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Trump Stonewalls Transition to Biden During Pandemic; Trump Continues Baseless Claims of a Stolen Election; Former President Obama Says It's Time for Trump to Concede; U.S. Surpasses 11 Million Cases of COVID-19; Trump's Refusal to Ease Biden Transition Raises National Security Fears; SpaceX Makes History with First Fully Operational Mission to ISS. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired November 15, 2020 - 21:00   ET

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

[21:00:29]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. This is a special edition of the SITUATION ROOM. There's breaking news we're following here on CNN. The United States now reporting more than 11 million people either have contracted or are actively infected with the coronavirus. 11 million people. That's here in the United States alone.

One million new infections in just the last six days. A million new infections in the U.S. in just the last six days. No other single country has so many cases. And in the wake of this awful news, the worsening national health emergency, we hear nothing, nothing at all from the president of the United States today about the surging number of cases. The soaring number of people who need to be hospitalized and the heartbreaking number of people dying.

More than 1200 Americans died from COVID-19 just yesterday alone. Just here in the United States. President Trump, instead of acknowledging this horrible development from a position of leadership, today he once again played golf at his resort outside Washington, D.C. in northern Virginia. We also learned today he has not attended, get this, a Coronavirus Task Force meeting in five months.

The president did send out tweets early this morning, most of them with false accusations and outright lies about the election he fairly lost to Joe Biden, an election he continues to call rigged and unfair.

Let's go live to the White House. In fact, we're going live to the White House in just a moment. But first, the Joe Biden presidential team is taking shape right now as much as it can, given the lack of cooperation from the Trump White House. The president-elect is making the pandemic a top priority. And U.S. medical experts say that during this transition period, between now and January 20th, it's critical that scientists from the incoming and outgoing administrations work together immediately to save American lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Of course it would be better if we could start working with them. The period of measured in several weeks to months is really important in a smooth handing over of the information as well as -- it's almost like passing the baton in a race. You don't want to stop and then give it to somebody. You want to just essentially keep going and that's what transition is. So it certainly would make things more smoothly if we could do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He's absolutely right. Let's go to CNN's Jessica Dean. She's joining us from Wilmington, Delaware, covering the Biden team.

The problem is this, Jessica. The Biden team cannot fully start a transition until President Trump accepts the election results. So far he has refused to do so. Given the timeline, given the urgency of the pandemic, how concerned are people close to the president-elect about this delay?

JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, outwardly they'll tell you, look, we're doing everything we can. We feel good about what we've been able to do. But they also know, and we heard from newly named chief of staff, Ron Klain, in an interview earlier today that the longer this goes on, the more American lives are at risk with delays in the vaccine distribution plan, national security implications. The list is very long.

And today, Klain urged what's known as the General Services Administration, it's the federal office that ascertains, that's the formal word, but it essentially means sign off on the formal transition process. They have not done that yet as President Trump has not conceded the election either. And so what that means is they're not allowed to talk to Dr. Fauci because they're federal officials. The transition team is not allowed to formally talk to federal officials, formally talk to officials in federal agencies.

Now they're trying to do some workarounds as best as they can. Klain also said that their teams will be meeting with drug companies like Pfizer later this week, trying to get their plans together. We know that they've been backchannelling with local officials, with people in the medical community. Because, remember, this vaccine -- the vaccines are being developed as we speak, being tested as we speak.

But the vaccine distribution plan is its whole other thing. And right now, people at Health and Human Services, for example, are getting a plan together. The Biden transition team wants to be speaking with them so they can coordinate so that when Joe Biden is in office on January 20th, it's a seamless transition.

[21:05:01]

And again, let's just take a moment to remind everyone the fact that this transition isn't happening in that way, that we're not at that point in this process, is abnormal. That's not a normal way that things proceed when an election has been called as it has been called. Another way -- another place that this is having a big effect is with

national security. Typically by now the president-elect would be getting Presidential Daily Briefings filled with national security issues and intelligence. So he's able to keep up with the day by day.

Wolf, he is not getting that. And even John Kelly, the former chief of staff in the Trump White House, has come out and say --said he needs do this. This could be catastrophic for national security.

So these are just some of the issues. But there were a lot. And there will get to be more as time goes on and this transition process does not play out as it normally would.

BLITZER: Yes. And these are life and death issues, whether national security or as far as coronavirus is concerned.

Jessica, thank you very much.

Let's go to CNN's Jeremy Diamond. He's over at White House for us.

Jeremy, the president today signaled at least very, very briefly he might be coming to terms with the outcome of the election. But that changed, as I said, very, very quickly. He's refusing to concede defeat. He continues to blame his loss on a string of wild conspiracy theories.

What else are you learning? What's the latest?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was a brief moment, Wolf, this morning where the president tweeted two words, he won, referring to President-elect Joe Biden. But it was followed by a string of falsehoods, baseless allegations and conspiracy theories that the president has been touting about this 2020 election. The president insisting that Joe Biden only won this election because it was rigged, in the president's words.

But despite several Republicans jumping on that and saying, look, this is the beginning of the president conceding, seems that message got across to President Trump because a couple hours later, he took to Twitter to say, I concede nothing. Making very clear that he is going to continue to play this out in the courts.

And over the last week, Wolf, our sources have told us that the president has really vacillated between two states. On the one hand, he is pushing his team to pursue these lawsuits, to exhaust every legal avenue possible. And then on the other hand, he is beginning to come to grips with reality, according to our sources.

But as of now, Wolf, the president seems very much in a mode to deny that reality. He is continuing to post a series of baseless allegations on Twitter, parroting this conspiracy theory about a voting software deleting votes. We won't even show those tweets to our viewers because they are filled with almost not a single ounce of truth, Wolf.

And instead, I think it's important to look at what the federal government's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, they and local and state election officials said in a statement, quote, "The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history." And they also point out that there's no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes. That's really important coming from his own people over there.

All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you very much.

Just 66 days from now, President Trump will have to leave the White House when President-elect Biden is inaugurated. And right now the stakes could not be higher. With a surging pandemic and an unstable economy, the nation desperately needs a cooperative transition of power, which isn't happening.

In a new interview with "60 Minutes," the former president, Barack Obama, had this advice for President Trump, a reminder of how a democracy works and why President Trump's baseless attacks are so dangerous.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT: A president is a public servant. They are temporary occupants of the office, by design. And when your time is up, then it is your job to put the country first and think beyond your own ego and your own interests, and your own disappointments.

My advice to President Trump is if you want at this late stage in the game to be remembered as somebody who put country first, it's time for you to do the same thing.

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS, "60 MINUTES": In your view, it is time for him to concede?

OBAMA: Absolutely. I will. I mean, I think it was time for him to concede probably the day after the election or at the latest two days after the election. When you look at the numbers objectively, Joe Biden will have won handily. There is no scenario in which any of those states would turn the other way and certainly not enough to reverse the outcome of the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now the former senior adviser to President Obama, Valerie Jarrett. She's the author of the book, "Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and Path Forward."

Valerie, thanks so much for joining us. As you know, and you worked with President Obama for eight years, you worked in his transition once he was elected president, much of the focus right now is on President Trump's unwillingness to concede, to cooperate, to allow this transition to go forward. How damaging is this?

[21:10:11] VALERIE JARRETT, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, it's completely irresponsible. The country, Wolf, cannot afford for him to go through the stages of grief at his leisure while he's playing golf. We are dependent upon a smooth and orderly transition of power, and in the midst of a global pandemic, where you noted earlier the huge uptick and infections that we're seeing in our country, with millions of people losing their jobs and being at risk, we need to make sure that this administration is doing everything possible to help President-elect Biden and his administration hit the ground running as smoothly as possible.

We heard earlier from Dr. Fauci that President Trump hasn't attended a task force -- Coronavirus Task Force meeting in five months. He is taking this casually since day one. And yet, Dr. Fauci is not able to meet with the task force that President-elect Biden has already put into place. We are making -- we are in the midst of making major decisions wisely, we the United States, about how we manage the distribution of the vaccine when it's ready.

Well, President-elect Biden needs to be in there right now understanding the kinds of decisions that are either being made or will be needing to be made shortly after he takes office. These are obvious ways in which they could be cooperating. You have to ask yourself, Wolf, why aren't they cooperating? If the president really cares about the country, he loves our country and he cares about the citizens of this country, then he should be doing everything possible to help with the transition.

It's what every other president has done. I remember when President Obama came in, how incredibly helpful President Bush and his team were. And then President Obama directed us to do the exact same thing when President Trump was elected. And so it's astonishing to me that it isn't happening. And every day that goes by it becomes more dangerous. Everyone around the world is watching, our friends, but more importantly our enemies. They are looking for vulnerabilities and this is contributing to that.

BLITZER: Yes. It's really awful. Do you think President Trump's attacks on the election will make President-elect Biden's first days in office that more difficult because he won't necessarily be able to start on January 20th at full speed?

JARRETT: Well, part of the challenge is a lack of cooperation. That's what we've been talking about. But part of the challenge here is that President-elect Biden has made it clear that he wants to heal our country, bring us together. And it would be very helpful if President Trump, rather than fueling the anger and disappointment around his supporters, was to say there was an election fair and square, there's no evidence of vote fraud.

As you said earlier, his own Department of Homeland Security has verified that. The lawyers from the Justice Department have verified that. And so now that the people have spoken, let's do everything we can to have a smooth transition. And anything short of that, frankly, is unpatriotic. It's not looking out for America and as President Obama said it's not putting country first. BLITZER: In the same "60 Minutes" interview, President Obama was also

asked for his reaction to the horrific video of George Floyd's death. Watch this, let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It was heartbreaking. Very rarely, though, did you see it visually, and over a stretch of time where the humanity of the victim is so apparent, the pain and the vulnerability of someone so clear. And it was, I think, a moment in which America, for a brief moment, came face to face with a reality that African-Americans in this country, I think, had understood for quite some time. And I was heartened and inspired by the galvanizing effect that it had on the country as a whole.

The fact that it wasn't just black people. It wasn't just, quote- unquote, "liberals" who were appalled by it, reacted to it and eventually marched, but it was everybody. And it was a small first step in the kind of reckoning with our past and our present that so often we avoid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Valerie, you served for eight years in the Obama White House. You worked on many issues, including racial inequality in our country. What does the Biden administration need to do to address racial inequality?

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JARRETT: Well, I think President-elect Biden has already begun that process. He called George Floyd's family after his death. He spoke quite eloquently to the nation, encouraging everyone to put themselves into the shoes of black families who have to teach their children how to behave around the police. Empathy and understanding and appreciation for what it's like in America to be black and that it has nothing to do with, you know, how much money you make or what your job is or your education.

If you're black, you still give your children the same lecture. And so I have been very impressed with the tone and the empathy and the emphasis that President-elect Biden has put on this issue. And of course he selected Vice President-elect Harris as his vice president and she will be able to advise him on issues such as this as well, from her life experiences. I would also add that I'm heartened to see that his transition is made up with a majority of the people on the transition are women and nearly a majority are people of color.

I think that sends a signal, too, that the president-elect intends to surround himself with the rich diversity of or country. And that will enable him to have these difficult conversations with our country about race that for too long we have put aside. President Obama went on further in that interview to say, this isn't just an issue between police and communities of color. This is an issue systematically in our society. And the business community has to come into a reckoning as well. And then how we begin this began with some of these incredible

demonstrations, mostly peaceful. And importantly people of all races. And so I think there's no one better at this moment in time than the president-elect and his vice president-elect who can lead this conversation. But let's not forget, Wolf, that this is a responsibility of every American. Every American who saw that video of George Floyd's death and could open their heart to what he must have gone through, what his family and friends continue to go through, can be a part of solution.

BLITZER: Yes. Well said. Valerie, thank you so much for joining us.

Valerie Jarrett, appreciate it very, very much. Thank you.

As the U.S. sees a record surge in coronavirus cases right now, surpassing 11 million total cases in the United States, what's the reality on the ground when it comes to hospitals? I will speak with an emergency room physician. We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: There may be no more critical group of people in the United States right now than President-elect Joe Biden's coronavirus advisory team. They'll face the challenge of ending the pandemic that has affected 11 million Americans and counting. One million in the past six days alone.

CNN medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen is joining us right now. She's the former Baltimore health commissioner, an emergency physician at George Washington University Hospital.

Dr. Wen, you've come out with a very, very pointed op-ed for the "Washington Post." You say that COVID-19 task force that Joe Biden has named is a good start but doesn't go far enough."

Tell us what you think is missing.

DR. LEANA WEN, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Wolf, I first want to say that President-elect Biden has already done a lot with COVID-19. I mean, the fact that he came out as one of his first acts with this task force, that's made up of exceptional scientists and public health leaders, it conveys a message that public health is going to be driving this public health response. And that's fantastic.

What I'm worried about, though, is that we are months into the pandemic. And our country is more polarized and divided now more than ever. So you can have the best policy in the world. But if many millions of people are not going to follow that policy, then it's not going to do much good. And so I propose that to be even more effective, that the president-elect you should also engage three additional groups.

He should engage economists to make the point that economy and public health, they're not enemies. They have to work together for our ultimate outcome. And then two other groups. Republicans and pastors and religious leaders. Because we need trusted messenger, a core principle in public health is that we ourselves may not be the most trusted messenger.

Doctors, public health leaders, President-elect Biden, they may not be the most trusted messengers to many millions of Americans and he needs to identify him. Those people who are trusted by millions of people to follow their guidance.

BLITZER: Yes. That's good advice indeed. As you know, we're only right now 66 days away from January 20th, the Biden inauguration. If the Trump team doesn't start working cooperatively, do you fear, Dr. Wen, that the Biden team may not necessarily be able to turn things around when they do take charge?

WEN: I worry about this a lot. This is a very complex operation that they are now going to be driving. And the new team needs to understand, for example, what is the current state? Where is our stockpile? Where are we for supplies of PPE and masks? Where are we when it comes to testing? If you don't know how much testing capacity there is, how do you know how to ramp up.

And then vaccine distribution. I mean, we have Operation Warp Speed which is fantastic. We now potentially have vaccines developed at warp speed. But now we need to be able to figure out how to distribute those vaccines. And we cannot have a delay. Any delay is only going to cost lives.

BLITZER: Yes. And so many lives already have been lost and potentially another 70,000 Americans could die between now and the inauguration on January 20th alone.

We're starting to see some areas, Dr. Wen, like the state of Michigan, institute new restrictions and curfews, not necessarily lockdowns per se but local leaders trying to get a handle on the spread in their areas.

I spoke to Governor Gretchen Whitmer earlier here in THE SITUATION ROOM. But look at how the president's COVID adviser, Dr. Scott Atlas, reacted to the news about Michigan. He posted this on Twitter. "The only way this stops is if people rise up. You get what you accept. #FreedomMatters. Step up."

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This from the man who acts at the president's eyes and ears on the Coronavirus Task Force, meetings the president, by the way, has been skipping now for five months. What are your thoughts here?

WEN: Well, first of all, what Scott Atlas says is wrong and extremely harmful. Actually masks save lives. We can reduce transmission by more than 70 percent if people wear masks. It protects the person wearing the mask as well as everybody else around us as well. And this idea that President Trump has not been at meetings for five months, I mean, imagine if we are at war with a foreign adversary and the president has not met with his generals for five months. That's just unimaginable. And that's why the strategy that this White

House has taken is actually one of complete surrender to the virus.

BLITZER: Totally, totally unacceptable. Let me ask you about Thanksgiving, you say if you are planning to visit your family, you should have already started to quarantine in advance. How important is that? Explain why you believe that's so critical as the weather gets colder and so much of the United States -- And we're about to go through Thanksgiving, then the Christmas holidays, New Year's and all of that.

WEN: Wolf, we are at a breaking point already in this coronavirus pandemic. We are at the precipice of hospitals becoming overwhelmed and our healthcare system potentially collapsing. At some point, lockdowns may be inevitable. We want to prevent that from happening. And right now is our best chance for doing that. But I'm really worried because of Thanksgiving coming, because of other holidays, because it's getting colder and people are going to be gathering indoors.

And we also know that what's driving this latest surge in coronavirus cases is actually small gatherings, informal gatherings of friends and family. And so the best thing to do over Thanksgiving is to see people outside household space at least six feet apart. If we cannot do that, then we should not be seeing one another this Thanksgiving in person. And I know that's going to be really hard for a lot of people to hear because we want to see our loved ones.

This is a time when we want to be together. Maybe more so than ever because of what's happening. But we have to get through this winter. By next winter, it may be totally different. We may have a vaccine, we may have therapeutics. We may have so much that will help to allow us to get back to normal. But we have to be alive. And the best thing we can do for our loved ones is to protect them and to use an abundance of caution.

BLITZER: Yes. Well said indeed. Dr. Lena Wen, thank you so much. Thanks for everything you are doing. We are totally grateful to you.

All right. We're also following news out of the UK right now where the British prime minister Boris Johnson is self-isolating after coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19. Johnson tweeted that he was notified today but has had no coronavirus symptoms. The prime minister says he will continue to lead the government's pandemic response from number 10 Downing Street. Johnson was admitted to intensive care earlier this year after testing positive for the virus.

So 66 days remain until inauguration day here in the United States. But while President Trump refuse to concede, the transition to the incoming Biden administration has not even started yet on an official basis. What kind of national security risk does that pose for the United States?

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BLITZER: Regardless of whether President Trump wants to admit it or not, President-elect Joe Biden will take office on January 20th. Despite that, the president-elect has been blocked from accessing the traditional intelligence such as the Presidential Daily Brief that brings about a seamless transition of power.

Mike Rogers is a CNN national security commentator, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

Mike, thanks so much for joining us. What national security risk is the current outgoing administration putting the country in right now by not working aggressively, effectively with the incoming Biden team?

MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Yes. A couple of things, really, Wolf. The first one is, this is exactly what our adversaries love. Any crack, any space that they can kind of drive a wedge in, they're going to do it. So this notion that the new team is going to have to get up on its back legs and get running after January 20th is absolutely everything they love. So you put yourself a little bit at risk of adversaries making I would argue a miscalculation but a miscalculation that America isn't ready. And I think that's always dangerous.

Secondly, you want the team who is coming in -- you know, four years, you know, you will have the basics, a lot of the national security team will have the basics. But things change. Leaders -- foreign leaders change their attitudes, their ideas, their feelings. Our adversaries and friends change their attitudes and their feelings toward the United States on certain issues. It's really important that you understand the changes that have happened in the last four years for many of the Biden security team so that they can walk in on the first day and start making good decisions.

BLITZER: Because as you know, our U.S. adversaries, whether Russia or China, Iran, North Korea, they wanted to see dissent, foment dissent here in the United States to weaken the United States around the world. They don't necessarily have to do much. Russia does not have to interfere right now. We're sort of doing it ourselves, this dissent that's going on.

ROGERS: Yes. I mean, beating on ourselves. One of the things that Russians wanted to do in 2016 is getting Americans to hate Americans. That's really what they wanted to do. They tried to pit Christian groups against Muslim groups.

[21:35:03]

They tried to pit black activist groups against white nationalist groups. To some degree they were successful. And they wanted to take what was a kernel of truth. We had some racial differences in this country. And then they wanted to ramp it up, pour a little gasoline on it. And the reason they do that is because they take the images that come away from this, and they use it in their propaganda machines all around the world, saying, hey, the United States, not what it used to be. A little bit weaker. Don't be with them. Be with us. I mean, it is a very simple and old tactic. And the more we feed in to

that confusion, that chaos that the transition isn't going to happen like the world's greatest democracy has always done, and you know, Wolf, you and I both know this. The reason we don't have tanks on our front lawn when the president is sworn in every four or eight years is because we have these transitions. It's because we honor the Constitution's peaceful transfer of power.

All really important, not only to our country and our Constitution, but also that moral authority that we send around the world that yes, we are different because we believe in the power of democracy.

BLITZER: Why are so many Republicans, and you're a Republican, Mike, as we all know. Why are so many Republicans and Republican leadership remaining silent on the election results, refusing to support the incoming president-elect of the United States, refusing to speak out boldly? Adam Kinzinger, Republican congressman who was just here in THE SITUATION ROOM a little while ago, he is speaking out. He's calling Biden president-elect. But so many of the Republican leadership are refusing to do so. Why?

ROGERS: I mean, I can't speak for them individually. I think more and more members are doing it. I think they wanted to give the president, President Trump, the opportunity to say, hey, I think there are irregularities. And by the way, I do believe our democratic system is big enough to handle that. What we don't want is this notion that we are not going to cooperate in a transition.

You know, the president could allow the transition to happen and still fight a legal battle in, you know, state A or state B. That could absolutely happen. That's what the president should be doing. I hope more Republicans stand up. There have been a few. I think Republicans are driving up to the White House and having those conversations to let the president understand that, hey, listen, guess what, this is over.

You need to think about what's good for the country and what's good for the country is a smooth and lawful and constitutional transfer of power. Again, that is the one thing that separates us from so many other countries is that we do this win, lose or draw, this is going to happen. Now the good news is I think that will happen. I think hopefully the president gets the notion that, listen, you want the next team of national security folks to be ready to go, to send a signal to our adversaries we're always ready to go in the United States. Don't mess with us.

I hope he gets there. I hope that Republicans help him get there. Again he can have all the misgivings he wants about the election. That's -- you know, it's his right to do that.

BLITZER: Yes.

ROGERS: But what he shouldn't do is take away the ability for the transition to start. Remember, even if he won on a miraculously -- pulled a rabbit out of the hat on the 19th of January, guess what? Then all of that was not wasted. All those people went through the process and then your administration continues on. That's what I find mystifying about this. The right and appropriate thing to do is allow these folks to go through this process.

BLITZER: Yes.

ROGERS: Mr. President, grieve if you want. Fight a few battles if you want. But at the end of the day, the record is pretty clear here. And there are a lot of Republicans out there, Wolf, who are saying, hey, this thing is over, let's get on with it.

BLITZER: Yes. They should speak out publicly like you, Adam Kinzinger and a few others have done.

Mike Rogers, thank you so much for joining us.

President Trump is doubling down on his false theory that the election may still go his way. He is vowing to press on with legal challenges to the election. But how is that hurting the incoming administration? We have more on this when we come back.

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[21:43:18]

BLITZER: The incoming Biden administration still waiting for critical access during this transition period. Access that the Trump administration stubbornly is refusing to grant as the president continues his totally baseless claims of a stolen election. Today he announced he'll soon file what he called big cases challenging the results of the election even though his campaign has already lost numerous court battles over the results.

Let's bring in our senior political analyst Ron Brownstein. He's the senior editor of the "Atlantic."

Ron, thanks so much for joining. What kind of damage is the president doing to our country right now by continuing to deny the legitimacy of the election?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. We are long past the point where this is an issue of his personal peak or refusing to acknowledge reality. There are tangible and serious consequences to his behavior. First of all, he's promoting and accelerating the risk of violence. I mean, he is, you know, celebrating his supporters who engage in street battles in Washington yesterday. And his top coronavirus adviser is encouraging people in Michigan to rise up against the governor who has had to impose new restrictions in light of the soaring caseload there.

And then of course, the second and perhaps even more tangible consequence is that we are seeing the administration refuse to work with the incoming Biden administration, even on the outbreak itself. As Dr. Fauci said today on "THE STATE OF THE UNION" there has been no contact there. Ron Klain on "Meet the Press" said they are being denied access to the scientists. I mean, this is enormously consequential, and former President Obama I

think really framed the right question tonight on "60 Minutes," Wolf, when he said, maybe you expected this from the president, but as you got into it with Mike Rogers, why are so many Republicans abetting and acquiescing in this behavior?

[21:45:06]

BLITZER: Why are they? Why are they so scared?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, I mean, you know, the most common explanation is that they are afraid of him and his voters. And in fact, the Republican coalition now overlaps with the Trump coalition overwhelmingly. I mean, we saw for two elections in a row now, Democrats have not been able to win a Senate seat in any state that voted for Trump. And so that is a real power that he holds over them.

All of them are seeing their position erode in the white-collar suburbs. And all of them are growing in effect more dependent on Trump country. But I think it goes deeper than that. I mean, you have a mindset in portions of the Republican Party that says, basically our voters, our coalitions are the real Americans. So by definition, any time we lose, we lose to illegitimate votes. And there may be a kind of portion of the caucus in the House that says, look, it is unlikely, it is improbable, but if he finds a way to steal the election, we're OK with that.

BLITZER: You know, I'm just curious because you study this all the time. The Democrats won the White House.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BLITZER: President-elect Biden will be the next president of the United States. But the Democrats had high hopes for various states that would go with the Democrats, go for Biden and Harris. But clearly didn't. I did some checking. They were really hoping that Florida would go Democratic this time.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

BLITZER: In Florida, Trump won by 372,000 votes. In Ohio, they had high hopes for Ohio. Trump won there by 470,000 votes. In Iowa, they also had some high hopes for Iowa. Trump won by 138,000 votes. What happened here? Why did the Democrats do poorly in these countries where they spent time and a lot of money?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, well, look, I mean --

BLITZER: In these states, I should say. Not countries.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Florida is an extra dimension with the problems they have with Cuban Americans and other Central and South American constituencies in South Florida. But the common thread in all three is that Trump retained his dominant hold among white voters without a college education. And that's what doomed Democrats in Ohio and Iowa, made Michigan and Pennsylvania and Wisconsin tighter than the polls suggested.

Joe Biden, Scranton Joe, made some recovery, modest recovery with those voters but not nearly enough to change the equation significantly in a place like Iowa or Ohio that Trump won comfortably last time. Even I think more significant for the Democrats of what we were just talking about was their inability to win any state in a Senate race that Trump carried at the presidential level.

I think there's a pretty clear message in that. If you contrast what happened in Iowa and South Carolina and North Carolina, states where they spent a fortune on television but ultimately lost the state to what happened in Arizona and Georgia where they flipped the state at the presidential level after years of grassroots organizing, I think there's a clear path forward for Democrats. You can't win the Senate seats just by parachuting in with a lot of television in the final six or eight months before you the election.

You have to change the underlying partisan balance in the state through grassroots organizing. That's what they did in Georgia and Arizona. Obviously they won the Senate seat in Arizona. They won both at the presidential level. That's what they didn't do in some of those other states. And all of that television couldn't overcome the increasing partisan alignment between presidential and Senate voting.

BLITZER: Yes. They did -- they won the big prize, the White House, but they lost seats in the House of Representatives. Then they might not necessarily, depending what happens in Georgia in early January, might not be the majority in the Senate.

BROWNSTEIN: The mother of all runoffs as someone once said.

BLITZER: They had high expectations. Didn't necessarily work out in the House and Senate.

All right, Ron Brownstein. Thank you very much.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks, Wolf.

BLITZER: History made today after four astronauts successfully take off for the International Space Station. We have details on what lies ahead for the astronauts. We'll update you on what happened when we come back.

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BLITZER: Today, a very historic and exciting moment for manned SpaceX exploration. For the first time ever, SpaceX launched the fully operational mission with four astronauts to the International Space Station.

We had live coverage, our very own innovation and space reporter Rachel Crane is on the scene for us.

Rachel, this was so exciting, so dramatic. Tell us what it was like where you are.

RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. And I have to be honest, it was also quite emotional, too, because you look behind you, you see this incredible rocket taking off against the dramatic backdrop of the night sky, knowing that there are human lives on the line here. In this case, it was NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins, Victor Glover, Shannon Walker, and JAXA astronaut from the Japanese space agency, Soichi Noguchi.

Now they are now on their way making the 27-hour journey to the International Space Station. They've done several phasing burns. And they shortly should be having dinner, and they'll also be sleeping onboard Crew Dragon as they make their way to the International Space Station, as I said, rendezvousing in about 27 hours -- Wolf.

BLITZER: So exciting indeed. Rachel, you did an excellent, excellent job for us. We had live coverage and it was so, so amazing to watch it unfold. I appreciate it very much. Thank you.

Finally tonight, another horrific line crossed today. 11 million people so far infected by COVID just here in the United States. One million new cases in the last six days alone. More than any other country in the world by far.

Before we go, I want to pay tribute to at least some of the victims of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sergeant Bill Darnell was a hero. He worked for the Dewitt Township Police Department in Michigan for 15 years.

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His co-workers describe him as the glue that held their department together. He was a mentor, a role model, a husband, and a father of three. He was 52 years old.

A Louisville church is mourning the loss of bishop Michael Ford Sr. Bishop Ford spent most of his life belonging to the Christ Temple Christian Life Center where he served as a bishop for nearly three decades. Before joining the church, Ford was a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force and a combat medic during the Vietnam War. He's remembered as a jokester, a man of style. He leaves behind a wife and five children.

May they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing.

I'll be back tomorrow in THE SITUATION ROOM, starting 5:00 p.m. Eastern. "NEWSROOM" with Pamela Brown is coming up after a quick break.

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