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Fantastical Force: Trump's Election Lies Enables by FOX, Many in GOP; Curt Soehl, (D), Vice Chair, Sioux Falls City Council Discusses Experts Saying Dakotas Have Worst COVID Rates in World, Governor Not Issuing Statewide Mask Mandate; GOP's Baseless Fraud Message Beginning to Backfire in Georgia; New York Police Shut Down Illegal Club Hosting Hundreds of Partygoers; Arizona Certifies Biden's Win as Giuliani Pushes His Claims in State. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 30, 2020 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Maria Bartiromo seemed shocked by the president of the United States casually suggesting the FBI and the DOJ rigged the election against him, departments helmed by his own appointees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (voice-over): Missing in action. Can't tell you where they are. They just keep moving along, and they go on to the next president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: They do. Because that's how it works. They do move on to the next president, as baffling as it may be to Trump, who it appears is just nursing this open wound of losing a popularity contest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): We won the election easily. There's no way Joe Biden got 80 million votes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Yet the president's 74 million votes totally real, totally legit, no reason to question those, he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): I was called by the biggest people saying congratulations -- political people -- congratulations, sir, you just won the election. It was 10:00.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Congratulations, sir, these unnamed biggest people said to him.

Well, remember that CNN fact-checker, Daniel Dale, who spends time reviewing Trump's falsehoods says "sir" is one of his tells. He uses it often when he is lying.

It's not the first time Trump has conjured out of thin air. Maybe you remember his friend, Jim, who once loved Paris, went all the time with his wife and kids, Trump said, who stopped going because of foreign extremists.

Well, CNN was unable to find Jim or verify his existence. No other news outlet was able to do it.

Apparently, Trump has an imaginary friend, or friends, plural, like John Barron, a then-citizen Trump spokesperson who is on tape bragging about Trump and sounded exactly like Trump himself.

Let's say John Barron doesn't have a LinkedIn page. But he does have a hand in shaping the White House's messaging, which, at times, gets a little stopped up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): This election was over. And then they did dumps. They call them dumps. Big, massive dumps.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He appears to be describing what his legal team and their allies are doing across the country with 30 cases now lost or withdrawn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): They weren't allowed to have poll watchers. The Democrats and thugs -- thugs. I'm not talking about saying, could you please move over. They threw them out of the counting rooms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: That's a lie, something his own lawyers say they can't prove in court.

Trump even went after the Republican governor of Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): The governor has done nothing. He has done absolutely nothing. I'm ashamed that I endorsed him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Done nothing because he hasn't abused his power, hasn't reversed the will of the voters, hasn't stolen an election for Trump?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX HOST, "MORNINGS WITH MARIA": Mr. President, but if you take out the contested swing states electoral votes, you're back down to President Trump having 232 electoral votes and Joe Biden having 227.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: True, but that's also like saying, if you take out points that Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen scored, you're back down to John Stockton having the starring role in the last dance.

That's not how it works. Unless you're on Planet Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): I wanted to file one suit, Donald J. Trump, president of the United States, against, you know -- and put everything in one simple suit.

And they say, sir, you don't have standing. I say, I don't have standing. You mean as president of the United States I don't have standing? What kind of a court system is this?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Assuming he's upset that he is not going before the Supreme Court, he doesn't quite understand he is not entitled to automatic attendance to the nation's highest court just because he filled a third of it or because he's president.

His lawyers apparently don't understand that either.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARMEET DHILLON, TRUMP CAMPAIGN LEGAL ADVISER: We're waiting for the United States Supreme Court, which the president has nominated three justices, to step in and do something. Hopefully, Amy Coney Barrett will come through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: They're truly hoping the president's appointments will further fuel his fantasies as he takes the fairytale global.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): And you have leaders of countries that call me and say that's the most messed up election we've ever seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Of course, he doesn't name world leaders, nor was he challenged to by Bartiromo.

But nearly all of those world leaders have congratulated Biden except for Vladimir Putin. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARTIROMO: This is disgusting. And we cannot allow America's election to be corrupted. We cannot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: How about she stops embracing conspiracy theories on national television. That might help.

But if she lets the president's phone call go straight to voice mail, she wouldn't get his validation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): You're actually very brave because you're doing something -- the media doesn't want to talk about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: There were so many conspiracy theories and lies in this interview that his decision to boot Sidney Powell off his legal team for being too tinfoil hat is a rejection of Trump's own actions and that of his lead lawyer who keeps saying the quiet part out loud.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[13:35:05]

RUDY GIULIANI, PERSONAL ATTORNEY TO PRESIDENT TRUMP: The city of Detroit probably had more voters than it had citizens. I am exaggerating a bit. But all you have to do is look at statistical data.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We are. The courts are. The facts are not on your side.

And ahead, as health officials fear the COVID surge after Thanksgiving, we're just getting word that America saw its busiest travel day since start of the pandemic.

Plus, experts say North and South Dakota are seeing the worst COVID rates in the world. I'll speak live with a city councilman who says he's scared.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:28]

KEILAR: Experts tracking the spread of the coronavirus across North and South Dakota say the states have the worst rates in the entire world.

North Dakota's governor just decided to issue a statewide mask mandate after months of resistance to doing so. South Dakota's governor still won't do it, and that has one Sioux

Falls city leader saying he is scared.

I want to bring in Curt Soehl. He's the vice chair of the Sioux Falls City Council.

Tell us -- for folks that are not there in the Dakotas, tell us what's happening in your state.

CURT SOEHL, (D), VICE CHAIR, SIOUX FALLS CITY COUNCIL: Well, we're certainly seeing the spike here in South Dakota. Being a mainly rural state, in the middle of the country, we have kind of avoided the big rush that happened with the eastern coast and west coast.

Normally, things take a while to get to South Dakota. And being a state that's sparsely populated and large area, it doesn't affect us as quick.

It has finally come to South Dakota and it has spread like wildfire. The numbers today, yesterday's testing, 50 percent positivity rate.

So it is here. It's here to stay.

KEILAR: And you know, one of the things, since it did take a while to get to you, one of the benefits of that should be that you had the advanced warning, right? You had the knowledge of seeing what other states and cities had done.

But in the end, that's not actually -- you haven't been able to use that knowledge in a powerful way to keep people safe in your state.

SOEHL: Well, certainly, when it takes so long to get here, is something invisible, not tangible, it's hard to wrap your hands around that it is going to come.

The benefit we received in South Dakota from being so late is the fact that our death rate is lower for those people that are infected.

We are treating in the hospitals better than we could have six months ago based on what has happened on the east coast and other countries, taken that knowledge and treated our patients better.

Could we have been better prepared as far as lock downs and mandates? Possibly. We might have been a little too late.

But it is here now. We have a mask mandate in our city. And other cities in the state are looking for it, too.

KEILAR: What are your fears? Certainly. you're no stranger to what's going on. You have family on the front lines. Both your daughters are nurses. They're married to folks that work in health care as well.

What are your biggest concerns?

SOEHL: Well, my concern mainly is for the health of our community and also that we're maybe not paying close enough attention as we should be.

And, secondly, those people in health care, especially in our city of Sioux Falls, we have two main hospitals in the city that are private. And those people working in the hospitals are being taxed beyond belief in what they're doing.

The stress of what they're seeing is beyond comprehension. It's something they've never signed up for. My daughters tell me and other people tell me it is just the strain it is putting on the system.

Even if you're not sick with COVID and you have another issue, you're not getting the kind of treatment you would have had before.

Because it takes so much more for health care professionals today to perform their services than it would have a year ago. So they're being stressed.

KEILAR: Indeed, they are. You know it. We're thinking of you and your family. You're very much entrenched in this.

Mr. Vice Chairman, thank you so much for being with us.

SOEHL: Thank you. Have a good day.

KEILAR: Curt Soehl, with the Sioux Falls City Council.

Thanks you.

[13:44:01]

KEILAR: Pedaling lies and conspiracy theories is beginning to backfire. Republicans are now having to persuade Georgia supporters to vote on Election Day in critical Senate runoff races after being fed baseless claims of rigged elections and widespread fraud.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: All eyes are still on Georgia as Senate control hangs in the balance. Two runoff races in early January will determine if Republicans keep control of the Senate or if Democrats are able to flip control of it.

The president trying to get out the vote there. He plans to campaign in Georgia on Saturday.

In order to do that, he has to get supporters to buy into an election process that he has repeatedly told them is rigged.

The president's lies on voter fraud in Georgia are haunting him.

Over the weekend, RNC chair, Ronna McDaniel, was met by a crowd of skeptical Georgia Republicans who asked why they should turn out and vote in an election when the outcome is already fixed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are we going to use money and work when it's already decided?

RONNA MCDANIEL, CHAIR, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: It is not decided. This is the key.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you know?

MCDANIEL: It is not decided.

If you lose your faith and you don't vote and people walk away, that will decide it.

(CROSSTALK)

MCDANIEL: So we have to work hard. Trust us. We're fighting. We're looking at every legal avenue.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Sarah Isgur is a staff writer for "The Dispatch." She's also a CNN political analyst.

Sarah, these Trump reporters in Georgia were asking the RNC why they should even bother voting.

And Ronna McDaniel's answer was about, if you lose faith, while at the same time, she and the president and other Republicans have worked to undermine that faith she's talking about them losing.

[13:50:07]

SARAH ISGUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. You've got three different buckets going on.

You have an unprecedented amount of money going into these Georgia races. Think about the governor's race between Kemp and Stacey Abrams. That was $100 million.

Already there's close to $300 million that's been reserved and spent in this race. So a wild amount of money going into these two runoffs.

Two, you've got ongoing litigation. You have the Sidney Powell and Lin Wood lawsuit that is going on in Georgia right now that claims all the voting machines that are created by Dominion have been rigged. And they want to go explore those voting machines.

Three, you have Donald Trump continuing to say that election was rigged, that the ballot boxes were, quote/unquote, "stuffed" over the weekend.

So it's no surprise that you have voters in Georgia, who support the president, who are listening to what he says and they're seeing these lawsuits, and they're saying: Why should I give my money? Why should I spend my time if the whole election is rigged and they're just stuffing ballot boxes? The problem with a special election, though, Brianna, as you know, is

it's not like a presidential, where the turnout between registered voters can be, you know, 90 percent. A special election will be much lower.

So the only question here is which side can get their voters to turn out. The Republicans have a big problem if their voters don't think their vote matters.

KEILAR: No, they have a very big problem. Is it of their own creation? It appears so.

The president has been attacking the voter system in Georgia, as you're aware, Sarah. He's also been blasting the Republican secretary of state who oversaw the election.

He's been hitting the state's Republican governor. He called the governor hapless today and he unloaded on him this weekend.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (voice-over): They had judges making deals. And they had electoral officials making deals. Like this character in Georgia, who is a disaster.

And the governor has done nothing. He's done absolutely nothing. I'm ashamed that I endorsed him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: What do you make of this, his anti-Kemp tirade?

ISGUR: It puts Perdue and Loeffler, the two Senators running for these special election seats on the Republican side, it puts them in a strange position.

They have come out and called for the resignation of the secretary of state, the Republican secretary of state. And so now what are they going to do about their governor?

Don't forget that Senator Loeffler was appointed by this governor.

So you have the president attacking the Republican governor. You've got two Republican Senators trying to turn out the vote to vote for them.

Donald Trump has created a mess in Georgia.

And, of course, this is not just two random Senate seats. This is for Republican control of the Senate during a Biden administration.

I do think, Brianna, that's why, in the end, Republicans still have the advantage in Georgia despite this rhetoric. Perdue beat Ossoff by 88,000 votes on November 3rd. Mind you, that

wasn't enough to get over the 50 percent threshold but it's still a huge advantage that he goes into this race with.

Georgia is still, all in all, probably a pretty red state, even though Joe Biden won it.

So Donald Trump doing everything he can to undermine this result, and especially in the two seats Republicans are expected to win and they need to win to droll the Senate.

KEILAR: It's essential for them to hold on.

We know Joe Biden isn't banking on winning these seats. We're seeing that as he makes the picks.

Sarah, it's wonderful to see you. Thank you so much for joining us.

ISGUR: You're welcome.

[13:53:35]

KEILAR: We do have some breaking news. Arizona certifying the results of the election. That affirms that Joe Biden won Arizona. But the president's legal team is in the state today pushing their baseless claims. We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:58:28]

KEILAR: New York police say they shut down an illegal club over the weekend after they found hundreds of people crammed inside the venue. Under the current pandemic restrictions, all indoor and outdoor gatherings are limited to 10 people.

CNN correspondent, Brynn Gingras, has more on that and the other charges the organizers are facing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Cases of coronavirus are rising in the Big Apple but that didn't stop more than 400 people from partying in an underground club over the weekend.

The sheriff's department says it shut down the illegal bottle club saying it was in violation of the emergency order currently in place. And also it was operating without a valid liquor license.

These are some of the pictures that the sheriff's department tweeted showing some of the booze that they said they found inside.

The four organizers of that party were also charged with offenses for penal health, alcohol and beverage control laws.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KEILAR: Brynn, thank you so much for that report.

We do have some breaking news in Arizona. The secretary of state has just certified its election results and awarded Arizona's 11 electoral votes to President-Elect Joe Biden.

This comes in the middle of a hearing in the state with the president's legal team during which they're pushing baseless claims of fraud.

Jeff Zeleny is in Wilmington, Delaware.

Jeff, what can you tell us?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, this is just one of a series of states that we have seen certify their election returns in the wake of many legal challenges by the Trump campaign, which really have been unfounded.

And this is yet another states that is really controlled by Republicans. The governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, is a Republican.

[14:00:05]

So, of course, you know, that is something that is similar to the state of Georgia, where the president has repeatedly railed on the governor there.