nurse for 46 years who was still working full-time when she died. michael vincent of new york was 72. he was a veteran of the u.s. navy and a retired plumber. michael loved painting and playing chess. may they rest in peace and may their memories be a blessing. "erin burnett outfront" starts "erin burnett outfront" starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com "outfront" next, president-elect biden about to make an afouns hadment about his administration. the president is putting his country last. and more breaking news this hour, cnn learning the state department is learning the state department is preventing president-elect biden to receive information. plus political leaders congratulating joe biden on his victory. i'm going to talk to him about why others are silent. let's go "outfront." good evening.

i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, president trump in a spiral of denial tonight tweeting he will win, when he didn't. and president-elect biden is forging ahead. an announcement of his chief of staff coming as early as tomorrow. after appearing for the first time in public in six days for a brief veteran's day event today, trump refusing to accept reality, hunkered back down with his advisers and lawyers. we can tell you that some of trump's advisers are saying they know there's no chance they will overturn biden's win. but trump won't have it and he's the boss. trump and trump alone right now is holding the country back, complaining about mass voter fraud in states he lost. take arizona. the way the president and his campaign have repeatedly declared victory, the state's republican attorney general, republican attorney general, just went on fox news and said this. >> it does appear that joe biden will win arizona. there are no facts that would lead anyone to believe that the election results will change. what really happened, it came

down to people split their ticket. people voted for republicans down ballot. they didn't vote for president trump, martha mcsally. that's the reality. just because that happened doesn't mean it's fraud. >> it's the fact. it's not hard to say. that's arizona. now take georgia. trump takes biden by more than 14,000 votes in georgia. the republican secretary of state responding to trump and claims of mass voter fraud by saying this. >> have you seen any evidence of the widespread fraud or anything along those lines? >> we have ungoing investigations, but we have not seen something widespread. >> okay. the widespread fraud. take pennsylvania. the president today came out and attacked a republican commissioner in philadelphia after that commissioner came on cnn and said this. >> what evidence of any

widespread fraud have you seen in the count in philadelphia? >> i have not. i realize a lot of people are happy about this election and a lot of people are not happy about this election. one thing i can't comprehend is how hungry people are to consume lies and to consume information that is not true. >> people all coming out and saying the truth, right? they're doing their jobs. they are putting their country first. they are counting the ballots. they do not see widespread fraud in state after state after state. you heard commissioner smith there say lies. these lies are being put out. trump sputing lies out there. he is seizing on some people's desire for conspiracy. it is counterfactual, lies, and it is dangerous. some people believe it. our kyung lah talked to a trump

supporter in georgia who is buying what trump is selling. >> i think there was large scale cheating, large scale voter fraud and it has to be brought out. >> we're hearing alarming comments like that because of tweets like this from the president. nevada is turning out to be a cesspool of fake votes. biden is ahead by 37,000 votes. and nevada's republican secretary of state pushing back against the president, making it clear that at this point no fraud has come to light. again, the facts matter because yes, every vote counts. and when you say that, it kind of gives you this moral high ground. let's be clear. every vote counts, but when someone gets enough votes to win, the loser concedes. that is what happens in this country. hillary clinton won the popular vote. she lost pennsylvania by a smaller margin. biden is losing michigan by a margin of 14 times more than trump did, yet couldn't concede

it. she did so with every certified vote. she didn't do this i'm going to ask for recounts, take it to court, wait for the certification when the electoral college meets. she didn't do it because the outcome was clear. she did the right thing. in fact, the last republican president to suffer a bitter defeat after just one term conceded immediately, and then president george h.w. bush wrote a letter to the man who defeated him, bill clinton, which reads in part, i wish you well. i wish your family well. your success now is our country's success. i am rooting hard for you. kaitlan collins is at the white house. jeff, let me start with you. you broke the news that the president-elect is moving ahead, forging ahead, trying to name who is going to be on his inner staff, poised to name his chief of staff as early as tomorrow.

what more are you learn sng. >> we are learning that president-elect biden is poised to announce as early as tomorrow that his new west wing chief of staff will be ron klain who is a long time adviser to him. he was a chief of staff during his years as vice president and he was in charge of the u.s. ebola response back in 2014. so, one of the reasons he's being selected here we're told is because of his attention to coronavirus. meantime, mr. biden is also moving to name other west wing advisers. we're told that could also come later this week. he is not going to announce any nominations to be his cabinet, i am told, until after thanksgiving, likely next month. he may hold some of those outcomes back. erin, all of this is coming as lawyers for the biden team are keeping a careful eye on all of this. they're watching those recounts. they're watching those claim of fraud. but intentionally i'm told mr. biden is not engaging in this himself.

he does not want to get into a back and forth with the president. his advisers believe that is what the president is trying to get him to do. he's staying above the fray, staying calm and cool about this. as this goes forward, will it impact the transition to power or not. for now, at least, mr. biden, i'm told, is advisingerin, are concerned about what we're seeing play out across the country. >> which i understand. it is so important. republican secretaries of state saying look, it's just not there. this is what happened. these are the facts. thank you very much, jeff. let's go to kaitlan collins, as i said, at the white house. kaitlan, the president meeting again with his advisers today. what's happening in these meetings? >> we know so far what they talk about yesterday and today in part is what they're going to do next in charting this path forward. you see how angry the president is on twitter in all caps with exclamation points like we've

seen before. behind the scenes, aides say the president is much more calmer, more reserved and realizes what's going on and that the math isn't there. he's already come to terms with reality behind the scenes. he just isn't saying so publicly. the president is still in the oval office. he's been spending his evenings there a lot later than we typically see him do. the last three nights he stayed there past 7:00, often until 8:00, which is not typical for this president, we should note. but he is still there right now. so, they've continued to push these baseless allegations, but they are starting to fall apart. you are seeing frustration with the attorneys who are there about the details they are trying to argue and litigate. so, the question really in republican circles is how much longer are they going to indulge the president in these claims. when you talk to people privately, they understand that the president doesn't have any evidence behind the claims to back them up. we've heard that from republican election administrators in

multiple different cities. the question is how long is this going to go on. we are increasingly -- republicans want to start to look ahead to that run off race in georgia where it's going to determine the power of the senate. the vice president is going there next week to campaign on behalf of the republicans, of course. so, the question is how much longer does this go on? and you're starting to see frustration. even tonight the republican senator from oklahoma james lankford saying in a radio interview if by friday joe biden still isn't receiving intelligence briefings, he is going to get involved. regardless of the outcome of the election he needs to be briefed on that. >> thank you very much. i want to go to democratic senator from pennsylvania, bob casey. let me start with these meetings with advisers. he is out on twitter in all caps tonight saying, we will win, publicly completely defiant,

even as republican secretaries of state in these hard fought states are saying there is no evidence of widespread fraud whatsoever. what happens now, senator? >> well, erin, i think the president should do what every president who's been defeated has done in the past, whether it's 1976 or 1992 or 2008, 2016. whenever there's a defeated president or a change in parties we know that the peaceful transfer of power is a hallmark of our democracy. he should take the first step, which is concession. and then from there we can have the beginnings of the peaceful transfer of power. the worry that a lot of us have, i do and members of the senate, at least on our side so far, and i'm hoping more republicans will join james lankford, is national security. it's not like our adversaries take a day off. >> let me ask you about james lankford, the republican senator

from oklahoma. kaitlan just mentioned him. let me quote what he said. he says, if they are not occurred by friday, i will step in and say, this needs to occur so that regardless of the outcome of the election, whichever way it goes, people can be ready for that actual task. and he earlier in the task said eight peers joe biden has won. he's saying he's going to intervene. he's going to get involved if biden isn't receiving this by the end of the week. is that a big step as you see it? >> well, i think it's a recognition that joe biden is the president-elect. we've got other republicans, very few say that. the problem is we shouldn't have to wait until friday. those briefings should be happening right now because any seam, any gap in intelligence for the next administration could be problematic. and it's -- it makes -- it not only makes no sense.

it's contrary to our national security interests. so, look, republicans in the senate have to make a choice here. they've got to choose to deflect to donald trump or to take steps that would ensure that we have a seamless transfer of power, not just a peaceful transfer of power with regard to our national security. >> senator casey, i appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> thanks erin. and now, long-time republican election lawyer ben ginsburg who served as national counsel to the bush campaign during the recount. ben, here we are. i'm going to be ask you this question yet again. trump is fighting. he says he'll win. he says there's fraud in all these states where republican secretaries of state say that is not the case. you have been going through the filing that is there. have you seen any lawsuit that would impact the vote count in a meaningful way and is legitimate? >> no. and what you're also seeing today in court is republican

claims, affidavits that don't even claim the votes but challenge the process are really getting derided by judges around the country. pennsylvania, arizona, michigan have been bad court days for the trump campaign so that more and more this is looking like a losing effort. and that brand is eventually going to stick to the president. >> so, let me just ask you. the republican secretary of state of arizona, that's just one of the states very close. he just did an interview on fox. just to quote what he said. there are no facts that would lead anyone to believe the election results will change. and then he laid it out, he said what really happens, people split their ticket. they voted for joe biden and voted for mark kellie. they split it. just because that happened doesn't mean it's fraud. how significant is it to hear republican secretaries of state step up like this? >> i think it's very significant.

i mean, it really -- they know what happened in their states' elections. they believe in the integrity of the process because that's their job. you're going to see that fall again, reflected in the georgia recount that's been ordered. a hand recount. already there were 50,000 less votes for the senate race, for the purdue senate race than the presidential race. that's what happens. it's not an indication of fraud. >> right. and just to be clear, people do that all over the place. i know people who do that. you vote. you go in. you don't know what's going on at the bottom of the ticket. maybe you don't care. you vote for the presidential. that's not fraud. that's just what you chose to do. i think a lot of people understand that if you put it in english, right? >> yes, absolutely. it's what we talk about more on television, what's more written in the papers, it's more online talk about the presidency. it's not unusual for people to get very excited about the presidential race and then just vote for that race and go. happens every election every year. >> so, what happens in georgia?

they have to certify by november 20th to move ahead. a hand recount sounds like a pretty involved thing. this is 5 million ballots cast in the state of georgia with a gap of 14,057 currently in favor of joe biden. >> right. >> can they get it done in time? and what happens? a few hundred votes swing perhaps, if that? >> perhaps. a few hundred votes is the most you could expect out of a recount. what's true about the hand recount is about 3.5 million of those were done on automatic touchscreen machines. so, the paper trail just has the name of the person who received the vote. there are million and a half mail-in ballots. those will have some more scrutiny. but the mounting ballots they have to go through is 1.5 million and not 5 million. >> they have until november 20th and here we are veterans' day

november 11th. next a republican governor-elect breaking with the ma jor toif his party, congratulating the president-elect joe biden. when does he think other republicans will follow him. dr. anthony fauci speaking out about working for the president as the united states tonight reaches record high coronavirus hospitalizations. >> well, it's obviously been very stressful. i mean, to deny that would be to deny redwral. and more breaking news ahead. we are learning the state department is blocking joe biden from accessing messages he's getting from foreign leaders. more details this hour. tax-smar? -audrey's expecting... -twins! ♪ we'd be closer to the twins. change in plans. at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. with this seal, this restaurant is committing to higher levels of cleanliness. ♪ ♪

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♪ new results coming in from the states of arizona, pennsylvania and georgia as president-elect joe biden's victory is growing wider each day. biden has widened his lead in pennsylvania, maintaining his margins in arizona. what is the latest as these final votes here come in? >> still counting and still getting results i think the biden campaign is happy with. obviously the u.s. election isn't decided by the popular vote, joe biden over 5.1 million votes ahead of donald trump. that is larger than president obama's 2012 margin over mitt romney, one of the largest margins in 20 years. that's where it stands on the popular vote. as to the states themselves, he mentioned pennsylvania. that has been called for joe biden and the lead is growing.

51,400 votes. the expectation is given where the vote is outstanding and what should be coming in over the course of the next couple of days, that lead will grow. in 2016, president trump won this vote by 44,000 votes. joe biden already 6,000 votes ahead of that and that's expected to grow. obviously georgia is headed into a recount, will be starting soon. joe biden's lead will only grow over the next couple of days. 14,000 vote lead heading into a recount. recounts at most traditionally over the course of history maybe flip a couple hundred votes here and there. i think the one everybody's kept eyes on right now is the state of arizona. the reason why is president trump has been steadily catching up over the course of the last couple/das. right now joe biden's margin is about 12,800 votes. the reality is when you look at the numbers, about 40,000 votes outstanding, give or take, if you're the biden campaign you're looking at this right now, look at what's outstanding and

feeling very, very comfortable. donald trump would have to winsome where between 66% to 67% of the outstanding vote and a lot of that is coming from democratic strong holds, areas that you see blue here. so, the biden campaign right now very much so on track for the potential of 306 electoral votes. >> so you're looking eight margin of 5 plus million of the electoral votes. that would be what people would call a mandate. that is what has happened, right? just look longer to get there. let me ask you about alaska. we called alaska today for president trump. his daughter ivanka went on twitter and celebrated it, saying president trump and senate republicans win alaska overwhelmingly. put alaska in the books for trump. she was retweeting the associated press which called the entire race for biden. so, when trump wins something, they are quick to jump on something saying the media makes the call. when biden wins, it's fake news

and the media is making it up. >> it's a complete window into the lack of consistency. look, you take a look atlas lass. it gives you insight into how the decisions are made. very talented people, very smart people. there's only 71% reporting right now. but our decision desk tag ace look at the outstanding voting and where that is going to be coming from and they make the decision there's no way joe biden can catch up. it's the same reason up to this point arizona even though joe biden has a comfortable margin or georgia hasn't been counted yet. still trying to get an understanding of the universe of outstanding votes. people can be critical however they want to be, but our decision desk and the people who go through this spent a lot of time, are very, very careful. and their end game doesn't change the fact that right now joe biden is on path for 306 electoral votes, erin. >> that's what we're seeing from

the republican secretaries of state in georgia, in arizona making it clear in nevada. thank you very much, phil. i want to go now to the republican governor-elect of utah, spencer cox. i appreciate your time. you congratulated joe biden after the election was called. you tweeted we pray for you and promise to work with you to benefit the people of utah. why was it important for you, governor-elect, to send this message? >> well, as people know here in utah, we really do believe in civility. we believe in the importance of trying to work together. i'm very proud that on that list of republicans, a lot of them do come from utah. former governor jon huntsman, mike lev it, and we believe in trying to find ways to work together. i also mentioned in those tweets that it's important to let the process play out. we still have some very close race. we have one right here in the

state of utah. all the ballots need to be counted, and that's okay. that's a good thing. congratulations are all that have been made and hope we can work together over the next four years. >> let me ask you, four republican senators have congratulated biden. you talk about people from your neck of woods. you mentioned your former governors, mike leavitt was on the show the other night. we are hearing in private many more republicans are doing what you're doing in public. they won't do it in public, but they're doing it in private. just listen. >> they call me to say, you know, congratulations, please convey my well wishes to the president-elect, but i can't say that publicly yet. >> are you having similar conversations with republicans behind the scenes? >> look, absolutely. you know, the average republican senator is not an idiot. they understand that, you know, that trump has lost. >> we are getting calls from republicans into our office saying hey, thank the

congressman. i can't really say much out here, but thank him for just doing the right thing. >> so, the last voice you heard there governor-elect was republican congressman denver riggleman. he was on the show last night. he congratulated joe biden, just like you've been doing. why do you think it is that other republicans are refusing to acknowledge this in public? what's your thinking as to why? >> well, unfortunately, politics has become so polarized and i've said for many years that politic has become a religion for too many people. and when politics becomes your religion, then anybody disagrees with you doesn't just have a different opinion, they're actually evil. and it's very dangerous for our country to be in this situation. and unfortunately, too many politicians are scared that if they say something nice about someone else that they'll lose their position. and that's just untenable.

we can't be like this as a country. we all have to do better. and i'm trying to set that example. >> well, you certainly are setting it. i don't know if you heard just a moment ago glove governor-elect before you came on, republican senator james lankford said he will step in if biden does not get access to the presidential daily briefing, all that important national security information. he says he's actually going to step in. you heard the republican secretaries of states here from various states, arizona, nevada, georgia saying there's no fraud. do you -- i mean, you wouldn't think these are ordinarily profiles in courage. these are people doing their jobs, and that's how i think they would see it. i'm doing my job. i'm saying what happened in my state. do you think that they are profiles in courage? >> well, i do think that we need to move forward. look, none of this changes the actual outcome of the election. those challenges and those

lawsuits will go forward. and if there is a change, if there was a -- again there's no evidence of mass voter fraud. but if there was, then the election would turn out differently. by starting that process, that doesn't change the election. it just makes sure that whoever the next president is, they are prepared on day one to govern. that's good for all of us. so, i don't know why -- this shouldn't be controversial, the idea of helping both candidates get access to this material that they need. obviously the president has it already. so, let's work together to make sure that joe biden has that as well. assuming he becomes the president, it won't change the counts at all. >> it won't. these republicans have said they see no evidence of anything. i think what bothers me is we're in this point that someone can throw an allegation out there and that's completely false and manufactured and they put people like you in the awkward position of saying let's run it down because we need to run it down,

even though there's no facts. courts are throwing it out left and right. somehow because someone says it, it has to get air time. does that frustrate you that you keep having to say if, if, if when you know what's right? >> there are a lot of things that us from strait me, and certainly social media and our willingness to believe anything i think is concerning. and again i don't have a problem with going through those machinations. it happens in every election, every close election. but what we shouldn't be doing is accepting as fact baseless allegations. and that does concern me. again, if there is evidence, let's review the evidence, let's put the evidence before the arbitrators of truth, the judges, let's make those decisions and let's move on. but we can't accept that as the gospel until there is some sort of actual basis. >> of course as of yet, there has been absolutely none put forward. i appreciate your time

governor-elect. thank you. >> thanks erin. >> next we are learning the state department is blocking president-elect joe biden from messages coming in from world leaders. and the president risks crippling effects of the virus if he doesn't acknowledge the win soon. skip to cold relief fast with alka seltzer plus severe powerfast fizz. dissolves quickly. instantly ready to start working. ♪ oh, what a relief it is! so fast!

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breaking news, the state department preventing president-elect biden from accessing messages he has received from foreign leaders. this is according to state department officials familiar with the stack of messages, and it comes just a day after secretary of state pompeo refused to admit biden on the election, just like trump, of course who is delaying the start of a transition, refusing to concede. "outfront" now at the state department, our national security correspondent kylie atwood, how unprecedented and concerning is this to be blocking these messages? >> erin, traditionally the state department operations center is the one that facilitates phone calls between foreign leaders and the president-elect in the united states. they set them up, provide translation if necessary. that is not happening here. so, what is happening just to paint a picture for you is that

foreign leaders who traditionally call into the state department, send messages to the state department because that is a place that normally is able to get them in touch with the president-elect of the united states. they're sending those messages and going nowhere. they're here at the state department. they are not being received by president-elect joe biden. and of course that is because president trump has not accepted -- >> and obviously it looks like we lost the shot. but, you know, she's saying because president trump refuses to acknowledge it, not allowing those messages to go ahead they're blocking the transitions. his actions are threatening to hamper the nation's response to the coronavirus pandemic which is now at its worst levels ever. we look at hospitalizations. for the second day in a row, a record high for hospitalizations. kristen holmes is "outfront." kristen, you're reporting on

trump's delayed start of a formal transition, refusal to start one at all. how is it impacting the covid response? >> well, erin, the bottom line is this that every single day that goes by that the trump administration refuses to sign off on this election is a day in which the biden team does not have access to critical information and resources it needs to quickly and responsibly be able to handle the coronavirus pandemic on day one and spent the day talking to health experts and health care workers as well as former officials. and they pointed out two big concerns. the first is, again, being ready on day one. the reason this is an issue right now is that critical information. the people who have access to it, those are the people who work at the agencies for the trump administration. when they continue to not sign off on this election, that means that the biden team has no access to that. they can't even communicate with any of these agency heads. they can't get access to any of these resources. the second big area of concern is a plan for a vaccine

distribution. this is a nationwide roll out. it is something that takes months, at least takes serl several, several weeks. and the biden team is going to have to take this over from the trump administration. the trump administration has to be on the same page or the biden team will just have to know what exactly is going on so when they take this over it's a smooth transition for the millions of americans who are likely to get this vaccine. there really is one thing that all of these officials made clear to me is that there's not time to waste, that lives are at stake and that the more we wait every day that goes by is more lives that are put at risk. >> and of course hospitalizations at a record more than 1,000 people dying every day relentlessly from the virus. thank you very much kristen. i want to go now to dr. celine gounder, member of president-elect biden's covid advisory board. dr. gounder, good to have you back. how much is the delayed

transition hampering your team's efforts right now with crucial things like distributing a vaccine to hundreds of millions of people that needs to be stored at almost 100 degrees below zero just to put one logistical thing out there. what's it mean for you? >> i think it's important to understand that the biden team has been making plans for months. this is not something they're jumping into just today, just this week with the appointment of the advisory board that i'm a member of. there is a very deep bench of experts, policy experts, scientists who are working on plans, developing a blueprint. this is an ongoing process. the plan is to be ready on day one to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. and unfortunately, we are not getting the cooperation we would like. but there are other sectors that are very crucial to the response including the private sector, state and local health departments that we can work with now. >> so, dr. gounder, i want to play something that president obama's former cdc director dr.

fredon said today about what life is going to look like once there's a vaccine. here he is. >> a vaccine is really important, and the news is very encouraging. but a vaccination is not going to be a fairy tale ending to the pandemic. we're still going to be dealing with it at least through most or all of 2021 and quite possibly beyond that. >> okay . is that a brutal reality check? by march we're all done, we can move beyond this, most people are thinking. you're looking at the facts. are you and the biden administration going to have to tell the hard truth that you're looking at masks and social distancing and all this through a whole year. >> even once we have the vaccine approved which we don't have quite yet, although the pfizer vaccine looks very promising and there are others that are far along in the pipeline at this point. so, we are very encouraging that we are going to have effective

vaccines by the end of the calendar year. but it's going to take a long time. we have 330 million americans in this country. and to distribute vaccines to all of those people is going to take well over a year. so, we're going to do this in a phased the-in process. and in the meantime, as you say, we are going to have to keep doing the masking, the social distancing, the ventilation, the testing, the contact tracing because those are tools we have at our disposal now and can be implementing now. >> dr. gottlieb, scott gottlieb, i know you know him, he has warned that president-elect biden is likely going to take over at the absolute peak, the worse time of this pandemic. he also tweeted, and i quote him, the revelocity of the vice in covid hospitalizations is perhapshe most ominous, tragic period of high and rising deaths despite the recent advances in

care. long and -- high and rising deaths. do you agree, dr. gounder? >> erin, i do. i'm really frightened by the spike that we're seeing in cases right now. and we know very well that hospitalizations and deaths will follow. the faster we as a country -- you know, we as -- citizens can take this into our own hands and do what we know the science says will work. and the sooner we take responsibility for our own actions, we mask up, we socially distance, we ventilate, we go in for testing, we cooperate with contact tracing. the sioooner that we all do allf those things, the sooner we can curve the transmission, the sooner we can return to a seminormal life. >> dr. gounder, appreciate your time. thank you very much. >> my pleasure. next, georgia's republican secretary of state announcing the state will conduct a full recount by hand even as republican colleagues are slamming him. alarming pictures of a republican rally in georgia. this is indoors.

kyung is there with the ms. k. no social distancing, a concerning situation. very few others wearing masks. our crew was actually forced to leave. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ i see you looking (uh) ♪ i see you looking (na, na, na) ♪ ♪ i see you looking (uh) ♪ i see you looking ♪ watch what i do (camera clicks) ♪ watch what i do ♪ i see you looking ♪ watch what i do! (camera clicks) ♪ watch what i do ♪ i see you looking ♪ watch what i ... do! here? nah. ♪ introducing the all new chevy trailblazer. here? nope. ♪ here. ♪

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breaking news, georgia's republican secretary of state says he's seen no evidence of widespread fraud in his state, even as the trump campaign is alenling dead people cast votes in the state. again, secretary of state says there's no evidence of any meaningful or widespread fraud. the secretary of state taking the e extraordinary step of conducting a full by-hand count in georgia. >> reporter: it's all on the line. all eyes on this country are on georgia. we are going to save the country. >> reporter: control of the u.s. senate coming down to two senate run offs in georgia, two incumbent republican senators, kelly loeffler and david perdue are rallying their base, in part by attacking a member of their own party, the republican secretary of state in charge of the elections.

the senators are calling on brad rather lis burger to resign, questioning the legitimacy of the results. >> i think integrity still matters. >> reporter: ratherens burger fired back saying he will not resign but today announced a hand recount in the state, which joe biden currently leads by more than 14,000 votes. >> obviously this is a very close race and people on one side of the aisle on like the results. i get that. i'm a republican. but the results will be the results. >> georgia's leading senator condemned the efforts to muddy the results, slamming them as baseless accusations, reckless and a risky side show.

reverend war nok jumped at the chance. and senator purdue's opponent also sees the republican inviting, calling it a distraction. >> they're fighting amongst themselves over the election results. but the people have spoken. >> this is literally, you know, the showdown of all showdowns in term of politics. >> reporter: back at the crowded indoor republican rally, florida senator marco rubio travelled in to stump for his georgia colleagues, bolstering their message of distrust. >> i don't think the politicians and media enjoy the credibility any longer to tell people what to believe about these things. >> reporter: turn to the crowd, many not wearing masks, and despite no evidence of widespread voting fraud, supporters say they don't trust the system works. >> this is the tip of the iceberg. >> all right, kyung, you told us

how crowded the event was and many people weren't wearing masks. what happened? you were in the room. it's closed in. no masks. no social distancing. what did you do? >> not only was there no social distancing, people were standing shoulder to shoulder. it became uncomfortably full in that room. there were no windows, no ventilation that any of us could feel. so, it felt like a real health hazard. remember, we are in the middle of a pandemic. so, in order to cover the story, we put a live camera rolling in the back of the room and we pulled out. we left because of the conditions we had here in georgia. we should point out that the white house coronavirus task force just moved this state into the red zone. that is the most dangerous for spread of this infection, erin. >> kyung, thank you very much. . now i want to bring in don

ossoff, democratic candidate for one of georgia's seats. nearly 5 million ballots all now going to be recounted by hand. is there any question in your mind that joe biden will keep his lead and win georgia once this recount is finished? and it will be finished over the next few days. >> it is appears to me that vice president so this is all eyes are on those races. your race, most congressional republicans are publicly supporting president trump's efforts to dispute the election results.

the senate whip yesterday said something is about you in georgia. this is senator thune. we need him in georgia. what's your reaction on that? >> they are placating because they are afraid of them. the most concerning of all of this is any disruption of the orderly transition of power in washington puts that risk competent public health respond to this pandemic and the ability of the new administration to work swiftly to build our economy. that's the temper-tantrum that the president is throwing. there is a lot of focus on

politics. we got to remember that about a thousand americans are dying per day. the virus is spreading at an accelerated rate. to put at risk a smooth transition for partisan political symbolabism or tryingo get an edge in one of these elections is deeply responsive during this pandemic. >> here you are, i want to play for our viewers. >> unless we win these two u.s. senate races in georgia. joe biden and kamala harris will not be able to pass the legislation to control this pandemic and to jump start our economy. >> so you are making the point that these run off elections are a package deal so are republicans on the other side. you are going to get both candidates or you are going to get both candidates from one

party or the other? >> i think that's likely but what's most important, erin, is the stakes. as i said in the clip it is about whether we are going to recover from this crisis. we know mitch mcconnell will do everything in his power to destroy the in coming administration and obstruct every effort purely for partisan reasons. the last thing we need at a moment of deep crisis is partisan, gridlock in washington. we need president-elect biden and vice president-elect harris to be able to govern and get out of this mess and build upon the rubble to pass a new voting rights act and a new civil rights act and make healthcare affordable in every family in any state across the country,

invest in infrastructure. this is the program that this country needs in order to flourish and prosper to get through these crisis. it will be gridlock in washington for at least four years. >> certainly will be gridlock. >> thank you very much. jon ossoff, i appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. >> all right, i want to be clear, we have invited senator david perdue to join us. i hope he would come on. he declined. he's welcome any time. we are learning the first major appointment of the biden administration, sources telling cnn, the president-elect will name long time confident ron klain as white house chief of staff. klain accepted the offer and there will be a formal announcement on thursday. klain knows biden very well, they worked together since 1999. this is a known hand. up front next, trump is defiant.

whel sh we'll show you what a gracious concession actually sounds like. >> i pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face. your financial plan... so are we. prudential helps 1 in 7 americans with their financial needs. that's over 25 million people. with over 90 years of investment experience, our thousands of financial professionals can help with secure video chat or on the phone. we make it easy for you with online tools, e-signatures, and no-medical-exam life insurance. plan for better days. go to prudential.com or talk to an advisor. but today there's a combination of two immunotherapies you can take first. one that could mean... a chance to live longer. opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread and that tests positive for pd-l1 and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene.

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tonight as we cover this moment in history, the president's refusal to step aside. we want to leave you something uplifting, something that shows losing is very hard. president hopefuls in this country have lost with dignity and grace and their pride. there is a way to do it. it is called the american way. here is how true leaders have done it.

>> i have great faith that our people, republicans, democrats alike will unite behind our next president. >> i shall continue my personal commitment to the cause of human rights of peace, and to the betterment of man. >> i have a deep appreciation of the system however that lets people make a free choice about who'll lead them of the next four years. >> there is important work to be done and america must come first. we'll get behind this new president and wish him well. >> this is america and we put our country before party. we'll stand together behind our new president. >> we are required now to work together for the good of our country. i pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us. through the many challenges. i pray that the president will

be successful in guiding our nation. >> our constitutional democracy enshrines the peaceful transfer of power. we don't just respect that, we cherish it. >> if they can do it, so can he. thank you for joining us. anderson starts now. good evening, the president did what all presidents did before him have done. he laid the wreath at the cemetery. the arlington visit was the president's first public appearance since losing the election. he spent most of his time rage tweeting about that election and leveling charges of fraud without having any evidence that held up in court. there is any new reporting that says the president has no intention of changing course and there is no sign he actually been attending to the business of being president nor is he permitted the government,