Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

President-Elect Joe Biden Announces Coronavirus Advisory Board; Biden Transition Team Held Up By GSA; Defense Secretary Esper Fired By President Trump; Interview With Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI); Dr. Fauci: Help Is On The Way With A Vaccine; Georgia Secretary Of State Refuses To Step Down, Indicates Trump May Not Win GA Electoral Votes; Biden Stretches Lead As PA Vote Count Continues. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 09, 2020 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: She served for 20 years. Karen (inaudible) was stationed all over the world. She retired with military honors and her passion was supporting disabled veterans. May her memory and that of all those lost be a blessing. Our coverage on CNN continues right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We are following the presidential transition.

President-elect Joe Biden is moving full steam ahead right now in one of his first acts since winning the White House. He's named a coronavirus advisory board to help battle the surging pandemic and he's calling for unity in the face of the crisis saying wearing a mask is, "a good way to start pulling the country together."

Meanwhile, President Trump is lashing out in the wake of his election loss refusing to concede and firing his defense secretary, Mark Esper, in a tweet. As the election drama unfolds, the pandemic is raging in the United States which has just topped 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases with more than 237,000 deaths.

But in a positive development, Pfizer is now announcing that early results show its vaccine is 90 percent effective and the company could apply for Emergency Use Authorization as soon as next week. We will talk about it with Dr. Anthony Fauci and he'll join us live here in "The Situation Room" in a few minutes. Stand by for that.

First, let's get more on the presidential transition. Our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is covering President-elect Biden for us. He is in Wilmington, Delaware. Jeff, as he promised, he is moving very, very quickly in trying to deal with the pandemic.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Joe Biden did hold a mask in the air, sending that clear signal that in both style and substance, he will take a starkly different approach to coronavirus.

At times he struck tones of a war-time president assuring Americans he will prioritize this pandemic. Now, all this happened on the first full working day of his transition to power where he heard congratulations from world leaders and silence from most Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: A mask is not a political statement. But it is a good way to start pulling the country together.

ZELENY (voice-over): President-elect Joe Biden setting a new tone tonight on coronavirus making clear it will be the top priority of his new administration.

BIDEN: I won't be president until January 20th. But my message today is to everyone is this -- it doesn't matter who you voted for. We can save tens of thousands of lives if everyone would just wear a mask for the next few months. Not Democrat or Republican lives, American lives.

ZELENY (voice-over): Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris moving swiftly in their transition to power, announcing a coronavirus advisory board as the U.S. surpasses 10 million cases. Despite promising news about a vaccine, Biden delivering a grim warning.

BIDEN: We are still facing a very dark winter.

ZELENY (voice-over): The 13-member board is led by three co-chairs including Dr. Vivek Murthy, a surgeon general from the Obama administration. It also involves some of the nation's top experts including Dr. Rick Bright, a former Trump administration vaccine scientists and whistleblower who accused the White House of interfering in efforts to fight the virus.

It's a fresh start even as President Trump has yet to concede political reality and the outcome of the election.

BIDEN: Let this grim air of demonization in America begin to end here and now.

ZELENY (voice-over): Words of congratulations pouring in from around the world, including a call today from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but silence or defiance from most Republicans/

With the notable exception of former President George W. Bush who called Biden and Harris over the weekend and made clear the results should be accepted saying, "The American people can have confidence that this election was fundamentally fair. Its integrity will be upheld and its outcome is clear. We must come together for the sake of our families and neighbors and for our nation and its future."

Tonight, the refusal by the Trump administration to acknowledge the president's defeat has real consequences. A Trump appointee who leads the General Services Administration is refusing to sign a letter allowing the transition team to begin its work saying "an ascertainment has not yet been made" about the election.

Biden has instructed his aids to give the president and Republicans a bit more time, CNN has learned, before taking more aggressive steps.

BIDEN: This election is over. It's time to put aside the partisanship and the rhetoric that design to demonize one another.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (on camera): Now, those calls for unity were again met with silence from most senate Republicans.

[17:04:56]

We saw the Senate -- Republican majority leader, Mitch McConnell on the floor of the capital today, of the Senate floor, supporting the president's plan to call for legal recounts and legal battles here, but we did see that four senate Republicans, Senator Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and Ben Sasse reach out and acknowledge this election outcome.

Now, all of this is coming as the Biden transition team is taking a slower approach to filling out its cabinet because they are not yet sure which party will be in control of the Senate. They are watching the Georgia runoff in January but we do expect more announcements for West Wing staff later this week, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, I'm sure we will get a lot more names coming out. All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you very much.

As the Biden team is looking ahead, President Trump is fixated on the election he is so far unwilling to admit he lost. Let's go to our chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta. Jim, the president continues to lash out.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIE WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And we're getting some new information right now. A source close to president said president said Mr. Trump and his top aides di have discussions prior to the election about firing FBI director Christopher Wray. Wray was not seen as efficiently loyal inside the White House by the president.

These discussions I am told hinged at the time on the president winning re-election as firing Wray could be seen as dicey right before a new Biden administration comes into power. But the moment many feared has arrived, apparently, as Mr. Trump is now throwing his weight around unable to accept the results of last week's election.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (voice-over): Seventy-two days left in power, President Trump is lashing out from his social media bunker appearing desperate to show the world he is still in charge, tweeting that he has fired the Secretary of Defense. "Mark Esper has been terminated. I would look on thank him for his service."

For months, the president has been stewing over what he sees as a lack of loyalty from Esper who joined Mr. Trump for a church photo-op back in June, after federal forces gassed and pummeled protesters near the White House. Esper had made it clear he wasn't on board with what went down. MARK ESPER, U.S. SCRETARY OF DEFENSE: What I was not aware of was

exactly where we are going when we arrived at the church and what the plans were once we got there.

ACOSTA (voice-over): In an exit interview with the military times, Esper said he was no yes man for Mr. Trump adding, "Have you seen me on a stage saying, under the exceptional leadership of blah, blah, blah. We have blah, blah, blah."

Esper's firing could be the beginning of what may become a dangerous lame duck period as the president refuses to accept defeat. As what Mr. Trump could do during his remaining days in office, one White House adviser told CNN, "God. Who knows?" Unlike former president Barack Obama's gracious decision to welcome Mr. Trump to the White House.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I want to emphasize you, Mr. President-elect that, you know, we now are going to want to do everything we can to help you succeed because if we succeed, then the country succeeds.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The Trump administration may be digging in with Vice President Mike Pence tweeting, "It ain't over till it's over and this ain't over."

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): President Trump is 100 percent within his rights to look into allegations of irregularities and weigh his legal options.

ACOSTA (voice-over): The General Service Administration is declining to provide federal funds to president-elect Joe Biden's transition team saying, "An ascertainment has not yet been made that the election is over."

That's despite some Republican officials and states like Georgia telling reporters they haven't found any signs of substantial voter fraud.

GEOFF DUNCAN, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA: We have not had any sort of credible incidents raised to our level yet and so we will continue to make sure that the opportunity to make sure every legal ballot is counted is there but, you know, at this point, we have not seen any sort of credible examples.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Even as the president is tweeting about the news that a coronavirus vaccine is showing promise, more administration officials are testing positive for the virus. The latest, HUD secretary Ben Carson as well as campaign adviser David Bossie.

Just days after White House chief of staff Mark Meadows contracted COVID-19, more signs that Mr. Trump's election night party could have been a superspreader.

Top Trump officials who are left appear to be split on what to do next, with senior aide John McEntee warning staffers they'll be fired if they look for other jobs as some in the president's own family are accepting the reality that Biden has won. The president and some of his allies are already talking about 2024.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Grover Cleveland came back. Donald Trump should think about it, if he falls short.

ACOSTA (voice-over): A sign Mr. Trump may be starting to accept his immediate fate, a contrast with his comments so far.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There has been a lot of shenanigans and we can't stand for that in our country. Thank you very much.

ACOSTA: Are you being a sore loser?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA (on camera): And as we were reporting earlier, the President may be mulling other changes inside the administration as we just talked about a few moments ago. The president was having discussions with top aides before the election about firing the FBI director Christopher Wray.

Of course, I'm told by a source much of that discussion hinged on whether or not the president would win re-election at this point so it's unclear whether or not the president would move forward with firing Wray.

[17:09:56]

In the meantime, even as some of the president's family believe Mr. Trump has lost, sources tell CNN he still has plenty of advisers around him telling him to fight on. The question isn't just when Mr. Trump will finally accept defeat, it's just how much damage he can do between now and then. Wolf.

BLITZER: That's, yes, you make a good point. All right, Jim Acosta, thanks very much. Let's get some more on all of this. Our chief political analyst Gloria Borger is with us. Our CNN political commentator, Van Jones and political correspondent Abby Phillips are also with us.

Gloria, the president-elect Joe Biden hit the ground running today, turning his focus immediately, as promised, to the coronavirus pandemic. Will he be able to keep his attention on the health crisis in the face of these political distractions coming in from the president?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: The answer is yes. That is what they intend to do. I was speaking to someone in his orbit who said, look, they have not been distracted by the bright shiny object during this campaign and they are not going to be distracted now.

I think the real question here, Wolf, quite honestly, is will they get the money they need to organize an effective transition? This is very routine when you're bringing in a new president. Its millions of dollars. It's allowing people to establish themselves in departments, find out what they need, find out what they don't need, investigate people's backgrounds with ethics lawyers, et cetera, et cetera.

Bring in all of those resumes. Try and change the government. And right now, as you know, the General Services Administration is stopping that and not saying that they can do that, not getting that money yet. And I think that is going to be a problem for them as they try and move ahead.

BLITZER: Yes, it certainly will be. I think that's really a serious issue.

BORGER: It is.

BLITZER: You know, Abby, the reality is, right now, whether or not the president likes it or not, the president-elect is the leader who has the microphone right now, doesn't he?

ABBY PHILIP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. It certainly seems that way. And President Trump seems to have at least, at the moment, not a whole lot of interest in maintaining the perception that he is still running the country and interested in running the country in the future.

He is very focused right now on trying to push forward some of these false and unsubstantiated claims of fraud in the election so that he can claim that he somehow won the election despite what the votes have said.

But when it comes to governance, there's just been an absence of leadership from the president, not just in the last couple of days but several weeks now. The president has not dealt with the coronavirus crisis directly, not meeting with his task force for months and months on end.

He tweets about very little else, other than the election that was last Tuesday. And so, yes, Joe Biden is trying to fill that vacuum. But I do think it's interesting that given that the president is saying to voters he wants another four years, he is still president right now and he seems to be not willing to act like the president in this moment when there is still the need for leadership given the crises that the country is facing.

BLITZER: You're absolutely right on that point. You know, Van, when you compare President-elect Biden's messaging on just about everything, but especially when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, the leadership we are seeing this week compared to last week, could not be more different if you compare how the president-elect spoke about the coronavirus today compared to how the president has spoken about it over these past many months. There was a huge, huge difference.

VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, absolutely. I mean, part of the reason that Biden is president is because enough people were disappointed, if not disgusted, with Donald Trump's mishandling of this pandemic.

A lot of people say, listen, if you hadn't had the pandemic, if it hadn't gotten completely out of control, Trump might have been re- elected as most presidents are, but you know, that's part of what happened. I do want to say one thing about this transition challenge.

It's really jeopardizes the health and safety of every American. It is very hard to transition a government. I was a part of the Obama transition from George W. Bush. You imagine like a trapeze artist kind of, you know, throwing somebody up in the air and catching them.

You're throwing America's government up in the air and somebody has to be able to catch it. Now, luckily, the Biden people had been concerned about this earlier and did extra fund-raising just in case, not enough, but extra fund-raising just in case there was any kind of a delay.

So they do have some dollars but they're not going to have enough, but you're playing with the health and safety of the American people when you jeopardize a peaceful and orderly transition of America's government. It's hard enough when you have a full two months and all of the money. When you're shortening the runway and the money you're really endangering all Americans.

BLITZER: Yes, you're absolutely right. You know, Gloria, President Trump tweeted the firing of the defense secretary Mark Esper today. While the timing and method may have been a surprise to some, it was no secret that Esper was on the outs when it came to the president. Tell us about that.

[17:15:02]

BORGER: Well, I mean, I think that we all knew when the president called him "Yesper" instead of Esper. We know that Esper after he walked to Lafayette Square with the president, understood that was a real problem. He disagreed with the president quite openly about whether you should use the military to quell civil unrest.

And so, anybody who publicly disagrees with this president is deemed disloyal. I mean, you can't disagree and be loyal according to Donald Trump. So Esper had -- it's one of these I quit, you're fired situations. Esper had his resignation ready. The president beat him to it.

And of course, the question as Jim Acosta is saying, is who is going to be next on the revenge firings? Will it be Chris Wray? Will it be the head of the CIA? We don't know. But, it wouldn't surprise me if you would see a bunch of these revenge firings before Donald Trump leaves office.

And let me say one more thing about transition to respond to Van. I mean, look at the House -- if the Fountain House of Representatives wants to, if that money is being withheld they could, and Stuart Stevens pointed this out, of the Lincoln Project.

He said why wouldn't the House just keep money for a post-election money for the Trump family if they wanted to? They could do that.

BLITZER: Potentially. You know, Abby, we reported the results of the election at what, 11:24 a.m. on Saturday. To be precise, we were first. By Monday afternoon, the president had already fired his first senior cabinet official. So what does that tell you about what the next couple of months until January 20th at noon when he leaves office, what do we anticipate might occur?

PHILIP: This is going to be, Wolf, I think one of the most tumultuous transitions that this country has ever seen. In addition to this protracted period in which the president is holding on to this idea that he can reverse tens of thousands of votes, they are also really trying to hinder the Biden campaign and now Biden transition from moving forward.

But the president is also, and I think many of his allies, very interested in making sure that these final days, if they are, in fact, the final days in their view of the Trump administration are ones where they can make a statement about people who have crossed the president, about priorities of his, trying to push forward any last- minute policies that they didn't have the chance to do in the previous four years, that is not exactly atypical.

But, you know, I do think that it is part of the story of the tumultuousness of this Trump White House that the transition will be one of settling scores for the president, pushing officials out, perhaps even pushing his justice department to settle some of those other scores he has been talking about as far as declassifying documents or even going after some of his political opponents.

So I think we should all just buckle up because it's going to be a pretty bumpy ride between now and January 20th.

BLITZER: You know, Van, some Republicans over the weekend said the president would continue to put the nation first, but in allowing a political appointee to deny the Biden transition team access to necessary funding during this transition period, is the president really putting the country first?

JONES: No, he is not. And here's the thing, there's nothing wrong with allowing the Biden team to its transition planning to, you know, start vetting resumes, et cetera. If in fact the courts come back and say, you know, we're going to tell you, Donald Trump won by some miracle. I don't know how they would do it.

Fine. Then you just take all that stuff up, and you box it, and you put on a U-Haul and you're done. But the idea that you wouldn't even just in case want to make sure that the next administration was maximally prepared to do a good job is insane.

Just because you let the other team have the dollars to get ready doesn't mean you're saying that they are going to be able to come in the building. And it's really -- having been through it, it is so difficult, the transition.

I'm going to tell you this is one -- he's done many, many things but if you want to know how reckless this administration is, the fact that they won't even let another administration just in case get ready is a very worrying sign. BLITZER: And you heard that statement from that political appointee,

that if any Trump administration officials are already starting to look for jobs outside of government after January 20th, they would be fired because that would be a sign of disrespect.

I mean, that is -- these people have to go out and make a living. They got to pay the bills after they leave the Trump administration. They got to start thinking about their next steps in their career.

BORGER: You know, it's like the last days of some authoritarian regime. It's ridiculous.

JONES: It's not a cult, Wolf. It's not a cult. It's America's government.

[17:19:57]

BLITZER: People got to pay the rent. And I know for a fact so many of these administration officials are already aggressively beginning to question various folks about potential jobs outside of government.

All right, up next, we'll have more on the presidential transition. The Michigan governor, Gretchen Whitmer, she is standing by live. We'll discuss what's going on. There you see her. And I'll also go one-on-one with Dr. Anthony Fauci. We'll talk about the U.S. surpassing 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases and the promising news about a potential vaccine. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:00]

BLITZER: President-elect Joe Biden is calling for unity as he begins preparations to assume the nation's highest office. But deep divisions remain across the nation including in Michigan, which Biden flipped back into the Democrats' column.

We are joined now by the governor of Michigan, Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Governor Whitmer, thank you so much for joining us. As you know, the president-elect is again calling for unity. You've echoed those calls. But is unity really possible at this moment given how deeply divided our nation is?

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): Not only is it possible, it is absolutely essential. We have a common enemy in COVID-19 that is ravaging the United States. It is killing our people. It is threatening our economy. It is undermining our homeland security and our standing in the world.

And that is why this is a challenge that vice president -- I'm sorry --President-elect Biden is going to rally the American people to. We have to join forces to beat this common enemy. And I think this is a moment that is so important and his outreach, his vision is one that makes more a path for every one of us.

BLITZER: You faced, as all of our viewers know, the significant personal threat as a result, at least in part of President Trump's rhetoric against you. Sadly, the sentiment that drove people to threaten your life runs deep.

What specific steps would you like to see the president-elect, talking about Joe Biden, take to address the division that often has been inflamed by so much misinformation?

WHITMER: I think, Wolf, you've been paying attention to what he said throughout the campaign and certainly, everyone has been paying attention to what he has said since this election was called. And that is we need to really have a moment where we are all joining forces, where we seek to understand not to vilify our fellow Americans.

This is a moment where we are deeply divided as a nation and, yet, we cannot wallow in this. We have got to move forward together. We need to have a peaceful transition of power. We need to have a focus on an agenda that really seeks to create opportunity for everyone.

Get us back to work, get our kids back in school. But it starts with getting our arms around this pandemic that does not discriminate against any of us. It is a very real threat to every single one of us and this is the cause to which we've got to rally.

But we have to seek to understand one another, not to vilify our fellow Americans, and I do think that that is an important message that he sent on Saturday in that beautiful speech that he gave right after the wonderful speech that Kamala Harris gave as well.

BLITZER: As the U.S. now surpasses 10 million confirmed cases of coronavirus over these months, you know, more than 237,000 Americans have died. Your state of Michigan has lost, what, more than 7,000 people. Are the priorities that Joe Biden outlined today in line with what your state needs right now?

WHITMER: Absolutely. You know, I got in the center of a media storm when I observed nine months ago that the Trump administration did not have a national strategy around COVID-19. No national strategy around PPE or testing or even accurate consistent information around the seriousness of this virus.

I think in just a matter of days, President-elect Biden has already articulated what a national strategy will look like. He has already named incredibly respected epidemiologists and public health experts to the task force that will do the hard work of taking the platform and putting into a policy that will make a difference in our lives.

This is what the American people need and this is precisely, I think, the direction that President-elect Biden will take us and it will meet our needs and make us healthier, make us stronger, make our economy stronger as well.

BLITZER: You told "The Washington Post" that your intention -- that was the word -- intention is to stay home in Michigan.

[17:29:59]

Are you saying you will not necessarily accept a role in the president-elect's cabinet if he offered you the position?

What -- you can be honest with us.

I, you know, I am very, very grateful that I've built such a great relationship with President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris. I will be a phenomenal ally from here in Michigan. I -- we all are vested in their success, every American, is whether they voted for them or not. We are now all vested in the success of this next administration.

And, I, as Governor of Michigan, will do everything I can to make sure that they are successful. And I'm grateful for their close relationship, because I know it'll help me be even better Governor here in Michigan.

BLITZER: Well, we'll see what happens. I'll take that as well maybe. We'll see what happens. All right. Governor Whitmer, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck over there. Appreciate you're always coming here to The Situation Room.

WHITMER: Thank you.

BLITZER: Coming up, I got one on one with Dr. Anthony Fauci. He's standing by live. There you see him. We'll talk about the promising news, potentially promising news about a vaccine and a lot more. And the awful news that the U.S. now tops 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases. We'll speak with Dr. Fauci right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:36:12]

BLITZER: We're following breaking pandemic news. There are now more than 10 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States and new cases are being confirmed at record levels.

Joining us now to talk about this and more, the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Dr. Fauci, thank you so much for joining us. Thanks for all the important, critically important work that you've done over the years.

As you know, the United States, as I said, just surpassed 10 million cases of the virus. We keep breaking the record for most cases in a single day. On Saturday alone, it was nearly 130,000 cases just here in the U.S. Did you ever think, Dr. Fauci, we be in this awful position where it seems to be getting worse?

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY & INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Well, unfortunately, we predicted it, Wolf, when we were talking about the fact that as we enter into the coolest season of the fall, and the upcoming coldest season of the winter, that you're going to start seeing more indoor activity. And we never got down to a good baseline, as you know, you and I've discussed this multiple times, when the baseline of infections which hung around 20,000, then went up to 40, and then 70, and then down to 40,000 again. And now, as you see, we're well over 100,000 and that is really something that is unfortunate.

I had said four months ago at a Senate hearing, that if we didn't get control of this, that would be conceivable that we would reach that level. And, unfortunately, we have. Having said that, it is not too late to turn that around, Wolf, it's a serious situation, as you mentioned, you can't run away from the data. It's real. But we can turn it around.

And in addition to that, as you mentioned a little bit ago, help is on the way with a vaccine. We need to hang on, double down, do the kind of public health issues that we spoke about the washing of hands, the wearing of mask, the physical distancing, the avoiding crowds, the doing things outdoors preferentially of indoors, and we can blunt these surges that we're seeing. It's possible to do and we will be able to do it. We just need to do it, put the effort in and just hang in there, because the vaccine that we'll talk about in a moment is something that is really quite promising now, and it's right around the corner.

BLITZER: Yes, you're absolutely right. You know, but you need national leadership to do that. It's so rare, Dr. Fauci, that we do get potentially any good news at all about the pandemic.

Let's talk about this Pfizer announcement that its vaccine is more than 90 percent effective that soars past the standard, the FDA was looking for at least 50 percent efficacy. So, just how big of a deal potentially is this news?

FAUCI: You know, it's extraordinary, Wolf. It is really a big deal. Now, obviously, we need to go over the details of the data. But this is a highly reputable company that has extensive experience in the development of countermeasures, including vaccines. And the data and safety monitoring board, which is the independent board that I've spoken to you about often, that independently looks at the data has come up and told us that we now have a vaccine that is more than 90 percent effect.

So the process now is to go over in great detail. There's still some questions about, you know, the durability of the effect about whether how effective it is in the elderly versus younger people. But the bottom line is, as a vaccine, it's more than 90 percent effective, which is extraordinary, and will play a major role in what the outcome of this is going to be. That's the immediate good news.

The other good news, Wolf, that's important is that the type of vaccine that it is, an mRNA vaccine that I've discussed with you in the past.

[17:40:05]

That is not the only company that has it, there's another company, Moderna, which has a vaccine very similar, if not identical to this. Their results will be coming out soon. So it's likely that we're going to have more than one vaccine that's effective. And the particular protein that was used, the spike protein of this particular virus was the object as it were of the immune response, what we gave to people to induce that immune response.

The fact that that worked with this vaccine, herb (ph) is very well for future vaccines against COVID. So the news is really good all the way around. This is something that we should really feel good about. But I want to make sure that people understand is that it's good because we know this light at the end of the tunnel. But that doesn't mean that we're going to give up the important public health measures that we continually still have to do every single day.

BLITZER: Even if the vaccine, Dr. Fauci, does get approved, it needs to be, we're told, stored in an extremely low temperature, people need to take two doses within what, four weeks or so apart. What are the biggest challenges to actually getting enough people vaccinated so that all of us can return to normal life?

FAUCI: Well, you know, there are challenges there, there are logistic challenges, supply chain challenges. We have a very important effort that's been assigned specifically to that. You know, part of that operation warp speed, there's the scientific aspect of it, which is led by Moncef Slaoui. And then there's the logistic aspect that's led by General Gus Perna. And he has been working full time to make sure that the logistics of getting this to distribution will go smoothly.

Now, right now, we know that what the company will do very likely, in fact, I'm certain they'll be doing, is putting in soon within the next week and a half or so, for an Emergency Use Authorization and ultimately for ultimate approval of the vaccine, which means that that goes along smoothly, that we may have doses that we're able to give to people by the end of November, at the beginning of December, probably well into December. Now, again, you have to go through the hoops of making sure all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed about the safety and the regulatory aspects of it. But we would be giving vaccine to people very likely before the end of this year. That is good news.

BLITZER: That's great news. You know, we're all hoping it works out.

As you heard today, I assume you heard, the President-Elect, Joe Biden, he outlined his pandemic plan today in great detail, including ramping up testing, hiring more contact tracers, providing clear guidelines to businesses, and schools, addressing racial disparities, scaling up treatments and vaccines. So what do you make of the approach that he laid out?

FAUCI: No, I mean, it's an approach that we're all trying to do, we really do want to make sure that we get more testing. That's obvious. I've been talking about testing for a very long time. And we now have a lot of testing we can do. We know we have antigen testing, which is what, you know, Debbie Birx and I have been talking about, about getting much more screening in the community for asymptomatic infection.

That is really important, because right now what is driving the outbreak in the sense of essentially people coming in the home, small groups of people, eight, 10 people meeting together with friends for a dinner, not knowing that one of them is infected. Once you get enough testing out there in the community, you'll be able to get those people identified and get them out of circulation for the time being so they don't infect others. So these are all things that we all agree of if.

BLITZER: You know, the President-Elect when he was Vice President for eight years, you worked with him, have you spoken with Joe Biden since he was be -- since he became President-Elect?

FAUCI: You know, everybody asked the questions about that, Wolf. I would prefer not to talk about any of that because right now, I want to focus on what I'm doing now with regard to getting a vaccine and getting this country well in the sense of towards normality, which I think we're going to be able to get there with this vaccine.

BLITZER: But can we --

FAUCI: That's what I really want to talk about.

BLITZER: Can we assume, Dr. Fauci, you're going to stay in your current role at NIH, you'll stay in the government, at least for the time be?

FAUCI: Certainly, that's what I want to do. And I believe I will be doing that.

BLITZER: And presumably you'll stay in after January 20th when the former Vice President is inaugurated.

FAUCI: I have no intention of leaving. This is an important job. I've been doing it now for a very long time. I've been doing it under six presidents. It's an important job and my goal is to serve the American public, no matter what the administration is.

BLITZER: Yes. And we hope you stay on the job because no one does it better and you've done incredibly important work for the American people. I'm just curious, when was the last time you actually spoke with President Trump?

[17:45:06]

FAUCI: I spoke with him during the time that he was in Walter Reed when he was ill with COVID-19. We had a conversation during that time.

BLITZER: That was that -- these meetings, these Coronavirus Task Force meetings, I guess they go on but not much is going on. Let me ask you about the team that the President-Elect is putting together, as you know, you know, all these people. I know him as well, the former Surgeon General during the Obama administration, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the former FDA Commissioner, David Kessler, the former vaccine official, Dr. Rick Bright, among others. What are the choices tell you about how the incoming administration is going to approach this continuing crisis, even if there's a vaccine, it's going to be with us sadly, for a while.

FAUCI: Well, they're all established individuals. I mean, obviously, you could not possibly be in the business that I and my colleagues are in without knowing each other. These are people that have been involved in this for years and years. Of course, I know them. I know them well. I mean, anyone who's in the field knows them. That's not a surprise.

BLITZER: But you have -- you admire them. You think they're qualified and all that, I assume?

FAUCI: Yes.

BLITZER: Yes.

FAUCI: They're -- of course, of course.

BLITZER: Yes.

FAUCI: They're colleagues of mine. They're people that I've been dealing with for years and year. Of course, they qualify, they're qualified colleagues.

BLITZER: All right. That's great. We're really grateful to you once again, Dr. Fauci. Stay safe out there, you know, and we'll stay in very close touch with you. We appreciate once again, everything you've done for the American people. Thanks for joining us here today.

FAUCI: Thank you for having me, Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, thank you.

We're going to take a quick break. We're going to have much more on what's going on in the transition when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:22]

BLITZER: We have breaking news in Georgia right now, the Republican Secretary of State is refusing to step down even though both of Georgia's Republican senators this afternoon call for him to resign but provided no evidence at all of any wrongdoing. The Secretary of State put a statement calling the election in Georgia, a resounding success and saying it's unlikely any illegal voting would, quote, rise to the numbers or margin necessary to change the outcome to where President Trump is given Georgia's electoral votes.

CNN's Phil Mattingly keeping track of all the latest results of the presidential election. So, Phil, what are you seeing?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we're still keeping our eye on a number of states as votes continue to come in. But because you mentioned it, I'll bring up the state of Georgia and, Wolf, I'll say as somebody who's been paying very close attention to all of the votes out of Georgia as they've been reported over the course of the last six days. I can tell you, there haven't been many more transparent or methodical states when it comes to those results. And those results are still coming out today.

Joe Biden adding about 1,000 votes in his favor on net over the course of the day and bringing his lead, Wolf, in the state of Georgia to 11,419. Now, the expectation is this race will go into a recount. But that's something to keep in mind as Joe Biden continues to add votes to his total. Recounts generally don't change tens of thousands of votes or even thousands of votes unless there's some catastrophic failure. So this cushion right now for the Biden campaign has them feeling pretty good about Georgia.

Now, moving on to the state of Arizona where President -- Vice President Biden's margin has started to narrow and consistently narrowed over the course of the last couple of weeks, now at 15,432. All eyes remain on Maricopa County. There's another batch of Maricopa County votes coming in in a couple hours, Wolf. The reality, though, even though the margin has narrowed, President Trump will essentially need to win about 60 percent or more of the outstanding votes in the state in order to win is about 70,000 votes outstanding. That is a tall order, but there's still vote coming in so we will keep an eye on it.

And, Wolf, one last thing I want to continue to keep an eye on because it was such a crucial state in this election, Pennsylvania. It has been called for Vice President Biden up to this point. But, right now, Biden is ahead 45,403 votes. What is going to happen going forward? Well, there's about 50,000 votes outstanding and looks like based on where those votes are outstanding, in particular, Philadelphia, Allegheny County, the home of Pittsburgh, two Democratic strongholds that Joe Biden, Wolf, is only going to add to his total.

If you want to know how that total matches up, well, flip back to 2016. President Trump won the state of Pennsylvania by about 44,000 votes. Right now, Joe Biden is above that and looks like he could get higher over the course of the next couple of days, Wolf.

BLITZER: Most of those outstanding votes, the mail-in votes where Biden seems to have an advantage?

MATTINGLY: Yes, that's absolutely the case. And the 50,000 votes outstanding vast majority of them are mail-in ballots. There's still some provisional ballots that are being looked at as well. But, to your point, the reason that we saw over the course of several days, Joe Biden reverse what had been a heavy Republican advantage. President Trump at one point up by almost 600,000 votes.

Mail-in ballots, they went heavy towards Democrats, they came from heavily Democratic areas. But one of the most fascinating aspects of all of it, it wasn't just the Democratic counties with the mail-in ballots were leaning heavily Democrat. It was also Republican strongholds.

The Election Day vote went heavily Republican. It was counted first. The vote by mail was counted second, that is why you went from all red to Joe Biden taking the lead in the state and now, Wolf, he's growing that lead to more than President Trump had when he won the state back in 2016.

BLITZER: To his credit, Biden was able to rebuild that blue wall, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, something Hillary Clinton lost four years ago, and as a result, lost the presidential election.

Phil, thanks very, very much.

Coming up. President-Elect Biden moving quickly on the exploding coronavirus pandemic here in the United States naming an advisory board and urging Americans to unite by wearing masks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.