good evening. today, the president did what all presidents before him have done. he followed tradition and laid a wreath at arlington cemetery. to honor those who fought and died for this country. the arlington visit was the president's first public appearance since losing the election. he spent most of his time since leveling charges of fraud, without having evidence, so far, at least, that's held up in any court. there is also new reporting tonight that says the president has no intention of changing course. there's no sign that he has

actually been attending to the business of being president. nor, has he permitted the government, the people's government, not his government, to allow president-elect biden and his transition team to begin their work. and behind the scenes as well, frightened to say publicly what they really think, republican senators and others around the president have been throwing around phrases familiar to the parent of any toddler to give the president, who after all, is a grown man, to come to grips with his defeat. one senior republican official telling the washington pob"wash what is the downside of humoring for a time? he gave a gracious speech and pled support for the man who beat him. so did jimmy carter and gerald ford. that is the company president trump is now in as a one-term president. so what is the downside of humoring for this little bit of time, as that anonymous, republican official asked?

well, republican senator john thune certainly had this to say about the upside. we need his voters, thune said. he has a tremendous following. we want him helping in georgia for sure. that gives you a sense of the motivation for many republican senators. they're scared about the senate and they're afraid the president won't support the republicans running in georgia necessary to keep the senate in republican hands. as for that downside? one answer comes from john bolton, the president's former national security adviser. he writes this coddling strategy is exactly backward. the more republican leaders kowtow, the more trump believes he is still in control and the less likely he will do. reality is joe biden's on track to win as many as 306 electoral votes.

reality is, as a "new york times" headline clear across the entire front page reads election officials nationwide find no fraud. reality is georgia republican secretary of state ordering a recount of all ballots but saying he had not seen evidence of widespread fraud that would change the results. also, a republican, by the way, saying much the same. >> what evidence of any widespread fraud have you seen in the count in philadelphia? >> i have not. if evidence of widespread fraud or evidence of any fraud at all is brought to our attention, we take a look at it and we refer to it -- refer it to -- to law enforcement, as we always do in every election. i have seen the most fantastical things on social media. making completely ridiculous allegations that have no basis in fact, at all.

and see them spread, and 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 are hungry to consume lies, he says. and sad to say, our current president traffics in those lies. he's -- he's done that, his whole life. he's done that his whole presidency, and he will continue to for the rest of his life. he tweeted about it today and about the official you just heard there. there's no reason to actually show you the tweets or read to you what he wrote because it's not news, anymore. there's nothing new about it. he lost an election. he is complaining about nonexistent voter fraud, just like he did before and after he won an election, four years ago. and maybe, we should have seen it coming because he's been laying the groundwork for this

tantrum, ever since. discouraging republicans from mail-in voting, which contributed to his loss as well. which he, then, says was rigged all along, just as he had warned us that it was. >> they even want to try to rig the election at the polling booths. and believe me, this is a lot going on. people that have died ten years ago are still voting. illegal immigrants are voting. and, believe me, you take a look at what's registering, folks. >> when you see illegals, people that are not citizens, and they're on the registration rolls. look, bill. we can be babies but you take a look at the registration. you have illegals, you have dead people. you have this. it's really a bad situation. it's really bad. >> i got sogot so many people v illegally in this country, it's a disgrace. >> a lot of people, based on proof, that try and get in illegally, and actually vote illegally. >> a lot of illegal voting going on out there, by the way.

a lot of illegal voting. >> voting by mail is wrought with fraud and abuse. and people don't get their ballots. >> when you do all mail-in voting ballots, you're asking for fraud. people steal 'em out of mailboxes. people print 'em and then they sign 'em and they give 'em in. i think it's going to be the greatest fraud, ever. i think it's going to be a rigged election. you're sending out hundreds of millions of universal mail-in ballots. hundreds of millions. where are they going? who are they being sent to? this election will be the most rigged election in history. it will be fixed. it'll be rigged. >> i'll tell you who's meddling in our elections. the democrats are meddling, by wanting and insisting on sending mail-in ballots with this corruption all over the place. >> the only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged. >> it'll end up being a rigged election, or they will never come out with an outcome.

we don't want to be cheated and be stupid. and say, oh, let's transit. we'll -- we'll go and we'll do a transition. >> so, what's the downside, as that senior republican asked "the washington post," of indulging the president, a little while longer? well, for starters, the pandemic's raging around us, worse than it's ever been in this country. and by withholding funds to the biden transition team, potentially hurting the ability to hit the ground running on day one. that could cost people their lives, possibly. another downside is the 72 million americans who voted for president trump who might not be so happy when nothing kpcomes o these claims on social media about widespread voter fraud. that is a short fuse on a big powder keg and the president is lighting it. it's what dictators losing their grip on power do, and his enablers are standing by while he does it.

they're standing by while he purges the pentagon, reportedly now has sights set on the cia. why he is doing that with just a few months left in office is unclear. perhaps, he just likes to exercise the power he has, while he still has it. or maybe, he's trying to bring loyalists onboard to alter the election. it's impossible to say what goes on in his mind. but the striking fact is none of the possibilities is good. even the most benign interpretation is scary. that the president is just venting his anger, and never mind the national-security consequences. david ignatius, "the washington post" well-sourced affairs columnist based on his reporting, he writes, trump's ceaseless attempts to argue the russia investigation was a hoax and force the intelligence community to declassify information he believes would support this view may animate some of his otherwise inexplicable moves. mark esper's resistance to those moves may have led to his firing. he also points to the position

left vacant, christopher miller, after letting intelligence officials brief congress on russian support of this election. and new cnn reporting adds to it. multiple former and current officials telling us the president believes this classified material will undermine the intelligence community's unanimous finding that russia interfered on his behalf in 2016. they say he thinks it will expose so-called deep-state plots against his campaign and transition during the obama administration. now, if the reporting is right, the president of the united states, commander-in-chief, is willing to put others at risk. and what must our allies make of a president, who so petty, that their message to president-elect biden, their messages to biden, are still sitting at the state department because the department, on the president's orders, will not let the biden team access them? our next guest has written about

the stakes of this election and the bitter fruit of it. "new york times" columnist, tom friedman, he joins us now. tom, you wrote back in september that president trump made it unmistakably clear there were only two choices before voters on november 3rd. either, the president's elected or it's fraud or rigged. now, that we're watching this play out, in realtime, what are your thoughts? one official at the pentagon told barbara starr that these are dictator moves. >> well, great question, anderson. my first reaction is profound sadness, for this reason. anderson, we just had the most ama amazing election, in the middle of a pandemic that is getting worse by the day. more americans got up, found a way to vote by mail and in person. 150 million of them, basically. in a free and fair election. this is the most -- and -- and by the way, and friends and neighbors because this is how we do it in this country, went out

and counted those ballots freely and fairly, without any major issue of fraud. that's what actually happened. it was the most amazing expression of a people's commitment to democracy since the election of 1864, when we had an election in the middle of a civil war and lincoln defeated mcclellan. we should be celebrating this. our president should be celebrating this. if john mccain had been there, george h.w. bush, george w. bush, bill clinton. any other president and rival would have looked at this, and said what an amazing day for american democracy. and what did we get, instead? we have a president who is only concerned about himself, who puts himself before country, and is only concerned by the fact that he lost narrowly. and, therefore, is trying to soil what is actually the greatest expression of our democracy since our election in 1864. and that is profoundly sad, and it is so disturbing to see so

many members of his party joining in his amen chorus. >> you know, it was also an election that was very good for republicans. you know, this -- other than joe biden winning, you know, none of the, you know, the scenarios that democrats certainly were -- were -- you know, hoping for and talking about. of, you know, massive -- massive victory of taking over the senate. all of that. that didn't happen. >> it was really an expression of the center-left, center-right corps of the country. really, expressing its will to be governed through some compromise. you know? and that's what makes the whole thing just so disturbing because we could only go forward and do big, hard things, if we do them together. and the country was basically screaming that. and we are soiling it. but, you know what else strikes me, anderson. you know, the day after the vote

or when president-elect biden was confirmed, church bells rang all over europe. wow. people just went out in the streets. why were they so happy? it's because they knew better, i think than some americans, what was at stake because they've watched what's been going on in europe, hungary, poland, russia, belarus, turkey. what have they seen? they've seen these right-wing nationalists take power, through free and fair elections. and then, use the power of the state to ensconce themselves in power, pervert their court system, and basically try to maintain minority rule. they see it going on everywhere. and they looked across the ocean, and they were worried. they were so worried that it was going to happen in america. and it didn't happen. the american people didn't let it happen. and they went out, and they rang church bells and they hollered and they danced in the streets. they don't do that when france has an election. they don't do that when the uk

has an election. but they did it because it happened in america. because we started the whole thing, in 1800 when jefferson defeated john adams. and jefferson went home. we started that, at that moment. the loser goes home. and right now, that thing we started, that gave birth to democracy all over the world, that is now in peril because of the president and the lackeys. >> there had been talk -- even, you heard from some, you know, never-trumper republicans, you know, talked about a reckoning that might take place or should take place in the republican party, after trump leaves. it seems pretty clear, there's not going to be any kind of reckoning because president trump really isn't going anywhere, even when he ultimately leaves office, which is what is going to happen, he's

going to be in mar-a-lago with a very big microphone and probably a tv camera. and the power to raise funds or not raise funds for republican candidates. and, you know, he's talking about coming back. it's -- it is stunning, to me, the extent to which, not only has he remade the republic upon par republican party while he's in office. it seems like he is holding onto it, even when he's gone. >> when he's actually gone, we'll see. these guys, it always seems like they'll never go and they'll always have power. after he's gone, that party could also turn into scorpions in a bottle as they all go after each other. i don't know, you know, exactly what will happen. all i know is this, anderson, you and i have talked about it before. we will not have a healthy democracy unless we have a healthy liberal party and a healthy conservative party. and right now, we have a deeply disturbed conservative party. we have a conservative party that's basically been selling

itself to the highest bidder of whoever can energize its base. sarah palin, the tea party, donald trump. if you can energize the base so they can continue to hold onto power, by any means possible, you're their guy. and until that party goes through an internal reckoning, which you hope, once trump's defeat sinks in, still might happen. our country will not be right, and we will not be able to govern in the effective way that we need to. anderson, you may have noticed. there's two countries out there who so conspicuously have not congratulated biden. they're called russia and china. and you know why? because xi and putin are sitting in front of the tv. i bet they've got their feet up on the sofa. they've popped popcorn. put a little butter on. and they are so enjoying watching america in turmoil. because it means america can never organize a global coalition against them. against them, like for china today, just arrested a whole bunch of democracy advocates in hong kong and never against putin's russia. oh, my god, they are so enjoying

the show. thank you very much, mike pompeo. >> yeah. i mean, you talk about profiles in courage. i mean, mike pompeo. and i say that sarcastically. mike pompeo and a lot of republican senators. it's so clear, their thinking. i mean, clear they're looking at the race in georgia and, you know, they don't want to upset trump and his supporters. and they're afraid, you know, they feel like they have to coddle the president because they're afraid he will take it out on two republican candidates in georgia, which he is entirely capable of doing. >> absolutely. we saw what he, again, has done to his own secretary of defense. i keep getting in trouble with the left and the right because, i wish we had a balanced government where everyone had some skin in the game. but only if they're ready to play the game. okay? and mitch mcconnell, last time he was in that situation with barack obama, did everything he could to undermine obama's presidency. in hopes that if it fails,

people would blame obama. and we don't have time for that anymore, folks. i'd much rather trust joe biden and his moderate instincts and the message of the american people to get us at least through two years of dealing with climate. dealing with the fact that 60% of our population has not had a raise in income, since 1980. dealing with infrastructure. dealing with these big challenges because we can't go four more years, anderson, with gridlock. otherwise, we are going to be so much in china's rear-view mirror. and if you think this election was disturbed, wait till the next one. and that's what's troubling. anderson, how do you feel about the next election? it really is worrisome. if these people will do this when they lose, what would happen if they win? >> and joe biden. the task that his administration faces, you know, it's not just republicans who very -- i mean, maybe, they will have a reckoning. and decide gridlock is not the

answer. but even just the left wing of his own party. there's going to be a real issue. i mean, he, you know, there are a lot of folks who got people to vote. signed up a lot of -- registered, you know, a lot of black lives matter people, black lives matter movement. worked very hard to register new voters, turn people out in detroit and -- and other cities. and yet, you know, joe biden's already talking about, you know, ruling from -- from the center. >> well, you know, anderson, i go back, always, to where it all started and that's south carolina. boy. i wish i could travel now. go to a church in south carolina. go up to the choir. sit with the ladies in the choir. black ladies. and ask them why did you lift joe biden off the map? his candidacy was basically dead, before he showed up here in south carolina. and you and jim clyburn. you guys lifted him off the mat. the referee was counting 'em out. one, two, three. you stopped his hand. why did you do that? was it because you want medicare

for all? you could have voted for cory booker. why did you do that? i think it was because they had the wisdom to understand that the country is being torn apart. and what we need was someone like biden to pull it back together again. and everybody's going to have to compromise. that's why they did it. and their intuition was right. we are so indebted to those people and i say to everyone on the left, the far left, center-left, right, far right, and, you know, the center-right, give the guy a chance. give the guy a chance before you start making broad claims about what he owes you. the only people he owes are the folks down in that church in south carolina. they're the ones who had the wisdom to turn this whole thing around. >> simultaneously, the pandemic rages on. and the president, president trump, seems completely checked out from any involvement in this health crisis, at all. i mean, it's -- it's -- more people are in the hospital, now, than have ever been in the entire course of this pandemic.

he's not even pretending, publicly, to care about it anymore. >> well, you know, anderson, you really hit on something important. and if you listen to the epidemiologists, we're -- our hospitals, there's a very good chance a lot of them are going to be overwhelmed in the next 60 days. and i shudder to think about what happens if trump continues to refuse to cede power until january. he continues firing people in government, particularly in the pentagon, which we're going to need, i suspect, before this pandemic is over, to help public health officials. and this virus goes just parabolic. i just think we're headed for just incredibly unstable time when we need to be coming together. >> yeah. tom friedman, really appreciate it, as always. thank you. >> thank you, anderson. >> coming up next, senior biden adviser and top lawyer and what the next steps are for dealing with the president who just won't deal with them. more people hospitalized, as

i mentioned, right now than ever before. new, record number of daily cases and the death toll climbing. dr. sanjay gupta joins us to talk about what we can do now, how we can help to stop this from getting worse. ahead. unlike other sleep aids, our extended release melatonin helps you sleep longer. and longer. zzzquil pure zzzs all night. fall asleep. stay asleep. (children laughing) ♪ (music swells) (dog barking) ♪ (music fades) (exhales) experience the power of sanctuary at the lincoln wish list sales event. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down, zero due at signing, and a complimentary first month's payment.

americans from both parties.

turned out to vote in numbers like we haven't seen in a hundred years. and election officials counted those votes carefully, transparently and in accordance with the law. so, no matter who you voted for, if you cast a ballot, or counted them. thank you for showing the world that even in times like these, america is still going strong. ...so you can find just the right plan for you. like the "visit a doctor anywhere our rv takes us" plan. the "zero copays means more money for rumba lessons" plan. and the "visit my doctor while eating pancakes" plan. unitedhealthcare is the #1 medicare plan provider, so you're sure to find the right plan for you. including the only plans with the aarp name. get medicare with more.

and at fidelity, you'll get planning and advice to help you prepare for the future, without sacrificing what's most important to you today. because with fidelity, you can feel confident that the only direction you're moving is forward. laso you can enjoy it even ifst you're sensitive. se. nt yet some say it isn't real milk. i guess those cows must actually be big dogs. sit! i said sit! with the president busy tweeting about nonexistent voter fraud and taking a hammer and

sickle, votes continue to be counted. right now, he is pulling in 77 million 444,000 votes or 50.8% of the total. president trails with 47.4%. late today, "the wall street journal" published an opinion piece by carl rove. the headline reads, this election result won't be overturned. want to get perspective now from the biden campaign on the unprecedented position they find themselves in. we are joined by bob bauer, who previously served as white house counsel under president obama. he was skeptical, apparently, of their legal efforts but planned to press ahead, anyway. according to a person familiar with the matter. what is the next move for president-elect biden and -- and the transition team? and where do you see -- how do you see this playing out? >> i don't know that i ever thought i'd say this. but karl is certainly right. the election will not be

overturned. not surprised either to hear the president was skeptical about his lawyers. not quite sure they were telling him what's going on in the courtroom, why he wouldn't be skeptical. they are losing case after case. let me give you sort of brief overview of where we are. in the eight months up to election day, judges dismissed six trump suits. in the eight days since election day, judges have dismissed seven trump suits. now, donald trump says, well, he's only suing in localities or in states where the democrats control the process. but in fact, he is suing and republicans are attacking the republican secretary of state in georgia. he is suing the republican secretary of state in nevada or he did. lost those suits as well. and so, it's sort of a bit of a disaster out there to be honest with you. so, if he is skeptical about his lawyers because he was looking for winning, what he is getting from his lawyers is losing because he doesn't have a case. >> it's interesting because i get a lot of people reaching out to me, you know, on instagram or

twitter. and they're trump supporters and a lot of them are, you know, the ones who aren't yelling obscenities at me are, you know, often very thoughtful and rational and love this country. and -- and, i mean, even the ones yelling obscenities at me probably love this country as well. but people looking to have a rational conversation, and they genuinely believe what the president's been saying about it being rigged. and, you know, they pass -- they send me things, well, look at this video of this person doing this, in this place. and here's this person saying this. what do you say to those people? because when things are actually presented in court, which is where this has to be decided, as you say, the judges are throwing it out. these are things, which do not hold up in court. >> no, they don't. and there was an interesting exchange in a case in montgomery county where the judge bore very hard down on the lawyer and asked, specifically, are you alleging fraud? and the lawyer danced around and said, at present, not really. and the judge pushed harder,

still. and said, no, we're not alleging fraud. it doesn't matter whether what we are alleging is a big deal or not. now, compare that to the propagan propaganda outside the courtroom, where you would think the american electoral process has been rigged from top to bottom, at least as alleged by rudy giuliani from the four seasons parking lot. that's not what's happening in the courtroom. so i would, also, say this to people trying to figure out what's going on. it's actual accessible information. what they are saying is demonstrably untrue and courts are throwing out those claims as well. in fact, reporters who have been on location, have said time and again what the trump campaign is saying about observers is completely false. what the trump campaign is saying about fraud, time and again, has been refuted by the court. there is a judge in montana, a red state, who said that what they had to say about fraud was a fiction. there's no evidence of it,

whatsoever. and very recently, i'm sorry, please go ahead. i was going to say, very recently, as you know, with great fanfare, a senior republican on capitol hill produced an affidavit from a postal worker saying he'd observed horrible irregularities. i believe that trump tweeted out something to the effect that this gentleman was a brave patriot. and he since recanted saying he executed a false affidavit. i would say you can't make this stuff up. but the truth of the matter is they are making this stuff up. >> "the wall street journal" is reporting tonight that the president's lawyers are working on what the journal calls patchwork of legal efforts to try to stop certification results in certain states. is there any scenario, in which you could see them pulling that off? >> i see them creating, you know, all sorts of confusion. continuing to file lawsuits. the lawsuits are continuing to fail. they'll appeal. they'll file more lawsuits. file more lawsuits. and their objective is absolutely to introduce disruption, and to message in support of the -- of president

trump's completely unsubstantiated, false claims about fraud. but in the end, they will not stop the victorious margins for president-elect biden from being certified. they will not stop him from being the successful candidate here who takes the oath of office on january 20, 2021. >> bob bauer, appreciate your time. thank you. >> pleasure. thank you. >> there is breaking news on the biden cabinet. cnn learned ron klain has been offered chief of staff position. has accepted. formal announcement is expected tomorrow. klain previously served the president-elect in a variety of capacities, including chief of staff in the early days of his vice-presidency. just ahead, "new york times" maggie haberman's going to join us to discuss what, if any, strategy or cohesive strategy is guiding the president right now. (♪ )

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before the break, we heard from senior adviser from the biden campaign who talked about president trump's failed attempts to delay the transition through the courts. according to bob bauer, it's a bit of a disaster out there for him, he said. aside from a visit from arlington national cemetery today to commemorate veterans day. hunkering down in the white house, blasting out baseless claims from social media. kaitlan collins, the president typically gone for 6:30 for dinner. this week, his departure has come past 7, even 8:00. we are joined now by "new york times" white house correspondent, cnn political analyst, maggie haberman.

maggie, good to see you. you've covered the president, covered his thinking more than most. what are you hearing about where he is right now? >> what i am hearing, anderson, from almost everybody about where he actually is is that he knows this is over, realistically. he knows that these legal challenges do not have a chance of -- of getting him the votes that he needs, even if they do find, you know, isolated incident of -- of bad behavior with a ballot or accidental use of a ballot or something. there's just simply not enough to try to make up these margins. but he wants to march ahead. and i think there are a couple of reasons for that. i think one is he doesn't want to face the fact that the election's over and he has lost. and there's a part of him, and i know this is hard for people to grasp even after all these years, but he sort of likes watching the show. and what's going to happen and whether it's going to turn out differently for him, maybe, if he just keeps going. however, i don't hear any sign that he is changing and that he

is recognizing that he needs to say something publicly. if anything, he is digging in and plans to keep this going on for several days to come. >> i mean, is part of it about kind of setting up a po post-presidency life of, you know, having a radio network and a tv network and, you know, a grievance network and plotting, you know, continuing his power over the republican party in a potential return? >> i certainly think that some of it is about retaining his power over the republican party base because there is a way for him to, frankly, monetize that. whether it is through list building or a book or some kind of television outlet or radio show or all of the other options that you just mentioned. but i don't think it's a strategy, anderson. i think it is just a reaction, and he is moving in sort of brief increments of time as he does, to see what happens until he gets to the next increment of time. i do think he thinks those are things that could be useful to him.

i will say, it's going to reach a point where it might stop being as useful to him. because as effective as he has been at scaring republican lawmakers in congress, in the senate, governors, of going along with him. and by going along with him, i mean not countering him and not saying, no, he is wrong. for the most part. they a there are going to be two senate runoffs in georgia in january. that is going to be where the party's focus is in terms of elections. then, it's going to move to elections in 2022. at a certain point, if the president keeps making it about himself, doesn't do something for the party, that could hurt him going forward, too. talking about running in 2024, we will see if he actually does it. >> it's so interesting. you have said it like that before but for some reason, you just saying it. he -- he sees things and he's just moving through increments -- i don't want to get it wrong -- increments of time. >> increments of time. >> he wants to see what's in the

next increment of time. it's just a series of increments of time. i mean, that's a terrifying idea. >> that's right. it's not -- it's not -- there's not some strategy. there is survival, until the next minute. and he will get as far as he can and take things as far as he can take them. and he will continue to say that this election, i suspect, is invalid in terms of him, in various terms, until he's walking out the door. but i believe he will walk out the door. >> but he will continue to say that, i mean, for the rest of his life. >> i'm confident of it. and in his mind, and he has said this, that that's what every person who loses an election does. >> i would think, though, at a certain point, you know, he's essentially -- if -- if it is true that -- and it seems -- i mean, of course, it's true, it's so obvious that it's over for him and he knows it. he knows these court challenges which are getting tossed out, won't have any impact. i mean, he is essentially riling up his supporters, and kind of playing them for suckers. i mean, he -- he -- he is taking advantage of the fact that they

will believe him, even though he doesn't believe it. >> anderson, this has always been part of the disconnect with who donald trump is and -- and what he wants and intends, versus what his supporters see him as. and, you know, this is somebody who ran, in 2016, first, not expecting to do as well in the primaries as he did and last as long as he did. then, not expecting to win the presidency. and he has sort of rewritten history on that. but that is the reality. his supporters don't realize that there is some aspect of this, for him, that is just watching to see what happened. they hear him say that this election involved fraud and cheating. fraud, by the way, which is a legal term. they hear him say that and they believe it, and they are riled up by it and that is potentially dangerous. >> it's just sad, too. i mean, it's amazing. maggie haberman. >> well, he's got to make sure he's in opposition to joe biden. i would just make that point, anderson. he is going to make sure he is going to sully biden's ability

going forward. >> what a legacy. maggie haberman, thank you very much appreciate it. up next, cnn reports president trump's allies, seeking to declassify sensitive intelligence information they claim will support the president's contention that it was all a hoax. up next, i will speak with former cia director john brennan about the alarm bells those discussions are raising. easier . but we didn't stop there. we made a cloud flexible enough to adapt to any size business. no matter what it does, or how it changes. and we kept going. so you only pay for what you use. because at dell technologies, we stop...at nothing. ♪

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there is more breaking news tonight as president trump and his allies continue to publicly dispute the outcome of the election. they are quietly seeking to declassify documents used in the russia investigation. cnn underscores "the washington post" accounts we mentioned at the top of the program. those attempts are being met with strong pushback, from some members of the intelligence community. joining me, cia director under president obama. director brennen, cnn reporting that president trump wants to declassify certain elements of the russia investigation, even though director gina haspel and senior officials saying it could compromise national security. what could be at stake here? >> one, if anything's going to be released, i'm sure it's going to be very selective, cherry picking that might, in fact, be misrepresented as something that

is going to further support his narrative. donald trump's narrative. but secondly, i think the concern is that the exposure of this information could seriously compromise very sensitive sources and methods that the intelligence community relies on to understand what our adversaries, and especially russia, is doing. so gina haspel, that she is standing firm and protecting the integrity of the apolitical nature of the cia, which is her responsibility. >> i mean, the idea that they would try to do this, i guess, before the president leaves office so that he can, you know, basically use this, you know, to -- to -- to prove his constant refrain that he's had over the last four years. about this all being a hoax. and not really caring about the -- any potential intelligence blow back on sources and methods. >> i don't think he cares at all

about the intelligence mission. he only concern is about himself. i think as maggie haberman was saying, he lives sort of chapter to chapter, minute to minute. so i don't know exactly what he is going to do for the rest of the 70 days. and i hope i am wrong in term of my concerns that he may, in fact, release information that will compromise u.s. national security interest. but donald trump has demonstrated that he is rash and reckless, and pursues only those things which are going to advantage him personally, politically, or financially. >> clearly, doesn't plan to concede any time soon, it seems. early today, you said you are more worried now what he might do in the next 70 days than you were during the course of his administration. i mean, what -- what's the worst-case scenario in your mind? >> well, look what he's done as far as decapitating civilian leadership of department of defense. he's put unqualified and inexperienced people, and most of them are political hacks. and what might he be contemplating doing on the military front? is he going to pursue some type of military venture? or try to politicize the u.s. military on the domestic front?

or is he going to release intelligence and really, again, compromise our national security interest? so, i think, donald trump doesn't know, yet, what he is going to do. but the fact that he is on the way out the door and he realizes that, he is a very petty and petulant and bitter individual. and he will seek to settle scores, and i think he's going to try to make it as difficult as possible for joe biden to take the helm of the government. >> secretary of state, mike pompeo, has refused to acknowledge president-elect biden's victory saying, quote, there will be a smooth transition to a second trump administration. as world leaders continue to congratulate biden, you wrote in your new book "undaunted," pompeo, quote, solidified putting loyalty to trump over country. what message is he sending to our friends and, frankly, our adversaries? >> he is basically sending the message the united states no longer has the moral standing to criticize and condemn authoritarian leaders around the

world for trampling their laws, trampling the rights of individuals. and for what -- what donald trump continues to do, which is to ignore the democratic tenets of our country and our government. and so, therefore, mike pompeo, basically, is selling out to donald trump. and great reputation of the united states for being the world's leading spokesperson against these types of authoritarian abuses. >> the fact that president-elect biden isn't getting daily presidential intelligence briefings right now, does that matter? i mean, as he approaches actually becoming the president, how -- how important is it to get those kind of daily briefings? >> joe biden is going to inherit all of the united states national security challenges on january 20th of 2021. he needs to have as much insight and advance familiarity with the current state of these challenges. and the fact that donald trump is refusing to allow joe biden, who had the pdb during the eight

years of the obama administration and continues to have security clearances, the fact that he is refusing to allow that to be provided to joe biden just shows that he cares not a wit about u.s. national security interests and he is going to continue to be a very embittered and angry man. >> do you have any doubt that president trump will leave office peacefully? >> he has no choice. his powers expire at noon on january 20th, so, the executive branch of the u.s. government will no longer be responsive to him, so, i do think he's going to leave. does he resign and allow mike pence to give him a pardon on top of his own pardon, i don't know. there's no way he will be able to stay in office. >> john brennan, thank you for your time. >> thanks. >> as president trump's actions jeopardize the national security potentially of this country, the nation is experiencing its worst coronavirus surge today. dr. sanjay gupta with what the future holds for this country

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president trump's focus on reversing the election comes tonight as the nation sets new records for coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations for the second consecutive day. as as the white house coronavirus task force warned of accelerating community spread. case counts, at least 140,000. it's the ninth consecutive day of cases over 100,000. hospitalizations, at least 65,368, both still rising. still in texas mobile medical tents are being set up in two hospitals to help fight the surge of hospitalizations. tennessee hospitals are approaching capacity and in northwest wisconsin, the mayo clinic says its hospitals are at 100% capacity. our chief medical correspondent dr. sanjay gupta joins us now. is it possible to predict how long we'll be on this new accelerated climb? >> well, you know, part of it depends on how we behave over the next several weeks. we have the capacity to start to stall things.

i mean, the numbers are going to continue to go up for some time. the ihme modelers, you know them well, anderson, they say basically, mask usage stays the same, our current physical distancing guidelines stay the same, we'll go to about 300,000 cases per day, okay? by the end of the year, in fact, on new year's eve. that's what they say. and just as you might expect, a few weeks after that, end of january, is when they think they'll have peak hospitalizations. you said 61,000 right now, they think it will be more than double that, 131,000 by the end of january. and you saw the numbers on the screen, 399,000 people, they think, will have died by the end of january. and that's not the end. that's just as far out as they've modeled so far. so, it's tough to hear, but that's sort of it. and as you know, anderson, you can get an idea how much masks might make a difference versus even easing up some of the mandates. save a lot of lives with the

masks. >> i mean, it's almost 400,000 people by february 1st. and you say this is going to continue to go on for quite some time. you're starting to get into numbers like the so-called spanish flu epidemic, i mean, that was, i think, 675,000 people. >> that's exactly right. no, you're absolutely right. 675,000 people. and even more similar was the first six months of that virus, that outbreak in the united states, around 200,000 people had died, just like here and 100 years later. i've always found that so astounding, anderson, because they didn't have a lot of the medical care that we have now. they didn't have all the medications they could develop so quickly now and yet human behavior was the cause of so many deaths then and so many now. >> and amidst this surge, it seems like the administration has basically abandoned trying to tackle this. i mean, there's no televised coronavirus task force briefings, they're not talking to fauci or dr. birx.

the president seems pretty checked out on this. it is terrible on top. you know, it's just terrible. >> i mean september i think 23rd i think was the last sort of coronavirus task force meeting. we know that in july, basically, the entire tone of those meetings changed. they changed from, let's control the virus, to, how do we open up things in the economy again? there was a complete shift in july and you see what's happened with the numbers, you know, since then. there's been a little dip here and there, but now we're basically going into expo then shl growth. everybody knew this was going to happen. we're talking about these models months ago. it seemed so far off at that point, you think, it can't be possible. >> look at that graph. incredible. >> yes. they say it will go to 300,000 people a day. again, this is according to modelers. they say it will happen within the next six weeks, anderson. >> people say, look, a lot of the people, the vast majority of people, are going to be

asymptomatic and it's not going to kill them -- they're still learning about what the long-term effects of this are, i mean, we talked to so-called long haulers, people who have ongoing symptoms of covid they had when they were hospitalized for back in april and march. >> yeah. that was one of the things that surprised me. i know you talked to the guys at sinai as well about the long haulers. i thought it correlated to how severe your symptoms were initially. just like you say, even people with minimal symptoms can have long hauling. they could have these covid naps. this brain fog. you know, all these strange symptoms that really just linger. they're functional, you know, they're doing their, living their life, but it really does linger in some people. you don't want this virus, i think to your point. the other thing, anderson, the hospitalizations, you mentioned it, hospitals are going to become