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EARLY START
Trump Fires DHS Official For Rejecting His Claims Of Election Fraud; Biden Meets With National Security Experts Amid Trump Resistance; France Becomes First European Nation To Reach Two Million Coronavirus Cases. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired November 18, 2020 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:34]
LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, this is EARLY START. I'm Laura Jarrett, about 31 minutes past the hour here in New York.
And this morning there are signs American democracy is undergoing a stress test on multiple fronts. The official who says the election was the most secure in U.S. history fired. Republicans in Michigan trying to block the certification in a Democratic-stronghold county, then forced to reverse themselves.
All this as the president and his allies continue their efforts to discredit an election that Trump lost -- efforts that are failing one- by-one in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia.
Our coverage begins this half-hour with senior national correspondent Alex Marquardt in Washington.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Chris Krebs might not be a name that most American voters know but he played perhaps the biggest role in terms of making sure that Americans could go to the polls and cast their votes safely and securely.
As the head of the Department of Homeland Security's cyber arm, Krebs has been pushing back more and more aggressively in the days following the election against claims, lies, and conspiracy theories by the president, his allies, his supporters that the vote was rigged. That votes changed and were fraudulent and that voting machines were manipulated.
On that last count on Tuesday, Krebs tweeted part of a letter from some top election security officials saying in part that these claims either had been unsubstantiated or are technically incoherent.
But perhaps the biggest crime in the president's eyes that led to Krebs getting fired on Tuesday night by tweet was a statement that his agency, known as CISA, put out along with other federal, state, and private election officials in which they said that the 2020 election in the United States was the most secure in American history. They went on to say "There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed, votes, or was in any way compromised."
After Krebs was fired we learned that his number-two, Matt Travis, also resigned after learning that he would not be taking over CISA after Krebs' termination.
Krebs, for his part on his personal Twitter now, responded to his firing which was not entirely unexpected because of the pushback that he had been giving the president since the election. Krebs writing, "Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend today, secure tomorrow." It was Krebs' motto in the lead-up to the 2020 election.
Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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JARRETT: Alex, thank you for that.
Well, in another legal setback for the Trump campaign Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that there is nothing requiring ballot observers to stand within six feet of election workers who are counting ballots.
And in another courtroom in Pennsylvania, Rudy Giuliani is at the helm after not having argued a case in decades. He's saying that the state Supreme Court issue that they just ruled on is wrong.
CNN's Tom Foreman has more.
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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Disgraceful, living in some fantasy world. That is how an attorney for election officials characterized the president's lawyer in a Pennsylvania court as Rudy Giuliani claimed election irregularities.
RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S PERSONAL ATTORNEY: Wow!
FOREMAN (voice-over): Trump's man argued some of the same arguments he raised in that ill-fated Four Seasons Total Landscaping press conference.
GIULIANI: I know this city has a sad history of voter fraud.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But when a judge asked Giuliani how he could possibly justify throwing out millions of votes, the former New York mayor dodged and just kept pushing his story. And that is pretty much how it's going in Trump's quest for a legal solution to his lost election.
[05:35:12]
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's tremendous litigation going on and this is a case where they're trying to steal an election. FOREMAN (voice-over): In hotly-contested Arizona, team Trump has abandoned legal action now that it's clear it can't help him win there. In Wisconsin, a recount would cost Trump almost $8 million upfront and any hope for that appears to be dying. In Michigan, an appeals court has rejected the president's claim of fraud for lack of proof.
Ever since the vote, Trump has howled that the election was rigged, ballots were altered, signatures not checked, and voting machines full of glitches, but he has produced no evidence for any of that. His Department of Homeland Security says this election was the most secure in American history.
And longtime lawyer for Republican election interests, Ben Ginsberg, says looking over the cases the utter lack of proof is just part of the problem.
BEN GINSBERG, REPUBLICAN ELECTION LAWYER: Whether or not there are any valid charges in what the Trump team has filed. What is clear from the platings (ph) is that there are not enough votes in question to change the outcome of the election in any of the states they're trying to contest.
FOREMAN (on camera): What happened to Giuliani was by some accounts humiliating and to many a sure sign that the president's desperate legal bid for victory is coming to a painful, final, and failed conclusion with Joe Biden still the winner.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
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JARRETT: Tom, thank you so much.
President-elect Biden is set to speak with frontline health care workers later today. His team is also moving ahead with national security planning despite being blocked from classified briefings by President Trump.
CNN's Jessica Dean is live in Wilmington, Delaware with more on all this. Jessica, it seems as though Biden's team is moving full speed ahead, announcing a series of high-level appointments despite not getting any help on the transition obviously being blocked by the Trump administration.
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you're exactly right, Laura. That is -- that is precisely what they're doing. They are moving ahead in the ways that they can, and that includes filling out the senior staff at the White House.
They made a number of announcements yesterday about what advisers will be going to the White House with Joe Biden, the new president-elect, and it's a lot of the campaign -- familiar faces from the campaign.
They include Congressman Cedric Richmond, who is a senior -- he's going to come in as a senior adviser. He was the co-chair of the campaign. It includes the campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon. It includes campaign strategists and longtime aides, Mike Donilon and Steve Ricchetti -- -- a number of people going in.
So that's one of the things they can continue to do and will do, which is build out their staff in the White House. That's not hampered by the blocking of this transition process.
What is hampered by the blocking of this transition process is a lot of official business that the Biden transition team really wants to get started on, and that includes these daily intelligence briefings. We saw President-elect Biden holding his own security briefings -- his own intelligence briefings yesterday with a panel of experts but notably, they were not the current officials.
And it also includes the COVID vaccine. They're not allowed to talk to the White House Coronavirus Task Force or Health and Human Services. And they know that distributing the ultimate vaccine or vaccines is going to be quite a project. It's going to be a logistical project of a very high magnitude, so they know that they want to get started on that right now.
And all of this is happening -- as you mentioned, the Trump administration is blocking the official transition and then with the firings of Chris Krebs yesterday.
Here was Cedric Richmond on our air last night. Take a listen.
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REP. CEDRIC RICHMOND (D-LA): It's dangerous, the entire transition. Trump's whole behavior right now should frighten the American public. And so, when you look at all of the things he's doing, especially with Krebs.
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DEAN: Again, Richmond coming in as a senior adviser to Biden within the White House.
Biden also continuing to take calls from foreign leaders but again, without the support of the State Department, which would be typical at this point. Typically at this point, the president-elect would have access to all of these things but Laura, that is just simply not the case right now.
The Biden transition team -- Ron Klain, his chief of staff, calling on the federal office -- the General Services Administration to go ahead and sign off on this formal transition process as soon as possible. We'll see if that happens.
In the meantime, Biden will meet in a virtual roundtable today with frontline health care workers. They continue to keep the focus on three things this week. That's COVID, the economy, and national security, Laura.
JARRETT: All right, Jessica. Thank you so much for that. All right, 63 days until Joe Biden's inauguration as president. It's time for three questions in three minutes. Let's bring in CNN's senior political analyst John Avlon. John, great to have you --
[05:40:03]
JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.
JARRETT: -- as always.
I want to start with what's happening in Wayne County because I find this --
AVLON: Yes.
JARRETT: -- just extraordinary.
It's the home of Detroit -- obviously, a stronghold for Democrats. Two Republicans on the elections board there tried to block certification of the election results for Biden last night, citing some voter irregularities -- dubious, at best.
AVLON: Yes.
JARRETT: But then they reversed themselves, and why? Because they actually heard from the voters who were saying this is disenfranchisement and in some cases racist, given the African- American population there in Detroit.
I almost think of it is as a micro example of a more macro stress test for the country right now.
AVLON: Yes, it was an extraordinary series of events. And look, keep in mind it's the second time they heard from the voters. They were trying to effectively disenfranchise the voters the first time around.
JARRETT: Right.
AVLON: Then they got to public comment and they felt the real, frankly, fury of the voters who did not want to be disenfranchised.
And as you said, one of the Republicans on the board actually said look, I'll certify Wayne County except for Detroit. It's hard to read that without any racial implications.
That said, to me, the most significant thing before they reversed themselves was both President Trump and more importantly actually, his lawyer, Jenna Ellis, from the campaign, celebrating the idea that you had an unprecedented deadlock that could kick the election, they hope publicly, to the Republican-led state legislature, which then they hope would reverse and overturn the results of the popular vote.
That seems to be their strategy. That is what they were publicly cheerleading last night. That is undemocratic, little "d", in the extreme. That is a sign of what they hope will happen. And there is no American voter who should be proud to say that we live in a democracy and it could be fine with the President of the United States and his campaign team hoping for that kind of an overturning of the popular will.
JARRETT: Well, it's undemocratic but it's also pointless. Even if he had lost Michigan -- Biden, I mean -- he still would have won and he still has enough Electoral College votes. And so, it was such a fool's errand to do this but again, the voters blocked them.
I want to continue with my stress test theme here because last night on Twitter the president fires the official --
AVLON: Yes.
JARRETT: -- who says it's the most secure election in history. Now, Krebs knew his days were numbered, reportedly telling people he thought he might be fired. But apparently, you get fired for telling the truth.
AVLON: Yes, and just because it was accepted his days were numbered doesn't mean we should accept that this is anything resembling normal. And, Sen. Angus King has said on our air in this administration doing your job is a firing offense.
And we can add to that telling the truth because what Donald Trump essentially fired Krebs for is not backing up his lie that is being attempted to be advanced in court that the election was fundamentally fraud on a mass scale. Krebs told the truth, he oversaw the process, and he was fired by the president last night as a result. That has national security implications.
It's also just a reminder for Republicans who are coddling Donald Trump in this context that he is insisting that government officials lie on his behalf. That is nothing short of insane. Don't mistake this for anything resembling normal, let alone responsible.
JARRETT: Well, it has national security implications considering he was --
AVLON: Sure.
JARRETT: -- the top cybersecurity official. And we also just wonder what kind of message it sends throughout the Department of Homeland Security to the civil servants who are trying to do their job --
AVLON: Yes.
JARRETT: -- trying to tell the truth, and this is what happens to the person --
AVLON: That's right.
JARRETT: -- at the head of it.
Before I let you go, I can't help but focus on --
AVLON: Yes. JARRETT: -- obviously, all the GOP senators yesterday. We've been looking for signs of the truth and the reality facing them obviously, with the president's defeat. You see them sort of making nice, congratulating Sen. Harris on her win yesterday.
Is this a sign that they are, in fact, facing reality, or is this what I might just call Washington nice?
AVLON: Well, Washington nice. You know, Harry Truman once said if you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.
But I do think this is some evidence of the fact that a lot of this outrage that is motivating people on the streets and dark corners online is performative on a high level among the Senate. Look, you always want to see a degree of civility and this is some evidence of that. It doesn't change, by the way, what they say and they do when they have the microphone.
But for folks who really bought into this it is evidence of the fact that at the Senate, at the highest levels, they recognize this is over and they don't hate each other as much as they want you to think they do.
JARRETT: They recognize this is over but, yet, Sen. Graham, the top member on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is still working backchannels trying to overturn the vote. So it's just -- it's --
AVLON: And he got busted.
JARRETT: Got busted big-time.
All right, John Avlon, thank you so much.
AVLON: Thanks, Laura.
JARRETT: See you tomorrow.
AVLON: You, too.
JARRETT: All right.
Broad new restrictions are set to take effect today in Illinois as coronavirus surges across the state. CNN is covering this pandemic coast-to-coast.
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ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Adrienne Broaddus in Chicago.
And starting on Friday, activities Illinois residents love will be put on pause. This is all a move by the governor to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
[05:45:00] Casinos, banquet halls, and cultural institutions will shut down starting Friday. Grocery stores will remain open but can only operate at 50 percent capacity. The same is true for retail stores, gyms, and other personal care services like a salon. But there is one caveat with gyms -- no indoor group fitness classes will be allowed.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Brian Todd in Washington.
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is acknowledging that his state is going through a pretty tough round with coronavirus right now and the governor has announced some new restrictions.
Bars and restaurants in Maryland will have to be closed between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. except for carryout and delivery. Retail establishments and religious facilities are limited to 50 percent capacity. And no fans are now allowed in racetracks or stadiums.
The governor says we're in a war right now and the virus is winning. He's pleading with people in his state to stand together awhile longer.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Jean Casarez in New York.
Because of the ongoing pandemic, the mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh, is telling college students if you go home for Thanksgiving don't come back. He says that normally, college students travel to their hometown for Thanksgiving and then come back and finish out the semester. He says that if you do that the rest of your classes are going to have to be remote.
He believes college students are one of the highest-risk groups, especially those that don't live at home.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm Dan Simon.
A wedding earlier this month in Washington State has led to at least 17 people testing positive and is exactly why authorities around the country have imposed strict limits on large gatherings.
This event on November seventh in the small town of Ritzville had more than 300 people in attendance when the rules only allowed for 30 people. Authorities are saying that anyone who attended this wedding should quarantine at least until Saturday. They are also saying that the event has led to at least two additional outbreaks.
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JARRETT: Thanks to all of our correspondents for those updates on the virus.
In a big new breakthrough on coronavirus testing, how you could find out if you have the virus without ever leaving home. That's next.
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JARRETT: France has just become the first country in Europe to reach two million coronavirus cases. The daily number of new cases in France has declined in the past week but infection rates remain high in the rest of Europe and that's stressing the health care systems in several major cities.
Let's go live to Paris and bring in CNN's Melissa Bell. Melissa, nice to see you this morning.
Obviously, Europe really struggling to contain this virus and that's despite the strict lockdown measures that were brought back.
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Laura. But as you just said, the headline here from -- here in France, really, is that partial lockdown we're in has been working. That drop in the number of COVID-19 patients who are in the hospital drop. Also, the number of COVID-19 patients in ICU.
And if you just take the number of new cases -- look, yesterday was less than 10,000 in that previous 24-hour period. Just to put that in context Laura, 10 days ago that figure was more than 60,000. So that's how well the lockdown is working here in France.
Elsewhere, it's more of a mixed picture. We know already that in Germany, Angela Merkel is extremely concerned that the partial lockdown in place there hasn't gone far enough. We understand that she would have liked to see a tightening of restrictions announced this week but that's now been pushed back to next week to see how the figures goes.
Elsewhere, as well, the figures continue to worsen. Austria has introduced its own partial lockdown from this Tuesday. And, Sweden, so long-spared by some of the worst figures in Europe, has now announced that it will bring in fresh restrictions from next Tuesday.
So overall, the partial lockdowns appear to be working here in France, for instance, where we've just passed the grim milestone of more than two million cases recorded, so one of those countries worst-hit by the second wave. But elsewhere, really, those partial lockdowns and restrictions not quite seeing the results that leaders are hoping to see and in some parts of Europe figures continuing to worsen, Laura.
JARRETT: All right, Melissa. Thank you so much for that -- appreciate it.
Well, Walmart is once again reporting empty shelves with shortages of toilet paper and cleaning supplies in areas of the U.S. hard-hit by coronavirus. The nation's largest retailer says those supplies have been harder to stock consistently as supply chains have not kept up with rise and demand amid sharp spikes in new virus cases.
Walmart has not implemented a companywide policy on purchase limits for customers but says managers do have the authority to implement item limits. The retailer also recently resumed counting the number of customers
inside its stores as a safety precaution.
And finally, a breakthrough on the self-testing front. The FDA has issued an emergency use authorization for the very first test for coronavirus that provides rapid results at home. This all-in-one test kit is available by prescription for self-diagnosis. It uses self- collected nasal swab samples and is now approved for people 14 and older.
Thanks so much for joining me today. I'm Laura Jarrett. "NEW DAY" is next.
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[05:59:08]
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MARQUARDT: The president fired one of the most senior officials involved with keeping our elections safe.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Chris Krebs was telling the president what he did not want to hear about the election.
JOCELYN BENSON (D), MICHIGAN SECRETARY OF STATE: There was no evidence of irregularities, no evidence of widespread fraud presented today to the Wayne Board of Canvassers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nationwide, average daily case counts are now double the peak of the summer surge.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: This is simply the fastest increase California has seen since the beginning of this pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a few months before the vaccines come to the rescue. We want to save as many lives as we can.
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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, November 18th, 6:00 here in New York.
And breaking overnight, American democracy. Actually, it didn't break but it wasn't for lack of trying from President Trump. A dizzying 12- hour period where the president assaulted dedicated civil servants while simultaneously trying.
