragged into it once more and that Iraq will be caught in the midst of it. So, everyone on edge, waiting to see what Iran's going to do. The ball is certainly in Iran's court -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes, and U.S. troops still in Iraq, of course. Jomana, good to see you. Thanks for that. Jomana Karadsheh there in Istanbul.

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HOLMES: John Kirby is a CNN military and diplomatic analyst and former Pentagon and State Department spokesman. He joins me now from Alexandria, Virginia.

It's good to see you. Officials there accusing Israel of this killing, of course.

But regardless, what do you make of the timing of this killing during a Trump lame duck period?

ADM. JOHN KIRBY (RET.), CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: I think, Michael, you have hit on a real key point there. It certainly makes the timing more suspect, in that regard. I mean, look, again, 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 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 will want to get the United States back into the Iranian deal.

So, if this is something you want to get done and you maybe want to get done before Biden comes in.

The other thing about this is, 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.

HOLMES: Good point. It's interesting. When you look at, for Iran, one imagines that Iran knows if they responded to this before January 20 and -- and the inauguration, they would perhaps be playing into the hands of the hawks in America.

That would be a risk of theirs, wouldn't it?

KIRBY: It would. And the hawks in the Middle East. And there are some, certainly, Iran hawks in the Middle East. Not just the Israelis. That's right. They would be playing into that hand. And succumbing to and empowering the mullahs, moving to a much more radical sort of position and, I think, in fact, hurting themselves in the future.

Also, I think they believe, again, that President Biden will want to save the Iran deal in some aspects. They've already made that tough on Biden, the Iranians have, just because they've been flouting, now, some restrictions on enrichment.

But Biden wants to get them back in the deal. If they respond overly aggressively, they make that even more difficult for President Biden and his team.

HOLMES: Yes. International chess, underway. Speaking about Joe Biden, I want to ask you about what he needs to do in terms of his diplomatic and defense appointments, not just this issue but generally, given how fraught things are in some parts of the world.

KIRBY: Honestly, he should continue to do exactly what he has been doing, Michael, pick people that have experience, that are competent, that are well known on the world stage.

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KIRBY: Every single person that he laid out so far, from Tony Blinken to Linda Thomas-Greenfield, certainly Secretary Kerry, all of them are well known on the world stage.

So as he continues to make these picks, I would expect and hope that he would continue that, looking for experience, looking for calm and confidence. That's what these institutions that they will lead -- Defense, State, DHS, the -- the -- the career officials working there, that's what they are looking to, in terms of leadership. That's what they want.

HOLMES: John Kirby, Admiral John Kirby. Really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

KIRBY: You, too, Michael. Thank you. HOLMES: We will take a quick break. When we come back on CNN NEWSROOM,

U.S. health experts warn of a coronavirus surge on top of a surge. How Thanksgiving travel is expected to make things much worse.

Meanwhile, Europe is easing some coronavirus restrictions ahead of Christmas. It's looking very different, this time around, compared to last summer. How it's trying to keep the virus under control. We'll have a live report.

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HOLMES: Now the U.S. has, once again, added more than 1 million coronavirus cases, in less than a week.

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HOLMES: That brings the total number of confirmed infections to more than 13 million, according to Johns Hopkins University.

And more than 264,000 Americans have now died. This as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes plans for how Americans will be vaccinated. It's holding a meeting on Tuesday to vote on who should receive the first doses.

With a vaccine still weeks away, the pandemic is expected to grow even worse and Thanksgiving gatherings have a lot to do with it. Nick Watt with more.

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NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans were urged not to travel for the holiday. Millions did anyway.

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: We already have this massive surge across the country. And it's sort of like pouring gasoline on that.

WATT (voice-over): That massive surge in numbers, Thanksgiving Day, more than 90,000 Americans in the hospital with COVID-19, yet another all-time high. On average, more than 1,500 deaths are now reported every day and more than 100,000 new cases logged every day for 24 days straight.

Here's how it works. When case counts rise, a couple weeks later, the death toll follows. So a couple of weeks from now?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: You do the math and that's 3,000 to 4,000 deaths per day.

WATT (voice-over): Those daily case counts and death tolls will dip the next few days. Don't be fooled. Some states aren't reporting over the holiday, the world, this country not in a good place, as we wait for a vaccine.

TRUMP: The vaccines are being delivered. Literally, it'll start next week and the week after.

WATT (voice-over): Umm, very unlikely. The FDA hasn't even authorized a vaccine yet. Their advisory committee meets December 10. A decision could take days, even weeks, so likely late December best case for first shots in arms.

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

WATT (voice-over): The president is playing politics still, even in defeat.

DR. SYRA MADAD, NYC HEALTH AND HOSPITALS: The political theater absolutely has to stop. People are much more reluctant and hesitant, even health care workers. I'm in a health care setting. And health care workers are also hesitant, even though they're going to be the first priority group, because of all of this politicization of everything that's been going on.

WATT: Here in Los Angeles, authorities say cases remain at alarming levels. So from Monday and for nearly three weeks, Angelinos are being advised to stay home as much as possible and, basically, we're not allowed to mix with anyone outside our immediate household.

You can go to church or a protest; that's constitutionally protected. Authorities here trying desperately to keep a lid on this virus in this window between Thanksgiving and Christmas -- Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.

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HOLMES: And a little later in the newscast, we will hear from a doctor on the front lines. His personal takes on how this latest surge is impacting our health care workers.

Now Europe trying to ease some restrictions ahead of Christmas. But it also, of course, wants to avoid a third coronavirus wave at all costs. Infections seem to be slowing down in some of the countries that were running low on ICU beds just a few weeks ago.

France is one of them and some restrictions are supposed to relax this weekend. The big news, that nonessential businesses can reopen.

Ireland is going a step further. It was one of the first countries to roll out tough measures during the second wave. Now local media reporting that even restaurants and some pubs can reopen next week. CNN senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann is live for us outside Paris.

Tell us what's going on there in France.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Michael, this morning, for the first time in a month -- there's been a lockdown since October 30th. So for the first time in about a month, shops and businesses can open. Hairdressers can open. People can go out for a little bit longer than they have been allowed to.

Up until now it was only an hour per day and you had to stay within a kilometer of your front door. Now you can go three kilometers and stay out -- rather, 20 kilometers. And you can stay out for three hours at a time.

So people will feel a little bit more relaxed but it's not much. Houses of worship can be reopened but people are still going to have to carry around a piece of paper describing why they are out and what their reasons are for being out. They have to justify being out.

And there's still going to be a curfew on. Cinemas and theaters won't reopen until at least December 15th. And bars and restaurants, which, of course, something a lot of people in France are addicted to.

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BITTERMANN: They won't be open, at the very least, according to President Macron, January 20th. So a lot of restrictions stay.

Now as countries across Europe are looking at Christmas, they are trying to figure out how the best way is to handle this. In the U.K., for example, they are creating what they're calling a Christmas bubble, which is to say three households can get together and that's OK. But not more than that.

They're not going to open up the bars and restaurants, though, until sometime thereafter.

Here, in France, they're going to have curfews. The curfew will remain on. But on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, there will be exceptions made and you can be out and about after midnight.

In any case, every country seems to be approaching this slightly differently, trying to get around not only how people can gather but what can businesses do because, in fact, this is the busiest time of year for a lot of small businesses, in particular. And so, they are trying to figure out how to open the businesses up and how to get the commerce flowing just ahead of the holidays.

But as the Italian prime minister said, the Italians know that this is going to be a different kind of a Christmas -- Michael.

HOLMES: Yes. All around the world. Jim Bittermann, just outside Paris. Good to see you, my friend. Thank you for that.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau says the country is going through some of its toughest days of the pandemic. Mr. Trudeau says it is possible nearly all Canadians will be vaccinated by next September. But right now, Canada is averaging more than 5,000 new cases, a day.

Residents of Toronto, by the way, have been advised not to leave their homes at all this weekend.

I'm Michael Holmes. If you are an international viewer, I'll say goodbye to you and "AFRICAN VOICES CHANGEMAKERS" is up next. If you are here with me in the U.S., you're not done with me yet. I'll have more CNN NEWSROOM, after the break.

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HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States. I'm Michael Holmes. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

Add another setback to President Trump's growing pile of legal losses. On Friday, a federal appeals court denied his campaign's attempt to revive a lawsuit challenging election results in Pennsylvania. The court said the claims have no merit.

Also, without merit, President Trump's tweet, proclaiming Joe Biden can only enter the White House, if he can prove he got 80 million votes. Trump's false claim got flagged by Twitter within minutes.

But while the president keeps pressing his baseless attacks, the president-elect is moving ahead with his transition. Biden is expected to name his economic team next week and get his first presidential daily briefing on Monday. CNN's Jeremy Diamond with more from the White House.

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TRUMP: We caught them cheating. We caught them stealing.

I'm the president of the United States. Don't ever talk to the president that way.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lying and lashing out, President Trump bitterly refusing to accept his loss to president-Elect Joe Biden.

TRUMP: It's going to be a very hard thing to concede.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But also vowing to leave the White House if the Electoral College locks in Biden's victory next month.

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.

DIAMOND (voice-over): That admission coming during a Thanksgiving airing of grievances and conspiracy theories, marking the first time Trump has taken questions since the election.

Less than 24 hours later, Trump undercutting his assurance of a peaceful exit, tweeting, "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."

But it's Trump who's failed to prove his claims. Today, a federal appeals court denying the Trump campaign's latest effort to overturn Biden's victory in Pennsylvania.

Judge Stephanos Bibas, a Trump appointee, writing, "Calling an election unfair does not make it so. Charges require specific allegations and then proof. We have neither here. The campaign's claims have no merit."

That ruling brought Trump and his allies' courtroom losses and withdrawals to more than 30, with not a single court in any state substantiating Trump's claims the election was rigged.

Trump also refusing to commit to attending his successor's inauguration, a tradition of held by every outgoing president since 1869.

TRUMP: I don't want to say that yet. I mean, I know the answer. I will be honest, I know the answer. But I just don't want to say it yet.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Trump is committing to campaigning next week in Georgia --

TRUMP: It's very important that we win those races.

DIAMOND (voice-over): -- where two run-off elections will decide the fate of the U.S. Senate.

Georgia Republicans are worried Trump's baseless claims about voting --

TRUMP: I said, listen, you have a fraudulent system.

DIAMOND (voice-over): -- and his attacks on the state's Republican secretary of state --

TRUMP: He's an enemy of the people, the secretary of state.

DIAMOND (voice-over): -- could depress GOP turnout.

Today, Trump doing damage control, tweeting, "The 2020 election was a total scam. But we must get out and help David and Kelly. Otherwise, we are playing right into the hands of some very sick people."

Meanwhile, the president spending another day on the golf course, missing in action as the coronavirus pandemic enters its darkest chapter yet --

TRUMP: We're rounding the curve.

DIAMOND (voice-over): -- downplaying the virus, focused instead on who gets credit for the vaccines.

TRUMP: Don't let Joe Biden take credit for the vaccines, because the vaccines were me and I pushed people harder than they've ever been pushed before. And we got that approved and through. And nobody's ever seen anything like it.

DIAMOND: And President-Elect Joe Biden's team also reacting to that lawsuit in Pennsylvania and that ruling from the third circuit court of appeals there. This coming from the spokesman for Joe Biden Mike Gwin, saying this election is over and Donald Trump lost.

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 20th, 2021.

As for the president's legal team, we got a statement from Jenna Ellis, one of the president's lawyers. She says the campaign plans to take it all the way to the Supreme Court -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

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HOLMES: Patrick Healy is a CNN political analyst and politics editor for "The New York Times." He joins me now from New York.

Good to see you again, Patrick.

[03:35:00]

HOLMES: I want to start with one of the president's tweets on Friday and what it suggests, quote, he said 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.

"When you see what happened in Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Milwaukee, massive voter fraud. He's got a big, unsolvable problem," Unquote.

Joe Biden is going to be president on January 20, no matter what Donald Trump says.

But what's the impact of comments and others he's made when it comes to the faith in the process of the electoral system?

PATRICK HEALY, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's another false statement by Trump and it really is a lie and it's a dangerous lie because it somehow suggests that Joe Biden isn't going to be president. And that somehow Donald Trump is the arbiter of whether Joe Biden can be president, sort of the idea that a -- that an incumbent president, who lost the election, is able to somehow dictate the rules for validating the 80 million votes that Joe Biden won.

You know, is a lie -- and I use that word very carefully. I don't often use it. But President Trump knows full well that this is not true. And it's a dangerous point that he puts into the electoral bloodstream, Michael, because this is a system, in America, that relies on good faith actors, in both the Democratic Party and Republican Party, to accept the results of an election.

It has always relied on both parties coming together after an election, as hard and as bitter as that can be, to basically acknowledge together that one side won and one side lost.

And Donald Trump continues to propagate this argument that, somehow, he has either won or Joe Biden needs to somehow prove that his votes are legitimate and particularly, votes from predominantly Black cities in America, which Donald Trump has really zeroed in on, you know, which is -- which is also a dangerous thing.

HOLMES: Yes. Exactly. Exactly. And there are going to be millions, perhaps tens of millions, of his supporters, who will just not accept that this election went the way it did.

And I mean, as for the president, he'll probably always say the election was stolen from him, rigged.

But -- but again, where are the voices within the Republican Party, speaking out about this sort of thing?

How damaging is what we see from the president to the party?

HEALY: Well, I think it goes to the -- frankly, the integrity of the Republican Party, that that so many Republicans are not showing the kind of integrity that their predecessors did. I think of President Bush 41 in 1992 when he painfully lost his reelection bid against Bill Clinton.

And, you know, President Bush, having the integrity to say Bill Clinton had won. The acknowledgment that Republicans have made, over the years, that the other has won; similarly Democrats.

I think, Michael, you know, we're starting to see certainly some Republicans who are saying, you know, Joe Biden is probably going to be the president; a couple who called him President-Elect.

But this really isn't in the spirit of American democracy where you expect both parties to come together. It's -- it really goes, Michael, to the control that President Trump still has over the Republican base, much more than any other Republican elected official. And those elected officials are afraid to take on President Trump, because they know that President Trump can, you know, galvanize and rile up his base to really go after any Republican, who dares disagree with him right now.

HOLMES: Patrick Healy, thank you so much. Good to see you.

HEALY: Thanks, Michael.

HOLMES: We'll take a quick break. When we come back, staggering numbers of COVID-19 patients are filling hospitals across the U.S. Health care workers feeling the strain, all over again. Just ahead, a firsthand account of the situation from one of those frontline workers.

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HOLMES: More now on the rapidly rising coronavirus cases in the U.S. The country now reporting more than 13 million infections. That's according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 200,000 of those were recorded on Friday alone.

But that might also include a backlog of cases that went unreported on Thursday, due to Thanksgiving. And hospitalizations have dipped slightly but are still near all-time highs. The COVID Tracking Project puts that figure at almost 90,000 people in the hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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.

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COLLINS: 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: When we come back. Pope Francis about to appoint the first African American cardinal in Catholic history. Just ahead, hear from Archbishop Wilton Gregory and what he hopes his elevation might mean for the African American community. You're watching CNN. We'll be right back. 0

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HOLMES: The highest ranking African American Catholic in U.S. history is about to upstage, well, himself, really. In a few hours, Pope Francis will elevate 72-year-old Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C., making him the first African American cardinal in Catholic history. CNN's Delia Gallagher with more from Rome.

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DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Washington prepares to welcome a new president, it will also soon be home to a new cardinal, the first Black cardinal of the United States, Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who receives his red hat from Pope Francis on Saturday.

ARCHBISHOP WILTON GREGORY, WASHINGTON, D.C.: I hope it's -- it's a sign to the African American community, that the -- the Catholic Church has a great reverence and respect and esteem for the people -- for my people, people of color.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): Gregory has been archbishop of Washington, D.C., since 2019. He recently denounced president Donald Trump's visit to D.C.'s St. John Paul II national shrine as "baffling and reprehensible" and a photo opportunity. The archbishop is hoping for better days ahead.

GREGORY: Well, I'm hoping that it's a time we can transition, peacefully, into a new administration and where we can -- we can reset the conversation, reset our focus and, hopefully, show to the world that democracy really does work.

[03:55:00] GALLAGHER (voice-over): As head of the U.S. Bishops Conference in the early 2000s, Gregory spearheaded the Catholic Church's response to the sex abuse crisis together with now defrocked former cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was, himself, an abuser.

Gregory says the Catholic Church is responsible for its bad judgment of McCarrick and other abusers.

GREGORY: We were so intent on caring about the clerics, priests or bishops, that we did not see that the biggest pain to be endured was that, that was, you know, endured by the people who were hurt.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): It's now his turn to lead U.S. Catholics as cardinal, at a time of transition and hope -- Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome.

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HOLMES: Now Germany is known for its extraordinary Christmas markets, which draw millions of visitors every year. Sadly, many have been, of course, cancelled or scaled back this year because of the pandemic.

Now the good news, the holiday spirit is being brightened by beautiful displays of Christmas lights throughout the country especially in Berlin's biggest shopping and tourist district.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are home. It's getting dark. It's winter. We're so depressed, anyway. I think any lights that you can see just walking down the streets just makes everyone happy.

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HOLMES: German chancellor Angela Merkel confirming this week that COVID restrictions will likely remain until the new year. But gatherings of up to 10 people, excluding children, are expected to be permitted between December 23rd and January the 1st.

Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM, everyone, spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. My colleague and friend, Paula Newton, will be back with more news, in just a moment.